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Floradise

A lifestyle blog by Marette Flora

Our Adoption Story and Custom Announcements From Basic Invite

 

** This post has been compensated by Basic Invite, Inc. All opinions are my own.

Our adoption hearing photo taken on May 12.

I have always known I wanted to adopt a child. I just never expected the way it would happen.

In December 2015, the subject of adopting Victoria first came up as we traveled to Phoenix to visit family. She had been under my aunt’s care for months at that point. Graham and I have always loved our niece, so it was a no-brainer for us to offer to take her in when the need arose. We hope for nothing but the best for her biological parents, but our main concern was for her well-being.

Our adoption process took more than a year from that point. From the beginning we maintained contact with her caseworker and stressed that we would be more than happy to have her join our family. I would stay up countless nights crying into Graham’s arms because I was so worried about what would happen to her. It was an uncertain time that required a lot of patience and trust that it would all work out.

During that year, we checked every box we needed to check. We had our home study done (twice), we underwent fingerprint checks, childproofed our apartment, spoke with lawyers and caseworkers who were involved — you name it.  I also visited V in Phoenix as much as I possibly could to strengthen our bond.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Two days after running the Chicago Marathon in 2016, I had a marathon day of flights. I flew to Phoenix and back in one day to pick her up and bring her home to Chicago. Graham stayed behind to finish setting up her room while I traveled with her. It was such an emotional day for us; it was the day we became a family. When Graham picked us up from the airport, he had a teddy bear for her and she wore the biggest smile on her face.

From then on, we still had nine more months to go before our adoption was finalized. We had caseworker visits every month, but other than that we were pretty much a regular family. (We sure had a lot to learn about parenting, though!) The only notable difference would come up when she needed medical services and we’d have to submit paperwork because her last name was different than ours.

Our adoption was finalized over a phone hearing in May, nine months after she came into our custody and just two days before my first Mother’s Day. We wanted to share with family and friends her new middle and last names in a nice way. Because she already had her first name, we wanted to choose a middle name that we connected with and that we loved. I wanted to announce the moment with a card as I would have done had I given birth to her, and I didn’t want to miss out on this special marker of a major moment in our lives. I wanted to celebrate that V would finally share our last name and I could think of no better way than sending out announcements for Victoria Rose.

I turned to Basic Invite because I had seen previous blogs and reviews about how great their cards are. I found those positive experiences to be right on the mark. I completely customized the text of one of their elegant birth announcements to create adoption announcements displaying Victoria’s new middle and last names. I love the way they came out!

I used my favorite photo of V from our family session with Square Mouth Studios in Indianapolis.
Family members have already started to receive them this week.

 

The back of the announcement has three photos taken by me and one by Square Mouth Studios in Indianapolis.


When designing your card, announcement or invitation, Basic Invite allows you to choose from a 180 color options and lets you instantly preview your cards online. You can select a design and then change the color of any element. I found the design I liked but wanted to make the text a light coral vs. a gray, and it took about a second. I also moved where the text was on the front of the card, where I used a photo from a family session we did soon after she arrived in Chicago. It was the easiest card design I’ve ever done, which I appreciated because I am not someone who wants to spend a long time edited a design.

Once your design is complete, you can order a custom printed sample to see and feel the exact quality of the paper and overall card or invite before placing your final order. Besides adding color to your invitation, card or announcement, you can customize the envelope to match as well, with more than 40 colors available. Addressing the envelopes is easy with Basic Invite’s free address collection service: Simply share a link, get the addresses from friends and family and then have those addresses printed on the envelopes for free. How awesome is that?! This would be especially helpful for those who are planning a wedding. I didn’t use this option because I didn’t have an overwhelming amount of announcements to send and I enjoy handwriting them, but if you have many to send, this will definitely save you time!

One nice touch I liked about the envelopes is that they are peel and seal, which makes sending them easier and quicker. Side note: I really enjoy sending physical cards because I also like picking out awesome new stamps, like this collection featuring national parks.

