Position Opening: Stay-at-Home Mom

All stay-at-home moms have been there. The dreaded, "What do you do all day?!" and, "My, being a SAHM has got to be easy, you can just nap, drink coffee, and watch TV all day!" comments. Anyone who has been a SAHM knows there's plenty to do all day and very little time to watch TV and drink coffee (especially if you want it hot) let alone nap.

I then got to thinking. What would a job description for a SAHM look like? I imagine it'd go something like this:

Position: Full Time Stay-at-Home Mom of Toddler and Newborn
Hours/Days: 24/7, 365
Pay: No monetary compensation; hugs, cuddles and kisses are given as payment
Vacation days: None
Sick days: None
Travel: None
Medical/dental/vision benefits: None
401k: No
Location: Live in

Note: This position is not for the faint of heart or someone who cannot be fully committed. It is not a position for everyone. Every mom must decide what is best for her and for her family. All positions, in or out of the home, are equal in difficulty and all moms' choices should be respected.

Job description
We're looking for an energetic, self-starter who can take a house and make it a home on a tight budget while caring for, educating, entertaining, and being the sole person responsible for two spirited children during work hours.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Responsibility for all the children's needs, education, health, and entertainment around the clock. Children must be supervised at all times
• Develop fun activities, outings, and crafts that are age appropriate

• Read to children daily, sometimes the same book over and over
• TV is to be limited and no other forms of advanced electronics (iPads, tablets, phones, etc.) are permitted
• Drive children to/from activities, doctor's appointments, and where ever they need to go
• Keep track of and schedule needed doctor's appointments
• Maintain schedule for entire family, balancing and scheduling social calendar, appointments, errands, cleaning, etc.
• Plan and prepare all meals. Must be nutritious, balanced, yet meet the requirements of the children whose tastes vary daily. Eating out is very limited
• Clean and maintain home, including monitoring maintenance needs and arranging for and supervising repairs
• Do laundry, estimated at 2-5 loads or more a week
• Maintain children's wardrobes, including ability to save money on clothing, plan ahead, buy appropriate sizes, sort and organize clothes to grow into and already outgrown
• Track all household supplies and food to be able to replenish as needed, while saving money
• Run errands, at times with children who may or may not be tantruming
• Perform all household tasks while caring for the children
• Determine, set, and follow a budget, along with paying all bills on time and in full while maintaining and building savings
• Breaks and times for meals may or may not be permitted--when permitted, food may be cold and must be eaten quickly
• Showers may or may not be daily
• Must stay up all night and not sleep when required by children
• Obtain and determine correct courses of therapy for special needs child
• Handle any and all emergencies 
• Change lots. of. diapers.

 Experience and skills

• Must have experience as a maid, butler, personal driver, secretary, personal assistant, activities planner, chef, accountant, nutritionist, personal shopper, life coach, teacher, and household manager
• Ability to handle screaming, crying, and whining children without going cuckoo
• Fluent in toddler and baby
• Able to miss breakfast and often lunch, along with all snacks and drinks when required
• Must use bathroom and shower in record time, often with supervision and/or children screaming
• Ability to hold off going to the bathroom for long periods
• Able to go a day or more sans shower
• Must be able to work quickly and multi-task without issue 
• Ability to handle stress 
• Must be able to handle a tight budget with less disposable income

Benefits

• Many hugs, kisses, and cuddles from children
• Watching children grow, change, and learn knowing you had a direct hand in it and didn't miss a thing
• Fun times playing, doing crafts, baking, at the park, outside, and doing other activities
• Seeing your child smile and learn something new
• More time as a family
• Able to blog on the side and freelance
• The best commute. Ever.
• And so, so much more that you really can't describe or explain

Ever wonder what the correct thing to say to a SAHM, WAHM or work-outside-the-home mom is? Find out here.

This article is featured in The Complete Guide for Stay-at-Home Mom Survival Guide: When You Need to Laugh.

