Is a Costco Membership Really Worth It? {Costco Review}

I became a Costco member when i was pregnant with my 5th child, seemed like a good time to start buying in bulk now that we were becoming a family of 7.


I have now been a Costco member for 2 1/2 years, so it seems like a good time to tell you all what i really think of having a Costco membership.





Let's just get down to the pros and cons of Costco...

Pros:

*Low prices - At my Costco, for example, i can get 2 gallons of Milk for $3.54, that's only $1.77 per gallon.

*2% reward for Executive Members - I am an executive member, now i don't shop often enough at Costco for this 2% reward to really add up, but it does give me a little something that i use towards my membership fee.

*Great products - I love love love their Kirkland brand baby wipes. I notice when i run out of these, and use other brands of wipes, my little guy ends up with horrible rashes. Kirkland products are seriously made with great quality.

*Buy online option - You can now buy non-perishable food and household items online and they will deliver it to you in 2 business days. If you spend $75 or more, there is no delivery fee. **side note: prices seem to be a little bit higher for this convenience.*

*Membership fees are minimal - I believe if you just wanted the basic membership it's like $60 for the year. Not a bad price at all.

Cons:

*Store Hours - I am one of those people whom likes to shop early in the morning, like between 8-9. So it really kinda sucks that they don't open, most days, until 10.

*Only a few locations - Where i live we only have 2 stores. Since we moved out to the country, i now have to drive at least 20 minutes to reach one of the stores. The other store would take me like 45 minutes to get to.

*Super busy- Because there isn't a location on every corner, and because of their hours, the store is ALWAYS busy.


With all that said, for me, the pros totally outweigh the cons and it is definitely worth it for our family to have a membership.

I'm going to share some of our favorite products to buy at Costco and i'll give you the prices i paid most recently for them, so you can see just how good the deals are.

My favorite Costco items:

Baby Wipes - $19.99 for 900 wipes - These wipes are the best.
Kirkland Paper Towels - $15.99 for 12 count.
Kirkland Toilet Paper - $16.99 for 30 rolls. I love this toilet paper. It's the best quality. Not too fluffy, not too thin, just right!
Bounce Dryer Sheets - $9.99 for 320 count. This can last for me for about 6-7 months.
Dixie Paper Plates - $16.99 for 186 plates.
Kirkland Dish Pacs - $9.99 for 115 pacs. This usually lasts me like 3 months.
Kirkland Garbage Bags - $14.99 for 200 bags. This can last for us, about 6-7 months.
Muffins - $7.99 for two 6 packs.
Cheesecake - $13.99 for a 4.5 pound cheesecake. This is the best tasting cheesecake.
Dawn - $9.79 for 90 FL OZ.

Just keep in mind product availability and prices vary by location.

Those are my thoughts on having a Costco membership. Do you have a Costco membership? Has it been worth it for you? What's your favorite things to buy there?

Book Goals for 2018 *Update*

Hi Guys!!

I did it! Last week i completed my reading goal for 2018.





Yes my goal was small, only 20 books for the whole year, but as a busy mom of 5 i wanted to make sure i didn't set the goal too high for myself.


Here's a recap of all the books i have read so far this year...




I really enjoyed all of these books, there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

If i had to pick my favorite book out of all of them, it would definitely be Kisses From Katie. This book is  just so good and it really makes you want to evaluate your own life and become a better person.

If i had to pick my least favorite it would be The Fall of Butterflies. I honestly just picked this book based on it's pretty cover (i know, i know... never judge a book by it's cover). Just because it's my least favorite doesn't mean it's a bad book though. I mean it has 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon how bad could it be?! Honestly, I just wasn't expecting this book to head in the direction it headed in. If you read it for yourself you will see what i mean. But a bit of warning, there is foul language. If that bothers you (it didn't bother me) you might want to skip this one.


I'll list all the books below, so you can check them out for yourself....

