It can be difficult to know what to get for new mamas + babies (How many binkies is too many binkies?) So this year we decided to share our favorite gifts for all the moms and little ones in your life.
P.S. Treat yo’self! It’s totally acceptable to send this gift guide to anyone who needs a little hint about what’s on your list.
1. Undercover Mama House Dress Because if you’re going to wear the same outfit
for a week, make it transition from day to night with no fuss, AND look cute.
2. Fawn Design Diaper Bag Diaper bags, but make it fashion.
3. Cute Hair Scrunchies Haven’t showered in a week? Baby pulling out your hair?
Can’t help you there, but these cute velvet scrunchies sure are a great distraction.
4. Glossier Cloud Paint Life hack: putting on a little cheek color helps you look less
tired and is a great way to feel like you have it all together! (PS. You are doing great,
you deserve this)
5. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask Change your lip game OVERNIGHT because a day
out at the spa isn’t exactly on your radar at the moment.
6. Trendy Hair Clips Now that you’ve tricked everyone into thinking you just
showered this morning, spruce up your fresh(ish) hair with some adorable hair clips.
7. Batiste Dry Shampoo Speaking of not having 15 minutes to yourself to take a
shower… mamas, let us introduce an absolute game-changer: DRY SHAMPOO!
8. SaraNoni Blanket FOR ALL THE SNUGGLES
9. Bark Thins (Chocolate) We really don’t have to explain this one.
10. Tumbler with Straw Say goodbye to having to microwave your coffee three
times! This Tumbler will keep your coffee warm for hours.
1. Childhood History Journal A personal favorite (for obvious reasons) This is a
gift that keeps on giving.
2. Honest Co. Diaper Rash Cream Gentle, effective, and plant-based - you
can never have too much of this stuff.
3. Nose Frida PSA: It may not be the most glamorous gift on the list, but this self-
described snot sucker’ is a must-have.
4. Beanie A cute knitted beanie under $10? Can’t go wrong here.
5. Baby carrier Under $30, with over 3,000 five star reviews this practical baby
carrier will make running errands with your new one a little easier.
6. Dock-a-Tot This baby lounger mimics the womb and is a total game-changer
forgetting a (kind of) good night's rest.
7. Onesies A cozy little organic onesie perfect for those cold winter nights.
8. Freshly Picked Moccs The mother of all baby moccasins, your baby will be
the envy of the ball (daycare?)
PS. Don’t forget to add Promptly Journals to your shopping list!
Our Black Friday sale goes all week long starting November 26th and will be offering
Happy Holidays, and happy shopping!
]]>
As it was my first time in Sydney, Australia, I couldn’t have been more excited to explore for a few nights. Having a sister-in-law who lives in Australia, it was the perfect excuse to visit this coastal city. Over the years, I’ve heard you either love Melbourne or Sydney and having been to Melbourne multiple times, the jury was still out on Sydney. A quick spoiler alert: there is much to love about Sydney, quickly putting it at the top of my list of must-experience cities in Australia. Maybe it was those turquoise waters splashing up at Bondi or the incredible coffee culture, either way, I know I will be returning back for more.
Before visiting Sydney there are a few things to know. Transportation is quite simple — you don’t need a car at all. The key is to pick a place to stay that is centrally located for ease in travel. Sections of the city are walkable and Uber is readily available to get you across the city when needed. If you’re headed in summer months (their summer is North America’s winter), be sure to prep for the heat. It can get scorching hot, so I would opt for the shoulder seasons of spring and fall if you want milder temperatures.
When it comes to booking accommodations, we chose to be in Surry Hills in an Airbnb. The Airbnb was perfect for the four of us to have our own space and be centrally located. We walked to most places nearby. Had we booked a hotel, my top choices would have been the Darling Hotel or the Hotel Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbor. Both of these hotels have incredible views over the harbor.
Another Airbnb in same neighborhood
Another Airbnb in nearby neighborhood
During our weekend in Sydney, I’ll be honest that we were after cuisine. The food scene is here is out of this world — with unique spaces that are design forward and innovative with their flavors. One of the most memorable meals was at Cho Cho San where we dined for my husband’s birthday. This Japanese-inspired menu is in minimal space and perfect for a meal with shared plates. We frequented local coffee shops and cafes, like Mecca, Single O Surry Hills, Paramount Coffee Project, and Reuben Hills throughout the time. Another stand out meal was a long brunch at Porch and Parlour in Bondi. Their quintessential Australian breakfast is a must. Some of our other favorite meals included Shuk Bondi and Apollo Restaurant.
With close access to the coast, Sydney showed off its natural beauty when we were there. There is so much to do whether you choose to stay within the city or take the scenic hikes like the Bondi to Coogee trail along the ocean. I loved walking around Surry Hills, exploring the local boutiques and cafes. The CBD and the Rocks is a must — you can’t help but take that iconic photo of the Sydney Opera House. One day, we took the ferry over to Manly, which acted like a free scenic boat ride across the bay, something I highly recommend to do. And of course, there’s the beloved Icebergs at Bondi. How can you not sit and stay a while, soaking in the view of the natural ocean pool filled up by waves?
When I think about my favorite memory in Sydney, it had to be the morning spent at the Grounds of Alexandria. It came as the most recommended dining/shopping experience in the city. It’s a beautiful space that has been converted into a few cafes and gardens, all seamlessly connected together. As a design destination, it was the perfect spark for creativity. After a long breakfast here (be sure to reserve in advance), we walked around, soaking in the beautiful space.
Planning your next adventure? Be sure to take one of our Travel Journals with you! This Promptly journal features thoughtful, meaningful prompts to help you record and remember the best details of your favorite trips.
]]>
Paris has a reputation for being the most romantic city in the world (just look to books, poetry, music, and movies about Paris for proof), so what better destination than the City of Lights for a honeymoon? Paris is one of my favorite cities, and I wanted to share all of its beauty and magic with my husband, Chris, so we decided it would be the perfect place to celebrate as newlyweds. We got married in October and I’ve always wanted to visit Paris in the fall—it’s the perfect weather to enjoy croissants and cappuccinos at charming sidewalk cafes while bundled up in cozy sweaters and scarves. Needless to say, Paris in autumn did not disappoint! We stayed in Paris for a week for the first half of our honeymoon, and then traveled south by train to Spain for the second half.
I think your best bet is to book a property on Airbnb (many Paris hotels are super pricey for not a lot of space). I'd suggest staying in the Marais (super hip neighborhood and lots of shops and cafes), or in the Latin Quarter (classic Paris), or near the Pantheon (the area feels very safe and is near the university so there are a lot of students and young people around). Here are a few Airbnb recommendations:
As for hotels, I’ve heard great things about the Hoxton Hotel and Hotel Henriette—I’m dying to check out both on my next visit! I stayed at Hotels Des Grandes Ecoles the first time I visited Paris in my early 20s, and it was super charming. Definitely low-key and nothing fancy, but it has a great courtyard and is in a good location—and it’s a great price!
There are so many good things to eat in Paris! Whatever you do, eat all the bread and all the croissants. I don’t have one favorite bakery in Paris—instead, I prefer to try a new one each morning (or multiple times a day…)
There’s no shortage of things to see and do in Paris! My favorite activity is just wandering the streets and people watching, but here are a few of my favorite sights and museums:
FAVORITE MEMORY FROM OUR TRIP TO PARIS
Document your own romantic getaway with a Travel Journal! This Promptly journal features thoughtful, meaningful prompts to help you record and remember the best details of your favorite trips.
]]>Thank you, Amanda and Cree, for sharing your love story with us!
Want to document your own love story? Shop our Love Story Journals and remember where it all began.
Traveling is the only time where when you spend money you come back richer. We designed our Travel Journals to help you keep your memories in one place.
Read on about Kylie's Morrocan Adventure and see what her answers are to our Travel Journal prompts.
Name(s) of travelers:
Kylie (on a family trip)
What inspired the trip and destination?
I've had a few friends travel to Morocco, all of whom come back with glowing reviews. Morocco is this fascinating intersection of French, Middle Eastern, and African culture. Aesthetic pockets of the internet are littered with photos of Morocco, which for years had taunted me with glimpses of Arabic calligraphy, rich red rugs, fascinating geometric pools, and desert landscapes.
Favorite sites:
Favorite shops you discovered:
Shopping in the many souks of Marrakech will allow you to discover magic with every corner turned. After wandering through the souks enough times, you will eventually discover many merchants sell similar items to one another. Highlights of my purchases in the souks include leather poufs, old Berber rugs, and a vintage silver jewelry box adorned with camel bone and coral detailing (it’s a true masterpiece).
Hidden gems:
If you try to read up on restaurants and cafes ahead of time, you might find yourself disappointed. Nothing that feels westernized in any way will provide you with a rich, genuine Moroccan experience. One afternoon, I was absolutely famished and needed to sit down at whatever restaurant was nearby. I wandered into a side alley where an unassuming sign read “Dar Mimoun Restaurant.” Knowing food was the answer, what I didn’t realize were the magical properties this little restaurant held. Divine, inexpensive food, an overgrown garden in the building’s courtyard, creeping into every corner, magical mismatched china and silverware, high expansive ceilings, and a pouf footrest for every guest. It felt like the Moroccan version of Alice in Wonderland.
Most inspiring/memorable moment:
I was in Marrakech during the Hijra (Islamic) New Year without knowing it. I stepped out of a museum and into a small side road where hundreds of people were marching towards me with giant paper mâché puppets. Children were dancing and laughing and cheering. I joined the crowd once I was over my initial shock of such a sight, bought a fresh kilo of figs for 10 dirhams (the equivalent of $1), and shared them with perfect strangers as I paraded through the streets with the jubilant locals. That moment encapsulated pure joy.
Favorite accommodation:
Dar Les Cigognes is the most enchanting little Riad just south of Marrakech’s city wall. The Riad staff were nothing but charming, the meals served in-house were so delightful, and having access to the rooftop terrace gives all guests a perfect platform to enjoy sunrise and sunset each day. During my stay, I became particularly fond of my room — my entire bathroom was green. The bathtub, the tiling, the sink, you name it. After wandering through the dusty, humid, bustling streets of Marrakech all day, I’d draw a warm bath, put on the new ZHU discography, and get lost swimming around in my thoughts.
Favorite eats:
Anything you can buy off the streets. Marketplaces have vendors selling all sorts of delights: dates and figs, sweet, sticky baklava, divine smoothie concoctions (avocado, date, and honey…), spicy olives, and the most astoundingly fresh French bread.
What did you love about the local culture?
In Morocco, detail is everything. Not a single walkway, garden, riad, or restaurant has been neglected of myriad textures, patterns, colors, and smells. Everything about Morocco is vibrant and delightful. There’s so much to take in, you’ll never stop feeling overwhelmed (in the best way possible).
