10 Years of Wedded Bliss, LOL.

Today, Jeremy and I celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss.lol. Anyone who has been married knows it is not all bliss. It is actually quite difficult and making it 10 years without killing each other is definitely something to celebrate or at least take time to recognize as an accomplishment. Looking back we both have changed so much as individuals but have maintained our connection. I think that is one of the biggest struggles of getting married young is the fact that you do not really know who you are until you enter your 30's. I could not have asked for a better friend through it all than Jeremy has been. I am not saying he has always been perfect(despite what my family thinks). He has not always agreed with everything I have done but he has stood beside me through it not saying I told you so too often. Jeremy has been with me through my greatest losses and greatest joys. I think what is most important to acknowledge as I look back, is that the goods days out number the bad days and our happiness has outweighed the sadness. As a result of our time together, we have 2 healthy, beautiful, smart, and happy kids that make our life messy, crazy and wonderful. Our life together, so far has been an adventure and I hope it will continue to be.

The Impact of Dance

Last night, I attended Rylee’s first dance recital. She did a tap dance and sang to the song “Good Ship Lollipop” the Shirley Temple classic. She was absolutely beautiful on stage and did a great performance. She grinned from ear to ear the whole time, and danced her heart out. She just loved being on stage and I was so proud of her. She would not practice at home much so, I did not really know what to expect when she got on stage. Honestly, I have to admit I was really dreading the whole thing. I did not want to sit through all the other dances just to see her on stage for 3 minutes but I was wrong. I actually really enjoyed it. The whole performance was very surreal and it was an all together impacting experience. It was as if you watched these girls grow up on stage before your eyes. The girls ages 3 to 21 moved across the stage from song to song very fluidly. As the music and costumes changed, it was as if that first set of little girls had transformed and grown right before you. This recital gave me a new perspective on how quickly time does go by and how quickly the years of Rylee’s childhood will pass. Before I know it Rylee will be all grown up and dancing on her own through life. My biggest hope at this time is that I find a way to insure Rylee retains that sweet, sparkling, smile of happiness and remains as confident in the rest of her life’s performances as she was on the stage for the first time.

***Lesson I learned from this experience: Sometimes all the money and craziness is worth it to see your child experience 3 minutes of pure happiness.

My first blog mission: Solving the problem of too much stuff.

My first blog mission: Solving the problem of too much stuff.
 I am just so sick of all the stuff. I find myself so distracted by all the things that we have. The maintenance of keeping it picked up and keeping it cleaned. It actually depresses me. It inhibits me from being creative and I  feel it holds me back.  We currently live in a home that is much bigger than we need. We have two rooms we do not even really use except to house mounds of unused toys and crap we don't use. I have been going through all our stuff for the past few months due to an upcoming move. The thing is we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff but there is still so much more. How do you decide what toys stay or go? How do you decide what you love and what you don't? I am a sentimental girl and I am working on realizing that it is not the items that holds the memory. The memory is in my heart. I have lots of family furniture that I can not really part with(and don't want to) but it is time I get creative and make them functional in my life.
My family consist of 2 adults and 2 children. Rylee is 5 and Finn is 18months. Kids have lots of stuff and my 5 year olds get attached to things(Finn doesn't care as long as he has a couple of books and some trains, lol). I have to come up with a way to teach her not to hold on to everything. I also have to find a way to get grandparents to buy functional gifts and stop filling my house with junk.
We move in approximately 1 month and I hope to find ways to condense our stuff and make function of our home. I see this move as an opportunity to get it together.We will be down sizing significantly most likely going from a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 family/living spaces into a 2 bedroom apartment of duplex(their is a slight possibly of a 3 bedroom1 bath home, but slight). We have decided to downsize our living cost and will not be going over the budget we have set. We also are restricted to a specific area so that my daughter can go to kindergarten and the school that best suits her.
So, now I am on the mission to get organized and get rid of the clutter. Let the fun begin.

Blogging Begins

Over the past years, I have tried to blog before but always lost interest. I think mainly because I did not blog about  what was really important to me. I tried to blog about thing that were pertinent in my life at that time but not about what makes me and  the things that drive me. The idea behind this blog is to share the ways in which I aim to raise my children in a healthy plant-based, eco-friendly manner. The solutions that I have come up with to live well on a limited budget and the way I strive to re purpose the old instead of purchasing new. I also want share my creativity in hopes that it may inspire creativity in someone else. This blog will also at time serve as an outlet to share commentary on life as a full time mom and serve as a reference for my children in the future to know what our life was like and how I tried my hardest to raise the "wright".