Our Blog's Name

I debated for a very long time on how and what to name this blog.  So, I thought I would share why I settled on "The Home Stretch."

In middle school and high school I was a cross country and track runner.  I come from a family of runners, in fact.  Even my husband and I met in college while on the cross country team together.  Since then, I have coached two years of middle school cross country and track.  Running metaphors and analogies come to mind quickly, thanks to all these experiences.  For example:  coaches and runners refer to the last 100 meters of a track as the "home stretch." This is the typically where the most spectators are seated to cheer for the finish.  As a long distance runner, turning that final corner and stepping onto the "home stretch" is a relief (you have only 100 meters left to run) and the pinnacle of  pressure (it all comes down to what happens in those final seconds).  It is where you feel the most supported and celebrated and simultaneously the most nervous that you might come up short.

This accurately describes my emotions about the journey of being a wife to my husband and a mother to my daughter.  I am aware that these are my most important roles in life...and that terrifies me.  At the same time, this is the place that, when I'm doing things well, I feel the hugest successes.  No matter what else is going on, this is what matters.  It all comes down to how I finish on my home stretch.

My sisters and I (middle) at the end of a long race!

A New Normal

Nineteen days.
That's how long it has been since our whole world has changed.
Nineteen days since my job went from being middle school Spanish teacher to Mommy.
Nineteen days since I slept peacefully for any amount of time.
Nineteen days since anything felt normal.

And for the past nineteen days we have been experimenting with this new adventure of parenthood.  We have laughed, cried, learned, questioned, snuggled and prayed.  We have had days of impressive success and days of emotional defeat.  It's only been nineteen days...and yet it feels like a whole new life lived by entirely new people.

So, to preserve my sanity and to challenge my perspective, I have vowed to attempt to record my thoughts, prayers, questions, decisions and experiences through this new blog.  I have always been an avid writer in journals/diaries/etc, so I want to preserve this fleeting season of life in a way that offers insights to others and simultaneously records my reflections for the future.

Here it is:  the beginnings of a new stage of life.  New priorities, new challenges...and the finding of a new normal.