Besides announcements, you will find a vast selection of invitations for just about any occasion you are marking, including customized baby shower invitations, and thank you cards. And if you need something custom like I did, you can certainly edit any text field to say what you want.

While going through the process of ordering the adoption announcements I became emotional because I am just so happy to finally officially be a family and have such a sweet, strong and happy child in my life. She is everything I hoped for in a daughter and more.

Have you created invites or cards with Basic Invite? If not, browse their selection and tell me your favorite designs! What would you create?


 

Connect with Basic Invite:

Father’s Day Gifts for the Outdoors Lover

** This post contains affiliate links. I make a small commission on purchases through these links.

Graham loves the outdoors, so my gifts to him are usually things he could use when we go camping or when we travel. For his first Father’s Day, I know he would love nothing more than to spend the day outdoors with us. Sadly, we aren’t able to go on an adventure trip this weekend, but he is counting down the days until we can camp this summer. In honor of the day honoring dads, I’ve rounded up four gifts the nature-loving father would love.

Deuter Backpack: A good camping/hiking backpack will last him years, so it’s worth the investment. Any camping or trail lover would get good use out of this. Plus, you can also use it for traveling.

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Stanley Adventure Vacuum Stainless Steel Bottle: Graham could get use out of this for camping and hiking, as well as his day-to-day job since it’s outdoors and requires durable gear.
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Blue Ridge Camping Hammock: Graham would love this! We already are hammock lovers, and we’ve slept in hammocks instead of tents while camping in the Grand Canyon. This hammock looks much more comfortable to sleep in than a regular one, and it helps keep insects away. 

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Black Diamond Storm Headlamp: This is another gift that is handy for daily life, emergencies and outdoors activities.  He can use this while riding his bike (which he hasn’t done in a while and misses) at dusk or dawn, while camping, or even when our power goes out at home. A quality headlamp is always appreciated by a nature-loving person.

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What would you gift to an outdoorsy dad? 

June Goals & a Lesson from May

I blinked and it suddenly became June. May was full of celebrations but also challenges. The overall lesson for May was invest in yourself: in time for myself, in career and personal growth, and what my body and mind need. I learned this lesson by neglecting myself on many occasions in the previous months. I put my fitness and career goals on hold and it was beginning to affect my outlook on life. I had to make a change, so I finally allowed myself to invest in what I needed. I signed up for the photography class I had been putting off, I searched for backup babysitters to give myself the help I need, I bought the equipment I needed to pursue my passions, and I invested in group half-marathon training to set myself up for success in my next race. I am now feeling inspired heading into June — motivation is something I have been lacking this year. I’m excited to share my June goals in hopes of inspiring your own and starting a conversation about how you plan to invest in yourself as well this month.

First, let’s check in on my May goals:

  • Plan something to do as a family for Victoria’s birthday. We spent that weekend at our neighborhood park and beach. The weather was gorgeous, so we flew a kite, devoured our snacks, and let Victoria ride her new balance bike. It was a perfect weekend for her birthday, our adoption hearing and my first Mother’s Day. (Let me know if you’d like to see a post on our adoption story. I posted a short update on our adoption day, but I removed it because I wanted to do a better-quality post with more of a story to tell.)
  • Check out at least two area preschools and day care centers. I didn’t do this, but I did interview babysitters.
Fitness:
  • Finish half-marathon training. If you read my recent update on half-marathon training, you’d know why I decided to defer my race entry and start over. It was a tough decision, but it was the right one for me at the time. I learned a lot about what I can better in my next training, which starts later in June.
  • Attend at least two studio yoga classes. Victoria and I attended a mom and toddler yoga class at a local studio. Other than that I practiced yoga on my own last month.

