My 10 Goals for 2018

In January,  I shared with you my word for the new year in 2018 is FAMILY. It really had me thinking not only what I wished to focus on this year but what I want to accomplish. I don’t know about you, but I feel like setting goals helps me to focus. Keeping my theme of putting family first, I choose goals for this year to promote making time for what is most important.

Personal Goals

1.     Read 50 books that will build me up/encourage me/inspire me/recharge me. (Fiction/story-driven/biographies/inspirational living books/devotionals.)

2.     Spend time doing something with each one of my kids at least once a week.

3.     Write 5k words a week.

Marriage Goal

4.     Take that trip to Italy without the kids we’ve been dreaming of for almost 20 years.

5.     Once a month date night.

Family Goals

6.     Weekly family game night.

7.     Family Camping Trip.

Financial Goals

8.     Save up and have the deck replaced on the back of our new house. (we dipped into the replacement fund when my minivan got totaled because a truck rear-ended us one night on our way home a few months ago.)

Business Goals

9.     Increase sales from my Etsy shop by 10%.

Writing Goals

10. Write 3 books this year.

Money Saving Mom, shared an article this month of her own 2018 goals and habits. I found this very inspiring and I really appreciated her habit of daily “coffee dates” with her spouse and going offline after the kids come home from school.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. We’ll see.

This year I want to get my family in the habit of turning off their electronic devices more and spending time interacting with each other.  How? Video Game time is earned time by getting homework done, reading more, and getting chores done so video games can be played on weekends. Other devices, will be active between after school and supper (3pm – 5pm) and only if homework is done.

It will be hard at first, but my kids aren’t the only ones who are going to adjust to new habits. At 9pm the devices and video games end for the adults too. In the mornings, we’ll have breakfast date to start our day off on the right page.

Like any good intentions, it takes support of others to accomplish your goals, so I’ll be giving updates and encouragement throughout the year.

What are your goals for this year? How can I help inspire and encourage you to accomplish them?

Putting Family First

Today is the official first day of the new year. While you enjoy time gathered around the table with friends and family eating pork and celebrating other New Year traditions, you may or may not be thinking of what this year will bring.

Every year, we set goals, we dream, we make plans of what we want to accomplish in this blank chapter of our lives. Some of us need to go back and re-read last year’s chapter in hopes it will inspire us to set new goals moving forward. And then, there are some chapters we should set aside and wait a few years before going back and reviewing. There is no sense in reminding ourselves of where we failed, what we’ve left unfinished, or driving back down those dead-end streets.

Some of you may be thinking of this year as a theme. You’ll pick a word. That word will be your inspiration for the year, your motivation to get you through those times of feeling lost, hopeless, or alone.

There is no wrong way to start out the new year, but you may want to consider doing what is best for you, in this season of your life, and in a positive inspiring way as it may affect the people around you.

A long time ago, before I had my first child, I decided when I had kids, I wanted to be the mom who stayed at home. I didn’t want to have to work in order to have someone else care for my children. Please understand, this was my own personal choice, and while I understand it isn’t always the case for others, this was what I wanted. I wanted to be at home with my kiddos, just like my mom was always at home while I was growing up.

Over the years, I’ve stepped out of our home and taken jobs when needed. Life doesn’t always work out the way we planned, but in the end, I’ve always found we are provided for with what we need. Sometimes the biggest thing your family needs is you.

As a wife and a mother, the things we value most are sometimes not the ones we can buy.  They are the ones we create, nurture, and prioritize.

This year, the title of this new chapter for 2018 is FAMILY.

Things will come and go in your life, but your family is beyond value.  If there are relationships that need to be mended, be the one to make the first move. If you’re not carving out time for your children or your spouse, make it a point this year.

If there is anything I learned from growing up on the farm is that family comes first.

What will you do this year to help strengthen the bond of your family?

Residence of Her Heart -An Inspirational Romance This Christmas

Just in time for the upcoming holidays.

I’m excited to announce I have a new book coming out for the holidays!

I really think you’ll gonna love it.

