It’s one of those things we all struggle with.

Whether it’s the fear that overcomes you when your sneaky children hide a fake mouse in the house and you stubble upon it (that actually happened last week — and I screamed)… or the fear that comes with flying halfway around the world to meet your daughter for the first time. (Which you can hear about our Adoption Journey here, here and here!)

Fear is a real thing. A very real thing.

Where does it come from?

My children have always been fearful of certain things… but it’s not like I taught them to be afraid, they just are.

Our fears evolve as we age and change, but isn’t it crazy that we all have different fears?  What makes you fearful, may be something that doesn’t fear me. And vice versa.

If you’ve been following along for any period of time you know that my husband and I uprooted our entire life and moved South to Nashville.  While it may seem fun and exciting to build a new house, move to a new city that checks the boxes of “hip and cool” … it’s also quite possibly one of the most terrifying things we’ve taken on.

A few weeks after we moved to Tennessee and were in the THICK of the unknown I started a list on my notes app on my phone of all the little miracles or ways I was seeing God show up, even among all the unknown.  It was my way of counting my blessings, calming my fears and reminding myself that fear does not come from God.

Overcoming fear one step at a time.

Since our move, I’ve been searching for some ideas and advice on overcoming fears and worries. Something happens when everything you’ve ever known is not your normal anymore and fear comes in full force!

What is the root of fear? Why am I experiencing so many new fears? What does fear look like in my kid’s life?

You might remember back when I shared about the book from my friend Alli Worthington, Breaking Busy.  The theme of doing less overtook much of my 2016 and even 2017… until we moved.  And then, the crazy came on… and so did the fear.

Fear of what if my kids fall apart when we leave the only home they’ve ever known.

Fear of what if moving is too stressful on my marriage.

Fear of what if we hate the new neighborhood we move to.

Fear of not finding our community of people that we can do life with.

Fear of missing my parents who we’ve always lived a hop, skip and a jump from.

Fierce Faith

Alli is back at it again inserting the perfect book for my current season of life, Fierce Faith.

Fierce Faith is a manual on how to overcome the worries that hold you back.

You will:

+Identify fear-based thinking and know how to finally stop it.

+Overcome the big and little worries in life.

+Learn a simple trick to stop the anxiety spiral.

+Live a more confident, less worried life.

Lucky for me, I got a sneak preview of what all is included in this book, and it’s been a huge part of unraveling my fears and worries after settling into Nashville.

I’m so thrilled to share Alli’s newest book with you because I think it’s something we can all, no matter what stage of life we are in, relate to.

Sometimes the best attack against fear is just knowing you’re not alone, right?!?! Which is why I love that her book brings fear to light… so we can all face the things that hold us back from being who we truly are.

You can get your copy of Fierce Faith here! 

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We did it. We moved. After having to call in a THIRD moving truck because apparently we have a lot of stuff, we got it done… or I should say, the movers got it done.

While I still may be among boxes and curbing kid meltdowns about how this all seems scary, we’re here!  And in classic House of Rose fashion, we certainly don’t have any shy feelings about making our presence known.

*cue Sloane

We were just out exploring the subdivision we’re renting in when we stumbled upon a Chicago Cubs flag… which wouldn’t have been a big deal except Sloane is a die hard Cards fan.

The second he spotted the flag he started screaming (at the top of his ever loving lungs) —

“BOOOOOO CUBS! BOOOOO CUBS!”

repeat repeat repeat.

Hi Tennessee, the obnoxious Roses have arrived.

I begged him to “SHHHH!” but in true Sloane fashion he just got louder.
Moving across town is no easy feat, but moving states with 4 kids in tow? Holy wow.

Being in our rental home has been hard because we are living out of boxes until our new home is done being built. But I will say that building our dream home has me excited enough to tough it out another few weeks! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, right?!?!

Since we are smack dib in the middle of the building process I thought it would be helpful to share a few tips I have learned along the way, some that will save your sanity and some that will save your marriage. Haha! #buildingisstressful

Realize that sometimes things don’t work on your expected timeline… and that’s ok.

When we said “Ok, let’s do this!” I had envisioned moving into our new dream home and everyone starting school settled, but that’s not exactly how it’s going down.

The reality is, school has started (many months ago) and our home is still getting final touches of paint and trim.

Building a home takes time (more time than we had) which is why we landed in a rental home.  While renting for a few months may not really seem ideal, it is certainly the sacrifice we have to make while waiting for our dream home to be built and it has allowed us time to really plan, save and prepare for moving.

Speaking of building a dream home… keep your expectations in check about the time it takes to build a home. However long you think it will take? Add about 8 weeks. Haha!

Still hoping I’m not too far off track so we can hang this sweet sign in our new home. I was hoping it would be in 2017, hence my sign, but it’s looking more like it could be the first of 2018.

Also, don’t forget, you and your spouse will NOT have the same opinion on every detail of your new dream home. That is ok. Pick your battles, compromise and remember that y’all are ON THE SAME TEAM.

Get smart with how you collect rewards for the money you’re going to spend building your dream home.

Two of the biggest investments you make in your life… 1. Buying a home and 2. Buying a vehicle…

Between moving and building a dream home, there are a ton of expenses, so it’s always a good idea to find the right reward card when you’re going through this process. If buying or leasing a car is in your near future, the GM BuyPower Card from Capital One could be a great choice because it let’s you accumulate Earnings toward a new GM vehicle. So at the end of what seems like a never-ending journey, you can be saving toward a new car down the road to boot!

Here’s the deal: when you’re approved for the GM BuyPower Card, you accrue 5% Earnings on your first $5,000 in purchases every year, then 2% unlimited Earnings on purchases after that. And we know all too well how easy it is to get to that first $5,000  when building a house!

Once you’re ready to redeem your Earnings from all those DIY home improvement supplies, new appliances and more, you can apply your Earnings as dollar-for-dollar savings when you buy or lease a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle. Even better? GM Earnings can be used on top of most current GM offers and incentives.

Mommy likey.

I’m all about earning rewards for things I am purchasing anyway.

Break it down to the essentials when working with your builder.

Building a home is not something you do every year or even multiple times in your life, so it’s certainly been a learning process for us and yet a super fun one to get to pick and choose all the details of our home.

You all (or should I say y’all now that we’re in Nashville? Too soon?) know I love my Pinterest boards and have got an idea or two that may be inspired by my wanna-be BFF Joanna Gaines.

When thinking about the building process we had to get down to the essentials of what our family really needs… as in number of bedrooms, bathrooms, home office, etc. Once some of those essentials were ironed out then we could move on to some of the details that I’d say are certainly more exciting like what shade of gray will we use… because there are so many options (and you know I am obsessed with grey paint).

Ask to see the samples and model homes again and again.

From tile to paint to countertops… we had to make a whole lot of decisions pretty quickly for what our dream home would look like.  And hear me out, I know that it is a total first world problem of “what countertops do I want?” but when you’re in the moment, it’s stressful.

One of the things that helped me the most was seeing everything actually in a home or a real sample for my little feet to walk across. Ya get me? Because how anything looks on last night’s episode of Fixer Upper and then in my own home is totally different.

Example A: Here are the countertops we decided on… but you know how I was able to pick them? I saw them in real life and then knew… that’s them. Thank you very much model home for being exactly what I needed to see.

Example B: Show me a few samples of tile and I’m lost.  I need to see the full picture of what they’re going to look like side by side and across an entire room.

When my feet hit this floor I was like YESSSSS. I want this tile!

To hear all our tips on building a dream home, don’t forget to check out our video on How to Save Money Building Your Dream Home… thanks to my hubby for making an appearance!

The way she loves us, the way she dances to every song she hears, the way she bosses her brothers around (and they happily listen), the way she gets excited when she sees a piece of chocolate, the way she says “AAAAAA-mean” when we pray, the way she wants to sing twinkle twinkle every night before bed, the way she grabs my face and kisses my cheek… all of it… pure blessing.

We are jumping for joy that God chose us for you, Janella Jane Rose.

You may be three sweet girl, but you act sixteen. I’m not sure if that makes me happy or scared. Haha!

We love your fierce personality and the way you know EXACTLY what you want. Especially when it comes to your wardrobe.

I guess I should give up fighting you on outfit selection because you seem to have some style sense that would make Kate Middleton jealous.

I can’t fully put into words how grateful we are that you came into our world.

I hope you always reach for what you want in life… even if right now it’s just a giant number “3” balloon that you don’t want your brothers to steal.

Happy 3rd birthday sweet Nel Bell! We love you!

And I’m talking about the physical home… not “home” as in the town, our friends and everything that feels comfortable.

A friend of mine gave me some great advice before we moved and she said…

“A house is not your home when your stuff is no longer in it.”

Isn’t that so true??

We so often put the weight of our happiness into “things”.

We believe if we have the house we want or the car we want or the clothes we want… we will be content.

One thing moving to Nashville is teaching me, is happiness does not come from things. And being content? Has nothing to do with a house or a car or the clothes I am wearing.

I have enjoyed experiencing all the feelings of living in a new place, meeting new people and seeing life from a different perspective.

Have I missed our home?

When I think about that question, I am shocked by my answer.

I don’t. I miss my friends and my parents, but our home? I don’t think about it and feel sad.

What I do miss, is the feeling of being settled.

The feeling of permanency.

I miss the permanent.

I miss walking by the boy’s room and seeing things unpacked, organized and SETTLED in their place.

We are currently in our rental home and still VERY unsettled… with boxes filling our garage and ZERO gallery walls anywhere. And it doesn’t feel like “home”.

I am ready to feel like I can stay put and unpack our life.

Right now it feels like an in-between stage.

I am sure God is trying to teach me something through this, ya know, like being settled has nothing to do with where you live… but right now, in the midst of the waiting game, I haven’t learned to shake the feeling yet.

So, for now, I’ll push through this in-between stage and be grateful that we get to be together as a family, even if it’s in an unsettled state.

As #halfadozenroses get settled here in Nashville, I think it’s finally time I share what y’all have been asking me the most.

The “why”.

The short answer is, well I don’t really have a short answer. It’s a long answer that’s a pretty epic story of how God’s been working this out for us for well over a year.  (And to share the whole story Jeff and I recorded a podcast with all the inside details here)

I’ve heard all the rumors for what made us move including…

Jeff is going to work for Dave Ramsey… #false

We got a TV show with TLC… #false (While we do have a 6 part docu-series with TLC that premiered September 18th… we did not move because we got a TV show)

Chip and JoJo are moving to Nashville… #false (but wouldn’t that be great?!)

The full story

For those of you who skip the podcast version of why we moved… here’s the story… one that only God could put together and it’s one that’s really better than I could have ever imagined.

Over a year ago when Jeff and I got the call… you know THE CALL while we were in Mexico that we had a daughter is pretty much where this story begins.

In the five years of waiting for Nella, Jeff has danced around the idea we could move to Nashville.  And our friends who live there were working on convincing us too.

But me? I really was not ready, or let’s just say not interested in leaving my home in Illinois at all.

Throughout the process of getting the call about Janella and bringing her home, I really knew the whole time God was calling us to move to Nashville. While some may say having a “calling” sounds silly, it really was just a calling that Jeff nor I could shake.

God did what he does best… repeats the same message over and over again until we get it and take action.

While in Mexico, an hour after receiving the news that we had a daughter (and after God was blowing our mind over and over that day), out of nowhere on the beach was a man…. who was from – dun dun dun – yes, Nashville…

Like ok God, I hear you… we have our daughter now and it’s time to move.

But still – no thanks.

For a long time, I ignored the idea we should move because we had to wait for our adoption to be completed (because have you filled out adoption paperwork? I was not about to do it all over again in a new state) but now, that big hang up I held as a big reason why we could not move was being resolved.

*Cue another God nudging me we were supposed to move moment *

On the plane home from that trip to Mexico, somehow I got seated by an older woman who after I shared and then over-shared about our lives, adoption, and feeling like we were called to move to Nashville, said one thing:

“Well, it sounds to me like you know what you need to do.”

Gulp.

Fast forward to a year later… Something happened after we brought Nella home.

Besides the fact that I will say over and over again she was made for our family and it was totally worth the wait for her… after she got home I started to see things a little differently and in every since of the word, she restored joy to our family.

God changed my heart

Seriously, the only real reason I can say we ever moved to Nashville was because my heart was changed over time.

The idea that we could never leave our dream home – changed. Our house began to feel like just that, a house. When our home no longer had our stuff in it or our family there? Would it really be our home?!?!  A house without our stuff or people is not our home.

The thought of leaving my friends became ok… and in the process, some friends even moved to new cities themselves.

Our church, which I could never have imagined leaving, had some staffing changes and we were already looking for a new church in Southern Illinois.

All my excuses and big reasons why I could never move all seemed to fade away one by one…

Along with all of the things I held so dearly  we had a health scare with Nella that required a lot of medical attention.

Moving to Nashville provides us with access to Vanderbilt Hospital to continue receiving ongoing care, check-ups and security for Nella’s health.

Which to a mama who worries a lot, it’s a huge relief and reason enough to move to a new city.

The part when I say “I’m ready”

One year after that first trip to Mexico where we got the call about Nella, Jeff and I were back and it was there when sitting poolside with a drink in hand I told Jeff “I’m ready“.

Which may or may not have sent him into a panic because moving a family of 6 from point A to point B is a lot of work and before now, we’d joked with the idea of moving but never fleshed out the details of how that would happen.

I guess you could say, all my reasons for why I could never move were all gone and I was ready —- ready to FINALLY follow along with what I knew God had relentlessly been showing us over and over again.

So here we are.

Walking away from a life we loved….

With faith that God has an even better life planned for us here in Nashville.

Listen to Marriage More – Episode 89 to hear allllll about why we moved!

I had no idea that moving states would be this chaotic. Or maybe I did, but was in denial.

So far I have had zero time to do anything besides change our address 43048032 places, fill out 89786876 school forms, drive in circles 3293 times from being lost and cry into my pillow 89785675 times from being so overwhelmed. I don’t want to sound like negative nancy here, but I’m not gonna lie… moving has been hard.

I shouldn’t be too negative… we did get a date night last night and that felt AMAZING.

I knew moving would be hard, but anticipating the difficult times and then actually living them are two very different things.

I will say, I know without a doubt, we are where we are supposed to be and even through the chaos… God has shown me that OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

I’m keeping a notes section on my iphone and every time God gives me another little confirmation that we are following His lead, I write it down  so I can go back and remember why we are here.

Leaving our old home was hard.

N0.

Hard doesn’t even do it justice.

IT WAS BRUTAL.

A piece of my heart was left at the house we called home for 7 years.  We had it custom built, lived in it and loved it like it would be the place where all of our babies would grow up. We thought it would be our forever home.

But when God is calling you to do something bigger, you have to set those emotional feelings aside and remember that His plans are better.

I have cried many many nights wondering how-in-the-ever-loving-world He could have better plans for us in a place where we feel so uncomfortable.

But the ultimate answer is, His way is better.

And although I can’t see the whole entire picture just yet… I am already seeing little glimpses into why He called us to Nashville.

Here’s a perfect interpretation of the progression of feelings I have felt towards God during this move (this is supposed to be sarcasm at it’s finest – so laugh with me)…

Left picture: Before the move… Me giving God the side eye when He started calling us to move to Nashville.

Middle picture: After moving here… Me saying, “Here we are God. Here we are. Now what?” (I would have probably followed this up with more side eye)

Right picture: Current status… Fake smile.

I’m really looking forward to the day when my feelings towards the move are more like this…

I know one day soon I will feel like my emotions match this display of excitement above.

But right now, all I see in that picture is an empty house that is no longer ours.

Women are already a rollercoaster of emotions on a normal day, but man, throw in any life changing event and wowsers… cry-laugh-cry-laugh-cry-laugh—– repeat—–

Hopefully my husband won’t admit me to any kind of psychiatric ward before I get myself in check. Seriously.

I will report back soon… when I’m less emotional. Ha. #thatwillbenever

The following post was sponsored by Capital One®.  All opinions are my own and not directed by Capital One. To learn more about the GM BuyPower Card, click here.

Did you miss it? The Roses are packing up and heading south.

A few weeks ago we made it “Facebook official” that we are moving to Nashville. I feel like now that it’s on the Internet, it’s for reals. Like FOR REALSSSSS.

Can I be the first to tell you how hard it was to hide something that LARGE for months?

I hate secrets anyway, but that one? Phew.

If you know me, you know my M.O. is transparency. The good, the bad, the ugly and the million toddler tantrums followed by gallery wall therapy to keep me sane.

I don’t hide life well. In fact, hiding life makes me die inside. I live to tell our story, even when our story isn’t roses. <— See how I did that there? Uh-huh.

For months I had been hiding that GIANT secret and I may or may not have felt like I was slowly suffocating by having to hold it in.

Not because the world needs to know, but because I needed to get it out.

And so…

I don’t own a single pair of cowboy boots and country music is not necessarily my thang’, but Nashville… you will be our new home anyway.

Can you tell I’m nervous?! Even with the big secret out, I’m nervous. I have never moved more than 10 miles from home in my entire life. I know, insert eye roll and complete judgement that I have only child syndrome. I give you permission.

After we officially made the decision to move, then came the dreaded process of actually moving… you know the getting every single thing we own for 6 people to a new location.

The logistics.

And possibly the main reason I have never gone anywhere in 36 years.

How the GM BuyPower Card Makes Spending All That Moving Money A Little More Painless

As anyone who’s moved knows all too well, it can often feel like you’re just senselessly throwing money out the window for months at a time.

Between buying countless boxes and making a few (and by a few I mean like 10) trips to Nashville to neighborhood hunt, meet with our home builder and get a plan in place for the big move, we’ve definitely been spending the big bucks. That’s pretty typical for big moves.

I’m a fan of anything that makes spending money less painful, and there’s no better time to use those tips and tricks than when balancing a moving budget. If your family is going through something similar, the GM BuyPower Card from Capital One can be a great resource to have on hand during the whole process, whether you’re moving solo or have all the littles in tow like me.

GM BuyPower Cardmembers can take full advantage of all the perks. When you are approved for the GM BuyPower Card, you accumulate 5% Earnings on your first $5,000 in purchases every year, then 2% unlimited Earnings on purchases after that.

Once you’re ready to redeem your Earnings from spending like you normally would, you can apply your Earnings as dollar-for-dollar savings when you buy or lease a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle. A new car?!! Yep! The best part is, GM Earnings can be used on top of most current GM offers and incentives.

So while using the card to pay for road trip necessities (while you drive back and forth), boxes and bubble wrap, or even unexpected home repairs, you’re gaining Earnings toward a top of the line GM vehicle each time you use the card.

6 Ways I’m Preparing for The Big Move

#1 Purge, purge and purge some more

The first step in packing for the move began with the massive process of purging… and then purging some more… and then purging to the point where our kids think we’re literally going with just the clothes on our backs. Oops.

Oh, you want to take your toys with you? Pick five. Ha!

It’s crazy how much stuff you can accumulate over the years. But I promise you, you don’t need every single paper your kid has ever brought home from school since pre-k and you definitely don’t need 250 toy cars.

TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY!

I mean, you’d think I was hosting an official race or something.

Purging has been my favorite part so far because when the clutter is gone, you feel free! Trust me, rid yourself of all things you do not absolutely need. You will thank me later.

#2 Get organized

Part of that purging process meant getting every kind of storage container they sell and finding a place for everything. We kicked a lot of our junk to the curb so we were left with all the things we did want to keep, which meant organizing the “keep” pile.

*Oh hey trash man, I owe you a cup of coffee!

Just like with the road trip expenses I mentioned earlier, if you have the GM BuyPower Card, you can make every single bin, basket or box that you purchase to organize everything (like the bin Nella thinks is her personal chair) work toward purchasing your next car. Cha-Ching people!

Point here? You can organize the stuff you are taking with you (which will keep you sane when you get to the new home) AND help save while doing it.

#3 Hire help

Need I say more? It’s a full time job keeping four kids in line, but packing and moving too? We are going to need to “phone a friend” to make that happen.

Or if you don’t want to burden your friends with begging them to help you for free pizza, call moving companies. Compare quotes and find a company in your budget who can help you not lose your mind.

#4 Research the new area

From important things like doctors and school districts to sports teams and ummm, hair dressers, there’s a lot to discover about a new city.

One of the best things I did was ask my social media followers to holler if they’re in Nashville because… I need friends. Friends who know which grocery stores won’t overcharge me for eggs and bread, which doctor won’t always be running an hour behind on appointment times and who can do my hair without interpreting “just trim it” as cut 2 inches off.

I’ve been swamped replying to tons of messages from women helping me get a lay of the land and it’s been AMAZING.

You can also find A LOT of information online by researching things in your new area. The more things you can research prior to moving, the more at ease you will feel once you get there, right?!?! That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

#5 Don’t procrastinate

The countdown is ON! Whether we’re ready or not, we’ve sold our house and are headed out.  One of the key things I’m trying to tell myself during this move is to just get it done.

Whatever the IT is, let’s do it now so in those final days before we leave we can spend time with friends and family and leave little stress to the final moments.

If you have enough of a heads up on the move (over 3 months in our case) then start doing a few little things each day to help get you ready. For example, tackle purging one room or closet of your home each day. It will feel way less overwhelming than trying to purge your entire home in 24 hours.

Movers get booked up pretty quickly so make sure you do your homework as soon as you know your move dates. It will save you from scrambling to find that help you will so desperately need.

#6 Record memories before you go

With having four kids, they’ve each got a mini bucket list of things they want to make sure to do before we move. One of the things I want to consider is how they will be leaving friends and their neighborhood whiffle ball crew.

I know how hard it will be for them to leave their life here. I know, because I know how hard it will be for Jeff and I.

We are trying to soak up our time left by spending it with friends, taking lots of pictures and making sure our kids know that saying goodbye to their home doesn’t mean we won’t remember all of the wonderful memories we made here.

I want to make the most of the time we have here before we move… even if this move in the end will be super exciting and fun for everyone!

Speaking of, I should probably go pack the kitchen…we have our big neighborhood goodbye bash this week and I want to make sure I’m fully present and not wishing I was home packing.

The current home tour page on my blog was soooo old that on certain rooms… I was confused on whose house I was even looking at. LOL!

Listing our house for sale gave me the motivation to FINALLY update my home tour.

So, here you have it… the most recent home tour. We only have 11 days left in this house so I find it funny that it took me moving out to actually share these photos.

But, I am also thankful that I finally captured this house in it’s current state because I don’t ever want to forget our life here.

This has been our home for 7.5 years and at one point, was going to be our forever home.

Never say forever, right?!?! God will smack that idea right out of your brain. Ha!

I don’t have all of the rooms sourced for you just yet so if you are looking for where I got something or what paint color is what? Soon.

I just wanted to get this posted before another year went by and I really began to wonder whose house I was looking at. #wontbeoursanymore #11days

I am excited about getting to decorate an entire new house in Nashville! But I will always love our Illinois home.

Check out our entire HOME TOUR HERE!

I can’t believe we just hit the year anniversary of adopting our 2 year-old daughter, Nella, from the Philippines. We waited almost five years (which felt like an eternity, by the way) for this sweet girl and then, BAM, a year goes by in the blink of an eye.

With the first year of our adoption under our belt, we certainly entered into another season of crazy.

So here’s the short version of how we’ve claimed some of our sanity with four kids and all the crazy that brings: QuickBooks Online. 

Plain and simple.  But more on that later. Ahem.

To add to the stress (and fun!) of raising four little humans for the last year, we both committed to keeping up with our online businesses and blogging. Being a business owner is one of the best decisions we ever made, but trust me, it doesn’t mean the world of business ownership is easy peasy.

There are days, even weeks that feel like a tornado runs through our house and a lot of the “business” parts of owning our businesses go by the wayside.

With kids rushing off to summer sports camps, travel baseball tournaments and chasing a potty training toddler around in circles… life is hectic.

Did I also forget to mention that Miss Thang’ likes to be VERY independent…

Like when she decides using a cereal bowl for her breakfast is overrated. Yea.

Nella, why you gotta always go sneaking into the pantry? Stick with the toy basket sister. 

Along with adoption, starting and building a business together has always been on our bucket list… it’s really something I didn’t know we could do and it seemed so impossible when we started dreaming about what it would look like.

Along with Jeff’s online platform and my blog, we’ve also developed a marriage platform which brings our online businesses to three and counting that need constant attention, record keeping and general finance operations to keep them going.

Cue the crazy needing some attention.

While owning several online businesses has been one of the most amazing blessings to our family, it’s also a lot of work.

Let no blogger fool you, this isn’t a sit at home in yo jammies all day kind of gig.

It’s hard work, day in and day out.

Just think through the amount of receipts and payments we funnel out each month for web hosting, development, freelancers, etc. It’s so much that my head is starting to hurt.

We have money coming in and out constantly and trying to keep tabs on all of it gets CRAZY-TOWN.

Before Quickbooks Online… enter Mandy Rose feeling like a unorganized failure of a bookkeeper.

After Quickbooks Online… I feel like I could run for President.

Errr, maybe not so much President since I am sure the President has a million bookkeepers of his own. But for real, I feel like I finally have a grip on our craziness.

Quickbooks Online is an online accounting software that has really helped us get a handle on our monthly cash flow and business financial needs while reducing a ton of stress and savings hours upon hours of time on how I used to keep track of our bills and expenses.

Because if you’ve never tried to run multiple businesses via excel docs, you’re really missing out. #justkidding

The process to getting organized.

And now, drumroll please… if you’re still here reading (which I hope you are because this is life changing stuff here people), the long story. Because when I say we’ve claimed our sanity back, I’m for reals.

When we finally stopped and decided we HAD to do something, the first step toward finding a solution for all our business accounting seemed pretty overwhelming.  With Jeff being a numbers guy we really didn’t want to outsource all of our accounting, but we also didn’t want to get addicted to Excedrin migraine either.  You feel me?!?!

I guess you could say we are picky with wanting to keep it all in house, but also because we like to keep tabs on how we are investing into our businesses and what’s costing us a pretty penny each month. Ok, that’s more me than Jeff, but still. Call me Mandy Frugal Rose.

I’m pretty type A and love organization so basically it all came down to creating a checklist to sort through what we needed from an accounting tool.  We did our research and I had my color-coded checklist of items we knew we needed, really just to survive and keep up with our businesses.

But after watching some online tutorial reviews and receiving additional info (including a 30 day free trial!) about QuickBooks Online our checklist began to grow… as in we were realizing there were tools we didn’t even know we needed that were available.

A relief right?!

From organizing expenses to tracking our cash flow… plus dare I say it, taxes, QuickBooks Online has made it all seem so doable and without the added stress (or headache medicine).  And at anytime if we need additional features, QuickBooks Online has got us covered and we can quickly upgrade our account for a small monthly fee.

We are able to easily navigate to record bills, purchases, and expenses along with running reports, profit and loss statements and more… all from our fingertips with QuickBooks Online.

Making the switch.

Along with the task of finding a management system to aid us in our accounting for all our businesses, the idea of actually using it felt terrifying too.  After reviewing a few accounting options, QuickBooks Online was simple. Like the kind of simple that I could do in my sleep or sleep deprived from four kids. #SeeWhatIDidThere?

The navigation is ideal for freelancers and small business owners who don’t want to invest hours learning a new tool, but just want to get organized and have every dollar accounted for.

Anytime I’m confused or wanting to learn a little more, I scroll through the QuickBooks blog or QuickBooks resource center and get the answers I’m looking for.  It’s chalked full of  all the info and helpful hints to keep us and our business record keeping on track!

Have questions? I’m always happy to share more about how we’re using QuickBooks Online and how in the future we hope to expand that – Just comment below!

In the meantime, head on over to the Intuit QuickBooks website to learn about the the latest promotion ending on July 5th (which has now been extended a few days!) and how you can start claiming back a little of your sanity and make the step towards getting organized today for up to 70% off.

But rest easy friends… because now with QuickBooks Online support, I’ve got more time for wrangling her off of the chair each day and I’ve got peace of mind that our finances for all our businesses are in check!

PS – Here’s that link to a free 30 day trial again!

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Hopefully I will get all the details on the move in a blog post soon, but don’t hold your breath. It only took me nearly 9 months to post pictures of this bathroom.

I work fast.

Obviously.

Nonetheless, the hallway bathroom that, according to my husband, I  “had to remodel” has been used no more than a dozen times since it’s beautiful transformation. Haha!

Those are just minor details I tell ya. 

Used or walked by (does it even matter??), this bathroom gives me all the happy vibes when I peek in the door.

Don’t you want me to be happy, husband?!?!

I feel like he secretly likes it just as much as me. Even if he’s only peed in their one time in his life.

That toilet though… it’s the luxury of toilets.

And listen, I know people don’t invite people over and then brag about their toilets. But I don’t care. I wanted a NICE, quiet, comfortable toilet.

I’ll brag about my toilet if I want to.

I’m slightly sad that we will be leaving this pretty new bathroom so soon after it’s remodel, but I am pretty sure the future owners will appreciate my decor A.D.D.

They will benefit greatly from a brand spanking new bathroom and I am pretty certain, they will want to brag about the toilet as much as me.

Or maybe not. Whatever.

The question is, will I use some of this same tile in the bathrooms in our new home? Or shall I change it up again?!?!

Can I just say that I am completely stoked to get to make selections for an entire new house! It’s been seven years since we built our current home and I am ready for some blank walls to decorate.

For more pictures of our home, check out our home tour page (which also needs updated badly). Someone stay on me about that.

To stay most update with the Rose home adventures you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook. I am less MIA over there.