Takeoff!

For some reason, I have started receiving FlyLady emails again.  I haven't subscribed to her in years but last night I got a email about today.  So... maybe someone somewhere is trying to tell me something. lol

It was so helpful for quite a while but 3 moves later, it was getting pretty overwhelming so I stopped but... life is different now and I think I'm ready to get back at it.

She is quite encouraging and it's not just in cleaning.  She encourages, exercise or at least movement, fixing ourselves up for the day and then of course cleaning too.  I need all that so here I go!  Babysteps but steps in the right direction.  Here I go ready for take off!

One reason I love homeschooling...

One of the great things about homeschooling, in my mind, is that when the kids are dragging and there's yucky stuff going around, we can opt to sleep in and let their bodies work their healing miracle.  They wake up refreshed and ready to go.  We don't have to worry about missing school or tests or make up work, or whatever. We can just rearrange the schedule to make it work for us.   Yep, I love it!

Free

I've been reading a lot of Facebook posts lately that talk about feeling left out, confused, angry, rumors, remembering to leave/give it to God, and so on and so forth.  A few months ago, when I read these I often thought, I know what you mean, I feel the same way, YES, and so on.  But this morning as I read some of these posts I was surprised to realize that I don't feel like they are talking about me too!

I'm feeling great!  I'm feeling loved and happy.  I know God is on my side without these little reminders.  I'm not over concerned any more with what other people say about me and I'm not too worried about what others think of me any more.  I am who I am and I am loved by many (my family is HUGE :o) and I'm good with this.  God knows me and my heart and really, that's all that matters.

It was such a empowering, uplifting, FREEING feeling.  I. Am. Happy.  I. Am. Loved.

Living

So far this new year I've been busy living.  I've taken DD and one of her best friends out for a girls shopping day, hung out in front of the fire with the fam, gone shopping with DS and helped him cook his 'caveman' food, read a book, and am just enjoying life.  So far it is has been a great start to the new year!

Chapter One

Chapter One

A new day, a new year, a new beginning....  Stay tuned.

"The Unfinished Gift"

I've been reading, reading, reading lately.  I'm so enjoying it.  Right now I'm reading several books but the one I'm reading this morning is called "The Unfinished Gift."   It is wonderful.  It is set during WWII.  It's been so interesting being in that time period.  To see how our country handled being at war at that time and to compare it to present day.  This morning as I was reading I came to a part that just really struck me.  Here it is.

"The crowd in Times Square is growing by the minute, already numbering in the tens of thousands.  The multitude is happy and peaceful, yet somewhat subdued from years past, considering we are a nation at war. And because we are, it's been decided- now for the second year in a  row- that the Big Ball will not descend from its post high atop the Times Tower to ring in the New Year.  Still, come midnight, we do expect the cheering throngs to scream, the chimes to sound, and the church bells to ring throughout the land.  But all the while, not far from anyone's mind, will be thoughts of a husband, a son, an uncle, a brother.  And for every cheer, two prayers will likely be said.  God, keep him safe.  God, bring him home."

This was what was playing on the radio in the story on New Year's Eve 1943.  Interesting isn't it.  DH and I have often talked about how different it has been during these wars from WWII.  How the country isn't as affected as a whole like it was back then.  No rations, no drills and so on.  Eventually, everything just continued as if nothing had changed.

I remember going through the museum at Ft. Campbell and looking at the all the items from WWII and thinking then how different it was.  In some ways I think it was better because it was more there every day for every one to see.  Now, it's easy to forget that it's even still going on!  I've actually had people to say to me, "You mean we still have people over there?  I thought that was over."  UNBELIEVABLE!!

Anyway, I got off on a tangent, sorry...  I was struck that the Ball didn't drop on New Year's.  That it was like in a way we were waiting.  It was a symbol that the country was waiting.  Yes, the New Year still came and celebrations still occurred but there was a symbol that the country was waiting, that the country still remembered.  We were at war.

We are at war.  Families are still separated.  They are still worried every day that their husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, uncle or aunt might not come home.  It's very real that many don't come home or that many don't come home the same.