What advice would you give to others going here?
So, cozy up on the couch and get ready to finish that holiday shopping, because best yet all of these products can be delivered straight to your door. We won’t blame you if you find yourself doing just a little self-shopping too.
Promptly Journals// These journals make it easy to give a heartfelt gift with a journal for every person on your list. We have a journal for the newlyweds, the new parents, and the travelers in your life.
Bibs USA// These 100% natural pacifiers are the perfect gift because you can choose custom colors.
Arvo// A watch for everyone in your life, Arvo Watches have designs for women, men, and children. If you are looking for a good wardrobe staple these watches are a must.
Little Unicorn// Say hello to the worlds softest swaddle. The deluxe cotton swaddles can't be beaten and there is a pattern to fit every style.
Alice + Ames// Style is not limited to the adults, Alice + Ames has classic clothing in beautiful color palettes. Moms and kids will find that these beautiful pieces are not only adorable but also functional.
MinErbs// Tis the season to give a little relaxation. MinErbs has 100% natural and plant-based products that are sure to leave you refreshed and relaxed after the holiday season.
Happy Holidays, and of course happy shopping!
Love,
Promptly Journals
]]>
If the launch of our Travel Journal was any indication, we're big fans of hopping on a plane and heading out into the world to explore new cities and cultures. We've got a serious case of wanderlust, but let's be honest: traveling with kids can be challenging. So we were thrilled when we found out about Kid & Coe. Think of Kid & Coe as the Airbnb of family travel: the website curates private family homes, vacation rentals, and even hotels across the globe that are "kid-tested, parent-approved." Properties are safe and suitable for children, and feature amenities like books, toys, and more.
As a special discount for Promptly customers, get $75 off your first stay with Kid & Coe! Use the code 'PROMPTLY' when booking on their site. The code is valid for use until December 31 2018.
Below, we chat with Zoie Kingsbery Coe, mother and founder of Kid & Coe, to get the scoop on her company, family travel hot spots, helpful tips for a memorable trip with your little ones, and more!
ZOIE: There were a number of factors—one was that I had just had my second child, a girl, and I remember thinking to myself when she was about 6 months that I had always wanted to have my own company, and how was I going to teach my daughter that she could do anything she wanted to do if I hadn’t tried myself? I would say the other factor is that I really value travel in my own life and how it shaped me, and I wanted to pass those same experiences on to my own kids. After many years touring the globe with my musician husband, and then with him and our first child, I felt first hand that there was a gap in the market for a family-friendly accommodation option that suited our needs.
What you need when you’re traveling with a baby or toddler is very different from what you need with teenagers, so give that some thought before you even start your search. And when you’re traveling with a toddler and a preteen, as I am, it gets even more complex! Space, safety, and a great location really helps. We detail all the listings on Kid & Coe so it’s easy to see how the space will work for your kids—because every family is different. It’s great to arrive to a house that has a high chair, crib, and toys already there—it saves in excess baggage and makes travel with kids so much easier.
Our top five most visited destinations on Kid & Coe are Amsterdam, the Hudson Valley, California, Los Angeles, and Paris.
Go with the flow! Audio books, coloring, stickers, anything goes...
An iPad and headphones, I’m not going to lie...also I’m not particularly artsy, but I do often pack a watercolor palette, as wherever you go in the world, you can find something to paint on. Pebbles on a beach are good fun.
Raisins and Goldfish!
We do a little planning before a trip, looking on the internet at what it’s going to look like and seeing what’s on and what they might like to see. It’s really easy to do this with just about all ages, even if you’re just searching a location on Instagram and getting a feel for what it might be like there.
I recommend checking out family programming at museums; these days there is so much available. It’s worth looking at these in advance to plan free days and to make sure you don’t miss the weekly creative session.
Trying something new is always a good idea—whether that’s food, a new form of public transport, or getting up before the dawn breaks to see the sunrise. Travel is all about breaking out of the normal routine to do something different.
Don’t overplan: build in a few afternoons to go with the flow, where you can eat ice cream and watch TV and feel under no pressure to see or do anything else. Kids often need a little time to adjust. I can also recommend that you tidy your house up and make fresh beds before you leave for vacation. When you come home, you’re in a place to relax.
Photos: Kid & Coe
Document your next family adventure with a Travel Journal! Our prompted Travel Journal will help you record the most important details, memories, and feelings from your adventure.
]]>
We recently launched a new Adoption Journal in collaboration with The Archibald Project. A portion of the proceeds from our collab will go straight to The Archibald Project to aid in their efforts to advocate for children worldwide and help end the global orphan crisis. We're both believers in the power of storytelling and capturing your own personal journey. Inspired by the Archibald Project's hashtag #storytellingchangestheworld, we're sharing some of their most powerful adoption stories here on the blog.
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
Today we're sharing the beautiful story of the Wall Family, who adopted their son, Everett, from his birth mother, Dominique, in Texas. Below, read their answers to prompts from our Adoption Journal and see photos from their journey. Hop over to The Archibald Project to read and see even more of their adoption story!
ALLYSON WALL: There are several reasons I chose to adopt. My heart was stirred originally by spending time in other countries and seeing the number of orphans in our world. My heart broke. As I continued in ministry here in Dallas, my heart has been equally broken. I've met so many girls that would find themselves with unplanned pregnancies who are scared or rattled by the news. They often have family members, friends, or the birth father advising them to just "fix" the situation by aborting the child.
I've said I am "pro-life," but really, I also would say that I am "pro-choice," meaning giving these women a real option that gives BOTH the mom and the child life. So while my husband and I didn't know if infertility would be a part of our story, we knew that being an option for women who find themselves in these situations would be. We will always be an option for any woman contemplating life or death for their child. Our home will always be open. Our child's birth mother was one of these women in this situation, and we are so grateful to have her in our lives, as well as our precious son Everett.
I love this question. We did nothing to prepare "materially" for the child. We did not purchase anything until after the birth mother signed papers choosing us to parent Everett. This also meant saying no to people who wanted to do showers for us. We did not announce on social media that we were adopting or that we had been chosen by the birth mother. We instead focused on meeting with a small group of people to process and pray. We talked through if I should prepare to continue working or stay home if the birth mother did choose us. We had conversations with family members and close friends, we took some parenting classes, read, and truly spent the most time in prayer.
We prayed that the lord would guide us each step and that we would be present each day. We prayed that the Lord would be our peace no matter if the child went home with his birth child or with us. We prayed for discernment on how to care for the birth mother and support her as well. We prayed that regardless of the outcome, that Everett would be healthy and grow to know the Lord.
We also focused on our marriage. How were we doing at loving each other? While we were focused on getting ourselves ready, our family and friends put a signup together to have everything ready for us if we were chosen to parent Everett. They literally ended up having everything and more than we could have needed. It was incredible!
We met Dominique, Everett's birth mom, through mutual friends at church, but we met her for the first time in person at Raising Canes! Ha! We asked Dominique where she would like to meet, and I guess her pregnancy cravings included fried chicken. I wasn't having pregnancy cravings, but I love fried chicken too! After our meeting, Dominique said she wanted to move forward with us, and after taking some time process, we too agreed we were excited to be on this journey with her! She invited me to come to some doctor appointments with her, which I am forever grateful for! This means I was able to see Everett before he was even born!
My husband and I had planned to lead a team of young adults to Israel on a mission trip before we met our sons birth mother. We originally thought her due date was December 16, and we were set to return from Israel on November 27. While at a doctor's appointment with Everett's birth mother we realized we actually heard the due date wrong and it was December 6! We processed a ton if we should still go on the trip, and ultimately Everett's birth mom said she felt comfortable with us still going. We agreed to immediately fly back if something were to happen unexpectedly.
We made it through the entire trip, but as soon as our first flight back landed, we got word that her water broke and Everett was coming early! I panicked. We had a 5-hour layover, and on our final flight back we received the text that Everett was born. We were devastated to not be there. When we landed, the flight attendant had everyone remain seated and announced on the intercom that we were needing to get to the hospital to see a baby boy we hoped to adopt. As we got up and ran off the plane, the entire plane erupted in cheering for us. I erupted in tears. We chose not to see a picture beforehand and after a mad dash to the hospital we finally got to see Everett. He was perfect.
Overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by how perfect he looked. Overwhelmed by how at peace he was, not fussing. He was so perfect. It also was overwhelming because the second I held him I knew the love that my husband and I had for him, BUT I also knew we weren't his parents in that moment. We were standing at the foot of his birth mother's bed and he was still very much hers. I was overwhelmed with compassion trying to even imagine what she was feeling. The thing that gave me peace, though, was knowing this child was so very loved. By us, his birth mother, and all our family and friends. Everett has been overwhelmingly loved from the very beginning by more people than he will ever understand.
Photos: The Archibald Project
Capture your own adoption story in an Adoption Journal—a portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project.
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
]]>
This week we launched a new Adoption Journal in collaboration with The Archibald Project. A portion of the proceeds from our collab will go straight to The Archibald Project to aid in their efforts to advocate for children worldwide and help end the global orphan crisis. We're both believers in the power of storytelling and capturing your own personal journey. Inspired by the Archibald Project's hashtag #storytellingchangestheworld, we're sharing some of their most powerful adoption stories here on the blog.
Today we're sharing the story of the Shaw Family who adopted their daughter, Elsie, from Mwana Villages in the Republic of Congo. Below, read their answers to prompts from our Adoption Journal and see photos from their journey. Hop over to The Archibald Project to read and see even more of their adoption story!
KRISTIN SHAW: Joel and I met when we were in middle school, and we said even at that young age that we “knew we would get married” ha! By the time we were in high school and college, we were already talking about our future family and how we both felt that God had placed adoption on our hearts. We felt open to having children biologically as well, and when the time came to start our family we started adoption paperwork as well as prayed for the lines on that pregnancy test!
By God’s grace, He took us on a journey these past 5 years that I never would have chosen myself but that we are so grateful for. We have experienced being chosen by a birth mother in a domestic adoption where that birth mother made the decision to parent days after the child was in our home. What did this show us? That our hearts, although believing they were in the right place, didn’t fully think through the other side of adoption and all of the love, bravery, care, and difficulty that a mother goes through when making a decision to parent or to make an adoption plan. That has drastically shaped our view of the approach we want to take with adoption—which is one that is holistic and places the needs of others above our own desire for a family.
We also worked with an international adoption program from which we walked away when we felt ethics became blurry. What did this teach us? That God calls us to be advocates for every child: to be certain that adoption is the right plan for a child, and to first ensure that familial reconciliation is not possible. These experiences led us to Mwana Villages in the Republic of Congo. Their mission statement is “Mwana Villages is a grass-roots ministry. We exist to serve the Littles, Bigs and Mamas through practical and sustainable ways, creating long-term solutions with a goal toward preserving the family.” We first saw our daughter’s face in January 2016. We walked through that process to bring her home and finally did in September 2017, which we had the privilege of sharing with The Archibald Project.
