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Forty things I have learned before turning 40!

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Gosh, forty things in 40 years, I almost ran out of paper! By the way, this is totally inspired by Taylor Swift sharing her “thirty things in thirty years” article this year in ELLE magazine.

This was such a fun exercise hopefully some of these things make you laugh and others maybe help you on your path. And, apparently, I’m a poet now too. 😉 Whichever milestone you are on they really are all different. My twenties were different than my thirties and I expect now that I just turned 40, forty will be different than the rest!

Honestly, I can tell you the older I get the better things really seem to be. I am proud of where I am in my life today. However, I don’t think I could have said this somewhere in my teens or my mid-twenties.

Even though 40 has just begun for me, I have a really good feeling about this year and all the new things I will learn!

Forty things I have learned…

  1. Wash your face and do it every night.
  2. Figure out if you are allergic to cats before you own one! So you may be wondering about this one well let me explain… I knew I was allergic as a kid but still begged to have a cat. Nothing worse than having a pet you really can’t be around.
  3. Learn to cook, it will save you from too many cold bowls of cereal! Cooking is really not as hard as it sounds. I am definitely no chef so please don’t let me fool you. Start out small and don’t be afraid to try new recipes.
  4. Making your bed is a waste of time. (Ok, I realize this is just my preference LOL!)
  5. Save your money. You don’t need ALL the throw pillows!
  6. If you don’t absolutely love it, don’t buy it. An example for me would be trying on an outfit or maybe buying something for the house. If I don’t love it, I don’t buy it!
  7. Do your dishes before you go to bed it saves you from extra stress.
  8. Trust your gut even if it takes you out of your comfort zone.
  9. Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
  10. Empathy over sympathy.
  11. Taking the time to really listen can mean everything.
  12. Love, always love.
  13. Clean out your closet at least twice a year! Practicing this has really encouraged #6 above.
  14. Take time to be alone.
  15. Forgiveness frees you from bitterness.
  16. I can do hard things and so can you.
  17. It’s ok to not be ok sometimes. Yes, I am a Christian and believe God can pull me out of dark places but sometimes you get stuck and it’s ok.
  18. Finding joy in the little things.
  19. Cardio is #1. (Yes, I did steal this from Zombieland)
  20. It’s ok to say no. You don’t have to do all the things.
  21. Go to an event alone it is totally character building.
  22. Our timeline is not like God’s. He answer’s prayer at the perfect time.
  23. Never stop adventuring (this combined with a good face cream IS the fountain of youth!)
  24. Going to bed angry only makes things worse. Suggest talking earlier in the day if you think it may lead to an argument.
  25. Talk to God. Really talk to Him.
  26. I highly recommend a Home DNA test to find out what foods and drinks you may be intolerant to.
  27. And taking a good probiotic daily.
  28. Spend five uninterrupted minutes with God every morning.
  29. Not everyone is going to like you no matter what you do.
  30. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and always, be kind.
  31. Learn your spouse’s buttons and I repeat don’t push them!
  32. Giving is truly better than receiving. This was so huge for me because I used to be so not generous. I give my hubby all the credit on this one. He is the most generous man I know! There’s so much joy and blessing to be had when you are generous.
  33. Put my faith in Jesus twenty years ago and it was the best decision I ever made.
  34. Motherhood has truly brought out the best and worst out of me. Motherhood is hard especially when it brings out your ugly side. I do believe God made me their mom for a reason and He gave me them specifically too
  35. I am so grateful for my marriage and my three little ladies.
  36. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
  37. Enjoy what you are passionate about.
  38. Travel to faraway places. Experiences over possessions.
  39. Know who your friends are and love them deeply.
  40. Remember, there is only one you and you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Nothing better than celebrating 40 with your best friend!!

Feeling 40 and fabulous!!

xx, Nicole

Girl’s matching Easter dresses -2019

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Easter is a little less than month away can you believe it?

Seems like we were just putting away Christmas decorations, which reminds me I still have a box in the garage to organize. Most likely I will get around to it right after Easter, haha! I love most holidays especially ones surrounding our Savior, Jesus, and any reason to dress up!

The girls love to dress up too!

This year we were given the opportunity to collaborate with Pippa and Julie. Since Clara and Luci are growing up super fast, I am taking every opportunity to twin! Holland doesn’t have as much say quite yet. Everyone loves matching each other and with mommy, so hey, it’s my dream come true! Taking all the advantages over here and hoping it lasts a little while longer.

Pippa and Julie have such a fun and girlie Spring-line it was hard to choose but I do think we chose the perfect, matching, Easter dresses. My girls love to wear dresses but they also love to wear their kicks. Always their first choice next to a pair of flip-flops LOL!

