Category: Random Thoughts

Podcasts have changed my life and perspective. There is a free podcast for everything and anything from business to marriage to parenting to sports to reality tv stars to general knowledge. If you want to learn about something, you can guarantee that there is a podcast out there. A lot of people ask me about my favorite ones, so I thought I would do a post dedicated to my favorite!

1. One Extraordinary Marriage-Tony & Alisa DiLorenzo. They do a weekly podcast. This one is centered around physical intimacy.
2. Rise Together-Dave & Rachel Hollis. This is also a weekly marriage podcast. Focused on creating a strong marriage to survive the test of busy careers, a growing self made business and raising kids that are strong and independent.
3. Rise-Rachel Hollis. Author of Girl Wash Your Face and Girl Stop Apologizing this podcast is chockfull of helpful and necessary business advice and conquering the world advice.
4. Build Your Tribe-Chalene Johnson and son Brock Johnson. Another business podcast that teaches us to reach for all our dreams, but keep it balanced against your key priorities.
5. The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast-John Maxwell. Author of so many business books. He imparts all wisdom in this podcast.
6. Hope in Struggle-Mindy Lawhorne. Focused primarily on faith and using that faith to get through all life struggles including her husband’s fight with cancer. This one isn’t a set schedule, but like them when she publishes one.
7. Stuff You Should Know. I stumbled upon this one and have really enjoyed it. Random factoids about the world around us. Very interesting.
8. The Chalene Show: Chalene Johnson. How she has designed her CRAFFL (Crazy, Ridiculous Amazing Fun Filled Life) and how we can too.

I like to download the episodes to my phone while I’m on wifi so I don’t take up a lot of our limited data. If you subscribe to the shows you like, they will download automatically to your phone. You can listen on a lot of apps, but I like to use the podcast app that is on our iPhones.

People also tell me they don’t have time to listen to podcasts. Do you shower, do you get ready in the morning, do you do any driving, do you workout or go for a walk any? I bought a bluetooth, waterproof speaker off eBay for less than $5 and love it. It stays in our bathroom where I can listen while taking a shower and the few times I do my hair and makeup. You have time and they are free!

For you podcast lovers out there, what are your favorite podcasts? I’m always on the hunt for new ones to listen to!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you!

How to find the balance that a content life will give

Today we’re going to delve into the struggle of keeping it all together. I’m a very firm believer that life will happen to us if we don’t make it happen for us. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it.

Balance is such a hot word. How do you keep it all balanced? How do you be a wife, mom, employee, member of boards and organizations, church member, involved in your kids activities and schools and be perfectly put together and happy doing it all?

The people that tell you they do it all without any help and are happy are absolutely 110% lying to you. Don’t believe that bull shit. As women, we’re wired to take care of everyone else and we’re really good at it. The part that often gets missed is us. Self care is so important. Quit not doing these things. They are so important.

Next, ask for help! There are so many people that want to come cuddle your baby so you can take a shower. Don’t deny them of that privilege because you think they’re judging you!

Who do you gravitate towards and like to follow on social media? Is it the people that appear to have it all together and nothing ever goes wrong in their lives and they’re going on picture perfect vacations with their 2.5 kids and dog and are living the perfect life? Or do you go to the people that are in the trenches too? The people that while they are working their arses off, kicking butt and taking names, but also come to us with real life. The real vacation photo that happened right after the smiling perfect one. The ones that aren’t afraid to let you into their homes and marriages and lives. The ones make you thank the sweet baby Jesus you are not the only one that cannot find your keys in the bottom of your purse. Are they really in there at all?!

If you open your social media and feel worse about yourself, you’re going about it all wrong. When I open my feeds I see my friends and their accomplishments that I can cheer on through hearts and smiling faces, I see sadness because sometimes real life is sad that I can commiserate with a crying face. I see exciting things happening that I can celebrate with a wow face. I can double tap and make a heart appear for somebody. I can follow friends’ and families’ lives that I don’t get to see nearly enough. I also see people motivating me to reach for more. People like Rachel and Dave Hollis, Chalene and Bret Johnson, Mindy and Lee Lawhorne and Jackie and Drew Woodfin. People that are crushing their chosen professional fields. People that make their marriage a priority even when life isn’t set up to make it easy.

You should close your favorite social media apps happy, excited and ready to conquer the world, not upset because you don’t have what everyone has. Go through and cut (or grow!) your friend list until this happens. Then remember that no matter how good it looks, real life I real for everyone.

Quit trying to do it all. Remember to take the time you need to recharge. Follow people that encourage you. As my cross country coach always said, be content, but never satisfied.

