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Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2021

I Quit Nursing School

I Quit Nursing School


As I played with the words to share my decision, I realized this may be a very unpopular decision especially in our modern society with high value for career minded women. However I want to be very clear:

I am not JUST a stay at home mom. 


I CHOOSE to be a stay at home mom. 


We make sacrifices in our lifestyle that allow me to spend this time with our children and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You don’t have to understand it and it’s okay if you choose differently for your family and if you don’t have the choice, my heart goes out to you.


I don’t know about you but I process things better with details. I like to know the overall picture which gives me a better understanding so let’s rewind a bit.


My first few years of college, I worked in childcare and ultimately changed my major from nursing to education right when I was about to start the actual nursing program. I loved teaching and being there with these kiddos as they learned and discovered something new (I was an assistant pre-k teacher), I wanted to experience that beyond just a college job. Anyways, every once in a while, I would be asked to relieve one of the infant room workers for their lunch break. Playing with babies and experiencing their firsts - the heartbreak I felt for the moms, that was the moment I knew I WANTED to stay home with my future children.


You combine that experience with my experience of loss and little memory of just being with my parents, this drove my desire even more to be there for every moment with my children especially those early years. 


Fast-forward, add some kids later and Anthony gets sick. Really sick. Our life is turned upside down trying to figure out what is going on. This experience takes me back to three year old Stormie who is about to turn four whose dad dies two weeks before her birthday. My daughter is two years old and in about two weeks (at that time) will turn three as her daddy is in the hospital with some unknown infection. The PTSD and anxiety was awful although I hid it very well from most.


Then we add on no income, unstable job situation for Anthony which leads to him being wrongfully terminated a few months later (he was on sick leave for 12 weeks). He found a new job a few weeks later and within a month back in the hospital with a different major infection.


Amidst this, I decided to return to nursing school because between education and nursing, it allowed the most flexible schedule for me to still be home with my kids during the day and work nights and weekends as needed whenever Anthony gets sick. Therefore I got registered to update a few pre-reqs.


Here we are a year later with everything done, prepared and ready to apply for my BSN program and I decided not to do it. 


I cannot afford to miss anymore time with my kids while they are this little because I am driven by fear. 


These past few weeks as I have dug in, I realized nursing school was my way to control and this backup plan I created became what I was putting my trust in instead of God. A good thing (a backup plan) turned into a god thing and that’s when I ultimately decided it was best to step back, refocus my trust and faith in God and His care for me whatever His plan may be in our life. This decision also allows me the freedom to truly enjoy this time I want to have with my children as they will only be this little once.


If I should have learned anything these past 3.5 years dealing with a layoff, selling our home, sickness, wrongful termination, and more sickness mixed with everything else on our plates in between, it is that God provides. 


The people God has placed in our lives, this city we settled in as a compromise, the church we “randomly” found from a google search, was all preordained by God. If He provided for us through all those dark and murky waters, He will continue to provide for us no matter what the future looks like.


Therefore I am CHOOSING to stay home with my children and actively work on trusting God with the details.


I am not JUST a stay at home mom. It is my privilege and joy to spend the days with my babies. I want to soak up every moment with my favorite human beings and build memories that will last a lifetime.


I encourage you to rephrase the way you look at and speak about YOUR choices, whatever they may be, in a positive way. Don’t devalue yourself.

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stormieariel
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Thursday, February 7, 2019

Let’s Chat! | Growth During Struggles

Let’s Chat! | Growth During Struggles


If your new around here, you probably don’t know this but I’m not the typical blogger. I randomly take breaks from blogging because, well life happens. Real life. Don’t get me wrong I love blogging. I love writing. I love forming the connections I have made through this digital life but I have priorities. Or at least I try to because let’s me honest we all get sucked into the scrolling mindlessly through social media while life happens around you. However, I’m breaking that cycle. I won’t allow it to hold power over me anymore of having to see every single post ever posted by this person or that person or needing to know who is doing what at this moment in time.

