Nora is 18 months old — a year and a half.

I like half birthdays… probably because I always had to celebrate my half birthday for school functions since my real birthday was during summer break.

There are SO many things I could share about Nora since her 15 month update — I’m not even sure where to begin. Yes, she has grown inches and gained pounds, but it’s simply amazing how much she has learned these past 3 months.

She’s a little girl now — and I love it!

Without further adieu, here’s my 18 month old little girl:

1. She’s got spunk.

I think “spunk” is a weird word — but it’s the best word I can think of to describe Nora right now. She’s a crazy cat and she’s “all there and then some”.

{thinking she’s so funny sticking both legs to one side of her high chair}

This girl doesn’t miss a thing… literally because she’s always awake!

As you know, we’ve had many issues with Nora’s lack of sleep — we’ve met with specialists, therapists, and more — and the baffled responses we get from all of them is that her brain is just going a mile a minute. She’s super smart, she’s super attentive, and she’s super aware of everything going on around her.

Apparently, she just doesn’t need a lot of sleep to recharge, and since her brain is always going, she figures her body might as well be too!

{Making her unicorn “roar” like a dinosaur}

If you think you can sneak by her or do something without her noticing, think again. She sees everything, she hears everything, and she notices everything.

And now that she’s starting to talk more, she feels the need to point out EVERYTHING too.

{ooing and ahing over the birds flying past the window}

2. She’s talking.

She’s not saying sentences or anything (won’t that be fun though — I can’t wait to be able to have real conversations with her) but she knows lots of words and a few short phrases.

My personal favorite is: “I did it!” which she excitedly whispers (it’s always a whisper) every time she does tasks like turning on a light switch, climbing to the top of her tree house, turning the iPad on, building tall towers with her blocks, finding the TV remote and changing the channel, or (ahem) flushing the toilet.

She knows most animal sounds (it’s really cute), body parts, and names of relatives.

She says “uh oh” every time she does something wrong or when something doesn’t make sense to her. She says “buh bye” every time she leaves a room, and then excitedly shouts “HI!” every time she comes back into the room.

She says “boom boom” any time she falls down or hurts something. And she says “all gone?” any time she can’t find something — including Dave or me — “mama all gone?”

She says “poo poo” every time she poops — which is really convenient. She keeps saying she wants to sit on her potty, but so far, she’s never actually done anything on the potty. I suppose we need to start somewhere though…

3. She’s miss independent.

I have no one to blame for this except myself because I was exactly the same way

She wants to do everything, and I mean everything, by herself. She puts her hand up (as though to shoo us away) and says “self” any time she doesn’t want us to get involved in her business.

{looking like Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch}

I’m sure you can imagine the mess this makes with anything related to eating (did I mention she absolutely LOVES sticky suckers!)

I think she’s going to be the type to ask for forgiveness rather than permission… and she’s so cute that it just might work!

4. She’s surprisingly nurturing.

Most of the time, Nora is just crazy, running around, laughing, making noise, etc. but there are also plenty of times when she surprises me with her softer, more nurturing side.

She loves bringing her animals (and puzzle pieces) into her bed to go “nigh-night” or to read books. She also sits them all in a row and shares her snacks and drink with them. So cute!

She points out every baby she sees and she carries her doll around like it’s her best friend. She rocks her baby (bebe), feeds her baby, and wraps her baby in blankets.

I’m sure she will be a fabulous big sister some day (and no, this is not an announcement — don’t plan on any “announcements” in the near future!)

5. She’s so curious!

I know this is totally  normal for toddlers — but it’s also really fun to watch. Everything is so new and interesting to her… and now that she can say a bunch of words, I think she likes exploring even more.

For example, “flower” is one of her new favorite words and every time she sees a flower (in real life, in a picture, or in a book) she gasps, points, and proclaims “flouw” like it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

She’s also fascinated by automobiles and has to report back to me every time she sees a car (ca), boat (boo), tractor (trac), or bus (bus).

She’s finally figuring out how to open all our drawers and cabinets (even the ones we have child locks on) so I’ve been trying to keep a close eye on her — which is pretty much impossible.

