D is for Duck Pond

Cliff's last full day here, we took the kids to the duck pond before we dropped them off and he said good bye! I'm in a funk today and don't feel like writing much, so I thought I'd share pics of a happy day! And yes, I'm fully aware I'm waaaaaaay behind, I'll catch up eventually!

C is for Christ

I was baptized when I was 9 years old...I remember it vividly. It was at Greenfield Acres Baptist Church in Odessa, Texas. It was my great-grandmothers church. She was (and still is) singlehandedly the biggest Christian influence in my life. She is now 87 years old and I adore her on the same level that I adore my own mother on. To this day I can walk into that church (where she still plays the organ) and she will get up and speak of my days in that church as a child. She will tell the entire congregation (all maybe 50 of them, most of whom I know) about how I used to take my Cabbage Patch doll (Jennifer) to church with me and sit in the front pew and never say a word. This used to embarrass me, now it touches my heart deeply!

As an adult, I have certainly gone through ups and downs in my relationship with God. A few years ago I started going to church with my mother. This was a HUGE deal to me because my mother never went to church. In Odessa and again after moving to Oklahoma as a child I always went to church with my sister and cousins. Faith was a big part of who I was even as a child. Saying that, it still always has been, no matter what I've been doing or where I've been in my life, prayer and faith are sometimes the only thing that can comfort me and bring me great amounts of peace.

When Cliff left I had found a good spot for me if that makes sense. I would get up earlier than the kids, come in the living room read the Bible and have prayer time. After awhile though, I began having anxiety issues and not sleeping well and my time in the morning where I could sleep later seemed more important. I always pray but I don't live my life ideally or even have any more than a few minutes a day focusing on God. Sometimes I still feel like because I have girls night out a couple times a month I'm not worthy. My grandmother snapped me out of that really quick when she made a comment about she knows someone else who can enjoy the wine a little too much....clearly she was speaking of herself. Totally made me giggle, to picutre my 87 year old grandmother drunk off wine!!

I've been giving my relationship with God a LOT of thought lately. Last night I rolled over to go to sleep with Braden behind me and he said to me "Mama, let's not forget my prayers." Funny how the faith of a five year old boy can open his mother's eyes like that. I helped him find his faith...now he's helping me get back to mine:)

As I start my BFL challenge today I'm also challenging myself spiritually to gain back the strength in my relationship with God. I haven't been going to church since my mom's surgery, so I didn't have to go alone. This Sunday the kids and I will go for sure....as I sit here I am thinking to myself I am NEVER alone!! That thought alone brings me great comfort!

B is for Body for Life

SO nevermind the fact that I am already several days behind on my alphabet posts! Thank goodness there are more than 26 days in a month:)

Emily has inspired me to start a new program called Body For Life. I don't have the book yet but I have winged it off their website and I went shopping for some of the things I need tonight. I'm excited to get started tomorrow!!

A is for Andrea...the asset!

I was going to write about appreciation or animals but in talking to my good friend Andrea she seems to think I should write about her saying something to the affect of, "what do you mean you can't think of an a word...hello ANDREA." Even though she's not doing this alphabet project, she promises to write a blog about me on the 17th of August since M is the 17th letter of the alphabet. We'll see if she really does it and if she does it should be interesting ;)

I met Andrea somewhere around three years ago on babycenter.com! She and I and a few other mommies formed a group called threadkillers...hmm maybe there's my T? I won't get into all of that, but I stayed friends with this small group of ladies after my babycenter days were over and before I was invited to another mommy board some of them are a part of. She and those other women became my best friends during some crazy parts of my life.

I didn't get to meet Andrea in person until March of this year. She and Piper came to pick me and the kids up from LAX. I wondered how it would feel to finally meet them, but when the moment came it was as if we'd known eachother forever. It's amazing what the internet can bring about! So that's how I know her.....

Andrea and I are a lot alike. We talk on IM everyday we are way too much alike somedays. We both can turn a small life problem into a huge ordeal, and even worse is the fact that neither of us make decisions easily! It is extremely rare that we say goodbye to eachother on the computer, we'll IM eachother throughout the day and both just leave the conversation when we're ready and usually come back a few hours later.

I can tell Andrea anything and though she will ask me tons o questions LOL she will NEVER judge me! If I need to cry, she will be the person who I can go to who will sympathize with me, she'll tell me why that part of my life is negative and why I don't need it, she'll get mad and sad for me and try to help me fix it even when I'm too stubborn to listen sometimes!

Andrea is simply one of the most wonderful people I have ever been blessed to meet! She is so full of life and love and fun. She adores her son. She has her husband majorly in check (haha). She has the cutest voice! She is always on my mind and in my prayers. It makes me mad that she's been so hurt lately.

