A Texas sized Thursday…

One week ago today, Genny and I put my husband on another plane. This time though, he was headed to Texas for the AIT graduation of our amazing daughter Amanda, from AIT in the US Army. 
He was a totally lucky duck for getting to go. I was more than a little jealous… 
He attended her graduation and enjoyed two days in San Antonio with her. They dined, they bowled, they site saw. 
I thought I’d share because I am super proud. (and still, pretty jealous.) 

As for why it took me a week to share the photos- she is home now and so I have just been busy spending time with her. 
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On being home…

I have been silent. 
I have been busy. 
I have been consumed and distracted, and here is a big chunk of the reason why: 
About eight weeks ago my husband got a phone call that rocked life as we knew it. It was all in reference to a job relocation that seemed beyond amazing. Significant pay increase, dream come true health benefits, theoretically ideal location- we were electric at the idea. 
Of course, the timing really stunk. Being in the midst of this crazy adoption, for one. Having just renewed our lease, for another year. A new school program that seemed awesome. My sister’s health; blah blah blah… All of the timing inconveniences aside- it seemed tempting. 
I mean, check out just a few of these things on the pro-list: 
– barely any drive from my BFF. 
– a few hours from Manhattan. 
– Coastal living. 
– Trader joe’s. (I know, I’m a broken record.)
But little red flags popped up early on, with the transfer. 
And then, a couple of weeks ago, my brave husband flew out to DC to check it out and “negotiate.” 
Suffice it to say, we aren’t moving east any time soon. Honestly, we are pretty ok with that. We have great friends, an amazing church, a home our family has grown up in, and a lot of other key things. We dreamed about the green, green grasses of the east coast for about 7 weeks of a split second before we realized this just wasn’t for us. The position won’t be ready for another 6 months, but even then it’s not for us. Truthfully, we kinda pitty the poor chap who gets suckered into it… 
Goodbye pay increase… 
Goodbye ocean sunrises… 
Goodbye Friday night football games and Saturday morning pedi’s with my BFF… 
Goodbye amazing insurance… 
Goodbye crazy, disrespectful boss… 
Hello again, HOME. Sorry we lost sight of how truly blessed we are, we’ll try to not let it happen again… 
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Bucketing fun…

I am so busy, these long summer days, between a few really exciting photo projects, editing of Liar, and normal domestic Goddess duties such as laundry, dinner and dusting…
For people like me, lists are GOOD…
For the sanity of my family, lists like this are vital…

And so far, I’d say we are off to a GREAT start… 

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Journal {Spring 1}…


IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK… 
Migraines, and I am a little embarrassed to admit: TV. We stopped watching, for Lent, and have been playing catch up here and there. At first I felt really guilty about it, but my favorite quote this week really changed that. I know it’s at the bottom of this entry, but I will share it here too. It says “The time you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted time.” And really, that’s pretty true. I need to be LESS anal. I need to be LESS guilt driven. I will forever punish myself with extra long to-do lists and feel completely awful about myself if I spend an afternoon reading. Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? I don’t want to be like that anymore. While i am not a big fan of watching TV a lot- I have enjoyed “Catching up”. I could never be that person who watches all of the time, nor everyday even. We sit down as a family once per week to watch a movie, and once per week to watch Once Upon a Time. That’s all… So, I am letting myself off of the hook with this. 
IN OUR HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK… 
After our spring break we were just trying to get back in a good rhythm. It’s been a hard year and March was such a stressful month that every day we are struggling to do what needs to be done. We had already decided to try NOT taking the summer off, and just do more evenly scattered breaks so I am not too worried… 
PLACES WE’RE GOING, PEOPLE WE’RE SEEING… 
That’s a great question! I have a women’s church get together Friday night, that I am excited about. We may try to go to the drive in, with friends. It’s low key, which is absolutely ok. It has been RUN RUN RUN since early February honestly… 
MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK WAS… 
The birds singing. I know that has nothing to do with anything homeschool related but when I sit at my desk and there is a bird song out my open window, it fills my heart with complete joy. 
THINGS I AM WORKING ON…
Being less hard on myself. Not only “preaching” but demonstrating the importance of grace, gratitude true life enjoyment. 
*sigh*
I’M READING… 
 I just finished A Dog’s Purpose by Bruce Cameron. I am contemplating the next Hunger Games book, but I’m just not sure I’m ready to go back there quite yet… 
SHE’S READING… 
The Anne of Green Gables series. 
I’M COOKING… 
I’m not, and I hate that. I did make Easter dinner and a pot of ham bone and 5 bean soup the next day, but mostly I think I am so stressed and feel so tired that I lack the creativity. I haven’t baked in 2 months and i really need to get back on the weekly bread thing… BUT I really need an amazing bread recipe and the one I have is NOT it… 
I’M GRATEFUL FOR…
So, SO much. My beautiful kids, whom I am so ridiculously proud of. My tireless husband who does so much for us. The birds singing. Laughter. My kindle. Chocolate. Greatly written tv shows. 
I’M PRAYING FOR…
My kids. Genny is a bundle of nerves and big feelings these days. Amanda has been in sick bay, at basic, and is miserable. Lucas deploys in just a couple of weeks. Lots of big… 

FAVORITE QUOTE OR PHOTO…  
BOTH!!!!

“The time you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted time.” 

My niece Kaileigh, on Easter. She is such a ham and I just love this photo because she looks like she is about to share something deep and profound. :) 

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When there’s nothing left to say…

I started a whiny, ranty post and then changed my mind. 
I decided to sit here until i could think of something truly incredible to say. 
I’ve been sitting for awhile now and my bum hurts. 
So, instead, I’m listing my meal plan- which I never, ever do. Mostly though, the hope with listing said meal plan, is that I will actually stick to it. (something I haven’t been doing well, at all.) 
You likely do not care what we are eating, or which meal in which it will consumed. 
but trust me, this is the BEST i’ve got… 




Monday
B- cereal, fruit
D- Roasted red pepper pasta with sauteed sun dried tomatoes, garlic and asparagus
Tuesday
B- oatmeal, toast, berries
D- Swedish sauteed mushrooms over roasted garlic and asiago mashed potatoes, Kale
Wednesday
B- Spinach, potato and bacon skillet
D- Mini Turkey loaves filled with cheddar, Roasted brussel sprouts.
Thursday
B- Cereal, fruit
D- Stir Fry and vegetarian pot stickers
Friday
B- Muffins and smoothies
D- Jaimie oliver’s Cauliflower and Mac n/cheese, roasted broccoli
Saturday
B- biscuits with Green Gravy 
D- Ugly chicken, steamed chili pepper cabbage, Irish Soda Bread 
Sunday
B- Blueberry french toast
D- Taco night
Baking/kitchen this week, on my home day
home made tortilla chips 
bread 
blueberry muffins
strawberry muffins
cookies 
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