February Recap

February was full of highs and lows here in the Terpstra house. The first half of the month was full to the brim with business. Camp is really ramping up now and I find myself being stretched and challenged in new ways as I learn new things and balance work and family life. My biggest challenge these days has been learning how to communicate about 'work' to Bob, its so different working with your spouse and we definitely butt heads a time or two. I am learning to be far more gracious and less defensive. It has really been positive and Im so thankful we are learning this together. So thankful to be able to work and dream everyday with him! 

I've been telling Bob that I find this season of life to be intense. Our days are full to bursting,  but really I wouldn't trade this time because there are so many sweet moments mixed in with the chaos.

Ive been taking a little time to get some craft project done and having a lot of fun with my Silhouette Cameo and heat transfer vinyl (I made the shirt Hazel is wearing above). It is so easy and feels so good to make a shirt within a few minutes! I love it! Millie started solid food and for the most part she loves it! She is such a precious girl! Its amazing how much my heart has expanded to love her so very much! 

We also had a ton of snow this month... and when I say a ton, i mean that literally.

I think we won something for the most snowfall on record... yay... or not. 

Bob also led a mission trip to Guatemala this month with our youth group! He had an absolutely amazing and impacting experience! It has been such a blessing to see how the experience changed the lives of the youth who went! 

Life without him wasn't easy though. I felt like a shell of myself! haha! It was a great wake up to how much I really do rely on him throughout the day! Since he primarily works from home he definitely leaves a big gap when he isn't around. It made me much more thankful for the life that we do have in that he is able to be home with me and the girls! How absolutely blessed are we? 

Needless to say the girls were very happy to have their Daddy back home. 

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Annnnnnnnnd She's Back

well hello blog world.

Im sure you've all been worried sick about where I have been amiright? totally. Well lets just catch up shall we?

Last you heard from me I was headed to British Columbia for my sisters wedding. (more about that later) While we were away Bob and I got to have some pretty candid conversations about our life and the season we are in with little babies and new ministries and we both decided to put some things on hold. I wrote a long post after I got home about how I was going to shut the blog down, but that post remained unpublished/unfinished because I was already knee deep in life. Such beautiful life was happening and it was so busy but yet so good that it hardly had time to be documented.

That being said. Im being called back a little bit to update this space. Im not too sure what it looks like moving forward. But I do know that I want to have a record of this time in the years to come.
So you'll no longer see scheduled posts or 'how to's', at least not for a while. But if you are interested in what my little family is up to then by all means, follow along.

So, lets recap!

T H E  T R I P

Oh dear I could have written at least 20 posts about our trip itself. We had a great time 'out west' for my sisters wedding. Some highlights were: visiting with Bob's brother, sister and brother in law; playing with our nephew George and watching he and Hazel interact; the waterpark at the West Edmonton Mall; amazing sushi to celebrate Bob's 30th Birthday; driving to the mountains for the wedding and staying at the most beautiful lodge.

The wedding itself was beautiful and lots of fun! It was so wonderful to have our whole family staying together at the lodge where the wedding was held. It was 30 of us, both sides of the family and no staff, so we made meals and everything together from Thursday to Sunday. Lots of fun was had in the outdoor hot tub and we all busted a move on the dance floor on the wedding day!

Hazel did really well as the flower girl and I was so proud of her! The wedding itself was really sweet. We were all a little teary when they said their vows, my mom sang a song and there was even a reading from a court case! ha! so romantic, but my sister is a lawyer and it did really suit! It was a small affair of about 45 people since it stormed and 50!!! centimetres of snow fell the day before!! But it was really lovely.

mountain love

she was really excited about her basket 

so glad he got this one of me and my girl

my sweet little flower girl

the location was amazing!

isn't my sister so beautiful! 

family shot! too bad the girls aren't looking!

C H R I S T M A S

Christmas was also wonderful and we had lots of family time. Bob was off for 2 weeks and we just enjoyed that time together. Christmas usually means a lot of running around for us and we often do back to back meals and go to up to 4 different places between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Eek. Im not sure we will do the 'christmas circuit' as I like to call it, next year but for this year it was still ok. We stayed the night at my moms house and my brothers and one's girlfriend stayed too. It was really nice to be with all of them in the morning and its something that my mom really enjoys. Hazel was a bit overwhelmed and i sort of rushed though her presents and wished i had taken it a bit more slowly. I guess I will know for next year! I literally took ZERO pictures at christmas... huge mom fail right? But im trying to be less attached to my phone which means not as many pictures... oh well, I just dont think I will ever be one of those DSLR mamas.

