Motherhood in the Background

I read some blog post or editorial or Pinterest image a while ago about experiencing the feelings of defeat that motherhood can often bring. I wasn't kind enough today. I'm so ashamed that I raised my voice. I'm worried that my children will remember how stressed out I was today. etc. etc. etc. 

And, oh my goodness, how often I have felt those things as well! 

Then the article continued and it made reference to a point that mothers exist in the background. We are not the star of our children's lives. We are here to nurture and love them, care for them and guide them, pray for them and encourage them. We are not the stars. We exist in the background. 

I loved this and felt as though it was very freeing. 

With every day is going to come some sort of "mess up" as a mom. We're human, so it's part of the deal. We won't reach perfection until Heaven, so it stands that we will never attain "perfect Mother" status. And that's okay! Jesus doesn't ask us to be perfect. He asks us to trust Him and lean not on our own understanding, and goodness gracious isn't there so much as mothers that we don't understand?!?

I have found that I feel more at ease as a mother remembering that I am in the background and a supporting role in my children's lives, and not the star. 

Being in the background isn't a bad thing. Instead, it reminds me of my role to point them to Jesus, the true star of their lives. And it also relieves pressure of trying to be perfect everyday. I hope this post resonates with you in similar ways. God called you to motherhood & He doesn't make mistakes, friend. 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Summer Books

I've tried to do a fair amount of reading this summer as I take advantage of a time in which I am free after work (no lesson planning, etc.) and am not currently taking doctoral classes (those will start up again in August). We've made lots of trips to the library and I've also read some books of Aaron's. 

After reading one of Shay's recent posts about Nantucket, she mentioned starting with The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand if someone hasn't yet read one of Hilderbrand's numerous novels. I read this one over the course of a couple weeks. It was an interesting read and it did keep me guessing until the very end. I think I'd read a few more Hilderbrand books to see how differently of a story she can create. Sometimes authors who focus their work in only a few locations seem to run the same story lines, but I'll give it a whirl. (namethatmovie)

Aaron and I had a deal where if I would read the two Jack Carr novels that he had, then Aaron would watch the entire Downton Abbey series with me. Challenge accepted. Full disclosure, I liked the books and he liked the series. :) The other deal was if I read the third book, Savage Son, then he'd watch the two Downton movies. We misplaced the third book, but he watched the movies with me anyway. We recently found the book, so now I have something to read next week. 

I'm working my way through this set of three books right now: Whiskey in a Teacup, Have I Told You This Already?, and The Office BFFs. 

I read Lauren Graham's book Talking As Fast As I Can about her time on Gilmore Girls, and was pleased to see that the library carried Have I Told You This Already?, a book of essays about her life in general. Her novel, Someday, Someday Maybe is still one of my favorite reads and I wish I knew where I stashed my copy when we moved. 

I look forward to reading this book since it's about Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey's time on the TV show, "The Office"-- one of my and Aaron's favorite shows of all time. I read a couple pages of it as soon as I got it, and it seems like it will be filled with behind-the-scenes tidbits and pictures, etc. It should be really fun! 

I finished this sweet Southern how-to book by Reese Witherspoon and it was fun and charming. She includes lots of photos, which I always love, and there's just something inspiring and peaceful about a book that covers home decor tips, recipes, and anecdotes and this book delivers on all three. The only thing I'd take out would be the chart on how to pronounce things in a Southern way. Most of those were a little far fetched for me, someone who actually lives in the Deep South and hears people speak in this accent on the daily. Other than that, it's a really cute and beautiful book that could be used as a great coffee table book and reference point for a Southern themed dinner party. 

I'll keep you posted on how Savage Son and The Office BFFs turn out!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Akuna

On Friday evening, July 7th, our sweet Akuna boy passed away. Golly bob, we miss him something fierce. 

***

Now, I'm writing this post for myself and my children and for our memories. I absolutely know that losing a pet is not the same as losing people that we love. I know this. I understand it. I've experienced loss of loved ones as well, and yes, the loss of a pet does not compare but it does still bring a level of grief and is worth commemorating. Our sweet Akuna boy was a treasure of a pet. And he deserves a little piece of blog world to honor his life. 