Important Lessons in Blogging

For a change of pace, I thought I would give you a look at the blogging side of my stay-at-home mom life.. The first year has brought many ups and downs with much trial and error. Having a pregnancy and new baby threw me for a loop. Really, I'm still learning about this big, complicated bloggy world. Isn't that how life normally goes? Just when you think you have a handle on things, you find  something knew to learn. It keeps things exciting. Even though I've been a writer, editor, publications manager, and professional communicator for years, blogging opened a whole new world I hadn't expected. Truly, I didn't know what all I was in for and didn't have all the preparation I thought I did.

Here are the top things I've learned about blogging.

Blogging takes lots of time
Sure, you can quickly write a post and put it up on your blog. But it's not likely to get many views and your readership won't grow. Decide if that matters to you or not.

If it does, you need to put time into writing, editing, and photos-- all with the same style and branding. Spend more time promoting your posts. Pin them, tweet them, Facebook them. Not just on your personal Facebook page, but on one dedicated to your blog. That Facebook page, Pinterest, and Twitter account also needs honing and love. None are a love 'em and leave 'em type of medium. More time needs to be put into networking and promoting your posts that way. Each post, between planning, writing, editing, photos, and promoting takes more time than you'd expect.

Networking

You won't get far in the blogging world without networking. Plus, it's just plain lonely without friends. Join groups and boards to meet other bloggers. Help and support them and in return they'll help and support you. It's about building a community. All those people are in the same boat as you. No one else understands why you must put in so much time for so little money to start. Or why you have to stay up until 1 a.m. to knock out the next blog post or plan future ones. They'll also be the ones to help you figure out why Google Analytics ate your stats and refuses to spit them back out. Blogging takes a village. Find your village.

Stick to It

Sticking with blogging when you are spending lots of time on it but not getting tangible results yet is difficult. It's down right discouraging. You have to do it anyway. When life happens, writing articles according to your schedule can easily get pushed to the side. It happens once, then twice, then before you know it you haven't blogged in months. At that point, you're back almost at square one and may not want to keep going. Pick it back up anyway. Better yet, push yourself so you never get to that point. Blogging is not easy. Networking, planning, and scheduling help you to keep going. Setting attainable goals is helpful so you can see your success as you go while staying motivated.

Plan Posts

Make your editorial calendar your new best friend. It is truly a life saver. You can plan out your articles in advance that way while balancing topics. Committing to posting a topic on a certain day helps hold you accountable. It's also great to battle writer's block as you can add ideas as you have them and when you're dry, you've already got yourself covered. You can also plan the photos you need for each post.

Schedule Time

With all the work a blog involves, scheduling time to do it all is beyond helpful. Find a schedule that works for you and get into a groove. Setting aside time, even if it's just 15 minutes at various points of the day, really helps you to get through all that needs to be done.

Focus on Content

Content is the backbone of a blog. If you don't have that, you don't have anything. Find your voice and your style. Focus on good writing and grammar. If you don't have that, your content won't matter. The old adage of writing what you know holds true. Just as important to writing is editing. Edit everything, then edit it again. When you think you're done editing, edit one more time. Look at other blogs in your niche so you know what topics are over done. If they've been done a million times, and you don't have anything new to add, a new angle, or a fresh voice, avoid it. 

Photos are equally important. Balance the number of photos to amount of copy. Watermark them. Work on having quality photos. All pictures should support, not detract from, your words.

Very importantly, don't steal content and give credit where credit is due. Be careful not to use copy-righted photos. They're not yours, leave them alone. If you do a round up, link back to the original sources. If you're going to share an article on your blog, make sure it's clear that it's not yours and link back. It's extra nice to let the author know you're sharing their work.

Learn

To bring it full circle, let's go back to learning. You can never know too much about blogging. Each of those social networking promotion platforms I mentioned take learning, as does writing original content, editing, managing a site, monetizing, taking good pictures, editing pictures, water marking, SEO, and so, so much more. Take advantage of that network you establish to ask them questions and to keep your eye out for new things to learn. Check out the Associated Press Stylebook (the editor's Bible) and a few good grammar books, such as Stunk and White's The Elements of Style and The Gregg Reference Manual. All of it makes for a better blog. And a better blogger.


