My "hasn't failed me yet" stain remover trick you'll LOVE!

It never fails, does it? You get a cute new shirt or that perfect pair of jeans and boom! You get clumsy (or someone else does) and you've got an awful stain that you just can't get rid of.

Or... you have kids and everything is stained because, well, kids.

Last Fall we took a trip to Boston and bought our oldest the cutest hoodie in which she proceeded to live in for the next few months. When I say lived in, I mean she wore it every. single. day.

K isn't the tidiest person and it wasn't long until that teal hoodie was covered in chocolate, taco grease, coffee drips, pen marks or whatever other nonsense she seemed to spill on it during her day. 

It came to the point that I was willing to try anything to get it clean and if it ruined it, well, it was already ruined so anything was worth a shot.

After some Pinteresting (yep, totally made that word up), I stumbled across this stain removal trick and gave it a go and was BLOWN AWAY by how well it worked. I wish I could give the original pinner credit, but I didn't actually pin it (which was  rookie mistake. Don't forget to pin this one!) 

Here is the after picture. I say "hasn't failed me yet" as a total disclaimer just in case one day there is something it can't tackle. So far, it's removed very set in/ washed multiple times chocolate, ink,    grease, ball cap and armpit sweat and even blood stains.(I've got a kid who is a bleeder when it comes to her nose). 

Below is my "hasn't failed me yet" stain removal process. I have it laid out step by step, but you can also scroll down to the bottom and see the process in a one pinnable or savable picture for antsy launderers who don't have time to read. 

What you'll need: 

Hydrogen Peroxide * Baking Soda * Dawn Dish Soap * Scentsy Laundry Liquid 

              

Identify your stain and pour enough hydrogen peroxide over the spot to completely cover. Let it set for 5 minutes. It may bubble and it may not. Both are ok. Here you'll see me remove a set in grease stain on my daughter's shirt (I'm guessing tacos). I went ahead and carried the process onto the lace pocket as it had some bleed over from a denim jacket she'd worn with it.

Squirt Dawn dish soap over stain being sure you have enough to cover your stain.  Sprinkle baking soda over soap and rub to create a thick paste. Let it sit & do it's thing for at least one hour then rinse in the sink to remove excess dish soap.

Finally, wash as normal using Scentsy Laundry Liquid. Laundry Liquid has a powerful 6-enzyme formula that attacks difficult stains while penetrating cleaning agents lift away any excess dirt. It also leaves laundry remarkably clean as it enlivens your clothes, linens and towels it's signature fragrances.

And Ta-Da! No more stain! YAY!

As mentioned before, we've yet to find a stain it can't handle, but also do a test spot with the peroxide on a spot that can't be seen before diving into this process. < You know I had to say it ;)

And for you scrollers, here is your one and done explanation on how to use this stain remover: 

If you use this trick, we'd love to know how it worked for you and what you used it on!            

Share in the comments below & happy laundering! Errr.. never mind. That's lame.

I'll just wish you good luck & see ya stains! - Amanda

Tips from a Wanderer...

It's no secret that our family loves to travel. Between the opportunities we have through my Scentsy business and the experiences we can't wait to have, we are always thinking about and dreaming about our next adventure.

It never fails when we return from a trip that we have friends, family and even strangers asking how we are able to take such fun trips and find such neat places to eat, sleep and play, all while not totally depleting our bank account.

So, here we are with my top tips on becoming a expert Wanderer. While it isn't all of the tricks I use, these are the ones I get asked about the most.
Ready? Let's dive in!

1. Where to stay...

        We have 2 favorite ways of finding a place to rest our travel weary heads. One takes a little planning and the other is for those last minute escapes of whimsy or the "we've been driving forever, let's pull over and stop for the night."

        The first is Airbnb. We were introduced to the Airbnb concept in Nashville some years ago and have never looked back. Using Airbnb gives you the flexibility to find a space that suits your family to a T. Have a big family or big group going? Skip having to book 2-3 separate rooms at a hotel and find a big house to rent instead. This is not to say in the least that we aren't big hotel fans (we are!), but there are times where, when traveling on a budget, you can find some stellar deals on some beautiful  & most immersing places to stay using this avenue. For instance, on a trip to Charleston, SC years ago, we were able to stay in an apartment over a garage in West Ashley (gorgeous area) for a week for $287. For that area, a hotel would have likely tripled that cost.

       I've had many friends say they are nervous to use Airbnb because it's someone's house. Pro tip: Read every review and leave your own after you stay.  It is the BEST way to get a good understanding of what you're walking into. Also be sure to read all the details of the home & things like cancellation policies.

          The other tool we love to use for those last minute hotel needs is HotelTonight. It's an app that can be made to make those very last minute hotel stays. You can search based on your destination, or, if needing to pull over for the night, use the location tracker to see what's nearby. The later in the day you book, the lower the rates get. (They want to fill up those rooms!). If you have a large group, this may not be the right fit, but if it's just a few of you, it's pretty great. While you can't choose the type of room you want at checkout, you will know exactly where you are staying & I've had great luck asking the clerk at check in if they have a specific room available.


Pro Tip: Take a Scentsy mini warmer or our=wall diffuser (coming Fall 2019) and create an intentional scent memory for every trip you take. Scent memories will automatically tie you right back to that incredible destination (and keep your space smelling great in the meantime)



2. What to eat...
   
        Admittedly, I focus on this aspect a LOT when we travel. We love to try new foods and explore what is regionally & the specialty of where we are. I am the gal that will refuse to eat Red Lobster if I'm in Maine. Let's just get real.
        One of the best tips I have for finding what is the best of the best, without getting caught up in chains or tourist traps is Instagram. Yep, Instagram.

         Using IG to search for foodie related hashtags has led us to some incredible eats. So what do you look for? Well, recently we traveled to Austin and so I hopped on IG, hit the search button typed in the following (one at a time of course): #Austin #Austinfoodie #Austineats #Austinfood Then I'll scroll through the pictures that come up and click on whatever looks drool worthy, find out where it's from and go follow their account. On that trip, one of the discoveries was this small, but stealler breakfast joint, Bird Bird Biscuit . Without my IG search, I would have never found this tiny, tucked away gem and it was worth EVERY calorie.

        Another "never has failed us" tool is the TVFOODMAPS App. If you are a Food Network fan, this app is for YOU! You can search a specific city or hit the search to see what's close to you that has been featured on shows like Triple D, Unique Sweets, and more of your favorite TV Food shows. On that same trip to Austin, we discovered Cooper's BBQ through this app and found the most insanely delicious, hands down BEST brisket I've had in my life. It's ruined me on all other brisket.

3. What to do...

     While Google has it role here, my standbys are always Instagram & Pinterest.

      With Pinterest, I can find fellow bloggers own adventures and see what's popular in a certain area simply by typing the city's name in the search box. I do not like getting sucked into tourist traps, so using Pinterest to see what locals love to do is a great way to make the most of your time.

    As with food, I use Instagram to explore what's fun in a city. I use the same method of hash tag searching, but generally will find all I need using the destinations name. For instance, this last weekend we were headed to Denver for a quick 48 trip. By searching #Denver, I found a really neat installation currently being held at the Denver Museum of Art.

    Both of these methods allow you to see what the people who are living in, and others who are visiting, are doing and will save you a lot of time and research.

As mentioned before, because of my business as a Scentsy consultant, we get the opportunity to travel frequently. Whether it's because we've earned an incredible incentive trip or are heading to a regional training or our annual Scentsy Family reunion, we have been to some incredible places over the last 10 years. Those events alone have taken us to Disney World, Disneyland, Charleston, Cozumel, Cancun, Vegas, Dallas, Denver, & many other big and small cities across the US.

The other thing my Scentsy business allows is the freedom to visit other destinations on our personal wish lists. It has helped create time and the financial flexibility to become Wanderers and we take every opportunity we get. We are big believers in memories over stuff around here.

