Dreamy Dreams

In 6th grade our class studied a unit on ancient South American civilizations. I immediately fell in love with the culture of the Mayan's and the ruins they had left behind. I remember running home in our driveway, seeing my mom in the garden and telling her all about how I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up. Yep! That was the career for me. I told my step-dad and he patiently listened and then warned me that they sit in the dust all day and just sweep away dirt. I told him that since I grew up on a farm that I already did that anyway and it wouldn't bother me. 

Fast forward to middle school when all of sudden, looking at the median salary for an archaeologist made me think it wasn't such a good idea. The dream I once tightly held onto was slipping through my fingers like water cupped in my hands. I let it go and continued on to my next dream thinking maybe a teacher is where my identity would fall. 

Our culture has the devious notion that your career defines you and your career is who you are. I don't like it. It's annoying, it's unhealthy and it takes away from families, health and relationships. 

I'm 21 and recently have had a roller coaster of a year trying to figure out "what I'm going to do with my life" and I've let that expectation overtake my mind. I've entertained the thought of becoming a nail tech, opening my own Etsy shop, having my own business, anything, just anything so I could tell people something AWESOME when they ask those few little words, "What are your plans after you graduate?"

I've learned to hold on to my dreams loosely. Very, very loosely and not find my hope or identity in them. I've learned the hard way that when I do, I find disappointment and selfishness. Instead, I'm slowly choosing to find my hope and identity in Jesus again. "When hopes are crushed & dismembered, you must learn the One hope that can never be destroyed" (1 John 4:10) - Powlison, Christian Counseling & Education Foundation

Right now my goal/dream is to become a counselor and someday open my own Christ centered health & wellness center. God continues to press this on my heart and following this conviction is what I'll do. 

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not some WrestleMania character called, "The Dream Crusher" coming to stomp on all your goals and ambitions and hit them with chairs and throw them against chain link fences. Not at all! I don't think God puts dreams, passions in our hearts just for "funsies". They are there for a reason, my friends.

Last night, I made my own dream/vision board. 

I would love to have all these things accomplished in the next 10 years. If I do, awesome. If not, I can say I tried! 

It's perfectly OK to stay focused and have goals and dreams in our lives. I think when we begin to worship these dreams and goals like I have, is when it has potential to overstep boundaries and become unhealthy. So many plans that I have made in my life have never ended well. When I follow the plan God has for my life is when it ends very, very well. Much better than something I could have ever orchestrated.

I don't think Jesus was so much about "following our dreams" or "reaching your potential". I think instead, He was more concerned about our everyday lives and following Him and showing Him to the people we encounter on the daily. You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down? :) I would love to hear your thoughts and stories on this if you ever want to grab coffee!

Ok, on to food! Yes! I love food. It's so good and I love eating food that tastes good AND is good for you! Thank you God for that gift! Here's our meal plan for the week! Sorry it's a few days late! :( Scout's honor it will be on time from now on!

Monday

Granola w/ Greek Yogurt & Strawberries

Turkey Wrap w/ Guac

Chicken Zucchini Boats

Tuesday

Granola w/ Greek Yogurt & Strawberries

Turkey Wrap

Paleo Burgers

Wednesday

Breakfast Frittata

Cobb Salad

Slow Cooker Chili Verde

Thursday

Frittata

Lettuce Wrap

Free for all - Egg scramble?

Friday

Frittata

Turkey Wrap

Slow Cooker Ribs w/ Sweet Potato Fries

That's all I've got for now! Hopefully some product reviews will be coming your way soon. I love awesome products from solid companies! Especially more natural based ones. I think I'm becoming a hippie! Ack!

Top 3 Things Dave Has Taught Me

My husband makes fun of me all the time because I listen to the Dave Ramsey show on the daily.

I have become a huge Dave Ramsey nerd and one of those people who you can catch saying, "Well Dave says. . . ."

I love it and hate it!

