Jordy Liz Blogs: June 2012

Finding the balance.

June 28, 2012

As women, I feel like we tend to try and take everything on at once. Today, I'm inviting Bethany in to share how she finds the balance in her life. You can head over to her blog and see my answer to the question as well!

Hey there! I'm Bethany from Happy Homemaker Me

I'm the daughter of a God who loves irony. This week, as I've been writing this post over and over in my head, the God who took Zechariah's mocking, whiny mouth and made him mute until after his son, John the Baptist, was born, reminded me that balance is something that is not easily attained in my life right now.

In the past twelve months, I've gone from being a full-time teacher to a work-from-home new mommy to our sweet Kayleigh Grace. Now that it's summer, I've been able to toss the job hat for a few months and purely be a wife and mom. I'm loving it!

Even though I thought life as a SAHM would be so much easier now that I'm not balancing work on top of it, God has reminded me this week that that isn't always true.

This week, my sweet munchkin is getting two new teeth (or maybe four, or maybe all of them are coming in at once! I don't know; my poor baby is just miserable). This week, instead of having a day for washing the whites and a day for scrubbing the kitchen floors, I have spent every moment that Kayleigh is awake holding her and soothing her. Everything else has been put on the back burner. And while I stressed about this post and wondered how on earth I was going to share with all of you about how I've got it figured out and pretend that my life is perfectly balanced, I couldn't actually get to writing it. Sometimes, there's no balance in life except for what's right in front of you.

This week's focus was making Kayleigh feel loved. There are piles of clean laundry heaped back in their baskets waiting to be folded, and I'm pretty sure something spilled in my fridge during a frantic search for something cold for Kayleigh to snack on. It all just has to wait. During weeks like these, there's only so much you can do. {For the record, I hate teething! It's the only thing that takes my precious, happy girl and turns her into a pitiful, feverish little mess who can only sleep for 10 minutes at a time for 3 straight days. Teething should be banned--their gummy, toothless smiles are so much cuter, anyway!}

It's easy to feel like I've failed this week. But at the same time, I think I've struck gold on something. My priorities in life are God and my loved ones, and this has definitely been a week of spending time with them. Many an extra prayer has been whispered that God would take away Kayleigh's pain and bring the teeth in quickly, lots of cuddling, singing, and dancing with my sweet girl has taken place, and by the end of the day when Handsome Man comes home from working at church, the laundry hasn't been the first thing on either of our minds.

Sometimes, God uses irony to give us a loving nudge, and this week, I've learned my lesson. My well-scheduled life is not in my hands, but I'm much happier to leave it in His.

Now it's your turn! Write a post about how you find the balance between responsibilities and joys in your life and link up below.

Rules for the Blog Hop:

Please follow both Jordy Liz Blogs and Happy Homemaker Me via Google Friend Connect.

Visit at least one other blogger who linked up and leave an encouraging comment.

Write your own answer to the question and share this button in your post:

My lack of a green thumb.

June 27, 2012

I have absolutely no green thumb.

My mother-in-law bought us a plant not long ago, and within a week, the green plant was yellow. I didn't know how often to water it, so I watered it when it looked a little frail. What I found out too late was that Chris was coming behind me each morning and watering it himself. Together, we managed to kill a very easy-to-care-for plant.

I am happy to report that when my mother-in law came over and saw the harm we had done, she took it home to revive it and it is currently living a very healthy, green life.

This last Saturday, I went to the Farmer's Market with Emily and Nicole. Walking around and seeing all of the fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs made me desperately wish I could garden.

Squash, onions, and garlic...

...tomatoes and peppers...

...watermelon and whatever-that-white-vegetable-is...

...freshly sprayed lettuce and cucumbers and oh, the white vegetables are called patty pans!

There was bread. Bread I can do.

And books. Books, I can really do.

I love, love goat cheese. But I have no goats. Although, a goat would be fun.

The honey dippers are just cute.

Watermelons are a must for summer.

And whatever this herb is, it's pretty.

