My favorite F word used to be a bad word, but now it’s faith.
“But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength” – Timothy 4:17. I was going through life fast paced, not living in the moment, not enjoying my baby girl growing, and deep in my postpartum depression. There was a little voice inside my head saying there is something missing and that was a relationship in Christ. Just because fear is loud, doesn’t mean we have to give an ear to it. I’m learning to chose faith over fear and it has been God sent! It was exactly what I needed and still need. In 2020 I had my awakening and found a church I really enjoyed the messages they gave, but that was short lived as lockdowns happened 2 months after I started attending church. I did watch virtually, but found myself being distracted but other things at home and soon stopped watching. Fast forward to 2021 and in person church started and I was so thankful to be back in this space to hear the Lords word be presented in a way to inspire you and humble you was refreshing.
This Summer, I joined a Women’s Group that is faith based here in my local community called Business Women of God where we get together every other Thursday and go over a faith based book, this summer we are reading “The Power of I Am” by Joel Osteen and going over the chapters and learning from each other and growing in our faith. It’s absolutely beautiful I love being around other women in different walks of their faith and life. Being around other like minded women has been motivating and this book is absolutely great to empower yourself.
Words are like seeds, when you speak something out, you give life to what you are saying
Speak words of life into your life. Thank you for reading my snippet of my new faith journey. I’ll be posting updates of journey as it continues.
I missed a blog post last week! Ugh, but let me be real, I was tired and did not have time to finish, edit, and post last Wednesday. So what happened?! I went on a mini trip with my daughter to the Bay Area (San Francisco area) to visit family and it was much needed because I needed something besides my normal routine. Ever since we got back from camping in Arizona about 3 weeks ago I have not been actively meal prepping or making lunches or dinners. I just felt so burnt out and not eating enough or not eating the right things for my body makes me not have energy. Like can I just a chef here all the time? Can I have a cleaning lady once a week? So this mini vacation of not cooking and eating out at delicious restaurants made my heart quite happy. And now I’m back and recharged to make meals without complaining in my head. So another blog post will be up this week!
I recently started making my own ceviche at home and let me tell you! I wish did this sooner. It is so freaking easy and a win win when you are having a busy day and you don’t really want to cook but you don’t want to order take out. This recipe is good for up to 4 people. So let’s get to it!
Ingredients& Portions
Frozen Cooked Shrimp Extra Large- Peeled and Deveined – Two handfuls of thawed shrimp to be used.
Costco’s Kirkland Tilapia Loins (My favorite Tilapia ever. they are thick and juicy than others I have purchased) – 2 thawed Tilapia Loins
Purple Onion -use 1/3 of the onion
Tomatoes (I use cherry tomatoes, but any tomato is fine)- 2/3 cup chopped
Cucumbers (whole cucumbers or Persian cucumbers, or any work) – 1/3 cup chopped
Limes -4 limes but add to your taste preferences.
Cilantro – 1 handful
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Italian season – season to your liking and add seasonings that you love.
Prepping the Dish
Chop up thawed Shrimp and Tilapia into small cubes, add to container and squeeze two of the limes on to the Shrimp and Tilapia. Next chop/dice up the vegetables and place them on top of the Shrimp and Tilapia. Next add the two more limes and seasonings to your liking. Mix everything together and let the lime cook the raw fish till it’s white and if you are using raw shrimp until it’s pink. Then it’s ready to eat. Eat with tostadas or chips. You can add avocado when eating also.
Sometimes I don’t have time to pay attention to a movie, show, or a YouTuber, but I can listen to podcasts when I’m putting laundry away, organizing the house, cleaning up, in the car, and even my cardio session to get me through the gym. I truly enjoy listening to podcasts while I’m tackling my errands or unwinding in my car. And to be honest I just love hearing people’s stories, I enjoy how resilient people are if they have a story to tell whether it’s uplifting, tearful, funny, or scary. I’m here for it because I enjoy people’s stories. Here are my favorite podcasts that I’ve been loving!! Podcasts with the * next to them are podcasts I listen to weekly. And P.S thanks for my bestie Jen for letting take these pictures at her house. Her house is devine and remodeled.
