Create Your Own Happiness

Food , Health • Mar 27, 2023

One thing I’ve learned in my wellness journey is that you truly have to create your own happiness. Only you can create your own happiness.

You can’t rely on others to make you happy or you’ll face nothing but disappointment. This is truly a hard lesson for anyone to learn. But, once it’s learned there won’t be any going back. I’ll be honest and say I’ve tried to get happiness through things like alcohol and medication and it’s just not the same.

How exactly do you go about creating your own happiness? Seems silly but the possibilities are endless. My suggestion is to start small. Just do little things that are going to bring you joy.

In our home we love cooking! We make most of our meals at home and generally enjoy doing it. So, I bring that into my joy by doing something small on occasion such as making my own latte. It’s simple, cheap, takes just a few minutes, and it tastes so good!

Ingredients to make your own latte.

We switched from Keurig to Nespresso a year or so ago and have NEVER looked back. If your a big coffee drinker then do your homework because your going to lose some benefits by giving up your Keurig but you’ll gain some with Nespresso. One thing in particular that you’ll gain is the ability to make a great espresso.

Keurig has hundreds if not thousands of KCUP pods available to buy. Keurig also has the ability to use your own coffee and basically make your own KCUPs. Nespresso on the other hand has maybe two dozen options (for coffee) and that includes some great options for espresso. The perk in having the ability to make a great cup of espresso is that you can make yourself a bomb ass latte! How? It’s easy.

You’ll need only a few things –

  • Espresso
  • Ice
  • Milk (I prefer the creaminess of oat milk)
  • Flavor (Optional)

You’ll also need the ability to whip up the milk. We have the frother that came with our Nespresso but we have a handheld one as well that we got HERE on Amazon. We’ve used it plenty of times to froth up some milk but it’s also great for quickly whipping up eggs or blending liquids together. I highly recommend it.

Once you have all the ingredients it’s SUPER simple to make! Just brew some espresso over ice (I always fill my cup all the with ice to make it nice and cold), whip up your milk and add in a dash of your flavor flavor, pour it into the espresso, and then finally… enjoy it! So good and you save the $5 that you would have spent at Starbucks. Nothing against Starbies by the way.

It’s the small things like this for me that allow me to create my own happiness. This small latte cost me just a few dollars, took only a few minutes to make, and brought me an afternoon of joy. What other small things bring you joy?

Raising A Toddler in 2023

Parenting • Mar 23, 2023

It was important to me that this was my first post after the site redesign. Being a parent is without a doubt one of the hardest and most rewarding jobs on the planet. But being a parent in 2023 brings on it’s own sets of challenges. Challenges that some parents before us were truly not faced with. With technology changing by the minute, school shootings on the rise, and so much overload from the world around us there are days I feel like I don’t know where to turn.

I thought giving a few pointers from a parents perspective in 2023 would be helpful. Below are my top 5 tips for new parents.

  • First and foremost, do you! This has many meanings but I think the most important message is that you are doing whatever it is that YOU feel is right. I see so many parent’s that are doing this or doing that because this book says this or that blog says that. That’s no way to parent. Take what you feel are the best parts of all these systems and create your own.
  • Take time for you. This is important! I’m not necessarily talking about a lavish week alone on a deserted island (unless that’s your thing) but instead, taking a few minutes to have time for yourself. This could be reading a book, working on a project you enjoy, or even watching an episode of your favorite TV show. It doesn’t matter what it is, just take the time to enjoy a few minutes to yourself.
  • Your not going to break them. This was a lesson I had to learn from day one. I remember thinking our son was so fragile and yet these nurses would just whip him around to change clothes or a diaper like it was nothing. When I asked why she was so rough her exact response was, “you aren’t going to break him”. This took time to get used to be eventually became the norm. As he’s gotten older this meaning has transitioned from diaper changes to our style of punishment. Instead of worrying about physically breaking my son there were days I worried about mentally break him. That may sound harsh but believe me, that one time you lose control and yell isn’t going to break them.
  • Give everyone grace. Everyone. There are days my kid is a jerk. There, I said it, he can be a jerk. And you know what, from his perspective, I’m sure there are days when I’m a jerk too. You get through it. Sometimes everyone apologies and then you move on to the next day. Give them and give yourself grace to make mistakes.
  • Ask for help. This is one I struggle with. Ask for help when you need it! Need to take that time to yourself? Ask for help? Baby has a cough? Ask for help? Not sure what size diapers to buy? Ask for help!

I’m sure that I could go on and on with this list but I think the five above are the most important. Parenting isn’t easy, it’s hard. Anybody that tells you otherwise is lying to you. You are going to have good days and your going to have bad days. Believe me, you’ll have plenty of both.

I hope this helps! What are your top parenting tips?

Clean Slate

GGMT , Personal • Mar 14, 2023

It’s been awhile! I feel like I should start by say something goofy like here we go again or starting over but I’m not going to do that. I’ll save you the entire back story but, yet again, I’m switching it up.

This site was always intended to be a blog. It’s transitioned a few times over the years but I want to bring it back. I think the last few posts were in terms of the business side of the site. That was closed in 2019. Not necessarily because I didn’t want to continue but because our son was born. I wanted to give him 100% of my time and not have to worry about doing things like orders, marketing, etc. It’s not something I in anyway regret.

What’s my focus going to be? I’m going to be cliche and say it’s a lifestyle blog. My husband and I are raising a rambunctious four year old and feel that we have tidbits of wisdom that we could offer. Hopefully something small that could change at least one person’s day if not their life.

