Living – Page 23 – Unlikely Martha

Living

Protect Your Peace

I’m resharing this post from last year. With the climate of our society I want to share a reminder that you don’t have to keep toxic people or relationships in your space. I don’t care what side you are on, this unrest can be unsettling and bothersome. We can’t control a lot of what is happening in the world but we can take care to find our peace when it seems buried in the unknown. Take care of yourself friends.

…and so that it is never misunderstood, while I respect people’s right to their opinions I stand proudly in the light that shines on justice for ALL people.

As the slide to 40 has been greased up like the bottom of the sled Clark Griswald rode on in National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation I’m quite rapidly coming to an understanding that in a few short years all foolery and those that accompany it will not be welcomed into my space.

This morning after dropping the babies to school I came home and looked out the window and was in awe that nearly overnight the leaves on this tree turned a bright red and in the next moment I realized that in a few short days those beautiful leaves would shed to the ground to dry up and be blown away.

I ain’t really a deep person but in that moment I thought about my journey to my current place in life.

All of the tears and struggles and disagreements and letting go and holding on and fighting and pondering and reluctance and prayers and questions and no answers and……

I made it.

Through all of the bullsh*t, and loss and self searching I made it.

I found my peace. In finding it I quickly realized people will be skeptical, and they will be envious and they will find themselves wanting to be happy for you but they can’t.

Oh well.

Finding and protecting my peace was and is for me, always has been. The journey was long but my stay in Peaceville will be forever more.

If you offer YOURSELF nothing else, please find your peaceful place, climb in it and guard it’s opening with all you have. Don’t be afraid to slam the door shut in folks face, let some folks in but don’t offer them the right to sit. We all have to deal with folks we would rather not let in our space but life says we have to, and then trust enough to open it and offer a seat for those that bless your life.

Like that tree we will all be vibrant and full of life and then we’ll dry up and blow away and then the rotating seasons of life will bring us back to life again.

Let grace and faith guide you when your peace is in jeopardy. Live and be free friends!

I ain’t deep tho.

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Girl Style• Living• Mama Style• MOMing

A Mother World and an Athleta Girl

Thank you Athleta for powering this post. I was compensated, all opinions are mine.

Christmas Eve 2009, I vividly remember waiting to be called back for my gender scan, and repeating to myself it’s a boy. Once we made it back into the room and the scan was happening I remember staring intently at the screen waiting for the sonogram to confirm that I was indeed having a boy. Waiting for confirmation on what I had been telling myself since I found out I was pregnant because I didn’t want to be disappointed.

More than anything I wanted a girl. I’d wanted a boy the first time and just knew Lady Luck wouldn’t oblige me twice. By the time I had gotten to the appointment I was good and certain I was having a boy and was good with it.

With baited breath in the darkness we waited as she scanned and measured, and scanned and measured some more and typed important stuff into the computer. Finally she said, ” Do you want to know the sex?”

Uh yeah.

She rolled over my belly a few more times and in the most nonchalant voice said, “It’s a girl.”

My first reply was, “You sure?” I commence to go in-depth about a story I recently read about a lady who was told she was expecting a girl and had a boy instead.

She attempted to soothe my worries by zooming in a little more. Once I was convinced, I shed a few thug tears. One, because it was a girl and two, it solidified the hanging of the closed sign on the baby shop.

Through every stage of mothering her, I’ve looked forward to another phase that would take me from just nurturing her to being an example, a role model, someone she would want to be like.

A lot of my mothering decisions hinge on me wanting my children to have fond memories of their childhood with me as their mother. Their father plays a different role, most people will tell you they have different views of their parents.

My narrative as their mother is mine to create and I do my best to ensure that story is weaved of love, experiences and discipline.

She’s seven now and it is so easy to observe her starting to craft her own thoughts of me. She learned to ride her bike this Summer and frequently requests that I join her. We laugh and I tell her how great she’s doing and I know these are memories that she will hold on to for a lifetime.

