I am just coming out of a very, very difficult time in my life. I have been on a journey that I think very well could have broke my spirit if not for my faith in God: a difficult marriage, a terrible divorce, being a single mother of two children, living with my mother again, starting up a new business, holding a full time job and witnessing my daughters triumph through traumas they should have never had to have gone through. Ever.
We all have struggles and we all have ways we get through them, too.
For a long time I did very little for myself. I was always trying to be the person I was expected to be by others or myself. During my marriage and soon after my separation from my marriage my main focus was always on my girls. The one person I forgot about was me. I still forget, probably too often, but I am trying to get better about taking care of myself. Not so much for myself right now, but more for my girls. I am a firm believer that our children learn from witnessing so much more than they do from being told. If I tell my girls that it is important for them to take time out to pamper themselves, but they never witness me pampering myself, where is the lesson? I tell them reading is fun but they never see me reading a book. They will never believe me that it really is fun to read.
So today I decided that I would tell you a few of my guilty pleasures. I started of with my top 10, but then decided to add a couple of extras. I gotta say, a year ago I wouldn’t have been able to come up with more than a handful, so since I was able to come up with more than 10 – I am pretty proud of myself.
10. Sleeping in and then taking a nap a few hours later on the weekends when the girls are with their dad.
9. Facebook. Flickr. Twitter. iMeem. Blogs.
8 1/2. Reading – at least 1 chapter every night.
8. Twilight
7. Watching my favorite DVR’d shows late at night after everyone goes to sleep. (Saving Grace, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol)
6. Starbucks Chai Tea
5. Going to Barnes and Noble by myself, get a chai and read random pointless books that make me laugh
5 1/2. Going to the salon and getting pampered. I love getting a fresh new hair cut, a little color change and a manicure/pedicure. (This is pretty rare for me, but I still love it.)
4. Driving in pure silence when I am alone or blasting the music as loud as it will go. Depends on the day and my mood.
3 1/2. Staying up late. In the dictionary under night owl there is a picture of your’s truly. I love staying up late. Trouble is that I also like waking up early. Makes for a short night’s sleep – but it is so worth it.
3. Watching my girls sleep. They are at such peace when they sleep.
2. Priceline.com – I heart staycations and priceline always makes them possible.
1 1/2. Being with friends. Whether it be lunch, dinner, drinks, talking on the phone or just texting randomness, I must say that without my girls I would not be the woman that I am today.
1. Photography – (bet you didn’t guess I was going to say that!) Anything to do with photography: from actually taking the pictures, seeing the response of a mother seeing a photo I took of her child, to processing them, reading about photography techniques, reading other photographer blogs, looking at photographs…I love it ALL.
Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment and tell me what are a few (or more) of your guilty pleasures?
SO that is my number one excuse for being a poor blogger. If I were to get graded on my blogging skills I am sure my grade would be a big, fat FAIL. I have a few sessions that were amazing toward the end of the year that each deserve their own blog. I will do my best to post them soon.
by Amy
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