A T T H E P A R K ' S

Not long ago I had a purse that was filled with stuff that I didn't use but I stored items for the "in case I need it" moment which never came. You can read about it  here . It was a hassle to constantly transfer stuff from one bag to the next if I wanted to change purses for every outfit change. As we have been decluttering our belongings, I decided I'd also downsize the contents of my purse just to keep things a bit more simple and ended up purging all but one purse in the process (read down below to see the other purse I use). Then I began looking for something that had a simple design, in a neutral color, and was compact. I was interested in a purse that would allow me to carry the essentials and nothing extra. First off, I had to decide what I deemed as my essentials, then I could determine the size of purse I needed. Secondly, I wanted something that would go with a lot of outfits, whether I was attending a wedding, or wearing jeans and a t-shirt. INTRO

A couple of months ago, as I wrote about here , we started the process of infertility testing and treatment. After a few appointments, blood draws and an ultrasound, we learned that I have an autoimmune disease causing, among a number of symptoms I won't go into detail here, thyroid issues, hormone imbalances, and infertility. On top of that, the tumors I had during our miscarriage are back. This season of our marriage has been incredibly trying and incredibly precious. For some, going through a miscarriage and/or infertility can break a marriage. But, because of God's grace, JP and I have grown closer together in our marriage and are stronger every passing day. JP is the best thing (besides Jesus) that's ever happened to me and I am so proud to call him my husband. He is a gift that I never want to take for granted. Through these trials, we've learned some painful life lessons and I thought I'd share some of them with you: ONE: FLEXIBILITY Oh man.

source Back HERE , we shared about how JP and I are beginning to transition to living a more simple life and really, into minimalism.  We've also written about how we've wanted to switch to all natural body care products due to some of my severe health issues so I thought I'd share some of the progress we've made thus far. I read somewhere that it takes only 26 seconds for chemicals in your personal care products to enter your bloodstream and it makes me so happy to know that I am no longer exposing myself to any toxic chemicals. We have enough chemicals in our foods, our water, the air we breathe, but I digress. If you have any suggestions for natural/chemical free products, I'd love to hear from you. We don't have it all figured out, but we're learning! FACE + HAND WASH My naturopathic physician suggested DR. BRONNER'S PURE CASTILE SOAP with heavy dilution. She says she uses it to wash her hair, body, face, hands, and it also works g