lack & White


It has become a tradition for us to take a family portrait every year. It started when Eliana was 3 months old and has continued into a yearly thing. Since we usually take these pictured at a studio, we're limited on a lot of things including time. Last year we decided to break out of the studio shoot and do an outdoor shoot with a local photographer. That allowed us variety of shots and time. 

The shoot started off slow, as little Miss Eliana was not feeling it. She pretty much frowned (purposely) for the first half hour. Yes, she’s funky like that. She slowly warmed up to the photographers as they got down to her level, rolling in dried leaves and running around. These pictures were about half way through the shoot and it is a drastic different from the beginning. Once she let loose, we couldn’t tame her. Luckily we were at a local park so she was able to run around freely even after the shoot till she was exhausted. 

Moving on, I know I missed Eliana’s 2 years old “Letters to Eliana”. Well, I have it in draft just never finalized and posted it so I will be posting it to close the loop. Reading some of those letters and looking at her as a tiny baby that is growing into this little girl is beyond amazing. She’s still in her two’s so I guess it is not too late. This will be a yearly letter from here on. Looking forward to writing to my 3 years old.

Enjoy!



Sharing...Enough, Too Much


Ok, so I decided to blog about this issue that has been a constant battle for me. When I started this blog and I know I've probably mentioned this before and you’re probably tired of reading about it but, it was meant to be a lifestyle blog. A place where I can share my experiences and life as it happens. It did start out that way but somewhere along the way, it morphed into more of a fashion blog than anything else; which Is not necessarily a bad thing. 
I love sharing and I love listening to people that are willing to share their experiences. I know sharing in this form has the tendency to leave you a little vulnerable in some areas because you're leaving a bit of yourself out there but the reward that comes from it is satisfactory. Over-sharing became a concern early on so I went to the other extreme where I completely stopped sharing. It's always a constant battle in my head; I have so many posts in draft that I ended up not posting because I felt It might be over-sharing. But at the end of the day, I wish I had published those posts for one reason or the other.

So, what I'm trying to say is I’m currently in a state where I’m trying to find the balance between over-sharing and not holding myself back on posting my experiences and information that someone else might find useful. Reason I know this is because I go looking for this exact  information and personal experiences online to relate to while going through it. So, If one person finds and reads about my experience or what I have to say and it resonates with them, then that's all that matters.

I love writing and I love to document everything in one form or the other; and this blog allows me to do just that, which is one of the reasons I started blogging all together. In a way, I think it holds me accountable to document life's moments. Perfect example is my pregnancy with Eliana and being a mom. I'm glad I have all those "Pregnancy Journals" and "Letters to Eliana" series. Even though it may not contain all the information I wanted to remember (again, didn't want to over-share), I cherish what I have documented. Otherwise, I wouldn't have any of it. I would have had the intention to but it would have never been done. That's where the blog comes in and that's one of the reasons I keep blogging. I suppose you can see this blog both ways, first as a way to document memorable life's  moments, events, and experiences and at the same time, share with others who can relate or find useful information in it.

So here we go!

The Job The Move


Hi loves!
Where do I even begin? I know it's old news by now but I'm glad I'm finally getting around to sharing this. So let’s get right into it. This new job was 5 months in the making. It's one of those experiences that really proves God's timing is the best and no matter what obstacle stand in your way, they will come tumbling down eventually.

 So, let’s rewind back to the beginning of 2015. Hubby and I were both looking for new jobs. We were both at that point that we felt we needed to move on to something new. We focused our search on mostly out of state jobs. You see, when we moved to NJ, we knew and agreed it wasn't for the long haul. It was just for a short period of time and I think that helped when the time came to leave. Although, leaving the people was the hardest, leaving NJ itself was easy :)

 A couple of options came along the way; from Texas, to Georgia,  to Florida and even South Carolina which were all great options, but for one reason or the other didn’t quite work out. North Carolina wasn't even on our radar until the opportunity presented itself. When I said earlier this job was 5 months in the making, it literally was. I went for my first interview in March but didn't get the offer till late July and I started work less than a month after that. A lot happened between March and July. Endless phone interviews, multiple trips, a whole lot of waiting, and two potential positions later, here I am. The first position I had interviewed for went on hold, so I pretty much forgot about it until months later when I got a call out of nowhere that another position opened up and I was being considered for the new position.

When God says something is yours, it is yours! You just have to wait for that perfect timing and let everything fall into place. This new position fulfilled exactly what I was looking for and beyond as far as the experience and exposure.

 The decision to accept the job and move to NC was easy because it fits our plan but the hard part was facing the reality and accepting the fact that hubby will remain in NJ for months to come. That was really the hardest part, knowing we’ll be separated as a family. What we’ve waited on for months was now happening and things were moving really fast. Before we could digest all these changes, it was time to pack up the house, say goodbye to friends, and get on the road. Within a couple of weeks, we were down in NC moving in to an apartment we're seeing for the first time, shopping around / visiting daycare centers just two days before I was supposed to resume work and miraculously found a good one with opening for Eliana on Friday, just as the working hour was coming to end and then I blinked and it was time to say goodbye to hubby as he heads back to NJ.

 I’m just glad the move, the separation, the back and forth traveling is behind us. It was definitely a stressful time for everybody, even Eliana felt it. Take away lesson, we'll definitely require more time for a big move like this in the future. Although everything went according to plan, it was a lot in a short amount of time.

So, now that we're all pretty much settled, we’re slowly starting to explore our surroundings, enjoying and being even more appreciative to be under one roof as a family again.


Hello...2016

 Hello from the other side....
Hi my people. Its been way too long. I've missed you guys and I've missed blogging and keeping up with my blog reads.
I had no idea, my little hiatus was going to last this long, but I guess life happens.  Before I ramble on and forget, I have to say thanks to a few of you that emailed to check up on me. It warms my heart to know there are people out there thinking about me and my family.

A lot has happened since my on and off and then complete disappearance. You all already know the  biggest part of this was the move. Myself and Eliana moved to NC while hubby remained in NJ. We did a lot  back and forth for those months while we were apart. The plan was for hubby to join us permanently before the end of quarter one in 2016, but he was able to join us just in time to start the new year together. 
 
As I slowly dive back into blogging, I will be sharing the testimony of how NC came into the picture and how we ended up here, my experience playing single mom for five long months and pretty much starting afresh in NC and our experiences along the way.
We're still in transition mood, knowing there's one more move ahead of us.
But, till then, its one day at a time, living life, loving NC.
Talk to you soon.