A special thank you to The Roost for hosting our adventure and getaway. There are so many fun things to do in Ocean Springs MS and across the coast that I hope to share with you all today as you plan your next trip! Thankfully we don’t have to look far to have a little oasis from our own paradise, called home! I know that may sound counter to each other but we love home and life at home… but we love going and exploring on a new adventure. Many times you think of the idea of “getting away” needing to be miles from home…when in reality you are probably like we are, you have amazing places (*almost*) in your backyard! We literally can drive less than an hour and be on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where we can find beautiful places to explore, amazing cafes or coffee shops to enjoy and great spots for eating, plenty of the great outdoors to explore and the list goes on. The Coastal Mississippi spans 62 miles along the Gulf of Mexico with 12 cities that make up the coast line. Each little city has it’s very own relaxed, gorgeous and unique vibe […]
7 Indoor Activities to Keep the Whole Family Busy Through Winter
Coming up with winter activities to do in the cold months can be challenging, especially for families with a wide range of ages. Since many school sports are in the fall and spring, even school-aged children may become bored after school. Outdoor activities are fun, but depending on where you live, it may be too cold and wet to play outside for very long. Winter activities require a little more planning than summer ones, but with the right materials, fun indoor games can make winter a little brighter. If your family is small, you may have even more fun if you invite family and friends over. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on these activities, either. They’re a budget-friendly way to keep kids from spending too much time playing video games or watching TV. Whether your kids are interested in science, sports, reading or engineering, you can give them a long list of potential activities and crafts to keep them occupied. Plus, incorporating arts and humanities at home is more important than ever, since schools don’t always have the resources for providing them thorough extracurriculars and electives. 1. Build Things with Cardboard Most families have a number […]
Creamy Tomato Garlic Shrimp
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MazolaHeartHealth #CollectiveBias If you know me, I’m all about good and yummy comfort food. At the same time I’m all about trying to make swaps within a recipe that are better for my family. Finding simple ways I can do these swaps is simply taking a favorite recipe and swapping ingredients for healthier-for-you ingredients. For instance I have started cooking many of our meals with Mazola® Corn Oil. I always try to make smart, heart-healthy choices for my family, which is why I chose corn oil as my all-purpose cooking oil within this recipe. Mazola Corn Oil is an all-purpose, cholesterol free cooking oil that is a smart heart-healthy* choice for your family. *See Mazola.com for more information on the relationship between corn oil and heart health. It has a variety of uses include baking, grilling, sautéing, stir frying, or mixing up a marinade or dressing. So many great ways to use this corn oil – A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, see Mazola.com. February is Heart Health […]
Portrait Photography Tips for Beginners
Use this guide to step your skills from to pro level with these portrait photography tips for beginners and beyond… What I wish someone had shared with me. Hi there, I wanted to talk about a few things that I wish I knew when I started doing Portrait Photography. There are so many things to think about when it comes to photography. It is not just owning a nice camera and shooting in auto Modes. 1- Shoot in Manual Mode I would suggest learning in manual mode first. I think of it like this, I learned to drive with an automatic transmission and now I wish I had learned on a stick shift… because trying to learn to drive a stick was difficult and I gave up. I did not learn to shoot in manual mode when I started. I worked in a portrait studio and we never learned the ins and outs of how a camera works. So when I went freelance I was shooting in auto modes and didn’t know why my camera was doing what it was doing. What a disaster. When I decided that I wanted to take my photography to the next level and create […]
How to Start a Garden on a Budget
Our personal journey with How to Start a Garden on a Budget and save money while enjoying your vegetable garden. If you’ve been following our family on my Instagram you’ve seen my stories of our gardening journey. We’ve always played around with a garden and liked the idea of having one – but building our house and life in general, time just didn’t permit in the past. This year we have a little bit more wiggle room in our schedule and time so we want to jump back into gardening but more importantly make it a success. As we are prepping for our spring and summer garden I wanted to pass a long a few tips we’ve learned here recently that have helped us in starting a garden for cheap! If you’ve ever done any type of vegetable garden or flower garden, you know that the cost can add up! You often ask yourself, surely I could buy all of this produce cheaper in the end….you might be able to – but with the tips I’m going to give you today in the end we’re hoping we save lots of money! Our first garden we tried our hand at box/container […]
