2020 Powersheets Collection Guide

The 2020 Powersheets ($60) are coming on the 16th a 10AM EST!! This is going to be the best year yet with the new hardcovers, gold coil, and gold corners that will help protect the inside pages as well as add a little pop! These are such a blessing as Lara and her team walks you through every step of the prep work - in early December they have an entire week devoted to sharing videos of how to work through the process, and continue to encourage you to make progress every step of the way. From the top left - we have Teal Linen, Pink Linen, Confetti, and Blooms. Each one has a pocket on the inside that can hold all sorts of things. New for this year is the 2-page calendar spread for each month that can serve as a planner inside of the powersheets... especially if you use their Weekly Sticky Notepad that I'll show you a bit later in the post.

In addition to the Powersheets themselves - they're giving us 15 new accessories to be added on to your order, and a couple of bundles that I'll walk you through a little bit later.

Let's meet your 2020 accessory lineup! 

Accessory Pouch ($18) - add in all your accessories and then the elastic band fits around your Powersheets!

Wild Card Page Pack ($10) - these additional pages can be taped inside your Powersheets for more customization. Topics include meal planning, self-care, personal finance, reading lists, seasonal bucket lists, and more!

Goal Setting Sticker Book & Faith Sticker Book ($15)

Add some more color and fun to your planning!

Tending Tape ($12) Cultivate branded washi tape.

Legacy Journals ($18) Hard covered lined journals for sharing. 

They have a linen finish and come in Peach, Pool, or Chambray.

 2020 Best Year Wall Calendar ($22)

Magnetic Page Markers ($8)

Joyful Greeting Card Set ($24)

Gift Wrap Book ($24)

Everyday Lined Notebook Set ($18) - Set of 3

Pep Talk Post Cards ($12)

 Weekly Sticky Pad ($12)

New Day Pullover ($40) - soft sweatshirt in sizes XS-2XL

 12 white gold foil cards to write goal reminders on ($10)

Now... how about some BUNDLES!! 

The BEST YEAR BUNDLE - valued at $115 but sells for $95! Includes Powersheets of your choice, Goal Setting Sicker Book, Accessory Pouch of your choice, Tending Tape, and a Wild Card Page Pack. A great deal! 

For those that want EVERYTHING... check out the "I Want It All Bundle" -- valued at $261 but sells for $221! It includes Powersheets of your choice, Gift Wrap Book, 2020 Wall Calendar, Accessory Pouch of your choice, Tending Tape, Legacy Journal of your choice, Magnetic Page Markers, Joyful Greeting Card Set, Everyday Lined Journal Set, Goal Setting Sticker Book, Weekly Sticky Notepad, Wildcard Page Pack, Peptalk Post Cards, Goal Card Display Set.

2020 PowerSheets Collection Guide

Some other fun things you can expect on Launch Day... the best deals, free shipping on orders of $100 or more, a free sticker with each purchase, AND an entry into a drawing to have your order personally delivered anywhere in the US by the Cultivate What Matters Team!

Write the Word

I want to tell you today about one of my favorite tools for quiet time with the Lord -- Write the Word Bible Journals -- these are truly amazing! The journals are so fun - I have the original set of 3 currently, and I will be ordering these too. If you'd like to take a look, you can get them here: Cultivate What Matters Shop

On each page, you'll get a selection of specially-selected key verses to write out, along with space to write your thoughts, prayers, or whatever God places on your heart. Use your Write the Word Bible journal in whatever ways you wish! These journals are all about grace and digging into God's life-giving truth.
Our Write the Word Journal // All Seasons Collection includes five volumes, each with different verses:

• Gratitude
• Faith
• Hope
• Joy
• Renewal

Each Volume contains scripture with the coordinating theme -- and helps you to cultivate those areas through scripture and prayer journaling.

• Each journal measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches
• Contains 75 different verses over 156 pages
• vegan leather cover is easy to clean
• coordinating satin bookmark

Choose one or choose all 5 -- you won't regret investing in this faith tool to help refine your quiet time.

Lara also gave some freeing advice in that quiet time doesn't have to be every single day -- just be consistent with what you're doing. There is no shame in every other day or whatever you can do -- just Make it Happen!  

Goals for 2017

It's 2017 y'all! I'm so excited to have turned the page on the year and to have a fresh start. I don't know why everything feels fresh and new magically on January 1st, but there is just something about the start of a new calendar year that gives me a whole new hope for doing things better and being stronger.

Well, this year I've got a new tool in my belt -- it's called Powersheets! I'll have a link down below to check out to see if there are any left for you to get them. If there aren't -- you should ABSOLUTELY go over and check out Lara Casey's Blog -- grab a notebook and DIY yourself some powersheets!

I wanted to take some time and share what I came up with for my goals this year... but I want to start with Lara's overarching words for this year that we are all about Progress over Perfection. I couldn't have said that any better than she did. So with that said -- my word for 2017 is: JOURNEY!

I want to embrace all of the ups and downs that come along with setting goals for the year... which I have often let derail my goals in the past. I've so often started something, had a hiccup along the way and let that completely stop the entire process.

My main goal for this year is to NOT let those hiccups take away from the good progress that is happening in my life.

So I worked through the entire prep work section of the Powersheets and ended up with these goals.

(feel free to click on this to get a better look)

These are the 10 things that I'm working on this year -- or at least for this first season of 2017. Every 3 months there is a goal refresh process that you can work through to make sure that your goals haven't changed a bit over time. If they have - then you can change them up a bit and keep going... 

Once you've written your goals for the year out -- which you can have as many or as few as you want... then you make an action plan for each of them. 

I chose this goal to show you the action plan -- just because I wanted to show an example and I thought that this one is the most important for the year. I also bought a new bible for my work this year... 

 

This One Year Chronological Bible is on sale right now and it's the NLT version so it's going to be pretty practical. I love that it also has some adult coloring spaces as well for you to get a little creative and spend some time soaking in the Word of the Lord. Mine should be here by the middle of next week -- so I'll be working hard to get caught up to the daily reading for whatever day it delivers, by pouring into it for a few days. 

After your action plan is written in your Powersheets for each Goal -- then you fill out your monthly tending list -- which is a place for you to write in your Monthly, Weekly, and Daily tasks that will help you accomplish progress toward your goals. 

This is my Tending List for January -- and I LOVE that it has a progress bar for the monthly goals, then a checkbox for the weekly and daily goals. I'm already loving seeing the check marks getting placed in the boxes. 

If you see down at the bottom there that nothing is happening with my first 3 daily goals... well, that's because I also am in the process of reading about a new lifestyle plan that my sister uses along with her Beachbody workout systems... so I'm going to give it a shot. I just may wait another week or so to get it all planned out. I'm planning to go visit my mom for a few days a week from Monday -- so I will likely not hit the ground running with this plan until the last week of the month, but I do plan to start working out again next week and getting more water in... and making healthier choices with food once we are back into our other routines. 

I'll write more about what I'm planning to do here in a few more days -- once I've finished the book! 

Use this link below to check out the shop where all of these amazing Powersheets and other items can be found. There isn't a thing on their site that I don't have on my wish list!

Changes

Sometimes the thing that you need in life is a big scary change. A push in a direction that you didn't really think that you needed to go. I got that nudge in the last month, and when I say that it might have been the best thing to happen to me in a LONG time -- it might be an understatement.

You see, up until about 3 weeks ago -- my life was stagnant. We were existing and making our plans for the new school year that was coming, but I couldn't say that I was happy or even really content for that matter.

I really feel like God gave me a big nudge in a direction I wasn't even expecting to go. God closed a door, but he opened a flood gate of really great stuff at the same time! A very dear friend's, Suzanne, life changed, and she started the wave of what was to come... without even talking about it or planning for it -- she started me on a path that I will forever be grateful for.

