Sponsored

Part of the following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Oxygen Network. All opinions are my own.

1. Moving twice in one year is crazy. We originally moved to the Portland area, rather the Portland ‘burbs, back in January when Neil took a contract position with Nike. Well about six months later Neil scored a great full time position with a company in Portland proper and since then he has been commuting 2-3 hours per day. So we have been on the lookout for a new home closer to his work and we found one a few weeks ago and have spent the last week slowly moving in. Honestly all I can think is um where did all this crap come from? We are in need of some major minimizaling of our home- any tips?

2. I am in love with Wild Friends Vanilla Espresso almond butter. Seriously this stuff is so crazy good. I went to New Seasons (sort of like the local Portland Whole Foods) and they were having a nut butter tasting and of course I indulged but I kept my budget in check and only walked out with this one jar….although I might need to go back for more.

3. I am in love with our new kitchen. I mean IN LOVE. The only thing that would make me love it more would be a gas stove but everything else is good and that works for me. I have felt so inspired and we have only lived here for a few days. I have been making lots of yummy dishes and I can’t wait to start writing more recipe and food related posts.

4. Coffee is currently my best friend. With moving we are having a ton of early mornings and late nights and I’m just being real but coffee is helping me make it through the day. We are lucky enough to live only six blocks from a really amazing coffee shop although we try to make our coffee at home (except Neil left his kettle on vacation #fail).

5. Although we are moving, drinking lots of coffee and gorging ourselves on heirloom tomato salad I have been taking a few breaks to decompress. For me this means reading blogs and watching reality TV. Currently my show of choice has been Oxygen’s My Big Fat Revenge. Although I was a little skeptical of the name I have really gotten into the show. As I mentioned in a previous post I am on my own journey to lose the baby weight so it has been great to follow others weight loss journeys. This is the second week of the show and I have included a clip below if you would like to check it out! You can also tune into My Big Fat Revenge Tuesdays at 9/8c.

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Oxygen Network

Weight is something that I have struggled with my entire life. Growing up I attempted to be active and participated in floor gymnastics, soccer and tennis but I was always heavier than most kids my age. My struggle with my weight as a child developed into an unhealthy relationship with food in high school and into my first year of university. At my highest weight I was 220+ lbs and it wasn’t until then that I finally realized that I needed to stop feeling bad for myself and actually evaluate my life and make changes. During my second year of university I lost 40lbs and by the end of the summer before my third year I had lost another 10lbs. After that I fluctuated between 160-170 but kept off the 50lbs.

In 2009 I decided to continue my on my pursuit to become a healthier and happier human being and to help others. I started a health coach program which I completed in the winter of 2010 and I left it feeling healthy and happier and ready to help others. I continued to maintain my 50lb weight loss until the Fall of 2011 when I became pregnant with Edith. I gained 35lbs over the course of my pregnancy and here we are nearly 14 months later and I am holding on to 25 of them. When I watched the following clip from Oxygen’s new show My Big Fat Revenge it really resonated with me for one reason, Tamar’s daughter (see clip below). I have a daughter. I want to feel more energetic, lose this baby weight and be a good role model for my daughter. Over the next year my goal is to lose this baby weight and get back to that post health coaching healthy, happy and lighter feeling that I had.

Interested in learning more about Tamar and her story? Tune into the Oxygen Network on Tuesday’s at 9pm EST.
–
Tuesday’s On Oxygen Network, @ 9pm EST
*PREMIERE DATE: 9/3*
Oxygen Media gives women a life changing opportunity of transformation and retribution in the
empowering new docu-series “My Big Fat Revenge.”

Before having a baby I had a pretty solid routine that allowed me to balance my day job, blogging, freelancing and being a loving wife, partner and friend. I would spend my mornings making breakfast and lunch for Neil and I and would catch up on e-mails. I would go to my office job and then I would come home in the afternoon, workout, catch up on e-mails and work on blog items or freelance work.  Early evenings were spent with Neil and/or friends enjoying dinner or a drink or going to some event. Late evenings I caught up on a little more work and then it was time for bed so I could sleep and do it all over again.

Well needless to say times have changed. I no longer have an office job and I am not just a wife, partner and friend but a mom. To top it off I am a stay-at-home mom and a part-time work-at-home mom. When Edith was tiny and slept all the time I found the transition from working at home with no baby to working at home with a baby really easy transition. Even despite being a little more sleep deprived I was still able to find time to balance my freelance gigs, blogging, keeping house, being a mom and being a wife, partner and friend.

Here we are a year later and let me tell you I am working hard to keep the balance in my life. Edith is on the go and is just days away from walking and then of course running so my hands are full in mommyland. Now I still have blogging and freelance gigs to stay on top of and I have a house that is always in need of cleaning, oh and I am still a wife, partner and friend. Being able to find balance with everything is challenging at times but with a few easy steps I am able to (for the most part):

1. Prioritize. One of the biggest things for me is prioritizing me time.  I make a list at the start of the week or the day if I am able to of everything I want to accomplish and then I take a look at it and see what five things take priority. I choose five things because If I can get one major item accomplished each day of the week then that is great. When I try to do more than that I often don’t complete everything.

