Gentleman Homemaker

This year has been one filled with a lot of ups and downs already.  It has been surprise after surprise, some good and some not so good.  One thing I've felt impressed to do this year is start dating again.  Last year I slowed down my dating a lot.  It wasn't just my dating that slowed down, it was my social life in general.  I was enjoying staying home quite a bit, even on the weekends when my kids were gone.  Jammies and scary movies became my norm on weekends.  At the first of the year I started to have a strong desire to date again.  It seemed like an odd time because I was also feeling inspired to look towards a move out of state, but when I'm prompted to do something, I do it.  I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason AND I know that Heavenly Father sees the bigger pictures while we're stuck only seeing what's happening right now.

One night at about 1am I was tossing and turning for no apparent reason and out of the blue I was struck with the thought that I needed to change my dating profile.  My profiles are always fun and creative and get a lot of attention, but this idea was so unique it was quite amazing.  It was a very detailed job posting for the position of being my boyfriend.  It spelled out the qualifications someone one would need, the duties the job would entail, must haves and benefits of the position.  I got more messages and interest and compliments on it than I ever imagined.  I started going on dates and opening myself up to the idea of being in a relationship again, which is something I hadn't had a desire for in a year. 

My favorite response came from a cute local guy telling me he was "overqualified" in every aspect for the job and that he'd like to schedule a phone interview to further discuss the position.  Being very confident myself, his confidence was drawing to me.  Eric and I talked for a couple of weeks over the phone, had Sunday dinner together with my three kids and his four, spent a lot of time talking, texting, bouncing ideas off of each other, spending time with each others kids and then we decided to stop dating other people and get to know each other better exclusively.

I am amazed by this incredible man so I thought I'd introduce him to you.  Eric is a full time father to four boys who are 4, 6, 10 and 13.  He has had some amazing successes and some pretty intense set-backs in his life and especially over the last year, but his cheerful attitude and endless positive energy are infectious.  We are alike in a way that is complimentary to each other... We really balance each other out.  I want you to get to know him and his boys as my children and I get to know them.  I've never done this before on my blog, but he is really special.  Eric has started a blog that I will be co-authoring with him.  It's called the Gentleman Homemaker and I encourage you to check it out.

I spent a lot of time over this past weekend with Eric and his boys while my kids were at their dad's house.  We laughed, we cried, we plotted and planned and it was an fantastic couple of days.  I thought I'd share a couple of pics I took over the weekend so you can put faces to names.

Clark

Ian

Caleb 

(yes, we BOTH have 10 year old Calebs!)

and Austin

My blogland friends are like family to me so if you have any questions for Eric, feel free to post them and he will be more than happy to answer them (((hugs)))