Stop and Smell the Weeds

I schedule when I'm going to blog now. Not because I'm sooooo busy that I can't keep up otherwise, but because I have more opportunities being thrown on my plate with my blog and with Instagram, so I have found it helpful to write out when everything is happening, and schedule specific days to blog so that I don't get caught up in everything else and leave you guys hanging. My typical blogging days are Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Last week, I posted Wednesday night because I had somewhere to be on Thursday and was afraid I'd run out of time {hi, my name's Chelsea, I have a toddler + I'm always running late}. I was actually planning to do the same this week because I have to take Emerson to the doctor this morning + thought I'd be too short on time. Well, yesterday was quite possibly one of my longest parenting days to date and I was in bed by 9pm last night because I had the worst toddler hangover {what I call a headache after a particularly long day with my girl} + my muscles were literally aching from the gym earlier in the day. I was just too tired to use my brain to form any coherent type of post on here. So, here we are. It's Thursday morning and I'm the only one awake, for now. I've got coffee in hand, notes I jotted down yesterday for this post, and about 10 more minutes until Emerson starts stirring, so let's get to it.

Yesterday started well, I woke up early, ate a good breakfast + drank my coffee while it was hot. I had planned to go to the gym, so I was all ready once Emerson woke up. I got her dressed + loaded her in the car. I didn't have time to give her breakfast, so she snacked on a the handful, or two, of {most likely} stale strawberry-apple puffs + goldfish crackers that I found beneath the butt pad in her carseat. Don't judge me, she was happy as a clam because she loves her "poooooooofs". So she ate a good hearty breakfast on the way to moms {kidding, my mom actually fed her real food} and I made it to the gym "on time". I worked out hard, probably too hard because I'm paying for it at this  moment. My shoulders are screaming at me. I picked Emerson up from my moms, took her home, fed her lunch + played for a bit, then began the battle. The all out battle of the fittest, quite literally. Every time I tried to lay her down for a nap yesterday {I tired for an hour + a half} she would scream and fight + squirm and yell "dooooooowwwwnnn". So, after I'd exhausted 99% of my tricks, I resorted to loading her in the car in hopes of her snagging even a little catnap {anyone knows that a non-napping kid during the day makes for a CRANKY kid come evening}. This is where I had to make light of the situation to keep from crying myself. It had been the longest hour and a half of my life up to this point. I just wanted her to sleep. Just SLEEP, kid.

The car nap gods were on my side, and she fell asleep about 30 minutes into our drive. So, I drove the back country roads for almost 2 hours yesterday afternoon. Luckily, I was smart enough to make myself a big cup of coffee + a snack {carrots + hummus of all things} for the ride. I don't know why I thought carrots + hummus were the best options because carrots are the loudest snack on the planet when you have a sleeping kid 3 feet from you. Oh well, you live and you learn.

During my drive yesterday, I noticed some things that actually made me laugh, a lot. I thought I would share some of my observations from driving WAY back in the country. Here's my list of 10 ways to know you're in the deep country:

1. You see more houses with Christmas decoration still up in mid-February than you do in your own neighborhood during the actual holidays.

2. You drive down roads that you never even knew existed even though you've lived here for 28 years.

3. You're pretty sure you have found the next 8 houses for the show "Hoarders".

4. There are fields of cotton.

5. All of the houses have tractors parked in the driveway or in the surrounding area.

6. Cotton. Cotton. Cotton. {I REALLY wanted to stop + get some for decor purposes, but was afraid to stop for fear of waking the beast}.

7. You pass the same house 5 times all by turning down a different "back road".

8. In the middle of trailers and itty bitty houses, you see this house {complete with PALM TREES}. That sky was on point though!

And there you have it, 8 things I learned yesterday while driving in the "deep country". I actually had to stop and laugh at one point because even though it kind of sucked driving around in the late afternoon{hello snoozefest}, I actually enjoyed the peace + quiet and the beauty of the Earth {if you didn't notice, check out the sky in the picture above}. I never knew some areas of our "city" existed until yesterday. So even though yesterday was another long day for Emerson and I {probably more for me than her}, God reminded me yet again, that even though the days can be long, these years are fleeting.  I need to quite literally STOP and smell the flowers {or more realistically, the weeds that my daughter picked for me while we played at the park}.

Let me encourage you, as I preach this to myself, that even on the long, arduous days, try to remember to stop and smell the flowers {even if they look like weeds}, whether literally like me, or figuratively. Sometimes that's all it takes to turn the day around. Have a wonderful Thursday, friends! You're almost to Friday; hang in there!