Why I Haven't Been Blogging

I have been a little quiet on the blog front lately.  This is mostly due to the fact that I get consumed by whatever project I am working on, and in the past six weeks, I've been working on getting our new home unpacked, organized, and decorated.  I wish I were a more temperate person who methodically worked on projects bit by bit, a little each day or week, until they are done--but that's just not my nature.  I get obsessed and can't relax until the job is FINISHED and off my list.  I always tell myself that as soon as this project is done, I will start being a more balanced and temperate person...but the problem is, as soon as one project ends, another begins, so I find myself constantly in a state of obsession over some project or another.  Is anyone else like this?  Does anyone have any advice for me on how to temper this tendency?

You wouldn't think that getting our little home organized and decorated would take six weeks, but we have never lived in a house before, so we had some furniture to buy and work spaces to figure out...and everything takes so stinkin' long.  You get a couch, and then you need to find an area rug...you get an area rug, and then you need to find throw pillows to tie it all together.  You get some frames for a gallery wall, and then you need to get some photos printed...you get the photos printed, and then you need to hang the frames.  (Why does hanging pictures take so long??)  All of the decorating and organizing feels rather superficial at times, but it needs to be done.  I am decorationally challenged, so this has not been an easy task for me, but we are almost done with it all (just a few more pictures to get up on the walls!), and it feels good.  I cannot tell you how much we LOVE living in a house, and the home we are renting is perfect for us.  At least five times a day, I think about how grateful I am that we found this place and that we are lucky enough to have a home.  Perhaps I will post a few photos of our little home soon...if I can convince myself to take the time to upload photos.

Which leads to my next rant/question.  Another reason why I've been quiet on the blog front lately is that blogging takes a lot of time.  First you have to write the posts, and then you have to upload all of the photos from your camera or phone, edit them, add them to the post...what seems like it should take twenty minutes ends up taking an hour (or longer).  And if you want to turn your blog into a book for your family and future posterity to enjoy, that takes even more time.  I have been working on my second blog book, and I am amazed by how much time it takes.  I did the book for 2011 last year, I am working on the book for 2008 and 2009 this year--but I still have 2010, 2012, and 2013 to go!  Has anyone else run into this problem?  I've noticed that a lot of my friends have stopped blogging in recent months and years, and I wonder if this is why.  It's just a lot to keep up with!  Do people even read blogs anymore with all of the other options of social media that are, in a lot of ways, much quicker and easier?  (Speaking of, if you have Instagram and want to see far too many photos of Noah, let me know--I update there every couple of days because it's quick and easy.)  Sometimes I wonder if I should stop blogging all together, but I think I would miss the writing aspect of it, and I know our families like to know the details of what's going on with Noah...so I'm not sure what to do.  Friends, do you have any advice on this?

And speaking of Noah, there's another reason why I haven't been blogging this summer: Being a mom is really busy!  I am constantly surprised by the energy it takes to care for a toddler and run a household...to say nothing of the additional responsibilities of editing for Power of Moms and volunteering at our church and in our community.  I just got asked to help with the teenage girls at our church, and I really love it (I have the opportunity to teach again!), but I can already tell it's going to be busy with weekly lessons and activities.  I feel like I am always tired these days, which makes me feel like a sissy because I only have one kid for crying out loud, and I am a stay-at-home-mom, and I actually get more sleep now than I ever did while I was teaching.  So why am I so tired??  Can someone explain this to me?  How do women with lots of children function??  As I've mentioned on this blog a few times, Ryan and I are hoping to add another baby to our family in the near future, and I've started fertility treatments again, and I constantly wonder how I will keep up when there is another little one (and hopefully several more eventually!) running around the house.  There is nothing I want more, and yet it's a bit mind-boggling to consider it happening.

And finally, full admission, another reason why this blog has been pretty quiet lately is that Ryan and I have gotten a tad addicted to an old BBC show called "Larkrise to Candleford."  We don't have TV, so throughout our marriage, we've never had any "shows" that we  consistently watch together like a lot of couples do. But a friend recommended "Larkrise" to us because we like Downton Abbey, and we've been watching an episode several nights a week on the internet, and it is really fun.  I think it is more the relaxation and togetherness that we crave than the show itself.  There is something so nice about crashing at the end of the day and snuggling up together to watch something completely mindless.  In the past, my idea of togetherness was to clean the kitchen or work on one of my projects.  (Fun, right??)  I have a hard time sitting down to do something like watch TV, but now I totally understand why people love it.  I've realized that it is probably really healthy and good for couples to have a favorite show that they share. (Ryan is in full support of this realization, as he would much prefer to snuggle and watch something fun than clean the house! That poor man puts up with a lot from his worker wife!)

So that was the very long explanation of some of the reasons why I have not been blogging this summer!  I hope to catch up a bit over the next week or so.  Who knows if I will keep up this blog long-term, but I will at least finish 2013 (so I can have a complete blog book, right?  Ahhh!).

Thanks for reading my rant.  I know all of this is totally "first-world problems," and I feel a little sheepish even asking for advice--but all of you wise women out there, I would REALLY appreciate if you could leave a comment and give me some input on balancing projects, running a household, volunteering, blogging, motherhood, and life.  xoxo