Now hear me out, there is absolutely nothing wrong with checking in on your favorite blogger or social media influencer but when that profile or person gets the best of you instead of the people in your real life, in your home. There’s a problem. And that’s me. Hi, my name is Stormie and I am a social mediaholic. I love catching up with people on Instagram but I hate having phone conversations. I love posting and watching instastories but I’m actually an introvert and don’t like talking in person unless we are already close friends.

So this social media break has happened for quite a few reasons. The main reason was the Lord was speaking to me. I have always wondered when people would say “The Lord spoke to me” or I’m following the Lord’s command and I always wondered like how? Did you hear a big booming voice “Stormie get off social media” with an echo? Well no. It was subtle and over time. The Lord spoke to me through books I was reading, through people I was following on social media, conversations I was having in my bible study group, etc. There was a common theme being brought to my attention across all areas of my life and it felt so strong that I knew it was coming from the Lord.

Short back story, my husband was laid off (I spoke about it some here and here) and we were dealing with unemployment for 6+ months and now underemployment. Around the same time I’m hearing the Lord speak to me, Anthony and I both also feel the Lord telling us it was finally time to say goodbye to our house. In hindsight, we were wrestling with the Lord for months and months before this without realizing it (or wanting to realize) so when we did make the decision to list our house for sell, we were at such peace because we knew it was the Lord’s will.

So the time-frame for us to be out of the house lined up with the holidays which I thought taking the whole month of December off would be the best because one it would give us time to get all moved in and settled and secondly what perfect time to create a new rhythm and routine with my children. I was also planning to use this time to intentionally plan what my life would look like on social media and how I needed to create boundaries and balance my priorities on my spiritual life and my family life first.


But alas, the Lord had other plans and other familial obligations popped up that took majority of my attention in December and half of January. Now that things have slowed down on that front, I have been trying to find my way back to my initial mission. Getting the fire back in me of being intentional with my spiritual life and my kids. Creating a new rhythm and routine with a purpose. And eventually get back to blogging with a game plan.

As of right now, I have been checking in on Facebook and Instagram every so often but not being active much other then selling stuff on marketplace. I have felt I wanted to wait until I was in a good place in my spiritual life and my family life. It’s not to say my faith has been wavering, in fact it’s quiet the opposite.

During this last year and a half, this is the most dependent and closest I have felt to the Lord. I feel like when everything was going great, it was so easy to put God on the back burner and say a prayer here and there. Head to church on Sunday’s, attend bible study and go through the motions all while neglecting to ever open up my Bible. My God has shown me so much and has taught me so much in trusting in Him, leaning not on my own understanding when things aren’t going the way I planned. I try so hard to control so much out of fear and I have learned that’s not okay.

I’m not saying you should never make plans or goals, it’s great to plan but it’s also very important to remain flexible because we don’t have the whole picture. God does. And guess what. His plans are so far better for our lives then we could have ever imagined. The good and the bad.

Side story about the “bad”: I do not know the reason I had to grow up without my biological parents (in case your unaware, my parents died when I was really young and my aunt who I call mom raised me) but what I do know is I would not be the mother I am today to my children if it wasn’t for that significant lost in my life as a child. For that I am thankful that I am more in tune to the needs of my children. I am far from the perfect mother but I am proud of the mother I am. No one could ever take that confidence away from me. That confidence comes from the “bad hand” I was dealt and honestly, looking my children in their faces the way I do, there is not one thing I would change in my life that lead me to this point and that is thanks to God.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28 ESV

What is something you have felt the Lord speak to you lately? Do you try to plan or control your life out of fear? How has your childhood shaped you into the parent you are (or plan to be)?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, May 17, 2018

6 Ways to Help a Family in Need

6 Ways to Help a Family in Need


As y'all know Anthony and I have been on this yo-yo unemployed/underemployed life for 10 months now and we have had so many people in our life help us along the way to make this time a tad easier although the only thing that would make this easier would be a stable income (just being honest). Often times people do ask how can they help and maybe it's pride or maybe it's not wanting to be a burden or maybe a mix of both but it is hard just saying what you need so I decided to put a list together of the ways you can come alongside a family you may know that is struggling with unemployment or underemployment and help them during this difficult time.

