changes

dreams, growth

1 year blogversary!!

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016by Sheridan Johnson19 Comments

1 year Anniversary

One year has come and gone sine I joined the WordPress team!

I actually wrote my very first blog Feb 10, 2014 and you can find it here.

I didn’t know what to expect when I made the sudden change.

I decided 2015 was going to be the year I took blogging seriously.

YOU GUYS (my awesome followers) have been AMAZING to me.

You have lifted me up, gave me confidence, and I finally learned my own voice.

I have passions I never knew I had, hopes, and dreams that I never would have thought of.

I have over 220 followers that actually want to read MY content, that’s crazy!!

Some more stats: Over 300 posts written, almost 10,000 page views, and over 4,600 visitors!

Thank you so much for literally sticking around and growing with me!

Let’s make year 2 one for the books!! ♥

30 days, children, Connected parenting

Exploring your own weakness

February 9, 2016February 7, 2016by Sheridan JohnsonLeave a Comment

In the last and final section of this series of the 30 days towards connected parenting, Rachel talks about the importance of exploring your own weakness.

I think for Shane and I, we both have different weaknesses that we had to address, and face, head-on.

Sometimes there are things in life, or a marriage that are hard and difficult to talk about, so most people would just avoid them, instead of putting them out there and facing them. That can only last for so long, and I am glad that we were able to discuss this with each other, and the impact it has on our children.

A couple of our examples, were that Shane has a weakness for saying “yes” to anyone/anything. He didn’t realize the impact of his generosity and kindness to others was having on our family. He wasn’t spending as much time at home, he was putting us after others, and he didn’t even realize that sometimes he can say “no” to people, and not be afraid to hurt their feelings. He had to work on finding a happy medium that worked best for him and for our family, that we could both agree on.

Me, on the other hand, have the tendency to support every.single.organization/friend/charity, by donating big or small, and while I used to be able to do that without even blinking an eye because we were making so much more money, I didn’t realize that I continued to do it, even when I dramatically cut my hours to be a stay at home with Brielle during the week and only work weekends. Spending money is my weakness, and even while it was helping others, it was hurting our family financially so we came up a game plan of how much is “ok” to spend each month, and if I pick up extra shifts and we have extra, that it’s ok to help out as much as possible!

Both situations are completely different, but recognizing them and taking ownership of our own actions, can only help us in our future communicate better, and not be so afraid to address the weaknesses that lie within us!

This 30 day parenting definitely took me longer than 30 days to complete, but I am SO happy that we took the time/energy/effort into this, and I am LOVING the outcome!

poetry, writing

A different perspective

February 8, 2016February 7, 2016by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments”

Discipline and punishment go hand in hand,

that’s at least what most people think.

Now imagine if they were separated,

as two completely different words.

Could discipline just be positive,

and punishment just be negative?

Imagine how much different your life could be,

if you just looked at those words from a different perspective.

30 days, Brielle, children, Connected parenting, Family, marriage, parenting

Talking about parenting with your partner-section 11

December 22, 2015by Sheridan JohnsonLeave a Comment

In this section, Sara talks about how you should talk about parenting with your partner.

Parenting literally takes an army, but one of the most important people included in that army, should be your spouse. Shane and I have both agreed and disagreed on many parts during this parenting journey.

Speaking with each other and being on the same page, is a task to accomplish, but it is so important! Our two year old little girl, picks up on everything and she totally tries to work both of us to get what she wants.

One major topic that we discussed early on was whether or not to put Brielle in daycare. After a WHILE of talking/thinking/praying about it, we chose to not put her in daycare, and have my parents babysit while I was working. To this day, that is still how it works out, and we couldn’t be more blessed!

Another recent major topic, that we are not FULLY set on yet (more because of my reservations), is to homeschool or not. I write a blog post (here) about which is best between public vs homeschool, and I love different aspects about them both. I am just going to continue to teach Brielle new stuff each week, expand her knowledge and experiences, and teach her as much as I can throughout her life!

While no two people can be perfect, we can always strive to be better versions of ourselves! May this next year bring new experiences and more joy than ever before!