Day in the Life
To follow-up my reintroduction to blogging, I thought it would be fun to do a Day in the Life post! I’ve never done one, and it’s been requested a few times, so here we go…!
To follow-up my reintroduction to blogging, I thought it would be fun to do a Day in the Life post! I’ve never done one, and it’s been requested a few times, so here we go…!
6:00am
Little bubba wakes up and comes to our bed for a quick nurse and snuggle.
A little off from the usual routine, I jump in the shower right away and get myself ready.
7:00am
The whole family hops in the car for a coffee date near Tom’s office. My car is in the shop indefinitely, so why not have a little fun with just one vehicle for the next few days? It’s a beautiful morning and always fun to see the city before it’s bustling. We go to CREMA, which I’ve not been to yet, and share a muffin and have a relaxing chat over coffee and let Silas hold our fingers as he toddles around (SO close to walking!)
8:00am
We say goodbye to Dada, and Silas and I head back home where he eats a little more breakfast, Hondo gets the rest of his breakfast and we play for a little bit and have a little snuggle-time before nap.
9:00am
Silas goes down for a nap. I go to the basement to talk to my sister on the phone and start this blog post. Hondo follows me, as usual, because the basement is his favorite place.
10:00am
Silas is STILL sleeping! His naps have been short and difficult lately because of his new tooth, but maybe we’ve finally made it over the hump for now.
10:15am
Annnnd he’s up! Honestly for him, an hour and fifteen is a good nap. He woke up in a great mood and we’ll spend the next hour or so playing and maybe prepping some lunch. I realize I haven’t eaten anything besides a few very small pieces of a muffin, so I whip up two eggs with some green onions and scarf them down before I pass out - haha!
11:30am
We have a little lunch because Silas is getting grumpy and clingy. I make him a quesadilla and peaches while I heat up some Trader Joe’s frozen dinner thing. Mine is yuck so I throw it away, but I’m crazy hungry, so I eat some Doritos and graham crackers to get something in my system.
12:30pm
We play a little more and let Hondo outside. The outdoor area got wet from the rain last night, so it’s no good for us to play on until later. So instead, we make a run to Target for a hair dryer since a part of mine broke yesterday.
12:45pm
We get to Target and I realize Silas is poopy. Rarely does this happen, but I get him to the bathroom and take care of that before I shop. We’ve been working on saying “hi” and waving, but Silas is pretty shy (and sweet) with others, so he hasn’t actually been successful. Today, though, he kept randomly practicing his wave throughout the aisles, and promptly blushing and trying to hug me once I took notice. He is the sweetest little bug!
1:30pm
Back at home, a neighbor is getting a dead tree removed and shredded. We can’t miss the chance to watch that, so we sit in the yard for a while and Silas is mesmerized. Back inside, we clean up the toys we got out.
2:00pm
Nap time! Even with the noise of the tree shredding machinery, he goes down easy with a short nursing session. I sit down to rest because (full disclosure) my cramps are super bad and I’m tired and want a peanut butter cookie… or ten. I open up Amazon and add a few necessities to my cart, and by 2:40, he’s still sleeping, so I chance a little nap for myself.
3:05pm
He took a good nap! And so did I :) Honestly can’t remember the last time I napped in the day, but it feels good. We play with Hondo, spend a long while on the deck, have a snack, and watch a little bit of Peppa Pig when Silas starts getting clingy and needy for no reason.
4:20pm
We head to the train station and wait for Dada. While we wait, I get Silas out of his seat to sit on my lap so he can see a train up close. The train comes, Dada comes our way, and off it goes with a loud CHOO! Big smiles from Si!
4:45pm
At home, Silas and Tom play while I make dinner. Tonight it happened to be a recipe I’ve shared on the blog - a favorite in this house… veggie flatbread pizza!
6:00pm
Bath time! While I do bath, Tom cleans up dinner and makes something for dessert whiiiiich we will eat after bedtime.
6:30pm
Lotion, snuggles, jammies, books and trimming finger nails. Every night, when I pick him up after putting on lotion, he wraps his arms tight around my neck for the sweetest snuggle while he hums quietly. It’s the cutest thing.
7:00pm
Silas goes to bed, we finish cleaning up the kitchen, feed Hondo, and sit down to put on a show in the background while we talk and work and hang out. And eat chocolate peanut butter “pie.”
10:30pm
Bedtime for mom, dad, and Hondo.
*Things I did NOT get done: 2 loads of laundry, a few dishes, some floors vacuumed, some items put away, enough snuggles for my Hondo
There you have it, friends! Nothing very exciting or extraordinary. Just an ordinary day with my little family. Being a mom. Picking up the little person who clings on my legs while I work in the kitchen because he just wants a hug. Teaching him how to say hi and give kisses and nod his head “yes.” I wouldn’t want my days to look any different than how they are now. And at 4:35pm, when Dada walks in the door, after someone has been hugging me all day, I get to hug him, and it feels so good. Well, and Hondo. But Hondo mostly spends the day laying down and getting up a thousand times. Thanks for coming along!
Did you like this post? Would you want see something similar to this in the future? Gauging things now that I’m back… blogging feels so foreign!
Where I've Been
Since Silas was born, I’ve posted ten times. Just ten.
Since 2019 began? Once.
In years past, I was posting anywhere from fifty to seventy-one over the course of the year. (not bad!)
Since Silas was born, I’ve posted ten times. Just ten.
Since 2019 began? Once.
In years past, I was posting anywhere from fifty to seventy-one over the course of the year. (not bad!)
You know what’s funny though? I don’t feel guilty. I don’t feel like I’ve let people down. I don’t feel like someone else’s world has come to screeching halt because I’ve set blogging aside.
Do I think some of my loyal followers miss me? Sure! But if I know them like I think I do, I know they understand. They know how much Tom and I have waited for this stage of life to happen, and now that we’ve been living it for the past while, we’re just loving soaking in every moment.
So no, I don’t feel guilty. Life behind the scenes has been pretty routine, and not always very exciting (wake, eat, play, nap, wake, eat, play, nap, wake, play, eat, bath, bed - - - repeat tomorrow), but it’s been such a complete joy to watch our sweet boy grow. He has been our bad napper since forever, he’s obsessed with his mama, and when he’s awake is super sweet, easy going, and engaging. He’s constantly cracking us up, and just popped his third tooth! I don’t feel an ounce of guilt for taking this time to “just” be a stay at home mom. It’s what I’ve always wanted.
And nah, I don’t feel like I’ve let people down. That insinuates that someone was counting on you. Maybe some have missed me (I’ve missed you all too! But I hope you’ve been hanging with me on the ‘Gram), but overall, I’ve not dropped out on any brands I could have been working with or left you all completely hanging (again, Instagram!).
Surely, NO ONE’S world came to a screeching halt without me. If it did, gosh I’m just so sorry, and I hope this post gives you some relief ;) haha… but basically what I’m saying is, I’ve been gone. I’ve been happy. Happier than I’ve probably EVER been. But more and more, as I squeeze-in needed moments away from my son, I find myself drawn back to my little blogging “home” on the internets. To the familiar editing page, and the sound and feel of a keyboard under my fingers. It feels good, friends. I think I’m ready.
So in the old-school style of journal-blogging, let me tell you where I’ve been.
I have been…
changing diapers
rocking and bouncing
doing mountains of laundry
snuggling our bear-dog
getting trapped under a sleeping baby
nursing for a million hours (and still going, if you’re curious)
roadtripping to Asheville for a wedding
hosting at least seven different times
going to the zoo
roadtripping to Indiana
roadtripping to Iowa and Illinois
flying to Wisconsin
making 8 million trips to Target
falling more in love with my Thomas
loving life in Nashville
going on lunch dates
eating more veggies
enjoying nightly cookies
watching our baby learn to roll, crawl, walk, talk, pull-up, find his feet, find his tongue, wave hi and bye…
binging lots of The Office and Parks and Rec
navigating those sleepless nights with an infant
having full nights of beauty rest after 9.5 months
appreciating coffee
loving and speaking kindly to my body
giving baths
applying lotion and sunscreen and butt paste
taking temperatures and giving medicines
soothing a grumpy child
saying “no no, Silas” over and over
kissing bumped heads
telling Hondo “leave it” as he smothers his brother with licks
getting my first tan since moving south!
doing Weight Watchers
dancing in the kitchen and smooching my whole family
picking up toys
cleaning up the highchair
stealing away moments alone
missing my baby while he sleeps
LIVING LIFE
So here I am again. Ready to bring Joy Lynn Lifestyle back to life. I’m not entirely sure where to go from here, and I need to dust off my Canon and take a few practice shoots, but I think for a while I might just journal here like the old days of blogging.
