She Made Herself a Home

In today's episode we explore the "how to" topic of finding your passion. As adults we can go back in time and try to remember what sparked our passion and what drove us differently than other things. It may require time to get to know yourself again and reconnect with what brings you joy, there are some questions provided to help with that process. When you try something you may find it's actually not fun, the beauty of discovering your passion is narrowing down something to the core. God created us with these passions, enjoy yours and see where it takes you.

• The first step to discovering your passion is to think about some things that strike your fancy, get to know yourself again and identify what you love. (2:47)
• Spend time trying to answer these different questions to spark your interest and rediscover what brings you joy. (5:57)
• Think about if your passion is for income and what you could start doing on the side to build it up over the next months and years. (10:14)
• Do your research around the passion and understand what it is you're getting yourself into, google and youtube are great resources to learn from others. (15:03)
• The hardest part is believing in the gifts we've been given and putting them into practice, you never know where that passion will take you if you don't try. (17:41)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode we dive into another topic in the "how to" series, this one is about how to discern hearing God's voice or hearing God or knowing what God wants you to do. A lot of the talking points for today's episode come from Priscilla Shirer, an American author, motivational speaker, actress, Christian evangelist. In today's episode I share how my journey began with writing letters in journals to God from a very young age and has evolved over time. As Priscilla says, the more you know him, the more you hear him.

• One question listeners asked is how to discern hearing God's voice or hearing God or knowing what God wants you to do. (1:30)
• My journey communicating with God began after a friend of the family's tragedy and I began writing God letters. (4:32)
• If we want to hear God and be heard by him, then we have to be willing to get to know him and spend time with him because he wants us to share with him. (10:24)
• Position your heart to eagerly anticipate the Lord through practice and expectation of God to answer your questions and concerns, and have peace about it. (15:41)
• Different ways the Lord has spoken to me; in circumstances, through people I meet in the word, hearing a passage that I needed, and more. (20:15)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode I'm starting a new series on the topic of "how to" because of your responses. So many women sent in questions about how to meal plan, homeschool, organize, figure out a side hustle and more. Today's episode is about how to homeschool and the process of making that decision along with many others. In the end, stick to the core things and enjoy the process instead of going in with high expectations like I did.

• The combination of the many how tos in life are basically us finding confidence, balance and discernment from the Lord on how to be mothers and females. (2:09)
• Questions to ask yourself to help decide if homeschooling is a good fit for your family and different considerations when making this decision. (5:22)
• Write down why your family is choosing to homeschool because there will be days when you will really need to read it again and affirm your decision. (9:37)
• How to pick curriculum for your homeschool and the various options available (16:20)
• Instead of starting homeschool with high expectations, connect with your why for homeschooling and use that as the deciding factor of what to expect. (12:03)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode I celebrate the listeners who continue to show up and listen to the show, thank you. As well as share a family update as we wrap up our school year and transition into summer. There are also a few fun business opportunities that I share. Thanks for listening to the update as I'm navigating where I want to go and what I want to do.

• A brief history on how the social media content creator journey began with an Instagram account created in secret. (3:46)
• We were recently published in Better Homes and Gardens, cottage style, and our Airbnb, crate and cabin. If you want to check that out. It was featured on 10 page spreads. (5:41)
• Three months into life with our baby girl I wish everyone could adopt a child of a different race just so they could feel what we feel. (8:21)
• As we wind down the school year we're just looking forward to family time and not constantly feeling like we have to keep up with school. (11:17)
• I'm at a cusp in my business and the way forward has several different options and we're praying through what is next. (12:42)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode I wrap up the five part series on marriage. Today I focus on our current season, cultivating togetherness, and we are teammates, partners and friends. I share how our friendship is foundational to our marriage in this season of working through day to day life together; as parents, business owners, and a couple. As we end this series I think it's simply important to remember that we will ebb and flow in and out of different seasons in our lives. And by listening to my vulnerability and Richard's vulnerability in our marriage we can inspire, encourage, and hopefully give you some jumping off points for your own marriage.

• It's valuable to have a teammate while raising kids and maintaining a home then bitterness starts to set in. (4:24)
• Learning to recognize your spouse, what they're good at and not blaming them for what they're not capable of doing or not gifted in is really important. (9:02)
• If you aren't friends with your spouse then return to the discovery phase of marriage and unearth what attracted you to them. (12:14)
• One of the big issues with marriages getting stuck and needing to go back to the growth & discovery stage. (15:28)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode, I open up about a time in my marriage when I questioned if we were going to make it. Today I share the different reasons I ended up in this space and how I worked through it. The reason for my vulnerability is to encourage you to keep going and find ways to get through it. Also, give yourself peace, patience and forgiveness as you seek help and heal through this season of marriage.

