Goodbye June

Guys! We did it!!
This month flew by so fast, it was so much fun!

Today we are headed out to a campground nearby for the next month. Some sweet friends of ours offered to take our milking cow for us, so I'll actually be spending most of the time at the campground as well, which is super exciting!

I'm going to be taking this month off of blogging, mostly because I won't have wifi anyway... but partly because I just want to take this time to spend time with the people I love, and reconnect with God on a deeper level. So, I am cutting out social media and other distractions that continuously vie for my attention and am simply going to focus on breathing, and refreshing.
I'll be back on July 31st with an update, and lots of pictures!

Until then, I hope you all have a great summer!!
Thanks for joining me on this blogging adventure!
And a big thanks to Mom, Becca, and Shayla for sticking it through with me in the 'Hello June" challenge!

Peace out!

Dream List #71

Number seventy one.
To complete all of the workouts on Jillian Michaels "Body Revolution".

This might seem like a strange thing to put on my Dream List, so specific. I mean WHY Jillian Michaels? And WHY a three month program?!? (This was the question I asked myself over and over as I was trying to complete the goal. :)
But the meaning behind finishing this one for me was huge.

To be consistent with something for that long (three months) is not an easy thing for me. It is my mountain.
I had tried several times to finish it, but I never quite got there.
To me, finishing this would mean that I could do a lot more than I thought I could. Once I scaled that mountain, I knew I would be able to look forward to a larger one, a more obvious and glaring one.

So, I worked out through sickness. I doubled up on workouts when I missed a week because I almost gave up. I doubled up on workouts before we went on vacation to Flordia. I cried, I sweat (buckets), and finally... I did it!
It wasn't pretty, but I did it!

And you know what?
It felt amazing. :)

I just want to encourage you all. Even if you think you can't... you can. You always can.
I can't tell you how many times I tried and failed at this one, the point is, don't. give. up.
Don't allow failure to be your stopping point, rather allow it to be stepping blocks on your way to slaying that goal.

You've got this.

No Longer Cranky

Today was just one of those days where everything is annoying. Ever had one of those days?
I was even getting on my nerves.

It was cleaning day... well, everyday is cleaning day around here. But today was CLEANING day (if ya get my meaning). Sometimes I get a bit cranky on those days. Cleaning up after teenagers can do that to you. ;)

Anyway, I was in the middle of getting upset about cleaning up this kid's jacket that was callously thrown on the ground, and that kid's empty chocolate milk cup that had been overturned and spilled on the floor when I walk into the next room and see that my 10 year old sister had cleaned the kitchen without being asked.
I was a little less cranky after that.

Then later after supper as I tidied the cards that were left out after being played with, and scrubbed the gum off of the floor, I looked over and saw that my 13 year old brother had cleaned up the supper, emptied the dishwasher, and washed and dried the dishes... also without being asked.
The cranky was disappearing fast.

Then I opened my phone and saw on Instagram that a christian electric guitar player had lost his wife a few hours after she gave birth to their daughter.
My day then looked a hundred times brighter.

It taught me again that all of the mess is a good thing. Having people, healthy kids, adults, teenagers, in my life that mess up the house and make noise, and leave the toilet seat up... it is a good thing. Because in an instant it could be traded for the emptiness of a life lost.

All of this to say that, HI, (insert waving hand emoji) I'm not cranky anymore. I'm thankful.

Strength and Honor

Strength and honor are her clothing.

Proverbs 31:25 

What I am about to write has been on my heart for a while now, being a single woman, it is frustrating sometimes to live in a world in which the normal can be so far away from God's design.