The Best Yes
A Stranger In The House
The River
The Lying Game
Praying Circles Around Your Children
One of Us Is Lying
She is yours
Kisses From Katie
Girl Wash Your Face
Wild and Free
Backyard Farming: Raising Chickens
The Death of Mrs. Westaway 
Whispering Shadows 
The Perfect Couple
Idaho
Prodigal Summer
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
The Fall of Butterflies
Brain on Fire 
Eat Pray Love


Just because i've reached my goal for 2018 doesn't mean i'm going to stop reading, no way!! I love books way too much and i'm excited to see how many books i will end up reading this year.


What's been your favorite book you have read so far this year? Let me know in the comments.



*This post may contain affiliate links.*

DIY Pumpkin Soap

Hi Guys!


A few weeks ago i shared on Instagram some bars of soap i had made, and everyone really seemed to like it, so i thought i would share how i did it.






*I got the recipe from HERE.*


Supplies Needed:

Shea Butter Soap Base
Pyrex 4 Cup Measuring Cup
Silicone Mold
Pumpkin Pie Spice 
Soap Colorant 
Orange/fall Scrapbook Paper (optional)


Directions:

Step 1: Cut the soap base in half, put one half away to use another time. Then cut your half you are using into cubes.
Step 2: Put the cubed pieces of soap into your microwave safe measuring cup, and microwave until melted. **Note:Microwave it in small increments (20-30 seconds). This step should take about 1-2 minutes total.**
Step 3: Remove from microwave, add in 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie spice and 2 drops of red colorant & 4 drops of yellow colorant. Mix well.
Step 4: Pour your mixture into the soap mold and allow to cool completely before removing from molds.
Step 5 (optional): Wrap some strips of scrapbook paper around soap.
Step 6: Enjoy!



A few things i noticed while making it, is that my pumpkin pie spice seemed to clump together and my coloring didn't quite turn out how the original recipe's looked. Just in case you make it too and you have those same issues, i wanted to give a little heads up.


Overall though, it was super quick/easy to make and a lot of fun. I will definitely be making more soaps in the future.



*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Healthy Meal Planning 2018 *Flash Sale* {Ultimate Bundle}

Hi Guys!


Ultimate Bundles released their 2018 Healthy Meal Planning Bundle back in January, if you missed out on it back then, i have some great news. They have brought it back!! For 48 hours only you can get your hands on this amazing bundle.





This bundle is jam packed with over 100 resources and has a value of over $1,100!!! Of course you only pay a fraction of the price ($27-$47)!!

Don't wait, because like i said this bundle is only here for the next 48 hours!!


--------> Healthy Meal Planning Bundle 2018 <--------------- p="">


*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Fall Bucket List {Free Printable}

Hi Guys!!

Today is officially the first day of Fall!!

I love Fall most of all.

One of my favorite fall quotes is "Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go." - unknown.

I love apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, drinking apple cider, all the things...

So i thought it would be fun to create a bucket list to keep track of them all.





And because i love you all so much, i decided to create a handy PDF for you all to print out and use for free!!

So if you are in need of some ideas for fall, download my handy PDF for yourself by clicking the link below.

-----------> Fall Bucket List <------------ p="">

Enjoy and Happy Fall Y'all!!

The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts Review

Hi Guys!

I shared during my curriculum picks that we are using The Good and The Beautiful for language arts this year. **Side note: What homeschooler isn't using it? as it seems to be very popular this year.**


Anyways, we are into our 10th week of school, so i thought i would give my review on this curriculum.







I'm just going to dive in and tell you my pros and cons of The Good and The Beautiful language arts curriculum.

(We are using levels Pre-k - 7)

Pros:

~Levels 1-5 are available to download for FREE!
~It's pretty much open and go, not much prep work involved.
~I love how it covers more than just language arts, they also add in geography and art appreciation.
~If you don't decide to download it for FREE (or you order one of the levels are aren't available for free download), their prices are aren't that expensive compared to other language arts curriculum.
~It's just beautiful. I love all the artwork throughout it.
~I feel like it's a well rounded curriculum, it covers everything, there are no gaps. From spelling, to punctuation, to grammar, to vocabulary, to writing my kids are covered.


