Family• Life• Lil Man• Marriage

Life’s Lessons Taught in 5 Years

On October 14th my Lil Man turned 5 years old! When I found out I was pregnant with him the Mr. and I were engaged and in the process of planning this huge elaborate wedding, the deposit had already been put down on the reception hall, invitations were picked out and scheduled to be mailed even the floral arrangements were finalized.

Then one day it hit me. We were getting ready to spend well over $10,000 on a wedding and we didn’t own a home, we were in debt and had two RAGGEDY cars with a baby on the way. After going around and around trying to make it work, it became clear that the wedding was going to have to wait until we were in a better position financially. I managed to get the deposit back and my dad kept his word and blessed us with all of the money we were going to use for the wedding. As hard as it was to make the adult decision to put the wedding on hold, sensibility won out and we used the money to get out of debt and buy a home.

I thought I would be good just waiting until we were financially able to afford a wedding, but then it started to bother me that the baby would be born out of wedlock, so on September 2, 2005 we went to the courthouse and tied the knot. From that day forward our family has faced numerous challenges and at times I have wanted to walk away with just him and I but it wasn’t so easy so I stayed. I prayed and prayed and hoped things would get better and they did…eventually. My son was the “glue” that kept us together long enough to realize our potential as husband and wife, mother and father and most of all friends. There wasn’t a honeymoon period for us. We were quickly thrust into real life and at times it wasn’t pretty but we made it work.

See to him its just a birthday, but to us its symbolic of five long hard years of life’s lessons and growth. We have failed more of those lessons than we have passed but whose counting. He is the best thing that ever happened to us. We started and continued on this journey for him even when we both felt like throwing in the towel. Somewhere along the way we found ourselves, and a stride and we haven’t looked back. We are now blessed with a strong family unit and he was a huge motivating factor in why we stayed together when it would have been so much easier to walk away. We are forever grateful.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy!!!

Peace Up…A-town down!!!




Happy Birthday…check out the costumes!

 

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My Babies

Weekend Recap..The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!!

Happy Monday!! How do I look? Big thanks to Christina over at Being Mrs. Jones and Visual Luxe for adding some much needed pizzazz to the blog layout. Although I decided to keep my header done courtesy of my bestie Erika, Christina, created a button, added my Twitter feed (Are you following me? If not, what are you waiting for…join the conversation already!!), menu bar and jazzed up my sidebar so that it matches my header. I love it. Need a new look? I recommend you give her a call, tweet, email, whateva #shamelessplug!  Now on to my weekend.

The Good

Saturday, I slept in until 3p #dontjudgeme!! I attended a wine tasting social, and participated in a couples game night at the home of one of my very good friends. It’s always great to meet up with friends, especially when the monotony of life can easily keep us away from some of our favorite people. Sunday, I cooked..yes I cooked. I am actually proud to say I am getting better at it and *swoon* I actually think I am beginning to like it!
The Bad

 Weekend started off quite shaky I must admit. Remember  a few weeks ago I posted about the annual couples mountain retreat in November that the Mr. and I are going to? Well, the original plan consisted of my father flying over from Las Vegas to babysit the children, until he told me on Friday that he booked his flight for the wrong weekend and wasn’t able to change the ticket. WOOSAH!!! I’ll spare you the gory details and just let you know in the end everything worked out and although the babies will be split up we have secured arrangements with other family members and the trip is still on!!

….The Downright Ugly
Shortly after the Mr. gets home from work on Friday he commences to tell me that his mother is upset with me because I don’t have any pictures of her and the babies on MY Facebook page, but I have three photos of them with my parents. So let’s just say I’m not the person I used to be but I’m still a work in progress. It took everything I had to count to twenty and edit my thoughts before I opened my mouth. Again, I will spare you the details but the short and dirty version of it is, I told him that his mother was too old to be so petty, and to concern herself with HIS page and if she had a problem she could call me…although I’m hoping she doesn’t for at least another two days, I would like to be welcomed at Thanksgiving dinner. See below for the scrutinized photos!!
Enough about me. How was your weekend, the good, the bad and the ugly!!
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Me• mommy

I Think I’ll Run On….

Today is the first day of the last class I need to earn my MBA. I think we all have lived long enough to realize that with the end of a chapter a new one starts. Sometimes we know what’s coming next and other times we are walking blindfolded leaning on faith with a keen ear to the heavens listening for that small, still voice regarding which direction to go. I have no idea what is coming next with the completion of this task but at this very moment I am so proud of myself for starting this process and finishing it amongst all of the tomfoolery, foolishness, and mayhem that reared its ugly head in the two and half years it took me to finish.

See, when I started this journey I had big dreams for my pending MBA status. I would doodle my name with a comma behind it and the letters MBA. I was going to climb the corporate ladder and lead meetings and throw around the fact that I had a masters degree, because at the time the perception of what people thought of  those that had an MBA in my mind overpowered the enormous amount of dedication and will power that it takes to start and finish something in the face of adversity and life changes.

That fantasy, la la land that I was living in got dealt a swift kick in the gut when my mother died only four months into the program. She wanted this for me, I started this for her, but somehow she bowed out gracefully before I even got started good. When she left I knew finishing wasn’t an option. There were nights when I thought my laptop might short circuit from the enormous amount of tears that fell on my keyboard while typing assignments through tear blurred vision…I kept typing. At times I was working 50+hours a week, I didn’t eat on my lunch breaks, or I typed waiting on my flights, or muted conference calls typing vigorously at my desk so when I got home they would have my undivided attention..I slept when I found time. I cried some nights when it was 3a and I had to get ready for work and mentally prepare myself for a 2 hour commute that started at 6a…I kept reading.  I kept the party going, and tried to never let them see me sweat, and look at me now..I FINISHED!!!
FAST FORWARD….
Soooo….all that jazz about spewing around my accomplishments and putting MBA behind my name is now a bunch of stupidity in my current mind space. I could care less if someone had MBA, GED or STUPID behind their name. What really matters is the G O O D that we put forth in this life in taking care of our obligations, chasing our dreams and helping others. If I want anyone to know me as anything, I’ll put DREAM CHASER behind my name. That garners more acclaim than any level of education, or career accomplishment in my book. Don’t get me wrong higher education is a great thing to have for those who want it, and I have since learned to respect those who have taken the journey for their level of dedication and not the fact that they have a piece of paper or letters behind their name because many start but never finish many things in life independent of educational aspirations.
In ten weeks, I’ll get the tangible representation of my hardwork and dedication in paper form and I will leave it at my mothers grave, and I’ll take the knowledge and start a new journey…right now I don’t know where it will lead me but as the old folks used to say…I think I’ll run on and see what the end gonna be!!!



Mommy, this one’s for you!!!



What have you started and finished in the face of adversity that can evoke a smile and tears at the same time?
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