We are a family who loves to explore, inspire and learn! We never stop learning! From traveling to enjoying local businesses in our community, getting a taste of the world from a real hands on perspective is where the real education begins!
Everyone has them, even if they aren’t labeled with the cliché term “New Years Resolution”. It’s a basic goal and in some ways beneficial to us mentally to commit to change for the change that’s coming, so that we aren’t blind sided by the change that is inevitable. As we all know, with each new week, month and year – the one thing that remains the same is that things change. Why not embrace it, be intentional with it, make it yours and not allow it to be molded and created! That’s my goal, my goal is to be intentional and create goals out loud! You know that person who makes a list of a list, well I’m making a goal to make goals! I want to be consistent in my actions, exceptions aside. I want to be reliable, not just when I want to be, but always. These are traits I want to grow into with intention and purpose.
I’ve been loving a few YouTube channels that give me hope and inspiration for the future and present in practical ways. Cooking, cleaning, mental health, breaking spiritual strongholds and building good habits. I want that, to be intentional in every part of my life. With relationships and with the material elements.
I have found that the reason it’s common to struggle with being intentional, is because it changes the category the thing is. It’s no longer “optional”, “if I feel like it” – it’s now “I’m responsible for it”, “I’m committed to this” and I will be held accountable to seeing it through. That’s a big deal and can be scary when you only look at it from the standpoint of “what if I fail”… you carry the burden of failure before you’ve even begun and it will weigh you down.
We need to view it from the joy of doing something with every intention to succeed. Meaning, there is no such thing as failure. Every moment is an opportunity to get the result you anticipated or get another result that is either better or a learning experience. There’s never a time where failure is actually happening. Memories could have been made during it, which can be more valuable than the result you wanted even. There’s so much specialness and beauty in the possibilities we can create when we are intentional!
My motivation is to be present, in everything. I don’t want to do everything on default. I want to be there. In it, all of it. Really being a part of the action! I want to be a intentional Wife and an intentional Mommy. I want to take ownership of my life and I need to make real decisions to do that!
I’d love to hear your New Years Resolution and the motivation behind it!
Hey! My name is Hannah. This blog post is such a vulnerable post. I was tempted to remove, but decided against it. I pray it will be an encouragement to you in your struggles.
I just reread this on 12/03/2022, and I feel so touched by my struggle last year. Clarity came this year. I’m praising God for His clarity and grace. These tough seasons are not simple and not everyone you encounter will grasp the gravity or depth of your experience. You are not alone! ♥️
Blog Post: Feeling Sluggish and Not Wanted Recorded 02/03/2023 Recorded by Hannah Gifford
Today has been an off and on day for me. I have been dealing with lethargy and just downright sluggish, I felt that possibly I was eating or drinking thing that were causing it, then I realized I have added some additional hours to my schedule with one of my subcontractor jobs and those hours are from 11pm to 2am and sometimes even 3am to 4am… I resigned from one of my gigs in order to spend more time with my girls and not be so bombarded with stress/work life and home life balance. It just doesn’t work for me to work a full-time job with kids who need me present. Well, after I put two and two together, I realized that that has to be the reason why I’m literally fighting to keep my eyes open during the day. Almost feels impossible and the more caffeine I consume only makes the crash so much worse! I’ve found that if I begin dosing on caffeine with this sluggish feeling, I get even more sluggish, and it doesn’t seem to subside even after sleeping.
I did some research and apparently for every night you miss quality sleep, it takes upwards of four days to recover. FOUR DAYS??? I was floored. I have been guilty of not getting good sleep involuntarily as well as voluntarily and the fact that this feeling I’ve had is lack of sleep related is just nerve wracking. It feels like there isn’t enough hours in the day. I have little to no motivation to do anything during the day and I need to do things at night that I otherwise cannot do during the day…
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Problem – This is my dilemma, time. You can’t exactly purchase more time though. So, how do I resolve this? I feel like its going to take a lot of mental rewiring, but last night. I chose to not work late and just went to bed. It was hard, considering I’ve self-diagnosed myself with what ever its called where you stay up late and have a hard time sleeping. Well, I’ve updated that diagnosis to “I stay up because I am distracted from sleeping” — It literally sucks the energy right out of your next day. I’m buying time from my tomorrow. So, in a way I am buying time, its just got a huge consequence that I was not prepared for. The money I make at that gig is not worth the amount of depletion I’ve felt the past week. It’s an easy gig and the money isn’t bad, but it’s killing me slowly and I feel it. Majorly this week! I’ve been incapable of even forming sentences at points due to pure exhaustion and I must not sit down or else I’d fall asleep then and there. Just horrible.
