Autumn Updates 2019

Whew! It’s been a while!

After that last (deep-thought) post I wrote I’ve honestly just had to take a break and continue to work on myself—my mental health, my heart—and I can honestly say I feel sooooo amazingly good. I’m in a good place right now—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I’ll share more on this in a future post but right now I just want to share (with y’all) some other fun updates happening in our household currently.

Nate and I had our 15 year anniversary/fall party last month and had over sixty of our family and friends show up! It was a ton of fun! We probably should’ve had it catered because I felt like Nathan and I were so busy with food prep, etc. that it was hard to visit with everyone. I had a lot of people tell me in the days following that they had such a good time and that fellowship happened — regardless of how unorganized I felt like it was; I guess I was the only one who noticed.❤️

Things such as this event is where I overthink and put too much pressure on myself and I just have to remember that it’s not about the decorations, not the games, not even the food — it’s about the people and the relationships taking place.

As we all filled up on smoked pork loin, even my cheap plastic forks gave us the memory of a good laugh while trying to cut it up…I had forgotten to purchase plastic knives!!….

For the table decor we stuck lavender (from our garden) in mason jars, and the pumpkins were cut from wooden garden post and then decorated with paint, used a stick for the stem, and tied flannel material around top.

Had a hayrack ride and photo booth also.

For anyone planning a wedding, anniversary party, etc. pork loin is a great way to go..we fed over 60 guests, bought serving supplies, and decorated all for under a $100. Our menu consisted of 3 medium pork loins, baked beans, spaghetti salad, chips, petite carrots, cake box mix cookies, hot apple cider, iced tea, and water...we even ended up with leftovers.

Camp Comeca: Took jr high youth kids to a weekend church retreat recently…super fulfilling for not only them but myself as a leader.

Halloween fun: I spent under $7 on Halloween costumes this year which is pretty normal for us. I try to not splurge on this holiday and pulling together costumes from things around the house helps us get creative and saves a buck too.

So we had myself as a ladybug, Paige as a VSCO girl (don’t ask just google search that whole deal), Warren as a ninja, exchange student as a panda with a wrapping paper cardboard tube painted as bamboo, and then Mc as a llama. Mc and our exchange girl’s costumes are actually PJs….sshhh!!! And the $7 I spent was on Warren’s plastic ninja swords….And yes the little pest in the pumpkin outfit is Beardsley 😡 you may remember him from the Furry Pinball and Faith post.

My little Spideyman nephew and I.

Warren’s 10th Birthday: Our youngest turned ten at the beginning of the month which means all of our kids are in the double digits now!😕 I don’t understand how the time creeps by so swiftly!!

Lastly Nathan surprised me with deciding he wanted to build me a she shed for our fifteen year anniversary so I’ll do a post of its own on that. I didn’t even know what a she shed was until he explained. He may be in regret that he ever had the idea at this point. I’ve thoroughly jumped at the opportunity — this thing is gonna be super sweet, complete with electricity!! I’ll save the other details for the post but here’s a sneak peek…

Blessings and thank you for reading!❤️

Author: alimw2013

About For His Purpose~ My name is Alicia and I'm a thirty-something year old who loves Jesus. Only through God’s amazing grace and mercy I have been redeemed from past regret and shame. Reading His word has allowed me to look past Satan’s forceful lies, to see myself for who Christ says I am in Him. Through writing I have learned why I made the choices I made in my younger years and I now have a better understanding of why I desire to love God like crazy these days. Despite my daily failures, God remains faithful always. I am reassured of His unconditional love for me by every ink-drop spilled out on paper, each committed prayer as I cry out to Him, and deep understanding reflected through reading His word as truth. Yes keeping a blog will make me vulnerable to others’ opinions- there will be some who don’t understand, some who may criticize or judge, but on the other hand if just one piece expressed through my writing grabs someone’s attention and directs them to God, then pouring out my heart in a blog for the world to read is worth it. I choose to glorify Him alone through words streaming across a glowing screen. And it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t reveal the fact that I’m incredibly quirky; I’m my loving husband’s best friend, my vivacious kids’ craziest cheerleader and spiritual trainer (3 John 1:4). I love anything farmhouse and rustic style. I think cupping a warm coffee mug in the palm of my hands is more satisfying than the contents within. I share a common obsession with my husband for the mountains, but I would (without a doubt) settle for waves crashing against my legs at the Atlantic Ocean just as well, and I almost always have a Yorkie curled up on my lap while writing. *All photos are photographed by forhispurpose.blog and therefore may not be stored or photocopied in any manner.

33 thoughts on “Autumn Updates 2019”

    1. Yes definitely it honestly reminds me of your hubby when he built your large closet for you❤️❤️❤️ I’m missing your blog and need to slow down and prioritize blog reading into my schedule again!!!

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Amen and it’s absolutely so important.. I was saying yes to so much that I was feeling not good at anything..so important to be aware of our limits and boundaries even if others don’t understand or can’t accept when we must say no.

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  9. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I was just saying to Andrew today, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a post by Alicia! Okay, I’m happy now. lol. 😀 I was wondering if you were coming back! Sweet she shed! 😀 I love all of your costumes. 🙂 Oh, and I especially love that pic of you and Nate. Beautiful. 🙂

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  11. Okay, I love so many things about this blog!!!! Love and joy were the top themes! Loved the creative pumpkins! Fabulous idea and especially loved how you creatively shared food on a budget. You can do a blog on that alone! Can’t wait to see your upcoming blogs about your journey and the “she shed!” Congratulations on the anniversary! You are blessed!

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    1. I’m so thankful to celebrate 15 years with my husband and yes the she shed post I’ll get out soon!! Thanks so much for reading Cecilia, I’ve missed reading your blog while I’ve taken a break!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. You haven’t missed anything because I’m on sort of a break too. 😁 Just too much going on with my Aunt’s health and now the holidays are creeping in. My writing is just on the back burner.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Sometimes we just have to take a break and be accepting of that, there’s so much growing and learning to happen in those breaks too so it’s not always a negative thing.
        I’m sorry to hear about your aunt’s health…❤️

        Liked by 1 person

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