Insert catchy first blog post title here

I’m not a real mommy blogger. I’m a cool mommy blogger.

…okay, I’m definitely not cool.

But I am a mom. And I am starting a blog.

As a lover of words, reading, and writing, I’ve toyed around with the idea of starting a blog for years. I’ve even attempted to launch 2 blogs for my creative writing, which failed solely because I became paralyzed with fear at the thought of other people reading and criticizing my writing, and I never shared them widely. And hence why I will probably never be a published author like I’ve always dreamed of (and even wrote out as my goal for the 2010-2020 decade in my family’s 2000 New Years time capsule, that I kind of lost and have yet to find. One of my 5 dogs–yeah, that’s five, cinco, a whole hand worth of dogs–probably ate it).

I’ve hesitated to start this blog because I thought, you don’t have anything worthwhile or interesting to share. Why would anyone want to read your rambling, random thoughts?

And then I started reading other mom blogs. And researching. And reading. And snacking on celery and carrot sticks with hummus while I read some more, because I’m attempting Weight Watchers for REAL this time and the crunch of the veggies KIND of feels like the crunch of Lay’s potato chips? (that’s a lie, and we both know it).

And I realized that most of these mom bloggers probably thought the same thing before they took the plunge and started their blogs. So why not me?

I’ll try to be hilarious, but I’ll probably just meet you in the middle at “witty”

A dear friend and coworker tells me that my representation of my life is funny. Her actual word was “hilarious,” but I don’t want to set the bar too high for the tone of this blog. With 4 kids (2 bio, 2 bonus), fur kids (3 rescue pups, plus the 2 my MIL brought to the fam when we moved into a new house together last summer, and the kids would never forgive me if I forgot to mention the guinea pigs and the hamster) working full-time (I’m a content manager for a cloud integration company), and the general chaos of family and home life (let’s not even mention the added layers of stress, bedlam, and anxiety added to do all of this during a freaking pandemic)…if I didn’t put a comical spin on the things that go on in this house on a daily basis, I would completely unravel and lose every ounce of the sanity I have left.

And let’s be real: there are not many ounces of sanity left after 2020.

So I sat down, and…here we are, friends.

What can you expect from this blog?

As a wife, mom of 4, dog lover, book nerd, and avid cook with too-little time that prepares food for 7 people (now 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, y’all) — my hope is to share the tips, tricks, and great finds that come with family life.

I’ll tell you about that new book that I read that didn’t live up to the hype (Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam–I really wanted to like this book, but it felt sexually-explicit in an unnecessary way, with a cliffhanger of an ending that really put the cherry on top my generous 3-star review on Goodreads). 

Or the new crockpot recipe that my entire family (minus my vegetarian MIL) loved (4 chicken breasts, a can of Mrs. Renfro’s Mango Habanero salsa, a can of corn (drained), and a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), throw it into the crockpot on high for 6 hours or low for 8; shred chicken and serve in tortillas or, if you’re a Weight Watching mama like myself, over long grain brown rice–1 pt on purple, baby!)

Or the new Scentsy scent that I have in the candle warmer in my office, bedroom, and kitchen (Pomegranate pear, not too sweet but so pleasant for the fall).

Here we go!

I’m so excited to start this journey. I’ve been searching for a creative outlet for so long. You’d think as a Creative Writing major and web content manager that I would have come to the conclusion “blog, ya filthy animal” before now. But I’m here now, and I’m stoked to share the funny, brutally honest, sometimes messy, but always exciting life of this mom of 4, dog lover, mediocre baker, and book nerd.

Unapologetically, Ally