Some days are just full of life and beaming with sun! Those days are the ones we all look forward to, the ones that are just easy to breeze through with no real hang-ups! I have begun to find those days are more and more prevalent. I find my mind is more at ease with decisions my husband and I have made pertaining to our future and what we see in it.
We both currently work “off farm” jobs and that is a new venture for me, I did not work a Monday through Friday 9-5 job for over twelve years. I did have a few part time evening jobs here or there, in between our children. I stayed home with the kids and would provide daycare for a few friends for extra income.
You may be asking, How did I get myself where I am today? Well, it all began when my parents moved back home from Iowa over a year ago! They were moving into a Senior Housing Facility, it was just too much for my parents to take care of everything that went along with living in a “house.” They decided to move closer to family and find an easier living arrangement. It is a brand new, state of the art, 32-unit building. We all had our doubts about how they would fare; Mom cried, Dad worried he would be losing his independence and we were all SCARED!
They settled in, and in no time Mom has become the Mother Figure even though she is the youngest person there, and Dad, well, let’s just say he is the Watchman. They have become “Everything to Everyone” that they come in contact with at their new home.
I was the closest sibling and was not working, although I was very pregnant, so I took on the role of making sure they were okay. I stopped in every day and sometimes would be there from morning till night. I began to know everyone on a first name basis, including the property manager. So when she asked me if I would be interested in being her assistant I was intrigued. I could work and still have my kids with me, well, actually with my parents right around the corner but nonetheless with me.
I felt up to the challenge, even if I was due to have a baby in eight weeks! It all seemed like the perfect situation, my parents, my kids and a job all rolled into one. I thought it was exactly what I was looking for, hum, maybe not! I love seeing my parents every day and more than anything I love seeing my children spending time with their grandparents. There is nothing like seeing my one-year-old son walking hand-in-hand down the driveway with my 74-year-old father or the smile that emanates from my mother’s face as soon as she sees Tyler running to her. Those are priceless memories that I will hold dear to my heart forever.
I am at a place in my life when change seems like the only way to go, like I have said so many times before, to help me find my way to the life I am meant to be living. I have had a few new opportunities offered to me that would inevitably force me to choose, to stay working where I am or to allow our little bakery to grow?
This shoe no longer seems to fit, so I am ready to try a new pair. I believe I am ready to kick off the heels and put on my baking shoes! I keep thinking of that little saying “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.” I have nothing to loose except this wonderful opportunity.
It will not be easy to leave all the people I interact with on a daily basis, but I will be there often to see my parents, and I will still be able to share this little boy that they have all come to love so much. He is the sunny side of the path for every life that he touches, and I am ready to be a little selfish, I want to spend time with him and watch him and our business grow. So with my little bundle of sunshine in my arms and the beautiful path ahead of me I will take these steps with a sense of excitement for what lies ahead. This brings us one step closer to where we want to go and even if there may be a cloud in the sky there will always be a ray of sunshine by our sides!
