More of the Same

It's strange to me to wake up & see all these recent post from my new friends I've made while Paul has been deployed these past 9 months. Their husbands are finally leaving for a deployment. Sometimes it's seems unreal to me that Paul has actually been gone already for 9 excruciatingly long at times months. That we are FINALLY on the down hill slide. I hate to see the Facebook post of the new wives who've never done a deployment as their heart breaks as they send their loved ones off to war. Those wives who are hanging on the best they can as they send their soldier husbands off ....again. It seems like my world always revolves around more of the same. Paul home for a year then gone for a year. That friends I make come & then move away. I know this is what the Army life is about, but it still does not make it any less heart wrenching to watch & especially to love.


What do I say to those friends who now face the next 9 months sleep deprived & glued to their cell phones. There really aren't that many comforting words so I'll just do my best to hug them, hold a hand, take them out on a girls night if a sanity break is needed. I will try to reassure them that they can do this for the first time or one more time. I will continue to pray daily for all our military who are serving around the globe. I will just be here if they need something because most of them have been here for me for the past 9 months even when their husbands where home. Deployments are never something you get use to & they are never all the same. I always explain them as a roller coaster ride and all you can hope for is that you got on the roller coaster with the least amount upside down loops.

My countdown to Homecoming has began but so many others are still right in the thick of the deployments or at the beginning. Please keep them all in your prayers until they all come home for good. Here is a great song I just heard on another Bloggy friends post whose hubby just left. It sure says it all about how you feel when your going through the throws of a deployment.

Super CUTE Pups

I love these super adorably cute Pups I found while visiting over at Skinnie Piggie's Blog.

 

They are made by Troop Paws  and you can get Army, Airforce & Marines! Sorry Navy land it's against Navy regulation for some silly reason. They are too cute to pass up! If you go Follow Skinnie Piggie you can also enter to WIN one for FREE!!

A portion of all the proceeds goes to charity so you are also helping out a great cause! Go check out their adorable pups & get to ordering. Now my boys will have a great new deployment snugly besides their Daddy Dolls which are nice, but these are so much cuter! Thankful for companies like these who help keep our children connected when their special soldier is deployed.

Kitchen Concoctions

For the past two weeks I have been working on making my protein snacks at home to monitor the sugar content. Last week I followed a recipe off of Pinterest that was very yummy!! But oh how sweet it was from the dates. I love dates & sugar! So they where like crack to me- which means not good to keep in the house. Here is the picture from the first batch.

1 Cup almond mill

1/4 cup dates pitted & chopped

1/2 cup almond butter

2tbl honey

scoop into an ice cream scooper roll in coconut & chill

These where so good but sweet- so you have been warned!~

This is a picture of today's protein balls made with less dates & walnuts to help cut the sweetness.

 

1 cup almond mill

4 dates pitted & chopped

1/3 cup walnuts crushed

1/2 cup organic low sugar peanut butter

2tbl honey

mix & roll into balls then roll in coconut- place in air tight container in refrigerator 

These taste just as good but not near as sweet which is GREAT for me! Each little ball contain 10 grams of protein & 140 calories. Perfect little snack at night if you get the munchies before bed. I love that you can just create your own recipe toss it together & it usually tastes good.

Getting Stronger

Saturday was packed full of fun! It started for me with a 9AM walk/run workout with Bekah my good friend. I talked her into trying on a weighted vest for our hike around our trails. We both grabbed our vests, mine was 25llbs hers 20llbs and off we went. When we approached the playgrounds with the monkey bars we got to be kids again for a moment. The only problem is we aren't as light as our kids anymore. I mean seriously folks how on earth does my nine year old just glide across the monkey bars? I've been trying for months now & still feel like a piece of cement is hanging from around my waist! But I am getting somewhat stronger each time I try and that is what counts!  Let me say I tried to hang by one arm-haha I also managed 5 or 6 little pulls to work on my strength for pull-ups. I did get higher then last week- so YAY ME!!
I am not sure Bekah appreciated the playground where I made her jump up & over the tire. Bear crawl through the tunnel, run up the stairs then back down, & last but not least knees to chest on monkey bars. Now we did take off the vests for this activity- but after 5 rounds we where tired! Then we had to put the vests back on to walk the mile & a half home to my house. It was for me a great way to start my Saturday! I just love a good work out! Here are two fun photos collages of what we looked looked like to anyone passing by us at the playground-haha I am sure they thought we where a little bananas!