If you have your own travel tips that are your 'go tos' we'd love to hear them! Drop them in the comments below and share your travel smarts with us!

-Amanda

           

Contagious Kindness...

Is this something you've ever experienced before? Contagious kindness? You know, that one act of nice someone did for your or for another that caused you to carry it forward? Isn't it beautiful?

Kindness is a funny thing. We treat it often like it is a rare commodity instead of a vast ocean that simply cannot run dry. Whether it be poured from a word of affirmation or a good deed to make things easier for another, choosing kindness goes so far.

This month, in our Scentsy group, we are going to be focusing on kindness. This focus is often saved for November when we take time to reflect on things we are grateful for, but we don't want to wait. We want to start sharing good right now.

You see, choosing kindness, showing kindness, has to be done with intention. We have to choose to put aside the way we might feel that day or that it maybe isn't second nature and decide that we will be the good in someone else's life. In big or small ways.

Much like showing affirmation and celebration for another's goodness, showing kindness has a 'Jesus, fish and loaves' way of reproducing in huge ways. Whether in filling our own heart's cup or in inspiring the same actions in others. It simply feels good for everyone involved.

So this month, every day, we will be issuing a challenge to our team that will encourage them to be the kind in someone's day. Intentional, purposeful kind. Both to help build up their hearts, but also their businesses.

31 days of changing our communities in small ways that will hopefully leave big impact.

What could your October look like if you did the same? How could your mindset be challenged to begin looking arrows out instead of arrows in? In other words, seeing the world around you and how you can make it better rather than the other way around.

Let this be your challenge to do this alongside of us. A call to action if you will. To write the thank you card, to make the donation, to hold the door, to put the shopping cart back, to leave a small gift for your delivery guy, to drop off food to someone in need, to volunteer at your school, to be the kind. Yes, even to the jerks. ;) That just might be even more contagious.

There is enough to go around...

Last week a friend and I were talking about our roles as leaders and one of the greatest joys in that role being cheering others on. It is an amazing feeling to celebrate other and their accomplishments. Both in life and in their business.

In our conversation, we talked about how unfortunate it is that we have created this culture in our teams and how it should just be the way things are. It shouldn't have to be a purposeful choice to celebrate those around us, but instead, second nature.

She then said something that struck me. Paraphrasing, she said, "I think people, especially women, think that there is only so much affirmation to go around and if they give any up, they're taking value away from themselves."

Ya'll.

Chew on that.

Can you see this being true in the people around you? What about yourself? Are we quicker to hold onto our praise and affirmation like it's not a renewable resource or are we eager give it away like it flows from a never ending stream?


This same conversation arose in my chats with my daughter's last week as they talked about things that happened at school.
One was "jealous" of how artsy a friend of hers was. She used the word jealous and so I dove right in to strip the word away. I asked her if she was jealous or if she just really admired his ability because those are two different things. Jealousy wishes others didn't have what they have, but you had it instead. Admiration appreciates what others have. I encouraged her to not look at his ability with jealousy, but with conscious admiration. Instead of "I wish I could do that" why not say. "man, I'm so proud that my friend has that gift!" and then work hard to learn more about it if that's what you'd like to be better at.

With my oldest, the situation was different. A friend bought a new thing that my daughter thought was super cool. My daughter asked the girl if she be offended if she got the same thing. The reply was, "Yes, because you'd just be copying and you'd just try to be better than me at it" That really bothered K because it wasn't coming from a place of trying to copy or 1-up. It was from a place of inspired. We talked about how different that conversation would had been if the other person saw K's admiration of the item as a "I'm so glad I inspired you to want to do this too!" and took pride in that facet instead of instant jealousy or implied competition.

Imagine if we all looked at things this way.
Imagine if we became free givers of applause and encouragement.
What if we quit looking at people like "copy cats" and just felt encouraged that we inspired something in them?
Because here is the absolute truth.

