I once thought I'd end up bored with no friends

20 months ago we moved to Colorado. I can't believe time has flown so fast. I remember back to when Shawn first introduced the idea of moving and some of my concerns. I once thought I'd be bored as a stay-at-home mom and would struggle to meet new people. I now have to think back and chuckle at myself. I find myself rather busy lately because I was determined to get out there, meet people, and make myself happy with new roles in life.

It all first started with joining the mom's group. I have met some wonderful moms and started developing good friendships. I am so so so very happy that I made that step and joined the group because all the other groups I'm involved with stem from the mom's group. Also, I am now a co-organizer for the group and regularly host playdates.

Next, Inara and I started going to My Gym. I can't say it enough: WE LOVE MY GYM! We've had nothing but fantastic experiences and have met some wonderful people. Every week Inara and I both look forward to going to our weekly class and seeing our friends.

One thing I've fallen in love with here in CO are consignment sales. I had never heard of a consignment sale until I moved here and started talking to moms about ways to get good deals on kids' clothes and toys. I have found so many fantastic deals and fallen in love with shopping these sales. I love them so much that I volunteered to work the Just Between Friends sale because it's my favorite and because I know the woman who runs it. Before I knew it, she asked me to be a team lead and I accepted. It was a little bit of outside work, well at least less than I had expected and I had to work 2 shifts at the sale. I had a blast and enjoyed working with the other women involved with JBF.

Then, we started discussing enrolling Inara in preschool. Based on advice and research I did, we ended up enrolling Inara at St. Andrews Children's Learning Center and I'm so excited that we did. I've started talking to other moms and hope to have a playdate or two with some of Inara's classmates and their moms. Now, I have become active with the fundraising committee, particularly being a lead for the holiday silent auction. Inara and I have both started growing into our new roles as student and school mom.

After hearing such wonderful things from other moms I'd met, I decided to join MOPS at Cherry Hills Community Church. We have meetings every other week, and boy, do I look forward to those weeks. I love getting to spend a couple hours with other adult women when Inara's in the nursery since even at playdates, Inara wants me to play with her. MOPS allows me to hear about other moms and their journeys through motherhood. During out meetings, we are divided up into tables of 8 moms, and each month our table gets together for playdates and moms' night out. I've absolutely loved this group and am so glad I joined. I love it so much that I have now joined the fundraising committee for MOPS as well. One reason I joined this committee is because MOPS also has a consignment sale, so I thought I could use what I learned from the Just Between Friends sale and help with the MOPS sale. Plus, I have a few extra hours on my schedule, so why not join another group?

Besides the mom group, I've also joined a babysitting co-op as a way to meet new moms to make friends and also moms to watch Inara once in awhile. The moms in the group are all so nice and welcoming. I've watched a few kids from the group and have had one of the moms watch Inara so far with another mom watching her in a week. This group has monthly meetings, playdates and a moms' night out.

Looking back on this list, I again laugh when I think I was a little worried I might have a hard time meeting people since I wouldn't be working and would be bored with too much time on my hands. I've always been one that likes to be busy all the time. I mean I worked 3 jobs at times when I was in college and taught at 3 schools once I graduated, so it's not a surprise that I now find myself with a busy social calendar and taking on additional roles with the groups I've joined. And I have to remind myself it's best to be busy now before another baby comes because I'm sure I'll have to back off a bit once we have 2 kids running around the house. For now, I will enjoy all the different groups I'm involved with and the wonderful women I've met along the way.