Just a couple of things....

Hi all.  I know-it's been awhile.  I've been really busy trying to find my kitchen and attending baseball tournaments.  I have an amazing front tan and my kitchen counter is stacked with dishes and anything we are trying to keep from our lab, Wrigley.

I must warn you...this is a post about real life.  I've recently discovered that it is hard.

H-A-R-D.

I'm frustrated and currently sitting on the bathroom floor eating cookie dough and drinking a large water from sonic.  Yes...water.  I wanted a diet coke, but I was afraid I'd go in to sugar shock in my fragile state and I didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Lord have mercy...life can be hard.


Swimsuits-

Swimsuit shopping is dumb.  Actually...swimsuits are dumb.  Why can't we just swim in t-shirts and shorts?  Why did swimsuits become so "body showy" and stuff?  Why do we have to lower ourselves every year to a moment on a dressing room floor laughing so hard you have tears because you need a new top to give you the courage to get on a pool chair or floatie?  WHY?  Why do stretch marks exist?  What is cellulite and was God mad at me when he made my legs?  I mean...come on?  I've been running and I think the only thing it did was make some of those sweet dimples roll around to the front side of my legs.  WHAT IN THE WORLD?

Teenagers-

I love my children.  More than my own life.  But I don't understand what happens when they reach a certain age.  Do they stop thinking with their brains?  Do they lose brain cells when they sleep?  Why can't they be considerate of our feelings?  Why are all of our rules dumb and how did they become so smart?  They know everything and I am apparently a walking idiot who lives to make their lives miserable because I ask them to take out the trash and respond to text messages.  Why is it okay to have whole uneaten slices of pizza on plates in your room for days?  What is it exactly that keeps them from finishing milk in cups and taking the cups to the kitchen?  Their days are filled with snapping and selfies and NOT listening to their parents.  FOR THE LOVE!!!


Friends-

I am so thankful for my friends.  The older you get, the more you need good friends.  The kind that will take your tornado of a life and embrace it with you.  They know that your pictures on social media are the highlight reel and they understand why you don't post the bad stuff.  They know about it all...they pray for you...they talk you through it with cookie dough, cupcakes, coffee and wine...and they love you anyway. (They also never refer to the above said cookie dough, cupcake, coffee and wine when they are on the floor of the swimsuit dressing room as you curse your cellulite) Whenever I think I'm in a bad place and that we are abnormal, God brings me to a conversation with one of my best friends that helps me see how VERY NORMAL WE ALL ARE.  Let me tell you friends...if you think you are alone in these battles (swimsuit, teenager, marriage issues, etc.) you are not.  Do you hear me?  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  We are all in this together.  None of us are all squeaky clean, happy families without the occasional blow up.  VERY FEW of us have our houses party ready at all times.  EVEN FEWER of us look amazing in a swimsuit and even those who do, doubt themselves.  We all struggle in so many ways and if we didn't have each other to fall on...not lean, but FALL on...we'd be in big trouble.  We are happy, sad, and angry.  We are hurting, healing, and learning constantly how to deal with the place we are in life.  We are right, wrong, and confused.  We are sensitive, tough, and somewhere in between.  We love, hate, and forgive.  We laugh, cry, and sometimes just feel numb.  We are human and these things are all very normal.  I once saw an article about the difference between empathy and sympathy.  Sympathy is being sorry for someone who is in a bad place.  Maybe even saying sorry and giving them a pep talk about all the great things present in life.  But empathy...empathy is where it's at.  Empathy is getting in the trenches with people.  Empathy says...be whatever...whoever you are and I'm here with you in whatever place you're in.  Because I love you that much.

Maybe...life isn't as hard as it sometimes seems.

Maybe...I'll put down the cookie dough and go talk to my teenagers.

Maybe...I'll even call my Mom and apologize to her for my teenage years.

If you've ever had a moment like this...and you've sat in your closet eating cookie dough and trying to figure your next strategic move with a teenager...punch in.

Thanks for keeping it real with me-
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