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Picking Up the Pen (Again)

It's been since July of 2020 that I (metaphorically) picked up a pen and expressed my thoughts. For a long time, I found it therapeutic, a great way to get things off of my chest, hopefully inspire other moms out there and for lack of better phrase...keep it real. Then the pandemic happened. Our entire world, routine and lives as we knew it were completely rocked and no longer "routine." 

For the last almost year and a half, I've felt like the only way to cope was to take each day as it came. I poured my entire being into first my family and second my career goals. We moved to Missouri, we've embraced and continue to fall in love with a new hometown, our kids have grown so much and we've worked our tails off to keep our lives moving forward. Here we are in a new year. 2022! I can't be the only one saying...

HOW IN THE HECK DID WE GET HERE? 

Am I right? If you're like me and have a hard time recalling many of the days of the last year and a half, then I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not crazy. So much of the last year and a half, aside from several milestone memorable moments, is a god damn blur. We were all in survival mode. Many of us are still in survival mode. I still find myself feeling the survival mode some days.

While I didn't set resolutions this year, I did take the first few days of 2022 to do some much needed soul searching, reflecting and planning anything I possibly can for my family. I am not the same person I was the last time I touched this blog. I believe that your 30's are when you really start to figure out who you really are and who you are going to be. I spent my 20's just trying to get by and find my way. These last few years (I'll be 35 this year) have been a period of self-discovery, learning my potential, owning who I am, learning to say no, finding out who my life-long friends are and just how important your family is.

When I look back at life before the pandemic, I do not like the person I was. I was lost. The pandemic forced me stay home, focus and figure so many aspects of my life out. Do I have them all figured out? Not a chance, but I guess (in a way) you can say that quarantine life saved me! It gave me the opportunity to focus on my marriage, pour myself into my career, become my own version of "super mom" and a new person overall. Ironically I work for a mental health organization, but it took the last couple of years for me to realize just how important self-care is for me as an individual, not just those around me. 2021 was the year that I finally got to set foot back in an office and take on work/life balance with an entirely new perspective. For all of that, I'm forever thankful.

Going into 2022, I hope to visit this expressive outlet more. Had I done so in the last year and a half, I might have been able to remember more of the days gone by. Not to mention, I blinked and suddenly I have a middle schooler and two first graders. The lessons I learn as a mom are never ending! The adventures are crazy and the day-to-day hustle, bustle and laughter are worth documenting here and there. My hope for each of you reading this is that you find your own form of therapy and "you" time in the year to come and capture more moments! After all...we are on this crazy ride together! 

Here's to 2022!


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