Changes

With the military, you know that nothing is ever set in stone, and it's pretty much impossible to plan anything yourself. Well, if you make those plans and have big expectations for them, that is.
In recent weeks our orders changed and now we will be moving ourselves, instead of having the government do it. That means within a month and a half we have to have everything packed, a truck booked and loaded, the house cleaned and repaired, a new house waiting, and a million new things to prepare and prepare for. We have about 6 weeks to go, so it's really down to crunch time already. We're tripping over boxes, highlighters, sharpies, and sticking to everything with all the packing tape lying around. The checklists are dwindling down and covered in more and more x's. The front foyer and back of the office are littered with packed boxes. Moving is always such an adventure!
My little sister's college graduation is coming up soon, and with this move, we'll actually be able to make it! Afterwards, we're going on a family vacation with my parents to celebrate. It'll be a nice break from all the moving madness. My plan is to lose about 15-20 lbs by the time we set foot on the beach.
I'm choosing a plant-based diet, free of dairy, eggs, and flesh. I'm cutting out most processed foods and foods containing gluten. I'm working out at least 35 minutes a day for 5-6 days a week. I'm feeling good already--and I just started! In only a few days, (less than a week, even!) I've lost 3 lbs, I feel satisfied, not bloated, overly-full and miserable. I am sore from the running I've been doing, but it's a good sore.
I threw my back out shovelling snow last week and the first painkiller that actually worked was exercise! It's amazing how the road to healing and to health is so simple, but so overlooked.
Last year, I challenged myself to go vegan for a whole month, the month of April. This year, I'm taking it further, by cutting out the processed crap and by sticking with it for life.

I challenge you to try it too, even if you're just trying it for a month. Here's last night's dinner to get you started--it was delicious!

Vegan Italian Stuffed Eggplant (serves 2 people)

1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
handful chopped fresh basil
handful fresh baby spinach
2 TBS sundried tomatoes (julienne sliced, either in oil or soaked)
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
garlic salt or sea salt
black pepper
1/2 cup water
1 eggplant

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Slice the eggplant in half, long ways. Scoop out the pulp and chop it into small cubes. Salt the insides of the eggplant and set aside.
In a saucepan, cook the eggplant cubes, onion, basil, garlic, and spinach with the water till the eggplant soaks up most of the liquid and is brown. Add the cooked rice and sundried tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and stir.
Arrange eggplant cases in baking dish lined with foil (or coated with olive oil) and spoon in the filling. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
Enjoy!

more good news

In addition to finally getting his school date for OCS, the hubs is getting promoted this next month! He's been working on it for years, but between training and deploying and changing his MOS, it's taken 5 years! I'm so proud of him and all his amazing accomplishments.
Now that it's less than 2 months til our move, its getting down to crunch time. And I'm a little bananas. I have 3 moving folders with just checklists and calendars, etc. I'm making menus to use up all our pantry/freezer goods and chucking stuff into salvation army boxes. I feel like I have a million things to do (because I do!). House-hunting on its own is a headache. Most of the houses that are currently posted will be gone by the time we get there, but if we wait til it's too late, we won't find anything. Plus we're debating on whether or not to live on post or off, and if we'll even qualify. whew.
On a fun note, we've been having a blast with our ballroom dancing lessons! We've learned the foxtrot and the waltz and this week we'll learn the swing! I'm looking forward to it the most. Thing one starts his art classes up next weekend, which I think will be right up his alley. He loves doing the "arts and craps" at storytime at the library (yes that's really what he calls it). Thing two has been a little under the weather lately. I think a mix of some bug going around and teething are the culprit. He's doing better now, but I'm concerned about his weight (he's only around 22 lbs at 18 months old), so I'm trying to fatten him up! He's much more vocal now, too.
We had some friends over last weekend for dinner and cards. We really need to have our friends over more--we always have a blast and finally get the house clean!

Moving, blizzards, and dancing oh my!

