Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The One with Our 2017 So Far...

Hi guys!!

A little while back I did a poll on my Twitter about blogging....





I giggled at the results because I personally think that the blogging world
is special to bloggers.
Just like Twitter is special to Tweeters and Instagram is special 
to Instagrammers etc. etc.

The reason I don't blog very much is because it takes me FOREVER to do a post.  Getting my thoughts together, writing it out, rewriting it where I think it may make more sense, finding pictures, editing the pictures.... and I'm just slow.

But I love blogging, the blogging world and the friends that 
I have made through blogging.
So I wanted to do an update post because so far our 2017 has been full of changes!

In January,  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, defeated and just kinda lost.
I would look around at how I was living my life and think...
is this it?
Is this how I'm going to spend my short life here on Earth?
I KNOW that the good Lord doesn't want me to just be going from event, to job, to game, to home, to this and that in just a big blur.  There's got to be more ...and by more I really mean LESS!
I needed less in my life.  My life was too full of events and commitments and so on.
I wanted to be able to enjoy my life.
...and in January I was not enjoying my daily life AT ALL!

I knew that it was time to make some changes.

I decided that I wanted my life to become intentional.  
I wanted to simplify.
I wanted to return to the times where I didn't let stress and busyness rule my world.

I am more than those things.  They will not define me anymore.

I am also more than my work and my degrees.

Jesus was about people and loving others.

I want to become better at that.  
You, just like me, have your own story and your own reasons why you are busy, sad, mad, stressed.... I want to not just hear your stories, but to really listen.
I may not get to say hello to everyone in this small little town, but the ones that I do come in contact with... 
I want them to know that I care.

I want my hello to be heartfelt.

--------------------

The first area of my life I started examining was my full-time job.
It's a little crazy.
For confidentiality purposes... I won't go too much into this.
On my daily drives... I would just think... what am I doing?
I have X amount of things to do in X amount of time and I am not doing 
ANY of them well.
I was my biggest critic.
I wanted to make everyone happy, but at times it seemed IMPOSSIBLE.

For now, I'm leaving this area in God's hands and I will praise in Him the waiting.

The in-between,
the meantime, 
the waiting, 
the becoming can be frustrating.  
But God's timetable
 is always better than ours.
via Pinterest

--------------------

The second area I examined was our home life.

I am a chronic declutterer...and seem to never get ahead.

The kids' rooms were the bane of my existence....just so much stuff and they weren't playing with any of it.
One weekend while the big kids were staying at their dad's.... 
I went to work.

I removed EVERYTHING from their bedrooms except the few toys that I KNOW that they actually played with.
This is what was left:
Olivia == Art Stuff, Dolls, Books
Jonah == Legos, Playstation, Books

Olivia announced earlier this year that she was done with Barbies.. . so sad .
So I moved those out, but I left her baby dolls.
She did tell me last night that she no longer wants to play 
with them either. {Sigh}
Goodness...I can't believe Junior High is next year!

I packed up so many trash bags of stuff...if my mom saw them 
she might have passed out.
I was worried when they came home that Sunday they 
would freak out. 
So I waited....they went upstairs and I heard no complaints! 
Instead they stayed upstairs in their rooms playing for the next couple of hours.

I was in shock and I was elated!

I hope to continue this with the other rooms in our home.




-------------------

The third area I looked at was my health.
I have gained quite a bit of weight over the past 5 years.

I am the Queen of Excuses.
and mostly the Queen of Sleep if I can get it.

A friend of mine started using and selling a weight loss product and she was having great results so I thought why not?

It's more than just the supplements though... it's been a lifestyle change, especially
 in how we eat.
Fortunately, Jason decided to do this with me.  It has been so easy and great to do this with him because we have held each other accountable and I've finally 
shed some pounds.

As of yesterday, he is at his goal weight! I'm so proud of him!
He never complained.  Not once.

I have lost 9 pounds and 12.5 inches.

I'm happy that I'm losing it slowly....and continuously losing.

I don't want to go back to how I was eating...but Jason and I do have some plans to make some other healthy changes in 
our near future.



-------------------

The next area I began looking at...was just how we were living our lives in general.
I love the idea of living a simple life and of enjoying the treasures that God put on this Earth for us.  I also like the thought of taking care of this world and living 
in a way that is non-toxic.
Over the course of the past year... I have been slowly trying to make some positive changes in our home.  

I've had a strong desire to be outside in nature, to garden & plant flowers and to also be outside to enjoy the stars at night.

I want our lives to slow down a bit.

I've began composting.
I recently bought a new 65 gallon compost tumbler.
I can't wait to be able to use it.
I've been recycling for the past two years and I began to notice that most of our trash was stuff that could be used for compost....so I thought why not do that and we would have less waste in our home plus it would be a bonus for our yard.

In the past, I've also made my own moisturizers, face wipes, sugar scrubs and lip balms using essential oils.
I hope to experiment a little more with these in the future.

For our wedding 5 years ago, a sweet friend gifted us a starter kit from Young Living.
I had no idea how my life was going to change just from a
 tiny drop of oil.

I've thought about signing up as a wholesale member/distributor several times and I was wanting a new starter kit 
last month so I signed up.
I'm so glad I did.  

Once you sign up you are automatically on a Team... but you NEVER have to sell or do the business.  You don't even have to make a monthly order unless you want to.

In this short amount of time....for sure this has been my 
biggest blessing in 2017.
I love the Team I've signed up with.
They create an environment that is so positive and loving.
They love Jesus and love people and this is exactly what 
I needed in my life right now.

I have learned so much more about essential oils and I am grateful for how they are supporting my families' needs.

The other day my husband asked me what the balls were on our dryer and I told him that they are wool balls that you put essential oils in and they take the place of dryer sheets.
He gave me a big hug and said... "You're so green." That is a compliment to me... because being green to me means 
living simply and taking care of my family.




If you have made it all the way to the bottom of this post, I seriously would like to hug you!
Thank you for your presence.

One thing that I do want to share with you is my 
End of March Promo!
It's too good not to share with friends.

Order a 15 ml Lavender and get a Set of 6 Wool Dryer Balls FREE!

Order through me March 28-31!!






To purchase click on this link:


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