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Shared Dec 31, 2014 comment

Why I Bombed My 2014 Goals

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 31, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

2014 comes to a close today. During the month of December, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my goals for 2014 and considering why I fell so short on many of them. In fact, I only completely finished 4 goals.

Here’s the final tally:

Marriage Goals

~~1. Read 6 marriage books.~~
~~2. Write 50 love notes to Jesse.~~

Mothering Goals

3. Read 40 books aloud to the kids. (We only read 10 books aloud together. :()
4. Finish memorizing Romans 1 together. (We didn’t work on this that much together, though I worked on it quite a bit myself and have most of the chapter pretty solidly memorized.)
5. Go through a cooking course with the kids. (I didn’t do a formal course, but my kids did learn quite a few new basic cooking skills from Jesse and me while working beside us in the kitchen. So maybe that sorta half counts?? ;))

Personal Goals

6. Read through the Bible. (I switched to She Reads Truth studies in the fall and fell in love with them.)
7. Memorize Romans 2. (Well, I only got a few verses into this one.)
8. Run a 5K race and go through P90X again. (Um, gulp, don’t even ask about this. Because it was pretty much a total bust.)
9. Read 150 books/ebooks. (I think my final count is going to be under 90.)

Blogging Goals

~~10. Write 150 substantive content pieces for the blog.~~
11. Write 50 DIY/Recipe posts for the blog. (I think I maybe ended up with around 35-40 total here. So not terrible, but not great either.)
~~12. Blog about/participate in the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge .~~

As I reflected on what went wrong where, I came up with two specific reasons I fell so short on many of my goals:

1. I Set Goals That Were Too Lofty

This was a big problem for me. While I’m all about challenging ourselves and growing and stepping outside our comfort zones, I also think we need to temper our ambition with a healthy dose of reality. I didn’t do a good job of that when making my 2014 goals.

In fact, some of them were just too big from the get-go and they sat on the paper and sort of mocked me all year long. Goals like reading 150 books and reading aloud 40 books just were far too ambitious with everything else planned for the year.

And because they were too far outside my reach, instead of motivating me, they discouraged me and made me feel like I was failing. In reality, I read 10 books aloud to my kids and read over 85 books personally. I should be celebrating that, not beating myself up about it.

2. I Forgot to Take Real-Life Into Account

So, as I posted about earlier today, 2014 was a BIG year for us. And honestly, I didn’t really account for that at all when I made my list of goals.

Which is a fatal mistake.

I kind of forgot we were going to be moving cross country, that I was releasing a book, that I would be traveling 2-3 times per month, that I would be writing another book, and that I would be losing my amazing full-time local assistant.

Yeah. I’m so incredibly bright like that. 🙂

Don’t ask me why I didn’t even think of any of those things when I was mapping out my goals. I guess I was just naive. Or overly ambitious. Or just plain brainless. Or a combination of all three of these things?

I also didn’t take into account that it would take us all a good five months to adjust to life in TN and to find a routine and rhythm with our new lifestyle. It took us a number of failed attempts and trial and error before landed upon what we’re currently doing — Jesse and I working half days while the other one is homeschooling/with the kids.

We now love this lifestyle and it feels like such a healthy fit for us and our kids, but it took some time to figure out what worked best and during that time frame, there was quite a bit of tension and upheaval and feeling fairly chaotic and disorganized — which didn’t lend itself to a lot of progress on my goals. 🙂

A peek at my hen-scratched, very-non-Pinterest-y 2015 Goal List in the making — more tomorrow!

With these things in mind, I tried to be much more realistic of life, time restraints, and projects already planned for this coming year when making my goals for 2015. I’m really excited about the list of goals I ended up mapping out and will share those with you tomorrow. Stay tuned!

How did YOU do on your goals for 2014? What did you learn from your failure and success?

Shared Dec 31, 2014 comment

Our Family’s Year in Review: The highs, the lows, the struggles, and the victories (Part 1)

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 31, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

2014 was such a growing year for our family. I spent some time looking back over the year and it still amazes me all that happened! Just for fun, here’s a run-down with some of the highlights:

January:

The year began with a bang: I released my second book in January, was on Good Morning America, traveled to NYC for a media tour, hit the New York Times list — all within the first few weeks of January! Crazy!

Kathrynne also turned 9 this month and had asked if she could plan her own birthday party. She blew me away by writing out meticulous and detailed plans, choosing the activities, making the guest list, putting together invitations, sticking with a budget to buy all the supplies, and putting together all the party favors!

That girl has mad party-planning skills — and she loved every minute of the planning part! It’s been so fun to see her blossoming, growing, and maturing. Her personality is so different than mine in so many ways and yet she has the biggest heart and loves me so fiercely that it constantly humbles and touches me.

February:

I recorded my book as an audiobook the first week of February. We broke it up over three days since I’ve learned that my voice only holds out strong for around 4 hours.

The third week in February, we took a much-anticipated trip with two other couples to Belize. It was such an adventure requiring many different methods of transportation, lots of new sights, tastes, and experiences. And we had a wonderful time of unplugging (mostly) and just resting and soaking up the sun and beautiful views.

March:

This month was booked solid with traveling and moving preparations. We had initially planned to move April 15th, but when we started looking in earnest for housing to rent, the house we found and loved wasn’t available until May 1, so we extended our move date until April 30 which bought us a little more time.

Jesse spent the month taking care of the hundred and one moving details and wrapping up things with his law firm so he could officially shut down right around the time we moved.

I traveled to Colorado to spend a few days with three dear friends of mine (Michele, Renee, and Kathi) in a cabin Buena Vista. It was such a good time — especially because we were able to rally around Michele right before her cancer surgery.

The next week, I traveled to Colorado (again) for radio recordings with Focus on the Family and then flew from there to Illinois for the Hearts at Home conference. The following week, I was back on the road again — this time to Nashville for the Teach Them Diligently conference.

April:

We started getting into the final stretch of our big moving day, so the month of April was packed with, you guessed it, packing and paring down the house.

It was also full of many, many goodbye get-togethers. Honestly, while I felt so loved by so many people, goodbyes are so hard for me so this part of the move was really draining. I wanted to be strong for my husband and kids, but I had many moments when I wondered what on earth we were doing!

