WW: Year In Review

Love that this New Year's eve is on a Thursday again, that means I get to link up again with Mama Kat for my year in review. Thankfully this year wasn't nearly as much of a roller coaster compared to 2014.

This post is just a recap of the things I did in 2015. You can click the individual links to read the posts. I am also mixing it up with Shan's year in review that I did in 2008. I thought it was a fun one and a great way to incorporate more posts. =)

Happy New Year and welcome to 2015. January kicked off our New Year with (as always) resolutions. I don't think I kept any of them, but what else is new! I talked a bit about Mommy Wars, a discuss sparked by a good friend's letter and followed up once more here. My first Ipsy bag brought a few reviews. I wrapped up the month with a post about upcoming heart month.

Sorry, but I am not sorry. February brought my first "going, going, gone" with Jamberry. It's where we say farewell to the old catalog and hello to the new. A favorite post was the things I love about parenthood. My readers got to see how my day goes in my Day in the life post. The month was wrapped up with a Jamberry how-to on application and removal.

I realize I posted yesterday about Jamberry, but I am going to post again. March brought my first new Jamberry catalog. SO EXCITING. I answered 50 questions I've never been asked before. Essential oils were introduced into my life and changed the way I think about health in my home, I got to talk about my experience with DoTerra. Spring came in beautifully and I got a few great pictures. We also celebrated Mom's first birthday in heaven.

I have to share this here, even though it's another shameless plug for my jamberry business! April started with another Jamberry post. Makes me laugh now, but Jamberry has become a part of my life. It's only natural that it is a big part of my blog. Easter happened. Alivia turned six and I shared six things in my blog post. Music is a huge part of my life and I shared that a bit during writers workshop and shared ten songs. The month ended with McKayla's dental extractions to make room for her "big girl" teeth.

I am linking up this week for five minute Friday. In May I continued linking up for Five Minute Friday. Stephen's grandparents made their first trip to Boise. My first mother's day without my mom was celebrated. Mid-month I fell in love with a cyborg named Cinder. We started our container garden that didn't do well! May wrapped up with an interview with my girls. Always interesting to hear their take on things!

Alivia at her Kinder graduation 6-1-15. June creeped up on me and before I knew it, we were at kindergarten graduation for my baby. My grandmother's china finally made its way to our home. I talked about all the ways you know you are a mom. The girls surprised my dad and Stephen with special Father's Day presents. It became apparent how little I really know about my dad when I did a special Father's Day Tag on his birthday

It is a gift to be loved by so many here in Oregon. In July we got to spend some time in Oregon. We got to see my sweet niece Roselynn. The girls got to feed the ducks with their new cousins. Vacation Bible school gave the girls another opportunity to perform. They are naturals! Biggest news of the month was most definitely when Odin joined our family.

He has been snipped, chipped and vaccinated. Poor Odin was miserable the first part of the month, because we tortured him, trying to be good pet parents. The girls got new backpacks for school. Book reviewing became another new passion for me. Teacher meet and greets happened and McKayla's teacher is small just like her! We wrapped up the month with a visit from my best friend and the girls' almost cousins.

I was given a copy of this book in return for my honest review. More book reviews! I found NetGalley and had a bit too much fun requesting books to review. Natalie turned EIGHT! I celebrated my one year jami-versary and found comfort in finding penny's. September wrapped up with a surprise candle light dinner at home with my love.

Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die we can't remember who we are or why we are here. October started with me pondering this or that for a Halloween Tag. The girls and I read about The Good Dog. McKayla celebrated her first double-digit birthday. I participated again in the 31-days of free writes during the month of October and that's how I wrapped up my month.

One year ago today I started my 1000 gifts experience. November brought the conclusion of my 1000 gifts journey. I now have them all posted on a page of this blog. You can click the 1000 Gifts tab to see them. How to be Brave touched my heart in a way a book never really has. We learned that Natalie was being tested to see if she qualified for special education. Stephen and I celebrated one year of marriage.

After such a wonderful Thanksgiving, it should be easy for me to come up with five things I'm thankful for. I did a throwback Thursday (on a Saturday) for my amazing sister's birthday. December was the month we found out Natalie did in fact qualify for special education. We concluded 2015 with an amazing Christmas with my sister and dad and countless other family members.

How was your 2015?

Most Memorable of 2015

I am already planning a year in review, but Kate Montag has a link up I thought I would participate in this time. I am posting links to some of my most memorable posts from 2015. Always fun to look back and read what happened this year. Here are my top ten most memorable posts from 2015 (in my opinion).