I love it because I've felt a lot of peace financially since we put his principles into place. I hate it because it means I'm being a responsible adult; which ultimately is a good thing too!

I've gleaned a lot of financial, biblical advice since listening to his show and here are the top 3:

1. It's good to say no.

I think this applies to a lot of areas in life other than money. We live in a chaotic culture and we feel the need to give in to every opportunity that comes our way. Sometimes though, those choices bring stress and negativity to life. I've learned that it's healthy to say no to friends, your spouse and family sometimes. When we over commit to things we ultimately are being selfish because we can't give our 100% to the things that need our attention in life. This means that when you''re invited to 5 weddings in one summer, you have to pick and choose which ones to go to because you can't afford to go to every single one. This means that as a parent, I will have to say no to my kids wanting to do 300 different sports and activities sometimes! It also means saying no to other cultural expectations such as buying a car, house and college all on loans. 

2. Spending money is not bad. 

Money is not a bad resource. It's how it's used that can make it a negative resource. Spending money is not bad! You have to spend money in life and spending money on yourself is not bad either. It's when it's reckless, not budgeted and you are being greedy about it that makes it sinful. At the root of every sin is selfishness and never giving is selfish. Money is tied to emotions which makes it easy to get out of control with spending it. So budget it out, give every dollar a name and stick to it. I hated budgeting at first because with 6 different paychecks (now we have 8!) coming in every month it was hard for me to tell each dollar where to go. Now I absolutely love it. It's given my marriage a sense of peace and I don't lay awake at night worrying about it. Here is a link of the forms we use for budgeting. We write it out on paper and stick it to the fridge to keep track better. Do what works for you! Here is a link to the really cute wallet that's made for the envelope system. The shop is local (Meridian!) and I love, love, love how mine turned out!

3. Money and wealth are not what life is about.

JESUS is what life is about ultimately! SO many people have the misconception that if you follow the plan Financial Peace outlines that you are trying to become a greedy jerk getting out of debt and then building wealth. HA! Obviously those who have that opinion haven't thoroughly researched and read through the ultimate goal of this system. The end result is helping your kids get off to a good start financially with some help for college and being able to give, give, give, give and then retire peacefully and still being to give like your Ebeneezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol. (Here's to you, Tiny Tim!)

My heart has been transformed and now I love giving and I so enjoy the peace we have now that we have a plan and we are much better stewards of our money than we were before. What a blessing it is that God give us resources and we are called to be Christlike stewards of those resources! 

Meal plan and the book review will be coming later! Hope you all are having a blessed weekend! Have a critique about Dave? Questions about budgeting? Let me know! I want to hear from you!

Meal Plan Week #1 and Simplifying Life

Wow what a week and it's only Tuesday! We are loving every minute of this sunshine we have in Boise. The meal plan this week features three grilled dinners - delish! Below is our meal plan for the week It is loosely based on our bountiful basket we got on Friday! :)

Monday:

Veggie Frittata

Chicken Lettuce Wrap w/ Grapes

Sweet Potato Hash

Tuesday:

Veggie Frittata

Cobb Salad

Crockpot Chili

Wednesday:

Banana Bread

Chicken Lettuce Wrap w/ Grapes

Grilled Burgers w/ Salsa and Guac

Thursday:

Freezer Waffles

Cobb Salad

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Friday: 

Freezer Waffles

Leftovers!

Grilled Steak w/ Sauteed Veggies

Our Bountiful Basket. Ain't she a beaut?!

Last night I made the sweet potato hash and my sister-in-law and best friend came over right after I made it. They both took a bite and asked for more and more! They couldn't believe it was Paleo. It was awesome and definitely one of my favorites so far.

I'll be honest. I reaaallllyyy dreaded meal planning and making a grocery list for all of this! But once I started I realized it wasn't so bad at all. I keep telling myself that I CAN do this and it's not easy in the beginning.