We had been in the adoption process for a few years before we even knew about our daughter, Elsie. So, we had a lot of time to prepare! In some ways we prepared by reading, talking with other adoptive parents, and praying that Jesus would equip our hearts with what we needed to know and learn to love our children well—both adopted and biological.
By the time we started the process to adopt Elsie, we also had our son, Simeon, to prepare. Simeon is our biological son that was born in April 2015. We started talking about Elsie and had the privilege of FaceTiming with her at least once a week for a year prior to her homecoming. We made up songs about her, sent her pictures of our family, and included her in our conversations with Simeon daily. By the time we went to go bring Elsie home, both she and Simeon were familiar with each other which was such a blessing!
For us, spending time in prayer for Elsie and Simeon, as well as preparing ourselves with the expectation that life would be a challenge when she arrived was so important. The truth is that adding a two-year-old to your family IS going to be challenging—but that is to be expected, AND our kind, spunky, and silly Elsie Gene was worth every difficult moment, every tear, and every challenge.
Well, the first time we “met” Elsie was over FaceTime! She just stared at us, and honestly, that is pretty much what she did for most of our FaceTimes. But, meeting her in person in September 2017 you could tell she knew exactly who we were. She was tentative, nervous, and uncertain. We were so excited, and nervous as well! We were in the Republic of Congo (Pointe-Noire) and it was about 6 a.m. when we walked into the gates of Mwana Villages to meet Elsie. I’ll never forget her questioning face, blue and white dress, and inquisitive eyes as we swooped her up into our arms.
We spent two weeks with her in Congo before bringing her home, and it was amazing to see her go from not talking at all to slowly humming, singing, wanting to be held, and reaching for us. Now, almost a year later, we are still seeing progress made and are all learning how to show each other love, understanding, and patience as there are so many different emotions and experiences that go into molding a family together.
Oh man, it is impossible to describe this! What I can tell you is that when we wake up in the morning to hear Simeon and Elsie chatting, giggling and talking about how they are “best friends” our heart melts. This journey has not always been easy, but one thing that has been so beneficial is giving ourselves, and Elsie, grace to have hard days. To see love GROW and to realize that God is transforming all of our hearts everyday.
With any child—biological or adopted—you think you love them more than anything and then the next day somehow you love them more. That has been our experience with Elsie—oh how we loved her the moment we saw her, yet a little over two years later our love has grown and grown. To have my beautifully kind daughter look at me in the eyes and ask for a kiss and to know that a year ago that would never happen. To have my heart swell when she says “I love you” and the truth is to know it didn’t feel the exact same a year ago, and that’s OK. To be forever grateful everyday as we have watched our hearts transform in love towards Elsie, so that now none of us could imagine our lives without her.
One of my favorite things in life is to see Elsie and Simeon’s love for each other. It’s as if they looked at each other last September and said “there you are. I’ve been waiting for you.” We know that isn’t the case in every adoption, and so we praise the Lord for that gift.
Photos: The Archibald Project
Capture your own adoption story in an Adoption Journal—a portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project.
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
]]>This week we launched a new Adoption Journal in collaboration with The Archibald Project. A portion of the proceeds from our collab will go straight to The Archibald Project to aid in their efforts to advocate for children worldwide and help end the global orphan crisis. We're both believers in the power of storytelling and capturing your own personal journey. Inspired by the Archibald Project's hashtag #storytellingchangestheworld, we're sharing some of their most powerful adoption stories here on the blog.
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
Today we're sharing the story of the Harris Family who adopted their son Nate, a 13-year-old boy who was blind, from China. Grab a box of tissues because this story is a tear-jerker! Below, read their answers to prompts from our Adoption Journal and see photos from their journey. Hop over to The Archibald Project to read and see even more of their adoption story!
TIFFANY HARRIS: Our adoption story really began with simply sponsoring a child. When looking for ethical organizations to support, we found Bethel China, a home for blind and visually impaired children. My husband looked through the profiles of the children needing sponsorships and felt Nate was the one. We started sponsoring Nate in August of 2015. We began sending letters and packages and were praying for him, when God began to move in our hearts. In December of 2016 we had a very important conversation in which we both felt God was laying adoption in our hearts. After praying and talking with our three biological kids, we crossed the “yes” line in July of 2017. Oh what a beautiful and terrifying journey.
Connecting with other families who had walked a similar path, or were beginning the adoption process, really helped prepare us in some ways for what was to come. We also prayed for every single aspect of our adoption process. We really felt like God was working in us, our biological kids, and Nate. Also, mounds of paperwork helped prepare us for our adoption :)
In awe! This moment, the one we had been praying for, preparing for, dreaming of, talking about... and there he was. In that moment, he went from orphan to son.
Photos: The Archibald Project
Capture your own adoption story in an Adoption Journal—a portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project.
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
]]>First, we're sharing the adoption story of Wellon and Stephen Bridgers, who adopted their two children, Leila and Daniel, from Mwana Villages in The Republic of Congo. Below, read their answers to prompts from our Adoption Journal and see photos from their journey. Hop over to The Archibald Project to read and see even more of their adoption story!
WELLON: My husband and I were dating in college when I first brought up adoption—ha! What teenage boy has ever seriously considered what parenting would look like, much less what adoption would mean? As we dreamt of marrying and starting a family one day, I look back at us as starry-eyed babies, sheltered from life outside of the world we knew. Adoption was something I had long dreamed of—it was an unexplained “just made sense” for me—I had never been someone who longed to have biological children or experience pregnancy. So when my hubby responded with, “Hmm, I’ve never thought about it before,” I knew it would be something the Lord would have to do in his heart, over time, and as we grew together as a couple and family.
A few years later and with no follow-up conversation, I can remember where we were standing in our tiny first house, both grad students and married less than a year when he said out of the blue, “You know, I really believe we will grow our family through adoption one day.” We were still years away from starting a family, but that day marked something beautiful and critical in our marriage: we were completely unified for adoption.
Our children have been home almost three years; their place in our family is inextricable and we celebrate that the scales of time have tipped in our favor so that they have now been Bridgers far longer than they have not. Still little ones (not yet five years old), we think already about the implications of being an interracial family in the deep South and currently in a predominantly white community. The ebb-and-flow of decisions to be made, along with the conversations about our interracial family are an ever-present and very welcome topic in our house. Adopting Leila and Daniel has shaped us in countless ways, but transracial adoption has called us to become learners first, and to engage in the current conversation and work of racial reconciliation in a profound, life-changing way.
I have a unique role in my work with Mwana Villages to get to know many adoptive families, or couples just beginning to consider adoption. One concern that I often hear (and typically from husbands, though wives often admit to struggling with this post-adoption) is how a parent will be able to truly love an adopted child as “their own.” Our experience was a bit different and shaped our love for our children less based on emotion and more a choice to love unconditionally because of the simple fact: you are our child.
By the time we got to know Leila and Daniel, we were already parents to 4-year-old biological twins and had walked through one long, failed adoption process. In that process, we had experienced deep, profound parental love for twin boys that we thought would be our own, but thankfully resulted in family reunification. We discovered Mwana Villages and the children who would become our son and daughter with hearts well-worn but stronger (along with many more gray hairs). There was a long and difficult adjustment for me as a mother to move from “fight mode” in which I had been operating for years as an adoptive mother to “mother mode” in which I could rest in the completed process and new beginning as a family of six.
But throughout that transition and to this day, what runs through our minds and hearts is: I love you for you are my child. Like any parent, there are aspects of all four of our children’s personalities that we lean more towards or struggle more with, but at the end of the day, love has so little to do with emotions and instead is a choice for the unconditional.
Photos: The Archibald Project
Capture your own adoption story in an Adoption Journal—a portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project.
]]>Today we're excited to launch the Promptly Journals x The Archibald Project Adoption Journal! We teamed up with The Archibald Project on this very special collab to help support a cause we care deeply about. Founded by wife and husband duo Whitney and Nick Runyon (pictured above with their three adorable children), The Archibald Project is an orphan care advocacy organization that uses storytelling to build community, inspire people to take action, and to advocate and educate on orphan care and the orphan crisis worldwide.
We sat down with Whitney and Nick to learn more about The Archibald Project and the details of their own amazing adoption journey. Read more about their incredible and inspiring story below!
A portion of the proceeds from our new Adoption Journal collab will go straight to The Archibald Project
WHITNEY: The mission of The Archibald Project, or TAP, as we call it (because let’s be honest, The Archibald Project can be a mouthful), is to basically end the global orphan crisis. It’s a huge mission, impossible many would say, but we truly believe that our children’s generation could see a world where all children are loved and cared for in a family style environment. Obviously more people need to get involved for this to happen, and how do you get people involved? You tell a story, you start a movement, and you inspire. And that’s what TAP is doing.
We didn’t actually seek out adoption. We are in the adoption world and have many relationships with other orphan care related organizations so one day we got an email about documenting an adoption and in that same email we were asked to pray for a group of three siblings that they would find a family and that their family would also be on that same trip to meet and bond.
Nick and I sat down and fearfully asked one another, “Are we supposed to be their family?” Everything in us said no. We couldn’t go from zero to three, we couldn’t fundraise for an international adoption AND our salaries, we only had one car, our house wasn’t big enough, and our list went on and on.
But a few days later we were sitting in a Sunday school class my dad was leading and he was talking about the verse where Jesus says, "Whatever you do for someone in need you do it for me." And I felt like the Holy Spirit was there saying, “This is your answer.” And it scared me more than anything in the world. Nick took a little more time, and after 9 weeks of seeking counsel, praying a lot, talking, fighting, crying, and alllllll the things, we said yes to adopting our three children. I’ve blogged a little about the story on my website, whitrunyon.com/adoption, and plan to share more soon. You can also read more about our "why" on my personal Instagram, @whitrunyon, as I’m constantly sharing thoughts and struggles there :)
Almost a year! We officially started our adoption in September 2017. We said yes to our children in late August, hopped on a plane, spent 8 days getting to know them, and then came home and started the paperwork (because our Congo is not Hague we were allowed to know our children going into the adoption process).
After we received their guardianship documentation we decided that being in a family as soon as possible was the best decision for our aging children, and because we can work from anywhere there is internet we decided to move to the Republic of Congo and live with our kids until their paperwork is finalized. We have been in the Congo since May and our paperwork seems to be stuck. It’s a common story with international adoption and I have a lot more grace for people having now walked through this agonizing wait.
I love the story of when we first met. In the fall of 2015 we were documenting a beautiful adoption in the Republic of the Congo and fell in love with the hosting organization because of their holistic approach to orphan care and desire for family preservation. While we were at the babies home on the very first day two little tubby twins stole my heart. I filled my phone with their faces, something I no longer allow or recommend (taking pictures of vulnerable children the first day you meet them), and said to myself, "I could totally be their mom." But I knew my husband wasn’t in the same place and, to be honest, they had an older brother and it scared me to adopt an older child, so I put the thought out of my mind.
Now here we are, two and a half years later, and I’m just so thankful that I had that time with my children when they were younger, when they could barely walk. I’m so thankful that I got to hold them, if only for a few days, and to pick them up when they were crying. And I’m so thankful I have photos and videos of us together from that trip.
I’ve been learning a lot about love and at this point in my life, to me, love means commitment and honor. I am committed to my children. I am and will continue to sacrifice for them and do everything I can to raise them well. But I’ll be honest, in adoption, you instantly become family with a stranger, or in our case three strangers, and this can be really hard. There is a lot of learning and adapting and growing involved, and it’s okay to allow your feelings to grow. Something that overwhelmed us in the beginning is fear that feelings wouldn’t ever grow. But then we stopped, took a breath, and reminded ourselves of truth and that in fact, love grows.
I would say: research, research, research! Sadly, there is SO much corruption and child trafficking involved in international adoption. We have a lot of resources on our website for helping to ensure that your adoption is ethical—you can find that info here. But my biggest suggestion for adoptive parents is to do a third party investigation on your agency and the babies home/child you are matched with. For instance, look on Facebook for people who live in the city or town where your child is living and ask them to drop by the group home, or ask if they know anything about the group home, or if they know an investigator you can hire to dig around.
Ask your agency how they ensure that the organizations they work with are only adopting children who cannot be resettled with biological family and if their answer is, ‘Because the country is Hague’ or ‘trust us,' I would suggest looking for another agency. Agencies who are working in international adoption need proof that they are only working within country organizations who work hard to keep vulnerable families together. If this is not happening there is a high chance that someone is making money off finding children for international adoption. This is a bigger question though so I would love to invite you all over to our website to learn more!
Great question! There are so many ways to get involved!
First, sharing our stories is huge because you never know who might see it and decide to directly get involved via foster care, adoption, or family preservation. There are many organizations across the U.S. who support biological families who have had their children placed in foster care. Loving on these families is a huge need to help reduce our nation’s foster care crisis. And it is a crisis. There are over 415,000 children right now in our system. That just isn’t right.
Another great way is by finding an ethical organization—we have many that we’ve researched and vetted on our website, and no we do not make money off of them—and support their holistic efforts! Many organizations around the world are working towards ending the crisis in their area but they need a lot of financial help. Donating is HUGE! And of course donating to TAP is always a wonderful help as well!
You can also search for foster care agencies in your city and call and ask how you can volunteer or help local foster families. Many families are in need of clothing, diapers, date nights, and babysitters. By supporting a foster or adoptive family you are giving them rest and community and helping them march on in directly loving and fighting for their childrens' lives. And as an adoptive mom, help is a huge need, because this is emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting. Many adoptions and foster placements fail because the parents don’t have enough help.
All of them! Haha! At least we hope :) But the very reason we started The Archibald Project is where our motto came from.
In 2011 we documented an adoption of a 7 year old boy with Down Syndrome. We traveled with the dad to Bulgaria and we were so moved by this beautiful example of love and acceptance that is adoption that we shared the photos on Facebook. A few weeks later a total stranger emailed us and said, “Because of your photos, I found my son and we are now adopting a chronically ill 5 year old. If it had not been for your photos we never would have found our son.”
And that’s when we realized that photos and videos could help children find families! We got with a lawyer and formed a 501c-3 nonprofit centered around telling orphan care related stories. But I honestly didn’t think it would last very long. I remember in the beginning thinking, "If we never help another child, this one story was enough because there is a chronically ill child who was set to be moved to a retirement home in a few months (at the age of 5!) who now has the love of a family and a hope and a future! One story changed this little boy’s world forever and his new life will change many more lives and so on and so on. So storytelling really does change the world!
But that was in 2011. Fast forward 7 years and we humbly receive emails and messages often letting us know because of one of our podcasts, videos, or Instagram stories that a family is now directly adopting or fostering, or changing their college major so they can have the knowledge to work in an industry to affect change in the future. Or one of my favorites is when an adult who was adopted contacts us and says, "Thank you for the work you are doing, these stories need to be told!" It’s a hard job, but all the hardship and pain is worth it because we know that the world has less orphans because of The Archibald Project’s storytelling!
You can keep up with our work in global orphan care daily on Instagram: @thearchibaldproject Facebook: facebook.com/
Purchase a TAP collaboration Adoption Journal and a portion of the proceeds will go straight to The Archibald Project
]]>
STAR-SHAPED FRUIT SKEWERS
These festive fruit skewers are super easy to make and your kids will love them! Check out this easy recipe from @homegrowntraditions. All you need is watermelon, blueberries, wooden skewers, and a star-shaped cookie cutter.
CLASSIC BARBECUE CHICKEN
Nothing says "summer" quite like barbecue! And who better to get tips on the best bbq sauce for your 4th of July cookout than the queen of entertaining herself, Martha Stewart? We love this tried-and-true barbecue chicken recipe, plus two other tasty grilled chicken variations.
ROASTED POTATO SALAD WITH BACON DRESSING
It's not a summer bbq without potato salad! We love this yummy twist on traditional potato salad by FoodieCrush. Bring on the bacon!
RED, WHITE & BLUE PATCHWORK BERRY TART
This patriotic dessert is the perfect dish for a 4th of July BBQ! There are dozens of variations on this recipe, but we like this simple Berry Patchwork Tart made with crescent dough topped with cream cheese or mascarpone and a mix of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries.
Whether you're going to a bbq, the beach, or a rodeo, a fun way to get your kiddos into the holiday spirit is by dressing them in stars, stripes, red, white, and blue! We love these festive 4th of July outfit ideas from some of our favorite brands:
We love these darling pinafores by @wrenandjames and your little girls will too!
Your babes will be comfy and cute in these soft romper shorties by @childhoodsclothing.
We're big fans of the stylish swimming suits for girls and boys by @minnowswim (how cute is that navy star print?!).
This ruffled gingham romper by @pepperkids.us is perfect for running around the backyard or park.
There's nothing more American than classic blue jeans, and we can't get enough of these darling baby Wranglers from @shoparq.
Ever wonder how to make your own sparkler photo? Check out this easy tutorial that shows you how to write with sparklers and create a cool, one-of-a-kind photo!
We love swimming, watermelon eating contests, and watching fireworks, but we rounded up a few additional ideas to keep kids and adults entertained on the 4th!
Don't forget to document your 4th of July memories in your Promptly Journal!
]]>
We rounded up 10 wedding gift ideas that the bride and groom will actually want to keep and even treasure for years to come. Whether you're attending a friend's wedding or getting hitched yourself, snag one of the gifts below or add them to your own bridal registry!
The Love Story Journal is a prompted marriage journal that helps couples easily document all the details of their relationship and how they fell in love, from the first kiss to the last kiss. The journal covers how you met, your dating life, engagement, wedding, and your 1st anniversary through your 70th. Couples will find their connection strengthened as they document their feelings and memories. You will find that this easy gift will be the most meaningful of the whole wedding.
Grooms will love this 13-piece knife set from Talvi, and brides will love the minimal, modern white-washed knife block. Win, win!
Upgrade cotton towels with these ultra-soft, ultra-absorbent organic cotton Turkish bath towels from Coyuchi. Toss in a bath bomb and a pair of sheet masks, and you have the makings of an at-home spa day for the happy couple.
Why sleep on boring cotton when you can sleep on luxurious linen? We're obsessed with Parachute's linen bedding collection. The linen is ultra-comfy and keeps you cool in the summer and warm in winter. Plus, it creates an instant Instagram-worthy bed.
You can't go wrong with classic white dinnerware, but the Mercer Dinnerware collection from Crate & Barrel offers a modern take on the traditional style. Made of natural clay, the clean, simple dishes blend seamlessly with a variety of tablescapes.
Ditch the boring salt and pepper shakers—this pretty ceramic salt and pepper bottle set by MENU adds a pop of color and style to the kitchen.
Just like linen bedding, we love the stylish simplicity of Not Perfect Linen's table linen collection. The linen tablecloths and linens create effortlessly elegant tabletops and are available in a variety of colors. Plus, the linens are easy to wash (good for food spills)!
Gift the bride and groom these chic copper cooking utensils from Anthropologie—way cuter and cooler than basic plastic.
What's sweeter than a memory of where the happy couple got engaged, fell in love, or will visit on their honeymoon? We love these custom map posters from Mapiful. Choose a map based on a special location from across the globe, and customize the style, text, font, and display. Perfect for a newlywed nest!
We love Le Creuset as much as the next gal, but Staub is the gold standard when it comes to quality French cookware. Newlyweds will love cooking in the kitchen together with this large Staub cast iron pot from Anthropologie, perfect for soups, stews, and more.
]]>We hopped a flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, rented a couple of vans, and headed out on a road trip along the beautiful Sonoma Coast on California's iconic Highway 1. The drive was beyond breathtaking! The winding roads and surrounding scenery of lush green hills, rocky coastline, and vivid blue waters were unreal. We lost count of how many times we all exclaimed, "It's so beautiful here!" And more than once we could have sworn we were transported to some European countryside. Plan to make frequent stops along the steep, winding roads—not only for a dose of fresh air but also for photo ops!—and if you're prone to car sickness pack some water, snacks, and medicine just in case!
We bunked up for the weekend at the incredible Timber Cove Resort, and the property did not disappoint. Situated on a bluff with the ruggedly beautiful Sonoma Coast below, the rustic, mid-century modern hotel features 46 renovated guest rooms, most with views of the ocean and the surrounding private grounds. We loved the record players and vintage stove fireplaces in each guest room! Dine on-site at Coast Kitchen, and enjoy a beverage on the patio as you watch the sunset over the ocean. There aren't many amenities near Timber Cove, so it's super quiet and feels like a true getaway—we would have been happy to spend all weekend relaxing at the resort!
We scheduled a private yoga class with Margaret Lindgren of Unbeaten Path Tours. Margaret is a yoga instructor and local tour guide. The morning yoga session was held on a balcony overlooking the ocean at Timber Cove Resort, which made for an ideal setting to find our inner zen. We highly recommend booking a yoga class or private tour with Margaret when you visit! Post-namaste, we all enjoyed a casual breakfast of yogurt parfaits and pastries on the sunny balcony. The perfect way to start the day!
When visiting Sonoma, plan an olive oil and wine tasting at one of the many farms and wineries in the area. One afternoon, we drove to Trattore Farms for an olive oil tasting on the patio and an al fresco lunch styled by Gatherist. We loved the Olio Nuovo Olive Oil, Jalapeño Olive Oil, Pear White Balsamic Vinegar, and Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar. We all purchased bottles to take home and enjoy (sadly, not every bottle survived the trip).
