Category Archives: Tips and Tricks

Top Baby Gifts 👶🏼

Over the last few weeks we have got and received so many wonderful gift from our baby shower, friends and family surprising us, and we ourselves stocking up on wanted items. I wanted to share a list of some of our favorite gifts we have received as I know I have a few expecting mommy friends, and if your anything like me, having a list is always helpful! These are great baby shower gifts or if you know a Mamma that would love one of these share this with her! All items below will have links to where to buy as well🥰

First Gift:

Changing Station Diaper Bag – Hands down best Diaper Bag out there😍
No more having to change baby on those nasty restaurant stations, or worrying if your at someone’s house not having a spot! This bag is perfect for any Mamma!
It is super easy carrier, has so much space and sooo many pockets to help keep organized!
Insulated bottle pockets, four deep pockets on the inside, and even a pocket on the back for wallets and other important items!
Also, it can charge your phone🤯 it has a built in outlet to plug straight into your phone and charge on the go!
But the absolute best part… it’s a changing station!!! 😍 It has a pop out station that is super easy to put together!
If your a Mamma looking for a diaper bag or know one that needs one definitely look into this one!! Ours was a gift off Amazon and hands down one of my top favorite gifts!!💛

Second Gift

Baby Brew Bottle Warmer – This product was seriously mind blowing! It’s a portable bottle warmer that can heat breast milk or formula bottles anywhere anytime! 🍼 It is so small and compact that it fits perfectly in virtually any diaper bag! It has an 8 hour charge life and can heat a bottle in about 5-7 minutes! 😆 That is huge for any Mamma on the go trying to hurry and get baby that yummy foods! It has temperature settings specifically for breast milk, formula, and other liquids too! 🌡 While I only got the warmer, Baby Brew also has a formula dispenser that puts the perfect amount of formula in your bottle with just one little push! One thing to keep in mind though is the warmer only fits certian bottle brands buy itself, like I have found it fits Avent bottles just fine but if you use a different brand you will need to get an adapter. Their site has a list of all the adapters they currently have in stock, most are all common bottle brands but definitely want to check that before purchasing!!😘

Third Gift

Medline Thermometer – I know a thermometer doesn’t sound like an exciting gift but this was so cool to me. It is a head and ear thermometer that talks out loud to you, buuuut it also reads food!!🤯 You can put it up to any bottle and it will let you know how hot it is. This is amazing for trying to heat those bottles in the middle of the night, being half asleep, and then worrying if it’s too hot or cold for baby. Definitely a great baby shower gift!

Fourth Gift

Travel Highchair – Not going to lie, this was probably one of the first gifts I added to our registry and we wound up getting it ourselves cause I wanted it sooo bad!😂 It is a travel highchair that you can take to restaurants, friends or family members houses, or just use at your table. It latches onto almost any table and tightens to keep it in place. Definitely make sure you check the tables before you use and put baby in, some round tables they advised against using it and the table itself needs to be thick enough to really get a good grib. Of course always make sure it is latched and secure before baby goes in as well! 👶🏼 We tried it on our counter and it worked perfectly though and seriously would not budge at all!!

Fifth Gift

Nanobebe Bottle Starter Set – This was the first and only bottle set we had on our registry. It comes with so many great goodies and I love that it is specially designed for breast milk! The bottles themselves are so small and compacted that they are great for travel and great for storage. This set also comes with a bottle warming bowl so you can set the bottles in it to heat up instead of having to run under a faucet! The starter set comes with a few breast milk storage bags but we also purchased the Breast milk storage container. Its a shelve that goes in the freezer and is amazing too to help to stay organized and keep all your packs together. If your looking for a great little bottle starter set I definitely recommend checking them out! ☺️

Sixth Gift

Mommy Hospital Bag – So this was definitely something I bought myself😬 what can I say I needed a little spoilness, but this would also be an amazing baby shower gift! A lot of people don’t think to get the Mommy anything for the actual hospital trip or for postpartum but I promise she would absolutely die to have something just for her on the side💛 This bag was my top choice as I have seen other moms pack and use it and the amount of items it holds is absolutely insane! Now while we will have baby girls clothes separate in her own bag this thing definitely could hold all mine and her’s, plus more, no problem! Highly recommend getting you one cause it’s not only perfect for the hospital delivery, it makes for an amazing vacation bag!

