Today Is The Day I Hang Up My Super Hero Cape

Yep, you read right, I am hanging up my cape.

But not my super mom cape… let me explain, because I have had this blog written in my head for a few weeks now.

Ever since college I have been running at a million miles an hour. Going here, going there, and being very involved… why?  Because I loved all the things I was in and I didn’t want to miss out on anything. After all you only get to do the college thing once right? 

I loved every minute of it & college.. (Oh and to answer your question, yes I got good grades too.) I did all of this because “employers love people who can multi-task” and I was good at both multi-tasking & organizing. They went hand in hand in my book.

Since graduating, I kept myself busy before we had kids. I was always planning, organizing or doing something to keep myself busy.  I enjoyed it, but I always had to be doing something.. I’m still this way today. Not sure if it is because it’s what I have always done or if it’s because our lives are really that busy now! (Married and 2 kids later!)

I am going with the latter on this one.. My family & I lead a very busy life. My husband works full time, is going to school to be a firefighter & has responsibilities as a husband and father to our 2 adorable kids. Me, I work 2 jobs that I LOVE (I work for a biz + life coach & with Norwex) that allow me to work at home and be there for my family when I need. My kids, although they are still young (6 & 4) are usually busy with at least one activity, playing with friends, doing the normal kid stuff..

Bottom line we are very blessed in our lives & I thank God every day for these blessings.

So, WHY would I be saying that I am hanging up my cape? 

What the heck am I even talking about?

I know you are all probably thinking “What could she possibly be talking about, she has an amazing life, I would LOVE to be in that position.”

From the outside looking in, we have our shit together & on most days we do.

Here it is. Just because we are blessed doesn’t mean we have it easier than anyone else. 

Working from home is one of the most rewarding & amazing opportunities I have ever been blessed with, I wouldn't change it. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all unicorns & rainbows 24/7.

I still have a job to do, just like anyone else & on average I do work 40+ hours a week between both jobs. I get so irked when someone looks at me and says “oh you work from home, your life must be SO easy!” or there’s those that say “You work from home, I don’t know how you do it, I would go crazy!”

Here’s the truth. 

Most people forget that even though I am home, I WORK! They assume that I am just hanging out around my house eating bon-bon’s all day long. 

When the reality is, my life is just as busy as anyone else’s.  Just because I work from home does not mean I slack off (just ask my boss or my team). I work my booty off from 6:30am when I get up until almost 11pm when I finally crash in my bed and go to sleep.

Of course there are major benefits. 

If someone has a doctor’s appointment, I can go. If someone needs to be picked up at school, I can go. If I need to get grocery shopping done when there are no kids to beg me for whatever it is they want, I can go. 

And if you are a mom that works in an office, you know that those are some MAJOR perks! Right ladies?

At the end of the day there are still tasks just like any other mom has to do. Dinner still needs to be made, the dishes done, the house clean, the laundry…. You get my drift.

What I am saying here is that I am no different than anyone else.

However, because of my nature, I feel that all those mundane tasks have to get done right away. I make them my excuse for why I don’t have time to stop and color with my kids, I don’t have time to stop and read a book, I don’t have time to relax, I don’t have time to…. You fill in the blank.

So back to the cape…

With all of this being said, a few weeks ago at church we were finishing up a series on making room for what really matters in your life, and the pastor said that you need to allow yourself time to sit in the quiet, time to reflect, to take in the glory of your life.

My first thought was “HELLO! As if I needed a sign to tell me this! But when am I going to fit THAT into my day!”

The reality of it is though, I knew I needed to. I needed to stop and take time from all those mundane household things and take time for my family, my friends & for myself. 

I needed to stop putting my daily to do list of household things before my family.

I was placing unrealistic expectations on myself.  No one else was, I WAS. I was so busy doing all of these other tasks that I was not building a life.

Not that anyone suffered except for me.. or so I thought. 

I was too busy consuming myself with all of these mundane tasks, the ones that “if I don’t do them no one else will.” That I had forgotten to spend just even 30 minutes with my husband, I had forgotten to spend even 30 minutes with my kids doing something other than eating dinner or telling them to do something, I had forgotten that I needed down time to.

You can’t work from sun up to sun down day after day without stopping to enjoy life & take a break. 

