Word of the Year 2017

A few weeks ago, I purchased Lara Casey's Powersheets for 2017. I started working on them and finished them off just in time for the new year. I have LOVED the process and the freedom to make a mess and dream big on paper without it being perfect. If you think you can get a little messy and "brain dump" onto some paper, I'd recommend these! (My workbook is the year notebook that is now sold out as are the 6 month version HOWEVER last I heard, they were taking pre-orders for a Summer shipment! Link here)

What Matter's Most

One of the aspects of the Powersheets, is to look back at the time prior, to look at yourself and to think about what really Matter's most to you. In this process, I was reminded of what matters and what really could be worked on in my life, not just this year but always. So I created this Big Picture Vision Board. My life is pretty simple as a stay at home mom but these Powersheets can be used for even the stay at home mom whose goals are not big time career or life goals.

Word of the year

Another aspect of the Powersheets are to decide on a word that will describe what you want to focus on or what your year will embody. After working through the Powersheets Prep, I came up with my word:

Pinterest Link

I choose the word Joy after actually picking a different word but woke up the next morning feeling like Joy was more fitting. I am a melancholy personality and tend to live in the "glass half empty" world. Things in my environment affect me greatly, and can cause me to loss hope easily. I'm the ultimate introvert and need some alone time to recharge but in our current life, that isn't always possible :) So this year, I am deciding to do only things that bring me Joy and weed out the other stuff in my life that causes me to stumble. The following things are what I hope to Cultivate out of that Joy: A clean home (because it makes me happy and helps in my Joy), Growth in my Faith, My Marriage, a Life Giving Home and my Usborne Business. 
Theopedia's definition and comment on Joy is:

Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of happiness. It appears 88 times in the Old Testament in 22 books; 57 times in the New Testament in 18 books.^[1]^

Webster's dictionary definition: 1) to experience great pleasure or delight : REJOICE, 2) the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: DELIGHT.

So far, having this reminder and this word to focus on has been a great benefit to my day to day life! I'm grateful for the reminder to be Joyful in my circumstances and can't wait to see all I learn this year while having this be my word! Hopefully in the next few days, I'll have a post about my GOALS for 2017!!! I'm excited about these!!

SaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSave

2016....

Wow, when 2016 began, I didn't know what the year was going to look like. I am the true melancholy personality and topped with pregnancy, I just lacked motivation all around. I was exhausted and just didn't feel like doing much so the normal things I used to do ended and a different type of year began. It was a year of pulling back, refocusing, doing research, some resting(before #3 came) and just being very introspective.
I grew a lot this year in my walk with the Lord. I went through some amazing Bible Studies, which I'll share below. My faith and relationship with God grew in a wonderful, yet quiet and personal way. And I found rest in Him.

Life Lived Beautifully Studies: Flourish, Proverbs 31 and Planted, She Reads Truth: Moses, Acts and Advent, Lifeway:Seamless, Living Free

In 2016, we added Tobias to our family...our 3rd beautiful baby we got to take home. His delivery was simple and easy and we were home 24 hours later. He slept most of his first 3 months and has been our most joyful baby. He brings so much life to our home and we are incredibly blessed! I however discovered in this time that I struggle with Post-partum Depression. Everything in life was beyond overwhelming and I just didn't feel like I could cope with it all. Thankfully the fog lifted quickly at around 3 months but the season was rough and I'm glad to be on the other side of it.

My husband was amazing this year, stepping in and taking over all the things. He has become the primary family chef this year and has done a great job stepping into my role. This is one of the reasons why I stopped my meal planning posts...because I wasn't planning any meals. 2017 will hopefully bring back the routine of it all. In 2016, I had the privilege of teaching our oldest son to read at 4.5 years old. He was begging to learn, so we jumped in head first. This among a variety of other things, lead to us deciding to homeschool our children starting summer of 2017. I've done a TON of research, praying and YouTube watching and am so excited about the new adventure we have ahead for us in 2017. And in this crazy year of change and different paths then I had planned, we decided that it would be a good challenge and opportunity for me to sign up as an Independent Consultant with Usborne Books and More. I began this journey on September 2, 2016 and God has lead me down a path I never thought I would have headed down. I've had more success then I ever thought I'd have. It's been a fun and crazy ride and I don't know where God is taking it from here but I look forward to seeing His hand at work and we are thankful for the extra income it has brought us in the last 4 months.

