An Adult Moment

It was a sunny afternoon, around 3pm.  The Man and I welcomed a Sears representative into our home to talk about heating systems.  I offered him something to drink and he declined.  We sat our dining room table and talked about heat pumps, cleaning the heating ducts, checking the alignment of the ducts, new furnaces and the like.  The Man and I did our thing, listening and communicating through glances and small nods. 

After awhile I started to zone since I had missed my afternoon nap.  You shouldn’t mess with a pregnant lady’s nap.  We had been talking about the necessity of replacing our furnace so this was kinda important.  At one point I started to pay attention again and I heard him talk about financing.  We talked about our options and the specials they were running and blah, blah, blah.

It was in that moment that I felt like an adult. It hit me, out of no where, that holy crap, The Man and I owned our house and are responsible for figuring out how to afford replacing our furnace. 

Don’t get me wrong, at 32 and well aware I’m an adult.  There was just something in this moment though that hit me.  I remembered walking through the dining room as a kid and catching a bit of a conversation my parents were having with a representative for something for the house and they were talking about financing options.

It just came back to me and hit me in a way that graduating college, moving overseas, falling in love, getting engaged, getting married, moving cross country, buying a house and getting pregnant never did.  This was something my parents had done that I witnessed.  It was a little mind boggling to tell you the truth.

Have you ever had a moment like this?

MA Trip

I’ve been home about 2 weeks from MA and I haven’t told you about it at all!  I had a great time.  In an effort to not leave anything out, I’ve made a list of things that I did while I was there.

1.  Ate yummy New England food. 

There are just some things I can’t get in the PNW, like a good Italian sub.  I crave them and I was so happy I was able to have a couple while I was there!  I also got in pizza from Papa Gino’s and the local House of Pizza, Chinese food and Sully’s.  SO YUMMY!

2. Spent time with my mom. 

My mom and I are friends and I miss our hang out times.  It was so nice to be able to just spend time with her!  We didn’t always have something planned but even just trips to Target are fun.  I’m so glad she’ll be heading my way soon!

3. Spent time with friends.

I love my friends in MA.  I was able to connect with many of them which was nice.  I was able to hang out with J, my friend from college and meet her new son S!  A day was spent on the Cape with C and her son M.  I miss these ladies so much and we make due with Facebook, email and phone calls but it’s not the same.  It was nice to have some face to face time. I can’t wait that next time out east I’ll have munchkin and she can play with the boys!  I also got to spend a morning enjoying the gorgeous weather at the “park” With my friends A, K and E and their kids. 

3.5 Met a bloggy friend for dinner

I was able to meet Jodi from Jodi Bean’s Blog for dinner one night. I love meeting bloggy friends in person!  We had a great dinner and dessert (ice cream, what else?!?) You can check out her post on our meeting.

4. Spent a weekend in Plymouth, MA for a retreat

It was fun to spend a weekend with women from my old church.  We learned a lot and were also very silly.  Good times, friend, good times!

5. Got a prenatal massage

After I fell, mom got me a prenatal massage.  It was the BEST massage I’ve EVER had.  Chandra, the masseuse, was amazing.  She was so good and even longer than she was supposed to.  I would definitely go back to her again!

6.  Spent time with family

One of the hard things about being so far away from family is that I don’t get to spend a lot of time with them in person.  I miss that a lot.  I spent a few days in NH with my Aunt, cousin and her family.  It was so much fun.  It was a little bitter sweet since my cousin & family is moving to Michigan soon and I don’t know when I’m going to see them again.

7. Got my hair cut

I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for about 15 years now and there’s no one else I trust with my hair. I learned this the hard way! I love that I can walk in and tell Kim what I want and she does it.  It works just fine that I’m not in MA that often as I usually only get it cut about once a year anyway.  She did a great job this time, as always!

8. Looked at lots and lots and lots of baby stuff with mom

It’s fun to plan and dream about a new baby.  It’s fun to do it with mom.  We reminisced about when I was a baby all those years ago.  I was able to get my christening gown for Munchkin to wear and some of my  baby blankets and sweaters.  

9. Enjoyed 70 degree weather!

I very much enjoyed the nice weather.  It was sad that the morning I woke up in my own bed back in WA, there was snow falling.  Not a fan of the snow…I  much prefer the nice weather!

10. Was blessed by a baby shower

Munchkin and I were showered with love at a baby shower.  It was so nice to see everyone.  We were blessed with many books for munchkin (I can’t wait to read them to her!) and clothes and blankets.  I even managed to get most of it home.  Just the books are left in MA and mom will bring those when she comes out.  My favorite part was the advice I was given.  Even my 9 year old niece had advice for me! I know I’ll be looking through the advice when I’m at my wits end.

That’s a recap of my two weeks in MA.  I hope you enjoyed!

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games movie opens today and most people I know are super excited about it.  You might be one of them.  As much as I love the books (I’ve read them 5-6 times), I’m not super excited for the movie.

I’m one of those people who LOVES books.  I love the story, the character development and the little details and thought processes that get lost in translation when a movie is made.  In the movie making process they have destroyed some of my favorite books.  They changed Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief.  They messed with Harry Potter.  They RUINED C.S. Lewis.  RUINED IT.   Seriously, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader DID NOT need to be changed.  What was with the swords and the green mist?  One does not need to mess with Narnia, it is perfect the way it is. 

So I guess you can say I’m a bit of a purist.  I like my books they way they are written.  Otherwise why would they be so popular?  So while I will see The Hunger Games, I’m nervous about how they changed it.  Just from the previews you can tell that Madge has been removed.  I know she’s a minor character but…it’s a change.  Changes to the books make me sad.  Guess it’s just something I have to live with!

Are you excited about The Hunger Games movie?

Does it bother you when movie change the book?

Wordless Wednesday

23 weeks in the newly painted nursery

Unexpected Company

I had some unexpected company this weekend and I must say it was amazing.  Wondering who was here?  My husband!  I know, he’s not really company since he lives here.  I was expecting him to be gone so I was really happy when I got a call Friday morning that he would be home all weekend!

Not only did we have Saturday and Sunday, but we had Friday too! That almost NEVER happens.  We were supposed to have most of Friday before he left on Saturday.  I’m so thankful that they didn’t take Friday away and he still got to come home for most of the day!  I was even more excited cause this was his duty free weekend so no duty either.  The timing was perfect too, since I’ve been away for about two and half weeks. 

Friday was our most active day.  We went out to lunch, took the pups to the dog park and then went to the home show in town.  We then took a quick cat nap since he had rehearsal and I had a Scentsy party to go to.  I am still in need to naps these days since Munchkin doesn’t seem to want to give me my energy back.  That’s ok, I like naps!

Since our sleeping in time in limited, we took advantage of a free Saturday morning and slept in.  Then we ran a few errands.   After that The Man worked on the nursery while I took a nap.  Yup, I was still able to sleep after sleeping in!  The nursery is looking great.  I’ll have to do a post on it soon!  Then we had a low key evening.

Sunday was church and some more errands.  I napped again while he worked on the nursery.  Is anyone else seeing a trend here?  I wonder if Munchkin is growing cause I’m exhausted and ready to sleep just about all the time.  The Man had rehearsal again so I made a homemade chicken pot pie for dinner.  We ate it while watching Amazing Race.  Perfect ending to a great weekend!

How was your weekend?

Munchkin Update

I’m almost 23 weeks and munchkin is doing well.  I’m finally showing!  The picture is me at 20 weeks.  I’m a little bigger now.  I’m also feeling her kick and move, which I’m enjoying a lot!  I love feeling her moving around.  We’re still waiting to be able to feel her from the outside but I think it will happen soon. 

With being able to feel her kick came the feeling that this is really happening!  I mean, I knew it was and hearing the heartbeat and seeing her on the ultrasound made it real but feeling her every day…that’s REAL.  I love it!  I’ve also been talking to her and that’s so fun.

So I’m finally enjoying being pregnant!  It’s so nice not being nauseous and wanting to eat.  Some foods, like bananas are no longer appealing.  However I’m enjoying OJ, grilled cheese and ice cream so I’m not complaining.  Even though I don’t look big I can tell she’s there.  Munchkin made the plane ride to and from MA a little uncomfortable.  I wasn’t able to get into a comfy position since I usually pull my legs up.  I couldn’t this time cause she was there!  I was very glad to land so I could walk and stretch out my legs.  Having an aisle seat on the return trip helped.  I’m thinking next time I’ll try not to fly while pregnant!

One thing that wasn’t so great is that the first week I was in MA I fell down 4 stairs.  It was snowing out and it was slippery and down I went.  I was feeling fine and went with my mom to her appointment but she was still worried.  So I called my doctor here in WA and they told me I should go to the ER to be monitored.  Fun.  So off we went.  I didn’t get nervous till the nurse in the ER had a hard time finding the heartbeat.  He had the fetal monitor hooked to ear things so I couldn’t hear anything and wasn’t sure if he was finding it and losing it or just not finding it.  He found it eventually but then she kept moving and he couldn’t count it so he got a different nurse to go it.  They thought she was fine but they sent me up to Labor & Delivery to be monitored anyway.  The best part of this was that Nana was able to hear the heartbeat!  She loved it.  It was strong and steady and we could also hear her moving.  She was pretty active, especially once I had some OJ.  It was so relieving to know that she was ok.  I didn’t get really upset until after when I couldn’t get in touch with The Man.  I didn’t hear from him till almost midnight.  That was hard but I was thankful that I finally did hear from him. 