Coffee Convos Podcast Pool side
Supernatural Podcast to ward off the dish monsters
Brave Babes Podcast and some espresso
Society and culture Podcasts
*Coffee Convos* – is hosted by Kail Lowry of MTV’s Teen Mom and Lindsie Chrisley of USA Network’s Chrisley Knows Best.two reality stars come from totally different worlds, but have become close through their shared experiences as mothers, reality stars, and women. They share who they really are and talk about the issues they face every day. They don’t always agree, but they love to have lively discussions about motherhood, friendship, television, family, and life in the public eye.
Under the Influence- This podcasts dives into the Mom internet, on how the mom influencer industry is a billion dollar industry.
*Baby Mamas No Drama *-They had a rocky start – from hating each other to co-parenting. From a podcast to sharing an office, we have an incredible story; a story where people can resonate with the struggles, the pain and become inspired by the success. We hope you love Baby Mamas no drama Podcast as much as they do.
Relatedwith Amanda and Carli Bybel – Amanda is an entrepreneur/motivational speaker and Carli is an iconic beauty and fashion star, they’re also sisters! Despite their busy schedules, they manage to find the time to lift each other up and are excited to welcome their listeners to the family.
Faith based Podcasts
*Brave Babes Podcast*- This is my cousin Stephanie’s Podcast with her friend and I am completely in love with the inspiration they give. I’m always shouting them out on my instagram and friends. Here’s a snippet of what they are about. They are Melissa and Stephanie, navigating motherhood- from babies to teenagers, running businesses, juggling distance learning, and more while keeping our sights set above. They inspire and encourage you to live out the Brave God has placed in you! Join us as we show up imperfectly perfect every week to share our best tips, tricks, and how tos on all things Brave.
*Elevation Church Podcast *- Do I need to say more? I feel like everybody I know listens to this service as a podcast. I took a while to listen but I’m so glad I do because it is so uplifting with the stories told here.
*VOUS Church Podcast*- Based in Miami, Florida vision is to reach our city and beyond with the life transforming message of Jesus. We hope to encourage by this podcast.
True Crime Podcasts
Crime Junkies -(but not gonna lie I’m taking a break because it gives me anxiety) Crime Junkie is a weekly true crime podcast dedicated to giving you a fix. The storytelling is straightforward and free of rabbit holes so the cases stay suspenseful and are easy to follow.
Dirty John – This is a true story that happened in these last couple years in Orange County, California. This I believe was the second podcast I listened too and I was hooked! I binged listening to this at work, on my breaks, and lunches. Such a crazy story. Debra Newell is a successful interior designer. She meets John Meehan, a handsome man who seems to check all the boxes: attentive, available, just back from a year in Iraq with Doctors Without Borders. But her family doesn’t like John, and they get entangled in an increasingly complex web of love, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival. Reported and hosted by Christopher Goffard from the L.A. Times.
Dr Death – Another true story about a malpractice in the medical field. So sad to listen to this podcast and how this doctor in Dallas, Texas messes up spinal surgery, want to know how this ends. Go take a listen.
Other worldly phenomena Podcasts
*Supernatural* – This is one of my favorite podcasts! Most mysteries can be solved by looking at the facts. But sometimes, the facts don’t lead to a logical explanation, and the truth lies somewhere in the unknown…
FinancePodcasts
She Makes Money Moves – This is the first podcast I listened too and to be honest I will always go back to this podcast because I took away so many good lessons. I heard them promoting it over the radio and decided to listen because finance to me is intriguing to me. Women talking about their finances holds power to empower. There is various episodes of stories we can all relate to because we can all be better in financial literacy. One episode is someone who lives paycheck to paycheck and had credit card debt through the roof, spending and saving as a single mother, a successful entrepreneur, pivoting to parenthood, investments in the stock market.
