❤️ A Change of Heart ❤️

    Growing up I was famous for saying things like, "I can't believe you did this to me mom. Why would you have made me do this?" Or the famous last words, "When I am a parent I will never do that." I thought I was always right, and knew I could do it better than anyone. As I have grown up, and my life has changed, I have also had a change of heart! Here I am now 25 years old, married, with my 3 month old baby and my life has taken on a whole new meaning. My heart is full- full of love for my parents and siblings, full of love for my husband, full of love for my beautiful baby Lily, full of love for my little Roxy dog, and full of love for every person who has ever impacted my life for good or bad. This change of heart is also what makes me want to write. 

    As a little girl I loved spending time with my family. My mother always planned fun family activities for us. Some were extravagant events, and others were the perfect at home fun. I adored spending time with my family. Then I grew up (I hit those teenage years.) I no longer was excited about every little activity that was planned. I wanted my freedom. As the years went on, I moved to college, and little did I know I wanted to be back doing every activity my family was doing. The activities (the ones I didn't want to be apart of as a teen) now we're the things that made me want to be home with my family. Being a college student we know that you can't always return home whenever you want. Adult life had sunk in. I went home as often as I could, but I wasn't always able to. How grateful I was that my mom had helped me to love spending time with my family and that my family truly was (is) my best friends.  How lucky I am now to be living close to family to be able to keep doing exciting things with my family! I love the special bond I have with my sisters (I am from an all girl family) and their kids. 

    As my life has progressed forward, I have now become a mother (the absolute best experience of my life.) I find myself doing everything I said I would never do with my children! I can't believe this because my little angel is only 3 months old. I even put big bows in her hair (my number one complaint to my mother growing up.)  The other thing I found, I have such a desire to plan and do things as a family.  That is the first reason why I decided I wanted to start this blog. I realized how important spending quality family time is. It has impacted my entire life (I hope one day I can turn out like my mom.) I wanted nothing more than to start planning family activities for my husband, little girl, sometimes my dog, and me to do. I also wanted to plan activities that my little girl's grandparents could spend time with her. Those of you that know me, know I didn't have the best relationship with my grandparents, and one set of my grandparents I never had the chance to meet. For this purpose, I wanted to ensure my children have a chance to spend time and make memories with the people that have impacted my life the most.  

The second reason I decided to start blogging is because I have seen a change is dynamics since I was a child. Being a teacher I have seen a shift in families. I have seen a change from my students spending family time and doing family activities, to hardly ever seeing their family. I find this reality to be very sad, and becoming a dominant culture in my classroom. The other aspect of this, I find how children act and what they achieve in my classroom usually corresponds. Students that have a strong relationship with their family are more confident, more motivated, and come better prepared to learn. 

    The third reason I decided to start was because activities can be expensive. Now this can sometimes be hard. My husband and I have good jobs, and we have nice things, but that doesn't mean we have a lot of extra. So planning these activities can be a challenge. Although the harder I look, and the more I plan, I have found that there are so many enjoyable activities that have deals, are inexpensive, or are even free (we love free activities.) I wanted to have a place for people to go to help plan inexpensive activities that will create lasting memories with the people that mean the most to them. 

The last reason I wanted to start this was because too often our lives become so hectic and blurry, we forget to slow down and enjoy life. Now is the time to slow down, enjoy our families, we can only live each day once, so make the most of each day. Create a lasting memory each and every day!