What I Did This Decade

Can someone please tell me exactly where this decade went? Just yesterday I was marveling at how the world didn't come to a screeching halt like the Y2K nuts said it would and now it's ten years later. So, to recap, here is what I did this decade:

• Graduated from high school and went to college
• Met this really hot guy and married him
• Dropped out of college
• Let the hubby join the army and moved to Hawaii (then Texas, then Kentucky)
  
• Gave birth to 3 awesome kids
• Went back to college
• Read some books
• Voted
• a bunch of other random things

So, what did you do this decade? Anything interesting?

I Want My Schedule Back

Christmas break has thrown me so off my schedule. I love spending some quality time with the kiddos and the hubby, but I want my schedule back. I missed Random Tuesday Thoughts yesterday, so I'm gonna throw out some random Wednesday thoughts. I promise I'm gonna be back on schedule soon and we will return to our regular blogging programming :)

**I haven't taken down the Christmas decorations yet...not because I'm that in love with them, but because I'm lazy.

**The hubby is watching the Burn Notice marathon on USA and he's not even in the house right now. But, I guarantee, if I turn the channel, he'll come in wanting to know why I changed the channel because he was watching that.

**I've cooked in my CrockPot everyday this week. My sis gave me a CrockPot recipe box for Christmas so I'm testing some of them out. I'll pass along what works.

**I read Matilda this week, just for fun. It was amusing, different than the movie (of course) but still good.

**We visited the National Corvette Museum yesterday. It's pretty cool. The only downside is that the hubby now wants a Vette...

**I love taking my kiddos to the library. They are quiet and don't argue there.

**My kids are now demanding lunch so I've gotta go...

My Christmas Happiness

I got some really great stuff for Christmas...pretty dishes, books, a freakin' awesome handbag from my parents, a Crock Pot recipe box...it was fantastic. However, the very best gifts I got this year were the smiles from this wild bunch...










And the reason for their smiles...



I hope you all had a very merry Christmas full of love, happiness and memories to last a lifetime!

Catch Your Happiness

The other day I was reading one of my magazines. On the last page, it has a few inspirational quotes. One of them really stuck out to me.

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
~Benjamin Franklin

It seems to me that so many people believe that they are entitled to happiness yet make no effort to make themselves happy. Or they go about it all wrong. With Christmas upon us, I think we should all remember that happiness does not ultimately come in the form of whatever gizmo, gadget or doo-dad that you unwrap tomorrow morning. Next year, we will have forgotten all of these things, or sold them in a yard sale to make room for the coming wave of new and improved gizmos, gadgets and doo-dads. Happiness is the love around us, our crazy families and the memories made during all the madness. So, while you are unwrapping those presents tomorrow, take a minute to look around and catch a litle happiness for yourself. Merry Christmas to all!

Is It January Yet?

I've been asking myself that question since Friday morning. Don't get me wrong. I love my children, but 24/7 with them makes us all a little nutty. The weather has been a little yucky so the kiddos have been stuck in the house. I've been having internet troubles so I'm a bit cranky. The whole thing is just setting us up for some major drama around here. I did take the boys to the library yesterday afternoon. It was a great outing. They know the library rules and are quiet the whole time we are there. The peace was nice while it lasted! Oldest kiddo has already finished his books, so I think I'll take them over again tomorrow to pick out some more books and maybe a movie. Too bad you can't check out some sanity from the library...

Home for the Holidays

Home is where the heart is.

This has been my motto for years now. Since my hubby joined the Army, we have moved several times and will continue to move frequently until he retires. This little saying has helped me in so many ways. Whenever his unit deploys and wives start packing up and moving home, I stay put. My heart is in the house we share, the location where we are stationed, and, ultimately, the life we share. It isn't always easy, but it hasn't killed me yet.

