Thursday will be my last day at Fox Toledo. I decided to leave after being here for nearly 5 years. It was a difficult decision … But one that was best for my family. I hope to fill in, when others are one vacation, and maybe even return to Fox Toledo in the years to come.

Everyone keeps asking me if I will miss being a reporter. It’s hard to know how I will feel about leaving the television business next week or months down the line. I know when I am watching breaking news from home or a big court case unfolds I will wish I was there covering it. I know I will miss learning information first and getting it out to our viewers in Northwest Ohio. I will miss my daily stops at the Toledo Police Department to dig up stories and talk with my contacts. And I will miss the creativity behind writing and putting a story together for our viewers.

But there are a few things I definitely won’t miss. I will not miss doing my hair and make-up daily. And I will not miss getting home just in time to put my daughter to bed, and barely spending time with her.

With anything, you take the good with the bad. Being a reporter has been such a rewarding experience, and if there was enough time in the day I would keep my job at Fox Toledo. But my hope is to take a break from the business now and one day if the stars align make a return to the airwaves.

Tomorrow I will be packing the family up for a trip to Disney World.  With the airline charging $25 dollars a bag I am hoping to get all our belongings in two bags. 

I like to be over prepared, and would rather have a couple more outfits for myself and my daughter then not enough.  So the plan is to pack in two suitcases, and we will all have to lug carry ons on the plane with us.  The days of stuffing everything in teh checked bags and walking on the plane empty handed are long gone I guess.

It started with hitting and pinching her friends at school as well as my husband and I.  Now she has started saying “I hate you,” anytime she doesn’t get her way.  That lovely phrase comes along with a mean face and crossed arms.  She has transformed into a “mean girl.”

I began taking things away from her every time she says that lovely phrase … like her barbies, or her blanket.  But nothing seems to work.

I feel I raised her better and am praying this is just a phase.  Any other parent’s deal with their 3 year olds lashing out?  Any advice?

1.  Nothing matters more then your loved ones.  Your house is just a structure that is suppose to keep you safe, but even when that is gone, it’s your family that you need most to move ahead with in your life.  I became close with a woman named Stacey after interviewing her.  I later noticed her walk  over the debris in her front yard to her husband and they embraced in front of their half standing house.  That gesture made me realize just how important family is especially during tragedy.

2. I have too much stuff.  We all have a place we live and we fill it with things we feel are important for our life…From furniture, to decorations, and cloths, and keep sakes.  When they our in our home or when we move we feel we can’t live without them … but after a tornado rips through your house everything is gone.  Those hit by the tornado have thier belongings piled high on the curb.  I spent a lot of time walking Main Street looking at what was now trash … it made me realize that I have too much stuff in my house, and if a storm tore my home away, I could part with mostly everything inside … and start over.  It makes me almost want to go through my stuff and get rid of it.

This will be my first trip this year, I am looking forward to it.  It will be nice to getaway without my daughter and just relax the next couple days. 

I am sure this will be the first of a couple trips this summer!

I have had a Blackberry for years, and could not imagine my life without it.  It really helps me out when I am in the field reporting .  I’m able to get e-mails and having access to the web. 

My sister just got the new Droid from Verizon and loves it.  I am a little nervous to switch over.  So I was wondering if anyone out there has made the switch and if they were glad they did so.

My husband and I are so excited to take our daughter Mazie.  She is three-years-old and is of course into all the Disney princesses and Mickey and friends. 

I have been to Disney World several times as a child and a couple times as an adult, so I thought planning a trip would be no big deal.  Wow was I wrong.  It is amazing how things have changed over the course of a couple years. 

There are so many things you have to consider …. do you want to prepurchase a meal plan, how many days will you hit the parks, what parks will you go to, will you want to go to one theme park a day, where to stay, and then you even have to book all your sit down dinners ahead of time! 

Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of fun planning this trip.  I don’t think I have ever looked so forward to a vacation … because we are doing it for my daughter … I can’t wait to see her face when we dine with Cinderella at her castle or meet Mickey and Miney.  It will definitely be a trip of a lifetime.

But please if you have any suggestions on where to go, what to do or what not to do … please send it my way.  The more I know before we go the better!

We will fight the crowds and head there Saturday.  can’t wait to see the little one play.

So now we aren’t using the door at all. I would hate for the nest to fall.  But pretty amazing to see how birds can build nests in the most unusual place.

I need 45 bags of mulch to get around all the landscaping at my house.  And the last thing I want to do is haul the bags of mulch to my house and not be able to complete the project.  So I’m shooting for next weekend.

This year I decided to only plant flowers in my pots.  In years past I have planted a border of impatience around the front of my house.  I think I want something a little simpler this year, so I’m going to buy some new planters to add to the ones I already have and try to add color to my yard with just potted plants … wish me luck …for next weekend!