Five Simple Things (January 13)

Hello. Happy Friday the 13th!

Here are five things this week.

1. This Kitchen.

We recently went with this simple kitchen setup for the school bus and are looking for an innovative way to create a kitchen area around it. We have some ideas, but for now, we are pleased with the sink and counter setup on this small kitchenette. You can check out our progress on No Rain the Bus here.

2. This Kaleidoscope.

Ever since I bought this kaleidoscope, it has been taking it on every single road trip and have been finding small amounts of child-like joy using it. Marble kaleidoscopes are some of the best images you'll see with your eyes. I highly recommend this one from Schilling, and you can grab one here for under USD$10.

3. This Doggy.

Always the best doggy ever. Hardy turned 14 in December, but he is still the spunky little PITA, that's full of energy that we love

4. These Electronics.

The absolutely best noise-cancelling headphones I've found. If you're noise-sensitive, like me, or need a tool to help calm your anxiety, I highly recommend these by Raycon. I wear them shopping in busy stores like, Costco, IKEA, etc. I also wear them at the dentist office, checkups, and even working out. They have really helped keep filter out intrusive noises. You can get the exact ones pictured above here. Skylar uses this earbud version of these same Raycons and loves them, too. You can get those here.

These index cards and notebook have helped us save a lot of paper waste. The index cards have come in handy for Skylar and me during our college classes. Taking notes and quick study guides has been a breeze. These are from the Rocketbook brand and come with a cleaning cloth and pen. You can get the notebook here and the index cards here.

Grab us a new bus dash camera. This one mounts on the large rearview mirror on the front of the school bus and we have already been using it. We are hoping to get one that's larger for the back of the school bus, too, but aren't quite sure which style we want to go with. You can find this one and similar ones here.

5. This "Village."

We bought these to color and create a neighborhood scene, but we have been enjoying them just being plain white with the black lines. They are from IKEA.

One last thing:

Looking for some good news in the midst of all the negative? Check out the Good Newspaper. It's a monthly newspaper that helps give you some insight on an old Mr. Rogers quote of, "Look for the helpers." The Good Newspaper definitely helps show us all the helpers in the world. You can sign up here for the low rate of $8.

Positive affirmations this week:

Keep this in mind: If a person is successful, society will notice even the slightest mistake. So remember, mistakes are part of any process, especially successful progress, and what others think of this progress shouldn't dictate your success. I've had people that should be supportive, not supportive at all. It took a lot of time to realize these people were not looking out for my best interest. It hurt to finally realize their intentions were to hold me back, but now that I know, they are kept at a distance, rather than by my side. If you, too have people that aren't rooting for your success, then distance them and keep plugging away! You can do this!