3 More Things Successful People Do to Make Their Mornings Easier

Last week, I bestowed my wisdom to the masses with 3 Things Successful People Do to Make Their Mornings Easier.  

Were these earth shattering tips that no one has ever thought of before?  No.  That said, they are useful tips.

Like I mentioned in that post, until we truly start doing these things, it doesn't hurt to be reminded of them.

Today I am going to share with you 3 more things successful people do to make their mornings easier.  I hope you can apply these to your life if they fit your situation!

Tip #1:

• Set your coffee pot or at least get it ready the night before.  We are a Keruig family.  My husband drinks a Groves Square cappuccino every morning, and I use my refillable K Cup to brew coffee.  While there's not a lot to prep for us, we do make sure the reservoir is filled at night, and many times I will get my K Cups cleaned out and filled with fresh grounds, so I can just pop it in and not have to worry about cleaning it in the morning.

If you are not Keruig people, no sweat.  You can still get your coffee pot ready to brew by filling the reservoir and setting it up.  If you have a fancy pot, set that timer so you can wake to the smell of your lustrous blend!  If your pot doesn't have a timer, you could get a manual one and set it or just have the pot ready so all you have to do is turn it on once you wake up!

Tip #2:

• Get your briefcase, bag, or whatever you take with you ready the night before.  Any school teachers out there?  Think about how many bags you take to school with you.  I actually bought a Vera Bradley Get Carried Away tote which is intended to have enough room for a weekend getaway to carry all my crap to school!  I try to get it ready at night, so I can just grab it in the morning and get out the door.  If your bag is packed the night before or you at least lay out whatever items you are taking with you, this will help you not forget things and save time in the morning.

Tip #3:

• Get gas the night before.  Who has fallen trap to the almost empty gas tank?  Me.  I can pretty much promise you that if plan to get gas in the morning, something will happen that will cause you to run late and not have time to stop for gas.  Maybe breaking your coffee carafe, or the dog throwing up, or who knows what.  Just stop and get gas before you go home.  Is it inconvenient?  Maybe, maybe not but do it anyway.  When I know I have to get gas in the morning, I literally don't sleep very well because I keep that in the back of my mind and dwell on it.  Just get gas the night before and your morning will be easier!

So what do you do to make your morning easier?  Comment and let me know!

Olivia Makes A Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associations Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  If you choose to purchase an item from one of my Amazon links, I will receive a very small compensation of which I will be eternally grateful.

Chicken Bake in the Crock Pot

Raise yo' hand if you have seen this post and image on Pinterest!

It's THE awesomely easy (remember that's the only type of recipes I make) chicken bake.  

Throw it all in a pan, top with Italian dressing seasoning and butter, then shove it in the oven for dinner.  So easy.  BUT it takes an hour to cook, and I don't usually have an hour between when I get home and when we eat dinner.  Hmm, what to do?  

Well,  we could eat dinner a little bit later, but I'm usually half starved and would end up eating 3/4 of a bag of Doritos if I had to wait.  My second solution is to put it in the crock pot!  Yum! 

If you missed my review of the crock pot cook book Fix-It and Forget-It, check it out here.

I love my crock pot mainly because it eliminates the need for me to cook right after I get home.  Plus, it's easy clean up.  So while this recipe is typically baked in the oven, I decided to try to adapt it to my crock pot a few weeks ago.  

Sorry for my glarey pictures.  You understand the concept!

It's very simple.  All you have to do is: dice your potatoes and butter, then butterfly your chicken breast.  (I only use one chicken breast to feed the 2 of us).  Then put the potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot.  Pour a TINY bit of the juice from the beans over them to keep everything from going dry.  Sprinkle the potatoes with the seasoning and put a few pats of butter on them.  

Place your chicken on top and sprinkle with seasoning and include the butter.  

Then finish it off with the beans.  Pour the rest of the seasoning over them and the rest of the butter.

Turn the crock pot on low and enjoy the heavenly smells if you happen to be home while is cooking!

It's just as delicious in the crock pot and even more tender.  So go ahead and give it a try.

Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Note: if you are not super duper health conscientious, use a little more butter! : )

Simple Strawberry Smoothie Recipe

Remember this post I wrote last week about smoothies?

Well, it's time to share another simple smoothie recipe that you can whip up in the morning and get going with your day.

Today's recipe is a classic-plain strawberry.  Although it's not super fancy, it is super tasty.  You can add different ingredients to jazz it up such as honey, cinnamon, or even a few tablespoons of rolled oats, but I like to stick to the quick and simple, so here it is.

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How I Clean My House

House work.  Ugh.  With a child, dog, and husband, housework is basically never ending.

I heard a kid in school today talking about how he didn't need to learn how to do laundry.  Though I was just passing through, I bestowed upon him my wisdom that he may change his attitude when all his clothes all are bleached.

Laundry is never ending.  Dishes are never ending.  Housework is never ending.

It is.  Let's just all agree on that.  No matter how clean your house is, something will happen, probably that same day, and it will be dirty/messy again.

So even though I feel that housework will always be around, unless I get rich and hire a maid, I still fight the uphill battle.