Career/blog:

  • Match March’s freelance income or surpass it. I surpassed March’s freelance income by about $100, which I am proud to say. I planned to do more work but I forgot my laptop charger during our recent trip to Louisville, so I wasn’t able to write more on our drive back to Chicago.
  • Update my blog pages. I updated my header with labels on specific topics that are frequently discussed on Floradise. I will be updating these in the coming months to make posts easier to find.
  • Film at least four YouTube videos. I shared footage from our GoPro, which was found underwater off a Costa Rica beach recently. Would you like to read a post on this story? I also shared our family adventures and our adoption day. Please subscribe!

June goals:


Family:

  • Plan a camping/cabin trip as a family.
  • Go on a date night.
  • Plan a fun activity for Father’s Day.
  • Plan a mom’s day out. 

Fitness:

  • Start half-marathon group training with my coaches on June 28.
  • Film a yoga video.
  • Attend two yoga classes in the studio/local park/garden.

Career/blog:
  • Complete my photography class. 
  • Match or surpass May’s freelance income.
  • Film at least five YouTube videos.
Travel:

  • Decide on the dates and destination of our winter family trip.
  • Add to our travel fund.

What are your June goals? What posts would you like to see on Floradise? In what ways are you investing in yourself?

May’s videos:


Half-Marathon Training Update | Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

** This post contains affiliate links. I make a small commission for purchases through these links.

Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless Headphones, Garmin vivosmart HR, gray capri leggings (old) and Yogo Athletica top (found at Marshalls)

I had planned to run a half marathon yesterday.

If you’ve read this blog recently, you might remember seeing four half-marathon training updates and reflections. After a late start, I was finally on track and preparing for the Chicago Spring Half Marathon on May 21. I was able to do all my midweek workouts throughout training, but the long runs seemed impossible to complete.

I was trying to do everything: Freelance writing, working full-time, being a full-time work-from-home mom with little help, editing YouTube videos, planning a third birthday party — the list goes on. I found myself worn out and constantly stressed. I would write my running schedule in my planner, schedule a sitter and set aside the time, but then life kept disrupting my plans. One weekend I could not schedule a sitter because it was Easter and they were busy or booked. The gym with daycare was closed and Graham worked late. The next weekend I planned to run in Phoenix before Victoria’s birthday party, but I spent the entire time with the worst sinus infection of my life. (I powered through the party.) The next weekend I planned to complete my long run of 10 miles (I at least wanted to do that before the race.), but then a fire at our apartment building caused a power outage that lasted three days. I didn’t feel right keeping Victoria in the apartment with no electricity, even with a sitter, so I took her to the zoo instead and we spent most of the weekend at my friend’s house. By the next weekend I just knew: Yes, I can complete this race with little training, but I don’t want to half-ass it. It’s not who I am.

This experience reminded of something: You can do anything but not everything. With that in mind, I decided to defer my race entry to 2018. I am already signed up for the Chicago Fall Half Marathon in September, so that will be my next race.

As soon as I gave myself a break, I noticed a difference in my motivation and how I feel about my body. I have run almost every day since, either on the treadmill or outdoors. I actually want to work out and run. I am not stressed about planning my workouts; I just fit them in when I can. I feel excited to start PROPERLY training for my race in the fall.

Here’s what I plan to do differently:

  • Interview more sitters to have more backup options when one cancels or isn’t available.
  • Use the gym with daycare more and cancel other memberships.
  • Sign up for group half-marathon training with the coaches who prepared me for the Chicago Marathon. It starts June 21 and I can’t wait!
  • Go to at least one group run per month.
  • When life gets in the way of running, practice more yoga.
  • Focus on one thing at a time. If I know I have a big running week, I’m not going to make a bunch of social plans or to try to freelance write/blog. 
  • Take Victoria on short jogs in the running stroller.
  • Use my apartment building’s treadmill to run after Victoria goes to bed, if all else fails.
  • Re-evaluate my why. The reason I want to do another half is to meet or improve my race time, show myself I can still be a runner while being a mom, and set a good example for Victoria. It’s also my moving motivation, or at least it was when it didn’t feel like a chore. I want to get back to thinking of running and working out as a joy.

