Author Archives: 365 days of marriage

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About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 2981 – Repost – How To Make Your Dreams Come True

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Below is a repost from this day last year. I think it’s a good reminder, and I hope you’re taking steps towards your dreams! But two fun facts – When I was adding in the tags, I typed “meeting your goals” and had a mental picture of me shaking the hand of a goal. I wonder what a goal would look like… Also, if you think your dream is too big, and 15 minutes is too little time…I really only write about 15-30 minutes a day, and wrote my road trip book in less than 6 months. Don’t underestimate the power for 15 minutes every day!

~~~~ originally posted 9/8/16 ~~~~

I love to see others follow their dreams. I love hearing of people quitting their full time job to be a small business owner. I love pushing people to fulfill their dreams or at least figure out how to get there.

I have a few new dreams, being a speaker, writing for income, traveling more – to name a few (I am a big dreamer after all). But how do you make these dreams come true? How do you live the life you want to live? Here are a few tips.

– Set a deadline. Whether it’s in a few months or 20 years, put it on the calendar.
– Break down the steps to get there. If you want to write a book, break down how to do it before your goal. Having bite sized steps is super helpful.
– Tell a few trusted people your goal. Pick people who will ask you how it’s going. Pick people who won’t take your excuses as a valid reason you’re not completing your steps.
– When you’re working towards your dream, give it your all. Even if you can only devote 15 minutes a day to writing your book (or whatever), work SO hard in that 15 minutes.
– Realize that your dream may change, or how you get there might change.

Now go do it!

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Day 2980 – Buy A Book Day!

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I want to start off by saying I did a very poor job of following my own advice yesterday about fighting procrastination! I spent a ton of time on Facebook (not doing as well as I was with checking twice a day), I played games on my phone, I watched videos. To give you a snapshot of how bad it was, on Tuesday I did 6.13 hours of work (either for my clients, for Bret, writing, or building my business), and only 1.03 hours of games/social media. Yesterday, I did 3.67 hours of work, 1.8 hours of games/social, took 1.5 hr nap, and spent 1.22 hours relaxing. When I say relaxing, I’m typically just laying in bed and playing games. Oy. Ha ha, so the lesson is, take your own advice! Thought y’all get a chuckle out of the irony. 😀

So today is buy a book day. I love to buy books, but I very rarely buy them now. I am absolutely obsessed with the library (as you know). Since we have minimized a lot in our lives, I think differently about buying books. I want to buy books that will be a good resource, that I will go back to again and again, and will enjoy reading multiple times (I’m looking at your Harry Potter in a Trunk*). I went from two large bookshelves, to less than 1 small shelf….and even those I could probably get rid of more. I think a big shift for me is that I am honest with myself about if I will actually read or re-read a book. But there’s another side to owning books, I rarely read my own books. If I don’t have a library due date hanging over my head, there’s no pressure to actually read the book. This is also true for books I borrow from people.

Even the last book I bought hasn’t been read that much. Though, reading Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time* really has had a big impact on how I think about things. What I love about Tools Of The Titans is how it’s split into bite size chapters, and the system I created for reading it (highlighting in different colors), helps me keep track of what I have and haven’t read. I am hopeful that if I can add reading a chapter or two into my routine will help me to finally finish this massive (707 pages thank you very much) book.

What was the last book you bought? Do you buy lots of books or just use the library? If you want a book to buy, and it’s something you’re interested in, check out one or both of my books below.

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* Amazon affiliate link
Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 2979 – Fight Procrastination Day! – A Few Tips How On How I Fight It!

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As I was thinking about my tips, I realized that a pretty big shift in my thinking happened because of the book, Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time* by Jeff Manion. I just finished it this morning, so I can heartily approve it. I’m very picky about what items I share affiliates link to, and I wait until I’ve finished a book before I link to it.

This book had a big impact on me in that it showed me that little steps every day add up to really big things. So when I am tempted to look at an item on my to do list and think “ah, that’s not that big of a deal, and it won’t take long, I can put that off until tomorrow” I remember, well, if I do this little thing now, I won’t have two little things tomorrow.

Another recent change that has helped me fight procrastination is getting up early and working on a big project first thing. Working for several clients and working through my own projects, there is always something to work on. There is always something to do. Sometimes those things are projects that can take a chunk of time. I’ve found if I give them priority, especially early in the morning, I can knock them out so much quicker and easier.

