Work, Life, and First Birthday

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We’ve been taking advantage of every nice bit of weather we can. Most days are pretty cold, wet and dreary so that occasional ray of sunshine is something to celebrate. Getting out into nature is also just good for the soul (it’s been scientifically proven!) and people who spend more time outdoors are healthier and happier.

Our family took a walk on the green belt (miles of scenic, paved walking paths along the Boise river). When it’s warmer we bike this path. I wanted to share some sweet pictures from the day with you all. I hadn’t planned to, but I realized that I really haven’t shared anything personal in awhile.

To be honest, personal posts are my favorite posts to write and re-read. Yesterday I was reading our Maui post and feeling so glad that I wrote it :). I love happy memories. 

Confused? My husband’s Photoshop skeeels 🙂

Work Life:

There are some things that I miss about working as a nurse (mostly the social aspects – we’re always itching to get out and do something because we’re always home), but I wouldn’t change anything about my work as a full time blogger. I love that I can see my daughter emptying the contents of a kitchen drawer as I type this.

I’ll admit full time blogging is hard work and it’s not all roses and sunshine (as my late boss said, “even a rose has thorns”), but every day I want to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. I’m so immensely thankful for this career that my husband and I pour our hearts into. Working together and being around our children is something that we treasure daily.

I think back to working 12 hour shifts. With the commute and everything that entails, I’d be away from home up to 14 hours for 3 days straight. That’s tough! I remember feeling sad about being away from my family. If you’re working toward your dream right now, whatever that may be, and what you’re doing at the moment isn’t exactly your dream job, hang in there, be thankful and have faith. Start speaking your dream into being.

The world refers to this as “self fulfilling prophecy” which is hodgepodge. It works because it’s a biblical principle. I can testify to this. Years ago, long before we dreamed up this blog, I knew in my heart that I wanted to have a family business where I could partner with my husband, where we would dictate our own schedule, and would be blessed in it.

I made a little sign, put it in a picture frame and set it on our shared desk at home. It said, “soon God will bless us with our own business. Vadim would sit here (and I drew an arrow to his chair) and Natasha will sit there (I drew another arrow) and we kept that on our desk for years. I recently found the sign while cleaning out our office closet in preparation for moving. You bet I was smiling big when I saw it. I ran to my husband to remind him and we both laughed as we realized that it came to pass and in a way that was much greater and more blessed than we could have hoped or imagined.

First Birthday:

Our baby girl turned 1 on Sunday. She brings so much richness and joy into all of our lives. My son adores her and I’m so immensely thankful that he has a sibling to teach, love, entertain and make her laugh. We give thanks for them both. Having these two might mean putting a future cookbook or any other big projects on hold for now, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This was her pretty and delicious birthday cake. It turned out so good and everyone loved it. I’ll be sharing the recipe with you soon :).

This little lady is taking a few steps at a time now. She’s close to walking! It’s all happening so fast!

Thanks for reading and sharing in our joy :). I’ll share an update on our moving adventure soon. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us once we sell our home.