Sharing all Friends TV Show themed gifts!!!
Have that friend who is obsessed with the Friends TV show?! Well, I’ve scoured the internet and found some great gifts that you can get them for their birthday or special occasion! Check it out below!
There you have it! Some great gifts for that friend who is obsessed with Friends!!
xoxo,
m
Today I’m talking about maternity tops!
Keeping up with my style has been my biggest concern ever since my non-maternity jeans stopped fitting me. Once that happened, I had to purchase some new tops and jeans. Today, I’ll be sharing what tops I got and what tops I’m loving!
First up, basics. I love shopping at Old Navy, especially because I’m a cardholder. They have great sales and rewards for card members that make shopping there worth it. I made to stock up on 3-4 basic maternity tees. Basic tees are the key to starting any kind of wardrobe. If you’re struggling with starting a maternity capsule wardrobe, start with the basics! Here are some options for you to check out! Best part! Old Navy is having a sale on these tops! Only $7!!
Next up, I went over to Motherhood Maternity to see what they had on sale. Personally, I can’t spend a lot of money on clothing that I will only wear for 9 months, so shopping sales is what I’ve been doing! I did find an awesome white sleeveless top but they sold out. So! I’ve found a few other ones I think are just as cute!
Once you have basics down, I think it’s important to add in some other styles of tops. I was able to find some great options on Amazon that I wanted to share as well! All under $30!!
There you have it! Some great maternity top options for those who are struggling to find some options. I love shopping but I do know how hard it can be, so I wanted to make it easier for you! Happy shopping!
xoxo,
m
Mother’s Day is just around the corner! I’ve collected some of my favorite gift ideas for mom! Check them out below!
Personalized Jewelry
Something I love doing for my mom is giving her personalized items. I can’t give her the same thing every year so I always mix things up. But I think it’s such a nice touch to give her something personalized. With me pregnant with my first child, this year this is something I’m definitely doing with the name of my first child. While I haven’t decided where I’m going to buy it from yet, here are some shops that I’m looking at:
Spa Gift Card
Spa treatments are always a good gift, no matter the occasion! Moms, especially, are the most deserving of spa treatments. No matter the treatment, spa gift cards are always a good idea! Whether it’s just a manicure, pedicure or massage, it will be a good gift!
Retail Gift Card
Shopping is a women’s most favorite thing to do. There are not many women out there that hate shopping. If you don’t know her favorite store, then find out and get her a gift card to that store specifically. Moms are selfless. If you give them a Visa gift card, they will most likely use it on their kids or family. So, get her a gift card to her favorite store so that she can only spend it on herself!
Cook for her
This option really only works if you live close to your mom. Moms love nothing more than having someone cook a meal for them. They don’t have to think about what to make and can actually relax and enjoy a meal! If you’re not a good cook, take her out to eat. It gives the same result!
Meal Service
This is something that I’ve been loving personally, so I know this would be something that my mother would love! Depending on your budget, giving 1 week or 1 month of meals is a great gift for a working or stay-at-home mom. Giving her the option of not even having to think about meals is something that will really bless her!
Cleaning Service
If you’re like me, working full-time and having to come home to clean just isn’t something I love doing. So the idea of having someone come and deep clean my house for me, THANK YOU JESUS!! If this is in your budget, do this for your mom! Hiring a service to come and clean your moms house is something that will probably shock her to her core!
Favorite Things
Spend the day doing all of your moms favorite things! Even if they are things you don’t like or hate doing. Spending some good quality time with your mom is something she will always remember!
Night at a hotel
This is something that I think is a great and creative idea. Just because it gives your mom some alone time. Some times, what moms want the most, is just some quiet time. Getting her a hotel room where she can just be alone to read or watch her favorite movies or shows without anyone bothering her would just bring her so much peace! Especially if she has a lot of kids!
What are you planning to get your mom this year? Let me know below!
xoxo,
m
So, as most of you probably know by now, we are having a baby GIRL!! I still can’t believe it. For some time, my husband and I thought we were having a boy. We were fully convinced. About two days before my reveal I changed my mind and thought it was a girl. But I mean, really, you can’t really know until you see the sonogram picture. We were so surprised and happy. We have been so blessed!
I wanted to share some pictures from that day to just show you how emotional it was for us. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen my husband jump so high before ever! Even when he’s playing basketball! Can you tell he was excited?! Lol.
Of course, I’m beyond excited too. I mean I feel like girls are just so fun! So many cute outfits and things you can do together. I can’t wait! We do have a first name picked out, but we haven’t decided on a middle name. I might share it on the blog, but it probably won’t be until we know for sure what her name will be.