Well you can but you will be miserable, grouchy, easily irritated and no one will want to be around you.

I know this because it happened to me & it still does at times (see no one’s perfect).

So I made a plan. Now I only allow 6 things to go on my to do list (including work), I take time every morning to read for 15 minutes & journal, I have a schedule that I sit down and make every Sunday & occasionally I can sneak in a workout too.

By doing this, it allows me to not place those unrealistic expectations on myself and also allows time for the things that matter. Myself, my family & my friends. Our time on earth is short, kids grow up fast, life moves quickly. I refuse to force myself to miss it.

The reality is, the dishes can wait, the house can get cleaned later, the laundry can pile up. It will all be there tomorrow. Your friends and family might not be.

So do you want to look back and say, “I was always too busy doing chores to spend time with x” or do you want to get out and enjoy life & live in the present. It’s called that because it’s a gift. ;o)

I choose to live in the present & to enjoy life.

So this is why I say that today I hang up my cape. 

When I do this I am letting go of all the unrealistic expectations that I place on myself & that others place on me. I am letting go of placing those mundane tasks before myself, my family and my friends. I am going to stop comparing myself & my life to someone else’s highlight reel, I am going to stop pretending that everything is perfect all the time.

Life is crazy… crazy amazing & I don’t want to miss it. & sometimes when things don’t go perfect they make the best stories.

I will always wear my super mom/wife cape. Just in a different way. I will be super at being present in the moment & enjoying life to the fullest, taking in every moment & allowing myself to find joy in the midst of life’s perfect imperfections.

Never Forget... 14 years later

14 years...Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday I was a college freshman with my whole future ahead of me..

That's where I was 14 years ago, starting college. I wasn't even dating my husband, my two kiddos were just a dream & I didn't know where I was going to live or what exactly I was going to do when I "grew up".

9/11..We will never forget, how could we? Tonight I will read my kids this book. The Little Chapel That Stood. To them, it might just be another story.

To us, their parents it will forever remind us of a historic moment in history that we lived through.

A day we will never forget.

 A few years ago I was able to travel to New York (yep, this small town girl went to the big city!),  I had one free day before my conference and I spent it visiting all the sights of New York.

Starting with the not yet finished 9/11 memorial. It was slated to open on 9/11 of that year. I visited the chapel in this book, which has been turned in to a mini museum & another area that is also a museum now. You can check out my pics here.

These pictures do not do justice to the feelings and emotions I felt on my subway ride to the location. "It must have been chaos here.." "wow I would be claustrophobic,,"  Then I arrived and looked up... There it was, The Freedom Tower (still under construction) it all of it's majesty. A sign of  hope, a sign of peace, a sign of freedom.

I spent hours down there just looking, taking it all in, reading everything, praying, crying. It was emotional. To watch it on television when it happened was emotional too, but to be THERE right there where it all happened.. that was a whole new ball game..

The stories, the artifacts, the pictures.. It was like I was stepping into history itself. Something I lived through, something I watched happen, something that changed this country forever. That is when history came alive for me.

I will never forget everything I saw. Today I take time to stop an reflect, on all of those that lost their lives on 9/11. For a moment in time we were a country united. There were no boundaries, people united, we came together & helped one another. There was sorrow, but in that sorrow we became stronger, we reached out to one another, we helped one another and we loved each other.

To all of those that run in, when the rest of us are running out, to all of those who are or have dedicated themselves to protecting our country, to those that work to keep us safe, Thank You.

We Will Never Forget..

So tonight, when I read my kids the book, The Little Chapel That Stood, I will try not to cry, I will try to answer questions & I will try my best to explain what happened that day that changed us all forever.

And when they get older and can understand more, I will tell them what they want to know so that they Never Forget what happened on 9/11/2001.

Be Green With Perfectly Posh!

Everyone LOVES to be pampered, but if you have sensitive skin like me  it can be a challenge to find products at the store that don’t irritate your skin.

Not to mention said products are filled with harmful chemicals.

Did you know that it only takes 27 seconds for chemicals to enter your bloodstream through your skin? That is QUICK!

What’s a girl to do?

Norwex offers an amazing skin care line & some personal care products that I LOVE, however, I like doing masks, using sugar or salt scrubs and having that little something extra every once in a while. And with 2 kids & a busy schedule I don’t have time to make my own from Pinterest or go to the spa..

