Emma #16

My sweet, sweet Emma turned 16 on the 23rd. If I've learned anything with having 3 girls, it's that it doesn't get any easier the older they get.  It's truly such a blessing and yet so hard to watch them grow up.  I feel privileged every single day that I get to be their mama.

I can't even believe that Emma is 16.  I still look at her and see her at 3 years old with that sweet little high pitched voice.  She has always been my sensitive one, but don't let that fool you, she can turn that around real quick! 

For her birthday breakfast I stopped at The Local Blend to get Emma her favorite almond crescent.  She's obsessed with them!  We also had donuts of course, the only thing missing was an iced coffee...

Alayna wrote a "16 things we love about you" note.

The nice thing at this age is that they are so easy to buy for, haha!  We got her a sweatshirt from Bemidji State when we were there in March and then gave her cash.

Emma has the funniest sense of humor and can always make us laugh!  But then she also has the sweetest spirit about her.  Even at 16, she still loves to snuggle with me on the couch.

And don't even get me started about her love for Josie.  She is obsessed!

She has a love of lettering and is crazy talented!  You can follow her on Instagram @
designsbyem23

But most of all, Emma is truly just an amazing person to be around.  She can sense when you're down and is the first one to give you a hug and get you to laugh.  She's always been that glass half full kind of girl.

It has truly been amazing watching her grow and I cannot wait to see the amazing things God has in store for her!

2019 So far

I can't believe we are half way through April already.  It has seriously been the LONGEST.WINTER.EVER.  We have had more snow than I can ever remember.  Just last week we had a major blizzard, but thankfully it is almost gone.  Thank you Jesus.

So I wanted to do a check in of how my goal setting is going so far.  You can read my post about it here.

Here were my goals:

1.  Get back into working out.  Like I said in My New Years post, my treadmill quit working last spring.  Since getting our new one I was working out about 3-4 days a week, either walking at an incline or running (very, very slooooowly).  One of my goals for March was to walk/run a mile every single day.  Well, I made that goal, and have continued it on.  I get up at 5 am, get on the treadmill and do a quick 1/2 mile run or walk (when I walk I walk at a 7% incline) and then after supper I either do another 1/2 mile if time is short, or I usually end up running another mile-2 miles.  I feel better physically and emotionally, and I'm starting to get the itch to run a race again.
Half marathon post here



2.  Planning.  I literally have become obsessed with using my planner.  I used to be huge into scrapbooking, but since working outside the home, I just don't have the time for it.  Now I am the crazy planner lady getting my sticker books out and planning my week.  I also bought a budget planner and love that too.



3.  Give up Diet Coke:  Yep, still haven't had one since December 24. 

4.  Take and pass my aPHR test:  Yep, passed that the beginning of January, SO happy!

5.  Read 45 books:  I am well on my way, so far I have ready 23 books!  I have taken a step back from social media (I'm looking at you Facebook...) to read more and I also read a lot when I'm on the treadmill.

A few of my faves (click on the image to go to Amazon):











6.  Take More Time:

I have really done well with this. I seriously hate the term #self care.  I just don't know why if I'm reading or taking a bath it needs to be called "self care".  Can't I just take a bath cuz I wanna??  Either way I am taking the time to do the things I love and it feels amazing.

One of my other goals is to write more.  I bought a journal associated with the "Girl Stop Apologizing" book.  It has an area for 3 Things I'm Thankful For, 7 Dreams I Made Happen Today and The Goal I am Going to Achieve Today.  I really am enjoying filling that out everyday.  I also want to blog more.  I have a lot on my mind that I want to blog about.

I'm excited to use this little space more.  I've been blogging since 2008 and it's SO fun to look back at how my blogging has morphed.  I love this space of mine and hope you will enjoy it too.

Coming up soon:
My Morning Routine
Book Review
How to Survive the Teenage Years with girls
Guest Post by Emma

Linking with:

Momfessionals

A Little Bit of Everything

Grace and Love Blog

Prom 2019

Rachel’s last prom ever happened yesterday.  Sigh.  It was kind of a strange feeling, knowing that she is closing another chapter on her senior year book.  I have all the feels this year.  Her last volleyball game, her last Christmas season at home full time, her last prom.  Ugh.

Despite all the feels, we had an amazing day!  Her cousin and BFF Madalyn came over at 7:30 to start hair and makeup for Rachel and her best friend Hailey.  I love that they can stay home and get all dolled up, plus we make the most of it!  We had about 12 people here for muffins and mimosas while we watched the girls get ready, it really is one of my favorite days!

Isn’t she a beauty?  Madalyn does such an amazing job of bringing out her features without making her look to done up.

I also loved her dress, fit her like a glove.

We all drove to another classmates house to have pictures taken outside.  The also had a family friend who does photography take pics of them.

The girls were all so gorgeous!

After pics were done there, we headed to the Catholic Church in Cold Spring to get a huge group picture taken.  I didn’t get a good pic of that, but they line them up according to dress color, so fun!

We came back home, changed clothes and headed to the side bar in Cold Spring to meet a bunch of the parents for drinks and a quick supper before the grand march.  We really are so lucky that we love the parents, just a fun group of people!

After the grand march a bunch of the parents came over for drinks and snacks.  Lots of laughs! 
Such a fun but super exhausting day, and I didn't even go to prom!