My amazing friend through our Gender Reveal and my awesome sis-in-law took our photos. My friend definitely tricked us that day though! She initially told us she put the reveal inside of a cake. So my husband and I started to cut the cake and pulled out the slice to see what it was and it was just vanilla icing! Let me tell you, as he was cutting that slice of cake my hands were sweating and my heart was pounding! Then to see it was a joke! Ugh! My heart dropped! Then she came out with a balloon and a pin. That was the scariest thing ever too because I was afraid it was going to pop in my face! You can kind of see that in the pictures. But it was the best day ever, finding out that I’m having a daughter! I still can’t believe it.
That night, as I was lying in bed, all I could do was thank God. This whole pregnancy has been amazing. Yes, it hasn’t been the most comfortable at moments but to know that I’m bringing a child into this world is really just a blessing from God. I can’t wait to keep sharing more from my pregnancy journey into my motherhood journey!
xoxo,
mp
Photos done by: Elsie Calo
Top from: Motherhood Maternity (Currently on sale)
Jacket from: Old Navy (Currently on sale)
Jeans: Old Navy (Currently on sale)
As a Worship Director, I have to stay organized and on top of things. Not just for my own sanity but for my team. Our worship team consists of college students and adults who work full-time jobs and have families. If I’m not organized, it affects everyone. As our church is also growing, it’s important that I remain organized for the sake of our pastoral staff as well. So that everyone is in the know of what is happening in each department that we run.
My husband and I are Co-Worship Directors at our current church. I mainly focus on all the admin work for the department while he focuses on the music side of things. I take care of the scheduling of our teams, our song selections for the month, our department budget, and some more. I also take care of the social media account for our church, which is a work in progress at the moment, our churches app and our website. It’s a lot of work but it helps me stay busy during the day. I’m working on updating a lot of it, but it might take a little while.
As someone who loves to stay organized, I love to create different templates to help me stay organized. Right now, we use Planning Center to help us schedule our teams and what not, but before anything goes into Planning Center, I created a monthly template that I use to write out what the month will look like scheduling and song wise. Doing this help me to get my ideas down on paper and be able to go over everything with my husband before anyone gets scheduled. I don’t know about you but I’m the type of person that loves to write things down. There is something about a piece of paper and a pencil that just helps me get my thoughts out. I love computers but sometimes writing things out is better for me.
Below I’ve given a screen shot of what I use to plan our teams for the month. This has really helped me and my team to on top of what we have going on. If you would like a PDF copy of this template, simply leave a comment with your email and I will send it out to you! I have different templates for our weekend services and our midweek services. Let me know which you would prefer!
What are your favorite tips/tricks for staying organized in ministry?? Leave a comment below!
Okay so some time ago I saw an Instagram post from The Daily Grace Co about a sale they were having on their devotionals and decided to purchase some. I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for a good devotional. I love learning more about God’s Word in different ways and from different people. I had heard of The Daily Grace Co in the past and figured I would make the purchase and check it out for myself!
I purchased the following devotionals:
So far, I’ve honestly loved them. If you are trying to get into a habit of adding a devotional time to your day, this is a great way to start. These studies are easy to digest and easy to follow along with. They have a great layout in their books with gorgeous photos to go along with each study. I really loved that each study isn’t crazy long so it’s not intimidating at all. They offer a wide variety of topics on their website in their bible studies. They also offer other products that are super cute, like home décor, bibles and verse cards.
I would definitely suggest checking them out! I know that you will be able to find something for whatever stage you’re at in your faith journey.
What are some of your favorite devotionals from other companies/authors? Let me know below!
So as of today (2.17.19) I’m 17 weeks pregnant. Which doesn’t seem that far along but it’s definitely far along enough for me to notice changes in my body. Which, honestly, has been the hard part for me. Prior to becoming pregnant, I had already gained close to 30 pounds in about 3.5 years. I was previously on birth control, which was the main reason I gained so much weight. It was so hard for me to lose weight while on birth control that I actually stopped trying. I finally made the decision to get off birth control because my husband and I were ready to start our family. I figured that as long as I’m watching what I’m eating (I normally eat very healthy anyways) that I can focus on really losing weight after the baby.
With all of that being said, fast forward to today, and I am currently growing a tiny human being and am gaining more weight. As I’ve been seeing my body change, I’ve had to consistently encourage myself and tell myself that it’s okay. This is the first time I’m going through this so I don’t know what to expect with the body changes. I mean my stomach is getting bigger and harder, my boobs have gotten bigger and I’m not really sure I like that, and I think I’m retaining water. I know that more changes are coming and soon I’m sure. Which is okay. I think the more I talk about it the more I can accept everything that is happening. Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond excited to be pregnant with our first child. This is something I’ve been wanting for the last year. It’s just so weird to see my body changing this way.
Every day I look at myself, I’m reminded of what a miracle life is. It’s so crazy to think about how God created the female body with the ability to create life like this. It’s such an amazing experience. As crazy as it can be, it’s so worth it.
