Ah, March…
The month of March end this Thursday. From warmer spring weather to a myriad of holidays, March is always such a great month for myself and my family. As we leave behind cold winter weather for warmer Spring days ahead, I just wanted to take pause and reflect back on why March was a month of blessings for my family and myself. So, here’s a list of the top 12 things that I’ve been loving this month.
March is the month when Mother Nature bursts forth into full technicolor bloom. Here at home our crocuses, hyacinths, wisterias, and daffodils are already blooming. Soon they will be joined by tulips, hyacinths, jasmine, lilacs, and crepe myrtles. The streets of my small hometown will soon be lined with blooming pear trees and azaleas. Mississippi is coming alive with bees, blooms, and the best of what this season has to offer!
We Dr. Seuss’ birthday was celebrated on March 2nd. We attended our local country library to hear a live reading of “The Cat in the Hat” and many other beloved Seussical children’s books as part of the Read Across America birthday celebration. This rally was amazing, and truly brought to life Dr. Seuss’ mission to making literacy fundamental and fun for children across this nation.
It’s said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Yet again, Mother Nature didn’t disappoint this year as March saw a lot of weather extremes, from highs in the 70’s, lows in the 20’s, three tornado warnings, and even an afternoon where Daniel’s school dismissed early due to flash flood warnings. Oy!
Here in Dixie, Daylight Saving Time began on March 13th. And while we will have more sunlight, more time this Summer to enjoy the great outdoors, loosing an hour of sleep was a bummer. One point of consolation, early morning sunrises that rival any beachscape I’ve ever seen. Waking up early to soak in the beauty of simple moments of solitude is something I’ve been really loving this month.
This month my family celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day simply at home with a feast of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread. There’s something to be said for the comfort that one pot dishes can bring to the soul. And not to be outdone by any corned beef and cabbage platter, my husband Daniel celebrated the day in his own way. He printed, colored, and rocked his very own Shamrock. This month I’ve really been loving my husband’s playful nature.
The first day of spring was celebrated with the Vernal Equinox on March 20th. On this day, day and night are equal everywhere, and I took this time to finish a few last minute ETSY shop orders, including this Easter Egg Wreath. Taking ordinary materials and turning them into something funky and fabulous is something I have been loving this month. Around this same time like many other Christians the world over, we celebrated Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Passover, and finally Easter Sunday, in a very quiet manner on March 27. We smoked hams, broke bread as a family, and spending time in fellowship with friends and neighbors.
Also this month my family and I were given the awesome opportunity to try out Airhead’s new birthday cake flavor taffy as part of their #airheadsepicbday 30th anniversary celebration, from February 29th thru June 29th of this year. Shockingly, the birthday cake flavor tastes just like fresh, homemade buttercream icing. Though I’m not a huge candy fan our crew loved them. This candy is surely not part of our journey into semi-crunchy nation, but you need a few fun departures every now and then! Be sure to checkout Airhead’s birthday bash inline, and enter for a chance to win $10,000 in cash and prizes as well.
And of course it wouldn’t be a proper change of season without switching out threads in my capsule wardrobe. This month marked a year from my first Spring capsule, and it was nice to see the progression of this current seasons capsule compared to my capsule a year ago. While I love everything about capsule wardrobes, my absolutely favorite part? The small teal polka dot boxes from Thredup that arrive when I need to replace a staple piece here and there. Yeah, I’m a fan of shopping from home, and with free return shipping it’s a no-brainer in my book!
And as a side note, I’m a brand ambassador for Bulu Box. And this past month I was given the opportunity to review the new Double Scoops products from Bulu Box. Let me just say, wow ladies. These. Are. Amazing.
As a skeptic when it comes to anything involving unmentionable innovations, this product surprised even me. These two scoops help keep your cones right where they belong, pun intended. They are an affordable, modest means to transform the way you can look and feel this season in thinner fabrics, dresses, and blouses. The best part? They are comfortable.
I tried the peach color, but they come in different shapes and colors, and are even waterproof. Yes—you can use them in a swimsuit. These scoops help ward off the effects of both motherhood and gravity in a simple, simple way. Each box even comes with tape so you can essentially use these with lower cut necklines as well. To find out more about these scoops, click here.
And I didn’t want this month to end without again sharing that this past week, March 20th, was the tenth anniversary of National Puppy Day. Though I’m a pet-parent to several amazing fuzzies, my Sassy, our six-year-old Shih-Tzu, will always hold an extra special place in my heart. She was an adopted baby, and there is not a day that goes my when she has not been a blessing to my life. Even as a puppy, the day she chewed a foot long hole into my brand new jute dining room rug. I still loved her even then.
National Puppy Day is a reminder for our family to #adoptnotshop when it comes to pets. Every life is important, and my husband and I take the stewardship of our fuzzies very seriously. We believe in being good parents to children and pets, too! We have to look out for everyone in the kingdom, you know?
This past month I’ve been able to spend a good amount of time of my favorite hobby, reading. I was very honored to be asked to be a member of Ruth Sokup’s book launch team for her upcoming release, Unstuffed.
Do you feel your life, home, and office are stuffed to the brims with things, papers, and piles? Then you are in luck my friend! This book speaks to the need from all walks of life to slow down and evaluate ways to clear both our homes and lives of the unnecessary abundance of cluttered that causes chaos, over-spending, time management conflicts, and feelings of being rundown in our minds, lives, and homes.
Ruth offers readers practical tips and time-tested advice for finding joy in living lives less stuffed with joy-busting clutter. This book is divided into lessons. Each lesson walks you room-by-room, obstacle-by-obstacle through your home, allowing the reader to create a strategy and mindset for last cleaning, organizing, and living success.
This quote, especially spoke to me:
“But here’s the truth: A busy life is not the same as a meaningful one. Athletic, successful or talented children do not make us more important. Activities, obligations, and commitments do not make us count. If we’re looking for the answer to our frustrations, despair, and hopelessness in a full calendar, we will never find it there. In fact, quite often, the fuller our calendars become, the emptier our hearts feel.”
The book also contains a fun, interactive quiz to help you determine how much is too much, when it comes to personal and business commitments, the daily drudge of “life clutter.” A particular point of interest for me in this book was it’s chapter on friendships and interpersonal relationships. Though Ruth does not engage readers in the art of making friends (though I feel this would have added greatly to this book), she does speak of the necessity to seek friendships that will remain vital to your well-being. And in the reverse, knowing the best ways to ditch unhealthy, one-sided friendships in order to devote time to cultivating nurturing, lasting friendships instead.
This book is a true, transparent look at how one can unclutter all aspects of your life. I highly recommend this book. If you’d like to read Unstuffed, it’s currently on pre-order at Amazon for $9.89, and will be released on April 5, 2016.
The book intrigued in it’s simple but profound central question, “Do you struggle with sleepy faith syndrome?” If you are anything like me, the answer to this question may be an astounding yes.
The author discusses with readers her views on how easy it can be easy to dismiss God’s plans with diminutive thoughts that ordinary women, women like ourselves, cannot make a huge difference in the body of Christ, manifesting in an I can’t attitude to life.
The author gives readers a different, refreshing perspective. Stating that despite our personal shortcomings, God created each woman in the brethren of Christ to be equipped with the disposition, spirit, and ability to lead our families and communities towards lives of abundant joy, courage, and influence. We can each create new, lasting seasons of gratitude and change in our own lives. We can each be mirrors of proactive social change too!
The author leaves readers with a central note, that one can have it all when you abandon your self-loathing for a live of grace-filled purpose and significance.
Lastly, I was also honored to be apart of the book tour for Sisi: An Empress on Her Own, by Allison Pataki.
This is a beautiful story. This book is woven full of drama, suspense, unrequited romances, and guilt. This book is also surprisingly based on the life story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, or Sisi as she was known to those dear to her. Elizabeth the woman, lived a fascinatingly dangerous life fatally intermingled with the ill-fated Hasburg dynasty during its final decade of decline. Pataki beautifully illustrates the better half of Sisi’s life, giving readers a tender glimpse into the mentally uncertain life of the empress.
With each chapter the reader will hope for lasting solace and fortune for the often spoiled Sisi. As I read this book I found a great deal of empathy for Sisi, as I longingly wanted her to abandon family, title, duty for a life less forced exploitation. This book is no less than a saga of words, emotions, and song.
Pataki shows the corrupt, gritty details of royal life in a way that still leaves the sophistication and romanticized spledor this dynasty is known for with each forthcoming page. The fantasy of being a Hasburg, both the grandiose and the grotesque, remains unaltered all it’s splendor. Pataki is a stickler to historical detail, which makes reading this and any of her novels a highly enjoyable experience.
So, if your looking for a refreshing take on history, this is the book for you. Currently, this book is available on Amazon for $18.48 shipped with Amazon Prime, and $13.49 with Amazon Kindle for those who wish to pick it up this Spring.
So, folks that’s what I’ve been loving this month in March. How has your month been for you? I’d love to hear about your moments, suggestions, and tidbits as well.
Here’s to April,
