Up until November, I was all for the Drunk Elephant line of skin care. These all natural, cruelty free products really did make my skin seem smoother, brighter, and better. 

But then in November, my husband lost his job and I could no longer afford the HEFTY price tag that came with Drunk Elephant products. I was devastated, certain my skin would fall prey to wrinkles and dullness. I tried to find other, cheaper alternatives, but I struggled to find anything that was cruelty free and seemed to work.

Enter The INKEY List products. These products are winners for so many reasons:

1. They are cruelty free, which is so important to me
2. They have  a wide line of products great for all skin types and concerns
3. They are so affordable!! Like, seriously!

I purchased my first threeproducts from Sephora but will definitely be buying more.Here are my recommendations so far:

For 14.99 you get a large amount of this moisturizer with peptides to help with fine lines and wrinkles. It is silky smooth and soaks in so you aren't greasy. I love this as a replacement for my more expensive moisturizers.

This was my first purchase from The INKEY and I'm in love. I was having issues with large pores. This scrub helps with pores and also is super cleansing without drying your skin out. You only need a tiny bit to do your whole face, too, so it has lasted a long time.

Eye cream and retinol products are sooo pricey. I've spent between $60 and $90 on these two products. So when I found this eye cream from Inkey, I was skeptical. However, after a month of use, I can say my eye wrinkles do seem less prominent and my eye area is definitely smoother. It truly works for the price. I'm obsessed!

I can honestly say I'll never go back to pricey skincare again. These products are AMAZING and such an affordable price. I love their mission to bring healthy, high quality skincare into the hands of all women. Definitely give these a try.

​Have you tried THE INKEY? tell me in the comments below

With COVID completely shifting our worlds, going to the nail salon might me impossible due to quarantines, health concerns, and even financial reasons. But for me, having my nails done is a confidence booster. Even if I'm just at home, cue nails make me feel so much better.

That's where imPRESS Manicures enter the scene. These at-home kits are extremely affordable. For less than $10, you can get two manicures out of one set.

I am obsessed with the colors and when I use these nail sets, I get so many compliments! Below from left to right are:

• Rebecca Minkoff in Sunset Beach ($8.99)
• Break the Ice ($7.99)
• Rebecca Minkoff in Gliteratti ($8.99)
• Tweetheart ($7.99)

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I love imPRESS manicures because I can apply a full manicure in about five minutes. Each pack comes with 30 different nails, a small file, an alcohol prep pad, and a cuticle tool. Here's what you do (and some tips I've learned along the way)

1. Take off all nail polish and swipe rubbing alcohol over nails. Push cuticles back.
2. Choose the ten nails that fit your nails. They have tiny numbers to make it easy to match up. I can usually get two manicures plus have some accents left over for another manicure out of one box (Isn't that crazy for the price?)
3. Peel off the backing of each nail. Press firmly on your nail. I hold and press for about ten seconds.
4. Done!
5. I always do my thumb nails last to make it easier to apply the others.
6. I trim my nails down because I like super short nails. To make sure they stay, I wait thirty minutes before trimming them with nail clippers
7. I also put clear nail polish underneath the tips because they have some adhesive that can get stuck on fuzzies and hair. The clear nail polish trick really helps.

When applied like this, these nails truly do last up to two weeks! I usually get about 9 great days out of them. I always get so many compliments, too.

I definitely recommend checking them out. I haven't tried the pedicures yet but they are next on my list.

​Have you tried imPRESS nails? Which designs are your favorite?

So first, you should know that I am a TERRIBLE cook. Like burns everything, can't follow a recipe, smoke-filled house kind of cook. 

I've tried many subscription food boxes because I wanted to get better at cooking and because I'm terrible at coming up with recipes for dinner. I've tried all of them out there, pretty much. And usually, I find that they're really expensive, I can't recreate the meals, or the meals are so odd, my family hates them.

I gave Every Plate a try after a friend suggested it. I've received one box so far and chose the following meals (Pictured above):

• Chicken Sausage Stuffed Peppers
• Shepard's Pie
• Ranch Chipotle Chicken with Garlic Bread and Green Beans

And after one week of trying the box, here are the pros and cons.

Pros to this box:

• The price: For three meals for two people, this box would be $39.99. This is way cheaper than other boxes I've tried.
• The recipes: The recipes are all sort of family favorites. You get a wide variety of choices per box, and there are many twists on traditional favorites that push your family out of the boring routine but not too far
• The ease of prep: I am a terrible cook, but I managed to recreate the meals pretty efficiently. The instructions are super detailed, which I appreciate. It pushed me outside of my cooking comfort zone with fresh herbs and ingredients I've never used, which was really fun.