And as I shared on Facebook last week, she’s climbing up on chairs, tables, the back of couches and anything else she find. She finds something new to explore every day — and life with Nora is NEVER boring!

I could go on and on,  but I’ll stop (until 24 months — then I’ll gush on and on again).

Happy 1/2 birthday Nora! 

I love almost all desserts.

However, if given a choice between any dessert and strawberry pie, I will probably choose the strawberry pie every time — especially if it’s made with MY recipe and fresh-from-the-garden strawberries!

Well, I suppose it’s not actually “my recipe”. It’s the same recipe my mom uses — and I think the same recipe my grandma uses. It came from a good old-fashioned church cookbook back in the day… and in my humble opinion, it’s the very best strawberry pie I’ve ever had.

Dave would agree

Any time I bring this pie to a potluck or group function, I always get asked for the recipe. Of course, I’m happy to share, especially since people are often shocked by how simple it really is.

Recipe for Strawberry Pie

Serves 8

{Print Recipe}

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 pie crust for a 9″ pie (since this is a no-bake pie, you’ll need to bake the pie crust ahead of time)
• 1 quart strawberries (2 pints of store-bought berries)
• 1.5 c. water
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 T. cornstarch
• 1 3 oz. package (4 servings) strawberry gelatin

DIRECTIONS:

• Bake pie crust according to package directions. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes (or longer if you want to bake the crust earlier in the day).

• As the pie crust cools, wash, hull, and slice strawberries. Dump berries into cooled pie crust

• In a medium sauce pan, combine water, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat (stirring frequently) until it comes to a boil.

• Continue cooking for 2 minutes – stirring constantly.

• Remove pan from heat and stir in dry gelatin mix. Let cool for just a few minutes

• Pour mixture over berries in pie crust. Refrigerate for several hours (or overnight) until gelatin is completely set

• Serve with whipped cream

Looks yummy huh?

Well believe it or not, I saved the best for last…

By swapping out the gelatin and the berries for other flavors, you can make raspberry pie, blueberry pie, blackberry pie, triple berry pie, etc. Just match the flavor of the gelatin to the type of berry you’re using (or mix it up for a new flavor).

So quick. So simple. So delicious!

If you’ve ever been intimidated by making homemade pie, this is a fabulous recipe to experiment with — it’s almost impossible to ruin

What is your favorite way to eat fresh spring strawberries?  

Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly recipes!

Over the past 12 months, I’ve been on a mission to change my most productive time of day from the early morning hours to later in the evening (keep reading to learn why.)

For those of you who are night owls, this concept might seem ridiculous. However, for those of you who (like me) are early birds, you understand all too well the difficulty of accomplishing anything productive after 9:00pm.

Dave and I are both early birds. We prefer to go to bed early, wake up early, and do most of our focus work in the wee hours of the morning.

For the first 5 1/2 years of our marriage, our perfectly productive schedule included going to bed by 10:00pm, waking up (often without an alarm) by 6:00am, and accomplishing more before noon than most people would in an entire day. This left us with several blissful evening hours available to work on house projects, yard projects, volunteer for local groups/organizations, and (gasp) just sit and relax.

Then we had a baby!

But not just any baby — a baby who refused to sleep. EVER.

Obviously we knew things would change with a baby around, but our naive pre-baby productive selves had absolutely NO idea just how humongous those changes would be.

For a long time (probably too long) I desperately tried to retain some shred of my old productive self. However, after months of little to no sleep, it was virtually impossible to continue waking up at 6:00am every morning.

Even if I did force myself to get up at 6:00, I wasn’t nearly as productive because I was just SO tired.

I finally decided that if I was going to continue doing the job I loved, taking care of Nora, and staying sane in the process, I would have to change my most productive hours from the morning to the evening. I wasn’t super optimistic that I could change, but I figured I had to give it a try.

So as I mentioned above, for the past year, I’ve consciously focused on changing my most productive time of day — and I’m happy to share that it worked! 

