A Year of Contentment

I had to look back at my New Years post from last year to refresh myself a bit and to help form some sort of measurement of the year in its entirety. If I had to sum the year up in one word it would be: contentment.

Noteables from the year:

Jason decided to join his family's business, and move on from his construction career. This has changed our lives in so many ways, and aside from the sleep schedule it has all been for the better. I think the stress level in both our lives dropped instantly and drastically as a result of this decision; financial stability, consistency, and benefits are a few of the obvious reasons.

Again I was graced with the ability to work with a great bunch of people, this time at McNeilus Steel in Fond du Lac. However, the cost of daycare in a part-time environment lead us to one of those decisions in life where we either have to bite the bullet and go fulltime, or stay home with the kids. Given the stability of Jason's job, and the growing needs of all the kids it was in our best interest for me to stop working and be at home.

In conjunction with staying at home, I researched my options for school and decided to go for my Bachelors in Business Administration. So far I am really enjoying being back in school, and the fact that I should only have about 2 years is also reassuring that this feat won't take forever (or as long as my associates did). School is my social outing, and my time consumer after Jason leaves for work so it's actually fit into our lives very well.

Lastly and most importantly, I have 3 happy and healthy kids who are thriving. Staying at home with the kids is very different than when I initially left the college. I find my days are fuller now than they were when I was employed-filled with appointments, places to go, errands to run. I've come into my own with cooking, baking, and a cleaning schedule. But most people that come into my house know I don't get real hung up on that last one;). I truly have the best of both worlds: I get to spend every day with my kids, and I work in a break here or there during the week with the help of family, or close friends to do the things I need and want to do, and I'm still pursuing one of my own goals in school.

It's not to say I haven't had any drama in my life this past year, there's been "the usual" and the not so usual but I've taken a different approach to the things that don't need to be so pressing in my life. My immediate family and my parents are who I find myself focusing on, I take the rest with a grain of salt. As a result I think I need to change the sticker on my truck to read "life is pretty damn good" instead of just life is good.