My name is Kelly and I am going to be with you here at the WorkShak. I am excited to be a part of this wonderful site. First off, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself.

I have been married for ten years to my high school sweetheart. We have been together for a total of eighteen years. My, how time flies! We have three adorable sons together and couldn’t be any more proud. My sons are eight, three and one years old. They are the highlight of my life and feel so lucky to have them.

I worked full time in real estate settlements for over thirteen years. It was a job that I loved and was very lucky to have worked for some wonderful companies. My oldest son was in daycare full time when I was in that profession. It was always a struggle for me with feelings of guilt for working, yet it was something I had to do. Although I enjoyed my career, I always longed to be home with my son.

I was blessed with the birth of my second son. Once again, I felt the guilt of returning to work after my maternity leave was over. After several months of getting back to the grind, my employer came to me with the offer of my dreams. They offered to let me work from home! This meant less hours and less money but I was thrilled and jumped at this chance. Financially it worked out because even thought this meant less money in my paycheck, there would be no daycare costs.

I worked happily from home for about a year and a half. We found out that I was going to have another baby and started looking for a new house. We were able to move and get settled in with three months to spare before the baby came. At this point, my husband and I decided that I would stop working completely and try it out on just one income.

It was a very interesting period of time for me next. I had so many dreams come true in a very short period of time. I had my new house and I was a full time stay at home mom! During this time, I decided to try my hand at working from home for myself. I got involved in affiliate marketing, website designing, blogging and freelancing.

I am still working from home and loving it. Despite my achievements from self employment, I did end up getting a job as a waitress at a fine dining restaurant. The rising prices of food, gas and just about everything else demanded that I find a way to further supplement. I work evenings and weekends and the boys stay home with Dad. It works out very well and adds to the variety of my life.

I am looking forward to talking about the different aspects of working from home. I believe that telecommuting and self employment is a growing trend and and plan to explore all of the options.