Blessed by Brenna

31 Days to Less Noise: Preparing Food

2014-10-21T05:51:00.002-07:00

Providing my family with good food is becoming more and more of a priority to me, but I absolutely detest the food prep that goes along with that. (I must be in the majority with that mindset based off of the high consumption of convenience foods in this country.)

Food preparation can take up a lot of space in my head, with meal planning and grocery lists and "I want a snack!" and recipes I want to try and reading labels and "what should we bring to the family reunion tomorrow?"

I've been experimenting with the best place to have my meal planning sheet, and the best way to keep a grocery list - on my phone, on paper, hanging up, on the counter? I want to keep it simple so that it's not stressful for me to figure out what we need from the store and what recipes I'm trying and need to buy for.

Freezer cooking has been a saving grace for me, and even as I explore more healthful options, I'm having to look a little harder, but it's well worth it. This past weekend, I whipped up some meatloaf with a lot of veggies in it, cooked and shredded chicken to have on hand, and made my own taco seasoning.

Breakfasts also go pretty well, because I've realized that by keeping a few things on hand in the freezer - muffins, egg and sausage cups (my favorite) and breakfast burritos (Evan's favorite) - there is always something homemade and filling that takes less than a minute to prepare.

However, I struggle with lunch, and with snacks. And often by the time I've gotten the kids all served up at lunchtime, they're done and ready to move on before I can get my lunch ready.

A few weeks ago, I tried something new, inspired by Crystal from MoneySavingMom: I pre-made my salads for the week. I love having a good salad for lunch, but dread the time it takes to throw it all together. It worked beautifully, and I loved it... and then I fell off the bandwagon.

So this week, I'm jumping back on and trying it again. You only have to get the ingredients out once, and it takes 5 seconds to throw your salad from a jar to a plate (I like my dressing good and mixed, so a plate is necessary for me vs. eating straight from the jar). And I've found that when I pre-make it, I'm much more likely to throw in extra vegetables like broccoli and carrots that I just don't have time to cut up and add each day.

Now for snacks. I just need to get into the habit of heading to the fridge - for fruit, or cheese slices, or hummus - instead of to the pantry for Doritos. I think that will be a work in progress!

How do you take the time aspect out of food preparation each day? And send any good freezer recipes or easy snack ideas my way too - especially kid-friendly ones! I'd like to continue learning some simple ways to provide healthy food for my family all day long, without it taking up my entire day and without bombarding my brain with what to prepare, how to prepare, what to buy, and more.

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31 Days to Less Noise: Unpreparedness

2014-10-20T05:30:00.001-07:00

This week, I can feel life start to slow down. The darker evenings feel cozier and quieter, and the cold weather is sweeping in, pushing us in front of the fireplace.

And I am so grateful for this 31 Days experiment so far. Posting every day has at times felt a little "noisy" in itself, but I can feel the difference internally - less distraction, more intention.

This week, I'm going to be tackling perhaps the biggest "noise"-maker in my life right now - Unpreparedness.

Feeling unprepared causes me all kinds of stress, and I feel like it wastes time and money. I'm not a fly by night kind of girl, and I need some semblance of organization to feel sane.

But when birthday parties pop up, and I don't have a card…

Or I have a rare meeting, and I don't have an appropriate outfit…

Or I need to pull together a meal for a potluck…

Or there is a blank spot on my menu planning chart…

I scramble and I stress.

And when I scramble and I stress, I get frustrated and too often, I take it out on the kids. I'm distracted, I'm trying to plan extra trips to the store, I'm paying full price for something I could have gotten on sale…when I could be and I should be simply prepared. I want to appreciate and enjoy an event or experience, instead of it feeling like a burden because of what I need to do for it.

So this week, I'm tackling preparedness. As we continue to get settled and find new routines in our new house, I want to stop scrambling and be a lot more prepared.

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Trading the "noise" in my head for the noise in the car

2014-10-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

So, that phenomenon where, no matter how prepared you try to be or how early you get up, you all still end up frantically searching for things and running out the door 5 minutes late - well, we completely had that down the first few weeks of school.

Living much farther from our school this year has been a rough adjustment. And there have been too many mornings where there is yelling, frustration, things forgotten, complaining about getting up…and then by the time we all load into the car (late), I'm stressed, the kids feel bad, and then I feel bad about making the kids feel bad.

And then I would be cranky and distracted, and feel like a mess.

So at the end of September, I said enough.

First, I made it a goal to start waking up Brenna a little earlier, because she's such a bear to get up in the mornings, and that has made a huge difference.

And secondly, I decided to start using our 22 minute drive to school more intentionally.

