Hello, my dear readers! It’s nice to be back with you after taking a few days off to celebrate my daughter’s successful completion of their freshman years at college and high school.  We gearing up for a fun Memorial Day weekend, our unofficial start of summer and can’t wait to share all sorts of fun posts with you! First, though, I must share with you our updated privacy policy so that My WAHM Plan complies with the GDPR. 

The warm spring days that feel more like summer have arrived in middle Tennessee. With our crazy cooler than average April temps, it is a welcome feeling to be wearing flip-flops instead of layers! My family and I are so ready to start spending our evenings outside. Unfortunately, warmer weather has brought out a legion of flying bugs and pests. Thanks to today’s sponsor, DynaTrap, I have a safer way to trap pests both inside and out this summer. 

I love receiving homemade gifts any time of year, but most especially on Mother’s Day.  We are a family of traditions and one that I adore is having the kids serve me breakfast they made themselves. When they were little, Daddy helped of course; but as they got older they wanted to take on more of the responsibility.  I’ve been served everything from toast with jam to chocolate covered strawberries. I know my daughters would love whipping up this simple Blueberry loaf recipe from celeb chef Zipora Einav for me. Baked goods make a perfect Mother’s Day gift!

Blueberry Loaf - a perfect homemade Mother’s Day gift:

Coming of age in the 80’s like I did, it was hard not to see and want to be more like Christie Brinkley. The woman was everywhere! She graced over 200 magazine covers, most notably for fashion, beauty, and swimsuits. It comes as no surprise to me that at 63, Christie is still active in these industries.  In February, Christie added prestige color cosmetics to her Authentic Beauty line and as fate would have it; I finally get to be more like Christie when I received some of her Authentic Beauty products to share with you today. I think they would make perfect Mother’s Day Gifts! 

Are you a blogger looking for a more paid blogging jobs?  I was when I recently read a referral post from a blogging buddy that introduced me to a brand new company called Get Blogged. I visited their site and liked what I saw. They offer paid writing jobs at every blogging level, depending on your domain authority first, rather than your social stats! I signed up and within one week, I received my first paid job! In fact, this introduction post is it. Read on if you would like an in-depth look into Get Blogged. 

Last Saturday was a date day for the husband and me. We got invited to try a new to us pub in the heart of downtown Nashville in SoBro (South of Broadway) as it’s called locally. We’ve been working hard and haven’t been downtown in months, so this date was special.  If you and your significant other need a day a day date too, read on! Come along with me as I show you how fun and tasty it is to eat and do a little day drinking at City Tap House in Nashville. 

For many of us across the United States, it may still look and feel like winter with snow on the ground. Even here in the south, I’m covering my Clematis and Peony bushes while praying that we will see our last freeze or frost warning of the season soon. Our fickle spring weather may be keeping us from working in our gardens, but we can use this time to get our gardening tools in order.  It’s time to clean those shovels and trowels and replace any worn tools. Here in my garden, I’m starting the growing season with a new garden hose nozzle sprayer from Gardenite. 

If you were to read a headline that announced a way to ditch the pharmacies and toxins and get “healed” the right way, would you be intrigued? I know I was when that very subject line appeared in my inbox a few weeks ago.  I was offered a complimentary copy of Healed- Health and Wellness for the 21^st Century written by integrative medicine expert Dr. Robin Miller and I’m so glad I accepted that offer. Not only am I learning how to heal of host of ailments for myself, family and friends, I’m able to gift one of you with your own copy. 

Yesterday started out like many spring mornings, with grey skies and a light, gentle rain. Nothing like the previous night's storms that broke off a big branch of my just blooming Hawthorne tree! As I stood at my window and surveyed the damage, the quote "A goal without a plan is just a wish" by Antione de Saint Exupery was top of mind. 

Planning out my Gardening Goals:

I pulled out my brand new garden journal, deciding to write my gardening ideas and goals down this year. There's lots of hard work and lifting ahead, so I'm not going to let light bladder leakage (LBL) keep me from my gardening goals!

I have a friend who always shows up at our coffee dates looking stylish, pulled together and amazingly without a purse. I’ve often marveled at her ability to walk out of the house with just her phone, keys and her cute little wallet, so when I had the opportunity to try this pretty iPhone case I happily agreed to give a no purse outing a try. 

Happy Spring everybody! Oh, how I’ve longed for this season to arrive. Truthfully, I long for spring to arrive every year because it is the season of renewal- from our gardens to our homes. This post was supposed to be part of my new series WAHM Tip Wedneday, but I decided to wait until spring, the season of renewal had arrived to share it!  We are all ready to open up the windows, chase some dust bunnies, do some gardening and welcome in this beautiful season. Before we do that, why not take a day or two right now when spring is fresh and brand new to refresh our soul? 

Love is the only way.  That is a powerful message to convey to today's’ world, but love is really at the heart of life isn’t it? When a child acts out, what do parents do? We love them more. When a loved one or friend hurts, we hurt along with them and pour love over them.  When a community weeps, we weep with them and try to help by showing acts of kindness, support, and love. Just like Apostle Paul, we should adopt the love is the only way mentality.  I am thrilled to partner with Lev3l Digital and Sony Pictures Entertainment/ AFFIRM Films for today's’ post about the movie Paul, the Apostle of Christ coming to theaters just in time for Easter.