Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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How to take care of yourself

April 19, 2023 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’ve lived in landlocked Kentucky all my (almost) 44 years. I love it here, but sometimes I feel trapped. Going to the shoreline, even of Kentucky Lake, helps me take a deep breath and regroup. I actually did that in the middle of the week because anxiety and overwhelm were swirling around in my head. I needed to tend to some things at my vacation rental, but I really needed a deep breath of fresh air. 

I’m notorious for going and going and going and doing and doing and doing until I am forced to take a break. I thought I had taken a healthy, long break on Spring Break, but I dived right back into life with decisions and feelings. I needed to regroup, again – and it was only Wednesday.  

Our world loves to talk about self-care. And, honestly, I’m not really into that phrase, but I am into squeezing in some moments of caring for myself as I go about this crazy life. 

In general, when we don’t take time out for ourselves and our regular duties, we can become tired and stressed. Those feelings can build on one another and leave us overwhelmed. This isn’t good for ourselves or anyone around us. Just ask my husband! 

Regrouping to focus on our physical, mental, and spiritual health is necessary. You may not be able to take a whole self-care day, but we can all find some time to tend to our own hearts and souls before we move on to the next thing. 

Delegate duties

I have to remind myself it’s okay to ask for help. My husband and kids live here too. My friends are willing to help. Groceries can be delivered. Chores can wait. Hire a house cleaner. I have to remind myself not everything had to get done in one day.

I love to cook, but sometimes caring for myself involves not preparing a meal so I can use that time for something else. After soccer practice, you’re liking to find us eating some chicken strips or visiting the local steakhouse. On these nights, not only do I not cook, but I also don’t have to do the dishes!

Declutter

Clutter impacts my mental state, so cleaning the house – even quickly – helps restore order and peace. I especially love donating the pile of clothes that don’t fit the kids anymore and taking out the trash. 

Change the scenery 

Sometimes stepping away from chores and work is the best thing. Restoring peace also means I’ll be more productive later. So take that walk – even just down your driveway, around the block, or through the woods. It doesn’t have to be long or fancy, just get in some steps and clear your head. I like to talk with a friend, listen to music or a podcast, or pray while I walk. Sometimes even nature sounds alone help soothe my soul.

I also have to change my mental scenery sometimes. When I am anxious or overwhelmed, I tend to believe lies and have to fight for the truth to come back to the forefront of my mind. Often I do this by talking with someone I trust, praying and meditating, slowing down, and listening to a playlist I put together called “Things That Are True.” (Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.)

Do what you enjoy

Free time shouldn’t always be spent catching up on a household or work project. Rather, take time to do something you enjoy. I’m likely to read a book, watch a TV show, plan a trip, catch up with a friend, or take photos. 

Be grateful

Don’t let the busyness of life drown out the gifts. When I get overwhelmed, I love to turn on a playlist that prompts me to thank God for all the goodness in my life. When I start writing or reciting in my head all the gifts, the overwhelm and stress subsides. Writing a gratitude list helps me appreciate real-life gifts, people, and places when life feels stressful and overwhelming. Gratitude helps me reframe situations: Chores become ways to bless people and trials become ways to see the truth.

Call it self-care or whatever else, but we all need to care of our minds and hearts. I know firsthand what happens if we don’t and nobody we love needs that version of us. 

How do you take care of yourself in the midst of everyday life?

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How to teach responsibility

September 7, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

This week I had all sorts of things on my to-do list: Schedule an oil change for my van. Set up daughter’s online banking access. Run these errands. Text certain people. Have kids mow the grass. Order a birthday cake. Get paint off the dining room table. Do laundry. 

Yes, that’s life. But it’s also being responsible. It’s a lesson I definitely want my kids to learn. I want them to take care of their hygiene, their mental health, their physical well-being, their spiritual lives, and even their belongings. While documenting real life, I want to teach them real-life responsibility. 

Encourage responsibility 

Teaching kids about taking care of things is an important life skill that should is taught throughout the years at home before they have homes of their own, where I’m not going to make morning routine lists and chore charts or offer incentives for being responsible. 

At our house, two of our kids have routine lists to go through each morning and evening. It’s certainly not a perfect process, but it helps me remind them of what they need to do every day. Included in their routines are cleaning up after themselves. I want them to care for the house we have and the things that belong to them. I want them to clean up their dirty clothes so I can wash them and then they can put them away. 

Encourage kids to take some ownership. Let them put away the silverware, even if it’s messier than you’d do it. (Yes, I’m totally talking to myself here!) Give them chores they can do regularly. 

Teach value of belongings & people

There are many ways to teach children about the consequences of being (or not being!) responsible. My husband and I have tried all sorts of strategies in this area – some more successful than others. Recently, my son broke his Gabb Watch. Honestly, not being able to communicate with him when he’s not with me is a little inconvenient for me, but I’m not replacing this broken item. Taking care of this smartwatch was his responsibility. 

It’s okay for our kids to do without luxuries when they have all they truly need. Their toys, extra clothes, band instruments, technology devices, and sweets are all treats. 

More important than things are the relationships within our household. I want my kids to value each other. The other morning one child was calling another child mean names, so the consequence was to clean two of the toilets. Our home is a safe place so sometimes people’s reactions are unfiltered, but I still want us all to strive to love one another well. 

Lead by example

My oldest child, who is a sophomore in high school, recently opened a checking account. I want to teach her how to balance an account, have healthy spending habits, and understand the value of earning money before she’s living on her own. Teaching responsibility like this is important while children are still under our roofs. In our house, we talk about money in a context that hopefully helps our children understand God has been gracious to us, my husband works hard, saving is important, and belongings and experiences have a monetary value. They know about grocery shopping, eating out, and sharing what we have with others. Experiences, like being part of a soccer team, also encourage character traits, including responsibility.

