“We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.” – Anonymous

Last week I went in for a check up at Stanford. It was my 4 year check up & for weeks leading up to it, almost every day, I would find myself placing my hand over my beating heart in my cancer free chest, whispering throughout the day, “THANK YOU FOR HEALING ME”, as I would stop & remember that time marker I was approaching.

Here’s the thing. Life IS fleeting.

And yet, even someone like me, who is only 4 years (which is very short in the grand scheme of things) into my recovery from a very life-threatening experience, has gradually forgotten on a daily basis to be THANKFUL for my health-filled life. To remember the HEALING that has me here today, with 2 beautiful daughters & NO CANCER in my body. To look at myself in the mirror & notice my scars from the experience that have just somehow become a natural part of me. To really notice how long my hair is & that I have eyelashes! All of those things remind me of the BIG picture that I. AM. HEALED. I am a SURVIVOR. Cancer sucks & I kicked its butt. Boo-yaw.  Celebrating that reality, choosing to think back on that season of life & all of the suffering & crazy beauty that it was filled with, is really important. I NEED TO REMEMBER. I need to not let that season just disappear into the haziness of my memory. I want to put my hand over my beating heart every single day & reiterate my gratefulness for its ability to pump blood through my veins because I was healed. Because I was healed on this side of heaven, I want to make my life worth it. I want to make my life worthy of that GIFT. Thank you Jesus for healing me!!

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

I forget so often as the days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years, how amazing the gift of life is. And not just life in general, but all of those tiny moments each day, all the moments where my heart is beating. I feel like I say it all the time to myself, to Noah, to whoever, but I really do want to live a life FULL to the brim & overflowing with goodness. That can be found in all forms. I look back at that season of cancer & it was full of both suffering & goodness. It was SO RICH. I want to consciously choose being alive every single day. I want my whole life to be rich! I think part of that has to do with simply choosing to be intentionally aware of what my every day life is full of. Let all of my senses experience each moment. To put my hand on my chest & breathe. To chase my toddler around the house & attack her with kisses. To snuggle my wee one up in the dead of night & feel her sweet breath on my cheek. To hug Noah tighter, dance a little longer in the kitchen. To acknowledge the truth that life will always be made up of both “highs” & lows. But together all of those moments create something really beautiful, really messy, really colorful, really good.

Life is fleeting whether you have cancer or not.

I want to be present every day. I want to get absolutely ALL that I can out of every day that I get to be on this earth, surrounded by the people I love. And right here, right now, I am choosing to be GRATEFUL for my life. For my healed body. For my soul that is free. For the people I love, a roof over my head, food on the table. For the beauty in nature that sings around me, for the breath in my lungs, for the arms that hold me. I am grateful for TODAY.

Suck it cancer.

 

Cheers,

Katie.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It is hard to begin writing a post about the man behind that quote, the impact he has had, & continues to have on the world we live in today. The way that he choose to stand up, speak out, teach, preach, & fight peacefully for the equality of mankind was, & still is, inspiring & monumental. I hope that I can fight the way he did. Be a voice for injustice & peacefully fight for RIGHT.

It is sickening to me that we are still fighting over the issue of racism. It SHOULDN’T BE AN ISSUE. You would have thought we’d have figured this out well before the days of MLK & his fight for equality. But alas. We are human, we are marked by selfishness, pride & hate. We are sinners that have to fight our flesh every single day. THANK GOODNESS for JESUS. I would be such a mess if it weren’t for redemption & forgiveness. But mostly, for His undying, never ending, never failing, LOVE. And with that love, I have the freedom from the chains of selfishness, pride & hate because the spirit of the LIVING GOD resides in me. Therefore, with His help, I can choose LOVE, I can fight against my own human weakness & choose LIFE. I can fight for the voiceless, I will fight for the voiceless, because if I don’t, who will? I will choose live my life for a better cause. I will fight for LOVE. Love is the only thing that will heal the wounds of racism that are continually ripped open over & over again in our nation. With Jesus, those wounds will scar, with the reminder of our failings as human beings. But scars can be daily reminders of healing & the GOOD things that we have & that our future holds.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, 1963. It is said that the powerful speech was largely impromptu as he spoke out of the depths of his heart about his dream.

