Day in the Life: January 2024

 

            I haven’t done a Day in the Life post for a long time. Maybe even since we lived at WillowBridge? I’m not sure. But I love looking back at them later and seeing how life changes with seasons. So will today’s post be long? Absolutely. But if you have some time, read along!

A Monday in January
Ryan is 44, Bekah is 45, Braeya is 17, Lexi is 2
Weather: Gray and cloudy. High is 37 and low is 32. There is much talk about significant snowstorms this week.

MORNING:

            Ryan gets up before I do and makes his way to the couch for Bible study and prayer. I wake up not long after to find Braeya snuggled up in his spot, as she always is every morning.

            I’ve made a commitment to get up a little earlier each day for my own Bible study and prayer time, so I pull myself out of bed and find my first water tumbler and cup of coffee before sitting down with my Bible and journal. I read in my new devo book about the sin of Adam and the sin-bearing of the Second Adam (Christ) and then move on to read the passage our Sunday School class will all read together today, which is Hebrews 4:11-12. I make some notes on what I’m learning from both!

            Meanwhile, Ryan takes a shower and makes our bed, and then it’s time to get Lexi up so she can have her breakfast! He always gets her up in the morning (they have a little routine) and then she runs into our bedroom to say hi to Braeya (and to look for any food scraps she left behind) before she’s off to her breakfast Kong to eat.

            I wrap up my study time and pull out my day planner to make my list for the day. It’s shaping up to be a busy Monday – as they always are – and I don’t want to forget to do something important! I write a love note to put in Ryan’s lunchbox, and then it’s time to pack his lunch. We have some random leftovers that need to be eaten. Maybe not a glamorous meal, but hopefully a good one.

            I get dressed for work. Ryan unloads the dishwasher and cleans up the messy kitchen we left the night before. (This is super rare for us to go to bed with a messy kitchen, but we were enjoying our Sabbath and chose to deal with the mess later. No regrets.) I head to the bathroom for hair and makeup and take along my protein bar for breakfast to eat while I’m there. I do my morning skin care routine, put on my makeup, and curl my hair while listening and responding to Marco Polo messages. Ryan, meanwhile, finishes getting ready for work, warms up his truck, packs all the things he wants to take along with him today, and refills his coffee for the road. I finish my messages earlier than I usually do, so I switch over to YouTube to listen to my Psalm 119 songs that are helping me memorize the chapter. I listen to one section twice this morning while I finish getting ready.

            Ryan leaves, and I put all the finishing touches on my morning: brushing my teeth, putting on jewelry, turning on lamps to softly brighten this cold, gray morning, opening the rest of the blinds, and warming up my remaining half cup of coffee. I also put today’s essential oil blend in the diffuser. I use random calendars from Pinterest to find suggestions for oil blends. Today’s is called “Warm Apple Pie” and is a mix of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Lemon, and Sigh. I happen to love Sigh as a perfume, so since I have the bottle out, I put some on me too!

            Lexi arrives to tell me she has used the bathroom and a treat is in order. (She’s litter trained, so she doesn’t have to go outside. It’s kind of a miracle in the winter. And the rain. And really, anytime.) She takes her treat, I clean out the litter box, and we get on with our day.

            At last, I sit down at my desk to begin my next routine. The lake is pretty, even though the day is a bit blah. I have my fuzzy slippers on my feet and my throw blanket over my lap to keep me snuggly warm while I work. Lexi is asleep in her bed beside me, and Braeya is asleep in our bedroom – where she will sleep most of the day.

            I check Facebook so I can send birthday wishes, I check my email (which is mostly junk that can be deleted), and I send a couple of messages to church people before I forget. Ryan has sent me a link to a new wish list he started – for fun lake stuff. It’s hard to believe, looking at the partially ice-covered lake, that one of these days it will be warm enough to enjoy the lake properly, but it will happen! It’s fun to dream, even if we don’t end up getting some of the stuff on the list!

            With all that done, it’s time to pour the second cup of coffee and open the work email. I put strong boundaries around Sundays where work is concerned, and since my Saturday was also wildly busy, I haven’t checked in since the end of work Friday. It’s time to see what I need to answer! I clean up the email box, respond to messages, and then it’s time for meetings!

            My workplace has an all-staff meeting every Monday morning, followed by a prayer meeting with my particular team, so I attend those two meetings. The prayer meeting has little groups that break out to pray each week, and they change monthly, so it is fun to see who is in my January group and spend some time with them. Throughout both meetings, I notice the eagles are out this morning – soaring over the lake, racing each other, and they’re so pretty to watch. Lexi wakes up at the end of our prayer meeting and wants some attention, so I pet her while I pray with my friends.

