My Reflection of Something

It's Never Too Late to Give Thanks - 10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 21:51:00 +0000

Yep, I am behind on my attempt to blog weekly already! Ha! Considering I am really just doing this to reflect and keep a record that is okay. I have to admit that it is going to be harder to think back to last week though. My brain is not working so great right now. But I will try...

1. Amazing Homeschool Mama Friends - I have been truly blessed with great local relationships lately. This is something I prayed for year after year in Nebraska. God has really opened a lot of doors over the past few years, and has shown me so much about friendship and love. I really need to spend some time digging in to this, because it has been quite a journey. I am learning that fellowship won't always fit the mold you have created in your head, and that people can bless us in so many different ways. Lots to think about there, but for the sake of this post I am just thankful for the mamas I am working with to help take our local co-op forward.

2. My Bookish Boy - So... my library card expired this month. Or maybe it was at the end of last month. The point is that it expired. And this completely wrecked me for a hot minute. I never know what is going to trigger my anxiety, but this was the final straw this time apparently. So I am thankful for a sweet boy to encourage me to go do the things that need to be done, and for how much he loves the library (even if I still miss our Nebraska library 4 years later...)

3. So many words. How have I written so many words and I am only on #3? I am thankful for my mind...even when it uses too many words.

4. Music! It's funny... for most people music is a given. I really don't listen to music a whole lot though! So sometimes it hits me fresh what a blessing it can be. This week especially it was the song Nobody by Casting Crowns. Oh and discovering Anne Wilson with Aiden.

5. MAHC - I have been trying real hard to make sure all of these aren't co-op related, but with it being the first week back it really did kind of consume our week. Day 1 was amazing! I am making a real effort to connect with people instead of hiding in classrooms when I am not teaching and it is really blessing me.

6. Aiden's Love of People - Switching Aiden to afternoons this semester means he is with all new kids. I love that he was so excited to tell me all about the new friends he made. I may be content to stay home all the time, but this kiddo has a heart for people and I love to see God nurturing that!

7. The Student Physician I Saw This Week - So I am not the biggest fan of student physicians. I don't go to the doctor a lot, and when I do I always have super high anxiety. So when they asked if a student could see me first I was so very unhappy. I said yes though. I always say yes. Such a people pleaser. Anyhow, this student was amazing. There was something about him that instantly put me at ease and I have not had such a pleasant doctor's visit in a very long time.

8. Homeschool Flexibility - It has been a rough few days, and I am especially thankful today that we have flexibility in our schedule. We have been banking extra hours for when we need days off and it has definitely been break time here lately. I am looking forward to diving back in soon though.

9. Matt's Vehicle Repairs - I am definitely happy that Matt's vehicle was able to be repaired at a reasonable cost. That is a huge weight lifted.

10. The Courage to Keep Trying - We are switching my meds again. I could say a lot about this, as it has been a pretty awful transition. Instead, I will focus on the fact that I am able to keep trying. There was a time not long ago when it would have been too overwhelming to even try. I pray we get it right soon, but for now I am just thankful for progress.

Snow Days and Games to Play - 10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 18:52:00 +0000

I used to love doing these weekly posts to look back on the best parts of each week. I am excited to resume them today! So without further ado, here are 10 things that made me happy this week...

1. Snow! Aiden spending the first 9 years of his life in Nebraska meant growing accustomed to a few good snows each winter. Southeast Missouri does not typically get as much snow, so it is always that much more exciting when we get enough for him to play in! His joy brings me SO much joy!

2. I have been working on the website for our homeschool group, and this week I shared a Board Game Bingo printable for the month of February. I used to love the gameschool challenge on Insta every February, but they no longer run that. So I thought a bingo sheet would encourage us to play more and mix up the games we are choosing.

3. Reconnecting with friends I haven't talked to for a while is always good for my spirit. I really want to work on being more intentional about keeping up with long-distance friends this year.

4. This week also brought an opportunity to connect with some new homeschool friends in a different way as I asked some of the teachers for this semester to form a prayer warrior group with me. I pray that God will help us to form bonds as we pray for each other, and that He will do big things in our co-op!

5. The slower pace of snow days made it the perfect time for me to bake cookies for the neighbors. I used to do this a lot more often, so it was good to get back to doing something I love to do! I used this sugar cookie recipe, which is always a hit!

6. We have been using a new curriculum for Latin this past month, and we are really liking it. We started this year doing latin with a really challenging course. It was fun, but hard to keep up with. Visual Latin feels much more manageable and I am really hoping this is the curriculum that will finally keep us consistent. We are also using a new grammar course, and we are loving that as well. It is taught by the author of a trilogy of books we like, and that makes it extra enjoyable.

7. My friend Brittany shared a photo of her planner the other day and it encouraged me to work on getting more organized again. I have been super pleased with how well I have logged homeschool this year, and feel a lot more organized in that area, but I could definitely benefit from working on other areas of my life. The planner she uses has a free PDF version, so I am trying it out!

8. Aiden and I recently read the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond at the same time. I assigned it to him, but then I started reading the first would chapters and decided I wanted to read it as well. We were snuggled up reading (him from the print copy and me from scribd) and he looked up at me and said "I just got a burst of joy that we are both reading this!" I just love my sweet boy.

9. Yesterday Aiden and my mom did one of their video calls where they collaborate on a project of drawing funny dogs together. They chat about what it should look like and he does the drawing while she provides input along the way. It is just the best, and it had been a while since they have done that so it really made me happy! We have been calling her most nights to read the Bible together, so the just-for-fun calls have been fewer. We are going to work on making time for both!

10. I have been sleeping better again finally after swapping some medications around. This always helps with the happy level.

I can't wait to see what the next week has in store! God certainly fills our lives with good things!

A Life Lived with Intention

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 15:15:00 +0000

See what I did there after the last post's title? Oh so clever, right? Ha! I do want to continue digging in to this idea of using technology in a balanced way. I am continually feeling challenged to really slow down and consider the choices I make. This is really not easy for me. I am someone who likes having a plan and knowing what should happen... but rarely follows the plan when it is time to actually make choices.

While I was doing the Armor of God Bible study with some friends at the end of last year, I was challenged to look at what Scripture had to say about what I felt I needed to work on most. I ended up becoming really attached to a verse from Ephesians. I have made it my verse for the year:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16

There's a lot to that verse, and I am just beginning this year, but it does speak to the idea of living with intention. There have been times in my life where I was better at staying present and having purpose. These last few months have not necessarily been one of those times.

I lost one of my very best friends rather suddenly at the end of 2021... right as Advent was beginning. I still don't think I am ready to really unpack all of that, but it did lead to an interesting Advent season. I kept referring to it as "the year of good enough." We didn't do all of the normal Advent things, but what we did do was try to treasure the time we had together. There were a lot of really hard days, but there were also some really beautiful ones. I still miss Julie so very much, but I am also reminded so often of how precious each day is. I don't want to let life pass me by.

I know that I haven't been making the best choices lately. Once Christmas was over and winter really began here I definitely slipped into some bad habits of avoidance and mindless numbing through things like TV and the internet. That is not how I was created to live, and it certainly hasn't yielded good fruit. So now I am in a familiar place... at the corner of Grace and Despair.

I find myself immediately staring down the path of just giving up on the idea of being any different. I feel like I have been here too often and I am never going to learn. It would be so easy to just continue down this road and just keep avoiding things. But Grace. Grace is calling me. God is calling me. Reminding me that His love is right here, right now. Asking me to turn my head and see how the road He has prepared for me is so much better. Holding out His mighty hand to walk with me.

I know this won't be the last time I see this corner. I know the path God has in store for me isn't the easy one. Aiden and I talk a lot about taking the rocky road (and we don't mean the ice cream!) instead of the smooth one. Sure, I could wander down the path that seems smooth because I have numbed my mind to seeing how bad it really is. All I will see there is the same dusty road stretching endlessly in front of me and leading nowhere. Or I can walk over the rough terrain of following God that will lead to the most amazing views of Mercy and Love.

If I know all of this, then why is it so dang hard to turn toward Grace? I know I can't do it on my own. So I am forever thankful for a God who continues to provide His strength to move in the right direction. He will never stop pulling me back to the right path as I stay grounded in His Word and walk by faith.

So today I take one step in the right direction. And then one more. That's all I can really do. Take things one step at a time. I would much rather hop on an airplane. But it's really all about the journey, right? I can't really end there with a cliché can I? But alas, I have steps I need to go take right now and that will have to do.

It feels really good to be writing again...

A Life Lived in Tension

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 01:59:00 +0000

That's a pretty ominous blog post title! It is just what popped into my head while I was contemplating my struggle with technology. I have really been thinking about it a lot lately. I laughed when I logged on here and realized that I missed what seemed to be a yearly tradition of posting once a year in November last year. Clearly I have never regained any kind of blogging momentum. I haven't even been on instagram for quite a while now, at least not until this morning. It has certainly been a season of being more unplugged for me.

Being unplugged is certainly not a bad thing. The beauty of building relationships over the years is that many are not confined to a blog or social media platform. I have found some truly wonderful friendships that continue outside my sharing publicly online. However, I have learned over the years that I am really just not good at any kind of documenting life unless it involves a computer keyboard... or at least a phone app. I miss being able to look back on life easily.

I have said many times over the years that my whole goal for doing things like instagram is so that I will have that visual reminder of how beautiful life can be when I am going through a less-than-beautiful time. So often I have felt like I was at my limit with frustration and discouragement, but looking at that little grid of photos of the joys God has placed in my life pulls me out of the darkness for the moment. There is power in focusing on the good things.

And yet... I am continually questioning if being online is actually good for me. There is such a fine line between connecting with people online and avoiding dealing with things by scrolling mindlessly. Let's not even talk about how often I follow random trails to reading things that have no real value. Apparently, I am the kind of person click bait is created for. So I go back and forth and back and forth... over and over without ever really coming up with an answer. But then I look back on posts like this one and I am reminded what a gift it is to be able to remember these little things that I had completely forgotten. (The part about Aiden setting up office delighted me for sure!)

So maybe I will start blogging again. I know I say that about once a year, ha! But I am strongly considering it this time. I feel like I need to go through and get rid of a bunch of posts here though... all the old sponsored campaigns that I did and things like that. All I am really interested in are the memories! And the photos... so many great photos! I really need to do a post like this one from 2016 every year to collect my favorites.

So anyhow, that's where I am today. I do know that I miss posting bookish things on insta because that's how I find so many of my favorite reads. So maybe weekly happy posts here and book posts there? I don't know... we will see. What I do know for sure is that I enjoyed looking back through this space a little tonight. I am certain there will be more of that in days to come. What a beautiful life God has given me.

And since it has been over a year since I have posted here, here is what we look like these days. Aiden has grown so much!

Hitting the Keys Again

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 21:54:00 +0000

I have been thinking about returning to this space a lot lately. That always happens when summer ends... autumn has always been my return-to-blogging season. Yet it has taken me weeks to actually sit down to type something this time. Mostly because I can't figure out where to start or what I want to share. I feel like that is probably what has prevented me from really resuming in years past. I log on, waffle around a little, share a few unrelated things and then eventually lose interest. So I am asking myself again... what is it that I really miss.

I think the answer is that I miss taking the time to record things. I think it is valuable to slow down long enough to really see what is going on in the days and weeks that often run together. I also think that in this season I have almost no short-term memory, as I have seen evidenced in how I cannot remember to return simple texts and how recording homeschool hours threatens to make my head explode if I wait more than a day to do it. I am constantly relying on instagram posts to jog my memory about what we did for school on a specific day, but even there I have been posting less and less.

So, here I am again... wishing I had never lost the habit of recording things but also looking back and wishing there was less "other stuff" from days of blogging past. That realization seems to be new to me. I really have no desire to write tutorials or reviews or any of those types of posts that I go caught up in doing for a while. At least not here. (I do plan to write things like that for my friend Jamie... you know, the one I said I might write for this time last year, ha!) So realizing that I get this urge to go back and clean up content until I get just the stuff I want. This is similar to the urge to deal with the 10,000 photos I have of Aiden's first 7 years of life. The similarity is this: both are completely overwhelming. So... maybe someday.

Today, I am just going to be content with having visited this space, and who knows what comes next. The thing I know for sure is that it sure feels good to be hitting these keys, and the sound of this organic typing always makes me smile.

The Project Bringing Me Pure Joy!

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 17:26:00 +0000

A little flashback to the early days of this blog!!

Okay, so that title is cheesy and that photo is totally unrelated. But I have been spending the bulk of my online time lately working on helping my friend Jamie with her online shop and website: Pure Joy Creative. It has been really good for me to use this part of my brain again, but I have already written about that recently. I did want to pop back on here, however, because her website is live now (YAY!) and we are getting to a point where I will have more time to come back to this space once in a while.

I will be blogging for Jamie occasionally, but this space is still my online home and there have been many times in the past few weeks when I have wanted to come do some writing. I am excited that the desire to do that remains, and also that I should be able to follow up on it soon! I have a lot on my mind as far as what I want this space to become. It has served many purposes over the years, but now that I am entering yet another new season of life it is time to kind of find my next vision.

This blog began as a photography blog, way back in the day, and I loved how much I learned and the friends I made. Them when I first had Aiden, and struggled with postpartum depression, I connected with amazing women through sharing about that. As Aiden grew and life changed, I entered into the realm of homeschooling and taking on campaigns for brands I loved. Then there were the gap years!

Well, during those gap years, a big part of my time was spent working through my diagnosis with cPTSD and going through treatments. While I don't feel like I will write extensively about that, I do want to look at what I can bring to this space as a result of what I learned. So, anyhow... I am still here and still thinking about things. I am thankful for this space and the people who still visit to share this part of my world.

Photo by Kolyssa Teal

One a lighter note, today you can fund my much-loved Pumpkin Roll recipe being shared over on Pure Joy Creative. You will notice I had Jamie label it as "Chelsey's Pumpkin Roll" because my big sister was the original queen of the pumpkin rolls. Gotta give credit where credit is due! Head on over and grab your copy and pin that post on Pinterest if you really want to make me smile!

I can't wait to share more in the coming days! Happy Monday, friends!

Beginning Our Ambleside Online Journey (again...)

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 12:46:00 +0000

Yesterday was our first day using Ambleside Online this year. I realized when talking about how we were starting something "new" with friends that it isn't exactly new. We did use the AO book list for Year 1 back in Nebraska... right before life get crazy. In many ways I loved it. I remember those days fondly. We had our dedicated homeschool room and life felt like it made sense. (Or, more likely, it was crazy but hindsight tends to soften the edges of memories.) It was during this time that I fell in love with the teachings of Charlotte Mason. The Mason Jar podcast was also my first introduction to the Circe Institute, but I will write more about them another day.

So, anyway, I am not entirely new to Ambleside. However, I had decided several times since moving that I was not going to use their curriculum again. The website is clunky and I am a very visual person when it comes to planning. So, every time I would go consider using it I would decide it wasn't going to work for me.

Then, last week, we hit a wall in our homeschool. I had been trying to get through the remainder of 2019 using the online curriculum that has served us well through the messy transitions of the past year. I knew it wasn't what I wanted, but I couldn't afford the curriculum I had decided that I desperately wanted to use. There have been plenty of struggles with having Aiden use a screen for school since we have been more settled, but I thought we could make it. It turns out I was wrong.

I am not entirely anti-screens. I recognize the value of some managed use of technology for education. However, I homeschool my child because I want to teach him myself. So, for our family, continuing to use this online program was causing strain. I notice a big difference in behavior when there is a lot of screen use, even if it is for school.

I loved how much Aiden was learning, and how he could share really cool things with me each day. I think there are circumstances that make this kind of learning a good thing. I am certainly thankful for how it has served us in the times when we were without a home of our own, and while I was dealing with some pretty intense depression as I adjusted to life here in Missouri. It is just time for us to find our new "normal" now that we are (hopefully) more settled here.

I am pretty sure I had planned to talk more about our first day than go on and on about what led up to it, but apparently that is not going to happen today! Ha! So, I am going to wrap this up and say "to be continued" for now. I do really want to start blogging here again more consistently, but I have to make sure it all works into the life we are building here so it will be more free writing like this for a while probably. It does definitely feel good to be writing again... I have missed the sound of keys tapping as I process. It is good to be back.

