1. Great Markdowns at the Grocery Store
I’ve been finding all sorts of great markdowns at Kroger recently! For instance, I ran in yesterday and found the eggs we usually buy for $1.49 per dozen!! There were about 20 dozen marked down, but they expire in a week and I don’t like to use eggs much longer than 2 weeks after their expiration date, so I only bought 7 dozen.
I also found blueberries for $0.99, pineapple for $0.99, kale for $1.49, and peppers — 4 for $0.99!! Yay for markdowns and Kroger sales!
2. Homemade Chai Tea Lattes
I’ve been making myself homemade Chai Tea Lattes recently as a treat. I don’t really have a recipe that I use, I just steep Chai Tea, warm and froth almond milk, and then pour the frothed milk over the tea. I add in a little Coconut Sugar. So, so simple and yummy!
3. A Tea Party With My Kids
Last week, Kaitlynn came and asked, “Mom, will you have a tea party with us?”
Jesse was gone with Kathrynne at swimming. It was my afternoon work time. I felt the pressure of needing to get a few projects done so I could wrap things up and be done by dinner.
But was finishing up my projects really more important than a tea party with my kids? No, decidedly no.
So I put the computer away and for 15 minutes we sat on the floor, drank tea, talked about our day, and laughed as we tried to use British accents. (“Would you like a spot of tea??”) It was beautiful, fun, and soul-filling. And those 15 minutes were just the break I needed and I came back to my projects with fresh enthusiasm and ended up finishing early!
There will always be another to do, another project, another task. But the days of tea parties with my kids won’t last forever. People always trump productivity. Every. Single. Time.
4. Snapchat (Yes, For Real!)
Okay, truthfully, I didn’t think I’d like SnapChat. I kept hearing smart business people talk about it and friends rave about it, but I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was.
I decided to sign up and give it a short-term shot to see if I felt like there was potential there for using it in a way to inspire or encourage others and/or connect with you all better. Well, and also, I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. 
At first, I didn’t think I’d like it at all. But I stuck with it for a few more days and started to like it more and more.
It’s SO easy to upload a snap and I love that it’s real-time. So often, I’ll be somewhere and wish I had time to take a picture or a video to share with others, but I only have 30 seconds and don’t have time to capture a great photo for my blog or Instagram (because I try to at least put forth effort to get decent lighting for those and sometimes that takes me a few tries to get the right shot!).
SnapChat is perfect for these kinds of posts. Plus, it’s a fun way to give readers/followers a behind-the-scenes look at our family life, daily adventures, and business.
If you aren’t following me on SnapChat yet, I’m crystal.paine on there. And I welcome suggestions on what kinds of snaps you’d like to see from me. Leave a comment and let me know!
5. Audiobooks
I mentioned this earlier in my books read post, but I have to mention it again here. Because I’m SO in love with audiobooks.
I don't know why it took me so long to get on the audiobook bandwagon. I guess maybe I just was making it too hard or I was thinking that since I'm a visual learner, listening to books wouldn't work well for me.
Inspired by my Facebook Live viewers, though, I looked into our library's free audiobook programs and I'm thrilled that I did. Because not only does our library offer an amazing collection of audiobooks on their app, they are all FREE!
They don't offer every single book in existence, but the collection on our library's two apps (OneClickDigital and OverDrive) is quite extensive — enough to keep me supplied with good audiobooks for a long, long time!
I've found that the best audiobooks for me to listen to are ones where the audiobook reader is very engaging and where the book is not a book where I'd want to underline and catch every single word. I'm also finding that it's a great way to get through long books that might feel overwhelming or intimidating to read (for instance, I put off reading Unbroken for forever, but I'm over halfway through listening to it — and I just started it about a week ago!).
I've been listening to audiobooks while cooking, cleaning, and while doing my evening routine before bed. I've found that I have at least an hour to two hours every day when my hands are busy but my mind is free that I can turn on an audiobook and enjoy it while doing activities I'd already be doing anyway.
I listened to Big Magic two weeks ago and just finished Unbroken yesterday. I just started All the Light We Cannot See.
What are YOU loving this week? Tell us in the comments!