1. Monetary donation 

We were blessed at the beginning of this journey by a family that gave us a monetary donation and we held on to it until we absolutely needed to use it on bills. This is honestly the biggest way you can help someone although you know the family best and know if they would be wise with this donation or not. If you feel they would spend this unwisely, maybe pay a bill for them yourself as in you call the company and give the account number and payment.

2. Food

There are so many subscription boxes out for everything including meals so gifting a one time (or reoccurring) meal box to a family in need would be an amazing blessing. You could even consider preparing a meal yourself and dropping it off to the family to avoid high cost on yourself (this is also a great idea for families welcoming new children either by birth or adoption, I also plan to share ways to help a family with a new baby/child in the future so stay tuned for that as well). 

3. Gift cards

Provide gift cards from a local grocery store (possibly one that also has a gas station). This will allow the family to get food as needed, household items like toilet paper, laundry soap, etc., or even gas for their vehicle.

4. Diapers/Wipes

If there are young children in the family consider donating diapers and wipes to them (if they cloth diaper ask what type of detergent they use and donate that to them). Also consider donating menstrual items for the young girls and women in the family or teaching them about menstrual cups and cloth pads that can be reused each cycle (I also plan to discuss this in the future further).

5. Clothing

Again if they have young children, they grow out of things extremely fast so consider offering them your children's hand me downs or even buying clothes from a second hand store (see my tips for thrift shopping children's clothes here). Helping a family in need doesn't have to be expensive.

6. Pray

And I mean really pray for them. In our society, we easily say "I'll pray for you" or "We are praying" and never do or my favorite and unrealistic phrase "claim it in the name of Jesus and it is yours" as if Jesus is a genie and we rubbed his lamp for three wishes. But really truly pray for them as you pray for your own family and your own needs, pray that God will build their trust and faith in Him, that God will be glorified in their struggles and that they will cast their worries onto Jesus and God will lead and guide them on their real life scary decisions that need to be made.


Often times, it is better to just do these things without asking the family in need because sometimes it is hard to swallow the pride and admit you need help so just ask the type of laundry soap they use or for their account number to a billing company (I wonder if you could just provide the name and address to the billing company and surprise the family with an anonymous bill payment). There are so many other ways that you could do to help a family in need, these were just the ones that have been incredibly helpful for us personally thus far so if you have any other ideas, please leave them in the comments below and as always I created a pinnable image to share with friends and family as you see fit.

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stormieariel
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Unemployed Life + Five Month Update

Unemployed Life + Five Month Update


This will probably be one of the most vulnerable posts I write. I have debated sharing this part of our life in my public social media life because I do not want pity at all (pride much?) however the longer we are in this season, the harder it is and if I can help just one other person or family who may be on this same journey then it would be worth sharing. I briefly mentioned Anthony was back working but the contract ended much sooner then anticipated so we are back at square one except this time we don't have the security of unemployment since it ended a few days before he was offered the contract position. When we asked for an extension for unemployment, he was declined because Texas Workforce Commission is out of budget from extending unemployment to the numerous Hurricane Harvey victims who are also out of work. So it has been 9 months of the unemployed life and the longer we do not have a steady substantial income, the more assistance we need (obviously).

Over these last few months, I have been doing research as well as friends and family sharing different assistance programs that are out there and offered not only by our government but also local and/or national organizations so I wanted to compile a list of all the programs I know about and a little bit about what they offer. Some will be local to me (Houston area) while others are national and you will just need to find the location in your area.

Food Assistance

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - nutrition assistance to eligible, low-income individuals and families.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) - The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Eat On Feets - a network where families can share their breastmilk in a safe and ethical manner.

Human Milk 4 Human Babies - global milk-sharing network

Diaper Assistance

Share the Love Program - low-income families who receive assistance from programs like WIC and TANF may be able to receive a set of cloth diapers — for free.

The Diaper Foundation - Houston area assistance for disposable diapers

Cash Assistance

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - from what I can gather on the application process is you are given cash assistance either on a monthly basis or a one time lump sum payment. I will keep you all updated if I learn more based on approval otherwise feel free to comment if you know more about the TANF program.

I am sure there are numerous other programs so if you know of any that I did not mention, please feel free to share in the comments below so if anyone else needs more assistance it can easily be found all in one place. Even though this is a really tough season, it has been amazing seeing the ways the Lord has provided for our NEEDS and the people he has used in our lives. We have seen how far he has carried us thus far and know he will continue to provide for us.

Five Month Update

It's so crazy how fast time goes when you are the parent but when we were kids time couldn't go fast enough. My big guy is definitely our happy baby, always full of smiles and giggles to anyone around. He loves talking non-stop and sometimes I wonder if he will start talking before Sophia (although her vocabulary has increased tremendously the last few weeks). He is finally an amazing napper but that's because he decided he wanted more one on one time with mommy at nights so you win some and you lose some (sleep).

Five Month Stats
Weight: ???
Height: ???
Head Circumference: ??

Firsts
big boy convertible carseat (still rear-facing)
Easter

Loves
mommy
daddy
smiling

Hates
dirty diapers
waiting to eat
anything being taken away from him

What I Want to Remember
his laughter
the long pieces of hair on his right side of his head while on the left side rubbed short
his screeching voice when he baby talks

Again please comment below of any other assistance programs you may know of that I did not mention so this can be a place to help others who are in a similar situation as this. I do also plan to share more posts in the future for those of you who have never been in the situation and want to know how you can help families in need so stay tuned (UPDATE: see 6 Ways to Help a Family in Need here). Please feel free to share this post with your friends and family and as always I created a pinnable image below.

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stormieariel
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Dream Lifestyle

Dream Lifestyle


As some of you may know, I have begun reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I have heard so many great things about this book and how it has truly helped others get rid of the clutter in their homes and become more organized. 

Before moving into our current house, I was a very organized person. Everything had a place and there was an exact method to my cleaning process (my mom taught me well) but when you have other house guests that do not share those organizational and cleaning skills (my grandmother had her own way of doing things and Anthony caught on shortly after moving in together years ago), it becomes tiring to keep up with someone else's constant mess. It definitely has prepared me for a toddler who leaves cheerios in every nook and cranny however it also allows me to teach Sophia at an early age how to pick up after yourself and put it back once you finished playing with something (we have been doing this since she was born) especially since she is at the age of copying everything mommy is doing. 

But what happens when things do not have a place to go? I have boxes in our garage from our move from FOUR years ago that I still have no idea where to put the contents in those boxes. I also have two boxes in my coat closet, one is my craft stuff and the other is my books and photo albums. We use to have shelves at our old house but this house we do not so there they all sit. I never had a proper space for my craft items so they have remained in bags or boxes even before the move but thinking of organizing it gives me a headache and I have been avoiding it all together.

So here I am on my journey of the magic of tidying up. There are two steps: declutter and find where to put what you keep. However, you have to declutter first. Easy. But before you begin to declutter, Marie asks you to ask yourself: what type of lifestyle do you dream.

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stormieariel
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Thursday, January 26, 2017

Reading List | Spring 2017

Reading List | Spring 2017


I have been wanting to put together a reading list for the year but I still am not certain of all the books I want to read so I decided to break this up by season: spring, summer and fall.

You will notice I didn't include winter because if we are being honest, Houston doesn't know what winter is at least not in the last few years, haha.

Anyways, the books on this list should get me from now until May and if I stick with my intention of reading 12 books in a year than that leaves me with reading 5 books in this season. I have already started one which is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and I am blown away by this book. Kinda kicking myself for never buying it sooner as I have wanted it for years now. I will go into more detail about this book when I do a book review as I am planning on doing when I finish each book (I still owe y'all a book review for the Baby Led Weaning book as well).

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stormieariel
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Friday, January 6, 2017

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Life Lately


Hey guys! So I know I'm veering a little off schedule by posting on a Thursday and missing Wednesday but it's been crazy busy over here the last few weeks. Last week Sophia and I spent a few mornings attending my pre-k classes graduations and end of year parties. Our water heater broke (yay for cold baths, not), however it did get me out the house to go for a run. I was hoping I would sweat so much that the cold water would feel good, kinda worked, kinda not but thank God we have hot water again and I was finally able to shave my legs. And Anthony will be starting school again come this fall so things are gonna get more crazy around here while we try to figure out this parenting gig. But you know, life happens so quickly or at least it seems so now that we have Little Love. I mean come on how is my little baby already almost three months?!? I just can't deal right now so moving on.
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stormieariel
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Friday, April 15, 2016

Savoring this Season

Savoring this Season


Since before Anthony and I got married, we wanted children and we tried for years with countless negative pregnancy tests. Many sleepless nights of conversations wondering what our future children will be like and if we would even be able to have children. Starting a family seemed so far away with each negative test until that one turned positive. 

We really started imagining what this little person would be like, what parenthood would entail. But I never realized how hard it would be in these first few months. I knew about the frequent feeding, the loss of sleep, the endless diaper changes but I wasn't warned about the endless crying, at least it seems like it's endless. 

However, that crying means she's here. This child we dreamed of, we talked about, we planned and tried to have for years is here. Yes, she is needy and I am having to sacrifice more of myself then I ever realized but before I know it, she won't need me. 

There will be a time when she no longer needs to hear my heartbeat to calm her.


There will be a time when she no longer needs to feel me (and smell me) laying next to her.


There will be a time when she no longer needs me to hold her.



There will come a time when she is so interested in exploring the world around her that I can't keep her still long enough to hold and hug her.

There will come a time when she leaves the nest to start her own family.

So in this tough season of being a new mom to a newborn, I want to savor every little moment including the hard ones because there will come a time when she will no longer need me.

I love you sweet girl.
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stormieariel
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Here and There


As many of you may already know, we bought a new house.

When we started the house hunt, I already started  thinking of all the ways I can personalize our future house to make it into our home. Once we finally knew which house was ours, my head went spinning nonstop. I even purged all my Pinterest boards pertaining to our home. I was more excited then ever to start working on our new house.

My first line of business, moving into the house, was making it livable for all of us while getting ready to host 25+ people for Thanksgiving. I was able to accomplish both things this last month and now I cannot wait to start all these other projects I have in mind.

However, Christmas is two weeks away (I am hosting Christmas Eve dinner with a gift exchange) and money is tight. All the beautiful things I would love to do and most likely would take forever for me to complete anyways is on hold at least for a little bit. I am not at all disappointed because it gives me more time to enjoy this holiday season with my hubby. We are both on break from school and he has vacation time coming up, exciting!

I also can take my time unpacking all the other boxes left in the garage (and possibly complete some smaller projects I started up and never completed).

As always, my posts will continue to be sporadic. I hope you all (if anyone) sticks with me!
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stormieariel
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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Tabletalk

Tabletalk


So the last you heard from me, Ant and I made the decision to attempt to build a dining table once we moved into our new house.

That time frame gave us four weeks before Thanksgiving which sounded very doable. However, due to unseen circumstances our closing date was postponed two weeks.

Once we were finally homeowners to our anticipated house, we were two weeks away from Thanksgiving and things seemed pretty hectic.

