Balance

Recently, I posted the question “I honestly want to know how other working mothers/wives find balance, with handling children, work, school if applicable, bills, household upkeep, friends, "me time" etc!” on Facebook.  I received many responses that all seemed as “when you figure it out let me know!”.  Too many of us, are spreading ourselves too thin and as a result we get overwhelmed, tired, irritable and just no good!  Going back to my original question, I realized that there are just some things that cannot be ignored and/or put to the side, i.e. kids and work.  But I still needed to find a way to find balance in my life.  Therefore, I compiled a list of the 5 most important things in my life (in no particular order) that HAD to be done.  My list consisted of 1) home/family (children & spouse), 2) work, 3) schoolwork, 4) prayer/devotion/worship, 5) I drew blank on number 5.  This made me realize that numbers 1-4 pretty much kept me occupied and I was making room for 5, which almost never consisted of doing something strictly for me.  I also realized that in order for me to maintain balance, I had to put ME in slot 5.  I had to learn that it is ok to say NO to everyone/everything else.  Many times, I have inconvenienced myself to convenience others.  Now there is nothing wrong with being nice, helpful or a friend, but if you are run down, burnt out and overstretched, it’s nothing wrong with a friend being a friend to you, by being helpful and nice by understanding that you are TIRED AND ALREADY STRETCHED TO THE MAX.  However, you cannot wait on someone else to realize your reality so you have to be the one to make a stand for your sanity.  The moral of this story is, I must take care of all of my required responsibilities first and I must include ME in that.  Everything and Everyone else will just have to understand.

Baby Shower Candy Pacifiers

So my best friend and her husband are expecting their first child basically anytime now! J  For her baby shower her mother and I were trying to think of creative and cute things for the cupcake toppers!  Well, I looked and looked and finally, I came across candy pacifiers.  I thought to myself, this is toooooo cute!  So needless to say, I gave it a try! 

1)  You start with Lifesavers, Jellybeans and icing (whatever brand you prefer)

2)  Next, you take the icing and put a little in the circle part of the lifesaver.

3)  Then, you take another lifesaver and hold it upright and attach it to the middle of the previous lifesaver (the one that has icing in the middle) It should resemble the shape of a ring.

4)  Now take the jelly bean and insert it at the top of the lifesaver in the middle part where there is still a little icing.  You may need to add a little more icing at this point to make the jelly bean stay.

5)  And there you have it a candy pacifier!!!!!  Or if you are doing a bridal shower a candy ring!

6)  It looks great on a cupcake!

Picture of cupcake and dessert table courtesy of Benson Blake Photography.