New Year, Simple Goals

I haven’t made a post in almost two years but I wanted to try blogging through my goals this year. They’re not overly complicated but sometimes every simple goals are hard to keep! The majority of last year felt like survival mode but I don’t want to continue living that way. I’m trying to make a conscious effort to not live in a state of “winging it” anymore. Easier said than done following pregnancy, the newborn stage, and a pandemic.

1. I’m going to cook through every recipe in the original Magnolia Table cookbook. We love the recipes we have made so far but I’ve only tried a handful since it first came out. We tend to get in a rut when it comes to meal planning so I want to be more adventurous and try things I never would have thought to make. I really enjoy being in the kitchen (just not cleaning up after) so this one should be fun!

2. I need to learn how to use my flash for my dslr. I tried once right after I got it but things did not go well so I gave up. Based on the types of photography I want to specialize in, knowing how to use flash can be a must. I took on a few more sessions last year which really filled my cup. I want to start regularly taking a few sessions throughout the year so this one is high priority for me.

3. Our digital photo stockpile has gotten out of hand. I take so many photos between my phone and camera but I never do anything with them. I’m terrified of losing them due to computers or phones dying before I back them up. I also love the idea of having physical copies out for the kids to look at because they’re obsessed with looking at the ones on my phone. There’s just so many now that even if I chose the cheapest printing option, it would cost a fortune to print them. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start! I’m going to buy each of the boys an external hard drive and back up each of their photos first. If I get through that project by the end of the year then I’ll start printing some from 2020 and work backwards to 2015.

These goals range in effort level but I’m hoping by just focusing on these smaller ones, maybe I’ll accomplish them all this year! Hopefully if I blog along the way I can motivate myself a little more. We shall see!

A Weekend in Texas

I got to check off a bucket list item a few weeks ago. For no particular reason, I've always wanted to visit Texas and Georgia. For whatever reason, those felt the most "Southern" to me and I really wanted to see what it was like in the South. We've been planning this trip to Texas since Fall. The whole trip was centered around a girls' weekend at the IF: Gathering. We planned to fly in a day early so we'd have time to drive from Dallas down to Waco for a bit before the conference started. My love of all things farmhouse and Fixer Upper made this a given while in TX. The weather ended up making it an extremely short visit (thanks for nothing Texas weather, the snow followed us down from Minnesota!) but I still felt at home. I could have spent hours in there gathering inspiration. Even though we are in the Baby Steps, we saved cash for me to take on our trip. I did find some sweet little things to add to our home and remember this trip by. Now we just have to go back and visit when the weather is warmer! And note to self: just because it's Texas does not mean 40 degrees will feel warm. Pack more than sandals and a light jacket next time or you'll be buying sneakers to save your feet again haha.

Visiting Magnolia was such a small part of our trip but it was the only time I lugged my "big girl" camera with me. I wish I had taken more pictures of the rest of my time with these sweet friends. I tried to soak it in and appreciate every moment away from my family before we headed back home. The whole weekend put me out of my comfort zone but in the very best way. It's easy to sink into a rut but sometimes its necessary to step out in faith and try something new. These ladies have become like family to me and I so enjoyed getting to experience all of these new things with them!

Entryway Refresh

This is one space that I have wanted to fill since we moved into the house in 2017. I wanted to put a bench there (this stems from not wanting people to wear shoes in the house) but my husband wanted to use a table. We went back and forth about what would be best there. We finally got the chance to fill this little nook and came to a good compromise.

Initially Mark hung the shelf and we planned to add another above it but the space just wasn't there. The studs in the walls line up pretty wonky as well so we had to off-center the whole thing. I would love to shiplap this little nook some day so maybe we will adjust the shelf height whenever we end up doing that. We snagged the table, chair, and baskets from Hobby Lobby. Then we were on the hunt for a lamp and a taller piece with good weight as base pieces. 