Robinhood snacks – This is my investment podcast I listen to while I was working and investing in the stock market. However, since I’ve been home I haven’t been listening and need to continue contributing in the market. This pod is digestible financial news with an entertaining breakdown of our top 3 business stories in 15 minutes. Pairs perfectly with your commute, workout, or morning oatmeal ritual.
The Rachel Cruz show – A financial podcast that wants to show you that money could be fun, not stressful, she gives practical tips to save money and get out of debt faster and make progress toward you goals. This podcast helped me a lot to tackle my debt and be debt free before I stopped working.
Hello there! Being bilingual is a beautiful gift and now having children I’m even more passionate about having my child and future children being bilingual. Now in my case, I’m a first generation Latina in the United States, but I grew up speaking English in my household. I understood Spanish but was too scared to speak Spanish. So how did I learn Spanish? When I was a tween, my father remarried and his new partner in life only spoke Spanish so in order to communicate with her I slowly learned to speak it and she helped along the way. If you are a bilingual speaker in any language and have children, teach them the language. It is so important to keep that heritage alive even if it’s just understanding the language. I have a 2 year old that speaks both languages, English and Spanish. At first we decided that we would only speak to her in Spanish, but soon realized that when my partner and I spoke to each other we spoke in English, the shows we watched are in English, when friends come over we spoke English. So how could we foster a Spanish speaking child when we didn’t speak Spanish all the time? We decided to implement these tips and so far they are working and our daughter not only knows Spanish words she also knows English words.
Bilingual books
Reading to your children is essential! Both my partner and I have read to our daughter since she was born, but to be honest I don’t read enough to her, I am working on reading to her in the morning when she wakes up because it puts her in a cuddly and good mood. She does love books because I make sure she has access to her books at all times, sometimes she will grab a book and enjoys looking at the illustrations. Here are some of our favorite bilingual books. I try to Links will be provided at the bottom of the post.
2. Spanish shows/movies
Now if you were like me back then and said “My kid isn’t going to watch that much tv.” Yeahhhh…about that. I realized her watching TV helps me do my errands around the house without losing my ish. Now she isn’t watching it all day long, but when we put her shows on, we do so in Spanish and even I learn new words. So win win. These are the shows we enjoy watching in Spanish. Sometimes with movies I do play them in English because the Spanish translation just doesn’t do it for me and I’d rather listen to Moana and Frozen in English. Just being real here.
3. Spanish Nursery Rhymes
We use YouTube to watch Spanish nursery rhymes. Our favorite right now is Canticos! Those little chickies are so cute, they do the nursery rhymes in both English and Spanish, so I get to learn them and we can sing them to each other. Another one on YouTube we watch is called LaGranja de Zenon and this one is like a party with their songs about ranch life mixing it with Cumbia rhythm. My daughter likes to dance to these songs and also say MOOOOO when she sees the vaca(cow). Another nursery rhyme we watch is a mixture of songs and a show of Bible stories called Pequenos Heroes. As a growing christian I want my daughter to learn the stories of the Bible and know them. This year I got baptized and am learning the stories of the Bible, so again this is another way for me to learn additional Spanish and bible stories.
3. Spanish Flash cards
I highly recommend the Mud Puppy ring flash cards or flash cards that are durable with a ring. Regular flash cards just get thrown on the floor, in my case, if it comes with a ring they won’t get thrown on the floor or lost. We learn about the animals, colors, and numbers. These will be linked below.
4. Spanish Learning Apps
I’m going to be perfectly honest, we just got little one a tablet last week and I have no idea what to download. My partner said he was able to get a free amazon tablet so he did. We got a Fire 8 tablet, but now I’m disappointed that the App I wanted the most isn’t even on the Amazon store. That was Canticos, yes they have an App and I’ll probably just download it on my iPhone or maybe get another tablet? I’m proud to say that we went two and a half years without a tablet and to be honest we got a tablet only for our long driving trips. So search and download Spanish learning apps for your little one so they can learn and entertain themselves when they have the tablet.
