A Change is going to come!

I can't believe I'm about to say this..... I've been waiting such a long time for these words to pass by my lips! Oh what an exciting day this is!

Changes are going to come....

changes that frighten me..... excite me.... make me happy... make me anxious..... make me nervous... make me giddy and want to jump for joy!

OK, here goes...... JASON GOT A JOB!

Yes, people... you heard it hear first! As I write this entry, he is meeting with HR signing all his new hire paperwork, taking his drug test and discussing his start date! (We think he'll be starting as early as Monday!)

So, here's why I feel the way I do about it:

I'm overjoyed that finally after years of looking someone finally saw his potential and said "We want you to be a part of our team!"

I'm in mourning..... for 5 years Jason has been the #1 reason our house doesn't look like a tornado blew through! He's done the majority of the cooking and cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping since I returned to work 2 years ago. I'm losing my househusband! I'm going to have to start cooking (which I don't mind), cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, scrubbing floors/toilets/windows, etc!

I'm excited that after all these years, we'll be a 2 income family again! Things are not going to be as stressful financially as they have been! We might even be able to afford to have date nights and family vacations!!!

I'm nervous because, although my baby girl is 3 1/2, we have never had to entrust anyone with her day to day care. Either Jason or myself were home with her for every day of her life! She'd have sleep overs with the grandparents... and we'd have a sitter for her for an few hours here and there.... but never away from one of us (or a grandparent) for more than a few hours. Soon, she'll be in day care! We're lucky enough that for the summer.... she'll be spending 3 days a week with our amazing friend Nicole (who has her masters degree in early childhood education!!!!!) The other 2 days she'll get to spend with her Auntie Chandra and another great friend Mishelle (another Masters Degree in Education!!!) Once summer ends, and school starts back up again Keira will start pre-school. We're thinking that since she'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall of 2011, she should start Jr. K this fall. We'll see what we find by way of pre-schools and waiting lists!

I'm anxious because this is a big change for our whole family! We have a routine now... and it's going to go out the window! We're going to have to make some major adjustments to everyone's sleep schedule. We're going to have to change up dinner time, wake up time, breakfast time etc. We're going to have to start putting together brown bag lunches for the whole family! We need to figure out a new schedule that is going to work for the whole family.

With all the mixed bag of emotions... I am most of all proud of my husband! He's been overlooked, under appreciated, criticized and judged for the last few years. It's been a rough road to get where he is.... not everyone understands the roll of a stay at home father. I know it took me a while to stop resenting him for me having to go to work every day while he stayed home with our little girl. Once I let go of my anger (at the situation - not him) I realized that if I couldn't be home with our little girl.... there was no one I'd rather have home with her than her father! He is an incredible father... he has raised a happy, healthy, well adjusted little girl. Most of all... I have been so happy to have witnessed the bond between them grow stronger and stronger every day! I am so thankful to have met and married such a good man!

Enjoy this last day with our little one... then it's off to work you go!

My little Garden Girl!

Keira is finally getting to enjoy some of the fruits of our labor! She's such a great little helper... and she sings while we work! What more could a mom ask for!

Our little strawberry plant is growing bigger and bigger... and Keira now gets to eat about 1 - 2 berries a week. It't not much... but she LOVES IT!

a beautiful weekend!

I was spoiled this weekend!

When Jason and I married 4 years ago, it never crossed my mind how often our anniversary would coincide with Mother's Day. For the last 3 years our anniversary has fallen within 2 days of Mother's Day. This year they were both on the same day!

We decided earlier in the week to celebrate our anniversary on Sat night, since Jason had a late night hockey game on Sunday night. We went out for an amazing dinner at Alexander's Steakhouse! We have been to Alexander's several times and it's never a disappointment! They have wonderful cocktails, incredible wine selections, mouthwatering appetizers, steaks that melt like butter in your mouth, and a dessert selection that can not be described it's so wonderful! BUT what makes Alexander's somewhere that we enjoy frequenting over and over again... their service! Although it might be a little "Big Brother" ish... they keep a customer profile on their repeat customers. They remember if you like a Bombay Sapphire martini before dinner.... a Bone-in Fillet for an entrée... or Creme Brulee for dessert! We usually get the same server and the same table... and they ALWAYS make whatever occasion we are celebrating special.

