Introductions

Beauty is a good letter of introduction. - Proverb

You'll notice I like quotes. Partly because it means I can write less. Partly because I'm not as deep as I would like to be, and it makes me feel deeper to steal other's sentiments.

Unfortunately I am not the embodiment of this quote. I'm not the opposite of it, thankfully, but I'm definitely not the picture of beauty flawless and pure I wish I could be. SO I've chosen to use a picture of my grandmother when she was 16. Because she really was beautiful. And because not only I think so, as this picture was used on a magazine cover in the 40's.

So, in lieu of beauty, I will have to introduce my family another way. How about I just tell you about them? I'm going to call my husband "MacGyver." This is the best definition I can come up with that a large number of people will understand. He's actually more of a MacGyver/Mulder/Sully mix. And a dash of Mr. Darcy and Hamlet thrown in, just so you don't think I base all my character references on 90's TV characters. As for my children, they are pretty typical. My oldest daughter is 6 and could run this house herself if she needed to. She is a caretaker, a mother, her brain doesn't register sarcasm and I think she has enough empathy to feel every emotion on the planet. She is a little challenged in the matching clothes/brushing hair department but her natural beauty makes up for it. "A beautiful mess" as her aunt calls her. My second born is a realist. He feels that everything that has happened to him in his nearly 5 years is automatically unfair, of course, but he has a knack for summing up the heart of any issue and cares if someone else is sad, because he knows how it feels, I suppose. Then there's our third. There aren't quite words to describe our third. She's probably the smartest of the bunch at 2, and there's no mountain (or piece of furniture) she won't climb and no bully or fight she won't take on wholeheartedly. She's our entertainer and the only one of my children that honestly scares me a little. Then there's our fourth (and last?) who has to be the sweetest, cutest, easiest baby in the world. Although he's full of smiles and quite tolerant, he can be counted on to scream if he has to in order to have his needs met.

We also have a mentally challenged dog. He was a really cute puppy when we got him 9 years ago only a couple weeks after we got married, but I'm not sure the purpose he serves anymore besides the designated "throw up on the carpet" or "distribute hair over the entire house" individual. At those he's quite the pro. He can also be counted on to chew through wooden gates when there's a thunderstorm or when my second born plays with his rocket-shooter.

We live in an average sized house in an average neighborhood. We bought your average groceries and products and did all the expected things without thought until more recently, when both MacGyver and I wondered if we could do such monumental tasks such as change our health for the better, save for the future, raise truly happy and well adjusted children and maybe not leave such a messy footprint on this world with our allotted pile of garbage.

So this is our journey. And I hope yours. I'm reaching that point where I feel like this is just a stupid idea of mine that no one is going to read or take seriously. But here's my promise. Even if I never get a response or more than a follower or two, I'm going to make a difference in this family, in this home, in this body. And even if you don't want to join me, I hope you'll read and see what really matters when this year of experimentation is up. Because isn't part of being human and being alive to see what improvement we can make to fight all the things that make life difficult?

Deep breath. Here we go.