Family Fun, Favorites, Food, and Faith
One of the hurdles we can face when trying to do things, accomplish things (ANY “things”) is being in the mood. If all it takes to turn a lousy day into a great one is a little dinner party and a phone call, why would you ever choose to have a lousy day? Even better, why would you let someone else have a lousy one?
The people who need you need you to fix their mood, even when you don’t feel like it. And we need you to learn to fix your own mood so you can be the one who fixes the rest of us.
For the most part, I think God wants us to do what we want to do. As long as we’re anxiously engaged in a good cause, He doesn’t necessarily care how we go about doing that. WE get to choose. We get to choose with God. The power is in us to govern ourselves. And make our own choices. And do things that make our souls come alive. So we get to make a decision and go the direction we want to go as long as we’re going about doing good.
Today I just wanted to share some of the books I’ve read (and loved) recently and a few quotes I picked out while reading them. It’s a random assortment of reading material, but that’s kinda how I roll. Randomly.
Am I busy doing the right things? Am I sacrificing the best things I could be doing for things that are good, just not the best? If I were to strip the purpose of life down to the bare bones, I would say the thing that counts most is how we treat other people. How we make other people feel. What kind of real, authentic relationships we have created. The question is, am I too busy to do this?
What if we SEE the moms who look like they have it all together and the moms who look like everything’s falling apart and the moms in between? And instead of looking away or acting like we don’t see what’s happening, we stop and we encourage. Motherhood as we know it will undoubtedly change when we choose to actively and consistently encourage each other.
I think sometimes we over-complicate what life is all about. If we were to boil life down to one main purpose, it would be to learn to love one another. To learn to love like God loves. Without reservation, without conditions, without judgement. To learn to love. To really love. And to treat each other accordingly. That’s it. But how do we accomplish this? Read on to see some suggestions.
How do I backup my photos? How should I organize them? Where should I print my pictures? What should I do with all my digital photos?
Although digital photos have made it possible for anyone, anywhere to document their life stories through photos (which is amazing), it has also created a problem where we have SO many photos and no idea how to manage them or display them in a meaningful way. I initiated a Picture Display Movement (because sometimes I give myself authority to start my own movements) hoping to inspire others to do something with their photos. And I wanted to take some of the ideas from there to give you a quick-and-dirty guide on what to do and where to start with all your photos after you take them. I present to you, what to do with all your digital photos:
Hey all! It’s Lindsay from Lindsay Ross Blog. Now that it’s warming up in Utah (well, winter never really happened here this year but don’t get me started on that disappointment) I’m starting to think about our adventures for the summer and warmer weather.
When I talk about camping for us, I’m talking in a tent, no running water, no toilets, out in the wilderness kind of camping. I’m not a big fan of campgrounds. People are too close. It’s too loud. People are too close. You know. We like our space when camping. And peace. And generally we don’t get cell service up there so we don’t get distracted by real life (always a plus in my book). So we make an effort to do full-on camping. Takes quite a bit more prep work, but we think it’s worth it for the experience.
I’m dedicated to take every day photos to document the stories of our families. But that doesn’t mean I’m taking photos all day every day. It means I’m intentional and deliberate about the photos I do take. Aware of what type of photos I want and what type of photos help tell our story the best. Photographing the every day doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. It can be simple, and an honest representation of our daily lives.
The things we do every day matter. They matter enough to pay attention to. And they certainly matter enough to photograph! Document your every day. And print it. And let your kids see how awesome you think they are because you care to document WHO they are and what they do!!
A little over 3 years ago, I had (what I hope to be) my last baby. It was always hard for me to stay motivated and lose all my baby weight after each baby when I was planning to get pregnant again. But after our last baby, it was go-time. And by “go-time” I mean 8 months after I had him I was finally motivated and ready to get back in shape. For the record, I didn’t exercise while pregnant with my last baby (unless you count chasing around 3 other kids as exercise, and it should probably count) nor was I a healthy eater while pregnant. I ate anything and everything all day long and put on a good 50+ pounds. And I was as out-of-shape as I had ever been in my life. I had my work cut out for me.
During this process, I started getting a lot of questions about what I was doing to lose the weight and get back in shape. I learned a LOT during the next year as I literally worked my butt off to get healthy and thought I’d share some of the lessons from getting healthy that I learned.
It’s always fun to start a new year here on ‘Or so she says…’ because I get to introduce to you a bunch of new and fabulous bloggers who have joined the blog team. There is sooooo much talent and creativity out there and my behind-the-scenes gals and myself work really hard to find our very favorites and slap a ‘she’ in front of their name. We’re pretty excited about these gals, both new AND the ones who are sticking around for another year. There will be oodles of blog posts and ideas coming your way. So be here, every day, yo. There’s always something new… recipes, parenting tips, travel ideas, crafts, gift ideas, and so much more!
Today I want to introduce you to Lindsay from Lindsay Ross Blog.
For my first post here, I get to share some of my tips to help you simplify your life. A very fitting topic as we enter a New Year and probably have ambitions of making this our best year yet. I have been thinking a lot about this topic lately, of simplifying, and have been working hard at doing just that in every area of my life. Sometimes I fail miserably. But I think I’m making baby steps towards living a simpler life.
So. Here are 9 strategies I use to simplify life. And this all comes with a disclaimer that my life is anything but simplified and easy. But I do what I can to simplify where I can so I don’t get sent to the crazy bin.
