so grateful

a new chapter //

May 20, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

A week before Christmas, my life turned around completely. I lost my job of 10 years at 36 weeks pregnant. It felt like an absolutely horrific life event. But? Life really and truly does have a way of working itself out.

I never could have imagined that just a couple weeks later I would be coaching preschool gymnastics for the local YMCA, my huge preg-belly and all! But I did. I was super nervous. I mean, who starts a new job at 38 weeks pregnant!? And gymnastics!? I haven’t done gymnastics in YEARS!

But fate is just funny like that.

I’m not going to lie, my first couple of weeks teaching preschool gymnastics were rough. The kids have been great, but finding my ‘balance’ was tough. But by the grace of my village, I made it through!

And my village has gotten bigger in the process! Not only has the staff been incredibly welcoming to both me and the kids, but getting to work with amazing preschoolers has been awesome!

These kids? They are so fun. And SO funny!! I, naively, had no idea how rewarding a job could be. Even when I’m not teaching their classes, the kids will see me in the hallway and yell “Hi, Miss Rachel!” … And my heart melts into a million pieces! ♥

And today they graduated from preschool. And my heart is so happy for them and so sad, selfishly, for me! Because somewhere over the last few months, I’ve grown quite attached to them! 🙂

I can already tell that this new path in my life was put here for a reason. And I will forever be grateful! ♥

happy 3rd birthday, baby boy!

October 16, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

As I sit here and write this on the eve of Ari’s third (!!!) birthday, and the third anniversary of the most horrific + agonizing night of my life, I’m in complete shock. When this post goes live Friday morning, my sweet little baby boy is going to be a three-year old KID.

I’m struggling with this. A LOT. In fact, I just want to run into his room (where he’s actually sleeping soundly, for once) and scoop him up and bring him in bed to sleep with me tonight… and I still may do that.

It feels like this is the first year that he actually KNOWS it’s his birthday — and that is incredibly exciting. He’s been talking (and telling everyone who will listen) about how it’s his “Hap-Birthday” all week! Yes, that’s how he says it. “Mommy – it’s my hap birthday!”

I cannot wait to spend the day with him (sick or not, I’m making sure he has fun) and then for Chad & I to give him his fabulous toddler gifts!

In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be the pregnant chick, crying in her soup, over a baby that’s no longer a baby. ♥

it was a good day.

October 7, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Thank you everyone for all of the birthday wishes Monday. I ended up being rather sick and only sleeping for 2 hours the night before, but I made the most of it. Lack of sleep and getting sick all night sure made for an interesting morning… Buuuut I got my butt outta bed and got a couple of things done before being swept away for a morning breakfast sandwich with a dear friend.

Post-breakfast, Chad + I took Moosh to the pumpkin patch to let him explore and get out some of that toddler energy. Maize Valley Farm + Winery in Hartville was just the place!

The place was empty, with the exception of a few other moms & tots. Moosh definitely needed someone who could keep up with him. And I definitely was not that person. So Chad chased the little stinker here, there, and everywhere.

First, he played on the playground, the hay bales, and the tractors.

He was so adventurous. It was amazing to witness this little boy explore, bravely stepping out a few feet further than normal from mommy & daddy. So much different to where we were just a short year ago.

After watching the boys run around (I did zero running. Ha. I just waddled and snapped some pictures), we caught the wagon for the hayride! Moosh loved it!

There were a couple of stops on our hayride tour of Maize Valley, the first being to pick our own pumpkins. Last year Moosh managed to pick a rotting pumpkin and the farm refused to even sell it; they just gave it to us – ha! This year my only rule for Moosh was to pick a pumpkin that wasn’t on it’s way to rotten already.

He wandered and wandered until the found the perfect [tiny] pumpkin! Sigh. There’s something adorable about watching your kid find the ‘perfect’ [for him] pumpkin!

And then it was off to watch the pumpkin chucker! Yep – a compressed-air pumpkin cannon. Chad was in heaven! Moosh was at first… but he grew tired of the chuckin’ pretty quickly! One day, kid, you’ll be super excited to see this.

Ya know what did hold his interest? Racing pigs. Yep. Racing. Pigs.

Sigh. Such a boy! After watching pigs run in a big circle, Moosh insisted on riding in the barrel cars with daddy… Thank goodness he didn’t ask me to go with him, because I wouldn’t have been able to get out! Ha!

By the end of our trip, we were all ready for a nap. Moosh actually said “I need a nap,” when we got home. And everyone napped… except me… the pregnant girl who only got 2 hours of sleep the night before. Ugh.

