Change. It's inevitable.

Change. It's inevitable. No matter what you do, there's no way to stop it. It's going to happen at some point so you might as well embrace it.

Riiiiiight.

Every year, I spend the day after Thanksgiving shopping with Hailey and the rest of the Norton crew. There are usually 7 or 8 of us and we have honed our Black Friday skills. Seriously, we have walkie-talkies and we're not afraid to use them. We are gone roughly 19-20 hours from the time we pull out until the time we pull in again. It is exhausting and exhilarating and just plain fun.

This year there will be no shopping. No thermos of coffee, no code names, no stop at the McDonald's in Greenville on the way home. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we don't want to go; it's just not feasible this year. Something about major abdominal surgery 2 weeks ago and two infants that don't need to be exposed to all those germs. We hope that we will go again next year when life isn't quite so crazy. I will get over it, but tonight I'm a little sad that it's changing.

I generally avoid change like the plague. I like things all happy and lined up in a neat little row. There is no hiding from it though. And this year has been one for changes! It's been full of new jobs, babies, and a million unexpected things. While my first instinct is to panic, I keep trying to remind myself that some change really is good. It's just that while it's being good, there's a fear of the unknown. It can be scary when you don't know what's up ahead!

It is also a little exciting too though. New people, new experiences can lead to a place that you never dreamed you would be, doing things you never dreamed you would be doing. I want to get swept up in the excitement instead of being crippled by the fear. I want to embrace change for breaking up the monotony of life. I want to seek out new challenges.

While all of those things are true, there is still a tiny part of me that wants things to stay exactly the way that they are because that is where I am comfortable. That is what I know.

So today, I will sit at home and drink my coffee from a Thermos and do a little online shopping to make it feel more real. I might even make Scotlon talk to me on the walkie-talkie from the other end of the house.

After all, while I have decided to try and embrace change, there's nothing that says I have to embrace it all at once...