Category: Random Thoughts

Please Note: We do use referral links for products and services that Matt & Kelsey at Team Pagel love and recommend. We only add links to products that we use!

Do you see everybody else crushing (thanks Pitch Perfect) their lives and wonder how you can do that? Two things…1. not everybody is crushing their lives and 2. the things in this blog work for me, but may not work for you.

How to have an amazing week:

Upcoming Appointments:

My week goes better when I know what the heck I’m doing that week. We talk about what is upcoming in the week of the things we know are coming. For example, this last week we had a couple different meetings and planned who was going to be leaving when, taking what vehicle and who was checking the cows.

Food Preparations:

I know, I know. You’re tired of hearing about meal prepping. No? I guess that’s just me. Honestly, I don’t meal prep. I do, however, think through how many suppers we will be needing for the week after knowing how many days we will be gone. Then, I get out a variety of meat to unthaw. Most of our dinners include a protein and a veggie. I buy mostly frozen veggies. That way they are always good and I can roast, steam or saute them. Then I can make something with meat that is unthawed and have veggies to go with them. You don’t have to spend your Sundays meal prepping food. What I do recommend is deciding how many meals you’re going to need and get out meat to thaw. I make meals that come together in 20-30 minutes or less. If you have kids, include them in this time. Teach them kitchen skills.

Laundry:

I feel better when I start the week with empty clothes hampers. Sometimes that means throwing all the clothes on the floor so that the hamper is empty…kidding, but only kind of. If I know I’m not going to be able to get the baskets emptied, I make certain that our bed is washed every Sunday. I wash it with Persil Laundry Detergent and Downy In-Wash Scent Beads. I’ve put links below. It is vitally important that the Persil is Intense Fresh and the Downy is the pink beads (April Fresh). There is something about going to bed in a clean, amazing smelling bed that starts your week off right.

Please Note: We do use referral links for products and services that Matt & Kelsey at Team Pagel love and recommend. We only add links to products that we use!

I’ve compiled a list of important items for us to have for our Valentine’s Day celebration after discussing our expectations for the day.

To our moms, you read at your own caution!

Dinner Ingredients:

Beef – We will use our own family raised beef. (We sell beef and eggs from our farm if you need a farm fresh source of beef. If not, head to your grocery store and stock up on some!)

Veggies & Potatoes – While the steaks are grilling, we will throw some veggies and potatoes drizzled in Olive Oil (link to my favorite) and some Himalayan Pink Salt (this is a link to my favorite pink salt-you can also get at Walmart or probably wherever you shop) and pepper.

Bread & Dessert – I attempted to make a copycat recipe of Texas Roadhouse rolls a few weeks ago. They didn’t turn out as I had hoped, but they will suffice for dinner. (I’ve had them frozen, so will just pull them out). Dessert may be a chocolate chip cookie that My Forever made at his parents on Sunday. Who knows what it might be.

Entertainment:

We both really love watching movies. We haven’t picked a movie, but can almost guarantee we end up watching a movie.

Post Entertainment:

We don’t do Valentine Day gifts. Gifts (giving or receiving) is at the bottom of both of our love languages. My Forever doesn’t give gifts ever and I’m horrible at picking out good gifts to give. In lieu of gifts we will consider sex to be our gift to each other.

Lingerie: Ladies, put it on. I don’t care if you spend lots of dollars at a fancy store or $5 off Amazon. Literally, typed in lingerie into amazon and found this for literally $5! It doesn’t have to break your budget to find some lingerie. And men, you don’t get left out of the game. Seriously, find something nice to wear. If we’re putting on something nice for you, find something nice for us.

Massage Oil: Friends it’s taken 6 years of marriage, but I have trained My Forever that a back rub is essential for me to be involved in sex. Appreciate your partner on Valentine’s Day with a massage. I don’t know very many people that wouldn’t appreciate a little love in the way of a massage.

