How Time Flies!

So, this is a MUCH needed update.  It's been so long since I posted, blogger changed things around on me!  I assure you that even though I haven't posted in almost half a year, I have been doing things.  Life has run away with our family mostly and there are some new adventures coming our way very soon.  I am so stinking excited!  I didn't move a WHOLE lot growing up, but definitely more than the Navy has moved our family over the past 8 years.  Actually, the three times we have moved in the past 7 years were all our own doing, hopping from place to place within in the same city.  Where we landed within the city wasn't of consequence until about 3 years ago when they split the ward.  When it comes to split wards not mingling with one another, I am totally clueless.  However, that is what seems to happen consistently on the east coast.  So now our new home is located in the "other" ward.  Although there are many people in our current ward that we will actually live closer to (not to mention we'll be closer to the church) I have no intentions of being thrown out of the loop.  I am expecting to stay on top of what I am currently involved with and continuing to show up.  Sorry if you were hoping to be rid of me, that's not how I work.  You'll have to pray the navy moves us to a different state if that's what you want. 

So, being that it's a new part of the city, the girls will be attending a new school this fall.  My eldest of course is nervous about it and says she doesn't want to be a "Tiger" she wants to stay a "Dragon".   My second born thought about the new school idea for about 5 minutes (if that) and declared "That means I get to make new friends!".  Wow.  Not sure how I taught her that - I'm actually quite sure that I didn't and that it was just genetically ingrained in her little head from birth.  Anyone who has met her definitely knows EXACTLY what I mean.  Sometimes I feel that I just really lucked out with that kid..........sometimes.    Of course our son and youngest daughter haven't a clue what any of that means. 

How we landed a 5 bedroom amid the uncertainty of it all is quite frankly a miracle.  I became aware of a 5 bedroom coming available this summer and about a week or two after that found out there would be maybe two more by year's end.  So, after I found out about the first, I called to volunteer our family to move if no one else wanted the place.  Well, to put it nicely, I was pretty much laughed at and upon ending the conversation - felt as though our dream of having a little more space while being employed by the Navy was just that... a dream.  So I gave up - started looking for something we could maybe afford out in town.  I prayed that our family would find something or get a 5 bedroom when the time was right for us.  Now I had been praying for that most of the time we had been on the wait list (14 months at the time).   Well, our 15 month mark hit and I get a phone call while I'm in the commissary (which is a miracle in and of itself - there is pretty much no reception in the commissary for my phone) telling us there was an availability.  FANTASTIC!  From that day, we had exactly a month until our move date.   Signing up for the wait list to move in day, 16 months on a 18-24 month estimated wait time.  

I still haven't seen inside the home (I won't until the day I move in) but I have stared at the floor plan with ideas swimming through my head of how we are going to set everything up.   I'm thinking it's pretty much going to be amazing.  If the Lord decided now was an OK time for our family to get a home, then I need to have faith in His timing!  That in a nutshell is pretty much why I am excited about this. 

That is the most recent chain of events in my life, but since the beginning of this year - we have had more changes.  In March, my grandmother lost her battle with cancer.  My eldest daughter and I had the great blessing of being able to visit with her in February.  We rode out with my dad and youngest sister and my other sister and her baby girl (10 months old) flew out to be there as well.  It was nice to be able to tell her we loved her and to say goodbye.   I am so grateful I took the opportunity to go.  Thanks to my wonderful husband who watched the other kids while we were gone. 
She is the first grandparent I have had to say goodbye to and it has wrought a great change in my heart.  I often find myself drawing strength from her memory and begging her to help me deal with my crazy kids (she had 7 - 5 of them boys).   It has really helped me reflect on my relationship with our Heavenly Father. 


My husband has been wanting a motorcycle (he cries saving money on gas) and since I have an awesome dad and grandpa who LOVE motorcycles - I obliged him.  He got one - looks really good on him by the way - and it has only taken us a month or so to get him his permit and then insurance on it as well.  It has sat for a little too long.  He needs to take a safety course in order for his military life insurance to cover him in case of an accident.  Now we really need to get that done so he can drive it over to the new house and start using it to get to and from work! 

My baby is growing like crazy too!  She will be 8 months at the end of this week!  I cannot believe how time flies!  She got her first two teeth (bottom) when she was 5 1/2 months old.  She's still working on more and can be quite whiny about it at times.  We still love her though.  Boy does she love to talk!  We hear her vocalizing all the time - she is our biggest talker ever at this stage of life.  She is also our biggest wiggler.  Anytime we hold her, there is a point where she starts trying to wiggle away - she arches backwards, moves side to side and generally makes holding her an exhausting task! 

As far as my weight loss goes, slow and somewhat steady is the game.  I have lost all my pregnancy weight with my most recent baby and am working to pre-pregnancy weight with my eldest (15 more lbs to go). I pretty much obsess over it - until recently.   It's tiring to always jump on the scale each morning to see how you're doing.   It's much more fun and rewarding to just be active and workout regularly, watch what you eat and see results over time.  I am letting my stress go and am aiming for being healthy and strong.  I think the weight will come off easier that way.  =) 

I also finally got a mixer so that I can make bread, etc more often.  Anytime I wanted to make bread, pizza dough, etc before I would have to do the work by hand.  I am so happy to have a mixer and really have such a desire to do so much more than I am currently doing.  I don't want to get too much into it now that I am packing things for a move though.  Maybe I will try another experiment or two before the big day and then give my mixer a short retirement until we get settled in the new place.  I look forward to doing SO many new things there! 

While I'm at compiling a novel, I will just keep on going!  I have also recently discovered Pinterest!  LOVE that place!  I find it's so much easier to navigate than blogs (which is another reason I haven't posted in a while) and there are tons of ideas for pretty much anything you can think of!  Some of the links that are attached are broken, but overall - it is a wealth of ideas for those who strive to be crafty (like me). 

I also have renewed my desire to work on achieving the personal progress young womanhood medallion. I know I am no longer serving in YW, but I have a strong desire to earn one for myself (to make a long story short, they changed the program right before I got out of YW and I didn't want to guess on numbers or hours worked to make sure I qualified....I want to feel like I earned it and do the work involved!) and be a witness to the YW of its importance.  Fewer and fewer young women are working towards achieving this these days (especially on the east coast) - I feel they need to see someone do it to rekindle the fire they may have once had.  The past couple Sundays I have been sitting down to look over experiences to accomplish.  I am really looking forward to the value projects! 

I have also been mulling over the idea of going back to school (online of course).  My ultimate goal is to become a personal trainer, but I know that I will not be able to work in that capacity until my youngest is in school at least.   So, I have time I can dedicate to a Bachelors in Exercise Science.  I think I really want to pursue that to better prepare myself for becoming a personal trainer and to feel more knowledgeable about exercise and the body.  While we're still poor (aka enlisted military) I figured I could get some grants to help cover the expenses of my education.  If things actually work out for me to be able to do all this - wish me luck!  I have taken an absence from formal schooling for almost a decade now and I'm sure it will be a pretty crazy learning curve at first! 

OK.... now that my rambling is finally through - I will finish off this post for today.  That mostly catches us up from the New Year and I can't wait to be able to post more exciting (and entertaining) things as time goes on.  There are quite a few good stories I can share about my children - kids are the best comic relief sometimes.  I'll be uploading pictures soon!