Life lately and my love language

Things have been very busy around here! Cami and I have had errands to run every day this week, so between that and working I haven't had time to blog :( Trust me, I'm desperately trying to get into the habit of blogging 5-6 times per week.  For those of you that are able to do that (plus work FT as I know most of you do)...I totally admire you! Blogging is so much fun, but it definitely takes time!

what i've been up to at work:

SheKnows.com: 10 Best ski resorts for the upcoming season
                        Holidays and breaking bread with Soleil Moon Frye
                        How to be a successful business owner

Rant Finance: The cost of having a baby
                    Halloween on a budget
                    Earn money from home
                    Is a joint checking account for you?

what i've been up to at home:

Nothing too interesting...cooking, cleaning, playing with Cami, etc. John and I got Mad Med season 5 in the mail through Netflix! So that's exciting. Mad Med is one of my all-time favorite shows. It's so witty and the characters are great. 

John and I started reading "The 5 Languages of Love." Has anyone read that? It's great, and I recommend it for all couples even though we're only on chapter 3. You first take a quiz to determine what your "love language" is, and then the book goes over how to meet the needs of your spouse's love language, which ultimately leads to a happier, healthier marriage. My love language is quality time, which didn't surprise me in the least. Quality time to me, though, isn't watching a movie together, it's more about actually talking to each other and having his full attention (no sports allowed during quality time!!). Anyways, it's a great book and I'm excited to dive further in.

And Camdyn is crying...so I leave you with some photos:

love this little bald chic!

oh ya know, just relaxin'

"mom, quit blinding me with the flash"

Cami LOVES her daddy!

Big news, and some recipes

I have some big news to share with everyone: My baby girl is eating. Specifically, she's eating sweet potatoes, and I have the pictures to prove it:

Messy messy baby

She's in sweet potato heaven here

I know this may not seem like a big deal, but it means my baby girl is growing up. I want her to stay a baby forever!! Seriously.

I'm a pretty tidy person - I hate germs and clean obsessively, actually - but Camdyn and the sweet potatoes win every time. I always thought I would never let my child eat messily and get food everywhere. HA! There's no such thing. She flails her arms like a crazy person and spits her food out more than she takes it in. Last time I fed her, I found sweet potatoes in her hair. 

In other news, John and I have been eating pretty good around here (in other words, I've actually been cooking).  Easy recipes, of course.  The crock pot is my new best friend.

Last night, I made spicy mexican shredded chicken tacos. So simple.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Tacos

• Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or not frozen lol)
• 1 packet taco seasoning (I used the spicy kind)
• 1 can of Rotel

Place in crock pot and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Shred and continue cooking another hour (it will be a little watery looking from the Rotel but if you cook it more after shredding, the chicken will absorb most of this).  Serve in soft or hard tacos with cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa etc.  I also made mexican rice from a box to go with this. 

Frozen chicken, seasoning and Rotel

Voila! Delicious spicy, shredded chicken

I LOVE making meals in the crock pot because it's so easy and always tastes so good. Plus, I'm never sure when John's going to be home so it's nice that we can eat a home-cooked meal whenever he arrives :)

Tonight for dinner I made pasta salad. I got this recipe from some family friends. It doesn't involve the crock pot, but it's really easy nonetheless.

Basil Tomato Pasta Salad

• 1 box bowties pasta (I used mini bowties)
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• fresh basil, cut thinly
• olive oil
• shredded mozzerella cheese (I used finely shredded)
• salt and pepper

Make pasta according to package. Rinse with cold water. Add in diced tomatoes, basil, some olive oil, cheese, and salt and pepper. Mix well and refrigerate a few hours. Delicious!

That's all for today. I'll leave you with some more photos of Camdyn and my most recent finance blog: Is a joint checking account for you?

Work lately

I've been really busy with work lately, and I love it!  Camdyn's been taking a morning and an afternoon nap so it's allowed me plenty of time to get everything done that I've needed to.

I love reading about other peoples' jobs on blogs, so I'd like to share some of the stuff I've been up to recently:

Rant Finance Blog: Dining out versus eating in

SheKnows Articles: How to make a silhouette painting
                            In a pickle: What to do with overripe bananas
                            What to do in Helen, Georgia

I'm so blessed to be able to work from home and share my work with my readers! I have a lot of fun with my job, and love that every day provides something different and challenges me in a different way.

I recently interviewed Soleil Moon Frye.  That article should be live soon, so I'll make sure to post the link once it's up!  Soleil is SO sweet, and really loves her two daughters, Poet and Jagger.  I was really nervous since I've never interviewed before, but am happy to have that under my belt.  I've always been one to ask way too many questions, so interviewing is seriously right up my alley and I love it! 

Speaking of interviewing, guess who I get to do next?!  Country singer Trisha Yearwood! I almost had a heart attack when I found that out.  I'm a huge country fan and Trisha Yearwood has always been a favorite of mine (her song "She's in love with the boy" is my fave!).  She has two cookbooks and a cooking show (new season premieres on Oct 20th on Food Network), so it'll be great to ask her about some of her cooking secrets!

Hope everyone is having a good Friday!  The weekend is upon us - woo hoo!  John and I are playing Bingo tomorrow and I'm super excited.  We used to play all the time before having Cami, so we like to go every few months or so as a date night!

New job! New job!

Last week I applied to be a financial blogger for Rant Finance.  Basically, you start your own blog on the site and can blog about anything that's related to finance.  I really wanted this job - as blogging about finance and money is (strangely) something I've always wanted to do.  I considered making this blog about finance, but ultimately decided against it as I'd rather have it be a document of my life.

Sooo guess what?!  I GOT IT!!  You can find my blog here.  It's titled "A Family Affair" since my theme is going to be family finance.  You can read more about that in my first post, "What is "A Family Affair?""