This post contains affiliate links.

What's for Dinner March 29-April 4? (and printable)

Check out what's for dinner this week.

Sunday

 Hamburgers with French fries and green beans

Monday

 Tuna salad wraps with green salad

Tuesday

Grilled chicken strips with couscous and carrots

Wednesday

Pork chops with rice and mixed veggies

Thursday

Baked Tilapia with quinoa and peas

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

Beef roast with corn bread and broccoli

Don't forget the printable weekly dinner menu to help your planning. It's a handy 8x10 size in case you'd like to frame it and use it as a dry erase menu board. As an added plus, there's a spot to note leftovers you have from last week so you can incorporate them this week, and another spot to note leftovers from this week for next. Find out about the benefits of meal planning. 

Easter Egg Craft and Easter Basket Alternatives

Easter Egg Decoration Craft
M2 loved doing this craft and is SO proud of her egg. Her favorite part was the stickers. I think all kids tend to be obsessed with stickers so they're always a hit.

Supplies
1 Giant Easter egg (I found ours at Target)
2 packs Easter stickers of your choice
3 packs small flowers
Hot glue gun
Hot glue

Directions
Have your child put the stickers on however they want
Place a small dab of glue where ever your child wants to place a flower
Have your child stick on the flowers, alternating glue then flower so the glue doesn't dry too fast

Be careful not to let your child touch the hot glue gun!

Easter Basket Alternatives

Every Easter, there seems to be so much candy involved. Candy in baskets, candy in eggs, so. much. candy. Kids end up with way more sugar than is healthy. If you mete it out in little bits, it lasts forever and takes up pantry real estate until it's finally gone (or just turns nasty, like some of our candy from last Halloween).

Instead, try limiting the candy and use some of these nifty ideas. There are a variety of ideas to fit any budget and age. Some of the bit pricier ideas you could do rather than having a ton of small stuff in the baskets, or do instead of Easter baskets if your kids are older.

1. Light up chicks
2. Bubbles in a neat package, like these butterflies or turtles
3. Reusable sticker pads, like these house, vehicles, town, or dress up ones.
4. Egg shaped crayons
6. Nifty neon or regular sidewalk chalk
7. Paints, regular colors, neon, or finger paints
8. Coloring books and/or workbooks
9. Books
10. Cute cups, silverware, plates, or bowls
11. Socks
12. Toy cars
13. Jump rope
14. Hula hoop
15. Earrings, bracelet, or necklace
16. Action figures
17. Gift card for a store, Amazon, iTunes, Starbucks, movie theater, or something else your child enjoys
18. Event tickets
19. New outfit
20. Modeling clay in white so you can color it or multi-colors
21. Outdoor toy
22. Small Lego set
23. Doll
24. Little People single dolls, animals, or cars
25. Nail polish
26. Sand bucket, rake, and shovel
27. Sandals
28. Fun handsoap or bath soap
29. Tub toy
30. BluRay
31. Subscription service, like Citrus Lane

Please vote for me by clicking the brown banner below then the ORANGE button on the next page. Thanks!

Affiliate links are included in this post.

Easter Egg Craft and Easter Basket Alternatives

Easter Egg Decoration Craft
M2 loved doing this craft and is SO proud of her egg. Her favorite part was the stickers. I think all kids tend to be obsessed with stickers so they're always a hit.

Supplies
1 Giant Easter egg (I found ours at Target)
2 packs Easter stickers of your choice
3 packs small flowers
Hot glue gun
Hot glue

Directions
Have your child put the stickers on however they want
Place a small dab of glue where ever your child wants to place a flower
Have your child stick on the flowers, alternating glue then flower so the glue doesn't dry too fast

Be careful not to let your child touch the hot glue gun!

Easter Basket Alternatives

Every Easter, there seems to be so much candy involved. Candy in baskets, candy in eggs, so. much. candy. Kids end up with way more sugar than is healthy. If you mete it out in little bits, it lasts forever and takes up pantry real estate until it's finally gone (or just turns nasty, like some of our candy from last Halloween).