Not only did we need to focus on making things livable for all of our sake but we needed to figure out a seating arrangment since we were gonna host Thanksgiving for 25+ people asap.

Basically, we found a table similar to the one I wanted to build at a local antique store with all the details I was swooning over!


I originally wanted to place this table in the eat in kitchen however the table is a little fragile and probably wouldn't last every day use. Because of that, the table resides in the formal dining room and I cannot wait until the room is complete.

Although, my cousin and I were able to play around with tablescape ideas for Thanksgiving. 



Little progress like this makes my heart happy and excited for the next thing in store, whatever that may be!
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stormieariel
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Monday, October 20, 2014

New House, New Project

New House, New Project



We finally sold our bedroom furniture, it wasn't the price I was hoping for but it's finally out of the way. 

In my first master bedroom plan, I was going to sell it and work on a custom headboard.




But...

We are in the middle of selling our house and buying a new one!! 

Originally we planned to live at our current house for at least 5 years especially since we haven't started a family yet. Our little 2 bedroom house was perfect for us and our dogs. However, my grandmother, Babcia, moved in with us and we desperately need our own bathroom and a little more privacy (the bedrooms are so close to each other in our current house). While I'm sad that I won't be able to complete everything I had planned for this house, I'm excited to start decorating and beginning projects at the new one!!

We already have the house picked out, approved, and accepted. We are only waiting on closing now.

I have quite a few projects to begin once we move in. The most important is some type of table for eating as we will be hosting Thanksgiving. We sold our little table because it's counter height and Babcia had a difficult time being able to sit on them comfortably and get off of them safely. 

For the kitchen table, I would like a 6 seat table. I had my eyes on the Cindy Crawford Ocean Grove white table 

http://www.roomstogo.com/product/Dining-Tables/Cindy-Crawford-Home-Ocean-Grove-White-Leg-Dining-Table/42106319/


but I'm not to crazy about the finish on top. It's like a cherry finish and I prefer the brown wood tone like dark walnut

All other tables I found in the stain color I like aren't as good quality and solid as the Cindy Crawford one.

I previously played with the idea of building a farmhouse table but I didn't want to go through the hassle. The idea reappeared and I'm leaning towards it again. I already had some pins on Pinterest pinned from my previously thought so I will be going back to those and see if I can successfully build a table in time for Thanksgiving! 

No promises that I will even follow through yet, it's still an idea and I have to get Anthony fully on board.
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stormieariel
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Saturday, February 15, 2014

Smell the Roses

Smell the Roses


A few days before Valentine’s Day, Anthony and I sat down to look at our finances. We have started seriously budgeting and wanted to be sure to stick with it even with this holiday approaching.
After bills were paid and savings set aside, we did not want this holiday to leave us broke for an entire week so we gave ourselves a tinsy budget. I told Anthony I didn’t need the expensive things to make me happy. I just wanted a nice dinner with him, roses and to have fun. I would rather collect memories with him than things.

Don’t get me wrong, things are nice to have but aren’t an essential. By finally getting serious about budgeting and reading some amazing blogs about thriftiness, I have a new take on things. I don’t want to worry about obtaining the newest thing.

I want to enjoy the time I have with my husband.

I want to create memories with him (sometimes that is hitting the thrift stores or the golf course or just staying home watching netflix).

I’m not perfect and sometimes I (ahem) whine when I don’t get what I want. Having stopped to smell the roses, I realize grass isn’t always greener on the other side (haha I used two cliché phrases in one sentence). This new time set aside for budgeting each week has created a stronger bond in our marriage. It is quality time well spent where we talk about our dreams and goals. I look forward to more of these moments of budgeting, laughing, and dreaming together.


Have you smelled the roses lately? Do you budget? What is your take on budgeting?


I am linking up with  A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Yes, They Are All Ours.


P.S. I am making progress on one of my many projects, here is a sneak peak.
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stormieariel
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