Today I want to share how I clean my house, or at least try to.  I came up with this cleaning schedule several months ago and try to stick to it.  I may miss a day here or there, but the house generally stays somewhat presentable.  Also, when I follow this schedule, I don't have to spend my weekends cleaning!  I keep up with it throughout the week and have the weekend for fun-or to catch up on chores that might have fallen by the way side.

A little about my family and house.  In my household there is my husband, myself, and Mack.  We also have a 2 year old black lab that loses his weight in hair every year.  Our house is a 2 story older home.  We have a large living room with laminate floor, tile in our kitchen and bathroom, and carpet in the bedrooms.  So hopefully that gives you a general idea of what I have to clean on a regular basis.

Chores that I find important and should be done at least once a week are vacuuming, sweeping the hard flooring, dusting, cleaning the bathroom, changing the sheets, etc.  Chores that I find important but believe need to be done daily or almost daily would be the dishes, laundry, and general picking up.  Because these items are done so frequently, I do not list them on my cleaning chart.

I looked through many posts on Pinterest that have cleaning schedules, but none of them were a complete fit for me.  

I came up with this chart, and it works for me.  I hung it on my refrigerator as a reminder to both myself and my husband of what will hopefully get done during each day of the week.

Things to consider:  

-We have a dog that sheds enormous amounts of hair!  That said, I find it necessary to vacuum at least twice a week.

-If you're wondering about "Furminate Red," the Furminator is the type of brush we use on Red.  It's amazing.  I'll do a review about it later on so you can decide for yourself and see the proof!

-Also, our trash pick up is Thursday.  We try to get it ready the night before to keep from rushing or forgetting in the morning.

I hope this schedule aids you while figuring out just what works for you and your family.

You can download this calendar here!

It is in Google Doc form.  As long as you double click on the days, you should be able to type in your own chores or to do list.  You can print this out as your general cleaning schedule or edit it every week to stay organized.

Enjoy!

Mother's Milk Tea Review

The joys of breastfeeding...

When I started nursing Mack, I never really thought that I would be a person who enjoys nursing.  I mean it hurts likes crazy when you start out.  How could that even be enjoyable, right?

Well fast forward 6 months, and I am now a mother that not only enjoys nursing but is slightly sad that her time with her sweet babe will be ending somewhat soonish.  I plan to nurse Mack until he is at least a year old and may go a bit longer, but either way, time is fleeting.  I so enjoy nursing my son.  We have arrived at the part of the relationship where we are each comfortable with each other and enjoy our time together.  I love seeing him nurse and spending the extra cuddle time with my bug.

Though my nursing relationship will end eventually, it's already somewhat interrupted because I have gone back to work.  *enter sad face emoji*  Obviously work is a fact of life for many people, myself included.  Yes, my husband and I have bills to pay, so it's off to school I go.  Don't get me wrong; I love teaching!  I really do like being in the classroom, and let's be honest, the days when your child won't stop crying and is being a hellion can make the classroom look like a breeze.  But I do miss him, and I miss nursing him while I'm at school

Right now our nursing schedule is morning, after dinner, and right before bed.  He takes two 5 ounce bottles during the day, so it is up to me to get those bottles pumped while I'm away from him. 

Usually I can get the bottles pumped, but not always.  Especially lately.  School is super hectic, and I learned quickly that teaching Family and Consumer Science is even more fast paced than I ever would have thought.  I try to pump twice during the day.  Usually I'll get enough from these bottles, but sometimes I'll have to pump a little at home to add in.  If it's a super busy, I'll pump in the car on the way to pick up Mack.

Lately, I have not been getting the 10 ounces I need just from my sessions at school, so I decided to start drinking Mother's Milk Tea again.  I  have used it on and off since I started back to subbing in November, but I try not to drink it every day because it is slightly pricey-although it is less pricey than other galactogogues.  

When I drink even just one cup of Mother's Milk Tea, I notice that I usually pump an extra ounce during my first session the next day and an extra ounce or so in my next session!  Two ounces doesn't sound like a lot, but my pumping mamas know two ounces of liquid gold is a big deal.  It starts to put my mind at ease!

I read a lot of reviews before I purchased the tea and some said that it smelled and tasted gross.  That somewhat deterred me, but I decided to give it a shot.  My opinion is that the taste and smell are not terrible but not great.  Since drinking semi-regularly, I have found that I am used to the taste and actually don't mind it now.  It does have a black licorice smell to it, but I believe that can be attributed to the anise in it.

Though I'm super-duper frugal, I am willing to spend money on the tea.

Here's why I justify the costs:

• The tea really does work for me.  I notice a significant (usually 2 ounce) increase in milk supply within a day-or sometimes sooner if I drink it in the morning.
• As a result of drinking the tea, I can provide enough milk for my babe while I'm gone.
• By providing breast milk, I don't have to pay for formula.  Even though I have to pay for the tea, it's still cheaper than buying formula.

Please note that while I breastfeed my child, I do not condone formula shaming at all!  Just feed the baby, right?  We actually give Mack a bottle of formula when he wakes during the night, so I can get back to bed and get some sleep. I need sleep.  It's quite dangerous to be a zombie when keeping tabs on high school students cooking.   

