Decide to DRIVE: My Distracted Driving Story

Senior Year. Those words kinda come with a certain connotation. Time to be dialed in to what's next, as well as living things up in all the best ways. I was involved in some good endeavors throughout high school. But in my senior yearbook, I'm listed as the class "Crash Test Dummy." My senior year claim to fame.

See, Homecoming Dance of my senior year, my date and I were driving home and didn't exactly make it there. I went to put lotion on my hands as we drove and it kind of exploded out the top when I did. It had gotten onto my dress and my date was trying to help me with the spill. He wasn't watching the road. We hit a canal bank, went airborne and landed on the other side.

It goes without saying that I grew up in a rural area. When I came to just after the impact, I saw a light a ways off and had the thought that it wasn't going to be too fun to walk there in my heels. But I went to get out and stand up anyways. And told my date that I thought something might be wrong with my foot. He looked and I think about passed out. I wasn't going anywhere.

12 Tips and Tools to Improve Your Health using a Natural Probiotic and More (exercise not included!)

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. 

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

This winter, I've felt pretty blessed that we haven't gotten sick much to speak of. I'm so grateful! Really, who likes to be less than well, ever?! I know that sickness oftentimes is the norm during the winter specifically, though. Traveling from one family member to the next, to the next- ah, stop the madness!

My Mom is super knowledgeable about lots of different health related topics and she's helped me be more aware of some simple things that help keep us all healthy! Thanks to #CollectiveBias, I've had the chance to try out the new Insync Gradual Release Natural Probiotic supplement from Walgreens, which fits right in with some of those tips I've learned from her. Today I'm sharing more with you, hoping some part of this information will be helpful to someone!

1. Probiotics
We've heard the word, but really, what IS a probitoic? I researched a bit and found that it's an organism, such as bacteria or yeast, introduced into the body for it's beneficial qualities. Not too scientific, I guess, eh? :) And why do those organisms matter at all:

• 80% of our immune system is located in the digestive system
• As we develop in the womb, our gut originates from the same type of tissue as our brains, making the digestive system a whole lot like a second brain!
• Probiotic organisms are essential for good digestion of food and absorption of nutrients
• They also help the body produce vitamins and get rid of toxins

Random fact: there are 100 trillion bacteria in our bodies! A balance of 85% good and 15% bad bacteria is a big part of what helps us stay healthy. And how can we tell if there's a lack of healthy bacteria in our gut?

• fatigue
• constipation or diarrhea
• nausea
• gas and bloating
• sugar cravings and cravings for refined carbs foods
• headaches

I know I could raise my hand when it comes to a couple of those symptoms, honestly! Fatigue? Check. Could live on sweet junk if given the option? Check again. I seriously need to be taking something that helps my good gut bacteria regain some control!

A Better Pharmacy Experience with the Walgreens Mobile App

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and it's advertiser.

I've been talking a bit more recently about how I have Type One Diabetes... certainly not because it's as fun as crafting- ha! I think I just need for it to be more visibly a part of who I am, more in the forefront of my mind as a result. I feel stronger than I have before that I just need to really get over the frustration that diabetes controls me, that it will control me even more in the future. Proves I'm getting older, I guess, eh? This pic above is one I took for submitting to a Day in the Life of Diabetes Mosaic. That's my pump site on my arm :)

When I had the chance to look into the Walgreens Mobile App, and specifically learn more about some of the helpful features in the pharmacy section, I decided it could be a good thing.

The Secret Ingredient for Awesome Fry Sauce

This post is silly... everyone knows how to make fry sauce, right?

Mayo and ketchup mixed together and you're done!

The thing is, I've been mixing it up a little differently... a little yummier for sure! A lot yummier in fact. Honestly, homemade baked fries have become merely the catalyst  for this sauce! So, I'm hoping sharing the "recipe" (if you can call it that) will be something you enjoy too :)

When Stephen and I were first married, he took me to a little hole-in-the-wall place in Utah that he really liked growing up- and they had the best fry sauce! Sounds weird, I know- it's kinda all the same. But, that sauce kinda wasn't... what was in that made it different? It wasn't until fairly recently actually that I got it figured out...

Washi Tape Meets Incomplete Playing Cards

Truth: not a lot stays in tact very well around our house. Toys with multiple pieces get separated and pieces lost. If two parts are required, only one can be found. Socks... let's not even start that one... 

To try and solve the case of the missing whatever-it-may-be, I go often to "the everything box" tucked under our island counter. You all have a junk drawer somewhere too, right? Fess up... :) Well, ours is a box that we just kinda never unpacked and stashed and keep adding to...

Frozen Bubbles: Making them Work!

Last year on New Years Eve it was just below 32-degrees.

I'd seen on Pinterest how you can blow bubbles if it's below freezing and they'll freeze,

then break when they hit the ground. Cool, right?!

I thought the boys and my nieces at our house that night would think that was pretty cool, so we gave it a try... and it was a complete bust! I felt rather dumb for even trying to be cool! :P

Shameless Plug

Last weekend we tried something new that I wanted to make sure and post about here on the blog- Bountiful Baskets!

You've probably heard about it or tried it yourself already, but it's a food co-op that operates in several states across the west. You pay on-line for your produce by Tuesday night, then on Saturday at the time and place you selected, you go and drive through to pick up your basket. Each basket is $15 and you definetly get more than that worth of produce! It's half fruit and half vegetables and there are other options you can select too, like bread and granola.

I was unsure of what to expect, but was so pleased with everything! The whole process was slick and hopefully it will work out that I can volunteer next time. Last night we had the best salads with almost entirely what was in the basket. In mine there was:


10 plums

One pound strawberries

Two pound bag of grapes

One pound carrots

6 ears of corn

One head of romaine lettuce

3 tomatoes

One canteloupe

6 pears

8 bannanas

One eggplant

6 cucumbers


Wow, huh?! We will definetly be trying this again in the future. There are all sorts of locations and you can learn about it and get involved yourself at bountifulbaskets.org!