Farewell 2013

I have cried more in 2013 than in any year of my life. This year has been physically, emotionally and spiritually a huge journey. Now here on the Eve of the last day-we are driving to our new home, in a new state, and beginning the new adventure we have yet to figure out.

The highs of this year have been the birth of our precious number 3, dedicating all our babies together to The Lord and madysons baptism. Also, watching God break us completly to demand that we only rely on him. Seeing Him work first hand in our marriage and in our family. Taking a huge step of faith and having Him orchestrate it all.

I spent the last few days wondering what 2014 will hold. I know one thing I do not want life to be busy. I want each day to be full of purpose and intent. Each word spoken, each activity. As long as I work really hard on that-I am going to let God handle the rest of the plans. 

I  going to spend 2014 being a mom-doing my best to pour every ounce of knowledge and love into my girls to help them grow as little people. 

I am going to be a helper to Todd-supporting Him as he works hard to support us. I am going to pray daily for him and tell him I love him-all the time.

I am going to send letters and show love to my family across the states.

The girls are going to learn the art of pen pals and how to properly write a letter.

I am going to enjoy this year and stand in amazement in what God had in store. 

When one door closes another will open-here's to the first blank page of our new 365 page book. 

Happy new year 

Merry Christmas Eve eve

Hi from the Kroger parking lot! (Seriously-Todd has run in for items for tomorrow nights party and I am sitting in the truck to avoid freezing!!

Well let me first say-I am in the most bahumbugish mood. My Christmas spirit is not here and I have no energy left to find any. I am thankful for Jesus and his birth and all the rest of it-I am just out of sorts. I believe it has to do with the amount of traveling to and from towns/houses/states we have done this month. I am sure we have clocked over 6,000miles in 23 days. 

We haven't been to one Christmas party-baked one cookie-or even finished our Christmas shopping. And no-no Christmas cards yet either.....I am doing a New Years/new house card letter. It's the best for my sanity. 

And then there is family-our family is all out of sorts this year-and it makes it really hard. Plus I really miss my sister and brothers in California. It's been 2 years since we have been together and I just miss them terribly. 

so yea---bahumbugs all over the place. 

Let's look at some positives...

My car broke. I know odd to be a positive but it fell apart and te dealership or highway robbers as I like to refer to them wanted $1700 to fix it. We got it fixed for $675. Positive

We leave for the most magical place in the world via Santa Claus in just a few days! Positive

We have the house in Georgia set up and unpacked for the most part-except for the rooms we have to buy furniture for. Positive (and positive for getting new stuff!!)

I have had 3 weeks of greatness with my mom and dad since being displaced. Positive

Not to mention-my girls have been super precious through all of this crazyness we call the broadus bunch life.

Anybody else having some crazy holiday cheer? Or cheerless? 

Moving right along.

We are moving right along in this process of "life without a permant house" as I am now calling it to prevent readers from being offended by using the word homeless.

Todd is excellent. He was suppose to be back in Mississippi (he had been in Kentucky working) last Friday. He called Thursday afternoon and said-"what are you doing?" I said oh just-replacing the suitcase. He said "do you need help?" I said sure-come on. At that time through the phone I heard the car door shut. I ran outside and there he was!!! Talk about excitement!! Our airmatress was really full that night but 7 days apart was LONG and I was overjoyed!

Friday we took the girls to school-did some shopping and then picked them up and headed out to Todd's stepdads to stay for the weekend. Once we were settled in-we loaded up and took the girls to eat and to see Santa. 

This was our pre Santa shot. I was teaching the girls-no matter what Mia does-just smile.

We waited at bass pro 2 hours to see Santa. We scored some free kids meals at their restaurant so we decided to eat while we waited-instead of after. 

Aubrie asked Santa for the Disney princess castle and the princesses and bubblegum. madyson-coming off our conversation about Santa-just asked for "a magical Christmas" and Mia-well she was good with her free candy cane.

Saturday we were suppose to go to my buddy Brian's engagement party but the girls were pretty clingy to daddy so we made a deal for them to let mommy and daddy have an hour to ourselves and we would snuggle and watch movies when we got back.

Todd and I went to Anthropologie and Barnes and nobles then had an appetizer  out-then we returned home to the girls. (My parents were sitting with them)

I think the hardest part about Being seperated is trying to reconnect once we are reunited. I had been running in mom/dad mode for a week-and it was hard to shift into mom/wife mode.

Hoping it gets easier as time goes on.

Sunday was our churches choir performance and it was amazing. Simply amazing. After church-my mom picked up the girls and Todd and I went to our old house to pack up a few more boxes-we are down to 12 small boxes and my kayak left to take to Georgia.

Todd left to go back to Georgia after that and this week the girls and I have been getting ready for school to be out. Just 2 more days this week then 4.5 next week! I can not wait to be a family again!

An aubrie update

The middle baby had some mommy time today-so I spent it asking her opinion and like questions to see where she stands at 5.75 years old.

(From school powwow at thanksgiving)

Favorites:

Movie: Rapunzel and Toy Story

Color: pink...and purple

Song: wheels on the bus 

Candy: twizzlers

Food: chicken nuggets & chocolate milk

Restaurant: Chickfila

Book: Olivia Christmas

TV show: Sophia the first

Friend: madyson, Ava grace, Hastings, Mia Margaret

Animal: zebra and horse and giraffe

Holiday: Christmas and Valentines

Shoes: sparkley ones

Accessory: Crown

Opinions

Swim in a lake or an ocean: ocean

Go to the mountains or beach?: mountain

Drink coke or dr. Pepper?: dr. Pepper

Eat M&Ms or cookies?: m&m cookies

Sequins or jewels?:sequins

Daisy Duck or Minnie Mouse?: Daisy Duck

She said he wasn't real...

