I am so pleased with the progress I’ve made on my 2017 goals — little bits, but all in the right direction. February is the last month of my 60 Before 30 project, so in addition to my four focal areas, you’ll also see monthly goals pulled from that list to finish strong. And, I added a new update that I’m planning to include going forward: what I read in the last month!

What I read in January: Celebrate Everything, The Meaning of Marriage, The Power of a Praying Wife (ongoing), and The Lifegiving Home (ongoing). Those last two I plan to read a little at a time throughout the year!

Revisiting my goals for January:
Head to Val’s site and choose and order a prayer journal (was deciding between this one and this one and ended up ordering the undated)
Look over Val’s recommended books on prayer and purchase one (bought this one and this one!)
Mark monthly prep days in my planner and try my first one for January
Celebrate June’s first birthday in tuxedo cat style!
Finish June’s one year video
Attend my free trial ballet class
Restock my supply of cards
Set a date for my favorite things party
Buy one product Sam recommended during my personal consult
Peruse the aisles of a bookstore for a new Bible

February goals:
— Peruse the aisles of a bookstore for a new Bible
— Fill out the first month in my prayer journal
— Host a favorite things party for neighborhood friends
— Start my weekly ballet class!
— Submit everything for HOA approval for our backyard project (it’s back on!)
— Post one city for my Triangle guide
— Hit 10k steps 4 out of 7 days a week (this will be a challenge, as I only hit 10k two days a week on average in January…)
— Get our wills notorized
— Go to the Museum of Life & Science with June (we got a membership for Christmas!)

As a reminder, here are my 2017 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

We are not perfect for each other, we are growing perfect together.

Though John and I have always had in common that which is most important to us — what C.S. Lewis called the “secret thread” – I think there’s something else that’s helped keep us together for twelve years, and that is that we’ve committed to growing towards each other. Towards each other, not away from each other, and not just side by side.

In Tim Keller’s book “The Meaning of Marriage,” he quotes Stanley Hauerwas:

I think this is very true. I wouldn’t necessarily describe John as a “stranger,” but we’ve both changed in the twelve years we’ve been together (see here for one example). This is inevitable: if you’re with someone for any period of time, they will change. You can either fight this, ignore it, or embrace it. (I happen to think high school sweethearts have a leg up on everyone else, because when you start dating when you’re 17, you KNOW you’re going to change!)

Tim Keller goes on to write:

When you inevitably change, you have the choice of growing toward your partner or away from him. At every juncture, we’ve tried to grow toward each other, though always imperfectly, and it has led to joy and beauty we never would have known had we dug our heels in.

We are not perfect for each other, but we are committed to perfecting each other… and that makes us perfect for each other.

P.S. I just made a new category here on EFM: love + marriage. If you’d like to read more of my musings on our relationship, that’s where you can find them :)

It might just become your new favorite, too.

I’m not sure what made me think of Elvis one day, because I can’t say I’ve historically been a connoisseur of his music. But I did… and it was an instant hit with Miss June. To be fair, she gets very excited whenever we put on music, but she does seem to love Elvis even more than our Disney playlist, the Beach Boys, big band favorites, Cozy Fall, our cooking playlist, and Christian Folk, which comprise the other standard options at our house.

Click here to listen, if you like – I chose some of his most upbeat options for this highly-curated collection. And I challenge you to not have your own kitchen dance party when you do! :)

Happy weekend, friends!

Though we are still using and loving many of the baby items I’ve posted about since June was born, I thought her first birthday was a good opportunity to share a few of the things making our days easier and more enjoyable right now! Something you won’t see on this list? Toys! While June has a few in her collection, none of them seem to capture her interest as much as run-of-the-mill household items, including but not limited to magnets, K-cups, pens, tubes of lotion, sunglasses, and remotes. There is NOTHING cooler than a remote, let me tell you…

— Now that June has a considerable amount of hair, this soft brush comes in handy for taming it.

— Up until a few weeks ago, we were using an old iPhone for white noise. The speaker finally gave out (as we were warned it would), and so we replaced it with this slim-lined, unobtrusive white noise machine. A+ purchase!

— There are tons of options for diaper rash ointment out there, but we’ve had good luck with this one.

— Alexa! I have plans to write a separate post about technology in the home, but let me just say: I was very against getting an Echo, but after having her for a few months, I am enthusiastically on board. We listen to music way more often (pretty much all the time!), which our whole family loves.

— Again, there are lots of sippy cups to choose from, but we’ve liked these ones. By the way, it’s a strange task to try to teach someone how to drink from a cup, but apparently our methods worked because June drinks like a champ these days! She also LOVES to slam the cup back down on her tray after every sip :)

— It’s not a literary masterpiece, but June is getting way more into books these days and Zoom Zoom Baby as well as other lift-the-flap titles are some of her favorites.

— I love Freshly Picked as much as the next gal, but at less than half the price, these rose gold moccs are an awesome alternative. A very happy birthday gift from a dear friend!

— Now that June is sleeping upstairs, we’re using the Amcrest camera and app to keep an eye on her. It’s a good price point for a monitor and we’ve been happy with it.

— Now that June has more hair, the thin headbands from Simple June are some of our favorites. Once she has even MORE hair, I’m looking forward to putting the thicker ones from Amalie Maren back in our rotation! Right now, they just look a little funny :)

Mamas, would love to hear a few of your favorites for this age!

P.S. Favorites from the first six weeks, five months, and eight months.