We did a thing!!!

Hello Darlings!! We're so excited to bring you this new little project that has been YEARS in the making! Why "lessons from the blender" you ask? Well... we've had this tug, a beautiful nudge on our hearts, for a very long time to use our story and share our experiences both in a blended family and also as a couple of "former divorcees" to bring light and love and encouragement (and definitely some humor - living with 4 kids can be crazy sometimes y'all!) to others. To talk about the great, the messy, and the downright crazy parts of living and loving in a blended family. To be vulnerable and authentic about a family structure that isn't (in our opinion) often talked about enough. We weren't sure what that might look like, and I don't think either of us thought it would EVER be in the blog-asphere… but here we are. Now let's get real. We don't know what the heck we're doing. Neither of us have ever written a blog before. We're still learning and growing in our marriage and are RIGHT IN THE CRAZY, AMAZING THICK of raising little humans (bless our hearts). But we love Jesus a whole heck of a lot and we want to be obedient to this "thing" he's whispered in our dreams during that quiet, still part of the night to both of us. So... let's get blending!!

OK, a little background on our story and sweet little fam if you're just getting to know us. We met in 2012 on eHarmony (yes, we for reals met online like a couple of super hip, "in the know" peeps) when our boys were 4 (Steph's) and 2 and 4 (Mike's). We had both been married previously and were pretty awkward about this whole dating thing. But we extended each other a whole ton of grace and took things slooooow, and were married 3 1/2 years later. We added a baby girl to the mix along the way, and now have a beautiful, crazy, and LOUD (oh so loud) tribe of 3 teen/pre-teen boys (yep, our house has now been taken over by a smell that can only be described as sour milk in a gym locker room on a warm August afternoon) and a super sweet and sassy three-nager. And through it all, God has continued to show how incredibly redemptive and restorative He is OVER and OVER again. There's a lot of stories and details to unpack as we go in future posts, but you're pretty much caught up!! We love y'all and can't wait to see where this adventure takes us! Thanks for joining our "blended family"!! xxoo Mike & Steph