10 Ways to Stay Productive During Home Quarantine

This is such an interesting time. With all of the stay-at-home orders and social distancing, it is easy to feel stuck and unproductive. As a stay-at-home mom, I am no stranger to cabin fever. I have gone through my fair share of times when I get tired of being home and just feel lazy.

Don’t let this time get you down. Even with the schedule changes, you can still find ways to get stuff done. Even when you can’t get out, you can still feel accomplished. Here are my top tips for staying productive while staying at home.

1. Tackle Home Projects

What better time to work on some projects that you have around the house than when you’re quarantined at home? Life gets busy, and when you’re running to and from home, projects often get overlooked. When you’re home, you want to just relax and not work on the house. Get the best of both worlds by tackling home projects now that you’re stuck at home. Not only will you feel productive, but you’ll also shorten your to-do list and get your home how you want it as well.

2. Spring Clean

What better task than spring cleaning while it’s spring? Take advantage of your extra time at home by doing some deeper cleaning than you do regularly. Tackle one room or closet a day to spread it out and not get so overwhelmed.

3. Declutter & Downsize

Clean out that junk drawer, organize your pantry, go through your closet, and downsize. Do you have duplicate books or movies? Do your kids have toys they’ve outgrown for their age? Make a pile of things to get rid of that you don’t use so that you can resell or donate them. You could make a little, give back, and make more space in your closet. Triple win.

4. Learn Something New

Is there a new skill or hobby that you’ve been wanting to learn? No better time than the present. I know it can be hard to find the time to take up a new hobby during your normal day-to-day life. Count this extra time at home as a blessing and just go for it now! The beauty of the internet is that you can find blogs and videos to teach you how to learn pretty much everything. I taught myself to sew by watching YouTube videos, and to this day it’s still one of my favorite hobbies.

5. Focus on a Dream You’ve Been Putting Off

Life gets busy, and things get put on the back burner regularly. Believe me, I get it. But there really is no better time than now. Nothing will change for the future if you don’t start today. Do you have a dream venture you’ve been putting off? Start focusing your extra time on it now. Research and learn all that you can about it now.

I have quite a few dreams and goals that I want to really start going after. I have really been cracking down on what I can do today to get there. For me, that means doing my research and learning as much as I can now. With so much seemingly on hold, these days are the perfect time to get things in motion for what you want for your future.

6. Make Sure Kids are Still Learning

With so many schools closed (some with virtual learning and some without), now is not the time to let your kids’ learning suffer. There are amazing free resources and other homeschooling moms online that can help give you ideas. Make it fun and keep your kids intrigued by learning.

Make cookies with them for some math and measurements, do a fun home experiment for science, read books to contribute to English, do some sensory play for younger kids, etc. Is there anything they have been asking to learn or a hobby they want to try? Help them start learning it now.

7. Do Yard Work

Getting outside with the sunshine and fresh air does so much good for the body. You may not be able to go out and venture far, but you can still get out in your own yard. Springtime is the best time to get your yard work done and prepare for the warmer months ahead. Plant a garden, redo your flower beds, or simply do some regular yard maintenance like raking and mowing.

8. Keep Exercising

Just because you are stuck at home doesn’t mean you need to let your exercise and workout routines suffer. Exercising is not only good for your body and physical health, but it’s also huge for your mental health and energy. So get up and move. As long as it’s safe to do so, you can walk around the neighborhood or go on a hike. If you’re at home, you can still do at-home workouts, yoga, or a yard workout.

I, for one, have never been a fan of gym workouts. I’ve always preferred to work out at home, so this is great for me. There are a lot of great options to do home workouts with minimal to no exercise equipment. You also don’t have to do a big dramatic workout; the most important thing is to simply move.

9. Focus on Your Self-Care

During this stressful time, make sure to still take time for yourself so that you stay sane. Your mental health is important. With so many schedule changes, you need to make sure to still take care of yourself. You can do a simple spa day at home, take some time to meditate, or simply do something that you love.

Some of the biggest self-care for me is just taking time for myself to write or do yoga. Just taking some time for myself to focus on what I love helps keep me feeling productive and in a better mood. When your cup is full, you will be able to better take care of others who count on you.

10. Plan for the Future

Without finalizing dates, go ahead and plan your next family vacation. This too shall pass, and life will get back to normal again. Making plans for the future gives you hope for the end of this and something to look forward to without getting stuck in the scary unknowns of right now.

It’s hard not to be in control and not knowing when things will go back to normal. If you focus on that too much, it will bring you down. Instead, I choose to look forward to the future. I’m already mentally planning for future trips and things I want to do with my family. It makes me excited about the future again. Don’t get too caught up in the here and now. Continue to dream and look ahead.

Whether you’re quarantined or just staying home by choice, cabin fever is a reality. Staying busy and productive really helps to combat that feeling. You don’t have to stop checking things off your to-do list just because you are at home. How do you like to stay productive while at home? Let me know in the comments below!

DIY Foaming Hand Soap

I personally love foaming hand soap. It smells amazing and is fluffy and fun to wash your hands with. One thing I don’t like about foaming hand soap is how expensive it can be, especially if it is the only hand soap you use.

I’m always looking for ways to cut costs and save. Foaming hand soap was one of the things I found. I discovered I could make it myself and help save money, so I figured, why not? And now I want to share with you the step-by-step guide I use so that you can make your own as well!

What You’ll Need

• Foaming soap pump
• Castile soap
• Essential oil
• Fractionated coconut oil (optional)
• Water

FOAMING SOAP PUMP

You’ll need an empty foaming soap pump. You can purchase new ones online on Amazon, or you can save ones you already have. I just saved pumps I had bought from Walmart of Dial foaming soap. Once the soap was gone, I washed them out and reused them.

CASTILE SOAP

I like Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap because it’s organic. I used their baby unscented soap, but they also have other scents like lavender and peppermint.

ESSENTIAL OIL

Grab your favorite essential oils for scents. You can mix and match them as well if you so choose. I personally use Young Living.

FRACTIONATED COCONUT OIL

Basically, fractionated coconut oil is just liquid coconut oil. I found mine online at Amazon. It isn’t necessary to include this when making your soap, but I chose to for the benefits of helping to keep my hands softer.

WATER

Any water will do. I just used water from the filter in my fridge.

Let’s Get Started

STEP #1
Fill the soap dispenser about 1/4 of the way with castile soap. I just eyeball it.

STEP #2
Add 1 teaspoon of fractionated coconut oil into the soap dispenser.

STEP #3
Add 8-10 drops of your choice of essential oil(s) into the soap dispenser. You can do all 1 scent or mix a couple together. I was skeptical of using 10 drops because it seemed like a lot, but the scent was way lower than I thought, even using 10 drops.

STEP #4
Fill the rest of the soap dispenser with water and shake to mix. Make sure to leave room to put the pump in the dispenser. The bottles I used already had a fill line marked on the back, which was super helpful.

STEP #5
Let the bubbles settle from shaking and then enjoy your new foaming soap!

Congratulations, now you have your own homemade foaming hand soap to use! I made a total of 3 pumps my first time and only used a minimal amount of castile soap and fractionated coconut oil (see photo above). I still have plenty of product to make more. Think of all the money you’ll save doing this on your own. Plus, it’s simple and quick to make, so it doesn’t take up much time. Give different scents a try and have fun mixing and matching. Happy creating!

Wedding Items Simplified: Guest Book Wedding + More

This blog post was sponsored by Basic Invite. All opinions are my own. Photo credit: Basic Invite for all photos.

In February, I celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary. I’ve been looking through my wedding photos, and it brought me right back to that time. I planned and did everything myself for the wedding. It was a little stressful because it was planned really fast, but it was fun too.

As I’ve been reminiscing about my special wedding day, I’m also watching one of my best friends go through all the wedding planning for herself right now. She ties the knot in May; I’m a bridesmaid and am trying to help her however I can while being states away.

Weddings can be a stressful time, but it is also such an exciting time. Weddings are so magical. Whenever you have someone to help, or you can find a simpler solution to something wedding-related, it is such a relief! As a bride, it is so easy to get caught up in the little details and want everything to be picture perfect.

When wedding planning, you often think of all the big essential wedding must-haves first: a wedding venue, a photographer, a caterer, a DJ, your dress, etc. As you continue planning, you begin to realize there are so many little things that are often overlooked at first but are just as important.

A big overlooked item for me was my wedding guest book. In fact, I think our guest book was one of the last things I ordered for our wedding. And it wasn’t actually a book. I ordered a couple of posters and had everyone sign them. It was cute; I framed them and hung them up for a while, but then it got a little old.

One thing I wish I had known back then was Basic Invite and their guest book wedding products. It comes in the form of an actual book. You can do lined or blank pages. They have so many cute options to choose from and are fully customizable. You can add a photo or keep it text only. It doesn’t take up much room, and you can still have a nice keepsake of who celebrated your big day with you to always look back on. So cool!

