I'm Alive

Clearly the blog is on hiatus for the time being.  It's only been half a year since my last post!  I'm back in college majoring in Earth and Environmental Science, which is quite a bit of work, so I'm focusing on that right now.  I've also been coaching peewee basketball, which has been so much fun.  The family is well and the hubs will be home from deployment SOON!

"It Starts with Food" and The Whole30

Have any of you heard of or read It Starts with Food or the Whole30 program?  I saw it mentioned in a comment on a blog I read and checked it out a few weeks ago.  It is somewhat similar to the Paleo diet, if you're familiar with that.  The Whole30 is "a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, calm systemic inflammation and put an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and relationships with food."  Basically, you cut certain foods from your diet for 30 straight days and by the end of those 30 days notice a vast improvement in your health which will help you make better food choices from there on out.  Foods that were cut out can be re-introduced after the 30 days and you can then evaluate how they affect your body.

When I initially looked up the Whole30 I read that dairy would be cut out of my diet for 30 days.  After reading that I updated my Facebook status, "I was thinking about trying out The Whole30 | Whole9 since I eat too much crap, then I saw the part about cutting dairy from your diet COMPLETELY. Yeah, fat chance you're gonna get a cheesehead to go along with that plan."  But I just couldn't get this program out of my head.  I've had some minor health issues for a while now, including dizziness and fatigue, and I've always had problems with acne.  I've also always had a crap diet.  My whole life I have been tall and thin and never had to worry about my weight, so I eat whatever I want.  I never really considered how my poor food choices affect the way I feel.  Obviously, it makes sense.  So, I purchased the book on my Kindle Fire and am so glad that I did.

I suppose you don't need the book to do the Whole30, but I have found it to be incredibly interesting, and if you understand how the food you eat affects your body you'll be more motivated to give the program a shot and stick with it.  Also, there are so many fallacies out there regarding nutrition that we've all been lead to believe that this book explains.  It's a real eye-opener.  There are testimonials from people with all sorts of different ailments that say the Whole30 program greatly reduced or completely eliminated their symptoms; people with diabetes, high cholesterol, MS, acne, migraines, injuries that just wouldn't heal properly, aches and pains, low energy, etc.  The book has definitely motivated me to want to make better food choices for not only myself, but my family.  While I won't make my kids strictly follow the Whole30 program, I will certainly be more picky when it comes to what they are eating.  Processed foods are nasty crap and we've come to rely on them so much.  Luckily, they like fruit and vegetables, but I need to remember that treats like cookies should be just that, special treats that are few and far between, not eaten every day.

If you have done the Whole30 or are planning to do it, please comment!  What have been your favorite resources and recipes?  I've been pinning recipes and resources on Pinterest and have found a couple good blogs out there.  I'm aiming to start my Whole30 on August 1st.  Wish me luck!

Your Mom Goes to College

My time as a stay at home mom is about to come to an end.  After taking an almost three year break from school to stay home with the kids after my daughter was born, it's time to head back to college.  The timing is right.  There will be big changes for myself as well as both of the kids.  My son will be in first grade, which here in Virginia Beach means he'll be in school all day now  (kindergarten here is only half-day), and my daughter will be old enough to begin the three year old program at preschool.  She's going to the same school her brother went to, so it's somewhere we're familiar with and it is super close to the house, so that is convenient.  Unlike my son, however, she will be going to preschool full time (he only went 3 days a week, half a day).  I really do think she will love it.  She is so social and eager to learn and they have supplemental afternoon activities like dance, tumblebus, soccer, etc. that I know she will enjoy.  I am really excited for her!

I am beginning to stress out a little bit about my schedule.  I am going to Virginia Wesleyan College (VWC), which is a small, private college, and majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences.  I am going for a Bachelors in Science rather than a Bachelors in Arts, which is more difficult, simply because it will give me more career options.  I won't be limited to just teaching.  I want to earn my degree in two years because that is how much longer my husband's orders in this area are for.  We want to try to stay here for his next orders, but that's never a guarantee, and this is already my third school.  I'd like it to be my last (as far as earning my bachelors is concerned).  This means taking 16 credits (four classes), each semester (12 credits is full time).  The first semester I am signed up for Calculus (math is my worst subject), Chemistry, Climatology (writing intensive), and Intro to Geographic Information Systems.  Calculus scares the bejesus out of me.  I haven't taken a math class since 2006!  Chemistry may be challenging.  I know I got an A in Chem in high school, but that was a long time ago and I know it's a challenging class.  Also, I looked up the professor on ratemyprofessor.com and she has less than stellar reviews.  At VWC one of the graduation requirements is that you take two writing intensive courses.  Climatology is the first that I'm taking, so I can expect to be writing a lot of papers for this.  I am excited to take the class though.  With all the crazy weather we have been having lately due to the heat (and possibly global warming), I think it's a great year to take such a class.

