Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Peace in the Process
    • Bringing Home More Than Groceries
    • Created for Communion
  • Contact

Real life messes

May 20, 2013 by Kristin Leave a Comment

My house was a mess. And I took pictures. 

The dishes on the right are clean, awaiting their return to their homes. The ones in the sink are obviously dirty. The dishwasher needed unloading and reloaded. Yes, that’s grass growing toward the back. People, chill. It’s a preschool project that’s doing well.

Piles filled the counters and even some spots of the floor. School supplies and backpack contents spilled near the shoes gathered by the door. Please notice to the right the crushed Spiderman Cheez-It crackers. Those crumbs were there at least two days.

Let’s take a closer look at those shoes by the door. Six pairs belong to my 6-year-old girl, who obviously likes sparkles; two belong to my 3-year-old boy who has a momma who clearly prefers shoes that don’t tie; and one pair belongs to my husband, who would never walk out in the garage barefoot like I would. And, yes, that’s some snack trash from my girl’s backpack mixed in.

Six loads of laundry waiting to be folded. Another load in the washer waiting to be move to the dryer, which was finishing up its load. I told my girl on Saturday that her new chore is matching socks. She panicked a little. “Do I have to do it every day?”

No, dear. Clearly I don’t deal with laundry every day. 

Saturday was a good just-the-four-of-us day. We’re all social extroverts, so there is much inviting friends over for dinner {which, actually, I did for Saturday, but the other family couldn’t come} and meeting friends at the park and playing games with friends and making an assortment of other plans with friends. But Saturday it was just us. And it was good.

We spent a couple hours going to yard sales, where we scored my boy a bike; drove some things out to our lake house; had lunch at Penn Station; worked outside; watched “Scandal” while Ben napped and Cate played in her room; played outside; cleaned some; ate pizza on the front porch; got the kids to bed early and us adults watched the rest of “Scandal.”

Yes, the rest. Like we’ve watched all 29 existing episodes {seven in season one on Netflix and 22 in season two on Amazon/Hulu} in a couple weeks.

And, yes, notice the lack of cleaning listed in my inventory of our day. A little. Before I tackled the house, I cleaned out the van instead. Priorities, people. I bagged trash, vacuumed crumbs and wipes smudges while my husband used a machete to whack some weeds down near our fence. It’s when we came in from doing those chores that we sat on the couch under the ceiling fan and watched “Scandal” for the first of what would be two times that day. We are were addicted and had to know what happened next with Olivia Pope, Fitz Grant and their friends, er, enemies.

The house got clean over the course of Saturday and some of Sunday. Of course, a boy who spilled his milk and got into his sister’s nail polish, a girl who chose yet another pair of shoes, and a husband who reminded me Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest were involved. Only a little grumpiness from me was involved. The rest of the time, I enjoyed my family this weekend in and around this sometimes-messy house.

________

Want more? Subscribe to get “Insights” in your inbox. Like 152 Insights on Facebook. Or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Affiliate links included in case you want to be addicted to “Scandal” too. 

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: family, life, motherhood

Comments

  1. jenn says

    May 20, 2013 at 1:00 pm

    Scandal is one of my favs too!! Living in a mess from time to time is great, because it means your living life!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. KristinHillTaylor says

    May 20, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    You're so right. I just have to remind myself sometimes. 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply to jenn Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

Subscribe for Updates

Recent Posts

  • How to take the trip
  • Eight is great!
  • A few of my favorite things
  • He Should Have Told The Bees
  • Created for Communion

Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation

On Instagram

This book was hard to hear, but also a good story This book was hard to hear, but also a good story based on real life. 

"Cilka's Journey" follows "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" when a character from that story is moved to a Siberian work camp. I've never thought about the women in those camps and how their bodies were affected by the abuse, what would happen if they did get pregnant, and how nurses were certainly needed. Of course, it's so bittersweet to know despite the hard circumstances friendships still bloomed. 

I borrowed this audiobook from Libby, but the Kindle version is also included for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

THE BOOK: amzn.to/3tbp91Z
KINDLE UNLIMITED: amzn.to/3Pz8Un4

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #librarybooks #kindleunlimited #historicalfiction
Y'all have been so awesome celebrating my new book Y'all have been so awesome celebrating my new book! If you've had a chance to read it, I'd really appreciate you leaving a review. For authors, Amazon is the best place, but you can copy and paste the same review on Goodreads and Barnes & Noble too: 

📚 Amazon: bit.ly/createdforcommunion
📚 Barnes & Noble: mavely.app.link/e/RHD4MooDGCb
📚 Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/197602230-created-for-communion

Of course, if you haven't gotten your copy yet, you can buy "Created for Communion" at Amazon or Barnes & Noble (from those links above!) and from the trunk of my minivan! 

