Choosing Simplicity

A glimps into my life…. Vintage Blogging!

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Want to get to know me better and have a glimpse into my life?  Modern blogging is fine…. but the thing I miss most about “vintage” blogs is how people used to share their lives.  The “realness” factor is missing in most modern blogs.  Everyone seems to have such glamourous lives…. mine is just normal!   Now everything in the blogging world is so polished and magazine like.  My goal with this blog is to share life…. real life, not just fancy magazine quality blog  posts.  I’m calling these VINTAGE, Old-School Blog posts.  I hope you enjoy this peak into my real life.  🙂

So, what is my real, every day life like??  My days vary from day to day, but one thing is constant.  We home school our middle son, 13  year old Ethan, so each day a chunk of my time is spent with him.  This is our first year home schooling him and he is THRIVING!  I’m glad we stepped out in obedience and listened to the voice of God leading us.  Our other three kids are in public school.

I’m sure this is unusual to have 3 in school and only one at home…. but it is what is working for us right now.  Our oldest two are seniors in High School.  No, not twins, but in the same grade due to our oldest, Wes, becoming a year behind in school due to his long battle with leukemia.  My husband will joke with people when he gets asked if they are twins…. “not real twins” he replies, “but if you look at their blood they are identical”!  What??  Robyn was Wes’ bone marrow donor in September of 2015 and so Wes’ blood is identical to his sisters.  She says he better not ever do anything illegal because it would all trace back to her!  LOL!

Speaking of High School…. This past weekend was Home-Coming for basketball season.  Our daughter, Robyn, was given the honor of being crowned Home-Coming Queen!  And I just LOVE our small rural community school for choosing to honor their down syndrome classmate with the King Title.  He was SOOOOOO excited!!!  It was indeed a special night.  I have also been enjoying her flowers!  They are in a vase in the kitchen and they smell so good (as well as being beautiful).

Sunday we were finally able to do the Children’s Christmas program…. a bit late due to weather causing church to be cancelled on the originally scheduled day.  However, celebrating the birth of Christ is never out of season!  The kids did GREAT!  Our youngest boys, Ethan and Nate both had readings to do.  Ethan was particularly nervous…. but they both did great!

I just LOVE our church!!  My “Little House on the Prairie” heart just can’t get enough of our building.  We are a new church plant using an OLD, 1872 church building.  The building is so special, but it is the people that fill it and the word we are taught that makes it so wonderful.  Blessed.  I couldn’t resist taking this picture as we walked into church on Sunday.  The day was just beautiful (the ice stayed farther south of us) and my heart was just so full of God’s love!

If you are a local friend of mine and would like to visit…. just let me know… we would love to have you.  It is exciting being a part of a new church and seeing God piece together all the pieces.  Small group ministry along with men’s and women’s ministries are getting started.  So much coming up.  Lots of opportunities to get plugged in and to be in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ!

“Normal” life for me is focused primarily on my family and our home.  I haven’t contributed much earned income to our family over the years, but I do my best to be a wise steward of our family income and stretch each and every dollar.  I try to be a producer, not just a consumer.  One way I have “produced” for our family is by cutting my husband’s and our 3 son’s hair.  I have done this since our oldest started needing hair cuts.  I have never calculated the total savings I have created over the years, but I know the 4 haircuts I did tonight (at $10 each) produced a savings of $40.  I like that!  Makes me feel good!!  We buy a quality set of clippers and about every 5-6 weeks I cut their hair.  I like it in the summer when we can cut hair outside on the back porch.

These are the clippers I have right now.  They are working great for us.  For less than $21 investment I create A LOT of savings for our family.  Over the years I have learned how to do a variety of cuts.  There are many you-tube videos available to learn from.

We use You-Tube a lot!  I am constantly amazed at how many things we can learn.  Ethan has started doing leather work (thanks to a Christmas gift from my sister).  You-tube has been a great source of information for him.  In the past I have learned how to crochet and become a better photographer all by watching you-tube.  A blessing of our modern life…. something people of the “Little House” era couldn’t even imagined!  I listen to a lot of music on You-Tube (as well as Pandora).

