My Goals for 2018

Happy Saturday, friends. :)

January is almost over and all month I've been thinking that I'd like to hop on here and share my goals for this year. I'm not sure if it will be fun for anyone else to read them, haha, but it helps me to write them out again and really make sure they're still sticking a month after setting them.

In past years, I've shared my name for the year or my monthly goals on this blog. It feels good to be back! In December, I used Christmas money to purchase a really great tool called Powersheets (I'll link to them here). Powersheets are an intentional goal planner. It's less of a calendar and more of a process that helps you really think about your life and what matters most to you. From there, it helps you break down those big life goals into tiny daily, weekly, and monthly goals.

I heard a quote once that said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives" (Annie Dilliard). It really is the little stuff in each day that adds up to make our lives. It has also helped me to think about what will matter to me at the end of my life... what will I want to look back on?

By the way, this isn't sponsored by Powersheets or anything like that, I just love this tool and think goal setting is fun! :)

So without further ado, here are my 2018 goals. :) They are really general but below each goal, I've shared a couple of the practical measurable things I'll do throughout the year to make those goals happen.

1. Cultivate my relationship with my husband and best friend, Luke. 
1. How? 
1. Through monthly date nights 
2. Being generous with my words
3. Encouraging Luke to take set aside time for himself each week
4. By praying for him (and us) 
5. Celebrating 6 years of marriage in November!
2. Cultivate my relationship with my girls through presence and parenting led by love, not fear.
1. How?
1. By using the Moment App to spend less time on my phone and more time face to face with them. 
2. Through daily prayer for them
3. Spending quality time with them individually and together
4. By celebrating birthdays!! :) The introvert/nervous nellie in me tends to avoid birthday parties but I want to be led by love not fear in this area.
5. By creating a special place in our house to learn and create together 
3. Cultivate deep, strong roots in my faith and a deeper love for the Church 
1. How? 
1. Using my Write the Word Journal for prayer and Bible reading
2. Joining a women's bible study and staying connected/committed to it
3. Memorizing scripture with my girls
4. Cultivate our peace filled home, to be a place of rest and joy.
1. How? 
1. Inviting people into our home
2. Weekly home improvements - really small, free, or super cheap! :)
3. Regular declutter of spaces, drawers, closets, etc.
4. Daily 15-minute cleaning sprees where I set the timer for 15 minutes and see what I can get done (This works so well in our house!)
5. Cultivate a healthy mind and body.
1. How? 
1. Holy Yoga 5x a week (I love this so much more than I could have guessed!)
2. Starting the day with water
3. Learning to be a good listener to my body
4. Starting the week with a planning time with Luke (then filling in calendar)
5. Scheduling regular haircuts, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, etc.
6. Cultivate a vision for our finances, to be generous and faithful!
1. How?
1. Sitting down weekly to review bills, budget, and tithing (on my own)
2. 1-2x a month check in with Luke on our finances (I handle most finance stuff because I really enjoy it! I just want to make sure we're on the same page and making progress toward our goals) :)
3. Together, write out a vision plan for our finances this year (includes giving, saving goals, paying down debt, large purchases (second car), etc.)
4. Figure out what it means to be generous when it doesn't feel like you have a lot of "extra"
7. Cultivate my style/closet so that it feels peace-filled, easy, and "like me"
1. How?
1. Cleaning out my style Pinterest board to clothes that I'd really wear in real life :)
2. Updating it with new pins and getting a good feel for the style I like.
3. Cleaning out my closet
4. Making a plan - what should be added to make my clothes work better for me? Think, what can be purchased at a thrift store (plain gray tees)? What needs to be bought elsewhere (jeans)?
8.  So this final goal... I'm almost a month into my 2018 goals and I feel like something is missing in the area of friendship or loving other people. Maybe... cultivate my love for other people... cultivate friendships? Something about friendship. :) I'll think on it and update soon!

So there you go! :) I hope reading this didn't feel overwhelming. If it did, remember that your goals don't need to look like anyone else's goals and we all think and plan differently. You've gotta do what works for you. :) The Powersheets took me through hours of prep work so by the time that was all done, my goals really become clear on their own. It becomes easy to let go of the things you "should do" so that you can invest in what really matters to you. 

