Beginning of a new chapter

One of the things I've struggled with for the last 5 years of being a stay at home mom, was the fact that for the first time in my adult life, I wasn't working or going to school or looking for a job. I have a job. The most important job in the world...being a mom to the two most precious children in the world (not that I'm biased...).


However, I've never gotten over that feeling that I needed to be doing something else to financially help the family. Yes yes I know...taking care of the kids and the house is a financial benefit to the family...but I mean actual cash in hand kind of financial help. I am very helpful at spending the money that Jeff bring in...I always wanted to be helpful in raising money as well.


Anyway - while I was pregnant with Carson and for about 6 months after he was born, I struggled and felt this (false) urgency that I HAD to know what I was going to do with my life when the kids were in school. hmm... really??? Boy was the evil one working on me!!! So...I prayed and prayed and finally got the peace that I wanted knowing that when God was ready to show me my path, I would know.


Flash forward to when Carson was just over a year old, I took my first class at Michaels for cake decorating. I LOVED it. It lets me tap into the creative side of me that I haven't really touched in a long time. However...it is really more of a money sucker than a money maker. At least it was in the first year. This year I am on a slight profit...but not by much. Especially when you consider I am making well less than minimum wage in regards to my labor. I really do enjoy doing the decorating...but the baking...it is pretty much a means to an end at this point. My friend Maria told me a while ago that she wouldn't want to own her own bakery/cake decorating business - because it would then become a J.O.B. and not a passion or a hobby. I pooh-poohed her and thought I would never get there. Well...I'm there. When I have a cake that I think turns out just like my imagination hoped it would...then it is a passion. When I have a cake that I'm just ho-hum about or not happy with at all...then it is a J.O.B. My imagination of getting my cake decorating into my own store-front business is pretty much dissipating...but I am still doing one cake a week and plan on continuing that as long as people call me to do cakes.

Anyway - that being said one thing that you may not know about me is that I have a LOT of experience in the real estate industry. When I was married to my ex, he was a mortgage broker at one point and I not only went on appointments with him, but also helped him process his files. I worked at a title company doing loan closings when I was with my ex. When I left him, I got a job at a bank doing post closing and just a very wee bit in customer service. Then I got a promotion and worked as a Mortgage Loan Closing Specialist...which means I prepared the closing documents, reviewed the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and issued funding numbers. When I moved to Gainesville to be with Jeff, I worked at a title company doing basic title searches, clearing title issues and assisting with closings when necessary. In brief - I have a LOT of experience with everything around real estate transactions except actually being the real estate agent. Well...that will all be changing soon.

I hope to have my licence and be a fully functioning (although part time hours) real estate agent no later than mid-August! My plan is to only work 10-15 hours per week while the kids are in school and my goal is to have a minimum of 3 to 4 closings per year. No...that isn't a lot...but at this point any income I can make is just gravy! My friend and owner of the real estate firm I'll be working at, Julie Cole at Cole Development and Realty, LLC, thinks that I should be able to do a LOT more than that.

I'm really excited about the opportunity that lies ahead for me! I'm confident that with my background, my passion for homes and real estate, that I will be a good agent. Plus, if I am diligent with keeping my priorities straight (family first, etc.) my kids will benefit too.

So - stay tuned to what will be sure to be a fun ride!!! :)

Long time no see

Okay okay...so I've been horrible at updating my blog. But now with facebook...who needs a blog? haha Just kidding!!!

Its definitely been a busy few months for our family, and me personally. Between Junior League commitments, my steady cake business, car-pooling the kids around, trying to keep food in the fridge and dinner on the table...I'm exhausted and ready for a vacation! Oh right...we had one... The second week of May our little family went on an Eastern Caribbean cruise (with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas US VI, and St. Marten.) As much as I'd love to post pictures of that adventure on here...for some reason blogger won't let me add any more pictures than the ones below. So...if you are my "friend" on facebook - all the pictures are there. The cruise was incredible though, the kids were very well behaved, and we all had a blast! In fact, for almost the first 30 minutes after getting off the ship, Kendall cried because she didn't want to leave. Neither did I!!! (who would...all you can eat ice cream and pizza's 24/7????)

Beyond that big adventure, we have gone to Disney the end of February/first of March with my folks, then to their house in Jacksonville over Memorial Day weekend. Now that summer is officially here (at least with the kids being out of school), my goal each day is not to lose my mind and try to keep the kids entertained. Tall order....

Here are just a few pictures of our last few months:

Memorial Day weekend we went to the beach. One of the first time's we've done so when it was nice and hot outside...and the kids had a ball!!!! I really hope we get an opportunity to go to the beach every time we are in Jax - the kids were fearless of the ocean! Which is more than I can say for myself...I'm still a mid-westerner at heart and really only like lakes and rivers (those in the mid-west that don't have gators in them at least...)



Carson just LOVES LOVES LOVES his Grandpa! Here - Grandpa was starting to play with some airplanes that Gma and Gpa had gotten him.


On Sunday we went to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine. So much cooler than I remember!!! Could be that I'm looking at it from the eyes of my 4 & 2 year old now... but still tons of fun!!!

On one of our MANY trips to Cracker Barrel (one of Kendall's favorite restaurants), I caught a few pictures of the kids in a rocking chair. Boy...are they growing up fast....

At the end of February/first of March, Jeff had a meeting in Orlando - so Mom and Dad met us down there and we made a weekend of it. Jeff had to work the whole weekend...but Mom and Dad and the kids and I played at Disney! :)

Kendall acting like she is holding a bouquet of flowers...have I mentioned that she is a drama queen??? I guess this is so in more ways than one...

Grandma and her boy!

One of the things the kids and I like to do on days where there isn't much going on at home, is to go on long walks. Like 2-3 miles minimum...2 hour long walks. Mainly because, though, the kids like to stop and see things along the way... Here are a few pictures from one of our walks:

As said in almost every previous post of the last 6 months...I will try to be more diligent about posting pictures and stories. Can I possibly reach the goal of once a week??? Hmm...I'll try....