Rather than wallowing in my distraction and grouchiness, I now push any stress or worry about the day out of my head, and I engage with my kids. We usually do one of two things:

1. We learn together. Connor has had an intense fascination with languages the last few months, so we've been practicing Spanish. On our early morning drives, I teach a new word or phrase, and we practice the other words and phrases we've learned. Sometimes, he wants to know a word that I don't know, so we look it up and learn it together. (My high school skills are rusty, at best.) Even Brenna is trying to count in Spanish. It has become a fantastic way to engage the kids in conversation and learn together.

2. The other thing we do is listen to a CD of songs from last summer's Vacation Bible School. When I hear those sweet little voices in the back singing along about Jesus' love…oh my heart. They just love this CD and ask to listen to it all the time. We all have the lyrics and corresponding hand motions memorized :)

And here's what I've noticed from focusing on these activities - it completely fills us up instead of draining us in the morning. It distracts me from all other "noise" surrounding my day - what's on the schedule, what's for dinner, who I need to call - and allows me to plug into my children. And in return, I have noticed a big difference in how they feel during this time because of how I feel.

Using that necessary drive in the morning for time that tunes out other "noise" in my head for the beautiful noise - singing and learning - from my kids has filled our mornings with positivity and peacefulness.

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Laughter over lectures: In This House, We Will Giggle - Giving Away 3 Copies!!

2014-10-17T04:09:00.003-07:00

I selected this date to write about my friend Courtney's new book long before I chose my topic of this 31 Days Series of Less Noise, but it fits so perfectly with the focus of Courtney's book - creating home full of laughter instead of lectures, in order for your kids to know God in a more personal way.

In This House, We Will Giggle launched just last week, and I was so excited when it arrived in the mail, complete with a gift from Courtney that my kids have gotten a huge kick out of :)

I've been devouring this book so quickly so that I could share about it, but it has moved me so much that when January arrives, I'm going to get my highlighter out and take each month to work on a new virtue, just as the book outlines.

In This House, We Will Giggle was written from a place in Courtney's heart where her passion lies for families to experience God together and in fun ways. Her book chooses 12 virtues and lays them out for families to focus on one each month - for instance, February is love, and December is generosity.

And the book is just packed full of funny stories and insights about parenthood and faith from Courtney, as well as practical and simple ways in instill these virtues in your home, in your children's hearts - and in natural, light-hearted and funny ways.

But here's what I'll tell you - this doesn't feel like "just one more thing" to do as a Mom.

Instilling these virtues in our kids' hearts is really THE thing we should be doing as parents.

Sometimes I think we get so caught up on "accomplishments" that we forget that our job is truly to raise good people who know God and do his work. This book is such a blessing to remind us of this important job with our families.

OH - and I almost forgot… I got a surprise when I received my copy. I was so grateful to see that Courtney tackled the topic of respecting differences…and she wrote about our beautiful girl! What an honor to be a part of this incredible book and the fantastic messages that are being shared from it all over the world.

And today, I picked up THREE copies of In This House, We Will Giggle to give away, because I love this message so much and want to help spread it for Courtney!

Simply enter through the Rafflecopter tool below for a chance to win a copy of Courtney's new book!

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31 Days to Less Noise: Staying Current with the News

2014-10-16T06:02:00.002-07:00

While at the She Speaks conference this past summer, I met a fellow attendee that I shared a cab with who was from Texas. While in conversation, she brought up the Texas Border Crisis…and I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

As a former journalist, keeping up on the news used to be so easy and part of everyday life. And even after Connor was born, I made it a point to read the daily newspaper.

But when Brenna happened, our day routine changed just a bit :) And it's become much less of a priority and a habit to stay current on the news.

As a mom who's at home most of the day, the TV is turned to Nick Jr. when it's on. Any quiet time I get is spent writing, blogging and other work-related tasks. At night, I read books. My social media accounts are filled with my friends and fellow bloggers, not with current events.

For many, the news is just another form of noise.

But I believe following current events is a very important part of being an active and engaged citizen. When I feel more informed, I feel better. To me, NOT knowing what is going on in the world feels like more noise, because I see headlines at the grocery store or I hear snippets of conversations, and I can't participate or form educated opinions or even take action because I don't know the whole story.

So the dilemma is figuring out how to add news into my life in a "quiet" and natural way.

I basically want a way to stay current on the essential local and national news. And I'm wondering how to do that without having to sift through ALL of the news stories that hit on a daily basis.

I've decided to try using a couple of apps on the front page of my phone to make a concerted effort to read the news. I downloaded the app for our local newspaper, and after spending some time reading headlines this morning, I really like that option.

I also downloaded the Daily Mom app, and I'm not sure it's going to give me what I want. I love the news features, but with only 1 story/topic in each part of the wheel, it feels very incomplete.

I'm going to continue trying both of these sources, and possibly explore others, to see what ends up becoming part of my daily life.

