Do you feel stressed and worn thin all the time? Here are 5 effective ways to say "goodbye" to the hamster wheel and become a calm, joyful person again.Imagine you could look at your to-do list without your blood pressure rising.Imagine you could take breaks for family time without feeling like you were neglecting something urgent.Imagine you could handle interruptions in your day with grace instead of panic and grouchiness.Imagine you could look forward to the calendar season ahead and not feel suffocated by your schedule.Doesn't that sound amazing?Most of us are so used to feeling stressed, worn thin, and ... Continue Reading
The Busy Girl’s Guide to an Intentional Summer
Are you ready for a summer break, but concerned because your plate is just as full as ever?We don't always choose to be busy, and there are some seasons when life whirls us along and we simply have to do our best to take it in stride and live as intentionally as we can.But whatever's on your plate right now, take a deep breath before you plunge into summer. An hour spent planning and resolving will re-calibrate you for the season ahead so you'll enjoy it more and get more out of it.You should never waste something as magical as a summer. So, for all my fellow busy homemakers out there, here are 5 practical ways to make the summer ... Continue Reading
8 Things Intentional Homemakers Do Every Day
Do you want to flourish in your home? Be intentional in your everyday, mundane routines! Successful homemakers practice these habits on a daily basis. I have good news for you: you can flourish as a person wherever you are! Any house (even if it's not ideal), any state, any financial situation, any life season. You can experience joy, you can grow, you can bloom where you're planted.The key to a richly rooted life is not to let life merely happen to you, but to be specific and intentional in how you approach it.I love exploring what intentional living looks like on a practical, everyday level--because it really can permeate ... Continue Reading
How to Live a Luxurious Life (your income has nothing to do with it!)
Remember how I chose less?I said "no" to a crazy busy, climb-the-ladder, never settle, achieve-wealth-and-fame life.But forgoing "Success" as the world defines it doesn't mean giving up happiness--or even luxury.A week ago as I relaxed in a hot, fragrant bath by candlelight I thought "this is luxury." And it was, even though it was practically free.All my life I've had a proclivity for luxurious experiences, and I've done my best to create them for myself--or fully appreciate them when others supplied the experience. You see, luxury isn't necessarily something you're born into or need to buy. As long as you're defining it ... Continue Reading
10 Signs You’ve Become a Responsible Adult
Hello Adulthood, when did you get here?You kind of sneaked up on me after college...you know, when I thought you'd already been around for four years at least.But, Adulthood, you didn't get here right away. Not even when he and I got married and moved away and made our first few homes together.I certainly thought I was an adult back then, but you see, I was still leaving dirty dishes in the sink at night. I was still making stupid, newbie mistakes and binge-watching Netflix shows.But somehow as I've slid closer to 30 I've found my footing in this new stage, and I know just where I am going forward.Adulthood, you feel ... Continue Reading
Top 10 Posts of 2016 (+ a Short Blog Update)
The year 2016 was one of renewal and rootedness. After so many exciting changes in 2015 (new baby, new job, new home, new church, new blog design, new book...whew!) we were ready to enjoy some sameness and routine!Well, we did have one major change--our move to our first full-sized home! We're now just five minutes from my husband's school, which will simplify life immensely. We're reveling in the extra breathing room that this home provides, and enjoying the pleasant challenge of gradually decorating and arranging our space. Craigslist and the local thrift stores are our go-to sources for home furnishings! It's entirely possible to have ... Continue Reading
An INFJ vs. the 21st Century: 4 Modern-Day Trends You Don’t Need to Subscribe To
I used to wonder if I was born in the wrong century.More than wonder, I wished I was born in another time!I felt at home in 19th-century London drawing rooms with Dickensian personalities, in the Regency manor homes populated by Jane Austen's heroines, and on the beautiful Prince Edward Island described by L.M. Montgomery.While I still love immersing myself in other eras via story, maturity has taught me that God places us exactly where he wants us on Earth's timeline; he makes no mistakes.I was born in 1988, and I live in the 21st century.But that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything about my era. In fact, there's ... Continue Reading
How to Make More Time for the Things You Love
Ever since I wrote my post on finding time to read as a mom, I've been thinking about other ways to incorporate and re-discover the things I love.It's important to create space for the things that make you come alive, isn't it? Don't you find that you flourish better when your roots are watered?I'm not saying that you can't find enjoyment and refreshment in duties and to-dos, but I don't see any reason why our lives can't be full of those extra things, unique to each of us, that make us feel rested and energized.If you miss doing all the things you love, I have suggestions for you that will help. But first, identify what you ... Continue Reading
15 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Home
The sound of your life should be a hum of vibrant activity, not the jarring frenzy of a jackhammer. Here are 15 ways to simplify + streamline life and home.Here's where I stand on busyness: I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, and it certainly isn't a sin. We'll probably always be busy, because our lives are full.The key is to be busy and full with the right things, to take life in stride instead of racing through it frantically.You want the sound of your life to be a hum of vibrant activity, not the erratic and jarring frenzy of a jackhammer.So how do you take the hectic out of the busy? Here are 15 ways to ... Continue Reading
I’m Not Jo March (And other shocking things I learned before my 28th birthday)
I'm 28 as of Thursday.Twenty-eight, not thirty, and not as momentous.But still, I try to enjoy every birthday even if it's not an epoch. I use birthdays for self reflection, and as an excuse to have some extra fun on the blog and let my readers get to know me a little better, if you will. On birthdays past I've shared 25 random things about me, 26 things I need to nail down before I get any older, and my 27 favourite heroes, heroines, and villains from classic lit.You might be expecting another numbers list this year.Well, you're not going to get it!Not a 28-things-long numbers list, at any rate. I'm getting too old for ... Continue Reading
