it's monday...

I spent all weekend painting our master bedroom.  My third gallon of paint is almost gone and I'm still not done.  Have I mentioned I hate painting?  Because I spent all weekend focused on the paint and not my girls, they pretty much went wild pulling out everything in the house that was not nailed down (or secured behind childproof locks).  On a positive note, they played really well together and had a ball.  On the downside, my house is a complete disaster, which really stresses me out.

I often end up feeling like the image I project of myself here on my blog is much better than the person I really am.  I don't mean to do that.  Deep down I'm just a girl who is good at using coupons, but is otherwise far from perfect.  My hope with this blog is to inspire people to save money and live better, but I can't do that without being open and honest about my struggles as well as my triumphs.


So today I am participating in Confessions, a very cool idea started by Faith over at Simplicity, (which also happens to be the blog that is hosting my super awesome online photography class.)

Her idea behind the concept is simple.  Faith writes:

 Some weeks it might be rather trivial and superficial other weeks it might be deeply personal, or spiritual. I know that I am the most encouraged by other bloggers who share their lives graciously yet openly, I am comforted by knowing that I am not alone. There are other women, all around the world, who share common struggles... and joys. Which is why I'm also making this a link-up post. So we can gather our confessions together and confess that life is hard, we make mistakes and that's okay.

So without further ado, here are mine:

Confession:  Between this blog, my coupon shopping, my mom's group, the online photography class, getting ready for Halloween, and redecorating my bedroom, I may have bitten off more than I can chew this month.  I am more than a week behind on my photography class assignments.  I haven't even read one of them yet.  I love the class and amazingly even my minimal participation has dramatically improved my photography skills, but I put off my last assignment all week thinking I'd be able to get to it on the weekend, and then I spent all weekend painting.  I hate getting behind and putting things off, and the fact that I am slacking off on something I really wanted to do is bothering me.  Even worse, we committed to going to the Boo Ball this coming Friday with friends and not only have I not yet bought our tickets, we haven't even come up with a costume.  Why aren't there more hours in the day?

Confession:  I don't spend enough time just playing with my kids.  We go a lot of places, do a lot of crafts, and socialize with a lot of people, but I'm not really a get-down-on-the-floor and play kind-of mom.  I wish I were.  I see my mom friends who do it so naturally and sometimes wonder what is wrong with me.  On Friday I wasn't feeling well, and rather than tackle my never-ending to-do list for a day, I let myself just "hang out" with my kids.  We watched TV, we cuddled, we downloaded games and videos onto my phone, we had fun just doing nothing.  And the girls were so happy to have my undivided attention that they hardly knew what to do with themselves.  Which made me feel very, very guilty.

Confession:  I drink way too much coffee.  My Keurig coffee maker is my everyday indulgence and I would be lost without it, even though those little individual K-cups cost almost $0.40 apiece.  I will often skip breakfast and lunch and just drink coffee because it is easy and fast and doesn't make a mess and tastes delicious.   If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one thing, I would choose my coffee maker.  Which reminds me, my cup is empty and it is time for more!

So what are your confessions?  If you are a blogger and would like to participate, visit Simplicity.  Otherwise leave a comment below.  It'd be good to know I'm not alone....