Reflections of My Life

I Love Blogs!

2012-01-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

I follow several blogs, not only through my feed here on Blogger but also some that are not on Blogger; when I find one I like I just add it to my favorites under the folder Blogs. I do find it a bit ironic that I love to read other peoples blogs but yet can't keep up with my own. In my defense I am no where near as crafty and creative as the bloggers I follow and my writing skills pale in comparison to them as well.
I think I may be a bit addicted as I have noticed that I'm starting my conversations more and more with the phrase, " I read this on a blog I follow..."
At least they give me something to talk about.
Last night after the girls went to bed I was checking my blogs and when I went to Delightful Order I saw she had a link up for the day. I usually don't pay them much attention but I started reading the tittles of some of the post and next thing I know I'm reading other blogs and getting some awesome ideas for organization, meal planning and other things.
I found a funny blog post about Mom Jeans that I just had to share on Facebook and decided after reading that post I had to follow her blog. I added a few more to my favorites list as well.
Reading some of those blogs did make me wish I could write as well as they did or even had something worth writing about, I mean really, I know how boring my life is and I know that some of those mom bloggers would say the same but they are also crafty creative moms and I am so not that mom.
At least I can get ideas from the crafty women out there in the blog world, and hopefully get inspired!

Ready For Christmas

2011-12-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

We finally have our tree decorated; we have had it for two days but its smaller then we normally get and didn't fit well in the tree stand so I had to wait for Rob to fix it. Yesterday after the girls came home from school we decorated the tree and I have been enjoying the twinkling lights this morning.
I have finished all my shopping, I think. I need to take an inventory of all that I bought for the girls and see if there is any last minute stocking stuffer's that I need but I think we are good. Oh, I do need to wrap Rob's gift to me and my gift to him; yeah we already know what we got each other but we thought we should at least have one gift to open on Christmas day.
Now, its just wait for the time that we can load up the truck and head out to Rob's family and prepare to have a great Christmas. And I may see if Rob and I can go out to the movies or dinner for our anniversary while we are there. Better work some extra shifts so I can have the money!

We Have Moved

2011-11-29T18:06:00.000-08:00

Well, we managed to get moved in and settled over the holiday weekend and no one was hurt in the process and only one thing was broken by the movers. Pictures have been hung on the wall and with the exception of some towel bars, shelf and computer desk to put together oh and maybe some rearranging as its not easy to downsize a 3 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom apartment.
I hope that in a month or two we will be able to see exactly how much our savings will be and my hope is that by the end of 2012 I will have at at least 2 credit cards paid in full and at least half of another one. We have spent a bit more money for the move then I had originally planned; Rob wanted curtains and we needed a few just things we needed to make a small space work such as shelf's, towel bars etc....
As we only moved across the street from our old place nothing really has changed other then we do miss our wonderful neighbors and they miss us! The girls are adjusting fine but then I knew they would.
This Friday is the free childcare at church and we are dropping off the girls and going to have dinner, maybe a movie depending on when Rob gets off and then head over to a couple's house from our Sunday school class for coffee and desert; I'm looking forward to it.
School is pretty much over for me except for the two finals that I have to do and have emailed to my teacher by December 5th. I plan on trying to finish this week, good thing I have started on them!

I'm Still Here!

2011-10-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been around in a while, life has really gotten busy and crazy and stressful, but I wanted to give a quick update.
Rob's work is still stressful and hard and satan really is attack us both hard through Rob's job; seems like every time we turn around something is coming up that we have to really pray over and try not to stress over. We both can't wait to be done with recruiting and get back to the military life we had before. I would so much rather he be deployed then to go through the crap we are dealing with but at the same time if we weren't in TX I wouldn't be going to school for my dream job and I know that through all of these trials we are really growing in our faith and as a couple.
One day we will look back at this time and thank God for it all; I don't know when we will be able to do that but I know that we will and I have always said that if he gets promoted that alone will make it all worth it.
Next news........
We are moving!
Earlier this month we were in Dallas and got to see Dave Ramsey live! He is funny and such an inspirational person. I have been a fan of his for years and have been trying to follow his plan but just can't seem to every get past the first Baby Step. Having Rob see him and hear him speak really motivated him to work hard at getting our debt paid off and the best way for us to free up money was to move to a cheaper place, so we are downsizing quite a bit from a 3 bedroom duplex to a 2 bedroom apartment!
The money we save will make this worth it even though I will miss the bigger house and the backyard and being right next door to some awesome neighbors. But these apartments are right across the street from where we live now so we can still visit them !
The girls are excited, an apartment is very different to them so they think its cool; they already share a room so that's not an issue and they are actually getting a bigger bathroom out of it. I have to have my work computer in mine and Robs room but that's no big deal. Basically we are trying to do what Dave Ramsey says, live like no one else so later you can live like no one else. That is our goal in this move and we are pretty excited about it and what we hope to accomplish in the next year or so that we are here.

Relaxing Weekend

2011-09-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

I love nice, relaxing weekends where we don't have anything we have to do and we can be as lazy as we want! Rob did have to go into work both Saturday and Sunday for about and hour or two but that's it.
Saturday we went to the gun range and a co-worker of Rob's joined us, we all had a good time!

Later that evening Rob grilled some ribs and we ate dinner as a family, which due to Rob's job we only get to do on the weekends. After the girls went to bed Rob and I watched several episodes of Burn Notice .
Today we went to church, had a nice lunch ( ribs again!). I tried to study for a test I have tomorrow but it was making me sleepy so Rob and I took a nap then for dinner we had steaks with our wonderful neighbors.
We are truly blessed!

My Running Journey So Far

2011-09-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

This week is week 3 for me on the C25K program and I am finding running for 3 minutes hard! I use the C25K app on my phone and it will chime when it is time for me to either run or walk.
I keep straining my ears for that chime while I'm running those 3 minutes thinking that it has got to be time to stop NOW!!!
I know that my biggest problem is my breathing; I start out fine breathing nice and slow, in and out but by the time I get to about the 2 min mark ( if not sooner) I'm practiacally gasping for breath and can hardly make it to 3 mins.
I have been doing my research though and found that I should be doing belly breathing; I read this and this about how to do it and have been trying to incorporate it into my running but its not natrual for me and will take some practice. I plan on working on my breathing for a week or so and then jumping back into the C25K program. I know that I will not be able to finish this program if I don't learn to breath properly while I'm running.
Other then that I am enjoying the running and plan on keeping up with it even after I finish the C25K; I have noticed that on the days I run I am starving by the time my lunch break comes around! And I have lost some weight since I started running too. So, yep this running while hard at times has been a good thing and I'm glad I started it!

Back to My Routine

2011-09-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

I am happy to say that I have been able to workout again after that nasty cold/no voice thing I had last week. I actually started back up with my routine last Sunday which is normally my off day but I missed Saturday due to a really bad headache that I woke up with. I get headaches like that if I get too much sleep and I slept till 7am that day and I'm normally up at 5am so yeah to much sleep = headache which is why I set my alarm Sunday for 6am and since it was so early I decided to get back into my workout routine that day.
I started back up with my running on Monday; I was about to do Week 2 Day 3 of the C25K plan when I got sick so I decided to start Week 2 all over again and I am glad I did, for some reason I am finding it harder this week then I did the first time I did it. I think a lot of it is my breathing which I'm trying to figure out how to do/control as I run.
I took this morning off from exercise and slept in a little but plan on working out after I get off work; when I am not running I alternate between my Chalene Extreme videos and Physique 57. I have been loving the Chalene Extreme and seeing my arms getting stronger!
Any plans for the Labor Day weekend coming up? My hubby has to work pretty much that whole time and I may have to do some work too, not sure yet but I do hope to relax at some point and maybe hit the lake one last time!

Do You Workout When Your Sick?

2011-08-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

I ask because when I get sick, like I have been since last Friday with a cold, I don't workout, at all, not even a walk or quick yoga workout. Nothing, nada, zippo.
Why?
Because every time I do it actually makes me worse; if I workout when I feel a cold coming, you know the tickle in your throat, the sniffles with a sneeze here and there, that feeling that just says a cold is on it's way. Yeah, if I work out when I feel like that the next day it will be a full blown cold of the worst kind!
This has happened to me enough that I don't workout till I am over the sickness completely and that's why I haven't done my C25K or anything else since Friday. Today was my first day back and I took it easy because I still have a cough and a very hoarse voice so I did one of my favorites that I haven't done in a while Physique 57. If you have never heard of that exercise before check it out, I LOVE it!
I plan on jumping back into the running on Monday and I think I'm going to repeat week 2 as a way to ease back into it. I hate it when I can't exercise but at least when your sick you don't feel like eating so I have actually lost a pound or two this week!

Thinner Thursday's

2011-08-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, I am a day late but I'm ok with that lol!So, being military on SDA ( special dute assignment) orders means that we aren't near a military base and don't have the normal access to things like the commissary ( which I really miss by the way) or the gym. To fix this the Corp gives us a free membership to a gym somewhere and so since we have been here, almost a year now, Rob has been trying to get our free membership to the YMCA. Well, finally the Corp got their act together and a few weeks ago Rob and everyone in his office got their membership and that means the girls and I have one as well!!
This is a huge plus for me because I now can get the childcare at the member rates which will save us a lot of money when they go during the Christmas/New Year holidays and again for the summer next year. And the of course Rob gets to work out there and even I can if I have time. In fact, we went there together yesterday after I got off work to do our C25K run on the treadmills and I will probably go tomorrow with the girls; they have a childcare room for kids so us moms can workout, awesome!
They offer a Zumba class that I have always wanted to try but really a bit nervous about doing it alone, sure wish my workout buddy was with me but she is back in NC so I guess I'll have to work up the courage to go alone.

I LOVE Exercise!

2011-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm late with my Thinner Thursday post, somehow time just got away from me yesterday but here its!

I started working out, from home when I was in my early 20's; I don't remember what started it for me but I believe it was just buying some exercise videos and just doing them whenever I felt like it; I was never very consistent and was more an on again off again type exerciser for many years; it wasn't until after I was married and had my first child that I really started to make exercise a habit, something I did for 5-6 days a week.
Being married to a Marine who has to PT everyday and who is and has to be in the best shape he can be is a good motivator. We both love to workout together when we can and we motivate each other to eat healthy and get up and move on those days when you just don't feel like it.
As a Marine, my hubby has to run, all the time, everyday. Occasionally he would beg me to run with him and I would but I hated it! He would push me hard and I would be gasping for breath and lagging behind. Funny how I can get through a 45-60 minute exercise video no problem but trying to run for 5 minutes with him was torture!
When my sister first told me about her interest in running I was a bit disappointed that she wasn't sticking with the workout videos that I had recommended to her. Then I saw how she was running more and more and even running in different races in the Atlanta area where she lives. I saw how proud she was of herself for running and meeting each goal but I still couldn't see myself as a runner like her or my hubby.
But, for whaterever reason, seeing how Courtney and others are using the Couch to 5k program to get them running I figured you know what why not? It worked for my sister, she started with this progam and so many others have so why not me?
I am two days down for the first week and I have enjoyed it so far; yeah when I'm about 10 minutes into it and dripping sweat I struggle a little but I am pushing my self to do this for a few reasons; 1 is so that I can stop saying I'm NOT a runner and say that I AM
2 so I can run with hubby whenever he wants me too
and 3 So I can surprise my sister one day by telling her I just completed the C25k program!
One day I may even write a blog with the title "I LOVE Running!"

Been a While

2011-08-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

I am back!
Been busy all this week studying then taking a two part exam for a WAH job that I am hoping I can get; what with me going back to school ( in only two weeks, yikes!!) and having to drop my work hours I am looking for some non-phone jobs that I can do at night. I finished the testing today but will not get the results until Tuesday. I did get accepted for a mystery shopping job; something I have always been interested in and thanks to a post from Miranda Grimm over at Work At Home Adventures I found one that she does and recommends. I'll let you know how it goes once I actually start it.

I was catching up on my blogs and found that Courtney over at The Mommy Matters was talking about needing to get fit and she, like many of us, struggles with her weight and sticking with healthy habits. She is going to be doing a Thinner Thursday link up with Laura over at Mommy Miracles; see that cool button on the right? Yep, I'm going to try and link up with them on Thursdays too!

I too struggle with my eating habits and finding time to fit in my workouts. I used to do 45 min workouts no problem at the end of my day when I was running my own daycare; it was easier because the girls were younger and I only worked the one job. But, now I just don't have to do a work out that long at 5pm anymore so, as I wrote about here, Rob and I started to get up early to do our workouts and so far that has been the best time for me to fit them in. I have even been able to get up a bit early so I can do ones that are 45 mins long!

But, even though I am pretty good with the exercising bit, I could still use some help when it comes to eating healthy. Oh, I do pretty good M-F but come the weekend and it seems to all go out the window. It doesn't help that I really don't like to cook; I am working on it, really and actually cooked tonight and three nights in a row this past week! Trust me, that's a big accomplishment for me.

So, I have been encouraged by Courtney, and along with my hubby, I am going to give the
Couch-to-5k running program a try. The plan is to start this week on Tuesday; check back with me on Thursday when I hope to tell you how I am doing!

The Girls Activites

2011-07-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 years now the girls have taken dance lessons; they will continue with them this coming fall however they will only be taking one class instead of two in order to save us some money. This past year Brett took art lessons with a break from both dance and art for the summer. I thought she was going to want to keep doing art; that's what she had said anyway but about a week ago she asked to take soccer instead.
Rob and I thought about it and we have agreed so today we are going to take her to the community center to register. She has been on a soccer kick since school started last year so I'm not surprised that she wants to do this but we made sure she knows that she cant quit if she gets tired of it, she will have to finish out the soccer season.
This will make us a bit busier then we have been in the past; when I called to get some more info on practice times they didn't have the schedule yet but practice could be twice a week or on Saturdays. It will be interesting to see how she does and to see if Tristan feels left out any; she hasn't asked to play yet but I am sure its coming.

Vacation!

2011-07-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Today we are heading to the beach!
Oh, how I have missed the ocean; lakes just aren't the same thing even though I am grateful for them. I miss the sound of the waves and the smell of the salty air. I can't wait to ride those waves with B on our boggy boards!
We will be with hubby's family, stying in a hotel right on the beach, can't wait and looking forward to a wonderful time! I plan on taking tons of pictures but I normally end up having to much fun and never take the time to stop and get pics but I really am going to try to do better this time.