Cons:

~It's advanced. Which isn't really a con, it's just something you have to be aware of before you order/place your child into a level. They have a level placement test which you can download for free on their website.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


That's it, those are my pros and cons. Which obviously my pros outweigh my cons and i'm 100% sure i will be ordering this curriculum again next year!

If you are using The Good and The Beautiful this year i'd love to hear what you think about it. Leave me comment with your thoughts.

DIY Coffee Cup

Hi Guys!


As you all probably know by now, especially if you follow me on social media, i love coffee.

Recently i discovered a new love of mine, DIY coffee cups. I started out by doing some with oil based sharpie markers, which turned out ok. But then i got a Cricut and oh my gosh how fun it is to create different designs on that thing. I'm now totally obsessed with using it to create DIY coffee cups.

Here's a recent cup i did with my Cricut.




See what i mean? Isn't that adorable?! It says "This Day is Powered by Coffee".

Today i thought i would show you both ways (Sharpie and Cricut) to create fun DIY coffee cups. P.S. With the holidays coming up in a few short months, these would make great gifts for anyone (not just coffee drinkers)...

Method #1 - Made With Oil Based Sharpies

Supplies needed:

White Coffee Cup (you can get these for like $0.88 at Walmart)
Oil Based Sharpies

Step 1: Decorate cup with sharpie markers.
Step 2: Let it sit for a few hours. You could even leave it overnight
Step 3: Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. *Tip: put the cup in the oven before turning oven on and leave it in the oven until the oven cools completely, to avoid cracks.*
Step 4: Hand wash and enjoy!




Method #2 - Made With Cricut

Supplies needed:

White Coffee Cup (you can get these for like $0.88 at Walmart)
Cricut (I have this one)
Vinyl (for this project i used Midnight)
Cricut cutting mat
Cricut Vinyl Transfer Tape
Free SVG file 

Step 1: Download the free SVG file, then open Cricut Design Space and upload the file to it.
Step 2: Once you have decided what size you want it, let your Cricut do all the cutting.
Step 3: Remove all the excess vinyl then transfer your design over to the transfer tape.
Step 4: Apply design to coffee cup with transfer tape. Then discard transfer tape.
Step 5: Enjoy!




I hope you enjoyed this fun DIY Coffee Cups post, as much as i enjoyed making them!


*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Last Chance {Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2018}

Hi Guys!


There are only a few more hours left to get your hands on the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2018 and then it's gone..







I love this bundle and it couldn't have come at a better time in my life. If you read my blog post on Saturday, i was just diagnosed with a thyroid problem and to my wonderful surprise this amazing bundle has an incredible Thyroid cookbook packed with over 390 pages of super helpful information and over 100 delicious recipes.





In less than 2 hours this bundle goes bye bye, so don't wait, grab your copy now.


------------> Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2018 <---------------------- p="">

*This post may contain affiliate links.*

Invisible {Journey to a diagnosis}

I've always felt like i was invisible, and i'm not saying that as a bad thing. I enjoy not being the center of attention, i like to blend in. So, I've always thought of my invisibility as a super power. And it's been a great super power, kid's i went to school with since preschool couldn't even get my name right in high school, that's how great my super power was. Until the day my super power felt not so super anymore...




But to get to that, we have to go back to 7 weeks ago.

I had been completely healthy until one day i just wasn't. It hit me out of nowhere, my ear was in intense pain. The next day i woke up to a lump behind my ear. The following Monday i went into quick care because the pain was unbearable.

They prescribed me some antibiotics, because they believed an infection was about to start. That week i was still in a crazy amount of pain, the antibiotics were not working, the lump was still there, other symptoms started showing up too. I went back the following week and they didn't know what to do.

They referred me to an ENT (Ears, Nose, and Throat doctor). I made the appointment, went and saw him, he was of no help. He thought it was a jaw problem.

I made an appointment for a GP (general practitioner). He thought it was Mono so he made me get some blood work done.

I waited and waited to hear back from them, days passed with no word. So i finally called them, apparently they had my phone number wrong. But it turned out the blood test was negative for Mono. And they actually asked me if i wanted to continue with more testing or if i was ok to give up?

This was around week 4-5 of being in pain, i was still in pain, nothing was working. Here's a list of all the symptoms i was having:

• lump behind ear
• ear pain
• fevers
• chills
• chest pain
• left side pain
• headaches
• loss of appetite
• fatigue 

I couldn't believe they would even ask that, yes i want to continue. I want to know why i'm in so much pain and i want to know how to fix it.

So we continued, they made an appointment for me to get an ultrasound done on my neck.

On a Monday morning i had my ultrasound done. I was told i should hear back sometime Monday afternoon. But nothing. No call back.

Tuesday comes and goes, no call back. So i called them and was told "well it can take up to 48 hours to hear back, so keep waiting."

Wednesday comes and goes, nothing.

Thursday, my husband was fed up at this point and decided to call them. Yes they had my results, they had had them since Monday. They just forgot to call me. 6 weeks of me being in pain.. 6 weeks of having no idea what is wrong with me... and they just forgot to call me... This is the point where i started to feel like my super power wasn't so super anymore. It now started to feel more like a curse.

The ultrasound came back not conclusive, so more tests were in order. A CT scan was our next step.

Have you ever had a CT scan done before? I don't recommend having one done, if you can avoid it. Especially if they are doing it with contrast. They hook you up with an IV, shoot iodine into your blood stream, which immediately makes you feel like you have peed your pants. But for me, it also made me feel dizzy and sick to my stomach. Probably didn't help that i wasn't allowed to eat anything for 6 hours before the test. I was on the verge of passing out.


However, the next morning i received a phone call from my doctor. We finally have a diagnosis. It's my thyroid. More specifically my thyroid is swollen. 7 weeks later, 49 days of being in non-stop pain, 70,560 minutes of not knowing what the future will be like. And i finally have an answer.


Well, a partial answer. They asked me to go back in to get more blood work done and i have an appointment on Monday to see my doctor again to go over everything. But finally after 7 weeks of pain, i am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2018

Hi Guys!!


I just wanted to take a minute to tell you about this awesome Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle 2018, before it expires on Monday (September 10th).







I'm so excited about this bundle, it's such a great way to collect fresh ideas, products, and resources to support my family's health.

So what is the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle?

It's a huge bundle of healthy living resources: books, courses, and amazing bonuses.
Here is what's included in this years bundle:

• 62 eBooks
• 12 Printable packs & workbooks
• 20 eCourses
• 2 Membership sites
• plus amazing bonuses!

All of that adds up to 96 products worth $2,235.92!! But the best part is, you get it for a fraction of the price, you only pay $29.97!!!




Do you love discovering new healthy resources for you and your family? Then this is the bundle for you.

Here's everything covered in this bundle:

• Allergy-Free Cooking
• Alternative Health
• Detox & Reset
• Fitness & Weight loss
• Gardening
• Healthy Children
• Home & Beauty
• Homesteading
• Natural Remedies
• Pregnancy & Baby
• Real Food
• Recipes
• Wellness & Self-Care

Here are a few of my favorites i've found so far in this bundle:



Rise Up - Integrative Wellness Membership


10 First Steps To Real Food


Healthy Life Handbook



The Easy Detox

Can you believe they give you all these super amazing resources for such a tiny price?! But don't wait, the thing with these bundles are they don't stay around for long and once they are gone they are gone.







Get your copy today! ------------> Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle <---------------- don="" p="" t="" wait="">


*This post may contain affiliate links.*

September Reading List

Hi Guys!


Here's what we are reading this month.





Samuel (13 years old/8th Grade)



Where the Red Fern Grows



Dasean (10 years old/5th Grade)




The One and Only Ivan



Karina (7 years old/2nd Grade)



Mac and Cheese




Cruz (4 years old/Preschool)




The Best Nest



Veronica (Me)




The Fall of Butterflies




Eat Pray Love




Those are all the books we are reading this month. What are you reading this month?



*This post may contain affiliate links.*