Shopping Extravaganza!

 It has finally arrived! The time has come for my yearly shopping trip to Albertville with my friends. For me, this is the third annual trip. We have progressed each year- the first year there were just four of us and we left at 7am and returned at 1130 pm; that turned out to be a long day.... too long. The next year, we ammended it and spent the night (the four of us). We still got home late that night, but got WAY more shopping in. That year, I got smart and opened a savings account for the trip so I'm not spending too much money. This year, we finally got more people to come! There were seven of us total that ended up making the haul. We left around 930 in the morning and went to the Mall of America for that night, then stopped at IKEA (my new favorite store!) on the way to the hotel. We drank a few bottles of wine and had some great conversations, then went to bed. The next morning, we stopped by McD's for some brunch and we were off. We spent a fun-filled and shopping-filled day in Albertville (I changed my pants in the back seat of Kristina's car) before heading home. I got my Christmas shopping about 75% done and had a great time with some good friends. I look forward to each October and that sweet time away from my family. I love my husband and children more than I ever imagined possible, but I need a break every so often! Now I just have to wait until next year!

Mommy time!

  Today was kind of a "Mommy" day! I've been working nights lately, and today was my one day off by myself with NO KIDS! I had a meeting scheduled for noon, so I went back to sleep after I helped get the kids ready and off to daycare (and had a dream that I slept until 2:30 pm and missed the meeting- I was frantic when I woke up, and realized that it was only 10:30!). At my meeting, I was asked "what have you done for yourself today?" Women, especially moms, often go through life worrying about everyone else and not making any time for themselves. We need to make ourselves a priority as well! I don't know if you all feel this way, but I tend to live my life with a feeling of being overwhelmed; there's always a
to-do list that I just can't get finished (and yet, here I sit blogging instead of sweeping!). I always think that if I had a day or two without the kids or work, I could get caught up. You all know that doesn't happen- life gets in the way: I get called in to work, I have other errands I have to run, etc. Sometimes I wish there were two or three of me (though that would drive my husband crazy)! So- moral of the blog today: take at least 5-10 minutes each day to do something for YOU... listen to some music, read a book (or your Bible), take a power nap, make a scrapbook page or two- whatever you love to do, but make sure you do it! We mommas need to take care of ourselves as well- we are WORTH taking time out for a little "me" time without feeling guilty.