Finally, after creating my yearly goals and listing some of those "how?" ideas under each (what you see above), I turned them into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Powersheets provides a neat worksheet to keep them all organized. :) I update my tending list daily to keep track of my progress. 

Okay! I'm at a new pretty Starbucks and ready to work on my goals for February! I'll be back soon with my January goals progress and my new goals for February. 

Happy weekend, sweet people.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Bonnie

P.S. My husband started a really cool project this month and I'm so proud of him. He loves to write and has such a unique style. Right now, my favorites are his poems and photography. He often casually shows me pictures he's taken and they take my breath away! Haha but anyway, go check out his blog where he shares short stories, reviews, and other creative writing! :) Just click here. 

Monday Night Mama Thoughts :: waiting for our baby's arrival

Baby girl # 2 @ 36 weeks

It's late late (11:41pm) on a Monday night and I'm sitting in bed with lots of thoughts in my head. Everything that happens, like a message from a loved one or a certain kind of motion in my belly, makes me think maybe it's time. I didn't have this same suspense when Bekah was born. She arrived 3 weeks early... totally unexpected and wonderful.

Before settling in for the night, Luke and I talked about Bekah, like we often do. I asked "What was something funny that Bekah did today?" I asked because I could easily think of a dozen things if I took the time. She makes me laugh so much. I chose the multiple times today when she kept showing up with a crumpled something in her hand... a napkin or a water bottle wrapper all compressed in her fist. Her tiny fist hid it from our sight and then all of a sudden, like a magician, she would pull on the wrapper or napkin and watch it slowly spread out from tiny-toddler-fist size to grow and grow and grow. I don't know why it was so funny to us... haha. Her presentation was really good!

I had a bunch of strong contractions last week. Apparently that's normal but for about 30 minutes, Luke and I thought it was the real deal. A couple days later, I was standing in Target talking with my friend Jen and I told her it was so cool having Bekah around during that time. She was such a calming presence. In the toughest moments of labor with Bekah, I remember loosing sight of what was to come. Everything felt uncertain and unfamiliar... I was thinking about the struggle and not so much the end result. I had never met my child before. I couldn't imagine what it would be like when they laid her on my chest for the first time... I can still remember that weight and how amazing and squirmy she was. I loved the sound of Bekah's voice right away. Now I know even more than that. I know what it's like to hear your baby laugh, to see her (unique, wonderful, complex) personality develop, and to love her so much you can't find words for it. I can't wait to experience that with this little girl still in my belly.

My beautiful Bekah at about 20 weeks

When I was having contractions last week, Bekah was running around the house, being silly... coming to talk to me. And I thought about how I'd go through anything for her and that put labor in perspective. It is uncertain and I'll have to work through it one moment at a time, just like last time, but, man oh man, there is so much to look forward to in our future with this girl.

Just yesterday my friend Ashley threw a "baby blessing" for us after church. It meant the world to me... people like her make me want to grow leaps and bounds in thoughtfulness. Thank you, Ashley! We celebrated our little girl and were blessed with some wonderful gifts. Our friends Tom and Lana even gifted Luke with a Star Wars shirt.. so that was pretty awesome. :) For all the love and support we've received from family and friends I'm very humbled and very thankful. I pray often for my girls that God would give them amazing friendships all throughout their lives... He is so good at that.

Anyways. Thanks for reading my middle of the night and nine months pregnant thoughts. :) Tomorrow is a normal day at home... I'm looking forward to some more laughter with Bekah and an appointment with my midwife. Hope you're having a really good week.

Love,
Bonnie
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August will be crazy and wonderful :: 2 Big Changes!

It's the middle of the day and I'm sitting in bed, propped against the wall... feeling so so pregnant. :) I am currently 36 weeks and 4 days along. This has been a great pregnancy but I'm definitely feeling the shift to "baby time". The changes are uncomfortable but it's pretty cool how they have made me ready for the next stages of labor and delivery and becoming a family of four.

This morning, I went to our church for a couple of hours to help out in the office. I waddled across the parking lot to the door, felt crazy for taking the steps, and felt much better after joking around with the other ladies about this stage of pregnancy. :) Laughter is good. 

Proverbs 17:22 - love this verse... thankful for the promise of "good medicine" and strength!

All of these "very pregnant feelings" gave me motivation to get some baby-prep done today... washing and folding newborn clothes, cleaning up a little in Bekah's room, organizing and donating, etc. We have a lot to do before our little girl arrives but today was a step in the right direction. A waddle in the right direction. :)

I have some other fun news! We are in the process of buying a house! We will likely close in early or mid August. The whole house buying process has been fun, suspenseful, stressful, and pretty darn cool. Our realtor is a good friend and she's been absolutely amazing... I would recommend her to anyone! I think we visited six or seven properties before finding the right one. Friends recently told us that with each home they've bought, they always knew it was "the one" right away. They didn't have to talk themselves into it. That's what we wanted and we were very happy when we both felt that way as we toured this house. 

I love these fun colors and patterns... collecting inspiration for the "sisters" room in the new house

I can't wait to share pictures once we move in and to document some of the changes we make. For now, I'll just have to write about it. :)

Some of the things I'm most excited about are...

1. the first floor laundry room (does anyone else love hearing the sound of laundry during the day?)

2. a nice backyard with a swingset for our girls

3. cozy bedrooms that are a good blank slate

4. lots of character.... like bead board walls and wainscoting

5. a great location where were can walk to fun things

We're excited to learn a ton and have fun as first time home owners. God is such a faithful provider. There is a lot about this house that I could not have known to ask for... but He made it work out within our budget. 

So there we go! Two big reasons why August will be crazy and wonderful... the arrival of our daughter and moving into our first home. What do you have going on this summer? We're doing a lot of lounging around the living room, sleeping in (while we can haha), and playing with Bekah. She is so much fun. 

Love,

Bonnie

We Graduated! We Moved! It's Monday! :)

Last Friday, April 29th, was the big day! Luke and I graduated college. :) What an awesome 3 years... we left so thankful for our experiences at the University of Valley Forge and equally excited for what lies ahead.

The week leading up to graduation was craziness. Last assignments, graduation practice, my mom coming to town (and going out to BBQ with her... yum!), lots of goodbyes and then a busy busy graduation/moving day on Friday. We had so much help from family and friends... no idea how we would have made that move without them!

Luke with one of our AMAZING packing helpers :)

super sleepy girl... couldn't make it through service without a nap :)

Friday night after graduation, pictures, a yummy dinner with lots of loved ones in our nearly empty apartment, packing and checking out, we left campus for the last time as residents. Both Luke and I felt that we didn't want to rush the drive home. We've done that drive so many times this past year... every weekend, driving two hours each way to commute for work/church. It was a very sweet time, as always... just the two of us with our baby girl sleeping in the back seat. We listened to part of an audiobook and ate late night chick-fil-a sandwiches. :)

^^ Such a tough goodbye.. the amazing family I worked for while at school. Love them!

Luke's dad graduated from the same school :)

The past few days back in the Gettysburg area have been great. It does feel pretty unreal to be back. Today I was running around town getting groceries (a million thumbs up for living close to Aldi again!) and stopping by the bank while Luke was home on a lunch break. I couldn't stop smiling... it just feels like home here. The funny thing is, we felt very "at home" at school, too. It really was our home for three years and we embraced that. A big thing Luke and I have learned is that we can make anywhere home... but this home sure seems right.

One of the biggest changes for us is Luke's schedule. It's very special having the evenings to spend time as a family (with no thoughts of homework). This evening we took a walk around town, went to the playground, made stir-fry for dinner, and played outside. Luke just put our sleepy girl to bed... after she had some crazy time jumping from the coffee table to the couch. :)

All those silly little details to say... we are very happy in this time of transition. So happy for the past three years, so happy to know we are where God is asking us to be.

God gave us insanely wonderful friendships and memories and a beautiful life at UVF... we're looking forward to discovering life here again. :)

Hope you've had a great start to the week.
Love,
Bonnie


A couple things I'm into right now...

1. I love budgeting. I think it's creative and fun (usually) and makes me appreciate our money more. I came across this post by Lydia "Our Budget Under $1700" and loved her money saving ideas. Check out her other posts under "money talk"... they are all so fun and practical.

2. Like I mentioned above, I'm back to grocery shopping at Aldi. Today I tried out a new routine... I bought dairy, produce, and meat at Aldi (and a few other things) and the rest of my groceries at Target. I like doing this because Target carries the brands I prefer, but for some things, the brand really doesn't matter (like milk or fruit). I tried this routine today and ended up $6 under budget (goal is $90 per week)... woohoo! I like the Target Cartwheel app and checking our Aldi's weekly ad online. What's your grocery routine like? What else are you into right now?

