Five Ways I Am Working On Being A Better Wife

Since January, I have been making my marriage a greater priority. To be honest, I am not sure I ever gave a ton of thought as to how to be an excellent wife. After having Elizabeth (baby number two) I felt marriage and my relationship with Tyler become more of a challenge.

We have since been to a few counselling sessions and one marriage workshop. I originally went into counselling with a few things I thought Tyler needed to change and came out realizing I needed to change a lot of things about myself. Marriage is a sacrifice and putting someone else before your own needs. The reality of this did not hit me until year 6 into our marriage.

I want to be a good wife because the strength of my relationship with Tyler is the foundation of our family, no matter what phase of life we are at. Here are some ways I am currently working on being a better wife and partner. These will be different for everyone because our lifestyles are all a little different. Please also note, these are things I am working on and fail at often, but like most things I share, I figure putting it out into the world will help me to keep at it.

Tyler is a priority above the kids.
This is not always possible but more often then not, my time and effort goes more into the littles than it does to Tyler. One day it will just be Tyler and I and I want to still know how to have fun just the two of us. This means we need to have fun the two of us often now. We try to chat when Tyler comes home from work and make a once a month date night out.

Put his to do list above my own.
One thing I am pretty selfish with is my time. I often have a running to do list and a few leisure items I want to enjoy when the kids are sleeping. Its easy to keep myself at front of mind when I have opportunities to accomplish a few things but I am learning that sometimes I need to consider Tyler's do list as well. Its important for us to help each other and he always thinks of things that need to be done around the house that I may not think of.

Being slow to anger and less hasty.
During a marriage workshop I was confronted with a harsh reality, I often backtrack and ask for forgiveness after being too quick to anger and act hastily, I am a hasty person. And so I am trying to be slower to anger.

Making whole food cooking a priority.
I am slowly but surely trying to prepare more healthful food choices for my family. This is important for our physical and mental health and the act of sitting together to eat our meals is very important to me as well for building a strong family. This being said, I am learning that eating well requires a big dedication of my time in meal planning and prepping. I need to be selfless in pursuit of raising the most healthy family I can and make food prep a higher priority in my free time.

Giving all control to God and trusting Him for everything.
I am a control freak, I like to control as much as possible. In my marriage I can only control myself and trust God for the rest. Nagging and pestering (which is something I do) will not solve any problems, those are emotions and conversations I need to take to God first.

There it is. What do you think guys? I would love to hear from my friends who have been married for years, please share your wisdom. And if you are working on some personal improvement if your marriage, I would love to know what you are focusing on too.

xoxo
Audrey

ArtNaturals Review | Mama & Baby

ArtNaturals  reached out to me a few weeks ago and asked if they could send me the Sound Machine Oil Diffuser With Top 8 Baby & Mama Oils to try and review. I was very excited for the opportunity to try these products because I had been considering defusing oils in our home for awhile now and was not sure where to start. The Baby & Mama Defuser and Oil set got me started with everything I needed.

The kids instantly loved the look of the defuser and its changing colours from the first time I turned it on. Everyone that sees the actual diffuser in our home comments on how pretty it is, especially when the lights are changing colours. So, the actual diffuser is a pretty addition to my decor. In testing the diffuser, I moved it around the house into different rooms but I would love to have one in every room now.

I don't use the diffuser everyday but found it helpful when I needed to add to the mood in certain situations. We have been sick off and on for the last few weeks so I have been diffusing Happy Nose a lot. I found this helped to clear the air a little during days spent at home resting off our sickness. Giggly Panda is one I love to diffuse during our dance parties and my personal favourite is Relaxing which is nice at the end of the day after the kids go to bed.

I have just started to play around with these oils in topical use by creating a lotion with coconut oil and the Calm and Soothe oil. I have used this on the kids a few times and loved they way they smelled as we snuggled before bed.

I really enjoy how this ArtNaturals Oils and Diffuser  set helps to create a variety of atmospheres inside our home. Especially during the end of winter when the days can sometimes feel very long, little luxuries like oil diffusing can help to brighten our day.

I would love to know if you use essential oils in your home and how you use them to enhance your lifestyle.

xoxo
Audrey

Family Fitness | YMCA Sarnia-Lambton

If you guys follow me on Instagram  and saw my post announcing my partnership with YMCA Sarnia-Lambton  than you know I have committed to start a wellness journey for myself and my family. I had been considering a family membership at our YMCA for a few months, taking a tour and experiencing some of the family activities that are offered. From our very first visit, I knew I wanted to be a member.

I took the kids to the Indoor Playground one Saturday morning, Luke and Elizabeth had a blast! I loved that they were having fun and getting some exercise but what really pulled me in was the sense of family and community in the atmosphere. There were families all around being active, engaging as groups and hanging out, I wanted my family to be a part of that. I even joked to Tyler when I came home from our first play, that we should consider moving to Sarnia so we could be closer to the YMCA.

Since becoming members, Tyler and I have had a few workouts and some much needed relaxation utilizing our Y Plus Membership. We have been swimming as a family and have registered Luke for the YMCA Gymnastics program that starts at the end of March. We are so excited to experience all that the YMCA Sarnia-Lambton has to offer our family.

I believe wellness is a life long journey, like anything in my life that is a priority it will require thought, planning and effort. I enjoy fitness and activity and know when I eat well and exercise, I feel my best. My children will learn by my lead so I feel very fortunate that they can be a part of this journey. Even when we can't be active together, they can learn that I value physical fitness when they see me setting time aside for personal physical activity. I can not do most of the things on my to do list alone, motherhood is definitely a team sport. I have started to utilize the Child Minding available at the YMCA Sarnia-Lambton to make it easier for me to schedule my workouts. I want to be active as an individual so I can be healthy and energized for my family.