There IS enough love to go around.

The incredible author and motivational speaker Bob Goff puts it like this...

And yes, encouragement, affirmation, cheering others on are all forms of love.

Imagine what your day, your workplace, your home, social media would look like if we stopped withholding it based on our own insecurities?

Can I tell you what will happen? Your cup will become filled to the brim! When you pour these things out into others and experience the joy it brings them, it will replenish the cup from which you poured it from.

A friend the other day, after a hard run, posted on Facebook saying, "I don't do this very often, but I'm really proud of myself because I set a new personal best..."

What struck me about her statement was that she was hesitant to share a success because she thought it was ill mannered to celebrate herself! Is this where we are? Are we so scared of other people judging out intention that we won't even pat ourselves on the back for a job well done? Forget that! I told her to shout it from the rooftops! She SHOULD be proud! That was a big deal! There IS enough celebration to go around!

So today, this is what I want to challenge you with. If you are not a natural "words of affirmation" user, start becoming intentional about celebrating others. Big things, small things, everything in between. You don't have to fake it. Just share your sincere applause as if it were your kid or best friend achieving something great.
Give credit where credit is due.
Become someones best cheerleader.
Appreciate their strengths.
Audibly believe in them.
Spend the next 5 days looking for ways to encourage or pat someone on the back. In your home, for strangers, in your office, in your team, pour it out.
Then, take stock for what it does to your heart. Did it fill your cup as I promised? Did you find yourself shifting from a place of jealousy and pride (miserable) to a place of joy? I bet you do.

You can't retire on love.

There IS enough to go around.

The Badge of Busyness...

The first time I heard this phrase, I was so offended. 😆 I mean, who wears being busy like a badge? Like an award of honor? No one does...right?
Wrong.
I do. You do. We all do.
"What do you mean?" You ask?
Think about your last week's worth of social media posts. How many of them noted your running like crazy between ball games or school or work or meetings? How many listed the lengthy schedule you accomplished that day? How many invites did you decline with the explanation of "I've got too much to do?"


Now, there isn't anything particularly wrong with this, per say. It doesn't REALLY harm anything, right? No, not really (except some can make it quite the annoying 1-upping game), but what if there is an area of your life where it IS actually hurting you?

If you're the owner of a small business, home based, MLM, direct sales, whatever you want to call it, flashing this badge can be quite detrimental to your goals.

While in one post or message you ask for friends or customers to book a party or host a fundraiser or even join your team so you can joyfully mentor them along the way, you're making another post talking about how exhausted you are and how you can't take anything else on without drowning.

See what's happening there? You just told those same people you're too busy for them.

Let me give you another example. Say I need to get my car detailed and I have a friend who does that for a living. I hop on their social media to send a quick message to set an appointment, but in the meantime, see that they're talking about how swamped they are, how they're running from her to there and how they feel like they have no time. Do you think I'll feel inclined to send them a message to set that appointment? No way. Because now I've moved from feeling like I was supporting them, to being one more 'to do' on their list & adding to their overwhelmed feeling. Nobody wants to be that person, right?

In my role in my Scentsy business, if I'm sharing the join opportunity and my desire to lead others to reaching their goals, but talk about how tired I am all the time, what am I really saying to those possibly thinking about joining? Possibly, that they would really be more of a burden than the blessing they really would be.

The truth is we are ALL busy. All of us. We are busy with different things, yes, but we all have schedules that sometimes seem impossible to juggle and sometimes actually are. Some of us manage time well and some not so much, yet, for some reason, we flash our busyness around like we are most definitely busier than anyone else could possibly be, instead of just agreeing that we all have our own crazy to manage. Hence, becoming a badge we were maybe all too proudly.

What if instead, we just learned to handle that busy. We were better about that time management or delegating and left our social media world to things that supported our end goal instead of self sabotaging it.
What if we agreed that we all had schedules that were nuts, mostly by our own choosing, because we have WAY more control over it than we want to take responsibility for, but left the details off the forum that we use to grow a business with.

