favs

I love when others share some of their favorite things in life or things that make life a little easier because I usually find something new to try and I love that. So after writing a not so happy post yesterday and deciding not to post it because I used  the F word a few too many times I decided to be a little more cheery and dive into a list of my favs.

- Amazon... I love this place. I don't buy everything on here but I buy A LOT. I buy most if not all of our doggie treats and shampoo. Its not usually a whole lot cheaper a couple bucks can add up. I only buy things that I can get the prime shipping because I refuse to ever ever pay for shipping when I shop online. I find it a waste of money. Harley along with my children empty my wallet faster than a snow cone sale. I love to get them cute or fun or new things. So if I can shop online and not go into a store I usually spend less anyway.
I buy a lot of other things on amazon exclusively-- such as cell phone cases. Now seriously if you haven't realized how cheap you can get your cell phone case and you are still spending $20-$30 you better RUN to amazon. I never usually never spend more than $4 on a case but my last case I bought I really loved and I splurged and spent $10 on it. For any of you that buy otter boxes-- they are cheaper too. They can be so expensive but Ryan HAS to have one. It has saved it phone hundreds of times so I refuse to let him get anything else.
My tip for Amazon other than being apart of PRIME... Keep checking back for an item you are looking for. There is new stuff added quite a bit and sometimes when I cant get something with free shipping- ill come back a couple days/weeks later and can get it through PRIME.

- My tumblers. I only have 2 because I really don't need more than that but I love them both sooo much. I have never been one to drink enough during the day and for some reason these things make me drink more. I take them everywhere I go and they keep ice frozen all day. Since I became pregnant I haven't been able to drink out of glass cups much. For some weird reason they make me gag and changes the taste of everything I am drinking so I am all about the plastic stuff. Reusable of course.

- "A Place of Yes" by Bethenny Frankel. Okay I know this girl has been on some cheesy reality TV but I honestly love her. You know me and the cheesy reality. I love it all. but what really made me love this lady is this book. I am not a big book lover. I love children's books but I don't LOVE to sit down and read for hours on end. I don't know whats wrong with me. but this book is one I LOVE and enjoyed reading for hours. This book made me want to change certain areas in my life. Not huge areas but little ones. It made me feel more empowered to go after what I am wanting in life. Whether it be big or small and do what I have to do in order to accomplish that. I first read this book when I really needed it last year and I took so much of it to heart and it was really eye opening

-Almonds. Delicious raw almonds. I have always thought I hated any type of nut growing up. I would steer clear of them all. Well now that I'm a grown up I decided to start trying all those things I used to hate again to see if I really hated them. and so far most nuts have now been moved to my LOVE list. There are some I am still not a fan of but almonds are definitely one of my favorites. I have been eating them like crazy through this pregnancy because I am always feeling hungry and that is something I don't feel too guilty about snacking on between meals.

- Kuhn Rikon 4" Paring Knives. Okay so these have to be the best knives I have ever seen. I love these more than our wusthof knifes people. I bought ours close to 4 years ago at Sur La Table but I recently found them on AMAZON for cheaper. You can buy them individually at Sur La Table for about $10 each and on Amazon for $24 for a set of 3. The colors are what made me fall in love, ill be honest. but they are so sharp and hardly ever have to be sharpened. I use them for everything and they are crazy easy to clean. I should take better care of my knives but I usually stick them all in the dishwasher and these never come out looking a bit rusty like some of the others I have.

- Jergens gradual self tanner. I hate self tanning lotions. They never go on me evenly so I am left with streaks and orange in random areas instead of a light tan. I used to love to go to tanning beds but honest have been scared to death about cancer and how dangerous they are so I haven't been inside one for a couple years and well now that I am pregnant I cant really unless I want to cook my baby in a bad way. but I also hate being so glowing white that I have to wear sun glasses when I am nude or if my legs or arms are showing skin at all. I was really skeptical about using Jergens but when I saw my sister looking like she just got back from Hawaii with a perfect tan I was sold. I bought a bottle which I just have to say is kind of expensive so I was a bit nervous but I love it. I started to notice a little color after 3 days of applying once a day. I stopped using it after 6 days because I did start to see some streaking. I think if you apply to much it can do that but its now been a full 2 weeks since I started to put it on and 8 days since I have applied some and I am just now starting to see it washing away. I figured ill do some exfoliating and start over in a day or so but I love the color it gives me. Its just barley anything really but it makes me feel like I have something. AND it smells really good. Normally self tanners smell weird and smell like a tanning bed but not this stuff. I love it.

- Weekly planners. I started this right after Ryan and I got married and over the years it changes all the time to fit our needs in the moment. I am a bit of a control freak and I need things to be written down and planned out. I am doing better at living in the moment but this is one thing that at least gives me some healthy control and keeps our house running. I have a TO DO side of things that has to get done during that week. When it gets done I don't care just as long as by Sunday everything is crossed off. That way if Ryan has time to help he can see what still needs to be done and does something. The other side is a food menu. I have sections for breakfast, lunch and dinner but we usually never follow the breakfast and lunch ones. I try to at least have a list of what we have in the house so we are not standing there in the morning thinking there is nothing to eat. but we always follow the dinner menu. We might switch the days up depending on what we are in the mood for but we always pick something for that week because I know we have everything to make it. On the back is my shopping list. I try to keep that up to date when we run out of the staple items like butter, certain seasonings, cheese, etc. Those are sometimes items ill over look when I'm trying to plan a meal for the next week and forget I need to get those at the store.


I really could make a list much larger but I figured you might be kind of bored so ill end it with that. If you do these favorite lists make sure you let me know because I would love to see it. I am always looking for new tips and tricks and products to try.

Happy Wednesday!