Always be reaching for a better version of yourself, but be content and happy with who and where you currently are.

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Have you subscribed to the page so new blogs will arrive in your email automatically? Go to our homepage to do so! Please and thank you!

No. Today alone, I have heard that word approximately zero times. How about you? First, for parents, let’s disregard your children’s questions/answers for this and apply this only to adult to adult interactions. Okay, let’s flip it. How many times have you said no? I’m going to guess, it’s pretty limited. This world is run on volunteers. Everybody and their cousin needs you to volunteer your time, money, resources, etc for something. We’re constantly being asked to do something — for school, church, community organizations, etc. Are you getting anxiety just talking about being asked to do something and not being able to say no?

We’re scared to say no. Saying no means disappointing somebody else. How many times have you told somebody, ‘yes’, but screaming in your head, ‘no’!’? Women are notoriously nurturers. We want to take care of everybody in our lives. When somebody asks something else of us, we immediately reply with ‘yes, of course I can tackle that’. But if we took a good hard look at what we’re already doing, the correct answer would have to be no. We think we’re terrible people if we say no to anything, let alone a really great cause.

Why should we say no? To maintain our sanity! We need to take care of ourselves and our families before we try taking care of anyone else. Most of us would say we are doing that, but take an honest and deep look at yourself. When was the last time you slept for 8 hours for at least a week straight? When was the last time you exercised consistently? When was the last time you ate food that fueled your body rather than the fast food that you had to grab on the way to the next activity? In order to be our best selves, we have to be doing all of those things and doing them consistently. Those are the biggest factor to healthy bodies and minds — sleep, diet and exercise. Yes, there are thousands, probably millions, of people that don’t do these and live for years and years, but are they happy? I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want — happiness. I want the time and energy to help others, but in order to do that we must have our own shit together first.

At this point, I hope I’ve convinced you to say no and take care of you and your family first. I’m not telling you to say no to everything, but take a careful look and consideration into how much is asked of you. Remember, just because you say no now doesn’t mean you can’t say yes later. Only say yes to the things that truly fuel your energy and passion. Things that don’t take you away from the goals that you have for yourself and your life.

How can we say no while keeping the relationship thriving? How can we say no, but still be involved? If possible, donate money instead of your time. Again, this comes down to first taking care of your own finances before helping others. For those biblically based folks, that is straight from the bible. If asked for a time commitment, gently say, ‘I can’t do that long, but I can do (fill in the blank) amount of time instead’. Don’t make excuses, simply be honest. If it’s a yearly event, have them put you on the list to check with next year to see if it’s possible then.

Here’s the thing…I have been involved in clubs and organizations since I could walk. I was/am an officer in all the organizations I have been in. I have volunteered my time, labor and energy since I could walk and Mom brought us (my two older sisters and I) along with her. Since getting married, I have continued being involved in community organizations that I’m passionate about. I have served on state committees and been on numerous local boards. I say that not to show off, but simply to be honest about how hard it is for me to say no. Recently, I’ve been evaluating what I want in life. The farm takes so many hours of my time, I really have to manage my remaining hours. Each time, I’m asked to be on a new board or help out with anything, I take time to evaluate where it falls on my priority list. Sometimes, I simply have to say no and move on. You are not a bad person if you say no. Let me repeat — you are not a bad person if you say no. Friend, you have got to do you. The world needs YOU! You have to take care of yourself first so you can give yourself later. Do give when you get to that point. Help the events/organizations that are special to you. We will all do better if we commit to saying no to some, so the things we do say yes to can be completed with excellence!

If you enjoyed reading this, we would love it if you would hit the share button and introduce us to your friends. You all are the reason we get to do this and we’re so appreciative of that! Please help us continue serving people by sharing us with your family and friends! Leave us a comment and let us know how this has impacted your life. It’s the little things that make me so happy to continue doing this, such as a like, comment or share! Please and thank you!

I’m a very firm believer that our life will happen to us if we don’t make it happen for us. If you don’t have a destination you’re wanting to go, you will go where others take you. Now for those of you, “life’s about the journey, not the destination” people, I also agree with you! But here’s the thing, the world needs YOU and your ideas. We are so busy with our lives and activities that we rarely get around to thinking about long term. Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 15, 20 years? What do you want to be doing? Where do you see yourself? What does your day look like? Who is with you?

I spent approximately two whole hot minutes in a MLM company. While I ultimately (and quickly) decided that it wasn’t for me, I learned 2 very important things from those few months.

