We are so excited to introduce to you Sammy Jo, our new Studio Assistant!

Sammy Jo is an answer to prayer. We realized that we needed to hire someone pretty quickly this fall, because of everything that was happening in Nancy Ray Photography! My maternity leave was around the corner, the fall internship was ending, and Callie was transitioning out of her role in the NRP studio. We realized pretty quickly that the next few months were going to be Olivia holding down the fort, and she certainly needed some help!

We went through a stack of incredible applications, and after interviewing so many wonderful people, it was clear that Sammy Jo was the best fit for our team in this season. She already “gets us” on so many levels, and she is so gifted at seeing things from such a wise, intuitive perspective. Here are a few fun facts about Sammy Jo!

Tell us about you and your family!

My husband, Chais, and I have been married for just over four years! We have a three-year-old daughter, Bess, and an 18-month-old son, Riggins.

What’s your number on the Enneagram?

I think I’m a social 5 (pretty sure about the 5, still learning about sub-types!) on the enneagram with a fairly strong 4 wing, but I did think I was a 9 for a solid six months. I love to talk about it, though, and it is fascinating to me to learn how people can react to and process the same events so differently based on their beliefs, fears, priorities, etc. So excited to read The Sacred Enneagram with the Nancy Ray book club this year!

What’s your favorite food?

I will basically never turn down carbs, dairy or sugar. Other loves: sushi, Pizza Hut cheese sticks, bruschetta, or anything my husband cooks.

Current favorite books:

One Thousand Gifts (reading for the third time, so good!), Simplicity Parenting, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, The Girl who Smiled Beads.

Current favorite podcasts:

The Belonging Co, the Liturgist Podcast, Typology, the Creative Well, the Veritas Forum.

What are you most excited about in this new position?

Getting to do what I’m good at (super behind the scenes/task oriented things) for something I really believe in – impacting women and families for their joy and God’s glory! And doing it with the most kind, wise, encouraging group of women!

Sammy Jo, we are SO excited to have you as part of this team!

I’ve never started off a year like this before!

Around the clock nursing, exhausted, learning the rhythms of being a mama of a newborn and a 1.5 year old and a 3 year old… I have to say, it is not the norm for me but it feels SO good.

My norm on January 1st? Putting away all Christmas decor, decluttering, dreaming up my wildest and best work goals, eating black eyed peas and collards, going on a run, feeling fresh and ready to GO.

Today? Being. Just being mama. Napping. Resting. Yes, dreaming. But mostly eating as much as I want (still eating black eyed peas and collards!), nursing a hungry baby, watching Milly and Lyndon play / wrestle each other, and being HOME. No decluttering or re-setting or going for a run like usual. Being thankful that I’m smack in the middle of maternity leave, reminding me of what matters the absolute most this year: my family.

Also, today begins the Contentment Challenge: no shopping for unnecessary stuff for 3 months! It’s not too late for you to join us - there’s a TON of people doing this together. Go read this blogpost to download your free guide and get inspiring emails weekly! And check out the #contentmentchallenge hashtag to see who is in on it!

With that in mind, Quarter One is all about being quiet and content. Maternity leave, the Contentment Challenge, and focusing on the people right in front of me. Which is so fitting with my word of the year, and hopefully it will keep me from distractions as I really focus in on it.

MY WORD OF THE YEAR IS

Delight

I prayed through my word of the year quite a bit, an ended up landing here because of the two definitions I found in the dictionary:

1. To take great pleasure in

2. To please someone greatly

This year, I want to simply take great pleasure in the goodness of God around me. To enjoy and be grateful for my home. To slow down and watch my babies grow. To realize that these are the little years, the exhausting years, the wonderful years.

This year, I also want to love others well. When I read the dictionary’s definition “to please someone greatly,” my spirit translated that into “love others well” or “love others greatly!”

So, boiling it down, I want to take pleasure in all the Lord has done for me and DELIGHT in it, while also being very intentional about DELIGHTING others and loving them well. I hope that’s what 2019 looks like for me.