            While I return to my inbox and work tasks, I turn on some hymns to listen to. I’ve been listening daily to some new year hymns by Keith and Kristyn Getty, and I choose two for today. They are encouraging to hear, even though I don’t have them memorized, so I don’t know the words by heart.

            Mid-morning, I stop for a little snack and refill the water tumbler. While I pause to enjoy the sustenance, I drop a quick note of encouragement into the private Facebook group for my Sunday School class ladies. I know the second week of anything can be hard in the world of motivation, and I want to cheer them on to keep studying the Word every day!

            I also use my little break to throw a load of clothes in the washer. I remember that I need to mix up more detergent, so I do that first and then get the washer going. On my way back to the kitchen to work, I grab the box of K Cups we bought at Sam’s Club last month so I can refill the bucket in the coffee bar. It had gotten down to one, and I forgot to bring the box up for a refill. With my chores caught up and my break over, I go back to my work list. I have some meetings to schedule and emails to send, so I get busy on those things.

            Ryan sends a text to say hi and to let me know work is going well. He’s working on odds and ends throughout the morning. Given that he loves to mark things off as much as I do, that tells me he’s having a good day.

            I realize the washer kicked off at some point, so I run down to move the clothes to the dryer and put the hang-dry clothes up on the drying rack. Then it’s back to the desk for more work!

            Lexi won’t stop barking…she is hungry for lunch a little early. I have made her wait a while, but I decide we’re close enough to time that she can eat. She is so cute when she’s waiting for her signal to pick up her Kong to eat. She dives in, and I can think again in the blissful quiet!

AFTERNOON:

            Ryan FaceTimes for a moment while he eats his lunch, to catch me up on the happenings of his day. It’s always good to see his cute face! I warm up some chicken noodle soup to have for my own lunch.

            After I eat, I make a fresh cup of coffee and check on Lexi, who is sacked out on our bed for her early afternoon nap. I go back to my computer to sort through lists and tasks and mark things off my work to-do list! (Days at my job are either meeting-saturated or they’re not. Today is not, so I’m able to do a lot of computer work instead.)

            Because Lexi ate her lunch early, now she wants her snack early. (She is so my kid, right?) She parks herself behind my chair and revs her barks like a car engine to get my attention. I tell her if she eats early, she’ll regret it later. She continues chirping and revving. Meanwhile, Ryan calls while he walks from the parking lot to the building to check in and see how life is going.

            I run downstairs to fluff the clothes in the dryer (which shut off a while ago, but I didn’t hear it) and then I take a quick break to fold and put them away before they wrinkle. (This is my version of ironing.) Lexi supervises from the bed, and I listen to a Marco Polo message while I work. It’s all put away in about 10 minutes and by then – we’ve made it to snack time. Lexi grabs it and runs downstairs, as though I’m going to take it away – ha!

            While she eats and goes back to sleep, I am still answering emails, scheduling meetings, and going through my lists of things to do for work.

Eventually it is time for my snack too, so I eat that while I continue to work. I’m still ahead of the game in water consumption, too – into my third tumbler for today. Most of my (non-summer) days consist of three 32-ounce water tumblers, but I’m already into my third one and it’s not even evening yet! I might end up being super-hydrated today!

I finish my work day before Ryan finishes his, so while I wait for him to come home, I write a couple of thank you notes. I want to thank the family who read the Scripture passage (it was a long one!) for me at church yesterday, and I want to thank the church itself for the privilege of getting to speak on the first Sunday of the year. While speaking things are on my mind, I also log into my website to update my schedule and add some pictures from the day before. And keeping in line with speaking, I also text the pastor of a church where I will be speaking to send some ideas for congregational songs, per his request.

            I finally have time to read blogs, so I take a few minutes to catch up on what’s happening in the worlds of my online friends. While I am doing that (and I am so bummed this happens too fast for me to get a picture…) an eagle swoops in right in front of me and grabs a fish out of the water! I’ve seen them do it before, and I even got it on video once, but it never gets old. And this one is the closest I’ve ever seen one to the edge of the lake. He swoops back (farther out) a few minutes later and I manage to get a blurry picture of that.

            I change out of my work shirt into my regular clothes for the night (all part of the capsule wardrobe project). The only thing changing today is the shirt, and I choose one my sister gave me for Christmas! I love it. Then I put away the dishes that have been on the drying mats since this morning when Ryan cleaned up the kitchen. Ryan bought some apples and bell peppers at the store on Saturday, and I haven’t had a chance to wash them in produce cleaner, so I do that, and while they soak, I look over our dinner plan. It’s grilled chicken night, so I get the chicken out to defrost it. I think I’ll go ahead and cook it, too, so when he gets home, we can go on a quick walk with Lexi before the winter storms roll in and walks are out.  

