New Job

Quite a lot has changed for me in the past few months! I have enjoyed a wonderful summer off with my husband, family and friends, and a couple weeks ago it was time to go back to work....a new work that is.

In May, I found out that my company had lost their contract with the school I was working at, and that I would be out of a job at the end of the school year. Although it was through no fault of my own and everything ended on great terms, I still took it pretty hard as it meant I once again had to start the whole job search all over again. Not just a job search, but the search for a paid internship that gave me the hours and supervision I need for licensure...not an easy thing to find. I was feeling very discouraged and bummed that I had to start all over again at a new place just 7 months after starting the last job. I just hate being the new person all the time, and not feeling like I have any stability.

You know the saying "it's all in who you know"? I couldn't think of another phrase to better describe my field. When I started my previous job last November, I was replacing another MFTI who was leaving for a better paying job. I got to know her a little here and there throughout the school year, as she came back to visit the kids/staff a few times. When she found out the company had lost their contract, she gave me the heads up to apply for a job at her new company. They weren't advertising, but I put in an application anyway. Long story short, I got an interview and got the job!

I've only been on the job for a few weeks, but I am LOVING it! I am once again working with high school kids, and I'm having fun getting to know them all. My case load is much smaller, the teachers/aids/coaches are wonderful, the company believes strongly in employing evidence-based practices, and I feel like I have support everywhere I turn. While I didn't see it at the time, I am so thankful that everything turned out the way it did, as I don't think I would have taken the initiative to apply if my previous job had continued on.

In other news, my husband and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on August 7th. We were invited to go to Disneyland that weekend with some friends, and seeing as it was our final weekend before school started again, we weren't going to pass up the chance for one last mini vacation. We had a great trip, and split off from the group for a bit on our anniversary to have dinner together at The Blue Bayou. We had a wonderful time, and it was a fun little way to wrap up the summer. I am even more in love with him than the day we were married, and I look forward to many more anniversaries together in the future. <3

Life is good. :-)

Dear Friends and Family

I get it. I'm nearly 28. I'm not getting any younger. I got married almost a full year ago. I have a wonderful husband and a happy marriage. Everyone around me is getting pregnant like they are supposed to. I get that the "typical" progression of things would be for us to get pregnant and start a family. I get it. I really do.

I don't know how else to express that we are not ready to have children. And while I know you all know that, I don't understand why I am constantly berated with "I'm ready to be a grandparent now!" or "any day now!" or "you don't want to wait too long!" or "hold the baby to get some practice!" or, or, or,.....I could go on and on. My absolute favorite is being mocked every time I have a stomach ache or don't feel well. Instead of a comforting "sorry you don't feel well" what I get is a "sounds like you're pregnant!" everywhere I turn.

While those comments may feel like they are all in good fun, what you may not realize is how OFTEN I hear them. The truth of the matter is that these comments get interpreted as pressure, which in turn makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong by choosing this path. I've always been the one that does what I was supposed to do. I stayed out of trouble, I listened to my parents, I got good grades, went to college, got a job. I later went above and beyond to and get my masters degree. While I hate to think I'm not doing what I'm "supposed to do", it just doesn't feel like the right path, and I don't want to feel guilty for not taking it.

I understand there is never a perfect time to have a family. I really do. However, we live in a one bedroom apartment in a area where we can't even begin to afford a home...or even a condo for that matter. I'm an unemployed intern making little to no money. I have no hope of getting licensed as a marriage and family therapist for AT LEAST another year, and I'm trying desperately in this economy just to get the training I need to make it somewhere in my profession. To top it all off, we were both born to young parents who are nowhere near close to retirement and not at all able to help us with childcare during the week. Introducing a baby into all this sounds like the scariest thing ever to me, and I have an IMMENSE amount of respect for people who are doing that.

I apologize if we have not taken the path that you took, or want us to take, but we would like to do everything we are able to do to make starting a family one of the happiest moments of our lives. We would like to have a home, and at least be somewhat settled in our careers. I know that not everyone needs this level of security before starting a family, but I do. Let's face it, my husband and I aren't exactly the biggest risk takers.

All I'm really asking is for people to just lay off the comments. I'm doing my best to brush them off, I really am, but you can only hear them so much before it starts to eat away at the confidence you have in the choices you are making. We will get there when the time is right. I promise.

Monterey 2011

Monterey 2011, a set on Flickr.

Weight Rundown #6: Hello Again

My weight loss journey has been up and down. It has been challenging, and hard to stick to at times, but I never go too long before jumping right back on track. While I still swear by the program I got tired of paying the $40 a month for the Weight Watchers membership. I also got tired (well mostly just lazy) of tracking every single thing I ate. I'd done it long enough that I had learned to listen to my body and how it should feel when I'm dieting.