I think that’s it for now…how are you doing?

Never Once

This past Sunday I was able to worship in the church I attended before I got married.  It was so nice to be back.  The night before there had been a 1Worship Concert (if you love worship music and will be in the Easton, MA area check them out.  They are fantastic!) which I had really wanted to go to but was exhausted so I didn't.  Thankfully we sang a few of the songs from the night before.  The last one we sang I hadn't heard before but found it very moving.  I had tears rolling down my face when we got to the following lyrics:

"Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts will say

Yes, our hearts will say

Never once did we ever walk alone, 

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God you are faithful"  

It is with joy that I can say that I KNOW I wasn't alone during the hard times.  Yes, they were hard and I would not choose to go through them again.  They did serve a purpose in my life and I've learned from them and grown so much.  So while I don't want to do them again I am thankful they happened.  And I'm so thankful for a loving God who has never, ever left me alone. 

Dear ones, I don't know each and every one of you.  I know I can say with certainty that there are some of you going through hard times, from having a spouse deployed, to being unemployed, to dealing with cancer or some other illness to marital issues to infertility...I've barely scratched the surface of the things people are dealing with.  Please know this. God love you and you are not alone. 

I hope you will listen to this song and be encouraged.

Never Once by Matt Redman

 Linking up with
Goodnight Moon
and
Extraordinary Moments

Wife of a Sailor with her Huzzy

I'm still having a great time in MA.  I have another guest post for you today, this time from Wife of a Sailor.  If you've never participated in the Milspouse (First) Friday Fill-In, you should check it out.  You can read the questions and answers from last Friday.  It's a great way to get to know other bloggers.  She's another blogger that I've been able to meet in person.  I love that I've met so many great people through bogging!  Anyway, she's going to talk about the uncertainity of life with a submariner.


The military life is such an unknown. Sometimes the submarine life is even more so, I think.

Right now, we are in the middle of our last deployment (which is called a patrol due to the type of sub
Huzzy is on) and about to head into shore duty. It’s pretty much our first one. I say pretty much because
I met Huzzy on his last “shore” duty, which was recruiting. Let me tell ya, that’s no picnic and there’s a
reason they give recruiters an extra $400 a month of “hardship duty” pay.

So Huzzy will be nearly 13 ½ years in and going on only his second shore duty—and the first “real” one—
in May. I’m really excited, but also a bit hesitant. You never know what the next change is going to bring.
Huzzy was so excited to get off recruiting duty and go back to the subs. He chose an SSGN and when he
got there, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. So when they were looking for a volunteer to go back
to an SSBN (or “Boomer” as they are known), he jumped at the chance.

Now? He realized the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and really likes the GN platform.
But here we are ready for shore duty. He chose the duty he did because it has the best leadership
opportunities for him. They are way undermanned and apparently work really long hours. And Huzzy
has heard one of the divisions in need of someone is the “paper pushing” department and he and I both
know he’d absolutely hate it.

So I’m cautious to see if this shore duty is really all it’s cracked up to be. I hope it’s at least some sort
of break for him and that he’ll have the chance to really bang out his college education and get his
Associate’s and a good chunk of his Bachelor’s degree done.

As for some of the unknowns of being a sub wife? Well, I knew the target return date when Huzzy left
for his patrol. But until we are within 24 hours of the actual timeframe, we don’t know and aren’t really
told. We could meet our ombudsman in person and ask if it changed, but they don’t know for sure,
either, until they get the call.

Another unknown is email. We never know if our emails are getting to the boat and never know when
an email is going to be sent to us. When the boat is doing what it’s meant to do… there’s no email
coming off it. They can usually receive email because it’s a different system that doesn’t require them
to do transmissions. But we’ve had email show up months and even a patrol later! It’s definitely not a
reliable system in any stretch of the word. And of course, we don’t hear their voice until they return. No
cell phone towers 20,000 leagues under the sea!

The unknowns of military life really can get to a person. But the Navy is slowly beating the Type A
personality out of me. I don’t think I’ll ever completely be removed of my Type A, but maybe I’ll become
a Type AB!

Guest Post with Sierra



Sierra and her Hubby



I'm having a great time in MA! I hope to catch you up on my trip when I get home but for now, you get a guest post from my friend Sierra.  She blogs over at The Tervo Times.  I've been able to meet her when she visits home (for her) for Christmas.  I've loved getting to know her in person!  She's a Navy brat and an Air Force wife, so she knows a bit about moving around.  She's sharing some tips with us about making friend in new places.  I hope you find in helpful!

=====================

Since the military likes to move people around, spouses have to learn how to continually make new friends and try to keep the important ones from before.

