God's Plan & Learning to Accept It

For as long as I can remember I have been a list making, schedule pushing, obsessively over planning type of a gal. I find peace in writing everything down and organizing my mind onto paper. Not only basic everyday life plans but also important long term plans. I was going to graduate high school, move to NYC, work for some fancy clothing boutique or fashion magazine, live in a quant Brooklyn apartment, spend a few years single and finding myself with girl friends, meet a professional business suite 'Prince Charming' in an over the top magical moment, and live a life like you see in all of the cute Hallmark movies. Instead I met a sweet cowboy prince the summer before my senior year of high school, got married 2 weeks after graduation, did 4 semesters of college for early childhood education, hated school so I dropped out and got my cosmetology degree instead. We had all of these plans to have babies right away and live a perfect little life. Two kids back to back, wait 5 years, and have two more kids back to back. Miscarriages and surprise pregnancies weren't in that plan. A failed adoption wasn't in that plan. Moving out of the house that built our family to move into our dream home wasn't in that plan. Possibly moving to a small beach town in Florida wasn't in the plans either. Just about every single plan that I had for my life went astray. It took me a very long time to accept that my plans for myself are rarely ever what God's plans for me are. 

I'm naturally a control freak. I don't like not having a plan or not knowing what to expect. I get anxiety even thinking about. However, I'm learning through experiences that His plans for me are a million times more amazing than anything that I had planned for myself. Even if I have to go through heartbreak that never seems to end just to get to the rainbow after the storm, His plan for me is more perfect than anything that I could of dreamt of. 

At this point I should honestly give up being a life planner because God seems to enjoy throwing curve balls my way ha. He surprises me so often that you'd think that I'd be used to it but some how I end up more shocked every time that it happens. My life isn't my life. My plans aren't my plans. My schedule isn't my schedule. Everything about me and my future belongs to the Lord. As hard as it's been for me to let go of what I thought that I wanted, I will always be thankful for what I've been given and WHEN I've been given it. I go to bed every single night and praise God for blessing me more than I could ever deserve. I love my family with every ounce of my being and I love watching it grow and change on His terms. 

If you're struggling with what God's plan is for you. If you're questioning it or not understanding it just know that whatever He has planned is going to blow your own plans out of the water. His plans are always perfect. His timing is always perfect. He is always perfect. Stay strong and enjoy the journey. Enjoy the sad times but more importantly enjoy the rainbow after the storm that's meant just for you ❤️💛💚💙💜

Here's to us enjoying and celebrating God's plan for our lives. Surprises and all! 

 

Country Life is the Best Life

If you would have told me 9 years ago that I'd end up living in the small town that I was raised in as a farmers wife I would of laughed in your face. I was a city girl through and through. When I was 18 my mom took me to New York City to job hunt/apartment shop for after graduation. I was dead set on living life in the city that never sleeps. Nothing was going to stop me from moving there (or so I thought) and my parents fully supported me even though they hated the idea. I love the people. I love the chaos. I love that thousands of options for eating and shopping are easily accessible. I love that the city is always crazy. My 'loves' for it are truly endless. I'll be a regular NYC vacationer for life and I can't wait to go back in December to see all of the Christmas decor in person. 

However, I fell madly in love with a cowboy and the rest is history ha. I'm shocked to say that I'm completely happy with where I ended up in life. I couldn't have picked a better lifestyle to raise my children in. It's simple and peaceful. Everything that we do we do together. From fishing to checking the cows to feeding bottle calves to spending hours at life stock shows, we are always close to home and together. Our quality time as a family is easily focused on enjoying the moment for all that it's worth because we don't have the distractions of city life. Not only that but I'm an animal lover to the core so I adore messing with them daily. I love to ride our horses and to work with our show cows. It's not always the cleanest life but it's such a beautiful life. Everywhere that I look I see God's artwork. I find so much joy in the ordinary here. 

Don't get me wrong I'll always cherish my city get aways full of Starbucks, Hobby Lobby, Red Lobster, and Target but I'd pick small town life every single time when it comes to raising a family. 

L

 

 

Dinner Plans: Sept 25th-Oct 1st

Sunday, September 25th: 

As always it's Our traditional ~Movie Night~ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Doritos, and Popcorn

Monday, September 26th:

Spicy Chicken Penne, Garlic Bread, & Corn

Spicy Chicken Penne:

•1 block of Velveeta Cheese

•1 can of mild rotel

•4 boneless chicken breasts

•1/2 cup of milk

•1 bag of penne noodles

•salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the chicken up into small (fajita sized) pieces and grill them. 

