Sometimes we just need a little encouragement and inspiration, and flowers are full of both.
Have a wonderful day, and buy yourself some flowers.
Xo m.g.
Beautiful Bouquets Of Flowers With Quotes To Inspire You
Tag: blog
2022 End Of Year Reflections With The Gems
Yesterday morning we sat down at the dining table that is covered in scratches and memories with a black and white notepad and a blue R.S.V.P. pen and we discussed and wrote down our reflections for the year. I was originally going to do this personally but then I thought it would be super fun and interesting to listen to my daughters answers on these specific questions. I also felt it would be some overall good bonding time.
It was an opportunity to really recognize our accomplishments and things that we each want to work on.
It was very humorous listening to their responses. They each listened to each other and we giggled about things that we actually forgot until we were encouraged to remember. Now that we have finished our reflections I think we’ll look at some photos from this year and begin our 2023 visions.
– love from TheWildGems
20 Coffee Phone Wallpapers For Coffee Lovers
Side story:
I never use to drink coffee, really. I was just never that much into it. Maybe so often I’d get myself a mocha frap or a caramel frap, but that’s about it. (Can’t really drink those now if I’m being honest, way too sweet for me.)
It’s hard to believe now that I actually functioned without basic coffee. But I have been drinking coffee now for over 10 years, maybe 15! As you get older things become like a mirror after a hot shower.
But coffee has become my hug in a mug every day! So soothing and comforting. It’s like watching snow fall, but better.
If I’m feeling spontaneous I’ll add whip cream on top with some cinnamon. I’ll even wake up an hour early for this shit before my kids wake up so I can close my eyes, savor every sip, and not have to constantly nuke it up in the microwave. This is my adulthood.
My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time would drink coffee every single morning with his favorite hazelnut creamer (he’s been drinking coffee for YEARS) Whenever he would make his coffee it smelled so satisfying. I couldn’t help but request a few sips and indulge in the goodness. And he would share. He did love me apparently.
Well, over time my sips slowly morphed into me inhaling almost all his coffee every time. Where eventually he began making me my own cup of coffee along with his. I think he was done sharing with me. He had to flip the switch. I don’t blame him at all.
Anyways, it’s became our morning thing with him and I. And still is our morning thing. Every. Morning. I just cherish this thing that is ours.
And well, ladies and gentlemen…that is how this coffee lover/addict/enthusiast was born. Thanks for reading my little coffee story.
Now who wants some coffee? Because I for sure do.
– mg
Comment your favorite!
Dear Readers: I Cut My Hair And I Love It
First of all my hair was pretty long before I made the chop. Long to where I could be braless and you wouldn’t see anything. Hair goals.
I was so eager to cut my hair though, and for awhile! However I made the commitment to myself to wait till after my friends wedding. I wanted a pretty hairstyle because you know, it was a wedding.
One of my friends actually became concerned that I wanted to cut my hair when I voiced it on Instagram. She sent me a message asking if I was okay. And then we talked on the phone while she continuously wanted to make sure I was fine.
Because you know, when most people chop off their hair it’s because they may be going through something. Like a divorce. That’s what my hair stylist said anyway.
But listen, I really just wanted to cut my hair. I wanted a change and I felt like cutting my hair would kind of be like shedding one’s shin. Making room for growth. You know?
My hair had a beautiful hoorah before I cut these beautiful locks I should say. Check it out!
It’s called a bubble braid in case you were wondering.
The Wedding happen and 2 days layer, I mean later, (that truly was a typo) my hair was chopped! Amazing how it took me so long to grow my hair that long and took an instant to just snip time away.
What do you think?
I am loving it!
3 Reasons Why You’ll Loving Having Short Hair if you’ve been thinking about cutting yours too
1. Showers are soooooo nice
Washing long hair can be a pain in the butt! And you don’t even really realize how much of a pain it is until you have short hair! The shampoo just lathers so beautifully, and you only need just a little bit of conditioner. Compared to using a handful of it.
It just feels so good, I promise!
2. Much Easier To Style
You are going to save so much time my friend. Your hair dries so fast when it’s short and whether you are straightening or curling your hair it’s less tedious overall.
And if you don’t feel like styling your hair, well good news is that short ponytails are super cute!
3. It’s Liberating
You will feel like a new person. Looking at myself with long hair now, in retrospect I feel different. Obviously it’s me but theres a level of confidence that comes with chopping your hair off.
If you’re thinking about cutting your hair just do it!!
– mg xox
Soften The Heart: Devotional #21
“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me with your generous Spirit.”
Psalm 51:10-13
The Bible shares with us that each of us are salves in this world. We are either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. Either way, we are owned.