Every summer we pack up our family and go camping.  9 times out of 10 we end up beside a lake where we enjoy, boating, fishing, and spending time together. Over the years, I’ve written little snippets of stories beside those lakes, and this story takes place over the holidays. What better time to fall in love and find a new home then Christmas….

RESIDENCE OF HER HEART will whisk you away to the lovely area of Irish Hills, Michigan where Violet Harding, a woman torn by the death of her fiance’ is being forced to find a new residence with the help of real estate agent Seth Jones.

Now that is the short of it.

Here is more of what the book is about:

Violet Harding had her life all planned out, starting with her wedding day, but after finding herself standing at the altar without a groom, she leaves her heart and her faith behind her. For the past two years, she’s been living in her dead fiance’s house, until that house is put up for sale and she is forced to move on.

Seth Jones has been able to keep himself sober for nearly four years, but his real estate agency hasn’t fared quite so well. With the Detroit housing market continuing to drop, he’s determined to get Violet’s house sold in-order-to keep his business afloat. 

Seth can fight his growing attraction to Violet all he wants, but Violet isn’t ready to move out of her house or on with her life.  She’s not sure she’s ready to open her heart to someone new and risk losing them all over again.  Can Seth show her the true residence of her heart and have the patience to allow their happily-ever-after to lead them to a place of their own?

Coming November 27!

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

Available for Pre-Order. Only $1.99

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

Thoughts from Atop a Tractor

This weekend I sat atop a tractor and looked down over the hill at the farm that has been my sanctuary whenever I’ve needed to come home. It’s always been that place that brings me peace, recharges my spirit, and prioritize the important things in life–like family.

Some people retreat to cabins in the woods, beaches, or luxury vacations. Not this girl. You can’t help following your heart, and mine always takes me back to the farm and to family.

When I sit atop the tractor and look out at the rest of the world, it’s a whole different view then one might think. There are fields swelling with new growth. The oats is almost ready to harvest, second crop hay is thirsting for more rain, and green corn stalks sway and rustle their budding ears in the wind.

There are no obscenities. From this view, things are raw and pure. Natural with respect. Fear has an entirely different meaning from here. Not as it would if I were sitting on my front porch in the city or trying to maneuver through uncertain sections of town.

Life is simpler from the farm. Harder without the conveniences many of us take advantage of and forget to respect. It’s what helps make us stronger. We’ve grown lazy and spoiled like the fat cat on the window seal. The motivation to provide for others, gain respect, and show love has withered and been replaced with self-serving greed.

We’ve lived on this same street in town for almost nine years. I can’t tell you anything about my neighbors. There are people right smack up beside me on both sides of my house and on the other side of the street who could care less I exist.

Here on the farm, the closest neighbor is a half-mile in any direction, but I know their names. They wave and I wave back.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about a girl driving a tractor, or sitting atop it deep in thought. Everyone has a thinking spot. Everyone has their place they go to find clarity. And I can’t think of a better place than atop a tractor looking out across the farm that brings one more clarity than right here.

Jobs and other factors in life can take us so far from each other. When there are so many things going wrong in the world or in your life, it’s always nice to find comfort in the people who love you and the home you know you can always return to.

Where do you go when you feel the need to escape and recharge your spirit?

Raising Boys to Become Men

There is something to be said about being raised on a dairy farm. It’s not the cheap shots you get as a kid or the poor jokes you learn to take in good humor. It’s the cultivating of standards and planting a way of living that focuses on learning to survive in a world that is increasingly lowering expectations of moral.

Not all of us are blessed with growing up on a farm, but neither are we intended to. If we were not all given different upbringings we couldn’t bring different gifts and perspectives to the world. But I also believe there are times and places to share and there are times when we are meant to keep things to ourselves.

I don’t know where I would be in this world without the guidance of my father. One of the biggest things we learn in life isn’t always spoken. I always ask my children, “If a friend dares you to do jump off a bridge and you know it will kill you, would you?” It’s an old cliche of are we supposed to do what others are doing just because they are doing it, even if you know it is wrong?

