Confidently Katie

Goals for the New Year

Goal setting is important to me.  I never start into a big project until I know what my end goal is.  This applies to my work life, my home life, my blog life etc.  It’s important to set goals so that you aren’t shooting aimlessly into the dark night.  Goals keep you focused on the outcomes you want.

Goal setting is easy.  You sit down, you write specific, measurable goals, and you set out to achieve them.

That last part though?  Achievement?  Not always so easy.  We write down our goal and then we forget that we even set it.  We didn’t create an action plan for those goals.  The goal wasn’t quite as important to us as we originally thought and it fade into the background.

In 2018 let’s say “goodbye” to forgotten goals and say “Hello” to crushing them.  Today I’m going to share my goals along with my simple guide for how to set and achieve your own goals.

5 things to consider before you set your goals:

  1.  Consider the past year.  What about it would you go back and change?  Would you take more time off of work?  Do you wish there were more photos of your family get-togethers?  Do you wish you had more family get-togethers?
  2. Consider what you can control.  There is no use in shooting for goals that are beyond your control.  Make sure that whatever you want to achieve is within your realm of influence.
  3. Consider the potential impact of working to achieve this goal.  Will it mean 10 hours a week in the gym? Will you have to spend more money to achieve it?  Will you have to spend less money to achieve it?  Will it affect the life of others around you?
  4. Consider how you will measure your progress.  How will you know when you achieved this goal?
  5. Consider how you will hold yourself accountable.  Are you the type who can easily be held accountable to yourself, or do you need a manager to help make sure you’re on track?

Here’s one last bonus tip before you jump into your goal setting:  Consider creating an overarching theme for your goals.  Mine is “Consistency”.  Every goal I set requires consistency.  That means that I will need routines in place that will allow me to produce the results I want to see.  Good luck and may you set your goals with the confidence that you will be able to achieve them!

Here are my big goals for 2018

1// Improve time management

Time management has been a huge struggle for me in 2017.  I have never felt like I’ve had enough time to complete everything that needs to be done.  I’ll know that I’ve achieved this goal when I can sit down and read a book and not feel stressed that I should really be doing something else.

2// Spend more consciously

Starting January 1, I’m restarting the spending fast…I’ll share more about how I’m going to do that and how you can zero in on your big financial goals in 2018.  This goal comes with a support group and simple steps to follow, however it will have a large impact on my life and my family.  It will be important to be prepared for that. I’ll know I achieved this goal when I pay off 100% of my debt.

3// Maintain a consistent fitness routine

Looking back on 2017 I feel I could have been much more successful with my fitness goals had I just been a little more consistent.  Consistency means a minimum of 4 days a week at the gym, weighing and measuring my food, and daily tracking of my macros and water consumption in MyFitnessPal.  This will have a big impact on my life, but hopefully the time management goal will help me out with this one.  I’ll know I achieve this one when I reach my specific fitness goals.  I’ll talk about those more in a future post.

 

4// Keep a clean house…and car…

If anyone in my family is reading they’re laughing at this one.  I struggle to keep things clean.  I don’t know why, but I have such a hard time keeping shit clean.  I am bound and determined to find some ways to DESTROY this goal in 2018.  Again, I think the time management goal will help!  The impact here will be on me and my family.  Corey is going to become a professional at cleaning.  I’ll know I achieved this goal when my house and car are clean for longer than 2 weeks in a row and I’m not overwhelmed by laundry piles or lunch containers.

Engaged?!

Yes. You read that correctly.  Corey and I are engaged (finally).

I’m so excited to share our planning process.  I’ve been pseudo planning a wedding for a while now, but now that things are official I’ve been able to really get started.  But really, the best part of being engaged is knowing that in 13ish short months we’ll have officially sworn to spend the rest of our lives together. I like thinking about that.

Here are the answers to the frequently asked questions about our engagement:

1//  How did he propose?

Corey propose in the comfort of our living room with my family all around.  I had just finished eating the dinner I’d made for everyone and we were relaxing and giving my dad some gifts for his birthday.  Corey handed me a wrapped gift and Clara gave me a note that says “Will you marry my, Daddy?”  She’s a very well trained 15 month old.  It was the perfect proposal.

2// Did you pick out your ring?

