dear new years resolutions, i already failed: now what?

Happy New Years you guys!!!

Okay, so to be honest, this week for me has not so much gone as I had hoped or planned as I’ve been crazy sick since January 1st!
At first, I have to admit and I’m sure Jimmy will agree, I was just a little bit grumpy and Negative Nancy about all of this, but about day 4, I realized that maybe God had a purpose in settling me down for a week…and I decided to change my perspective on the whole deal.

Now, Day 6…and just coming around the bend, I am SO thankful I got sick and had to spend nearly 6 whole days inside, either in bed or on the couch!
Never have I tried so many holistic remedies, rested so much, read so much, prayed so much, journaled so much or spent so much time just being present in the moment. I didn’t realize how much I was constantly looking ahead to the next thing, or attempting (not always actually successful) to be productive and mark just ‘one more thing’ off my ever growing to do list.

It took being sick to finally let the schedule go, take the pressure off, and surrender to whatever God has for me in this day, and oh my word, do I ever feel more at peace now!

And you guys, that’s the power of perspective…that’s the power of letting the moment be what it is instead of putting it up against what we think it should be!
Slowly but surely, I am learning….
{Maybe you’re picking up a little of what my 2016 focus will be??? #Ha! More on that soon….!}

ANYWAY!!!

All that to say, it’s the New Year and it’s definitely a time where a lot of us are attempting to put into practice new years resolutions, habits, goals or ideas!

It’s a fresh slate to start clean….
BUT!
I also know now that we’re into the middle of the first full week….and a lot of us have probably already blown it and might be thinking, “ahhh…forget it. I failed again!”

Been there, done that…learned the lesson!

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Which is exactly why Jimmy and I wanted to make this video for you guys…as we’ve walked this road MANY MANY times…not just in the New Year, but in our every day, day to day life. Thankfully, failure isn’t a bad thing, instead it’s simply an opportunity to learn and grow for the next time!

So if you’re someone who strives to make and keep your goals or someone who wants to begin making better choices and making them stick, I hope the lessons we’ve learned over the years encourage you in your journey!

To see exactly how I make my written list of goals and actions plans, check out: How I Make My Resolutions & How to Make Them Work

And since we’re all in this together, we would LOVE to hear your thoughts and wisdom as well, so be sure to leave a comment below (or leave a comment on YouTube)!

And don’t forget to like AND SHARE this video with your friends!

xoxo

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a year of worship – 2015 reflections

Intention and Reflection have to be two of my most favorite things in all the world. I literally get giddy and incredibly motivated when they are both present in my life. And so as each year draws to a close, I excitedly sit down with my journal and deliberately soak in all the moments the prior year had to offer…while praying and seeking ways to grow even more in the year to come.

Beginning in 2013, I adopted the tradition of choosing a word or intention for my upcoming year…something that I felt God had impressed upon my heart that needed to be more of an intention within my heart, mind, soul and life.
Three years later, it’s proven to be a worthy tradition, as I can look back and truly see God working (and continuing to work) in those sticky areas of my life.

My first word in 2013, was Joy.
In 2014, I choose Unstuck.
And this last year, probably my most impactful one, was Worship.

While I loved focusing on Joy — an heart attitude despite my circumstances, as well as Unstuck — getting out of unhealthy habits and instead creating new healthier alternatives….what I realized was that, while helpful and important, the focus those two years tended to be more self-focused.

And by 2015, I was tired of my failures, tired of striving, and ultimately kind of tired of myself…and I needed to escape the “me me me” that life had unintentionally become.

And so I felt God prompting me to the focus of Worship, the heart attitude and intentional act of taking the focus off of me, and placing it instead on the One who truly deserves it.

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness.”
Psalm 29:2

2015 was a year to choose Worship despite whatever may come…in the difficult, in the beautiful, and even in the simplicity of our day to day life.

It was a year to recognize that what I did was not about achieving a particular result, releasing all of that instead to the One who is always sovereign and faithful, and understanding that my part was simply to be obedient in all things. {Which ultimately serves as an act of worship that truly delights the Lord’s heart.}

 

quoteworship

 

Of all the years of words, goals, intentions and reflections, I have to say, this was the year that changed everything for me…as I realized more than ever what truly matters, and what my life’s purpose is ultimately about.