God granted us the choice in whom we will serve. We have been gifted a freedom to make mistakes, question authority, challenge ourselves, and find ourselves. In our freedom we begin to understand humility and love. We learn, grow, and teach (intentionally or unintentionally).
In choosing God, it is also mentioned that the path of Christ is not an untroubled one. Many tribulations will follow each us in our lives. However there is a degree of peace, patience, and assurance when strengthening your faith and choosing to be a slave of righteousness.
It’s a difficult web to be caught in. And we are all in it.
We need help each day to choose God over the traits of this world. Some days we have slips and will continue to have slips. But we must not shame ourselves, we must give ourselves grace and others daily. We must exhort ourselves, challenge others, and be brave to do what others may not be able to.
To seek God is to have the fog lifted in your life.
Fog can keep us stagnant because we are unaware or afraid. Since we can’t see beyond it, we decide to remain stationary because we only trust what we can see.
To have the courage and hope to seek something greater is to discover what’s beyond the fog. It’s to surrender to the unknown.
And it’s the discovery that there is indeed more than what meets the eye.
Dear Readers: Since Childhood Writing Has Been A Coping Mechanism For Me
Dear Readers,
I’m going to create a category called “dear readers” where I can be transparent and raw with my feelings and experiences for a moment. A way to release all that does not serve me in a positive way. I would like to reveal a vulnerable side of myself to better connect with all that follow this blog.
But as well, I would like to write these to share with my children one day.
I’ve reached a point where I desperately need to express and empty in writing all these unresolved emotions and “traumas” that I have been carrying for many years. I do not wish to past these to my children. But I hope to gain solutions and euphonies to help them when they face these obstacles one day.
I’m not really into your typical therapy. Talking about it can only do so much for me. Writing and reading are my therapy. I have to write it all down. I have think about it. I have to soak myself in emotion and words and allow myself to shiver.
It’s a puzzle that I know only I can truly solve.
Since childhood writing has always been a therapeutic tool for me. A way to strip the emotional pain or negative emotions from myself.
It’s always been a processing tactic for me. The only thing was, I would write it all down and then just completely ignore what I wrote. Well I’m older now and instead of ignoring the problems after I write I’m digging deeper for discoveries to better myself.
Writing was the release…..but as my love for reading has grown I also know how reading others writings can encourage and help others. Which is why I decide to share and write what I do on this blog.
My mom was in an abusive relationship during a good chunk of my childhood. Lots of screaming and crying behind closed doors. And I would hear her get thrown around often behind those closed doors. I know they didn’t want to fight in front of us, but our ears provided plenty of visuals.
This could be where my love for writing stemmed from honestly. I would write as they would be fighting. Expressing my hate for my stepdad. I would write prayers for help. It was all so sad really. The most vivid memories of this are from ages 9, maybe 8 to 14.
I know it was sad because there was a moment where I sat down (I’m thinking early 20s) and read those old childhood journals and it disturbed me so much that I didn’t want to remember any of those memories ever again. So I destroyed those journals.
But just because the words are destroyed doesn’t mean the actual memories are erased. My body still remembers.
Being much older now and developing a more sense of self I regret destroying those time capsules. Because now I’m really trying to heal myself to be a better mother to my children and those journals were like a cheat sheet to healing.
And now it’s like playing a guessing game. Something will trigger me and I’m sitting there left and confused, pondering it all day.
Truth be told I thought I was completely fine and “happy”. It wasn’t until I had children that all my repressed emotions began to expose themselves like weeds during a rainy season.
There’s a great part of me that sometimes feels overwhelmed, like now for example. Where I have to sit in a puddle of feels and just think about it.
It’s like, thinking you aced a test and then getting your test back and seeing that you failed. Sometimes I feel/think like “I’m healed, I’m good. I’m past it all.” I think that I can officially move forward and then I’ll have a humbling moment (usually provided to me by my kids) and I’m left dumbfounded. I’ve been shown that my emotions from my past are still greatly controlling me. That the work is definitely not complete.
It’s extremely frustrating. Parenting. Having “screw up” moments is really hard. Putting your tail between your legs in front of your children is super hard.
You want to be the best mother for your children however life shows you that you’re still a child yourself and that you’ve got lots of growing to still do.
Anyways, today I share and tell and I’m looking forward to sharing more.
Lots of love always,
m.g.
A Word Of Encouragement Goes A Long Way
Encouragement is defined as, “the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.”
Encouraging another human being doesn’t cost a thing but it gives them more than anything. It can be life changing for some!
A small act of encouragement pushes people, gives them strength, reassures them, gives them something to hold onto and maybe even fight for…..especially during challenging and sorrowful times.
Even a smile is an act of encouragement.
Don’t fall into the common trap of belittling yourself and your capabilities. You are power.
