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I thought I would love this part of our three month camping at my sister’s beautiful house. I thought that packing 3/4 of our possessions in storage would give me that freedom we all long for. Forced minimalism while we are between houses! I’ll love it! The house will be clean because we have no toys! The shelves will look lovely and bare! I’ll change all my bad house keeping habits because otherwise we will have no clothing to wear as everyone only has so many outfits! And yet we take ourselves with us, don’t we?? What almost killed me about living with substantially fewer possessions these past few months? I know you’re dying to know. Hardy-har-har. It wasn’t the volume of our things that made my life chaotic. It’s the number of small children we have. I thought if I had fewer things, if I had a better system, if I were more disciplined and organized, then I, too, could achieve the minimalist dream. Guys, even her beautifully remodeled kitchen with white cabinets (my secret dream and not the color in our new house) got so dirty. I mean like what happened here? Who went digging for worms in the garden and then came and opened all the cupboards? Oh, my three year old did. And when six people, one in dipes, mind you, use one bathroom, there is a literal ring of dirt around the inside of the glorious soaking tub. It’s not me. It’s them. And that is okay. And the…
Read MoreThey say to give a busy person more to do because it will get done. Am I living walking breathing snorting proof of that right now? Maybe? We are doing some moderate home renovations on the new house. We are camping with my sister still (who is totally a saint, mind you!!!). We survived the marathon! AA was in the top 50! I’m so proud of him and all his hard work. We had a wonderful #bistreamretreat at the Lodge this past weekend and I’m still soaking up the wonderful moments I got to experience with the team I work with! And just because I like to be busy (?), I’m also offering a new linen dress line. These babies take a long time to make so at 2pm on Friday, I’m opening up 10 spots available in five colors and seven sizes. When they’re gone, they’re gone! I don’t think I’ll do another round before the holidays, but we’ll see how long these ones take. There will be one listing on my etsy shoppe page with ten quantities. Pick your color, size, and number and check out through etsy (accepts paypal and credit card). The colors are: G R A S S S K Y S U N O A T S F L O W E R Because I’m all outta wordsmithing! The sizes are 6-12, 12-18, 18-24, 2T, 3T, 4T. Watch the shop at 2pm central or see a reminder in my instagram feed! Thanks for the love…
Read MoreWhat an odd thing, to sit and write the story of our summer, on the brink of closing on our home and opening a new home. What a place to sit. It is a little droopy. It is a little tired. But it’s also filled with a spark of joy. I began this summer thinking it would be a summer of violin lessons, tennis playing, swimsplashing, and lots of blogging. My list of semi-drafted blog posts is ongoing in my mind. I write while I’m nursing the baby down, sometimes when I’m cleaning the dishes, or doing my physical therapy exercises. I think how I would phrase this or that. I write it all in my head. I did not think the summer would entail purging, packing, waiting, wondering, and then rejoicing. I thought it be normal. I’ve sat to write this story several times, interrupted by life, feelings, and uncertainty. I can sit to write it now because our old house has new owners waiting to sign on the dotted line, and we have a new house where we will sign on the dotted line, all inside the next two weeks. My ancestral home! The home I thought I’d be waked out of. The home we wondered which of our children would want to take over from us. The home that, despite its grand size, couldn’t actually accommodate our intergenerational living. And that was the crux of it. As my my mom’s arthritis in her hip grew worse and…
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Dear Sisters, I can call you that, right? We who walk this world together, between our hormones, lost babies, lost loves, arms full, arms by our sides, hands slipped into one another’s? Are you looking left and right and seeing what I’m seeing? A postmodern home, beautifully spartan and utterly minimalistic with lavender crown wreaths at the back door alongside a leather tote that looks ne’er tarnished? Tarnished. All my stuff is tarnished. I’m constantly reminded of the meme you see floating that ends “. . . and this is why we can’t have nice things.” A slender figure with lipstick and that one hat everyone wears on a whirlwind adventure, drinking cafe au something by herself but still has a love interest. I’m gaping at the by-her-self part of that. A woman who has an entire collection of scripture studies wherein she actually did all the pages, all of them. Her prayer life is embarrassing for the rest of us because clearly we spend more time on Netflix than Jesus. The friend who eschews social media and effortlessly harvests the wild mushrooms in her back 40, crafting and creating alongside her handsome bearded flannelled husband and well-mannered, self-motivated, unschooled children. I need social media for the bonds forged deep into the Facebook messaging evening. — These sound like hyperbole. Maybe parts of them are. But maybe it’s true. Maybe you look around and you simply don’t have what your sisters are having and you want a big serving of it. Maybe it’s not…
Read MoreI wanted to share with you all my faves I’ve purchased over the last year. With four kids and a postpartum healing that just won’t let up, going the actual store during the day is a nightmare. Amazon has been my saving grace on that front. Going with the best two behaved kids to Target still resulted in crying//spittingup//frantic nursing//dragging toddler body on the ground, so online #foreverandever Linen Romper: I’m wearing this right now. I kinda live in it. Yes, I look like a polygamous sect wife gone wild, but hey, it’s awesome. Stretchable shorts: It’s called having four kids. Yes, I’m not embarrassed that my shorts are stretchable. Okay, maybe. But I LOVE these. I ordered a tad larger to be forgiving and they fit like a glove. So either my estimation of my own size is off (likely) or they run close to the bum. Epsom Salts: I soak in this salt almost every day. It’s really good for our aching bones, people. Naty: These diapers are the very very best. They never leak and they’re 100% compostable and the pull-ups work like a charm for potty trainers and little fat babies alike! Electric Kids Toothbrush: it plays a mash up of American kid songs and one we don’t recognize. BUT THEY BRUSH THEIR TEETH WITH THEM SO PRAISE! Lunchbox for the fall: After a whole school year of putting my son’s lunch in this velcro contraption that was half fabric, half wipeable, I had it. This…
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Here’s me and one of my best friends, my sister, Molly, and our youngest. She’s the woman behind Brooklyn Herborium hat I’m always talking about. I wrote a little while back about making friends as an adult and it really resonate with a lot of you! Nothing I love more than touching on subjects that are meaningful to my friends here, so thank you for all your feedback! I also talked with my good friend Nancy. She’s actually more like a dear friend. For years now she’s been an anchor in my real-life-meets-online group of ladies. If you haven’t entered into part of her movement to help women go deeper and get better at being their best selves, get a hustle on over to her site. If you haven’t listened to her podcast, I URGE you to go go go and listen now. I’m a guest this last episode and we got to talk F R I E N D S H I P. One of my favorite topics. Rounding that out, if you want to join the Community Leaders group for Blessed is She and see what we’re offering to start a community group, that link is here. If you want a sneak peak as to what I’ve been working hard on the past few months, that link is here!!! Back to family vacation week here in Saint Paul. Check you later, alligator! SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
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