 

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That speech, if you haven’t watched it recently, is well worth it. Our family watches it every year & it never fails to move us. If you’d like, watch it below:

A few of my personal favorite lines from this particular speech are listed below:

-“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

-“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

-“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”

-“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

-“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Don’t we all want to be judged by the content of our character? Rather than by the cars we drive, the jobs we have, the clothes we wear, the friends we have, how many followers we have, the color of our skin, the degrees we hold or how many “likes” we get? Wouldn’t it be so much sweeter if instead, we were judged by the way we live our lives & the BEAUTY that we bring the world around us?! I think so.

Dr. King said it so well. The way he chose to live his life, backed up his words. I want to be a woman of my word. I want my words to be a direct reflection of the way that I live my life of LOVE. I want my life to speak louder than my worlds. Every. Single. Day. If my 2 daughters are the ones who I have as my audience on a daily basis, I want to live my BEST for them. I want to represent REAL love, REAL joy, REAL zest. I want their memories of me to be FULL of life, laughter, silliness, dancing, truth, tenderness, care & dedication to make their lives the best lives possible. I want them to see me fight for goodness, for the beauty of life & for the betterment of mankind. I want to fight for justice & mercy.

Thank you MLK for the trailblazing that you did. Thank you for the direct impact on my family because of the way you fought for freedom & equality. I pray every single day that the bondage of racism that has held so many in our nation in captivity for decades would be washed away by that mighty stream. I am tired of it. I am tired of the lack of justice & mercy. I am tired of feeling hurt for the heart of the Father. I want the issue of racism to be an issue no longer. Help us, God. I will be a voice. I will live my life by example & choose love.

Think about a way that you can choose love, a way that you can live your life by example. With each of us choosing love, loving BIGGER & BETTER, we will be able to change the world around us & leave a different legacy for our own children. That is a dream worth fighting for!

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Cheers,

Katie.

I celebrated turning 28 last Monday & it is always crazy looking back over the last year & all that it has held, all the good, bad, ugly, wonderful, scary, momentous, & beautiful days that created a year of life, my life. I am so grateful.  It has been quite a ride! This last year of being 27 was such a GIFT. I was able to work with some of my absolute favorite special needs students & get them to graduation, I was able to bring our perfect, healthy, adorable MIRACLE of a baby, little miss Cora into this world, I was able to learn how to slackline up at our family cabin in between reading some amazing books including The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas & The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I was blessed with another report of being CANCER FREE, I am 3 1/2 years clear at this point! Noah & I have gotten some good time together, a weekend away in Santa Cruz, & us as a family have spent a lot of time roadtripping to Oregon & to Southern California & back quite a bit. The girls are roadtrip ROCKSTARS. We have been able to spend time at Disneyland which always results in lots of flights on Dumbo & the “horseys” (carousel), this last summer was full of Pinecrest & cabin time, & this fall has been full of walks together as a family & me stepping into my current role as a stay at home mama. The holiday season is now reaching its end & I have absolutely loved it this year! Being 27 was RAD. Turning 28, according to my dad, sounds “respectable”. I think it sounds even more rad than 27 did! Noah & I frequently comment on how FULL our life has been in the 6 1/2 years we have been married & I am SO happy with that fact! I can only hope that year 28 for me is just as FULL of goodness & life.

With all that said, I thought it would be fun to make a list of 28 things that are good to participate/invest/get involved in/go do. Enjoy!

1. The great outdoors.
   • Get out there! Go find some local trails & hit ’em up!
     • For you in our local area, check out: http://www.hikespeak.com/sierras/tuolumne
2.  Local businesses.
   • Supporting local is great for the economy, community connections, & just plain nice.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/runway-xchange-sonora
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/schnoogs-cafe-and-espresso-sonora-2
       • http://snacattack.com
3. Reading.
   • One of my absolute favorite things to do. It is proven to be a huge benefit for any person, so take the time! It’s worth it.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.yelp.com/biz/mountain-bookshop-sonora
4. Community theater.
   • The arts are thriving, even in small towns!
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.sierrarep.org/
5. Rec sports.
   • Getting to join up on a team (like back in the day) can be rewarding physically as well as build friendships & make connections outside of common circles.
     • Locals:
       • http://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/index.aspx?NID=781
       • http://sonorafitness.com/
6. Find a creative outlet.
   • “Most people believe creativity has something to do with the arts. Nonsense. Creativity is everything & should be intertwined in everything we do.” Says my husband.
   • Express yourself through words, find a new creative way to cook the same old recipe, find a creative way to walk from your car to your job, organize your closet. Be creative!
7. Take a class.
   • One of our friends decided to learn the harmonica & is taking classes online, she loves it! I never knew there was so much involved in harmonica playing.
   • Take a cooking class, photography class, underwater basket-weaving class, whatever! Besides learning new things, you could find out you have a real talent for something.
     • Locals, check out:
       • http://www.gocolumbia.edu/
       • https://www.facebook.com/Sonoraschoolofsewing
8. Volunteer.
   • This is hugely beneficial for everyone involved! Ask just about anyone who has ever volunteered & see how it has impacted them.
   • Church food closets, community thanksgiving meals, classroom helpers, homeless shelters, Operation Christmas Child, blood drives, libraries, the list is endless.
     • Locals:
       • http://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/index.aspx?NID=547
       • http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
       • http://www.redcross.org/support/volunteer
9. Learn a new game.
   • Pick up a card trick that you can show your kids & wow their friends.
   • Buy a new trivia game to play with your family on “game nights” once a week.
10. Pay it forward.
    • Next time you drive through to get your cup of coffee, anonymously leave money to cover the cost of the coffee for the person behind you in the drive-thru. It will probably be a highlight of their day!
    • Show kindness, bless someone, just because. Without getting any credit.
11. Go visit a museum.
    • Find out what your local museums are & check them out! They can be informative & fun.
    • After you’ve checked out your local history, go on day trips, pack a picnic & visit other museums. Presidential museums, art museums, town history museums, etc.
      • Locals, check out:
        • http://www.sonoraca.com/visitsonora/museums.htm
        • https://tuolumnemuseum.wordpress.com/
12. Play.
    • Go build a snowman!
    • Pull out your old Star Wars collection or Lincoln Logs & play.
    • Just be a kid, no agenda. Enjoy doing something fun, just because.
13. Drive to a new state.
    • Figure out what states you haven’t seen, make a list & go!
    • Start with the ones closest to you & work your way out.
14. Disconnect.
    • Turn off your cell phone, your TV, your walkman (just kidding), all handheld devices, computers. Take a whole day to just BE.
    • Go out & hike, or stay in & read a book (a physical book with pages that you can turn & fold) & maybe just have a candle-lit dinner.
    • Go all out & turn off your electricity & use candles, don’t use your microwave & go to bed when the sun goes down.
    • We DO NOT disconnect enough. It is healthy to take breaks from the fast-paced, always connected lifestyle we lead in this world today. Treat it like a detox, maybe do a mini disconnect once a week or so. We do this & it is always worth it.
15. Mentor someone.
    • Start taking a look around the circle of people in your life & find someone younger than you who you could start mentoring, not as a “professional on all things life has to offer”, but rather just using your life as an example for someone to glean some wisdom from. The good & bad.
    • Speak life into someone as you spend time with them. ENCOURAGE them & pull the best out of them. We all need advocates & people to believe in us.
      • Locals:
        • http://teenworksmentoring.com/
16. Research both sides of a political issue.
    • Get informed on both sides of an issue. Be able to see where both sides are coming from & then hold an intelligent conversation with someone about it.
    • Taking the time to form your own opinion after thoroughly becoming informed is much more grounded than basing it off of what everyone else is saying on Facebook.