            I cook the chicken and some mushrooms so it will all be ready when we get back from our walk. As Ryan ends his work day, he sends me a picture to show me his workplace won the Christmas light competition in town – and then he calls on his way home to let me know he’s enroute. Lexi heads straight to the window to wait for him. The highlight of her day is when he comes home. She loses her mind with joy! (This happens every single day.)

EVENING:

            We suit up in the warmest clothes to head out on our walk. Heavy coats, thick gloves, scarf (me) and mask (Ryan), and warm hats. Lexi cannot contain her enthusiasm that we are going out for a walk and hops along on her hind legs for much of it, as per usual. Also as per usual, we are stopped by a car whose driver has questions about Lexi and her unusual walking habits (and cuteness). When we are about halfway done with the walk, we run into one of Lexi’s friends (human, not dog) and they have not seen each other in many weeks. I’m not sure which one of them is more excited. Lots of squealing and hugs from both. We stop to talk to her for a while and then scurry home.

            We warm up dinner and take it to the sofa table in the living room to eat together while we watch Everybody Loves Raymond. Lexi eats her dinner Kong at the same time, but she’s done immediately and wants to see if we are interested in sharing our food. We are not.

            We brew our evening coffee and sit down for a bit. I have a couple of late work emails that have come in that I need to go ahead and answer tonight. When that is done, Ryan turns on Little House, and we take in an episode. While it plays, I work on making a Power Point presentation to use at the church I’m speaking at next – and I adjust my outline from last week when I shared this – to make a few details line up better with the next audience.

            I post the blog (which I wrote at an earlier time) and get that scheduled for tomorrow. Ryan has been resting on the couch and goes back upstairs to give Lexi her final snack Kong for the day and clean up the kitchen so it’s not messy in the morning like it was today. I follow him and pause to write out his Boot Camp workout on the giant sticky notes that hang at the front of the room for the class time. (We usually do that as class is beginning, but he brought the sticky notes home early this time so I could work ahead and save time at class.)

            Since he’s there, Ryan goes ahead and fills up all the waters (pitchers, pet bowls, coffee pots, etc.) for the next day and gets the coffee pot set to run in the morning. I do my evening chores too – filling up all Lexi’s Kongs for the next day. Ryan turns on the heated mattress pad on our bed, so it will be toasty warm when we get in it later. He cleans out the litter boxes, runs the vacuum, mops the floors, cleans out the vacuum which seems to be clogged with long hair (whoopsie!), takes out the trash and then his chores are done for the night. I have no idea until real time that he has all these things on his to-do list.

            I go back downstairs to do a little more journaling and read through a passage I’ll be speaking on next month. I want to make sure I am working well in advance. I spend some time researching and making notes and (while Ryan is still doing the aforementioned cleaning) I take my shower and do my nightly skin-care routine.

            We don’t have that much time before bedtime, and I confess I really want one more cup of coffee, but it’s so late that I tell myself to make grown-up decisions and pass on the last cup. (It wouldn’t keep me awake, but I still know it’s a wiser choice to not chug more caffeine before sleeping.) We finish up the night by cuddling on the couch and watching an episode of House Hunters. Lexi drapes herself across both of us to sleep while we watch. The episode is kind of annoying, so we take breaks to talk during it. When it wraps up, we decide we’re tired and we’re going to bed early. Ryan puts Lexi down for the night, we close up all the blinds, and head to bed. I don’t think either one of us makes it very long before sleep arrives.

            And there you have a January Monday – behind the scenes!

A Tale of Two Cakes

         

            Last Friday night, I made a cake from scratch. I don’t even remember the last time I did such a thing. I love cooking and baking, and I do love cake, but I’ve never been great at cakes. It’s not so much the baking of cakes that finds me struggling as the finishing of cakes. I’m not a decorator. I’ve taken some classes in cookie and cupcake decorating, and my skills were…lacking. It always looks like a first grader did it. (If that, maybe.)

            But with the cold, gray new year upon us, a proper, homemade chocolate cake felt like the contribution we should make to our small group dinner for Saturday night. I had low expectations of the experience. I used a recipe I’d never seen before, relying on Pinterest to not be a liar about it being the best recipe. I knew it wouldn’t be pretty, but pretty wasn’t my goal. I wanted something tasty, filling, and cozy for this little group assembling for fellowship.

            So I crawled (literally) on hands and knees to reach to the very back of the big cabinet beside the stove to retrieve the round cake pans I haven’t used in years. I traced the bottoms and cut out parchment paper circles to place in the bottom. I pulled out Miss Mixy and followed the (truly easy!) recipe for the homemade chocolate cake.

