As a child I suffered from a severe case of perfectionism. At seven years old I would sit down every morning and make a detailed schedule of my day, outlining in crayon even the two minutes it took to brush my teeth. If something didn’t go according to plan – if everything wasn’t perfect – I would have a small meltdown.

Fortunately, I was blessed with parents who knew it was important for me to know life didn’t always go according to plan, but that it would always be okay. One night at dinner my mom reached over and, without warning, knocked my glass of milk over. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched the milk soak into the linen table cloth. Mom smiled and reminded me gently, “It’s just spilled milk!” Then, my dad reached over and knocked mom’s milk over. My younger brother delighted in this new game and enthusiastically knocked his own milk over. The table was a disaster! But, everyone was relaxed. Everyone was laughing. Spilled milk became a valuable lesson when it was spilled out of love.

In my heart I’m sure we were all put on this earth for our souls to learn a lesson. I must be in desperate need of a lesson in patience, and an incredibly slow learner, because the universe is constantly knocking my milk over. My life has rarely gone according to plan, but it has always been overflowing with love.

So, to document the beautiful chaos that makes up my day-to-day life, this blog was born. I am a southern mom, professional, graduate student, and wanna-be farmer. I rarely leave the house without my pearls and I cuss too much. I am the kid who the teacher always moved next to her desk because I talked too much. I strive to give people the benefit of the doubt but won’t hesitate to bless your heart.

My hope for this blog is that it will become a place where you will enjoy my stories, feel welcome to share your own stories with me, and we can embrace this messy life together. We are all bound to have our milk knocked over sometimes; all we can do when it happens is to focus on the love. Welcome.