The Cake by Hannah

A small town girl spreading kindness like buttercream frosting

Formal Christmas Card Photos 2019

EEEEP! They’re here, they’re here! I am so excited to share our formal Christmas photos for this year. Planning our Christmas cards is one of my favorite things I do every single year, even though my hubby always takes some convincing to do it. Ladies, you’re not alone! Even my husband hates doing family photos. But, it’s always worth it. I absolutely love seeing how my sweet family has grown over time and I actually REALLY want to get prints made from all of our shoots to hang up at Christmas every year. That’s my current project!

This year’s shoot was… an almost disaster. See just a glimpse below… lol. If it weren’t for our incredible photographer, Cottonwood Road Photography, we would have had a total flop of a shoot. Knox, who usually LOVES getting his picture taken, just wanted to explore. I mean, he is a toddler boy. I should have known! But, somehow, Hannah H. captured the milliseconds we got of Knox not asking to “get down” or yelling “stop it” as we would chase him down to keep from falling into the barbwire fences around us as he searched for the horses he swore were around, but absolutely did not exist. L O L.

Quick tips for shooting with a toddler:

  1. Just roll with it. If they want to run around, that is how your shoot needs to be. Our photographer, Hannah, set the tone for this so well and we just followed her lead. Rather than getting frustrated with him, which would have upset him and made the shoot a lost cause, we tried to be adventurous with him. It kept him smiling, even though he was frustrated with us for not letting him run into the open field by us.
  2. We would play in the leaves with him (which ended up being some of my FAVORITE shots Hannah got!) or tossing him in the air to get giggles. Whatever you got to do, do it. It’s not about you or about getting the “picture perfect” shot. It’s about capturing your family, as it is. And, if you have an amazing photographer, then you get the picture perfect shots mixed in WITH the real shots. I love them both, honestly! This is also why it’s so worth paying a great photographer, if you’re able, once a year for your Christmas photos. They can capture things you just wouldn’t be able to on your own or with a non-professional.
  3. We left saying “Well, even if we have to send out a funny picture, we are going to be happy!” Having images, no matter how your shoot goes, is so worth it and you’ll never regret it.

Thanks to Dillard’s for sponsoring all of our looks! Everything except for Knox’s jacket and Paul’s shoes are entirely from Dillard’s. I have them all linked for you below.

It feels impossible to narrow down our hundreds of photos to a graspable amount… so I tried my very best to pick the best, the funniest, and the cutest!

3 Things That Changed Our Budget & Created Margin

Heya babes! Today I am sharing about that dreaded “B Word”… Budget. WHOA WHOA, what word did you think I meant!? Ok, just kidding. BUT, for real. How many of us hate the word “budget?” I used to hate talking about the budget, money, or anything of the sort because I just didn’t want to know. This was, of course, no help to my husband who was trying to keep us on track.

For 2019, the word that Paul felt on his heart for our family was “margin.” We felt this was for our time, family, and money. I am sharing today 3 things we use that has brought margin for our family’s finances with the hopes it will do the same for you.

  1. I took over the budget. We decided to do this for a couple reasons- one of them being to make me feel the weight of our money. And now that I have… I ain’t going to lie… I freaking love it. Like, neither of us want to go back to Paul doing it. It’s become a GAME to me. I love running our budget. I love knowing how much value even $5 spent here and there is, and how quickly it adds up and cuts into our margin. I literally look at my budget spreadsheet every.single.day. I legit asked Paul today as I left the house, “Hey babe, can you make sure lights are off when you leave? The electricity bill was high last month.” LOL. WHO AM I?! I encourage you, if you don’t know your family’s budget or are like how I used to be (“I just don’t wanna know”), then I would seriously consider running your budget even just a one month commitment with your spouse. This will help you both!
  2. Twine App. Paul started using Twine as our external savings account. We found it way too easy to “steal” from our savings when it was in our bank account. If we really wanted to establish margin, we needed to remove that savings account from our grasp altogether. We send money over every month and it is accruing interest like a true Savings Account. It helps you set goals, too! It’s so great.
  3. Robin Hood/Stocks. You guys, this one has been a game changer for us. Like, life-changing. As part of his mission to create margin for our family, Paul began educating himself on stocks. We have some big goals to pay off everything but our mortgage as quickly as possible (cars, school, etc.), and this has been HUGE for us. We are talking a side income for our family FROM STOCKS. Robin Hood helps manage your stock investments easily and is linked to your bank. We have a healthy number in there we keep for daily investments, and Paul sends the surplus he’s made that week to our bank. He has really figured out a system that’s almost fool-proof. However, we don’t budget this profit into our monthly budget just in case there’s a low week or month. I assess what we made and allocate the earnings accordingly toward debt. As of now, Robin Hood is our debt payer and it’s been such a blessing!