17. Learn a new skill.
    • Have you ever wanted to learn how to crochet? Or how to build a bench? Or how to cook ratatouille? What about photography? Go learn how!
    • Learning new skills can be intimidating, hard to do at first, but in the end can become really fun hobbies.
18. Take someone out for coffee.
    • Take someone out for a cup of coffee or tea, just to enjoy it & see how their life is going.
    • Do it with no agenda other than spending some undivided attention with someone you care about.  Put your cell phone away & don’t watch the clock. Just BE together. Let that time together be your priority.
19. Write a letter.
    • Go grab some paper from your kiddo’s backpack, or buy some fun stationery. Think of someone that would enjoy a handwritten letter from you, grab a pen & write!
    • Sending handwritten letters is not common anymore, which makes it more significant, I think. It takes longer to write a letter then send an email, which makes you think more about what you’re saying. One of my best friends & I have send letters back & forth randomly over the last several years & it NEVER gets old. I bet if you wrote your grandma or grandpa a letter it would be such a gift. So go do it! It only costs a postage stamp to make someone’s day.
20. Collaborate with someone to accomplish a common goal.
    • When you collaborate with someone, they come up with ideas you may not have had & vica versa. You are able to get further in the process then you would by yourself.
    • It promotes teamwork, resourcefulness, brainstorming, creativity & it allows for compromise to name a few.
    • For example, team up with your spouse or friend to landscape your property. If you want to start your own business or new venture, sit with a group of people to brainstorm on how to do it & do it well. Plan a trip with someone else where you both have to come up with an itinerary that satisfies both of you.
21. Plant a garden.
    • Winter or summer, gardens can be had at all times. Even if you have an herb garden inside your home on a windowsill, it is still good to care for plants & watch them grow.
    • Learning how to correctly care for plants can teach a person a lot about patience, awareness & shows you the fruits of your labors.
      • Locals, check out:
        • ucanr.edu/sites/Tuolumne_County_Master_Gardeners/
22. Practice joy.
    • Intentionally smile at someone & be aware of their reaction.
    • Wave at your neighbors as you drive through your neighborhood.
    • Make eye contact with people in the grocery store & as you walk past them on the street.
    • Be aware of the atmosphere around you & how your presence affects it.
23. Be responsible.
    • Choose to take responsibility rather than expecting someone else to do it for you.
    • For example, pick up the trash you see in a park. When you go see a movie, put your trash in the container instead of leaving it on the ground. Put your bottles & cans in recycling bins.
    • Overall, don’t expect others to do what you are capable of doing yourself. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Ghandi
24. Dance.
    • Let loose! Let your body move. You can do this at home without anyone watching, or you can do it with others.
    • Dancing is a great way to laugh, have fun, release energy, create memories, express yourself.
    • If dancing is something you’ve never done or are uncomfortable doing, just give it a try! It’s something you may end up enjoying.
      • Locals:
        • http://www.tuolumnecountyarts.org/programs/education/arts-reach-catalog/dance-programs/
25. Create something out of recycled material.
    • Grab your milk cartons, egg crates, cereal boxes & pasta jars & make something usable or just plain fun.
    • Go on Pinterest if you need to find some inspiration.
    • It can be really beautiful seeing “trash” turn into something usable/fun. Doing it with your little people can be good in teaching them about being resourceful & creative.
26. Break social norms.
    • Back in college we took a class where we were asked to “break social norms” & so we went & stood in an elevator…backwards. It was so interesting watching people’s reactions to facing us instead of seeing our backs as we all stared at the door.
    • Every culture has social norms & every culture is different. In that, we get so accustomed to the way “we” live that we don’t even think about why we do certain things.
    • Go do something out of the norm for your culture! Go stand in an elevator backwards, think of something! It will be great. It’s freeing. Step outside of your comfort zone.
27. Be teachable.
    • Let yourself be open to receive from others. Don’t just keep your mouth shut if someone is telling you something you don’t agree with, try to listen to what they are saying. Evaluate it. Mull over it. If it still doesn’t agree with you, that is ok. But don’t shut everything everyone else says down immediately, give it a chance.
    • Become childlike in your curiosity & desire to learn. Shake the staleness off & go find someone who does something AMAZING & have them teach you how to do it too.
    • Glean wisdom. Sit under people who inspire you in different avenues of life.  Find out their “secrets” to success & then work on applying them to your own life.
    • Practice humility.

