It's been so long!

Well, So much has happened since I last "really" wrote anything! Whoopsie! I will try and be better about it. So, I should back up about 2 and a half months when Joseph got home. August 6, 2010 1-1 AD came home from Iraq with the presidential order that all but 50,000 troops come home! This was AWESOME because Joseph was scheduled to come home in November, so we got 3 months knocked off our tour! We were both thankful, and the kids were overjoyed having their dad home. Plus I did not tell them he was coming home so it was a total surprise when they saw him!



Of course Joseph had to go back to work right away for about 2 weeks, and then came leave which ended up being around 36 days off! Score! It was the longest time he had EVER taken off and was so much fun! We took the kids to school and picked them up together just about every day and he was available to the kids after school for homework and hanging out. We all LOVED it.

While Joseph was on leave, we took the kids out of school for a week and headed out to Orlando Florida for Walt Disney World. It was AWESOME! We had so much fun and it was just a great time. Let me tell you, Florida is H-U-M-I-D!!! Yuck! We would walk outside and it was as if you just got out of the shower! But we pushed through and by the 2nd or 3rd day, it was not as noticeable. We hit up Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Blizzard Beach. We could have hit Hollywood Studios, but figured the kids were too little for that still. We also walked Downtown Disney. I am really looking forward to our next family getaway... I wonder where we will go next?!

So, now Joseph is back to work and the kids are in school. I get three hours a day all to myself, which lately I have been spending time with a new friend, Hilary. So I should say, I get to play for 3 hours a day!! WOOHOO! Hehe. It has been so much fun having a friend again. I have missed that interaction, and it really does make a difference in how I act and feel. I have my husband home and I get a new friend! Life is so awesome when it wants to be! Also, sometimes Joseph and I get together for lunch and have a "day date". I am SO looking forward to having ALL day to do whatever I want/need!!!

Basically that brings us up-to-date and current. Now it is time for me to go clean a little more and then head over to the school because it is parent/teacher conferences today. That is not fun and I do not count this as my "play" time!

Mom is lazy and needs more work

I think kids seriously do things because they think "Mom is not busy enough"... Just my thoughts on today!

Today is a New Day

Ok I walked for 1 hour, had 2 shakeologies, 2 low carb broccoli and cheese weight watchers things, and lots of water.

Last night I slipped a little with 1 cup of ice cream and 2 100-calorie packs of pringles... yea. BUT today is a new day and I am ready! Bring it!

Day One Again....

Today is Day One of my diet/exercise plan! I have re-re-re-re-re-re-re started (you get the picture). To keep me from getting too discouraged I tell myself that I only fail when I give up and I will NOT give up! So here I go again.....

New Changes

This year has been bringing about new changes for myself in many different ways. My husband deployed, my uncle (my dads brother) passed away at Christmas, and now two weeks ago my father passed away too. It brings me to think about how I live, and how I am with the people around me.

When my father passed away we were trying to go through his things and clean out the space for my grandparents so they would not be burdened with anything. It was painful to throw out things and give things away, but I know it was the best thing to do. That brought me to think about my house and the hoarding that I have been doing. lol. I just have tooooooo much stuff and it is un-necessary to have so much more than I need, so I am doing a lot of "spring cleaning".

When we got back from taking care of the services, I had a check up appointment. I had many concerns because my grandmother had a hysterectomy last week due to cancer, and my father passed away from heart disease and my grandfather just had a heart attack too. I had questions about my health, so it was good to get checked up on. I did get my cholesterol checked and it is on the high side, and with my dad having heart disease so I have had an awakening to my health.

Diet and exercise are starting up and I am determined more than ever to get my body healthy again. I know the risks were always there, but now it is basically in my face and I cannot look away. I choose to make this personal tragedy a positive nudge for me and recognize it as such.

It has also made me think of the people in my life and how I should make a better effort to connect with them and stay connected as much as possible because my relationships with my family and friends are very important to me. I have always thought this, but maybe not acted on it as much as I should. I will try and be better about that.

To my family and friends, I love you all, and I am truly grateful that you are in my life.

Holiday 2009

This was an interesting end to 2009 for us. I will not go into details but it has truly been tough and emotional.

One great joy from the holidays was the kids and their innocence that they brought into the mix. To see their faces light up on Christmas morning warmed my heart and made me feel very special to have them in my life. I am grateful for my family and I love them with every inch of my soul. 2010 will bring frustration, gratitude, loneliness, hope, patience, love and appreciation. I look forward to the end of the year when I can be with my one and only again and continue our future together. I love you babe, and I am so proud of you and what you do for our family and our country.

Happy New Year everyone. Enjoy those who are in your lives and those you love most. Never take them for granted and appreciate every moment.

Pictures from Christmas: (We made the kids sit in front of their presents for about 10 minutes before the adults where ready for the madness to begin. I have to say I have some patient kids!)

October 31rst

For Halloween we took the kids to white sands to go sledding. It was super sun and we had a blast. It was a perfect day with little wind, the weather was sitting about 70 degrees... perrrrffeect! The sand was surprisingly soft and we could let the kids climb a large dune and tumble down with little worry. They had so much fun and we were laughing most of the day. We were there for only about 3 hours and then had to head home for trick-or-treating but it was a good time.

Costumes for 2009 were megatron, skeleton chick, and an angry little garden gnome.. They wanted to be vampires this year but Dad convinced them to change to these scary and funny costumes instead. The little gnome was the hit of the night, he got extra candy because of how cute he was. lol.