Finding Yourself

Who are you? Have you ever been in a job interview and they ask you to tell them about yourself? What is the first thing you would list?

I struggled with this question for a while (still do)! I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a Christian, a massage therapist, a business owner, a homeschooler, a team mom, a little league coach, a hyper-organizer (my husband gave me that title), and the list goes on. I am sure you have a similar list. But the question isn't, "WHAT are you?" The question is, "Who are you?" And after being married for 15 years and having 3 kids, going to college for a million different things, and having several different jobs, I didn't know who I was anymore.

I would hear women talking about working out or running, gardening or book clubs, PTO volunteering or running their own business and think, "I want to do that! She sounds like she loves what she does!"

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't unhappy at all...just lost. I didn't know what I wanted to do! I didn't know what my "hobbies" were---oh that was another job interview/application question that I struggled with! I wanted to put down, reading, writing, running, playing basketball, going to the beach, and so on. Truth was, I hadn't done any of those things in years! I had worked, cleaned, cooked, snuggled with my husband, and played with my kids. While those were/are AWESOME activities, they aren't really "hobbies"...right?

I was having this conversation with a friend of mine and we decided that a life like this could lead to a bad ending! Shouldn't our children see us going on dates with our husbands, having coffee with our friends, exercising, laughing and joyful? Wouldn't we be so much more joyful if we took some time for ourselves? HAHAHA! Yes we laughed! The thought of having time to yourself is funny when you are the mother of a young child, in our cases, young children.

I decided that I was going to start taking time to at least remember the things that used to help me de-stress, some of the things I used to LOVE doing, the things that gave me a little release and comfort. There was no reason to feel guilty about doing things for myself! At first, I remembered that I used to read..a lot. I also used to enjoy taking long, hot bubble baths with a glass of wine, or hot chocolate, or maybe even an ice-cold cherry coke! So, I started combining those things! I would enjoy my bath time after the kids went to bed. I felt guilty because I wasn't spending much time with my husband, so then I started taking the bath before the kids went to bed! He got his time with them, often rocking them to sleep and putting them to bed. (I would tuck them in when I was done with my bath.)

I started taking a notebook with me to bed and spending a few minutes journaling--not-so-much to remember the day, but to write down ideas I had or things I wanted to do or see or be. Then, I made an "official" list of the things I wanted in order of importance and started thinking what I needed to do in order to accomplish those goals. Some were small like, "Label kitchen drawers" or "organize kids' clothes so I can find them easier." Others were bigger, "like pay off credit cards and cars." Some are really big, "buy a house with several acres of land."

Naturally, I haven't accomplished all of my goals, yet, but to my surprise, I seem to be knocking them out way faster than I thought! I very rarely add to my list, and oddly enough, none of the things on the list have changed! If you knew how fickle I am, you would also know that's amazing, haha!

My story of getting where I want to be and learning WHO I am is much longer than this, and continues to play out. Since my original searching-of-the-soul, I have quit my job and become a business owner, pulled my kids from the public school system and become a homeschooling mom, started a monthly date night with my husband, and, just last week, I joined a book club!!! There are times when I am discouraged and think nothing is ever going to go my way, then I look around at just how amazingly blessed I already am, and my joy comes back to me!

No matter what it is you want to do with your life, make sure your write down your aspirations and goals! Work on them while doing whatever it is that is necessary to get you by in the meantime. Find your JOY in what you already have and build on it!

Alisha

Sprinkle Pancakes Recipe

My kids absolutely LOVE sprinkle pancakes! I used to use Bisquick pancake mix or any other that was on sale, really. I always buy in bulk so I had A LOT of it! . One day, I went to get it out of the pantry and there wasn't enough for a batch. I forgot to pick it up at the store over and over again until finally, the kids had begged for pancakes for so long that I thought, "Hey, I have flour, sugar, and baking soda! I bet I can make pancakes from scratch!" Yes, I once was a "pre-made everything" cooker. Everything came from a box with lots and lots of preservatives! I am still learning how to incorporate made-from-scratch foods and learning just how much you can make from scratch! Once you get the basic stuff (flour, sugar, etc.) on stock, its easy to throw anything together!

The pancakes this recipe turns out are so fluffy and light! The recipe became very easy for me to remember, and its also easy to cut in half:


3 cups of all purpose flour
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp and 1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional) 


For us this recipe makes about 24 medium sized pancakes. We often add chocolate chips, sprinkles, strawberries, blueberries, etc to them.

We are all different here, so I sometimes will do half the batch plain, then throw in the chocolate chips for the other half. My kids do not care for syrup, so we use whipped cream on top instead and its YUMMY! Here is a standard recipe for homemade whipped cream:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip cream with mixer by itself for about 2-3 minutes. When it begins to thicken, add sugar and vanilla; stir. Refrigerate. Be careful not to over beat the cream or else will get too thick. You can add a little strawberry jam or cocoa powder to make strawberry or chocolate whipped cream.


I know it sounds like a lot, but honestly, after the first 2-3 times you make this, you will have the ingredients memorized and it will take no more time than warming a frozen breakfast burrito in the microwave!

Enjoy!

About this blog

I am tired of seeing all of these blogs and FaceBook pages where women post all of their creations, successes and perfectly organized homes....without showing the struggles they had in attaining them!

I want to create a place for open dialogue for women about things they want to achieve and how they plan to, or have already, attain(ed) the goals they have set for themselves, the failures they have had, the obstacles they are afraid to face, etc. I also hope to be able to bring the tiny bit of information that I have discovered makes MY life a little easier so that, if one of you want to, you can implement it into your own life. I will be sharing my struggles too, so that its easily recognizable that I am not where I want to be, yet! I am very excited about starting this blog and the other things I plan to go a long with it! 

It wasn't too long ago that I was talking to one of my younger friends about her struggles in life (just the normal struggles most of us have) and realized that she thought she was the only one who went through these things. It was really taking a toll on her! She was under the impression that my husband and I never argued, my children were abnormally smart and always perfectly behaved, and that my house was always clean! HAHA! She was, in fact, convinced that ALL of the girlfriends she had were "perfect". As we talked, she realized that my household was much like hers. I told her that I was willing to bet my life on the fact that all the other women she was envious of had similar secrets. ;) 

It made me realize that I am not always honest about things with my girlfriends. While my husband knows that I burn dinner, yell at my kids sometimes, go over budget, and tend to get lost on Pinterest doing absolutely nothing for hours on end, my girlfriends only come over announced (that's why I love them!!) so I am always able to make my house APPEAR to be clean, and threaten my children into behaving for a couple of hours. 

I recently did a Proverbs 31 study. I have heard so many times that it is impossible to be a Proverbs 31 woman and "do it all." I, however, think that it is achievable! I think that if I really set my mind to it, I could be the woman that my dear friend thought I was....and so could she....and so could you (if you aren't already). To become this woman, I think it takes not only hard work and discipline, but support and honesty from a network of girlfriends who are going through the same things. I hope to obtain more support as well as provide it to others through this blog and the FaceBook page I have created.

Alisha