It's been almost a YEAR since I've blogged, and recently, I've had the itch again!!!

I just love to share my ideas, projects, and basically just LIFE!

I've just been busy, I guess, and felt a little uninspired..  I was tired towards the end of my pregnancy!  My days just would consist of working and going for a daily walk, but I seemed to lack motivation and creativity to do any posting.. And after I had my little lady, it pretty much went the same!

So let's do a little recap of what I've been up to!

Last time I was on, I was pregnant.. and I got realllllly pregnant!


And I loved it.  I seriously never felt better!  So I did everything pregnant, all summer long!  I attended my ten year reunion, sober cabbed until bar close for the fourth of July, and even went to one of my good girlfriend's Bachelorette parties on the Lake.

5 days after my due date, Sunday, September 28th, I refused to have to go to work on Monday..  I told Chase, we're getting this baby out of me this weekend!!! So, we did ALL we could.. walked, made "special" cookies, walked more, did other "stuff" in between, and at one point, I even hooked up my breast pump!  Haha!!!  So i'm not sure if one of those things worked, or it was just her time, but finally I started getting some contractions and went into the hospital Sunday night.
After they had me walk for a little while as I was in excruciating pain, they told me I was in back labor, and that the baby was face up.  It was PAINFUL!  BUT--- after I finally got my epidural, everything was smooth sailing!!!
My little peanut made her debut Monday morning, and she was perfect.. Let me tell you, the most amazing feeling in the whole entire world is after you've given your ALL, and are exhausted you can't do anything else, and they put your naked, crying baby on your bare chest, and you kiss your significant other, and both just start crying.  I've never felt so overwhelmed with love in my whole life!  It's incredible!


Anyways.. I just wanted to catch my blog up a bit..  I've just been a little bit busy the past 9 months!!! I do have so many ideas and things I want to share in the near future, so stay tuned!

It has been soooo cold up here in Minnesnowwwwta...  But that isn't stopping me from getting into the Holiday Spirit!

We are having Chase's brother, his wife, and baby Brayden stay with us for the weekend.  So I was definitely excited to get some decorating done!

It is the 5th of July and because I'm the newbie here at the Melrose Institute, I get to be here at 6:30 on this beautiful day! I can't complain, I suppose..  But, it's going to be a quiet and dragging type of day.. watching the minutes pass.  Luckily, this gives me the opportunity to catch up here a little bit!

My fourth was very nice!  It basically looked like this:

I recently accepted a new position at the Melrose Institute, which is our eating disorder facility.  Yesterday, I had my orientation, and I just have to say how absolutely excited I am!  It's still within the health care system that I'm currently in,and it's still a frontline position, but a "higher level" so I"ll actually be getting paid a little more, and working a little less!  (4-9 hour days.. Tuesdays off!  Woop!)  I'm also just so excited about all of the new things that I'm going to be learning.  The architecture of the building alone is just beautiful, and there's a chapel where they have nondenominational services as well as Thursday morning meditation services for employees.  They also offer yoga classes over lunch shifts, and there's it's all on a beautiful reserved park that has a 2 mile path.

I'm a little bit inspired, just about life right now in general.  There are some people who just think
"Ok, here I am, and that's just fine for me." But I just think it's so important to always be growing, learning and finding new experiences.  No matter how big or little they are, take in all of the experiences and knowledge you can!

I came across this article today and I just love it.

Some of my favorite "21 Habits of Happy People"

-Choose Friends Wisely: Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values and goals.  Friends that have the same ethics as you will encourage you to achieve your dreams.  They help you to feel good about yourself.  They are there to lend a helping hand when needed.

-Be Considerate: Accept others for who they are as well as where they are in life.  Respect the for who they are.  Touch them with a kind and generous spirit.  Help when you are able without trying to change the other person.  Try to brighten the day of everyone you come into contact with.

-Learn continuously: Keep up to date with the latest news regarding your career and hobbies.  Try new and daring things that have sparked your interest.

-Enjoy Life: Take the time to see the beauty around you.  There's more to life than work.  Take time to smell the roses, watch a sunset or sunrise with a loved one, take a walk along the seashore (or wherever), hike in the woods, etc.  Learn to live in the present moment and cherish it.  Don't live in the past or future.

Trying to pick my favorites is actually really hard..  

Meditate, Love unconditionally, Gratitude, Laugh..  They are all good.  It's good to reflect and check in with yourself sometimes to see which of these you are striving at, and which ones could use improvement.  We can all use improving sometimes.

~Namaste~