Behind the Scenes - My Recent Project and What Comes Next...

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 13:05:00 +0000

The past month has been really interesting for me. I have been working with a wonderful friend and artist to help her with some online projects. In my typical fashion, I have been alllll over the place. I started off thinking I would focus on one or two things, and pretty soon I was trying to learn all the things. It has been wonderful and frustrating (because: technology) and so, so good for my brain to be engaged in this way again.

A few years ago I got to do some similar work for my dear friend Stephanie. That relationship was one of creative synergy from way back in the days of our Edit Me challenge. (Anyone remember that? Wow, I miss those days...) It has been really fun revisiting what I have learned through the years... and realizing that so much of it no longer applies! Ha! That is the nature of online work. This has led to a need for lots and lots of learning. Webinars, courses, reading article after article. Talk about information overload!

Then, yesterday, something started to crystallize. I sat down with Matt and started talking about everything that I have been working on and learning, and I realized that there is something here. I am finally figuring out which parts of all this I love, and which parts I could leave. I am feeling like perhaps there could be a way for me to really help people with this set of talents God has given me. We still have a lot to discuss, and I still have a LOT to learn... but it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

I do know one thing. I am super excited to continue helping Jamie as she continues to create and inspire. I really believe in her mission to get the Word of God in front of more people, and help nurture creativity as we remember that we are created in the image of a creator!! So much good stuff. This week we are rolling out the website I have been building (which is why no one has seen much of me lately... I turn into a hermit when I am doing that kind of work) and she is releasing an amazing project that I am so excited about! Hop on over to the website and sign up to be alerted when it goes live!

Almost 3 years later...

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 02:26:00 +0000

There is something about the beginning of autumn that makes me want to blog. It happens every year. However, for the past two years I have just not been in a place to make it happen. So I look back at this space where I used to love sharing about my life and I find myself wondering...

How can I move forward here?

So much has happened in the course of two (almost 3?) years. I was diagnosed with cPTSD and started EMDR therapy. We moved... twice. The second move brought us over 500 miles and was anything but smooth. We were without a home of our own for 3 months. Matt has changed employers twice. Aiden has grown in the most amazing ways. Homeschool has been one of my greatest joys... but also a significant challenge during all of the chaos. I have dealt with serious health struggles with my mom and injuries of my own. At the start of this year we walked through losing Matt's father, and lost a couple dear friends shortly after that. It just seems like so much has happened that has changed me completely that it would be strange to just pick up and start blogging again as if no time had passed.

And yet, this is just more of my story. While I feel like I am not even the same person anymore sometimes, the truth is that I value every part of the journey that has brought me to this point. Sometimes I find myself grieving the fact that I have been away from writing and recording memories for so long. I look back at the blog posts here, and I find that it is just amazing to see where I have come from. I see how much joy there was, even in the hard times, and I don't want the gap in memories to grow any wider. So, I will start writing again. Even if it feels a little weird. Maybe someday it won't anymore.

Perhaps I can go back and fill in some of the gaps along the way. While I haven't blogged during the time away, I have kept journals and a private instagram account. I also reopened my public instagram at the start of this year. However, I find that I take significantly fewer photos now. I laugh sometimes at how Aiden will have thousands (an unmanageable number, really) of photos from the first 7 years of his life and then suddenly there are a lot less. A LOT less. My thoughts on things like photos have changed a bit. I actually wish sometimes I had taken fewer photos in those earlier years. That is a post for another day, though.

Anyhow, I have no idea if anyone will even see these posts for now. Most of my social media died when I abandoned things at the start of 2017. I am mostly just wanting to record life again, but I wouldn't mind reconnecting with some of the amazing people that made my life special back in the "good old days" of blogging. I guess I will just see where this takes me. No matter what, it feels really good to be getting ready to hit publish here. Really good.

A Season of Rest in God's Word

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 15:14:00 +0000

I feel like I write a lot about living seasonally - although maybe it is more in my own journal than on the blog. If there is one thing I have learned since becoming a mother, it is that seasons change more often than the four seasons of the year we are all used to. Learning to embrace each season as it comes has been huge for me. It isn't always easy to recognize the changes. Often we refuse to believe it is really winter until we find ourselves scraping ice off the windshield. In the same way, I still regularly resist change until I cannot any longer.

The hardest seasons for me to accept are seasons of rest. How backwards is that? I say all the time I just need a break. Just a weekend away... just a little time to rest. Yet I am finding that seasons of rest are rarely (if ever?) all encompassing. I may be in a season of rest in one way (like taking a sabbatical from Youth Ministry) but in a busy season in another way (hello, homeschool!) at the same time. I think it kind of has to work that way... in each stage of life, priorities need to be reevaluated, and things rarely fall in the same place on the scale.

My journey into really studying Scripture for myself began in the months after Aiden was born. I was desperate for guidance, and as a new stay-at-home mom of a newborn I had more time on my hands. I was sleep deprived and felt like all I ever did was care for Aiden, but in retrospect there was also more time for quiet as well. A sleeping baby snuggled on my shoulder kept my options limited for what I could do. Thanks be to God that He helped me choose the best thing!

In those early days, I read a lot of books and Bible studies. I needed the training in how to dig in to Scripture. As I learned, I found myself wanting more and more to set the books aside and just read for myself. There were years in that process... it certainly didn't happen overnight! There came a point, however, when I could study for myself and the Word of God was my greatest delight! I loved digging in to the original language and taking things verse by verse. Aside from the occasional (okay, maybe more frequent sometimes) texts to my very patient Pastor to discuss what I was learning or a verse I struggled with, I relied mostly on the work of the Holy Spirit during my solo studies.

Over the past few months, however, I have found that I am struggling to maintain that kind of diligent solo study. My prayer life has been richer than ever, and my love of the Word has not changed. Yet I feel like I am trying to pull more weight than God intends me to carry when I sit down with my Bible. At this time last year, studying Scripture definitely lightened my daily burden. Now, however, I don't find that to be true. I have assumed that it is just a funk. If I don't have an explanation and don't really want to dig to find one it is so easy to use that label. "I am in a funk." I say it often.

I think, though, that I am actually in a battle with pride. I feel like I have learned so much... shouldn't I be able to continue studying the way I have been? Isn't it "going backwards" to rely on other people's studies? And as I actually ask those questions I find myself sighing, "Oh, Branson... when will you ever learn?"

I mentioned that my prayer life has never been richer... when I stop and think about the greatest change there, it happened when I stopped trying to rely on my own devices to pray. I stopped assuming that the "most meaningful" prayers had to come from my own mind. Instead, I found that praying through Scripture and the prayers of others was truly freeing. There are days when my own prayers flow freely, but oh the richness of having guidance and different perspectives to take me in new directions!

I find that this all seems to come back to my tendency to be "all or nothing" in almost every area. Yet when I look at that shift in my prayer life, I can see that sticking to the extremes is so limiting. I have been truly enjoying reading lately. I have like a million books that goodreads tells me are about 15% read, and each one has so much to teach me. Yet I have been trying to force myself to wait until after "quiet time" to read. I have been falling into the trap of making Bible Study work instead of a gift! As a result, I have found that heaviness oppressive and disheartening.

Today I am realizing that this might very well just be another of those seasons of rest. A season where it is OKAY to just read all the books and consume Scripture rather than dissecting it. I find that it is a season for the Psalms for me. A season of really sinking into the love and grace of my Heavenly Father as He holds me close instead of pushing me to grow so much. Does God do that? Do He give us seasons where it is okay to just fall at His throne and lay there for a while? I think maybe He does.

I find myself being pulled in other directions in my faith life. More relational directions. More domestic directions. I hesitate to use the word "feel" because feelings are so unreliable, but I feel like maybe this is my time to learn best through putting all of my studies into action for a while. I know I still need a steady diet of the Word, but I feel like maybe it is okay to let someone else do the cooking for a while. Oh, how I love my random analogies. I am drawn back to the book that so greatly impacted me at the end of 2016 which explains the need to both "living room intimacy" and "kitchen service." I have enjoyed a great deal of living room intimacy, and I feel like maybe now is the time to find the new ways it has equipped me to get to work in the kitchen.

I look forward to reading this post next year (or even next month, perhaps) and seeing where I was headed when I sat down to write on this day. All I know at this point is that for me the hardest steps to take are often the ones that lead to letting go... but that is what I am trying to do today. Here's to resting in God's perfect peace that truly passes all understanding!

2017 - Chapter 5/52

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 17:15:00 +0000

Week 5 - The Week of "Almost..."

I have been sick for the past 3 days. The kind of sick where all you can do is lay in bed with an ice pack on your head and alternate between reading and sleeping. If I didn't have to feel incredibly awful while doing it, that doesn't actually sound half bad, ha! But I would very much like to trade doing my daily work for feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Today I am better-ish... better enough to sit up at the computer, but so dang-darn wrung out that this paragraph has exhausted me.

I call week 5 the week of "Almost..." because it started strong. Great homeschool, fun days with my daycare honey, finally sitting down to write a post that wasn't a recipe, menu plan or week-in-review post. I love all these posts, because they keep me going, but I miss "unscheduled" writing. So, you can read my post about Aiden's bookworm tendencies HERE.

So, anyhow, it was a good start to the week. Except for the fact that I was so darn tired. Tuesday night I hit that so-tired-I-want-to-literally-cry point, and we ordered pizza for dinner (thanks, mom!) and I tired to go to bed early. Wednesday, I made it through the day, made that regrettable spaghetti squash casserole, and then again felt like I could barely keep it together. So when I woke up feeling like I was a pancake with a head that was going to explode (yes, I know... pancakes don't have heads. But sick people don't always make sense) it kind of made sense.

So Thursday - Saturday were a bust. I don't even remember Friday. I do know that there is a whole lot of work waiting for me today now to get ready for a new week. I am trying not to stress about that, though. So, anyway, this is a pretty lame post. But it was a pretty lame week. I did force myself to take a photo each day even when I was sick, so I am still on target with my project 365. Here are this week's pics, and I sure hope next week's chapter is more fun to read!

Bookworm Tendencies - Reflections on Raising an Avid Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:00:00 +0000

Anyone who follows me on instagram ( or anywhere else) is probably used to seeing photos of Aiden reading. This isn't just because that is when he is always sitting still enough giving me a moment to breathe and snap a pic. It is because he really reads THAT much. This kid loves his books, and I love that he loves them. I have been asked several times how we approached teaching him to read, and my answer is always the same: we didn't. Reading was just something that came naturally to our child. He is truly self-taught.

When Aiden was a baby, we often remarked at how he seemed to have an extra long attention span when it came to listening to books. This is something that has not changed in the years since. Only now he is often the one doing the reading. I no longer worry about extended silences... I know I will just find him somewhere curled up with a book. The question simply becomes where. He is definitely creative in his reading locations at times. Most often, however, he is curled up under a blanket in his room. Books and blankets - both are well loved by this boy.

One of the things I love most about his bookworm tendencies is that he has such a wide variety of interests when it comes to his choices. He thoroughly enjoys both fiction and nonfiction... everything from silly stories to poetry, from classic children's literature to nature guidebooks. I never know what is going to be in his stack when he is let loose in the library. Well, that is not entirely true. I always know the stack will include one (or more) Geronimo Stilton title.

We started reading Geronimo books when we were studying different countries of the world with Little Passports. For each packet we received, we found a Geronimo Stilton set in that country. That was 2 years ago, and his love for adventures of this globetrotting mouse reporter has only grown. I love that as he reads he always has interesting facts to report about whatever location this particular story is set in. These books definitely feed Aiden's spirit of adventure and desire to be an explorer himself, all while making him laugh and laugh. Matt and I both adore how he gets so quiet while reading and then is suddenly giggling uncontrollably!

As a home educator, I am always considering how I can use this love of reading to encourage learning of all kinds. I find that I am more aware of what he chooses to read. For the most part, he is free to choose whatever he wants to to read. We have discouraged some kinds of books since early on... we aren't fans of gross humor or obnoxious characters. Thankfully, Aiden really has fantastic taste overall. Right now, in addition to his Geronimo books of course, he has a great love of Beverly Cleary. We have had many wonderful hours of sharing Boxcar Children books together. He has even started reading Encyclopedia Brown, which I just love. Sharing the books I enjoyed as a child is wonderful.

We also read biographies together. I love learning about new people right along with Aiden (or at least learning more about those I already know a bit about.) We have read about John James Audubon, Martin Luther, Jane Goodall, and are now reading about John Muir. Initially I had intended to vary the kinds of individuals we studied more, but I love so much how Aiden connects with and is inspired by naturalists that we have kind of followed a theme instead. Well... except for Martin Luther. I often have to remind myself that we have a whole lot of years ahead of us to cover the large variety I want to give him.

I find that this theme of wanting to share everything with Aiden all at once extends in to so many areas for me. Learning to give him the time to fully explore and appreciate what he is interested in right now is something I am still working on. I shared on instagram the other day how I have to remind myself often that he is only 6. I forget sometimes that he still loves all kinds of children's books, and I want to encourage his love of sweet and simple things. It is exciting to me to share in his learning and see him make all these connections and do all the growing... but time goes fast enough without my rushing things. So I will continue to fill our home with tales of every kind, and savor the hours of snuggles and stories for as long as I can!

His little toddler buddy often pulls out books he has long since forgotten and suddenly they are new again! He will often read them aloud for her, but he also loves to just get lost in a book with a mug of cocoa! I forget sometimes that he is only 6 because he rarely reads these early books anymore. I try not to take away this little boy time, but sometimes I let the pressures of society trick me into thinking that this isn't "enough" for him. Thankful for days like today where giggles at Richard Scarry bring me back to a place of treasuring the opportunity to let him just be a child for as long as he can instead of insisting we get back to "real" lessons. #cornerstonelutheranacademy

A photo posted by Branson (@bransonmerrill) on Jan 30, 2017 at 10:47am PST

2017 - Chapter 4/52

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 15:03:00 +0000

Chapter 4 - The week we made Sabbath a priority

Strangely, I am not feeling particularly wordy today. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning, but I am just kinda enjoying the quite and trying to figure out what this day is going to look like. Sometimes that makes it hard to focus on the past week. However, if I don't write this now I might very well not have time to later.

This last full week of January was a pretty good one. As always, there were highs and lows. I would say one of the overall lows was that I spent way too much time online. Matt and I have decided that I will no longer be doing sponsored blogging work. That is a post for another day, but knowing that these two campaigns I am wrapping up will be my last, I wanted to finish strong. As a result, I overdid it on the time spent at the computer, and it showed in other areas of my life. I am not going to dwell on it, but I do hope I can learn something from it.

Among the highs were that I finally hit my step goal for several days in a row. It has been way too long since that has happened. The fact that I was able to do it even while I was having too much screen time is a big reminder that there really are no excuses. Well, outside of illness and injury anyhow. It also helps that there have been some great new episodes of my favorite podcasts lately. I am sticking with not listening unless I am up and moving, so that is a good motivator.

Going into the weekend, I knew that I needed to step it up in other ways if we were going to have the full day of Sabbath we were hoping for. I shared on instagram how we are realizing that Sunday is just not the right day for our family to really find Sabbath rest. We have decided to focus on Saturday instead, and this meant lots of prep work before the weekend arrived. I am not going to sugarcoat it... Friday evening was rough. It is going to take a while to find a good routine. However, Saturday was definitely a treat for all of us. There was time to play, nap, snuggle, read, pray, enjoy quiet moments... all things that left me feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. This is another topic I hope to write more about later.

Other highlights from the week were trying some new recipes, catching up with a dear friend via google chat, getting the new little small group online book club I am doing with some friends started, homeschool successes and making journaling a bigger part of my devotional time again. Maybe that last item is why I don't have as many words today. (I know... there doesn't really seem to be a shortage of words here... you will just have to take my word for it, ha!) It is good to sit down and write and process all of what I have been learning lately. So often I put off the processing part for later. If you had access to my email you would see how I email random thoughts to myself all the time to ponder "when I have time." I am being reminded that it doesn't work that way... there will never be enough time. It is up to me to commit the time to what I truly find important. You know, instead of netflix. *sigh*

Anyhow, that is week 4 in a nutshell. A bit subdued, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Here's to a new week, and within that week the beginning of a new month! 2017 is moving right along!