Nope! Corey picked it out all by himself.  I gave him a few idea about what I wanted in an engagement ring and he went to Shane Co. and picked one out that he thought I would love.  He was so right!  I am in love with his choice, but more than that, I love that he knows me well enough to pick something out that is so me.

3// When are you getting married?

Our date is tentatively set for January 19th or 2019.  That date is subject to change depending on venue availability and pricing.  Our wedding budget isn’t huge so if we can get a better deal with a different day, we might make some changes.  Don’t worry, we’ll send out some save the dates.

4// Are you getting married in Utah?

Yes!  Corey’s family is spread out between the Midwest, The South, and the East Coast and mine is mostly in Utah so we decided that it’d be best for us to get married where we live.

5// Um can I come?

We’ll be perfecting our guest list for the next little while.  If you’re dying to join us for our wedding, please let me know so I can put you on the list!

6// Are you going to share about your wedding planning process on the blog?

Duh!  I have a whole series planned out for this event.  I’ve already learned so much about wedding planning from wedding blogs, podcasts (yes, there are wedding planning podcasts), and Pinterest.  I’m beyond excited to share everything I learn along the way with all of you.  That way you can learn from my mistakes…and my triumphs.

Have you planned a wedding?  Do you have any words of advice to share with me?  Bonus points if you got married around Salt Lake, Utah.

8 Gift Ideas for your Toddler

My family has always been into BIG Christmas.  We’ve always gotten (and given) lots of gifts, and to be honest, we’ve really gone overboard quite a few times.  That’s not a bad thing, and I will never look back on my childhood Christmases and think…”Man I wish I’d gotten fewer of the things I begged my parents for all year.”  But as a parent (in a small house with hardly any storage who struggles to keep things clean)  I’m not really looking to buy lots of toys.  Instead we’re going for useful gifts that will benefit her and our family in the long run.  This might mean a few new toys

**This post may continue affiliate links for which I receive a small commission for if you purchase items from those links.**

  1.  Upgrade that Car Seat!   Clara is growing steadily, but she’s all the small side.  She’s almost 18 months and is still pretty comfortable in her infant seat BUT, we took advantage of some Black Friday deals and decided to upgrade!  This carseat has a zipper cover that you can toss in the washing machine.  Clara won’t really appreciate it just yet, but it was a good opportunity for us a to spring for the upgrade. She’ll be riding comfortably in no time.

2.  Memberships to local parks and recreation.  Our family loves to get out and have fun on the weekends with all of our kids.  We make memories and have experiences that will outlive any toy.  This year I’m thinking we’ll get a membership to the Hogle Zoo. This membership also give discounted entrance to other zoos around the country too! Find out what your local recreation areas can offer you.

3.  Fire 7 Kids Edition with Kid-Proof Case  You may think that this is a little over the top, but these things are loaded with educational games and entertainment for DAYS!  My niece has one and is completely obsessed. She can navigate it better than I can.
4.  Clothes for the season.  Clara is growing out of clothes faster than we can buy them.  That means that we have to get her new stuff every few weeks.  I think Christmas is a great time to look at what she’ll need for this year and take advantage of the winter deals.

5.  Bath tub toys & tools.  As Clara gets older, she enjoys tubby time more and more and all those wet squishy toys get moldy.  Now is a great time to take a look at her toys and send the ones that are worse for wear down the road and upgrade  to a few new things.

6.  Books! I’ve started collecting books for Clara to read as she learns and grows.  She loves reading stories and I’m so excited to show her the new books we got her on Christmas morning. I also get her a different Christmas story every year.  Last year was the Polar Express.

7.  Christmas ornaments.  As our family is still new and we don’t have much for Christmas decorations just yet, I started a tradition where I get a Christmas ornament for Clara and Corey each year.  This way when we have a tree filled with ornaments, we can look back on the years that they got them and what great memories we had.

8.  Potty Training tools.  This one may not apply to everyone, but I think Christmas is a time for new beginnings.  And for us, that means kicking the diapers to the curb.  Clara isn’t walking just yet, but when she does, we’ll be ready to start potty training with all the tools we need.

And there you have it, 8 unique gift ideas for your toddler.  What’s on your list for you kids this year?  Are you more traditional and like to get them the latest toys, or are you looking for the most useful things you can find?  What will be under your tree on Christmas morning?