Grab a copy of the Kama Sutra and find a position you’ve never tried before. Have fun talking about which one looks interesting. Or if you don’t want to talk about it, mark the pages that you’d like to try and have your partner do the same. Don’t be afraid of trying something new. Just like anything, you may not be good at it the first time, but you might find something that you love.

Lubricant: I’ve talked about this before, but sex isn’t any fun if there isn’t proper lubrication involved, whether that’s natural or added. Both partners need to understand the woman’s cycle and where she is at in it. Our bodies are amazing machines that do amazing things. Don’t be ashamed to use lubricants. Find the one that you like. Maybe that’s the “regular” ones like K-Y Jelly or more “natural” approaches like coconut oil, be sure you have one handy.

Valentine Day Wrap-Up

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you spend time with the one you love. Make it a day of love rather than a day of over-priced and over-commercialized crap that doesn’t mean anything. Talk to each other about expectations. If flowers mean that much to one of you, buy them. If they don’t, skip them and use the money for something you both enjoy. Just enjoy the day! Life is so short and precious. Use this day as a means to grow your relationship!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

What it is, what to do and how you can support:

February is National Heart Awareness Month. 48% of American adults have some for of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. It kills more than all forms of cancer put together. (This statistic was found here.)

The first Friday of February has been named National Wear Red Day. This year that falls on February 7th.

The American Heart Association reminds you to GO RED:

G: Get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked

O: Own your lifestyle. Start exercising, eating right and stop smoking.

R: Realize your risk-It will never happen to us until it does. It affect 1 in 3 women.

E: Educate your family. Teach the importance of exercise and good diet.

D: Don’t be silent. Heart disease is the #1 killer of all women. Tell everyone.

I hope you take the chance on Friday to wear red for your support of heart disease. Pull out the red from supporting the Chief’s last weekend and wear it again to support the awareness of heart disease.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

We are almost wrapping up the first month of 2020. We are 1/12 done with the new year. Are you still on track with your resolutions or have you given up?

The joy of life is that you can start over at any point. Don’t have the all or nothing mindset. Do your best and give yourself grace. I wanted to spend this week reflecting on how we did with our resolutions for the first month. Go check out the original post for all the details on our life goals.

These I’m struggling with a little bit more. BUT, I’m making progress. I’m slowly making habits that encourage positive growth. I move my body daily, but sometimes it’s not with how I like. It’s worked out for the majority of this month that I’m able to work out before heading out for chores which is amazing for me. If I don’t get it done in the morning, it doesn’t get done. Which is fine. I move a lot on the farm.

Eating foods that bless my body. Some days that means protein and veggies and some days that means Taco Bell. You have to decide what this means for you. I know that super processed foods don’t make me feel very good. They don’t affect Matt. It’s knowing your body. That doesn’t mean I never eat processed food. That means that I’m making a more concentrated effort to cook our food at home. Then packing the leftovers to take with us for lunch the next day. I could do better at this. It all comes down to preparation. I’m working on figuring it out. And giving myself grace. And it’s okay if I don’t get it right all the time.

Last life goal was to bless somebody else every month. My sister had her fourth baby this month. We took food out to her and family. This goal is intentionally vague. Some months it may mean food, some months it may mean a call or text and some months may be doing something. The goal with this one is to look outside of the four walls of our house and notice the rest of the world. See other people and help in a way that we can.

What were your life goals for this year? How are you doing with them?

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

How to get out a negative headspace into a positive one

If you are a living, breathing species of the human race, I promise you, you have done this. Yes, you! I’m so confident that you’ve done this, that if you can look me in the eyeballs and tell me you haven’t, I will take you to lunch. Then I will never trust you with anything ever again, because you will be lying.

Comparison. Feeling less than because of what somebody else posted on social media. Comparing your life to someone else.

I just came out of a season of my life where I struggled hard with the thief of joy, comparison. Everywhere I looked, I felt less than, like I should have been doing more, being more.

Don’t buy it my dear friend. Don’t. You are just right the way you are. Do I think we should quit trying to improve, heck no. But that is for us, not for anyone else.