What were the highlights of YOUR week this week? I would love to hear about them!

Menu Plan Monday - January 30, 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 12:59:00 +0000

Last week's menu plan was an overall success. The spicy tuna wraps were super yummy, and the jambalaya I could eat every night. It definitely got us eating better food, and saved money! It wasn't perfect... we still haven't tried the salmon salad pita pockets, and there was one night when I just left everyone to find their own food, ha!... but it helped for sure.

Here is what is on the menu for this week:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Creamy Garlic Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Shepherd's Pie
Spinach Enchiladas
Terrible Taters
Ratatouille with Cheese Ravioli

Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins
Turkey sausage, spinach, mushroom & zucchini egg cups
Meatloaf Muffins

I have already whipped up some of this ahead of time, and that spaghetti squash casserole smells amazing! I hope it is well received (not everyone is in full support of me making more veggie-centered dishes yet, but they will come around!)

What's on your menu this week??

How to Make a Latte at Home for a Morning Coffee Date

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 08:00:00 +0000

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LatteMadeEasy #CollectiveBias

Toward the end of 2016, I shared on Instagram (#mandbmornings) that I had decided to make it a priority to get up early enough to have coffee with my husband before he would leave for work. This was not easy for me, since he leaves for work a little after 5:30 AM. However, I knew that it was going to be our best chance for a little alone time each day (our only child is a crazy night owl!) to talk, pray and just be together. We started calling it our "coffee date" and it really helped us to focus in more on our marriage.

Now, at that hour of the morning, even if we did want to pay for a coffee shop latte every day (which we don't!) it wouldn't even be an option here in Small Town, USA. So imagine my delight when I heard about International Delight® One Touch Latte™! In just three easy steps our everyday cup of coffee can be transformed into a delicious latte! And in 3 tempting flavors, Matt and I can even mix and match depending on what we are in the mood for!

Back to the coffee, though. Clearly, if I am getting up that early I deserve a little treat (and NEED a good jolt of caffeine, ha!) so let me tell you how easy it is to create this sweet, frothy latte.

STEP 1 - Pour yourself a good, hot cup of coffee. However, you only want to fill your cup 2/3 full! You need to leave room for that foaming latte goodness to happen!

STEPS 2 & 3 - Choose your favorite flavor of International Delight® One Touch Latte™ - Vanilla, Mocha or Caramel. Shake it! Press and hold 5-7 seconds, spraying the foaming latte mix into your cup. This quick video will show you how:

You now have a perfect latte without having to leave the house!

Just look at that perfect, decadent foam! I must say, I make a mighty fine barista in my own little kitchen! Now I want to try it out in Aiden's hot cocoa one afternoon as a little extra treat! Or imagine how fun it will be to whip up a latte next time a friend stops by for coffee! Or make a creamy chai latte... so many possible uses. Find more inspiration HERE!

Each can of One Touch Latte™ will make 5-7 lattes, which makes it really easy for me to prep for the week. One can for me, one can for the hubby... one can for extra afternoon treats! *wink* This is a BRAND NEW product, and you can find it at your local Walmart!

Of course a great latte is only part of the equation if you want a successful at-home coffee date. Here are some suggestions for making this a regular part of your time as a couple:

Plan ahead! This means things like setting up the coffee maker the night before, but let me tell you a little story... when we first started doing this, it took a bit to get in the habit of preparing before bed. I didn't think to let Matt know when I started setting up the coffee the night before. So one morning he woke up and set it up AGAIN... meaning he put even more water in and we ended up with a watery coffee mess! Now we like to leave a little note on the coffee maker so we know when it is ready! (I have even made some cute little note cards for you to print and use! You will find them below!)
Think about Atmosphere! We always tidy the living room before bed so it will be a nice space for our morning coffee dates. We also like to light a candle in the morning and maybe play some soft music.
Block Out Distractions! I always wait until after our morning coffee to look at my phone or take it out of "do not disturb" mode. We want to make sure we can focus on each other and not our devices,
Make it a Priority! It is soooo easy to think how nice it would be to get just a little more sleep. I know that my husband wouldn't give me too hard a time if I skipped our coffee date occasionally... BUT, I have tried that and it leaves a notable absence in my day now! Not only that, but our little boy also knows that mama and daddy have their "coffee date" in the morning and he loves it. I love that he is learning a good habit for his own marriage someday by watching us!

I mentioned I had whipped up some cute little notecards that are perfect for sticking on the coffee maker to avoid double-fills, tucking in a lunchbox, or leaving as a reminder of the time and place of your date (if it isn't an everyday thing)! You can get your free printable by clicking below!

Click to download a PDF version of the printable

When you try this new product, feel free to tag me in photos of your #LatteMadeEasy experience on social media! I would love to hear what you think!

2017 - Chapter 3/52

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 13:59:00 +0000

Chapter 3 - A Week to Regroup

After week 2's false start, I was ready for a more "normal" week. Instead, I got an ice storm. It wasn't anything compared to the ice storm we weathered in Missouri the year we moved into our house there, but it was enough to make going anywhere out of the question. Matt didn't even go to work on Monday. Our daycare baby didn't come until Wednesday. Things were far from "normal" but I think that was for the best in many ways.

After trying to rush into things the previous week, it was not such a bad thing to have a week to kind of regroup. It's funny... I guess I am writing this post later than usual, but I feel like last Monday was at least a month ago! The week was kind of blur, but the day that stands out the most for me was Thursday. Thursday we had our other little daycare buddy back for the first time in 2017. We also had my great-nephew who was, at that time, one week from his first birthday. Add in a speech therapist and then a nice visit from my niece and it was quite a day!

I loved getting to reconnect with my great-nephew. We cared for him a lot when he was just a tiny baby, but it had been a few months since he had been here for anything other than a holiday. He has gotten so big, and is such a little buddy! He took a bit to warm up to me after an extended absence, but once he did we were besties again! Mom and Brodie (the college-age nephew who lives with us) came up for a while, and it was just a fun, fun day!

I love seeing Aiden with these babies in our life. He is growing to be such a sweet boy who genuinely loves these little ones. It isn't always easy for him to be patient, and he can get that only-child bossy thing going, but he is a great help and it is a joy to see him with them.

This weekend was spent catching up on planning for homeschool, working on our nutrition goals, and just enjoying a little downtime as well. I am realizing that, for our family, it may be more fitting to work toward a Saturday Sabbath, and so that has kind of directed my planning a bit as well. Regardless of the day, it is still a current goal for me to get to a place where we can fully set aside a day to rest and connect with God and with each other.

Writing this late means that I am already part way into the new week, and I am excited about how week 4 is shaping up. I guess we will see if it continues to benefit from the work done to prepare! Until then... here are my photos for Week 3:

Menu Plan Monday - January 23, 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 14:28:00 +0000

I recently shared some of our nutrition goals for the start of this year (along with my handy-dandy, 4-step acronym) in the post FOCUS ON NUTRITION: ONE B.I.T.E. AT A TIME. I decided that I would get back to sharing my menu plan on Mondays as well! I used to do this way back in the day, ha! It definitely helps keep me on track, and I can look back on them later when I need ideas!

Breakfasts

Oatmeal
Egg white frittata
smoothies
Harvest Muffins

Lunches

Dinners

Chicken and Rice Casserole
Slow Cooker Jambalaya
Spaghetti
Tomato Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
Meatloaf Muffins and Roasted Potato and Paprika Chickpea Salad

Resources: What's In Season January Produce Guide

What's on your menu this week? If you do a post like this, or have recipes I should try, feel free to leave me a link in the comments or find me on Facebook!

Focus on Nutrition: One B.I.T.E. at a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 19:25:00 +0000

Like many other people, the beginning of the new year marks a time when I want to refocus on making better choices in my family's diet. During the holidays it is so easy to overdo it on all of the treats of the season, and there is nothing like overindulging for a month or so to make everyone start to feel a little gross. I know the real answer is to just not overdo it during the holidays, but at this point I am focusing on what comes next instead of what I should have done in the past.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of cleaning up my food choices is a total overhaul program, like Whole 30 or something similar. However, I know from experience that this is FAR from realistic for our family. You don't go from being a couch potato to running a marathon, and a similar mindset needs to happen when it comes to food. I have always set goals that were unattainable in the past, and this year I wanted to change that! So, I have broken my immediate goals down into 4 realistic items... and I have an acronym for them, because you know I love a good acronym! Ha!

