RealMamaNoDrama

I was once asked to speak to a training room full of soon to be foster parents, give them a little insight to what it would be like to get licensed and ready for their first placement. I think I over-shared as usual but I have since shared it with more people who asked what it was like and they seem to appreciate the truth. So here I am copying and pasting it into one of my 'once in a blue moon' blog posts because like I just told my friend I don't typically have time to wipe my old mascara from sunday's church service off until Tuesday mornings I certainly don't have time to consistently blog about my life but I do like to tell the truth and help others. Hopefully this finds it's way to those who want to learn some more about the process.  (This presentation was given last year, a few months after our first placement) To paint our picture, I feel like I need to first give you a little bit of context on who I am and what my family’s journey to this point h...

We live in a time full of social media and instant communication, that means everyone has a platform, everyone is saying something all the time and to the masses!  If you really stop to think about that, it's a powerful position granted to anyone and everyone, yet it's not treated as such, people are not acknowledging the power of their words.  A few clickity click clicks on our phones and we are carelessly representing ourselves to the world in a way that's not always flattering and often times offensive. Most  people are putting more thought into how they look in their profile pictures on these platforms rather than how they choose their words and what those words evoke in others as they speak their mind.  This creates some very controversial, not nearly as productive  conversations.  I am very outspoken and can totally be the offender but it still lead me to wonder. What if we spent as much...

So I ran my first half-marathon today! No really I did. This girl, ME, who in the past has said "I don't understand why anyone would ever run, let alone PAY to run" paid a registration of $75 months ago and then trained my tail off to RUN! What?!?! AND I lived to tell about it! So tell about it I shall. Like forever and ever, over and over, and over again I will totally be that girl that's like, "oh yeah when I ran my first half-marathon........" anytime I can slip it into a conversation. Then surely there will be some girl in the room that's all like "I don't understand why anyone would ever run, let alone PAY to run" and I'll be like "oh girl let me tell you I said that too but really let me tell you about running!" I will probably always try and recruit people for running from here on out but don't worry I won't do it talking like a valley girl that's just something I do in my head while writing. I don'...

So, I heard this quote a while ago (I am no stickler for details so I have no idea where it came from but it definitely wasn't my brain) "Parenting: the only job you try to work yourself out of." Wow! For whatever reason that has stuck with me for a long time and I try to remember it daily. I also thank God daily that it's our job to work our way out of this job and they are truly His, because this nonsense can be exhausting!  It can be hard to focus on the big picture as the day goes on and we are all whirling around one another like something you'd see on Animal Planet. My mind can wander. Often it wanders to what these little people may be like when they are older. What type of person they'll be, what they'll be like to interact with, as an employer or as a spouse. Then I stop and think of all I have to do before sending these kids out to fend for themselves, and that can be overwhelming but also very centering. Because fact of the matter is I do ...

“Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.”― Amy Bloom The dance that began it all! This is the quote that was plastered on all two-hundred plus programs handed out at my wedding and that still hangs on the wall in a shadow box. I loved it then and I love it now but for very different reasons. You see, the girl that put that on her wedding program and the woman who reads it now are two very different people. I thought I knew marriage then and now I’ve lived marriage.  That will change you. It wasn’t conscious at the time but I believe that young girl put that lovely quote on there because it seemed wise and as if it proclaimed that her new husband and her had the skills necessary for the never-ending dance they were vowing. We thought we were perfectly paired and would make a great team but the truth is there was little balance t...