Aside from all of the guest books, Basic Invite has so many options for all things wedding-related. They have over 900 wedding invitation sets for engagement announcements, save-the-dates, bridal shower invites, wedding invites, guest books, menus, programs, and more!

The Basic Invite website is easy to navigate and customize. You can preview your personalizations right on the site. They also offer free wedding websites! My wedding website was one of my favorite things to do for the wedding process. Basic Invite’s wedding websites are mobile-friendly and easy to use. You can customize, choose from 180 colors, and design your site to match your invites. How cool is that?

Wedding invites can be a huge stressor, but they are a necessity. Basic Invite makes the whole wedding invite process so simple and as non-stressful as possible for you. There are almost unlimited colors, so if you have a favorite or want to include your wedding colors — you can! You can also pick from over 40 different colors for envelopes. Want to order custom samples of invites to preview the product before purchasing a whole bundle? No problem, Basic Invite has you covered there too.

What is the worst part of the wedding invites? I would say it is definitely the addressing and mailing envelopes. Well, now you don’t have to worry about that either. Basic Invite has a free address collection service. In three simple steps, you can easily collect your addresses by sharing a special link with your guests, get your addresses collected, and get free envelope printing.

To make the wedding invitation process even simpler, give Basic Invite’s Seal & Send Wedding Invitation service a try. They are an all-in-one wedding invitation with an RSVP tear-off included. There are over 30 designs to choose from, and they are fully customizable. Once you receive your order, all you will need to do is fold the invites and add postage. All other work is already done for you!

The options are endless with Basic Invite. I honestly wish I had known about this when I got married. It would have made my life so much easier! With as many options as they have for wedding items, they have just as many for other non-wedding life events.

If you want to learn more about Basic Invite or just want some wedding and event inspiration, check out their website, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter.

When it comes to your wedding planning, try not to stress over every detail and having everything perfect. It will all work out. Take the simpler route with some of these wedding items and just enjoy your special day instead of stressing. Happy planning!

My 2nd Cross-Country Move: California to North Carolina

As our family is looking to move hopefully within the next year or two, I’m so excited to map out the moving trek and find some fun places to stop along the way. This has also got me reminiscing about my last big move, my 2nd cross-country move from California to North Carolina.

As I have mentioned before, I moved solo to California from Virginia (this was my 1st cross-country move). I absolutely loved California and never planned to leave…but God had other plans. I met and married my husband while living in San Diego, and at the time he was in the military. When he reenlisted, they stationed him in North Carolina, which meant we had to move out there.

My 2nd cross-country move was different from my first in the fact that I was moving with my husband vs. moving solo. We also had the military moving us, which was a huge help in the packing and actual moving of our belongings. I knew I wanted to handle this move differently and actually take time during the drive to stop at places along the way, something I didn’t do the first time around.

Since this move was due to work (aka the military), we had a few months of notice, which was perfect for me to be able to take the time to figure out our route. My husband only had a couple of minor requests, so I was able to plan it all and pick places on my bucket list to cross off.

Coming up in June marks 5 years since we made this 2nd cross-country move from California to North Carolina. This move was always planned to just be temporary. And now, as we look into moving again (possibly a 3rd cross-country move), I definitely want to try and hit some more bucket list places along the way.

I’m having so much fun reminiscing on all the adventures and good times we had on this last move that I wanted to share some of the details and photos with you. There are so many beautiful places to see and adventures waiting to be had across the US.

Stop 1: San Diego

Technically, this wasn’t an official stop on our move, but it is what kickstarted our big moving adventures. I honestly love Southern California, and I had a hard time moving away. I had been living in San Diego for about three years when we had to move. We tried to visit all of our favorite spots and places within San Diego before we officially started our driving trek.

For me, a big one was Coronado Island, my absolute favorite place in all of San Diego. I spent a lot of my free time there; we would go to the beach there often, and we also got married there on the beach. Our last San Diego pit stop before moving was another really special place to us, SeaWorld. I absolutely love dolphins, and we even got engaged by the dolphin exhibit at SeaWorld. So we had to stop there one final time before leaving.

