Confession--And it's a long one

I have a confession to make.

Is that a bad way to start a blog?  Making a confession?  I really don't know what's appropriate because honestly, blogs have never really been my thing.  I guess I'll find out.

My confession--I have issues with blogs.  And by issues I mean that with the exception of a few special blogs (my sister's, my best friend's, the fashionable hair-dresser's who I've never met but whose blog I stalk, and a few select others), I avoid them completely.  Given that this is my situation, you may wonder why on earth I would want to start a blog of my own.  Let me back up and explain.  

When Andrew and I first got married I was determined to be the perfect little house wife.  On a normal day I would get home from school/work about 20 minutes before he would, and those 20 minutes were complete chaos for me.  I would run around our tiny apartment, quickly doing dishes, wiping off the counters, and spraying more fa-breeze than was probably healthy for us to inhale.  Now don't get me wrong, Andrew in no way led me to believe that this was what he expected.  I had just somehow gotten this idea that to be the perfect wife meant that I had to make sure my husband came home to a perfectly clean house, a perfectly home-cooked meal, and a perfectly charming wife. But no pressure, right?

WRONG.  Eventually, the pressure I was placing on myself took effect.  While Andrew may have been coming home to a perfectly clean house, there was nothing perfectly charming about his stressed out, sweaty wife.  I felt like I was one dirty dish away from having a break down.  What does this have to do with my distaste in blogs you might ask?  Trust me, I'm getting there.

About a month after all this self-placed pressure began, I was at the doctor's office with a persistent cold that I just couldn't kick, and, just like I had expected, I completely broke down.  I started crying (which did nothing to help my already running nose) and I pored all of my feelings (something I tend to do quite frequently) on my poor doctor.  Luckily, the man took pity on me, and we began to try and figure out where my idea about what it meant to be the perfect wife had come from.  Don't ask me how we got here, but somehow we ended up talking about the (then) laundry list of Mormon mommy blogs I read on a daily bases.  You know the ones.  The ones with the women with their perfect houses, perfect meals, perfect hair, and perfect children who are always making perfect crafts.  It was just all so dang perfect and without realizing it, I had begun to judge MY life and MY capabilities as a wife by their "perfect" lives.  Yeah, not healthy. The conversation ended with my doctor handing me a tissue and prescribing a 30 day break from Mormon mommy blogs.  Don't read them, he said.  Stay far away.

And so I did.  And guess what?  I was happier.  It was ok that yesterday's laundry was still sitting in the dryer, it was ok that I didn't have anything better than rice and vegetables planned for dinner.  So, it is with that long introduction (too much information, maybe?) that I give you the two things I hope to accomplish with this blog.  One--to not convince you that my life is perfect.  Trust me, it's not.  The slip covers never fit the couch, the kitchen floor rarely gets swept, and I always end up making too much BBQ chicken (yes, it is possible).  And two--to convince you that that's ok.  Not that you have any reason to care about my life, but I believe that in sharing my life, my REAL life (the good, the bad, and the ugly), we can all learn and grow together.

Goodness, that was long.  But there it is, my introduction into the blogging world.   Whether or not you can relate, I hope you'll stay a long for the rest of the ride.  Suggestions?  Comments?  Please feel free.  Like I said, I'm new around here. :)