So this is it!

This has been a wonderful term, but I am really looking forward to the short break. My husband is down in Las Vegas for a few weeks for work and I am stuck in crappy Idaho! He is down there walking around in a t shirt and shorts, while I'm outside scraping ice off the truck windows. I found out a few weeks ago that I am pregnant with our third baby, and I am currently experiencing the worst morning sickness in the history of the world! It lasts literally all day, and even wakes me up in the middle of the night. So I have to run the whole household by myself while dealing with that, and then I have to study for finals on top of that! So as you can imagine I'm a pretty happy camper! It will be ok though, I know that the light at the end of the tunnel is a cute, round, smelly little person to add more laundry to my day! I'm kidding! I couldn't be happier, I'm just tired! Luckily my mom is coming for a visit, so she will be able to help out a ton.

Crystal, thank you again for a wonderful term. It has been a real pleasure working with you! And thank you to everyone else for all your help and encouragement!

The end is in sight!

While I have had a great term and absolutely love school, I am ready for a short break. This is my third term and I have taken 3 classes per term, so I have been a very busy girl! I must say that this English class has been the best class I have taken in many many years. I learned more about the writing process than I thought possible. And Crystal, working with you has been so much fun! Your encouragement and support has done wonders for my self confidence regarding my writing. Most of my teachers in high school were critical and I stopped writing for a long time. But this class has reignited my desire to start writing again. I think that this summer I may spend some time working on some short stories for my girls to enjoy. I need to write something that doesn't require a reference! I am a little burnt out from all the research and piecing things together, I'm ready to just write for the sake of pleasure. Thank you again for such a wonderful class!

What a weekend!

This past weekend was one of the best that I have had in a very very long time. My husband and I finally found a girl we can trust to watch our two little ones, so we have been taking advantage of her! I was actually able to eat my shrimp scampi without having someone try and sit on my lap and eat my fries. I think food tastes much better when I don't have to yell every two seconds! Its also warmer, and my water doesn't have back washed crackers or chicken finger bits in it!! I actually walked out of the restaurant without a giant ketchup smear on one side of my shirt. And my husband and I actually had an uninterrupted conversation that lasted more than 2 minutes. Then we went bowling, just him and I. It was nice to really play the game and not have to chase a little person down the lane. There was no screaming, no tears, no fighting over whose turn it was. The whole experience- dinner and bowling- was totally refreshing!! We needed that quiet time in the worst way. It gave us time to hear each other and talk to each other like we used to. I love my kids to death, but I need a break every once in a while or I will go crazy!

To make it up to the girls we took them to see "How to train your Dragon". They were perfect little specimens of the women I hope they grow up to be. They were quiet and polite the entire time! I actually got to finish he movie for a change. Usually I have to leave with the 2 year old while my husband and 5 year old get to stay. The sum up from the hubster, while he means well, doesn't usually do the movie justice. My husband and I are encouraged by this pleasant display and hope that we can go to more movies in the future. Needless to say, the weekend was a major success!!!!!!

Getting ready for Easter!

Easter Bunny fever is definitely in the air at my house these days! After realizing last week that Easter was in less than two weeks, I rushed out to the garage to dig out all the decorations and surprise my 5 year old after school. Well, it seems as though a cold little mouse had other plans for them. It stole all the "grass" out of the baskets and carried it off, leaving a lovely trail behind it of course. And apparently it had a problem with one of the wooden ducks, because his face was chewed off! Luckily the baskets were undamaged as well as the million little plastic eggs. So today my girls and I went to Dollar Tree, my home away from home, and picked up some goodies for the house. We got some really awesome window clings of bunnies and Easter things. They are currently covering every window in my home! We also got some little girl bunny ceramic things (for a buck I'm not overly picky). The girls had a blast putting them up and now the house is ready for the bunny! Martha Stewart wouldn't be impressed, but I don't care, my girls love it! (By the way... I meet Martha last summer and she thought I was in high school). Anyways..... I love this time of year. Easter always marks the beginning of Spring for me. The flowers, the birds, and all the pastels. Spring is so wonderful, and I cant wait for the dang bunny to come so I can stop hearing.... "Mommy, is the bunny coming today"!

