Five Years Blogging 🎉 Q&A

Aww friends, Happy Friday!!! Well, tomorrow marks FIVE years of this little blog, and I love celebrating with a little Q&A. You can find others that I've done in the past here, but it's a favorite post to read on other people's blog, so I hope it will be a fun way to spend your Friday morning as well! 

I say this every time, but when I wrote my first post back in 2021, I remember sending the link to my mom and sister, thinking they would probably be the only ones to ever actually read it. And here we are five years later just with so many blessings from this little space. 

It had always been a dream of mine to have a blog (in fact it was one of the "facts" I remember writing down in my notes app on my phone to tell Pierce while we were dating...now, why I considered this one to be a "big" one worth mentioning, I'm not sure, but I'm thankful I shared, and I'm so thankful it has come to be sincel!) 

In high school, I had several blogs that I loved to read and follow, and throughout my teaching years, it was one of my biggest joys to read a few of my favorite blogs after I had caught up on emails sitting at my desk before the students came. There is something special and sweet about a blog, and in a world with a lot of media, I love the depth and fun that can come with a blog post. 

So, after years of thinking about it, Pierce had a weekend in the studio recording for a friend, and I remembering packing up my pink laptop that morning, snapping a picture, grabbing a London Fog, and spending the weekend setting up my blog in the back of the studio. 

It is still such a fun memory, and it's one little dream that I'm so glad I pressed into and have loved all the fruit that has come from the past several years... (Now, onto that farmhouse dream 😉 hahaha) 

But truly, thank you to everyone who has followed along, and from neighbors and friends down the road, to family in other states, friends I've met simply through blogging, and readers who message, email or reach out, it always just means so much. Thank you for being a part!! So without further-ado, here are just a few questions for your Friday!! 

How long have you and Pierce known each other?

Goodness, it feels like it's been forever, but we are coming up on 13 years. Pierce and I met in 2013 working at a summer camp in Texas. We were friends for three years, started dating in 2016, engaged in 2018, married in October that year, and here we are...two littles under our roof in 2026. 😉

Are you and Pierce similar personality wise?

I loved this one because I think the answer is yes and no. We are both middle children, we are both pretty laid-back, go-with-the-flow, we both love people and friendships and relationships, and I think the Lord has made us both to welcome others in. So in some ways, all of those things overlap really well. But I would say sometimes I'm slower to things like change and decision making than he is (and Pierce would say "amen" hahahaha). I'm also more prone to details and Pierce is more "big picture." He's creative in different ways as well. Music is where he lived for most of his life, so that comes through in a lot of ways. We always ended up close on personality tests and Meyers Briggs, but I fall into the nine enneagram and he's more four. So, yes, similar, but not identical haha 

What are your kids' favorite toys?

I loved this one too. Well, for Jane, she is a creative little one. So, anything markers, pens, paint, stickers, paper, journals, she is very into. She is also very much in love with her baby doll and all things associated with it haha She loves these little Pip Squeaks markers, these paint sticks, these almost oil pastel crayons, this color by number, and loads and loads and loads of computer paper 😉 

We gifted her this little baby doll for her first birthday, and I'm not sure they have been separated since haha

Three years later 😉🥰

As for Andy, he is very much into balls and books. If that is all he had, I'm pretty sure he would be in heaven haha (The sound series from PaperPie is a current favorite!! And a tip is that they are almost always on sale so much here at Christianbook.) Puzzles have started becoming a big hit around here as well, which as a teacher, I love. Magnatiles definitely have their place as well. I am trying to get us to be a blocks and trains house next, so I will keep you posted on how that goes haha 

What is your cleaning routine?

Goodness, this one has ebbed and flowed with different seasons of having littles. But my very favorite routine is to clean on Friday morning. I just love nothing more than heading into the weekend with a clean home. There is something so refreshing about it to me. When Jane was little, this was such a fixed part of our routine and rhythms, then when Andy came, it became a bit harder to keep it going. 

Nowadays, it works pretty well to deem a morning (usually a Friday morning when we don't have much on the calendar), a "making the house clean and peaceful morning." Somehow, that phrase came and stuck, and I love that it is what Jane calls it haha So after breakfast, the kids will help with as much as they can (picking up toys, books, dusting, folding washcloths, putting clothes away, etc), then when the house is ready to vacuum, they know that because of all the work they did "for the family" they have earned a little show, and I vacuum while they watch a show, and it seems to work well. Sometimes it's hard to hit it all in one morning, but when I can, it's my very, very favorite. 

What was the hardest thing going from one to two littles?

Goodness. This one should probably be a whole blog post hahaha I wrote a little bit about it here, but going from one to two was the biggest blessing, but also led to one of the hardest little seasons. When Andy was born, Jane was 2 years 2 months, and I think just having two tiny littles that needed me (in different ways) but at the same time was tough on this people-pleasing, relationship-building, peacemaker heart. 

I think the hardest was just learning how to be ok with saying, "I'm only one Mommy. I am doing ___, or helping ___ with something, I will be there in a second." Obviously Andy didn't understand that for a long time, but I still said it for myself (and for Jane's sake too.) And now, I will hear Jane playing with her babies saying, "I'm only one Mommy. I will be there in just a second." Hahaha 

It's a hard balance to learn, but I think pressing into my weaknesses and really praying through those helped me in that season. Pierce gifted me this little devotional, "Treasuring Christ When Your Hands are Full" by Gloria Furman, and I read a little bit each morning when I could, and it helped just reorient my days to be more Gospel focused too in that harder season. But goodness, almost two years in, having two littles is another forever favorite right now. Just watching them become friends has made that harder season so very much worth it, and I'm sure it will just continue to as they grow and seasons continue to change. The need is still high, but not nearly like it was when they were tiny for sure. 

What are some of your all's favorite recipes?

Well, this is something I definitely want to get better about on here. Pierce and I both love good food and have so many meals that we love, but I don't do a great job at sharing them on here. 

I did post our Chicken Skillet Nacho recipe a few years ago, which is still a favorite and an easy way to get a lot of veggies in. 

We use a lot of recipes from The Defined Dish - her chicken tostada recipe is a favorite. 

I've posted about our love for this chicken lime soup before too. A favorite! 

We have a pecan chicken recipe that I need to post soon that is a favorite right now. (The kids' say it's like we are eating Cane's at home...which is very far from that, but I think it's amazing that they think that haha) 

We do a lot of tacos, taco salad, chipotle bowls. We have a Half-Baked Harvest Mediterranean Bowl that we've adapted as well as a breakfast Ratatouille from Maman that we love also. 

I need to post more of our recipes. I will try to do that soon. We love good food and love sharing! 

What is your favorite holiday?

This one is just a tough one because I truly love them all. My top favorites (plural😉) though I think would be Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and July 4th. (With a close second/fifth being Easter.) Here's why... 

Thanksgiving. A perfect holiday to kick-off the most wonderful time of year, truly. Family, friends, football, the coziness of the season, the beginning of Christmas, the joy, the smells, the parade. I just love it all. 

Christmas. Need I even say more? It's just truly, truly the coziest, most special time of year. 

Valentine's Day. I just think this one is sweet and FUN. Maybe it is the teacher in me, but sign me up for all of the pink, red, hearts, and crafts, and little gifts. Add in telling the people in your life why you love them, and it's just a favorite. It's simple, it's in the middle of a grey, cold month, and I just feel like it can bring a little unexpected joy and fun to the dreariness. 

And July 4th. We just LOVE summer over here and July 4th is just the best way to enjoy that perfect middle of the summer fun. 

And Easter. First, this is obviously the very top of my list for WHY it's a holiday. Jesus' death and resurrection is a foundation to our life and faith, and a weekend/holiday to focus on that is amazing. But aside from the why, it's inching its way into my "favorites" honestly because of sweet Jane. I've start to love April with her little birthday, and this year, her birthday is ON Easter, so obviously it's a forever favorite for us this year! 🌷

What made you want to be a teacher? Do you still tutor?

Well, goodness, I love this one. I taught for five years before I had Jane, and I loved it. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Passafiume, influenced my life in all of the very best ways, and I truly just wanted to grow up to be just like her. 

Meet 3rd grade Tabitha, where I just loved school, loved my family, my dolls, and my teachers. In college while getting my education degree, I got to intern with sweet Mrs. Passafiume for a Jan-term (who was teaching Kindergarten at the time), and I will never forget it. Being back in her classroom all those years later helping her teach was just the sweetest gift. I ended up teaching fifth, second, and junior kindergarten, but you know I was always hoping to be in that third grade classroom where it all had started. 

And yes! I do still tutor. I started tutoring math in 2018, and I have truly loved every single student I have gotten to help. It's looked different over the years and especially after littles, but I still tutor most weeks, and it's one of my favorite parts of the week. Just last week, a student brought a quiz that he had gotten 100 on after really struggling through the unit and told me it was because of our session that he got his best grade so far. Cue all the tears! It's a fun mixture of being able to be home with Jane and Andy, but still getting to have some "students" as well. :)

And there you have it...just a few questions for your Friday!! Thanks as always for following along and thanks for being here FIVE years in!!! I hope everyone has the VERY best weekend, and I'll plan to see you back here next week!!!

Here's to enjoying the little things, celebrating the big things, and soaking in all the moments in-between! ❤️

Sending lots of love!
XO
Tab