The Clayton Family Chronicles: Let's Get it Started!

Well, I'm back. I know, I know, I have made this statment several times before but part of the reason I didn't enjoy updating my blog was how blah it looked. Thank you, Whitney for the much needed inspiration and blog facelift!

Where do I begin? Since my last post we've celebrated several major holidays, renovated and moved into our new house, taken a beach trip and a new job, and ran my first half marathon. Whew! Here goes nothing...

Last post I showed pictures of the house we purchased. It needed a ton of work. The pictures were pretty deceptive. We painted every wall, replaced carpet, lighting fixtures, sink faucets, added a tile backsplash along with several other updates (thank you, Pinterest). The best part? We did it all all by ourselves! Well, we have help from my aunt and uncle but we didn't hire out any of the work. It's so nice to look around and say "we did this." We still have several projects on our list but who doesn't? I have been so impressed with Brett. He's been a carpenter, painter, tile layer, plumber, electrician, landscaper...you name it, he's learned how to do it.
I don't have the "after" pictures yet. I keep forgetting to take them when the house is really clean and let's face it, that isn't very often with two little girls running around:)

We moved into our house the week after Christmas. We are enjoying our new location. It is just far enough outside of the city and covenient to everything we need. After all this work and moving 3 times in the past 2 years, I 'm pretty sure we are here for a while.

Instead of boring you with the details of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter I'll just post a few pics. Pretty sure I couldn't remember details at this point anyway!:)

For the past 4 months, I have been searching for jobs. It has been a long, discouraging, humbling experience. I haven't worked full-time since June 2009. The cost of daycare for 2 is RIDICULOUS!! I wish someone would pay me that much to take care of my children. Needless to say, nothing was working out. The job either didn't pay enough money for me to justify working and putting the girls in daycare of it would take me 45 minutes (without traffic) to get there. Discouraging!!
About 6 weeks ago, my new friend, Danielle, introduced me to a company called Melaleuca. I'd never heard of the company but trusted her opinion so I checked them out. They are a health and wellness company that manufacture products that people use every day in their home (cleaners, detergents, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, vitamins, baby needs, etc) but without the harsh chemicals and a wholesale price. I decided to not only become a customer but also a business builder. I began mid-March as a Marketing Executive and just Monday made it to Director all while staying at home with the girls! All I do is educate people about the company and my favorite products...so simple! It has been really nice to have something else to focus on for a change. Not that I don't love being a SAHM but I needed something for me. A special shout out to my family and friends that have listened to me talk about this and watched the webcast. A special, special shout out to those of you who have trusted me enough to try out the products!

We took a family beach vacation at the end of March to Gulf Shores with Brett's family. The girls and I went down a week early and stayed with my sister-in-law and the kiddos in Fairhope. It was the best vacation we've had by far. The girls LOVED the beach and the sand. They played and played and played. It actually seemed like a vacation!

I began training with Fleet Feet back in January for the Country Music Half Marathon. I had planned to train/run this race a few years back but then our sweet Ryleigh suprised us:) It was a vigurous training program and took up every Saturday morning for the past 12 weeks. Well, last weekend was the race. Lucky for me, there was a stomach bug going around our house. It started with Hannah, then Ryleigh, then Brett and then guess who got it Saturday morning at 6am before the race? Yep, you guessed it. It was horrible. I made three pit stops during the race which was so discouraging...I.had.no.choice. I was so glad to see that finish line. I finished after 2 hours and 43 minutes of misery BUT I can say I've done a half marathon. I'm hoping to run another one in October so I should at least be able to beat my previous time:)

The girls are growing up so fast! Hannah will be three in 2 months...crazy! She is so bright and funny but has given the "terrible two's" a new definition. OMG, what a rough 10-12 months it has been. She is as strong willed as they come and it has been one of the most challening years of my life. I know that later in life this is going to work in her favor but for now it just makes for a long day/week/month/year:) I think this is the Lord's way of reminding me that I need time with him daily. In fact, one day I was crying/praying "Lord, please help me.Please help me!" and Hannah walked in. So now every time she blesses the food or prays before bedtime she begins with "Lord, please help me." Isn't that all He wants from us any way?

Ryleigh is 20 months now and is BUSY! She never sits still, always into something, Her vocabulary has really taken off in the past month. She probably says 20 words and has begun putting phrases together. She loves to cuddle and put on a show. She is our little clown.

Well, this is more than I've blogged EVER I think. This post is dedicated to Whitney who made me promise to update more since she worked on my page.