i'm just gonna be me (and some thoughts on blogging)

"You look like Downtown Julie Brown."

That's what my husband said to me the other night when he saw me wearing my cute new headband 

from SugarBlossom that sweet Danielle gave me. 

"Ummmmmm, is that a good thing?" I asked.

"Yeah, she was kind of like the Punky Brewster for teenagers."

Now, to most people this might not seem complimentary, 

but my husband knows me well. 

Is it weird that I am in my 30s and still look to Punky as my style icon?

Maybe, and I'm okay with it.

I think for ages I've felt like I should fit into some particular mold.

I should tone down what I am going to wear 

or hold back in sharing my thoughts...

concerned with how others might perceive me or think I'm silly, or whatever.

And now, 34 years into life, I've come to this conclusion:

that's dumb.

I am who I am, and I'm a work in progress.

I let my kids eat cupcakes in the morning.

I get more excited about a cute dress I find at the thrift store than one I might like at Nordstrom.

I love Jesus and traveling and dancing to Michael Jackson.

I want to take my kids to Africa.

I have like 13 shades of gray nail polish.

I am messy and disorganized and I have a love/hate relationship with mopping.

I don't see the point in folding laundry.

I have a very hard time resisting bright and crazy tights at Target.

I have a hard time resisting a lot of things at Target, actually.

The thing is, that makes me who I am. Not everything about me is fantastic

and I have a lot of room to grow.

 But my personality?

It's been pretty much the same since I was seven.

I'm quirky and silly and do things that people sometimes shake their head at.

That makes life fun.

Lately I've seen a lot of bloggers encouraging newbies to find their niche.

What's your voice going to be in the blogging world?

Can I just throw in my two cents?

My favorite blogs, the ones I go back to again and again, are the ladies who share

their lives. That's who I feel so connected to.

I struggled for a long time in what my content "should" be here in this little space.

And that totally wasn't true to who I am, what I want to remember, or what I want this place to be.

It won't be a blog on the topic of kids or crafting, food or fashion.

It's not an adoption blog, or a faith blog, or a handmade business blog.

It's all of it.

And hopefully even more than that. Because I'm more than that.

That's my hope for you, too.

That you would believe in how fantastic you are just by being you.

You have value and worth, not based on what you wear or write or do or say,

but because you are you.

Created with love and purpose to live this life to the fullest.

I need to be reminded of that often.

As a dear friend would say, "Don't take yourself too seriously, y'all."