No place like home!

When life hands you lemons... squeeze them into some sweet iced tea and thank God you were born a southern girl!

While most people claim home is where the heart is, well for us, home is where the military sends us. We take home with us all over the world! When its time for my husband to move somewhere, up goes our kids, dogs, furniture, and our "home".

So this brings me to the point that over the years, I've been able to really embrace it, and just love wherever we are. Although lately, with Justin being gone and having taken half my heart & "home" with him, I miss the SOUTH!!!

There is something about being from the south that makes you feel like you just want to make some sweet tea in the sun, go muddin on a four wheeler, go tubing on the river, and find a rope swing while your at it and dive right in with the gators and snakes, then end the day sitting on the front porch drinking your tea and watching the sun set. Woo I miss home!!! Sometimes country music makes me cry with pride ;)

So anywho, being nostalgic and bored, I went online and started searching for "southern quotes" and found some that really cracked me up or warmed my heart! Enjoy :)

*No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn
signal is actually going to make a turn. (Ok I have been made fun of for this, I never trust anyone's turn signal, had no idea it was a southern thing LOL!!!)

*A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an
adverb. (Yup got made fun of for this too)

*Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines. We don't do
"queues," we do "lines," and when we're "in line," we talk to everybody! (Hence the handfuls of people I've met at airports, stores, and through fb kept in touch, lol!)

*And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long
time, y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I ain't
from the South but I got here as fast as I could."

*Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the
white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the
middle of the table.

*The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types--fainting on our sofas...nobody where I grew up every acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks. (Yeah I have to agree, never met tougher or more beautiful ladies)

*A southern girl is a girl who knows full and well that she can open a door for herself but prefers for the gentleman to do it because it demonstrates a sense of respect. After all, every girl wants to be treated like a princess. We know how to make sweet tea and grits while telling you everything about any football team in the SEC. We pick our battles and fight with the heart of a pit bull while still maintaining grace and elegance. Our mystique is that of a soft-spoken, mild-mannered southern bell who could direct an army, loves her momma and will always be daddy's little girl.

Ahh well this whole blog is quite biased, so if you are from somewhere up north and your pride is just as strong, I'm not knocking it, just so so proud of where I am from!!!! I've met incredibly amazing people from ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!! <3<3<3

Counting my blessings not my troubles!

SO! I think I have officially gone off the deep end. I signed up for a half marathon last week without any prior training. Its on Sept. 10. I love signing myself up for a challenge though & I have found a good one! I love lifting, sprints, and basically I have figured out any fast-twitch activity... Figured out which I have! So this is going to be a challenge for sure as endurance and running are not my strong point.. Im rambling but thanks for listening.. ha! So I did find (through a friend, thanks Erin!) a guy named Hal Higdon who posts schedules and planning for runners before an event, pretty happy it seems very do-able! Just google his name and I found a novice 1/2 marathon schedule...

On another note, Kasey and I decided at the very last minute to go to a medieval festival (FEZZZTIVAL!!) yesterday. Now our kids have known each other since they were all born, and they fight as if they were siblings sometimes. Especially David & Jayden. What is it about males? They are so instinctively territorial and possessive! Anyone else have this issue with boys? Like fighting over where they will sit, who will be first, they get into it and there have been times **ahem** where we got sick of breaking it up & let em go at it. Rolling, wrestling, screaming, ticked off matches in the grass. Anywho, our last minute trip ended up being a cool place, but further than we realized and the boys fought all day, we were ready to leave them on the deserted road on the way home with the deer & fox(es????) But it was another day marked off our calendar of "How much longer til daddy's back NOW mommy?!"

Yesterday was Justin & I's SIX year anniversary. How does that happen? One day I decided he's the one, next day I was married, and now I've lived in three different countries & given birth to two babies. I love my life but sometimes I wish it would SLOOOOOW DOWN! God has only given us this tiny little bit of time to experience anything and everything, its really amazing when I think about all the things He has given me and allowed me to see & do! I am so incredibly thankful, and don't say it often enough. "Count your blessings not your troubles" is so incredibly appropriate a phrase for a single mommy for just about the last year...

Our military family is so amazing, we have so many amazing friends! I am so incredibly THANKFUL for them <3<3<3

What a weekend!

So this weekend, I did my 3 days of 8am-6pm training and reviewing for my personal training test that I took at the end today. It was AWESOME!!! I think I finally found my passion. All the information just seems to absorb right into my brain & stick. I love it so much! I thought this my placate my (much more extensive & expensive) love for nutrition, but it really just made me more excited to pursue my degree in nutrition.

The test was today and I wont know anything for sure for 6 weeks, but I was pretty confident in the knowledge I had :) I can't wait to start helping people change their lives!!!

On another note, my kids were at home with Kiersten (amazing girl!!) all weekend and I feel like I missed out on so much! I hate being away from them, but then again I guess its nice to miss them ;)

I am absolutely pooped from being gone all weekend, and now I'm going to veg out for a bit. No studying, no worrying, just me, a cup of coffee, and a comfy chair!

How was YOUR weekend?

<3<3<3

Busy busy little girl :)

WELL! I have been meaning to blog for a very long time, and the busiest time in my life is the perfect time right??

Justin is deployed, kids are in school twice a week, i'm currently kicking my own butt in the gym as often as I can get there, self-teaching myself my personal training book, not to mention Aug 1 we are moving.

Last weekend, I got my CPR, AED, and First aid certification. It was from 8-230 on Saturday. It was incredibly interesting, and I really absorbed the information and now can save a life if needed. So feel a little bit safer if you are around me and danger arises. ;)

I have met the most wonderful people through the military life. I was in the commissary one day a few months back, and a teenage girl saw my kids giving me a hard time getting my groceries checked out, so she had KK go with her to put the buggy back and high fived her and told her to be good for her mommy. So obviously my first response was, "Hi do you babysit?!" Of course thats what im leading up to, she is wonderful, her name is Kiersten, and she doesn't let my little rugrats run all over her. She kept the kids Saturday for me & she's got the patience of a saint!!!

I have appointments, briefings, and kids stuff going on everyday this week, my iPhone calendar looks like it might give up on me pretty soon. Then Thurs night Kiersten will get dropped off to stay until Sunday evening. Starting Fri morning at 8 am, all the studying I have been doing for the last month and half will be put to the test for three days of 8-5 training. Hopefully it will all be worth it and come Monday morning, I will be on the market for clients & my first real job since high school!

I miss my husband like crazy, Justin is really & truly my heart. I hate him being in harm's way, but all we can do in this crazy world is PRAY and TRUST that God's got this. He always has and always will!! So if you are reading this, stop for a minute and say a prayer for the wonderful man that is my heart & soul, baby daddy, and defending the freedom you more than likely take for granted daily, just as I do.

Well I guess thats it for now, new to blogging & figuring it all out. More to come soon, when I can remember ;)