It’s safe to say I’ve reached that stage of motherhood and it’s bitter sweet.

She tells me how she wants to write a blog like me and do all of these creatively amazing things and I know she is watching. She no longer needs me to tie her shoe or teach her to ride a bike. She now needs me to reinforce her accomplishments and encourage her through her defeats. She wants to take walks with me and tell me about her day and help me in the kitchen.

She wants to dress like me, she’ll pick up something in the store and tell me how much it resembles a piece of clothing that I own. Mommy and me styles are so chic and add a little something to the mother/daughter dynamic. Athleta has created a chic line of women and Athleta girl clothing that is stylish and functional. With her dance schedule and my need to be comfortable in keeping up with her along with my need to hit the gym while she is in practice, these pieces fit perfectly our active lives. I’ve never known a pair of leggings to fit like these, I can’t speak for her but the fabric and fit hold everything together in the best way. We’re so excited to step out this fall in our matching gear.

HER: Leggings | Shirt | Jacket ME: Leggings | Shirt | Jacket

When it comes to mothering her, I’ve come to realize the easy part was changing diapers and feeding. As I move into the most difficult part that includes building her into an incredible caring human, who is in touch with her emotions, strong, assertive and loving is the most important work. It’s daunting to think that certain aspects of her adulthood will be crafted from these years so I give them my all. I’m stern when needed but also apologize for days when I’m not my best. Seems like just when you think you have this mothering thing figured out, it keeps evolving.

Fight the good fight Mamas!! Cause as someone said

“To the world you are just one person, but to someone you are the world”

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Living• Video

My Fall Decor Must Haves

Thank you to Sengled Smart Light Bulbs for partnering with Unlikely Martha

Fall is my absolute favorite season of the year. Earth tones, chilled air, annual trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard are some of our annual family moments that I cherish and look forward to every year. Although the first official day of fall doesn’t occur until September 22, my mind has been in fall mode for a few weeks and now that Labor Day has passed I’m on a mission to start transforming our home into a comfy haven.

We’re moving into a season of spending more time indoors and entertaining. Whether I’m entertaining myself or family, cozying up on the couch with a throw, watching a good movie or having a little nip and sip with some jazz playing in the background is the calm after a busy summer that I am looking forward to. There are a few things that I absolutely need to consider my home cozy and in no particular order they include mood lighting, music, candles and comfortable blankets and pillows.

Fall Inspired Textiles

I am thinking of purchasing a blanket ladder or cute basket for our throws. I love when we all cuddle together as a family to watch TV, and to keep folks from dragging blankets from their beds I just like to have a few on hand specifically for the living room area.

Mood Lighting

I love dimmed lighting. We have a dimmer on the island lights in our kitchen. After the kitchen is clean and the kids have gone to bed I often dim them, something about the glow seems to enhance the fact that the day is winding down and time for a little relaxation.

While our kitchen is open to the living room and I can get the glow in the living room, we’ve since installed two Sengled Pulse light bulbs that offer a full dimmed light experience in the living area, and they also play music via bluetooth from an app on my phone.

Yes! The bulbs play music. They are also capable of other things like being connected to the television to offer surround sound which is something we plan to add in the coming weeks with the Pulse Link.

We’ve also replaced the bulb in our reading nook with the Sengled Twilight light bulb. With normal use it is said to last for 20 years. So yes for not having to continue to purchase light bulbs.

The last of our lighting transitions occurred in our bedroom where I installed the Sengled Element Plus bulbs. Love these bulbs because I can select how warm or cool the light shines, and schedule the lights to dim or come on and shut off automatically at a certain time. Every night at 10:30 they dim, and at 11:15p they shut off for the night. This feature has been really great for forcing me to go to bed at night. As the nights get cooler I see this being an extra comfy feature. I think it is time to get a new fall inspired comforter to up the cozy factor.