I no longer think twice about staying up until 11:30 or midnight to finish my work… and I’m sleeping in as long as Nora lets me each morning. My days are less stressful, I’m happier, and I’m still ALMOST as productive as I was before Nora

Obviously, I’m not implying that it’s better or worse to be more productive during the morning or evening hours — do whatever works for you! However, I do think it’s interesting that I was actually able to change my most time of day, and I figured some of you might benefit from this idea too.

Here are 4 simple steps that helped me change my most productive time of day and LEARN be more productive at night.

1. I forced myself to stay in bed.

I’ve never enjoyed sleeping in. Ever. I absolutely hated middle school sleepovers because I was up at the crack of dawn while everyone else slept until noon. I woke up at 6:00am without an alarm every day for high school. And I was one of those weird college students who requested all 8:00am classes.

I know. Crazy! So you can probably imagine how difficult it was for me to learn to sleep in.

In fact, I could NOT sleep in. Even though my body was so tired, my brain was still waking up every day at 6:00. I figured that since I was awake, I might as well get up and get going — but after a while, I realized that wasn’t such a good plan. I was basically exhausted all day long and didn’t accomplish anything at night either because I was just too tired.

So even though it took a LONG time before I was actually able to sleep in, I forced myself to stay in bed, laying down, with my eyes closed until Nora woke up. Now I can easily stay sleeping until 7:00, 7:30, and even 8:00!

Nora often wakes up by 7:00, but there are some days where she sleeps until 8:30 — which means I also sleep until 8:30!

2. I changed the way I write my to-do lists.

I used to write all my focused tasks at the beginning of my to-do list so I could tackle them all first-thing in the morning. Then, after my focused tasks were finished, I would spend the rest of the day working on house projects, yard projects, running errands, cooking, baking, etc.

Now, I’m doing just the opposite — and it’s working marvelously!

For example, after we wake up, I’ll quickly start a load of laundry, clean out the dishwasher, and check my email while Nora watches an episode of Curious George. Then we’ll go to the grocery store or run another errand. She has fun waving at everyone in the aisles of the store, “flirting” with the cashier, and riding in the car.

Then we’ll play outside for a bit (I might pull a few weeds while playing), eat lunch, and take a walk. Since we can walk to many different places I need to go anyway, we might walk to the bank one day, the library another day, and hardware store a different day — which means I’m able to get a few things done while Nora enjoys lovely stroller rides, fresh air, and pointing out EVERY SINGLE car that passes us

Obviously I don’t spend all day working. We still have plenty of time to swing, blow bubbles, and read books. However, Nora is old enough that she can sometimes entertain herself for small amounts of time — which gives me short windows of opportunities to cross smaller tasks off my list. Glorious!

Then, once Dave gets home, I can do more of my focused work without constantly being interrupted.

3. I started taking a shower in the early evening.

I realize this might sound like more crazy talk, but honestly… it works!

I’ll often take a shower soon after dinner (if we’re not planning on doing more yard work at night), change into comfy clothes, and prepare to be productive. I suppose it’s like anyone else who showers in the morning before work — it wakes me up, gives me a bit more energy, and gives me a chance to clear my head from everything else that has been going on during the day.

Plus, if the opportunity does arise where I can go to be early, I’m all ready.

4. I limited evening and weekend activities.

For the past year, Dave and I have both been pretty ruthless about keeping our nights and weekends free — partially because these are the times when I can actually get stuff done, but also because if we we’re gone nights and weekends, we would NEVER see each other!

We have done more than our share of volunteer and committee work over the years, and I’m certain we will do more again in the future, but for right now, we’re saying ‘no’ and letting other take their turn. Dave coached basketball and I’m on a 2 committees at church, but that’s it. Other than that, we stay home as much as possible.

Obviously, we are not at the stage of life where soccer, t-ball, piano lessons, and youth group consume our nights and weekends — soon enough though For now, we’re enjoying our (somewhat) quiet nights and weekends at home — as well as the productive hours they offer.

When I look back over the past year, I can honestly say that these 4 changes have helped me to successfully learn to be more productive at night — and I did have to learn!

It wasn’t easy, and there are still days when I wish I could wake up at 6am without an alarm. But for now, my lazy mornings and ultra-productive evenings are working well.

I still laugh every time a friend or family member calls me around 9:30pm asking if it’s too late to call or if we’re already in bed — little do they know, I’m in the middle of my work “day”!

Have you ever tried to change your most productive hours? How did it go for you?

photo credit

Dave and I are half-way into our month-long no-spending challenge, and honestly, it’s harder than I expected it to be! Even though I rarely step foot in a shopping mall, it’s amazing how many opportunities there are to spend money each day.

I’ve noticed that we have been relying on fast food a bit more often than in prior years. I’ve noticed that it’s really convenient for me to quickly place an order on Amazon.com any time we “need” something… especially since I always have Amazon credit built up from Swagbucks. And I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten lazy about “shopping around” ever since Nora came along. Maybe lazy isn’t the right word… probably just too tired and busy to care if I can save $2 by shopping a different store.

I think the hardest part for me so far is the fact that May is PRIME garage sale season in West Michigan… and I’m totally missing out! There are brightly colored SALE signs everywhere (many in walking distance from our house), but I’ve been a good girl and I haven’t purchased a thing. In fact, I’ve decided that it’s probably best if I don’t even go to the sales.

I also haven’t even been looking for anything on Craigslist — well, except items for a humorous post I wrote last week!

So far, we haven’t broken any of our rules.

• We went out to eat once (Culver’s with gift cards and a BOGO coupon)

• I used $20 of Kohl’s cash (which was going to expire) to purchase a $19.99 item for Dave (Kohl’s cash is taken pre-tax so I actually got $0.01 back!)

• Dave purchased 2 quarts of oil for our lawn tractor (about $5) but we deemed that a necessity since our city ordinances don’t allow lawns to exceed a certain length and we didn’t want to start a hayfield.

• We spent some money on fencing supplies for our yard — but one of our rules is that yard projects don’t count.

• We didn’t do Mother’s Day gifts — and I’m 100% fine with that. Nora is too young to understand Mother’s Day and Dave doesn’t need to get me a tangible gift to prove his love.

• I made baked goods for each of our moms and picked up cards for them before the month started. I let Nora “color” inside the cards and we traced her hand print

• I haven’t purchased anything online (even with a gift card or credit) except one item we needed for our fencing — but again, that falls under the yard work exception.

I think that’s about it so far.

I’m not exactly sure how to calculate any savings we’ve incurred at this point — but if nothing else, this simple challenge has made me more aware of how easy (almost too easy) it can be to spend our money without giving it a second thought.

That’s definitely worth it right there!

Are you participating in our no-spending challenge? Or have you ever done something similar? 

What have been the main take-away lessons for you?

Fun Fact: There are 85 different shades of white in the line of Behr paint at Home Depot! I’m sure I would love them all; however, I hope I never do that much painting — ever.

Dave and I closed on our first house 7 years ago this month — and we’ve been painting like crazy ever since. Well, I’m usually the one who paints, but Dave does the taping (and agrees to live in the mess of all my painting projects) so I still consider it a team effort!

I had never painted anything before we bought our first house, and I was sure I would mess something up. However, after a few long afternoons of painting, I started to get the hang of it and quickly realized just how easy (and inexpensive) it was to completely transform a piece of furniture or an entire room with just a little paint.

Painting isn’t necessarily my most favorite activity in the whole world, but I do enjoy it for the most part — and that’s good because we’ve gone through over 40 GALLONS of paint since we’ve moved into our farmhouse…

YIKES! 

Anyway, as I share more and more picture of the interior of our home, I continue to receive more and more emails asking about the different paint colors we use. And since I have a select few favorite colors I use over and over again, I thought it would be a good post topic.

Keep in mind, that I know absolutely NOTHING about interior design, I have no training, and I have never sought a professional opinion — these are simply the colors I like best (all of these colors are Behr colors – and no this is not a sponsored post.)

Ultra Pure White:

I use this color for all the trim — doors, windows, baseboard, crown molding, beadboard, etc.

Cottage White:

This color has a bit of a yellow undertone and it’s super cheery. It’s the color of our kitchen, Nora’s nursery, our hallway, and our office.