This might fall more under distraction, but I keep my work email notifications turned off between the hours of about 5 p.m. and 8:30/10 a.m. That way I’m not worrying about an email that came in that I won’t be able to do anything about until later. It is also a mental shift. It’s a way to tell my brain, ok, you’re done work for today.

I try to organize my to do list in a way that follows my physical limits. While I’d love to do easy things in the morning like typing notes or doing the dishes, I know my best work time is in the morning between about 6 and 10:30/11 and I make sure to do the most important things then.

What are you doing today to fight procrastination? Let me know in the comments!

I mean, how can you not feel like you’re fighting procrastination when you’re Batman?

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* Amazon affiliate link
Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 2978 – How We Wake Up At 5 AM And Actually Enjoy It – and – A Little Bit About Working With Your Spouse

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I think we have a new habit, and I think it will be around for a while: waking up at 5:00 a.m. on work days. Since we are building a business (real estate investing), there is a lot to do, all the time. I’ve really been digging in with data mining and management. We’ve recently started outsourcing calls, and it helps to put the pressure on me to keep up with finding numbers and not find excuses to be lazy. Since I don’t track my time on the weekends, I have no idea how many hours I put it this weekend, but it has been a lot. Oy. I have looked at SO many houses online! Though, it does get me dreaming about a home for us down the line. We have some pretty specific needs and wants, so it will likely take a while until we find it. Since Bret is back to school (today is the first day for the kids), having a routine is much more important. One way we’re fitting more in each day is by waking up at 5:00 a.m. I cannot believe I’m saying it….but we haven’t snoozed once since we started. I have ALWAYS snoozed. I have snoozed for HOURS. We’ll still be in bed, but we aren’t hitting snooze and trying to sleep for those precious 9 minutes. Once we have somewhat of a mental faculty going, we’ll start to say things that we’re thankful for. It can be anything from “I’m thankful you’re alive today” to “I’m thankful for this blanket” to “I’m thankful we prepped the coffee last night.” It makes such a difference in mood of the day right from the start. We’ll spend a little time chatting about the day and different things once the coffee is ready. Then I launch into my morning firsts (devotions, writing, blogging, etc).

It’s funny that we’re working together again. After we stopped photography, I thought it would be me working my jobs, and Bret teaching. Us working together, in a lot of ways, came out of left field. But I am SO pumped to be working with Bret again! Working with your spouse isn’t easy, it can be difficult, for sure, but the benefits outweigh those difficulties for us. One thing we’ve noticed is that I can get grumpy if I don’t get 8-9 hours of sleep. It takes a few days, but there is a noticeable difference. Last week, I was REALLLLLLLY grumpy, and Bret was like, ummmmmmmm, what? After more time than it should have, we realize it was because of my lack of sleep. Because Bret knows me so well, he can call me out on things, and we can work through them together.

A bonus to waking up this early is getting to see the sunrise. I was not disappointed this morning.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 2977 – Movie (And TV) Marathon!

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We had toyed with the idea of going to the Bengies Drive-In Theater Dusk to Dawn movie marathon (which is SO much fun, if you can make it out) this weekend. The line up was fantastic, including Twister. I mean, seriously, how cool/scary would it have been to watch a movie at a drive-in that is hit with a twister AT a drive-in? But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be a long time commitment. We would have watched 4 of the 5 movies, and the drive-in is about 20-30 minutes from us. That’s a late night. So, we decided to have a movie marathon at home. I got a few snacks during my grocery run to Aldi. Ah, I so love Aldi. It has saved us so much money, allowed us to eat healthier, and after their remodel, has been an even more enjoyable shopping experience.

We piled the snacks and started off with the new Netflix documentary, Resurface. It is a short documentary about veterans who suffered from PTSD and/or physical injuries who start surfing. It was absolutely amazing and a great reminder that there are veterans that are hurting. Besides a little language, it’s pretty clean. I found myself wanting to surf, and crying the whole time over the stories. Worth a watch, for sure.

Next we watched This Is War, just a fun “two CIA agents dating the same girl” movie. Pretty funny stuff.

We finished the night by finishing the last season of Duck Dynasty. It was sad to finish, because we really enjoy the show. As much as people make fun of the family, they are kind, have deep faith (seriously, reading any of their books you’ll see this), and have a deep love for their family. I love having a show that makes me laugh one minute and cry the next.

What have you done this holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments below.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel