My Family's Contagious Joy

This picture brings my heart joy and is currently my desktop background at work.

My family has a contagious energy and my siblings are beyond a blessing to me.

I miss them more than words can describe, but feel peace in my heart about our individual journeys.

This picture is a throwback to the night before my wedding :)

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In the Nursery: Whole Hearted Parenting Manifesto

I recently finished a book by Brene Brown titled, DaringGreatly . It really moved me, and I am definitely still processing it. At the beginning of the book I wasn’t resonating deeply with the topic of vulnerability, as most people will tell you I am an “open book”. I will answer most questions without holding back and love to deep dive into good conversation. However, what I came to realize through her many examples is that we all wrestle with vulnerability, guilt and shame throughout this book even if is more momentary than constant. I gleaned SO MUCH from this book that I did not anticipate, and I thought I would share this Parenting Manifesto that she put right at the end of the book. I am printing it and framing it for our nursery, as I think it communicates some deep parts of my heart cry for parenting my kiddos well. I hope this resonates with someone else as much as it did with me. I needed these words to remind me that parenting is not a checklist,

Processing our Chicken Processing

For years now, Bill and I have discussed getting our own meat chickens. We wanted to know it all. What the process looked like, what our food ate, control their environment and make them feel safe and loved during their short life. We wanted to give ourselves to them and sacrifice our time to them since they very quickly give their lives in order for us to be sustained. Well 10 weeks ago we got meat chickens chicks and yesterday was our first processing day. We learned the process of getting a chicken to alive and well to packaged and in the fridge. It was very educational and also emotional, as we raised these birds from two days old. I will never forget how I felt taking a birds life to feed my family. It hit my soul in a unique way and I want to stay fresh to that pain. After I held the knife and looked at the bird and burst into tears. Our farm mentor said "I would be worried about you if you didn't feel emotions." I stood still for a few moments givi

A Penny For Your Thoughts - On Insecurity and Looking Back

23 Years Old and so Insecure - 10 Years Ago I have felt compelled to write about something lately, and been shying away from it, which is not my typical style. As I look back over my life, I have recently realized that I finally feel like "enough". I know my worth is in the Lord and I know I am beautiful and worth people's time, but that has not always been my story. Far too often from the ages of 12 to 30, I defined my worth by whether someone was interested in dating me or not and after I got married, whether people "liked me" and wanted to be my friend or to hire me. Was I pretty enough? Interesting enough? Worth someone's time? Talented enough? Smart enough? etc... Recently, as pictures pop up in my Timehop (an app that shows pictures taken the same day as far back as it can reach through social media and the camera roll on my phone), I distinctly remember feeling like I was either fat or unattractive in most pictures. I remember being

Mrs. Rogers Neighborhood

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