Celebrate the Small Things - Return to normal edition

Happy Friday everyone!  I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I'm sorry to have fallen off the wagon of this hop.  Please take me back! :)

I have a confession to make.  I turned in my last book on February 15, and I haven't really written anything since then.  Oh, I wrote a proposal for a new series, but that's about it.  I normally take a week off after turning in a book, but this time life got in the way.  I got really sick (wound up in the ER for dehydration after passing out in the bathroom.  Fun times.), found out I'm pregnant, and then the first trimester blahs set in.  I know some women are glowing goddesses during their entire pregnancy.  I am not one of those women.  The first trimester is HARD for me.  I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but there were some days when my biggest achievement was taking a shower.

So my writing got pushed to the back burner.  And every day that passed, it grew easier and easier to let it stay there.

I missed writing, but I'm glad I took a break.  I got to really focus on my family (inasmuch as I was able to: see above, First Trimester Blahs), and it was nice to take some time to just breathe.  I think I was on the verge of burnout, to be honest.  I turned in four books last year, which is a crazy pace for me.  I'm grateful for the work, but in the future I think I need to do a better job of self-care so I don't hit the wall again.  When I figure out how to do that, I'll tell you my secret, deal? ;)

I'm happy to report that I started writing again this week.  It's a bit slow going, but I'm working to make daily writing a habit again.  It's my job after all, and not everyone gets the luxury of an almost 3 month vacation!  To be fair though, no writing = no money, so it wasn't all beer and skittles (which is not an appealing combination!).

So all of this is to say I'm back, and I've missed you all!  Thanks for sticking with me, and if you have any tips or tricks on the self-care front, I'd love to hear them!  Have a great weekend!

P.S.  I'm blogging over at Get Lost in a Story today, and giving away a copy of my latest release, Pregnant by the Colton Cowboy.  Stop by and say hi?

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Fridays are reserved for a post where I celebrate the little things that have happened during the week. This is a blog hop created by Vikki and now hosted by Lexa Cain, and it's one of my favorite blogging things to do.  I encourage you to check out her blog and the full list of participants, because who doesn't love reading about good things?