New

Have you ever looked around and thought, "What the hell happened to the last year of my life?!"  That is me right now. Somehow 2015 is here and I'm not really sure how I made it here.

In the last year my husband retired from 23 years in the Air Force, we took an extremely giant leap of faith and moved to Las Vegas in hopes that the job my husband was interviewing for worked out, failed at selling our house, put said house up for rent, moved in with my parents, the girls turned 10, added a new dog to our clan, experienced more levels of frustration than I can count, went an entire month with no income (scary), added several pounds to my already squishy body, and a lot more gray hairs to my head. 

On the flip side to all the craziness there have been many positives too. My husband got the job, the girls adjusted very well to the move and new school, we finally (after almost 6 months) found a renter for our house, we enjoy the weather out here very much, the girls have found some great activities that are bringing out who they are more and more every day, and I can't be grateful enough that we had family to help us through all of this.

I'm really happy to say that in 2 days we get the keys to our home for the next year.  Among many of the frustrations we have encountered, buying a house has topped the list. We started running into so many obstacles and my stress level kept increasing to padded room levels that my husband looked me in the face and said, "We'll rent."  I wish I could say to you that when this was said  I breathed a sigh of relief and hugged and kissed my husband for being my rescuer. Yeah, not so much.  Let's just say a meltdown of epic proportions happened.  Apparently all the stress that I had been hanging on to  latched onto this moment and hitched a ride on the one way trip Meltdown Island.  My husband describes it different.  He likens it to me being exposed to gamma rays and waiting for me to turn green and smash things. Gotta love him.  But he is right and I'm definitely not proud of this but such is life and we all can't be perfect no matter how hard we try.  So, after a good cry and rational discussions I felt better about the decision and we set out looking for a home to rent. We found a great home that we can call ours for the next year and I'm really excited to get moved in. We made a run to target today for cleaning supplies and I can't remember the last time I was that excited to buy cleaners.

There have been many conversations recently with my husband about "life" and the one thing I know, (and struggle with everyday) is that I am NOT ultimately in control. No matter how many lists I make it is not my plan.  Somehow in these last 6 months I have forgotten that it's God's plan and no matter how we think things should happen He is there and in control.  I still struggle everyday trying to take back that control but He knows I'm not perfect and loves me for it. I am a child of God and he takes great joy in that.

So here's to a new year, new city, new home, and new adventures. 

Summer

I can't believe the last time I posted there was snow on the ground.  It has been very busy and hectic in this house of ours these last few months. So many changes. A house for sale, a husband retired, new job in the works, and a cross country move happening in just a few short weeks. My head has been spinning since January and it hasn't stopped yet. I have tried very hard to try to keep some normal things happening this summer just to keep some sanity. I planted a late garden this year.  I had not planned on one because of the house being on the market but the garden beds just looked so sad.  I grabbed a few tomato plants and rummaged through some old seeds I had and everything is doing pretty well. Well, except for the yellow pear tomatoes.  I don't know why I keep buying that variety because they never make it.  Oh well.
Ruby and I have our morning routine down this summer.  She and I are up way before anyone else in the house so we have plenty of time to survey the estate, water everything, and little game of doggie soccer.  She is a good morning companion.
We didn't sign the girls up for any camps this summer not knowing what our plans would be after the retirement but we have tried to throw in as many fun things as we can in between all the nuttiness. Jef's best friend Mike came to visit us for a few days so we hit the base pool for a few hours of fun.  The girls love it.  It has a great slide and a diving board. The big kids love it just as much.  The base pool has adult swim every hour.  It only lasts about 15 minutes but its nice if they want to swim laps or just hang with other adults and not have to worry about kids.  Yeah right, what really happens is the adults have free run of the pool to act like big kids.  Cannon balls off the diving board, no waiting for kids on the slide, and a little showing off for everyone with their fancy dives off the board.  Its quite funny actually.
I hope you are having a great summer!

