Hi I’m Lily.
Okay, Lily’s actually my nickname, something my husband gave to me when we first started dating and he found out I was not only a flower lover, but that my fav flower is a calla lily. In fact, if i was to rummage through some of the very first photos my husband and I took together, there’s a picture of him holding up a scorecard during a night of playing board games.
Of course I won 😛 as the score card my hubby held was labeled:
Grumpy 0 Lily 1
He’s really not grumpy but I like to needle him, especially when he protests about me constantly trying to tickle him. So anyway, I’m a happily married mom of two. Like many, I’ve had to learn that there is hope after failure, divorce, health challenges and even losing your way spiritually.
This blog is about learning to stay rooted in your faith, having a fantastic marriage, not only surviving but enjoying parenthood, getting and staying in shape with limited time, and becoming food smart.
You’ll also occasionally come across the naughtiest of recipes oozing with chocolate and caramel and you might even discover secrets to finding time and money you didn’t know you had.
I’ve learned that it’s not my mistakes that define me, but my adventures. It’s the challenges I’m willing to accept, the battles I choose, the lessons I learn (from wins and losses), the love that I give and my capacity to forgive that makes me who I am.
I’ve also learned that you can be a fulfilled woman, a glowing wife and a proud mom without being perfect or Superwoman.
Oh yeah, here’s something else you’ll notice about my blog and my social media pages.
There’s no pictures of me!!! (well, none with my face anyway)
No selfies, no glamour shots, no shots of me after a fresh teeth whitening session. Nope! At least not for now. I’ll explain why.
I thought looooong and hard about blogging before I ever started; about a year before I wrote a single post. Should I do it? What could I write that would be worth reading? Would anyone even read anything I wrote? I felt deeply that I have a voice to contribute to the community. That I might have some things to offer women, mothers and daughters, sisters and aunts and nieces, and I might be able to hear from all the same as well as grandmothers and great grandmothers, and anyone else who loves building a healthy family. But….
I wasn’t sure about putting my life on display to the world. It wouldn’t be fair to my husband and kids to be talking about personal things without their input, opinion, and permission. My husband and kids were very supportive about the idea of me blogging, but my kids did NOT want me blogging about anything that would identify them. And I agreed. There is already a lot of pressure on kids today. If my kids weren’t 100% comfortable having to navigate school, their social life, and some of their individual circumstances with their mom blogging about our lives in the background, then I wasn’t going to do it.
After many discussions, we worked out a plan that they could live with. It was very important for them that I keep their identity private, until they are adults and on their own. I can blog about anything I want, but for now, your’e just going to have to imagine what my first selfie is going to look like…. and that’s not going to be for a while, as my youngest is still in high school! 😀
I love to blog and I have been absolutely stunned by all the wonderful people I have met and connected with through this blog and social media through the last few years. So many great people with amazing stories. But…just like any of you, sometimes life really gets busy, and there are times when I have to take a break to try to keep up with life in the real world. If I haven’t blogged in a while, it’s cuz things are crazy. To paraphrase my husband’s impersonation of Arnold: Awwwl be baahck!
Anyway, I want to thank you for joining me on this journey. I would love to hear from you. Email me, Tweet me, or find me on Instagram or Facebook. Whatever works for you, but reach out, I’m looking forward to connecting with you.
Here are some random things about me to help you decide on a conversation topic:
- I’m a practical girl. Practical trumps beautiful when beautiful isn’t practical.
- I enjoy creating/making/building things – gardens, cakes, dresses, houses and water color paintings.
- My husband thinks I’m a bit of a daredevil – he’s full of nonsense. 😛
- I believe that everybody is good at something.
- I have a power tool fetish.
- I love to buy my mom flowers. Sometimes they go in a vase and sometimes they go in her garden.
Have a wonderful day!