Whether you do these exact steps, or you figure out something else that works for you, I hope you know you CAN create margin with your budget. It takes getting everybody (yes YOU!) on board with unified goals. You can do this, y’all!! You can spend and save wisely, and steward your money well. We are cheering you on!

Figuring Out Where + How You Work Best

 

Hey Cake Fam!

Today is a post from my girl, Carleigh. If you’re new around here, Carleigh is the bread to my butter here at The Cake by Hannah. She helps me reel in my vision and crazy ideas to make them a reality. Every visionary needs a practical person who makes the steps, A-Z, to achieve said dreams. That’s Carleigh for me! Everybody needs a Carleigh! I always love when she says she has a word to share, and I know this will bless you all. A huge part of my own story is that I found out the whole system I believed I wanted and worked so hard for wasn’t what I thought it’d be, and it ended up destroying my soul hehe… But seriously. I wasn’t made for a desk and I felt ashamed by that for so long. I am team FIND WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY! But, there will always be hard work required. I fear that our generation CAN be the generation who wants all the things, but doesn’t want to put in the work. That’s not where I stand- not even close. You have to be willing to work the small jobs you didn’t want in order to get to the dream. I failed at that along the way, but thank goodness for a God full of grace.

So, here’s Carleigh’s story and how she figured out what works best for her! We believe in hard work, family first, and having fun all the way through. 

xoxo, Han

If you ask me, one of the most difficult parts of adulthood is finding your “dream” job. Navigating the many requirements and hurdles that come with getting your degree, the interview process, and starting a new job can be so overwhelming that if we become unsatisfied with what we’re doing, starting that process all over again seems so daunting that we often just settle. We settle for a job that’s comfortable, or guarantees a consistent paycheck, or even one that we hate just so we don’t have to take the risk involved with trying something new. Trust me, I get it. The point of this post is not to make you feel bad for where you’re at or tell you that you’ll only be happy in life if you’re in your dream job (although I think that certainly helps). What I want to do today is talk about some things that I’ve learned about myself and what I need out of a job, and then challenge you to do the same. Maybe you aren’t in a place right now where you can quit everything and chase after your dream of traveling the world, but maybe you can make a few small changes to optimize what you get out of where you are now or help you plan for what you need in the future.

First, identify your learning style. This is a quick and fairly accurate online quiz to take if you’re unsure! Even if you’re not in school, knowing your learning style is also important to being successful in your work. Do you need to discuss projects with others to work through them? Do you enjoy hands-on work or face-to-face contact with customers? Do you need lists and charts and as little face-time with others as possible? These are all needs that you can identify through knowing your learning style and are really important to consider in comparison to your job responsibilities!

Second, identifying your ideal work environment is crucial. This is one I learned the hard way. Because I can be very type-A and enjoy organization and planning, I thought I would thrive on a set schedule, in one building where I did the same thing everyday. Turns out- that was NOT for me. I need to be in an environment that changes and keeps my attention. I love to work in coffee shops with the bustle of people, background noise, and espresso machines running. Working in silence drives me insane, but I also need to be able to be alone when I want. I can’t be in a job where I have to be somewhere at a set time every single day and I can’t leave until a certain time. It makes me feel trapped and doesn’t allow me to work when I’m feeling focused or inspired. I love putting my headphones in and jamming to T Swift while I crank out my work. I love being able to meet up with Hannah to work so I can talk about my ideas and get her feedback. I love getting my fav Starbucks drink and people watching while I work. These are things I need in a job- but what about you? What type of environment do you need to focus best? Quiet? Background noise? Someone to talk to while you work? A place where you can get up and take breaks or leave and come back? Figuring this out will help you be more productive and might show you what type of job would be best for you.

Because it took me such a long time to figure out what I wanted to do for a job, I’m so passionate about helping others figure it out for themselves too. I also believe that I was able to be successful in school and now in my work because I took the time to figure out what I needed and worked best for me. Take even just 5 minutes today and ask yourself some of these questions I posed, or take the quiz if you don’t know your learning style. You are worth the time it may take to figure out what you need, and it may be just what you need to get fulfillment out of your job or career that you’ve been looking for.

Thanks for reading friends. I’d love to hear what you discover!

xoxo,

Carleigh

How I Saved My Eyes + My Bathroom Refresh!

You guys, okay. I am excited for today’s post for two reasons:

  1. I finally am sharing a peek at our fresh bathroom! It’s nowhere near done, but I am so excited about where it’s headed.
  2. Today is a prime example of working with a brand I LOVE and use already.

