It's been a long time.

There is too much to say here now. I should not go so long without blogging.

I'll start with this. Life is good.
The new year is an easy time to reflect and find a reason to blog.

I could quickly recap my 2016.
Things I worked on: emotional baggage, relationship with God, relationship with my husband, relationship with my kids . . . well you get the picture there, my health, patience . . . lol.

Things I struggled with: all the above, but mostly patience. Waiting is hard.

New developments: better health, my new LuLaRoe business, finding myself, another move.

Now that that is out of the way. :) I would rather talk about what I can't wait to accomplish next in my life. We just finished up 3 glorious weeks of my husband only working 4 day weeks and holidays. It was actually restful. We played so many games, watched movies and caught up on tv shows, played with the kids, watched the kids be silly, stayed in bed, just enjoyed ourselves and each other. It has been a long time since we felt like we could do that. Life has been so busy and stressful, which mostly we put on ourselves. We worry instead of enjoy. It's foolish really.

It's fitting that these past few weeks have been this way, because this is exactly what I want for my life moving forward. More living and enjoying, resting and engaging. That feeling that I should be doing something else wasn't there. I mean I should have done more laundry, no doubt, but it was okay. It was okay to rest instead. All the to dos waited. Now I'll try not to forget to keep clean underwear in my husband's drawer moving forward, but I hope I take this ability to just live as we are with me.

My children are growing up. Ben is almost as big as Libby and hilarious, and Libby . . . oh Libby girl. She is going to school next year. She's growing up so much faster than I would like. When she was two I used to wish away the tantrums and the horrible nights when I was not able to cope with the demands of mothering a child that needs so much all the time. Now I have half a school year and the summer to soak up as much of it as I can before it changes drastically.

I have other more obvious goals, like growth of my business. I cannot wait to see where that takes me! I don't doubt God will continue to use it to bless us as it already has. I'm enjoying the hard work. I thought I couldn't do something like this anymore. I thought my days of juggling so much and being successful were behind me. I thought I was just supposed to settle into my roll as mother and wife and ride it out. But no. This new chapter in my life has reconnected me with old ones. Old passions are coming back up and I'm remembering why I love doing the things I enjoy most. I'm finding joy in so many things again. I knew I had lost it, but it wasn't until now that I realized how much I was missing it.

I'm looking for affirmation a lot less. Actually this is a new development from this past year. I care a whole lot less what other people think. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy pleasing people. But when it comes to who I am and what I do, I don't really care if I have the approval of anyone other than God. If I know I'm where He wants me, that's enough. I know people would write my life differently. Heck, I would write my life differently! God does a much better job though. I'm tuned in to that.

I've got a laundry list of the details. The specific things I want to work on and change this year. I'll spare you. I have health goals, family goals, business goals, and faith goals. I'm excited to keep working on things. The last year of waiting on things, some things I'm still waiting on, has taught me it's going to be okay. There is so much to do and so much good even while I wait. I can focus on that. I'm going to focus on what's in front of me. I'm going to live in the moment.

Also, I'm going to read more poetry. :) Maybe even write some again.

So I'll leave you with a line from my favorite poem by one of my favorite poets.

"With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things." William Wordsworth- "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey"