Foreword

Well hey there, friends!!  Long time no see for some of you!  I am so excited to be back with a new blog and ready to start sharing my world again with all of you!  This is my very first post on That Inspired Chick so I figured a little introduction was in order.

My name is Amanda Nall and I'm a 30-something mompreneur (do we like this word?  I can't decide...) with 2 beautiful boys and wife to a golden-hearted retired NFL football player with big dreams of being the Cajun Bread King.  (More on that later.)

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

I'm starting this new blog but I'm not necessarily new to the blogging world.  I used to write a blog called Bellies, Babies & Football wayyyyy back when.  I'm guessing 2006-2011ish?  (Don't bother googling it.  It no longer exists.) 

I started it when the hubs (Craig) was in the NFL and we were living in Green Bay and then Buffalo, Houston, back to Green Bay and Houston...before finally settling in Mckinney, TX.  And, in all honesty, life was pretty exciting back then.  And REALLY stressful a lot of the time.  I wrote about my frustrations with the politics of the NFL (don't get me started...), some cool vacations we went on, what the other wives and I got up to in our spare time (yall, we had a LOT of spare time), the fun people we met (hey hey Kid Rock! He was still considered cool back when I met him) and eventually my pregnancies and my sweet, sweet baby boys.  Craig transitioned out of the NFL after 7 years as a Quarterback (mostly with the Packers) and we started our "real" life with our new baby boy in a brand new city that we quickly fell in love with and now call home.

Pregnant with baby #1 but cheering on #16!  Go Bills!!

Blogging was fun and I love that I documented so much of that time but after baby #2 was born, sleeping became more important than blogging.  #amen?  So I hung it up and focused all my attention on my family and instead of blogging, I just posted way more pictures than anyone will ever care to see on Facebook.

It has been 5+ years since my last blog post and life has changed so much since Bellies, Babies & Football.  Bellies are gone (unless you count the excuse for my "I've had two kids!" belly which, I know, is not a great excuse), babies are no longer babies but thriving little wild men and football is now a bunch of cute little boys running around trying to pull each other's flags.  I wouldn't change a thing. (Unless I could start back at the beginning and do it all over again because OH MY GOSH would I love to rock my babies to sleep again or hear their squeals or give them a bottle...  Sigh.)

THAT INSPIRED CHICK-MY ETSY SHOP

Over the past few years, I have been on a personal journey to find a balance in my life with being a mom and wife and also doing something for myself that makes me happy and allows me to use the gifts God gave me. Long story short, I've gone from being a sorority girl on an academic scholarship to an NFL wife who did a whole lot of nothing (not gonna lie--that was awesome), to a stay-at-home mom with 2 babies.  Then I decided to work 2 days a week as a preschool teacher which led to a full-time job as a PE aide/coach while working a new added side business (Etsy shop) and finally taking my side business and becoming a full-time work-at-home mom.  Whew.  And that my friends, is my sweet spot.

www.thatinspiredchick.etsy.com

I now own a super cute little Etsy shop called That Inspired Chick (check it out HERE) where I spend my days in my yoga pants (usually not yoga-ing) or pajama pants (cute ones though) because, duh, it's not like I can paint and glitter in NICE clothes. ;)  (These are the excuses I tell myself.)

While I work, I'm either binge-watching something on Netflix, drooling over "Beachfront Bargain Hunts" and "Fixer Upper" on HGTV, or listening to a chick-lit book on Audible. This work-at-home-mom thing doesn't suck.

My shop is definitely my creative and girly outlet in a house full of boys.  If you haven't already clicked the link to take a peek (do it!) I have a lot of different products.  My specialties are wood signs, glittery drinkware, decals and burlap prints. I'll be blogging about my little shop some because it is a big part of me.  With this business, I feel like I have finally found the sweet spot. I loved being home with my babies when they were tiny.  But I always longed for a work-from-home job or creative outlet (aka, my first blog and several network marketing company fails).  This gives me the best of both worlds. I no longer dread Mondays or any day of the week.  But I still work my butt off.  I work at least 40 hours a week if not more.  But I do have more balance in my life now.  I can stop when I need to and run up to the boys' school to eat lunch with them on a random Tuesday or hit up Starbucks when my new cravings strike.  #newbiecoffeedrinker  I can make my own hours and stay up late working or put my entire shop on vacation mode and take a break!  I love being my own boss!

THANKFUL

I love what I do now.  And I love my family.  And I love my town and my friends and my church.  And I love that at the end of each day, I get to wash off paint and glitter and climb into bed and watch the Bachelor or Real Housewives of whoever while the hubs snores next to me.  And in all honesty, my laptop is usually burning a hole through my comforter as well, while I work or design or answer emails. #icantstop

My shop name and blog name come from the inspiration I see around me on a daily basis.  I am so thankful for all the people in my life who inspire me in SO many different ways.  I love that I have so many friends with different talents, passions and businesses.  I have friends that are photographers, authors, bloggers, chiropractors, teachers, realtors, foster parents, adoptive parents...they all inspire me.  I love that so many of them are Girl Bosses just like me.  Each one is amazing in their own unique way and I am so blessed to be around this group of strong women.

Sometimes the inspiration they give me is as simple as wanting to go buy the super cute shirt one of them just posted on their blog (this happens daily) or to pull my own "big girl" camera out and see if I can take a few decent pictures of my kids.   But other times they inspire my heart.  They make me want to better myself.  They challenge me to dig deeper into my faith, to be a better friend, a better wife, a better mom..a better person.  And I hope I inspire the same in someone.

I'm a real mama.  Not a perfect one.  I'm very laid back and pretty low maintenance.  I'm most definitely a go-with-the-flow type of girl.  I do not always have it all together.  In fact, I rarely have it all together.  But I'm trying, friends!  I know not everyone will always agree with me, my parenting, my views, my faith...  I get that.  I don't always agree with everyone either.  But my heart tells me to be kind.  To see it from a different point of view.  To NOT judge.  Because who the heck am I to judge? So yall don't judge me too hard when you see my mom fails.  Because there have been many and I'm sure there will be many more.

So this is my foreword for a blog that I hope will become a journal for my life and for my children to look back on someday.  I'm hoping they will be able to fill in the years from their toddler times to their first few school years with my hundreds of pictures on Facebook and then pick up again right here.  So, I hope you stick around, follow my blog and/or check in often!  I love reading other bloggers so be sure to leave your blog link in the comments!

Welcome, friends!!

Instagram: @amandanall and @thatinspiredchick (Etsy shop Insta)

Etsy shop:  HERE

Daily Deals FB group: HERE

Daily Deals Blog: HERE

Twitter: @amandanall

Pinterest: HERE