1. We Remembered mom on her birthday 
2. My "baby" turned 6
3. McKayla had dental "surgery"
4. I fell in love with a cyborg Cinderella 
5. We got a dog
6. We met our teacher for the 2015-16 school year
7. Natalie turned 8
8. McKayla turned 10!
9. We celebrated our first year of marriage 
10. Natalie was approved for special education

What about you, if you had to make a list of the top ten things that happened to you this year, what would be on it?

Lazy Day

I love a lazy Saturday.

One where we don't have anywhere to go and we can just enjoy each other's company.

One where we can go somewhere or not.

One where we can marathon watch Netflix and not freeze outside.

I love a lazy Saturday, just like the one we are having today.

Coffee Break

thank you google images for this picture

It's been awhile since you and I had coffee and I thought it about time to share a cup. Won't you join me? I'm going to have a carmel mocha and hope the heat helps this nasty cold a bit!

Lets start our conversation light, shall we. I love how fun the fall Starbucks cups are. I just love how they change the cups with the seasons.

Let's get a bit deeper, I have been meeting with my pastor. Apparently, I haven't been actually dealing with my mom's death so we are working on that. Rhonda used a great analogy the other day about my current feelings. It's like when you are getting ready to take out the trash but you get sidetracked after tying the bag. It is sitting in your house. May not bother you unless someone bumps it, but when that happens all the smell and ick gets out. That's like the grief in my life. Most of the time it's safely sitting in my heart, away from my daily life. But, anytime I have a "mommy moment" my heart ache is so acute that most of the time I am unable to get through it without tears and frustration. My goal from these sessions is to be able to remember my mom without it being a mental breakdown every time. I need to "take the trash out" and take care of the guilt and anger that is going along with the grief.

Anyway, enough about the deep stuff, time to talk about my adorable doggie. He is really starting to click with our family. He's quickly mastered "sit" and "lay down quickly and we are working on stay. He also knows how to come when he's called. The girls are LOVING him and he loves them too. Every morning he prances around them when they come out of their room. I have to actually close their door to keep him from waking them up. If I leave it open, he runs right in, jumps on the beds he can reach and licks every body part he can reach. Pretty darn adorable.

Shall we talk about my children? I love talking about them! Yesterday was picture day and their step mom did their hair adorably. I would love to be able to do that, but my patience is greatly lacking. They are all doing pretty well in school. Natalie is still struggling with her reading, but they all did spelling tests last week and all three did a great job. That is encouraging to me because I know that if they are getting spelling down, eventually the reading will come. We have been very closely working all their teachers to make sure they know our family situation. Because we split time between my house and their dad's we have been having to do a lot of coordinating. It's taking time and a bit of juggling, but I think we are getting things down.

If you and I were having coffee, I would ask about you. How are your kids, your family, your life. So tell me a bit in the comments won't you?

1000 Gifts: 3 gifts flourishing

• it is a gift to see that my girls have flourishing imaginations. I love watching them pretend. 
• it is a gift to see the fall colors flourishing. I always worry when we have these late summers that the trees aren't going to be as pretty but there is never a problem. 
• it is a gift to see my girls flourishing in school. Maybe not in all the ways I want them to, but they enjoy it still and that's a gift. If nothing more, at least they have flourishing social lives. 

WW: Coffee!

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is: write a blog post inspired by the word coffee.

First of all, I have to say I love coffee. Some mornings (most mornings) I couldn't function without it. Especially days like yesterday where I get lousy sleep.

Moving on, I figured it would be a great time for another coffee date. It will have to be a virtual one though, I don't have the paid time off for anymore vacations.

If you and I were having coffee, I would tell you how anxious I am about the girls being at camp this week. I know they are going to have a blast. But McKayla has that abscess that I can't watch from here and Natalie hasn't ever been away from me this long. Just pray for both me and the girls. That I don't worry too much (a very worthless thing to do!) and that they have so much fun.

While I was sipping my iced coffee (it's almost 90 out here after all) I would tell you about my vacation. How busy it was and how much I felt like I needed a break from my vacation. I would also let you know how worth it it was.

If you and I were having coffee, I might talk to you about the idea I had to honor my mom's memory. She loved reading and I want to share that love with others. Sometime this year, with the help of my awesome husband, I plan to create a Little Free Library. Stephen and I have talked about several ideas. Right now I would love to have one here at home (probably mounted on a post in a huge pot) and hope to have one at Dad's house too. We still have to see what he says though. I would love to create some kind of fund to make as many libraries as we can in her honor. Share the love of reading around her community and mine.

