As Thanksgiving approaches (tomorrow! How did that happen so quickly?) and we deck our halls with Christmas garb (three weeks ago, who am I kidding I am a Christmas nut.) we get a chance to reflect on the previous year. Set new intentions, throw out what didn't work, embrace what did and start anew. 

A rebirth of possibility, wonder and hope. 

This space, my blog, my baby, has been quiet on and off this year and as I look back I can see where I took pause in many areas of my life this year. Personally and professionally, to evaluate and dig in to what feeds my heart for God, family and purpose. 

Instead of keeping up with the hustle and the "busy" of it all, I wrote content slowly, took sponsorships from time to time when things were tight and aligned with brands I believed in and used social media for more connection than promotion. 

The main threads that weaved through what I want to carry through to 2019 are as follows:

• Simplicity and servitude in our new home.
• Intentional, QUALITY time with my husband and our son. 
• Releasing fear over situations where God is in control (so, all.)
• Traveling more, showing Grey more of our country and documenting it all.
• Writing about what's on my HEART more than what should be on an "influencers" agenda. 
• Keeping Moving. IE: workout, meal prep, write, etc. even when I'm __________. (tired, hormonal, frustrated, stuck, etc.)
• Realize my passion and gifts for entertainment didn't end in a previous "era" of my life, and I can call on God to show me where he wants my talents used for His glory. 

Since it's been a while, I also wanted to give an update on where I've been and where I am currently in this fluid, ever-changing, beautiful journey we call life. Read on if you will, and if you do, I hope that you leave a comment with how you've grown/changed/stayed the same this year. 

One thing that leaving Facebook, pausing with blog life and diving into Instagram showed me, is that making friends with my readers/followers more than using this as a stage with a spotlight is where it's at.

Connection.

That's where the good stuff is. The God stuff. 

Me + God: Challenging myself to read more of the bible itself, but have surrounded myself with more Godly women. Starting each day with devotions, podcasts and Christian music have helped keep me centered in a Christ-focused marriage, motherhood and daily life in the stay-at-home/work-at-home mom life. 

Marriage + Motherhood: Honestly, parenthood is hard on a marriage you guys. Even for a couple who are the best friends, attached at the hip, obsessed with spending all time together type. We've had to navigate the sea of parenting decisions, limited alone time and exhaustion just like anyone else. Thanking the Lord that he's still my balance and my rock, because post-partum hormones messed me UP, ya'll. Motherhood is beautiful, funny, SO love filled, hard, sweet, frustrating, growing, life affirming work. I prefer the toddler stage to babyhood and am trying to wrap my head around number two. God's working on me and I feel He has a bit of work to do, but He's a great big God who can do far more than I can comprehend so I'm not stressing.  

What I'm Reading: So many things. This season of motherhood (the toddler years) affords me more reading time (or the outlook that I actual want to now due to less sleep deprivation), either way I'm loving devouring the written word again. I have a constant rotation of 5-7 books at a time and the list is too extensive to put in this post, but I am working on a short and sweet follow up post that will list all my favorite, and not so favorite, reads from the past year. 

Health + Caring For God's Temple: With still breastfeeding and my CRAZY rollercoaster of hormones, my mental health has felt strained. I honestly have put on a few pounds, and I am setting my sites on eating clean and green MORE for energy, even moods, hormone improvement and health than I am for shifting the number on the scale.  If the numbers improve, then I'll happy dance in smaller yoga pants. 

Career: Saved this one for last, because goodness gracious, I've been taking some serious time this year looking into where I really want to  devote my limited time I take away from raising our boy and caring for our home. As a woman who loves to contribute to the family and work on my passions outside of motherhood, (Proverbs 31 is a huge focus of our home life) I knew I wanted to embrace some aspects of my versatile backgrounds. I just knew I could no longer juggle them ALL. After much prayer, thought and family discussions I have decided that for now I will hang  my  hat on nutrition. While I still love recipe creation and guiding people towards better eating, I plan to keep it simply to this space. Moving back into entertainment, I accepted a spot on the business side of film and music and am working slowly on my first screenplay for Amazon. My husband and I are launching our own small shop, and that for now is keeping me plenty busy. 


I would love to know where you are all at on your journeys, leave your story below and how I can pray for you. I'd love to connect with you all - follow me at Instagram.com/NoshandNurture, leave mea DM and I'll connect back! 

There was a day in the not so distant past that tried to overwhelm us. As a household. Which means, I feel, that the enemy was trying to break down our walls and shake our faith. 

The baby wasn't sleeping well during the challenges that presented themselves, so I was teetering on an emotion-driven cliff of exhaustion. The body shop/insurance company from an accident we were in on vacation totaled our car and we needed to buy a new car and have a car payment all over again when we worked so hard to reduce our debt to try to buy/build a house.

​Speaking of the house, the city denied our permits and we can no longer build the home on the land we've been planning towards since before our baby was born.

So, like I said, there was a day, in the not so distant past that tried to overwhelm us. 

I learned through prayers and tears that we need to trust God's no's, and trust God knows our future and His plans for us better than we do. As hard of a pill as it is to swallow, we weren't meant to build that small family homestead with the big tree, pool and garden. It wasn't meant to be our place as much as we could picture ourselves raising our tribe there. 

We need to lean in to God and let Him continue to lead and show us where He sees us and trust that whatever that looks like is better than our best vision.

#1: Faith. When I get busy I am the first to admit that church falls to the wayside. I hope this changes when we are parents, as I want to instill its importance in our children's lives.  I love our Lord with all my heart. Though I know, like with any habit, if I don't do it now, I can't expect to set a great example for my future children. However, God isn't only in church. He's in us, so I do make a point to do morning devotionals every day, couples devotionals at night with my hubs and stay active in prayer. And as it states "A Virtuous Woman serves God with all of her heart, mind and soul. She seeks His will for her life and follows His ways." This is something I try to be intentional with everyday.  I look for Him for guidance in all areas of my life and I try to stay aware of ways He is asking me to serve him with those around me. 

A lesson that I had to learn is... don't beat yourself up over how much you do or don't do. God knows our stories, our reasons, our excuses, and our attempts. He loves us no matter what, but I feel its important to make an effort so that we can grow. Comment and share how you stay active in your faith day to day. I'd love to hear inspiring feedback!