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June Vacay Flashback #1

I just came across these photos I never got round to sharing {gasp}.  Enjoy!    We spent a night in Niagara Falls on our way out to Martha’s Vineyard (early June) and discovered a couple of things…   Cricket really likes to drink water out of wine glasses {go figure}… …while Bug enjoys climbing inside things.  Everything.  Especially if it… Read More

Family, Travels

The Man {before My Man}

I’ll just put it out there: my husband had some pretty big shoes to fill. Before he came along, I wasn’t sure I’d ever meet anyone quite like the man my mom had met 35+ years ago {who promptly asked her to marry him 4 days later}.  Sure, there are plenty of great guys out there {I’m related to a… Read More

Faith, Family

My Sisters are Special…

And I don’t just mean special.  I mean…“special” {wink, wink, nudge, nudge}.        Cricket joined in the craziness… Sisters. They make me laugh.  A lot. And that’s just one of the many things I adore about my {deliciously zany} family. {My beautiful “little” sisters}

Family

And She’s Done it Again

Alternately entitled: “Monsters: A Photo Documentary About {re}Love” or something.   Once upon a time, there lived a little green monster.  A lonely, little green monster. This little dude was lovingly created in August 2009 by a most brilliant girl – a {re}lover of all things junk, a re-purposer of worn-out t-shirts destined for landfills, a jewelry-making guru with the… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Family

Our Wild Day at the Zoo

If nothing else was gleaned from our ridiculously exhausting, overly priced, underly enjoyed {is ‘underly’ a word?} day at the Detroit zoo…it was what NOT to do next time.  And that the little local zoo – with it’s cheaper rates and shorter drive – is where we’re heading next time we get spontaneous and think…gosh, wouldn’t it be fun to… Read More

Family, Keepin' it Real, Travels

Snakes and Snails, and Lego Raptor Tails

Little boys are somewhat foreign territory to me.  Okay, fine…totally foreign territory. I must confess I was just a little terrified when I found out we were having a boy.  I just don’t know how to do boy stuff.  And I must say, I’m quite comfortable with the lack of flaunted bodily functions, daily need for superglue, and pain infliction. … Read More

Family, Motherhood, The Kiddos

3 Years of Cricket Love

2 years ago we gathered to celebrate your life.  Your first year of life. What a glorious day of reflection. Your sweet spirited, delightfully fun, {painfully} strong-willed sassy self was turning 1 and we couldn’t believe how time had flown. And then… before we knew it, you were turning 2…and falling in love with a boy. We made you half… Read More

Family, The Kiddos

In Honor of the “Dad Life”

Created by Church on the Move in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Let this baby buffer a while…and enjoy! My hubby and I sure did!

Family

Sugar and Spice and all things…Oxytocin?

You’ve heard it.  We all have. Boys and girls are drastically different in their wiring. As mommies, we see it daily. But something I didn’t realize until today {when I popped open my November 2009 Parents magazine – yes, I’m way behind – for a much anticipated moment of mommy-is-on-the-loo-leave-me-alone-for-just-2-minutes reading} is this: Little girls tend to produce more oxytocin,… Read More

Family, The Kiddos

Sending Messages

We like declaring things to the world…without saying a word. “Hear” it? “My husband rocks”, ”daddy rocks {mommy’s right}” and “mommy rocks {daddy’s right}”! My hubby, who took the photo, proudly dons his “my wife rocks” shirt quite regularly.  Which, of course, I adore about him.  Well…it’s one of many things, but you know…that’s another post for another day. These… Read More

Designs, Family

3/4 of the {Sister} Crew

I heart my sisters. No.  I adore them. I’m often without words at the realization that I get to share my life with 3 of my closest friends.  And I didn’t even have to choose them! They’re fabulous… and beautiful… and talented… and funny… and loving… and honest… and creative… and faithful… and adventurous… and silly… and brilliant… and unique…… Read More

Family

An Open Letter to my Mother

  Sweet momma, Where do I begin? I’ve been trying to write your birthday card for weeks now, but my pen just hovers above the paper. It seems attempting to express my heart toward you is as easy as trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant. The other hiccup was the fact that it was a… Read More

Family

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 photo Joy.jpg

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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I am regularly overwhelmed by the kindness of God I am regularly overwhelmed by the 
kindness of God in the small + simple.

Things like twinkle lights + Christmas jazz,
scraping out the peanut butter fudge pot
all by myself while sitting on the counter,
and walking around the corner to find my
loin fruit snuggled up together over tea.

They may fight like cats + dogs at times,
but their bond is deep and true and sweet.
Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛 Written at the Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛

Written at the intersection 
of faith and psychology, 
this book is yet another 
soul-nourishing,
heart-healing, 
boundary-fortifying 
gift from Alison Cook
(if you’ve had a heart-to-heart
with me in the past two years,
you know how much I loved 
‘Boundaries for the Soul’). 

As an enneagram 2 who was raised 
in the church, this book was a timely
and liberating read. Pure balm for the 
weary, recovering-people-pleaser soul. 

I am beyond grateful for the wisdom, 
compassion + experience that Alison 
brings to all she shares (and it was
such an honor to be on her launch 
team for this beautiful new book).

Need a survival guide for your growth
and healing journey? Here you go! ✌🏼

#thebestofyou #thebestofyoubook #womenoffaith #healthyboundaries #healthyyou #healingjourney
Find yourself a tribe of people who will, togethe Find yourself a tribe of people who will, 
together, spend a beautiful Saturday
morning pulling this workout off:

• 20 mile run
• 340 tire flips
• 2,000 air squats
• 1,000 pull ups
• 1,500 box jumps
• 2,200 pull ups
• 600 devil press
• 3,300 sit ups

Brutal. Amazing. 
Exhausted.
So grateful for these two - their friendship, enco So grateful for these two - their friendship,
encouragement and wise counsel over the
past decade of being our pastoral couple
has been such a gift to our family 💛

Congrats on your retirement, dear friends!!
“Over the years, I have come to realize that the “Over the years, 
I have come to realize that 
the greatest trap in our life is not 
success, popularity, or power, 
but self-rejection.”
 :: Henri Nouwen

Somewhere along the journey of 
life, we start to believe the lie that - 
despite being made in the very image 
of a good and beautiful God - who we 
are is inherently bad and broken, and 
we learn to cover that deep sense 
of inadequacy (and the shame that 
accompanies it) with performance.

Because our visceral 
human response to 
‘bad + broken’ is 
‘reject + conceal’.

We think it’s the rejection of others
that cuts us to the core, but the truth
is…most of us walk around wounded 
by a constant and unrelenting sense 
of self-rejection and self-loathing.

Want to know why we feverishly seek 
out the approval and validation of others?
Why we desperately want others to like us?

Because we’re out of touch with our
inherent value and worth, and we’re
not sure that we even like ourselves.

We resent our weakness,
and abandon ourselves.

/ / /

But this good + beautiful God of ours…
He is drawn to our weakness like a
moth to a flame, swooping in to
bring strength and grace.

Paul writes in Corinthians 12:9 that 
he learned to delight in his weakness 
because it was when he was week that
“His strength is perfected in me”. 

Or, as the Passion Translation so 
stunningly puts it, “my weakness 
becomes a portal to God’s power”.

Precious ones, we can shun our tender
still-in-process places, pretend to have 
it all together, and hustle for our worth…
OR we can drop the masks, offer kindness 
and curiosity to our hurting, broken parts,
and learn to live fully seen and known.

But we can’t have both.

And yes, it’s scary.

Today may we choose
…grace over perfectionism
…curiosity over shame
…acceptance over rejection
…gentleness over judgement
…wholeness over pretense

You are loved.
And they’re off! Alathea is in 10th grade and Aid And they’re off!

Alathea is in 10th grade and
Aiden is heading into 8th grade.

Here’s to a year full of grace,
discovery, friendship + growth 🙌🏼
"Faith isn't the ability to believe long + far i "Faith isn't the ability 
to believe long + far 
into the misty future. 
It's simply taking God 
at His Word + taking 
the next step."

:: Joni Eareckson Tada
Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep We fly out late Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep

We fly out late tomorrow evening so today
has been a lazy day of laundry, laying in the
sun, a petshop visit (where Aiden fell in love 
with a cute rat + I discovered zebra finches), 
an impromptu stop for bubble tea + stuffed crepes [oh my word, were these delicious!!],
shopping [I found the best, comfiest - Joe
would argue ‘ugliest’ - romper at the thrift
store that I can’t wait to wear on our long
journey home], and Aiden is currently off
doing his thing: fishing right from the pier.
Our view from the lodge last night ✨ Our view from the lodge last night ✨
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