She woke up on August 1st and decided that she was going to change her life by starting to get healthier. So, in a way that is totally unlike me -- I joined in her journey. We both started doing the 21 Day Fix workouts. Now since I hadn't planned on this -- I didn't really have a plan for eating exactly, but we both started tracking everything on My Fitness Pal and stuck within our calorie allotments for the day. I made the best choices I could based on what we had at the house -- I normally go through the pantry and fridge and throw a ton of food away and start over spending a TON of money on specialty products. This time I just jumped on a moving train and let the rest of it figure itself out.

 It's now been almost the entire 1st cycle around of 21 Day Fix, and we haven't quit. In many attempts before -- I would have quit, but I haven't. Partially because I know that she is going to do her workout, and I don't want to let her down. Also because I want to model for my kids what healthier living looks like. James does almost all of the workouts with me, even if he is mostly just jumping around. Tyler, I'm still working on encouraging him along -- and now that I've got more energy and hopefully in the not too far future, it'll cool down again and we can take their bikes out and hit the roads walking/riding for some exercise.

In the process of all of this, I also met the most amazing lady -- now my coach, Juliana -- who is the most inspiring lady I've known in a long time. She is always there pushing herself to be better and to grow personally. I hope that one day the three of us will be able to look back on August 1, 2016 as the anniversary of an amazing friendship/partnership.

In the process, I've gained so much. I'm now watching my kids benefit from my life changes -- we are doing much better with getting our school work done, we are now working out for an hour a day rather than 30 minutes, and I feel great. So great in fact, I've become a coach as well.

The reason I decided to go ahead and become a coach now is that I'm not sure that there is a better time to put yourself out there. Am I a perfect product of Beachbody right now, no... but I'm putting in the work. I've got a LONG way to go, but at the same time -- I'm in the trenches with anyone that joins and chooses me as their coach. I'm learning, growing, and getting better everyday -- just like they will be. I love people, and dearly love encouraging them to reach for their dreams -- plus knowing that they are counting on me, is an extra motivator to keep me in the game. I see it as a win/win for all of us... me in that I will keep going, and others because I will encourage them to put whatever missteps they might have aside and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I know truly, in my heart that my life has forever changed. If I can do this at my current weight -- I know ANYONE can do it -- and I'd love to be the one to help you start your journey. One thing that we hear on 21 Day Fix a lot is: Take it one day at a time, and one pound at a time. That is the absolute truth -- take it step by step.

If you're interested in taking that first step with me -- email me -- and we will talk through it and figure out what would be the best fit for you.

New Testament 90

I mentioned before that my sisters, Dad, and I are embarking on a shared reading plan this year where we are reading through the 27 books of the New Testament within the first 90 days of this year.

We read 3 chapters a day, and track them with an app called Bible Progress - it's on my iPhone, but I'd bet that there is a similar app for Android users too. For us, we started on January 1st, but you could jump in where ever works for you - dates don't really matter -- it's all about having some quiet time with the Lord and learning what he has to tell you each day.

It has already shown to be applicable at where I've been so far this year -- working through walking away from some things, and knowing that the most graceful thing you can do at times is walk away and not let things continue to cause you to act in ways that you don't like.

I take full responsibility for my actions, and I do my best in all things to act as best I can... sometimes though, life throws you curve balls and that is where you either stay on that wild ride or you hop off and try to be better. I'm learning that sometimes that IS the Godly way - to make sure that you don't fall into traps that repeatedly cause you to do things that are unpleasing to Him.

To say that I've failed and sinned sometimes is an understatement - I've allowed things to go on and for myself to react in ways that are not in line with my beliefs, but I strongly believe that being real and owning those things are the best way to show the world what a Godly person is like. Instead of acting like I've got it all together 100% of the time -- because I don't. I try and I fail, daily. I just pick myself up and try again the next day.

Every time I read the Bible -- even passages that I've read before -- they mean different things based on what is currently going on in my life. It's amazing how a book that is so very old can speak to us today as clearly as it did in the days it was written.