Five Thoughts on my Rest Day

1. This morning I woke up about an hour and a half before Bekah. I got up, got some water and a bowl of cereal and crawled back in bed. I read blogs and enjoyed quiet time for probably about an hour. I got out of bed, got mostly ready for the day (my hair is pretty crazy right now) and picked up around our apartment.

2. Bekah woke up around then. I love getting her out of her crib in the morning. I picked her up and we hugged really tight on our way to the kitchen. I asked if she wanted oatmeal and of course she said "yeah. and milk". We snuggled a little more while he oatmeal cooked. We took turns adding milk to her oatmeal (she loves doing that) and blowing on it to cool it down. Her big blue eyes were about an inch from mine as I leaned over her highchair tray and we smiled at each other. Then both of us moved here to the table so I could type and talk with her while she eats.

3. This is my favorite way to start the day. :)

4. Today is my day off but I don't have many plans for it. I plan to read the Bible with Bekah when she finishes breakfast (we use YouVersion's The Bible App for Kids) then maybe we'll go outside. I've been sewing more recently, nothing big just little projects here and there. I think I'll do some of that today and try to stay away from my phone. :) Luke picked up The Force Awakens from Target today so hopefully we'll have time for a movie date!

5. Sometime today, Luke and I have to go to get our senior pictures taken. I'm sure we'll do some other financial aid related stuff while we're there, but the pictures are all I can think about. It is so strange. I went to bed last night a little frustrated with myself... for a really silly reason. We're getting these pictures taken and it feels like a monumental thing... like this picture will capture who I was at this pivotal moment in our lives (finishing college, moving, etc.). So dramatic. :) So I was frustrated with myself about my hair. Haha. I am not confident when it comes to styling my hair and my head is kinda on the larger side. The combo of wearing a graduation cap and not knowing how to style my hair with said cap is like a no-win situation for me. Haha so.... this morning I'm laughing about it and no longer frustrated. We'll see how it goes. ;)

Hope you have a really good day today. I'm looking forward to resting with my family and preparing for a great rest of the week. On Thursday we're going to start looking at houses!! We can't wait. What do you like to do on your rest days?

Love,
Bonnie

Our Happy Girly News!

Well, if you haven't heard our big news already - we are expecting again! Not only that, we're expecting a baby GIRL! I am 20 weeks along and our baby girl is doing great. We are very happy, thankful, and excited to meet our second daughter! Bekah is practicing her sister skills... but I think she's all set... she's going to rock at this. :)

On Thursday morning, the 24th, we had an 8 am appointment at the hospital. It was so surreal feeling being back in the same waiting room where we were 2 years, 1 month, and 14 days ago (I have a weird thing with remembering dates)... but this time Luke and I had a toddler with us!

It was really special to have Bekah in the ultrasound room with us. Whenever she wants to watch TV at home, she says "show!" so we told her we were all going to watch a baby show. That helped her stay content for a while. :) The scan went great... Bek pointed out the baby on the screen saying "Bebe! Baby!" over and over. She loved answering questions and even guessed that she'd have a sister when we asked her one last time before finding out. I had sort of thought for a while that this little bebe (in Bekah's words) was a girl, so I wasn't exactly surprised but very very happy! I kept thinking "It is so cool that Bekah has a sister!". I have three older sisters and the older I get, they become more and more special to me. I'm grateful that Bekah and her baby sis will get to experience that too.

Don't worry, Aaron. (My younger brother) I love you too... I really hope my girls end up with a few brothers like you!

I forgot how uncomfortable that 20 week appointment is... haha. At 20 weeks pregnant, laying on your back for any amount of time is not pleasant. I was so ready to sit up when the nurse went to talk with the doctor. The baby must have been sleepy because she stayed pretty chill the during the whole scan. Bekah rubbed her tiny eyes at her 20 week appointment, but this little one just rested her arm on her forehead.

We planned to go to Target and all pick out a stuffed animal for the baby on the way home, like we did for Bekah, but we ran out of time so we still need to do that this week.

She is so beautiful... I love how she looks like Luke!!

