Veni, vidi, defecit ?

Julius Caesar supposedly described one of his victories as:

“veni, vidi, vici.”

Translation: "I came, I saw, I conquered."

You'll notice my title is slightly different:

"Veni, vidi, defecit."

Translation: "I came, I saw, I failed."

This was my feeling last week. I had a little mini breakdown in my kitchen. Mark & I were cooking dinner together. The kids were in the other room. We were talking about my Bible study class (the Excellent Wife study).  We had had just covered the page: Ways a Wife May be the Glory of Her Husband. It was basically a list of ways that you could help and take care of your husband everyday. It came off as very Donna Reed like.

I always thought I would love to be Donna Reed. The perfect housewife. My children would be little angels, only occasionally get into mischief. I would keep an immaculate house. I would know how to garden and cook and sew. Dinner would be on the table, for my adoring husband, when he arrived home from work each evening.

Here's the reality: I have twin boys that get into mischief (or worse) on a daily basis. I have a laundry pile as tall as my daughter waiting to be folded & put away. My floors need to be mopped. I have little hand prints and smudges on all my windows and most of my walls. Forget gardening, I can barely keep house plants alive. Cooking, well if you saw my Potato (Poh-tA-toe) Potato (Poh-ta-toh) post you would know what that's like. Tonight I have to glue my daughters girl scout patches on her vest because my sewing skills are non-existent. 5:00pm around our house is utter chaos! I try hard to have dinner at least defrosted. But, sometimes that's as good as it gets. Donna Reed. Who's Donna Reed?

I started telling my husband about some of the things the book suggested that I could do. Then I started crying. I had been trying so hard the last couple of weeks to be this perfect wife, mother, woman. Now I had this list of all new things I could be doing. I was overwhelmed. I couldn't do it all. I felt like a failure. My wonderful husband then proceeded to tell me all of the things that I do for him and our family. He told me that he couldn't do what I do. Which is great. Because, there's no way I could do what he does. He then reminded me that I had decided I wanted to be a more excellent wife, mother, woman. Not a perfect one. That's where I got overwhelmed. Rather than doing what I originally planned, working on small things to become more excellent. I had started trying for "perfection" in every area.

We're all at different stages of our lives. For me, during this season of my life, I will have near constant fingerprints and smudges on my windows and walls. I will have little boys who are learning and exploring and making messes. I will have laundry that may pile up. I may not always have dinner on the table. But, I will have a happy and well cared for family. They will know that I love and appreciate them. I will continue to do little things to become more excellent. I will not stress about it. I will not drive myself and my family crazy over it.

I will live, love, laugh and attempt to become a Proverbs 31 woman along the way.

Be encouraged that you can become more excellent in little ways. And, remember to enjoy the season you're in.

My Excellent Adventure

In my last post I mentioned I was on a journey of becoming a more excellent wife. If you're anything like me  you just heard Bill & Ted's voice saying, "Excellent" ! in that annoying and unforgettable way.

I'm involved in a ministry called PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). It's a group of military wives who meet weekly for food, fellowship & encouragement. Each semester you choose a Bible study that you will work on in smaller groups.

I chose to join the study based on the book with the same title as this guide.

I am a pretty good wife. You can ask my husband. No really, go ahead and ask. I did. I was pretty sure he would say yes. I figured I should know what he was going to say. You know, in case  people cornered him in the commissary asking if it was true or not. Now, I know that there's room for improvement in everything. While I may be a pretty good wife, I am far from excellent.

In the beginning of our study we went over the Proverbs 31 woman. She's basically a super wife, super mom and super woman. I want to be her! If you don't know who the proverbs 31 woman is you can look her up in the Bible or online under Proverbs 31: 10-31. She's a great example of how to be a more excellent woman.

So, I decided to start the blog: A Proverbs 31 woman (in the making) to catalog Bill & Ted's My Excellent Adventure. Or more accurately, My Adventure to Excellence! I will be sharing the new ways, little and big, in which I am trying to be more excellent. Hopefully along the way I'll get to hear some of your ideas on how you show excellence in your life. Together we can become Proverbs 31 women.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised

Proverbs 31: 30

Potato (Poh-tA-toe) Potato (Poh-ta-toh)

I am embarrassed to admit that in my almost 10 years of marriage I had never made mashed potatoes from scratch ! We had always eaten the boxed stuff. When we first got married it was plain Potato Spuds from Betty Crocker. 

After a couple years I started feeling adventurous and we branched out to the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, still by Betty Crocker.

The last couple years, when I started getting more "health conscious" we made the big leap to Redskin & Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes, from Hungry Jack. What's healthier than Redskin potatoes, right ?

On my recent journey of becoming a more excellent wife and mother I decided to do the unthinkable. I was going to make mashed potatoes from scratch! I found a recipe on SkinnyTaste.com http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/08/skinny-meatloaf-cupcakes-with-mashed.html

As I gathered my ingredients for the Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes, my 6.5yr old daughter came into the kitchen. When I told her I was making mashed potatoes & she saw that I had real potatoes in hand she responded with a, "I didn't know you could do that !" When I asked her to elaborate she said, "Make mashed potatoes from real potatoes" ! Have I ever had real mashed potatoes before?

Apparently my less than savvy cooking skills have been hindering my daughter more than I realized. Needless to say I made meatloaf "cupcakes" & mashed potato "frosting". They didn't turn out quite like the pictures on the website

 But, the kids enjoyed them and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I think real mashed potatoes will be our new way to eat potatoes. Well, after we finish off the 2 boxes of instant Redskin & Yukon Gold potatoes in the pantry.