10 things you didn't know about me

In no particular order....

1. I love ziplock bags. If I could, I would contain everything in my life in the appropriate size bags if it wouldn't make me look completely crazy.

2. I want my hot foods hot and my cold foods cold. Period.

3. If I had to pick a new career, I would probably go back to school and become a kindergarten teacher.

4. I get up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. My family likes to GO so I like to make sure I am showered and ready!

5. I am so ready to have another baby. I love kids and I want to grow our family. Financially, we're not quite there. The cost of 2 kids in daycare is, well, more than our mortgage!

6. In college, I worked as the Chick-fil-a cow. Yep, that was me. Standing on the side of the road waving, attending children's birthday parties and even visiting schools. Hey, it wasn't a bad gig! It paid $7/hr and free Chick-fil-a when I worked.

7. My husband and I were friends for about 4 years before we even had our first date. Even then, most of our friends didn't believe we were really dating. We even lived in the same apartment in college, just not at the same time. (Sidenote: We're celebrating 5 years of marriage in December. So THERE to all the people who doubted!)

8. I love being up before everyone else. There is nothing like a hot cup of coffee enjoyed in the quiet moments of the morning.

9. My favorite movie of all time is "The Wizard of Oz". I use to play it on repeat while I studied or did homework in college.

10. I love buying presents for people. I love the thrill of finding just the right thing that will make them smile.

A day in the life...

I love being with my child, but I also love having a job and adult conversation on a daily basis. I don't think working moms are better than stay at home moms or vice versa - I've done both. They both have their difficulties and rewards. I don't say any of this to get sympathy. This is what works for my family right now.

Here's a typical "working mom" day:

5:45am - Get up, showered, breakfast, take the dog out, wake the husband up

7:15am - Wake up Emmie, get her changed/dressed, quick breakfast snack and milk, shoes on, ponytail up

7:30am - Out the door, drop off Emmie at "school", head to work

8:00am - Clock in, work work work

12:00pm - Lunch break - Rush home, fix lunch, let dog out, do load of laundry, empty dishwasher, clean up

1:00pm - Back to work...work work work

4:00pm - Clock out, head to "school" to get Emmie, quick stop at Publix (On a good day, I stay at work and do 30 minutes on the elliptical, but that's rare)

5:00pm - Get home, let the dog out, change clothes, start attempting to make dinner & entertain Emmie at the same time. 

6:30pm - Daddy's home! Hopefully we all sit down and eat together, maybe someone will even feed the dog.

7:00pm - Bathtime! followed by jammies, reading stories and night night for Emmie.

7:30pm - clean up tornado Emmie downstairs, make a to-do list for tomorrow, sit down and COLLAPSE

Do it all again tomorrow :) The weekdays make the weekends much sweeter. We try and cram in all kinds of fun things on the weekend - which is why I don't mind running hard all week. 

How does your family balance life???

Begin again, Finnagin!

So this is it. A fresh new start! I've blogged in the past and really enjoyed it. I think it's time to get back into the swing of things. Just so you know up front, this blog will definitely be about a lot of different topics/subjects. It won't be ALL pictures of my adorable child, but I will probably talk about her, alot. I do love fashion/shoes, so you can expect a little of that as well. I know a lot of moms out there that are trying to find that "balance" that we are all looking for. I'll share insight from my journey - the good and the bad. And maybe, just maybe you can find something relevant to take away from it. So....WELCOME!