I thought it would be fun to share a few other details about this pregnancy just for memory-keeping's sake. :)

When we found out...
We waited quite a bit longer to share our baby-news this time, but we've known we are expecting since the day after Christmas. With this pregnancy, I felt changes in my body so quickly. Within the first few days of her life, I felt confident that I was pregnant!

What we'll name her...
I'd say we're like 99.99% sure of our little girlie's name but we might wait to share it online until she arrives... we'll see! I might get impatient. haha. But Luke and I both love her name and think it's a good mix of classic/quirky/ and cute... hopefully that doesn't give it away.  ;)

Her due date...
Bek's baby sister is due August 11th so we are really looking forward to having the summer to prepare and do lots of special things with Bekah. One of my good friends, Bre, is due 3 days before me which is so fun!

Pregnancy Symptoms...
This pregnancy has been pretty similar to my pregnancy with Bekah. Less "everything is gross" feelings but more tiredness. This week I had bad leg pain which shook me a little bit... I started to worry it would last the whole 2nd half of pregnancy but it seems to have gone away.

What I've been craving...
Turkey sandwiches... Panera's tomato soup... Chicken salad... Zoe's Kitchen. With Bekah I mostly craved Chicken Cheesesteaks and anything lemon flavored. Haha. So this one is a little different.

What I'm most excited about...
I can't wait to see Bekah and her sister together. I think about that a lot. I feel like the most blessed woman in the world and I'm very thankful for all God has given me. Including Luke... he is such an amazing husband to me and dad to our girls. 

We love you, sweet baby girl! Thank you for being a part of our family. Thank you for all your sweet, comforting kicks that you give me at just the right times. I have fallen asleep several times with a smile on my face after feeling you move. Take your time growing in there, sweetie... you have a beautiful life ahead of you! 

Thanks for sharing in our happy news with us. I'lll keep ya updated!
Love,
Bonnie

Our Spring Break Recap

Spring break was last week and we had such a good time. My parents came to visit yesterday and I told my mom that this may have been the best school break we've had yet. Everything about it was so fun! The weather was perfect all week. I think we were in the 60's and 70's every day... one day even reaching 80 degrees.

Here's a little bit of what our break looked like... we didn't take many pictures this week but it was such a happy one I wanted to share what I could. :)

Bekah thought Luke flipping in the hammock was so cool

1. One thing I want to remember about this week is all the picnics we had. We packed up sandwiches or leftovers and set up our hammock and blanket by the school's library. When you have a toddler... this is a good way to make dinner clean up easier. :) It was fun to see how much Bekah liked the change of eating outside.

2. On Thursday Bekah and I visited my mom at work and for a quick lunch, then on Friday we spent the day in Philadelphia. Luke chose a few things he wanted to do (this was kind of an early birthday celebration)... go to a museum, eat cheesesteaks, and see independence hall. We had a great day... when we do it again, we'll plan a little better around Bekah's nap times and do slightly less walking so we can fit more in more things. But it was great and I'm so glad we went. My sister spent the day with us too so we got to experience some of what her life is like in the city. We were so, so tired at the end of the day. Haha.

3. Over the weekend, Bekah and I stayed home while Luke traveled for church/work. While he was there, he toured a house we're interested in renting. It is such a beautiful place... literally has all of our "wish list" items. Understandably, there seems to be a lot of interest in the home but we'd love to be chosen. We missed Luke while he was gone but it was good to stay here and catch up on some housework. My parents visited yesterday afternoon for lunch and some play time with Bek. :) It's always so great to have them here.

4. Totally random... I did some reorganizing of my craft supplies this week and also a good amount of drawing. I listened to this podcast while I drew. I probably could have completed more school work than I did.... haha but it was fun to give those creative things some of my time. I'm going to try to do a quick post with both of those things sometime this week.

Alright! I think I hear Bekah waking up. Off to make a to-do list and get some of that school work done today. ;) How was your week? If you were on Spring Break, what did you do?

Love,
Bonnie

What We've Been Up To | Our Family

I blogged a few weeks ago and had so much fun with it. During our first two-ish years away from home, out here at school, my favorite part of blogging was that it helped me keep in touch with friends and family. We travel every weekend right now, so we see a lot of our loved ones more often, but I'll never forget how many cool friendships developed even while we were away. 

Anyway! I thought it would be fun to share about what's going on in our lives lately.

