Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted.  I took my last two blog entries and really began to apply them to my life.  I began to move on and find peace for myself. 

I finally finished college.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Counseling Psychology degree.  I started working as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor.  It has it's down sides every once in awhile, but it makes me feel amazing to know that out of all the people I see daily, every once in awhile, I do make a difference.

I can't believe how much my little one has grown in the past year.  She started walking at 8.5 months, we took away her binky at 9 months, and she's been bottle free since 10 months.  She's now a holy terror.  Getting into everything.  Nothing tops the couple of days where she was so facinated with taking food out of the trash can and eating it.  I think the topper to this was she was refusing to eat anything else given to her at the time.  I love walking hand in hand with her, it makes me remember why I wanted to be a Mommy so bad (especially when she gives me plenty of reasons for why I never wanted to be a mommy, hee hee).  There are so many moments where I just sit back and realize that she's mine.  AJ and I created her.  She is by far the greatest thing in my life.

AJ and I have attempted to buy a home in the last few months.  However, with the insanity that seems to be our lives, we have opted to wait another year or two.  The plus side of this is if we wait, we should be able to save enough that we could build our own!  That'd be super exciting!  Our relationship has been rocky here and there a few times, however, since he started working day shift it has become so much better.  His relationship with Ri alone has become so much better. 

It's funny that as soon as you let grudges go, forgive your past, allow yourself to heal, and give yourself time to breathe everything seems to be better.  It's all about taking the baby steps.  The baby steps are hard to take at first, slowing your life down never seems to be a possibility.  But when you begin to slow down, you look back on all the good things that have come from all the negatives and it makes your life just that much more brighter.

"There is nothing in a catepiller that tells you it is going to be a butterfly."  -  R. Buckminster Fuller