When I start comparing my life with others, I always come up short. I know that isn’t true and I don’t want to sit in that lie for very long. These are the two things I do to get me out of that headspace.

Two things that get me out of a funk really fast:

1. A good playlist. I mean a really good playlist. If you don’t have one, start a note section in your phone and every time you hear a song that means something to you, stick it on that note. Then make a free Spotify account and put them in a playlist. If you can concentrate while you’re listening to your playlist, go back to work on the list. These are songs that you can’t help but sing and dance along with. Mine has everything from Beyonce to Faith Hill and everything in between. The magic is, it’s mine. You would think I’m seriously weird if I shared my list, but it does it for me. I CANNOT write while I listen to it. I dance all over our living room. Then I go back to work. You can’t be in a bad mood while listening to your favorite playlist.
2. Exercise: I don’t care if this means a crossfit workout in a gym or a 10 minute walk around your house. Moving your body creates endorphins. Endorphins make you feel better. Our bodies weren’t made to sit for hours a day like so many of us do. Move your body. A powerhouse doesn’t have power, it creates power. (That isn’t my line. I don’t know who to give to credit to, but it’s a good one. It might be Brendon Burchard.) Make your energy. Move your body in some way, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Not every other day. EVERY DAY!

What do you do? Comment below with your suggestions! I can’t believe that I’m special enough to be the only one that goes through this. Help us out. Share your favorite way to get out of that headspace.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

In high school, my oldest sister found her space in the band and FBLA, my middle older sister was/is a phenomenal runner. Me, the baby, had to find my space. We went to a small, rural school. Being the youngest, I was expected to follow in my sisters’ footsteps. The cross country coach felt huge disappointment when I came to his program.

Y’all. I’m not a runner. I participated in cross country because my sister was there and I didn’t want to do volleyball. There were maybe 15 girls on our team. I don’t really remember. What I do remember is being the last of those girls. We had a coach that would run with us and constantly be saying, “Running is 90% mental and 10% physical”.

I was expected to perform like Kayla because our bodies are built similar. Guess what? I didn’t. I hated running, but loved being a part of the team. Because we were so small, a lot of the meets we ran Varsity and JV races together. My parents came to everything we did. However, when you have a daughter that is at the lead of the pack and a daughter that is at the back, it makes it hard to support both.

We figured out pretty quickly that they could focus on her and encourage me when they could, no hard feelings. Kayla, you see, was there for the medal. She was there to get a college scholarship, which she did. Lucky for me because she got new shoes every two weeks in college and we wear the same shoe size! Winning!

You see, Kayla, was/is an amazing runner. She loves it. She’s really good at it. She’s a winner when it comes to running. Me…hate it. To this day we talk about after meets on the ride home, Kayla would get to look at her medal and add it to her humongous collection of them. Me…I’d talk about the pretty houses and the scenery Kayla missed because she was running so fast.

I can distinctly remember the first time this happened. I asked Kayla if she liked the house that was along the course. She said there wasn’t a house that she saw! I couldn’t believe it! It was the most gorgeous house and she had totally missed it because she was running so stinking fast focusing on what was really important to her. From then on, I filled her in on the pretty things she missed on the course. It worked. We had different reasons for being there. The coaches liked her a lot better than they liked me.

I still get asked if I’m the runner. I always hysterically laugh and say absolutely not, that’s Kayla. When I really want to screw with people, I’ll wear her half marathon shirts.

My thing was FFA. I found a space where I didn’t need any athletic ability. I found a space where if I worked hard and learned the information, I could excel at contests. I found a space where I had an advisor that means the world to me. I found a space that my talents could be put to good use. I found a space that I am so passionate about. I found a space that encourages everyone to do their thing.

FFA means the world to me. I’m involved in our FFA alumni so that we can help provide that experience for someone else. I say yes to almost anything I’m asked to do in regards to FFA because it meant so much to me in high school. Today I had the opportunity to judge the district speech contest.