So it finally happened, after years of Jason trying to apply to become an officer and over a year of waiting on a school date, we got it! We were informed at the beginning of this month that Jason will be reporting to school in early summer and we'll be moving to Georgia!! We're so excited for this next, huge chapter in our life and to move on and get back to the south! Even if it's just for a few months. Since he'll be training at the same post after OCS, we all get to move there together so we've been looking at houses and pre-schools and veterinarians and grocery stores! I have moving lists and tips and calendars posted on the walls. I've started a moving scrapbook to keep up with everything and every memory along the way. Even the kids are excited about the move!
I'm nervous about starting over and making new friends and establishing ourselves in a new place. I'm not really sure what to expect when we get there. I'm anxious to find a house and get everything settled before Jason reports in and it's all up to me from there.
But it's a fresh start! We'll be getting there at the beginning of summer, when it's just starting to get really HOT! After leaving a Fort Drum winter. One extreme to the next! After all this cold and snow, I'm ready to sweat!
Its around 9 weeks til, now, and crunch time is inching closer.
For now, we're trying to enjoy what's left of our time here. I went skiing for the first time last month! I was terrible! I'd love to go back and try tubing instead. We went on an early Valentine's date this past weekend, out to eat and cosmic bowling. There were several birthday parties going on, because every time Justin Beiber music was played there were squeals from all the preteen girls. It was hilarious explaining to my husband "what a Beiber is".
I signed us up for ballroom dancing lessons at the local community college last month, but the first two lessons were cancelled because of this awful, nonstop blizzard we had the last couple weeks. So we should finally get to go tonight! We're supposed to be learning the mambo, foxtrot, tango and other stuff that my husband just knows as Army lingo. It's nice to have a little break from the ordinary, especially in the middle of the week. We're lucky that this weekend will be a 4-day for President's Day. No big plans yet, but maybe we'll be spontaneous?

Happy January

A new year, a new beginning. I recently complained to my husband that we never do anything spontaneous. We plan everything out, or back down when a crazy/fun/spur-of-the moment idea comes up. So to tackle that one, he suggested we drive down to Tennessee to visit my family for New Year's. We loaded up the car last monday night at 1 am and took off 1000 miles toward the south! We had such a fun week. The temp got up to 68 one day, sunny and beautiful. We played in the mud puddle with G-ma, played in the pond, caught a tiny fish, tried to catch salamanders, rode the mule (Kawasaki, not the animal) all over the pasture. I felt like a kid again. I got to visit with a few friends, we had a triple date with my sis and her bf and my friend and her hubby to eat at Chilli's and watch Black Swan. Intense movie. We ate cookies and drank wine and played cards and it was just fantastic! We drove back up yesterday, got in at 1 am and crashed! The weather held out till we got within a half hour of home and the snow started really coming down. I was so exhausted and Jason was so exhausted and the kids--ugh! It was rough. I drove the last leg of the trip and I could barely keep my eyes open and seeing through the snow was nearly impossible. When you're that tired and it's dark out, it's so much harder.
It's kind of lonely being back home again, no family visiting or to visit. The holidays are over, so the decorations are coming down. No Christmas to look forward to. Hubbs starts back to work tomorrow. And with all the appointments and everything coming up soon, it's easier to feel overwhelmed than excited.
But I'm going to make a conscious effort to stay upbeat and to get motivated. I have a list longer than Santa's of resolutions to make and there are many exciting things coming up for us this year to look forward to! The past couple weeks of holiday chaos has really shown me how blessed I am and how much I have. What good are your blessings if you don't take the time to enjoy them?
I'm going into this year full-force. I hope you are too.
Happy New Year, ya'll!

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Thanks to Skype, we did get to see our family in sweet Tennessee this Christmas! Mom, Dad and "Aunt Gee Gee" were present for Christmas eve story time before bed, and got to see the kids open presents and look through the loot from Santa as soon as they woke up! We even got to have "breakfast at Granny's"! I cooked the traditional grits, sausage, biscuits, eggs, bacon, and red-eye gravy like we have every year at Granny's house and my sis had her computer over there. We got to see all the family and I know it just made Christmas this year. It's amazing how something like that can make such a difference in making the holidays a little less bitter and a little more sweet.

We all got spoiled rotten with gifts and the house is littered with cookie crumbs and wrapping paper and dirty dishes. It's wonderful!