***

We got Akuna as a 9 week old puppy back in early 2011. Aaron and I had purchased a home in October 2010 and started looking for a miniature Australian shepherd. One February evening, I came across an ad in the classified section of our local paper and saw mini Australian shepherds on sale for $250 which is hundreds less than what we were seeing them for online. We were hoping for a girl blue merle with at least one blue eye. When I called the number, a sweet elderly lady answered and told me she had one puppy left that wasn't spoken for yet-- a blue merle boy with two blue eyes. He was the little guy and would fall asleep under the table with his brothers and sisters and then cry when he'd wake up and find out that everyone had moved away from under the table. We thought this was so sweet and didn't mind that it was a boy dog instead of a girl dog. We made arrangements to go pick him up the next afternoon after work. 

When we arrived in this well established older neighborhood of a nearby town, this sweet elderly lady told us that the puppies had been born on December 30, 2010. We followed her into her kitchen where we met our little fluffball. We thanked the lady so much and were so very grateful for her generous price on the puppy. 

We took him straight to Petsmart to pick out some puppy things. We ran into someone who knew the little elderly lady and told us that it wouldn't be long until Akuna's little pink nose turned fully black. Needless to say, his little nose never turned fully black. Mostly black, yes, but he still had a little pink on it til the day he passed on. 

He LOVED to be outside. He'd go outside in a heartbeat and it was a feat to get him back in. He'd just run and run and run to his heart's content! 

He was a GREAT dog for children, and that's an understatement. All three of my little ones LOVED him and cuddled him throughout his days. He was so soft and fluffy and just a precious spirit. We all miss him greatly and are figuring out life without our fluffball. We are giving our time now to our two little puppy girls (not really so little after all) and teaching them to be as good as Akuna was. They have big heartprints to fill.

Some things I'd like to remember about Akuna:

-two crystal blue eyes

-always called "she" because so pretty

-pink nose that never fully turned black

-very soft, especially the black patch

-little gauchos (what we called his fur on his back legs when it got long)

-loved to fetch

-high pitched bark (barked for the first time at a piece of ice and scared himself)

-named him for the Aboriginal word "to know or follow" since he was a mini Australian shepherd

-great with the kids

-if you reached to pet him, he'd instantly flip over for a belly rub

-learned early on how to sit, stay, and lay down based on hand signals (that was all Aaron)

-understood when we needed him just to lay down and be pet when we were going through tragedy (diabetes diagnosis, my Aunt's death, my Popa's death, etc.)

-laid in front of doorways when he was older since he couldn't see or hear well, he wanted to make sure he knew where we were

We love you forever, sweet Akuna boy. 

Until Next Time,

Love, Reba

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

 Happy Sunday afternoon!

I've probably shared this recipe before but I'm making it for dinner tonight and figured I'd go ahead and reshare. 

Ingredients:

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cooked ahead of time whether through boiling, baking, pan fry, etc.)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 large can of mixed vegetables

2 premade ready-to-bake pie crusts 

Parsley for garnish

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Spray nonstick spray into a pie pan. I usually have a cookie sheet ready to put the pie pan on while cooking, so get that handy as well. 

2. I previously boiled about 4 or 5 chicken thighs & let them cool. I cut them into chunks. Mix the chicken, soup, and vegetables in a large bowl. 

3. Smooth out one crust into bottom of pie pan. 

4. Pour/spoon chicken mixture into pie crust. 

5. Place second crust on top of chicken mixture and seal the crusts together as best you can.

6. At this point, I get one hand slightly wet and rub it on the top of the crust, then sprinkle on some parsley. 

7. Cut some steam holes in the crust. 

8. Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet (personal preference) and bake for 45 minutes to one hour. The crust should be golden when it's ready. 

9. Enjoy! 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Porch Plants

Happy 4th of July! We are taking it easy today. 

The boys & I ran into town to pick up some additional fly & mosquito repellent plants. I had been growing basil & dill for a while but had the pot setting on top of our well house. I randomly read an article about basil being a good fly repellent, so I immediately ran outside & moved the basil to the porch! We've had such a struggle with flies outside this summer so I was grateful to find out that something I already had might be helpful. This morning I researched other plants to buy & the boys and I headed to the store to buy some planters & plants to try out. Then we picked up Avery from a sleepover, had a good swim, and headed home to try out our plant purchases. 

