Army families

I have a couple of friends that are going through extremely difficult situations right now. These situations are being compounded by the fact that their husbands are 7000 miles away.

Doing all of the housework/yardwork, managing the finances, being responsible for all the decision making, disciplining the kids, feeling all alone even when you are surrounded by friends and family, feeling sick when you miss a phone call or chance to IM, worrying about their wellbeing, seeing your children long for their daddy, and missing them yourself so much that it's hard to breathe is extremely difficult. But add a crisis to that situation, and it's enough to rattle anyone's foundation.

We are blessed to have each other to talk to, to cry with, and most of all to understand. We have bonded quickly, and will be lifelong friends. We joke that we'll be telling the same old deployment stories to each other when we are 90 years old! We are so proud of our soldiers, our children, and each other. But we need prayers. Please keep my friends in your prayers. Please keep all military families in your prayers.

Camping at Potato Creek

Guilt

I absolutely hate being the one making all of the decisions. I think it's making me less decisive. Every year, we go camping with mom and Tim, and the Brinkers. We LOVE camping. We bought a pop-up in 2005 and planned on getting many years of use out of it.

2 years ago we stepped out of our comfort zone (Pokagon) and went to Clifty Falls. About 36 hours after we got there, I came down with a terrible case of the stomach flu. I spent 3 days down, and then we left and came home. Last year we planned a trip to Turkey Run. 2 weeks before our trip, Robert's unit was put on alert. He was going to have to go to training the week of our trip. Ugh. What do I do? Robert's training was in town, so he'd be home in the evenings (if he were going to be out of town, it would have been a no-brainer). I decided to go anyways. The Sunday before we were scheduled to leave, my grandma had a pulmonary embolism and was flown from Ohio to Parkview. We spent the week at her bedside in the ICU and her funeral was the day we were to leave for Turkey Run. The Millers and Brinkers left for camping right after the funeral, but I decided not to go. The alert and week with grandma had drained me.

This year, we planned our camping trip to Potato Creek, leaving after church on Father's Day. When we popped up our camper to check it out, it had been taken over by some alien fungus that had eaten through the canvas. Tim took it in to check it out and the cost of the repair would be the same amount that we paid for the camper. So we would have to rent a camper for about 300 bucks for the week. And spend about 160 bucks on a site, and then gas, and food. And I would have to pack everything for the 4 of us, set up, tear down, clean out and return the camper. Probably taking up a good 12 days of my life. Unfortunately I can't spare the money or the 12 days right now. So I made the decision not to go. I am both relieved and sad that we will be missing out on another family tradition. But without Robert here to go with us, it just isn't the same. I'm holding out hope that we'll get to go to the Dunes this October.

One thing that I hate more than making decisions is constantly second-guessing myself. I have to remind myself that these aren't life-altering decisions. I'm not taking anyone off of life-support! It's so easy to get sucked into the guilt vortex. I'm going to hang on by my toenails if I have to and not let it suck me in!

Poor, honey.

I finally got to IM with Robert for a while yesterday. He said they've been working 15 hour days, and the sandstorms are relentless. It's been a week since we've talked on the phone, so I hope I can talk to him sometime soon. Usually around day 10 is when I start to go thru withdrawals. I told him to take some pics around the base so we can see where he eats, works, lives, etc. Please keep him in your prayers. They have a very high-profile mission , and right now tempers and nerves are being tested.

Mother nature is not nice.

Our power went out at 6pm on Monday, June 9th and still isn't on as of 3pm on June 10th. AEP said that we are on the bottom of electrical totem pole due to the small number of homes in our addition without power (there were 30,000 outages in FT Wayne out as of 10:00pm last night). I am SOOOOOOOOOOO behind on photoshopping. UGH! We are at mom and Tim's now (of course all my pics are on my PC at home). I might just go get it and bring it here so I can start getting caught up. I'm trying to be patient.....have I mentioned that I HATE waiting?

Healthy healthy healthy

Most of you know that I'm on a quest to get healthy. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and two autoimmune diseases: Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Pernicious Anemia. And this year the big FOUR O. So, I've been on a mission to turn my life around, get healthy, and look hot when my dear hubby comes home next year (wink wink). I exercise 5 days a week doing weights, circuit training, Tai Bo, The Firm's Absculpt, Cardio Sculpt, Body Sculpt, biking, hiking, etc. No pop (or caffeine) since March, smaller portions, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, no late night snacking, no drinking empty calories. Since New Year's day I've lost 31 pounds and hope to hit 40lbs by the end of the month. I would love to lose 10 more after that, then tone and sculpt from there;) I feel FANTASTIC! I have more energy, I've been sleeping better, I'm more patient with the kids....exercise is a great stress reliever. I don't crave sweets now. I haven't had ONE candy bar since March! I used to eat one everyday! But I haven't cut sugar out completely. If I really want something sweet, I let myself have it (which has only been about 5 times in 3 mos). But I don't mindlessly eat it anymore. The weight is getting harder to take off, but I'm up for the challenge. I just want to challenge all of you to live up to your physical potential! I've filled the void that I WAS filling with food with self-satisfaction. Exercising has helped me not to stress-eat. And I don't eat out of boredom anymore. I hope this motivates you to be the healthiest you that you can be:)

My hair.........

Most of you know that I turned 4o last week. So, I decided to celebrate by donating 13 inches of my hair to Locks of Love and coloring it for the first time in my life:) Here's the new me:



Shout out to Diane Shockney for taking the second pic:)