Happy New Year, friends!

I’m so excited to begin a brand new year and with it, brand new goals that I’m eager to share with you all.

First, a little life update. :)

My husband Tucker and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Amelia, just before Christmas 2023. She’s only a few weeks old, but she’s perfect. We’re adjusting well to new parenthood and this brand new tiny person in our home. Lots of sleepless nights (though that’s already getting better by the night!), but we couldn’t be more thankful for the Lord’s blessings, which are now so apparent in tiny fingers and toes and lots of adorable yawns and funny pooping faces.

When we found out we were pregnant last spring, we knew I’d be going home fulltime to take care of our home and child once she was born. We decided to move that timeline up to the middle of my pregnancy, so I’ve been home fulltime since August 2023.

While homeschooling and raising children are the main reason for being home fulltime, Tucker and I also knew this lifestyle change could provide a lot of freedom for me to work from home in more creative ways. Since October 2023, I’ve been doing contract work for a non-profit and a small annual conference, awarding me a few hours of work each week. I’m grateful to have had a way to contribute to our family during pregnancy and now in postpartum that also affords so much flexibility.

We’re home, we’re well-fed, and we’re grateful every day for the Lord’s provision and grace.

Blog Re-Launch | Welcome to Kayleycurtis.com!

In my final few weeks of pregnancy last year, I decided I wanted to try blogging again as well. If you know me, you know I’ve had a blog on and off for years. It’s mainly been a source of creativity when the mood strikes, but nothing I’ve taken too seriously.

This time, I want it to be different. Namely, I want to monetize it and strive for real structure and growth. No more writing when the inspiration hits - I’m setting the goal of discipline for 2024 (something I have a feeling caring for a newborn will help form, especially with sleep training - pray for us!).

That being said, welcome to my new blog! Under the broad umbrella of “lifestyle blogging,” I plan to write about being a new wife and mother, my love of reading and writing, my desire to become a decent cook, my various art hobbies, and my lifelong mission to understand and live out Biblical femininity and womanhood, for both me and our new little girl. Glorifying God in the ordinary day-to-day of motherhood is my desire, and I want to write about it consistently to hopefully inspire other women, wives, and mothers!

I’ll also keep my Virtual Bookshelf updated and full of book recommendations (2023’s completed list is coming soon and 2024 will be updated as soon as I finish one of the many books I started in the new year). I’ll likely end up blogging about anything in between as I figure out my niche. ;)

I hope you’ll stick around and tell me what you love hearing about the most!

Now My Goals for 2024…

I know setting yearly goals seems like a typical and soon-abandoned way to re-launch a blog, but I’ve been thinking about these goals since the fall of 2023. In my desire to become more disciplined with this blog, I want to start with clear and achievable goals - how else would I get started?!

1. Read 30 Books

I’ve not read this many books in one year since 2020, but I’m determined to make it back to my old glory days and build from there.

As I mentioned above, I’ll be tracking my progress on my Virtual Bookshelf. I’ll write about books I’ve read in my blog and give you the thumbs up or down (in my humble opinion) on whether or not I’d recommend them, as well as what I’ve learned from them.

I also created a Goodreads account this year! Add me as a friend and let’s be reading buddies. :) If you have a book recommendation, please let me know. I’d love to know what you’re reading, too!

I’ve been keeping a Virtual Bookshelf on my blog since 2020 - if you’re curious to see what I’ve read all those years, be sure to check out my booklists from 2023 (coming soon!), 2022, 2021, and 2020 here!

2. Bake Homemade Bread, Rolls, & Biscuits, etc.

Every time I’ve tried to bake bread at home, I’ve failed miserably. Something about the kneading, or maybe it’s the yeast amount? My biscuits always turn out like doughy hockey pucks, and my bread is somehow both soggy and hard??

This year, I’m intent on figuring it out. If I have to drag my baker friend Emma around my kitchen for the next year, I swear I’m going to figure this whole baking thing out.

I’ve written about many of my failed baking attempts on my blog. If you’re in need of a laugh or some bad-baker company, check out these posts:

• Taking Turns Almost Burning the House Down

• I Set the House on Fire Again…

3. Memorize Scripture Monthly

I’ve never understood why I stopped memorizing Scripture after I became an adult. I used to know entire Psalms by heart. Scripture memorization used to be such a common part of my life as a child and I miss it dearly. This year, I want to memorize a new passage of Scripture every month!

4. Spend 1,000 Hours Outside

If you’ve never heard of 1000hoursoutside.com, I encourage you to check it out. My cousin Kassidy does this challenge each year with her children, and I’m so impressed with how much time they are able to spend outside in a single year and how creative they get with their time outdoors.

I’ve been wanting to start this challenge, and now that I’m a mother myself, I figure 2024 is the perfect time to get started. Amelia may be a newborn, but by-golly, she’ll be an outdoorsy newborn if I have anything to say about it.

I’ll admit, January’s been off to a rough start with it being so cold - I’m still a nervous new mom about taking my newborn outdoors. We’ll get there!

5. Heal My Postpartum Body & Get Back in Shape

I’m hoping this goal won’t take me the whole year, but I’m also wanting to focus on healing and taking care of my body in this new season. It would be easy to try to jump back into my normal, post-baby routine as fast as possible, but I’m one hundred percent positive it would result in more pain and harm than good. I want to take better care of myself, for my new little one and for the future children my husband and I want to have. My family comes first in this new postpartum healing journey - I want to heal properly to continue to serve them well.

Consider this a formal request for postpartum healing tips from fellow moms out there!

Here’s to 2024!

There are my goals for 2024! I’d be foolish to jump into these (or anything) without constant prayer, so I’ll ask you to join me in prayer for this year as well. What are your goals for 2024? How can I be praying for your new year/season?

I’m thankful you’re here - be sure to say hi!