Hi friends,

Smith House Photo, celebrate, word for the year

Mercy, I just realized that my last post the November 30, sheesh. The term, “time flies” is not lost on me in any way! Extending some grace to myself and moving forward.

One reason I have been quiet on the blog is because the Lord has placed on my heart a new project, and I’m doing the best I can to bring that to fruition for His glory. So stay tuned for news on that!

Another reason for our silence is we were planning a big shoot with Smith House Photography at the end of January to curate images for blog posts (that’s their image above!) and we just got images back so yay! They are seriously #gorg y’all! And now I don’t have an excuse to not get back to blogging!

One thing I love that my friend Lara Casey says is, “there’s nothing magical about January 1!”

So, yes it is mid-February already, but I’m finally sharing my word for 2017. It’s a word that stirred in my heart for the coming year a few months before 2016 was even over. I realized that this year hubby and I would be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, I would be turning 30, and we would hopefully be buying a new home (which happened yesterday!) plus all the other fun exciting things the Lord has in store for us this year.

2017 is the year to celebrate, friends!

This year my main goal is to celebrate the big milestones, but also find something to celebrate daily through the everyday life. I am also hoping to instill family celebrations at the end of each month!

Also, thanks to my Cultivate What Matters #powersheets, I am staying focused on goals and attaining them!

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Here are my goals I set for this year with current updates in (italics!)

  • Celebrate the big and little stuff! Cultivate joy and gratitude with the everyday and seemingly mundane day-to-day tasks. (Missed our January celebration due to a sick baby, but I have big plans for February!)
  • Date nights! Friends, K and I have been on maybe 4 dates since Kerrington was born!  (We haven’t gone on an actual date yet, but we are being far more intentional with our time together after Kerrington goes to bed!)
  • Financial planning with Dave Ramsey recommended advisor (Check! He advised us that we are quite ready for investing just yet, but commended all the progress we have made on our journey to Financial Peace and was also really excited we were getting a 15 year mortgage!)
  • Find a church home (still regularly attending, and praying about this!)
  • Hire an assistant for TMD (Posted job posting, and so far have 10 applicants! Excited to start interviewing!
  • Pay $12,000 on students loans (Currently have $1000 earmarked, but waiting to see if I will need to apply that to taxes. Blah.)
  • Grow and monetize the blog. (With the new project I mentioned earlier, this has shifted in the sense of tamaramenges.com, praying for guidance on the new endeavor!)
  • Big TMD shoot to create social media and blog post content. (Check!)
  • Create a completely clean home free of toxins and chemicals, and continue to stay consistent with workouts so that we are healthier as family and are actively taking care of our bodies. (Finally found a body soap for us that we like, I also homemade shaving cream for both of us and after shave for K! Moving on to homemade laundry detergent next!)

Thanks for checking in! I am excited to see what all happens and find new ways to celebrate life this year!

I’d love to know how you celebrate the exciting things in your life!

xoxo, Tamara