What I am thankful for...this week

Well I know that its been about 3 mos since I last wrote. Much has to do with putting a lot of hours at work and a lot of hours at home.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, here are three things I am thankful and grateful for.

1. My baby is 1: I am so thankful that we cross the one year threshold. It was a long year filled with beautiful and very stressful moments. Every time, I look at my baby I remember there was a time when she couldn't lift her head up off the ground and now she is getting into everything. It's truly a joy to see my healthy, curious one year old running all over the place.

2. Bible Study: So I will make no qualms, I have been trying to get my path more in line with God. I try to attend church regularly and read bible plans. However, what I am most thankful for is finding this Women's Bible Study. It's on Thursday night and I always make an excuse each week, like I am too tired etc.  Yesterday, my husband said when I was making an excuse about being late and coming next week, he told me if you do that again you will never go. It was an awesome experience that allowed me to get a dose of the word during the week and meet new people. I cannot wait to go next week!

3. My Husband: In addition, to my baby girl's birthday, we also celebrated 3 years of marriage. I am so thankful for him, not to sound cheesy, but he makes up for where I lack. He encourages and believes in me more than I do in myself. I really feel that since being married he has helped me a better person. In return, we had some changes where he has left full time work and pursuing the business, so now I get to encourage and believe in him for a change.

I wanted to write this post because sometimes, I focus too much on the negatives and not on the positives. I am thankful for so much more but this morning this is what I am most thankful for.

Until next time..

The Balancing Act....

I haven't written in a while and I have been in the throws of work, home, and the business. Some days balancing all of these items are more difficult and discouraging. Other days I feel like I have it all under control. Nonetheless its really hard to find time to write as much as I would like to. 

So like I said balancing act makes rethink everything including my time management. After spending much of my time thinking about my "time", I realized that I am highly inefficient:

• I don't prepare my clothes the night before
• I didn't prepare bottles the night before
• I could not find one item per day on way to work i.e car keys, ID badge etc
• I wake up and peruse the internet for at least 15 mins
• I hit snooze three times at least
• I daydream

All these things were resulting in me doing a mad dash for the door on the way to work and then only getting more chaotic from there. So I had to take a step back and do the upset of what I was doing and it doesn't work everyday. I have read some great time management tips and decided what if I could do the opposite of what I did. So two weeks in and here is what I do

• Wake up 15 minutes earlier each week, my target time is to wake up at 5:45 a.m. to give me more time in the morning to workout  and eat breakfast etc.
• Write the day care check and make labels the night before.
• Make a family calendar and use a task list.
• Reevaluate my performance each week.

Its a work in progress, but I am trying to control the balance. How do you stay organized? What are your best time management tips?

Income divided by two

Here we go again.

Anyone who works in Corporate America or for someone else knows the constant fear of being let go. Well my household as experienced this for the second time in 9 mos. This has made me the primary breadwinner for a family of three. We did all the right things as we had an initial warning of this but have had to make some changes.

I am fortunate my salary can cover expenses with some "breathing" room, that my job is in career services/recruiting and we live frugally. There will be no major lifestyle changes but nonetheless all variable costs and excessive spending will be cut. Here are some changes :

• Packing Lunch, Coffee and Snacks- I am notorious for eating out, drive thru but know that I need to cut back and save that money for when we have team lunches.
• Limiting Driving
• Cutting back on entertainment expenses 
• Using groupon/livingsocial to have some "planned fun"
• Meal Planning

What I learned is that it can be tough but knowing that better opportunities are out there will get you through tough times. Also enjoy spending time with family and using this time to do free activities like parks, beaches and exercising.

Do you have any frugal ideas to help during this transition?

I'mma (wannabe) side hustla'

Sometimes I feel like there is more to life than the 9-5. Once, I had my daughter I became even more conscientious of living frugal, earning money and investing. It's to the point that I am constantly pulling out my calculator and thinking about how I can earn more pennies. I know where I want to be by 30 but coming up and following the plan is the problem.

Therefore, I need to pursue a side hustle or multiple side hustle. For those not familiar with side hustle to it means earning income from something other than your main job. To see some real life side hustlers check out  http://www.blackenterprise.com/tag/side-hustle/. I have been thinking about ideas that can bring my side hustle into fruition.