Links to Gifts Below:

I would love to hear your feedback on any of these products!! Please feel free to message me anytime on here or on any of my social media sites! I put links to them below so you can follow along with us on this beautiful journey🥰

https://www.instagram.com/malmariehouse/

https://www.facebook.com/PeaceOut121310

Keeping Mommy and Baby Happy and Healthy

There is nothing more ever mother wants than for their babies to be happy and healthy, specially while in the womb. The not being able to physically see them for those nine months is agonizing, there is constant worry and hoping that everything is ok and baby is growing the way they are supposed too be. Of course we have check ups but if your anything like me then the knot in your chest before the doctor says, “everything looks great”, is always there right before those appointments.

I can’t help it, I’m a worry wart! I’ve always been that way but specially since this is my first pregancy and EVERYTHING I am going through is completely new to me and honestly a little overwhelming at times. I don’t just worry, I overthink. I know, not a good combination to have for a new Mom. Thankfully, I haven’t reached the googling every symptom yet so there’s a relief there, but I do think about everything I do, everything I don’t do, everything I eat or drink, everything I haven’t planned ahead for, just all of it!

I try really hard to make sure to calm myself down and know that, one, everything I’m feeling is normal. Two, the more I stress, the more baby stresses so breath. And three, ITS OK! I don’t have to be 100% perfect for this pregancy. If I slip and eat a deli sandwich, which I do try to make sure is fresh at least, its okay. If I wind up drinking two cups of coffee and then some sweet tea all in the same day, it’s okay! I don’t have to constantly keep track of every single thing, and you shouldn’t either! We will drive ourselves mad trying too!

Now, yes it’s important to know what you do and put into your body! It’s important to make sure you are giving baby all the good nutrition they need to grow healthy and happy. They may not be here yet but our jobs as mother’s starts the day we find out about them. So with that I do try and make sure I am eating good proteins, vegetables, and fats. I try to make sure I stay active throughout the week, cause as much as I love my job, I sit and stare at a screen all day for five days a week, so definitely not the best for you in the being active department. Every week is different and it doesn’t always go according to how I want, but I try, everyday I try, cause it’s not just me it’s our baby girl that I have to be healthy for. It’s knowing that if I can push myself now and do this for her there’s nothing stopping me for making this a life style and being better for her when she does get here.

I wanted to include the link to my favorite online workouts, its completely free, and the instructor is seriously amazing! She is my goals for keeping healthy and happy while having little ones.

https://youtube.com/c/PregnancyandPostpartumTV

Her channel, which is on YouTube, has a variety of different workouts for prenatal, pregancy, and postpartum Moms. She has fitness workouts, yoga classes, and a whole lot of tips and tricks on delivery! She even has a nutrition guide to help for meals. Her workouts aren’t crazy either, there are different ones for each stage of pregancy and most with little to no difficulty!

I would highly recommend checking her out and seeing all the different ways to stay active during your pregancy. Rather it being getting a good class in once or twice a week or even just taking some time for yourself to go on a walk each day. Staying active is key to keeping yourself and baby healthy and happy!

Below are a few of the videos thats are my go to for reference!

Time To Begin – Monday Morning Tips

Happy Monday Morning!!! I hope everyone’s weekend was filled with fun and happiness and everyone is ready to go out and conquer their week!

To Enthusiastic for a Monday Morning??

Yeahhh…

Mondays are blah aren’t they? I’m almost positive there was a committee at some point in time that said, “this day…this so called Monday, will forever be the blah day of everyone’s week.” Like, rude right!

So how many of us see Mondays as the evil step child of the week? The day you know your not getting anything done, and the day you just wish was over before it began?

Mondays CAN BE blah, but that doesn’t mean they ALSO can’t be productive or reenergizing!

USE MONDAY AS YOUR SET UP DAY!!

Mondays are supposed to be our kick start day! The day you come into the week and get everything set up, you get yourself ready for all that’s going on, and you dive into whatever you got happening!

Below are 5 Easy Tips to help kickstart your Monday morning and help get you set up for your week!!

1. Wake Up and Make Your Bed! – if your not someone who makes their bed every day then this is a great kick start for you! Even if its just this one day of the week, make your bed before you leave the room! Doing this will help set a mental note that you’ve already accomplished something today, you’ve already done one productive action within your first hour of waking up! Go you!

