WHEW...It's been busy, but FUN!

It has been a busy month to say the least, but that is a good thing!  With the husband being gone, I am glad to keep busy.  At the end of June, my mom came up for about 5 days and spent some time with us.  It was great to have her here with us and we spent the entire time driving and showing her the sights.  Lila flew back to Georgia with her to spend the week and then I flew home the first weekend of July for my college roommate, Lenna’s wedding.  I was so excited to be able to be there for her wedding to Mike and she was absolutely stunning.  Lila was the flower girl and she was so beautiful!  Of course, I am more than a little bit biased.  The only negative of the trip was that it was quick and I didn’t have time to see anyone other than family and friends at the wedding.  For those of you that I didn’t get to see, I hate it and hope that next time we come, we will have more time to visit and catch up.

On Saturday, Lila and I had to leave the wedding reception to catch our flight back home.  Luckily for us, we got to fly back to Washington with our friends Kat, Keary and their kids.  I’m sure the stewardesses flight attendants were scared when they saw us coming. I think everyone near Kat and Keary got a kick out of their girls yelling “WHEEEEE” as the plane took off and talking about how cool it was that Washington kept their Christmas lights on all the time!  J  We had a few days to spend all together before Cory had to leave to go to Australia for a month.  I was happy to have them here after he left to keep my mind off of it for a couple of days, though.  It made him leaving a little easier on everyone, Lila and Collis included. 

While they were here, we fit in anything and everything we could.  It was a hectic, busy, crazy, fun week.  While Cory was still at home, we fit in Mt. St. Helens and a trip to the coast, including the famed Oysterville.  It was everything the brochure said it was…unfortunately, there wasn’t anything else.  J  We did spend a little time on the beach, but Abby took a dive into the freezing cold water, so our beach trip got cut a little short. Of course, we also had to drive down to Portland, just for VooDoo donuts.  Although, somehow, despite the fact that we bought abundance, I never did get my Maple Bacon Bar.   After Cory left, we spent a full day driving around Mt. Rainier.  All the roads were finally open so it was BEAUTIFUL!  We also bought a city pass for Seattle and spent 3-days up there.  I definitely recommend the City Pass for anyone that wants to spend a couple of days checking out Seattle.  We went to the Woodland Park Zoo, Aquarium, took a harbor cruise, Experience Music Project/Sci-Fi Museum, Pacific Science Museum and Space needle, all for $60 per adult and $40 per kid.  It was definitely worth the money! I have to say that after all those days of parking in Seattle, I think I have finally figured out how to get the cheapest parking and have found at least one parking garage, I will never ever attempt again.  I wasn’t sure I was going to make it out of there without hitting a wall.  UGH! We all had a great time and were sad to see them go at the end of the week, although by that time, I was exhausted.  I think all I did was lay on the couch for a week afterwards, trying to get my energy back. 

Now, we’re just counting down the days until Cory comes home from Australia.  I have to say that I am ready for him to come home.  I really miss him!  A LOT!  A little over a week, though and he will be back…one day before our 10-year anniversary.  Man, time sure does fly! 

Let's Get Physical, Physical

As the title suggests, I am working to get physical. I did two triathlons last summer and thought I was well on my way to being a healthier individual and I was PROUD! Then, along came a ectopic pregnancy that required surgery, a cross country move and a miscarriage shortly after said move and I am sad to say, I am back to being a part-time couch potato. Other than walking home with my daughter from school every afternoon, I haven’t been doing much.

In the past, I have tried just about every exercise program known to man and haven’t stuck with any of them. Pilates, Hip Hop Abs, The Firm have all been at my house at some point in time and all got stuck in the DVD case and left there. I have learned that I’m just not good with videos and not coordinated enough for aerobics. I did enjoy the tri-training last summer, though. Well, I enjoyed all of it except the running, which I pretty much just ignored. HA HA. I HATE, HATE, HATE running. It is definitely not my strong point and never has been. So, I have decided to tackle running. I figure that since I hate it so much, I should just tackle it. Maybe if I turn working out into a huge challenge that I have to win, maybe I will stick with it and maybe, just maybe, I will get a little healthier in the process.

So, I downloaded the Couch to 5K app on my phone and started doing it officially on Sunday. Today was workout day two which consisted of walk 90 seconds, run 60 seconds for 20 minutes with a 5 minute warm up and cool down. So, the first four 90 second runs KILL ME! I don’t know if I’m just not warmed up or if it is mental or what, but it is excruciating. I do them slow, like at a 15 minute mile pace, which I’m not even sure counts a jog. I think I can probably walk that fast. After the first four, I do manage to speed up a little, but not much. UGH!