Antique White:

This color is more “tan” than “yellow”. I used this color in our living room, our master bedroom, and our master bathroom.

Gray Pearl:

I used this color in the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. I really like it but I’m sure that whenever we renovate the upstairs, I’ll choose something a little more neutral :)

Bleached Denim:

We used this color for the upstairs landing area — and I really love it. The color looks quite purple in the picture below, but it really is more of a denim blue.

Black Smoke:

This color is only used for furniture - no black rooms in our house! We have lots and lots of black furniture and it all gets painted with Black Smoke.

Jungle Trail:

I use Jungle Trail a lot — on Dave’s dresser, the armoire in our living room, and our kitchen chairs to name a few. I usually go over it with a brown glaze to “dirty it up” a bit… but it’s definitely my favorite green color!

Awning Red:

If I had to pick a favorite accent color, Awning Red would be it. Red is my all-time favorite color for decorating (along with white of course) and this red is perfect for our farmhouse. My most favorite red piece is the hutch in our dining room.

Wooden Cabin:

This is another color I use for painting furniture — and it’s such a lovely deep brown color. Very rich, warm, and rustic.

So like I said before, I honestly know nothing about proper use of color or have any skill with interior design — these are just my favorite go-to colors after 7 years of painting (and way too many gallons of paint)!

Oh, and if you’re wondering why I always use Behr paint from the Home Depot — it’s simply because they almost always have a $5 rebate per gallon over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. I usually buy 3-5 gallons of untinted paint to get the rebates, and then I bring the paint back in to be colored whenever I have a new project.

My next painting project…

Painting ALL the white railings around our front porch, back porch, and back entryway — which means I’ll be buying lots more white paint this Memorial Day

What are your favorite paint colors?

top image source

True story: Over the past 2 years, we have owned TEN different strollers! 

Yes, you read that correctly.

10.

One umbrella stroller was a gift, but the other 9 were purchased by me from Craigslist.

Single strollers, double strollers, jogging strollers, umbrella strollers, travels systems, etc. etc. etc. There were (and still are) so many different strollers to choose from, it was nearly impossible to know which ones would fit our needs the best — so I just kept buying strollers until I found ones we liked.

I should mention that I always sold the strollers we didn’t want, use, or like as well — so we never had more than a couple strollers at one time.

I should also mention that because of my mad deal-finding skills, when all the buying and selling was over, we ended up with 3 strollers we absolutely love and we MADE over $250!!!

Yes, you read that correctly too.

All my stroller indecision generated an income of over $250, and we still ended up with $500 worth of strollers for free. So essentially, we came out about $750 ahead!

Not too shabby

Now, let me assure you, I’m not an overly-picky person; however, since Nora and I go for a long walk almost every day (sometimes multiple times per day), I was willing to keep looking until I found the stroller that was just right for us. One that I liked, one that Nora liked, one that was reasonably price, and one that was still in good condition.

I received countless recommendations from friends, family, and facebook — but after testing out 10 different strollers in our own everyday life, these are our 3 favorites.

I’ve listed many of the different stroller features below; however, I want to point out that the MAIN reason we really love each of these 3 strollers is because the canopies are completely adjustable to block out the sun at any angle.

1. Peg Perego Una Stroller

This is hands-down our most favorite “every-day” stroller for countless reasons — one of which is how adjustable it is. There are so many different recline angles for the back of the seat, and at least 3 or 4 different angles for the foot rest. Plus, as I shared above, the canopy completely covers the entire stroller seat to block out the sun, wind, and rain.

As you can see, Nora loves her stroller — and she also loves playing peek-a-boo with the large canopy

I’d say that the only negative thing about this stroller is the price. It retails anywhere from $300-$400 but I found ours for $40!

2. Baby Trend Expedition Jogging Stroller:

I’m honestly not a huge fan of jogging strollers in general, but Dave really wanted one — so when we found this one for sale just down the road, we snatched it up at $25 (retail = about $150).

The front wheel was out of alignment but I brought it to a bike shop and they fixed it while I waited for free — good as new!