Stop 2: Anaheim & Los Angeles

When I say I was so sad to leave Southern California, it is the honest truth. I tried to make my final days last as long as I could. After leaving San Diego, we drove up to Anaheim for some more fun. We initially planned to spend one last day at Disneyland and then head to Los Angeles. However, we discovered that the Dodgers had a home game that night, so we decided to hop on a train (a first time for both hubby and me) and ride it into Los Angeles for the baseball game. I was so excited to do this. I had been to Dodger Stadium before but hadn’t seen a home game even though I had lived in LA for three years. It was always on my bucket list, and I couldn’t leave California without going to one. After the game, we took the train back to our hotel in Anaheim.

The next day we spent the whole day at Disneyland. When they call it “the happiest place on earth,” they aren’t lying. I absolutely LOVE Disney! We had a blast and even got our own caricature done. It was also Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary when we went, which was such a cool experience to visit during the Diamond Anniversary celebrations.

After Disney, we drove up to Los Angeles. We drove around LA, walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and also took a studio tour of Warner Bros. Studios. As an actress and extra, I had spent a lot of time on studio lots, but I had never taken an official tour. A studio tour was on my bucket list, so we decided to tour my personal favorite studio, Warner Bros. Studios. It was a blast, and I already plan to tour more studios on other future visits.

Stop 3: Nevada

As we left California, we drove over to Nevada. We stopped in Las Vegas and saw Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Such beautiful sights!

Lake Mead

Stop 4: Utah & Colorado

As we kept driving, we made a couple of pit stops in Utah and Colorado. We stopped at a couple of random rest areas and wanted to stretch our legs, take a little potty break, and see some of the beautiful sights.

Stop 5: Colorado Springs

When we started planning our road trip, one of the first places I knew I wanted to stop at was the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Back in the day, when I was like 13 years old, my family went to Denver for a wedding, and we visited the Olympic Training Center. I don’t remember many details of it, but I just remember that I loved it.

My husband and I had also visited the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA, while living in San Diego, so I definitely wanted to stop by the one in Colorado during our road trip too. It did not disappoint! The training center is so awesome to see. You can take a tour of the facilities, courtyard, Olympic Hall of Fame, and get a little keepsake at the gift shop. There are many cute statues and picture-worthy spots throughout the training center.

Stop 6: Kansas

After leaving Colorado, we continued our drive to Kansas. My husband grew up in a small town in central Kansas, and his family all still live there, so we took about a week to just relax, visit, and spend time with family there.

Stop 7: San Diego

This stop is going to seem way out of place, and like I’m backtracking, but bear with me. While my husband stayed in Kansas with his family, I flew back to San Diego for a couple of days. Before we moved, I had actually booked a speaking role in a movie, and it was supposed to shoot before we left. However, due to production issues, my scenes got rescheduled to be filmed after we had already planned to be driving across the country.

This was a big deal for me, and I didn’t want to turn it down, so we just planned our trip to be in Kansas during the time I would have to film. While my husband stayed in Kansas, I flew back to San Diego to film and spent a couple of days with my bestie.

Stop 8: Kansas & Missouri

After flying back to Kansas to meet up with my husband, we began our road trip trek again. We drove through to Missouri and met up with some more family to have dinner. Then we continued on to my other biggest bucket list stop I wanted to see: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s house and farm. I am a HUGE fan of the Little House on the Prairie books and show. I’ve loved Laura Ingalls since I was a little girl, and knowing we’d be driving through Missouri, I knew we HAD to stop and see her house.

It was so amazing! There were actually two houses on the farm that we were able to tour; they have such a cute little gift shop and museum. We bought little teacups of her china pattern in the gift shop, and we also drove to the town cemetery and got to visit the graves of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Alfonso Wilder, and their daughter Rose.

Stop 9: Nashville

Our next stop was Nashville, Tennessee. I had visited it as a kid but didn’t remember it, and my husband hadn’t ever been. We got a hotel and ended up staying in Nashville for a couple of days. We visited downtown, walked by the river, visited the Highway 65 “Nashville” TV show set (the show was still being filmed at the time we visited), and went to the Grand Ole Opry. It was a blast, and we definitely want to go again!

Highway 65 set location for "Nashville" TV show

Stop 10: North Carolina

After Nashville, we drove and drove and drove, all the way through to North Carolina and our new home on the coast. Even though Tennessee and North Carolina are neighboring states, going from Nashville to the NC coast is a LONG drive. After an amazing road trip, we finally arrived in our new town in North Carolina.

While it was really bittersweet leaving California, our road trip was an amazing experience, and we made a lot of wonderful memories. Finally, making it to our final destination and our new home in North Carolina was so exciting. The biggest thing I’ve learned so far between my two cross-country moves is to make the most of it by having bucket-list destinations to stop at along the way.