I will never tell someone what to post and what not to post on their social media. Free speech and all, but I think it's so important for us to be prudent, especially when running a business, to carefully consider what we do share and truly decide whether or not that one post could be helping us build a better business or, inadvertently, making it fall apart.

Does your post encourage people to let you serve them & their need of your business?
Does another post contradict that desire?

Let's not make people feel guilty for letting us serve them. Instead, let it be something we urge on.

Today, let's agree to wear the badge of busyness no longer. There is no honor in being busy. Busy is normal. It is what it is. Instead, let's be purposeful in all we say and do knowing that the dreams we are chasing call for us to be intentional & not just busy.

Wishes alone won't work...

Wait, what? But you're a dreamer! Don't dreamers believe is making wishes?"
I am, but friend, those are not the same thing. At all.
You see, a dreamer is someone who sees possibility, who looks beyond what's right in front of them to what could be. A dreamer is one who doesn't feel limited by circumstances or past failures. A dreamer may hit a roadblock, but will then figure out a new way to ramp that sucker and fly over it. They are eager to learn how to accomplish their goals instead of being defeated by the hiccups. Well, that's my definition anyway. A dream chaser, which is the official title I've given myself, is even more aggressive in going after what they want. They know that their goals and their dreams, are their responsibility.

A wisher, well, a wisher is a little more passive. They may be hopeful, wishing things were different,  but don't do a whole lot about it. They say, " I wish I had a better job", but sit hopeless and empty in the same cubicle every day, never filling out applications elsewhere. A wisher doesn't tend to take much responsibility in their roll in their own dreams. They just simply wish things were different, but that's as far as it goes.

So how does one go from simply being a wisher to a dream, or better yet, dream chaser?

Well, first they have to know that whatever they are wishing for, has all the possibility of coming true. Not by luck or throwing a penny in a fountain or yes, even wishing on a star, but by a determination set in their heart to be the one to set the wheels in motion.


Want a better marriage? Learn about each other better. Actively love the other well. Their love language may not be yours, so figure it out and fill their cup in that way. Then, watch as your cup begins to fill.

Want to be a better parent? Love your kids. Hear their concerns & remember what it was like at that age where not getting to sit at one particular lunch table was soul crushing. Empathize. Spend one on one time with them. Don't give them their space. Fill it with reassurance that it will all be ok.

Want a better job? Get online, fill out the applications. Tweak your resume. Go back to school or even learn a new trade. Go after the opportunity, even if it's scary.

Want better fitting clothes? Put down the sugar. Get moving. Even if it's silly, like hula hooping, get your heart rate up & fuel your body with foods that will give you the energy to make it through the day. (or go buy they clothes you should really be fitting into instead of the size you want to be so you can be comfortable in the meantime)

Want better friendships? Be a better listener than you are a talker. Remind your friends of their value. Celebrate the great stuff in their lives, even the littlest of these things and comfort them during the hard stuff. Don't pull away. Press in.

Want a better Scentsy business? Show up. Learn something new every day. Make the calls. Send the emails. Make the samples. Set goals. Know where you are headed & make a path to get you there.

We could go on and on. Better car? Save the money. Bigger house? Work on your credit. Do you see where I'm going here?

"A dream is a wish your heart makes..." and "When you wish upon a star..." are both lyrics from two of my  most favorite songs, so don't get me wrong, I am not "anti-wisher."
Wishing isn't the enemy, complacency  is.
We should see a wish, that first glimmer of something our heart desires, as a seed to be planted.
Like any seed, it needs to be rooted in good soil, fed and watered, so it can grow. Not just thrown into a well. Wishes, when well taken care of, turn into dreams that become chaseable and dreams chased well, become your reality.

So today, I want to challenge you to look at what it is you're wishing for in life. What can you begin to do today to begin to tend to that seed and turn it into a chaseable dream? Write it down. Look at it every day. Make it happen.