2. Look In Your Mirror and Give Yourself an Affirmation! – Words are important!! Let me go ahead and say this again…WORDS ARE IMPORTANT!!! Write that down and stick it to your mirror or wherever you will see it every single day! How you ever received a complement or had someone say something nice on a bad day or a day you really needed it? Then you know how much words give us strength and help us make it through our days! Use Monday as your word start week. Let the first words you hear and say be words of encouragement and love! Look at yourself and say, “I am loved and I am blessed! I am beautiful and I am strong! I WILL go out and conquer my day and I will do it with peace and kindness in my heart!” Words are important, and how you speak to yourself may be the most important building block of self growth!

3. Grab Something to Eat! – I know it’s supposed to be common knowledge that eating breakfast is the number one thing you need to do, but really how many of us have time to eat breakfast every single day?! If your anything like me then sometimes your just going going going in the mornings that before you know it its already 12 in the afternoon! If you’re like this then just like making your bed let Monday be the one day you stop and eat something! Whatever you got going on make sure to take 10-15 minutes from your morning and eat something. Rather that be a bowl of cereal, some toast, or some eggs with avocado on the side, eat something on Mondays, Your body needs the fuel to go conquer this day!

4. Look at Your Entire Week! – I know, I know! We are focusing on Monday, but taking a second to sit and look at your entire week really does help give you control over your day! Sit down for 5 minutes and look at a calendar, it can be the one on your phone or one on the wall, look at what days are coming up and if you have anything going on. Make yourself aware of what you got going on so you dont over Exhaust yourself this week, and You don’t need to look at the whole month just this week! Looking ahead helps us to have more control over the now cause we feel we already know what’s going to happen! This helps us to feel like today, Mondays, aren’t that overwhelming cause you are in control of your day and whole week now!

5. Take a Moment for You! – I CAN NOT stress this enough!! Your week is just beginning and more in likely you got a lot of stuff going on already or you’ll have stuff pop up or maybe your at home with the kids and have to keep the house running with constantly taking care of bills, kids, chores, groceries, and appointments! Whew…just typing that makes me shiver cause I know it’s stressful love! No, I don’t have kids yet, fingers crossed for the future, but I still work 40+ hours, take care of our new home, shop, clean, keep up with three crazy pups and make sure my husband and I have time for each other… it’s stressful. No one will ever tell you it’s not! That is why this 5 minutes you give yourself is so important! Go sit outside in the sun, go curl up with a book and get a few pages knocked out, go make some coffee and really taste it! Bring it to your noise and smell it, let each sip help your mind find peace! Go hid in your bathroom if you have too and sit on your phone! Girl no one is judging! Do whatever you HAVE too to get that 5 minutes! Let it be the time you mentally make yourself aware of the day and you tell your mind, “do what you can with what you have today.”

In the end, we can only do and give what we have. If you start your Monday with nothing then how do you except to be able to go and give your energy this week? Not just this day but the week!

Fuel yourself on Monday with all the love and happiness and strength you have, cause honey, rather you believe me or not, you have it!! You are a strong, beautiful, passionate ball of firing energy that can conquer anything you put your mind too!

Time to begin Monday with a smile! Blessed Be Loves!

Being Grateful for All That You Have

Good Morning and Blessed Be to all you amazingly wonderful and beautiful people! Today is a day for showing gratitude! No special day besides the fact it is a new day and there is no better time to start or do something new!

So recently I have been in a slump of emotions. I feel like a rollercoaster of high and lows and all the curves are my confusions of whys. What triggered me noticing this was yesterday when I busted out in tears, I know, pretty noticable sign right! It was just one of those moments where sensory overload got me and my mind started to just list out everything that was “going wrong” recently or Everything that’s made me feel “bad”. I have pretty bad anxiety, who doesn’t these days, but I’ve had for so long that when I catch myself in an overload moment I know I have to do something to break it or I’ll go into a straight panic attack and start not breathing and all that good jazz. So THANKFULLY my husband called in that moment for his lunch. Not sure if he just knew I needed him then or fate knew I needed help but he called exactly when I needed to help calm me down.

Y’all will never know how much that man has saved me!

