BUSY!

I realize that I have been the world's worst blogger as of late... and I guess that deserves a little explanation!

It's not so much that I've had a lack of topics to cover... it's just that, well, in this busy stage I've tried to pick and choose wisely where my time will be spent, and quite simply, the blog hasn't made it to the top of the list lately. So, I'm not really apologizing for that or making any concrete promises to do better. But, I will do my best to still update on what's going on with us, for those who still care to follow!

So... What's been happening??

Work.

I've been investing much of my "free time" ie: naptime into work. I work for my mom, helping her with her jewelry business, which, in turn, inspired me to join in on the jewelry venture, myself! I've surprisingly REALLY loved it, but I'm still trying to get into the routine of being successful, without being pushy; being productive, without stressing myself; finding time to send the kids away to work on it a little, without interupting my time too much with them; learning how to fit this into our schedule, without it overtaking it. ETC. Like I said, I am loving it and I am getting into a routine, but I want to make very strict boundaries to let this enhance our lives and not take away from living. I wanted to do it just for some extra fun money, but I do have dreams of building the business, because I do know first hand how successful people can be at it. I just want to pace myself to get there, because after all, I don't want it to take away one bit from living and enjoying my sweet kiddos.

That brings me to number 2, Kids.

These kids are keeping me busy, full time, for sure, but it is such a wonderful kind of busy! They are both so much fun and growing up so fast! Pierce weighs at least as much as Allie, is more daring than her (minus her jumping out of her crib a few days ago...), and probably eats more than both of us combined! He is ALL boy, and is such a joy. Allie is on the other hand, ALL girl and equally a joy, but also daily a challenge! She is very sweet and loving, but sure does love to push the limits. She always has a song on her heart and happily sings at the top of her lungs throughout the day. My favorite is one she learned from VBS. It's supposed to go: He's wild, God is Wild about YOU! Somehow, she just came away with: He's Wild. God is Wild. Which she loves to sing in her loudest voice as we stroll through stores. Nice. I do admit that while I look forward to nap time each day to actually be productive (and, hopefully shower), I equally look forward to spending time with these two bundles of joy. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord.

Fun.

My true bit of fun these days is the gym. No, I'm not saying this sarcastically. And, I know this is weird. It's the one time of day that I have a little "grown up time" and I really am LOVING working out as hard as I can and coming away completely drenched in sweat. It's just hard to beat it! =)

Another bit of fun has been taking on couponing. Now, don't be too impressed or anything. I certainly do not catagorize myself as an extreme couponer or even a serious one. I don't make any extra trips to the store, or go to any other stores than kroger, and I CERTAINLY don't go dumpster diving (like one of my friends) to find extra copies of the weekly coupons. But, I do make sure to buy 1 or 2 sunday papers each week and clip the coupons that come in the "junk" ads in the mail, and load kroger coupons online to my kroger plus card. And, I somewhat try to combine sales with the coupons (if it somewhat fits in with my list). So, no we're not getting $1000 worth of groceries for free, but so far, our highest savings has been $70 in one shopping trip, and I'll take it!

Projects.

One other project I've been working on has been a fun weight loss competition for my mom and some friends. There's a blog, money at stake, weekly weigh ins, etc. and everyone is staying so motivated, and it is definitely working! It started 2 months ago and runs until my mom's 50th birthday! I'm excited to see everyone's results by the end! AND, so far mom is in 2nd place overall, which is pretty great, since out of everyone in the competition, she started out with the least to lose!

So, there you have it! Consider yourself updated, and please, don't feel slighted that my mind has been in other places than here, because well, I can't promise that it's going to get much better... =)