Last Day :(

I've known for a long time that my insurance would terminate at the end of March, due to me not meeting the hours requirement during the fall.  I decided to have my last day be March 1st so that the insurance would carry through to the end of the month.

My store had a change in management and a lot of the employees left at the same time so the last few months have been crazy.  There have been a ton of new hires and even though I'd only been there a year, I was one of the veterans...weird!  Due to so many new people wanting hours and me not really needing (or really wanting...) a ton, the new manager was only scheduling me for 4-8ish hours a week during the end of January and February.  So when my last day came, it wasn't really a big deal shock to not be working anymore.

I didn't actually get scheduled on the 1st so I had to take someone else's shift.  I was able to get an opening shift from 4:30-9:30 so I could open with my favorite shift manager, Sydney, one last time.  She has been a huge supporter of me during this journey and also is just really good at her job so I obviously liked working with her ;)

It was a regular Friday morning, with all the regulars coming in for their morning coffee and pastries. The biggest decision I had to make was what would be my last free food markout!  I ended up opting for a blueberry oatmeal.

The last day at any job usually comes with mixed emotions and this one was no different.  I'm grateful to be done with the 4:30am shifts and really grateful to be done with 8 hour shifts on my feet all weekend.  I'm grateful I won't come home smelling like stale coffee anymore (and Nate is so grateful of this as well)!

But, I'm sad to be leaving this place that's given me so much.  And I'm sad to be leaving the people that have become my family.  Each one of them is so special to me and has lifted me and cared about me through a difficult year.  Every one of them, from the 16 year old high schoolers to the grandma of the group, has a unique situation and story, as do we all!

Cousin Twins

We left my parent's house on Christmas Eve to go spend a couple of days with Nate's family at his parent's cabin.  The first night there, we were all standing around the kitchen talking and his brother announced that they were pregnant with baby #6!  We still hadn't told his brother that we were pregnant so Nate ran upstairs to grab our ultrasound picture and announced that we were too!

We discovered we are due within days of each other so it will be fun to have cousins the same age.

Making Grandparents

We decided to wait until Christmas to tell our families about the pregnancy.  Nate's parents we ended up seeing on the 15th for the weekend so we were able to tell them then, and then we told mine on Christmas Eve.

These are the onesies I got as gifts to tell each of our parents.

This will be grandchild #18 on Nate's side but #1 on my side!

We told Nate's parents while we were out at dinner with just them.  We wrapped it up as an early Christmas gift and they were definitely surprised!

For Christmas, we went to my house late Friday night but didn't tell my parents until Monday morning when we exchanged gifts as a family.  I wanted it to be a complete surprise, and it was!  They were a little upset I waited until we were leaving (we went to see Nate's family Monday afternoon) but I think we were forgiven ;).

I feel so much better now that our families know and it doesn't have to be a secret!  I know we waited longer than most people to tell their parents but I wanted to do it in person and Christmas was the first chance we had.  Now we can slowly start telling friends.