As you can see, I'm jumping right in.  It's a heavy work load, and on top of the busy class schedule I'll be single-parenting while my husband is deployed for the entire semester, during football season.  It's amazing how time consuming football for 6 year-olds is!  The coach asked me to be a team mom this year at the end of last season.  I would love to do it, but I also don't want to over-extend myself.  I guess I'll just wait and see if he brings it back up.  Also, my class schedule overlaps my son's, so he requires before and after care on some days.  Since it's not every day and only for a little over an hour, I really didn't want to pay for full-time before and after care somewhere.  Luckily I was able to hire my neighbors, who have a son the same age, to help me out with that little headache.  It seems like everything is coming together, and hopefully it will be smooth sailing, but I'm sure there will be a few hiccups along the way.  My only wish is that we had family nearby to help out, but luckily I have some pretty great friends that are willing to fill that void.  It's just so much easier to ask family for help, though!

Let's Play Catch-Up

As I tend to do every now and then, I've let the blog fall to the wayside.  My last blog post was regarding my impending jaw surgery.  Well, after struggling with the decision for weeks I decided against the surgery.  Long story short, to me, the risk greatly outweighed the benefit.  Since that last blog post, we've been a busy bunch.

My husband returned from deployment at the very end of March and almost immediately traveled up to Northern Virginia for training.  Once the training was completed in May we traveled to Tampa, where he is from, to visit family and friends.  We had a really great trip, for the most part.  We went fishing out on a boat, checked out the Sunken Gardens in St. Pete and went to a Tampa Bay Rays game with his dad.  His mom took the kids on a little shopping spree at Toys R Us and babysat so we could have some adult time with our friends.  We went out on our friend's boat and hung out on a little island one day, took all the kids to the park another day, went out for drinks one night, and spent a lot of time swimming and just having an all around good time.  Here are a few pics from our trip that already seems like it was so long ago:

The kids with their cousins.

Also, in the Spring was T-ball for E-Ray.  His team was the Muckdogs.  When the coach told us the name I was like:

Turns out the Muckdogs are a minor league team in Batavia, New York.  You learn something new every day!  He had a really great season.  He's definitely come a long way since last year.  He hit just about every pitch (the coaches pitch a few times and if the kids don't hit the pitch, then they hit off the tee) and actually caught the ball while playing first base.  Any kid catching the ball during a game at this level seems to be a pretty huge accomplishment.  He earned the game ball after that game and was quite proud of himself.  

Lulu wanted to play, too!

It's a hit!

E-Ray and his best buddy being goofballs.

Getting his trophy and certificate from Coach.

Also, E-Ray recently began riding his bike without training wheels, so Rick and I bought ourselves a couple bikes at a yard sale so that we could go on family rides.  We've only gone once so far, but it was fun, even though I ended up with three ticks on me.  YUCK!  More often than biking, lately, we've been hiking.  My husband had to head back up to Northern Virginia for training, so we have visited him a couple times.  I have wanted to go check out Luray Caverns for a long time, so this was a good opportunity to head that way. While researching the area online I read about Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and decided that would be a really great place to visit as well.  We made the drive over there on June 30th and had such an incredible time.  Luray Caverns were really neat, but Shenandoah National Park was a real adventure.  It is our new favorite place.  On that day we were looking at the map they gave us when we entered the park and thought it would be fun to hike down to Dark Hollow Falls.  This was a great decision. It was a relatively short hike (it seemed a lot longer than it actually was), and our kids, even the 2 year old, were able to tag along.  It was a fairly busy trail.  When we got down to the waterfall there were quite a few people swimming in the water and hanging out.  The kids loved it and I got some really great pictures while we were there.  We loved it so much that we decided to go back on July 4th.  This time we hiked down to Lewis Falls.  This is a much less popular trail, so we ran into fewer people.  This time there was no swimming at the bottom of the falls, but a ledge from which to view them.  It was a rockier hike that was slightly more difficult than the previous one, but it was fun.  E-Ray is like a little Indiana Jones.  He loved leading our little expedition and it was hard trying to get him to slow down so that his little sister could keep up.  I can't wait to get back up there again for more family adventures!

