Old and new and some news on the homefront

There are certain people that come into your life and you never know the impact they will have until much later on in life. I have been meaning to write about this for some time now, but everything happens for a reason and now is the perfect time to play catch-up. At the beginning of February, I was invited to a Valentine making party. I was so excited about this girls night and mostly because of one very special person that was going to be there.

Her name is Erin and I can honestly say, she has influenced my life in more ways than she will ever know. Erin and I met my freshman year in high school. She was the way cool sophomore in charge of teaching us fishies how to march in the marching band. Spending so much time together really does help to form great friendships. Over the next 3 years, Erin and I became good friends. I looked up to her, admired her and tried to emulate her in so many ways (Erin - I actually think I still have a shirt of yours from high school!). Erin is the reason I started going to youth group on Wednesday nights and the reason my family and I joined Bear Creek Baptist Church. I loved youth group so much that I talked my mom and dad into visiting and we eventually became members. I recently found notes Erin had written me in college giving me advice on how to make it through the rush process and wishing me well as I was about to pledge a sorority. So - after all this time (and thanks to facebook, blogging, and a wonderful mutual friend) -we re-connected. It was so much fun to get to visit with her and catch up on what was going on in her life (even though I read her blog!). We got to talking about the way the Lord puts people in your life and it is just incredible that at the moment when you need an old friend, He has a way of making that person show back up into your life. It happened at the perfect time for me. Erin and her husband have a son that is just a few months younger than Elle. When their son was born, Erin became a stay at home mom. She went through college and graduate school and spent a lot of time investing in her career. I truly admired her decision to stay at home (I admire any moms decision to stay at home!). It was one of the things i wanted to talk to her about just because I know how much time and energy her schooling and then work had taken...and I have been struggling with the decision to either continue to work or stay at home and take care of Elle. After seeing the peace in which Erin spoke of making the decision to stay at home, it helped to calm my nerves. I suppose in the back of my mind I have always felt that I have worked way too hard to get to where I am to just stop - to just walk away. I continued my education after college and have 3 little letters next to my name that mean a whole heck of a lot to me and truthfully, I just don't want to lose that distinction. But, I have made my decision and in the next week or so, I will be a full time stay at home mom. My daughter comes first and her therapy schedule and doctor schedule come first. I can't continue to balance both work and her....not in her case....not in our situation. I'm terrified of being a stay at home mom. I'm terrified of failing at being a domestic goddess! I'm not a great housekeeper and I have no idea at how to manage our home. But, as one of my co-workers said "manage your house the same way you managed the office and the employees." Oh man - this is going to be one roller coaster of an adventure. I dare say that being the Human Resource Manger to a company that is 90% male was actually an easier job than being a stay at home mom!