Finding Joy in Your Home

We got such a great question in our Finding Joy Community this week. The discussion that ensued was so rich that I figured it was a great one to share here on the podcast. We dive into some hot topics within healthy living: taking care of our families for God's Glory, making an idol out of healthy living, what's the point to it all, and so much more. Join us! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Join our FREE community: Finding Joy Community MEGA Mother's Day Sale through May 11th: My Homemaking Mentor Our Sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50 Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking130 and use code homemaking130 to get $130 off, plus free shipping!

Welcome back to the next episode in our practical homemaking series. We haven't had an episode on marriage in a while, so today is a fun one (and maybe a much needed discussion)! We are chatting about how to keep (or reestablish) fun in your marriage. I'm also sharing a couple of fun announcements. Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: INCREDIBLE things coming for My Homemaking Mentor, our online training academy for Christian Women...you are going to want to be part of this! Join our FREE community to follow along with the podcast and more: Finding Joy Community. As a reminder, we will be taking a Summer hiatus as of June 1st until September. You can still find up to date content and more in the community all summer!

We are not expert movers yet, but we have had our fair share of moving, downsizing, deciding what to keep, and unpacking into new homes. Today I am going to share my 6 tips for moving! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. My tips we discuss today: Invest in tubs + buy a label maker Downsize EVERYTHING. ONLY invest in pieces for your new house that are 100% favorites. A place for everything - even if that means getting creative. Unpack immediately. Don't wait 6 months. Make the place YOUR HOME, even if it's temporary or a rental.

We are diving head long into our new mini series here on the podcast: A Practical Homemaking Deep Dive! We've got some fun & practical episodes coming up to help all of us in the practical parts of running and managing a home, but of course, all for God's Glory! We are going to dive into cleaning routines, time management, hospitality, morning & evening routines, and so so much more. I'm also hoping to have some fabulous guests for you too coming up soon :D Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Practical Homemaking Q&A: As we dive into this series, many of the episodes will be a deep dive into specific questions and topics. But today, I put together a list of questions that we are all shorter that we can dive into. In today's episode we discuss: Bringing your children into "big Church" - and ideas for training toddlers! Our new laundry routine (and how it's going) Ideas for what to do with toddlers while homeschooling olders Balancing between kids and chores Starting a garden - where do I begin? How I do it ALL? Our sponsor today: For 50% off your first Care/of order of $40 or more, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50. I'd love for you to come over and join our free community. There we can discuss this episode, what series you would love to see in the future, and more!! Join our free community here!

Looking for ways to cut costs has been on all of our minds this year. Rising gas prices, rising food prices, and a supply chain that feels unstable as led many of us to ask, "what else could we be doing?" In today's episode, I'm sharing some FUN life updates for the Balmet family as well as sharing 5 things I'm actively doing this year to cut costs, but not quality in my home (especially when it comes to food)! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 1. Focusing on building my bulk pantry Examples: Real salt prices, bulk beans, and bulk spices. 10oz shaker of salt is: $6.35 26oz refill pouch I usually pay: $8 ($0.31 an ounce) 25lb bag for $99.99 (I got on sale for $85 + free shipping). $0.21 per ounce ($0.10 per ounce savings!) 25lbs = 400 ounces. Which comes out to a $40 savings!! PLUS, now I have bulk salt on hand and don't need to worry about any kind of supply chain issues, prices going up for a while, etc. If I can, I'd like to order a second bag early when this bag gets to be about half full. Then when that first bag runs out entirely, I'll order another bag. This way I've always got a full extra bag on hand. But I'm not sure how fast we will work through this bag or what my other bulk needs will be, so we'll see how it goes this year. Another example is bulk spices: Another area I'll slowly be working on adding to again is bulk spices. When you cook entirely from scratch, and you want flavorful food, you end up going through a LOT of spices. Since RV living, I've pretty much just been buying single use containers of spices which get so expensive at $3-9 a bottle. I'll be adding a few different spices at a time to my monthly Azure order while I slowly build this up. For example, I can get an Italian seasoning mix from Azure for $8.89 for a pound! A pound of dried herbs is a lot. Now I can just refill my seasonings as needed. The trick to this, is really keeping track of what bulk spices you have on hand, because you can easily forget and lost track. 2. Building my at home Emergency and first aid kits Example: Slings, butterfly bandages, bleed stop, and over the counter things to help so we don't have to go to urgent care. I want to brush up on my skills so I have the knowledge to help in a situation. 3. Growing a garden I'm starting with SEEDS this year, instead of going the easier route of plant starts. And I'm not getting fancy. I'll be focusing on the produce my family actually uses: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, squash, watermelons, all manner of herbs, etc. When I look at the seed catalogs, there are so many fun and fancy things I could grow. But I'm trying this summer to just focus on the needs that will really help my family! I just need to get on the planning part of it all now! ;) 4. Cutting out the grocery store Example: We will be purchasing a whole cow sometime this year to put in the freezer, I'd like to do a couple of pigs as well. We don't have the ability right now to do chickens or eggs, so we will do what we can! Another example: We finally are able to find raw milk from a local farm again. We just picked up our first 3 gallons today! With the ability to get raw milk, I can make so many things from home that I either can't buy in stores, or that is ridiculously expensive. I love making cultured butter, maple syrup sweetened whip cream, a gallon whole yogurt, kefir, and so much more. This eliminates the need to buy hardly any diary products from the store and they are way healthier and higher quality than I could get elsewhere. Also cuts out the need from buying expensive and processed nut milks or alternatives. Here's what my ideal pantry will look like over the coming year: Bulk grains + dried goods from Azure each month (while building up a pantry so I'm not buying 3-5lbs a month of each thing but rather 25-50l...