This was an especially hard month for our kids. They’ve been so brave in the whole move thing, but they all had to grieve in their own ways and we did our best to have lots of conversations, be cognizant of their needs, and to make sure that we did all we could make the transition as smooth for them.

I only had one trip this month — and Jesse got to come with me! We went to South Carolina for another conference and my parents and most of my siblings came to. For most of them, this was their first time to hear me on stage and that was a big unnerving for me. But they were all so encouraging and I punched another fear right in the face!

The week before we moved, Jesse went to Phoenix for a conference on email marketing. The timing of the conference wasn’t that great, but he really wanted to go and since we had wrapped up just about everything at home, it worked out just fine — and I’m so glad he went because he learned so much and had a great time.

(We’ve known for quite some time, that we’ve outgrown our current email service, but we’ve struggled to figure out what to upgrade to. We spent a lot of time this past year researching different email services, researching, test-marketing, and talking to business owner after business owner. We’re so grateful to have finally landed upon a solution the past few months… and I think it’s going to be the perfect long-term solution!)

May:

Our moving day arrived. There were so many bittersweet things about this day… so many emotions. Excitement. Sadness. Eagerness. Fear. All rolled up into one.

My sister, Olivia, drove with us to TN to help us unpack and that was SUCH a gift. We ended up driving the 15-hour trek straight through and made it to TN completely exhausted, but grateful to have arrived!

It was so weird to drive up to “our” house for the first time. We’d rented it sight unseen so it was a little surreal to drive up and know this was going to be home to use for the next two years. (Our good friends the Scheers had gone through it and done a video tour for us long-distance, though, and we’d had extensive conversations with the landlords. Otherwise, we probably would have never felt comfortable signing a two-year lease without seeing the house first!)

The week of the move was a whirlwind. My sister helped us get almost everything unpacked — I knew we had a busy summer, so it was important to get it done right away or it might not happen for months! — and the community welcomed us so warmly. Within the first week, we had met most of our neighbors and many of the folks who have become dear, dear friends to us. And that was such a gift!

I can’t believe my baby is 5! So grateful he still loves mama snuggles!

We went back to Kansas for Jesse’s brother’s graduation and to celebrate Silas’ birthday (it was very important for him to celebrate his birthday in Kansas and we wanted to honor this as a way to help him make the transition more smoothly).

The following week I flew to DC to speak at a conference, the following week to speak at a conference in FL (and got to go to Disney late that night for a few hours — my first time to go to Disney! I just wish my family had been able to come with me!), and then a few days later I flew to Arkansas for a radio taping with Family Life.

I love this boy more than words can express! And he loves his mama well — here was a tea party he set up for us and invited me to. 🙂

June:

My brother and his wife came and visited us for a few days and we had fun exploring some new areas and showing them some of our favorite TN places.

Kathrynne also started swimming lessons this week and Silas had soccer camp. We wanted our kids to plug in as quickly as possible, so we encouraged them to each one activity that they’d like to participate in over the summer and we signed them up for it almost as soon as we moved.

Kathrynne wasn’t being pushed in her swimming classes, so we asked around for some more recommendations and found a homeschool swim team that she was able to qualify for — which was thrilling for her as making a swim team had been a months-long dream for her.

Kaitlynn turned 7 this month and asked to go to the mall for her birthday (typical fashionista!). We had a fun mommy-daughter date.

She also started ice skating lessons again (her chosen activity). She had taken lessons before in Kansas, but this time around, she had a new drive and commitment to them and, pretty soon, she started really advancing.

The ice program encouraged us to enroll her private coaching, in addition to group classes, and we’ve been so proud of how hard she’s worked! Her goal was to make it through all eight levels of Learn to Skate by the end of 2014. She’s finishing up the final level and now has her sights set on the Olympics… which might be aiming just a wee bit high, but I’m not going to any way discourage her enthusiasm or drive! 🙂

June was also the month that we for sure knew we’d found a church home here in TN. We were pretty sure that we had picked out a church that we felt would be a good fit for our family, but you never know until you go and visit for at least a few weeks.

We were so grateful that not only was Fellowship Bible everything we’d prayed for and hoped for in a church, but it was so much more. We’ve been beyond blessed by the gift of this church — especially the depth of the preaching.

Jesse had a sort of identity crisis that started in June and lasted well into August. It was a hard, hard, hard few months for him — and for us all. I’m positive our kids have never seen Mom and Dad struggle and argue so much.

I had expected this might happen, but I was completely unprepared for how difficult it would be for me. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to be the sweet, loving, listening, and empathetic wife or whether he needed some hard, strong truth to be spoken to him.

He struggled to figure out who he was apart from his job. He realized that he’d always defined his value and worth by what he did (stressful positions as an attorney/running his own law firm) instead of who he was as a person.

He struggled with some really dark days and was depressed and stressed. I am so grateful for the solid people around us who walked with us through this time and encouraged us, prayed for us, and loved us in the middle of our mess. It wasn’t pretty, but I truly clung to the belief that it had to get worse before it could get better. And it did — as I tell you about in part 2. 🙂

…to be continued tomorrow.

Shared Dec 30, 2014 comment

18 Ebooks to Help You Start Your New Year Off Right

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 30, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you have plans and hopes to get some areas of your life in order this coming year, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite 18 ebooks to help you organize your home and life, manage your time better, and be more organized in your grocery-shopping and menu-planning.

Note: Some of these are only available as Kindle ebooks. Others are available as Kindle ebooks, PDF downloads, or even printed books, too.
21 Days to a More Disciplined Life

Do you have ideas, hopes, and dreams for what you want to accomplish in your life, but you feel like you’re being held back by a lack of personal discipline? Are you easily overwhelmed by your big ideas or projects, and you just don’t know where to start and how to make real progress? Do you find yourself making “all-or-nothing” plans for transforming your life, and then three days later you crash and burn under the weight of your plan?

What You Can Expect to Learn From This Book:

How to prioritize and name your goals so that you can accomplish them faster than ever.
How to expose the obstacles that will come up, and then make a plan to conquer them.
How to break up a goal that feels insurmountable into bite-sized pieces.
How to stop making excuses and get the job done now — and then enjoy the rest of your day!
How to put accountability in place to help you stay on task and motivated.

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

Are you exhausted and overwhelmed with life? Do you wake up feeling like you’re already behind — and you haven’t even gotten out of bed? Do you spend most of your days just trying to make through the day?

If that’s you (or someone you know!), you need to get a copy of my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. I wrote this book because I get it. I’ve walked the road of feeling spent, worn down, and burnt out. And after burning the candle at both ends for far too long and hurting my health, marriage, and family in the process, I finally reached a breaking point.

The day I finally hit rock bottom and said, “I can’t live like this any more!” was the day I realized I didn’t have to live in such a frantic, stressed, and overloaded way. There was a road out of survival mode!

In Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, I share candidly about the struggles I faced along the way and the strategies I learned for success. This book is not a fix-your-life-overnight handbook (sorry!). Instead, I’ll take your hand, and gently guide you through a step-by-step journey so that you, too, can:

feel healthier and more energetic by setting priorities and boundaries,
eliminate stress with savvy management of your time, money, and home,
get more done by setting realistic goals and embracing discipline,
and rediscover your passions—and the confidence to pursue them!

Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth Soukup

This book from my friend, Ruth Soukup, released today and the print book is currently #4 on Amazon!!

In this book, you will be inspired by Ruth’s authenticity and honesty as she shares her own journey from constantly spending time and money chasing after more to discovering she already has all the makings of a rich and full life right where she’s at. If you struggle to simplify your life and wish you could savor the here and now, this book will inspire and encourage you.

Project Organize Your Entire Life: The Quick Start Guide by Stephanie Morgan

This just-released ebook is packed with step-by-step encouragement to simplify and organize almost all areas of your home and family. Stephanie is encouraging, realistic, and down-to-earth. Plus, she gives you ideas that you can tweak and adapt for your own family’s situation. There are also links to printable forms and lots of helpful articles and resources at the end of each chapter.

Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free by Amy Lynn Andrews

This little ebook’s wisdom has done more for my efficiency than any other book or time management product I’ve ever read or listened to. It’s well worth your time — and it works, provided you actually do what the ebook tells you to do.

28 Days to Timeliness: Tips and Confessions From a Semi-Reformed Late Person by Davonne Parks

Do you feel like you’re always behind and late? I know the feeling. As I’ve often alluded to here, I’ve struggled with getting places on time all of my life. Some of you don’t have any issue with this — and I try not to envy you. Others of you can likely commiserate with me in the always-behind-and-barely-making-it-out-the-door issue.

By the grace of God, I’ve made some huge strides over the past few years in getting places at least almost on time (we’ve even gotten some places early recently!). I’ve also been working diligently on getting things done early so I’m doing a better job at not waiting until the last minute for projects and deadlines.

I’m so encouraged at the progress I’m seeing and the fruits I’m reaping of various habits I’ve been working on putting in place. But I still have a long way to go! That’s why I so appreciated reading 28 Days to Timeliness.

28 Days to Timeliness was written by a Davonne Parks, a “semi-reformed late person” (as she calls herself) who wants to help others figure out how to streamline their routines so they can get out the door faster and stop being late. Each chapter is broken down into 28 short, easy-to-read segments that will take just a few minutes to go over each day. The beginning of each segment contains an inspirational quote, and included at the end of every chapter is a practical course of action that can be taken to really initiate the discipline of being on time.

Davonne and I might as well be two peas in a pod. She gets me. I laughed at her stories (I even shared her hilarious wearing PJs to church story with my husband — who thought it was so funny that he shared it at a recent family gathering!). I nodded my head in agreement with so many of her points. And I picked up new practical ideas for overcoming lateness.

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam

Since getting up early has made such a difference in my life, I was especially excited to read Laura Vaderkam’s ebook, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. It’s a short read, but packed with lots of inspiration as to how to use your mornings well.

It’s not enough to get up early, though, you also need to make sure that you wisely prioritize your time and energy in the early morning hours so that it effectively benefits your day — and your life. In this ebook, Laura shares a peek into the lives of some very successful people — and how they are structuring their lives to make the most of the morning hours. What works for them might not work for you, but I promise you’ll be inspired to make the most of your mornings — whether or not you are an early riser.

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh Oxenreider

I read this ebook over the course of a week and a half–in little bits in the morning as I was doing my warm-up and cool down on the treadmill before my morning run. I enjoyed the book so much that I had trouble getting off the treadmill every day because I just wanted to keep reading!

As you probably well know by now, I love the concept of breaking things down into bite-sized manageable pieces. And Tsh’s ebook does just that. It gives you 52 bite-sized steps you can take to become more efficient, streamlined, and organized.

You know those things you always say you want to do someday? Like planting a garden, switching to natural cleaners, composting, setting up a system for paper clutter, organize your photo collection, learning to cook from scratch, setting up menu plans, planning regular date nights, or regularly turning off technology? Tsh gives you the tools, motivation, and encouragement you need to slowly make those positive changes you’ve hoped to make. And she makes it simple and doable.

Now I have to tell you: Tsh suggests that you pick one project per week for a year–thus the 52 projects. However, I’d suggest to maybe slow the pace down a bit and just pick one project every other week or once a month. That way, you can really take your time and let the changes really sink in before moving onto something else.

Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

This book is jam packed with practical ideas for prioritizing your time and life so that you make the most of your days. One of my biggest takeaways from the book was the challenge to start the day out by doing the things you like least first, you’ll get them out of the way so you can enjoy your day more and be more productive and fulfilled. Read more about some of the things I gleaned from this book here.

Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Simple Living by Tsh Oxenreider

I was excited to read Organized Simplicity, but truthfully, I figured the message of this book would probably be something I was well familiar with. And I figured the book would be filled with ideas I was mostly already living out.

Well, I was wrong. In fact, it’s hard for me to describe in words how reading Organized Simplicity impacted me. The beauty of the book drew me in, but the message of the book convicted me more than I ever imagined it would.

As many of you well know, I love simplicity and I strive to only have a things we love and use in our home. But in the last few months, consumerism and busyness has inched its way into my heart and life — without me even realizing it.

