The Mountain.

Have you ever stood on top of a mountain? Looked out to see all God's Glory on display? I have. Once in summer church camp we took a hike up to the highest part of the trail on the mountain and we could see the world from up there...okay maybe not the world but certainly a lot of the forest and 3 crystal clear lakes that seemed to be untouched by human existence. It was so gorgeous. Peaceful and serene. But getting there that was another story!
   We hiked for about 2 hours. Traversing huge rocks and ducking under fallen trees and a few times the trail went too close to the edge for comfort. We were constantly on the look out for mountain lions and bears. It was a regular wizard of oz experience..Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY! okay without the tigers, but you get the picture. Our Leader just kept saying, it will be worth it when you get to the top. 
   A few times we questioned if "the top" really existed or if this was just some ploy to get us out of the rec hall and into nature! "Just keep going, were almost there" he'd say encouragingly. At a high altitude that none of us were accustomed to we stopped a few times and every time there were one or two people saying, "Go one without us, were just too tired to go." A few asked if we were lost and going in circles. 
     Then at long last, there it was. THE TOP. It was everything He promised and more. And though the climb was grueling to say the least, it was all worth it in the end.
   Sometimes life is like a trek up the mountain. There are dangers along the way and often time it ventures too close to the edge. But if you just keep pressing through, You'll find the whole world laid out in front of you, at the top. 

Survivng the TDY

Do I dare try to catch up? How about the highlights?

Fall Festival
I volunteered to set up a photobooth at erik's school fall festival. it was tons of work, but also kinda fun. Everyone seemed to like their pictures and the school made a decent amount on it.

Electrical Issue
saturday morning I was cleaning up. Went to use my vacuum cleaner and it didn't turn on all the way, then the microwave blew up...litterally. It turned into a huge and pretty dangerous electrical problem called a floating neutral. my father in law jumped in the car, made the 4 hour trip to come fix it. By sunday mid morning all was well after a few new breakers and a new outlet installed...it did cost me a microwave though. Going from a really nice $160  mircrowave to a $60 hotel special...sucked. But I'll live.

Photoshoot
   I had the honor of taking Lori and David's engagement photos in Santa Clarita. The kids had to go with me and drive me NUTS the whole time, and i dropped my phone towards the end of the shoot and...

Phone broke
Broke my phone. That sucks. THe screen is shattered, and everytime i touch it more pieces of glass fall off...

cake smash
Monday morning I had an appointment with a client ive known since she was 9 days new. Little Remi. It was time for her cake smash. Man this year went by so fast!! Unfortunately we weren't able to make it to her party because we were all quite sick.

kids are sick
The kids started showing signs of being sick, runny noses, sore throats and little coughs

pumpkin carving
BUT we carved pumpkins anyway and went trick or treating with Erik's friend Dade and his family.

halloween parade/trick or treating
Erik's school had a costume parade, It felt about fifty degrees below zero outside. But all the kids were pretty cute. Some made me shake my head at parents these days...but most were pretty tasteful.

skype with the be-fri dude
I spent the rest of the weekend recovering. Then saturday I surprised my BE-FRI Dude by attending her Bridal shower in PA via skype! She cried, which we all know is the most flattering surprise reaction there is!. It was sooo nice to see everyone and be apart of the festivites! Def the highlight of this month! I can't wait to see her in 26 days!!

epic desert shoot.
saturday night I had the most epic shoot ever! Beautiful model, and her loving and wonderful mother. Gorgeous desert sunset. I loved everything about it.

Welp. that brings me to today. I feel like death...not even warmed over...just death. lol. I'm going to put the kids in bed. have one MORE mikes hard lemonade...and then hit the hay. I spent last night tending to one child puking, who slept in my bed and i slept on the couch with the other childs feet in my spine pushing me off the couch...needless to say im tired.
Lets hope tomorrow brings a better day. The house still needs cleaned...like really really cleaned. The lunch still needs packed and clothes laid out. SO my work for tonight is far from done. But there is only 3 more days until my love comes home. I can't wait!

bathtub water

When all is said and done, and my daughter is clean from head to toe, we turn the shower water off and say, "Time to get out!" To which she responds with a resounding, "NO!" and lays down in the last quarter inch of water that is making it's way down the drain.
   She wants to soak up every single last drop of the goodness. Can I blame her? No. When we all find a good thing we hold on until every single bit of it is gone. Even then we don't want to admit that there's nothing left. The last bite of ice cream. The last hour of sunshine. The last 3 minutes before our alarm goes off (even though we are already awake). The last of the baby months, the last year before they leave for college. (it's only a blink between the two)
   As much as I want to pick her up and dry her off while explaining that I don't have all day for her to lay in the tub because there are too many chores left to do and not enough time left to do them....I will let her lay there. Soak it all in little baby. Hold on tight to those warm droplets. Even when they are gone, don't get up. Just close your eyes, just for one minute and hold on to how it all felt. Too soon the water will turn cold.

Day 4: Surviving this TDY

I'm so good at being a tough guy. Ice cold. But seeing my husbands bruised and swollen face on skype...melted me to a puddle. I miss him. heaps and heaps. Today was a day when Emily was being cute, but still quite destructive. I'm debating between staying up later to do the dishes and getting up early to do the dishes. the laundry didn't get finished being folded, and the floor needs mopped...again. ps. Day 4 sucks.