Well-it finally happened. Friday Madyson came home from school and said "*friend* at school said that Santa wasn't real and that her mom is Santa and the tooth fairy AND the Easter bunny!!! and that because I believe in Santa I am hurting Jesus' feelings." 

My response: "oh how sad"

madyson; "Well...what do you think?"

And I answered honest and this is what-as an adult-I truly believe.

"I think that's sad. A long time ago a man named Nicholas lived in modern day Turkey-he had inherited money from his parents who had passed away and he enjoyed using this money to give gifts to people-especially children. Sometimes he would hang socks filled with small gifts for the kids. As he got older-he became a  well known Christian man. He spent his life having a servants heart-doing good for people. He died in the month of December and his legacy lives on today. I believe in the magic that giving to others brings. You know how good you feel when you make gifts for people. That smile they get? That twinkle in their eye? You give them a token of you. And I believe-we need magic and wonder and we need to embrace our imaginations. And we use Santa as our outlet for this.

Christmas is many things to many people. To Christians-it is the birth of Jesus. That is why we focus mainly on celebrating him and we read the Chrismas story and we have our Happy birthday Jesus party and we decorate with the manager and go to live nativity scenes-because we are learning and growing more in our faith. but Jesus is NOT just a part of our life on Christmas. Jesus is real-and He is apart of our life everyday. We can not be the people God wants us to be without Jesus-every day.

So if you are asking me if I believe Santa is real-I certainly do. I know he is because every year for the last 7 years I have seen your smile on Christmas morning when you receive gifts from him. I see the twinkle in your eye when you dump out your stocking and I feel the magic when I watch you and your sisters enjoy simple gifts that brings you happy memories each time you play with them.

And I don't think you are hurting Jesus' feelings by believing in Santa-it is no different than being excited to see the princesses in Disney World or taking a picture with the Chickfila cow. Both the princesses and the cow make you excited and happy-as does seeing Santa.  

Preparing to leave part 1

I was thinking the other day about all the "things" I am going to miss about Mississippi. When you have lived in the same town for 29 years-you become a part of the town. I made my list of tops and in no particular order-I thought I would share with you my heart on the things I am preparing to leave.

Tonight-I am sharing our church. Our church means more to me than most anything else on this list (my family is just a bit above)

I have been going to our church since I was 3 years old. 26 years. I started in the preschool department-and there I learned about Noah and Moses and Jesus and the Devil-It wasn't as advanced teaching as we have now but it was a good foundation and a guarantee that I would get animal crackers when we talked about Noah.

As I grew older I became involved in the youth choir-which took me on many choir tours-and allowed me to witness to 3 kids. I still have those kids named etched in my head...Ronald on the basketball court..Elijah the little boy who called me sister...Velicia the precious girl with dimples...

In high school and college my involvement with the church dwindled as my life with sin increased. It wasn't until Todd and I were parents of 2 did I return.

When I returned it was because I was desperate. Desperate for help-for guidance-for God. I knew I needed Him and I didn't know where else to find Him.

It wasn't long after I returned did I become an employee in the Children's Ministry. It was here my growth as a Christian really began. Here I learned what it meant to live out the life God wants for us. Here I made my first adult friends and learned to study the word.

It was here I discovered my desire to teach kids the truth about being a Christian-Not to encourage them to pray a "prayer" and be saved-If they felt the calling to do that then that was awesome-I wanted to teach them how to live out a life that is anything but ordinary-how to have a desire to learn about God-how to apply the lessons we read each week to their daily life.

I began with 4 year olds-then dropped down to 2 year olds-then moved over to 1st grade-where I have been for almost 3 years with my teaching buddy Richard.

Man-am I going to miss Richard. Richard is a dad and a husband. He has 4 girls (Jr in high school-8th grade-2nd grade and 1st grade)

 He is ex military and he works countless jobs. He is dedicated to serving the youth at our church-he takes them camping, canoeing, picks them up for church if they don't have a ride, he takes a week off of work to serve as a camp counselor at our summer camp. Richard has a servants heart and he has been a great friend and mentor to myself and to Todd.
God picked out a great teaching partner when he selected Richard.

Our pastor Greg and his wife Susan have been instrumental in my life. Dr. Greg came right when Todd and I started coming back to church. He is a pastor that preaches the word. He is steady leading our church to reach out in missions and in the way we "do church". He has been a father figure to me and such a wonderful example of a Godly man for Todd,

The friend from church are a whole other day-but there is one other group that I can not leave out.
My kids. Not the Broadus 3...my church kids. I tell this story every year and I feel the need to share it with yall.

I never wanted kids. At all. When Madyson and Aubrie came-my heart began to change-and when I began teaching these kids-My life-my heart grew. I never once knew you could love someone else's children the way you love your own-but yall-I do. I absolutely adore the kids in our children's ministry and all the ones that have passed through my classroom. These kids are going BIG things in their lives. They have a desire to learn and to grow. 2 weeks ago we were learning 2 Kings 22 about King Josiah being 8 year old-we got on the topic of doing things we don't want to do but doing them because God calls us too. I shared with the kids about our move to Georgia and how I did not want to go-but I asked God that if this was His will for Him to make it easy-I told them how he sold our house and got us a house in Georgia-how He did everything for us-all we had to do was pack. One of my precious little boys-asked  "why don't you want to go?" My eyes filled up with tears as I mumbled "I don't want to leave yall"

I never thought that being a Sunday School teacher would be so much of my identity. But I love being "Mrs. Sarah" and I love getting up every Sunday to go to church and investing 1 hour of my time to 15 eager and hungry for God first graders. I love being able to know that with each hug and each lesson about controlling your sword and each story of compassion and wisdom and with every animal cracker...they are becoming one step closer to an eternity with Jesus. You just can't
get any better than that. I love being a tool of God's. and I will continue to serve in any aspect He has planned for me. But boy...I am sure going to miss these kids.

