Category: Everyday Life


Mar
2019

Friday Favorites #33

categories: Everyday Life, Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Friday Favorites post and how I’ve missed it! I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for this week of favorites!

It’s been a little quiet around here while I’ve been working hard on a new direction for my blog. If you look around, you can see things are looking a little different! I was starting to feel a little stagnant about the direction I was going and instead was putting all my time into my Etsy shop. Design has always been where my passion is.

I loved this quote. And if it comes from Oprah, it has to be true. 😉

So that’s the new direction for Loving Our Messy! A place for free printables, for design tools and resources for the DIY creative, and a place for me to share my passion. I LOVE this new space and I hope you will too!

Just for the record, Friday Favorites aren’t going anywhere. These are my favorite posts to read and write. And because I need a space to share book recommendations obviously. (See Favorite #2 – some amazing ones!)

Speaking of free printables, check out my latest one from this week.

Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a meal train or a gift of a homemade meal, knows how much of a gift it is! This free printable is perfect to attach to those meals. Print, cut, and write out the name of your recipe, baking (or freezing!) instructions, and a quick note to your friend. #ditchthestickynote

If you are struggling to figure out what to make a family you want to bring a meal to, check out the post that inspired this printable. 10 Favorite Meal Ideas for New Moms can be found here.

Hover over the images and pin both for the next time you want to bring someone a meal!

During the past couple of months, Josh and I have been trying to watch a lot less tv. That has been amazing for many reasons but also because it gives me more time to feed my love of reading! I’ve read some amazing books lately.

Redeeming Love – Francine Rivers

I was starting to feel like I was the only one in the universe who hadn’t read this book. I’d heard some amazing things, but it starts off pretty dark you guys. I held onto it for a couple weeks before I could pick it back up.

But I’m SO glad I did. It was so good. The kind of book that makes you think and has stuck with me afterward. It was just beautifully written.

One True Loves – Taylor Jenkins Reid

By it’s name and appearance, I assumed this one was a typical ‘chick lit’ read. I was so wonderfully surprised! I was completely sucked in to this story of a young widow who is recently engaged, and then finds out her husband isn’t actually dead.

It was thought-provoking, so well written and I flew through it because I had to know how it ends! 😉

Baseball season starts for our boys next week, so I’ve been on the hunt for more quick and easy dinner recipes. Super Mom Stir Fry from Lauren’s Latest is a new family favorite! It’s so yummy!

Don’t let the frozen veggies trip you up. I’ve never been one to be able to use frozen broccoli in recipes, it just doesn’t cook or taste the same as fresh. In this recipe though, it doesn’t bother me at all. It might be the completely delicious sauce or those Asian veggies are just that good. Lauren’s recipe uses chicken but we love it with shrimp too!

I’ve posted about the planner from Michael’s that I loved before, but this year I wanted something a little different. This planner from Blessed is She is the best planner I’ve ever owned. For real.

I love that it has two pages for every week. One set lets you meal plan for the week, has a space for a running grocery list, notes, prayer intentions, goals and room for a giant weekly to-do list (which is my favorite part!). I can brain dump all the things for the week in one spot and then refer back to it to over the week for each day.

The daily schedule I love too and the space to write a few things each day from my giant week list. And there is something so satisfying about having boxes to check off!

And of course, all the Bible verses and quotes for each week are what make this planner so special. LOVE, love and worth every penny.

It’s the best time of year. Baseball is back! Opening Day was yesterday for the Cubs and everyone in my house is ready for a great season. Now that my older boys are playing little league, they are so much fun to watch games with because they are starting to get it. Mostly.

They don’t quite understand the concept of replays yet. When I leave the room, they yell to me that the Cubs just scored a run or did something else amazing. It almost always turns out though that it’s a replay from earlier in the game (or last week or last month!). #workinprogress

Those are my favorites for this week! Comment below one of your favorite things on this Friday!

Hope you all have the very best weekend!


Nov
2018

Friday Favorites #32

categories: Everyday Life

Happy Friday!

My goodness has this seemed like a long week. Iowa got hit with a blizzard on Sunday and our kids were pretty pumped to have a snow day on Monday. Who wouldn’t enjoy an unexpected 6-day Thanksgiving break? So basically, any chance they have gotten to be doing this:

they have been. And there are forever tiny puddles of snow everywhere in my house. Which I then step in when I’m wearing socks.

Love that.

Wet socks aside, I’m here today linking up with  Erika, Narci and Andrea for a really good batch of favorites!

Officially, Advent starts this Sunday and we are more than ready for it in my house. If you are looking for a way to keep your Christmas preparation Christ centered with your family, check out this new addition to my Etsy shop.