January

Oh January where do you come from?  I feel like it was just Christmas and now January is almost done.  There has been so much happening here.  The girls went back to school, the weather has been super crazy (thank you polar vortex), I have been cleaning like a mad woman, and the dreaded winter cooties have landed at our house.
Right after Christmas Jef and I had a serious sit down conversation about what this year has in store for us.  Jef will be retiring this year from the Air Force and this leaves us in a strange place.  He will retire just shy of 23 the years and I have been with him 17 of those years.  Its what we know and now we are entering the unknown.  Really scary.  Our plan had always been for him to get a civilian position on a base but that plan changed when they put a stop on civilian jobs because of budget and all that nonsense.  Now we find ourselves in unknown territory of the real world.  We have two plans.  Plan A is to find a job.  Obviously.  We are looking where we live now and also in Las Vegas (where my family is).  The thought of starting completely over where we know no one makes us both a little uncomfortable.  Plan B came from the lack of jobs he was finding in the pay range we need.   No matter how much experience he has managing people and jobs the pay is reduced significantly and jobs are scarce for us without the BA/BS.  So Plan B is to move to Vegas and stay with family while he finishes his degree.  So with all that being said we have decided to put the house on the market.  (Commence stress puking here).  After the plans were discussed I pulled out the legal pads and starting making lists.  Cleaning lists, project lists, and packing lists.  I NEED to write things down.  I am not a "wing it" kind of girl.  These lists are overwhelming.  So one day at a time and one list at a time things are starting to get done. Well, until the cooties hit our house.
Poor Hannah has been sick since last Monday.  We are off to the doctor again today.  Well, I should say we will be seeing a doctor today.  Walk in hours at the base were useless.  Hopefully we can find out what is wrong and get her better.  Jef has also been sick but seems to be on the mend.  With all the sickness, a holiday, and scheduled teacher work days my cleaning and project list have been put on hold, oh yeah, and not to mention two snow days thrown in.  The crazy weather has me begging for Spring.  Temperatures in the teens with below 0 wind chills is not normal for this mid-Atlantic state.
The girls ventured out for a very short time to play in the snow.

 I know a formal introduction is needed but for now, this is Ruby.  She was very unsure about the snow at first but it didn't take her long to start loving it.
I hope your January days have been less stressful, less busy, and a lot warmer than mine.  Here's hoping for an early Spring.

Holiday Endings and Beginnings

 Hello!  I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Ours was interesting.  The Saturday before Thanksgiving I came down with something short of horrible.  I pride myself on not getting sick very often but when I do get something it usually puts me out.  This one was no different. My cough would put any 2 pack a day smoker to shame.  Just saying.  

On top of my virus, my husband had surgery on his knee 2 days before Thanksgiving.  I was still quite ill at this point and thanks to a wonderful and maybe a little crazy friend, she took the girls for the night so that Jef and I could be at the hospital by 6:00 a.m. After medicating myself enough that people wouldn't run from me if they heard me cough,  we arrived early and prepared Jef for his surgery.   The surgery went really well and he is recovering quite nicely. He is up and moving around surprisingly well.  I thought his recovery would be much worse.  I on the other hand am still coughing and have lost most of my voice.  Mind you that doesn't keep me from talking but it sounds like a dying goose.

On a fun note, the day after Thanksgiving brings a much anticipated visitor to our home.

This is Murray or Elf.  Murray is a fun addition to the house at Christmas and keeps an eye the comings and goings of our crazy house.  The girls talk to him, show him pictures they draw of him, and search for him everyday.  Murray is not a mischievous elf but does like to have camp outs and eat candy in our house.  Murray is not used a discipline tool for us he just keeps things lively around here.  

The first day that Murray visits he decorates our small table in the kitchen and brings the fixings for Elf Pancakes for us to enjoy.  

In recent years Jef has been deployed and missed out on Murray's arrival.  He declared that Elf Pancakes were the best pancakes.  Elf Pancakes, by the way, are just your typical pancake mix (mine is my grandmothers mix) with sprinkles added.  Jef said there was something else in them. And of course I said "Yep, Elf Love"! 

I hope your Thanksgiving was well and you are entering into the season of giving with open hearts.

