I could be mainstream and go with the better diet resolution, or the more organized resolution. But, something I have learned in the last couple years as I have shared my thoughts - is that nothing that is "mainstream" really speaks to people. It doesn't really make them think or make them feel good. In fact - most things that are considered mainstream today make people feel like less of a person.

And they shouldn't.

So, for 2017 I am going into territory unknown. I am going to talk about real life. My goal for the year: to snap 365 pictures. One a day. The real life moments. The not-so-pretty ones, along with some that maybe are kinda pretty. I am going to document my family's everyday life.

I had this idea a short time ago that I wanted to see what people's real life looked like. Not the ones that are always filtered and tidied up for social media - the ones that show everyday life for us mere mortals. The good, the bad, and the ugly if you will. Several friends and I have joked and sent pictures to one another about what our "bad day" has looked like to remind each other that we are all in this together. This is what sparked the idea. I saw a story recently that a woman did take a picture everyday to document her life with her children to make sure she didn't miss the little moments even when they weren't "facebook worthy". It's this same line of thinking that I had to get people talking. I want to start a way of communication that breaks down barriers and gets people to understand that we are all just trying our best to do our best, and some days are just plain hard. But then, some days are really great.

Wouldn't that be something to talk about? How much more alike we all are than different? How my house is just a messy and crazy as yours? How I have to deal with parenting challenges and marriage and work and life and everything that goes with that? And that it probably looks a lot like your parenting/marriage/life challenges too?

Yeah - I really believe that.

I have a friends who are stay-at-home-mamas, and I have friends who work part-time and full-time. Each one of us does not know how the other does it. We are always wanting to know what life looks like for the other. Maybe we are looking for something easier than what we have - I mean that has to be part of it. Grass is greener concept. What we have found is that our struggles are so similar even in different circumstances. So we try to remind one another frequently that we are in a tough season of life raising small children and dealing with balancing so many things at once. We have reasoned that some things are just left to be undone and that it is okay.

So to really push the concept of what real life looks like - I am hoping to capture a year in real life. For today, I will leave you with a few snaps thus far this year. I have a feeling many of you out there will be able to relate to these! Please share your own!

This is my real life 3-6-5 in 2017:

Cooking Black Eyed Peas on New Years Day - my 6 year old LOVES to play with a camera:

A very normal day of what my house looks like:

And here is the laundry pile: Don't tell me you never have one! And yes it is on the dining table, because well - no one sits here unless we have company!

She is mad because we made her wear pants when it is 48 degrees outside. What battle did you fight today?