A Thanksgiving Day Guest Post from Heather

Hello friends and Happy Turkey Day! 

I am super excited to be doing a little Thanksgiving Day post swap with one of my favorite bloggers, Heather from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary. Heather is a treasure, she's beautiful inside and out, loves her hubby and her servant's heart just blows me away. 

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Hi Life in the 505 readers!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm so excited to be here today.
I just love Katie & her beautiful little family.

As today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to share about the one specific person that I am thankful for today--
my husband of 5 years, Joshua!

 

It's hard to find the words sometimes to express the love I feel for him.
It's humbling to know that God has given me this man to share forever with.
I'm thankful that Joshua chose me.
Despite my quirks, idiosyncrasies and flaws-- he loves me for me.
You can read more about our story, the highs & lows of the past 5 years, and read our testimony here.
We have been through job losses, moving out-of-state, money problems, death of loved ones, and so many other things together.
He has been a consistently loyal and unconditionally loving person in my life.



Today I'm thankful for the blessing of being married to my best friend.
For the opportunity to wake up next to my most favorite person in the world.
We're not perfect, and we have our flaws, but I'm so thankful to actually grow with him.
I'm thankful for the time we have to better ourselves & grow together with God's help.

Now, hope on over and check out her blog.

You can also find her here and here.

Thoughts on Blogging

Last week was one of those weeks; one of those weeks when you go to Costco and find out your debit card is expired at the check out line. And then after going home to get the new card, you get your items home and find out you bought the wrong size of trash bags; 500 of them.

The three of us took turns being sick and after waking up on the wrong side of the bed one morning, Matt lovingly suggested that I take a break from things like blogging and Pinterest and get some rest. During my much needed break (husbands can be so wise), I ignored my to-do list and moved a little bit slower. Instead of running around trying to get things done in the mornings, I set with Addy and ate breakfast as she played. It's funny how I don't usually take time to just watch her play.

I also has a lot of time to think about this little blog and I've decided a few things.
WARNING: This list has sub points

1. I like blogging, because:

   A. It's a great creative outlet for someone who spends most of her day with a little girl who can't really hold a conversation

   B. It's easier and less expensive than scrapbooking. I love that I can easily document big(and little) moments in our life in minutes. 

   C. It's a fun way for family who don't live in the 505 to a be a part of Addy's life. (That's you Mom, Dad, Uncle Perry and Aunt Nic!)

2. I really like the great friends that God has placed in our lives. The great community we are a part of is a huge answer to prayer and I don't want to take them for grant it.

3. I really really like my little family, they make my heart happy.

4. Points 2 and 3 have led me to this conclusion: I need to spend less time online.

I've had this little blog for awhile and just recently, I've really tried to grow my readership by participating in link ups and button swaps, which are all great but time consuming. And really, let's face it, there is absolutely no monetary value coming from any of it and I am totally fine with that. I want this to be something I like, not a chore.

So, as we enter the holiday season, I am going to make a conscious effort to spend less time online and more time investing in the relationships I have here in the 505, whether that means more play dates or just more time spent praying for my family. But don't worry, this blog isn't going away, I like it way to much to say goodbye. (see point 1)

These photos were taken my sweet Sister-in-law, Morgan. I really like her. (see point 2) :)

October Swap Partners... Check Out These Lovely Ladies!

I have had the privilege of working with these lovely bloggers for the past month. They are so great that I thought I would give them a little shout out. Be sure to check them out and leave some love on their blog!

Meet Liz from Behind the Scenes

"My blog is a complete reflection of me, or at least that is my goal. My husband likes to say it's my way of fulfilling my need to gab constantly. I, of course, don't see what he could possibly mean by that :) I blog about my faith, my family, friends, fashion, food, & my attempt at crafting! I love to try new things which always end up providing my readers with a good laugh. I also love to spoil my loyal readers with some giveaways here & there. I'm so excited to "meet" all of you Life in the 505 readers!"

Meet Joan from Expecting the Unknown...

"Hi! I'm Joan! I'm blog over at Expecting the Unknown... I started my blog as a way for family to keep updated on my pregnancy, but it has turned into so much more than that! I have met some amazing people through blogging, and I'de love to meet you! So come on over and say hello! I blog about my family, fun things we do, I also post tutorials and how-to's pretty often as well. I also have an Etsy shop that you should definitely check out!"

Check out her shop here.

Meet Heather Boersma from Dreaming Big

"Hey everyone!  I'm Heather and I blog about my life (marriage, mothering, speaking and writing ministry) from a faith perspective.  My blog has a strong focus on scripture and sharing the truth of God's word in a way that is relevant and applicable to everyday life.  I try to live my big dream each day and encourage others to do the same!"

Meet Heather from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

"Hi! My name is Heather and I blog over at Finding Beauty in the Ordinary. I'm a 26 year old, happily married, adventure seeking blog lover :) My little blog is a place to share what's on my heart, what God is teaching me, and what my husband and I are up to as we have recently relocated to a new city. On my blog, you'll see transparent accounts of my day-to-day life with my hubby and our new puppy, Hartley, and some of the fun we're having along the way. I love capturing a moment by camera and simply finding beauty in the ordinary moment of life." 

You can also find Heather here and here.

Meet: Dani from Me and My "new" Life

"I'm a 27 year old single momma by surprise...I say surprise because I had been happily married since 2005...My husband and I were best friends..We suffered a miscarriage in 2009, 6 months later we became pregnant again, we owned a teeny tiny condo and with the market continuing to crash and my growing belly we decided it would be in our best interest to let our home go into foreclosure. We packed up and rented a HUGE home and made it snuggly for our soon to be little girl. You see...the husband and I went though a TON of crazy life changing things. In August I delivered the sweetest little girl. Life was PERFECT. Shortly after, my husband changed he grew distant...then suddenly I moved out with my baby. Now a year later my husband and I are trying to work on things...but I'm a single momma. It's all me. It's a hard life and no where close to what I had imagined. I blog to get my feelings out, to document life...to express myself..."

There you have it! Don't forget to stop by there blogs.

If you're interested in swapping buttons for the month of November, contact me.

lifeinthefiveofive@gmail.com

Drawing a Blank....

Source: asortoffairytalegirl.blogspot.com via Mary on Pinterest

You know that scene in You've Got Mail where Kathleen is writing an email to Joe Fox and she demonstrates how her mind goes blank by drawing a blank in the air with her hand? (Probably not unless you've seen the movie a million times and have every line memorized, so just go with me here.)

I've been doing that a lot lately... drawing a blank. I have several blog posts in draft that I can't seem to finish. There are so many thoughts and ideas floating around in my head that I can't bring it all together to make a coherent sentence, post or anything really. 

I'm going through an awesome Bible Study and I would love to communicate some of the great things I am learning but, I'm drawing a blank.

I'm hoping to get my act together in the next couple of days so until then, I'll leave you with a quote from my all-time favorite movie.

"The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings."