Well, it’s been about 5 1/2 months since my last blog. Pretty sad huh? I can list about 10 million different reasons why it has taken me so long to get back into the swing of things but I won’t bore you with excuses. I will say though, that lots of things have changed over the last several months and those changes have, in some way or another, contributed to my lack of blogging. Here’s what you’ve missed while I’ve been blog slacking:

Our youngest celebrated his 1st birthday. Hard to believe he’s already a year old when it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home for the first time. He’s quite a character but of course he’d have to be, there’s a lot of competition in this house.

Cullen's first birthday!

Cullen’s first birthday!

Speaking of houses, we purchased our first home a few months back. We’ve spent about 3 months painting, organizing, upgrading, packing, moving, and unpacking and we’re still not completely settled in. Even living out of boxes, it still feels like home. As much as I’ve enjoyed making this house more our style, I will be glad when all of the painting and changes have been made so we can get to just enjoying living here.

Our move into the new house brought another change, new city. Well, not new for me but new for the family. We moved to my hometown. I love being back with family but I have to admit it has been different living in a small town after having lived in some of Texas’ major cities. Since moving back home I’ve been able to reconnect with some friends from school and it has been so great getting to spend time with them and their families. Funny how 12 years or more has gone by but with some people you can just pick up where you left off and it’s like nothing ever changed. Part of what I love most about being home is our Sunday dinner tradition. You guys may remember a post I shared several months back about my Granny and our family tradition. I’m happy to say that we still get together in the same house every Sunday for lunch together. Now it is my grandmother who prepares food for everyone and it has become our own little tradition that she and I cook together. I go over every Sunday morning to help her and I take one of my children with me. Each week the kids rotate who gets to go help prepare lunch. I love being able to teach them about our culture and instill this sense of pride and tradition in them. In fact, I think this is my favorite part of being back home; being able to do that every Sunday morning.

In April, I got the most amazing gift (Silhouette Portrait) for my birthday and I’ve definitely put it to use over the past few months. I have to admit that I am a little disappointed with myself for not blogging about my craft projects because there have been tons. Lately I’ve used it to cut vinyl decals for my toe nails. Maybe I’ll put together a blog solely for those because I have to admit, I’ve really enjoyed the way they’ve turned out. Other than nail decals, I’ve created some signs and logos for my mom’s new business, a few phone decals for a friend of mine, and a baby shower gift for my newest little cousin. Other than using my Portrait, I’ve been continuing to sell my invitations and digital artwork on Etsy. I just finished updating my logos for both Tantalizing Trends and for the blog. I’m pretty happy with the result. I guess I am always happiest when I’m creating things.

This is the artwork I made for my cousin's baby shower. I made this to match her nursery bedding.

This is the artwork I made for my cousin’s baby shower. I made this to match her nursery bedding.

Previously I wrote about setting and achieving goals which stemmed from some traits I had noticed growing within our children that I was less than pleased with. This summer has brought a lot of changes to our family. Some have been easy, some have been difficult, some have yet to come to pass but I believe that all of these changes are just pieces to a greater and bigger puzzle. Change is inevitable and without it we don’t grow. I’m embracing these changes and trying to remember that everything happens for a reason even if we don’t understand what the reason is at the time. I plan to blog more about these things as they fall into place.

This is just some of what has occurred during my time away from blogland. I do intend to get back to writing more often. It may take a while for it to become a daily thing but I do know that it won’t be another 5 1/2 months before I blog again.

Until next time!