Life as Mrs. Emerson

From This Day Forward: Five Commitments to Fail-Proof Your Marriage by Craig & Amy Groeschel: This book was gifted to me by a ministry mentor couple in early December.  This was my first experience reading or listening to anything by the Groeschels.  I aim to read a few marriage books every year so I jumped at the chance to dive into this one.  I thought this book was filled with some great, practical advice.  It was also very funny!  The five commitments mentioned in the book are: 1) Seek God. 2) Fight fair. 3) Have fun. 4) Stay pure. 5) Never give up.  These are all great commitments to implement in your life.  Personally I plan on working on number two and number three.  We moved this month and Brandon and I have both been working so hard.  We could definitely use a little more fun in our life! The Christ of Christmas by James Montgomery Boice: Every December I try to read some type of Advent devotional as I prepare my heart for...

My bunch playing around at the St. Louis zoo a few weeks ago.   Marriage, Mothering, & Family 1.  Set aside most "projects" this week to focus on celebrating Christmas with my family.  I'm still not unpacked but I'm going to try to put most of that on hold this week.  (This is actually a hard goal for me as I can't wait to finish unpacking!)  I'm looking forward to reading lots of books, playing games, and watching Christmas movies! 2.  Enjoy an at home date night with the happy husband. 3.  Brandon & I are planning on taking our kiddos on some fun outing. Homemaking 4.  Make cookies with the children.  Evangeline received a sweet pretend mixer and she has been so anxious to bake with me! 5.  Sew two final Christmas presents. Personal 6.  Write at least five thank you notes this week. 7.  Finish reading The Christ of Christmas by James Montgomery Boice. 8.  Spend time reflecting on 2016 and praying...

I just wanted to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas!  We just moved (as in we moved less than a month ago) so we are sticking close to home this Christmas.  I'm looking forward to sharing more frugal ideas, organization hints, and tips for intentional living in the following weeks.  For now I'm making memories and savoring the moments.  I hope you are as well.  Merry Christmas!

I still can't believe I took a three month break from blogging.  I had every intention of sharing but our life has been so crazy the past three months.  We  went on two separate vacations (including Disney) in the month of September so I had plenty of time to read to my heart’s content!  The above photograph only includes about half of the books that I managed to read in September and early October.  I accidentally returned the rest of the library books before I snapped a picture!  Then I found out that we were MOVING to a new town!  I'll share more about that later but for now here are the books I managed to read this fall.  I read ZERO books in the month of November but I hope to add reading back into my life sometime this month!   True Companion: Thoughts on Being a Pastor's Wife by Nancy Wilson: This dear book felt as though I had invited Mrs. Wilson over to visit for an afternoon of fellowship where I asked her a myriad of questi...