Well Here's a Huge Update

So what's it been? A hundred years? Five hundred? Something like that because I am certainly older (but no wiser) than the last time I thrust my words in your face. Well, here I am, again popping up out of nowhere. I figured I'd update anyone who's still hanging around. I also have a little request headed your way. Well, not a request per se but an opportunity.

Let's jump into it, shall we?

The first big news...
I'm engaged. I was going to start with I'm pregnant, but the engagement came first so we'll talk about that first. The short story is I started dating a pretty neat guy about two years ago and voila we decided we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. The longer story is we first met in third grade, our little sisters were best friends through elementary and middle school, and we reconnected many moons later and hit it off, then decided we wanted each other to stick around. The longer story - well, perhaps you'll have to wait for that one. I can't give it all away in one update post, can I? The main take home is he's really more than pretty neat, I love him a whole bunch, he's fantastic with A, he makes me laugh nonstop, and I'm a really lucky gal. And no, we haven't set a date for those wondering. It'll probably be a long engagement. And when I say long, I mean long.

Oh, so I mentioned I was pregnant. Yeah, that happened. So we got engaged in early September. At the end of September, he and I went to Harry Potter world in Universal (yes, I'm fully aware that's not the real name but I'll call it what I want). When we came home I started feeling a little weird (read: my boobs hurt like hell). October first I peed on a stick and there was that one single word. Pregnant. It wasn't a complete surprise. We weren't trying but also weren't not trying. We'd discussed it and thought it might be nice and I said if we were going to do it I wouldn't want to wait much longer because I didn't want to start trying after 30. I turned 30 in December. So that worked out. And now I am due with a little boy in June. Let's say this pregnancy has been a freakin' roller coaster. I'm beyond thankful the first trimester is over, but there are still so many emotions!

I also graduated grad school. I got my Master's y'all! In December, I not only turned 30, but I finished my Master's program. You can now call me Rachel Master-of-Writing Porto. I'm kidding... partially. But seriously, it was a huge accomplishment for me considering I'd had a hard time sticking to a program before I found the professional writing program and then I kinda fell in love with the program and didn't want to leave. My whole last semester I worked on a book proposal too, so that's a big new project that's going on in my life and something you guys could be really excited about if you happen to enjoy my writing... hint, hint.

Lastly, and here's where the opportunity comes in, especially for my fellow widowed ladies, I'm working on an awesome widow non profit called Widow Confidential. I met this really rad lady on the Idaho Military widow trip I went on in July. She has all these fantastic ideas and was designing this company to support widows and she graciously brought me on board. My job title is Content Program Director, so I basically handle all the word stuff - the website content, taking care of the writers, all that good stuff. It's a super opportunity and it's got me feeling all hashtag blessed.
I did mention a sort of request/opportunity and here's where I'll tell you a little about that. Being in charge of content and writers, it's also my job to find writers. We're still in the beginning stages, the website hasn't even completely launched yet. Before it does, I'd like to have a team ready. I'm looking for widows who are interested in writing. They could write a one time piece or be a recurring writer. Our goal is to have many perspectives. We don't want one widow (right now, me) writing the whole thing, we want the voices of everyone. We're looking for articles to fit these categories: work, play, home, sex/dating, self-care, as well as articles just for widows/by widows (like experience type essays) and widow/leadership feature pieces. Basically, how has widowhood affected those categories in your life? Learned a great way to cook for one? Have great travel tips for solo with children traveling? Want to share about a great or awful widowed spa trip? Those are the kinds of things we need. Every day things from widows' perspectives.
It's my hope that there is still a widow or two who checks my blog that might have a little inkling of interest, and if that's the case, please please email me at Rachel@widowconfidential.com and let's talk about getting started!

I think that's enough for you now. My plan is to be back more regularly. I miss you all <3 p="">