I'd love to hear from you though - how do you keep up on the news? Do you turn to a particular website, news outlet, TV channel, phone app? What's your favorite source for important, unbiased (as much as possible) news?? OR is the news too much for you to handle?

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The Noise of Social Media

2014-10-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

Social media. So wonderful and so horrible all at the same time.

I've had ups and downs with social media, but I've fortunately never felt like I've needed to totally remove it from my daily ritual. I try to make really thoughtful decisions when it comes to how I use it, how much I use it, when I use it, so that it is a beneficial part of my day and doesn't detract from my quality of life.

Social media hit the world when I was really at the perfect age: college. I remember my freshmen year roommate Alissa dragging me to the computer lab to check out a "super awesome way to stalk people." You guessed it - Facebook.

It was spring 2004, and Facebook was just reaching past the east coast to some of the bigger schools around the country. It was only for college kids then, and we were the first school in our state to be able to set up accounts. It was only a profile with a "wall" back then - being able to post a status or share pictures didn't come for another couple of years. I've been on Facebook for TEN YEARS. Crazy.

I've been blogging in some capacity since 2006, and I've been on Twitter since 2008. Social media has really always been a part of my adult life, and I feel like I've gotten to see so much of its evolution, which has been really fascinating.

So merely using social media isn't what is creating noise in my life right now.

But the one thing that has been really bothering me is checking it. Not posting on it, or even scrolling through friends' feeds, but checking on the things I've already posted.

And why do I do that?

Because I had so many of my notifications still turned on. Every time someone liked my Instagram photo, a notification would pop up. Every time I'd get a Facebook message, I'd hear a ding.

I guess I was just too lazy to turn them off.

Last week, I made time to turn off all my notifications on all social media accounts. My phone is so quiet now. No dings, no pop-ups. And what is resulted is so much less checking. My phone isn't lighting up every other minute, and therefore it's not a big distraction anymore.

Less than 5 minutes of effort has resulted in a huge amount of quiet in my life now.

The other thing that I have been trying to do continuously for the past year or so is to be intentional about who I follow, or who I have show up in my news feeds. I don't necessarily want to unfriend anyone, but I also might not want to see their posts every day because it just adds noise to my life if they're not a good friend. So I've been "hiding" people for months now.

It's so nice to be able to scroll for 5 minutes when I have the time, and the only updates I see are from true friends and family. It makes it worth my time - instead of draining me or cluttering my mind with noise, I feel up-to-date with the important people in my life.

It's definitely true that social media can take over your life if you're not careful. For me, taking steps to intentionally reduce the noise it creates for my life is really important to find the balance of using it for good and reducing any negative impact it has on me.

Less Noise: Mindless TV watching

2014-10-14T06:04:00.002-07:00

I really don't watch much TV.

I would much rather read, and I don't become engaged in shows very easily.

However, in recent months, I've been noticing that Evan and I have fallen into the habit of mindless TV watching. Which then causes me to zone out, wastes my time, and zaps my energy (well, any energy I have left at 8:30 p.m., which isn't a whole lot.)

An almost daily ritual had become a TV show and both of us on our phone at intermittent times throughout the night. It was mindless and instead of being relaxing, it left me lumbering off to bed too late, disappointed that I'd wasted the whole night on nothing.

And, most importantly, it left little room for talking.

It had become a vicious cycle…. that I was determined to break this month of Less Noise.

So we decided this: if we want to watch TV together, we select a specific show that we both want to watch (Shark Tank, anyone?!). If there is nothing on that we truly want to watch, we don't turn the TV on. And if either of us wants to talk, we put our phones away. Sometimes, we even just decide to read together.

I know many people feel quality time together in different ways. For Evan, just being next to each other feels like quality time to him. As for me, I am a planner and super Type A, and I want our time to be more purposeful. Even my time to relax needs to be productive in some way. So this has been working so well for both of us.

And in doing this, a crazy thing happened. This month, we have been much more in sync with each other. We've been more connected and even though we hardly argue in general, we've been rarely fighting and have been laughing together a lot more.

I was really just hoping for more purposeful evenings and less mindless TV…and what I've gotten on top of that is a better connection with my husband.

Less Noise for the win.

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Third Day of Rest

2014-10-14T05:46:00.003-07:00

During this month of Less Noise, I'll be taking Sundays off for a day of rest.

I'll be using Sundays to unwind, clear my head, prepare for the week, and spend uninterrupted time with family.

As we're into the third Sunday of the month, I'm really enjoying the peace this kind of intentional rest brings.

source

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31 Days to Less Noise: Emails

2014-10-13T16:33:00.001-07:00

Emailing is the greatest thing ever…and one of the biggest noise-makers in my life.

I can barely remember a time when checking email was a once or twice a day occurrence. Done from the computer. And replies weren't expected an hour later.

Email is so convenient, and yet so consuming. I have several different email accounts, all tied to my email on my phone, and I check it all the time. The funny part is that I actually prefer to sit down on my computer to type emails, so many time, I simply save an email as "new", so that I can respond to it later. Which means it sits and taunts me, sometimes for days.

This month, I'm intentionally doing 2 things with emails:

1) I'm not responding first thing in the morning, like I am tempted to do. Morning time is when I feel most productive and most creative, and I'm making it a point not to open my inbox when I sit down at the computer in the morning. If I start responding to emails instead of writing, I lose any momentum to get anything else done.

And 2) I'm cutting down on my emails by unsubscribing from lists.

Department stores, online shops, blogs I'm not as interested in as I once was, online newsletters - they've been flooding my email account lately, and I usually just delete them. But as I get more and more, this takes more time and energy. So I've been making it a priority to analyze an email when I receive it, and if it's not important, I scroll down to the "unsubscribe" button.

This has made a huge difference to me, as I don't feel as bogged down by unwanted emails down. Most of the emails I get now are ones that actually have relevance or that I really want to read.

Eventually, I'd like to get even more organized with different folders for different kinds of emails, or set up at least some sort of system, but for now, simply cutting down on the "noise" of email has made opening my inbox not as draining or annoying for me.

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Making time for taking a break

2014-10-11T05:09:00.001-07:00

At first, it almost seemed like just another item to try to fit on the already fairly packed calendar.

But after thinking about it, we decided that despite a full week, we should try to step away for a night and celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday.

And from the moment we got in the car to leave, we felt so glad we made that effort. And when you have little ones, a dinner out really can be an effort.

And I discovered that taking time out to spend with someone you love is a great way to reduce some noise in your life. Because it gives you a break - from the busyness, from the rush, from everything else competing for your attention at home.

Evan and I went to a fantastic local restaurant, Engrained Brewing Company, and shared a wonderful dinner in a cozy booth (and the restaurant even lit candles for us - bonus points to them! :) )

We split a "paddle" of beer so that we could sample some of the different kinds of hand-crafted beers made at the brewery. The Red Irish Ale won out for me, and Evan's top pick was the Oktoberfest.

We also shared one of my all-time favorite appetizers - beer-battered cheese curds! - and Evan was pretty excited to dive into a steak. Both dishes used locally sourced foods, yummmmm.

Our night out became, for me, not just another to-do on the calendar, but a necessary time out with my husband.

As I look at our schedules and all of the demands on our time, what I think is most important is not how much or how little we are doing, but that we are choosing things that fill us up, instead of draining us.

We left our dinner out feeling lighter (well, besides our full stomachs, which maybe made us a bit heavier?) and more filled up and more in tune with each other. And it really set the pace for the rest of my week, in which I felt more fulfilled, more patient, more joy-filled.

Making the effort to take time out - whether alone time when we need it, or a date with our spouse, or a special outing with just one child - helps to reduce the noise of daily life around us, so that we can clear our heads and focus on the important.

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(Day 10) Clearing the Clutter: the garage

2014-10-10T05:37:00.002-07:00

My 5 areas chosen to de-clutter are officially de-cluttered…and it feels so good.

This week, in an effort to cultivate less "noise" in my daily home life, I chose 5 different places to de-clutter: the laundry room countertop, the master bedroom (by hanging up picture frames), the "command center" and coat closet… and today, the garage.

This is van-load #2 on our way to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. These fans have been sitting in our spare bedroom for weeks, and it's a nice change to have them out.

And look - space in the garage!

I even gifted our old wash sink to my friend Julie, who wanted to set it up in her garage. It's just a week of win-wins all around.

Did you do any de-cluttering or organizing this week? Do you feel 100% better like I do?? :)

Let's keep this momentum going!

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Second Day of Rest

2014-10-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

During this month of Less Noise, I'll be taking Sundays off for a day of rest.

I'll be using Sundays to unwind, clear my head, prepare for the week, and spend uninterrupted time with family.

And I am really looking forward to the peace this kind of intentional rest will bring.

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(Day 9) Clearing the Clutter: Laundry Room

2014-10-09T05:46:00.004-07:00

I have my countertop back!

I spend a lot of time in the laundry room. This process means that the laundry room and I are good friends. Which I really don't mind, because I actually like laundry.

So it is really making a huge difference to me not to be faced with piles every time I enter the laundry room, or try to fold clothes.

Now I just need to order those pesky cabinet pulls! (and oh yeah, the window trim is in the process of being painted white. So we have a two-tone look going on throughout the upstairs.)

I have one more area of the home organization this week - the dreaded garage - then I'm moving on to two other big issues for me when it comes to creating too much noise in my life: unpreparedness and media.

This 31 Days project is really just what I needed this month.

