Friday Fun!

Living healthy natural lives is not always the easiest thing, which is why I started my blog - to inspire and help others live their best life healthfully and naturally. I want to give you examples of how I am doing it through weekly updates, and I am hoping some of you will be willing to share your thoughts and ideas too.

So, here we go! I hope this helps and inspires all of you!

In my life this week...
Ups and downs. I have realized that I have just wayyyy too much on my plate. I have so many passions and goals, responsibilities and jobs - that combined with being a perfectionist (I am not glorifying perfectionism at ALL!) is making me nearly crazy, seriously. I am going to try to, once again, re-prioritize and loosen up on some things.

I am inspired by...
my husband. I am inspired by him a lot. We had a really good conversation yesterday about my week, and I was reminded again about why I married him - he has the biggest heart in the world! He is just a lover.

My favorite thing this week was...
having a semi-good day with my kids on Wednesday. We laughed some, had fun playing games together, and hardly any punishments had to be given out. :-) Makes me a happy momma!

What's working/not working for me...
Working - I have been using this smiley face system of rewarding my children for good behavior. I think it is really working with my two older ones, and I am so happy I found something that seems to make a difference.

Not working -my snacking at night. Good grief - that is my one and only time of the day to fully relax and try to be myself again, and for some reason, I can't seem to do that without a LOT of chocolate, cashews or some other snack. If it was just a little snacking, I would have no problem with it, but it is A LOT! I am frustrated, but not enough to stop. Does that even make sense?

Questions/thoughts I have...
Why does our relationship with food have to be so intense and so powerful?

Things I'm working on...
I want to try to spend time with each of my kids alone each day. That can be really hard, when you have a little baby who seems to always need me, but I am going to try.

I'm reading...
Harry Potter - the 4th book. I have been reading through the whole series again for fun, and I just love them! I am also continuing to read my devotion book, Unglued by Lysa TerkHurst.(I think I spelled her name wrong, but I am too lazy to go and check my book, sorry) That devotion book and my prayer time is holding me together.

I'm cooking...
these amazing peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips that have no flour or sugar in them! They are fabulous. You can find the super simple recipe on my Healthy Recipes page on Pinterest. These are to die for, and I am not kidding. I am also cooking plenty of healthy Paleo/Whole30 recipes too. I tried a Whole30 Shepherd's Pie, which was out-of-this-world! (I will share that recipe with you tomorrow.)

I'm grateful for...
sleep, the power of prayer, a healthy family, a loving husband, and nap time!!!!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Gotta share this, because it is so awesome! This is my new mantra!