The Truth:

My hair & nails pretty much sum up how I've felt most days since becoming a mom; a messy mess. 

Un-put-together. I now see why so many moms end up on "what not to wear" shows (someone PLEASE nominate me) ;P I feel like I have zero style now.

 Nothing fits like it used to. I've got thighs for days, my stomach looks like it did when I was 6 months pregnant, 3 day old hair, 3-4 week old nail chipping polish, (on a good day) slapped on coverup, quickly thrown on blush (forget eyeliner or mascara), spit up, tee-shirt with a skirt because I can't fit into my pants still, unibrow, hair falling out by the pound, & I could go on... But yet my heart is full & my sweet husband & baby love me as I am (even when I don't feel comfortable in my own skin). 

Being a mom is a hard messy job physically, mentally, emotionally, & spiritually. Somedays I'm a disheveled mess, but the beauty is that it reminds of how much I need my savior while navigating this thing called parenthood. 

When I start to feel guilty for not having it all together, Jesus reminds me that his life was messy too. The cross was not clean, but the love he gave was so pure & that's what it's all about. Abram is worth all the mess of letting go of myself; just like Jesus did for me. 

#amomslife #messy #Jesus #truth #truelove 

Magic Button...not so much. Crockpot for the win!

So, I recently posted this to my FB: "I thought FOR SURE being a stay at home mom would be the magic button to making me love cooking. Wrong. So wrong. #dontdeceiveyourself #ihavenotime #Iwillpayyoutocookforme"

It's true. I've never been a "good" cook or have really liked cooking. I willfully bow out and hand over the expertise of cooking to someone else. 

Being that I am a stay at home mom now, I really do want to tackle this chore (yes it's a chore to me) much better. I'm the type that starts looking for meals online, starts a list, but then gets overwhelmed by it all, and I just give up and end up winging it at the grocery store. 

Our meals usually end up consisting of plan Jane chicken and some cooked veggies. On the dual side. Every now and then though I'll get "creative" and make something out of the norm, but not often enough. 

So here's my challenge to myself - to start pushing through the blah blah blah of cooking, buckle down and get-er-done! Instead of overwhelming myself with Martha Stewart type cooking goals/skills, I've decided to try making at least 2-3 new meals a week. I'm determined to figure out/and find healthy, delicious, quick meals that aren't so boring.

In all my 27 years (6 years of marriage) I've used the crockpot once. This has got to stop. Today I put my foot down and turned on my crockpot! I'm starting this new venture with this Cream Cheese Chicken Chili crockpot meal I found over at Rita's Recipes. 

My modifications to this recipe:

• I didn't use frozen chicken
• I used frozen corn 
• Added 1 cup of water in place of the corn juice

And it turned out perfect!

(Pic Source: Rita's Recipes)

This crockpot stuff is AH.mazing. Being a new mom is exhausting. I have the most energy earlier in the day so making dinner (putting it all in the crockpot) is awesome. It sure beats trying to muster up energy at the end of the day in order to make dinner. 

Whoever invented the crockpot. You. Are. Boss. #winning

If you have any awesome crockpot recipes, please please share them!! I'm desperate over here. ;) Would love to try them and post how it went. I will also be pinning the meals that I try over here on Pinterest.