28.  Find beauty in everyday life.

• Observe people (without being creepy) & find the nuances that make them, them.
• Look at the way buildings are designed, find the beauty in the strength & magnitude of their structure.
• Reminisce on what made you fall in love with your significant other.  Think back to the process, what made your stomach flip when you saw them walking into the room, when you first remember the feeling of wanting to be with them forever. The beauty of each step of the process.
• Go on a walk right out your front door. Whether you live in a city, near the beach, in the backcountry or in a neighborhood, just go out & notice the little things. See how nature finds its way into our lives, even if it has to struggle to get there. Listen to the sounds around you. Smell the breeze. (Hopefully that is a good idea.)
• Just take it all in a reflect on the gift of living & how waking up every day is beautiful.

With that, I wish you a HAPPY New Year, a heart of reflection that sees the goodness in your own life this last year & hope for new successes & challenges that bring us higher & make us stronger as we move swiftly through this gift of life. May you be FULL of JOY overflowing. I know I am. My soul knows it full well & I REJOICE! Thanks friends.

Cheers,

Katie.

In our part of this westernized modern world it seems that family is chosen less & less. Consider just a hundred years ago how families would homestead together, how acres would be set aside & houses would be built so that the grand kids could run over to their grandpa & grandma’s house for afternoon tea & roam wild with cousins outdoors using their imaginations to play in fantastic worlds before dinner time. Not only do I think that for kiddos it was probably incredible to grow up with such a network of family literally next door or at least nearby, but also for the parents & all the other relatives. Having family near in proximity has seemed to be a priority (most of the time) throughout the course of history, but has progressively become less & less of one it seems.

Noah & I recently saw a house go up for sale that we love & jumped online to find out more about it. It turned out the house was not only amazing, but it also sat on 11 acres that were already zoned for 3 additional homes. Can you say homesteading dream?!! But with all that came a MUCH bigger price tag then we could ever afford, which is fine. We currently live in a small home that meets our needs perfectly, we are content in the coziness that it gives. One day we will outgrow it sadly, but at that time we can look into a bigger home on some land. Still, the idea, the daydream of living on 11 acres & building homes for our kids future families to stay close & have grand kiddos running across the land for tea time with us is a beautiful picture. Maybe one day.

With that said, we are SO blessed to live less then a mile away from my parents, my sister & her family live a mere 17ish minutes away (around the mountain) & my brother & sister-in-law live in LA, but travel up at least once a month to visit where we have giant family breakfasts complete with pancakes & rows of little girls. My parents have 5 grand girls, for now. FAMILY IS AMAZING. There is no where else in the whole world I would rather be then right here, near my family. It would be even more incredible if Noah’s parents lived here too. Our daughters are getting to grow up KNOWING their grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins, living everyday life with them. It is a dream come true. I never expected to end up settling in the county where I grew up, but here I am & I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Family is such a gift! There have been studies done that show living with family increases the levels of happiness & longevity within family units. I would wholeheartedly agree with that!

I hope you have family (near or far) that you are close with. People that you can lean on when you need to, people that can encourage you & bake you cookies. People that you can do the same thing for. We are designed for community, for fellowship with people & family is the perfect place to start for that. Begin in your home, with your spouse & little ones. Spread the love from there. If you don’t have family close by, make your friends family. It is so SO worth it. Maybe one day some of us can get back to our homesteading roots & physically live close by our loved ones & share daily tea times. But if that isn’t feasible, we can still Facetime, Skype, whatever! Lets make family a priority. If you have to start with “Friday Night Dinners” like on Gilmore Girls, go for it. But start somewhere! Investing in people IS THE BEST. It is hard, but it is the most rewarding.

“Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” -Lilo & Stitch

 

Cheers,

Katie.

Tis the season of THANKS & CELEBRATION.

I love reading through social media posts during the months of November & December for a few reasons, but primarily because it seems everyone decides to share with the world why they are thankful & what they are thankful for in their lives. I wish we saw more of that throughout the other months of the year, but alas.

The last few weeks I have had a song stuck in my head that I literally wake up with & fall asleep with running through my mind & heart. It is my current song. Do you have seasons with songs? It seems like every time I transition into a “new” season there is a song that goes right along with it. Music is the heartbeat that keeps us bumping along. It’s good to have anthems that remind us of the season we are in & we can look back at it & know exactly why “that song” was our anthem. I am so grateful for music, it would be a dull world without it. Below is the song that is my current anthem. Enjoy!