 I absolutely adore The Duplooy Duo! I get a lot of my Paleo meal planning inspiration from them plus Emily writes reviews for awesome natural products that I am now hooked on. Check them out!

So far I have had a few cheats :( Today when I was working, one of the sweet little boys I nanny wanted to share some of his sandwich with me during our lunch! It was so cute and so hard to resist his kind gesture. I totally ate it and felt guilty at first. But he thought it was great we shared a sandwich! So it doesn't really count as a cheat. :) Other times have been TOTAL accidents! I have felt pretty groggy and wiped out this week but that's to be expected. I keep reminding myself how good I'm going to feel once I get the hang of things! A little discipline goes a long way. :) 

Book review time! Yippee! I'm going to try and read one book a week and post what I think about it here.

Last week's book was The Simplicity Project by Corie Clark and OH MY WORD IT'S AMAZING! If you're a scatterbrained, unorganized, always late, always frazzled, stressed, no idea how you made it this far in life person like me, this book is going to become your best friend.

You can get a free download of it here. 

I adored how she went through every part of life and just plain helps simplify it and prioritize it. No gimmicks, no guilt trips, no weird tricks. Just simplifying life! I have become so much more productive and relaxed since implementing her tips. She gives a list of resources at the end of each chapter to help with the advice she's given as well. This book has been a huge blessing!

Well that is all for now! Leave any comments, reviews and feedback you have in the comments section. I want to make this blog the best it can be! Be back soon! 

Paleo Shmaleo

Hey friends! It's been a while since I've blogged! I plan to be a lot more active around here, so stick around to see what's in store. :)

Our blog is going to be taking a different direction from what it has been over the course of the past year. We want to document the coming days and weeks here so we can look back and see all the fun times we've had and the progress we've made from where we are today. We're also hoping to connect with some others out there who are living a similar lifestyle to the one we've chosen. (So blessed to be in circumstances where we get to choose that lifestyle and our circumstances don't force us otherwise! Anyway. . . )

Recently I (Lorna) have decided to try the Paleo diet again. Why? To be honest it's because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. To be clear though, here are some reasons I am NOT going Paleo:

1. To lose weight
2. To be trendy
3. To be righteous towards others

I have been in a slump with my health ever since the start of my junior year. I've been suffering from depression, moodiness, lack of energy, poor sleep, fatigue and a foggy mind for a while now. I slur my words, don't have the energy I normally have had and don't have the positive outlook I have had on life. It's really lame! Here are some reasons I AM going Paleo:

1. Gain my energy back
2. Increase my exercise levels
3. Cook more for our household
4. A clearer mind
5. Better sleep
6. Support local farmers as much as I can
7. Overall better health and well being

I am an absolute firm believer that what you put into your body and how you take care of it is how it will treat you! I've chosen the Paleo diet not because I think it's what is best for everyone, but because I think it will be what's best for me. The Lord has given me talents, tasks and abilities and I need a body that is well taken care of to carry out these responsibilities to the best of my ability.

I am not going strict Paleo but I'm going to stick to it the best I can! I mean, holy Hannah, I LOVE cheese! If I fail, well I'm going to get right back up and keep going. I won't remember that as a fail but instead give myself a pat on the back for trying! I'm not going strict Paleo because occasionally food is what brings my friends and family together. I don't want to make a big deal out of it and make others uncomfortable about it by not eating with them. Plus a "cheat" every now and then will be nice!

I also need accountability to not become self righteous about it. Sometimes it's really frustrating to see friends post on Facebook about how they're always sick and not feeling well. Yet, as you scroll down the rest of their they willingly document their all nighters, Taco Bell runs and mass amounts of pizza consumption. Um, HELLO! Can you not compute?! You CHOOSE what you put into your body, your sleep patterns and exercise levels! Allllll those decisions are things I never took seriously until this last year though, so I cannot preach too much about it! So if you ever catch me shoving this down someone's throat, please catch me and tell me.

