Another Move Down

Soon after we moved down to Enid and into our rental, we soon realized that living off base wasn't for us. All of our Air Force friends live on base, and Jordan and I both found ourselves driving to base multiple times a day for work, events & playdates. We contacted the housing office and we found out a house could be ours in the beginning of November. We didn't have to talk long to decide we had to take this chance to live on base. It wouldn't be easy leaving our great neighbors next door, but the base is just across the little town and we would still see each other. So our decision was made and almost as soon as we had everything un-packed, we had to pack it all back up to get ready for our next move. Three moves in four months makes for a lot of boxes and a lot of stress of not feeling like we have a real home!

So finally the time came a couple weeks back to sign on our new house! We signed our papers during the week, and had a few days to set up internet & slowly move a few things over. Over the weekend we go Jordan's classmates to help us move! Thank GOD for them! We had coffee & donuts in the morning & pizza in the evening, and they moved our stuff. We could not have done it without them. We had great help at the old house and even more help at the new house. 

We still have some settling to do in this new house. Going through our office stuff, organizing all our clothes, breaking down boxes in the garage, and hanging our decorations. Doesn't sound like to much, does it?

Our new house! 

It has been so wonderful being on base. We are close to our friends (minus or super neighbors we met at our first rental, but we still see them!), Jordan is super close to work and can sleep longer in the mornings, & we are right in the center of it all. When we found out we would be coming to UPT we really hoped to live on base. Some people would never live on base because of the 'restrictions' but we wanted to submerse ourselves in the Air Force life. We aren't in active duty, so we don't get the opportunities to move to new places and life Air Force all the time. This training is a short 14 months, and then we head back to our "real lives" as I like to call it. So knowing that this is not forever and we get to go back home to our family and the beautiful state of Michigan, we wanted to take full advantage of all the Air Force has to offer. Some in the active duty world may think we're crazy, but I think its a fun adventure.

For our active duty friends, I realize this is not necessarily an adventure for you, and its your real life. The ones who choose to sacrifice and serve through active duty, I tip my hat to you. It can be a difficult lifestyle and I applaud you for your choice. I like to say that we get the best of both worlds, as we straddle the civilian/military life. I feel so grateful for this life we get to live and all the opportunities that have came our way. We are enjoying being in Enid & we are taking advantage of all Vance AFB, Enid & Oklahoma have to offer.

Four Amazing Years

It has been four amazing years since Jordan and I said 'I Do' 

This year brings new changes to our family, as we have moved to Oklahoma for our newest journey with the United States Air Force. I look outside today and I don't see the beautiful fall landscape that is Michigan fall. Today's high will be around 90, and that fall crisp is missing from the air around us. Even though we are in an entirely different part of the country, and Jordan is very busy with pilot training, many things have remained the same. 

Last night we reminisced about our rehearsal dinner and the nerves we felt before our big day. We had no idea that night how amazing our journey would be. Our wedding was a great day, but we had no idea that our amazing day would just be the start of all the beautiful things that have happened in our lives so far. Today I enjoyed time with Evelyn & new friends while Jordan was at work. Jordan has a big test tomorrow, so we weren't able to spend as much time as we would have liked together, but our moments together have counted. We exchanged our gifts & we will watch football together while he decompresses for a few moments before he gets back to studying. 

We have become used to spending time apart based on the nature of Jordan's two career choices, which has presented different challenges that many couples do not have to face. To us, its our reality. When you only get two days a week with your husband, you learn to cherish the moments you get. It sounds cheesy and I promise we aren't all happiness and sunshine every time we are together, but its how we live and it works for us. I've learned that he needs alone time, even when Evelyn and I want to take up all his time. I've learned that he is happy with simple things, like home-cooked meals, playing with Evelyn & simple gestures. I have stopped trying to make every moment perfect when we get time with him and just try and enjoy him being home and present. 

This new journey of living across the country from our family is a new challenge to us and we are trying to adapt everyday. Jordan's schedule will only get more busy, and we will have to adjust our expectations again. For now, we relish in the idea that the sacrifices we make during these years of training will allow us to enjoy many, many anniversaries in big ways. 