My slump though, that has been due to stress and I know this, it’s one of the few things we all share in emotionally on this Earth, and If you don’t have any stress in your life you seriously need to share that secret cause I promise you could market it and make bank! Oh wait… pretty sure people actually do this already??

Come on though, EVERYONE has stress, everyone has moments that just feels like nothing is going right and you feel like you’ve failed.

And THAT’S OKAY!

Like I Said it’s one of the few things we all share so I promise no one will ever be mad at you for having stress in your life!! You Do What You Can With What You Have!!

Seriously my motto, even got it tattooed on me!

I have found though that in dealing with stress, or sensory overload, or having a crummy day cause your coffee order was wrong, or whatever moment or event that is going on in your life right now that is causing you to doubt yourself or feel small, being Grateful helps!

It truly does!

Taking that moment to realize a bigger picture helps to make that moment of doubt seem insignificant.

Next time you start to feel down, I want you to think of these to help bring you gratefulness:

1. I am grateful for my mornings! – your morning means you made it through yesterday and today is a whole new experience! Use this as a push to always look forward to your morning!

2. I am grateful for the dirtiness of my home! – your home being dirty just means YOU LIVE THERE! You have a roof over your head and four walls to protect you! Be thankful that you have something that gets dirty.

3. I am grateful for my endless questions and the to do list I may have!! – having kids that constantly ask questions or a job you have have so many projects for can be stressful, but know that that child ask you all those questions cause your are their world and to them your the encyclopedia of knowledge! That job ask you questions or gives you work, I hope, cause they believe in your work and they trust you to do a wonderful job. You are needed to them!

4. I am grateful for my mind! – your mind is an astounding organ! Your mind literally has the ability to make you feel any way you want and think any thoughts you want! This is a treasure you have that no one else will EVER know the full depths of! Take advantage and make your mind your discover all that you have to offer this world!

5. I am grateful for my body being sore or tired at the end of the day! – at the end of the day when you lay in your bed all sore and tired know this. You accomplished your day! You got up, made what you needed happen, and are able to lay down and let that breath of the day out! Be grateful your body allows you to wake up everyday, carry you around doing everything you need, and allows you to lay, breath and rest it all away for the nexy day.

Being grateful isn’t hard, but it does take self awareness. It does take knowing in any stressful moment that its only a moment and you still everything else you get to do and be! Being grateful is one of the easiest, free, most uplifting activities you can do AND BE!

So today I challenge you.

Write it down!

Take THREE moments from your day and write down what you are grateful for! Even if one of those is being Grateful for someone else, like I was for my husband yesterday! Take three moments and show yourself love and peace by giving love and peace to your world around!

I am so grateful for each and every one of you! Each of you have a purpose and a reasoning for being on this Earth and it is time you accept you are needed! You are needed to bring love to this world. You are needed to help bring peace. You are needed to be grateful and to help show gratefulness to others. Blessed be my loves!

Morning Affirmations You Deserve

Say it with me, “I love who I see in the mirror!”

Again!

I love who I see in the mirror!

Now say, “I am happy, I am healthy and I am full of love!

Take a second. How did that feel to say? Are you just thinking it or actually saying it out loud?

What you say and how you say it mean everything when it comes to speaking to yourself.

Words are important!

Without words are world would be a blank canvas of untapped beauty. We need words.

From speaking to each other, being able to read and write, and most important speaking to ourselves words are what make up our lives.

Words are power and words are important! If you’re not use to speaking these types of affirmations out loud I challenge you, once a day for 30 days speak one of the below out loud. Go stand in your mirror or sit up in your bed in the morning and speak these words.

⁃ I am healthy

⁃ I am strong

⁃ I am full of love and happiness

⁃ I will be a flame for others

⁃ I will full my positivity

⁃ I have the energy to bless others

⁃ I am deserving of kindness and respect

⁃ I am beautiful

⁃ I am no less than anyone I meet

⁃ I love who I am

⁃ I love all that I have achieved

⁃ I love all that I can become

⁃ I will overcome anything

For 30 days, that is all I ask! Say at least one of these to yourself. If you can go to a mirror and look at yourself when you do that’s even better, you need to know who your talking too.

When you look into the mirror really look at yourself, the curves of your face. The dimples on your checks. Does your nose wrinkle? When you smile do you show teeth? Really look at yourself, study yourself and repeat at least one if not all of these affirmations. Don’t just whisper them…I want you to yell them!

