Eleven years ago, I woke up after hardly sleeping a wink. It was Friday the 13th. I drove to a hair appointment with my sisters and best friend, Meredith. We watched as the rain poured outside. I fretted over whether we would be able to get married outdoors as planned, or in the barn. It really didn’t matter. I was about to married the best person I know.
It rained, and we set things up in the barn. It was beautiful. There were twinkle lights on all of the beams. Lights and flowing white fabric everywhere… calla lilies on every table. It was perfect.
We said “I do” and started our new life as husband and wife. We were wide eyed and so excited at what the future held for us.
We never expected much of what has happened. We’ve gone through losing jobs and wondering how we were going to feed our family. We’ve lost people we love and grieved with each other. We chose to love each other even on the days we probably didn’t like each other much.
The past few years have been rocky for us. We’ve cried a lot together. We’ve asked God WHY?! We’ve wondered how we ended up here. But, the love we have for each other is solid. We built our lives on the foundation of Christ, and that has made all the difference. I know we would have never made it through it all without Jesus at the center.
We have lived in 7 different homes in 4 different states. We have had three beautiful daughters together. We have served in full-time ministry, and wondered when God was going to open that door again. We have celebrated each year of our lives together. We have seen so many beautiful things together and experienced so much joy!
I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us. I still feel like that wide-eyed dreamy girl from 11 years go. We’re just getting started.
“…I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go…” Song of Solomon 3:4
If you don’t already know– I am a HUGE proponent of pre- and probiotics. Our bodies are made up of bacteria, which is called our microbiome. There is good bacteria that helps keep us well, and bad bacteria that causes us to get sick. I have heard SO many people say that they are hesitant to believe that prebiotics really help. I encourage you to try it for one month. See the difference.
With the rise of prescriptions for antibiotics, our society’s gut health has gone downhill. Antibiotics kill ALL bacteria– good and bad. So, it is really important to replace the good bacteria in our bodies. Prebiotics feed the probiotics in your body. There is obviously a much better, technical description. But, I want to make it easy to understand. I also should say that I am NOT a doctor. None of this information is given to diagnose, cure, or treat. I am just sharing my experience with you.
It is so important to fill our bodies with the good stuff. Prebiotics and probiotics help us fight off infection, keep our digestive system regular, and can even help with your skin health!
When I was given the opportunity to try Gut Connection from Country Life, I jumped. Let’s just say that I could use a little help in this area. Having babies really messed up the way my body functions in a lot of ways. My hormones are so out of whack thanks to early perimenopause, and I began wondering if I was ever going to feel “normal” again.
I started off taking the full dose— four capsules a day. That can be risky and cause other digestive issues for you, so maybe start off with just one or two per day and add more if you need to. I didn’t have any problems with the full dose. I have been taking them for several weeks now, and I have noticed a HUGE difference. In fact, the days that I have forgotten to take my digestive balance prebiotics, I feel it.
I have never been a “regular” person (I am trying to avoid being crude here) but with these I finally am. I don’t feel uncomfortable or bloated. Things have honestly been night and day for me in the best possible way. I know that many other women struggle with this very same thing– especially after giving birth. You guys, I have to really love you and want the best for you to even vaguely discuss this. Country Life has a special gut journal so that you can track your progress while taking these prebiotics! It’s amazing to see the difference.
Here, you can see the ingredients. What I love about Country Life’s Gut Connection prebiotics, is that I don’t have to refrigerate them. Fridge space is a precious commodity in this house. Any time that I can save on space is a precious gift to me.
One of my favorite parts of Country Life’s Gut Connection line is that they have a scientifically formulated range of supplements that connects the gut to individual health issues that matter. Some of the specially formulated prebiotics are immune balance, sleep balance, weight balance, and so many more. Gut Connection by Country Life contains an innovative, whole food fermentate prebiotic that feeds the existing probiotics in your gut and helps maintain its lining. Gut Connection is different because it is probiotic-free, so you can take it alone or with your favorite probiotic! Isn’t that awesome?!
You truly get what you pay for. A bottle of Gut Connection by Country Life has a typical retail value of $44.95. I know that you can go to the grocery store and pick up a cheap bottle of prebiotics. But, they do NOT help you at all. Do you want to know how I know this? Experience. If you TRULY want to invest in your health, invest in quality supplements. It makes all the difference.
I would never recommend something if I didn’t truly love and believe in it. Country Life’s Gut Connection is a brand that I can 100% stand behind and recommend. Country Life also has a ton of great information on their website if you want more information.
Gut Connection by Country Life is available to purchase at Sprouts, The Vitamin Shoppe, Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, and Amazon, and will be coming soon to other natural health food stores. To find Gut Connection by Country Life in your area, visit countrylifevitamins.com/where-to-buy for the full list of locations. Give your store a call to verify that they carry Gut Connection by Country Life. They even have a money-back guarantee if the Gut Connection doesn’t work for you!
I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links
We peeked in at the farmhouse the weekend before last. The only change was that primer was on the walls in three of the main rooms. I say “only” lightly, because that is a LOT of work. It just never looks like it.
