My hope and prayer is that these books would offer a simple, manageable way for families to connect over God's Word, as they prepare to head back to school.

Praying for families everywhere from the farmhouse,
Hannah

❤️🏡​❤️

​Happy New Year from the farmhouse, friends,
Hannah

❤️🏡❤️

We are going to knock out some home projects.

The girls and I decided in late-May that this would be the summer that we marked some of our items off of the ol' "procrastination list".

We have had a few things on the list for the entire six years we've lived here.  Things like "paint the stairwell" and "hang Mattie's ceiling fan" keep getting moved farther and farther down the task list.

Well, that will not be the case when I go back to work on August 1st.

We have a plan and we are sticking to it!

So far, we've marked several of these "to do" items off of the list. 

I painted the basement stairwell one afternoon and I will be painting the upstairs stairwell tomorrow. 

We finally moved a huge pile of welding materials away from the front of the barn and down to the concrete pad with the rest of Mr. Farmhouse's stash.

The hammocks we bought late last summer have finally replaced the frayed ones that were under the Rustic Rooster.

The rest of the list includes things like painting the barn, powerwashing & restaining the deck, adding slats to the bottom of the porch, removing the doors of the coat closet and painting/wallpapering it, and possibly the biggest undertaking -- getting the basement completely clean.

​I know it sounds crazy to try to fit so many things into four short weeks, but I feel like I have REALLY let things go at the house over the last six months. 

So while we are prioritizing fun and relaxation, we're also going to work hard to mark some things off of our list to help us feel more in control walking into the 2023-2024 school year.

I. Can't. Wait.

Trying to get our lives together here at the farmhouse, 
Hannah

❤️🏡❤️

On January 9th, I received some news that did NOT feel like simplifying. 

For five months, I would fill my current role of Director of Special Services and also fill the role of Interim Superintendent.

I must admit that as I was navigating through the dual-role, there were some moments that felt very frustrating and complicated. 

There were days that I didn't feel as if I were making progress in either job. 

There were even days that I cried on my way home from work because I was feeling very overwhelmed.

However, there was also laughter. 

There were opportunities for me to learn about myself, set goals, and connect with colleagues that I did not usually cross paths with. 

And as crazy as it sounds, over the last five months, God has truly taught me through this experience to simplify.

Yes, I typed that correctly.

Even with the addition of these new responsibilities and expectations in my job.  Even with longer hours and more tasks to complete.  Even with more decisions and more personal interactions and more...and more...and more...

Habits are so very important.

I've blogged several times about habits.  My morning routine incorporates several habit loops and I am thankful I had this established when my life got really busy in February.  When things get stressful and overwhelming, the automaticity of our habits can keep our lives feeling more stable than not.  A well-established morning routine, along with an organized task management system at work, really helped me to keep my sanity as I navigated life with two jobs.

We must prioritize.

Yes, we need to prioritize certain activities over others.  To grow spiritually, we MUST be in our Bibles.  To get closer to God, we MUST pray.  To get healthy, we MUST make good food choices and move our bodies.  But these types of priorities are not what I'm talking about here.

I'm going to be very transparent for a moment.  This semester was hard.  There were some moments at work where our leadership team had to make very difficult decisions, deal with unexpected conflict, and say hard things.  There were some struggles within the school organization and some struggles with families. 

People have big opinions about the public school system and while we are making every single decision based on the information we have (and often can't share with the public), it still hurts when people put their thoughts out there on social media without knowing the full story -- which unfortunately stirs up discourse and division.  I had to learn to prioritize what I could control and what I could not control.  Other people's opinions, words, and actions fell into the latter category, so I had to let them go.

I also had to take a step back in my personal life.  I had to decide what I was going to give my energy to and what I was not able to give my energy to at the time.  With a daughter in high school, one in junior high, and one in elementary -- the parenting game is challenging at times.  There were some moments over the last five months where I had to recognize that while I would love to help everyone (I am an Enneagram 2, after all -- "the helper"), I had to take a step back from some situations and focus on my own family. 

There are seasons in life where we can be on the front lines of standing in the gap for others, helping them to reflect on their own situations and make changes, and growing together through mutual accountability. 

And there are seasons of solidarity in life.  Seasons where the whole goal is to pray for others and keep our little families moving in the right direction...closer to Jesus and closer to each other.  I've had to accept the fact that this season is where I am right now.  

Finally, God is so good.

Throughout this season of having some extra duties at work, chasing three busy girls, and trying to sustain healthy relationships, I have seen the hand of God at work every day. 

My family, friends, and colleagues have picked up the slack where I have been lacking.  They have prayed for me and served alongside me tirelessly and for that I am so grateful.

Because my morning routine habit is so automatic at this point, my Bible time has continued through all the craziness.  God has revealed so much and offered me so much peace through this practice and I am thankful He had prepared me ahead-of-time by challenging me with my habit-building.

Looking back, I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to serve in this double-capacity over the last five months.  And I am so grateful to hand it over to someone else on Monday.

Thanking God & simplifying​ here on this rainy Saturday morning here at the farmhouse,
Hannah

​❤️🏡❤️

Because I'm also participating in 75 medium, I need to build in some sort of physical activity for 45 minutes each day.  Therefore, I'll use this plan as three of my days, but my "rest days" might be taking a walk, doing some strength-training, or repeating one of these training sessions.

Here is what I'm thinking my week will look like:

I'll start today (Monday) with some interval training as my "Run 1". 

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I'll probably do some sort of strength-training for 45 minutes.

Wednesday, I'll move on to "Run 2". 

Thursday, strength-training. 

Friday, Run 3.  I will definitely be doing Run 3 on Friday because I'll be near Warsaw and their nice paved trail by the lake is my very favorite place to run.  I'll share a few photos below that I've taken through the years as I am running there.  

Guess I'd better head out for "Run 1" on this beautiful Monday morning.

Lacing up my shoes here at the farmhouse,
Hannah

❤️🏡❤️

The "75 hard" rules are as follows:

• if you skip a day, you must start over
• pick a diet & stick to it; no alcohol & no cheat meals
• drink 1 gallon of water per day
• 2 daily workouts (45 minutes each)
• read 10 pages of a nonfiction book daily
• take a progress photo each day

Now, while "75 hard" is a great program -- there is one area where I struggled to stick to...  TWO 45-minute workouts per day.  

If Frisella were standing here right now, he would tell me that I could have come up with the time to make these two workouts fit into my schedule and he would be right. 

However, those two workouts would not be my main priority in my current season of life -- and that's okay.

So instead, I'm going to be doing a "75 medium".

The rules are VERY similar, with a few minor adjustments:

• if you skip a day, you must start over
• pick a diet & stick to it 90% of the time; no alcohol (not an issue for me - I don't drink!)
• drink 1/2 gallon of water per day
• 1 daily workout (45 minutes)
• read 5 pages of a nonfiction book daily (I'll go over this almost every single day -- nonfiction reading in summer is one of my favorite things to do)
• take a progress photo each day

I am going to start my "75 medium" on Monday, June 19th.  Stay tuned for progress pics and updates!

Preparing for 75 medium, here at the farmhouse,
Hannah

❤️🏡​❤️