There is hope - share this journey with me!

This is an old picture of my sweet Claire - I just love it SO much.  Look at that face - not a care in the world, so happy and expectant - worry free.  Don't you wish you could have that expression?  A worry-free and hopeful outlook...what a joy.

From the beginning we are wired for hope.  As we grow and mature things come into our lives and attempt to rob us of this precious God given gift...yet many remain resilient!  What is it that causes us to keep fighting, stay strong, and move forward?  What is it that causes us to look the other way, our strength to fail us, and just plain give up?  It's hard to make a blanket statement when answering these questions, but I do know what has made the difference in my life.

Regardless of what is going on right now - you NEED hope...and I know where to get it.  This is real folks.  It's this hope that has changed my life.  Forever.  There's no substitute, no quick fix, no other way to get it.

My church is doing a 12 week study on HOPE - the thing that EVERYone needs.  Everyone - no exceptions.  Our pastor challenged us to invite 1 person to church in the coming weeks and since I work from home and my closest friends are attending this series - I'm putting it out there on facebook and my blog.  Don't let fear or cynicism get in the way. COME get hope and your life will be changed for the good.

Click HERE to find out where to go and what time.  We go at 9am on Sunday morning at Rolling Meadows campus.  If you come - we will take you to brunch!  Have kids?  We have an AWESOME kids ministry (where I'm sometimes the storyteller...more on that in the future).

God has taught me SO much through this place...I can't even begin to articulate in this post how my life has been changed.  I'm not asking for you to give me anything, buy anything, or sign up for anything.  I'm asking you to come so your life can be impacted for the better...forever.  You will NOT regret the decision to come.

New Goal!

I have a new "goal" in mind for 2016...to use less chemicals in my home.  I work full-time outside the home, am a mom of two crazy girls, and am still primarily responsible for keeping the household running smoothly.  Did I mention I have a loving, yet extremely cynical husband that is resistant to anything new or different?  This is NOT going to be an overnight (or easy) process.  I'm starting slow and working my way through our home.  I figure - our clothing touches our skin every day, so why not start with laundry?  Full disclosure, a friend of mine sells Norwex and most things I'm going to try will be their products, that said, I'm also going to be exploring other options as well as making my own if need be!

I am testing out Norwex's laundry detergent this month.  My friend, who's a consultant, was having a "Leap Day" Sale (her site is here)!  The package weighs 2 lbs - I can't even believe how light and small it is.  I could stand to never lift an awkward tub of liquid detergent again, hahaha!  I got it for $26 and, since I have a top loading H/E machine, I'm able to do at least 66 loads.  IF I had a front loader I could do 100.  Not bad!

If you're like me - at this point you would wonder...well what about fabric softener?  Norwex also has dryer balls that take the place of fabric softener.  They bounce around in your dryer, separating clothes and, in turn cutting dry time, leaving your laundry fluffy and (mostly) static-free. If you want to read more about dryer balls (and how to make them) I would go here.   I didn't have the money for dryer balls, so I made some of my own.  They turned out GREAT!  These bad boys cost me roughly $8.00.  Well worth the time spent making them!

Now I have a chemical-free laundry plan!  I will let you know how it goes!  I'm terribly excited and can't wait to update you.  Yes...I am a dork and I'm excited about laundry solutions.

In other news we've basically been fighting this virus from the darkside and are slowly but surely recovering.  I'm sad we are not having a BIG first birthday carnival bash for Eve as I was so excited about her own little photoshoot with a smash cake and carnival themed party.  I'm hoping to have some excuse to use my good friend's wonderful circus decorations soon!  In the meantime we will continue inching toward our 3 to 6 months of expenses savings account.

Happy Saving!  I will leave you with a couple recent pictures of the girls!