Book Club 2018

When I was in the 6th grade, I was wandering a store with my mom.  She told us we could pick out a book, so I did.  At the time, I wasn’t all that into reading for fun.  In fact I didn’t really enjoy reading at all.  It had always been sort of difficult for me and I hadn’t really read anything that I liked enough to justify my struggle.  But it all changed after I read that book.

That year I read maybe 10 or 11 books.  Over the summer I spent my days in the library.  In 7th grade I read a book every day.  Literally every day.  I was basically Matilda.  But as time has gone by, reading has faded into the background.  7th grade was a long time ago and I’m a parent now.  No time for reading.

That’s about to change.

I’ve decided to start a book club beginning in 2018.  As it turns out, I’m an obliger and I need external forces to keep me accountable.  And a book club is how I’m going to do that.

So here’s how the book club works:

You can be a part of the book club whether you live near by or you’re reading remote.  If you’re near by we’ll be setting up one day or night each month where we can get together, eat snacks, and geek out about our favorite parts of the book.

If you’re remote, we’ll have comment threads in the Facebook group to do the same thing.  What I love about this is that we can talk throughout the month as we read and not just one time a month.

I’m putting together a list of 20 or so books that I’ll post in the group and we’ll vote on which ones we want to read throughout the year.

Join the group to get started!

Autumn Leaves

A few weeks ago, I was blessed with the gift of a new camera.  Well, new to me.  And it wasn’t really a gift.  I bought it, but how it ended up in my hands, it seems like it was a gift.

I had just decided that it was time to take the leap and buy myself a DSLR camera when a friend of mine posted hers on Instagram for sale.  Of course I knew it was meant to be.  So I messaged her and a couple days later, it was mine.

I had been preparing by studying Pinterest graphics on how to set up in manual exposure and all that, but let me tell you…It is hard.  Getting it just right for the setting and the light you’re in is a real skill. I’m still working on it but I thought I’d share some photos that I’ve taken since I got it.

I haven’t really ventured into the world of presets yet in Lightroom, so all of these photos were manually edited based on the light I took them in…So please be gentle. I’m learning!  Can you tell that my baby girl loves the camera?

They’re not perfect, and to be honest, I shot most of the pictures on auto…But I’ll get there! Hope you enjoyed these pictures of my adorable little girl.

Finally Fall

I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m so happy that it’s fall.  Today I turned the heat on at the house.  There’s something about the smell of turning your heat on for the first time in months…I’ve also put in all my Fall Scentsy wax melts and put up my adorable fall wreath.

Today I’m celebrating fall by watching Gilmore Girls, having soup for lunch, and wearing a cozy sweatshirt.  There is so much family fun to be had during the fall season in Utah.  If you’re looking for me this fall, here’s where I’ll be:

1// The Mabey’s Pumpkin Patch

Every year my family does an annual pumpkin carving contest.  We stroll through the Mabey’s Pumpkin Patch, fill up our wheel barrel with pumpkins and run home to carve them. The Mabey’s also have an adorable set up with hay bales and picture perfect pumpkins to take fall photos in their yard.  It’s adorable and we hope they never stop growing pumpkins. 

Clara clearly loved the pumpkin patch her first year and our pumpkins turned out looking pretty great.

2// Gardner Village Witch Fest

Gardner Village is a cute little historic village in West Jordan, UT.  Every fall they have “Witch Fest” coupled with lots of different events like scavenger hunts, kid-friendly obstacle courses, plenty of photo ops with the witches, dinner theatre, a 5k, breakfast with witches, and all kinds of other fun things.  I want to look into basically all of them for my family.

3// Canyon Drives

Corey isn’t from Utah, so last year when we drove up to Oktoberfest (that’s at Snowbird and is also a great fall activity) he was mesmerized by the changing leaves.  There are so many canyons to choose from too that all have different things to see.  I like to drive up Big Cotton Wood Canyon personally.

4// Heber Valley Railroad Pumpkin Train

Our family did this last year and we had a pretty good time.  The ride up to Heber is beautiful and so is the town.  It would probably be best for kids ages 3-7. They also do a Christmas event that is a longer train ride and I think there is dinner involved, but don’t quote me.

5// Corn mazes and haunted houses

Okay so you will NOT find me in the maze or the haunted house, but most Corn mazes have other activities too like petting zoos, giant slides, and other fun photo ops.  There are all kinds of them around here. The one we’ve been to was Cornbelly’s.  I’ll be honest, we were in that maze for a long time.  It was cold and my arm was broken…But I’m sure it’s fun for other people!

