Eco-Friendly Mama: Safe product recommendations with a focus on organic and Made in USA!

I shared this on my personal page but I also wanted to share it with those of you who still read what I write. Life is busy. My son turns 15 next week. My baby girl is months away from being a teenager. Life is great. Fantastic. We’re healthy and happy. Definitely concerned about the state of our country and the world, but I’m able to shut it out most days and just be here now. I know that the core of my group of readers has been on this journey along with me for over a decade and like me, many of you are probably coasting along doing what you’ve been doing for a long time now. It’s easy to get in a routine and just go with it. Many of you are well into a career and I hope you love it, find it rewarding, and look forward to going to work every day!

But I also know many of you, like me, put your career aside to stay home and raise your kiddos. I had just received my degree in Spanish Education when I learned I was pregnant and decided to put my career aside for a year or two to stay home with my babe. And after my babe was here, and then I had my 2nd, I decided there was no way I was leaving them with someone else to raise them while I worked away from home. I started blogging out of a passion for sharing what I was already researching for my family. I never expected to make it into my life work, it just happened. It combined my love of learning, teaching, and connecting with others. My 14th blogversary just passed a couple weeks ago (2/22/26) and I forgot to even mark it like I typically do. It was never the only thing I did. I’ve always had a bunch of side-hustles. But over the past couple years I have been kinda’ on autopilot, coasting along, same ol’ same ol’.

Now that my youngest is almost a teen, I definitely feel like I have time to focus on ME a lot more. What do I want for the future? I can already see those empty nest years in the not-so-distant future which is absolutely INSANE! And as I now find myself with more time, it hit me that it’s time for something(s) new and different. It came to me this past fall as I was spending a lot of time out in nature that I’m very deeply connected to the land I live on/by and I would love to help others who are selling the land they’ve grown to love and/or those looking to purchase their dream home in this gorgeous part of the state I live in.

So yesterday, 4 months after 1st putting it out to the Universe that I was considering a career in real estate, and 7 weeks after officially launching into the 72 hr pre-licensing program on a freezing cold day in January, I have officially passed the WI real estate exam! It was hard, definitely one of the hardest exams I’ve ever taken! 148 questions w/ a 4 hr time cap. But doing hard things makes the success so much sweeter! All that’s left is a little more paperwork and a little more money sent to the state licensing board and I can find a brokerage firm to work with and launch into the next chapter of my career.

It felt pretty intense to be back on a UW college campus for a 4 hr exam as a 46-year-old mom with my new bifocals on Thankfully there was no suspense, I received my immediate PASS result! PHEW! I felt all sorts of emotions as I left the campus among halls filled with 20-year-olds. I arrived at my car, turn the key and of all the songs in the world that could be playing I hear one of my all-time favorite voices: Eddie Vedder singing ohhhhh, ohhhhhhh, I’M STILL ALIVE. It was one of those moments that stopped me in my tracks completely.

I might not be young, I might be wearing bifocals to read and take tests, but I’m still alive and I will never stop pursuing my passions which most definitely include a lifelong love of learning. All this to say, to you, whoever is ready this: it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Whether you’re in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s+, there’s time for something new. And it is so exciting, rewarding, refreshing and extremely good for our brains to shake things up! I also started Crossfit a couple months ago. I knew it would be challenging physically, but I had no idea how mentally stimulating it would be too and I’m loving it so incredibly much!

I’m not going anywhere, but as you know, I’m not nearly as active online as I used to be. I DO want to stay connected, update you on my world, and hear from YOU about what’s going on in your world. As always, I’ve felt that if 1 person finds what I write to be helpful, or especially to be motivating, it’s worth the time it takes me to write it (I can type SUPER fast). The Universe works in mysterious ways sometimes. What I know 10000% to be true is if you follow your heart, you will never be disappointed. And oh how I love Eddie Vedder!