Meet Alana Hayes!

I am a mom of four (ages 6, 4, 2, 2) currently working for a publishing company based out of Boston, and live on our family farm. My husband is a farmer and we moved to Lubbock in 2011. I am one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. (So competitive that I went to get my masters because my husband had one… not because I needed it. YIKES. You will not out school me sir!) Education is important but sometimes the experiences you receive in life can be the biggest blessing. I never imagined our life as the way it is, but everything that we have experienced has prepared us for the next step. 

About the time our sweet twins came into the world I learned what the word chaos really means and how I can bring balance and solace into our life with several techniques. Since then we have learned as a family how to not drown but thrive. I realize that these are not universal. But it doesn’t take too much to figure out what makes your family happy as a whole. Life happens though, and you have to work together as a unit to get through it. You will always be stronger together. (Here’s a funny for you literally happening as I type this. Our dishwasher went out today and for a family with four littles, this is definitely an inconvenience. My husband jokingly said we can get through anything parenting-wise, except keeping up with their dishes!)

Jokes aside, one of our coping mechanisms with the chaos is to GET OUT! We even did it today before a storm came through. We take adventures as often as we can. Just since December, I have been to 7 countries. My 6-year-old son and I went to Qatar and Nepal to go help at a children’s home and youth center and to learn more about ethical tourism and manufacturing. (I could go on for hours on this topic, but I’ll spare you for now. For now, ladies.) In February my husband and I also went backpacking in Europe to hit a whopping 5 countries. (France, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Germany.) This year we hit another fun milestone of being married for 10 years! We most definitely will be whisking ourselves away once again for our anniversary somewhere fun. This has been an unusually high travel year for us. I don’t want you to think that’s normal. But it’s doable if you remove your preconceptions on travel and think a little outside the box. When people think of overseas travel, they think thousands of dollars. One of my favorite pastimes is to talk to people about how to effectively plan travel so you can go abroad for essentially the same amount of somewhere in the States, most times much less. Am I a travel agent? NOPE! Do I love adventure… HECK YES!

Last but not least, within the US this year, our family is taking on a Texas adventure every month. This was twofold: 1. We love adventure and exploring. 2. Being one of the admins of a Facebook group called “Bits of Life,” I see people daily trying to psych themselves up for a trip. Sometimes vocalizing fear about taking their sweet kiddos. I want to show people that kids are what makes travel fun and it doesn’t have to be scary or something to fret about. Being able to see these things through the innocent eyes and fun-loving hearts of our children, our future, is exhilarating. Hard? Eh, at times you might want to pull a strand or two of hair out. But WORTH EVERY MINUTE. 

A big part of my life is giving of my time. Volunteering is my heart song. I believe this is critical to continuously molding ourselves into better people, and a better nation. I go through seasons where I feel called to help at different places. At the moment, I am working at the Sick Children’s Clinic once a week during my lunch hour. This clinic right here in Lubbock provides FREE doctors’ visits and medication to all children that are needed. I will forever be grateful for their service. You can read more about it here: https://www.facebook.com/SickChildrensClinic/ 

Finally, I wholeheartedly believe in supporting a woman with tools to empower themselves. I believe that’s what my Facebook group “Bits of Life” can accomplish. I believe that’s what this collective blog of Lubbock mommas can accomplish. We should be continuously working on ourselves. We should be lifting others up and celebrating them often. In my experience, I feel that as a society, we do not celebrate women enough for taking the time to grow themselves and I would love to change that. 

Please let me know if you have any questions as I live my life in an open forum.