To be honest, that’s why I launched this site - to serve and to love YOU. To speak truth and lessons learned.

With that in mind, I share my 2019 GOALS:

Delight in Maternity Leave

• Play with each of my children

• Give myself grace in healing, nursing, and becoming a newborn mama all over again

• Enjoy not working!

• Check in with the team / work as I feel inspired to work

Have our most purposeful year of Nancy Ray Photography

• Photograph 6 Weddings

• 4 Quarterly Planning Meetings with the team + individuals

• 3 Growth Activities (A book, a conference, etc)

• Give away a WEDDING! (Yes this is coming!)

Reset our Personal Finances with JOY

• Complete the Contentment Challenge in Q1

• Create a 2019 - 2020 Financial Gameplan for Paying off our house

• Quarterly Meetings with Will for our Annual Saving, Giving and Spending Goals

• Monthly Budget Committee Meetings with Will

Be a friend!

• Host a girls night

• Monthly accountability partner check-ins

• Plan 4 Minki hangouts (Minkies = my 3 best friends)

• Have 1 couple (minimum) over for dinner each quarter

Create a life-giving home

• Read A Life Giving Home with the Nancy Ray Book Club throughout the year

• Weekly Questions with Will (Blogpost coming on this)

• Mind-Body-Soul time with each girl daily (Blogpost coming on this, too!)

• Quarterly de-clutter and donation run

Speak Truth & Teach

• Launch a Podcast and speak truth once a week

• Blog Weekly

• Send encouraging emails

• Speak at 3 conferences

Take care of myself!

• Read 6 (maybe 7) books with the Nancy Ray Book Club

• Join the YMCA or Run a Race

• Prioritize sleep when I can

• Maintain personal photos every month

All in all, I have 7 main goals for 2019, each with sub-categories that will fulfill those goals. In a year I’m learning to be a mama of 2 little ladies and one little man, that feels just right.

I can already tell that 2019 is going to be a special year. I’m coming in quiet on maternity leave, and I love that. My hope is to start this year quiet and rooted, to listen to and to love those right in front of me. And then to let the Lord lead and guide me in every endeavor, growing along the way.

If you blog your yearly goals, I would love for you to leave a comment including a link below! It is so encouraging to read others goals. And if you don’t have a blog, simply share your word of the year or one goal you hope to accomplish, so we can cheer one another on!

Hey, friend!

The Nancy Ray Book Club has been something I have LOVED hosting, and every year I aim to change it up a bit and improve it. In 2019, I’ve decided to keep it simple. I’m pretty excited about what’s to come!

• 6 Books

• 6 Emails with reading plans

• 6 Podcast episodes

That’s it!

Here’s what we’ll be reading:

January + throughout the year:
The Life Giving Home

February + March:
Anonymous

April + May:
The Year of Living Happy

June + July
The Sacred Enneagram

August + September:
The Coaching Habit

October + November:
Switch on your Brain

December Bonus Book:
Crucial Conversations

So how do you join? Great question!!

• Purchase the 6 books

• Sign up to receive the Emails

• Listen to the Podcast Episodes*

*The plans are for the Podcast to launch in the spring, and you’ll be emailed the links when they are ready for a listen!

I’ll also be blogging my book reviews here on the blog, so if you miss a book or a podcast episode, you can still participate in the conversation!

Here’s what I learned from the 2018 book club: I bit off a bit more than I could chew. Granted, I did not know or plan to get pregnant in the spring, move (home and studio) in the summer, travel like crazy in the fall, and have a newborn just before Christmas. So I’m accepting grace from all of you and heaping it on myself as well.

For 2019, I figured I’d read half the amount I normally do. Why? Well, I have no idea what life and work will look like as a mama of 3, so I’d rather sign up for something I know I can do instead of take on too much. But I also know if I DON’T host a book club and choose my books now, I won’t read them. And a year without reading is just sad! There’s so much to learn out there, I think it’s worth it to continue.

Affiliate links are used in this post! When you use these links to purchase your books, it helps keep the book club going ;)