Reading Organized Simplicity was a wake up call for me. It forced me to examine my life, stuff and to-do list in a whole new light. I realized that maybe I wasn’t as much of a minimalist as I thought I was — especially if you were to open some of my closets and cupboards!

I usually go through our whole house from top to bottom twice a year and aggressively eliminate things which we no longer love and use. And while this book inspired me to do another total house overhaul, more than just eliminating stuff, it caused me to dig down deeper and examine my heart and what simple living really means for our own family.

Tsh’s thoughts in chapter seven on streamlining your life so you can savor the moments that matter especially hit home for me. Life can become so busy. Organized Simplicity really challenged me to be purposefully intentional and prioritize my life so I don’t miss out on those precious fleeting moments.

The Early to Rise Experience by Andy Traub

This ebook is not for someone who isn’t willing to endure some discomfort and put forth some effort. If you’re happy with how your life is and you’re satisfied with your mornings and your productivity, then you probably don’t need Early to Rise.

Or, if you’re a mom who has young ones and you’re thankful for every second of sleep you can get, you also probably don’t need to read this ebook. {The last thing you need is to feel guilty for getting sleep that your body desperately needs!}

However, if you struggle to get up in the morning and you struggle to be productive during the day wish you could regularly get up earlier and get more done in the mornings, Early to Rise will challenge and motivate you. It’s broken down into easy, manageable steps to get you started on the path to consistent lifelong early rising.

Goals & Priorities Diary

If you want a structured way to turn your goals into daily tasks that you actually get done, then you’ll want to check out the Goals & Priorities Diary from Get Organized Wizard.

It contains:

Monthly Goals Planners that guide you to set and plan your goals for the month
Daily Priorities Planners that help you focus each day on your top priorities first
Goals Lists for you to brainstorm your goals for the current and next year
Goals Achieved And Rewards Log that help you recognize and celebrate successes.

It’s a simple but powerful approach that helps you spend time where it counts, and have more time for goals that genuinely matter. The Goals & Priorities Diary is a structured and motivating way to organize your life, achieve your goals, and get important things done.

Organize-In-5 Diary

Want to get organized in 2015 but feel cramped for time? Get Organized Wizard has a great resource to help you out — and it’s available for just $4.95 right now!

The Organize-In-5 Diary gives you a 5-minute organization task for each weekday in 2015 and then you’ll get a 5-minute relaxation task for Saturdays. This plan tackles your home, closets, computer, health, finances, work, time management, relationships, family, and more! Even if you have a very full schedule and little extra time, you can still get your home and life in order with this ebook.

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam

We all have exactly the same amount of time: 24 hours in each day, 168 hours in each week. We all get to choose how we’re going to use those hours — whether wisely or frivolously. Laura Vanderkam’s book, 168 Hours, is based upon the premise that, if we were to step back and look at our week as a whole, we have more time than we realize. And we are probably squandering more time than we think.

This book gives real-life, practical examples for becoming a better manager of your time. It profiles a number of different individuals in different situations and shows how they are using their time well or specific ways they could improve their time usage. This book is not about stuffing our lives more full with longer to-do lists and more responsibilities, but about focusing on a life well lived. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to better steward their time or find more fulfillment in how they spend their 168 hours.

Abundant Simplicity: Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace by Jan Johnson

I loved this book. The cover and layout have an instantly calming effect and the author did a great job of challenging you to consider the rhythms of your life and whether they are in sync with the priorities you want to have.

She encourages you to not just strip your life of all the non-essentials and pare down to the basics, but instead to really examine why you’re doing what you’re doing, why you own what you own, and why you’re leading the lifestyle you are. This book is deep, rich, and soul-stirring.

Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Achieve Tomorrow’s Success by John Maxwell

If you want to make the most of your days, Today Matters will give you practical, step-by-step help and inspiration. The author makes a case for why today is your key to success and outlines 12 decisions and disciplines you should implement into your life and work toward mastering in order to achieve greater fulfillment and success in life.

Plan It, Don’t Panic by Stephanie Langford

This ebook on menu-planing is a fantastic resource for anyone who really wants to menu-plan but is struggling with how to do it. Written by my friend, Stephanie, it provides the tools, step-by-step help, and practical inspiration you need to successfully plan and follow menus.

Even though I’ve been menu planning for years, this ebook breathed new life into my resolve to menu plan and gave me lots of helpful suggestions and fresh advice. I found some new tips and websites to try out that I’d not heard of before and also found it very helpful to step back and examine if my current method of menu-planning is working well for our family or not.

This ebook covers menu-planning on a budget, eating from the pantry, how to create rotating menu plans, how to incorporate freezer cooking into your menu-planning to make life simpler, and how to serve your family healthful meals without spending hours in the kitchen every day.

The wide range of topics it covers includes:

Find the method of meal planning that will suit you and your family best
Tweak and perfect your meal planning style with unique tips and strategies
Make it easier to work around special/restrictive dietary needs
Become a grocery-shopping ninja and never go to the store without a genius plan in place for maximizing your money
Learn how leftovers can become your best friends in the kitchen
As well as how to store your recipes, easily find your favorites, plan for hectic times, and even what to do when you mess up…

You want to know one of my favorite parts of the ebook? She included full four weeks of meal plans at the back of the ebook. Reading through fully-laid-out menu plans that others have put together always gives me new ideas and suggestions to try at our house. I also loved all of the helpful printable forms and worksheets at the back of the ebook.

Your Grocery Budget Toolbox by Anne Simpson

If you are hoping to cut your grocery bill this coming year, but you want to still eat healthfully, I highly recommend this comprehensive ebook. Anne shows you in detail how to eat well on a limited budget and how to do so without spending a great deal of time and effort to do so.

This ebook is well-written, in-depth, and worth every penny — especially if you are new to frugal living and feeling discouraged about the high prices of quality groceries.

What books would you add to this list?

Shared Dec 30, 2014 comment

Sign up for the free Own Your Life webcast!

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 30, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m honored and excited to be joining Sally Clarkson, Angela Perritt, and Sarah Mae for a free online webcast to celebrate the launch of Sally’s new book, Own Your Life.

This online Girl’s Night will be Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 9:00 pm ET/8 CT/7 MT/6 PT

If you need some encouragement from other women to live your life on purpose and not just barely survive each day, be sure to tune in. It’s going to be so much fun!

We’re going to be discussing some great topics, including:

Learning to love who God has made you, leaving guilt and inadequacy behind
Finding contentment right where you are, single, married or somewhere in between
Building a home environment that gives life to all who come there
Becoming the friend and lover of all, that God created you to be
Embracing your ministry of parenting and learning how to do it with grace
Building a long term story of faithfulness in your marriage
Leaving a legacy of a strong faith, generous love, an intentional life

Plus, you can be sure that there will be a lot of honesty from each of us imperfect women as we talk about our own struggles in this area, things that have helped us, and what we’re still learning. 🙂

Sign up for this FREE online webcast here.

Shared Dec 27, 2014 comment

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2014

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 27, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I love to read. Not only does it open up new worlds and new ideas to me, but it inspires me as a blogger, thinker, speaker, and writer. Of the 82 books I read in 2014, here were my top 10 favorites:

1. Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To Do List, and Letting Go of a Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters — As a Type A gal who struggles to slow down, this book really challenged, impacted, and motivated me. If you need some encouragement to spend less time distracted by devices and busyness, I’d highly recommend this book. For more inspiration, check out Rachel’s blog: Hands Free Mama.

2. The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages — If you’ve heard me give my Say Goodbye to Survival Mode talk this year, you’ll remember that I read the Fantastic Five for Him from this book. I loved the five simple but highly impactful things this books shares that wives can do to show their husbands they love him. And my husband (and other guys I’ve asked) have agreed that the list is spot on! If you are married or planning to get married, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this well-researched book. Even if you don’t agree with everything in the book, I’m pretty positive it will make you step back and examine how your actions and attitudes toward your spouse.

3. Secrets of Dynamic Communication — If you are an author or a speaker (or you hope to become one!), I can’t recommend this well-written book highly enough. Ken Davis is a dynamic speaker with years of experience and he’s a goldmine of wisdom. By following the things I’ve learned from him, I’ve become a much more effective and engaging communicator.

4. Chasing Francis — I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, but the title and description intrigued me and it was endorsed by Mark Batterson (an author I love — see below!), so I read it. And I’m so very grateful I did because it messed with me in a very good way. It challenged me to step back and really examine my beliefs and how I’m living out those beliefs.

5. In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day — Since I’ve loved the other Mark Batterson books I’ve read, I picked up this title based upon his name alone. And it turned out to be the best book I’ve read in a long time. In fact, if you’ve spent any time with me in the past three months, you’ve probably heard me talk about it. If you are struggling with direction, wondering what your purpose in life is, and questioning what you were created for, do yourself a favor and read this book. You just might not be the same ever again!

6. Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval — And Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes — I highly, highly recommend this book if you find yourself (like me) having perfectionistic, people-pleasing tendencies. It’s well-written and engaging, but more than that, the message is powerful, freeing, life-changing!

7. The Nesting Place — Confession time: I’ve never nailed anything on a wall on any house I’ve ever lived in (friends & family have taken pity on me and done it for me), but this book moved me at a deep level. I want to stop making excuses that “I’m not a decorator” — borne out of my own insecurity and concern over what people will think or that I’ll do it all wrong.

Instead, I just want to be free to experiment, take risks, and try new things — not only when it comes to our home decor, but in all areas of my life. It’s time to say goodbye to performance, perfectionism, and people-pleasing… And to start living with braveness and boldness.

8. The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You — One of the perks of being an author & blogger is getting to read pre-release copies of great books like this! If you feel overwhelmed with life and can’t seem to find time to recharge your batteries, I wholeheartedly encourage you to pre-order a copy of this book.

I’ve long admired how Jessica manages to do so much, and yet still have time for things she loves — like hanging out with friends and family, scrapbooking, and blogging. In The Fringe Hours, she unveils her secrets to success and gives you the tools, tips, and techniques you can use to find time in your full schedule to refresh yourself and refill your tank, too.

9. Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life — Ya’ll. Do yourself a massive favor and go pre-order this book. It is SO good. Michele is one of the best communicators I’ve ever known. The way she paints pictures with words moves and inspires me as a writer.

But her book is much more than beautiful word pictures; it’s the story of a woman finding hope and peace in the middle of messes, heartaches, and unexpected difficulties in life. Highly recommended.

10. Me Before You — This was one of the most heart-breaking, compelling, and thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time. I thought it was very well-written and found it hard to put down. In fact, I read the entire book in one day! Caveat: This book is not written from a Christian perspective, has quite a bit of language, and the plot line deals with suicide in a very raw form. I didn’t agree with the outcome of the book, but it made me dig deep and think hard… and books that do that are ones I feel are very worth my time.

What were your top reads from this past year? Any books that I must, must read? I’d love to hear!

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Shared Dec 27, 2014 comment

5 FREE Budgeting Resources for 2015

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 27, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Want to get your finances in order in 2015? Here are some free resources to help you get started.

Download a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s Guide to Budgeting.

Set up a free online Mint.com account to track your income and outgo and stick with your budget.

Create a budget for the year and calculate the difference between your budgeted and actual expenses with this free Yearly Budget Calculator from Vertex42.

Work out a proposed household budget with this Household Budget Worksheet from Kiplinger.

Budge Tracker

Get out and stay out of debt with the free BudgetTracker.com.

Are there any free online budgeting tools you use not included in this list? Please let us know in the comments.

Shared Dec 26, 2014 comment

The Year in Review: Top 10 posts, lots of blogging & family changes, + some runner-up posts

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 26, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

It’s been a big year for our family — with lots of changes, lots of new experiences, lots of goodbyes, and lots of hellos. We’ve grown as a family, our marriage has grown, this blog has grown, and I’ve grown a lot as a person.

I spent a few hours today going back through all of the content pieces I posted this past year and picking out the top 10 posts. It was quite a walk down memory lane to go through these and remember the highs and lows of this year and to see how I’ve grown in my openness and authenticity this past year…

The Top 10 Posts From 2014

1. How Do You Find Good Friends — this post on my journey from feeling lonely and not good enough to cultivating some amazing real-life relationships sparked a flood of comments and emails from people who are also desperately hoping for deep relationship. If you struggle to find and maintain good friendships, be sure to read this post.

