full circle · Jessi's (stringbean) Yahoo challenge - Project Idea

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full circle · Jessi's (stringbean) Yahoo challenge

OK…a little late but I'm glad I got this down on paper! Thanks Jessi for the challenge and the art! It's inked all the way around the edge (even though though the right side cut off a little) and straight - promise!). Journaling reads (sorry I'm so long-winded!):<br><br>After spending my entire professional career in management, a field that I really enjoyed, a year and a half ago I found myself pregnant. Carlos and I were overjoyed - we had been trying to get pregnant and actually though we had been a couple of months earlier. Suddenly, we were faced with some tough decisions. During the ‘planning’ stages, the focus was all about the baby…the conception. Along with the two little lines however, reality set in. We had been living in Merced, each of us making an hour commute each way to work - me north to Modesto and Carlos south to Fresno. We knew that we wanted to buy a house and finally decided to settle in Fresno so that we could be near Carlos’ family. So for a little while there, I was making a four hour round trip every day. I wasn’t sure how long I planned to stay at Gallo. I wasn’t really intending to be a stay-at-home-mom though either. Gradually though, the decision became easy to make. We really wanted our baby to have a parent around all the time. I’ll admit it was a little disconcerting knowing that I was giving up some valuable work experience. Once the baby became more ‘alive’ to me, my apprehensiveness quickly faded. Finally, at the end of May, my career ended (or at least suspended!) and I became a stay-at-home-wife-soon-to-be-mom. It was still a couple of months before Jake was due but my rapidly expanding body would no longer tolerate the commute. The bonus was that I had a couple extra nesting months to prepare for the new arrival. Of course there were sacrifices. With a 50% cut in our pay each month, there had to be! The most noticeable change in our lifestyle was selling one of our vehicles. It’s a little tough occasionally but we make due and it’s a small price to pay. Fast forward 14 months. Jake is here, an active toddler, and is more than we ever could have imagined. I received the call from Shannon on July 8th offering me a part-time job at her store. There were so many obvious benefits that I couldn’t pass it up! I’ll admit to a slight case of cabin fever and the opportunity to get out of the house for a few hours every week was appealing. Besides, what good scrapbooker could pass up the chance at spending 20 guilt-free hours at her local scrapbook store every week AND get paid to do it AND get a discount to boot!? Not this one! Plus Jake and Carlos were given the opportunity to spend some really good quality alone time together. How lucky that Shauna was looking for a morning shift employee and the hours so happily coincided with Carlos’ swing shift hours at his job! What we didn’t expect were all of the hidden benefits we’ve experienced. It seems that in the past few weeks, Jake has really gained a lot of confidence and trust. He’s learned that both of us may leave for parts of the day but will always come home to him. Being apart from him for a few hours each week has made me appreciate him and Carlos all the more if that’s possible. And perhaps the biggest benefit? Seeing the cutest face in the world pressed up against the glass each afternoon when I get home. I don’t even mind cleaning up the finger and face prints! I am a lucky girl indeed. So, now here I am, back at work in a field I’ve never worked. It’s a part-time, virtually minimum wage job but I couldn’t be happier. I don’t know how long it will last and there’s no telling what the future holds as far as more children and my career. All I can do for now is enjoy where I’m at.<p>TFL!<p>.