Tonight I sit here with the comfort of knowing my husband’s rolling travel bag will be taking a break for awhile. The past 3 weeks have consisted of several business trips for him. All far from home and all happening over a weekend. Sticky leaving has some sort of effect on mother nature, or at the very least really ticks off the gods of appliances . There has been a gustnado, power outage, fridge gone bad and broken down furnace in the middle of winter. This time around a polar vortex found it’s way into our world. One day the snow fell, the next temperatures dropped to an unfathomable negative number. This meant me, Jettie, our home and countless hours of one on one time. It was an opportunity. One worth grabbing with no hesitation. One I realized almost too late was not to be missed.
Being a mother, wife, having two jobs and this blog I feel as if my mind is being pulled in a million different directions. I am absolutely without a doubt not complaining. Each and every one of those things fulfills me in a different way – with two of them being the most abundant reason I smile everyday. What I struggle with is turning off all these aspects of my life while focusing on only one. Specifically this past month of quality time with my baby girl. I am ashamed to admit it does not always come natural to give her 100% of my undivided attention. Whether it’s the summoning phone or my own thoughts stealing the present it can feel impossible to turn it all off. Then there are those moments when the only thing I focus on is drawing a requested killer whale (with no fish in it’s mouth of course). These times are my true livelihood, the food that feeds my soul. The key to surviving the chaos. Without these little snippets in my life nothing else would be worth experiencing. It’s amazing how much genuine one on one time with a 2 1/2 year old makes me a better wife, friend, photographer and all the other roles I play from day to day. It forces me to show up and not miss what is right in front of me. The past few weeks have unveiled so many of my weaknesses yet showed me the importance of being “frozen” with someone I love.
(obligatory sleepy smile photo sent to daddy every morning)