2. Melt the cheese. I use the microwave and add the milk in towards the end to make the cheese creamier. 

3. Cook the pasta noodles

4. Mix together the cooked chicken, cooked penne, rotel, melted cheese, salt, and pepper. 

Tuesday, September 27th:

Homemade Potato Soup, Salad, & Rolls

Potato Soup:

•block of velveeta 

•7-8 potatoes 

•1 large onion

•1/2 cup of milk

•chicken bullion (I use the cubes)

1. Peel potatoes and cut them up into small cubes. I also dice the onion up now.

2. Boil the potatoes and onions until softened then drain the water out.

3. Melt the cheese. I use the same method to melt it as I did in my chicken penne recipe. 

4. Mix the melted cheese, a cube of chicken bullion, and cooked onions/potatoes together. I add more milk  at this point to make the soup the consistency that I personally want. 

Wednesday, September 28th:

~Church Night/Take Out~

Thursday, September 29th: 

~Grey's Night~ 

Chicken Chili & Corn Bread

Chicken Chili: 

•2 cans of corn

•1 can of black beans

•2 cans of pinto beans

•1 can of rotel 

•2 packages of ranch dressing mix

•2 packages of cream cheese

•1 can of chicken broth 

•1 rotisserie chicken cooked & shredded

Add all ingredients together and stir as it cooks/melts

*Note: this makes a big pot. Also I buy already cooked chicken from the grocery store and just shredded it myself. You can buy an uncooked chicken and bake it if you'd like. 

Friday, September 30th:

Hamburger Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Brown Gravy with Mushrooms, and Corn

Hamburger Steak:

•2 lbs of hamburger meat

•2 eggs

•10-15 saltine crackers

•salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix/knead all of the ingredients together

2. Make patties with it

3. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20 mins or so. I honestly don't use a timer when I cook most of the time. I just check my food until it looks done. 

For the gravy I use a brown gravy mix and small can of chopped mushrooms. I make the gravy then add the mushrooms to it. 

Saturday, October 1st:

~TULSA STATE FAIR~ 

We will be eating yummy fair food all day this day ha. Momma can't wait! I've been craving their turkey legs. 

New House Inspiration Board|House Plans

The new house is something that Brian and I have put a lot of thought in to. We didn't want to have any regrets if our farm sold and we got to build our dream home. From a extremely specific floor plan to the huge window wall in the living area to the over all feel of the home. We've considered it all. Brian and I have different taste in some areas. We both love the log cabin "Bass Pro" vibe but I also love the modern farmhouse theme with distressed white cabinets and furniture so you'll see that our inspiration board incorporates both of our styles.

Floor Plan: 

This is something that I'm overly picky about. I couldn't find the perfect floor plan ANYWHERE so I found one as close as possible to what I want and our contractor is going to modify it for us. 

Our layout must haves:

•Big open kitchen, living, and dining area. 

•Atleast 5 bedrooms & 3 bathrooms. 

•Double vanities in the master bath and in the upstairs kids bath. 

•A basement media/theater/hang out/play  room. 

•A walk in pantry. 

•A small 8 x 8 closet sized room in the master for a future newborn nursery turned office/command center once the baby is old enough to go to his or hers real room. 

•A mud room/laundry room that's on the back of the house so we can clean off before walking into the living area after being outside. 

•Four bedrooms upstairs so all of the kids are upstairs. 

•A dining room on the back of the house that over looks the back yard with huge sliding glass windows. 

•Two-three story vaulted ceilings in the living area with an open stair case/balcony.

•A huge A frame window wall in the living room. 

•A built in storm shelter in the floor of the basement. 

The overall feel of the house will be a rustic farmhouse/mountain cabin theme. There will be this tile that looks like wood throughout most of the home. We only want carpet in the bedrooms. 

The living room:

I had 2 absolutely have to haves originally. Five bedrooms and a giant 2-3 story window wall in the living room with a 2 story rocked fireplace. I am hands down the most excited about my future living room. The walls will be sheet rock and painted a warm neutral color but the ceiling will be rustic dark wood planked with matching beams. The first picture is exactly what the layout will look like. It's the actual house plan that we picked and modified in a few ways. The 2nd picture is what the decor and over all feel will be like. Dark wood, light walls, beams, and the rock on that fireplace. The 3rd picture is the must have safety gates we will be making for the top and bottom of our staircase. The other pictures are just extra decor inspiration.

