Time for change...

I have been blogging here at Naturally Chic Mama for over two years now. When I started this blog, I was entirely new to the world of blogging – both in reading blogs and having one of my own. This blog has been a journey of self-discovery in many ways. I’m a born people-pleaser and have always gone with the majority on most matters in life.  I have never been one to speak my mind or offer an opinion, so this blog has been a place where I have felt safe to explore my passions and express my uniqueness. At 31, I have finally started to grow comfortable in my own skin, and feel like I have a good understanding of who I am as a person.

As a blogger, I have struggled to find my niche.  If you look back through my archives, you can see my blog content often changing from Natural Parenting to Green Living to Homeschooling to Decorating to Crafts and DIY’s to Faith and then back again. I have a Type A personality and I love categories and nicely organized compartments, and have tried very hard to figure out into which one I best fit. In doing so, I have learned a lot about my strengths and my weaknesses, my likes and my dislikes.

I have learned that I am not a photographer. I have finally accepted the fact that I will never have a beautiful lifestyle blog on Typepad. Other than taking pictures of the little things in life with my iPhone, photography stresses me out. I do not enjoy posting DIY’s, recipes, etc. because those involve a lot of step-by-step photography and I do not have the patience. Although I am homeschooling, I do not enjoy blogging about the details of homeschooling life because I can barely plan out our own weekly learning experiences much less resource everyone else with great printables.  (I hate printables anyway.) And although I try to live green and natural, I am not original in this and most of the things I do can be found on other natural living blogs, so I do not feel the need to reinvent the wheel.

So that leaves me with words. One thing I have learned through all of this is that I love to write. I have always loved reading and fell in love with writing in college, but other than journaling and a few short stories, I never really considered myself a writer. But as I have been blogging, I have discovered that writing is my favorite part of the blogging experience. I love to process my thoughts and organize my ideas. I love to sit in bed at night with the computer on my lap as I tap away at the keys.

Jeff Goins says that Step 1 of “Mastering the Habits of Great Writers” is to declare yourself a writer. So that is what I am doing here today.

I am a writer.

And I am excited to announce that I am currently in the process of moving this blog over to a self-hosted Wordpress site. My blog will have a new name, because although I love the name Naturally Chic Mama, I sometimes feel trapped by it, as though I only need to blog about Natural Living and Natural Parenting. Those are both very much a part of who I am, but just a part. What is true of the whole of who I am is a passion for intentional living in all areas of life, so that will be the common thread woven throughout my new blog.  I have many ideas for posts and series scratched into my notebook, as well as some other big dreams that I will share with you someday soon.

So this site will be quiet for a week or two while I work on getting the new blog ready for you. In the meantime, I have went ahead and changed my Facebook page from “Naturally Chic Mama” to “Amanda Medlin”, and changed my Twitter name from @NaturallyChic_ to @AmandaMedlin_. (Hopefully someday Twitter will release the unused account @AmandaMedlin, but until then, I will live with the underscore.)

If you are a subscriber to Naturally Chic Mama, your subscription should transfer over. (Fingers crossed!) If you have my site bookmarked, I will give you the new web address soon, so that you can bookmark it. If you keep up with my posts on Facebook or Twitter, you won’t have any problems because you will simply be clicking on the links I provide.

I will let you know when the new site is ready, and invite you over to check it out. I am very excited to embark on the next chapter of this journey and I hope that you will stay along for the ride.

Always, 

Amanda

Ignorance Is Bliss. Or Is It?

I feel like I need to explain myself a little more about the way I've been feeling in regards to feeling "stuck in between" the person I am and the person I want to be.

You see, for a long time I lived in ignorance. I grew up as a good Christian girl who went to a good Christian school and worked at a good Christian bookstore. I went on to attend a good Christian university and marry a good Christian guy. I had dreams of being a beautiful pastor's wife with a beautiful pastor's family. We would have a beautiful house with the white picket fence, and it would be completely decorated from the Pottery Barn catalog. My kids would be aspiring little preachers and church musicians, like every good Pastor's kid should be. It's was every good Christian girl's fairy tale!

