This is part 3 of 3 in my Thankful Thursday series. Instead of sharing one quick thing each day in November that I’m thankful for, I’m taking some extended time to share some amazing stories of thankfulness from my own life. In case you missed it you can check out part one: Thankful Thursday: My Home and part two Thankful Thursday: Affording To Be A Stay At Home Mom. Today I'm remembering two times in my life where God intervened and did something miraculous. Every child is a miracle. Every entrance into this world is a miracle and my children are no exception. I had the picture perfect pregnancy with both of my children. No nausea. No crazy off the wall ... read more
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Thankful Thursday: Affording To Be A Stay At Home Mom
This is part 2 of my 3 part Thankful Thursday series. Instead of sharing one quick thing each day in November that I'm thankful for, I'm taking some extended time to share some amazing stories of thankfulness from my own life. See part one HERE. Should I be a working mom or a stay at home mom? Have you ever asked yourself this question? I've asked myself this question at least a thousand times. I've been on every side of this issue. So many parents struggle trying to find out the right thing to do. I always envisioned myself being a stay at home mom....if we could afford it. To Be A Working Mom We were so thrilled to learn we were ... read more
Thankful Thursday: My Home
November is a time to be thankful. I've seen a lot of people share on Facebook one thing they're thankful for each day in November. That's all good and fine but I'm not doing that. Why not? There's some things I'm thankful for that need to be explained. I want to tell the whole story & that won't fit in a Facebook status update. For the last three Thursdays in November, I'm going to do a series called Thankful Thursday. I'll be sharing some stories of some of the biggest things I'm thankful for. Thankful Thursday: My Home My hubby and I got married young. We spent the first several years of our marriage getting up on our feet ... read more
Thankful Tree Activity {Free Printable}
Raise your hand if you struggle with how to teach contentment and thankfulness to your kids. {I'm waving both hands wildly in the air} Let's face it. I'm a grown adult and sometimes I struggle to be content and thankful! I want my children to learn how to be content with where they are and what they have. If I'm honest, most days I'm having "talks" with them and trying to convince them to be more thankful. My "talks" sound something like this: No. You don't need another stuffed animal when you have 50 others you don't play with. Yes you got a toy the last time we went shopping but that doesn't mean you get one on every trip. The only reason you ... read more
BIG News!
I've got some BIG news! Nope. I'm not pregnant. Sorry if you were hoping for some baby news but I'm pretty sure the hubby and I are done having kids. I'm a planner. Making a plan and knowing a little bit about what's coming next keeps me in my comfort zone. It's funny how God sometimes takes my "plans" and throws them out the window. Not because He's mean but because He's got something better than what I planned. {or maybe He's just trying to get me out of my comfort zone} {Click here for the free printable} Career Plans Before I had children, I worked in the medical billing field for seven years. I worked my way up to a ... read more
My Story of Hope
Hello lovely readers! Today I'm doing something a little different. I have a story to share. Not just any story--it's a really good story! I originally shared this at Live Beyoutiful and I decided to share it with you too! Some people say God doesn't give you more than you can handle. I completely disagree with that statement. It's not true. That's not what happened to me. About 6 years ago, I watched death and life happen within the same week. My father passed away and I gave birth to a premature baby just three days apart. It was way beyond what I could handle. The fact that I can't do it on my own only ... read more
Free Printable Scripture Bookmarks
Have you ever been asked to do something you're not ready to handle? About a year ago, I felt God was asking me to step up and help take care of some women in our local church. I knew this was something he wanted me to do but I was scared to do it. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. Many of these women were facing issues I've never dealt with before. I looked at my own abilities and felt I wasn't equipped for the task. I'm disorganized. I'm not the best at remembering details. How can I take care of these women and help them through struggles and issues I've never faced myself? What if I make a big mistake and mess them up? The ... read more
10 Minute DIY Stuffed Animal Holder
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias #cbias My kids LOVE their new Inside Out plush characters and want to take them everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. On the couch, in bed, in the car, to Grandma's house and even to the bathroom. Yuck. Let's figure out a way to keep these plush characters off the bathroom floor and clean for play, shall we? Thankfully I have a 10 minute solution and you probably have some of the supplies on hand already. It's a really fun and frugal craft project perfect to do with the kids! Even if you ... read more
How To Create A Multifunctional Room
