18 Fun Date Night In Ideas - Date Your Spouse Without Leaving Your House!

One thing that I've heard from many couples, that we try to follow, and I also give the advice to others is that you always need to continue to date your spouse. Don't ever lose that special spark between the two of you by always kindling that fire with fun times and special moments shared.

Dating your spouse sounds great, right? But we all know finding the time and hiring a babysitter isn't always a possibility. Here's the thing, dating doesn't have to be complicated. You don't have to do anything special. It doesn't have to mean getting gussied up and going out on the town - you can date your spouse at home.

Here's 18 ways you can plan the perfect date night in:

1. Turn your living room into a cozy indoor campground and snuggle up while telling stories.

2. Create a craft night - get creative with your boo and let it flow.

3. Get boozy and have a little cocktail sampler night, trying new beverages or your old favorites.

4. Set up a picnic in the backyard during the day and spoil each other with some foods that remind ou of your first dates.

5. Have a game night and let the competition heat things up.

6. Try something new with a little taste testing of something completely new for you guys, whether that be sushi or a new take on Korean bibimbap.

7. Stargaze and make wishes on 'shooting stars' even if you don't see any.

8. Take a trip down memory lane and look at old photos or pictures.

9. 'Go to The Game' in your own home, just DVR or watch a game live and chow down on hotdogs and nachos, maybe even surprise hubs with a beer in a cup that features his favorite team if you're feeling fancy.

10. Give each other some touch therapy! Google proper massage techniques and start rubbing!

11. Let your milkshake bring your boy to the yard, make special milkshakes or smoothies and sip with your sweetie.

12. Get into some Karaoke - Sing your heart out with no judgement, just check out youtube for your favorite songs and get to groovin' to your fav tunes!

13. Have an exclusive book club meeting, grab two of the same copies of a book from the library and read it together during the week and spend your 'date night' discussing.

14. Learn more about each other, take some personality tests online and share your results.

15. Plan your next vacation together, dream up the wildest places you could visit together or actually start booking the tickets - the choice is yours, just dream big together.

16. Redo something together, whether it's painting an old piece of furniture or reorganizing the pots and pans in your cabinets - spice things up by redoing something and making it feel new.

17. Stretch it out and renew yourselves together with some Yoga fun. Whether you are seasoned yogis or you've never even attempted to stretch, be sure to give this flexibility encouraging activity a try.

18. Make it a spa night with a bath bomb, face masks, and maybe even a steam facial - pamper both of yourselves with self-care.

45 Healthy Coping Mechanisms - Teach Yourself & Your Child Healthy Ways to Cope

Life isn't always fair. I think we all grow up with this knowledge and yet, it's a hard lesson to learn for nearly everyone. No matter how perfect your life is, we've all dealt with set backs, disappointments, failures, and some of us have even suffered loss and trauma. Everyone has been through the "struggle" at some point, in differing measures, but we've all been effected. The thing is, some of us wear that stress and those failures for life and some of us have bounced back and live healthy productive lives. The choice is yours and it's all about how you COPE with the unfairness of life that makes the difference.

As you likely already know, "coping refers to the human behavioral process for dealing with demands, both internal and external, in situations that are perceived as threats" - according to the AlleyDog Psychology Glossary. Whether these threats are self-inflicted by our egos, or some troubling situation that has been imposed upon us by another - a threat is what we perceive as any form of stress, essentially.

Teaching ourselves and our children how to cope effectively will help us all to be a little less stressed and happier in our daily lives. While it's easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, I've compiled a list of 45 different ways you and your kiddos can learn to stress less and deal with the situation at hand in a positive and productive way, whatever that situation may be.

45 Healthy Coping Mechanisms

1. Ask for help

2. Go for a ride (or a walk)

3. Practice yoga

4. Create art

5. Practice gratitude

6. Blow bubbles

7. Listen to your favorite music

8. Use positive self talk

9. Journal

10. Hug a tree

11. Practice your sport of choice

12. Breathe deeply and mindfully

13. Eat a healthy snack

14. Drink water

15. Cuddle or play with your pooch

16. Be like Elsa & let it go

17. Smile and laugh out loud

18. Use essential oils

19. Bake something special

20. Use positive affirmations

21. Sing and dance

22. Take a nap

23. Take a shower or bath

24. Stretch

25. Learn something new

26. Read a book

27. Do something kind for the Earth

28. Look at old photos or take new ones

29. Garden

30. Visualize your happy place

31. Do a puzzle

32. Ask for a hug

33. Create origami

34. Clean something up

35. Jump around

36. Hang out in a hammock

37. Do something kind for a friend

38. Play a board game

39. Cry

40. Pray

41. Dance

42. Watch a movie

43. Lay in the sun

44. Plan something for the future

45. Scream

The 20 Best Children's Books About Feelings

Please note, this post includes affiliate links -
regardless all opinions expressed below are completely my own.