2. Make time for me. When Edith was little I never made enough time for me and by the end of the month I was burnt out. I was cranky and overwhelmed and ready to burst. Now I make sure to take at least 10-15 minutes once Neil is home to make time for me to do something that I enjoy.

3. Ask for help. Sometimes you just need help. I wish I was superwoman but last time I checked there was no shiny cape hanging in my closet so instead I delegate and ask for help. It can be a real struggle at times to ask for help because it makes us feel like we are admitting we can’t do everything but honestly we can’t do everything so find someone who supports you and ask them to help. It could be as much as asking a family member to pick up a few grocery essentials when they are out or having a friend come over and watch you baby so you can meet a deadline.

4. Say ‘No’. It’s okay to say no. This is one thing that I have really had to work on because when you have blogging or freelance gigs being handed out to you it is really hard to turn them down. In the end I often have to because from experience if I take on too many at one time I either miss a deadline or do a half-assed job.

5. Be Flexible. Flexibility is essential for me to keep the balance in my life. For example recently Neil took a new position at a new company that now has him commuting 2-3 hours per day. This was a huge change for me since prior to this he had been commuting 25-35 minutes per day. Suddenly I couldn’t work in the mornings and the evenings are a little shorter since he gets home so much later so I am having to reevaluate things to find a new balance that works with this change. We have another move coming up, just a short one closer to Neil’s new job, and when that happens I’ll have to reconfigure my balance again.

I’d like to say that I am always able to keep perfectly balanced but there are many days where work takes over or being a mom takes priority. I think balance is something that takes time and work to maintain but as I said above you need to be flexible as well because just when we start to get comfortable life changes.

How do you keep the balance in your life? Do you have any of your own tips to share?

 

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I am currently running around my house right now getting myself ready to head to a conference. On top of trying to get ready for the conference we have guest coming in next week! AHH! What was I thinking having these two things go back to back? My guest arrive Monday and of course I want to greet them with a clean home and be ready to entertain so I’m making things easy on myself. I have a bottle of BACARDI Classic Cocktails Light Strawberry Daiquiri in my fridge ready for their arrival. There is no mess, no fuss, just chill and pour over ice. Seriously the easiest cocktail to use for entertaining! 

So now you’re probably wondering but how does it taste? Well it taste like a strawberry daiquiri without all of that added sugar and calories (or the whipped cream). It is sweet, light and refreshing. BACARDÍ CLASSIC COCKTAILS LIGHT Strawberry Daiquiri is made with natural strawberry flavor, real lime juice and cane sugar. Really the perfect summertime beverage.

I have only had it over ice but I bet it would be great blended with ice as well (if you want to go the extra step). You could also go crazy and use the BACARDI Classic Cocktails Light Strawberry Daiquiri to make your own cocktails! You could add a nice basil simple syrup and shake and serve on the rocks or straight up with a basil leaf if you wanted to get really fancy!

So now I can head off to my conference and be ready to come home and start entertaining! No fussing around making cocktails for our guests and I you know what I can actually enjoy them instead of playing bartender! Also, who doesn’t enjoy drinking cocktails with their friends, but hates having to worry about all the extra calories? The BACARDÍ CLASSIC COCKTAILS LIGHT line gives you the best of both worlds with delicious, low-calorie cocktails.

As always enjoy your summer entertaining and events and always remember to DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of BACARDI. The opinions and text are all mine. Sweepstakes Rules.

Disclaimer: I was compensated for the post. As always all opinions are my own. This is my honest review of this product.

We have a juicer at home and although we juice a few times per week there are often weeks that we go without juicing just because of the labor in making our own fresh juice or because Edith is sleeping and we don’t want the crazy loud juicer to wake her up. So I have been on the search for a quick, and healthy green drink to have on days I don’t want to make my own. When I was offered the opportunity to try Cell-nique I decided that it sounded so why not?

• Cell-nique Super Green Drink is a USDA organic drink that energizes, detoxifies and nourishes your body with the equivalent of 8 servings of fruits & vegetables in every bottle.
• Cell-nique is Vegan, gluten-free, low-calorie.
• All flavors of Cell-nique Super Green contain the same 31 organic superfoods.  Most of the sugar count comes from the naturally occurring sugars in the fruits and vegetables, with a small amount of stevia and organic blue agave.

Although Cell-nique isn’t just like my favorite fresh green juices it is great when I want something quick and easy to go to. I really loved the green tea, tropical fruit and citrus vanilla flavors. I also honestly felt pretty energized after drinking it. As you know I have been off coffee this month so I have been looking for healthy alternatives and this has really done the trick.

 

Try your choice of any 1-3 bottles of Cell-nique now and get FREE SHIPPING! Redeem this offer at http://www.cell-nique.com/products/Try_Me-26-66.html

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