Moms, it's OKAY that your house isn't spotless!

As Mom's I feel like some of us pressure ourselves to keep the house clean, try to be the best Mom to our children, the best wife to our husband's, make a good dinner and likely manage countless other things throughout each and every day. I just want to tell you that it's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to not be YOUR vision of perfect. It's okay to not be someone else's vision of perfect.

One thing I think we should all consider is that a lot of times the pressure we feel is self-inflicted. We have these expectations of ourselves and it is this unnecessary weight that we're adding to our lives. Yes, things need to be taken care of, yes there are countless things to clean all the time. Yes, I wake up some mornings and look at my fan and am disappointed in myself that I haven't dusted it yet since I first noticed it needed it. And along with that, many other things could use my attention.

This morning this was weighing heavy on my heart as I woke up feeling the pressure of "the world" on my shoulders with all the things I've told myself I need to get done. For me personally, I always give myself way too much to do for a period of time. I set very high, unrealistic expectations and then I end up disappointed when I can't achieve these super human accomplishments. It is this vicious cycle and I've tried for years to get myself under control, to set more attainable goals. Because you see, I am a goal setter and a "go-getter", I have to have goals to focus on or if I don't I get stagnant and if I get stagnant then I can easily slip into a depression. I figured this out in my early 20's and so my coping mechanism has been...being a busy body. And it works! But if I could just wrap my head around setting realistic goals then I would feel like I'm really winning at life!

So I'm writing this for you as well as for me. I have much to learn still and I hope that through my trials I could possibly be an example to others. And most I want to let you know that you aren't alone. The chores will always be there, you aren't a failure because you didn't get it all done today, it's okay that you didn't do your hair today. What really matters is did you love your babies enough today? Did you feed them SOMETHING (even if it wasn't some glorious meal you slaved over for 2 hours)? Did you hug them and tell you loved them before they were off to school? These are the things that are really most important in life and I think we need to really try to focus on those more. and in the meantime, I'm going to be over here trying to wrap my head around setting more realistic goals for myself on a daily and long-term basis!

XoXo,Elizabeth

P.S. Love yourself today! Give yourself a break! Most anything can be done tomorrow...

#littlefarmbigdreams #momprobs #momproblems #housecleaning #goals #perfectisntrealistic #dontbesohardonyourself #lifetip

May 2018 we bought a historic home in the city!!!

We sure did not ever expect to buy a house built in 1910 in the city of Pocahontas, with a population of 6000! Lol! Our dreams of moving to Arkansas were to be in the middle of nowhere and live off grid or almost off grid and have a very simple life. But when you put a mother in a desperate situation she has a STRONG desire to provide a home for our family! So I found this house for sale by owner, seller financing and it was big enough for our family of 8!!!

The woman was willing to work with us on down payment, which was necessary since we had just recently closed on our land and paid a down payment there and not only was Chad's painting business still very much in the early stages but I had actually lost my real estate job in March, right after we closed on our land!

In this video I explain the whole process of house hunting, how we found the house and how everything went down

We are so grateful to have found a home that works for us and honestly I've been an old house lover MY WHOLE LIFE so I loved every inch of this place from the moment I saw it! It is 3 stories, built into a hill, with a walk out basement, a huge attic, real hardwood floors, central heat and air, a 2 car carport and a TINY backyard!!! Lord a mercy, I will get to the yard issues in another post but for now let me show you...

Here is an empty house tour from before we moved in!

Because even though we had bought it and actually closed on it...we still couldn't afford to move. It took every dime we had to be able to pay our down payment and it was 2 hours away from my Mom's so any time we came over to clean up, do yard work or anything it was a 4 hour round trip commute for us and in my 2010 Excursion we have (that is a major gas hog) that meant every trip over cost us $50+!!!

From the back of the house it looks so huge!

I love all the window casings and tall baseboards!

The kitchen is mostly original, or close to it and very small! There isn't much counter space to work with but we can make it work!

The main floor hall bathroom has a transom over the door and I absolutely love it! It allows light into the small, dark hallway!

The built-in cabinet in the dining room speaks to the age of the house and I absolutely love it!

This is a HUGE 600 square foot attic that is usable space! It has carpet, wall coverings and an AC window unit so the boys want this to be their room! We can easily fit 4 boys up there!

She needs some work and some much needed love but we'll be able to get her in shape and add some sweat equity!

She is a beauty but she sure does need a lot of work! And I can't wait to put all that time and energy into her!

xoxo,

Elizabeth

#newoldhouse #oldhouse #bigprojects #moving #newfamilyadventures