HOW I BALANCE IT ALL AS A MOTHER.

I’m completely laughing even writing that title of this blog post above because… well… I do NOT balance it all. At least gracefully… And if you were hoping to find that answer when you clicked over here, join me in giving permission to ourselves to… not need to balance it all.

This picture of motherhood below may look glamorous, and I DO love this photo of this cute moment between she and I during our Christmas card photos (by Meredith Black), but in reality, I struggle just like any mom to balance it all (in fact, as I type, I’m feeding Bara Faith applesauce as I prep this blog entry from the kitchen table!)

Back when I redesigned my blog soon after Bara Faith came into the world, I had these grand visions of sharing about my journey here on the blog now about motherhood, after I waited so long to get here with that title “Mom.” I had these grand visions of being Supermom and had my list of things I would do and not do… only to realize, to keep the balance… and peace… sometimes I need to break those rules… while giving myself permission to let go of trying to juggle so much at once. And as a result of it, this blog took a backseat. But here I am, and I have given myself permission, when I can write, I will write.

Because… whew… I juggle a lot these days… I’m a wife, mom, daughter, granddaughter, photographer, Young Living leader to a team of 13 fabulous women, and, oh yeah, a friend, when everything else allows me to be and I can take a moment away for myself to catch up with a girlfriend. And take a deep breath.

That letting go part… it’s so hard for me because I just want to hold on tight, but I have found there is so much freedom in saying, it’s ok to not do it all. And thats where the balance comes. Sometimes that means letting Stephen cook dinner so I can sit at my desk longer than 10 minutes at a time to squeeze in the work that didn’t get done earlier in the day because Bara Faith needed extra nurturing. Sometimes that means the bathroom doesn’t get scrubbed down, or the laundry done. Sometimes that means, in just keeping it real, I don’t get a shower that day because I choose extra sleep over bathing because I’m so dang exhausted trying to juggle it all. And despite the short comings, I am confident enough in my identity in the Lord to know, He has a special grace for mothers.

I am doing the best I can each day, and I want you to know this… YOU ARE TOO. So let’s all stop being so dang hard on ourselves that we aren’t all Supermom like the Pinterest world around us pressures us into thinking we should be.

But in the midst in the chaos, I do find a weird balance. These are some things that help get me through the day.

My quiet time with the Lord. While this doesn’t happen first thing in the morning like it used to pre-motherhood, I try to sneak away during nap times to sit in my War Room, open my bible and my prayer journal, and take a deep breath breathing in His truth to get me through the day.
Facetime with my Momma. She keeps me reminded that while motherhood is hard, it is the most rewarding thing I’ll ever do.
Text messages with my hubby. Sometimes the perfect emoticon or Bitmoji sent while he’s at work is the perfect laugh to brighten my day.
Morning coffee with Thieves and Peppermint oil (for immune support and mental focus). I never understood growing up why my mom drank so much coffee. Now I get it.
Worship music. Hubby just bought us the new Alexa thingy from Amazon which I didn’t see the point in getting. But I admit, Alexa has grown on me and it’s nice to just ask her to play worship music while I’m feeding baby girl in the kitchen, or “Happy” by Pharrell Williams for a dance party if I’m trying to calm a meltdown.
Stress Away oil, for obvious reasons… and Joy oil… for obvious reasons. Both keep me centered in the midst of the swirl around me throughout the day.

I wouldn’t trade any of the crazy for anything in the world, but there are a few things I’ve had to learn to say no to, or at find another way to do it. Such as:

Fresh laundry that stares at me and doesn’t get folded for… a week. It can just sit there until I’m ready to deal with it thankyouverymuch.
Outsourcing a housekeeper when we can afford to splurge on one.
Meal planning and prep for dinner goes to HelloFresh delivered at my door. (Here’s a coupon code if you want to try it out for $40 off your first box. Follow the link to have it automatically applied.)
Making my bed, or getting dressed… every single day. Some days, yes, you’ll find me working in my PJs (like now), because getting dressed with an active almost 8 month old? #aintnobodygottimeforthat
Working out… bawahahahaha… good one. I’m lucky if I get to walk an acre over to our mailbox on a normal day. But I do try to throw in a few bicep curls with my 15 pounder baby girl throughout the day.
TV…. ohhhhh I miss my days of watching hours of TV at a time… now it gets squeezed in in bed before we both fall asleep missing half the episode.
Every single photography inquiry I get, I’ve learned that’s it’s so freeing to refer some of them to someone else. I just simply will never choose to be a high volume photographer because I’m too obsessed with my family take that many hours away from them, so I’ve learned it’s ok to not say yes to every inquiry that comes my way.

So starting today, let us moms agree to be easier on ourselves. Let’s agree that while motherhood requires us to juggle a lot of plates in the air, it’s ok to take away a few plates so we aren’t so overwhelmed. Let’s agree that in the midst of what feels like crazy town some days, we can trust that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Let’s agree that the Proverbs 31 woman WAS Supermom, but the rest of us are just human doing the best we can.

Because what it all comes down to are the smiles like below that make it all worth it. Because even what feels like the imperfect juggle is actually disguised as quite perfect moments we’ll look back on and wish we could have back again.

From our crazy town to yours, we hope you have a joyous Merry Christmas!

