Hello Out There...

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog! My name is Melissa, and I'm pretty new to all of this so please stick with me while I play around with this blog. I can't wait to start sharing my life with you, and I would love to hear what you think about any of the changes I make along the way. I'm starting this blog to have a chance at a better future. I turned 30 this year and realized my life needed some BIG changes. I've been working in the restaurant industry for the past 12 years, spending the last 7 of them working at the Olive Garden. It's a company that I truly do love, and I could not imagine ever working for another restaurant. Once upon a time I wanted to go into management, and right in the middle of that dream, I got pregnant! Oops :) Those first few months of raging pregnancy hormones, and me being a girl that never wanted to have kids, I told myself that this pregnancy wouldn't stop me from becoming a manager. Then those same hormones kept kicking in, and as my belly grew, so did my heart! I realized that even though I had never wanted this, it was happening, and I wanted to do it right. One of my bosses had little ones, and as I watched him missing little league games I realized that taking on a job where an over 60 hour work week is a common thing was no longer my dream. So I stuck to bartending, and life for the most part was great. A couple of years later, our second oops came along, and life was even better. Then, I heard the news that the way we got paid was about to change. Long story short, I make about a hundred dollars less every week than I used to before, but with two little kids, and a mortgage to take care of, I knew I had to stay. I immediately enrolled at Rasmussen college to earn a degree in anything that would allow me to work from home. Great school by the way if you are looking for an online academy. I started off great, but as my youngest got older, I just didn't have enough time to focus on my studies anymore. To keep from going even further into debt to finish a degree in an area that, with the more research I did, I would probably not be able to work at home with after all, I didn't sign up for the next semester. Yes folks, I am an online college drop out! Then I turned 30, and started evaluating every aspect of my life. Was I being a good enough mom? Was I being a good enough girlfriend? Was he being a good enough boyfriend? Were we setting good examples for our kids? What could we be doing to have a better future? The questions were endless. To be honest, some of the answers to those questions were hard to face. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with my little family, but I knew in my heart we could all be doing better. So I started with myself. Change has to start from within. I started buying healthier groceries and doing yoga again. I stopped using bleach for cleaning, and I even started making my own laundry soap & fabric softener, not to mention play doh, finger paints, and whatever else I could find on Pinterest! Most recently, I stumbled upon what I hope is an answer to another one of my questions. Not only a greener way to clean my home, but an opportunity to make my dream of being a stay at home mom come true! Well, I think you are all up to date, and I can't wait to take you on this journey with me!

                                                    Melissa :)