My Friend!

My dear friend has suffered a great loss that I don't know. But I've learned I don't have to know the pain and the loss to comfort her, support her and lift her up in prayer! She is my sister in Christ, a relation I never knew until her. She is a blogging inspiration to me, her words are beautiful and rhythmic, they flow off the screen like dandelion seeds floating on the breeze.

In one of her more recent blogs she mentioned seeing her father's eyes looking back at her in the mirror and I was instantly whisked to my past listening to Amy Grant singing "Father's Eyes."

Eyes full of compassion, seeing every pain

knowing what you're going through and feeling it the same.

If her father is anything like she is, Heaven is rejoicing!

My Journey: My writing

I was once told people write the way they speak, to which I emphatically disagreed saying I wrote much more eloquently than I spoke.

That was 5 years ago.

I've looked on some of my past blogs and I have, indeed, been writing as I speak. Using slang and improper English, some of my ramblings truly rambled. This afternoon in the shower I pondered on the past few years and what has changed... EVERYTHING!

5 years ago I was writing as an outlet for my depression. Coping with island fever in a job I hated, my husband deployed, I needed something. My rambles were much less rambling and more essay like. I wrote a lot of poetry, which I actually miss writing.

Over the years I've written less and lost a bit of my eloquence. I've taken time out to transfer, have children, live the crazy life of a stay-at-home mom. Until recently my darling children haven't afforded me the opportunity to get my thoughts out as I'd like. Little Bit is finally getting to the age where I don't have to watch her every moment. But with yet another transfer looming I don't know if I'm going to be able to devote myself to writing as I'd like.

I was thrilled when the blogging revolution took off, I saw it as a chance to get my thoughts "out there." I've wanted to be an author for some time but haven't compiled enough to submit anything. I enjoy writing short stories, children's stories (I have an entire series in my head waiting to be released), and of course, poetry. Haiku's! I love the simplicity and imagery, I'm sure it doesn't help that the first poetry contest I won was for a Haiku.



**A bit off topic but this came to me earlier**

Tear glistening down
An awaiting daughter's cheek
Father, I love you

I'm praying for you Friend!

Nursing Merriment

Not all will see the humor in this but I know a couple will!

My more vivid dreams usually occur within an hour or two of my waking for the day. Sometime after Little Bit has joined us, occasionally after the sun is up and B has wondered into our room as well.

This morning I was having the strangest dream in which my left side kept leaking. I kept going about my normal dream activities but no amount of pressure stopped it, no breast pad contained it. It was so bizarre!

I eventually woke up and found, to great astonishment, Little Bit attached, nursing in her sleep! Apparently I feel asleep after she began her morning feeding.

Adventure: Imagination

I had to marvel at my B's wonderfully amazing imagination this evening. I've always loved her ability to entertain herself while playing with her toys but tonight was a new high.

Recently we purchased The Princess and the Frog and of course she loves it, she's been limited to watching it not more than once a day. The majority of her pretend play has involved the characters and story line, but tonight...

The girls and I went to Target this evening. She was allowed one item from the dollar section, but she decided she'd rather spend her one dollar on a toy. So up and down each isle we went, scouring prices in attempt to find her a one dollar toy. With no success and the rest of our shopping complete we headed back to the dollar section. While she decided which pack of princess stickers she wanted, I placed a plastic sand bucket on Little Sister's head. With much delight, Big Sister decided she wanted a bucket too. With buckets in tow we purchased our wares and headed home.

Barely out of Vernon Hills I hear from the back seat, the familiar names of Tiana, Ray and the Shadow Man. I couldn't help but laugh! How on earth a plastic bucket and shovel can transform into a waitress turned princess and wicked dark magic man, I will never know.

But I know my daughter's imagination is magnificent and inspiring! I will never again look at a bucket and shovel in the same way.

My Journey: Are You The Person You Want To Be?

Are you the person you want to be?


If you could have any job, what would you do?
If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
What would you wear?
Where would you vacation?


There were more questions asked by Josh's get to know yourself personal questionnaire, these are the ones I remember and am willing to share. Some of my answers were easy for me, others not so much.

I'm not the person I want to be but I feel I'm going the right direction. I feel like I'm still on my journey. God gives me little glimpses from time to time, and I know if I stay on this path there is no stopping what I can be.

My dream job is being a mother, but I never knew that until after I had my first. I can't imagine life any other way. I sometimes wonder how I did 10 years in the Navy. This is my joy.



I would live in Colorado, near my sister! My sister is my dearest friend and I miss her more than words could ever express. And I love Colorado!

I would wear, well, better fitting, more stylish clothes (less jeans). I've been needing a new wardrobe for quite some time and I'm happy to say I'll be going down a size whenever I finally go buy clothes. As for style, again, I look to my sister. I love how cute and, while her clothes aren't "trendy", they're definitely in style. I love the casual chic yet sporty look. Somewhere between Lands End and Gap, like and REI catalog.

Vacation: just about everywhere. I want to road trip to our national monuments, camp in our national parks, bike Santa Fe, go to a show in NYC, go on a cruise (several actually), Italy, Italy, Italy, all over Europe, I want to go back to Egypt, I would love to go to Israel! There are so many places I'd love to see.

I may not know who I am, but I know who I don't want to be. I don't want to be stuck in the same place, I want to be ever growing, changing. I'm a new creature, so much better than before. God has given me endless opportunities and I'm excited about this journey.

Are you the person you want to be?

Rant: Infantino, I'm disgusted!

It's not often I read something and am so moved to write but it happened just now.

Read the sales pitch here

Are you kidding me? “The other mommies will hate you because of your lack of self-esteem!” This is their selling technique? Make you feel like you’re the worse mother ever so you buy their product?!

As a babywearer, I love seeing carriers go mainstream and cast in a good light. That being said I will never again buy Infantino! It my opinion (well of course It’s my opinion, it’s my blog) that all this company cares about is their bottom line. They knew there was a problem with their bag style carrier (there were plenty of complaints from concerned mamas) and it took them years to pull it. Now they’ve taken a great design, that of a standard Mai Tai carrier, and soured it by saying if you don’t wear your baby they’re going to grow up and hate you!?

I wear my children for a multitude of reasons and not one of them is so the other moms will think I’m cool.

Infantino, you should be ashamed of yourself! You’ve lost me as a customer.

p.s.
I love the warning: Never leave baby unattended.

Letters of Intent Friday: A Thank You

To all the Paleo bloggers out there, THANK YOU!

When my husband changed to a Paleo diet I was, most admittedly, a bit nervous. I can completely understand giving up processed food, that made sense to me. But to give up grains and starchy vegetables, that was a bit foreign. I was intimidated by the idea of actually making all of our meals without the convenience of boxes, cans or jars. Thank you for helping to ease the process.

My sister sent me a couple links and after my first google search I discovered Marlena. Because Marlena is so good about linking recipes from other sites I've since found even more dinner ideas. Not to mention, breakfast, lunch, munchies and deserts. Thank you for your menu.

Thank you, Marlena and all of the other devoted Paleo bloggers. I don't know if I would have been able to survive this diet if it weren't for you and your amazing meals.

And a special thank you to my husband. I haven't felt this healthy in a long time and the fact that I'm loosing weight is a lovely bonus.

Adventure: Arachnid Identification Ramble

While I sat here getting ready to type a tale of the fun I had today I was struck with an odd question: Do spiders hibernate?

See, I was getting ready to tell of the fun I had today and the fact that I'm happy to say I've purchased my first Miche Bag. (For my local ladies, if you're looking for a representative, check out Ashleigh.)

Some how or another I ended up in the kitchen talking to Josh when I spotted a spider and promptly squished it. Immediately after I did it I thought to ask him what kind of spider it was. I don't know if you've ever tried to identify a spider (or any bug) after you've flattened it, made it even smaller and completely disfigured it but it doesn't look much different than dirt. Lucky (can it be called luck?) I spotted another transversing my kitchen and Josh was able to see it as he squish it.

I asked what was up with the spiders and Josh hypothesized that they were coming out because it was getting warmer. When I asked why they weren't outside, he suggested that is where they were trying to go.

That's when it hit me, "What do spiders do all winter?"

After a little on line research I've learned, yes, some do hibernate and some don't live that long.

I didn't really go much further than that. I made the mistake of attempting to identify the spider I had previously annihilated and now have the creepy crawlies and keep flinching whenever I see anything out of the corner of my eye.

Do you think they know they have the power of psychological warfare?