Allison Weeks

Hello , homemakers , and welcome to the Art of Home podcast , where we are exploring how Homemakers cultivate a place to belong . I'm your host , allison Weeks . I'm a wife , I'm a mom to four grown kids and a granny to one little boy , and I've been practicing the Art of Home for over 31 years now . If you're new to the show , welcome . I'm so glad that you found us . We are going to be giving you a Homemaker portrait today , which is what we normally do . We also do some deep dives that are topical episodes here on the Art of Home , but for the rest of this year we will just be doing Homemaker portraits , and all of the portraits from this point on are of listeners , just like you . We'll be opening up applications again for listeners to apply in November , maybe late October , so make sure that you keep an eye out for that . I will announce it probably on Instagram and I will definitely announce it in the newsletter that goes out every Friday during our regular seasons . So if you're not subscribed to the newsletter , this would be a great reason to subscribe . It's totally free and it arrives in your inbox every Friday morning . We call it Homemaker Happy Mail and that's the idea . It's to put a smile on your face and help you finish your Homemaking Week well , with some encouragement and some inspiration , some tips and some ideas , even some thoughts and some devotions occasionally . We will always put the links and the resources shared from our guests in that newsletter . So if you're looking for something that you think might be in the show notes and it's not there , it's probably going to be in the newsletter . So that's all the many reasons why it's a good idea to sign up for that . If you have not yet , just go to theartofhomepodcastcom slash , subscribe , and you can also see some of our past newsletters in the archive , which you can navigate to from that page as well . Today's episode is episode four in our season of six episodes , so we're winding it down . After this week we only have two more and then we'll take a couple of weeks off and come back for an extra long fall season . We're going to get a couple of bonus episodes , so it'll be an eight episode season next time , and that's because I wanted to make sure that I got as many of the portraits in as I could before it was time to do our holiday series that we do every year around Christmas time . So you have that to look forward to .

Allison Weeks

The subject for today's Homemaker Portrait is in the trenches Homemaker Heather Love . Now , this is an in-person interview because Heather and I have a mutual acquaintance and that's how she discovered the show . But our paths had not crossed and we had not met face to face until she came to my house for her interview . So that was a real treat to get to know her and to get to hear her story of taking care of three very busy little children . And she's in her second year of homeschooling , so she's learning how to navigate those waters and all the changes that that brings to their daily rhythms . And Heather has a passion for health and using food to heal the body and she has a blog and a YouTube channel that she's able to give a little bit of time to explore those things and provide resources for other moms . But she does say that her primary focus right now is her children . Maybe down the road , god will bring opportunities for her to explore the health and wellness side in the blog and YouTube channel more , but right now her focus is at home .

Allison Weeks

Whether you're a new listener or you've been listening for a while , I just want to thank you for trusting me with some of your time today , whatever you are applying your hands to , as you listen and take us along . I know you will enjoy Heather's story of home . Okay , welcome to the art of home . I am here with my new friend , heather Love . We have a mutual acquaintance but we have not met actually face to face until today . So I'm going to welcome Heather to the podcast here and we're going to go into her homemaker story and get the background on that . But before we do , heather , why don't you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are today ?

Heather Love

Yes , thank you for having me . I'm Heather Love and I am a mom of three little ones Asher is six , judah is almost four and Poppy just turned one . I am also homeschooling , so it's just a lot of little kids at home nonstop .

Allison Weeks

I didn't know that you were homeschooling . Okay , we're going to talk about that .

Heather Love

So I'm definitely in the trenches , like your trenches homemaker .

Allison Weeks

Uh-huh . Yep yep , absolutely . How long have you been ?

Heather Love

married A little over 10 years . 10 years . Congratulations . Thank you .

Allison Weeks

Okay , anything else ? Little's , three little's and homeschooling . I think that's enough . I think that's enough to keep you busy . Okay , let's go back to the beginning . Actually , let me just say how much I love your daughter's name .

Heather Love

That's the best name , Poppy . We love it . Okay , can you ?

Allison Weeks

tell me , where did that name come from ?

Heather Love

Yeah , it's kind of a funny story , just with all of our kids' names .

Heather Love

We kind of went back and forth Like I would have a list , okay , let's see if Jordan likes any of these , you know , and we'd go off . And so when I she's our first girl , so so excited for a girl name , and then my name's Heather , you know , and it's kind of more floral , so I was more so attracted to the floral names and I had Poppy on my list , I was like there's no way Jordan's going to like that , I just know it . But he was like it's kind of a cute , you know spunky name , like really , like there's a chance . And then he recently realized that he has a lot of like background from coming from England and it's more , it's a popular name in England . And then we just started discovering all these things , like with his name being Jordan . It's funny because , like our boys' names are Asher and Judah , you know which kind of compliments the Jordan River . And then we learned that the Poppy flower grows along the Jordan River and so there's just all these little things that were coming in .

Heather Love

We were like okay you know what this ? Name is perfect . I love that .

Allison Weeks

Oh , that's really cool .

Heather Love

Oh , that's so cool and I love the Jordan River .

Allison Weeks

And , oh , that's awesome . So is Jordan ? He's British or he just has ancestry ?

Heather Love

Oh , like we took a 23 and me , and for a while he thought he was Russian because it's like I think his great grandparents loved the Russian stuff . And so he just started realizing , oh , I'm not Russian at all , I'm actually primarily British and like Irish . So yeah new discoveries , that's so cool .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , for a little bit my husband , I forgot what it was , something odd . And then I guess they get more . They get more information the more people do the testing and it just kept narrow .

Allison Weeks

I mean we already knew this , but it kept narrowing and narrowing down more and more and more to like totally Scottish , okay yeah , and if you saw , his beard is white now , but it used to be completely red . So his beard was red but his hair wasn't red , but he's kind of gingery , like you can tell . His coloring is sort of gingery .

Heather Love

Anyway , like it's so fun to see all those little details that come into play , yeah , I love it , so that's such a cool name story . It's so great .

Allison Weeks

It'll be interesting to see how she grows into her name , Like what she she's already a character .

Heather Love

So , yes , I am intrigued as well .

Allison Weeks

Okay , all right , let's go back to the beginning of your story . So when did you first become a homemaker , and when you did , did you have any skills ?