What am I reading right now??  For personal growth I am continuing to read “Living Forward” by Michael Hyatt.  I wrote a post last week about “How the Death Of A Loved One is Inspiring Me to Live”.  This book has played a key role in helping me to process and create a plan.  I want to live intentionally and live my life with purpose. As I complete the activities outlined in this book it is helping me create a clear picture of the life I want to live!

For a fun book I am reading Lyn Austin’s book called Wonderland Creek.  I’m enjoying it!  I like to have a fiction and non fiction book going….. My husband says he doesn’t know how I can have more than one book going at a time.  I guess it speaks volumes to my personality… I don’t like too much of one thing!  I’m a fan of variety.  Have you read either of these books??  Do you have a favorite book to recommend to me??

Well, I think this rambling post is long enough!!  I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into my life.  If you are a blogger please leave a comment below with a link to your site.  I would love to hop over to visit.

Have a great day!!!

*Disclosure: The above links are affiliate links.  If you purchase these items I will make a small amount, but it will not add to the cost of your purchase.  I so appreciate you using my links…. it helps me earn some income for our family.

 

 

 

Want to get to know me better??

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old-school-stlye_edited_editedWhen blogging first came out blogs were mostly online journals where people shared their lives.  I really loved reading blogs and “met” some great people along the way.  I used to have a blog that is now completely “vintage”!  Oh, my how fast the online world changes.  If you want to check out my old blog feel free to hop over to “Choosing Simplicity” (I haven’t really kept it up since before our son was sick with leukemia).

ANYWAY… now blogs are very polished, fancy and much like online magazines.  Everyone is an “expert” and sharing their knowledge with us.  I enjoy learning and I enjoy teaching so this current style of blogging can work for me, too.  However, I MISS getting to “know” bloggers since fewer and fewer share their real life.  While I want to learn….. I also want to connect with a blogger.  I miss the VINTAGE blog style.

When I was working (both is social work and as a teacher) my professional motto was “No one cares what I know until they KNOW that I CARE”!  I think this holds true in personal life and in blog life.  I want you to know me and know I care about you.  I don’t just want to blog to create an online name or presence for myself…. I want to be an encouragement, a light, a living example that Jesus is our savior and that God is BIG (and wants to be BIG in our every day life)! I want you to know that I care…. I want to be real and transparent.  I know life is HARD, I know that life is a struggle and I know that through all this hard life in Christ is Victorious.

Every week I want to write a “VINTAGE” Style blog post that is personal and more old school blogging online journal style.  Share some real life living!  Life is messy…. not all picture perfect…. but that is OK!  Life is good, not perfect!!

Soooo….. What is going on in my life this week???

I am feeling so much better as I recover from the flu I had last week.  Wow, did that knock me on my tush for a few days!  I literally spent 2 days in bed.  Thankfully, Wes (our oldest son who is a leukemia survivor) did not get it!  His body is still re-building from the second bone marrow transplant he had last fall.  He landed in the hospital this summer with the Para Influenza #3!  We want NO repeats!!

While I was down with the flu I did get some of the fall pictures I took of our kids edited.  I also got Wes and Robyn’s senior pictures edited.  I have loved taking pictures of the kids every fall and this year we just took some extra for senior pictures.  It has been bittersweet.  I am THRILLED that they will be graduating and moving on in the next season of their life.  We are especially thrilled that Wes is ALIVE and here with us to do all these things.  Before leukemia changed Wes’ life he was a year ahead of Robyn in school, but now they will graduate together.  However, it was tinged with sadness for this Mama Heart knowing that this is the LAST fall I will take pictures with all my kids still living at home.  Transitions can be hard on a mama heart! Can you relate to that??

