Sabbatical.

Definition of SABBATICALsabbaticalnoun

1:  a break or change from a normal routine (as of employment)

 

And that's exactly what I've done, in many aspects of my life.

 

These past few weeks, something had to give in order for me to maintain my sanity. 
And sadly, it was le blog.

 

You know that saying in which people tend to mistreat certain people in their life because they know those people will be the first to forgive? 

Well, my friends, please forgive me for being absent.

 

I have felt nothing short of a juggler this month. 
I've been training at the new place, then back at the old job to train my replacement and now finally full time in my new position as of Monday. 

It's been a whirlwind. 

 

And honestly, more of an emotional whirlwhind than I expected.  Last Friday was my last day in my previous position and I had to fight back tears on my drive in.  Things have been moving so quickly that I hadn't taken any time to actually feel  

And Friday. I finally felt.

And there were tears. And there was beer...and then wine...which led to Karaoke. So all in all, I'd day I bid a great farewell to an even greater chapter of my life.

I made some beautiful friendships over these past couple years, and for that I'll forever be thankful.

I was at a marketing event the other morning and happened to be listening to a presentation on streamlining work flow. Oddly enough, the first slide boast this quote:

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” --Sydney J Harris

I always try to embrace change like I would an old friend. With a huge smile & open arms. But lets be honest, change can really suck ass sometimes.

It's scary. It's overwhelming. It's new. It's unknown.

Its also exhilarating & challenging.

But most of all....

It's growth. And that's a feeling I love.

Breast Reduction: One Year Later

I made one of the biggest decisions of my life.

 

Pun fully intended.

 

 

I got a breast reduction.

I'll never forget that morning. 
We left the house before the crack of dawn & I knew when I returned,
my tata's would be half the size.



Best feeling ever.

Growing up with enormous knockers was fun at first. I hadn't discovered booze yet, so I was super tiny with these ginormous breasts.
  
But then, I stepped on the basketball court and realized that running proved to be dangerous task.
I mean, mine could've knocked me out if I didn't strap 'em down well enough.

Needless to say, joining the track team was out of the question.

This past year has been a year of firsts. 
My first trip to Victoria's Secret.
My first (of many) 5k's.
My first time wearing a sundress with no bra!

And the list goes on & on....

But my favorite moment of this past year was when I received this email from a reader.

 

 

This is the reason I shared my journey with you.

My fears, my excitement, my pain....all of it.
I shared my journey with the hope of helping someone have the courage to take the leap &
never look back. 

I haven't heard from Cassandra since, but I'm hopeful she's enjoying a year of "firsts" as I have.

  

Two Years.

Of marriage, that is.

 

I can't believe two years ago today I said "I Do" on a beautiful, sunny April afternoon. 
Right now it's 25 degrees with a chance of snow.
What the hell is that? 

 

To say that these two years "flew by" would be a lie. 

 

We savored every moment....

 

 

.....as we have done since we fell in love 5 wonderful years ago.

 

Year two of marriage wasn't all rainbows & butterflies. 
The fights get a little deeper and take a little longer to resolve.
There were sleepless nights.  
And yes, a few slamming doors. 

But I wouldn't trade any moment of this past year, fights and all. 

 

....because I'd rather fight with this guy than be with anyone else.

 

Year two started with the second best decision I've ever made,
second only to marrying you of course.

Getting a breast reduction.

Something I never would've had the courage to do without YOU. 

 

 

Not many men would love their ladies to get their tata's cut off....all while wearing
a Hooter's shirt saying "Goodbye Hooters."

But you, my love, didn't bat an eye.

 

On a "lighter note" (pun totally intended), we enjoyed an AMAZING year of concerts.

Justin Moore, Miranda Lambert & Eric Church to name a few.

 

I'll never forget the night of the Eric Church concert this past fall! 
It was your birthday weekend and for your present, I surprised you with this....

 

 

 

 

 

When I look back over the year, the moment we'll always treasure
was the day we signed the papers on our very first home.

 

 

 

And well, apparently we couldn't just stop at a house. 

 

We added a green machine to the family as well.

 

 

And more recently, an 'ol boat.

 

 

 

We cruised across the Caribbean.

 

 

We trekked across Jamaica.

 

 

Horseback rode on the coast of Grand Cayman Island.

 

 

And kayaked in Mexico.

 

 

But none of these things compare to the joy that our family experienced
when these 3 little ones made their debut!

 

Wyatt Frank

 

Charlotte Ann

 

 

Emmett Alexander

 

Who knows what year three will bring us....maybe our own little one?

;)

 

 

I do know one thing that's for certain.

As I look over the past year in pictures, I realized something....

 

 

 

I love you more today, Mr. Flintstone, than I ever have before.

 

You really are my sunshine.

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

F.R.I.D.A.Y.

 What a week.

The Boston Marathon bombing....the fertilizer plant explosion....the transformer that blew outside my house yesterday evening.  I mean, talk about a week full of explosions!

Luckily it sounds as if they have the bomb suspects on lock down.  One's dead & hopefully the other will be taken into custody and tortured in prison for the rest of his life. 
Gruesome, you say?  Nah.

On a personal note, I feel as if this week flew by.  There's so much change going on in my professional life that everyday seems to bring news about someone moving on, someone taking another job, someone giving notice, etc etc.  A few weeks ago I threw a little "Congrats" party for this gal.

 

 

 

Her last day in our office is today.

 

Insert crying fit here.

 

I found out yesterday that it appears my transfer will be Monday, May 13th.  
Throughout this past month, this quote has been running thru my head every.single.day. 

 

For me, this quote just resonates to the core.

 

I'm excited for my new opportunity but also scared as hell.

 

Moving on.

 

The weekend.

 

Man, there really is no better day than Friday. 

Am I right or am I right?

 

My weekend consists of a whole lot of nuthin'.
I'm really really hopeful that the sun will come out to play with  me tomorrow.
If so, sun bathing is definitely in order.

 

In other exciting news.....our 2 year wedding anniversary is TUESDAY!!

You know how everyone says, wow...where have the past few years gone!? 
Or, has it really been 2 years already? 

 

I don't feel that way.  I can "feel" the two years in our marriage, and I'm thankful for that.
But hey, I'll save my explanation for my post next week.

 

How's that for a teaser?

 

Ok, well time to hit the shower & head to work. 

Why don't I work from home again?

Well, hello friends.

Phew.

Man, has life been busy for me these past few weeks.  And when I say "busy," I don't mean that in the physical sense. 

My head has been all kinds of busy. 

 

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I began the interviewing process for a new position within the company I work for.  There were some amazing candidates also interviewing, so I figured my chances were pretty slim.

But as my home girl Sheryl Sandberg would say, I "leaned in" and thank the Good Lord I did because somehow I landed the job. 
 

 

So before we go any further, let's pretend we're NOT at work and have a virtual toast.

Ahhhh....I can taste the bubbly right now. 

 

Needless to say, I haven't been able to blog these past few weeks because honestly, there hasn't been any room inside my head for anything besides anxiety. 

 

But now that things are official, I'm able to get back to life.

And by life, I mean blogging. 

 

So, hello friends. 

I am back.

On another exciting note, if you follow me on Instagram (@annexenos) you saw that we
FINALLY got our little booth (at our local antique mall) up and running!

My friends, The White Dog is now open for business.
 

 

It took us an ENTIRE day to get things all set up.

I blame it on the nastiness we started with... 

 

After many, many hours, we transformed it to this...

 

It has definitely been a labor of love and so far, we're still married. 

 

 

Now, let's hope we start making some money, honey!