D.C. Area Nesties
tracy042206
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
QOTD: Thursday
So over the holidays an author that I am a fan of on facebook had a post that read "Damn, it is good to be me" which is actually a quote of a character in one of her books. She then profusely apologized that it wasn't made 100% clear that she hadn't said that and that it was a quote, but my thinking was why should she apologize? Isn't it a good thing if you think your life is that good and celebrate it in a no rubbing it in kind of way? But I suppose it could be taken the wrong way if someone else was having a rough time of their own life.
I thought a nice way to start the new year would be thinking of ways I liked my current life instead of just ways to change it. So, why is it good to be you?
Re: QOTD: Thursday
It is good to be me because:
I have a genuinely happy marriage and a great husband. My job pays great and is not too demanding.
I have a wonderful little boy that I love to pieces and gives me such joy on a daily basis. To be honest, growing up I never knew life could be this good and I could have married such a wonderful guy.
Off to the beach
DS 7/18/2010
Handy 2.0 Due Early August
2011/2012 Races
12/17/2011 Christmas Caper 10K
2/11/2012 Have a Heart 5K
3/17/2012 DC RNR Half Marathon
4/22/2012 10M Parkway Classic
10/28/2012 Marine Corps Marathon
1. My kid is hilarious (IMO) and, even at his brattiest, cracks me up on a daily basis.
2. We have a big enough house with a low mortgage but are also in a position to buy a future second house.
3. I work in a cool place. Not necessarily doing cool things on a daily basis, but still.
4. I love my family and actually enjoy spending time with them.
My husband and I have been together 12 years, and our relationship just gets better and better.
My daughter started sleeping through the night (8-12 hours per stretch) when she was like 4 weeks old. And the few times she wakes up in the middle of the night (sick or something), DH is the one that always gets her.
DH and I both just got new jobs with pretty big pay bumps.
I have a large group of friends that are all about happy hours, nights out, dinners and other social outings, in addition to keeping up the calls, texts and emails.
It's good to be me because:
1. I am hilarious.
2. I have great friends and an awesome family.
3. I love my husband and he loves me back.
4. I have two of the laziest Jack Russell Terriers ever, and I love them to pieces.
5. house, job, health, blah blah blah...
We make the rockin' world go 'round.
1. I am exactly where I want to be personally. I have always wanted a family/to be a mom and I love the one I got.
2. My DH has really stepped it up in the past year or so in regards to the household/kid stuff. I can honestly say he does at least half of it all now whereas when we first had kids I think it was more of a 75/25 split if I was being generous. He even mentions how I should not have to do all of the cooking responsibilities - planning, shopping and cooking since he does all dishwasher duty - so he is actually aware how much work it is. It is great to feel appreciated and part of a team.
3. My kids make me smile and bring me joy every single day.
4. I have a good job that I like and I am good at it. For the type of person that I am being good at it is really important to me and makes me happy. There was a recent change in management and I am finally feeling like they 100% trust me to do my job. I like being independent at work.
5. Even if we can't sell our current house and it will be tight financially, we are able to move to VA to be closer to work. This will give us even more time with family and friends and each other.
6. We are going on a Disney cruise with my sister and her family. This is going to be an awesome (if tiring) vacation with the kids.
7. I feel happy and fulfilled in my life.
ETA: These are all making me smile
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
Great question!
I have a happy and healthy family. I never knew the joys being a Mom would bring.
We have good jobs that pay well.
We can afford our house and all our bills.
We can afford to splurge at Wegman's
I see the future and it's showing me kids who sleep thru the night consistently and travel well, as well as don't mind staying w/ grandparents while DH & I travel (a few years down the road but I know it's coming).
great question!
1. My DH and DD are awesome! We have a great time together and it makes me very happy.
2. I have not cleaned a bathroom (or really cleaned much of anything) since 2007 because my DH is the greatest cleaner on the planet. Seriously, it rocks. (It has a downside sometimes but today I am only talking about the positive)
3. We both are paid well, have money in the bank and have relatively few stresses in that area.
4. My office has free food. Like, coffee, tea, juice, snacks, sodas, fresh fruit, cereal, chips, soy milk, almond milk, cookies, crackers, etc... It has saved me some serious cash.
5. My aunt lives at the beach and my dad is moving to a ski resort area of Vermont. Free vacations are awesome.
1. i'm really good at what i do. and i really, really like doing it. over the past 6 months i feel like i've really found my "voice" as a designer and it shows in my work. now, i may never get a job but i've kind of had an oprah-a-ha moment recently where my being proud about my work is all that really matters to me.
2. it's also good to be me b/c I have a husband, despite being a sick, that is willing to wash my son's puked-on bedding b/c I can't deal with the smell anymore.
and, finally,
3. my house is so cute. seriously, every time i come home I just get so happy.
I'll brag on myself - heck, why shouldn't we, when we're uually flaming ourselves?!
1. I am brilliant, and funny. Usually just in my own head, but sometimes other people tell me that, too (hello, promotion and "exceeds expectations" performance review!) so it must be true.
2. Even when I am not brilliant or funny, and esp when I am annoyingly OCD, my family still loves me. Esp my kids - I know that when I was 24, I wouldn't go out drinking with my mother, but I LOVE that my son will call me randomly to ask me out! (sure, that's bc I am paying, but still....) And my daughter is still my favorite movie date. (ok, John's okay, too....)
3. I have met a fantastic group of women on this board, going in my wayback machine to fall 2004, many of whom I now count as IRL friends. They are all brilliant and funny, too.
4. I am really good at my job (see #1) and now have a chance to "train" a new employee here so she can be just as respected as I am, in a few years. I love having the opportunity to mentor her for her future success, here or elsewhere. She is (truly) smart and funny and wonderfully energetic.
5. I love my dog, and the fat cat that will not die ever. I cannot imagine my life without pets that love me unconditionally. (Meh on the fish tank; you can't cuddle a fish.)
that's probably it for now, but this is a great question! I kinda feel like Stuart Smalley. "Because I'm worth it."
"What is a week-end?"
1) I'm in good health, as is my family.
2) I'm young. Though time seems to have sped up since college, I feel like I have so much ahead of me and so many opportunities.
3) My family is awesome. I have a patient, loving husband (got lucky on the first try- he's the only guy I ever dated), I'm very close with my parents, and I get along great with my in-laws.
4) I've been blessed with life long friends from my hometown that I still keep up with, as well as new friends here.
5) I have a good job and a great boss and coworkers.
ETA: And DH and I just became uncle and aunt for the first time yesterday! :-)
Planning Bio
1) I have a truly wonderful DH who is one of the kindest people I know, but also has a wicked sense of humor and is brilliant. And handsome. And over the last year, I've had the chance to see him be a truly phenomenal dad.
2) I have a healthy, happy, rambunctious almost 1 year old. I feel like I hit the jackpot with this kid.
3) While my family can drive me nuts, they love me, DH and DS more than anything.
4) I am really good at my job. Both at the day to day management stuff (although realistically there are things I could do better - like department budgets - yikes!) and the larger scale projects where I get the chance to be creative and entrepreneurial. I am frequently called upon to give input to my organization's national office about program implementation, and I have successfully implemented over half a million dollars in grant funded programming over the past 4-5 years, at least $200k of which was brought in because of projects I created or contacts I made.
5) Job, part 2. The other reason it's great to be me is that I work for an organization that really values working moms and my boss and our CEO are very understanding about work-life balance. I work very hard, but they also are very understanding when I need to take 3 days off after vacation because my son is sick, or when I need to reschedule a meeting because of pumping. I now try to model that kind of balance for my employees (who are all single and in their mid-20s, so they may not appreciate it, but I hope they do).
my husband is pretty damn cute and i love having him as my partner in crime
we're both healthy and have really great health insurance to (hopefully) keep us that way
i finally have a job i like with people who are not psychotic so for the first time since october 2007 i am not endlessly job hunting, worrying about a supervisor selling me up the river, and don't feel dread about going to work on a daily basis.
we're talking about a big trip for our 5th anniversary in september - something that was a huge maybe depending on my job situation
i've become a really good cook over the past four or five years (this is more a reason that it's good to be DH)
i have some of the absolute best girlfriends - they keep me sane and make me laugh. and one of them is a craft supply enabler (i love her for that)
I have a wonderful DH who is kind, compassionate, giving and incredibly gracious.
I have two LOs whom I love more than I thought possible, who make me laugh, bring me joy and who love me unconditionally. While it's sometimes hard being the center of their world, it is always rewarding and an incredible honor.
We are both gainfully employed, have decent retirement savings, and a cushion in case something goes awry.
I have really wonderful girlfriends and lifelong friends that I share my life with. They are so supportive, loving, and are truly my extended family.
My mom is one of my best friends. I love being with her and talking to her. She brings so much perspective to my life.
My nieces and nephews are multiplying which makes family get togethers so much more joyful.
I had no idea that I would be where I am a decade ago, and all I can think is that is so much better than I ever dreamed possible.
I love where I am in my life.
I have an amazing husband, who is incredibly supportive of me.
I made it through my health scare and cherish life more than ever.
DH and I live a simple, drama free existence and we are thrilled with it.
I have an incredible group of friends (Nesties included)
I am funny, smart, and a good story teller.
I did my nails last night and they look fabu!
1. DH could be Eric Benet's twin, and that doesn't suck. Plus, he's hilarious, smart, handy, charming, supportive, principled and driven. And he's an awesome dad.
2. We are raising a very happy, calm, sweet and snuggly boy. And that's not just me talking; people (other than family members) have made many comments about his consistently pleasant demeanor.
3. My chihuahua is the most non-yappy small dog you will ever meet. She only barks when people ring our doorbell/knocks on the door. She's also tolerant of an almost toddler that is very fascinated with her. She will always be my first "baby".
4. I can sew a mean dress/jacket/pants/stuffed animal/purse/wallet/pretty much anything that has a pattern. And I'm starting to learn about patternmaking.
5. While my job is not my ideal career, I'm good at it, and I've been recognized for the good work I've done both in awards ceremonies, and promotions.
6. At 33, I can still do the splits when I'm good and stretched.
great idea for a post! (even though I'm late to the party!)
1) I'll start with the superficial :-) my hair isn't turning gray yet and I really like my natural hair color. I used to get highlights and after a botched job, I thought "why am I doing this?" and decided to let everything grow out and wait until I start graying to color it again...that was about 5 years ago and I'm still gray free--yay!
2) After being together for 10 years, my DH and I still have a ton of fun together. Our brand of fun has changed dramatically since back then, but we always have a great time together. I definitely lucked out when he bought me that shot at Mister Days ;-) lol... And despite that beginning, he's really mature and while he's not perfect, he works hard at being a great husband and father and I sooooo appreciate it.
3) My two year old son is insane, but funny and adorable, too. I can't wait to go talk to him each morning to see what crazy thing he's going to come up with to talk about.
4) Also, thanks to DH we don't have huge money worries. We're not exactly rolling in cash (I wish!), but we have everything we need, most of the (reasonable) stuff we want and some left over for emergencies and splurging.
5) And finally, I rock because I have a bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles potato chips and I intend to eat all of them. And I don't give a f*ck about gaining weight because I'm already enormously pregnant. WOOHOO!!!!!!!