Everything, Never Nothing

16/12/2020

15/12/2020

Howdy Friends
It has once again been a while since we posted.
Honestly I could not tell you at this point when we will be regularly interacting or providing posts and content.

In the mean time please tell us how we can be praying for you...What is on you heart and mind that we may help lessen the burden?

06/11/2020

Well hello there friends! Remember us?

We let the rona get us.
Not literally but figuratively.

Both Heidi and I allowed ourselves to drop some things we hold passion for in our lives in order to survive during this strange and unprecedented time.

Oh boy and now we get to ride the wave of emotion and opinion of the election aftermath.

So we thought what better time to kick this puppy back into gear 😂

Be on the look out as we make a few changes, restructure our game plan and map out what we plan to share and grow in with you along the way.

Happy Friday and God Bless

07/07/2020

Hello friends! Long time no see 😬

As I’m sure you are all very much aware we have neglected this page as we adjust to navigating this very strange and unprecedented time in our history.

Both Heidi and I have retreated into our families and home lives. We have had to learn how allow our children their freedoms and growth in a time when neither are being encouraged. Watching our nation crumble around us have caused both of our families to turn closer to God and to begin thinking of what the future may be.

We were blessed over this Independence Day weekend to have time together as my family traveled to be with the Fertig family in Arizona. Seeing our children reconnect and being given the time to enter into heart filled conversations with my best friend offered the balm my soul needed.

We ask for your grace as we begin to evaluate where we plan to take this blog. Our original plan no longer fits the times we are living in.

Thank you all for sticking with us 😘

Please let us know any subjects you would like to see and hear discussed by us and anything you think we could educate ourselves on more!

19/03/2020

We have started the live on Instagram

I'm on Instagram as everythingnothing_inbetween. Install the app to follow my photos and videos. https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=2ollc2v9w1kf&utm_content=dtigake

Create an account or log in to Instagram - A simple, fun & creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages with friends & family.

19/03/2020

Join us live here at 1pm PST

Have any questions for us ready. This is gonna be fun!

15/03/2020

A little nugget of sensibility to ponder ❤️

Amidst the quickly spreading fear of the Corona Virus, it can help to get some sobering perspective, and a little calm. People are freaking out. People are p...

11/03/2020

Wanna play tag?

I’m pretty sure that’s how I made most my friends in grade school. And a lot of those friends carried over into high school. But think about it… you were around all these people and found you had common interests, and voila! Friendship born!

Translating that method of making friends into adulthood can sometimes work, like when we go to a job daily and are around lots of people, finding we have similar interests or values. But what about if you are staying home with your kiddos? When are you around those groups of people to find new friends to do life with?

When my oldest was a baby I didn’t have very many friends who also had babies. In fact, I can’t really think of any… maybe 1? Mom groups on Facebook were a new thing, and definitely a way to find playdates. Enter in how Vanessa and I reconnected. You may think that was an easy way to make a new friend, and sure it was! But the lasting friendships we all desire take effort and work. They take vulnerability and communication.

Now to talk about how I’ve been totally weird while trying to make new friends. You know those people you are in the same “groups” or places with at the same time. They seem like they would be an awesome friend… but HOW do you even get to the introduction part???

-I have literally messaged someone from church and, in essence, asked them if they wanted to hang out. And am I so glad that I did! She has become one of my closest friends whom I know I could trust with anything, even my children.

-I’ve also just had to shove down my hesitation and timidness at one of my kids baseball games (if you know me, you’re probably thinking those things don’t exist in me, but trust me they do!) and introduce myself to another mom, probably looking like a weirdo, interact with this person and manage to walk away with a phone number and a playdate set up. YES! Again, one of my best friends to this day and SO glad I went for it.

-I’ve also used an awkward “pick up line” to introduce myself to another mom at the library! And more than likely prefaced it with how weird it is trying to find other mom friends, almost as if you’re dating... good thing she was super awesome and we are still friends even though she’s moved to another state now.

-I’ve even met a lady at target and connected over the fact that we each had 4 kids! We exchanged phone numbers and ended up meeting for a few playdates with other moms.