Day 3: Surviving this TDY

Thank Heavens for best friends and Ben & Jerrys. Today it was super nice to pal around with my good friend Kara. Emily as always provided us with tons of entertainment and laughs, and acted a lot less like Emily Rose, and a lot MORE like Emily Grace. I was able to chat while doing the dishes which made it suck a LOT less. Erik is cleaning his room, Emily is sleeping on my bed (someone didn't nap until we were on the way to get brother from school) and I'm about to clean her room and mop the floors. Dinner is a simple raviolis, green beans & apple slices this evening, followed by a  family game (note to self, look up a toddler level game that BIG E will also enjoy), showers and bed time. Tonight is SUPERNATURAL.  Yes Jensen Ackles I will marry you...just kidding, LOVE YOU HONEY!!!! This week is spirit week at E's school in honor of Red Ribbon Week. SO far we have had backwards day and blacked out day. Tomorrow is sunglasses day I believe. Thursday is denim day leaving friday as pajama day. Pajama day was always my favorite in school. Waking up and changing from Pajamas into usually cute new pajamas!

Missing my honey. Wish he were here. Busy schedules and girls days are fun, but they don't replace having my hubby home.

Surviving The TDY: Practice for Surviving the Deployment

So in preparation for his deployment that is coming up, my husband had to fly to Texas for training. He is going to be gone for 17 days. Then he will have more training in January. During these times it hits me the hardest that I am a military wife. I signed up for these longs weeks and lonely nights. Pulling double duty as mom and stand in dad. When he is away the work load goes from 100% to 200%. I have a few local friends who have offered to help, and lots of people sending their prayers, well wishes and advice from afar. It all helps. But the only way I am going to survive this TDY, the next TDY(temporary Duty Yonder) aka my husband is away on military training...and ultimately this deployment, is to of coarse BLOG about it! Most days will be short accounts for the days events or lack there of. Maybe a few emotions and meltdowns thrown into the mix of my attempt at making light of the daily chaos. So, here ya Go! Here is the first two days of this installment.


Day 1: Day 1 of surviving the TDY(aka practice for surviving the deployment): Mommy got both kids to clean up their rooms, I made dinner and cleaned the kitchen and the rest of the house. Both kids are showered and in bed. It may seem like just an.ordinary night. But it's day 1 of a lot of days and weeks of doing it ALL alone.

Day 2: Part 1: Day 2 of surviving the TDY my car battery died while sitting at Eriks school. thank God Kara was still there to take me back home get jumper cables bring me back and give me a jump....
Day 2: Part 2: Day 2 Part 2:Surviving this TDY: The rest of the day didn't go much better. Emily has perfected the art of the tantrum, im talking jumping (flailing) up and down, throwing her self on the floor whole nine yards. To which I reply with swiftly putting her on her bed for a time out. Then the rest of the day was chaos with the kids alternating between destroying the house while playing nicely, and screaming bloody murder at each other...There are still a few scattered toys on the floor and I haven't unloaded the dishwasher yet. I have NO IDEA what to pack erik for lunch tomorrow because I KNEW had i treked to the store with two brats in tow...one or more of the three of us wouldn't come back alive...So The score stands, Mom:1 Kids:1. I guess I take the next 30 mins for dishes and straightening, then Bones at 8 then bed time at 9. Good Grief and good night!

The Nostalgia of Home

“We are homesick most for the places we have never known.” 

― Carson McCullers

nos·tal·gia

  [no-stal-juh] 

noun

1.

 a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

A Swiss physician named Johannes Hofer coined the term nostalgia in the late 17^th century to describe what he considered to be a cerebral disease unique to Swiss mercenaries fighting wars far from home.

Maybe He wasn't too far off. Nostalgia can work one of two ways. It can bring a memory to mind that makes the future brighter with hope and newness. Or it can remind us that the good things, the good people, the good times, good memories are behind us now. Leave us with a longing to go back. 

Often time in our adult lives we have a longing to go back 'Home'. 

Where is home? A better question might be, When is home?

Home is a ballerina 4th birthday party with a black and sparkly dress.

Home is warm buttery pancakes on a Sunday morning.

Home is pink shag carpet and a barbie dream house. 

Home is endless movies at grandmas house. 

Home is huge piles of leaves in the fall. 

Home is the time when love is never a question.

Home is pictures over the fireplace and sports trophies on the mantle.

Home is wild flowers that outlined the garden.

Home is bike rides until dusk. 

Home is weekends at the lake sailing and swimming. 

Home is the light in the hall when monsters take hold of your dreams.

Home is the shelter from the darker side of memories.

Home. Home was.

Home is all the things I wish I could go back and freeze. . .

Home has to change over time.

As we grow older, and years pass, we adapt. We evolve. 

Home becomes the smell of a newborn baby.

Home becomes the walk around the duck pond on a sunny spring afternoon.

Home becomes the smell of a pie in the oven.

Home becomes the embrace of your loved one after weeks of work required separation.

Home becomes watching your babies sleep in their beds. 

Home becomes coloring pages of homework.

Home becomes a new paint color on the walls.

As Home becomes we become. New.

Then again even later in life, Home changes yet again.

Home is now your children returning home for the holidays, birthdays and BBQs.

Home is now the journey of new hobbies.

Home is now the kind of love that remains the same through the years.

Home is now coffee with an old friend. 

Home is spoiling the grandkids with cookies before dinner. 

Home becomes finding your self, in your lovers arms.

So when you think of Home, don't look back on days gone by and wish they would return. They were here or their season. Instead look to the home you have now. Hold it close. And never let it go.