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Simply Bloom Co.

Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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Oh, Holy Mother of Pearl…it’s SWEET!

You’d never know I gave up sugar for New Year’s…for here, my friends, is a whole heck of a lot of sugar-infused goodness. I teased this baby on facebook a while back {you know, way back in 2011} and totally forgot to share the recipe as promised.  Forgive me.  Sugar coma, what? Here’s the basic cheesecake recipe I follow –… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Cute Stuff, Family, Food

Lasagna {rockin’ the Cupcake tin}

I got adventurous at the grocery store last week and grabbed some wonton wrappers as I walked by the Asian section.  I know, I’m a wild woman. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to make with them, but didn’t care.  I have Pinterest for that. Low and behold…these little suckers showed up.  And I pinned them faster… Read More

Food, Photography

Simply Soup {Pumpkin, Split Pea & Lentil}

While we haven’t experienced anything like our usual winter here in Michigan {and I am not complaining…the sunshine makes this gal one happy mama!}, if it’s not flip-flop weather…it’s soup season!  Regardless of what the temperature gauge says. Soup is cheap, easy and oh so tasty! So I have three of our favorites thick, creamy soup recipes right here for… Read More

Food, Frugal Living, Photography

Crumbling the Silence {with Cookies}

We’re having a grand ol’ time here in the McMilli-vanilli home.  I have no idea where that came from.  You’ll have to pardon me, I’m heavily sleep deprived {sick kids, design deadlines, cookies to decorate, you know…the usual} and mildly medicated {it’s that time…and my uterus hates me}.  And apparently my TMI filter is broken. {sigh} I wanted to take… Read More

Cute Stuff, Family, Food, Home, Photography

Butternut Squash Cake {with Cream Cheese Frosting}

As if we needed more reasons to love squash…I present you with…CAKE!           Butternut Squash Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting                    Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter, softened {not melted} 1 1/2 cups of white sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon of ground… Read More

Food, Garden, Photography

Mom…I’m Hungry! {Healthy, Kid-friendly Snacks}

I hear these words often.  Occasionally it’s a less civilized grunt from Bug, or simply the sound of the seal on the refrigerator door breaking, compliments of miss Bean, but without a doubt, it would seem I am raising two little loin fruit who have the uncanny ability to nibble enthusiastically throughout the day.  Which, admittedly, can ruin their appetites…but… Read More

Food, Health, The Kiddos

Baked Zucchini Coins

If you have any lingering zucchini that hasn’t been devoured, grilled on pizza, shredded or chopped for freezer confinement…give these babes a whirl!  They’re easy, kid-friendly and quite delicious indeed! You’ll find the recipe here, at Weelicious

Food

‘Tis the Season…

…to eat obscene quantities of apples, apple-inspired dishes, to throw left-over apple cider into pancake batter, and get the low-down on gettin’ cozy between the sheets. Okay.  So there is no formal season for doing all this, it just so happens that this is what’s happening in my house right now. The hot topics on my mind: apples and intimacy. … Read More

Food, Home, Marriage

Baked Acorn Squash with Cinnamon Apples

You may recall my love affair with squash last Fall. It was an all-consuming, heaven-touches-earth, extravagant bliss in a bowl type experience…and I’m just aching to relive it. If it hadn’t been raining and cold for the past 2 days {and if I wasn’t still wearing slippers…and if I wasn’t feeling lazy}, I’d run out and snap a photo of… Read More

Daily Life, Food, Garden

Meatball Mania {Lady and the Tramp Style}

My little Bean adores books.  So naturally I was delighted when, just a few weeks ago, I was able to track down a family favorite.  A series my mom’s mom read to her, and that my mom then eagerly shared with my older sister and I: The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton. Just saying “the faraway tree” conjures up… Read More

Family, Food

Sunflower Love (Recipe & October Wallpaper)

Welcome to October!  Here’s a delightfully unusual sunflower from my sister’s garden for you. You’re welcome. For large {1680 x 1050 pixels}, click here For small {1280 x 800 pixels}, click here {just right click and save the image, and then save it as your desktop wallpaper} I just love the sunny disposition of the sunflower! I can’t help but… Read More

Desktop Wallpaper, Food, Garden

Rhubarb Sour Cream Pie

I must confess, I was a little intimidated when a friend handed me a bundle of rhubarb and my husband’s face lit up. He adores rhubarb sour cream pie.  His mama made it.  His grandma makes it.  His wife had never even laid her hands on rhubarb.  And we know how horribly things went last time I tried to make… Read More

Food, Photography

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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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Before the empty tomb, there was a basin. Before Before the empty tomb,
there was a basin.

Before glory,
there was grief.

The Jesus Way is not dominance.
It’s downward mobility.
It’s loving in the face of betrayal.
Serving in the face of misunderstanding.
Choosing humility when pride would be easier.

If loving like Jesus feels costly, you’re not doing it wrong.
It has always cost something.

🎧 Episode 017 | The Jesus Way is now streaming.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo #TheJesusWay
How's your internal monologue? Be brutally honest How's your internal monologue?
Be brutally honest here.

Are you actually kind to yourself?
Do you practice curiosity + compassion
when your emotions + responses catch you
off guard and feel oversized for the occasion?

Are you patient and gracious with your soul's
long + messy journey of growth and healing?

Are you gentle with your heart when you mess up?
Or, do you instantly shift to shaming + blaming?

Is self-loathing a constant (albeit unwanted)
companion who lingers in the corner just
waiting for an invitation to show up with
cruel words, gasoline and a match?

For many of us, if we talked to our dearest
friends the way we talk to ourselves...
well, we wouldn't have many.

Go ahead and read that again.
Let it sink in.

/ / /

Consider this a gentle reminder
to be tender with yourself.
Speak life to your own soul.
Always, always, always be kind.

We are never more like the enemy of our souls than
when we assume the role of accuser + condemner.

Catch every negative, shaming thought you have
and see if it aligns with how God sees you (and others).

If it isn't good, kind, hopeful, constructive, grace-laced and restorative, then it doesn't belong in your head + heart.

You are, after all, allowed to be both a mess and
a masterpiece...all at the very same time.

You are so loved.
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
Instagram post 17956039791092382 Instagram post 17956039791092382
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
Instagram post 18396581398148716 Instagram post 18396581398148716
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
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

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