The world is larger than I can imagine. There are a lot of people in the world. There is space for everyone’s ideas. There is money to be made on the internet. There are people living their dreams and purpose in life and aren’t “celebrity” status, but are making a huge difference in the lives of their “followers”. You don’t have to be famous to make a difference in the world. You need to find your tribe and spend time in it and nurturing it.
Podcasts! Call me whatever you want (naive, ridiculous, sheltered, etc), but my time in the MLM introduced me to podcasts. Now I can’t imagine a time that I didn’t know what they were. Seriously! So much free information out there about any and all subjects. I’m always looking for good podcast suggestions. What are your favorites ones? Maybe you don’t know what a podcast is or how to listen to one. Whichever end of the spectrum you’re on, please let me know in the comments! They have forever changed our lives and so grateful to the brief time I spent in that MLM so that I could learn these two things.

Do you have goals? Do you have a plan to accomplish those goals? Are you looking at them daily? If not, why? Kind of like our finances that we talked about Monday, if you don’t have a why for your life, life is going to happen to you, not for you. Don’t try to change several things at once. Do it gradually, make each thing you change into a habit before you moving on to changing the next thing. Give yourself grace! You deserve it! If you fall off the wagon, don’t quit!! Acknowledge what happened, how you can change it the next time and move on! The world needs you to be you. The world needs your ideas and trust me, there is room for it. You have to do it, no one else is going to do it for you. Don’t let a few tell you you’re not good enough or you don’t have what it takes. I’m telling you, you do! You can do it!

Starting a blog and sharing intimate details of my life and finding time to be consistent, isn’t easy, but guess what?! I LOVE writing. I want to help the struggling married couple that haven’t been communicating effectively. I want to share my farm life with you. I want to help get your finances to a happy place and not a stressful one!

Listen to me, dear friend, when I say you can do it! Do small steps towards your goals daily. Don’t try to do huge leaps and bounds in one day. Do it like a tortoise, slowly and surely. You will outdo the hare, if you take it one step at a time. If you ever need encouragement, please message me! I’m here for you and will believe in you. I have an amazing support team in my life, but I know how crushing and soil-wrenching it is when people doubt you. I will support you! Please don’t quit on your dreams. You can do it!!!

Today, I’m going to take the opportunity to introduce you to the blog. It is my brain child. I’m so grateful My Forever is so supportive of most anything I choose to do.

My goal is to provide a creative outlet for me. Writing is the limit of my creativity. I appreciate the space to do that. My goal is to provide you with information that is useful. My goal is to get you to laugh at my mistakes and help you avoid them. My goal is to be a quick minute in your day for you to de-stress, to relax for just a minute, whether that is as you start your day, during your lunch break or when you’re locked in the bathroom for just a few seconds away from your kids. I welcome any comments and suggestions. I’m a flawed human being and would love feedback, as long as you do it in a polite manner. Please don’t attack me! As we begin this journey together, I hope you understand that I’m serious about providing you useful material in a very consistent manner. Stick around and I’ll prove to you that I’m serious!

I will be posting a new blog 3 times per week: Marriage Monday, Wild Wednesday and Farm Friday. My marriage is the most important thing in my life. Keeping it healthy takes a lot of work! (Something all the fairy tales we’re told growing up, doesn’t tell you!) The posts on Mondays will be encouragement and tips to keep our marriage (or if you’re not married, your relationships) healthy.

Farm Friday: Another huge passion of mine is agriculture. Only 1.6% of the US population is involved in production agriculture. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of farming. It is my passion to share that all with you.

Then for Wednesday. This is the one I struggled with. I know my marriage and farming are two things I want and can talk about weekly. But what else? Wednesday started out as Wealth Wednesday, but after a brainstorm with My Forever where I just talked the whole time and he looked at me, Wild Wednesday was born. (That’s how all our brainstorming sessions go. He’ll throw out maybe 3-4 words or if I’m lucky a whole sentence and suddenly everything makes sense!) While we’re both very passionate about our money and not living in debt, I’m passionate about so much more than that. We decided Wednesday would be my day to do anything-hence Wild Wednesday (#wildwednesdaytpstyle). Who knows what the topic might be!

As always, we would love to hear from you on any suggestions or topics you would like covered. We’re open to anything and everything. I’m not shy about covering just about any topic. If there is something you’re going through and need some tips to get through it, let me know! If you’re going through it, somebody else is. My love language is words of affirmation so am overly excited and delighted when you comment or send me some love! My Forever really appreciates it too because it takes some pressure off him! No subject is off limits! We’ll fit it into Marriage Monday or Farm Friday and guess what?! If it doesn’t fit in one of those, we’ll throw it in Wild Wednesday.

Thank you for being along for this journey with us!