I am happy! I have a wonderful husband, a great family, a wonderful job with supportive readers and empowering clients. I have the kindest friends, the best neighbors and a very abundant life. Even with all of that, there are things I know I could do to make my life even happier. …

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Working from home can be isolating if you let it. Lucky for me, I have a whole crew of colleagues I can reach at the click of a mouse.

True friendship and support in the blogging world can be hard to come by… you have to navigate the waters carefully. Who can you trust? Who is genuine? Who cares about you beyond what you can do for them and how you can help them to grow their blog?

I can tell you, for me, I’ve discovered these friendships are harder than “in real life” friendships because we don’t get to see each other face to face. We don’t know if we are seeing the “real side” of the blogger or a side for show. I’ve found out through the years though that the “true” side of most people becomes very evident once you get to know them better. It’s fairly easy for me now to know who I can count on as a friend, and who I want in my “tribe”….

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Today, I want to tell you about a few of my friends. You see, I have some pretty incredible people in my life… people I probably don’t express my appreciation for nearly enough. Friends who, when I questioned true friendship, proved to me in many ways I just wasn’t looking hard enough.

So, today, I want to share with you how I am blessed to the moon and back with great friends…and with Hallmark’s help, I’m going to let a few of them know what kind of friend they are to me.

First of all, to my sisters……

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I’ve always known and hoped that I would be a mom. When I was in Kindergarten, we had a “Star of the Week” program where the star would be interviewed. One of the questions in the interview was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My immediate answer, firmly stated without any hesitation? “A Mommy.”

What I didn’t know when I was in kindergarten was how hard being a mom can be. My mom made it look so easy. It wasn’t until friends of mine started having kids and then I had kids of my own that I began to understand that being a mom is not all singing, arts and crafts, park playing and sprinkler splashing. From the moment a new baby comes into your life, your role on earth changes and you soon discover that you can’t do it well on your own. It truly does take a village.

Luckily, I have a pretty awesome village… full of great friends and family who truly care about the well being of my kids. Well, and the well being of me too. Some of the best advice from my village has been…

My friend Amy, a week before Jacob was due, told me to skip the pretty PJ’s in the hospital and to opt for either just the standard gown or pajamas you don’t care about getting ruined. “You’re just going to be a big, fat, fluidy mess.”

My friend Ami, when I came to her crying because all the parenting magazines were telling me I was doing everything wrong. “Kris… you have great instincts, but on this one, I don’t get it. If you don’t like what the Parenting magazines are telling you to do, then stop reading the Parenting magazines!” I haven’t picked up one since.

Ami also told me that the first 8 weeks of parenting are a blurry, hormonal hell… something no one dared tell me before. You know what? Especially with the first one, she was right.

My sister, when I called after a rough transition from a money making, working professional to a one income family. “There were times when I dug through the couch cushions to gather up loose change to get milk at the store for the kids. Yes, taking a hit in the bank account is hard, but God tends to provide. What you are doing is worthwhile… the most important job you’ll ever have. No salary, even 10 times the amount you were making, could make up for the work you are doing as a mom.”

My own mom, whenever I call frustrated by parenting… “Kristen… go take a Midol and call me tomorrow. Everything will be fine.”

My friend Sandy, when I mentioned that Nick and I rarely have date nights… “For your kids, you need to invest in your marriage in the exact same way you would your 401K. It’s non-negotiable. Take money from your paycheck and put in a monthly date night fund. Keeping your marriage romantic and alive is the best thing you can do for your kids.”

My friend, Kristen… also a mother of 4… “Now is when you need to put your super woman cape away and start asking for help. People want to help… stop trying to be the hero and let your friends and those who love you help you when you need it!”

My closest friends on the block, when they see me outside, dragging a screaming toddler through the streets to take the others to school… suddenly that morning a Starbucks shows up on my porch or that evening a bottle of wine appears with 2 wine glasses and a listening ear.

I have a wonderful village… and it is because of them that my kids are turning out to be the special, young people they are. The advice of my friends and family, the offers to lend a hand, the straight forward truths they aren’t afraid to share… all of that is something I appreciate more than words could ever express.

