"how do you do it all?"

i have heard this question in more than one circumstance lately. i think i've painted an unfair image of myself because...i'm a mess. and i hardly do it all.

case(s) in point:

:: early last week i had to know what the big deal was with Downton Abbey. i started watching while folded laundry, then conveniently got plagued with a migraine/cold/cough trio. i used this nasty trio as an excuse to lounge around in my jammies, keep my fuddy duddy grubby glasses on, and watch Downton Abbey in every free second, using Netflix, PBS.org, and my iPhone. this may have meant that i neglected my homemakerly duties. and i am embarrassed to admit that i am all caught up. i adore Matthew Crawley.

:: three days in a row i stayed in my workout clothes until 3:00 pm, when i finally realized going on a run wasn't going to happen and i'd better hurry and shower for the day before Alice woke up from her nap.

:: we just took our christmas lights down. today. as in February 24. as in Christmas was two months ago.

:: i also lost my keys today. as in locked them in my car. as in, i was extremely late picking up Ellie from her outings today. as in i was super duper embarrassed to be the last mom to pick up their kid because of a "lost keys" problem.

:: i also just found my phone in the fridge.

:: i forgot to respond to an email about a church visit and missed an appointment. i still feel horrible.

:: there is a massive pile of laundry on my bed, staring me at the face with its ugliness, telling me that it needs to be folded (it has been scuzzing me out since Monday). i keep wondering who is going to do it. 

:: last night i made the girls corn dogs for dinner, and made M eat leftovers, both while i enjoyed a yummy dinner at a Relief Society meeting. did i mention that i promised my family something yummy for dinner last night? and that's what i came up with?

and so to answer that question, how do you do it all?, it is obvious that i don't. my mom always used to say "we all have 24 hours in a day," and i've kind of adopted that mentality.  every woman is busy- whether it is with kids or church or work or taking care of your home. life demands so much of us women, huh? sometimes it is frustrating and seems unfair. and so naturally the balance gets thrown off. i admit that sometimes (ok, or more than sometimes) i resign at midnight to go to bed with a messy house and dishes in the sink, even though i swore i'd never do either of those things and it makes me cringe to my bones. most days my hair is in a pony tail because it takes way too much energy to do anything else. and i stink at returning phone calls because i can never seem to find moments in my day that my attention isn't being pulled in 10 different directions, including getting the 50th drink for a human that day, wiping yet another bum, and sweeping up the dumped-out goldfish box of crackers for the third time that day.

i guess i'm telling you these things because i hope my blog is not a place you come feeling bad about yourself and what you do as a mom, a wife, a friend, or even just a woman. we're all different. we all have different kids. we all have different things we choose to do with our time. my blog happens to be a place where i share moments that i am proud of- the normal things that we do... not so much of all the stuff we don't do. you know? (well, i guess excluding this post. you're getting a pretty good sneak peak into my undone life). i love my life- but it is not perfect. and it is nearly always half-done. that's the truth.

and so my biggest secret i guess is that sometimes i just give in, i say that half-done is ok with me today, or i just say no, i can't do it today. i realize that sometimes that's ok, in spite of what it may seem like everyone else is seamlessly accomplishing. most days i go to bed thinking "i did my best today and still didn't get everything done. but there's always tomorrow to try again." i think that's all Heavenly Father wants from us- our best. and to keep trying to make our best even a little better tomorrow.

FYI: my best right this minute includes jammies, a glass of OJ, sesame street, and spilled bowls of yogurt.

PS: here's a little collage of what we've been up to since you heard from me last. messes, crazy baby, food, and sunny weather. aka: the good, bad, & the ugly.

 xoxo

love week conclusion: a love filled house.

i should preface the standard V-day post by saying: i usually am super-lame mom when it comes to Holidays outside of Christmas and Birthdays. ok and Halloween. but seriously, that's usually my short list of celebration-worthy holidays. i just get overwhelmed by how much there is to do and usually have fabulorific intentions that die once i get a glue gun out.

then, the other day i was thinking about my earliest childhood memories. i can vividly remember my third birthday. i remember i was wearing a little dress with flowers on it, and my hair was in a pony tail- and i felt really pretty. i remember blowing out all of the candles on my cake and being so proud. i remember my mom hugging me. and my brother reaching over with his finger to get a lick of frosting. i remember the feeling of loving my family and feeling loved. again, i was three.