I will hopefully be posting our meal plans and grocery list on here every week and I'm going to try and plan them around the wonderful produce program of Bountiful Baskets. Look it up! It's amazing! See if there's one in your area! You can thank me later. :) I'll be doing some freezer meals and slow cooker meals as well for those ridiculously busy days that sometimes pop up in our schedule. I ADORE Bountiful Baskets because it's so inexpensive (price checked what the $20 produce was that I got one week - I would have paid $63 for it at Winco!), the people/volunteers are awesome and they stick with the smaller, family run farms instead of supporting the conglomerate growers. As someone whose both sides of the family are farmers that's a heck yes in my book!

So with all that being said I am really excited about this and I feel empowered now that I have my life somewhat back under control. I have been doing a slight Paleo diet this past week and already can tell a difference! If you have any questions or resources you feel would be helpful shoot me a message!

Love to you all,

W & L

This One's For You, Sweet Lorna

This One’s For You, Sweet Lorna

Oh dear, 12 year old Lorna. The things I have to say. The many adventures and the roller coaster of life awaits you. The people you will meet, the places you’ll go and the things the Lord will do in your life await. Oh, but the journey is long. The price to pay is steep and your cross to bear is heavy on this adventure.

You are 21 now, yes! You made it! How? Sometimes I really don’t know, other than the grace of God.

You’ll still be tall, awkward and gangly. Your voice will still crack and you will still be intimidated by the world.

You’ll think you have life figured out after your first year of college but a handsome, God-fearing, tall (yes you heard me! He’s tall, cute AND loves Jesus!) man will come and make your heart swoon. He’ll get get down on one knee and ask you to marry him. You’ll excitedly say yes, terrified of the unknowns that are to come and to be answered. You have no idea what you’re doing as you plan this thing called a “wedding” and literally find yourself living on a prayer.

Your first year of marriage will be the hardest year of your life thus far. Yes, harder than when mom and dad split up and harder than when you left your little sister at home to go to a college far away.

You will find yourself, at 21, still crying on the bathroom floor in a small pathetic ball, asking God to take you to heaven already. You don’t know why you’re here, what your “calling” is because you’ve had the rug of your “purpose” pulled out from underneath you. You will still struggle with those nasty, bitter angry emotions of why you are the way you are. You will still have those dreadful, horrible suicidal thoughts. You’ll ask God to show you a sign and yes, you’ll doubt if He’s even there. You’ll pull yourself up, exhausted and tired.

You’ll open the bathroom door, puffy eyed to not your mother and sister anymore. But a man who loves you deeply and a sweet, sweet puppy who adores you. They will comfort you while you cry and your husband will look into your eyes and tell you, “God will take you up there when He wants to. We don’t get to decide that” and your heart will be filled with the peace of Jesus. That peace you’ve yearned for for so long and you will finally have it again. You’ll wake up the next morning with your sweet husband on one side and your adorable puppy cuddling you on the other side and be able to say for the first time in forever, “I’ll be ok” and mean it.

You realize, that even though you’ve left God countless times, that He’s never left you and He’s relentless in the pursuit of your heart.

Oh the lessons you’ve learned. You’ve learned to separate the whites from the colors. You’ve learned to say no to people and not let them walk all over you and you’ve learned that it’s ok to not be ok.

You’ll learn that when a bathroom says “vacant” on the green button that it means NO one is in there and that you can use it.

You’ll learn there’s a difference between Assyria and Syria in Bible college and you’ll also learn that God gives us friends but He also takes them away.

You’ll learn about ministry and see that Jesus care more about the little things rather than the big things.

You’ll learn that people matter and before you judge them, to judge your own sin first. You’ll see that each person is loved wholly by the Lord and you’ll have a desire for them to know Him.

You’ll still have no idea what your “calling” is and that’s ok. That doesn’t matter as much as the Gospel. You’ll still bumble along in life and wander at times. But the Lord is your shepherd, dear Lorna. Please remember that. You are His beloved and He will never leave, or forsake you.

