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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

And She’s Eight.

Sadie // via Stephanie Howell
She’s so many things.

She’s stubborn, proud, fierce, strong, defiant. She’s argumentative, headstrong, and witty.

She always has the perfect comeback at the perfect time and her sense of humor has always been well beyond her years.

She is funny. Really, truly funny.

She doesn’t laugh her real laugh very often. But when she does…oh man is it ever rewarding. If you get her to laugh that laugh you know you’ve earned it.

She fights HARD to get attention. And she doesn’t care if it’s the good kind of attention or the bad kind.

She just yearns to be heard, to be acknowledged.

She knows exactly which buttons to push and doesn’t hesitate to push them. She loves harder, fiercer, and truer than anyone else in this family.

She is tenderhearted inside of a tough shell.

 

Sadie // via Stephanie Howell

She’s athletic, smart, strong, and competitive.

She still likes to hold my hand and is known to climb in our bed in the middle of the night.

She loves sparkles and nail polish and animal prints and lip gloss.

She is skinned knees in a pink tutu.

She’s spunky and quirky and don’t you ever try to tell her not to do things her way.

She makes my heart hurt and soar in equal measure.

She will make the best damn woman to walk this planet. She won’t take crap from anyone and she will stand up for what she believe. God HELP the boy that messes with her. She will be FIERCE.

Getting her there will be the hard part. I pray daily for strength, kindness, patience, and for a level head and level heart when it comes to my girl.

She will rule the world one day. Whether it’s jumping out of airplanes, becoming the next Tina Fey, or sitting in the Oval Office… I don’t know. But I’m telling you. This kid will move mountains.

Sadie, today you are 8. I want you to know that I love you, believe in you, and think that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I love your strength, tenacity, and fearlessness. I envy those things in you. I know you’ll never have a wishbone where your backbone ought to be. I know that sometimes I lose my patience too easily with you, and I’m sorry for that. I’m learning and growing with you. Happy birthday, precious girl. Eight is going to be great.

Mommy

 

|| photos by Megan Vining Photography

I’m Here!

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I’m here… buried under this creative mess somewhere.

I got the new blog up and running (ish…) but I forgot to find the time to write posts. HA!

I have so many ideas and lists for what I want to say here, but it’s taking me some time to get my blogging groove back on.

See you tomorrow- it’s Sadie’s birthday and I’ll have a post up about what she is like at 8. EIGHT!!! Jesus take the wheel.

 

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Planner Madness

Planners // via Stephanie Howell

I’ve had a paper planner as long as I can remember. I used them obsessively as a student and that obsession has continued into my adult life.

I keep hearing people say “this new planner craze”. Um, nope. There’s always been a planner frenzy in my life. But now I can openly let my freak flag fly because other people are admitting they are planner freaks too! WHOOP!

Digital calendars do NOT work for me. I’ve always been a write it down on paper type of gal. I will always love paper planners. If I could find a way to parlay helping people find their planner peace into a career, I’d do it.

So all of that said…I’m working on a big ole planner post for the blog.

Here are some of the questions I’ve gotten.

  1. What in the world do you do with all of those planners?
  2. What size planner do you use?
  3. What brands are your favorite?
  4. How do you organize your planners?
  5. What are your favorite embellishments?

I plan on addressing all of these questions, but I wanted to open the comments up to you and ask what YOU would like to know.

So I’m asking for your feedback. Let me know what you’d like to see in a blog post about planners? Would you like a video too?

Be specific, and remember…NO question is silly. Seriously.
I hope you all have a beautiful Monday. I’m working on responding to all of your comments as well as a Rome recap!

 

NOTE: I will always respond to your comments, though it might take some time. I don’t know if WordPress notifies you when I respond? So make sure to always check back!!

 

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Savor.

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Today I wanted to talk a little bit about my word for 2016.

Some years I pick a word, sometimes I don’t. I don’t do a lot with the word during the year. By that I mean…I don’t really blog about it. Or talk about it, or scrapbook about it.

I just try to be mindful of it. And sometimes I completely forget what my word is. But I love Ali’s concept and think it’s a wonderful way to live. This year I didn’t want to pick a word if it wasn’t meaningful. As I watched my friends share their choices on Instagram, I decided I wouldn’t participate this year.

And then, out of nowhere, I couldn’t stop thinking about life lately. And how crazy it is. And how I feel like I’m in survival mode and how sometimes I feel like I’m running on a treadmill that’s just

going

too

fast.

And I can’t catch up no matter how fast I run.

I don’t like that.

I don’t like not experiencing the moment, not living in it.  The best way I can explain it is this:

 

savor // via stephaniehowell.com

Do any of you understand what I’m saying? I can’t feel it because I’m trying to get through it.

And I want to change that.

I want to embrace this crazy, messy, overwhelming, beautiful life. I want to remember how Cora smiles at me. I want to remember the feeling of Cate holding one of my hands and Lucy holding the other. I want to remember the feeling when Jimmy walks in the door after a long long day at work. I want to remember the way Italy looks, smells, feels, and tastes. I don’t ever want to forget Sadie’s spunk and Harper’s transition from little girl to tween.

I want to savor all of it.

 

savor

And just like that, I realized that I had a word for 2016. I want to savor my life. I want to savor each day, not get through each day.

I’m starting small.

When I get stressed over silly things that don’t matter, I remind myself to breathe. When Cate and Lucy ask me to read them a book, I say yes. When I’m doing laundry and Harper says she wants to talk, I stop and we talk. And I really look at her.

Here’s to a year of mindfulness- a year of paying attention and a year of enjoying the ride.
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What I’m Reading // January 2016

What I'm #reading // Via Stephaniehowell.com

 

It’s been a while hasn’t it? I have so much to share. Even when I wasn’t blogging I was sharing my thoughts on Goodreads and my reading Instagram account.

I want this blog series to be a place where we can all talk about what we are reading, loving, hating, what we are wanting to read and what we wish we hadn’t.

Please comment and share your thoughts!

read

Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person
by Shonda Rhimes  //  This one’s tricky. I really liked it a lot. The “girl power”/”girl boss” element is excellent. Shonda is fierce and strong and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I love that. I found so many parts of the book inspiring. I nodded my head and laughed out loud. I really identified with her chapter on mommy wars and her thoughts on women not being able to accept compliments. I read many parts out loud to Jimmy and her words facilitated many conversations between us. But I also felt like the book could have been so much more. Shonda never let us know too much and she never got truly deeply personal. I know….that’s a lot to ask. But I found the book to be more inspiring platitudes and I wanted it to be more of a personal memoir. With all that said…I definitely recommend it. 3.5 stars.

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Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff // I am going to be the odd woman out here. And I’m okay with it. This was President Obama’s favorite book of 2015. I saw countless friends rave about it and read glowing reviews. But I HATED IT. Hated hated hated hated it. Ugh. I hated the characters. They were horrible and selfish people. And although I can honestly say that Groff is a talented author (obviously) I was turned off by her style. I honestly can’t even put it into words. I just had a very visceral reaction to this book – and not in a good way.  1 star.

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We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh // I loved The Language of Flowers so I reserved this one at the library as soon as it came out. I loved it.  Diffenbaugh wrote each character beautifully and I fell in love with each of them for different reasons. The book really moved me-and I still think about it now and then. 4.5 stars.

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Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter //  SO MESSED UP. And creepy and dark and nauseating in certain parts. If any of those things are too much for you..don’t read it. But I thought it was so good. It kept me glued to my earphones – I listened to it on Audible. Really- consider yourself warned. SO MESSED UP. But riveting. 4 stars.

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Anything at all by Colleen Hoover // I am not a romance girl usually. Not that I have anything against reading- I don’t discriminate when it comes to books…I love ALL books. But Colleen Hoover made me a romance girl. She’s funny and witty and her stories are HOT and realistic. Not cheesy. I love her. I listen to her books on Audible as well.

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The Hummingbird by Stephen Kiernan // This book was really interesting to me. At first I kind of skimmed all of the historical parts of the book but then I realized that they were crucial to the plot line so I had to go back and start over.  As an army wife…the PTSD parts were painful to read. But so well written. One small negative –  I got kind of annoyed with the way the main characters talked to each other. I deeply enjoyed the hospice parts of the book. It was  a beautifully written and tender tale. Just lovely.  3.5 stars.

 

 

For more of my recently read book reviews, check HERE.

UpNext

+ Anything and everything by Karin Slaughter

+ The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild

+ Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

+ Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

+ Carrie  by Stephen King

+ Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

 

Whew! That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. So many books so little time!

So what about you? Tell me about what’s on your list.

 

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