Heather Love

I would say it started when I had my first . I was staying home with him . I had a job at the time , but it was very part time , sporadic type job , so I was primarily home with him and as I started having more kids , it became okay , no , I'm , I'm staying home with these kids . So that's when it started , and I would say I brought cooking and health into it . I've always enjoyed cooking . I grew up with a family who enjoyed to cook . Uncle and aunt were just really amazing chefs , and so they would bring me over to their house and show me how to make , like , homemade sourdough bread , and I just loved it . And then , yeah , my mom she was it stay at home mom and taught me how to cook , and so I developed that skill and health . Yeah , I don't know , I just I think my mom was into health too and I kind of just ran with that as well to get to the next level . Yeah , but yeah , so I studied that and , yeah , I would say I brought that into it .

Allison Weeks

Okay , what were you seriously lacking in ?

Heather Love

What was something that you had a big learning curve for Lots of things Okay , the so many things but I would say , since I recently started homeschooling , that has been really challenging for me . I'm not a natural teacher at all . I'm very . I can be scatterbrained and like free spirited , and so I am completely learning how to prep and plan and have schedules and calendars and all that , and it doesn't come naturally to me . Organizing does not come naturally to me . I'm more like artsy type brain , you know , yeah , and but yeah , god has definitely been teaching me that and it's cool to see how that's developing and I'm just like , okay , I could not do this without God , but he is completely showing me and I'm loving it as well . So it's that has been , yes , a very big learning curve . So this is your first year , or I'm going into my second year of school . You're second year , okay , just taking it year by year .

Allison Weeks

So you know it goes . That's a good way to do it . Yeah , yeah Cool . And so your kids are . I know you already told me they're ages , but so remind me again , do we have a preschooler ?

Heather Love

Yeah , so Asher would be going into , is going into first grade , first grade and then Judah Pre-K Pre-K Okay , just a baby , yeah , well , who is making it challenging ? For sure , yes , definitely .

Allison Weeks

You had lots of Play-Doh , lots of you know extra little . Here you play with this over here . Yes , While we do this , lots of distraction . Yes , yeah , we did . We homeschooled for eight years .

Heather Love

Okay .

Allison Weeks

And then , the first year that we did it , my youngest was , oh gosh , probably about the same age as your daughter . Okay yeah , he was like 16 or 18 months or something like that ? Or how old is your daughter ? 13 months , 13 months , okay . So he was a little bit older , but still super child , and I had a preschooler . So I had two who were in grade school and then I had a preschooler and then a baby . So it was that first year was rough . Yes , yes .

Heather Love

It was rough for me as well .

Allison Weeks

So how are you doing like because you said you're more of a free spirit . Did you approach your homemaking ? Do you approach your homemaking as a free spirit ? And did this transition into homeschooling also have kind of forced you to be more structured in all the things ?

Heather Love

Yes , I was with my first , when I just had one baby , I could completely be free spirited .

Heather Love

He did everything with us . He would stay up late with us Like there was no schedule or anything . And I was like I am not a mom who makes schedules , because I don't want to be tied down to schedules , and so I like take it too far to the other end . But when I started having a second third , I was like , oh my gosh , I need schedules for my sanity . You guys have to go to bed together , you have to , like , take a nap together . I cannot do this , I am losing it . So that kind of started the schedules . And then , yes , with the homeschooling , I was like , oh no , I need this too , a whole new level . Now that I didn't realize that I needed .

Allison Weeks

So it's been a learning curve , yeah , and it will still be continue to be a learning curve . Adaptability and flexibility , I think , are the signs of a good homemaker , because you just have to be flexible and you have to be willing to adapt and change as your seasons change , as circumstances and life situations change . So that's what I've learned , all right , so who or what has had the biggest or just a big influence on your homemaking , would you say ?

Heather Love

I would say my mom . I was at home a lot with my mom growing up and , yeah , she was a complete homemaker . She cooked all the time for us . When above and beyond . So where I'm like you expect it . When you leave you're like wait , what , how do I take care of myself ? Now ? My mom took a little too good care of me and now I need to go learn . So she was a big influence and , yeah , she homeschooled us . I was only homeschooled for a couple of years in middle school I'm the oldest and so the younger ones were homeschooled longer but I kind of she inspired me along the way to I can do these things like my mom did it . So she played a big role in that .

Allison Weeks

That's good . That's a real blessing that you had that . Well , let's talk a little bit about expectations . So what were some things that surprised you about homemaking ? Either good or bad , something you didn't expect .

Heather Love

So much harder than I ever anticipated . Just kids in general , just how they are nonstop , I don't know . It's like I expected there to be more breaks or something and you kind of have to create that . But yeah , I had to let go of all my expectations and realize , okay , it's like one day at a time and it's fun , it's learning how to do it is so much fun . But just yeah , Surrendering everything was hard for me for sure .

Allison Weeks

And you had two boys in a row too , and that's a lot of noise and action , and I mean girls can be that way too , but I don't know . There's just something about boys , man . They demand a lot of attention and energy .

Heather Love

That's what I hear from others and I'm just like , yes , it is nonstop chaos . I'm glad I got that girl , because if I had three boys right now I don't know .

Allison Weeks

Was there a particular expectation you had to let go of ? Like just put in the ground and bury ?

Heather Love

I'm just kind of a control freak . I can definitely be that way . I like things to go a certain way and I think I'm in control of that . So I think just letting go of my control was really hard , or is really hard still , you know , working on that and but that when I let go of that like feel like God fills me up so much more than I can ever do .

Allison Weeks

So yeah , yes , yeah Well , how about when the littles started coming along ? How did that challenge ? Well , you've already kind of alluded to how it challenged your home making . Just the noise and the constant it never stops of raising kids . But how did it enhance your experience at home and your home making ?

Heather Love

I love creating . I think it's kind of that art driven mind that I have , and so I feel like I'm creating this home and this environment and that was so much fun . I can create a good day or a bad day based off of my thoughts and my actions and all and so , yes , and especially when they're younger like as they grow older , I know that will start to change . They'll be making like their own decisions and everything , but right now it just feels like a fun , creative . I'm kind of leading the boat and I've really enjoyed that . That's great .

Allison Weeks

So you were , because you said you were an art major or a graphic art .

Heather Love

Yes , yes , graphic design , yes , art .

Allison Weeks

Yeah . So are you like a artsy , craftsy mom with your boys , do you like ? Are they like no mom , we're not into crafts .