While post centers on my struggles with fitting my running goals in with my busy mom and career life, I hope you can take away some lessons from this.

  • Single tasking is better than multitasking.
  • Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s easy to compare ourselves with social media fitness gurus, but you have to remember fitness is a full-time job for most of them. Yes, they can fit workouts in because that’s what they do for a living. A typical person often has to plan carefully to make sure he or she can work out/do whatever it is he or she loves.
  • You are stronger than you think.
  • Get creative to fit in your fitness. (I plan to share tips I learn along the way.)
  • Plan, but go with the flow when it’s disrupted.
  • Incorporate your child/family/friends into your workouts. (Read about our toddler and mom yoga class.)

Related Fitness posts:

Fitness Clothing Picks**:


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2017: Making Moves | 2016 Recap Plus Goal-Setting Tips

** This post contains affiliate links. 

Graham and I set an intention every year, and every year we have been amazed by how it comes true. 2015 was the year of adventure. 2016 was the year of growth. And now 2017 will be about health and success. Our version of success is to be business owners and work for ourselves. We’ve already made headway: Step 1 was paying off nearly all of our debt in 2016. I am grateful and proud that we accomplished that. Step 2 is to make the necessary investments and build up our wealth. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It will probably take some time, but if we go for it, we could be living our dream in early 2018 — or sooner! Of course, to get there we need to make small steps to better ourselves. Breaking down that intention further, here are my 2017 goals:

2017 Goals:

  • Run a marathon. I missed the lottery for the 2017 Chicago Marathon, so I will wait to see which marathon seems like the best option. I would love to cheer for the Chicago runners or volunteer, though. 
  • Build up our savings for both emergency funds and a long-awaited international trip we’d like to take.
  • Make investments into our future business.
  • Go on an international trip as well as several trips out of state (road trips, visiting family and more). I’m thinking Orlando, Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle.
  • Take video editing and photography classes.
  • Volunteer at least once every quarter.

Whenever I set new goals I like to look back at what I have just accomplished. 2016 was the year of growth, and we certainly did that in every aspect of our lives. Graham and I progressed in our skills, we added a little one to our household and we each accomplished personal goals.

2016 highlights:

Top beauty posts of 2016:

I incorporated more beauty posts on Floradise because I became more interested in finding holy grail products that are cruelty-free. My monthly favorites posts became my way of sharing my findings and experiences.

Books to motivate you in 2017**:

Most of the books I like to read are autobiographies and self-improvement works. My favorites of the year:

Tips to set your 2017 goals:

It’s OK and great to be inspired by others, but don’t feel like you need to set 20 goals for the year because you saw someone else do it. It’s perfectly fine to set one goal or to set many. It’s also OK to break down larger goals into smaller ones. More tips from my post on setting goals:
Brainstorm and Analyze.
Create lists of what motivates you, want you desire out of life, etc.
Write down words that describe your priorities. Ideas: Friendship, love, money, music, strength, confidence, generosity, admiration, nature, laughter, comfort, travel, family. Identify the areas that are most important and use them to guide your goals.
Ask yourself: What do you want your life to look like? What are your passions?
Write down what you want to achieve. If it helps, break the goals down into categories for different parts of your life. (Career, health, personal, etc.)
Ask yourself why you want to achieve a certain goal? What’s the underlying desire?
What resources can you list to help you achieve your goal? (Trainer, friends, books, classes, etc.) Write them down.
What investments (of time or money or anything else) do you need to make? Identify them.

Dream big but make more realistic short-term goals to work toward that big goal.
Try to find a middle ground between setting too easy of a goal and too unattainable.
Leave fear out of the goal-setting process. It has no place in it.
Leave judgment out of goal-setting. You might be worried about what people think. Put your own thoughts of why you want to achieve the goal above all other opinions.
Do you have a goal that you think it’s too late for? Repeat this: It’s not too late! Write down reasons and ways it can still be achieved.