If you are not a part of a church because you don't feel like you fit in-or you don't have anything to wear-or you don't like the music....I beg you-make it your mission to find a place that you feel comfortable in. You might have to try on a few "pair of shoes" before you find the one that doesn't give you blisters-but please find a church body to worship with-to help you grow. Our church has been such a blessing to the Broadus Bunch-we would not be where we are today if it were not for the love of Jesus we have been shown by the people of our church.

Happy 9 months Mia Margaret!!

Happy 9 month birthday Mia Margaret!!

You are such a big girl! You are 28lbs and wear a size 4 diaper! You also wear an 18 month in clothes! 

You are cruising!! You crawl really fast-steps don't phase you! And that scares mommy a lot!! You pull up on everything and will walk around objects while holding on!! 

You still do not have teeth! I swear you are mentally delaying them because you don't want to give up nursing. You can see the little white buds but they haven't cut through yet. 

Food wise you love everything. We haven't found one thing you don't like. You are down to 1 nursing a day-at night before bed. You would still nurse all day but momma is done. It's been great but I'm ready to have some personal space :)

You also talk all the time-you defiantly know what you are saying-the rest of us just haven't learned Mia talk yet.

Since our last post-we have moved out of the house we brought you home too! It was bittersweet. I am excited to begin our new life in Georgia! You also had your first thanksgiving! And you loved it. All the family and food!

This upcoming month you will have your first Christmas and although it's not so traditional because of the move-you will love it! Your going to meet Santa soon and I expect you to not do so well-but...we will see. Also you will have your first plane ride this month! (More on that later :) 

We love you so much Mia!!! 

Life in the homeless lane

We are days into our homeless life and the girls and I are slowly adjusting to living out of a suitcase and sleeping on an airmatress. 

To recap: Todd lives and works in Georgia now and so does all our possessions-except 15 outfits each and a handful of toys. The girls and I have to stay in Mississippi this month so they can finish school and well-this involves living out of one suitcase and sleeping on an airmatress. As bad as it sounds we are adjusting well. I am having a hard time being a single mom. I need Todd. I need his comfort and his extra hands. My parents have been great but they aren't him. 

Tomorrow the girls go back to school so I am hoping life will be somewhat normal-as normal as it can be. 

Have you ever been displaced? Do you have any tips for me??

A whole new world

Well-we moved. Our house in Mississippi is now ready to be cleaned and our house in Georgia is somewhat set up.

Our moving miracle started on Sunday when we found out we were getting the truck a day early-at no extra cost. 

We loaded up all the big stuff and Todd and my dad made the 6 hour trek to Georgia. They unloaded it all-and turned around and made the 6hour trek back. 

When they got back-my dad went to bed and Todd and some of the guys from youth loaded all the other stuff. Then Todd and I and the girls drove to Georgia (again) and my parents followed with the truck the next day.

We had roughly 36 hours to get the house as set up as best we could. I set up te kitchen and mine and Todd's room-Mia's room-and started on the girls room. 

Todd will return to Georgia Friday after thanksgiving and the girls and I will be floating between friends and family the next 3 weeks while the girls finish school.

We will have Christmas in Mississippi -then a surprise-and we all will return to Georgia on New Years! 

I am ready to be settled. I pulled out a few Christmas decorations and put them out so Todd would have some Christmas spirit while he is there by himself. 

Please pray for us the next few weeks-safety as Todd travels for work. Sanity for me as I am a single mom and living out of a suitcase with 3 kids

And understanding for madyson and aubrie as their lives are being turned upside down. 

Brown.

Moving boxes are brown. And brown is not blue or yellow or any other bright happy color-it is blah. And when all your beautiful things that fill your home and bring you happy butterflies are packed up in brown boxes..it makes it hard to be joyful over something you were joyful about before your house was taken over by brown.

I had my first two cries the other day. I am sure many more will come. First-madysons best friend for all 7 years of her life spent the night the other night. This was their first sleep over together. They truly love each other and it breaks my heart to see her try to be so strong when I know she is so sad. 

The next cry was Monday night after our 2 year life group meet and greet. Being surrounded by friends that have loved on our family through the good time and the bad knowing it was probably one of the last times we would all be together was hard. Especially with our best buddies-the Byrds. We have been there for each other in every ugly situation you can think of and we have always seen each other to the other side. They are our girls other parents and their kids are mine and Todd's extended hearts.

The thought of us being apart is killer-but God never said His plans were easy.

As I sit in sadness for what we are leaving-I strive to make myself see the greater picture. He has great plans and we must go and seek out His will. He has opened up these doors for us to basically walk through without effort and I must stay focused on the goal-to follow God and trust Him in everything we do. I am so thankful for all of our friends-and I am blessed because of them. 

Following and trusting

Todd and I are moved and overwhelmed by the response we have received over us moving-we have dear friends here and leaving is just one of the hardest decisions because of them-but y'all God has some amazing plans lined up and although we have no idea what they are-they are big. let me catch you up to speed on this exciting time we have been living in.