We tried a few of the lamps I refinished but none of them were quite right. The industrial lamp we found was at Hobby Lobby! We had the edison bulbs on hand and I love the final look. Then I was in search of a mirror or painting as a tall backdrop piece. Our living room has a large window so I loved adding a mirror here to reflect some more light around the room. The mirror came from Home Goods at an insanely good price! I spotted a large farm house photo at Hobby Lobby that I think would have been great in this spot too. 

I love making my own candles with essential oils but I'm always on the hunt for a pretty jar to reuse for mine. We lucked out and found this one at Home Goods along with the candlestick and scale. I ripped the cover off a few books to add some height in the space.

This small chair was a good compromise because it still gives guests a place to sit and take off their shoes without taking up the whole space. I didn't love the idea initially because I was dead set on a bench. However, after seeing the whole thing come together, I love the chair here! I would like to find a rug to add in the entryway to pull it all together but for now I'm ecstatic with the turn out. I can't wait to decorate this with seasonal pieces and use the "hidden" storage for practical use.

Do you have a table in your entryway? What's your favorite season to decorate it?

Farm + House Co.

As part of our Dave Ramsey/Debt Free journey, I've been brainstorming ways I can quickly make money to help pay off our debt early. DR calls this a side hustle. I love creating things so I thought opening a Facebook shop to sell whatever I made was a good idea. I've grown pretty attached to the Farm + House name so I knew right away what I wanted to name my shop! Farm + House Co. was born just in time for Black Friday! It's been a learning experience over the last two months but I can't wait to see how this shop grows over the next year!

I contemplated what to sell since I have several creative outlets but I wanted to start off with something simple. I had the supplies on hand to make handmade felt hair bows after I made some for my niece. I just launched my second collection, this one for Valentine's Day, last week. It has been so fun to see something I made on my friends' little ones! I'm hoping to add some home decor items to the shop in the near future! 

If you'd like to check out my Facebook shop, Farm + House Co., I would love to know what you think! Is there anything you'd like to see in my shop? Let me know!

January Snapshot

One of the things I've really missed doing was my self-portrait project. I did a weekly self-portrait in 2017 and those are some of my favorite photos from that year. I took a break from them last year but wanted to start again, on a smaller scale, this year. I'm going to share a monthly self-portrait here for 2019. It's so interesting to me to see what parts of motherhood have changed in the last two years and what parts have stayed exactly the same.

I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the boys playing the other day and on a whim decided to snap a few self-portraits. The light was great and Jax wanted to snuggle so I didn't put any planning into these. I just clicked the timer and hoped they were in focus! The first one is a great shot for this part of life. We spend so much time reading books with one or both boys snuggled up in our laps. The second shot is something I never want to forget. Jax is really into smooching everything right now with a big ol' "muaaaaaaaaaah." Especially stuffed animals and puppets. He pulled this monkey up as I started the timer and I love that this is what we ended up with!

TJ Maxx Haul

I had to make a run to TJ Maxx today for some new notepads. I needed to grab my niece's birthday gift too! I used to always grab notepads from the Target dollar spot but I haven't really found many there in the last year. I remembered that TJ Maxx always has an assortment of notebooks for a pretty good price. I packed up a "picnic lunch" for the boys and we headed out over lunch time. Risky with two littles to go just before naps but it worked out in my favor this time! 

Maverick got to pick out a book for her and he chose this sweet farm animal book. I found this adorable Carter's outfit too! I was looking for a picture frame too but never did find those.

I snagged this 6 pack of Moleskin journals for $14.99. I wanted to find a few for lettering on and these are HUGE! Maybe it's something I'll offer in my Facebook shop if they turn out well. I paid about half that much for a 3 pack of journals half the size a few weeks ago so I think this was a good deal!

I love these "lay flat" type of notebooks for journaling. I use one every day my prayer journal and another for gratitude and miscellaneous journaling. Loved these Rae Dunn ones! I'm almost through my current prayer journal so I needed to pick up a few to have on hand.

I grabbed these two large notepads for general use. I love having a flat notepad instead of a spiral notebook. I use these for meal planning, grocery lists, packing lists, taking notes when I do online classes, anything where I need a lot of space to write. My last one disappeared and I've been needing to replace it for weeks!