Cons to this box:

• portions: My husband works a very physical job and is always super starving when he gets home. He thought the portion sizes were way too small for the box. In the future, I will probably bump us up to a four-person box so that he can have a bigger portion and I can have lunch the next day.

All in all, Every Plate has been my favorite food box I've received to date. I think it's definitely nice to mix up your dinner routine and to not have to think about finding recipes or making shopping lists. It was fun to try new recipes and to just know what was for dinner three nights this week.

If you want to give Every Plate a try, use this link and get $20 off your first box. 

They say romance dies with marriage. Nine years in, I can say this: romance does deaden, dull, diffuse as the years pass.

The roses he got you will be few and far between. Fancy dinners, sexy outfits, and exotic destination vacations will feel out of reach. Hot, steamy kissing sessions will take the backseat sometimes to work, exhaustion, stress, and taking the garbage out. The traditional romance from the movies will seem like a faraway star you can't quite grasp anymore.

But as the romance fades, other things take its place. Beautiful, soul fulfilling things.
The knowledge that he knows you, every part of you, and still chooses you every day. The awareness that you can be unfiltered, uncensored, and true in front of him....and he won't judge you for it. True friendship. True laughter. Easy nights on the sofa watching Netflix in sweatpants having the laugh of your life. The faith that he will go to war for you even when he doesn't know why you are battling an outside force....he takes your side unwaveringly. He is always there. Always.
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Inside jokes. Sweet kisses at midnight. Your favorite ice cream flavor on a Tuesday.
Romance will dull, but bigger things will grow. Give me the friendship, the trust, the support, and the laughter over roses, candles, and wine any day.
Because to me, these are the things that make marriage and love worth it all.
#marriedlife #romancegoals

We are living in scary times. The nation is in a health crisis but also a financial crisis. With so many of us losing jobs, having hours cut, or just facing financial uncertainty, a lot of us find ourselves in a major wake-up call moment in terms of our finances.

Even if you aren't facing financial hardship right now, the realization that things can change in an instant may have you considering your family's current financial position. But for so many of us used to sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to finances, where do you even begin when it comes to budgeting?

We all know that budgeting is essential to financial success. Like anything in life, you have to have a plan when it comes to what money is coming in, how you will use it, and what your long-term goals are. Budgeting can help you reach those goals and make sure that sale at your favorite store doesn't distract you from what's really important in the long-run.

I'm not a financial expert. I'm an average, middle class teacher who hates spreadsheets and enjoys sales. However, in light of the financial crisis, I've been paying more attention to our family's budget. Here are some tools and tips that have really helped me with my budgeting.

When you're in panic mode, it's hard to look at the long-term. You want to self soothe, which means treating yourself to quick purchases that make you feel better. But those small purchases add up.

Suze Orman is a financial expert who I really admire. Her advice has always been to have savings equal to 8 months of your current household expenses. This means that you should have enough money saved to float you through eight months of essential bills and living expenses. 

It might sound overwhelming, but Suze is big on emphasizing the peace of mind that comes with saving. If you keep this big goal in mind, it will be easier to stick to your budget for small expenses and say "no" to the items you don't really need.

In order for a budget to work, you need to actually have it written out in detail. You need to allocate every dollar of income to a category. But for many, this is overwhelming. So many of us hate the idea of spreadsheets and calculations. Plus, there's the confusion that surrounds a budget. How much should you really spend on each category?

I've recently come across an amazing tool that does all of the work for you. The personal budget planner at Pigly.com helps you allocate your monthly income to various categories. It allows you to adjust those categories according to your expenses, and even gives you a low and high end cost for each category. I love that it serves as a foundation to create an effective budget.

They also have other tools to help you decide if you can afford a car payment, how long credit card debts will take to pay off, and other useful financial tools that are free and easy to use.

Sticking to a budget doesn't mean you have to cancel all fun. There are ways to find cheap and inexpensive things to do with your family. Search coupon sites online for deals and sales on your favorite items. One of my favorite sites to find deals is the Krazy Coupon Lady. You can find entertainment, dining, and even household item deals and coupons that will save you money and help you achieve your budget.

In order for budgeting to work, you need to make sure your entire household is on board with your budget and financial goals. Have weekly finance meetings with your family to assess what is working, what isn't, and how you are doing at achieving your goals. You need to make sure that you are staying on track as a family.

My husband lost his job in the fall, and we have found that having weekly discussions about our finances and our goals has really helped us improve our finances and our relationship. There is less tension about our goals, our money, and our spending. We have learned to work as a team and move toward the common future we both want, which has been a really wonderful thing.


The financial crisis won't last forever, but if you follow these tips, you'll leave 2020 feeling better about your financial direction, your finances, and your control of your money.

Clutter in living spaces is usually the ideal hide-out for rats since these areas are very rarely disturbed and therefore provide mice with just what they need for shelter. The most clutter is generally found in attics, basements, and garages. It is no wonder most rodent infestations in homes happen within these same areas. 

Decluttering and properly organizing your living space is one way to dissuade mice and other small animals from finding shelter in your home, since they find open spaces and clutter-free areas less attractive. 

Lack of organization at homes may be a result of a general organizational problem, and clutter in living spaces can be easily compared to clutter in other areas of our lives which inevitably creates problems. 

Keeping rodents out shouldn’t be the only motivation for decluttering your home, cleaning up and organizing your living space is a healthy thing to do and it improves lives in more ways than one. 

Here are a few tips for decluttering and organizing your living space.

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The traditional way of tidying up a home is usually by moving from room to room and trying as much as you can to put things in order. This has now started to change. A simpler way to tidy up your home and keep your belongings organized is by categorizing everything and fully tackling one category before moving to the next. 

Organizing by categories and not rooms is a method featured and popularized by the Japanese organizing consultant, Marie Kondo, and it has proven to be a very powerful method of organizing and keeping things in order. According to Kondo, start with organizing all your clothes, then move to your shoes, then books, photographs and so on. 

​

The KonMari method also teaches that every piece of item you have should be given a special spot in your house. This is a major step towards keeping things organized and in order both at home and at work. 

It may seem like a tiresome and boring idea but it works beautifully, plus it’s not nearly as difficult as it may sound. If you value and respect your belongings, then this shouldn’t be a difficult task at all. Find a special place in your home for every item, so when it’s not in use you can find it there. 

If you appropriately do this, you’ll be amazed at how tidy and neat your living space will be and you’ll never have to worry about misplacement, items lying around, and untidy clutter.

​

Removing clutter and organizing your living space is one thing, another is fixing holes that let rats and other small animal pests into your home. 

Organization alone will not keep rodents out of your home, you have to go a step further to make sure there are no entry points and holes to let them in. If you already have a rodent infestation problem, then chances are these tiny creatures already have holes littered in almost every part of your home. 

Now, you have to carefully find every one of these holes and properly repair and seal them off. Treat every tiny hole as a potential rodent entry point, you may not know this but rats, mice, and most rodents are capable of squeezing through holes as tiny as 2 cm or less. 

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Rats are always looking to hide somewhere cozy, warm, and with very little disturbance, which is precisely what clutter in homes offer. 

Pest-proofing your home by doing structural repairs is the most effective way to keep rodents out of your living space and the ideal way to do this is by inviting rodent control specialists for a thorough inspection. 

After the inspection, these experts will draw out a plan for fixing the problem. 

​

It wasn’t always easy to love you.

When you first came home (against my wishes), you were a floppy mess of puppy breath, clumsiness, and poor manners. You jumped and chewed. You ruined my favorite shoes. You had accidents and popped a Coke can with your teeth, spraying sticky soda on the ceiling.

It wasn’t always easy to love you.
When I was trying to do work and you chewed on my pant leg, or when you peed on my lap in my favorite sweats. When it took hours and hours and hours to teach you how to listen, how to come, how to behave.

It wasn’t always easy to love you.

But through it all, you settled into my heart, and we settled into a routine of summers on the deck and ice cream and running through the sprinkler. Of nights on the couch cuddled up with Netflix, of too many cupcakes, of car rides, of walks through the neighbourhood. Of Pumpkinfest in our local town, of visiting family, of just being together.

It was easy to love you with those soulful brown eyes and that playful spirit.

Now, you’re getting more gray by the hour. Your hips don’t work like they used to, and age is creeping up on our time together.

It isn’t always easy to love you again.

When you get me up several times a night because you just can’t hold it anymore, and you still have more accidents than ever. When your bones don’t work like they should and you struggle to get up, to walk up stairs, to do basic things.

It isn’t always easy to love you.