Solution: Perfectly Posh!

I recently discovered Posh when talking to one of my daughter’s friends parents at preschool. And it is an AMAXING company that has been founded in the last 5 years, everything is made in the USA.

ANNNND…

Like Norwex, they are chemical free and use only the best natural ingredients. Look at their labels. You'll recognize the simple, natural ingredients and essential oils they use.

Another amazing benefit, it unlike other natural pampering products, Posh is cost-effective! Everything in their catalog is $25 or less & they have a great discount where when you buy 5 products, your 6^th is FREE!

That’s another reason I LOVE Posh. I LOVE being able to pamper myself without breaking the bank.. after all everyone deserves it!

Life might never let you have a whole day off, but if you can take just a minute to take care of yourself you’ll be better able to do all the other things you need to. Take a little time to pamper YOU.

Want to check out all their products? CLICK HERE and select “Tia Chapo blogs” when you check out so you don't miss out on the party benefits!

Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain

 Most of you know that I like to have a TON of FUN at my parties! But what you may not know is behind all of that FUN there is a passion. Not just a passion to help everyone save time and money, but a passion for why you should have a Safe Haven Home.

When I started using Norwex in 2013, my 2 year old had been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (he is a seeker) about 6 months prior, and I had NO knowledge on how the chemicals we were using in our home could and were affecting him & the rest of us.  

It was a month after I had started just using my household package that I noticed a change in both of our kids, they were more focused, their moods had changed, my son wasn't acting out like he normally did & none of us were coming down with our seasonal coughs & runny noses (like we normally did that time of year).  

Last year I found this video, showing the impact of chemicals on the developing brain and it all clicked. Take a look. Until I saw it I had NO IDEA that chemicals could have so much effect on children.

The impact of toxins on children has been studied for the past 30 years; researchers have come to the inescapable conclusion that little things matter. They’ve discovered that extremely low levels of toxins can impact brain development and that subtle shifts in the intellectual abilities of individual children have a big impact on the number of challenged or gifted children in a population. Watch this video to learn about steps you can take to reduce children’s exposure to toxins or suspected toxins.

Combine that with the fact that only a handful of chemicals have been tested for their impact on human health out of the 80,000 that have been developed in the past 50 years & you can see why I am so passionate about this issue.

This is one of the reasons I use Norwex ( I LOVE saving time & money too!) and making your home a Safe Haven isn’t hard & won’t cost you a fortune. It’s really VERY simple.

What are your thoughts on this video? Comment Below!

Stay Green,
Tia 

Have you heard of EWG?

Have you heard of the Environmental Working Group?


Up until a few months ago I hadn't heard of them either. They are a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment.  Their mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment.

" EWG drives consumer choice and civic action with its game-changing investigations and research on toxics and environmental health, food and agriculture, and water and energy. For two decades, EWG’s groundbreaking research has changed the debate over environmental health. From households to Capitol Hill, EWG’s team of scientists, policy experts, lawyers, communication experts and programmers has worked tirelessly to make sure someone is standing up for public health when government or industry won’t." -EWG webiste

What I LOVE about this site is that they rate products & bust through common myths about cosmetics, produce, cleaning products & more. They also rate products on an A-F scale (like in school) so that you know how safe things are, as well as offer tips & guides to all sorts of things.

In our house we have been doing our best to remove chemicals from our home for a bunch of different reasons & this site has made it easier as a consumer to  be able to know what is safe for our family or what we can do to eliminate chemicals from our home.

Go and check them out at http://www.ewg.org/ and share your thoughts.

Alternate uses for Norwex Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent

Did you know that there are more uses for our Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent than just washing your clothes?  Take a look at what other Norwex customers use it for. 

-Mix 1 Tbsp with gallon of water and wash your garden pots at end of season.

-Mix a pinch of UPP with a few drops of dish washing liquid in small bowl of warm water.  Soak jewelry in mixture and clean using a soft toothbrush (NOT recommended for opals and other soft stones).

-My customer told me it was taking out the gray from her bras and underwear. That gray was from her previous detergent.

-I love to sprinkle a little on my wet Enviro Cloth and clean my stainless steel appliances.  I cleaned my kitchen floor tile and grout by mixing 1 tsp. of UPP with water in an old spray bottle.  Spray it on and clean with a grout brush or toothbrush. Cleaned as well as Oxyclean but safe for the earth and my kids!