One of the best things about today being the first day of fall, is that I’m doing a giveaway!  I’m teaming up with two Scentsy consultants Alexis & Jessica and I’m giving away a warmer, three Fall wax melts, and a full LipSense Starter kit. (P.S. If already has a starter kit and you want a different gloss we can do that!) The giveaway will close at Midnight on September 30th.

Here’s how you enter, the first one gets you in, and all the rest are extra chances to win!

  1.  Head over to my Instagram page and follow me @confidentlykatie
  2. Like the photo for this giveaway
  3. Tag a friend! Each one you tag is an additional entry.
  4. Join my LipSense group  (If you’re already in, you’re automatically entered!)
  5. Join Alexis’s VIP Scentsy Group
  6. Comment on this blog post with your favorite fall activities no matter where you live.
  7. Make a purchase! If you make a Scentsy or LipSense purchase before the 9/30 you will earn 1/2 the dollar amount in giveaway entries!

 

Achieving Work Life Balance

As you may know, my full-time gig involves me sitting behind a desk all day.  I work in the managed care industry for a start up that is growing like crazy. I like to think I’ve had something to do with that growth.  However it has also meant learning some hard lessons about work life balance.  Being a young professional with no degree, I feel really lucky to have landed this role, and for a while, I was on a mission to prove that I deserved it.  Because of that, it was like I never stopped working and you can assume that didn’t end well.

Today is all about how I quit allowing work to run my life and became more present in my home and really in my life.

1// Realize that you cannot fix everything

A lot of my late nights at the office, or even late night at home working on various projects were caused by a desire to save the world.  Our company is growing fast and there are some growing pains associated with that.  I wasn’t going to single handedly fix it all, and 90% of the work I was doing overtime and after hours could have waited until I got into work the next day.

2// Get rid of your email notifications

If you can, don’t allow your email on your phone to send you push notifications unless you have to! It changed my life not to see those “urgent” emails that couldn’t wait.  Newsflash.  They could wait.  There was the occasional emergency, but generally if it’s a big enough issue, people will just call you.  So cut them out!

3// Get organized and work so that it doesn’t have to come home with you

Getting organized at work is a major challenge for me.  My workflow gets interrupted all day long due to the nature of my job, so I had to figure out someway to deal with that.  I started making to-do lists and tracking my daily tasks so that I would complete what needed to be done and I didn’t have to stay at work late or take those tasks home.  There are still time when things get away from me and I do have to do them at home, but those nights are so fewer and further between since I began focusing task management.

4// Be honest with your leadership about your family situation

I know that this can be a bit of a sticky topic.  With the mommy tax and all…I know that a mom is less likely to get hired than a dad or a childless woman…But we’re past hiring.  We’re in the role.  We’re doing the work.  Make sure your boss knows that you have a family at home and they’re a priority to you.  If someone calls during dinner you can answer and say “I’m having dinner with my family.  Would you mind if I call you back later?”  or “Can you send me an email about that and I can work on that after I have dinner with my family?”  Make it clear that you have boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed when we can help it.

5// Consider how this time will be remembered

I love Corey and Clara with all of my heart.  I’ll really cherish these memories that we’ve made together…but one day I was thinking about what Clara would remember about her childhood, or what Corey and I would reminisce about when she gets older.  I thought “I wonder if Clara will remember me working this much?”  and “I wonder if Corey will just remember, Clara started crawling while Katie was answering emails on her phone.”  That was a wake up call for me.  I didn’t want work to be what we remembered about this amazing time in our lives.

It can be a struggle, but it really helps me to do these things and to consider how I want these days to be remembered. How do you maintain work life balance?

5 on Friday: Katie Lately

This week has been a busy one!  The company I work for is undergoing some serious growth and because of that the work week is flying by every. Single. Week.  It’s nice to sit down at my computer and slow things down for a second while I blog.

Today I’m sharing 5 on Friday.  5 on Friday posts will vary, but today I’m sharing 5 things about me.

1//  I just started doing Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide (BBG). 

It’s so hard! I started up a few weeks ago and I fell out of the pattern due to things being so busy at work and with Clara’s first birthday plans, but I’m back at week one and I am dying.  It’s amazing though and I definitely plan to share more about it here as I go.

