2021 Resolutions

Yes. You read that right! I made resolutions for myself this year despite my generally anti New Years Resolutions history. I typically don’t believe in making goals just because it’s a ‘new year new you’. I believe that we should have set goals literally every single day. If you want to make goals year round, I highly encourage it. Goals are huge in our family. We all always have some type of goal that we are reaching to achieve. Big and small. Goals make you better. Goals give you a job and a purpose. Goals motivate you. Goals are a large part of the way that we live our lives and raise our kids. However, in 2020 (like most of us) I let myself go. I didn’t leave my house much. Didn’t self care. I can count on both hands how many times I got dressed cute and fixed myself up. I had a hard year along with the rest of the nation. Between Covid, letting go of certain family members who are insanely toxic, miscarriages, pregnancy, moving, selling, buying, homeschooling, lock down, pick up only grocery shopping, ect I honest to God just never thought of taking care of myself. I rarely put make up on or fixed my hair other than my daily braid. I got my nails done maybe 3 times all year which is typically something I do once a month for myself. I focused on everyone but me. I told myself that I wouldn’t stay in the slump this year and I’ve not wavered from that. On Saturday I’m going out on my 2nd girls night with friends of the year (twice in one month, who even am I?). I have a nail appointment tomorrow. I’ve been taking my vitamins every single day. I never drink my calories. I’ve lost weight. I’ve made a point to fix my hair other than a braid and put tinted bb cream and lip balm on 3-4 times a week. I’ve bought myself a few new pairs of yoga pants which is big because I never by myself clothing. My mom or Brian gifted me 98% of what I own clothing wise. I had been wanting a pair of faux leather yoga pants for years and finally splurged on them along with some others. 

**Stay at home/work from home/home school mom tip — high waisted fashion yoga pants and an oversized off the shoulder flowy top with a pair of cute house shoes truly make me feel a million times better. I highly recommend comfy AND CUTE lazy clothes to make you feel like an actual human ha. That along with fixing your hair and tossing on some beauty products is a game changer for your confidence and it’s still super practical for your day to day routine. 

What I’ve mentioned already was just the start of my start to self care mission of 2021. Here are my goals in totality for the year: 