Yell,

“I love who I see in the mirror!”

You are beautiful. You are strong, and You deserve unending happiness. No if, ands, or buts about it! You DESERVE it all!

Buying a Home- You Too Can Do It- Tips to Getting Started

It is possible! It’s a process, and a journey but it’s something so Worth it and it doesn’t have to be stressful!

Yeah you heard right!

It doesn’t have to be stressful!

So let me step back real quick, anything you want to do or have requires putting time and work into it! It takes dedication and the persistence to stick with it even if it gets hard! So with that being said you too can do anything you want! Anything you REALLY want! As long as your willing to stick with it and put in the time it takes to get it.

Want to go on vacation? Or start your own business? Or own your own house? You can, but are you willing to put the time and effort to get those things? That is the question you have to answer for yourself.

My husband, Dustin, and I have been married a little over a year now. We have been together 5 years in total and just bought our first home back in April! Looking back it really does seem that long ago, like everything went by so fast, but the road getting here was definitely no open highway drive!

We moved into our first townhouse, six months into our relationship, to this small town in the middle of nowhere. We pretty much became non-existent during that whole year and after the year was up we had to make the tough decision to move back in with Dustin’s parents.

Let me just stop real quick to say, God Bless the whole House family!

You will never met a better family, and I seriously am the luckiest to be blessed to have them as my family now! They took us in when we needed and allowed not only myself but our big ol baby Zowey to stay with them!

It was husband, my both my in-laws, my sister-in-law, two dogs, my other sister-in-law that would come home on the weekends from college, and myself all in this house. Somehow though, we all managed, we all just flowed together every day. Going into it I was so nervous, and honestly, embarrassed, but it went so much more easily then I could have ever thought. They immediately made me feel so welcomed and loved and, like I said, God Bless that family! That year turned out to be one of the biggest blessings too, I got the best job working with my mother-in-law at our insurance firm!

After that year though we were able to get our new rental house that we had for two years! It was a nice starter place. Perfect for my husband and myself and Zowey! Then we got Callie.

Callie is our, now 2 year old, Aussie and she is our little sissy! She is the sweetest thing in the world and her hugs make me melt! We got her the first year at that house and then a short year later we got Mamma. Mamma was my friends dog but her and her family were moving out of the country so they couldn’t take her, so we adopted her! She is our potato!

Zowey is the one on the left, Mamma (Potato) is middle, and Callie is on the right!

Now though, with my husband, me and three dogs, our home was starting to feel a tad cramped! It was time.

It took us exactly 4 months, viewing 22 houses, putting offers in on 8 houses, running and rerunning back to the bank for updated bank statements over and over, and so many “I’m over it!” before we got our home.

Remember when I said it takes dedication for something you want? Remember I said it takes time? Yeah…it takes it all when buying a house, but!

Yes there is a but!

But…I am going to give you a few tips and tricks to help get you started in your house buying process to help make it less of a stress for you!

One:

⁃ Make a list of what you want! – Go crazy with it! You want windows in every room? Put it on the list! You want at least 4 bedrooms? On the list! Put down anything and everything you want in a house! This is your dream, this is your goal! Put it down and read it over and over!

Two:

⁃ Make a list of what you can live without! – I know, kinda takes away from the first one, but hear me out! Now that you have it all listed out, Everything you want, big or small, you need to narrow down. Heck, if you can get everything on your list Whooo! You go girl! Unfortunately though, more times than not your not going to find a house that has exactly everything you want. Unless you build, and then again, You go girl!!! Narrow down though. If you can live without certain things on your list DONT MARK IT OFF, put a little mark next to it! You don’t have to take away, cause hey you may find it in a house, just mark so you know that’s not necessarily needed!

Three:

⁃ Really look at your budget! – some of you are probably thinking, “what the junk is a budget?” And in that case, honey, bless you. If you are getting ready to buy a house, or really buy anything that is a major purchase you’ve got to have a budget!! You’ve got actually sit down and look at what got, what you don’t, what you want, what you need, and how much you really really can afford! Buying a house takes time right? This is probably the biggest time piece!