And this? Oh, this would be my first garden. Did you know an artichoke, when not picked, blooms? I'll take an entire backyard of unpicked artichokes, please.

I love carrots on the stem. And I know someone else who does, too...

...so I made sure to bring her a bunch.

My idea of gardening is taking advantage of the goods from others' gardens.

Organizing Life: Week five challenge.

Make sure to link up your challenges for this last week!

Let's get going on week five.

You'll have a week to complete this next challenge and you can come back on Tuesday, July 2 to link up.

This can be any hidden spot in the house that no one else sees. For me, it will be underneath my end table.

Especially because it's a hidden spot, it is so easy for us to stock stuff away knowing no one will ever know it's there.

We do that often in life, period.

I look forward to seeing your spaces next Tuesday!

Make sure to use the button below on your post - just copy and paste the code.

Let's organize life.

Organizing Life: A shelf.

June 26, 2012

This week, I organized a shelf.

I took on the bookshelf in our guest room. It's full of all my books collected from years and years and years. I read a book, put it on the shelf, and then never read it again. Yet, I keep it. I buy a book, intend to read it, put it on the shelf, and then don't get around to it. After many, many moves with heavy boxes of books, I was tired of hanging on to books I didn't need.

So, I did my best to streamline it.

One of the reasons I hang on to books is because of the words. I underline and highlights word that are meaningful to me. To help streamline this, I started a Google Doc that lists the book's title, author, quote, character and page number. I now have a library of quotes at my fingertips without the bulkiness of the books.

I decided to organize it in a way that would help me stay accountable to books I need to read and created one of the shelves to be my "to read" shelf. I typically like to keep all my faith-based books as references and books to pass along.

To keep a list of books I've read and books I want to read, I scanned all of my books into my GoodReads app with their handy barcode scanner.

I also took out all of the books I no longer wanted. I plan on selling these back on Amazon or passing them along to friends.

How did you do? Link up your post below!

Let's organize life.

How do you find the balance?

June 25, 2012

I came home from a long day of work and went straight to dinner with my husband for a church fundraiser. After dinner, we went to see a friend's new place and I am now watching the Bachelorette while answering emails and uploading this blog post. After this, I'll upload one more blog post, finish my Organizing Life challenge and send off a signed editing contract.

I don't feel like I "do it all," but some days, it seems like I have to somehow manage to figure out how to do it all. I'm a wife, daughter, friend, employee, blogger, and freelance editor. Somehow, I have to find the balance so I can give each of those roles my all.

This week, I am teaming up with Bethany at Happy Homemaker Me. We are reaching out to our readers to figure out how others find the balance in their lives.

We'd love for you to join in on the conversation and write your own post about finding the balance. You can come back and link up this Thursday, June 28.

Now, back to balancing.

The last week in pictures.

June 24, 2012

Summer in this part of Arizona means two certainties: excessive heat and dust storms. We had our first dust storm of the season last weekend.

It's basically a really windy, sometimes destructive storm, except instead of rain, it's dust.

A lot of dust.

The sky goes brown and the sun disappears.

I am slowly getting acclimated to the triple-digit weather for the fifth summer in a row. I don't know if it's possible.

We watched Mia's cousin Blue the other week which means we had two sets of eyes watching every single person, dog or leaf that dared to move past our house.

And when the curtains closed for the night, Mia continued to stay on watch.

Mia is a morning dog and waits patiently and excitedly for her dad to get out of the shower every morning.

Summertime means the sun stays out longer, letting the sunsets stretch through the nights. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the beauty of the mountains in Arizona.

Three years ago on Wednesday, we met at this local establishment.

We celebrated by balancing the checkbook, reading a magazine, and calling it a night at 10:30.

Thankful for sweet friends like this one.

Chris took the scenic route on the way home from dinner the other night. I love the lights on this bridge.

Grocery store flowers are just as good in my book.

I had brunch with a few lovely ladies on Saturday morning (Emily, Nicole and Tara).

