One of the things I love about the liturgical year is that instead of just ONE New Year on January 1st, you get to start the new liturgical year at the beginning of Advent, then celebrate New Years, then start again at Lent, and then again for Ordinary Time. It’s great for people like me who are terrible at resolutions and need a 2nd, 3rd, or 58th chance to make changes in their messy lives.
Well here we are at the end of Eastertide and I’m ready to take stock of what’s working and what’s not before we make the transition from the farm into the house we’re buying (fingers crossed we’ll close on May 9th). And thankfully, there’s an awesome resource to get me started on my mini life overhaul because it’s the once-a-year Ultimate Homemaking Bundle sale! YAY!
What’s this sale you speak of? It’s a library of fantastic resources on topic that matter to moms offered at an absurdly discounted rate for only a few days. It’s pretty much my favorite because bloggers I love include their books and courses that I’ve been eyeing all year and I can get them all for a song!
I seriously love this sale, but there’s so much included that it’s hard to explain the awesome. So I thought I’d share just a few of the ways I’m going to use this year’s bundle of ebooks, ecourses, and bonus products to tackle some areas of my life that I’ve been–ahem–neglecting and streamline things so life is a little less stressful and a little more fantastic.
Getting Organized
Stick with a Calendar
I don’t have a naturally organized bone in my body, so things get out of hand quickly. I’ve been having trouble keeping up with our families schedule and my work from home obligations, so I’m loving the InkWELL Press planner I got with my $15 gift certificate that was one of the free bundle bonuses! (Did you know that the bundle comes with awesome freebies that arrive in the mail?! You can see the full list of freebies here.) I love it because it’s not digital, I can write on it and I can unplug instead of looking at a screen while I’m planning our week. I’m super visual so my Google Calendar ends up being out of sight and out of mind while my new Weekly Kickstart stays on my counter where I can see what’s coming up next.
I also really want to read (The Money Saving Mom) Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Calendar ebook.
Beautify My Home
And while I’m at it, I’ll probably read the Teaching Kids to Clean ebook, too. Because, shockingly, my current method of screeching, “JUST PICK IT UP!” isn’t working super great to keep our home looking good.
Speaking of making homes look good have you heard of the Nester? Well she’s an awesome design blogger and I’ve dipped my toes into her Cozy Minimalist Mom ecourse and it’s just what I need as we’re moving in to our new place. I am SO not skilled in home decor, but I’d really like our new home to be a place of beauty. Sure it’s going to be messy because it’s a home, not a museum, but I want us to love being there, ya know?
Maybe the course will help me figure out where to put up the new wall art I got with the bonus from Hope Ink Shop.
The “Take me to the ocean. Take me to the sea” one is a gift for my SIL who is part mermaid.
Intentionality
I’m super excited to begin one of my favorite bloggers Tsh Oxenreider’s Upstream Field Guide ecourse. I’m been a huge fan of her blog The Art of Simple for ages and I love Tsh’s emphasis on simplifying your life so you can live intentionally and thrive. Her book, Notes from a Blue Bike was really motivating when we were considering our big life changes and move to Texas! The Upstream Field Guide is typically $59 so I’ve been saving my pennies for it–but I’m so glad it’s included in the bundle (the whole bundle is only $29.97 so basically half the price of just this ecourse! Pretty awesome.)
And while we’re on the subject of intentionality …..dundunnadun…. introducing our Mini-Ebook! In addition to our book Feast! Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year, we want to offer a special thank you gift to folks who order through our link. So Daniel and I are creating a mini-ebook about pursuing your passions and making life-changing decisions with your spouse. After you order your bundle, just fill out this google form and we’ll send over your ebook at the end of May!
Health:
Diastasis Recti, Go Away
I’ve been putting off fixing my Diastasis Recti (you know, the thing that happens when your abdominal muscles never come back together the way they’re supposed to after a pregnancy) but now I have no excuse because there’s an entire course in this bundle by Fit2B on how to fix it! No more Mummy Tummy! I think it will also help my back and pelvic floor to get those muscles back where they should be. Sorry for saying the phrase pelvic floor semi-unnecessarily. But, you know how it is.
