Betwix and Between

Today as I driving south to #1 House, as Belle calls it, so the kids could be a part of Day 100 celebrations, I had the weirdest feeling.  It's hard to put into words, but maybe I can explain it like this.  When I am focused on something, I get frustrated when I am inturrupted.  Maybe it's because I'm not smart enough to have two thoughts at a time in my brain or maybe it's because I'm so intent on doing the task well that everything else dissappears into the background.  My focus recently has been at #2 House.  We have settled in nicely and we do miss our friends, but we have made new friends and focused on making the new place a home.  So, as I'm diving south, I'm thinking it seems strange.  But that thought in itself was strange.  Does that make any sense?  Before settling in up north, before we had a new church family, before we had friends, our focus was on how quick we could get back home.  Now more and more up north feels like home and it feels nice.  I don't have the constant drive to want to come back south.  Don't get me wrong, I want to come back down, eventually, but finally we are content where we are.  My thoughts go the passage in Philippians 4.  Here's what the NIV says:

 ¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Paul is in prison at the time that he writes because of his faith in Christ and his proclomation of faith and obviously I'm not saying that my circumstance is dire as his was, but the message is that our faith in God is where comfort and contentment really is. 

I went to church tonight down here, the girls were excited to get to go to AWANA and I was glad to just be there, but again, that feeling of not belonging crept in again.  It was not because I was not accepted by my friends there, on contrary, I got tons of hugs.  It was me.  I guess I can look at it this way...we are where God wants us up north and we are content.  I've decided this is a good thing.

My Day Book

Link to they Day Book at February Day Book

Today's Day Book for February 15th

Outside my window it is cold and the snow is blowing!  We got about 9" yesterday and last night.

I am thinking that I need to get a jump start on my day, I have much to accomplish!

I am thankful for my kids and the fact that I get to stay home with them and teach them everyday.


From the learning rooms  Belle is doing a great job reading, but she moans every time I break a book out.  I think that I need to make sure that we are reading everyday to make her more confident.  Ariel is learning about Spain and I keep thinking that I want to start her on a foreign language, but it's hard to just get the regular school done, let alone adding another elective.


From the kitchen  Burgers are on on tap for tonight.  We have a friend that raises beef cattle and it is so nice to know where our meat comes from.  Last night we had a special Valentines dinner of gnocci with vodka sauce, Ceasar salad and garlic bread that got a bit toasty under the broiler as I was multitasking.  The girls cut out brownies in heart shapes and frosted them, they were so good!! 

I am wearing my PJ's still.  I got them for Christmas and they are so comfy.  Flannel plaid pants and a thermal shirt are just so hard to get out of in the morning.

I am creating my blog.  It's a ton of fun and addicting.  Next time I head down south, tomorrow, I'm going to bring my scrapbook stuff.  That will be fun to start working on again.

I am going back down south tomorrow.  The girls are excited to be able to go to school and see their friends.  Why is there always so much to do before a short trip?

I am reading  the Red Glove Series by Karen Kingsbury.  I'm having trouble getting into it.  I just may have to swap it out for the David Baldacci book that I bought Hubby for Christmas.

I am hoping  that we get through school easily today.  The girls would like to have the whole day off tomorrow so that we can stop and do some shopping tomorrow on the way back down south but this means that they have to get their work done prior.  They seem pretty motivated, so I hoping!!!

I am hearing the morning news.  Right now there is a story about a sickness from the Playboy Mansion.  All I can do is giggle.  I can also hear the girls in the kitchen getting their breakfast together.  They are being very sweet to each other. 

Around the house  my elliptical is staring at me saying....use me!  use me!  I have been doing really good the past three weeks and I'm waiting to see results.  The whole plan is to move more and eat less!  If I keep repeating my mantra, maybe it will work.  I can tell my cardio is getting better already, that is motivation in itself. 

One of my favorite things  is this nice big chair I'm sitting in.  Hubby has this idea about 4 recliners and a big screen TV in a "Man Cave".  I giggled at first, but as I sit here reclining, I think it was a great idea!  The sun is shining in the window and it's just a good feeling.

A few plans for the rest of the week besides driving south is doing some organizing at our house down south and maybe a visit to a few friends.  Friday is Ariel's birthday and I'm excited about celebrating with her.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing

The view out my window.  I love how a new snow covers and makes the landscape looks to clean and pristine. 

