My life so far

You know, I’m pretty happy.

My life isn’t perfect. I have made some mistakes, and I continue to make mistakes, but I’m learning to be okay with that.

My life is messy. It’s hard and frustrating and stressful. Sometimes I feel like I’ll never get anything right. Like everyone around me is succeeding where I am failing, and I can’t fix what is going wrong.

But…

My life is also beautiful. It is amazing and joyful and full of love. I have so many people in my life that I care about and that care about me. I have a God who never gives up on me and loves me unconditionally.

When I look between those two lists… the first one is about all my insecurities. The second is about my relationships. It’s funny how wrapped up in my own little world I can get. Once I start to open it up and think about anything outside of myself, life is better. I’m a little more confident, a little more sympathetic, a little more loving.

It can be very hard to do that at times. I read well-meaning blogs about how I should take time for myself, especially as a mother. Which is true, but I take it a little too far and start to focus on only myself. All of my relationships suffer, which drives me deeper into my selfishness. It us a truly vicious cycle

This post isn’t supposed to be a profound enlightenment or anything. It’s just a daily reminder of how I should be living.

Thanks for reading!

One of those Mornings

It has just been one of those mornings. Jem is playing his truck games on the tablet quietly. Scout is sitting on the floor playing quietly with her toys. My mommy music is playing without interruption, and I am just content. It has been a little bit of a rough week with Jem starting potty-training and Hubby starting school again. And, as always, my time of the month is right on schedule to coincide with all of these wonderful events!

But this morning… life is good…

2016

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I posted. So many things happened for me in the last couple months, that I just got overwhelmed and decided to take one thing off my list. I’m sure you all understand the feeling!

So here’s to a brand new year, new beginnings and new resolutions to look forward to! At the end of my post will be a recap of last year’s resolutions and how I did.

• A brand new reading challenge from Modern Mrs Darcy. I enjoyed doing hers so much last year, that I’ve decided to start her new one!
• I would like to get to my goal weight before June. (Our 5th anniversary, including a vacation to Cali wine country!)
• Continue my workouts in Erin Motz’s Bad Yogi community as well as Jillian Michael’s 30-day-shred.
• Get Jem potty-trained! (It IS happening this year)
• Have Scout off the bottle for bedtime.
• Spend time every day on Duolingo, learning either French, Gaelic, or relearning Spanish. I would love to be at least bilingual.

Well, there we have it. I am going to get this started right away.

Anyway… let’s take a recap at my last list of resolutions…

 

•  This reading challenge– which, granted, is the same that she posted, but the books are different! I plan on posting a small recap/ review of the book I read! Done! And then some!
• Keep up with the workout plan I’ve started, which includes yoga from Erin Motz in Do You Yoga, Zumba dancing from Movee, as well as my own strength training. Mostly done, I switched to Jillian Michael’s 30-day-shred, and got a little lazy by the last two months.
• Get Jem potty-trained! Now, this is a tall order considering that he will only be 2 1/2 years old by the time the year is over, but we can try! Haha, no.
• Have Scout completely on solid food by September! Not completely by Sept, but she is now!
• Keep up with my photo journal, I started one last year, and I plan to keep one for every year. (Much easier than scrapbooking!) Yes!
• Start an apartment herb/ vegetable garden. Haha… again, no.
• Figure out ways to cut back on our grocery bill to help with debt payback! I did a little bit!
• Also, a goal that both Hubby and I have is to get rid of all credit card debt by the end of this year! Eh, no, but we’re definitely a lot closer than the beginning of the year.
• Last, but not least, keep up with this blog! I’m loving the creative outlet! Well, close enough.

Phew… Happy New Year all! See you later!

 

 

 

Happy Mondays

Hello everybody! It has been a long time. I took a break for a couple weeks. A lot of things on my plate, but I am hopefully back now! Well, let’s see what has happened lately…

1. Dressing up the kiddos in their Halloween costumes this year (Peter Pan and Tink)… makes me happy!
2. Getting to spend Halloween with a lot of family… makes me happy!
3. Watching the kiddos play with one cousin and meet a brand new cousin last Friday… makes me happy!
4. Going to the Supernatural convention with my sisters-in-law (with a photo op from Mr. Mark Sheppard) this last weekend… makes me happy!
5. Having an entire week with Hubby home this past week… makes me happy!

Well, there’s my list for today! It has been an eventful couple of weeks, so I couldn’t mention everything. Have a wonderful Monday!

The Grisha Trilogy

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo.
This series was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, an avid reader who often has two or three books going at a time. It is a young adult fantasy series that has a tint towards a Russian theme rather than the world of Faerie.
It was fantastic! I enjoyed reading these three books so much, and am planning on finding anything else she writes in this universe.
I don’t like to give away plots or endings, so I won’t say much. If you enjoy magic and different worlds you will enjoy these books. I was pleasantly surprised with the writing as well! With young adult I’m never expecting Shakespeare, but this series is delightful.
I hope, dear reader, that you at least check it out. If you enjoy The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, you will most likely enjoy this!

Happy Mondays 10/19

Good morning everyone! I’m sorry this is coming out a little late, but I got to sleep in this morning! So… I’m not really sorry!

1. Watching the Cubs make through round one of the playoffs with Hubby (who was super excited about it)… makes me happy!
2. Getting to take some fun pictures of my beautiful neighborhood in the morning… makes me happy!
3. Watching our first scary movie of the season (You’re Next)… makes me… need to watch light-hearted things before bed… but also makes me happy?

It has been a pretty uneventful week for us, so this is all I can think of at the moment. Have a wonderful Monday!

Today

This morning I took a walk to a nearby park to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery. My father-in-law has lent me a nice camera to test out while I decide if I have any photography chops, and I need some autumn pictures!

Now, give me a break, I’m still getting used to the fact that I can’t just point and shoot, so they’re not great, but it was fun!  

<— This one is my favorite of the bunch!

What a beautiful place to live in!

Day 14

Day 14: How you hope your future will be

Well, this could be a bit obvious… I want my family to be happy and healthy and good. I hope in the future I can look back and know that I was a good mom and wife. I guess every day I am working towards that. I have no idea what my future will be, but as long as these guys are still in it, I’m sure it’s a pretty good one.

Real Marriage

I recently finished ‘Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together’ by Mark and Grace Driscoll. I really enjoyed it! I like their writing style, and a lot of it was very relatable. They have some great stories.
It helped me take a look at how I treat my husband and my marriage. Of course, there are some things I can definitely work on, and it is nice to know that I am not alone with these struggles.
I definitely recommend for young couples, Christian or non, it brings up a lot of issues that can be skirted around in similar books.

Day 12 and 13

Day 12: your turn-on’s and turn-off’s
Well… that is really nobody’s business but me and Hubby, so we’re going to skip that one!
Day 13: Your views on drugs and alcohol
Hmm, interesting. Well, for starters, I don’t have a problem with alcohol. I drink occasionally. Mostly socially, but Hubby and I experiment with different cocktails and wines (after the kiddos are in bed). I don’t have a problem with people who abstain. I have a friend who is aware of alcoholism in his family so he doesn’t even try. I respect that, and I would never make someone drink who really doesn’t want to.
Drugs. Just say no. But seriously, pretty much all of them have far too many risks for me to even consider trying. Not even counting the physical, emotional, and addictive toll… the fact that most are not even legal is enough to keep me from trying. I know marijuana is legal in some states now, but I still don’t think I would try it. I have heard of medicinal marijuana doing wonders for children with epilepsy, and I think that’s wonderful! I am not aware of ramifications of that yet, so I don’t know that I have an informed decision.

Well, that’s just my opinion. Do you agree with me? Think I’m crazy? Let me know!