Sundays

I'm not sure why I blog most often on Sundays but I will attribute it to the fact that this is my "catch up" day. Sundays are often reserved for laundry and general cleaning of the house. I would call this my day of organization. I cleaned out our closets and drawers and found about 2 garbage bags of clothes for donation. I also emptied our pantry for the local food bank. And lastly, cleaned out the fridge of old leftovers and out-dated jars. It feels so nice to begin Spring cleaning.

In other good news: I'm going part-time at work and therefore should have more time to achieve the goals I set for our family and home. I know Lucy will require a huge chunk of my time and I am excited about that. I just can't believe how lucky I am to be raising this child. I can't wait to see how her life turns out. And praise God that I will have the pleasure of spending lots of time with her now.

So far this month, I haven't been able to start a new book but I may have resolved to change that goal. Because I will be working less hours, I'm going to put us on a stricter budget and therefore may not find room in the budget for books. We shall see. But even if my goals are being evolved, I feel like we are accomplishing more and more of them and that life has gained new meaning. I know that is a little broad and cliche but it's true.

Gary and I have been discussing goals on a broad scale lately. Yesterday he achieved one of his greatest goals because he graduated college. I am very excited for him and very proud. As a result, he asked me what my major life goals were and after a little thought, I've made some decisions. I want to be my own boss. I want to own a small business. I'm not going to rush into anything but I'm planning to do some research and find out what this means how to get to that point. We'll see if this is what I really want or if I'll be content to be a stay-at-home mom and educator. I can't wait to see!!

So far, so good

I have read two new books this month, bought healthy foods, and remained consistent with my "to do" lists. I feel like I'm accomplishing goals and working toward an improved life.

My little girl will be 7 months next week.... TIME FLIES! She is so much fun and has so many great expressions and adventures. Although she can't crawl quite yet, she is on the verge and she cracks me up because she rolls and rolls and rolls until she can reach the things she wants that are out of her reach. She is a happy baby and I feel incredibly blessed. Everyone tells me not to expect this from all of my children, but I'm hopeful. When I say I'm hopeful, I don't mean I hope that all of my children are alike. I mean that I hope they are all good-natured and happy. I just want to provide my little loves with happiness.

Gary started an internship a few weeks ago and things are going very well. He really likes his boss and looks forward to learning a lot with this position. When he was given this internship, he was told that there would potentially be a full-time position created from it, so we definitely hope for that! The only downside is the drive but it seems completely worth it for him to be this happy. We also enjoy having a healthier income that is allowing us to pay off some of our debts. We have been living off of my paycheck for nearly two years and making it but saving basically nothing. We feel very blessed to both be working now. The best part is that we both really like our jobs.

On that note, let me preface this next comment by restating that I like my job. However, it breaks my heart to leave Lucy every day. I feel like I'm missing so much and I hate the guilt of it all. I miss her so much too! She is just such an incredible source of joy in my life that I hate leaving her. It literally hurts sometimes. To remedy this, we plan ultimately to live on Gary's income alone. Most likely this will take place when I have our second child... whenever that may be and once we've gotten rid of a significant amount of our debts. Thankfully, our tax return this year will pay off our only car payment and my student loans, which will make a huge dent in our debts.

I love to blog, to get things off my chest even if no one reads it. I love it!

Much love and many blessings,
Cass

Goals

I've decided to set some new goals for myself and for our family. Here are a few of them:

1. Read 2 NEW books each month. 
    ~I have a tendency to re-read old favorites and not branch out.
2. Eat healthier. Buy organic, don't compromise health for cost, etc...
3. Create weekly "to do" lists and try not to get too angry with myself for not always completing them.
4. Nurture my family and friends in the ways that I once did and try not to get so caught up in the day-to-day.
5. Blog more often.
    ~This will allow me to express myself and grow.

I'll explain more soon. I can't wait to see how things turn out. :)

Love,
Cassie

Always absent

I have a bad tendency to neglect my blog. It isn't a lack of things to say, so much as a lack of time.

Lucy is still a complete joy. She has been teething for a few weeks and I can finally feel the little teeth just under the surface. Of course this also means she is a super drool monster but I love her. She smiles so much now and laughes and it just melts me. Life with her is simply incredible. She's going to the doctor tomorrow for her four month check-up. I'm interested to see how much she weighes now. She is getting so long and she has such cute, chubby cheeks. :D

I never thought I would be the mom that talks about her kid constantly and loves to show off pictures but that's me now. Lucy is just so important to me and she takes so much of my time and energy. And in my opinion, none of these are a bad thing. I am just stating the obvious.

I returned to work at the beginning of October. Let me preface this topic with the fact that I love all the women I work with. Let me also say that my job as a whole is quite enjoyable. But the fact of the matter is, I would rather be a stay-at-home mommy. It just isn't possible for us right now though. Gary will be graduating soon and we'll see what happens with his job situation once that takes place. I was hopeful that he could get on with UTC but the job closed earlier than expected and may or may not be part of an on-going hiring freeze. Regardless, the market is the same everywhere... bad. The new plan for our family is for me to work full-time at least until the next child, which we hope means about two years.

I'll try to write something more interesting soon but I make no promises.

Much love and many blessings,
Cassie

Deals

In the event that anyone reads this blog, I thought I would pass along a good deal that I've found out about this week. K-mart will be doubling all coupons up to $2 for this week only. That means that tons of items will be free or close to it if you take your coupons there. Enjoy everyone!

<>< Cass