Playground and Ethan's First Happy Meal

The weather is gooorgeous here this weekend. We have all the windows open releasing the stale winter air and letting in some fresh [almost] spring air, it's great. :) We decided this morning to visit the Wildlife West Nature Park to go appreciate the day outside. Unfortunately, I didn't really do as much research prior to going as maybe I should have, so when we arrived at 11am to a completely empty parking lot, we quickly realized the park didn't actually open until noon! Whoopsie! Turns out the Nature Park will have to wait for another day. So instead we went to the big playground on base, which happens to be right next to McDonald's, so we also treated Ethan to his first Happy Meal for lunch. To no surprise of ours, the apple slices were his favorite part, ha. Our little man looooves his fruit, just like his Daddy. :)

 Mmm... McDonald's Happy Meal!

Fishy lips!

Valentine's Day and Ethan's First Bubble Bath

For Valentine's Day this year Matt and I had dinner at home (with our favorite third wheel). Then we gave Ethan his first bubble bath, which he was less than excited about. He liked when Matt would blow the bubbles, but if the bubbles got on his hands he was not a happy camper, lol. After Ethan went to bed, Matt paired up desserts with beers for me. It was deeelicious. :)

Chicken Teriyaki, rice, green beans and egg rolls... yum!

Chocolate cake, lemon cake, carrot cake and strudel cookies... soooo good.

 

Things seem okay...

Uh oh... the bubbles are on his hands now

"Get 'em off, get 'em off!"

Little basketball, big basketball

Ethan LOVES basketball.  For Christmas, Uncle Mike and Aunt Lauren got Ethan his own basketball hoop and I swear there isn't a day that goes by that Ethan doesn't put something through that hoop. Usually it's one of his numerous basketballs, but sometimes it's building blocks, or cars, or stuffed animals. I'm sure the fact that Matt is constantly shooting hoops on Ethan's Fisher Price hoop helps inspire Ethan to love the sport as well, but no matter what the reason, this boy loves basketball.

So yesterday Matt and I took Ethan to a real basketball court for the first time. We took Matt's basketball and a little basketball for Ethan. Big shocker, though, from the minute we started our walk to the courts, Ethan only wanted the big basketball. He wanted to be like his Daddy... none of this "baby basketball" stuff for him. Haha. He did end up sharing the big basketball (a little) with Matt, but not a lot. Matt was able to shoot some hoops on his own when Ethan got distracted by the playground next to the basketball court, but it wasn't long before he was back on the court with Matt having a blast.

I have a feeling we have a future athlete on our hands. :)

Headed to the basketball court on Matt's shoulders... insisting on carrying the ball

Matt dribbling the little ball while Ethan has the big ball, lol

Happy!

Thinking about it...

Totally debating throwing the ball in an attempt to make a basket

Ethan playing with the big ball, Matt still stuck with the little ball

And he's noticed the playground...

Weeee!

Yay, playground! :)

An office with a view

For the first time in my life, I have an office with a view!  Well, I mean, a view other than the wall of a cubicle. ;)

Our guestroom/my office

My little "office" with a view :)

When we found out we were moving to New Mexico a year and a half ago, I quickly started working on a game plan for my job.  Originally (over 5 years ago), my company told me they would let me live across the country and work remotely, which was amazing.  Unfortunately, however, when push came to shove that wasn't an option anymore.  A lot can change in 5 years (management, the economy, etc.) and I understand that.  So instead, my boss told me he would hire me as an Independent Contractor on a time and materials contract.  That basically means: 1) because I wouldn't be an employee of the company, they wouldn't give me any benefits (healthcare, vacation, sick, etc.); and 2) I would get paid when work was done, as opposed to being a salaried employee.  It was a risky option and pretty unreliable, so I put it on the back burner. For months and months I scoured job postings in Albuquerque.  I applied to numerous positions without so much as even a call back.  As time ticked by I realized I really only had one option, and risky or not, I had to take the opportunity.

Being an Independent Contractor meant creating my own LLC (Limited Liability Company) and that meant a whole slew of paperwork and ropes to jump through.  It definitely wasn't easy, but it's kind of cool to say I'm the president of my own company.  I'm sure when the time for taxes rolls around next year I'll be singing a different tune, but for now being "President" is just cool.

So fast forward to today. I love being my own boss. I love working from home and I love feeling in control of my life.  No more waking up and dreading the day ahead.  I really enjoy working now because I feel like the work I'm doing matters.  Every hour I work, I get paid.  It's funny how differently that feels than before. Is there still risk involved? Sure. I don't always know what I'm going to work on next, but I've worked on some great projects already - projects I never would've had the opportunity to work on before because I was attached to one project. Now, multiple managers reach out to me for help, which is really wonderful. I feel like I have something to offer and people are seeking me out for that skill.  I just feel... happy, and that's pretty amazing.

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snoooooooooow!

We woke up Tuesday morning to a surprise snowfall.  It wasn't much more than an inch or so and by 10am I'd say most of it had melted away.  It was still pretty to see and fun to take pictures of. :) Since then we've had snow again Tuesday afternoon and most of the day Wednesday.  Everything is still covered in a layer of white from Wednesday's dusting and the temperature is chilly, but the roads are clear and base is open, so it's really just pretty to look at for now. :)

 

Saturday at the zoo!

We went to the Rio Grande Zoo today with old Air Force friends.  The zoo was way bigger than we expected and had a ton of animals.  It took us three hours to wander through the whole thing.  It was a little chilly out, but we still all had a lot of fun. :)

The ginormous snapping turtle

Polar bears in New Mexico?! Say what?

Checking out the polar bears

Me and my buddy

Checking out the tigers

There were peacocks wandering around!

Guess what day it is?!  Hump day!

Baby elephant

Zeeebras

Walking through the zoo

Liv, Zach and Caden

Hahahaha