Big Changes Ahead

It's official... I am going back to work. I have accepted a new position... in Cincinnati, Ohio. We are moving!

Let me back up and let you know how all this unfolded. It has happened so perfectly that I have no doubt that this is God at work showing us the next chapter of our lives.

For years now we have been wanting to leave Florida. We have wanted to return to a more rural environment and out of the congestion of South Florida. Once Adam came along we were more determined to relocate before he was school-age. We want him to have the same small-town upbringing Michael and I both experienced. I'm sure our friends grew tired of us saying we're moving... someday. I know I did. For the past 3 years we have lived our lives in 'Idle', not fully living and thriving but instead just holding and waiting for something to happen. I tell you, it feels good to have life back in 'Drive'.

Honestly, I don't think I was truly ready to look for a job or go back to work until recently. Being a stay-at-home mom was an adjustment for me, and for some time I lost my sense of who I was. Over the last couple of months I have begun to find myself again and get back on top of my life. While I have been praying for some time for a job or for Michael to find something new, I finally prayed specifically for a new job for me outside of Florida.  A couple of weeks later I got the call.

Rhonda, my boss at FLA, has been feeding me freelance web design projects over the past year. I had once asked her to keep her ears open to her contacts for a position in the midwest. We talked at length about how we moth wanted to relocated back 'home'. On Good Friday she emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in a position in Cincinnati. We talked after Easter and she filled me in on the details.

This is how I know this is a God thing:

• I did not pursue this position, it found me.
• The company was located in Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from Michael's and my family in Kentucky and where we've wanted to return to
• The salary was the same as my last position at FLA, plus benefits and relocation expenses
• Once again I will be reporting to Rhonda, my last boss, who works for the parent company Remington Products
• The job was mine if I wanted it before I even stepped foot in the building, solely based off of Rhonda's recommendation of me.
• Everything has happened so smoothly and perfectly, it could only be His orchestration

Last week I flew to Cincinnati to visit the company, and one of the first comments from the company founder was, "This really isn't an interview. You're already penciled in to this position." Easiest. Interview. Ever. I tell you, it felt so good to be fully accepted and welcomed just based off of Rhonda's assurance that I was the right fit for the job. I am grateful.


The company is called StableStep and they manufacture shoe orthotics. Their brand is Powerstep (http://www.powersteps.com) and is sold in running stores and through podiatrists. It's a small company with only 15-20 employees and lots of potential. I will be Product Manager/Graphic Artist. With their aggressive marketing plan over the next few years, I truly feel like this is an excellent time to come into this company and catch the ride.

So, the question you must be thinking is when. I start July 11th, roughly 6 weeks from now. We have much much much to do before then! Monday we met with a Realtor and heard the not-so-surprising news that we'd lose money on the sale of our condo. We have decided to rent out our condo, and we are praying for good tenants. We still don't know where we are going specifically. We will likely rent first while we learn about the area and find where we want to buy a house. While we have family in Kentucky, the commute from them to my new job would be over an hour, and that's not something I am willing to do with Adam being at home. We will likely be living in Ohio. God has seen us through this far, and I know he will continue to see us through and settled.

In the next few weeks we will be pricing moving supplies and companies, looking for a tenant, looking for a rental property for us, improving and cleaning the condo, and packing packing packing. I am looking forward to those tasks more than the final task -- saying goodbye to our friends and family. I am confident, though, that these relationships run so deep that we will be seeing all of them again after we've relocated, and as long as my parents still live in Florida, we will be back, too.

We are excited but also sad. This is where our life together began. This is where we married and where we became a family. But we've outgrown this place and it's time to move on. In the words of our dear friend Chris, "we're the happiest sad people on the planet!" It truly is bittersweet.


PS. If you know anyone who would like to rent a beautiful, clean 2/2 condo in the Davie-Cooper City area, send them my way!

New Ride

We love hand-me-downs. We have received so many wonderful gently-used toys and clothes from Adam's cousins and older friends.

Aunt Megan and Uncle Andy recently handed us a new item that their kiddos have outgrown -- a bike seat for Adam. It's the perfect accessory for a triathlon family, don't you think?

Adam loves the ride, but not the helmet.

Mom, this helmet is so lame.

St Anthony Triathlon

Just like 4 of the last 5 years, we were in St Petersburg the last weekend in April for the St Anthony Triathlon. This has become an annual event and a fun weekend to meet up with family. Michael, his brother Kevin and his sister Megan all participated in the Olympic-distance race.

SWIM
This year, due to high winds and rough surf, the swim course was moved to a calmer area of the bay. This made the swim shorter (1000m instead of 1500m) but the first transition much longer (a half-mile run from swim exit!). For spectators, though, this was an ideal setup since there was ample room along the shore and the kiddos could run and play in the sand.

 

BIKE
Because of the modified course and three racers we were trying to follow, we didn't make it to the bike exit to see our bikers go out or come back. With the spread out start times of our racers we opted to stay on the swim exit side of transition, which is also where the Run Out was. Adam and I did, however, run (literally) over to the opposite of transition just to see a great family friend Elizabeth leave on the bike. This was her first Olympic triathlon and she was racing with Team in Training out of Atlanta. I knew she only had 1 spectator friend with her, so I wanted to give her all the encouragement I could. Way to go, Ebo!

RUN
The last leg is a 6.2 mile run, and while the weather was perfect for spectators (breezy and no clouds), it was HOT HOT HOT for the racers. From our position along the water we saw our three head out on the run, who stopped to greet us on their way by.