Lost

Last week was a really tough week for me and the family.  We had to say goodbye to the sweetest dog that God ever made.  My sweet, sweet Lexi was almost 15 and was my everyday companion.  She went everywhere with me and stuck by me through every move and every deployment.  I miss her so much it hurts.  I know the pain will lessen everyday but right now it is still very raw.  I miss talking to her and seeing her happy face and wagging tail when I come home from taking the girls places or grocery shopping.  She is missed everyday and will always be remembered.

T.G.I.F.

Thank God It's Friday! No statement could ring truer for me today than this.  I have been going full throttle for 2 weeks.  Last week Jef took the week off so we could work on the girls' room updates (post to come soon).  After a solid week of painting and decorating the rest of my house looked like a week long college frat party had taken place. So, come Monday morning I sent Jef off to work and while the girls did this...

...I worked all day trying to get my house back together.  

Tuesday morning I made my usual trip to the garden only to find that my garden had exploded and I need to can.  A long day of work yielded this...

...pretty good if I do say so myself.  Tuesday also brings the news that my husband has possibly torn the meniscus in his knee and is on crutches.  :/

Wednesday morning I got up early and mowed the front lawn.  It was beginning to look like a jungle and with a husband on crutches it is now my job, again.  We have a rather large yard so I only managed the front that day. 

Thursday has become somewhat a dirty word for me.  If things are going to go wrong it will happen on Thursday.  This Thursday was one of those wrong Thursdays.  It didn't start off too bad other than mowing the back yard in the misty rain but the physical output of yard work offset that.  In preparation for hosting the the men's group from church that evening the girls and I ran to the store to pick up a few items for them.  This is where things go foul.  I was verbally "beeped" at by an elderly gentlemen because I stopped to mark something off my list, I was "beeped" at leaving the parking lot because I refused to pull out into oncoming traffic, I was then "beeped" and "fist waved" at by a bus driver because apparently I violated a Virginia state law that I was unaware of, I was then almost run over pulling into the driveway.   I decided that I didn't need to leave the house again.  Sometime after lunch a Hazmat truck turned over on I64 spilling its contents.  This caused all kinds of traffic horrors.  It took my husband over two hours to get home from work (a normally 30 minute commute).  When he finally arrived home I am running around trying to fix supper for the girls and I and prepare a few treats for the men.  Due to traffic issues only 2 of the men showed for last night's meeting.  About an hour into their meeting a nasty storm came up and they had to quickly come inside.  Thunder and lightening and wind was quickly around us and a very loud bang startled the girls and I.  I peek out onto the deck and this is what I see...

 ...In our haste to get everyone and the food inside the umbrella for my table was left up.  The wind took sail of my umbrella and shattered the glass.  The thunder continued and rattled the house and a couple of picture frames fell off a shelf and broke one.  At this point I am laughing.  I went to bed thinking of my day.  I know a lesson of patience and kindness was being given to me yesterday but I also think a lesson in control was there too.  Control in 2 forms.  Control #1:  "Keep controlling your actions Jannette, your children are watching" and Control #2:  "Jannette, you are not in control, I am."  I admit to being somewhat of a control freak and God has a tendency to put me in my place from time to time.  Yesterday must have been one of those days. "Stop trying to control everything and make it go your way and listen to Me." 

This brings us to today, Friday.  I have absolutely nothing I HAVE to do.  There are things that need to be done but nothing that won't keep.  I am hoping today will be a much better day but as I sit here my dog has thrown up twice and my cat once in the only room with carpet.  *Sigh*   

So here is my annoying, I had a crappy week post.  I know they are incredibly annoying to read on Facebook but this is my blog and well, my place to whine.  Here's to a better day and good weekend.  

Canning

Last week I spent 2 full days canning the "fruits" of my garden labor.  This year my green beans and cucumbers are really producing.  YAY!  In the past couple of years things have not produced as well as I would have liked but with a new arrangement in my beds and the addition of a large trellis for the cucumbers I am thankfully picking a basket full of veggies almost everyday.  The addition of the cucumber trellis has made everyone in this house happy because that means mom makes pickles.  

Pickles are probably one of the easiest veggies to can.  I made two kinds; bread and butter and dill. The prep work for pickles is probably the most time consuming because it requires lots of slicing but once you have that done everything else is really simple.  

This year I have conquered my fear (I think) of the Pressure Cooker.  My grandmother used a pressure cooker for so many things but I was always terrified of it. The only way to can green beans safely is to pressure can them. I am not fond of frozen green beans and I'm really not fond of food poisoning so I was left with only one choice.  Pressure canning. I purchased my pressure canner and it sat in the box for several days. Unfortunately the box is quite large so "out of sight, out of mind" didn't work.  Finally, knowing that I needed to can the green beans soon or they would go bad, I got out the book and read all the instructions.  I talked to my mom several times about how scared I was and she suggested that I find a You Tube video to watch.  Huh, why didn't I think of that?  I watched the videos, reread the instructions, crossed myself (I'm not Catholic but what could it hurt, right?!), said a few prayers, and went to work.  Thankfully my kitchen is still in one piece and so am I. I will admit to standing in the doorway of the kitchen for most of the 20 minutes clutching the instruction manual.  

I think I will attempt to can some salsa next.  I have lots of jalapenos from the garden and I think that salsa will be a good use for them. Chips and salsa, yum!

House of Piles or My House in the Summer

I love summer.  The weather is warm (although I could do with less humidity), the days are long, the nights are fun, and things just move at a slower pace.  I love having my kids at home all to myself and drinking my coffee warm in the mornings.  What I don't like is what my house becomes in the summer time.  I freak out every year because I've already forgotten that it was the same way last year. Because there are more bodies in the house during the day things tend to get piled up or just flat out ignored. 

The first place that gets piled on is the dining room table.  It is the largest and first flat surface you come to in my house.  This is where, purchases, gifts of thanks (that I can't manage to deliver, sorry Katie), projects and and pockets are dumped.  

The dining room is also where I sew.  This is where my W.I.P's find a home.

The kitchen is a never ending room of piles.  Piles of clean and dirty dishes.  Cups from various people on every counter and veggies from the garden that need some attention.  (I really need to repaint the cabinets. *sigh*)

We have an oversize coffee table in the living room and it doesn't take long for it to pile up especially when the girls are home..

And of course it wouldn't be complete without including the piles of laundry.  Clean laundry here, no one needs to see the dirty stuff.  You can just make out the overflowing recycle bin in the back corner.  That would be the same said recycle bin I was told would be emptied before bedtime last night. Hmmmm, I think SOMEONE forgot.  ;)

This post goes against every part of my Type A personality. The fact that you are seeing my house in disarray gives me a panic attack.  But I am not a perfect person and my house can not look like a page from magazine.  It's just not realistic.  I know that these wonderful summer days with my family will be over too soon and I need to enjoy every minute of them.  The piles will be tended too and there will be new piles.  That is my house in the summer. Is it yours too?

Whole Again

The last couple of weeks have been wonderful. We are whole again with him home. Each one of us letting out our own sighs of contentment.  I think a collective sigh could be felt from both sides of the country when he stepped foot off the plane.  My parents and his own sighing in relief that he is safe and back where he should be.  We have been busy and lazy, silly and serious, quiet and talkative but most importantly...together.

We took a little trip to visit my in-laws at Holden Beach, NC.  We had a lot of fun and it was really nice to get away and just concentrate on each other making up for time lost.  Nothing relaxes your soul like parking your butt in a beach chair with toes digging in the sand watching the people you love the most running in the water, jumping in the waves and screaming in the delight and simpleness of it all.

We did all the typical beach activities including putt-putt golf, a trip to Broadway at the Beach (Myrtle Beach),swimming at the community pool, and fishing off the pier at night.  I got some much needed reading in and a lot of relaxing.

I sent him off to work this morning not really ready to let him go again but at least I know he will come home at the end of the day to us and that my friends is all I need.