The first step is now that I have a tangible idea is to get organized. I will need to create a list of things that I need to do, such as website, plan of how to run the business, time management for client turnaround, certification etc. All while working my full time job (40-50 hours), caring for my infant daughter and trying to enjoy some of life. I know that its a sacrifice and will all be worth it. 

I have been studying what successful people do each day. So in the words of my husband, I am prepared to shut myself in, give up reality TV and dedicate those hours to my craft. I know that I must start small and work my way. 

Some questions, I have asked myself

• Am I willing to give up friends, tv?
• How will I cope with being tired?
• Is it worth, actively pursuing a side business and sacrificing time with my daughter?
• Can I do this?

In times of doubt, I am going to remember that everything I do is for the 6lb 6oz baby I gave birth to. I want her to have the stability and life that I did not have. That will remain my motivation when I get tired. I can't wait to reveal more as time goes by.

My Name is Alexis and I have commitment issues.

Hi my name is Alexis and I start projects but never finish them. I want to talk about a problem that I have struggled with my whole life and that is follow through. They say the first step is to admit there is a problem and its true, I am an idea woman but when it comes to doing it I struggle. Some days I feel like I am all over the place and that my divided attention has me so fragmented.

In my professional career when you admit to a weakness you must say what you are doing to fix the problems. I love that I have a million and one ideas but I do see that it sidetracks me into doing none. So my focus or refocus will be on committing to this blog and my social media presence.

• I will post on this blog at least 4x per week for the entire month of June.
• I will follow at least 10 people with similar content.
• I will use social media to promote my blog for better readership.
• Benchmark successful bloggers 

With my work schedule, baby schedule and other responsibilities, I know its going to be hard but I need to challenge myself. My goal is to be the best me and give 100 percent effort in all things that I do. So expect to see a range of topics from me, including student loans, budgets and quick recipes.

Road trip with baby...SOLO

With Kennedy now being 7 mos old, I feel that I have this parenting thing down but every now and then I get nervous to do something on my own. Well we are going on a road trip by ourselves. I am nervous and several questions are popping into my head:

• What if she gets hungry mid trip?
• What if I run into traffic?
• Will she be okay in the car seat?

To put my mind at ease, I am putting together a checklist of things to bring, logistics etc.

Items for Baby

• Car Seat
• Diaper bags
• Microwavable bottle sanitizer
• Stroller
• Infant Carrier
• 6 outfits 
• Socks
• Diapers
• bathtub
• Playmat
• Monitor
• Baby bullet
• Thermometer
• Toys
• Bathing Suit
• Baby Sunblock

Am I missing anything?  I know the list is going to grow but my plan is to start compiling all of this next week. What was helpful on your road trip with baby?

Homemade Baby Food

As a parent, I could not wait until we got to the solid food stage. I couldn't wait for my baby to experience taste, textures and flavors. I felt like I was reliving this experience through baby K. I decided after thorough research to make her baby food from scratch and well that is exactly what I done.

I realized that making baby food is fast, easy and frugal.

1. Every Sunday, I get enough produce for baby and this is what my shopping list looks like

• Bunch of bananas
•  2 sweet potatoes
• 2 Pears
• 2 Apples
• avocado
• 1 peach

2. I bring home produce and wash it thoroughly to remove any dirt and impurities. The next step is to peel of all skins and then wash each fruit or veggie again.

3. Steam all veggies and fruits (banana and avocado are good to go with out cooking). I use my rice cooker and steam all fruits and veggies until they are tender.

4. Blend steamed veggies/fruits and water to make purees.

5. Freeze veggies in ice tray and store.

I have gotten into the habit of making sweet potato my go to food because I can make a bunch on Sunday and heat them throughout the week. I make fruits every 2-3 days and rotate the fruits or blend them together.

It seems like it may be more work but it is cost effective and I know that she is not getting unneeded fillers and sugars.

I know that she may not keep the health lifestyle up forever but its the least I can do.

I found this site that is quiet helpful wholesomebabyfood.com

What types of baby food do you make?