One of the biggest things I’m learning about being a mom, is not to worry. This started as soon as we found out we were pregnant. One week after getting a positive test, I started having some concerning symptoms. According to our midwife, my symptoms could be signs of a miscarriage, but she also knew moms who had the same symptoms and the baby was just fine. We wouldn’t know until we had an 8 week ultrasound to find the heartbeat. That meant we had to wait the three weeks leading up to the ultrasound not knowing if our little one was alive or not.

Fear and worry would come over me many times during those few weeks, and I would tell myself, “As soon as we have the ultrasound and they find the heartbeat, then I’ll stop worrying.” But I had to remind myself that worrying wouldn’t change anything, and every time I would start to panic, I would make myself focus on something else and not dwell on what could go wrong. I couldn’t keep fear and worry from coming over me from time to time, but I could control whether or not I would dwell on it and let it affect me.

Thankfully, we got good news, and our baby was fine. And looking back, I’m so glad I didn’t waste those three weeks leading up to the ultrasound in fear and worry over the unknown. What I discovered was that even after finding the heartbeat, I would still have moments of worry, and I’d tell myself, “As soon as I get past this first trimester, I’ll stop worrying.” “As soon as we have the anatomy scan…” “As soon as the baby is born…” “As soon as the baby starts gaining weight…” “As soon as…”

You get the point. I realized there’s no magical moment when everything is perfect and nothing could go wrong. There’s always something that could go wrong, so instead of focusing on that, we need to focus on all that God has blessed us with and live in the moment. And then no matter what happens, we won’t look back and realize we wasted most of our life worrying about what could go wrong.

1. Make Good Food Magically Appear

They say that food is the way to a man’s heart, and that’s partly true. My husband loves it when I tell him it’s time to eat, and he comes to the table and sees one of his favorite meals ready. He’s not a picky eater, so often the meal is very simple. Most of what he likes about this isn’t the food itself, but the fact that he didn’t have to decide what to have and spend the time making it. I know what food he likes and doesn’t like, so instead of asking him what he’s hungry for, I just decide what we’ll eat and start cooking!

2. Don’t Take Life Too Seriously

I think oftentimes us wives can be too practical, too productive, and putting it bluntly, be kinda boring. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a time to be practical and productive, but when our husbands get off work might not be the time. Try to stop thinking of your to-do list. Lighten up and be fun! Laugh at his jokes, and maybe try making a few of your own. Be goofy and playful with him!

3. Find What His Love Languages Are and Love Him…a Lot!

My husband has told me countless times how much my touch means to him. Just holding his hand, giving a short shoulder massage, or a random kiss on the cheek means the world to him. Reach out and do what you know makes your husband feel loved, even if that isn’t the way that you feel loved.

4. Take Things Off His Plate

As in all those little things that need to get done, but take up time. Dishes, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. He might not always notice you doing it, but he does notice if it doesn’t get done. If I don’t get something done, my husband is happy to pitch in and get it done. As much as possible, I try to stay on top of it so he doesn’t have to think about it in his free time. Sometimes I’ll let him help, or other times I’ll tell him not to worry about it and I’ll get it done tomorrow.

5. Make Him Coffee (or Tea)

You know how much he drinks and when he likes to drink it, so try to beat him to it and make it before he does! The thoughtfulness means a lot to him, and might make him happier than the actual cup of coffee will!

What are some simple things you do to make your husband happy? Let me know in the comments below!

We thought we’d share a few simple ways we’ve found to save money. We understand these aren’t for everyone, but maybe you’d like to try a couple, or maybe they’ll give you ideas of ways you can be saving money! Comment below with simple ways you’ve found to save money.

Share an Order when Eating Out

We do this quite often! Most places serve too much much food for one person to eat anyways, so sharing doesn’t mean going hungry. If it’s a place we know serves smaller quantities (or if it’s a burger or something) we’ll order our own. But like we’ve mentioned before on our blog, we always share a bowl at Chipotle. We also share a plate at Panda Express, just for a couple of examples.

Don’t Throw Something Out Until it’s Fully Served its Purpose

This could be applied to many things, but one example would be mending socks. Now I’m sure some people would much rather just throw out the sock as soon as it gets a hole and buy a new one, and that’s fine. But if you’re like me and don’t mind sitting down every now and then to do some mending, you can make the life of a pair of socks last months longer.

Or as my Mom would say growing up, “Use it up. Wear it out. Make do. Do without.”

DIY is Fun and Saves Money

Think about different things you pay people to do for you, and see if you can learn to do any of those yourself. For example, I learned to cut Peter’s hair, and my sister cuts my hair, so neither of us pay to get our hair cut!