10 Tips to make Photographing Children Easier
Photographing children can be tricky when they have so much energy and movement – getting the perfect portrait can be tricky. What is the best lens for child photography? I always say the answer to this question really the best lens is the lens you have! Learn to use what you have first – really you can take amazing pictures with most any lens. I know each lens has a purpose but using what you have makes perfect sense too. If you are looking to purchase a new lens I love a 50mm lens as my go to and all around lens. Photographing children should be an easy task, right? Well most of the time it is, but the mention of it to some parents is enough to make them start sweating and have a panic attack. Picking out the right outfit, getting everyone there on time, keeping outfits clean and not wrinkled, and keeping smiles on their faces is no small feat. This, of course, doesn’t help the child relax. There are a few things I like to discuss and tell my clients what to expect when coming to a session. If the parents and the person taking the […]
How to Take Pictures with Smoke Bombs
Learn how to take pictures using smoke bombs to take your photography and creativity to a whole new level! Find the best camera settings for smoke bomb pictures as well as most important tips! Smoke bombs are such a fun idea and addition for a photoshoot. Smoke bombs are great for unique and different kinds of photos but can also be hard to master as a first timer. Talk about bringing your creative juices in photography to a whole new level! Today I’m sharing some of my top tips on using smoke bombs in your pictures with clients to get amazing shots. How to use Smoke Bombs in Your Photography 1- Safety with Smoke BombsSafety is a big thing to remember when using smoke bombs. It’s FIRE! Smoke bombs do let out fire when you first pull the string so you always want to make sure to point it away from your clients andyourself. The smoke bomb will get warm while holding so make sure the client is aware of this if they are holding it. Always remember SAFETY first for your clients and yourself. Always do a trial run before you are with your clients or practice with someone […]
How to Create a Weekly Grocery Budget
Feeding a family on $90 a week is possible because of a Weekly Grocery Budget. I’m all about saving money and budgeting – here are my secrets. A favorite quote of mine: “A penny saved is a penny earned” To this day I’ll bend over and pick up a penny, when it’s on the ground. Many say it has no worth…but if you can’t value a penny you can’t value a dollar…if you can’t value your dollar you can’t value your ten dollar bill. It’s a mind set. Please don’t get the mindset that you have a low-income therefore you can’t budget, you are just trying to make ends meet and get from one pay check to the next…FALSE! You can do it…here are my secrets and tips for creating a Weekly Grocery Budget. How can I spend less on groceries? This maybe a looming question before we even get into creating a budget. I get it…you feel like you spend a huge portion of your pay check just on food and you probably do. There are numerous ways to spend less on groceries at the same time before you can tackle that you need to create a budget to know […]
Start to Finish for a Cake Smash Session
Wondering how to photograph a cake smash session? Get PRO Cake Smash Tips including cake smash photography camera settings and lighting setup BE SURE TO READ part 1 of the Cake Smash Series! How to Photograph the Perfect Cake Smash Session if you haven’t already so you aren’t lost here in part two! Welcome to part two of my cake smash explanation! I went over prepping for a cake smash, preparing the parents and what I use to shoot with – so now we’re going to go over the technical aspect of it all…like our cake smash photography camera settings as well as composition, cake smash photo shoot props and how to edit your pictures in the end. What is a Cake Smash Shoot? The trend started when parents wanted to use a child’s first birthday pictures for party invites and then it slowly led to taking pictures of the one year old eating his/her very own cake. Capturing a cake smash photoshoot can be pretty cute and quirky, depending on the child’s personality! What is the purpose of a Cake Smash? Smash cakes are a small frosted cake made just for the birthday boy or girl! Give the cake to the birthday […]
How to Save Money on a Low Income
With grit and patience these tips will show you how to save money on a low income – you’ll surprise yourself if you stick to a budget and goals! Recently I wrote about 13 ways to save money on Christmas gifts…it sparked a lot of thoughts in my mind on saving money, spending money and being less materialistic – which sparked this post of how do you save money fast especially when on a low income…it seems overwhelming and impossible…I’m here to tell you it can be done…and here are my thoughts and some how to’s! I know that the idea of a low income can be relevant – with many pending factors. Some factors being where you live, the size of your family, maybe even the way you were raised and the list could go on. Many feel like if they only made “x amount of dollars more” they could save money…FALSE! Either way if you feel like you have a low income with no hope of saving money – I’m here to help you and show you it can be done! Get a goal in mind and go for it. When you’ve attained your goal reward yourself with […]