For the last month or so I haven't counted points or tracked calories, and I'm happy to say I'm down to 8.2 lbs lost. That's 33% of my overall weight loss goal, which feels pretty good. I'm loving the new low, but still have 1.8 lbs to go before I hit 10lbs lost, 6.8 before I'm in the "healthy" category, 11.8 for 20 lbs lost, and 16.8 lbs overall to go.  :)

Happy 19th Birthday Brother!

Happy birthday to my little Dexter look alike!

Wordless Wednesday: Captain Calamari

Tackle it Tuesday: Card Making

The principal at the school I work for is out for the rest of the week to recover from her foot surgery. Staff was going to buy her a card and flowers, so I of course volunteered to make the card instead. Who wants store bought when they can get handmade?

Anyway, I started off really conservative

It isn't bad, but it just isn't her. When I actually got thinking more about her personality and what she would like, I came up with this

Yep. That's definitely more her personality and sense of humor. Oh, and have I mentioned my new love of embossing?

As you can see, I'm still having lots of fun with my cricut. I'll just save the first card for another occasion :)

Tackle it Tuesday: More Orders

75 silver

and 75 gold

Orders of a single color get a bit hard on the eyes after a while. I'm happy these came out well, but also happy they are finished!

Spring Break To Do List

Since my husband and I both work for our local school district, we have spring break off together. This is most definitely one of the perks of our jobs :)

Since I don't intend on sitting on my butt the ENTIRE week (but definitely for some of it) I've been putting together a list of things I'd love to get accomplished:

1. Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. Clothing, towels, bedding - everything.
2. Carpet cleaning. After an entire rainy season, my carpets near the front door are looking less than awesome.
3. Clean the microwave....it's just gross.
4. Finish painting the bathroom....I painted the walls but never finished the ceiling, lol.
5. Dusting dusting dusting.
6. Ship off 2 orders.
7. Finish up an order for 75 silver tissue packs.
8. Take my car to Toyota to have a recall thing taken care of....I've had the notice for months.....
9. Take a trip to Sacramento with the husband. Just for fun. :)
10. FINISH my thank you cards for my wedding which was EIGHT MONTHS AGO. Yea, I think I need to move this up to number one.
11. Keep working on centerpiece flowers for Brittany's upcoming baby shower. Even with getting together with the ladies to work on them, there are LOTS and LOTS to be made! I'll definitely be putting together a post on these  :)
12. Exercise? That'd be nice.
13. Roll all the quarters from last month's laundry

I'm sure the list will grow as I think of more things, but this is where it is at for now. Can I finish it all? We'll see!

Wordless Wednesday: Bathroom Surprise

Tackle it Tuesday: 150 Gray & Yellow

I'm currently working on an order for a gray & yellow wedding. I thought it sounded a bit odd at first, but apparently it is quite popular right now. Their last name is very similar to the word "silver" so, they asked to go with some silvery hues to play off of that.

(I'm still having a difficult time getting good up close shots of my products. Even with TONS of light, I feel like the images come out looking dark. Any advice would be much appreciated.)

The monogram was provided to me by the bride. All I had to do was add the wording underneath.

I've had quite a few orders placed by wedding planners lately. I'm guessing this is a good thing, and could bring me more business in the future. Fingers crossed!

What's your tackle this week?

Take a Walk With me to Santana Row

I thought I'd take a walk this afternoon and enjoy some of this awesome spring weather before the rain starts up again. Care to join me?

While walking down the sidewalk, take a moment to enjoy the sunny sky through the trees. Ahhh, Spring.

Notice the texture of the bark on this old tree.

Don't look at the sky or at the scenery for too long because you may need to duck a bit...even short folks like me can't quite clear this.

Take a right at the stop sign.

Enjoy some of the beautiful spring flowers that have recently been planted.

Enjoy the beautifully painted wall and reminisce...

...about our engagement shoot...

Moving along, take a look at how beautiful the shadows from the palms look on the side of Crate & Barrel and take a moment to wonder if the architects designed it that way.

Make your final stop at the best store ever! If you have even an ounce of crafty-ness in you, this store is an absolute MUST.

Thanks for taking a walk with me, and I hope you had a good time!

Simple Cricut Wedding Card

This is a very simple card I made for a friend who is getting married in a week. No fancy layers, just simple, monochromatic, and elegant. The background was embossed using my cuttle bug, and the ribbon was found in the dollar bin at Michael's. Dimension was added to the one dimensional shapes by using foam pop dots. If you don't already have a cricut or shilouette machine, I highly recommend it. They are so much fun!