Some ways I’ve cultivated and helped grow those new friendships is by inviting people into my home for a “mom’s night in”, reaching out to set up a coffee date, hosting playdates at my home or at a park, setting up times to workout together (walk/run the bike path that was near my home)… and there are so many other ways! I think sometimes we think we are the only ones who may be lonely and looking for a good friend. We don’t want to seem desperate. We don’t want to appear needy. But nine times out of ten I find those women who I want to be friends with are looking for and needing a friend as well.

Meeting new people can be scary. Investing in a relationship that is brand new can be scary. Putting our hearts out there is definitely scary! That means risk and possible heartbreak. Unfortunately, that’s just part of life. But we can’t cultivate those deep, meaningful relationships without a little risk. Being guarded and closed off results in surface level relationships, and no one wants surface level anything.

All that aside, there are times where we meet someone, invest some time into them and the relationship, and maybe we truly don’t connect or just aren’t meant to be bffs. That’s totally ok. I know not everyone is going to like me and that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea… and visa versa.

Are you struggling with finding friends to connect with? Do you get anxious just thinking about putting yourself out there? You are not alone! Connection is hard! If it was easy, we’d all be doing it. Connection goes deeper than surface level, OR screen level! Get out there and make a new friend this week! You’ll be glad you did.

10/03/2020

Making new friends as an adult can be tricky! Tomorrow I’m gonna share some ways that I have personally made (and kept 😜) new friends as a busy stay at home mom. And yes, I’m weird. 🤪

09/03/2020

This is a great podcast episode talking on community and friendship! Check it out. It goes along with what we are discussing this month on this page.

Are you a podcast kind of person?

I love listening to them while I do dishes or laundry or while I work out.
How about you? Let me know if you listen and tell me what you think.

‎Show FamilyLife Today®, Ep Relationships Matter - Feb 11, 2020

06/03/2020

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

Friends. We need them. There’s no way about it. Life without good friends is miserable and lonely. In times of joy and thanksgiving, having friends to celebrate with is such a blessing. And more importantly, when we go through times of trouble and heartbreak, friends become even more essential. Those are the times you realize how valuable the community of friends you’ve poured into means.

We are made for friendship and community! Life is meant to be lived with others! Growing, learning, working, experiencing, teaching, enjoying, bearing with one another. We find those natural friendships inside our homes with our spouses, children, and family. But I believe we also need those relationships outside our home. 

We need those friends who will call us out (gently) when we aren’t doing things right or in line with Christ. Friends who come along side and help encourage us with parenting (or just sit at the kitchen table, drink coffee, and laugh/cry about our kids). Friends who we can count on to lift us up in prayer when we need it most. Friends who open their home and invite us to their table. Friends who cry with us when our world falls apart.

There are two life changing events that come to mind where I am so thankful I had strong friendships established. When my world literally stopped and I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had friends pray for me, bring me meals, check in on me, shoot me a text, do my dishes, took our trash can out to the curb, took care of our dog without knowing when we would be back for him… one friend literally gave me a massage. I needed that. And they saw that and came to my side. How precious those friends are to me!

At my church, our pastor has said multiple times that if you wait to get into close community until you need close community, close community won’t be there for you. Guys! Friendship and community is so so important! My hope and prayer is that each one of you has a community and friendships like I do.

Next week, I’m going to talk more about HOW you can invite people into your circle to do life with. So if you feel like this is something you are missing and have a desire to connect with others, I have some ideas and tips for you.

We would love to hear about your friendships that have shaped your life, those who have been there for you through it all! Tag them and thank them for being in your life!

-Heidi

02/03/2020

It’s Monday and apparently is National old stuff day!

Tell us the oldest think you own?

(Spouses don’t count)

26/02/2020

Happy Wednesday Friends!!!
We are looking for suggestions for a FB Live! Give us your best times to watch for next week 😁

23/02/2020

Happy Sunday new and amazing friends!

