Moving Forward

New Year Personal Goals for 2016!

Photo credit- K-Love Morning Show

Each year around this time, most people start thinking of goals and aspirations for the new year. 

Some want to accomplish, let go, learn, do or move towards or away from something.

I want to Move Forward.


"If you can't fly, then run.
If you can't run, then walk.
If you can't walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."
~Martin Luther King Jr.

We have lots of goals as a family like raising our little humans in the ways of the Lord, being an example we want our children to follow, developing them scholastically, spiritually, creatively, through personal character, in experiences and activities and so much more. 

Those are and will always be goals for our family.

We have a few exciting changes coming this year like having baby #4 and moving (Lord willing!) into a new house!

With family goals and happenings, it's easy for me to put my personal goals on the back burner. This year I have some big goals for myself. It's always scary to make big goals. I have learned so much about myself in the last year and a half and have grown into someone I never thought I could be.

While learning about leadership and personal development, I have realized there is a whole world open to me. A world I always told myself I wasn't good enough for.

Well…I am not believing those whispers of failure anymore. I will believe, trust and have faith that my God is bigger then any of my fears and HE alone has the power to grow and mold me into the person He wants me to become. I want to be used by God and have the ability to abundantly help others.

In order to be used by God, I know I need to Move Forward. Release the lies and trust God. 

Here are a few of my personal goals for this upcoming year…

Get Moving and Active 

- Exercise, walk more, play more, dance more.

I'm pregnant, having a baby this year and need to keep up with all these little ones...this one is a must! 

Keep Moving Spiritually 

- Read the bible in a year, memorize the word more, be in prayer and write more.

I have never stuck with reading the whole bible in one year. Praying I will be determined to stick with it this year. 

Keep The Creativity Moving!
-Craft more, create more with the kiddos, blog more, use my fancy camera more and improve my photography skills.

Creativity is my passion! This is my place to recharge and express myself. It is 100% crucial for my sanity.

Keep Moving Toward my YL Business Goals 

- Continue to educate myself while educating others and stay connected to my team to help them move forward in their health goals.

I LOVE helping others find natural wellness and health! Praying I keep my momentum and reach my personal goals for my business as we work toward bringing my husband home from his job.

Keep Moving Toward More Ways to Serve and Support Others

-Support ministries we are passionate about, seek out more serving opportunities, and serve more at our church. 

We'd love to have the ability to support more ministries and those in need this year! Get more involved in our church.

Move Into a New House! 

-Sell our current house and find our next home.

Please, please, please….pretty please!!!!!!! Yeess, I am desperate!

Keep Focused on Moving Forward 

- Stay focused and make a vision board for goals.

This is still in the works…I'll keep you up to date on how I manage staying focused! ;)

~~~~~~

"Trust in Him at all times, you people: pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." -Psalm 62:8

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  -Isaiah 40:29-31

"So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:10

~~~~~~

What are some of your goals for the New Year?

Serving Others with Elf On The Shelf

Yes, I know Christmas has passed, but wanted to share a cute idea we did with Elf on the Shelf this year!
 This was our first season with Elf on the Shelf. I watched others play the game with their kids for several years and this year we kind of joined in. 

While shopping with my mom, (the kid's call her "Nana") she bought the kids an Elf. 

To be honest...I am not a very good Elf mover and he didn't move very often.  

We have never played Santa with our children. They know about Santa and we watch the movies and read the books, they just know that it is a game that some people play. Our kids view Santa how they view a Disney Princess or the magic of Peter Pan. It is still fun, but they know he is not real.

We chose to focus on Christ's birth during Christmas. We exchange gifts as a reminder of the gift that God gave us sending Jesus to earth to give us life.

SO…..that said, our Elf Freddie, gets stuck in the same spot and my kids don't blink an eye why. Lol

Eli even asks me why I keep forgetting to move it. Opps!

We were at Chick-fil-a a few weeks ago and got these awesome Shuffle it Forward cards in the kids meals! Each card has a challenge to do something nice or an act of service for someone else.

I loved the idea! Chick-fil-a has impressed once again! 

As the hubby and I were marveling at such a wonderful concept, we had a fun idea! 

We thought these Shuffle cards would be great to do a spin off for a 30 day challenge of service. (I plan to do after the new year!) 

Then we thought why not use Freddie the elf??

He can bring a new Shuffle card each morning for the kids to do that day. 

Instead of having them focus on being good so they get what they want for Christmas, they are focused on a new way to serve others each day.