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(Day 8) Clearing Clutter: Command Center and Coat Closet

2014-10-08T04:06:00.001-07:00

I took on Task #4 and Task #5 yesterday morning, and I did a quick organization of our "Command Center" and back coat closet.

I went through all of my files from the last couple of years and pitched some papers that weren't necessary to hold on to anymore, went through a pile of mail, and put some things away.

This area greets me every time I come home, so it immediately makes me feel better to have it more organized and cleaned up. It's not "yelling" at me anymore :)

Same with the coat closet. The big step was organizing our outdoor items, like hats and gloves.

The big bin holds adult items, and each kid has their own small bin. This will make coming and going so much easier this winter. The small basket on the right holds Evan's baseball hats.

Have you picked any areas of your house to tackle this week?

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(Day 7) Clearing the clutter: picture frames

2014-10-07T05:33:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I tackled De-Clutter Task #2 (start with the easiest one, right?): the pile of picture frames strewn about our master bedroom... and they are now proudly hanging on our wall! And I love it every time I walk by.

A hammer and nails and 20 minutes was just about all it took.

Pictures on a wall really just make a house feel like a home. I've tried to be diligent about getting up wall decor since we moved in, because I love how home-y it feels.

Our canvas collection in the dining room - the kids were so tiny when we had these done!

Frames in the entry way, with hanging art of our first home (done by my talented cousin)

And our kids' art in the playroom!

I've found that it's really impossible to find huge chunks of time to work on projects with little ones around, but if I do a little at a time here and there, it adds up to eventually become a finished project or uncluttered space.

31 Days to Less Noise: Clearing the Clutter

2014-10-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

I think fighting clutter is sometimes just a part of life.

However, there are some particular areas that just bug me more than usual. Areas that yell at me every time I walk into the room: "Hey we're still here!!"

So this week I'm choosing 5 areas in my home that have been driving me crazy since, practically, we moved in.

1. The laundry room. The piles atop my counter taunt me each time I enter and each time I drag out a basket to fold the clothes on my bed, because my countertop is, well, piled up.

2. The bedroom. These picture frames have been sitting on our bedroom floor for weeks. This week, they are going on the wall.

3. The garage. If you don't know what to do with something, you throw it in the garage, right? We have piles of stuff that was in our new house before we did some remodeling projects, and I walk around them every day. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is getting a visit from us this week.

4. The coat closet. The piles on the top shelf are really yelling at me these days, especially as I try to search for hats and gloves now that it's getting colder.

5. The "Command Center." We have a little countertop area next to our kitchen for files, binders, and mail. The folders are packed full from years' worth of papers. Time to go through those and make some room in there.

Of course there is so much more to be done, but these are some key areas that will really make a difference to my daily life by actually doing something to fix them.

Does clutter bother you as much as it does me? I encourage you to choose your own areas to tackle this week along with me!

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First day of Rest

2014-10-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

During this month of Less Noise, I'll be taking Sundays off for a day of rest.

I'll be using Sundays to unwind, clear my head, prepare for the week, and spend uninterrupted time with family.

And I am really looking forward to the peace this kind of intentional rest will bring.

Less Noise When It Comes To My Kids

2014-10-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

As we prepared to move from our first home, I naturally began to pack everything up in boxes…including the kids's toys and books.

Eventually, during the week that we moved, there was nothing left in the basement except for a few blankets. And I was astounded to realize that the kids asked about their toys NOT ONCE.

Instead, Connor made a "nest" out of those blankets in the basement, and we all joined in the fun, pretending to be a family of birds hunting for worms. We read the few books left in the house in that nest each day, and it was a little reality check to witness how something so simple could be engaging and fun for the kids.

One thing that Internet has done is connect us with all kinds of things that tell us what we "should" be doing as parents.

Pinterest is full of cute art projects, cool activities, fun games and more that would be so great to engage and teach and entertain our kids.

Web sites are shouting parenting advice and insights everywhere you turn.

Facebook is showing us pictures of 2-year-olds taking piano lessons and 4-year-olds in football uniforms.

And sometimes I allow that to suck me in.

But not this month.

Lately, I've been realizing more and more that I can just keep it simple. My kids don't really need elaborate Pinterest craft projects (that never end up looking like the picture, by the way) or organized activities.

They really just want to PLAY.

Part of my new resolve for less noise in my life is to forget about what we "should" be doing, according to the Internet, and do what we want to do. They're 5 and 2. They won't be ruined for all opportunities for the rest of their lives if we don't sign up for winter basketball or create art projects that correspond with the letters of the alphabet every day.

Here's what I've started to do now: I created an "activities binder." If I see something online that I really and truly think the kids would love to do, I print it off and put it in the binder. Then when we have some free time and want to do a Do A Dot activity or something like that, I can just let them pick a sheet from the binder. (My favorite website to print activities from is Gift of Curiosity.)

We open the binder maybe once a week or every other week, and it leaves me feeling like we have a fun activity at our fingertips if we want it, but I don't feel pressure to do it.

But usually what we've been doing is:
Swinging on our swing set
Drawing with chalk (including games of hopscotch!)
Pretend picnics with our stuffed animals
Playing at the park
Going to the library
Reading books at home
Going to a friend's house
Building creations with Legos
Playing dress-up
Having a dance party in the living room
Taking walks

Keeping it simple has been so refreshing, and something that I will continue to strive for this month.

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Day 3: Starting my day with God instead of Noise

2014-10-03T05:08:00.003-07:00

From the minute my alarm goes off, Noise is taunting me - there are emails to be read, social media sites to be checked…all before even getting out of bed. By the time I reach the shower door, my head is flooding with blog posts I want to comment on and items to add to my to-do list.

My mornings more and more have been looking like the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books - racing from one task to another without completing anything, too distracted by all there is to do.

As I reflected on how to be more purposeful with my mornings this month, I remembered Lent. Getting up early and spending time with God first. And I remembered how much more intentional and calm I felt during that time.

So this month - God comes first, every day.

I'm keeping my Jesus Calling and my Bible in the kitchen now, ready to be opened as the coffee maker gurgles to life each morning.

It takes no more than 10 minutes…and yet it has an instant calming effect that clears your head and helps you focus on your best and the most important. And like falling dominoes, it spreads to the other parts of your day and pieces of your life, reminding you still to focus on the best and most important.

Starting my day with God, instead of with "noise," will pave the way for tuning out other kinds of noise throughout the day and keep me focused.

What is "Noise"?

2014-10-02T05:22:00.001-07:00

A couple of a weeks ago, I was in a place of anxiety, feeling frozen when I sat down to do something in front of the computer, and almost too overwhelmed by everything that I wanted to do and everything that was running through my head that I couldn't concentrate enough to do anything.

And so I made a list. Of all of the things bothering me.

And it was almost humorous to me that my kids didn't make that list. Even more specifically, that my daughter with severe health issues was NOT ON MY LIST of things overwhelming me.

That's when I knew that I needed to get control over some things in my life. The things that were all vying for my attention in my crazy brain that never wants to shut off...Ideas that I had, stuff I wanted to write about, stuff that was clamoring to be read, unfinished projects around the new house.

They were all yelling at me every day. And instead of encouraging my productivity, I was shutting down.

So began my quest for less "noise" during this season of my life.

Noise can look differently for everyone, but here is what I have identified as the biggest noise-makers in my life right now:

-Media (social media, email and mindless TV watching)
-Unpreparedness (when things are popping up all the time that I'm not prepared for, but should be)
-A schedule too full
-The Unfinished (things to do that don't have a deadline but stare at me every day asking to be done)
-Clutter

All of these things:
1) distract me from/take away time from my family
2) turn me into a stressed out, overwhelmed, impatient person who is not fun to be around
3) greatly decrease my productivity and waste my time and energy
4) take away time from God

It is my belief, my hope really, that when you cut down on the noise in your life and in your mind, you leave enough quiet to hear God, in so many different ways.

So this month is going to be about reducing the noise level in my life, giving my mind a break so that I can have better focus on more important things. I'm going to work toward turning the volume down in my life, so that the loud things are not overpowering the important things anymore.

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31 Days to Less Noise: Day 1

2014-10-01T03:58:00.000-07:00

Ever since following along in some of the series last year, I've been wanting to participate in The Nester's 31 Days challenge.

I racked my brain on and off for the whole year trying to decide what to write about and came up with a whole bunch of ideas and none that really excited me much. At least not enough to write 31 blog posts about.

And then my topic found me.

In the form of emails, social media, busy schedules, unfinished projects, clutter, disorganization, mindless TV. All clamoring for space in my head, leaving me stressed out, anxious and not a fun person to be around.

So much noise.

And so begins my journey to cut down on that noise… 31 Days to Less Noise.

I'll add the posts here to have a complete list of my topics, and tomorrow I'll share what "noise" looks like in my life.

Most importantly, I'm hoping that by reducing some of this "noise" in my life, my end goal will be this:

more internal peace and less stress

more joy and less yelling

more opportunities to celebrate the little things and less rush

I'd love for you to follow along if you'd like to reduce whatever "noise" is in your life too.

This month:

What is "Noise"?

Starting my day with God instead of Noise

Less Noise when it comes to my kids

First Day of Rest

Clearing the Clutter

Clearing the Clutter: picture frames

Clearing the Clutter: command center and coat closet

Clearing the Clutter: the laundry room

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How Our Son Pushes Us, In the Best Possible Way

2014-09-29T04:14:00.003-07:00

Grabbing our towels to head to the pool.

Throwing on our shoes for a trip to the park.

Jumping into the lake after a boat ride.

Sitting outside in the summertime.

Sledding in the snow.

Waterparks.

Things that I didn't give a second thought to, before Brenna was born.

After Brenna was diagnosed with Harlequin Ichthyosis, temperature took on a whole new meaning. Germs were of much greater concern. Aquaphor schedules and long, difficult baths and tube feedings have threatened to overwhelm us many times throughout the past 2.5 years.

Had Brenna been an only child, our first child, it would have been so tempting to hole up in our home for most of her life - avoiding germs, dodging stares and questions, remaining in the ideal humidity and temperature that our house offered. Outings have seemed so hard sometimes, and activities like being outside in the hot summer have felt nearly impossible.

Yet, we had an older son. Another child who wanted to go to the pool, to the park, on the boat, on the sled, to the waterpark. Outside. Around people.

And Connor gave us the greatest gift by pushing us to live as "normally" as possible, purely because of his needs too. His needs for attention and activity and enjoyment outside of the house.

I know without a doubt that what we do as a family now is all in thanks to Connor, and I'm grateful that he has removed any temptation to stay in, to not try new things.

During Connor's first soccer games this fall season, temperatures neared the mid-90s, but that didn't deter us. All three of us, plus grandparents, were on the sidelines, with Brenna's cooling vest strapped around her body as we rotated turns spritzing her off with a spray fan and dabbing her head with a cooling cloth (a Frogg Togg, specifically.) It was not the same scene as the families around us, their kids running around sweating, but we did it without Brenna overheating, and we were so proud.

Connor pushes us. And what we found out is that when we are pushed, Brenna's condition is only as limiting as we make it.

Because of our son, we have all experienced more as a family these last 2.5 years, and because of her brother, Brenna has had a much more enriched life, experiencing pools, sporting events, museums and activity houses, cross-country road trips, parks all over the area, libraries, malls, and countless play dates with friends.

Bringing Brenna home was a terrifying time, and figuring out her health care while balancing the needs of two very young kids was so difficult. But God knew what he was doing when he gave us Connor first. He was showing us that Brenna can always do more than we might think she can, and he gave us Connor to prove that, to push us into doing more than we might have otherwise thought possible.

Friday Favorites: September 26

2014-09-26T04:17:00.002-07:00

Is next week really October? The fall is flying by, and after a couple of busy weekends coming up, I plan to savor the rest of this beautiful season with relaxation, football, soups, and pumpkins.

I've decided to jump in with The Nester's 31 Days challenge, where bloggers write on a specific topic every day for the month of October. I wrestled with what to write about, and have finally landed on my topic…now comes the hard part of figuring out how to post every single day!

A round-up of some of my favorite things, reads, and events this week…

1. For anyone wondering why I prefer freezer cooking over trying to pull together a new dinner each night…this is the general reason.

2. We joined the Nick Jr. Birthday Club for Connor's birthday…which meant the Paw Patrol called him to wish him Happy Birthday! It was the cutest thing in the world. He completely lit up and said "hi!" to them, like it was the real puppies on the phone. (It's completely free, in case anyone is interested. Brenna will be getting a call on her birthday from the Bubble Guppies :) )

Also, this cake? Amazing! Our friend Kathy made it as a special surprise for Connor. (This wonderful lady has brought us a meal EVERY month since Brenna was born, as a way to bless our family.)

3. I just finished up the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. I'm completely reeling from it. And I now have another book of hers, Interrupted, requested from the library. It really challenged me, in such a good way, and if you need a little wake up with your faith and religion, definitely consider reading it.

4. We have now been to our new town's library 3 times, and I couldn't love it more. It's so little and perfect and peaceful. There have never been other kids in the children's area, so we play and read and explore the different kinds of books. There is a cute little shopping cart that Brenna likes to push around the whole kids' area - so it doubles at physical therapy work too, score! And being only 3 minutes from our house, I think the library is going to be our second home this winter.

5. Tonight is Connor's last soccer game for the season. Can you hear my sigh of relief over here? :) Also known as, soccer's not really his thing. But he looks pretty cute in his uniform!

Some favorite moments from the week…

Coffee this morning, anyone? (this picture got lots of love on Instagram!)

Happy girl!

Attending a wedding a couple of weeks ago - Brenna felt so fancy in her dress and bow :)

Playing dress-up. Brenna went with a Mary Poppin/SuperWoman combo. Sweet and strong.

Climbing…and stuck.

Loaded up with our coffee, water and neon shades…ready to cruise.

Occupational therapy became group therapy this week - Connor wanted in on the spinning board!

Happy Friday!