            I loved every minute of putting that cake together. I know I could have gotten a box mix, but for me, there is something comforting and sweet about putting together a cake from scratch. I poured the batter in the pans, slid them into the oven, and a half hour later, the house smelled heavenly and two fully baked cakes sat on potholders on top of the stove.

            They came right out of the pans without breaking and I wrapped them up to keep them fresh and safe overnight.

            Saturday afternoon I moved Miss Mixy back to the countertop again and pulled out all the ingredients to make the frosting. It was, perhaps, a little thinner than it should have been, but it looked so delicious, and I began applying it to the top and sides of the stacked layers.

            The end result? Not that pretty. Kind of lumpy. A little misshapen. Obviously not created by a trained professional, or even a decent amateur. But goodness, did it ever look delicious! I pushed it to the back of the stove to keep it safe from Lexi (and to keep Lexi safe from it), and as I cleaned up the kitchen, I listened to a Marco Polo message from my friend Abagail.

            She caught me up on the happenings of her week, and along the way, she said, “Oh hey! I saw on Instagram that you baked a cake last night!” (I had posted a photo of the unfrosted cakes as they sat cooling on the counter.) She continued, “That’s so fun! I baked a chocolate cake too this weekend – it’s an order for a birthday party. I think it’s so great that we were both baking chocolate cakes at the same time!”

            I must pause to tell you that Abagail went to culinary school. If she lived here and could move in with me and be my full-time chef, I would let her. She is talented beyond words in MANY departments, and cooking and baking (and decorating) are high on that list. I adore everything she ever makes. So I had to giggle when I heard her say that it was so fun that we were doing the same thing, because I can assure you we were NOT doing the same thing. The similarities ended with the words “chocolate cake.”

            That evening, as Ryan and I pulled out of the driveway to head to small group, I had my cake plate snuggled securely in my lap, loosely covered with foil. That lumpy, misshapen cake sat inside, and even though it was not even close to pretty, I was really excited to share it with our friends, because it had achieved what I wanted it to: it was cozy and, well, hopefully tasty.

            We were less than 50 feet from our house when Abagail’s photo of her cake for the birthday party popped up on my Instagram feed.

Photo Credit: Abagail

            I burst out laughing and laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe, and actual tears ran all the way through my freshly applied makeup. Ryan asked what was so funny, and I turned the phone so he could see her cake.

            There it was, described as a turtle-heath cake with a homemade toffee buttercream, homemade caramel sauce layer, and toasted pecans and chopped heath pieces between each layer.

            Indeed, we did NOT do the same thing that weekend.

            (By the way – I know a lot of cakes that look this pretty might look nice but taste dry and flavorless. I can assure you that is never the case for her, and this cake tasted every bit as good as – if not better than – it looks.)

            I sent Abagail a text of my sad-looking cake and said, “Oh, Abagail, I love you so much, and it means everything to me that you think we did the same thing this weekend, but we did NOT. Your cake is lovely, and it is far superior to mine. But thank you for loving my attempt as genuinely as I know you do.”

            And that’s the truth! ALL of you can see that her cake beat mine in every way, but she truly and genuinely celebrated my attempt to make a cake. She was excited that we shared our love of baking at the same time – even though the results varied widely.

            Other than providing a good laugh, why am I telling you this?

            I tell you because we live in this world of comparisons. We stifle what we can do because it is not as good as what someone else can do. And when we do that, we fail in using the gifts God has given us. I walked into our friends’ house Saturday night, put my cake on their island, and told them this whole story, passing around the picture of Abagail’s cake as I laughed and shared.

            And our friend Jonathan said, “I like your cake better. You know why? It’s in my kitchen.”

            It’s true! Abagail’s cake was perfect for the party it served. But my cake was perfect for a night of friendship around a fireplace. It was half gone by the time the night was over, and no one complained at all about its taste. (I think most even had seconds.)

            If I had allowed myself to be embarrassed by my skills and their inferiority to Abagail’s, well, small group still would have had dessert, because someone else brought ice cream, but it wouldn’t have been the same. It wouldn’t have been cake AND ice cream. Everyone knows those two things are meant to be enjoyed together.

            And truthfully, part of the reason why I stood by my lumpy little cake was because Abagail did celebrate it with me. She is really and truly that kind and sweet.

            So in whatever skills you have that you compare to those around you…don’t let that comparison keep you from using the gifts you have. If you stifle them, you rob those who could enjoy their benefits of the pleasure of doing just that. And if you’re in a boat with others who are doing what you do – and you do it better – don’t let your pride get the best of you. Celebrate and support them in doing what they can do to the best of their abilities. And do that genuinely! It might not make any difference to you, but it could make all the difference to them.

            Our efforts may not look the same, but when we employ them, we double the number of people who can benefit from the goodness!

