March 2016 Update

In some ways this month has flown by and in others it seems like it has dragged. We just had so many things going on this month.

First of all… SPRING IS HERE and DST IS BACK!!!! It’s so exciting to have the sun with us for a little longer each evening and we’ve had such warm weather. I love it!

I attended the Teach Them Diligently conference for the 3rd year in a row. I’m telling you, it would help anyone be a better parent and understand their children. This is the closest thing I’ve found to an instruction manual. It unlocks so many keys to learning and is an abundant source of encouragement. Plus, Skylar LOVES the children’s program so it’s a win-win!

I had 2 doula babies born this month and VA work is going really well. Life gets a little crazy at times with my schedule but I’m so thankful for how the Lord continues to provide for us.

This past week has been nothing short of amazing. Baron left for a 2-week board & train program, Skylar is spending Spring Break in Birmingham with my parents, and Mike was traveling for work. God knew I was feeling overwhelmed and needed a complete break. I’ve been working on getting this house back into some kind of order, #BecauseBaron and also because life has just generally been chaotic lately. Having things nice and tidy makes me happy! I go into survival mode when it’s not and I feel like I’ve been in survival mode for a while now. Say, since Baron arrived 4 months ago? Lawsy. Mike has high hopes that Baron is going to come back transformed. I’m a little skeptical. This dog has made my life miserable and has put a huge strain on our marriage and home life. Time will tell, but I can assure you that I haven’t missed Baron one single bit.

Many of you have seen me posting with the hashtag #tinyhouseprep on Facebook. Yes, we really do want to build a tiny house. My goal is to be in a tiny house by the end of 2017. I’ve been researching this for over a year and this month, we contacted our builder of choice and started on the floorplan. Once we give the go ahead, the house will only take 6-8 weeks for them to build. The trickiest part of the whole thing is not how to fit in under 500 sq. ft. but finding land to put it on. I’ve been on the hunt for 4 or 5 months now and we’ve yet to find something that meets our criteria. If you know of any land for sale in Davidson county (3+ acres), please let me know. In the meantime, I will continue to try to pair down our stuff. The idea of simple, minimalist living is so appealing to me at this stage of life. I’m just so over stuff. It exhausts me.

We celebrated Easter with the annual Egg Hunt at Two Rivers park and had an amazing service at TDF. One of the reasons I never plan to leave Nashville is because of our church. My hope is that everyone in the world can find somewhere that supports them and encourages them the way I feel at The Donelson Fellowship. It’s so hard to find people that you can be real with and truly transparent with. I don’t take that for granted! The other reason I never plan to leave Nashville is because of my village. I have an arm-long list of people I can call who are willing to help at a moment’s notice. I was so thankful to have the same kind of response to my plea for help this week with Skylar in Bama. Friends and family stepped in to fill the childcare gap during the day when my parents are at work and tLG has had an absolute blast! She has called me every night with a very exciting report from her day and I’m thrilled that she is getting so many fun opportunities.