here is goes

I've had some pretty life changing events happen in the last 5 months. Let me begin in July of 2011.

First off, I quit my comfy cozy job of 5 years at a small PR firm to change industries and give it a go in the engineering market.  Two weeks later, after worrying and praying and making that oh-so-hard decision to leave, I found out I was one month pregnant. Wowsa, does that put a kink in starting a new job! How in the world can I start a new job in a new industry and then say "surprise, I'll be taking maternity leave in 7 months!" Yeah, not the best entry speech.  So J (my husband of 3 years and side-kick of more than 9 years) and I said "What the heck, just give it the best you got, and then when we are in the clear for a safe pregnancy, we will just let them know and take it one step at a time." In October of 2011 I decided to tell my boss, it went AWESOME and they said we would talk about the maternity plans later on, no worries. So there I was, in a job that was pretty comfortable, not too challenging, boring at some times but not stressful in the least, and thinking maybe I could maintain this after baby, sure! As we prepared for Christmas (and I always get super excited about Christmas because nothing makes me happier than making other people happy with presents), excited about coming home and spending time with family and getting all settled in and ready for Christmas Eve the next day, my world came crashing down.

At 10:30 pm Dec. 23, I learned my brother had been killed in a car accident (I will share the entire story in a later post).  Talk about life putting on the breaks and slowing to a snails pace.  Nothing tragic had ever happened in my family.  I loved life, knew how great it was, was happy but could always find things to complain about, but now life suddenly had a completely new meaning.  Its only been 3 weeks since it happened, but it feels like a lifetime.  In those three weeks, my outlook on life and priorities have completely been rocked to the core, and my appreciation for everyday things increases by the minute.  But the biggest revelation that has come from this event is the fact that I am 100% positive that I want to give being a stay-at-home mom a try. And I mean a full-on no working part time, no day care, no nannies try.  Today I told my new job of 4 months that I was not going to be returning after my maternity leave.  Essentially this means my last day of work will be March 30.  And I've never felt better about a decision in my life.  I truly feel like this is where I am suppose to be and what I am suppose to do.

This blog will be a record of my attempts at changing a lifestyle, at focusing more on our family and less on the world around us. Switching from having the luxuries in life to learning how to be frugal and creative.

And I can't wait to share it with you!