• If you're struggling in your marriage it's great to rehash where you were and are, then how you got out of it and remember the good that can come from the bad. (5:11)
• One way to work through a survival season is to recognize the problem, write it down, talk to your spouse or a counselor to help process what's going on. (8:13)
• When you are ready to give up, take time to cool down, focus on yourself, and choose to not leave and give up before then. (11:54)
• Inside our heads we create a narrative of he never, she never instead of focusing on what he does, she does which stifles out the good. (16:22)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode, I dive into the time of marriage where you look at one another and realize you don't really recognize the other person, some call it the Seven Year Itch. Today I share my own discovery of not relying on my husband to solve everything, and there are great resources to help me heal, grow, and learn in life. I encourage you to focus on where you are now, identify how you can grow, set those goals and plans for one another.

• What it feels like to get to a place in marriage when you realize it's for life and you have to figure out how to work life with this person. (3:04)
• It's okay to look at your husband, as a teammate, as a friend, as a lover, as a roommate. I think sometimes we all can relate to those feelings. (4:06)
• Being in a season of friendship with your spouse is good because friendship lasts when everything else fades away. (8:46)
• In this season there is a choice, to either cross the bridge and continue building a life together or jump ship. (11:14)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode Mr. Crate and Cottage, Rachel's husband Richard, takes over hosting and shares part two of the current season on marriage. Today he opens up about how carefree their life was for years after being married and big transitions took place in his late twenties, early thirties. His advice is to make the best of life when it does change and there's no need to freak out. Embrace it.

• Richard takes over hosting the podcast to share about the second part in the Marriage Series, all about growth and discovery as a person and a couple. (1:06)
• The season of marriage after the honeymoon is carefree, you're both working to make money to live and enjoy all the small things in life. (3:20)
• A transition point in growth occurred in his late 20s to early 30s where Richard started having grown up experiences and anxiety really kicked in. (5:23)
• His advice for anyone who hasn't experienced the transition is to hone in on what's happening in life right now, think outside the box of where your future will end up. (11:06)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode I introduce a new series, Seasons of Marriage. I'm going to talk with my mom and she's going to share some advice, I may even bring Richard on so we can share what we've been through. Today I'm going to introduce this series and begin with the "over the moon" season, where the feelings first start. I hope this series will be an encouragement from a real vulnerable marriage.

• Even if our marriage journeys are different, we can all relate to the over the moon, falling in love phase where we remember what attracted us to our spouse. (3:02)
• The reason you were attracted to your partner or felt connected doesn't go away but over time it does get fuzzy and we need to take time to erase that fuzz. (7:31)
• Take time to create a conversation around what you fell in love with, rewatch that show that made you laugh, talk about what you wish for, and rekindle your connection. (9:23)
• Try to remember where you both came from in the beginning, why you fell in love with one another, and tell your spouse. (10:34)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.

In today's episode, I talk about the thankless job of motherhood. I'm sharing a few articles and verses that have encouraged me in this newborn season. While parenting is a job where the work goes unnoticed, we can take moments to encourage one another. Remember, you're working for the Lord rather than for people, the Lord will reward us, and we're accomplishing what he wants for the kingdom as these children's mothers.

• Today I want to encourage you with a few articles I've read and some verses that stick out to me for these thankless seasons. (1:54)
• A scary mommy article about parenting, a job in which the work is often done when no one is looking and goes unnoticed at the time it's being done. (5:22)
• Parenting is not completely thankless, it is completely selfless. It requires giving so much of oneself, often doing so in secret. (8:01)
• We are doing Kingdom work no matter what age a child is; for these little babies, grown children, teenagers and adult parents. (11:00)

This episode is sponsored by She Made Herself a Home, my book that will help you discover how to create a home that is inviting, beautiful, functional and uniquely personal all while staying on budget. It is a home decor planner that features beautiful photography from more than 40 real homes and contributions from other successful home decor bloggers. I promise it will make home designing an exciting, un-intimidating process. My hope is that these pages spark your passions, guide you to create spaces you love and most importantly give you the confidence to try something new. Anyone, no matter age, status, income level or past can make a home for herself and those she loves. Because no one has to break the bank to bring new life, intention and purpose to a home. You can buy your copy anywhere books are sold or at crateandcottage.com/book.