Celebrating 133 Months of Love!

 

            Last Tuesday, as we set out to return to normal (whatever that is) in our routine, we also celebrated 133 months of marriage! Here were some things about the day that marked it as set apart and special for us on an otherwise normal Tuesday!

            I always write Ryan a love note to put inside the lunch I pack for him, but I tried to spend more time on it than usual, because I wanted him to know in new and fresh ways how much I really do love him and how much I adore our life together!

            We send each other pictures throughout the day, as we can, to show what’s happening while we are apart from each other. We started doing this when we were dating, and we’ve never stopped. I love it, because it helps me feel like I’m part of his world even though I’m working in my own. That day, his workplace had a new year celebration, so he helped set up for it and sent me a picture with the background. (I adore parties, backgrounds, and pictures, so this was a win all the way around.)

             That evening, Ryan taught his first boot camp of 2024, and I went. Normally I put my hair up and a headband on for class, but I wanted to look cute for him when we got home, so I went the impractical route for class and tried to save the curls. The class must have been extra good. I felt it in my abs and legs for about three days!

            Of course that was the one night we had a sunset after days and days of gray – and we missed it, because we were at class. But when we got home, there was a smidgen of light left in the sky, so we paused to appreciate the view over the water.

            We had dinner at home; I made a special fajita dinner in the slow cooker that day! It was yummy, and after completing boot camp, we were ready to eat!

            We took our monthiversary picture and spent the remainder of the night enjoying some rest and conversation.

            It was low key, but it was perfect in its own way. I remember our January monthiversary last year. It was during the divide-and-conquer days of our renovation, and it wasn’t much fun. It wasn’t lost on me this year that we were able to simply be together. Gift enough!!!

            Happy 133^rd monthiversary, Ryan! I love you!

Sunday Sentiments: But We See Him

 

            This first week of January has been a busy one for me. My heart felt a bit convicted about the amount of time I’d been sitting on the couch when I could be doing more productive things, so even though I have a commitment to resting my mind and body each day, I also have a commitment to working hard and accomplishing things that need done!

            One of the things I tried this week was getting up a little earlier each day to read my Bible, write in my journal, pray, and study. I’m not known for being much of a lover of mornings, so this was an exercise in discipline for me. I tried to make this shift a sustainable one – and we’ll see if it proves to be that – but I do know I appreciated filling my mind first thing with the Word of God that could come back to me throughout the day in the circumstances I faced. It was really helpful for me this week, when the things in front of me could so easily cause me to get caught up in fear and stress.

            Ryan had to travel back to our original home county yesterday to tend to some family business, and Lexi and I stayed home in the freshly fallen snow. Well, we stayed home in the HOUSE. The freshly fallen snow was outside, and we just looked at it. I moved all my study books and binders to the couch while it was still dark outside in the early morning hours, and I sipped on coffee while I read my Bible and devotional books.

            For Christmas, Mom and Dad gave me The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament by Nancy Guthrie. I’ve been enjoying the first few days of this study, and yesterday’s reading talked about how we were created in the Image of God, but right now, we are living in a world that is marked and marred by sin, and we are unable to live fully in the perfection God created at the beginning of time. The study took me to Hebrews 2, which includes these words: “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. BUT WE SEE HIM…”

            Those words were printed normally in my Bible, but they seemed to strengthen to a bold font before my eyes. Just because my present circumstances aren’t perfect doesn’t mean I can’t see God at work in them.

            BUT WE SEE HIM. Isn’t that a comfort?

            I could see Him at work as I looked out my window at the new snow covering rooftops and the ice on the lake. I know that each snowflake represented is uniquely created. I see Him.

            I could see Him in the words I studied – as I moved into the passage I read simultaneously with the rest of my Sunday School class. Those words encouraged me to live in strength and courage and promised that the Bible would give me every instruction I need to live for Christ. I see Him.

            I could see Him at work in the circumstances that filled my day. As I prayed over each piece of it, I trusted Him to be at work, even though I didn’t know how all the pieces might resolve throughout the day. But I see Him.

            I could see Him in the lessons I learned while preparing the words I will share in church tomorrow and again next week. I’m challenged in my faith through what I learned while I prepared. I see Him.

            Our world isn’t perfect. Our lives aren’t perfect. We aren’t perfect. But He is. And we can see Him. I don’t want to miss that. I don’t want to miss any part of Him in my day and in my life.

            Where do you see Him today?

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for your Weekend

 

            Ryan and I decided this short week sure felt like a long one! Maybe it was that way for you, too? Here we are, wrapping up the end of the first week of 2024, and I have some fun finds for you! 😊

            ONE. 