• Taking my vitamins daily. I take a mix of prenatals, hormone stability, multi vitamins, vitamin C additive, Folic Acid, and skin-hair-nail care vitamins. The brands that I use are Smarty Pants (gummy prenatals), Alaninu (Hormone Balance), Care Of (multi-skin hair & nails-vitamin C), and EU Natural (folic acid). 
• Drinking a gallon of water a day. I use an awesome water bottle for this that I found on a fellow bloggers IG Reel videos. Click HERE to order yours!
• Cut out pop or tea TOTALLY. Like, no cheats or exceptions. This was hard for me. I’m a sucker for caffeine. I even had headaches for the first 4 days after I stopped drinking it but I’m happy to report that it faded and now I feel so much better. I’ve also lost weight in part to cutting out drinking any calories. 
• Lose 30 lbs. I don’t hate my size. I am bigger than I’d like to be but my size doesn’t really bother me much. Probably because Brian is honestly is incredible at building me up. It’s a gift of his and a passion. Definitely his love language and I adore it. He has never made me feel inadequate or insecure. With that said, the general vibe of this years goals is self love and care which includes getting to a healthier weight so for that reason I have been more mindful of how much I’m eating and when I’m eating. I eat whatever I want but I use portion control and never eat after 7 pm or before 7 am. Water only. (A healthy pregnancy diet for any plus size mamas out there looking to still lose at a healthy rate during pregnancy. Yes. That’s possible ☺️. I did it with Eilee with the approval of my midwife and OB.)
• Getting my nails done once a month. Sometimes I use this time to get a kid free 2 hour break. Sometimes I use it as one on one time with my kids, alternating who gets to go. Either way, a fresh mani always is a nice pick me up. 
• Lash extensions! This is lower on my goal list because getting a sitter for a few hours twice a month is WAY OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE but it is a little goal that I’d like to make a priority. Lash extensions are life. Throw on some tinted moisturizer and your golden. 
• A new car! In the past if I had new car fever, I’d literally get online, find the car I want, work out the deal, and THEN tell my hubby we were getting a new car lol. All in one day. Super impulsive. We traded vehicles in twice a year on average. Stupid considering how much equity you lose the second that you leave the lot. This year I do want a 2021 Yukon XL (the new body style is gorgeous) BUT I’m waiting until I’ve saved up enough money from raising dogs and cattle to pay cash for the car. We set aside half of what we need in savings just for this vehicle but I want to cover the other half. I refuse to go into debt just to have a nicer and bigger vehicle when what I have now functions fine. It’s big time hard for me since I’m such an impulsive person but I know that it’ll be worth it because by Christmas I will be driving a nice brand new car and I won’t have a car payment for it. I am 110% set on a white Yukon XL with leather seats, a sun roof, DVD players, ect. It has to seat eight which is tricky because most that have leather, sun roofs, and DVD players don’t have a bench seat in the 2nd row. They have captains seats and we need that 8th seat. We will have to have the car ordered but I’m going to splurge on it because my long term goal is to stop trading stuff in until I’ve had it for atleast 5 years. 
• Being a calmer, less anxious person. Not many people know this but since I was a child I was clinically diagnosed with Anxiety, acute Depression, and OCD. I don’t do well to manage that and I never have. I’ve learned to live with it and that has made my life harder than it should be so this year I started treating my anxiety. I feel so much more peaceful and less nervous. If you struggle with stuff like that please find something that helps. Find what works for you and utilize it. It’s not always medication or therapy that you need although there is NO shame in that. Medication and even cannabis are here for a reason. It could be self care. It could be nature walks. Meditation. Crafting or being creative. Writing in a journal. Taking a bath. Going to bed early. For me, home interior is my therapy for the most part. Either redecorating our current home or planning the decor for our new home, I feel so relaxed when I’m designing a home space. It’s refreshing. Also cuddling puppies and kids helps me. Taking a step back from busy life and just sitting down to welcome a kid or a pet onto my lap. Regardless of what you need, please focus on your mental health and don’t be ashamed of that. 
• Self tan regularly. It sounds pathetic, I know but y’all don’t even know unless you know what a pick me up self tanning is. I use Loving Tan and 10/10 recommend it. Self tanning is a basic and inexpensive part of your routine that real deal makes a big difference on how your feel about yourself. 
• I want to be a softer mom. I’m so bold and straight forward. I’m very business and want things done perfect. OCD is the culprit for that, I think. It can come across like a drill Sargent and I don’t love that. I want to be a gentler mom and treating my anxiety will go hand in hand with me being a more relaxed mother. It has already helped a lot. 
• Finish our home by my 31st birthday (April 27th) so that we can have a birthday/house warming get together with the family that we see regularly. A celebration of all of the hard work and dream reaching that we did by selling our place and rebuilding. 
• Pray more. Worry less. Cliche as it sounds, it will probably be my hardest goal of the year. Clinical anxiety and worrying are my vises. I worry so so much. I worry to the point that I will literally throw up, get a migraine, have a panic attack, etc. I hate that and want to focus more of letting it go to God. 
• Vlog regularly. This has been a goal of mine since I got pregnant with my oldest, 10 years ago. I even have edited a few vlogs but let insecurities stop me from posting them. I’m serious though when I say that by the end of the year I will be posting vlogs two times a week. I’ve been accumulating content of our home build so that I can make a video for us to look back on. My plan is to start our vlogs once our home is done and have the extra space to actually function while making content. We have a office in the master that is being designed solely for business. Blogging. Editing. Vlogging. Homeschooling. In our Dog Stables there’s also an office space for Doodle Lane, Lane Shorthorns, and Eucha Feed Store documents and book keeping so we will actually have 2 offices. 
• Lastly, but probably most expected of all - one of our top goals for this year is to add a baby to our family.

   

No matter what your goals are or how many you have, I can’t express enough how important it is to set them. Write them down. Hold yourself accountable. Tell a friend so that they can hold you accountable. Don’t let it go for more more than 2 days at a time because after that you lose the habit that you formed and will get off track. Do it for yourself even when you don’t want to. Do it for your kids to lead them by example. Fight for what you want and don’t give up. It is hard but it will be so worth it. Goals are crucial to life, in my opinion and an important part of parenting. Teach your kids to always be goal reaching and achieving. Teach them to set healthy goals but with that teach them that it’s okay if you can’t quite get there or if you need a little longer. As long as they are fighting to better themselves, that’s an achievement in itself that speaks volumes to character and work ethic. 

