Motivational Monday: You Can

You Can.

Just a friendly reminder on this Monday morning.

Five on Friday: What I'm watching (streaming)

I love television. I'm not going to hide it. It is an amazing time for television.

So, here we go...

1. Imposters
Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix. I started watching it and my husband came in and he started watching it too. We have been watching it together and love it!

2. The Act
The Act is a Hulu original that is based on a true story and it is amazing!

3. No Good Nick
No Good Nick is a Netflix original. It is a sitcom. It is kind of a campy family comedy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin as the clueless parents.

4. Brene Brown the Call to Courage
Streaming on Netflix
Brene Brown is a self-help author that came to fame after a Ted Talk went viral. And I am now fully on the Brene Brown Train. I need all the books.

5. Santa Clarita Diet
SCD is a Netflix original starring Drew Barrymore as a mom who becomes a zombie. Hilarity and absurdity ensues. Watch it. Every episode is as good as the first!

And that's it. If you are looking for something new to watch, check out one or all of those. Have a good Friday!

19 for 2019: April Update

April. You kicked my butt. You were a great, happy, productive, exciting, wonderful, beautiful month. But you absolutely kicked my butt. I made minimal progress in most things, but huge progress in others!

Ok.

In progress:
2. Go to Archery Monthly
I have everything I need to make my own archery backing. I just need to block out some time to do it. I ended up helping Chris build his aquaponics tank and not doing a lot of my own outside projects.

3. Facts of Life Binder
This has stagnated.

4. Crochet a Blanket
I am still crocheting!

9. Read 65 Books
I read 3 more books. I really need to step it up on this goal.

10. Continue Mental 20.
I'm not consistent and need to get back to that.

11. Adopt.
Ok, this is where I have made big strides. Our profile is mostly put together. It was in a rough draft that I just got back from our consultant and I'm going to block out some time for that on Friday. I am getting our Home Study Application together to send out tomorrow and then we launch into a marathon home study month.

12. Keep Training Ellie
We are working on her night time craziness...no idea how to get it to stop, but we are eliminating problems.

15. Travel Agency Sales
Stagnated. No new sales, but a lot of quotes out and added followers. This is all so hard!

17. Sugar Free/Dairy Free/Gluten Free
I did a sugar free Lent and then fell hard off that horse, but I am calming down and getting back on track.

19. Catch up on Photo Books
I have made 2 more and hope to get 1 more made.

And that's it. I don't know what May will bring. I am going to pare back on my goals for May. Right now I am thinking I will plan to finish the home study...its the number one first priority. I also want to purge my master closet, and do some archery and crocheting and baking.

I also ordered the Cultivate What Matters powersheets, the 6 month undated version. I want to use the powersheets to help me organize my goals for the rest of the year.

Ok, so what are your goals for May? How did April go?

Motivational Monday: Forget to Check Your Phone

You have seen it. People at a restaurant. People at a concert. People at a theme park. All on their phones. Now, some people are working at those events and need to be uploading to social media for work, but the majority are just scrolling Instagram or Snapchat.

If you find yourself being one of those people...take note of your situation. Are you at a restaurant you have been at 90 times? Are you at a concert you don't particularly want to be at but it was the "it" thing to do? Are you just insecure about what to do when you are waiting for something?

Change your situation. Go to a new restaurant. Choose activities that excite you. Look around, for goodness sake. There is so much to see in the world. Be the weirdo not looking at your phone, its ok. I promise.

Find an activity that draws you in so much that you don't even think about picking up your phone...its amazing...I promise.

In the Kitchen with Jennie: The Changing of the Seasons

I don't know about you, but I am in this weird meal planning funk. Its hard to plan a lot of grilling because of the unpredictability of the weather. And I am tired of my winter staples...you know, the ones that are heavier and need a lot of oven time, so it heats the house up...

So, how do I handle this?

For me, I revert back to my staple meals. Tacos, Spaghetti, Burgers, etc. I also like to plan meals that can be grilled or can be cooked on the stove.

I did hear that one of the local farmers stands is open...so I think its time to switch to a grilling meal plan for next week!

How do you handle this changing of the season meal planning?

Motivational Monday: Be the Girl

We all follow those women on Instagram who are just living their best life. They travel, they have beautiful homes, perfectly un-coiffed children, a handsome husband and the best set of girlfriends.

The only difference between those women and you (myself included in that you) is that they just went for it. They put in the hard work and the many hours. They struggled and they sweated. And after a while...they made it. Because they just went for it.

I've been following a lot of those women and listening to their backstories. They are all basically the same.

Here are the highlights:

1. They worked an uninspiring 9-5 job.
2. They followed their passion from 5-midnight and on weekends.
3. At some point, their passion became financially viable and they were able to quit their 9-5 job.
4. They hit some major stumbling block and began to doubt themselves.
5. Then, it all came together.

I'm currently on step #2...where are you?

Five on Friday: Favorite Seafood Recipes

We are nearing the end of Lent and if you are anything like me, you are struggling to keep the Friday meals interesting. It's hard because at the end of the week, we are tired and cooking is the last thing we want to do, so no one wants a complicated recipe.

So here are my five favorite seafood recipes...all quick and easy!

1. Garlicky Shrimp from Real Food with Jessica
I like to serve it over rice or noodles and I also like to saute broccoli to go along with it. To add the broccoli, add it to the oil first and when the broccoli is just about done, add the shrimp.

2. My Thai Red Curry
Instead of chicken, I add shrimp to the curry for about 3 or 4 minutes. Serve it over rice.

3. Parmesan Broiled Tilapia from Spend with Pennies
I sub any white fish for the tilapia and serve it with a salad and some kind of potato.

4. Spicy Shrimp and Rice Bowl from The Organic Kitchen
The recipe calls for cauliflower rice, but my husband prefers regular rice.

