Hi! Let Me (Re) Introduce Myself!

 Hey hey friends!!!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Our's was VERY low key and I didn't mind it one bit. After a full Christmas break, it felt REALLY good to basically do nothing :)

I thought I would (re) introduce myself today!

I started this blog back in 2015 and took a three year blog break from the summer of 2020 to September 2023. I am so happy to be back to blogging!

With that being said, it felt like a good time to give an updated "about me" post!!

Hi! My name is Justine and I am 43 years old. I grew up in Illinois, in a small town, ten minutes from Springfield (the capital and the "Land of Lincoln"). 

I went to Southern Illinois University for my undergraduate degree (Go Salukis!) and to Northern Arizona University (in Flagstaff, Arizona) for my master's degree!

I am a speech language pathologist and have been working on and off for almost 20 years! 

Which sounds CRAZY to me by the way! HA! I started my career working in hospitals and then transitioned to working with children. I currently work with a small number of students at my kids' school and I love it!

I am one of four children! One of my brothers lives in San Diego and my other brother lives 10 minutes away from me here in Raleigh! I have younger sister who lives in Illinois. My dad passed away 4 1/2 years ago and it still doesn't feel totally real that he is no longer with us :(

My mom moved to the Raleigh area this past May and it has been so, so wonderful to have her living close to us now!

I have lived ALL OVER THE PLACE! HA! After living and working in Chicago for two years, I randomly decided to move to Austin, Texas and a month later, met my husband!! You can read all about our love story HERE! It's a good one :)

A year after we got married, we moved from Austin to Cleveland, Ohio! My husband went back to school at 30 years old to become a podiatrist! So we lived in Cleveland for 4 1/2 years, then we moved to Indianapolis, Indiana for 3 years while he completed his surgical residency. Then, we moved to Greenville, North Carolina for his first "real" (HA!) job. In September 2020, at the height of COVID, we moved to Raleigh, North Carolina due to my husband getting a new job. We rented a house until we moved into our home (that we live in now) in March 2021! PHEW. Are ya'll still with me? HA!

I started this blog when I had 4 young kiddos! I know some of ya'll have followed along since the beginning and remember when I announced I was pregnant with Marshall, our 5th child! Now, 8 years later, I don't consider myself to be a mom to "little" kids anymore. Which definitely makes me a little sad!! BUT- older kiddos are equally amazing and wonderful and I truly love the stages all of my kids are in! My boys are in 2nd and 3rd grade, and my daughters are in 5th, 7th and 9th grade. I have shared that I no longer share pictures of my kids here on the blog. 

For a long time I did...and then it just started to not feel right. 

So I don't- unless I am sharing a random family picture here and there :) 

Speaking of family pictures..here's the one that was on our Christmas card this year!

Things I feel really strongly about:

-Taking care of myself mentally, spiritually, and physically. 

To me- the highest form of self care is self discipline. 

- Easy, uncomplicated meals. Cooking is not my favorite thing to do- but it's necessary. HA! 

So I keep it simple to keep my stress level low!

- If I see something that needs to be done- I take care of it. (cleaning, sending an email, making a phone call, paying a bill, ect.) 

Most tasks that seem like they are going to take a lot of time or effort- really don't. 

I have found that if I just take care of what I see needs to be done- I rarely feel overwhelmed.

- Table manners. Sending thank you notes. Being polite, kind, helpful and respectful. Realizing the world doesn't revolve around you. These are all habits/virtues that are constantly being addressed and talked about in our home :)

- Having a clutter free home and not acquiring things we don't need. I strongly dislike STUFF. Everything that comes into our home has a purpose and a place. 

If it doesn't - it's going in the trash or getting donated! 

- LAUGHING. Not taking things so seriously. I feel like A LOT of things are just so blown out of proportion these days. In my humble opinion, people need to chill out and realize that not everything has to be SO DEEP. HA!

- Summer time. It is absolutely my most favorite season. I love being hot, I love being outside, I love that it is light out until almost 9 pm...I could go on and on. 

Summer = HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

- My faith and my husband and my children. I saved the TOP 3 for last :) 

Everything I do is centered around honoring God and loving my family.

And this is how I feel about you taking the time to stop by this tiny corner of the internet and read my blog. I am really looking forward to a wonderful year of sharing what's on my heart, what easy dinners I am making, what deals I stumble upon at Aldi and Walmart and what's working well for our family. I hope you'll continue to stick around and "hang out" with me!

Happy Monday Friends! I hope you have the BEST day and an awesome start to your week!