I’ll fill you in on what’s been keeping us busy (or not busy!), what things we’ve been loving, a house tour, a day in the life, struggles, joys, baking adventures… whatever I can think of. It feels like time to write and to hang out in this space again. I’ve spent mannnnny hours on Instagram over the last year, and while there are many uplifting and encouraging facets to that platform, there’s also a TON of BUY BUY BUY, GO GO GO, DO DO DO… and well, I’m not one that needs or thrives on constantly pushing myself towards things that, in the end, are just shallow. I like to simply live. Just be. Just love and appreciate all that I already have, not what I think might ‘be better.’ Do you feel that way? Am I just some crazy lady over here that sees people always going and am extremely content just to take in what’s right here?
Anyway. All that to say… hey guys. I missed ya. Thanks for coming back right now, and for understanding the happy reasons for my hiatus. It’s really been a swell first year of my baby’s life :) But mama needs some time to herself and to come back ‘home’ online.
And I hope you’ve all been doing well over the last year, too! Have I missed anything? Tell me all about it! What are some highlights I may have missed in YOUR lives?!
2018 Reflections
And just like that, 2018 has come to a close.
Oh friends, what a year this has been. For me, it has been one of the best years of my life, and yet I know that for others, it may been the most painful. Before I go on,
And just like that, 2018 has come to a close.
Oh friends, what a year this has been. For me, it has been one of the best years of my life, and yet I know that for others, it may have been the most painful. Before I go on, I want to acknowledge that. If there is anything that infertility has taught me, it’s that perspective+empathy is a winning combination for tact and compassion. I know I’m not perfectly tactful all the time, and not perfectly compassionate, but I hope that I’ve become better at it. I have been on the side of doling out grace (as we all have!) when people do and say tactless things. Thoughtless things. When they unknowingly (or knowingly) broach a subject that will illicit hurt. I try to remember the perspective I’ve gained, and try to be gentler with my words. I write a little less adamantly these days, because I think fewer opinions are black and white.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have an awful lot of opinions… haha!
But I guess the path of two years of infertility, followed by the birth of our precious baby boy, has taught me to be a little kinder, a little more guarded, and yet be willing to open up when the moment and people are right.
Receiving messages from readers and followers who have been touched by infertility, or motherhood topics, or are traveling to Iceland, or love Bernese Mountain Dogs, continues to be my favorite part of having this little space online. I love connecting with people and I hope my words offer hope or guidance or even just a good story. As I looked over a couple messages I received over the last month, I read one to Tom and said, “You know, sometimes I just want to close up shop, and let blogging end here while I stay at home with Silas. But it’s these messages that make it worth it. I know I have people who read and never reach out, and that’s okay… but it sure would encourage me to keep going if this happened more regularly!” and we laughed and that’s when I decided to dust off my editing page again.
I really hope those of you out there, who still bother to come by this little space, enjoy the far and in-between writings of this Tennessee momma. In the new year, I plan on making Joy Lynn a place I come back to regularly again. Though I must admit, the last seven and a half months with my boy have been absolutely blissful. Tiring. But blissful. All that to say - please reach out if the mood strikes. I promise I don’t bite! Message me on Instagram, Facebook, or email me here.
Now, on to reflections of this year:
As you can guess, it was one that was overwhelmingly baby-focused. As I was rocking my not-so-little 19lb baby to sleep, tonight, I hugged him tightly, and realized how quickly it all goes. I realized this is the last night I would lay down my baby in the year he was born. In the year I became a momma. (Can you tell I’ve become a giant sap since becoming a mother?! haha). Though, I’m so looking forward to 2019 and enjoying the spring and summer with a toddler instead of a newborn.
This year, I’ve learned that…
no good comes of comparing your parenting choices with someone else’s.
all babies are different.
with a new baby, comes a new level of communication with your spouse.
you have got to have a sense of humor for every stage and season of life or you’ll go crazy and be miserable.
overly serious people are not our kind of people .
