I’m excited to welcome Olivia Grace from Soul Singing Liv as the first mama in my new feature, Meet That Mama! Liv is a super sweet mama who always has an encouraging word and a lovely story to share. Check out her blog and enjoy our little interview below!
Hello, my name is Liv and I am a free-spirited, new experience craving, music loving, peace seeking, soul singing butterfly. My blog is a special place where I store away all of my treasures, a place where I record our daily adventures and reflect on the simple blessings in life. I love writing, learning new ideas, making music, taking photos, and collecting sentimental pieces. I spend my days balancing my time between working as a nurse and building a career I am passionate about while also being a wife and mama to my precious family. Together, we spend our days striving for peace in our hearts, kindness in our words, and adventure in our souls.
Favorite {completed} Pinterest project:I was inspired by so many ideas from Pinterest for Isabelle’s 8th birthday slumber party. My very favorite pin involved a bunch of balloons: inside each balloon I placed a small piece of paper. The piece of paper announced what the next activity would be. When it was time for the activity, I let each girl take a turn popping the balloon and then all the girls gathered around as she read the paper and announced what we would be doing next. I kept a color coded list in my pocket to remind myself of what order to pop the balloons in. The kids loved it!
Favorite mama moment from the last month … My favorite mama moment this month was on Easter morning: The Easter Bunny had left us a bag of magical jelly beans the day before and we had planted them in our garden, anxiously anticipating what they would grow into. After we woke up on Easter morning, looked through the girls’ goodies in their Easter baskets, and had a ridiculous amount of chocolate for breakfast, our 8 year old, Isabelle, announced loudly: “It’s time to check the jelly beans!!!!!!”. We ran outside to find lollipops growing in our garden!! The girls were so excited, and so were our dogs:) Seeing the magic in their eyes, creating simple, amazing memories for our girls: there is no greater joy in life.
Best blog discovery lately … House Unseen. This is one of those blogs that you find and go back through the archives to catch yourself up! Dwija is hilarious, practical, and really brings the beauty of family to life in her writing. This post, for instance.
Guilty pleasure … After a long day of thinking, giving, working, planning, and being ON, my guilty pleasure is vegging out: a long bath (or as long a bath as I can take without little feet pitter pattering into the bathroom), chamomile tea, and a good book in bed. I am also guilty of having a DVR loaded with ridiculous reality shows and way too many programs centered around vampires.
Favorite Bible verse … Matthew 6:25-27. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
This Bible verse has taken me through some of my most stressful times, reminded me that I do not need to worry as much as I think that I do. When we can learn to live life giving control to Him and believing that He is always working over us, then are we able to truly live a rich and fruitful life.
Most prized household tip … I can not rave enough about meal planning: it has changed my life. As a full time RN and mama of two, time is precious and fleeting most days. Meal planning was one of my New Year’s goals and I have worked really hard to make it work for our family. Every Sunday night, I sit down and plan out our meals for the week, pulling from a box of recipe cards I made using my various cookbooks and different things I’ve found online. I write the week’s meals in my day planner and then go through each recipe to find out what ingredients I need to purchase. I try to find recipes that use similar ingredients to make my grocery list shorter. I write the grocery list in my day planner as well and on Monday afternoon, after work, I head to the grocery store to purchase what I need for the week. Meal planning has saved me time, money, and ensures that my family has a delicious, nutritious meal on the table every night. I don’t have to struggle when I get home from work to try to figure out what we are going to eat, make last minute grocery runs, etc. It’s all there, fridge stocked, meal planned. By staying organized, we are able to make smart choices and avoid impulse buys. Our health and our finances are all the better for it!
3 things on my to-do list … 1) Renovate the laundry room:paint, hang shelves, make over the closet, and make it an all around more usable space. 2) Finish weeding and turning soil in our wildflower garden. Plant the new shrubs and bulbs my mama gave me for Easter! 3) Start planning and mapping out our summer vacation to Arizona!! There are so many things we want to do while we are there and I can’t wait to start putting it all together.
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