Change is Coming

Quality Time

The time has come. I must go back to work.

I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm nervous. I'm excited.

When my husband went back to grad school for ministry in 2005 we knew it meant having financial hardships for a few years and eventually moving away from our families. All I asked was that I could be a SAHM for a while when he was finally called to his own church. 

Well, we moved here in 2009 and I became a SAHM to my then three year old son and six-month-old daughter. I didn't think I could make it after the first month. I was ready to pull my hair out! But, we finally got into a routine and I loved it. I missed a lot of the adult things, like lunch hours and conversation. I also realized what a gift staying home was for me.

After having my son in 2006 I returned to work full-time after twelve weeks of maternity leave. It was hard leaving him but I had no choice. I had to work.  When our daughter was born in 2009 we had already moved once. I had a new job and could only stay out for eight weeks and then had to return to work. Again, I had to work.

Then my husband was called to VA. He kept his promise and I got to stay home. I realized what I missed while I worked when my son was little. I don't regret it but I am sad that someone else got to see everything I missed.  More than once I've sat back and wondered, 'How in the world did I get all this done when I worked?'  I've learned what an incredible person it takes to work and be a wife and mother and take care of a home while making sure your kid doesn't turn into a serial killer. What's more amazing are the millions of moms and dads who do it every day!

So, in a few weeks I will return to work, this time only part-time. A few days a week. It will help me ease back into the real world. For some reason I think leaving my kids this time will be even harder then when they were infants.  They have become my side kicks, my partners in crime.

I am excited about entering the adult world again! Having conversations that involve subjects other than Buzz Lightyear and trains is a huge plus! I think I'm really going to enjoy my job.

Most of me can't wait to get started. The part of my heart that is with my kids is dragging a little though.

I'm in the Spotlight!

I'm the Spotlight blog for Traveling Thursdays!! Read below to participate and possibly be next week's spotlight!

 

Welcome to the Traveling Through Thursday Blog Hop 2/3/11 hosted by Living on Love and Cents, Mom On Dealz, Our Kids Mom , and Belly Charms (The Blog).

The Spotlight this week is Jamie from Makin' It Work. Here are a few things she wanted to share with us all. She is 5 on this week's linky. Be sure to stop by and tell her hello!

I started blogging about two years ago as a way to keep our family updated on our kids after we moved away. I started my second blog "Makin' It Work" about three months ago after I became a SAHM and started my own business.

When I'm not blogging I'm playing with my kids (they are 1 and 4) or making tutus for my shop on Etsy.com Sweet Baby Tutus. I also love to be outside when the weather cooperates and reading.

I love to blog! It's so much fun seeing the comments people leave and it's also very therapeutic. I have met some really great people and found really interesting stories.

Thanks so much for including me as a spotlight!

Would you like to be a spotlight? All you have to do is follow these steps. Also visit Sweet Baby Tutus/ Makin It Work on Twitter and Facebook.
1) Follow the first 4 pages in the linky. These are our hosts. Be sure to comment so that we can follow back!
2) Please only link up your the network we are visiting for the week!--GOOGLE
3) Spread the word about this hop with a post, grab the button, etc.!For more followers- Grab the linky code and post this on your blog for your followers!

Happy Traveling! Be SURE to leave a comment so that we can return the follow.

get the InLinkz code

A Cop, Minister and McGruff the Crime Dog



Our first Christmas



The title of this post sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke but believe it or not, a cop, a minister and McGruff the Crime Dog were instrumental in my husband and I meeting.



As a new college graduate I took a job at our local police department as a non-sworn employee working in the Crime Prevention Unit.  I was basically a liasion between the department and community groups like community watches and civic organizations. I also threw in some safety presentation and security surveys here and there.  Anyway, I loved my job and one of the things we did was bring along "McGruff" to schools. Since I am about six feet tall and was the youngest in the group, I was tapped to dress as McGruff.  See folks, having a college degree doesn't mean you get to do all the glamourous stuff!



My first week on the job they took me to a concert at a local elementary school. The police department had a band made up of police officers that went to elementary schools in the city and performed. They delivered an anti-drug message during the intermission where McGruff made an appearance. Fortunately, since it was my first week, I didn't put the dog suit on, I just observed the McGruff performance.

After the performance ended my new co-workers and I were helping load everything up and they were introducing me to the officers in the band. The youngest officer, a very tall dark and handsome guy (with an awesome singing voice) said, "Hey, I know you from somewhere." We went through the usual, where we grew up, went to high school, etc., but never figured out where he knew me from.



Many of my co-workers (well all of them) were old enough to be my parents and had warned me, "Don't date a cop!" So after we left the performance, they joked with me about the "line" the officer threw at me.  See, being a new 22 year-old woman in a very much majority male workplace means you are going to get hit on by every single (and not so single) guy there.



Months went by and I started dressing up as McGruff during these bi-weekly performances. Each week the young officer and I exchanged pleasantries but never had a real conversation because there was always so much going on.

During this time I was going through the "God please send me a good Christian man" phase of life. One night I was very frustrated and decided to give this part over to God. I asked God to please help me find the man meant for me.



