Hilarious mishap

So, funny story.

Last night, Josh and I went out to something called “Bar Review.” Now, Josh has mentioned this night multiple times and I always just assumed that it was night that future lawyers got together at a restaurant/bar, had a few drinks, and studied. Well, apparently it’s just a play on words and is just a night devoted to going out to drink and have fun.

Anyways, we went last night with two friends of ours whose names I will not use because I didn’t ask if I could write about them. So in order to honor privacy and such, I won’t use real names. Let’s say they are Jenn & Carl.

So the four of us went to Bar Review and ended up standing and talking with the guy whose name we will say was Brad. After a bit, Carl and Josh went to grab another drink.

Brad, I’ll assume didn’t recognize me from the school so he asked if I was a law student. I replied, “No. I’m married to one.”

(This is where it gets good!)

He immediately looked at Jenn and Me and said, “Congratulations! You guys can do that now!”

Well, I got such a kick out of him automatically assuming we were lesbians that I had to play along a bit, until he caught on that I was getting way too much enjoyment out of the situation.

I hope you got a laugh too!

Investing

My husband and I are starting to look into investing. Sure it’s not “ideal” timing since money is kind of tight with Josh still in school, but we want to set ourselves up for the future.

This desire of ours, has shown me a pretty funny difference between the two of us.

I am a 100% dreamer. If something looks good/sounds good, or I can start to see dollar signs, I am all for giving it a try. I figure, high-risk means high-reward. Josh is absolutely not on that train with me. He needs to know his investments will pay off and be good decisions so he investigates things to death.

His need to do the research is a great balance to my “shoot from the hip” personality. But that also leads to us having some drawn out discussions. Since he is far more skeptical than I am, most of our decisions on future spending boil down to one of us needing to persuade the other to see our point of view.

Thankfully, I have a really great track record on making good “shoot from the hip” financial decisions.

When I first joined Nerium, Josh didn’t really believe in it. 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, 2 free, all-inclusive vacations, a FREE Lexus, and plenty of money later, my investment clearly payed off.

As we continue investigating the world of investing, I know we will continue to understand the art of compromise and learn more about how we think when it comes to money. It’s an exciting time, and I can’t wait to see where we land on investing.

Semi-homemade

Have you ever tried to get rid of an email account? Maybe you are downsizing your email accounts, creating a more universal one, or switching to a business email. In any case, I can assure you that there are few things more annoying than mapping your way through updating your email situation.

Yesterday I went from having a separate business email, to condensing into a universal email and I am paying dearly for it.

I had no idea how many things were attached to my business email. From credit card accounts to online shopping accounts, it has been an incredible hassle trying to clean up the technological mess I have created.

For the last 24 hours, I have been wrestling with websites to have my contact email changed to my new address and it’s driving me up the wall. I have missed emails because they were sent to my old account, and have been trying to work through other little hiccups.

If I had known the trouble condensing emails was going to cause you can bet, I never would have bothered. Especially since technology isn’t a place where I am great at exercising patience.

ANYWAYS! Thanks for letting me rant!

Have you ever heard of Semi-Homemade? It’s a cooking show with an adorable blonde who prides herself on being able to prep food and drinks by combining homemade aspects with premade elements, and I love that concept!

A good chunk of the cooking I do follows that idea.

For example, last night I made chicken pot pie. I use Pillsbury Pie Crust, 2 cans of cream of chicken, 2 cans of mixed veggies, and chicken. Super simple! If I have time I cook 2 chicken breasts and shred it, mix in the other ingredients and then fill the pre-made crusts. It’s absolutely delicious! (And if I don’t have time to make chicken I buy a roasted one and cut it up and use that). Seriously, it’s delicious and beats the heck out of one of the pre-made frozen pies, yet is easier than making my own crust. I highly recommend you give it a try!

I am all for semi-homemade meals!

(The mostly demolished pot pie from last night, if I had the foresight I would have taken the pic before we destroyed it)

Salads... eh.

I was not made to only eat salad.

Josh and I made a commitment at the beginning of the year to become healthier. That means we are watching our diets and not overindulging too often, as well as making workouts a priority.

Well, today I missed breakfast because I hit the ground running. So my first meal of the day was salad. And not even a delicious salad filled with great things like chicken, but a boring salad with the only 2 veggies we had in the fridge (peppers & carrots) and dressing that wasn’t super awesome. (Have I painted the picture that lunch was a taste bud let-down?)

