Don't Get Offended! and My Ridiculous List for Today

It seems like in the blogging world, it's hard to win. There are always going to be those who are critical of you (thankfully I have not experienced this recently--knock on wood--but I have in the past) and those who admire you and those who probably are jealous of you.

The thing is, you have to take blog reading with a grain of salt--in other words, bloggers are human, too and while their lives may seem practically perfect in every way, that's kind of their job to share their successes and helpful hints and ideas. Generally, people don't want to read about all the negative things about your life (as shown by a recent post I saw on Facebook telling SAHMs to "shut up"), though of course, too much perfection (or not enough misery, I guess) can irritate readers equally as much. I had a reader tell me this once and it changed the way I write a little bit.

I'm generally a positive and happy person and I love sharing details about my life with people, but I also try to be realistic. I share my stresses, anxieties, flaws, what have you. I try not to complain (that is pretty much reserved for my poor husband) but I strive to be very honest with you. I don't really care if people know certain things about my life (even if I'm not particularly proud of them--like my seemingly incurable impatience) because I don't care what other people think about me. I do, but I don't. I care because I'm human and I don't believe anyone can truly shut that part of them completely off, but I don't care because whether I am a certain way or not, there will always be those out there who judge me for my choices, my opinions, my lifestyle. And not only that, but I believe that I will be judged fairly by Someone greater, and so I don't see the point of letting others bring me down, especially since some people are just mean-spirited and enjoy being bullies. I do not like those types of people. Sheesh, just be kind.

It does happen from time to time--me getting upset over something someone said--for brief periods (I can't really completely stifle that part of me), but when it does, I always think of a quote by the last beloved Mormon prophet who passed away about seven years ago. He said:

I just think this is fabulous advice and it has gotten me through so many small trials in my life.

But anyway, enough of that for now--I wanted to share a recent success I had with accomplishing several of my goals, all with the help of making a list in my journal. I. Love. Lists. I find it so satisfying to check things off my list and more than anything, it helps me to get things done much quicker than I ordinarily would. Plus, because it's written down, it feels more like an assignment. It's on the list, so it has to be done. Here is a peek at my extensive list for the day (the house had a lot of messes until yesterday and today so that's why there is so much on here).

In case you were wondering about the middle part where I cycled in our warmer/ more seasonal clothes (pushing our summer stuff to the back of the drawers), I did that at Dalin's request because he only has one shirt drawer and it was hard for him to access his long-sleeved shirts.

The thing about that was that it motivated me to work on all of our other drawers and our closet, too. My stuff has actually stayed pretty organized, so all I had to do was refold the clothing items I wore once but that were in that awkward in-between-wanting-to-wash-and-wear-again stage so they just ended up on our floor or the bed.

I even went through and re-did Dalin's entire sock drawer. No, that is not a regular thing--I've done it maybe one other time in our marriage, but it just makes me feel better knowing that all of his socks have a match (and tossing all those dirty, holey ones that end up on my living room floor every. single. night).

Yes, I even took a picture of Dalin's sock drawer for your viewing pleasure. This photo almost makes me teary I'm so happy:)

Tenley helped--sort of--she kept tossing socks in the drawer before I could find the sock's match, but it made me work quite a bit faster, and I was listening to the talks from the Priesthood session of General Conference to keep my mind occupied (guys, those talks were amazing! I loved Elder Cook's). Anyhow, it just felt nice to know that every drawer is in ship shape before our trip to Boise this weekend! I'm very excited and looking forward to all the fall-ish stuff we will hopefully be able to do there with Tenley and Dalin's family. I am not, however, looking forward to the 6-hour drive with our one-year old. But I'm pushing those thoughts far from my mind for now.

Well, I'm actually about to go do a few more things (namely, the dishes, tidying, and bedtime routine items) from my list, so I better get moving so I can hurry and get to bed (yikes, 15 minutes until my "goal" bedtime for tonight? It's not looking good).

Thanks for reading! Tell me about your weekend plans or list-making! That honestly will interest me more than you think. Plus, I'd like to have some ideas to ponder on our long drive tomorrow!