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Day in elementary school always seemed awkward to me.  I tried pick appropriate valentines to give people.  I didn't want to give the "I'm sweet on you!" to any of the boys and I never wanted to give them to the girls either.  In high school the pressure was always on to have a Valentine.  I'm not sure if I ever did have one but pressure remains burned in my memory.  Then college.  Ugh.  More pressure to be working on that MRS degree.  I remember dating a boy and using the phrase "I love you" and feeling strange about it.  I'm old fashioned and wanted that to be reserved for the one.  I really hoped that he was the one, but still using the phrase was odd to me.  I remember talking to my mom one day and asking how a person could know that they were in love.  Maybe she sensed my hesitation and responded something to the effect that if I was truly in love that I probably wouldn't be asking the question.  That left me with more questions than answers.  I truly wanted to fall in love and be with my soul mate, my one and only, the one who God had perfectly designed for me and here's my mom telling me nothing more than, "You'll just know".  I don't like those kind of answers.  I'm a doer.  Tell me what to do, and I'll get it done for you.  I don't like vagueness.  I'm not a good mind reader.  I'm not a game player.  What you see is what you get.  I am me.  So when I ask, "How do I know if I'm in love," I need the Top Ten List of How to Know I Am In Love, or give me a three point sermon and I'll follow it.  Little did I know that at that point my father is praying that I will get through college with out all the distractions of boys.  As graduation rapidly approached, campus became a diamond mine.  It seemed that everyday someone else was getting engaged.  I was happy for them, but wondered where and when it would be my turn.  As only God can do, my path of least resistance got me to a college for an internship where I went to a local church.  I attended there with a friend of mine from college and she introduced me to this very handsome man who asked if I would like to go out to dinner with him.  I accepted and right away I fell for this guy.  I remember calling home to tell my parents that I was going on date #3 with  a boy I met at church and they came up immediately to meet him.  On a phone call only a couple weeks later, I asked Mom if she remembered 3 years back to the how-do-I-know-if-I'm-in-love conversation and she did.  I remember just giving a whoop of joy over the phone to let her know that I knew.  When he proposed only 4 months after we met, I remember mom making a comment like, "I have no idea what took him so long!"  We were married almost a year to the day that we met.  Marriage is not perfect, in fact sometimes it's just hard work, but it is so worth it.  We have had many fun Valentines Days together.  I remember the Valentines Day of 2002, I was 4 days away from Ariel's delivery and I was huge.  Hubby gave me a beautiful necklace with a heart pendant on it that I am wearing today.  We talked about it being our last Valentines Day alone, with out children.  Valentines Day of 2005, Hubby was in Iraq and the girls and I all got flowers for him via his sister.  It's not the presents and flowers that make Valentines special, it's the thought behind it all, the special day set aside to reflect on love and the blessings that God has given us.

This morning I was served breakfast in bed by my two little Valentines.  Hubby and I were ordered back to bed by the little tyrants while they heated up left over pancakes and made coffee.  As we waited, we talked about how quickly they had gotten so big, how time goes by way too fast.  The girls and I went to the grocery store to get our supplies for our annual surprise fancy dinner for Daddy that I started long before they came along.  It's one of my gifts to my husband.  I hope he'll like it....actually, I know he will.  He always has.  He is so good to me!

Belle vs. the Radio

Hubby worked at home for most of the day today.  It was nice to have him around.  Not that he really interacts with us much when he's working, but it's just nice to know that he is around.  It balances out the times that he is away from us.  We were sitting in the same room this morning and he has his radio on, making sure that he wasn't missing anything, and it can be loud and annoying sometimes.  I honestly don't know how they stand it all the time, but I guess after listening to it for 17 years you kind of tune it out.  Something like I do with the kids, right?  Anyway, Belle is eying the radio and scowling when all of a sudden she says, "I just want to push that button and say, 'Shut up!  Mark is on a break!'".  I started busted out laughing but told her not to touch it.  Hubby is giggling himself and says, "Why do you think that you shouldn't do that?" and her reply was, "because I think that you wouldn't have a job any more and I think you like your job!"  Of course her eyes were shining and she was giggling, but she knew what she was talking about.   

An Award!

A huge thanks to my friend, Lisa at The Berry Patch who gave me the Stylish Award!  How cool!  Thanks so much, Lisa, your blog inspires me in so many different ways!

The rules are rather straight-forward....

1. Thank and link back to the person (or people) who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

Seven Things About Me

1.  I am married to the most amazing man in the entire world.  Being married to my best friend and waking up next to him everyday is a blessing straight from God.  We met and married with in a year, 13 years ago.  I'm such a lucky girl.
2.  I have two girls that mean the world to me.  They amaze me everyday with the things they come up with and how much they take in.  They are growing way too fast and if I think about it too much, I'll cry.
3.  I have a bachelors degree in Athletic Training from Houghton College which is what ultimately brought me to Maine.  I spent my first year of college at Word of Life Bible Institute, studying the Bible.  I'd recommend it to anyone!
4.  I have lived in 6 states.  My dad was a pastor and we moved often!  I think it gave me a big sense of adventure and ready for anything.
5.  I am an Army Wife.  Hubby is in the Army Reserve and is the commander of his battalion.  I feel lucky that he has only been on one deployment.  He was in Iraq for a year and it was so hard, but by the grace of God, we made it though!
6.  I love to cook!  Baking is so fun!  I enjoy experimenting with recipes and creating new things.  Food network is just about my most favorite thing to watch on TV.
7.  The most important thing to me, besides all of this, is my faith in God.  He has blessed me beyond belief and continues to do so.  It never ceases to amaze me.