This salad did not hit the spot and left my stomach gurgling. So annoying.

It’s been about 3 hours since we had lunch and to be totally honest, my stomach is crazy unsettled! I have been fighting the urge to vomit for the last 30 minutes and all I can think about is the fact that pizza wouldn’t have done this to me…

(I am the type of person who LOVES comfort foods. Give me a pizza, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc and I will be set).

Having a salad by itself is something I do not look forward to, nor something I would choose if I wasn’t trying to be healthier. And the way I am feeling right now is just confirming this thought process.

Thankfully, I can rest on the fact that these lifestyle changes will benefit us in the long run.

**(I may or may not have had a giant bowl of chips after posting this...)**

Love yourself.

Yesterday, Josh and I attended Blackhawk Church in Madison, and it was definitely one of those mornings where God made things happen for us.

We woke up 30 minutes before the service was going to start, so we had 15 minutes to whip ourselves together and 15 minutes to walk to church. Miraculously, it was not a stressful morning of prep, and we managed to get there only about 5 minutes late.

When the sermon began, I honestly didn’t think it was going to be something I was going to be able to dive into. Matthew 22:34-40 popped up on the screen and it was one I have heard numerous times, and as a child, we memorized it. It’s about the greatest of the commandments, and the sermon was going to focus on “loving your neighbor as yourself.”

I completely pre-judged. It wasn’t a sermon about loving my neighbor, but recognizing that I am called to love my neighbor in the same way I love myself.

You’re probably thinking, “duh! I got that from the verse.” But what we skim over is the fact that more often than not, we are really hard on ourselves. We don’t allow ourselves to forget our mistakes, we judge our appearances, and a good portion of the time we are tearing ourselves down. And sadly, the things we say to ourselves sometimes are things we wouldn’t dare say out loud to anyone else.

I had NEVER thought of the verse in that way. How can I possibly love someone like I love myself if I am too busy tearing myself down to love who I am? The sermon was all about learning to love yourself, and that was a topic I desperately have been needing.

When it comes to myself, I am constantly at war. I don’t often go a day without beating myself up. Some days my mind really gets the best of me: I’m a bad wife, a crappy daughter, neglectful sister, inattentive friend, terrible leader, not a good business woman, etc… It’s actually exhausting to think about the negative things I allow myself to believe about who I am.

The Bible teaches us about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Again, I know that these verses apply to how I am called to love others, but it’s also how I am called to love myself. Learning to love myself, will in turn enable me to love others better too.

I am so glad that God blessed us with this sermon and I want to share it with you too, because what I took away from it may not be what you do. So if you are so inclined, or even curious, I encourage you to check it out for yourself. I hope this helps you to fall in love with who you are.

https://vimeo.com/131118660

Valentine's

Valentine’s Day is coming up! 

Whether you are one of those people who think it’s a stupid waste or time, or someone who embraces it for every cheesy moment, chances are if you are in a relationship you will have to acknowledge it on some level.

Josh has always been big on not celebrating Valentine’s Day. He is one of those people who thinks it’s dumb.

Now, I am not someone who decorates for it, or goes overboard, but I do like the idea of having a day set aside to acknowledge your loved one. It’s kind of like a built in bumper for people who aren’t romantic year round, they get to make up for it on that day.

Valentine’s Day is cute and fun, but I want to talk to you today about how important it is to not let Valentine’s Day become the only time you do special things for your loved one.

I LOVE to do cute things for Josh, ALL THE TIME! It’s like a fun hobby of mine, coming up with new ways to surprise him and let him know that I am thinking about him. One of my favorite ways to do this is with Post It Notes. For example, when I go out of town for work I will spend the day before hiding all of these little notes with lovey phrases on them in places I know he will stumble upon them. I leave one rolled into the paper towels, stuck to the milk carton, under a plate in the cabinet, anywhere that he will find them. The last time, I think I hid well over 15 in our apartment and he didn’t find any until I had left!

I also love to write Josh letters and I love to mix it up. Sometimes the letters will be handwritten and tucked in his laptop. Other times I may type one up and send it via email. Like I said, I truly just want to make it apparent that he is always on my mind and I want him to feel loved.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to do small acts of love all year round, so I challenge you to not let Valentine’s Day be the only time you do the cute things.