Am I some amazing public speaker? Nope. But I did the speech contest when I was there. I know what the members are feeling. I’m so proud of the ones that show up. So often in life, we think we need to be the best. We can’t do our life dream because somebody else has already done it. Well, friend, that’s bull shit. The world needs YOU! The dream that is deep inside of your heart is there for a reason. Just start. The kids today weren’t perfect. But they put in the work in the classrooms and their bathroom mirrors and they showed up. That’s half the battle. They showed up. They put in the work. They started. Can you say that you’ve done that?

This year is still young, yet so many of us have given up on the things that we said this year was going to be for. We want to be perfect before we put ourselves into the world. Quit waiting. Go do it. Be like the kids I saw today. They were nervous, but they did it! They started. You go start now! You go do it!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

Did you check out the #marriagemondaytpstyle post this week? If not, it’s here . Have you set your marriage goals for 2020? Wild Wednesday is going to focus on my life goals for 2020.

I’m not a huge resolutions person. I’m more of a goal person. I’ve decided to set three goals for our marriage for the year. I encourage you to set goals for your marriage this coming year. I believe that goals need to be measurable. How are you going to access whether you reached your goal or not?

If you’re new to goals, try something really simple. Set a goal and prove to yourself you can make it. Each goal, make a little more difficult. So many of us are so accustomed to failing ourselves. When life gets too busy, we’re the first one that gets knocked off our priority list. Make a simple goal and prove to yourself that you are important. Think of how much better you think, feel and act when you make yourself a priority. After you’ve accomplished that, move on to a bigger goal. Pretty soon you’ll be crushing anything you want to.

Life goals for 2020:

• Move my body daily
• Eat foods that make me feel good
• Bless somebody else once per month

Easy peasy. That’s it. Have you figured out how simple I like to keep things. Three things that are going to get me to a better place. Three things that I can easily do. Three things that are easily measured. What are your life goals? Leave us a comment and let us know what they are!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

The holiday season is filled with joy, but almost all of us at one point or another feel sad for one reason or another. It’s okay to have feelings friends. It’s okay to feel sad. Sometimes we feel sad because we lost a loved one during this season. Other times it’s because there are so many expectations during the holiday season that we’re disappointed when our expectations aren’t met. You could be feeling off and don’t even know why.

I like routine. Insert enormous belly laugh from those that know my life. There is no routine to my life. In the most general sense of the word, there is. I know that I’m going to work on the farm doing whatever Matt needs done. I know that in the evenings when it gets dark, I’m going to get more time in our house to accomplish what I need to while Matt works in the shop. I know that we’re going to go to bed together and he’s going to turn the TV on and fall asleep in 2.3 seconds while I’m pulled in to whatever show he has on. I know we’re not going to wake up to an alarm. I know we’re mostly going to eat home made meals. I know that I’m going to move my body for roughly 30 minutes per day in some form of exercise. I like my routine. I like knowing. When my routine is thrown off, I have to work really hard at remaining calm and going with the flow.

Here’s a list of things that I do that help me stay grounded during a season that can be complete chaos:

• The number one thing I do is understand that things are going to be different than normal and that’s okay.
• Next, food is so important to how we’re feeling. I’m not saying feelings like anxiety, depression, stress, etc can be cured by eating nothing but whole foods. Those are real feelings and it is okay to have them. I’m saying, it is scientifically proven that your diet does affect your brain and how we react to things. The holidays are always a time for special treats. Enjoy them! Eat all the things. But balance it out when you’re not at party. Plan a menu that is full of protein and veggies. Save the sugar for parties. We know we’re going to get enough of it this month! We don’t need it at home.
• Exercise: I’m not selling anything! Except my strong desire that our bodies were made to move. Can I share a secret? Nobody feels motivated to exercise every single day, but nobody regrets a workout once they’re finished. Exercise releases endorphins into your body that help fight the holiday blues and stress.
• Quit stressing: If buying the perfect gift for you stresses you out, figure out a different solution. For example, my parents started giving us vacation money a couple years ago. We don’t get it until we actually go. It encourages our less than willing to leave the farm husbands to actually leave. We know that’s what we’re getting every year from my parents. And it’s amazing. We know that we’re giving our nieces and nephews money for their futures. We don’t buy gifts for them. Are they less than impressed without a gift to open at this point in their lives for birthday and Christmas from Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Matt, yes. But hopefully the money is being invested and will be put to use so it will help them start their adult lives off being debt free rather than buried in debt.
• Understand what you need and be selfish enough to take care of yourself as long as it’s not in detriment to someone else. Know that if holiday parties wear you out, give yourself time to recover. Know if a certain day is really hard, plan either time off or a way to keep busy whichever you need. Like Dave Ramsey says all the time, we’re busy trying to impress people that don’t care and that we don’t really even like. Quit going into debt during the holiday season to buy gifts that may be enjoyed for a little bit, but are often soon forgotten. Do the important things and don’t worry about the other things.

