Our Random, Fun Life!

There are those times when you are talking with a friend and you get home, and an idea for a blog just instantly pops into your head. This is one such occasion, and I thank my friend for being able to joke with me about Army life. As my friends and family know, I am incredibly proud to be an Army spouse. But, as many of you Army/military spouses know, there are those times when those slight nuances can just get to you. All you can do is laugh, because otherwise, you may go crazy! I wanted to share a little insight into those things that can just make you go crazy if you don't just have a good laugh about them. As you read these, please do so with laughter in mind. I don't lose any sleep at night over these and hopefully you don't either. 1. The dang velcro issue! Have you ever just thrown everything in the washer together because you are exhausted at the end of the day only to find that your delicates are securely velcroed to your spouse's uniform? I cannot tell

Back on July 8, I wrote about how it was time for a change . Adam and I are now 11 days in to the program and it is going great! So far, I have lost 10 pounds! But more so than that, I've lost 3 inches from my chest, 2.5 inches at my waist, 2.5 inches from my hips, and 2 inches from my thigh. I can also do 5 more push ups in 24 seconds! Adam has also had really great results which is awesome given his work schedule. I'm still adjusting and figuring things out along the way. For example, I know now that I need to drink the Spark drink first thing in the morning. I typically only drink a can of Dr. Pepper at lunchtime every day as a pick me up, so I thought that I should do the same with the Spark. As it turns out, Spark has more caffeine in it than Dr. Pepper so I was wired well into the night. I've since learned that I need to drink my Spark early. I'm also learning which Spark drinks are okay for me. I am an occasional heartburn sufferer  depending on what I eat, a

It's time for a change, and I'm finally ready to make that change. Time for a change in attitude and time for a change in habits. I try to eat healthy and get a workout in on a daily basis, but for the past couple of months, I've been on a downward spiral. I haven't completely felt like myself for the past few months, and I think that's why I've been doing poorly with food and exercise. It started out simple enough; I'd just grab a bag of chips to go with the salsa that we had leftover from our meal. Or I would buy a tub of ice cream, "for the kids." If you know our family, then you know that we don't normally have junk food around the house. I don't buy chips or cookies. They are a special occasion treat. Our fridge is usually stocked with fruits and veggies, not cheese and dips. And then there's the exercise. I was doing pretty good with working out, either at the gym or at home. I would try to get a workout in at least 4 times

My daughter turned 4 years old today! It's hard to believe that so much time has passed. It's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun. All ready for school on her 4th Birthday! When I look back over the 4 years though, and even the 9 months prior, there are definitely things that people don't tell you. Either that, or you just don't really listen. Here's what I have learned as a parent....and am still learning! 1. At some point, you will physically hurt your child. This will NOT be on purpose. If it is on purpose, then please seek some help. My first experience with this was cutting my brand-new baby girl's fingernails for the first time ever. I cut her finger, she started crying, I started crying, she started bleeding, I started crying more. The bleeding stopped and she stopped crying, but I was distraught and called my husband in tears that I had cut our baby and that I was a terrible mom. I eventually gathered myself and finished cut

A year or so ago, I was faced with a tough decision. My husband and I came to a decision that we needed to trade in my Nissan Murano, a car that I loved dearly. But with 2 kids and with constantly living away from parents/grandparents, we needed a vehicle that fit our family of 4 as well as any visitors. I narrowed my decision down to the Honda Odyssey and the Buick Enclave. I took each car for a test drive and was immediately in love with both cars, surprisingly. If I had no kids, I would absolutely have gone with the Enclave. It was such a crazy smooth ride and I loved the feel of the car. But, I did have kids and kids make big messes. So, I packed away my pride and went with the minivan. I never thought I'd be a minivan mom. The mere thought of driving a "mom" car just made me cringe. But in all honesty, I made a terrific decision for our family. I went with the Honda Odyssey and I haven't thought twice about it. For those contemplating a minivan, let me te

My husband and I celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss yesterday! It has not always been sunshine and rainbows, but it has been a beautiful 5 years of marriage. In our 5 years, we have had 2 beautiful children, we adopted 1 dog (although that was the week before we got married), we've PCS'ed 3 times and lived in 4 different houses, and Adam has had 6 different jobs to include 2 commands. I remember our wedding day as if it were yesterday. I don't know how most people feel on their wedding day, but I was calm and just ready. When the makeup lady was an hour late, I could have easily freaked, but it didn't bother me. I had planned enough time into the day that I could sit and wait to be pampered. For those who don't know, I pretty much never do my hair or makeup for an event. I was just ready to marry Adam. I could sit and hang out with my sister while we waited for the lady to arrive. When we got back to mom and dad's house, the bridesmaids were hanging out an

When you read the title, you probably thought that I was talking about cursing. Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you would be wrong. I, admittedly, am a bit of a potty mouth from time to time. And that potty mouth gets worse when I get all worked up about an issue, just ask my hubby. No, the 'F' word that I am referring to is 'fat.' I am not perfect and I do sometimes say that I am fat when I get down on myself. However, I only say that to my dear, sweet husband who always has the same whacked out response that makes me feel better about myself. But when I am in the presence of my kids, I never say that I am fat or that I need to lose weight. I definitely have weight that I could lose and there are parts of me that are a bit thicker than they used to be, but those are things that I keep to myself or share with my husband when I need a pick-me-up. I would be heartbroken if I ever heard my daughter or son tell me that they thought that they were fat. And since my