But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments; it’s a call to draw close to Christ. What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves, but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them.”
– Oswald Chambers

And in the end, it came down this, as I recently shared on Instagram

 

tozerquote

 

I believe we often tend to create so many of our own struggles simply because we have the wrong person on the throne of our lives.

And exalting the Lord seems an overwhelming task when we think of it being over OUR WHOLE LIFE as just one big event.

But when we break it down to simply inviting God into the little details and moments of our lives, everything changes.

When we consistently thank Him, notice Him and HIS WAYS over our own selves and ways and expectations of how we think it should be…
and when we practice doing this in all the little things, and in all the little moments and spaces of our lives — a million problems are solved all at once.

I can’t express enough just how much this truth has been a life changer for me, taking the anxieties of my life and heart, and instead has brought such a peace and joy in it’s place…
in all the things, big and small.

And after all we’ve been through this last year, having worship be my intention, aim and focus…I realize more than ever that I am not so awesome…but rather, He is.

 

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how to style bangs

Quick Tip Tutorial Time: How to Style Bangs!

It’s no secret that I’m absolutely obsessed with my bangs, or as I like to call them, my affordable botox!

I once tried to grow them out about a year ago, but only made it a few months before I found myself deep in some sort of identity crisis…
I mean, who am I even without my bangs???

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that extreme (depending on who you ask…)…but suddenly I just couldn’t handle it any longer, so I quickly rushed back into the arms of the girl who does my hair, and begged for fringe to come back into my life.
The moment the first cut was made, life was complete. I knew who I was, and we all moved on.
(If you watched our fam cams in the midst of that time, you know exactly what I’m talking about…and thank you, by the way, for putting up with me!)

I share that touching story to explain why I think I might be a qualified and trusted guru when it comes to subject of styling bangs….(just don’t dig into my past to see how i styled them in the 90’s though, yikes!!!)

 

Also, I want to start doing more of these quick tip videos, so make sure to let me know what else you guys want to see!

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major makeup declutter, foster care lessons & beauty box 5 unboxing

On this weeks Saldana Fam Cam: Post Foster Care Thoughts & Where We Go From Here, Beauty Box 5 Unboxing, Major Makeup Declutter, Must Read Book Recommendation, Coronado + more!!!

 

As always thank you so much for watching and hanging out with us on our weekly vlogs!

“But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments, its a call to draw close to Christ. What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves, but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them.” -Oswald Chambers

This is why we vlog, and this why we share. In hopes that by capturing the seemingly insignificant and ordinary moments, we will be prompted to look back and see God working and moving in ways we might possibly have missed otherwise. We believe we aren’t meant to walk this journey alone, and we are incredibly thankful to have this community, and most importantly the love, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Church Podcasts
I am Barabbas (book)

xo,
Summer

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going down memory lane, my latest workout plan & halloween!

Happy Monday!!!

You guys, I can’t EVEN believe it’s already November! I know people say stuff like that all the time, but seriously, we’ve had the weirdest hottest East Coast weather here in SoCal, that I feel like we are just skipping fall and jumping right into the holidays. That’s just not right, and it’s creating all kinds of confusion over here in my world! That, and going from 4 kids to 2 overnight, really has me wandering around wondering about life… (middle child here if you couldn’t tell…)

And then this weekend Jimmy gave me the budget talk so we could prepare for Christmas, which nearly sent me over the edge… not sure if that was more about budgeting or about it being CHRISTMAS soon… probably both.

Okay, moving on!

So this week on our Saldana Fam Cam…
Going down memory lane, BoxyCharm Unboxing (my FAVE monthly beauty box), Target Haul (the cutest hat & shoes ever!), My New Workout Plan (I was sore EVERY SINGLE DAY last week!), Halloween (Breaking Amish & Joe Dirt?), Church Chat + MORE!

 

 

And, as always thank you so much for watching and hanging out with us on our weekly vlogs!

“But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments, its a call to draw close to Christ. What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves, but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them.” -Oswald Chambers

This is why we vlog, and this why we share.
In hopes that by capturing the seemingly insignificant and ordinary moments, we will be prompted to look back and see God working and moving in ways we might possibly have missed otherwise. We believe we aren’t meant to walk this journey alone, and we are incredibly thankful to have this community, and most importantly the love, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Church Podcasts
BoxyCharm

xo

(p.s. if you guys ever have ideas on what you want to see more of in these fam cam videos, or if you have ideas for other videos and/or blog posts you’d love for me to do, let me know in the comments below or email me! always love your ideas and suggestions!)

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saldana fam cam: the end of a journey, redecorating on a budget & vegan cooking + more!

If you happen to follow me already over on my  YouTube channel (and if you don’t, nows a good time to subscribe!), you may already know that each week our family does this little thing we call, The Saldana Fam Cam. Basically, we film little snippets of our day to day life, and at the end of the week we put it all together to make one little vloggy family video.

If you’re new to my blog or YouTube channel, or to vlogging period (vlogging = video blogging, for the newbies!), this whole concept of what appears to be slight over sharing might just seem a little weird to you. Even if it’s not new to you, the whole thing STILL might seem a little weird.

I get it. I mean, filming our personal life and then sharing it PUBLICLY is just a little bit out there.

So, before I get into updating you on the last few weeks of crazy life changes, I just wanted to share this quick reminder on why we do these videos, and where our heart lies behind them:

“But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments, its a call to draw close to Christ. What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves, but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them.” -Oswald Chambers

This is why we vlog, and this why we share.

In hopes that by capturing the seemingly insignificant and ordinary moments, we will be prompted to look back and see God working and moving in ways we might possibly have missed otherwise. God never created us to walk this journey alone, and we are incredibly thankful to have this community, and most importantly the love, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

That shared…lets move into these last few weeks, because clearly I haven’t been the best at updating here on my blog!

THE END OF A JOURNEY
It’s the end of an incredible journey (foster care) for us, and my goodness, did we ever go out with a bang! This was by far an incredibly challenging week in so many ways (we share more on why in the video…but let’s just say it includes a little mini breakdown…of mine), and yet we know that even in the tough stuff, God is still good!

With this Fam Cam we took a little break from the normal day to day vlogging to instead share a little more in detail about our experience through foster care, and all that God has done and is continuing to do.
(Plus, little previews of my daily vlogs on snapchat! Find me there! ‘summersaldana’)

 

REDECORATING ON A BUDGET
As we enter this new season of life, I felt this really overwhelming need to make some changes around the house, so I got busy redecorating on a budget! (+ a Home Goods Haul, Chloes Birthday, Church Chat and lots more!)

 

VEGAN CROCKPOT COOKING
This is the latest vlog & pretty much brings you up to date with our life. We have Chloes Birthday Party, a Target & Costco Haul, New Makeup, 10 Myths Moms Believe, the YUMMIEST & Easiest Vegan soup in the crockpot (can you believe I cooked???), my new bible reading plan, workout of the day (Tracy Anderson + other YouTube goodies), and of course…Church Chat + MORE!

 

PRODUCTS MENTIONED

Our Church Podcasts
Hoodwinked
Vegan Crockpot Recipe
Eames Chairs

And as always, thank you so much for supporting us by watching and hanging out with us on our weekly vlogs! We are so thankful for your love & friendship!

xo

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savor the small things

| savor the small things |

*sometimes writing out an entire blog post feels overwhelming what with 4 kids, foster care, and life going all around me. yet the writer in me has thoughts I long to express, and that’s when the lovliness of a thing called ‘microblogging’ calls to me. In just a few minutes, wherever I happen to be, I can take to Instagram and share my heart. Sometimes, I later (in this case, a month later!), get a moment to share that same post here…here’s one of those moments*

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I’ve mentioned lately, both here & on my channel this overwhelming desire Ive been having for change, scaling back, rest, and living with more sincere intention both in relationships and the things I take on or put my time into.

It’s so easy to get too busy. Too caught up.

We live in this culture where are led to believe that more means blessed and bigger must be better.

But over this last month as I’ve intentionally pulled back from “striving” and “keeping up,” I believe God has really been showing me another way.