Praying For My Enemies

2011-07-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows what God has to say about our enemies; according to Matthew 5:44 we are to love, bless, do good too and pray for them.
Have you ever actually tried to do that to someone you would call your enemy? Yeah, how did that work for you?
Its hard, really, really hard to do all of those things for an enemy; I am struggling with it right now and have been for the past 7 months. When I do remember to pray for this particular person I don't even know what to pray for so most of the time I just let the Holy Spirit pray for me.
I asked God the other night to change my heart about this person; to help me see him through His eyes and when I think about how God looks at him I realize that God sees a man who He created, who He died on the cross for and who He longs to give him His salvation.
This person may be an enemy in my eyes but he is still a sinner in need of a Saviour and Rob and I are in a perfect position to show him Christ. More so Rob then me because he works with him every single day. Wow!
So, my goal is to start praying for his salvation and to pray that God will be able to use Rob in such a way as to point this man to Jesus. Maybe if I can start looking at him through God's eyes I can stop seeing him with my human ones and I can let the things he does that bothers me just roll off my back.

Sad Weekend

2011-07-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

My weekend didn't have any plans for it originally, until I got the call Thursday night that my Uncle wasn't going to make it through the night. He had been battling stage 4 cancer for about 7 months now and it was finally his time. I looked into the cost of a roundtrip ticket to TN and could get one for around $650 to $700 but when I mentioned the cost to my sister she flipped out and basically said not to come, she and all my family would understand.
I was having a really hard time deciding weather I should go or not; I realllly wanted to be there for my family, especially my cousins. I know what its like to loose a father as my dad passed away over 10 years ago and they were there for me and my family but at the same time I was hesitant to spend so much money.
God blessed me though with tickest via my stepdads brother-in-law who works with US Airways; I was able to get stand by tickets for only $155!! It was such a wonderful blessing and I and my family are so grateful to him for his help. Note to self, send him a thank you card!
It was a sad, emotional weekend but I'm so happy that I was able to be there for my family and while it wasn't the way I hoped to see them again I am very glad I did get to see them all. I love them very much and wish I lived closer so I could visit more often.
I am keeping my Aunt and cousins in my prayers as life for them slowly returns to normal; the pain will lessen as time goes by but they will always miss him. They have some wonderful memories of him and I know they will keep these close to their hearts.

We Finally Decided

2011-07-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

A little while a go I wrote about how Rob and I were trying to decide if moving when our lease was up in August was a good idea or not; there were several pros and cons to the whole thing and to be honest it was starting to stress us both out.
A few days ago Rob and I were sitting in our bedroom chatting and out of the blue he said, " I don't think we should move." I had been leaning more and more in that direction and we had been talking more about not moving and praying that we would both feel peace about what to do. To have him say what I was thinking was great because I wanted us to be in agreement with whatever decision we made.
We did some more talking about how we are going to make it work when I start school and have to loose two days of work a week; staying in the same house allows me to start work 30 mins earlier and end work 30 mins later so that will help a little bit. We also have decided to allow the girls to continue with dance but instead of taking tap and ballet they will have to pick just one. I will be able to keep Brett in art because I'm saving up money right now for her to take classes again next month. We are praying that he will be able to pick up around October or November of this year and if he does that will be a big help financially, but even if he doesn't I do hope to pay off at least one bill with tax money next year.
I feel so much better now that we have made this decision, I feel more peace about staying then I ever did with moving. Right or wrong this is what we are going to do, but I trust that God is with us and will provide all our needs.

My Weekend

2011-07-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend with family and friends; I know that I did. We started our weekend with a Saturday spent cleaning and grocery shopping and then just being lazy. Sunday was church and then after lunch we headed out to the lake with our neighbors and their family and we spent all day on the water; it was sooo much fun and I hope we can do it again before summer is over!
My 4th of July was a pretty laid back one; hubby and I helped the girls vacuum out both my car and Rob's truck then we had to go and get Rob's wallet that he had left at the restaurant where we had dinner on Sunday. We had gone to Sears before all of that to buy, finally, a wet/dry vac to help with the cleaning of the cars, love those things! After that we watched a movie and then Rob grilled some hamburgers and hot dogs and then we did our family night Bible Study and put the girls to bed.
A few weeks ago Rob and I started watching a series titled The Peasant Princess preached by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church. Its all about the Song of Solomon and so far we are really enjoying it. We hadn't watched a video in a while due to my computers monitor not working so last night we moved Rob's laptop into our room and got comfy on the bed and watched for about an hour. If your looking to better understand Song of Solomon this is a great way to do it.
My plans for this week are nothing spectacular just work and work and more work lol! Well, I do plan on going to the college and finding out about the books I need for my classes. I hope to get some of them through Amazon but I need to make sure I'm selecting the correct ones. I can't believe that July is here and before we know it me and the girls will be in school!

My Morning Routine

2011-06-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I love to workout; ok I love to workout and he just has to because that's what Marines do, any who, said Marine had lost his motivation to PT in the mornings and I was doing my workouts in the evenings whenever I could fit them in between cooking dinner and giving the girls my full and undivided attention.
Well, wonderful hubby came up with the idea of waking up at 5am and starting our workouts by 5:30am. Yeah, that was my reaction too. Its ok, shake your head at us crazy people all you want, I do it too.
Now, we were already getting up at 5:45am and that was really plenty early for me; I have never liked working out right after I jump out of bed. After I have had my coffee and been up for about 3 hours fine but not roll-out-of-bed and then workout, nope not me.
But, I thought about it and realized that it would free up my evenings and not leave me feeling like I never have enough time at night to get things done and maybe I'll even want to cook dinner if I have extra time on my hands. Yeah, that thought made me laugh too.
So, this Monday Rob and I started waking up at 5am; we actually don't make it out of the bed till about 5:15 but hey, we have been getting up everyday so far this week. Well, Rob did miss one day due to a bad headache, and since he doesn't get them often I do believe him, I think.
I have to say that I'm loving it so far, not the getting up early part but the having my workout finished by 6am and not doing it at 6pm. Yeah, I love having my evenings free now so I do see this habit sticking around for a long time.

To Move or Not, That is the Question

2011-06-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have said before that we will be moving in August in order to free up some money to pay off our bills and help cover the two days a week that I'll be off work due to school. Doing this makes perfect financial sense; if you need more money you either cut out something or earn more money.
Yeah, ummmm, I don't want to move thank you very much; its hard work and I want to be lazy and stay right where I'm at. We love the house we are in and its location and we have some neighbors that we are starting to get to know and so far we like them, alot but I know that if we were to move it would be harder to foster that relationship because its just starting.
I have been praying for peace about this whole moving thing and just when I think I am ok with it something else pops into my mind like a few days ago I really started thinking about how much this is going to cost us- theres the deposit, the first months rent, carpet cleaning at our old place, the gas it will cost to move if we use just Rob's truck or the price of a U-Haul if we do it that way.
I have saved up what I can but its not going to be enough to cover it all so I'm going to have no choice but to put the rest on a credit card, oh and this will deplete my emergency fund, again.
So, I think about what can I do to stay where we are?
Well, if I knew for a fact that Rob would pick up in November I would stay without any hesitation at all but we just don't know if he will even make it on the meritorious board yet so I can't count on that.
I could take the girls out of ballet and save some money but as of right now I just can't bring myself to do that even though I know I probably should; its hard because I know they love it and they don't have any friends so this gets them out of the house and around other kids. I know lame excuses but that's all I have for now. I could let them stay in until we find out if Rob will pick up or not, that's a thought.
I would stay where we are if I could find a job that would pay me more and be flexible with my school schedule; I even applied for a job at the girls school but I'm not sure what hours they were looking for and I haven't seen any other jobs that were flexible yet but I'll keep looking.
Ugh!!!
I wish this wasn't such a hard thing for me to accept; I wish I could just say we are moving and be ok with it. For now I'm praying for peace and that God will show Rob and I what the right decision is for us.

Where I'm From

2011-06-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

I am from a small town that people drive through but don't seem to notice, Quaker instant grits, Dr Pepper and Twix.

I am from a trailer with only one bathroom for 6 people; a huge yard to play baseball in; woods to explore and trees to climb, where we didn't lock our doors and everyone knew who my dad was.

I am from tall pine tress and large pinecones, from tons of pine straw we had to rake up, and fun to climb oak and dogwoods.

I am from the story of Christs birth read by my dad while sipping hot chocolate on Christmas Eve, from Herman and Eula and Lynn and Beverly- from every one talking at the same time, loudly to "yes ma'am" and "no sir."

I am from " I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck" to " I see the moon and the moon sees me, God bless the moon and God bless me."

I am from your Sunday best, women never in pants, traditional hymns and the occasional amen. From Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday nights and any time in between.

I'm from pig pickin, fish frys, and summer bonfires. From steamed oysters and spot fish to the Azalea Festival to surf and sand.

I'm from a dad who came home on leave from the Navy at 21 one and found himself locked out of the house when he wasn't home by midnight to coffee from sun up to sun down and sweet tea by the gallon, the Value Mart for ice cream while dad chatted with the neighbors and riding our bikes all over the town.

I'm from old musicals with Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to my dad's old Alvin and The Chipmunks records. From Big Band music we danced to on Saturday nights to shooting guns on Sunday afternoons.

I'm from the First in Flight State where we say ya'll, over yonder and give everyone we meet a hug no matter how well we know them.

I am from the South and proud of it!

I got the idea for this post from Courtney over at The Mommy Matters. She did an awesome job on hers that it inspired me to try it. I am no where near as good a writer as she is though but I did have fun trying. Check her post out for a much better idea of how this should be done!

Back To Normal

2011-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

The girls are back home now and things are back to normal meaning the house is no longer quite; but thats ok because I'm glad to have them home and they are glad to be home. They both had a great time and had lots to tell me about all the fun they had with their grandmother.
I'm so thankful that she was able and willing to take them for such a long time but I know she is wore out so I'm praying she will be able to recover quickly and in time for the next fun adventure that my BIL is currently planning and that is a trip to Galveston the end of July. Now this one is getting me all excited because I LOVE the beach and miss it like crazy so I'm all for a few days at the ocean.
It will be BIL and his family, MIL and then us of course but we really wont know if Rob will be able to go till probably last minute what with the way the military and recruiting duty works so I am going to start praying that he can get the time off because it just not going to be as much fun without him.

B is a Winner!!

2011-06-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

So, my oldest daughter B who loves to draw, and is much better at it then me by the way, entered 5 different drawings to Operation Gratitude and one of her drawings was selected as a finalists!!! I'm sure you can't tell that I'm excited and very proud of her! ( if your my friend on FB check out my wall to see how to vote for her!).
Here is a picture of the one they selected

Ballet Recital Weekend

2011-06-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

So this was a busy weekend for us! The girls had their ballet recital Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon as well as their dress rehearsal Saturday morning starting at 8 am; we didn't finish with that till 12!
The recital was 3 hours long!!! We didn't get home on Saturday till after 9pm and the girls went right to bed and were asleep in no time. They each preformed two dances, one tap and one ballet and both days they did great, I'm so proud of them and so love seeing them up on stage.
For the Sunday show their grandmother, uncle and cousin were able to come and see them and after we had dinner with them they got to go home with their grandmother and are going to stay for over a week with her! She has a surprise for them, this coming weekend she is taking them to the Great Wolf Lodge ; the girls are going to LOVE it, they always ask to go when they see the commercials lol! A friend of their grandmothers is going with them along with her granddaughter so they will have someone else to play with and my MIL will have another adult around.
I'm already missing the girls; it was so quite this morning when Rob and I woke up and it was strange not having them to wake up and get ready. I'm happy for a bit of a break though but will be glad when they come back home!

Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now

2011-06-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

I am sure that every mother out there could say this and have actually said it from time to time; I have been saying it a lot myself lately. I love to read blogs and I follow several wonderful blogs by some wonderful Christian Moms and they pass on the wisdom they are learning as they parent their children; they post links to books and other resources that they use, share their ideas for getting children to do chores and get along and generally just give moms like me great encouragement to do my job.
However; I wish I had know about some of these resources and ideas when my girls were younger, especially the ones on Biblical training an area where I'm feeling like I haven't given 100% in mostly due to not knowing how to do it. As I look over all the advice and resources out there I know that I would do things differently if I could but I can't go back in time so instead my goal is to take what I am learning now and put it to use, after all better late then never and my girls are still young enough to train.
In order to put this knowledge to good use though I need to come up with a better after school/child care schedule because right now my schedule is what ever I come up with at that point in time. There is too much TV watching on the part of the girls and too much computer or book reading on my part. When school starts back again homework and reading aloud to Mommy is going to be a big part of our after school routine but I hope to add in some chores, Bible training/study time and of course some play time ( but NO TV on school nights!).
I also need to be a bit more organized when it comes to school related papers; there were some things that I forgot about this past school year or came close to forgetting about and I don't want to make that mistake again! I have been browsing the internet for things to help with that and have come across some great ideas I just need to figure out what will work for me.
So, what is your after school routine like? I am all ears for any ideas and suggestions, and once I figure out what I'm going to do I'll share it with you; I hope to have a great summer routine in place that I can just tweek a little bit for when school starts.

I Want a Boat!

2011-06-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, just so you know we used to own a boat but we sold it for before we moved to TX for several reasons; I don't regret it because we had to I just wish we hadn't had to sell it. Last month after a visit with my MIL, Rob's brother let us bring his boat home for a little while. We have been out in it only twice due to the wind being so bad here but it was perfect today so we went out today for the 2nd time and we had soooo much fun.
I want a boat!!!
If I had the money I would be very tempted to go and buy one tomorrow but I don't and that's a good thing I'm sure as I really should be doing other things with my money lol!
Still, I do want a boat!

This and That

2011-05-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend we had hoped to spend as much time out on the lake in my brother-in-laws boat as much as possible but due to the ~~stupid and annoying~~ Texas wind made that impossible so Sunday after Church Rob grilled out and we played games and just chilled at home and on Monday we took the girls bowling and then drove around looking at different places where we might want to move to when our lease is up in August. Friday is the last day of school for the girls, I took the day off so I could attend Tristans kindergarten graduation and when its over I'm going to go ahead and take both girls out of school early. Rob is off that day and he and I are finally going to go and get our TX drivers licences, yeah we are slackers!

Loss

2011-05-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we found out that a Marine from Rob's old unit died in Afghanistan; he was only 23 and just the sweetest, nicest guys and was liked by everyone he worked with. I can't imagine how hard this must be for his family and fellow Marines. I know they will never forget Memorial day now. This hard for Rob who misses his "boys" and wishes that he where there with them; we both are praying for this young mans family and his fellow Marines as they come to terms with their loss.
This is the closet to home that this war has come to me and its sobering; I have friends who's husbands are there now and this makes me realize that it could have been them; so my prayers are more frequent for these guys, people I call my friends.