I am a firm believer that God made us man and woman for a reason. We each have different roles in life, but society these days is trying to erase that line.
Woman are pressured to be strong. "Anything a man can do I can do." seems to be the mantra of this age.
Growing up in and now living in a house full of boys, and being the competitive person that I am, I must admit that it does give me a sense of satisfaction when I am able to "one up" one of my brothers (or any other guy for that matter). In our family, we the girls were taught to be strong, and are applauded for our show of strength in any sport or competition, especially when we beat the boys.
Tough, maybe is the word I am looking for. We were taught to be tough. To do our best in everything that we try, and to not shy away from those things that are hard.
But at the same time, we were taught to be clothed in honor. Gals, God created us as women for a purpose, and He gave men the strength, and natural ability to take care of us. But we are taking that God given gift away from ourselves by thinking that we need to be all. We can don't need a man to take care of us, or treat us honorably.
The other day, while Ker and I were driving with my brothers, we saw a young woman mowing the lawn. One of my brothers said casually, "Where are all the guys? She shouldn't have to be doing that job!". It was such a sweet comment, he wasn't trying to say that she couldn't do the job, or that she shouldn't do the job, but that she should be treated with more honor and not have to get dirty when there are guys out there that could have done it for her. Sadly, Ker and I had to tell him that he had to be careful about saying that just to anyone because some women would find that comment offensive, because they feel like they don't need to be cherished anymore. They don't want to be treated like the gift that they are.
Chivalry is becoming more and more rare, and the women are partly to blame for that.

The decline can also be seen in relationships. Remember those Prince and Princess dreams? What has happened to those kinds of relationships? What has happened to the pursuit? A man working to claim the affections of a woman he likes, then fighting for the heart of the one he loves? Does this have to be only a fairy tale?
I watched a video on YouTube the other day about a man who worked for years to win the heart of his girl. It gave me hope that there are men out there who are willing to treat a woman as if they are a treasure instead of something to be used.

I'm not saying that all women should be treated like china dolls, or that women should expect to be pampered all the time. Read the rest of Proverbs 31 and you will see a woman who is not afraid to complete any task that she sees before her.
But if a guy wants to open a door for a woman, let him. Ladies, allow yourself to be pursued.  Don't be afraid to appreciate a man's strength and leadership. Allow him to treat you like a woman who's price is far above rubies. Because you are, you are worth it.

Weekend's End

Sunday morning we had one last meal before ending our weekend together.

The sun finally came out, so pie iron pizzas over a campfire it was!

I love these dear people so much.

Thanks to the Thiessens and Becca for coming over and making our weekend a blast!!

Spa Day

We started off the second day of our girl's weekend with brunch. 

Crepes with fresh fruit. 

Thee. Best.

Then, Ker, Becca, and I set up shop in the family room and... "Spa Day" began.

The plan was to do a mini photo shoot with each gal, but sadly the weather was to rainy. So, we snapped a few inside instead.

Shay grabbed the camera and took some of these pictures for me while I was doing hair.

Ker was the makeup artist.

These little girls were super excited to get their makeup done!

She is so good she can do it with her eyes closed. ;)

Manicures and pedicures done by Becs and Ker.

Of course, Ker had to pamper herself as well. :)

Shay

Makayla

Mikaya

Chalise

Brooke

Eliana

Rebecca

I love these beautiful gals. <3

Of course, the girls had to play dress up after getting their hair and makeup done!

After getting all prettied up, it was time to break out the food again...

Flattering, I know.

Fruit salad.

SO amazing.

Once we finished with supper, I gave Mandy a haircut, and we watched some more "Counting On". 

Because we stuffed our bellies with such fantastic food, we thought it would be a good idea to get a good workout in.

So we pulled out a hip-hop dance workout. Upon failing miserably trying to pick up on the hip-hop moves, (it's harder than it looks guys...) we decided to switch to something that would be more in our blood... country dancing.

We yeehaw-ed, yahoo-ed, and just completely slayed that dance workout. :)

Sorry, I have no pictures of this event. I was to busy swinging my partner round and round. ;)

Then... movie night with these three beauties!

Ker and Becs had to get a picture without holding food in their hands, but the truth is that whenever we have movie night... we eat well, thanks to these two.

We watched the movie "I Am Not Ashamed". It was REALLY good.

Then we continued to talk, laugh, and share our hearts until four o'clock in the morning. For some reason we thought a couple hours of sleep would be a good idea. :)

And that was day two of our weekend adventure!