Instead, try limiting the candy and use some of these nifty ideas. There are a variety of ideas to fit any budget and age. Some of the bit pricier ideas you could do rather than having a ton of small stuff in the baskets, or do instead of Easter baskets if your kids are older.

1. Light up chicks
2. Bubbles in a neat package, like these butterflies or turtles
3. Reusable sticker pads, like these house, vehicles, town, or dress up ones.
4. Egg shaped crayons
6. Nifty neon or regular sidewalk chalk
7. Paints, regular colors, neon, or finger paints
8. Coloring books and/or workbooks
9. Books
10. Cute cups, silverware, plates, or bowls
11. Socks
12. Toy cars
13. Jump rope
14. Hula hoop
15. Earrings, bracelet, or necklace
16. Action figures
17. Gift card for a store, Amazon, iTunes, Starbucks, movie theater, or something else your child enjoys
18. Event tickets
19. New outfit
20. Modeling clay in white so you can color it or multi-colors
21. Outdoor toy
22. Small Lego set
23. Doll
24. Little People single dolls, animals, or cars
25. Nail polish
26. Sand bucket, rake, and shovel
27. Sandals
28. Fun handsoap or bath soap
29. Tub toy
30. BluRay
31. Subscription service, like Citrus Lane


Affiliate links are included in this post.

Make Baking Easier with Silicone Baking Cups

I got to try Brighid's Kitchen silicone baking cups  free. For something new, I'm doing a video review this time in conjunction with my usual review. The video adds to the review, so be sure to watch it.

Ratings Out of 10

Overall 10
Thickness 10

Price 9

Appearance 10

Ease Peeling off Baked Goods 10
Ease Filling 10
Ease Baking 10

Ease of Cleaning 10
Stability 10

Ease of Storage 10

Recommend Yes!!

 

I've always wanted to try silicone baking cups because I hate using paper cups or just spraying muffin pans. Neither works well. Enter Brighid's Kitchen silicone baking cups. Will they save my baked goods and sanity?

The first thing I noticed was how colorful the baking cups are. The six colors are vibrant and so pretty! All 12 cups come stacked in a sturdy box that you can keep them stored in. According to Brighid's Kitchen, the cups are safe to use in the oven, microwave, freezer, refrigerator, and dishwasher with temperatures from -40 to 446 degrees. The manufacturer also notes that the cups are FDA approved food grade silicone and BPA free for safe use by you and your family. There's even a no questions asked one year replacement guarantee. Some of the uses Brighid's Kitchen suggests for the cups are:

• Baking cupcakes, muffins, cheesecakes, egg muffins, etc. 
• Creating large ice cubes, ice cream cupcakes, etc. 
• For gelatin and pudding. 
• In the microwave with fast cook recipes. 
• Mini snack bowls for nuts, chocolate, etc.
  

Unlike many silicone cups, these are soft and flexible. Not at all rigid and hard. I love the feel. They're so thin, yet don't tip over when being used, even without using a muffin pan.

I tested the cups out on cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day. They are wonderful! When filling them with better, they never tip or spread out. Baking is the same as usual. Once they're done, they pop right out. You can take them out with one hand, no problem. The cupcakes were extra moist, too. I think I need a second set!

You really should try these cups. EXPIRED!! To make that easier, just for our readers, you can get 20 percent off Brighid's Kitchen silicone baking cups EXPIRED!!

For even more fun, we're giving away a set.* The winner receives a coupon code for Amazon to get the cups and shipping free (an $8.99 ARV). The giveaway ends March 31. May the odds be ever in your favor!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Affiliate links are included in this post. You can find our disclosure and policy here. I received this product at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Your experiences may differ. 


*The giveaway is being handled directly by Brighid's Kitchen, I have no control of the outcome or ability to know or contact the winner, nor to get or send the coupon code. Available to U.S. residents only.

M's Three New Dinners Challenge

My kitchen has become way too boring and hum drum. Cooking dinner every night gets stale after awhile. All the same recipes, over and over again. Even with a large variety of dishes to cook, I still get burnt out after awhile. I end up with cook's block -- no idea what in the world to cook because it seems like (because I have) cooked it all so much. Chicken, beef, pork, pasta -- it all seems the same no matter how you cook it. Blech.

