It's the turn of another decade, I'm 36 years old, and the more time that goes by, the more urgent it feels to compile a list of valuable information to pass down to my kids, that they can pass down to their kids, and so on.

In this life, I've had a child in every decade {16 years old, 22 years old and 31 years old). I've been poor and I've been well off. I didn't go to college, but built a successful business and went on to build 3 more. I've experienced death of loved ones. I've experienced depression, and I've experienced tremendous happiness. I feel like I'm at a good place to offer up some good old fashioned words of wisdom, so here goes!

1.) Don't quit one job until you have another lined up.

2.) Take lots of pictures. I mean, a TON.

​3.) Don't waste a single second of your life worrying about what other people think of you.

4.) Don't follow the trends. Set them.

5.) Your "check engine oil" light isn't like your gasoline light. {Ask me how I know... RIP, 1996 Geo Metro.}

6.) Never sacrifice your financial independence for anyone. Ever.

7.) Be kind, BUT never EVER let people walk all over you.

​8.) Rid your life of toxic people the moment you discover they're toxic.

9.) Failure is a part of life. It's the only way to determine success. Kind of like, no rainbows without rain, ya know? Learn from your mistakes and use them as building blocks to make you better.

10.) No matter how alone you feel, you never will be. I will always be with you. I mean that. I will always find a way.

11.) Don't wish your childhood away. 

12.) Stand up for what is right and stick up for people being wronged.

13.) Be the bigger person.

14.) School doesn't always make you smart. Education does. Never stop educating yourself no matter where you choose to do so.

15.) When baking, if a recipe calls to add the eggs separately, do it. There IS a reason.

16.) Learn a craft. You need to know how to do or how to make something. Always have something to offer. {Thank you, Mrs. Meyer (sp?), my 7th grade Home Ec teacher at Rogers Middle School in Affton, for teaching me to sew. Not only does it earn me a living, it is therapeutic.}

17.) Trust your gut. I'm telling you right now, it will not lie to you.

18.) College isn't everything. Loving what you're doing IS. There are very few places of employment that won't require EXPERIENCE. If you take the college route, try to obtain part time employment in the field you are in school for so you have the experience and education required to start your career immediately upon graduation.

19.) The saying "actions speak louder than words" has been around for ages for a reason. Words are just words. We say words out of emotion, things we may never really mean, it's in your actions that will show who you really are.

20.) Always support your small, local businesses first.

21.) You can tell a lot about someone by the way they treat you when you have money vs. when you don't. Pay attention.

22.) Forgive. Forgiveness is important, not for them, but for you. Being honest, though you may be able to forgive {maybe}, you will never {ever} forget what someone has done to you. Keep that in mind when going further in your relationships in life. {Because, actions...}

23.) Use the microwave as little as possible.

24.) Honesty is most definitely the best policy even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment. One lie leads to another and betrayal is hard to get over. We all make mistakes in life. Come clean and move on. Anyone worth being in your life will understand.

25.) If you are going to be "in" something, be ALL in. Whether it's relationships or jobs,  put your all in it or get out of it.

26.) Self care isn't a luxury. It's mandatory to be a successful human.

​27.) Having good manners is important.

28.) You will determine how people treat you by what you tolerate.

29.) Nothing is permanent. Nothing. Don't be afraid to take risks or to leave a town. You can come back from anything. All the magic in life occurs outside of your comfort zone.

30.) Respect and communication are THE key components of a successful relationship. Period.

31.) Learn to love yourself NOW. All the great and not so great things all make you, YOU, and you are amazing. It is imperative you recognize this.

​32.) Debt sucks. Always have a rainy day fund. You never know when you're going to need new wheels, lose a job, or break a limb. A good rule of thumb is to act like 20% of your paycheck doesn't exist and immediately transfer it to an account you won't use unless it's an emergency.

33.) Don't ever be afraid to stick up for yourself and I don't care what that means you'll lose in the end, because at least you'll have your dignity.

34.) There are friends, then there are FRIENDS, ya dig? Invest in FRIENDS. Nurture them. They are your village, and we all need a village.

35.) You only have one body in this life. Do right by it. Give it, bare minimum, 30 minutes a day of exercise. You will never regret it.

36.) Do not use food for comfort. While I'm at it on this one, also be aware of the food you are putting in your body. Some foods do nothing for you, some foods destroy your body and some foods heal and nourish your body. Know the difference.

37.) Set boundaries and adhere to them.

38.) You are in an era of technology where your answer to any question is always just a click away on a device you carry around ALL day long. Use your smartphone to make you smart.

39.) Be grateful. Everyday, be grateful. This world is an amazing place. If nothing else, be glad for each day you are here to be a part of it.

40.) Travel. 

41.) The people most worth keeping are the ones that loved you when you weren't always the most lovable.

​42.) A good friend will tell you the TRUTH, not just what you want to hear.

43.) Often times no one will notice what you do for them until you stop doing it. Keep doing it anyway.

44.) Never let the things you want in life make you forget what you already have.

45.) Lend a helping hand.

46.) Be relentless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.

