Friday, October 12, 2012

My "Ah ha" moment

A few weeks ago I tried out a new endeavor--freelance writing for what I will call a 'content mill'.  Let's just say it hasn't gone the way I had hoped. For pocket change maybe it is not so bad.  Working for clients who request an article that entails at least an hour or more of research, writing the article, proofreading, and possible rewrites with a 24 hr. deadline and in the end for what it costs to go to a fast food restaurant for one person? No thank you.

I continue to consider getting a job outside the home.  I felt, however, that I HAD to get a job in order to feel as though I am doing something..anything.  I thought that since my daughter wasn't here for 7 hours a day that I did not have a job anymore. The other day after I ran around the house cleaning everything in sight (because I am slightly OCD, but that is another post in and of itself!) , fed the dogs, ran to the bank, returned books the library, balanced the bank account and paid bills, ran to the grocery store, picked my daughter up from school, and took her to Girl Scouts, I finally had 50 minutes to go for a walk.  During my walk around the reservoir at our town park I had that "ah ha" moment....the moment that had been waiting since Kindergarten started---I DO have a job!

Whether my daughter is at school or not, I still have a job to do. It is a job that keeps me busy all day. It is a job I have been blessed to have for the last six years thanks to my husband.  It is a job a lot of mothers wish they had day to day.  It is a very important job no matter what some people may think. Just because I have this path does not negate my degree. Whether I ever use it or not, my degree was an accomplishment that I won't regret.

Not to say I am forever a stay at home mom.  If the right career path comes along I will jump in with both feet and a crap load of enthusiasm, but until that time comes I am o.k. with shouting from the tallest mountain that I DO have a job! Taking care of a little girl, my husband, two dogs, and our house is a job and my degree can collect a little bit more dust until the right time and right career becomes clear.


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Something to call my own: Free Time= Disney World Scrapbook!

Something to call my own: Free Time= Disney World Scrapbook!: With so much free time on my hands now, I am able to catch up on projects that have been sitting around for a year.  It has been almost one ...

Free Time= Disney World Scrapbook!

With so much free time on my hands now, I am able to catch up on projects that have been sitting around for a year.  It has been almost one year since we went on our first real family vacation to Disney World. I have to say that it was one of the best weeks of my life. I was weary of the sacrifices we were making last year in order to save up for such a trip but after our return I realized it was worth every cent to spend a week without distraction in the happiest place on earth. Now that we are discussing our return to Disney World within the next 18 months, I realized I still had done nothing with the billion photos we took last year.

The perfect way to capture the priceless memories of our trip was with a scrapbook. Now, I don't claim to be great at design--I have my moments.  I am also very new to the scrapbook craze having only done 1/2 of a general scrapbook of my daughter. I found a great deal on a Mickey Mouse scrapbook kit online and also ordered extra accessories. This project will probably take me through winter and I hope to chronicle most of the process. The following pictures show what I have done so far....which is only a couple of pages. I hope to get better at it as time goes on.

Found this album as part of a kit online.
Some of the pages and stickers came with the kit and others I picked up separately.

One of the first pages I completed documenting our resort hotel. I am hoping to find more Disney embellishments to add to my pages.

One of the first attempts...hoping to improve on design from here on out.