Honestly, I think these old school Adidas pair so well with their high-low dresses, don’t you? Plus, we do so much running during our photo shoots as you can see so this worked out really well.

Since we do A LOT of running during our shoots, life with a two-year-old, I went with an urban location. This pink, sometimes peach wall is one of my favorite places because it is sandwiched between two buildings and limits ALL THE RUNNING, therefore making these adorable shots so much easier!

Besides dressing up for Easter, we enjoy going to church, reflecting on The Resurrection and spending time together as a family. Thinking about putting together a neighborhood Easter egg hunt this year too. The girls are already making lists for their Easter baskets, can you believe it?

Do you celebrate Easter? How do you celebrate?

xx, Nicole

Advent Jesse Tree ornament exchange + DIY

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The Advent season starts today, Friday, December 1st and this year we have ornaments for our Jesse tree!

If you haven’t  heard of the Advent Jesse Tree, it is a devotional book you and your family can read together each day during the Advent calendar. We started this tradition last year with our girls and they loved it!

When a good friend of mine invited me to her Jesse Tree ornament exchange party, I was so excited! She also hosts the best parties and her home is gorgeous too!

There are 25 days in the Advent calendar and each day tells a special story leading up to Jesus’s birth. We all love this part because every day we snuggle up and read the daily devotion, pray together as a family and celebrate our Savior’s birthday. And this year we have all 25 ornaments to go along with each day, yay!

For the exchange, each person got to pick a day. I went big and chose Day 25, Jesus in a manger! Actually, I don’t know about you but when it comes to crafts, I like to choose materials I already have. So, baby Jesus it was!

Upon arrival we each had a spot to arrange our 25 ornaments. There was something like 50 ladies at the party so we had two rounds. Basically, we doubled the exchange and it was fabulous! After admiring everyone’s handy work and talent, we got to go around and collect our ornaments to take home. Just take a look, aren’t these so beautiful?

I had so much fun making these and they were so simple to make too. Hopefully, the step-by-step pictures I took myself are helpful, lol!

 

Jesus in a manger, Day-25 DIY

Estimated time to make: Roughly an 11/2hrs.

Materials you will need:

  • Hot glue gun
  • Scissors
  • Pen
  • Sharpie
  • Felt
  • Polyfill
  • Twine or string
  • Wooden doll heads
  • Ornament Hooks

Step 1: Mark about 2” X 2” squares on you’re felt, I eyeballed the measurement. Make 25.

Step 2: Cut out your squares.

Step 3: Start making your swaddles! I added less than a cotton ball size onto each square, then swaddled and glued together. Make all 25 like this.

Step 4: Make little faces on your doll heads, use a black Sharpie to make faces.

Step 5: Glue doll heads in place like shown and add another dot of glue to the back of the head to secure.

Step 6: Wrap each one with twine, found mine at Dollar Tree!

Step 7: Glue an ornament hook to the back of each one and voila, you’re done!

What do you think?

 

xx, Nicole

 

 

 

 

 

A Flower family Easter

Leave a Comment LIFE, STYLE

I hope you all had a really nice Easter weekend. We really had a nice couple of days over here, which was a nice break from the week prior! Things got a little wild and crazy around here with three out of five of us getting the dreaded stomach virus and most nights, Kevin and I are still trying to soothe a fussy baby. It’s a good thing she is so stinkin’ cute right, ha ha!

Our hands are seriously full these days and life is anything but easy. The reality of having three small children is still a huge adjustment for both of us, but the long Easter weekend seemed to be a reprieve from it all!

We actually went out to dinner Friday night and made Good Friday service. It felt so good to start the long weekend off on a good note and all three girls did so well sitting in church with us. Our church has a beautiful cross mounted on a hill and a nice trail to walk up to it. I snapped this quick pic right before walking in. 🙌🏼

What does Easter mean to you? How do you celebrate?

Easter to us means Jesus paid it all and suffered a gruesome death so that we can live an eternity with Him. The Old Law was removed, the veil was torn so that we could be free from the penalty of sin and death. Thank you, Jesus!

On Saturday morning we started out the day with a couple of donuts from a local shop that makes them fresh while you wait! Yum, yum! Then it was off to a little mall shopping, something we hardly ever do as a family! It was so nice to get out, walk around and there were zero meltdowns a win, win for us!

Then came Easter morning, it was a quick dive into Easter baskets and we were off to church again to celebrate our risen King!