We are continuing our Family & Culture series today with an important chat about finding (and creating) peace in our home in unstable times. Instability can come in the form of emotional, every day instability and larger, world instability. How do we protect our homes in the midst of instability? Join me to discuss 5 ways we can begin. Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Learn how to manage your own attitude Do what you can to preserve peace in instability (in wisdom) Trust what you can't do, or what's not in your control, to the Lord Find the tension between being aware and the need for prayer, and neglecting your own duties in your home Build your home in JOY. I'd love for you to come over and join our free community. There we can discuss this episode, what series you would love to see in the future, and more!! Join our free community here!

Do you ever feel like you open your mouth and out comes complaints? Do you feel like you too often dwell on the negative and want to focus more on the positive? Today Jami will dive into 6 ways we can turn from being a complainer into a praiser! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Talk often comes out of what is already in our hearts. —> What is our internal monolog doing? We often get stuck in a rut of complaining (even when it's not out loud). Focus on GRATITUDE and THANKSGIVING "And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thess 5: 14-18 4. When in conversation, THINK about some things you can say beforehand, instead of letting complaints just come out. THINK through some things you can specifically say you are thankful for, share something interesting you hear this week, etc. 5. In a world that sometimes feel crazy, learn to meditate and talk about different subjects. 6. Learn how to LISTEN better in conversations. "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;" - James 1:19 For further study on this topic, I have a few recommendations. Trusting God by Jerry Bridges if your complaining comes out of fear and anxiety Learning Contentment by Nancy Wilson Comparison Girl by Shannon Popkin Past podcast episodes: Are you feeling discontent? 3 questions to ask yourself… – Hf #198 The Key to Finding True & Lasting JOY – Hf #315 Hf #33: Anxiety, Worry, and the Biblical Response Hf #35: Practical Ways to Trust in the Lord More (and Deal With Anxiety) Hf #36: Finding Joy in All Aspects of My Life Hf #270: Facing anxiety and the unknown On battling anxiety with Phylicia Masonheimer – Hf #328 Hf #323: Cultivating a Serving Heart

I've loved tackling some BIG issues in our family and culture series this year. Things like fear, anxiety, social media, a good perspective on the future...but today I want to turn a little more practical. I want to discuss some ways we can put our heads down and get to work. And I'll be kicking off the discussion by sharing 4 personal things I want to work on in our family this year. Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 4 things we are working on: Cutting our dependency on supply chains where we can Stocking a depression era pantry Growing a garden Increase family devotion time As a reminder, we do not do any of these things out of fear. We don't become dooms day preppers or such. But there is wisdom in preparing solidly for the future. And for some many of us, we are concerned with inflation, rising food prices, rising gas prices, and possible disruptions to the global supply chain. So in wisdom, many of us are looking for ways we can make that supply chain more local and how we can be wise with our finances and food in the future! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this topic and some goals your family has. PLEASE come over to our free community and share your thoughts on any of my 4 goals or other goals you have for yourself! Join our free community here!

We need some real talk this week ladies. Who else is feeling overwhelmed with ALL the news going on? I've had a heavy heart the past 2 weeks and it can be a struggle to get online. SO we are having an honest chat today about where we draw the line with social media, when it's right to carry other's burdens, and when it's not actually our responsibility. Let's dive in (it's encouraging, I promise)! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Family & Culture Series Pt 1: The Joy & Duties of the Christian Household Family & Culture Series Pt 2: Learning how to be BRAVE women Family & Culture Series P3: Learning how to be BRAVE families Jon our free community to discuss this episode (and more): Finding Joy Community Our sponsor: Get an awesome intro deal from HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use promo code homemaking16