Joy Leanne

    So tomorrow is my birthday and I finally finished making my 30 before 30 list. It was harder than I thought. Trying to come up with 30 things I wanted to do in the next year that were PRACTICAL and DOABLE. I mean sure there are a TON of things I would love to do but for various reasons (money, baby coming this summer) it's just not possible. But eventually I did it! The interesting thing is, without meaning to I ended up picking a LOT Of things that fit well with my new years goal. 2013 Goals: To be more intentional... *In relationships *In finances *At home *In memory keeping. Not everything fell into one of these four categories but a lot did. So without further ado.... 30 Before 30 Personal: 1. Memorize 30 verses. 2. Read, finish, or get rid of all MY unread books. 3. Fill up my half-used journals/smashbooks. 4. Sew the Super Tote pattern by Noodlehead. 5. Do one Show. 6. Make 500 things. 7.  Cook a recipe a month off of my pinterest boards. 8. Visit Bush Garden's aga...

                It is so easy to look around at our life and think "This isn't what I signed up for" or "How did I get here?" We look at our big plans. We look at our facebook feed. We look at our favorite blogs. We wondered what happened. We wonder why we don't have the life we so desperately want when every one else makes it look so easy. The funny thing is, I think if most of us slowed down and looked around we would realize that we are in fact living the life we wanted. Our lives, for the most part, aren't that different from the blogs we drool over. We bake, we take walks, we go for ice cream, we do special activities with our kids. The difference between our lives and the lives of the people on the other side of the glowing screen and polished blogs is documenting. The ONLY way that "other" woman is different from us is that she taking the time to notice, document, and dwell on the little moments. She takes time to make much the life'...

  With 2012 now nearly 24 hours in the past and 2013  upon us, it would seem the thing to do is take a look back on 2012. However, I feel like I have done quite a bit of that this past year. With so much having happened this year I feel like I have already one a good bit of reflection. If you would like to read those posts you can here and here. At this point in time I am ready to look forward. I am ready for a new adventure. I am ready to dream, plan, set goals, and draft a map. I'm ready for change. I'm not entirely sure what exactly I want these goals and plans to look like. I know I will be taking some time off for my shop and drastically reducing my custom spots when I do. I want to focus more on creating as the mood strikes, sewing for my girls, sewing for friends, making what makes me happy, finish the huge pile of WIPs. I want to focus more on my writing. For The Clutch Guide for The Motherhood Collective for my own blog, and journaling. I want to make a point of bei...

Four years ago my daughter Abi Bear was turning one and I went in search of the perfect "first" dolly for her. During the process my good friend Marliessa introduced me to Waldorf Dolls. (You can read a rough description of them here ). At the time I couldn't afford the beautiful dolls I found on Etsy so I let it go.  A year later when Abi was turning two I just couldn't get this sweet style of doll out of my mind so I attempt to make my own. Here is Miss Abi Bear and Annie Doll. Since that first doll I have truly fallen in love with this art and have grown a business around it.I have tried my best to make dolls that I believe in. I think every one should be able to afford an heirloom quality doll for their child that protects the beauty and purity of childhood. When so many dolls are made of plastic and are holding up unrealistic ideals I wanted a dolly for my girl that was as sweet and innocent as she is. My dolls have changed and evolved over time but I feel like t...

1) The office is mostly done. Just need to move the futon in, take down the paint along the ceiling and put on some finishing touches. But all in all it is done and usable and I am loving it as is Maddie. It's currently her favorite room. As I type this she is walking runaway across the room singing what I think is supposed to be "Ta-da" but is coming out "tana". 2) The first full week of school went great. Bear cried when I picked her up on Monday because she wanted to stay like the rest of the kids. Thursday I let her stay and realized while it may be fine once a week we are not ready for full day all the time yet. She took a nap at nap time and Mrs. Roberts said she had a hard time waking her up. You could tell and she was crabby for me the rest of the day. Goose is going to my friends house two days a week. Leave it to me to find some one else to home school my kid. Angie enjoys having the set schedule, Maddie enjoys doing flash cards, and I enjoy having a f...

As children we are told we can be anything we want to be when we grow up. We are told anything is possible if we just try hard enough. And then one day, the world stops telling us this and instead points out all the obsticles keeping us from our dreams. It is an odd phenomenon. One which I am straddeling at the moment. I find myself already telling my 5 month old daughter that she is amazing and can do anything she puts her mind to. And yet, I am constantly telling myself why my own dreams are simply that, fluffy cotton candy dreams. What message am I sending to my child? Why should she be confident that I believe in her, if I display such little confidence in myself. Maybe I need to pursue my dreams, not for my sake but for hers.