Also, know that I bought the tea with my own money and have not been compensated at all for this review.  It is 100% my own opinion and experience. 

Olivia Makes A Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associations Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  If you choose to purchase an item from one of my Amazon link, I will receive a very small compensation of which I will be eternally grateful.

How I Pray for my Husband

I am a firm believer that praying for your husband is important.  I think if you ask anyone who has a solid prayer life they will tell you that prayer makes a difference.  While I don't claim to necessarily have a solid prayer life, I do believe that it is important for me to pray for my husband.

A few years back, several of the women (married or not) in our Sunday school class were passing around The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.  If you are beginning to pray for your husband or future spouse, I would recommend getting this book!  It has wonderful personal accounts on how prayer has changed marriages for the good. 

Stormie Omartian has written various books about the power of prayer.  Whether it be the power of a praying wife, mother, husband, etc., she offers great insight as to why you should pray for someone, how to pray for someone, and recognizing prejudices that may affect your heart of prayer.  This is a woman to look up to.  She clearly knows the difference a prayer warrior can make and has committed her life to being one and helping others learn to be one.

In the book, Omaritan writes about 31 areas of life in which to pray for your husband.  (The previous edition I read only had 30 areas listed.)  Obviously there are more than 31 ways to pray for your husband, but I think it's a good start.  Conveniently enough, there are very often 31 days in a month!  


After reading the book, I decided to make note cards to help me to remember to pray for my husband everyday.  I took each chapter of her book and listed the area of life, a summary of what the chapter said, and a verse that coincides with this prayer.  Fun fact about me: I LOVE fonts.  So I fancied the cards up a bit with some fun fonts and printed them out on blank 3x5 cards.  I cut numbers from my Cricut to put on the reverse side, but that is totally optional.  Finally, I used a single whole punch in the top left corner and put them together with a ring.

Ok, I have my cards.  Great.  Now I need to do the actual praying.  What to do.  What. To. Do.

This is the strategy that works for me.  I keep my cards in a cupboard in my bathroom that I get in every single day; that way I see them, flip to the next day, and take a moment to pray.  I would like to expand my prayer time and have recently tried to pray for part of my lunch time, but a little prayer goes a long way.  It's the thought and sincerity that counts not how long the prayer is.

So pray on even if you're not getting along-especially if you're not getting along, because prayer changes lives including yours.

Here is a PDF download of my prayer cards!  Download, print, and pray!  Click here!

This makes a great wedding or shower gift.  Spread the love and pray!

Olivia Makes A Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associations Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  If you choose to purchase an item from one of my Amazon link, I will receive a very small compensation of which I will be eternally grateful.

Fix-It and Forget-It Review

Crock pot, oh how I love thee!

Who doesn't love a good crock pot meal?  Throw it all in a pot in the morning and have supper ready when you walk through the door.  That's what I'm talking about.

Side note: Crock pots are excellent shower/wedding gifts!  That's where I got mine!  Thanks Miss Langham!

I usually have about a half hour between when I get home and when Josh gets home.  Even though he's not the type of person to demand dinner right away, we both like to eat early.  

I am into easy, easy recipes.  See my super easy chicken stuffing casserole here.  I could definitely give Rachael Ray a run for her money with a 30 minute meal.  We're pretty plain Jane in our house.  Many times I'll make grilled chicken/steak and veggies or even eggs.  I like dinner to be quick and uncomplicated.  The only thing that is better than that is having dinner ready when I walk in the door.

Enter Fix-It and Forget-It.  I bought this cookbook shortly after we got married.  I was still in college and working, so I didn't have a lot of time or energy to make dinner in the evening.  I love my crock pot and have found plenty of awesome recipes from this book!

Like many cookbooks, Fix-It and Forget-It is split into several categories.  

• appetizers, snacks, and spreads
• breakfast foods
• breads
• soups, stews, and chilis
• main dishes
• bean main dishes
• vegetables
• desserts
• beverages

So as you can see, there are plenty of recipes and categories to pick from depending on your mood for dinner.

Fact about me:  I'm the type of person that buys cookbooks or gets cooking magazines and then never cooks anything from them.  Yeah, money out the door.  But this book is different.  I have made many different recipes from a crock pot chocolate lava cake to Strogranoff, and I continue to try new things.  If you want to adopt the crock pot lifestyle or even make your life a little more simple one or two nights a week, this is the book for you.  

Not only does the book offer a variety of categories, but each category is filled with many recipes.  The soups, stews, and chilis section contains the most recipes because those are prime crock pot meals.  I would like to note that many times there will be more than one recipe listed for the same type of meal.  For example, I am sharing my favorite vegetable soup recipe from the book, but there are also several different recipes and variations listed.  Everyone has a different take on dinner.  Why not try them all and pick your favorite?

Long story short, this is a purchase that was definitely worth it for our household.

To close, I will leave you with one of my fave recipes from the book.  I've even made this and put it in the freezer for later.  It's versatile and easy!

You can download a FREE 4x6 card of the recipe here!

BONUS TIP:if you are making a meal but will not be home to turn the crock pot on at the right time, get a manual timer and set it!