Albuquerque Moms Blog :: Introducing Karen Francis

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Hey hey, Albuquerque mamas! My name is Karen Francis. And I’m one of your new Albuquerque Moms Blog contributors. I love all things health and fitness, taking too many photos of my kids, shopping at the black hole that is Trader Joe’s, and the Oxford comma. Nice to “meet” you!

Albuquerque

I am originally from California, but was in Washington for about three years before moving to New Mexico. When my husband first threw Albuquerque onto the table because “New Mexico is basically Arizona, which is next to California,” I was less than thrilled.

I may or may not have suggested he get a second wife if he wanted to move out here.

Fast-forward three months, we bought a house in the heights. Then, in November 2018, we packed up our home and three daughters (ages two, one, and one at the time) and moved to Albuquerque.

My husband is still married to his first wife. It’s funny now in retrospect.

While I haven’t been here long and would hardly call myself an expert on the city, I can say that in five short months Albuquerque has started to feel like home. It is far from what I expected in the best way. Because per usual, God writes my story better than I could have written it myself.

Moms

My husband and I added three daughters to our family in the span of 22 months: M (biological, 2016), B (adopted at birth domestically, 2017), and J (biological, 2017).

We started the adoption process when our oldest was about eight months old. When we found out we were pregnant, we kept our adoption profile open. Surprisingly, it was one of the reasons we were picked by B’s birth mom.

There are few things more challenging, rewarding, humbling, or life changing than being a mom. As a recovering perfectionist (type 1 on the Enneagram, anyone?), I am brought to the end of myself day after day. I drink more coffee than I should. I feed my kids more microwaved chicken nuggets than I should. And I raise my voice more often than I should. But at the end of the day, the joys that come with momming far outweigh everything else. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Blog

I have a bajillion hobbies, pastimes, and part-part-part-time side gigs (including, but not limited to, dancing, dance momming, hand lettering, sleep training, running social media for my old barre studio, teaching fitness classes, working out). Blogging is one of them.

When my husband and I decided to move to Albuquerque, I began looking up all of the things to doevents to attend, pediatricians, best coffee shops. On and on I could go. It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon the Albuquerque Moms Blog. The resources on there were endless and incredibly helpful for a transplant like myself!

There’s also something special about reading a blog post written by someone who could basically be your neighbor. While exclusively online communities are a great resource for moms in this day and age, there is so much potential for local online communities where you can meet fellow mamas face-to-face. I hope you find the blog both practical and inspiring and that your mom tribe grows through the Albuquerque Moms Blog.