I couldn't imagine going through life without Jordan and our craziness - I wouldn't trade it for the world. These years of adventures and adjustments with new jobs & new states just adds to our story that we will someday share with our grandchildren. We will look back and smile at the craziness that we chose. We only live once, and whats life without a little adventure? We've had our fare share of adventures in our first four years of marriage, and I can't wait to see what new adventures come our way. 

I love you more today than yesterday, but far less than tomorrow

Moving on

The first part of our three legged journey from Kalamazoo to Enid and back again is upon us.

Yesterday the movers came and packed up our house, and today they loaded up the truck and take the majority of our things. We have three weeks to spend with our family as we wait for our house to be ready in Enid.

But the biggest change is that last night was our last REAL night in our house. The last night in our first house. The house we updated and put so much work into. The house we learned more about how to be married and co-exist with each other. The house we brought Evelyn home to. So much has happened here in our three short years we've spent loving this house.

Its weird, I'm kind of not very sad right now. Maybe that part comes later? I thought maybe when I saw the moving truck and they are pulling away and we are left with a mostly empty house I'll be sad? My stomach did drop when I came down the road and could see the huge semi in front of our house with all of our things. Its not that I don't love this house, because I do. I'm just getting excited about whats next in the next chapter of our lives. Maybe I'm just suppressing how I really feel, but for now I'm okay with that. I've cried a lot this past week over leaving my job, so its okay if I don't cry any more at this point.

I'm sure I will miss this place once we are gone. I will miss our amazing neighbors. Seriously, we could not have asked for better neighbors. And some really sweet neighbors just moved in. Hopefully the people who bought our house will fit in nicely with the neighborhood crew. We will be blessed in our next house if our neighbors are half as good as they are here.

So many changes are happening so fast that maybe all these goodbye's are blending together and they won't sink in until we are just the three of us in Enid. The excitement of all three of us being together for at least the next year is trumping any of my sad feelings at this point, and I'm okay with that.

I'm okay with this fun, new adventure. Even through all these sad changes and leaving behind our first house, my job, our friends & family, I am ready for this new chapter in our lives.

Real Life Happens

For some reason lately I've been thinking about how lucky I am to have Jordan. He is such an amazing man and I could not imagine myself with anybody else in this world. He deals with all my crazy antics and I could not respect a man more than I respect him.

But thats not all I've been thinking about.  

Have you ever noticed yourself comparing your life to another persons life, relationships, etc? I know I have (and still do). It seems inevitable. Whether talking with friends or looking around on facebook, people put their lives out in the open for us to see. I do the same thing, people can tell if I'm having a good day, or a bad day based on my posts. 

But what does it all matter? Are we all completely honest in our posts & conversations? What would people think if they knew what really happens behind closed doors. The horror. 

Well I'll be honest if just for one moment - Our life isn't perfect. Shocking right? 

We fight. We argue over stupid things. My house is messy. I haven't cooked a proper dinner in 2 weeks. My dirty laundry is sitting in a pile on my bathroom floor. My baby sits on the floor by herself (in the same room) while I selfishly watch TV. We say things we don't mean to eachother (trying to stop that!). 

We have this skewed version of eachothers lives. We don't tend to post things on facebook in the middle of a fight. But what if we all did? Would we feel better about our normal lives? Sometimes I think, "gosh we sometimes fight a lot, maybe there is something wrong with us." But is there something wrong with us? Probably not. Most likely not. 

I (we) have to stop being so hard on ourselves. Jordan often says, "Our grandparents have been married over 50 years, do you think they haven't had a bad day and fought over something stupid? This is nothing new, I love you and you love me, thats all there is to it. We'll move past this" He's right. He's really right. 

It normal to argue and have bad days. But when you go on facebook and you see friends that appear to have this fantasy happiest of fairy tale life it makes you question things. At least it does to me sometimes. They must have a really perfect life and what a romantic man, I think to myself. But is he really that romantic all the time? Probably not, he just has a wife/girlfriend who likes to post about the moments he is and those moments jut happen to show up on my newsfeed. 

