Fresh Peach Salsa
September 30, 2015

Fresh Peach Salsa

 When you have homegrown peaches and homegrown tomatoes at your disposal, you must make peach salsa! Typically, I do not like fruit salsa really at all. It is too sweet for my liking. I made this for my daughter's birthday party and it turned out so well that I could not stop eating it. Since I am now a fruit salsa convert, I had to share the recipe with all of you.

5 Things I Learned Growing Up on the Farm
September 29, 2015

5 Things I Learned Growing Up on the Farm

Since I started this blog over 5 years ago, I have written about my parent's farm. The farm has made quite an impact on my life and on my recent trip with the United Dairy Institute of Michigan, it got me thinking. We spent some time talking to the dairy farmer over dinner and it got my wheels turning about how much I learned growing up on a farm. My parent's purchased their farm when I was in third grade. For most of my life, we went up there every single weekend and on most school vacations (Christmas, February break, spring break and about 3 weeks in the summer). Although we did not live there full-time, we spent a ton of time there and it influenced me as a person a lot.

How to Backup Your Photos
September 28, 2015

How to Backup Your Photos

I don't even have to tell you this because you already know but I take a lot of pictures. Like, I take pictures of my daughter nearly every single day. At this age, they grow so fast and I don't want to miss a second of anything.  Wedding 2009 On my to-do list the last month or so is to back up all of my photos. My photos from my phone are already backed up but the ones on my computer were not. On my computer, I have all the photos from my wedding, my honeymoon, my pregnancy, every picture of Adalyn the first year of her life and everything in between. AKA, nothing that I would be willing to risk getting lost. I get my photos developed every 3-6 months or so but I still like to have the digital copy. I was basically freaking out because my computer is in rough shape and I wanted to get my photos backed up before anything happened to it.

IPromise Jewelry Review
September 27, 2015

IPromise Jewelry Review

I love jewelry! I am someone who mostly wears classic pieces like simple silver and gold necklaces and a pair of stud earrings such as pearls, flowers or bows. For going out, I do like to have my fun and bling-bling type pieces. I was recently contacted by IPromise Jewelry which is a company that makes different kinds of bracelets including: personalized bracelets , promise bracelets , friendship bracelets and more. For my review, I was sent one of the new tri-color bracelets. They are available in gold, silver and bronze colors. They range in price from $78-$108 depending on what you choose. On the outside of the bracelet, it says "I Promise..." and on the inside, you can have all different types of sayings. I chose the one that says "I Promise...Love". Other options include: gratitude, faith, believe, dream, strength, serenity, imagine, soul sister and more. My bracelet is very pretty and I like that it is simple enough to go with a variety of

FramedArt.com Review
September 26, 2015

FramedArt.com Review

Besides pictures of our family (and dogs!), I am very particular with choosing what we hang on our walls. I love outdoor pictures of fruit, trees, flowers, etc. I was recently sent this beautiful painting from FramedArt.com to review. What is awesome about FramedArt.com is everything is very customizable. You choose the print that you want and then can choose from a variety of different frames, if you want it on canvas, the size, etc.  They have thousands and thousands of prints to choose from. For my review, I spent a lot of time choosing which print that I wanted and chose the Marina Di Leuca II by Peter Bell. I am very happy with the print. I chose a gold frame since that is what would best match with my living room. I have a similar print over my mantle and this one is great because it will match with that.  They have items for all different styles including modern art, abstract, fine art, vintage, nature art, etc. The art is not too expensive and the site has

Adalyn's First Birthday Party
September 25, 2015

Adalyn's First Birthday Party

Adalyn's first birthday party went amazing! We had about 30 family members over to celebrate her birthday. It was a beautiful day and we had the party at our home. Of course, Adalyn needed a beautiful princess dress for her party and we were sent this beautiful one from Princess Bowtique which came with the headband as well. It went with the colors for her party which were cream, gold and pink. I just loved the classy look of these colors so much. Adalyn wore the french ivory and pink baby girl tutu dress . The dress was absolutely perfect and I love the pictures of her in it so much! Food  Appetizers Veggie tray w/dip Homemade jalapeno hummus and garlic hummus with crackers Homemade salsa and chips Homemade peach salsa (with my homegrown tomatoes and my dad's homegrown peaches) Fruit platter (cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, watermelon, peaches) Parmesan peppercorn popcorn Meal Homemade tomato sauce and meat sauce with whole wheat pasta- kindly mad

Adalyn 12 Month Update
September 24, 2015

Adalyn 12 Month Update

My baby is 1 year old!! I am so excited. This has been the best year of my life and I have enjoyed seeing Adalyn grow so much. Here are some of the fun things going on this month: Clothing/diaper size : Size 12 months clothes, size 3 and 4 shoes, size 3 diapers. Weight : 19 lbs 11.5 oz (25%) Height: 30" (75%) Head circumference : 17 inches (10%) Feedings : Still nursing! About a week ago, I finally stopped pumping at work!!! Woo hoo! I am proud that we made it to one year. I do not plan to stop. I think we will continue doing three times per day for awhile. We will see. Adalyn is getting 1 bottle of frozen pumped milk while I am at work still for nutrition (plus I have a ton). Eating solids is still going great! Adalyn has been better about the veggies again. Fruit is still her #1 and she loves finding a bowl of fruit that she can pick from and having her own apple, pear or peach from my parent's farm. She feeds herself everything and can get

The Importance of Hydration
September 23, 2015

The Importance of Hydration

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PureLifeRippleEffect #CollectiveBias As a dietitian, I spend a lot of time talking about food. A very important topic that is less talked about is the importance of hydration. Hydration is very important in helping you feel your best. Even slight dehydration can affect your mood, making you feel more irritable. It can make you overeat since you may confuse thirst with hunger. Also, you may feel more tired and low on energy due to dehydration. It is necessary for kids and adults to drink enough fluids, especially water, to feel their best. A general guideline for drinking water is to have 8 glasses per day. This varies depending on age, how much you exercise, the weather, etc. Along with water, fruits, vegetables, soup, and popsicles also provide fluids for kids. Especially on a hot day, provide your kids with these types of foods to make sure that they are getting enou