This post is inspired by the baby shower I attended over the weekend and also when I had my baby shower. At my baby shower I received a gift for my daughter and a gift for me that I didn’t put on my registry. The gift for me was a Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy candle, lotion, and spray in the scent Stress Relief and a couple of face masks. I remember feeling how thoughtful it was to receive these gifts just for me, besides the other gifts I had placed on the registry such as nursing pads, nipple cream, and a breast feeding cover, having a separate gift just for mom to have self care before or after baby was very thoughtful in my mind. If you are expecting to have a child or add another child to your family self care is so essential. Here are 10 gift ideas to give to the lovely pregnant mom at your next baby shower invite. Some links will be provided below. Thank you and hope you enjoy the post.
Relaxing lotions – I highly recommend the Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Line. They include scents to help with stress relief, energy, and sleep.
2. Bath bombs- Baths when you are pregnant are life! And sometimes essential to help your baby flip if baby is breeched at the discretion of your Doctor of course. Taking baths with bath bombs adds some pizzazz to your self care routine. Here are some I found on the Target app.
3. Funny Pregnancy books! I was gifted Belly laughs by Jenny McCarthy and let me tell you, I enjoyed her book so much because it was what I was going through in my pregnancy, she just tells it funny and it’s the truth about pregnancy. Anything that makes you laugh released endorphins the happy chemical and when you’re pregnant you need all the endorphins you can get. Here are some great titles to gift a pregnant momma and some are less than $10. Your friend and wallet will thank you!
4. Facial Mask – What’s self care without some type of skin care… am I right? And to be honest pregnancy can really change your skin, it can leave you with dark spots on your face or other parts of your body, so with this let’s just keep it simple to the pregnant mama. Something relaxing and makes her face glow. Again here are some face masks you can get at any drug store.
5. Night gown and robe – I’m sure we have all seen the cute matching night gown and robes and again it is a cute thoughtful gift to give the new momma and she will most likely be in comfy clothes and pajamas the first couple of weeks after birth. Or you can just gift a night gown or just a robe, whichever way these will be hit with the pregnant mama. I know I have seen these at Ross, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls for around $10-$25. The pictures shown below are from Amazon priced around $30 and linked down below.
6. Coffee mugs – Oh yess, Lots of coffee and tea. I don’t think I need to explain the importance of coffee mugs. Here are some I found on Amazon.
7. Chocolates or Candy. “Love is like a box of chocolates”- Forrest Gump. Sweets are a simple gesture to savor. Gift them to the momma along with her gifts.
8. Non Alcoholic bottles – My favorite when I was pregnant was Welch’s Sparkling Rose it was so yummy and I didn’t feel so bad about not being able to drink when we went out. There are a couple of others that you can find at your local grocery stores.
9. Pregnancy Magazines – A magazine to read during her bath maybe? They offer tips, tricks, and advice on pregnancy and motherhood.
10. Hair accessories – Have you heard of mom bun? Yeah it’s a real thing. Let’s add some spice for that basic hair due and make it cute. I’m actually about to order some of these because they are too cute to not have. Before baby there is so much growth in hair and after baby there is postpartum hair loss. So whatever mom stage you are in, you are stylin with these accessories. Silk scrunchies help not cause breakage in hair, hair clips for on the go, and the new style the scrunch scarf. All pieces are linked down below.
If you live in Southern California and specifically the desert then summer starts around May, apparently everywhere else it starts mid to end of June. So weren’t we surprised when the week of our vacation to Northern California, it would be snowing! My partner was in disbelief because he thought it would be summer already, so we packed warm clothes and started our 7 hour drive to Truckee, CA. Once we started driving up the mountain to get to Lake Tahoe, it started snowing and it was absolutely beautiful. Coming from the desert, where it barely rains and even less snows; I was mesmerized, it was so peaceful except for the part where my daughter threw up right when we got to the resort. Summer time usually means you are constantly on the go.
