Hey!  My name is Ariaun (ARR-ee-on), and I’m a 30-something-year-old Stay-At-Home Mom living near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of East TN.  I have an amazing husband, Jeremy, and two fabulous kids, Aiden (x) and Natalie (y).  This is a blog about our life.  There is rarely a dull moment in our little world.  We “homeschool” our kids with the tremendous help of a 2-day/week Co-op, we like to travel, we rely heavily on grandparents, we like to garden (although we’re not very good at it), we like to prop up our feet and lose track of time as we enjoy the company of good friends, and we strive to live a life that is simple and humble and pleasing to the Lord.

“It’s A Messyful Life” is meant to reflect the reality that life is hard, life is painful, and life is oftentimes full of both drudgery and chaos.  But in the midst of such difficulty, there is joy, there is beauty, there is wonder and awe and grace.  We live in a fallen world, but the majesty of God’s redemption of our mess is what makes life worth living.  It’s why we can sing and dance and laugh with all the fullness of our hearts.  And in my experience, few things exemplify that truth more than the relationship between mother and child.  Childbirth alone holds the paradox of being equally the most agonizing and exhilarating experience a person can go through (exhilarating isn’t even the right word…the English language doesn’t have a word to describe the joy of childbirth, really).  And the dance between the joys and the struggles that motherhood encompasses is never-ending.  My hope for this blog is to paint the picture of this mystery that the Lord has given us through the story of my family.  Thank  you for reading!