Pea of Sweetness

My Word for 2016 – Contentment

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My word for 2015 was Purpose, and 2015 was definitely a year of deep thought and trying to find my purpose as a person and the purpose of my blog. In the process, I decided to sell one of my other blogs to focus on Pea of Sweetness and prepare for new projects that truly reflect myself and our family. It took a lot of trial and error and self reflection, and I’m still not sure I’ve found it, but it’s a work in progress.
Interestingly enough, in trying to find my purpose, I found myself comparing myself and Pea of Sweetness to other bloggers and their blogs. How I thought this fit my purpose, I have no idea! I ultimately feel like I lost my purpose! I don’t think there is anything wrong with learning from others, but it’s important to remember to be yourself. After reading I’m Happy For You, I got a new, important perspective, which inspired my word for 2016 – Contentment.
My Word for 2016 Contentment
Definition of Purpose from Dictionary.com:
[kuh n-tent-muh nt] noun
1. the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind.
Contented. Satisfaction. Ease of mind. That’s exactly what I’m pursuing this year. A lot of the things I said I wasn’t going to do last year, I did do, and I’m happy with that! I want to keep feeling that way about everything. Something happened back in 2013. I started connecting with other bloggers, and I felt inadequate. So I started trying to narrow down my niche, which led to creating the other blog. Then I was just spread way too thin. There was nothing wrong with what I was doing in the first place! In fact, that was my best year so far as a blogger, and I want to go back to that! I want to be content with that – content with being me.
In contentment, though, I also want to be content with where I am right now – in both my life and Pea of Sweetness. I am a firm believer that God can use me wherever I am right in this moment, so even if I’m not where I think I should be, I want to be content in that knowledge. It takes trust, and I need to just let go and trust Him. I want to pursue being content in the knowledge that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I’m not meant to be like anybody else, and if Pea of Sweetness is to be a reflection of myself, I need to be content in the knowledge that I am enough.
I feel good about 2016 because I’m going into it with the knowledge that no matter if everything goes the way I expect or it’s not at all what I expect, it is OK. I will strive to be content.

Word for 2016 Link Up!

Word for 2016 Link Up
What is your word for 2016? Please share by linking up below! If you didn’t blog about it, I’d still love to hear about it in the comments! If you have a link-up as well, please be sure to include {Linky} in your entry when you link up! I can’t wait to connect and reconnect with you!


 

Other Places I’m Linking Up!

Looking for more great Word for 2016 Link Ups? Here is where I am linking up!
2016 Word of the Year LINK UP
 

Top 5 Posts for 2015 {And 5 Personal Favorites}

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Can you believe it’s 2016? I felt like this year just flew by! I always post my top posts, though I was hesitant to post my top posts for 2015. I guess you could say I was a little disappointed. I was really fighting my health issues this year, and I’m not thrilled with my results overall this year. To see my overall Top Posts, be sure to check out the Top Posts in my side bar! It was another rough year, but I hope to share more solid, helpful posts in 2016!
Usually I do 10 posts, but I’m going to do something a little differently – I’m going to share the 5 Top Posts for 2015 based on total number of views from posts written in 2015 and 5 of my personal favorites! Thank-you so much for your support in 2015, and I can’t wait to share more this year! We’ll start with #5 and work up to the top post of 2015!

Top Posts for 2015 by Views

Top Posts for 2015
 
#5 Keep Your Home Connected with Netgear Arlo Smart Home from Best Buy! We have been loving this great wireless security system and wireless router!
Netgear Arlo Smart Home Indoor/Outdoor Wireless Security Cameras
 
#4 Super Simple Songs – Animals DVD Review. Our kids are having a blast with the Super Simple Songs Animals DVD. They still love to watch it regularly and love to sing and dance along!
Super Simple Songs Review - Animals DVD
 
#3 Celebrate Summer with Balance bare bars and Walmart. Balance Bar offers a great healthy snack with their Bare Bars, which are available at Walmart!
Celebrate Summer Balance bare bars and Walmart Gift Card Giveaway
 
#2 Super Teacher Worksheets Review! Are you looking for worksheets for a variety of grade levels and subjects? Super Teacher Worksheets has over 10,000 PDF files for easy printing and use!
Super Teacher Worksheets Review
 