Vision

Have you ever written a vision statement? (If you don’t know what a vision statement is, it’s when you write a page description, in present tense, of where you see yourself 5 years from the present).

Vision statements are a big deal in network marketing, but I feel like no matter what your walk of life is, having a vision statement is incredibly valuable.

By envisioning your life five years in the future, you allow yourself to dream about where you want to end up. When I wrote my first vision statement after joining Nerium, I had no idea how much power it had. The simple act of writing down what a day in my life would look like in 5 years, if I had my way, has propelled me towards exactly that.

I reread my vision statement this week and it was fascinating to see that my husband and I are actually well onto achieving that vision. Being able to recognize areas in my life that are moving towards my vision statement was really fun and has been an excellent source of motivation for me to move forward in my business.

I think that at times we get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of our goals. It has even been said that, “without vision, people parish.” It is so important to know where you want to go.

Having a vision statement written out has been able to subconsciously lead me towards the things I desire.

No matter what career field you have chosen, or where you are at in life, I highly recommend that you take a moment and dream. Write down what you want your life to look like five years from now. Don’t just make a list, but actually treat it like a narrative and walk through what a day in your life will look like. It’s an amazing exercise that can truly help propel you towards your goals.

My vision statement that I keep in my planner

Bible Study

Wednesday night is one of my favorite nights of the week. Josh and I have turned that night into our Bible study night. It’s such a great time for us to connect, remove distractions, and refocus on what truly matters.

I’ve talked before about some of the different topics we have covered in our study, but with the holidays and everything going on in the last month, we ended up losing track of where we left off.

So last week, Josh and I watched War Room. I’m not sure if you have heard of it or not, but it was phenomenal! The message was something I desperately needed to hear.

The movie is all about bringing all your worries and problems to God through pray and trusting that He will see you through. I struggle with the idea of giving up control in all aspects of my life. I feel like every little detail rises and falls with me. And heaven forbid I can’t control something, I feel like my whole life is out of whack. The idea of allowing God to handle the things that cause me worry and stress was never something I could wrap my brain around. (Like I said, I like to handle everything alone).

The movie served as an amazing reminder that God is in control and I am able to go before Him with the concerns in my life and trust that He will bring peace and understanding as well as lead me through the problems.

Not having to feel like everything starts and stops with me is a refreshing change in my life, but also one that takes some major getting used to.

I highly recommend that you check out this movie for yourself and learn to allow God to work within your life. It’s truly transforming the way that I face difficulties.

No more screens

Josh and I have decided to have an electronic shut-down time each day. We found ourselves sitting next to each other every night with the TV on and our phones or computers in hand. It was a habit we wanted to break because on the nights we didn’t stay on electronics we found ourselves having incredible conversations.

Recognizing that burying ourselves in a screen wasn’t healthy for our relationship has been such an amazing blessing.

Last night simply re-affirmed how I feel about us shutting off the screens.

I was pretty emotional. It was one of those nights where the simple thought of something negative or sad would stick with me and numerous times Josh would catch me with full eyes. Those times are hard. I know that whatever thoughts are in my head are out of my control and generally not even realistic, but that doesn’t stop the feelings from following.

Josh was finishing up the last of the kitchen and I was at my breaking point. I didn’t want to speak and I was still trying to hide the tears. For the first time in our relationship, Josh sat next to me and rather than trying to prevent me from crying, he welcomed it.

I was super caught off guard. He usually goes to extreme lengths to prevent the tears or tries to tell me that crying won’t make the situation change or make me feel better. But not last night.

Last night Josh told me he wanted me to just express how I was feeling and if that meant crying he wanted me to let it go, that he knew I needed to express myself in the way that was healthy and natural for me.

It stopped me in my tracks. I looked at him and asked what brought him to that conclusion. He simply said that he realizes that the way he handles things isn’t the only “right” way and that he wants to stop pushing his ideas on emotional expression.

I fell even more in love in that moment. (And of course started to bawl).

We sat there for a good twenty minutes and talked about how we are different in the ways we express things and tried to help each other understand our preference. It was awesome.

The things that happen when you take away unnecessary distractions are truly remarkable. Removing the screens is helping our marriage to dive deeper and improve. I love it.

Rancid.

Yesterday my husband almost poisoned us. (Don’t freak out, it’s a funny story. But if you have a weak stomach definitely skip this post…)

When my husband and I woke up yesterday we were both hungry, but not for typical breakfast foods. So when he asked me what I wanted for breakfast, my response was, “mashed potatoes!” My husband, being the wonderful man he is jumped up and began to make them, despite me saying he didn’t have to since they are so much work.