2. 5 Keys to Have a Strong Marriage — Even During the Storms of Life — this post was written after we experienced a rough, rough few months in our marriage after we moved to TN. The principles in this post have carried us through many a storm of life and helped us to stick together in the midst of it. If you need some encouragement or ideas to strengthen your marriage or are just going through a rocky patch, be sure to read this post.

3. My Nail-Biting Habit, Shame, and What I’m Learning About Authenticity — this post was hard for me to write since it was so personal and putting myself “out there”. The response of encouragement and “I struggle with that, too!” completely blew me away and encouraged me to continue to be really authentic in my writing.

4. We’re Headed to Nashville & Some Changes I’m Making on the Blog — I wrote this post as we were driving from Kansas to Nashville to make our big family move. This post was monumental for me as it was the day I decided to really change the way I’d been blogging and go back to my blogging roots.

I’m so grateful I made this change as it’s brought back so much passion and love for blogging for me. It’s been the best change and I’m so thankful to have you all along with me on this ride! And in case you missed it, here’s a post on why we moved to Nashville.

5. I’m Done With Being a People Pleaser — This post was a follow-up to my announcement on our moving to Nashville post that I was going to be going back to my roots as a blogger. In it, I opened up about why I had struggled to be open on my blog the past few years and what changed for me.

6. How I Stopped Yelling at My Kids & How It’s Changed Our Home — This post was one of my most-shared-posts ever. Apparently, I’m not the only one who struggles with yelling!

7. Let’s Stop Photoshopping Our Lives — I was a little embarrassed to share this post, but at the same time, I really want to be real and authentic on my blog. And well, this is the real deal. We certainly won’t be featured in Better Homes & Gardens or as Best Home on Pinterest, but that’s okay. 🙂

8. Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Budget — This was another post that I was sacred to push publish on. Honestly, I waited for weeks to write it because I had no idea how it would be received. But by and large, you all were incredibly supportive and you reminded me why I love you all so much!

9. This Crazy Journey I’ve Been on the Last 10 Years (and Yes, You Can Make Money Blogging) — I had so much fun writing this post and reminiscing over the last almost 10 years I’ve been blogging. If you’ve ever wanted if it’s possible to make money blogging, I think my story will encourage you.

10. Dear Mom Who Is So Tired of Living on a Tight Budget — If you’re feeling overwhelmed and discouraged about your budget as we head into 2015, this post is a must-read.

Runner-up posts that almost made this list:

What were YOUR favorite posts from 2014? I’d love to hear as I make plans for 2015.

Shared Dec 24, 2014 comment

Instead of Cursing the Darkness, Let’s Be the Light

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 24, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

It might feel like you can’t do much, that you don’t have much to give, that you don’t have much to offer to world.

But you do. There is only one you. And the world needs you.

Love generously. Give of yourself. Take time to smile, to listen, to give a word of encouragement, to write that text, to pick up the phone and make that call, to ask forgiveness, to cheer instead of criticize, to pour into others.

There is a lot of heartache, hurt, and hard things in the world right now. Instead of cursing the darkness, lashing out in frustration, or getting frustrated over things we can’t change, let’s light our own little candle and hold it high. And then inspire others to also light their candles, too.

Let’s spark a revolution of light and hope. One small candle alone can’t produce much light, but collectively, if we each let our lights shine, we can make a huge difference.

Let’s be the light this Christmas!

Shared Dec 21, 2014 comment

One of the Most Important Gifts We Can Give Our Children

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 21, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

One of the greatest gifts in moving to Tennessee has been quickly finding a new church home. We’ve been challenged, inspired, uplifted, and spiritually fed each week through the preaching, as well as being blessed by the people and their warm hospitality and hearts for the Lord.

During the Christmas season, our church has been encouraging families to adopt a theme of “Less Under Our Tree, More For the World.”

While the adults in our church have been encouraged to give and make a difference, I’ve loved the strong emphasis they’ve placed upon encouraging the children to give, too. They have given the kids specific needs and ways that they can help with their coins and dollars.

These specific needs and dollar amounts have been a huge inspiration to our girls and they’ve been spending time doing chores, emptying their piggy banks, counting change, and soliciting donations from us for the special Global Christmas Offering on Sunday.

Earlier this week, I discovered this sign that they had put in our hallway as a reminder for us all to keep contributing any loose change this week.

As I’ve observed my girls being so passionate about finding ways they can contribute and impact other children around the world, it’s motivated me to look for ways to be more of a giver in my own life.

And Kathrynne and Kaitlynn’s desire to give is rubbing off on Silas, too.

Last week, I took the kids to the The Greatest Christmas event here in Nashville. Ann Voskamp was one of the main presenters, along with Ellie Holcomb and Amena Brown. This event was sponsored by Compassion, so halfway through, Ann shared about the opportunity to sponsor a child and how it could make such an impact.

When Ann finished sharing, my kids all looked at me, eager to do something about it. I quickly leaned over and reminded our kids about the girls we write notes to/support and the moms & babies we support through our CSP.

I want to be able to regularly write notes to our Compassion girls as I know this is so important to them, so we’ve opted to only sponsor two girls (plus our CSP) so that we could be more faithful about writing to them.

And honestly, I was feeling like that was enough. Or so I had told myself.

But then, 5-year-old Silas looks at me intently and said, “But what about the boys? We need to support the boys, too.”

I was speechless. There was no quick comeback for that plea.

So, I sat there for a moment and then said, “You’re right. We need to do something for the boys, too.”

I hesitated before I responded, “Would you like to pick a boy for us to sponsor?”

His eyes lit up and he excitedly responded “Yes!”

The next day, Silas and Jesse looked through all the children waiting to be sponsored on Compassion’s site and finally chose 6-year-old Gerald from the DR.

Silas instantly felt a connection to Gerald because they are almost the same age and they both love baseball. Watching his enthusiasm over making a difference in Gerald’s life reminds me that giving our children opportunities to be involved in impacting others’ lives is one of the greatest gifts we can pass on to them.