Crazy Week!

What a crazy week this has been! I can not believe that it is the sixth week of the term already! I have had so much work this past week, I am looking forward to next week when things slow down for a little bit. The weather has been perfect here so I have not wanted to spend much time in front of the computer. My family and I went snowboarding on Sunday. I got to sit around watching my 2 year old flop about in the snow while my 5 year old and husband went down the big hills. This is my daughters second year boarding and she is better than me! She has a little pink snowboard that is the envy of all the girls up there! Unfortunately we all got a little too much sun on our faces and we all have raccoon eyes. Then to make myself look even better I hit my head on the corner of a book case and got a huge knot on my forehead. To add insult to injury its white, while the rest of my forehead is red! Its pretty hot needless to say! Thankfully the swelling went down over night so I didn't look like a hot mess when I dropped my daughter off at school! Regardless the weekend was a total success and I can not wait till next weekend to do it all again, minus the sunburn and concussion of course!

Summer plans!

Going back to school has had the biggest and greatest impact on my life. It has effected me in ways I did not expect. When I first got out of the Air Force I was so relieved to have some free time to spend to do whatever me and my girls wanted. But I was also hungry to do something for myself, to become something better. I was finally ready to commit myself to school!

Kaplan has helped my fine tune my time management skills, there is not a wasted second in my day now! I am a stay at home mom so I tend to my youngest daughter Charlotte all day long, while also helping my husband do what ever he needs to do. If she is watching Elmo for a few minutes, I run in and answer a few discussion questions instead of eating cookies in the closet so she wont find me! I do a big portion of my school work while my husband is at the gym and my daughter is napping. I have found that I can squeeze in school work pretty much when ever I have a few minutes of down time. It has kept me motivated to stay active and not sit around the house all day. I also enjoy having something else to occupy my brain. If I do not have school work I sit there and worry about silly things. This has helped my marriage out by giving me something of my own to do, and not depend on my husband all the time, or bothering him with silly questions that even the kindest of husbands gets tired of being asked. Knowing what is due and when also keeps me organized. I thrive on a deadline, so this school has been a perfect fit thus far. When I started school my husband started working at night. This opened up my evenings for seminars and home work. This has been perfect because I would rather sit with him than sit in front of a computer. So if he isn't around, I have no excuse not to do my school work. Going to school has also given me my confidence back. I feel like I can do this and actually be successful. So far it has been a very empowering experience!

I am ready for spring!

While it has a been pretty mild winter here in Idaho, I am very ready for spring to come around. I miss all the color and all the food. These past few year I have been trying to eat food that is actually in season, not from the other side of the world. I have noticed that asparagus is starting to appear and that makes me very very happy! They are the first sign that things are beginning to warm up. Today at the commissary the strawberries were reasonably priced, not $8 for about 6 berries. My daughters and I are anxiously awaiting the local farmers market to open. It is in Boise and its about 3 blocks long. The first two blocks are all fruits and vegetables. They are all local farms, or from peoples gardens. Everything is organic and the prices are a dream come true. The people are so wonderful, they tell you how they grew everything and the best way to cook it to bring out its true flavor. Mixed in with the vegetable vendors are some folks that make their own honey, sauces and my personal favorite, ravioli. I am especially fond of the ravioli because it is made by an actual Italian, so its a little touch of familiarity for me. The the last block and a half are filled with people selling hand made crafts. There are beautiful paintings and photographs. There is a man who makes sculptures for your yard made of iron and glass. My favorite is a man who makes gorgeous wooden spoons and cutting boards. I think I may get myself a dark cherry cutting board this year. My eldest daughter loves to use her allowance to buy biscotti and bread sticks. My littlest loves to get a small bag of freshly made doughnuts, all warm and covered with powdered sugar. We are all so very excited to see what new vendors will be there this year, and to visit all our old favorites!

Well, I am going to go enjoy my strawberries and whipped cream now! :)