{Latte Hour} Summer is Calling….

Every year the end of summer rolls around and I didn’t do half of what I wanted to. This year with summer already in the works, I’ve finally decided to create a small summer bucket list and I’m sticking to it!

•   Attend an outdoor concert.
•  Go on a hike that has a waterfall, lake, or river at the end.
•  Take a spontaneous weekend trip to a mountain town I’ve never been too.
• Make time to meet up with girlfriends for brunch.
• Enjoy summer cocktails or dinner on patios. It will be cold before I know it!
• Roast S’mores in an outdoor fire.
• Ride my bike more often.
• Spend a day like a tourist in my home city. I think I hear a staycation calling my name!
• Take a cooking class.
• Make more time for myself to enjoy activities I love. Sometimes I get too caught up in the daily motions of life!

I’d love to hear what is on your summer list!  

{Physical Health} Reasons Your Holding Back From Healthy…

The summer weather has finally kicked in and it has us thinking about going to the pool or beach. Finally! One more day of cold temperatures would have made me loose my sanity. I think most of us can say we are dreading putting on a swimsuit… Well regardless of what time of year it is, it’s never too late to be healthy and feel great about baring more skin than normal! It can be hard find the motivation to go exercise or time to prepare healthy meals, but don’t let the reasons below hold you back!

•  I’m too “busy”.
• I did a little exercise yesterday; I don’t need to do it again today.
• I’m going to wait for a new month to start!
• I’m too tired after a long day of work.
• I didn’t get enough sleep last night to go this morning.
• I’m just not in the mood today…Leave me alone!
• What am I going to do with my kids?
• I just have other things to do today, all right!

We can all relate to these excuses, even if you’re a daily exercise machine or eat clean! Don’t get me wrong I make excuses from time to time and have fallen off track, but I’ve tried to overcome the negativity by creating a positive reason why I’m choosing healthy. If I have fallen off track, it doesn’t mean that I’m a complete failure. It means I’m getting another chance to pick myself back up to get going again. One of the most important lessons I have learned during my journey of being healthy is to have patience and self-love. I’ve been realistic about the goals I’ve set. I’ve battled with my body, thinking I’m NEVER going to get anywhere and I will be this way forever. Never say Never. I wanted healthy to love who I am, instead of hate. I wanted healthy to get the most out of life, instead of watching it pass me by. I wanted healthy, not because I needed to change my life yet because its what I deserved! I’ve come too far to just say “too bad, I’ll do it some other time”.  It may take time to accomplish goals; they don’t happen instantaneously!

Don’t get trapped up in the vicious cycle of excuses. Create a plan for you to get on the healthy road!

• Set practical goals.
• Plan out your workout schedule or your meals for the week.
• Use motivational quotes to keep you on track. 
• Keep a journal of your journey to look back on.
• Remind yourself how incredible you are.
• Most importantly, learn to LOVE yourself!

Not everyday is going to be a day you want to be healthy, but keep in mind where you are headed. Making a few changes now in your life will put you on the right track for the future. It’s NEVER to late start!

{Home} Get Your Garden Going…

This can be one of the most exciting parts of spring. Time for color and sweet smells! Gardening is cheaper than therapy, plus you get beautiful flowers so why not start now! SaneWomen wants you to have the perfect garden. Follow the steps below to get the best-looking garden on the block!

Start with the Yard:

To start the process of gardening, first check out the areas around your garden to ensure they are prepped too. Look for a tree limbs or shrubs that may need a little attention. Remove dead tree limbs or hire a certified Arborist to maintain the large branches.

Out With the Old:

Rake away winter mulch or leftover mulch left over from previous seasons. Do this before or as plants begin to grow and you are in the clear from winter temperatures.

Clip, Clip, Clip…

Get damaged, diseased, or dead branches out of the way. Trim summer-blooming shrubs such as hydrangea, butterfly bush, potentilla, and most roses. Prune spring-booming shrubs and trees after they flower.  Everyone needs a little haircut every once in a while. 

Wondering about that soil on the ground? Just don’t ruin your mani!

Take a soil test. Use a soil pH home soil test kit to check your soil. Take a few samples from different areas to get the most accurate reading. Enrich soil where you need it most.

Get Out of Here Pesky Weeds!