Shortly after my husband and I were married, we both felt like God told us to quit our jobs and go work full-time for an inner-city ministry in one of the worst parts of Atlanta. We even ended a contract mid-construction while building our dream house, with plans to move to the inner-city where we ministered. Even though I was all in, the realities of life and ministry in the inner-city quickly set in, and I started having a pity party for myself and the "pretty life" dream that I had given up. It took a couple of years, but God changed my heart and I grew to love working with that ministry and those kids. We even took guardianship of a teenage boy for a while, and although he didn't stay long, I am grateful for that experience. My eyes were opened in many ways while we were at that church, and I lost a lot of the naivety and ignorance that I had prior to working there. It changed me for the better and I have never looked at ministry the same way again.

Fast forward 9 years and here I am today, living my original "pretty life" dream. We work at a nice large church, make good money, have a beautiful brick home in a nice neighborhood. It's decorated a little more eclectic than Pottery Barn, but I have the playroom and the office and the guest bedroom and the sun porch..

One could say, "Look how God has blessed you! He gave you all of your heart's desires!" And He has, and I am truly grateful. There is never a day that I don't look at my life and thank God for His blessings.

But...

That girl who dreamed about the perfect pretty life is gone. She has been replaced by a woman who's eyes have been opened to many things about faith, ministry, culture, economics, poverty, consumerism, health, etc. On the surface I am your normal suburban mom, taking my kids to the playground in our SUV, eating lunch at Chick-fil-A, stopping by Target to pick up a few things before heading back to our big, nice house where we are always working on a little remodeling project. But on the inside, I am the girl who devours Shane Claiborne books, watches conspiracy documentaries, and can't get enough of Derek Webb. Songs like "I Repent" and "I See Things Upside Down"  and "I Want a Broken Heart" are my silent anthems.

Sometimes I long for those days of ignorance. The days when I ate diet Twinkies and thought I was making a healthier choice. The days when I thought that all God wanted from me was to sing him worship songs with my hands lifted. The days when I thought that wealth and prosperity were God's greatest blessings.

But the ignorance is gone. Knowledge has entered that realm and with that knowledge, I am forced to make decisions.

Do I keep buying more and more stuff because that is what our culture is all about? More clothes, more home decor, more toys, more entertainment. Or do I learn to be content with less and start giving away the things we don't really need?

Do I continue living in a house that is much too big for our small family, and pour money and time into decorating and projects, or do we downsize and give up our dream house? Or, do I open up my home to others who need a place to live?

Do I continue giving my children the "best" by raising them in a nice little bubble where they basically get everything a kid could ever want, or do I raise them to not focus so much on the things they want and teach them how to love and serve "the least of these?"

Do I continue abusing and neglecting my body and the earth by eating unhealthy processed foods and relying too much on disposable items? Or do I take the harder road toward eating local and organic whole foods and adopting a zero waste lifestyle?

I am in the process of reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker and it has really messed me up. Warning: if you are in a happy state of blissful ignorance in regards to living less than intentionally in the areas of Food, Clothes, Spending, Media, Possessions, Waste, and Stress; this is not the book for you. But if you are ready to take a hard look at your life in light of the less popular aspects of God's Word, then I highly recommend this book!

There is this part of me that desperately just wants to be normal (whatever that means). But I know too much. I have too many convictions that I can't deny.

"What if Jesus knew our Christian culture would design a lovely life template complete with all the privileges and exemptions we want, but even with that widespread approval, He still expected radical simplicity, radical generosity, radical obedience from those with ears to hear, eyes to see?" 

So that's where I am. Somewhere "in between" living the way I was raised and the way most everyone around me lives, and being the weirdo/hippie that makes everyone a little uncomfortable by her alternative choices.

I kind of plateaued a while back in working my way toward living a natural and simple lifestyle, but this book has given me new passion and energy to keep making the necessary steps toward change.

"Stewardship is like that. I won't answer for the way another Christian mismanaged money. I won't be charged with another person's irresponsible consumption. Nor will I get credit for how another faith community shared or sacrificed luxuries for the marginalized. I'll answer for my choices. It won't work to say, 'But the church...' or 'But they...' or 'What about them...' for how we managed our money, our share of the earth. The 'my vote doesn't really count so why bother?' attitude our generation loves won't fly when it's all said and done."