*Make sure you budget how much you can go over asking price too! Most houses, specially in todays market, are going $20-$30K over asking! I know, WHAT?! It’s right though! On average your gonna pay about $15K over. THANKFULLY we got blessed and the house we went to purchase, at first we went about 15K over, but appraised for less so whoo hoo!

Four:

⁃ Look at the Neighborhoods and school districts! – I know when you first start to look at houses it gets all, “oh look at the bathrooms!”, “Look at these closest!”, Or “that kitchen!”. It’s so much fun looking! And it should be! This could potentially be your new home! You need to have fun with this! You also need to be safe and find something you actually need! Do you have kids and need to be by a school? Will the commute to work be an easy one? Do you have three crazy pups and need a big yard like us? These are things you need to look at and consider as well in buying your home.

Five:

⁃ Okay here it is the biggest tip I can give! DO NOT GET OVERWHELMED AND DO NOT SETTLE! – just saying this makes me laugh! I say this in hopes that you won’t be like me and you’ll actually understand, you have time! I tend to over do things and if there is something I want I put everything into it till its mine. Not a bad thing, but in this case I was constantly putting in stress and getting stress back. You have time! The first house you see you’ll, 50/50, either be, “Oh my gosh, I need it!”, Or “Oh nooo, not happening!” This is a common feeling! My only advice on this is go into the viewings thinking your this awesome house critique! Like one of those home improvement shows with the people that walk into a house and just start pointing out what they like, what they don’t, and what they want to change and update. Be like this! Go in and find what you love, find what you dont, and find what could be done to make it better! If you do this with every house you’ll start to get a clearer picture of the house you actually want! Don’t get so overwhelmed with the actual process of buying that it takes the fun out of actually shopping! I don’t know about you but I love shopping and this was the biggest purchase we are probably gonna ever make so we wanted to have fun with the actual process! Probably why we saw 22 different houses… I’ll fully take that was all me but hey what can you do!

Biggest thing though, don’t settle either! There are so many houses out there if you’ve been looking for a while and are tired and just want to say screw it, dont! You want to go with that one you saw last week that didn’t have the yard you wanted but it has four bedrooms that you need? Don’t settle. You want that awesome house with the perfect bathrooms and closests but its over an hour from your work? Don’t settle! This process takes time! Sometimes it takes a few weeks, sometimes a few months like ours, but sometimes its takes more! What if you do go with one of those houses then in the next two months another comes up that has all that you want and more! Two more months! Thats all you had to wait to get your dream home? Could you do it?

• Key note – in today’s market, houses are going like crazy! Like seriously crazy! Those 22 we went and viewed, all under contract and gone within three days! Three days y’all! That is insane! Do not stress yourself out trying to get in and see a house and feel obligated to put an offer on one you don’t really like!

No house is going to be perfect! Again, unless you build it. So don’t go into this process thinking it has to be perfect, find something that works for you and has what you want, what you need and what you love!

Another big tip I need to put out there, TALK TO YOUR PARTNER!

If you are married or in a relationship you can not do this by yourself! This is something you both are going in on, something you both will live in together, and I hope, make home together! You need to communicate, you both need to sit and make that list! You both need to sit and redo that list! You both need to find houses you both wanna see! You both need to have an opinion on your future! This is a huge step and going into without full support, and I mean you supporting them and they supporting you, then this process will crush you. It will make you stressed. You need support and you need to give it!

I hope this helps to at least get you started in this process! It’s a lot, I won’t lie to you, but isn’t anything that you actually want? Question is, is it worth it?

If you truly want it, you can have it! It is possible, and the journey can be fun, you just gotta go for it!

Morning Tarot Reading- Questions to Ask to Connect to Your Day

Today I am here to share with you my morning tips and practices to help get you in the right mindset to conquer your day!

First let me say, I know tarot readings are not for everyone! I know and understand that each of us have their own beliefs and I am in no way trying to get you to give up something for something else! I only want to share with you my practice and how it has helped me, not only, feel better about myself and my days, but how it has helped me to connect better to the world around. It has helped me find a inner balance within myself, and has allowed me more confidence in my everyday life.

Sounds impossible to achieve doesn’t it?

I promise you though Hun, it isn’t!

Its honestly one of the easiest ways to have one of those feel good moments in your day!

Now I usually do my practice in the mornings. I have a whole, “wake up an hour before to start the day” rule I set for myself. This hour gives me time to just be and reflect on myself, and my mind gets to focus on everything it “doesn’t have time for” during my actual work day.

