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Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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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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Using ONE WORD, let us know how we can be praying Using ONE WORD, let us know how
we can be praying for you today.

He knows the details, we don't have to.

And if you pray for someone else here,
would you give them a 'thumbs-up' to
let them know you prayed for them?

/ / /

"Then you will call upon me
and come and pray to me,
and I will hear you."
:: Jeremiah 29:12
What do you do when you know God can… but you don’ What do you do when you know God can…
but you don’t know if He will?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, Monica Kaczynski shares her journey through cancer, surrender, and learning to trust God in the unknown.

This conversation is honest, tender, and deeply grounding.
Episode 023: Even If | Surrender, Hope + the Unfinished Story
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In this deeply personal episode, Joy sits down wit In this deeply personal episode, Joy sits down with Monica Kaczynski as she shares her journey through pancreatic cancer with raw honesty and steady faith.

From years of infertility and surrender, to the unexpected joy of motherhood, to a life-changing diagnosis just months before her son’s wedding, this is a story of courage in the middle of it all.

🎧 Episode 023 of Oh, Good Grief is out today:
 Even If | Surrender, Hope + the Unfinished Story

Listen in wherever you get your podcasts.

#ohgoodgriefpodcast #simplybloomco
Using ONE WORD, let us know how we can be praying Using ONE WORD, let us know how
we can be praying for you today.

He knows the details, we don't have to.

And if you pray for someone else here,
would you give them a 'thumbs-up' to
let them know you prayed for them?

/ / /

"Then you will call upon me
and come and pray to me,
and I will hear you."
:: Jeremiah 29:12
The enemy tempts us. Then shame convinces us to hi The enemy tempts us.
Then shame convinces us to hide.

But God’s first response to human failure wasn’t condemnation.
It was a question: "Where are you?"
Not because He didn’t know.
But because healing requires that we name where we are,
and freedom comes as we choose to bravely step out of hiding.

🎧  Where Are You? | An Invitation to Come Out of Hiding now streaming.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo
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Why do we hide? Often it starts with something sma Why do we hide?
Often it starts with something small,
a moment of humiliation, rejection, or exposure.
And over time we learn how to protect ourselves.
We perform. We blend in. We build armor.

But long before any of our stories began,
God asked the first humans a question
that still echoes today: "Where are you?"

In this episode, I share a story from growing up in Namibia and explore the quiet ways shame can shape our lives, and the courageous invitation God extends to step out of hiding.

🎧 Episode 022 of Oh, Good Grief is now live:
 Where Are You? | An Invitation to Come Out of Hiding 

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo
Using ONE WORD, let us know how we can be praying Using ONE WORD, let us know how
we can be praying for you today.

He knows the details, we don't have to.

And if you pray for someone else here,
would you give them a 'thumbs-up' to
let them know you prayed for them?

/ / /

"Then you will call upon me
and come and pray to me,
and I will hear you."
:: Jeremiah 29:12
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