Coffee Break #51 | 20 Questions Style!

Happy February, friends! This month’s behind-the-blog chat will have a bit of a different look. Read on for some “rapid fire” answers to 20 of your submitted questions!

20 Questions!

In every Coffee Break post, I ask you to submit questions you’re curious about. And they can be about anything – DIY life, military life, blog life, mom life…anything!

While there are many questions I’m able to craft longer Coffee Break “segments” around (and sometimes even full, dedicated posts), others are questions that have short, quick, and easy answers that I really can’t elaborate on much.

So this month, I thought it would be fun to pull these quick questions out and answer them all at once! Here we go!

1. Your Hair Is Beautiful. Why Is It Always In a Ponytail?

I do not, in fact, have beautiful hair (thank you, though). It is super thin and very frizzy, with enough curl that it won’t hang straight but not enough that I can wear it curly.

Growing up as a dancer and then becoming a fitness instructor, my hair was always pulled back, tight and out of my face. As a result, I never really learned how to “do it” for style.

To this day, it’s always 100% pulled back either in a ponytail or claw because that’s what I’ve always done, and I don’t know how to do anything different.

2. Do You and Greg Have Family Meetings?

We do now, actually!

As I shared in my last Coffee Break, Greg and I have been feeling a bit scattered; and as a result, have been missing appointments, events, etc. One of our “resolutions” in the New Year was to be more on top of our calendar. So not only did we create some more shared Calendars and joint Task Lists, but we’ve started having a quick “Sunday Meeting” each week to make sure we’re on the same page about the days ahead. This allows us to anticipate one-off changes, who’s covering what activities, what meals are coming up, etc.

One month in, and 2024 has felt much more under control already!

3. Did You End Up Getting a Blog Assistant?

I tried, oh did I try!

In the Fall of 2021, I conducted a fairly extensive interview process and held over a dozen interviews with potential VA candidates. I hired an amazing gal who was a perfect fit…but she was so amazing at what she did, that she was quickly offered a full-time job with one of her other clients. After bouncing around with a few other people, I eventually stopped all my VA contracts with the exception of a dedicated blog reader who helps me with some technical updates behind-the-scenes on a low-commitment basis.

While I could chock the whole hiring/expanding endeavor up to a waste of time (and money), the experience actually helped me realize that I truly prefer being a one woman show.

I have always taken immense pride that every post, every project, every printable, every picture, every email, and every social media post associated with this site comes directly from my brain and fingers (you’d be surprised how much that is NOT the case for other bloggers).

But in an industry where “more” is usually “better,” I attempted to hire out tasks that didn’t require my particular talents so that I could produce…well…more!

But the more things I let go of, the less quality I felt I was delivering and the fewer results I was actually achieving. Sure enough, when I took back control over various aspects of my business, I’ve been able to make more significant gains.

Yes, staying a one woman show means that I’m not able to do “all the things.” There’s a lot I don’t get to and there are plenty of dreams, plans, and ideas still not realized simply because I don’t have time. But “staying small” and maintaining authentic ownership of everything you see here has proved to be the right choice for myself, my lifestyle, and my business.

4. What Essential Oil Do You Put In Your Diffuser?

We’re using this adorable one in our small powder room. And after experimenting with a few different scents, I found that Peppermint is the most noticeable and effective in our small bathroom. It’s also easy to find in large bottles since you have to refill the diffuser weekly.

5. If You Were Not Running Your Blog, What Job Would You Be Doing?

I honestly have no idea because I’ve been at this job longer than anything else I’ve ever done (going on year 13). It’s also so intertwined with our military lifestyle that it’s really quite difficult to imagine a different (and more traditional) career path.

My background is in writing, fitness, nutrition, and wellness; and for a long time before the blog, I was a Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor. But I now never set foot in a gym, so it’s hard to imagine I could have actually done that for my entire life.

As Greg and I (tentatively, slowly) look toward his eventual retirement from the military, we keep talking about being Air B&B hosts or Bed & Breakfast hosts (do those even exist anymore?) or running some sort of event venue.

6. How Many Times Have You Lived on a Military Base?

We’ve lived on base 4 different times: Okinawa, Japan; Quantico, Virginia; and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina twice. Our other 5 moves, we lived off-base in rental apartments (early in our marriage) or houses.

7. What Do You Think of Your Apple Watch?

I love it much more than I expected to. I don’t really use it for all the activity reminders (e.g., stand, breath, etc) or “fancy” apps (Apple Pay, etc). But I very much love getting my texts on my wrist. It’s actually allowed me to put my phone “away” in the evenings (to keep from mindlessly scrolling) but still feel “accessible” via text and phone.

