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When having a platform scares the crap out of you…..

Here I am 9 years into blogging and almost 3 years into my YouTube journey.   Over those years I have consistently reached more and more people.  While a number is just that…. a number, the people behind that number I think about often.  Over 30,000 of you on Youtube and 25,000 between Instagram and Facebook have decided that what I have to share and contribute is worth you taking a bit of your day to read or watch.  And that, well thinking about that is what started my pull back.  I am sure most of you are busy people.  Mostly moms, and a lot of you have young children like me.  That 5 minutes of reading what I have to say started to scare me. That is valuable time you are spending on....me.  It wasn’t that I was oversharing, or being to personal.  It wasn’t even those annoying “haters” who just have to comment about our food, or my messy house, or how I care for my children.  what scares me is the fact that your time is precious to you, or at least it should be….. and you are deciding to spend it with me.  

  Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that.  I wish we could all be BFF’s and go to lunch and chat for hours…. but my thought immediately goes to being transparent while still protecting my personal space and family.  I want you to see that our life isn’t perfect.  I want to share about our hard times and the fact that I DO NOT have it all together. 
 
But that is HARD.  

Being judged is HARD
 
Admitting your house is a disaster is HARD.  

Telling thousands of people who most likely started following you because of your organized, put together life intrigued them is the HARDEST

 The fact is, I have changed.  My homework station is non-exsistent, my closets are a mess, my routines are all over the place, my meals are out of a box, my life is chaos…. 

A happy, amazing, wonderful, full of energy chaos.  

Seeing the transition start to happen wasn’t easy for me.  Seeing it play out on camera was even harder…. But you know what,  It’s our story…. it’s my story.  As a woman, mother and housewife.  

So I will continue to share it.

The truth is, our family is happier than ever. Our schedules may be busy, but we get to spend so much time with the people we love.  We are on the go which means most nights dinner is not something I have been slaving over for hours.  Our life used to be so routine, so.....bland.  Is bland bad, no not at all.  When our children were little bland worked, bland is what kept me sane.  It is so true that there are seasons to life and right now our just is extra spicy :)  

How will I continue to share?  That I am still trying to figure out.  I pulled back because I was afraid I was portraying myself as a supermom when that is far from what I feel like.  I felt..... FAKE.  My real life friends see my messy house, heck their kids help make the mess...lol.  They see my toddler throw a fit over cookies.  They see me choose going out over cooking for my family.  The see me.  The real me, and I don't think it's fair to not share that with all of you.  I am not ashamed of it in real life, so why would I be ashamed of my laundry piles and messy van online?

2015 Holiday Cards

I am so excited to share our Christmas cards with you all today.   I know what you are thinking, it's only mid-November, but getting Christmas photos and Holiday cards made early is KEY in keeping my December as stress free as possible.

This year I used Minted for my cards, and I am blown away at how easy the site was to navigate and how stunning my cards turned out.  


To see more and to hear all my tips for taking photos for Holiday cards please watch the video below.  ALSO click {HERE} to enter my giveaway for a chance to win $125 credit to Minted!  




Lastly, I will leave you with some of my unedited "real life" photos from our shoot!  





They just have to get in at least 1 silly face photo!


The big kids convincing JD that he would get ice cream if he behaved.

If you are interested in seeing our DITL from the day we took photos, you can watch that below as well!



I would love to see your holiday card creations this year!  Let's all #housewifecardexchange on IG and Twitter to have a virtual Holiday Card Exchange!

{This is NOT a sponsored video.  I was not paid to share this content.  The links above are affiliate links.  Special Thank You to Minted for providing my family with our Holiday cards this year, and for hosting a giveaway for my viewers!}

Mini Van Organization


Keeping your car clean with small children is much like keeping your house clean with small children... not impossible, but a lot of constant work.  In the video below I show some of the items I keep in my car to make life easier, to keep it organized, and feel prepared.  I try not to keep too many unnecessary items in the car, as I have found this leads to more clutter.  

Here are my top 5 tips to KEEPING your car organized.

1.  Limit Toys - we live in a pretty suburban area, so any errand we have to do it 10-20 minutes away.  The kids can entertain themselves for that long without toys or electronics.  I used to keep a basket of toys, and while that still is in my garage, I don't feel like it has to be in the car.  I do keep a few books for reading.

2. The Minute Rule - It only takes a minute to gather up any trash when getting out of the car heading into your house.  Take the time to clean up the few wrappers, cups, clutter each time you get out of the car. 

3. Change With The Seasons - Each change of season I take the time to really clean out my entire van and take things out that you will not need.  In the winter I add in a warmer change of clothes, a blanket, gloves... however I don't need those things in the summer so I change it out for a light change of clothes, extra sunglasses, and playground essentials.

5. Necessities Only! - While I think it's great to keep commonly needed items in your car, I also think you can go overboard, thus creating more unnecessary clutter.  I took a small area of our garage to keep things that I need in my car from time to time, but don't want to leave in there taking up space.  Our stroller (this may be a necessary must have in your van if your children are younger), reusable shopping bags, sports gear.  All things I commonly need, but don't need to be in the car at all times.



So watch below to see how my car is organized, and all the items I think are necessary to keep in my mini van.



I have also done organizational videos in my previous mini van which was a Honda Odyssey.  The links to those videos are below.  





Also to purchase some products I mentioned in the video, they are linked below.



** Affiliate Links have been used in this post, This is NOT a sponsored video and all products were purchased by me**