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All in a Week’s Whirl

It’s been delicious madness around here lately. 

Between fun and food and friends and farting children and family {please notice the pause between children and family} and…fesign fork…I haven’t had a moment to sit down and tell you all about it in mind-numbing detail, as I am accustomed to doing.  {Clearly there’s no way to get ‘design work’ to start with an ‘f’ without it sounding anything but unkosher}. 

Did ya’ll miss me, huh, huh?

Don’t answer that unless it’s wildly kind and incredibly gracious.

I’ve been designing my little ample heinie off on everything from book covers and logos to wedding invitations and 6 foot banners.  I realized the other day that you’d never know that I actually design anything for rizzle beyond the little ditties on this blog, seeing my design blog hasn’t been updated in, I don’t know…2 years.  It’s not that I don’t care.  It’s just that…I don’t care right now.  If I have a moment to spare…I’d much rather spend it right here.  Simply blooming.  Emphasis on the ‘simply’. 

I’m cheesy, I know.  And I prefer it with a glass of moscato.

I’ve been so blown away by the 5 out-of-state clients I work with consistently {that stumbled upon my pathetic little blog by some act of God and decided to take a chance on me…and then promptly fell in love with my astonishingly delightful personality and wicked design skills cheap fees}…that the thought of much more work overwhelms me entirely.  How cool is that for this little never-had-a-design-class-in-her-life girl?

{He loves me!}

Once Mr. Bug scoots off to preschool and Madame Bean flits off full-time…I’ll attempt to make myself appear more professional and open for business.  Until then.  We eat.  Laugh.  Build forts.  Have dance-a-thons to the oft requested Jeremy Riddle.  Do zumba on a smashingly regular basis.  Take middle-of-the-day baths.  Bake, because it’s Wednesday.  Or 10:00am.  And continue to hope we’ll make it to the bathroom before he pees on my feet.  We attempt to get dressed before we spend yet another day in pajamas.  Oh, and there is always farting.  I do parent a 2 and a half year old boy, remember.  It’s a highlight of our his day.

I’m rambling.  I need sleep.  Or more tea.  Or both.

Moving right along.

A glance at some of the shenanigans we got up to…

All in a week's work

1.  I made these little suckers last night for no good reason at all.  And they’re fabulous {and relatively not-bad-for-you}.  Recipe coming soon!

2.  I decided to live on the edge and sprout wheat berries.  I’m wild like that.  We ate them on salads, on swiss oatmeal, and by the handful.  Because they’re sweet and yummy, and because they make me feel way more healthy and “granola” than I truly am, which – in turn – makes me feel much cooler than I am.  Which makes me smile on the inside.

3.  My lovely loin-fruit decided an impromptu worship session was in order.  They belted out a few versions of “we love you, Jesus!” with more raw passion than I’d ever witnessed in their little voices…and promptly followed it up with a less awe-inspiring rendition of “I love poopie” {Bug} and “I love wee wee” {Bean}.  It was a glorious cacophony indeed.

4.  We got artsy fartsy.  By far my favorite hand-print craft to date (Bug’s little mitt on top, Bean’s below).

5.  I roasted massive amounts of garlic and red peppers {simply drizzle whole bulb – top lopped off – with olive oil, bake at 400* for half an hour}.  The wee ones ate half a bulb, which they often do raw, with cheese…but this proved to be even more delectable.  And less nasally offensive.  I stashed a few roasted bulbs in the fridge for spontaneous clove urges.  We used the last bulb tonight with penne and sautéed veggies in a garlic white wine sauce…it was bliss.

6.  I broke out of my usual hummus rut, delicious as it may be, and threw in two of the red peppers I roasted and a few dashes of coriander {the spice I am currently having an affair with}.  It was fah-bulous!  We’re still eating it on sandwiches and with every vegetable in the house.  Including red peppers.  Because…

7.  We’re all about a good deal, so every time we’re at the grocery store, we scope out the “reduced vegetable” section and load up on colored peppers {among other things}.  We scored 15 gorgeous peppers for $3.50.  I chopped, sliced, froze and roasted my little heart out.

8.  We’ve been battling the yuckies around here for what feels like the entire Winter.  Despite the mild weather – which, admittedly, I’ve loved – it seems as though the lack of frigid temperatures has allowed all sorts of bugs to flourish.  After the 3rd time, in 2 months, of being knocked out by a virus, Bean fell fast asleep on top of a triple stack of sofa cushions while playing ‘mountain lion’.  Recovery is brutal, even for the wildest of cats.

9.  The spring cleaning bug has officially bitten and I’m slowly working my way through the scary closets, totes and corners that surround me.  You know the ones…the neglected, cluttered, hidden-for-mighty-good-reason ones.  The craft tote{s} have sneered at me for months.  I finally conquered them and consolidated their madness to one main location.  Watch out, hallway…you’re my next victim.  Mwah ha ha.

In other news…my husband evicted my wedding dress from the attic of the man cave, and while I haven’t the foggiest notion where to stash it now, I did cross my fingers, toes and legs and try it on for the first time in 8 years.  And, good golly miss molly, it fitted {insert sobs of joy here}.  Except for the chest area {insert sobs of self-pity here}.

I got to talk to a fabulous group of mommas last week about physical, spiritual and emotional wellness.  I loved it!  They survived.  Next, I get to talk to more lovely ladies later this month about upping the sizzle factor in their marriages.  Brown chicken, brown cow. 

And lastly {while I’m rambling}, my hubby and I are participating in a murder mystery dinner next weekend.  It’s an 80’s high school reunion theme, and we’re marching band sweethearts.  We can’t wait to don our mock marching band uniforms and ham it up for the night.  Who knows, we may even commit murder in the process.  Certainly makes for an interesting date night, now doesn’t it?

Over and out.

Related posts:

  1. Hormones, Crafts & Snow {this week, in no particular order)
  2. Whip It
  3. The Week in ‘P’s
  4. Peter Piper Picked
«
»

Complete nonsense, Crafts and Activities, Daily Life, Designs, Family, Frugal Living, Keepin' it Real, The Kiddos

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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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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 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 t “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 A 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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