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Christina

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Being Overwhelmed

I’m struggling a lot with being overwhelmed today. Between running a business, running a household and trying to blog, I often find myself buried in a very long To Do list and a very long (and full of longing) Want To Do list. I honestly don’t believe in that thing called “balance”. I don’t think achieving balance is possible. I think life tends to be more of a see saw. Some days we are weighed down in work, others in household responsibilities and on a very few rare occasions (at least for me) we feel light and lifted and are able to have some fun. Today I am weighed down. I’m a people pleaser so I often take on too much (like right now) and spend my days wishing I could tackle the things I want to do, rather than the things I have to do. Instead, I will finish this blog…

What crumbs are you leaving behind?

I rarely share my faith publicly. In today’s world it gets messy pretty fast. But this week as I did my daily Bible reading and devotional and came across a story of a woman who had the courage to confront (yes, confront) Jesus, I felt moved to share. I realize this might not be your cup of tea, but I encourage you to be open minded and give it a go anyway. Hate has been on my mind a lot recently. It’s a hot topic. There are lots of stories in the news revolving around it. We see the world through our own personal experiences and society around us, and y’all, I have to believe that hate is learned. No one is born with hate in their heart. Society teaches us to hate. I’m convinced of that. I also think hate can be spread from the pulpit. Oh, we couch it in “God…

Change, Change, Change…

****Insert awesome, magazine quality photo here because WordPress was being stupid and wouldn’t let me upload**** Change and I are not good friends. Not at all. We’re more like when you see someone at the mall that you knew in high school but you had a mutual dislike for one another and so you do the “look” and maybe the nod, but not the stop and talk. Or worse, we’re like when you see someone who didn’t like you at all in high school but now that you’re adults they seem to have forgotten that and when they see you they go, “Oh my gosh! HEY! It’s so nice to see you!” *gag* Yeah, so we’re not friends. Which is why the last couple of months have been a bit rough, and why I’ve not been around the blog. I mean, no one wants to hear me whine, right? Right. Here’s what’s…

Advice For Graduates (I’m not as old as your mama so you can listen…)

Dear Graduates of 2015 (and beyond), Seventeen (17!) years ago TODAY, I graduated high school. Yes, that’s right. When I was 18 – you were being born. Yes, I’m old. Old enough to know a few things, but not too old to be a fuddy duddy. (Wait, does using the phrase fuddy duddy make me one? Whatever. I’m not that old.) I’m here to fill you in on a few things that will happen or are necessities now that you are full grown adults. And yes, you are. Your parents probably won’t see you that way for awhile, but that’s why I’m here. I know right now you’re probably rolling your eyes because another “adult” wants to give you advice. That’s fine. Just know that when you are almost 36, lots of 18 year olds are going to be rolling their eyes at you too. Karma is like that. Lets get down to business, shall…

Why I Won’t Be Celebrating Mother’s Day

Friends, this weekend is going to be extremely hard for me. While most of you are out celebrating either being a mom or celebrating the woman who *is* your mom, I won’t be celebrating. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. You see, I’m 35 and I don’t have kids – not from a lack of trying, it just doesn’t seem to be happening. And yet, I still get “So when are you going to get pregnant?” or “I bet your dad would love more grandkids”, as though it were entirely up to me. On top of that, I don’t have a mother. She died when I was 27. She didn’t get to see me get married. She won’t be around if nature ever decides to grant me children (doubtful). Losing your mom just as you’re beginning to get it together as an adult is extremely hard. Much harder…

Spring DeJunk Challenge – My Process to Purging the Junk

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Spring De-Junk Challenge and Giveaway. Organizing and cleaning your home is much more fun with a friend, so join us, and let’s get de-junking! Today is Day 1 of our 10-Day Challenge to Clean, Organize and De Junk Your Home for Spring. If you missed the post introducing the challenge, click here for directions and details. Today, I thought I’d share with you my simple process for purging and clearing out the clutter – my husband would say it doesn’t happen often enough 😉 – but it really is easy! Any time I work to organize and clear the junk out of a space I like to move quickly and clear everything out in one fell swoop. But, you need somewhere to put all that “stuff” that you’re going through so yesterday I ran to Lowe’s and grabbed 3 boxes, the kind you’d use for packing…

Declutter Your Home! Spring De-Junk Challenge and GIVEAWAY!

Hey guys! While preparing for my dad’s visit last week from Florida, it became even clearer to me that I have got to purge this house of unwanted “stuff” so I’m super excited to be participating in Heidi from OneCreativeMommy’s #SpringDeJunkChallenge from April 27th through May 7th. No really, I’ve even gotten hubby on board. (He may have been subtly hinting that we have too much stuff…and I may have been putting it off…a lot.) And guess what?? YOU can play along too and maybe, just maybe win some money? Who can use some extra money? *raises hand* I bet you can too. Are you with me? Welcome to the Spring De-Junk Challenge and Giveaway! We’re announcing the challenge a week early so that you have time to mark your calendar to be ready to join us on Day 1. The Instagram Challenge: For 10 days, do one thing every day to make some…

Top Secret Blogger Tip #6 – Round Ups

Round ups – an easy post to throw up and fill editorial calendar space, while highlighting your new blogging friend’s work. If you’ve been around long enough in this world of ours, you know these became popular quickly and (hopefully) drive great traffic. I’ll admit that what I’m about to share is simple, but it was another “duh” moment for me. I always kind of saw these as filler posts; ways to share other people’s work and get attention on Pinterest. I never really considered how they could benefit me aside from getting repins or being eye catching because I had “50 Ways to Cook Eggs” or “12 Crafts Perfect for Toddlers!”. Here’s what I’ve learned from my clients: bigger bloggers round up and share their own work in round ups. Y’all, my first thought was, “Is that allowed?” Um, DUH Christina, it’s your blog, you can do whatever the heck…

Top Secret Blogging Tips #5 – Social Media

Last week, we talked about self-promotion and how you need people around you who will be willing to promote you and that you need to be willing to promote others. Why? Because of the bigger bloggers I work for, all of them post around the clock on social media. Day. Night. Weekends. When you’re probably asleep (but the other half of the world is wide awake). So how do they do this? Well no one is staying up 24 hours a day to post on social media. Instead, they utilize a variety of scheduling tools. Yes, we’ve mentioned that they have staff – virtual assistants like me – or family and friends that help them out. But even with people to help out, no one can do it all and do it 24 hours a day. The lesson here? You need to utilize scheduling programs as much as possible.…

Easy Bunny Wreath

Last Friday, I confessed that I struggle a lot with allowing time for myself. So this week, I decided to make a point of it. Even though I should have been putting in extra work hours or cleaning the house, I took an hour for myself over a couple of days and whipped up this “wreath” for Easter. I really wanted time to do more, but such is life. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered this cute bare wood bunny form from Pick Your Plum, personalized with the letter L for our last name. This one isn’t available anymore, but they do things like this all the time so keep an eye out. It was really easy (and relaxing!) from there. I painted it a shimmery pink (Martha Stewart Pink Taffeta) and let it dry overnight. To make the polka dots I used white acrylic paint and used…