I’m all about a good Santa focused Christmas movie or story, but it’s so important to me that our children understand and live the true meaning of our Christmas prep and celebration. My Nativity Advent Calendar Cards have 25 days of Scripture verses from December 1 through Christmas Day that tell the story of Jesus’ birth. Each card has an adorable Nativity character and a verse for the day. It comes with an optional file to print the verses on the back or you can choose to list daily activities or something else of your choice on the back.

It’s a $5 instant download in my shop. Ready to print and cut at home!

And – if you are looking for a great Advent Devotional, I loved this one last year. The reflections are short and they list optional readings you can do if you are looking for a little more each day.

I chose this one for this year. I love Max Lucado and am hoping I love this one too!

A few months ago while experiencing a lack of judgment, I promised my best friend that I would train for and run a 7 mile race this summer with her. Before babies, I loved to run and would run 7 miles on a Saturday for a good time. That was 4 children ago. But I love her. So I will run (or at least attempt to).

I’ve started running low mileages on the treadmill but needed something to help me get back into shape on my off days. One of my friends told me about fitnessblender.com and I LOVE it. They have a ton of free workouts on their website that you can filter by time, intensity, etc. and have everything from strength training to kickboxing to yoga. I’m obsessed. If you’ve been looking for an easy way to exercise in these winter months, this is an amazing option!

This was one of my favorites last year at this time and it still is! A few years ago, I found this amazing free gift app called Santa’s Bag. We typically buy for our families, teachers, etc. every year plus our older boys have birthdays right around Christmas. I struggle to keep track of what gives we have yet to plan and purchase.

This app lets you enter a budget and divide it among the people you are buying for. I even include everything for the season like birthday and Christmas gifts, Christmas cards, stocking stuffers, gifts for charities at the boy’s school, etc. You add in the gifts, cost, and what stores you plan to purchase at so you can sort your master list by any of those categories. You can even mark the status of each gift: need to buy, purchase, and wrapped and sort that by list too! The app is free (with an optional choice to upgrade to save all gifts from year to year) and I have not found a better way to track gifts! I just love it!

This weekend during our snowstorm, I was trying to encourage our second grader to spend some time reading. He sat down with his book and I grabbed One Beautiful Dream off my waiting to read stack to sit with him. We read for 20 minutes and then I could not stop. I haven’t finished a book in only two days since the last Harry Potter book way back in the day. (That brings you back doesn’t it?) It was amazing. You know those books that just speak to your soul? This one did for me. Hands down the best book I have read this year.

I highly recommend for those of you who are trying to balance motherhood and all the rest you dream about for yourself- especially if it doesn’t look the way you thought it would. It was SO SO good. Anyone else a Jennifer Fulwiler fan?

Finally, Josh and I watched the newest Netflix Christmas movie this weekend and loved it. It had really cute story and Kurt Russell as Santa was perfect! If you haven’t seen it yet, you should!

Full disclosure: you may want to preview it yourself before watching with young kids. We started watching it with the boys and I ended up stopping it after a few minutes and choosing another movie. There was a bunch of Santa belief talk at the beginning (and some slight language throughout) that our kids weren’t ready for. It probably depends on the age/nature of your kiddos!

Those are my favorites this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!


Nov
2018

October Book Review!

categories: Everyday Life

I’m talking books today! I read four books this month and liked all of them but really LOVED one of them.

The Royal We

I heard a lot of hype about the Royal We before I read it and it had been on my ‘to read’ list forever! Even if you look at the Amazon reviews, you can see that some people call it their favorite book of all time. So I went into this one with huge expectations! But you know how they say ‘expectation leads to disappointment’ and maybe that was my problem with The Royal We. I just expected too much! I enjoyed it but I didn’t looovee it like I thought I would.

Overall the storyline was the perfect book for me. It’s about an American girl that goes to college at Oxford in England. In fairytale fashion, she meets and falls in love with the future King of England. It had a clear ‘Will and Kate’ vibe (complete with a Prince Harry character!) and all of that I loved. The story follows their relationship over several years and the difficulties of having a private relationship in the public eye. There were parts that I just really loved about the book and flew through. And then there were parts of this 496-page book that were much slower and difficult to get through. There were a lot of characters introduced as their friends that were difficult to keep straight and truthfully, I just didn’t care enough about their side stories.

I loved the American becoming a princess story and I loved all the parts about their relationship. It was clear that the authors did a ton of research into royal life and British customs. That part was super interesting to read about! It was a cute book and the last quarter of the book brought quite a twist that I did not see coming. It’s worth a read if you are a fan of the royals like I am, but just keep your expectations in check. 😉

The Cinderella Pact

Truthfully, I chose this book by accident but it was the best accident! We had stopped at the library to grab some books for the kids to read in the car on a road trip and I was looking for a different one for myself that happened to be checked out. I was running out of time so I grabbed the first one on the shelf that caught my eye. I was super lucky because The Cinderella Pact was a light, fun read that I absolutely enjoyed.

