PACK AND CHAT||HOW I PACK FOR MY FAMILY OF 6||🔆🌊

hey guys welcome back to my channel for another video today's video is brought to you in partnership with anna louisa i am wearing one of my brand new pieces that i just got from them and i am obsessed with this little daisy necklace my oldest daughter kylie has been begging me to give it to her but i also got some other beautiful new pieces from them so they are sponsoring today's pack with me and chat video we are packing up for one last summer vacation one last hurrah before we start back to our new homeschool year jake and i celebrated 15 years of marriage and so we wanted to do something big and so we decided we are going to go to florida and we are going to enjoy the beach with our children and bring them um and make memories together as a family and do some special things so i'm really excited you guys know we've been traveling a lot this summer and so i asked you guys if you want to see how i pack and how i do things um because even though my kids are older i still obviously have to pack for all four of them plus myself plus generally give jake some guidance on packing so packing is definitely like my job and i've got it narrowed down to a science so i thought i would show you guys my process of how i pack step by step and then chat with you guys i actually asked on instagram if you guys had anything you wanted me to talk about and so many good topics came in so i chose one that i felt was timely and and uh worth talking about so we are going to chat as i pack but before i really get into packing let me show you guys my new pieces that i got from anna louisa so i got these little um hoop earrings with this like diamond detailing from anna louisa i got the daisy necklace that's what was in here um that i'm actually wearing and then in here i got another beautiful i wore this um just when i was in utah filming with the good and the beautiful but it's like a layering necklace and i love how the chains are different and it's simple and elegant and can totally dress up a casual outfit which is how i roll i definitely like my plain things and so i love adding jewelry and fun pieces so i got this one and i got these earrings and then i got the daisy necklace that i have on all of which is going in my suitcase earrings that i am also wearing are from anna louisa they're one of my favorites i do not know if they're currently available but anyway these are the these earrings i love and i wanted to wear them because i am packing my new ones and so if you guys have never heard of analysa they are like it's my favorite place to get jewelry you guys always ask where i get like my little dainty necklaces and my earrings and stuff nine times out of ten it's from annalisa they have pieces starting at just 39 because they don't have luxury markup on their jewelry so the pricing is phenomenal and you are getting amazing quality jewelry it is not like costumey it's not gonna fall apart it's amazing quality and all of my pieces that i've had throughout the years have held up beautifully they definitely have something for all styles and all tastes and all budgets on their website not to mention they are very very very very concerned about the um the the impact that jewelry has on our world and so they are very careful about how they source their materials and how they you know make sure that they are being responsible and so i love that and like i said the price point you just can't beat the price point so they are actually having their summer sale right now 20 off your order so you guys can click the link down below and there is no coupon code needed that 20 will be automatically added when you check out so if you love my little daisy because it's so cute you can go grab one for yourself i love like small little necklaces like that totally my style um but everything will be 20 off for their summer sale and all the information to annalisa will be down below for you guys so when i start packing for a trip no matter if it's two days no matter if we're flying on an airplane or if we're driving or taking our trailer out i start with a list so i have this section here of things that i know i need to add to our toiletries um because we were just traveling and we ran out of those things then i make a list for the kids backpacks uh they each have a backpack for traveling and then since we are flying to florida obviously um these things will need to go in each of their backpacks it's just easy if they all have their own stuff so i make a list there and then up here i write out how many days we're going and then i write down the days of the week um if we were doing like specific activities that required certain types of clothing then i would write that down for the day but basically what we're doing in florida is the beach and relaxing so that actually makes packing pretty easy um but i'm going to now now that i have the days of the week out i'm gonna write down specifics like five pairs of shorts five t-shirts whatever and then i will give my kids the list and then have them bring me everything that they choose to pack um and then like i'll look through it and make sure like okay this is good if they bring me something crazy we might change a shirt for another but i like to let them grab their own things because you know they like doing that so i'm going to now write down the specifics of what everybody needs to bring and then the list will make its way from one child to the next they will bring me everything into my room and then into the suitcase it will go and here's the first one he's ready to pack there he is [Music] so here is a look at the list that i have written out um for each of my kids and uh like i mentioned they'll bring this all to me but one thing i do want to point out is if we're staying somewhere with a washing machine i do try to do laundry and so that is why there's only five and five um for seven days and then also i find that when we're going to the beach some days they just stay in their swimsuits all day or they go from swimsuits to pajamas and so we don't need like seven different outfits so that's why you see the five so i'm gonna hand this off to my first one who's ready to get his things together and then i will wait until they all bring me all of their stuff before i put it into the suit [Music] okay so now that all my kids have come and dropped all of their clothing onto my bed i am going to fold it while i chat with you guys because like i said i give them the list they bring me the stuff and then i organize it because when we are traveling i like to have um well let me say this depending on what airline you travel on obviously some you have to pay for bags we're flying southwest so technically we could have 12 suitcases because everyone gets two bags i think but i would never want 12 suitcases so i generally try to do a kids suitcase a jake and i suitcase a shoe suitcase and then a suitcase for everybody's toiletries and then