Keeping It Real

In what was a serious spur of the moment rebellion against social media perfection, I came up with something called "Keep It Real Friday."  This literally came about one Friday as I was scrolling thru Instagram and looked around my house and realized that I was about as far from pinterest perfect as I could be.  And I thought, "what the heck?  Maybe someone else can relate."  So I turned the camera on myself and showed the world (or my 200 instagram followers) the state of affairs.

Keep It Real Friday

In a weird way, it's become liberating.  Every week I post another "Keep It Real Friday" video and while I would like to tell you I spend a lot of time dreaming these babies up, the truth is, I don't.  And I don't rehearse them, although sometimes it takes me a couple of takes to get them into the 1 minute time frame.  (Because let's be real, I think more than one minute of me is probably too much.)  Sometimes I worry that they are self serving--which is the opposite of what I'm going for.  One day I just realized that while cute, fun pictures of my kids, or family, or house or latest vacation is all fine and good, it doesn't really paint a true picture of what life is like.

Life is messy.  And complicated.  It's hectic and boring and inspiring and maddening.  Some days are great but a lot of them are pretty run of the mill and sometimes they are miserable.  Our sinks are full of dirty dishes, beds are unmade and we use TVs as babysitters so we can get some peace and quiet.  Gourmet meals are a rarity, kids socks don't match and teenage meltdowns occur.  We laugh, play, cry and every once in a while throw our own adult tantrums.  But hopefully, in all of that we find the time to appreciate the moments, count our blessings and find joy in the journey.

So "Keep It Real Fridays" has been my way of embracing my less than picture perfect, but perfect for me life.  I hope you will join me.  Hop on over to our instagram account at morganlifeadvice and help us keep it real.

LaLa Land Mid Life Crisis

Last weekend Dave and I decided to pony up the big bucks and go to the movie theater to see the critically acclaimed "LaLa Land."  In case you haven't heard this movie is racking up awards faster than you can count and our son Davis loved it and has been playing the theme song for the last month.  I figured a musical would be a fun, light hearted end to our week.

Uh...wrong.

Have you seen this movie?  We loved it--but we hated it!  I don't want to give anything away but let's just say that we left the theater in a serious state of introspection (and possibly minor depression.)

(I realize after reading what I just typed that it paints the movie in a bad light.  I have a hard and fast rule that I don't see movies (or read books) with sad endings and I will say that seeing this movie didn't break that rule--I guess...I think the fact that I STILL can't decide if it's a happy or sad ending says something for the number this film did on me.)  Let's just say this movie will make you take a hard look at your life.

I can fully admit that I am currently in a state of "what am I doing with my life???"  I can see the end of my child rearing days and they aren't terribly far off.  For the last 24 years I've been raising kids.  I loved it--most of it.  (Potty training, two year old tantrums and teaching teens to drive I can do without.) From the time I can remember all I wanted to be was a mom and while raising a big family certainly has it challenges, it was exactly what I knew I should be doing.  And I've loved the ride.

And in less than 5 years, that ride is over.  Now, I want to be clear, I'm looking forward to what's ahead.  I just don't know what's ahead.  What does the next 25 years look like for Dave and me?  I'm hoping it involves cruises and visits to grandkids and the usual Disney trips.  I want to do more service, do more writing and who knows, maybe bring this podcast dream to fruition.  But it's all a little murky and just a tiny bit scary.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to savor these last few years.  I want to be more thoughtful, more engaged, more present.  And someone needs to answer this question for me:  What is UP with the end of that movie???

Family Picture Purgatory

Recently I came across this video on Facebook which I find both hilarious and a perfect analogy of every family picture session we have ever experienced.

https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedAnimals/videos/1444061692282488/

I can't be the only one that absolutely dreads getting family pictures.  Let's start with the obvious:  you have to come up with something to wear. You know, something matching but not too matching because you don't want it to look like you are trying too hard or have resurrected the Olan Mills portrait days.  Then, to make matters worse, your kids have opinions about what to wear.  And those opinions usually don't have anything to do with the outfits you've spent hours picking out.  No, they want to wear their lucky shirt and crocs and somehow aquatic shoes don't quite fit in your vision of the perfect family portrait.

Then assuming you can get everyone dressed, in the car and to the place on time you have to endure the picture taking session.  I can't decide what's worse, getting a picture taken with a bunch of toddlers/pre teens who either a) are positively starving or b) have to go to the bathroom.  Or getting a picture taken with six teenager/young adults who are wittier and more passive aggressive than you. Again.  Either situation is a toss up in misery.

Now comes the part where you have to actually touch each other.  Like put your arms around each other or at the very least squeeze in tight which is positively the worst thing you could ask them to do apparently.  Scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush would be better than this.  Eating a bowl full of broccoli would be cake compared to everyone huddled together in an unnatural position looking at the camera all at once with a mildly pleasant look on their faces.

Torture.  I'm telling you.

So here's what I've done over the years:  embraced it.

If everyone doesn't match, so what.  Maybe those Batman high tops will end up being a super cool reminder of your son's personality.  They don't want to touch each other?  The goofy poses they come up with tell a better, more realistic story anyway.  The perfect family picture?  It doesn't really exist.  At least not for this family.

And that's ok.  Because we are keeping it real.

If you are local and looking for some fantastic family pictures with minimal amount of torture, we highly recommend Clouds in Bloom Photography 
Clouds in Bloom