returning to work

This post has been sitting in my drafts for weeks now but I am ready to share it.

Let me give you a little back story first...

Back in June I was scrolling thru Indeed looking at the different job postings in my area. I wasn't seriously looking for work but decided to give a few interesting jobs more attention. I applied to a few job postings and the next day I got a response and the day after that I found myself in an interview. I left the interview so excited and wanting this job because it had been the best interview I had ever had! 

Fast forward to when this post was written...the night before my first day!

My girls are asleep and I am incredibly nervous for what tomorrow will bring! You see tomorrow is my first day of work. I have not worked in several years. Completely devoting my time to my girls and husband. 

I am pretty much feeling every emotion possible.

One moment I am so excited and then I feel tremendous amounts of guilt.

I will be pretty much be working all week for 4-6 hours a day. The schedule itself is not bad at all, its actually one of the reasons I accepted the job. 

However, it means that my hubby will be watching the kiddos for a portion of the day and when school starts I won't be at pick up. 

Enter mom guilt! 

As excited as I am for myself and the opportunities this job will give me. 

I am also experiencing mom guilt to the max. 

How will this affect my girls? 

Will they miss me? 

Will I miss them even more? 

Will my husband be able to watch them and work at the same time when I am away?

Will I miss a lot of school events and will that scar my kid for life?

I wrote pros and cons lists and to be honest they left me more confused.

But what I do know is that I am doing this for my girls, they are my WHY.

It all boils down to them. 

I want this job and mentally feel like I need this job.

I need time to myself and making money at the same time doesn't hurt one bit.

Tomorrow is a big day for all of us and now I really need to get to bed!

xoxo

Jocelyn

Introducing the bored box

Hi Everyone!

I'd like to introduce you all to the "bored box"!

My kids have moments in the day that they claim they are bored. 

It doesn't matter if we had a fun filled afternoon of outings they still get bored! 

For the sake of not wearing myself out or spreading myself to thin...I created the "bored box" for my girls!

What is the bored box, you ask!

Well its a box filled with various activities I know my kids enjoy. Whenever they claim they are bored they can get one activity out of this box to complete. All the activities are pretty easy for them to do without our help.

We tried it out today and it worked like a charm. 

The girls grabbed an activity to do and we all sat around the kitchen table tackling our various tasks and it was very enjoyable! 

So I think the "bored box" is a big win in my mommy book!

I purchased everything you see below from Michaels but will definitely be restocking this box with things I find at various stores!

The storage box with tray is currently on sale for $8.99.

The lid also comes in pink and white!

The paint tray is a steal! You can buy a 6 pack for $2. I love them because it really limits how much paint the kids use and its so easy to clean off!

The paints are Craft Smart and you can't beat the selection and price! Hello 70 cents y'all!

The various activities in the box cost less than $2 each!! 

I love the Play Pack packets and buy these whenever I see them! They are great for entertaining the kids in the car and at dinner!

Now to make myself a bored box that doesn't consist of binge watching Netflix when the kids are asleep lol

Do you have a bored box for your kiddos? and if so what do you stock them up with?!

xoxo

Jocelyn

Reading Now: The Silent Sister

I just finished The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain and

all I can say is wow just wow!

A little overview found on Barnes and Nobles website:

"Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. It was a belief that helped shape her own childhood and that of her brother. It shaped her view of her family and their dynamics. It influenced her entire life. Now, more than twenty years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina, cleaning out his house when she finds evidence that what she has always believed is not the truth. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why, exactly, was she on the run all those years ago? What secrets are being kept now, and what will happen if those secrets are revealed? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family. Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality. Told with Diane Chamberlain's powerful prose and illumination into the human heart and soul, The Silent Sister is an evocative novel of love, loss, and the bonds among siblings."

I bought this book on Wednesday afternoon and started it that night and finished it last night. I loved it! From the second I started reading I was captivated. Was it the style of writing or just a really good interesting story...either way it was sooo good! It is a mystery and just keeps you wanting/needing to know more! 

I would absolutely recommend this book to a friend!

FYI: This book is $10.10 on B&N website right now!

Have you read this book?! Did you love it or hate it?

I can't wait to get another one Diane's books!

Recommendations on a new book to read leave in comments below!

xoxo

Jocelyn

Reading Now: The Woman in Cabin 10

I just finished reading The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware!

If you haven't read this little gem than I share with you a quick little overview of the book from Barnes and Nobles website:

"In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…"

As a family we love reading books as you can probably tell from my past posts. Normally I am reading books of the kid variety but lately I have made the time to read "mommy books". It has been the best way to spend my very little amount of "me time". 

I bought this book back in February and just finished. Which screams volumes on how much I actually liked this book! When I truly love a book I finish it within a couple of days not weeks! 

This book was definitely interesting but it was rather slow for my liking.

I struggled to read it because it was so slow in the beginning. I didn't start really getting into the book until after Chapter 9 and then I couldn't put it down!

With that being said, Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes, I would because it was definitely a page turner towards the end and I couldn't believe the way the story panned out!

FYI: The book is currently $10.31 on B&N website!!

Have you read this book?!?! Did you like it???

Now I am off to search for a new book!!

xoxo

Jocelyn