Our family found out this last weekend that my husband will be heading out to New York for 2 months to help with disaster clean-up from Hurricane Sandy. 

As I struggle with the thought of not seeing him everyday, I find myself not so much worrying about myself, but for him.  I know it will be difficult, and I'm sure I'll have struggles, but for him, to be away from us for 2 months is going to be hard, especially not knowing if he'll be able to come home for Christmas, not to mention our 9 year anniversary at the end of January.  Days driving a semi are mostly very long and boring, I fear the days will drag on and on for him. 

I'm not even sure where I wanted to go with this post, just needed to get it out.  I find myself being strong, and holding it together when I'm with him, but as soon as I dropped the kids off this morning and got back in the car, I lost it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a very independent person.  Since we've been married he's been away from home for around 18 hrs a day, if not more. From going to school and working full time, to getting a job that requires the same number of hours, to driving truck and being out of town for a week at a time, this has been our life.  But 2 months?!  Its a little scary.

Are you in a similar situation?  What do you do to help your husband/wife/significant other cope?  What about your children?  How do you prepare them for not being able to give hugs and kisses for so long? 

I don't know about you, but I have a constant struggle with the number of ideas floating around in my head and the limits of time that allow me to get them out on paper/product!

I love using many mediums for my creativity, from yarn, to frosting, to paint, to construction, if only there were enough hours in the day!  I am absolutely lost if I don't have something to make lists with!  I have pads of paper, post-its, binders and even a list app on my phone for tracking all of my ideas.

I find the key is to set a schedule for creativity.  I realize you can't predict when the next stroke of genius is going to hit, but if you can quickly jot it down (so as not to forget) so that you can come back to it when you have time alotted, it makes things SO much easier!  With 3 kids, a full time job and doing the books for our other company, schedule is not an option.  There are deadlines and homework and meetings that seem to make themselves priority, make sure to make time for the creativity!

I don't know about you, but I (because of my day job) think best on grid paper, so that is where most of my patterns start. Do what works for you!  Some doodle with X's and O's, K's and P's, etc, etc.  They all go into my 3-ring binder and (pending an even better stroke of genius) get worked on on Wednesday and Friday nights after the kids go to bed.

What part of your creative process do you struggle with the most?

Those that know me know that I love using my creativity to make things for the people I love, that being said, here are a few of my other "projects"!
I very much enjoy baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes for friends and family, here are a few of my recent creations:

Welcome, welcome!  I am hoping by doing this I can share some of my insight as a parent, a knitter, a wife, housekeeper, babysitter, horse person, lawn maintenance and all of the things that go along with it!  I love my "job" as Mom, my children are the best things I ever did. Hopefully one day I will be able to stay home so that I can watch them grow every day, but for now, I work.  Balancing home, kids, work, husband and hobbies isn't for the weak, that is for dang sure! 
I love to bake, knit, play with my horses, 4-wheel, sew (well, any craft really)  I also enjoy gardening and arranging flowers, anything that lets the creativity flow!

Check back for my latest adventures - coming soon....my first graduation cake!