If you are a long time reader, then you know that the last couple of years have been super tough for our family. Last year, we lost my father in law very suddenly, then my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and my daughter was diagnosed with POTS. 2019 was a real hard year, but my mom battled through chemo and my daughter started feeling better after we figured out what was needed for her...we were ready for 2020 to be so much better!

I am a super positive person and went into 2020 thinking it was going to be sooo much better, then life went sideways for everyone...I mean, I could do without hearing the word pandemic ever again...how about you? The day that they shut everything down here in KY, I got a call that my Grandmommy wasn't well. My family and I made a trip to WV to see what was going on, and it wasn't good. We made the decision to have here moved here to KY with us and our family banded together along with hospice to take care of her and make her final months of life as comfortable as possible. We lost my sweet Grandmommy on April 24th, and the toughness that I usually have started to fade. I am usually the tough one in my family, the control freak, the mom to everyone, the caretaker. I tried to keep it all going and barrel through taking care of everything, but it was too much. A few months ago, I kind of hit a wall. I was overwhelmed, tired and just sad...it was all a bit too much. So, I took a step back from everything and gave myself a little grace. That's not something I've ever done before, but I don't think I really had a choice. I stopped working for a while and just let myself take the naps when I was tired, took long walks with my husband, ate what I wanted, spent time cuddling with my dogs and just let some things go for a bit! Now, I feel rested and ready to get back to doing the work I love, which is sharing cleaning tips, easy recipes and just having a community with my readers...I've missed y'all! So, thanks for hanging in there with me, and thank you to those who have emailed me to check on me since it's been a bit quiet around here! I can't wait to get back to sharing all my crazy ideas with you again starting today!!

With so many of us stretched to our limits with trying to work from home or work outside of our home, helping our kids learn whether virtually or at school, and just trying to keep our heads above water, I thought it would be a good idea to share my new Printable Menu Planner and Grocery List along with tips for planning meals and saving money at the grocery store. I've been planning our family's weekly menus for a long time, and find that it makes cooking, meal prepping and grocery shopping so much easier, and less expensive too! So, today I'm sharing THIS Free Printable Menu Planner with Grocery List...you can print it and laminate it to use over and over again with a dry erase marker or print it out weekly if you like! I've also included how I sit down and meal plan each week (it's super easy...no crazy steps) and some of my favorite places to find recipes for my family! I even included a sample of a menu and grocery list that I put together for my family. I hope it helps make dinner (or lunch) planning easier for you and your family too!

Jess

To learn how to create a Pinterest Board to save all of my tips, check out the video I made HERE and never lose track of my tips again!

Are you following me on Instagram? I've been sharing some easy cooking and cleaning videos in my Instagram stories along with some fun behind the scenes looks of my home and life...follow along on IG HERE

Have a beautiful day!