While we are working out the kinks of the podcast portion of our page we will be sharing a bit more about our lives. Look for an upcoming Facebook Live where will will interview each other and take any questions you many have about what we are doing.

In the mean time I will be working on reconciling everything I thought I did wrong this past week and then feeling blessed when I see the fruits of my parenting.

Our lives are full of mom fails, what’s the funniest mom/dad fail you would want to share?

18/02/2020

Recently, I’ve been asked “How have you and Vanessa stayed friends all these years?” as well as “How do you stay connected being so far away?”

Here’s a little background to our friendship. Our grandparents and some great uncles/aunts knew each other a very long time ago in another state. They all ended up moving out to CA and stayed in contact. Our parents went to school together. WE went to school together. (Remember that part about us growing up in a small town? That part is probably the most crucial for the beginning of our friendship.) We even went to the same small southern baptist church for many years. So, while Vanessa and I have known each other for practically our entire lives, we haven’t always been such close friends. Vanessa is actually my older sister Charity’s age and I am Vanessa’s younger sister Elisabeth’s age!

Vanessa and I reconnected in 2010 when she had recently had her first born, Nathan, and I had my oldest, Sam. Vanessa would graciously open her home to local moms who wanted to get together and have little playdates for our kids while we drank coffee and visited. It became almost a weekly habit, and viola! Old/new friendship is born!

At this point in my life, my husband and I had just moved back to Manteca (we were a few towns over) and had purchased our first home. I was desperate to find some local friends and have something to do with my toddler. I met quite a few new friends at Vanessa’s! A few I became very close with and still have a relationship with to this day. Our little group would meet for coffee at someones house frequently, meet up for park play dates, walk to the library for story time together, and, probably my most favorite thing we did, we got together multiple times a week to run the bike path with our jogging strollers!

Vanessa and I became pregnant with our second babes at the same time, due literally within days of each other. No… we didn’t plan that! HA! I even remember apologizing that I had fallen off the face of the earth due to those first trimester woes of ickiness and she responded with the same.

A few years later, we both purchased homes a few towns away (in opposite directions) and it got a bit harder to meet up. We managed to see each other every few months though. At this point, we both had at least 3 kids, and the oldest one(s) were school age.

Quite a lot happened in both of our lives around this time, which I know we will share later. To be honest, we did lose touch a little bit. Not intentionally. But what’s amazing is that we both learned a lot about each other and ourselves, I believe. And we saw how much we mean to each other and weren’t willing to let an amazing friendship die without a fight.

Hopefully that gives a good back story to lay a foundation for present day. I am 500 miles away from Vanessa but I’d dare say we have an even stronger friendship now. We text regularly, use the Marco Polo app to send short (or long) videos to each other, FaceTime, call each other… etc! Vanessa and her crew even ventured waaaaaay out here to visit us last summer! When I have gone home to be with family (most times it is literally for the weekend before we have to be back to AZ) I have been able to catch a glimpse of her and sit down for a quick visit.

Vanessa has stuck by me through some of the most challenging times of my life and has loved me through a lot of ugly. Her door has always been opened for me and my family. We have not always seen eye to eye on a few things, but what we both know for certain is that Jesus and his love for us is what connects us. We share a bond being sisters in Christ and our pursuit to live lives for His glory, and desire to share our love of Christ with our families. Being able to encourage one another in motherhood, friendship, marriage, and life in general, has been a blessing to each of us. I know that she is only a phone call away if I ever need anything.

Starting a growing a friendship in adulthood can have its challenges. It’s hard when you are trying to balance marriage, children, housework, work inside or out of the home, kids activities, school… the list goes on! No one does it perfectly, and if they say they do, it’s not true! We all have our struggles. But the best advice I can give on growing and cultivating true lasting friendship while living life is to give each other grace.
Grace when they drop the ball and forgot you made plans.
Grace when they cancel last minute because someone pooped their pants, the dog got out, and look at that the gas tank is empty!
Grace when life gets overwhelming and they disappear from the face of the earth.