We went again yesterday, and it looks like we can start painting!
He has put new bottoms in the cabinets under the sink. That is a huge blessing. I don’t think I’ve ever had cabinets that weren’t warped under the sinks. That’s just normal.
The walls are up in the upstairs bathroom, which means it is ready to be put back together! It’s beautiful! We are going to need more paint, and I’m trying to be frugal and pick paint that we will love in all of the bathrooms.
The spot on the far right is where he has been working on the plumbing. We will have to paint in this room also, which I was hoping to get away with leaving white. I would really love to do a darker color on the walls to make sleeping better. This is the big girls’ room. Their bedding is mostly white with soft pink and gold. I may go with a dusty pink. I want them to choose, but I also do not want neon walls. You know? (Also, the doors have to be painted… why do people paint inside doors?)
It still feels blissful to walk through this beautiful home. It feel surreal that we will soon call it home for however long God keeps us here.
It already looks SO much better than it did just a few weeks ago. I have been praying that we can get moved in and settled before our school start date of August 12th. I’m cautiously optimistic that it may happen. Now that we have had our garage sale and donated a ton, it’s time to start packing!
Our little town does so many free activities through the summer. There is a tiny park near our house that we frequently walk to. We are super lucky that they do a lot of events at this particular park. The girls and I walk there a lot, and will be hitting up all of the activities all summer until we move!
They do a theme each week. This week, it was “under the sea” and they made little aquariums out of food. I was so proud of Harper for not trying to eat the gummy fish. (She can’t have gummies thanks to a spacer in her mouth.)
Our library also does a TON of fun, free activities also. When we move, we’ll live closer to the library and be able to walk to and from those easier. Perhaps.. country roads and walking make me nervous.
Tons of reading is still happening in our house, too! Our real goals for the summer: spend as much time outside as we can, read, and HAVE FUN!
I’ve been doing the devotional plans in the back of my (In)Courage Bible. Currently, I am working through the plan titled “Imperfect Hospitality”. Actually, I have a few days left. It has been really beautiful to see the examples of hospitality shown throughout the Bible.
“Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Acts 28:30-31 CSB
I keep thinking about how I can’t wait to move into our farmhouse and open the doors to our friends and family. There will be so much space–both inside and outside. But, really, I can open the doors no matter where I am.
I don’t have to have large rooms to open the doors and make people feel at home. I just have to open the door.
I don’t have to have an immaculately designed home with perfect decor in order to welcome people in. I just have to welcome them unapologetically.
Christina Wells said “Why do we say our identity is in Christ and we are here to love others, yet we live like our identity is in appearances and we are here to impress others?”
Ouch.
In our day of social media and perfectly curated pictures, we certainly are sending a different message. It’s not wrong to want our home to look a certain way, but if we wait for perfection to invite others in, we are really missing a lot of opportunity. How many times do we say “ignore the….” when someone comes into our home? Just open the door!
I love having family and friends over. I am a homebody at heart, but I do long for community. We used to invite our teens over for spaghetti when we lived near Detroit. Our next home was probably less than 1000 square feet, but I still hosted our families at Easter and Thanksgiving whenever possible. We were cramped, but we were together. I’ve had birthday parties and holiday celebrations in our home for years, and I always feel so filled up after. I hope that those that have walked through the door leave feeling better than they came.
Scott and I both struggle every day with no longer being in full-time ministry. While it is TEMPORARY, it is still difficult. God does open doors for us to minister to others. He gets those opportunities at work, and so do I. We get opportunities when friends reach out to us and we can pray with them. Little pieces of hospitality, even outside of the home, are an incredible way of ministering to others.
We don’t have to cook an extravagant meal to invite people in. We just have to offer an ear, an encouraging word, a prayer.. even a cold glass of water.
Last week, I found the perfect bookshelves on Facebook marketplace. We have two of these pretty blue shelves. It was perfect timing. The girls ran around the house to find where all of our books were stuffed. It was so fun to hear their delight as they found old favorites. We are big fans of reading.
Harper can’t read quite yet, but she LOVES to have books read to her. Addi volunteered to read out loud to her, and it was the sweetest thing. She is such an expressive reader.
This morning, before my feet hit the floor, Chloe came running in asking if she could set a timer to start reading. Um, yes please. A quiet start to the morning? Sign me up every day.
It has been SO funny to see parents talking about the increase in their grocery bill since their kids have been home for the summer. No change here. ha! Summer is wonderful and we are HERE. FOR. IT. Homeschooling is stinking hard and so much work, but also worth it.
I really want to focus on reading this summer. Since one of the girls was diagnosed with dyslexia, she has made HUGE strides this year. I don’t want to lose that momentum. They both have grown tremendously and love reading.
If you have a local library, I really encourage you to check and see if they have any kind of summer reading program. It’s extra incentive to get your kids reading this summer!
If you missed it, I did a walk-through tour of the Farmhouse over the weekend on Instagram. If you want to see it, you can click here. There is a light blue circle that says “Farm House” under it. Click on the blue circle and you can see all of the videos/pictures.