I will end with this one last quote from the book, where Jen is talking to her 2004 self...

"Soon your whole life will be centered on justice. Your're going to walk away from power and reputation, and you'll break bread with the homeless and give away the shoes off your feet. It will be awesome. You'll be free soon. This nagging tension that things aren't right, that life is more than blessing extremely blessed people...that's all true. A torrent of believers are demanding more from the indulged American life, daring to imagine that discipleship is adventurous and risky and sacrificial and powerful. You won't believe how many of them there are. You'll be drawn into a thrilling chapter God is writing in the church..."

I'm ready for real change.

Always,

Amanda

Life In Between

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A friend of mine posted this on my Facebook page yesterday...

It's been over a week and no new blog post?! Ma'am what is up?!

To which I replied...

Busy and overwhelmed! :(

If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you have probably noticed that I go MIA a lot. When things in my life get busy and overwhelming, blogging tends to be one of the first things I put on the back burner. 

April/May is a busy time for me at the church because I am in charge of two large events held two weekends back-to-back. Then there is just simply being the mama of two little boys, taking care of my home, working in my garden, sewing a quilt, reading good books, knitting a cute little dress (which I finished last night!), and watching Downton Abbey. Oh, and I started running and doing Power 90 again. (Unfortunately my "break for the Holidays" turned into a 5 month workout hiatus, which I am ashamed to admit.)

But that's just all the busy stuff. And really, I love to stay busy. I have never been one much for relaxing. So that leaves the whole "overwhelmed" part. And this part is hard to explain. 

You see, I am a little weird. In the mountains where we used to live, they called it "quar." 

I tend to see things differently then most people around me, and I am passionate about things that not many in my circles really care about. 

Faith

Politics

Parenting

Culture

Lifestyle

Education

Most of my views on these topics are very different than those of my friends, my family, and my church. And since I dislike confrontation, I tend to just keep my mouth shut, paste a smile on my face, and nod my head. I am more vocal here on the blog, but there are still many posts I never publish, and ideas scribbled in a notebook that never make it to the tapping of the keys.

And it eats away at me. I feel stuck in between. In between the person I truly am and the person that I try to be for everyone else. I am 31. When will I finally be comfortable to truly be myself? How am I supposed to raise my boys to live authentically if I struggle to live authentically in front of them?

For a long time I struggled with finding my identity, but over the last couple of years, I feel like I have "found myself" and discovered the things that are truly important to me. Now I just struggle with the boldness to live it. 

I kind of feel like a caterpillar who has already turned into a butterfly, but still finds herself trapped inside the cocoon. And for some reason, that feels particularly overwhelming this week.

Always, 

Amanda

My One Word for 2012: {Be}

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I have moved 26 times. I am 31 years old. You do the math. 

We were not a military family, but we were a ministry family, and when it comes to moving, those can often look the same. Then I married a minister, and the rest is history. I'm not bitter, and I don't have any deep resentments or issues about it. In fact, I have been a part of the decision making on all of my moves as a married woman, so I do understand the thought process behind a decision to move. 

But as I get older, I am recognizing the effects that my many moves have had on my ability and desire to invest in friendships. I tend to hold back because it almost feels like a waste of time. Because I know that in a short while, we will probably move away and that person will no longer be in my life. I am thankful for Facebook, and for being able to keep up with old friends, but it is hard to maintain a deep level of friendship when your paths do not cross in everyday life. 

Don't get me wrong, I have friends. In fact, right now God has blessed me with some of the best friendships I have ever had. I think that is why this is so pressing on my heart. I am ready to be a better friend to these people, even if I do not have the assurance that they will always be in my life. 

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." Ralph Waldo Emerson

So in 2012, I am going to be more intentional in my friendships. I am going to pick up the phone more often, open my home, my kitchen table, and my heart. 

Something I plan to start this month, is a weekly playgroup at my house for moms of little ones. I think it will be a great way to connect with other moms and provide a place for us to regularly encourage and pray for each other. 

So if you are one of my friends, watch out! I might be ringing your phone off the hook. Just kidding! No seriously. 

So that is my One Word for 2012....be.

Always, 

Amanda

So, about those 2012 goals...

