And Here I Go...

For as long as I can remember, I have worked hard to maintain a balance of needing to "talk things out" and keeping my thoughts close to my chest as I did not want to say something that could in any way cause those in my life to think less of me or love me less...as I have often struggled (as we all have) with my view of myself...of feeling as though I needed to earn the friendship or love of others through my words, my actions...through being "just the right" person...

Over the past 6 months, I have tried to suppress the voice in my head that was telling me (over and over and over again) that I needed to let go of that fear and instead love myself enough to be completely vulnerable and transparent with my thoughts and feelings...to let others see "all' of me - my weaknesses, my insecurities, my joys, my sorrows...

As a parent, I think there is no greater lesson that I can teach my children than to love themselves enough to truly be themselves...and how can I teach them if I'm not willing to take the same leap of faith?!?

With this blog, I hope to share a little of this crazy little thing I call life - the precious moments I am blessed to share with Kate and Drew, the moments that both Dave and I find success (as parents, as a couple, professionally), but perhaps more importantly...the moments I would normally keep to myself - the moments I find myself frustrated, the moments where I fall short...I keep them to myself because it's not what I want others want to see, for I am afraid of what they would think, but the truth is...we all have those moments, we're not proud of them, but we have them and they are the moments that we learn the most about ourselves...the moments that we are most "real"...

I think we will all learn something along this journey - there will be laughter, there may even be tears, but without a doubt there will be LOVE, for each other and for ourselves...

And with that...