The story is about a fashion magazine editor struggling with her weight and generally unhappy with her life. She’s single, her little sister is getting married, and her job is tedious and boring. She makes a ‘Cinderella Pact’ with two of her friends with similar struggles to finally lose weight and transform their lives. When she is unable to get promoted at her job because of assumed weight discrimination, she decides to pose as a British writer from London to write an advice column for her magazine. She uses a little Photoshop on an old high school photo, a fake British accent and a lot of little white lies to secretly land the job and earn a second income. As you can imagine, the lie takes on a life of its own and snowballs into a big complicated, hysterical mess when she is asked to appear in person to meet with the magazine’s owner.

I thought this book was adorable and written in a way that was completely relatable and full of humor! I wanted a book that wasn’t super serious and this was just that. Fun, cute and I would absolutely recommend.

Summer House

Hands down, the best book I read this month. This was my first Nancy Thayer book and no way will it be my last. I absolutely loved it.

It told 3 separate stories of women from different generations from the same family. It follows Charlotte, a single woman in her twenties looking for her own path, her mother (who is struggling in her marriage and finding her way now that her kids are grown) and Charlotte’s 90-year-old grandmother looking back on the life she has lived. They all belong to a giant family that has always spent their summers together at the family home in Nantucket. As always when you get a bunch of family together, their summer is full of secrets, miscommunications, and lots of complicated family issues.

I loved this book! At first, I thought it was going to be a predictable story but I was happily surprised! As the author switched between the stories of the 3 women, I kept getting wrapped up and wanting more of each! It’s a cute, quick read that was totally worth it!

The Power of Habit

I should say that I went into this book thinking that it was about how to create/change habits in a step-by-step kind of way. I thought it was going to tell me why my habits were bad and give clear instructions on how to change them. That was not exactly what this book was about even though I ended up really enjoying it.

The book was written more like a textbook – citing studies and examining data to explain how habits are formed and the golden rule of how they can be changed. They used real-life examples like Starbucks, Target, Tony Dungy (coach of the Indianapolis Colts) and Michael Phelps which I found completely fascinating. It was easy to read and I really did learn so much about habits which has made me look at everything differently. The book explains the basic idea of how habits need to be changed and it’s up to you to examine your own life and see if you can dissect your own habits and apply these things to change them.

If you haven’t read it – I definitely recommend it. It has changed the way I look at my routines and daily life!

These 4 books on the bottom are in my ‘waiting to read’ stack and I’m excited to dive in!

What are you reading right now? What books do I need to add to my list?

For more books that I’ve loved:

Friday Favorites

 January Book Review

10 Best Children’s Books


Oct
2018

Friday Favorites #31

categories: Everyday Life

It’s Friday!

We have had a great week around here! Everyone in my house is PUMPED that starting next week, the Halloween costumes get to officially come out. I have been asked approximately 7,865 times since we bought them if they can start wearing them around. Since September. They are excited to finally wear them. I am excited to not have to hear the whining about it anymore. Everybody wins. 😉

I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea with a random list of Friday Favorites this week – which if you ask me – is the best kind of Friday Favorites anyway. 

So last week right as I was working on my Friday Favorites post actually, this happened to my computer.

I was not pleased. Mostly because my computer is only four MONTHS old. After it cycled through this during the entire afternoon and evening, I had to wipe my computer completely clean to get it to boot.

Now. I’m one of those annoying people who this has happened to before and I’ve lost my mind because I don’t back up my files. When I opened up my Etsy shop, my husband convinced me that we needed to get an automatic backup software. And you guys, this past week IDrive saved my life. This HAD to be one of my favorites this week because I didn’t lose a single file when I had to unexpectedly wipe my computer clean. It had run every night for the past few months, saved all my files and I didn’t even have to tell it to back up. 

They have a deal going right now that your first year of back up is only $6.95 and clearly ours has already been more than worth it. Even if you just have family pictures or pictures of the kids you don’t want to lose? Check this out! (NOT affiliate!)

My favorite Etsy store listing this week is this cute transportation set!

Perfect for any car, plane or boat loving little boy (or girl!). We may have a few of those in my house. Available in physical or digital prints and a variety of colors! Like my page on Facebook for sales and coupon codes!

My oldest is in second grade this year and he’s having a hard time adjusting to the focus being more on school work than on fun. He’s a creative, artsy kid and there aren’t as many opportunities for that this year as there were in first grade and kindergarten. It’s been a challenge to motivate him to read to us (as his homework) after a long school day and I was struggling to find something that he was excited about reading! He was choosing books that were beyond his difficulty level and getting understandably frustrated.

We found these Magic Treehouse books and they have been amazing for him. The series follows a boy and a girl who travel to different points in time on secret library missions. The books are 10 chapters and each one deals with a different historical event. We are reading one right now about the Titanic and just finished one about the Ancient Olympics. He is loving them. They would even be great as a beginning chapter book to read to younger kids too. Plus there are 50 of them so we have a ton of material to work our way through! Love, love Magic Treehouse! If you have a kiddo around this age, I bet they will love them too!

We have a very thin wall in our entryway that I have never been able to figure out what to do with. I was at Hobby Lobby the other day, saw these letters and loved this idea!

I love that you can see it from the outside when our front door is open! It’s a perfect fit for this space.

Also… tell me I’m not the only one who does this at Hobby Lobby? Haha!

It’s no secret on here that Josh and I are huge Survivor fans. Season 37 started a few weeks ago and it does NOT disappoint. If you haven’t seen Survivor before, you need to. All seasons are available on CBS All Access and a bunch are available to stream on Amazon Prime. Clearly it’s a great show if they are on their 37th season! Settle in for some binge watching because once you start, it’s hard to stop!

Where are all my fellow Survivor fans?

Also, we have 2 weekends left for Halloween fun and if you are looking for some crafts to do with your kiddos – check out this post I wrote for Twiniversity. Four super simple crafts with things you probably already have at home. Plus, you’ll see some familiar faces in the photos!

Hope you have a great weekend!


Sep
2018

Friday Favorites #30

categories: Everyday Life

Happy Friday! I’m happy to be back in this space after taking some time off for… life. 😉

 

If this is your face too – I get it. My planned short break turned into a little more. Did anyone else miss all my friends memes?

With the start of the new school year, comes the beginning of a more stable routine that I am taking full advantage of. I love, love having all my kiddos home with me during the summer, but it sure is hard for moms who work at home to attempt to get anything done! I spent the summer working at home for Twiniversity and now that project opportunity has ended – I am SO excited to have more time to be back here and back designing for my Etsy shop.

This week’s Friday Favorites seemed like the perfect time to dive back in. I’ve got a whole random bunch of favorites this week and I’ll fill you in on what we’ve been up to along the way.

For the first time in awhile, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea with my favs for this week!

 

For the first time ever this school year, I only have two kiddos at home with me during the day. My sweet 5 year old started kindergarten this year and he is loving it.

 

These little guys love having me all to themselves too. I’m really enjoying this time alone with them and we’ve been having some great adventures during ours days. Having only two home with me has also allowed me to focus more on my Etsy store and has allowed me to set aside time early in the morning, during nap time, and at night (while my husband is being studying for his MBA classes – an entirely other story) to work.

 

So along with my new focus, I thought I’d keep myself motivated to keep designing and adding new things to my store and have one of my favorites be my FAVORITE new Etsy listing each week.

These sweet Woodland Creatures nursery prints are my favorite new listing this week. There is just something about those cute little faces that gets me. Woodland and forest themes for nurseries and kids rooms are adorable and these are the perfect wall decor to add! PLUS – today (Friday) only it’s 10% off in my store with code GIMME10.

They are available in digital files you print yourself or physical prints that are professionally printed and shipped to you.

 

I’m adding more prints all the time, so make sure to favorite my shop on Etsy to see them as they are added. I also take custom orders if you have something in mind, I would love to work with you. Contact me here or through my shop!

 

 

 

Before bed, Josh and I love to sit down together with a good show (preferably a comedy) for a few laughs before we go to sleep. We are huge fans of How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Friends (obviously) but we needed another good one to start. This summer we started watching New Girl because it seemed like we were the only ones that weren’t watching it. I have NO idea why we waited so long.

WE LOVE IT. It’s the perfect before-bed show and had to be in my favorites this week! The characters are super funny, Zooey Deschanel is amazing, and it aired recently enough that all the current events are still relevant. If you haven’t seen it- you should start. Seasons 1-6 are streaming on Netflix. We are on season 5 and in my opinion, the show gets funnier as the seasons go on.

What are some other good shows available to stream that we should be watching? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

No surprise, we have been embracing the start of fall around here. Give me all the pumpkin everything! My littles and I were browsing the dollar section at Target this week and found this adorable cookbook stand for $3! I put it on our kitchen counter by an outlet so when we charge our phones/tablets they can rest on the stand instead of all over the counter. It’s so cute, I’m going to have to find a non-seasonal one too!

 

I know I’m not the only one that binges on Hallmark movies during the Christmas season – they are the best. My favorite thing to do in the afternoons while I’m working is to watch a Hallmark movie. Every year, I also look forward to their Fall Harvest movies which are equally as amazing. I made my husband crazy because I used to fill up our entire DVR with hours of Hallmark this time of year.