When I look at you now and I see the playful spirit but an aging body that won’t let you have the fun you want. When I watch you struggle to stand, to walk, it isn’t easy. When I still sense your loving spirit but we can’t have the adventures we used to. When all days, now, our time is pretty much limited to the couch with Netflix.

It isn’t always easy to love you.

When I know that sooner rather than later, you’re going to shred my heart to pieces and gut me when you take your final breath. When I know we’re closer to goodbye than to hello now. When I know that eventually, I’m going to have to face this world without you.

It isn’t easy to love you.

But love you, I do.

Because through the puppy days and the angry days and the chewing days and the older days—through everything in between, you have shown me how to love not just you, but life itself. You’ve shown me what unconditional friendship and love looks like. You’ve changed me, helped me to grow into who I am. You’ve been beside me on my ugly days, on my tough days, on days with messy tears.

It isn’t easy to love anyone or anything in this world because we always know it’s temporary. But love you I have. Love you I do. Love you I will, even when you aren’t here.
To the love we have for our dogs….the love that isn’t always easy, but is always there.
​
Lindsay Detwiler

I LOVE getting new outfits. Who doesn't? I also love getting mail. So when a friend told me to try Stitch Fix, I signed up. 

I was skeptical. I'm a bit cheap when it comes to buying clothes. Clearance racks are my jam. But I gave it a try.

Stitch Fix is a Styling service that will send you a box of items picked for you from a stylist. It costs $20 to get it shipped to you, and there are five items per box. The $20 acts as a gift card towards anything you purchase, and you get a discount if you buy everything in the box. You fill out surveys that tell your stylists what you are looking for.

Here's the thing: Yes, some of the items are pricey. Jeans run between $45-88 on average. My shirts costs anywhere from $28-58. Dresses are around $50. That seems like a lot....but here's the other thing. Everything I've kept from Stitch Fix is my FAVORITE. Truly. When I go for my favorite jeans, shirts, dresses...It's always Stitch Fix.

My outfits from Stitch Fix make me feel so confident, from my work wear I've kept to my casual wear. And I love that my stylist really got to know me to the point that she would send stuff I wasn't sure about until I put it on.

The service has also pushed me outside of my comfort zone....and shown me new styles that I totally love that I would have never picked. Truly. I get soooo many compliments when I wear my outfits from them, it's absurd. 

So yes, it can be pricey. But it is soo worth it. Once you get a box, too, they have a shop page where you can just directly buy items that go with the items you kept from boxes.

​Right now, you can get $25 in credit when you sign up for your first box. If you've been thinking about it, give it a try. I love that you don't have to do it monthly. You can order a box on demand...so even just once! Try it and see what you think. I bet you'll fall in love like I did. Use this link to get your $25 in credit once you order your first box.

I LOVE getting new glasses. I love to have multiple pairs because 
1. I'm clumsy and break things
2. I love having some glasses to match my mood--serious, scholarly, wild, fun.

The only problem is glasses are so expensive. Like seriously. Even at the cheapest place in my hometown, they are over a $100 until you add on all of the coatings. Thankfully, though, a friend introduced me toZenni.com....and I'm obsessed.

Now, I've tried online glasses websites before and been disappointed. The quality was bad (you get what you pay for, right?) and I ended up finding them uncomfortable. I gave Zenni a try, though, and I'm in love!

First of all, every pair I have from Zenni are so comfortable. Truly. I wear them more than my glasses from the eye doctor. Also, I can SEE BETTER from them. Some  of my friends who have ordered said the same thing. The lenses are so clear. 

Most of all, they are so affordable that I can buy multiple pairs. The pairs pictured above cost me from $20-$30 with everything. That was with shipping, the fingerprint-free and anti-glare coating, and the prescription lens. EVERYTHING. I'm serious, they are so cheap.

Some other nice features:

• They have a fancy try-on tool where you can upload the glasses with one click to your own photo.
• They have tons of choices. Like any pair that you desire...you can find.
• Frames run as low as $6.95. You can just get the plain coating (I did that with the gray pair) and leave the site paying around $12.95 with shipping. That's it!! 
• They do offer other lens features, such as the autotint, bifocal, progressives. They are more expensive, but about the third of the price of an eye doctor's prices. 
• They also have sunglasses. A pair costs around $20-$25 with your prescription.
• You simply upload your prescription (You can request it from your eye doctor. It's so simple!

The best part, too, is that you can get $5 off if you use this link. No catch. $5 off your order just for trying it out.

If you have questions, drop them below. Let me know if you try them...I want to know if you love them as much as I do.