 

Good Good Father- Housefires II

 

The lines that say:

“You’re a good good Father, it’s who you are, it’s who you are…”

&

“And I’m loved by You, it’s who I am, it’s who I am…”

AH! So good! Over & over again. It washes over me & it is the most simple, beautiful, spirit refreshing TRUTH. And I so often need to be reminded of that.

In these months of THANKS & GIVING, CHRIST & CELEBRATING, I hope that you can find a song, (take this one if you want!) or a poem, or any simple reminder of the GOODNESS in your own life. It is so refreshing to just BE at least once a day to reflect on the beautiful things in our lives. So go take 5 for yourself & reflect on your own life & let the goodness wash over you!

“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Psalm 106:1 (NIV)

 

Cheers,

Katie.

I started off this adventure in the big bad world of blogging saying that I would share my story. Well, this is probably going to end up being a sporadic walk through my current lifestyle as well as snippets of my past history & big dreams & desires for the future. I am organized in some areas of my life, but when it comes to hanging pictures on my fridge, I like them all different directions, if you know what I’m saying. With that, this blog is going to look more like my fridge then the order found in my dresser drawers.

So for right now, let me share my current status in life. Just so you can get to know me right where I am currently at, which is a good place to start. Go grab a cup of tea & join me on the couch! Let’s play the whole “meet for hot beverages & catch up” game.

Hello there! I’m Katie.

I am the wife to the most incredible human being on earth, the handsomest one of all. His name is Noah & I love him so.

I am the mama to the two most amazing girls, Eliana is 2 1/2, Cora is 5 months. They are the light of my life & I am living a dream come true being their mama.

We are in the beginning stages of fundraising for our next adoption, hopefully internationally. Adoption is one of our hearts greatest joys! We had the privilege of adopting Eliana domestically the day she was born & Cora Kinsey is our miracle bio babe. (More on our adoption story & miracle baby story later)

We have the cutest dog, Gypsy, who brings boundless energy & joy into our lives as well as hair & dirt from the great outdoors. But she is worth all the extra vacuuming.

I am a daughter to the best parental units ever, sister to the raddest little sister & baby brother & auntie TT to 3 adorable nieces & one handsome nephew.

I am currently a stay at home mama with a dash of one weekly day subbing at our local high school where I get to stay connected with my favorite staff & students there. I spent the last 4 years working as a Special Needs Aide paraprofessional & subbed as well until this summer when I felt like I was moving into a new significant season of staying home (mostly) full time with my girls. I miss being at the high school because it was such an incredible job & the humans there are some of the coolest I know, but ultimately my heart is very full & I am at peace knowing I am right where I need to be, right now, as a mama. It is a healthy place to be. Kinda the best of both worlds. I feel like I won the lottery.

We live in my hometown, are still trying to figure out ways to get a Target & Trader Joe’s but are blessed enough to have Walmart & Starbucks, are almost always guaranteed to run into someone we know wherever we go, wave at our neighbors & go on hikes on a regular basis. We go to church at the church I grew up at which is pretty neat because now all of the friends that I was in Sunday School with are mamas & dadas too & we are now getting to watch our own littles grow up as friends. The great circle of life! Noah leads worship with my sister (who all the “older” people in our church still think is me & even though I couldn’t sing if my life depended on it, I still end up getting thanked & complimented afterwards for such a great job even though I’ve been downstairs in the nursing mom’s room the whole time. It’s always good for a chuckle). Our life calendar is dictated by the school year which is awesome. I imagined my whole life that “of course I would marry an educator & be one myself” because that is the household that I grew up in. And that is exactly what happened! So the traditional summers off together as a family continue. It’s a dream come true. We love to travel & have a goal of (now that we have little people in tow) leaving the country every other year. On the in-between summers we love to spend as much time as possible up at our family cabin in the mountains, swimming in the lake, hiking, backpacking, sleeping under the stars & singing songs around the campfire with s’mores. It’s truly a wonderful life. We are blessed & so grateful.