But I woke everyone up early because I really wanted to eat dinner. I decided I wanted Mexican food, so we checked out a (new to us) restaurant. The food was just okay. And Moosh was totally, totally, cray the whole time we were there. NEVER have I wished for a margarita so badly in my life. Ha! I’m glad Chad was able to enjoy one in my place. 🙂

Our last stop was a quick ice cream cone at Handels. I couldn’t even finish mine because I started to feel sick again. But Moosh had no probably double-fisting my cone with his.

We then put Moosh to bed and watched a movie… which is when I proceeded to get incredibly ill yet again. Regardless, I wouldn’t have changed the day. At all. It certainly wasn’t glamorous. But it was perfect in every way I needed it to be.

I am so grateful for my husband — for his love and his understanding of what exactly makes a perfect birthday when you’re wife is pregnant and sick and (mostly) miserable. ♥

i am my own worst enemy // but it will all be okay

September 23, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

Sometimes I get in my own head. I start to panic because it’s pretty much the worst place to spend a significant amount of time. I am THE BEST at doomsday scenarios, in every facet of my life. Seriously. I can jump from nothing to worst case scenario in 2 seconds flat. It’s a horrible feeling.

So when I play “worst case scenario” over and over again in my head, I literally have to talk myself off that proverbial ledge. I’ve been extremely stressed during this pregnancy. In addition to the major sickness, I’ll just burst into tears because this is not how life should be. And I’m missing a lot of work because of it. And that has me stressed out, like, beyond words. I just feel like none of this should be this way right now.

But wasn’t I just preaching in my mantra for this week (which, I’ll admit, is more for me than anyone else), that worrying just sucks the joy from today? Yes, yes I was.

Regardless of the many of the several doomsday scenarios I think of, I will be OK!

… I will still be alive.

… I will still have my health.

… I will still have this baby in my belly.

… I will still have my husband, who very much loves me.

… I will still have Moosh and his relentless toddler love.

… I will still have a roof over my head.

… I will still have food on the table, morning, noon and night.

In the same way that I can be my own worst enemy, I am also good at talking myself off the anxiety ledge. And if I just can’t manage to do it, I’ll reach out to someone who will do it for me. ♥

And everything will be okay.

And yesterday, someone on the internet reminded me that we survive even our worst days. And it’s true. And if you need that reminder today, or if you know someone who does, I’ll leave you with my favorite quote:

the power of awesome customer service //

August 15, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

It’s a well-known fact that pregnant women are hormonal hot messes and will either snap at you or cry if things do not go their way. OK, well if you have never encountered a pregnant woman, you might not know this… yet! But you’ve been warned!

So it should come as little surprise that my over-sensitized reaction to our car break-in was hyped up that much more by hormones. Well, a couple of days after the incident — just as I was coming to terms with lost possesions and the like — I realized that in addition to my wallet and purse, I had put my Jawbone UP24 in my purse just that morning.

See, I had been emailing back and forth with their customer service regarding my band not taking/holding a charge. We’d been through a week of troubleshooting and the next (and final) step was to call in and make arrangements to have a warranty replacement done. So I shoved it in my purse and figured I’d give them a call while Ari was playing at the café.

I was SO bummed when I realize that it, too, had been stolen. I have religiously worn that band (both it and the original band), for 2+ years. I have always felt like it helped me to hold myself accountable for being active throughout the day. A couple of days passed and I ended up getting a follow up email from customer service, requesting that I let them know if the issue had been resolved or to call in if I still needed further assistance. I emailed back a friendly, but sad, “Thanks, but it turns out our car was broken into and my purse, wallet, and UP band were all taken. So I suppose there’s not much that can be done now! :)” and figured that was that. Chalk it up to “YOU WIN, THEIF!”

But no. Just a few minutes later, I received a call from Jawbone customer service. The agent told me that he was so sorry that it was stolen along with my other belongings, and that he still wanted to help me. I just sent him my proof of purchase to show that the band was still under factory warranty, and that since we had been working to resolve the issue already, he could have a replacement band sent to me! Whaaaat?? Oh! But they didn’t have my size band… so instead they were going to send me a newer model.

WHAAAAT??!!

I really felt like they went above and beyond. Seriously. They didn’t have to do that. They didn’t have to do any of it! They blew me away with their customer service! Seriously. Even though for the last 2.5 years I’ve been fairly happy with my Jawbone UP bands, there have been moments where I considered getting a FibtBit instead. But nope. Never will I ever leave Jawbone! Not after this experience! 🙂

My faith in humanity is restored. Sure, I may not have my Tory Burch wallet back or my purse… but I have my faith in people doing nice things for other people. ♥ ♥

So if you can afford to pay it forward, whether it be for free coffee for the person behind you in the drive thru, or just with a simple smile, DO IT! ♥ I’m certainly going to! You never know how it can impact a persons day!