December Self Portrait

Here we are almost halfway through January and I am finally getting around to posting my December self portrait.  Par for the course I suppose, ha ha ;)

December was a whirlwind month, as always, with Christmas decorating, shopping, wrapping, and traveling.  It's a crazy time, but I adore it.  The hustle and bustle of the holidays; it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

But amidst the chaos, my sister gifted me the best surprise of the season.... a massage at the Hershey hotel and dinner downtown afterwards!!!  I was BEYOND excited when she revealed this gift to me!  We went on December 23rd, when the majority of the stress of the season was over, and it was the most relaxing, wonderful thing to do at that moment in time :)

As a parent of two toddlers, it is not often that I get time to do things for myself.  Yet when I do, I feel refreshed and invigorated.  It recharges me to be the best mom and wife that I can be.  Mike and I talked about this and we are definitely on the same page.  We both always feel rushed to hurry up and get home so that the brunt of the parenting doesn't fall too heavily on the other person.  Time to ourselves rarely feels relaxed.  So in the new year we are going to (try) to set aside more time for ourselves...guilt free.

That wonderful afternoon at the spa really showed me how important this time is to one's well being.  As much as we adore our family, we need a break sometimes, and that's OK.  It doesn't have to be as fancy as a spa day, but even an afternoon at home while the other parent takes the kids somewhere would be heavenly.  As all parents do, we give so much of ourselves to our families, that sometimes we lose a little bit of our sense of self in the process.  In 2014 we vow to work on changing that.  After all, if it will make us better spouses and parents, its a win-win for the whole family :)

Cheers to 2014!