We all dread pulling weeds, but to get a great garden it’s a must. The best time to pull weeds is when they are small. They are less work to get out of the ground and if you get them before they seed, in the future you’ll have less. Also, I would highly recommend hiring a professional to help with this task! You don’t want a sore back all the time from this chore!

Organize Your Space & Prepare the Beds:

Its best to plan where you will be planting certain flowers or plants, before you dig into the dirt. Clean up the planting area, work in soil; remove weeds, sod, and debris. Spread a new mulch layer about 4-inches or layer of compost about 2-inches over soil. Capture you garden plan with a picture to remember what it looks like.

It’s Time for the Fun Part!

Early spring cool conditions are the perfect time to plant trees and shrubs. Cool season annuals such as poppies, snapdragons, pansies, and violas can usually handle a little frost and give you some color yet when the summer heat comes full force replace them with heat-tolerate flowers like pentas, petunia, and lantanas to ensure color throughout the summer. If you started planting a little early by growing plants from seeds or if you have container-grown plants they can be transplanted during growing season besides midsummer.  Be sure to remember to water and take lots of pictures to post to social media! You will want to be showing off your garden this summer! 

{Mental Health} What Are Friends For..

A few weeks ago, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to visit my best friends in California. Even though I was only in the beautiful, sunny state for two nights, sometimes you need that time away to explore life. I typically live the life of getting up early, driving the little one to school, working, back to school, dinner on the table, and bed. I wake up to repeat it all. What I was shown this weekend is irreplaceable.  Friendship is a powerful tool, if used the correct way.

I like to think that friends are there to let you learn more about yourself and share ideas about finding the perfect balance.  Life doesn’t always go how we imagine it. I believe we all picture things in our minds as to the way things should be, yet we feel even more let down when it doesn’t happen that way. I’ve been on a journey of finding out about more what I want out of life. When I say that, Im not creating an unrealistic image in my head of what it should be or comparing it to others, yet being present in the moment and having gratitude for what I have been given.

I was shown this weekend, its okay to let go. A little disconnect from the world makes all the difference. I was with people I love and appreciate the time I was able to share with them. There were so many laughs, funny faces, and memories I’ll have for a lifetime. Although, I don’t want to admit that it was a beyond perfect trip I was able to let go of worries Id been holding onto about life. We all talked about the things that bother us. We may have shed a tear or two over uncertainties that keep us at night.

A true friend will never judge. They are there to hold your hand through the blissful and gloomy days. They care what you have to say through keeping an open ear. They help you pick back up broken life pieces to put them back in the right puzzle place. I see many girls go through too many friends, either because they are under appreciative or they have a hard time making the connection of what a true friend is. Don’t get me wrong, Ive had friends that we drifted apart -maybe it wasn’t meant to be but when you have true friends NEVER LET GO OF THEM.

New Year...New Blog!

Sitting in my chair in an overemotional office full of men, I kept thinking to myself how could I be so lucky to end up here. NOT REALLY… I could only think about banging my head on my desk to make it, possibly them, go away. After much consideration, I couldn’t ruin all women’s reputation. I had to be stronger than that. I had to defeat the men!! Naturally. I couldn’t let them know I might have a slightest bit of craziness in me because that’s what most of them think anyways.

I needed to create an outlet for all women to help alleviate the pain Advil wont take away. Having to sit there all day, hearing these men say worse things than I’ve heard come out of the mouths of women who can tend to say some pretty awful things; I had to be the Sane one in the room. This idea raced into my mind so fast I could hardly sit still. Ok, everyone thinks women are crazy which I’m not really disputing but I’ll never really admit that. What if there was a way for women to stay sane or a place where they could go to relieve stress? A place to vent or share the struggles we all face. Imagine taking less stress out on our significant others, best friends, or children. Lets face it, we all live chaotic, hectic lives. We need time to escape from it all, even if it’s a split second. Sane Women was created. As fast as I could, I jumped online to purchase the domain. I started searching every social media site to see if the name was in use. I was determined! To my surprise it was available. Had I struck gold? I seem to think my $11.99 purchase was worth more than any pair of designer shoes I have ever walked in.

I sit here now thinking; I should have done this year’s ago! I could have saved myself the trouble letting the little things in life get the best of me. Thank goodness, it’s never too late in life to pursue your dreams! 

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