Finding Balance

Well, it has been such a long time since I have blogged. I know that you all can relate to how sometimes life just swallows you up leaving little time for the extras in life. That has been the case with me in the recent months and as I was pondering many things over the weekend the words of my precious friend Amy rang through my ears. Amy is ALWAYS so wonderful at reminding me that I need to allow myself some enjoyment amidst the responsibilities and that does not include grocery shopping by myself. Don't we all need a good friend who can look us straight in the face and say "it is OK to do something for yourself." I think that as mom's we don't give ourselves permission to sit back and love the simple things in life that do nothing more than give us pleasure but oh how we NEED that. How difficult it is to find the right balance? In thinking about how severely unbalanced my life has become I came to the realization that when I am taking the time to do the things that I love I am more settled, more calm and much happier and amazingly more productive. One of the things that I love is my connection with other mom's through the computer. So here I am back from being MIA...and hopefully I can find a nice spot of balance that allows me the enjoyment I receive from connecting with my computer friends while staying on top of my responsibilities to my kiddos and husband.

I know that to recount the events our family during the past couple of months would be impossible so I will just hit a few high lights and I am going to try to put together a collage of pictures. I am still not proficient at doing those but I am going to give it a try again.

*We thoroughly enjoyed our time in FL as we spent lots of time with family, caught up with some wonderful friends, spent a day sailing on the Indian River and had the opportunity to absorb the beauty of God's creation by watching some magnificent sunrises.

*Happiness filled our hearts as we had the joy of seeing Cody testify to our friends and family a decision that he made 6 years ago of accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior through Baptism.

*We were thrilled to return to Colorado and have been pleasantly surprised with fabulous spring-like weather. (Mike hasn't shoveled snow since being back to CO)

*We are playing catch-up with school given that we took about 6 weeks off while in FL.

*Mike and I were VIP guests at a Marriage Conference hosted by Focus on the Family where I was able to see Beth Moore speak in person. (Was hoping to have the opportunity to chat with her over lunch but she had to leave the conference right after speaking)

*Mike attended the Christian Writer's Guild Conference and had a chance to meet with a couple of publishing companies and receive some insights as to the aspects of bringing a book to print.

*We celebrated Emily's 2ND year of coming into our family.

*We are continuing to fine-tune the management of Cody's Diabetes which at times can be exhausting and frustrating but were thankful to locate a great pediatric endocrinologist who opened our eyes to some new insights.

*Grace began reading. HOORAY!!!!

*I am juggling lots of things which included schooling Grace and getting her ready for 1st Grade, editing Mike's book, being a book-keeper as well as the normal duties of taking care of our home and family. Whew!!!!

*We are looking forward to making Colorado a more permanent home and hopefully will be able to move the remainder of our belongings to CO soon.

Soooo, that is about it for now. I am looking forward to checking in with all of my favorite blogs and my chatty girls and see what I have been missing.

As always love and hugs to you all,

Nichole