I went through a major bout of depression earlier in the year and that really messed me up mentally, so I feel like a failure some days and its so strong that it becomes this hurricane or whirlwind in my mind that engulfs me. Mentally tapping me, making me feel like a failure, unloved, unwanted, a nothing with no value. I know that’s not true, but that’s logical. This isn’t logic, its all-pure raw emotion of an individual “ME!” – Who is struggling spiritually and is seeking for all the validations and “purpose” and the feeling of being wanted – by earthly things that will not and do not satisfy, as a matter a fact, they are not only not satisfying, but they are also in reality debilitating. That’s how deep and serious emotions can be, we would trade our health to feel wanted, needed, and to have a sense of purpose. I mean, maybe not everyone feels or thinks this way. But I know its in our nature to need to feel wanted or have a purpose of some sort, even if your purpose to be a bump on a log, it’s a purpose.
I’ve been going through this transition for roughly 2 years, late 2018 was when I began to really push the boundaries of my conscious/subconscious mind – rethink how I wanted to be, who I wanted to be. I really surprise myself looking back on things I’ve writing from back then and predating that time as well, wisdom – Now, I look at myself, and I’m thinking, what happened to me. Why am I this mess of a person, no organization like I used to be. No defined purpose or plans or even a real goal in life. Just existing ‘barley‘ one day to the next. Like a shell, just walking about with no real destination. Sounds depressing, but it really is how I feel lately. Maybe vitamins would be a good idea for me, I plan to research that as well. However, back in 2018 when I began to really test my thoughts and process of thinking, I found a book that I absolutely love, and it really makes me question everything. I love it. Its call The Conscious Parent. I stand by this book a thousand percent. If it wasn’t for that book, I do believe I wouldn’t firmly grasp what my true purpose is. Even during this storm that I’m going through, I know the truth. In the midst of all the emotion, I know that God has a plan and that I need to test my thoughts and test the spirits I allow in my life and my families life daily, hourly. Being conscious of oneself, is supernatural in my opinion and you can’t fail when every mistake is a lesson!
Nothing here is a cure for anything, else I probably wouldn’t be here blogging about my issues. However, there is healing in the pain of things. I do firmly believe that God has called us to such a greater purpose, that pain is a lesson of compassion. One day we may be able to witness someone in pain that is just not comprehendible to someone who hasn’t experienced it, this is a way for us to have compassion for those people who otherwise are alone. I know God has a purpose for what I’m going through, and I pray that I will learn what I need to from this experience.
I say all this to say, filling your life with meaningless busyness simply to feel needed/wanted, will do more harm to you than good. I feel like that is what I’ve been doing with this gig at night and the negative consequence has been outweighed the positive consequence 10 to 1. In closing, its important to ask yourself. Why 5 times. Why am I doing “INSERT WHAT IT IS” – Then ask “Why?” to the answer to that and continue. Usually by 4 or 5, you will know if its really something you should be doing. And of course, don’t forget to pray. Praying is an important and should be our first action in making decisions. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen to me. I appreciate it! Have a great day!
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“It’s no surprise we fail to tune into our children’s essence. How can we listen to them, when so many of us barely listen to ourselves? How can we feel their spirit and hear the beat of their heart if we can’t do this in our own life?”
I wrote this on the 12th, but finally publishing it on the 16th-ish… it just turned midnight, so technically the 16th!
