The waiting game...

After many hours of prayer and serious consideration, I've decided to go back to school part-time. It will be online classes, seeing how I don't have the opportunity to take the kids to class with me ;o)
I'm going to start out slow, only take one class this summer, and MAYBE 2 this fall... but probably just 1 so I can ease myself back into it.
I got my transcript from Rose (EEEK!!! In my defense, I was fresh out of high school and had 0 desire to be there.) Sorry Mom & Dad! At least I got my English Comp I credit out of the way.... right? ;o)

So I went to visit Missouri Western State University a couple of days ago. I'm so excited to get started... I submitted my application for admission online this morning, and faxed in another transcript request to Rose, because it has to be the official, sealed transcript for them to accept it. I should know in about 2 weeks whether I'll be accepted or not. The advisor told me the other day I shouldn't have any problem since I'm re-entering as an adult, and it's been 10 years since I've graduated. I guess the older you get, the easier it is to get into school. Something about age bringing on wisdom...

So now I sit and wait. I hope I get into MWSU. It's right by our house and would be so convenient if I did need to go on campus for anything. If I do not get accepted, I'll probably just go through Rose again and pay the out-of-state tuition... it's not too far off what I'm paying for the big university!

Any prayers would be greatly appreciated! I'm so excited for this next chapter of my life... but it also brings on a bit of anxiety as well.

Because I'm the mom, that's why!!

This morning I was doing my usual routine of getting the kids ready, getting myself ready, trying to get out the door on time to get Janie to school. As I was shoo-ing the kids out of the bathroom (for the 3rd time during my shower) something came to mind: "BECAUSE I'M THE MOM".

This saying has always haunted me. I hated when my mom's answer for EVERYTHING was "Because I'm the mom! That's why!" Yet, I find myself saying it to my kids all the time.
"Why do I have to pick up Jordyn's mess?!" "Because I said so, and I"M THE MOM!"
"Why do you get to stay up past bedtime?" "Because I'M THE MOM!"
"Why do you always get to do whatever you want?" "Because I'M THE MOM!"

I think you get the point... pretty much, my kids ask me a question that has no real answer, so my answer is "Because I'M THE MOM". It's like a right of passage... that was my mom's answer for everything, and now, Because I'M THE MOM, I get to say it too!!

So as I'm combing my hair, and Jaclynn comes in, yet again, because she spilled her milk, I wonder.... Why can't I get ready without being interrupted 5 times in 7 minutes? Why can't I use the restroom in private? Why can't I take a full shower without having to get out before I've thoroughly rinsed my hair? Why can't I pick my clothes out without the humiliation of my kids walking in before I'm dressed? Guess why?! BECAUSE I'M THE MOM!!!

Now that saying has come back to haunt me once again... I have no privacy, everyone's needs are to be met before mine.... BECAUSE I'M THE MOM!

I love being the mom, but I can't wait until I can tell my kids, "BECAUSE YOU'RE THE MOM!"

A short update!

Yet again, I look at my blog and realize it's been way too long since I last posted. We've been busy.... being a family and having fun!
A short update on what our family is up to... Janie is now in cheerleading, and I'm coaching her. We've had a lot of fun with it, although she's taken advantage of the fact that mommy is the coach. We're working on fixing that! She will also be starting spring soccer this week. She's so excited!
Jaclynn is taking a ballet/tap/pom class, and she absolutely loves it! We've tried gymnastics and dance class before, but she just never was really into it. I don't know if it's because she's older now or what, but she absolutely loves it! She'll be having her recital in June... she's doing Yankee Doodle Dandee! The costumes are SOO cute! I can't wait to get hers!
Jordyn.... that little child is a spit fire! She keeps me busy. Right now, we're in the process of potty training. She does really good most of the time. She goes almost everytime I put her on the potty, she just hasn't gotten into the whole telling me when it's time thing.  But she's really doing great with it!
Jason also has some exciting news.... he's now OFFICIALLY the site manager of the wind farm out here! We're excited about that because it opens up many more doors for us in the future! :)

So much to look forward to!

