From corporate world to play time

My life has changed dramatically in the past 5 months. My days used to be filled with business attire, meetings, appointments, spreadsheets, phone calls, messaging, and more spreadsheets. 

Now my days consist of sweat clothes, snack times, playgrounds, pools, tea parties, monster truck races, dirty diapers and runny noses. Instead of taking meeting notes, I help use finger paints to create beautiful pictures for mommies. 

I kiss a lot of boo boo's, hug a lot of necks, drink a lot of fake drinks and eat a lot of fake foods. I no longer have to meet deadlines, I no longer have a designated lunch break. I don't sit behind a desk 9 hours a day anymore, I only sit at the library for story time.

I am constantly on my toes, chasing after an infant or 4 year old. I'm ready to take a nap at 1:00 but ready to do all the madness all over again tomorrow.

I'm no longer in corporate America and now just Mrs. Clara who comes to play.

I love my job and grateful The Lord has allowed me to be a a stay a stay at home wife and nanny.

I don't miss the corporate world one bit and love being able to help out my sweet families. Isn't life to be enjoyed anyway?

I am forever grateful to my husband as well. He is encouraging, supportive and

Loving in my new role. I don't think he minds my happier demeanor too and the fact that the house is always cleaned before he gets home.

I hope and pray that I am lucky enough to be a Mom one day, but until then, I think I've got a pretty awesome gig helping other moms and dads out.

Clean Living | Homemade hard lotion & lip balm {DIY}

Welcome back to my Clean Living series. I've been posting so far about ways we have switched to clean eating, but today I'm going to share with you a clean living body product made by yours truly.  I posted on Instagram a couple of weeks ago a picture of my own homemade lip balm and hard lotion. From that picture,  I got so many emails and messages about how to make these items. Well, you're in luck because today I'm sharing them with you.  How did I start making my own lotion? When the hubs and I traveled to Maui in March, I had a prescription patch to help me not get motion sick. I wore a  tiny band-aid like patch on my neck that provided 3 days worth of medication to cover sickness.  I then started thinking about all the products I put on my skin daily, lotion being a major item I use. I also found out that everyone's skin absorbs 64% of whatever you place on it.  

Thoroughly freaked out, I began researching clean products that were chemical free and safe to put on my skin. I came across hard lotion bars and knew I wanted to make these. I am addicted to lotion and always have a tube with me. Hard lotion is great for tough, dry skin. My husband has very sensitive skin so we have to be careful with what we use. I've also come across many friends and family members who struggle with eczema who cant find a lotion that helps their skin. Since we started clean eating and the entire clean living process, I have wanted to switch over to more natural and simpler body products and lotion was the first place I started. 

I use only 4 ingredients in my lotion and 3 in my lip balm. 

The lotion bar consists of Shea butter or cocoa butter, beeswax, coconut oil and vitamin e oil. 

I ordered all my grandaunts from Bulk Apothecary. I used a double boiler and added 1 cup of beeswax, Shea butter and coconut oil together and melted down. Once it was melted, I pulled off the heat and added 1/2 teaspoon of vitamin e oil (just so the bar stays together better). I put into a mold I bought from Hobby Lobby and let it dry. Depending of the season, you can add more beeswax to make it harder for summer or add more coconut oil to make it softer during the winter. 

Once your bar is made, pack it in a tin or wrap in paper to keep from getting everywhere. 

All you have to do to use is rub the bar in your hands and your natural body heat with warm enough of the lotion off to use.  

The bars are fantastic because they transport easily and last a long time. The size bar I made should last up to a year! Its also nice to know exactly what is in your beauty product instead of a 15 ingredient list that you have no clue what any of it is, besides water!

After the bar, I used the same ingredients (minus the vitamin e oil) and made lip balm tins. 

These babies are awesome and I have at least 2 tins with me all the time.

They are easy to make and wonderful to use. If you don't want to make your own, email me at clarasschoen@gmail.com and you can buy them from me.  This lotion bar is an easy and quick way to begin switching over your bathroom products to clean living. 

My weekend with a brother

I had a blast this past weekend! One of my older brothers is in town visiting and I love having him here! I have two awesome brothers and The one visiting, Nathan, is just 13 months older than me. We get along really well and have always been close.

This past weekend, we hung out, watched movies, visited my sisters family and played some old school Nintendo 64 games.

I plan to take him around Birmingham today and show him the town. He has visited numerous times, but never really toured the city. I guess after 4 years of me living here it's time to show him my home.

Other than that, I've got some serious pain in my right hand making it very difficult to type/move/pick things up. I think I've possibly pinched a nerve, so I'm going to try and give my pathetic hand as much rest as possible. I've never injured anything before so I feel a bit like a baby with a cramping hand. Hopefully it will heal soon.

Hope your weekend was great and the start to your week!