Last week Ann Voskamp wrote an eye-opening post about 20 things we’d better tell our sons right now about being a real man. It comes after the “20 minutes of Action” phrase in the Stanford rape case.

I don’t usually post things about politics or news– especially news that is a negative impact on our world. However, after reading the victim’s statement I wasn’t thinking of my girls as much as I was thinking of my son.

It made me overflow with gratitude for the people in my son’s life. Especially my son’s father and his grandfather (my own father). Yet, I often feel a pang when I think of my nephews who have followed in their grandfather’s footsteps on the farm and see the response and family committed men they have become. I see my younger nephew, following his father and his grandfather's footsteps now and know he, too, will someday grow up with the understanding of working hard to provide, putting family first, living within the rules and boundaries God has set forth for us. 

I look at my son, still growing and learning and seeking who he is going to be and as a mother, I wonder what kind of man, he will become.

Because let’s face it. We aren’t raising boys to become men like we used to. Not in this world. Not like they were a hundred years ago, or fifty, or even 10 years ago. There are so many of our sons jumping off of society bridges and getting drowned from the ways in which we know are right and true.

My son spends many summers visiting his grandfather, hanging with his cousins, and learning that some of us live by stricter values than others. Here in our home, he has his father to teach him about honor, respect, and responsibility.

And while many of our school districts try to incorporate things like respect and responsibility into our children’s everyday learning, it is not solely up to our public school system to teach our kids values–it’s ours. And as parents, we should be joining with schools and our community to raise and instill inside our future generations the types of values, ethics, and morals we want them to pass on to their sons.

There are no excuses. Boys don’t have to have a father in their lives to become men. Women have been bringing up boys since the beginning of time. They need role models and the footsteps of a few good men in their lives to follow.

Wouldn’t you agree?

#mondaymotivation Peanut Butter Eggs #DIY

We’re big on peanut butter eggs in this house. It’s a favored treat for not only the kiddos but my hubby, too.

This year, knowing how they are hidden to preserve them from someone else finding them and eating them, I decided to try and make my own.

A big thank you to Tina at Mommy’s Kitchen for her peanut butter egg recipe. I have to admit, at first I was a little weary of crushing graham crackers to make peanut butter eggs. Who would have thought it would be one of the ingredients, right?

Little Bug and I had a great time creating our stash of chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs. I grabbed an egg mold from our local craft store that made it easy to get our eggs shaped.

Don’t those look yummy?

Letters From Fifth Grade

It’s book fair week at my son’s school. Parents are invited to have lunch with their students and attend the book fair. Last fall, I missed the opportunity to participate due to my work schedule. This time, I made sure I was available. I had lunch, not only with my son but a group of fifth-graders. 

These kids were one of the highlights of my day, and I made them feel just as special as they did me. Because how often can you go home and say that you had lunch with an author. You got it. I wasn’t just a parent having lunch, I was an author with a group of fifth-graders gathered around me and we talked, we ate chips, and we laughed.

And… we went to the book fair.

If you’ve been following my Instagram, then you saw the stack of books I brought home. Half those books my son will have read by the end of next week. He thinks they are his birthday present, but I have a little surprise in mind for him next week. Shh… I’ll let you in on this surprise soon.

In the meantime, while I was at the school I was given an envelope.

Lunch with my son. Lunch with a bunch of fifth graders. School book fair. How could my day get any better?

What was inside this envelope blew me away.

These letters, all handwritten from the fifth-grade class I visited last month, made my day more than complete. I plan to make a special place for them near my writing nook and cherish them for years and years to come. Most of these letters went beyond the cordial thank yous one would expect when kids are told they need to write a letter. Many of these letters touched my heart, made me laugh, and invited to come back again.

I hope to return again soon to read the stories they’ve been working on and share their enthusiasm for their imaginative ideas. Who knows, perhaps one day one or several of these kiddos will blossom into amazing authors. Then it will be their books in my writing nook along with that first letter I held dear.

To those fifth graders:

Thank you again for your letters, kind words, and enthusiasm.

To all of you:

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Stay tuned. I’ve got exciting news that I’ll be sharing in the next post.