You can save lives and you DO save lives. You may not know exactly how, but does that really matter? You influence others more than you know. That’s something to think about.
Who knows what doors you have opened for others.
Know in your heart you make a difference. Pass on the love, pass on the encouragement, pass on the hope. The world needs it.
The world needs you.
– m.g.
Allow God To Catch You When You Fall
When your child is just learning how to stand or learning how to walk you are either holding them, or standing very close by.
In case your child falls you want to be there to catch them, versus them falling down and hurting themselves.
Nobody wants to see their child hurt or in pain, so we stand very close.
In this walk of life, we are the child and God is our heavenly parent.
But like most children we are very stubborn. We believe we can do things on our own, better yet, WE WANT to do things on our own. Like we need to prove something.
The thing with this mentality is we end up falling many times in life and learn many things the hard way, and it hurts. It hurts really bad. And God is just there waiting, patiently, to help us when we are ready to ask for it.
It’s not that he hasn’t tried to help us, we have pushed Him away saying, “I can do it myself, I don’t need you.” So he watches us fall and thinks to himself, please let me help you.
He knows learning how to walk is challenging and He knows the walk of life can’t be done without the help of Him.
Actually, it’s not that it can’t be done, it can. God just doesn’t want it to be a hard walk of life. He gives us an opportunity to try on our own but he stands by waiting for the permission to help us.
He wants to catch us on those falls because he knows if we keep falling we will be become discouraged and won’t try anymore.
Nobody wants to crawl forever. We want to walk and RUN. When we allow God to catch us we will begin to take more risks, we will be confident, and we won’t be afraid.
When my children were small they would crawl to the edge of the bed only because they knew I would catch them. Imagine if they could talk at that age and say things like, “alright mom, stop, I want to crawl all over the bed myself without you hovering me.” But my children let me be there for them just in case. They felt safe. And they actually enjoyed me catching me.
If you don’t want to let God catch you when you fall that is ultimately your choice, however if you surrender and just let Him help you….your life will change in the most incredible way because you will know that you can do anything.
You can crawl to the edge of the bed with no fear, always.
If, you allow God to catch you when you fall.
– m.g.
Easy Pizza Dough Recipe With 5 Ingredients
servings: 2 pizzas
baking instructions: bake at 500 degrees in a 9×13 glass dish for 10 to 12 mins or until edges are crisp.
What You Need:
1 pack of active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for coating
3 3/4 cups of flour plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Steps:
1. Whisk together 1 1/3 cup of warm water (you don’t want the water hot, it will kill the yeast) and the sugar. Then mix in the yeast and allow to sit for 10 mins until mixture is a little foamy and bubbly. Once the ten minutes are up add the tablespoons of olive oil.
2. In another large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Creat a well in the middle and add the water and yeast mixture. Knead dough for a minimum of 5 minutes adding more flour if necessary until dough is smooth and stretchy.
3. Divide dough in half creating 2 dough balls. Brush each dough ball with olive oil, placing each piece of dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for an hour and a half.
4. Once dough is done rising freeze one and prepare the other. Rub olive oil all over a 9 x 13 glass dish. Arrange your dough in the glass dish leaving some space in the corners to spread. Add your sauce, seasonings, and toppings.
5. Bake at 500 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until nice and crispy on the edges. Remove pizza from glass dish and place on a charcuterie cutting board and serve while hot.
Enjoy!
Pumpkin Spice Waffles
A great way to start Fall. Full of flavor and so yummy! Enjoy!
Servings: 10-15 large waffles or 20 to 25 small waffles
What You Need:
Wet Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (the real stuff)
3 tablespoons of unsalted melted butter
1 cup of canned pumpkin NOT THE WHOLE CAN (save the remaining pumpkin for a different treat)
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed of light brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt or “a pinch”
2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice seasoning
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Steps:
1. In one large bowl mix together your dry ingredients. In another medium/large bowl mix together your wet ingredients.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients.
3. Heat up your waffle iron to a high setting and cook as directed to your waffle maker. ***Since these are made with pumpkin they can have a difficult time getting to that crisp texture but I have a tip below!***
serve these with whipped cream and a cinnamon apple recipe!
Waffle Making Tips:
• a good indicator that your waffle is complete is little steam or no more steam is present.
• waffle maker didn’t make them crisp the way you like it? No problem. Once waffles are complete pop them into your oven or toaster oven at 250 and bake them for a bit. Delish! (Toaster worker too if you made them enough)
• would definitely recommend freezing. Store in a freezer safe bag using parchment paper to separate the waffles. If you know you’re going to be freezing while making then definitely don’t aim for waffle perfection. Cook them a little soft so when they are reheated they are perfect! A yummy quick breakfast!
The Wild Gems 