that way we also have room if we are to like go shopping or bring anything home um so yeah we're flying southwest so i don't have to worry about bags if we're flying on an airline where we have to pay for bags then i really really really like roll everything up super military style so that way um we are not spending you know hundreds of dollars on bags so i wanted to say that but i've got my suitcase here my camera battery is dying and so i need to charge that and then i'm gonna fold up everybody's stuff and put it into the suitcase okay i needed to move you guys closer because i was just feeling like that was too far away to have a chitchat so i'm just folding clothes um to put into the suitcases now so like i said they bring me their piles and then i'm folding them so the question is how do i focus how do i keep my focus on the lord during these times of insanity which is true and she's incredibly stressed so i just want to tell you that i have also been stressed currently as i am filming this i am feeling a little anxious myself uh i've been pretty open about my struggles with feeling out of control and uh it's a false sense of security because i know what the word says about being in control and i know that i'm never in control but i have a false sense of security and being in control over certain parts of my life and for me personally coming from the background that i did with having a lot of chaos in my life uh as a child due to the decisions of others that um really you know they it negatively affected me i really struggle with not feeling in control of certain areas of my life and that is honestly what brings about the majority of my stress when it comes down to the craziness is not being in control over over me i know that my days are numbered i know that no tomorrow is not guaranteed i know that the lord is going to call me home whenever it is his will and i know that uh the lord is with us through all of this but i really struggle with not feeling in control over my personal decisions and choices for my family i really really struggle a lot with that and it gives me quite a bit of anxiety so to answer your question how do i focus on the lord um during all this well i have to be that i have to be constantly redirecting my brain i have to literally sometimes speak truth to myself i have to say you know ashley the the lord has he knows he he knew all this was going to happen and he has a plan and he never abandons his people and he will make a way for you like i have to repeat that truth to myself but probably the biggest thing that i do to handle the stress and anxiety is i i meditate on the verse and i and it's in matthew and i'm not gonna quote it because somebody will correct me um but it just talks about you know do the birds do the birds wonder where their food is going to come from do the you know like how much more does the lord care for you than the birds and so i remember that what i am worried about is not happening today what i am worried about is not happening today what i am worried about is going it may or may not happen in the future even if all signs point to it happening but it's not today and so if i'm worried about something that is robbing me of the joy of today then i am not doing what the lord would want me to do because today is the only day i am promised and i know that that sounds cheesy but when you really think about it like go a little go into i don't want to say go into a dark headspace but think about when tragedy strikes do you think that that they woke up that morning thinking like oh i may get in a car accident and i may pass away today do you think that that they thought that or do you think they thought it was just going to be a regular old day because i'm pretty sure they thought it was going to be a regular old day and so i think about that like tomorrow isn't even guaranteed all i'm given is this moment right now so why am i letting the fear of the unknown and the and the uncertainty ruin my day today because when i get anxiety it is hard for me to function like it is hard for me to be patient it is hard for me to homeschool and if anything i learned last year from going through everything we went through with being shut down and all that was was um that if i allow myself to go there i will be basically just like frozen i it was so hard for me to do anything i felt so burdened so heavy so stressed so overwhelmed that like i couldn't even do my daily functions and i knew that that was not what the lord wants that burden is not from god that burden is from the enemy and so when i feel myself spiraling which has been occurring again i have to remember that god did not guarantee us an easy life he didn't guarantee us american comfort he didn't guarantee us a time of no persecution that is just what we want naturally as humans we don't want to deal with persecution and stress and difficulty but that is not what the lord promised and that may not be the lord's will so is it my will or is it the lord's will and i ask myself these probing questions because it helps me keep a perspective that it is god's will and this this whole situation is not operating out of the lord's hands he knows he knows what's going on he has a purpose and a plan for all of this and will turn it for good even if we don't see it now and if we have faith then we truly have to trust and believe in that which i do i do wholeheartedly trust and believe in that but what is hard for me is the struggle of the day-to-day because yes we we know these truths we believe these things deep in our heart but how do we navigate that in the day-to-day life that is where i struggle lord i'm still on this earth you haven't taken me home yet so how do i handle this in my day-to-day and just all i ever hear from the lord on that is just focus on today focus on today focus on today and so that is what i really try to do i try to just focus on today and not allow the fear to overtake me to the point of where i'm i'm inoperable because i have been so stressed out with worry for my children and worry for my husband that i just i just haven't been able to do anything and i so so i try so hard to repeat scripture to myself i try so hard to repeat truth to myself i try so hard to be focused only on what is in front of me and only making decisions and choices based on actual information that i have at that moment of course we plan ahead and we think about well if this happened or if that happened what might we do and that's wise that's being that's being wise but we don't make any harsh decisions or rash judgments based on what we think may occur we have to make decisions when presented with factual information and so i try to speak that truth to myself over and over and over again because it helps me keep my brain in the right place because my brain can quickly take me into the wrong place like i'm sure many of you guys can relate so that is basically a summary of what i do it was probably way mumbo