We tossed around the idea of moving for the last year. I have never lived ANYWHERE else. Ever. Todd has.

He didn't want to lose our church-take the girls away from their friends-leave our family here...

We talked about it and I kept getting the prompt in my heart to "just say yes" Atlanta was never my first pick. I really wanted Birmingham or Nashville.

One night we were in the kitchen-talking about it and I told him-we just need to do this-I feel like----right now.

Baffled because Atlanta was not on my list he asked why-I told him "if god called us to a 3rd world country to be missionaries would we say no-sorry God...we don't want to leave our friends and family and especially our church??!?!" No we would go. We would sell everything and pack up and we would go. We wouldn't worry about how it was all going to work out-we would have faith and we.would.go.

He agreed and we made plans to go to Atlanta later that week.

We were there and we were looking at houses and we found one-on a cul-da-sac that we felt like was home. But it was under contract. We told Todd's step mom (our realtor) that we would like to live here. She said, well...if it is suppose to happen-it will happen. 

We get back from Atlanta-with no clue about what to do next-except have our garage sale. Our plan was decrapify-finish remodeling-move in January. 

During the garage sale we get a call from Todd's step mom that the house we found was ours and we can move in the end of the month-say what???

Blown away by the advance in this move-we knew we had to get on the ball of remodeling-after the garage sale. 

During the sale a lady was there and asked if we were moving-when we said "yes, wanna buy our house??" Jokingly-she responded with no but I bet I know someone who does-she proceeded to call a friend-who came over the next day-and then back on Monday and back on Wednesday and then a text on Friday and now-that lady and her husband and their precious family are under contract to buy our house-before it was even listed-as is-without us finishing all the remodeling. Wow God.

There is no doubt that God is up to something. I was sharing with Todd how I was a little nervous about what would happen once we got to Atlanta-because whatever God has in his plan for us-he needs us now. I know whatever it is-He is in control. 

Proverbs 16:9 says "a mans heart plans his way But The LORD directs his path" oh how this verse has been a crutch for me the last few weeks. Stepping out of our comfort zone-headed into an unknown area-without a clear plan on what life is going to be like-trusting Him for guidance and depending on faith to sustain our wondering minds. 

It's big. And it's scary. And it's exciting. And then I have doubts like-how are we going to pay for?? What if?? And I get an automatic feeling of "I have this-do not doubt me"

And y'all-it is the strongest spiritual feeling I have ever had. 

As I sit back and look at the last months of trial and pain-I see it as God broke us-in ever way to make us completely dependant on Him-for this very reason. He had to bring us down to our dirty, grimy, exposed selves to make us so aware that He is in control and surrendering to Him is the only way.

This marks the beginning of a new chapter for the broadus bunch-and I am excited to see what all God has planned! 

A new begininning

To bring you up to speed on the last post about us moving to Georgia-let me fill you in on the details you need to know.

Over the last few months Todd and I have gone back and forth about what our future looks like to us. We wrote out our plan and although it was descriptive-it wasn't specific (i.e.Live in ___ state)

So as we begin to pray about Todd's job (since he is the one with one) I began to feel like I didn't need to sign up for next years PTO committee-because, I wouldn't be here. All of our emotions kept telling us that we were not to be comfortable anymore.

See-we live in a town they call "the bubble" it is a small, safe community where most people live and stay their whole life-you know of everyone.

We are comfortable here. We love our church-it is home. We have been actively involved for 6 years-teaching preschool, children, youth and choir. We are in love with our church kids and we are just comfortable.

But the more we prayed-the more be uncomfortable came up-it was like God was personally saying-"you aren't going to be here"

With Todd's new job-he travels-and we prayed about what to do and all signs pointed to us moving. We are really letting God orchestrate this and I can't wait to share just how awesome He is handling it.

Yes-the girls know. They are excited and nervous and sad at the same time. We all are. We love our friends-our family here but we both really feel like this is our time to step out in faith and let God show us this next chapter.

So when? Where? 

When-in 2 weeks Todd will move to Atlanta to our new house! (Yes-we already found one...how? God.)

The girls and I will be here staying with family in the district til they get out of school in December.

Our house: is for sale. Please. Buy it. It's a great big 2680 sq foot 4 bedroom house we are selling for way below its value because we don't want to  pay for two houses. If you don't want it-find us someone who does.

god knows-he will send them. 

Where in Georgia-the burbs of Atlanta-if u want specifics-I'll tell u in person. :) 

Well-there ya go....:) 

The finale of our decrapify process.

Y'all-it is over.

We have decrapified.

All of the weight that held us down and made my heart ache and my mind become overwhelmed is gone. All of the stress of spending every waking minute in a house full of crap-is lifted.

10 weeks ago-I made the decision that I want to be able to spend quality face-to-face time with my kids. That I want to sit in my bible study and not think about the mounds of laundry I need to do. I wanted freedom to live-with less-and be content.

God orchestrates life so seemlessly that half the time we think we are fulfilling our plans-he is really prepping us for the bigger picture.

First-here is the garage sale-we set up Friday morning after the girls went to school-that way we avoided any early birds and our morning was pretty relaxed.

We sold til 6pm-pushed the leftovers in the garage and headed to Todd's dads for Todd's bday dinner :) 

Saturday morning we got up and pulled it all out again! 

We sold and sold and sold and sold til noon-then we scheduled a pick up by a local charity for the rest!

It was freeing, exhausting, and all around...worth it. We made around1,300$ during this sale-totally awesome. 

