Doing What I Hate…. Squats

Squats are my LEAST favorite exercise, but they’re necessary for training my legs and minimizing my bursitis symptoms.

The #UltimateSquat is a great way to work out during the day. Especially after a few hours of working on the computer.

The Ultimate Squat provides a full body workout with no weights required. You can challenge yourself in the comfort of your home and maintain perfect form by using your doorway as support and the set’s resistance bands for continued interval training.

One of the best features of this set is that the resistance bands can be adjusted to complement each person’s individual fitness routine!

Head on over to my YouTube channel to see my video review of the set.

More Beauty Product Reviews Coming Soon!

My skin was a WRECK this past week…. A few days of rest, relaxation, LOTS of PRAYER and quiet time and a return to my at-home, skin care routine have cleared up my breakouts and blemishes and I’m grateful! 🙌🙌🙌

Continue reading →

It’s Never too Early to Prepare for the Holidays

Confession: I’m one of those people who begins planning for the Christmas holiday in June…. with the goal of being done with my Christmas shopping by the end of July.

I don’t always complete my shopping goals, but I do get a good chunk of my shopping done and most of this is accomplished by targeting deals (mainly online deals– I’m not a big fan of going to malls).

I begin my shopping early for two reasons:

To find good deals (I mean, really? I am Frugal Fran 😉 )
To find gifts that are personalized

For me, it’s not just about finding a cheap gift. I want to find a reasonably priced gift that is actually something that the intended recipient will value and appreciate.

Too often, we end up buying expensive, last-minute gifts because we are pressure prompted. The worst thing about this is– these last minute purchases end up being items that the person doesn’t like.

When you buy something like a gift card, you end up spending $25 or $50 when you could have purchased an item for $10 from the person’s favorite store or given them an item that they had been saying they wanted/needed.

Even better– you can make your loved one something that they can actually use or will admire. This type of gift giving requires that we develop relationships and pay attention to those we interact with. I enjoy making holiday wreaths and ornaments for many of my friends and family members.

Here are a few shots of a wreath I made for my Grandmother for Mother’s Day, earlier this year.

All of my supplies came from the Dollar Tree!

I’ve been making wreaths since I was 6 years old in Children’s Church so it took me all of 30 minutes to make these. #TrueStory

Testing one of the wreaths

Round Glass Christmas Tree Baubles Spheres Ornaments are a great crafting item to have on hand. You can fill these with glitter or feathers or other decorative items.

The metal clip can be easily removed so that the heart can be filled with the item of your choosing.

One of my favorite memories is of my personalized ornament with one my baby photos. My mom had one of her coworkers make one using a baby photo of each of her daughters.

I recently made one for a couple at my church using their daughter’s first christmas photo (Sadly I could not find a copy of my photo of the ornament in time for this blog post 😦 ).

I used the following steps to create my ornament:

I took the Christmas photo and rolled it in half (without damaging the image);
Used tweezers to insert into the bulb;
Allowed the photo to naturally unravel itself;
Clipped several sections of curling ribbons (in complementing colors — red, gold, and green);
Used tweezers to insert (and adjust) the curling ribbons around the photograph (This is a great way to fill in some of the empty space in the bulb without blocking the image).

When I make a gift like a wreath or an ornament for someone, it truly is a labor of love and I think it shows. For me it is both personal and meaningful and it comes straight from the heart.

I hope this inspires you to think a bit differently as the holiday season approaches. You have plenty of time ahead to start working on some personalized gifts. Time to start fixing some things! 😀

Quick Fix: Dimmable LED Bulbs

Hi Folks!

Not too much going on over here.

I’m trying to give myself some weeks of rest before working on a few major projects, so my posts may slow down a bit. In the meantime, I’m back with another quick fix!

I have several dimmable light fixtures in my living room and was seeking to replace several bulbs that had blown out.

Finding these in a multi-pack was such a win. They were packed well and survived shipment with no issue. These bulbs produce a much brighter, whiter light than the bulbs they replaced.

I have them all in dimmable light fixtures and they work well, but are not as dimmable as standard bulbs (their switch between “on” and “off” is much longer and the bulb goes from “bright” to “brighter”– not very dim at all).

Here’s a link to my YouTube review if you’d like to see them in action.

A Sense of Comfort

Have you ever noticed how something as simple as your favorite pair of jeans or leggings can bring you a world of comfort?

Now imagine how you’d feel if you lost all of your worldly possessions.

That’s reality for many residents of Louisiana right now.

For my husband it brought back memories of Hurricane Katrina. For me it brings back memories of my first flood experience. It was almost 5 years ago, to the day. My apartment was spared, but my car was under several feet of water.

It’s one of those things you never forget. It’s a crushing blow to your mind and spirit, but it is also a true lesson about the things that matter in life– health, strength, your family– and simply being alive.

When I received these leggings to review, I thought I would be giving them to the clothing drive at my church or maybe to one of the youth, but I’m including them in my collection of items to donate to the local relief efforts and I pray you’ll find it in your heart to support them as well.

Yes, they’re cute. Sure, they’re trendy, but now they mean something much more– they can be a small sense of comfort– a step to returning to normality for a child who just lost all of her new, back-to-school clothes. A single pair of jeans or an individual donation may not change everything, but they can be a start.

My local ministry will be coordinating relief efforts. If you are unable to give items directly, you can use this link to give a monetary donation.

Scriptures for Encouragement:

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lam. 3:22-25)

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Cor 1:3,4)

Coming Up: International Day of Peace Action Week (September 18 – 25, 2016)

There’s been so much going on in Louisiana over the past few months, and it has been a lot to process.

I’ll be taking part in the International Day of Peace Action Week next month and speaking more about my personal experiences, my individual reflections, and some of the activities taking place across the State, Nation and World. Please check back for more updates.

Thanks for reading!