The holidays are always an interesting time around a military base. It's almost like a ghost town. Everyone packs up and heads off to visit family in other places. We have been known to do that. In fact, we haven't been in our own house for Christmas in a few years now. Going back home is always fun, but super stressful too. The hubby's parents are divorced so that means we are pulled in three different directions. It can be really frustrating because no matter how hard we try someone always gets shorted. This year, the hubby wanted to go visit his grandparents in Minnesota. I have a severe aversion to cold weather. I wanted to go to Arkansas. There was no way we were going to agree, so we chose to stay home for the holidays. Both sides of the family have been relentless in their efforts to lure us to them for Christmas (and hubby hasn't entirely given up on trying to convince me to go to MN), but we have stuck to our decision. Our friends around here ask if we are going home for the holidays and we say "No, we're staying here." Then it hit me today...Duh, we are going to be home for the holidays. We will be in our home. I am really excited to watch the kiddos open their presents around our tree on Christmas morning. I am also really excited to know that we won't spend the day rushing here, there and everywhere. This year, my heart is just really into a quiet Christmas at home with my hubby, the kiddos and our crazy dogs.

So, I am editing my motto in celebration of the Christmas season...

Home for the holidays is where the heart is.

Random Goodies

**Random goodies...haha, that sounds dirty...yes, I'm very mature!

**I keep meaning to turn the channel but I haven't yet, so I've spent the whole morning watching ESPN...that's my punishment for being too damned lazy to find the remote.

**I love Phineas and Ferb!

**I have to say that I'm pretty happy that the 49ers won last night. I don't know why, but I've always had this aversion to the AZ Cardinals.

**I need to go grocery shopping, but it is payday and I'm procrastinating because I really don't want to wade through the mess of retirees who show up at the Commissary on paydays. We don't really need to eat...

**My Christmas shopping is finished!! Yes, I mentioned it yesterday too, but it feels so good that I feel the need to share it more than once.

**Of course, I still have to wrap and ship those presents...UPS Store here I come. I'm too lazy to actually pack my own boxes.

Alrighty, well, I've gotta go wrap those presents, stick a sharp pointy thing in my eye and go grocery shopping...enjoy the randomness people!

Another Semester in the Books

I know I've been a bit slow about blogging the last couple of weeks. I have been busy finishing up this semester. Today I took my last final of the semester (and feel about a thousand pounds lighter). I am super excited to have a few weeks off. Next semester my classes are all online, so I will get to hang around the house and do some volunteering for the kiddos' classes. I am really happy that I won't be commuting for two hours every day to school. I am also super excited that it will be my LAST semester. Then I'll officially be a college graduate! I am still wrapping my head around that one. I love learning and being in class, so I'm a bit frightened at the thought of no longer being a student. I am also a little nervous about how all my plans will pan out. Hopefully, next fall, I will be the teacher rather than the student. That's a whole other bundle of nervousness that I won't subject you to for now. For now, I'm going to go enjoy the fact that all my Christmas shopping is done and I can focus on reading whatever I want! I just started Breaking Dawn and am really anxious to get into it and see how the story ends.

The Joys of Cold Weather and My Middle Kiddo

My middle kiddo was born in Hawaii. For this reason, he firmly believes that he is Hawaiian. I have tried numerous times to explain to him that he is not, but he's not buying it. I swear, the kid will end up living in a little beach shack with a great view of the waves he plans to hang ten on. (At least I'll have a place to crash on vacation!) Most of the time, his belief that he is Hawaiian doesn't have a huge impact on our life. However, when cold weather rolls in, this belief becomes the bane of my existence. This is the fight we have on a regular basis...

Me: The bus is coming, get your coat on.

Middle kiddo: Nope, I don't need a coat.

Me: It's cold outside, you need a coat.

Middle kiddo: I'm Hawaiian, I don't wear coats.

Me: You are not actually Hawaiian. Put on the danged coat.

Middle kiddo: Noooooooooo.....

Me: Ok, my dear little Hawaiian, put the coat on...

Middle kiddo: I don't wanna!

Me: I know, but it's cold here on the Mainland and little Hawaiians do wear coats when they are on the Mainland.

Middle kiddo: Fine, but when I grow up and move back to my homeland I'm gonna throw my stupid coat in the ocean.

Me: I'm pretty sure that would be bad for the fish.

Middle kiddo usually mumbles something about stupid coats and fish, puts his coat on and boards the bus with a look on his face. Having this fight with him is really frustrating. But, it does amuse me too. I sometimes worry that our Army lifestyle with all its moving will make our kiddos feel a little homeless. You know, that they won't have a place they can always go back to like I have with Arkansas. Despite the frustration I feel whenever I argue with middle kiddo, it relieves me a little bit to know that he does have a place in his heart that is his "home". Now if I can just figure out how we're gonna pay for him to attend University of Hawaii, I'll have it made.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Yay! It's Tuesday which means I can empty all of the random thoughts out of my brain and call it a blog...