It would be easy to make your own service cards too. Either print off or hand make some colorful cards with acts of service on them.

As a family we try to find ways daily to serve others and put others before ourselves. Even with us reminding our children daily, we still struggle with self serving attitudes. We do live in a fallen world and these little hearts need much direction!

With the Shuffle it Forward service card idea (however it is incorporated), I feel gives the kids an idea of what serving others looks like. We can tell them all day long, "serve others before yourself", but what does that look like?
Now they can have fun with the Elf tradition while learning ways to serve others!


Do you have Chick-fil-a's Shuffle it Forward cards? How are you using them in your home?   

10 Tips to Host an Oily Make & Take!

Soon after we found Young Living essential oils, I was finding ways to make my own nontoxic alternative products with the oils. After experimenting a little a friend and I thought we'd plan a Christmas Make and Take oil style! We did have a blast and the event was fun and successful. However, we quickly discovered the event was a lot of work and we decided to not do another for awhile.

Fast forward to last summer. My team was asking for another Make and Take and I hesitantly did a summer themed event. This event was larger (28 people showed up!) and had more take homes. 

I was overwhelmed to say the least, but everyone had a blast and the event was a success. 

Pretty last minute, my friend and I started planning another Christmas event. Our mission was to keep it simple, fun, educational, and easy. We made a few changes and we both agreed we managed to perfect the experience.

I wanted to share a few things we have learned and maybe help someone else looking into hosting their own oily event! 

1) Keep it simple! Avoid projects with lots of ingredients or steps. I found if there is one I'd like to share, but it will be pricey or time consuming, I'll make one at the event and then give it away as a door prize.

Framed Christmas Wreath

I love the Christmas season! The colors, smells, festive atmosphere, baking, music and cheer!

When I was a child my mom used to give us craft supplies and have us make homemade gifts for our relatives and friends. 

Those are fond memories of my childhood. I am extremely thankful my mom took the time to show us that a little creativity and a bit of time, can make a meaningful gift.

Now I enjoy passing down those creative Christmas gift giving skills with my children. 

This beauty isn't a Christmas gift, but very well could be!

I have been itching to try a burlap wreath for some time now and wanted to add some holiday fun to it. 

Recently, I was introduced to BloomNation and was inspired to share my ideas on floral decor. If you haven't heard of them, they are a flower delivery service that supports local florists through their online marketplace. It is a pretty neat set up. 

Walking through the Dollar Tree the other day, I saw a bunch of pretty flowers there. Snatching them up, I knew exactly what I was going to do with them!

Ugly Chairs…

Recently, we decided to start going through all the furniture in our garage. We had been keeping nice pieces for "when we move to a bigger house". HA! Since it has been so long and we are still in our cozy first home, we figured we should part with the stuff that is crowding our limited space. 

I thought, "Goodness, I would get more for this furniture if I fix them up and paint them!". Lovely idea that has morphed into a little side business. 

I am fixing up the furniture we already had (and have sold some), but I have scored a few great deals and added to my list to redo! I have decided to try my hand at selling my projects and restored furniture at a flea market booth.

I am a little scared, but mostly excited to see how it goes! After all I love creating and refurbishing!
I started a little Facebook page to sell my pieces. You can find what I have available here at Sweet Things Furniture and Decor!   

These two chairs came from a local Facebook yard sale page. I got both of these for $12! 

A GREAT deal!!   

These chairs were disgusting! I took them apart and threw away the cushion and board. They had lived all the life they could.

I gave them a light sanding and good wipe down to get all the gunk off of them. 

Then I painted them with two coats of Americana chalky finish paint in Vintage. I bought this one at Home Depot, but found Hobby Lobby sells the same brand. At Hobby Lobby you can use the 40% off coupon on it and makes its much cheaper! 

My Oil Story and Goals For 2015

Last year I made a giant leap and bought my first essential oil kit from Young Living Essential Oils!

We had a sickness go through the house and the baby ended up catching a bad head cold. He was miserable and we were up all night and he couldn't breath with all the yucky congestion. I reached out to my friends on Facebook to find a natural remedy to help him get some relief. My dear friends brought me essential oils. I followed the careful instructions of my friend and used diluted Peppermint and Thieves on my little one. Literally within minutes his congestion was clearing up and he was able to sleep! I was amazed! Why had I never heard of these wonderful drops of God's medicine? We survived that illness and also found essential oils!

I saved some money up for a couple months and was able to purchase our first set of oils with the Premium Starter kit. We chose the Premium Starter kit because it came with 11 oils, a diffuser and a wholesale membership.