So much to say, so little time. . . Always time to say hi!

Hello y'all!  How have you been?  It's been a while since I've written.  I have so much to say and catch you up on!  But who really wants to be bored with reading about the happenings of my life?  Here's the gist:  It's Summer, it's hot, we're busy.  Sound like your life too?  I thought so.

Eidolon House is busy and getting busier and we couldn't be happier about that!  We're excited to have my niece Arika come stay with us for a couple of months to help us out.  We miss our children terribly; they came to visit us in June for a few weeks, and we miss them.  School starts soon, so they will be back to a scheduled life of learning.

We're driving to Utah in November for the Thanksgiving holiday!  Our dear friends the Tyler's invited us for Thanksgiving.  When you're friends invite you to celebrate your favorite holiday, you go!  We'll make some time for family too, don't worry.

We started a book club, if you're a reader feel free join!  The club is a Google + community HERE.  I better get back to work.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer!  Write ya soon!

Diego!  He turns 9 in 5 days!  Stop growing so fast kid!  

     

Krista - She is 14 and beautiful! 

Macsen - 12 and way to serious for his own good. 

New Home - New Light

I noticed something about myself the other day:  I love natural light and I almost feel sad when the sun starts to go down.

I used to wait for the sun to go down, I always felt that my "day" began at night.  Don't get me wrong, I still love staying up late, but that is an entirely different subject.  

After moving into our new home, and seeing how all this beautiful natural light pours through our windows every day, I'm addicted!  

    

Most of all, I'm happy I appreciate what is considered by most the simple things in life.  Of course, when you think about it, the sun rising everyday isn't a simple task. . . kind of amazing actually. 

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Family Theme 2015-2016: My Confidant, My Friend, My God.

Hello friends!  I haven't intentionally ignored my blog and writing, I've just been crazy busy, but who isn't these day's right?  We moved, took on a huge new client over at Eidolon House, and have had house guests for the past month!  Unfortunately I had to forego writing for a bit.

While our children are here visiting we took time to decide our family theme for the upcoming school year. We like to keep our theme religious because our religion isn't something we just agree with, we try to live it as much as we can.  The subject of religion is huge! We feel it helps us and our children to narrow down subjects to really focus on throughout the year.

This year we really want to focus on our personal relationships with God, so our theme is called:  My Confidant, My Friend, My God.  We found a talk by Jeffery R. Holland called The Grandeur of God that we loved (find talk HERE)!  We believe that it's important have a personal relationship with God and this talk spoke about a great way to know God is to know Jesus Christ.  Jesus was the ultimate example of God's character.

Do you do something like a family theme?    

(Last year's family theme - HERE)

An Immeasurable Force. . .

Women supporting women is a force not fully understood in my opinion!  Those who have felt the support from other women know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's a feeling of receiving strength and courage from another human being that isn't necessarily your spouse or partner; at the same time its a feeling that I struggle to define.  

I have felt the support of strong women through different experiences in my life, and it's a feeling I welcome, and at times I crave.  Because I've been blessed with strong women who have influenced my life for good, I hope I can return the favor to others.  I want ALL women to feel what I've felt, and I'm happy to share that strength and encouragement with you!

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To all the wonderful ladies I know and have crossed paths with:  I feel honored to know you.  I may not always show my support publicly, but know that I am on your side cheering you on!

    

Our Simple Life Lately. . .

Joseph and I lead a pretty simple life, and we try to make sure it stays that way.  We lead a simple life intentionally.  Could we have crazy schedules packed with appointments going here and there just like everyone else these days?  Of course we could, but that kind of busy life is torture in my opinion, and completely unnecessary; I know because I used to lead a crazy busy life, and I wasn't happy about it.  A few years ago I came to the realization that I actually have complete control of my life, so I took control of it!

Our life lately has been the usual running our business and planning for our future move.  We're excited to move, but there is a lot about this place I'm going to miss.  I absolutely love Plano and all that is available to us here-I've never lived in a place quite like it actually-and I will miss it here.  That said, I'm more excited to get back to a quiet place with less available to us.  Getting back to homesteading has been our goal since we left our homestead in Utah; to say I'm excited is an understatement!

Friday Joseph and I took a road trip to Oklahoma to visit a friend, and of course we were driving in a snow storm the entire trip!  The roads weren't too bad, but other drivers were either super cautious or not cautious enough, so a three hour drive took about six hours.

Lucky for us we love road trips!  We jammed to music, read articles about the Doves Bible and talked about religion, politics, and our children.

    
We met with our friend Marc, and his wife gave us this beautiful loaf of Challah!  Every Friday Marc's wife bakes bread; she makes two loafs, one for their family, and one to give away.  What a wonderful tradition!  It reminds me of my mom's Love Cake.  Every time my mom makes Love Cake she makes two, one for the family, and one to give away, hence the name of the cake.  Kind gestures like these are what makes life enjoyable in my opinion!  I think I need to start this tradition in our family!

Tonight Joseph and I met our friends Alexis and John at Chili's and enjoyed a great dinner and conversation! We know amazing people, and our life is blessed because of who we know!

How is your life been lately?

HERE is a link to my mom's Love Cake recipe!  Enjoy! 

Artichoke/Spinach Dip!

I had to share this recipe 'cause it is really delicious! 

It's super easy to make; I hope you like it!

A Thanksgiving House!

A Thanksgiving House:  A house that welcomes you in just by driving by it.  It is a cozy house, with a lot of windows that let a ton of natural light in, and that are also perfect for hanging holiday wreaths.  As you drive by the house you can imagine entertaining family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner, and you know the house smells like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

The definition of a Thanksgiving House is my criterion when house hunting, along with a few other criteria specific for the needs of my family.  But if the house doesn't say "Thanksgiving House", it's not a keeper.  Joseph and I have been looking for the perfect home that would fit our needs, lifestyle, and business, pretty much since we arrived in Texas almost two years ago.  We found a great home in Wills Point, about 40 miles east of Dallas.  We're super excited to move in and get back to homesteading, expanding our business, and hopefully win custody of our three children!

Here are some photos of our new home!  

Here's to Eidolon House!!!