I shared Hebrews 13:8 with you on Monday – a verse I’m trying to keep at the front of my mind as we head into this new year. I know coloring isn’t everyone’s first love, but if you find coloring to be relaxing and helpful in learning a verse, here is a one-page coloring sheet you can download that has this verse on it. Maybe you can color while you watch TV or listen to worship music, and it will help this verse settle into your mind as you start 2024! (And if you have children or grandchildren, this is a good snowy-day activity to do together. Add hot chocolate and some snacks, and it’s an event!) BONUS: If coloring pages really aren’t your thing, but you do want to work on memorizing verses this year, here are some beautiful, printable calendar pages (one per month) that have a verse for each month. You can use them to guide you through memorizing 12 new verses this year!

            TWO. 

In my list of goals for this month, I mentioned picking out the plants I want to put in my little greenhouse I received for Christmas! Here is a post I found with some great suggestions for indoor herb garden plants – as well as how to care for them. I want to pick the things I use the most – because the space is still small. I have ideas for even more herbs once warmer weather arrives and I can use my outdoor beds again! BONUS: Here is a link to the greenhouse Ryan gifted me for Christmas. Mine is white.

            THREE. 

Sure, New Year’s Day has passed, but it’s not too late to do some dreaming for the year. Here is the link to the 2024 goal/dream/bucket list that we filled out at our New Year’s Eve party. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again: it blew my mind how much fun it was to fill this out and then share about it with friends. It was fun to hear all the answers and create a space safe enough for people to boldly share dreams. We are tucking away our completed copies of this list to revisit on New Year’s Eve 2024 and see how we did with our dreams! I hope you’ll try it too!

            FOUR. 

If you made it all the way through my skin care routine post this week, you receive a thousand invisible points. I know that was a LONG post! One thing I did not mention in there is that I feel strongly that my habit of drinking a lot of water every day also helps my skin in positive ways. As a girl who did not like water until well into my late 30s, I am grateful it is now something I prefer to drink. Even though I do drink a good amount of coffee every day, I still consume close to 100 ounces of water daily. (And I like it!) If staying water-hydrated is a goal for you this year, check out this post of how it can also help you have healthier skin! BONUS: If you’re trying to drink more water, then here’s a post that offers 8 different printable trackers to help keep you accountable. It’s so easy to lose track of how much you’ve had, so this can be a good way to stay in the know!

FIVE. 

Yesterday I talked about why our stories matter, and I hope you’ll think about sharing some of yours with the people in your life! I found this post this week, and while it’s not the story of the author’s birth, it is a raw and vulnerable story about how someone’s words wounded and eventually shaped her. Pieces like this are hard to write and share, but being brave enough to do so can mean helping someone else who needs to hear a word of encouragement when walking a similar road. I have been deeply, permanently wounded by the words of others, and I know that even when I didn’t realize it was happening, my own words have hurt people dear to me. That breaks my heart because it was certainly never my intention. (I want to believe those who hurt me also didn’t mean it, but I know in some cases, they honestly did.) It’s good to be reminded of the power of our words so that we wield them carefully, but it’s also good to be reminded of the power of sharing our stories and how we can help those around us in THEIR stories.

SIX. 

And just for fun…KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms shared this post this week. Her craft-lovin’ sister MADE her this paper replica of their childhood home. I don’t have these kinds of skills but what a GIFT (literally and figuratively) it would be if you could create something like this for people in your life. It would take time and creativity, for sure, but the cost would be low, and the sentimental value would be off the charts high!! What a great gift for any occasion – Christmas, birthday, moving, anything!

CAPSULE RECAP: I am experimenting with a capsule wardrobe for winter, and on Monday, New Year’s Day, I started with my first ensemble! I thought I would share my daily photos here, and later this month I will share with you the pieces I chose for my capsule and how I acquired them. I do want to make note here that it was intriguing to me how increasing my purposeful composition of outfits this week went a long way in making me feel put together and inspired to do more work. I will have to ponder this more as time goes by.

January 01, 2024:

January 02, 2024:

January 03, 2024:

January 04, 2024: 

January 05, 2024:

Flashback Friday: Writing Your Story One Week at a Time

 

            As I brainstormed about the blog for 2024 and tried to imagine what mix of things I wanted to offer in this space, I came up with an idea I really wanted to try, so we’ll see if it ends up being a good fit! As you know, I have a great passion for encouraging people to preserve their life stories, and I’ve even had the privilege of teaching some classes on this subject.

            It absolutely matters. If we don’t write down the things about our lives – who we are, the things that shape us, the stories we live – those details will die with us one day. I can’t tell you how many lives of people who have gone before me have impacted mine, simply because I had the privilege of reading about them. Last year I read the love letters of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot – two people I never met in real life, but their faith has shaped mine. I’m so glad their daughter kept and shared their love story!

