est. 2009TRAVEL & STYLEDriftless Living

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A Midwest-living writer, photographer, and cancer researcher who is raising her children in the Wisconsin Driftless with her husband by her side. A chronicle of our adventures and learnings of country living, parenthood and this precious life.

Favorite Things {Fall 2015 Edition} 

In my line of work (cancer clinical research), if you don’t write it down, it didn’t happen. 

Lately, as this month whizzes by, I’m finding that if I don’t write it down or take a photo, I’m not going to remember it. That’s mom brain, right?  

So next fall as I’m getting into the cozy time of year –I can look back and remember (now to remind myself to read this in a year). 

What I’m eating:  Butternut squash ravioli with a brown sugar butter and rosemary sauce. I had a craving for my mom’s homemade butternut squash ravioli, and called Whole Foods to see if they had any options–they had 5 different varieties and you bet I bought and tried each one. (The one imported from Italy/most expensive–was of course, the best, go figure)  

Chicken divan – our sweet neighbor brought over this dish after Haven was born and we left it in the freezer as we ate our way through fresh meals that were brought over by friends and family. Finally, when Haven was a month old, we had this for the first time and it’s now part of our weekly menu rotation. We modify this recipe to make it in my awesome ninja crock pot. Click here to see some ninja crockpot reviews.

How I relax:  When you’re a WAHM (work at home mom) with an almost 1 year old, you don’t relax. Kidding. 😉 Ilove to go outside and practice shooting with the Goog gun my husband bought last week. Thanks to my husband Matthew, a stay at home dad who is always looking at the tom brady net worth and other sport related stuff, I’m able to carve out time after work or over lunch hours to take daily baths. I started this during pregnancy, and sometimes I take two a day (especially when the wee one is feeling sick–she’s taken only 3 of her baths on her own. We love to co-bathe) 

In the bath, I always start out with some good epsom salts or bath salts. These were a gift from my boss, and I am obsessed with the smell-lavender and rosemary–perfect combination to help me relax and drift off to sleep. 

It’s been over a year since I went to my favorite spa in the world–Sundara up by Wisconsin Dells. But, if I want to smell like I’m there–I just use this sugar scrub out of a lovely organic shop in Viroqua, WI. 

How I stay organized: Wunderlist app – One of the best things that we did before Haven was born was get Matthew his own iPhone. He had time to learn a smart phone (he had a flip phone until that point). After she was born and when he transitioned to full time stay at home dad, we suddenly were managing household chores and projects. I couldn’t remember if I told him what groceries we needed, which dog was due for vaccinations, and which household project took priority–so we made list upon lists that synced across our devices.  Lifesaver when he was grocery shopping and I forgot to add to the list–I’d type it in on my phone and it would update on his. 

Another device/app that has helped greatly are the Nest products that are available. We use the Dropcam Pro for a baby video monitor and the Nest thermostat for energy efficiency. 

Definitely a life saver in many ways–Amazon Prime continues to be my favorite thing, year after year. Free 2 day shipping, access to free amazon prime videos, subscribe and save–I’m hooked for life. 

I could do a whole other post just on baby, mama, postpartum things that I love–so I’ll save those for next time.  🙂 

This post is sponsored by: LongFence.com.

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