Enter the Three New Dinners Challenge. Over the next month, I'm challenging myself to try three new meals to make. Each must be one I haven't done before and has to be at least somewhat healthy (no corndogs, mac and cheese, tatertot casseroles, that sort of thing). Right now, I'm still figuring out all the recipes I want to try. Of course, I never take recipes at face value. I always tweak them to make them my own. They're most likely fine as-is. I simply like to be creative with cooking and put my stamp on it. Hopefully, the dishes turn out to be good so that I can add it to my recipe stash in order to spice things up a bit. If the recipes are good, I'll share them at the end of the month in a wrap up. If they're not good...well, then we'll just pretend those don't exist.

As an added bonus to the challenge, I'm going to bring back recipes I haven't made in awhile, for whatever reason. My rut needs to be gotten out of and that'll help, too.

To recap, the Three New Dinners Challenge is:

1. Three new (at least semi-healthy) dinners over the next month.
2. Each dinner has to be something you haven't made before.
3. Extra credit: Bring back a few recipes you've made before, but haven't had in awhile.

Are you up for joining me on this challenge?

M's Three New Dinners Challenge

My kitchen has become way too boring and hum drum. Cooking dinner every night gets stale after awhile. All the same recipes, over and over again. Even with a large variety of dishes to cook, I still get burnt out after awhile. I end up with cook's block -- no idea what in the world to cook because it seems like (because I have) cooked it all so much. Chicken, beef, pork, pasta -- it all seems the same no matter how you cook it. Blech.

Enter the Three New Dinners Challenge. Over the next month, I'm challenging myself to try three new meals to make. Each must be one I haven't done before and has to be at least somewhat healthy (no corndogs, mac and cheese, tatertot casseroles, that sort of thing). Right now, I'm still figuring out all the recipes I want to try. Of course, I never take recipes at face value. I always tweak them to make them my own. They're most likely fine as-is. I simply like to be creative with cooking and put my stamp on it. Hopefully, the dishes turn out to be good so that I can add it to my recipe stash in order to spice things up a bit. If the recipes are good, I'll share them at the end of the month in a wrap up. If they're not good...well, then we'll just pretend those don't exist.

As an added bonus to the challenge, I'm going to bring back recipes I haven't made in awhile, for whatever reason. My rut needs to be gotten out of and that'll help, too.

To recap, the Three New Dinners Challenge is:

1. Three new (at least semi-healthy) dinners over the next month.
2. Each dinner has to be something you haven't made before.
3. Extra credit: Bring back a few recipes you've made before, but haven't had in awhile.

Are you up for joining me on this challenge?

What's for Dinner March 22-28? (and a Free Printable)

What's for dinner at your house this week? Here are some ideas for you, based on what we're having.

Sunday

 Ranch chicken strips with peas and baked potato

Monday

 Chicken salad on bread with mixed greens salad

Tuesday

 BBQ bacon chive baked chicken with brown rice and mixed veggies

Wednesday

 Toddler-made pizzas

Click fore recipe.

Thursday

Roasted fresh mushrooms, green peppers, corn and carrots over quinoa 

This one is part of my Three New Dinners Challenge. Read about it tomorrow!

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

Whole roast chicken with French bread, green beans, and lettuce salad

Don't forget the printable weekly dinner menu to help your planning. It's a handy 8x10 size in case you'd like to frame it and use it as a dry erase menu board. As an added plus, there's a spot to note leftovers you have from last week so you can incorporate them this week, and another spot to note leftovers from this week for next. Find out about the benefits of meal planning. 

How to Keep Your Marriage on Point

In over four years of marriage with A, I've learned much (and am still learning). I've recently come to the conclusion that marriage is like a triangle.