The bigger picture? About 2 weeks ago Todd started a new job...in a new state. Something that 10 weeks ago-wasn't even on our radar. So all this decrappifing  certainly helps since in a few weeks our house will be on the market to sale. Because we will be going to our new house in Georgia...in just a few weeks! OMG!!!

And it's a lot easier to sell a house when the lookers don't have to worry about things falling out if the closets and cabinets. 

So there ya go! Our decrapifing challenge full circle! If I seem distant over the next few days it is because I am busy trying to get our house ready to list. We still have a lot of projects that we were saving to do over the next 3 years-that we need to fit into the next 2 weeks!

 

The time is approaching-decrapify almost finale

We are almost at the end of my decrapify journey. This weekend is our yard sale-and we are busy going back through the house making sure that everything here has a purpose and it isn't here because of some shallow reason. 

This journey has been such a revelation for me. 1) we have a lot of crap.

2) it was weighing me down more than I knew.

3) God has been a huge part of this-preparing me for more than I realized when I started this almost 10 weeks ago.

To my friends and family-if you stop by our yard sale and see something you have me in the collection please don't take it as an insult. We have loved it-but now it is time to allow someone else to love it.your love and friendship fills our heart with enough joy that any trinket is just an extra sprinkle to our already yummy cupcake.

We have a lot of stuff in this sale-furniture, tons of baby items, household decor, kitchen thingamabobs, clothes, shoes, purses....a whole lot. 

I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment-not at the letting go part-but at the whole prep of the garage sale. Wowzers!

I won't be back here til Sunday-and then I will fill you in on the massive sale-how we went about it-and how much clutter we removed from our life.

Happy 8 months Mia Margaret

Happy 8 month birthday Mia!!! 

You are becoming such a BIG girl!! This month you started crawling!!! You also say dada and mama and baba and you can do sign language for dada and drink.

You weigh 23lbs and are in the 100% for weight!!

You love to eat. You are nursing 2-3 times a day for about 5-10 minutes and you will drink 1-2 bottles a day. You eat oatmeal and fruit for breakfast-and usually veggies for dinner. You also love mini pancakes (sans the syrup)

You are taking a sippy very well!! You get so excited when u get your cup like madyson and aubrie.

Speaking of the sisters-you adore them!

You trick or treated this month. You were a pumpkin for Halloween-but we dressed u as Cinderella for the princess picture.

You are very playful and love your piano and stuffed animals. You also like doc mcstuffins and Mickey Mouse clubhouse. No matter where you are in the house-if you hear these on the tv you come scooting! 

You are such a ham-and love for people to hold you and snuggle you. 

We are so thankful for you Mia!! 

Decrapification motivation

I received a Facebook message from a friend who has been following along and was bitten by the decrapifly (get it? Bugs bite...decrapifly/decrapify....Bueller?) 

Anyway-she took on her attic!! After it was all said and done she had 25ft of garbage on the side of her road!! 

Y'all-that's big!! 

What an awesome start to her simplifying (decrapifing) her life!! 

One of the biggest challenges we face in today's culture is the desire to have lots...lots of clothes..lots of home decor for each season...lots of shoes...make sure our kids have a multitude of toys that keep the entertained or help them gain knowledge...we make great excuses like "well the pink coat is her play coat and the fur is her dress coat and the north face is for cooler temps but not ice cold and the peacoat is for when the fur coat is dirty{{guilty}} y'all what if it was just 2 coats? A backup incase one got dirty??

Take a look at one space in your life...just one. Channel all your energy to one spot. Tackle it. Own it. Mine is my vanity. It's a wreck and it's the one space in the house that no one contributes to..it's all me. Ill be back tomorrow to show you how I tackled it and what the means to me,

Decrapification 1-2-3

I am so inspired by everyone that is taking on the crap and getting it out of your life.

Today I took a load of my expensive clothes and purses to a top consignment store in the area. Over 25 items-gone. I have also been selling some of the bigger items via Craigslist and Facebook yard sale ads. However, I think I am done for now-just going to endure the sale and then the charity pick up.

Tomorrow is my last day of cleaning out. I have 1 closet left to clean out and then the attic to unload. We sorted all the attic stuff during the spring-but left it up there until we were ready for the sale.

I have bounced back and forth on pricing for the sale-I hate to run a dollar tree-but I also don't want to have a lot of stuff left over....so I am thinking on day 1 we will have regular pricing-then day 2 maybe 1/2 priced? Or some kind of special. Not sure yet.

The girls are starting to get excited and nervous. It is so different having our house cleaned out but I know once everything is calm and we can reap the benefits of this process it will all be worth it. 

Plus-we have promised the girls a date night with the earnings. Dinner and a movie. That helps the anxiety! :)

Keep cleaning friends and don't forget to share with me your progress. 

The Process of Decrapification Dos.

I believe that means (part) 2

Yesterday, I shared with you my sin of crap and yes Crap is a sin. When I die (which I will) and I go to heaven (which I will) I will not be packing my suitcases and taking them with me. I will not be ordering my POD full of memories and loading them up and moving them through the big pearly gold gates of heaven. It is not happening.

All the "stuff" the CRAP as I am calling it (because stuff is so nice) will be left here. And so will my memories of it all.

Here is another secret-((sorry Mom...in advance))
Growing up we had a junk room in our house. Not a drawer (although we had those too) we had a junk room. A room of boxes and baskets full of stuff. Our garage was full of stuff. Our porch was unusable because it was full of stuff. Our closets, our cabinets...all were full of stuff. When we purchased the house from my parents 2 years ago-and we started moving out things. We found dishes wrapped in newspaper dated 1989. Meaning. Those dishes were packed up when I was 5. We have lived in 2 houses since then...Why did they still have those dishes??