What else do you do to help battle the holiday blues?

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

As we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, may we reflect what this holiday is truly about.

We are truly blessed in America to have the freedom and choices that we have. If you’re reading this right now, you’re blessed beyond imagination. Here’s my top 10 things I’m thankful for (in no particular order).

1. My Forever
2. Family & Friends
3. Pets/Livestock
4. Blog (ability to write and de-stress)
5. Being debt free
6. Having savings and investments
7. Sunrise/Sunsets
8. Farm
9. Vehicles
10. My body and all it does for me

What is your list?

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you! 

~Matt & Kelsey

I hate going to work. I hate what I do. I have to get the paycheck, though. I want to be my own boss. I want to do that thing that keeps me up at night thinking about.

Do you see all the boss people out there and wish you were one of them? On National Boss’s Day, I hope you have the best boss in the world.

There’s a couple different directions that I wanted to take this blog:

#1: Celebrating how in love with and how awesome my boss is. (My Forever is my boss on the farm.) But, since we just spent all last week gushing about how in love we are on our anniversary week, I thought you might be sick of hearing how great he is.

Another option:

#2: Have a whole blog dedicated to how frustrating and how big of a jerk my boss is a lot of the time. While quite enticing to write on this topic, it’s not going to do anybody any good.

So moving on…

#3: Give you some idea of how you can be your own boss and then #1 &#2 mean nothing because you are the boss.

Friends, I wish and hope that each and every one of you reach for the life that you desire. Our world needs you to be the you that you are supposed to be, not what the world demands from you.

If you want to have an 8-5 job at somebody else’s company, more power to you.

If you want to stay at home with your babies, more power to you.

If you want to travel the world with your career, more power to you.

If you want to join an MLM, more power to you.

If you want to open your own business and employ hundreds of people, more power to you.

It doesn’t matter what the dream is. It matters that you go after it. Nobody is going to care as much about your dream as you do! NOBODY. While accountability partners are awesome and I’m so thankful for them, there isn’t another soul in this entire world that’s going to feel the same way as you do about your passion.

That means that it’s going to have to be you setting your alarm to get out of bed to go get it. That means it’s going to have to be you that makes the time to get the work done. That means it’s going to have to be you that does the research and puts in the time. That means it’s going to have to be you that gets up and dusts yourself off after being rejected by the 562nd person. That means that you have to believe in your dream enough for you to do everything to make it happen.

Being your own boss isn’t the fairytale, perfect life people on social media makes it out to be. It takes a ton of time and work that isn’t shown. Rachel Hollis and Hollis Co. is blowing up the world right now. Do you know how much time she spends in the air traveling to do all these speaking events? Do you know how many hours she puts in away from her kids to make all these events happen? If that’s what you want in your life, go get it! But friend YOU, yes YOU, have to put in the work and not quit when nobody else believes in you.

If you are considering starting your own thing, find a mentor. I’d be happy to talk to anyone that needs help starting a website, a blog, selling products, etc. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve figured some stuff out. I’m more than willing to give the next one in line a boost up! Are you?

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you!