When am I going to post? For now, I think the goal is going to be bi-weekly (twice a month). I don’t want to overcommit to anything. I want this to be light and breezy and a bit cathartic so twice a month feels right.

Over the next few months look for a complete redesign and overhaul of the site. I’m going to drop the shopping platforms on the site and push back in some of the old pages. Fanlistings anyone? LOL. Those still exist in the back hall of this site so look for that to make it’s reappearance.

Let’s Talk Bar Soap

Young Living • Apr 1, 2020

Not sure about you but soap is a constant in my life. Over the years I’ve fallen in love with Young Living’s shower gels but most recently I’ve discovered a new found love for their bar soaps! In fact, I was overjoyed to learn that not only do they have bar soap but there are also 9 different bar soaps to choose from!

Young Living was smart in keeping the ingredients for these bar soaps simple and good for you. In fact, each soap is rormulated without parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, glycols, sulfates, synthetic dyes or colorants, EDTA, or animal-derived ingredients.

Each soap contains a base of Sodium palmate as well as other chemicals. This allows the soap to contain a fatty part (to grab oil, dirt and debris) and watery part (to expel oil, dirt and debris). Each oil is also filled with a nourishing blend of Olive Oil, Jojoba Oil and Wolfberry Oils.

  • Peppermint Cedarwood – Peppermint Oil, sodium citrate (acid to maintain PH), Cedarwood Oil, aloe vera, and oat bran (abrasiveness to remove dead skin cells and create a grip).
  • Lavender Oatmeal Floral scent and luxurious/creamy formula. Leaves skin feeling soft and smooth. Higher concentration of oats helps for abrasiveness and dead skin cell removal. Also includes lavender, coriander, bergamot, rosemary and ylang ylang.
  • Morning Start – Great for exactly that! Lemongrass, rosemary, juniper and peppermint. Very activating and engaging for your morning! Has a complimentary shower gel as well. Aloe vera for added moisture. Medium oat concentration for mental exfoliation.
  • Lemon Sandalwood – Primary lemon-forward citrus aroma. Again great for the morning! Also includes rosemary leaf extract (very mild) but wonderful to tonify the skin.
  • Sacred MountainHas the sacred mountain blend of black spruce (woodsy), ylang ylang (balancing the black spruce), Idaho balsam fur, rosemary leaf extract and also the oat bran.
  • Thieves – Alternative for those who may not like the foaming hand soap. Great for tough gritty and grimy jobs. You sweat a lot?! This is for you! Not necessarily for a relaxing evening bath. Also has aloe vera!
  • Valor – Contains Valor II. May be different than the valor you have at home. Very wood-forward aroma. Northern lights black spruce, ylang ylang, coriander (herby), vetiver (grounding) and matricaria (woodsy, grassy). Can be a more masculine scent.
  • Shutran – Very MAN sized bar! Bigger than the others. Contains the masculine shutran blend. The only soap that does not contain any corn or soy ingredients. Only contains palm or coconut products. Contains shea better as well as the standard most Idaho blue spruce, ocotea, divana (very sweet), cedwarood, lavender, coriander and lemon peel to balance it out. Also contains carbon to make it grey and helps to detoxify and remove more impurities from the skin.
  • Charcoal (Orange Blossom)MOST detoxifying of all. Contains a large amount of charcoal powder making the bar itself black. Great for removing dirt and impurities. Compared to other charcoal this has orange blossom to bring the moisture back to your skin! Aroma is mild with orange, lavender, patchouli, rosemary and lemon. A very approachable scent!  Also has sunflower seed oil which is giving it even more moisture!

With 9 different options you truly can’t go wrong! Have you tried any of them? What’s your favorite?! Message me today for more information.

Custom Orders – Where do I begin?!

Business • May 23, 2017

If you’ve followed us for any amount of time you’ll know how much we LOVE our custom orders! You’ll be surprised to know that we actually get very few custom requests. Although designing is a big passion sometimes it’s the smallest details on a custom order that really makes this exciting!

Below are a few of the great items we currently (and will soon) offer at your disposal!

  • Vinyl Decals – Options are limitless for vinyl decals. We offer 100+ color options as well as transparent and glittered vinyl. Decals are designed to be applied to any non-porous surface. It’s suprising to find out but decals are designed to be permanent and extremely easy to install!
  • Custom Products – Browsing our site you’ll notice we have a variety of options! Acrylic Skinny Tumblers, 32oz water bottles, stainless steel water bottles and even coffee mugs! Truly we have something for everyone. Our products are listed with pre-made designs but we offer a custom option for each product.
  • Seasonal Items – These items are available exclusively on our FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM pages. These are valentines day mailboxesteacher appreciation items, and even kids water bottles! Lots of great items that cycle on and off our shelves that we can’t possibly keep in stock on our website.

We are also continuously expanding our product base. Many great things are coming soon here at GOD GIVE ME TRUTH!

  • Heat Transfer – COMING SOON! We are excited to announce that beginning in July of 2017 we will be able to offer custom heat transfer options for you. This includes anything from t-shirts to bags. We are going to be able to offer so many beautiful options from standard to glitter to even flocked HTV options!
  • SVG Designs – COMING SOON! We’v been asked numerous times to provide the files we use to design our products to other designers. Coming in the file we will offer exclusive custom deigns for designers to create their own products.

If none of these are in your sights than I strongly encourage you to check out our CONTACT page to create your custom order today!