t’s time I introduced myself. My name is Amber and I feel like I know most of you personally, so I may have taken for granted that you know me personally. It’s funny how when we follow someone on social media even if they live in a different state or country, it feels like you know them. We see each other’s lives unfolding.  I love the relationships we build, there are so many inspirational people out there and I love seeing your families and what is happening in your lives. My favorites to follow are the ones that share the good and the bad. They share in such a way that you can feel their faith and doubts, they are themselves, they are real.

“Whatever makes you feel uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth” Bryant McGill

I am going to be honest, this has been a hard post for me to write. I think the reason is that I want to be absolutely authentic, I want to be vulnerable and real. I am finding that I am a little scared to share myself. I have been trying to figure out what I am scared of and why. I love to analyze people, especially myself. I really should have gone to school to be a psychologist. I am generally a confident person, but since I started this blog I have been feeling a little insecure. I want you to feel interested and inspired. I realized that one of my fears is that I don’t want anyone to think that I think I know it all. I am also afraid of offending people, but I also want to be honest and true. I am finding this hard to explain and I am REALLY uncomfortable right now, especially at this very moment while writing this. I believe that when you are uncomfortable you are growing, so this has to be a good thing, right?

“Your largest fear carries your greatest growth” Unknown

Speaking of I should have gone to school to be a psychologist… when my kids were little, I did actually go to the local community college as well as a University to check into going to school to study psychology. I spoke with counselors about my options but, I let fear get in my way and didn’t move forward. And since I am in self analyzing mode right now, I am realizing that my fear was of succeeding. How weird is that? I am still trying to figure out the why’s of this. But I figure if I feel that way than others of you may feel the same. So I hope that in sharing this part of me it will help you know you are not alone, and inspire you to figure out why you feel that way so you can move on from it. I don’t really think about going back to school anymore, I am not sure if I really want to pursue that, but I do know it is never to late and if it is something that I start to feel passionate about again, I will do it. But for now, I am going to leave it at that and just share that moment with you.

“You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars” E.E. Cummings

So I think it’s time to lighten this up with some facts. I am married to my BFF. We have been together for 12 years, married for 7 of those 12. We took our time because we had both been married before, we did not move in with each other until a few months before our wedding. I want to mention that because I feel like we really got to know each other before we were married and I honestly feel like that is what makes our marriage successful. And, I can’t leave out that this man has the best sense of humor and he is constantly making me laugh, I think that is my favorite thing about him. We have 5 adult children, he came with 3 and I with 2. We love each others kids like they are our own children. Being a mixed family has had its challenges but I feel that we have been blessed with a group of kids that know we love them and love us back. They are each amazing in their own way and they are constantly teaching us life lessons and inspiring us to be better people. 3 of them are married or in a relationship so with them added to our family, we have 8 kids. We feel blessed to have these 3 as part of our family, they are each so good for our kids and we love them just as much as our own children. We have a grandson who is 9, we are both madly in love with the little guy and are excited to have more grandchildren. No-one is in a rush to have a baby at the moment so for now we are eating up every moment we have with him. And I can’t leave out the grand-puppies, we have two of those, two grand-kitties and even though I really do not like snakes, I am going to include her. I don’t spend much time in the same room with her, but my son-in law loves her so I feel it important that I mention her. We are both close with our Mama’s and are blessed to have a wonderful relationship with them as well. They are both strong, inspiring women and I am thankful to have each them as a role model. I am surrounded by amazing friends and family and I feel like these people help mold who I am as a person. My family is always in my heart and thoughts throughout the day. They are what drive me. I want to be an example for them, so I do my best to be a good person and a good role model for them. I think that is part of what is drawing me to work on this blog. I want to help people, but I also want to help our kids on their journey and I hope in sharing myself it will help them as well.

So there is a little bit of me and my family. Here are a few fun photo’s of our family.