Christmas Day

It did finally happen, hubby worked a Christmas Day, and we survived...

It wasn't ideal, and it did suck.  But it comes with the job and there is nothing I can do about it. He did come home 2 times, he had his dinner (not with us because we were already done) and it was nice for the family and friends to still see him even though it was brief.

What are some ways you deal with your significant other working holidays and birthdays? I'd imagine this will not be the last time he works on Christmas Day or any other holiday for that matter.

-Proud Wifey

Changes for the wifey

For most all of my adult working life I have been around the Real Estate business. I started when I was 20 years old in a title department at First American Title Co of Napa. It was there that I learned a great deal and really became very interested in the real estate industry. I moved on to the escrow department which was my favorite position at First American. 

 Then kids and family life happened, so I left First American after  9 great years. I took a part time job at a State Farm Insurance office and it served it's purpose for 5 years. I was able to be a mom first and not worry about work or commuting to work. As the kids grew I knew that I needed to start thinking about something else, I loved who I worked for at State Farm, but insurance was not for me. I needed to get back to Real Estate. I went to work with a great friend in property management, it didn't take too long before I knew that was not for me either! I began working as a transaction coordinator for a real estate office. This was awesome, I felt like myself again, it was like I was back in escrow! While doing this job though I realized that I had so much more potential, an assistant was just not who I was. First of all, I like to be the boss always! :/   I am driven, I am motivated, and now 15 years later, I am educated in this industry! The hubby has always urged me to sell real estate. I had a real estate license and every time a family member or friend was involved in a real estate transaction I was a phone call away for advise or my "two sense" when needed.  But the thought of long evenings, working  weekends and inconsistent pay just didn't really sound like a good gig for me. But as I worked the transaction coordinator position it really opened my eyes to my own potential and I realized it wasn't exactly what I thought. I can make my own hours. After much thought and discussion with the hubby I went and talked with the broker. And just like that, the very next month I was selling real estate! 

In my first 9 months I closed 11 transactions and earned the recognition of "rookie of the year"! I was blown away by the immediate success. This rarely happens in real estate. New agents can be lucky to close 3-4 transactions in their 1st year! I am so grateful,  I have the best family and friends. I had so much support and referrals right away. It was a great year! 

-Proud Wifey (and now Realtor)

Livin' the dream....

 In September 2015 Hubby was offered the job of a police officer in our hometown.  All of his hard work, perseverance and patience had paid off.  This is when our favorite catch phrase "livin' the dream" became kind of our thing. I had worked part time allowing me to be with the kids more, but it also allowed me to take day trips to the beach and such. HE often would give me a bad time about "living the dream" Well now, he truly DOES LIVE THE DREAM. 

 He's wanted to be a police officer for as long as I have known him and he often talked about coming to work in the town he grew up in, but I never supported it and he supported me in that decision. You can imagine his excitement when I did give my "ok" to move forward with applying.( you can read a bit more about this in the previous post)  I knew from the moment he applied he would get the job. His work ethic is solid, he shows up early, does what he's told and leaves late if necessary. He's a local boy and he worked in a different department of the city for 12 years before law enforcement and they loved him there too.  There was no doubt he was coming home to work and I needed to get prepared for this. Which I did, I think...more to come on that!  

For now I get to joke with him that HE lives the dream, especially when he's off to a training which includes driving a car really fast, shooting guns, hanging around all the guys, etc.. It's every mans dream I am sure! 

The truth is, we are both "livin' the dream", I love my life just the way it is. 

-Proud Wifey

 

It's been a LONG while!... over 3 years to be exact!

It's been a LONG while!... over 3 years to be exact!

So much has happened in my time away from the blog.  Hubby made a department change, I made a job change and we bought a house... just to name a few.....

 Hubby has been with his new department for over a year now. This move was necessary for our family life and our marriage.  The commute was wearing on both of us (him especially) and the dept that hired him and put him thru the academy has their officers begin in the jail, like many county law enforcement departments do.  This was a great learning experience for both of us. He very much enjoyed his time there, met lots a wonderful people and really grew in his law enforcement career. Hubby had no interest however in staying in a jail for his career. He always wanted to be a police officer on the streets. So I knew he would end up patrolling streets, I just didn't want him in the city where he was in the jail.  So he began putting in applications to make a move to a dept closer to home and to patrol the streets. 

 It was a dream and long term goal for him to work in the town where he grew up.  Unfortunately for me, it wasn't my first pick because we raise our family there.  I had heard so many stories, and I of course had my own stories of horror in my mind. Along the application process with the other departments he applied  I spoke to so many officers, officers wives and so on about him working in the town we live in.   The main consensus was that it was not a problem and all had lots of wonderful things to say.  There are many officers that live and work in the town we live in.  Although not so small any more, it still feels like a small town where everybody knows each other some way or some how.  In all my conversations there was one thing that stuck out to me and I called Hubby that day to give him the "OK" to move forward with his application in our hometown.  A fellow police wife and friend said, "He WILL work Christmas, some day. At least if he's in town he can come home for dinner." This was huge for me.  As you may have read in previous posts Christmas is my favorite holiday and it's one that we always host as well.  Up to this point we had probably been the luckiest law enforcement family EVER, for his first 3 years he didn't work a Christmas.   

So it was decided, he would apply to work in the town we live.....He was very excited about this but I had my reservations.