I am full of lust for those Instagram accounts that have amazing, professional, bright and happy photos. I follow them because of pure love for a great photo. I guess I am actually not one of those moms who is always taking photos of everything everywhere. You would think it might be the opposite because of all the photos I post on my own Instagram, but I am actually very intentional about when, where and how I photograph. It is very important to me that I am present with my children, and they don’t feel like they are always on camera. I also just have a lot of photos in the post to show you what I am talking about. That’s easier for me to explain. I have a method of how I set up my photo opts, which I talk about in my eBook. It allows me to gather…

Here is an intro of the guest post I wrote over at Peony And Pine Company. They are a fabulous, local, PNW business, and I was so excited when they accepted my submission as a part of their blog. I Quite Pursuing My Dream Career And Let God Hire Me ​I’ve been slowly remembering pieces of childhood songs my mom used to sing to me. I tend to be able to only sing the chorus and maybe one verse over and over, but my boys think it’s the whole song. Ones like, “Rock-a-bye  baby in the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock…” then I think the cradle falls but I just sing that line about 5 times in a row. Its amazing how natural those songs come to me, like I just heard them, yet it was so very long ago that they were ingrained in…

Dear 2016, You deserve a letter. You were a year that was so good to me in so many ways. You came in quietly, then turned my world upside down and gave me two pink lines with your entrance. A new bundle on the way and two toddlers growing fast, your whirled me out of 2015 – a year of anxiety, fear and turmoil, into a new found joy and peace. You brought our family closer, healed past hurts and put some adventure in there too. A few plane trips, sun rays and palm trees were sprinkled throughout our renovation projects. Along with the renewed happiness in my soul, you gave me my healthy little David. This blog, my place of encouragement and truth, came alive in your slow conclusion, and I could never be more sad to say goodbye to you. I am praying 2017 continues with your power…

Little kids make the holidays sweeter, yet harder all at the same time. Its more difficult to navigate through activities, avoid messes and keep everyone happy with limited naps and all the excitement, but the wonder, magic and joy from their little spirits is worth it all. We really found the Holiday festivities at The Renaissance Hotel Palm Springs to be one of the best Holiday events yet. Each day there were fun, kid-friendly crafts, a Pinterest-worthy hot chocolate bar, tasty and sweet sugar cookies sprinkled with red and green, COFFEE!! and super cute decorations. If your child loves crafts with glue, colors, stickers and sparkles, you have to go every day! We started on Day 2, the Elf and Santa Hat decorating extravaganza. The elf hats were more than expected, with a little jingle bell on the top. The stickers were exactly what my toddlers need because they were soft,…

Today, we have a story by Marie Lofton from Whispers of a Crazy Mother. This is a difficult read. Marie captures the pain of miscarriage vividly and raw. You are taken through her experience with her, catapulted into her doctors appointments and painful news. Please grab a tissue and be prepared to need a hug, yet to also find such a sense of gratefulness at the end of her story. Don’t forget to connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. She has a great post, When Your Best Is Not Enough that you should also check out after this one. Let’s get straight to her story, and I’ll save her bio for the end. I remember discovering when we were pregnant with our first baby, it was January 20th 2009 (inauguration day of President Obama); we were newlyweds, just married the prior November. We were literally jumping up and…

“I was sitting in a deep-seated, leather chair in a place I’d only been a handful of times. I wasn’t yet familiar with the office, but I was comfortable enough to let some feelings and thoughts roll out. I was struggling to recount some stressful events in my life, when the counselor looked at me and said something that blew my mind. I wanted to knock some sense into him, but I was just speechless. He said, “you’re a perfectionist.” Time stopped. I was shocked and almost offended because it sounded so wrong. I contemplated walking straight out the door without a word. Um, what? Pretty sure I need a new counselor, I thought quickly. Didn’t I just tell him how frustrated I was with how not perfect things were? Well, I guess he hasn’t seen my car. I should show him all the crumbs hiding in the car seats and…

Purpose for Your Pain Series continues with Danielle Heckenkamp from Loving These Days. Danielle submitted a perfect story that illustrates the small sacrifices we have to make as mothers. The little things we used to love, like watching our favorite show with popcorn, sleeping, or just eating a hot meal vanish with the memories of childbirth. Danielle really puts the gift of joy into a practical reality, and I encourage you to read her Living In The Moment post after this one! Meet Danielle. She’s a stay at home mom and writer who lives in the beautiful state of Wisconsin with her husband and four children. Danielle Marie is the co-author of Provocative Manners: The Sauce of Life. After owning and operating a floral design company for ten years, Danielle has decided to focus on her husband and four children while completing her first novel. Make sure to connect with her…