I just wish that in this online always plugged in world we could take a moment to be more real. Or at least think and talk about real things. 

It seems like we all play along with the game of showing each other what a great life we have. And we all do have really good lives in most cases. But we tend to showcase the standout moments more than the everyday moments. 

When all we see online are standout moments the everyday, normal moments get overshadowed and downplayed. But those are the moments that matter. The everyday, small moments, good or bad, that make life special. That matters. 

It matters that we're all human and we all have bad days. Our relationships aren't perfect and no, we all may not have had the most romantic, day long, over the top proposal (although mine was really amazing). We all don't cook 5 course meals from scratch every day. We can't always go to the farmers market and eat local, fresh food. We can't always make it to the gym. Our kids don't have matching outfits. 

And we don't always have everything together. 

And that's okay. 

And Now You're Even Older

.Birthdays. 

I am really not old enough to dread birthdays, and I think they are great days to be reminded that you are truly loved by your family and friends. Hundreds of Facebook posts, text messages, and phone calls remind you of that. 

But my birthday this year really feels different. I knew my birthday was coming because it was October and the day would eventually be here, but I kept forgetting. Things have changed this year. I am not closer to 30 than to 20. I'm 26. Mid twenties, but almost late 20's. Life is real now. I was a freshman in college 8 years ago. Those years are going to continue to get farther and farther away. I'm really an adult now. Not that I wasn't before, but it sounds for formal now. But isn't age just a number, but that's a whole different discussion.....

The real reason that my birthday doesn't matter anymore is because of my daughter. Now, I don't want her to ever think she made mommy forget her birthday and feel bad about it. My birthday doesn't matter anymore because everyday with her is far more important than celebrating MY birthday. "Me" just doesn't matter like that anymore. My desires pale in comparison to her desires. All I want for my birthday is to spend it with her AND Jordan. Sure, I might buy myself some shoes, or some clothes, but I don't see the need to fuss over my birthday anymore. 

What will this mean for future birthdays? I want to make sure that I take a little bit of time for my on my "special" day, but its hard to find that balance for me right now. Maybe its because Evelyn is so young still and it will get easier as we fall more into this new family life that we have, or maybe it will always feel like this. 

I think its important to look back at my previous year and celebrate the accomplishments while reflecting on faults. I also want to look ahead at the next year and dream about amazing things I could conquer. Instead of celebrating my birthday with gifts and parties, I want to celebrate life's little blessings and know that I am loved.  

Looming Deadlines

Sometimes I forget how different Jordan and I's life really is. We are just so used to our situation that I just assume everybody else lives the way we do. Being home for up to 5 days a week is just so normal to me, and honestly, sometimes its nice to have a day at home alone! But I have a feeling that those home alone days are going to be a lot more busy and probably more stressful once our new little person arrives in a about a month! In the midst of us being so used to our daily routines being apart, the stressfulness that comes with our lifestyle is sometimes overshadowed, and other days it rears its ugly head. Thats how it has been this week.

Jordan is in a very stressful situation with work. The FAA has a new law going into effect August 1st that says every pilot operating in the airlines has to have their ATP license, which basically means they need 1,500 flying hours and have passed a test and a check-ride. Doesn't sound so challenging does it? Well, for us its a bit more complicated. Jordan started in the airlines with low hours, which is totally legal, and he was very qualified to be trained in the plane he is currently flying. His training was 2 months long, so I would think at the end of that, he is qualified. About 6 months in, he had to head off and do military training for a new position he took in the Air National Guard. What was suppose to be an awesome job turned out to be on the chopping blocks for the Air Force and his 9 months of training didn't benefit him at all. Actually, it hurt him, a lot. It means that he missed out on 9 months of hours flying in the airlines. Now that is biting us right in our bootys.

The unions in the airlines protect their pilots by restricting their hours to no more than 100 a month. It is a very necessary rule, and I don't want my husband flying more than that a month, but when you have low hours and a looming deadline to get x amount of hours, you feel very helpless. Long story short, we still need about 300 hours before August 1st. We know that is not going to happen. So we pray, and pray hard that the FAA decides that for pilots who have been flying with airline companies and have over 1,000 hours can be allowed an extension to get their hours. At this point though, they are saying nothing. We are in total limbo.