Before long, I had a bowl of mashed potatoes in my hands and I was scooping in a little sour cream to mix in.

We sat together on our couch watching TV, eating our potatoes, and the whole time I knew something was off. The potatoes just had a strange taste and with each bite I was trying to pinpoint what exactly it was.

After several bites and the inability to figure out that strange taste, I put the bowl down and said that there was something different about the potatoes. Josh agreed and said he couldn’t figure it out either. Giving it some more thought, I decided that the sour cream must have been bad. It was almost gone when I opened it so I figured that had to have been the problem.

Naturally, when you realize you just injested bad dairy you mentally begin to make yourself feel nauseous. So for the next few hours we tried to cover up the gross feelings in our stomachs by eating whatever we could find and chugging down liquids. Of course, the feelings were all in our head but that doesn’t mean it felt any less real.

When lunch rolled around, I decided I was going to make mac and cheese. And that is when it happened…

I was on the phone with my dad as I was draining the pasta and beginning to mix in the ingredients… I opened the milk and out of habit, smelled it…

It was FOUL. I immediately began gagging and trying to not throw up. I whipped the headphones off my head so my dad wouldn’t be subjected to the noises and booked it out of the kitchen. The smell that came out of that carton was the worst I had ever come across. Absolutely horrible.

And my husband used it to make the potatoes!

Thankfully neither of us got actually sick, but this is one story I plan to use to give him a hard time for a while.

Sick

My husband and I are two different people when we are sick. I never knew this because my husband rarely gets sick and I can honestly not remember a time while we were dating or engaged that he wasn’t healthy (unless he had a migraine). So over the last week we have learned a lot about each other as we both got sick.

For me it was the cold from hell; sore throat, runny nose, cough, chills, etc. So for the first half of last week Josh took care of me. Then he got sick. His symptoms were different though, unsettled stomach and headaches. Since I was on the rise, I of course began taking care of him.

And that ladies and gents is where the difference in the two of us comes in.

When I get sick, I get needy. I want to be held and catered to. For some reason part of me feeling better involves being treated like a baby. The more attention I get the better I end up feeling. It’s weird, I know. But I just like to be taken care of when I’m under the weather. (Let me clarify this a bit, my want to be taken care of is not in a “princess-y” kind of way. I am still capable of taking care of myself, I just like the attention).

Josh is the complete opposite. He does not even like to acknowledge that he doesn’t feel well. If I ask him his symptoms he’ll just say, “I’m fine.” (Helpful). He doesn’t want me to get things for him or cater to him at all. Which is just so hard to do, because when someone you care about is sick, you just want to help them feel better. Especially since I started out taking care of him in the way I would want to be cared for.

Our differing ideas about what it takes to feel better was an interesting discovery this week. Hopefully this sickness leaves our house and stays gone. 

Dabbling to Committing

I want to share something with you. My last post was about my experience growing up in a household of network marketers, so today I want to share what brought me into the industry myself.

I caught the bug when I was growing up and got to experience firsthand having my parents work from home. I got to see the time freedom they had, and partake in the lifestyle they built for us. When you come from a place of watching both of your parents have complete control of their lives, you grow up expecting that is just how it goes.

However, when I turned 16 and started working those typical after school, part-time jobs, I learned that I was sadly mistaken. The workforce leaves no room for dreaming, running your life, or building financial freedom. I quickly learned that if I wanted the life my parents had, I was going to have to work for myself.

So I dabbled. For a brief stint I was a part of two different network marketing companies. One was Send Out Cards (which is seriously cool, but it wasn’t for me) and the other was Rain which had a lot of growing pains and morphed into something else shortly after I left.

When I went to college the end goal in the back of my mind was always to own my own business, but I had no idea what that was going to look like. I didn’t want to own a restaurant, or storefront because I knew that would not give me the freedom I desired. As graduation started to get closer, I had no job lined up and didn’t have any direction.

Thankfully it was about that time that Nerium was introduced to my mom. At first I didn’t think it would be a great fit for me, so I encouraged her but didn’t show much interest. It wasn’t until attending one of her launches that I began to see the big picture.

