September 2024 Recap

What I'm reading, watching and working on lately

Oct 03, 2024

It finally feels like fall this week (at least in the morning for a few hours!), but by afternoon, we’re back to summertime. Still, I’ll take all the sneak peeks of fall, even though I can’t quite process that we’re already in October!!

September was a month of slowing down, or at least attempting to when life is so full in a season of raising littles and building a business.

We went to our first estate auction - this was for the family we bought the seed business from. We bought Levi a toy kitchen set and boxes full of books and homeschool curriculum (the mom who recently passed away was a teacher) and it feels special to carry on that piece of their legacy on in addition to taking over the seed house from them.
We dedicated baby Luke at church
We spent an evening helping a new friend from church do corn harvesting. Levi and Daniel hung out in the combine for a few hours and then we all helped out in the tractor. We’ve been married 3.5 years but this was the first time I got to ride in a tractor with Daniel and it was pretty special since it’s a place he loves.
We went to several local festivals
Lots of time spent at the seed house, outside, playing with our neighbor’s cats (they have like a dozen cats!), cooking, and taking walks down our gravel country road to say hi to the neighbor’s cows.

What I’m working on

An ebook for new moms: My current passion project is putting together a collection of essays for the postpartum season. It will be all my writings on motherhood in ebook form + practical tips and what has helped me in the postpartum season. I envision a new mom reading this on her phone while nursing or doing contact naps in the first year postpartum. Excited to share it soon!
Love in Action marriage challenge: This is going to be an 8-week challenge with a series of small mindset shifts, actions, and conversations designed to breathe life back into your relationship. Think of them as “boosters” for your marriage. No matter how long you’ve been married, we all could probably use more intentionality in our marriages!
Updated website! I re-designed my website and updated the branding for my Substack to align more with the season I’m in now. You can check it out here!
Cultivating consistency and discipline - I feel like raising a toddler is a bootcamp for this! I read this quote in this Substack and saved it for future reference because it’s a reminder I need daily.

What I’m reading

I generally read 2-3 books at once. I just pick up what I’m in the mood for. The current line up:

The Unplugged Hours by Hannah Brencher - this aligns perfectly with what the Holy Spirit has been trying to teach me lately. Highly recommend!
Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman - I’ll probably share more of my thoughts on this book once I get through it but I am loving it so much. It’s a breath of fresh air to counter all the parenting advice out there that is so kid-centered. I feel like lately God has been prompting me to own the authority I have as a mom, which sounds so basic, but I find that I too often bend to my kids’ demands and let them dictate things way too often, and that is just no how I want our family to operate. This book talks a lot about how kids needs limits and to learn that the parent is the authority figure and a child can’t just get what they want when they want by crying, throwing a tantrum, whining, etc. It’s not a Christian book, but so far, it’s aligning with Biblical principles, and I feel like it’s God answering my prayer asking for wisdom on how to deal with a stubborn, independent, smart toddler!
The (Good) Food Solution by Meredyth Fletcher - I’ve been trying to learn more about how to nourish my body well and I’m really enjoying this book on how food impacts us. It’s a Christian book so making the connections between spiritual and physical has been really interesting. She also talks a lot about gut health and balancing hormones which are two topics I’ve been really into lately. Btw, I finished Fast Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz a few weeks ago and it’s a book I think every woman must read!

What I’m watching

Gilmore Girls - every fall, I re-watch Gilmore Girls and it never gets old
Fall inspired Youtube videos, preferably ones set in the English countryside because I basically want to re-create life in a European country side (here’s my most recent history / playlist):

What I’m listening to

The Rebel Family podcast series - listen to this 3 part series and then order our Legacy Guide because you will be inspired to transform your life to align more with what matters most to you instead of conforming to what others are doing around you!
At Home Startup podcast - I’ve been binge listening to this podcast on my walks lately or while doing the dishes and it’s been a great source of motivation.

What are you learning and consuming right now?

Until next time,