A healthy marriage example for our children

As sappy as it may sound, I seriously just love that my children get to witness Brian and I’s relationship. It’s awkward to think that way but it’s so true. 

From the simple things like his dirty clothes making it to the laundry basket and little random gifts such as this in tow as he’s walking out of a store ‘just because’. To the big things like him having a jumbo sized family with me when he honestly probably didn’t plan on that future for himself before he met me and him loving me every single day without pause even when I’m at my absolute worst. I love him and I love our love. 

I love that my sons will grow up to see the gentle love of a husband for his wife. To see that men can share household responsibilities. To see that men can loudly and proudly be weak for their wives. To see that men are equal partners in parenthood and in life. To see that they can voluntarily change diapers and make dinner sometimes to help their wives. To see how hard men work to support their families. To see the sacrifices he humbly makes to put himself last. To see how he is relentless in his fight for the people that he loves. To see that love isn’t a weakness, it’s his greatest strength. To see Brian go to my parents more times than I can count to ask them for advice because his family means more to him that his pride. To see that men can love in a way that makes Hallmark movies look like child’s play. 

I love that my daughters will grow up to see that wives can change the oil and do the farm chores sometimes so that their husband’s don’t have to after a stressful day at work. To see that despite the biblical stance of submission, it’s not always necessary because good men don’t put their wives in a situation where one needs to be superior to the other. To see that wives cook, clean, do laundry, lay out clothes, keep items stocked, rub backs and feet, clean out farm trucks, ect not because it’s their gender role but because that is an act of respect and love for their spouse-kids. To see that there’s a time when certain choices are the husband’s choice. Not because he’s more important or feels entitled to such but because if he’s a worthy man he will absolutely make the right choice for his family and she can trust that. To see that little things like making sure the bed is made and the house is clean when he gets home so he can relax or climb into a cozy bed each day isn’t a service. It’s the least that you feel you can do for the man who loves you so intensely and wouldn’t say a single word about it if he came home to a wreck. To see that we can fight with respect and make up with compromise, even if we still don’t agree. To see that conflicts are to be worked through, not piled up upon. To see that even if you do make it to that lowest point (and we ALL DO) you can pick each other back up and love even more strongly from that day forward. To see that you can learn from it. Most importantly of all, you can learn. To see that saying ‘I was wrong! I’m sorry’ is important. To see that venerability is safe and important for authentic communication. To see the down sides of a marriage but most of all to see the eye rolling, get a room, you’re annoying affection that’s shown like clock work when Brian walks through that door each day. The respect and affection that reflects from both sides. 

After going on 13 years I could spout forever why I am so grateful for my marriage, not just for myself but for my babies. It is quite possibly the biggest gift that we can give them and I often let myself forget the power of that. The privilege of it. The joy of it. The honor of it. The reward of knowing that we are doing our best to set our children up for healthy relationships by being the best example that we possibly can be.

Kid’s Bedroom Designs — House Update

It’s been a minute since I did a house update so I thought that I’d stop in and document where we are at in our build. I also thought that I’d do an update on our children’s bedroom themes since they’ve requested a few changes. 

Our show barn is up besides the front of it. We did white metal but are doing the front of the barn in white board and batten to match the house. It will have stained shutters, stained barn doors, and a stained loft door above the barn door. 

The footing of our house before they did the plumbing and the show barn. 

The back of the barn. Part of this will be back yard and part of it will be corrals-livestock pens. 

The horse stall and corral side of the barn. Where my car is parked is the drive way for visual reference. 

This view is from our future back yard looking at the Doodle Lane office/whelping/grooming room. 

The rough plumbing is done and we will FINALLY be pouring the foundation this week. We will be framing by January 18th. We’ve gotten a lot of snow and rain recently which has made around our home super muddy.

Our lumber is ready. 

Our windows are all ordered. I was planning to do black because it’s modern and what I see most but for that same reason, we went with white. I don’t want to do what’s common in places that I can avoid it. Farmhouse is so popular right now. I knew that when I picked our home design but I’m doing everything that I can to make all of the little touches unique and custom so our house isn’t like your typical modern farmhouse. I don’t want basic at all despite my exterior design choice. I’m just a genuine sucker for classic farmhouses and always have been. I’m obsessed with the contrast of white and stained wood. I love the boxy look of a white farmhouse. I love old architecture. I am a OG farmhouse lover through and through. Just ask my mom and grandma how long I’ve pointed out old houses and went nuts over them. Since childhood!

The wire, electrical boxes, light boxes, breaker panels, etc for the house and barn are bought. We just need to get the can lights. 

The show cattle and horse barn is getting wired up tomorrow.

Our pipe entrance and corners are getting started this week too. 

We will start seeing constant progress once the framing starts. Our builder is seriously the bomb. He is as ready as we are to get this rolling so I have no doubts that anymore delays won’t be an issue with him. He’s a go getter 🙌🏻 

My next update will be huge change. 

We’ve made a lot of little random changes to our design plans and I’ll touch on those in a few separate posts but today I’m just going to talk about the kid’s bedroom designs.  

Charlee and Granger have rooms down stairs just off of the main living area. Hudson, Andlee, and Eilee have rooms upstairs along with a large flex room that will be our homeschool/playroom for now and a possible 6th bedroom later if desired. Decorating that space will be a priority after we are all settled in. 

Charlee picked a whimsical rustic wildflower theme. We are doing a green wall behind her bed. She picked Country Squire by Sherwin Williams. Her bed is a metallic gold metal headboard. Her bedding will be white and frilly/Lacey with rust, mauve, and mustard yellow throw pillows. Her floors will be knotty wood and she will have this cowhide rug on it. It has adorable metallic gold flakes in it. She picked the same wildflower decals that you see in the inspo picture. They are from Project Nursery and we just bought the half order since that’s what you see pictured and it looks great to us. I wanted to keep that wall somewhat flexible because of our next baby is a girl she will share a room with Charlee and have a gold metal crib on the same wall as Char’s bed. Her other walls will be light beige with stained wood trim. Her light fixture is the one pictured and is beaded. Her wall decor will be a blend of macrame wall hangings-flower pot holders and wildflower pictures from Hobby Lobby.  Her name will be above her bed in wooden calligraphy letters, painted metallic gold. Her room will also be a nursery for Pariee someday if we have another girl. We will buy a gold metal crib from Target to match the room theme and do Pariee’s name in gold wooden calligraphy letters like Charlee’s. 

Granger’s bedroom is a rustic farm theme. He will have an hunter green ship lap wall behind his bed with a matching green dresser-changing table. His other walls will be light beige and his trim will be stained. His floors will be knotty wood and he will have a cowhide rug on it that has his name on it. His decor will be a blend of metal and wood accents with animal portraits. His crib is white and his sheet will be green and ivory gingham like in the inspo picture. His name will be done in wooden or tin letters above it. We are having a picture of one of our show cows blown up and printed off in black and white from Smallwood Home to recreate this popular Target highlander picture for above his changing table-dresser. Granger’s room will also be Roma’s nursery if we have another boy. We are doing natural wood cribs that convert into toddler beds. I will also do Roan’s name above his crib to match Granger’s. 

Andlee and Eilee’s room is a chic horses theme. Behind their beds there will be a white shiplap wall and they will have a blush barn door on their closet. Their other walls will be light beige with stained trim. Their dresser, night stand, and bed frames are white. They will have stained floating shelves for toy horse storage on the walls with rustic floral and horse paintings as decor. Above their beds on the ship lap I’m either doing their names in a flexible rope looking material, using a projector with a calligraphy font or I’m doing a rope wreath with flowers that has the first letter of their names in the middle of each wreath. Similar to what’s in the 2nd picture but with a wood ‘A’-‘E’ in blush. Their bedding will be colorful with cow print, navy, mustard yellow, teal, and pink accents. They are picking out the fabric on their own so it’ll be totally customized to them. 

Hudson’s room will be a vintage western/rodeo theme. He will have a stained tongue and groove wall behind his bed. The other walls will be light beige with stained trim. His headboard and dresser are also stained. His exact bedding is in the 2nd collage. We will do European mount deer skulls and vintage western paintings on the wall. My great aunt from The Pacific Northwest sent him this incredible set of homemade vintage pictures when he was born and they will look so perfect back in this space. (Fun fact: his nursery before we moved into our last house was actually this same theme so I love that he went back to it on his own.) He will have a navy barn door on his closet.