#1 Beautiful Skin with ERASA XEP-30. ERASA XEP-30 is a luxury skin care product from my Holiday Gift Guide!
ERASA Review XEP 30
 

My Personal Favorite Top Posts for 2015

My Favorite Top Posts for 2015
My personal favorites are still listed by number of views.
#5 3 Fun Ways to Package Cookies for Gifts! I got to enjoy some delicious cookie mixes from Krusteaz and share fun ways to package cookies for gifts!
Fun Ways to Package Cookies with Christmas Card Box
 
#4 Birthday Fun with a Mario Birthday Party! I shared ideas for a Mario Birthday Party including a fun pinata substitute – a question mark box!
Mario Party Question Mark Box Pinata Substitute
 
#3 The Unintentional Flake – {Living with a Chronic Condition}! I shared some insight on living with a chronic condition – how we always have good intentions but sometimes (many times) we just can’t do what we planned.
The Unintentional Flake - Living with a Chronic Condition
 
#2 A Family Favorite – Baked Spaghetti {Recipe}! I shared one of our family favorite recipes – easy baked spaghetti!
Easy Baked Spaghetti Recipe
 
#1 Why Saying “You Shouldn’t Post Anything Negative on Facebook” Could be Hurting Your Friends. I shared my heart on how sometimes we rely on connecting with others through Facebook – particularly special needs families that can’t always connect with others in person.
Why Saying Don't Post Anything Negative on Facebook Could be Hurting Your Friends
 
I hope you enjoyed both of my Top Posts for 2015 countdown! What was your favorite?
 

2015 in Review

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I know it’s not the end of the year yet, but I don’t suspect anything too significant is going to happen over the next few weeks besides my dad’s upcoming surgery. Each year I check my beginning of the year posts from the previous year, and I had to laugh that in my 2014 in Review I said I couldn’t wait to change the fact that we haven’t fully unpacked in over 5 years. Well, the tradition still stands – we haven’t fully unpacked! *Sigh*

2015 in Review

2015 in Review
Unfortunately, my health issues continued in 2015, and although it has been refreshing to be “back home” with family and friends, it’s still not easy to struggle almost daily – even when you do have an amazing support network. I have definitely been so very thankful to be connected to my friends and family again. It’s been such a blessing! We’ll be celebrating our one year anniversary of our move to Ohio on Christmas Eve, and it was hard to move but so worth it.
I have started seeing specialists, though, which is a huge step in the right direction, and I am hopeful 2016 will bring some answers (and relief). After realizing I needed to open my heart, I started sharing my heart when it comes to living with a chronic condition, challenges of a special needs family and faith in the midst of trials. I even started sharing some recipes! Overall, though, it wasn’t a fantastic year as far as blogging goes, but health and family must come first.
Never Alone
This year I continued with the Schoolhouse Review Crew and was excited to be asked back for 2016. Being part of the Crew is such a huge blessing for me and our family! I shared my excitement to be back on the Crew and our favorite curriculum from 2015. Overall, our homeschool year was uneventful. We didn’t really do anything spectacular. With my health issues, I was just glad to get through the days sometimes!
For here on Pea of Sweetness, my initial goal was to narrow down my niche, but I did something I wouldn’t have predicted – I sold my other blog and opened Pea of Sweetness up again to reflect all of me. Exactly the opposite than what I planned, but it is actually a refreshing change for me! I feel like I don’t have to divide my time anymore!
I did also opt to cut down my contributor list as well, but I hope to be able to get back into it this in 2016. Despite these changes, though, I didn’t completely just lighten my load! I was excited to start freelance writing for Findlay Family. Plus, I have other blogs. We kicked off 2015 on Sweetness Sisters Media with a group giveaway, but both my co-owner and I decided it just wasn’t “our year,” as we both were very busy with our own blogs and lives outside of the Internet. We do hope to get it up and running again this year, though.
Plus, my husband and I have decided to take on a project together. Our blog, Nerdy Household, will launch this year. We’re excited to work together to share our love for gaming, anime and all things nerdy. If you love gaming, be sure to follow Nerdy Household on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on our launch!
A few other highlights that happened in 2015:

