Tag: family life

My Life Intentional

My Life Intentional

by kwoodfamily ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

As of the time I am writing this, I have three and a half years left in the active duty military. That will put me at 20 years of service. It is hard to believe that it has come this far. All that I have seen, learned, experienced. It is has all shaped who I am today. I have grown into the person I am because of this service and I do not regret it.

With all of that being said, I have been thinking really hard about what I want to be when I grow up. The second go around.

Here’s a few things about me. When I was college age, I always said I wanted to be a stay at home wife and mother. It was something about being there for my family and maintaining my home that intrigued me. Flash forward to now, I still have that desire. The change is, I also have an identity outside of being a wife and mother. In 16 years, I have learned I love to help and coach, volunteer, serve, and so many other things.

I will often joke that I am not going to work once I retire, because I will become that SAHW/M that college me wanted. However in the past five years or so, my husband and I embarked on a financial independence, retire early journey. I am so thankful and grateful that we were able to pay off our debts and save towards our future. We did this very aggressively for a few years. Of course as time went on, how I viewed our future changed as well. I do not want to to be confined to a hustle and not enjoy the fruits now. I want my children to understand delayed gratification, but not forget to enjoy the present.

I have a few ideas, but I want to focus on giving back and growing. Helping people just like us achieve their goals and live life on their terms. I am a strong believer that God places people in our paths for reasons. Sometimes we ignore or do not catch on. I will say in the past year, God has put the vision in front of me so clearly.

Faith without work is dead. I have three years to do the work and walk the path laid out before me. I have no idea of what that entails completely, but I am excited to learn. I am excited to share my experiences with you via my YouTube channel and other platforms. I am excited to provide tips and be a sounding board.

It is hard to believe I started this blog in 2020 with the intent of documenting our journey to financial freedom. Here I am three years later with three years until the real fun begins. Join me as we continue to be intentional and thank God for the blessings bestowed upon us!

Steps to Evaluate Your Year

Steps to Evaluate Your Year

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Here we are in the last three months of the year. October, November, December. Admittedly, this is my favorite time of the year. Something about cool crisps mornings, cool not cold, and the changing seasons brings me all the joy. While I do love this time of year for all the reasons: my babies birthdays, fall, apples, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I like to use this time to evaluate my year.

Do what?

Yes, you read that right. I like to evaluate my year. Relook my goals, personal life and relationships, our finances, extracurricular activities. Everything.

You may ask, “why do you do this?”

Well, throughout the year things change. I think it is important to maintain awareness of what changes and the implications those changes have. It is not always about change though, something may be going really well. We all know the saying, “if it is not broke, do not fix it!”. Right? Bottom line, I like to use this time to review my year and prepare fore the upcoming year.

How Can You Do This?

First things first you have to know what your goals, plans, ideas, whatever are. Let’s say you wanted to read 12 books this year, one a month. You can easily keep up with this monthly, but you may reach October to see you have only read five. At this point you can revise your plan to read more, continue at you current pace, or finish the goal all together.

There is nothing wrong with maintaining where you are at. Do not rush from one goal to the next, take time to bask in your accomplishments.

When it comes to evaluating relationships, it is just a matter of who is worth your time and energy. Think of the interactions you have with friends, coworkers, neighbors. How did they make you feel, was there any value added, were you there for them? These are a few questions you can ask yourself with doing this. Looking at your relationships is not meant to be rude, but we have to protect our peace. People come in our lives for a season, reason, or lifetime. I would rather know sooner than later if something is not going to work out.

It is always good to ask yourself a few questions when evaluating your year.

  • Where am I at with my goals?
    • Did I make a plan?
    • Am I ahead?
    • Am I behind?
  • What do I need to do to reach my goal?
  • What this a realistic goal?
  • Did I give myself enough time?
  • Do you have consistency?

There are so many ways to keep track of your goals now, but it is important you do so. I think this helps with commitment too.

What’s Next

You will have to make a decision based on your discovery. Is it time to make a new goal, finish the other, realize it was too much to handle? Whatever you decide, your goals are not something you can set and forget.

It is during this time you may want to make some year end goals. Some ideas are:

  • Decrease screen time
  • Pay for the holidays with cash
  • Volunteer at a shelter
  • Read three books
  • Exercise daily
  • Maintain goal accomplishments from before

The list could go on and become exhaustive. Point is, use this time to figure out how you want to close the year and start the new year.

Don’t Forget

A goal without a plan is a dream, but a dream with a deadline is a goal. If you would like more information on goal setting, I talk about it here and here.

Do not get stuck in a rut. We owe it to ourselves to strive to reach our goals, better ourselves, and ultimately get what we want out of life.

As always, Give Yourself Grace.

My Mornings Are… Rough

My Mornings Are… Rough

by kwoodfamily ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Does the title of this post resonate with you? If it does, you may want to consider making some changes to your day. Why day and not morning? Because what we do throughout our day, both morning and evening, has a role in how our mornings are.