47.) Laugh a lot.

48.) When {if} you have children, make sure you are ready for them. It isn't fair and it isn't their job to have to grow up with you. {I love you, Hunter, and if you read this, I'm sorry.}

​49.) Live simply, it's less confusing and far more gratifying.

50.) Hold the door for the person behind you.

51.) You are here for a reason. You were created for a reason. No matter how bad life gets, remember that.

52.) Love your mother despite her flaws. You grew inside her. She carried you {in more ways than one}. She brought you into this world. I can guarantee you, every hard time you go through, she's going through it with you. When life is good, she's celebrating with you. Everything she does, she does it with you in mind.

53.) Only surround yourself with people that know your worth.

54.) Learn from your parents mistakes, don't repeat them.

55.) Everything WILL fall into place. It may not be in YOUR timing, but it always will.

56.) Never stay with someone that you have to beg to hang out with you.

57.) To my daughter: Under no circumstance is it ok for a man to raise his hand to you. To my son: It is never ok to raise your hand to a woman.

58.) Always keep a quarter tank of gas in your vehicle, at least.

59.) It's ok to change your mind.

60.) The kid sitting alone in the cafeteria - sit with them.

61.) Don't do drugs. Ever. Seriously, just don't. They will ruin your life if they don't kill you first.

62.) Don't eat yellow snow.

​63.) Tip your server.

64.) Return your shopping cart.

 65.) It's ok to say "no".

66.) Everything you do, do it with love, even when you've been wronged.

67.) Have patience.

68.) Don't judge people off of their political affiliation. It may be tempting, but don't. There are great people on all sides and it's a shame missing out on good people because of blanket judgements.

69.) Never ask a woman, "When are you due?", unless  you are a thousand percent positive she is pregnant.

70.) When {if} you have children, let them sleep with you if you want to.

71.) Life is short. Eat the cake. Just not too much, because -- health.

72.) If you're not going to wash your dishes right away, at least let them soak. Scrubbing sucks.

73.) Form is important. It's better to be able to do 5 pushups right than 20 wrong.

74.) Cook your own food as often as possible. It's healthier. It's satisfying. It is relaxing.

​75.) Never make permanent decisions in moments of temporary anger.

​

Love,
​Liv

​I'm dying to know, what would YOU add to this list? Tell me in the comments below!

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Chances are, if you clicked on this post, you are or have been in this boat, you're looking for a good laugh or both. Either way, here you go...

Sex changes after you have kids. No one wants to talk about it, but it does. It changes even more when you know you are done having kids. It changes even more than that when the thought of becoming pregnant again terrifies you and you are done jamming yourself with birth control pills, patches, shots, and implants all in the name of having carefree sex.

When you reach that point in your relationship, typically you have a conversation with your partner and come to an agreement that he goes in for the snip. Unfortunately, for some of us, it's not that simple.

​Some of us wind up with partners that are "too scared", feel like their manhood is being taken, or whatever their excuse may be, but they will complain on the regular about how sex isn't the same or how it isn't as often as they'd like, but are completely unwilling to do anything about it. This post is for YOU.

Dear Husband,

Get a vasectomy. 

For the love of God, just do it. 

Maybe you've been there, maybe you haven't, but let me tell you, being with someone that refuses to have a vasectomy when you are 400,765,965% sure you're done having children is no easy feat. 

In my humble opinion, the best part is when they complain about sex not being the same or lack thereof, when they have complete control over this. Truth be told, the thought of getting pregnant again scares the ever loving shit out of me, so subconsciously I go into "whatever I have to do to make sure that never happens again" mode.

You've had the privilege of "blowing loads", as you call it (anyone else's husband this classy? I know, I've got a keeper 🤣), for a whopping 12 years. That's 12 whole years of carefree (for the most part) sex. 

Throughout that 12 years, I was stuffing my body with birth control pills, shots, and patches, all to make sure that you could have the sexual satisfaction that you so desired (I know, I know. I did too, but this is about you. I did my part). I'm 35. I'm done. No more pills. This is your turn to take the reigns of responsibility where our family planning is concerned. 

Amidst those 12 years of sexual bliss, I've managed to nourish, house, and grow 2 of our children in this body. 

Aside from ridiculously uncomfortable Pap Smears and exams that occur once a month during pregnancy, I have suffered from sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and a plethora of other ailments that come along with pregnancy.

I've endured contractions. I've endured needles being stuck in me over and over again while being induced. I've endured epidurals. My vagina stretched the size of an entire bagel to squeeze out 2 babies that YOU created with me. I'm left with stretch marks, which I like to refer to as my tiger stripes, and our last pregnancy left a sweet extra 12 pounds on me that legiterally WILL. NOT. GO. AWAY.

I still wouldn't complain about ANY of it... until you start complaining about a vasectomy, that is.