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The other day, I shared with you a bit about my goal planning process. So today, I will tell you my goals (i.e. resolutions) for 2012. Keep in mind, some of these are more like focus areas than specific goals. These are also not necessarily my only goals for 2012, but areas that I know I want to focus on initially. As the year progresses, I will re-evaluate and make additions and changes as necessary. I will also include some of the books I plan to read this year as they line up with my focus areas/goals (and because one of my goals is to read more books this year).

Spirituality:

This year I really want to broaden my faith. I kind of grew up in a small denominational bubble and there are many aspects of faith and spirituality that were not discussed. I just finished the book The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like it really brought some things together for me and provided me some direction in my spiritual journey. I liked the author's writing style and I have now started reading his book, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others, which has also already spoken to me in big ways. Some things that I am curious in learning more about are the church calendar, liturgy and creeds, the Saints, and overall church history. I was reading the beginning of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and I really agreed with the authors when they talked about how American Christian's think nothing of living by a calendar that celebrates the nation's birthday, presidents and veterans. But a lot of us do not even think of Advent, Maundy Thursday, Lent, etc. And instead of celebrating the lives of such Saints as Valentine, Patrick, and Nicholas, we use those days to party and buy things. I have to be honest, I struggled through Christmas this year. There is so much more meaning and depth I wanted it to have, but I too easily found myself busy shopping, baking, and keeping family traditions. I definitely want to read Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World? before next Christmas. In The King Jesus Gospel, the author talks about how the church calendar is a yearly celebration of the life of Christ, so observing the church calendar is, in essence, a way of living the Gospel Story. Also on my reading list in the area of spirituality is The Voice (a new translation of the New Testament). It was headed up by Pastor Chris Seay of Ecclesia Church in Houston. I recently discovered him at Catalyst and have since been digging into his church's website and listening to his podcasts. (I think it's my dream church!) Some other books I hope to read this year: The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extroidinary Nature of Everyday Life, and Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace and Learning the Hard Way.

Homemaking:

I really want to focus on healthy meal preparation this year. Meal planning does not come easy to me. It's a generational curse. I want to cook healthy and provide nourishing snacks for my children, but I get overwhelmed and never know what to make. We always end up eating out more than we should, and falling back on processed snacks for the boys. Toward the end of 2011, I took some time to work on meal planning and creating new eating habits, learning a lot from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking. Then of course the holidays hit, and we fell back into our old ways of eating. I am ready to get back to healthier ways over the next few weeks. I received the book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats for Christmas. I am excited to read through that. I am also very curious about the Paleo Diet that my friend Faith follows. Ultimately, I want to create a two week meal and snack plan and shopping list. Once I have that created and begin following it, I can slowly add more meals. My ultimate goal is for us to follow a healthy, non-processed food diet of meals and snacks that we actually enjoy, and that are simple to prepare so that I do not have to spend all of my time in the kitchen. I would so rather be doing something crafty. Did I mention that I would like it to also be budget friendly?

Mothering:

As always, I need to work on our rhythm and routines. Although I am an organized person in some areas, I can't seem to get it together when it comes to things like bath time, bedtime, etc. NEED TO WORK ON THIS! Much in line with this is discipline. Little Man is every bit of almost 2 years old. He is a fiery little guy, and I am not as prepared as I would like to be. I read The No-Cry Discipline Solution when Buddy was little, and I really got a lot of practical advice out of it. It is on my must-read list again, because I need a refresher course! I also want to work on establishing more of a daily devotional time with the boys. I really want to read Young Children and Worship as well as look into the Godly Play curriculum. They used a Montessori/Play-Based Method of teaching the Bible and the curriculum uses liturgy and the church calendar, which is something I would also like to introduce the boys to.

Education:

Since my initial posting about my educational plans for the boys, I haven't said much here on the blog. I have been doing a lot of reading, tweaking, adding new things, and taking away some that weren't working. All of this deserves a post of it's own, which I promise to do later. But I will mention here that I want to focus on reading more to the boys this year. I want a love for reading to be established early in their lives. I will probably use The Read Aloud Handbook and What to Read When to guide me in my selections. I will also reference this Charlotte Mason book list. I have personally done a lot of reading on the Montessori, Waldorf, and Charlotte Mason methods. I would now like to do some reading on the Reggio Emilia and the Unschooling methods, just not sure which titles yet. Any recommendations? I also definitely want to buy Playful Learning. I looked through it at the bookstore and was very inspired!

