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Happy Monday! I hope everyone had an amazing weekend. I can’t believe we’re officially in fall. I spent the weekend switching over our summer wardrobe to our fall/winter wardrobe. I also enjoyed a chai latte and just relaxed all weekend, and played around with a vegan apple crisp recipe.  I was hoping to make a pumpkin latte. However, I didn't make time to do so.  Michael had a game on Saturday. I definitely look forward to football season which makes the fall/winter not so bad.
I also went to New York on Thursday to attend a blogger event. I can’t wait to share a recap with you guys later this week.

Anywho, how was your weekend? 

Attire Breakdown

As my grandparents and parents are getting older we are slowly starting to transition more into my role as their caregiver. Though no one wants to lose their independence. It's so important to start strategically transitioning into the role. I have many friends who waited until the last minute and/or their family member health took a turn for the worse unexpectedly, and they were perplexed about what to do and how to even approach their current circumstances. Below I'm sharing tips Four Tips on How To Transition Into A Caregiver.

Four Tips To Transition Into A Caregiver

Ask Questions
Though my grandmother, currently still lives on her own. I'm consistently communicating with her and ask questions. I know who her physicians are and where her important documents are. Several years ago I transitioned into paying her bills. I approached the matter by offering my services. I didn't wait until she was at her current age and waiting until the possibility of her health declining. I also started off with just helping her with one bill. The first bill that I started paying for her was her Sam's Club membership.  Over time, she realized that I wasn't trying to take her independence away, that I was just trying to help her. We've even slowly started transitioning into automatic bill pay which now she adores.




Budget
One of the things that I've worked on with my grandmother is creating a budget. What I love about this concept is that we have a monthly budgeting meeting. It's a fun time that we create to go over our budgets and discuss bills in which that need to be paid and upcoming items that we would like to purchase. This is perfect because I can first hand see what here monthly expenses are as well as her grocery budget and ways in which we can save. One of the places we love to shop at is Sam's Club. It's pretty much like a one-stop shop for us. She's able to pick up items like her medications to her Ensure® Plus Nutrition Shake drinks. We typically will go over the items that she needs and see if there are any offers in the Instant Savings Book.




Shopping
Shopping can be a daunting task for anyone. When I find out about new services I share them with my grandmother and show her how convenient they are to use. My grandmother has a love-hate relationship with going to the store. She has to be in the mood for it. For days that she's not, I offer services like Club Pickup and same day grocery delivery. What I love about these options is that she feels like the super cool grandmother who knows about the latest trends and brags to her friends about it. What I love about this is that in the event that she's not as mobile as she is now. We already utilize these options and she's not going to feel as if she's losing her independence.




Communication
Start the communication now. Thought my grandmother and I have a wonderful relationship. I struggled with how to approach the topic about Depend Fit-Flex Underwear, Poise Liners, and pads. While at my grandmother house, I noticed that she was running low on Poise Pads. I also noticed that Sam's Club was running a sale with their Instant Savings Book. While we were at Sam's Club I placed a box of Poise Liners in our cart and shared with her the offer. Shortly thereafter she grabbed a box of Depend Fit-Flex Underwear, and we chatted about how my body hasn't been the same after having children and how one and how common bladder leakage is. She's too cute with the topic. I always have the Poise Liners in my purse to keep on hand. It's so cute because now we have matching "girls" bags as we like to refer to them that we keep inside of our purses which house all of our feminine care essentials.   

Watch My Video To See Why I love Sam's Club So Much!

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The official start of Fall is September 22nd. I thought it would be a great idea to get a jump start on my fall bucket lists. If you're new to my blog. I like to create a bucket list for myself and a separate one for my family. Because self-care is important! I also plan on using my planner and creating tentative dates for the items on my bucket lists to ensure that I actually make time, and plan for the items on my list.

My 2018 Fall Bucket List 

Finish One Book
I know this may sound silly. I have an entire collection of books. However, I have yet to really indulge in a book and read it in one day or over an entire weekend. I can reminisce about so many weekends in which I would just sit and read an entire book until I was finished. ** Sigh **


Day Trip
For some reason, I really haven't taken a day trip and really explored an area. I would love to take a day trip, relax and really just enjoy the scenery.

Vacation
As you guys know I'm big on having a solo mommy vacation. Though I do not have a location in mind. I would love to take a solo trip this fall anywhere.

Lunch With A View
One of the things that I really would like to do before it gets cold is to enjoy a beautiful lunch with a view. As a busy mom, I hardly make time for myself with these types of things.

Bake
Since I transitioned more into a plant-based diet and healthier eater. I've been having so much fun in the kitchen. Of course, I'm all for pumpkin everything. However, it would be nice to sit back and enjoy one of my old favorites like apple pie. I have yet to create a vegan apple pie recipe or even an apple crisp. I would love to also try a new pumpkin recipe this fall.

DIY Fall Mini-Photo Shoot
I live next to one of the prettiest parks in the fall. It would be nice once the leaves change colors to have a photo shoot. I plan on having a DIY photoshoot and bringing my tripod with me.

Apple Orchard
I haven't been to the apple orchard in a couple of years. I'm actually really excited to go and explore the apple orchard by myself. The orchard that I like visiting has a market as well. It would be nice to actually explore inside and enjoy some cider.




Do you have or plan on creating a fall bucket list? 

Pin for Later

As a busy mom, one of my hardest tasks is finding creative ways for your family to live a healthier lifestyle while including more water intake in everyone's diet. As many of you know last year I went on a diet which turned into a lifestyle change. Growing up, I just didn’t like water and like most children I didn’t see the point of having it. I noticed as I’ve gotten older water has become a part of my daily lifestyle. Once I accomplished cohesively including water in my diet. I wanted fun ways to get my kiddos to drink more water. I’m learning as a parent that sometimes we just have to think outside of the box. Sometimes as a parent we also have those aha moments. I’ve noticed that my children drink a lot more water when it’s in their favorite bottle. Doing a little research I was able to combine the best of both worlds for them. Cute water bottle + Intuitive Learning. I've found Gululu, and have been obsessed with it ever since.

 I tell my kids all the time that I wish Gululu was around when I was their age it's the best water bottle for kids. As a mom, I’m big on reward systems. One of the features of this water bottle that I love is that the kiddos earn points for drinking water and Gululu also has a pretty awesome app that goes along with the kid's water bottle and also allows parents to play along with their children. I also love that Gululu has daily goals as well. I love how as a family we can discuss Gululu, daily goals and how they’re doing with the app.



One of the reasons that I love Gululu. Not only do they make drinking water fun. A portion of every sale will go towards building water wells for children in developing countries through Gululu’s partnership with generosity.org. Did you know that Gululu was featured in Forbes and has been declared one of the top 5 best kids gadgets?!

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You can learn more about Gululu and purchase your own here  + save  using code " gulu-hydrate18 " at checkout  Code Expires October 1, 2018 

Is this your first time learning about Gululu? 

Happy Monday! I hope you had an amazing weekend. We had absolutely gorgeous weather over the weekend. It’s bittersweet because it’s already starting to get dark sooner. My weekend was great though. Michael had a football game on Friday and Saturday. Which was so exciting, I love football so I'm all for it. I’m getting the hang of my Healbe tracker. It’s so convenient to have the information sync on my phone.  I also participated in the Coastal Cleanup which was pretty cool. It’s always great to give back to the environment.

Anywho, How was your weekend?

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