Category: pinterest

Sometimes You’re Just Making Life Too Hard
faith · just write life · organizing · Photos · pinterest · writing

Sometimes You’re Just Making Life Too Hard

Lindsey P. Brackett2 Comments
IMG_5976
I knew exactly where this precious gem was. In my Winter 2016 Album.

I had a revelation the other night.

Something my husband’s been telling me for awhile.

I make things too hard.

For months, he’s listened to me whine about how digitally cluttered my life feels–especially in regard to photos. (Sometimes I actually miss film. Then, you see, I was forced to print in order to see the photos, and even if stuck in a box, at least I knew where they were and there was potential for an album.)

I went on and on about how I don’t understand how iPhoto is importing my pictures and the Cloud and the Dropbox and my Phone won’t sync properly and it must be because I had to buy a $6 replacement cord because I left mine at the lake SIX MONTHS AGO and because of all this it takes me 15 minutes to blog and at least ONE HOUR to post and I know I need to figure this out because then I can streamline things and it won’t take so long but I don’t have time to ORGANIZE PICTURES when I should be WRITING and MAKING MONEY–

Breath.

At which point he calmly said sometimes you have to do the menial task so you feel better.It’s not hard. It’s just time consuming.

Humph.

Just to prove him wrong I sat with my computer for 30 minutes on Sunday night while he and my girls had an epic piano battle with some game they all love on their electronic devices that are not the television because we gave that up for Lent.

I went on Pinterest. Stay focused.

I typed “organize iPhoto”. I got a site. Hmmm…organize my pictures in 10 minutes or less? I’ll bite.

This girl’s name looks familiar…oh, she was consulting with me about my blog redesign last summer. Okay, she’s credible.

Read post. Really? I didn’t know iPhoto had that feature. (i.e. I’ve never bothered to look.)

Followed instructions.

Voila! Photos impeccably organized into years and seasons just the way I like.

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.24.07 AM

Approximate time? Ten minutes.

Okay…I didn’t want to give away that he might have been right, so I looked at some other pins. Maybe I could solve the import problem. There’s this???

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.01.50 AM
My “connecting camera opens” was checked No Application.

 

Still skeptical (and too lazy to get up), I borrowed daughter’s handy iPod charger.

Over 300 photo and video imports later, my phone stopped telling me my storage was full.

And that, my friends, made my life seem a tad bit easier. Or at least less cluttered.

It’s really, really easy to get overwhelmed. We live in a digitally driven, social media noisy, always connected world. Our brains are being rewired to require constant stimulation, when our God tells us He made us to crave rest.

Rejuvenation.

Respite.

Relaxation.

And sometimes, we have to stop and just do the menial task. Because that one calm act–making the bed, washing the dishes, organizing the photos–brings cosmos into our chaos.

And peace into our souls.

 

What one thing can you do today that will bring a little calm? 

amelia · birthdays · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · monday · pinterest

A Monday Menu & A Saturday Party

Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

So last week my post about what’s been cooking for dinner around here was pretty lame.  It was actually more about snow than food.  But that’s what we were loving last weekend, so that’s what got written.  I did post a picture of my roasted chicken, so this week I give you the source of that deliciousness.  And what is clearly a superior food photo.

Over the weekend, we needed a power breakfast.  You know, something more than cereal because it requires a bit of protein to keep up with a passel of toddlers at a three-year old’s birthday party.  An early Saturday morning Pinterest search revealed this.
Crescent rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese.  Yes, please.  Except bacon isn’t a staple in my house unless it’s on sale, so I opted for lining my crescents with deli ham.  Highly recommended.
So here’s a menu idea for you this week.  We’re having leftover soup, church dinner, and a special Valentine’s feast that will include homemade rice-a-roni and brussel sprouts because that’s what they requested.
I know.  My kids are weird.
But you could have this.
My husband gets a kick out of how often I take pictures of the food I’m making.  Sometimes, though, he gets really into it and decides to arrange his supper like he’s in a fancy restaurant.  I made my balsamic pork roast (which is actually a Boston Butt) in the crockpot.  That’s brown rice drizzled with the sauce and these green beans.  Looks more impressive than it probably was.
Okay, that’s a lie.  It was really, really good.  I have only great love for balsamic vinegar.
Party time!  Amelia’s birthday is still a week away, but for various reasons, we had her party this past weekend.  We had gorgeous weather, sweet friends, and only a couple of meltdowns (me and the birthday girl).  Seriously, these parties are really too much work.
Except that morning, she crawled up in my lap and said, “Mama!  Today is my birfday party?”  When I said yes, she flung those arms that are still baby-chubby around my neck and squeezed.
So, the meltdown was worth it after all.

