Life really can move forward!

I'll just jump right into things, shall I?  As I have said before, I was so glad to move past last year.  It was a really bad year, but I'm not quite sure what I thought this year would hold, and I'm not quite sure I could have predicted what has already occurred. 

We have finished all of our paperwork for our St. Vincent adoption, including USCIS fingerprints.  Now we wait.  Wait.  Wait.  I know we have moved forward and things are progressing...but on the adoption/kids front, I can't really tell a difference in our lives between 3 years ago (did I really just type 3 years?) and now. 

Earlier this year I told Paul about how stuck I feel.  How I feel like nothing has changed in our lives.  I have told him and some friends that something has to give.  I'm either going to get a tattoo, dye my hair purple, or cut it all off.  Well, life is gradually changing and for the better. 

I was talking with this girl from church one day and said, "Come over, let's play in makeup and talk about baby woes."  She did and we talked for 3 hours about everything under the sun, I think.  I told her about how I just feel so useless sometimes.  I quit work 5 years ago so we could have kids and start a family.  Well, that worked out real well.  So, here I am at home feeling like I'm not contributing to the family.  I guess I contribute by keeping the underwear and dishes clean.  How glamorous!  This girl ended up inviting me to her Mary Kay meeting and tried to recruit me to sell.  HaHa!  What is she thinking?  Now, I love makeup but I don't know how to use it and I am definitely no salesperson.  I even came home and laughed with Paul about how funny it was that someone could think this was for me.  For some reason, though, it wouldn't leave my mind.  We talked about it over the next few days, back and forth, how silly the idea was and then how maybe it could be a good thing.  I did it.  I took the plunge and became a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant.  I was going to sell makeup...or so I thought.  I went to the meeting and heard them all talk about "enriching women's lives" and all that jazz.  I thought, "bah, whatever, we sell makeup and I'm going to pay off some debt, end of story."  Then I had a few parties and facials.  I saw women walk in carrying themselves one way and walk out carrying themselves another way.  As I have worked, I have felt the change in myself.  I have become more confident (still a little awkward but it is building).  I have taken more pride in my appearance, which had also built my confidence, and I don't feel so stuck anymore.  Mary Kay is giving me the opportunity to contribute to my family and still be here for them.  I can be ready to go at a moments notice when we get our referral and not have to ask for time off from a boss or make sure someone will cover my workload.  You know how everyone has debt...mortgage, credit cards, student loans, failed adoption, etc.  Well, now because of Mary Kay, the weight of that doesn't have to sit solely on my husband's shoulders and I didn't have to choose between family and career.  In fact, the company doesn't want me to choose.  They actively promote Faith First, Family Second, Career Third.  Ok, ok, I know you are thinking I turned my blog into a Mary Kay commercial.  I guess you would be right but I am very excited about the possibilities that Mary Kay holds for us.

I know some of my friends probably think I am crazy.  They probably think I am just another corny Mary Kay lady, but that is ok.  I have met a lot of other Mary Kay consultants since signing and I am happy to be one of them.  I have never seen them exhibit a negative attitude.  They are always encouraging.  They are always building each other up and not tearing down.  Women don't do that.  You put us in a room together and we will rip each other to shreds...but not here.  I could go on and on but I won't. 

So, that is what's happening in our lives right now.  While the adoption/kid front is still in slow motion, I have decided to move forward in a new direction.  I'm helping women, either by giving them a product that they love and that makes them more beautiful than they already are, or by telling them about this wonderful opportunity to live the life about which they have always dreamed.