Good News … Finally!

Life has been absolutely CRAZYYYY lately… Is anyone else ready for fall, too? I haven’t had much time to put into my writing because I feel like I’m so busy I can’t even breathe sometimes. Everyone tells you it’s hard being a mom, but you can’t really prepare yourself for something like motherhood. I think what I miss the most about my life before my baby is that I had unlimited time to spend on myself. Not that I ever really did all that much, but the option was always there to pamper myself if I wanted to. My life has changed now to the point where I can’t even take a shower at a relaxing pace because I’m constantly worrying about what is going on outside of the bathroom…

However,

I do have some life updates that I feel like are worth sharing. I know we all get into slumps, and hopefully if you find yourself in one now, this will give you comfort that there is always light at the end of the tunnel!

I got a promotion at work! I’ve been working at my current company for almost a year now. I was hired on last August for a part-time position. Five months later, I took a leave for the birth of my daughter. Two short months after that, I returned back to work. Not long after my return, my manager asked me if I would be willing to work full-time hours. Since I was in a part-time position, I would still be ineligible for employee benefits, vacation and sick days, holiday pay, and performance-based bonuses. So, in short, I was working full-time hours, but not getting all of the benefits that the rest of the full-time staff was entitled to. To be frank, I was getting screwed!!

A full-time position opened up within my department, so I thought, ‘What the heck, I’ll just throw my name in the hat!’ My boss told me I’d still have to go through the entire hiring process of a three-person panel interview and online testing. Sooo, we scheduled the interview and testing. I walked out of it all totally disappointed and so sure they wouldn’t give me the job. I had envisioned the scenario over and over in my head and I felt like I had let myself down. It didn’t go at all like I thought it would. But of course, it’s human nature to be harder on yourself than what was reality. I was offered the job!!

I am now going to get good health insurance for myself and my daughter, a $2.50 raise, holiday pay, bonuses, etc. After some long, hard months, things have finally turned around.

I’m also officially enrolled at my university again to get a degree in Business Management. I start on August 26th. I’m suuuper excited to get back to learning and furthering my education. It’s going to be tough, but there is no one more determined than I!

How is your guys’ summer going? Our county fair started last night, which means FAIR FOOD, DEMOLITION DERBIES, AND VISITS TO THE BEER TENT! Can’t wait to hear from all of you! Sorry it’s been so long!

It Will Always Be Her

I love the way my daughter’s face lights up

When I walk into the room

After a long day of being away.

I can see she has missed me

Just as much as I’ve missed her

But then again,

I miss the days of

Being able to drop my things

As I walk into the door.

Oh, how a child can change your life

It’s beautiful and enriching

And I wouldn’t change a thing,

But sometimes I miss all the times

I used to be able to 

Invest into myself.

My happiness matters too,

But somehow I have fallen to the back

I am put on hold,

Because she will always matter more to me

Than even myself

I will give and give and give 

Before I ever allow someone 

The opportunity to question

Who I care about more

Because it will always be her.

It will always be her.

 

Excuses & Friendships

Maintaining friendships after parenthood is hard. Most parents will agree.

But I always kind of had a hard time keeping up with others even before I had a baby. I have always been more introverted, and I can’t really think of a time in my life where I truly felt like I had a “best friend.” Sure, I had people I trusted, hung out with, and considered more than a simple acquaintance, but I never really felt a connection deep enough to where I felt totally comfortable and completely understood.

A short time ago, I had an old high school friend message me and ask how the baby and I were. I hadn’t heard from this friend in quite a while. I will admit, I was being petty about her not coming to visit me like I feel a good friend should. After all, she lives a county away from me. When she messaged me, I was busy doing whatever thing I had on my list of things to do as a working mom, so I gave her a simple: “We’re good.”

I didn’t mean anything negative by it. I was just … BUSY! So she ended up getting upset about how she tries to keep up with me now that I have a baby and that all I do is shut her out. I can see where she is coming from. In all honesty, I will probably always be the type to keep my distance when it comes to outsiders. I like friendship and I do believe that healthy relationships are important, I just no longer have the time to put a bunch of effort into people that aren’t making an actual, solid attempt to see me. You can make every excuse under the sun as to why you don’t go visit someone, but when it comes down to it… it just shows that you don’t actually care that much. And I told her just that.