At this point, as of August 1st, Jordan's company so graciously, won't fire him, but will place him on un-paid leave. Now isn't that nice of them? Do they forget how expensive it is to get flying hours without being paid to fly? I'm sure they still think they are doing us a big favor. I guess it could be worse though. August 1st Jordan is automatically de-qualified to fly the plane he has flown for more than 1,000 hours. The vast majority of his flying experience is in the airlines flying a jet with passengers on it. August 1st comes along, he is now not good enough because he is a couple hundred hours short of 1,500. This means that some other muck who has been flying around single engine prop planes around an airport and has no airline experience, no experience with passengers, no experience with multiple jet engines is more qualified to fly the plan Jordan knows like the back of his hand. Tell me how much that makes sense!

There are so many other factors playing into this situation right now that most days I just don't think about it negatively. In my head I just figure that the FAA will of course grant extensions to certain pilots who are so close to meeting the 1,500 hour rule. How could they not? It would be stupid for them to not do that. But the FAA is the government, and we all know that the government doesn't always do things that make sense. So now we just pray that things work out in our favor because Jordan has sacrificed so much for our family and has put so much hard work into this career that he truly loves. Oh yeah, and did I mention that we have a baby coming just before this deadline making things even that much more stressful? I'm just going to stay blissfully unaware of all the negative things that could (and probably will) happen, and pray for the small chance that things will work in our favor. Because, you can't dwell on the negative things, it will drive you crazy. Worrying is like a rocking chair, it'll keep you busy, but it won't get you anywhere.

Showered with Love

Today was our first baby shower. Let me just say, that no amount of "thank you" "you're the best" or any other words can begin to sum up how I feel.

The GREAT Grandma's-to-be! 

It is absolutely un-comphrendable how much love was felt today. There are far too many people to list to say thank you, but just know that every person who played apart in today is forever sealed in my memory and I will be forever grateful for all you did for us. My mom, my "cousin-in-law" Carrie and my sisters, Katie & Michelle, went above and beyond my wildest dreams for an amazing baby shower! The setting was absolutely perfect for a shower at the Lawton Community Center, a quaint little museum/reception hall/banquet facility was so stunning. The food was amazing and the cake was to die for! The games were fun and everybody really enjoyed themselves from start to finish.

My beautiful bridal party almost 3 years later! 

So many people came from all parts of my life, with really means the most to me. All of my bridesmaids (& flower girl) were able to come, which brought back so many happy memories. Friends from work, family friends, lifelong besties, family, and grandmas all made the journey to come celebrate our new beginning as parents. Some others weren't able to make it for a variety of reasons and even though they weren't physically present, I know they were with us in thoughts and would have loved to join us had they been able to.

The Grandmas-to-be! 

The amount of gifts and love blew me away today. Seriously. And then I got home and it blew me away even more to see it all in our house. Jordan couldn't believe it when I opened up the back end of our car and he saw all the lovely things. But at the end of the day, and for many years down the road, we won't necessarily remember the gifts, but we will remember how much love we felt and how this day made us feel. In the end its not about the gifts, the party location, or the food, but its about family and friends coming together to celebrate a new little life! We are forever grateful for everything that everybody did for us today. I am still in shock that we are this fortunate to have so many people surrounding us with love at this time in our lives. So many things are going to change for us, but we know that our family and friends will always be there to love us and support us anyway they can. With this many happy feelings filling me up today, its crazy to think that we still have 2 more showers with more family and friends! My heart just might explode with gratefulness in the next month!

The best days

It seems that life has a funny way of making you grateful for everything you have. 

There hasn't been one incident in particular that has really impacted me lately, there is just this little life inside of me, being a constant reminder of how precious and fragile life is. Like I talked about in an earlier post, I am very fortunate to have had the pregnancy I've had. I won't even begin to start down the list of why I'm grateful , but I just know that there are far too many things that can go wrong, and even though I am not out of the woods, I know that I am truly grateful for every healthy day that I do get. 

