HAPPY MOMMY BOX, Motherhood + Friendship

This past weekend Mandy and her family came to visit for our HAPPY MOMMY BOX One Year Anniversary Event. I was counting down the days till we would all be together…
Ever since the 4 weeks previous when I threw this idea on Mandy and convinced her with my enthusiasm we could totally pull it off on such short notice…..haha.
Mandy and I met at a blog Conference in Dallas 18 months ago. Clicked immediately and I saw in her the same friendship I had with Shannon. She was an authentic and joyful person. It’s important to surround yourself with people who lift you up and help you grow. It seems crazy we’ve only been together in real life 6 times…but that’s the crazy thing about the internet. You can do amazing things through it. Our blogs brought us together and we both have used our passion to celebrate motherhood and encourage other women into a company that is bigger than all of the big ideas I initially started it with. I’m the wow person. Mandy is the how person. We even each other out well. She calls me out on the crazy.. and I call her into action when she might not otherwise jump at it. I love how we compliment each other in the business sense…
but even more how we fit together as friends.
Motherhood can be exhausting and overwhelming and I feel lucky to have
some pretty incredible women in my life. Mandy is one of them.

She is one of the most humble and genuine people I know. She never ceases to amaze me with how set on God her heart is. Before we went on stage to greet the women at our event, she grabbed my hands and prayed for the women out there. Later in the night she had gathered all the balloons and told me we were going to send them up for shannon.
I read on Mandy’s instagram that at the event my mom came up to her and hugged her saying, “I don’t know where you cam from but God just dropped you right down into our lives and I am so glad He did.” I love doing motherhood with mandy and sharing this experience of HAPPY MOMMY BOX with her. It’s been incredible seeing where it’s going and what it can do for our families and the women in our community.

It’s a lot of work and some days I can feel completely incapable, not business savvy enough and unsure if I’m doing any good for His Kingdom. Seeing this snapshot Karen snuck during our One Year Event makes my heart soar. Remembering that room filled with women wanting to celebrate motherhood and knowing their true encouragement and inspiration comes from Him gives me that boost. Working with eternity in mind makes all the crazy moments worth it. I don’t have to be perfect but just hands open to His will and taking those steps forward.


Everywhere I go people ask me about my tote bag and tee. (I wear it a lot because it’s so comfortable!! and the tote bag holds everything and a little more.
Moms always grab my arm and say yessss.. that’s what I say!
(In regards too when people see you with all your kids and say “wow you’ve got your hands full!” What exactly do they want us to say?? I have loved how HAPPY MOMMY BOX started as a way to connect with moms right at their door step and give them a boost through a care package…and now we are introducing our own shop items that help moms celebrate motherhood. It’s about more than giving yourself a boost.. it’s about encouraging other moms when they see your tote or tee.. about being that conversation starter and spark those mom friendships! I’ve already made new friends just over wearing my tote bag! haha.
We jam packed the weekend with fun. I wish they lived closer so we could do this more often! Micah was tuckered out with all the boy activity going on in our house. ;)

I can’t wait to share more about the event we threw…sooo many fun photos and videos to come! But I couldn’t let another day go by without sharing about having our families together. I LOVED every moment. even the crazy ones where we came home from a work “date night” and all our kids were up still ready to party…boycotting sleeping with the sitters on duty. I couldn’t believe how well our kids played together. mandy’s boys are all boy.. and my girls.. well they can hold their own with boys but they mix in elsa twirls when pillow fighting. They had a blast together. It was fun seeing the hubbies together too. We are a team. and it was cool being able to be together and do life together, not just work!

These sweet little faces… I could just gobble them up.

Sunday we went to the park to let these wild things get some energy out and ended up taking some fun photos and I LOVE how they turned out. Mandy and I took turns snapping away!

Sophia loved that we both had boots on ;)
She’s rocking her “cowgirl” boots that she wears for horse riding lessons.
I feel like I blinked and suddenly I have a toothless grown up girl
who likes to chat all day and all night. Love her so much.

These boys got a run down on ballet positions and elsa moves.
pretty good rose boys.. pretty good!

The kids LOVED being in the happy mommy box office together and doodled all over the “brown boxes” as the girls call them. (the boxes brand items are sent in)
We thought it was so cute seeing all the happy faces they were doodling.

I remember when I started reading blogs…I would see blog ladies connecting and
forming friendships and meeting in real life and throwing parties or events and I just loved it.
all of it. I wanted that for me but didn’t see how that could happen.
The crazy thing is… most of my really close friends I have either met through
my blog/instagram… or because we had mutual friends and they knew more about me
from my blog and thought we would be great friends..and they were right!
At first I didn’t realize this common ground…but then when I would be hanging out
with friends and introducing them to other people…I realized most of my answers to
“how did you guys meet”…was..”through my blog I guess!?”

I’m thankful for these friendships. And encourage anyone who is feeling isolated and wanting
a true friend…. don’t give up. don’t turn in and close off. Sometimes you have to put
yourself out there to find these great friendships. Doesn’t mean you have to start a blog
and share your life in that way… but go to that moms’ group you have been avoiding going to. Go up to that lady in target whose kids look crazy like your kids. go up to that lady in the
back of church because she is probably feeling the same way…….
“I want a true friend.”
I learned to make the conscience decision to start a conversation with other women
I see when out, even when It might feel awkward..because I’ve had moments I
wanted someone to reach out to me. Women desire community. we want more than
chit chat about how old your kids are. We want to share our hearts and learn and build
each other up. So maybe this weekend… take that risk and put yourself out there.
I flew to Texas knowing barely a soul in real life attending…
and one of the greatest friendships I’ve had, came through it.