Top/Tulle skirt/Shoes

The girls are always begging us to “play in the desert”. I know, sounds so adventurous and it is! We have a patch of desert across the street that they love to explore in and they think it is theirs basically! Well, I planted a few dollars, candy and some stickers in a hand full of eggs and daddy hid them in “the desert”!

Clara’s dress/Luci’s dress/Clara’s shoes/Luci’s shoes/Monogram clutches are from Charming Charlie!

Since we had been sick we decided to lay low and had a super relaxing and laid back dinner at home. We really enjoyed our time together just us, the Flower five!

xx, Nicole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Advent season with The Advent Jesse Tree

9 Comments Faith talk Friday

Did you know, “the word Advent means, “coming” and refers to the coming of Jesus”?

-The Advent Jesse Tree

The Advent season is upon us and we are having so much fun reading the Advent Jesse Tree. Each night since December 1st we have read a page as a family. We were gifted this book by my hubby’s aunt a few years ago and we were so excited to finally share with our girls this year. Clara and Luci are both at a good age to sit through a short Bible story along with scriptures and a prayer and it has created such sweet family time.The Advent Jesse tree

So you might be wondering what is the Advent Jesse Tree?

Well, The Advent Jesse Tree seeks to tell the story of God’s redemptive plan for the world through 25 symbols from the Old and New Testament. Each symbol expresses and represents the heritage of Jesus Christ from the beginning of creation.

–The Advent Jesse Tree

The symbols are really cool and the book breaks it down for you to build a beautiful visual to go along with the daily reading. However, this year we are truly trying to make Christmas simple and sweet and have opted to only read through the devotions. If you want to create a tree to go with, hence the word “tree” in The Advent Jesse Tree I would suggest planning in advance.

The 25 symbols or ornaments look like this for example:

  1. a globe or picture of the earth
  2. an apple and a snake wrapped around it
  3. an ark with a rainbow
  4. a camel and a tent
  5. a lamb
  6. a ladder
  7. a colorful coat
  8. a tablet with 10 numbers
  9. a cluster of grapes
  10. a sheaf of wheat
  11. a slingshot
  12. a scroll or bible
  13. a stump with a fresh shoot or green leaf
  14. a lion and a lamb
  15. a dove and a crown
  16. a lamb and a shepherd’s staff
  17. a cross
  18. a heart with writing on it
  19. a Bethlehem town silhouette with star
  20. a fiery furnace
  21. a brick wall
  22. a star
  23. a candle
  24. an angel
  25. a baby in a manger or a nativity scene

Here is our sweet and simple Christmas tree this year! My hubby and I went back and forth for quite awhile…Do we set up our 11-year-old Christmas tree complete with all our family ornaments or do we buy something small? I am so glad we opted for this darling Norfolk pine. We have already nicknamed it our Hawaiian beauty!The Advent Jesse tree

As many of you already know we are expecting our third baby girl January 6th and truly want to make the most of this glorious holiday, but also want to keep it simple and sweet for all of us to enjoy.

How are you celebrating the Advent season and the coming of Jesus?

 

xo, Nicole

Holiday family gift guide 2016 – gifts the whole family can enjoy!

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Ok, I woke up today and it finally felt like Fall! Yes, Yahoo! I love how the rain here in Phoenix almost always cools down our weather. Thanksgiving is just days away now and so is Black Friday, I have to insert a BIG gulp here. Something about large crowds and crazy drivers, yikes! I have never gone out on Black Friday and I’m good with that! I prefer to check out deals online rather than join the crowds in the stores.

Here in the Flower casa we don’t put a lot of emphasis on gifts during the holiday season. I mean we all love gifts around here especially my two cutie pie, little girls. Kevin and I just like to take a simple approach to buying gifts for each other ad for our family. However, I will say he normally breaks our rule and will buy me something really special anyway! He is already bugging me about my birthday, I really can’t complain can I and I won’t.

Gifts are amazing, I’m not going to deny that, but when it comes to the Christmas holiday especially, the emphasis is on Jesus. I want my girls to enjoy every minute of tearing through colorfully wrapped Christmas packages just like I did as a kid, but I don’t want them to think that’s all there is. We all have so much already and I love that our girls have a pretty good understanding even at their tender ages. 