Don't forget.  Pray for them.  Help them.  Reach out these families.  They need to know that they are not forgotten.  That we do still care for them.  That we want to help them and be here for them.  Pray for them.

Remember.

Friday Musings

I've still been busy living my life lately.  You know what?  It's fun!  I'm still on the computer too much but most of the time it's doing some studying or an accountability group or something.  I still probably watch too much tv but DD and I are loving watching Hallmark movies together.  :o)

Mostly she and I hang out together.  We shop, we cook, we sing, we drive around, we talk and we talk some more.  When DH is off he joins us and sometimes we make a trip out to take DS to lunch or something.

We have just really been enjoying being a family.  We all seem to be reaching out a bit more to new ... experiences and people.  We are spreading our wings a bit. I'll let you know how it goes in  a few weeks.  lol

I was just asking DH about some wording and he was brainstorming and used the phrase, "expanding our area of influence."  I didn't like it.  It sounds kind of self centered.  Well, it did at first but as it has rolled around in my mind...  maybe it's so bad... we do all have an influence on those around us whether we want to or not and well, it's only self centered if we make it so.  We choose the kind of influence we make by how we act and more importantly, how we love.

Isn't that just a beautiful word?  LOVE.  It just doesn't get much better than that does it.  Oh how the world could be changed if we showed more love.  Not romantic love, although DH wouldn't mind that a bit, but love, Christlike love.  Love for our neighbors near and far.  Love for our enemies, for those who hurt us, those who don't always seem 'deserving'.  I mean, really are any of us ALWAYS deserving?  I mean sometimes we just have a bad day... or week...  Sometimes, maybe that person who seems so underserving hasn't been shown enough love in their life and so they are kind of cranky or just don't know how to love.  I'm thinking that it's our job.  To show love, to teach love.

Galatians 5:13

Common English Bible (CEB)

¹³ You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love.  (My emphasis added)

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails...

I don't know.  What do you think?  If we all showed this kind of love... would the world be a better place?  I think so.  But that's just my opinion.

Friends

So this morning I was thinking... How do you discern who your friends are?  Then it came to me that the more important question is Am I a friend? Am I being a good friend? I hope so.

Just some ponderings for the day...

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. 
Albert Camus 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html#EjA7VDgyhIkmsW8o.99 

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.
Pam Brown 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html#EjA7VDgyhIkmsW8o.99 

A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity.
Robert Hall 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html#EjA7VDgyhIkmsW8o.99 

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.
Henri Nouwen 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship.html#EjA7VDgyhIkmsW8o.99 

What I've been doing...

Yes, it's been awhile again.  I've been busy I guess.  Living life.  Spending time with family... good time.  I've been living my life and loving it.  So... here is some good advice...  Turn up the Music!  It's how you live...

Celebrating Womanhood

So, I am a day late... Yesterday was supposed to be a day of Celebrating Womanhood in the blogosphere.  We are supposed to me celebrating with positives about being a woman, trying to negate all the negatives out there lately.

So.

I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece, and a friend.

I was a military wife for 20 years. My husband just recently retired.  Let me tell you... that's a hard one!  The challenges a military wife faces are extraordinary!  Leaving family and friends over and over.  Being a single parent more than not even though you are married. Moves, FRGs, Deployments, TDYs... and on and on.  It's a challenge and takes courage and lots of love and dedication.

I am a mom.  I love my kids.  Too much sometimes.  They are my world.  This fall it was time to let one head off to college.  Boy, do I miss that kid!  I am so proud of the man he is becoming and the great things he has in store for him.  It's not always been easy but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  I still have my sweet DD home with me and we are having a fun getting to be just the two of us during the day.  She is becoming such a beautiful woman both inside and out.

I love my family.  All them, far and near.  It's been hard being so far away as we've moved here and there in the military.  I'm the closest to home I've ever been since getting married and I'm still about 8 hours away.  I miss my parents and siblings and every day.  I call my parents every day and talk for "hours" according to my Daddy.  :o)  I try to keep in touch with my siblings as well.  I miss them terribly.  I love my nieces and nephews beyond words and don't get to see them enough.  I hope they know how very much they are loved and missed.  The are all wonderful.