 

This is our first year without cable and was sad when I realized that none of the new movies are available to stream on any of Hallmark’s apps. Even the one you pay a monthly subscription for. I tried Sling this week and I love it so much it had to be on my favorites. We chose their orange package + Lifestayle add-on + DVR for only $35/month. There is a bunch of channels and you can watch them live or record to the DVR for later.

These are three of my favorites so far.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, this blog and my Etsy shop have finally gotten with the times and have a Facebook page! Go over and give it a like to see all my new listings, flash sales, new blog posts, and the very best funny memes!

 

Those are my favorites this week. It feels so good to be back! I hope you have the best weekend enjoying the fall weather. With any luck, we will all be having a weekend filled with this much joy!


Feb
2018

Friday Favorites {2.9.18}

categories: Everyday Life

Happy Friday! When I was looking through pictures to include on this post, I saw a few pictures from the Super Bowl and thought that’s so weird that I haven’t taken any pictures in two weeks! And then I realized the Super Bowl was just 5 days ago. This week has been the longest week ever!

We had a great time watching the Super Bowl together as a family and the boys and I rocked out to Justin Timberlake. (Obviously.)

And then we woke up Monday morning with our oldest in tears saying he didn’t feel good. Low grade fever – no other symptoms. No big deal. Tuesday however, brought a temp of 104 and a diagnosis of strep AND influenza A.

Thankfully, he’s finally feeling better today and no one else has gotten sick as of yet. This was all of them the day before the flu diagnosis, so the odds may not be in our favor? I’m not sure I know any families not dealing with some sort of sickness right now. This winter has been so bad with germs. I’m keeping all these sick kiddos in my prayers.

So on to better news. I’m happy it’s Friday! I’m happy to be sharing a bunch of random favorites with you today because these are always the most fun posts to read!

one

Last week, I shared my January Book Review full of some really good books. I started 2018 off with a goal to create better self-care habits and reading more is one of them. I’m enjoying it so much, I only wish I had done it a long time ago! If you are looking for new recommendations, check this post out. I read 5 books in January and 3 of them I absolutely loved. I’m happy with those odds for my first month!

two

Over the summer, I talked about my favorite shows to binge watch with my husband and I have a new one to add. Lately, Josh and I have been rewatching The Good Wife on Amazon prime. I had completely forgotten how amazing (and addicting!) that show is. It’s got major drama, romance, amazing actors, really great writing, humor, etc. It’s the best. Plus, Matt Czuchry has a leading role. Enough said. #TeamLoganforever

three

These two have to be in my favorites this week. I’ve mentioned before that they are Daddy’s biggest fans. Every day this week these sweet boys have dressed themselves up in their big brother’s shoes, gloves and hats, packed up their backpacks full of toys and told me they were going to go visit Daddy at work.

They come to give me a hug and kiss, say “Bye Mom!”, grab a pretend set of keys, walk in a circle around the house and do it all over again. It’s hysterical. The bond between those two is the sweetest I’ve ever seen.

four

I’m sure this is on a lot of people’s favorites this week but the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is tonight! Will you be watching? We definitely will be. The older boys have been looking forward to the snowboarding and skiing for weeks and really I’m excited about all of it. I love the fun, the competition and the news coverage. It’s something to look forward to when we can’t spend much time outside in freezing cold Iowa lately!

five

The start of Lent is next Wednesday (which actually falls on Valentine’s Day this year). If you are looking for something to do for Lent this year, it’s not too late to sign up for Best Lent Ever with Dynamic Catholic. I have done it the last couple of years and I’ve just loved it. They email you a link everyday with short 2 or 3 minute videos and a short reflection. I find them incredibly encouraging and inspiring and they help me focus my heart during this Lenten season. If you have any interest, I highly encourage you to sign up. (It’s completely free!)

Also, if you are still looking for classroom Valentines for your kids to take to school next week – check out my Etsy store! They are all instant download and you can print them at home. If you would like me to personalize them for you with your child’s name – just put that in ‘notes to seller’ on your order! I have 12 listed in my shop, click here to see them all.

Those are my favorites for this week. Our weather forecast for the Midwest this weekend is full of piles of snow so I foresee a lot of playing in the snow, hot chocolate and Olympics watching for us. 😉 Hope you have a wonderful weekend!


Jan
2018

January Book Review

categories: Everyday Life

How is it the last day of January already? At the beginning of the year, I set some goals for myself to create better habits in my life. One of the areas I wanted to focus on was self-care habits, especially working to intentionally set aside time to spend doing things that I love.. like READING! I have to say, this has been amazing for me. I thought since this was something I have loved, maybe some of you will too. I’m going to start a monthly book review to keep myself accountable to my new goal, but also so we can share good book recommendations!

I read 5 books this month, which is already more than I read all of last year. (Insert embarrassed emoji here.)  Three of them I loved, one was fine, and the other I just really didn’t enjoy. That’s not too bad for my first month!

