When I asked my husband if he would object to me buying a domain name to start a blog, he was surprised, but supportive. He asked what I was going to write about.

Good question.

He was probably more surprised at my flustered and sassy “I have things to say” answer. A good man, he gave me an amused look at my substandard answer.

In June of 2013, I left my job to stay home with my now 1 and 3 year old children. The transition has been an adventure.  I’ll save details of that for another day and just say that staying home IS what I want but there are some things from working that I miss. One of those things is the uninterrupted conversation or thought.

I am blessed to have my husband, family and other mom-friends. I could not do this without them. Although I see other adults often, my focus is on my kids when I am with them (pretty much always), so my conversations are just not as in depth as they used to be and both thoughts and conversations are often interrupted and unfinished. When my husband gets home, I don’t want to bombard him with ALL the unfinished things I have in my head.  Talk about information overload!

All those unfinished ideas need a place to be flushed out.

One of the great things about writing is that even if I get interrupted, the ideas are there and I can come back to them later.  When my husband travels, instead of sitting on my couch wasting time watching garbage TV and eating snacks I don’t need, this blog is a better use of time and an avenue to complete my thoughts.  Even in planning to blog, I have been somewhat incomplete. Notes and ideas jotted down, in random places… Step one, organize scattered ideas and figure out what this blog is about!

Here are the main topics you’ll find from thisgratefulmama:

• Practice Gratitude: concerted efforts to be grateful in the moment and with what I already have (this is not something that comes natural to me)
• I’m a Work in Progress: trying to be a better at-home wife and mom,  and to deepen my relationship with the Lord
• Parenting: what my kids are teaching me, and what I’m trying to teach them (including failures because that is just the truth)
• Joyful Hosting: ideas for hosting gatherings to make things fun but simple to help ensure serving friends and family is joyful, not stressful
• DIY: a place to show progress on the long list of projects I hope to start this summer

The name www.thisgratefulmama.com was chosen because it describes who I am striving to be, regardless of my circumstances. I certainly don’t have it all together, so what you’ll find here is a discussion of honest successes and failures, and hopefully some fun ideas. I hope you enjoy this blog and share your feedback with me.

Welcome.