-I use it to clean my HE washer on the sanitize cycle & the same with my dishwasher.

-I also put it in a spray bottle with water for my floor with extra muddy footprints before using my mop system.

-Had a client tell me she put it in her floor steamer, about 1 tsp.

-I use a teeny bit (1 tsp. in a little bit of very hot water). Dissolve it and dip in your enviro and carpet stains come right out. You will be shocked at how dirty your enviro rinses out. Pulls that dirt right out of the carpet.

-I bought a white sweater at Goodwill and it had an orange stain on the sleeve. I made up a solution like above and just stuck it in there. It was gone in the morning!! Love that stuff.

-I love to shampoo my carpets with it! They have never been cleaner and my shampooer doesn't stink!

-Teeny bit on the bottom of my shower floor! Scrub with a scrub brush.

-Soak metal/mesh filters (from hood vent over my stove) in warm water and 1 tsp. UPP. Use rubber brush to clean the mesh part so you don't snag your cloth. Wipe edges with enviro cloth. Then use the soak water and an enviro cloth to clean all of the grease/dust off of the top of the hood range and then wipe the inside to remove the grease. We have lived here for 10 years now and this is the first product that ever removed everything. Effortlessly, I might add. My cloth looked pretty bad, but I just sprinkled UPP on it and scrubbed the filthy spots with a clean portion of the cloth. The cloth doesn't look new, but my hood range does!

- I soaked my screen from under my range hood in a solution of 1Tbsp. of UPP and hot water and I didn't have to use any kind of brush on the screen. Just soaked it for a few minutes and I've never had it be so clean and no greasy residue afterwards!!!

-Puppy didn't make it outside? Sprinkle on enough UPP to cover it, allow it to completely soak up everything, allow it to dry completely & vacuum up.

-I soaked my 3 yr old’s “Toms” (shoes) in UPP today. They are washed regularly because she refuses to wear socks with them, and I could not believe the color of the water after the soak! Ewe! Hope they don't get stinky so fast now!

-Sprinkle in white porcelain sink. Put in just enough water to cover the bottom. Let sit overnight and in the morning you have the whitest, sparkling sink in town!

-I saw pictures from a lady who cleaned her microfiber couch cushions with it...

-I cleaned my stainless fridge and white plantation blinds and they look great!

-Wanted to add cleaning out your paint brush. I just did and can't believe how quick it cleaned the paint out of it plus used a lot less water because it was clean so fast.

-I made a paste out of the upp & used it to clean a stubborn stain off of my laminate floor. I let it sit for 15 minutes, scrubbed with a spirinette & the stain came right out! It had been there for months, I thought there was no hope for it! 

Meal Planning Made EASY!

OK, when I say meal planning a lot of thoughts come to mind; such as "ugh, I don't have time for that" "is she crazy?" and "This is too overwhelming!" just to name a few.

However let me assure you, once you get in the groove, it is easy!

What you will need:

-a dry erase calender

-dry erase markers

- your recipes (whatever way you have them: cards, ipad app, in your head, find them here, find them online, ect..)

-pen

-paper

optional supplies:

-thumb tacks

-clips

OK this is SUPER simple, you can plan out your meals weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, whatever works best for you.

1. Pick your favorite recipes, write them in which day you want to eat them; I generally schedule in 1-2 crock pot recipes a week, because we are a busy family. ( here is a link to some really cute recipe cards that I use! http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipe-cards-download/)

2. Take the recipes that you are making, using your pen and paper, create your grocery list from there and you are ready to roll!

The total cost for our menu board was around $40, with the most expensive thing being the board itself. If you want to save money you can always print off a calender or use one you all ready have around the house.

If you are like I was, all of this was staring you in the face. Like most new things it takes a couple of weeks to get use to; but once you start it gets easier and quicker!  I usually spend about an hour on the weekend planning the weeks meals, making my shopping list & shopping for everything I need for 2 weeks.

I think the menu board, planning & with all the leftovers you will have for lunches (not to mention the occasional night you don't feel like cooking!) you will be pleasantly surprised at the money, time and chaos you will save by not always wondering "What am I going to make for dinner?"