I've been thinking about all the destruction, death and hate that are going on in our world right now. I wonder if is much different than in the past. I mean I know that sounds a little silly because there are more ways it seems to easily kill massive amounts of people with one explosion. But how does living in such a technology centered world affect our perception of crime? We all know that big news stories about murders, wars and other bad things all get more air time. With every part of our lives being so accessible with a click of a button, I just wonder if we are just more aware of the evil that people can possess. I don't know, just a thought. 

And then I think about how blessed I am to have all the family and love I could have ever imagined. Seeing all these devastating stories on the news doesn't make me lose hope for mankind, it makes me think of the good that may come out of these situations. How people come together to help their neighbors and are more generous to each other. How people are influenced by a loved ones unexpected death and are moved to start a charity, or pledge to live their lives to the fullest because their loved one can't. People may be lead back to their religion, or volunteer more. I just think that sometimes you can't appreciate all the good in your life without realizing that there are awful things that can happen. 

Now I'm not saying that all these tragedies are good by any means. All I'm saying is that we need to all take a step back and see what good we can do without a tragedy. Why do we need something bad to happen in our lives, country or world for us to do good? Everyday I try to make the best of each day. I always try to go out and be happy and put a smile on somebody's face. I might make a fool of myself and be a little silly with things, but I don't see a reason to sit and feel sorry for myself for having a bad day. Sure, I have bad moments or times when I am stressed out and not acting as kind to my loved ones as I should, but I really try to stay positive and focus on the good in the world. I hope that other people can notice that in me and I'm not just blowing smoke up my own butt to make myself feel better about my outlook on life. 

Maybe I am infinitely happy that I am going to be a mommy and my husband is going to be the best daddy in the whole world to our little babe. Maybe I'm not quite right in the head (I know I'm probably not, but who is?). Maybe I just want to share a smile and make a difference in somebody's day. Maybe I am filled with so much peace because I know my Lord and Savior died for me and everyone else so that we can have a second chance. Whatever it is that is making me so happy, I'm just going to soak it up and enjoy it. There may be a day coming when I'm sleep deprived and my little babe won't stop screaming that I may find it hard to see the joy. But I pray that no matter my circumstance, I always will find happiness, love and joy in each and every day, because I know there are far too many people who wish they had one more day. 

Baby Prep

Jordan and his guns!

Jordan has been working so hard on getting our nursery baby ready! It was a pretty boring room, and from the beginning before I knew what kind of theme, paint color, etc I wanted for the room, I knew I wanted a chair rail and maybe some wainscoting. So my wonderful husband had to get started on building it! I am against buying things straight off the rack apparently, so we had to "create" our own chair rail. So many things in the store are too traditional, or too ornate, or too frumpy for a nursery. We like simple, clean lines, so thats what I was going for. Easier said than done. But this is what we came up with! We still need to paint the new chair rail all white, and what is below it white also, but its coming together! The color on the top half of the walls I am still not sure about, so I've got to test out some paint colors once it gets a little nicer and we can have the windows open to air out the house when we are painting!

Our animals "helping" out

One of the best days so far in this baby prep is when we got our furniture delivery! Our animals were all about "helping" out when we got the furniture and couldn't stand to be out of the room as we were figuring out where to put it! I'm sure we are going to change it all about 90 times before the baby comes, but for now, we are just going to keep it where it is and see how we like it! Jordan had a fun time putting together the crib! It is so much better in person, in our house than it was in the store! I absolutely love the clean lines and simplicity of it! It will be perfect for a little boy or a little girl and that makes me so incredibly happy!

Our beautiful crib! 

There are so many more things to think about when it comes to getting a nursery set up and ready for a baby. I'm probably over-thinking it all, because after all, its just a baby's room, right? With all these perfect pinterest nurseries and blogs about how to make the best, most chic baby room around, its hard to keep up - especially when you don't know if you're having a boy or a girl! Its even more frustrating that all the stores sell stupid, tacky, themed bedding sets. I mean, people actually buy this crap! There are some seriously hideous themes, and the sad thing is, there are people that think they are cute! I don't want a specific theme and that makes it 100x more difficult to find things I like. I'm finding myself piecing together parts of different sets to make a simple and clean baby room! I have to keep telling myself that all this stuff won't really matter, but I still want it to be perfect and put together and wonderful for our sweet baby!

