Out with the Old and in with the New!

Now after much persuasion from my friends Sarah, Kristy, and Laura I am finally starting a blog! I was hesitant at first because I really didn't know if I had anything interesting to say but I thought I would give it the good ole college try. My life has recently changed in a major way so I thought I would give a little background to start things out. In January 2010, I had been working for a financial company for almost 6 years as a branch manager. In the beginning, I loved my job because I am a workaholic, and I liked advancing my career just like I used to like getting good grades in school. It made me feel like I accomplished something, and not to mention the money was good! This was my first "real" job out of college so I didn't expect to have the opportunity to make monthly bonuses or to get to travel to cities like Boston, Orlando, or Seattle. Then fast forward to a new boss, the huge financial crisis, the housing market crash, and all of a sudden I'm in a nightmare job. I find myself working until 7pm everyday, having to work Saturdays, and daily calls with my boss who threatens to add even more hours to my workload or to replace me. Now keep in mind my results were still at the top it just wasn't enough for the company or my boss. They thought by using fear management and constantly saying, "You can't find another job in this economy, so deal with it." I knew something had to give, and I started entertaining the idea of finding another job. Ironically, my company decided to make this decision for me. In January, I was offered to take a different position or to take a severance package and leave the company for good. I saw this as God telling me here's your chance to get the heck out of dodge. So I decided to take them up on it and take the time that I would be getting paid to find a fresh start somewhere else.

This happened on the exact Friday that three of my college gals were coming in town to visit for our Girls' Weekends that we scheduled every few months. I had a great time but was still very apprehensive about what was in my future. That next Wednesday, my husband and I had a vacation planned in Puerto Rico. I thought man if I knew I wasn't going to be working I would have made the trip longer! We had a wonderful time of just catching rays at the beach and eating some tasty local food. It was just what the doctor ordered! We returned home, and I began applying for jobs and setting up interviews. By the end of February, I noticed that I was 2 weeks late on starting my period. My husband and I attributed it to not working around females anymore causing my cycle to get confused. Keep in mind though I had always been really regular. On February 28th, two weeks after my period was supposed to start, we bought a pregnancy test. It was a Sunday after church...I think we were hoping that would help our cause! I do the traditional pee on the stick and leave it on the counter. We bought the Clear Blue Easy kind so we wouldn't be confused by lines. It would simply state: pregnant or not pregnant. We walk back in the bathroom to check out the results...it said PREGNANT! My husband said where is the NOT part? I said I have no idea. I took another one and before I had even left the bathroom the stick was screaming I was pregnant. We were in complete shock...it wasn't like we weren't married, however it sure felt like it! Even though we had been married for almost 3 years and dated for almost 10 years it still scared the complete crap out of us. I cried saying, "I'm not ready for this" and my husband comforted me and said, "It's ok, and you'll be a great mom." Now I wish I could attribute the pregnancy to our Puerto Rico vacation, but somewhere between my Girls' Weekend and our vacation was when the baby was conceived.

My next thoughts were: what about all the job interviews I had been going on and had set up? We had always agreed that when we had kids that I would be a stay at home mom because we felt that was what was best for our family. Doubts were going through my mind...am I ready to be a stay at home mom? I had been burned by the corporate world, and I knew that they don't care about you. It doesn't matter if you work all the hours in the world for them, you are still just a replaceable number, and it will always be "what have you done for me lately?" Your family though...they do miss you and that was way more important to me than a flashy job or all the money in the world. I knew then that I was ready to tackle my next challenge and toughest job yet: being a great mom and wife. I knew that all these new recent changes were meant to happen and that this was all part of a bigger plan in my life. Hello mommyhood and goodbye corporate world!