Today I was supposed to have an interview with a company that I would probably enjoy, but like usual I apply for positions that I quite frankly cannot work. I am not sure why I do this. It is like I enjoy the “you got the job” accomplishment, even though I really cannot commit to 40 hours a week. Its just as simple as that, I cannot commit to 40 hours a week to a company that will only pay me for the time that I am awake and working 8 hours a day and so forth. With no control over my time and when I work.
That is just not something I could ever see myself doing again. I did it for years – since I was 16 years old, working 8 hours a day 5 days a week – and what exactly do I have to show for it? Financially, not much really. Working to work is what I was doing, it was not really giving me any real semblance of financial freedom. I did live on income-based housing at one point and received food stamps as well, that is an illusion of freedom – as it comes with strings attached like nobody’s business. I mean, once you are in a comfortable place with government assistance, you cannot “move up” income wise, because the moment you try to increase your living income (which still will not sustain the lifestyle you have developed) you will no longer be eligible for income-based house or government assistance. So, it really and utterly puts you in a stale mate.
I felt so stuck in the system for so long, 5 years to be exact. I could not make more money and reach my full potential even by a smidge, else I would lose the “freedom” and luxuries I currently had and wanted to maintain. It was draining to know that at any minute someone else (The Government in this instance) was in control of my income in a way and I needed to break out.
I took a higher paying position within the company I was working for and was given notice by all government assistance that I would be no longer eligible and the income-based housing I was living in for the past 5 years would now need to end. I found an apartment for my daughter and I, but after living there for less than a year, even with my full-time job at $12 an hour (Yes, $12 an hour is big money and made me ineligible for any assistance) – We had to request to break lease early and ended up moving in with family to help with bills and getting on my feet financially. This was humiliating and a blessing all at the same time.
The downfall with this as well, is that when we moved in with them, it became easy to go right back to the previous lifestyle and not take responsibility for bills (as I had none whilst living with family) it set me back even further, financially and mentally. It’s a cycle that needs to be broken, and I was slower than most I’d assume in realizing my bad behavior was going to impact future me and my family if I didn’t get it together and begin focusing on my finances for real, not just for the immediate moment.
We ended up using our income tax to move out in the May of 2020, and now that brings us full circle.
Still, struggling to make ends meet and I feel as though I will forever be searching for that financial freedom that does not come with strings. We are on our way to the beach now, to have a family day and I feel like its important that I jot down my thoughts to help motivate me to continue searching. Doing the search, I should have been doing 10 years ago. I feel like by now I would have found the answer and would be writing you all the ins and outs to how I got here. To financial freedom.
However, that is not the case. So, now I am going through this right before your eyes. ENJOY!
We are a small family that is growing! We are home educators, meaning we learn every day all day long! Through traveling, talking to people and just being apart of our community. Through technology, our community just got bigger. We are now able to reach many many people through so many different outlets and portals. Instagram has been my safe haven for so much support from other Mom’s and Dad’s who are enjoying the freedom of home education or traveling or both! We aren’t going to lie, we have had challenges. Its been one roller coaster after another.
Right now is a great example. I’m typing this with my baby in my arms, my 9 year old to my left asking me if she can play on her tablet. My husband is out front mowing the lawn and our temporary pup is calmly standing by. I said no to the tablet as its 4pm and I want her to get outside for the remainder of the day. No shame in some time on the tablet, I love the app Prodigy (not sponsored) we just absolutely love that game/education!
We have learned so much through the short period of time that we have been home educators. Researching for years prior, never fully grasping what all it would entail or take to get into a functioning daily routine (or should I say, daily shuffle), our routines are constantly morphing and growing, ultimately changing with how often you grow when you are actively learning new ways to improve ones self. Its inspiring and can be quite exhausting without support in some capacity.
Why do we home educate, you may ask?
Because learning shouldn’t be graded – Learning is the acquisition of skills through different methods (hands on experience, studying or being taught) – It is not a measure of ones worth nor should someones lack of learning what was taught be a negative moment for anyone, but rather a up lifting one of now we know how “NOT” to do it, lets learn how “TO” do it.