Its time for me to just take a deep breath, relax, and go with what is simple and easy to put together and make our baby's room perfect. It may not be "pinterest perfect" but who really cares? I don't have to prove anything to anybody, and my baby won't ever know a difference!

Yummy's on a cold night

Tonight Jordan returned from being gone for 5 days on a trip to California for the military. I was feeling bad that he had to  leave the 90 degree days to head back to frost covered Michigan (no not really, haha!). I was actually feeling very cold all day and decided to warm up with some chili, cornbread and pumpkin cookies! My chili is a little unconventional and is the chili my Nana and Mom made me many times while I was growing up. It is one of my favorite things to make and it always lasts for days after I make it. Jordan also happens to love it, so I never need to convince him that it sounds good for dinner. I wanted to give him a little warmth as he came back from gorgeous perfect weather, to our chilly November days.


Yum. So here is a picture of my wonderful Chili. Little unconventional, but so, so tasty. This is how I make it:

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can hot & spicy beans ( I sometimes add more beans)
1 jar tomato juice
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, venison, etc)
Noodles (I use spaghetti cut in half this time, but any type
                will do)
Jalapenos (as many as you want!)
Onion
Garlic (because everything is better with garlic!)
Chili powder
1/4 cup sugar
salt & pepper

I take the meat and onion and start getting that cooked up to add in. I get a small pot of water boiling for the pasta that I will add. While that is cooking, I add the tomato juice, beans, tomatoes, and jalapenos into a big pot. I add in the salt & pepper, chili powder, garlic, and the sugar. I add those to taste, depending how how I am feeling. I add in the meat & onion when they are cooked, and the pasta when that is ready. I let it all simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes. It is important to let all the flavors marry and get happy with eachother. I usually cook up some cornbread or just add some crackers while I'm eating it. As you can see, it does resemble goulash, but it has the flavor of chili. It is a big more soupy than other chili's, but it is so yummy!


These yummy cookies are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!
3 ingredients!

1 box spice cake
1 large can of pumpkin
1 package of chocolate chips

Mix them all together and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. They are so, so yummy! They are super moist and delicious!




All this yummy-ness in one night means that Jordan is one lucky man. No I'm kidding, he is lucky for lots of reasons, but I do enjoy and get a lot out of when I can cook for him! He is on the road al the time and eats out everyday he is gone, so it is nice for him to have a home-cooked meal. This is one of my favorite meals, and I can't wait to share it with my daughters some day!

2 happy years

My wonderful husband and I are just celebrated our 2 year anniversary. I can’t believe how fast its gone. It sounds so long ago, but the time has gone so fast. Looking back on the last 2 years, I can’t imagine a better way to have spent them. Jordan is my rock and the love of my life and I am so, so lucky to have him. So much has changed since the day we said “I do.”

When we first got married, Jordan was finishing up his flight instructing certificates and was focusing on getting a job as a flight instructor to get hours to eventually apply for the airlines. We lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment on the east side of town. Everyday was a learning process. Some days we needed our alone time, some days we spent all day together and enjoyed eachothers company. There were times when we hurt eachother and there were lots of moments of joy.

And then Jordan got a tip that an airline would be hiring low-time pilots and that was his chance! He was able to get into the airlines when we weren’t expecting it. It was so awesome. Except the part that to train on the aircraft he has to be gone for about 2 months. Straight. Without breaks to come home. I thought this was totally crazy, I mean how do the airlines get away with that? Well, they do and that’s just the way it is unfortunately. I only got to see him once for those 2 months and man that was crazy. We weren’t even married for 6 months and he was gone for 2 of those months. Little did we know that was just the beginning of his adventures away from home.

