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I was Weeding the Vegetable Garden…

{and other lame excuses for why I’ve been such a delinquent blogger lately}

  • I was busy growing sprouts…

Sprouts

  • I was locking myself, my children and our pup out of our house while my husband slept soundly in our room.  Good thing one of our screens doesn’t lock properly into it’s window and Bean was willing to slither in through the living room window.  Awesome way to start a morning indeed!
  • I was listening to a beautiful CD a precious friend of mine recorded and mailed to me.  On repeat.
  • I was busy watching helping my husband make all sorts of fun things with my birthday present…{recipes to come}

Fan bread (2 of 1) Cinnamon swirl (1 of 1)Cinnamon swirl (2 of 1) Fan bread (1 of 1)

  • I was busy swooning over the few day old baby bunnies Marley found burrowed in our front yard this morning.  Yay, my proverbial nest is full again!  We can’t wait to watch these babies grow {assuming said pup isn’t able to move my high-tech security system of upside-down crate with cannonball on top from covering their nest}
  • I was busy shaving both legs.  During one shower.  A miraculous summer necessity that has only been occurring more frequently since my children have been increasing in age.
  • I was designing my eyeballs out into the wee hours of the morning…{you know, the ‘professional’ thing I do on the side in my pajamas while my children are sleeping and my husband is out protecting the fine citizens of Michigan}

PIA BlogUnveil-Your-Style-eBlastClub Book Marks singleBook Club Poster 

 NWCC Postcard Final Southwest Showcase Basketball

And a personal favorite design project {due to the deliciously sweet subjects within}…

Mykah Lillian NEW B

I got to snap shots of the proud big sisters holding their sweet wee babe…

Reed Girls (1 of 1)

and even got to hold her the day after she emerged!!  {swoon}

Joy w Mykah (1 of 1)

  • So I was holding a baby.  Need I say more?
  • I was painting my fingernails a non-transparent color for the first time in my life.  And then removing it two days later.
  • I was busy doing loads of laundry.
  • I was out running in the early hours of the morning with Marley.  Okay fine, I did that once.  And barely made it out alive.
  • I was busy making garlicky hummus deliciousness and pita chips {out of tortillas, but of course}…

Hummus and chips

  • I was drinking entirely too many cups of tea.  But that is nothing new, now is it?
  • I was busy watching my sexy man flex his muscles and get his blue jeans dirty while cutting down a tree at my parent’s house {va va voom, baby!}.  And then we went on a date.  The rest is history.  Amen.

Cutting tree (2 of 1)

  • I was busy lying to you about doing loads of laundry.  Those are piled high in baskets still waiting to be tended.  Like this lonely blog.  Forgive me.
  • I was drooling over my new Jo Totes camera bag I convinced a sweet client to buy for me in exchange for design work because I’m too cheap to pay more than $15 for a bag.
  • I was making scrumptious veggie pizza with way too much bacon for my own good…

uncooked pizza (1 of 1)cooked pizza (1 of 1)

  • I was meeting spiffy new people I could talk for hours with.
  • I was getting burnt to a crisp at the beach with precious friends while my poor husband wonders where the heck his wife and kids are and whether his wife was sober when she decided to leave the house for 5 hours and not leave a note or answer her phone {gulp, sorry babe!}
  • I really was weeding and watering the vegetable garden {yay me!}, and actually knew to cut the pretty curly scapes off my garlic plants this year {that I simply admired and left intact last year}.  I was even thoughtful enough to put them in an old peanut butter jar and give them to my mom as an unorthodox floral arrangement  Because she loves garlic.  And because I’m a rockin’ daughter like that.

Garlic scapes (1 of 1)

  • I have been catching fireflies with my lovely loin fruit {and marveling at Bug’s ability to catch and squish in 2 seconds flat}
  • I have been making frequent stops at our local Whippy Dip.  I have a problem.  Especially when the sign outside reads “Toasted Coconut”.
  • I have been reading A Woman After God’s Own Heart.  Because I want to.  But mostly because I’m a part of a book club, and now I “have” to.  It’s challenging.  And so very good.
  • And the other reason I’ve been a blogging slacker is because I’ve been quite busy watching my sweet girl fall in love with her very first real pet…and melting at the very sight.

Marley girl (1 of 1)

But I’ll stop making excuses and get back on the blogging ball. 

{until, of course, something else, life-inspired occurs and I have to slip away to intentionally live it to the hilt!}

Related posts:

  1. Baby Smooches
  2. Meet Marley {Mae}
  3. Camping Prep & the Baby Face
  4. Weeding & Seeding: The Promise of ‘Instead’
«
»

Complete nonsense, Daily Life, Photography

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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty. But befo Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty.
But before the resurrection, there was a towel.

In John 13, just hours before the cross,
Jesus doesn’t assert power, He kneels.
He washes the feet of Peter.
He washes the feet of Judas.
He loves them to the end.

🎙️ Episode 017 | The Jesus Way is live.

What does it look like to choose love in the middle
of betrayal, grief, disagreement, and struggle?
The way of Jesus isn’t flashy.
 It’s faithful.

🎧 Listen wherever you stream podcasts.

#OhGoodGrief #TheJesusWay  #KnownByLove
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So very thankful for the life that came from his d So very thankful for the life
that came from his death.

May you know how wildly, wholly
and wonderfully you are loved…

“This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son.
And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone
can have a whole and lasting life.
God didn’t go to all the trouble of
sending his Son merely to point an
accusing finger, telling the world
how bad it was. He came to help,
to put the world right again.”

John 3:16-17 | The Message

#GoodFriday #ItIsFinished

📷 Levi Lusko
Boundaries are not the opposite of love. They are Boundaries are not the opposite of love.
They are often the evidence of it.

Jesus touched lepers.
He wept with friends.
He restored the broken.

But He also corrected boldly.
He withdrew intentionally.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.

You can forgive someone
without restoring immediate proximity.
You can love someone
without giving them full access to your life.

Episode 016 | Grace + Guardrails is available now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #BoundariesMatter
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Love does not require unlimited access. In Episod Love does not require unlimited access.

In Episode 016 of Oh, Good Grief, we explore what Jesus
actually modeled when it comes to boundaries.

He loved everyone.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.
He was full of grace and truth.
He welcomed the crowds, but confided in the few.

In a world that demands access to our time, energy, and heart, this episode unpacks what it looks like to forgive without naivety, love without losing discernment, and practice grace with guardrails.

🎧 Grace + Guardrails | How Jesus Modeled Boundaries in a World
  That Demands Access is live wherever you listen to podcasts

#OhGoodGrief #GraceAndTruth #BiblicalBoundaries #FaithInRealLife
Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is: thi Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is:
this is where I am today…
but it isn’t where my story ends.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #GodIsFaithful
Healing after betrayal isn’t linear. It’s messy. Healing after betrayal isn’t linear.

It’s messy.
It’s exhausting.
And sometimes it feels impossible.

In this conversation, Lisa Devine shares what it actually looked like to rebuild a marriage after infidelity: the boundaries, the brutal honesty, the forgiveness that had to be chosen again and again.

But more than anything,
it’s a story about the quiet ways God shows up
when everything feels shattered.

🎧 Listen to Episode 15 of Oh, Good Grief
  wherever you get your podcasts
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