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Operation Stay Young
So we are a month in to our New Years Resolutions or Goals. How are you doing? I’m feeling pretty good. Hubs bought me a pedometer, a basic Fit-Bit, for Christmas and it has been a wonderful motivator for me. It reminds me if I want to meet my goal by the end of the day I need to move. That may mean doing a little running in place while I fold laundry, having a mid-afternoon dance party in the kitchen with the kids (making sure I move my feet to keep those steps going) or just a couple extra jogs up and down our steps. For me it’s the…
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The Gift of Guns & Gratitude
Yesterday I bought a gun. I guess that sentence has more weight then I intend, especially because it is a gift for my husband’s 40th birthday, coming up towards the end of the month. But *I* had to fill out all the paperwork, the gun is registered in my name and the clerk made it very clear it was mine. Yep, it’s mine. But here is my story. The conversation with the clerk started off a little rough, especially because my gun knowledge is about this much > . < Not much at all. I knew what kind he wanted and he had pointed some out in a flier so I brought…
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“Welcome to Stagecoach”
A quick introduction to our MilitaryAvenue guest blogger. Mike Liguori is a Marine veteran and we are excited to share his coverage for MilitaryAvenue of Stagecoach. He is doing tweets, Facebook posts and blogs for us during this fun event! Be sure to follow along on some great stories about the performers and military supporters at “Stagecoach”. Today was quite the day for me. I barely have been able to sleep due to the overwhelming excitement of covering the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. You think after not getting the consistency of a good night’s sleep I would be dead tired today. Well folks, you are wrong. I am actually…
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Away for the Holidays – Care Package Ideas and More
There are a few Christmases that stand out in my life. I remember our first Christmas in Iceland after being separated from my dad for six months while we waited for a house to open up at Keflavik NAS. He had to report without his family but just before the holidays new friends opened up their home to us so that we could be together as a family. Our house would be ready when they returned from a vacation back to the states. That was the Christmas of Homecoming. (Although a new home, but home none the less). Another very memorable Christmas for me was the year my husband was in…
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Frankenstorm and Gratitude
My friend, Ann Marie over at Household 6 Diva recently posted on Facebook this epiphany: There is always, always, always, always, always,something to be thankful for. #pinterestproverb We were really walloped by Frankenstorm Sandy. Folks in my area lost power in the storm on Monday, October 29th, and finally had it restored Sunday morning, November 4th. (I’m one of the lucky few to never have lost it.) Kids were out of school for ‘inclement weather’ (to say the least) for two, three and four days. Basements were flooded. Trees were down. Roads impassable. Yet, there were SO FEW posts on Facebook from my friends that were negative. A Hurricane and Gratitude? Can it be? Keep Reading…
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Self Esteem vs Self Respect
Last weekend was cold. Cold and rainy. The kind of weather that makes you want to curl up in front of a fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. Instead I was at a soccer tournament for my ten-year old. Three games over Saturday and Sunday 90 minutes from home. Three games of pure determination on our boys’ parts. Three games of ‘Go, Avon, Go!’ … Three losses. Continue Reading about how to turn the loss into a win, Self Esteem vs Self Respect But that doesn’t necessarily make this mom sad: * The relationships that those boys are making out there on the field, the friendships…
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A Split Second Decision – and a Medal of Honor! DoD Blogger Roundtable
Medal Of Honor Recipient Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry and his wife Ashley“Rangers Lead the Way” We all make them – those decisions that are made in the blink of an eye. But some are more important than others, how about life changing ones? We take time to consider those? Right? Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry had a life changing decision and he only had the blink of an eye to make it in – the grenade was live, it was close and he and his fellow Rangers were going to die. His decision to pick up the Taliban’s grenade and throw it away from his team saved their lives and…
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Angels Amongst Us …
… or just some really wonderful people. It was a long weekend. The snow started Friday night. Hubs had National Guard duty Saturday and Sunday. He needed to be at the armory at 8am. Since he is about two and a half hours from his destination on a clear-roads-type-of-day he set his alarm for 4am hoping that would give him enough time to drive down even with all of the snow that was falling. He wasn’t counting on the five foot drift up against our garage. The fact that it took him over 30 minutes to just get out of our driveway and on to the snow-covered roads of our development had me worried. I knew he had…
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Super Bowl Party Plans
While Dale is out plowing the driveway… I am pushing all of the ideas that I have together for the Super Bowl Party… Par-tay that will be *Happening* here this Sunday. The invitations have all been phone calls, facebook interaction or emails. Every invitation was met with a responsive YES, followed by a suggestion of something they would like to bring. Wow! How nice is that? So… since it is the Colts vs Saints; blue vs black; IN (Indianapolis Colts) vs NO (New Orleans … Saints) there is room to play with subtle themes! Food: Chili Saint’s Delight made with colt-like meat. Most folks call ground round. Tamed cooked and…
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Looking Back at Veterans Day
I have to take this opportunity to thank all of the companies out there that did a fabulous job of honoring our veterans yesterday (and throughout this month in some cases). Last night was crazy busy for us. As soon as *E* got off of the bus we headed to the dentist for the boys 6 month-checkups, then it was off to dinner across town and finally to friend’s house for our weekly ‘get together’. I mention dinner because we could have *easily* done a slow-cooker meal and popped home between the dentist and small-group. BUT I knew a number of restaurants in our area that were honoring our Veterans…