My husband is an entrepreneur and his ideas have rubbed on me after 20 years of marriage. And now my oldest daughter has started her own business, Backroads & Blooms Photography. She’s been selling some flower photographs she took. I’m helping her promote it online, but she does the printing of photos and ordering frames. She keeps track of income and expenses on a spreadsheet. So many lessons on real-life responsibility right there!

My husband and I want to live these ideas out in our own lives so our children witness responsible living. We do our own chores around the house, but we’re always grateful to include them – in both the lessons and the work!

Purging items is good

When it comes to being responsible for items, another important lesson is purging is good! We can’t hold on to every piece of paper that comes home from school, shoes that don’t fit anymore, or toys that they have outgrown. Sometimes we throw things away; other times we give them away to someone who can use them. When my children were younger, I would rotate toys in and out of their closets so they would often feel like they had something new to play with on a rainy day. We wouldn’t open every new birthday toy on the same day, but wait for another day to spread out the joy. 

Sometimes when children are having a hard time figuring out what to play with, try taking away some of the clutter in their room and see if that helps. It’s important that parents help their children develop their creativity by giving them space to play and explore. Plus this helps them appreciate what they already have. 

How do you teach responsibility in your home?

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How to document real life

August 23, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

For so many parents, raising happy kids is the priority. While that’s important, it’s certainly not everything. Yet, in all the brokenness of the world, I want to point my kids to Jesus and document our (mostly good) memories. I want to remember the good. 

Take lots of photos

I love snapping pictures of everyday life, trips, and special events. Of course, sometimes the kids get distracted or aren’t interested in capturing the same moments. I’m thankful for the “live photo” setting on my iPhone so I can go back and choose the best snapshot of the moment when kids were likely moving around and making faces. A photo burst is also helpful with this. 

A photo burst function takes up a lot of memory, which means that you need to be swift in dumping it on your computer so you have more space on your phone. But rather than it clogging up your computer, whether it’s a laptop or a MacBook, you can use software such as free MacBook cleaners to guarantee that you are able to streamline this effectively. Also, hello, iCloud. 

Photo books

Photo books are a logical extension of taking great photos. If we are constantly looking at pictures on our phones, we can almost lose the sense of what the photo is there for. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of printing out your photos on a regular basis. I like designing photo pages in the Project Life app and then printing these pages and other photos for my walls at Persnickety Prints. 

My kids love to look at these scrapbooks too and then I find myself telling them extra details from the stories. What a sweet way to add to their memories! 

Other ways to document life

While photos tend to be the biggest aspect of documenting family life, I also capture memories in other ways too:

  • Birthday books. These are books with pages for each birthday. I add a photo from their party and fill out the questionnaires about that celebration. It’s a simple but fun way to capture birthday milestones and what each child is like at that age. (I have one of these books for each kid.)
  • School books. Like the birthday book, this one has a few pages for each grade. It’s a great way to document kids’ school experiences, friendships, favorite subjects, and field trips. Plus there’s a pocket where report cards and other mementos can be saved.
  • Words note. Especially when kids are little, they say they funnies things. I started a note on my phone for these things. I just list funny, wise things they have said over the years and date each entry. I think I’ll eventually print this and put it in their baby books. 
  • Line-a-day journal. I started using this journal five years ago and love it. Each night, I write down a couple of sentences about our day. Each page has space for five years, so it’s fun to look back on the previous years. In my fifth year, I’m already looking forward to my new journal in January. While this started as something for me, it definitely captures family traditions, habits, and memories. 
  • Baby books. My kids have unique stories because we adopted each of them as newborns. Traditionally baby books didn’t always work, so I found baby books I could take and part and used certain pages in binders that I turned into baby books. These binders also include their adoption stories, which I’ve updated with details and meetings with bio families throughout the years. 
  • Books. While it’s not the usual way, I also have documented my kids’ adoption stories in a self-published book called “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family.” I also documented some everyday life we share with others in a book called “Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories about Gathering & Nourishing People.” 
  • TimeHop. Social media understandably gets a bad rap sometimes, but I love capturing memories on there today so I can see them in my TimeHop memories years later. I love a good side-by-side photo comparison! 
  • Creative mementos. I hope to have things like an heirloom to pass along to my children as they grow up and begin documenting lives of their own. Things like T-shirt quilts, special photos, video compilations, and special dishes are creative ways to document life. 

Life is full in every way – but this is one area of which I’m not willing to let go. Sure, it takes some time, but these are some simple ways you can incorporate documenting memories in your real life as you’re living it with your family. 

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

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First of all, who else has read this book? The plo First of all, who else has read this book? The plot was promising as a thriller and the setting really worked. There were some good twists, and then there were ridiculous twists. I skimmed the end only because I wanted it to make sense. And it didn’t. It was too weird for me. 

But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

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I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

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And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

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On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

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Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

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I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but t I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but this one by Soraya M. Lane focused on three nurses, their friendships, and how the war changed their lives. It’s a hard story, but it’s full of love and hope despite the destruction around them. 

And it’s the second historical fiction audiobook I’ve listened to in a row! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #Audible #KindleUnlimited #historicalfiction
I became a mom because three other women sacrifice I became a mom because three other women sacrificed, chose life, and chose me to. Motherhood is sanctifying, unexpected, adventurous, and constant. It’s also among the greatest joys in my life. 

A low-key Mother’s Day that included church and felt like summer was exactly what my soul needed. Don’t worry, my eldest was around too but she had to work on homework and then at her job. 

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This second novel by @carleyfortune speaks right t This second novel by @carleyfortune speaks right to my summer-loving heart. I loved Will and Fern’s love story, appreciated the depths of some of their experiences, and enjoyed the happy ending. Put this one one your summer reading list! 

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