balance

My word for the year is "balance"...
The idea to pick a word comes from Ali Edwards. The thought behind her "One Little Word 2009" concept is that you give yourself something to focus on throughout the year.

So I probably never mentioned Ali Edwards before, but she is one of my two favorite and most inspirational scrapbooking artists. I can't EVEN begin to tell you how inspiring this person is to me without sounding a little freaky. I want to BE her in that she is so great at capturing and documenting her family's everyday moments. If I refer to her more in my upcoming posts its because I am reading her latest book "Life Artist, Scrapbooking Life's Journey". I got it for Christmas and I'm half way through, just soaking it up, making notes, excited and anxious to put her ideas in action. Even went to the office supply store today to pick up a few items so I can create a similar project that she demonstrates. Just absolutely jazzed about this book and how it can help me in 2009... But I will share more about the book later.

Back to my word.

Balance.

I feel like all 2008 I was thinking or commenting about how unbalanced my life was. Or, not so much my life, but how I can't manage to balance everything in my life. In fact, ever since Ethan came onto the scene (one month early!), I just haven't been able to get a grip. Add my photography business into the mix and things have really been off for me.

There are a couple specific things that are suffering due to my inability to not be more balanced or structured - First and foremost, my family isn't getting the proper attention it deserves. And in many ways. From actual attention that each person needs, to hardly preparing meals anymore, to not keeping up with housework, to not giving the kids much structure about bedtime. That list could go on and on. How sad. Difficult to admit too. But another thing that has suffered and quite honestly, I have never been great about anyway, is that I am not documenting our lives very well. This was very important to me that I do, especially once we entered parenthood. Yes, I take photos. More photos than most. But photos don't tell us what the kids are saying. They don't tell us the complete story of "us" and how we live our day to day. I've scrapbooked in the past, but was never very dilligent about it and the journaling part of it has always been very pain-staking for me. This has to change. And there are other things that are suffering like me not getting enough exercise, needing to take better care of my health, etc. The list is quite long.

My photography business was really the breaking point here. I work all the time. ALL THE TIME. And I LOVE my work. I feel extremely blessed and moved by it. But I haven't created a structure or schedule for it to exist nicely alongside the rest of my life. It makes me sad when I think about how my photography evolved from me capturing moments for my own family. More and more my family has taken the back seat, not entirely in the number of photos being taken of them, but mostly in what is "not" happening with those photos once they are taken.

I need to find balance.

And really, balance will come from more structure to my life... Our lives. Scheduling our daily routine so that time can be managed and made better use of. So I can work more efficiently. So that the kids will understand that things need to be done every day. So that time can be better distributed and enjoyed. I'm not foolish enough to think that every minute can be scheduled out or that we will always follow it to a tee, day in and day out. But the structure needs to be there in the first place. The rules need to be set. At least I need to try. I love and appreciate these things I have going on in my life. God has blessed me with each one. There has to be a way to find a healthy balance among them.


So day one of 2009 has all but come and gone. It was a great day, full of promise and hope for a new and exciting year. And it was an ordinary day too. Spent it with my husband and kids, ate at a favorite restaurant, went to Target, watched each other work out with the Wii Fit, thought about new projects for 2009. I really do have so many things to share from new projects and new year "intentions" to of course photos and the things I am learning through my Ali Edwards book.

And I'll be here more often too, I hope. That's the idea. Documenting, journaling, sharing.

So excited to be in 2009. Can't wait to see where it takes us!