So What! Wednesday

It's So What! Wednesday from Life After I Dew.

So What! if....


~~ It's X amount of days till my big trip and I haven't done a single thing to prepare for it....not a thing!

~~ I have an insane amount of laundry to fold and put away.

~~ I'm slightly jealous that some of my friends have their husbands home on RnR already...even though I'm so glad we are waiting till later in the deployment.

~~ If I used the Casey Anthony trial to show my son what a bad mother truly is and told him to stop treating me like I am one. Hey it shut him up really quick.

~~ I get annoyed when people tell me "Oh you're such a strong person" blah blah blah...not strong just have to do what I have to do to get through another day.

~~ I'm ready to cut family out of my life and before anyone gets upset, I don't mean all my family, just some. My Army family is better anyway.

~~ I sometimes wish we didn't have a dog. It would make my life a bit easier but hey I love her so guess I'm stuck.

~~ I don't really care anymore.



Ok I realize my So What! seems like a lot of complaining but sometimes it's nice to just put some things out there.

Now what are you saying So What! to?

Wordless Wednesday

I'm still on a high from my retreat so instead of So What Wednesday I decided to do Wordless Wednesday.

So What Wednesday

This week I'm saying SO What! if...

I put on sweats in the middle of the day just because I can.

I've completely slacked on house work this week. I spent the week focusing on having lots of fun with my kids instead.

I bought a ton of sweet baked goods at the farmers market even though I'm trying to lose weight. I did buy spinach, does that make you happy?

I enjoy looking at the eye candy at the gym. I'm sexually deprived for your freedom, I can look. Get over it.

I have given my kids more hotdogs since the Mister left than I think I have their entire life. They don't complain, why should anyone else?



What are you saying "SO WHAT!" to?

Deployment Check-in

At the beginning of the year instead of New Year Resolutions I posted Deployment Goals. We are now almost 3 months into the deployment and I thought it was time to check in to see how I'm doing on these goals.

Let's take a look....


** Focus on and survive my first year of school. ~~~~ I did great on my first 2 8 week blocks and I'm now enjoying summer break. Love it so far.

** Finally get around to decorating my house after 6 months of living here. ~~~~ I'm actually making progress with this one! I've redone my bathroom, finally added pictures to the walls in 2 rooms, and my mantle finally looks finished! I still have more to do but I'm doing it.

** Paint kitchen cabinets and walls finally! ~~~~ Yeah I haven't done this one yet. Sorry. If anyone in the area wants to come help that would be fantastic!

** Become a real runner again. ~~~~ I finally started running....2 days ago...hey at least I started. This week I'm registering for the Lake Placid Turkey Trot (5K)so I will be forced to train. Go me!


** Grow closer to God. ~~~~ I realize this one is a personal one but yes I'm learning to draw closer to God during all of this.


** Strengthen my friendship and marriage with my husband. ~~~~ Hmm well this one I'm not sure about yet. We rarely get to talk because the phones are always down. But when we do talk it's like we haven't skipped a beat so that's a good thing.


** Take several road trips. ~~~~ I have my road trip all planned...it's scheduled for next month. I'm not revealing the dates yet. Sorry. But we are hitting up DC, SC, FL, and KY. maybe a few other places in there too.

** Make everyday the best I can for my children. ~~~~ I'm definitely trying.

** Take on new projects and adventures. ~~~~ I've done a little bit of both but I can't wait to do more in the remaining months of this deployment.



Ok so there's my updates. Anyone else have updates they'd like to share????

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

Hosted by Wife of a Sailor

I decided to join in on the fun! Click on the link above if you want to join in as well!



1.What is one of the things you always do special when your husband returns from a deployment?

Well we've only completed one so far but we took a vacation sans kids. It was the honeymoon we never had! After this deployment we want to take another vacation just the two of us. It's great to be able to enjoy the "honeymoon" phase again.



2.What do you do to help your spouse and/or yourself re-adjust after a deployment or long separation?

I try to include him in everything. Many women go into the "I can do it by myself" mode after their husband comes home because let's face it, we do it all by ourselves when they are gone. However I go back to letting him do all the normal things he would do. Let him rearrange a room, or reorganize a closet or something that is only his. I want him to feel that even after a year away, this is still his home and that he still belongs here. Also let him make new rules with the kids. For him that's the hardest part because he remembers the rules from a year ago. Seeing his face when his son says "No Daddy, that's not how we do it anymore" is just heartbreaking. Make sure and leave room for them to come back into your life.



3.Are you a crazy coupon clipper (I’m becoming one, so share your secrets with me)?

Heck no. Although I do have my moments where it intrigues me. I just don't have the patience or time for it.


4.What’s your most treasured memory of you and your spouse (not counting your wedding – that’s a given)?

I would have to say our 2 week trip to England after his first deployment. Since we got pregnant so quickly into our relationship {don't judge :P}, we've not had the chance to travel together alone or just be adventurous. We missed out on a lot of the fun stuff together. Those 2 weeks were amazing and we got to see each other in a new way and fall in love all over again. It was a magical trip and I'd take it again in a heartbeat.



5.If you could live anywhere overseas, what would you pick and why?

Oh gosh! I'd gladly live anywhere overseas! Send me to Germany please!