How much you care is how much you try.

On the other hand, I had a friend that actually put in a great deal of effort to see me and meet my daughter for the first time. When I first got out of high school, I headed straight to Eastern Illinois University. There I met a girl named Tiffany. Now, we both only went to school there for one semester, but we were thick as thieves. We would run out to my car and smoke cigarettes, go to the frat houses, and hang out in our dorm rooms. All college fun… but that was four years ago. We never lost touch. 

Tiffany and I while in college

Tiffany and I this past weekend

I actually met up with Tiff in Chicago about a year ago, and then this past weekend she made the four hour trek to come visit me and meet my daughter.

I’d say that is a helluva lot more effort than most people give.

And we had only seen one another one time in the last four years.

My point of this isn’t to bitch about the people that aren’t putting effort into relationships.

My point is… The people that care, will show up.

It doesn’t matter if you only knew them for a total of four months.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t seen them in years.

And it doesn’t matter how far away they are.

If they care, they will show up.

 

June Blogging Challenge: Day 8

Helllooooo! It’s Day 8!

My top three favorite blogs to read right now, in no specific order, are:

1. Dollfaced Writer

2. Flowers In The Brain

3. Haelim’s Couch

When I read blogs, the things that excite me the most are those that write with emotion and display positivity. All of the above writers have amazing posts on a variety of topics. Mental health, testimonies, personal stories… Thank you for reminding me why I love my blog family here on WordPress.

 

Go give these blogs a follow! I promise you won’t regret it! 💝

Know of an interesting blog I should follow? Drop a link in the comments! 👇🏻👇🏻

June Blogging Challenge: Day 7

Afternoon, readers and writers of WordPress! 

Today is already DAY 7 of the June Blogging Challenge!! Today’s prompt is one that is often asked:

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Okay, I don’t think I have ever swayed on what superpower I would choose if we were ever offered the opportunity to get one.

I want to FLY! I honestly don’t need the ability to walk through walls or be super strong, but I would LOVE to soar through the air feeling the wind in my hair! I would fly with the birds and flow with the treetops. I would look down on big cities, cornfields, ball fields,  and racetracks. I don’t think I would ever come down.

What superpower would you choose??

June Blogging Challenge: Day 5

Day FIVE of my June Blogging Challenge! Today’s prompt is very simple.

Home.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to think of today’s prompt. Home. What about home? Is it asking where I live? Does it want pictures of my house? I decided I’d go with something a little less boring……. Maybe.

I live in midwestern Illinois in a small town called Mount Sterling. There are two stoplights and three gas stations. That is where I call HOME. But that isn’t very fun to talk about. Instead, I’d rather talk about where else FEELS like home.

We all have places where we feel the most comfortable. Places where all worries cease to exist and we can let our souls free. This could be at grandma’s house, or even with a certain person.

For me, one of the places that I truly feel relaxed is out in the woods. My fiancé and I love to go camping- it’s kind of what we do for mini vacations throughout the summer. Last summer we went probably ten or more times all over Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. We’ve actually talked about and agreed that camping is what we would like to do on our honeymoon!

I just love being in the trees, breathing in the fresh air. I love cooking over an open flame. I love playing cards at night with the campfire as our only source of light. It’s just an all-around homey feel for me. The rain needs to go away so we can get out and camp soon!!

Della & me at our home

Another thing that makes me feel at home is holding my sweet girl. There is just something about holding your child that makes your walls collapse and nothing else matters. She has stolen my heart! It seems that every time I leave her, something within me is just missing up until the second I see her again. I often wonder if that will ever go away. I doubt it.

Where do you feel at home? Is there anyone in your life that makes you feel at home?

June Blogging Challenge: Day 4

Ahh! Good morning, bloggers! It is Day 4 of my June Blogging Challenge!! Today’s prompt is:

SOMETHING/SOMEONE THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

This one is so easy for me! In January I gave birth to my first child, Della Rae. Being a mom makes me SO happy, so today’s prompt is a no-brainer.

Della Rae was born at 1:56pm on January 5th, 2019 at 7 lbs 10.5 oz. I gave birth via c-section (What a scary experience!). She was born with a head full of hair. This is her when we were still at the hospital:

 

This past Saturday Della turned five months old. Read The Last Five Months for more about how the last five months with my daughter has changed my life.

Della recently laughed for the VERY first time (see the above video). Until you have a child, you probably don’t truly understand how amazing small milestones like that are.

In all honesty, babies are kind of boring. For the first few months of life, they don’t do much but cry, poop, and eat, so you find yourself waiting imipatiently for them to do the next cool thing like smile, roll over, laugh, or crawl. But once they get the hang of tiny feats like that, you’re back to square one: waiting for the next cool milestone. I, of course, don’t much mind the wait. I love watching her grow and learn new things. She will be six months old next month and then the race is on! She will change SOOO much within the next six months, and I am READY for it!!

Being the mother of Miss Della Rae is the greatest pleasure of my life. Motherhood is a rush of happiness and excitement. What is something/someone that makes you happy??

June Blogging Challenge: Day 3

Hello June!! 

It’s finally starting to be warm consistently, but unfortunately the rain is causing big problems where I’m from. I live in Illinois in between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and they are currently flooded so bad, quite possibly the worst they ever have! Please be thinking of my community and the farmers  as last I checked, only 35% of all crops have been planted this year due to the water standing in fields.

On a more positive note… I thought it would be fun to do a JUNE BLOGGING CHALLENGE! (You can see the challenge at the bottom of this post) I want to post a blog every day for the rest of this month, according to prompts given. I encourage you all to join as well! This is going to be fun!

Okay, so today is June 3rd, and the prompt for today is to describe what you wore in detail.

Today I am wearing some patterned leggings with a black t-shirt. The leggings have pink, orange, navy blue, green, and maroon on them, and I actually got them pretty cheap at Walmart when I was pregnant because the material was stretchy enough to fit over my big belly. To be honest, Walmart has really stepped up their clothing game. I feel no shame buying Walmart clothes, haha! The shoes I’m wearing are a cute pair of sandals (kind of like Birkenstocks) that I found at Goodwill! I’m such a bargain shopper, so don’t ever expect me to flaunt expensive name brand clothes. I’m also wearing a necklace that my fiancé’s mom got me for Mother’s Day. It has her name, birthday, birthweight and height on it. I love it soooo much!

Where do you shop for summer clothes? I’m not big on shopping online, but I think I want to try it out some more. Feel free to leave a comment with good clothing sites.

JOIN my JUNE BLOGGING CHALLENGE with the photo below. I’d love to hear from you guys!! 😊

30 Deep-Thought Writing Prompts

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with something good to write about. I’ve compiled a list of topics that will get your mind flowin’!

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  1. Write a letter to your parents.
  2. If you could spend a day with anyone in the world, past or present, who would it be and why?
  3. Who is your hero? How have they inspired you?
  4. What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?
  5. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
  6. Rank what you think the most important character traits a person can have from most valuable to least (honesty, happiness, love, commitment, faithfulness, empathy, compassion, forgiving, etc.)
  7. Describe a memory that made you feel alive.
  8. Write a letter to your ex.
  9. Write an apology to someone you might owe it to.
  10. Find a picture that makes you feel happy. Pretend you are describing the picture to someone that can’t see it.
  11. What is your biggest fear and why?
  12. What are your biggest goals in life? How will you reach them?
  13. What is something you would like to confess?
  14. What is your favorite quote? What does it mean to you and how do you apply it to your life?
  15. Write about your biggest fears.
  16. Make a list of all the things that make you smile.
  17. Describe the moment in your life that made you feel the saddest.
  18. If you could be in any TV show, who would your character be and what show?
  19. Describe the things you did in your childhood and who you did them with.
  20. If you could change just one thing in your life, what would it be?
  21. Describe your dream job.
  22. What is one thing you would do if you knew you wouldn’t fail at it?
  23. Write a review for your favorite movie or book.
  24. What are the things that you do for enjoyment or to relax?
  25. Describe what you think someone else sees when they look at you for the first time.
  26. Do you believe in a god? Why or why not?
  27. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?
  28. What is the meaning of success?
  29. What was the moment that made you feel the most accomplished?
  30. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I hope this list helps you get a good idea of something to write about! If you have some good prompts of your own, drop ’em in the comments!