All the things...

A little about our life. 

My husband and I have been together for over 13 years. Married for 4 (Yes, he took FOREVER with that ring!) 

We have a "yours, mine, and ours" family, but we raise them all the same. Co-Parenting can be tough. Being a step-parent is tough for sure. But being a parent to children who live 2 hours away when you still don't want to miss a game, recital, school dance, awards assembly, etc.... that is where is really hurts. They moved out of our town (where they lived at our house at least half the time) 4 years ago. It's a heart break no one can really plan for so that sucked. Don't worry, we are still as involved as we can be... it's just a lot harder now.

My husband works nights. My mother-in-law lives with us (don't worry, she's amazing and we couldn't have survived the younger years without her). 

I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom for 4 years...and then I became a paraprofessional. I fell in love, saw some things that needed to be changed, and decided the only way to change them was to become a teacher with my own classroom. I went from being a stay-at-home mom and babysitter to a full time paraprofessional, babysitter, mom, student, weekend CNA, long-distance parent, business consultant, and wife overnight... and within 2 years of making the decision to go back to school, I completed the entire teaching program, had a bachelors in education and a dual license to teach Elementary Education 1-6 and Special Education K-12 all while being a parent in two houses and still managing to keep a smile on my face. 

In that time, my dad, the older girls step-dad, and my cousin died (two by suicide and one by vehicle accident-all completely unexpected and life changing), my mom got married (to a psycho) and moved across the country (don't worry, she figured it out and is back now), we visited 26+ states as a family, one kid got her license, three had (have) braces, I picked up another part time job, COVID hit, the older girls moved multiple times, my mother-in-law almost died and was diagnosed with COPD, my husband was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that has to be monitored and will required open-heart surgery within 10 years, two daughters have severe anxiety, one has ADHD, I bought a car I can't afford, my house is falling apart, and I can't stand my husband 90% of the time. 

I absolutely love my life. It's a real life. It's not perfect. We have our issues. I ran out of thyroid medication and no longer have a filter... my husband told me yesterday that he didn't want to be around me... because I called him out on his lazy behavior and guess what?! IT'S NORMAL! He came back later and told me he was wrong (which NEVER happens, am I right ladies?!). 

You know what else?! I'm overweight... and I hate it. I don't put myself first or practice self-care like I should. I try to lose weight and it doesn't work. I get frustrated. I give up. I start again. It's all normal, momma! It's time to normalize the REALITY of life. It's time to get past the PERFECT social media stigma. 

Life is perfectly imperfect. It's messy. There's a lot of chaos. Sometimes there's yelling. A lot of times there's laughter... and it's my favorite part. When my kids are laughing... when my husband laughs... that's it. That's where the magic happens. It's how I forget all the chaos. It's what keeps me smiling. It's realizing that they are watching me. That my reactions directly effect their lives as adults and how they react to things. It's laughing and saying, "well that sucks" and moving forward, problem solving, fixing mistakes, cleaning up the mess... it's those things that teach my kids how to be HAPPY adults. Life is way too short to be anything else. 

Wade Bowen says it best, "beware, be wise, be safe, be kind, be brave, be love, be you."

Today I'm being me by starting yet another weight loss journey (check out my staying alive page for details)... and another week full of chaos. Soccer practice, cheer practice, 6 doctor appointments, 3 back-to-school hair appointments, a day of teacher training...I'm sure I'm missing something in there. Oh well, have a great week! Choose to be HAPPY.