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Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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Getting My Craft On {plus a Printable}

Getting My Craft On {plus a Printable}

We’re experiencing a little bit of an upside down empty nest over here.  My parents have just moved out of the man cave they’ve called home {aka. “the love shack”} for almost two years.  We miss them horribly already and it’s only been two weeks.  It’s quite pathetic, really. But because my husband is awesome, and because God knows I… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Cute Stuff, Designs, Frugal Living, Organization, Printables, Quotes and Scriptures

4 Creative Gifts for Teachers {That Won’t Break the Bank}

4 Creative Gifts for Teachers {That Won’t Break the Bank}

Little potted expressions of gratitude, personalized coasters, {semi} homemade soap & the easiest of all…the Pencil Vase. These gifts are all pretty simple, fun & super affordable (assuming you make a lot of soap and give to everyone you know for a few months}. Eat your heart out kinda-sorta-artsy, frugal mommas…this is the way to give gifts! POTTED GRATITUDE This… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Cute Stuff, Frugal Living, School, The Kiddos, Tutorial

Meal Planning {Printables}

Meal Planning {Printables}

I’ve had a few friends comment on the cute weekly meal plan I have framed on top of my fridge and my response is always the same…”yes!!  I plan to get those printables on the blog…soonish!”. And, wouldn’cha know it…today is officially “soonish”.  It’s only taken me 6 months to deliver. I realized that I hadn’t made them available yet… Read More

Daily Life, Designs, Food, Frugal Living, Printables

Homemade Laundry Softener

Homemade Laundry Softener

I feel morally obligated to tell you about this stuff, and how easy and cheap it is to throw together. I just can’t bear to pay $6 for a small bottle of lavender bounty any longer, no matter how wickedly delicious it smells. Recipes like this have been floating around on Pinterest for some time now, and with a new… Read More

Frugal Living, Home, Tutorial

The Basics of Healthy Eating {with Printable Encouragement Cards}

The Basics of Healthy Eating {with Printable Encouragement Cards}

We have about 25 women who have joined forces to encourage each other {via a facebook group} as we work to cut refined sugars out of our diets in 2013. And it’s awesome! The journey is always more fun together.  The shared wisdom, chin-lifting & recipe ideas are just beginning to take off and I’m excited to see how we’ll… Read More

Daily Life, Designs, Food, Frugal Living, Garden, Health, Printables

Happy {Homemade} Christmas

It occurred to me last month, as Christmas crept sneakily toward us, that my desire to actually attempt some of the smashing homespun gift ideas I’d been pinning with passion, combined with my astounding ability to procrastinate, were a match made in hades. And then I promptly forgot that profound thought and continued on my way.  As is common for… Read More

Christmas, Designs, Food, Frugal Living, Home, Printables, Tutorial

The T-Shirt {Ruffle} Scarf Tutorial

The T-Shirt {Ruffle} Scarf Tutorial

I pinned this fabulous scarf a few months ago on Pinterest, not having a clue just how simple, fun and easy it was to create, then promptly forgot about it. Ever do that?  You pin something gorgeous, think “one day…when I’m courageous enough to attempt this elaborate endeavor”, forget about it for a few months, and then…in a moment of… Read More

Crafts and Activities, Frugal Living, Tutorial

{An even BETTER} Homemade Laundry Detergent

I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade laundry detergent back in 2010, made it, used it up and didn’t remake it.  Not because it wasn’t cheap, and not because making my own laundry detergent didn’t make me feel like I should wear some sort of a cape, but because I missed really good smelling clothes.  And the stain-fighting power of… Read More

Daily Life, Frugal Living, Home, Printables

C3 Cookies {Chocolate Chip Chickpea}

C3 Cookies {Chocolate Chip Chickpea}

Garbanzo beans.  Chick peas.  Those hummus thingies. We like to call them “baby bottoms”. Because we’re weird like that. But mostly because they actually look like little baby bottoms.  Take a peek, you just might become a word convert. As you may have noticed, we’ve blossomed into a slightly crunchy crew lately.  Okay, pretty crunchy, with a splash of enthusiasm… Read More

Food, Frugal Living, Health

Project: Declutter, Simplify & Maintain {31 Days}

“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify”                                                         ~ Henry Thoreau This mildly neurotic, type-A, control-freakish, list-loving organized gal has a thing for, well…organization.  I love it!  Cleaning house, especially without little loin-fruit under foot, is wildly therapeutic to me. With the right music, the right tools {gotta love Mrs. Meyer’s cleaners} , a little sunshine and a… Read More

Designs, Frugal Living, Home, Printables

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… Read More

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

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

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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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