Oh dear, 12 year old Lorna.

Somedays it's hard to smile.

Today is a day when it's hard to smile.

It's hard to smile because of the cruddy roads, my husband and I couldn't make it to my Grandma's funeral.

It's hard to smile because my Dad had to go to his Mom's funeral without me, my little sister who came down with the flu and his wife who had a doctor's appointment that couldn't be rescheduled. He has to stand there without the few who he leans on.

It's hard to smile because I can't imagine the aching of my Grandpa's heart who just lost his best friend and companion of 65 years.

It's hard to smile because she's gone and I didn't get to say goodbye.

All day I've been shuffling around with my shoulders sunk low and tears that slowly roll down my cheek unannounced.

But because of God's peace that surpasses all understanding, I was somehow able to smile today.

As Bugsby and I slowly trudged along in the slush on our daily walk I half-heartedly smiled at how cute he was frolicking in the remnants of the snow storm, not caring how wet he got.

Then I felt the sun on my face and I sighed happily as it warmly fell onto my cheeks and nose.

We passed the cutest couple walking along who smiled warmly and waved hello and I was able to smile and wave back.

Then, as I was walking back a woman in a mini van stopped at the stop sign and sweetly smiled at me and let me cross in front of her.

It is so strange how just one small gesture from one human soul to another can give us such peace.

Recently, God is making it more and more clear that a possible ministry in my life is counseling. It's fascinating to me because counseling really is about one human soul to being there help and lift up another human soul. Bearing the weight of life together and helping each other carry the heavy loads and burdens along the journey to heaven.

It's so crazy that when those who are suicidal share what saved them from taking their own life it was often someone else that took just a small moment to wave, smile, or genuinely ask and want to know, "How are you doing today, are you ok?" Wow!

Today I am simply thankful that our heavenly Father has created community and that we have one another to help bear our burdens together. We are never alone and there are always people out there to watch out for us and we are made to bless each other.

It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and to have tunnel vision every day. But really, we are created to have fellowship and to think of others and bless them in small ways, whatever that may be.

In my Grandma's obituary, you can tell she was a woman of fellowship. She was a part of so many clubs and groups! People were important to her. She was involved in so much and made sure everyone around her was talked to, taken care of and felt welcomed. Someday I hope to be as warm and welcoming as her.

Someday I hope to be able to smile at people as sweetly as she did.

"Whatever you are, do it well."

Tonight I'm convicted about busyness. 

I keep asking myself these questions. . .

Did Jesus' disciples aim to stay busy so they would feel productive and like they were doing their job? 

Were they constantly tired and worn, bags heavy under their eyes and their hearts feeling overwhelmed because of all that needed to be done still after a busy day?
Did they struggle with feeling inadequate because their house wasn't big enough, their car not new enough and their clothes not nice enough?

Were they in constant pursuit of a career, an identity that they would associate themselves with for their lifetime? 

As a 20 year old whose newly married and trying to "figure out" what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life it's so easy to drop all that I'm doing pursuing Christ to pursue these worldly items instead. 

What is it that I will cling to when everything else fails? A job? An identity? Status? Clothing even?

Slowly, I'm learning that when I'm truly honest with myself and what the Gospel message is, it's not the size of my house or how clean it is that matters to Christ. No. 

Instead it's being weary and worn at the end of the day just like the disciples were, but having a heart filled with joy because of the relationships that have been made and strengthened, the serving that has been done and the lives that have been touched by Christ at the end of it all. I don't want my career (whatever it may be) to run my life. 

I don't want my accomplishments to fog the path that Christ has set before me. 

I want my heart to be one that reflects Christ and all that HE has done at the end of my life instead of my heart reflecting all the small things I have done. 

At this point all I know is, whatever Christ calls me to do, I want to do it well for Him. Not well for me. 

At the end I want to be welcomed into heaven hearing the words so precious ringing through my ears. . . "Well done, good and faithful servant".