Inside Luray Caverns

My boys climbed up the side of the falls.

For our second trip I had accidentally left my camera's memory card in my laptop so I had to use my phone for pictures.  I was SO mad!!!

Lastly, as we're gearing up for the Hubs to leave on deployment number eight, we took advantage of the great non-profit Operation Love Reunited to have some family pictures taken before D-Day.  We were fortunate enough to be able to book the same photographer we used in 2010 for his homecoming on the USS Nicholas.  She is so incredibly talented!  Here is the first preview of the images she captured:

What did I tell you?  A-MAZE-ING!  I can't wait to see the rest of the photos.  If you're ever in need of a photographer in Hampton Roads, Kimberlin Gray Photography is a must.  Be sure to like her page on Facebook.

OK, just one more thing.  My husband told me that we could vacation in Wisconsin next Summer.  I just wanted to make sure I made a record of that statement since he tends to forget all of our arrangements/agreements.  :)

Dogs on Deployment (DoD)

What are military members supposed to do with their pets when they deploy or have to travel for training?  Has this question ever occurred to you?  When my husband and I were both in the Navy stationed on ships we were fortunate enough to have good friends and family within a few hours that could help us out when needed.  Not everyone is so lucky.  That's why Alisa Johnson and her husband created Dogs on Deployment.

They are a dual military family that were in the predicament mentioned above and recognized the need for a program which would help others who found themselves in a similar situation. Thus, Dogs on Deployment was born.  I found out about DoD via Facebook a while ago.  They have recently revamped their website.  Be sure to check out the cause, and if you're an animal lover, sign up to help out a military member by being a DoD boarder.  Also, help by spreading the word to your military friends so that they know such a service is available to them.

You can be fairly specific about what sort of animals you would like to board, what your requirements are and how long you're willing to board.  Living in a Navy community and being a Navy family, I am only signed up to board for short periods, which will cover those pesky little underway periods or schools.  Since my husband is active duty it's hard to plan too far ahead, so long term boarding isn't something I can commit to right now, but I stated in my profile that if we got to know a dog pretty well while boarding during short term periods, long term would be an option if it fits into our schedule.  So, even if you can't commit to long term, there is a short term boarding option.

You can also support the cause by purchasing the Dogs on Deployment auto decal (the orange one) or a t-shirt.

What I Do, Navy Surface Sailor

The "What I Do" meme is ever so popular right now, and I haven't seen a Navy one yet, so I decided to make one based on my experience as a surface sailor.  Enjoy!  :)

Deployment Update

A couple weeks ago I told you that we were beginning Deployment #7.  Well, so far so good!  The kids have been so amazing since their Daddy left, which I am so thankful for.  Lulu stays in her bed at night, whereas she used to fight bedtime every single night.  She is also completely potty trained during the day.  She even uses the big potty all by herself.  It really shouldn't be a surprise.  She was two months old the last time my husband deployed and she was the easiest infant to take care of ever.  She rarely cried and she slept through the night.  She continues to amaze me on a daily basis.  She's not even 2 1/2 and she's potty trained, knows her colors and shapes and is already starting to count and identify letters.  She is just so independent and curious.  I love it!  She's also begun singing songs.  Her favorites are "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  It is just too stinking cute!  Now if only I could get her to keep her clothes on....

E-Ray has been pretty good, too.  He is having so much fun with basketball and I truly love watching him play.  He's only 5, so one of the youngest on the team, but he does great for his age.  He had a takeaway in his game this past Saturday and was so proud of himself.  It just melted my heart to see how excited he was about it.  He's been doing well in school, too.  His reading has really taken off.  He tries to read all of the signs he sees when we're out and about.  Most of all, he's just so sweet.  The other morning I woke him up for school and he said, "Do you want to cuddle for a few?"  Um, duh!  I would love to!  Then, while we were laying there I asked him if he was ready to eat breakfast.  He said, "If you're ready.  I just want to do what makes you happy, Mom."  Deployment really is a breeze when I have these two around to make me feel so loved and happy.  Sure, we have our occasional struggles, but the good far outweighs the bad.  I wish deployment could be as easy on my husband.  I know he misses these two like crazy.

