Home Home on the Range

So I've been really bad about keeping everyone in the loop, but here's the skinny what's happening in the Andry household. The Lord has really been laying the desire to stay home with Blake on my heart since she was about 10 weeks old. I really thought that when I went back to work I would get back into the swing of things and that desire would go away. Well, long story short it didn't - in fact it got worse with everyday that went by. So I started seriously praying...my prayer was that if it was God's will for our lives for me to stay home that God would soften Chris' heart to the idea and give us both a servant's heart to make this arrangement work. Insert sarcastic tone here, "I know this a shock to most of you, but we're not rich." haha. I continued to pray that if it was His will for me to work that my heart toward work would change and my desire to be home would diminish.

After 2 full weeks of devout prayer and 2 full weeks of work, I created an in depth powerpoint presentation for Chris to discuss this arrangement. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I went inside the head of Chris Andry to figure out what I would need to analyze, calculate and evaluate in order for him to 1.)take the proposal seriously 2.) see if it was even remotely an option 3.) see what sacrifices we were realistically talking about and 4.) foresee questions that were going to come my way. I have to say at the end of the day I think my powerpoint was pretty amazing...if you're interested in seeing my masterpiece let me know! haha. Anywho, I presented my idea to Chris one Friday evening a couple of weeks ago and of course, he saw it coming and of course true to my prayers - God softened his heart to the idea. I told him to continue to pray about it, look at the numbers and really think about it before saying anything....So another week went by before we decided that it was worth the sacrifice (no more vacations, no more eating out every weekend, no more shopping - gasp). I turned in my 2 weeks notice at Medassets this past Friday and my last day of work will be August 6th. HOLY HOTDOG!

Now don't go thinking I'm going to be come some stepford wife and never work again...I'm only taking off until Blake reaches 1 year old and then she'll be going back to school and I will be going back to work. In the meantime I am in charge of all the mundane household tasks that Chris and I both hate (laundry, grocery shopping cooking dinner, cleaning the house). I also promised to try to bring in some extra funds to help offset a little of what we'll be missing out on so I decided to start selling Stella & Dot Jewelry. So true to Alicia Andry form - I'm brining on loads of change and new obstacles all at once - BRING ON THE CHANGE!

I am actually so very excited to have this opportunity to not only spend the time with my amazing daughter, but to also try to start up a business that's not only my own, but FUN! I've been sacrificing my passion in the workforce for years to make enough to actually make a living and I really hope and pray that this new venture will eventually take off the ground and be my NEW full time gig once the year is over.

If anyone is interested in buying some fun jewelery, starting up a Stella & Dot business of their own or just want to come to one of the trunk shows to play around let me know and check out my fancy new website! www.stelladot.com/aliciaandry

So basically we're in a state of constant change with new obstacles to overcome and new adventures in store. I can't wait to see what God is up to now. He always throws me a curve ball when I start to make my own plans in life. Prayers are very much appreciated as we face this new chapter in life. It's going to be interesting that is for sure!