Here are my four kiddos: From Right to Left: Robyn (17), Nate (12), Ethan (13) and Wes (19)

all-4-2

Now that I am feeling all better I have been in a CLEANING frenzy!  I know that a lot of this is the mama bear in me coming out to destroy any germs in our house!  I also have been feeling like our house is too cluttered and needs not only a deep cleaning be some stuff purging.  So far I have deep cleaned and purged the Master Bedroom, Master Bath and the living room.  I cleaned from top to bottom.  Curtains washed, walls wiped down, everything cleaned, stuff purged!  Ahhhh it feels SO good!  I will continue tackling one room each day until the whole house is done!  Just in time for the Holidays.

Tuesday started the month of November.  Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday.  I love food and I love being thankful (so much power in a thankful heart)…. I also love that there are no HUGE expectations that surround the holiday…. so we can just ENJOY family, friends and food!  I came across a Scripture Writing resource to be used during the month of November.  I posted it on my personal Facebook  a week ago asking if anyone wanted to join me.  As of today there are 50 people doing this with me!!  How BIG is our GOD??? So BIG!!  This month we are coming together to focus on developing a heart of thanksgiving and praise!  We would LOVE to have you join us and jump in!!  (see picture below for the daily verses) My middle son, Ethan, is also joining me…. Perks of being the only home schooled kid!

thanksgiving-prayer-list

What am I reading right now??  I always have 2 books going.  I have a fun fiction book and I keep a non fiction (spiritual or personal growth focused) book going.  Right now I am reading “A Home in Drayton Valley” by Kim Vogel Sawyer as my “fun” book.  I’m over half done and am really enjoying it.  The characters have both captured my heart and the story line is keeping me reading.

I am reading “Driven By Eternity” by John Bevere as my growth book.  I just started it this week and it won’t be a book I move through quickly.  I am reading a few pages at a time with my Bible by my side.  I read, and then I have to take time to meditate and let it really sink deep into my Spirit.  I don’t just want to read a book to check it off my goal list…. I want books to be tools that help me GROW in Christ!  Speed is not the issue, growth is my goal.

This week marks another “First” for our youngest son, Nate.  He is in 6th grade and is playing on a “real” basketball team for the first time.  He LOVES basketball and has been practicing hard.  This week he will have his first game.  One EXCITED kid!!  I have been fully enjoying having 2 older kids with driver’s license.  They have been helping me with transportation to and from practices.  One more thing I will miss when Wes and Robyn go off to college next year.

Speaking of college…. Robyn submitted her application to Purdue last night and Wes is finishing his.  Tonight we go to Ivy Tech to learn more about their community college option.  They have both been working on scholarships and we filed the FAFSA form.  It is a big job (LOTS of hours) to get all this stuff done!  I’m kind of glad we are doing it all for 2 at once!  We are working as a team helping each other!

Well…. I think that sums up my week and hopefully gives you a peek into my life and helps you to get to know me better.  I’ll be back next week with another “Vintage style, old-school” Blog post!

Last week I shared with you the “BLESSINGS” acronym I use to pray for my husband, Chris.  Prayer is SO POWERFUL!!!  I hope you find this acronym as helpful as I have. I’m praying some BIG things right now for Chris and for the kids and for others.  To help you pray using scripture I have put together a simple e-book full of Bible verses that go along with each of the letters in BLESSSINGS.  Praying the WORD of God is the most powerful prayers you can pray.  GOD’S word is always lined up with God’s will!!!  Have you seen the movie War Room?? If not, I highly recommend it!  It will inspire you to pray the word of God!!


 

(Note: some links in this post are affiliate links. I will earn a small percentage if purchase through the links)

 

 

 

Choosing Simplicity: Corralling all those plastic bags!!

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Choosing Simplicity is a BIG topic, however, I find that it is in the *little* things of home management that choosing simplicity makes a big difference.  Corralling all the store bags is necessary!

This week’s tip is one I have been using for YEARS!  I wish I could remember who told me about this so that I could thank them!!  easy-bag-storge_edited

What to do with all those store bags??  When you forget more often than not to take the reusable cloth bags to the store like me….. (but you probably always remember to grab yours!!)

I use them to line our trash cans in the bathrooms so I keep a stash of them under each bathroom sink and under the kitchen sink.  I have found that an empty tissue box works GREAT!!   Compact storage and easy to pull one out at a time.