Tag Archives: Intentional living

Christian Faith, Farm Life, Personal Goals

A Day to Remember on the Farm

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It’s amazing when a plan comes together and goes better than you imagined. That’s what happened this past Sunday, March 19, 2023, when firefighters from three nearby areas came to our farm and executed a controlled burn on one of the two houses. In less than two hours, it completely burned to the ground, yet the planning and preparation had been in the works for 4 ½ years, since the Fall of 2017.

You may wonder why we would demolish a home, especially one that:

  • Was a landmark on our historic farm and rich in history 
  • Was my husband’s childhood home 
  • Served as a temporary home to our family from June – October 2021, while we waited for the remodel next door to be complete 

Let me explain

My husband’s family farm is nearly 200 years old. It has been passed down from father to son for six generations. During those generations, several homes were constructed on the property.

The original home was a log cabin. Then in 1854, the home we’re talking about was built (pictured below in 1910). It was the home of my husband Tom’s great-great-great-grandfather.

Later, in 1911, Tom’s great-grandfather built another house on the property right next door — the home we remodeled and restored in 2021 and live in now. 

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Health and Fitness, Mindfulness, Motivation

Begin to Savor

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This post contains an affiliate link. For details, see my full disclosure policy.

When you hear something new, you may think: “That’s interesting.” But when you hear the same thing multiple times from different sources, you might think: “I need to take note of this.” That’s what happened to me with the idea of savoring. 

I heard it first from author and speaker, Mel Robbins, while watching several of her short YouTube segments. I also heard about it from the healthy habits program that’s helping me lose weight and maintain a healthy mindset. And then I heard about it again during a webinar I attended at work. My conclusion: “There must be something to this, and I ought to try it.” 

What is savoring?

Savoring is a type of mindfulness that allows you to use all your senses – taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound. It’s about slowing down and noticing – becoming aware of what’s happening around you and appreciating the goodness. The appreciation is what counts.  Savoring allows us to fully enjoy our experiences and prevents us from letting them pass by unappreciated.

According to positivepsycholpedia.com, it’s defined as “the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and enhance the positive experiences in your life.” When we savor, we’re having positive feelings and we’re aware of them.

Examples

Mel Robbins described many items she has in her dining room that bring her joy and that she appreciates. For example, she mentioned her crystal chandelier over the table that, for a brief time every afternoon when the sun shines through the crystals, sprays rainbow prisms all over the walls. To her, it’s a beautiful sight. 

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Motivation, Parenting and Motherhood, Personal Goals

3 Things I Learned from My Failed Blog

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3 Things I Learned from My Failed Blog

This post contains an affiliate link. Please see my full disclosure policy.

Just because you can’t right now, doesn’t mean you can’t ever! What are you wanting to achieve in 2022 that you aren’t quite sure you’ll be able to do? Do you have big dreams and goals that feel a bit out of reach? I do, too. But let me encourage you with a quick story about a failed blog of mine.

My Story

When I became a mom in 2010, I realized just how much I had to learn. Babies don’t come with instruction manuals or directions, and I was clueless about so many things!

Working only part-time and with a love of writing, I wondered if I could start a blog and chronicle all that I was having to figure out and learn. I thought it might help other young moms and give me something else to do when the days grew long with just me and my baby at home.

I went online and bought a domain name and website. I called it, “A Learning Mom”. That was fitting, and I liked the sound of “alearningmom.com”. Nice ring to it, don’t you think?

The problem was, I had no idea how to start a blog, format it, add new posts, new pages, pictures — no clue! I had a website with a fancy colorful title, but nothing else.

The idea quickly died…a total failed attempt.

Mind you, this was back in the day when Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning wasn’t a thing — or if it was, it wasn’t sophisticated or well known. Though I had an interest in blogging, my phone and computer were unaware and unable to push helpful content to me. As a result, the idea quickly died, and I let the domain name and website go. A total failed attempt at blogging.

Fast forward to 2017 and 2018. I signed up for a course about blogging, and then — thanks to AI and machine learning — was inundated with information and training on starting a blog. New content and tempting courses filled my social media newsfeeds daily.

This time, there was no stopping me. Originally, I had only the desire. But now I had the desire plus the knowledge and ability!

With this new blog, I broadened the title and subject matter, and thus Yours Intentionally was born!

Here’s the lesson from this tale.

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Christian Faith, Farm Life

Living on the farm: 5 weeks in!