Its such a learning process, this thing called marriage, and I’m  not sure we will ever perfect it, or even come close for that matter. There is such a balance that marriage requires and it constantly changes. At different times, we both need different things, and unless you are a mind reader, it is almost impossible to always get it right. We’ve learned to forgive, and to love uncondiontionally and to always look behind us and be grateful for how far we’ve come and to look ahead and see how far we will go together. We have learned the true meaning of unconditional. It doesn’t mean you can pick and choose, it doesn’t mean that you can give up. It doesn’t mean that you can give less because you are tired, or annoyed, or having a bad day. Through every moment of everyday, love and forgivness have to be unconditional. 

A Bonus Night

I am so excited. For the first time ever, Jordan is having an overnight in Kalamazoo!!!!!! This basically means he gets a bonus night at home this week. He gets to overnight all over the country and it never is here. But tonight it is! He doesn't get into Kalamazoo until about 9pm or so, and has to leave early in the morning, but hey, an extra night with my love always makes me happy!

To top it all off, I was suppose to work today, but got called off because of over-time this week. So now I get to enjoy this beautiful Saturday off and get ready to see Jordan tonight! This might just be the best Saturday ever!

Hard to see, but Jordan flew this plane! Thats him on the left side of the cockpit!

Some pilots probably spend a lot of nights at home, especially if they live in the town that is their base, or hub. We are lucky that Jordan's base is Detroit and he isn't too far from home. He can drive in each time he has a trip. Even more pilots have to commute by plane to their hub. That brings a lot of challenges in itself. Even though we get to fly free and Jordan and other pilots can "jump-seat" or fly in the extra seats where the flight attendants sit during take-off, it can be difficult to find empty seats. The main hubs that Delta has Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, JFK are all busy places for commuters. There may be 60 seats on the plane open and there might be 80 "non-revers" trying to commute to their job. This leads to crash pads and lots of extra nights away from home for those pilots.

We are so lucky that we are within reasonable driving distance to Jordan's hub. There are some nights when he has an early flight out and he will head over the night before and stay the night in a hotel that gives discounts to flight crew. So it isn't that bad really, right? I mean it seems silly that I am excited about one extra night with my husband, but when you get so few each week, its the simple, everyday things that matter.

Yearly Traditions

Since we moved into our house just over a year ago, I have been thinking about traditions to have for our family as we continue to grow. Sometimes I feel like some people have too many traditions and all they do is all their traditional activities and never do anything new. I don't want to get stuck into always doing the same things just because its tradition. And sure, some traditions are good to continue. I think we may have continued a great tradition earlier this week.

When we first moved into our house, my friend took a picture of us as we were moving in. We were in our front door and it was really cool. Last fall we planted  a tree in our front yard and thought it would be cool to photograph the tree growing each year to see how much its grown. Last winter I took a picture of the front of our house to document the tree being in our front yard. This week we decided to take a family picture out by our tree.

So here it is. Our dysfunctional family photo by our tree! Chloe (our dog) is licking her lips (an annoying habit she always does) and our two kitties are in the doorway looking left out. We sort of planned it that way. Anytime we go out front, the cats come to the door and look jealous that we are all outside and they are stuck inside. But I think its great. Its our perfect family! 

But thinking about this as a tradition. How many traditions are worth it? When do you know when you over-do the tradition of traditions? I feel like every family has to have some and there is deep meaning in doing something that reminds you of family or certain happy moments. Can you try too hard to make those memorable moments? I feel like you can, but how do you know you are? I guess there can't really be clear cut guidelines, but hopefully you just know. I think a good judge of over-doing the traditions is when every family trip, dinner, or holiday is stuck with only one way to do it because of the tradition. The best memories tend to come when nothing is planned and when true memorable moments can naturally happen. Just let things happen. I guess thats a good way to  live! Maybe that should be my new mantra... 

Crazy Animals

I'm sitting here on a cloudy, gloomy afternoon and I can't help but notice how silly my animals are. And awesome at the same time. We have 3 animals, 2 cats and a dog and they are all special. Maybe like a little sped at times. But what would our house be like if we didn't have them? It would definitely be cleaner, and a whole lot quieter!