I’d say that for today, in a medium sized nutshell, an extra large peanut size maybe, that is my current status. I am grateful, I am SO glad to be here, in this season as a whiff & mama bear, learning to grow in new ways everyday. Each day has it’s challenges & rewards. Each day I fail & win. It is definitely an adventure being alive! And with that, I will sign off. Have a beautiful day friends!

Cheers,

Katie

Anyone out there have a toddler? How about a toddler & an infant? How about a toddler who loves to BE everywhere you are & an infant who wants to BE on you at all times? Anyone out there love FALL? Ok. So here are some ideas on how to reconcile the two realities of mama & wanting to get every ounce of beauty out of this amazing season we are in. Can I get an amen?!

This is by far my absolute FAVORITE season of the year. The cable knit sweaters, moccasins, steamy cup of tea in hand & a good book tucked under one arm… The gorgeous leaves, tumblr shots of perfectly heaped white pumpkins, cinnamon smells in the air, pumpkin everything, crisp air, rain boots, first fires of the year…. the perfect picture of cozy. I think I saw the Anne of Green Gables quote at least 10 times in the first 3 days of October. I won’t share it again, I’m sure it’s been running through your head as well. Well, having 2 kiddos in this wonderful season does make the simplicity of it more complicated on one hand while on the other WAY more simple & enjoyable. This all goes back to my last post on just BEING. Choosing to enjoy the beauty of fall alongside my two littles instead of feeling robbed of the freedom to experience it has led to a whole new level of enjoyment in the decision to just BE. Be in the moment, share my love for autumn with my favorite tiny humans. I still have an incredibly long list of things I would LOVE to do to celebrate fall that I know I will not get a chance to do, but that is a-okay with me. I’m choosing to let it be. And that, is step in the right direction for me. So I thought I’d share a few ways our little tribe has been celebrating fall, maybe to inspire you to do the same with your family!

Celebration number one.

— Take an adventure hike! We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth (in my unbiased & humble opinion) & are super blessed to have hiking options right out our front door, down the street, up the street or over on neighbor friends properties. It is wonderful. However, I know that whether you live in a city, in the country, in the islands or in the mountains like us, that are trees or at least things that are living… I hope. Nature! There has to be some sort of nature. Unless you live on the moon. SO, wherever it is that you are currently residing, go OUTSIDE. Wrap your littlest ones to your body for warmth & coziness or blanket them up in a stroller (which makes it easier for you to sip on your hot apple cider without potential spillage on their beanie covered heads), grab your toddler by the hand & GO! Bring a bag or a basket with you for treasure finds. We have taken a few days since “fall” started to go on short adventure hikes & collect treasures. It’s been awesome! Especially right before nap time. We walked in different areas each time & collected an amazing variety of fallen leaves, acorns of all sizes & acorn hats. It was really neat actually because I have walked in those places so many times before & I thought I was familiar with all the trees, but wow. I had no idea! We found beautiful leaves splashed with oranges & reds & greens & yellows & browns! They were all great experiences & learning opportunities as well for my little one & my attempts at early preschool. From there, we went home, kept our treasures on the front porch to show Dada once he would get home from work, ate lunch & nap time/mama yoga time ensued. We saved the accumulating treasures for a project that I came up with after a few treasure hunts. I will share that part next.

Celebration number two.

—Make a leaf garland! This was a picture in my head that I had absolutely no idea if it would actually turn out or not but I thought, what the heck. Why not? I love natural seasonal decor for my house & we have a wood burning stove & mantle which is always a prime location for said decor. So I thought that we could attempt to make a garland out of the leaves we had collected & maybe the acorn hats too. That didn’t work.  The acorn hats were too thick, but the leaves did! I am proud of how it turned out, it is definitely going to become a tradition for me each year with my kiddos. Wait for a sunny day, or at least a day when you can sit somewhere outside & not freeze your bum off to do this activity. We actually took two separate days to work on this. Bug (the nickname of my two year old) would hand me a few leaves at a time out of the bags we had collected & I would string them using a simple standard needle & white thread. I think it would look good too if you used a neutral tone, a cream, tan or brown as well. I just grabbed the first thread I found & took a needle out of a repair kit. We sat in the sunshine & did this until she was over it. Her attention span & excitement for this project was definitely not at the same level as mine. So we went back to it a few days later & finished it. When I thought we had enough leaves on it to stretch out across our mantle, we stopped. I took it inside & used thumb tacks to wrap the thread around & eyeballed it to make sure it looked right. Once it was up (after a few failed attempts trying to balance it by myself) I stood back with Bug & we admired her treasures. Her leaf garland was complete & ready for Dada to admire once he got home! It is BEAUTIFUL. Our plan is to keep it there until we start having fires & at that point we will move it to somewhere else in our home. Try it! I think you will enjoy it.