5. Grilled Salmon
As it starts getting warmer, I like to have my husband grill salmon and I make a vegetable and a potato.

And those are my five favorite seafood recipes!

Housewife Life: Girls Weekend

Last weekend, I met with a friend and we hunkered down in a hotel to rest and chat. We had delicious food and lots of alcohol. We spent time in the hot tub. We went outside for less than one minute when we considered dipping in the outdoor, heated pool. We did foot masks, face masks and hair masks. We giggled. We slept. We caught up. We talked about things. We just had the best time.

One of Six Tequila Sunrises we each drank this weekend.

Our weekend was so rejuvenating, we decided to make it an annual tradition.

I think its so important for women to take the time to step back and take care of themselves. We so often wear ourselves down taking care of others and we forget that if we don't take care of ourselves, we can't be our best self for the people we love.

In the Kitchen with Jennie: Salmon Quiche Recipe Review

During Lent, we are always looking for new ways to eat seafood on Fridays. Since we don't eat a lot of fried foods anymore, we get stuck in a baked fish rut a lot. A friend mentioned that her girls loved salmon quiche, so I looked up this recipe from Frugal Mom, eh! and tried out her recipe.

I struggle a lot with quiche. I can never get it to set up, so I am always a little nervous about trying one.

This was the first quiche I have tried that set up exactly within the specified baking time! The only problem is that I don't love canned salmon, so I did not love the quiche.

Quiche before I cooked it.

I have since tried it with shredded chicken and it was delicious!

Motivational Monday: You don't have to be perfect

Perfection is boring.

Also. Nobody is perfect.

Ok, cliches aside...

We all put off life changes until the time is right. I will get married when I have a good job. I will have a baby when my finances are in order. I will get a family photo taken when I lose 10 pounds. We are forever waiting to reach some inner standard of perfection before we think we can reach for our dreams.

But here it is. You are already amazing. The people around you can see it. The world can see it...you just can't see it. No one cares if your hair isn't perfect or if you have 10 pounds to lose. You are amazing...but you aren't perfect.

And to be honest, perfection is boring. One of my favorite lifestyle bloggers shares a lot of her craziness on Instagram and it is the only reason I follow her. I don't particularly love her style and I don't have the finances to travel the way she travels. Her blog is incredibly polished and I don't love the image of perfection that it displays. But I love her recipes and I love her candor on Instagram.

So stop thinking that you have to reach perfection because you are already amazing!

Five on Friday: Content I'm Loving

I haven't been watching much lately because I got Everybody Loves Raymond on DVD for Christmas and it's just been on loop.

But there are a few things I've been watching, reading and listening to.

1. Plan with Laken on YouTube

She is one of the planner community YouTubers, but she is big into goal setting, which I am also trying to strengthen this year, so I have really been enjoying her videos and Instagram.

2. @nainaplanning on Instagram

Laken from Plan with Laken introduced me to Naina and I love her!

3. Rush by Lisa Patton

A few months ago, our book club was invited to hear Patton speak about her new book. We read her trilogy a few years ago and loved it, so after hearing how much of the book was accurate...we had to read it. Apparently, there really are parents who spend $20,000 to decorate a dorm room...a DORM ROOM.

4. Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin

You all know I love Gretchen. Yep, in my head we are on a first name basis. So, I had to order her newest book and it is full of tidbits and wisdom about how to achieve Outer Order which leads to Inner Calm.

5. Forever35 Podcast

I don't always listen to the interviews they do, but I love the part where they just chat with each other!

And that's it for this week!

Walt Disney World Trip Report: Day 5

We woke up bright an early on our last day.

We were planning on using the resort airline check-in for our checked luggage and we needed to leave our carry on bags with bell services, so we headed down there at about 6:00 AM.

It was so quick and easy! We checked our three suitcases and left my carry-on with bell services and we went back in the lobby to call an Uber to take us over to the Boardwalk Resort for our 7:35 AM breakfast reservation at Trattoria al Forno.

We were at the Boardwalk Resort by 6:30 AM and wandered around a little bit before just settling down to relax in the lobby. At 7:15, we headed down to the boardwalk to take some pictures before going into the restaurant.

We were among the first groups seated and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast with great character interactions.

We were finished with our breakfast by 8:40 and walked over to Epcot. When the park opened, we raced over to Test Track. At 10, we headed over to Norway for our Frozen Ever After FastPass+ and then we toured the Norway pavilion before sitting down to wait for the rest of the World Showcase to open.

At 11, the rest of the World Showcase opened and we stopped at the China food kiosk to sample some of the Festival of the Arts offerings. For the next three hours, we toured the World Showcase at a breakneck speed, stopping for food kiosks and entertainment. At 1:30, we got back to the Mexico pavilion to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour and then we headed to the front of the park.

We took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom, took some pictures, shopped, and decided to head back to Coronado Springs.

When we got back to Coronado Springs, we got our bag from bell services and settled down in El Mercado de Coronado to charge up our devices, hydrate, eat dinner and rest before our 6:30 "Tragical" Express.

And that's a wrap! Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share dining reviews and a resort review.

If you enjoyed following along on our trip and want some help planning one of your own, you can request a quote at here.

Motivational Monday: Prepare Me

We all have something on our hearts that we are praying for. Something unspoken, something incredibly important, something potentially life-changing.

I came across this prayer not too long ago and it struck me as extremely important to add into my intentions. So many times, we are praying so fervently for something...a new job, a new friend, a new spouse, a baby, a new house...but we forget to prepare ourselves for the new thing.

All life changes require preparation of some sort, but I think preparation of the mind and spirit are the most important because a good mental and emotional state can make any change positive.

So, this week, remember to pray for preparation for the life change we are praying for.