Happy Birthday Nick

Sorry I'm a few days late with this one! Saturday we celebrated Nick's 34th birthday with a small group of friends. We grilled (there's still snow in the backyard but we're starting to see some delightfully super brown grass), ate too much, drank too much wine, and had an amazing time. Thank you to everyone who came over to celebrate with us. :)

I can never say it enough, I'm the luckiest woman in the world to have a husband who supports me 100% and loves me even when I'm not so nice (which is rare...bahaha). An amazing father to Nicholas, an incredibly driven and hard worker, and pretty damn funny too (he'll be the first one to tell you that). Here's to you hubs. Happy Birthday and I look forward to spending so many more with you.

xoxo

2 Year Photos

Nicholas just started a new day care in March and honestly I don't recall being told that his school photos were taking place. I always send Nicholas to day care in hand me downs/nothing fancy because I never know the activities planned and/or how dirty he'll get. Anyways, the pictures still came out awesome and I'm very happy with them!

Top Five Best Days

Top Five Best Days

1. The day I met Nick
2. The day I married Nick
3. The day my son Nicholas was born
4. The day my brother Erik married the love of his life
5. The day I gave my notice at a job I have been unhappy with for years, and chose to do something that I know I will love.


Obviously, this post is about number 5 as you are all familiar with those other stories. I gave notice at my current job on August 1st. I won’t go into details, but for several months I have been quite unhappy with my work and took a step back and really looked at my life.

Having Nicholas is the most incredible thing I have ever done. I want to be a good role model for him. I want him to look up to me. I want him to be proud of me.

I have worked in Insurance for 15 years. It has paid the bills, I've worked with nice people, and I had a great commute. In my early 20’s I remember working with women in their 50’s and 60’s who were so unhappy. Being young and naïve, I would say “Quit! Go do something you love!” They would respond that they were stuck, they had a mortgage, a child in college, etc. I knew I never wanted to be one of those women, and I felt myself slowly becoming one.

I said to myself –what will make me happy? What do I love? The answer was simple: I want to work with animals. I tend to like them better than most people. Nick and I talked, a lot, about what I wanted to do. He was nervous about being the only one with a salary, carrying that burden, worrying about providing for his family. We made spreadsheets. We talked about day care. We talked about me not having a job for awhile (which just seemed so weird!) The decision was made. I would quit my job and go to school two days a week, and be home with Nicholas for 3.

Starting in September, I will be going to school to become an Animal Care Specialist. It will take some time as I can only take so many classes, but I am incredibly excited and happy. I am so lucky and so thankful to have Nick. He is an incredible husband, father, friend, and has supported me 100% in my decision. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in life.

I am also so excited to be able to have more time with Nicholas. Part of the reason I was so unhappy with my company is that I requested to leave early an hour (AN HOUR!) a week to have more time with Nicholas, and my request was denied (correction, I never received a formal response to my request). My priorities changed immensely when I became a mother. My family comes first, and it always will. It's unfortunate my work could not see that, but I realize now it is for the best.

Thank you for all of the support from my friends and family that knew what was going on. You’ve helped me through some very stressful and difficult times along the way to making this decision. You know who you are and I will never forget it.

xo

School Updates

School has been going well. Yesterday I had my first Canine Training Class where I got to bring Dexter and as I expected, he did great! He definitely got worn down after about 45 minutes of training (at home when you're teaching something new they recommend 3-5 minutes of a task) and was passed out on the way home. It was so much fun and I look forward to learning more in the class.

On another note, in that class we are paired in teams and we have one team of three because of an uneven number of students. Well, I was paired with a guy that can be quite difficult to deal with (he is in some of my other classes). My teacher pulled me aside before class and she said she wanted to talk to me about the pairing..I said "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" And she admitted that she did. She knows this person can be a little difficult and felt that putting us in the group of 3 might lessen some of the burden and she also felt that I had the patience to handle. I guess that should make me feel good, and it does, but also I'm a bit annoyed that it may take away from my learning experience. Oh well, I'm not going to let it get me down. :)

On Tuesday I met with my academic advisor to discuss my future and it went really well. I think of my Professor as my "kindred spirit" (a term my Mom loves!) as I could have talked to her for hours and hours. She is a very intelligent, kind, and wonderful woman and I look forward to learning more from her. She is going to reach out to a few of her contacts to see if she can help me make more connections in the animal care industry.

Another exciting thing- back in 2012 I briefly went to college while living in Connecticut. Well, I took Bio back then and found out I don't have to take it again to finish my Animal Care Certificate! Super exciting, as it's one less class to take and we can save a little money. Woohoo!!

xoxo

Favorite Photos of Nicholas' First Year

On his first birthday :)

Handing me his last ever bottle (switched to sippy cups) and formula (our wallet thanks you Nicholas!)

Sippy cup is going GREAT (notice the soaked shirt)

Love from his favorite pup at the park (May 2013)

Master laundry folder

Excellent napping skills at day care

Too cool for you

I'll never stop saying Dexter is a saint

Visiting Auntie Jessie in an outfit from Auntie Jessie!

Hi Five's for Grampa!

sweet hat bro

xoxo

Nicholas and Bubbles

I just really loved these few pictures I took so I wanted to share them with you :)

You Can Never Have Enough Ice Cream Cake!

Nick's Mom and Dad were in Florida for Nicholas' 2nd Birthday and Quinton's 3rd Birthday is today, so we got together as a family (minus Alexis who is away visiting her cousin and was very very missed!) to celebrate. It was nice and low key with pizza, salad, and cake. I think we can all agree- you can never have enough ice cream cake.