Schools Out..... Almost!

2011-05-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the girls only have two weeks left of school! This school year has flown by for me and soon I will have a 3'd and 1st grader in the house! I'm so proud of both of them. Brett has made some great progress on her reading thanks to her awesome teacher and the help of the counselor who works one on one with her. Tristan has soaked up everything her teacher tells her then comes home and proudly tells me all she has learned; she wants to read so badly that she has pulled out the Dick & Jane books I used for Brett and has read them to me or anyone who will listen!
Summer is going to be nice; I hope to spend plenty of weekends on the lake and out in my BIL's boat while we have it or going to the gun range to shoot. The girls will be taking a break from ballet and art so no running around to do once their recital is over and that's going to allow me to work some extra hours if I want to.
I am dreading August though; we are planning on moving around the end of that month if everything works out. We need something cheaper badly so we can really work on paying of some debt!

My Weekend

2011-05-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend hubby had to be in FT Worth for work; he had to be there O'dark thirty Saturday morning but later that evening I was going to be able to join him for a dinner they were having. So, we asked MIL to watch the girls for us, we got a hotel in FT Worth and I got to go to a picnic lunch and dinner with just my hubby!
It was nice to spend time with him without the girls and to be around some other adults; I don't really know his co-workers well but we did have lots of laughs at our table. Oh, and the food was awesome! They had fruit, cheese and crackers galore, as well as 3 different kinds of dip for tortillas. That held us over while they did some speeches and stuff then when dinner was served they had steak and chicken along with yummy veggies. It was all so good, much better then the food served at the ball last year lol! For desert they had a chocolate fountain! I was stuffed but mannaged to eat a chocolate covered bannana, strawberry and cookie.
I am grateful that we live so close to my MIL; I may not have any friends where I live or anyone to watch the girls for me when I need some me time but at least when I go to my MIL's I know I can ask her for help and she wil give it.
Sunday we went back to my MIL's and stayed for my neices 2nd birthday party; it was cute watching her open her gifts and play with her new toys. Hubby got a gift for his birthday to from his brother; he let us take his boat home to use until we come back the next time, woo hoo!!!
So, Rob already has his weekend planned; he will get up early and go fishing, come back for us in the afternoon so we can go shooting at the gun range and then Sunday after church we will all go out in the boat together. The girls are all excited, we really do miss having a boat and I wold buy one for Rob today if I had the money!

The Future

2011-05-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have talked about this here or not so I'm going to give some background info first.
My husband has a pretty long military career that started when he first joined the Marine Corp at the age of 18; he had been out for 5 years when he and I started dating and then 9/11 happened and I knew that he was going to want to sign back up again. He did go and talk to a recruiter but things didn't work the way he had hoped so he joined the Coast Guard and served with them for 4 years then signed back up with the Corp because my husband is a Marine at heart.
There is this thing in the military called service limitations; basically this means that if you hit so many years and haven't made it to a particular rank then you have to get out. Well, that is what my husband is facing and in an effort to get promoted faster he made the decision, based on advice from people who's opinions he trusted, to become a recruiter because promotions tend to come faster in this field. If you read this post and this post you will see that things haven't been easy for him and the possibility of him getting promoted aren't looking good due to the issues he has been having not with his health but with his boss.
And now, just as things are getting better his health is an issue again; the minor surgery he had back in January has healed well, actually to well! He has scar tissue that is causing some problems and is now having to go have the surgery again next week, if not sooner because he doesn't think he can wait that long. His boss started wigging out when he found out and was going on and on about it and how they will med board him for this and blah, blah.
There is a very real possibility that due to his health issues, which aren't keeping him from doing his job by the way, and his boss that Rob may not get promoted before his EAS in December of next year. This time next year he is actually going to have to start putting out resumes just in case he doesn't pick up when the board sits in June/July.
I will be honest and say that is scary for me! I know how much my husband loves the Corp and being a Marine and he really wants to stay and retire from the Corp and I want him to stay in because one he loves and it two I love the military life and well I'm scared of what will happen if he has to get out.
We are praying all the time that God will allow him to stay in; I told Rob once that if God grants the desires of our hearts and Robs desire is to be a Marine then he needs to claim that promise from God! Rob deserves to get promoted but he has a hard time seeing that because he sees the dirtbag Marines who are the real problem children getting away with things all the time and getting promoted and yet here he is being the good Marine and doing his job and doing it well and yet he gets no where.
I look at our future and I'm not sure what its going to be and yes it dose scare me at times but I try to hold on to the fact that God is in control and we will be ok; man that sure is hard though!!

Honey's Birthday

2011-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today my hubby turned 43; yep he's the old man for sure hehe!!
We didn't really do much; he had already spent his birthday money from me last months on some boots when Cavenders had a sale and he spent his Mom's birthday money he spent last week on our membership to the gun range. But, his boss did let him off work early today and so he was home to actually sit down and eat dinner with us!!
I was actually in Wal-mart when I found out he was going to be home for dinner so I picked us up a rotisserie chicken and some frozen veggies and then Tristan asked for those tiny Ben & Jerry's ice creams so I thought why not!
After dinner we played a game of Sorry and guess what, the birthday boy won!! We then watched our favorite show NCIS. Well, Tristan doesn't like it, she played on my laptop instead. We put the girls to bed after that went off and I went to work; Rob is watching NCIS: Los Angles as I type this; Brett and I are going to watch it later this week online. I told Rob not to tell me a thing that happened!!!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

Woke up yesterday to breakfast cooked for me and Mothers Day cards had drawn by my girls sitting on the kitchen table. I sure do love those girls!!
We went to church, came home and had lunch then packed up the truck and headed to the lake! The girls were so excited and we spent two hours there; Rob and I just layed out and chatted while the girls played in the water. This mamma dosen't get in the water until June, thats when its warm enough for me lol!!
Oh, we did go look at dogs on Saturday; there were two there that caught our eye and we got to pet them and play with them and if he could have Rob would have taken both of them home with him that day! But, we really can't afford another mouth to feed right now so we are going to wait and see if we can find a cheaper place to rent first then look at getting a dog.

Surprise!

2011-05-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday as I was logging in to work and I looked at the clock and thought " Hmmm, wonder why Rob isn't back from the gym yet?" Well, he did come back and he came into the room and sat down and we chatted some and then out of the blue he says " Oh, I don't have to work today, I have the whole weekend off."
Sneaky man surprised me with that and boy it sure was nice to have him home even though I was working. We got to eat lunch together and then after the girls came home from school we went and found this gun range that Rob had heard about; Rob had some birthday money from his mom so he went ahead and got us a membership that's good for a year. Its an outdoor range; the one and only time we took the girls to shoot their gun it was an indoor range and it was too loud in there with the other guns going going off and scared them, made Tristan cry lol!
Rob did actually have to work some today but its more fun the work; once a month ( I think) they have a poole function where are the recruits and the recruiters get together and hang out. Rob always mans the grill, he loves to grill so its more fun then work. Not sure what we are doing today when he gets home, but tomorrow we are hoping the weather is nice enough to go to the lake.
We may go look at dogs today at the humane society; Rob is on this wanting a dog kick and while I would love to have one too I do worry about the cost. I would like to wait until we have moved. I am afraid if we look at dogs today we will find one we have fallen in love with and end up with a dog today lol!

Singing His Praises

2011-05-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

Last night Rob and I prayed together; something we got into the habit of back in January when things were looking pretty grim to us. We have kind of slacked off on it because God has really answered our prayers and things are going so much better for Rob at work and the few problems there are we pray about them when they come up and try to just leave it in God's hands.
I wanted to praise God last night for how well things have been going; sure Rob and I have thanked Him individual during our own prayer time but it was together as a couple that we came to God asking for His help and so I wanted us to thank God as a couple; and so we did and it sure is nice to praise God and thank Him for His blessings instead of always feeling like your asking Him for help!!
Rob has really taken off as a recruiter and we both know that its not through his own strength but through God; we both have been wondering why Rob has had such a hard time this year, Rob sometimes thinks that God's trying to show him he that its time to get out of the military but it occurred to me last night that maybe God wants him to stay in but in order for that to happen he had to first get to a point where he was totally relying on God for help with his career.
I believe that God loves Rob so much and wants him to succeed in his job but in order for that to happen He had to bring Rob to a place where he found his strength from God and God alone.
Oh, good news! The teacher who had said that our street was part of the rezoning of the girls school was wrong and its not part of it; however we are still planning on moving anyway because we really want to find a place to rent that's a bit cheaper then what we are paying now, so prayers are still going up for that. Man I SOOOOO don't want to move!!!

Good News/Bad News

2011-04-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today Rob and I meet with two of Brett's teachers that have been working with her outside of her main classroom on her reading; I think I have mentioned that back in December she was tested for dyslexia, something that her dad has. Well, today we got the good news that she doesn't have dyslexia she is just a little behind on her reading and needs some additional help.
She will be getting one on one help 4 days a week for 30 mins and it will continue until she no longer needs the help. Rob's so happy she doesn't have dyslexia and I'm happy that she will be getting help so that third grade wont be a problem for her!
That was the good news, now for the bad........... they have rezoned for their school and where we live now is no longer in that zone so they will have to a different school next year. Now, we have already been thinking of moving so we could try and save some money on our rent but it wasn't like a big deal though because I really didn't want the trouble of moving!
But, we had planned keeping them in the same school no matter if we moved or not; we want them to have as much stability as they can, we are only here for another year and a half and I want Brett to be with the same teachers who have been working with her this past year.
So, we are praying that God will help us find a house to rent within their schools zone, which by the way has shrunk due to the new zoning changes! If God wants us to move he will open that door!

Mrs. Fix It

2011-04-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Rob teases me and say I act more like a guy at times then a women; one of the ways is when hubby wants to vent to me about his job or something and instead of just listening I want to fix it and fix it now!
I did this last night as we were talking about some of the problems he is still having with his boss at work. I'm trying to give him advice on how to fix it when all he wants me to do is just listen. Ok, I get that because I too will vent to him about things and I don't want or need him to fix the problem but just listen but durn it, I HATE how his boss is treating him; he's basically bullying my husband and making it harder for Rob to do his job and so this makes me want to fix it and fix it NOW!
But, I know that this is not my battle, but Rob's and I know that God is in control so I'm going to work on just listening to hubby when he wants to vent and I will pray that God will bring some good out of what he is having to go through at work.
Now, time to go find some tape to put over my mouth for the next time Rob wants to vent!

Decisions, Decisions

2011-04-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

So, in a growing quest to try and save money and pay of some debt Rob and I have talked about renting someplace cheaper then the one we have now but we want the girls to be able to go to the same school they are in now; this has actually made it a bit harder to find some place because most of whats within the zone for that school is houses and there are only about 3 apartment building and a handful of dublexes.
I'll be honest and say that I really don't want to move; I like the duplex we are in now and its location and then there is the whole moving that Rob and I would have to do by ourselves. But, if we could drop our rent by 2 or 3 hundred a month it would really help us out. So, we are going to pray about it and when it gets closer to our lease being up we will see what is avalible and trust that God will either open or close that door.
Speaking of saving money, I am so proud of Brett! She has been saving her allowance for a few months now in order to buy her a Nintedo DS and when I paid her today for this past week and we added up what she had the total came to $30!!!

Satan Attacks Again!

2011-04-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

I guess Rob and I got to comfortable with how well things had been going for him at work and with his health; he has kids coming out of the woodwork wanting to be Marines, he is able to run now without any problems other then maybe a sore knee or ankle afterwards but that always clears right up. He was even going to run a PFT tomorrow and even though he knew it wouldn't be his best score what with only having about 4 weeks to prepare he did know he could at least pass.
Then satan decided that we were to happy and threw another wrench into things in the form of yet another stupid Navy doctor. Can you tell that I don't like Navy docs? Sorry, but I have NOTHING good to say about them; the health problems my husband had were because of Navy docs at his last duty station that were to durn lazy to do their job.
Wanna know what the cure is for anything you have if you go see a Navy doctor? Motrin, as in take 2 and don't call me in the morning. You could be in the middle of a heart attack and that's all they would do for you, because in their eyes, they think that your just being a wimpy Marine and are trying to get out of work.
One of the good things about being on recruiting duty is that Rob's to far away from a military base/post to see a Navy doc so he gets to see civilian doctors and let me just tell you how nice it's been to actually have a doctor listen to my husband and do something about his problems!
But, in the Marine Corp they apparently view Navy doctors as far superior to civilians and so for what ever reason they made my husband go see one on Monday.
Not only did this ~~idiot~~ lady not even listen to what my husband had to say, she didn't even see his medical records because he didn't have them with him. And yet she made her decision to put him on a limited duty board based on what she didn't hear my husband tell her.
My husband is fine, he can workout and has been since February, his wonderful civilian doctors have been such a blessing and he is better as far as some of his problems that he had that kept him from running, but because her word is god, my husband can't run the PFT Friday.
I struggled with some anger when he first told me this and worried about what this would do to his chances if a promotion if he was on the board this year; in fact it was keeping me awake Monday night so I had to pray and pray hard and give all my worries and fears over to Him and know that satan might mean this for evil but God is the one in control. I am so glad that I was able to let go and give it to God because things are a bit better; his is on light duty and will run the PFT in June and really that's good because it gives him more time to get his run time down to what it used to be.
Now, I need to deal with some issue involving his boss at work; I would love to hate this man but I can't, but I do have a strong dislike for him and I can honestly say his is a dirtbag; however I know that God loves him and that he needs God in his life and that chances are its going to be Rob and I who help lead him to God. I pray for him but its a huge struggle for me to and something that I need prayer for but I know that whats important isn't me, or Rob and his career but what we do for God's kingdom.

Challenge Results

2011-04-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, I finished my 4 day kick start on Thursday and I did weigh myself the next day and had lost 2 lbs. so I am happy about that but the bad thing is I am having trouble sticking to the healthy eating habits. There has been some stress and just plan laziness in my life the past two days that have led me to making some poor eating choices.
The good thing is that I can start fresh tomorrow and on Monday I plan on starting my Chalene Extreme workouts! I have looked over her food guide too and it will work well with the food plans the Firm uses. Next shopping trip is going to have foods from both the Firm and Chalene Extreme.
Thursday I went to the Y and registered the girls for their summer camp; its pricey because we aren't members yet but Rob is working on getting the free membership that he is supposed to have because of him not being near a military base. I have stressed quite a bit over the cost but have finally stopped and left it all in God's hands, He knows are needs and will provide.
God has actually already taken care of us; the government didn't shut down and He has provided me with more hours at my job! I'm happy, maybe I can finally get rolling on Baby Step #2 ( Dave Ramsey).