We toured around Sonoma by car, but you could also explore the area by bicycle with Sonoma Valley Bike Tours. Leisurely pedal along country roads and through vineyards as you visit local wineries. The area is also perfect for road cyclists. Schedule a guided tour or rent bikes and venture out on your own.
Following our visit to Trattore Farms, we stopped at the nearby town of Healdsburg. The charming town is filled with antique shops, boutiques, cafes, and quaint tree-lined streets. Be sure to visit Healdsburg SHED, a curated shop, cafe, and event space. We went crazy for their selection of kitchen goods, cook books, linens, candles, and more.
On your Northern California road trip along Highway 1, plan a stop at Point Reyes National Seashore. The protected stretch of coastline features expansive ocean views and beautiful beaches. Be sure to visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse built in 1870. If you're lucky you might catch sight of migrating gray whales!
Exploring the Sonoma Coast on foot or by car is amazing, but nothing is more magical than exploring by kayak! Book a day of ocean kayaking with Water Treks EcoTours. Explore more than 30 miles of river and coast views, including Sonoma Coast State Park and the Russian River Valley.
When you arrive in or depart from San Francisco, be sure to make a quick detour to the Muir Woods before you drive up the coast to Sonoma. The area is known for its towering redwood trees—a truly spectacular, awe-inspiring sight. Explore by car or park and embark on a hike among the trees—you'll be rewarded with a breathtaking view.
Before we bid California adieu and flew back home, we spent an afternoon exploring San Francisco. We loved the Mission District and Marina District. Some of our favorite stops included Le Marais Bakery for croque madame as big as our heads; Blue Barn Gourmet for yummy salads (and the best tater tots!); and Aesop for all things skincare and self-care (we love their body lotion, face oil, and face masks).
Photographs: Mandi Nelson, Stephanie Hammer, Emmy Jones
Document your own girls getaway with a Travel Journal! The journal features darling illustrations by Kelli Murray, and thoughtful, meaningful prompts to help you record and remember the best details of your favorite trips.
]]>In anticipation of our Travel Journal launch on April 20, we're sharing travel stories, tips, and advice for each of the four destinations that inspired the four Travel Journal colors! Read more about the colors and destinations here.
The Deep Blue Travel Journal was inspired by Greece! Below, Promptly Journals Customer Service + Marketing Manager Katie Blount answers prompts from our Travel Journal and shares the details of her trip to Greece with her mom and sister.
Katie, Allie and Judi
Trip taken 2006 to Greece/Greek Islands (this was actually part of a broader vacation across Europe)
My mom, sister and I took a trip throughout the Mediterranean to celebrate my little sister’s graduation from high school. We visited Greece for several days, including Athens and the beautiful island of Mykonos.
The water was some of the bluest I’ve ever seen, and you just couldn’t help but look out at the water. The view of the island as you were entering the harbor was spectacular, too—all of the pretty white houses dotting the hillsides made for an incredible landscape!
There were so many little shops tucked around every corner, from high-end designers to quaint local spots. The narrow streets provided much-needed shade, so we found ourselves exploring the cobbled paths from shop to shop. Many of these little gems had goods spilling out into the street, and several even had outdoor seating for passersby. Unfortunately, I don't remember the specific names of the shops—I wish I had a Travel Journal back then to document these details!
I had dreamed of visiting Greece for as long as I could remember (it was at the very top of my list at the time), and I was so excited to finally see it with my own eyes. I remember the feeling of arriving on the island and realizing what a special place this was—a vibrant, bustling gem in the middle of the sea.
We were traveling via cruise ship for this trip, so we retired to our accommodations on board at night. I’d love to plan another trip to the island, and next time I would probably choose something like this sprawling Airbnb or this minimalist villa for our visit.
Practically every meal we ate in Greece was eaten alfresco, either tucked under the shade of the bougainvilleas or near the shore with a view of the ocean. I couldn’t enough Greek Salad, and I’m sure I ate it twice a day during our visit. It was in Mykonos that I discovered Panzanella, which has since become one of my all-time favorite dishes!
I hate to admit this, but I was not as diligent about sunscreen back when this trip was taken. I actually sustained my worst-ever sunburn on this trip, due to the strong Mediterranean sun near the equator. Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty!
It was so full of life! There was great energy here, and everywhere you turned something was happening. Fishermen coming in from the sea, men stringing up freshly caught seafood near the shore, children splashing in the waves, couples sipping wine at the edge of the beach, the chatter of shoppers meandering down the narrow streets. But surrounded by the ocean, there was still a sense of serenity and quiet even with so much going on.
Explore as much as you can—there is so much to see! It’s easy to stay close to the beach, but you’ll get a much better feel for the island’s culture if you venture inland. There are beautiful windmills and centuries-old churches, and the sight of the beautiful whitewashed architecture never gets old.
Stay tuned all week for more Promptly Journals Travel Guides! And don't forget to mark your calendars for April 20 when our new Travel Journals land in the shop!
In anticipation of our Travel Journal launch on April 20, we're sharing travel stories, tips, and advice for each of the four destinations that inspired the four Travel Journal colors! Read more about the colors and destinations here.
The Grey Tweed Travel Journal was inspired by Scotland! Below, Promptly Journals Graphic Designer Steph Hammer answers prompts from our Travel Journal and shares the details of her recent trip to Scotland with her husband, Nick, and their two little boys.
Steph, Nick, Ally (for 2 weeks), and the 2 boys.
Nick's summer research fellowship at the University of Edinburgh Napier.
We love the Isle of Skye and the highlands, specifically Glencoe in the highlands and the Fairy Glen on Skye. We loved the National Museum of Scotland and went all the time. It's both educational and exciting, and the boys could never get enough. The penguin parade at the Edinburgh Zoo was sooo cute. Arthur's Seat and Calton Hill were both really amazing for views of the city!
We loved the Red Door Gallery on Victoria Street, it had the most beautiful and unique local art based on Scotland and Edinburgh. I also loved The Paper Tiger near Usher Hall for its SO PERFECT inventory of paper goods and trinkets. Golden Hare Books in Stockbridge (near Circus Lane) was a really cute bookstore that had a little kid's reading section with the best book selection. We lived around the corner from this cute lifestyle boutique near the Meadows called Bohemia (sooo trendy and European.)
We took a bus to Leith and explored with no agenda, then bought a bagged salad and fruit at a Tesco and walked up to Calton Hill where we had dinner overlooking the city and the boys played until it was too cold, then we went home and had hot chocolate, tea and biscuits to warm us up.
Our rental flat was right near The Meadows and situated above a donut shop, where we were a hop skip and a jump away from museums, the park, yummy food and shops, and had a giant free standing tub so mama could relax in peace. Also, the Morar Hotel near the ferry on the Isle of Skye was a hidden gem. We booked it on a whim and it was cute and quaint and quiet, but the best thing about it was the traditional Scottish breakfast in the morning overlooking the water.
Salvatore's and his fish & chips. The Piemaker's macaroni pie, tattie dogs, chocolate donuts, and traditional pies. Mary's Milk Bar for blow-your-mind good gelato. R. White's Sparkling Lemonade with Pear and Elderflower. Patisserie Valerie's Strawberry Gateau. Illegal Jack's for Tex Mex (when in Scotland?). And almond croissants from the shop downstairs!
My oldest had just learned to throw tantrums of mega size, and my youngest was teething. I was fortunate to catch them one day both losing their minds while I pushed them down the Royal Mile in a stroller trying to get home while people gaped and stared.
Everyone's Scottish accent! Bagpipes everywhere in touristy areas, music filling the air. Really though I love just how friendly everyone is. You hardly run into a local who is not kind and respectful. Plus you feel safe in the city which is almost weird but really cool. I also love how shop owners randomly decide when they do or don't work. If they feel like leaving early for the day, they'll just close up shop and go home without notice, but they'll leave a kind note or something saying why they're not open. I love that.
Be prepared for the wonderful amount of cloudy and rainy days you'll experience! Try all the food (yes even the haggis and the black pudding) and find a way to go to tea time somewhere. Take advantage of all the museums and national galleries around because they're awesome (especially if you have kids!) If you want to go to the Isle of Skye, book your accommodations well in advance, especially in the summer, and expect not to have cell service. And have so much fun!
Stay tuned all week for more Promptly Journals Travel Guides! And don't forget to mark your calendars for April 20 when our new Travel Journals land in the shop!
]]>
In anticipation of our Travel Journal launch on April 20, we're sharing travel stories, tips, and advice for each of the four destinations that inspired the four Travel Journal colors! Read more about the colors and destinations here.
The Dusty Rose Travel Journal was inspired by the city of Amsterdam. Below, Promptly Journals Marketing Manager Tessa Woolf shares the details of her recent trip to Amsterdam with her fiancé, Chris, and answers prompts from our Travel Journal.
Tessa Woolf and Chris Neihart
Trip taken August 2017
We were planning a trip to Europe for the summer, and specifically wanted to visit Spain. But because there are no direct flights from Salt Lake City to Spain, we decided to take the direct flight to Amsterdam and spend some time exploring the city before traveling on to Spain. I'm so glad we did! We quickly fell in love with Amsterdam and can't wait to go back for a second visit.
My favorite thing to do in any city is just to wander through neighborhoods and pop into any shops, cafes, or parks that catch my eye, and Amsterdam was no exception. We loved wandering through the Jordaan neighborhood and taking in all the beautiful canals and iconic canal houses and classic Dutch architecture. But we also loved visiting so many of the city's great museums like the the Rijksmusuem, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Amsterdam Tulip Museum. I have a whole new love and appreciation for tulips after visiting Amsterdam.
In the Jordaan and "Nine Streets" neighborhoods, there were so many cool boutique shops. I feel in love with a local bookstore named Mendo, the fanciest, most glam bookstore I've ever seen—so many beautiful art, fashion, travel, and photography books. Amsterdam has a super rad sneaker scene, and I had to find myself a pair of stylish kicks to bring back home! We happened upon the store Sneaker District and they had the chicest selection of sneakers in all manner of colors and styles. I brought home a pair of suede lilac-hued Nikes that I love so much I haven't even worn them yet because I don't want to ruin them!
One day we woke up and had the most delicious breakfast at Berry, then we walked to Vondelpark and spent a cloudy morning wandering through the beautiful park and gardens. It was so peaceful and serene. Then we walked to heart of the city and visited some museums and did some shopping. We also stopped into the Conservatorium Hotel and enjoyed cocktails in the beautiful lounge area. We walked back to our Airbnb and finished the day at a quaint corner cafe in our neighborhood—we ordered dinner, drinks, and did some serious people watching before watching the sunset over the canals. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.