Special

My maternal grandmother was always so special to me. I like to think we had a special relationship. We have a large family with lots of grand kids but she always made sure to take time for each and every one of us. She was loved for her cooking as well. Especially her banana pudding (which she showed me how to make one day! I will take her secrets to the grave with me. :)) and her chicken and dumplings. When I had my son (8 years ago...eeekk!!) she brought me a huge pot of her famous Chicken and Dumplings. They were amazing. For some reason though I never returned her pot to her. I always felt bad for never giving it back but in my defense we moved to 700 miles away just 18 months later. She died 4 years ago. Now I'm glad I never gave it back to her. I know it's just a silly pot but to me it's so much more than that. Tonight I'm making homemade chicken noodle soup and of course will be using that pot. I always use it whenever I make any type of chicken dish. When I do, I like to think my grandmother is there, making the food extra special.




Do you have something "special" from a lost loved one that makes you smile inside?

Snow days

Snow days rock!! The kids and the mister were off today due to the snow "storm". I say storm loosely because we've certainly seen worse here in the North Country. Here are a few pictures. A lot of the snow we've actually had for about a month now.

Before mister started shoveling. I am looking out my front door when I took this picture. (the white house is not mine)


The mister exhausted after shoveling all sidewalks and driveway.


Then there's me.....I just wanted one in the snow. :)



So how did everyone else make out in this winter storm??

Oh and did you hear........the groundhog didn't see his shadow! Here's hoping he's right and we have the early Spring! That would be lovely.

Tick Tock

After talking about it several times last year, I officially started school yesterday. I'm doing online classes so we all know that means "first day of school" is a little different than physical college classes. Still, I was nervous and anxious and wanted to make sure I did my assignments perfectly. haha....yeah not so much.

I've been out of school for almost 11 years. And even when I was in school, I did the bare minimum to get by. I forgot how to take notes and how to stay focused. Then add in the fact you have no teacher telling you when to read, when to take notes, what is important and what isn't. I thought I would like online classes. 1 day into and I'm already thinking "What the heck did I get myself into?". Don't get me wrong so far it's easy reading. But still I lack self discipline. And time management. Take into count that I have 3 kids, one of which is a 18 month old very time consuming, temper tantrum throwing, always hungry for food and attention, loving little girl. Let's not forget that yesterday was my husband's birthday and between making his cake, him getting home 2 hours later than planned, going out to a late dinner with all 3 kids, presents, XGames, etc. Yeah I didn't get finished with my assignments for the day. Bright side ~ There's always today! Well...if I work on my time management. :)

For those of you who have kids, and other responsibilities that make your schedule completely full, how do you fit in school work, or even bible studies, or heck reading for pleasure even?


With my Mister Man deploying soon I realize if I already have a full plate, how am I going to manage it all and then some once he's gone. I'm already praying over my responsibilities and priorities. There will be some things that I will just have to give up. After all there is a season for everything. And right now this is my season for school. Only time will tell what else is supposed to be there.

One last note ~ I hope all my East Coast girls are staying warm during this winter storm. I know we will be getting 8-18 inches of snow tomorrow. Add that on top of the wonderful foot or more we have had for...oh... a month now. I love it though. It's a great excuse to sit and bury your face in cake!

Paint

It's amazing what a little paint can do.

Here's what our dining room looked like when we first moved in. Oh and don't worry those vertical blinds are gone.




We removed the wallpaper (yes that yellow is wallpaper) and painted the top half of the wall. At first we didn't think the tan wainscoting was that bad. Ok maybe it was but we were kind of lazy about painting it. So this is what we looked at for the past couple of months. (Don't mind the mess)




Well I got bored the other night and finally painted the wainscoting white. So glad I did! It makes the room so bright. I need to take a better picture. Maybe one day my kids will keep their stuff off my table long enough for me to take a decent picture.



Do you notice the set of ugly oak cabinets that are in the mirror? Those particular cabinets are over our sink/breakfast bar. They are coming down. And soon the rest of the cabinets will be painted white. Although this is a project I will have to tackle after my husband deploys. I'm so ready to get it done.

Speaking of paint doing amazing things, back in November while my husband was away for some training, I got bored and painted some cubbies. These cubbies are in the wall that goes downstairs to the basement. Does that make sense? Here's how the previous owners left the cubbies.


After a little paint.



I have a feeling paint and I will be best friends.

Deployment Goals

This time last year I posted goals or resolutions for 2010. Yes I will admit I don't think I ever went back to that post.

This year is different. This year will be spent without my husband. So instead of doing New Year Resolutions, which I know I won't keep up with, I am doing Deployment Goals. I did this last time he deployed. Only difference is I didn't write the goals down. I got the idea to blog them from Julie. You may ask, "What's the difference?" Well any military wife can tell you that one of the ways to survive a deployment is to have goals, projects, a million things to keep you busy and help time fly, things to look forward to, to laugh about, smile about, cry about, etc. Deployments are a time for growth as individuals and as a couple. So we take deployment goals seriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Focus on and survive my first year of school. {I start on the 31st..so scared!}

** Finally get around to decorating my house after 6 months of living here.

** Paint kitchen cabinets and walls finally!

** Become a real runner again.

** Grow closer to God.

** Strengthen my friendship and marriage with my husband.

** Take several road trips.

** Make everyday the best I can for my children.

** Take on new projects and adventures.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There they are. I could come up with more of a list but I figured let's start this off simple. Day by day.

I will miss my husband, sure, but this year is my year. I'm ready to own it.... live it.... and get through it with as much laughter, joy, and happy tears (little sad ones please) as I can muster.

Bring it on!