I’m so excited to bring you the third installment of Women Who Have It All Together… But Not Really. (To read the first two interviews, here’s part 1 and part 2, and to read what it’s all about, click here!) Today’s gal is Paula from Beauty through Imperfection. We met through our blogs early last year, and then finally met in person at the Blog Elevated conference in the fall.
If you’re visiting from Paula’s blog, welcome!You may enjoy my series on How I (finally) Started Making Money Blogging, My Year of Thrift Store Shopping, or my series on organizing! I hope you’ll stick around a while!
As you’ll see- Paula does a lot! She makes me look like a slacker! 😉 I hope you enjoy getting to know her!
First of all, tell us what all is on your plate? Job(s), kids, church, etc? – Where to begin?! Family – I’m married and we have two kids. I stay home with both of them and neither are in preschool (Age 3 years & 19 mos). I’m a full time blogger at Beauty Through Imperfection and Blogging On The Side. I treat those sites as my businesses and I work on them when I can (especially during naptime and after the kids are in bed.
Church on Sunday mornings; this semester I’m doing the baby nursery during worship hour. We don’t go to church on Wednesday nights because of the kids’ bedtimes, but I do attend BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) on Wednesday mornings. It is a FANTASTIC inter-denominational program that is worldwide, which I highly recommend to other moms! (You can find the closest meet up near you here). I’m an author, I published my first book this year! I’m hoping to publish my second by the end of the year, as well as release the print-version of the ebook that I published in January. Those are all the “official” things I’m involved with right now, but there are others in the works!
What would you say to a woman who envied you because she thought you had it all together?
Oh girl, come over. Let me tell you what “having it all together” is all about. As I told a friend the other day, “we’re all just winging it and trying to figure it out as we go.” There’s a lot of freedom in that, once you realize you don’t have to be perfect to be good, loved and stellar. Take a moment to look at the pictures in this post. It will quickly squash any thoughts you had about me having it all together. Or read the Confessions of An Imperfect Mother series or ask my husband about my massive mood swings. Any of those things 😉 all of them. Nope, I’m far from perfect.
With a woman who has a lot going, time management is a reality. What is your top piece of advice you can give on effective time management? – Know your priorities and stick with them. Since I work on the computer, I HAVE to be online for a couple hours every day. Because of this I intentionally schedule time both on and off the computer. I even schedule playtime with my kids, because it reminds me to keep that as a top priority in my day.
Dishes may be important, and blog posts are great but playing with my kids is far more relevant than those. I do the same thing with my hubby. I won’t blog if I could be spending time with him. Some nights we hang out and play board games, others he reads his programming books or Greek, and I get some blogging work done. It’s just a matter of remembering that offline relationships come before online ones, and you can’t do everything. I don’t try to accomplish everything in one day. I just try to do something each day.
It’s just a matter of remembering that offline relationships come before online ones, and you can’t do everything.- Paula
Since no one is able to “do it all,” what is one thing you have consciously given up (or should give up? 🙂 ) in order to do what is most important to you? – Great question! It really comes down to asking yourself what you want the most. When I was writing and editing my book, I stopped watching TV as much. I’m quite obsessed with Doctor Who, but I started watching it only when I REALLY needed a break, and using all my extra time to devote to the book. It was a two month period of really hard work, but totally worth it! Right now I probably read novels more than I should. I go in phases where I read obsessively for a few months and then I’ll go several months after without reading any novels at all. Right now I’m in the reading a lot phase.
If you had time to squeeze in one more activity, what would it be? (could be something practical, or completely fun!) – I’m trying to do this right now, actually. I really want to be more involved in the fight against human trafficking in my city (Houston). We’re one of the largest hubs for international trafficking, as well as local. It absolutely breaks my heart, and I’m trying to figure out where I fit in, with the ministries here that are rescuing the girls and helping them find healing, hope and renewed lives after the terrible things they have endured. After we buy a house later this year I’m also hoping to start a meet-up for young moms in my community. Supporting unwed moms is something I’m very passionate about, but again, it’s hard to figure out where to start and where I fit in, in their stories. I would definitely appreciate your prayers as I figure out how to get involved in these communities!
I love Paula’s focus and drive, yet her ability to admit that there are thing she doesn’t do- on purpose! I’m learning so much from these fantastic ladies and hope you are, too! Don’t forget to check out Paula’s ebook!
About Kelli Hays
What a great series! I love this concept and enjoyed learning more about Paula. Thanks!
Georgia