Take a moment, like I did, and share an unexpected card with your friends to say thank you. They may not even remember what they’ve said to impact the way you parent, but letting them know you remember will mean the world. Oh… and drop by with wine or coffee. After all, it’s important to keep your village nice and fueled.

Disclosure: I am honored to be a 2012 paid brand ambassador for Hallmark Life is a Special Occasion. All opinions expressed are my own. For special discounts, product offerings and news about Hallmark, feel free to sign up for their newsletter.

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Some of the cards are short and sweet but as the years progressed and I got older (and could read) the messages on the card became more significant, sharing more about what was happening in our lives at that time.

Eventually, the scrapbooks of cards and letters stopped. Grown up, get rid of the clutter me took over and I became a tossing fool. “We don’t have space for sentimental!” As I was cleaning, little did I realize how much I would eventually long for those words on those little sheets of paper. The words, many written by people no longer living and whom I miss dearly, are gone. I would love to turn back time and snatch those cards and letters from the trash… not caring about the clutter but being more aware of the important space those words took up in my heart. I wish I knew how running my fingers across the raised letters could make me feel like I was sitting right next to my grandma, in her house smelling of coffee and cats and listening to her stories. Oh, how I wish I knew then what I know now.

What happened to the art of writing letters? What happened to the days of just sharing about our day… simple things like going to the grocery store to pick up nuts for bridge club? We are in such a hurry that even emails are short, to the point, and only cover the essentials. When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter to someone you love for no reason whatsoever? I know for me, it’s been far too long.

I’m going to challenge myself to take out a pen, sit down and write a letter to someone each month. Not an email… and not even a letter with purpose. Just a “thinking of you” card to share what’s happening in our life and to let the other person know they are in our thoughts. Maybe I’ll even share things as significantly insignificant as what’s on my list for the grocery store. Because, really, sometimes the insignificant is more significant than we ever knew.

I am honored to be a 2012 paid brand ambassador for Hallmark Life is a Special Occasion. All opinions expressed are my own. For special discounts, product offerings and news about Hallmark, feel free to sign up for their newsletter.

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I’ve suffered postpartum depression before, but in the months following my brothers passing I experienced a range of emotions I had never felt so deeply in my life. I was in a fog, crying on a whim, blowing up at situations that normally wouldn’t bother me, isolating people around me, not responding to deadlines, ignoring important emails, letting bills pile up, not answering the phone and pretty much expecting my kids to fend for themselves on mornings before school. At one point I was alone in my car after an extremely tough day and the temptation to just drive and keep driving away from everything hit me so hard, I had to pull over and get a grip.

Outwardly, I tried to put on a happy face… talking myself into believing I was alright, that I could put on a front and people wouldn’t know anything was wrong. I hid behind a facade of contentment… or at least I thought I did.

So many of you sent me cards, emails, tweets, facebook messages, phone calls, etc during that time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated each and every hand of kindness that was extended to me. There was one card though, sent to me exactly two months after my brother died, that woke me up and essentially pulled me through what was a very dark time in my life.

The card was from a reader named Dana. Among other things, Dana wrote:

“I am writing to you because in many of your recent posts I can hear the pain and grief that you are going through right now. I am so sorry for your loss. Please know that I am praying for you. Your blog really inspired me during a rough patch that I went through and I have always wanted to thank you for that.”

In addition, there was a quote:

Dana’s card, thoughtfully sent to me with words that truly hit home, is one of the things that helped me get through a dark time in my life. The timing of it arriving in my mailbox was such a gift… it was exactly what I needed to hear at the exact time I needed to hear it.

I sat down this weekend to finally write Dana back and to tell her how much her kindness, her words and her thoughts impacted my life. Because of her, I soon realized I wasn’t fooling anyone and was then able to come to terms with my thoughts and emotions head on instead of trying to suffer behind them.

I’m happy to say I’m fine now… there are times every day where my heart hurts and tears sting my eyes, but I can say that I am honestly able to see the light now instead of the darkness.

If there is someone on your mind…someone you have been thinking about and meaning to reach out to, I urge you to do so. Tell them what is on your mind through a card. You never know how life changing it can be.

I’m honored to be partnering with Hallmark in 2012 as part of their “Life Is a Special Occasion” campaign. As always, all opinions are my own.

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