Last year as the end of soccer season approached I seriously analyzed my life and what I wanted to get out of it. I knew that Georgia was the most important thing to me and I knew I hated leaving her everyday and I knew that I needed to make some serious changes. I started praying. I attended church meetings and looked for answers. All of the different meetings I attended and conversations I had with the Lord led me to one conclusion. I needed to be at home with my baby girl. I told Stephen, and though he loves us and wants what's best for us, sometimes we don't necessarily agree on what is best. At this time he was a month off the unemployment line and wasn't quite on the same page with me about leaving my career to stay home and raise our baby. Understandably so. I have a fairly secure job with benefits in a very insecure benefit-less time. But I knew that this was the right path for us. So first I decided to give up my coaching position. I really enjoyed coaching soccer but my priorities had changed and I know I was not what was best for those girls anymore. Next, I started looking into ways I could stay home and keep our family secure. That led me to the option of working for an online school. I know a girl at church who does it. She had suggested looking into her school after G was born, but at that time Stephen was out of work. I was not about to rock any boats at that time. But now... I contacted the girl and got contact information for the people at the school. Turns out that the principal was my mentor teacher when I was student teaching. Luckily, he and I had a great learning experience and when I contacted him he was interested in using me in the future. All summer I waited for a call that might lead in this direction. However I also found out that I was pregnant and again not sure it was time to leave my great teacher benefits (including my access to Family Medical Leave, you have to work a certain amount of time to qualify for it). When the call didn't come I returned to my job at LVHS. I love teaching at Vegas so if I have to work this is the place I want to be. I also decided that without coaching I would only have to work until 2pm and then I could spend the rest of the day with G. It was working just fine, but I still hated leaving my girl. I also still felt very strong that I needed to make the move home. So I again contacted the online school and offered myself for part-time work. I hoped that if I got my foot in the door I would be able to find myself a permanent place in the future. Sure enough. They did need part-time work and so by the end of October I began a second job. It is a great school. I love the technology and the different approach to teaching. I miss the contact and the performance that teaching in a classroom is but it is definitely something I can do from home. I hated working two jobs though. The point was to get more time for my kid and now I wasn't picking her up until almost 5pm. But all the hard work paid off because last week I was offered a full-time position. Yeah!!! I resigned from LVHS in March and have been hoping and praying that everything will work out. Now I know that working from home and having TWO babies will not be easy. I don't intend for it to be. But I know that being home with them will be better than where we have been. I have two of the best babies around. They are amazing. I need them and they need me and so the change begins. I now am a stay at home mom and a work from home teacher. But most importantly I am a mom. I love my kids and I am so thankful for the Lord's hand in my life and for the blessings I am provided. Stephen and I talk about it often, how lucky we are. We are truly blessed.
One of my many goals of summer will be to catch up on this blog. So stay tuned, pictures and stories to come...
