About Me

I am the imperfect mother of three attempting to keep my sanity and a bit of myself along this wonderful road of mommyhood. A huge part of myself is being a mommy and wife and I love those roles wholeheartedly. That being said, I also loved my pre-mommy me and want to keep some of that artistic, multi-interested girl around as well. With the busy-ness of being a mommy though, it is sometimes hard to do.

Why I Started This Blog:
My first mat leave got a bit gobbled up by health issues so I wanted to make the most of my second one and thought a focus would help me. I decided 2013 (and my second mat leave) would be my year of writing. I started this blog to record and reflect on my experiences of being a mom and of trying to balance the mommy-me and other aspects of me.

What Will You Find on Keeping the Me in Mommy?
At least one post a week. My blog posts will include mothering (mis)adventures and entries on attempts at keeping my artistic side/pre-mommy-me alive and kicking. I will try to find the humour in the daily ups and downs (of the terrible twos and threes in particular) as I have found if I can laugh at it, I can deal with it.

Some Random Tidbits About Me:
-I reside in the beautiful city of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia,  Canada.

-I met my husband on a blind date.
-My hobbies range from painting to scrapbooking to knitting and more. I have far too many boxes of supplies for the amount of cupboard and storage space I have.
-I believe in synchronicity (check it out in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way)
-I dream of a hobby room like one Martha Stewart probably has. I’m just waiting for the lotto gods to give me the go ahead.                                                                                                      –When not on mat leave I am a resource teacher for elementary students.  I primarily work with children with special needs and learning disabilities.
-I have one of the most collectic appreciations of music of anyone I know. I enjoy top 40, classical, country, jazz, and even the occasional rap song.
-I write stories for children and poetry for adults.
-I am addicted to the notes app on my phone. Having a five year old, a three year old and a one year old, means when inspiration strikes I often only have time to note sentence fragments or story ideas in my phone until I have time to go back to the idea.
-I belong to two book clubs and am so thankful for audio books. That way I can “read” even when I’m so tired I can’t see straight AND I still have my hands free.
-I love hiking, swimming, and star gazing…when I haven’t fallen asleep too early.

Contact Me:
keepingthemeinmommy@hotmail.com

Blogs I Follow:

http://potagerway.com/ A blog (and website) on kitchen gardening on Gabriola Island (and on lavender).

http://www.artfulparent.com/ A blog on sharing and enjoying art with children.

http://donnadowney.typepad.com A blog by a very eclectic artist – she dabbles in every medium!  She runs Inspiration Wednesday which I highly recommend if you are interested in playing with new techniques.

http://argeum.blogspot.ca  A blog by a mixed media artist.  Her work is very textured and features a great range of materials.

http://www.juliettecrane.com/blog/ An artist blog.  Her paintings are mostly whimsical in nature.  A couple years ago I took her Serendipity course and it was a lot of fun though I think one of her owl workshops would be a better choice.

http://www.sweetrepeats.blogspot.ca Jodi Ohl writes an artist blog.  I love her colours and style.  Her art speaks to my way of seeing the world.

http://www.lalymille.com/blog-en-1/ Laly Mille also writes an artist blog.  Her paintings touch my heart and are soothing while also invigorating to the eye.

http://www.juliehedlund.com/julies-blog/ A blog written by a children’s author and the great lady who runs the fabulous 12×12 Picture Book Challenge.

http://taralazar.com Another blog written by a children’s author.  This lady runs the oh so much fun Picture Book Idea Month each November (PiBoIdMo).

http://www.megmillerwrites.blogspot.ca A picture book writer who runs ReviMo (it pushes you to revise your work and gives you great advice to do so).