bidding farewell

Dear Friends (because I consider you all my friends),

Have you ever prayed for something, and then didn't like the answer?  So then you pretend like it wasn't really an answer, and then you just keep praying for the same thing over and over and never seem to see results because you've just gotten really good at ignoring what the Lord is telling you?  I've been doing that for the past little while.  Ok, more like the past two years.

I've had a really bad habit of adding more and more to my plate, trying to do more things online and work-wise, but having less and less time to be a mom and a wife.  It was getting so bad that instances of me preparing dinner or doing laundry were getting fewer and farther between.  As in, weeks would literally pass without me doing either.  And I felt like I was constantly pushing my kids away from me so that I could fit in all the work that needed done.

I knew that things couldn't stay this way, but I wasn't sure how to find a balance in life.  I kept praying that I would somehow figure out how to keep up with everything, have time and energy to be a mom again, and to find happiness instead of stress.  But I never seemed to like the answer - DO LESS.  Because I thought I needed to do all these things.  Because, frankly, I have to help provide monetarily for my family, and these things were keeping us barely afloat, financially speaking.  So doing less seemed really really scary.

And then years passed.  And I kept praying for the same thing.  And I kept having the same results, when I kept ignoring the answer.

Until, finally, I decided to listen. I've decided that I'm going to be doing less, and replacing it with faith and family. 

One of the things I won't be doing is Green Jello with Carrots - I'm leaving.  My mom and I started doing this almost 4 years ago, and I wish I could say that we'll be doing it forever.  I have really enjoyed the time that I've been doing this, and leaving is hard.  But at the end of this month/week I'll officially be gone, leaving my mom in charge.  I'm not sure what her plans are yet, but I know she'll be posting updates and announcements on facebook.

But I know I don't want to be completely gone from the webiverse (as much as I would like to shove my computer out the window some days, I know that's not really possible).  And besides, I have all these great printables that shouldn't go to waste, right?  So I'm going to be donating all of my LDS printables to Mormon Mommy Blogs and their new (and going to be amazing) free printables site.  So whenever I get a hankering to make something new I'll have somewhere to share it.

Plus I'll still be over at peoniesandpoppyseeds.com making free printable party kits and crafts.  Caroline from MMB and I love making these free party printables.  We probably won't be posting as much as we used to, but we'll post enough to make it worth it.

But mostly, I plan on hanging out with my kids.  And relearning how to use a saucepan.  And going to the library.  And volunteering at the elementary school.  And getting back to daily scripture reading.  And possibly even doing a load of laundry every now and then.

And hopefully I'll find that balance that I've been praying for, especially now that I'm willing to listen to the answer.

Thanks for everything!

~ Melissa