  • Our daughter joined American Heritage Girls, and after a couple of months, I became a volunteer as an Assistant Leader for her troop.
  • My husband started working a part-time job. He’s a Disabled Vet, and he does have physical limitations. He thought getting a part-time job would be OK because of the few hours, and he loves the discounts. It’s proving to be more difficult than he expected, though, so we’re reevaluating what will be best in the new year.
  • We got a kitten, and our daughter was so thrilled. So now we have a dog, cat, kitten and 2 gerbils.
  • Our oldest son went on his first camping trip with Royal Rangers. It turned out to be a cold and rainy time, but he toughed it out!
  • Our daughter also went on her first camp out!
  • We did a lot of fishing this year! We fished at the lake at the sports club, the river and got an inflatable boat that we took out many times on the reservoir. I even got to try out some great fishing equipment!
  • We spent a lot of time with friends and family, and my mom has given my husband and I the chance to have regular date nights!

I’ll be sharing my top posts, goals and word for 2016 soon, so stay tuned!
I’m excited to see what 2016 has in store! What were your highlights from 2015?
 

Why We Got an Inflatable Boat

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It’s no secret we love fishing! In fact, if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you’ve probably seen quite a few fishing pictures already this summer! I am even considering bringing back Fishing Fridays just for the summers. If you’d love this, be sure to let me know! I digress.
So when we got settled here in Ohio my husband wanted one thing – a boat. We were kind of spoiled in Texas having access to my grandparents’ lake house with a great pontoon boat, but now we’re here in Ohio with very little access to significant lakes without a drive, but he wanted a boat nonetheless, so our search began.
Why We Got an Inflatable Boat
We started looking at used boats as the prices were a little easier on the budget, but we were running into one problem – the motors were too big. You see, we discovered we could do some boating (and fishing, of course) right here on the Findlay Reservoirs, but they have a 10HP limit. So the question was – do we want to spend quite a bit on a boat and then buy an additional motor just for the Reservoirs? We went back and forth on this for a while!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Regardless, I’m only sharing as this is the boat we bought, and we enjoy it, so I would share regardless.
After much research and discussion, we discovered something we surely hadn’t considered before – an inflatable boat. When I hear “inflatable boat” I think of a raft like the kind we used for white water rafting. Little did I know an inflatable boat could be just what we were needing!
Why We Got an Inflatable Boat - It's Portable
Here is why:

  • It is budget friendly. For under $800 we have a boat that works for us plus everything else we need – the trolling motor, marine battery, etc. The boat has two bench seats, fishing pole holders, a solid bottom (you can seriously stand up in it without any issues), and oars.
  • It fits our family. The boat is recommended for 4 people. We do have three kids, but they are still small, so all three are able to ride on the boat with us without any problems. For bigger kids (and, of course, adults), I wouldn’t recommend having more than 4 total people in the boat.
  • It is flexible. We can take our boat anywhere. We can use it on the reservoirs or we can take it on bigger lakes. It’s totally flexible.
  • It’s great for trolling. We have been using it frequently at night for trolling, and we have caught a bunch of fish this way. We will use it for hours, and when we come home the battery is still over 50%. Not only do we catch a lot of fish at night, but it’s so peaceful on the water at night!
  • It’s Portable. Another reason we were iffy about buying a boat is because we’d probably have to buy a trailer, too. Not with this boat! We simply roll it up and put it in the back of our SUV! Set up and take down takes less than 30 minutes, and we always have it with us, so if we want to go out on the boat randomly, we can just go!
  • It’s fun! It has been so much fun taking the family out on the boat. Not only do we enjoy fishing, but now we can spend time together out on the water, and it’s so nice!

Love Taking Out our Inflatable Boat
Something to note is that we did have to get the boat registered because we are using a motor, though it doesn’t require the more in depth things like a title, for example. Of course, it’s important to be sure you have required items like your PFD’s (life jackets) and, of course, a fishing license if you’ll be fishing. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly option with a lot of flexibility an inflatable boat is the way to go!
Will you be doing any boating this summer? What kind of boat do you have?