No. 13: Notes from Home | Learning to Love Myself

May 2, 2024April 30, 2024Leave a comment

Life has felt so good lately. Not perfect, but pretty good. I’m walking into a season of wholeness and hope, and I’m just so excited about it.

I’m leaving a time of religious trauma behind. It feels wonderful. I feel free. I finally feel truly loved and whole just as I am. Just as I always was.

It’s taken me a while to get here. I just couldn’t see my self worth when I thought that deep down, I was born wretched. It affected so much of what I did. One of my greatest regrets is how I shared my religious thoughts on this blog when I was tied up in this wrong way of thinking…I sincerely apology. If you’d like to read my deconstruction story, you can click here.

But as my husband likes to say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” I really was doing what I thought was right, and I’m not going to fault myself for it.

Women already have so much baggage and expectations thrown at them as it is in this culture we live in, and here I was, adding to it with harmful religious talk.

So, I’ve been learning to love myself over the past year or so, and I have made great strides in my thought life.

When I wake up in the morning, I am so excited to just see what I will experience as Nicole today, instead of reminding myself to be “dead to self.”

It’s exhilarating.

I’ve discovered that self care isn’t bad, and is actually very needful. I am worth it, and so are you!

I’ve also learned that when given the choice, I still want to be helpful to others. I love beautiful things, and want to create a beautiful life for my family.

I love my life and myself.

It’s amazing!

One major change in my thought life is the mental reaction I have when treated poorly. I used to try to suck it up, and remember that “I’m actually worse than they think I am.”

Wow! How is this for negative self talk?

Now I respect myself and have more boundaries. While no, I’m not perfect, I am a human being that matters. I feel deeply that I am important and loved.

And friends, so are you. If you ever need to talk about your feelings surrounding this topic, I’m willing to be a listening ear. Living in a place of negativity is hard. Believe me, I know!

Women, we are pretty wonderful. We have the gifts of creativity and intuition and can change the world with our insight and knowledge. We can walk in femininity in such a way that our gifts shine if we accept and love ourselves.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends!

No. 12: Notes from Home | Our Spring Home Decor

May 1, 2024April 23, 2024Leave a comment

Spring is such a lovely time of year. To be honest, I think each season of the year is wonderful. I believe there is a purpose for all of it, and I try to enjoy it while I can!

This spring, I set out a few seasonal items here and there. I thought I would show some of it to you today. The inside of my home is fairly rustic, which is a decorating style that I didn’t think I’d ever like. But boy, I sure do. I really love a mix of rustic + timeless pieces in my home.

Hobby Lobby is my go-to decor store. I go there often to purchase fabric for my Etsy shop Joyfully Made, and sometimes I take a peek in the seasonal section.

Before long, I will be switching things out to my regular neutral items, or perhaps I will start adding patriotic decor to the mix. At any rate, I’m enjoying this spring decor while I can.

I hope you’ve had a lovely spring so far, friends! If you’d like to add a May printable to your home decor, you can find a free one on the blog here.

No. 11: Notes from Home | Walking Down Memory Lane

April 30, 2024April 25, 2024Leave a comment

Recently, I asked my husband to drive me about an hour and forty five minutes south for our date night. I have been feeling really nostalgic lately, and I had decided that visiting our old home town sounded like a grand idea.

I wanted to bring home a memento from the area to add to our home or garden. I thought plant shopping in our old county would have to do.

Friends, I’m sentimental to a fault. Sometimes it’s a blessing, and sometimes it’s a curse. Thankfully, Rusty decided to go along with it and took me shopping for plants nearly two hours away from home.

I really studied everything as we drove around. Most of the town was as I remembered, but there were some new businesses. It definitely had grown.

While there, we ate at a favorite restaurant of ours. It’s a steak house. Since I am currently a vegetarian, I ate the rolls, salad, and baked potato. It was just as I remembered.

While there, Rusty spilled his drink, splashing me in the face. It was pretty funny, and I told him he’s lucky it wasn’t our first date, ha! (I’m totally joking…if he would’ve spilled his drink on me the first time we went out to eat, I would have stuck around. He’s a keeper!)

Afterwards we drove by our old home, of course.

I think the trip was helpful for me. It helped me to remember the good, and the bad.

Sometimes I totally idealize previous homes we’ve lived in, or at least, this particular home. It’s where we lived when we decided to change our financial situation. This house is what we had to give up to make that happen.

But when driving by, I realized I didn’t want it anymore. The current home owners had cut down a lot of trees to make it a better homestead. To me, being in the woods was a part of its charm. I also remembered things like the huge (for us) electric bill.

It was a good feeling. It probably is best to stay in the present and enjoy what you have, right?

When we returned home (with plants in tow), I tried to take it in just as I had our old hometown. Friends, it is so lovely to me. While it was nice to visit where we once lived, I do like where we are now better.

I never thought that we would be able to live in the North Georgia mountain area. It really is a dream come true for me.

I understand why everything has worked out as it has, and I’m gonna keep trusting the process.

It’s a good process, isn’t it? Stretching, growing, changing. It wouldn’t do to stay stagnant, I don’t think.

So while our walk down memory lane was a good one, I’m so glad to be home.

Now to start planting blueberry bushes, azaleas, and a yellow coneflower!