First Post, New Adventure, New Career, Oh My!

And, I’m off! I’ve been working on the design of this site for a little over a week now. I’m thrilled to publish my site live and begin daily posts, as I seemingly did not inherit my family’s artistic talent. I find this artistic stuff work, y’all!

What you can expect from this site: Daily M-F postings centered around simplifying your life and (re)finding joy in simple things. I’m no beauty blogger, but I might share various products I find that make my life easier; I’m no fashionista, but I may share good buys that I find, or when I can find non-hideous maternity clothes that fit (can I get an amen, mama’s?!); I’m no registered dietitian, but I have spent my life cooking, looking for new ways to exercise, and most recently, implementing a “yogic diet” of organic, whole foods. You bet I plan on sharing about that!

If you check out the About section, you’ll see that I let go of a career as a director of grants for a large nonprofit to become a housewife. You can see that our home life had become neglected, our dogs constantly left home alone, and the quality of our soon-to-be son’s life was questionable.

So, I took the plunge and gave it all up to stay home! Thus far, some surprising things have come to my attention: I cannot explain the RELEIF I feel on Sunday nights knowing that I don’t have to face a Dallas-rush hour commute into an office and struggle to mange issueafterissueanddeadlineafterdeadline. On the other hand, I was also not expecting to feel the need vomit my resume on complete strangers when asked what I do for a living. “Well, I *was* a director of grants for a large nonprofit, but now I stay at home. I have two degrees though! I was an Honors Fellow! I worked my way up to senior management!” Why can’t I comfortably (and far more simply) say, “I’m blessed to have the choice to stay at home and take care of my family, so I do” or better yet, “I’m a homemaker” and leave it at that. Why do I feel the need to justify what I do or don’t do to complete strangers?!

I don’t have any answers on that just yet, but I’m sure it’s a topic I’ll touch on again as my thoughts develop and change over time. I do find it interesting that society has (d)evolved to the point where women feel some sense of shame in telling others that they have prioritized their homes and families above a career. Why do people ask, “Oh, so you’re JUST a homemaker?” or “You’re JUST a stay at home mom?” The fact of the matter is that this is likely The. Most. Important. Role. On. The. Planet.

This means I’ve gotten the biggest promotion I’ll ever get in my life.