In my adulthood, she has been one of the people who has most opened my eyes to the meanings and values of TRUE friendship. A couple of years ago I would've said I had tons of friends! Becoming friends with Andrea helped me change my opinion of that. She helped me learn a true friend wouldn't just call me when they needed something, but they'd let me call them and they'd listen to me. She truly loves me for me, I can be as goofy as I want, as obnoxious as I want and she will STILL love me at the end of it. That is more meaningful to me then she will ever know! I have made a lifelong friend in Andrea. I love and respect her for more reasons than she will ever know! Thanks Andrea the asset....for EVERYTHING!

You find out who your friends are

Somebody's gonna drop everything

Run out and crank up their car

Hit the gas, get there fast

Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?'

or 'it's way too far

'They just show on up with their big old heart

You find out who your friends are

Joining Mary Ann

Mary Ann has introduced me via babyboard to this blog! I will be joining Mary Ann and lots of others in writing a post each day from today August 1st through August 26th each day using a letter of the alphabet...in order of course...so today I'll start with A is for and on the 26th it will be Z is for....make sense?

Rockin' Mama Blogger Award!

My sweet mommy friend Amanda thinks I am worthy of this >>>>>

I'm not sure I actually am but I feel honored anyway. Amanda is a wonderful woman and a great mother to her three gorgeous kiddos, Josh, Gillian, and Reagan. She has a very inspiring faith in God and I love her extra because our political views are almost just alike! Thanks Amanda for picking me and for keeping Cliff in your prayers!


It's gonna be tough picking ladies who haven't already been picked because while I have a small circle of blog friends like Andrea all the ladies in that small circle rock and have mostly been chosen for the award already. So forgive me if I pick someone for a second time!

• First on my list is Devon! Devon is one of the funniest women I know, this girl can find humor in anything and can always make people laugh! She is a terrific mother and awesome sister to her brother that is fighting cancer.

• Second is Kulia. Kulia has become a very dear and helpful friend to me during Cliff's deployment. She always has words of wisdom to offer as she is a navy wife. I respect many things about her including the love she has for sweet Maya, her healthy lifestyle, and her passion about politics, as well as the way she writes!

• Third is Mary Ann. She is a wonderful mommy to one year old Sam and is pregnant with her second son! That in itself is very admirable! She is also an extremely sweet person and you can tell with every word she writes that she loves her family and her life!

• Fourth is Helen, yes even though she's taking the rest of the summer off from blogging. Helen is a busy mom of three beautiful girls. She always has awesome recipes and seems to keep her household organized and in tip top shape!

• Fifth is Laura. Like Amanda Laura has an awesome and inspiring faith in God. She teaches that to her sweet daughter Maya. She is also pregnant with a baby boy. She is an all around sweetheart and a wonderful person!

Where have I been?

My lack of posting, comes not from having nothing to say, but from having so much to say that I don't know where to begin. My last month has been a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. There was that pre-Cliff coming home period where I was stressed and bitchy beyond belief and then there was that nearly two weeks of heaven when he came home and I realized my husband didn't love me any less and didn't act any different....unless you count the fact that I know we fell more in love while he was home! Then there was his leaving which was much worse than I thought and then the re-healing.

Now my dear sweet mother whom I could talk forever about had a major surgery this past Wednesday and it has been harder than I could ever put into words to watch her in her current state. My 6 year old brother is practically living with me now which adds a wee bit more stress to my plate, but my main focus for now is my family and trying to take the role of my mother and keep us all happy and sane.

I haven't blogged mostly because when I do find the time I think where do I start? I should post in order...I can't post about my mom's surgery and then about Cliff's leave and things in between here and there because that's not chronololgically correct....BUT if you know me you know I RARELY do things in an organized manner! So, I'm saying to hell with that, I'll post whatever I want whenever I want, it is afterall MY blog ;) Who knows what I'll post next!?

Tagged!!!

Maryann tagged me for a fun game!!

ON THIS DAY - Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Choose and write down 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday. Then tag 5 friends.

*Events
1956 - During a Carl Perkins recording session also involving Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Elvis Presley visits the studio and jams with Perkins and Lewis extensively with the tape recorders rolling. (Cash reportedly participates briefly in the jam before leaving the studio with his wife and daughter.) The four men become known as the Million Dollar Quartet, and the complete tape from this legendary session is eventually released on compact disc (CD) in 1987.

1980 - The rock group Led Zeppelin formally announces its breakup.

2001 - Lisa Beamer, wife of Todd Beamer, through the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, registers [1] the trademark "Let's Roll" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office less than three months after his death in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

*Births
1969 - Jay-Z (Shawn Carter), American rapper

1973 - Tyra Banks, American supermodel

*Holiday
Calendar of Saints - Saint John of Damascus: optional memorial; also the Great Martyr Saint Barbara

I am now going to tag Nichole, Piper, Andrea, Lori, and Kulia.