I have not kept in touch with my aunts and uncles like should have.  I do miss them and share stories about them with my kids all the time.  They are not forgotten.  They are very loved and very missed.

Friends... so many over the years... so many haven't seen in FOREVER!  You are always in my thoughts!  I share stories of you all as well.  So many from all over the world.  I miss you!  I love that I have found so many of you on Facebook and get see how you are and what your family is up to.  Let's keep in touch better!

Well, I'm not sure if this is exactly what was wanted in this post of Celebrating Womanhood but to me... this IS Womanhood!  Being a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece and definitely a friend.

It's been awhile...

Boy does time fly... So many times I've had so much to say but never got around to writing it up...  I'm still there...  Life has been so busy lately.

First we had dance recital early in May, then the next weekend was my son's high school graduation, then I had surgery and recovery...  5 weeks later we went on vacation.  It was wonderful and no, I did not want to come home!  Then about 2 weeks later I went with our Youth Choir on their Choir Tour to Dallas, TX and Mount Sequoyah, AK.  We had a great time.

Now, I'm home again, trying to get back into the swing of things.  I have a terrible backache right now, probably from sitting way too much during the travels but I'm trying to stretch and walk my way through it.

So, this weekend was Christmas in July on the Hallmark Channel and Sunday, I spent some time enjoying it.  As I was watching these movies though, I found myself wishing my life was different.  Kind of sad and weird I know but it's honest... So yesterday, I woke up and thought, if you wish your life was different, then DO something different!  So that's what I've been trying to do.  Do things differently.  Do things I love that for some reason, I haven't been doing.  So, today, I've been back to my green smoothies and menu planning a bit and yes, to more Hallmark movies, but I've been slowly tackling some 'hotspots' in the house too.  I used to follow FlyLady and I loved it but we moved and moved and moved again and well, I kind of lost it.  So, I'm slowly incorporating it back in my day in my own way.  I even walked on the treadmill for a bit this morning.  Yea me!

So, I'm working on my life.  I'm working on not just wasting it, on actually living it!  

Read this today and it is so very true.

"I can't change people's minds. Or their attitudes. Or their words when they are mean. And I often waste energy thinking about it. And wishing things were different.

As a good friend once said to me, 'Turn your ear away from them so you can hear those of us who love you.'"

 Great reminder. 

Green! It's my new favorite color!

So, I've been drinking my smoothies/juice drinks for about 4 days now and I have to tell you... I LOVE IT!  I even added in a little extra spinach this morning. 

As far as how I feel... Not noticing a huge change yet but I'm still eating some junk for my other meals so...  I really need to stop that!  But I have noticed a change...  I love my hair usually but lately (before the drinks) it's been a bit lifeless, or if it had it's curls it's been dry and just not looking itself... BUT  yesterday I noticed a difference!  It seems to have some extra body and life to it!  I didn't have to do much to it all (that's the way it used to be!) and it looks nice!  Not dry.  YAY!! 

I'm really enjoying the drinks and love that I'm getting some nutrition in a tasty way from REAL fruits and vegetables.  I think I'm getting close to the daily recommended amounts for a change!  My body may go into shock...  It's awesome!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Okay, so I'm going to share a dirty little secret of mine but you have to promise not to tell anyone okay?  Promise?  Good.  Here it is.

I really HATE vegetables and most fruits.  There... now you know the ugly truth.  Explains a lot huh?  lol  Well, it is true.  I am getting better as I get older but not much... that is until today.

See, I haven't been sleeping much and this recovering has me down a lot and I've been watching way too much television... and in the wee hours of the night/morning our airwaves are filled with this little thing called infomercials...  I'm becoming addicted to them!  I find myself surfing the channels looking for them!

Anyway, I digress...  So the other night/morning I ran across one for this neat little gadget called The NutriBullet.   I researched it all night/morning.  It's a blender of sorts... better than a blender though.  You make smoothies/ juice drinks.  You use veggies and fruits.  Anyway, I was super skeptical.  SUPER!  They kept saying how good it was (sure...).  How can something so ... green ... be good?

