I want to explain what it is I’m doing here with my own column for Minding the Home. I want you to know I’m not a Martha Stewart type figure. I don’t have this whole domestic goddess thing under control. I want to. I so desperately want to be that mom and wife that is always organized, put together, and ready for the next challenge. Woefully, I am so not that person. Was I always this disorganized? No! Am I overbooked, have I overextended myself? I don’t think so. Do I want to be a domestic goddess? I do, I really, really do. I cook, I clean, I pay our bills, I manage, I work, and I parent. I want to excel in all areas and at the very least I want to be effective at all. I have priorities and happy, loved children will always come before a neat and organized home, but do I have to choose?

This column is going to be where I share with you all that I try. I’ll let you know what’s working for me and what has been a dismal failure. I’m going to share with you recipes, cleaning tips, and any other home management tips and products, I come across.  If you have any helpful hints for me, I’d love to read them in our comments section. Whether you’ve conquered your home, and know just what would help, or you’re working on it like me, and have questions, I would enjoy hearing from you.

It wasn’t too long ago when people went about their day, everyday, without thought of the effect on the planet of our actions.  As energy prices are soaring and more information is available about global warming, it’s important that each and every one of us understands our effect on the world.

Have you calculated your own carbon footprint?  There’s a great calculator located at http://www.earthlab.com/carbonprofile.  With a few simple inputs, such as the size and type of your home, monthly utility bills, type of car that you drive, etc, you will get your very own Earth Conservation Plan score.  You can also create a plan to lower your score.  My score is 272, primarily because I drive an energy efficient car.

What’s your score?

Welcome to my first Fix My Budget column on The Mindful Moms.  This column will not provide investment or product advice, but will give you the information and motivation you need to help prepare your financial future.

So, let’s get into the Fix My Budget mindset.  To start, you need to have motivation.  This week’s column, our inaugural one, is all about motivation!  If you are married, it’s essential that you and your spouse are on the same page - I cannot stress this enough.  I’ve talked to so many husbands and wives whose spouse doesn’t not share the same financial values as them.  Please talk through your motivations and goals together before working on a budget and financial plan.

What do I mean by motivation?  Basically, it’s a common and clear understanding of what you want money for.  On it’s own, money is just paper, right?  So, it’s important for you to understand what money means to you.  Is it freedom and security?  Or perhaps it’s status?  For most people, it’s probably a combination - you want security and freedom but also like a few status items.  Please admit the truth to yourself - if you want some luxury or status items, that’s totally fine.  You’ll just want to make sure you budget for them or else those costs will blow your budget.

Think about your financial motivation this week, and next week I’ll be back with another column!

Author Kate Kelly is a mother of three and co-founder of the website getinherhead.com, a gift and date reminder service for couples.

My favorite radio host, Dennis Prager said in a speech, “That which is conceived in romance then goes ahead and kills all the romance.” Is there a mother of small children out there that can not attest to that statement? We all love our kids, but let’s be honest, they do take a little of the romance out of our lives.

Well, maybe that’s not totally accurate, they don’t take the romance away, just all the energy you may have put into being romantic. So, if your jaunts to Victoria Secret have been totally replaced with treks to Baby Gap, then I’m talking to you!

My friends and I laugh about the end of the day, when the little cherubs are finally asleep, and being thankful that for the first time in twelve hours, no one is touching us! Not to mention that we are thinking about the laundry that needs folding the dishwasher that needs running, the toys strewn all over the house and on and on and on… Then one day I had an epiphany and realized that the best thing I could possibly do for our family was to attend to my relationship with my husband with at least the same attention I paid to the dishes!

So, in a world of endless diapers, laundry and dishes, I learned to put romance on my daily checklist. That may sound absurd and perhaps even unromantic, but if it’s on my mental checklist for the day, it gets done. It may be something as simple as a little email when the kids are asleep, a loving hug when he walks in the door or an extra effort to connect at the end of the day. It’s just a little something everyday but it makes a difference…and it is a lot more rewarding than folding another load of laundry!

So, grab your planner and schedule in a little romance… take a moment away from maintaining your life so you don’t miss out on the joys of living it!

Before kids, every year, my husband and I would make the cross-country trek out west to wine country, where we’d relax, taste wine, visit and tour wineries, and eat amazing dinners.  It was definitely a relaxing vacation, and when we returned we’d feel well rested and a few pounds heavier.

Skip forward to two years later, when we were invited to a Sonoma wedding for a business school friend of mine.  At that point, my daughter was 10 months, and we decided that we should all head to California for a family vacation.

Traveling with a baby to a non-baby friendly location wasn’t too hard, but there were definitely a few things we learned over the week.

• Find a store with supplies - ie: diapers, wipes, toys, and formula before you go (search online for Targets and Walmarts) just in case.
• Bring a blow up baby tub if you can.  Our hotel only had a shower stall, so having the blow up tub was essential.
• Make sure that your hotel either has refrigerators in the room or is willing to bring one in.  The hotel we stayed in didn’t have refrigerators, but they were able to have housekeeping bring a small one.  This was important for milk and baby food storage.
• Our baby needed time to unwind around lunch, so we usually ate at a picnic site and let her roll around on a blanket we’d brought.
• Baby carriers are great for carrying a baby in a location that isn’t stroller accessible.
• Bring lots of small, portable toys.
• There are many companies that will rent baby gear, such as a baby swing, portable play yard, and high chair - find them before you go.  Your hotel may have recommendations.

Most importantly, enjoy your last quasi-adult vacation.  Did I mention our most recent family vacation was to Disney World?

If you shopped the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale beauty exclusives (and honestly, you missed out if you didn’t), you may already be familiar with the brand new Trish McEvoy Treatment Foundation SPF 15, which is exclusive to Nordstrom until the fall.

I’ve been a huge fan of Trish McEvoy products since 1998, and honestly haven’t been completely in love with her liquid foundations.  But, I was eager to try this new one out to see if it would work for me.  At $75 a bottle, it has to be absolutely perfect to be worth it!

The Trish McEvoy Treatment Foundation is available in 9 different colors - a decent selection but depending on your skin tone, a perfect match may be difficult.  I was able to find a great match for my skin with the light beige color.

I use the Trish McEvoy Treatment Foundation with a Trish McEvoy foundation brush, and have found that a little goes a long way.  To that end, the price may be a bit misleading.  I could see a full bottle lasting a long time!  It just glides on, feels great, and provides excellent coverage.  Visit Nordstrom or Nordstrom.com to check out the foundation for yourself!

From the editors of Mom’s Favorite Stuff, The Mindful Moms will be launching August 25th!

We’ve got some columns planned - Fix My Budget, Traveling Mama, Green Aware Mom, Beauty Mom, Minding the Home, and the Weekly Reader, in addition to guest expert posts.

Our moms and guest expert bloggers provide information and insights to mindful moms everywhere.

To celebrate our launch, we’ll be offering a great prize package to one lucky winner.  The contest will be announced on August 25th - come back to check it out!