MONTHS

Heads Up: This is just a "venting" post. If you don't want to hear some complaints and boring thoughts, don't read on. ;)
Wow, it's been months since I blogged, even though it feels like only a few weeks ago. SO much has happened since that last post in September. The husband came home from deployment and we PCSed all the way from Italy *longingsigh* back to Las Vegas *sadsigh*. Right now I am sitting in our new, temporary apartment and it's my 32nd birthday. I don't quite feel "32" but then again, I've never been 32 so I don't know how it's supposed to feel.
While living in Italy, life pretty much ironed itself out, things fell into place and I was LOVING it. Now that we are back in Vegas, I am craving that comfort again. The husband and I have been talking and I really need to get a job to help with the finances. I was able to help in Italy with my Thrift Store Management position, and I really enjoyed my job. I would love to find something here that I really enjoy. While contemplating what type of job to look for, I keep thinking that I just want to stay home for my kids! But I NEED to contribute to our household financially. SO, where's the happy medium? Do I go into "home sales" such as Tupperware, Stampin' Up, 31 Gifts??? I am not a fantastic sales person, but I do enjoy Crafting and the 31 products. Along with those 2 things, I love to MAKE things. Sewing projects bring me so much satisfaction. But for me to get to a place where I feel confident making and then actually selling things I make/sew, I need a lot more practice. Right now that isn't happening because I don't have any of my crafting or sewing supplies. Those things won't be here until we move into our permanent home on base, in March or April...
SO, what to do? I would love to craft from home and sell those products, but that isn't going to work for now. I just don't know. I think I will be looking in the classifieds and online and seeing what is out there. But now we come to another issue. Long-term stability. Specifically, Retirement.
Yes, I'm 32 and I have never had a "career" type of job that will contribute to any future retirement. I hold a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and the husband wants me to start using that. I totally agree. BUT HOW? My Mom has suggested I get into the GS system with the military. That can possibly move with us as the husband gets transferred with the Air Force, and it will build retirement and benefits for my future. But will I be happy and even more important, will it work for my family? We just don't know until it happens. Right now I don't know what to do, but GOD does. He always comes through for me and I need to just rely on him. BUT I am SUCH a worrier! I know I need to rely on HIM and not worry, and yet it's difficult. I must remember these 2 verses, and keep them in my heart:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Matthew 6:34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today"

5 Minutes of Growing

It's time for another 5 minute Friday... even though today is Monday. This time we're writing about Growing. This is such an appropriate subject to write on in my life right now. Life is changing, things are moving forward and my babies are GROWING. Ashton just turned 8 a couple weeks ago, Angel will be 4 this weekend, and Andrew is going to be a teenager in 3 weeks. WOW. My babies really are not babies. And I feel older. I've been through 6 months of a deployment, single parenting my kids, running a household alone, and learning how to live my day to day life without my husband/partner/best friend by my side. He isn't completely out of the picture of course; we still email and yahoo chat as often as possible, but not having him physically here is quite a growing experience. My children are getting older; changing personalities; learning to deal with life without a Dad around 24/7. Everyday life has been an adventure, a challenge, hard, tough, rewarding... LOOOONG. I'm tired. Growing makes a person tired. There is a real reason why kids who go through growth spurts tend to take longer naps or sleep longer at night. It's EXHAUSTING. But it's worth it. You come out the other end of the growing experience a changed person. Hopefully changed for the better. Hopefully made stronger, more resilient, more sure in yourself and your choices. I really hope the end result of our Growing is all these good things. I really pray that things get better because of our Growing Experiences and things are made stronger. Specifically, I want our relationships to be better and stronger. I want my kids to depend on each other, and us, their parents, more. I want them to realize we've gotten through all this together, we've gotten older, and we are better for it. We just had a great Harry Potter Themed birthday party for Ashton on Friday and this Sunday we'll be having a Princess Tea Party for Angel. Then a couple weeks later it's Andrew's turn to have his first Teenager Party complete with music, food, and friends. Then we start actively preparing for our Soldier  to come home to us again. So much Growing is still left to be done, and yet these events are ushering us into our next steps... I'm scared yet looking forward to these next steps.
I think I've gone over my 5 minutes. Once I started, the words just came and I needed to get them down. I love these 5 minute posts. I'll be back with more.