Passing it on

I know that I have a few postings dating way back, I really am new to getting into blogging.  I don't have very many blogs that I follow, but here are the ones that I do....

1.  'Sup bros...this is the Breaus!  Laura is a friend of mine and an Air Force wife.  Her hubby is currently on deployment but she is always upbeat and she has many adventures in Japan.
2.  barefoot in barcelona  Keri was my flower girl and is now attending Gordon College.  Her blog is about her adventures in her semester abroad in Barcelona and her stories are so good!
3.  Ross Family  This one is personal to me.  It's my cousin's wife's blog.  I have yet to met her in person, but through her blog, I am getting to know her and their adorable daughter, Emma.
4.  Sylvester Family  This is another cousin, Katie, who I don't get to see often but love to keep up with her blog and pictures of her growing family.
5.  Our Family Forest  This is my amazing friend, Jen.  I have no idea how she does all she does.

That's it!  It's all I got.  4 is a far cry from 15, but it's what I've got!

Wednesday Night Mayhem

Yesterday, Wednesday, we had a great start to our day!  We had a new friend come over in the morning.  She has two little boys, one almost 3 and the other 3 months.  It made me remember how much work little ones are.  The oldest was so cute playing with mine and of course mine ate it up!  Ariel was in her glory playing with the oldest and then switching gears to croon over the baby.  She is going to be a great babysitter one day soon.  The friend left before lunch, we finished school, the girls played in the snow and we made a trip into town.  Valentine's Day is approaching much more rapidly than I had thought it would and I had to get the girls Valentines for their friends and get them into the mail.  So, summing up our great day, I'm not sure when the "grumpies" moved in.  Can adults be over-stimulated?  Oh, you thought I was saying that my kids were grumpy?  Not a chance.  It was all me.  Fast forward to about 5pm.  I'm getting supper together, hubby is running later than I thought, the potatoes are now out of the oven and getting cold, hubby walks through the door hungry, but I didn't want to put the steaks on too soon.  So, I popped the 'taters back in the oven, threw the steaks on to my George Foreman grill and then a quick e-mail check.  Went to check on the steaks a few minutes later and they were looking great.  Hubby likes his a bit more done so I took three off and left one on.  The grill starts smoking a bit and the smoke detector responds appropriately.  This is all well and good because it's not attached to anything, I can just wave it around and move it to another room.  But I didn't tend to it immediately and Ariel, fingers in her ears, runs into the kitchen and starts shouting, THE FIRE ALARM IS GOING OFF!  THE FIRE ALARM IS GOING OFF!  To which I respond, I KNOW!  Then she starts yelling, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!!  Seriously, who does that?  What on earth would possess someone to mimic a fire alarm?  Isn't it annoying enough on it's own?  I think this is the point where I started yelling myself.  Of course a mother yelling doesn't really calm the situation down and having a case of the grumpies didn't help either.  Ariel runs off giggling as I'm reaching for the fire alarm.  I'm proud to say that everyone is still alive this morning, but probably a bit deaf.

You're not crazy mom!

I feel like I live on that precipice of insanity at all times.  I think I like it here, not knowing whether or not I will fall over the ravine, kinda makes me feel alive!  I have a friend that is a mental health nurse and I asked her one time, "If I know that I'm crazy, I'm not right?  Because that is the thing that makes me know I'm sane."  Her reply was something to the effect of crazy people do know they are crazy.  Great!  Now what is the benchmark of knowing the sane from the insane? 

Today hubby went into work later than usual, which meant that school was put aside for games of Crocodile and hanging out with Daddy.  Some things are more important.  So at 3:30 pm when Ariel was still doing school work and very frustrated with the whole thing that I decided to inject some humor and just be silly.  She looks at me, like only tween girl can, and rolls her eyes at me.  But I can see that she is no longer in her frustrated state, she has that glint in her rolling eyes that tells me that my silliness is working.  So I said to her, "I know, Momma is crazy!"  Belle, sitting on my lap, pipes up, "You're not crazy, Momma!!!  You are normal!"  To which I burst out laughing as did Ariel.  So I asked her if she was sure and she said she was.  I then asked, "Okay then, who is crazy?" and you know she said it was her sister.  It amazes me how quickly kids pick up on humor and how easily they incorporate it into their everyday language.  I'm so glad that my kids have a sense of humor, it's a good way to cope with the tough things that come along in life.  I'm glad they can laugh at themselves, I think it will make them stronger human beings. 

Hubby is off ice fishing tonight with some of his Trooper buddies.  They have done this for the past several years and it's always a hike to their fishing local.  Funny thing is, now we only live about 20 minutes away from it.  The girls and I are going to get a pizza and have a fun girls night complete with a pajama party in Momma's bed, as they call it.  Often when he is away they want to sleep with me.  Too soon they will be bigger and not want to hang with me.  I'm going to cherish these insane days but fun PJ party nights.