I feel like I'm in a dream when I say this... but we have LESS than two months of school left! Luke and I will graduate college together on April 29th. Right now, imagining graduation day is the most motivating thing in the world for me in getting schoolwork done. Luke is still a full time student and I'm going to school part time. That balance has worked really well for us. As excited as I am to celebrate graduation with Luke (man, he has worked so hard), I've been surprised by how bittersweet this upcoming move feels. God has given us a really good life out here. We have great friendships, I have an amazing job based out here, and we just love the daily life of school and living in Phoenixville. We've been trying to make it a point to pray more about the upcoming move. God has given me a lot more peace through that. 

I used to think I was pretty good at dealing with change but... I don't know. Haha. I just think about it so much that I have to reel myself back in and remember things will work out. This past weekend Bekah and I got in the car for about twenty minutes and drove around the specific town we'd like to move to. I spent the time talking to God about our house search. He has always provided for us in every season... so I'm looking forward to the post I'll share here in a few months about our new home.

When we move back home after graduation, Luke will continue his job with the church and I'll be home with Bekah during the day. I'm really looking forward to that and feel very blessed we'll be able to make it work. I would love to do some kind of creative work on the side... some more blogging, maybe some illustrating or small projects for people. That's another thing I've been praying about as we prepare for all these transitions. 

What else have we been up to lately? Well Bekah is growing like crazy. She loves having fun. She has a deep belly laugh that is contagious. She loves people. Luke and I are just amazed by the wonderful little person she is - so full of love and energy! Often when Luke and I are standing side by side, making dinner or something, Bekah runs up and wraps her arms around both of us for a group hug. :) Love that girl.

That's about it for the Stoltzfoos family right now... lots of changes coming up but we are loving life together. 

What have you been up to? 

Love,

Bonnie

PS. Did anyone else watch the Downton Abbey Series Finale this week? I've never been more satisfied by a finale... it was SO GOOD. As I watched I kept punching the air and smiling and happy-sighing. What a show. :) We don't have cable so I just watched it here on pbs.org.

Wedding Roadtrip | August 2015

Since the last time I wrote, lots of good life has happened. In the second half of August, the three of us packed up our little compact car and took a road trip. We drove about 16 hours to my sister's wedding in the midwest. We had never done a long drive like that together, so we gave it a try. I had so much fun with these two. The hours were pretty long but we made the most of it. 

I am now qualified to say, that if you've gotta spend 32+ hours in a tiny car... you can't pick better road trip companions than Luke and Bekah. 

Outside our AirBnb apartment in Indianapolis 

late night McDonalds stop on our way there

 

Bekah and her Bubb 

 

my beautiful mom & sister - Kara was a gorgeous bride. Love every minute I get with her!

 

first dance between my sister and new brother in law

love love love love love these two 

my sweet redhead girl - love her more everyday - love her fun personality

hanging out in the hotel lobby before getting back on the road

We ended up driving straight through the night on the way back. Our fall semester classes started the day after we got home. Since then, we've been adjusting to some exciting changes for our family. There are a couple new jobs and both of us are in our last year of school (for now). Life is busy but so good. The number one thing I'm thankful for right now is quality time with Luke and Bekah. Family dinners around our small IKEA table, hanging out in the living room between our classes, commuting on the weekends... there are lots of good memories being made these days.

So, what's new with you? :)

Love,

Bonnie

My Girl & My Guy

On the day we found out we were having a little girl, Luke froze. He couldn't talk, couldn't eat, couldn't do anything but stare for the rest of the day. He went to bed around six o'clock - totally exhausted. 

I don't know if there's a better word for what happened to him than 'lovestruck'. And it doesn't really look like it's worn off yet... :)

Luke wrote a blog post just hours after our 20 week appointment. You can read that here.

The Kind of Things I Dream About

I love being a mom. Tonight Bekah and I had the apartment to ourselves. We sent Luke off to Barnes & Noble so he could study for a test. We called tonight our "girls party". First, we went outside and watered the community garden. Bekah got a kick out of reaching into the water spray.  We watched  some TV while playing with blocks, then we brushed her teeth to get ready for bed. As soon as I moved the little brush against her tiny teeth, she was cracking up. She has a throaty, almost raspy deep belly laugh that she does when something is really funny. I started laughing too and brushed her top and bottom teeth (she has 8) a couple more times... maybe for dental hygiene's sake... maybe just to hear her laugh more.