My goal is to never give up on this wellness journey. There will be really great weeks and months when being active on a regular basis comes more easily and there will be times when other priorities get shuffled to the top of my list but I can always come back. Before my first workout a few weeks ago, it had actually been years since I had been in a gym but after just a few minutes getting
reacquainted with the free weights, some of my old routines came right back to me.

I am running a marathon not a sprint and I am excited to run this race well by making good small choices each day. I am glad to have started the race by becoming a member of the YMCA Sarnia-Lambton as a huge step in the improvement of my family's wellness.

I would love to know how you stay motivated to make healthy choices each day, please share below or on social media. Join the fun on Instagram and hang with me at the gym in my stories. 

A Winter Day

Today was just a regular Monday but it was such a great day. All we did was go to Story Time at the Library in the morning and then were around the house the rest of the day. Tyler worked late so it was  literally Luke and I all day.

Last week was a long week, as I mentioned in some previous posts I was feeling out of sorts but just like that, I have my groove back. Some days are easy and some days are hard, I think thats true for any job. It was true for me when I was in the working world and it is true for me in mommy world. I try very hard to stay calm and ride out the tough days still trying to find joy in the little things. I loved all the little things today and wanted to record a few here because these are the memories I want to keep of this special time with Luke.

I had a mother revelation when I was dressing him this morning, "if I let him help, he won't fight so much". It was true, he didn't fight so much and just like that we move on to a new level.

Luke is learning to play more on his own which makes it easy for me to do a quick task. Doing little things here and there throughout the day helps me to be more focused on Luke when I do get down on the floor and play with him.

Luke will bring me books to read to him and then sit in my lap, we read a lot today.

When Luke wants some food he makes the mmmmmm sound while standing very close to you. He tried my hot chocolate today and loved it. I will now be sharing my hot chocolates with Luke.

Luke ate soap in the shower tonight and was not so happy with the taste. I started to smell his soapy breath and make a silly face and he laughed off the situation. It was fun and his breath really did smell like soap.

I live in Canada, winters are long, cold and grey but I decided last winter that I was going to embrace this season. I am ok with the slow moving days, staying cozy, gaining some weight and just relishing in this time in my life. With any new season or change in my life it takes me time to find my rhythm but I always enjoy the journey. I am excited about the winter days ahead!

xoxo
Audrey

Ombre Lips by HAL

Tyler went back to work this week after being off for an extra long Christmas break. Luke and I both loved having him home. This week has been an adjustment for us while we find our groove again with just the two of us throughout the day. Luke and I have both been sick this week so we haven't got out that much. I have had some blue moments but we are getting through it and our health is on the mend. I took a quick time out for myself to get creative with my lips and filmed this little makeup tutorial. For me, creating is therapy.

I have never done a lip look like this before and I normally don't apply this many products to my lips but I wanted to give it a try. I used black eyeliner to achieve the dramatic and exaggerated outline for my lips and then went lighter with each product from there. I loved the way this look turned out. Tyler on the other hand doesn't care for lip products on me because he doesn't like getting the product on him when he kisses me.

These lips are one of the styles I save for girls nights out, along with my high waisted pants;) There are just some things guys will never understand.

Have a great weekend and always have fun with your makeup, I try to!

My Current Skin Care Routine - Pro Advanced C

For the last five months I have been using the Pro-Advanced C line from Caryl Baker Visage and I wanted to share some information about these products because I am really enjoying them. I also wanted to offer you some information about skincare in general, to help you with your next purchase. 

I will add, this post is not sponsored content, I am simply a big fan of Caryl Baker Visage and have been since I worked in the Sarnia store. Its a great Canadian company with fabulous products and an amazing educational/sales structure that invites clients into to learn, before they purchase. 

The best thing about this skin care line, is that all the products have vitamin C in it. Vitamin C does so many great things for our bodies but when we apply it to our faces in the proper format, it can do the following:

• Stimulate collagen which firms your skin.
• Brights skin and reduces hyper pigmentation which will give you a more even skin tone. 
• Protects your skin from free radicals which are things that our skin encounter everyday in the atmosphere, which can cause harm to our skin. 

I love this skin care line for my own skin but I would definitely recommend that you speak with a professional, before you buy any skin care line. Before I ever recommend a skin care line to someone, I always ask them what their skin care concerns are and review their current skins condition. 

This daily cleanser has a granule in it so it lightly exfoliates my skin each day, keeping it fresh. Exfoliating your skin regularly, helps to prevent the build up of dead surface skin cells, which can cause your pores to look bigger, give your skin a dull appearance and prevent your other skin care products from penetrating properly.  

I love toner, this has always been one of my favourite skin care steps. I use this in the morning and in the evening and it collects any traces of makeup or dirt that my cleanser many have missed.

This daily moisturizer is light weight but still leaves my skin feeling hydrated. Bonus, it has SPF 15 in it!

I apply this serum every night before applying my night cream. You can tell that this product has a high, concentrated percentage of Vitamin C (10%) because it tingles when you apply it. 

This night cream is rich, creamy and luxurious. While being all of those things, it absorbs well into my skin. I don't like a night cream that feels rich like it is sitting on the surface of my skin. 

After using this line for 5 months, I still have lots of product left so you are getting lots of bang for your buck. Overall, my skin tone is much more even and smooth!

I hope you learned a little about skin care through this post. There is so much more I could say but I will do so, in another post on skin care. If you have any specific skin care questions, I would love to hear from you. As I have mentioned before, I have over 7 years experience working in the beauty industry and am also continually reading, to stay up to date on current beauty trends. Beauty is a passion on mine and I believe that when you look good, you feel good.

xoxo 

Audrey