Yes, those are balloons in that horse corral.  She wanted both.  Don’t argue with the birthday girl.  Or the mama who forgot to order the cake and had to buy one off the shelf.
The fence is pretzel sticks.  The horses were borrowed from a game of big sister’s.
I’m not a treat bag fan.  I think party favors should be simple and creative.  We had a horse theme, so this is horse food, i.e. candy corn and dinner mints to represent sugar cubes.
Yes, at the Dollar Tree in Buford you can buy candy corn in February.  Who knew?
These are upcycled baby food jars with tags assembled by the birthday girl’s daddy.
My cowboy.
Opening presents with Sam.  He’s two days older, so he was the helper. He also has one of the sweetest mamas in the world.
Mary Lynn gave her legos.  I think she’s trying to  convince Amelia that it’s okay for her to move far, far away, but we aren’t falling for it.

Linking up with
Miscellany Monday
A Mama’s Story
31 Days to Embracing Motherhood · motherhood · pinterest

31 Days Embracing Motherhood: When You Know Life Has Changed

Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment
or when you would trade showering for a nap.

or when you offer to do the dishes to avoid reading that book one more time.

or when you would rather stay home and eat leftovers 
than face the challenge of an actual restaurant.

or when you look at old pictures and wonder why in the world 
you thought life was hard then.

When did you know your life had changed?

31 Days of Embracing Motherhood
is where you can find the rest of my posts
in this series.

favorite things · pinterest

Raindrops on Roses

Lindsey P. Brackett4 Comments
Friday has been lovely so far, thank you.
Annabelle has pain meds that are working so well she’s eaten eggs, grits, mashed potatoes, ice cream, two popsicles, and almost a whole 20 oz bottle of ginger ale.
Yay for Lortab Elixer which you should request if you ever have to deal with a stubborn child who has had a tonsillectomy.  I pray you don’t.
I’ve been in a bit of a funk all week which is why there’s no blog celebrating my birthday or really much about Amelia’s party.  I figured there was no reason to drag everyone down with me into my pregnancy-hormone induced sadness because I didn’t have a birthday cake.
Seriously, I had plenty that was better.
Like this sweet breakfast my girls and their daddy made.  Ignore the just-out-of-bed mommy hiding behind the flowers (those were Eeyore’s thistle at our Pooh party).
I like how Amelia is too short to be in the picture.
They also made me birthday brownies.
And I’m loving this little project I’ve got going.  It was a Valentine’s banner, then Pooh quotes, now it’s mine and Millie’s birthday love.
Oh, and while Joshua and the girls were making dinner and brownies, I was banished to the couch and told to stay there.  So I actually finished a craft.  Amazing what can happen when you stay in one place longer than five minutes.
I think it will photograph better when I get around to hanging it up.  But it’s my very first yarn wreath.  The next one is about half done.  Who can believe I’d finish something?
Oh, and here’s Amelia’s cake that almost gave me the emotional breakdown last weekend.
Icing and I do not get along unless it’s on a fork headed for my mouth.  And made of cream cheese.  This was neither so we had a bit of a dilemma.  People soothed my feelings by saying it looked like honey.  My mom told me to get off Pinterest and quit comparing myself to everyone else.  That’s why when I saw this I had to share it.