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Change how you see, see how you change: Positive Exposure

2014-09-24T03:54:00.000-07:00

I excitedly ripped open a thin package last Friday to reveal something I'd been waiting to see since June - our beautiful photos taken by renowned photographer Rick Guidotti at the FIRST family conference.

Brenna took entirely too long to warm up to Rick, but he eventually was able to capture that bright-eyed smile!

I first heard about Rick Guidotti from Carly's blog, and as I clearly have some interests in photography, I had it on my to-do list to email him for months before I finally did in late winter this year. He emailed back right away and said that he was going to be at the FIRST conference. So I stalked him the second I saw him :)

Rick is an internationally known photographer who used to shoot for high-end clients like GQ, Elle and Revlon. He was all wrapped up in the world of fashion perfection when one day he saw a young woman with albinism and was so struck by her beauty. He tried to research albinism, but all he could find in the medical books were sterile-looking photographs with people's faces covered by black-out squares. And this really bothered him. Because he found this young woman so beautiful, and yet society only saw her by her condition. He found those medical books so dehumanizing.

So Rick walked away from fashion photography.

And he began a non-profit called Positive Exposure, where he photographs people of all colors, appearances, abilities and disabilities. The focus of Positive Exposure is "Change how you see; see how you change."

Rick's enthusiasm for his work is just so uplifting - He radiates joy and loves people. And best of all, he immediately makes his subjects feel at ease…and when you feel at ease, you feel confident. He is giving people all over the world an incredible gift of confidence and the ability to see themselves as beautiful. We all felt so honored at the conference to be able to be photographed by him.

Some of our friends in the Harlequin Ichthyosis community

Of all of the beautiful stories Rick shared, my favorite was about how he became involved with the Sibonile School of Blind in South Africa. The kids at the school - many of them with other disabilities or conditions like albinism - formed a singing group and were eventually asked to perform (I forget the details now, but it was at a huge hall in front of a large audience.) They said they would only perform if Rick came for support, so he flew there to help them.

He showed us footage from their concert, which was just… to say 'wonderful' is not enough. They were so nervous, and they completely rocked it. And then at the end of the concert, the applause began, and the kids freaked out. They were confused, almost scared for a minute or two. Know why?

They had never heard people clapping for them before.

These kids had been completely rejected - by their families, by society. They had been scorned, mocked, pushed, spit at. But they found themselves through their gifts of singing, their voices molding together to form these beautiful sounds. And their singing allowed people to see them as more than just "blind kids." Go here to see video footage of these beautiful singers - they are just captivating.

Rick said something at the FIRST conference that I will continue to be inspired by for a very long time…

"It's not about competing with that beauty standard set by Vogue; it's about setting our own beauty standard…. People either stare or look away, and looking away can be even more painful than the stares. So we need to steady that gaze long enough to see the beauty in difference, to look around the diversity to see what we all share - which is HUMANITY."

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Special Skin: When My Kids Realized

2014-09-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

We were driving along on a back country road, on our way to a friend's house, when it finally came.

Connor piped up from a quiet back seat as we listened to the country music on the radio.

"Remember when that person didn't know that Brenna has special skin?"

I stalled. I didn't expect it. And so I took my time trying to decide how to respond.

"Which person?" I asked him.

"I don't know," was the reply.

"Yes," I said carefully. "Sometimes we just need to tell people when they don't know, don't we?"

"Yeah."

And then, from the other side of the car…

"Special skin!"

Brenna exclaimed the words, and with her left hand, she pointed to her right arm and rubbed her finger along the crook of her elbow. "Special skin," she repeated.

Yes, special skin.

I feel like I've been found out.

It was inevitable, but still. It hurts. It hurts to know that so many people have asked about Brenna's skin or commented on Brenna's skin that both kids have heard us explain her "special skin" so much, they now know this phrase without anyone bringing it up.

Truth be told, I want to shield them from this forever. Because right now, it is simply "special skin."

But it won't stay like that.

It will eventually morph into noticing those kids staring or hearing "what's wrong with your sister?" It will eventually become rude comments or maybe even games in which the other school kids try not to touch her skin.

And the responsibility of teaching both Connor and Brenna how to react or respond to these situations feels so daunting sometimes.

As their mother, sometimes I feel so completely stuck between the protective mama bear that wants to jump all over everyone who gives her a funny look, and wanting to model the best way to respond to public reaction. Exemplify confidence, self-assurance, and even kindness. (Sometimes even to the rude people…darn that whole 'setting an example' thing.) And it can be hard to figure out what to teach as the best way to respond in each new and unique situation, with each new and unique question, when I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

So we take it one step at a time, trying to prepare without letting it invade our very full and happy lives.

And I hope that we can help people see that this "special skin" is only one part of our lives, and if they don't let it obstruct their full view, there is a lot more to our story.

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