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Why would we do such a thing?

Just over a month ago, my daughters and I moved out of state, out of our comfortable in-town living, and began a new life in the country on a farm. Homesteading, I think, is the official term for what we’re doing. Wow, what a change!

Thankfully, the farm wasn’t foreign to us. It’s been in my husband’s family for multiple generations, and we visited often since the girls were born to see their grandpa. Once my father-in-law passed and my husband inherited the farm, along with his identical twin brother, our visits became more frequent and longer. 

L to R: my brother-in-law, the girls and I, and my husband. Plus our Black Labs.

Still, visiting a farm and living on a farm are quite different. Especially a farm that needs a ton of work and rejuvenation.

We’re demolishing out-buildings, tearing out rotted fences, taking down dead trees, saving for and scheduling a barn-roof repair, restoring and fixing up tractors, and remodeling one of the two farmhouses. (And when I say “we,” I mostly mean: my husband, his brother, and a whole slew of people we’ve hired to do this, that, and the other thing.) The girls and I help when we can, but much of the work is either on a grand scale or requires specialized skills. 

In the meantime, we’re living in the older of the two houses, which is where my husband grew up while his grandparents lived next door. The oldest farmhouse, built in 1854 by a local builder, while neat in its own right, is a place to stay but one that offers very few amenities. We’re living without central air — in June, July & August. We’re without a dishwasher and have no oven or stove — which I can tell you makes meal planning way more difficult. We also have 5 people in the house and only 1 teeny-tiny bathroom.  Also, I’ll spare you the dramatic story,  but we had a bat flying around our living space recently at bedtime, which was a definite first for me. 

Our temporary housing
Our temporary housing

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Christian Faith, Mindfulness, Parenting and Motherhood

The 3 Best Times for Connection with Kids

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I grew up in a household where open conversation and dialogue was welcomed. It was how we established trust and a deep sense of unconditional love, acceptance and belonging. My parents welcomed questions and conversations about the hard stuff and the big stuff, but they showed a genuine interest in the little stuff of everyday life, too – and that’s where true connection happens with kids.

Times have changed, and we now live in a digital world in which it often feels like everyone in the household (no matter the age) is behind a screen and uninterested in engaging in conversation. Though it seems that way, that couldn’t be further from the truth. People are still interested in connecting; we just have to be more intentional about making it happen.

From my experience

I’ve found 3 times that are best for true connection with my kids. Times when no screens are present and open conversation and dialogue occur freely and naturally. I welcome these times because I, like my parents, want to let my kids know we have a relationship of trust, they are loved unconditionally, they are accepted, and they belong.

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Farm Life, Life Events

An Inheritance, Of Sorts

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You may have noticed all the farm-themed pictures on my blog. There’s a reason for that.

My husband, Tom, and his twin brother, Jim, recently inherited a farm on approximately 175 acres in southeast Michigan that’s been in their family since 1836 – before Michigan was a state! It’s been passed down father to son (or sons) for the past six generations! 

Before Tom’s dad passed away in 2017, we knew the farm was destined to be passed on in this same way and left jointly to Tom and Jim, but we feared what that would mean for us.

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Motivation, Personal Goals

Intentional Living

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I love to read. It’s one of my favorite hobbies. I can get lost in a good novel, but most of my life I’ve been drawn to motivational books. The “how-to” books of living a better life. 

I have a passion for learning and broadening my thinking. However, my love of motivational books goes deeper than that. Secretly (since very few people know this about me), I’ve always dreamt of writing one of those action-inspiring, how-to books to help others change and improve their lives. I also aspire to be a motivational speaker. (Tony Robbins is my role model. In high school, I was buying his books and tapes and longing to be just like him.)

I’m not a best-selling author or motivational speaker (yet!), but life has been teaching me all sorts of lessons lately that one day may make an awesome book and inspiring talk from a stage. In the meantime, I continue to read others’ books and apply what I learn.

Intentional Living
John C Maxwell

One book in particular was the inspiration for my blog yoursintentionally.com. It was John C. Maxwell’s Intentional Living – Choosing a Life that Matters. That book changed my perspective, and my life, dramatically.

It taught me the difference between good intentions (wishing, desiring, and hoping) and intentional living (having purpose, taking action, making today count).

It also included practical advice for making your life matter, such as putting others first, adding value to others, seizing opportunities, and more. All of which I try to do. 

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