( Disclosure: I am working with Hiland Dairy as a sponsor this month to find ways to #GetHealthyWithHiland. While this is not a sponsored post, it does contain links to sponsored content. In my opinion these are valuable resources, and I am sharing them here for that reason.)

I want to focus on nutrition on B.I.T.E. at a time as we begin this year!

B - Breakfast sets the stage
I - Ingredients matter
T - Turn up the color
E - Education and encouragement

Here's is how I break each of those items down:

Breakfast sets the stage - I have never been a fan of the sugary breakfast choices, but I am definitely someone who likes breakfast. There are certainly healthy savory choices to be made in the morning, but leftover mashed potatoes probably isn't one of them! This month we have brought back our green smoothies in the morning, but that usually doesn't happen until Aiden wakes up... which is WAY after I do. So I am focusing on eating my old go-to meal in the morning and then following it up with a smaller smoothie as a morning snack. I will share my favorite morning meal next week, but for now I will share a couple smoothie tips:

I make smoothie bags in bulk. Each bag typically has a good amount of greens (usually spinach), a cut up banana, half a diced avocado and then an assortment of fruit. This is all put in a freezer bag, greens on top, and frozen.
I pull my smoothie bag the night before and move it to the fridge. This way the contents are still mostly frozen by morning, but are just a little softer.
I blend my greens first with a cup of milk or almond milk and 6-8 ounces of Greek yogurt. I love using Hiland dairy products for this step!
Next I add the remaining ingredients and then thin it with a little water if needed.
One smoothie bag with the mix-ins will make enough for both me and Aiden, and then either my mom or our daycare baby - or we freeze the leftovers in popsicle molds!! These are one of Aiden's favorite treats!

Ingredients matter - It is not realistic for me to say I am going to do away with all packaged foods. However, I want to pay more attention to the foods I choose, selecting those with fewer ingredients (and ones I can pronounce!) like choosing Kind bars instead of sugary granola bars and chocolate milk or juice for an occasional sweet beverage choice instead of diet soda or energy drinks. While I am not doing away with all prepared foods, we have been making more of our own foods - like some awesome sweet potato-blueberry-applesauce and delicious whole grain blueberry cream muffins (recipe HERE)! The more I can make from scratch, the more I know exactly what we are eating.

Turn up the color - It used to be a family joke that when we hit a chinese buffet my husband's plate was mostly beige and brown foods. There is a great benefit to eating foods from every color of the rainbow, and we are working on adding more color to every meal! It is easy to fall into a rut of choosing the same few fruits and vegetables over and over. When Aiden was a baby I bought more variety than I ever had - it was when I tried my first persimmon, and the first time I remember preparing parsnips. This year we are making a goal of trying new foods on a regular basis, and we are making it an adventure! We will be using resources like:

The Usborne Round the World Cookbook by Caroline Young
These monthly Seasonal Produce Guides
A cool fruits & veggies wheel from fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org

Education and encouragement - When I am trying to get Aiden to eat certain fruits and veggies, I will remind him of what "super powers" they have. I have learned the basics of nutrition at some point I am sure... I know the food groups, and some basic information about the benefits of different foods. However, I don't think I know nearly enough. So, a BIG part of my goal for this year is just to educate myself, and my family in turn, about nutrition so that we aren't just eating things we assume are healthy because that is the popular opinion. I think by focusing on the positive side of nutrition, and learning how foods fuel and strengthen us, it will encourage me to make better choices. I know that there is a LOT of information out there, and much of it conflicting, so I want to focus on the basics and find sources that are both credible and encouraging. Part of that goes along with the resources above, but I also plan to look for encouraging people to follow on social media, and take advantage of tools like this healthy living email series!

Now that I have spelled out my goals, I hope to report back monthly on how we are doing and the interesting resources and recipes we find.

I will add to my resource list as I go, but here are some to check out this week:

Do you have favorite resources I should check out? What are your current nutrition goals? Please feel free to share them with me! I Love getting ideas and resources from others!

2017 - Chapter 2/52

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 03:36:00 +0000

Week 2 - False Start

This was the week when everything was supposed to get back to "normal" finally. We were ready to resume homeschool and day care and everything that goes along with that. While there were some definite successes this week, there was also an overwhelming sense that something was out of sync.

We had a great first day of school. We loved having our day care honey back. We made healthy choices by getting back on track with our green smoothie mornings. Aiden even finally made it back to taekwondo on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday night, though, things were starting to fall apart a bit.

We got some bad news from Matt's mom about a setback in his dad's condition. We were dealing with some other extended family stuff. Aiden was complaining of a sore throat and I somehow injured my hip. Matt stayed home on Thursday to process what was going on with his dad, and I spent the day in bed forcing myself to rest my hip. That was HARD. I hate not being able to be up and busy.

I tried to stay busy with what I could do from bed. I worked on homeschool planning and other online things. I did my best to enjoy spending some time just snuggling with my little guy who curled up by my side regularly throughout the day to keep me company. Overall, it was just frustrating for me.

Friday... let's just not talk about Friday. It was a bad, bad day.

It was at this point, I think, that I started hearing a football referee voice in my head... "False start. On the offense. 5-yard penalty. Repeat first down." Yep... I am a Husker girl who thinks in terms of football sometimes. I just felt like we had tried to do too much too fast and as a result we lost our balance and stepped over that line before the team... er, family unit... was ready. We definitely felt the penalty, but the beautiful part is that we now get to reset and repeat the down, right?

We won't get to redo this past week, but we get to start again on Monday and do our best to learn from the hard parts of last week and move on. I love that fact. Not only do we get to learn from the hard parts, but we get to celebrate the good parts, too! We really had some great school days, and that is something I want to celebrate! We had a pretty seamless transition back to providing day care for our favorite cutie, and that is worth celebrating as well! Aiden did well at taekwondo after a significant break, so that is a weight lifted.

These things are going to motivate us to keep pressing forward and working to find a rhythm that allows us to finish the week strong instead of crumbling at the end. Even if that doesn't happen in the coming week, we will continue to be given opportunities to learn and grow. There is always the chance to keep trying. That fighting spirit is what I want to focus on as this year continues.

I feel like last year, towards the end especially, I gave up too fast. I was so worn down that it was hard to keep focusing on learning and growing from the struggles I was facing. I have been reminded as this year begins to rely not on my own strength, but the strength and grace that comes from being a child of God. If I focus on His will and His strength, I can rest in the hope of what is to come. What a gift!

So, here's to week 3... and 4-52 as well!

Here are my project 365 photos for this week (I had to throw in a couple phone pics, but that is life!):

Whole Grain Blueberry Cream Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 23:46:00 +0000

This post is sponsored by Hiland Dairy, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

As we prepare for the impending ice storm that is all anyone can talk about right now, it is pretty much the perfect time to bake up some tasty muffins to have on hand just in case we really do lose power! It is no secret that I love baking muffins, and working with Hiland dairy as a sponsor this month gives me the perfect opportunity to share a new recipe! There are a number of reasons why I like muffins, starting with the fact that my husband is not a breakfast eater. We hear all the time that it is super important to start the day with a healthy breakfast, but he has a hard time making that happen. I have found that if I keep muffins on hand it is much more likely to put something in his stomach before he begins his physically-demanding workday.

I also love muffins because they have portion control build in. Let's be honest... if I have a full loaf of banana bread, or a pan of blueberry coffee cake around to tempt me, I am much more likely to grab a serving that is bigger than intended. With muffins, you can grab and go while knowing that you are enjoying a tasty treat in moderation. Of course the fact that Aiden has been happy to eat just about anything as long as it is in "cupcake" form for as long as I can remember helps as well. Lots of great reasons to continue adding to my collection of healthy muffin recipes.

Today's muffin is one that I have definitely become a huge fan of. I was never really a blueberry muffin person, but these changed my mind. I know that blueberries are a super food, and I love that they are combined with whole grain and high quality dairy in this quick recipe. While eating healthier is high on my list of goals for 2017, finding ways to live in a more earth-conscious manner is as well. I love that when I use Hiland Dairy I am supporting local farmers who are committed to sustainability to minimize waste and environmental impact.

