My Leave of Absence is Over...

2 months! I took 2 months off from my blog! A lot has been going on in my life and I really just needed to take some time to re-evaluate my priorities. I have been struggling. Struggling with the balance of life, family, career, running a household, and finding time for myself. As of lately, I have been craving at least 5 extra hours a day. I have neglected my friendships and it makes me sad. I don't have a ton of friends, but the ones I have mean the world to me and they are amazing! For so long I was in the mindset of trying to be everything to everyone—and doing a stellar job while I'm at it—that I didn't have a spare second to plug into my own needs or desires. So, through these past couple months, I have learned the following:

a. Accept imperfection

b. Share responsibility, and let go of the need to always be in control.

c. Choose my priorities

d. Open my mind to alternative ways of running things

e. Trust myself

This doesn't mean I'm not still struggling, because I am. But the above has helped the struggling become more of a friend than a foe.

So, for this Ten on Tuesday list, I am going to post 10 pictures of what you all have missed in the past few months. I hope to back date some blogs, so I will have them documented, however, I'm not promising anything. It's a fresh start from here on out :)

1. My baby turned 6! I can't believe it!! 6 sounds so old! He is such a perfect gentleman and he amazes me every day!

2. Christmas Pageants!! We had two in one week and they both did a fabulous job! Josh and I giggled the whole time at their cuteness :)

3. Christmas! We had a beautiful white Christmas. As always we missed spending it with our family, but we have started embracing our own traditions....just the four of us. It was a great day of lounging, playing with new toys, a movie, and dinner at IHOP.

4. New Years at the Meyers! This has become another tradition and it is always a good time for everyone! The kids celebrate at 9:00 and we are home in time to put them to bed and celebrate with each other at Midnight! This year was a little crazy since the day started out at 65 degrees and a tornado swept through the town of Fenton, where we live. Both the kids' schools were hit. It is such a blessing that they were not there! Definitely a New Years we will never forget!!

5. Lots of Soccer! After about 5 sessions of soccer, Malakai has finally picked up an understanding of the game and stopped flying around the field like an airplane. He has even began scoring goals! It is awesome to watch his growth in the sport :) Leila is quite the fan of his also!!

6. Crafts! We have had a FREEZING weather! Which means we have had to be creative with the indoor activities. Leila could do crafts 24 hrs a day!

7. A weekend with Baby Liam!! Kaci, Mallory, Liam, Abbie, and Shelby came down for a weekend and we had such a good time! I loved having so much family around for an entire weekend! My kids LOVE Liam and they were very sad to see him go!

8. Grandparents Day! Malakai had Grandparents Day at school! Unfortunately there was horrible weather across the state of Missouri and Maw Maw Miller was unable to make it. We were lucky enough that Poppy came down the beginning of the week so the nasty weather wasn't an issue.

9. P90X! Josh and I are on day 27 of P90X! It has SUCKED every step of the way! I think our main motivation is that we have yet to personally meet anyone who has completed the 90 days. Everyone we know owns it though. I know why they have never finished! An hour a day is A LOT! We get up at 5am...we didn't even talk for the entire first week because we were both so crabby. Along with the workout we are doing the diet and it has been a HUGE change! Protein Shakes, recovery drinks...we go through 4 jugs of egg-whites a week. It's brutal! But, we vowed to do it together, and we are committed to finishing. No pictures yet...the day 1 pics are horrible! If the day 30, 60, or 90 turn out amazing, then I will post. Ha Ha!

10. I guess that is about it...I look forward to being back in the game of blogging. I have missed catching up on what has been going on in the lives of all my blog family!

XOXO,