Lifestyle Archives | Page 2 of 243 | Diaries of a Domestic Goddess

Ice Storm Tool – Must Have

I don’t know what the weather has been like where you live, but here in Michigan, it has been up and down this winter. One minute it’s -40 degrees and the next minute it’s 55 degrees. My kids have already had five snow days due to the ice, snow and the cold temps. It’s crazy! Around 2 am last night, we had freezing rain that lasted HOURS. And yes, the kids were off school today because every inch of the ground was covered in thick ice. This ice storm tool is a must have if you live in an area that deals with harsh winter weather.

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When I finally woke up this morning (best part of school being called off…you get to sleep in), I looked outside and this is what I saw. Everything was covered in a thick layer of ice. To be completely honest, I freaked out. Since I am still in physical therapy from the knee surgery I had in October and I am having a second knee surgery in April, I am very nervous about falling on ice.

Snow Joe SJ-SHLV01 SHOVELUTION 18-in Strain-Reducing Snow Shovel w/Spring Assisted Handle, Blue MATCC 2 Pack Ice Scraper Mitt Windshield Snow Scrapers with Waterproof Snow Remover Glove Lined of Thick Fleece Black Mallory 581-E Telescoping 48

What to do About the Ice?

I was feeling pretty helpless. We needed to get rid of the ice. With more rain, sleet and snow coming, there was no way it would be good to have the snow fall on top of the ice that was already there. We would never get rid of it. The kids and I got bundled up and headed outside to figure things out. This steel ice chopper is a must have. I used the ice chopper to lift and break up the ice. The kids then went behind me and shoveled up the ice. It’s definitely an ice storm tool you need to have.

Must Have Ice Storm Tool

Besides the steel ice scraper that is an ice storm tool that is a must have, you also need a telescopic ice scraper to clear off your car windshield. Clearing the windshield on my Explorer is hard enough with my short arms, but add in the thick ice I was dealing with today, and it’s impossible! Unless you have a telescopic ice scraper. I’m telling you, I fought getting one for so long (why??? I have no idea), but when I finally got one, it was life changing for me. At least life changing during the winter!

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Restarting Keto Difficulties

11 Feb By Leah Kanaan Leave a Comment

Just before Christmas, I decided to go back to the Keto diet after a short break. Since I was following a low carb diet on my break from Keto, I really didn’t gain too much weight. In restarting Keto, I was hopeful that I would pick up where I left off and finally make it to my goal weight. However, that is far from what happened. After reading and rereading a bunch of info online, I learned a lot about restarting Keto.

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Image via Pexels by rawpixel.com

Our Keto History

Making the decision to start the Keto diet was difficult for me. Eating fat goes against EVERYTHING I have ever learned about dieting and losing weight. I kept seeing friends losing a bunch of weight with this diet, so finally I decided to jump on board, dragging my husband with me. Starting out, I weighed myself every single day because I was terrified of gaining a bunch of weight and ending up being a Keto failure. As the days, weeks and months went by, I began losing weight tremendously. Totally, on Keto, I lost about 90 pounds. My husband lost 125 pounds. We looked and felt amazing.

Keto Diet Food Pyramid Design – Premium T Shirt by Perkunas Keto Comfort Foods: Family Favorite Recipes Made Low-Carb and Healthy Kiss My Keto MCT Oil Capsules – Coconut Oil Softgel Pills, 300 Count, MCT Pills, Best MCT Oil Keto Ketogenic Diet. Caprylic Acid C8 + Capric Acid C10 Medium Chain Triglycerides Ketosis Diet Supplement

2018 was a crazy year for me, medically. I ended 2017 with tremendous gallbladder pain (not caused by Keto) and I started 2018 with surgery to remove my gallbladder. Fast forward six months later and I fell and damaged my already damaged knee. Three months after that, I had knee surgery (part one). I had hit a Keto plateau and I felt it would be easier, recovery wise, being on a diet that was less restrictive and that required much less planning. So my husband I took a Keto break and did Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers Instant Pot 2019 Freestyle Cookbook: Easy and Delicious WW Smart Points Recipes For Quick and Healthy Meals New Weight Watchers Freestyle Cookbook 2019: The Complete WW Smart Points Cookbook – With 100+ Delicious & Healthy Recipes For Rapid Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle Weight Watchers Freestyle Slow Cooker Cookbook 2019: Start Healing Your Body With Healthy & Delicious Weight Watchers Smart Points Recipes

Restarting Keto

We always planned on restarting Keto. I had read that some people (not all) have trouble when they start Keto again with losing weight. Both my husband and I were very strict and the scale wasn’t budging. In fact, it felt like our clothes were getting tighter. I refused to weigh in because I didn’t want to stress with the scale this time around. Instead I just stuck with what I was doing, drank my water, and hoped things would turn around soon enough. Only things never turned around. Talk about feeling very discouraged.

So…Now What?

After lots of thinking and soul searching, both my husband and I decided to go back to Weight Watchers. We can still eat low carb on Weight Watchers; we can still avoid sugar, if we choose (and I do); and it’s very doable in any and all situations. Like the last time we did Weight Watchers, I am having knee surgery (part two) in April. My husband travels a lot for work and while Keto was something he could do just fine, Weight Watchers provides him with a lot more options.

Could we have stuck it out with Keto and had things turn around, possibly. I think my biggest search history on my phone lately has been, “not losing weight on Keto second time“. However, I just wasn’t feeling it this time around. I still wholeheartedly believe that the Keto diet is a good diet. We are meant to eat low carb and low to no sugar. But, with that said, I just couldn’t keep feeling like it wasn’t working. The stress I was feeling because I was stressing out about restarting Keto, was not worth it anymore.

Want a FREE Month of Weight Watchers?

Did the word “free” get your attention?!? It should have! By using my personal referral link, you and I will both receive a free month of Weight Watchers once you sign up. Be sure to read all of the terms and conditions so you understand when and how the free month will be applied. Be sure to sign up for email updates for Diaries of a Domestic Goddess! I will be posting all of my Weight Watcher friendly recipes right here!

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Unique Valentine’s Day Gifts for Him

8 Feb By Leah Kanaan Leave a Comment

My husband and I don’t always celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not because we don’t love each other. Quite the opposite. With Christmas just happening and both our birthdays a week after Valentine’s Day, we just don’t find the need to buy gifts for that particular day. There are those times where we feel the need to truly show our husbands why we love them. Not the mushy, “I love you so much” gifts…no…instead we want to get those hilarious and unique Valentine’s Day gifts!

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Image via Pexels by Kristina Paukshtite

Finding the Right Gift

Gift buying can be stressful sometimes. I know when I am purchasing a gift for my husband, I tend to stress out. Not because I don’t necessarily know what to get him, but because typically, if he wants something, he buys it. I can’t tell you how many times, right before Christmas, I will tell him to stop buying things right now! One year I made him a DIY Date Night Jar. I kind of want to make another one with things that we are into now.

Valentine Classic Heart, 6.5 Ounce Madelaine Chocolate One Dozen Red Sweetheart Roses – Premium 1/2 OZ Solid Milk Chocolate Roses Wrapped in Italian Foils – Chocolate Flower Bouquet (Red, 12 Pack)DOVE Valentine’s Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Truffles Heart Gift Box 6.5-Ounce Tin

While chocolate is always a great gift for a man or a woman, it’s not that unique. Especially for Valentine’s Day. Think about all the things your significant other likes. When you want to get a unique Valentine’s Day gift, you want to take those specific likes and find things that they probably wouldn’t buy for themselves, but once they have it, they can’t imagine living without it!

Unique Valentine’s Day Gifts

How many times has your significant other come home from a long day of work and all they want is a nice cold beer? However, the case of beer they picked up at the store the night before is still sitting on the kitchen counter and never made it in the fridge. There goes that nice cold beer. Or does it? With these beer chiller sticks, they can have a nice cold beer whenever they would like!

Beer Chiller Sticks for Bottles – Man Birthday Gifts for Men – Valentines Gifts for Men – Beer Gift Ideas for Men – Bday Cool Unique Gag Gifts for Men – Inexpensive Chillsner Beer Lovers Gifts for Men

For the bourbon lover…while not always appropriate to drink a glass of bourbon at any given moment of the day, get the bourbon lover in your life this delicious coffee. This dark roast coffee is aged in a bourbon whiskey barrel. Now that is something they will enjoy.

Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Aged Coffee – Whole Bean Coffee, Single Origin Colombian Coffee Beans Aged in Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Barrels – 12 oz Bags

Does your husband have a man cave where he likes to hang out with that guys? If not, does he want one? The answer to that is probably yes. This hookey toss game is fun, competitive and something that can keep the guys occupied for hours. For those of you with little ones that just love hanging with dad, this game is something they could play too!

Elite Hookey Ring Toss Game – Safer Than Darts, Just Hang it on a Wall and Start Playing. Fun Outdoor Games for Family. It’s Beautifully Finished and Easy to Set-Up for a Man Cave, Home or Office.

One thing my husband and I love to do is play games. This Lightening Reaction Reloaded game is something I definitely want to play with my husband. The person with the slowest reaction time, gets a lightening shock. Tell me that doesn’t sound fun?!?

Lightning Reaction Reloaded – Shocking Game

Poo-Pourri is one of those gifts that more for you than him, but trust me, he will like it too. As soon as he reads the bottle, he will want to try this out. He will not believe that Poo-Pourri will be able to contain that toilet stink. But it does!!

Poo-Pourri – SHARE LOVE NOT STINK – Gift Set

To me, if you choose to celebrate Valentine’s day with gifts, you don’t need to spend a lot. A small token of your love, dinner out, movie in…that’s all that is needed. These unique Valentine’s day gifts are a fun little gift idea that your significant other will love!

If your significant other is looking for Valentine’s day gift ideas for you, get a few ideas from visiting these posts:

Valentine’s Day Gifts for Her!

Gifts for Her – Holiday Gift List

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Workout Apps – Do They Work?