2//  I have recently discovered a love for cooking and baking.

I have never hated cooking, but I mostly saw it as a necessity.  It wasn’t something I regarded as fun.  But recently I’ve been loving putting together a new recipe, putting my own spin on the things I find on Pinterest, and force feeding those concoctions to my family and co-workers.  If you follow me on IG (@confidentlykatie) , you probably already know this!

3//  I recently became a Dave Ramsey listener…

Ya’ll this is changing my life.  Changing my life.  I previous read Anna Newel Jones’s book about her Spending Fast and I was pretty motivated then, but Dave Ramsey provides a whole new dimension to money and budgeting.  I’m currently working on a zero balance budge for Corey and I.  I’d also be happy to share this later, provided I can get my life together.

4// In January I started going to a non-denominational church

Growing up in Utah and being raised mostly LDS, churches like mine were a completely foreign concept to me.  Since my family has started going to The Well, I’ve seen remarkable changes in my life and I have been so very blessed by the community I have found there.  I’m surprised too. If you’re local to Utah and you’re interested in checking it out, I highly recommend it.

5//   I have never obsessed about fall….that is until this year.

For some reason I am dying for it to get cold enough for my boots and scarves.  I swear I have never been like this before.  I’m a spring and summer kind of girl.  To be honest, though, this is a pleasant surprise.  It’s great to be looking forward to the seasons ahead.

10 Things You Need to Know Before Joining an MLM

I decided it’s time to address the elephant in the room.  I joined an MLM company.  That stands for “multi-level marketing”.  This is also called direct sales.

Personally it surprised me too.  I did it sort of on a whim really. But I haven’t really regretted it. I’ve had to learn some lessons along the way, but I really don’t believe that MLMs should be demonized like they are. I do, however think that they can be a very slippery slope and all sales and recruiting strategies should be approached with caution.  To help educate people a little bitter I want to share 10 things you need to know before you join an MLM.  This post is jam packed with information that can really help you if you’re looking to “join the team” for any mul

So you have more background.  I am an independent SeneGence Distributor. That’s the company that sells LipSense.  It’s an extremely popular liquid lip color.  The company has been around since the 80s, but it has really picked up traction in the last year or so and has grown immensely.  They carry a full line of cosmetics and skin care with an emphasis on anti aging products.  If you want to learn more visit Lost in the Gloss (that’s a page in my blog, not my Facebook Group!)

 

1 // MLMs all have different compensations structures.  Know yours before you join!

It may seem like a great gig when you see people making $20,000 a month.  Yes I say a month.  But not everyone is making that! Make sure you understand what type of work is required for you to get to that point and how much time you may have to invest in growing you sales and your team.

2 // MLMs have rules! Breaking the Compliance Policies can get you kicked right out!

While posting your inventory on Ebay might be good for your sales, it’s more than likely a good way to get banned from your MLM.  There could be other rules too like, you can’t name your group the company name, or you can’t price products lower than a certain amount.  These compliance rules help you. They’re intended to help you make the most profit and level the playing field with other distributors.

3 // Recruiting is hard

Seriously you guys.  Recruiting is not easy.  Talking to your friends and family about joining can be really awkward.  You have to be willing to really put yourself out there.  I personally haven’t recruited anyone, but I’m mostly focusing on sales.  If I put the work in, I’d more than likely see the reward. Which is a prefect segue into my next point.

4 // MLMs take serious work to make money

It looks really dreamy, I know. The person who recruited you said it would be easy and they are rolling in the dough.  What they might have left out is that they had to work their tail off to get to that point. That’s not a bad thing at all.  Just know that making money in direct sales isn’t automatic.  You have to sell and you have to recruit.  Period.

5 // You don’t need hundreds of dollars worth of stock to get going

You guys.  Please please please do not believe you need a huge stock to start up!  Your upline wants you to order more product because it helps them.  But do not order more than you can sell.  I repeat.  DO NOT order more than you can sell! Yes, maybe order a larger volume order will give you a better discount, but if you’re order more than you can sell it is literally null.  It means NOTHING. If you have some disposable income and you can wait a while to make some money on it, go ahead.  But if not, just start small! Order a few products for yourself to show off and get to selling.  Order AFTER you have those invoices paid and you will see a profit right then.

