ABOUT

     I grew up in Tennessee, where you look outside and all you see are beautiful mountains. Growing up, I lived with my mother, who was a working single mom, my older brother, and my younger sister.  We lived in several different places, as we moved often, but we planted our roots for about 9 years in a teeny-tiny, little white house which we called home.

     That little white house was the setting for lots of memories, lessons learned, holidays, summers, and was the house that helped mold me into the woman I am today. The house was quite old, well... so old, that most of the window panes had fallen out of a few windows, the roof was leaky, the paneling on the walls was bulked in a few places, and the paint was peeling off the ceiling, and would sometimes fall right on you. During the first summers living there, we slept with the windows raised at night, but the winters there were really hard. We had a wood stove which kept the house warm, but sometimes it would get so hot, we would have to raise the windows like it was summer again.. just to cool the house off. When we built the fires, the stove would send the smoke right into the house, instead of up the chimney, and the smoke was choking! ...the smoke stained the walls grey, and made all of our clothes smell like we smoked 5-packs a day.

     Us kids didn't mind the house. we were happy and humble. Our mother worked hard, and we spent our summers growing up running barefoot in the yard, catching lightening bugs. Growing up in that house taught me to be humble and thankful in every situation. I think everyone could use a little old white house in their life.

Here I am with my older brother and younger sister at my aunt Carless's house one summer:

     In grade school all the way up to high school I was a perfectionist. I worked very hard at school, and in every aspect of life, I wanted to be above average. Average just wasn't for me. I was smart and athletic. I made fantastic grades, and I was a cheerleader for 6 years.

     I met my now husband when I was fifteen and we both instantly fell head over heels! We both have grown and matured together through the years we have been together. We now have 2 beautiful children, a lovely home, and a dog. Both of us have called Jesus into our hearts and I pray everyday that someday both of my kids will too.

     My husband is nothing short of a workaholic. He and his father own and operate a logging business. He also films some of his logging for his YouTube channel Michael Billings - YouTube
He is a faithful and wonderful husband to me, and an amazing dad to our 2 kids.

Madison loves her bay brother so much!

The day I brought him home from the hospital:

My husband and I, back before we got married. Teenagers in love. We took this pic on a beach vacation:

     My husband and I were together 3 years before we got married. We're still best friends today.

A Steel Magnolia

I have learned and grown so much as a Christian, wife, and mom in the last 2 years. As a young mother, I used to carry this overwhelming feeling of being "stuck" all the time. I was continually stressed out, my marriage was at its worst point, I simply felt like I had failed in every aspect of life. It took a lot of effort, but I never gave up. I changed my mindset and my habits which changed my LIFE.

I only wish I had someone out there giving me encouragement, tips, ideas, and how-to guidelines when I first got married and had my first baby. That is why I created A Steel Magnolia. Even if its only one person, maybe its you, the person reading this right now! To whomever, I created this blog to motivate you. I want you to feel empowered with my content. I want A Steel Magnolia to be your place of encouragement! A place where you come to be inspired to take on your week (and take back your life!) as a strong Christian woman. Every week I aim to share with you delicious recipes, mommy content, Christian Living Posts, My struggles and tips for marriage, motherhood, pregnancy, kids, babies, you name it. As well as teaching frugal living and home management.

"I created this blog to motivate you. I want you to feel empowered with my content. I want A Steel Magnolia to be your place of encouragement! A place where you come to be inspired to take on your week (and take back your life!) as a strong Christian woman."

If you live in the south, like me, you are probably familiar with the phrase "steel magnolia". Every day I'm constantly striving to be just that: a woman who posses the strength of steel, yet the gentleness of a magnolia. I encourage every woman to strive to be a steel magnolia woman! Subscribe to see a new post in your inbox every Wednesday, and watch yourself blossom week by week!