November 30, 2016December 7, 2016

MOUTH-WATERING PEPPERMINT BROWNIES

We started a Thanksgiving tradition last year that we carried on this year too, hosting a brunch for the friends who are like family. Here at our farmhouse (pictures and a tour coming in the new year, I promise!), the day was filled with so much joy and laughter and fellowship and all the things we prayed this farmhouse would foster… doing life together as a community and loving on people as Jesus would.

For Thanksgiving, I was determined to make some things from scratch this year. “I’m going to make my first turkey!” I boldly told my husband in the weeks leading up… then we saw Fresh Market was having a special deal on a pre-cooked turkey and side trimmings. It just seemed too easy, so we caved and bought that for our evening meal hosting family. Then a few weeks ago, as I was reading Joanna Gaines’ new magazine filled with all kinds of festive recipes, I boldly told my husband again, “Since I’m not going to make my own turkey, I’m going to make an apple pie from scratch!” “Like, make the crust and all?” he questioned. “Yes, absolutely, from scratch.” Then the reality of trying to juggle that with a busy bee 7-month old, I caved and let my Aunt bring the homemade pies. But I was still determined to make SOMETHING from scratch.

So a few nights before Thanksgiving, I was flipping through the latest Essential Oils magazine by Young Living,
and found this yummy Peppermint Brownies recipe. “Brownies… like from scratch? Not from a box? Yes, I can manage that!” And the night before Thanksgiving, I put baby girl to sleep, and into the kitchen I went.

And not to fluff my own feathers, but I was quite proud that ONE thing in my kitchen was going to be made from scratch for the tummy’s of my next day guests. It was also fun to experiment with using my new essential oils in baking, not just rubbing it on or diffusing. I was intrigued to try that out, and after how awesome these brownies turned out, I’m excited now moving forward to try using oils more in cooking.

Here’s the recipe! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! My Thanksgiving guests gobbled them up! (And if you are free tomorrow night at 8pm, I would love for you to join me in a FB class I’m hosting called “The 12 Oils Of Christmas!” RSVP here!)

PEPPERMINT FUDGE BROWNIES

Gooey fudge brownies are a fall favorite, but adding a touch of peppermint oil to the batch provides a cool, fresh taste to this decadent dessert.

12 OUNCES SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED
3/4 BUTTER
1 1/4 CUPS SUGAR
1 TBSP VANILLA
4 LARGE EGGS
4 DROPS PEPPERMINT VITALITY OIL
1 TSP SALT
1 CUPE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
1 CUP MILK CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIPS
A FEW CANDY CANES, CRUSHED

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13×9-inch baking dish and flour lightly.

Melt the chopped chocolate and butter in a bowl and stir until smooth. Let cool for a about 10 minutes.

Add sugar, vanilla, eggs and four drops of Peppermint Vitality, and stir thoroughly.

Slowly stir in the salt and flour until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips and pour into pan.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool and top with crushed candy canes.

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016

OY WITH THE OILS ALREADY!

In the spirit of getting excited for the new Gilmore Girls episodes about to launch on Netflix at the end of this month (who else is waiting on pins and needles?), I couldn’t resist using the title of this blog entry to kick off a fun event for my new oil business with Young Living! Because, honestly, that’s how I felt about essential oils for a long time, every time I saw someone new talk about them on Facebook. Like, oy, enough already!

A few years back, my hubby and I got introduced to essential oils through some fellow photographer friends and while it seemed great for them, I just remained skeptical. I mean, how well could these oils in tiny little bottles really work… that great? To support our friends, we bought a few bottles, but I didn’t really think much more about them beyond that.

Then I became a mom… and all that changed. A handful of friends mailed and dropped off samples, even my own mom did who has always been trying to get me into holistic practices over conventional medicine. So now as a mom wanting to find more natural remedies for my precious baby girl, I decided to give the oils a real shot this time around!

With a colicky baby, I was so sleep deprived and couldn’t wait for her to sleep through the night. As one who didn’t believe in the cry in out method, I was desperate to try anything else that might help promote better rest for her. Within the first few nights of rubbing lavender oil w/ coconut oil on Bara Faith’s feet, she began sleeping through the night at 16 weeks! With a raised eyebrow, I figured it was a fluke. But it was so beautiful how I started to see a really HAPPY baby now that she was sleeping more soundly.

The real kicker for me with the oils has been… with all my lack of sleep as a mom, I’ve really seen these oils help keep my body functioning as it should when normally I’m one that needs extra sleep or else my immune system breaks down. On extra long days when I have felt the most run down, I use Thieves oil and it has really helped keep my immune system in tip top shape! I also diffuse Lavender in our room at night and wake up so much more rested. Seeing how well it has worked for us, it has made me into a true believer that there is something to these oils!

So after trying out several different oil companies, my favorite is Young Living. I love it so much that I’ve now signed up to help others discover how these oils can help their family too! If you have any curiosities about wanting to try out this whole essential oils thing alongside me, check out this new part of my blog I’ve added to help you learn even more about why I love these oils so much! And if you have further questions, please feel free to send me a message! I’m here to help! All I can say is, they completely turned this skeptic into a believer! Oy!

But now for something really FUN! In the spirit of our Gilmore Girls reunion about to occur, I’ll be doing a fun Facebook event on November 20th from 8-9pm EST sharing what oils I think Lorelai and Rory and other Stars Hollow residents would be using today in their everyday life around that cute little town we all wish we could live in! I’ll also be giving away some fun prizes to participants, so be sure to join my event by clicking here so you don’t miss out! So mark November 20th at 8pm it on your calendar! I look forward to chatting about all things Girlmore Girls with you!