My first trimester was not easy. Granted it may not have been as bad as what other women experience but it was still hard for me. I was consistently nauseas and not able to throw up. Which I would have rather done just to get rid of that feeling. I was so exhausted all I could do when I got home from work was lay on the couch for a few hours then go to bed. All I could eat was scrambled eggs and toast. So much so that after 2.5 weeks of that, I literally couldn’t stand even looking at eggs. That lasted for about 3 weeks. I started to feel really about the fact that I could barely eat. I started to feel guilty, like I wasn’t taking care of myself or my baby well enough. When I went to the doctor and explained what was going on, she basically said, “Right now, you’re just eating to survive. Eat what you can. This will pass.” Once I heard her say that, it was light a weight was lifted off my shoulders.
Now that I’m in my second trimester, my appetite is back fully and my energy is somewhat back. I’ve concluded that I will probably be tired for the next 18 years now so I’ve come to terms with it already.
For those women who may have just found out they’re pregnant, don’t be scared. You got this. Our bodies were made for this. We’re strong and we can do this together!
What is your favorite part of pregnancy so far? Let me know in the comments below!
(Shirt pictured above from Confident Motherhood. Shop here!)
Hey Loves! It’s been so long since I’ve written a post. So much has happened in these past few months that has pulled my focus away from my blog. But now that I’m settled into my new place and new job, I’m finding more time to devote to writing and other ventures.
If you haven’t noticed, I changed my blog name to “Simple Life by Megan Perez.” Why? Because I’m finding that as I’m getting older I’m changing. I find that I’m not all about having the most expensive things or tons of materialistic items. I’m more about having the #simplelife now especially since I’m expecting my first child. Life isn’t about the “things” it’s about the experiences and growing through them. Now don’t get me wrong, I still care about fashion and beauty and what not, so don’t worry I will still have those posts here! But my goal with this is to try and help you all live the #simplelife too and to inspire your own personal growth in different areas of your life. I’m a firm believer that you can never stop growing and honestly you shouldn’t want to stop growing!
I’m working on content right now to share with you on different tips and tricks to help you live out that #simplelife! Don’t forget, you can always leave comments below on anything you’d like me to cover!
Have a great day loves!
xoxo,
mp
Hey loves, I wanted to kind of give a life update since I realized a lot has changed in the last month or so and I haven’t really shared much. It’s been quite the rollercoaster of emotions to be completely honest. I don’t really think I’ve fully come to a place where I can say I’m no longer emotional about everything that happened.
It’s also hard to figure out how much you should share about your personal life and how much you should hold back. But what I can say is that within the last few weeks, I was recently laid off from my job. It was a crazy experience and I didn’t see it coming. I knew that God was beginning to transition us into a different season of our lives but I never anticipated that this transition could happen so fast. This wasn’t happening according to my timeline. But it turns out it was God’s timeline.
In this moment, I really needed to think about my faith and trust in God. Did I really trust Him enough to know that He will supply our each and every need like it says in Philippians 4:19?
Philippians 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
So, of course that thinking reigned in my head for a few days after everything happened. But as the days have gone by, I have started to realize that I do have that faith and trust in God. And that maybe this needed to happen in order for me to realize that I do have that faith. William (my husband) and I are coming to such a weird place in our lives. We are seeing one-chapter end and another begin. It’s such a weird feeling. Because you can see what is ahead and you just want to get to that point already and just be done with it. But at the same time, you really can’t do that. You have to see this out to the very end. Only then can Chapter 2 really begin. So, to be honest, it’s just really weird.
But it’s also very exciting. I feel like William and I are finally getting to a point in our lives where are seeing all of our hard work come to fruition. We are finally able to starting setting down the path that we have been waiting for, for so long. And it’s a great feeling. Of course, this new chapter means moving to another place, graduating and starting a new life, which is all exciting. But it’s also kind of sad to see this chapter that we are currently in end. I know that I’ve said to a lot of people how excited I am to finally be done with this chapter and move on. But to be honest, it hasn’t really been that bad. God has provided for us these past two years here and really grown us. It’s hard to see that growth while you are going through it but as you look back you can really see what has changed. My marriage has grown stronger, my relationship with the Lord has grown stronger, I’ve come to fully trust and have faith in God like I have never before. It’s amazing really.
Hebrews 11:1: “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
I’m even more excited to see what challenges lye ahead of us and what type of growth we will experience at that point as well. For now, I’m home blogging full time and finishing my graduate degree. I’m really enjoying this time of rest and I’m trying to make the best of it by staying somewhat active. So, if you have any topics you’d like me to cover in a future post, just let me know! Leave a comment below!
xoxo,
mp
Today I’m rounding up 11 items that I just cannot live without on a day to day basis!
Make sure to click on the links to shop these products!
What are some items that you can’t live without?? Let me know in the comments below!