I am so thankful to have a craft room, a reading room, a home office, a photography studio, and an extra playroom. Now you think I have a huge mansion, right? Wrong. What if I told you it's possible to have all these functions in your own home today, even if you don't have much extra room? Let me introduce you to the multifunctional room. The idea is you take one room or area in your home and design it to serve several different functions. Here is my multifunctional room. I wanted this room to have several different purposes: be a quiet place to read the Bible, pray and write in my journal host my home office house my photo studio and ... read more
Make Thank You Note Writing With Kids Easy
Can I make a confession? I hate writing thank you notes. I don't know what it is but writing thank you notes is one task I tend to procrastinate on. Last week, my son had his third birthday. It was pure joy watching him play with his friends and seeing his reaction as he opened presents from the people we love most. Now that the party is over, the time has come to write the thank you notes. I want my children learn the art of saying thank you despite my strong dislike of writing thank you notes. The act of writing thank you notes offers a great opportunity to teach kids about gratitude while providing a fun activity that can adapt to kids of all ages and ... read more
Budget Deck Makeover
(**See the bottom of this post for a two year update on our deck!) I'm kicking myself that I didn't do this project earlier. We've lived in our home for 7 years and we are just now starting to use our deck. Our home was unoccupied for an entire year before we purchased it. Several things went without maintenance and the deck was one of them. I don't think any of the five previous owners stained or maintained the deck at all. Our wood deck was structurally sound but was it was splintering badly. We were so worried about getting splinters that we wouldn't walk on it without shoes on. We could have replaced the deck. We also could have installed ... read more
My Apologies
Doing the right thing can be hard. In one of my last posts, I said I would share a fun tutorial showing you how to make a Frozen Inspired Birthday Party Invitation. I'm sorry to say I can't do that. {I will be sharing a free printable so hang with me...} I had the post all done and was really excited to share it with you. As I was about to publish it, something made me stop. I hesitated to click on the Publish button. Why was I hesitating? Then the thought hit me. This invitation was inspired by a blog post I saw online. I saw someone else make a Frozen Invitation that she was selling. I got really inspired to make my own version with my own ... read more
I Love Us {Free Printable}
This month, the hubby and I will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary! I still can't believe our wedding was TWELVE years ago! Where did the time go? To help celebrate, I'm sharing this free "I Love Us" printable artwork you can enjoy for yourself or give as a memorable gift! But before I get to that, I'd love to share the story of how I met my husband. How We Met As the years go by, I'm more and more amazed at how God works things out. The hubby and I met our sophomore year in college as we started going to the same church. I had just given my life to Jesus and was discovering what it really means to follow Him. I had a ... read more
Indoor Picnic Activity
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. In all my years of attending public school in my adolescence, I can remember having one snow day when school was cancelled due to weather conditions. ONE. This year has been a totally different story, as you can imagine. I've lost count of how many we've had this year. Thanks Polar Vortex. Don't get me wrong--snow days are good. They make my hubby VERY happy (he's a teacher). All the snow days have given me extra time to spend with my family and for that I am which I'm thankful. But after awhile my patience starts to wear thin. Cabin fever really set in this winter! I've discovered that the key ... read more
Budget Bathroom Makeover
Recently the hubby and I were on a date night and we ended up at our local home improvement store. For fun. That's what happens when you become a DIY blogger. Somehow we ended up in the bathroom vanity section and got inspired to replace the counter top in our guest bathroom. We'd been talking about replacing it for years but never got around to doing it. One thing I learned recently is you don't have to spend a lot of money to make a big impact. Our little budget bathroom makeover is a great example of this concept. We have a small guest bathroom on our first floor. Since it's a small space we've re-decorated it at least four times in the six years ... read more
How To Repurpose A Frame
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! I've been getting really in to frames and wall art lately. {Can you tell?} I almost threw these frames out. The style is a country chic--I used to be into that style years ago but now I'm moving on. I'm wanting a more modern look for our master bedroom. I took a look at the frames and realized the picture could be taken out and replaced. The frames could also be painted! So on I went to the garage and low and behold there was ... read more
12 Ways To Save Money
We are a 1 income family of four. God has been good to provide what we need, however we also need to be making smart decisions with money. Over the years the hubby and I have tried different things to save money. Here are some that have really helped us. I hope some of them will help you, too! Here are my 12 top ways to save money: (Keep in mind that not every tip will work for you and that's okay. Pick a couple to try and go from there) If you own your home, check into refinancing your mortgage to a lower rate. We've re-financed our house THREE times. That allowed us to save over $100,000 dollars in interest! Try making products you ... read more