The dining room and kitchen:

They will all flow with the living area. I fought a hard battle to get antique white cabinets in the kitchen but Brian wouldn't agree to it. The kitchen cabinets were the only disagreement that we had while designing the house. I gave in and we agreed on a dark knotty alder with a rock back splash. He gave in and said that I could do whatever dining room furniture that I wanted. The first picture is the rock, granite, appliances, and cabinets that we've decided on. The 2nd picture is the over all layout that we will do but the pantry won't be in the corner and the appliances will be in different spots. The 3rd picture is my light fixture inspiration. I'm definitely set on lantern fixtures above the island and the dining room table. There will also be can lights and built in under cabinet lighting. The ceiling in the kitchen/dining room will be planked like the living room. The 4th picture is the copper farmhouse sink that I want. The 5th & 6th pictures are the dining room furniture that I'm planning to go with. I love the way that a farmhouse table looks with classy chairs. 

Master Suite:

For the master I honestly wasn't picky. As mentioned above the main living area was the big deal to me. That's where we will spend all of our time and that's where we will entertain family and friends. My only wants in our bedroom suite was a big walk in closet, a double vanity, and a matching closet sized room to be used as an office space/library/nursery area. The 1st & 2nd pictures are just the over all feel I'm going for in the master bedroom. The 3rd picture is our inspiration picture for the master bathroom. The 4th picture is what the closet sized office space will look like after it's done being a nursery. The 5th picture is a decor idea that I love. 

The Kids Rooms: 

Charlee's Room:

It'll be a shabby chic and overly girl theme per her request. We will be doing a distressed white plank accent wall behind her bed, pale pink walls everywhere else, and a girly crystal chandelier. 

Andlee's Room: 
She absolutely adores her bedroom and wants to keep the mermaid theme so I decided just to spice it up a bit. I'll do a white and coral stenciled wall behind her bed with teal, yellow, and purple accents everywhere just like she currently has. 

 

Hudson's Room:

He LOVES chickens and has begged for a chicken themed room. That doesn't sound appealing to me at all but it is ultimately their rooms so I've found a way to give him his chickens but also keep it classy. I'll do a vintage farm theme.itll have dark wood pallet wall behind his bed, navy walls everywhere else, farm animal paintings, and cowhide accents. 

The Playroom:

The playroom will be a neutral theme. It'll have cube shelves for toys, small tables and chairs for home work and crafting, and a media area for the kids to watch TV. 

The Kids Bathroom:

A double vanity and decent sized bathroom upstairs is a must have for me. They don't all need their own bathroom but they will need a practical spacious bathroom as they grow.

The Media Room:

I wanted an extra space for entertaining. We do a lot of party throwing so it's perfect for that now and with multiple children we thought that a mutual hang out area later on would be awesome. This space will serve its purpose as a man cave for football games, a teenage hangout for the kids and their friends that doesn't give them a lot of privacy, a little escape for me when I need a mom break, a gaming area, a movie night area, a guest bedroom area, and so much more. 

The Laundry Room/Mud Room:

I originally wanted my laundry room to be in the master closet but then I started thinking about all of the things that I want in that area and I decided it needed it's own space. Plus Brian wanted it to be a mud room. I want a built in crate area for our dogs. I want a ton of shelving and storage for clothes. I want a TV in there with a large counter top folding area. I also want a bench with boot storage for Brian's work stuff. 

The Exterior:

We went back and forth on this. We love log but it looks awful after the first year or so and with our busy lives a ton of upkeep isn't something that we want to deal with. We like the look of beige siding with cedar trim and shutters but we just couldn't stop going back to the look of red wood with rock so we found a concrete siding that looks just like real wood. It has no up keep and looks brand new even 30 years later. The 1st picture exactly what our rock and siding will look like. The layout of the widows on the A frame part will be different though. They will match the windows in the 3rd picture. The 2nd picture will be the front of our home. It will be what you see when you pull in. The 1st & 3rd are what the back of the house will look like. That side of the house will over look the hills and lake. The 2nd & 3rd pictures are the actual house plans that we picked and modified. Obviously the siding won't be the same but that is the exact structure we will be building. Our back yard will be fenced in for entertaining, safety, and playing. 

**This post is honestly more for me to look back on than anything else. I not only want to remember all of these things throughout the building process but I also want to compare them to what the house ends up looking like. 

***MOST OF THE PICTURES USED IN THIS POST CAN BE FOUND ON PINTEREST. A lot were flicker pictures with no one to give credit to and the others can be found on my personal pinterest page if you'd like to know who originally created them.