I know we all can feel that!

I strongly recommend if you haven’t before, try it! Get up one hour before your normal time! Unless you’re getting up at like three In the morning then, in that case, girl sleep! This morning ritual isnt for you, make yours a night time ritual! Anytime of the day is a great time for a reading!

My point is one hour of your day! Just one! Dedicate it to yourself. Dedicate it to time that allows yourself to grow. To find peace and balance. Time that will allow you to love yourself even more. You deserve that!

Below are a list of questions that I normally stick around for my morning practices. I listed them from single card layouts to a three card layout. Obviously there are so many other layouts and questions out there, and please I encourage you, if your interested in learning more go for it! For myself though, I have found the below really has help me focus in on my life, and myself, and allowed me to open up more of who I am to others.

Single Card Layout Questions:

⁃ What can I focus on today to help my path?

⁃ What do I need to let go of to help me today?

⁃ How can I embrace today?

All of these really help to have a main focus point for your day. Make sure to embrace what is being said as well, even if it’s not something you like or understand yet. The point is to have a connection. To have a time for yourself to just breath and connect to the energies around you.

Two Card Layout Questions:

⁃ Talk to me – have a conversation with your deck. Your deck is pure energy so sometimes its nice to just let it talk instead of asking it a question about yourself or life. I do two card spread on this and ask, “what do they see?”, and “what do they have to say?” But you can do a one card as well if you’d like.

⁃ What’s holding me back – this can be done as a two card or three card spread. First, shuffle or mix, your deck. Next, concentrate and focus in on your energy; you will need to find your Death card in the Deck. For a TWO card spread you will look for the card BEHIND your Death card. This is the “let go” card. If you do this as a Three card spread, then along with the card behind the Death card you will pull the card IN FRONT of your Death card. This is what you should put focus on. I say this can be done as a two card only because sometimes we don’t need a “new focus” we only need to know what to let go off and focus on that completely. To each their own though, I have used my deck for both and both ways have helped me!

Three Card Layout Questions:

⁃ Embrace/ Let Go/ Understand or Accept – this spread is to help you find what you need to embrace, either about yourself or your life. What you should focus on letting go of. And message to help you better Understand or Accept this reading.

⁃ Past/ Present/ Future – as obvious as this one sounds I do want to point out, don’t just ask for a broad understanding of each. Be specific. Don’t ask, “what do you see for my future.” Ask, “what do you see in 6 months for my future.” Narrowing down your thoughts helps for a better focused practice and a better connection to get the answers you need from your guides.

Sounds like fun right!

Now I use these questions as sort of my guides for the day. I keep whatever cards I pull out for the whole day and either that night, or the next morning, I’ll reflect.

Now have you heard of Baader-Meinhof phenomenon?

Short story, you notice something new, or new to you and you start seeing it everywhere. Like if you just got a new red car, suddenly, you’re seeing red cars all over the place.

I use the semi same concept for myself.

If I pull a card that says, “spiritual overflow” then I’m going to be looking for places and times thats coming into play today. If I pull a, “trouble focusing” card, then when I start to get distracted throughout the day I can recall this and take note of the thing that makes me distracted.

It’s really, simply put, you ask for a sign you’re going to get one.

I love signs though, I love connecting to a form of myself that I can trust my instinct and the feelings around me! I’m an empath though, so focusing of feelings and energies is what I’m good at and what I enjoy being able to do!

Like I said though, tarot reading may not be for everyone. You may have your morning car rides from home to work you like to just pray. You may do bible studies or gather with friends and discuss beliefs. You may use other ways and beliefs to connect to your world and yourself, and that’s okay! That is awesome actually! I only want you to realize, you DESERVE that time. Not, you need it, or see if it can fit into your busy schedule, but you DESERVE it!

Use this morning practice as a way to kick start your flame!

Let this time fill you with so much energy and happiness that your overflowing! Let it be, when you do go to work, or school, or even just to see someone for the day, let it overflow you so much you’re able to give some energy to someone else!

You deserve happiness, you deserve love, and you deserve peace. We all do, and we all can have if we help to build each other up in our lives and our practices! Good luck!

For I know, I am, and I Will Become all that I can be and More!