But I kept reading.  There were lots of great reviews and testimonies.  People were feeling better, more energy, sleeping better (see above) and just a feeling of being healthy.  I want that!  So I couldn't stop thinking about it all morning yesterday. 

DH and I were out in the city doing some shopping and we just happened to go Bed Bath and Beyond and guess what we found there?  Yep!  The NutriBullet!  DH was wanting a new blender and so I started telling him about this and so... WE BOUGHT IT!

Last night I went to the store and got a few items for the smoothies (still thinking yuck) and got up this morning and wow! I actually really liked it!  It was green and that was a little hard to take but the taste was refreshing!  I'm sold!  I'm already thinking about having another one later.  lol

So here's what I did.  A handful of spinach, half a banana (hate them), half a green apple, a handful of green grapes, a tbs of salba and water to the max line.  That's it!  It really was refreshing and good.  Of course it wasn't the BEST thing I've had (I really like ice cream...) but it was probably the most nutritious breakfast I've ever had. lol  And I really did LIKE it!  I'll let you know how it goes.  :o)

Army Wife Network

This evening I am being interviewed as the resource of the week over at the Army Wife Network's Talk Radio Show about my book, "My Daddy Is In The Army."  The show starts at 8pm Eastern and my interview will be about an hour into the show.  I hope you all can tune in and listen!

Recovering

Earlier this week I had surgery.  Everything went fine and I am recovering well.  My family has been wonderful.  My parents were here for the first few days and that was wonderful.  I didn't have to worry about the kids or the house as they took care of everything.  DH has been great too.  Very attentive and helpful.  DD and DS have been super sweet checking on me all the time to see if I need anything or to just give me a hug.  My friends have been awesome too.  They have been providing dinners for us all week and they have been super yummy!

I've been just taking it easy, watching tv, playing on my kindle, walking around the house a bit and napping.  It's been nice.  I'm enjoying TVLAND.  I had forgotten how much I love shows like "Leave It To Bever" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."  DD has been watching them with me and she is loving it too.  "The Andy Griffith Show" is on right now, so I better go for now.

Peace?

You know that inner dialogue? 
That conversation that goes on in your head? 
Yes, well, mine has been overwhelming lately.
(For like 10 years or more.)
I am one of those people that has to question everything. 
I have to analyze everything... to death! 
Is this.... ?
Did that happen because... ?
I am doing this for .... this .... or this....? 
Did they mean...? 
I too often look between the lines and sometimes there really aren't any lines!!! 
Sometimes there is no deeper meaning. 
Sometimes things really can be easy!

I also hold on to things.
Keep them in my back pocket to pull them out later when life is too easy so that I have something to worry over, to analyze, to over analyze, to fret over.

It has got to stop.  Let things go, quit worrying over EVERY LITTLE THING and just enjoy the ride. 

Sometimes, I really do know what I am doing.
Sometimes, I really do do things right.
Sometimes, things really are as innocent as they seem.

So self,
BE QUIET!
ENJOY the little things for what they are.
STOP reading between lines that are not there!
Just RELAX. 
Be CALM.
Be STILL.
BE AT PEACE.

Woke up to this one this morning

Gardening

So, I LOVE to garden.  In our last home we had a lovely little square foot garden and we canned tomatoes and sauce, strawberry jelly, okra, peppers and we froze even more!  I loved it.  Our garden last year didn't do too well so I've been looking at some new ideas.  I just found this food for wealth idea and have been thinking about it...You can find out more it here.  Let me know what you think!   Click Here!

Just gorgeous!

What beautiful weather we've had the last few days.  We've had a thunderstorm here and there but with absolutely perfect weather between!  I have really been enjoying sitting out on the patio and soaking up the vitamin D.  :o) 

This evening DD had to be on post for something and so I decided to go for a walk out there while I waited.  It was just gorgeous.  The breeze was just refreshing and everything was green and budding or blooming and beautiful. 

It's been a while since I've gone walking out there and I have to say that is the main thing I miss about living on post here, having such a beautiful place to walk right outside my front door.  Don't get me wrong, my neighborhood is lovely but Ft. Leavenworth was made for walking in beauty.