FMLA: aka 12 weeks of Maternity Leave

So…. The United States pretty much sucks when it comes to maternity leave. Other than having this great thing called FMLA where your job is protected for 12 weeks, one gets nothing for taking time off after having a baby. Weber’s policy is that you can get paid with whatever sick leave and PTO you have built up. I didn’t have a ton (I tried so hard!) but Allan and I both decided we would make 12 weeks (most of that without me getting a paycheck) work.

I am SO GLAD that we did this. Those 12 weeks with Trey were so wonderful. I was definitely ready to come back to work (more on that later) but I loved being a stay at home mommy for that short time.

I did my best to go out about once a day and do something so that I wasn’t always cooped up inside my house, but I’m not going to lie there was a lot of Netflix binging. My two favorite shows that I binged through everything they had to offer: Fixer Upper and The Good Wife. I now want to tear down all sorts of walls in my house Joanna Gaines style. ;)

Basically, life was pretty grand and now I’m back to work and I’m trying to find my new “normal.” If there is such a thing….

End of an Era

We interrupt my little 31 for 31 challenge posts with a post about life.

Today is the end of an era around these parts. See....I'm leaving my current employment - a place where I have been for four and a half years to move on to other things.

See, back at the end of May Allan was basically handed a new job that was what he was doing when we were dating just as a civilian contractor instead of being on military orders. Even though it's way up North - it was a 30% increase in income and would help further his career. Allan took the job and started June 1st.

I had looked around and interviewed a little bit here and there for new opportunities, but nothing ever seemed to work out. Shortly after Allan took his new job we had a conversation about what we want for our future and what not. Commuting is not something either of us enjoy, so soon after Allan started working, I started applying for jobs in the same area as Allan's employment. I had 1 phone interview (which didn't work out because the job paid a lot less than I was willing to accept), 1 in person interview (which is slightly comical and I knew I didn't get the job before I even left the office) and THEN I had this amazing interview at for a job and I felt SO GOOD about it. They offered me the job 2.5 weeks ago and I start August 1st!

I'm so excited for my new job opportunity and the wonderful things that will come from this job. I'll get the chance to learn and grow some more and use the skills I already have to help out my new employer. It's going to be good and it feels so right.

Today is my last day at my current job. I've been here for so long and it's been my second home that it feels weird to be leaving it. Kind of like leaving behind school and my single life in a lot of ways. Even though I got married while at this job - it still feels like it's tied to my single life/post college days in so many ways. I'm excited to start a new adventure and get to create my identity as a married woman - my maiden name won't really ever come up. :o) (not that I don't love being connected to my maiden name - it's an identity thing though...)

ANYWAYS.

Changes abound in our household and it's fun and exciting. I keep trying to imagine life five-ten years down the road and it's just so weird to think about. I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life figuring things out with my best friend. :o)

Ciao y'all!

P.S. Only 8 more sleeps without my husband. :o) He'll get home on my 2nd day of work of my new job. woo hoo!

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..... NOT!!!

For the past three days I have woken up to ugly, gnarly, snowy conditions. It took me over an hour on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get to work. It was nasty and not so much fun.

However, today, the roads were clear. I got to work with minutes to spare. :) And looking at the forecast for the next week I am one VERY happy camper:

Sunshine! Temperatures above 20 degrees! What more could a girl ask for? (well...lots, but I'll be happy with this!)

In other news I've slowly started moving to the new place and this weekend is THE BIG MOVE of everything else. I am excited to get everything set up in the new place and to make it a home. :-) It will be fun times.

Also, because everyone keeps asking me - no, I do not know when I am getting married yet. I have a working date in late March, but we're still waiting for everything to go through. We met with our Stake President last night and he is dedicated to help us finish everything out and have everything in place so we can get married as soon as possible. I left that meeting last night with a lot of hope.

I was reminded of this quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles :

“To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His ‘more excellent ministry’ with a future of ‘better promises.’ He is your ‘high priest of good things to come.’ ” - Jeffrey R. Holland, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 36

Isn't that just lovely? Hold on. don't give up. It will be okay. That is my mantra for this next month. January has been hard one for me in so many ways and I am glad that it is ending today. February will be a challenge to get through, but I have a feeling it will fly by like a blink of an eye. Which more than I can say for January. :)

Before I know it will be March. March brings my birthday, our wedding (hopefully) and warmer temperatures (at least, one can hope for that!). Life is good. It's going to get better. I just need to live one day at a time.

my life lately....

December is always busy. I always think that somehow I am going to have some kind of handle on things and be able to handle multiple projects and what not. I need to stop kidding myself.

For the most part I am done with Christmas gifts. AND they are almost all wrapped. The only one that is NO WHERE NEAR being done is Lindy's quiet book. In my head it's all easy and stuff. In reality? This project is HARD. Nevertheless, I will finish it. Now, it might not be done on Christmas, but since we don't see her until the day after it doesn't really matter. ;)  I'm hoping to get it done during the weekend while in Logan with Allan and his family. :o) I think that should be manageable. Hopefully. :P

Anyways, Allan and I have also had other fun things happening - we went to my work Christmas party which is always SO FUN. This year they had one of the newer employees here take pictures of all the couples and such. This one is my favorite:

In other news my photographer that I wanted to use for my wedding is no longer available. :( I am still looking for a replacement. sigh.

It's weird having to send Christmas in a box to my family. I've never NOT been with my family during Christmas. Not that I don't love Allan's family...but things are just going to feel different. I guess in the long run that's okay - different is good. It helps us learn and grow and stuff. Anyways, I'm sure there will be a blog post Christmas at some point with all of my adventures and such from that day. :o)

In other news Allan and I have officially been engaged for a month now and in some ways I can't believe it's been that long and at the same time I look back and wonder where in the world the month has gone! I love being called his fiance/calling him mine. Granted, I will be happy when I call him my husband instead....but being engaged is awesome. :o)

Anywho. That's about it from me for now. Merry Christmas!

Disneyland October 2012: the Preview

This is one of those adventures that has happened on a whim. :o)


It all started with me realizing I had a floating holiday that I needed to use before the end of the year. I'm not going to VA for Christmas this year and that's when I usually use my floating holiday. So in talking with my awesome boyfriend he suggested that I take it on a Thursday before one of my normal 3-day weekends. I thought this was a brilliant idea and we took a look at the calendar and decided that taking it next weekend would be perfect. Allan is currently unemployed, so we decided we would go somewhere fun. We talked about a lot of different ideas from going to St. George, to Denver, to Park City. We then turned our minds to go going to Disneyland. Well...we put a post up on a facebook to see if we could fill the car with others and we did! So....now we're going to Disneyland next weekend - during Halloween time! I'm so excited about this! I've heard Disneyland at Halloween time is the best thing ever, so I'm very much looking forward to going out of town with some friends and my awesome boyfriend. :o)

See ya when I get back! :-)