My parents treasure their "Treasures". Now they are not hoarders with dead cats under piles of stuff-that's nasty. But if it is usable-my dad keeps it. If someone gives it to my mom...she feels the need to keep it. They attach to stuff. And as an adult-I found myself starting to drift that way.

It has been a prayer of mine over the last few months-that God teach me to not need so much. And boy-did He. He helped me see the crap-clearly.

This crap-it is keeping me from having free weekends to go and serve with our missions team. This crap-is keeping me from being able to open up my home to the youth of the church. This crap is binding me in so many ways. It. is. suffocating me.

In todays world we are being taught to value "things". Pinterest is a source of that. How many pins do you have that is material based? According to my profile...I have about 2,680. 2,680 pins that I see that make me want and desire things. Wow.

This whole decrapification process is not only a stress management tool-it is a way , that I pray,  brings me closer to God. I want to desire God more. I don't want "things" to fill my life. I want God to fill my life. And if I have "things" in there too--I want them to be things that I treasure. Not just things that I have because someone gave them to me, they were expensive/on sale, they hold memories, or 15 of my friends had pinned them.

I want less. Over the past year-and all our drama-I have learned I really can live without things. I do not need every clearance item at Target. I do not need a new coat every winter. I do not need to keep all the clothes people give me.

I talked about the plans Todd and I made a few days ago-One of those plans is downsizing. It is a huge desire of ours to live modestly. We currently have around 2600 square feet. With the porch and garage. We want to downsize to about 1800/1900-with some acres. We want to be down to the minimal and be thankful for the bounties God has given us.

Crazy right? I know. Trust me. It has taken a lot of preparation and prayer over the months for me to be content with that.

But now-it is a desire of my heart. We talk about this a lot with the girls. I tell them I am ready to be able to spend time with them-and not so much time cleaning and picking up stuff. They are excited. They even have purged a lot of the items they no longer use.

Continue with us friends-What are some of the things filling up your life??

The Process of Decrapification.

Yall. I need to confess a major sin. It's a sin that I have a feeling many of you commit daily-I have been speaking about this on facebook over the past week and I have discovered MANY women who suffer from this. So here it is-are you ready?

I have a lot of crap.

There-I said it. And yall-I am going to be real honest-I have so much crap-I can not enjoy my life.

Over the 15 months as my life has been spiraling out of control I began making list-because list are organized and well thought out. One of my  list is things that I need to make me feel better. The #1 thing-A clean house. And by clean I don't mean dusted daily-and spotless. That's weird to me-especially when you have 3 kids. I mean I want to get a phone call from a friend saying "I am in your driveway coming for a visit" And my first thought is "Come on in" not "OMG my house is a disaster!!" Why is my house a disaster? Because of all the crap.

So-Over the last 7 months I have been focusing on this. It started right before Mia came-then took a pause for a while-then I worked on it...but for the last 8 weeks-I really dug down deep. I set my plan-and I began.

I cleaned out one closet-one drawer-one cabinet. I took each item and said, "How do I use it?" "What purpose does it serve?" and "Does this bring joy or stress?" Some items...like the high heels that kill my feet were easy to get rid of. The others like baby clothes-not so easy. So then I had to ask myself the REALLY hard questions..."Why do I need this?" because of memories? No. If that was the case-I would have 2600 square feet of sweet memory crap. Because someone gave it to me? Well-it was used well and loved now its time to move on.

I put everything in garbage bags and started loading them into Todd's office (he never uses it) then I moved them to the garage and started sorting.

Each item is now being sorted. Pile 1) Donation. Pile 2) Consignment Pile 3) Garage Sale. Whatever is left after the garage sale will go straight to a charity-I have already scheduled the pick up.

Y'all, I want to enjoy my life. I want to spend Saturdays doing craft projects or snuggling with my girls-NOT CLEANING CRAP. I want manageable laundry NOT MOUNDS.

I want to walk into my bed room and it be filled with things that I love not decorations because Pinterest tells me it is the right way.

I want simplicity. I want my kids to value what they have-not be so overwhelmed with stuff that they are ungrateful. I want to need something-and know exactly where it is.

So-that's where I am. Decrapifiying my life.

So tell me friends---Do you have issues with this? Do you keep things because of memories? Do you desire to be free of clutter?

#onebigtruth

When life falls apart and is spinning out of control-sometimes it is really hard to stop-and get the reins tight enough to gain that control back. That is where I am right now-pulling really hard on the reins trying to get control again.

Let's recap-since November of 2011: I have had a miscarriage-had 3 failed adoptions-gotten pregnant-had a rough pregnancy-my mother in law died-my husband fell apart-I got put on bed rest-my husband lost his job-we had a premature baby-we almost lost our marriage....yea. Pretty rough time. 

I am a very "control" person. It has taken a lot for me to step back during all this and "ride it out". I couldn't have done anything to change any of it. God orchestrated it. He has allowed us to suffer to teach us to trust in Him. 

I have been spending a lot of time in prayer. I am working on finding a balance between being in control and allowing God to be in control.

Each day-I have to wake up and make decisions. What are the girls going to wear to school-what am I going to do today-what are my goals for the day. Those decisions I am in control of. The bigger picture is all Gods. 

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want. Is it what God wants? Will I be okay if my plans don't line up with his? 