Buy on Sale

We do our grocery shopping at Winco. One reason I like Winco is they always have certain items on sale. They mark it down with a green price tag so it’s easy to spot. So that we don’t end up with a bunch of extra stuff we don’t need just because it was on sale, I make a somewhat vague grocery list. For example, if we need fruit, instead of writing down specific fruit, I will just put fruit on the list. Then when I go shopping, I walk around looking at the different fruit to see which has a green tag. Normally they have boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound, but every now and then they mark it down to $1.29 a pound. When I see they have it cheaper, I get about 10 pounds and cut and freeze it.

Buy Used

Whether it’s furniture or cars, often you can find like-new items for WAY cheaper. Sometimes you can’t even tell it’s used!

I thought it would be fun to share our top 7 favorite recipes! Let us know if you try any and how you liked it!

Korean Beef

This is fast and easy to make, and it’s Peter’s favorite meal! It’s also our go-to meal when we have guests over. I got this recipe from my family, although they top it with shredded cabbage instead of peas.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (we use a soy sauce substitute called liquid aminos)
• salt and pepper, a few shakes
• frozen peas, warmed
• chedder cheese, shredded
• rice, cooked

Directions

1. Sauté garlic in sesame oil over medium heat. Add ground beef, chop and cook until done.
2. Drain fat out and add brown sugar, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes.
3. Serve over rice and top with peas and cheese. Enjoy!

Chipotle Style Bowls

We love going to Chipotle and sharing a bowl. It’s fast food, but it’s healthy fast food that doesn’t make you feel bad after eating it. We decided to make our own Chipotle bowls at home, and we make them quite often.

Ingredients

• chicken (chopped and cooked however you like)
• rice, cooked
• cheddar cheese, grated
• canned sweet corn, heated
• avocados, mashed
• lettuce, shredded
• sour cream (sour cream in a tube is one of the greatest inventions)

Directions

1. Layer in a bowl or on a plate and enjoy! Feel free to swap or add anything else you think would be tasty on it.

Honey Dijon Chicken

I found this recipe soon after we got married and it quickly became a favorite. I cut and freeze raw chicken every few weeks, so as long as I remember to pull some out of the freezer to defrost ahead of time, it makes this recipe quite quick to make!

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we cut ours in cubes before cooking)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
• dash of salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook chicken over medium heat until done. Dump on a plate and set aside.
2. In a measuring glass, mix together the oil, butter, honey, mustard, garlic, and seasonings. Pour in the pan from the chicken and simmer for a couple minutes. Turn off burner.
3. Stir in cooked chicken until it’s coated in the sauce. Enjoy! We like to eat this with roasted carrots and potatoes.

Fish Tacos

We’ve experimented with a few different types of tacos, and this is our favorite!

Ingredients

• corn tortillas, buttered and warmed
• tilapia fillets (or any meat really)
• butter, melted
• lemon juice
• salt
• lemon pepper
• cheddar cheese, grated
• canned sweet corn
• avocados, mashed
• lettuce, shredded
• sour cream
• lime juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425º.
2. Pour melted butter in a 9×9 baking dish, then lay in the thawed tilapia.
3. Drizzle lemon juice over the fish, and sprinkle with salt and lemon pepper.
4. Bake until the fish temps hot enough, about 10-14 minutes.
5. Assemble your tacos and enjoy!

Bacon Avocado Toast

As you might be able to tell, we love avocados! If you can get avocados and bacon in the same bite, it’s gotta taste amazing!

Ingredients

• bread, lightly toasted
• butter, softened
• avocados, sliced
• bacon, cooked
• cheddar cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Butter your lightly toasted bread and lay on a cookie sheet.
2. Put sliced avocados on the buttered toast, and bacon on top of that.
3. Sprinkle on cheese, salt, and pepper, and broil in the oven until the cheese melts. Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

I’m not a huge fan of asparagus, but if it’s wrapped in bacon, it’s delicious! This would typically be considered a side dish, but we eat it as the main dish with some fruit on the side.

• asparagus (trim off the woody ends)
• bacon
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Place an oven-safe cooling rack on a cookie sheet.
2. Brush asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3. Cut the bacon in half lengthwise. Wrap each bacon strip tightly around an asparagus stalk. Place seam side down onto the wire rack.
4. Bake until asparagus is tender and the bacon starts to crispen, about 15-20 minutes. If the bacon isn’t crisp enough, place under the broiler for a couple minutes. Enjoy!

Eggs & Bacon Hash Browns

We make this pretty much every weekend! If I make extra, I turn it into breakfast burritos by putting it in tortillas, adding cheese, and wrapping in tin foil. You can just stick them in the freezer until you want one. To heat it up, you just remove the foil and microwave until hot!

Ingredients

• hash browns
• eggs
• bacon
• butter
• seasonings (we use salt, pepper, paprika, and onion and garlic powder)

Directions

1. Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook in a frying pan until slightly crisp.
2. Add a bit of butter and hash browns.
3. Sprinkle on seasonings.
4. When hash browns are hot, add in eggs and scramble. Enjoy!