We purchased geranium (patterned pot) and rosemary (blue pot)...

Lemon balm (small planter, broad leaf) and lemon thyme (small planter, small leaf)...

(this is a daylilly that Noah & my mother in law bought for me!)

(here's my original basil & dill)...

and Lantana (the shorter flower).

Hopefully the plants will work their natural remedies and dissuade flies & mosquitoes from hanging around our porch. 

Have a great 4th of July and stay safe!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Desk Area Gallery Wall

Starting in early June, I began working from home for the majority of the work week. Early evaluation: I'm LOVING it. It's so so nice and such a refreshing change from what I was doing. 

Basically, I picked up my equipment on one day and was working from home the next, so I knew I had to have a workspace set up before I got started. 

When I worked from home before, I had a home office and had a fairly large desk where I had my work computer on the main desk and my personal computer on the good sized adjoining piece. In our new house, I have a corner of our bedroom. It was really important to us to give each kid their own room, and although we initially designed a home with an office space, we adjusted our floor plans and removed unnecessary square footage. That meant that any work from home space would just have to be in our bedroom, which is large enough to accommodate it, fortunately. 

I bought a small L-shaped desk from Amazon and assembled it one evening by myself. It only took about 30 minutes, and I love the simplicity of it, with the built in shelves. The only downside is that it's really small, meaning I can only fit my current work-issued computers, and no personal computer. So eventually, we might add on an extra space or perhaps will change this desk out entirely for a bigger one if we feel like I need an actual desk space for my personal computer. At the moment, I just use my Chromebook and Aaron's desktop (in the living room) for blogging and my school work. My work-issued equipment fits just perfectly on the desk (with basically no room for anything else!) and it's doable and functional for now. 

I knew I wanted to distinguish this little section of the master bedroom as a separate working space, so I filled the walls with things that inspire me. 

I have my degrees on the wall with the shorter L-piece of the desk. The wall that has my two monitors against it has a wider variety of pictures and art. I have my "Everyday I'm Hustlin" print that I received in a swag bag from a photography course in Atlanta a few years back. I also have my late Aunt's metal "R" that she used to have hanging in her home and I received it upon her passing since both of our first names started with "R." My little Hobby Lobby print of "All I need today is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus" hangs next to it. 

On the second level, I have a little wooden motivational piece that says "Don't Look Back... you're not going that way" hanging next to my small Amish star. All of these pieces hung in my home office before, albeit in slightly different spots. 

My two new additions are prints I got in the Nordstrom Anniversary sale from 2021. I just recently bought some frames from Walmart to hang them up. One print is of a brightly colored hotel in Palm Springs. It looks very technicolor retro, and it just makes me happy. The other print is of the Prada store in Marfa, Texas. This print inspires me because it tells the story about how you can achieve high status even in desolate places. 

So there you have it! My little work space full of artwork that inspires me, with room to add a few additions!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Home Sweet Home: Master Shower

In our previous house, we renovated our master bathroom & turned a garden tub space into a walk in shower with a gigantic window & I LOVED it! In this house, we knew we wanted a similar bathroom feel. This time, instead, we decided to have the shower be a bit larger and have a half wall instead of two full walls. 

In keeping with my inability to really realize the true measurement of something, I designed the bath to have a picture window and didn't understand exactly how big it would be. 

When the windows were installed, I finally realized how large the space would be. The farthest window on the left is the master bath window!

We knew we'd be frosting the window ourselves, and I think it took two cans of frosted glass spraypaint (found at Walmart) to cover the whole thing.  

Aaron wanted to do the shower structure himself to save on labor and to have the experience. So he did lots of research & used the Schluter- Kerdie shower kit. (That's all the orange stuff shown in the pictures.)

It took us a while to settle on a tile but we knew we wanted something bigger than subway tile this time around. We kept our shower floor the same as what we chose before in the other house though-- a tarmac textured hexagon tile. We eventually chose this slick gray tile in a mottled gray finish for the walls of the shower.  

Just a few weeks ago, Aaron designed & cut a sturdy piece of plexi-glass to go about halfway across the half-wall to keep shower spray from getting onto the floor on the other side of the half-wall. 

I love how it turned out! It's so nice having natural light in the bathroom. It was a labor of love but totally worth it!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba