Cheers to a New Year!

Happy 2014! While it is obvious that my brilliant "Twelve Days of Christmas" idea fell flat, and I haven't even posted about Christmas itself, I figured that I can just put 2013 behind me and simply look forward. I'm going to stop putting so much pressure on myself when it comes to blogging (how often, what about, etc.) and just get back to my roots… writing when I felt like it, when I found time, about what I felt like. That seemed to work once upon a time, and it actually made me like blogging! Who needs unwanted pressure anyway? Especially pressure that you're only putting on yourself?? Now that's just silly.

So anyway… 2014… a new year… a fresh start. I posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago, but want it here so I can refer back to it when I need to. Here are my hopes for this upcoming year:

In 2014 I want….

More of God and less of me.

More self-discipline and less mind-numbing distractions.

More chats with my husband and less time on Facebook.

More quality time with my kids and less time with my phone, housework, etc.

More time in the Word and less in front of the TV.

More good stuff going in and less junk and fast food.

More muscle and less fat.

More intentionality and less selfishness.

More self-discipline and less laziness.

More focus on the present and less worrying about the "what if's."

More words that speak life and less opinions that tear others down.

More enjoyment of my blessings and less thinking about my finances.

More laughter and less stress.

More encouragement to others and less judgement and criticism.

2013 was a really good one, but just like any other year, it was not without its ups and downs. I still opened my big, fat mouth when I probably shouldn't have, unintentionally hurt feelings of those I love, said that thing that would win the fight, yelled at my kids out of my frustration, questioned my decisions and opinions,  and definitely spent way too much time with my phone in front of my face when I should have been on the floor playing with my kids or spending quality time with my husband. I wasn't intentional with my time, always wondering how I got to the end of the day and did not manage to work out, cook dinner, or read my Bible, even though I did manage to peruse my newsfeed, check Instagram, and watch a rerun of Friends (or two). And I know that I will never get it all right, but I love the promise of a new year, and the fact that we can evaluate our priorities and shift our focus. And 2014 is already shaping up to be a pretty darn good one… here are some things that are already on the horizon, or in the works:

• After waiting 5 years, we are taking a much-anticipated (and promised) honeymoon in Northern California. I. CANNOT. WAIT.
• As if that's not enough, my mom is kindly generously treating me and my sisters to a week-long cruise in the Mediterranean! I'm still in shock… and totally plan on sleeping in EVERY. DAY.
• There may or may not be a marathon in the works. I think I just need to get over myself, pull the trigger and sign up already. 
• Excited to go to the ARC Conference and the GROW Conference again this year, with a few ARC trainings thrown in (I hope). 
• We're working on an opportunity for Josh to go on a mission trip to Africa this year. It's my dream mission trip, so I'm a bit jealous, but I know that my days will come, too.
• Praying about expanding our family… either the old-fashioned way or through adoption. We have no plans currently, but I know that we're moving in that direction.
• Finally selling our house in Illinois… it's under contract just waiting on approval from the bank. Honestly, my hopes are not up, but this is the furthest we've ever gotten in the process so we'll just wait and see!

Excited. Expecant. Anticipating… LOVE a new year! 

I pray abundant blessings over your 2014- may it be your best one yet! Go after that scary goal, say "yes" to something you thought you'd never do, seek God in all you do, and spend your time with those you love. I figure that if I do that first thing right (having more of God and less of me), the rest of this stuff will just fall into place. 

First Day of Christmas

For my first Twelve Days of Christmas post I am going to back up to November. Each year we always talk about having photos done for our Christmas cards, but typically it never happens. We've always taken family pictures around Jake's birthday in the spring, but since that didn't happen this year, I had no idea what we would do. Realizing that my sisters had not had "official" family pictures for years and that my parents (mom in particular) has been wanting a picture with all of her grandchildren for quite some time, we made plans to give them a photo shoot for their 42nd (!!!) anniversary. All together this meant 8 adults, 2 teenagers, and 4 kids under 4. We booked a session with my incredibly talented friend, Cory, and used my parents' gorgeous home here in the Bluegrass as the setting. Here are a few peeks.

The real fun, though, was all because of Cory's creativity. She thought it would be fun to take some candids of all of us just hanging out, making s'mores to be exact. I have to say, it was a super-wonderful time with my favorite people, and she captured everyone's personalities so well through it. We will treasure these always… and one or two will end up on our Christmas card! I see many more family s'mores roasts in our future!

Happy Anniversary to these two wonderful people. 

I am blessed to have you as parents!