If you and I were having coffee I would share this picture of my girls from this weekend. They were selling lemonade with the neighbors. They weren't successful but they had fun and that's what matters.

During our coffee date I would talk about how good this summer has been. We have been busy, but it's been great. Sunshine, tanned kids, water fun. Everything a great summer needs.

I would tell you about my veggie garden and how we have a cucumber and a couple pink tomatoes already. Can't wait until we get a little bit more off the plants. =)

What would you tell me about if we were having coffee?

This post inspired by:

1000 Gifts: 3 gifts hanging down

• it is a gift to have my beautiful hanging baskets of flowers, still blooming, in front of the house. 
• it is a gift to have our marriage braid hanging down the wall by the marriage certificate. Reminder that God is to be the center of our marriage. He should be intertwined with us. 
• it is a gift to have fresh veggies hanging down off the plants. I can't wait until they it starts ripening and we can eat it!

WW: Challenge Accepted

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is: Write a blog post inspired by the word: challenge.

I am going to readily admit this, I am not a big challenge person. Well, I am at the beginning, but as soon as it starts getting hard, I'm the type to give up. There have been a few times I have really pushed myself and forced myself to complete the challenge. I can tell you, it's those times I feel really great about myself.

For example, I had a goal to complete a half marathon. I trained and worked for it. When race day came, my partner in crime had to bail because of health issues, so I was left to complete the half by myself. Not going to lie, I was scared to death to do this. Would I even be able to finish it by myself? But when that starting gun when off, I ran the race. And guess what? I finished. I could lie and tell you that it was easy. That I had put in the work and the race was just icing on the cake, but it wasn't. That challenge was HARD. One of the hardest things I have ever done. I ended up walking the last third. Seriously contemplated going home (especially when the course went blocks from my house!) but I didn't. I finished.

Having completed my half marathon and that challenge I made for myself made me feel so great. I need to start challenging myself more! The feeling is just beyond amazing and I want to feel that again. What challenge do you recommend to someone wanting to get back out there?

I want to be like Barney from How I Met Your Mother, he is constantly saying "challenge accepted." I want to be like Barney and accept and complete more challenges!

This post inspired by:

A gift of rhythm, rhyme, reason

• it is a gift to have children who love the rhythm of music. We may have had a few sing-a-longs on the way to and from Oregon. 
• it is a gift that they are quick learners. We had a few songs that were new to them but they picked them up real fast (thank you rhyming, catchy songs!) There was also one, not sure it really rhymed, but McKayla remembered it when I didn't. 
• it is a gift to have children who are able to reason. I guess it could also be a curse because they use that to argue their point to me. lol.

WW: Living as a Princess

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. The prompt I chose this week is:  If you had to choose a Disney princess to live the rest of your life as…which princess would you choose and why?

What an interesting topic. Seeing that I have three girls at home, and being a girl myself, I am quite familiar with the Disney Princesses. To be honest, the prompt has a little more thought involved then I was really expecting. Because it sounded like fun, I decided to go through each princess and discuss why I would love to be them, and then why I wouldn't.

Snow White is the youngest of all the princesses, did you know she's only 14!? Although I would love to spend a day or two in her shoes simply to be able to communicate with the animals and have them do my housework, there is ZERO possibility of that being for a lifetime. Living with SEVEN men (dwarf sized or otherwise) wouldn't work for me.

Cinderella would be another fun one to be for a day or two, the idea of a fairy god-mother is awesome. I'm just not sure I could tolerate her evil step-mother and sisters.

Then there is Aurora, better known as "Sleeping Beauty." She has always been one of my favorite princesses. Talking and singing with her animals. Her fairy god-mothers. It would be just amazing, but I don't see that being a forever match either.

I would love to be Ariel, but only as a mermaid. How fun would it be to swim around the ocean and hang out with all the sea creatures. But I don't think I could do that forever. I would miss the family too much!

I would like to be Belle, that library is just amazing! But again, I don't know that I would like that forever either. Their home seems pretty remote.

Honestly, who doesn't want a pet tiger?! I think that is one of the only reasons I might like being Princess Jasmine. That and the magic carpet and friends with a genie. But they live in the HOT desert and I could not handle that.

Pocahontas is a princess I don't think I could live as, even one day. I enjoy the creature comforts of home and living in a tee-pee doesn't even begin to sound fun. I do love the idea of a couple fun creature pets though!