Hondo’s Instagram is so extra… it’s our favorite thing.
you really do know your baby and the less you doubt that, the happier you’ll all be.
breastfeeding is incredible, but also REALLY time consuming. Pretty sure it’s been my full-time job the last 7+ months.
hobbies matter! My baking and photography are getting picked up more often and I’m so glad for it.
marriage after a baby is pretty awesome.
making time for yourself as not just a mom, but an individual, is important, but sometimes hard to come by. You gotta be creative!
finding a baby carrier you love makes a huuuuuge difference.
traveling with a baby is not pleasant.
even though so much has changed, Tom and I still bring on the sass and it cracks us up on the daily.
There’s not much more I can really say to reflect on this year, besides reiterating how extraordinarily blessed we feel. Tom and I literally fight over whose turn it is to hold Silas on the regular and that alone probably sums up our feels as new parents. We’re a couple of saps, and we have no shame about it. We are completely smitten.
We are so grateful for God’s grace and forgiveness and promise of salvation, we are grateful for our Silas boy (and Hondo!), and we are grateful for one another. If we walked into 2019 with nothing else, we would be as richly blessed.
Happy New Year, my friends.
And thank YOU all for continuing to drop in even while I’ve been taking this time. I love interacting with you on Instagram, and if you have any topics in the meantime that you’d like me to take on in 2019 PLEASE DON’T BE SHY! Would you like me to review anything? Bake anything? Compare any products? Write about Nashville? See more house posts or photos? Minimalism? Marriage topics? Hondo guest posts? (haha kidding) Monthly updates? Favorite products lately? Come on - lemme hear it! It’ll help me get the ball rolling! :)
As always, much love,
Joy
Go Home
This is a post I’ve wanted to write for years, but haven’t at the risk of sounding whiney.
Let me preface this a bit.
Tom and I met and married in Wisconsin and lived there for two years after getting married. But then we
This is a post I’ve wanted to write for years, but haven’t at the risk of sounding whiney.
Let me preface this a bit.
Tom and I met and married in Wisconsin and lived there for two years after getting married. But then we were ready for an adventure. “Anywhere but here syndrome” they call it, I think. We were ready for a change and were in stagnant jobs that we wanted to leave. We job hunted online all over the country, and whenever we’d see something in Atlanta, we’d look at each other to gauge our thoughts on it. We’d pause, scrunch up our noses and say, “nah.”
Low and behold, though, that’s where we landed. Tom was offered a job with a salary nearly as much as we had been making combined. So we figured why not! And honestly, we still never regret making the move to Atlanta because it truly furthered Tom’s career into what he is doing and loving now, and I got to explore work-from-home life. It was a good move. When we announced our move, all sorts of people came out of the woodwork and mentioned their times living in The ATL and how much they loved it. We were a little skeptical, but we believed them.
But we hated Atlanta.
I’m finally coming clean and I don’t feel bad when I admit it, now!
It had its bits and pieces, don’t get me wrong.
We loved our church home… but it took 40 minutes to get there. If there was no traffic.
We loved the few people we really got to know.
We got Hondo in Georgia!
I got pregnant in Georgia!
We discovered Indian food, and never had to go far when a craving struck.
We loved the outdoor mall where we could take Hondo into every store.
It was nice having an IKEA around.
We learned to appreciate the long spring and fall seasons that met briefly in the middle with about a week of “winter.”
We were able to visit Savannah, Hilton Head, Tybee, Asheville, Blue Ridge, and more…
But we were also battling all the emotions and doctors appointments that went along with two hard years of infertility, in Georgia. We rarely went into the city because traffic always made it a whole ordeal. There were far too many chain restaurants and almost no coffee roasteries. It was crowded, people were not indistinguishably friendly, and meeting people with common interests was very hard because of its melting-pot nature (which was sometimes really cool, but no one who lived there was usually FROM there).
I talk about lessons learned here, right? Well this was one of them.
Moves like that stretch you. They build a little character. They help you learn more about yourself (and maybe your marriage too).
Basically, what I’m getting at is, try to see the positive in everything. The silver lining. Trust in God. But when it comes down to it, you don’t have to live somewhere you hate forever. MOVE. FIND YOUR HOME!
Atlanta did not suit us. Not at all. So when the opportunity to move to Nashville came about we were ecstatic. Atlanta was simply a stepping stone for us, but I am really, REALLY glad to be “home” in Nashville. We are still loving it more every day. Will we always love Nashville? Who knows. But I can tell you one thing: we already feel far more rooted in the community here than we ever did in 3+ years in Atlanta.