5 minutes on JOY

I'm trying something new today. It's been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog, and I've felt the urge to just write. No pictures, no plan, just write what I'm thinking and feeling and see what happens. Yesterday I found a blog called The Gypsy Mama and she has a thing that her and several other bloggers do called 5 minute Fridays. I decided to give it a shot. It was pretty much exactly what I was feeling like doing on my blog, and it gave me a direction to write in. Today I'm going to write about JOY.
Joy is a word I've used throughout my life, but I always use it flippantly. I know I've felt true JOY in my life, but I think I take it for granted. I remember the pure JOY I felt when my daughter was born. It was such a difficult, stressful, worrisome pregnancy. I remember the moment I looked down at her, literally seconds after she was born, and she was on the birthing bed and she was ALIVE. She was tiny, reddish, and so perfect. I remember thinking that she was BREATHING on her OWN, and she had a look on her face that said, "How DARE you interrupt my nap!" The JOY I felt at that moment is unexplainable.
There have been other moments of Joy in my life, but I honestly think none can compare to that one. I want nothing but happiness for my children in their lives, and when I can do something for them to bring them Joy, well... I think that is one of my biggest goals as a Mom.
So that's it. My 5 minutes is up. It feels good to have put some words out there, even if they don't make much sense and even if one of them isn't really a word (unexplainable).
I think I'll continue on with my day, and try to find little pieces of JOY. Actually, I just heard some Joy in the other room... My Angel baby is playing with her friend, Maddox, and they are laughing like only 3 year olds can... I love it.
I hope some of you out there read this and want to join in on the 5 Minute Fridays as well. Check out The Gypsy Mama's blog and see what it's all about. I'd love to read about your JOY.

A Thousand Sheets Giveaway

The Amazingly Talented Crafter, Amy Young is giving away a SWEET Candy!

Check out all the details on her blog A Thousand Sheets Of Paper! WOW!

Scenic LONDON

The kids, Nana and I recently went on a trip to London! It was our first tour day in the great city so I started taking some amazing pictures...

These totally cute telephone booths:

 Nana, Ashton and Angel on the Big Bus tour:

 Paddington Station (duh) where the ACTUAL, soon to be internationally famous, teddy bear was found:

 This awesome Arch whose name I have now forgotten:

 Really neat sculpture of a colorful family:

 A Horse's HEAD:

And then!!!! My camera died. YUP. And who forgot to bring the battery charger??? Me of course! So Nana took the rest of the pics, and some are on Facebook, but most are NOT. Maybe next Sunday I'll have them to share with you... Until then, Be blessed and don't forget to charge your cameras!!!

Deployment Chain

I'm back again! Here's an update on our Deployment Countdown Paper Chain. This is the chain in April:

 The Chain in May:

 The Chain on David's Birthday, Today, July 21st:

We love you and miss you David. See you SOON!

I MADE SOMETHING!!!

Hey there Friends! Are any of you still around???  So I haven't been in the mood to craft with my paper products lately AT ALL. But, I have been learning how to sew! I'll have to share some of my creations on another post, but this post is all about The Burtonesque Dolls Challenge! I love The Burtonesque Dolls Blog and even though I haven't been paper crafting, I've still been checking out the blog. They have a challenge going on right now that you can check out HERE. And this is my entry for the challenge:

This is an digi stamp from Bugaboo Stamps. Can you recognize the character? Bugaboo calls him "Spoiled One"! LOL. Well, poor spoiled Draco used the Floo Network and instead of staying in the world of Wizards, landed in the Wonderful World of Wonka! Yup, Draco is in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I hope you like my card, because I'm quite satisfied with it. After all, I was able to achieve a ruffled ribbon on a card after not creating something for MONTHS. Alrighty then, I'm off for the night. Maybe I'll be posting up something soon... oh yeah, I do have an updated picture of our paper chain...

Until next post, Be blessed!