“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” -Lemony Snicket


Be specific.
Write down exactly what you want (when, with whom, and how). The more specific you can be the better.
Start with one or two main goals. Once you have your main goal(s), you can break those down into smaller milestone goals.
Remind yourself of your goal(s) and your “why.”
Write them down and display them around your desk, bedside, in your wallet, etc.
Make a vision board or create a Pinterest board.
Set reminders on your phone of your goals.
Share them with friends or on social media.
Surround yourself with people with a similar goal(s).
Meditate or pray about that goal. 
Schedule time for your goals.
Break your goals down to smaller goals and plan out when you can work toward each goal. 
Ask yourself: What small steps can I take today to bring me closer to achieving my goal? What can I do each week? Make working toward your goals a part of your daily to-do list.
What’s a realistic timetable for achieving your goal? Write down due dates. 
Practice single-tasking. For each day or each week, consider focusing on just one goal. Focus all of your energy on it until it’s accomplished, then move on to another goal/milestone.

Observe the changes/Hold yourself accountable.
Measure your success. This is why I check in with myself with my monthly goals. Where did you fall short and can you break that goal down even further into smaller steps?
Celebrate your successes and don’t beat yourself up about the failures. Try again. Adjust in areas where you didn’t hit your shorter-term goals, but keep working toward them.
Don’t compare yourself to others. This is YOUR journey.
When you’re feeling discouraged, think about times in your life that you overcame an obstacle. You can do this!

2016 races:

I ran more than 500 miles in 2016. While I did not run as many miles as I did in 2015, I can forgive myself because the difference was 50 or fewer miles, and I had a hectic October and November that included bringing home a toddler. I managed to cut my half-marathon time and I completed my second marathon. I trained differently for my races and the hard work paid off. 
My recaps:

Favorites for Fitness in 2017**

If, like me, you have fitness goals in 2017, you might be thinking about investing in workout attire. I’ve had my eye on new fitness gear in the hopes Santa would bring me some for Christmas. While he did bring me some amazing gifts, workout clothing was not one of them. I’m instead putting these on my upcoming birthday wish list:

C9 Champion Sweater Fleece Top in Vivid Violet 

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C9 Champion Women’s Freedom Leggings in Plum

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Under Armour Mid Printed Sports Bra

Garmin Vivosmart HR + Fitness Band in Purple

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What are your goals for 2017? Share them with me in the comments, and thank you for supporting Floradise blog!

** This post contains affiliate links. 

Favorite Purchases for Our Toddler

Preparing for Victoria and adjusting to life with a toddler has been so fun — and tiring. We have enjoyed buying her things for her room as well as finding products to make life with a toddler a little easier on us.

Here are four recent purchases we are loving so far:

  • Plush Owl Sweet Seat Chair: Victoria’s grandma bought her this chair from Toys R Us the week before her arrival. Victoria loves it! She has fallen asleep on it multiple times, and she likes to bring it into the living room when she is able to watch her favorite TV show.
  • B. Children’s Teepee Tent: Target has a few options for this tent. We chose one that has a detachable light inside. Victoria enjoys playing in this tent and has even fallen asleep in it.
  • Moby Go Wrap: I bought this before attending Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field with Victoria and my mom. I used to think wraps are only for infants, but I was pleasantly surprised that they work for toddler as well. It made carrying her much easier because I would have had to check a stroller. She enjoys being carried in this wrap.
  • B.eautifloor Tiles: We bought three of these sets of alphabet tiles to cover most of the floor in Victoria’s room. She enjoys taking the letters out and then putting them back where they belong. At first she became frustrated when she couldn’t get the letters to fit, but now she is learning where each letter belongs. It’s a great learning tool. 
We are new to parenting, so Graham and I would appreciate any suggestions on toddler toys as the holiday season approaches. 

Parents, what are your favorite purchases for your toddler?

Shop our toddler picks**:

Prepping for Victoria’s Arrival:

** This post contains affiliate links.

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