happy harvest

chloe had an emotional day.

first, our dog fake ran away.
i say "fake ran away" because he does this thing where he legit hides
& we freak out
& say a million prayers that "he won't get runned over by cars,
and that he'll love us so much & sniff his way home to us...."

and, then myron walks in the door, and the dumb dog
comes running outta no where.
mr. miyagi's been inside the house the whole time.
[sigh]

too much trama for a 5 year old.
chloe was sad.
and cried a lot over the incident.

until dad told her he had a surprise!
our first yellow squash of the summer!
and she also discovered a few more cukes that are just about ready to pick!

*farmer myron to the rescue.

lovin' this...

my sweet [and talented] friend jamie sewed me up this
{darling!} table runner for my birthday a while ago.

it's cuteness has been chillin' on top of the piano ever since.
and it just makes me so happy every time i peek in it's direction.
♥

a happy tired

these girlies wear me out.
{in a good way}

and since i'm currently off the sauce [pepsi],
life w/out caffinated beverage/fake energy = i'm pretty much exhausted @ 7:49pm.

wake me up when the next load of laundry is ready to be folded, k?
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

the power of 1 minute

my cute blog friend, onehm, posted this lovely link [on organizing] {a while back}...and i love, love, loved the ideas. particularly, the {one minute rule} is really helping me get my life in order-ish. it's a great tool to fight perfectionism....or as i like to call it: my all-or-nothing personality disorder. :)

last week, my aunt turned me on to the happiness project blog & i can't get enough! the author vlogs about the one minute rule {here}. a few of you have recommended [the happiness project] book to me & i bought it tonight w/ some b-day money. {thanks katie!} i can't [wait] to read it!

but now, i think i'll take {a minute} to replace the 12 burnt-out lightbulbs in my house, because i'm tired of living in a cave. ♥

running a tighter ship

after my mini meltdown last week,
i decided it was time, yet again,
to renew a sense of structure around here.

my kids are still little,
but they aren't [too little] to learn some basic responsibility.

chloe will be starting school {really} soon-
so, i figured we better start practicing our morning routine.

i made some paper/velcro responsibility charts,
similar to the ones we've done in the past,
only this time i got smart-ish & had them laminated. :)

we also invested in some pretty little banks for the girls to start keeping track of their earnings. {each day they'll have the opportunity of having 1 job that makes 'em a little coin-age.}




my trouble with chores & routines...
is that they make me tired & seem to require a lot more energy than it would if i just did the stuff myself.

but i have to remember that teaching them to love work is a gift.

[and] that i am training a little army that will help me maintain this little home of ours for the happy years to come. ♥

to my blue eyed babies

i love you something fierce.

returning to virtue

church did it's job today.
i left feeling so happy & inspired.
my spirit learned so much.

this little video sums up my goal for the next little while.

i'm refocusing, with more diligence & heed.
so grateful. ♥

popeye

i guess i should be happy that my 2 year old is obsessed with her raw veggies?

but seriously people, is this entirely necessary? ;)

love her.

shiny happy people

all is good and well in the world again.

today is a [much] better day.
{thank freakin' goodness.}

i love my life,
it just took sweeping the floor of shame, aka my kitchen, to remember.
♥

man vs. mess

i'd like to publicly apologize to anyone who witnessed my awful attitude this morning, from approximately 9am-present time.

i'm currently sitting on my bed, in mom-time-out, whilst chloe eats her lunch over netflix & livy sleeps after "crying it out" in baby prison.

btw: after a 20 minute tantrum, this is how i found her naked self/her surroundings:



so yeah, hmmm.....
perhaps i spoke too soon, when i wrote this post?

let's just say,
chloe & i just made "magic smoothies" to "help us have a better day."

and after our mandatory time out,
we are going to sing 5,000 rounds of
"when we are helping we're happy" & "clean up, clean up"
until every toy is in it's proper place & our sinks are lemony fresh.

this week's FHE will be a special lesson brought to the fam by yours truly,
entitled....."how to live like a civilized person"....
complete with demonstrations on how to put dirty clothes in the hamper,
dishes in the sink,
and trash in the acutal garbage can.

i'm a firm believer that the spirit dwells where there is order & calm.
and this mama {desperately} needs her order & calm.
*order and calm, where are you!? i miss you!

my problem isn't that i don't know how to be organized.
i do.
i have the skills and the desire.
i actually recognize it as a talent of mine, when put to good use.

i'm just busy.
and i allow my house to suffer over other priorities.

everyone tells me to take time for me.
but time for me = a disorganized, messy abode.
and it's not worth it to me anymore.

motherhood is a big, fat service project,
one that i am extremely grateful to be a part of-

and if "time for me" means i'm cleaning toilets so i'll be in a better mood....
i just need to stop whining, glove up & grab the comet. ♥

the weekend i learned that a messy house is not the end of the world

let's just say,
i've been a little lazy the past few days.

well, unmotivated might be a prettier word.

i somehow obtained a crazy-wicked stomach flu over the holiday,
that was quite literally, plotting to take away my life, liberty & pursuit of happiness.

*it wiped me out for a good 3.78 days.

between the bouts of barfing & season 2/3 of celebrity rehab, {i ♥ dr. drew!}
i completely lost my ability to be a functioning citizen of the dunn household.

i'm done with the sick part now, but i'm still trying to regain my energy slash motivation.

i did manage to run to costco yesterday, and swimming lessons today......but i'm like a 95 year old senior cit, that can only schedule one event/day....even if that event = checking the mail. {which i failed to accomplish today, btw.}

i [have] kept my children alive and loved and [mostly] fed at the appropriate times,
plus i've worked at the store in the evenings...

{but}
the house needs a good ol' fashioned de-ghetto.
certain persons who shall remain nameless are on their last pair of clean underwear. {tmi?}
my yard is the definition of a hot mess.
i'm like, 75 months behind on grocery shopping/couponing.

and the beauty of it all is: i'm not really that stressed about it.
i'll catch up eventually....one day at a time, status.

i'd usually be freaking out over the state of my surroundings right now,
but if there is [one thing] that i learned from my weekend of reality television,
it's that my "problems" are not real problems.

so many people suffer in this world that need help and compassion and support.
like, they have been through crazy-hard things, that i can't even {begin} to imagine.

and i get stressed over mopped floors.

really?
really!?

i'm over it.
life's too fragile & short & important to be freaked out about the things i freak out about.

*but i am gonna go start a load of whites when i finish this post.
because no clean underwear is where i draw the line.

and help me to be wise.....

The older & older I get, the less & less I care about fluff. I want depth. I want real-ness. I want truth. I want honesty. I want to know where I stand. I don’t want facades, games or drama-I want to be a real, genuine, straight-up, take-it-or-leave-it, this is me, type of person.

I love and admire authentic people who show their true selves and don’t apologize for it. And what I’ve realized, is that oftentimes- that means, I love people who are completely different from me. I have come to discover that what I respect most in an individual, isn’t how “cool” or seemingly amazing they are, but instead, how genuine they are. I admire people who are confident with themselves & their values enough, that they don’t feel the need to tear others down to feel better. I look up to people who can tackle problems honestly & maturely. I respect people who have no room for snobbery or judgment because they are humble enough to know that we all have issues and shortcomings.

I strive to live this quality, but “being real” has always been something that I have really struggled with. I can be real to the point where I share my deepest self, but then I lack the confidence to face the consequences of that vulnerability.

I know who I am, and I enjoy being randomly unique, but at the same time-I fear others’ judgment daily. I fear not being accepted. And most of all, I fear that I am being a bad example or letting others down, when I make mistakes & am not perfect.

And there you have it- A few short paragraphs that sum up my greatest heartache.

It is a heartache to me because a large part of me knows my truth. Part of me is deeply, spiritually aware of who I am, my potential and mission on this earth, and the perspective to get me through hard things….but there is another part of me that will do anything to please other people & keep peace, even if it means degrading that truth. And when I don’t listen to my truth, it hurts & causes me to be a less-than charitable/real person- to the point where I let jealousy, hurt feelings & fear of not being liked, destroy me.

I’m sure I sound legit crazy right now, but the point of this post is to help myself, and perhaps some other random soul out there have clarity with it all. My thoughts might seem slightly neurotic to some, but sharing is what heals me. It helps me to grow and become truer & truer to that part of me that knows what’s real.

What I pray for daily is wisdom. I pray for the strength & ability to listen to the voice inside of me that is wise & knows all the right answers. All the right answers for me. Not the right answers for my neighbor. Or my best friend. Or my uncle. Or his dog. But the right answers for me. It is a voice that we all have inside of us. A voice that teaches honesty in it’s truest form. A voice that inspires goodness and realness and forgiving behavior.

It’s taken me almost 30 years, but I think I’m finally learning from that voice: that being real, doesn’t mean being perfect. It’s been a hard battle for me….finding that realness…..the person in me that is charitable and kind, but also has self-respect and boundaries with others. Finding that happy medium between honesty & rude. And having the maturity to accept that I cannot change anyones’ feelings or perceptions but my own.

Wisdom is a blessing that I know I will receive if I seek it. It comes straight from my God, whom I recognize as the source of everything that is good. A God who loves me & allows me to go through hard things & feel these emotions, so that I can learn to love & have compassion for others...and depending upon my faithfulness, receive everlasting joy.