We stayed at an AMAZING Airbnb for the duration of our time in Amsterdam, and it was one of the highlights of our trip! Not only was it beautifully designed (I made a mental checklist of all the decor details I wanted to recreate in my own home), but our hosts Mirjam and Bienna were the sweetest couple! They greeted us with big hugs, a small cake, and a bottle of bubbly for me and a bottle of beer for Chris. They were so helpful with recommendations and even offered us their own personal bikes to tour the city. I can't say enough good things about them or their darling apartment, which occupied the second floor of a traditional canal house—they own the entire building and live on the third floor.
We spent an entire afternoon hunting down the best pommes frites in Amsterdam, and I think we finally found them at Vlaams. But we weren't alone—there was a line down the street all afternoon for these fries! You could choose from a number of toppings and sauces for your fries, from curry mayo to spicy ketchup, but we kept things classic and topped ours with ketchup and mayo. The fries are served in paper cones with small forks—so cute. We also loved exploring Foodhallen, a massive indoor food market with a variety of cuisines, and we had a delicious brunch at Pluk in the Nine Streets area, a darling shop and cafe serving organic coffee, tea, salads, sandwiches, and egg dishes. Also, stroopwafels—need I say more?
A funny moment happened while we were visiting the Van Gogh Museum: we randomly ran into someone who works at The Bagel Project in Salt Lake City, one of our favorite spots for breakfast on the weekends. We all did a double take and laughed about how small the world can be sometimes. Now whenever we go into The Bagel Project, I feel like we have all share a special Van Gogh/bagel connection.
I loved the city's symphony of bicycles. It blew my mind to see so many people riding bikes and to see full-on bike traffic jams. It was almost dangerous crossing the street sometimes with all the bikes flying past us. I love how the locals bike around the city dressed in their day-to-day attire rather than workout gear (so many women riding bikes wearing heels and dresses!) and with baskets filled with groceries and flowers. It's so much more civilized and enjoyable to use a bike for transportation than driving a car around town.
Plan your visits to museums and purchase tickets ahead of time! We really wanted to visit the Anne Frank House, but tickets were sold out for every day we were in Amsterdam. Apparently it's best to buy tickets month in advance! Even for museums that don't sell out, like the Van Gogh Museum, it's a good idea to buy tickets ahead of time so you don't have to wait in line. Also, be sure to visit neighborhoods outside of the main tourist area. Our favorite neighborhood was the Jordaan area—if we had only seen the Red Light District and hadn't ventured outside the heart of the city, I don't think we would have been so enamored with Amsterdam.
Stay tuned all week for more Promptly Journals Travel Guides! And don't forget to mark your calendars for April 20 when our new Travel Journals land in the shop!
]]>In anticipation of our Travel Journal launch, we're sharing travel stories, tips, and advice for all four of these destinations! First up, Promptly Journals founder, Jayne Swallow, answers prompts from our Travel Journal and shares the details of her trip to Thailand with her husband, Scott.
Jayne and Scott Swallow
Trip taken in 2012
This was our last chance to go somewhere awesome before we took off to law school and were weighed down by school loan debt. We wanted to go somewhere super foreign. I had a friend who went to Thailand the year before and totally got me set on the destination. After some research, we discovered that Thailand was the perfect place for Scott and I—it offered adventure for Scott, the beach for me, good food, and $7 massages!!!
The Phi Phi Islands. It's so worth taking that two-hour ferry out and I'd recommend staying there a few nights. They are so magnificent; unlike any islands I've ever seen. We took an island boat ride one afternoon and I couldn't fill my eyes more with the panoramas those coves and cliffs made.
The floating market near Bangkok. There wasn't necessarily a ton of stuff I wanted to buy (lots of touristy trinkets), however, the experience of cruising through the canals in a make-shift canoe/boat was amazing.
Riding, bathing, feeding and elephant for a day at the Patara Elephant Farm. This was the most amazing experience. This family farm has humanely found a way to give their elephants a good and healthy life. They let tourists pay to take care of their elephants for the day. You feed them, learn to ride them, walk them to their favorite swimming hole, SWIM WITH THEM, and bathe them. You leave with so much knowledge and love for elephants. They are the most endearing animal. Oh, and they had baby elephants running around that you could play with. I wanted to take one home!
Our cooking class in Chaing Mai. We started off in the open market in town where they had us gather all the fresh local ingredients. Then they taught us how to make coconut chicken soup, a curry of our choice, and a veggie dish. Guys... IT WAS SO GOOD! And it made me appreciate the flavors of Thai food so much more after I actually prepared and chopped the lemongrass, Thai basil, shrimp paste, etc.
I got a spray tan right before we left for Thailand, and we rode the elephants the second day we were there. I didn't wear long pants on the elephant and it's rough skin rubbed off half of my spray tan on my legs! It was super awkward the rest of the trip to walk around with striped legs, ha ha.
The Thai people were soooo nice. Scott and I were floored with how helpful and sweet they were. We kept saying that Thailand is a foreign country that would be fun and stress-free to bring our kids back to.
Pay the money for the elephant farm but wear long pants. Get three massages per day and eat coconut ice cream four times a day. And whatever you do, take the time to go out to the islands!
Stay tuned all week for more Promptly Journals Travel Guides! And don't forget to mark your calendars for April 20 when our new Travel Journals land in the shop!
]]>But what to cook? We love this fresh, salty-sweet twist on traditional pizza from FoodieCrush made with berries, arugula, and prosciutto. Roll up your sleeves and make your own dough from scratch, or make things easy on yourselves and pick up some store-bought dough. Once you've added all your toppings, this pizza cooks in just 10–15 minutes so you'll have plenty of time to Netflix and chill. Get the recipe below.
BERRY WITH ARUGULA & PROSCIUTTO PIZZA
Hungry for more? Stay tuned for more of Heidi's favorite family-friendly recipes in the weeks ahead! And be sure to check out her blog and Instagram for more quick and easy weekend and weeknight recipes!
]]>Whether you're celebrating the Easter holiday with your spouse or with your family this weekend, check out these easy brunch recipes from our gal Heidi Larsen of FoodieCrush. From Ham & Cheese Baked Egg Cups to Bacon Broccoli & Potato Frittata and Banana Bread Pancakes to Cinnamon Rolls, there's a dish here that every bunny in your home will love!
]]>From Ham & Cheese Baked Egg Cups and Bacon Broccoli & Potato Frittata to Banana Bread Pancakes and Cinnamon Rolls, there's a dish here that every bunny in your home will love!
These tasty hand-held bites are fun to eat and easy to make—prepare them the night before and then pop them into the oven in the morning. We love this classic ham, cheese, and egg combo for Easter, but you can customize your cups with whatever ingredients you're craving or have handy in the fridge: red peppers, mushrooms, bacon, sausage, herbs, or other cheeses. Get the recipe here.
The beauty of this frittata is its versatility—you can serve it hot or cold, eat it with a fork or with your hand, and make it with any combination of meat, veggies, and cheeses. This egg-y, bacon-y, potato-y recipe packs a delicious punch, and the broccoli sneaks in a serving of veggies. Get the recipe here.
Love banana bread? Then you'll love these pancakes made with bananas, pancake mix, nuts, buttermilk, and spices. Your kitchen will smell like heaven when you cook these up, and your spouse or kiddos will eat up every bite of these delicious hot cakes. Get the recipe here.
Some people like Resurrection Rolls for Easter, but we love good ol' fashioned cinnamon rolls. And these perfectly fluffy pillows of dough slathered with buttery cream cheese frosting are everything we want in a baked good. Get the recipe here.
Hungry for more? Stay tuned for more of Heidi's favorite family-friendly recipes in the weeks ahead! And be sure to check out her blog and Instagram for more quick and easy weekend and weeknight recipes!
]]>Some of my fondest family memories revolve around Sunday dinners, baking with my girls, and conversations around the dinner table. Food is such a big part of anyone’s family history, identity, and traditions. And, let's be honest, my family LOVES to eat.
But between taking care of kiddos and checking off our endless list of to-do's, our lives can sometimes feel too busy and crazy to make a healthy, home-cooked meal. So we turned to our friend, food blogger, photographer, and fellow mama Heidi Larsen of FoodieCrush and Nourished Planner for some much-needed help.
We asked Heidi to share some of her favorite family-friendly recipes for quick and easy weeknight meals. Your kiddos will love these tasty 30-minute meals, and you can spend less time cooking and more time making memories with your family.
First up, we're sharing Heidi's Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Whole Wheat Pasta. This yummy pasta dish is creamy and cheesy like mac 'n cheese, so you know your kids will love it (Heidi's daughter, Ali, approves!). But the dish sneaks in a serving of veggies and whole grain thanks to the broccoli and whole wheat pasta. The recipe calls for just a handful of ingredients (some of the items you may already have in your cupboards and fridge) and it's so simple to make. This 30-minute meal has weeknight dinner written all over it! Get the recipe here.
Hungry for more? Stay tuned for more of Heidi's favorite family-friendly recipes in the weeks ahead! And be sure to check out her blog and Instagram for more quick and easy weeknight recipes!
]]>For awhile now, we've wanted to create something for all of you moms who have struggled with miscarriage and infertility—and especially for our dear customers who have started or purchased a Childhood History Journal but haven't been able to continue it. Our hearts ache for you, and we want to help.
We believe in the power of journaling to not only preserve memories but also to help make sense of our emotions, work through complicated feelings, and heal our hurt. While everyone grieves differently, we thought the idea of these booklets featuring guided prompts, similar to our journals, would be a good place to start. The Promptly Journals Miscarriage Booklet and the Promptly Journals Infertility Booklet are completely free printable downloads available in our shop. We designed these booklets to be of service to mamas who want to heal, process, and honor their babies and their journey.
The subject of miscarriage and infertility is sensitive, emotional, and personal, but we hope that by writing down your story and offering a safe place to document your experience, thoughts, and deepest feelings, we can help you heal in some small way. We want to reach as many moms as possible, so we need your in help in spreading the word about these booklets. If you find them useful, please don't hesitate to share them with other mamas who could benefit from them too.
]]>
To bring the pages of our Love Story Journal to life, we've asked some of our favorite couples to answer prompts from the journal and share the details of their real life love stories in a new blog series.
We couldn't think of a more beautiful love story to share on Valentine's Day than the love story of Emily Meyers of @thefreckledfox and her husband, Richard Carmack aka @warrioroftruth. Emily is a blogger, writer, remarried widow, and mama to five little ones in five years. Below, read the details of how she and Richard met, their proposal story (make that three proposal stories), the events of their non-traditional wedding, and what they've learned together in their marriage this last year.
EMILY: I was 15 at the time, Richard was 19. He and I were both cast members in a very large outdoor theater production. The whole event including casting and performances went on for several weeks, and although we’d talked in group settings and such, he and I only really started hanging out together the last couple of days before it was over. Right before my family left to go home, he and I exchanged addresses so we could start writing letters.
RICHARD: It was a hillside camp. I was helping with the logistics of a large production, and her dad offered me pancakes one morning. As I left my tent in the morning, their tent was the first family camp space that I passed on the way to get started on my daily duties. I knew her brother and had seen him with her parents already, so I gratefully accepted the offer for breakfast food, and that was the space where I spent the most time in close proximity to her. We didn’t really interact during that time, but clearly it led to good outcomes. It was after my first year at college, and it all took place relatively near my childhood home.
EMILY: That’s a hard one actually. I think I’ll go with the first time we saw each other again after 10 years. He surprised me with a visit as I was about to leave for the airport, so he offered to drive my son, John, and I, and then we stopped for some McDonalds on the way. Catching up for a few hours with some great conversation and him buying us a meal constitutes a date, right? :)
RICHARD: I asked her muddy teenage self to get in my parents truck with my brother and a high school friend of ours and go for a burger. Not just any burger… I was about to try to down a 4-pound patty, 8-inch thick, dinner plate-sized monstrosity! Shortly after beginning I smiled and said that there was no way I was going to get through it with no prep for an eating challenge of that magnitude. We laughed and cut the burger into quarters and all shared it with a side of fries.
EMILY: It was just suddenly so obvious to me, and to him, I know. We’d become best friends through writing letters over a few years time where we shared so much and helped each other, and then catching up years later and seeing where our lives had taken us and everything we’d been through separately, we saw how well we fit together. The puzzle pieces just all matched up I guess :) I didn’t feel giddy or flustered or anxious as many soon-to-be brides do, but instead I felt such a calm sense of safety and certainty, and security in our future together.
RICHARD: I just knew. She had been my best friend many years ago, and while the circumstances had changed significantly, she was and is just as wonderful as I remember/ed. Life, and all the years between, suddenly made sense, and she and the kids were the reason for that.
EMILY: There was more of a mutual realization that we were going to get married. It was such a clear path ahead that came much more suddenly to both of us then we could have anticipated. After we acknowledged that it wasn’t an "if" but a "when," Richard just had fun with proposals after that.
The first proposal was casually bringing out a ring after we’d finished a movie one evening; the second proposal was asking me from outside the bathroom while I was in the shower (which really had me laughing); and the third and final proposal was on a walk overlooking a beautiful canyon at sunset. I turned around and he was down on one knee. I was already wearing the ring of course, but I laughed and said yes again and then we kissed. It was a pretty classic movie proposal :)
RICHARD: She said yes :-)
EMILY: It was the perfect day. Simple and beautiful, and totally about us and the commitment we were making to each other. I had the most gorgeous dress, a small group of some of our favorite people were there, and we wrapped it all up with pizza. Everything a wedding day should be, I think :)
RICHARD: We jumped in the car and headed south. Along the way we listened to music and smiled a lot. When we got to Salt Lake City we went to Trader Joe's to buy the makings for a bouquet and boutonniere. We stopped at two bridal shops, listing off three or four things we were looking for in a dress just to be told they didn’t have anything like that. We went to one last shop, saw three to four dresses, tried on two, picked our favorite (the most perfect thing we could have imagined), and left, all within 15 minutes, to the sound of the saleswoman saying, “That was the fastest sale I’ve ever made.”
We went to my apartment where hair and makeup were done in the bathroom, flowers were arranged in the kitchen, and I changed in the bedroom. Emily slipped into her dress, tied her Converse laces, we all piled into cars, and headed to the mountains. We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon and we all climbed a beautiful rock formation, shared some beautiful words and advice, and were married hand in hand as the sun was setting. A few photos later, we went back to Salt Lake CIty and had dinner with our intimate little group, many of whom were all getting to know each other for the first time (friends from different cities, parents, family, etc.). After attempting not to spill pizza sauce and salad dressing all over ourselves, we changed and then all went our separate ways.
EMILY: The first thing I think of is that we can have whatever sort of life we choose for our family, so why not fill our days with adventure and learning and laughter? We grow closer as a couple and as a family when we take on challenges and obstacles together, and seeing the whole wide world of possibilities open ahead of us is such an exciting thing. We can’t wait to see what every new day will hold for us.
RICHARD: Life is always going to be changing. Smiling at each step makes the journey that much better.
EMILY: We know that our marriage/partnership has to come first before everything else, but oftentimes that’s hard to do when there are so many little ones and outside things demanding our time and attention. The biggest focus this year I think is to have uninterrupted time together as often as we can get it. We try to go on dates at least weekly, and we really utilize the time at night after the kids go to sleep to talk through the day's events or whatever is on our minds. We’ll fold laundry or watch a movie or just enjoy the silence, but it’s become a really special time that I look forward to.
RICHARD: Less fear of limitations and more comfort in creating the life we want. Each day only has 24 hours, but if well spent can extend into many tomorrows as wonderful memories.
EMILY: I’m gonna go with an easy answer and say it was when we found out we were expecting while on a family road-trip across the states. It wasn’t a big surprise, but it was such a sweet time to further acknowledge that we were progressing as a family, that no matter the hardships of life there is always so much beauty and hope, and that we’re constantly being guided towards the happiest life available to us if we just have trust and faith over fear and doubt.
RICHARD: Each sunset from the front porch. The simple things.
Thank you Emily and Richard for sharing your love story with us!
Want to document your own love story? Shop our Love Story Journals and remember where it all began.
]]>
In celebration of the launch, we sat down with Jenny and got the scoop on her own personal love story. Below, read the details of how she met her husband, John, how he proposed, where they honeymooned, and more. Thanks for sharing, Jenny!
JENNY: John and I actually met at a bachelor/bachelorette party in Mexico, which is strange because that's so not my scene or his. I was the maid of honor and he was a groomsman at the wedding of our good mutual friends, and that's where we met!
JENNY: It was around Christmas time, early December, and John took me to a really nice dinner. It was a long tasting dinner, and he got really, really quiet and I thought he just wasn't feeling well, but it was because he proposed at the end of dinner.
JENNY: We went to Kauai, Hawaii for two weeks. We were really fortunate because John has some friends who have a vacation home there. They gifted us the stay there for free, which is why we were able to stay so long.
JENNY: I think now having become a mother there are just so many little special things that Quinn does that I don't necessarily remember a specific thing, but one good thing that happened this year was that my parents move to Oregon to be close to us, so that was really special.
Stay tuned all week to learn more about Jenny and follow along on Instagram for special discounts on the Jenny x Promptly Collection!
Photos: Ava Maria Photography / Venue: Tendue / Styling: Jenny Sanders
]]>
Do you wish you were more connected with your spouse? We're always looking for ways to build a stronger relationship with our significant other, which is one of the reasons we created our Love Story Journals—we want the journals to be used as a tool to reignite the spark and remember where your relationship all began.
In our quest to build the best relationship possible, we turned to Josh Downs of @thecouplestherapist, a licensed clinical social worker, for his insight and advice. Below, he shares 5 tips to help strengthen your emotional connection, improve your communication, and create a more loving bond.
How often are you asking your child how their day was? When Josh's oldest child went to kindergarten, he wanted to know what kind of day he was having every day—and not just his schedule, but emotionally, what his son was going through everyday. Most of us are apart from our spouses even longer than our kids. Are we checking in the same way?
As Josh states, "Partners are often physically separate for a majority of each day. Multiply that by 365 minus two weeks vacation and couples end up spending a majority of their shared lifetime apart. They have different and sometimes completely opposite experiences than the other. These experiences can bring up emotions that leave us questioning our own capacity, celebrating our victories, sighing with relief when a disaster is averted, and many more. With all of the possible opportunities for experience, is it enough to simply verify whether someone’s day was “good” or “bad”? I would say that it is not enough. And missed opportunities for connection can create future distance."
Here are a few tips Josh recommends to do each day to really engage and connect with your spouse:
1. Don't make assumptions of how your partner is doing. Go beyond, “He has a hard job” or “She was busy today.” Don't end with the play-by-play of the day with your partner. Eventually the check-in must come around to a place of talking about how each person experienced those events. Here are examples of what to ask:
“What was that like for you to have all that work to do? When the kids were crazy and kept making messes everywhere? When you were in that meeting that was dragging on? When you got that email from a worried client? What was that like for you to hit those personal goals in your workout?”
And the questions can sometimes lead to deeper considerations of these daily aspects of life. “Can I honestly ask you what it’s been like for you as a mother/father over the last few weeks?” “What has it been like for you working those hours the last couple of weeks?”
2. Even if it feels foreign to talk like this, make it a habit. Doing this puts in a built-in message to your partner that, “this relationship means something to me, and so I am going to be more mindful of my day so that I have something to share when we are able to get together and talk.” A couple may feel like they are living on different sides of the universe but developing this habit says to the other, “I’m thinking about us and you over here on my side" or “I want you to be a part of my life even when I’m not physically here.”
3. Once communication like this becomes a habit, partners create a place where anything can be talked about. This way, heavier and more vulnerable issues are more easily talked about and managed.
For more of Josh's insight on this topic, read his full article here.
One of the lessons Josh has learned from his children is that humans need their hurt to be acknowledged by people that matter the most. As he explains, "My daughter is known to fall down on occasion. She will sit where she fell, typically with tears or a moan, and ask me to kiss the ouchie and give her a hug. Thankfully it’s usually a superficial or non-existent wound. A majority of the time she stops crying and goes back to playing once me or my wife has responded to her. We kid ourselves if we believe that adults have outgrown the need for empathy and acknowledgment when we experience emotional “ouchies” in life. Our pain is real and it often worsens the more alone we feel in our experience. We feel alone when our pain is dismissed."
Josh says the antidote to feeling alone in our hurt consists of two parts:
1. Outline your pain in the clearest way possible. "When I consider the role my daughter plays in her healing I see that she is very specific with me about where she is hurting," explains Josh. "She points to it, I see it, and then I treat it. She knows if she screams at me or runs the other way in embarrassment then I cannot help. Too many times we allow our hurt and pain to be packaged in anger or withdrawal and it keeps us from getting acknowledgment from others, especially if they are the ones who have hurt us. Although this reaction is understandable and legitimate it will eventually have to give way to vulnerably talking about the hurt."
2. The rest is up to the other person in the interaction. "Again with my dear daughter, her healing comes from seeing that I see when she is in pain, that I care about her being in pain, and that I won’t leave her alone," continues Josh. "When she feels like someone she loves has entered into her little universe of pain to be with her in it, she is more likely to believe that she will be fine and get back up."
For more of Josh's insight on this topic, read his full article here.