 

FINISH!
At the end of the race, what is more appreciated than the finisher's medal arei the free food and beer. Adam quite enjoyed the post-race fare better than any snacks I had packed for him:

 

 

 CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR RACERS!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the ladies in my family and my fellow Mommy friends -

Happy Mother's Day!

I have been blessed with a family of strong women who have helped shape me into the woman and mother that I am today. Through my Grandmothers Nana and Grammy, Aunts Claudia, Barbara and Karen, Sisters Angie and Kim, and my Mom (and honorary Grandmother Lorraine and Aunt Carol, plus more grandmothers, aunts, sisters and Mom by marriage), I have learned so much about strength, determination, resolve, nurturing, perseverance, the importance of family, and most importantly, LOVE. And I don't think I fully understood that until I became a Mother myself.

Additionally I have been navigating Motherhood with tremendous help from my fellow first-time Mommy friends, who have been wonderful mentors, guides and role models. They always have the best advice, ideas, suggestions and hand-me-downs, and I can only hope I make being a Mom as beautiful as they do.

January 2010

To my Mom in particular, I have loved that you've always been a kick-off-your-shoes and sit-on-the-floor Mom who isn't afraid to get dirty while playing with us growing up, or now with your grandkids. You have taught us to love so unconditionally and wholly, face obstacles with quiet strength and dignity, and always always put family first. I love that you taught us to always look for the "blue sky" in difficult situations, dragged us to cultural events and family gatherings saying "you're going to go and you're going to have a good time" and often asked us "what's the worst that can happen?" when faced with a task we were timid to do. All of that had made us better, well-rounded people. I love that you were always a parent first and a friend second, and now I appreciate that we are more friends than mother-daughter.

I hope I can serve Adam as well as you've served us. I hope he will know that I will love him no matter what. I hope that some day he will see me less as a Mom and more as a confidant. I hope that he and I can have as fulfilling and intimate and fun relationship that you share with your daughters now.

On Mother's Day I hope the women in my and Michael's family and my dear friends know how appreciative I am of each and every one of them. May you have a Mother's Day fitting of how special you are. Love you all.

Happy Easter!

Easter this year was so much fun! Adam is right at that age where he is old enough to start taking part in activities with other kiddos, and with so many other dear kiddos around, we had the makings for an adorable Easter party.

Traditional Easter photos after church.

 

Adam with 2 of his favorite buddies.

 

Pool and play and projects with friends.

 

And my favorite time of the day: The Egg Hunt. Adam "found" six eggs.

Click to enlarge

 All the Dads with their kiddos.

I hope everyone had a joyous Easter! He is Risen Indeed!

15 Months and Counting

Yesterday we took Adam to the doctor for his 15-month check-up. I had been looking forward to this visit since he recently got over a long-lingering cold and hasn't been eating well for the last two weeks. I wanted to ensure he didn't have another ear infection and ask the doctor for recommendations on his diet.

First the stats: WEIGHT: 19 lbs, 10 oz   HEIGHT: 30 3/4"

That puts him in the 50th percentile for height and the THIRD percentile for weight. Yes, 3%. He has always been around 10% for weight but over the last two months he's only gained 6 oz (or gained more and then lost some). Between his two recent colds and his swollen gums from his molars, meals have become minimal (though seem to be improving). I think he's a great size but worry that he's not getting the nutrition he needs. Our doctor recommended we start him on Kids Essentials, a vitamin-packed nutrition drink once or twice a day to ensure he's getting all his daily nutritional needs met, in addition to his usual milk and meals.

I gave him one for lunch and another before bed, and wow, what a better night he had now that he had a full belly. For the last month he's been waking once a night, and last night he slept from 8:30 to 6:30, waking because his clothes were wet, and then fell back asleep until 8:30! I feel so much better knowing that now he's getting the nutrition he needs. His bottom right molar is through, and his bottom left and upper right molars are nearly through as well. (He hasn't let me see his top left.) I feel like his mouth is feeling better and hopefully we'll be through the painful teething very soon!

Other than the weight discussion, he had two more shots and the doctor proclaimed him a healthy, well-developed little boy. (No ear infection.) We go back in 3 months for his 18 month checkup, so we'll see if his new diet is reflected on the scale. Love our munchkin!

Spring Break

I am behind on posts, and instead of just skipping over them and moving on to more current events, I figure it's better to write about our happenings late than never. Last month we had our favorite Kentucky road-trippers here for a week. My sister Angie, Josh, Kevin, Kyle and Rex came to Florida for their Spring Break. We always love when they make the visit waaaay down here. They pulled in the driveway on a Monday morning and stayed until Saturday afternoon. Here are a few pictures of the fun.


Baseball! Gramma and Grampa treated all of us to a Nationals vs. Marlins baseball game. We made a whole afternoon of it and tailgated before the game. This was Adam's 2nd major league baseball game, having watched a Cincinnati Reds home game last summer. Thanks for the fun night out!

mmmmm.... chicken

This is him signing 'airplane' at the game.

Pool time! There was LOTS of pool time while they were here. I don't think Kyle was out of the car for 10 minutes before he asked if he could dive in. 

The Beach! We spent one morning in the sun, sand and surf. The boys loved the waves and searched for shark teeth.

Fun at home! Whether it was the pool, whiffle-ball in the front yard, swinging Adam or playing inside, we made full use of our time together.

Ladies and boys Wii Dance Party and Popover night.

Adam never tired of Kevin and Kyle's offers to swing him.

weeeee!

But the best part of the whole visit? All the Adam love!

Thanks for being here! We can't wait to see you again!