One more under our belts

We made it through Mike’s 2014 sports season and lived to tell the tale. When his season first starts, I look forward to having some evenings to myself to dither away as I please. It starts to wear on me by mid-season, and towards the end this picture sums things up nicely:

Each year has come with its own challenges. Our first year of marriage I remember being bored/lonely when he was working for long stretches (<--- rolling my eyes laughing at that now!).

Our second year we welcomed L.J. into our family and I was consumed with caring for a newborn. Fortunately, I was on maternity leave and able to spend a lot of time in Greenville, so things were very manageable.

Our third year was a jump off the deep end into solo parenting with an active baby/toddler! We also moved in the middle of the season last year, which added a layer of difficulty.

This year was the hardest year so far. L.J. is two (enough said…). I had several extremely busy periods at work. We bought a house and moved. Our commute is currently absolutely awful. Stress and exhaustion wore down my immune system and I got sick more than once. The basketball team made the NCAA tournament (Yay!). Whew, this year was one for the record books, but we are cautiously optimistic that it was an anomaly.

We’ve made it out the other side. A little worse for the wear, but we made it! We are looking forward to spring and summer – longer daylight hours for playtime, tackling a few house projects and spending time with friends and family. And, honestly, hopefully some time to just be – sit and smell the proverbial roses.

I would be remiss not to send out a huge thank you to my parents, who were literally a saving grace during this particularly stressful season. They gave up many, many weekends over the past few months to come help me with everything. Mom and Dad, I don’t think we would have made it through this season without you!!