{these pictures are more like when i was 4 or 5- but you know, it's about the same era}

and then it dawned on me- Ellie is three. what are her earliest memories going to be? are they going to be of me telling her that i'm driving her nuts? are they going to be of me constantly picking up the toys around her because the toy-messes make me batty? are they going to be of me saying "no more TV, no more TV, NO MORE TV!!!" and her crying because she just wants to watch one more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? and so my way of dealing with my not-so-proud parenting moments was to make this Valentine's day worth remembering. 

Valentine's Day started on Monday Night with a little love-hunt, inspired by my college roommate, Sara. basically i cut out little hearts with our names ("Ellie loves," "Alice loves," "Daddy loves," "Mommy loves") and we had to go around the house and put the heart on something we loved and then take a picture of it. Ellie adored this super simple activity and would not let me take the hearts off of her books and bed because "i really really love those things." my favorite part of the activity was M coming home from an evening-store run after bedtime with a big heart on his back that read "Ellie loves." i would have loved to know what the person behind him in the check-out line thought of that one.

after they were asleep, we heart-attacked their door and put little heart strings for them to walk through when they woke up. i was so excited for them to wake up- and they were even more excited when they woke up. i love how they love such simple little things like hearts on strings.

and then the day started right with a box of donuts from our favorite lil shop down the street. i ate my donut literally seconds after finishing my run. i didn't even take a drink of water first. that's what you do on holidays, right?

of course i had to make some sugar cookies. best reason ever to celebrate Valentine's day right there. and we had to share and made some special deliveries. Ellie even made some Valentine's to share with some of her little friends. spreading the love is what it's all about, people.

at about 3:00 pm i realized that all i had eaten all day was donuts and sugar cookies. thank goodness i had forced myself to go on that run or i'd have felt super squishy all day.

and then we enjoyed random valentine's surprises throughout the day. my favorite was this little cute spread from a "secret admirer" for the girls. that dog sings Bieber's "Baby, oh." seriously, the cuteness is killing me.

we also read lots of cute love books, including my favorite "i like you." M wrote a song for me on our wedding day from this book. it gets me all googly eyed.

at around 5:45 we put the girls in their jammies, made them a pizza, and let them watch a Valentine's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. by 6:15, a babysitter was here, and my Valentine and i were on a date.

honestly, i don't remember the last time we went on a date on Valentine's day. probably before kids? like 4 years ago? and maybe even longer because we were super poor back then. usually we stay home, and try to make the most of it by cooking a special dinner (last year we cooked an authentic Costa Rican meal together. that was cool) and grabbing a redbox (sounds pretty Saturday-nightish, but whatevs). truly it usually is pretty anticlimactic. but this year we decided to go out. i put on my hot red pants and black heels, and even some lipstick. he wore cologne. i love when he does that. and we got sushi. our all-too-expensive-special-occasion-fave. we smuggled in 10lbs of treats to the theater and i dragged M to see the super mushy-cliche chick flick "The Vow." he must really love me. i love dates and i miss them.

and then we came home.  we missed the girls. we hugged and kissed them and told them we loved them and tucked them in real tight. they're so cute.

and that was Valentine's Day.

i love that lyric from the church song "there is beauty all around when there's love at home." it creates a picture for me that i want to emulate in my home-life. sure, at our house, beauty might include clothes all over the floor, crumbs from a half-eaten-half-destroyed donut smothered everywhere, toilet paper shredded in clumps in the bathroom, piles of toys in random crevices and corners, and marker/crayon/lipstick/pencil all over the walls. but it also includes giggles, sweets, dancing, lovies and snuggles, singing, and unsolicited hugs and i love yous. even today, on un-valentine's day, it really is a beautiful life because i feel love bubbling to the ceiling. and so even if Ellie & Alice don'tremember any of this crazy Valentine's Hoopla we did, it's ok because i'm pretty sure they can feel the love bubbling to the ceiling too.

and thus concludes my lovie-gushy-dovie week. come back and visit soon!

xoxo

love week: my valentine.

tonight i have a major-cheesy- Taylor Swift song-sized crush on this guy:

hot dang, i love my boyfriend, my best friend, my man, my partner in crime, my hubby, my love, my valentine, my M.