The less “big picture” I am and the more mindful I become of the small things – the simple things, the things we often overlook when we’re too busy piling on the tasks and commitments – the more I realize that small doesn’t mean insignificant.

In fact, it’s become quite the opposite.

I have truly found such a comfort and joy in choosing enough over desiring excess, and I pray God continues to nudge me towards savoring and cherishing the small things in my life.

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where and what on earth??? (a much needed update!)

Can you believe it??? A new blog post!!!

I’m still alive, really I am!!! (If you follow me on YouTube or social media, you might already be aware of this!) But, this blog? Oh my word. Have I ever been the most neglectful writer of life…
And my only excuse is…

FOUR KIDS & FOSTER CARE!!!
(I always wondered why more people didn’t do foster care…and then I became a foster parent. But that’s another blog post & another discussion for another time!!!)

Although I happen to know a lot of super moms with more than 4 kids, foster care, adoption and even more going on that are still able to juggle it all, the truth is, I don’t think I will ever be THAT cool. These last 8 months have been an emotional whirlwind, and while I don’t wish away the experience whatsoever, I do have to admit that now that it’s behind us, I see and appreciate the past and the present that much more.

Hindsight really is 20/20 isn’t it?

IMG_5852

But you guys, I can’t wait to share with you all that God did and all that God is doing, and the good news is, I will actually begin sharing it HERE once again! Now that life is calmer and more settled and my brain feels less mushy and cobwebby (new word), I am actually incredibly excited to begin writing again as well as continuing to make my videos over on my YouTube channel. I even have a really fun & exciting little project I’m working on just for you guys that I hope to have ready to go the beginning of January!

I think after all these many many years of ups and downs with my writing and my blog and trying to find my voice and a balance, I’m getting closer and closer to understanding what it is God has put on my heart to do. Maybe it’s the circumstances that have happened over these last few years, maybe it’s age and getting older, or maybe…it’s more likely the combination of both.

Either way, I’m back, and I am so excited to connect with you guys here once again!

xoxo

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saldana fam cam: narcissism & social media

Thank you so much for watching and hanging out with us on our Saldana Fam Cam!

“But learning to live well in ordinary time isn’t a call to elevate moments, its a call to draw close to Christ. What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves, but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them.” -Oswald Chambers

This is why we vlog, and this why we share.

In hopes that by capturing the seemingly insignificant and ordinary moments, we will be prompted to look back and see God working and moving in ways we might possibly have missed otherwise. We believe we aren’t meant to walk this journey alone, and we are incredibly thankful to have this community, and most importantly the love, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

On this weeks Saldana Fam Cam: Beach Friday, Costco Grocery Haul, Chloe’s Creations, Rigged Reality TV, and a serious YouTube/Social Media struggle I’ve been working through.

Last Weeks Saldana Fam Cam (since I forgot to post it!): Exposing Jimmy’s Major Flaw

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vitacost haul ft. pacifica, alba botanica, shikai + more!

It’s August Vitacost Haul Time!!!

Every month I place an online Vitacost order for my family & myself, and I love sharing these hauls with you guys because I am so passionate about proving that there are much better and healthier products out there and at affordable prices!

Plus, and I’m not even joking, shopping on Vitacost is like retail therapy – much like wandering through Target and leaving with things you didn’t know you needed – but way better because these things are HEALTHY and you actually need them!!!

It really does make such a difference what we use and put in or on our bodies, so any change you are able to make now is a step in the right direction!

Here are just a few ideas to get you started…

— Always first shop Vitacost through Ebates, Extrabux, or Top Cash Back to earn extra cash back off every order! I check them all first to see which is offering more cash back. —

Vitacost (earn $10 when you sign up!)
Ebates (earn $5 when you sign up with this link)
Extrabux (earn $5 when you sign up with this link)
TopCashBack (earn $10 when you sign up with this link)

And if you guys also prefer to shop healthier or shop on Vitacost as well, make sure to let us all know what we need to try next in the comments below!

*Previous orders for more ideas:
July Vitacost Haul
June Vitacost Haul

 

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It means so much that you are here! I know life gets busy though, so if you don't want to miss a thing, I invite you to subscribe to my blog through email!