I grabbed a small wallet to take along when I got to Texas in a few weeks since I'm only bringing a smaller crossbody purse and my regular wallet is too big to fit. The one thing I was disappointed in was not finding any smaller notepads. I wanted to stock up on a few that I saw the last time I was there but their supply was mostly notebooks this time. I know TJ Maxx and similar stores can be hit or miss depending on supply so I can't fault them for that. I'll have to check back in a week or two and see if they have any on hand then.

Can't wait to get working on those new journals! Would you buy a hand lettered notebook for journaling or do you prefer something without lettering on the front?

2019

It seems that everyone thinks resolutions are cliche. There is such a high failure rate that most people think why even bother! In the past few years there has been a trend towards choosing a word for the year instead of resolutions. The first one or two years I chose a word, I ended up forgetting what the word was or didn't let it guide my actions at all. In December 2017 I decided that my word for 2018 was going to be GRACE. I had a teeny baby and toddler running around so I knew I was in major need of grace, from myself and everyone around me. Little did I know how much that word would truly impact my year!

In early 2018 I was diagnosed with PPA and had to make some serious changes to my routine. I had to turn all of my focus onto healing myself and finding a good self-care routine. I had to ask for help and accept it when it was offered. I had to give myself ALL THE GRACE. It took quite awhile to feel better but had I not shown myself grace most of all, I'm not sure I would have been able to heal. It meant making an effort each day and at the end of the day, letting things go when they didn't get done. I felt so much of God's grace surround me as I worked through each day.

Another goal I had in 2018 was to document our lives through the 1 Second Everyday app. In 2017, I did a weekly self-portrait project and wanted to do something completely different last year. I loved how the video turned out! I had to push myself to document more videos than photos and although some months were a flop, I had some form of memory to add in for every single day.

This year I decided to have set monthly resolutions as well as choosing two words for the year. I chose HEART + HANDS as my focus words. You know the saying, "If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!" I have some big dreams that God has placed on my heart as far as our family goes and that saying just keeps popping out at me. This is the second year in a row that I found a planner with my inspiration word on the cover! I know God will open my heart + hands to accept whatever His plan is for our family.

 On top of those dreams, I wanted to set a monthly resolution to work on a new skill or improve a skill I've worked on in the past. So far I've picked out my resolutions for January, February, and March! My hope is to blog a couple times a week about how I'm working towards those resolutions each week to keep myself on track. I know for myself, when I try to work on a goal for long periods of time I end up falling off the wagon. I hope by focusing on each resolution for just a month at a time, I will find a good routine to continue those skills after I've moved on.

I'd love to hear what resolutions or goals you have for this year! If you chose a word for 2019, what was it?

Day In the Life - Mom of Two Littles

One of my favorite things to do is write down what a day in our life looks like with the kids at different ages. It's like a snapshot of how chaotic our days can be with little ones and how that changes as they grow. This day happened to play out the way my ideal schedule would go. However, at least a few days a week this schedule gets thrown out the window for errands, commitments outside the house, lazy days, etc. I believe kids thrive on schedules so we try our hardest to give them routine. I also try to remember that deviating from the routine is just as important for them to learn! So here's what our days currently look like with a 1 year old and 3.5 year old.

7 AM: I try to wake up and be downstairs by 7 just to get a few minutes to myself. I read a quick devotional on my phone, make the bed (this is new so I don't expect that to last), and sneak downstairs. I've been trying to get my yoga in right away in the morning before the day gets in my way. A lot of mornings one or both of the boys join me before I can get started. Jax has been feeling kinda icky this week so he was extra snuggly when he woke up. He nursed and then snuggled in my lap while I started yoga.

8 AM: Once we've all woken up the boys usually play and watch PBS while I attempt to throw breakfast together. I'm not a huge breakfast person even though breakfast food is my favorite. Both the boys love to eat breakfast though and are usually hounding me for food as soon as they're fully awake! Sometimes the TV distracts them long enough for me to get food ready in peace. Usually Jax is hanging off my legs and Mav is blasting me with questions about the world.

