Hello Welcome! My name is Christine and thanks so much for visiting today! Let me give you a run down about this blog.
It was birthed 14 or so years ago when our 6th child, Kole Freedom was nearing his first birthday. This baby is now a 15 year old young man.
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| Kole's 15th birthday celebration |
"You might find me complaining on more than a rare occasion because honestly I AM NOT PERFECT! However, no matter how crappy my day becomes, I have to find JOY in the day and be THANKFUL! Thankful to be alive!! Thankful to be able to stay home and care for my family!! It's amazing what happens when we are thankful.....we find joy!"
Aaah....the cries and utterance from a sweet mother's heart. 🙏 Yeah...I look back at the younger me and call my self "sweet". I remember those days fondly and remember how I so wanted to be the best mom and do my best for the family.
Fast forward to the other day....
I was scrolling through Facebook and a memory post popped up of this ole' blog. I clicked onto the link and whoa.....I was like whoa...whoa...whoa...whoa... Who was this beautiful woman sharing her beautiful moments of her daily, beautiful world as a mother of eight precious children?
I quickly realized I had not written anything on this blog since the end of 2016, right before we did something pretty unconventional and different for our family which shook our limiting beliefs and changed our lives.
In 2017 we sold everything, other than the few things that could fit into two vehicles, and ventured off for two solid years traveling the United States and Mexico...(we do hope to one day travel into the rest if this beautiful world).
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| Justin jumping into a waterfall in Maine |
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| Tsavah looking down from the half way point of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire |
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| Donnie and I at sunset in Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab Utah |
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| Galen on top of one the many Mountains surrounding Salt Lake City, Utah |
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| Our trip into Boston |
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| Table Rock mountain in Maine |
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| La Parroquia in Centro of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico |
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| Walking down our Alley in Mexico |
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| Celebrating Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico |
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| Donnie and I in front of the big church in San Miguel de Allende |
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| Ana in front of one of the many bright colored homes in San Miguel de Allende |
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| Ana had her face painted for Day of the Dead |
Well....to be honest....I was sharing some of our moments on anther domain which I never really wrote in much anyway. Most of my post were typed on Facebook or Instagram.
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| Celebrating my 50th birthday at the Born Hotel in Denver, CO |
Which brings me to today...TA DA!
I am officially back!! And yes my friends...with a new name! This little old blog is no longer called Joyful Mother and not because I'm not Joyful, haha! Actually, I am probably more joyful now than ever before.
Since I feel so brand new and reborn after our 2 year journey, I felt this blog space needed to be born again with a more deeper name, a more heart grasping name that truly shares who I am as a mother, wife, and purpose at my very essence.
"The Essence of a Mother"
A place...my place to journal about my life as a mother/motherhood and how it has evolved, changed and flexed, doing it's thing so beautifully through the years.
Motherhood has been saggy, wrinkly, puffy, fat, loud, teary, happy, fiery, lively, quiet, stretchy, funny, angry, and oh so good! These adjectives....describe my physical body, pregnancies, and so many emotions that motherhood brings to an ever changing mother. The essence of a mother comes in all shapes, sizes, and with all kinds of feels. Am I right?
Mamas and future mamas, of all ages and family size are welcomed and embraced here. This blog/journal is a space for me to share every part of life: the children, home life, my spirituality, marriage, and my womanhood.
So who am I and what do I love now in 2021?
Here is what I wrote back in 2016...
"I love Jesus, my husband, my 8 kids, my friends, trail jogging,
hot coffee (especially Cafe Con Leche made just right!), nice dinners,
drinking Cabernet, Scented Candles, the Ocean, Travel (Soon to be location independent...March 2017), warm weather (living in Florida is a joy), I
love to laugh...especially when my oldest does impersonations, and....I
love to HAVE FUN! Oh and can't forget that we are a messy minimalist
family!! We don't have to much stuff...but it's always a mess in my
house. Ha ha!!"
I'm pretty much the same woman with a few changes here and there....
I am a lover of TRUTH and the WAY. My foundation is in the teachings of Jesus Christ. I have the spirit of Christ in me, through me and all around me. I believe in the Goodness of God in the Land of the Living and that it is already here and now. (Ps. 27:13) Basically we can in some way experience heaven on earth now. I love to discuss all things regarding God, Source, the Universe, Spirit, Energy, and whatever else can lead us to know God more. God wants us to seek and find. I am all for seeking and will not judge if your view is different than mine. The answer is simple....we are all wanting to know God more.
I love, love, love my husband more today than ever before. He has shown me true unconditional love every single day for the 28 years we've been together. He is my best friend and I am his. We are truly inseparable and complete each other.
I love coffee. I haven't found a decent place for Cafe con Leche here at the beach, so dark roast Starbucks or flavored Latte's on Sunday's is my goto coffee.
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| From my Denver birthday getaway |
I love scented candles, fresh flowers, and essential oils.
I started to invest in my self care after many years of neglect. Every few weeks you will find me in a nail salon trying out different colors (like a teen girl buying her first bottle of neon pink nail polish). I love dip manicures, pedicures, I started coloring my hair so I have highlights. Fun! I put makeup on my face almost everyday (something I did only on special occasions), love dresses and leggings, doing Zumba and yoga. I love hot weather and the beach!
Since the kids are mostly self taught online with school, I spend my time recording my podcast (Good Morning Sunshine), watching The Bold and the Beautiful while I eat breakfast, Dateline on Fridays, love Christmas Hallmark movies and when I want to shut my brain down, I'll watch some Lifetime Movies. Oh and throw in there some books about something spiritual or the mind, as well as listening to good, thought provoking podcasts.
The past 4-5 years I have been doing a lot of self exploration and breaking free from deep rooted limiting beliefs. I will share in posts to come as to what I discovered about myself 🙌
I love to jog but now that I live at the beach in Saint Augustine Florida, there are no real trails around here. But heck, I'll take the beach any day. 😎🌅🌞
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| One of the many sunrise pics from our beach in Saint Augustine |
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| Having fun on Santa's chair on one of my Sunday coffee dates with Donnie |
I still love to travel, have fun, laugh, talk and just chill. I guess I'm still a bit messy even though I am learning to be more "organized" without feeling so overwhelmed.
Life is better lived simply, with less judgment on self and others, yes with not much "stuff" even though since we've settled down, we've been accumulating stuff...more meaningful stuff. I guess no matter if you have a lot of stuff or none at all, life can sometimes be messy and organized at the same time in different seasons of life.
I'm back!!
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