New Beginnings

January has sort of always been a "blah" month for me. The snow no longer holds excitement, it's cold and dreary with no sight of spring in the future and there seems to be a huge let down after all the holiday activity from the previous months before. Despite all this, everyone around holds out hope for the new year and how much better it will be from the last.

The topic of conversation around the first part of the month is generally based on, "What are your New Year's Resolutions?" While I think it's a good idea to set goals, why is it something that is only focused on once a year? Very rarely do I hear anyone in June say, "So, it's been 6 months, how are you coming on your resolutions?" I think by then, most people have forgotten the goals they started out with much less remember or care to follow up on someone else's. Thank goodness too!

I really like the idea of having goals, but my follow through leaves much to be desired. Therefore, this year I am not creating any resolutions "just because." I will create goals as they apply and not overwhelm myself with a list that's only half complete and half forgotten by the year's end. Besides, if I don't make any resolutions, I can't feel bad for not completing them, right? On top of that, life is always changing. How can I know everything I will want to do at the beginning of the year?

This month has already provided so many twists and turns of events there is no way I could have predicted everything that has happened. For the first time I went through the process of hiring someone. I feel such a responsibility for the person I bring into the company, especially with all the dynamics involved. I hope it turns out to be a good experience for this person because I will feel really bad otherwise. I'm really excited to have another designer in the department, but it's hard bringing someone in, knowing what I know and still having to hope for the best. How do you hire just anybody when you know you wouldn't even bring your best friend into the situation? Well, it turns out half the problem solved itself. The VP of Sales is no longer with the company. It's still a mystery as to what happened. One day he was there, the next he wasn't. All I can say is that the atmosphere at work has changed drastically.

This absence of the VP caused the owner to become more involved with the company. One of his first steps of action was to sit down with everyone on an individual basis. I figured at this point there was probably no better time to tell him that Austin and I are expecting a baby in June!!! This was a very nerve wracking experience for me. I have tortured myself for weeks now as to when the best time to share news like this with my work would be. I don't know that this is news that any boss wants to hear, but I think my timing was the best it possibly could've been. Only time will tell I guess...

Now, to start from the beginning of my pregnancy story. I found out the morning of our 3rd Anniversary. I was hopeful my suspicion would be confirmed and I knew how I wanted to tell Austin in case I was right, so I was prepared to tell him that morning. I gave him a card as if it had been written by our baby. He was really excited as am I. I had to leave to work shortly after. Later that night we went to the Chef's Table. When we got home we exchanged Anniversary gifts. If you recall, that is when I found out that Austin had bought Bentley, our goldendoodle. So, it turns out we got a baby and a dog, so to speak, on the same day.

This was all a little overwhelming at first, but everything has turned out fine. I don't have anything to compare my pregnancy to, but I think it's going okay. From what I've heard of others experiences, I know it could be a lot worse. I didn't start feeling nauseated until about week 6 and it hasn't really gone away. I've only thrown up a few times, so I consider myself fortunate. You can imagine how much fun all the airplane travel was and being around so much holiday food. I'm really sad all the Christmastime sweets weren't appealing, but there is always next year. I'm probably one of the few people who can say they lost weight over the holidays. Don't worry, it was only a couple pounds and I'm sure I'll have no trouble making up for it in the end! Tomorrow I will be 19 weeks-one week shy of halfway. In some ways, it has gone by quickly and other times it seems like it's been so long. Looking at the big picture, I'm sure the baby will arrive all too soon. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, we will be waiting til the baby makes its debut to the world as to whether we will have a boy or girl. No harm in creating some positive suspense in life!