We don’t have much figured out as parents — other than that we have so much left to learn! — and every day, we struggle with attitude issues and character issues. There are days when it feels like nothing we are trying to teach or live before them is sticking.

But then there are moments like this past week, when we realize that they are watching and learning. And I’m so grateful for these hearts and their desires and willingness to have less under our tree so we can give more to the world.

If our kids can someday leave home knowing that there are a world of needs around them, that money will never buy happiness, that there is so much fulfillment that comes from giving, and that money is just a tool to be used to change lives, they will be well on their way to living contented, rich lives — no matter their income level or career.

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Shared Dec 20, 2014 comment

Gretchen $49 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Published: by Gretchen on December 20, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Dillons

2 Dillons dozen Eggs – $1.25 each

1 gallon Dillons Milk – $3.09

2 Vidal Sassoon Hair Styling Cream – Marked down to $2.24 each, used 2 $2/1 coupon from the 12/7 RedPlum insert – $0.24 each after coupons

4 cans Del Monte Green Beans – $0.50 each, used $0.40/4 coupon from the 11/9 SmartSource insert – $0.40 each after coupon

1 Frosted Flakes – $2.99 (A request from my husband)

1 loaf Nature Valley Bread – $2

1 Turkey Hill Ice Cream – $2.99, used $1/1 printable – $1.99 after coupon

2 Kroger Peanut Butter – $1.50 each (I’m planning to make Christmas cookies this week and will need lots of peanut butter!)

1 Kroger Cottage Cheese – $1.25

1 Bottom Round Steak – Marked down to $2.36

1 Bottom Round Steak – Marked down to $2.53

1 bag Kroger Baby Carrots – $1.69, used $0.40/1 mailer coupon – $1.29 after coupon

1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99

1.25 lbs Tomatoes @ $1.99/lb – $2.49 (These are SO expensive right now!)

Total with tax: $30.74

Homeland

2 cans Lindsay Olives – $1 each, used $1/2 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon

2 Hefty Plates – $1.50 each, used $1/2 coupon from the 11/16 RedPlum insert (doubled) – $0.50 each after coupon

4 cans Del Monte Green Beans – $0.59 each, used $0.40/4 coupon from the 11/9 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $0.39 each after coupon

2 boxes Ritz Crackers – $1.88 each, used $0.75/2 coupon from the 12/14 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $1.13 each after coupon (I’m using these to make this AMAZING cookie recipe here.)

2 Kraft Cheese – $1.67 each

1 Farmland Bacon – $3.49, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $1.49 after coupon

2 Keebler Crackers – $2, used $1/2 coupon from the 12/7 RedPlum insert (doubled) – $1 each after coupon

1 Chinet Napkins – $2, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – Free after coupon

1 Cucumber – $0.69

Total before coupons and sales: $53.92

Total with tax after coupons and sales: $14.91

Walmart

I also ran into Walmart to price match a couple of fruit items from other stores I wasn’t going to make it to this week.

2 Pineapple – $0.99 each (Price matched to Save A Lot)

1 (4 lbs) bag Navel Oranges – $1.68 (Price matched to Aldi)

Total with tax: $3.93

My husband also got a deer this week (yay!) and after processing it we now have over 40 lbs of ground venison and roasts in our freezer! 🙂 I will be substituting ground venison for ground beef in most recipes for the next several months.

Total for all grocery items: $49.58

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfasts

Cereal, Oatmeal, Homemade Granola, Toast & Juice

Lunches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Scrambled Eggs/Bacon & Fruit, Fruit/Veggies/Crackers/Cheese, Leftovers, Baked Potatoes

Dinners

Steak, Toast, Green Beans, Tossed Salad

Sour Cream Enchiladas, Steamed Broccoli, Fruit Salad

Spaghetti, Biscuits, Grapefruit

Homemade Pizza, Breadsticks, Steamed Carrots

Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Rolls, Fruit Salad

Sloppy Joes, Homemade French Fries, Veggies

Dinner with family (I’m bringing fruit.)

Shared Dec 20, 2014 comment

What Everyone Really Wants for Christmas

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 20, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

How to Create a Christmas Budget -- and Stick With It!

Jon Acuff has a fantastic post up on The Gift Everyone Really Wants for Christmas. It’s a must-read. Here’s a snippet:

Your husband? He wants your presence.
Your wife? She wants your presence.
Your kids? They want your presence.
Your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your father, your mother, your friend, your neighbor? They all want your presence.
Every day this gift becomes rarer and rarer. Can you remember the last time you had a full conversation with someone’s face, not just their forehead as they stared at their phone? Can you remember the last time someone was “all there” not just partially there because interacting with you wasn’t enough to hold their full attention? I have to leave my phone in the car when we go to dinner parties or I will be physically present but absent in every other way possible as I engage with the phone instead of anyone else.
Don’t miss Christmas because you’re working or you’re lost in your phone.
This year, give someone that rarest gift of all, your presence. No one else can give them that.
It costs nothing, but it’s worth everything.

Read the full post.

Shared Dec 19, 2014 comment

Why We Simplified Christmas This Year

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 19, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I was with a group of friends earlier this week and one of the gals asked me, “So, are you all ready for Christmas?”

She was referring to whether or not I have all our presents purchased and wrapped and whether the myriad of other Christmas details were taken care of.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. You see, we simplified Christmas so much this year that it almost feels like we cancelled Christmas.

Only we didn’t.

We just decided that the past few months have been full enough that instead of trying to pack our December full, we’d instead leave it really, really empty.

Our extended families had already asked if we could cut back and really simplify when it came to gifts this year and we’d already decided that we were going to keep our kids’ gifts super simple, too.

Then, we decided to just let the kids choose which Christmas decorations they wanted to put up. They opted for their little pink Christmas tree — which they had fun decorating themselves.

Next, we decided that we’d skip sending Christmas cards. And pretty soon, after we’d crossed off or nixed most of the usual Christmas obligations or activities we’d opted to do in the past, we were left with a wide open December.

And it has been bliss. Bliss, I tell you.

We’ve hung out as a family more. We’ve read together more. We’ve snuggled together and watched Christmas movies together. We’ve listened to a lot of Christmas music. We’ve gone to bed early. We’ve slept in. And we’ve not felt rushed or stressed or exhausted or frantic.