This stroller is a fixed-wheel jogging stroller and while I personally think that makes it more difficult to turn, Dave insists that the fixed-wheel makes it easier to run with (I wouldn’t know).

It has many adjustable features, a large basket underneath, and it has the capability to hold an infant carseat carrier, which most of the fixed-wheel jogging strollers I saw didn’t have.

3. Chicco Capri Lightweight

This was our favorite umbrella stroller — mainly because it was way more “sturdy” and had many more features than some of the other umbrella strollers we tried. It retails for about $80 but I found ours for $20, which included the carrying case (SO handy).

Not only does this stroller have a 5-point harness system, it also has a great recline feature, a small storage basket underneath, and a large canopy — all while still folding up super small like all other umbrella strollers. We keep this stroller in the back of my car all the time so we always have a stroller with us “just in case”.

Also, as I mentioned in My Favorite Things post from March, I use this Infantino Umbrella Stroller Organizer to add a little extra storage.

So do you think I’m crazy yet? 

I realize that buying and selling 10 different strollers over the course of two years is somewhat excessive – however, it honestly wasn’t very much work for me at all. I used one stroller for a while, and if I didn’t like it, I sold it. Then I looked for a new one.

I’m always buying and selling on Craigslist so it really wasn’t a big deal for me — especially since I was making a nice profit and getting free strollers out of the deal!

Also, I’m completely aware that many of you may have tried these exact same strollers and hated them. That’s why there are so many choices I suppose — everyone is looking for different features.

However, if you ask me for my favorite stroller recommendations (and many of you have) these are the ones I would suggest!

What are your favorite strollers and why?

This time of year, I’m always looking for ways to use our grill — it’s just so nice outside and it means Dave can help with the cooking

I love marinating meat for the grill but I hate that it often requires a full 24 hours of advance preparation. So about a month ago, I found this recipe for a 2-hour marinade. Dave and I were so impressed the first time I made it that we thought we better test it again the next week (with a few of my personal adjustments).

I’ve used this marinade a handful of times already (both for pork and chicken) with fabulous results each time. And I just LOVE that you can whip it up later in the day and still have great-tasting, juicy meat in time for dinner.

So for those of you who don’t think about marinating your meat the night before (ahem… guilty!) this recipe is for you!

Recipe for 2-Hour Meat Marinade

This makes about 1 cup of marinade — or enough for 4-6 cuts of meat

{Print Recipe}

INGREDIENTS:

• 4-6 pork chops or chicken pieces (with or without bone)
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 2 T. lemon pepper
• 2 t. minced garlic (or 1 t. garlic powder)
• salt and pepper to taste (I don’t use much)

DIRECTIONS:

In a shallow bowl or pan, mix all ingredients.

Add meat and marinate in refrigerator for about 2 hours (I’ve had good results with as little as 30 minutes)

Cook meat on a preheated grill for around 5 minutes per side (based on boneless 1″ thick cuts of meat).

We usually grill on our outside gas grill, but you could also cook the meat on a George Foreman grill, in a frying pan, or even in the oven.

The last time I made this marinade, I served the pork chops with mashed potatoes, green beans, and grilled corn on the cob — so good!

What are your favorite grilled foods?  

Oh, and if you’re looking for more BBQ favorites, check out these 30 delicious BBQ side dishes.

Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly recipes!

Last week, I shared some sweet pictures of Nora playing with bubbles — one of her favorite warm-weather activities so far.

She loves, loves, LOVES bubbles.

Sometimes she wakes up in the morning and (before she even gives me a hug or lets her eyes adjust to the sunlight) runs to the back door shouting “BUBAS! BUBAS! Peeze bubas mama!” And any time we step foot outside, she starts pleading for her “bubas”.

Nora is on a mission and her #1 priority is bubbles.

However, I find it interesting that when I blow bubbles for her, she almost always fixates on one specific bubble and chases it until it pops or until it’s completely out of her reach — then she points up shouting “buba… uh-oh!

Meanwhile, she lets 30 or 40 other bubbles pass her by.

