A Slow December

By Natalie

Our family has chosen to celebrate this festive season by slowing down. A few weeks ago I sat down to discuss our Holiday plans with Brandon. “What Christmas activities do you want to do this year?” I asked. I went rambling on about how I didn’t think we needed to drive through the Charlotte Motor Speedway Lights again, but maybe we wanted to try the light show in Ballantyne this year. And should I plan to take Felicity to Gingerbread lane again the gingerbread house competition nearby and a number of other events in our area. There’s so many things to do this time of year in Charlotte. There’s almost too much. In one sense it’s nice because not one event is crazy crowded. But at the same time it feels like you’re missing out on something.

(more…)


Advent Calendar 2023

By Natalie

Happy December 1st! How sweet are these pink bags? I ordered them for my vendor markets this season. When they arrived I thought they would be such an adorable upgrade to Felicity’s advent calendar. I set 25 of them aside and stamped the rest with my Lux logo. Luckily I printed the number cards on cardstock paper 2 years ago so they’ve been holding up over the years and I was able to easily transfer them to the pink bags. The calendar has gotten alot easier over time now that I have such a good base to work with.

(more…)

Cozy Favorites

By Natalie

It’s favorites time!!

Putting together these favorites lists may be one of my favorites! I’m usually cataloging things throughout the year for new favorites posts in hopes that you love my finds as much as I do! Here we are again and it’s time to get cozy!

(more…)

5 Ways We Stay Connected to Our Foreign Exchange Student

By Natalie

Postcards – This is by far my favorite way we keep in contact with Zoe. There’s nothing quite like snail mail. The other day we received a postcard from Berlin! How fun is that? Zoe was on fall break and wrote to us during her travels. I felt so connected to her when I saw her handwriting. I love seeing all the fun places she’s going around Europe and sharing our travels with her as well. It’s sweet to think of her on our travels as we pick out the best postcard we think she’d like.

(more…)

On Mom Goals

By Natalie

Last year I had a few friends say “mom goals” to me referring to the craft themed advent calendar I created for Lici. I love hearing that I’ve inspired friends to be creative with their littles. However I’m also conflicted because I don’t want anyone to see what I’ve created and think that they’re not doing enough for their kiddos or they are not meeting some arbitrary mom goal. Creating these crafty kits for Lici is my love language to her as a creative. I find joy sharing my love for crafting, needlework and reading with her. It shouldn’t be every mama’s goal because not every mama is into those things. Other mamas have different interests and talents. They should mother the way that God created them to mother.

(more…)

An Almost Capsule Wardrobe

By Natalie

For the past few years I’ve done a version of the capsule wardrobe.

A capsule wardrobe consists of anywhere between 25-35 pieces. Typically excluding workout gear.

That doesn’t quite work for me. For one the weather fluctuates in Charlotte and I’m not ever sure if it’s going to be sweater weather in October or 80 degrees. I needed a little more flexibility in my wardrobe when it came to the number of pieces simply because I needed more layers and footwear available. I very well still be able to wear a nice pair of sandals in November after all, no need to exclude them. However I do like the general principles of the capsule wardrobe which are these.

(more…)

Closet Cleanse

By Natalie

One of my September goals was to go through all of our closets and cabinets. My plan was to declutter, donate any unwanted or unused items and sell anything we’ve outgrown.

Every year around Felicity’s birthday we go through her playroom and declutter. I had to start having her be a part of this ever since I gave away a seemingly unplayed with unicorn and she has asked for it ever since.

(more…)

Margins

By Natalie

Years ago Brandon and I heard a sermon on margin. Margin in a nutshell is leaving space and time in your life and schedule, to prevent overwhelm. Margin for us over the years has grown into more than leaving time in our schedule, it’s having margin in our finances for those in need and in our case space in our home as well. This margin we had created was exactly why we could say yes to inviting Zoe into our home. Margin is key so you have time to breathe, you’re on time and so you have enough energy left for your family. It has allowed us to say yes to people in need and it’s something we’ve always tried to incorporate in our lives. Since Felicity started kindergarten I’ve juggled, balanced, scheduled, whatever you want to call the way that I try to manage our lives all while keeping margin. Not having a 9-5 job means that I have the flexibility to do what I want with my schedule, yet I’ve been finding myself trying to fit a whole load of things into my schedule. I’ve realized that I need to sit and revisit my margin for this season of life.

(more…)

Waiting

By Natalie

I went through my drafts recently and found some decent pieces that I never posted! I found this sweet post that I didn’t publish because I went into labor soon after. Loved rereading this with a smile on my face thinking about how quickly the time flew. This morning I watched that little girl put her big backpack on and walk into school.

Throwback to Five years ago… (more…)

Tschüssi

By Natalie

Zoe. Our dear sweet Zoe. Confident, intelligent, thoughtful, driven, funny, honest, Zoe-oh. I miss you sitting on the floor. I miss you bringing me my refilled water bottle. I miss your laugh, our late night card games, the coffee you made me every morning. You standing in the early  morning glow of the kitchen, your German cooking, your truth, your hugs, everything about you I miss with an intense ache.

(more…)

1 2 3 4 … 25