The Nifty Nickel: All Things New

As I sit down to type this, the toddler has fallen off of something for the seventeenth time today and I am NOT exaggerating. She falls off something at least three times an hour right now...the whole learning not to climb process is taking a bit longer than it should.

She's a lot like her mama.

I've lost count of the times that I've fallen...

times that I've failed...

times that I've given up on everyone including me...

times that I didn't want to...

times when nothing could have helped me get closer to my goals.

In the world of the web, you only see the pretty. You don't see much real. You don't see the cracks in the facade of life because they've been photoshopped out.

I'm going to take a moment and just be real. This place we live in. It's not a nice house. It's not pretty and it is so far from perfect that the definition might as well be in a book by Dr. Seuss. The pictures in this post showcase the imperfections that are part of our home.

Our bathroom floor

I'm not perfect. I'm currently just shy of weighing 230 pounds and I'm just 5'8". I don't always shave my legs and those who know me well will tell you that I don't bother when it's less than 80 degrees outside. Heck, some days I forget to brush my teeth. I occasionally lose an entire day to pinterest and facebook. I yell. Loudly. And I sometimes stupidly hit large objects like the dining room table because I am mad at my oldest son. Way to be a grown up, right?

My dining room wall

My kids sometimes (most of the time) seem to hate each other. I had to stop typing because one of them was trying to smother the other with a couch cushion. Honest.

My husband is quick to blame my hormones for my bad days and he's normally right which is even more infuriating. ;)

My dogs make messes. Every.single.night. They get something else out of the trash and leave it on the laundry room floor.

But in all of this imperfection, all of this chaos, we are making progress.

Hubby and I are awake every day by 5:30. He's up sooner because that amazing handsome sexy man of mine starts the coffee pot right before he hops into the shower and then he makes me the perfect cup of coffee and brings it to me while I am still IN BED every day. I am a night owl by nature. I'm still amazed at this change in our lives.

I started the Made to Crave journey with a group of girls from church. My world changed when I realized that food was my idol. I was a glutton but I have been set free. I was slothful and lazy but He's working on that too. I now exercise right after that first cup of coffee, four or five times a week, every week when I don't want to. I'd much rather play Candy Crush.

one of the many cracked ceilings

I'm down two pant sizes, one cup size (yahooo!!) and 26 pounds and God gets all the glory because there's no diet involved in my life. I've learned to be content with my portion and to add a 15-20 minute timeframe to my morning to rock out to worship music in my laundry room...in my pjs...right after I let the dogs out and start a load of laundry. Glamorous, I know. Sometimes I'm not interrupted by a crying child or barking dogs. Sometimes. ;)

I'm on a new journey now. The girls and I have started Unglued by Lysa Terkheurst. I'm learning a lot about who I don't want to be anymore. That yelling, screaming, hitting giant objects person... Yeah, I'm not her anymore.

another broken wall

I was made for more than just surviving.
I know that I serve the God-who-sees (El Roi, Genesis 16:13) who not only sees my imperfection and my trials but He has a plan and a purpose for ME.