< Life >

I will be the first to admit I have always been neurotic.. every-picture-straight, shoes-lined-up-in-a neat-row, socks-paired-a-certain-way type of neurotic. I always knew my house would be a model-type setting where everything is in its place and you would swear no one lived there..

And then I got married. And then I acquired two miniature schnauzers. It was not uncommon for me to have a mini break down when I come home from a long 4 or 5 day work stretch to find crap no where near where it was when I left. Chase has plenty of stories to tell there.

But I am slowly rehabilitating, accepting the fact that schnauzers do secretly sneak in sticks to chew up into tiny splinters in the carpet, husbands do leave dirty socks randomly throughout the house, dust does magically appear, and bathrooms are inherently the dirtiest and my least favorite room to clean in the house.

I am slowly realizing my favorite thing about my families' homes is that fact that they are "lived-in". The sight of grubby grass-stained tennis shoes by the front door suggesting afternoon lawn mowing had been accomplished, dirty wines glasses in the sink after a girls night get-together, a blanket wadded up the couch that someone left unfolded after a good long nap. Those are things I love. They are HOME.

Sometimes I make myself not make the bed. Because after a long day, I see those messy sheets and I think damn I slept good last night and now I get to curl up in them again. And I do. I crawl right in where I had lain before and I am happy.

Life is messy and I love it. I know now my home wont be the glamorous one in Better Homes and Gardens, I wont be the wife who always has the laundry done and a plan for dinner, and I won't be the perfect park mom with the diaper bag readily stocked with plenty of diapers, toys, and organic snacks.

My home will be the one with the grass that should of been mowed a couple days ago, I will be the mom that forgoes cleaning up the kitchen for one night in order to rock her baby to sleep, and I AM the wife who doesn't always remember to get all the laundry done in preparation for a new week.

But we will have a beautiful home. I will be a great mother. And I am always trying to be a better wife.

So although I really really feel a strong urge to vacuum the carpet, pick up the empty bottles of water on the coffee table, arrange the pile of shoes by the front door, and go make the bed- I not going to do that right now. It can wait. Right now, my dogs need walked and and it's a beautiful day! Me, my girls, and my Nikon are going to go enjoy LIFE.