Learning to Love the Process Slow decorating has been on my mind as Iāve been slowly cleaning, decluttering, and trying to reclaim our home. Iāve found myself dreaming of all the ways I want to update and decorate. (It’s funny how uncovering things makes you want to improve them.) New paint colors, cozy nooks, old-world…
How to Savor Summer: Embracing Beauty Even When It’s Uncomfortable
Letās be honest. Summer isn’t always sunshine and smiles. It’s hot. It’s humid. The bugs are relentless, the kids are loud, and your shirt has been stuck to your back since 10 a.m. And yetā¦ somehow, itās still magical. Thereās something deeply beautiful about this messy, lively, sensory-overloaded season. In this post, weāre talking about…
How We’re Living Without AC in the Midwest | No-AC Summer Survival Tips
Thriving in the Summer Heat Without Air Conditioning: How We Stay Cool in the Midwest Living in the Midwestāsoutheast Indiana to be exactāour summers are no joke. We regularly see temperatures in the high 80s and 90s, and itās not unusual to hit 100Ā°F during peak heat waves. But here’s the thing: we’re living without…
I Asked for Help: What Happened When I Said āI Canāt Do It Allā
Let me just say it plain: This week I asked for help. And if youāre anything like meāa stay-at-home mom juggling homeschool, homemaking, garden work, and trying to keep your family healthyā you know how loaded that sentence can feel. Weāre the ones who hold it down. The figure-it-outers. The ones who hold the vision…
Creativity in the Cracks: Prioritizing Beauty as a Busy Mom
Thereās this momentāright after the baby drifts off during a contact nap, when the house is (almost kinda) quiet except for the big kids playing or watching Wild Kratsāand I pull out my phone or notebook and write another sentence of my novel. Not a whole chapter. Not even a full paragraph sometimes. Just a…
What Garden Lessons (and a Broken Incubator) Taught Me About Starting Over
The garden was supposed to be peaceful this week. After days and days of relentless spring rain, some so heavy that towns near us had to evacuate, I was just grateful to see the sun again. We didnāt have any flooding in the house, thank God. But road closures and detours were enough of a…