Money Saving Mom®

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.

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:

• 9 Practical Ways to Yell Less & Love More
• On Perfectionism & Disappointing Readers
• A Crazy Eye Episode & Why I Sometimes Drink Starbucks Coffee
• Ponytails, Sweatshirts, & a Mother’s Love
• Choose Love Today
• Sometimes Courage is Just Showing Up & Giving It Your All
• Why We Pay Our Children For Doing Chores
• How Can I Save Money on Food When I’m Never Home?
• Muddy Feet, Messy Rooms, and the Seemingly Mundane

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

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!

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!

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