Tag: Joy

31 Lessons for 31 Years

LeahLeave a comment

As I wake up another year older today, I’ve been reflecting on all of the things that have lead up to today. Some amazing highs along with some insanely low lows, but the thread that’s connected them all is the grace of God getting me through!

So in honor of turning 31, here are 31 things I’ve learned over the years:

  1. Love your people hard.
  2. Don’t let someone’s lack of effort change the standards you hold yourself to.
  3. You are the company you keep, so choose wisely.
  4. Some people are not meant to be in your life forever.
  5. You will never regret being kind.
  6. Two (or more) conflicting things can be true at the same time. 
  7. The best investment you’ll ever make is in yourself.
  8. Quality or quantity.
  9. Learn to be comfortable being alone.
  10. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
  11. Your timeline and life are completely your own, so don’t compare them to anyone else’s.
  12. It’s okay if you’re not where you thought you’d be by now.
  13. Life is short, eat the dessert.
  14. Therapy is your friend.
  15. And on that note, go before things get bad.
  16. “No” is a full sentence.
  17. Time with family and friends is never time wasted.
  18. Always wear your sunscreen
  19. Courage and bravery are being scared to death but doing it anyways.
  20. Hugs from your littles is truly the best medicine on earth. 
  21. Stay hydrated.
  22. We can’t control life, but we can control how we react to it.
  23. Saying “yes” can be just as important as saying “no”.
  24. Make time for more of what brings you joy.
  25. It’s never too late to start over.
  26. It’s okay to walk away from toxic situations.
  27. Life can happen when you least expect it to.
  28. Wash your face.
  29. It’s better to be overdressed than underdressed.
  30. Baking is an amazing stress reliever.
  31. If God brings you to it, he’ll bring you through it.

Cheers to 31 years and many more to come!

XOXO,

Leah

New Year, Changing Me

LeahLeave a comment

Happy 2025, y’all!

2024 was a year, and while I’m still not able to go into too many details, I’m hopeful that 2025 is the year that brings the freedom to do so. I’ve always said that I’ve felt like the last several years of my life have been such a testament to God’s goodness and grace, especially in the valleys! I can’t wait to be able to share more with y’all.

For now, I will say that 2024 was a struggle, and somedays it truly was just putting one foot in front of the other and doing the things that needed to be done; loving and caring for the boys, keeping the house up and running, making the time to take care of myself, the millions of curveballs the Army has thrown our way, and the ever changing dynamics all of this brought to my marriage. I’m not going to say it was perfect, but we made it through together and by the sheer grace of God!

We lived so much life in the midst of the hard that I’ll always be grateful for; graduations, birthdays, road trips, trying new things, holidays, quiet and cozy days, baking lots of yummy treats, and kitchen dance parties just to name a few! It’s true when they say “the days are long, but the years are short”! I feel like I blinked and the boys are almost another year older and have grown so much.

So, what does 2025 have in store for me and my little family?

While we’re looking forward to more of the joy filled moments from the last year, 2025 is already shaping up to bring about some BIG changes. Some we knew were coming and ones that we never would have even guessed would be a possibility! For now, we’re taking things one day at a time as we work through the unfolding and developing of it all. A big goal of mine is to document and share more. I love being able to look back and reflect, but I’ve always been so amazed by the power of connecting with others and how our stories can resonate.

2024, you taught me so many lessons I won’t soon forget. 2025, I can’t wait to meet you!

XOXO,
Leah

Easy Puppy Chow

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In my small midwestern town, puppy chow was an ever present part of my childhood! It was at pot lucks, sporting events, bake sales, etc. It only requires four ingredients, and is super simple (and quick) to throw together.

I shared a picture of our first batch of the summer and immediately had messages asking how to make it, and since i’m not one for drawn out intros, lets get to what you’re actually here for; how to make it!

What You’ll Need

  • 5 Cups of Rice Chex Cereal
  • 1 Cup of Peanut Butter
  • 1 Cup of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • Enough Powdered Sugar to Coat (I used about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup)

What You’ll Do

  • In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave in 15 second intervals until melted and well combined. This took me about a minute total but will depend on your microwave!
  • Next add the Chex cereal one cup at a time and in the chocolate mixture. Repeat until all your cereal is coated.
  • Added you coated Chex to a Ziploc bag and add the powdered sugar. Shake the bag until all of your Chex is well coated. You can adjust the amount depending on your preferences! I like to make sure each piece has a good layer on it.

Eat it straight from the bag or store it in an air tight container. Enjoy!

XOXO,
Leah

Dandelion Lion Craft

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Happy Wednesday, y’all!

With spring being fully here (and almost summer), the dandelions are out full force!

Kaz loves picking flowers, and dandelions are not exception. A friend shared this fun and easy craft, and I just knew it’d be a huge hit!

You only need four things, for a craft your kids can do over and over again!

