Back in the Saddle

Hello, friends.

It's been awhile, and I apologize. But here I am again, a blank white screen before me waiting to be filled with words.

This time, the stories will be a little different, because this family has started some new journeys since the last time I wrote. The boys are growing like weeds, each discovering new adventures with the dawn of each new day; each boy more and more slowly becoming a little man. My sweet husband is still working hard molding young minds in the classroom and coaching two varsity sports. And me? I'm continuing forward in another year as a CEO who works from home raising three rambunctious boys.

That journey all seems to be about the same.

But it's the little paths off that main road that are changing a bit. In addition to doing the one thing I love most in the world (raising my sons) and working, I'm also pursuing a dream I've had for years - to write a book.

When I was younger, I used to write stories upon stories upon stories. My mind raced with stories, each one targeted at changing the world in some small way. I remember one vividly: a story I wrote in sixth grade about a dog who encountered a problem with littering and recycling. I wrote the story with the intention of making the world a cleaner place to live, and I was only 12. It seems insignificant, but my love for writing things that somehow would impact people has always burned inside of me. For years, I wrote in journals, on scraps of paper, filled notebooks, moved on to blogs, and then one night, while sleeping in a queen-sized bed with two toddlers and a newborn in a pack-n-play next to me, I knew how God wanted me to take my love for writing further. I was struck with my first book idea.

And writing a book is on my bucket list.

Really, there are only two things on my bucket list: to publish a book and to make Time Magazine's list of top 20 CEOS under the age of 40. The former means more to me than the latter, but the two are closely related - one brings about the chance to (hopefully) impact readers and the other a chance to impact others through work. My bucket list isn't about fame or fortune - it's about reaching people. Serving people. Making a difference.

So here I am, on a new journey. And this blog will change a bit in that I'm going to chronicle how I get from this point - with my story idea and some major components of the book underway - to the end product, which is hopefully a published book. If you're worried this blog just lost a lot of it's appeal because the ramblings of raising three boys are gone, never fear. That's the beauty of this new journey I'm taking...my whole family is coming along for the ride. Now it will be stories of how my precious, high-energy herd both aids in and creates struggles throughout this process.

So, I invite you to come along. Snuggle up in your favorite spot, with your favorite beverage and escape your world for a little and enter mine, in all of it's hectic, story-writing-while-still-working-and-raising-kids glory. Hopefully you'll enjoy this journey as much as I plan to.