 

It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover

This was the first book I read this year and it was the best way to begin. I flew through this one and yet it was so hard to read in the best way. Given the chance, I will always pick a light hearted book over any other book. This was not light hearted and yet still one of the best books that I’ve maybe ever read. (I know.)

This story was of personal experience to the author which made it even more endearing to read. It’s a love story filled with heart break that made me see relationships in a whole other way than I had before. This book had me from the very first page and didn’t let up it’s fast pace the whole time. I’m not sure how to give much detail on the synopsis without giving away the heart of the story so I’ll just say that this is one you should read. It’s one of those that sticks with you and I won’t be able to forget it. The characters were so relatable and realistic that I felt their emotions myself!

I just really loved this one. I also loved that the author didn’t shy away from telling the story full of the details that needed to be told. Alert: graphic scenes and language, just FYI.

 

Cancel the Wedding – Carolyn Dingman

With this title, I went in thinking this book was going to be a cute little romance. No way! This book was so much more than that. A little romance, a little conflict, a little heartbreak and a lot of mystery. And I LOVED it. This was the author’s first book and I was disappointed to see that so far it’s her only! I love how she writes and the story she weaved together.

It’s about a woman who travels to a small town in Georgia to scatter her mother’s ashes. She goes there originally for a few days to do some research on her mother’s life before she was her mother – a life that was purposefully kept secret. She finds out way more than she bargained for and has to reconcile the things she learns with the woman she thought she knew. It’s one of those really good books that keeps you guessing and up past midnight because you can’t put it down. Totally recommend!

 

November 9 – Colleen Hoover

I wanted to read another Colleen Hoover book this month because I loved It Ends With Us so much. I chose this one because I loved the idea of the plot and I think it was her next most recent one she published.

The story is about two people who meet by chance, develop a meaningful and intense connection and agree to meet back on that day every year for 5 years. It started as a sweet love story but then kind of took a dark turn. I was a little over halfway through this one and I was absolutely loving it. And then sadly… I just didn’t. I found the end of the book unsatisfying and a little difficult to get through. I didn’t dislike it, I just had a hard time reconciling the end of the story with the rest of the book?

I love the way Colleen Hoover writes but maybe it was just the plot of this one that I didn’t enjoy as much as her other book. I think I need to read another of hers in the next couple months and break the tie. 😉

 

 

The Professionals – Owen Laukkanen

I hadn’t intended to read this book this month but I’m so glad I did! My husband has been teasing me about how into my books I’ve been lately and how I’ve been staying up way too late some nights wrapped up in a story. I convinced him to choose one for himself a couple weeks ago and this is the one he chose. Well wouldn’t you know that HE got so wrapped up in this book that he read it in less than a week. (And if you know my husband you know that’s a big deal for him to care that much about a book.) He just could not put it down! I picked it up one day while the kids were watching a movie, read a little and I understood why he didn’t want to stop reading.

THis isn’t usually my genre of book but it was so good! It’s a thriller/suspense novel about a group of kids who just graduated college and are facing a dreadful job market. They decide to start kidnapping rich men and asking for a low amount of ransom from their wives. They receive their money, let the men go and move on to another city to do it all again. It all works great until they accidentally kidnap someone of importance and it all spiral wildly out of control.

Owen Laukkanen, the author, wrote these college kid’s thoughts and behaviors so realistically that he just about had me on their side of this whole scheme. They were just so likeable! The book was extremely fast moving, unpredictable and doesn’t focus on the gore and violence that similar story lines might have. It was a book I wouldn’t have chosen for myself, but I’m so glad I read! This was the author’s first novel but he has since published more that will probably have to make it to my list!

 

It’s Not Okay – Andi Dorfman

So, if I’m being honest I struggled with this one. Backstory: I’m a total Bachelor fan and have been for years. I don’t really even know why, but even in all it’s ridiculousness I enjoy the show. I read Sean Lowe’s book For the Right Reasons last year and I totally loved it. I love hearing behind the scenes info from the show and I really loved hearing about his faith journey. So I thought I would read more books from the Bachelor franchise. Andi’s book has been on my list for a long time.

I wanted to like it but I just struggled. I thought it was marketed as a ‘tell all’ but it’s really more a book about dealing with break-ups with tiny bits of Bachelor experience in between. I think I may not have been in the target audience of this book which was probably why I didn’t enjoy it very much! Parts of the book were way too TMI for my taste so it was a little difficult to get through. Unless you are in the target ‘dealing with a break up’ audience, if you want to read a Bachelor book I would absolutely recommend Sean Lowe’s!

 

Now it’s your turn! What have you read lately that you loved? What should be on my list to read next?

 

 


Jan
2018

Friday Favorites {1.26.18}

categories: Everyday Life

Happy Friday!!  This week definitely made us work for it! This is pretty much how I’m feeling right now too.