This trip to Alexander's was no different, except they were celebrating their anniversary as well. So, in addition to our complimentary champagne and creme brulee, they were offering Five of their favorite bottles of red wine, five of their favorite white and five of their favorite sparkling wines for $5 a glass! You can believe that I indulged! Jason and I were going to try the Chef's Tasting until we heard the specials. They were offering a few different cuts (T-Bone, Porterhouse and a New York) from a local ranch that offers Hormone free, Antibiotic Free and Naturally fed beef! You can believe we jumped at that! We both ordered the New York. We had a Prime Rib with Foie Gras Slider Dipper as an appetizer and then we shared a wedge salad with applewood bacon. When our steaks arrived.... we realized that we could have shared a steak as well! They were HUGE! I think between the two of us we only ate 1/2 of one steak total! After dessert we called Jason's parents (our chauffeurs for the evening) to come pick us up (with Keira in tow) and take us all home. We went home, put on the Sharks game (GO SHARKS!!!!) and put Keira to bed. What a great night!

Sunday morning I awoke to the feeling (smell) of Keira's breath on my face. As soon as I opened my eyes, she gave me a giant kiss and told me "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy! Now let's go cross it off the calendar!" She loves her little calendar... it helps her to know which days I am home from work, which days she has places to go and which are special days. Jason and Keira go up and left me to sleep in! OH HOW LOVELY!

As I was getting up and getting ready for the day, Keira comes in to tell me goodbye.

"Mommy, we'll be right back! Daddy and I are going to go get you flowers at the flower store!"

Jason and I had a great laugh, because she has no concept of a secret! Also, my anniversary gift surprise to Jason (Shari's Berries) was ruined by FedEx... who delivered them while I wasn't home and the box says BERRIES / Shari's Berries all over it!

They came home with the most beautiful floral arrangement! I want to take them to and from work with me every day.... so I get to enjoy them as much as possible! There are a bunch of roses, stargazer lilies, Gerbera daisies, and more! They might just be the prettiest flowers anyone has ever given me!

My heart is full of love.... I had such a great weekend!

Thought for the day...

I saw this in a blog I was reading this morning and it made my heart smile!

"If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme" from the song When You Wish Upon a Star.

To me, this means if I put my whole heart into something, it's sure to come true.

Garden Update

After spending the better part of the day pulling weeds I thought it was time to take some pictures of garden. I'm so excited with how much everything is growing.

We finally have little corn sprouts!

Keira's very excited to point out

the little strawberries

that are starting to grow on her plant!

I discovered that I'm off season with our broccoli, but they are still growing!

Look at all those beautiful carrots! I can't wait to sample them!

When I started the garden, I thought it would be a fun little experiment and something that Keira would enjoy. I thought that it would be good for her to learn where real food comes from! Little did I know how much I would enjoy everything about it! Everything... the getting dirty, the weeding, the anxiously awaiting sprouts to make their appearances, the smiles and pride on Keira's face when she shows off our garden! It's been such a great experiment for me!

Garden Update

I started out today thinking that I would spend about 20 - 30 minutes pulling some weeds in the garden area and cleaning off the patio in the backyard. WRONG! I ended up spending the entire afternoon/evening working on the yard again. I'm really enjoying it! I love seeing my little sprouts growing!

Today, Jason and I had a very productive day!!! Here's what we accomplished:

We thinned out all the dead branches from the "Mushroom" tree.

Moved the monster rocks to the other side of the yard, by the pool.

Cleaned up all the old fall leaves.

Cleaned up the patio furniture.

Moved the furniture to a new location in the yard.

Jason cleaned out the shed and worked on the pool sweep.

Then.... here's how I finished up the afternoon:

Pulled weeds in the garden

Planted some corn, red onions, white onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin and sage.

Made a trip to Home Depot to pick up new sprinkler head.

Made out labels for the 23 different vegetables/fruits/herbs I now have planted.

Started some seeds growing in the kitchen to fill in the areas of the garden where some of my seeds didn't sprout.

A little over a month ago, I thought I'd have a nice and small little garden... and it'd be a fun little hobby to do with Keira. Now, I'm finding that I'm really enjoying the project... and find it pretty relaxing/fulfilling/fun/addicting!

Now, here it is.... closing in on bedtime and I need to take a shower before climbing into bed. I've realized that I forgot to eat dinner. The house is so peaceful and quiet.... Jason's playing hockey and Keira and Bailey are fast asleep! I should get in the shower and go to sleep.... but I'm loving the silence so much, I don't want to move!

OK, scratch that.... Jason just got home from hockey, Bailey is awake... and the TV is going on. It's no longer quiet in here.... guess I'll go take a shower!

Happiness...

How can you put a price on happiness? Or UNHAPPINESS for that matter? How much of your happiness are you willing to sacrifice for money? At what point do you say, enough is enough I'd rather be HAPPY? Something has to change... but I'm scared.