Physical: 

I would like to begin training for a 10K. I really enjoyed running the 5K recently, and am ready to raise the bar. I also need to start taking better care of my skin. I have really neglected my skin since I had the boys. I rarely wash off my makeup before I go to bed, and have never used moisturizer, and it is really starting to show. I have some serious forehead creases, and in a momentary lapse of judgement, I cut some Zooey Deschanel style bangs to hide them. They have taken some getting used to, but I do like them. Anyway, this has prompted me to establish a skin care routine. The problem is that I struggle with acne, but still want to go the anti-aging route. I would also to go as natural as possible in my products. Any suggestions?

Creativity:

I dabbled in Art Journaling a bit this past year, and would like to explore that more. I also want to learn how to crochet. I have a mile long list of home projects as well as things I want to sew. I received the book Sewing For Boys for Christmas, and I am excited to try some of the projects. And as slow as I knit, I figure that I better start knitting baby things now, if I ever want to have a cute hand knit wardrobe for my next child. (No, I am not pregnant.)

Personal:

I really want to work on better "memory keeping". I struggle with the best way to print and organize pictures, keepsakes, etc. I was really inspired by the photo book that Ashley made for her daughter. I also want to somehow create of memory box of my father. When I was in Ohio, I spent a lot of time talking to my grandparents about their childhoods and memories. I typed as much as I could as we talked. I want to compile that in a nice way with pictures. I also want to write out my own memories and stories. All things for my boys to read when they are older. I think it is important to learn from your heritage.

New Endeavors:

I would like to open an online shop this year to sell some of the things I enjoy making. I have wanted to do this for a long time now, but have been afraid to take that first step. If I don't at least give it a shot, I know I will regret it. You will definitely hear more about this soon.

Random:

I want to get a dog.

So that's it folks. Well, except for my One Word for 2012, which I will share in another post because this one is entirely too long already. To see more of the books I hope to read this year, check out my Goodreads page.

It's going to be a good year.

Always,

Amanda

My Goal Planning Process

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Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I hate it, but  nonetheless, my brain seems wired to see everything in categories and lists. Several times a year, I sit down and do a big "life evaluation" where I re-evaluate my personal goals and create to-do lists to help me reach those goals. I often feel the need to do this after a period of time where life and schedules have been a little crazy like Christmas.

So here I am, January 1, 2011. We just got back from visiting my family in Ohio. The Christmas decorations are 1/4 of the way down, and I am so ready for life to get back to normal (if there is such a thing). On our drive to and from Ohio, I did some great reading, and Phillip and I had good conversations on various topics regarding faith, family, and our future. My mind has been swirling with thoughts, goals, ideas as I have unpacked from our trip and started taking down decorations. Now Phillip is watching a movie with the boys and has given me some precious time to myself to think and write, and get all of these thoughts out on paper.

Sometimes I forget that everyone is not wired like me, and some struggle in setting goals and creating realistic steps to meet those goals. So as I sit here and work on mine, I thought I would let you in on my goal planning process to perhaps help you in creating your own.

First of all, my goals are more than just New Year's Resolutions. I think that everyone wants to eat healthier, exercise more, spend more quality time with family, pay off debt, read the Bible more, etc. I think those are great goals for all of us to have, but sometimes they are too general and vague. I like to see my goals more as small areas to focus on in order to reach those bigger overall goals. For example, I want my family to eat healthier. Instead of just making that a general resolution,  a more specific goal I have is to work on creating a healthy 2-week meal and shopping plan. Focusing on that specific area will bring me closer to my overall goal having a family who eats healthier.

Another thing that helps me is to not get too overwhelmed by the big picture. Someday I would love to have an amazing garden where I grow a lot of our own food, shop in bulk at health food stores using bags that I have sewn, soak all my grains, fill my freezer and pantry with things I have made and preserved, and the list goes on and on. When I think of all of those things, I get very overwhelmed. But if I just focus on one area, such as creating a 2-week meal and shopping plan, I am less overwhelmed. Once I complete that goal, I can begin to work on a new goal in that category.