Last Minute Love Day

While this family isn't one that really does much for Valentine's Day, this was the first year that I happened to notice just how many cute (and free!) things you can find on the web for decorating, making cards, etc. So if you forgot all about it and still want to do something sweet for your honey-bunny, check out some of these free printables:

 

I used this as a card, but I bet it would look really cute framed, too! Found at Guess How Much I Love You:

And if you forgot to get them for the whole class, try printing these right at home, brought to you by The Rubber Punkin:

And how cute is this from the site, Flamingo Toes? This would be cute at a wedding, too!

I've actually hand-written this sign for my family before, just on a random morning. I feel like these cute surprises almost mean more on a random morning... why just save them all for one day of the year? Dave's Wife has a cuter version than the one I made... and according to her blog, she also made her own donuts!

This just might be my favorite... found over at the Bonjour Blog:

There are tons more out there... I love when bloggers create something and then decide to share it with the rest of the world... that's what it's all about! All of these sites have more than just these prints, so they are worth checking out for more fun stuff. And as a common courtesy, whenever you use something that someone else created, you should always thank them with either a comment, or even better, by following their blog. We bloggers love followers... not really sure what it is about it, but it lets us know that our words are being read by at least a few people out there!

Enjoy your day and spread some love and kindness today (and everyday). I'm off to go make my love-bugs some heart-shaped pancakes. Hmmm... maybe we kinda do celebrate this day afterall!

What are some of your favorite free finds?

A Year To Remember

I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that 2012 was one for the record books. In all honesty, it was probably the best year that Josh and I have ever experienced and the blessings have been poured out in an abundance. You see, it was 2011 when we had the vision and the dream and did a lot of the work to make our life's dream happen here in the Bluegrass State, but it was 2012 that saw those prayers, the hard work, the financial commitment, and the worries and stress pay off when we planted TurningPoint Church in February. Since that day it's been quite a ride and as much as I'd love to tell you that life has slowed down, it certainly has not. If anything, it's just as crazy and just as busy as it was before launch, but it's... well... different I guess. Last year it was a frantic, busy pace with the added uncertainty of whether or not this idea of a church would actually be a success. This year it's been countless dinners with people who have come through our doors and want to learn more, new member classes, small groups, mom's group meetings, leadership trainings, and really just connecting with this new, and quickly growing, church family. And to say that we've seen some pretty incredible things would be an understatement. I've seen couples on the brink of divorce restore their relationships, a single mom discover the radical love of Jesus only to be followed by meeting the man God had for her, people break free of addictions, and folks who had turned away from God and lost all hope find true freedom, happiness, and joy. To think that this all just happened in the past ten months only makes me more excited for what's to come. But before I say goodbye to this one, I'm going to take one more look back at some of the highlights of 2012:

January
I celebrated my second birthday in my thirties... and I have to say, the thirties are good!

February
As I mentioned above, we launched TurningPoint Church. 285 people showed up that first day and it was more incredible than we had even imagined.

March
Our sweet Jacob turned two. He is the most energetic, stubborn, hilarious, spirited, bruiser of a boy that I know. I love him to absolute bits.

April
We spontaneously baptized close to 30 people, most of whom had either never been in church or had left for a long time and finally came back home. Included in that bunch were my sister, brother-in-law, and father-in-law. It's still the most joy-filled service I have ever been a part of.

May
Reminded myself that I still got it and finished a half marathon in decent time. Granted, I didn't do much for the rest of the year, but I think that will be changing in 2013.  It was, also a great reunion with my Florida girls, who ironically, are mostly not living in Florida anymore.

June
Had a lot of fun times at the pool and in the backyard. I also went on my first business trip post-babies and stopped in to see one of my best friends before heading home. It was like a one-day vacation, which was only as long as I could stand without my family there, but lovely nonetheless. And just because it was still one of my proudest accomplishments, I think I should post this as my June picture to document this feat... yes, that's me. Please disregard the lack of vitamin D going on here. You might go blind:

July
Got away with the family to have some quality time and some much-needed R&R. I'm already making plans for this coming year's vacation as it was such a lovely time.

August
We made our first Ironman attempt... and it went very wrong. Sure, to most this would not be a significant addition to the year-in-review list, but the fact that we turned right around and kept on trying makes it important. If you want something bad enough, you never give up. I'm glad my kids will know that story as they grow up.  Another big milestone was Jake's first day of pre-school. It took about a week for him to decide he likes it, and now it's one of his favorite places. He only goes 2 mornings a week, but it's a great time for him to be social and learn in a structured environment, and for me to get some one-on-one time with Lil and also keep up with work, the house, but apparently not the blog as of late. Ha!

September
Josh hit the big three-oh and our sweet Lil turned one. Josh and I celebrated by going to Louisville to see Wicked, which was pretty darn awesome and highly recommended, followed by dinner and the world's largest dessert. We also celebrated Lil with a lady-bug (or Lilly-Bug) themed party. I have to say, I know I'm bias, but she truly is the sweetest, happiest, most loving little girl on the planet. She steals the hearts of everyone she meets, which worries me for her teenage years, but is just a testament to her demeanor and personality. I want to squeeze her until her eyes pop out... in a non-creepy way of course.

October
We truly enjoy having four seasons here and really loved the fall this year. From the pumpkin patch to trick-or-treating, we really made the most of it. I also organized and led our first women's retreat, which really sparked my confidence, purpose, and passion to lead the ladies in our church well.

November
We heard the words, "Joshua Mauney, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" over the loud speakers in Panama City Beach. Considering that he's worked toward this for a whole year now and was spending upwards to 25-30 hours each week in training, they were a sweet reward for the both of us. This month was also filled with friends visiting and the birth of my fourth nephew, Sam.

December
We celebrated our first Christmas with our TurningPoint Church family, which was pretty special. It was also the first Christmas that my parents live here, so we had lots of family fun. I fully intended on doing a recap, but now I doubt I'll ever get to it!

And just so that I'll always remember, here is the year in review in numbers of our church plant's first (almost) year of life...

• 65 - The number of churches that launched through the ARC this year
• 285 - The number in attendance on launch day at TurningPoint Church
• 365 - The number in attendance on an average Sunday
• 1000 - The number of individual, separate guests who have filled out an information card
• 40 - The number of people we have baptized
• 221 - The number of people who have committed or re-committed their lives to Christ since our doors opened
• 30,000 - The number of dollars we gave to missions this year, mostly to support new up and coming church plants

That last number makes me tear up a little. When Josh and I dreamt this thing up, one of our goals was to be a generous body... but God blew us away with what He could do! For those of you who are unfamiliar with church planting, this is definitely not the "norm," but I think it's a testament to the heart of the pastor, my husband. What flows over the head pours down onto the body and there is nobody that I know who works as hard, prays as much, pours into people, builds up leaders, and believes in this thing down to his bones as much as he does. I know it's not all about him, but I also know that God does His work through His people, and He's doing some mighty things here in Lexington. But... there's still work to be done!

If you want to see a glimpse of the bigger picture that we're a part of, please take a moment to check out these year in review resources from the Association of Related Churches. I think you might see a familiar face on the right of the page, and if you have the time, can download the video (it's about 3 minutes long) to see the full story of our church! Pretty cool, eh?

Happy new year to you and yours! I can't wait to see what 2013 brings!

From our Family to Yours...

Have the merriest of Christmases!

I hope you have an amazing few days of celebrating the season. I believe with my whole heart that Jesus is the hope of the world, and while I know we should celebrate Him every year, my heart swells with joy as we celebrate His birth. If you feel like you've lost your hope or that this world keeps getting darker, I pray that you find His peace this season and the comfort and joy that He brings to all. It truly is the greatest gift. And if you're just seeking and are not sure where to turn or who to ask, please feel free to email me, as I am always happy to share my story and how His love has impacted and changed my life. May your days be filled with love, joy, and family this Christmas season.

 

And just because I can't stop listening to this today, here's a little tune that sums up this day perfectly:

A Crafty Christmas

Guess who actually had a successful crafting project for once?  Yep, it's yours truly! I rarely blog about crafting becuase (a) I hardly ever do it and (b) my project usually ends up looking like a kindergartner made it. I'm the person who would rather spend the extra money to buy something already made than save some money but spend my time working on something that, in all honestly, ends up looking homemade. So many crafters out there make things that  could be sold in stores, but I was not born with that gene. But alas, from time to time, I do try.

Last week our mom's group had a Pinterest party, which is pretty ironic that I went considering my thoughts on Pinterest. But more than anything, it was just a fun reason to get together. Since I don't Pinterest, I surfed some blogs and saw a bulletin board covered in fabric and ribbon, used to display Christmas cards, and thought it looked easy enough (seen here). Plus, I love looking at all of our cards and have absolutely no good place to put them up in this house.

I went a bit rogue once I got to JoAnn's (probably due to a curious 1-year-old running amok in the store... who knew Lilly would find crafting supplies so exciting!) and ended up purchasing a thick piece of rectangular styrafoam, 1 1/2 yards of fabric, a spool of ribbon, buttons, thread, and a needle. All told, I probably spent around $25, mainly due to the fabric.

The actual Pinterest party was a blast... this is the second time we've had one. Basically, everyone picks a craft and makes two of the same thing, or if they run out of time, they make one and have all of the supplies in a bundle along with instructions to make a second. We hang out, eat, make our crafts, and at the end we either exchange one of the finished crafts or the project bundle for someone to make at home. This party was Christmas-themed, so we had our holiday tunes blaring, hot coffee, and plenty of festive snacks... it felt so festive and really got me in the holiday spirit, which has been difficult to do this year for some reason. And after some debate, I ended up fabric gluing the cloth to the styrofoam and literally sewed the buttons on through it. I chickened out on the snowflak pattern and ended up with this:

 

I must say, I was quite impressed with myself, and since it didn't take too terribly long I decided to give it away in our exchange and make the one for my own house at home. As a sidenote, I took home a jar of homemade brown sugar body scrub that smells delicious and leaves my hands and feet so silky smooth! I would share how to make it, but I forgot to grab the directions. But back to this...

 

At home I got a little bit braver with the design and thought a Christmas tree pattern would be simple enough. Here is how it turned out:

The ribbon is literally sewn on through the styrofoam backing. It was kind of hard to find the button holes and I poked myself a lot, but it worked:

 

I'm sure I could've used hot glue and it would've been fine, but I could not find my hot glue gun. I added the cards, sliding some through the ribbon and used a couple of thumb tacks for the others, especially the heavier ones. Anyway, I still need to add a piece of ribbon to be the "trunk," but all in all I think it dresses up a blank wall in our dining room and I love how it looks with the cards:

And I bet some of my blogging friends can spot themselves on display:

I have to say that this has reinstilled my faith in my crafting ability... there is hope! I probably won't attempt anything more this season, but next year I have my eye on this wreath that was made at our party, and was surprisingly super simple (and under $20) to make! (sorry for the picture discoloration)

 

But for now, I think I'll just quit while I'm ahead. How do you display your cards each year?

Dear Blog,

I guess I should apologize to you for neglecting you over the past few weeks. You see, I've been, well... overwhelmed with some things and it seems that when I have to cut back, you are the first to go. It doesn't mean that I love you any less than all of the other things in my life, it's just that as a mom who works full-time at home, my favorite hobbies sometimes fall on the bottom of the priority list. I should probably go write a letter to my running shoes next as well as all of the half-finished books on my nightstand. And just so you don't think that it's only things that I love that fall to the bottom of the list, you'll be happy to know that similar letters are probably owed to things like the vacuum cleaner and piles of laundry, too. Yes, sometimes I just get behind on life, and before I know it, I've let this little place in the blog-world go weeks without a visit. So again, sorry about that. But just so you don't think I'm making all of this up, here are a few things I've been up to during my blog-absence:

We made an impromptu day trip up to Cincinnati to meet my new nephew, Samuel. And to my defense, I would've posted about this, but I wanted to let his mommy post the announcement first. He also spent some time down here over Thanksgiving and I got to snap some fun photos of the little guy. Oh how I love him so!

In conjunction with Sam's arrival, one of my best friends, Christie, and her two cutie-pie kiddos came and visited for a few weeks to help out with baby and just visit of course.

We've also done a little shopping... both online and on Black Friday, although we agreed it wasn't quite as exciting this year and somewhat overcrowded.

It's that time of year to reconnect with old friends and family, so we've been doing a lot of that, too... catching up with loved ones is always fun.

We also had Thanksgiving of course, which means lots of holiday baking! I had some help in the kitchen this year, even though she was much more interested in sampling.

And what's Thanksgiving without a little relaxing, parade watching, and football?

On top of all of this, I've been a bit under the weather for longer that I would like and my card-reader on my Mac has decided to stop working, which makes uploading photos difficult. Excuses, excuses I know, but when added to the crazy past few weeks, it really does all add up.

So yes, it's been a whirlwind month around here, but we've been having tons of fun, so I hope you'll forgive me? With the holidays coming up I cannot promise to be much better next month, but I'll certainly try. I'm just hoping that with this little break, absence will only make the heart grow fonder, so we'll see. Thanks for understanding and for always being here whenever I'm ready to come back. I miss you when I take these breaks, but always know that I'll never abandon you without telling you, okay? You're my piece of the world that lets me unload, reflect, and flex my creative muscle and I'm not sure I could make it without you. Thanks for being my blog.

Love always,
Kim