My New Career

Yesterday was day one of my new career. Stay-At-Home-Mommy. Yes, I will need lots of prayer. It wasn't really a hard decision to make seeing as how my job of being a teacher's aide paid for health insurance and then daycare and that's it. Literally. A lot of people who hold the same position as I had rationalize that the benefits are just too good to give up even if they are under-paid and under-appreciated. Not this girl! My sweet precious monster is worth way more to me than any amount of low cost doctor visits. Besides, there are numerous alternatives for family healthcare.

My time will stay filled as I slowly but surely work my way towards my degree. I will be (and have been) taking two to three classes, three semesters of the year for the next year and a half to two years. I know what you're thinking: You're at home! Take more classes and get done sooner! I know myself far too well and if I get bogged down in school work the house will be a disaster area and the child will be neglected (not literally), but my reason for staying home is for her, not me. Besides, I'm not going back to work until Lily Grace is well into school and there probably won't be any jobs available for a few years anyways.

My main objectives for this summer and the forthcoming year are nothing short of an edition of Better Homes and Gardens. Eat healthy, stay active, do fun, low-cost things with LG, get organized, manage my time well and save money! (Too much to ask?) So far I've got dinner covered. If you guys have not heard about E-Mealz, I am here to tell you: IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE (or at least your dinner) FOREVER!! I could and probably will devote a whole post on E-Mealz at a later time. Just do me a favor and check out their website. They are for real.

We live in a small community and awesome things like museums and water parks are not available unless you take a day trip to a surrounding county. I will have to budget these types of trips in, and feel I owe it to Lily Grace to get out and explore. However, I am open to suggestions of things I can look for in my own city to do.

I also need LUNCH MENU suggestions. I have already learned from E-Mealz that if you plan your menus, you save money and are just all around a more efficient person. Obviously I want something lighter than a dinner menu and more kid-friendly since this particular meal of the day is centered around the babe. If you have come across anything like this I want to know about it!

So, I want to hear from YOU if you have any suggestions or websites I can visit to help me achieve my goals.

I have a feeling Lily Grace and I are going to end up with responsibility charts. At least we can use cute stickers!