The job's pretty flexible - I can post as little or as often as I'd like.  I'm going to aim for 4 days per week, since I still have my SheKnows work and of course Camdyn.  I already have a ton of ideas and can't wait to get started!

NaNoWriMo

Has anyone heard of this?

It's stands for National Novel Writing Month and takes place in November.  Anyone in the world can join.  Basically, you commit to writing a novel in the month of November and it has to be a minimum of 50,000 words.  Sounds cool!  Now if only I had an idea...

Anyways, today John and I saw the movie The Words.  Amazing.  I don't want to give anything away, but it definitely is going down as one of my all-time favorites.  It deals with writing and plagiarism, and how the choices we make affects our lives profoundly.  

I also made a batch of Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Glaze.  They're delicious.  So good that I skipped dinner so I could justify eating three more.  Recipe to come soon.

Taking care of business / work

I know a lot of you are interested in what I do for a living (ok, maybe not...but I'm going to tell you anyways).  

I have a degree in finance and worked as a finance counselor before having Camdyn.  Though I liked the people I worked with, working FT isn't in the cards for me (right now).  

Right after Camdyn was born, I got an amazing opportunity to write articles for SheKnows - a website of fashion, entertainment, food, parenting, pets, home decor, style, and more.  It's updated hourly.  I write for the home, living, and pet sections (adding food soon!).  It's funny, my whole life I've wondered about my "purpose" and always thought I'd be a mom and wife and that was my role.  I always looked at jobs as simply a way to make money.  I didn't think I'd ever find something I was actually passionate about.  Low and behold - I did.  I absolutely love writing (trust me, I wouldn't have this blog if I didn't).  I feel confident that this is where I'm supposed to be, and that, my friends, is a wonderful feeling.

Here's a few articles I've written if you'd like to take a peak:

The hidden costs of home buying

How to invest your money

Top 5 must-read craft blogs

How to make money blogging

I don't want to bore you with all of them, but if you click my name on one of the links it will take you to all the articles I've written thus far.

So what does a day in the life look like for me?

Well I wake up to this:

around 6:30am (and 1:00am, and sometimes 4:00am haha).  I feed her and play with her for a few hours.  She typically takes a morning nap, and that's when I'll start either writing or brainstorming topics.  Lunch is normally spent at Starbucks with my mom or sister, followed by more hanging out with Cami. She normally naps for 2-3 hours in the afternoon.  This is when I plan on getting my articles done.  When John gets home (between 5 and 7), we hang out, have dinner, and play with Cami.  Whatever's left for me to finish I do after Camdyn goes to bed.  

Since my job is PT right now, every day doesn't look quite like that.  Some days I don't have work to do, so I'll spend them cooking, cleaning, running errands, etc.  It's crazy how fast my days go by even though I stay home!

Since finance is my major, I've decided to start a weekly finance column.  I need to narrow it down a bit - so I'm asking your opinions!  What is something you would want to read, weekly, when it comes to money and finances?  Budget tips?  Ways to save?  Family finances?  Finances for those "getting started" in the working world? Etc.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!  I know I personally like to read about investing, but I don't think most people do...which is why I'm asking you!

Encouragement Series

So I thought it'd be cool to start a series where I put an encouraging quote / phrase / photo / thought etc on my blog everyday (Mon-Sat).  I know that I've had rough days and then seen something that's turned my day around.  Everyone could use a little encouragement now and then :)

This quote touches home to both my husband and I.  My husband works for himself and can have periods of down-time just like anyone working for themselves would.  I tend to jump to the "Well maybe you should get a regular full-time job" conclusion quite quickly.  The thing is, my husband loves what he does and he's really good at it.  Being slow doesn't mean quit - it means thinking outside the box and coming up with different advertising strategies.  It means finding a solution, not giving up on his dream.

For myself, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm meant to by Camdyn's mom.  That is my purpose.  I'm also extremely blessed in that I can work from home writing, which is something I absolutely love way more than I thought I would.  I don't make very much money, but I'm hoping to grow in my field and get more job opportunities.  Writing is honestly the one job I've had that I actually really like (well, I did really like being a server, but unfortunately that would require me to take Cami to daycare).  I like it so much that it doesn't even seem like work.  Isn't there a quote "if you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life"?  That's how I feel about writing.  

So again, "Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.

Blogging

Though I don't post much, the blogging world is something that fascinates me.  So many people (SO MANY) have great blogs and I only wish I could be as good, or as interesting, as them.  Maybe I am...maybe I just need to post more.  I always have a lot on my mind, I just need to start putting these thoughts into words.  

I also love that fact that there's literally a whole blog world right here in front of me.  It's a way to make friends and connect with people just like me.  There's mommy bloggers, fashion bloggers, military wife bloggers, food bloggers, and more.  It's a way to feel more connected and not so alone in this world.  If I could make someone's day or change someone's outlook, if even only for a second, then it's all worth it.

It amazes me too that some women actually get paid to blog.  Of course, they didn't start out this way, and it took hours upon hours of work to get there, but still...the fact that they followed their hearts and are doing what they love is admirable.  I did an article on How to make money blogging, and was pretty astounded by what I discovered.  Having followers alone isn't what generates an income, you have to have advertisers, sponsors, affiliates, a shop, and more.  Income is generated from numerous sources, but guess what...you have to maintain all that.  After all, it's your business.  If it's not something you enjoy, it's not going to work out.  Also note that if you're only in it for the money, the readers will see that and quit reading.  Successful bloggers truly. love. blogging.

So my goal for now is to simply write more.  Who knows if this will go anywhere, but I have a lot to say, and lead a fairly interesting life, so why not?