For the most part, December has been one of the calmest and quietest months we’ve had in ages. And it’s freed up much-needed space to just breathe, listen, love, rest, and enjoy being together.

Do I think families who have opted for lots of beautiful decorations, lots of Christmas shopping, and lots of festive activities are doing it wrong? Not in the least.

We’ve had years in the past where the Christmas season has been bustling with a lot of fun and where I found so much fulfillment in spending hours and hours picking out the perfect gifts to bless others. I don’t regret those years or those memories one bit.

But I also don’t regret having a quiet and simple Christmas this year. Sometimes, your soul just needs to take a step back and breathe.

Shared Dec 18, 2014 comment

One Fairly Big Blogging Change I’m Making in 2015

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 18, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Over the past month or so, I’ve quietly been thinking, mulling, pondering, talking with my husband, and considering blogging changes for 2015.

This past year has been one of much growth for me as a person and as a blogger. I’ve truly loved going back more to my roots. And I want to do even more of that in 2015.

One of the changes I’m really excited about for 2015 and have been slowly rolling out over the past few weeks, is that I’m planning to have themes for each day of the week starting the week after Christmas.

I thought through which posts were the most viewed and the most commented on from 2013 and 2014 plus considered which posts I most enjoyed writing. Based upon this information, I put together a list of themes I wanted to cover on a weekly basis and this is what I came up with:

Daily Blogging Themes for 2015

What I Cleaned/Organized This Week — This post will be on Monday and will be in the vein of the Clean Your Home for Christmas posts that you all really enjoyed. I’ll post a cleaning project in the morning and a Day in the Life sort of post in the evening to share the results of my cleaning plan. I thought this would be a great way to start off the week. And it would also help keep me accountable to keeping our home organized.
What I Cooked/Baked This Week — This will either be a post on a freezer cooking session, a new recipe, or a kitchen flop — something I’m really good at. 🙂
What I Read This Week — This will be a post recapping what I read/watched/listened to/read to the kids over the past week + mini reviews on each item. Plus, I’ll also share what I’m planning to read in the upcoming week.
How We Saved This Week — This post will share some simple ways we saved that week. From little to big ways, it will give you encouragement for living a frugal, simple, contented life.
What I Tried This Week — This post will either be a DIY idea I tried, something I sewed, or a new idea I tried implementing and whether it was successful or not.
What We Did This Week — This will be a peek into our week type of post. I’ve kind of fallen off the bandwagon in sharing these and I’ve missed it (and many of you have mentioned missing these, too).

And That’s Not All

That said, don’t worry: I still plan to share my goals for the week, regular Q&A posts, regular content pieces on a wide variety of subjects as I’m inspired to write them, regular guest posts, and, of course, plenty of deals and freebies and coupons and giveaways.

In addition, you can still count on finding a regular smattering of other eclectic posts on wide variety of topics — as you’ve likely come to expect (or be surprised by!) here.

My goal in having daily posting themes is that having a sort of set posting schedule will help keep me on track and will also provide variety around here, as well as a bit more predictability.

I know that I sometimes get side-tracked with topics I’m inspired to write on and I know some of you enjoy this, but others of you would love a little more consistency here. So I’m aiming for the best of both worlds with this!

As always, I can’t promise that I will follow this outline 100% perfectly every single day of every single week in 2015, because you know how life goes, but I’m really excited about this concept and am hopeful that it’s going to work well and be something that I’ll be able to follow through with. I’m at least going to do my best to stick with it!

I know I say it often, but I feel I can’t ever say it enough: Thank you for being on this blogging journey with me. I am grateful for each and every one of you and what you mean to me. Without you, there would be no reason to blog.

So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate all of you more than words can express and am excited for what 2015 has in store!

Coming Up After Christmas

After Christmas, I’ll be sharing my personal goals and some of our family goals for 2015, some thoughts on why I struggled with my goals in 2014, and what I learned from a year that was packed with a lot of new and stretching opportunities. Look for those posts soon!

What would YOU love to see more of here in 2015? What are some of your favorite types of posts? I’d love to know as I plan out posts for the beginning of the year!

photo credit

Shared Dec 18, 2014 comment

Simple Ways We Saved This Week: Creating art, using the library, puzzles, and why you shouldn’t put egg whites in your coffee!

Published: by Crystal Paine on December 18, 2014 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

The girls have been doing lots of painting and drawing this week — mostly abstract type art pieces. I love to see them being creative and having so much doing it!

Bonus: it’s such a frugal activity — especially when they use art supplies we already have on hand.

My sweet friend, Victoria, sent me this Craft Night in a Box — complete with a Starbucks gift card! It made for a free night of entertainment and relaxation for me.

I had so much fun working on it last night and am planning to finish my project tonight. If all goes well, I’ll share the finished results tomorrow.

{Isn’t this SUCH a great gift idea? If you know a crafter or a wanna-be crafter, this might be a great last-minute gift idea!}

The kids have been enjoying some books and this drawing DVD we got at the library last week. Have I mentioned how much we love the library?

If you haven’t visited yours recently, you should take some time to do so — it’s like having thousands of unexplored worlds and ideas at your fingertips, for free!

I’m loving reading this Lynn Austin novel I requested used from PaperBackSwap, one of my favorite frugal sources for books!

We’ve been making memories by working on this 2000-piece puzzle that we got from a White Elephant gift exchange earlier this week.

I got a $5 iTunes gift card with my points on Recyclebank. And I spent it to get some songs from one of my favorite movie soundtracks.

{Oh yes, I know, you might think it’s a little kooky that I love Frozen as much as I do. But here’s the thing: the songs not only make me so happy when I listen to them, but I can relate to many of the themes in the movie because of my own personal journey with being more authentic to my true self in the past few years. So yes, it might be juvenile, but I don’t really care! :)}

One way I didn’t save: I could not figure out why the “cream” I was pouring in my coffee this morning looked so watered down. And then I actually read the box. Yikes… Clearly, not all brain cells were firing this morning. Needless to say, I had to pour that coffee down the drain and brew a new cup!

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

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Marriage Goals

Mothering Goals

Personal Goals

Blogging Goals