The Promise Post

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last blog post.  I mean, I can believe it, actually, because life is a bit busy, to say the least.  Being a wife and mom in general is pretty demanding on its own, but throw in all the extra day to day responsibilities like CF care, homeschooling, keeping up with my direct sales businesses (Thirty-One and Origami Owl), and any other extra demands that come along, and you've got one tired mama who hardly gives blogging a second thought.

There will be days that I think, "Hey, I should totally go blog so I can write about [insert topic here]," but then it doesn't happen.  And that makes me sad, because writing was always a passion of mine that got lost in the shuffle of motherhood.  I know a lot of women tend to lose a little bit of themselves once they become moms.  We sometimes forget about the things that make us who we are because we're focusing on taking care of our families.  And don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being a wife and a mother.  There's nothing that could ever make me want anything more because there is nothing better.  Nothing brings me more joy than taking care of my family.

Blogging is a way for me to be able to both write and also tell the story of my family.  I know I won't remember every little moment, so it's good to have something concrete and tangible that we can come back to years later.  I can read things I've written and laugh, cry, ponder, wonder, and just...remember.

So I've said it before (and I'm really going to try to stick with it this time):  I am going to try to blog at least once a week.  Even if it's only to say hi to my future self.  Even if it's only to share something funny one of my kids said (which, let's be honest, my kids are hilarious).  Even if it's to talk about something that made me cry, or brought me joy, or made me think about something differently.

And, hey, since I'm a dweeb, I may even be corny about my posts.  Like if I post on Mondays, I could call it "Manic Monday" (although, everyday is pretty "manic" when you're a stay-at-home mom, right?).  Or Tuesday Tidbits.  And Thankful Thursday, or Thoughtful Thursday.  Funny Friday?  Hmm...this could be fun!

The Memory Keepers

I have been following a blog written by another mom of three. What appeals to me the most is that she is super-hilarious, and reading her blog is just refreshing to me. She also has some great recipes, which also happen to be gluten-free (because of her middle child, daughter Lila), which are what brought me to her blog to begin with. Her most recent post sums up exactly how I feel about blogging. In short, she says that mothers "blog to tell our story. We are the memory keepers." This is so, so true. If people like to read my blog, that's fine. But it's more for myself and my family so that we can be able to read about things that happened years before, and when my kids are grown and I'm missing them at this age, I know I will appreciate this blog. You can read her full post here.

I really want to blog more, but there is the issue of time. I know you hear that from everyone: "I don't have time." And I'll admit, I do have the time, but I always seem to find something that needs to be done that takes precedence over blogging. Then the time gets away from me, and it's weeks and even months between blogs. I make a promise, even if it's only to myself, that I will blog more regularly, but the cycle restarts.

In my previous life when I was not a wife and mom (I say previous life because my carefree, single life was vastly different than it is now), I was a writer. When I wasn't working and going to school and hanging out with friends, writing was my hobby and favorite pasttime. It was my most intimate relationship, you could say. I could get lost in it for hours. Now writing is like an ex that I've never gotten over: out of my life, always thinking about it, and sometimes running into it and promising I will keep in touch even though I don't once we part ways again. Writing was what defined me, and now all that defines me is being someone's wife and someone's mom.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband with every ounce of my being, and I absolutely adore and cherish my children. I would never trade the life I have now for any promises in the world. I am blessed beyond words to be able to stay at home with my kids and do all the things that come with the job of SAHM. But here's the thing: One day, it will all end. My kids will be grown, and my job will be done. Well, yes, I know I will always be a mom, but they won't need me in the same ways they do now. When the day comes that Matt and I are empty-nesters, I don't want to be left wondering what to do next.

But back to the point: I want to write again, even if it's just blogging a few lines each day, just to say, "Hey, Cohen had a snotty nose today and blew snot bubbles" or "Kyden laughed so hard at his brother's silly antics" or "Emberlynn read an entire book alone today." Or to blog about something besides my children, which sometimes seems impossible because they are essentially my life. My sister suggested doing a food blog, but because keeping up with one blog is challenging enough and having two might cause me to have an aneurysm, I will incorporate my cooking and baking adventures into this one.

And because duty calls (it's currently time for my older two kids' treatments), I will end this with a picture of, you guessed it, my adorable kiddos:

(Ignore the crazy-looking lady on the right, however. She's just there to hold up the adorable infant.)

This may be my shortest blog ever

Just blogging to say that one of my "resolutions" (I say that for lack of a better word because I think "New Year's Resolutions" are one thing in society that sets people up to fail and feel like failures...but that's another post entirely) is to blog regularly. I've said this before, but if you know me at all and know what my life is like, I think people will cut me some slack. My goal is to blog once a week, or at least a few times a month. It's not so much for everyone else's interest so much as for my own record and benefit, plus writing has always been therapeutic for me.

But at this moment, there is a pretty awesome guy to whom I'm married who is ready to snuggle up with me and watch a movie, so I'm choosing him over blogging right now. He should feel pretty special. ;-)