We spent a little while longer playing in her room, since she wasn't quite ready to settle down for the night. The corner of her room is one of my favorite parts of our apartment. I love watching her pull out her toys, read her books over and over, and try to steal all the wipes. I tried to show off and do some juggling. Hoping to make her laugh, of course. She just watched politely since I have never successfully juggled in my life. Bekah gives the sweetest random smiles right now. In the middle of whatever she's doing, she'll look up at me, right in the eyes, and give me the warmest, most gentle smile. Then she goes back to whatever she was doing - a little happier than before.

I sure love that little girl. Tonight was so sweet with my Bek. It made me think about some of the moments I'm dreaming about for the future...

+ making breakfast in the morning with our kids lounging on the couch nearby
+ Friday night movies and pizza as a family
+ walking into a room to find one of my girls asleep under a big quilt
+ hammocking in the backyard with Luke, talking about our days
+ cheering on our kids at their sports events
+ seeing and hearing all our kids laugh together
+ growing very old with Luke
+ talking with our teenagers, hearing about what's going on in their heads
+ kid's artwork hanging around the house
+ new babies joining the family
+ watching my kids discover the things they love to do
+ eating dinner around the table with family
+ sunday afternoon naps, all of us spread out around the house
+ seeing our kids befriend others
+ listening to our kids learn to read
+ watching Luke come in the front door at the end of his work day
+ listening to our kids sing

Family is such a gift. I love thinking about this stuff.
What kind of things do you dream about for the future?

Love,
Bonnie

good changes & a summertime update | our family

photo by our sweet friend Lyndsay Adams

It's been a little while since my last post! What a cool, busy month. It feels like our family has been away from home most of the summer. I thought it would be fun to share a family update tonight to fill you in on what's going on with us. Luke started a new job at the start of July. He's now the Missions and Outreach Pastor at our home church back in Gettysburg. This job is such an answer to prayer and a perfect fit for his interests, gifts, and personality. It's the coolest thing, as his wife, to see him enjoying it like he is. I love listening to all those dreams and ideas build up in his head and then watch them turn into something so cool and helpful to people.

Life will be changing quite a bit because of Luke's new job, so we are viewing all the changes as a fun adventure and enjoying every minute. For the next year, we'll be living at school during the week and then we'll commute every weekend to spend two days in Gettysburg. The drive is just about two hours each way. Slightly longer if you count our chick-fil-a breaks. One of the biggest blessings is that both sides of our family live out in that direction, that means we're going to get a lot of time with them this year.

I'm thankful for the past couple years we've had at school. We were a part of a great church and Luke had a job he really loved. At our church, we learned a ton and built great friendships. God developed my heart in ways I didn't know I needed. At Luke's job, we met such cool people and I got to see my husband work faithfully without complaining. He was a full time student with scholarships to maintain, a husband, dad, and an employee and he just did it with so much love in his heart. I love that guy - he is the coolest.

Another family update... I'll be finishing up my associates degree this year! I am anxious and excited about getting back in the classroom. Luke and I will graduate together in May. I also plan to keep working my part time job, babysitting for an amazing family, and to get more involved with kids ministry in Gettysburg. Lots of good stuff. Lots to adjust to and schedules to figure out, but overall we're just overwhelmed by God's goodness. I love this season for our family. It feels like tons of answered prayers coming together and we're just... overwhelmed. Haha. That's the only word for it.

And of course, I can't finish this post without sharing about our girl. :) Bekah is now 13 months old and she is still super awesome. She's a walker now! She takes just about 3-5 steps at a time before she plops down on her bum. Bekah loves her extended family and goes crazy when her little cousins are around. She is very "busy". She's constantly figuring things out, turning little objects over in her tiny little hands and inspecting them. She especially loves her daddy's car keys, the fuzz on her favorite blanket (when bored in the car) and the tv remote. Bek and I had a different kind of week together last week while Luke was chaperoning at a camp. I just loved my time with her. I know it sounds sort of funny, but I really appreciate that little girl. I love who she is and I love how she interacts with the world. She's my girl.

I think that's about all that's new with us. So, how are you doing? What's new in your life? Thanks for reading, friends!