We'll start with Cuervo. He's the only boy and my "first born." Sounds crazy right? I got him while I was in college (hence the name), and he's been my little shadow ever since. Little is funny because he's not little. Almost everybody who comes to our house stops in their tracks and says, "Wow, what a big cat!"

 This is Cuervo when he was a kitten. What a cute little fella!

Annnddd.....this is Cuervo now! What a difference huh? He is way more active then you would think and he doesn't eat that much either! Our other cat, Callie, actually eats more than he does!


Speaking of Callie. I got her when I lived in Ann Arbor as a companion for Cuervo. She is a little talker and such a cuddly little fluffy ball of fire. She is a a little obsessed with chasing any thing that moves and she will randomly just run around the house like a crazy lady.

And then this last March we got our first dog. She is a "4" year old German Shepard, Chloe. 4 is in quotations because she acts like she is about 6 months old sometimes. She has the guard dog mentality when the time comes to protect us and she gives me a little more of that security feeling when Jordan is out of town. Buuuut, she is a little stupid. She chases light. And I mean if light reflects off anything she stands there drooling wanting to chase it. She will pounce on it if its moving outside. She is obsessed with playing ball and going in the car. Sometimes if she gets in the car and we're not wanting to go anywhere, we have to go around the block so she will get out. But what can I say, we love her anyway.


And there we have it, our house full of animals. What would life be like if there weren't here to entertain us? Chloe actually is really smart (regardless if she chases light) and is a really great  dog. Our kitties love being around people and don't shy away like some cats do. We don't know what we would do without them! Our animals are definitely full of personality and keep our lives interesting.

A Quiet Morning

After spending a week at Wesley Woods, I found myself at the waterfront before the sunrise this morning. I went to bed well after midnight, but for some reason, I was wide awake enough to watch my favorite part of the day. I do know why I was awake though. It was God’s way of reminding me to slow down and pay attention to my surroundings and what life has to offer.

I’ve spent a week here at camp with middle school children from around the state of Michigan at a United Methodist Church Camp. It has been one super week. So many children who may not get enough love at home having the time of their life. Some kids have great homes and they are able to share God’s love to others and not let their positive home situations cause them to act as though they are better than anybody else here. Sure, there is the usual girl on girl drama and middle school mean-ness. And sure, some boys might play a little rougher than others and have those middle school crushes as the hormones are raging. But the point here is that everybody is loved equally and everybody has a chance to find God in their own way. 

I was one of the nurses at camp this week and thankfully our biggest problem relating to campers was a girl getting her first period. Long story short, she was swimming with a pad, and thought tampons caused cancer! I know it was terrifying for her to be "starting" at camp, but looking at the situation it is slightly comical and reminded us of all of our first periods. We played in our AWESOME mud-pit, making "mud angels," playing tag, balancing on workout balls, and 4 corners tug of war.  We had breakthroughs and breakdowns with campers as the lack of sleep and busy days went on, but all in all we had a great week witnessing to these 90 children. 

Our theme this week was, rightfully so, about the Olympics, as the 2012 London Olympics are currently in progress. Good enough to be an Olympian. Am I really good enough? Being good enough for God. All potent themes we’ve had this week. One night at firebowl, hearing about so many successful people failing before they found success, brought us all to tears. To feel as though I am not worthless even though I didn’t succeed at that last task. To know that I am still loved and still able to do anything I set my mind to because I am good enough. What an amazing thing to be reminded of. There are so many things that can drag us down in this world and it is hopeful to remember that fact. 

It's hard to imagine a life where people cherish every moment and never take anything for granted. Being at camp for this past week reminds me to slow down and take it easy. I seem to always have things planned and organized and completely thought through before I do anything. Is it so hard to just let things be and go with the flow? I am thankful for this peaceful morning and the time to be able to reflect on my life as a wife and a nurse and how I can better live each moment. Why do we all forget how precious life is until a terrible accident or a terminal diagnosis? Why can't we remember that fact BEFORE we are faced with a loved one's death?  How different would our world be if we all slowed down and enjoyed the simple things in life?