These past few weeks have had me thinking, alot. Maybe that's why i've had all these headaches..... ;o)
Anyways, when we first moved up here to MO, I had myself convinced that I was going to be a hermit. I didn't want to make friends or connections at the church/school, because I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to make friendships with people and then have to leave. I hate good-byes! So I tried my best to stay un-involoved and disconnected from EVERYONE. Well, my dear neighbor and great friend, Leslie, just wouldn't let that happen! I am so very thankful for her now. I have found such a dear friend in her, a true friend. She's the kind that I know I will keep in contact with for the rest of my life, no matter where life takes us. (Even though she's a TX fan!! haha!)
When we got here, Janie was mid-year in Kindergarten. I was so very nervous for her to switch schools in the middle of the school year. Would she be able to make new friends, would she be able to catch up to the other students, developmentally? Would she like her new teacher? I was completely amazed when we got to the school. All the kids were so sweet, and took Janie right in like she had been there from day one! And the teacher, oh my goodness, I thank God everyday that she had such a great teacher. She got Janie caught up to the other kids in her class in 3 WEEKS! She was reading within 3 weeks of being here, when we got here she was just doing a few sight words... and now she can read! I was amazed.... Mrs. Fortmeyer, if you have met her, you agree whole heartedly that she is truly a gift from God to any child that comes into her life! She is the most genuine, kind hearted, helpful and willing teacher/person I've ever met. I am so very excited that Jaclynn will have the opportunity to be in her class next year, even if that means we're going to be here in MO for another year. It's almost worth it, just to have Mrs. Fortmeyer again!
I've also made friends with a beautiful soul named Sheila. She is just like me, in so many ways! We get along so well, and our kids do too!! We each have 3, granted, 2 of hers are boys, but all of them are so close in age together. I love getting our family together with her family, we always have so much fun! She is a very kind person, always willing to help and can't so no to anyone ;o)
All in all, I've decided that I need to open my life to the experiences out here. Live it to the fullest and embrace what God has give me! Because moping around wishing I was back home in OK is going to do nothing but get me depressed. I don't need that!
Changes have already started taking place... we've joined St. Paul, the church out here that we've been attending. It's a great church! I've also taken a volunteer cheerleading coach position for a squad that Janie will be cheering on! And i'm getting more involved with the school/church as well. I'm going to be assisting the director of VBS for this summer and also helping out with the school carnival (when I can...) LOL!
There are still a few things I wish I could change about being here.... some people just seem so unwilling to let "new" people in.... but despite that, i've made some wonderful friends and been presented with some great opportunities and learning experiences! I've given my life to the glory of God, I've seen the ways He has been working in my life, and I can't wait to see what else is to come!

Fun weekend, and now a Snow day!!!

 

        Saturday we celebrated Jordyn's 2nd Birthday! I can't believe she's 2 years old. I keep catching myself trying to type "1st" birthday. These last 2 years have flown by! I'm so proud of my baby girl. She's learning so many new things every day! She talks more than I could have ever imagined, and fairly clear too! She's really starting to show interest in potty training... guess I should jump on the bandwagon with her while she's willing. I'm not pushing it too hard right now because we'll be off schedule this weekend with going to Oklahoma!!

       Today we woke up to about 4 inches of snow on the ground, with plenty more to come! We're expecting 8-10 inches before it's all over with. The girls are so excited to go out and build a snowman. It's pretty powdery right now, so it may have to wait until tomorrow! Plus, Janie has grown so much this past year that her snowsuit has turned into MAJOR highwaters! So we gotta go get some new snowsuits today.... I should have done it Saturday when I saw them, but i'm a procrastinator so I didn't! Oh well :(   Just another reason to go shopping today! LOL

       Still continuing on with my Picture a Day project.... in fact it's time to go update some more pics! Hope everyone has a great day! We're gonna have a fun, snowed-in day! God Bless you all!

A Step In the Right Direction!

I'll be the first to admit, St Joe is NOT my favorite place to live. It's nothing like OKC.... the people out here are just not the same. I've had a hard time getting people to talk... They're not nearly as friendly. Sure, a lot of people have lived here their whole lives and had "their group" of friends, and I don't expect to barge in on that. But I've always considered myself easy to get along with. It just hasn't quite come as easy to me here, although I've made a couple of really great friends since we've been here. ;o)
But one thing St Joe DOES have to offer, that I never thought to take part in when I was in OKC, is the pound plunge.   I guess that is one benefit to living in a smaller community. It is a big deal all over the city. We meet up at the mall and do weigh-ins once a week, for 12 weeks. It's St Joe's version of the Biggest Loser. This has become a yearly event, although this is my first year to participate.

I came across this program at just the right time. I had just written my last blog about my resolutions, one of them being the typical lose weight and get healthy. So I looked over the website and thought it would be interesting, but it is done in teams of four. This year they have also opened it up to individuals, but seeing how I hadn't had much luck getting to know people here, I didn't really want to go into a huge group of 'teams' by myself and feel alone. So I thought twice about taking part. Strangely enough, the next night, my friend Sheila and her family were over for New Years Eve. We were talking about resolutions and weight loss and she mentioned wanting to take the pound plunge! How funny.... I was just wanting to do this but didn't want to go it alone! Then, yesterday, I was talking to my neighbor about her new program she was taking part in at work. I mentioned to her that we were considering this program, and registration was due by midnight for early sign-ups. She's on board too! So, this random commercial that I saw and became interested in is coming to life for me! I recruited Sheila and Leslie, but that's only 3 people, and the teams have to have 4 people. Fortunately, I do the cooking in my household, and whether he likes it or not, Jason is now on board  as well! So there is my team!

It was just the right timing for me.... I had all the desire and want to lose this weight and get healthy again, but I was lacking the motivation to get started. Now I've got this competition, plus the support of some of my best friends online and at home! I've got no excuses for failure this time. And the best part about it all.... it's 100% FREE! They will be having zumba classes once a week, and many other opportunities for fitness and health, plus nutritionists and fitness experts on hand, whenever we may need them!