I am also working on being physical in other ways as well. I have been taking the dogs to the dog park the past couple of days and walked with my neighbor last night for a little over an hour. We’re planning on doing it again tonight. I guess that is something! Every little bit is supposed to count, right?

I guess at the end of this journey, one of two things can happen. Either I will learn to love running or I will be able to say that despite my hate, I did it.

Checking In...

Okay, I guess I’m overdue for an update. Things here are pretty good! Lila is still doing great in school and Cory’s job is going pretty good. It is busy, busy for him which means a lot of early mornings and late nights. We’re adjusting, though and I’ve made some friends with my neighbors which is nice. It looks like we’re all in the same boat as far as the hours our spouses are working. We all stay home with our kids; so on sunny days we are all usually hanging out in our front yards, watching our kids play in the cul-de-sac. Lucky for us, we had almost an entire week of sunshine last week. Unluckily, the rain is back in force this week.



The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy. As some of you know, I was asked to co-lead our FRG (Family Readiness Group) and agreed. Luckily for me, the lady that is co-leading with me is turning out to be a good friend and I think we work well together. I’m looking forward to where we are going to take the group and I hope we have a lot of ladies that get involved. I have been a part of some great FRGs in the past that supported me during some very difficult times. I hope that I can give back and we can do that for someone else.


Easter was a busy time for us as well. We had our Battalion Easter Event on Palm Sunday, which required some of us ladies to stuff 200 eggs and our company to supply a game or activity. Luckily, our tailgating/Steeplechase days paid off as we already had a bean bag toss game and ladder golf, as well as folding tables/chairs. We had a great time and the weather was fantastic. Everyone was talking about Lila all day as she climbed a tree in her cowboy boots to get the prize egg. I also hosted the Easter Event at the Fisher House on Good Friday. For those of you not familiar with the Fisher House, it is a place where military families can stay while they or family members are undergoing treatment at a military facility. I became familiar with the Fisher House in It is an awesome organization and I was super-excited to be a part of the Easter Event. The Fisher House really strives to make the families feel at home as much as possible. When I first volunteered to host the event, I had a little freak out moment as I realized how much was involved. Luckily for me, several ladies from our FRG stepped up and helped me out. I can’t explain how much I appreciate their help, especially since I hadn’t even met several of them when they volunteered. We supplied snacks for the families, treat bags for the kids, colored Easter eggs and even had an Easter Egg Hunt. There was only one child staying at the house so we brought our kids with us to hunt eggs with him. It was such a fun and special day. I am looking forward to staying involved with this organization in the future.


My friend Buffy visited with us last week and I loved it. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We stayed up entirely too late at night chatting and laughing hysterically, which made for very tired mornings when that alarm went off. Her brother who lives north of Seattle invited us up for Easter Sunday, so after church we headed up to his house. We had a great time, fantastic food and they had an egg hunt for the kids. I think I might get to see her again this Saturday before she heads back home. She has been sharing her time between our house and her brother’s house.


I guess that is about it for now. We are praying for everyone back home with the thunderstorms and tornados. I hope that y’all stay safe. We love you guys!

Praying on Paper

I’m not comfortable praying out loud. There. I said it. I hear others pray over dinner and family gatherings like our Uncle John and my brother-in-law Brian and I wish that I could be as eloquent at prayers and blessings as them. I’m not. It’s weird for me because public speaking doesn’t bother me at all. I have given speeches in front of huge groups, spoken on TV, performed in plays, given presentations in front of executives at my job, but still, when I try to pray out loud, I clam up. I am sure it is one of those things where practice makes perfect, but I feel inadequate. I know this is ridiculous and there is no such thing as a bad prayer. However, it doesn’t change the way I feel. I don’t even pray out loud when I am by myself.

Instead, I pray on paper. I’ve always been a writer and I do use that term loosely. I love keeping journals, writing stories, even making up stories on demand for my kids. I’ve always like writing things down; jotting down feelings and things that were good about my day. While I have never been a dedicated journal keeper, I do write down my feelings and thoughts, often on scraps of paper that end up getting stuck in a book somewhere or tossed away. This is also how I pray. I write down my prayers…prayers for my family, friends, myself; prayers for people I’ve never met. I’m comfortable there, expressing myself silently on a piece of paper. Someday, I hope I find my voice. I’m working on it.