I suppose this is normal for small children, and I’m thrilled to see her focus and determination at such a young age. But sometimes I find myself getting slightly frustrated with how many bubble-popping opportunities are being “wasted”. I should save my breath (and our bubbles) and invest in a bubble wand that only blows one bubble at a time

I try to get her to notice some of the big bubbles coming her way, but she’s often too busy following one bubble — THE bubble — whether she can catch it or not.

This got me thinking about life… and goals.

I’m a big fan of setting goals and then working really hard to achieve those goals. However, I’ve also learned the hard way that sometimes, when you’re SO focused on one specific goal, you can miss out on lots of other really great opportunities (maybe even better opportunity) passing you by.

Striving to achieve a goal, grow a business, meet a deadline, or finish a big project will always require focus, drive, and determination. That’s good! After all, I certainly don’t think it’s wise to constantly change directions or bounce back and forth between tasks — you’ll accomplish nothing if you do that!

I simply think it’s a good idea to keep take a step back every once in a while and look around for some of those other bubbles of opportunity you might have missed as you pushed towards your goal.

You might find that you’re still on the right track — following the best bubble for you. Or you might see a new perspective, a better idea, a different opportunity, a simpler solution, more bubbles!

But you’ll never know unless you stop and look around.

In my own life, I’ve often found that some of the best opportunity bubbles have come my way when when I was focused on something entirely different.

I would get frustrated because “my plan” wasn’t working, things weren’t moving as quickly as I wanted, or I just couldn’t quite reach my goal. It wasn’t until I took a step back that I realized I was headed down a dead-end road or pushing too hard at something that just wasn’t natural for me.

Bigger and better bubbles of opportunity were right their waiting for me. I just had to look! 

In case you’re wondering, my business, my blog, and my husband are 3 “bubbles” I would have missed if I didn’t stop and take a look around.

So as you continue to set goals and work diligently to achieve those goals, just remember to take a few moments every now and then to look around at the many other bubbles of opportunity floating by.

You might just be surprised by what you see! 

to the Mothers who are

the Mothers who were

the Mothers who will be

and the Mothers who wish they could be

Happy Mother’s Day

Thanks to the last 2 weeks of gloriously sunny skies, we’ve been spending lots and lots of time outside.

And thanks to our cute little 8th grade neighbor girl who plays with Nora, Dave and I have accomplished lots and lots of yard work!

One of the first projects on my to-do list was pruning — trees, bushes, flowers, ivy, ground cover, etc. Everything was over-grown and in need of some serious pruning.

Thankfully, I really enjoy pruning — can you see me in there, behind all those branches?

I realize pruning isn’t exactly the most glamorous job, but I think I enjoy it so much because of my organized mindset and the fact that it reminds me of purging — out with the old.

I love cutting back the old dead branches, the over-grown foliage, and all the “stuff” that doesn’t look great… and in effect, make room for new growth, new green leaves, and new brightly colored blooms.

Last week, as I was finally getting around to pruning back all the “dead wood” on my hydrangea plants, I had my usual panic attack before I made the first few cuts. I worried that I would ruin my plants by cutting them back too far or that they might not bloom again.

But I pruned anyway.

They certainly didn’t look like much after just being pruned… but new leaves and branches are already emerging. And come mid-June all the way through late-September, my hydrangeas will look like this…

Big beautiful blooms — so many, I can afford to fill vases full of freshly cut hydrangeas all Summer long.

And they’ll look almost as lovely during the Fall and Winter months.

But only because I pruned them back in the Spring.

Only because I took the time to weed out the dead branches and crunchy dried flowers.

Only because I gave the plants a little room to breathe, to grow, and to flower again.

I get a good 8-9 months of ‘beautiful’ from one afternoon of pruning. Not bad!

.

I feel like our homes, similar to our gardens, also need a good “pruning” every now and then — clearing the clutter and making a little extra breathing room.

Yes, it can be scary — and it’s so easy to make excuses. However, after even just a few minutes of “pruning” back the junk in our homes, we’ll have more room to breathe, more room for new growth, and more room for the beautiful things we actually DO use, need, and love.

Pruning (and purging) is never glamorous but it’s also not difficult — we just need to do it.

And don’t you agree it’s worth the effort?