Friendship is a road that goes both ways. Encourage one another. Cheer each other on. Listen when maybe all you want to do is talk. Sometimes you may have to pick up the slack when the road turns into a one way street… but from my experience, the friends that do that for you are keepers.

We’d love for you to share ways that you have cultivated lasting friendships during motherhood/adulthood/life! And if you are the person trying to figure that part out, I hope you came across something encouraging.

-Heidi
(photo from 2011, Vanessa pregnant with Charlie and Heidi pregnant with Cameron)

16/02/2020

It’s Sunday Friends, so we will be spending the day with our families!

That being said, feel free to share or invite anyone you think would enjoy being a part of this community to like and follow our page and then head on over to Instagram and follow us there as well!

We are so excited to have you all here with us 😊

15/02/2020

Well, now that y’all have learned a little about my partner in crime it’s my turn!

My name is Vanessa and I grew up in the same small nothing of a town as Heidi. Our lives were destined to be intertwined as our family history goes back 3 generations. But our real friendship began approximately 8 1/2 years ago. I don’t know how I ever survived without her in my life!

I have been with my husband since I was 16 and we have been married nearly 13 years. We have 4 crazy amazing little humans together; Nathan (9), Charlotte (8), Violet (4) and our newest-ish kiddo Alexander (9 months). I am a small business owner and care taker for my Grandmother (The Ma). I’m a podcast and book (in any form) lover. I consider myself a learn it all and a medical freedom activist in in my state. I aspire to be the mother from the tv show the Goldbergs but attempt to not curse as much 😬 (I regularly fail in this and am blessed that I’m always forgiven ✝️)
I’m discovering joy in working out and strive daily to be an example for my children. I am a bit of a class clown and thrive in making others find the joy in a situation.

While I haven’t had the adventures of leaving our hometown as Heidi has I have been on quite a journey in motherhood and self discovery these past 10 years. This is one of the reasons together we felt lead to create this space. We are not experts looking to impose our opinions on the world. We merely wish to connect with and encourage other women/wives/mothers in their journeys with the knowledge gained in our combine years.

We are so excited to begin this newest chapter in our lives and to have you all along for the ride.

We would love to encourage you all to share topics you feel passionate about and to invite those you believe would love to join the fun to follow our page.

Thank you and we love you all!

14/02/2020

Hey and welcome to the start of something new and wonderful!
I’m Heidi, half of the duo here at Everything, Nothing, and the In Between. You’ll meet my other half Vanessa soon. I’m a 32 year old stay-at-home-homeschool-mama whose been saved by grace! I also moonlight as a photographer on the side. I’ve been married for almost 14 years to the love of my life (yes, if you did the math I got married at 18) and we have 4 amazingly crazy kids: Sam (11), Cameron (8), Eloise (4), and Paisley (2). In my hoards of spare time I love to exercise (mainly lift and run), sing, try to finish a chapter in one of the three books I’m currently reading, listen to fun podcasts while I clean my home, and dream of all the DIY projects I’m going to accomplish when we take a break from school. I’m very involved with our church and serve on a couple different ministry teams. I could watch The Office on repeat and never get tired of it! 

I grew up in a small town in CA and lived there just about my whole life until my husband transferred within the company he works for to Arizona. It was a huge change to go from having almost all of our family within 15 miles of us, to over 500 miles away. However, I know this was the best thing we could have ever done. We have been stretched beyond our comfort zones and grown tremendously as a family and as individuals.

So, how and why is this “thing” happening? Well you see, Vanessa and I met eons ago in our little hometown. We have a bunch of funny little stories of “You can’t talk to my sister; she has an ear ache” to “We could have been sisters!” All of which I’m sure we will get into. But the short answer is this: our friendship has continued to grow over the years and through the mountains and valleys of life, and we want to share a little bit of that with you all. There is a gaggle of children between us, many combined years of marriage, lots of love, loss, and a whole lot of grace.

We want to share who we are, the trials and joys of our lives, to encourage and connect with you, and embrace this life we are living! I can guarantee there will be a lot of laughs as well!

Drop a comment below introducing yourself a little and something you'd like to hear us talk about in the future.

29/01/2020