Monday, November 28, 2016

the best reusable shopping bags. ever.

i have tried to make the effort to use reusable shopping bags when on my weekly target or grocery store runs......but i wasn't always successful. i usually ended up forgetting them in the car or leaving them at home.....even if i remembered them i never had bags that worked well (too flimsy, etc.) 

recently in california bringing your own bags has become mandatory, which i love. i now need to remember my bags and since i recently found the most amazing bags *ever* i actually look forward to bringing them. no joke, i get comments every time i use these bags from people asking me where to get them for themselves. these bags fold up easily, are a cinch to fill up at checkout and load into the car. obsessed is an understatement. 



i am head-over-heals in love with these bags. give them a try.....pretty sure you will end up in a committed reusable bag relationship, too. 








Thursday, November 24, 2016

always thankful


this post is sponsored by the lovely people at nutrish. the thoughts and opinions are our own.

today is a day we sit back and actually take stock of our lives. we gather together and, even if just for a few moments, we list all those things we are thankful for. this year has been a difficult one for heather and i but as we focus on having an attitude of gratitude, it becomes more and more easy to remember just how good our lives are. 

so, today, before the turkey and stuffing, before the football and parades, we wanted to take a moment to share the things we are thankful for.


we are thankful for family

this one is at the top of both of our lists. how can we even imagine life without all of our wild and crazy kids surrounding us? we cannot. i'm blessed with an amazing husband, five pretty hilarious kids and a life that is never boring. it's pretty fantastic.


we are thankful for friends

one summer school class long ago, heather and i met and laughed over a lecture on teaching art to children. our lives have never been the same. here we are 20+ years later and the laughs continue. i can't imagine my life without her and there are countless other friendship stories that each of us have. our friends have often become family to us and we are so very grateful. 


we are thankful for pets

i once swore that i would never have pets while i had small children. i couldn't imagine having another creature to take care of. i'm so glad i gave in and got our sweet kitties. i know heather feels the same with her adorable lola. just when days are getting difficult, one of the cats will do something to make me laugh or will come up to cuddle. they are sometimes just what i need to brighten my day and i can't imagine the hole that would be in my life and the life of my kids without them. they are little furry balls of joy.

we are thankful for health

both us of have had some weird health things come up this year. still, as we look back on our lives and the lives of our families, we are so very blessed. so many people walk through incredible illnesses and our hearts go out to them. we don't take our health for granted and we are so very thankful for each and every day we spend without the worries of illnesses in our families.

we are thankful for provision

heather and i have both traveled the world and have seen great poverty around the world. make no mistake, we are privileged people. each month we have money to pay for our homes and our food. our children have great education. we have clothes on our back and transportation to get us where we need to go. we are not wanting for our basic needs and we are aware that so many in the world don't have these luxuries. today and everyday we strive to be more grateful for the fact that our needs are met.


we are thankful for work

this blog has been a blessing for the last five years. we have laughed through it, learned through it and maintained a friendship and called it a business. through the ups and downs, it has brought us closer together and has brought us joy. we also get to work with amazing friends and companies. not only do companies partner with us, but we are able to build relationships with the people we meet along the way as well. we are so grateful for what blogging has brought us and the friendships we have made and maintained along the way. the lovely people at nutrish have been in a partnership with us for the last three years. we have laughed with them, traveled with them and they represent so much more than a company to us. they are friends we get to work with. what a joy that is. 

we are thankful for you

when we started blogging five years ago, we thought we would write some things down and our mothers would occasionally read what we wrote. boy were we surprised to find out that there were people who found us interesting. we have giggled as we've watched people reading our blog from various parts of the world (we are pretty sure they just googled "boob") and we have been amazed to see that people have appreciated our hearts and our stories. thanks for sticking with us and for laughing with us. thanks for crying with us when we walk through heartbreak and for cheering for us when we need encouragement. we are thankful for you.

we are thankful for another day to enjoy it all

today we get to wake up and spend the day with those we love. we get to enjoy good food and laughter. we get to live another day knowing how blessed we are. that alone is good news. we aren't going to take today for granted. today and everyday we are beyond fortunate, beyond blessed and exponentially grateful. our job now is to take that gratitude and remember to cultivate it the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. when we do that, we will get to remember each and every day just how much there is to be thankful for. 


we love working with rachael ray's pet food company, nutrish. if you haven't tried her pet food, give it a try. we cannot say enough good things about it. rachael ray's pet food is made from simple, natural ingredients that your pet needs for a complete and balanced diet. all nutrish pet food is available where you purchase your family's groceries which makes shopping easier. we love the health benefits it gives our pets, the convenience of the shopping and the way that rachael ray gives back. 

one of our favorite things about nutrish is that a portion of nutrish proceeds go to rachael's rescue, which was created to help animals in need. to date, over $14 million has been donated. this money has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatment for these unfortunate animals. we love that in some small way, when we care for our pets through nutrish pet food, other animals are being cared for as well. 

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