Where to even begin

Ever have one of those times when you need to catch someone up on your life but you have no clue where to even begin because everything has been so absolutely insane? Yep well this is absolutely one of those moments. Yes I fell off the face of the blogging world but only temporarily! Our family is going through some seriously stressful changes and priorities take over when I get into this stressed out mommy mode!

First my husband was injured while attempting to complete Officer Candidate School and thus dropped from the class and we returned to GA for him to heal and train for a future class, which we decided would be in October 2012 in order for his shins to heal properly and him to relearn out to run without reinjury. So all was set for us to do a simple move whenever he graduated OCS in December and we would be settled in Houston TX by January in order for him to start classes at the University of Houston and for Jaxon to be enrolled in a local preschool.

While registering for my FINAL semester as an undergraduate student at Liberty University, we discovered I was surprisingly pregnant with our second child! Overjoyed was not my initial reaction considering the confusion this would bring to our "plans." But in true God fashion, our plans are not always parallel to His all powerful plans. I was determined to complete these final few classes over the summer. Throw in a few stressers, we determined the due date, December 31st. With Alan's graduation from OCS falling in december we knew that Jaxon and I would be unable to stay in GA without adequate support in case this little guy decided to come early, not to mention attempting a move to TX with a two week old was just a little bit overwhelming for me! So the decision was made to pack ALL of our belongings into a large storage unit and take the necessities and move to North Carolina with my parents so I would have the support I needed as well as be close enough to Virginia to go see Alan on Libo weekends. 

Over the summer I did complete my classes, we DID pack stuff everything we owned into a small storage unit and we DID move in with my parents. Overtaking their beautiful home with a two year old and a dog and all of our "baby" necessities. Overtaking is probably an understatement. The impact this toddler has had on this normally quiet household has been exciting and challenging all at the same time. Jaxon has taken it in stride, I have had a few I am going to pull my hair out moments but I have accepted the mind set of "one obstacle at a time".. and let me tell you, it is all I can take.

So here we are, Jaxon is enrolled in a preschool two days a week. This is both for his behavior, socialization, education, and probably above all, my sanity. His deep desire to play with other children and his need to get rid of energy via play, made it an easy decision to enroll him a year early to set a firm foundation for when he does attend real preschool next year.

Jaxon's first day at his new school

And here I am, 6 months pregnant with our second child, a boy.. name to be disclosed upon his arrival! 

So where does that leave this blog? Well it leaves it still in the middle on the priority list. With a few hours of freedom each week, I plan to take back my sanity and blog until my heart is content. With a new desire to devote some energy and time into further progressing my hobby of photography (HOBBY.. definitely not profession), and as always COOK. Probably my favorite part of being at my parents house is their openness to new recipes and their ever honest opinions of anything I make. Pinterest has become an obsession of mine with regards to inspiring new creations as well as some pretty terrible failure.

With a new baby on the way, and the world's most adorable niece awaiting her aunts arrival in TX, I can promise there will be crafting involved in quite a few posts. As well as budget friendly posts regarding a new baby and everyday military life. 

Until next time, signing off as a soon to be mother of two

The newest Love of my Life

Ok so I am back.. and unfortunately this post is not from the great state of TX but I will leave that LONG story for another blog post.. but just know we are happy loved and blessed to be given the opportunities as well as the trials that God puts in our lives...

So when Alan and I first got married I was a complete and utter CLEAN FREAK.. I mean to the most degree... With our gift cards from our wedding I purchased MANY MANY organizational supplies. One of my absolute favorites was this :::

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Canopy-4-Bin-Sorter/15627364


Which I was head over heels for..Here is why... confessions #123242 on this blog... I am a laundry fanatic. My mom seems to think it skipped a generation and it is genetic. My grandmother will almost take the shirt off of your back to wash it. Well while I am not that bad, a full laundry basket drives me NUTS. Over these past 5 years of marriage to a (lets put this nicely) organizationally dysfunctional Marine , and one child later, I have loosened my grasp on keeping everything "perfect" in my household. This laundry sorter helped me within my daily life so much. I gave up doing laundry as soon as it hit the basket and decided to do it all one day a week, with the given few loads during the week in emergencies. While I would love to be that person who throws ALL laundry in at once (towels, jeans, darks, whites, delicates etc) I cannot stomach the thought of my husbands nasty uniforms against my bright whites... so I separate and this sorter would skip the step of having to sort BEFORE washing..This was all awesome ...

