true life, dude.

Sometimes, I feel really bad when I read other people's blogs. I get really down on myself, and subconsciously start saying silly things:

Look how cool that person is. She created her very own china cabinet out of sugar cubes, spray-painted it magenta, and then posted a tutorial with step-by-step photos so that the rest of the world can relish in her creativity and see how pulled-together she is.

Or:

She makes her own delicious baby food out of guavas and lima beans? I don't even know what a guava looks like. I'm a terrible mom. My child will now squander in utter malnourishment, because I don't know how to make that mystical guava/lima bean concoction.

{Totally overblown, but you get the idea.}

I blame myself, not other people, for these assumptions I'm making. No one is trying to project themselves as a perfect, look-at-me-I'm-the-bomb-dot-com person {I hope}. Instead, I see what other people are doing, and then flail my arms and run around in circles because I'm, well, not doing the same thing, too.

But, you see -- preaching to myself here -- I've been given a specific set of gifts and abilities. I can make lists like crazy. I get things DONE. I can glance at a paragraph and spot all of its grammatical mistakes in less than ten seconds. I can sometimes take pretty pictures. I can paint {with anything but watercolors. I hate watercolors. the end.}

etc. etc.

But.

I can't make myself enjoy making pureed baby food. {I'll DO it. But I won't enjoy it. Sorry. I think it's boring.}

I can't build a china cabinet... out of sugar cubes, or any other porous material.

I can't really meal-plan well, or figure out how to organize my basement, or handle more than one child at a time {ha!}, or enjoy cleaning toilets {or anything, for that matter}, or strike up a witty conversation with a stranger sitting next to me, or play an instrument in front of a crowd without getting nervous, or... or... or...

{the list goes on}

So, I've come to a conclusion. You all keep doing what you're doing. You know... blogging, living, blogging about how you're living, etc.

And I will (1) be thankful that I have access to such an incredible group of creative, lovely people {both in the blog world, and in my face-to-face relationships}; (2) learn from your creative, lovely awesomeness; and (3) be happy with who I am.

My pastor says that, when in doubt, always err on the side of humility. And, since I'm in need of boatloads of grace {James 4:6}, I'm off to eat some humble pie.

Happy Friday!


p.s. Here are some of the cupcakes I made for Charlie's birthday party. They were fun to look at, and made our mouths turn blue :)