What You’ll Need

  • Cardboard or a paper plate
  • A black marker
  • A hole puncher or screwdriver
  • Dandelions

Take your paper plate and marker and draw your lions face on; eyes, mouth, nose.

Next take your hole puncher or screwdriver to poke the holes around the outside edge. These holes are where the dandelion stems will go. This definitely took me a second to do with a screwdriver, but I have no clue where our hole puncher is.

Find lots of dandelions, and have fun!

xoxo,

Leah

When Detours Lead to the Best Destinations

LeahLeave a comment

About a year ago, what I thought was my life came crashing to the ground. It wasn’t what I would have ever expected to be in the story of my life, but looking back, I am so incredibly thankful that God decided to wreck my plans!

If you know me you know I like being able to have a plan for everything (and back up plans). Sometimes no matter how much or how far in advance we make plans, they’ll never see the light of day. Sometimes the actions of others leave destruction that can never be fixed, no matter how hard we try.

I felt like the biggest failure. I had myself convinced that if I had been better/done better, maybe it would have changed things. There were times I felt pretty worthless, but then I’d remember the sweet little boy that calls me ‘mama’.

I’m not the same broken girl I was a year ago. I’ve had to grow in ways I never imagined possible. I’ve had to learn to drop the act and quit pretending that things are okay when they absolutely are not! I’ve had to let myself lean on my friends and family and let them love on me and Kaz. I’ve had to keep showing up on days when the weight of the world seemed so incredibly heavy.

I’d never wish what I went through on my worst enemy, but I am thankful for the breaking down that lead to me being rebuilt better than I ever would have been otherwise. I am so thankful for the people it’s brought me too. Sometimes the best things in life are the ones that we never had on our calendar but God always did!

So as I am almost to the finish line of being able to close this chapter of my life, I am so incredibly excited and hopeful for the future!

XOXO,
Leah

Crumbl Copycat Snickerdoodle Cookies

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Happy Friday, y’all!

Like most people, I’ve been trying out tons of new recipes since the start of Covid. I love cooking and baking anyways, but the extra time home has given me the chance to try recipes I normally wouldn’t.

Enter this Crumbl copycat recipe from Cooking with Karli!

If you haven’t heard of them, Crumbl is a family founded cookie business based out of Utah that offers different flavors (with the exception of their famous milk chocolate chip and classic pink sugar cookies) each week!

Karli has made it her mission to recreate these gourmet cookies and share her recipes!

I’ve always loved snickerdoodle cookies. There’s just something about them and that cinnamon and sugary goodness. Paired together with the cream cheese icing, and it’s a match made in Heaven!

These Snickerdoodle cookies have quickly become my new favorites! They have the perfect amount of structure so they’re not falling apart in your hands with just the right amount of softness when you bite in. Topped with a generous amount of vanilla cream cheese icing and finished with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar makes them a delicious treat to save for yourself or share with friends!

To try this recipe out for yourself or one of Karli’s other recipes, check out her blog: Cooking With Karli!

XOXO,
Leah

Homemade Cinnamon Dolce Syrup

LeahLeave a comment

I love a hot cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks, but with the recent shortage in the syrup I figured it was time to figure out how to make it at home! I love how easy this is to make, and having it at home is so much more convenient than driving to get it whenever the craving strikes.

What You’ll Need

  • 1 1/2 cups of Water
  • 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 4 Cinnamon Sticks
  • Container of choice with lid

You’ll start off by combining the water, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a medium saucepan. Bring to a low boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat before adding in the vanilla extract and removing the cinnamon sticks.

Transfer the syrup to your container and allow to cool before refrigerating.

Syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to six months.

More Grace, Less Perfection

LeahLeave a comment

Happy first Monday of 2022, y’all!

I have an endless number of notes in my phone that I just jot things down as they come to mind. Some of them I share, but others I keep for myself. I love being able to go back and read my thoughts from different seasons of life!

Today, as I started a new lifestyle challenge, 75 Medium, with some friends to kick off the new year and get back into the swing of things after a busy holiday season it got me thinking about the whole “new year, new me” mentality. (Side Note: check out my Instagram ’75 Medium’ highlight or shoot me a message if you want to learn more!)

So here’s your friendly reminder:

It’s okay if you don’t have huge goals/resolutions for the year. It’s okay if your goals from last year got derailed, because life happens. Every goal and accomplishment, no matter how small they seem, is worthy of celebrating! It’s more than okay if you’re not out there shouting “new year, new me!”

You want to know a secret? Just because it’s a new year doesn’t mean you magically shed your old shelf and step into some perfect version you’ve created in your head.

So while you’re scrolling and looking at the highlight reels of others (because that’s what a lot of social media is), I hope you remember that everyone is just doing the best that they can.

Your meals don’t have to be Instagram worthy or even homemade every night for that matter. Your house doesn’t have to be perfectly clean. God knows that with a toddler, mine never is! Your workout clothes don’t have to be a cute matching set. You don’t have to have it all together all the time because that’s not real life!