The other thing I really like is setting alarms via voice command. It’s so quick and convenient for cooking/baking, time outs, and taking turns with toys.

8. What’s Your Middle Name? I Notice You Put “Ps” in Your Monograms.

Patricia

9. How Did You & Greg Meet?

Greg and I were both involved in a summer church production of Godspell the summer after our Sophomore year of high school. We were just friends (he was in the cast, I was the choreographer) and went about our separate lives after the show ended.

In our Junior year of college, I transfered to George Mason University, where he was already a student (unbeknownst to me). We (again) met at church and began dating a few months later.

10. What Book(s) Are You Reading Right Now?

I was looking for some “light and fluffy” books over the holidays and stumbled upon this Sarah Adams book at the library. I read it in two days and quickly devoured the next one too. Although the light, romantic plots follow a somewhat predicable framework each time, I find her writing really easy and comfortable to read. I’m diving into The Cheat Sheet this week!

11. What Type of Planner Do You Use?

I don’t use a physical planner (beyond our weekly calendar board).

Years ago, I “burnt” out on a physical planner. I had become a “slave” to my To Do Lists and calendars, and felt burdened by the physical system rather than liberated by the organization it provided. So I shifted everything to Google Calendars (scheduling), Google Tasks (family To Dos), and an online project management software (ClickUp) for everything blog related.

12. What Kind of Sewing Machine Is Worth Investing In?

The one you’ll use.

I’ll be completely honest, I’ve never shopped for a sewing machine. My Mom bought me my first one (read the story here), and I inherited her fancy one. So I honestly don’t know what to look for, what price point to aim for, etc.

That said, I suggest you consider what you want to do with the sewing machine and how frequently. If you want to be able to sew some pillow covers and hem your curtains, a pretty basic sewing machine will be more than sufficient.

But if you (think you) want to get into quilting, embroidery, garment construction, or other specialty projects (or you really plan to sew a lot), you will likely need to invest more to get enhanced capability and quality.

13. Have You Ever Been In Switzerland?

I have not!

My overseas experiences include a study abroad in Cambridge, England during college; a mission trip to the Dominican Republic; a few cruise stops in Mexico and Jamaica; and travel throughout the east (i.e., Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand) while we were stationed in Okinawa, Japan at the beginning of our marriage.

14. I Have Been Trying to Find Your Favorite Turkish Towels, But Can’t!

These are the ones I love. They used to be sold in 20 packs (all varied colors) for a bit cheaper. But these 2-packs still come in all the colors for a decent price. We use them in our bathrooms and around the kitchen; and I love to gift them with a matching bottle of hand soap.

15. How Do You Store Curtain Rods?

A long time ago, we bought a lot of cheap black curtain rods in various lengths, so that no matter how many windows a house has (or how wide), we have matching rods on all the windows.

But this usually means we have to store un-used rods somewhere (especially in our current house where we’ve only hung curtains in one room!)

Our go to solution? Under the wide shelves in the garage. We position the bottom shelf so there is enough space to slide them underneath and keep them 100% out of the way. We are still able to get rods out if needed, but they don’t topple or become a mess either.

16. Could You Share Some Favorite Recipes?

Sure! Here are some of our (recent) favorites:

• Autumn Chicken Dinner With Roasted Vegetables
• Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
• Creamy Mexican Chicken
• Creamy One Pot Chicken and Rice
• Hamburger Gravy (we like it over egg noodles)
• 20 Minute Sausage and Bean Skillet

17. Where in NC Are You Currently Living?

We’re currently stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, about an hour north of Wilmington.

18. Any Tips for Framing Your Own Art

Yep! This is my very favorite hack!

19. What Do You Use to Transfer the Letters Cut by Your Cricut onto Whatever the Design is Going On?

Transfer paper (also called transfer tape) is the key here. Here’s a comprehensive guide for using it.

20. Do You Have Any Second Thoughts On Military Life?

Nope. I was at an event last year where a seasoned military spouse said, “This is a hard life, but it’s a good life,” and I thought that was the perfect characterization.

Moving every few years; living far away from family and friends; deployments and other separations; housing issues. A lot of it is hard. But this lifestyle has also provided us with some amazing adventures and opportunities, friends who’ve became family, and a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves.

While we do (somewhat eagerly) have our eyes set on the end of the military chapter of our story, we don’t regret a minute of it.