We love going into the city.
Target is right up the road. (priorities)
We still get a lot of visitors!
There is snow in the winter! (This is a positive to me)
Tom can get to and from work far quicker than he was ever able to before.
I’m not afraid to drive here.
I was able to have my actual OB deliver my baby instead of having the on-call doctor (that would have been the case in Georgia).
The coffee and food scene is amazing!
I weirdly have more pride in living in Nashville than I ever did in Atlanta.
It feels like home, and you don’t really realize how priceless that is until you leave a place that does NOT feel like home.
I guess I’m just writing this one to stay.. it’s okay. It’s okay if you don’t like where you live. It’s valid, even. But don’t fixate on it. Make the best of it… but don’t be afraid to just pull the trigger and leave after a short time if you think that’s best. We thought (after buying our house there) that we’d be there for at least another 5 years. Two years after we said that, we were burning rubber on our way to Nashville. You can make a change and you can move if you’re unhappy! I think so many people think about the what-ifs and the risks so much that they put off a great decision far longer than they need to. I guess I’m just writing this post to encourage you not to stay somewhere that makes you unhappy.
I haven’t written a super ramble-y post like this in a while! Haha frankly, I haven’t been writing at ALL lately, so sorry if it’s all over the place. Sometimes I miss those old “diary days” of blogging, ya know? Anyways. All that to say….
I’m really glad we live in Nashville. It’s been a good 3+ years since we’ve felt this happy where we live, and I’m just excited to say that.
DSLR Tips & Basics
When you look at all the mumbo-jumbo next to the buttons, it can feel a little daunting to mess with - like you'll break something and not be...
I was talking to a friend recently who admitted that although she owns a nice little DSLR, she doesn't fully understand how to use the features. I get it! When you look at all the mumbo-jumbo next to the buttons, it can feel a little daunting to mess with - like you'll break something and not be able to get it back to the familiar "auto" settings.
However, I'm married to a guy that constantly reminds me to challenge myself. To learn something new, and maybe in the process, I'll become more proficient. Sometimes I fight this (because I like to play it safe), so his encouragement to take little risks has been such an awesome thing for me.
When we got our first DSLR (a Canon Rebel T6), we learned together all the basics and what they do. Let me break them down for you in this post so it'll be easy to navigate on your own, and maybe you can brave up and start using manual mode! We did upgrade to a Canon 70D, but these basics remain the same. Now keep in mind, I'm no professional, but I figured I'd share a few tips to help you move away from auto settings. So here.we.goooo!
ISO
This is what brightens or darkens your photos. A higher ISO, means a brighter photo. Essentially, each level up on ISO will double your brightness (ie. 200 ISO is twice as bright as 100 ISO). However, the higher the ISO, the grainer your photo will become, so I would suggest keeping that ISO as low as possible for clarity and quality, and try to brighten your photos through other means like aperture or shutter speed.
ISO is an important piece to consider when shooting, and keeping your ISO at the base level in low-light conditions can be challenging because it also means lower aperture or shutter speed which can cause photos to come out extremely blurry. You can remedy this by perhaps using a steady tripod, but even still, your focal point will also need to remain very still. Mess with your ISO and see what happens! Find the ISO ranges you're comfortable in and go from there. Though, again, keeping it low, will keep it from getting grainy.
The photos below look relatively similar, but if you look closer at the first one, you'll notice it's got more grain to it. It may not seem like an issue now, but when you go to edit this photo, it'll be more noticeable.
Shutter speed
That's the thing that looks like 1/200, 1/40, 1/blah blah ... it's the amount of time the shutter is open. A faster shutter speed will let in less light, but allow you to catch an action shot (for example), and a slower shutter speed will let in more light and allow you to blur some motion (like running water or light snow). If you go below 1/50-ish, your photos will likely come out blurry simply because it'll be hard to keep your hand steady at that shutter speed. As a rule of thumb, use a tripod for anything below 1/50 to keep it clear. Pay attention to the exposure control bar at the bottom of your viewing screen that looks sorta like -3...-2...1...^...1...2...3 and try to keep your mark nearest to the center for a well adjusted photo.