All of this to say, I've missed this space of mine, I've missed the ability to share my thoughts and enjoy this space to write and share and be creative. I don't know what God has in store for 2017. I'd love to spend a little more time on here in some capacity but life is CRAZY with 3 kids 5 and under and all the other things on my plate...who knows what will come but I sure hope some more order and time to think is on the schedule which in turn means more time to write, create, plan, organize and cook. How was your 2016? Was it what you thought it would be? Did something catch you off guard? I'd love to hear from your so please share in the comments below!
SaveSaveSaveSave

Where I Am...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

It's been awhile since I've posted anything and if you are new and looking for me, I've decided to take an indefinite break from blogging. I enjoyed it while it lasted but God really placed it on my heart last summer after we moved that in this season of being a mommy to two precious ones that my priority needs to be them and blogging need to take a backseat and therefore has stopped for the most part.  I am loving teaching and spending time with my children and for now that is my focus. I don't get much time to myself to create or play but I'm slowly carving out some time for it so I may be back for an occasional post here and there but only time will tell ☺️.

Thank you for stopping by. Say hi if you feel like it and someday I'll be back to this little space of mine. 

Never Forgotten, Forever Loved

Source

Today's worship wednesday is a bit different in that I didn't have anything to share when I went to bed last night. Not that I didn't have things that didn't stick out this week but more that I wasn't sure that was what I wanted to share today. Then this morning as I was trying to wake up and perusing Instagram, I was reminded that today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day.

Four years ago at about this time of year, I suffered two miscarriages that deeply rocked my faith and caused me to ask God a lot of "why?" questions. I still don't have my answers, other then the fact that God has brought MANY woman into my life who have also experienced miscarriage or infant loss. The verse that has always stuck out to me as these woman, dear friends of mine, come to me with the news of their loss, is 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

I do not understand infant loss, I still ask God why it happens, even though I know it's because we do not live in a perfect world, with no hurt, pain or loss. The one thing that I do know is that God has sent great people into my life when I was hurting and He sends me to those who are hurting in their time of need. I am very thankful for the friends who stick closer than as sister and pray that I am that same friend to others.

Print by Ashlee Proffitt

Today, especially, I urge you to pray for those who have been or are currently in the depths of loss. Miscarriage is something that most people do not share about. It tends to be something that people keep close to themselves and close friends because the hurt is so deep and you question how you could feel so much pain about someone you've never met and that you, yourself, have just learned exists but the love and bond with your children happens the moment you know of their conception. But often times, others don't feel that same connection, so sharing seems futile. So friends, pray. The sister who sits next to you at Bible study, or the woman who sits at the park may be dealing with this deep, empty pain.

And if you know someone who is going through or has gone through miscarriage or infant loss (because the pain is always there and the child(ren) are never forgotten), I urge you to follow this link. Ashlee Proffitt is giving the Print at the top of this post to every name given to her, in honor of her son Aaden Sage who died soon after his birth (you can read the story here.) She knows deeply and personally that any child, no matter how old or young, is Never Forgotten, Always Loved!

High Five for Friday...On Saturday

I meant to post this yesterday but my phone didn't cooperate. So here it is on Saturday :)

Its been a long weird week with new schedules and daddy gone 11 hours each day. I've been struggling to find the good in the crazy, exhausting days but this is helping me to see the good. So my top good things this week:

1. My baby boy who is almost 3 started his first full year of preschool this week. He went last year, starting halfway through the year. He was so excited to start school. He missed his friends this summer and was so happy to get back to it. I was so surprised by the tears that came as I walked away. I wasn't prepared for it because this was like old times but man it hit me. My boy is growing up so fast! 

2. I've been in a bit of a cloud this week because I've started re-reading some books that I found while unpacking. They are great Christian romance novels by Lori Wick and I've been really enjoying them. I haven't mentally been with it as much because of it but it's nice to escape reality from time to time. If you are in the market for a good, easy pleasure read, I highly recommend the English Garden series as well as many others of her work. 

3. Sunflowers! These have become some of my favorite flowers and just make me smile! After a hard day yesterday, I bought these to bring some happy into the house. 

4. We finished painting Leia's room last weekend which means we are so close to have the whole house painted! Two bathrooms, the remained of the hallway and the laundry is all that is left!! I took a painting break this week because it's exhausting but I hope by November to be pretty close to done!

