The Good Life

I read a devotional this morning called " when relationships feel like obstacles ". Oh how this hit me in such a tender spot this morning because I have really been looking into my relationships (and myself) lately. Am I closing people off? Am I spreading myself thin? Are my expectations too high (or low)? Am I allowing myself to let God work through these people he's placed in my life? Every person, every relationship has a purpose. Sometimes it feels like life would be so much easier if we could just get from one place to another with no distractions and interruptions. Like, for instance, when you're just trying to get across town and you get stopped by a train or a funeral procession or lots of traffic. Maybe, just maybe, there was a reason why you were delayed. Perhaps if you were 30 seconds earlier, you would've been in an accident. Sometimes, like traffic jams, people (relationships) can feel like big interruptions. We're just going along, living our...

I've been wanting to get back to this blog as an outlet. Now that the kids are able to (somewhat) entertain themselves for short little spurts, I'm loving the small pockets of extra time I have to get back to things I love! Maybe I'll even get to start sleeping all night again. A girl can dream, right? So much has happened over the past several months, so I can't even start to play catch up. I mean, Colton's 3.5 years old now and Ryleigh will be 10 months on Saturday. C starts pre-k (fall 3s) in a couple of weeks and Rue is so close to walking on her own. Lots of exciting and not-so-exciting things are happening every day. One of the more exciting things that has happened (since my last post) is that we purchased a camper. We have always loved to camp and though we do enjoy the feel of "tent camping" we also found it harder to accommodate our growing family and all the crap (for lack of better word) that you have to pack for babies. We knew we wanted a...

I have a "worry" personality type. I am a worrywart. I worry if our kids are too hot or too cold, I worry if a bill payment is a day late, I worry if I don't check the mail, I worry if we're going to be away from home that something bad could happen to the house (and it totally could, but it also could be totally fine), I worry about Matt and our health and our finances and our future. Just the thought of going through a big life change (like moving) stresses me out. If it's something that I can worry about, I worry about it. I even try not to worry and then I worry about being worried too much. It's exhausting. In church on Sunday, we talked about fear and why, if we have faith in God/Jesus, are we afraid. I started thinking about myself and my "worry" personality and it hit me...worry, in all reality is just fear. A fear of the unknown (and sometimes even the known). I like to believe that I have a strong faith, but if I'm in a constant sta...

I'm failing at documenting these days. I haven't posted since March 1. It makes me sad because I have so much to put down and share. Mostly, I love sharing so I can look back and reminisce when these days are long gone but partly, I love sharing in hopes that somebody out there can relate to my crazy, normal, imperfect life. Tonight, Matt and Colton are "camping out" in the basement (which consists of popcorn, staying up later than normal to watch TV and sleeping on the couch's pull-out-bed)! So, I have a few minutes (if I'm lucky, hours) before Ryleigh knows I'm in my room alone, comfy and quiet (that's her cue to wake up and need something). SO much has happened since my last post, I can't even remember it all. I'll hit the highlights. I reserved Colton a spot for "3's pre-school" which will start in August. It's such an emotional roller coaster, but the biggest feeling I have is blessed. I'm blessed that Colton wa...

I set some big goals for myself this year. I decided that 2016 was going to be the year I made some changes in several areas of my life. One of those big goals was (is) my physical health/fitness. In order to stick to my goals, I had to find things/people to help me stay accountable. In the beginning, this journey was not easy. For me, eating healthy and working out takes a lot of focus, determination and dedication (along with planning, complaining, whining and reminding myself why I started). Starting the last week of December, I re-joined the YMCA and went every day to do SOMETHING. Some days, it was as simple as walking on the treadmill or using the elliptical for 30 minutes. The point is, I got myself into a routine of GOING. Starting January 1, we completely overhauled our kitchen. Out with the bad, in with the good. The journey of "good eating" was by far the hardest to kick start. My body was used to eating junk and it craved it - BAD. For staying accountable to o...

This has been an interesting month for the Neal family. Ryleigh got her first "cough/cold/congestion" on top of teething and that was NOT FUN. Colton was sick more than not. The sickness tried to get Matt but somehow he did escape it. I've been working on a healthier lifestyle so (if you saw my Instagram post the other day you know...) I've been wine-free, sore and HANGRY!! In the midst of all the craziness, somehow Colton decided he wanted to stop pooping in his pants, so praise the Lord for answered prayers. I know that as soon as I say it publicly, there's a great chance that I will jinx us but I don't care. We're going on 2 full weeks of zero pull ups and no accidents so I'm pretty confident we've made it over the biggest hurdle and fully expect us to have some set backs so I'm ready (and happy)! Ryleigh decided to roll over on Sunday. She rolled from back to front and hated it. As soon as she realized what she did, she was mad about it...

You know those moments when you're so tired/frustrated/emotionally spent and you feel like you're at the bottom of your bucket and then you get a little "check-in" or call or text or note or look from a friend and you know that everything is going to be just fine?!? At that moment, you feel your bucket slowly starting to fill back up? Those moments happened for me yesterday. All at different points, through different outlets throughout the day and all just exactly when I needed them most. I had a few friends "check-in" on me and offer some emotional support, Matt came home and "took over" so that I could just take a shower and right before bed, I got a text from a special friend that said "sleep well friend, thankful for new mercies each morning". That text made my mind go to one of my absolute favorite songs, titled "Great is Thy faithfulness". “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning w...