I can't wait for next Tuesday at our initial weigh-in to get this ball really rolling!

Oh.... and by the way.... our team name is "N.O.T. W8less"    The N.O.T. has meaning.... see Sheila is a Nebraska fan and Leslie, bless her heart... poor thing is a Texas fan! Of course, me and Jason are both Oklahoma fans :) So we put the N from Nebraska, O from Oklahoma and T from Texas together for the N.O.T.! Pretty creative I must say! And it was all thanks to Sheila and Leslie! :) Thanks girls!

New Year = New You, right?

Okay, so call me cliche.... but I'm going for the good 'ole New Year's Resolutions again. So here goes:

1~ Every year there is one thing that is ALWAYS on my list... yup, you guessed it, get healthy and lose weight. That's everyone's goal, right?! To start living a healthier lifestyle. Well, I actually did follow this, mostly, last year. See, back in April we started planning our vacation to Jamaica, which was AWESOME! But I knew that I did not want to look back at my pictures after the fact and be too embarressed to show them to anybody because of the way I looked. So I set a goal to lose some major weight before we went. So I started counting my calories using Livestrong and started running. I followed the couch25k  program and it was amazing! I started noticing a difference withing a couple of weeks. I hoped for losing about 20 lbs, and ended up losing 17. I was content with that. So then we went to Jamaica, all inclusive drinks and food.. that's where my problem started! I didn't run while we were there, and the food was killer! Not to mention the alcohol... Needless to say I gained about 4 lbs while we were there. Then the holidays hit.... cue the next 6 lbs! So of the 17 I worked so hard to lose over the last year, I managed to only keep 7 of it off. Now, I know that if I would have at least attempted to eat healthier in the last couple of months, this wouldn't have happened. And I know how easy I can get back into it, so that's my goal. I won't be able to run quite yet, it's just too cold outside. But I have a couple of indoor options as well :)  I'm not setting a time limit for myself, just a goal. I want to lose about 30 lbs total. Would I like to see it all happen within this year? Absolutely! Do I really expect that?? Not necessarily, but I'm sure going to work towards it.

2~ Getting my family more organized. I mean our entire lives, all the way around. Financially, Spiritually... we can work on it all the way around. I have so many goals for us financially this year. God has blessed us with an amazing career for Jason! We've been very fortunate. My way of contributing to that is to help us save where I can. I've already alleviated alot of our "un-necessary" bills and reduced many bills where we could. I'm trying my hand at couponing... like, the serious-hard core-crazy-hate to be stuck behind that person at the grocery store kind of couponing and bargaining. So... watch out for that! :) Spiritually... we are working on this one. I am not good with change. When we moved from OK to MO, we left an amazing church. It was a very small, close knit little place, but it was home to us. Now that we are in MO, we don't have the same synod... they were Wisconsin synod, here we only have Missouri synod. We could drive to Kansas city every sunday for church, but it's over an hour away. Just not really practical for us. So we are considering switching our membership from WI to MO synods, and becoming members at St. Paul, which is where the girls attend school. It is totally different than our old church, much larger and many more people, but the teachings are very similar. We're praying that God leads us in the right direction, and which choice would be best for our family. We'll see where He leads us.

3~ This blog is another resolution of mine. I've started a new project... 365 days of pictures. There is another blog entry explaining this further in detail, but basically I'll be capturing each day in a single image. Also, blogging. It's a release for me. Whether people read it or not, it's like my journal. My way of getting thoughts out of my head that otherwise would be lost in the mix of changing diapers, cleaning, cooking, laundry... the list could go on and on. So I hope people enjoy looking at my blog and reading my thoughts and seeing my pictures.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! I look forward to what 2011 has to offer for us all!

Ever hear the phrase, " my life flashed before my eyes"?

People say all the time, "my life flashed before my eyes". I wake up all the time thinking.... what did I do yesterday? Or I look at my kids, my oldest is fixing to be 7!! Where did that time go? It's easy to look back and THINK about all the stages she's gone through, from her birth, to learning to walk and talk, starting school, and most recently, losing her first tooth. But looking back at all this, I wonder where the time went? It seems like it's gone by so quickly and i've just lost track of it all!
So alot of my friends have recently picked up on this "experiment", if you will. The goal is to take a photo every single day, and capture that day in a single image. Seeing how I just got my new camera (WOOHOO!!), this is a perfect time to start this project. The pictures will be random. It may be a person I met that day, a special place I went, something new I tried, a picture of the kids playing, or maybe even just a simple shot of myself. I'll try to do that at least once a month just to see how I change throughout the year. I may not necessarily upload them every day, but I'll try to every few days to keep up with it all. Then, on the side bar of my blog, will be a progressive slideshow.
What better time to start this then at the very beginning of a new year, with many promising things in store for us all! I've got so many goals for my family this year... that's a whole other blog all in itself! So try to keep up and enjoy watching my life flash before your eyes!