My story:

I'm originally from Commack, New York, which is located in western Suffolk County. It was a pretty great place to grow up. Church played a MAJOR role in my life. Until I got married, I attended the CSI (Church of South India) Malayalam Congregation of Greater New York.

I graduated from Commack High School in 1995. I really wanted to go to Penn State for college, and experience "dorm life". However, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life so my parents insisted I stay at home and go to SUNY Stony Brook, located about 15 miles east of Commack. After commuting for 2 years, I finally deciding on a major, Speech Pathology. And what did you know, it wasn't offered locally, so off to SUNY New Paltz I went! Living away from home wasn't much fun at first. Although I don't smoke, I was placed in a smoking suite, and I'm not just talking about cigarettes! Fortunately I made some good friends, got my act into gear and, after 3 semesters at SUNYNP, graduated with my B.A. in Communication Disorders.

In August 1999, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I moved to Boca Raton to attend graduate school at Florida Atlantic University. If you thought dorming 2 1/2 hours away was tough, try moving 1100 miles away from home. It was definitely an adjustment, but somehow I managed. Fortunately I didn't have to live by myself for long. In August 2001 I married my husband Sanjay (an attorney) and became an official resident of Florida. And it keeps getting better: in December 2001, I earned my Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology, and six months later I gave birth to my precious baby girl, Alisha Marie Kurian.

For two years I stayed home with Alisha. She was a great baby so I enjoyed spending time with her. In December 2003 we moved into our first home. It was absolutely wonderful to go from a 2/2 apartment to a 5/3.5 house. I remember how happy I was to have a garage, so I didn't have to cross a parking lot with my groceries anymore.

In 2004, I made the decision to return to work, although technically I was going to work in my profession for the first time ever. It had to be done though; my board exam results were only valid for 5 years so if I didn't fulfill the requirements I'd be stuck re-taking the board exam! Although it took me 2 years to satisfy the requirements (since I worked part-time), in 2006 I became a certified Speech-Language Pathologist (yay!) I definitely think working part-time is the best of both worlds. My 2 day-a-week schedule was perfect - especially working for the school district - nothing beats having summers off!

In 2007 we moved into our second home, where we currently live, with zero plans to move in the near (or distant) future. Fortunately we love our home and the location, so I'm happy with our decision. In June 2008 I gave birth to my son, Jacob Thomas Kurian. When the say second labors are fast, they are NOT kidding. Good thing the hospital is only 2 miles away, because Jacob was born a half-hour after we walked through the door! He's 1 1/2 years old now and he's been go-go-go ever since. Since Jacob was born, I've been back to my former role as full-time stay at home mom. As to whether I'll be returning to work, I'm sure it'll happen, it's just a matter of when.

Alisha is now 7 1/2 years old. The drama is in full-swing, but I suppose that's to be expected from a girl. She's a major bookworm who is smart but lazy when it comes to doing school work (I guess it's in the genes). Alisha loves her role as Jacob's big sister and is very protective of him. Jacob, on the other hand, is on the move, all the time. The great thing is that he's pretty independent, so he doesn't need anyone to entertain him. He's currently going through the "terrible twos" but fortunately it's just a stage.

My thoughts about parenthood? Being a mom is great and exhausting! I remember how eager I was to grow up and get out of the house. Now I look back and wonder, why? Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a kid; enjoying life on my parents' dime was not a bad deal!