Resons I Enjoy Recruiting

2011-04-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine on Facebook posted a blog a week ago titled " Reasons I Enjoy Deployment". She did this as a way of counting her blessing and looking on the bright side of things to help her get through a long separation.
This got me thinking that I should do the same thing for recruiting for anyone who has read my blog knows that the first few months of Rob's recruiting journey were very hard but, praise the Lord, things are much better now!
I mentioned it to Rob and he thought it was a great idea to, however, I am really having a hard time thinking of anything about recruiting that I enjoy!!!!
Now, you would think that for 3 years I have a husband who is home and never deployed would be one of them and well, yes it is but his work hours have increased so much that I feel like we never see each other anyway and sometimes even when he is home his thoughts are on work or work is calling him. I guess that is why I have heard some wives call recruiting a 3 year deployment!
We are close to his family now but to be honest it doesn't help me enjoy recruiting any; they are still 2 hours away and we only see them once a month.
Well, there you have it, that's the best that I can do; seriously I'm not kidding! So far I haven't actually found anything about recruiting that I enjoy. If it helps my husband get promoted it will be all worth it but to be honest, I would much rather be back in NC with my friends and family!!

Day 2 Challenge

2011-04-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so who is wondering how my first day went?
Well, I'm going to be honest and say that it was hard! I had a headache pretty much all day and I'm sure that was from the lack of caffeine and I was soooo hungry! I what felt like a ton of water and yet it so didn't help me with the hunger!
Today was even harder; I again was starving by 10 and so I had to add an extra snack in, a headache started at 9am that by 11 was so bad it was making me feel sick. So, I got off work early and went a laid down and slept for about an hour. It didn't help my headache much, napping never does, but I didn't feel sick anymore and so I ate a late lunch. I had my healthy snack after my girls came home from school and while Brett was in art class I had to go get some caffeine because I still had a headache. I stopped at Starbucks, yes I know shame on me and because I was still so hungry I got their coffee cake ( man I love that stuff!!) and halved it with Tristan. I had my healthy dinner which was really good but I made tea and had that to drink with it.
I think maybe I shouldn't have cut out my caffeine completely at first, maybe started with just one cup of coffee and skip my tea with lunch or something, but at least I can say I tried. I think for tomorrow I'm going to have have coffee because I was really tired this morning but no tea unless I have a headache.
I have been keeping up with the workouts and even doing well on writing down what I eat and overall I am proud of how my first two days have gone. Just two more in this 4-day kick start left and after that, well my Chalene Extreme came today and I hope to start that soon but I want to read over everything, and look into their meal plan and see if it will work for me, meaning will I like the foods hehe!
Basically what I hope to take away for this is better eating habits!

My New Challenge-Day 1

2011-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

So, I may have mentioned that I have been struggling to loose about 5 pounds that I put on back in December/January. I know that my biggest problem lies with my eating habits so I have decided to follow 4 Day Kick Start eating/workout program that came with my Firm Express workouts. Its going to be a big challenge because I am giving up my coffee and my tea for 4 days!!!
This plan has you eating lots of salads and fruits and veggies which are fine but the problem with a lot of meal plans like this is their idea of a snack is yogurt or some kind of nut and I only like peanuts and I hate yogurt so I am going to have to repeat some snack options and even some lunch options but I know that I can do this, in fact it is 10:15 am CT as I write this and I am already on my third glass of water! I do have a headache but I woke up with it so not sure if its from lack of caffeine or not.
I am starving right now though and I have already had my morning snack and I don't get to eat lunch till 12:15 so I am hoping I can make it that long but if not you are allowed to add in an extra snack as long as its no more then 100 calories and they give you some ideas.
I hope to feel a change in my body by how my clothes fit; if the scale moves that's fine but I don't plan on weighing myself again till next Monday. What I do plan on doing is trying to follow their 30 day meal plan after this all though I have already done my grocery shopping so I may wait till the next shopping trip. I want to make eating healthy a habit for me and my family and even try to cut out the number of times we eat out, of course that would mean I have to learn to like cooking !
Any way wish me luck!
Oh, and while I was writing this I did have another snack but thats ok !

A Good Day

2011-04-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

What a nice day we had today! The weather was wonderful and after Rob got off work we got out of the house for a bit. Our first stop was the Humane Society to see their dogs. No, we are not getting a dog, at least not right now; Rob really wants one though so I'm thinking about it but worry about how a dog will do while I'm working and then of course the extra cost that comes with owning a dog. If we do get one we are going to have to get a small dog because we have a small yard so we are thinking a beagle will be perfect. The humane society didn't have any today so we will just have to check back periodically but like I said, I'm not in a hurry to get a dog again. Next stop was the Central Texas Marketplace in hopes of finding Brett some flip-flops; shes like me and can't where the kinds that have the plastic in between the toes and across the top, it rubs us raw and the ones she had on today where giving her a blister! We didn't find a thing for her but I did get some more for me and some tap shoes for Tristan and at Ross I managed to find 5 pairs of capris!!! I have been wanting some for a while but I'm picky about the length and the way they fit at the end and ladies, you know how it is, you try on 10 items and are lucky if one of them fits you. Well, I tried on 5 and they all fit perfect and that NEVER happens for me so I had to get them. I'm considering it my early birthday present to my self hehe! We made a few more stops after that then decided to go eat dinner at Logan's. We came home and put on a movie for the girls and have just been relaxing since then. I hope everyone else has had a great day too!

Pink Eye and a Cold

2011-03-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

I work from home and when I'm working I keep my cell phone on vibrate in case I get a call from the school about one of my girls. Most of the numbers that I get are for my hubby ( wish he would remember to give them HIS number!) so I don't normally check the voice mail but I'm glad I did yesterday because it was from the school nurse about T saying it looked like she had pink eye. So, I had to quit work 2 1/2 hours early to go pick her up. Now, I knew she didn't have pink eye, in fact her eye looked great compared to what it had looked like Sunday morning after I had poked my finger in it! But, this is also the girl who has had strep throat 3 times since we have moved to TX so I figured better be safe then sorry. I was right though and she didn't have pink eye or anything else for that matter. I had the dr give me a note saying she was ok to come back to school and I'm glad I did because what do I see this morning but her OTHER eye was all red from where her sister poked her in it last night! Poor girl can't catch a break! I wrote a note to the teacher explaining the eye and stapled it to the doctors note, just in case! At least she isn't sick; I started getting a sore throat and neck yesterday and that is a clear sign I'm getting a cold and today I my throats still sore and my head hurts and I just feel the cold coming, ugh! I haven't had one in a while and I really don't want one now so I will rest as much as I can and pray it goes away fast!

No Mom Talk!

2011-03-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Courtney K over at The Mommy Matters does this No Mom Talk Monday theme and so I thought I would give it a try but let me tell you, so far everything I have thought about writing had to do with being a mom! Who picked their One Word for the New Year? Anyone even remember it? I picked the word Selfless because I have noticed way to many selfish tendinces in my life and wanted to work on thinking of others first. One of the things I have done to help with this is made it a rule not to get on my computer after I get off work or pick up a book and read or even watch TV. I want my attention to be given to my family and those things are BIG distractions for me. I have to say that I have done pretty good with it, except for last week when I got caught up in some books I was reading, oops! I do need to work on my attitude; there will be things the hubby asks me to do for him and I'll be honest and say that my thoughts aren't always very nice! I tend to grumble to myself about having to do something for him and wish he would/could just do it himself. I will have to work on that one some more. Went shopping for the family yesterday and I was sooo happy that EVERYTHING we bought was on sale!! Now I don't feel so bad about spending money to begin with. I am really going to try and work on my eating habits. I was trying on some clothes yesterday and things that fit me fine last summer are noticably tighter now and even though the scale is only showing abotu a 5 lb. increase it is really making a difference in how my clothes fit. I blame part of it on my job. I was sitting most of the time I worked and would stand only for about an hour so what I do now is sit but whenver there is a call I stand up. I think this is helping some now to make better eating choices when we go out to eat! I am also going to order a new workout program as an early birthday gift to myslef. Its focous is more on weight training and I don't really do enough of that now as I tend to focus more on the cardio side. Ok, finding things to talk about that don't involve kids was easier then I though!

Things

2011-03-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Notice the great title that I picked? I just can't really think of one probably cause I'm tired!
Saturday's have become our clean house day. I had tried to spread it out throughout the week but with art and ballet classes taking up 3 days out of 5 there really isn't time so it has to all be done on Saturday.
After the chores were finished I worked out and when Rob came home we went to the park and road our bikes some. While Rob was running the girls played and I read a book. We headed to Cold Stone afterwards for some yummy ice cream and then we came home and man I'm tired!

I have some news, its good news but I'm trying not to get too excited about it yet. I think I have mentioned how I was hoping to go to the community college for sign language interpretation but didn't think it would be possible as I really can't afford to take off too many days ow work.
A few days ago I looked up the fall schedule and found that I can take 3 classes and only have to take of 2 days of work! This is do able and I would still be able to work at night so now I just need to start the whole registration process and find out if my my classes from Post University will transfer because I do NOT want to have to take any Math or History or stuff like that over again, once is enough especially for Math!!
So, I am praying that God will open doors for me if school is where He wants me. I do worry about our finances and I don't want to be making the wrong decision and have us hurting down the road later, but when I first realized that I just may be able to go I wanted to cry! This has been my dream since I was 13 years old and it just may come true, finally!!!

Recruiting So Far Part 2

2011-03-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful that things are going better for Rob at work; our prayer now is that his health will get better.
Back in January he had some minor, our patient surgery. This was a go in on Friday, recover over the weekend and be fine for work on Monday kind of surgery, or it was supposed to be.
Saturday, the day after, his right knee was hurting and slightly swollen. Later on that day he had to go to the ER for something else related to the surgery. He in and out that day but back in the ER for the same think at 2:30am on a Monday morning.
That weekend we headed up to my MIL house for T's birthday party, by Sunday his knee all the way to his foot was swollen and he had to use a cane to walk. We left my MIL's early so he could get home and try to rest his leg but a few hours after we got home the swelling was worse and he couldn't walk at all the pain was so bad, not only in the leg that was swollen but in the other leg from taking most of his weight.
So, back to the ER for the third time and because he was still considered post-surgery the first thing they checked for was a blood clot. Thankfully he didn't have one but had lymphadema instead, which apparently has no cure, and that's not good!
His swelling was gone by Tuesday but he used his cane till about Thursday. He went to his PCM and they tested him for gout and RA but thankfully those test came back negative and after some consulting with a specialist, his doctor who did the surgery and his regular doc they ruled out lymphadema also. That's a good thing but up until Monday of this week his knee and foot on his right leg and achilles on his left foot have really been bothering him to where by the end of the day he can hardly walk and is in enough pain to take pain meds to help him sleep.
We have been in prayer over this because he has a PFT to run in May or June. He went to his PCM this past Monday and was given some more pain meds as well as some muscle relaxer and we are waiting on a referal to a specialist for what his doctor calls and itis problem. He has achilles tendinitis in his left foot from putting extra weight on it and just an itis (inflammation) problem on his right leg but we don't really know why other then it has to be related to his surgery somehow because he was fine before that.
God has been answering our prayers though, the muscle relaxers are helping him to relax and sleep better and thereby letting his body do some healing naturally. He didn't take any meds today until this evening, PTL!
We are still praying for total healing and I am praying that as he starts to prepare for this PFT next week that he will not have any more problems!

Recruiting So Far Part 1

2011-02-27T06:27:00.000-08:00

So, most military wives know how hard recruiting is, have heard the horror stories from the wives who have been there that it is basically a 3 year deployment. We knew going into this that it would be hard and we were ready, mentally and emotionally for that because this is what Rob had to do in order to get promoted and continue with his Marine Corp career.
About 2 months into Rob's recruiting stint we have found that this wasn't going to be hard, it was going to be impossible, at least impossible without God. We weren't dealing with crazy 12 hour days as well as working Saturdays and Sundays, nope. He was home by 8 every night and had only worked about 2 Saturdays so far.
No, what Rob was dealing with was a boss who wasn't doing his job and treated my husband as if he had been on the recruiting field for a year and knew what he was doing. My poor husband was having to figure out how to do his job without any help from his boss, none. A friend of Rob's who had been a recruiter himself a few years ago told Rob that his boss was supposed to stick to him like glue the first 30 days of Rob getting there.
Yeah, his boss stuck to him for 2 days and that was it, nothing else was done to help my husband take what he had learned in school and apply it to real life. Nothing was done to encourage him; in fact he walked into work the first day and basically had a bucket of cold water poured on him and all his eagerness to get started and be the best recruiter he can be. The negativity he faced every day started to get to him as well as the stress of having to figure out how to do his job on his on.
He would find out things that he should be doing that would have been wonderful to know the first week on the job. And he is to this day still finding out things that he should have been told within his first week or so on the job.
Well, Rob and I started praying together and reading our Bible and just basically asking God to help us because the way things were/are going he isn't going to get promoted. I have had to learn to let go of my anger with his boss; anger that he would be so selfish and so caught up in his own life and problems that he wouldn't do his job and thus effect my husbands career. Instead I would pray for him. Not as often as I should and not as often as I know Rob does but I did.
I also stopped bad mouthing him whenever Rob would talk about things he had or hadn't done.
Of course those prayers helped and his boss has been trying to do better and has been doing better and things are going much better for Rob at work......... but
Now we have his health problems........

Budgeting Isn't Easy

2011-02-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

I am a fan of Dave Ramsey and his 7 Baby Steps for getting out of debt and building up that nest egg; I believe his plan works and know that it will work for me, however, I have been on Baby Step one for the past 3 years!
You may be thinking that I must be really bad with money if its taking me 3 years to build up an $1000 emergency fund. Well, you would be wrong, I have actually had the emergency fund for Baby Step 1 at least 5 times but then, as Dave likes to put it, Murphy comes knocking and I end up having to use it and then have to start all over again.
I am beginning to think that I will forever be stuck on the very first step and I just don't know how to stop it. I know all the right things to do with my finances and yet there is just never enough money to go around.