 9 AM: Breakfast is finished anywhere between 9 and 10 depending on how long they've played while eating. I used to get the kids dressed as soon as they woke up. Then I'd end up changing their food covered clothing after breakfast almost daily so now we eat in our jammies. Getting dressed has become a game of who can run away from mama the most before you're dressed haha.

10 AM: After several rough months we've finally gotten Jax on a regular 2 nap schedule so he goes down from 10-11. This is usually when I attempt to clean up one area of the house. It's also when I try to give Mav some one-on-one attention by doing his "school work." Every day he says "Mama, you know what we haven't done today?! My schooooo werk!" (He says it in the sweetest sing-songy voice, I need to record that before he stops saying it.) I wasn't ready to send him off to preschool this year so we chose to work on some things at home. A friend shared this workbook from Costco and it's been the perfect starter to his school work every day. Then we finish up with some sort of activity if there's time.

 11 AM: If we have errands this is when we usually try to sneak out of the house. It becomes a bit of russian roulette because it's so close to lunch time and the boys often get hangry. Sometimes I feel like it takes an hour just to get all the shoes, coats, and hats on everyone to get out the door. I know I'll miss helping them some day so I try not to get too wound up about how long it takes.

12 PM: I didn't feel like braving errands with my camera so there's no shot for this one. If we weren't running errands this is usually when I'm throwing together lunch and trying to get a load of dishes going. I try to make sure I sit down with the boys during lunch and actually talk with them. This also forces me to eat like a functioning adult instead of just snacking here and there.

1 PM: Since we were running errands we didn't get back until 1 which made lunch more rushed. Gage waiting under Jax's chair is how 100% of mealtimes go unless we put him outside. Once they finish up lunch its straight down for naptime, the goal is asleep by 1:30. They're both exhausted by then so they fall asleep pretty quickly.

2 PM: Since we're in BSF this year I've started using the first part of naptime to read my Bible and get at least a few questions done. This is also when I do my daily gratitude list, finish writing my to-do list if I haven't already, and get distracted by my phone for longer than I want to admit.

 3 PM: I work on my to-do list once I'm done with my Bible study. This day I had some computer work to get done. This is only a small view of how chaotic our office/mudroom is right now. I had it nicely cleaned and then the winter gear came out and everything else piled up in here too. I wish I could avoid it but both of our laptops crapped out this year so the only access to a computer we have is in the office. That's also why I'm terrible about blogging on a regular basis. It's hard to get down here and still keep a good eye/ear on the boys.

4 PM: The boys wake up anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30. I let them sleep until they wake up but more often than not I'm in there to wake them up at 4. We hang out and play until Mark gets home from work.

5 PM: If we're on our game (which doesn't happen often) then someone will cook supper right away and we can eat before 6. That's what happened this day but usually it's closer to 6:30 before we're eating. When we moved to this house I made it a rule that supper is to be eaten at the table as a family. That's how I grew up and it's really important to me that my kids have that too.

 6 PM: This is usually when we are eating supper and having some family time. Rough housing, video games, books, building with blocks. Every night is different!

 7 PM: Family time and the beginning of their bedtime routine. This night they decided to "help" me decorate the Christmas tree. This is usually one I do myself since I let them help decorate the other tree. But they were having fun so eventually I broke down and stopped trying to stop them from decorating it. I can always move the ornaments later.

This is generally bath time on the nights they need one and then we follow their bedtime routine around 7:45. If I had my way it would be lights out by 8 but it usually crosses over into the 8 o'clock hour. I don't mind because usually bedtime is full of snuggles and giggles.

8 PM: We finish up the bedtime routine with books and prayer. Jax nurses for a minute before jumping up to join in on the book. The boys get snuggled into bed with one last kiss and the we cross our fingers that they go right to sleep. Right now they're falling asleep within 10-15 minutes but sometimes it's rough. Mav has been known to still be awake when we check the monitor around 9 or even as we're getting ready for bed around 10.

I want to know, how similar does your routine look to ours if you have little ones at home?