6 // It can take some time to pick up the pace

I joined my MLM in April. It’s August and I have just started making some money off my sales.  Part of that is because I started to sell a little more aggressively.  It’s amazing, the more work I put in, the better I do.

7// The people at the top are there because they hustled

MLMs have a bad reputation. They are constantly compared to “pyramid schemes” which have a similar business model, but result in no real products or gain for the seller or the consumer.  The intent in a pyramid scheme is to get you to spend a large amount of money on nothing and give you none of that back.

That is not the case with MLMs.  Yes there are people above you making money off your sales or your purchases, but they are making money off your sales because they brought you into the business.  Maybe the mentored you and helped you learn how to sell or to recruit.  And they did that with many others.  So they got to the top by selling, recruiting and hard work.

8// You can just join for the discount

Some MLMs are designed so that you can get the products that you love at a less expensive price.  Do your research and figure out what will get you the most bang for your buck.  If the cost to sign up and the amount you plan to order will save you in the end, then go for it.  You do NOT have to sell the products in all MLMs.

9// LOTS of people have opinions about MLMs and you need to be prepared for them.

Kind of like I said in number 7, there are a lot of people who don’t believe that MLMs work.  People will probably want to tell you their opinion and you have to decide how you want to react.  Personally I just say “it just depends on how you look at it.”  and I stop there.  It’s best to make up your own mind about them and jump in if you want.

10// Not everyone is cut out for MLMs

Seriously. This.  If it isn’t working out for you, you don’t have to keep at it.  And if you do want it to work, ask for help! There are LOTS of people above you who have had success that will be willing to help you. If they aren’t willing to help you, you may have joined the wrong MLM and it’s probably best to get out anyway.

How Podcasts Changed My Life

I discovered podcasts, I kid you not, about a month ago.  I knew they existed, but I just didn’t understand why people listened to them.  I pictured all podcasts being like NPR (which is fine, but I just figured it was all so serious).  I didn’t even know where to find them!

If you’re like me and you’re thinking “what’s the deal with podcasts…?”  Keep reading.  This one’s for you.

Let’s start with where to find them:

I found my first podcast on Spotify (aka the best $15 I spend every month).  I was getting ready to do some cleaning and realized there was a podcast option on there and I decided to give it a click. In case you’re unaware, this is how you find your podcasts on Spotify 

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can also access them by going into one of those built in apps called “Podcasts”  and you can access podcasts for free. I literally didn’t even know they were free!

You can also find podcasts on some of your favorite websites if they happen to have a podcast.

When I discovered podcasts, I did what any millennial does:  I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions.  They all gave me tons of great ones to listen to.  I listened to at least one or two episodes of everyone’s suggestions.  Some I liked a lot more than others and I totally binged on those…

I’m sure you’re thinking, “okay, Katie, that’s cool, but like…how did that discovery change your life?”  To show you how, I’m going to share some of my favorite podcasts and how they have had a positive impact on my life.

++ 99% Invisible

This was my first podcast.  If you haven’t listened, I highly recommend you go download an episode now.  Listening to Roman Mars speak is one of my favorite parts of each week. But how did 99PI change my life?  It’s all about the thought that goes into the things we never think about.  It really makes me appreciate the little things.  It brings up forgotten parts of our society and the small things that make up all the bigs things in our life.  When I look around I see the things that are 99% invisible and I like that.

++ Stuff Mom Never Told You 

If you’re a woman and you haven’t listened to this podcast, stop what you’re doing and go listen.  I have never considered myself a feminist, but Emilie and Bridget make me really think about why we need feminism.  They help me to recognize some of the completely absurd things that occur around me.  Because of this podcast, I pay attention to the world trying to disadvantage me because I’m a woman and I don’t let it happen to me. It’s not all about feminism, but it’s definitely all about being aware of who we are in today’s society.

++The Influencer Podcast

If you’re a blogger, a brand, or just a person who wants to be better at interacting with people in the online world, you need to listen to this podcast.  Julie Solomon has changed me!  They way I think about influencing others is forever altered because of what she and some of the guests on her show have shared. She is truly what inspired me to get back into blogging and share my heart.  She preaches authenticity and that is definitely what I’m going for.

So if you haven’t ventured into the world of podcasts, I recommend that you give it a shot.  You might just change your life.