If you knew me just a little over 6 months ago, I was, quite frankly, almost a different person.I spent almost 2 hours a day in traffic.
I ate out for lunch almost every day.
I wore black pants and dressy blouses and heels almost daily and took the elevator up to the 4th floor to my office.
I worked with a great boss and was surrounded by powerful executives.
I got to go to Cabo & Puerto Vallarta twice on business trips.
And I really disliked almost every second of it.
Well, the corporate end of it. Not the free margaritas :) I was stressed, frazzled, exhausted, and unhappy.
I am not a "corporate" kind of girl. I wanted to be.
But I didn't really know it until I got out of it.
Like most things in life, it's easy to get comfortable.
And when things have to change, we change. And, in my case, our move from CA to AZ changed everything.
When we moved, it instantly made me unemployed. I finally got the chance to be what I've always known I was destined to be: a wife & a mom :)
My husband will readily tell you that me being able to be home every day with him is a far better blessing than an extra paycheck (trust me, I'm very thankful for this).
With his schedule like it is, me being able to be at home makes the most sense because if I had a normal 9-5 job I would go weeks on end without seeing him. He also says I'm a nicer person when I'm at home more, and he likes that I can cook him dinner more consistently (haha! Does Mac & Cheese count? ;).
God is so good to have brought me projects and ways to stay creative while I have this extra time. With the exception of missing my family & friends (and the ocean!), I am the happiest I have been in years.
Now, my days are different.
I make lunch at home almost every day.
I wear jeans, t-shirts, and flip flops almost daily.
I usually have to make myself put on makeup and take a shower (wink wink).
I have the time to exercise daily & spend time outside in nature and not in the car stuck in traffic.
I don't go on fun business trips or sit in conference rooms with powerful people, but instead do the mundane chores that must be done & enjoying working from our local coffee shop on my laptop.
I am content.
We had only lived here a few weeks, when Joshua and I started talking about getting a puppy. We'd always wanted one back home, but we'd always lived in apartments where dogs weren't allowed. On a Tuesday night in June, we had dinner with some new friends of ours (our hubby's work together). They had a new puppy. I fell in love with him & asked them if I could steal him :)
NO. But there was one puppy in the litter left.
We went and saw him that night and the next day I went to go pick him up and take him home with me. I have never in my entire life really been an "animal person." I would always make fun of people that had pictures of their dogs on their work screen savers. Now, I wish I could only take back my words. I get it. Never say never, right? :)
This little guy has captured my heart. His name has a special meaning because it's one of the first street names I saw here in Arizona.
Hartley.We've had our fair share of scary moments with him. Like the first time I left him alone in the laundry room and he panicked so much that I came home to discover him squeezed back behind the washer & dryer machines covered in lint. And the time he ran down the stairs too fast and started wincing in pain because he hurt his little shins so bad. And the time I rushed him to the ER vet because half the side of his face was swollen because he got bit by a big, mean spider. Oh, and the other day that he face-planted into a cactus.
He's given me so many heart attacks, but so many beautiful moments. I love waking up to see him sitting there staring at me waiting to go on a walk and all of the times he just curls up in a ball next to me and sleeps. Like I said before, I've never been an animal person.I guess this is just real evidence that I really am a different person these days.I think the Arizona sun has been good for me :)
This little guy has captured my heart. His name has a special meaning because it's one of the first street names I saw here in Arizona.
Hartley.We've had our fair share of scary moments with him. Like the first time I left him alone in the laundry room and he panicked so much that I came home to discover him squeezed back behind the washer & dryer machines covered in lint. And the time he ran down the stairs too fast and started wincing in pain because he hurt his little shins so bad. And the time I rushed him to the ER vet because half the side of his face was swollen because he got bit by a big, mean spider. Oh, and the other day that he face-planted into a cactus.
He's given me so many heart attacks, but so many beautiful moments. I love waking up to see him sitting there staring at me waiting to go on a walk and all of the times he just curls up in a ball next to me and sleeps. Like I said before, I've never been an animal person.I guess this is just real evidence that I really am a different person these days.I think the Arizona sun has been good for me :)
Having Hartley has given me the weird confidence to know that I'll make a great mother one day when that time comes. I know now that I can keep a real, living, breathing creature alive. And I know when that time comes, the love I feel for my baby will be so much more crazy intense than the wild love I have for this dog. He really did make me ready for motherhood. Can't wait.