Acquiring information for the sole purpose of taking a test and “ACE’ing” it. Isn’t learning (well it is, just not the kinds that will inspire you to want to learn) – What you are actually learning, is how much you need to know to pass, not how much you want to know, because you want to learn.
Often times in my experience with compulsory schooling, once a child “Fails” (This term Fail is such a mess, as in learning, there is NEVER failure, only successful ways not to do something) Nevertheless, once a child “Fails” a test, they are graded and then moved on to the next topic. No revisit to hone those “skills” that they “Failed”, they are just marked with a number/letter grading system and moved on to the next grazing field like cattle. No real connection to learning at all.
There is a lot of great lessons to be learned, but how can we do that if our imagination is not allowed to come out randomly. We can’t structure every little last aspect of our lives. We need to leave room, LOTS of room, for the unexpected wonderful delights that happen by chance, accident, mistake or just because. These are the moment when TRUE learning happens! When your passion is ignited and you feel a sense of urgency to express your excitement. Ahhh, these moments are what my family lives for!
And because I want my family to make as many memories together, even it does mean sacrificing a few things that a lot of people would consider creature comforts. We may not be able to go on lavish expenditures, but honestly, who needs a vacation if they design their life to be one? Yep, I said it. Design your life! You are in control of your life, why not make it exactly what you want on a vacation, EVERY DAY!
So, I started this website to canvas our lifestyle as well as provide fun info, helpful info and also provide some help to those who need things to make their life the inspiration they desire.
Understanding the basic needs you and your family have is so important. What drives/motivates you, your kids, your partner? These are the questions you will want to research and evaluate, because guess what! These too shall change. We want them to, that’s why this is a life journey, not just a first date. You have to constantly be working, researching and observing who your people are and what their needs are. Vice Versa!! We are a community and we need to all be practicing these skills together. Its a lifestyle, its vital to a successful and fulfilled life.
I’m blogging publicly here, because it will bring all my platforms to one central location. Making it ultimately easier for you to find me. Click to see all of my Platforms
I’d love to connect with anyone who is interested in self improvement, self motivation, family growth, individual growth, expanding your views and being open minded to change constantly. We are always changing, growing and we need to be able to mentally, emotion and spiritually prepare for these changes.
I want to inspire you to become a better version of yourself daily. Its a life journey, it takes dedication and perseverance. We don’t just get to where we want to be, because we tried once. We get what we want, because we did the grind daily.
My goal is to raise my children to be self sufficient, confident, self-aware, critical thinkers and ambitious with strong firm beliefs. Healthy emotional, mental and physical well-being. Knowing their worth and value is not based on others, but that their value and worth is found in our Savior Jesus Christ.
I have so many amazing ideas, that I haven’t even had the time to sit down and just write them out. I am so passionate about so many things and my family is my number one passion.
A few of my greatest passions other than my family is
Moms – As a mom myself, I am absolutely passionate about supporting, encouraging and inspiring other moms out there.
Postpartum – is my biggest soft spot. I want to really drive in an idea soon about how I want to help support the women who have no support and are all alone while bringing life into this world. They need to know that we care and that they will get through the trials. Being a new mom, dealing with emotions/hormones, physically healing from child birth and not having a support system is a very tough situation. I want to lessen that burden for women in any way I can.
Working Moms – We all have to make a living somehow. Why not work together to make sure we are all able to provide for our family’s. I want to provide services for those moms who need to work, but want to be home with their family’s. If you need it, I’ll find a way to get it for you. This is my mentality.
“Unwanted” children (children are always wanted) – This is a long term goal of mine, as I have wanted this since I was a child. I want to adopt/support in many/any capacity children who are alone/orphaned in our country. When I was a child myself, I wanted to grow up and own lots of land and a big house, (like 15 bedrooms – I was a dreamer – still am), and its just so important to me to be that voice for children of all ages, born and unborn!
I will end here, as I’ve said so much already! I look forward to making new friends and hope to inspire others in the process!
– Hannah G
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The Family Treat 