Womens History Month

 One of my beloved regulars laughed at me a while back because I said that I had two full time jobs: being a barista and being a housewife. 

Now I understand that a few people might really disagree with this blog post but I'm just sharing the facts of my life and what I know to be the truth. 

Being a housewife IS a full-time job. 

There is no question about it. 

Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely in love with being a housewife and I hope that someday, I can turn it into my only full-time job. I love cultivating a life for my husband and I, but it's no "stay at home and relax" type situation. 

I meal plan for lunches and dinners and breakfast on the weekends. I compile grocery lists and take into account my husband's dietary needs (as well as my own). I grocery shop and meal prep and most my Sundays are spent in the kitchen, cooking, so Billy can have homemade gourmet lunches all through the week. I take pride in knowing that when he opens his lunch, all the guys on the aircraft go "mmmm that smells good!" 

I keep my home clean and tidy and find ways to make it more comfortable for us to live in. I take care of laundry and the vacuuming, and the mopping and I also have a small garden to tend to. I take care of our family's finances, making sure bills are paid and that we have a growing savings so we can make smart investments in the future. 

My days are all FULL! Even weekends there are dishes to do and food to be made and laundry to fold. I just live in 600 square feet! It's so sad to me to see women being so attacked in the media. 

"You're not doing enough if all you do is tend to your home." 

"Raising a family should be the last thing you think about." 

"You need to work more hours if you want to be anybody in this industry." 

The attacks go on and on, digging at all the things that we are called to be. 

Just in the last month, I've learned to make my own butter, bread, and learned how to make my own house cleaners.  

I don't understand how you can look at what I do and think "she's being forced, this is female oppression." 

I choose to have two jobs, and I love them both. I don't work because I have to. I could stay at home all day and brush my hair if I wanted to. I am free to do whatever I please. I hardly make money at the job I do now. I do it because I love it, and my husband is fine with that. I think it's incredible that I am so blessed to be a woman, and to be a woman in this time! I can wear whatever I want, I can vote, I can work outside the home, and I can own land and even my own truck and have it all under my own name! There are tons of scholarships available to me, just because I am a woman! I get special time off work for when I choose to have a child, and on that note, my body can do what no other body can do: I can create life. 

I have value that has nothing to do with how hard I work, how much money I earn, how sexy I can dress, or even what work I do in my home or for my husband. SO many women before me really did struggle. They couldn't vote, or own land, or have the ability to make the same money that men do.  That simply wasn't an option for us. We weren't even allowed to read. Now, I am building my own little library of books that I read for fun. 

I think it's incredible to be a woman. I feel so special and divine and feminine. Don't laugh at me for saying I have two jobs. Don't try to take value away from a woman because she chooses to work in the home. It's not easy! It is work, it's a full-time job, and someday I hope we own enough land that it can be my only job. You can bet your bottom dollar that, if given the chance, I'll be out in the fields wearing a pretty dress while I harvest the veggies I grew, petting the cows I helped raise, with my bare feet covered in mud. 

Now, this isn't to say that working a more corporate job or choosing a fuller workload outside the home isn't as honorable, and it's also not to say that I think men shouldn't help around the house! My husband helps me with household chores because I do take on a workload outside of the home. 

What I am saying is that it's not laughable. I know my regular didn't mean it in any other way than a silly scoff, but it's sad to me that that's even a reaction. 

So happy Womens History Month to the women who fought and struggled for our right to vote and be treated as more than dogs or slaves. 

What a year!

 Its the start of march and I'm already blown away at what a year it has been for me. 

I have spent so much time this year really just trying to learn as much as I can about my health and wellness. I've learned how to make my own butter, started growing the world's smallest garden, quit caffeine and sugar, and even started to learn how to make my own bread. I have also decided that this will be the year I become a Florida resident and enroll in a few college classes. There! I've said it. How crazy. I can't believe what a year it has been already. 

Last year I spent a lot of time healing from my past, opening up scars I didn't know were there and going back over them, so they heal properly. This year I have been working on healing my body! I could potentially get rid of my celiac by healing my gut. My acne has finally cleared up (first time since I was 13!!!) I'm turning 23 in a few days, and I just can't believe where I am at in life. 

You know, I promised my mom that I absolutely would not get married until after I turned 23. Now I'm on my second year of marriage. 

I guess I'm so amazed by the things I've accomplished because I spent so much of my life really believing that I couldn't do or be anything. I feel like I've really tapped into what God wants for my life, and what God says about me though. I've already gotten halfway through the bible this year (another goal I thought would take me way longer to accomplish) and I'm just relishing in being in His presence. 

I have picked up my laptop up a hundred times to write a blog about what I learned, or accomplished in the last few months but as soon as my fingers were on the kyes, I had no idea what to say or how to convey what I wanted to tell you. Maybe my thoughts today seem scattered and jumbled, but that's only because I myself, am sorting out my thoughts. One thing you need to know about my blog is that its a tool I use to reflect and really soak up life. Mostly my blog is just letters to me. Hopefully I look back on all my posts and smile, because I made it through the hard stuff, and I celebrated all the good. 

I think its really easy for me to get into a negative headspace because I spent a lot of time learning to be comfortable there, and its scarier for me to live in the good moments. I find myself holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Scared to truly enjoy anything because I am bracing myself for what's next. Typically, I would be very nervous, wrecking all the good things because I am so scared of what's next. Maybe if nothing is ever really "That Good" nothing will ever really be "That Bad" either. 

But you know what? I'm really happy. I feel at peace. I love my little patio filled with random sized pots and I love the way my homemade butter tastes. Its actually really hard for me and I have to actively work at not ruining the good things in my life.