            So this year, on Fridays, I want to encourage you to work on putting together your own life story, little by little. Share it with your kids and grandkids. If you don’t have kids or grandkids – well, welcome to my world! And guess what? Your story still matters.

            Each week I’ll share a prompt for you and offer some ideas of things you might want to include about the topic. I might even throw in some of my own story! I urge you to capture the answer – in writing, on video or with audio, and maybe even include pictures! Even if you write less than a page or record less than a minute of information, think of how much you’ll have saved to share by the end of the year!

            So for this week, write your story answering this question: Where and when were you born?

            Here are some ideas of things you might want to include:

·         The name of the city, county, state, and country where you were born. If you were born outside the country where you’ve always lived, tell the story of why you happened to be born there!

·         The name of the hospital where you were born – and if there is anything interesting about that, be sure to include it. (Maybe you were the third generation of your family born there or it has since been torn down or someone famous was born there too.) If you were born at home – or in the car on the way to the hospital – be sure to tell that story!

·         The name of the doctor who delivered you – and if there’s anything interesting about that (like he delivered everyone in two generations of your family) mention that.

·         Talk about the year you were born, and the month or day. If there was something pivotal about that day (it was a holiday or a particularly historic day) tell that story.

Hopefully you know these answers – especially if your parents are no longer living and you can’t ask what you don’t know! If you have grown kids who have never heard the answers to these questions about their own birth stories, maybe you could do a bonus assignment and share their story with them!

I won’t write out my entire birth story here. You’ve probably heard it in bits and pieces anyway. But I’ll give you a sample of what mine might say, in part:

My poor Mom. Not only was she still reeling from the shock of a third baby so many years after the first two were born, but those first labor pains showed up the night before Mother’s Day. Her very own national holiday was hours away and so was the birth of a baby.

My sisters were in high school, and Mom was in labor. Never the story she imagined for herself, I’m sure. That Saturday night, Mom called friends who came over and timed her contractions, writing the stats on a piece of pink stationery, which I still have in my baby book. Her evening, which was supposed to be about making a peanut butter pie for the Mother’s Day family lunch the next day, was reassigned to breathing through pain. The pie ingredients were tucked into a cabinet, and Mom told me later she never made that pie. Ever. Like the whole recipe – she never made it. As prolific a pie-maker as she is, the peanut butter pie never happened. I feel that I should start a new tradition of making peanut butter pie for Mother’s Day, in honor of the pie I squelched with my arrival.

Dad took Mom to the hospital, which was about a half hour drive from their house, in “the old green van.” That relic gave new meaning to vintage, held together by rust and possessing no seats in the back. That made it the ideal candidate for labor transport: if they didn’t make it, Mom could deliver me on the floor of the van. As a child, I loved playing in the back seat of that van, but as an adult, I can appreciate how it would be the last place I would want to welcome a baby into the world.

Thankfully I held on until a much more sterile environment was available. I was the last baby born in our family, but I was the first of the three babies whose birth Dad was able to witness – a testament to the changing of times since my sisters’ births years before. I showed up in the wee hours of Mother’s Day, causing Mom to miss out on church and eating a lunch that no longer had a peanut butter pie dessert.

Because I am the family photographer, and I was still just hours old, there are fewer pictures of my first twenty-four hours than there are of the first time I met my puppy, but from the ones that do exist, I see that my big, unruly hair was with me from the start, though it is considerably lighter now than it was then.

There you go. A snippet into my birth story! Now…what about yours?

Routinely Speaking: Facial Skin Care

 

            How many of you used to read Kelly Stamps’ blog? She was one of the very first bloggers I read and felt a connection with – though I did not know her in real life. I started reading her blog when she was pregnant with her oldest child, Harper, and now that she’s a teenager, I just have to wonder how she grew up and I’m still the same age! It’s been fun to read along with Kelly’s adventures, and even though she hasn’t posted on her blog for almost two years, she’s active on Instagram, so I keep up with her there.

            A few weeks ago, she posted about her middle child, Hollis, and her extensive skin care routine. It’s extensive in process and research. Hollis is somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve, and all I could think about when I read about her skin care tips was that when I was twelve, I was riddled with acne and hated even washing my face with soap! I never would have been a skin care guru at that age – but Hollis not only has impressive knowledge, she’s something of an influencer. Women were sending Kelly messages asking her to ask Hollis about this or that.

            I may have failed at age twelve when it came to skin care, but I try to do a better job now. If I can keep my face looking a little younger than forty-five for a little bit longer, I will gratefully accept it.