Some Goals

2011-02-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

After the really depressing post yesterday I'm going to try to make this one a bit more positive and talk about some goals I have; they were me new years goals that I am still actually working on even though January has past!
First, I am trying to learn Spanish, something that I have always wanted to do. I took Spanish in high school and in college but really if you don't use it you not only loose it but you never get any better. I am using Fluenz and not the ever popular Rosetta Stone, which I did try once but ended up selling because I was in school at the time and just didn't have the time it takes to devote to another language.
Now, briefly what I like about Fluenz is the personal interaction with the teacher who breaks things down for you after each lesson verse just showing you a bunch of pictures that you have to match with the correct Spanish word like Rosetta Stone. I am on lesson 3 but have stopped because I'm trying to figure out how to use what I'm learning so that I don't loose it and so I can of course get better at speaking it.
I wish Rob had the time to watch the lessons with me but he can't so I was thinking that what I need to do is just start speaking to him what I have learned. Maybe he will pick up that way and I can at least get in some practice. I just need to remember to actually do that; yesterday I did wake up and tell him " Necesito un cafe!" He knew what that one was lol!
I'm also looking on the web all the time for anything that can help with my Spanish journey and have found another Spanish program that I would buy if I could afford it that I think would be even better for Rob to use. Its called Visual Link Spanish and I like how it breaks the words into groups, then gives you a picture for the word, like a person running from a dog for the word run. I also found a website with some tons of videos on different things about Spanish grammer or verbs that a Spanish teacher put together to help his students or anyone else. His lessons on este/ese really helped me remember the difference between the two!
I love languages and would love to learn French and German, Italian and Russian!!

Warning...This May be Depressing!

2011-02-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to write for a while but have been avoiding it because it seems like everything I want to right about is sad, depressing and kinda makes me sound like I am a whiny baby; which I am not but I am getting to the point where I would like to be!
To start off with I'm soooo missing my BFF back in NC; her husband just deployed yesterday for a year and even though this isn't her first deployment it is her first year long one and I'm sad that I'm not there to help her through it like I have before.
Next, there is the fact that I thought I was FINALLY going to get to go to school for ASL Interpreter training but, and to be honest I saw this coming, its just not going to work out. You know this has been a dream of mine since I was 13 and its never worked out for me and yet I'm not that sad about really; I think maybe I'm used to the idea of it only ever being a dream.
Then we have the kiddos; I know every mom out there feels like they aren't doing a good job from time to time and that's how I am feeling right now. I spent about an hour talking with hubby about how to help out B who struggles with reading, has been tested for dyslexia and is such a perfectionist first born that she doesn't want my help! AHHHHH!
Money issues are next on my thoughts; I am trying so dang hard to pay of some debt. I'm trying to follow Dave Ramsey but every time I get the first Baby Step done I end up having to use that emergency money and have to start all over again. I feel like I can't seem to get ahead at all and I wonder if I am making wise decisions financially.
Last, I see myself here in TX for the next 2 1/2 years doing the same-dang-thing day in and day out and its depressing. I had hoped that by going to school I would be able to get out of the house and meet people but that's not going to happen now so I just see me stuck working , working and going to Church, taking the girls to their ballet and art classes and that's it.
Told you this was depressing but please don't feel sorry for me, I really needed to get this off my mind and I'll be fine!

Sundays

2011-02-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

I love Sundays, its the one day of the week where being lazy seems completely ok; like I could spend the whole day just sitting on my couch messing around on the computer or watching TV and no one would fault me for it!
I love how the day starts with going to church to learn about God and worship Him and then we either go out to lunch or come home and eat leftovers, and then I do NOTHING!
WOO HOO!!!!
I also don't like Sundays because it is the last day of the weekend and I know that when I go to bed at night I will be waking up to MONDAY!
I agree with Garfield when it comes to Mondays; I hate the start of a new week and having to get up to the sound of an alarm clock. I like being lazy and doing nothing thank you very much!
I like it when hubby and I can take a nap together on Sundays; they don't happen often and I bet it wont happen today because he is currently in the computer room working. Yeah, I know its Sunday what is he thinking doing work today?! Well, maybe I should go remind him about how wonderful lazy Sundays are and see if he will take a nap with me because I just yawned and ooh here comes another one.
Yep, I need a nap now, laters!

Update

2011-02-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Things are pretty much the same here day in and day out; M-F the girls go to school and hubby and I go to work. Tuesday, B has art and W & TH is ballet days. We go to church on Sunday and have met one couple there; the husband is a former Marine, and we travel to Dallas about once a month to spend time with Rob's family.
That's it, that's my life. I was hoping to start school in August for sign language interpreting but if the three classes that I would like to take are scheduled the way I think they will be there is no way I can take all three at one time. I will look into taking one but the problem is how much time would I have to take off from work and can we afford it? I'm not surprised that its going to come down to that, I knew me finally being able to go to school for ASL was too good to be true but I'm trying not to pout and get disappointed and wait and see what my options are when the time comes.
I'll be honest, I'm lonely. I miss all my friends back in NC. I still chat with them either on the phone, text or via Facebook but its not the same. I have a friend who's hubby is deploying soon for a year and she has some health issues and it hurts that I'm not there to help her out with both those things.
I would LOVE to be able to go visit next summer but the amount of money I would need to save, weather I fly or drive is crazy and I just don't see how I can come up with it when I have some debt I'm trying to tackle first.
I wish all my friends could come see me but they work, have kids and face the same money issue getting here that I face going to NC so don't see that happening. Add on top of this the stress of hubby's job and some things he has been dealing with and I'm really wishing we were still in NC!!
Things will get better I'm sure but for now I'm just taking it all one day at a time and leaning on the Lord.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2010-12-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know the first part is late and the 2nd part is early but I wanted to say it to everyone anyway. I do hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.
I can't believe that its almost 2011! Time is flying by and for me and hubby we really do hope it flies by fast so we can get finished with recruiting and move on; no one likes recruiting duty and we are no exception to that rule.
We are also praying that God will bless hubby with a promotion in the New Year; its really a long shot so we know that the only way it could happen is by the hand of God. That will be our biggest prayer for 2011. We had another prayer that we have been praying about most of 2010 but I believe we got our answer yesterday. I'm not going to lie, I am sad but God knows best.
Now, onto my goals for 2011

Become certified in medical coding
Start classes for sign language interpreting
Pay off some debt

I can't think of anything else right now but I think that's enough to start with! Well, I could add be better at getting B to read to me and help Tiny T with learning her vowels and letter sounds and work on her reading skills.

What are some of your 2011 goals?

One Month Later!

2010-12-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! Can't believe that I haven't written anything in exactly a month but that is what happens when things change and you get busy. So, here is an update of my life.
I am back to working from home again, PTL!! I have a phone job that pays by the hour so I'm working it during the day and another one of mine in the early morning and at night after the girls go to bed. I know it seems that I work an awful lot to some people but I added all the time I am on the phone up and its actually only 8 1/2 hours, so that's really a normal work day.
I am thinking of adding some evening hours to the hourly paying job after the new year because more money is always a good thing!
The girls are out of school this Wednesday for a really long winter break so I spent a ridiculous amount of money to put them in to the YMCA's Winter Camp so that I could work still. I kinda wish I had put them in the drop in care I found for it wouldn't have cost me near as much but at least they love going to the Y and know most of the kids there.
We will be driving up early Friday morning to my MIL's to spend Christmas with her and Kent & Amy and little Delaney. I'm excited, the girls are excited and Carolyn is really excited!
I'm looking forward to the new year and what God has in store for us; I am praying that maybe Rob could pick up rank in 2011 and that some other prayers I have will be answered and I'm getting excited when I think about the fact that I will be able to FINALLY go to school to be a sign language interpreter come August.
God is so good to us!!

Update

2010-11-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in a hotel room writing this while hubby is watching TV; we are chilling after spending 4 hours in the ballroom of the hotel for the Marine Corp Ball. Rob's brother and his wife were here with us ( thought they went home afterwards) and we had a good time but I have to say it was nice to get all those bobby pins out of my hair!!!
We will head home tomorrow afternoon but will be back at my MIL's for Thanksgiving on Wednesday and will stay till Sunday. Saturday is B's birthday and we will have a small party for her. I know she misses her friends and I hate that for her.
After a ton of prayer and talking it over with Rob and some friends I finally decided to quit my job and go back to working at home; my last day is this Tuesday. I'm so dang excited and nervous at the same time. I know that for me this is the right decision but I also know that Rob really wanted me to stay at this job for as long as I could.
I have been looking for an hourly phone job; so far the two that I have had calls about don't have hours I can work. Friday I put in an application for one that offers perfect hours for me so I am praying that this may be the one. For now I'll work the two phone jobs I have and pray that I make enough which I know I can but I am nervous about it. I will also look for a part time job out of the home as well.
Some more good news is that Rob signed over his GI Bill to me so that I can go to school and finally train to be an sign language interpreter. I can't wait but I have to because I wont be able to start till August of next year!!

Guess What I Have

2010-10-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Allergies dang it!
I have never had any problems with allergies in my life and I was happy with that; then we move to TX and right after the girls got sick my ears started to hurt so I went to the doctor thinking that maybe I had an ear infection but after describing the pressure feeling that I had in both ears and the Dr looking at my ears while I tried to get the to pop ( which they wont) he told me that this are of TX is know for bad allergies and that's what I have.
I also hope that these allergies don't get worse; right now the only problem I have is the ear pressure, I really hope I don't start getting itchy, watery eyes or a stuffy nose. I also hope that B and Tiny T don't have any problems too.
Rob had his MRI on of his back yesterday and he should have the results Tuesday; he is having major issues with his ankle, not sure if its from the back problems or something totally unrelated but I am praying that God will heal him of all his problems, without any surgery!
B has been having some reading problems and she came home with a letter a few days ago saying that the school wants to have her tested for dyslexia.
Poor Rob, that was the one thing he prayed over the girls the most; he has it and knows how hard it can be but I'm thankful that God placed them in a school that saw what the problem was and now she can get the help she needs. I'm also happy to know that the problems I was having with her when we would do homework wasn't because she was acting that way due to me being mom but because she really was having a hard time.

It's B's Turn

2010-10-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

To be sick, poor thing. She started complaining of a sore throat Saturday night and by late this afternoon she had a fever and has pretty much been in bed since 4 pm! So, I'll be missing two more days of work; plan on taking B to the doctor as soon as I can get her in and she wont be able to go back to school till Wednesday. My prayer now is that I don't get sick too! I am being careful though and not drinking or eating after either one of them.
We had a nice weekend at my MIL; her neighborhood does this Halloween Carnival every year with games and trick- or -treating and since we are new to the are we thought we would just take them there this year. They dressed up as cheerleaders and had fun playing games and getting too much candy. B and I both one a cake walk, something I love to play but never have one till now!
My MIL took us to dinner Saturday night and my SIL and BIL treated us to breakfast this morning. I'm so happy to live close enough to see them more often then every two years. We will next be at her house for the Marine Corp Ball which isn't far from where his mom lives. She will watch the girls for us and we are going to stay at a hotel too!
Now, to find a ball gown and we are all set!

To Work or Not to Work

2010-10-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

So, I have been working the past two weeks a my new job. It's not hard but if they don't train me on something else soon I will quit out of sheer boredom! It is only a temporary job as of now so I am going to try and stick with it.
I'm going to be honest here and say that I hate having to work, put my girls in after school care, get home at 5:30 and then rush around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things done before I go to bed. For the past 8 years I was blessed to be able to work from home and be there for my children and I'm only now truly seeing how blessed I was to be able to do that.
Oh, I knew it while I was running my daycare and I did thank God for allowing me to be home with my babies and to watch them grow but I complained way more then I said thank you.
I am wondering if by having this job outside of the home now, something I thought that I always wanted to have, God is trying to show me what I have had all along. And there in lies the problem that I am faced with- do I keep this job ( it may open up to a permanent position for me) or do I say no thank you my place is at home with my girls?
I am so torn on that because we really could use the extra money and because hubby really wants me to work and make that extra money but at the same time I know what my girls are missing out on by having a working mom and it is making me feel very guilty. If I quit this job and stick to my two WAH ones I know that while hubby wont stop me he wont be very happy either.
I am praying that God will show me the right thing to do for me and my family because right now I'm torn and just don't know what to do.

Job Hunting

2010-09-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

So, I have a job, two in fact. I work them from home during the day while the girls are at school and at night while they are asleep. They have been paying me enough to pick up the slack where needed but Rob and I are wanting to follow Dave Ramesy's plan and get that debt taken care of ASAP and that includes the student loan debt that I will have to start paying next year.
Soooo, I have been looking for a job outside the home and have applied for 3 so far. I have an interview on Tuesday for a part time job and I just finished the skills assessment for a full time one that is basically what I am doing at home only at an actual call center and for much more money lol!
But, I really don't want to work outside of the home; I like being able to work when I want and if I need to run errands or get my kids from school I can just take off without the fear of what a supervisor is going to think or say.
Seeing as how we need the extra money in order to make things work I guess I will do what I have to do but I am praying that the perfect job for me will be found, it is out there I just have to have faith and keep searching.

Settling In

2010-09-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been in our new house for a week and 3 days and we are starting to feel settled; this is the week that Rob and I are working on getting our schedules down, getting up time and getting girls to school, working out and me fitting in some work on the phones.
I am liking what I have seen of Waco so far; its a really pretty area and I think I am going to like living here. The girls seem to be adjusting well and I even have them back in ballet. School is going ok for them too.
We haven't had a chance to look for a Church but next Sunday we will be picking one and going, praying that God will guide us to the one for us. I have put in one job application and may put in more but I also want to see how my two WAH jobs work for me as well so I may not put in too many yet.
Rob will start work next month so I'm enjoying having him home right now before the recruiter madness begins!

On the Move!

2010-09-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially no longer stationed at Camp Lejeune; we cleared housing with no problems, only had to pay $15 for some damage to the floor. We have been at my moms since yesterday and will leave early tomorrow for TX, we plan on taking 3 days to get there and have already planned our route and booked the hotels.
Once we get to Rob's moms house we will be there for about a week until its time to pick up the keys to our house and then wait a few days for the movers to come. I'm sad to be leaving all my family and friends but also ready to get settled into our new home!

So tired!

