I love my kids. I love my husband. They mean the world to me and I have been EXTREMELY lucky & blessed to get to be a stay at home Mom for 99% of my children’s childhood. I realize TONS of Moms don’t get to do that, don’t even have a choice. I do know how fortunate I am. I am so grateful to my husband for providing an amazing life for our family. He is my rock. So with all of these amazingly cool things in my life its hard to admit something was missing. I wouldn’t trade my years with these crazy kids for anything. I got to see first steps and nap time and first words and all of those incredible milestones. That is irreplaceable.

My kids are 12 and 13 (almost 14) now. I am still here to guide them, direct them, yell at them, drive them places & hand out money- but lets face it- they can walk on their own ,wipe their own butts, feed themselves, shower on their own (well OK Maddie can do that), and basically survive without me there 24/7. My parenting role has shifted from keeping them alive to getting them out of the house while able to contribute to society. And as we moved to Colorado and they made friends, joined clubs and activities, found their own way I stopped and thought….what about me?

Its hard to make new friends at 41 years old. It’s hard to start over. It’s hard to find your career path after all of these years at home. It’s hard to feel useful and where you fit in. And something was missing.

It’s becoming clear that there are definite seasons to life. There are beginnings and ends, there are Springs & Autumns & Winters & Summers. Life has stages. And I moved into parenthood at 27 years old with some bumps & bruises but pretty seamlessly. I mean when you have two kids 19 months apart you don’t have much choice. What an amazing season. Babies! Diapers, breast-feeding, baby food, bottles, no sleep, tears, doctors visits, play dates, all of it is a big fat wonderful blur. And I cherish that season of my life and accept that is has passed.

This season I am entering is so amazing and scary and cool. I feel like at 41 I am finding me. I knew I wanted to go back to work but wasn’t sure about how that picture would look. I like being home for my kids. I like going to their school events and picking them up from school and having lunch with my friends and all of that cool stuff. But my brain needed adult time. My brain needed to work. My brain needed to be ME again.

Beachbody has offered such an amazing opportunity for me. I cannot express enough thanks to my coach, STEPHANIE, for being such an example of what a stay at home Mom who builds an incredibly successful business and works HARD is supposed to look like. I know my picture will look different than hers, and yours, and everyone else’s but I have a picture now. I have pretty amazing kids and a great husband and now I have a business. Thats all mine. That I work hard for. I am my own boss. I am so, so , so grateful for this opportunity and this company. I cannot express enough how cool Beachbody as a company is.

It may sound silly but I get manicures now, and pedicures, and buy clothes I want and pay for my kids activities and all of it is guilt free. I started out wanting to pay for my hi-lights each month without dipping into our savings account and now it is so much more. I know Im lucky but I have to say its not just luck- its HARD WORK. I work hard for my business and my team and its worth it. Its all worth it.

Embracing this new season of my life….I feel better at 41 years old than I did at 30. No lie! Age brings so many wonderful things. OK it brings wrinkles and age spots and cellulite and bad vision and peeing every 5 minutes but on the flip side….it brings a sense of self confidence and wisdom and HELL…I can pay for good products now so screw the wrinkles! 🙂

I am reminded of a scene from one of my favorite movies:
Evelyn is cut off in a parking lot]
Evelyn Couch: Hey! I was waiting for that spot!
Girl #1: Face it, lady, we’re younger and faster!
[Evelyn rear-ends the other car six times]
Girl #1: What are you *doing*?
Girl #2: Are you *crazy*?
Evelyn Couch: Face it, girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.

I hope every single woman out there embraces each season of life with vigor! You only get one life- do it right!