If you think you can survive on less than 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night think again. You are more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime than to possess the ultra-rare gene that allows you to sleep less than 7 hours without mental impairment, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and cancer…
Read MoreWe love being outside and soaking up the sun, exploring, and getting much needed fresh air…
Read MoreI’ve been thinking a lot recently about the kind of childhood that I want to provide for my boys. Some of this is wrapped up in wanting them to make great memories and provide a lot of the things I lacked as a kid…
Read MoreWe recently pulled our sick selves out of the house and spent some time laughing, exploring, and observing the awesome beauty of nature together…
Read MoreAs hard as these last two weeks have been, I ended up having everything I needed to get through them and so much more. I have so much to be thankful for and the provision from the Lord in my life was such a beautiful gift of grace. There has been so much loveliness and beauty mixed in all the crazy…
Read MoreThe time I get to share with my boys in this season is fleeting. I know it is, but there are still days when I forget. Days I become weary or days I'm less intentional. I want to do everything I can to make those days as few and far between that I can. I've really grown in thoroughly enjoying parenting and teaching my boys...
Read MoreHaving photos around the house of our family throughout the years is important to me. I want the boys to have constant reminders of moments they have little to no memory of. I want them to be able to look at a photo and see the love and happiness that has been constant in our family…
Read MoreI’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites that have encouraged an atmosphere of gentleness and learning. I’m sure this list will grow over the years, but in the meantime here is a start…
Read MoreLet’s do this weekend over and over. Camping under the stars. Slowly listening to Calvin read stories to us by the campfire while sipping on hot coco. Cuddling as close together as we can through the night…
Read MoreThese are some of my favorite highlights from our weeklong celebration. We started the week by waking Emet to a fully decorated house. We put streamers on his door and filled the rooms with balloons. We wrapped all his gifts separately and allowed him to pick a different gift to open each day throughout the week…
Read MoreSpring is here and it looks like the thick fog of sickness and winter is beginning to lift. 2019 feels like it's been filled with constant illness, reassessing, and rescheduling - which makes it feel like we've been a lot less productive than we'd hoped we would be…
Read MoreI’m so thankful for how much I’ve changed over the years. These past few months have caused me to re-evaluate how I focus my time, once again. The things I value. What I treasure. What I prioritize. What’s most important.
Read MoreI will always remember Emet’s 2nd Birthday. We were still in the middle of transitioning back to Louisville and in temporary housing - which made things a bit more challenging than a normal year. We were set on making his day special and making the most of our situation…
Read MoreLife moves really fast. Emet is about to have his 3rd birthday, Abner is almost 6 months old, Calvin and I are celebrating 11 years of marriage. It’s all gone by so quickly and the truth is, it only seems to be picking up speed. Sometimes it's hard to stop and enjoy the moment, forgetting in the busyness of life that memories are being made…
Read MoreSitting in my cozy space that overlooks the front yard. Craving the springtime when I can plant little flowers around the tree outside my window. Reflecting on some personal thoughts from this week…
Read MoreAs we close out 2018 and another year of blogging at JacinthaPayne.com, I thought it would be fun to put together a list of "reader favorites" from the year. Here are 10 of the most read blog posts. Enjoy!
Read MoreOne of my long-time favorite bands was touring this fall, so I planned a quick girls trip (plus Abner) to Chicago to see them in concert. It was my first time visiting Chicago, so we went up the evening before, to have the next day completely in the city and do some exploring before the concert…
Read MoreWe wanted it to be unique, and each of us friends had already done our traditional Thanksgiving dinners, so we were able to brainstorm different fun themes, and ended up settling on French cuisine as our inspiration for each course of the menu…
Read MoreEvery Thanksgiving has looked different for us, between hosting or traveling. For the first time this year, we kept it slow and just us. We spent the evening before prepping the house, the food, and creating the tablescape so there wouldn’t be much to do when we first woke up…
Read MoreI love the holidays and I really enjoy the opportunity it provides to create traditions with our family. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, we wanted to invest some time on the front end helping Emet understand thankfulness and what it means to be thankful…
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