S E V E N T H I N G S || 2/18

1. Why we've GOT to re-define the term "self-care".

What Self-Care Is: Making our health and well-being a priority. Listening to and attending to what our body and soul needs so that we are able to live our lives with energy and purpose.

What Self-Care Isn’t: Numbing ourselves from reality, using coping mechanisms, or turning to addictive behavior to try to survive life.(quoted from the post linked above!)

2. Pressing Pause (100 devotionails for moms)

I'm really loving this new devotional book I picked up at a thrift store for like 50 cents!! I've been reading two a day and they always have a few tidbits that are perfect for whatever I'm dealing with that day!!

3. I got my "baby fix" snuggling this cutie TWICE last week!! =D

4. 31 Questions to ask for a more Christ Centered 2018

Josh and I have been slowly working our way thru this list of questions and answering them in our "marriage journal" (which we have formatted similar to THIS one). It has been so great for more communication, something which we definitely needed (continue to need!!) to work on!! 

5. Jesus I Am Resting

My new favorite rendition of one of my all time favorite songs.

6. I read a few books this week, including The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis.

I'm still "digesting" it so to speak. I've seen two of the movies (very random, completely out of order ones, I don't even remember which), but this was very very different than I was expecting! (But not in a bad way!!)

7. Philippians 1:6, my memory verse for the week!!

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

goals. 3/20

After weeks of overloading myself and not getting anything at all done, I decided to give myself ONE ultimate goal this week.

be healthy.

obviously that includes a couple things, but this is my focus this week.

exercise. eat my portions. drink my water.

I'm choosing to be okay if nothing else gets done, because I know if I don't make this a priority, then I won't have the energy to do anything else. If I don't put the most important things at the top of my list, then the less important things will never get done either.

For my devotions this week I'm reading thru Jesus Always, and the book of John. I'm also slowly reading thru Love & Respect and Fervent.

Spiritually I am focusing on prayer, as well as not comparing or letting the way others treat me discourage me!!

hello weekend. + links

Soooo.... weekends around here start on Friday thanks to hubby's random + crazy work schedule. I'm really excited about this weekend though because it's supposed to be SUPER nice, and we have some fun thing planned!!

Is Kindness Part of Your Family's Testimony?

This is an excellent thought provoking question!! Good read!

7 Ways To Start Your Week Off With Confidence

Or weekend. Lol. Some really good reminders here!

On Having a Television Detox & Minimizing Our Toy Collection...

I had been planning on doing both of these for a while, and I stopped putting it off after reading this. Major purging in general (not just toys) has been going down over here the last couple weeks, and I'm working on a rotating toy "system" (meaning I just need to get something to store the toys in the closet).

Also. Tv (Netflix, YouTube, etc.) AND social media detox is happening this weekend!!

A Game of Evening Chase

Last but not least... Maggie's blog is my favorite!! Her posts are always so simple and encouraging!!

What are your plans for this weekend?

2017 || progress. not perfection.

After a pretty lame and very hard 2016 I knew I really needed to buckle down and get some things accomplished. But I'm a dreamer gal, and most of the time instead of setting myself up for success, I fail before I even start. Why?

Because in some ways I'm a perfectionist and I want to make the leap from A to Z now. without doing much of the work.

I'm always game for fresh starts- Mondays, 1sts, new years, etc. So for the last couple months of 2016 I was brainstorming, taking notes, and trying things out to see how I could make the most of my favorite fresh start- a new year. I figured out some things, but others I didn't get anywhere. I was still wanting perfection without progress...

So to start off 2017 I made very few goals. I picked my word for the year and focused on my goals for just JANUARY instead of making year long goals. And for once it worked.

Sometimes (okay, most of the time) I get so wrapped up in my big lofty goals that I don't focus on the little steps.

For example. I want to lose --lbs by the end of the year but I get discouraged when it takes weeks to knock out a couple, instead of starting with the goal of making exercise a habit before focusing on weight...

So this first month of 2017 has been focused on making lifestyle changes and habits. It hasn't gone the way I wanted. I didn't make as much progress as I should have. but God gives grace, and I'll try again this month!!

September Goals

Wow. Is it really September already??? Time sure is flying!

I'm just focusing on 5 things this month...

+doing my devotions first thing
+drinking plenty of water
+resting
+"refilling" daily (doing a craft, reading, playing the violin, etc.)
+staying off the Internet before lunch

It's been hard to get back into a routine with a newborn and a toddler, plus a a slight complication and slow recovery. Life is crazy like usual.