 

I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

 

one

I added a bunch of adorable Valentine’s to my Etsy shop this week. They are all $5 Instant Downloads that you can print at home yourself!

All of these new designs are available either as treat bag toppers OR as 4 x 4 Valentine card tags that you can use alone or even attach to candy or another treat. Plus you can spare yourself the annoying picked over Valentine section at the store.

I love the treat bag toppers because I can buy a big bag of whatever the kids want to give out (like M&Ms, goldfish, etc.) and they can split it into snack size baggies instead of buying all the individually wrapped packages of things.

You can click any of the pictures to be taken to the listing. Or you can click here to see all the Valentine’s in my shop. Keep me in mind when you are looking for easy Valentine’s for your kiddos to take to school or daycare!

 

two

It’s just been one of those weeks! Josh has been working long hours in a busy season at work. The little boys are sick with colds so they are crabby and not sleeping well. The house is a straight up disaster that I feel like I’m always picking up but it’s not making a difference. I’m totally testing the limits of my dry shampoo. And I’m just tired and weary. We’ve all been there.

I love when I stumble upon a Bible passage that just speaks to me, even when I’m not looking for it. I saw this passage and just felt that it was meant for me. I so need some ‘strength in my soul’. When I looked it up in my Bible, it is from the ‘Hymn of a Grateful Heart’ which is even more perfect.

 

three

I posted Part 2 of my step-by-step guide to making birthday cakes this week. I’ve been making my kid’s birthday and special occasion cakes for 7 years and I’ve learned SO much. If you have ever wanted to make birthday cakes for your kiddos but didn’t think you could- go read this. I promise you can. Part 1 is about the baking and Part 2 is about the decorating.

 

 

four

My mom works in academic support and recommended this Mathopolis app to me to help Caleb with his ‘math facts’. They’ve been working on addition and subtraction and they are working on getting basic repetition down (4 + 4, 6 + 5, etc). He loves the app because as you answer questions correctly within the time limit, you help put out the fire. It’s so much more fun than flash cards! 😉 They have all 4 operations and different levels for each. It’s perfect for adding a little fun into homework which is ALWAYS a favorite here.

 

five

I’m putting this book in my book review next week so I almost didn’t add this to my favorites. And then I just had to. When I made a goal for myself to start a habit of making time to read this year, Josh jumped on board too. He grabbed The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen at the library last week and I have never seen him read a book so fast. Truly. And we’ve been together for over 13 years.

Josh and I don’t usualy read the same kind of book. I’m more light and fluffy stories and he likes the thriller/suspense which usually isn’t my scene. I was cuddling on the couch with Luke and Reid the other day when they weren’t feeling well and picked up the book out of curiosity. And then I couldn’t stop. It was SO good, you guys. It’s super suspenseful and an action thriller without being gory or too intense. I really loved it. If you are looking for a good book to get wrapped up in (even if you don’t usually read this genre) – check this one out!

 

Those are my favorites this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

 


Jan
2018

Friday Favorites {1.12.17}

categories: Everyday Life

It’s my favorite time of the week! Happy Friday!

Our week was spent pretty much boycotting all bed times so it was a rough one. At around 8:00 each night in our house, my energy level is at 2.4% and my boys are at 120%. I don’t even know how this happens. My kiddos had another short week at school and have Monday off next week. I’m not sure if we will make it when it comes time for a full week of school again!

 

Like always, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for a fun list of Friday Favs. These are my favorite posts to read and put together!

 

one

After I killed my second giant Big Bubba water jug by dropping it (from the top of the car as we drove away and knocked off the counter by tiny hands), I knew I needed a different choice. I notice a huge difference in the way I feel when I’m dehydrated so I always keep a giant water bottle with me all the time. I got this stainless steel Liquid Savvy one for Christmas and I think I’m in love. It does a really good job at keeping my water cold and it came with 3 different lids to choose from. It has already been knocked on the floor a few times and there isn’t even a scratch on it! I do miss the huge straw that my Bubba had but on the plus side, this one never spills when it gets knocked over like that one did. I chose the 32 ounce bottle which is big enough to hold a good amount of water and small enough to fit in my cupholder in the car. I also love it because it’s only $20 unlike some of the other brands of stainless steel water bottles. It’s always a goal of mine to drink more water, and if that is you too – this one is my new favorite.

 

two

This week I posted my 2018 goals and one of them was to work on my terrible habit of worrying too much. My small group Bible study just chose a book by Max Lucado to read together called Anxious for Nothing. It arrived this week and I’m so looking forward to reading it. Just looking at the inside cover talking about how to overcome everyday worry spoke to me like I could have written those specific worries down myself. This book covers several of my 2018 goals- limiting worry, further developing my faith and prayer life and making more time reading as a self-care goal! (I’m quietly high fiving myself.)

