Handmade Home

Okay I'm getting a little off topic today but I just felt like I really needed to post this tonight. We've been doing a lot of talking lately around here about what is truly important in life. We've become overrun with stuff (a whole other post) and it seems like our focus was shifting away from what we feel is really important.

Things like right now I'm watching my daughter stand in the doorway doubled over with laughter at herself, simply because she thinks she's funny (as do we). These are the things that a good life is made of. It's not about who has a better job, how much money you make, whether or not your house is bigger or anything else that so many people seem to be wrapped up in today. We are striving to get back to a simple life around here. We are shifting the focus back to the small things that make life worth living. Love, laughter, our friends and family and watching our daughter grow. That last one is our biggest focus. She is growing so fast and we just want to enjoy every moment we possibly can together and teach her to be a kind and compassionate person in the process.


It's so easy in this day and age to forget about how life used to be. We're always going, always too busy. People are often so wrapped up in their own lives that they don't take the time to look at the world around them. So wrapped up in our own problems that we don't see the ways we can help those around us. The hubby and I were discussing life and some of the trials we are experiencing and those we have experienced in the past and we realized that no matter what is going on we have so much to be thankful for. We truly are blessed and there are many who are much less fortunate. It's time for us to slow down and refocus our family. There are many people that may not agree with some of the changes we are going to make in the near future. Many people don't understand what it is we are trying to express; they don't value the same things we do. We want our daughter to experience a life where you know your neighbors and reach a helping hand out to others when you can.

One person who I feel really embodies the concept of what we want for our family is Amanda Blake Soule. I found her blog just at the time I was needing someone of a like mind. If you know who I'm talking about then you understand what I'm trying to say. If not I urge you to check out her blog SouleMama. Amanda has done a wonderful job of focusing on what is important to her family and living the life she feels is best for them. She follows her heart and does what she feels is best for herself and her family. We should all be so strong.




She also just released a new book titled Handmade Home and if you haven't seen it yet you should check it out. It's on my wish list for Christmas this year along with her previous book The Creative Family. I wish her all the success in the world as she further pursues happiness.

That's really all any of us can hope for, to be happy. That is what we are striving for here at our house. We are going to be reducing the clutter in our lives on every possible level. We will be focusing on handmade instead of storebought, fun and experiences instead of stuff. Reducing our carbon footprint, strengthening personal bonds and even letting some go. It will be a long journey, and is not likely to be an easy one but it is the right one for us.