A few weeks later I was at the performance speaking with the police supervisor who worked with the band. He mentioned that I should visit his church that Saturday, they were having a big fundraiser. After the band performance he called the tall, dark and handsome young officer over and said, "Here, Bradley can tell you where our church is, he is our part-time youth minister." WHAT?!! Cue ray of lights shining down and the heavens opening.

I didn't go that Saturday (still working up the nerve) but I talked my sister into going with me the next Sunday and a few Sundays after that but, Bradley did not ask me out. I told my sister that I wasn't going back, he wasn't interested.

The next week at work I found a note on my desk. Bradley had stopped by and he had some news for me. Well thankfully, one of my co-workers (my on the job mom) saw him walk by, grabbed him, closed her door and wanted to know if he was going to ask me out. I know very high schoolish, but before he left she had given him my number and made him promise to call me.



Today



His big news was that he was leaving the police department and a few days later he asked me out to lunch and we went on our first official date that Friday. For the next three months, we didn't go one day without seeing each other.



One year and almost one month to the day of our first date, we were married.  It's always a kick to tell people that I was McGruff when we met and he sang in the band.



Oh, and Bradley did know me from somewhere, it wasn't just a "line." During Christmas break of my freshman year in college, I was traveling to the mall to do some shopping when I witnessed a pretty bad wreck. I pulled over since I had a cell phone to call the police (these were the days when very few people had cell phones with them all the time). A car with two young college guys also pulled over to help. We waited for the cops to get there and then left.

Fast forward six years. Bradley and I drive past that intersection and he says, "I stopped at a really bad wreck here one day." Me, "I stopped at one here before too." Ding! Ding! Ding! We had stopped at the same wreck.  See, God does have a sense of humor!





Christmas Pics On a Budget

Since our son was born we have sent out picture cards at Christmas. These are usually pictures I take right after Thanksgiving, upload to my favorite one hour photo site, choose one of their designs and I'm done.

This year things were a little harder. I picked out very cute outfits for my little ones. My oldest, Alex has always been pretty easy to handle, eager to make mommy happy. Pictures with him have been pretty easy. Last year was Brooklyn's first Christmas. She wasn't able to crawl or walk yet so things went pretty smoothly.

Then, enter the Christmas picture fiasco of 2010!

First, it was cold so I needed to do this quickly. Fortunately, there is nice open field next to our house with a few hay bales hanging out so I thought this would be a great spot. So I drag the kids out, stand them together and immediately Brooklyn begins walking toward me. I ask her to stop, she keeps walking. Big brother is following behind her because I told him to put his hands on her shoulders and keep them there, "no matter what." Little sister is getting mad because he won't let go. I kept trying unsuccessfully to get them to stand together. Both were walking around taking in the great outdoors. I tried bringing out a chair. What made me think she would sit in it?

Then a low flying airplane decided to fly by taking it's sweet time. Then a helicopter (thanks to living next to a hospital with a trauma center). After those disctractions, I got what I thought was a good picture but quickly noticed both of their noses were running thanks to the cold. Finally I realized if I made silly faces (duh!) they would laugh and look at me. So I was able to get a few quick decent shots. I hope I have a job by Christmas next year so I can happily pay a professional to have the headache. They still look cute enough to eat and I will not delete any of the "bad" pictures becuase they still captured a great "mommy" moment.

Here is what we ended up with:

Tag Along

So I am a proud tag along! What is a tag along? It is someone who tagged along to church with a friend, relative or caring neighbor. Gowing up, my parents didn't attend church regularly. We went off and on when I was small but never on a regular basis. My parents didn't grow up going to church so they were trying their best to instill some sort of religion and the importance of church to my sister and me.

When I was about 9 years old my best friend Daina and her mother invited me to go to church. They were trying to find one they liked and looking back her mother probably thought bringing me along would make it easier for her daughter. It's always easier when you a have a friend! Well, they liked the church and kept going and kept inviting me along. I eventually became involved in Sunday School, and Sunday and Wednesday night activities. I often came with Daina but my parents also dropped me off and picked me up whenever I wanted to go.

I found a second family at this church (some actually turned out to be distant aunts and uncles) they took me in and showed interest in my life outside of church. I enjoyed being in plays, attending camp and hanging out with the great friends I made there.

I became a Christian at 12 and continued on the path of trying to live my life the way God wanted me to. I faced the same issues as everyone through high school but church, my family and my friends helped keep me on the right path.  When my Dad died suddenly when I was 19 it was my pastor, his wife and the members there that helped organize and conduct the service. They visited and called to make sure my family was okay.

Once in college I stopped attending church regularly. I was away from home and wanted to have fun.

I found my way back shortly after college. Married a man who was a former cop turned minister and now help raise our family while we serve our church.

Some people think it's too much trouble to ask the little girl next door or a child's friend if she wants to go to Vacation Bible School, a church social gathering or just to Sunday School. I am an example of what that simple act can do. I serve my church with my husband and am raising two children to know God's love so they will not need to be a tag along. I don't think Daina or her mom realize the impact of their act. We lost contact years ago. Maybe one day I can pass it forward.

At our son's dedication