 

three

My older boys both had birthdays in the last couple of weeks and we have had so much fun celebrating. We had a little birthday party last weekend for them with my family instead of a doing a big party like we usually do. The boys had a great time and we ordered pizza so there was zero stress for me. That’s my kind of party! I still made their choice of cake of course, because what’s a party without cake. 😉  Caleb chose a Yoda cake….

 

and Eli chose a Paw Patrol cake.

Instead of a doing a big party with friends, they chose to take a little trip as a family to celebrate. We’ve never stayed in a hotel all together since our twins were born so it should be a fun adventure. With lots of coffee….

 

four

The last couple of years, Caleb has decided that he wants to be an artist. He has always had an artistic eye like his Daddy so that never surprised me at all. He has an amazing art teacher at school that encourages him so much and I love seeing him in his element! My mom got him these two books for his birthday about creativity and art and they really are amazing. He loves The Dot more and I love Ish more, but they are both great. If you have a budding artist in your house, you should check these two Peter Reynolds books out!

 

five

Finally, I got these Fila yoga pants at Kohl’s and I love them so much they are all I have been wearing lately. They are super comfy and they have back pockets! Maybe it’s because of the pockets or maybe it’s the material but they look like real pants which makes me feel like I can wear them all the time. 😉 I have them in black but I’m definitely going back and finding them in gray!

 

Those are my favorites this week! I hope you all have the best weekend!

 


Jan
2018

How we…. do resolutions

categories: Everyday Life

Happy Wednesday!

Today I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for their brand new How we do… link up. This month it’s How We Do Goals/Resolutions.

I have to say before I start that I’m all about making new goals/resolutions/etc. but I haven’t been super great at keeping them. I think part of my problem is that I set my goals to a standard that is completely unrealistic to keep. For example, a few months after my twins were born I famously set tons of 2016 resolutions including working out 4 times a week and waking up early every day before the kids. Obviously, I failed miserably. Those are not realistic goals for a mother of 4 with infant twins.

I started thinking about goals to set for 2018 and I feel like mine almost always follow a similar pattern: pray more, exercise more, read more, etc. Which are always things I need to work on. Although I consistently do a little better each year they are still at the top of my list. This year, I kept seeing all over my social media the ‘One Little Word’ that people have chosen for 2018. Nothing really resonated with me until I thought back to a Matthew Kelly book I read in 2017 called Resisting Happiness. (If you haven’t read anything by Matthew Kelly, you should. I love everything I’ve read of his and I find him completely inspiring. He just speaks my language.)

There was a chapter of the book that he talked about the power of habits. He says that your habits, whether they are good ones or bad ones, are actually what shape our lives. Bad habits are formed easily, but good habits take “great intentionality and persistence” to create.

And so… I found my word.

Habits. This year I’m going to focus on my habits in these areas.

Self-care

Self-care is a constant struggle for me. I absolutely need to work on better habits that allow me to find things for me that I love. This past year, I opened my Etsy shop which has really been a huge bright spot in my life. There is something about design that brings me joyful peace and I have some big goals set for this year.

I want to be more intentional with how I spend my time in the evenings after the kids go to bed. Social media and binge watching shows all have a time and place but it’s my goal to keep them in their place… which is not the entire evening. Haha! I think this is where those exercise more and read more habits come in.

Worry

If we want to talk about bad habits, here’s one for you. I am a worrier. In a bad way. (I just started listing things that I worry about and it was ridiculous, you guys. So I hit delete.) If you can think of something, I most likely worry about it. I would imagine that everyone is a worrier to some extent, but it’s obviously a problem when it starts to consume your thoughts on a regular basis. I think I’m walking a fine line in that area. I don’t think for me that it’s an easy solution to just stop worrying ;), but I’m excited this year to work on strong habits in my faith and prayer life.

Embracing this Stage

This is the stage of a messy house, endless laundry, being needed all the time, and switching back and forth between a referee and a chauffeur. I think I’ve struggled with trying to embrace this stage we are at instead of trying to change it or speed it up. I need to work on accepting that the house is messy and that’s okay. I will literally NEVER be caught up on laundry and that’s okay. My children will probably never stop switching between perfect angels and WWE fighters at the drop of a hat and that’s okay too. 😉 And it’s also okay to be so flipping exhausted at the end of the day and still have nothing really to show for it other than that the kids are all alive, fed and mostly clean. So I’m going to make it a habit to focus on the joy and the fun and try to let go of the rest.

Also, to stop comparing myself to other mommas who look like they have it all together. (Or corner them and ask them their secrets.)

 

I’m excited to see what 2018 has in store for us. And how everyone else does their goals for this year!

Thanks for stopping by! You can find me on Instagram here.