Today, I am thankful for freedom. I am thankful for wide open spaces and star filled skies. Today I am thankful for the want to travel and experience new things. I am thankful for being able to find such beauty and happiness in the things at home. Little victories like finishing a finger painting with my children or breathing in the air of a new state. Today, I am thankful for living outside of the box.

In today's world we get so caught up in things, I fear we forget how to really live. We don't do much outside of work and home so it's like we're living in a bubble. Trying to keep up with someone else's life as depicted on their social media site. We talk about being good wives and parents but we spend more time trying to make it look as if we are than actually putting the world aside and loving on our children, sometimes. When was the last time you went outside and just played with your kids? Put the smartphone down, got off of the Internet and just spent an hour pretending to be a dragon as you're chased by brave little knights dressed in kitchen cookware? It's probably longer than you'd like to admit; I know it is for me. I remember being young and playing outside every day, cartoons weren't an all day thing and my imagination was worth more than an iPad. What are we doing to our children? Cooping them up in front of a TV so we can browse Pinterest quietly. I read "Mom blogs" all the time and while new age honesty is nice I worry that we glorify the idea of embracing how lazy we can be. Sure I want a glass of wine every now and then after a long day but I tell you what, I respect the Mom more who is too busy actually playing with her children to blog about all the "Mom" things she does in a new chic way, like throwing a towel over a wet bed the night before or hiding from her kids in the bathroom with a snack for a moment of silence. I know how stressful parenting can be and occasionally I laugh with sympathy because I understand that Mom, we are all that Mom. But maybe, she should use the power of her words that others read to instead open eyes to the generation we have become. We can become more concerned with making out lives look perfect and having the newest and greatest that we forget what quality time is like. It's time to find that again, to make it. Instead of sneaking a (much needed) glass of wine before bed why don't you go read your baby a story. Watch those little eyes close and for a moment stare in wonder at something we all might take for granted from time to time. Put the phones down at dinner, actually talk about your day. We are the most detached generation probably ever.

Beyond changing as parents, we could all change as people. If there is one thing I think should be done more it is definitely traveling. Home is where your heart is, but the rest of the world is so incredibly beautiful. Get out, and get cultured! If we stay in the same place we start to forget how much is out there, different people, different ways of life we can all learn from. Stop worrying about trying to impress everyone and start focusing on yourself, feed your own soul instead of trying to stir up jealousy in another's. You are such a powerful person and are capable of so much....why not start "living" now? Life is waiting.


Always,
With Love From Betty.

I will spend most of this week attempting to eat my weight in food, crying for no apparent reason at all and giving the meanest woman you can think of a run for her money. Ah, menstruation. Suddenly the fact that other people are breathing will be enough to send me off the hinges, and then into a fit of tears because I hate the fact I get so touchy. I will spend all hours of the night eating sweets and the smell of fried foods can just about bring me to my knees and I am avoiding talking to certain people for fear of the horrible (although probably true) things they may escape these lips of mine. You know whats up, Ladies.

While my homicidal tendencies once a month are definitely a woe, there is another one that has been on my mind today. We live in a time where being objectified is desired and girls bodies are maturing faster than their minds. Just because your uterus works, does not mean you should use it. I have such a hard time understanding how out of hand this teen pregnancy thing has gotten, I know, I'm preaching to the choir. But, at what point does the idea that having a baby before marriage seem like a good idea? I get it happens, it happened to ME. I am not an outsider looking in, I've been the girl staring at 2 pink lines, I know how that "you're not invincible" slap in the face feels. My case might not be like the next girls, but for 2 seconds, when that test finished developing, we were all in the exact same pair of shoes. I have done a lot of growing up since that day, of course I had no choice but to. It wasn't until my second planned child in wedlock that I realized just how skewed things were the first time. Not that I regret them in the least, both of my children are very wonderful blessings. I just wish I could go back to me at 17 and say, hey, slow down. My life turned out mostly okay, right? Why would I change anything? Realistically I wouldn't. Even through the separation and stress of everything changing, I wouldn't change a thing because I learned from it, and hopefully one day I can give some other girl wisdom and maybe save her some heart break. Just maybe.

I know peer pressure can be hard and I know its hard not to want what others have, but what people overlook now is how wonderful things are when done the traditional way; how wonderful it is to maintain values. Meet a guy, fall in love, ENJOY being in love, get him wrapped around your finger, let him put a ring on that finger, kiss him in front of God and everyone declaring him your partner for life and then carefully and excitedly plan for a child, record every wonderful moment of it. To me there is just no appeal to meeting a guy, falling in love, getting pregnant and then praying he eventually asks you to marry him. Sadly, there are times...quite frequently...when that does not happen. He leaves and all of his empty promises leave with him. Life isn't perfect, we can hope for the best but sometimes life can lay one mean right hook right on the side of your jaw. If I could go back I would tell myself, "just breathe, think it out, there is so much life ahead of you and if you stay on this path it is not going to be the way you imagined. Your fancy college degree? Its not going to happen. Traveling after your honeymoon? Darling, you aren't getting one." I am very happy with the cards I was dealt, I love being a Mother, it is very natural to me, but I also miss the fact that now I won't get those perfect firsts. My seconds seem to be fairly promising, but its adjusting to a new life and trying to make it as traditional as possible, its not the American dream. So girls, just think it out, expect more from yourselves. He does not deserve to Father your children until he is man enough to call you a wife.

A fairly easy solution to all of this is quite simple, just be a lady. Keep your head and standards high. It is never too late to turn life around, to do things your own personal "right" way. We all just need to hold ourselves to higher standards, to realize that you as a person control the decisions you make and you control your own life. You are strong, you are beautiful and you are worth tradition; the trick is to find a Man who sees that. Don't settle for a dead beat because you're in a hurry, sure he can pass the time but remember there is someone out there who wants to give you the world...who thinks you are the world. When you find him, hold on and never let go. 

Now that I have vented on here I won't have to go post "What is wrong with you?." on peoples facebook walls, you just did the world (or at least a few of my facebook friends) a favor by reading this!


                                                                            From Betty