5. We are loading up this morning to go to the zoo! I think we are all excited to get out and enjoy the day away today. We will miss daddy but it will help our day move along more quickly! 

Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday!
Samantha


I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth.

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!

I'm going to start joining Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday to keep track and remind myself of the great things that happen throughout the week. I sometimes forget to take a moment to stop and reflect on the week so I am hoping this helps me.

1. Leia is officially a crawler! Starting Thursday, her army crawl is now a full blown, although slow, crawl. She is already getting into things and driving her brother crazy. It's so much fun to watch!

 2. On Sunday, Leia got her first Julep* pedicure. She really enjoyed playing with the nail polish bottles. It's so fun having a little girl!

3. Our church, Aston school and Maxwell's work (all one big campus) is under major construction and demolition. They just knocked down my old college classrooms and dorms and are in the process of building a new building for the church. The machinery show is pretty amazing and Aston is in heaven watching the "scoops" work.

4. This is a little sneak peak of a project I'll be posting next week BUT I'm so excited because we have been getting a lot of projects done in the house. Yesterday was officially 1 month in our new house and it's amazing how far it has come in such a short time!

5. Today I'm installing these puppies on all our kitchen cabinets. I don't know how the previous owners lived without them but today is that day and I cannot wait!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I plan to be back a few days next week with a few new posts! Yay for getting back to blogging!!!

Where did 4 months go???

Oh my goodness has life been INSANE! Life with two kids was a huge challenge and adjustment for me and just when I was starting to feel like I could get back into my creative world again, we decided to move! So a week ago today, after an awful experience of buying a home with my mom (we are the renters), we got to move into our brand new home.

This is a dream come true.

As you may know, we have lived with my mom for 4 years in her 4 bedroom house. We were all very comfortable in our life but adding another body last October(Leia) made things feel like they were getting a little tight. It was doable but we were all starting to feel the strain a little bit. Well, back in April, as I drove Aston to school, I noticed a piece of property that I've watched transform over the last 3 years, was going to be up for sale soon. Three years ago the same property was on the market but it was in rough shape. It had two homes on it and way back then, I had thought that a 2 on 1 property like this would have been perfect. Well someone else bought it and flipped the two houses. I think they weren't planning to move when they redid it but then changed their mind.

Anywho, we entered into what turned into a CRAZY endeavor to buy this house and after a headache of a time, we are here. I'm jumping back into this blogging things to keep a record for us of all that we do to the house and property. I'm getting close to a big redo of the blog but I wanted to keep track of things we are doing so here I am, hopefully back to it more frequently then I have been. I can't wait to get back into this hobby that I have so loved and missed!

I'll be back soon to share what we are doing around the house and to get life organized in this move.

No Longer Just Surviving...

Well hello little blog! I've missed you!

I finally feel like I'm getting a handle back on life! Praise God! I have been in survival mode for almost a year now and I am seeing the light now.

Pregnancy is hard on my body. I feel sick for the majority of the time, lack energy and just don't have motivation to do anything. Over the 38 weeks I was pregnant all the extra I had in me went to Aston and Max and even then, I didn't feel like they were getting all that they deserved!

As soon as Leia was delivered, I seriously felt like a new person. I had energy (even though we had sleepless nights) and felt like I could once again conquer the things I'd been missing. I was hugely blessed to have Max home with me for 3 1/2 weeks after she came and that made me spoiled!

Then reality hit. Max went back to work, Aston was sharing mommy all day and really jumping into the "terrible two's" title. Life as a mom of 2 kids is hard. Harder then I expected and different then I anticipated. Trying to be everything to two little people is EXHAUSTING and rewarding at the same time.

I have felt very alone in this new venture and felt like I was the only one who struggles with being the always on mom. After much prayer, a little break down and some very God ordained blogs and instagram feeds, I am more encouraged, feeling less alone and am determined to lean more heavily on God in this challenging time.

I'm working on making more "me" time, while that will be looking a bit different then it used to. I'm planning on reading more, getting more quiet time on my own (if both children nap at the same time) and focusing on what I am called to do...be a mom.

This little blog will probably be changing a bit as I transition into a new place in my life. I will still post recipes and crafts but more importantly I'll be posting about life. I'll be writing more for me out of a journaling type experience in hopes that it can encourage someone else and just as a place to stop and gather my thoughts. Things will be looking a lot different then it has before but thats how life goes right? We grow, God changes us and we move on, following Him to more intensional ways to spend our days.