Whole Grain Blueberry Cream Muffins

2 eggs
1 cups white sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup Hiland Dairy sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners, or spray with cooking spray. In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar, oil, Hiland sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture. Gently fold in blueberries. Add 1/4 cup batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until done.

To add a burst of vitamin C to your breakfast routine, you can pair these muffins with Hiland orange juice! I will say that we have tried several brands of orange juice with Aiden, and Hiland is clearly his favorite. There aren't a lot of things that he is picky about, but orange juice is one of them! I am so glad we have a brand we can rely on to get him to drink up when cold season hits and he needs that extra nutrition!

Hiland is helping all of us focus more on healthy living in 2017 with some great resources! Hop on over to their #GetHealthyWithHiland page, and let me know which tips and tricks YOU are going to use to make this our healthiest year yet!

Podcasts with a Purpose - Favorites for January 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:10:00 +0000

I have been familiar with the idea of podcasts for a long time, but I honestly never listened to one until last year. I am someone who has always loved to read... whether it is books, magazines or blogs, the printed word has always been my preference. That all changed when I found it next to impossible to ever get any real reading done. And I know some people can read while they walk on a treadmill, but I am NOT one of them... so if I was going to keep up with life and also focus on being more active I definitely needed a new option.

I started out looking primarily for homeschool podcasts. That was what I needed to learn more about at the time, and I was desperately in need of some encouragement as a home educator! I found a few podcasts to try, and I realized that I really liked being able to even just hear other adult voices talking about relevant topics during my child-filled days! While I can't talk back (well, I guess I could but that would be a little nutty) it is almost like adding some adult conversation in to my day, since the podcasts I have chosen are all interviews or panels.

I confess I am someone who could often be found with the tv on at times during the day, just for the background noise. How refreshing to have an option where I can actually get something out of what I am listening to while I am doing things like folding laundry or washing dishes. It also fills the silence at times when I run out of things to talk to a 13-month-old about. I may or may not be found occasionally having "conversations" about Charlotte Mason educational theories with a cute little darling whose replies consist of baby gibberish now while building block towers for her to knock down.

So, while I am new to the whole podcast things, I was an instant fan once I started listening! I have found that there are some great homeschool podcasts out there, but I also have found many others that are not homeschool related that I really enjoy. I thought I would share some of my favorites here, since I can often be found asking for suggestions from different friends on instagram and facebook. The best choices are always ones someone else tells me they just love! Here are a few of mine:

Risen Motherhood - This one is my current favorite. I love how encouraging Laura and Emily are, and how they get me thinking very intentionally about my role as a mother. It is hard to choose a favorite episode, but I loved Ep. 35 - Putting Your Marriage First: giving him more than the leftovers.
The God Centered Mom Podcast - I love the variety of guests on this one, and if I had to pick a very favorite podcast episode listened to in 2016 it would have been her interview with Kirk Martin for Ep. 69 - Calmly Parenting the Strong-Willed Child.
At Home - This podcast is fun because there are up to 6 women all getting together to discuss different topics, which means lots of different viewpoints and some lively interaction. One of my favorites here was Promoting a Peaceful Marriage.
Cohesive Home Podcast - I haven't listened to this one quite as often, but I LOVED their episode on living seasonally!! Ep. 17 - Living Seasonally
The Mason Jar - This was the podcast that started it all for me! I love it when I need a reminder of why I homeschool and what I want our days to look like. It is hard to choose an episode to highlight, but hearing Cindy Rollins talk about her Morning Time was a game-changer for me, or at least the first of several! Q & A #1

What podcasts have you been listening to? I would love for you to leave me a link or two of episodes I should check out in the comments!

2017 - Chapter 1/52

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 22:33:00 +0000

My friend Beth is doing a series on her blog called "Chapter 2017" that really speaks to what I said in my last post about wanting to get back to the basics here. While I won't be able to keep up with daily posts, like she does, I can certainly commit to doing something weekly to just kind of sit down and record the little things that I would otherwise forget. Her 2017 series is written as a chapter in her life, where she is writing a page a day. I love that! For mine, since I can't keep up with daily, I will just write weekly chapters in the story of this particular year. (Actually I will likely write random thoughts and bullet lists... nothing resembling a chapter, but you get the point.) I DO, however, hope to have daily photos! So far so good as of the end of this week. We will see how far I make it!

2017 - Chapter 1/52

There is always this sense of expectation when a new year begins. I am always excited to see what lies ahead, but this can also lead to me struggling with being patient with the process of life. I get caught up in thinking about how I want certain things to look at the end of the year... but forget that it will take 365 days of effort to get there. This is a continuing theme in my life, and something I hope I am getting better at addressing with each passing year. Clearly I am not done maturing, though... because I started this year once again trying to get ahead of myself.

A few years ago, I started a project 365 (one photo each day for a year) like I often do in January. I have yet to actually complete one of these challenges, but the years when I at least try in earnest I usually at least have a great collection of photos to look back on from the first few months of the year. Anyhow, I started on January 1 with a photo of then-3-year-old Aiden looking out our bedroom window... something he could often be found doing. He had a messy little face and his big beautiful eyes and I just loved that photo. Each year since then I have taken a photo at that window. However, in 2016 we moved! So this year we needed a new window... and I kind of love that. (You can find a collage of all 4 yearly photos here.)

I love that the tradition continues, but the exact location will differ as our life changes. It reminds me that I need to keep my focus on what matters - my relationship with my Heavenly Father and what that brings to my relationships with the people I have in my life (including myself) - instead of getting too caught up in the details. It sounds great in theory. It is one of those things that needs to be committed to again each day, though. Some days that happens, some days not so much. It is those not-so-much days that are where grace plays such an important part in the process.

Learning to extend grace to myself, or rather acknowledge and appreciate the grace I have been given through Christ Jesus, without giving up because I failed to be perfect... that is the lesson I continue to work through learning. Like a child who needs consistent training and discipline, I find myself constantly being brought back to this. The more I grow in my relationship with God, the more I think of myself in terms of being a child. I may have more earthly responsibility and the age to make me an adult, but in so many ways I am still just a stubborn kid refusing to do what is best. I am sure this season of parenting has contributed to this as well... having a child to parent teaches me amazing things about my relationship with my Heavenly Parent!

So anyhow, this first week has been a wild ride. There have been some great days, and one or two where disappointment and despair threatened to crush me completely. It honestly feels like the past 7 days have been more like a month. The concept of time can get so skewed when you are a stay-at-home mom who has been on vacation for too long. Between Matt having 11 days off over Christmas and then me and Aiden having an additional week off from babysitting I barely know what day it is! Add to that the fact that Matt worked part of the day Saturday and it is even more confusing. Here are a few little things from this week that are worth noting:

The most significant thing this week was painting our kitchen! This was quite the process with first removing stubborn wallpaper and then having color conundrums to deal with. Once I get it decorated I will share more!
On New Year's Day my oldest sister visited. It was her birthday, but she brought ME a gift! I finally have a kitchen aid mixer! I mentioned on instagram that I finally feel like an adult in the kitchen now, ha!
I worked on my goal of having Aiden cook more by letting him help me make dinner one night and then his own breakfast of toast and eggs (with no help from me!) one morning.
We got enough snow to be worth noting. Aiden was thrilled, and made a snow angel.
I did my first freezer meal prep day of the new year, and am working to put a lot more veggies into what I make.
Aiden spent some time with Grandma this week while I ran errands. It had been a while since we have done that. I liked it!

I will be trying to share my project 365 photos in an album over on facebook as the year goes. Just a note about facebook - I get the occasional friend request there, but I only use facebook for my blog page. I don't accept any friend requests... not even from my husband! Ha! I have no desire to return to personal facebook, so don't feel bad if you have sent a request and it has been ignored.

Here are photos 1-7:

Reclaiming My Space & Redefining My Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 02:57:00 +0000

I have been thinking a lot about the future of my blog as this new year begins. There are days when I wonder if I will ever love it like I used to. That question is usually followed by a mental list of other things to which I could devote the time and energy I spend blogging. However, the pull is still strong for me to return here. I have been a stay-at-home mom for 6 years now. 6 years! As much as I have learned to appreciate this season of life, there is still a part of me that longs for something of my own.