Busy Week (end)

We had a busy start to our weekend already. Yesterday Banyan finally got to meet up with his new trainer & Liberty the other handsome Golden in training through All American Dogs . We met up at the Yelm park where a lot of ducks come to swim in the pond. The two boys where a beautiful site to see walking around together in their service vests. They where excited to meet but soon settled into a good walking pattern that gave me a chance to talk over some goals & such with Banyan's new trainer. I am really excited she lives so close only about twenty minutes from our home . This hopefully is going to allow us a lot more opportunity to do some training during the days so we aren't so busy at night. It will also give Banyan the chance to work with another well trained pup!

Banyan also made it to the gym with me to watch me do a little cardio & relax in a much needed sauna. I have still been super busy working on my  fitness goals while the boys are at school or I have a free moment. This week  I had the chance to add a second workout in on Tuesday & Thursday evenings during my youngest son's soccer practice. A couple of the moms asked if I could come bring my workout equipment and help them get beach body ready while the boys practice. I don't claim to be an expert by any means. But having taken the ISSA course & working out like I do with my trainer for so many years I thought, why not? It will give me the chance to get a little extra in and I would just be sitting in the van reading for an hour. I love it when other moms decide to get healthy & work out! We did circuits with the weights & other fun things I was able to bring. We also jogged a really nice lap - I did it twice. It was a good start & I am sure the ladies will get faster and stronger with each passing week. It also gave me the chance to share some nutritional information along . They are eating pretty clean & healthy but there are some tweaks that could be made to drop a few of those pesky pounds.

Today we have our first soccer game of the Spring season and we are ready to go! Banyan will join me in watching the game which should be exciting for him with all the crazy distractions. A lot of kids, fast moving balls, etc. I think it's a perfect training opportunity. But before that I am off to walk the trails around my home in a new 25llbs weighted vest a friend got me. I came home & it was sitting on my front porch- ahh she knows me to well because I was super excited! It'll be perfect for helping me get ready to carry crazy heavy objects from point A to point B in my runs. I love my friends! She thinks I'm a fitness nut but hey she supports my habit!

My husband and I also got the wonderful news this week about Block Leave- you other military wives know what that means! I can see the light at the end of the long dark deployment tunnel! We actually talked & decided to take a much need 6 night 7 day vacation anywhere I wanted to go that we could afford. Let's face it with four kids there isn't a lot of options but I wasn't passing this chance up! With his everyother year deployment schedule we need the time to reconnect & remember why we love eachother. Why we choose to stay married through this crazy roller coaster ride called Army life. I called the grandparents up told them the dates we had in mind & of course my  mom said whatever you all need. YAY!! So Ommie (my mom) will fly out in July to watch my boys for a week while we jet off to Hawaii!! That's right folks finally I am going to lay on a beach somewhere with my man & no children! I did some checking and found out that the Hale Koa Hotel   that is just for active duty military now offers a special of 30% off for those soldiers who are on R&R or on Block Leave home from a deployment!! We where super excited because that fit our budget! We locked in the dates we wanted and soon will hopefully find some good cheap airline tickets. We have already made a tentative itinerary of activities that we both enjoy & want to do while in Hawaii. My goal is to have everyother day be an activity that one of us chooses that the other participates in whether they love it or not with out complaining. With all these multiple deployments I am very aware of the fact that both me & my husband have grown - changed with every deployment. My husband who was once quiet but would go out with me anywhere to enjoy a night with friends now prefers to stay home alone with his computer or the fmaily. Or he only fishes all day every day all the time. It can be hard & frustrating for me who is beyond out going & never sits still to long. I have turned into the girl who use to be outgoing but because I was forced to do it all alone for years now needs to constantly be moving & yeah well fly-fishing your just sitting in the river all day not talking much- so not my thing. We both know we need to reconnect & find things we can both enjoy doing together as a couple. That will be what Hawaii is all about.

We have a fishing day trip planned for him where I will pick a book I;ve been dying to read grab my camera & sunscreen. I will lounge on the boat in a gorgeous setting snap a picture when I need to of my man and his fish- but I will not complain! I think since I will be surrounded by clear blue waters and sky I should be good! He will go on that romantic sunset dinner cruise with me even though romance has never been his thing- but I crave it since he is gone so much. He will try to not to cringe at the luau with all the other couples surrounding him and enjoy the fact that we can talk about whatever we want with out little ears listening as well as gaze at eachother & be mushy!! Then we have snorkeling planned which we both are excited about as well as a day of hiking because we both love to hike!


 This week has been fun and one of the most challenging in my life for several reasons . I am excited about the future & ready to get this deployment over with! I hope everyone out in bloggy land is enjoying the start to Spring with some renewed hopes & dreams . Doing what you can to make them come true for you. We aren't promised a tomorrow with our family & friends. We aren't going to stay the same we are always moving forward and changing. We just have to remember as we do move forward to make sure we take our loved ones along for the ride & enjoy every moment! Have a great weekend everyone.

Sway Me Please

I have always loved Dean Martin's version of Sway.....then I was at Ambers over at Goodnight Moon to listen to her song link up of the week. The Pussycat Dolls- wow use to listen to them all the time! Great work out music for sure. So of course I jumped on my Pinterest Workout Music Board to start pinning some of my favorites when I came across SWAY by them. I had never heard them sing it or saw the video- I LOVE IT! I have already listened to it a few times now. It's my Song Link up of the week! Head on over to Goodnight Moon to see what every one else is picking & thanks Amber for pointing me in this direction.

When Sleep Won't Come

I am wide awake & it's well after midnight. If you know me you know I'm an early bird and will surely feel the lingering effects of no sleep tonight. But it's hard when things weigh on your mind to get everything turned off in our head. I just wish I could lay down like some of my friends & fall into a peaceful sleep at night especially tonight. Instead I listen to music that makes me cry because I miss my husband.....

Fitness Friday

I had Jaime my trainer twice this week. As you all know we are training for Obstacle runs & our first is the Spartan Sprint on June 16th. With that said we have been focusing on my shoulders, back, upper arm strength. This has always been my weakness- my legs are fine but not the upper body. We have been doing so many burpees I've lost count! Today I thought my arms where going to fall off with the amount of push ups & weighted burpees ,uggg. But I can finally see the difference in my muscle tone in my shoulder area & back! That makes me super excited! I also noticed that even though I feel exhausted after our sessions I bounce back much quicker. As was the case today. I felt so good even though I had already been smoked at the gym earlier. I decided I could run the loop we use by our pool in the neighborhood to get some more outdoor running accomplished. The weather has made it almost impossible to run outside. Here is the video I shot right before I ran the loop only making it 3 times. 4 times around would be a mile which is what I had hoped to accomplish. But my legs where so done after barely making it up the third loop.

Next week is going hurt I have Jaime 3 days in a ROW!! I am not sure what I was thinking when I booked those work outs- obviously she had me under some sort of spell-lol So I took the time to book a massage & a sauna to help my poor body recover. I hope all of you who are doing all the training for these crazy runs we love are having as much fun as I am! I  may whine & complain but I love seeing the results & my energy level is so much better! I am excited that Jacob my 9 year old wants to run his first 5K with me this summer. I'll fill you in on the details later. Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to WORK OUT!!  I decided to do a Link Up with The New Healthy  Sweat it out Saturday. Go check out some other great Blogs about their week in Fitness. You can always learn something new- so go Link up your self!

Thursday's Tune Time

The song that is going on over & over in my head this week is a child's song " Rain, rain, go away come again another day!" Oh my how the WA weather has definitely come in like a Lion for March- I sure hope it goes out like a lamb soon! I won't be posting that song not even sure they have it on Youtube? But if you want to have fun & link up with Amber from Goodnight Moon for song week #50 please go ahead! I love listening to all the music every Thursday morning while waiting for the boys to wake up for school. 


 My pick for this week is Colbie Calliat - she makes me smile & I love her voice so much. Every one of her songs is good to listen to on the radio or your Ipods. 

I am pretty sure I have picked this in the past at some point- but it just makes me feel good & puts me in a wonderful mood! I need some sunshine in my life on these dreary spring days in WA. Enjoy folks & have a great Thursday!

Wishing for Spring with Crafts

I have to say when I woke up this morning to SNOW, YUCK was the first thing that I said out loud to myself! I am so over winter & ready to move on to Spring . I am ready for the WA Cherry Blossom trees to bloom & tulips! I am hosting a brunch this Thursday for some lovely Army wives so I decided to help get myself in a better mood by decorating. I spent hours folks & yes I said hours of my life on Pinterest. Looking & pinning all the wonderful Spring ideas I ran across. Then yesterday I picked out two  that I was determined I was going to make. Not just let is spend it's life on my computer on my boards-lol.


I have never really decorated for Spring but there is always a first! In the past twenty four hours I have visited Michaels to get all the supplies I needed for my two Spring ideas for my home. I then started working on the hanging Easter eggs for my front door with my boys. They turned out pretty cute for a first time crafter like myself & we hung them on the door early this morning.