I'm gearing up right now for a PCS several states away. This isn't my first time moving... I moved around as a Navy Brat, moved away to college, then moved around with the Air Force. Over the years I've gleaned and learned for myself several ways to make and keep friends.

~Be friendly! I know this sounds like common sense, but I'm amazed every time I go someplace how hard that can be. There's a lot of frustrations and stress that come with moving. I'm not always the nicest person during that time. Smile at strangers. Strike up conversations with servers at restaurants, the hotel desk clerk, random people at the commissary. You may not make a friend with them, but they might know of places to go or groups to attend where you can make those friends.

~Go places! When we first moved to Albuquerque I was very lonely. Actually, anytime I first move someplace I'm lonely. Anyway... it wasn't until I started attending our base's PWOC Bible Study that I made real friends. These were women I could hang out with on base, off base, kids with similar ages, and similar points of view. What a blessing! We also found a church and slowly started building relationships there too. Additionally, there are spouse clubs on base you can participate in. It doesn't matter really... find a group or activity where several people meet with similar interests and make connections.

~Communicate! This goes with making AND keeping friends. Acquaintances move from just that to friendship when you spend time with that person. Make the calls. Meet for lunch. Go to the park. Travel together! With active duty spouses there can be a lot of alone time at the house... and the military has given us the opportunity to see the world (or at least the state or surrounding cities where you're stationed). I absolutely treasure finding a fellow spouse (with or without kids) who will gladly come with me on random outings of exploration. In fact, I have a trip planned to go to Santa Fe with a fellow spouse friend and I'm soooo looking forward to it.

~Communicate! Part 2! Being on the move it can be hard to stay in contact with those precious friends you've made. I am one of the first to admit that when I move I do not keep in contact with ALL the friends I had at our last place. Facebook and e-mail are such a godsend! Sometimes a friend will come to mind and I just shoot off a quick message and I'm so tickled to hear back to find out how that person is doing. Don't forget a cardinal rule for milspouses--- send Christmas cards! It may just be a check-in once a year, but it keeps in touch. If you're like me, you send a letter with the main points throughout the year and what life has brought you. It doesn't sound like much, but when you're traveling across country it is nice to know who is in what state in case you need a place to drop by.

~Be a friend! Another that sounds like common sense, but this can be hard. We're needy people. If somebody is reaching out to you, reach back. Once a person gets settled sometimes they just don't feel the need for more "friends"... but you can always do with another. You may be all happy and satisfied, but maybe that person is the one who needs the friend. Smile. Take the 5 minutes to take the phone call. Invite them out when you go places with other friends or even if you're doing some random errand by yourself. Make them feel included. Make them feel like they matter and treat them like they do.

So there ya go. 5 quick tips on how to make and keep friends in the military life. I realize a more introverted person may have some difficulties with some of these, but let me put it out there that if you at least start going places or getting involved with a group SOMEBODY will start talking to you. Trust me... I'm usually that person who starts talking to the shy newbies. Keep yourself open. SMILE. Somebody will become your friend. And if not... then e-mail me and I'll be your friend.

Thanks for the great tips Sierra!  Please head on over to her blog and show her some love!

First Friday

It's been AGES since I participated in Wife of a Sailor's Milspouse (frist) Friday Fill-In.  So I thought I'd fill it in this week!

1. What is your favorite/most unique anniversary/birthday gift from your spouse? suggested by Bel (@operationbfp)

The Man does a great job with gifts.  For my last birthday he got me tickets to see PNW's Nutcracker.  I had been wanting to go so it was a perfect gift!  And two years before that he got me tickets for us to see Toby Mac in concert.  I love that he gets me tickets and it's something that we'll both enjoy.  It always makes for a great date night and since I love spending time with him, it's a perfect gift!

2. What's your first thought when you see it's snowing (or what would you say if you don't live somewhere with snow? suggested by Poekitten from Many Waters (Hey, that's me!)

If I get to stay home that day, I say "Boo. It's snowing."

If I have to go out that day, I say "Crap. It's snowing. I wonder if __________will be cancelled or if I really have to go?"  We have a really steep, curvy driveway and I don't like driving on it when it's snowing.

3. What's one thing in the past month you would have changed?  suggested by Erika from Chambanachik

We dog sat this month and both dogs got out but one got away.  He was missing for about 24 hours.  I would change that and keep him from getting out!

4.What was your favorite thing that happened in February?

We found out that Munchkin is a girl!  I also hit 20 weeks and I'm so thankful that I'm halfway through this pregnancy.

5. What are you looking forward to in March?

I'm looking forward to it being over!  It's going to be a busy month.  Though I'm enjoing my time in MA and I'm looking forward to seeing and spending time with family & friends.