Celebration number three.

—Bake something! One of my current favorite activities with my toddler is baking. She helps me count how many cups of this or that I need & then she gets to pour them into the bowl. That is her favorite part, besides the partaking of baked goodness. We have definitely had a few sessions that include spills due to missing the mixing bowl partially, but this is just another opportunity to practice patience as a mama. I get lots of practice with patience & I am so so far from having it dialed in. I need just as much grace as she does on a very frequent basis. Praise the Lord that His mercies are new every morning! Ok, so what do you have in your fridge? Or what sort of baked goods do you enjoy during autumn? I know pumpkin is a winner for me. But for now we have been using zucchinis from our garden, my sister’s garden & my parent’s garden. They seem to keep on coming so we get to keep enjoying them! Plus, Bug loves zucchini bread, Papa’s zucchini bread to be exact. He really does make the absolute best zucchini bread, hands down. So we use his recipe & it only takes an hour to bake after we have it in the bread pans which is the perfect amount of time to work on the alphabet letters & their sounds with the big sister. Look in your fridge & pantry to create something yummy or go shopping to get just the perfect ingredients for what sounds tasty to you & your little human(s). The internet has a million recipes where you can find something to try, or, if you have a family recipe that has been passed down, use that & then bring some to your family if they live close by or drop it on your neighbors doorstep with a note that says “Happy Autumn” with a signature from your little ones. We need to do that more often, being neighborly, (at least where we live) is not what it used to be when I was growing up. The hubby & I have been talking about that & how we want to be better neighbors. We aren’t bad neighbors, we just don’t interact & drop off baked goods at our surrounding homes like we did when we were kiddos. So challenge yourself along with me & find creative ways to be more neighborly! The world could use a bit more kindness, so lets start with those right next door. And have fun baking with your little ones! Enjoy the whole experience of spills, the AMAZING smells as your bread/cookies/muffins/scones are baking & sharing it with the people in your community.

There you go! A few ways to enjoy & celebrate all the beauty of autumn with your kiddos by your side. It’s a great thing to engage them in the things that you love & for us, this season is one of those things. Happy Autumn to you & yours! May it bring you lots of coziness & joy as your celebrate all the goodness fall has to offer.

Cheers,

Katie.

I want to share my story.

We live in an age where slowing down is hard to do, taking the time to connect, communicate, experience the lives of others as well as be intentional to live in each moment of our own lives is hard. Which is weird. That isn’t the way it should be. We were created in the very beginning to BE, to be in relationship with others, to interact with the world around us, to taste & see goodness. To experience all things, both wonderful & terrible, awe inspiring & stretching. I’ve been bad at it. It’s hard to slow down enough to reflect, to breathe, to experience the feeling of my heart beating against the inside of my chest. It has become a daily practice to slow down, take deep breaths, to use my senses in a moment to experience the fullness it has to offer. I want to improve each day at just BEING. A part of that for me is going to be fulfilling a desire within myself to share my story, taking the time required to sit still, reflect, breathe & share my experiences with the world around me. Most people would call me a quiet person, myself included. Writing has always allowed me to express my heart & thoughts more clearly. I hope in starting this blog I can do just that, as well as encourage some people along the way to simply slow down & BE, enough to take the time to live your life well in community & share your story. Stories change lives, stories have definitely changed mine. I am excited to be pushing myself out of my comfort zone to sit down & share my story with you. I hope my life, the life I have lived up until this point & the life I have yet to experience will buoy you up & encourage you to share your story with others, as well as remind you of the goodness in your own life, in all the seasons of ups & downs, there is always goodness. Always.

Cheers,

Katie