Happy summer everybody! I hope you’re all enjoying a bit of a slowdown. An extra 15 minutes in bed in the morning. A second cup of coffee.

One of my favorite things in life is my morning coffee in my handmade mugs my mom got for us for our 25th anniversary. I know that may sound simple but it’s true. So many of my mornings are spent driving/hauling/delivering/meeting that it’s rare I am able to enjoy my coffee in my house or on my porch drinking from a mug. I’m usually drinking from a travel cup and just having a few minutes to start my day at home is a treat. It’s such a blessing. I hope your summer allows you a few more mornings at home.

This summer I’m blessed to speak and meet with so many amazing people. We’ve been at The Homestead Festival earlier this month where I was honored to speak on a panel about women in agriculture as well as teach on homeschooling to people from all around the nation. Just to be a small part of that festival is life-giving - it fills my cup! I’m grateful to Rory Feek and Rebecca Lamb for believing in me and allowing me to participate in their fantastic festival. I was also able to return to Nashville the next week to meet with Thistle Farms on behalf of Families Free. Both organizations do life-changing work in the lives of their clients and both are the hands and feet of Jesus to those society usually forgets and/or neglects. It’s a privilege to be in their world. I’m home now and will be (at least mostly) local for the rest of the month. 

And so now that I’m home I’m going to share with you what my mornings look like because I’ve received multiple questions about my routine. Here is what I do every morning.

By about 6:00 I’m awake and 95% of the time I’m the first and only one up. I make coffee and while that’s brewing I empty the dishwasher from the night before (or put away any dishes from handwashing).

 Next is my Bible study time. Seven days a week I’m in God’s word. This time is non-negotiable for me. I will not miss. If I’m on vacation or traveling for work or heading to an early morning meeting I make time for my Bible study. And if that means getting up 30 minutes earlier that’s what I do. Because if I’m not in God’s word my heart, mind and mouth show it and so I make sure that that time is there. If I have to move it to an earlier time and get up early so be it but I won’t skip it. I’m thankful God has given me a hunger and a thirst for His word and His presence and I don’t take my time lightly. I won’t forsake it. 

After Bible study I move into those “to-dos” we all have. I check messages from the night before (I turn in early so generally have some night owl friends who text that I need to respond to), emails and our website. I made it a point years ago to only check personal emails once a day. I check the farm’s emails at the beginning and end of each day (and this is why if you’re a customer I always give you my cell number so you can reach me at any time). This generally takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

After that I do my daily French lesson which takes 20-30 minutes and also allows me to finish my coffee. 

Then it’s my GOAL to exercise. By this time Barry is generally up and we chat about the upcoming day’s activities which can change my exercise time. But if I can squeeze a run in I will go to our local school and run for 4-5 miles and then come back and get started on the important tasks.

My important tasks at this point in the day are to make breakfast for Barry and Marshall (generally an egg, sausage and toast in some variation), start laundry (don’t get me started on these new “energy efficient” machines - they are terrible and I loathe them because the washer gets stuck on rinse/spin cycle and you can’t do anything about it so laundry now takes most of the day), and do my outside chores before it’s too late and hot. I try to get 45 minutes in every other day weeding the raised beds and the landscaping. 

I generally have my breakfast around this time. I either have 2 eggs (because we are getting lots of eggs in the summer) OR a juice. I try to only have fruit/veggies or a juice first thing in the morning because it does help me get my necessary nutrients in for the day. My favorite juice is a beet/carrot/apple juice but I’ll drink about whatever we have on hand (except a spinach juice which is disgusting).

Now Barry and Marshall have finished breakfast and I clean the kitchen, plan for dinner, defrost something, answer questions from customers and generally tidy up in our home and in our business. And it’s onto the afternoon!

That’s my morning routine. I hope it helps answer some questions.

Aliceson