We went to the Farmers' Market prior to brunch and found out that artichokes, when not picked, bloom! This beauty is donning my dining room table as I write.

And I couldn't leave the Farmers' Market without bringing home a treat for this one.

Thankful for the many moment of beauty this last week.

All photos taken via Instagram. Follow me @jordyliz!

What's on the menu?

June 21, 2012

I've been couponing for a little over a year now. It's amazing what an hour a week can save - $30, $50, or even $70 at the store. I recently went to a coupon class hosted by Melissa Hurst who blogs over at Saving Cents with Sense. It was a great refresher course on the basics of couponing, and in July, I'm going to an advanced class. The more money I can save at the store means there can be more money put into ~~Target~~ savings. (Maybe a little at Target.)

I am writing about meal planning over at Melissa's blog today. Head on over to see how we plan dinners for our little family of two and grab a free printable while you're there to help you get started.

If you live in Arizona and are interested in attending some of Melissa's upcoming classes, check out the beginner's class on June 30 or July 28.

How do you plan out the week's meals in an effort to save money?

Dear Chris, We met three years ago today.

June 20, 2012

Dear Chris,

Three years ago tonight, I met up with a few girlfriends at a local, dusty bar. I had just been on an awful date the night before and there I was, again, jaded and guarded.

But then you walked in and before I knew it, we were talking. And I stood there, guarded, but you kept at it. I excused myself for just a moment, and that's when I heard it. I heard Him. His voice. He said, "This is it."

It's been three years since you got my number. Three years since you took me on our first date. Three years since I let in to what would become the rest of my life.

Sometimes when it's hard, and we both know there have been hard times, I wonder if we jumped in too soon. If three months to engaged was a quick step. Or if a five month engagement wasn't long enough. I wonder if getting married nine months to the day we met was cutting it short.

And then I hear those words again, so clearly, "This is it."

This is it. We are it.

The thing is, it was all right at the time. Something in me - something in you - was so strongly pulled that night. If at the time it felt right, so, so right, then who am I to question it?

It's what keeps me devoted on the days when I question and doubt. That feelings, those words, the certainty of that night keeps me focused on the long haul.

We were certain of each other. We were certain we were in the other's next chapter. We were certain the rest of our stories would be penned by the other.

I don't blink an eye at those who fall in love in just a few weeks. I don't think twice about those who others see as rushing into it. I now believe in love at first sight, first meeting.

We had it. We still have it. It's a story to tell, and I tell it often.

And each time I pass by the dusty bar, I think, "That was it."

You are it.

I love you,

Organizing life: Week four challenge.

Make sure to link up your challenges for this last week!

Let's get going on week four.

You'll have a week to complete this next challenge and you can come back on Tuesday, June 26 to link up.

This can be any shelf in the house. For me, it will be the bookshelves.

Since the shelf is out in the open, what do I want seen?

What can be placed elsewhere?

What can I give away?

I look forward to seeing your spaces next Tuesday!
Make sure to use the button below on your post - just copy and paste the code.

Let's organize life.

Organizing Life: A catch-all spot.

June 19, 2012

Some days, I feel like our entire house becomes a catch-all spot. We used to dump everything on our dining room table as we came into the house: purse, keys, sunglasses, mail, books, and shopping bags. Then, I found an inexpensive mail sorter and a neat wooden bin to try to catch everything.

It worked for a while, but then I noticed some problems. First, the bins were too small and would fill up within just a few days. Second, the open bin revealed our mess and I felt like I had to keep that clean, too.

Recently, I solved both problems. I found a cute mail sorter at a discount store that had three bins: one for me, one for Chris, and one for us. The "us" includes coupons, dinner deals and grocery ads. I also found a wicker basket at a garage sale with a lid where I could store some necessities: extra sets of keys, pens and pencils, and scissors. I keep a pad of paper off to the side to capture any notes or messages.

Now we just have to really break the habit of dumping everything on the dining room table. And kitchen counter. And coffee table.

How did the challenge go for you this week? Link up!