Enjoying the Holidays (and not rushing through them)!

As the children get older, work gets more demanding, and my extended family moves further away the demands of the holiday season can get overwhelming at times.

This year I'm trying my hardest to just enjoy the time that I have with my family.

A stolen few moments at the local park with the boys...

Time with my parents (even if we bore my dad to sleep)...

And play dates with neighbors that my boys adore...

I'm not stressing about giving 20 holiday presents to my co-workers, but I am sending a hand written personalized card to them. I'm not going to spending 2 days in the kitchen baking holiday goodies, but I'm going to enjoy the 2 hours I got to spend with the kids on Sunday morning baking one batch of cookies. The kids aren't going to have fifteen presents each under the tree this year, but we've picked out five presents that they will LOVE!

We're still going to find time to do some of our family traditions like having a nice Christmas Eve dinner at the house, going ice skating, and driving around at night through downtown looking at the Christmas lights. I know that these moments that we spend together are going to be the memories that the kids have as they grow up.

(And, to be honest, Santa is bringing Owen a Nintendo 3DS, and he's getting an iPod from his grandparents, so it's okay that there a fewer presents under the tree.)

Happy holidays everyone!

Is it really December already?

The fall season has flown by and I'm amazed that December is already here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family came over to eat and it was delicious.
The boys are doing great and the new job is busy and a challenge, but it's great.
And now, a few of my recent favorite pictures...

A Job Well Done

One of my unfaltering principles that I try to live by is to do the best job possible and you will be rewarded. One of the reasons I was so discouraged when we moved to LA after college is that I felt like you were more likely to succeed in the television industry because of the people that you knew, and not the value of the job you were performing. Does this make sense?

In my professional life I have tried to do the best possible job and have been fortunate to be promoted and given additional responsibilities.

Today, I was promoted to a new position. I'm very excited about my new role. I'll be taking on a bigger leadership role. I'll have more direct reports. And also, for the first time I will have additional managers reporting in to me.

My new role will be a challenge, but I'm very excited about this next chapter in my professional career.

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite time of year.

Here are a few of my favorite memories from the last few weeks.

Owen playing at the Fall Festival in Centre, AL where his grandparents now live.

We installed the sink in our new half bath that we are adding. (So close to be finished.)

After months of talking about it we finally bought a family pass to the zoo. I love the flamingos!

Fun times at the local corn maze.

We're happy! and life is good.

I'm In Love...

with Ellis' Halloween Costume. (I'm working on a homemade Chicken outfit! It's almost finished in this picture.)

with homemade Halloween crafts! (I made a wreath for the front door.)

with weekend sleepovers!

with Ellis putting himself down for a nap without anyone knowning!

The Decision to Stay

For the last six weeks or so I have been seriously considering a job offer in Columbus, Ohio. After many sleepless night, numerous conversations, and multiple changes of opinion, two days ago I officially declined the job offer.

It’s been a very stressful time for my family and I. The weeks have been filled with ups and downs and unexpected turns and details that are probably only of interest to a person directly affected by them (i.e. me).

The “decision to stay”, as we’re referring to it around here, has been a big deal for our family. This is the first major decision we’ve had to make as a “family”. When we decided to move to LA after college it was just Ed and I. We weren’t even married. We both made the decision for selfish reasons. The decision to leave LA and move to Atlanta was made more as a couple. We had this suspicious feeling that we could either have “LA” or “us” and I’m happy with our decision.

We when moved to Atlanta we moved here because there weren’t any other options. My parents were here and offered us a bed in the basement. I quickly found a job and within a year and a half of moving to Georgia we were married, expecting our first child, and I was beginning to find my career. We never intended on staying in this city for long, but somehow, after nine years it feels like home.

I thought that since my sister had left and my parents weren’t as local it would be an easy decision to leave. But once we really started weighing the pros and cons of the situation we realized it’s not that easy to just walk away from the life that we’ve built here.

I’m not certain what will happen with my job - and I’m okay with that. I know that for now, and for the immediate future, Atlanta is my home.

And these boys are my life…

Choices and Decisions

Life has been a little bit hectic for me the last couple of weeks.

Actually, life has been a little hectic for my family the last couple of weeks.

The start of 2nd grade for Owen is not going as well as we had expected. He went from being an A/B student last year to one that gets deficiency notices this year. It's frustrating to know what we should not be making a big deal about and what we should actually be concerned about. I've been very happy with Owen's progress in school up until this year and now I'm very annoyed. What has happened since 1st grade ended and 2nd grade started? He seems like the same child to me but academically it's like he's two different kids.

I've got a conference with his teacher tomorrow morning but I'm not too confident that I'll get the answers I'm looking for.

And now to completely change subjects, Ed and I are dealing with some big "family" decisions on the horizon. It's so hard to know what's the best thing for your family. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed just making a decision that only effects me, but when I think about making a decision that could affect my entire family it gets much more confusing. The "gray" area seems to multiple when I think that any decision I make could literally impact the remainder of the boys' life. When I start to think about the impact of my decisions on my extended family I almost feel paralyzed.

Sometimes I wish I could look into a crystal ball and know that the choices I am making are the right ones - not only for me but also for my family.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...