Helping children work through emotions is a difficult task at times, especially during the toddler years when most kiddos are still learning their language skills.

Feelings can be very overwhelming, but luckily you are there to help guide your little one through all of the emotions they are feeling and hopefully you can teach them to express themselves in healthy ways.

One way we've been working with D to express her emotions is by reading to her. It may sound too simple, but reading her books about her feelings has helped her expand her emotional vocabulary which has made expressing herself so much easier! From anger to sadness to joy, it is so cool witnessing her speak her truth.

Are you going through the throws of toddlerhood with your little one and experiencing fits and outrageous behavior? Here's some books to help you and your toddler cope through this intense phase in their life:

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain

In My Heart by Jo Witek

The Feelings Book by Todd Parr

Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis

Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boynton

Bootsie Barker Bites by Barbara Bottner

Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley

The Bad Mood and The stick by Lemony Snicket

The Bad Seed by Jory John

Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang

Kindness Starts with You by Jacquelyn Stagg

Don't Feed the Worry Bug by Andi Green

What to Do When Your Feeling Blue by Andi Cann

Tiger Days: A Book of Feelings by M. H. Clark

The Color Monster by Anna Llenas

The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee

Little Big Feelings by Deb Mills

What Color is Your Day? by Camryn Wells

A Little Scribble SPOT by Diane Alber

These 20 books are some of the best, but I'm curious - do you know of any books that I should add to this list? Tell me in the comments below and I'll add them to our library list and possibly this list as well!

Fight & Cure Viruses This Winter with Remedies That Actually Work - Fight the 2020 Flu Bug!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, regardless all opinions expressed below are my own.

There's a pretty gnarly flu bug floating around the nation, we managed to catch it while flying back home to see family and we've fighting it since.

It basically took our house hostage, for over a week, but I am finally adjusting back to life without waking up hacking every night again, D is still fighting her cough but mostly her normal self, and hubby is still recovering - but overall we BEAT the bug and I wanted to share how since we know what a doozy this really is.

This flu is different than others, we actually never got the elevated fever but had all the other symptoms to a tee. So know that if you don't have all the "influenza" symptoms, that you may still have the flu - or a similar virus.

If you're currently fighting it, know that "this too shall pass" and persevere... and this is a given, but if your symptoms become abnormally bad be sure to visit your doctor too!



With that said, let me start by saying, I'm not a medical professional - BUT this is what worked for us:

1. Electrolyte Water to help keep your body hydrated, even when nothing else sounds good.

2. Elderberry Syrup to help boost your immune system (for the family).

3. Zinc Tablets to help shorten the symptoms (only for the parents).

4. Emergen-c or Airborne drink mix to offer immune support and boost your vitamin C, allowing your body to fight off the virus quickly.

5. Essential Oils are a must, we set up our diffuser and use some of our favorites from Eden's Garden to help make breathing easier (be careful with oils and research before use).

6. Cool Mist Humidifier is a necessity, if you are dealing with a cough. I would not have been able to sleep without ours and it has helped ease D's symptoms as well.

7. Fresh Cool Air is a given, but something that helped our family greatly. Any time D is experiencing a rough night, one of the first things I do is step out on our back porch and let her take some deep breaths. It always helps calm her coughing fits and my own as well.

8. Steam Showers on the other hand, have also helped us immensely. Without steam showers I don't think any of us would've been able to sleep this week.

9. Theraflu pods were a life saver for myself. D obviously can't drink these, but being able to have one of these warm drinks (with some meds also in it) seriously healed me so quick. I went from being miserable to feeling human within an hour, every single time I drank one.

10. Rest is another given for fighting the bug, but one that truly helped our family so it's something I feel I need to mention.

11. Nose Frieda is a nose suction device that your kid will HATE, but will make them feel better within seconds. We suction D's nose and she can instantly breath easier, even if she is fuming mad.

12. Similasan Kids Cough & Cold Relief was another life saver for us with D. We have both the day & night formulas now and swear by this brand, it's a natural cough syrup that has helped her in the past but especially helped fight this bug and it's safe for any kiddo ages 2+.

So tell me, have you caught this terrible bug that's been spreading like crazy across the nation? I hope not, but if you have - I'd love to hear how you "survived" it and what helped you the most!