*note: as mentioned in that previous post, blogger is wiggin' out like a fool on me tonight- i've tried to post this toast 3 times now, as evidenced on google reader, but not on my blog-wog. how annoying to read the same mushy sentence three times in a row. ick. phewy. sorry. dude, blogger!? where's the love? obvs someone is jealous of the amount of love up in here. but alas! love will conquer all. even crapperific blogger.

xoxo

love week: i love brown packages + rainy afternoons.

today i am loving this rainy weather.

 especially after receiving a surprise brown package in the mail with some lovely surprises...

which have lead us to ditch the piles of laundry (somewhat to Alice's dismay...at least someone around here likes piles of laundry)...

and have a sisters/tent/popcorn/movie afternoon instead.

i just love these small, yet memorable moments with the girls. they're what make being a mom so sweet (and messy. popcorn is now all over my floor, and the laundry is obviously not done).

Valentine's day is tomorrow! any special traditions at your house? we will have hearts oozing out of our ears...and love too. can't wait.

*note: blogger is being spazzerific tonight and has deleted 3 posts of mine? so i'm sorry if you are re-reading this in your google reader. a major WHATEVS to blog-craptastic-ger.

xoxo

love week: i love primary.

well, it's Sunday today, so naturally churchiness is on my mind- and today i am happy to say that i love Primary.

initially it took me a little while to warm up to the idea of Primary. i was sad to be released from serving in the Young Women program because i loved the girls, i loved the women i served with, and it (embarrassingly enough) was a good part of my social life and spiritual nourishment. i was worried that going into Primary would be so busy and stressful, and that i would miss out on that spiritual nourishment that you get in both YW & Relief Society- and i was more than kind of bummed.

boy was i wrong.
Primary is just such a wonderful place to be.
the spirit is so strong, the children are so loving, and the women i work with are remarkable.
the only reason i was sure before that being Primary President was what he Lord wanted for me was because that's what the Bishop had told me. "ok, i'll do it, but are you really, really sure?" because i really, really wasn't.
well, it's been a few months, we've survived the new year and the craziness of re-staffing almost entire new batch of Primary teachers, we've had several meetings, and had more than several prayers to know what to do- and i really feel overwhelmed that i am where i am supposed to be. sure, there are a million people who are way more organized than i am or that have way more knowledge and experience than i do. but for some reason the Lord is giving me this opportunity to serve- and i feel lucky and blessed.

some things i love about Primary:

i love the funny things kids say.
one week, i was teaching about Agency. i was talking about the Plan of Salvation and about how Heavenly Father had a plan for us where we would be given the gift to make choices for ourselves. i told them how Satan, on the other hand didn't want us to choose for ourselves, but to be like robots and he could choose for us everything we did. the following week, another leader was teaching Sharing Time. she asked the question, "What was Satan's plan before we came to earth?" a little girl raised her hand, "For us to be robots!"
well, at least she was listening.

i love the primary songs.
the spirit comes so strongly into the room when i hear little kids singing about Jesus, and about knowing the scriptures are true. my testimony grows and my frustrations from my home life go away. i am also amazed by how quickly they learn the songs- Ellie comes home singing songs that she's learning in primary and it makes all of us smile.

i love how teachable children are.
today i was teaching the children about reverence, per the idea of one of my counselors. basically i made these adorable sticks with butterflies on the end as a symbol of reverence- there is a story in the Friend where a Primary President teaches two rambunctious children about reverence by taking them to a butterfly exhibit at the zoo; she shows them how to catch a butterfly- the story quotes:
“Reverence is a lot like these butterflies. You don’t catch a butterfly. You let it come to you. You don’t catch a reverent feeling, either. It just comes to you when you are quiet. It’s the warm feeling you are feeling right now. You can also feel it when you think about Jesus Christ or anything else wonderful. When you are in Primary next Sunday, think about how quiet you had to be to have these butterflies in your hands. Then think about Jesus, and see if you get that same reverent feeling.”
as i was showing the children the butterflies i made, i could see their eager, willing eyes understanding and accepting this truth about what reverence means. i wish i was as eager, meek, teachable and willing to accept the Lord's truths as little children are. (note: you can find the Butterfly story here).

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i love learning so much from my calling.
the women i work with are wonderful. we are all so different and yet i feel connected to them in a unique and special way. i feel strengthened by them and their reliability, their creativity, and their unique personalities that reach out to others. it really makes me want to be better. i love learning from the children. they are so kind and pure in heart and my testimony is strengthened as they willingly share their talents, their testimonies, and their love for each other and the gospel.

i love being where Ellie is.
the sunbeams are just the cutest little squirts on the planet. i'm sure you've seen Ellie wearing her sunbeam crown in random pictures i have posted over the last few weeks (yes, we even made one for Alice - she feels pretty awesome) she is so proud to be in primary- she knows it's a special place to be. because it is. i love primary.

now, that doesn't mean i like 7:30 am meetings, that i'm not extremely excited for Alice to go into nursery in 9 Sundays (but who's counting, right?), that i don't come home from church all sweaty, and that i don't desperately crave a nap every Sunday... i am human, you know.

xoxo

love week: i love saturdays.

i love Saturdays. such a great day of the week, huh?

i love my early Saturday morning runs with some of my favorite friends. i love starting the day right, giving time for myself and my body- without the resistance from the babes (it makes me so sad that my Alice is entering an anti-stroller stage. i hope it goes by quickly because otherwise i don't know how i'll survive). and as a side note: i love to run. it's something i haven't always loved to do, but that i definitely love now-- i think a huge reason i am finally comfortable here and have good friends is because of our little Saturday running group. i'm so grateful for those girls -- for listening to my crazy stories from my crazy life, for telling me about theirs and making me feel a little less crazy, and for whipping my post-baby butt into shape. i love Saturday morning runs.

i love Saturdays because M is home. i love how we always have a little project going on- right now he is building a mantle. he's such a handy-man and such a babe. i love seeing him shoot that nail-gun. ow ow.

i love Saturdays because most of the time we just play all day. Alice marches around and squeals all day. Ellie dresses up in 10 different things and pretends pretends pretends. today Ellie is pretending it's everyone's birthday. she even baked me a cake and then sang happy birthday to me- i know it's silly but i think i'll treasure this video forever and ever and play it on my birthday every year from now on.

i love Saturdays because we usually eat good food. either donuts or in-n-out or pizza...Saturday is usually a free-reign eating day in our house. the girls get special treats (fun-dips were in their mailboxes- Ellie's world just got rocked) and the parentals get special treats too. let's be honest here, i love treats and good food so this is heaven. i confess that i think of Saturday all week long mostly because of how excited i am to eat a loaf of french bread all by myself and feel great about it.

and mostly i love Saturdays because it's a family day. we're all together. and it i feel like it is how it always should be. i wish there were more Saturdays.

 xoxo

love week: i love pinterest.

my life has changed both for the better and the worse since i discovered Pinterest (just ask M)- but in spite of the worse, i love it.

i love how endless the ideas and inspirations are that come from Pinterest.
i love how i can finally tell what my taste is, and how i want to decorate my home (i know, i've been on my own for almost 10 years and still hadn't been able to identify what i really like for my own house. now i do. and it's expensive.)
i love how it gives me fashion ideas- using items in my closet in a different way than i had ever thought of.
i love how many delicious recipes there are -- i have tried several that are keeeeeeeepers.
i love finding cool photos and snapshots to try to recreate.
i love all the free stuff and printables that i find, that i would have otherwise not have found.
i love how it makes one place for me to find websites, recipes, and wishlists.
i love seeing what my friends and family pin. i specifically love snatching all of my sister's pins- she's always been so fashion-forward, creative, and artsy.
i love all the resources i've found for planning and decorating parties. there's some dang cute stuff out there.
and i love how i can spend a little time on Pinterest and feel like i just went window shopping or even real shopping, all while in my PJ's and without breaking the bank.

a disclaimer about Pinterest: i am not rich, nor do i have 1/10th of the things i pin. i don't even purchase 1/10th of the things i pin. it's more like playing house for me, and getting ideas. sure, it kind of makes me greedy. like i want wayyyy too many clothes that i'll never ever in a million trillion years be able to afford. and my house doesn't come close to measuring up to the rooms on my boards look. and i've only done about 1/5th of the projects i've pinned. but that's 1/5th more than the projects i have done before, i now have a great eye at TJ Maxx and Marshall's for what i really want to add to my wardrobe, and i know which direction to start in my house. and so, i remain pinterestingly loyal.

here are some of my favorite pins lately (and not-so-lately)

 

{you can find all pins via Pinterest, on my profile/boards}

Pinterest is awesome.
are you as into it as i am?

let's be Pinterest friends if we're not already:

http://pinterest.com/marcia11/

you'll love it and hate it and love it, i promise.
i'm sure you fellow pinteresters would agree.

xoxo