The community where we live recently had our speed limit changed from 15 mph in the neighborhoods to 10 mph in the neighborhoods. A ridiculous change, in my own opinion, as runners and kids on bikes speed past me but that is not the point of this blog. We have a community Facebook page and the notice of the change was posted to that page so that people were aware. This started an immediate, and heated, debate last week on why the change was or was not warranted. There were opinions flying every which way and a lot of blaming of everyone else. The argument turned into who is responsible if a child runs out into the street in front of a moving car and gets hit? Is the driver at fault or is the child at fault? That I read (and no, I did not read all the comments because I like my drama on sitcoms and not in real life), there was no one saying that there were multiple people at fault: parent, child, and driver. Why are we so quick to blame other people instead of looking at our own f

Adam and I love taking our kids to sporting events. That is one reason why we are loving being here at West Point. We can take our kids to a variety of events from football and lacrosse to women's basketball and men's gymnastics to hockey and sprint football. We get to expose them to so many things that we may not have been able to elsewhere. With some of the sports, we can teach them about the game while we are there. For other sports, we get to learn about them together. Payton and Adam with Mr. Fulton at the West Point Open From a very young age (3 and 1), we are getting the opportunity to expose our kids to sports and competition. And sometimes, there is a moment where everything comes together. Yesterday, we went as a family to the Patriot League Women's Basketball Championship where Army played Holy Cross. We left the house very early to grab a quick bite to eat, and then headed for the game about an hour early. We had amazing seats in the second row behind the

I have hosted several parties for various home-based businesses, from Lia Sophia to Thirty-One to Arbonne. I love hosting get-togethers at my house. It is so much fun to bring friends together from different walks of life and hang out and try out new drinks and appetizers. If you are thinking of hosting a home-based business party but need a little more motivation, here's my list of reasons for why I love hosting and hopefully it will tip the scales in favor of hosting. 1. You get to try out all those Pinterest drinks and appetizers that you've pinned and haven't made yet.      I have a board called 'Favorite Recipes' that I use to pin things I want to try. As soon as I try them, I either delete them if they were not good or way too difficult to make or I add my comments and date I made it. I love finding fun and easy recipes to try. And they aren't always recipes; sometimes they are just about the presentation. But yes, the attendees at the parties are my gu

Our family was driving to run errands and we decided to grab a bite to eat. We asked our daughter if she wanted to go to Applebee's or to Sonic. She replied with, "Payton wants to go to Applebee's." My husband then asked her why she was speaking in the third person. Without skipping a beat, she replies with, "you're a third person." ----------------------- I asked my daughter to go upstairs and get ready for bed. She gave me a dirty look and told me that she didn't want to. I told her that if she wants to continue to give me a dirty look, she could just stay upstairs after getting ready for bed. She walked away and started going upstairs. She turned around on the landing of the stairs and still has a dirty look on her face. I give her a stern look in return to which she all of a sudden gives a little angelic smile with the slightest tilt of her head as if to say, "aren't I so cute mom." She is 3.5 years old; can't wait for those tee

To the outside world, I try to be calm and polite. I keep my annoyances to myself and I try not to let people see when I am getting aggravated. I do not proclaim to be like my grandmom; I never heard her say anything negative about anyone. But I do try to simply smile and go about my business. My husband is wonderful as he listens to me at the end of the day when I've had enough of the outside world. I often tell him that I am going to say something, but he knows me better than that. He likes to remind me that I'm a lot of talk and not a lot of action. I hate it, but it's true. You know that you are a friend when I tell you about the things that other people do that bothers the bejeezus out of me. You know you are family when I can tell you the things that bother me about you. But there are a couple of things that I want to get off my chest.  1. Be a GOOD neighbor! I cannot stand a bad neighbor. When it snows, shovel. When the leaves fall and they are scattered all

Before I begin, let me just say that I am not a parenting expert. I have two kids who I absolutely love and adore and great parents who raised me. I do not think that I have all the answers, or that how others choose to raise their children is better or worse than what I do with my kids. To each his own. I did, however, feel compelled to write this blog after many weeks of people "attacking" one another through social media and after many, many lessons with my oldest on how she should behave with her brother. Playing nicely together on Christmas morning I have this philosophy when it comes to raising kids that I have been passing on to my kids, and that philosophy is 'worry about yourself.' Most people would look at that phrase and think, "my goodness, how selfish." But I contend that it is anything but selfish. Payton, my 3 year old, often comes to me with the all-too-common-in-our-household phrase, "Austin did this..." or "Austin di

I nominated mom today for the Live with Kelly and Michael's Search for Unstoppable Moms. Here is the submission: There are so many things that make my mom unstoppable. While her children are all grown up, mom still cares about us and leads by example as much as she did when we were little. My mom is one of the strongest people I know. My dad is currently going through chemo and radiation for esophageal cancer and my mom has been not only his rock, but my sister and my rock as well. From the moment we found out dad had cancer, mom has been by my dad's side and has shown great faith and hope. She asked my sister and I to make sure people were informed, and sends us regular updates to upload to my blog and dad's Caring Bridge site. She takes my dad to his appointments, feeds him through his feeding tube, and gives him his daily injections. She's even decided that we are doing the Glo Run in August when dad is all better, which will be a great and fun run with our fami

Sometimes it's hard for us to believe that God really does have a plan for us. Often, we don't see it until after it has happened. So why is it so hard sometimes to believe that there is a plan when we are reminded time and again. Looking back over our 5 years of marriage, I now know that every place we've been and the length of time we've been there have been a part of God's plan. What we sometimes called "luck," wasn't really luck at all. When we first were married, we lived in Savannah, GA while my husband was stationed at Ft Stewart. While there, we met our very best mutual friend, were able to spend time in Florida with Adam's grandpa before he passed away, and rescued Chance who has been our protector. Nick, our mutual friend (basically we met him around the same time and all 3 became friends together), is our daughter's godfather and brings us lots of laughs and smiles. Chance is our protector dog. Ok, so mostly he's my prote