Since this was one of our summer vacations and it was a winter wonderland it made time feel slower, almost like we went back in time to Christmas. I started saying Merry Christmas to everyone, then we all started saying it. The resort we stayed at was called Northstar Lodge Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe and it was a dream. It snowed for two days and we were loving it! We spent our snowy days in the pool and hot tub, enjoying drinks, food, and music. Silly me did not put sunscreen on because it was snowing and my upper lip got burned. So next time I’ll wear sunscreen no matter what it looks outside. During the last snowy day we signed up for activities at our resort, they offered all kinds of goodies for kids and adults, and I was really excited for the candle making. I know I know how grandma of me to be so excited for candle making but I was. The girls and I did candle making and bath bombs. Now I was really excited for candles, but I had the most fun making the bath bombs. We spent over a little over and hour making these and had a great time. Another reason why I enjoyed this vacation so much was the bath tub in our bathroom. I took baths every night except for the last night and of course used the bath bombs I made. I have no bath tub in my master bathroom, but I do have other bath tubs in the house, but it’s not the same if it’s not in your bathroom, so I don’t really use them.
By the third day it had stopped snowing and we decided to check out Kings Beach. While we were there we decided to rent bikes and go through the paved area near the water. If you are ever visiting a new place I highly recommend renting bikes and going on a tour around the area, we did this in San Fransisco and it was so much fun plus you are getting a workout. Our 4 day vacation came to an end and usually I’m ready to go back home, but I wanted to stay another day and enjoy this magical place, but we needed to go back home. I wish I took pictures of the resort looking like a snow palace. Well maybe next time but here are the pictures I took. Pictures above were taken on our bike ride along the Lake. Pictures below are from the stay with family.Thank you for reading about my summer winter wonderland. Enjoy and don’t forget to enjoy the little things in life ❤
This past year has been transformative for everybody. I have grown mentally stronger and I am so thankful because it has gotten me where I want to be at this very moment, taking care of my family. I must say the most important factor on this matter was my mental health, I was burnt out from life. I was unfulfilled at my full-time job and the customer I had was now pulling out from a contract so there went my position, I was going to get moved to another higher position but I respectfully declined and informed management of my soon departure. My postpartum depression finally went away a little before my daughter turned two. That in itself will be another blog post when I have the courage to write about my PPD.
The upside to this sappy post?
–Communication! It got better by me communicating what I wanted! I wanted energy, creativity, I wanted to raise my daughter, I wanted time to smell the roses! And so, I worked with my partner towards that on the last month of 2020.
–Pay off my debt, was one of the main terms for me to stay home faster. Fast forward to now April 2021, My credit cards are paid off and my car will be paid off next month!! And I am so proud of myself for being able to be debt free and have no car payment!!
-Daily Routine, my last day of work was April 9th and I’ve gotten myself into a routine that flows great in my life. I thrive on routine and am unproductive without it. I wake up around 6:30, read scripture verses, workout, morning shower, by 8am baby girl wakes, make myself a nutritious smoothie, make breakfast, clean, play, put babe down for a nap, me time while she naps, she wakes and does sensory play, dinner prep, dinner, clean, shower again(if I have time), Sometimes drink a beverage and chill with the family.
Time to smell the roses, Let me tell you how amazing it has been to learn and grow with my daughter during this time I truly am grateful for this time with her and also growing as a women. It has already been a month since I’ve been home and yes I needed time to adjust and make my new routine permanent. I am now ready to make new goals on this new journey such as getting my creative juices flowing, doing something that matters, work on my higher education, work on my cooking and so much more! Thank you for reading and here’s to the start of something new!
