New Direction and BlogHop '10

Pensieve is hosting a Bog Hop, which is a great way to get your blog out there and meet some new bloggy friends. This is the 3rd year she is hosting one. I've participated in Blog Hops before but this is the first time I'm joining in on hers.

In addition, she has a lot of great giveaways on her site this weekend so head on over and see if anything grabs your eye.

For those of you who have been to my site before you may have noticed the name change. I originally started this blog last year and was focusing on the fact that I'm a Military Spouse. Well, I am much more than that :) hence the name change. I felt "The Calm Before the Storm" really illustrates how my life has been over the past 10 years. It especially fits now that we're preparting for a new arrival in November.

So... about me... I'm a thirty-something IT professional living the married life on the East Coast. I have a touch of random OCD that sometimes gets me in trouble, but most of the time gets me made fun of :) I enjoy photography and recently got back into my cross stitching. And you probably don't want to ask me about my putties because I can talk about them for hours!

I moved to NYC in 2000 from Michigan after graduating from college with a couple of friends. We had no job and no home so that first year was pretty tough but we made it through. I learned a lot about myself during that time that I probably never would have. I definitely learned to stand up for myself because if you don't do that here you will get walked all over.

I started work in 2001 for a small Electronic Payments consulting firm in their Quality Control department 2 weeks before the events of 9/11. Our office was right across the street from the Trade Center. We all learned alot about our dedication and perseverence during that time. I still work for the same company, but we are now a part of a well known international corporation. I also worked my way up through the ranks and am now a Manager with the Project Management department with 7 employees reporting directly to me. My job is mentally taxing most days but I enjoy it. I hope to start pursuing a grad degree next year and sitting for the Project Management Profession (PMP) exam as well.

In 2005, I met Freddy, who through a lot of effort and dedication, convinced me that we belonged together. Freddy is a member of the Army National Guard so I quickly learned that the Army comes first even if it means almost missing your own wedding reception! He loves the Army more than anything else and I'm pretty confident he will continue to renew his contract until they tell him he can't :) Freddy and I were married on October 25, 2008.

In 2006, we adpopted our first furbaby, C-Lo. She was already 2 - 3 years old and we had no idea what her history was. It took almost a year before she was fully comfortable with both of us but now she rules the house.

In 2007, we brought Hadley and Harley into the family. My friend found both of them as tiny kittens in the parking lot behind her building. They both had eye infections and had been taken from their mother way too soon. So she nursed them back to health. She already had two cats so we offered to take them since we were planning to get a friend for C-Lo anyway. Now they're both 20 pounders and, aside from a film on their eyes, show no signs of being sick as kittens.

And last, but not least :), we are expecting our first human baby in November. It is still not real for us but November will be here before we know it!