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« My Life Journey, Part 3: June 2000-May 2005 | Main | Housecleaning Workout Tip: Washing the Car »

My Life Journey, Part 4: May 2005-Present

By Cindy Posey | September 3, 2007

In May 2005, our new life awaited us in Nashville, TN. We purchased our home a year prior to leaving the Navy. Ryan’s dad screened 40 homes that we found online. With the realtor and Ryan’s dad, we shopped for a home from Japan. We flew in for a visit and in a week visited 10 homes, selected the top three and made our bids. Yet, another reason I love computers.

With Little Man, a new car, and home, we transitioned to the states in a frenzy of activity. We traveled to a friends wedding, made several trips to Millington to complete the Navy out-processing, handled three different shipments of stuff, painted the bedrooms and made Little Man’s room extra special. Of course, he decided it needed a redesign in permanent marker about six months ago!

Going into the summer months and a third trimester, I tried to walk daily around the neighborhood. If I didn’t get out of the house by 8 AM though, the heat became unbearable. I worked out less and less as the pregnancy progressed. Through both pregnancies, I gained thirty pounds which put me twenty pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight. I am having quite a time returning to pre-pregnancy weight.

The rapid changes in our lifestyle caught me off guard. I was not prepared for the new pace. I was staying home, how hard could it be??? I fell victim to the classic saying, “The grass is greener on the other side.” Staying home is a lifestyle that requires a very different skill set then a paying career. The work load is ten times more difficult and predominately rests on my shoulders. Include self-imposed expectations and outside misconceptions of a homemaker’s lifestyle, and I came to the realization that staying home is no walk in the park.

What I Do

I like being around people. I need to get out and do things. I found the local library and their fantastic “mommy and me” classes for children under two. Little Man loved them and still comments about the bubbles and a few of his friends he knew from the class. It’s been close to over a year since we’ve been to those classes. I met a mom who was part of the MOMS Club of Donelson/Hermitage, TN. I was so excited to find moms dealing with the same challenges I faced as a stay at home mom. My friends either had no children or worked. It’s hard to explain the emotions and feelings of an unrelated lifestyle. The International MOMS Club is an organization with many local chapters in the states and around the world. I love the friendships and availability of activities for moms and children. I enjoy organizing events and working with people. Being a part of the board for our local chapter, I get a sense of accomplishment in doing things for the benefit of others.

I love watching my children develop and learn. I do miss the intellectual challenges of working, reaching definitive goals, and realized accomplishments. I compensate by searching the Internet for quality opportunities that provide the flexibility my family needs. I have joined the rising number of stay-at-home moms and dads in work-at-home status, another area filled with misconceptions about the easy nature of such a lifestyle. The challenge falls in balancing home, work, and self under one roof.

I started Mystery Shopping in December, 2005. I researched the field of work and only signed up for companies that didn’t require an upfront fee. You should never have to pay to get a listing of mystery shops. This is a legitimate field in which companies maintain professional relationships with their shoppers and clientel. I highly recommend visiting Volition.com (Don’t sign up for the email newsletter updates!) and MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) for more details. This is by no means a way to make a living, but the opportunities do pay a little of the eating out bills, entertainment, and some retail as well.

In July 2007, I became a tutor for Tutor.com. I enjoy working with students online and helping them in the process of learning. The flexibility of scheduling is perfect for our lifestyle. Each week I pick and choose which hours I want to work the next week. I can easily schedule the hours during nap times and late evenings after the little ones go to bed.

One day I was reading eMoms at Home and came across a call for Intern Bloggers to try out a new program called Blog Mastermind. I started blogging for friends and family in 2004 while we were stationed in Japan, but I didn’t regularly update it. I love to write and I’m intrigued by the blogosphere, so I replied to the post and entered the contest for the internship. I was so excited when Blogging Expertise contacted me and said that I had gotten the last spot. All I had to do was start a blog from scratch and follow the Blog Mastermind Mentor Program. I thought long and hard about what topics I would be passionate about and have enough expertise to share valuable information. My motivation to start a blog on fitness was twofold: I am knowledgeable about a topic that I know is relevant to many moms. I finally found a way to carve out time to work out and write about it. I feel better when I workout. I needed to make fitness a priority in my life, and I know many moms face the same time constraints and challenges to find time for themselves. By writing about my journey, I want to help moms realize their potential and enjoy the fitness journey!

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