It took glitter mod poge glue, colored tissue paper & some carve-able or foam eggs will work. I also bought the ribbon & extra little baby eggs to add to the top. The yellow egg has only the glitter glue on it for a smoother finish. But the boys & I decided we like the tissue papered eggs better- gives them more dimension. It hangs beautifully on the front door now & I am super pleased with how it turned out.

Next was a flower centerpiece for my table. I always like to have some sort of centerpiece on my table for whatever season we are in when I host. I found some great ideas on Pinterest & modified them to my liking. I came up with this beautiful creation today.

While at Michaels I found two different size glass candle holders. The larger holds the jelly beans which I chose pastel jolly rancher flavor. It was the color I liked best. But you could do the bold bright colored jelly beans if you want a brighter flower in the middle. You have a smaller cylinder glass candle holder in the center & pour the jelly beans around. Some Pins I saw also used the peeps, but I decided I liked the jelly bean look better for my table. I went in search of Tulips but our store had none in & weren't expecting any by Thursday- brunch day. I settled on these lovely mixed bunch that accented the jelly beans perfectly. After I trimmed down the stems to the right height I placed them in water in the middle cylinder. Then I took pink tool and stuffed it in around the top to cover up the other cylinder better- plus I think it looks cute. I suppose you could add more jelly beans- but I had already used three bag fulls! Now it sits beautifully in the center of my table just waiting for Thursday and all the delicious food to be placed around.

Now that I have taken to actually doing the pins that I have found on my boards I LOVE Pinterest even more! This is probably not a good thing  :0/  But it has some great ideas that are fun to do when you want something simple that looks fantastic! Happy Pinning everyone!

Super Scary Days

I will let the pictures do the talking for a moment......

 Yes folks I am old enough to have a fifteen year old who got his permit after school on Friday. There where a few moments I thought we would die before we made it home. I've now learned my lesson and the next three boys WILL start driving BEFORE they take Driver's Education & get permits!! We never thought about it since Hunter was not that interested and the child has a lot to learn. It was a fun moment I'll never forget that's for sure. I also will NEVER let him live it down & can't wait to tell his children one day about the time he almost killed Nana. I think I want grandkids to call me Nana one day....lol

As if driving with a new driver wasn't enough excitement for one week I also decided to cut my hair off. I am literally working out six days a week and on the GO from the time I get up untl bed. I have no time to spend fixing my hair. It was taking 45 minutes as I have super thick red hair. I braved it & let me stylist whack 5 inches off! Not sure I love love it on me ?? But I do LOVE the 15 to 20 mins it took to blow dry & style!

Thank goodness nothing HUGE is planned for this weekend. We can all relax a little & be thankful for the time to chill. Now to get ready for the gym, then the movies with the kids, & maybe letting Hunter practice some more driving..... I do have accidental life insurance policy beside the Army issue stuff. So remind my man of that should Hunter kill us both....just teasing him about his driving - it's fun!

Pretty Please.....Your Perfect to Me

Thursday is here and we have had the Flu hit the house hard again this week My oldest and Jeremy both started throwing up early morning Wednesday, YUCK!! We had a long day of 7-up & crackers yesterday. Jeremy is still home today with a fever. Yesterday was a home work out day due to the illness. I was so proud of myself to get in the following WOD:


45 Burpees & 15 decline push-ups
125 lunges
130 squats mixture of regular & sumo
40 crunches


I am trying so hard to stay on track this time & not push myself to the brink of exhaustion but push myself enough to have to up the anty every few days. I am working on myself for myself! I know that I tend to get a little obsessed so I'm trying hard to stay focused & listen to what my body is telling me this time around. I have always had a one track mind when it comes to fitness & nutrition. It started way back the summer before I started 8th grade. All my friends where naturally skinny & in the 80's that was the thing to be, skinny! So I started the never ending quest of dieting. Guess what I was not just good at it I was GREAT!!  I look back at pictures & am shocked at how thin I was. At 5'5 I should have never been 106 pounds at my lowest. I never allowed myself to go above 115 in high school- crazy now that I look back, but at the time I thought I looked great! 
Now everytime I start a new cycle of fitness & nutrition I have to really reign myself in on my nutrition at times. In college working out became an obsession when I gained ten pounds the first year and was no longer a size 4- seriously folk I thought a size 6 was awful! Now I repeat to myself daily and a lot that "Size DOES NOT define me! My fitness level & my strength are the MOST important thing" I try to remind myself it's ok to have stretch marks and curves . I mean geezzz I have had four children back to back. But I do not use my children as an excuse to stay jiggly or stay still. I may not be perfect in the eyes of the world but guess what I DO NOT HAVE TO BE!!  The only people who I want to see me and think I am perfect or pretty darn close are my husband & my boys. I stay healthy , exercise, track my fitness for myself & for my family.
I know I am not the first or the last woman to struggle with body issues. I struggle all the time. But I try to remember that there is no such thing as perfect it's all in my mind- there is only the motivation to make myself the best wife, mom,daughter, sister, & friend I can be for myself. This video I found today I LOVE IT!! I wanted to share it today so that everyone who struggles with body issues can remember it's not about what society says you should be at all. It's about taking care of yourself for yourself so that you can be there for those that really matter in your life.
 That "perfect" is in the eyes of the beholder. Those that love you won't mind that you have moments of pure insanity or that your not a size 6!! If they do, they have no place in  your world. Remember to Love your self, then it will be easy for others to Love you back!

My song of the day to hare over at Goodnight Moon with Amber is this:

Perfect ....

I am & will always be striving to improve myself, but I am no longer trying to be Perfect.

Back to Work.....HURTS

Yes my bloggy friends my insane fitness friends are back at it planning all the fun mud/obstacle runs we are suppose to do this coming summer. We signed up for our first Spartan Sprint  on June 16th. This will be a new race for us all. It has never come to the PNW before so I am excited to compare it to the others we have completed. We also have one we may do on May 26th as well- so many races on the docket. They are all suppose to lead up to the Tough Mudder 2012 on September 29th. Now I have never professed to be a runner or even like running for that matter. But today I got out of the house after church & made myself run. I ran the first mile with out stopping- it HURT!!  Then I walk ran the rest but even my walking was at a very fast clip. Anyway it hurt, it stunk & my legs felt like cement. Just happy to have started so  maybe it won't hurt so much next time. Running outside is so much different then running on a tread mill or elliptical in the gym.

I hope all of you that are reading this who are on our Tough Mudder page & committed to getting fit for the race where able to get out today in the sunshine. Remember folks the first steps are the hardest- every step after get's a little less painful. Running may never come easy for me but at least I'm lapping everyone on the couch!!

Here is my video from the end of my little 40 some minutes of outdoor running/walking today. It's a way for me to have accountability to the other members of our little insane group who want to do 10+ miles with obstacles called the Tough Mudder . I am still not sure I will do the run yet but I will commit to training with the others to be ready just in case.

Thursday's Tune Time

I really haven't had any specific music to listen to this past week as I was so sick with the flu. I am finally over that nasty bug & can only pray it stays away from all the children!! But as I was pulling away from the airport at 4:36AM Wednesday morning looking out my rear view mirror watching my soldier wave then walk away as the tears began I turned the radio up loud! I was thinking a nice distraction would be great! I had hoped for a catchy up beat song to take my mind off the fact that I have four long months left until I hold my soldier again. So I choose that song that was on as I drove away saying my "see you laters" one more time & hopefully for the last time. If you want to go link up & listen to more great songs by other amazing bloggers head over to see Amber at Goodnight Moon to join in on all the fun. 


The song really holds no special meaning to me other then it was not that up beat& now I will remember in my brain everyday all the time. I do like it, & it actually made me cry harder while singing the lyrics. I'm pretty sure I should not have been barreling down I5 with the tears streaming that early in the morning. But all I could think about was I wanted to go home, I wanted to be there when the boys woke up, & most of all I wanted my soldier for one more day. Ahhh, the roller coaster ride of this Army life sometimes is too much on this girl's mental status. I know so many have been here right where I am this morning still. Needing sleep desperately only to get maybe four good hours as you wait for the phone call that he made it safely. Knowing in your head that realistically you can sleep because it'll be at least forty-eight hours before you hear anything at all. But your brain & heart just won't let you fall into that much needed slumber. Anyway here is my song pick of the week & the lyrics are good. I hope you enjoy!

Wonder wall by Oasis....ahhh the lyrics at times of course I felt like where just being sung for my moment.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I
Would like to say to you but I don't know how

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you're my wonderwall

The last photo of my love & I at 2:30AM before we walked out the door. Oh how I miss him already & am already for this stupid deployment to just be over!!  We are the others person even when we are mad at eachother. He helped so much while I was puking my guts out so thankful God let him be here for the two weeks & I pray God brings him safely back to me in four months.