2010-08-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have been sooo tired the last few days; seems like I have been going non stop and the bad thing is that its going to get worse before it gets better, boo! The good news is that in just a few short days Rob will be home! The girls are getting very excited and so am I!
You know, sometimes I try to picture myself in our new house in TX; I will see myself at my desk working or doing my school work or maybe in the kitchen cooking dinner but its kind of blurry because we only saw the house for a short time because we didn't know then that we would even be able to get that exact place. God really has been good to us throughout this whole process even if I do have a hard with letting go and letting God.
This past Saturday I had a good friend over for a little girl time while my kiddos were away; we went shopping and out to dinner and then came back to my place to watch a chick flick. Then when she left even though I tried not to, I started crying. She has been a great friend and I am going to miss her along with many other friends that I have made over the years. I hate having to say goodbye to them.
I keep telling the girls to spend time with their friends and that in a few short days they will have to say goodbye. I don't really know how much they understand; Tiny T thinks that if we come back to visit it will be to see this house before they tear it down lol!

Moving Slowly

2010-08-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

July went by so fast for me that I just knew August would drag by and I was right, it has. Today was the pre-inspection for checking out of housing. I am happy to say that it was really easy, my theory about having a clean house from the get go and not giving them any reason to look closer was correct so now my prayer is that the final inspection goes just as smooth and is done by the same lady.
In only 8 days and a wake up Rob will be home and before we know it this long stage of our lives will end and another one will begin. I am sad to be leaving the great friends that I have here in NC but I'm so happy to be moving near Rob's family.
Speaking of his family they have all been so nice and each one, his Mom, brother and sister-in-law have offered us any help we need. Funny but his SIL is worried I wont like TX but I have told her before that being a military wife I am used to change and it really doesn't bother me.
Now, that isn't to say that this is going to be easy but even though I'm leaving my family I am coming to my other family and I have some wonderful ladies who are near by at Ft Hood that I can't wait to meet in person after having only known them through the Internet!!!!
All in all I think this will be a good time in our lives so I'm ready for it and wish Augus would just move on by!

Happy

2010-07-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

I am sooooo happy to finally know where the Marine Corp is going to send us and even more excited that it is where we have been praying for. We are going to be moving to Waco, TX come September.
Whew, that really is a load lifted off my shoulders, well it was for about an hour and then hubby and I started talking about finding a place now or waiting till we got to TX. We have weighed the pros and cons and to be honest even though it really makes me nervous we have decided to try and find a place to rent now.
It helps that God really does seem to have his hand in things because there just happens to be a place available in the same area we looked at while we were there earlier this month about two houses down from the one we looked at. Funny, but every time I pictured us in our new house I would see that house even though I really had no idea if we would even be in Waco.
I will be mailing of the application and all fees and deposits today and I'm praying for peace ( you know to help with the nerves) from God that this is the right thing and that we will be able to get this place.
Ok, I really hope that September hurries up and gets here because truly I am ready to get this move done and over with!

I'm here!

2010-07-10T04:20:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that I am here and have been around but have been busy with school and a trip to TX; the girls and I came home Thursday and its nice to be back home and back into our normal routine.
Hubby is at recruiting school and we will find out this month where we will be moving too!!! I can't wait and we both feel confident that we will get to move to TX we just aren't sure where in TX yet. I think I'll make a big announcement on Facebook once I get the news; I need to head over there and start building up excitement lol!
Along with our prayers for moving to TX hubby and I are still praying for that other thing that's been on our minds, well I am more then he is but he told me he still prays some. I don't see that one being answered anytime soon because timing is an issue so my next prayer is for a job.
I still have the WAH job and I have been applying for others but some I want to save till after the move. My prayers are for a job either in the home or out that will bring in some good money to help us; with student loans coming due next year we need all the help we can get!

I don't have a problem with working while the girls are in school and I don't even mind putting them in before school care but I really want to be home when they get home from school so I'm wanting a job that can allow me to do that; I hope to keep the job I have now so that it can be my 2nd night time job and then find something to do during the day.

The move is coming up faster and faster; looks like we will be moving around September 3! When I think about that I'm like WOW!!! Time really has gone by fast! I'm excited and nervous and really just ready to move and get our lives in our new home started.

I'm Still Here

2010-06-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

I have been busy with school and work and spending time with hubby before he heads of to school and then I also really haven't felt much like writing; not sure why but that's the truth.
Time is flying by and before I know it we will be moving! I am so ready to be done and settled because this whole recruiting school thing is really hurting us right now financially; if we hadn't had to fix Rob's truck on two separate occasions we would be ok but we did and had to dip into savings to do so. UGH!!!!

I have been praying/researching two things of late that has really got me thinking; the first started after something I had read on a blog and it had something to do with creation, anyway I have been reading a lot about old/young earth and creation/evolution and we have two little girls who I have been telling that God created the earth and everything in it but this blog got me to thinking about the deeper questions that go along with that, the how old is the earth? Could God have used evolution in his creation? Doest the age of the earth really matter?

So, wanting to be able to give my children some kind of answer to those questions that will come up one day, especially if they stay in public schools, I started researching and oh boy, lets just say that there are no easy answers and it may be a while before I even know what I believe on such a deep subject!!

Then another blog got me to thinking about what I'm training my girls to be, homemakers or anything they want and do I really know what God created women to be? I talked with hubby some and have read some more blogs and prayed some and I do believe that God created women to be the helpmate to their husbands and to be at home raising their children but I think I am having a hard time with teaching just that to my girls; not every women out there will get married and I don't want my girls to feel that if they don't get married they have failed their calling but at the same time if my girls do get married and have children then they need to know how to be a wife and a mom and run a home and I want them to do that while staying at home so I'm still working on how to go about that one.

Yeah, so some deep thinking going on in my brain and I pray that whatever answers I come to that they come from God and I have peace about them.

Our Dating Story

2010-06-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

The first challenge from the Completing Him Challenge is to share your dating story and then tell what you plan on doing that you may have done during the dating days to captivate your husband.

I meet my husband at Church and because it was a small Church and he was one of a handful of single men I noticed him right away but when I found out how old he was and that he was divorced with a son I didn't think it would work out, but I still couldn't stop thinking about him and in July 3 of 2001 while at my moms he came over with my younger sisters then boyfriend to help him cook the pig for the BBQ we were going to be having at Church the next day.
While playing cards that night he played footsie with me ( something he says he doesn't remember) and then later we went for a long walk and did nothing but talk and talk. I knew that night that I was going to marry him and I even knew that it would be in December!

December 4, 5 months to the day of us starting dating while sitting in my apartment kitchen he stumbled out a proposal and before I knew it we had set a date for December 23. We basically eloped; the only person from my family there was my youngest sister and her son; my moms Christmas present was a framed copy of our marriage certificate!

We have now been married for 8 1/2 years and have two beautiful girls. Something that my husband says I don't do now that I did while dating was to be more open and honest with him, he says that I now tend to get defensive instead so I want to work on that as well as our communication in general because over the years as your family grows and changes you loose some of what you used to have while dating and during those first years of marriage.

Desires

2010-05-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

I know a TON of women who are pregnant; most of them are my Facebook friends but I do have one neighbor who is due in July. I love following along with their pregnancies and love it when they post a blog update and baby bump pictures and I'll admit I am jealous too.

See, I have NEVER wanted a boy, I love that I have girls and was always afraid I would get a boy who was one of those wild, bull in the china closet types that would wear mommy out within the first hour of waking up.

But, I also wish that I could give my husband a son; yes he does already have a son from his first marriage but due to the divorce he wasn't around and hasn't been as involved as I know he would like to have been and so I long to give him that chance to father a son.

Even though we are done having children I still actually have a desire for one, a desire that wars with my desire for no more most days but it is there and I have fully admitted it to my hubby and I pray about it, pray that God would just take away this desire or if not then bless us with one. I feel like if I have this desire for one maybe its from God and at the same time I wonder if I'm just being selfish and if my jealousy of others being preggo are whats giving me these thoughts.

Actually, I have had these thoughts for years so that may not be it but still I do wonder if they are my own desires or from God.

Does God even place desires like that in your heart? I know it says in his Word that he will give us the desires of our heart and wanting another child isn't a bad thing to desire and I have prayed numerous times for the desire to go away but its always there even when I think its gone it will show back up at unexpected times; like when its that time of month and I always feel sad that I'm not pregnant.

Maybe its something that most women go through when they make that decision to have no more children, maybe is a natural process but the thing is, we made the choice of no more children 5 1/2 years ago after the birth of our 2nd child and the desire is still there for me.

Hmmmm.......

I even wonder if the desire would go away if we had a third child, now that is scary because I never thought I would want three let alone 4!

Boy, are you guys tired of this topic yet? I know I have written about it at least twice before, but I just needed to get it out because its been on my mind again a lot lately.

Lord, I again come to you with this desire to provide a son to my husband and just the desire for another child. I don't know if this desire is from you or if its normal for me to think these thoughts or if they are selfish and come just from jealousy but I do know that they are here and have been for a long time and I again ask for your will to be done.
Amen

Why I love my husband

2010-05-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

He puts up with my family
He is always honest with me
He is a GREAT father
He is faithful
I can trust him
He is there when I need him
He trusts me
He is an amazing Marine
He loves God
He prays for his children
He prays for me
He is funny
He is great a cuddling
He likes guns
He likes boats
He doesn't spend money if I tell him we are broke
He trusts me to handle the money
He is proud of me for going to collage

I want to start filling my mind with more positive thoughts about my husband because I sometimes let those negative thought from Satan creep in and we all know that garbage in equals garbage out.

But I KNOW that I have been blessed with an awesome husband one that God picked for me and I don't want to ever loose sight of that fact. I want to always show respect to him and one way I can do that is to think on the good of my husband so that I can reflect it back to him.

Can you teach and old dog new tricks?

2010-05-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not trying to call myself a dog or old but I am saying that I have a habit and its not a good one and so I'm trying to figure out how to stop it and now your wondering what that habit is right?

I interrupt my husband when he is talking..... and it really pi**es him off to the point that he will not talk to me after I do it.

We have been married for 8 1/2 years and I have yet to break myself of this habit; oh sometimes I remember not to do it and I'll bite my tongue, or finger ( for real) and wait my turn but for the most part I just don't think about it in the middle of our conversations at all until I do it and see the look on his face.

For hubby it is a lack of respect; he feels that if I interrupt him then I don't have any respect for him or what he has to say to me.

For me, its just something I do and not a lack of respect because I don't mean to make him feel that way, I just get excited in the course of the conversation and have something to say so I say it.

I really do want to change this habit though but I have no clue how; I think part of the problem is that I don't see it as a problem but I do want to stop because it bothers him.

We have talked about it but hubby has no idea how to help me and the only thing I can think of is to make sure we take turns holding a shoe or some object that means the person holding it gets to speak and when they are done they pass it to the other person. Hubby pointed out that it may be hard to do something like that while driving in a car but hey its the only thing I can think of!

I mean, I really do forget about him not liking being interrupted while we are talking and what if I try sooooo hard to remember not to interrupt him that I don't hear anything he has to say to begin with? Wouldn't that be just as bad??

Oh, and I have been praying about this but hey, if anyone has any ideas I am open to them please!

Worry/Faith

2010-05-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am currently struggling in the area of our finances due to my job not providing me with as much money as I would like to have, Rob going to NY and recruiting and our vacation this summer to TX.
Now, generally I am not much of a worrier; I tend to pray about things and then just not think about them much. OH, I may worry when they cross my mind but not for long and mostly I trust God but money, well I have struggled in that area for since I was a teen living on my own.
I have been praying that either the job I have now will pick up so I can make more money or that God will provide me with another job. I have also been hoping that a check from my school would come in the mail, I normally get one for what I didn't use of my loan and we could really use it.
I am also not praying anymore about our SECRET. I really want this SECRET but I'm doubting if its a good idea and even if God wants it to happen. O me of little faith!!!!!
Wonder if my lack of quiet time with the Lord is part of my worry/faith problem right now? I haven't even been praying as much as I used to. I sooo wish prayer wasn't such a hard thing for me; reading the Bible I can do much easier then praying daily.
What I really want is this move to be over and we are all nice and settled in our new place and I find a job or something and things basically settle down for the next two or three years.
Somehow I dobut that will happen while Rob is on recruiting duty, ugh!!!

I finished.....

2010-04-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

School , finally!!!! I sent in my last exam today, posted my textbook for sale on Amazon and breathed a sigh of relief that was short lived because I remembered the student loans that will come due next year ~sigh~

I am still in school though; I'm taking my Military to Medicine classes and whats cool about that is my sister is taking them too so we will be able to help each other out woo hoo!!!

Rob's orders have been changed yet a gain but this time they moved them up; he is now going to school in July and we will be moving in September. That seems soooo much closer the November. I don't think it has hit me yet but it will once he leaves for school.

I am just taking it one day at a time and praying that God will lead us to the state ( TX) he wants us to be and the house that we need to be living and the job that I want!

OH, I'll still be doing some kind of work at home job for a while; I do like the job, well not the selling part. I applied for another one but it could take 6 weeks before I here back from them.

I am still praying and working on my faith in the decision Rob and I have made; us moving sooner is a good thing for this SECRET and so it makes me wonder if this is God's hand and we will get the SECRET we have been praying for. I hope to know something before we move maybe even next month but for now its just a prayer and a SECRET!!!

Sad

2010-04-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, an old friend of mine had IM'd me out of the blue and of course I missed it! She used to be a BIG part of my life from the time we meet when I was 14 till about a year or two after I was married. She joined the Coast Guard the same time that Rob did, moved to Florida and there starting living a lifestyle that I don't agree with.

I used to have her as a friend on FB but deleted her because she was never on; so I looked her up again and found that nothing has changed and it really breaks my heart.

I lead her to the Lord years ago but feel so guilty that I never set the right and best example of what a Christan should be; I had left God pretty far behind myself even though I still believed in Him I just wasn't living for Him so of course my friend didn't learn how to live for Him either.

I tend to feel very guilty about that and feel that how she is living her life is partly my fault. I pray for her a lot; whenever she pops into my mind I pray that someone will come into her life and show her that it doesn't matter how she has been living her life God will forgive her and she can come back to Him.
I dream that she will pick up the phone and call me asking me to pray for her and help her to get away from her sinful life. And after seeing that things are still the same I just want to cry because again I feel that its my fault.

So, I'll continue to pray for her and if we start to talk again I'll pray that God will give me words to say that will some how lead her to him.

Waiting

2010-04-21T19:55:00.001-07:00

It isn't going to be easy for me to wait and see when God will answer mine and Rob's prayer; I know that He will answer it but I don't know when and that is the part that drives me nuts lol!!

I am afraid that the longer I have to wait for God's timing the more I will doubt; I am already having to fight some creeping doubt and remind myself again why I know that God will answer our prayers. Excitement and just wanting to have the answer NOW is making it hard for me but I'm trusting and praying that our answer will come next month ( that's not too soon right?).

