on becoming real

This little blog is something I love. It's something I've loved for awhile but neglected as life comes my way. And I'm okay with that. It's the stage of life we're in, as a family. 

But I see this blog as something more. I see it has a place to be real with my readers. I'm not saying I haven't been real but I haven't been real enough, for me. Does that make sense? I spend too long on some blog posts, fine tuning every. single. detail. when that isn't real life. It isn't my real life anyways. I don't know about y'all but I don't have all kinds of time to fine tune everything in my life. Yes, I'm an introvert so I am always watching and listening to others and hopefully learning from their mistakes. I look inward a lot and fine tune certain details in my life, but not everything. I have a long way to go.

My reality is messy, fussy, lazy, bored, selfish, dirty. 

My house is in disarray most moments. I thrive on organization and order. Messy is hard for me. 

The girls fuss and it drives me crazy. They are small after all but that's hard to remember in the moment.

 I'm lazy some days. I do a days worth of chores in 30 minutes before Daniel gets home just to make it look like I did something during the day.

I get bored with my life. I long for adventure and change, some days. I'd love to be traveling and seeing the world's great masterpieces and works.

I'm selfish. I long for a day or two of sitting in my house reading, writing and lying in bed until ten in the morning.

Life here is dirty. Old food is on the floor, crumbs are in the chairs and I haven't showered today. The girls need baths, their faces are a mess and it smells like poop.

This life is also a process of learning grace, compassion, mercy and love. I want to try and show that here on our little blog. So many times I've put on my mask and hidden behind it. I make you think everything is beautiful and perfect in our little lives. It's not. 

I get  upset with my girls, I even yell sometimes. It's not some of my finer moments and it's rare, but it happens. I'm ashamed to admit it but there it is. I immediately regret it. And yet, it happens again. Why?

My kitchen is not always sparkling clean. We don't always stick to our menu. We go out way more than I'd like. There's papers on the fridge that need to be sorted and put into their places. Our room is always the last to get attention. Toys are strewn across every. single. room. in this house. I pick up yet they're always there.

There are books on the floor, blocks to trip over and missing pieces of this and that hidden under furniture. It's my life. And I want to show it. 

From now on I'm going to be more transparent.

I struggle with finding time to read God's Word. I have my alarm set in the morning, before the girls get up. Laziness finds me and I switch my alarm off and go back to sleep until I hear the girls. I struggle with losing weight and winning the battle against food. Will I ever lose the 50 pounds I so desperately need to? I struggle with finding contentment in this wonderful, easy life I've been given. How dare I be unhappy with all that is around me?! I'm a selfish sinner saved by grace and love and mercy. I need to focus less on me and more on others. I need to focus less on me and more on Him. "He must become greater, I must become less." (John 3:30)

Get ready, my real life is coming soon to a blog post near you. 

Wisdom Wednesday: Finding the Time

I struggle with finding the time to spend my own moments with God. Anyone else? I mean, we're all busy with life, raising kids, working, cooking, etc.

But then I wonder is it really time or lack of want to? Maybe it's just me, but I hear so few people talk about their struggles to actually sit down with God each day and spend time with Him. I mostly hear that people are doing it. But are we really? I'm not.

I have my alarm set to 6:20 am Monday through Friday. This alarm is set for me to get up, go downstairs and actually spend time in the Word and in prayer. Alas, I've silenced my alarm for the past 7 days, rolled over and gone back to sleep. Ouch! That hurts to actually write that out and see my laziness. I'm not really tired. It's just that initial "got to get up and get moving" that's the hardest for me. Someone please tell me they are like that too?

I know it's a process, a life-long process. I try not to beat myself up if I don't get up all 5 days but not getting up at all during those 5 days is unacceptable, for me at least.

Do you struggle to "find" time to read God's Word? If so, what have you done to prevent your struggle?

This post is linked to Read it With Me Wisdom Wednesday at Life is Good. Come link up and join the fun!

Menu Plan Monday-Sept 16

Happy Sunday! I hope you've had a good week and ate yummy foods.

We stuck to our menu pretty well last week. I've been enjoying cooking and baking lately (I go through phases) so we've been eating and freezing delicious foods. This week I'm trying some new dinners, mostly casseroles. The recipes call for each dish go into 9 x 13 inch pans but I'll be dividing them into 2 8 x 8 inch pans (or 9 x 9 pans), eating one for dinner this week and freezing the other for another meal. I'm hoping to stretch our food budget by making a few more casseroles for our freezer. And freezer meals are great to have when you're in a time crunch.

Monday- chicken alfredo pasta with steamed broccoli

Tuesday- pulled chicken sandwiches on homemade buns (delicious and ready in 40 min) and fruit

Wednesday- layered enchilada bake, made with homemade tortillas and homemade salsa

Thursday- baked three cheese chicken pasta and vegetables

Friday- homemade pizza

Saturday- chicken vegetable quesadillas with chips and salsa

Sunday- leftovers

What's cooking in your kitchen this week? Are you doing any freezer cooking to help you get ahead in the kitchen?


This post is linked to Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Acquire [Board Game Review]

This is going to be my favorite review to date. It’s not because it’s my favorite game - Agricola and Power Grid co-own that title. It’s not because it’s the best-looking game. It’s because it’s the first “real” board game I played. It’s the game that got me started in the world of strategy gaming. I can very fondly remember joining my dad and uncles when I was 10 or 11 to learn this game and was in awe that there were games that were like this.

The old 3M edition of Acquire - the version of the game I own

Acquire is a game for 3-6 players and takes around 90 minutes to play, though more like 120 minutes as you add more players. The goal of the game is simple - accumulate the most money through your investments in hotel chains (or technological companies depending on your version).

Photo courtesy dandechino @ geekdo.com

This is how your turn goes - you play a tile on the board and then purchase stock in any hotel chain currently on the board. If you create a group of 2 more tiles with your placement, you may "found" that hotel chain with one of the available color tiles. If you lay a tile that joins 2 (or more) chains together, a merger occurs, and the majority shareholders in the acquired hotel chain receive a bonus. As I always say, this is not a full explanation of the rules. That is what the rule book is for.

So what do I think of this game? It is great. Sid Sackson, the designer, was ahead of time really. The game is so elegantly simple in its design, but "mastering" the game is the challenge. Which hotel chain do you invest in? Which chains do you merge? When do you merge them? All things you have to consider. All key decisions you have to make. When you look at this game, you can clearly see its influence on other games - Airlines Europe immediately comes to mind.
If you are looking to take friends or family beyond Monopoly, Life, etc, Acquire could be a good start. It would be very easy to teach the game as you go. If you are a more serious board gamer, then this should definitely be in your collection. 

Happy Saturday!
-D

Five Minute Friday: Mercy

This week I'm joining Lisa Jo's Five-Minute Friday link-up. Come join the fun and read what others are saying about the word of the week. It's amazing to read what others think of when they hear one particular word! And don't forget, you only get 5 minutes of writing time!

GO.

Mercy.

Do I show mercy to others?

That's what I think of when I think of the word "mercy."

I'd like to think I've been shown mercy a time or two. Not by Jesus because I've definitely been given His love and mercy. Thank goodness for His mercy! But by others. We all do stupid crap. We all have tough times. Some would argue others have had it tougher. I'd agree with that. Honestly, I've had an easy life but I guess that's another topic for another day.

Do I show mercy to others?

Hmm. This is an interesting question and not one I'm sure I can answer. I'd like to say that my kindness and compassion comes out when I meet people. A few people in my life have described me as a "sweet spirit" and I hope that's what comes out and that goes toward showing mercy to people. There are so many who need our mercy and our compassion. Are we really giving it to them? Can we honestly say we love our neighbor and would show them mercy if they came across a tough time? I hope I would but I honestly don't know. I'm a selfish sinner who looks out for myself and my family. They are my bubble after all. But others? They get put on the back burner. Ouch.

STOP.

The Company We Keep

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." -Proverbs 27:17

I'm sitting here in the quietness of a late Saturday night, the sound of the fan whirring the only noise in the house. All of my ladies are asleep. I'm still awake, thinking about this verse in Proverbs.

What I take away from this verse is the advice that the company we keep, in part, molds us into who we are. Let's be honest here... our friends have a significant impact on our lives. Positively and negatively. Not that we all just become the same people, but think about it, we begin to value what they value. And vice versa. The ones we are closest to have a tremendous impact on the trajectory of our lives. 

Which can lead to some difficult moments if you get down to it. Do you really value what they value? Or do you just want to fit in with them? What matters most to them? What do they value? What is important to them? Are those values values you want to aspire to or hold onto? 

As I have grown through my 20's I see just how much this matters. The saying about being known by the company we keep is very accurate. Because once you get lumped in with a group of people, it can be hard to escape that. It can be painful to escape that. 

If your friends' ideas of the weekend include bar-hopping, partying, and staying out late, and then you decide that's not for you anymore, that's a tough spot to be in. If you are striving to grow closer to your spouse and becoming a better parent, but they don't, that's hard. If you're trying to grow in your faith but others around you don't care, that's a challenging position. The examples can go on and on...

So what do you really value? What are your goals? What kind of person do you want to be? Can you reach that with the company you keep right now? 

Up until now I've only spoken about the negative. But imagine the positive. And maybe you're here. If you're around people who want to have great marriages... If you're around people who strive to raise their children to be the best they can be... If you're around people who recognize that the journey of faith is a long, winding path and can be difficult at times... Your trajectory is that much better.

And with two little girls who will be teenagers before I know it, this verse, this idea, well, it makes me wonder... What will they value? What company will they keep? And then I think back to myself. Because I'm showing them what I value. I'm showing them the company I keep. And they watch. They learn. They see. They know if the people I am friends with bring me up. And they know if those people bring me down.

We're known by the company we keep. For worse. But hopefully, for better.

-D

Gratituesday: Little Moments

I don't always appreciate the little moments I have with my two little girls. They drive me up a wall somedays, sometimes all day. They ask a million questions over and over again, spill a drink or food four thousand times a day, are at my feet playing with dolls when I'm trying to prep a meal, color all over the table and not on their paper. This list goes on and on.

Sometimes it takes looking back at pictures, even from just a few days ago, to fully appreciate how blessed I am to stay home with these girls. I look back and these pictures and laugh at their antics. Naomi wants to wear my sunglasses all the time and I happily oblige. Can I get a picture of the two them together and smiling at the same time? Not a chance at this stage in life but I can tell from their faces they're happy.

I love that homeschooling them means I won't miss all these moments as they get bigger. If Naomi wants to wear sunglasses all day and she still gets her work done, so be it. If Nyla spills yet another drink but cleans it up without being told, I know I'm doing a good job as a parent. Training up young minds and learning life skills is what it's all about after all.

The days are long but the years are short. I like not missing a moment with these two crazies! :)

Yes, we're in the bathroom. ;)

Sweet girls

Cheese!? Or maybe not. :)

Our visit to the zoo last week

Before church this past Sunday. 

Nyla is getting so big. She was copying me with her legs crossed.

These girls love to color!

Naomi's first haircut

Nyla can write her name

A cool day in August meant a picnic lunch on our driveway

Having fun after bath time.

This post is linked to Heavenly Homemakers for this weeks Gratituesday. Come link up and share what you're thankful for in your life!