Taking full advantage of the holiday weekend by staying home and attempting to keep on top of things. With the amount of items crossed off of my list, I’d say it was a success. Maybe it also had something to do with me accomplishing all of my goals from last week. I think I could handle long weekends while at home a little more often. On this week’s menu I have several new recipes to try.

Breakfasts:

• Pancakes
• Pumpkin and Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (new recipe)
• Muffins from freezer

Lunches:

• Overnight Oatmeal Pancakes (new recipe)
• Crockpot Mexican Lasagna (new recipe)
• Salads
• Leftovers

Dinners:

• Mexican Quinoa Salad (new recipe linked to on the Ultimate List of Quinoa Recipes)
• Coconut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Watermelon, and Nachos
• Burgers, Corn, Watermelon
• Ladies’ Bible Study
• Salad x 2

Snacks:

• Fruit
• Oatmeal Cookies
• Super Banana Oat Bars (new recipe)

Goals:

• Read 30 minutes a day
• Run 3 times
• Weekly and Daily Blog Plan
• Concert Series envelopes printed, stamped and ready to stuff

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

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August is over. This month I’m going to share some some quotes from Declare and The Blog Planning Bootcamp with Emily’s link-up. (Once you get past the first few items I think a lot of what was taught applies to everyday life not just blogging.)

Things I Learned in August

1. Abbie at Five Days Five Ways regarding DIY posts said to be extremely useful or insanely entertaining. (Hmmm, I think I have some work to do.)
2. Amanda told on our Twitter profiles to link to our about pages (oops, I still need to do that to mine) and turn off notifications.
3. She also suggested “Do to others as you would have them do to you” when it comes to your social media strategy.
4. Don’t do what you feel like doing. Instead do the things that tomorrow you’ll wish you have done today.
5. Sacrifice what you are for what you want (and hope) to be. (Thanks Kat Lee for these first two.)
6. Just say “Yes God”. He promises to take care of us.
7. Embrace who you are in God. Don’t try to be someone that God has not called you to be. (6 and 7 are thanks to Jill Monaco.)
8. Pursue Passion (Not results).
9. You can outlast those who are lucky and outwork those who are lazy.
10. Don’t quit. (Finishing the list off with some good thoughts from Jeff Goins.)

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Waiting. Life is full of waiting and longing for the next thing to happen.

Waiting to pay off the house.

Waiting after that to save up money to travel.

Waiting to save more money to travel again. (Sensing a theme here?)

Waiting for a baby to be born (12 days late).

Waiting for the newborn to sleep through the night.

Waiting to learn more, do more, and be more before getting started.

I wait in fear of the future.

I wait in frustration of the hold-ups and what I view as inconveniences.

I wait in excitement for the big moment ahead.

Jeff Goins was the keynote speaker at Declare Saturday night. His book, The In Between, is about slowing down and welcoming the wait, enjoying each moment of life and not letting those seemingly small moments of waiting go to waste. (I suppose that means I should look up and notice the beauty around me when I am stopped at the red light I really didn’t want to hit.)  He challenged us to remember times in our lives when we had to wait and how it caused us to grow.

As I waited 12 days past my due date for our first child to be born I had to trust that God knew the perfect timing. I could enjoy the waiting and the last days with just my husband and me or fret and worry and spend all my waking hours wondering when the baby was going to come.

I’m waiting to pay off the house so we can travel. (Just in case the first paragraph wasn’t obvious enough.) This was a good reminder to not rush and forget that the memories we are making at home and on mini-trips around our state are worth creating. I’m being foolish if I miss out on the opportunities and excitement of a stay-cation because I’m waiting to step foot in England. My daughter doesn’t need to step on foreign soil to be happy; she just wants to spend time with her parents.

I spent months, and years even, thinking about blogging. Waiting to get over my insecurities and uncertainties. Waiting for I don’t really know what. Seven weeks ago I decided to go for it. I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m still figuring things out, learning to own my message, and embrace who I am in God.

But.

I’m not sitting around staring out into the internet anymore waiting for the big moment to happen before I start. Even when I’m unsure, I’m going to open up my computer and enjoy my journey on this blog and all the waits it involves. I will savor the learning, growing and discovering.  

It’s important to remember life is in the waiting. I need to make it a priority to enjoy each moment.

Ecclesiastes 3 talks about there being a time for every matter under the heavens. Maybe that means there is even a time to enjoy the wait and seemingly small moments God has put in my way. Verse 11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

May I always see the beauty in waiting and not rush the moments but instead enjoy the present.

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There is no way it can be the last week of August! The good thing about time going by so quickly is that we’ll get to cooler weather sooner. I’m ready to be done with the 90s and 100s.

Breakfasts:

• Muffins
• Popsicles

Lunches:

• Leftovers
• Wraps
• Salad

Dinners:

• Church staff party. (Mexican theme) I’m making Homemade Twix Bars and Crockpot Chalupas
• Leftovers x 2
• Salad x 2
• Wraps
• Pop-Up Pizza Casserole

Goals:

• Blog Planning Bootcamp (Excited for this! Join in if you have a blog.)
• Jog 3 times
• Read in the 3 books I have going
• Find 20 pieces of clutter to get rid of

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday.

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