About

 

Who Am I?

 

My name is Alli, and I am a former corporate accountant turned stay-at-home mom for my beautiful children, Emma, Bryson, and Sophia, and the loving wife of my main squeeze, Derek. This blog documents my type-A adventures as I try to balance cooking, cleaning, renovating, decorating, and wrangling our active four-year-old, our stubborn one-year-old, and our adorable newborn - all while trying to find the good in each day.

 

 

Why Three Good Things?

When I was a little girl and was in a bad mood, my mom would always ask me to name three good things. The conversation would usually go something like this:

Me (sulking): I can't think of anything. Nothing good happened today.

Mom (dead pan serious): Well, did your hair catch on fire?

Me (reluctantly, but with less sulking): No.

Mom: So that's one good thing. Did an elephant sit on you?

Me (maybe smiling a tiny bit now): No.

Mom: So we have two good things. Your hair is still intact, and an elephant didn't squash you flat. Can you think of a third thing now?

I'd always manage to come up with some equally ridiculous third thing, and would walk away from the exchange with a smile and a brighter attitude to carry me through the rest of the day.

I have a daughter of my own now - a quirky and rambunctious four-year-old named Emma. After celebrating Emma's first birthday, my husband and I started trying for Baby #2 and now a dark cloud seems to follow me around. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the "trying" (wink, wink). But we went through two years and three consecutive miscarriages before our little miracle was born.

The idea of going through that process again honestly fills me with dread, and a certain amount of fear has been added to my everyday life. Then, last Sunday, the message at church was on a verse from Philippians 4:8 (NIV, emphasis added), "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." The verse reminded me of my mom's three good things, and of all the good things that God has blessed me with in my life.

I don't know what the weeks and months ahead will hold for me and my family, but with God's help, I will choose to focus not on the scary things, or the bad things that may happen, but on the good things, the funny things, and the beautiful things. So, that is why I am writing this blog; to document this next journey and to hold myself accountable for seeing the good each day, starting with the following three BEST things, for which I am always grateful:

1. I am a child of God.
2. I am the wife of Derek.
3. I am the mother of Emma (and Bryson and Sophia).

**Update: I had another successful pregnancy, and Bryson was born in 2013 and Sophia was born in 2015!