My First Post (or, Why I started this blog)?!

Why blog?  I've enjoyed reading other people's blogs for years now.  I can relate so much to what other moms like me are doing (or what their kids are doing that are driving them mad or making them laugh out loud).  I also enjoy reading blogs from others who are not like me, that are in a different season of life, or live in a different place or just have a different opinion or outlook on life than me.  It helps me relate to them, to maybe see the world from their perspective.  Sometimes they can change my opinion on a matter and sometimes it just helps me to better understand what I believe.  I like to think that I'm an open and considerate person (or at least not close minded and judgmental)!

I also wanted to create something that my family and friends can enjoy.  A window into our everyday lives, so to speak.  My memory doesn't always recall all the little things I want to remember, like the feeling of nursing my babies to sleep or witnessing my second son's first soccer goal.  Hopefully this blog will help me remember the important everyday things happening in my family.  In addition, life in a large family can be busy (and I use the word "large" somewhat loosely, as I know plenty of people that have more kids than us).  I get alot of questions from people who know us, mostly "how do you do it all"...especially when they find out we homeschool too.  They want to know how we school, take care of the baby and keep up with the laundry (hint...some days we don't...do laundry, that is)!  My house is far, far from perfect.  This area of home management has been one of the most challenging for me, there are days where I really miss my office accounting job, where everything balanced nicely on paper. I feel I've had to learn the ropes as I go and I am incredibly grateful that I can read other posts from other mommy bloggers who have helped me along the way.  I guess this blog is a small way I can throw my .02 cents in and give back some of what I've been given.

Last but definitely not least is my conversion story.  For those who don't yet know, I joined the Catholic Church on Easter Vigil, 2011.  That was last year and most people in my life do not know this.  Let me be clear, this was not an easy conversion for me.  Looking back I believe God has been preparing me to join His Church my whole life.  However, the bulk of my conversion has taken place over the last five years.  I have been attending Sunday Mass for four years now.  I did not talk to some of my close protestant friends about it during the process because I wanted to be clear on what I thought or felt about certain Catholic doctrine.  I spent alot of time praying, alot of time researching, and then more time praying!  It has been hard on my marriage because my husband remains protestant.  We have been in many theological debates discussions over the last few years.  I read in a recent post (which I cannot find the link) about how important it is to write down your conversion story while it is still fresh and new. I did keep a journal during my conversion process but I wanted to get my story down while I can still remember what it feels like to be a protestant.  The Catholic worldview is so much bigger (worldwide) and more deep in history than where I came from.  That sentence right there deserves a whole post to itself.  I was especially helped in my faith journey by reading the conversion stories of others.

I think my first post has gotten long enough...if you've managed to get to this point, congratulations!  I hope you will find my blog encouraging, entertaining, and enlightening (yeah, maybe I'm reaching a bit on that last word, I was looking for another "e" word and that's all I could come up with)...Enjoy!!!