That event caused to me to dream again. To want things that I had stopped desiring because I didn’t think it would be attainable for me. It reminded me of what an amazing childhood network marketing had given me and the lifestyle it awarded my parents. I knew that I had to get involved because I was never going to find joy working for someone else and being told what to do.

Once I got home from that event I took a leap of faith. I joined Nerium and my life has forever changed. There is more to life than punching a clock and working to build someone else’s dream. I get to wake up each day and build MY dream. I invite you to take a look…

www.averi.arealbreakthrough.com

Childhood blessings

So as promised, I am going to write today about my childhood. Interestingly enough, this post is what I wanted to write about 3 days ago, but I kept allowing it to get pushed to the side by ideas that I knew would be fleeting…

Anyways, I had an amazing childhood and I recently realized that I owe a great deal of that to Network Marketing. (Before you jump to crazy conclusions and your pre-formed biases, let me share my experiences).

My mom got involved in network marketing when I was a baby. Her first company wasn’t a good fit, but she went on to be introduced to a food supplement company called, Reliv. 

What she was able to build from home with Reliv allowed my dad to quit his job and join her working from home.

Can you imagine how amazing it was for my brothers and I to have both parents home? 

Our dad could come with us on field trips, (none of our friends got that)! Our mom could pick us up from school if we were sick without having to worry about leaving work. We got to have family beach days in the middle of the week over the summer when most parents were stuck finding a babysitter to care for their kids. It was the absolute best.

Then there was the traveling! Their home based business blessed us with endless opportunities to see more than our home town through incentive trips, conferences, and training events. It was amazing growing up and being pulled out of school to travel experience new places! 

In Colorado we rode horses in the mountains, in Arizona we ATV-ed through the desert, in Alaska we went whale-watching, and we were able to experience Disney multiple times! Plus, there were numerous trips in between that we were able to take because my parents controlled their schedule.

The bonds that our family has, I greatly attribute to the innumerable experiences we got to share together. Growing up in this industry is amazing.

Network Marketing opened doors for our family that were completely unheard of. I thank God for those memories and pray that my future family would be blessed in the same way, where we can choose to not allow our lives to be dictated by jobs, but rather the needs of our family.

I just had to share...

The most ridiculous thing I have stumbled upon thus far...

Do you see that picture up there? I don’t know if you can make out exactly what it is, so I will explain.

That image is a picture of what I found when I joined my husband in our family room to watch a movie last night. He had a chocolate bar from Christmas that he was dipping in peanut butter. Now, that in and of itself is not unusual. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who do that.

The part of this image that is unusual is the dish my darling husband chose to use for his peanut butter. He used the LID from the peanut butter container. He scooped peanut butter from the container and put it into the containers lid.

Honestly, I was pretty shocked, and since I am not one to be too quiet I said…

“Why on Earth would you use the lid from the peanut butter jar as a bowl? We have bowls!”

And this is not an exaggeration. We have an abundance of bowls, of all shapes, sizes, and even materials. He could have easily found an appropriate sized container for his peanut butter. In my mind, seeing the peanut butter all over the lid, all I could think of is the next time I open the container my hand will be covered in it!

His reaction was priceless and complete with an adorable smile. He said to me…

“This is the kind of ingenuity that I carried over from my bachelor days.”

He then laughed, and probably realized how goofy he looked not using one of our bowls and we went on with our evening.

(Don't worry, I remember that I wanted to further dive into my childhood and will tomorrow)

That day on the bus

YAY for finally feeling better! I am so ready to great this day and get some work done without feeling awful! (However, I am still in my pajamas courtesy of the Nyquil knocking me out until 10am).

Anyways, today I wanted to share something important from my childhood. In fact, it may become a theme for the next few days, don’t hold your breath on that because I may forget by tomorrow, but in any case, let’s begin.

This morning I was reminiscing about my childhood and recognizing how incredibly blessed I was growing up and out of no-where I remembered a conversation I had, probably in the 5^th or 6^th grade with a girl in my class.

We were on the bus going home from school and all of our other friends had already been dropped off, so it was just the two of us in our grades section. I have no idea how the conversation came up but to this day I remember exactly what she said.

This girl was a competitive gymnast and dedicated a lot of time to her sport. She would train late, compete, and the sport truly sucked up a lot of her time.

