Here we are, halfway through 2015. I remember starting the new year cold and ready for warmer Texas weather. I didn’t have any besties around and spent all day every day with my two babies. I didn’t mind, really. We’d go on our beach walks and our nature walks all bundled up in our sweaters. I was optimistic for what the year had in store, but never imagined how much would change. I was so reluctant to start working. I wasn’t ready to put Damian in daycare. I was afraid of missing out on all that I could teach him on my own. I thought there was no way I would have the energy to work AND come home and look after two kids on my own. I was afraid.

But now…. life is so much better now that I’m a working mama. Things were never bad; I loved my life and my routine. But there was a key element that I didn’t realize how much I was missing- surfing. It had been a long time since I had been able to surf regularly. Before moving back to Texas I spent eight months landlocked in Virginia. Before that I was pregnant in Tanzania. Even then, surfing hadn’t been part of my routine since before Eva was born. She’s three.

It just so happened that the first April day I put both my kids in day care and headed off to work, a nice little swell arrived. As soon as I finished work, I headed straight for the beach. I paddled out on a board I got for Christmas but still hadn’t surfed. The waves were only waist to chest high but I had a blast getting back in the swing of surfing. We ended up having waves for over three weeks. It was so incredibly amazing to be able to spend an hour or two in the ocean almost every day before picking up my kids.

When I’m able to surf everyday life is just… better. It’s like the energy from the ocean fills me up like an empty gas tank and leaves me with a sense of peace and positivity for the rest of the day. Each session is a learning experience, both humbling me and giving me confidence. The ocean is my church. It’s a place to seek refuge from the worries of the day and build myself into a better person. And after years of being stagnant I feel like my surfing is starting to progress. And it just feels so good.

So that’s where I’m at this mid-year. I’m grateful to be starting my career, surfing, and having more mental energy to dedicate to my kids in the afternoons when I pick them up. My house is a little messier. I have to wake up a little earlier. I never have time to blog or even take as many nice pictures on my DSLR. But life is good. And I don’t know where I’d be without surfing.