A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

A Quiet Simple Life

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Our Cozy Home No. 20


Happy Monday! This post was supposed to go up on Sunday, but I was simply not able to focus this weekend to sit down and write much. I had so much nervous energy that I spent most of my weekend cleaning and organizing.

Usually I add some chit chat to the weekly post, but I’m going to write a separate post about adjusting to the situation today so all the news from around our home will be there (Cheerfully Adapting in a Coronavirus World).

So homemaking goals for this week? Let’s see.

Goal 1 – Wipe down all the doors (a carry over from last week)

Goal 2 – Keep working on the basement. I’ve made some really good progress so even though this goal keeps popping up in various weeks, it is because it is a big project. But I am working on it.

That’s it. I have many work goals to tackle which is good. The more I keep my mind busy with work, the better.

What do you have planned this week in the homemaking realm to keep things peaceful and cozy?

Artwork: Daniel Ridgway Knight 

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Our Cozy Home No. 19


Happy Sunday! I’m thinking of moving this weekly post to Sundays because I’m also moving my newsletter to go out on Sunday afternoon or evening. For people who like to organize their week on Sunday, they will have it then. For people who take a break from email on Sunday, the newsletter will be waiting for them in their mailbox on Monday morning.

The past few weeks I’ve been in exactly what is outlined in my post Understanding Why Your Creative Child is Lazy. In this case, it was me and not my child. There are four stages of creativity outlined in that post:

  • Preparation
  • Incubation
  • Illumination
  • Verification

I’ve been stuck in this process for about a month. I’ve been stuck with regards to a lot of things regarding writing, writing blog posts, product creation, etc. When a creative person is in the midst of this, you can’t force it. You can find other things to do and keep busy. You can rest. You can discuss things with people. But you cannot force the “Illumination” stage to come upon you.

Thankfully, I reached Illumination and Verification last week. LOL!

Seriously. I was able to start moving forward rapidly starting last Thursday and it feels so good to have all that pent up creative energy released. It’s all been simmering there (Incubation) and I could tell it was. But my mind simply would not or could not pull it all together. And then just like that – BAM. It all comes together, is verified, and I move forward.

This was also a good experience to remind me (again) of what my creative child is going through when she’s just not “doing anything” creatively. She is. It’s simply not pouring out of her in a visible way.

So, all that to say, I’m setting basic homemaking goals this week because I’m all-in on other stuff I’m working on in addition to homeschooling. I also have a homeschooling product review to write this week and am full of other ideas.

So here are my goals.

Goal 1 – I’m going to circle back around to working on my cleaning up the basement goal. I haven’t worked on it the past two weeks so I’m going to get back to that.

Goal 2 – Clean doors. Inside doors, outside doors, sliders, storm doors, etc. All the doors get a freshen up this week!

So what do you have planned this week? If you need ideas and inspiration, be sure to check out all the ideas in my shop under All Products for Women.

Arwork: “September” by Edmund Blair Leighton

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Our Cozy Home No. 18


Happy March! The sun is shining and I’m ready to jump into another week of creating a home filled with peace, understanding, joy, beauty, and faith for my family. I won’t do it perfectly, but I’ll do my best and that’s all any of us can do.

Related to homemaking, I updated all of my recipes on the site. They are filed under Sallie’s Favorite Comfort Food Recipes. I was never happy with the graphics we made for them so we redid them this weekend. I like them much better now. I also reworked the posts to make them easier to use. I posted Caroline’s Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Muffins over the weekend if you missed that.

So my goals for this week include the following.

Goal 1 – Set up mobile banking. I have resisted doing this, but we have quite a few clients who pay us by check via snail mail. I’d like the option to avoid going to banks any more than necessary in the coming weeks and months so this will be it. I’d rather have it set up and not use it then want it and scramble to get it done.

Goal 2 – Spend time on homemaking inspiration. I need to immerse myself in some positive and inspiring reading myself. I think I have enough blogs and websites to share to do a Cozy Blogs I’m Reading Part 2 as a follow-up to the popular post Cozy Blogs I’m Reading so I’ll probably combine this goal with writing a post to share.

Goal 3 – Spend some time doing more long-range homeschool planning.

On the blogging front, I have so many partially finished posts that I would like to complete and get up. I have two more products for my Distraction Free Handwriting collection I would like to get done (print and cursive sentences). And the Editable Homeschool Planners for this year. So I have a full slate of things to do around here!

That’s what I have going on. What do you have planned this week – big or small? Let us know in the comments and then come back on Friday to share how you did.

Have a great Monday!

Artwork: “Pouring the Morning Coffee” by Laurits Tuxen

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Our Cozy Home No. 17


Update: This post has an extensive discussion about a product I no longer sell in my shop. I am keeping it for personal archival reasons.

Happy Monday! We just had a glorious three days in a row of 100% sunshine. I knew it had been a long time since that had happened, but even I was shocked when the meteorologist confirmed this morning that the last time was May 2014. Wow. If you aren’t familiar with where I live (West Michigan, north of Grand Rapids), we get a lot of both clouds and sun due to the impact of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan, specifically, has a big impact on our weather and so we are right up there with Seattle in terms of cloudiness (but not rain). All that to say, it was really lovely to have a gorgeous sunrise day after day.

Last week when I set my homemaking goals for the week I mentioned I was only doing a few small ones because I had a lot of work projects to focus on. David and I had a very productive week and late Saturday evening I was able to post the freshly updated and expanded A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook. All of the cozy life materials that were once scattered throughout my site as free printables are now in one place (and the free printable posts are all gone).

I see A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook as the core resource for people pursuing a simple life with me. It includes all of the cozy life materials, the materials for The Prudent & Prepared Homemaker series, and The Cozy Christmas Planner. (I am no longer selling the Prudent & Prepared items separately so that category redirects in the Shop.)

As you’ll see from the product description, all new printables I create from this point on related to these topics will be inserted into that planner. I’ll also be updating the calendars every six months (calendar and academic year rotation). So if you own the A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook, you can simply go in and download an updated copy every time I add new content. You purchase it once and get all the updates.

Why did I do this? A couple of reasons.

One, to help reduce the minutia I was drowning in as I mentioned in The Hours and Days Create Your Life last week. I no longer have to maintain dozens of posts and tiny printable products. They are all in one place.

The second reason is to allow me to focus on my readers, subscribers, and online friends who gather here. I can invest in creating posts, videos, podcasts, and printables for the people who are also invested in being here with me and not just randomly stopping by to grab free stuff. I can create to help others and add them to the A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook without having to create new product pages, posts, etc.

So if you already own it, you can go into your account on my site and download the updated version. (Go to the Menu bar on my site, select the drop down menu from The Shop, and you’ll see where to log in to get your purchases.) There is no download limit or time limit on this product so you will always be able to get the newest version.

If you have already purchased some of the Prudent & Prepared printables and/or The Cozy Christmas Planner and would like the entire thing, I would be happy to create a custom coupon for you for the amount you’ve already spent. You can then apply it to the purchase of the complete A Quiet Simple Life Planner and Guidebook. Just send me an email (sallie at sallieborrink dot com) and I’ll find your purchases and email you a coupon for that total.

I cannot even begin to express what a relief and joy it is for me to have this done. I still have to go in and updated dozens of posts that reference and link to the free versions of the individual printables, but I’ll do that over the next few days. The important thing is that I’ve created something that is win-win for everyone.

So this week it is on to the Editable Homeschool Planners. I’m reworking those, choosing some new designs, etc. If you have any suggestions or input regarding this, feel free to share it in a comment on this post.

Because of all this, I am only setting one goal this week.

Goal 1 – Extended homeschool planning. I would like to map out the next couple of months a bit more than I have in my head.

What do you have planned this week? I hope you’ll share a few goals (big, tiny, or in-between) in the comments below. Then come back on Friday and tell us how you did so we can celebrate or commiserate with you. LOL!

(And I have to say this about the artwork I selected for this week because I just love it. The woman looks like she’s all dressed up to go somewhere, but she’s engrossed in her book and trying to read as much as she can before she’s forced to go do whatever it is she has to do. It must be a good book! LOL!)

Have a cozy week!

Artwork: “Portrait de Lucie Lisant un Livre” by Jacques-Émile Blanche

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