Transition from a Working Mom to a Work-at-Home-Mom!!

 usually don't write these kinds of posts, but since my journey has taken me down a different path, I thought I'd share!!

For those of you who know me, you know that for the past 4 years of my life I've been employed as a competition dance teacher/choreographer for the studio where my life in dance had begun over 25 years ago. Although I've grown to love my job and the girls that I taught (we've become so close and they're all like younger sisters to me!), this chapter of my life had to come to an end (due to changes in the babysitter situation and my husband's demanding work schedule).  On the positive note, we ended our dance year with great success at a local dance competition and a wonderful recital where I had the priviledge of seeing off some of my older girls in what was their last recital as well. It was definitely bitter sweet!!

So, that leaves me to where I am now. I am officially a Work-At-Home-Mom (WAHM) now!! My husband still has his demanding work schedule between his full-time and part-time jobs, but at least now we have the blessing of having me at home to care for, raise, and love our 2-year-old son.  So far we've been able to stick to our tight budget, squeeze every penny for what it's worth, and still have a mostly enjoyable family life.

When I'm not cooking from scratch, racing matchbox cars with my son, tending to my vegetable garden, or "getting my craft on" as my friend Shauna puts it, you will find me working my at-home businesses.  I feel truly blessed that God has opened these doors for me, for without them I wouldn't have been able to bring in the little extra income over the past month or so in order to make things work for us financially. As most of you know, I am an Independent Senior Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and also the Event Coordinator for the Eastern PA Mommy Bags of Mommy Bag Marketing, Inc.  (I don't normally use my blog posts to promote my businesses but in this one case I encourage you to check out both links in case I can help you or someone you know!! Both of my businesses are based on referrals so if you can pass the info along to a friend I'd definitely appreciate it!!).  You can find the fan pages I created for each at the bottom of this blog if you're interested in giving me a "follow". 

So, that's that! Even though I've been on this new path for a little less than a month already, I still wake up every morning feeling amazed and blessed that I am officially a WAHM!! Nothing beats being there for my son almost every second of the day, and being able to work from home with businesses that allow me to put God and family above career!!

With that, I'm going to close this post with one of my favorite Bible verses that I find relevant to my current situation:

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." ~ Isaiah 66:13 (NIV)

~ Recipe of the Week ~

~ * Lemon Pepper Zucchini Pasta * ~

I harvested my first, descent-sized zucchini from my vegetable garden the other day and decided to cook it up for supper. I learned how to make this quick and easy meal from a dear lady whom I rented from and enjoyed getting to know ~ Eleanor Lowe!! So it is to her I give all props to for this yummy meal!!

Preparation and Cook Time: 20 - 30 minutes

Ingredients
(Since this was a hands-on recipe, I don't have exact measurements for ingredients, so the best advice I can give is to add the seasonings in amounts that you will enjoy!!)

1 zucchini
1 box of spaghetti (or type of noodles that you prefer)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 to 2 diced cloves of garlic
1 to 3 scallions diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of lemon juice (not necessary unless you want a little extra zing!)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
1.) Boil water in a 2 - quart sauce pan. Add spaghetti noodles and cook until tender.

While noodles are cooking:

2.) Slice zucchini into slices no bigger than 1/4 inch in thickness, then cut each slice in half or in quarters (depending on how big you want your zucchini pieces).
** Leave skin on zucchini pieces for an added bonus of vitamins and nutrients! **

3.) Melt butter in a frying pan and add zucchini pieces and the diced garlic and scallions.

4.) When the vegetables start to become tender, add salt, garlic powder and lemon pepper seasoning.

5.) Drain noodles and return to sauce pan.

6.) Add zuccini mixture to noodles in sauce pan and mix well. (*Here is where you would also add in the lemon juice). Cook on medium to low heat for about 5-10 minutes so that the noodles soak up the flavorings from the seasonings and nutrients from the vegetables.

7.) Serve with grated parmesan cheese on top, and perhaps some fresh garlic bread.

Let me know if you try this recipe, and how you like it! Enjoy!!