But that too is hard for me because I think that there are better times for the answer to come and then I remember how hard its going to be for me to be waiting month after month. Yeah, I have no patience can't you tell?

I think it would help if I had someone other then Rob to talk to about this and pray with me but even though Rob told a few people from our home church for some reason I am afraid that if I told someone they would think it was silly to pray for this and that maybe Rob and I are wrong and God doesn't want this for us. So, I think it is a good thing I have no one to talk this over with but that just means I wish I could spill the beans here and even though I only have a handful of people who may read my blog I can't take the chance that you guys do read it and think I'm silly and tell others.

I know, I know, silly of me to feel that way but I do. I really hate waiting, come on next month and give me my answer Lord!! I am ready and I know what you want for Rob and I!!!

Praise Him in the Storm

2010-04-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

My tittle today is a line from a song by Casting Crowns and it popped into my head yesterday as I was driving to pick the girls up from school. Some background; Rob drove up to Virgina yesterday and not even half way there he had noticed that his truck was leaking oil, bad. We debated on him turning around and just coming home but he was almost to the Virgina/North Carolina boarder so I looked up the closest Nissan dealer and that was in Roanoke Rapids so he stopped in to have his truck looked at.

I was in my car praying that whatever was wrong with it wouldn't cost us too much, we had just spent over a thousand on normal maintenance, and that it could be finished quickly when I stopped mid-prayer and started to thank God that we do have the money to fix the truck and we have the money for Rob to get a rental car if needed and I thanked him that Rob found the problem before it caused anything bad to happen while he was driving the truck; basically I was just praising him through this storm.

I had always wondered how would I be able to praise God while I was going through some kind of trial; wouldn't it be to hard to see past the worry, fear or pain that I was in to remember to thank God for anything??

I am so glad that I was able to thank God for providing for us and guess what? After I thanked him I wasn't worried anymore! And when Rob called to tell me that the repairs could cost up to $1500 and the truck wouldn't be ready till Monday so he would have to rent a car to get to Virgina and then home, I didn't worry I just again thanked God that we do have the money and that He will continue to provide for us.

I'm also thankful that my job with LiveOps is providing us some extra money and I have applied for another WAH job that I'm praying about. God sees our needs and he will provide so I will just keep praising him in the storm!

Work At Home

2010-04-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

As you know I am currently working a job called LiveOps where I take phone calls for people who are ordering things they have seen on TV. I am also working on my gift basket consulting business with La Bella Baskets ( that will take some time to see results). I have worked a phone job at home once before so knew that it would be something I could do and would like.
Through LiveOps I have found more WAH job opportunities then I ever knew about and I knew about quite a few. I applied for one today called VoiceLog because they pay by the hour and there is no selling involved!!! I'm praying hard that I get this one even though it does mean I will have to work nights again.

Rob and I were praying about a big decision a while back and we figured out what to do and now we are just praying that God will work a miracle for us. We have decided not to tell anyone what this is about with the exception of our Pastor and two others from our home church. We wanted them to be praying for us.
Its hard not saying anything for me, sometimes, I wish I had someone I could tell this to so that I could have them praying and pray with me when I need it. I have struggled with my faith a lot on this issue. I know that God can preform this miracle but I doubted that He would for us but I have past that doubt now and know that God can and will because we know that He wants too.
I just hope it doesn't take to long because the wait is going to be really hard for me !!!

Bet it will be hard for the few people who read my blog too!

I can imagine you guys scratching your heads and trying to guess what I'm talking about; well keep guessing and I hope soon I can tell you everything!

BUSY!

2010-04-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

I have been soooo busy enjoying my hubby being home, school and trying to fit in a few hours on the phone with work that I haven't had time to blog or read or watch TV; ugh!
I don't mind being busy but I hate feeling like there just isn't enough time in the day to get things done; I have taken to setting a timer and working in 15 minuet increments on my school work because if I didn't I don't think I would ever get anything done. It really has helped me to focus on my work and not get distracted. I need to try this approach to some other areas of my life such as housework and time with the girls. I feel that I neglect them so much when I am trying to get my work done.
The job is going ok; I am starting to get more calls and this means making more money but it has made me a bit obsessed with working lol! I try to get on and take calls everyday. I really don't have much choice because I can only work at certain times of day.
I have also been trying to promote my gift basket business; I have printed a few catalogs to give to a few people and then keep one in my car. I have a work phone and business cards too. Sucks that you have to spend money before you make money but I'm praying that God will bless this job and let it take off for me. Oh, I have some email leads too that I need to work on as well, guess that's on my to do list for tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone has had a great Easter Sunday so far. Ours has been great; we left early this morning to go to my sisters house before church. Our girls had spent the night there and I had left their Easter dresses at home.
After Church we headed back to my sisters house and had lunch along with my brother and his girlfriend and some friends of my sisters. We ate, chatted and played poker till we decided to leave. When we told the girls it was time to go B asked if she could stay and so did Tiny T; so Rob and I are getting another night to ourselves!
I am tired though and so is he; we haven't slept well since he came home so I hope to get some much better sleep tonight!
I have to work the phones tonight; I have a goal of making $100 this week from this job and a goal of getting some flyers up for my gift basket job and getting a 2nd phone that I can use. I have my phone number on my website and on the one flyer I printed up but I really don't want to give that number out to people so yesterday Rob and I looked into adding a line but it was more then we wanted to spend so I have decided to go with a pre-paid phone, just not sure if I'll use T Mobile or TracFone.
I have decided to get a job through a temp service once the girls start back school in August; even if both jobs are working well for me I may still do it because I want to pay of some bills before next year so the more money I can bring in the better!!

My New Business

2010-03-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

So, in my search for ways to bring in a little income for my family I have turned to working at home jobs something I am familiar with having run a daycare from my home and taken calls for DirectTV for about a year once.
My current phone job is with a company called LiveOps and I'm taking calls for people who want to order things they see from commercials on TV. Not a bad job but there are some things about it that make me think this may not be long term for me so I went seeking something else that may work better and came across La Bella Baskets a great gift giving site full of beautiful baskets for any occasion. I hesitated on signing up not sure how I would do at promoting my new business but I like the idea of not having to host parties at peoples houses or mine but instead I can send an email or pass out a business card ( once I have them made) and I even want to get one of those car magnets with my business info on it!
So, wish me luck on my new job and please check out my site for your gifting needs, share it with your friends and if you would like a job that you can work from home check out this site for more information on how you can become a gift basket consultant too!

Sickness, books and more

2010-03-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

So, my youngest daughter gave me her cold and for the past 3 days I have been suffering with the runny nose, aching neck, and now a cough. I'm just glad that I'll be over this before Rob comes home; for some reason when he gets sick he always gets it twice as bad so a cold for me turns into a cough that will last for months and is probably bronchitis but the stupid Navy docs just keep pushing Mucinex instead of the antibiotics he needs. ( yep, this really did happen to him).

Other then the cold things are going ok. I'm keeping up with school and I have been working whenever I can. I'm still not sure how well this work at home job is going to pay; there are things I found out about it after I started ( of course) but I knew that with the few hours I have available right now I wouldn't be able to make much money yet but I didn't know that you have to work at getting call volume. Oh, well. I have made some money and I'll take what I can get and pray that once they are back in school this fall that I can make more since I'll be able to work more hours.

Rob and I are have been praying about an important decision and all though we know what God wants us to do we don't know the how because we have two options. Last night Rob and I were chatting via email and we both think that maybe we are over thinking this whole thing and when he comes home we are going to pray together and even take one day and fast and pray on it. We really want to make the right choice in this matter.

I have been reading the South Beach Diet by Dr. Agatston and have really learned a lot about the how carbs work in your body and what is a good carb or a bad carb. The diet really does seem very easy to follow but I found myself thinking that I couldn't do it because I don't like beans or nuts but then it hit me that it really is a mind set and if I set my mind to doing this and say "Yes I can!" and do it just they way I have done with exercise then I know I can and I know that Rob will too. It will be harder for because of the type of job he has but we will make the most of it.

Last night was the 2nd night of Saturday church and I love it! It is messing with me though because I woke up this morning thinking that today was Monday! Looking forward to Rob going with me for the Easter service next week. We will also be going to our home church Sunday morning so we get to Easter services, good thing I just bought two dresses at Target; one is my official Easter dress the other can be for the Saturday service. The girls also have their dresses and they are both so cute. I will have to take pics and put them up.

Can't Sleep

2010-03-23T03:40:00.000-07:00

So this new job has me up an extra hour at night, instead of getting to bed a 10 pm I am going at 11 pm and then I lay tossing an turning either thinking about the calls I took and how well I did and am I going to like this job enough to stick with it and make money or I'm thinking about something very important that Rob and I have been talking about for the past week. It kept me up for an extra hour last night and toatlly threw off my morning schedule!

It is so important its life changing, but in a good way and yet its a scary thing too especially the financial aspect of it.

Ohhhh I bet you guys are just dying to know what in the world I could be talking about but I'm not saying a word. For now Rob and I are going to keep this between us and God for we are doing a TON of praying about it.

I will just be glad when I can stop the questioning is this the right thing and be at perfect peace with what ever we decided to do. We both do feel God leading us in this one direction however I have some issues with the money part that are seriously trying my faith, but I'm just going to focus on God and leave it in his hands.

Homecoming and Easter

2010-03-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I found out the date that Rob will be coming home and now all I am waiting on is the time but I know that I wont get that until a few days before. I will be sooooo happy to finally have him home because I'm getting a bit burned out and loosing patience with the girls and yelling and I don't like me when I'm like that and I'm sure the girls don't either!

Easter is coming up quickly and I have yet to buy the girls or me our dresses and shoes, mostly because I am just so busy with school and work right now. I don't have any plans this weekend so I guess we will go out Saturday and do our shopping.

So, how was Easter celebrated in your home as a child? I remember Easter egg hunts and an occasional Easter basket but that's about all. I have friends who get a basket and goodies for their children but am I strange because I haven't ever done that for my girls? I always get a new dress so that they will have something new to wear to church ( and because its such a great excuse to go shopping!) but they don't get a basket of candy ( I would end up eating most of it, not good for the waist line!) or any kind of toys. They do get candy from the church Easter egg hunt but that's all.

Bible Study- Session 6

2010-03-17T03:23:00.000-07:00

Discussion Question

Are you totally relying on God to provide all your needs?

Is he sufficient enough for you or are you searching for more?

Like most people I want to quickly answer Yes! to both of these questions but I stopped and thought about it first and realized that while yes, more often then not I do really on God to provide my needs and yes I know he is sufficient enough for me I do know that that's not always the case.

I have noticed that sometimes Rob and I will make plans and they are our plans in that we have made them without any prayer or questioning of is this the right path for our family? Is this the path God wants us to go down? I know with the unpredictable life of the military I am having to learn that God will provide all our needs; a place to live, a church, friends, good schools for my girls.

I know that God is sufficient enough for me but right now since Rob has been deployed for over a month and I am missing him like crazy I am not leaning on God like I should. My husband can't provide all my needs, only God can, so while there is nothing wrong with me missing him I need to make sure that I'm still relying on God to meet my needs. When I feel alone at night because Rob isn't here I need to remember that God is with me and I can turn to him for comfort, companionship ,for anything. God will be the one to help me through the last few weeks of this deployment, not Rob or myself alone.

Busy, buys!!

2010-03-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, so busy I have no time to even post a blog about it!

School and my job training are taking up all my time and then you have the normal day to day activities of kids, cooking, cleaning and me trying to fit in a workout or two everyday.

That class I was worried about finally seems to have worked out but not to my liking. I don't care though because I just want to graduate. OH, and speaking of school I heard back from the Military to Medicine people and will be getting started on my funding for that school and could be starting as soon as May! Didn't see that coming but it will keep me busy at least which seems to be something that I love to do, HA!

I have been so busy I haven't been able to even start this weeks Bible study from At The Well but I hope to catch up soon. I miss having that time in the morning to learn about God and his many different names.

Have been chatting via email with my hubby everyday about two or three times a day. I miss him like crazy and hope he is home soon. I'm tired of being alone and being the single parent; I want to tag him and say " Your it!" then run off and do something without kiddos for a while hehe!

School, kids, and a job

2010-03-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

So, I'm taking my last two classes for school and one is going as I expected but the other one is causing enough problems that I am starting to worry that I may not be able to graduate due to this class; there are issues with the text book or lack there of or the do we even need one. A quiz was due today and yet I had no way to study for it without a book and there was nothing on the course website to help either. No PowerPoint or links to websites or anything. I have had this teacher before.
Time to stop worrying and start praying about it.

And while I'm praying about school I need to pray for some patience and strength to get me through the rest of this deployment of Robs. I'm starting to get tired, tired of being mom all the time with no time off, tired of being alone and all of this tiredness is causing me to yell at my girls and be short and frustrated with them. That's something that I hate doing so prayer for me is needed and hubby to come home ASAP wouldn't hurt at all!

The good news is I have a job and its a work at home one where I can pick the hours that I want woo hoo! I don't know yet when I start, I'm waiting to find out about my training but I am getting excited to have a job and bring some money into the house so we can pay off some debt!!!

Prayer

2010-03-09T03:13:00.001-08:00

Lord,

I am trying not to let worry creep into my thoughts but instead I am reminding myself that YOU are in control of our lives. The information that Rob got about Cpl to Sgt promotions while not the best news for him and is some cause for concern will not stop you if you want him to stay in the Corp.

I pray today Lord for Rob's work, that you will guide him as he leads his Marines and then when he has to let go of his squad that you will guide him as he works to get his paperwork in order, guide him as he requests to go on recruiters assistance and if he is accepted be with him while doing that job. Help him to learn and grow in those 30 days and be a Marine that the recruiting command will want to have working there after he finishes recruiting school.

While he is in school I ask that you help him to learn and understand the things they will teach him, give him wise men who will help guide him so that he can become the best recruiter possible and when we finally get to where you want us to be for the next two years I ask that you surround Rob at work with wise and Godly men so that he can grow spiritually as well as in his job. Help him to achieve his goal Lord of a meritorious promotion to Staff Sgt so that he may get his full twenty years in the Corp.

I also ask that you will give us wonderful Godly neighbors that we can be friends with and can grow with spiritually as a couple and as individuals. Lead us to the right church and the right place to live and the right schools for our children.

