How to: Stepmom to a T

We were fortunate enough to have a few days with the kids during their spring break. This was a trip that we booked well in advance and all I was prepping was the food. No plans. No schedules. No - well minimal - rules. Here's an overview of what we packed and how we did it with minimal effort - What we packed? Travel bags - full of activity books, car games, mind games, fidget spinners and books. They also had their iPads (yes, all kids have an iPad #divorceperks) but were not allowed to use them for the first half of the 3hr drive and until they've read for 20 minutes. This isn't typically an issue for us, as our kids love their education and enjoy simple mind games. My stepdaughter will read for hours and the boys enjoy math. We make sure that there is a variety. As you may know, kids get bored easily, so it allows them to jump from one thing to another.  My advice is not to tempt them with the electronics. Start the expectation before you ever get in th

An anthem that keeps popping up in my head is, "Am I healthy enough for the lifestyle I'm advertising?" What I mean is I have this vegan, natural business through Arbonne. I blog about health. I instagram about health. I constantly talk about improving my health. But, you better believe we bought Girl Scout cookies this year. Does that make me a hypocrite? Here's what's convinced me that I'm not. We are not meant to be put in boxes. Not through personality quizzes, not through religion, not through our parental status, not through our hobbies. I've talked about moderation before. How we use the 80/20 method at our house. Or at least try to. But what I talk about is more of an extreme, right? However, there are all these ways that I KNOW how to get healthy. And it's my passion to teach those things to you and come along on that journey with you. But what shapes our journeys are the methods that actually FIT with our lifestyle? How can we