As for me, I've been working on my goals.  Lately I've been focusing on genealogy and organizing my life and home.  I updated my genealogy blog, which took up an entire weekend of work and research.  I also came up with a meal and nutritional plan for the kids and I and a cleaning schedule for the house.  I still need to come up with a good home maintenance schedule.  I haven't been involved in the FRG this deployment.  I stepped down from President because my husband is transferring off the ship soon.  The meetings are in the middle of the week later in the evening all the way over in housing next to the base, so it's just not convenient for me to go to the meetings when I have to deal with traffic and it's a school night.  I'm busy enough, anyways.  It's isn't all work and no play, though.  This past weekend one of my besties came up for a visit so I got my girls together for a night out.  I didn't tell them what we were going to do.  It was a surprise.  We went roller skating at a skating rink!  We all had such a great time.  It was seriously so much fun, and none of us fell down, which was a miracle.

My Girls

Sk8rs

Goals Update 1/23/2012

Every Monday I want to try to get on here quickly to post an update on my goals progress.  If you're keeping track of your goals, I encourage you to do the same, whether it be in your blog, on Facebook as a note, or on regular old pen and paper. 

You can view my original goals blog post here:  http://usnchic.blogspot.com/2011/10/goals.html

Daily
-One hour of reading and/or learning activities with Lulu. Thanks to educational apps on the Kindle Fire and her MobiGo, we've been doing OK with this one.  I need to do more one on one with her though.

-Fill out E-Ray's task chart so he can earn his allowance.  Yep.

-Limit kids' electronics time to 2 hours per day.  This includes TV, video games and computers. I need to work on this again.  Kindle Fire, Computer, TV.....at least most of it is educational.

-No more than one "sugary" snack per day.  (candy, fruit snacks, cookies, etc.)  We're actually doing really well with this.  

-Eat fruit AND veggies every day.  Doing OK with this one.  Kids need more veggies, I need more of both.


-Kids in bed by 8:00 (8:30 on basketball nights), myself to bed by 10:00 and up at 6:00 to work out.  No more sitting on my arse wasting the day away on the computer all morning waiting for my motivation to kick in!!!  
Got up and worked out at 6:00 this morning.  Up past 10:00 tonight.  Getting there!!!


Weekly
-Stick to weekly cleaning and maintenance schedule.  I have the cleaning schedule written out, I haven't started following it yet.

-Work out at least three times per week. Worked out today and once last week.  Not enough...

-Eat out no more than once per week.  Easy peasy now that the hubs is gone.



Monthly
- Check out local nature trails with the family when the hubs is home, or with friends when he isn't, at least once a month depending on the weather.  We have not done this yet this month.  Probably won't.

- Go to church at least once per month.  Did this last month.  Have not been yet this month.

- Go to one new place per month.  Done for January (Great Wolf Lodge)

- Buy birthday cards for the month and first week of the next month at the beginning of each month and address and stamp them immediately.  Done for January.

-At the beginning of each month, upload photos from previous month to Snapfish. Done for January.


Short Term
- Have E-Ray send out the post cards that have been sitting in our house for months to his friends.

- Get Lulu potty trained.  She has been doing really well.  A few accidents here and there, but for the most part, she does it all on her own, and on the big potty at that.  I am very happy with her progress.

- Update meal plan. I need to come up with a meal plan for just the kids and I since Hubs will be gone most of the year.  This is a work in progress.  I printed out a bunch of new kid friendly recipes to try.

- Create a daily/monthly activity schedule  Done!  Now I just need to follow it.


- Dry clean wedding dress.   
     Yes, our wedding was 6 years ago and I still have not gotten my wedding gown dry cleaned.  This is why I must set goals for myself.  I am the ultimate procrastinator!  I am trying to wait to for a Groupon or something for this.

- Get Spring consignment sale items sorted and counted.

- Make a plan for genealogy research and organization.  Focus on one surname at a time and don't get sidetracked.  I haven't come up with a precise plan, but I did a lot of genealogy work this weekend and made some updates to my genealogy blog that I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Long Term
- Get out of debt.
- Continue working on mine and my husband's genealogy. This is a lifetime of work. It is so fascinating and worth every second spent on it. I hope that my children and their children will someday take an interest in where they came from.
- Learn to speak German and Italian with my husband and visit the places where our ancestors came from (Germany, Switzerland, Italy).
- Go back to school next year and earn my bachelor's degree with at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Learn how to use my sewing machine and actually make something with it.
- Run in a charity race.

Short/Long Term Goals Completed Since October 25, 2011: 10