So, forgive me when I cannot even take you seriously when your fear of a 15 minute outpatient procedure makes me literally LOL. Forgive me when I can't understand your hesitation to take accountability for your own role in our sex life to make it thebomb(dot)com again. Honestly, it has me wondering how men are regarded by many as a superior species or pillars of strength because, in all reality, it's rather weak of you. ​

Sincerely,
Your Human Life Growing, Superhuman Child Birthing, Warrior Badass Wife

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Whether you are a stay at home mom or a work at home mom, I'm sure you've already heard a time or 20 how lucky you are to be able to stay at home all day and that you must basically do like, nothing, right?  Like, you couldn't possibly do as much as all those mom's that have to go to work everyday. 

​I. Don't. Think. So.

​You see, I've been both, and let me tell you, being the working mom was easier.  Maybe it wasn't as rewarding, necessarily, but it was easier.  I could go to work and focus on the task at hand while someone else cared for my child.  That's not a knock to the working mom, either.  It's honestly just what my experience was.

​Now, though it may be more difficult, I wouldn't trade being a work at home mom for anything, but imagine my surprise when I received these text messages from my significant other with quite the colorful choice of words (hehe)!

​Good ole auto correct corrected my "nothing" to boring, so I attempted to fix it just for you (haha), but you get the drift.  Before you get too mad at my dude - he was uber stressed at that particular moment, and none of us are perfect, so let's forgive him and move on.

But just to clear things up for everyone that loves to be up in my business:  ​I am how everyone's laundry gets done, I am how people have towels to dry off with when they get out of the shower,

 ​I'm the one who wipes people's pee off the toilet seat, I'm the one who picks up various articles of clothing on a daily basis and gets them to the laundry room, I am the one who puts food on the table (and not your run of the mill mac n' cheese or frozen pizza - I make healthy shit for my family), like my, "Make you poop Chili", Veggie Pot Pie (like chicken, but better, and vegan friendly), and my Baked Spaghetti (where I hide garlic, peppers, and other healthy stuff that the kids don't know about) which you can find in my recipes section sometime next week.

​I am the one who drops off and picks up from school, I am the one who makes sure there are groceries in the house,

​I am the one who makes sure kids have gifts for birthday parties and that they get there, I am almost always the one who gets the children to their sporting activities, I clean up the house at least 3 times a day ( after the toddler destroys it in the morning, after he destroys it in the afternoon, and one final time before I go to bed.)

Then, some where in between all that, I have to find time to run my business so I can pay a car payment, pay for cell phones, put lunch money in bank accounts, pay for insurance, Netflix, Internet, vehicle repairs ($2,500 was my most recent) & maintenance, clothing (even thought I shop mostly second hand or support other small shop's) and provide somewhat of a tiny cushion in the bank in case one of us is ever out of work or falls ill.  Below is an example of a typical "I do nothing" type of day (haha!).

​I run an Instagram account, Facebook business account & group, Pinterest account, Tumblr account, & Twitter account for my Etsy shop and my company website, LivAndCo.com , where I design and manufacture adorable clothing and accessories for your babies and children and occasionally come up with some fab adult tee's as well. 

​I would challenge anyone that has a problem to walk a day in my shoes. You'll die after my morning workout, I promise ;)  (visit my Facebook page Live Better With Liv .  It's my hobby page.), but me, that's just my warm up for getting prepared to rockstar through my day.

While my significant other (who does work his tail off to help support our brood) gets to come home as his break on a weekly basis, I do not have that luxury.  Weekends mean virtually nothing to me.  I'm still rocking the mom boss gig 24/7/365, and if I'm lucky, I may get a tiny vacation or 2 a year (but even then I bring my work with me because I can't afford to take off and I also cannot afford the mental stress of getting backed up on orders).

I have ZERO margin for error. When an emergency comes up, it throws everything off whack, because I literally chew up every moment of my day MOVING and getting stuff done.

So to all the mom bosses - those that are stay at home mom's, work at home mom's, or mom's that hold down that 9-5 and still come home to bathe the kids and put dinner on the table, but get told you must not do much - this one is for you!

I have to go now because I really don't even have enough time to write this post (haha).  No really, I have to go give my son a bath...

This year Father's Day is on June 18th! Father's Day is such a great time to celebrate the awesome dads in your life! We have tons of great Father's Day outfits for baby + toddler in the shop. Here are a few of our favorites:

Another fun way to celebrate Father's Day (besides dressing baby in an awesome Father's Day outfit) is to make a craft for dad! We've found 6 awesome + easy crafts to do with your kids! Dad is going to LOVE this! 

​Nuts about You: http://www.happinessishomemade.net/nuts-about-you-photo-frame-gift-idea/


Best Dad By Par: http://www.craftymorning.com/handprint-golfer-fathers-day-card-for-kids-to-make/


Hardest Working Dad: http://www.craftymorning.com/dollar-bill-t-shirt-fathers-day-card/


You Rock Dad Craft: http://katarinaspaperie.com/2016/05/free-printable-rock-dad-coloring-page-diy-rock-frame/


Love You To Pieces: http://www.craftymorning.com/love-pieces-fathers-day-frame-gift/


Daddy’s Grilling Partner: http://gluedtomycraftsblog.com/2016/05/daddys-grilling-partner-keepsake-wfree-printable.html

We hope your Father's Day is perfect! www.livandco.com