My hope and prayer for you (and me) as we begin 2022 is that you give yourself more grace and expect less perfection, that you take time to see all of the good that there is in everyday, that you realize that taking care of yourself first is the least selfish thing you could ever do!

I hope you remember to be kind to yourself and that there are a million different ways to accomplish things in life. Just because your favorite influencer did it a certain way doesn’t mean it’s a one size fits all!

What are you hoping 2022 has in store for you?

XOXO,
Leah

That’s What Faith Can Do

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John 13:7 says, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but someday you will.”

If we’ve talked at any point in the last several months, you probably know that this season of life had me crying out to God on a regular basis. I had never been broken down in this way before, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. This kind of soul crushing is relentless and comes and goes in waves, but it’s revealed just what I’m made of and who I truly belong to.

On the bad days, it’s had me questioning God in every single way. I just couldn’t understand why Kaz and I were being put through this. How could a good God allow this kind of thing to happen? That’s exactly what the devil wanted me to believe though, and it would have been so freaking easy to ya’ll.

The crazy thing though? I am so incredibly grateful for this breaking down of what I thought my life was and who I thought I was. You see, it’s easy when you’re in something to make the excuses and convince yourself that things aren’t that bad or maybe if I would have done or not done something it could have been prevented. That’s a whole other issue to breakdown another day though.

Without going through this, I know I wouldn’t have been able to be rebuilt so much better than I was before. I wouldn’t have been forced to strengthen certain relationships in my life. I wouldn’t have specific people in my life at all had I not gone through this, and something about that is so beautiful to watch unfolding in the midst of everything else.

People tell me how strong they think I am. They say that they don’t think they’d be doing as well as I am right now, but I can also tell that people are waiting and watching to see if I fall apart again.

The truth? Part of me knows it’s expected of me to be sad and upset at the way things are unfolding. I did the whole sitting on the kitchen floor at 3:00 AM crying my heart out. I did the struggle through the day while pouring absolutely every last bit of energy I had into taking care of Kaz only to crumble the second he was asleep thing. I did the crying out to God when all I could get out was, “Why?”. Looking back, I’m starting to be able to see why this had to happen though.

I may never fully understand. That thought alone was paralyzing at the beginning of this all but not anymore. It’s true; I may never full understand, but I no longer feel the need to in order to move forward and on.

This season of life will always be marked by some of the darkest of days I have experienced thus far, but also some of the brightest. I have had family step up and in in ways I didn’t even know to ask for. I’ve had friends, both old and new, love me (and Kaz) so fiercely and be there for us especially when family was so far away.

Life has a crazy way of doing that though, and God has an oh so perfect way of giving and taking exactly what is needed in or out of our lives.

These days I know I still have mountains to face, but instead of being scared by the size of it I’m reminded every single day that my God will always be bigger!

XOXO,
Leah

When It Wasn’t on your Calender

Leah1 Comment

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; 2021 has been a year for the books so far!

If you would have asked me at the beginning of it how I thought the year was going to go, I wouldn’t have even been close in my guesses. Just like you, I had hopes and plans for things I thought the year would bring and of course the non-negotiables that the Army throws in, but God had other things in mind.

I’m not the same person I was at the start of the year, but then again, is anyone?

I’ve had to change courses more than once. I’ve had to re-evaluate my priorities and start the process of letting go of things I thought I’d never have to let go of. I’ve started down paths that weren’t even on my radar. And honestly? If I would have been given the option of them, I would have run so fast in the opposite direction!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”.

You see, I’m a planner. I like knowing what’s coming next. Most things in my life have had a list and sublists attached to them. I’m also so guilty of trying to control things that have never been mine to control. Maybe someday we’ll be able to sit down together, but for now I’ll spare you the details.

Most of this year has been defined by what’s felt like an uphill climb in which I’ve lost my footing more times than I’d like to admit.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been so many good and wonderful moments, honestly more than bad, that I am beyond grateful for! I have had so many people surround Kaz and I in the most amazing love and support. Just because there’s been so much good and growth though, doesn’t negate the bad, the tears cried, the damage done, or the questions left unanswered.

Genesis 50:20 says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without the bad. I wouldn’t have had to look deep inside myself and to do and continue to do the hard work. I wouldn’t have cried out to God like I should have been doing all along. I wouldn’t have realized how misguided my faith has been in the wrong things and people for years. I would have never fully admitted that something I used to define myself by and find my identity in was never something God meant for me in the long run.

But you know what? I also wouldn’t know my true worth. I wouldn’t know that I could go through something so soul crushing and come out stronger and better than I’ve ever been. I wouldn’t know what it’s like to stare one of my biggest fears in the face and send it packing. I wouldn’t have experienced just how faithful God truly is!

One day I’m going to look back on this season of life and be able to tell the story of how I overcame this battle. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll end up being part of someone’s survival guide and a living testament that even when the giant seems big, how much bigger and greater is He who is within me than he who is in the world!