Here’s a short clip showing the interaction between the app and the lightbulb. I don’t care how much technology we are exposed to there are some things that still blow my mind when it comes to capabilities.

Fave Fall Scents

Smells are another thing that can easily make your house cozy. Nothing like walking into a space and saying it smells good in here. I don’t like sweet smells so I stick to more amber and patchouli varieties during the fall season. I’ve already started stashing candles as I find them on sale. Leaves by Bath and Body Works is one scent in particular that I will not burn until it is officially fall. It really makes things official for me.

In the coming weeks as so many people start to rebuild and make sense of their new normals post hurricanes Harvey and Irma lets remember to keep those in need in our thoughts and send aid as we see fit.

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Living

Zone Cleaning | How I Keep My House {Kinda} Clean

Had to throw the “kinda” in there because there are some days when surely it seems as if the Tazmanian Devil graced us with his presence bringing a hostess gift of clutter and destruction wrapped in foolishness.

Somewhere along this pursuit of living a peaceful and purposeful life I discovered as messy as my tendencies are, I thrive in a well organized space. It declutters my mind and gives me a calm that I hadn’t known before I became intentional about keeping our living space tidy.

I am messy by nature. Keeping our house clean comes with schedules and when we get off schedule things get out of hand and we end up having to take a full day to get everything back in order. This past Sunday was catch up day, I was thrilled that it had been nearly 3 months before there had to be a resident intervention with all hands on deck to get this place back in order.

The Zone Cleaning Method does a great job of keeping our house in order. I have integrated my cleaning schedule into the mix and when I stay on top of things and when I say I, I do mean policing other people to do their chores, my mind is in a state of organized euphoria. When executed properly our house stays tidy in a way that we never have to do more than pick up things here and there and rarely have to clean on the weekend by design.

Zone cleaning specifically means giving certain areas of your house a day of its own to tidy. You can easily incorporate zone cleaning into your home with these simple tips

Start with a clean home: To be effective when implementing this you have to start with a fully clean house otherwise you’ll be working in circles and won’t see the benefit.

Pick one or two areas to clean a day: The kitchen seems to be in high demand so you will have to clean that daily but only deep clean it on it’s assigned day. For the assigned spaces, vacuum, wipe down mirrors and appliances, mop, do whatever it takes to get the space clean. At least once a month incorporate dusting, and the baseboards into the rotation for a deep clean.

Give yourself 30 minutes per area: Once you get in the hang of it and are diligent about putting things where they belong on a daily basis, it shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to tidy the space once a week. Set a timer, put your phone down, find you some music and get to work.

Do laundry twice a week: I used to do laundry once a week and it was too much. I find two days makes the loads smaller and more manageable. I wash on Wednesdays and Sundays. If I miss folding on Sunday, I reserve it for Wednesday and then the next Sunday until we are digging out of the basket. ~~This only happens sometimes.~~

Pick Things Up Daily: Somebody left their shoes in the living room? Call them to come and pick them up. Toothpaste residue was left on the counter? Yell for the culprit. I promise they will get tired of hearing your voice and start to do these small tasks that if left untamed are the gateway to clutter and disarray. This rule goes for you too. Teamwork makes the tidy dream work.

Stick to the Script: I know there will be days where you will fall into the door, and feel lucky that you didn’t unleash your wrath on someone, however you really have to make a conscious effort to do your zones daily and be diligent about doubling up on the next day if the bed truly needed you at 6p on a Tuesday and your kids ate cereal for dinner. Things happen.

This is seriously a high level overview, you obviously know your space better than I do but these tips will hopefully get you thinking about how you can reclaim your time in the cleaning department and not live in clutter. Disorganized spaces are so mind draining, no matter how small or big your space there are options out there to start you on the journey to living a decluttered life, even if it means starting with the junk drawer in the kitchen…..just keep going.

What are some of your cleaning tips?

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