🌸 Plus there are FREE resources, including a sample chapter, on my website: kristinhilltaylor.com/created-for-communion

#linkinbio #authorlife #KHTreads #bookstagram #bookrelease #author #book #booklaunch #amazonbook #goodreads #marketrefinedpublishing #MRPbook #bookshelf #nonfiction #selfhelpfbooks #christianbooks #christianauthors #CreatedforCommunion #GodsDesign #BiblicalFriendship #KristinHillTaylor #communion #friendship #faithlife #community #bettertogether #friends #holyfriendships #bookreviews #freebies
To live in communion with one another, means to sh To live in communion with one another, means to share meals, space, advice, and prayers. It also means sharing hope, disappointment, dreams, and forgiveness. 

We explore what this looks like in “Created for Communion,” along with other biblical foundations for friendships and community.

🌸 FREE RESOURCES & SAMPLE CHAPTER: 
kristinhilltaylor.com/created-for-communion

🌸 GET THE BOOK:
bit.ly/createdforcommunion

#linkinbio #KHTreads #bookstagram #bookrelease #author #book #booklaunch #amazonbook #goodreads #marketrefinedpublishing #MRPbook #bookshelf #nonfiction #selfhelpfbooks #christianbooks #christianauthors #CreatedforCommunion #GodsDesign #BiblicalFriendship #KristinHillTaylor #communion #friendship #faithlife #community #bettertogether #friends #holyfriendships
So many of my Facebook friends shared lovely pictu So many of my Facebook friends shared lovely pictures of their daughters yesterday for the completely made-up National Daughters Day. Regardless, today I'm all in my feelings about my daughters. 

They're 16 and 8 right now. Both of their classes have been studying ancient Egypt and had a joint feast today. Sweet, huh? 

BUT THEN TIMEHOP GOT ME! Apparently, NINE years ago today, when Cate was a second-grader, her class had an Egyptian feast. I think about a particular picture of Cate and her friend Kilee from that day AND THEN IT CAME UP IN MY TIMEHOP TODAY. Facebook also told me that same day nine years ago, Monica and I became Facebook friends. We probably were at the Egyptian feast and decided we'd be friends because our girls were friends. Y'all, God has been so good to me through my friendship with Monica. Our families click in a special way with our three sets of same-aged kids, most of whom have been adopted. 

Anyway, my daughters. They're lovely, funny, and smart. I love that Cate helped Rachel with her Egyptian eye makeup this morning and made her a Nutella and banana sandwich. I love that they got to have a party today at school together. I love that even though they're eight years apart, they're sisters. 

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do. 💛

#momlife #timehop #documentlife #bettertogether #sisters #siblinglove #nationaldaughtersday #daughters #reallife #schoollife #adoption #adoptionislove #PeaceInTheProcess #CreatedForCommunion #choosingJOY @ncca.lions
I’m pretty much always thinking about my next tr I’m pretty much always thinking about my next trip! Be it a weekend getaway or a family vacation, I’ve always got ideas of where I want to go next. The rest of my family always has suggestions too. Yes, take the (next) trip!

In the blog post HOW TO TAKE THE TRIP, I share lots of links and suggestions on where to go, who can help you, and what to take with you. 

✨ https://kristinhilltaylor.com/2023/09/how-to-take-the-trip.html

Where do you want to go? What do you always take with you?

#linkinbio #ontheblog #roadtrip #vacation #documentlife #takethetrip #bloggerlife #adventurers #choosingJOY #traveltips
I was thankful for some rest time on the couch on I was thankful for some rest time on the couch on Saturday afternoon — and a chance to finish this suspense book. 

“Between Two Strangers” by @katewhite_author had such an intriguing plot that pulled me right in. I was close to figuring out how it was all intertwined, but I didn’t quite get there through all the twists. Good, quick read!

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #librarybooks #weekending #latergram #suspensebooks #goodreads
Recently, in random snapshots. This is a full life Recently, in random snapshots. This is a full life, but it’s a good life. 💛

#momlife #siblinglove #bettertogether #reallife #latergram #documentlife #soccermom #boymom #girlmom
When you subscribe to emails from my porch, you ge When you subscribe to emails from my porch, you get some free goodies! Plus, it's a fun way to chat about life, books, and faith. 

I just updated the free gifts to include a lovely PDF that has links to 27 (!!!) how-to posts about life, home, and parenthood. I'm going to give away more goodies when I meet some subscriber goals, so, if you haven't already, please join me on my virtual porch. 

🏠 bit.ly/PorchEmails

#linkinbio #PorchStories #bloggerlife #email #bettertogether #onlinefriends #authorlife #freebies #favoritethings
Well, don't they look lovely together! ✨ Find Well, don't they look lovely together! 

✨ Find them all here: https://amzn.to/3sRUHd7

#linkinbio #CreatedForCommunion #MoreThanGroceries #PeaceInTheProcess #bettertogether #hospitalitymatters #friendship #GodsDesign #selfpublished #books #KHTreads #bookstagram #bookshelf #goodreads #authorlife #PorchStories
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Favorites

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 Kristin Hill Taylor | Site by MRM