As you can tell from the videos, we are at a stand still on our end. There are a lot of big projects that have to be finished before we can continue painting. We will have to pick out some colors for the bathrooms and kids rooms.
I do have some pictures from this week to share. We ate dinner at the house last Friday and played some games outside. Everything is blooming ritght now, and it’s so beautiful.
I don’t know if the sunset will ever get old out there.
Hopefully, we will be having a garage sale this weekend. If not, next. We have SO MUCH STUFF and I can’t wait to get rid of it. ha! We are officially done with our 2018-2019 school year, so I get to pack up homeschool stuff. Lord willing, I’ll be unpacking it in the farm house!
Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you stay dry wherever you are!
Today is our last day of school!! You guys, I survived!! We survived!! We are going to enjoy every second of summer break.
Summer Reading Program– Our library does an awesome program every summer to encourage kids to keep reading. They have to read (or be read to for the littles) for thirty minutes every day. Each week that is completed earns them a really cool prize. I’m thinking of printing off a huge version of Janssen’s chart to go along with this.
Camping trip— we hop to get one camping trip in this summer. We’d be delighted to fit in more, but with Scott’s work schedule I’ll be happy with just one.
Visit 5 State Parks– We’ve been having fun hiking and enjoying exploring new areas of our state. The parks are beautiful and show a side of Illinois that isn’t just corn/soybean fields.
Visit Mammoth Cave National Park– Mammoth Cave isn’t a terrible drive, and is so beautiful. Neither of us have been, that we remember, and can’t wait to explore.
Start running Again– I used to be a runner. I had a strong love-hate relationship with it. I quit when I got pregnant with Harper (SO sick) and have been too scared to do it again since my epilepsy diagnosis. I don’t want to be controlled by fear, and I long to feel happy again. My sister gave me a jogging stroller and the big girls can go at my snail’s pace with me.
Make S’mores– It’s been a long time since we roasted marshmallows. Mmmm
Swim at the Lake– I’m honestly grossed out by lakes since being spoiled by clear water on the Great Lakes. We found one with pretty clear water not far from here, and it makes me happy to see my feet. ha!
I’m sure our list will grow more and more, but these are the things we have been most excited about!! What do you have planned for summer?
We can even. We can wake up and chose to take charge of the day.
I get it. Life is hard. Life is SO HARD. You guys, if I listed all of the ways that life has slammed me down over the past five years.. I don’t even want to go down that rabbit hole. Honestly. Life has made me depressed. The constant trials, hurt, pain, struggles, and suffering have made me wish it would be over. There are days it takes every ounce of strength just to put my feet on the floor in the morning. I GET IT. It’s hard. It’s ok when you are in a dark place to take a day of rest.
Self-care is all the rage. That is great, but sometimes it seems to go the one extreme or the other. Either you have to be busy to the point of destruction, or you have to be so lazy that you are also at the point of destruction. How about we change that. It is ok to take care of yourself. It’s ok to say “no” to the things that you don’t have the time or energy for.
Saying “no” to everything in life because “I can’t even” isn’t acceptable. Our families deserve better. Our friends deserve better. Quite frankly we deserve better. We deserve to wake up in a home that fills us with joy because we CAN even take the time to tidy up our home. We CAN even go through all of the stuff that clutters our lives and minds. We CAN even take the time to go for a walk or run to clear our minds and take care of our health. We CAN even make a healthy meal for ourselves. We CAN even take the time to spend with our children and husbands– because they deserve more than an empty shell.
I don’t want to be remembered as the one who “can’t even” with anything. I want to be remembered was one who COULD.
Obviously, the farm house. I drove by it last night as the sun was setting. I’m thinking of walking through it this weekend and sharing a tour on my insta-stories. I’ll add it to my farm house highlight. I believe you can watch it even if you don’t have Instagram.
Loopy cases! We HAD to get new phones, and I was not going to go without my loopy. I believe you can still use the code “cottage10” to get 10% off. (I got jasper and it’s SO beautiful.)
I love these bermuda shorts, and they are on sale for $15 right now. They are high rise and the fabric is stretchy, soft, and comfortable. I’m really in need of some summer work tops. I always wear graphic tees in the summer, but thats not work appropriate. I really like this one. PS I want this pink blazer. I’m gonna have to watch at resale shops.
These sandals. I know they are pricey.. I saved up gift cards and bought them because I knew I’d wear them all the time. They are SO comfortable. I have the black pair and get compliments all the time. They come in four different colors and will last for a long time.
Ibotta. This app saves me so much money. I get cash back on things that I purchase. Sometimes, you can get an item for free with the cash back. I’ve earned $2237.71 cash back in less than two years. My referral code is gwjivce if you sign up. You and I both get $5 when you redeem your first receipt! These apps were the only reason I ever wanted to get a smart phone. I’m all about saving money.
I hope that you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Let us never forget the sacrifice that was paid for the freedoms we enjoy every day. If you are a veteran- thank you for your service.
