Change is the only constant.

Our little family has been going through a few changes lately.

One of the biggest has been Ryan leaving CarMax and starting work at Drive Time.  April 17th was Ryan's last day at CarMax.  We really enjoyed what the company was on paper, however reality was quite different.  Our biggest concern was Ryan being stuck at night.  Our family needed Ryan to be home and be part of the boys' lives.  I was doing the best I could but sometimes it become obvious that the boys just need the influence and role model of their amazing father.  I was having to spend so much time keeping the boys quiet so Ryan could sleep during the day and we were missing out on so much time with him as Ryan attempted to switch to being awake with us on the weekends only to end up causing more fatigue for his body and immune system.  Long story short- we all wanted Ryan back and CarMax just wasn't willing to give up having someone trust-worthy and hard working at nights....so we made the decision for them.

Ryan had his feelers out for awhile and applied to Drive Time way back in late Jan/early Feb.  He put in his application on a Saturday night and was called first thing Monday morning.  We were excited but then the interviews (there ended up being 5 of them) took sooo long!  Ryan was even flown out to Phoenix to the company headquarters for his final interview.  We finally heard back on my birthday, April 2nd, that they wanted to extend a job offer to him.  We knew that training would be about 6 months- 1 year and then we'd have to move and we decided that we were okay with that change if it meant our family could be together.  The day before Ryan started he talked to his new boss who asked what Ryan thought of speeding up training to only 90 days.  3 months?!  That was unexpected but it looks like that is how it is going to be.  As of right now there are still a lot of unknowns, but we know that we are being asked to move to Phoenix pretty much ASAP.

Part of me is sad to move, AGAIN. Part of me is sad to leave the new friends I have made and my amazing sister but part of me is so excited for Ryan!  In a way this will be what we have always thought would be a perfect fit.  Ryan will be solely in charge of the Inspection Center as the General Manager.  He will get to kind of be his own boss...but (this is the part I always worried about) with a steady paycheck, benefits, and even paid time off and bonuses!

I am a planner at heart so this much change with so little lead time stresses me out some, but I am oddly at peace knowing that things always work out.  We will find a new home, we will make new friends, and we will get to see our daddy by 3pm every afternoon!  We have already been enjoying dinner time together, afternoons at the park, swimming with daddy whenever we want, and playing more UNO than we ever thought we would ;)

We can't wait to see what comes next.

Mother's Day 2013

The words of a song from Alice in Wonderland came to my head as I re-read this post. "I give myself some very good advice, but I very seldom follow it."

http://www.ryanandlauracrooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/mothers-day-2012.html

I got to talk with my brother, Ben, for a brief moment this evening After a quick, "happy mother's day" he admitted he had to give a talk at church today and he used part of a post from last mother's day in his talk. I laughed at first because I can't remember anything I write but the fact that he used it in a talk it had to be really good or really bad...right?

I really enjoyed reading through my feelings on being a mother from last year and all I need to add this year is an AMEN!  I am no longer as eloquent due to another year of limited sleep and increased stress- but I am grateful still for the opportunity to be a mother.  I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who gets me more than he knows and three of the sweetest boys around.  Underneath all the obnoxiousness they really are big sweethearts who really just want to make me happy, and for that, I am grateful.

I just hope I can re-read my good advice more often.  My goal as a mother for this year is to focus more on what I am doing Right and less on what I am doing wrong, or not doing at all.  I hope all of us mothers can cut ourselves a little slack and enjoy the hard work of rearing righteous children.