In mine and Rob's mind it almost looks impossible for Rob to get promoted and be able to stay in but Lord we know that you can do the impossible and you also know what is best for our family. Open doors where they need to be opened and close the ones you don't want us to go through and give Rob and I the wisdom to see your hand in these things, in Jesus name, Amen

Bathing suit shopping

2010-03-07T05:24:00.000-08:00

My good friend Ginger and I tortured ourselves yesterday trying to find the elusive perfect bathing suit. We left my house at noon and hit the mall stopping at any store that sells swim suits for a quick look. If all we saw was string bikinis we turned right back around. Both of us are mothers and do not have the bodies or the desire to wear one of those!

In JCPenny's we both found something but wanted to shop around some more before we committed to the first thing we found ,we were also starving because it was almost 2 pm so after our wonderful lunch at Red Lobster we went to Old Navy, Marshall's and then Target.

Target is were Ginger struck gold ,well black and white and at a better price then the mall and I struck out because the suit I found had a skirt bottom and I was hoping to find them in boy shorts. I loved the top and thought about buying it and then ordering some bottoms online but not being able to try something on before I buy it makes me nervous so I sadly put the top back and we headed back to the mall so I could try on some different sizes of the same suit ,it had some shorts bottoms that I didn't like the first time I tried them on but I liked them better the 2nd time around and I got them on sale too. When I got home I tried them on again and I'm very happy with them. Hope my hubby likes them too! Oh, and they are my favorite color combination, blue and brown!

I am glad that is over for us now, I just need to find a swim suit for Brett and maybe Tristan and we will be ready for summer!!

A job and school

2010-03-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

I applied for a work at home job today; I first heard of it on Good Morning America a few years ago and even applied once before but didn't get the job and now that I am almost finished with school I thought now would be a good time to try again. Don't worry its legit and I have actually done work at home jobs before, that's not counting running my daycare from my home for 6 years. Nope, I worked for a company that handled the technical calls for people with Direct TV so I know that I can do this job if I can get it.
Next I sent in my application for school; yeah I know I'm about to finish school why would I want to go back well this school is paid for by scholarship and is available only to military spouses or caregivers, is all online and is in the medical office field something that I wish I had gone to school for to begin with instead of finance. It's called Military to Medicine and was founded by a lady I know from a wonderful website called Christian Military Wives. It may take a while for me to get the funding, up to 6 months but I'm ok with that because we will be moving this year and I would rather start my classes after the move.
I'm praying that God will open doors for me here but if He shuts them I am ok with that; the work at home job is something I would really like to try but if its not right for me I know that God has something even better in store for me.

Joyfull In Singleness

2010-03-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

Who remembers being single and the longing and waiting for that perfect someone to come along and sweep you off your feet and you would get married and raise your 2.5 kids happily ever after?
Yeah, me too. I remember the physical ache I would feel when I would see all my friends with their boyfriends or husbands and to see them with children would hurt even more. I, like most girls dreamed of being a wife and mommy for most of my life.
It wasn't until I cried out to I finally grew tired of feeling that ache and longing; I cried out to God and accepted my singleness. I put my faith in God and in his timing to bring along my husband. I didn't expect God to answer my prayers two months later but I'm glad he did.
I wish I had understood then what I know now about the special time of being single and how to use that time for God. Jasmine over at Joyfully At Home is a wonderful single lady with a wonderful blog. She is about to start a series of posts on being single and finding the joy in that singleness that she points out may not ever end.
If you know anyone who is in the season of singleness and struggling have them check this series out; my prayer is that it would help them be content with where God has them in their lives.

Freaky Friday

2010-03-03T18:17:00.001-08:00

Tristan over at The Transient Pod is doing something new for Fridays where you put this cool button you your page and then talk about a song that gets you movin and a groovin, raise your hands in praise or just makes you cry.

So, I'm going to start early becuse I will not remember to do this on Friday! I will talk about the song that makes me cry and here is how bad it is- I can sing this song in my mind, not out loud just in my head and start to cry. I would so make a great actress because I would always be able to cry on cue!!

Its Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle

I bet most of you are nodding your heads in agreement but for the few out there trying to figure out why this song has such an effect on me I'll explain. My dad past away when I was only 21. I now have two daughters that he hasn't seen not to mention my husband and just seeing me and my siblings grow up and get married and all that. I have two daughters who adore their father; the father/daughter relationship is so special and so cool to see; this song makes me think of my father and my girls and their father.

It also doesn't help that I am have become more and more emotional at things as I have aged; by the time I reach 50 I'll be crying 24/7!!!!

Session 4- Bible Study

2010-03-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Who is master in your life? Who are you allowing to rule over you?

This discussion question for this weeks Bible study is a soul searching one and to be honest one that I wanted to forget about because I didn't want to have to admit that God may not be the master of my life all the time.
What is the master of my life?
I actually don't think it is any one thing but many little things that I let take the place of God when I should be focused on Him, reading His word and praying to Him. Most of my masters are actually how I view myself as a mother, wife and child of God.

Guilt

I feel guilty if school takes me away from my kids but then if I spend time with them I feel guilty for not doing my schoolwork. Guilty for not praying enough or reading my Bible enough.

Fear

Fear of having to find a job in a few months, fear of what God may ask of me one day, fear that I'm not teaching my children enough when it comes to God and what it means to be a follower of Christ

Self- doubt

I don't show it but I am not the most confident person in the world and this whole job thing is really causing me to doubt that I can find one because I don't' see how I can find a job with my pitiful looking resume

I could probably go on but I think I have covered the basics. Mostly these are thoughts and feelings that are going on inside of me and I don't actually talk to my husband or a friend about them and sometimes not even to God and that is where I am letting them be the masters of my life. My fears of praying and being inadequate at it keep me from bringing these things to God but I know that God longs to hear me ask for His help.

So, why can't I do it?

Random thoughts

2010-02-28T17:44:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I talked about how hubby and I are trying to decided if we should drive up to CT for my graduation; well after an interesting discussion on our financial goals we have decided that its not a good idea to go to CT. We are going to use that money to get to TX instead and then do what we can to start following Dave Ramsey's baby steps.
Some other interesting things came out of that discussion as well; I was unaware how hubby felt about my desire to only work part time or full time as long as I can be home when the girls get of school. That conversation almost started an argument but in the end we agreed to disagree.
I am putting getting a job or being able to go to school for sign language in God's hands; he knows what is best for me but I will be honest and say that I REALLY want to do sign language and the thought of missing a chance while so close has me almost in tears and asking God why, why can't I have my dream??
On a brighter note, church was great today. Afterwards the girls and I went to lunch with a friend and her kiddos and then they came over to our house and while all the kids played with play dough, my friend and I played Scrabble, and of course I didn't win. There is always next time though!

Bible Study- Session 3

2010-02-25T03:05:00.000-08:00

I am late on this; somehow I missed the link for the study and found it last night. I just finished watching the video of Session 3 and so I want to answer the discussion question for the week.

How comforting is it to you to know that God is with you
through the good and the bad always protecting
you and loving you no matter what?

I don't know how others can get through the trials of this life without God; he is my rock in the storm. I know that I can always turn to God when things are getting to hard to handle. When things are good I remember how blessed I am to have the life I have. Having God always with me is what has helped me get through two deployments and this current deployment to Haiti. Its so hard to be the single parent and there were many times that I have cried out to God needing Him to comfort me and to just help me get through another day. God has always provided me the strength to make it through the long months and during my first deployment he provided me the wonderful ladies at Christian Military Wives who are a great support to a military wife like me.
Thank you Lord for always being there for me; help me to see you in the good times and to turn to you in the bad. Amen

To Travel or Not, That is the Question

2010-02-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

So, in just a few short months I will be a college graduate; finally after what seems like the longest four years of my life I am FINISHED!!!!
Ok, not yet I still have my last two classes to take.
My classes have all been online with the college I attend based in Waterbury, CT and the problem that my husband and I have been facing is if we should travel to CT so that I can actually participate in the ceremony or not.
I spent over 2 hours online comparing prices with different websites. I was also trying to figure out what was the best time to leave and from what airport and then what was the best airport in CT to land at that would be the shortest drive to the school. I had to find a hotel and then look at the cost of a rental car. It was such hard, mental work and but in the end I had to stop because the cost was going to be more then I wanted to spend. If hubby can get his boat to sell we will drive up there but no flying.
Our next big travel plans is a trip to TX in July so that Rob can do some work there at the recruiting office for a month; we have been trying to figure out what is the best way to go about it because we don't want to tire out his mom if we stay with her the whole time and yet we don't want to spend the money to stay somewhere else.
I don't have to go but me going gives his mom a chance to see the girls and Rob and I a chance to look around and see where we would like to live if God blesses us with TX as our next duty station. Yesterday we talked about me just flying up for the last two weeks of the 30 days but that was a no go after I looked up the cost of the flight which was insanely expensive.
I told Rob tonight that he could just go without me and then I could fly up for just a 4 day weekend and leave the girls with my mom and/or sister and that way I can at least be there to look at possible places to live but we rejected that idea too because he is tired of being away from me ( that made me feel so special !) and his mom wouldn't like not being able to see the girls.
So, I guess the plan for now is to drive up there and stay with his mom and if we need to we can always stay the last week or two in one of those extended stay hotels so that his mom isn't to worn out and we don't step on any toes.
Whew!
This is hard work, and I'm tired of thinking about it. I am going to pray about it and then go to bed, good night!

PJ'S

2010-02-23T03:12:00.000-08:00

I think my hubby is a bit obsessed with pj's because that has been our conversation for the past two nights when he calls. It goes something like this,
" I think you would look cute in some boxers, maybe my boxers or some boxers for girls and wear a cute tank top or something. Oh and you would really look cute if you would just walk around wearing one of my button up shirts no shorts just my shirt, yeah, that's what you should wear more of."
I had to remind him last night that I had some boxer type pj shorts that I got from Old Navy and I a silk pair that came from Victoria's Secret and I haven't noticed him drooling much when I wear those. I think he's just trying to get me into one of his shirts instead.
He even plans on using any money left over after he buys his gun to by me some sexy pj's; you guys are probably thinking that I must look like a slob at bed time if he is wanting to spend his money on me but I really don't honest. I have the two shorts I mentioned above that I wear with tank tops and I have to pj pants that came from Old Navy but what dear hubby is wanting is for me to put on my sexy pj's, whatever they may be, and wear them from about 7pm on.
I guess when he comes home we will be going shopping at Victoria's Secret, his favorite store by the way. Maybe I can throw in a bra or two while he's not looking!

Lent and My Weekend

2010-02-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

After having read several blogs on Lent and what it was all about ( I am Baptist so therefore I knew nothing) I decided to participate in this for the first time ever and so have given up sodas and if you knew me you would know how much I LOVE my Diet Dr. Pepper!!!!!
I also love coffee first thing in the morning and sweet tea with my lunch, supper and anytime in between, hey I'm a true Southerner what can I say?
But, I have been drinking just a bit too much of all these things and it has been giving me some headaches so I thought this would be a great time to not only give up something that's not really the best for me but to use that time to reflect on all that Jesus did for me that lead up to His resurrection. Christ sacrificed so much for us that my sacrifice of soda is nothing compared to it but I'm wanting to show God that I can make sacrifices too and if I start small at first that's ok, maybe next year I will move up to no soda and coffee (gasp!) and the year after that I can think of something even bigger.
Today has been a pretty lazy day for me; I have an extra kiddo at my house for the day and so I basically haven't done much other then feeding all of them and trying to convince them that its a lovely day outside and they need to go play and NOT sit in front of the TV all day!
Man, I remember when my siblings and I were kids, you couldn't keep us inside; actually I think that was because my Mom would kick us out then lock the door..... hmmm guess four kids in the house all day every day during the summer was just too much for her, well right now I think I can relate Mom!
I may just get off here and go outside too!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Shopping!

2010-02-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

I was checking out Old Navy's website this morning and saw they had a sale online so I decided that they probably had one in the store as well. Since my oldest gets out of school early on Wednesday this was the perfect day to do some shopping and hopefully find some summer clothes at a good price.
They had their graphic t-shirts on sale for $8, $7 and $3.99- $5.99!!! They had cute Bermuda shorts for $10 but my oldest didn't like them; but I'm sure when she sees all her friends wearing them this summer that will change!
Sundress for Tiny T were $10-$12 so I bought her three and would have added a few more to the buggy but nothing seemed to jump out at her and she can be sooooo picky about her dresses. I have bought some in the past for her that she said she liked and yet had to force her to wear them later because they weren't pretty enough or twirly enough. UGH! Having a little diva in the house isn't easy!
I only wanted to get me a pair of yoga pants ( man are those things nice and comfy!) and any shirts I could find on sale but they also had jeans on sale for $19!!! I bought one pair of yoga pants and jeans and two shirts then went to Marshall's next door and bought another pair of yoga pants and two neat fold up yoga mats for me and hubby when we do our P90X yoga.
All that shopping wore me out, especially because the girls seemed to be bickering more then normal and just generally being aggravating.
Because I was so tired I picked us up a quick meal and then headed home to eat. I was going to workout again tonight but B still need to do her homework and Tiny T needed a bath and I was just tooo tired!
Over all it was a good day and I'm so glad I was able to catch a sale for a change; most of the time when there is a sale going on I don't have any money to shop!

Bible Study- Session 2

2010-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Today we started week two of our study God, Who Are You & What Can You Do For Me? with Jennifer over at At The Well. I'm already learning so much and hope that others following along are learning too!
There are two discussion questions for this week-

What does it mean to know that you are precious in God's sight?

I couldn't help but think of the song "Jesus Loves Me" and the line "... they are precious in His sight..." That song may be talking about little children but it also applies to adults. I am so precious to God that he was willing to send his son to earth to die on the cross for me; and when you think about what he had to suffer before, during and after the cross well then I'm just amazed at the depths of God's love for me!!! What a comfort this is when I don't feel worthy of His love to know that it doesn't matter, I am precious in His sight!

Can you think of a time in your life when you've experienced , first hand, the LORDS faithfulness?

When I was about 19 I stopped going to church and started doing the typical party thing with my friends. I never stopped believing in God but I remember feeling tired of always being good! I was out of church and not living the best life for about 4 years but I always felt God calling me back to Him; he was faithful to never leave me even though I had left Him!

I finally grew tired of a life without God and started going back to church again and for me the story of the prodigal son has a special meaning because I was the prodigal daughter and yet God never stopped looking for me to coming home, He never stopped whispering in my ear and that's why I came back because I knew He was there for me just waiting and it didn't matter how I had lived my life; He was faithful to forgive me too!

Snow Day!

2010-02-13T11:43:00.001-08:00

We had 8 inches of snow here in NC! We don't see that often at all and the girls just loved it; they have been in and out all day and I even played out in it some too!