Todd and I have never really had a "plan" in life. We have always gone about this marriage/parenting thing on a whim. Sometimes it has benefitted us. Most times it has hindered us. So part of our rebuilding our marriage is to talk and write out our plans. We did an excersise the other night "what I want" we took 3 minutes to write down what we wanted material, spiritual, professional....it didn't matter. You know what was hard....I had a time thinking about what I want. 

As a mom-you become easily focused on putting others first. I read a book by Terri hatcher a few years ago called Burnt Toast. the basis was it's okay to sometimes toss the burnt toast and make yourself a non burnt piece. 

After the excersise we shared with each other what we had written down-Todd's was very direct. I think guys have a lot of time to contemplate what they want. Mine was more here and there. I want to adopt or foster....I want to sell our house and downsize...I want to go shopping-for me. selfish? Yea..but you know.. Inever go shopping for me. I can not tell you the last time I went to the mall-without kids and stayed only in the women's department and bought clothes for myself. I have 1 pair of jeans that fit-got them 2nd hand off of eBay. I have 15 shirts that fit-12 came from my sisterinlaws closet clean out. The 5 dresses I have-4 were gifts from my mom . I am blessed to have these things but really-it's something minor that I want for myself. And I don't mean a huge shopping spree that cost hundreds of dollars-just a trip to buy maybe another pair of jeans, a few shirts,and a new pair of black pumps. Anyway...

After we shared our wants-we prayed-we asked God to help us figure out what was next for our life-we want --need--a plan.

Then last night-after the kids were in bed, We each wrote out our 5 year goals. He wrote his-i wrote mine. Then we compared. We took our lists and we developed our family goals. Stuff we really want to accomplish-like moving to the country-fostering at risk kids-helping fund a ministry-Todd wants to get a degree in social science...all things that are doable with Gods help and His guidance. So that's where we are. Taking our reins-slowing down-looking ahead-and praying for God to help us orchestrate the next steps...

Dollar tree days!

I have a serious obsession with the dollar tree. I go at least 2x a week! I have decided I will start sharing some on my dollar tree goods here on the blog! 

Today-my wreath. I needed a simple "kid approved" fall wreath. I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I headed to the dollar tree.  

I purchased a package of raffea and a scarecrow. I put it on a grapevine wreath that I had in the garage and a b from a craft store sale a few months ago and-tada a $2 wreath.

It's simple. Very affordable and I don't feel like I am wasting money decorating a door-that we never used :/.

Happy dollar tree exploring!! 

The day I deleted Facebook from my iPhone.

Today I did the unimaginable-I deleted my Facebook app from my phone. 

Now-Facebook and I have had a long relationship. 9 years. Yes-I was one of the first on Facebook back when you had to be a college student with a college email to get it. It was back when Facebook was good. 

During our first year we went through a lot together-I learned of an incident through Facebook that changed my relationship status-for the first time in 5 years. Later that year-the status went from single to married-then it followed with being a young mommy on Facebook with all my college friends still posting about going to bars or tailgating at football games.

Facebook and I have been together for longer than Todd and I but today-today was the last straw.

Now that everyone is on Facebook (including my grandmother) it's a platform for people to complain-post "their opinion"-make extremely negative comments towards other humans because they don't have the same lifestyle as them-and now in the craziness of the government. I.am.done.

And here is why-I am a Sinner. I make a ton of mistakes a day. I have done things in my life that I am not proud of-but they are still apart of me. Since I am a sinner-i choose not to cast stones. I may not agree with a certain decision made by our government but as a Christian-my job is to pray-not to complain in a 1,012 word status update. Followed by 9 "shared" news stories about the topic. 

Madyson and Aubrie Kate go to public schools. And they are both thriving. Madyson has been tested and is considered "gifted" and has been placed in our districts gifted courses. She is learning so much. At their school-they use the common core standards. The standards are taken and our curriculum is written by well educated teachers in our district. Teachers that I have a personal relationship with and know and trust to teach my children. Many-MANY people on my Facebook page are in a uproar about common core because schools in New York, Indiana, California-are teaching their kids stuff that is controversial. Sucks for those kids-but that's not here-in my school district-so I can not have an opinion on "how bad it is" because I see the good. 

Aubrie Kate is a different learner than Madyson-she doesn't learn the same as madyson. She has struggled through-preschool, and our stint of homeschooling-to learn. Once she began at public school-she began to blossom. She loves math now. She is learning to add differently than I learned as a child....but if I remember correctly I learned differently from my mom so I don't really see an issue with it. She likes the challenges and the goals they have in her class. She gets up every morning-and wants to go to school. And to me-that's what matters. 

Another thing-I have found that breaks my heart about Facebook is people that I know and love Picketing outside of the abortion clinic. I have spent hours speaking with women who have undergone abortions for various reasons-let me tell you-by standing there holding a sign saying "your baby has rights" or "god loves your unborn child"-you are missing your opportunity to be a witness for God to a woman who is in a very hard place in life. I choose to meet with women on a one on one basis-there are programs that can connect you to women who are thinking about abortion. I get to know them-their story and their life. I pray with them-and for them. And show Christ love trough actions not picket signs. 

I am not unaware of what is going on-and I understand what hardships are and how things are unfair. Trust me-I have my list of complaints as well-I just chose to take my list of what I think is unfair to God and not Facebook. God hears my concerns and my prayers and my thoughts. He is all knowing and nothing is above him-not even a government made up of human sinners. I have 3 girls to raise and a husband to care for-that's what I want to exert my energy too. I will give the rest of the world's problems to God and let him guide me on what to do.

