Alright, time to get personal y’all. The past year has been an absolutely crazy ride, as many of you know! I have some AMAZING news that I really want to share with you guys, but before I can share, I have to give you some backstory. To be honest, I have been keeping the backstory under wraps on social media… but I think that a lot of people will be able to relate. While I do share a fair amount of personal stuff on social media, I don’t usually share the not-so-great and the not-so-pretty stuff. So instead of just sharing the good news, I’m going to lay it all out!

After graduating from Virginia Tech in December of 2016, I moved back to Fredericksburg to start my new job at the financial advisory firm Cary Street Partners. My at-the-time boyfriend, Alfred, was living in Long Island working at his parents business, and we were dating long distance. Around April, Alfred got a job offer at a company that works on the naval base in Dahlgren, Virginia! The plan was for him to move down at the beginning of the summer and begin working in July. The only catch – he had to get his government clearance.

Clearances were taking anywhere from 3-6 months to get at the time, so we were hoping that he would be able to start in July, or by October at the very latest. In the mean time he was going to work at his parents business in Long Island to help save up some money.

May came and went, June came and went, and finally it was July… and we heard nothing about his clearance. During this time we had found out we were pregnant, told our friends & family, and we got engaged! While we were so so excited, we were also incredibly nervous… not only because we were so young, but because Alfred was still waiting on his clearance!

Throughout this whole time we were still long distance, which became incredibly hard on me while my hormones started going crazy & my pregnant belly started becoming more and more noticeable. We finally made the decision (meaning I finally put my foot down!) to have Alfred move to Virginia at the end of July and find any job he could while we were waiting for his clearance.

He first started working at Gold’s Gym and then switched to an entry level job at Sheetz (the gas station) not long after. That was at the beginning of September… and we still had heard nothing. October & November came and went, and finally it was December – and Ellie was born!! Life was chaotic, holidays were coming up, and we were still on pins and needles having heard nothing.

For ten months we waited for his clearance, and for six months he worked at Sheetz. He worked an entry level job that he could have gotten in high school… even though he has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. That was until last week, when he FINALLY got his clearance!!! He starts his new job this Thursday, and we cannot be more thrilled!!

So first, I want to say a huge thank you to my incredible husband who put his family above his pride, and never complained about it for a second. He could have so easily refused to work a ‘menial’ job. He could have so easily felt sorry for himself and complained about it, but never did. Instead he helped provide for his family and always came home with a big smile on his face, cooked me dinner when I was too tired to myself, and stayed up countless nights with our baby girl so that I could get some sleep. And that is something I will never be able to thank him enough for.

Second, I want to let you guys know that no matter what phase you are in in your life, you can get through it. And it doesn’t have to be terrible! From the outside, it may sound like these past few months should have been not so fun for us. But with Alfred, life is ALWAYS fun! I wouldn’t give up these past six months in our life for anything. With that being said, we are SO excited for this next chapter together, and I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated!

Thanks for reading & I hope you guys enjoyed this!

xo Kirby

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