 UNTIL my husband leaned on it one day and bent one of the "sturdy metal rods"... haha what a joke.... From that day forward I struggled with pushing it because it had lost its sturdy frame and became flimsy..

So fast forward 4 year. Moving day (to this house we are living in now)... My husband decided to pack this thing down with random things from our room and "roll" it onto the truck... well it fell apart.. as did my heart. So I begged and pleaded and racked my brain as to what to do... I shopped and shopped and shopped. I did not want to get another sorter that would turn out as flimsy as this one had... But I could not stomach spending $50 + on something to "make my life easier."

Love the look.. but at $65.97 on amazon and No wheels
I couldn't bring myself to order it.

ps here are a few I was considering (with why I considered them)

cheap $15.90 on amazon.. but UGLY

So for the past 8 months I suffered.. I had laundry PILES all over our bedroom every Sunday afternoon waiting to be washed. My stomach churned every time I maneuvered my way through our room a mist the chaos that could be so easily solved by a laundry sorter.

My wonderful husband even went to Lowes to price out building one for me out of PVC pipe (as hideous as that would be I was desperate).. I even debated getting my grandfather to build me one of these awesome sorters from the every wonderful Ana Whites BRILLIANT blog.. but then decided against it considering the amount of times we move vs the bulkiness of the overall contraption.. and I LOVED the option of wheeling my laundry to the laundry room once a week to complete the huge chore.

http://ana-white.com/2012/03/plans/brook-laundry-basket-dresser-4-tall-and-lengthwise


Well I was at a loss... Until yesterday when this BEAUTY fell into my cart at target..

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE target.. I mean love is probably an understatement for the relationship I have with that store, and more importantly their clearance sections... This beauty is STURDY,,, it is functional (4 sections, darks, whites, delicates and heavy duty---ie towels, jeans, cammies)  and WHEELS.. real heavy duty wheels WITH brakes... I am in LOVE.. head over heels.. oh and BEST of all it was $34.. yep $34..I could SO handle that.. plus 5% off with my redcard!

SO TADA... Any mom's looking for some help with their laundry dilemma (or nightmare).. go to target.. grab one (or two or three) of these bad boys and set them up in your rooms, laundry room (for sorting before washing), your children's room (teach them to sort) etc... and Take the worry out of the laundry.. oh and J thinks it is super fun to help mommy push it to the laundry room

As for me.. I will be doing laundry in heaven today knowing that my job (housewife.. blah that sounds so boring and repulsive to me at the moment for some reason) will be a little easier

oh and before anyone asks.. these machines are wonderful... Maytag Bravos.. purchased before Jaxon's arrival while I was still working. They are one of our BEST investments and I am EXTREMELY protective over them.. as anyone who has attempted to use them without my "knowledge"...   

I'll be back.. a blogger's famous LAST words!

Talk about some serious down time! Well let me just give you a tad bit of insight into this crazy thing I call my life!

Just finished up my almost last semester of my undergraduate degree (two more courses and I am DONE), had Thanksgiving and Christmas at my house, dealt with a very sick family, and packed up my entire house BECAUSE... we are MOVING!!!! Just not until April (or May)...

Yes I know crazy..

My husband got accepted to a program that the Marine Corp has where he is required to finish college and then become an Officer! Whoo hoo major props to my hubby for being such a dedicated Marine. So in about a week he is off to VA to Office Candidate School for 10 whole weeks and well because I HATE being ALONE and trying to complete my degree etc, I have decided to pack up the house early.. leave EVERYTHING we own (minus clothes for 10+ weeks) and go stay with my parents in North Carolina so I have some back up with my kiddo and some other people to talk to besides a toddler and dog!

So needless to say I will be taking quite a break for a bit to get my head on straight!

But I promise once we get situated in TX I will be back with some fun DIY (decorate my new house) as well as yummy HEALTHY meals for the entire family.. I might even add in some exercise bits too. My goal while being at my parents house in NC is to get my butt back into the shape I deserve to be in! Yay for gym's with childcare (which GA is definitely lacking).

So until next time :)