And the winners are....

Here are the free print winners from blog comments and Instagram! If you see your name, send your address and fav print name to arianarmstrong(at)yahoo(dot)com



Thanks! It's was so sweet to read everyone's comments : )

Arian : )

Print Giveaway

I posted this over on Instagram but wanted to make the same offer here on my blog. Like the rest of the world, events like the bombing in Boston make me sick to my stomach. And I wish I could do something to make everything better. But maybe the best I can do is give things away.
So I am giving away 10 prints. If you have been encouraged by any of my prints, leave a comment here on this post and let me know which one. Check my shop if you need the specific title. I'll pick 10 random people on Monday and send you that print for free.
Be encouraged! There is still hope.
Arian : )

Fort Armstrong Family Vision Retreat

We just came back from our first ever and (hopefully) quarterly Fort Armstrong Family Vision Retreat. It. Was. So. Awesome.  I wanted to share a little bit about what a family vision retreat is (at least to us), what we did, and how it affects our life!


Why Family Vision?
Life is busy and full of unexpected surprises. It's easy to live it reactively, just responding to the need of the moment. We have dreams but no real idea how to reach them and no time to think about it. A family vision retreat is about taking time away to lay out all the resources your family has---money, time, relationships, talents, dreams, etc.---and then looking at that list of ingredients and asking "What's the most beautiful thing we can make with these and how do we make it?" We believe God gave us resources and wants us to use them wisely, investing them well and bringing in great returns!

So, we rented a comfy cabin in the woods for three nights-- us, the boys, and Jason (the single guy we keep in our basement and treat like family). Leading up to the trip, Daniel spent a few hours planning what we'd talk about and when. So we knew the schedule ahead of time. That was key.

During the day, Jason took the boys on adventures so Daniel and I could talk. And after the kids went to bed at night, Jason joined us.

We also left room in the schedule for a family movie night, hot tub time, and a big family hike. : )



The weather conditions were reflective of my brain and heart on this trip. It started out preeeetty foggy and dreary. But by the end, things were bright and sunny!



Here's the rundown of the sessions...

Session One: Story. We have the opportunity to play a part in God's story. Our sliver in history may be small but small doesn't have to mean insignificant. What kind of story do we want to be living as a family (i.e. vision)?

Session Two: Budget. The least exciting yet super important session. We tend to be idealists when it comes to budget. Ideally we can just spend what we want and it'll all work out magically and we'll some how end up with a giant surplus to hand down to our children some day. But math is math and unswayed by good intentions. Enter spreadsheets and lists and lots of time on Mint.com. Now we have a plan to get out of debt, not go into it. Oh, math.







Session Three: What Was the Story of 2013. i.e. Making specifics goals for this year. What do we want to be celebrating at the end of 2013?

Session Four: Schedule. How are we investing our other biggest resource---time. (money was the first one, fyi) Does how we currently spend our time reflect what we say we believe? (This one kinda rocked our world)

Session Five: Work. Is what we are currently doing to make money reflective of what we say we believe? Can we be better at what we're doing? Should we be doing something totally different?




Session Six: Jason. What's he doing to be a man worth marrying? How can we help?

Our brains are still kinda swimming with all that info. It became quickly clear that this needs to be a quarterly thing. We can kinda only handle three-months worth of goals at a time. We've already got our summer vision retreat scheduled! "If it's not consistent, it doesn't count" became the retreat's mantra. So we want to be consistent in our vision retreat scheduling as well.



So, yes, it was really really helpful. Daniel is a rockstar and he totally nailed it. He can wield a whiteboard like a boss. (which reminds me, I highly suggest using a whiteboard....it really helps to see everything all written out).



I hope you'll consider taking a family vision retreat of your own! I mean, we do it in business all the time and how much MORE important is the trajectory of your family?!

Truth, Love, and Dry Erase Markers,

Arian : )

Lisa Leonard Giveaway Winner!

Congrats! I'll contact you with more info!

Arian : )

Lisa Leonard Giveaway!!

Good news!! Lisa Leonard is generously offering a $50 gift certificate from her lovely shop to one of you fine readers!




There are so many cute things to choose from so prepare yourself. My favorite---this personalized Sweetheart Tree necklace. I've pretty much worn it every day since it arrived. : )




It reminded me of this little sweetheart tree I made out of felt, a five gallon bucket, and a whole lotta hot glue. It lives in our non-working fireplace. Maybe I'll start a collection of cute tree stumps.




So! To enter, leave a comment(s) on this post and with one or both of the following options:
1. Your favorite thing in Lisa Leonard's shop
2. A note that you signed up for her newsletter on her homepage.
That means, if you sign up for the newsletter AND pick a favorite item,you can leave TWO comments!
So go look! A random winner will be picked on Monday! Yay!!
Arian : )

Be Strong Take Courage

This weekend we headed to the country where the boys spent some much needed time outside and I enjoyed the quiet inside.


I journaled and sketched and watched this Josh Garrels/Mason Jar Music video probably a dozen times.


This guy. I don't know who he is but this look on his face gets me every time. Maybe it's the point in the song when he stops worrying about hitting the right notes and just realizes how beautiful the music is. I don't know, but I like it. And there's probably something I should learn from it.


And I added this new print to the shop. I've had this in mind for a long time and it was good to finally get it on paper.



There's probably something I should learn from this one too.

Arian : )

Full Bellies Tired Hearts

Our bellies are full of beans and rice


(Lentils and rice breakfast)


(Rice pudding birthday treat)


(Lentil and rice soup with leftover veggies)


(And more beans)

And our hearts are ready for a some time away. We've spent the day packing for a little trip to the country. And when we've needed a break, we've enjoyed the bit of sunshine and warmish air that's found it's way to our neck of the woods. Moving this chair from the back to the front of the house to follow the sun and opening the windows to enjoy the first hints of spring air.









Enjoy your weekend and your Easter!

Arian : )