Above and Beyond Shop

Granville friends — you can officially grab your Above & Beyond Shop Elderberry Syrup right in the heart of Granville! 🤎

I stopped into Granville General Store to stock their refrigerator and give you a little tour, because this is exactly the kind of local business I want to see thrive.

Their philosophy is so aligned with ours: you don’t need more things — you need the right things. They’ve built the store around intentional, useful goods for the home, with an emphasis on quality, local sourcing, sustainability and reducing waste!

This sweet family owned store should become part of your weekly + monthly household rhythm.

🥖 Weekly: stop in for baked goods, local provisions and commissary items — and now, restock your elderberry while you’re there!!

🧴 Monthly: bring your containers back and replenish the things your household actually uses — laundry soap, shampoo, multi-surface cleaner and other clean home + body essentials from their Lowtox refillery. They even offer a drop-off refill option if you don’t have time to do it yourself!! How sweet is that?!

🥩 Then browse their locally sourced provisions, pantry and kitchen goods, bath + body, home + hearth, sustainable vintage and other thoughtfully chosen goods for your home.

This is what I want “shopping” to look (AND FEEL) like more often: buying fewer, better things, supporting local makers and businesses, and creating simple rhythms for keeping our homes stocked with things we actually feel good about using.

They’re at 134 N. Prospect Street in Granville, right across the street from Three Tigers Brewing — so make an afternoon of it!! And bring a friend along! 👯‍♀️

And I’m especially grateful that our locally grown + made elderberry now has a home in their refrigerator. 🫶🏻

Go visit, tell them I sent you, and start making Granville General part of your regular restocking rhythm. 🤎

In my business it’s always been made crystal clear to me, where I’m meant to move forward and where I’m meant to take a different path.

When I started this business, it’s almost like I entered into a new reality - I don’t quite now how to explain or articulate the sense that I got - but it’s like the Lord started to clearly show me what His Yes felt like and what His no or not-right-now felt like. And I’m so deeply grateful because it’s helped give me such a sense of peace in my business.

This doesn’t mean it’s not hard work, but it means that the Lord is at the helm of this ship, not me and my goodness is that reassuring 😅

I’m far from perfect in how I steward this business, but the Lord knows my heart and how I’m painfully aware of my shortcomings — and so willing to be corrected, redirected and used by Him.

Have you experienced “green lights” in your business? Are you in a season of roadblocks? What do you think these things mean? I’m so curious if I’m the only one swimming through these thoughts? 😅

Moms, we have GOT to stop using precious brain space to figure out last minute meals every single day. 😵‍💫 AND cold cereal and take out?! We owe our families better nutrition!

I was sitting at the football field watching my kids play and ordered our groceries from my phone without a grocery list, without checking the pantry first, and without trying to mentally inventory the refrigerator…because I already knew what we needed.

I use a 4-week rotating meal plan, which basically means I choose our meals for the month and then STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM. 🙌🏼

Everyone knows what we’re eating, my husband can jump in and make dinner if needed, my kids know what they can make for breakfast and lunch, and I’m not standing in front of the refrigerator at 4:37 wondering what on earth I’m supposed to turn into dinner.

And because we’re eating essentially the same things each week for that month, grocery ordering is stupid easy. I order online, pull up my previous purchases, add what we need to the cart, and I’m done. It also keeps me out of the store where apparently I believe we desperately need $87 worth of things that were absolutely not on the list. 😂

At the beginning of the week, I can look ahead, pull the meat that needs to thaw, and actually feel like I’m ahead of dinner instead of dinner being ahead of me.

Especially during back-to-school season, our brains are already keeping track of permission slips, spirit days, football practice, picture day, who needs to be where, what time we need to leave, and FOR THE LOVE don’t forget the cleats.

Meals do not need to be another thing taking up space in your brain.

Print the plan, slap it on the fridge, order the groceries — Call it a day!!

It sounds ridiculously simple, but this has given me back so much mental capacity because one entire category of decisions has basically been made for me before the week even starts.

Comment MEALS below and I’ll send you the link to the meal plan I use.

With all of the food toxicity going on right now, knowing where our food actually comes from is oh so important!!! — and buying locally whenever we can. 🤎

Sweet Grass of Ohio

I recently ordered a meat box from Sweet Grass Dairy here in Ohio, and this is exactly the kind of farm I want to support.

They’re a family-run regenerative farm in Fredericktown, Ohio, raising 100% grass-fed + grass-finished beef on organically managed pasture, along with pasture-raised poultry and eggs, woodlot pork and grass-fed dairy. Their animals are raised outdoors with rotational grazing practices that are designed to work with the land rather than against it.

No GMOs. Thoughtful animal husbandry. Regenerative grazing. Sunshine, fresh air and actual pasture. 🌱🐄

And beyond all of that, there is something really valuable about being able to know who is raising the food that feeds your family. Every dollar we spend is a vote for the kind of food system we want to see more of, and I would much rather put those dollars back into the hands of a local Ohio farming family doing things this way.

I stocked our freezer with ground beef, steaks and roasts, and the quality has been SO good.

And one of my favorite parts: if you’re in their delivery area and spend $150+, they deliver your order right to you for FREE (or split the cost with a friend or neighbor!) 🙌🏼 So you can essentially stock your freezer with local regeneratively raised meat without even making the drive to Fredericktown.

If you’re in Central Ohio and have been wanting to find a better local source for meat, definitely check them out 🤎

https://sweetgrassdairy.grazecart.com/

HEATH/NEWARK friends - Who are we using to print banners like this one for businesses? Thank you!

Would love to support a local business!

Life lately - Sunday always feels like a day for reflection. What we’re grateful for? What we should adjust or do differently this week? What did we learn from life this week? How are we stewarding what God has given us? Where do we need to adjust habits or routines?

For the week, ahead here are a few of my focuses:

- reading my The Bible Recap daily readings in my physical Bible instead of on the app
- building rest into my calendar as much as I’m building in everything else else (still nursing this hurt foot 🙄)
- practicing discipline in time blocks so work doesn’t bleed into family time and vice versa
- reaching out to a few friends to ask how I can pray for them (I find when I’m going through burnout, praying for others is a restoration to my soul)

What are yours?