**My children have done nothing but fight this afternoon. Is it bedtime yet?

**I took my Spanish final today. I am officially done taking foreign language for my degree, YAY!

**I always had a sneaking suspicion that Tiger Woods was secretly a douche bag.

**I have completed my Christmas shopping!! Now I just have to get it all wrapped and shipped.

**My MIL is coming to visit this weekend.

**We watched Elf last night. I always forget how amused I am by that movie.

**My oldest kiddo has started reading The Boxcar Children Mysteries. I love that he's reading stuff that I read when I was his age.

**Middle kiddo got Super Mario Bros. for his Nintendo DS. The hubby and I might have spent several recent nights playing it after the kids have gone to bed.

Well, I've gotta go finish making dinner so we can get the kiddos fed and to bed, then spend another romantic evening fighting over whose turn it is to play Mario...

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

Today we remember those who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor. When we lived in Hawaii, we visited the Arizona Memorial a few times each year. Before you get on a boat out to the memorial, there is a brief movie about the history of the attack. Most of the time, the movie is introduced by a park ranger (because the Arizona Memorial is a National Park). However, on a couple of occasions, we were honored and lucky enough to be there when a survivor of the attack was there to introduce the movie. Listening to their stories was amazing. We never visited the memorial on December 7, but there was always a big ceremony and any survivors from the American side and from the Japanese side are there. The memorial is a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives on that terrible day. If you are ever in Hawaii, make sure you visit!

Flag over the Arizona Memorial

The oil drip from the sunken USS Arizona

Books that I've Read Recently

It's been a while since I posted about what I've been reading. I figured I should give ya'll a quick update because I know how interested you are in my reading habits...

**I have made it to the 10th book, Ten Big Ones, in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I say it every time, but seriously these book are hilarious! They are quick reads and full of laughs.

**I read The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Che" Guevara for my history class. It was interesting, but if you aren't into memoirs this one won't be your cup of tea. Honestly, if I hadn't had to read it for a class, I would never have picked it up. There are some really interesting insights into the hows and whys of the revolutionary movements in Latin America during the 20th century, if that's what you are in to.

**I'm gearing up for the end of the semester and finals, but somehow I have still managed to start two other novels. I'm about a hundred pages into Eclipse from the Twilight Saga. So far, it is much better than New Moon (meaning that I haven't wanted to gouge my eyes out yet or screamed at Bella for being so whiny). I'm also thirty pages into The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. I'm really enjoying it. I probably won't finish either of these until finals are over, but I'll be sure to share my opinions of them when I do get through them.

Hope you are all reading something interesting...feel free to share :)

Not the Brightest Light on the Tree

I know, I know...I'm behind on my blogging. This semester is winding down and finals are coming up, so it's been hectic for me. Here's a funny story about my puppy to make up for it though...


This is Abbi...



She's chasing a bug. She does a lot of that. (Really has nothing to do with this particular story, but it's a cute pic...) Abbi is our almost-one-year-old mini pin. Normally she chases bugs, sleeps on the back of our couch, poops in the floor then spends the night snuggled up with middle kiddo under his mound of blankets. We love her (all expect for that pooping in the floor part).

The other night, the hubby and I had just gotten in bed when we heard Abbi whining. After a minute, the whining turned into crying. So hubby got out of bed to make sure middle kiddo wasn't laying on her or something. Hubby checked the bedroom and Abbi wasn't there so he went down the hall and found Abbi standing next to the kitchen trash can with a piece of bread crust between her paws. The little darling had gotten into the trash can and pulled out the crust. She knows that she's not supposed to be near the trash can. In fact, she knows this so well that she started whining and crying while she was digging in it. The little brat told on herself! We had to laugh because if Abbi had just kept quiet we would've never known she was even near the trash can. Needless to say, Abbi spent the night in the kennel and we once again realized that she's not the brightest light on the tree...but she sure is one of the cutest...