I know that I asked her about how gymnastics was and commented on how great it must be to have something you love so much. Her response was not at all what I was expecting. As we sat there discussing her crazy schedule and how it compared to my WAY relaxed life, she looked at me and said, “At least you get to see your dad.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I thought this girl had it great! She was popular and used to pretty much getting her way. Her parents were completely onboard with letting her chase her gymnast dreams. I didn’t understand. Her response stopped my dead in my tracks and it was the first time I was ever made aware of just how important time with your parents is.

She was right. I was so blessed because my dad and my mom both worked from home. They were there when I got home and any time that I needed them. We were constantly having quality family time. I never expected to hear one of the most popular girls in my grade say that she was jealous of the time I got to spend with my dad because she never saw hers.

This lesson is one that I have never forgotten. The things and time wasters in this life are not what matter. The connections and time with your loved ones are EVERYTHING. I will never forget that day on the bus and what that 12-year-old girl said to me. It was raw and completely honest.

Please don’t neglect the relationships in your life. The gifts you give are no substitute for quality time.

Overexertion

It’s 11am and my husband and I are still in our pajamas. He’s enjoying his break from school with some downtime and I am still nursing this stupid cold.

So today I am going to piggy-back off of yesterday’s blog.

I believe that I am still sick because I do not know how to just take it easy. I see tasks that need to be tended to and have this crazy need to accomplish them as soon as possible. It’s like my illness is trumped by whatever menial task I can invent for myself.

Yesterday, all I wanted to do was fill our home with food again because our kitchen was really bare, as well as fit in a minor workout. (You know, to sweat out the junk in my body. Plus, it’s part of our New Year, New Us). Is that what I did? Yes! On top of a bunch of things that didn’t need my attention. And I didn’t even take my husband up on his offers to help me.

You see, I am the type of person who cannot relax when there are things to do, even when they don’t need to be done immediately. So yesterday I found myself not only doing the grocery shopping and working out, but also working on my taxes, advertising our upcoming work conference, cooking dinner, making a giant pitcher of tea, and other various “office” tasks. All of which caused me to have a melt down because I didn’t do them up to par.

I destroyed a work document that didn’t correctly feed through the laminator, I dropped the roll of foil causing it to almost completely unravel, dinner wasn’t correctly timed, receipts were everywhere, and my poor head couldn’t take it. So as I stood in the kitchen starting to cry because the pressure I put on myself was too much, my husband came in and hugged me.

He relieved me of my kitchen duties and in his silent way, reassured me that I could just go sit on the couch and relax because none of what I was doing was going to make me feel better.

So I did. I sat on that couch and we ate dinner and watched our favorite shows until bed time. Which is all of what I should have been doing yesterday, taking it easy and trying to feel better. But no, I’m stubborn and have to be a champion at accomplishing things, even when I am sick.

So here I sit today. On our couch. In my pajamas, next to a giant box of Kleenex. Maybe one of these days I will learn that getting healthy is more important than menial tasks. 

Under the Weather

What a whirlwind weekend! I still feel like I need to recover from all the things Josh and I had going on over New Years. We had 3 days of family fun! It was a wonderful way to usher in the New Year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fully recovered from the 3 crazy days of Christmas and now I find myself fighting some sort of cold.

Being “under the weather” is one of the worst things to have happen as an adult, in my opinion. When you are kid and get sick you get to lay around and get pampered all day until you are back on your feet. But as an adult, you still have to carry on with your life on some level.

Today, that meant going grocery shopping even though I would have much rather laid around because our cabinets and freezer are empty after the all the holiday festivities. It was definitely not the easiest task and I am so grateful for the list I had made ahead of time, otherwise I would have forgotten all of the things we needed.

On today’s grocery agenda was Aldi and Walmart. I love Adli. It impresses me every time that I am there how much stuff I am able to get without completely breaking the bank. Even when I play it fast and loose with the budget, I always wind up leaving the store at or below budget. Thankfully today was no exception. Shopping at Walmart for me is more of a necessity than a desire. The prices are decent and I am able to get things there that I can’t at Aldi.

Isn’t it interesting how I started this post discussing how crummy it is to be a sick adult and wound up telling you about my grocery shopping preferences? Anyways, I will bring this full circle.

As a kid, being sick meant that you could shirk your responsibilities (if you even had any), skip school, and have someone take care of you. As an adult, you have to pick your sick self up off the couch and drag through your “adult tasks.” I miss the days of being able to chuck it all in the effort to feel better…

Thankfully, my darling husband can pick up my slack this evening.