Mornings have always been my achilles tendon. For the majority of my life, no matter what I tried, nothing could help me have a smoother morning.

Let me be the first to mention, I never tried really hard…

I had read and watched everything about waking up early and improving your mornings. You know, grabbing life by the horns and rolling with it. Finally, I decided to make a change and do something I never thought I would do. I joined The 5 A.M. Club. This is based of the teachings in the book, “The 5AM Club”. I will not give a review or go into the details, but it is an excellent read and perspective changing piece of literature.

I detailed my journey with waking up at 5 A.M. here and here. What I want to share with you today are some reasons you morning may not go so well and what I have learned that helps me.

***Disclaimer*** This is written from the perspective a wife, mother, and budding entrepreneur. Somethings I mention may not be applicable. I hope you are able to tailor this to your lifestyle.

Why Your Mornings Suck:

  1. You wake up at the last minute
    • Are you rushing from the time your alarm clock goes off until you get to your first destination of the day? Then it sounds like you are not giving yourself enough lead time in the morning. If you are responsible for getting little people ready, can you imagine how frantic their day has become too?
    • Do yourself a favor and wake up a little earlier
  2. You wake up at the same time as everyone else
    • I have thought to myself, “I just need a moment to myself” several times. I have said, “I just woke up, are you really asking me this?”
    • Well guess what, when everyone wakes up together, everyone’s needs will take priority over yours. This can lead to burn out, frustration, moodiness and probably a slew of other feelings we have all felt at some point.
    • Even on days I do not wake up at 5 A.M., I make it a thing to wake up before the children.
  3. You are not prepared for the morning
    • For the most part, our mornings look the same Monday to Friday. Of course there are some changes during breaks, but I would say 75% of the time, our mornings are the same. It helps that I am a creature of habit.
    • If I know my mornings look the same, that means I can prepare the night before. You know, make lunch, prepare coffee, layout clothes, pack bags, and all the life things. Imagine how much time you can open up in the morning by prepping the night before. Amazing right!?!
    • Let me layer this for you… If for some reason you wake up at the last minute, guess what? You have already prepared the night before, so that is one less thing to worry about.
  4. You are staying up too late
    • Guilty as charged. I used to think I was a night owl and more productive at night. What I did not realize is this came at a cost to my mornings and those around me. Look, I am in the military, so there will be early mornings until I hang it up. I had to find a way to be productive outside of work without staying up until the wee hours of the night.
    • I started going to bed by 10 and waking up earlier. Honestly, I can get more done in that early wake up than staying up late at night. I say, my mind is refreshed.
Pure Gold

How to Improve Your Mornings

The simple answer is to wake up early and prepare the day before. I would recommend reading “The 5AM Club” by Robin Sharma.

The first step is to give yourself grace. Too many times are are too hard on ourselves. We all have a lot going one and get negativity from so many angles. Let’s not beat ourselves up. It is not worth it.

Secondly, imagine what your perfect morning looks like and try to create it.

Close your eyes, focus on your breath, think of your alarm clock going off, what happens next? Do you kiss your spouse good morning, say a quick prayer, immediately jump out of bed? Then what do you do? Between the time you wake and have your first interaction, what does that look like? Make it happen…

Finally, be present and enjoy the moment. Life will always happen, just do not let it happen to you.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Please comment below if you struggle with your mornings or have made changes to make the mornings better.

Do not forget to follow me on other social media platforms:

Instagram: Tiafaith_athome

YouTube: Tiafaith_athome

Family Adventures

Family Adventures

by kwoodfamily ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

My first trip to Walt Disney World was in 2017. I was absolutely mesmerized and fell in love with all things Disney. As a person who loves organized chaos, the entire Disney operation pulled me in. It is a well executed show.

Due to work, we moved to Hawaii for three years. We visited Disney at Aulani, but it was not the same. Of course when we came back the mainland, we were in COVID. But we waited, and in 2022 we were able to go back.

Now let me tell you, in 2017 I realized I am going to take a trip to Disney as often as I can. So here we are, in July 2022 we made our way back to Orlando, FL.

We stayed in the same hotel we stayed at before, the Holiday Inn Vacation Club at Orange Lake. This time we spent more time at the hotel than the park though. We just wanted to enjoy vacation and not get caught in the business of the park, especially with a two year old. I must mention though, he did great!

Details:

Planning

Going to Disney post COVID is a little different than before. You have to make sure you have reservations and tickets well in advance. We purchased tickets and made reservations in April.

I failed to mention we were traveling with family, so we were also coordinating with them.

Fortunately, everyone planned on staying at the same hotel, but we would’ve stayed at the location of the majority anyway. Unless, I found a really great deal.

Meals were a no brainer since our hotel came with a kitchen. We had a few meals at the park, but mainly ate in our hotel. Trust me, it’s easier with a 2yo.

Check out our itinerary below:

Let’s Go

The day came and it was time for us to road trip down to Orange Lake, FL. The trip was eventful, we stopped for boiled peanuts, and enjoyed the time down.

My nine year old decided to make lunch, but only for her. Like seriously, what about the rest of us?

The first day there, I thought I was living my best life. We got a cabana, were hanging out by the pool, then the sirens wen off! It was a thunder storm y’all, a whole storm! We thought it would past, but nope.

You can watch it here.

Happy Moments

Probably my happiest times were seeing my two broke friends happy and enjoying the time with family and at the park. Their innocence and fascination made my day.

Check out our adventures below.

Does your family have that one trip you have to take?

Ways To Save On Your Grocery Bill

Ways To Save On Your Grocery Bill

by kwoodfamily ♥ 1 Comment
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I think it comes as no surprise that the cost of groceries is increasing, as with everything else. No matter how you look at it, we need food to eat. However, if you are on a tight budget, you may be interested in ways to decrease costs at the register. If you are, then follow along.

Today I will share some ways to decrease your grocery bill. Some ways will work better than others. It really depends on your lifestyle, how much time you want to dedicate, and your willingness to try something you may not have tried before. Let’s get right to it.

Meal Planning

I personally think this is the easiest and most convenient way to cut back cost. This involves planning your meals for the week or month, depending on how adventurous you are. When planning your meals you include Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks.

How Do I meal Plan?

  1. Shop my pantry- I look through the pantry and fridge to see what I already have on hand.
  2. I consider what I can make with what I have on hand.
  3. I plan my meals for the week, this is pretty easy because we mostly have theme days.
    • Leftover Monday
    • Taco Tuesday
    • Wing Wednesday or Thursday
    • Leftover Wednesday or Thursday
    • Pizza or fast food Friday
    • Fend for yourself Saturday
    • Nice meal Sunday
  4. I make my grocery list based off the meal plan, to include ingredients we need.
  5. I go grocery shopping and I do not deter from my list unless I get a call from home or there is something good in the clearance section.

Shop Store Brands

Did you know that sometime store brands are made by the same big brands we know? In my experience there are some store brands that are better than brand names. Let me mention though, this may come with some trial and error. Meaning, all products are not created equally. I will explain in a bit.

Shopping store brands also includes shopping at discount stores. My recent discovery and love is Aldi. Where has this store been my entire life?!? So far my only disappointment is with their coffee creamer. Remember I said trial and error. Well yeah, the coffee creamer is a no for me.

But I digress…

Compare the price and quality of some of your favorite products. You may find you can get a cheaper version with the same quality.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Buy Bulk

Depending on how many you are shopping for and your needs, buying in bulk may be a good option for you. Why… Because you can vacuum seal smaller portions, store, and use later. This decreases how often you go to the grocery store and ensures you have food on hand. I like to buy in bulk because I do not like going out too often, especially for things we use on a regular basis. Rice, beans, and meats for example.

Let me tell you though, buying in bulk can be a bit of an upfront cost. Also, if you do not use the item on a regular basis, buying it in bulk probably is not worth it. And of course if you buy in bulk, you will need somewhere to store all of the goodness. I would consider those things before buying in bulk.

I do not recommend buying perishable items in bulk…

I once bought five dozen eggs from Costco. Do you have any idea how many eggs we ate? How many goodies I baked? I will never do that again!

Shop Sales and Coupons

I want to focus on sales really. Shop what your local grocer has on sale for the week. If it is a good sale, buy plenty for later. Have a coupon for something you need, use it. Before I go grocery shopping I always look at the ads for a deal. I have even planned my meals around what is on sale.

Most grocers have apps now which make it easier to see what is available an on sale. If you shop at a store on a regular basis, sign up for their rewards program. Sometimes this results in an added discount, gas bucks, or special deals.

Finally, check out the clearance rack. I have found items I can use within a few days or some items I can even freeze. There is nothing wrong with checking out the clearance section of a grocery store. I have not been harmed by it yet.

Order Online

Want to make sure you only get what you need? Order online, simple as that. Choose curbside pickup so you do not have to go in, wait for the clerk to bring it out, and go on your merry way. I love curbside pickup. Not just for groceries, but everyday shopping.

What if they do not shop like me? Look at your purchase, tell them what you do not like, return it.

I know this is hit or miss for some, but I have not been disappointed yet.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

I hope you found these tips useful and give some of them a try. If you have any suggestions or ideas that have worked for you, please let me know in the comments!

Frugal Finds at Goodwill

Frugal Finds at Goodwill

by kwoodfamily ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’m Going Shopping- Even Though I’m Moving| Let’s Get Ready for School

Have you ever wanted to just shop? Some call it mindless shopping, emotional shopping, careless shopping. Well, I felt like buying me something. Because, WHY NOT.

I will say, I started with thrifting instead of going knee deep in to my aimless shopping.

I’m always amazed at what I can find in the thrift shop. Great brands and quality for the most part. And they have an endless supply of housewares. If you’re not checking the thrift shop every so often, what are you doing?!?