Green Cleaning
Since ditching conventional cleaning products due to nasty ingredients I love making my own cleaning products, but things have been so busy lately that I haven’t had a chance! So I’m so glad that one of my favorite green companies, Grove Collaborative (formerly ePantry) is offering a great free bonus as part of the bundle for new customers.
YES, PLEASE. Gimme those Mrs. Meyer’s scents! (AND if you’re already a Grove Collaborative customer, they’ve got an awesome offer for you. They’re offering a free VIP membership for a whole year! You’ll get free shipping for the year AND free gifts–a $39.95 value!)
Food:
I don’t like discussing weight on my blog (as a former ballerina I’ve just seen the negative consequences that come with an overemphasis on weight so I’m really sensitive to NOT focusing on the number on the scale. But friends….my pants haven’t really fit since Thanksgiving. I’d just really like to wear my pants again! So, I’m gonna take advantage of some of the resources the bundle has for eating right when you’re trying to lose the five pounds that have overstayed their holiday welcome.
I’ve noticed that when I have green smoothies I get filled up with great ingredients. Since having a very alkaline diet is important for my autoimmune disease, especially if I add lots of blueberries or greens and add a protein like almond butter smoothies really serves me well. So I’m psyched to try out the 80 Green Thickie Recipes book to get some extra inspiration! I’ve heard great things about it.
And here’s something that will make you green with envy, I haven’t really had to grocery shop since we moved to Waco. I know! Crazy! But since we live in the community on the farm during Daniel’s internship one of the interns or volunteers gets staples at the store every week so I’ll have to get back in the habit of grocery shopping and budgeting for food. We have an Aldi in Waco now and I can’t wait to use this awesome ebook Slash Your Grocery Budget and Eat a Whole Foods Diet with ALDI to get our grocery bill down when we move to our new place and aren’t eating farm food anymore. It explains what’s a great deal at ALDI and how to make the most out of shopping there as well as meal plans and corresponding grocery lists. Really great!
There’s oodles of other great easy meal planning books in the bundle, too. I may be running the crock pot a lot this summer to avoid having to turn on the oven now that I’ve got some new crock pot cookbooks. Our kitchen doesn’t have AC!
Self-Care:
I really got into coloring pages this year when my acupuncturist told me that as part of my self-care I should find some activities that will be quiet and restful for my body and brain (AKA nothing with a screen)! And adding restful spaces to my day HAS helped my autoimmune symptoms. I can’t wait to try out some of these lovelies in the bundle!
And sometimes my self-care involves putting on a movie for the kids on a rainy day so I can sit down for a minute, drink my tea before it gets cold, and catch my breath. I’m super excited that the year-long Molly Green membership bonus comes with a access to RightNow Media which is a Christian family-friendly streaming service. There’s tons of great stuff for kids including all the Veggie Tales! And McGee and Me! Who remembers McGee and Me?!!!!
There’s also videos on homesteading, homeschooling, and faith. (RightNow Media is not a Catholic company and I haven’t gone through their entire video library, so I can’t vouch for everything there to be consistent with Church teaching, but I DO love me some VeggieTales.)
Y’all, I could go on and on about this bundle. The bonuses alone are worth far more than the price of the bundle. I truly LOVE getting to offer this bundle to my readers. It’s a great product, it’s a great company, and it’s a blast to share.
If you’re also feeling like a end-of-the-school-year mini life overhaul, make sure you grab your Ultimate Homemaking Bundle before the deal ends on Monday!
Mother’s Day Gifties
I have a few folks email me each year to ask about gifting it to someone for Mother’s Day. You can absolutely do that! Just email customer service (customerservice@ultimate-bundles.com) after you order with the name and email of the mom in question and they’ll transfer the access and send it to her.
P.S. I’m offering a free webinar with Blessed Is She on Sunday night all about liturgical living (for UNcrafty busy moms!). It should be a blast! So save your spot if you want to join in <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f642.png" alt="