I'm sad that Christmas has come to an end, but it's comforting to know that our blessings have not. Even though the lights will have to come off the porch, and the decorations off the tree, and the family will fly back to Texas, and the glittered snowflakes and bulbs will go back into their respective storage boxes hoping not to shatter or shed before next Christmas--there are three beautiful blue-eyed boys in my life that are not going anywhere, anytime soon. Jason doesn't have to fly back overseas after the new year. We will have opportunities this next year to visit with family and travel. The snow will eventually melt. We will eventually get our new orders and move on to the next big step in our lives together. There is so much to look forward to and plan for and wait for and even to just surprise us.

Merry Christmas ya'll!! Hope ya'll had a good one!

Tis the season

This will be my first Christmas where we won't be travelling back home. It was our decision for many reasons, and though I am happy about it, it's hard not to feel a sense of loss. With the holidays fast approaching (10 days, say what?) it's becoming more and more real that I won't be seeing my Tennessee family, or getting a break from the snow, unwrapping presents on the hardwood floor under a cedar tree cut down from mom's flowerbed, eating deep-fried turkey, Christmas and New Years breakfast at Granny's, taking pictures by Daddy's redneck lit-reindeer, wearing matching pajamas with my thister, eating too many cookies out of a santa cookie jar, wanting to kill my parents' neurotic dog who barks into my window at 2 am because she thought she saw lightning and wants to "chase" the storm, the list goes on and on.

With all that said, I have a lot to be grateful for and excited about. My Texas family (Jason's folks') are travelling up here to spend Christmas with us. I'm super excited about the boys getting to wake up on Christmas morning in their own beds, open presents under their own tree, and just to share all their joy! They will be rotten for sure, when Santa, and Grand-Clause(s) come. We get to start and carry on our own family Christmas traditions. But there will be quite a few old ones that we'll keep, too, like...

1. A REAL tree. But it's not the traditional cedar we've always had. All they have up here is pine. Actually, I just keep calling it pine. I think it's some kind of fir. But you know what I'm talking about.

2. Hot chocolate on the stovetop. No boxed mixes for me. I want hershey's cocoa, milk, vanilla, salt and sugar. I've even whipped the whip cream. By hand. Without a mixer. I'll have a right forearm like Popeye by New Years.

3. Christmas and New Year's breakfast, like Granny's. Complete with grits, sausage, eggs, and biscuits.

4. Waking up at an ungawdly hour before the sun has even come up on Christmas. Well, maybe.

5. Matching pajamas. Somehow, I will make it happen.

6. Listening to "Merry Christmas from the Family" by Robert Earl Keen. And I'm totally going to make champagne punch and homemade eggnog (but for the record, that's not an old family tradition).

7. Swearing while putting up the Christmas decorations, lights, cooking Christmas dinner, decorating the gingerbread house, and assembling toys, etc on Christmas morning. I call it, "Christmas language".

8. Cookies, cookies, and more cookies

9. A Christmas afternoon nap.

10. Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve.

So, we'll be in Tennessee in our hearts, and maybe we can virtually travel to see everyone via skype.

HE'S HOME!!

Sorry for being so absent, but I've had good reason---the hubs came home!! The kids and I are over the moon! We've been lazing around together on the weekends, enjoying family dinners, family drives, trips to the zoo and the park--it's been truly awesome having him back.

Now I have to admit--it is definitely an adjustment. I mean after 8+ months apart, we have to get reacquainted, sort out what responsibilities go to whom as far as the house and the kids go, figure out how we've both changed, and then deal with the everyday chaos that the military throws our way. It's a little exhausting!
Where I used to spend almost every day super busy, running errands, going to FRG meetings and events, spending time with friends, it's almost like everything slowed down to slow motion. One of my good friends up here is spending a month out of state with family, so it's weird not hanging with her daily. I'm not taking the kids to the sitter's as often since I have the hubby to help out with them and appointments and such. I'm home. My intentions are to get the house cleaned and dinner on the table, but I'm afraid my housewife motivation has left me. Donna Reed would be shaking a finger at me.

I'm totally working on it though! Promise! I'm making lists and taking small steps--a pot roast for dinner tonight and a rhubarb pie fresh out the oven (from the rhubarb plant in our backyard at that!). In my defense I did get that bug that has been going around the house this past week, and I've been awfully run down. So tomorrow I'm giving myself no excuses. It's house-cleaning boot camp day. Or something like that. I'm going to scrub the bathroom, bleach the kitchen, fold the laundry, and make the bed! It's a new day!