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Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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The ‘Muy Bien’ Fund : Fundraising Printable {and how YOU can help}

The ‘Muy Bien’ Fund : Fundraising Printable {and how YOU can help}

So this week’s printable is a bit of an odd ball.  It involves a leg, money and language barriers. Let me explain. When we first moved to the US, I was a freshman in high school and had absolutely no grasp of the “Spanish” language.  After all, isn’t that what they speak in Spain?  And why on earth should I… Read More

Faith, Family, Printables, Quotes and Scriptures

Happy 6th Birthday, Bean!

Happy 6th Birthday, Bean!

Happy birthday, precious girl! You’re 6 already…where has the time gone? It seems like just a little while ago that you were kicking on the inside as we folded little pink onesies and waited with baited breath for your arrival. Alathea Grace, you are so perfectly named. Truth and grace; two things that abound in your character. You are so… Read More

Family, Motherhood, The Kiddos

*UPDATED Family Rules Printable for LE Families

*UPDATED Family Rules Printable for LE Families

I’ve been amazed by the response to the Family Rules {Printable} I posted a while back.  It’s been repinned more than any other printable I’ve ever posted, and I continue to hear from wives whose hearts have been captured, or rather tugged, by it. Why?  Because it was designed specifically for Law Enforcement families and because, well…this is a unique… Read More

Designs, Faith, Family, Grace, Keepin' it Real, Printables

Of Chicken & Children

Of Chicken & Children

Firstly, congrats to Caitlin & Erica, winners of the Pumpkin & Parsnip giveaway.  Thanks to fumbly little fingers, there were two winners.  And a 25% off coupon for all those who participated.  Lucky you! Secondly, while we’ve discovered we’re not dog people, or cat people for that matter…we are now officially chicken people. I used to think this type of… Read More

Daily Life, Family, Food

My Big Sister is Cool {A Pumpkin & Parsnip Giveaway}

My Big Sister is Cool {A Pumpkin & Parsnip Giveaway}

If you know anything about me, you know that I’m surrounded by incredible women.  Wicked cool incredible women.  Women who know how to make stupid look cool. It’s a gift. Between my female family members, friends and neighbors…I am one lucky duck, people. While all 4 of us Douglas girls gained a hefty strand of creativity in our DNA, my… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Designs, Family, Giveaway

Because Parenting Isn’t For Sissies {Part 2}

Because Parenting Isn’t For Sissies {Part 2}

{If you missed part 1?  Check it out right here} If every human being has a driving need for security, significance and strength – including the little ones hanging onto our ankles – then we as parents have to be intentional about seeking out opportunities to instill and cultivate these qualities in their young lives. Here’s a list of 10… Read More

Faith, Family, Grace, Motherhood, The Kiddos

Because Parenting Isn’t For Sissies {Part 1}

Because Parenting Isn’t For Sissies {Part 1}

I’ve been waiting for the perfect occasion to use this photo I snapped at a mountain zoo in Colorado last summer.  I LOVE everything it represents…the detail it captures, and all the emotion it evokes. This little babe had been born just 6 days prior to our visit and it took everything in me to peel myself away from the… Read More

Family, Grace, Motherhood, Photography

A Rambling Post About Nothing Much

A Rambling Post About Nothing Much

It has only been a million years since I blogged anything deep or thought-provoking, and today’s post won’t do anything for the average depth of post {re: shallow}, because what lies below is a compilation of random, completely disconnected snippets to give you a nutshell glimpse, albeit a substantial nutshell, of what’s been going on in our crazy little world… Read More

Complete nonsense, Daily Life, Family, Friendship, The Kiddos

Riding the Chill

Riding the Chill

Our kidlets have been battling colds and coughs on and off for the past few weeks, so getting them out into the snow this past weekend was just what we they needed. As I sat facing backwards, behind my hubby on the ATV, soaking in the sun and basking in all the glory of their delighted shrieks as they slid,… Read More

Family, Photography, The Kiddos

Making Borax Crystals {& Other Such Nonsense}

Making Borax Crystals {& Other Such Nonsense}

It’s beginning to look hearty-farty around here, and while I have yet to become a wreath crafting, mantle decorating mad-woman {which I fully intend to be some day}, I’m trying my darndest to be more seasonally astute. And with this colorful display of VD prowess {that would be Valentines Day, not venereal disease, just to clarify}, I have officially graduated… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Cute Stuff, Family, The Kiddos, Tutorial

Growing {Colorful} Water Marbles

Growing {Colorful} Water Marbles

Remember these fabulous, squishy little things we ‘grew’ a while back? Well, we felt we could knock it up a notch by putting food coloring to good use {rather than, you know, adding neurotoxins to our food) and adding a pop of color to these little gems. Instead of soaking the water beads {I got ours on Amazon} in clear… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Family, The Kiddos, Tutorial

Thoughts on Identity, Parenting & Tortilla Chips

I’m tickled pink to be sharing my messy story of redemption with another group of women this weekend.  I love, love, LOVE sharing my heart…my brokenness…His goodness with others who ache to know their Creator hasn’t abandoned them, that He is intricately involved in the details of their lives – even if behind the scenes, that He is big enough… Read More

Daily Life, Faith, Family, Grace, Motherhood, Redemption, The Kiddos

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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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