Here’s the thing you guys… I am blind. Like, so blind. I must be in contacts or my glasses at all times other than sleep or I will be useless. I have had glasses since the 4th grade and have worn contacts since 7th grade. The first 13 years of wearing contacts, I only wore monthly contacts. I would order a 6 month supply and switch them out roughly every month (but was really bad about keeping up). About two years ago, for some reason, my eyes basically just were rejecting contacts. Didn’t matter the brand or how on top of switching them out I was. My eyes were fuzzy, itchy, and red all the time. I thought I would never be able to wear contacts anymore and have to get Lasik if I ever wanted to see again sans glasses.

Then, it was actually my best friend who suggested trying dailies (which I didn’t even know existed!) and it changed the entire contacts game for me. I will never do anything other than dailies now that I know how much it helped me and saved my eyeballs. I have been using Cooper Vision’s Clariti Daily Contacts for two years! So, when they randomly reached out to me asking if I happened to use them… I was like WHAT?! YES. YES, I DO!

I order mine through Costco. DUH. And it’s so much cheaper than anywhere else! This is one of those things I know is so niche, but I really do care and these really did change my eyeballs and saved their life. *I am not being dramatic.* Things got so bad it would feel like I got sunscreen in my eyes if I looked at the sun. This all went away almost immediately when I changed contacts!

OKAY, so next up: MY BATHROOM!!!!!

We have these colors all throughout my house now, and I am here for it. My walls are SW Alabaster, vanity is SW Inkwell, and my doors are a fun mixture of 1/2 Stardew and 1/2 Uncertain Grey. You just come in and ask for a half gallon of each and then to mix it together! It’s so pretty.

We are slowly painting all the doors in our home this mixture, and are restoring some furniture with the Inkwell. I also have some dreams of an Inkwell accent wall in my dining room with gold frames! A key to freshening up your home is picking a pallet and sticking to it in all your main spaces. It helps your resell value and is just aesthetically pleasing.

I linked below some of the additions to our bathroom I have in my cart, waiting for my budget to say “go!” 😉

 

Ready in 15!

Since becoming a mom, getting ready as quickly as possible has become… a necessity. There are days I get just 20 minutes to do hair, make-up, and get dressed while Knox runs around my room. If you asked my parents if they thought this could ever be possible, they would actually probably laugh in your face. And then say, “Oh you were serious?” When I was a kid/teenager, I literally could take 2+ hours to get ready and pick out an outfit. Every day was a catastrophe of nothing to wear and a mountain of clothes on my floor that I would have to then come home to put away… just to have the same ordeal the next day. In middle school, I actually had a bulletin board I took pictures of my outfits for the week and would plan out. O_o It’s my wing 1 coming out…. #enneagram humor.

Anyways, all this to say, getting ready in 15 is such an accomplishment for me that I wanted to share my secret. 😉 I have THREE TIPS that have 100% made getting ready so easy!

  1. A closet that has ONLY items I love. I have mentioned this before, but seriously y’all. Do it. Pitch anything that doesn’t make you feel awesome. Don’t have a ton of pieces hanging in your closet that you’re frustrated to “have” to wear because you need to do laundry. I love every single piece of clothing currently in my closet, and I am confident that if I had to throw something on I could (even if my TOP favorite items were dirty).
  2. Good skincare. So, first, I have learned how to do my make-up far better (and just way less!!!) than middle and high school. 😉 Praise God for glowing up and social media helping all us ladies learn how to ACTUALLY do our make-up rather than wearing foundation way too dark, eye shadow too high, and mascara too thick… Just me? But, for real, good skincare and quality make-up products have made getting ready so easy. There are days I literally put barely a layer of foundation and perhaps a layer of mascara, and it’s because I feel so confident in my skin! That goes WAY deeper than my physical skin, that is FOR SURE. However, having clear and beautiful skin has helped me feel less need to wear make-up. It’s made my routine a lot faster! I can do my make-up in a solid two minutes or less. Not kidding.
  3. T3 MICRO HAIR DRYER!!!!! This is my #1 practical reason I can get ready so quickly now. This hair dryer is worth every single penny. It blow dries my hair in 4 minutes, minimal to no frizz. If I use the blow out brush with it, I literally don’t have to touch my hair with a hot tool of any kind. I throw in some texturing spray and some serum… and I am good to leave. The first few times I tested this drier, I was sure it was going to be an overrated item. It’s not. I am a believer! Just like I believe in quality, more expensive make-up that lasts longer and needs less… I am now a believer in quality hair tools. It really does make a difference! The awesome news is that this drier is part of the NSALE!!!
    #NSALE Items 
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