When I started this blog (or whatever blog I had when I began... my blogging history is such a mess!) it was to work through the huge change of becoming a first-time, stay-at-home mom. I needed women in my life who understood that, and who were either going through a similar season or were willing to share their knowledge and experiences from when they had been there in the past. I found amazing friends and mentors.

When I didn't go on to have more children like many of my friends did, and then also didn't transition to sending Aiden off to school, things changed. They changed in my local relationships, and they changed in my online relationships as well. While I look forward to the day when I can mentor young moms (or moms of littles), I feel like I am still "in the trenches" because homeschooling is such a battle sometimes. It is hard for me to remember those baby and toddler days because I am so wrapped up in the reality of trying to educate my intense child. I love the friendships that have endured these changes, and treasure these special women in my life... but I also feel a little lost sometimes.

I spent a lot of years being a childless married woman, who was an "aunt" to countless littles but still felt like I was always out of place. There was that brief time after Aiden was born that I felt like I was less of an outsider, although postpartum depression and the struggle to embrace living on one income always kept me feeling a little different. Now, here I am homeschooling an only child... once again living outside the norm and struggling to find where I fit. I am the only one of my local tribe to homeschool, so things have changed a lot here. I am one of few mamas in my online homeschool mom communities that has an only child. Add in the fact that my only child is also likely gifted and highly sensitive and I just don't know where to turn sometimes.

I have struggled with finding my place in the blogging world as I work through this most recent change in my life. I feel like I need to define my space... declare which niche I fit into here. Yet if I daily feel like I don't really belong anywhere, why am I trying to force myself to fit into a neat and tidy category when it comes to blogging? Those early days I love to reminisce about were all about just telling my story and recording my journey. In doing those things, I built relationships. It was never all about me... I was always hoping for connection... but it was more about just taking some time to reconnect with myself each day (or when I could find time) - to just be a real person who is more than the housekeeper/parent/teacher/cook/etc. that I can slip into thinking of myself as.

I try to live with an appreciation of where I am right now, as well as an awareness of how brief these years really are. I mean... 6 years as a SAHM have flown by. When I sit down to blog I can hardly believe I don't have an infant snoozing nearby like I did in those early days. I know that there will likely come a time when I find myself without some of these roles to fill, and I don't want to wake up when that time comes and not know who I am anymore. So yes, there are other things I could do with this time. No, I will probably never fully recapture what this space was in those magical and maddening days of being a brand new mom. Yet there is still a longing within for me to stick with this. Maybe this year I will succeed at making this space feel more like my own sanctuary again. If not, at least I will have spent some time remembering that there is more to me than the list of tasks I have each day to complete.

I guess that the more I find myself feeling like I don't fit, the more I hope I can share my story so that other women who are feeling the same way might know they have an ally. It is my hope and prayer that 2017 will be a year of renewal... both here on the blog and in my life overall. 2016 was hard. At some point I know I will need to sit down and really process what I can of the past year. I am just ready to be done with it in many ways, though. I know the flipping of a calendar page and the number of the year doesn't magically change anything. That doesn't mean it isn't worth taking the time to stop and evaluate. Learning from what is behind... refocusing on what is ahead... living in the moments we are given... this is what a new year means to me, and I am ready to embrace it.

2016... what a year! Let's review...

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 22:39:00 +0000

OUR FAMILY

Celebrated the marriage of my sister, Ryann!
Started caring for a sweet baby girl 3 days each week.
Spent lots of time with our newborn great-nephew and loved watching him grow!
Moved across town in with my mom at the end of the summer.
Traveled to Missouri a couple of times, and enjoyed every minute there!
Met our best friend Erin's sweet new baby girl and soaked up lots of snuggles.
Finished out our 4 years as Godparent Leaders at church, and watched our kids all graduate from High School, along with our nephew Brodie.
Had the best Thanksgiving ever!

AIDEN

Turned SIX!
Earned 500 points and a medal in the library summer reading challenge. He is quite the bookworm, and can almost always be found with a Geronimo Stilton book nearby.
Broke his first board at Tae Kwon Do and has earned additional belts to become a Camo Belt now.
Took up the game of chess, joined chess club at the library and continues to impress us with his skills. Soon we will be unable to beat him (he already has beat both his parents on occasion).
Continued his homeschooling, studying a wide variety of things from piano to nature studies to astronomy. He loves science and writing his own stories. He has a family-only blog where he loves to create posts.
Enjoyed learning more about college football with Grandma... he is quite a Huskers fan!
Got his first "grown-up" Bible, and loves to study the Word and journal about it!
Improved at riding his bike with training wheels, and enjoyed moving to a house with a sidewalk out front so he can ride his scooter.
Enjoyed lots of fun times with family, cousins and friends!

BRANSON

Cut off (and donated) 16 inches of hair!
Continues to stay home with Aiden, serving as his primary homeschool teacher.
Helped plan an awesome VBS and worked on the Godparent program at church before beginning a sabbatical from church work.
Enjoys finding time to study the Word and has been learning a lot about prayer.
Recently rediscovered the fun of fitbit challenges when the siblings all got one!
Has appreciated the opportunities to serve her friends and family this year during the tough times, as well as celebrating the good ones with them!

MATT

Continues to work at Tenneco, although he has changed departments here and there. He is a jack of all trades there and has made great friends.
Serves as communion assistant at church, and even manages to find robes long enough for him.
Enjoys connecting with his brothers via playstation, and spending time with his brother Sam who still lives here in town.

And of course there are lots of great photos...

Faith, Fitbit and the Failures of Instagram Algorithms

noreply@blogger.com (Branson) — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 14:38:00 +0000

I have been spending less time online lately... partly because I have been feeling the need to take extra time being present (which means taking way fewer photos) and partly because I have been so frustrated with Instagram lately that it just makes sharing less fun. I am a stay-at-home, homeschool mom... which means that often Instagram is my place to go for doses of adult interaction during the day!

In recent months, I have been trying to follow fewer and fewer people, because with the non-sequential feeds I feel like I miss a lot from my friends who aren't using the app to try to build a following or get massive likes and comments. Yet these are often the people I want to connect with during the day! There are definitely times when I want to be inspired and keep up with my blogging friends and those who curate their feeds and promote them. But I feel like those are often the only accounts I see!

I also want to be able to take my personal account private again. I have struggled with the question of public or private many times over the years. I blog, so clearly I have decided that for me it is worth sharing publicly about certain things. Yet there is still something more organic about instagram that makes me want to keep it more private. Or at least there used to be.

I mentioned that I have been feeling the need to be more present lately. I feel like it is often hard to find a balance (not that I have any love for the concept of balance, but that is another post entirely) between capturing the everyday and focusing on unplugging more. I go back and forth so often, but I listened to an episode of At Home the other day that reminded me why I like to document the little things. One of the gals (I am bad at keeping track of who says what on that podcast) talked about going through a dark season and how much it helped her to be able to look at her feed and see that there were still moments of joy amid the sorrow. I have often felt this way.

I regularly scroll through those photos when I struggle... because I do stay home and care for my little family and our home, it is easy to feel like I am not "doing enough" or "making a difference" in my chosen vocation. However when I see the beauty of our everyday, it keeps me going. I see growth and progress more readily when it comes in the form of a series of square little images, all neatly arranged and ready to provide a glimpse into the way this season is being used by God.

So, I treasure my personal feed and the snapshot of my journey it provides. And yet, I also love the way that instagram provides encouragement and accountability for my faith and fitness journey. This is why I tend to keep my account public. I love the connections that can be created through hashtags and groups. I appreciate the opportunity to share my studies, the books I love, fitbit accomplishments... I want to continue to share these things.

So, I am once again (I have tried this before for both my Bible study groups and my fitness efforts) going to try to keep 2 accounts on Insta... one for documenting life (@bransonmerrill) and one for sharing my faith and fitbit studies and steps (@faithandfitbit). Maybe this will help me to once again find that encouragement and fellowship that I used to treasure on this platform. I sure hope so! I know that just complaining about algorithms isn't going to do me any good. Time to try to make the system work for me!