No, not a love triangle. A support triangle. Seriously, follow me here a moment. You are in one bottom corner. Your partner is in the other. You each have your own corner, yet are connected and supporting each other to form a solid foundation. Your marriage is at the top with both of you supporting it. If you don't make sure you're solid in your corner, supporting your spouse and doing your part for your marriage, and he/she isn't doing the same, the top of the triangle -- your marriage -- crashes down.

The triangle is a very basic, watered down way to show how support works in marriage. Much more can't be put into a simple graphic. For starters, the triangle can't show you that sometimes, you need to put in more effort to support your spouse. And sometimes, they need to put more effort into supporting you. Each of us go through our own difficult times. For me, having B was a difficult adjustment. Healing also took time. During that, A had to be more supportive of me. When his mother died just over a year ago, the roles were reversed. He needed more support at that time. Christmas is a hard season for both of us, so both of us need extra support then.

When life is on an even keel, the support is more about balancing the give and take relationships need. Daily communication, saying good bye in the morning before work, asking about each other's days, taking turns to help out with the kids--it all counts and matters. I try to support A by having good, relatively healthy meals planned and prepared with extras for his lunch. He supports me by giving me a break at least one night a week and doing the cooking. I take care of the kids, keep the house running, paying bills, doing errands--the usual stay-at-home mom stuff, while he supports us by going to a job outside the home. On his days off, he lets me sleep in when possible since that is something that really helps me for so many reasons. He takes out the trash, I dust. All those simple little things may not seem like they matter, but they do. Each and every one supports each other and by default our marriage.

Just as important as supporting your spouse, you need to support yourself. Keep yourself solid and strong in your corner of the triangle so you can provide the stability your part requires. That means taking breaks at times for some "me" time. Have your own work, hobbies, and interests that are just yours, yet add to your marriage because you have something new to bring to the table. I have this blog and being a stay-at-home mom as my work, while A has his own job. I love reading chick lit books, while A loves sci-fi and fantasy novels. I'm a history geek, he loves math. Supporting yourself also means growing. Be open to feedback from your spouse so you can improve yourself. Don't just stay set in your ways, try something new. I tend to voice my frustrations of the day as soon as A gets home. It drives A nuts. I've realized that and try to be better about it. A tends to put things off, which drives me nuts. I know he tries to improve on that. There are many little examples like these. When you live with someone, for the rest of your lives to boot, things crop up that drive the other nuts. Taking your spouse's feedback into account and working to better yourself goes a long way to support your marriage. Change doesn't happen overnight, keep with it. You'll start seeing results.

Bumps in marriage do happen. Life is difficult and throws curve balls. That's when the triangle of support is even more important. You need to work extra hard to keep the solid foundation and to keep your marriage from slipping. Of course, there times occur when it does slip. For us, moving was very stressful. We needed to find a house in a short amount of time and couldn't even look together due to crazy schedules. M2 was tiny, making things even rougher. A few times, we argued about--you guessed it--one of use not offering enough support to the other. We talked it out and both walked away with ways we could improve ourselves, thus better supporting the other. The key is to continue being there for your spouse, no matter how hard things are, and for them to do the same. As long as you have that, you can face any obstacles -- together, forming a strong foundation for your marriage.

I wrote this article as part of a 31 Day Marriage Challenge collaboration, co-hosted by Melissa Ann of The Eyes of a Boy and Carrie of Huppie Mama. Follow along with the challenge for many more inspiring articles on how to create or enhance an awesome marriage.

How to Keep Your Marriage on Point

In over four years of marriage with A, I've learned much (and am still learning). I've recently come to the conclusion that marriage is like a triangle.

No, not a love triangle. A support triangle. Seriously, follow me here a moment. You are in one bottom corner. Your partner is in the other. You each have your own corner, yet are connected and supporting each other to form a solid foundation. Your marriage is at the top with both of you supporting it. If you don't make sure you're solid in your corner, supporting your spouse and doing your part for your marriage, and he/she isn't doing the same, the top of the triangle -- your marriage -- crashes down.

