More About the Owner of Beaded Royalty

The Rest of My Family
My husband is Doug and we have been married for 7 years. We dated 5 years before that so we have been together a long time. He is a Network Engineer and has more IT certifications than you can count on both hands. We have 4 computers networked at home and he can play his friend at PlayStation  online. It is all WAY above my head!

We have 2 English Springer Spaniels named Maggie and Mindy. Maggie is 7 1/2 years old. When I am upset, she is the one who comes over and licks my face to let me know someone cares. Mindy is 5 years old and is the resident nutcase! She give new meaning to the name "Springer" Spaniel as she can spring 5 feet in the air and touch her nose to yours when she is excited. Here is a picture of my "girls".  Maggie is on the left and Mindy is on the right:



My Hobbies
I started skiing again last winter.  I skied enough in high school and college that I was routinely skiing on the expert slopes.  I hadn't skied since I met my husband because he wasn't interested.  I went back for exercise and a new challenge and I love it!  My son is almost 3 and I will be taking him with me this year.  Hopefully he will enjoy it and we can ski together.

I love gardening and my flower gardens are one of my biggest achievements.  When we moved into our house, the front had a number of evergreen trees and the white river rock instead of mulch.  I removed all the rocks by hand, enlarged the gardens and planted perennials.  I finally got bulbs in last fall and the spring was spectacular.  I just love going through my garden after the winter and seeing things start to pop through the new layer of mulch.  I split all my perennials for the first time last fall and as you can see, everything filled in nicely.  Here is a picture from Summer 2007:



My Other Jobs
I do medical writing on a contract basis for a small firm in Harrisburg.  I am very excited to be working in the pharmaceutical industry again.  I enjoyed my work before my son was born and now that I can do it again (from home) I am just thrilled!

I take care of a little girl Monday-Thursday during the day.  Her mom is an engineer and was lucky enough to reduce her work schedule to 4 days a week when she had her daughter.  Joshua and Brynn are only 7 weeks apart so it is like having twins during the day.  It sounds like a lot of work, but in reality it is nice to have a playmate for Joshua.  They get along really well and she is a really sweet kid.

It's funny, when someone asks me what I do, I say I am a stay-at-home mom, but I actually have more "jobs" than I did before I had my son.  The hardest thing about being a work-at-home mom (WAHM) is that I feel like I am never "off".  My work is always right there in front of me or piling up in the laundry basket.  However, the best thing about being a WAHM is that I get to be with my son all the time.  I have seen each of his milestones personally (some of them not-so-fun!). 

So there you have it - "the rest of the story".  I like to know something about the companies I do business with, so hopefully this helps you feel comfortable buying from me.  I have been in the bracelet-making business for 2 years and can't wait to see what 2008 will bring!

Blessings to you and your family,

Alicia E. Staz
Owner, Beaded Royalty