A Few of My Favorite Things

Transparency Disclaimer: Product links shared on this blog are often affiliate links connected to various companies I choose to work with. Affiliate links may earn small commissions on qualifying purchases; my promise to you is to only share products I personally use and trust. (On this page specifically, links will almost always be to Amazon. Photos used to create the images below are also from Amazon, and are not my own.)

I'm a women's fiction author with ambitious goals, a single mom juggling serious chronic health issues for both my youngest daughter and myself, and a Christian with a heart for service—so I lead a complicated, chaotic life. Balancing the various aspects of my life as well as I can requires careful, intentional planning, and sometimes one or another of the products listed below are literally the reasons I make it through the day.

Writing from home has its challenges, and one of the biggest things I struggle with is not having a specific place to write. No desk, no designated space. For the most part, this is fine because I'm rarely ever home and laptops are intended to be portable, but if you've got a small lap and a large laptop, things get interesting. So, one of my favorite things about frequent house-sitting has been the discovery of this lap table. It's small enough to be light and portable, but solid and roomy enough to provide the perfect writing space on the go—and the adjustable lift top keeps me from wearing out my wrists!

I'm using my phone exclusively for planning and journaling these days because I literally don't have time to sit down with a planner, but I actually miss using these discbound planner inserts. When I used them, I loved the roomy week-on-two-pages layout, the flexibility of undated pages, and the minimalist style that allowed me to use or adapt each page as needed—and sometimes I even used them for short-form journaling or record-keeping instead of planning.

One thing that never changes in my organizational toolbox? This little card wallet. It's big enough for all my essentials—driver’s license, bank cards, insurance info, library cards, and even a little cash. Small but mighty, it keeps me organized, fits in a pocket, takes a beating being tossed from bag to bag, and is always ready to go.

But regardless of the planning or organizational tools, not many things truly account for the curveballs of life with chronic pain or complex PTSD; those are the days when faith, determination, and caffeine have to step up and save the show. When I run out of steam before I run out of daylight, Strike Force Energy is my favorite pick-me-up - it's zero calories, zero sugar, easy to mix (because it's liquid!), and budget-friendly, which is mandatory for a single mom on the go. And I love that these travel-friendly packets come in multiple flavors, so I don't get bored with just one.

There's more to life than being organized and staying energized; sometimes it's about the little things, like reclaiming the joy of wearing perfume just for me. My ex used to love making rude comments about my perfumes (regardless of what I wore), and eventually I stopped wearing any altogether. After our divorce in 2024, the first thing I did was air out the stench of his attitude—and the second thing was heading straight for the nearest perfume counter. Still, I really am always on the go these days and it's a hassle traveling with big perfume bottles, which is why I love these refillable perfume atomizers. They're easy to fill, they allow me to carry my favorite scent on every adventure, and the best part? They don't leak.

Another thing that keeps me pampered as I juggle the complicated aspects of my life is these little airless pump bottles. They're small enough for easy packing when I'm away from home, and I've collected enough of them now to have created a full travel kit: toothpaste, lotions, face creams, hair products...and maybe the best part is that I actually use them more just because they look so cute together. It's pretty handy that they come in different sizes too.

When I’m not writing (or running from one appointment or housesitting gig to another), it's still important to stay active and protect my health as well as I can. With my personal collection of physical limitations, there are a lot of things I can't really do safely, but my weighted infinity hoop has been a game-changer. It clips securely around my waist, allowing me to focus on movement rather than struggling to keep it up—which is a blessing since nerve damage from spina bifida has always made traditional hula hooping impossible for me. It doesn't take up much space and the size is easily adjustable, so it's a perfect low-impact workout that's fun, energizing, and manageable even on busy or low-energy days.

Staying organized, finding joy in small things, and moving when I can have been transformative parts of keeping my life manageable, and while most of the things I've shared here are small enough to get by without, having them has helped me manage my life, allowed me to simplify my processes, and inspired me to keep going. But the thing is, none of it would matter at all if I let my faith slip. When I spend too much time without my Bible in my hands, my stress levels skyrocket, my sleep patterns get totally out of whack, and I dip quickly into a negative mindset. Nurturing my faith keeps me encouraged and motivated, and my Bible helps me stay connected to Jesus, who is ultimately the rock-bottom foundation of how I keep everything else in balance.

Please know that it takes a lot to get me to back a product or company, and I don't share anything I don't actually use and love. I hope you'll love some of these things as much as I do, and that you'll check back now and then—if I fall in love with something new, I'll add it here! And you never know; it might be just the thing you were looking for.