The triangle is a very basic, watered down way to show how support works in marriage. Much more can't be put into a simple graphic. For starters, the triangle can't show you that sometimes, you need to put in more effort to support your spouse. And sometimes, they need to put more effort into supporting you. Each of us go through our own difficult times. For me, having B was a difficult adjustment. Healing also took time. During that, A had to be more supportive of me. When his mother died just over a year ago, the roles were reversed. He needed more support at that time. Christmas is a hard season for both of us, so both of us need extra support then.

When life is on an even keel, the support is more about balancing the give and take relationships need. Daily communication, saying good bye in the morning before work, asking about each other's days, taking turns to help out with the kids--it all counts and matters. I try to support A by having good, relatively healthy meals planned and prepared with extras for his lunch. He supports me by giving me a break at least one night a week and doing the cooking. I take care of the kids, keep the house running, paying bills, doing errands--the usual stay-at-home mom stuff, while he supports us by going to a job outside the home. On his days off, he lets me sleep in when possible since that is something that really helps me for so many reasons. He takes out the trash, I dust. All those simple little things may not seem like they matter, but they do. Each and every one supports each other and by default our marriage.

Just as important as supporting your spouse, you need to support yourself. Keep yourself solid and strong in your corner of the triangle so you can provide the stability your part requires. That means taking breaks at times for some "me" time. Have your own work, hobbies, and interests that are just yours, yet add to your marriage because you have something new to bring to the table. I have this blog and being a stay-at-home mom as my work, while A has his own job. I love reading chick lit books, while A loves sci-fi and fantasy novels. I'm a history geek, he loves math. Supporting yourself also means growing. Be open to feedback from your spouse so you can improve yourself. Don't just stay set in your ways, try something new. I tend to voice my frustrations of the day as soon as A gets home. It drives A nuts. I've realized that and try to be better about it. A tends to put things off, which drives me nuts. I know he tries to improve on that. There are many little examples like these. When you live with someone, for the rest of your lives to boot, things crop up that drive the other nuts. Taking your spouse's feedback into account and working to better yourself goes a long way to support your marriage. Change doesn't happen overnight, keep with it. You'll start seeing results.

Bumps in marriage do happen. Life is difficult and throws curve balls. That's when the triangle of support is even more important. You need to work extra hard to keep the solid foundation and to keep your marriage from slipping. Of course, there times occur when it does slip. For us, moving was very stressful. We needed to find a house in a short amount of time and couldn't even look together due to crazy schedules. M2 was tiny, making things even rougher. A few times, we argued about--you guessed it--one of use not offering enough support to the other. We talked it out and both walked away with ways we could improve ourselves, thus better supporting the other. The key is to continue being there for your spouse, no matter how hard things are, and for them to do the same. As long as you have that, you can face any obstacles -- together, forming a strong foundation for your marriage.

I wrote this article as part of a 31 Day Marriage Challenge collaboration, co-hosted by Melissa Ann of The Eyes of a Boy and Carrie of Huppie Mama. Follow along with the challenge for many more inspiring articles on how to create or enhance an awesome marriage.

5 Simple Ways to Make or Save Money

Making and sticking to a budget can seem daunting. Especially sticking to it. (A more in-depth post on budgeting is in the works.) It's helpful to look at new ways you can save --and make-- money in order to make it easier to accomplish. I've rounded up a few articles from various blogs to help on that quest.

Before starting the round up, here are some of my own tips and tricks:
Easy Money Saving Tips Parts 1, 3, and 4
Saving Money on Kid's Clothes
Easy Money Saving Tips Summer Edition

1. The Penny Hoarder suggests mystery shopping as a way to make extra money and even lists the best companies to work for from someone who has done it for many years.

2. Have you ever considered coupoining but didn't know where to start? Cook Craft Love teaches you how to be successful at couponing, starting with couponing 101.

3. Kids' toys are so expensive now. I'm always amazed at prices when I go into the stores. Momless Mom shares tips on how to save on toys.

4. Often, but not always, owning your own home can help you save money and stay within budget. More than a Coupon Queen helps you figure out if buying a home is something you can afford.

5. As as stay-at-home mom, finding new ways to make money seems to be a never ending quest. What Mommy Does has some great suggestions.


Thank you to all the bloggers who let me share their great tips!