Heather Love

You know it's interesting , my love for art is more like photography and media type of art , but I also love drawing and painting and all that . But the hands on I get a little frustrated with . I think it's probably my perfectionism . I'm just like if I can't get this easily and all , then I'm done with it . So yeah , but I definitely would say like we start the day off every morning our homeschool , we go outside because I love being out in nature and the sunshine and all . I think it's so healthy in so many ways . But we start off with a Bible story and they draw as I'm reading out of their kids Bible and so I bring a lot of like coloring and drawing and just kind of being creative to them and they love that and I love that . So I would say in that way I kind of bring art into it .

Allison Weeks

How do you bring art into your actual home environment that you're creating ?

Heather Love

I would say cooking , cooking is an art . I'll often grab them and I'm like hey , cook this with me . Sometimes they want to , sometimes they don't . We just kind of see what the day is looking like . So , yes , cooking being an art and just , I don't know , just being creative throughout the day , I think creativity is an art . It's just kind of odds and ends , yeah .

Allison Weeks

So how do you invite your boys they're still little , so they're learning how to do chores and things like that but how do you invite them into the home making and to taking ownership in the home with you ?

Heather Love

Yeah , well , we have a short chart . So they started doing that and that's been great because they're helping me out and I'm teaching them . You know you need to work for these goals that you have . They'll pick out a big toy . They'll save up together their money and so that's pretty cute and it usually takes them like a couple months to get to the toy that they wanted , because it's usually a pretty big toy . But I love the lessons that it brings up . Okay , we're gonna work and then we get these rewards . And then also with cooking , like you know , if you want to eat good food or nutritious food , you've got to . You need to get it and then you need to prepare it and cook it . And yeah , I think that's bringing lessons in . And then they also , like they saw me give birth at home and so you know just more of they're watching everything I do , which is pressure , for sure , and I'm showing them . Like mom definitely makes mistakes , but I want them to see these life lessons and hopefully take that with them .

Allison Weeks

Oh , that's awesome . Yeah , I know you just did a podcast about your home birth experience and we'll link that in the show notes , but so they were there , they got to witness that . Yeah , so this was .

Heather Love

Poppy's birth . This was Poppy's birth , Okay , yes the three year old .

Heather Love

he was , you know , kind of all over the place . My mother-in-law was there to watch him so he would see some of my contractions , but really , when it became more they went upstairs and played . But Asher , my older one , oh my goodness , he was so excited . He was like involved in everything to where at one point they did have to take him out because he was just like running around singing and like distracting me from focusing on what I was doing . But it was so cute . I mean , he was just like , and I prepared him like okay , you know this is a painful process , but like it's natural and this is what is supposed to happen . So if it looks like mom's in pain , it's okay .

Heather Love

And so he was very aware of that because I wasn't sure how he was going to act , Like is he going to be scared or not ? He was not scared . He was like sitting on the bed next to me , like singing and dancing , and you can . There's a whole video of it where you can see him , because I posted it on YouTube . But he's just so excited and it was really sweet to see . And then at one point he gets a chair and he puts it right in front of the door , like don't go in there , we're protecting mom and the baby , right ?

Allison Weeks

now .

Heather Love

It was super cute .

Allison Weeks

Oh , that's so cute . Oh , my gosh , I love that . Well , okay , let's talk about priorities . What are some practical steps that you take to help you set and keep your priorities and keep them in the right order ?

Heather Love

Yes , this is something that I have really struggled with priorities , I guess that free spirit of mine , yeah , just kind of staying on track . But I recently I ordered a calendar and it was a very beautiful one , has my name , flowers on it , everything . I was like , okay , I'm gonna do this right , I'm gonna make it pretty , because that's going to inspire me to actually do it , and it has really helped actually , just that I was keeping stuff on my phone and I still keep stuff on my phone , but just , for whatever reason , having that hands-on calendar has really helped me . It's a homeschool calendar as well . You can really customize this one , and so I write down the lessons I'm working on with the boys for that day , and then there's a priorities tab , there's a dinners tab , and so that has really kept my focus .

Allison Weeks

So it's not like a wall calendar , it's like a planner .

Heather Love

Yes , it's a planner , I'm sorry , with a calendar in it .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , no , maybe you can share the link to . Yeah , I can do that when that came from , and we can Do you know what the ?

Heather Love

brand is off hand , off the top of my head , no , but I will give that to you .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , we'll get the link from you for that . Yeah , that's so helpful . I do go back and forth between just wanting to have the convenience of having everything on my phone because I always have my phone with me Right same Versus the need for me , because I am a visual learner and very tactile , and so something about writing it down and being able to see it on the paper .

Heather Love

Yes , it made a difference . I fought it for a long time because I've tried calendars and planners in the past and I do it for like two days and I don't stick with it . I think it was the combination of it being so customizable Did I say that correctly ? Yeah , and it having different tabs that like it has my kids' names on it in those tabs and it has , like I got to plan it , and so I think that made a really big difference and just that it's pretty kind of draws me to it .

Allison Weeks

So it has tabs for your kids . What are those sections about ? Is that for planning their lessons ?

Heather Love

It's just in a planner . Yeah , I chose the homeschool version . There's many different versions , but they have a homeschool version and so you can put your kids in there , you can put subjects they're working on , and so that yeah .

Allison Weeks

I imagine , even if you weren't homeschooling , that would still be really valuable to have a section that's true for each kid . Yes , we know if you're writing down , like when their school papers are due , or when their events are or when their doctor's appointments are , or whatever Exactly .

Heather Love

To keep up with each one .

Allison Weeks

Yes , that's cool . That sounds like a really great resource . Well , okay , I am interested to hear your answer to this question because you have a presence on social media and I just would like to know how do you maintain a healthy relationship with media for yourself ? And then also , what's your approach currently and maybe looking forward for your kids ?

Heather Love

Yes , so in my twenties I struggled with this so much I would say I did not have a healthy relationship with social media . That's kind of when it started and became big , and that was a big struggle . I found myself on it way too often . I would end up comparing myself to everyone . It was just not healthy and so I knew I had to kind of figure that out and especially with kids , like first off , you don't have time to do that and then you don't want that to be your priority or time . So figuring that out . But I think what has helped me is just really knowing what it is , knowing the negative effects that can come out of it , because there are many . There are positives as well , but there are also many negatives , and so just knowing what it is has helped me kind of keep that focus . And then I also created a rule for myself that , ok , if you're getting on , say , instagram , you can look at five photos and no more .

Heather Love

Oh , and that was just a little rule I created for myself and that's helped me a lot . And I'm very what's the word ? If I create a rule for myself , I'm very adamant , what's the right word , I stick to it , yeah , and so that's just really helped me . I'm like OK , I'm done . Wow , I did my five photos . That's some good discipline right there . I'm disciplined . That's the word I was probably looking for , ok .

Heather Love

I'm very self-disciplined , great . And then with my kids , I mean they're not to social media yet , thankfully , but I know we'll get there in the future . But I do have . You know , I allow screen time and TV and all that . But then I say , ok , these are some negative things that come from it . It's not healthy for your brain development , it's not healthy for your eyes . All the blue light so we can enjoy these things and obviously it's becoming a very big part of kids' lives today and they need those skills . So I want them to have that . But we need to know our limits and learn self-control . And so just trying to teach that , and I'm creating those limits right now , but I'm hoping that by explaining the negative effects of it , that over time they will develop that self-discipline as well .

Allison Weeks

So we'll see . Yeah , that's good . How do you manage ? Because you have a YouTube channel and I know we talked before about how this is kind of more of a little side passion project that you're hoping to grow into something else later on , but your focus right now is on your kids and your family .

Allison Weeks

But how do you manage , like responding to comments and all that kind of stuff , sort of the marketing side of your passion project ? Because sometimes I find if I'm going to respond to DMs or I can get sucked into the DM squirrel .

Heather Love

You can get sucked in so fast and it's like you want to finish what you started . I know I'm very much like that and so . But sometimes finishing what you started can take hours and hours and then you're missing what you really need to get done in that moment . Again , the calendar has helped me sort of .

Heather Love

Okay , at the beginning of each month in this calendar it says , okay , what's your month goal ? And I can write those down and then I can take that back to okay , here's my week goal . And I'm able to just write in all these notes of like , okay , this week you wanna accomplish this one thing with because right now it's very small what I'm accomplishing , because my kids are my focus and I don't want to lose that focus . But if I have those one or two goals , I'm actually able to finish them , like when they go to sleep or if they're taking a nap or alls and ends times , and then I feel like , ooh , I accomplished that and it feels good and I'm able to like grow from that . But yes , if I'm not setting those goals and sticking to what I planned , then I can definitely get on that , yeah , that rapid trail and get sucked in , and that's not what I want , Right , right .

Allison Weeks

Okay , well , let's talk about some other temptations and challenges in home making . Which of these things , these three things , would you say that you've struggled with the most , and what's God teaching you through that A comparison with other women ? B I'm just a homemaker . I don't get paid for this , it's not a real job . Or C superwoman , I'm trying to do all the things .

Heather Love

Definitely superwoman , okay , and I actually on my about me , I kinda talk about that . I just I have big goals and dreams . I'm very driven Type A personality and I want to accomplish everything and for some reason I've thought multiple times that I can . If I work hard enough , I can do everything . Like I'll prove people wrong , I can do it . It's so silly .

Allison Weeks

Oh my gosh , I was just wondering did you watch Parks and Rec ever ? No , oh , okay , that's probably gonna . You won't get the reference but , there's a character in the we're . We are watching it for the first time . It's an older show and there's a character the main character , leslie Note and there's an episode we just watched it last night and she's literally trying to do all the things and she just epically fails like at everything because she just dropped all kinds of balls everywhere . So anyway , yeah , yeah yeah , Yep , that's me .

Heather Love

My husband has called me Wreck-It Ralph a few times . Oh , Because I will drop all the balls . Um , like I'm going to fail . Obviously I am not superwoman and I cannot accomplish everything . Like it's okay to have these big goals and dreams and but you're not perfect . And so , knowing that and God has definitely humbled me over the years like okay , calm down , you can't do everything . Um , but yeah , just knowing that I'm going to fail nonstop , has been like oh well , that's a relief . Like , okay , I don't have to do everything . And the more I'm just realized that I'm more empty I can't do it all than he has filled my cup . Like , oh , but I actually can help you a lot , but you're going to have to realize that you can't do it by yourself .

Allison Weeks

So that's actually been really like oh , such a relief yeah , it is a relief when we let go of trying to do all everything . Yeah , yeah , that's great . Well , what about any particular special challenges ? Have you faced any special challenges in your home making journey ?

Heather Love

I would say after each baby I definitely have struggled with anxiety and gut health and just fatigue , and I'm not sure if that's because of each pregnancy . I think it's a combination of just wearing myself out because I do have a tendency to do that thinking I can keep going and going , and then it catches up and then I oh my gosh , no , I can't doing that . So realizing that I need more self care and breaks and all of that , but just everything I mean having babies back to back . I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for what seven years now . So it's just .

Heather Love

It definitely takes a toll on the body and the mind and everything , and so that's been a struggle over the years , on and off of just okay , I need to heal my gut , I need to heal my mind , and once I start doing that I can do a lot of what I'm wanting to do . But I have to really have that self care and be aware of that and kind of okay , you know , at the end of the day , instead of trying to get more things done , go take a hot bath like learn how to relax and slow down , because I really enjoy doing things like I'm a doer and I enjoy it and I think God made me that way .

Heather Love

but I have to learn how to recover .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , yeah , well , giving the space for your body to recover , because seven years of birthing and nursing , that is a huge , that's very taxing .

Heather Love

You're asking your body to do a lot there and then to just pile more and not give it time to rest .

Allison Weeks

So let's I think this might be a good place to talk about sort of your passion project and you know what it is that how you brought your love for health and photography , art together for your blog and just share a little bit about that and maybe how it helped get you through , like the pregnancy , recovering from the pregnancy , and what you've learned and what you would like other women to learn and be encouraged by .

Heather Love

Yeah , I definitely find food to be very healing . I think we have a lot of processed food today that can really . It just doesn't help our body , and then we have foods that can really strengthen us , heal us , and so I wanted a lot of the blog . Is me going through my own gut struggles , finding things that have healed me and then hoping to encourage other women if they're going through a similar thing . Hey , this has really helped me . I'm hoping to be an encouragement that it can help you as well , because , oh my gosh , it's been hard at times . Feeling like this is my forever . You know that all or nothing type thinking oh , yeah , like with your diet , you mean yeah , like . There's been times where I've had to cut out certain foods like gluten , dairy eggs , because they're causing me more harm in that moment , but then I've always been able to bring them back in . Yeah , it's just and this is something I'm still learning and all but just the gut connection with the brain and it can get damaged over time .

Allison Weeks

Right .

Heather Love

For a variety of reasons , and so just finding healing and certain foods like bone broth and quality fat foods and just bringing , yeah , more peace to my gut and my body and my mind , it's been something that I've been working on and then hoping to like create recipes that other women can be like . Oh , I don't have to think about this , I can go here , I can find nourishing foods for myself and for my family and I will improve as well .

Allison Weeks

Yeah .

Heather Love

Yeah .

Allison Weeks

So your blog is mostly recipes , would you say .

Heather Love

I would say it's mostly recipes . Okay , yes , and then it's you know , little hacks or tips like traveling . We love to travel and we often travel with all of our kids . We'll go on road trips and all , and so it's all posts . You know , healthy hacks while traveling with kids and how to incorporate that , and so I'm just hoping to like simplify health , because it can be overwhelming and there's a lot of information out there .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , and it's always changing , yes , you know , and it's hard to distinguish between what's going to be helpful and what's just like a passing fad , or what's like the new , latest , you know , hot reel on TikTok or whatever , that is very challenging and I and it's been challenging for me as well because I can quickly be like well , they're finding this out .

Heather Love

Maybe this is the best new thing .

Allison Weeks

You know , and so like .

Heather Love

I struggle with that as well , but at first off , it's different for everyone , so what works for one person is not going to work for everyone . I think it's a lot of listening to your body , just slowing down and going back to the basics .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , so did you . You said you were certified at what was your nutrition coach Nutrition nutrition coaching . Okay , yes , so you have some knowledge and some background in this and your own personal experience . You were having some gut issues yeah With like IVS and stuff .

Heather Love

Yes , I've struggled with it after each baby and so I don't know if it's partly yeah , I think it's partly the the toll of having babies and then nursing and then going nonstop and just yeah , Well , your hormones are all all of it during those times .

Allison Weeks

So , yeah , I think we we have a long way to go in growing and our knowledge and understanding of those kinds of things .

Heather Love

Right .

Allison Weeks

So that's really cool . That sounds like it's a good resource for people , and you have a YouTube channel . I do , okay , so , but you're not posting a ton on any of these , because your primary focus is your kiddos .

Heather Love

Yes , I try to stay consistent with it but like it . If I could just do it whenever , I would say I'd be posting once a week , and it's more like once a month right now , which is still a lot .

Allison Weeks

That's still really awesome , so something Okay , well , we'll make sure that we link everything in the notes and we'll remind everybody at the end where they can find you online . But let's keep going and let's talk about hospitality . Okay , what is a practical way that you show hospitality both to your immediate family and then to other people outside of that ?

Heather Love

Yeah , well , we love having people over , I love hosting , I love cooking so much .

Heather Love

I love just creating a food , making it look pretty and then presenting it to friends or family and just seeing their faces light up . It's just fun . So , and we're in a community group and so we like having community group group over and people within the church and yeah , I think that's a great way to or I think that's one of the ways we show hospitality and then just showing our kids that like having people over , bringing them into your home . It doesn't have to look perfect , especially with kids , it's like usually , you know we try to clean up and all , but there are definitely toys and all everywhere . But you know showing them we're not perfect , we're just having you over . We want to have good conversations and good food . Are there other little ?

Allison Weeks

kids in your community group ? Oh yes , there's a lot of kids .

Heather Love

So that's a bit crazy . Right now we will do a lot of like girls nights out or guys will go get coffee stuff like that , to just not always have the kids involved , because they're fun but it's distracting , it is .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , it's hard to get into really any deep conversations . Yes , yes , when you're , you got one eye over here and you're trying to have eye contact with the person you're talking with , but you just constantly keep looking over there , like what is this one doing ?

Heather Love

What is this one doing ? I don't know , and that's why we will . We'll have a mix of like the whole group together where we have kids , but then we'll have them going off so that we can have those better conversations . Yeah .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , and there's value in all of it . Yeah , there's value in in those meetings where it's chaos and it's all the families and all the kids and it's still , it's still community and we still need that . So , yeah , okay , we're going to go and move on to the rapid fire section . All right , I'm going to ask you some questions and you can tell me in a short answer or you can tell me a story if you would like . So what is your biggest homemaking fail so far ?

Heather Love

Searching for perfection and then failing at that because I am not perfect .

Allison Weeks

Mm-hmm , yep , how about a recent homemaking win ?

Heather Love

I kind of mentioned this earlier , but the Bible stories in the mornings with my kids that has felt like a big win . It just it's worked . I was like I'm going to give this a try . I want to incorporate these Bible lessons into their day , not only for them but also for me , like I'm reading a kid's Bible and I feel like I'm getting so much more out of it than them . Yep , but they're getting it too Like we had some family over recently and my aunt was saying , wow , judah , who's my three year olds ? She was like he kept talking about Jesus to me just nonstop . It was like , oh , that's cute . So these things are sticking . Yes , that's awesome .

Allison Weeks

Yeah .

Heather Love

That has . That's been really fun . It's like my priority of the day . We start the day off with that and it only takes like 10 minutes and we're basically watching the sunrise together , they're drawing together , and then we're reading this story and I just love it .

Allison Weeks

That's so fun . Yeah , I would say , some of the deepest lessons that I learned were in those little Bible times with my kids and the kid Bible and there's something about just the cause . The gospel is very simple and you know , in its essence the gospel is simple and when we pare it down to a simple gospel presentation in a children's Bible , sometimes God , just like like , hits you over the head with that .

Heather Love

Yeah , like you were missing this . Oh , this is so simple . Exactly .

Allison Weeks

Well , what about a home making product or resource that you are loving right now ?

Heather Love

Yeah , so it kind of ties into the gut health , because I'm going through a like a dairy detox and I love dairy and I think there's a lot of nutrients in it . But this is just for this time , healing my gut . That's what I'm doing . And so I'm drinking a lot of almond milk and I have this appliance it's called an almond cow and it is so awesome . I have seen this thing .

Allison Weeks

Okay , okay , tell me , how does it work .

Heather Love

It makes making nut milk or coconut milk so , so easy and it's so easy to clean and you basically just put the nuts in , throw in some dates , vanilla , and you put the machine together , push a button and it makes it for you and it comes out like so milky and creamy and delicious and it lasts in the fridge like four ish days , something like that , and just it's so easy . I mean , I literally used to make nut milk , like you know , squeezing it with the milk with the nut bag or the nut bag .

Allison Weeks

Yes , yes .

Heather Love

Or then I'd end up buying it from the store , but there's a lot of fillers in the store bought one and gums and all that . So I didn't really like that , and it also just doesn't taste as good as the homemade version . So I love that machine so much . Okay , I have a question .

Allison Weeks

What happens to the fiber ? You know cause it's pressing , it's extracting the milk from the nut .

Heather Love

But in the machine it's not really pressing it , it's so you put the nuts in like this little cylinder thing , and then you put the water on the bottom .

Allison Weeks

Okay .

Heather Love

And then , yeah , you push the button . That's the funnest part , my kids love it . And so when you open it , the cylinder with the nuts is still attached , and if you take that cylinder off , you see all the like mushy stuff inside , but then in the big like liquid basin it's just the milk .

Allison Weeks

So it's mixed , the water that you had in the bottom with whatever it's pressing . I don't even know how that works . But okay , so you're not really left with like pulp .

Heather Love

You have , but it's just in that small cylinder and I just ended up dumping it out . You can add it to like oatmeal or whatever .

Allison Weeks

Oh that was yeah . I was wondering can you re , can you use ?

Heather Love

it for something . You can reuse it . Yeah , okay , you could . You can make it like a topper .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , Would it be almost almost kind of like an almond flour ?

Heather Love

sort of it's really wet , so it doesn't come out like an almond flour , but it comes out like a . I wonder if you could dry it out . You could maybe put it on top of your smoothies or .

Allison Weeks

I'm not sure Interesting so you . You said it also does coconut milk . Yeah .

Heather Love

Coconut . What do you put ? What do you ?

Allison Weeks

you put like coconut shreds Okay , yeah , like unsweetened coconut . Dried coconut shreds , yeah , okay .

Heather Love

I have a bunch of those actually , cause I used to make a lot of granola and Okay , and the coconut milk is so good too . And you sweeten it with dates . Okay , you put the dates in with the nuts , like in that little cylinder .

Allison Weeks

You can just put them in .

Heather Love

Yes .

Allison Weeks

Just pit the dates and just put the whole thing in there .

Heather Love

Yes , it is so easy you add a pinch of salt and then in the bottom you put water and it like a splash of vanilla and it's seriously good .

Allison Weeks

You're selling me on this nut , on this nut cow thing , because You're going to have to go buy it . It's worth it .

Heather Love

It's . It's a little pricey , it's not outrageous , but it's . You know it's a little pricey , it is worth it .

Allison Weeks

Well , but it's pricey to buy the good quality almond milk and coconut milk yeah . Because and I buy it all the time , because I use , I make dairy free ice cream and I make my smoothies every morning with almond milk . Okay , yeah , I think I would definitely get used out of that .

Heather Love

Yeah , and some people are really allergic to dairy and so they yeah , they have to find an alternative , and so if you're making or needing that stuff all the time , it is worth it .

Allison Weeks

I used to be able . I'm not allergic , but I'm 50 . I just can't . I love dairy and I just can't do it anymore .

Heather Love

Yeah , I love dairy too . Really , I can do the hard cheeses ?

Allison Weeks

Okay , I can do . The hard cheeses , yeah , but my ice cream days and milk days are over . Oh , no , can't do it anymore . It's so sad , but it's . I found some really good alternatives .

Heather Love

Yeah , actually I make really good coconut milk ice cream .

Allison Weeks

Okay , that sounds really good Really good , so okay , so we got your product . How about a hack or a tip that you love ?

Heather Love

I would say and I just kind of discovered this with my third kid I wish I had done this with my first I started putting little baskets in each room with toys in it , and so I can take the kids into each room , Like if I'm putting my makeup on . I take them in the bathroom with me , you know , because they're so little .

Allison Weeks

Yes .

Heather Love

I mean , the oldest is fine and my almost four year old is pretty good now too . But you know , when they're toddlers or younger , they just kind of they need to be with you nonstop so that they don't get hurt . And so I just take them from room to room and there's a basket of toys . And that has helped me so much , because they were always trying to get away or like , destroy all of my things and then I'd be stressed out and like , oh , and now they just yeah , the toys really help .

Allison Weeks

That's so smart , really good idea .

Heather Love

It took me to having a third kid .

Allison Weeks

Well , but C necessity is the mother of invention because , you're like man , I got three that I have to know where yeah , you know you can't be messing around when you got three kids . So that little basket of toys , like say , it's in the bathroom and it stays in the bathroom .

Heather Love

Yes , and then you have the little one , like in the bedroom and in the living room , and simple toys .

Allison Weeks

That's cool , though , because then that's it's like new , because they only see it when they're in that room .

Heather Love

Yes , and they I will kind of evolve the toys based off their age , Like start taking some out and putting new ones in and stuff . But yeah , that has really been a game changer for me Very good tip , good idea .

Allison Weeks

I like that a lot . All right , so let's talk . Oh wait , no , I have another question . I keep forgetting . I just added this one what is your signature dish ?

Heather Love

This makes me laugh , because , being so into health , I can never and food , I can never answer this question . So then I started asking my husband and he was like I don't know how to answer this question either Like , why do I not have a signature dish ? This is a problem , I think , because I love creating and trying new things so much that like that's a lot of the joy .

Heather Love

I'm always trying new things and like trying to make them a little bit better , and all so . Then I asked my kids they're like pancakes . I make pancakes for them almost every morning because they love pancakes and I want them to be healthy , so I'll make . I make a dry mix at home that will last me a month . I keep it in the freezer , and so about once a week , sometimes twice a week , depending on how many pancakes they go through . I'm just adding , you know , like if you go to the store and you get a dry pancake mix , you just add like eggs and milk .

Heather Love

I basically make that at home and so then I can add like collagen to it and some really healthy ingredients to help strengthen their gut and get a lot of nutrients in there . Sometimes I'll add superfoods and whatnot , so they just love these pancakes . So that's my signature dish .

Allison Weeks

I love that . Healthy pancakes ? Yes , so is it is the mix bait . What's the flour Is it ? Is it gluten-filled or gluten-free ?

Heather Love

or I'll kind of switch it based on what I want to experiment with or try and you can . It's fun that you can really change that out . So I use a lot of iron corn flour . I find it to be a really quality , healthy flour that has not been GMO'd and hybridized and changed over the years . It's very low in gluten . I'll sometimes use sprouted spelt but yeah , for a gluten-free version , almond flour , I'd say I use that one a lot . I've used rice flour , coconut flour you can really coconut flour . You cannot do a one-to-one ratio . So that is a super absorb , right , right , just a little bit goes along , yeah .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , I have two kids with celiac disease .

Heather Love

Okay .

Allison Weeks

So we've done all the alternative flours in all the ways . Yes , yes , have you tried cassava flour ?

Heather Love

You know I have , for some reason , I have not really baked with that . I need to start experimenting with that one .

Allison Weeks

It's a good . It's a little more pricey , but I'm now I'm seeing more and more off-breed Like there used to be , basically like one brand auto's that you could find and it was really expensive , and they've come down in their price . And then there's more , you know , like generic , I guess , or store brands , and more options for that so it's a good one-to-one flour Weet to . You know , wheat to cassava is generally one-to-one in most recipes . Awesome , that makes it easier .

Heather Love

We love . Oh sorry , go ahead .

Allison Weeks

No , I was just gonna say , and I like to use it for , like , if I'm going to bread something and fry it in a little bit of oil , it doesn't burn . Like , almond flour will burn , okay , because it's not nuts , yes , because the nuts generally will burn , yeah , if I try to fry anything . So , anyway , what were you going to say ?

Heather Love

Yeah , I was just saying like we love that brand siete , so we'll get like the almond flour , cassava flour , tortillas and their chips and yeah , and so I need to start playing with that and baking with it . Yeah , that's good to know it's a one-to-one ratio .

Allison Weeks

I really like using it . It's and I haven't done it a ton , but I've just recently started using it a lot more and it's a very it's a very friendly wheat alternative Awesome Flour , so okay . Well , maybe can you share , like , your basic pancake mix recipe with us ? Yes , okay , right now . No , you can send it to me and I will . I will put it in the newsletter that's going to come out after you share that and it's on my blog as well .

Heather Love

Oh , awesome . Okay , I'll share all that We'll do .

Allison Weeks

We'll do all of the links and all that . But yeah , we'll have that in the newsletter . Okay , let's talk about the art of home . We've talked already a little bit about art and you know I did kind of ask you this question earlier . But just in general , how do you see homemaking as an art ? And specifically , this is like a lot of mundane work , especially with little kids when ? Where ? Where do you find beauty in that ? What is beautiful about homemaking to you ?

Heather Love

Yeah , it's such an art . I love that you created this podcast , I think , to me I look at it as you have to be so creative to get through the day , Otherwise it will consume you and I often feel like I'm juggling so many things and so if I'm not being creative and trying to find ways around that , then that's when I find it really challenging . But that creative creativity is so much fun and there's so much beauty in art and being able to create something of your own and being flexible . So that's where I see a lot of the art in it .

Allison Weeks

I really like that , the creativity it's , it's life giving to me . It is , you know it and if I , but a lot of times I resist doing it , you know , because it feels like I just did that , like I just did the laundry , or I just did this thing or that thing and I just don't want to , you know , approach this with a joyful attitude or be creative about it or think creatively about my work here .

Allison Weeks

Not always , but some days I do feel like that and I sort of dig in my heels . But then , once I do it and and I just do the thing and I think about ways I can creatively keep my home , I don't know it is to me it's very life giving .

Heather Love

Yes , so yeah it . Yeah because it can feel very mundane , like this is never ending . I'm going to be doing the same thing forever . You're like how is this creating anything in the world ? You know , I know , I know . But I think we build things up so big in our head and it's often the little things that are actually make the biggest difference .

Allison Weeks

Oh , absolutely , absolutely . So . What's something that you're thankful for about homemaking ?

Heather Love

I think that I get to create an environment for my kids Like I can I kind of mentioned this earlier like I can create a joyful day and experience for my kids . Or I can just be in a mood and grumpy , yeah , that I'm doing the laundry nonstop and then I'm giving that to my kids and I don't want them having that on them or thinking that's just what life is , and so and that's definitely a big struggle sometimes because I am exhausted and I just want to give into that mood and just like , run away and eat chocolate where no one can find me . It's only one . It's not much to ask , I know , but I am so thankful for these kids and that I can be home with them and that I can be a big influence in their life , and I know that they're going to take that with them when they're older , like because I've taken so much of what my mom did as a kid and so like , okay , I need to change my perspective and attitude and create a good environment for them .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , it is a real privilege and an honor that we get to do that , that we set the tone , yes , you know , not just for our kids , but for our husbands and ourselves . I mean completely , we are the environment creators in the tone setters for the home , and it's it's a responsibility and it's a privilege . I don't want to look at it as a burden . Right , right , yeah , I want to be grateful for that responsibility and I got entrusted that to me . Yeah , and I want to honor him by doing doing my best with that . So , really good , I like that . Okay , let's end our time talking to some other women . We're going to talk to the younger women and the older women . So , to the older women , what would you say that you would want them to know about your experience as a homemaker ? What's something that they could do to step in and you know , just , minister to you , help you , encourage you , what would you like them to know and how would you like them to help ?

Heather Love

Yeah , I am the epitome of the millennials . I'm in that generation and good and bad from that right , like every generation . Yeah . But just I love being able to talk to older women about my struggles and , you know , times of anxiety or stress and just having them listen and because they've been there and it seems like some of these struggles are really prevalent these days . Just talking with other moms my age and it just seems like a lot of moms are struggling with feeling like they need to do it all and accomplish everything and post it on social media and have that perfection and yeah , it's such a lie . So , yeah , being able to talk through that with older women and just find that peace and encouragement that's needed .

Allison Weeks

Yeah , I'm a . I don't envy your generation and the let's see who's below you . That's Gen Z , right ? I think so yeah , yeah , actually , most of my kids are Gen Z , but anyway , I don't envy you because , like you said , in your 20s was really when social media kind of blew up . And that's some very formative time , young adult years right there to have to deal with that because , especially being an art minded person , it's , it's enticing , because it's pretty .

Heather Love

It's so pretty and you want to create that pretty image . Yeah , and yeah , I've had these conversations with my husband of like why do you just want to create beauty ? Like show them real life , and I'm like I don't want to see everyone else's . You know like I want to be , I want to be able to talk about it and be encouraged through that and all . But I want to go and , like find beauty .

Allison Weeks

You go there to find beauty , and so you don't want to be seeing garbage and you don't want to promote that either .

Heather Love

Yeah , and so it's like this odd thing of like and I can find that beauty as encouragement Also like , okay , this is a goal of mine . Like , obviously it's not a path of perfection , but you know , goals are good , Sometimes they make change that is needed . And so , yeah , it's just been an odd struggle of finding what that looks like . Yeah , yeah .

Allison Weeks

So I think , just speaking from someone who's a generation ahead of you , I think that older women , particularly the ones who are a generation ahead of me , they look at millennials and they feel like you guys , because you're doing all the things that looks like it on the surface , you're intimidating to them . Hmm . Interesting and they're just like oh , I have nothing to offer her , because she just really seems to have it all together .

Heather Love

Oh no , we have nothing together .

Allison Weeks

So what you're telling me is to encourage these ladies , that you want their input and you want their help . Yes , yes , evaluate .

Heather Love

Absolutely , that's so funny . I always want to clarify that because .

Allison Weeks

I get that a lot actually from the older ladies . When I ask them to be on the show , they're like oh , I don't have anything to offer really .

Heather Love

Wow .

Allison Weeks

These young women today , they just do it all .

Heather Love

Yeah , they know how to do it . That is not true , okay . We know how to make it look pretty , and that's it .

Allison Weeks

We do . Yes , yes , yes , okay . So how about the younger women that are coming behind you ? What would you say to them ? To encourage them , to challenge them , to warn them , whatever ? Yeah , what's your word ?

Heather Love

Yeah , it'll be interesting what kind of in their generation drives them , because I'm kind of speaking more from a millennial , I feel like , but you're going to make mistakes and it's completely fine to not have it all together .

Heather Love

I know , if I humble myself to God , he will provide where I am lacking , and that's just been such a huge lesson for me over the last couple of years . Trying to do it all , he's like , oh man , yeah , you can't . And the more I go to Him , the more he does provide . I feel like that's been a big word for me lately . Providing , yeah , he's providing where I am lacking . And it's like , oh , I can breathe . And yeah , he ends up providing more than I can even imagine . So , yeah , I guess , just realizing that you are human and you don't have to have it all together you never will , and that is completely okay you are still creating beauty and encouragement to your kids and showing them that you don't have it all together . Yeah , it is really good for your kids to see that , to show them that you need the Lord too .

Allison Weeks

Right , right , it's such a good thing , the more I'm like , oh , I tell my kids , oh , I'm so sorry .

Heather Love

I messed up this way , then it's so sweet , like a couple of days later they'll do something and they're like I'm sorry , I made a mistake . It's just so cute . I love that . Yeah , that's good training . It's really good , okay well before we say goodbye .

Allison Weeks

where can everybody find you online ? The simplelovecom . Okay , kind of ties up with the kind of ties in our last name is love .

Heather Love

The simplelovecom and I have all of my social on there , all your social connections .

Allison Weeks

Instagram is the simplelove underscore , but yes , it's all on there Can you connect to your YouTube channel .

Heather Love

What's your YouTube called ?

Allison Weeks

The simplelove ? No , it's , I need to check .

Heather Love

It should be the simplelove , because I think to have a job , I think to have a job , I think to have a direct name , you have to have 10,000 followers . Oh , okay , Like just made that , or I'm right under . So I tried putting it in and I'm not sure if it's completed yet , but it's all tied in on my website .

Allison Weeks

Yes , Okay , so go to the website thesimplelovecom and you can find all the other places to find Heather over there . Yes , and we'll link that to you in the show notes . Okay , well , thank you for being here today . It was really fun to get to hear your story and get to know you better . I really appreciate you giving me your time . Thank you so much for having me .

Heather Love

You're welcome , okay .

Allison Weeks

Thank you for listening to this Homemaker Portrait of Heather Love . I hope you have found some encouragement and some inspiration today from Heather's story . If you've been listening to the show for a while , you know that when Heather started talking about living within her limits and stopping the chase after perfectionism , you know that she was speaking my language . Those are topics I talk about a lot understanding our limits , understanding that we have to go to the Lord to have the strength that we need to get through all that's required of us each day , and that it's only in our weakness that we can really be strong , because then we're working out of his strength . So I love that she kept bringing that topic up over and over again , whether she was talking about actually doing her homemaking or managing social media exposure for herself or media in general for her kids . I love in that part of the conversation where she said she was trying to teach her boys to know their limits and to learn self-control and hope . She was hoping that by explaining the negative effects to them , that they would learn to develop the self-discipline and self-control themselves by balancing yes , we're going to allow some exposure , because that's part of the world that we live in , but also helping them to balance that exposure with understanding some of the negative effects that media might have on them , both physiologically and mentally . That's empowering others and empowering your children to make wise decisions on their own as they get older . And I thought that was really smart and I love when she said sometimes finishing what you started can take hours and hours and you're missing what you really need to get done in that moment . Perfectionism can tend to hold us hostage because it tells us , well , you started this and you better finish it , and you better finish it perfectly , whereas discernment from the Lord and from the Holy Spirit will tell us okay , there's time to do this on the project today , and then we're going to set this aside for later , so that you can be present in what I want you to be present for right now , with your child , or with your husband , or with your neighbor , or with your pile of dirty dishes , whatever that thing is . So don't allow the perfectionism and feeling like you have to finish what you started right now to rule and dictate your day . You have to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and hold your plans loosely . What about you ? How do you handle the temptation towards perfectionism and the temptation to not live within your limits . I would love to hear from you . We can have a conversation in a couple of different ways . You can go to our contact page , theartofhomepodcastcom slash contact , and over there on that page , you can send me an email or you can leave me a voicemail . It's pretty simple . You just need a device and an internet connection . You can also send me a DM on Instagram . You can find me there at theartofhomepodcast .

Allison Weeks

If you have found some value in today's episode , you can give the show some love and support in one of the following ways . First of all , share this episode , or really any of our episodes , with a homemaker that you know who could use some encouragement in her practice of the art of home . Secondly , you can leave us a rating and a review on your listening app of choice . And finally , if you are so moved , you can leave us a tip in our virtual tip jar Buy Me a Coffee . Tips are given in $5 increments . You can give one , two , three or as many coffees as you would like . Please go to buymeacoffeecom slash theartofhome .

Allison Weeks

And if you need a little bit more instruction on how to do all those three things , we do have more info over on the support page on the website . It kind of walks you through step by step how to leave a review and how to share , so you can go to theartofhomepodcastcom slash support for that extra info . Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter Homemaker Happy Mail . It goes out first thing Friday morning and it will have all of Heather's links , contact information , the things that she shared with us , her favorites , her hints and tips and tricks and her pancake recipe . So you want to make sure that you get signed up for that if you haven't already . Well , that's it for this week's episode of the Art of Home . I will be back next week with another Homemaker portrait of a listener , just like you . Until that time , keep practicing your art of making a home .