Stephanie Howell

It has been way way WAY too long since I did one of these. I figured it was beyond time I do one!

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. It can be serious, silly, short, long. NOTE:no one said it has to be serious. But it should be authentic.

3. No judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.If you are going to read the blogs linked below, don’t be mean. Nothing here is whining, though I can’t help it if you perceive it that way. It’s me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it’s whining, then you don’t have to read. 🙂

4. If you BYH, link back here. I’ll add an Inlinkz tool at the end of the post. I always read and comment on every single post.

5. Feel free to use the graphic above. Just make sure to link back to me.

6. If you are reading my blog today or if you read any of the blogs linked, please leave a comment. 🙂

Okay…this picture has nothing to do with the post. But I have issues with long, photo-less posts. And also, it kind of does have something to do with the post as Cate’s face (on the right) perfectly describes the way I feel as I work up the courage to do a BYH post. HA!

Here goes.

1. I love Italy. I love being with my family every day. But I miss my friends. Terribly. There are lots of lovely women here, but I feel like I’m having a hard time getting to know them. We are all pretty spread out, location wise, and everyone is pretty busy. This is always the hardest part of moving, and truth be told…it’s lonely.

2. I don’t even believe I’m typing this, but I’m getting tired of Italian food. I know, I know. I need to be punched in the throat. But I’m getting tired of pasta and pizza. We’ve found a good solution. I cook our family favorites (none of the Italian ones, though) during the week so that we all crave Italian food by the weekend.

3. This is the time of year that I tend to get super stressed. The twins turn three on Sunday. Then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then Jimmy’s birthday on January 1. Hello, crazy season. I’m doing my best to be present this year. And knowing that we are having Thanksgiving in Florence helps. No turkey/meal/etc. to get irrationally worked up about. 🙂

4. I hired a housekeeper. For the first time ever. And it has changed my life. I really mean that. I finally allowed myself to ask for help. If you know me, that’s really hard for me. I admitted I need help. And I have to tell you, it’s worth it. I am so grateful for that. Why WHY did I not do this when the twins where born and I was all alone? Because I’m stubborn. That’s why.

5. I really, really need to start exercising. Not to fit in a certain pair of jeans, not to hit a certain number on the scale. I need to start exercising because I don’t feel good about myself. And that affects everything. It affects my marriage, it affects the example I’m setting for my girls.

6. My kids buy their lunches every day. I so wanted to be that mom. The one who made the adorable bento box lunches from Pinterest. And I tried. But the girls wanted to eat at school because apparently everyone else does…and you know how that goes. And truth be told, it makes life easier.

7. For the first time ever in my life, I have road rage issues. I mean…it’s bad here. Motorcycles and bikes ALL OVER THE PLACE (most of them with no regard at all to cars or anyone else who might be there), horrible parking jobs (I’m talking cars that have parked perpendicularly in parallell parking spots), and me driving a car way too big for Italian life…yeah. I’m a maniac. I keep it (mostly) in my head, but I get SO WORKED UP every time I drive. Sigh.

8. I am unnaturally and irrationally obsessed with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. I have been ever since The Notebook. I have probably watched their MTV Movie Awards kiss 92384082348203842038420384 times. Y’all. It’s bad. I love them. I really think they are the most wonderful couple ever. So when I read that they might be back together??? I got WAY. TOO. EXCITED. I’m a nerd.

9. I worry a lot about my girls in the world we live in today. I worry about someone hurting them, taking advantage of them, bullying them, and so much worse. I’m scared for them. And I pray every day that we will help them become the confident, secure, kind, brave, Godly women I want them to become.

10. I know that everyone else is already excited for Christmas. Music playing, trees ready to go up, decor unpacked…but I’m just not there right now. I want to work on some things this year. One of them is not getting caught up in the stuff. You know what I mean. I don’t want to worry about crafting. Or advent calendars. Or getting overly creative with Turtle the elf. I don’t want to buy our kids a bunch of stuff. Stuff they don’t need, stuff they will stop caring about 10 minutes after they open their gifts. I want this Christmas to be intentional. And I’m thinking about how to best do that.

Okay…that’s it. My November BYH. I sure hope you’ll join in. I love, love, LOVE reading all the links.

xoxo

S