jumbo like all mixed up but that's kind of how my brain is because right now i chose that i chose that question to answer because i am struggling right now and so just in saying it to you guys even though you won't be watching this real time but just vocalizing that out loud helps me in my own brain to be reminded of those things like like i'm not even guaranteed tomorrow i'm not even guaranteed to be leaving on this florida trip that i'm packing for like you know i don't want the enemy to rob me of the things that i have in front of me for the fear of what is to come or the fear of what i'm not in control of because that's really what it is i mean we are in control only to a certain extent and um we should be able to rely on ourselves to make decisions and choices that are best for our families but at the end of the day like there are things that go that are above us like where we just ha where you have to obey the uh obey what is it like the authority now i don't hear me wrong i'm not saying do what what everything they tell you to do but what i'm saying is is that there's only so much that we can do before there's only so much like there truly is only so much and every individual is going to have to draw their line where they where they feel the lord has told them to to place their line so yeah i have to really be um i have to constantly redirect my brain i have to take every thought captive i have to repeat truths to myself i have to focus i have to read god's word i have to look at only what's in front of me i have to not dwell on the what ifs and what could bes i have to um i have to just really really really rely on the lord each day that he's going to lead and guide and direct and that i have to remember that he's there he's with us he's in our midst he has not forgotten us he has not forsaken us um and i have to also be bold and be encouraged that the american christian life is not really what scripture speaks about um and i have to also keep a godly perspective on suffering because you know there's plenty of christians around the world that have never been afforded what we have here and so does god love them less of course the answer is no has god forgotten them absolutely not and so keeping that eternal worldwide perspective less on my individual situation helps me keep my mind focused on the things of god and that is how i handle the craziness that we are all living in and it is crazy and it is stressful and i am not diminishing that by any means i'm just sharing what i think about and meditate on to help me get through it so now i have folded everyone's things so i am going to place them in the suitcase and then i will show you guys if i can fit all four kids for seven days in florida in one suitcase so here is the suitcase this is just a standard size um hard shell suitcase so i have all the boys stuff over here and then they're under garments and socks in this basket or this um like packing thing um and then the girls are zipped up in here and then the girls clothes are on this side um this suitcase has like this little strap so we will fasten that so it holds everything in place and then we'll be able to zip this up and so all four kids are in one suitcase so that is good um then moving over here this is where everyone's shoes will come i generally have my kids wear tennis shoes on an airplane and then i have them pack like beach sandals and then only one pair of sandals for like wearing around so we definitely are not all about making fashion statements we just want to be able to um you know travel with as little suitcases as possible and then jake and i will go in this suitcase fun fact we got this luggage for our wedding gift and it is probably the only thing we still have 15 years later from our wedding um registry so that is kind of funny to me but um we use that we use our suitcases you can tell these things have been through it but jake and i will pack in here and jake will pack himself he'll use my list to make sure he doesn't forget anything so up next is just going to be me grabbing my stuff okay so now i have packed for myself thankfully florida just lots of airy breathy stuff rompers and lightweight tank tops and maxi dresses that won't wrinkle um so tons of swimsuits so this side will be for jake so now i'm just gonna go through and add my accessories um for our special anniversary dinner and then just you know wearing out if we decide to go go around and i like to have a little bit simple simple jewelry so anna louise says perfect for this because they're so versatile that you can dress them up or dress them down casually which is what i love so i don't have to pack a ton of accessories i can just pick a few of my favorites and wear them with all of the outfits that i've chosen so just adding in my accessories now and then i will be all set to go okay so now my suitcase for florida is all ready to go so the very last thing i have to do to finish packing is go um and do a like a target pickup order for the miscellaneous snack foods and then like little little bottles of hand sanitizer and things like that um that are on my list and then i will have my kids pack their backpack generally just the night before we leave because a lot of the things that they're gonna put in there are like books that they're currently reading and then it'll be a whole thing trying to get them to pack it way too soon so we will wait until the night before we leave to do that but my last thing is to just do a target pickup order for the toiletry items that i surveyed and made a list that we were out of and then the backpacks which i showed it at the beginning but when we fly my kids bring books chargers their games snacks gum hand sanitizer an empty hydro flask water bottle uh their hat that they're gonna wear to the beach they generally will clip that on the outside of their backpack and then like a personal item like their stuffed animal or their favorite blanket and then they wear their um closed-toe shoes to the airport so that is all that's left for packing for florida so i hope you guys enjoyed this little pack and chat with me video just packing and talking with you guys about what's been on my mind in my heart lately i hope it helped you or encouraged you or at least let you feel like you're not alone so let me know your thoughts down below by leaving a comment be sure to check out anna luisa's summer sale you guys can snag some super cute um jewelry for yourself or a gift for 20 off lots of really beautiful pieces on there so be sure to check out the link which will be down below but i hope you guys are doing well and i will see you all in my next video really soon bye guys

Channel: Grace and Grit

Views: 3,633

Rating: 4.9337749 out of 5

Keywords: Ashlee williams, grace and grit, homeschool, homeschooling, homeschool mom, mom of 4, mom motivation, productive mom

Id: eEc76kk3_kY

Length: 26min 20sec (1580 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 11 2021