As a local native of the Antelope Valley I have never actually gone to the Poppy reserve. My hometown Quartz Hill has hills filled with them, so I never felt the need to go to the Poppy Reserve. Now that I live on the opposite side of town and have a baby I decided to go. Plus why not the colors are beautiful and it is a great backdrop for pictures. So here’s what I recommend you bring if you are to visit any Poppy Reserve in California. Read Below1. Sunglasses are a must! 2. Shoes! Not sandals 3. Light Jacket 4. Sunscreen especially if you plan on being here for hours 5. Small backpack to carry your essentials like car keys, sunscreen, water, snacks, camera, tissues, medicine 6. Hat (if you want) 7. Allergy Pills (self explanatory) My baby list for the Poppies is down below
Baby Poppy List 1. A Carrier (No strollers) to be adventurous in the poppies. I use the baby Bjorn Original 2.Baby Hat to prevent sunburn and have shade 3.. Light blanket to block sunlight when she napped in her carrier because I forgot to bring her hat. Also a place to lay her down. 4. Place baby essentials in small backpack like diapers, wipes, bottles, formula so you don’t lug around so many items.
Happy Spring time! Hopefully you can make it to see the Poppies.
Your nose turns into smelling magnet! Then you can’t breathe at all through your nose..ohh and then the bloody noses. My sense of smell is how I figured out I was pregnant from the get go. Then by 2 months pregnant my nose became so congested I constantly needed nasal spray and from then on would get a bloody nose about 4 times a week. And this is completely normal and almost all pregnant women go through it.
Skin Side Effects I noticed these weird brown spots on the back of my calves, it looked like ingrown hair. I had laser hair removal, but I became a hairy beast again in the first trimester and by second trimester I went back to being hair free but it left brown spots on my leg. I was freaking out in my head, my legs looked ugly! I wouldn’t dare wear shorts because I was self conscience, and I suffer from Keratosis pilaris on my arms and being pregnant made it worse. Luckily most of my pregnancy was in the Fall and Winter time so I was covered up. After I had baby the brown spots on the back of my calves went away.
HOT FLASHES When they say “There’s a bun in the oven”. Y-O-U are the oven. Luckily I got them in the winter time. I feel for the pregnant ladies that get them in the summer.
Pregnancy Brain is real. I tried denying it but after some brain farts there is no denying it.
It’s hard to wipe your ass or wipe in general The bigger your belly gets your arms begin to feel like a T-rex when you go to the bathroom.
Emotions Run High!! I would have a couple of meltdowns and become an overwhelmed crying blob to my partner. Again this is totally normal during pregnancy.
Birth Plan My advice, be fluid with it or don’t make one. Because your birth plan will most likely not go as planned it will somehow go the complete opposite way. My birth plan, I wanted to do a water birth..yes how hippie of me, I wanted to do this natural and the way how women have been doing it from the beginning of time. I went to a birthing center in the city I live in and I was thrilled to do a walk though, however, my health insurance didn’t cover. So no water birth. So hospital birth it was, which I intended to do a vaginal birth. My actual birth resulted in a C section due to a complication in my last trimester. Water birth to C section my birth plan went in the total opposite direction. If anything just go with the flow.
Postpartum Night Sweats After baby you have sweaty nights to look forward to. I remember I would wake up to feed and my baby and was drenched (I thought it was breast milk maybe some of it was). My head and chest would be a sweaty mess, like as if someone poured water over you. I’m almost 2 months postpartum and the night sweats have mellowed out.
Breastfeeding Makes Your Uterus Contract Ouch! Giving birth to your baby doesn’t mean the contractions are over! Each time you breastfeed it assists your uterus to contract to it’s normal size. The first week was so painful. This can last up to 6 weeks and longer if you don’t breastfeed.
Stretch Marks I thought I lucked out by not having stretch marks during my pregnancy. All the way until I gave birth I didn’t have stretch marks. It wasn’t until after I had my baby and my belly became a deflated balloon. There they were, my stretch marks. I was shocked by the sight of them, I didn’t understand why I had them because for the past 9 months I didn’t have any. It didn’t take long to accept them, but still it was a shock.
Andrea Michelle xo 