One of the ways we try to keep things simple when it comes to buying gifts is thinking of things we can all enjoy together as a family. I made a list of some of our favorite things below. 
holiday-family-gift-guide

  1. slippers and kids 2. advent calendar 3. tic-tac-toe 4. Christmas jammies 5. 3D advent calendar 6. popcorn maker 7. apple tv 8. large ‘Jenga’ style game 9. family popcorn bowls 10. pie face game 11. bike for mom + dad 12. kids bike

 I hope this list has inspired you, happy shopping and most of all Happy Holidays + Merry Christmas!

xo, Nicole

 

Calming the chaos + a 30 day challenge

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Lately life, my life has been chaotic! This month is blowing by like a tornado and if I don’t make a change soon it’s going to swallow me whole.Tornado -calming the chaosphoto: pinterest

Both of my girls will be in school starting this week and all I can think about is my never ending to-do lists. SO MANY LISTS like the laundry room we so badly need to convert so that I can empty out our office. The office needs to be emptied out so we can transform it back into a nursery for Holland. Sometimes I think if Kevin and I were hardcore do-it yourselfers than we could have this knocked out in a weekend or two. Well the reality is we are hardcore, but not that hardcore!

Honestly though this really isn’t half of the chaos I am feeling. Over the summer I have fallen away from all order and balance in my life. This also includes my devotional time with God like big time. When this lacks, life starts to get chaotic for me really fast.

Now I am reevaluating my time and where I spend it. Most of the time I am spending all my time in one area and this just creates more chaos for me. Being a mother is something I cherish, however I have been spending all my time here.

I like to think about my roles like a pie chart, I know total nerd, but it helps me to see if I am living a balanced life and I find this really helps. Well my pie has been looking like ALL “mom life” and not much of anything else.

I know I create the chaos and I know this is not what God wants for me. I am really looking forward to calming the chaos in my life and making better use of my time. I don’t have a gimmick for you, but I do believe it can take up to 30 days to break a bad habit. So below I am sharing with you my 30 day challenge getting back to balancing out my pie! If you are struggling I hope this helps you too.

 30 day challenge

#1  Spending time with God first thing even if it is just 5 mins each day

#2  Getting back to schedules, cleaning, gym, work and blogging

#3  Making lists to tackle projects

#4  When I slip up because I will to start right back at the top again!

“nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39

 

xo, Nicole

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Souvenirs

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Do you ever wonder what your children will remember when they look back at their childhood?

Our daughter Emily was 26 months old when her sister, baby Gabrielle was born this last summer. This week, seven months later, during one of our many rambling conversations, big sister Emily recounted exact details from her visit to the hospital with Auntie to see her new sister. She remembered the helium balloons they purchased, “checking Gabrielle up” with a kind nurse and even the elevator ride to the right floor. It was a reminder to me that my almost three-year-old is developing lasting snapshots of events that will shape her life.

In French, the word for memories is souvenirs. As the mom of two littles two and under, sometimes I am overwhelmed by the responsibility of building into their lives and I wonder what souvenirs my girls will carry from this time when their mom was so tired, when I spoke sharply instead of kindly or when they observed me speaking rudely or losing my temper. I’m not perfect and sometimes the number of times I’ve failed leaves me feeling defeated and anxious about the weight of experiences I am adding to my children’s collection of joy or hurt, to the solid weight and sharp corners of moments they will carry with them.

At seven months old, baby Gabrielle is just starting to crawl and explore her world. Sometimes she gets overwhelmed and will look around anxiously. When her eyes fix on mine, she calms down, regains her courage and continues her exploration. Lately, this simple act reminds me to do the same with my life. As a child of God, I need to be “[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing my eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2, Amplified version).

Lifting my gaze to Jesus calms me, reminds me of who I am as a daughter of Christ and gives me strength to continue these small tasks with great love. My hope is not to be the perfect mom or to give my girls a perfect childhood. I will certainly continue to fumble. My hope is that when they recall the fumbles, they will have a memory that becomes a living souvenir. As my girls grow in independence and seek out my gaze less and less, I pray that the pattern of watching my eyes fix on Him when I falter will draw them to His love more and more.

This post was written by the lovely Abbie from Grumblinggrace.com. She has quickly become one of my favorite blogger friends because she truly has a gift of writing, she loves Jesus hard and she is like the funniest person I know! Abbie is a child of God saved by His grace. She’s also a wife, mama and high school French and English teacher. Since adapting to this season at home with her two littles, she’s started journaling about mom life, mom fails and faith from Saskatoon, Canada. She tries to find the humor amid the Huggies and wisdom in the whining, but so far hasn’t developed any love for the laundry! She’d love to welcome you to the community of likeminded Mamas developing over at her blog. Grumbling Grace or on Facebook. Instagram and Twitter.memories

baby Gabrielle

Childhood souvenirs

I just love Abbie’s post and also as a momma of two girls I too love to create memories. I hope my girls will be able to look back at some of the things we do as a family and forever cherish them in their hearts. Maybe even pass them down to future generations! Are you creating souvenirs? We would love to hear from you too.

 

xo, Nicole

 

 

The time I ended up in the ER

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I will never forget the time I ended up in the ER. I was 15 years old and I remember my dad having to carry me down the stairs of our apartment because I was losing consciousness. My dad placed me in my mom’s car and was rushed to the hospital.

The next several events that took place I have little to no recollection. I remember my parents helping me into the ER and then quickly getting whisked to a back room. Then I fell asleep, well I blacked out. I remember waking up and feeling this throb in my upper thigh. I needed an IV and they couldn’t find a vein because I was so dehydrated. The IV ended up in my upper inner thigh and I remember thinking had I been awake seeing the sheer sight of a needle there would have made me pass out! 

I was quickly emitted to the hospital and I was there for 9 days. We quickly found out that my kidneys were failing and my pancreas was also not working properly. Forgive me my two parents are medical, but I am not and I don’t know all the proper medical terms, but I think you get the picture here. To be honest I was scared. I wasn’t scared of the hospital so much, but I was scared of what was happening to me. When I heard that my kidneys were failing I thought I was also going to lose my legs and my ability to dance! I was a ballerina and this is all I could think about. 

My parents were recently separated and it was really nice having them both and for a little while, it felt like we were a family again. So I am sure you are wondering how I ended up in the ER by now and the answer is I am the reason. I had been anorexic for over a year at this point and my body had decided it had enough and was starting to shut down. The reason I was so dehydrated was that I no longer could keep food or even water down. Everything I tried to eat or drink was causing me to throw up. I felt like I was dying for over a week. The pain my body felt was unbearable before the day my dad carried me down the stairs. When I look back this is still the worse physical and mental pain I have ever experienced even over the pain of childbirth!

I am sharing this story because this is the foundation of my faith. This is where my faith in God began. This is more about a trip to the ER, this is when I surrendered to God for the first time and began my journey with Jesus. I will never forget the miracle he performed for me. I remember so many details from this time in my life and it was all very scary to the point I almost needed either a kidney transplant or dialysis for the rest of my life! I prayed to God and gave my situation over to Him and he restored me and my kidneys. This all happened so quickly I went from 13% kidney function to about 80% in a matter of like two days. I knew it was God’s grace. I wasn’t going to lose my legs and I would be able to dance again. 

When I left the hospital the road to recovery was not easy. Anorexia like any disorder is very alluring and deceptive. I knew it was going to take time to heal and to start making better choices. So the first thing that I knew I had to do was to make the difficult decision to stop dancing. I trained since the age of three and I really was aiming for a career as a ballerina. This was hard for me, but I don’t regret the decision I made. I knew this was the first step and the right thing for me to do and God has blessed that decision ever since. I never relapsed or needed to be hospitalized again and I have enjoyed maintaining a healthy lifestyle ever since.

Now that I am a Mother of two beautiful girls I want to be a good example for them. I am very open about this part of me and someday I hope to share this story with them. Today I am concentrating on being a good role model because I know they are watching me and my behavior every day. I strongly believe if I have a healthy self-esteem this will help them with theirs. But even more so, they have a God that loves them more than anything and will always be there for them.

Once a ballerina

Once upon a ballerina

Ballet Arizona

Scrapbook of beautiful memories

arabesque

xo, Nicole

Faith talk Friday

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The idea Faith talk Friday came to mind because I want to start sharing more about my faith and what it means to me to be a Christian wife, mother, and daughter of the King. One of the many reasons I wanted to start a blog was to be able to share openly about my faith.

Faith talk Friday_

I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe that he died for my sins and for the sins of the world. So what does this mean? God loves us so much He let His son die for the entire world. I mean I can just stop right here because this is the entire world we are talking about. I am so in awe of this amount of love, grace, and mercy. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” NASB  I am not a huge movie buff, but I am very visual and I am often reminded of The passion of the Christ film when I think about this. Jesus paid the price for ALL. I know I don’t deserve this free gift of salvation, but rather death. Jesus made it possible he tore the veil and I’m his adopted child, His daughter. I am a daughter of the King! ” He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will..” Ephesians 1:5 NASB “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.”  Matthew 27:50-51 NASB

I am so excited about Faith talk Fridays! I’m hoping to share more about my walk with Jesus and what I am learning in bible study. Please stay tuned for more because my hope is that other women of faith will want to share on here too! If you are as excited about this as I am please shoot me an email I would love to feature you. You can also learn more about my walk here.