I also am reading this time around while the boys are awake - in years past I read when they were sleeping, but I think it's good for them to see me: A) reading anything, B) reading God's word, and C) using the words  to help guide our lives.

I hope that you'll jump off on a reading journey of your own -- it may not look like mine, and I'm not 100% sure what mine will look like after March -- I'm thinking of reading through Psalms and Proverbs -- then moving through the Old Testament.

Compassion

I want to introduce everyone to a new member of our family - Isai! He is the sweetest little 4 year old that I have ever seen... besides the two that I've raised. I wanted the boys to be able to learn a little lesson about how other children live around the world as they grow up. They need to learn that other people out there can be extremely happy with much less.

I want them to know that this little guy is blessed by a little bit from us every month -- just $38.00 a month does so much for him, and enriches his life in so many ways. He gets bible lessons and healthcare... snacks, and nutrition enrichment... his parents will benefit from his sponsorship as well. I hope that we are able to go and meet him one day, but that's of course me dreaming out loud.

We sponsored Isai with Compassion International - you can go there and look through their online catalog of children waiting to be sponsored from all over the world. I personally wanted a little boy roughly James and Tyler's age... and this face just grabbed me from the screen. If you have girls, maybe you'd like to sponsor a little girl that is your kids' age. It really doesn't matter that much who you choose - just get in there and help these kids.

Another thing I love is that we can send him letters through the Compassion website - which I feel like gets there faster as well as it's easier to send photos that way... just upload and then it's able to be translated for him. We've received our first letter back from Isai and got a sweet little picture from him since he is so little - he doesn't write yet.

Additionally, I love that at his birthday we can send him a gift - which they recommend $10 for him... or at Christmas we can send his family $25. They do have maximums for the kids of $100 over the course of a year... and $1,000 for the family. That's a lot for us, but I imagine that even sending the small amounts would bless them greatly. I can't wait to learn more about his family...

So far, he is an only child and lives with his parents in the country. His parents both are employed, which is wonderful! I hope that our relationship grows and that he is truly blessed by getting to know us too.

I'm so proud to be a part of this journey with him, and I hope that the boys learn a lot through the experience as well. Maybe one day the three of the boys can be pen-pals as well! 

Beautiful Ending

Let me start way back in 2011, by telling you when we moved to Memphis - we left behind one of the most amazing church families. We loved them dearly and we were 100% a part of the family. While we were gone in Memphis, though, the church went through a very traumatic event and they have been trying to find their way back since about the middle of 2013.

We came back to our same church in the later part of 2014 - in late September, and it looked very different. People had left, new faces were there... new leaders. One thing I noticed immediately were the old friends, but also the new found closeness of the entire congregation. You could tell that they had been through something together that was profound. Our family kept a distance both purposefully, but also because - 2014 knocked us on our butt for most of the year... as a big illness and two brain surgeries would tend to do.

Then shortly after we came back, a big prayer request was answered for this congregation. A new pastor was hired permanently - and the healing came full circle. He is a great speaker, and I love his wife. I know that God lead them to fill this spot and take the church to new heights.

I also now feel like we can have a home again in this church. Something about walking into the middle of an unfinished journey kept me on the perimeter. I didn't want to make light of the journey they had, and while we felt some of the let down and hurt by hearing what happened - we were set apart from it too by being so far away.

I feel like now, we can look forward to so much. Even a different role now that I'm staying home with the boys, I look forward to being a part of vacation bible school... hopefully Tyler will settle in by then. He won't go to Sunday School unless John or I go in his class with him. With homeschooling, I desperately want him to make some church friends he can invite over... and I know they are still young.

Yesterday, the church had a goodbye celebration for the interim pastor... and I know that they were in capable hands with him during the transition... but we never got to know him, so it felt weird. I'm grateful to him for all he was to these people during a difficult time, and I'm grateful for the new beginning that has come as well. You could truly feel over the last few weeks a cleansing and renewal around the church - I look forward to what the future holds - making new friends and growing in my faith once again.