Below you can see obvious differences when changing the shutter speed. Because the right photo was a faster speed, it let in less light, which is why it's darker. However, had I been holding the camera when taking the first photo, it would have undoubtedly been blurry.
Aperture
You know that weird number that looks like f 1.8, f 2.8, f 3.5, etc...? That's your aperture (aka f-stop). It controls the size of the opening in the lens when the photo is taken. It's also the thing that gives you that nice focal point with the blurred-out background. The smaller the f-stop, the larger the opening. Landscapes will likely shoot better with a high aperture, whereas a portrait would shoot better at a low aperture. Though, it totally depends on the look you're going for!
The first of these two photos has a low f-stop causing the focal point (the plant) to come in clear, while blurring out the background. The second photo still has that affect, but since it's using a higher f-stop, it's not quite as blurred. I also had to adjust the shutter speeds for these photos to bring the lighting to a more even point because the size of the lens opening (aperture) was being messed with.
Those are the three biggies! Play with them, don't be afraid of manual, and enjoy yourself. Learning how to use these features is really not that daunting, and it ends up being really fun. Just keep in mind that they all go hand in hand. If you mess with one, you'll at least have to mess with another one. It definitely takes some patience, and it means you may have to take a lot of shots to get something just right, but it'll help you when the time comes to edit (which, if you're curious, I typically use Lightroom, Snapseed, and VSCO).
Other tips:
- Start learning to choose your focal point instead of letting your camera choose it. This gives you so much more control over framing an image.
- Try out different lenses for different uses. For example, a 50mm with f1.8 aperture is great for portraits. Personally, my most used lens is a 24mm because it's very functional in lots of different scenarios.
- Buy yourself a 64GB SD card - especially if you shoot in RAW.
- On that note... shoot in RAW! It gives you so much more freedom when editing. Do a little research on that if you're curious. (Here's a helpful article about that)
My favorite camera products:
I hope this short-sweet guide helps you learn a little bit about your camera, but no matter what, just have fun! You're not going to break it by messing with a few buttons, so brave-up and give it a try :)
Oh and here's a nice little cheat sheet for beginners that comes in handy for us even after a couple years of playing with our camera:
snagged via SLR Lounge
Maternity Style | PinkBlush
You voted on Instagram, so here is a little maternity style post just for YOU! So, I'm gonna be real upfront and tell you that I seriously...
+ a surprise announcement!
You voted on Instagram, so here is a little maternity style post just for YOU!
So, I'm gonna be real upfront and tell you that I seriously love having a pregnant tummy. I think it's so fun to find ways to flatter it with different outfits, and I've truly enjoyed it. I know some people really mourn the loss of their pre-pregnant bodies, but after going through infertility, I am nothing but grateful to see that belly grow! Maybe you're the same, maybe you're not, but regardless, that belly will grow... so why not have some fun making it look adorable?
I spent some time online looking for cute maternity shops, and my favorite that I found, was called PinkBlush. They are more known for their maternity clothes, but they also carry regular women's clothing, plus, and maternity plus. I would definitely describe their overall style to be "boutique," but with super reasonable prices. Honestly, I feel like everywhere you go shopping at the very limited brick and mortar maternity clothes places, the prices are crazy high and you end up really limited in terms of options.
PinkBlush sent me a few items to share with you, and my true and honest opinion is: I LOVE THEM. They're flattering, they have tons of options, and the price is right. They even have the prettiest delivery robes!
Little thing - their sizes do seem to run big. I got everything in a medium (which I normally wear for tops and dresses) and I had plenty of room. I'm 24 weeks, so maybe in another 15 weeks, I'll go back on that statement (haha) but just a heads up.
Enough chatter - here are the cute pieces I snatched up AND an announcement mingled in there for you to find!
Did you catch it?! We're having a BOY and SO overjoyed!
The funny thing is, we found out in the emergency room when I was 17 weeks and had a kidney stone. I had to get an OB scan to make sure the baby was okay, and the tech was asking if we were planning on finding out, etc.. and we had said yes, but were just making conversation. When they wheeled my bed out of the ultrasound room, she came running after us with a folded up piece of paper and said, "If you want to know, you can look at the paper..." Of course, we looked the second we got back to our ER room and it was super precious and happy amidst the crappy scenario.
Anyways, I thought this post would be perfect for announcing our happy news :) simply because having something cute to wear makes it all the sweeter! Oh and that lace shoulder sweater up there is suuupppperrrr comfy and adorable and I've basically been living in it these days!
Dear 2017
It seems to me, that a lot of people didn't like you, 2017. You know what I think? I think those people are just a bunch of Debbie-downers...
It seems to me, that a lot of people didn't like you, 2017. You know what I think? I think those people are just a bunch of Debbie-downers (or they just had a crummy year). There was crappy stuff that happened (just like every year). There was a lot of sad news (just like every year). There were opposing opinions and heated discussions and violent arguments... but guess what? It happens every year. That's just a fact of LIFE and living in a world of sin.
(So if you are looking for contentedness and grace, get to know Jesus, friends.)
Anyways, between you and me, I thought you were pretty great, 2017.
The Good
I spent yet another year with the love of my life. Tom and I laughed a ton, made-up a plethora of new inside jokes, cried together, walked through a long hard season while keeping our chins up, and loved each other infinitely more than the year before. We put all our trust and faith in Christ - never perfectly - but nonetheless, we muddled through and still managed to find happiness and joy amidst the difficulties. There is no other person I would rather do life with, and I'm so grateful for his love and our shared weirdness.
We brought home our dream pupper! You guys already know. Hondo is just the best dog in the whole world and we love him to pieces. He is unbelievably clingy and it seems like I can never escape a paw in my lap and a nose in my ear. He is everything we hoped for and more. We never tire of his hilarious antics (and if you want in on the fun, follow his popular Instagram). Read up on why he's so special to us in this post.
We took our first vacation in four years (and we went BIG). We saw three incredible countries and learned a lot about other cultures while meeting some amazing people.
We found out we are expecting a baby (and beat the odds of infertility)! What an overwhelmingly welcome surprise! In a future post, I think I'll share with you the details of our infertility journey. It was such a hard trial and unless you've faced it yourself, I don't know that you'd ever understand the raw hurt and pain that it comes with. However, I feel that being even a small voice for the massive amount of people that silently face this, is the least I can do. It has opened me up to a new sense of compassion and a greater perspective outside the simple excitement most people have when they start their families without a problem.
This baby, though, is so deeply loved already. Our gratefulness to our Lord and Savior for this blessing, knows no bounds. What joy and privilege we feel! I'd say this part of 2017 was a pretty major highlight :)
We moved out of Atlanta! I know I worded that in a way that might seem like a slap in the face to Atlanta, but... people get to feel how they feel, and we are so excited to be in Nashville. It's far less crowded, it's smaller to navigate, and it's closer to our Midwest family. We were a piece to the Georgia puzzle that didn't quite fit, and our latest move has been a welcome one. More on that later.
Tom got a new job. He was ready to be in a more fulfilling role, and this job offer came at some pretty wild timing (right after our big trip, during my first trimester of pregnancy, and the transition happened over Christmas).
We sold our first home. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to the house we DIYed and spent so much time making our own. We learned a lot about owning a home and the costs and work involved in it. It was a blast to have taken that on together and made such happy memories there. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. And I'll miss those giant base cabinet drawers, terribly!
We found a new house! God's timing sure is amazing. Sometimes it feels like you're in seasons where God constantly tells you "not right now" and other seasons where it's a clear "yes" or "no." Infertility was one long "not right now," but suddenly he started pouring a bunch of "yes" at us! This house was no exception. The housing market in Nashville is INSANE, but somehow we found an incredible house and got under contract on it the first week we moved here. The location, style, updates, everything... are exactly what we had been hoping for (and I cannot WAIT to share it with you!). We close in less than two weeks. Teeny spoiler alert photo below! We can't decide if it should be the office/guest room or the nursery...
Regrets
I just feel like I didn't eat enough queso.
Tough Stuff
The fog of infertility greatly affected my drive and left me feeling like I lacked an identity or had to keep such a major part of our life hush-hush (which always feels fake to me). I put up new content, but always wanted to talk about the reality of the hard things going on behind the scenes... yet, I never felt ready. Part of why I started working from home was to be accustomed to being at home once we had children, so when that didn't seem to pan out, it started to affect my overall purpose - online and elsewhere.
This new and recent season, however has greatly uplifted my spirits and excitement for the future. I cannot wait for the things to come, but I'm also greatly enjoying the present.
Oh and I got a kidney stone at 17 weeks pregnant and was in the hospital for two days. That kinda sucked. Haha..
So you know what, 2017... I'm grateful for you. I learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried a lot, and loved a lot. Not every year needs to be groundbreaking and incredible. Some years need to just carry you gracefully (or hectically in our case) into the next. Some years need to teach you how to grieve, and others need to teach you how to rejoice more enthusiastically than ever before.
Some years, however, are definitely a little more memorable than others, and 2017, you've made it to the memory books for sure.
These are a Few of Our Favorite (Amazon) Things
Tom and I are self-proclaimed "bad gifters." We're not very thoughtful when it comes to gifts, and mostly we hate feeling like we're just...
Tom and I are self-proclaimed "bad gifters." We're not very thoughtful when it comes to gifts, and mostly we hate feeling like we're just giving people more junk... which usually, we are, because we don't know what to get anyone.
So today, instead of coming up with a well thought-up "gift guide," I'm just going to show you a bunch of our favorite purchases on Amazon and maybe you'll find something listed here that might be nice for a family member, friend, or even yourself! Many of my favorite gifts, have been items that other people have given us that are tried and true in their own homes. We all have our "favorite things," but sometimes those have become your favorites, because they were someone else's. My favorite kitchen gadgets, for example, have often become my favorites because they were my mom's favorites first.
(All links are affiliate linked - see disclosure on the bottom of the page)
Joy's Favorites
Robe: I actually recently ordered this to wear in the hospital after baby comes. It's super soft and cozy, so I know it was the right choice.
Watch: I like cheap watches because I only wear them as accessories occasionally, and can easily switch up the style when I get tired of one. This is my current favorite!
Movie: A great Shakespeare classic with an insanely amazing cast.
Slippers: I'm a sucker for fuzzy, bootie slippers and these are my pick for this year!
Heat resistant case: Perfect for traveling when you use hot styling tools and then need to pack them right away.
Laptop sleeve: Light and basic, but protective.
Popsocket: Don't make fun of me... I love this stupid thing! Makes holding your phone so much easier. Especially when you have small hands in comparison to your device!
Camera organizer: A great, padded, structured organizer that you can move from one bag to another so easily.
Camera strap: It seems expensive for a camera strap, but it truly is the BEST. It's high quality and it adjusts lengths so quickly. I seriously think every person with a nice camera NEEDS this strap. Such a great product!
Tom's Favorites
Sunglasses: Tom is picky about his shades, and these ended up being just perfect!
Pens: I know it seems random, but since he does a lot of sketching for his work and note-taking, these pens are awesome. People always want to steal them from him, and for a while, we legitimately used to hoard them from one another haha! They're fine-tipped, and well, just trust me, they're worth what I'm cracking them up to be.
Watch: He used to wear a smart watch, but he got tired of charging it and just wanted something extremely basic for Europe. Now, he wears it every.single.day. It's super cheap, but it's thin, and looks nice. He gets comments on it all the time (which I think is so funny since he works in tech, and it's just a basic Casio).
Laptop backpack: I vouch for this. He used to accidentally leave stuff at home and would spend so much time rummaging through his backpack for stuff. But this bag is super structured, comfortable, high quality, and sleek. It has organizational places for everything. He loves this thing, and it genuinely keeps him super organized.
Down jacket: He ordered this for layering on our Europe trip and now wears it all the time at home. Lightweight but warm!
Hondo's Favorites
Well, these are our favorite things FOR Hondo I guess, but you can also check out our other favorites for him here: Products We Love for Our Large Dog.
Car Hammock: It just comes in very handy for protecting our seats and keeping him contained in the car. Heavy duty, too!
Hair removers: Tom's parents sent us one of these and they are AMAZING. Does what a lint roller does, but MUCH better and minus having to go through a thousand sticky sheets. These things are seriously magical and I recommend them to everyone!
Stretchy toy: Basically indestructible. He loves this toy and it also doesn't yank your arm from its socket if he tries to play tug-of-war with you!
There you have it! A few of our favorite (Amazon) things. What're some of yours?! I love how Amazon is a world of endless possibilities and ideas and cool gadgets, and I just love hearing what kinds of every day items other people can't live without.