Hello + A Well Needed Date Night

Hi friends!  I didn't mean to go a whole month without posting!

But after sharing my last post, a weight seemed to be lifted off my chest.  So much that I just went on living life without feeling pressured to get any blog posts out!  It was a good feeling and a reminder that the words and creative work will come when the time is right.

A little blogging break ended up being really good for me this month.  The time I would usually devote to sitting in front of my computer was spent resting, growing, reading, and just being.  We even got in a last minute road trip to Nashville which was a good lesson for me on being more spontaneous.

I also started using Powersheets to focus in on my goals and priorities for the next six months and it is making me really excited to be more intentional with the rest of this year.  Less distractions and more focus on my priorities.  Feels almost like January except we have sunshine and flowers!

Plus I am just constantly learning how to be intentional and a bit rigid to get through long weeks of parenting - and then to ease up, relax, and be flexible come family time.  Lots of growing and stretching around here - and I am hoping some of that will be reflected in what I post online.

// This weekend we took our son to a drop in childcare for the first time so that we could finally get in a well needed date night.  We have been able to get away a handful of times since we moved but it was only when we had family visiting.

We have been talking about using this program for months but it came down to me actually making it a priority and following through.  And just like the first time mom I am, it is so much easier to hover and keep my child with us at all times.

It is difficult to make hard decisions, even when they are good.  I thought I had this parenting thing locked down when we lived in California knowing we had so much family support minutes away.  And yet here we are, all the way across the country, re-figuring out how to be good parents and continue to foster our marriage in ways that we never would have thought.
So we dropped our son off and got to enjoy a delicious and distraction free dinner.  I would think to myself - this is good for our son to adapt and try new things.  It is good for my husband to have my complete attention.  Do this for them.

And then all night I sat there thinking - wow, this is so good for ME.  I need the time away from our child and I need the alone time with my husband.

In the end we all benefit.  And now we got that first hard drop off down.  While the future won't always be easy, it is taking that first big step that makes moving forward a little less difficult.

We keep trying new things and I keep thinking to myself - why didn't we do this sooner?  And I am reminded it is because I wasn't ready.  With each new experience I get a little more prepared for the next.

So for that I am grateful for the hard things because the growth and freedom that comes with it makes it all worth doing.