Life Lately: April 2019 Edition

Life Lately: April 2019 Edition – Angie Cruise Blog

Life Lately: April 2019 Edition

A little bit of what’s been going on in life currently…

Let’s catch up a bit, shall we? It’s been

long since I posted any sort of personal update on my blog, and I don’t know about you, but that’s one of my favorite things about following bloggers! One of my favorite bloggers to follow regularly is Paige from

An Uncomplicated Life Blog

and she does these every now and then and I really enjoy seeing her personality shine through a bit more.

We’ve had a lot of helpful stuff shared on the blog lately. Everything from

, and even an op-ed piece I wrote about

. But sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and connect, don’t you think? So, sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, and let’s have a nice little catch up sesh.

Birthdays and Easter, Oh My!

In the last month, we have not only celebrated Easter, but we also celebrated Charlotte turning five! She asked for a unicorn rainbow party…a perfect match for her (indecisive) personality.

There were rainbow streamers, bubbles, glow sticks, and unicorns galore!

Addie (10) decided to make and decorate the cake, which really sparked an interest in cake decorating for her. Check this out, ya’ll. She might be a natural.

She made another one for Easter, which was also my dad’s birthday. This one was much simpler since it was such a busy weekend, but she had a blast with it, too.

Easter itself was a really fun day, too, since my whole family gathered here after church. We grilled, hunted for eggs, and laughed more than we’ve laughed together in

. It was really nice to get everyone together and not feel rushed at all. What a great reminder to just slow down and enjoy life every now and then.

We Bought a New Truck!

Yep. We’ve been talking about it for about a year, but even though

wasn’t quite ready for a new monthly note, our old car-the same car that moved us across the country twice and brought both of our babies home from the hospital- had other ideas. I’m not even joking when I say the wheel

fell off as the result of a broken axel.

It really feels like the end of an era, but it’s

having a truck and knowing that we’ve got a dependable vehicle for my husband again!

I’m calling this truck my leap of faith and believing with all my might that this “little” side biz of mine is going to cover the note. Let’s just say, it’s my new “Why!”

I’ve Discovered a New Wine

Okay, I realize it looks really weird that this new wine deserved it’s own headline in my life update, but it’s a

We’ve been cleaning up our lifestyle for

now. Everything from our

household cleaners

. I even buy organic, fair trade, biodegradable coffee pods for my keurig, ya’ll. It’s serious around here. But, one thing I never considered was that my wine included more than it appeared.

Last November, I heard of a wine that claims to not have any additives. I was intrigued, and started looking into them out of curiosity.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to try it. It turns out that in order for most conventional wine companies to produce a consistent product, they resort to pesticides, chemical additives, sugar, artificial colors and flavors.

In February, after lots of research into the company, I decided to give it a try. I ended up loving it so much that I became a rep, because I literally can’t shut up about it. I haven’t found a wine I didn’t love, and knowing there are no additives makes it even better!

Psst: It turns out, all those wine headaches I was getting off one or two glasses were actually coming from all the additives, not the wine itself! I love that I can enjoy a glass now and feel

the next day. If you want to learn more or check it out yourself,

check out their website here

If you decide to grap a bottle (or 6) to try, I highly recommend The Resident White Blend and Red Blend, along with the Fieldhouse Cabernet and Inizi Rose. Trust me ya’ll. I used to be a committed red wine drinker, but it turns out that without all the added sugar, I’m

enjoying some of these lighter wines as the temps warm up!

We’re Signed On for Another Year of Homeschool!

Yep. If you remember last year, we decided to pull our oldest, Addie, from school and try homeschooling at her request. None of us were sure how it would work out, so we committed to one year. At the end of that year, we said we’d evaluate and go from there. (You can read more about that decision

). Well, about a month ago we all talked and agreed that we’ve had an

year. I’ll be putting together a blog post with a year-in-review soon, but we decided to go ahead and plan on homeschooling another year!

I bought curriculum for

and 5th grade, and the day it came in was really exciting. We’re definitely a house full of book nerds, so 3 boxes full of books arriving on our doorstep was so much fun! I’ll share more about our curriculum later, but it’s a huge relief having next year all planned out for me! Last year, I put the full curriculum together myself, which was a

of work, so an open-and-go curriculum will be a nice change!

Want to see what we got and how excited my kids were? I added our unboxing to my featured stories on Instagram, so you can find those by

clicking on my profile

and finding the “Homeschool” icon at the top!

I Started a Photography Challenge

I’ve always been really into photography, and after years of rubbing elbows with some

photographers in my last business, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good eye for angles and lighting. This year, I made a huge investment in my business in order to take better images for my blog, and bought a new camera.

I’d found myself in a rut as far as photography went for a long time, but getting that new camera in really sparked my old interest for photography! My friend and family photographer, Simone from Ivy Lane Portraits, really encouraged me to do a year-in-review type of challenge with her which has pushed my to learn more and use my camera every single week for something

work related. Here are a couple of my favorites so far. What do you think? (But go easy, because this is, after all, just a hobby!)

Whew! So, that’s what’s going on around here! We’re all pretty pumped for summer, a break from this gloomy Texas winter we’ve had (seriously, I feel like I’m back in Seattle!), and a few fun vacations with friends.

Want more updates? You might like these posts!