When I first sit down to do some "life evaluation" and goal planning, I pull out a scratch pad and write out what goals or areas for improvement that immediately come to mind. I then categorize those goals according to the different areas of my life. You could look at these as the different roles you have, hats you wear, or layers of who you are. Here are my current categories:

• Personal 
• Mind (Self-Improvement Goals - e.g. Read More)
• Spirit (Personal Spiritual Goals, Disciplines and Habits)
• Body (Physical Goals)
• Homemaker (Daily Care of Home and Family)
• Mother (Spiritual Goals for Boys, Discipline Goals, etc.)
• Educator (Educational Goals, Plans and Activities for the Boys)
• Minister/Christian (Different from Personal Spiritual Goals. These would be more outward focused.)
• Creative (Because I am a creative person, I have a list of goals of creative things I would like to focus on this year. You could list this as your whatever your hobby is.)
• Projects (Home Improvement)
• Miscellaneous (Because some things just do not fit well into any category.)

There are other hats that I wear, that I do not have listed such as Wife, Daughter, etc. Because I am always working off a list such as this, the focus areas change every couple of months or so. So if there isn't an immediate goal that comes to mind in that category, I usually leave it off for now. If I dig too deep, I will create a mile long list in every category and will be so overwhelmed, that I won't make any progress across the board. My biggest piece of advice - don't over think this. Keep your goals simple and reachable. Don't try to plan your goals for the whole life or even the entire year, just list the areas that you want to focus on for the next three months or so. 

Once you have your immediate goals written out and categorized, see if you can break them down even more. For example, if one of your goals is to read more books this year, go ahead and list some books that you would like to read. Reading more is one of my goals for 2012, and many of the books I want to read are actually steps to help me reach other goals on my list. 

Once you have your goals broken down into realistic things that you can take action on, you have to figure out when you are going to take action. Let's face it, we can only focus on a few things at a time if we want to do them well. I have tried different methods of goal reaching. One thing I have learned that doesn't work for me is to put a date or time on my goals. Kind of like following a Bible Reading Plan where you read so many chapters per day and check them off on a dated list. That kind of thing stresses me out. 

What I have found to work best for me is weekly evaluation and small goal setting. I have a small dry erase board in my office that I use for weekly goals. At the beginning of the week, I will write different categories on the board of things to work on for the week. I start with things that have to be done, such as grocery shopping, cleaning the house, doctor's appointments, etc. Then I pull out my list of goals from above, and write out what goals I want to focus on that week. I try to keep it all pretty flexible, so I will stick with it.

There is one last thing that I do that seems to help me stay inspired and focused. I am a very visual person, so I like to hang pictures, Scriptures, quotes, and words in different places around the house. If I am reading a book or a blog, and something really stands out to me, I pull out an index card and write it with black Sharpie. I will then hang it above my kitchen sink, on my bulletin board, on the bathroom mirror, above a light switch. You will find little things all around my house that remind me of the person that I want to be. I was very encouraged by Sarah's post about her One Word for 2012. That got me thinking about what my one word for this next year is. I have several in mind. 

So that is my goal planning process in a nutshell. Later this week, I plan to share some of my specific goals for this year (next 3 months at least) as well as some books I hope to read, and maybe even my "One Word". I hope that you are having a great first day of 2012!

Happy New Year!

Always, 

Amanda

31

Today is my 31st birthday. No big post of personal goals for me today, even though I am always assessing my life, making changes and setting goals behind the scenes. It's just the type of person I am.

Today I just want to take a quick moment to share my heart. 

I'm not going to lie. This past year wasn't an easy year for me. But a few months ago (after some evaluating, making changes and setting goals), I got myself back into gear and I am feeling much better. I am excited what this next year brings!

This morning, I took the boys to the playground and Buddy wanted to play restaurant. He gave me a birthday cake (piece of mulch) and I pretended to make a wish and blow out the candle. When I tried to make a wish, I truly could not think of anything to wish for because I have everything I need and have ever wanted. That is such a wonderful feeling! 

So today, on my birthday, I want to thank the Father for His "birthday" gift to me...contentment. 

"But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6

Always, 

Amanda

My Personal Mission Statement

During my little "retreat" this week, I did a lot of thinking about what I am all about...my "purpose" for lack of a better word. I came up with a personal mission statement so that I can always keep myself in check to make sure that the life I am living day-to-day is reflective of the person that I hope to be.

My Personal Mission Statement:


To be a good steward of all that God has entrusted me with as I strive to live a life reflective of Christ that points others to Him and His Kingdom.

I will aim for good stewardship over...

1. My Time - 
1. Use my time wisely
2. Be mindfully present in every moment and not take my time here on earth or with my loved ones for granted
2. My Temple (1 Corinthians 6:19)
1. Take care of my body through good nutrition and physical fitness
2. Be careful of everything that I put in and on my body
3. My Talents 
1. Aim to use my creativity, strengths, and influence meaningfully
4. My Treasures 
1. Be intentional in my roles as wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend
2. Spend my money wisely
3. Be generous with my money and belongings
4. Take care of the earth and all of God's creation

Many more good things came from my time of reflection. I will continue to share them with you as I hope to encourage all of you in your personal journeys.


Always, 

Amanda

Time...

Have you ever felt like everything in your life was pointing you toward something? Coincidence, I don't believe so. More like Divine direction. 

1) Ever since my father passed away two months ago, I am much more aware of the sacredness of life and our time here on this earth, however long or short it may be. 

2) I have been reading "Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting" (which is an awesome book that I will be posting about soon!) which is all about awareness and living in the present moment. 

3) I listened to an awesome sermon by Andy Stanley called "Time of Your Life: Under the Sun" based on the book of Ecclesiastes and Solomon's conclusion that "everything is meaningless...under the sun", except those things in which eternal investments are made. To listen to the sermon, click here. 

Time, or lack thereof, has been on my mind a lot lately. How I spend my time and how little time I feel I have to spend. Being a stay at home mom of two little ones keeps me busy enough, but as the wife of a minister, I also have many responsibilities at our church. On top of that, I love to sew, knit, read, blog, etc. I have been feeling very overwhelmed and stressed lately, because I always feel like my "to do" is ever growing and I am always a week behind at best. I decided to take a much needed break Tuesday, and my mother-in-law watched the boys for me while I took some time to myself to pull myself together and do some self-evaluation of my priorities and how I spend my time.


My little "retreat" was profitable and I will be sharing with you some of the conclusions I made. Be patient with me, as less time on the computer was one of those conclusions. :)


Always, 

Amanda

101 Things in 1001 Days

Today I am 30. It sounds so old, yet I feel so young. I am very happy and content with where I am in my life. I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful boys, a house to grow old in, and great family and friends. I am very blessed!

I have heard it said that your 20's are for finding yourself and your 30's are for living out that "self" that you found. My 20's were definitely a time for finding myself. I feel like I have finally come into my own, even just in the past 2-3 years. Something about having kids makes you not care about what everyone else thinks. It's important for me to live authentically for my children. I have done a lot and made a lot of changes. There are still plenty of things I want to do. Because I can't function without a list...here is my "life" to do list, or at least for the next 3 years.

Inspired by Heather. Here we go...(In no particular order of importance, just as they came to mind and then categorized.)

A Healthier Me

1. Incorporate more whole/unprocessed foods into my diet
2. Start drinking green smoothies
3. Become a vegetarian
4. Start drinking infused water instead of sodas
5. Start running again
6. Run a marathon
7. Start practicing yoga regularly
8. Try out hooping
9. Start drinking herbal tea
10. Lose the baby weight

A Life Less Toxic

1. Purchase a Berkey water filter and a filtered shower head
2. Stop using plastic in the kitchen...use stainless and glass when at all possible
3. Buy Kleen Kanteens for me, hubby, and the boys
4. Convert to all natural body products... cleansers, lotions, etc.
5. Start wearing all natural/organic makeup
6. Switch to no-poo method of washing hair and find or make natural styling products
7. Make homemade deodorant
8. Make homemade bug spray
9. Find natural sun screen
10. Start using natural toothpaste
11. Stop coloring my hair or switch to henna dye
12. Get rid of Teflon coated pans
13. Make a "healing basket" with natural remedies
14. Make homemade laundry detergent and stain remover