And to those of you that encourage others to get the flu shot, that's your choice - but it's one we opt out of year after year, after contracting a terrible case of the flu after receiving the shot years back. I'm not saying anything against others who choose to get it, we just don't in our house and even after experiencing the flu again - I still hold true to my decision.

30 Things to Let Go Of So You Can Live a Happier, Healthier, More Productive Life!

Letting things go can be hard at times, but letting these 30 things go will be life changing for you.

Things to let go of in 2020:

1. Comparing yourself to others.
2. Feeling sorry for yourself.
3. Spending money on items you don't need.
4. Being obsessed with viewing others "perfect" social media lives.
5. Fearing the unknown and the anxiety that comes with that fear.
6. Holding on to hurt.
7. Putting off vacation.
8. Feeling jealous.
9. Toxic relationships.
10. Waiting for the "right time".
11. The need to control every detail of everything.
12. relying on others to make you feel complete.
13. Avoiding the real world.
14. Keeping up with the Jones'.
15. Your hesitation to enjoy life to the fullest.
16. Creating unrealistic expectations for yourself.
17. Fearing failure.
18. Living in the past.
19. Worrying about what others think about you.
20. Living a disorganized life.

21. Trying to control the people around you.
22. Being TOO busy for everything.
23. Analyzing and picking apart situations.
24. Trying to fit in.
25. Blaming others for your problems.
26. Friends who don't care about your best interests.
27. Avoiding change.
28. Being afraid to BE you!
29. Holding on to useless items.
30. Avoiding the truth.

My Year to Be Here Now & a Greek Gods Yogurt, Fruit, & Granola Power Breakfast

This Post is sponsored by Greek Gods Yogurt, regardless all opinions expressed below are completely my own.
It's that time of year...

In years past, I've made New Years resolutions. I've wished for things, I set goals, and I've worked hard to achieve them. When I reach those goals or turn my wishing into success, I've been proud, but I'm not necessarily any happier than I was before.

So this year, instead of setting goals, I'm striving to just live in the moment and enjoy it all. We all know every moment that passes is a moment we won't get back. My idea or phrase for the year is "Be here now" and I look forward to meditating on it and enjoying life as it comes instead of stressing about goals or wishing for more.

I think we all can agree, starting out the new year on a good note is something all of us strive to do.

Whether you're the type that makes resolutions and sticks to them or you're more of the "go with the flow" type like I'm aiming to be this year. We all want to celebrate starting anew, it's like the new year brings a refreshing wave of consciousness to all and it's so nice to relish in it all.

While I'm still contemplating how I'll overcome my constant need to meet goals or achieve, I feel almost a bit of zen about how this year is starting.

Maybe it's because breakfast this morning was so delicious...? I truly enjoyed every last bite. If the rest of my day, week, year... could be that effortlessly enjoyable, maybe this year will really be MY YEAR.

Are you looking for a breakfast that brings happiness into your day? Maybe something better for you than the average breakfast dishes?

I'm super excited to share this delicious easy recipe using Greek Gods Yogurt with you today, it''s one I think you'll love through out 2020 and beyond.

Greek Gods Yogurt, Fruit, & Granola Power Breakfast

To make this amazing yogurt recipe you will need

1/4 cup blueberries
1 tsp agave
3/4 cup Greek Gods Honey Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 banana (sliced)
2 strawberries (sliced)
1/2 cup granola

You'll also need a saucepan.

To start this recipe, heat the blueberries in a saucepan at low heat for about 4 minutes, bursting them open while heating. Add in the agave and stir together. Remove from heat.

Next, you'll need to mix in about 1/4 cup of the Greek Gods Honey Vanilla Yogurt. Making a purple-y colored yogurt mixture. Place in bowl on a thin layer of granola(or in my case, mason jar).

Top with another small layer of granola. Then add a scoop or two more Greek Gods Yogurt.

Now add in sliced banana and again, add another scoop of Greek Gods Yogurt in Honey Vanilla.

Next add the sliced strawberries and the final bit of yogurt you have remaining, now top with granola to your preference.

That's it... it's THAT easy!

Wondering where you can find Greek Gods Yogurt? Greek Gods can be found in the dairy aisle, in the yogurt section, on the lower shelf.

I promise this is a recipe you're going to want to eat over and over so go ahead and pin this for later:

While this fruit and granola recipe is delicious, I added some MaraNatha Almond Butter and bananas to my Greek Gods Yogurt this morning and had to let you know this combination is also AMAZING!

Be sure to grab some when you're at the store for your yogurt so you can try this wonderful concoction for yourself!

So tell me, what would be your ideal ingredient to mix with your Greek Gods yogurt?