Happy Friday {first_name}!
As a chronic Christmas procrastinator 🙃 I want to tell you the plan I have to enjoy the Christmas season more than ever this year.
I know some of y’all are not about skipping over Thanksgiving and giving up the fall vibes early (I hear you! Fall is my favorite!). And yet, my husband has started Christmas music over here haha 😂
This year I am trying a system from Christmas Dose of Deb where you complete 30 missions to be completely prepped for Christmas before December 1st. The idea is to have all the big tasks done, so my family and I can more fully focus on Jesus in the Advent season. So I am going to give it a go!
The first mission was to put together my Christmas notebook where I will keep track of sizes for gifts, gift planning, decoration planning, and even meal planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas (she has free printables for this I share below).
I will keep you posted on how it is going, or you can join me!
Ideas for Intentionality:
Fall/Winter Boots: My friend messaged me and said she needed to grab her little girls some shoes to have this fall besides tennis shoes and I sent her to Adelisa and Co for fall boots. I love that these 2 mom owners partner with local craftsmen Marvin and his team of 20 in Nicaragua to create handmade leather boots. We started buying boots for the kids each fall for family photos and just passed them down. With 5 kids this year, only 2 needed new boots. They hold up that well! And I am super excited about the baby’s shoes that are coming the Espresso Primavera and the Dalia with soft soles ekkk! So cute! LANA10 saves you 10% off your whole order 🙌
New YouTube Video: I put together a list of some intentional gifts that are $40 and below for grandparents, neighbors, friends, and family. Some of the ideas are DIY and some are thoughtful, inexpensive items to buy. The comment section of this video has lots of opinions and some viewers loved my ideas and some did not! But pretty much everyone agreed on the DIY ideas, especially the ones you could eat haha 😆
Fall Jacket: I grabbed this jacket yesterday. I have enjoyed this company because they do small, limited runs of clothes. They encourage us not to buy tons of clothes, but to keep a small curated collection and be thoughtful about every piece of clothing we add to our closet.
Decluttering: Is anybody else in full purge mode around your house? It is the best feeling to just loosen my attachment to things and only keep what I need. This course helped me break free from feeling so sentimental about stuff and this is how I now keep a simple and curated closet, so when I buy something I am more intentional about that purchase.
Fall Smells: I am trying this stove-top simmer pot this week, and I am excited about my whole house smelling yummy! Do you have any favorite simmer pot recipes? Send them my way!
Christmas Planning: I got the free downloads from Christmas Dose of Deb’s and her mission sheet was a couple of dollars download from Etsy. It is super detailed and helpful!
Traditions: I am doing a deep dive into traditions and trying to think deeply about what I want my kids to remember about their time in my home. I am re-reading this book and I can’t give enough praise for it. The traditions aren’t just for our kids, they are for us too, since we are the ones who have a history with Jesus. We are the ones who have seen his faithfulness, seen him discipline us, extend grace and mercy to us, and walk with us through the storms of life. Now is a great time to give thought and plan for any special traditions we want to start or continue this advent season.
Advent Ideas: I did an Advent YouTube LIVE last year sharing my Advent favorites, but I have a video in the works on how to keep Jesus at the center of our Christmas celebrations coming soon. I would love to hear your favorite advent resources, traditions etc I will share and give you credit. Just hit reply to this email 🙌🩷
Sending love,
Lana
P.S. These calendars launch today! They probably will be gone in one week. Brittany hand letters and watercolors these calendars with the whole intention of nudging us all to remember and worship Jesus every day of the year. Few people have inspired me more in life than this dear friend.
Pregnant P.S. Don’t put off your birth prep, if you are expecting soon get your heart and mind ready with Labor Without Fear. I will be your personal guide showing you how I prepared to birth 5 times naturally with far less pain and way less fear. My goal with this course is to help you lean into Jesus like never before as you walk the journey of partnering with your body and your baby through birth.