"I don't need to be right. I just need to be heard." Sound familiar? Josh says this simple statement likely rings true for many of us, but we rarely connect with it in the moments when we need that insight the most. He says conversations that begin with each couple expressing their feelings can spiral into a useless grapple to determine who is right—and the reality is that we all fall for this trap.
"Ultimately, we just want to be seen and heard by the other person. And we want them to understand and value what we are feeling," explains Josh. "We would all do well to ask ourselves in those moments, or even afterwards when there is still time for reconciliation: what do I really want from my partner?"
Josh notes that this isn’t to say that the need for resolving a particular issue (e.g. a child’s behavior, lack of intimacy, finances) won’t still need to be worked out. "But before you can get anywhere close to resolving the issue, a couple must be a team. And a team is made when each person feels that in their partner they have an understanding witness to whatever emotional experience they are having. And perhaps more importantly, an assurance that they are loved, even if their partner doesn’t know what to do or has a different opinion."
For more of Josh's insight on this topic, read his full post here.
According to Josh, in sessions with couples he has heard partners say things that sometimes sting and cut deeply. But, on the flip side, he says when courage wins over and a partner takes a risk to share vulnerable feelings, it can be powerful. "The whole interaction can then take on a new meaning; a meaning that better illuminates the need for closeness that both people feel."
He suggests the following exercise to try and understand the things you didn't mean to say when interacting with your partner. Looking back on a recent negative interaction with your partner, consider and share the following:
-What was it that was said or that you saw that triggered an emotion in you?
-What seemed to be happening? (What you thought that person was trying to do or what he/she meant when they said ________?).
-And what did that perception make you feel?
-And what did you say or do in response to that feeling?
-As you look back on the event can you identify a feeling or a need that was there but didn’t get expressed?
For more of Josh's insight on this topic, read his full post here.
"As a couples therapist I have lost count of how often it becomes obvious that I am sitting across from two people who are genuinely good, sincerely love each other, and who have good intentions," says Josh. "Yet these same two people struggle to see each other in that positive light when they are experiencing emotional distance. If I can see their hearts even when I’m witnessing them at their worst, why can’t they?"
Josh says there's an element in the story of the film "The Huntsman: Winter’s War," the spinoff of the Snow White film series, that is extremely relevant to answering the big question of how two people so close to one another can be so wrong about each other.
As Josh explains:
"Two lovers are under the servitude of a queen who has outlawed love, and as a result, they have to hide their feelings for one another. Upon being found out, they are presented with an opportunity by the queen to be together if they can fight off a group of warriors and simply grab each other’s hand. They manage to defeat their attackers but just as they reach for one another the queen creates a wall of ice between them that neither can break. Through the ice he sees that she is killed and after he is banished, he begins a life of drunken grief.
Later in the movie he discovers that she is alive and he is elated. He persists and persist for connection. She however, does not warm as easily and she often refuses his attempts to remind her of the connection they once had. She resists and resists until she finally gives in and lets herself feel love for him. Their future together seems set, until her allegiance to the queen is revealed and she turns over her lover to the queen.
It is obvious in the movie that she loves her partner and yet she betrays him. How could she do both? It is revealed that while the ice wall in the beginning separated them physically, the true damage it inflicted to their relationship was to deceive them both. It was an enchanted and evil wall that told them lies about the other person. Because while the wall caused him to believe that she died, she was tricked into seeing that he simply walked away from her.
Only after many years of pain and separation did either of them consider that what they were seeing and thinking about the other person was untrue. Only then did they consider that maybe another force was at play which inverted the way they viewed each other. And this false and skewed lense was enough to make them maintain their emotional distance and even add to it by hurting each other further."
And so it is with many who come into Josh's office. He says there is often an unacknowledged force—a negative cycle—that comes into a life of its own when there is a disturbance to a couple’s sense of emotional connection. But for each partner, they only see what they think the other is doing, often not stopping to consider that something else might be affecting their perception. This tendency then leads to the partners being against each other in some way which adds to their distance and reinforces their negative view of the other.
Josh says the purpose of Emotionally Focused Therapy is to help a couple identify the seemingly invisible and unacknowledged negative forces at work in their relationship. "One part of the process is to become experts at seeing and challenging the negative stories partners believe about themselves and their partners," he explains. "This along with other well-researched components allow the couple to come together to defend against the ice walls of their relationship and see each other for how they truly feel."
For more of Josh's insight on this topic, read his full article here.
To bring the pages of our Love Story Journal to life, we've asked some of our favorite couples to answer prompts from the journal and share the details of their real life love stories in a new blog series.
We chatted with one of our favorite florists, Ashley Beyer and her husband Curtis to get the details on their Love Story. Ashley is the creative mind behind Tinge, and we've been a fan of her beautiful floral finery for as long as we can remember. When she's not creating awe-inspiring flower installations for weddings, workshops, and special projects, she's busy fulfilling her other favorite role as mom to her young daughter, Maci. Below, get the scoop on how Ashley and her husband first met, the soundtrack that reminds them of their courtship, their sweet proposal story, their funny pet peeves, and why they're proud of each other as husband and wife.
ASHLEY: We had a class together at the University of Utah. It was a business writing course and quite small, only 25 students or so. It’s funny because the first few days of class Curtis had this long shaggy hair and I never noticed him. Then one day this guy walked in and I immediately found him so attractive! Turns out he just cut his hair and I could suddenly see his face.
We spent the entire semester becoming friends, and it wasn’t until the last week of class that I really didn’t want winter break to come without exchanging numbers. There was another guy in the class that had asked me out a few times and would wait for me to walk to our next class, but I wasn’t interested in him! I wanted desperately for this guy to move along, so Curtis would realize we weren’t together. So to drop an extra hint I added him on Facebook, and he asked me for my number, and the rest is sort of history!
ASHLEY: Music has always played a big role in my life especially when I was in my teens and early twenties. Death Cab For Cutie's song "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is the most prominent. But different songs make me think of different moments in our dating life. The album Sky Blue Sky by Wilco and Vampire Weekend’s first album both always take me right back to the first year we met.
CURTIS: Vampire Weekend and Death Cab For Cutie.
ASHLEY: We took a hike up to the top of a peak, and took four wheelers until we couldn’t any longer. As we began to hike up, the trail was covered in snow that hadn’t quite melted off yet, so I started complaining and even suggested we turn back. Curtis kept saying it would be worth it for the view if we just kept onward. So we made it to the top, and ate some lunch.
Afterward, Curtis set up a tripod and wanted to take a few photos. He asked for one last photo and before he hit the shutter button he told me to look at the mountain goats, so I hurried and started scanning the mountain for any sign of movement (there weren’t any, that was a ploy to get me to look away for a moment). As soon as I turned back, there was Curtis on bended knee, and the camera snapped my reaction at seeing the ring in his hand.
ASHLEY: I am a deep thinker by nature so my favorite topics of conversation were and still are always heavy topics like religion and the meaning of life. I think these conversations really connect two people by seeing the inner workings of each other’s minds. Now many of these deep conversations are focused on our family and our future, and that’s exciting to think and dream about.
ASHLEY: My biggest pet peeve with Curtis is how he sneezes. He has to make every sneeze the loudest, most startling sneeze you’ve ever heard in your life.
CURTIS: Flower messes, and petals and stems in every crevice, coat pocket, purse, etc.
ASHLEY: I am extremely proud of his determination and hard work. It doesn’t matter what Curtis is working on, he does it immaculately. I can’t think of anything he’s really failed at. I really look up to his work ethic, and all of the many things he excels at both large and small.
CURTIS: Before Maci, it was Tinge and all that she has accomplished with her business and following a dream. Now that takes a backseat to watching Ashley become a mother.
Thank you Ashley and Curtis for sharing your love story with us!
Want to document your own love story? Shop our Love Story Journals and remember where it all began.
]]>
So we decided to put together a “You and Yours” Gift Guide featuring amazing brands and products all in one place, so you can click on what you’d love to give others (and maybe save some for yourself) and get your gift list checked off. That hot chocolate and cuddle time on the couch by the tree is calling your name!
Maybe best of all, these products are all available to order online. If that isn’t nailing it for the holidays, we don’t know what is.
(top to bottom; left to right)
Happy Holidays!
Love,
Promptly Journals
p.s. We know a great journal to save all those holiday memories you’re making... (hint, hint)
]]>November is National Adoption Awareness Month, so we asked some of our favorite adoptive families to answer prompts from our Adoption Journal and share their incredible stories on our blog this week.
In our third spotlight, meet The Johnson Family: Chrissy, Nathan, and Eli, their adopted son. Read the details of their adoption journey below, including why they chose to adopt, the logistics of their adoption process, and the moment they held their son for the first time—a moment they'll never forget.
CHRISSY: We had always known we wanted children of our own. We decided to start trying to conceive after our third wedding anniversary, however we were unable to do so. We had a few tests done before deciding that if God wanted us to conceive our own children, He would allow it to happen without medicine or surgeries. During this time of heartache and struggle, we felt the Lord calling us to adopt. As believers, we are called to care for widows and orphans, so we began the adoption process and never looked back!
CHRISSY: About two years; we switched agencies twice due to scheduling and lack of training opportunities. We attended our first adoption training in May of 2015, and brought our son home from the hospital in May of 2017.
CHRISSY: We first started by making our profile book! From that point on, our process was full of driving to and from trainings. We completed checklists and LOADS of paperwork. Eventually, when it came time for our home study, our social worker would come to us. After our home study was completed, we attended our final training with the agency we would end up adopting from. The next month, we were told a birth mom was interested in us. We met her the next month on a couple of different occasions, where we were finally chosen as the adoptive family! She was about 7.5 months pregnant at this time, so we spent the next few weeks getting to know her and attending prenatal visits before the delivery day.
CHRISSY: Our birth mom was so precious, she made it such a special occasion. During one of our get-to-know-you visits, we went to the zoo with her and our social worker. Again, we thought she was getting to know us still, but little did we know that we were about to have our lives changed! While looking at the rhinoceroses, a zookeeper walked up and handed us an envelope that said, “Our Family”. When we opened it, it was a letter from our birth mom saying that she chose us! We were beyond excited and shocked! Our social worker took pictures of the occasion and there was lots of hugging. It was a day we will never forget.
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST MET YOUR CHILD? HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FIRST SAW YOUR CHILD?
CHRISSY: We were so blessed and fortunate to be in the delivery room during our son’s birth. Our birth mom was a rock star and delivered him within 45 minutes, only having to push about 10 times! It was 2:37am when we first saw him. My husband was able to cut the cord, and then after he was cleaned up, we were the first to hold him with skin-to-skin contact. Again, moments we will never forget. We just couldn’t believe he was finally here and that we were holding and kissing him. Those days in the hospital with birth mom and our son were precious, and we thank God that we will have so many stories to share with our son one day about her. About her strength, her bravery, and her courage for choosing life for him and for choosing us to be his parents.
]]>