Please Excuse My Absence!

Well, I'm back. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. We had a wonderful time spent with family and friends. Here are a million and one of my favorite pictures from the last month and a half (sorry, but if you're my friend on Facebook, then you've already seen these!) I never really meant to take a bloggy break, but between being crazy with the holidays and chasing Brady all over the house (he's been walking for a little over a month) I didn't really have time. Then my lovely husband told me he thinks I spend too much time traveling through internet land everyday. Unfortunately, he's right. I get drawn in to so many fabulous blogs and I love reading about how perfect everyone else's families seem to be, that I tend to sometimes neglect my own :( So I decided to stay away for a little while. (Don't worry - I still jumped online to read a few select blogs/check email/facebook during naptimes and when the internet nazi wasn't looking)!

This leads me to my next topic - my 2010 focus. I used to write out lengthy resolutions every year, but it always quickly became apparent I wasn't going to keep any of them by the 2nd week in January. So now I don't even bother. Instead I know of a few people/bloggers that choose a word or area of their life to focus on. This year I am choosing FAMILY. Rob was absolutely right when he said that I spend too much time online. Since he pointed it out I started paying more attention to my habits and I must confess they are terrible! I've decided to put the laptop back in the office where it belongs and only bring it out at naptime or after Brady has gone to bed. I need to spend more time focusing on him and on Rob. We've also been making more of an effort to keep the TV off as well. AND I LOVE IT!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly time goes by and how I only have this short while to spend with this amazing family God has given me. Also, I'm fairly traditional/conservative in my beliefs about my role in our family and I must confess I haven't been living up to my own expectations and serving my family the way I think I should. So in focusing on my FAMILY I am also going to be focusing on my HOME. We moved into our house over 3 years ago and aside from painting and purchasing some new furniture I really haven't done much to create a warm inviting atmosphere for my family. This is something that needs to change ASAP. I want my home to be a welcoming, loving, safe and peaceful haven for Rob & Brady. I want them to LOVE being here. So I am committing myself to make this happen. I already have some great ideas of things I want to change and I'm setting a small amount of money aside in our budget every month to allow me to make these changes. BUT, the changes will come slowly at first because we are about to replace the flooring in all the main living areas of our house which will equal chaos once it gets started. Our house is about to be a construction zone for awhile. But I'm pretty sure it's going to look great when it's done!

Rob got me a new lens for my camera for Christmas (50mm), and as you can see from the photos above I've been enjoying it. Maybe some day I will have the time to take a real photography class and actually learn what on earth I am doing! Until then I am having fun taking 1000+ pictures and praying that I get lucky and 10 actually turn out.

I don't remember where I found this quote, but I love it. It makes me smile every time I read it. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

The beauty of the house is Order,

The blessing of the house is Contentment,

The glory of the house is Hospitality,

The crown of the house is Godliness.

Author Unknown