A Life Less Wasteful

1. Start using cloth paper towels and napkins Oct 2010
2. Start using "cloth" sandwich bags
3. Start using cloth cotton pads (In place of cotton balls)
4. Start using mama cloth or Diva Cup
5. Try out cloth toilet paper
6. Use reusable shopping bags ALL the time
7. Start using handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex Oct 2010
8. Try to get all books from library, borrow, or buy used
9. If purchasing books or music, purchase to download online
10. Try furoshiki instead of gift wrap

A Simple Life

1. Join The Compact (pledge to not buy anything new for one year)
2. Pay off all debt (except houses)
3. Downsize to one car
4. Get rid of the microwave
5. Simplify each room of the house - only keep what is functional and/or what I LOVE
6. Stop shopping at Wal-Mart, Target and other big company stores and start shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, farmer's markets, and small locally owned businesses

My Little Suburban Homestead

1. Start composting
2. Plant a garden
3. Start canning and preserving
4. Start collecting rainwater for watering garden and other uses
5. Build pantry shelves
6. Organize home office
7. Organize sewing room
8. Redecorate living room
9. Redecorate sun porch
10. Redecorate boys bedroom
11. Redecorate master bedroom

Going To and Fro

1. Purchase a cruiser style bicycle with a basket and ride to local places (library, park, etc)
2. Purchase a bike trailer for the boys
3. Purchase a diesel vehicle and convert to run on veggie oil

It's Personal 

1. Start every day with prayer and meditation 
2. Purchase a DSLR camera Sept 2010
3. Take a photography class
4. Take an online course at Vintage Remedies
5. Start etsy store
6. Start ReFind style
7. Do nothing and relax more often
8. Read all the books on my Good Reads "to read" list (see sidebar)
9. Organize computer files, pictures and email folders
10. Find awesome boots and wear them with EVERYTHING!
11. Volunteer with Impact Fulton (in honor of my dad)
12. Give blood again
13. Go on a mission trip
14. Get a tattoo? (Still thinking about this one...)

Family Matters

1. Get rid of TV except for DVD use Sept 2010
2. Get rid of DVD's that do not line up with our values
3. Write a Family Mission Statement
4. Write "18 Year Discipleship Plan" for our children
5. Go camping
6. Decorate the house with beautiful family photos (that I take with my new DSLR camera)
7. Visit Ohio family
8. Create family rhythm/schedule
9. Read the entire "Parenting Passageway" blog
10. Organize family photos and keepsakes
11. Start doing Tot School with Buddy
12. Start doing daily "devotions" with Buddy
13. Have another baby
14. Make keepsake box of my father's things
15. Buy a vintage locket to hold a picture of my father
16. Go on a REAL vacation to the beach
17. Start real vintage shopping

Oh So Crafty

1. Make an inspiration board
2. Make a king size quilt for our room
3. Make a full/queen quilt for the boys to share a bes when Little Man gets older
4. Make a rag rug out of old t-shirts
5. Knit a sweater for myself
6. Knit a baggy hat for myself
7. Knit a sweater for each of the boys
8. Knit a hat for each of the boys
9. Knit a hat for hubby
10. Learn to crochet
11. Learn to spin yarn
12. Dye yarn using plant dyes
13. Learn to embroider
14. Take an online class with Rachel and Elsie
15. Make a felt playhouse for the boys
16. Buy a vintage sewing machine

Well, those are my 101. I'm sure I'll think of more, but that's it for now. I've been working on this post for about a month now, so some of the things I have already begun. I will mark through and date the items as my way of "checking them off the list" as I move forward. Gotta get busy


Always, 

Amanda

A Glimpse Into My Life

I was born a people-pleaser. I'm a "go with the flow", avoid conflict at all costs, make everybody happy - kind of a person. But there is something about being a Mama that brings out a different side of me. When it comes to my babies, I really don't care what anyone else thinks. I don't care what our society/culture deems as normal. I follow my God-given maternal instincts, and do what I feel is best for my family. It is very liberating!

So that is what this blog is about. It is a glimpse into my life as a Mama to two precious boys. Join me on this journey as I follow my heart in loving and caring for my family. I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way, but as Herman Melville once said..."It's better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

Always,

Amanda