Princess Mulan is the kind of girl who just gets stuff done, because it has to be done. I relate to her very much in this sense. I would love to live for awhile in China, but I don't think I could live there forever. Too crowded. Not to mention the pet bug is a lot less fun then some of the other princesses. 

Bad mom alert: Princess Tiana is a character I haven't seen in action. My girls actually haven't seen this movie either. It's on the list, but they have been more in to the newer ones (below) and I am more into the classic ones (the first few on this post). I will reserve judgement on if I would like to be her until I have actually seen her. 

Princess Rapunzel is by far one of my girls favorites. I love how spunky she is, and that pet chameleon is awesome. I love her new shorter hairstyle and that she finally is reunited with her family. I would love to live in her village because it just looks like fun. I would not like the responsibility her power comes with. Just too much. 

I love what a bad a** Princess Merida is. She doesn't want to be the frilly dressed up princess and I love that. I would love to learn to shoot the bow and arrow, but I don't know if I could handle her hair for life. I can barely handle my own! 

Princess Anna was a very close contender in this decision. I love her heart and love how innocent she is. I also love how important being with her sister is. But she doesn't have her sisters powers and that is something I would like to have. 

Princess Elsa is the one I would choose if I had to live the rest of my life as a princess. I love her voice, love her power, love how important her family is to her. When she makes the forever snow for Olaf, my eyes welled up. I love the woman she turned into. She was afraid of everything, of hurting people, but she learned the way to handle it isn't to hide away but to be with other people, love others. By allowing herself to love her sister, she saved her. To me that is a most amazing quality. I would love to live with my sister forever with awesome ice power! 

What about you, which princess would you choose to live as? 

PS I got a lot of my information about the princesses from this website. 

This post inspired by:

1000 gifts: three gifts painted

• The beautiful painting I have from my great-uncle. Reminds me of my family every day. 
• The beautiful painting my friend Jen made us for our wedding guestbook. It is just perfect for us and a priceless reminder of that special day. 
• The beautiful hand painted china my grandmother left me is a gift. I hope some day to be able to use it for special occasions and then pass it on to my children. 

Randomness

First vendor event went well. Got a few ideas to make next time better but it's a great start!

We got our first bird-feeder this weekend. Also got a squirrel feeder. What can I say? We love our red squirrel!

1000 Gifts: three gifts of his promises

• He promises that He will never give me more then I can handle, with His help. 
• He promised and provided a guide for us here on earth. The Holy Spirit is an amazing gift. 
• He promises us grace. Undeserved, unmerited grace. 

Coffee Date

Its about time you and I had coffee don't you think? While we are sipping our cup of joe, I would use the opportunity to talk about Jamberry a little. Having this conversation lets me write both of our coffees on my taxes (wink!). I would tell you a little about how I am trying to branch out my business. It would probably involve me asking you for some tips on how I can branch out without looking too desperate.

Then I am sure conversation would move on to how things are going in my house. I would probably talk about how happy I am that Stephen is finally feeling better. Pretty sure he's returning to work next week. He's pretty happy about that. I am just praying that this healthy spell lasts.

The conversation would probably drift from there to essential oils. I would freely admit how skeptical I was that they actually would work. Might mention a class I went to, hosted by my friend's brother, and learned a bit more about what oils could help my family and how. We have already bought a few bottles. I found quickly that peppermint works well on my headaches and for the worse ones I have been able to use the doTerra Past Tense blend. Between the two I think I have taken over the counter medications maybe twice. BIG change considering I was taking it on a daily basis before. I would talk about the plans we have to use oils more in our lives to helps us maybe live healthier.

We would probably talk a little bit about Heart Health Awareness month. It's February and on my heart a lot this year. I am trying to raise $100 dollars for the American Heart Association to donate in my mom's name. I have pledged to donate $2 for every one of these wraps I sell. This is in addition to the $2 that Jamberry donates. I am up to $8 so far, so I have a ways to go but I am pretty determined.

If you and I were having coffee I would ask you how life has been. What is something big going on in your life? If you and I were having coffee, what would you tell me?

1000 Gifts: 3 surprise gifts – unexpected grace

• It is a gift to be surprised by strangers when they show you there is still good in the world. 
• It is a gift to see charity at work. We saw an adoption drive going on at Petco this weekend and it was nice to see people trying to help others. 
• It is a gift to be able to see people I work with go out of their way to help patients and even other staff. I love where I work.