            Today I want to tell you about my own skin care routine, but I also want to be clear that I understand this can be a hot-button topic. (Who knew!? But it’s true!) Different people have different passions when it comes to the products they purchase and use. For some, it’s important that they be made in our country. For others, it’s important that they are not tested on animals. For others, it’s important that they be all-natural. For others, it’s important that the company’s values align with their own. For others, it’s important that they’re affordable. And when it comes to skin care, for some, it boils down to what doesn’t irritate their sensitive skin!

I want you to know before I share my routine that I’ve settled on the products I use for a handful of reasons that work for me in this season of life. It’s okay if you would choose something else! I’m simply sharing in case you’re looking for something to try!

If you look up skin care routines on Pinterest or watch GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos on social media, you’ll see that some people use dozens of products every day – twice a day! My Grandma, who washed her face with soap and slathered on Ponds Cold Cream before bed, would never have dreamed that such routines could take an extra half hour out of your day – on both ends of your day! I have made a personal choice not to spend that much time on washing/treating/moisturizing my face. That’s been my personal decision. So my routine is fairly simple, and in truth, if it were more complicated, I’d be tempted to skip it entirely. It’s better to buy the things you’ll actually use and then follow through than to invest in a whole kit that takes way too long and ends up sitting under your bathroom sink.

MY MORNING ROUTINE:

ONE. Rinse Face. I start my day by taking a warm washcloth and rinsing off my face to finish pulling away any dirt that showed up since the night before when I officially washed my face.

TWO. Use E.L.F. Toner. I’ve been using the E.L.F. Pure Skin Collection since last April, and I love how it works on my skin and how affordable it is for our budget. I get mine at Walmart, usually, but you can order it through Amazon, too. The toner costs about $9.00, and I’m still on my first bottle (and it sounds/feels like there is still quite a bit left.) I just apply it to a cotton ball and run it over my face, but this year I am hoping to purchase a set of these reusable makeup remover pads that I’ll use for toner application.

THREE. Use E.L.F. Moisturizer. I’ve been using this moisturizer since last April as well, and I’m just now getting to the bottom of the first bottle. I should add that the Pure Skin Collection is fragrance free, void of the bad-for-you things you should try to avoid in cosmetics and is not tested on animals. This bottle costs $12.00 and clearly lasts a while!

That’s it for me for the morning. Rinse, tone, and moisturize. Then I give my face a bit of a break before I apply my makeup.

MY NIGHT ROUTINE:

            ONE. Remove Eye Makeup Using Coconut Oil. I searched high and low for a good eye makeup remover that didn’t cost too much and didn’t irritate my eyes. I mentioned it to my sister one day, and she told me she just uses coconut oil – like the kind you cook with! So on my next trip to Aldi, I bought a little $6.00 jar of coconut oil right out of the baking aisle, and I’ve been using it ever since. It removes all my eye makeup well – including mascara – and is very affordable! I’ve been using a tissue to apply it and remove the makeup, but when I purchase the reusable makeup remover pads, I’ll use those instead.

TWO. Use E.L.F. Cleanser. I purchased this cleanser in April with the other products and I’m nearing the end of my first bottle. It cost $9.00 and is very gentle on my skin. I feel it does a good job of removing all my makeup. I wash my face at the sink using a washcloth, but you could wash with your hands if you prefer.

THREE. Use E.L.F. Toner. Yes, the same toner I use in the morning! I use it again at night after I take off the makeup.

FOUR. Use E.L.F. Vitamin C Serum. I just started this step right before Christmas, so I can’t speak to its long-term effects just yet. I purchased this Vitamin C Serum. I’ve read that Vitamin C helps with a youthful look, so I wanted to see if it works. The bottle is $16.00, and I’m guessing it lasts a while. It smells citrusy and wonderful and just takes a few drops for each application.

FIVE. Use Coconut Oil to Moisturize. I used to put on the E.L.F. moisturizer at night, but I’ve started putting on coconut oil as moisturizer instead, saving the E.L.F. product for the morning. So far it hasn’t created oily skin, nor has it left residue on my pillow. I like how it smells (like the beach!) and it helps me double-moisturize while saving money!

That’s it for the night routine. Remove eye makeup, cleanse face all over, tone, add the serum, and moisturize.

I do have one thing I plan to start doing this year: dry brushing my face in the morning. I learned about dry brushing last year and have this facial dry brush (for $13.00) from Amazon on my wish list. I love the instruction graphic in this post that explains how to directionally run the brush each day to remove dead skin cells and improve the overall health of the skin on your face. So that will be coming into my routine one of these days.

This concludes my tour of my facial skin care routine. It’s within our budget, it’s free of the ingredients I’m trying to avoid, and it works well with my skin – keeping it healthy, breakout-free, and hopefully slowing down the wrinkles!