Every month in 2019, I’ll be sharing a photographic peek into the previous month. I thought this would be fun to give you a behind-the-scenes look at our month and recap some of the highs and lows and special memories of the month.
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One of the highlights of March was getting to help lead the Discipleship Retreat for the women at our church who are currently going through the Discipleship Program.
This is my third year to be a part of of this Discipleship Retreat. And it’s such a special time where a lot of life change and heart stuff happens. 
During the retreat, all of the lessons and things we’ve been processing over the months prior in the Discipleship Program culminate and it’s very profound. 
This photo is one I will treasure forever.
Kaitlynn had her Speech Meet Finals at school. It’s one of the biggest events of the school year and she’d been practicing for weeks.
She’s highly competitive and a perfectionist and she had practiced and practiced and practiced in hopes of presenting her poem 100% flawlessly.
She’s typically incredibly poised on stage, has recited her poem perfectly dozens of times, and she doesn’t usually get nervous in front of crowds (she actually is one of those people who does BETTER when in front of a crowd!)
But at the Speech Meet, she walked up to the microphone and completely blanked. She couldn’t remember the author of her poem at all. And she had to ask for a prompt from the judge.
She recovered and recited her poem flawlessly (which I was shocked by since I likely would have been a nervous wreck!)… but as soon as she walked off the stage, the tears started welling up.
After all the finalists presented, they had a short break so the judges could tally scores. And I took one look at Kaitlynn and knew she was devastated and embarrassed. None of the other finalists had asked for a word prompt or had blanked like her and I knew how hard she had worked to recite her piece perfectly.
I held her and she sobbed in my arms. I told her that I loved her, that I was so proud of her, and that I could truly care less what place she got; I was just so impressed with her standing up there and confidently reciting her poem after such a rocky start.
Kathrynne came over and put her arms around her and spoke words of life to her. And then they sat together like this photo shows the entire break. (I snuck back and took a picture without them knowing!)
Y’all. THIS. This scene of seeing my two girls holding each other while they waited for the results… watching Kathrynne speak such encouragement to her sister…. seeing Kaitlynn soak up her older’s sister’s love… it melted my heart.
And it was such an example to me of how to love someone well who is struggling. It doesn’t mean we fix the issues or change the outcome, but we let them know that, no matter what, we are WITH them.
Some times, it’s hard to be a full-time working mom. You want to be there for all of your kids’ events and field trips and activities, but you just can’t — because there are meetings or commitments or important things you can’t miss.
Even though I’m self employed and am blessed to have more flexibility than most working moms, because of the season I’m in with work, I haven’t been able to go on any field trips with Silas or Kaitlynn this year.
I’ve struggled to not feel sadness and guilt over this. I want to always be there for everything that involves my kids.
But I’ve realized that I can choose to feel guilt and sadness or I can instead choose to be grateful for the times I do get to be with my kids and make the most of every opportunity I do get — and also be grateful that Jesse gets to be a lot more involved in the kids’ lives and activities because I work full-time.
One day in March, Silas came to me and asked, “Can you go on my field trip with me to the Parthenon in Nashville?”
While I was supposed to have a really full work day that day, I was able to move a number of things around and work extra hours yesterday to make it happen.
And we had the BEST time!! I loved getting to watch Silas passionately interact with his classmates about the things they’ve been studying about Greek mythology this past year. And I loved getting to watch his teacher instill such passion for learning in her students.
When Silas came home from school today, he hugged me tight and said, “Thank you so much for going with me on the field trip!”
I might not get to go on another field trip this year, but I’m so grateful for today. It was a gift and a special memory for Silas and me.
Also, a shout-out to all you mamas — whether you work full-time, part-time, or stay home. None of us are doing it perfectly, but we’re all doing the best we can! ❤️
“Dollar Tree is my happy place!” Kaitlynn enthusiastically proclaimed as we pulled into the parking lot one day in March.
We had just been perusing the aisles at Big Lots and she and I both kept looking at each other and saying, “This would be so much less expensive at Dollar Tree.”
Folks, I always say my greatest hope for my kids is that they love Jesus, love others, and love learning.
But hey, if they have a really strong affinity for Dollar Tree and Dave Ramsey and paying with cash, I’m not gonna lie: it will make my heart extra happy!
Note: See my 25 Favorite Things to Buy at Dollar Tree.
Silas had a friend over one day in March when they had the day off school and I loved watching him exercise hospitality. He planned the food they would eat and prepped it himself for he and his friend. And I just sat back and watched!
I posted this on my Instagram account and wanted to share it with you here:
Lean in close, sister. I want to say something to you: You matter. You have worth. You have significance beyond what you can even imagine.
And despite what someone may have told you, despite how someone may have made you feel, despite what has been done to you or said about you… YOU ARE VALUABLE.
Your worth is not dependent upon your work or your title or how much money you make or the number on the scale or the size of your jeans… YOU ARE VALUABLE just the way you are.
You are loved. You are seen. You are valuable. And even if no one else treats you like they believe it, even if you don’t believe it, I want you to know that I DO. It’s one of the reasons I spend so much of my work hours personally responding to comments and messages and emails.
Because I love you, I see you, I believe in you. And I just felt like you needed to hear that today.
Some days, I’m so on top of things. Other days, I realize that I have a podcast interview in exactly four minutes… while I’m in the shower washing my hair. So I throw on some clothes, put my sopping wet hair up in a towel, and run down to my office to do the interview.
Gratefully, it was only an audio interview! Oh and the interview was for a podcast that had asked me to come on and talk about living an intentional life.
I had such a fun weekend trip to NYC with my sisters! We used points for our flights and hotel, and then made it our goal to spend as little as we could while we were there.
Instead of expensive restaurant meals, we opted for bringing our own snacks and food for lunch, staying at a hotel that offered free breakfast and free tea and coffee all day, refilling our water bottles at the hotel (most hotels offer free filtered water at their fitness centers), and finding places where we could get dinner for less than $10 (Pret a Manger is one of my faves for healthy food on a budget.)
We rode the subway, walked for miles to see all the free sites, and rode the free Staten Island Ferry (such amazing views!).
Our big splurge was a Broadway show!
We researched different options for getting the best deal and ended up finding a good deal from TodayTix.com. In my research, I discovered so many other amazing options for saving big on Broadway tickets, including Rush tickets, student Rush tickets, ticket lotteries (where you can win tickets for as low as $10 per person per show!!), and more.
(Read my followup post on How to Get Cheap Broadway Tickets.)
It was such a fun and memorable weekend and I’m so grateful to have sisters who are adventuresome and don’t think I’m crazy for always looking for creative ways to spend the least amount of money.
Aunt Lisa made Silas this adorable dinosaur and he sleeps with it every night. I feel like he is rarely a “little kid” anymore (he turns 10 in May), so it’s fun to see him still enjoy things like stuffed animals — especially really special ones that were handmade for him!
I’m doing the Get Your Pretty On Spring Style Challenge this month and having so much fun with it!
By the way, I’m wearing this tee again today! I love that it’s longer, so it’s great to wear with leggings (what I’m wearing today). Or, you can tie it for a more fitted look. (I’m wearing a size small above.)
Silas started Flag Football in March and has been having a lot of fun with it — especially because he’s gotten to play the quarterback position multiple times!