This morning I was over visiting Carissa and loved her link up to the monthly photo collage.  Since my 365 is a bit behind, this seemed like a good bandwagon to jump on.  So then I made a January collage for us.  I’m thinking all these would be cute printed as a calendar for family Christmas gifts.
In January
we visited Biltmore
cooked lots of yummy breakfasts
hung out with the Harris family before they moved
prayed for sun
celebrated cousin Hailey’s birthday
and had some cozy moments.
If you’re interested in this project check out Simple as That by clicking below.
So Friday has been full of some of my favorite things.  
Blogging.
What do you think of the new look?
MOPS: 
where we stocked a friend’s freezer with tons of frozen meals for her family while she undergoes cancer treatment.
Shopping.
Target’s daily deal was nursing tanks so I couldn’t pass that up.
And Old Navy sent me birthday coupons and I have some mad money, so I think we might need some spring clothes.
Open Windows.
It’s February.  But Georgia thinks it’s spring.  Which is fine with me because spring means we’re getting close to Baby Gus’s arrival.
And it’s raining a bit.  So somewhere there are raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…..
Definitely no mittens here.
Linking up with Rachel
friday favorite things | finding joy
cooking · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · motherhood · pinterest · pregnancy · savor

Lately

Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment
Inspired by Julia, I’m linking up with Amanda today.  
Well, and I haven’t blogged in a week and my scattery pregnant brain that tried to make coffee
without water this morning is having trouble focusing.
I like linkys that give me a focus.
and a list.  
I like those too.
So, lately I’ve been enjoying many random things…
One.
Like my new cookbook.
I’ve blogged a bit about some of the recipes I’ve made, but let’s just say, it’s been great to use whole wheat flour in pizza dough and waffles and not have my kids or my husband complain.  And we cannot wait for our garden this summer to really use this baby.

Two.
On that same note, I’ve really been enjoying this blog lately.  I like the simplicity and the motto and the reminder that living simply can also mean that you eat really well.  Today’s post is on my menu for next week.

Three.
The lovely Biltmore Estate
We visited this weekend to take advantage of our passholder appreciation discounts
and to take a behind-the-rooms tour.
Unfortunately, this baby didn’t want to climb six flights of stairs and I had to quit.
Oh, well.  Guess we’ll have to go back.
And I’ll have to post on how to enjoy Biltmore with little ones because my girls love it.

Four.
Getting Organized
I’m trying, really I am. I have a list of 32 things I want to get done before my 32nd birthday in February.
So far, I’ve done six of them.  For some reason, though, I keep finding more things to add to the list which seems kind of counter-productive don’t you think?

Five.
My Family Notebook

We made these at MOPS this past week and I’m using it.  Really, I am.  and I’m going to.
I just have to remember it’s there.  Today I made a list of the little chores (dishes, laundry) I want
done daily.  And I did them.  Yay, me.  But then I ate lunch and now there are dishes in the sink again.

Six.
Family Pizza Night

I started making homemade pizza several months ago and now I’m addicted.
What are your favorite toppings beyond the usual?  I made chicken and spinich last week, sausage and green peppers this week.  Joshua said I should take the picture after I put the cheese on but I thought the peppers were pretty.

Seven.
Food.  Recipes.  Cookbooks.
I think I might have an obsession.  I have decided to embrace the fact that I’m not crafty.
But I can cook pretty decently and I really like that.
So I think I’m trading in my modpodge
for a spatula that spreads icing.
But will my freezer ever look like this?  Probably not.

Eight.
(trying to) Live Simply
I made my own laundry detergent.
and I’m not buying napkins until I can get them for (almost) free, so cloth will have to do.
After all, I have a 5-gallon drum of laundry detergent to use.

Nine.
I wish I was enjoying my laptop.
Joshua bought me a used ibook off craigslist for Christmas.
I can’t get it to connect to our wireless.  It tells me the password is wrong. It’s not.
Apparently we have a WPA and it needs a WEP?
I don’t even know what I’m talking about here.  Help, please.

Ten.
Planning a Nursery
It’s taken me a while to get used to the idea that soon there will be another one.
and this one isn’t a girl.
We finally agreed on what to do about a nursery and Amelia will be relocating to our office and sharing this larger-ish space with baby brother when he relocates from the pack-n-play in my bedroom.
So we’ve got months to work on this idea.
Thank goodness for Pinterest.