Author Archives

Melissa Venable

Rockin' a FabYOUlous life as an author, speaker, blogger, coach and consumer of way too much caffeine. Let me help you to ditch the drab and find your FAB--it's possible and it's FUN!

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It’s a Teen Thing

846f76_a0aaf14d3d0440a0ab509b1b1b2bd19eOkay–I’ll confess…I originally wanted to title this article “I love them, but sometimes I want to kill them” but I was a little concerned that someone would take me too seriously and I’d have Child Protective Services showing up on my doorstep.

Please don’t call the authorities…I really do love my teenagers (with all of my heart!) and would never ever want any harm to come to them.  My boys are the absolute joys of my life and are by far my proudest accomplishment.  They are however, teens and with that comes a whole new set of rules for an entirely different ballgame.

As a mom to two teenage sons, of course there are times when I get nostalgic and miss the days when I could just scoop up my babies and smother them with kisses while they giggled and wriggled in my arms.  I get a lump in my throat every time I browse through their baby pics and see their pudgy little baby bellies and cherubic toddler grins.  I miss the days when I, as their mama, was the center of their universe and they delighted in my love and affection.

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Whisper these 10 Sweet Somethings to Keep Your Love Alive

heart girl Sure…roses, diamond rings and sappy love songs all convey unmistakable messages of undying love; but who has the time and energy to go to those kinds of lengths on a daily basis?  Not me–that’s for sure.  Fortunately, there are far easier (and yet still very effective) ways to keep the love and romance alive in our relationships–all we need to do is use our voice and utter a few simple phrases that will communicate just how much we care. Try out a few of these loving phrases the next time you want to make sure that your honey is feeling the love.

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Should I Stay or Should I Go?

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I am a planner by nature. I have several months of FabYOUlous Life posts planned in advance because I like to have plenty of time to do my research and gather my thoughts.  

This post is not one of those planned posts. In fact, I had pretty much planned to not write this post…like ever.

However; I was recently contacted by one of my FabYOUlous readers and I simply cannot ignore the question that she asked me and frankly, even though this post wasn’t planned–it is one for which I have done plenty of research…we’re talking years of research.

My sweet reader had read my About Me page and wanted to know how I knew that it was time for me to leave my first marriage. Her question wasn’t cloaked in any judgement or condescension–in fact, I could sense the genuine struggle in her email as she told me that her own marriage has been on rocky ground for a while now but she just can’t decide whether or not she should stay or leave.

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Fab Factor #2: Choice

b69a00dcefbd96018cc991498da325e2When it comes to defining FabYOUlousness there are so many different facets of life to consider. Relationships, careers, health, education…the list is endless and it varies from person to person depending upon one’s own personal values and overall vision for one’s life. When all is said and done however; FabYOUlousness basically boils down to an individual’s sense of authenticity and contentment.  

Decades of research indicate that true FabYOUlousness stems from cultivating twelve distinct traits that enable one to navigate life’s rough patches with greater ease, enjoy life’s pleasurable moments more fully and feel content regardless of circumstances. Though this might sound like a tall order, the good news is that most of us already possess each of these twelve traits to some degree–it’s just a matter of learning to tap into them more consistently. For the next twelve months, we will be focusing on one of these FabYOUlousness factors per month in an effort to harness its power and to build a solid foundation of FabYOUlousness. The first FabYOUlous Factor that we focused on in our series was optimism. This month’s FabYOUlous Factor is CHOICE.

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Coupons are Fine, but Free Money is Fab-YOU-lous

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You guys!!!  I HAVE to share this FabYOUlous app with you because IT REALLY WORKS.

Now, let me assure you that I am NOT someone who signs up for everything under the sun, but this app came highly recommended by a smart & savvy friend of mine so I thought I’d try it out. The app is called ibotta and it rewards you with honest to goodness MONEY simply for

buying stuff that you buy all the time anyhow. Seriously–do you buy milk? Bread? Eggs? Cereal? Of course you do–we all do. Well, with ibotta you can now earn cash back on those things that you buy every week anyhow. In fact, if you buy these things and don’t use ibotta, you’re throwing away good money.