Im hoping to update some of Millie's monthly posts soon! I have a few in drafts! And I would also love to get started on a "Hazel says" post! holy moly that girl is hilarious these days. But no promises on the timeline of those ok?

Now I will leave you with this video to celebrate my return, and because who didn't think this video was amazing when it came out? (and if you really want to know, I once spent weeks perfecting this dance routine... I think i can still do most of it... bam)

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Currently is on vacation!

Hi all! Thanks for coming to check out currently today! I had hoped to get a Currently post up this week but we spent the weekend at a conference for Youth Leaders and my mind is both too tired and too full to write much of a post at the moment! The conference was awesome and much needed! Bob and I both felt encouraged and refreshed. 

BUT I didn't want to leave you all hanging this week so if you will forgive me I don't have a post for you to read but if you wrote your currently please feel free to link it up below. 

I will be on vacation for my sisters wedding slash trying to stay sane taking my children across the country for the next 2 weeks as well so Currently will not be running. But will be back up on December 7th! Can't wait to share my trip with you all and see what you are up to at that time. xo 

An InLinkz Link-up

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A Mommy App | The Mommy Glow

I was asked by by fellow blogger Tiffany to review the app that she and her husband created and released a couple of weeks ago! First of all I think it is so amazing that Tiffany and Jon created this app! I mean kudos to their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirits!

A Mommy App is an app for both mama and littles. There are so many things you can do in this app and I would like to highlight a few of my favourites.

First of all you can add your kiddos and keep track of their milestones. This is so handy for keeping track of those little things you don't want to forget! Just today Bob found Hazel's baby book and asked me if I had one for Millie... umm... nope. The plight of the second child! I will definitely be using A Mommy App to quickly jot down those milestones so I don't forget until I can get them into a baby book... someday...  Another cute little feature of this section of the app is that you can customize the 'look' of your kids! How fun is that! I had a great time choosing hair color and even outfits for Hazel and Mille's 'mommy app' personas!

One great feature that has come in very handy already is the "5 Minutes For Mommy" section. The day after I downloaded the app was one of those 'crazy days' where patience was running low. I was waiting in the car with both girls while Bob ran in to get a couple of things at the grocery store. Millie was crying and I was reaching over my seat to let her suck on my finger to calm her down. Hazel was asking a million questions and I was feeling the temperature rise... suddenly I remembered that I had downloaded 'A Mommy App'! I quickly got it out and went to the 5 minutes for mommy section. I chose the 'bubble' game and gave it to Hazel... perfect silence! she was enthralled! She absolutely loved this simple game and it kept her entertained for quite some time. I'm not one to keep a ton of games on my phone so it was perfect that this game was just a little addition to the app that I could pull out in a pinch!

One last feature that I really love is the Featured Blogs, Shops and Instagrams. I have loved scrolling through the featured content and checking out new blogs, shops and instagram accounts that I haven't seen before! I love finding new mamas to follow! I think its awesome that Tiffany and Jon created a space to highlight some of the amazing mamas out there!

There are many more features you can check out here. You can download the app for just 99 cents and it is available for both iPhone and Android.

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Currently | Vol 5

Hi! welcome to currently where we share a bit of our lives with each other and build online community each week. Link up your post below and spend some time reading others posts as well. Thanks for joining us! 

Friends! Wasn't last week's instagram hop great?!! I LOVED it! I really felt almost like I spent the day with you all! We will definitely be doing that again but for this week we are back to regular posing, hope you are all ready to share with us! Don't forget to visit at least the person linked up before you to spread the love!

T H I N K I N G  A B O U T | I have actually been thinking a lot about blogging and why I do it. I know I visit this question at least once a month but its great for me to gain some perspective on why I do this thing. I recommend everyone write a post like this one so they can go back and remind themselves why. My dear friend Jenna wrote a brave and beautiful post this week about blogging which i think everyone should read : here.

making cookies on Saturday 

L O V I N G |  I am absolutely loving conversations with Hazel these days. I know I know Im biased but she is seriously SO sweet and funny. Two gems from today:

         
              Hazel: what these mummy? (pointing to my eyebrows)
                   me: those are my eyebrows
                     H: they so nice mummy 
                    me: thank you Hazel 
                     H: you're welcome mummy, can i have dem? i want dem guy-brows

   
                Hazel: (at church looking at the stained glass window) MOMMY!!! I see Jesus in the                                   window.... HI JESUS!!!! 



T H A N K F U L  F O R |  My mom!! Seriously my mom is the best. She babysits every Wednesday so that I can go to youth group to help and support Bob which is a huge blessing. This Friday she knew Bob was out all day and night with two youth events on, so she came over (unasked) to help me get the girls into bed and when I came downstairs from putting Millie down she was popping the cork on a bottle of wine, bless her!! We drank wine and chatted all night until Bob got home. Its such a blessing to have such a wonderful relationship with her now that I'm older. I hope my girls and I will someday be the same.

L E A R N I N G | As I mentioned in my November Goals post I have been learning lately to let go of others opinions, to not let them have a hold on me. Even though I consider myself to be a fairly confident person I still am surprised at how much I let others opinions of me, and also others opinions of my family and my husband consume me. Im learning to let this go and to be confident in the life that God has given me, and the decisions I have made as a parent and as a woman.

a fun little video from our cookie adventure :)

H O P I N G |  Ok this is lame and I know I keep talking about this, but Im hoping I can loose a couple of pounds before my sisters wedding which is coming up soooo soon!!! eek! We leave on the 22nd and my plan is to do a bit of a detox (within reason since im still breastfeeding exclusively!) for the 2 weeks before we go.... I just want to feel a bit more comfortable in my dress!

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Can't wait to read about what you are up to currently!! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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November Goals

Im a list maker. Are you? There is something about making a list that puts my heart at ease. Even if not all of the things on the list get accomplished I still feel as if I've done something just by making the list itself. Im like some sort of lazy A-type personality.

Every month I attempt to make a list of things I would like to accomplish, and I link it uo over at The Tiny Twig, because making lists and community are two of my fave things so why not combine the two amiright? Soo I didn't exactly get a list finished last month... Whomp Whomp... Fail. But I am making a pretty awesome one this month AND I've issued a month long challenge to my husband! Every week this month I'm going to challenge him to something new to help us with some personal fitness and organizational type goals we have been wanting to implement, the one who does the best in the challenge will of course receive a prize. Booyah!! 

Now lets get on with the real November Goals mmmkay? 

H O M E | 

1. Finally get frames for family pictures I had printed and hang them! 

2. Organize craft room... It's cray-zay in there.

3. Keep up with the previous goal of one load of laundry a day! 

F A M I L Y | 

1. We are travelling across the country this month for my sisters wedding. I would like to get at least 4-5 little busy bags made up for Hazel that I can produce at those key times when she really needs some entertainment. I have seen so many great ideas on Pintrest so I'm excited to put these together. 

2. Get our travel budget in order before we go! eep... I'm pretty nervous we are going to overspend while we are away so I want to get all money for bills in a separate account stat so we don't go broke yo.

B L O G |  

1. Get organized with posts. I want to get a better posting schedule up and running

2. Finish alllll of those drafts! I have so many... Like soo many. 

M E | 

1. Real talk. I'm slowly learning to let go of others opinions of me and truly not try to please everyone. This is tough for me. I'm only just starting to realize how big of an issue this is in my life. Post to come on what I'm learning... 

2. My birthday is this month (I'm turning 29!! ) woah... Seems old! Haha so I'm hoping to do something special for it! 

Okay! I think those are some good gol! Let's do this November!  

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CURRENTLY | Instagram Edition!

Hi Everyone! Im so excited that we have our first Currently Instagram Edition! I love Instagram and am constantly inspired by the people I follow and I just love getting a glimpse into people's lives. I hope this will be something we can do every once in a while to make it easy for lots of people to participate! 

Here's what to do. 

- Take a picture using the following prompts " Watching" , "Doing", "Loving", "Making", "Thankful For" 

- Post them up all at once or throughout the day. Tell us what you're up to in the caption and use the hashtag #currently so we can find each others posts. I would also love if you could tag me using @joyfullifeblog . I don't want to miss any of your posts! 

- Tag a friend and ask them what they are up to "currently" 

- Link up your Instagram account below and follow each other :) 


I will be posting throughout the day I really hope you enjoy this link up this week! Let me know what you think! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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