intentional living, little by little
**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE PENPAL PROJECT! THE RESPONSE WAS OVERWHELMING AND I FEEL HONORED TO HAVE MET SO MANY AMAZING MAMMAS. STAY TUNED FOR A NEW ADDITION TO THE PROJECT SOON!**
My favorite part of the day is going out to the mailbox. More often than not, I usually find bills and junk mail…but every once in a while, I’ll find a letter or a package addressed to me. I try to play it cool while I casually walk back to the house, but once I’ve closed the door, I’m opening up that baby like it’s Christmas morning.
It seems a little silly, but the idea that someone would take the time to send ME a little something…well, it’s powerful. When you’re a Mamma in the trenches of motherhood, the days are long. You are constantly giving of yourself: changing diapers, making meals, cleaning up, playing games, etc etc etc. So that surprise in the mailbox, with words written just for me, encourages me in ways I really cannot express.
I want others to feel that encouragement too.
I’ve been brainstorming ways to use this little blog of mine in powerful ways for months now. A lot of praying for inspiration has occurred. And then I read Anna’s post: Encourage Beauty and the pieces began to fall into place.
I want to encourage you, Mammas. I want you to know that your vocation is important, that you are beautiful, and that you are a valuable part of this community of mothers. So in my small way, inspired by Encourage Beauty, I introduce a new project here at the Big White Farmhouse: The Penpal Project!
Here’s the idea: You sign up with the form below. I will go down the list, one at a time, and send each Mamma a little something to find in your mailbox. Maybe it’s your favorite candy, a pack of sticky notes, or a pair of cute earrings. Depending on the response, this could take me days or it could take me months! I’m adding a “Penpal Project” category to our monthly budget, so I’ll send as many as the money allows. This is a no strings attached project…my hope is that you come away knowing you are valued and you are encouraged in your role as a Mamma. If you’d like to send a letter back my way, even better! You know I love mail 🙂
We are in this together, Mammas!
And just for clarification, please know that your information is safe with me and won’t be shared with anyone else! Hope to hear from you soon.
For February’s Kindness, we purchased food for the local food pantry. (More info about the 12 Months of Kindness can be found in this post.) Our church has a big collection bin, so we’ll be dropping our donation off on Sunday.
Going into this, I was very conflicted. My little family has been making drastic changes in the way we eat. Very little processed food, lots of fruits and veggies, etc etc. So when I thought about our possible donations, I didn’t want to buy…well, crap. I feel like everyone should eat the most nutritious food available, even in financial difficulty. So that was my thought process when we went to the grocery store.
The pictures above show what we accumulated to donate throughout the entire month. Each week, we allocated a certain amount for donations, sometimes just $5. I tried to find things that had nutritional value and would be filling. Sometimes we found a sale, which was awesome!
Last weekend, we let the boys pick out a few items to donate. We’ve talked to them about how fortunate we are that our daddy has a great job, but some families are going through a rough time and they need help with their groceries. They totally get it. They also know that we are going to drop them off at the church and then Father (not sure if that’s true, but we’ll just let them think that!) will bring it to the food pantry to give to the families.
For memory keeping’s sake, I want to add that the boys specifically picked out the mac and cheese and the pasta, two items they love.
One last note: the most expensive item we purchased was the Sunbutter. However, after reading this post, I knew it was something we needed to do.
I guess the point of this post is to show that everybody can give back! Buy a can of beans for you and a can to donate. Buy three, get one free? Put the free one in the donation pile. Little actions really add up.
Today’s post is something totally different for me. I’m talking about clothes today, friends! First, a little disclaimer: I am no where near as cool or fashionable as say, Anna or Grace. But I want to try. I’m a simple girl who has quickly gone from her high school/college fashion (to which I never want to return again!) to the stay-at-home mom uniform of t-shirts and yoga pants (and not a whole lot of yoga). I hate to say I “lost myself” along the way, because the line is so cliche, but I definitely put myself on the back burner.
I made a secret promise to myself, which I guess I am now sharing with you, that 2013 is the year I spend a little time on me. Not in a greedy or selfish way, but in ways that would make me a better wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend. And stop number one on the “me” train is my wardrobe. Dressing like a frump, with a body that I’m not happy with, has been rough on my self esteem, which then in turn affected my entire family. But no excuses, right? If I’m not happy with the situation, I need to take the steps to change it.
Enter the wonder of the world wide web! I first heard of Stitch Fix randomly from…Instagram maybe? I looked it up and thought it was the perfect idea for moms like me. Basically, you sign up and take a survey called your Style Profile. It goes through a bunch of questions ranging from your body type to what style clothing you like. Then you can schedule your “Fix” and a stylist will pick clothing for you based on your answers! There’s a spot at the end to add comments to your stylist, which I found very helpful. I made sure to note that I had recently had a baby and therefore preferred tops that didn’t hug my midsection and were easy to nurse. And they really delivered!
The process is so cool. They send you a box of items, you try them all on, keep what you like, and send the rest back. Here’s a peek at my first fix:
I apologize for being behind the camera instead of modeling these clothes for you, but a fussy little girl nixed that idea!
I LOVED shirt #1. It was a teal/turquoise color, sleeveless and just a bit flowy. It even looked great on. My only problem was that it was 100% silk and with my attached-at-the-hip, spit-up laden baby…probably not a good option for this stage in my life. Sadly, I didn’t keep this one.
Shirt #2 was another awesome one. It was an oatmeal color with navy stripes and so comfy. Casual without looking frumpy. Sadly, it was just a bit too tight in the chest area. Bummer.
Shirt #3 was just okay. I liked the color (it was actually a much deeper blue than shown in this picture) but the cut was just okay and I didn’t like the price tag for a shirt that was 100% polyester. The item in the bag was a scarf. It was cute, but I didn’t think it was worth spending the money. I’d rather invest in new jewelry.
This is the one piece I decided to keep. White and simple, but something I actually needed in my closet. I know it will get a ton of use this spring. Oh! So this is the best part of the whole Stitch Fix box, in my opinion:
Every piece has a tag that gives you ideas for how to wear it. So for example, one idea for this sweater is paired with a casual tunic and skinny jeans. But you could also belt it with a dress for a totally different look. I feel a little clueless in the outfit department, so I found that card extremely helpful!
So yeah, Stitch Fix is something I will definitely try again. I’m thinking next time I’ll request some cute spring and summer dresses! Have you tried Stitch Fix? I’d love to hear about your experience!