High-Five for Friday!

This week has been a weird one with Max having a day off in the middle of his week (Monday). It felt like he should have had the whole rest of the week off as well but sadly he didn't. Anyways, here are the highlights from our week.

1. This week we hit 17 weeks with this pregnancy! This one is going so fast now that I'm not sick! AND this week, I was able to feel baby J move and by Wednesday, Maxwell could feel it too! SO much fun!

 2. Aston got to drive the car with daddy for the first time. He was so focused and into it. It brought back memories from when I was little with my dad.

 3. He was a crazy little boy this week but he is so darn cute, all I could do was laugh at him.

 4. We had a successful trip to Costco yesterday thanks to a sheet of stickers. He had a lot of fun decorating himself with them!

 5. This morning, we had a fun family Zoo date! I just love spending time with these guys!

I hope you all had a great week!

Our Daily Routine

Aston is a creature of habit just like his mommy. He LOVES a routine and just loves having structure to our day. I really believe that all children want a routine and want to know what to expect in there day. As a teacher, my students always wanted to know the plan for the day when they walked in and our days just moved better if they were aware of what was coming.

Since finding out we were pregnant and me being sick, we haven't had the best routine in the world. We watched a lot of TV and movies because I just couldn't muster the energy to do much more. We both were taking two naps a day and life was just a bit out of order.

Now that I'm finally feeling better most days, and Aston has decided to transition to a one nap a day schedule most days, I decided it was time to really get back to a routine to help us both get things done during the day and help the day just move more smoothly. We started with this schedule last Monday and our week did just move right along.

• Wake-up - 8am: Breakfast, then cartoons
• 8am-8:30am: Get dressed, Make beds, brush teeth
• 8:30am-9:30am: Mommy School activities
• 9:30am-10am: free play inside
• 10:00am-11:00am: Outside, Outing, Library Time, Walk
• 11:30am: Lunch
• 12:00pm: Clean-up, do dishes, free play
• 1:00pm: Nap Time!
• 3:00pm: Wake-up and Snack with Movie or Mickey Mouse
• 3:30pm: Daddy’s Home, play with daddy, Outside time
• 4:00pm: Dinner Prep
• 5:00pm: Dinner
• 5:45pm-6:15pm: Free Play, Clean Up
• 6:15pm: Bath Time
• 6:45pm Bed Time Routine: Read, prayers, goodnight
• 7pm: Bed Time

Now this schedule is very loose as far as times go but it helps me to stay accountable to moving things along in our day. It is very easy to get stuck in the trap of having the TV on as entertainment and to get lazy but this really helps me to stay focused. This week we are also officially starting "Mommy School" and I cannot wait for that. Aston is such a learner and I think he'll enjoy having a structured preschool time with me.

I sure do miss two naps a day but I guess it had to kind of end at some point. I'm just one tired momma these days!

Where Have I Been?

So, where have I been the last 2+ months? Well, we have some exciting news, we are expecting baby #2 in November...well it will probably be more like October because we have LARGE babies!

Anyways, I have been very sick, like 24/7 sick and nap time for Aston which was blog time for me became nap time for me. We didn't do much over the last 2 months, I didn't cook much, which means no new recipes and definitely didn't have time to craft.

But I am finally starting to feel better! I have some icky days still but most days are looking good for me, so that is good! I should be back to somewhat regularly posting. Life is changing around here in a lot of ways, so I'll be posting when I can. During this 2 month break, Aston has gotten older and is ready for more activity, so I'll be working on doing some school type things with him. We will be preping for baby and life will change then to, so we will see what happens :) Have a great weekend and see you next week sometime!

Goals!

It has been a long time since I wrote out goals for myself but this year, I wanted to do so. Our pastor spoke this weekend about being intentional about not being busy. Busy with things that don't truly matter and that distract us from our internal time to grow. We are too often so "busy" with things that aren't important and I have decided that writing out goals will help to stay focused and away from being busy.

So here are my goals for the year:

1. Take intentional time to pray and read the Bible EVERYDAY! It is so easy for me to get involved with other things but this needs to be my #1 priority!
2. Get more organized in every aspect of life: house, blog, etc.
3. Grow this blog. I love blogging and the amazing blog world and I would love for this little blog of mine to grow!
4. Create! I want to continue to use my newish found love of crafting and create awesome things to make my home feel more homey! 

Happy 2013! 

What are some goals you have this year?