Settle in, grab your nice, warm cup of coffee and let’s chat…

Hey! I’m Allie, this is my new dumping grounds. 😀 Just kidding. Well, kinda. I am starting this blog as a place to share a few more words than Insta will allow. A little supplementation to what I already share in the squares. I’ll be blogging everything from #momlife to #chickenlady and in between. I want to use this space as an encouragement. An encouragement to women who are seeking the intentional life. In all areas.

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Here’s a little bit about me/ my family…

I’m Allie Elliott, saved by God’s grace through the blood of Jesus when I was 6 years old. Grew up homeschooled and attending a Bible believing church. Graduated a semester early and attended nursing school at Pensacola Christian College. In 2010 I graduated from nursing school AND married the crush of my youth and love of my life, Andrew Elliott. We are currently living happily every after ;). We have 4 beautiful babies born in 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2021. They add so much joy (and noise) to our lives. In Spring of 2020 we sold our first home, moved into a 35 foot travel trailer, and settled on 5.7 acres of beautiful Texas hill country. Winter of 2022 construction finished on our home and we are currently loving living in it!

Our dream is to create a small homestead, as much as we’re able, on our little patch of heaven. We add chickens this week and in the future hope for ducks, a beautiful garden, and maybe some other dream animals… gotta’ keep praying ;).

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Our Journey to Intentional living…

I would like to say I’ve always been an “intentional liver” (is that even a word?)… but, I think it really started when we found our my daughter and I have celiac, Fall of 2016. The first step toward intentional living for us was in the area of food. Food has always interested me. Before nursing school I wanted to become a dietitian and help women with eating disorders. Nutrition and label reading? I’m a nerd. God knew I would need that interest to help keep my baby girl safe (and myself for that matter). Cool how He works. So, enter in extreme intentionalism in the food department. After we got used to checking EVERYTHING for gluten (its in so much, and under multiple different names) I began to realize there were other ingredients I should be on the lookout for. All these processed foods?? Not necessary. All these additives? Was the “diet fad” really good for us? Should my makeup actually come from the drugstore? Have you READ these labels?! It was so opening. Next change was allll the household products. And I mean all. I “ditch and switched” us right out of everything. We did almost a complete overhaul. So, from food to household products… intentionalism was spreading. Next I learned about Allie Casazza, a minimalist mama who’s goal was to “teach mom’s to live a life of less, for the sake of more”. I overhauled our stuff! We downsized DRAMATICALLY. It was amazing! I can’t back everything she says/does. But Allie’s way of getting the fire under women so they can “declutter like a mother” is amazing. If you’re looking for help decluttering, she’s your girl. First food, then products, then stuff. Lastly… my desire for intentional living overflowed into my schedule for our family. I wanted to live a life of less. More margin. More snuggles and tea parties. Less “good” things. More “great” things and time on our hands. The calendar and schedule got the next overhaul and it. felt. good.

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Where are we now?

As the years pass each area we’ve “decluttered” or “minimalized”, or grown more intentional in gets a new layer peeled back every now and then. Like any area of growth I think its God’s grace it comes in stages. First our food went from all the things, to gluten free, to “clean-er”, to now we do a lot of organic and farm raised and whole food eating (of course with the occasional treat… I told someone the other day “we eat really healthy… until we don’t.”) About once a year (usually with the annual Declutter Like A Mother Challenge) I go through the kids toys and really everything in the house to purge. It feels so good. Decluttering really never stops. It just becomes maintenance once you feel like you’ve reached a good place that meets your family’s needs. Our schedule is a constant battle… but Andrew and I have definitely gotten better at keeping end goals in mind and not committing to things that don’t aid in meeting that goal. That goes for things our kids are involved in, things we buy, things we commit to on a weekly basis. Our end goal for our family always has to be taken into consideration. So where are we now? We’re in a constant state of peeling back another layer and working hard to keep that margin. Always trying to be intentional in our decisions.

So what will you find here?

Like I mentioned above, I want to use this space to share *our* life. Our ups and downs. What’s worked for us in all these areas I’ve mentioned… and more. To be an encouragement to other women who are on the journey to more intentional living. I’ve been at it for a bit and I know there are other right alongside me, ahead of me, and some just starting out. I believe we can all learn from each other and encourage one another to keep on keeping on. I hope my words here can be a hug and a helping hand to someone else as so many have been to me.

Let’s do this!