So Facebook-that's why we broke up today. I will keep my profile bc of all my pictures and videos but you no longer have a place in my (what is up peeps) folder. Maybe at times I'll share a picture or two-via computer-but no longer will you be at my fingertips. 

Thanks for the good times.

7 months Mia Margaret!

Happy 7th month birthday Mia Margaret!!! You are such a big girl now!!

You have moved from "liquid baby food" to some with a substance. You liked mashed sweet potatoes the most!

At your doctor's appointment a few weeks ago-you were 21lbs 6.2 oz and you are 27inches long!

You are FULL of sweetness. You smile 99% of the time with that 1% when you are exhausted.

You adore Madyson and Aubrie Kate. They think you are pretty darn cute as well!!


You are almost crawling in "proper" crawling form. You have finally learned to get your belly up off the ground and rock!

You also pull up now-you are very wobbly so I usually make you sit! We are lowering your bed this weekend.

Speaking of bed-you quit sleeping this month (not cool) you despise naps and have been up a lot. I am praying once that tooth you've been working on since JUNE comes through-sleep will be better!

Your schedule right now goes as followed:

You nurse around 6am then go back to sleep til 9/10ish

You wake up and eat Apples and Oatmeal

Then you play and hang out til around 12. At 12 you have a 5oz bottle and a veggie.

Before this month you would nap 12:45-2:20 but this month you boycotted that. So instead we snuggle and watch cartoons.

We get sisters from school and you love car rider line. It's your quiet time.

Once we get home you usually play with them and will take a short (30 min) nap in the 3-6pm time frame.

You eat dinner around 7 and have another 5oz bottle-

Bath-and play with daddy when he gets home. Then you nurse around 9 and go to sleep :)

You are such a joy and this month have been so wonderful as mommy worked on sister's school race. Such at trooper being up at the school a lot!! We are so thankful for you Mia Margaret!!! Happy 7 months!

Life after baby weight.

I am busy editing Madyson's baptism video so it will be up tomorrow!!

Today-I am sharing (by request) my journey of clean eating.

Over the past few years my weight has been a battle. Before the miscarriage I was 120-after the miscarriage I was 145-then I dropped down to 115 -then I got pregnant, and Todd's mom died, and I get sick, and Todd lost his job, and life fell  apart and I found myself weighing in at 165 lbs. I have never been overweight-and for some people 165lbs is a great weight. But I am 5'2 tall. I am small framed. My little heart doesn't work well and when it has to work extra hard-i have to take medicine for it. So when Amelia was born I made a commitment to myself. I would do a strict clean eating diet until I was at 120lbs. Then I would maintain my eating but live by the 80/20 rule.

So let's get started-here I am right before Amelia was born. 

I look "pregnant" to the untrained eye-but   I was all over big. My arms had doubled-my legs had doubled-my face was fuller. My blood work was off-my energy level was shot.

I pintersted "clean eating" and here is where I began.

This was my first shopping list-minus tuna,salmon, and cottage cheese ((I can't do those my tummy doesn't handle it well))

I stocked my grocery cart (buggy) with kale, spinach, dark leaf lettuce, tons of avacados, celery, carrots....picture walking through the produce department and loading up on almost everything.

Produce goes way beyond salads-that was my first lesson I had to learn the hard way. After spending a week eating salads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner I took it back to Pinterest to figure out what to do with all this clean food i just purchased-I liked a bunch of pins (and I have now put them on a board for you and learned how to cook with all this.) 

{{I know what you are thinking-my kids would not eat that}}

Well-mine do-at times and at times they look at me like I am crazy. So if you come to my pantry you will find easy Mac, jambalaya mix, princess soup, and a few other "kid staples" that they are allowed. 

 The first month it was hard. I adore Oreos and cheesecake and ice cream and kit Kats and all that. But I knew that I also adore my 3 girls and my husband and if I want to be healthy for them-I had to do this for myself. 

After 2 Weeks I had a waist line again. But the rest of me still needed to deflat.

I kept it up-and once I got to 130 lbs -I began to allow myself to indulge 20% of the time-while staying focused 80%.

At 6 months post delivery-I was at my goal weight of 120lbs. 

I went from wearing large/xL clothes to a size 2. The only exercising I have done in 6 months is strolling with my girls around the neighborhood-and nursing. Now we all know how many calories nursing burns-so by clean eating I had to make sure I was taking in my daily amount PLUS enough to maintain a milk supply for miss Amelia. I am proud to announce that she is in the 99% for weight-so this did not effect her in anyway. 

What do I eat? 

Check out my Pinterest board for some ideas but a normal day would include:

Breakfast: oatmeal with fruit and honey

Avacado (sliced) with a boiled egg (sliced)

Snack: peanut butter and banana wrapped in a wheat flat out wrap.

Lunch:2 quesadillas (8 triangles) with black beans, shredded chicken, low fat cheese, 1/2 avacado and spinach.

Snack: fruit bowl or carrot/pepper/celery and Greek yogurt ranch dip

Dinner: grilled/baked chicken or turkey breast-sweet potato, broccoli, wild rice

Dessert: dark chocolate 

Snack: smoothie or low fat cheese & crackers or some sort of fruit.

On my indulging days I would eat a cheeseburger-French fries-Oreos-cheesecake....

Now that I am allowing myself treats I will have one of the mentioned above each day-i just make sure I get my veggies in!! 

 

*****i am by no means a doctor and before beginning any diet or life style change always consult your doctor.*****