7 Feb By Leah Kanaan Leave a Comment

Since having knee surgery in October, I have been going to physical therapy two to three times a week. Getting back to the gym and working out normally is something I would love to be able to do. However, I would love nothing more than to be at the gym again. With a second knee surgery in April, it will be a little while until I can get back to working out the way I used to. I’m not letting that discourage me though! Workout apps to the rescue! I may not be able to do 30 or 40 minutes of cardio right now, but I can work on my core!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Do You Work Out?

Prior to October, I was working out three to four days a week. I loved how I was feeling and felt like I was getting into pretty decent shape. That all stopped on October 10th when I had knee surgery. From that point to the present, I have been in physical therapy, working hard to get as strong as possible for knee surgery part two that is scheduled in April. So, as you can imagine, I am really looking forward to getting back to my normal workout regime.

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Workout Apps

Like I said before, I am dying to get back to the gym and do my cardio routine. Since that’s not possible right now, I started looking through the App Store to see what workout apps were available. More specifically, apps that were available to work your core. Guess what! There are TONS of workout apps. Someone told me about the Sworkit app. The main app has a membership cost to it, however, they have an ab & core workouts app. That is the one that I have on my phone and have been doing for two weeks now.

So How Does it Work?

When starting the app, you choose one of the three workout types to focus one; your abs, your back or your complete core. Next you choose how long you want to work out for. Since I have very little time and, embarrassingly, my abs and core are very weak, I have been focusing on just 5 minutes a day. Let me tell you, my abs and back are feeling it! Best of all, I feel like I am doing something again!

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The main things I like about this app is the fact that a voice tells you what each exercise is (along with a visual of how to do the exercise), and then you have a countdown for each exercise. So, when you are just about to give up, you can see that you only have 8 more seconds! The exercises change, so you aren’t always doing the same thing over and over again, day in and day out!

So…while I would love to get back to the gym and do what I normally do, I am very happy that there are workout apps available to use when the gym can’t be a reality at the moment! A word of advice, and you may already do this, but when you are looking at the various workout apps in the App Store, gravitate towards those that have a lot of reviews. I’ve found, with these apps especially, that the more reviews, the better!

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Valentines Crafts for Kids

6 Feb By Leah Kanaan Leave a Comment

Valentine’s Day is such a fun time for kids. The love making Valentines for their friends and family. If you are looking for alternatives to store bought Valentines, then you came to the right place! Just the other day I had some great Valentines alternatives for you, and today I have some more Valentines crafts that are perfect for kids to use as their class Valentines. Best part is, they are super easy to make and put together! For this non-crafty mom, that is right up my alley!

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Aren’t these Valentines crafts super cute?!? There is truly something for everyone. With some paper, a printer and very minimal other supplies, you can have your kids class Valentines done in no time!

Lumistick 100 AUTHENTIC 8 Inch Glow Sticks – Bendable Glow Sticks With Bracelet Connectors – Glowstick Bundle Party Bracelets (100, Assorted)Darice GX-2200-06 Core’dinations 50-Piece Card Stock Paper 8.5 M&M’S Valentine’s Milk Chocolate Candy Valentine Box 3.1-Ounce Box (Pack of 12)

Valentines Crafts for Kids

Is your child into Minecraft? What about American Girl? Are they too old for the kiddish stuff, but love emoji’s? There is truly something for everyones taste here! You can print these out, tape them to a treat or pencil and BAM! You are done!

Star Wars Non Candy Valentine

Printable LEGO Valentines

Printable Minecraft Valentines

American Girl Valentines

Disney Villains Wicked Cute Valentines

Valentine’s Day Treat Toppers

Yoda Valentines Printable

Star Wars Valentines Printable

LEGO Valentines

Emoji Valentines

Printable Bear Valentines

Valentines Tips

Let your kids pick out what they want to do. Trust me. If you try to steer them towards something, they won’t want to have anything to do with it and I am a huge stickler that they need to write their own name on the Valentines. They are from them, after all! Who cares if they can’t write their name very well. No one cares! Plus, it’s super cute AND they will be very proud of themselves and what they are taking to their friends at school!

Valentine Treat Boxes – Set of 24 Heart Paper Mini Treat Boxes Fun Express – Superhero Swirl Pop Set (12 Pieces)Moon Boat Valentine’s Day Heart Rubber Wristband Bracelets – Party Favors Kids School Gifts Supplies(36Ct)Valentine Conversation Heart Lollipops dazzling toys 50 Mega Pack Slap Bracelets | 80′ Accessory Slap Bands Birthday Party Supplies Favors with Hearts & Animal Print | One Size Fits All Unomor Valentine Pencil Decorated with Hearts, Candies, Stars, Etc. – 48 Pencils

Looking for More Valentines?

Still looking for different Valentines crafts for your kids to do for their classmates? Don’t worry! I have you covered! Check out these super cute Valentines!

Valentine’s Day Crafts

5 Non Candy Valentine’s Day Ideas

Alternatives to Store Bought Valentines

More Alternatives to Store Bought Valentines