Coming Soon: My First Book Review

Thanks to the lovely people at Harper Collins I have an early copy of the upcoming book Outlaw Platoon which I will be writing a review on in the near future (just as soon as I can get the book read!). I am hoping to be done by mid-March, but in the case that life happens and I don't finish it by my original goal, I will do my best to have my review published by the end of March. If you are really interested in knowing more about it before I publish my review, there is a video about the book on it's Amazon page.

I'm super excited about this opportunity and can't wait to start reading--I promise to give you my honest assessment of the book when I am finished! So, stay tuned for more on Outlaw Platoon.

Winter Wonderland!

This winter has been so mild I was beginning to wonder if the Munchkin and I would get any of the snow that I had been waiting for for so long. We got a little bit back in January--which we definitely made the most of--and enjoyed immensely! However, that snow had come and gone in a matter of a few hours, so I had been hoping for something a bit more substantial and longer lasting. =) As of Sunday afternoon, my prayers were answered! It started snowing here sometime around 12/12:30 and didn't stop until around midnight. When I measured the depth of the snow on my front deck the next morning we had 4 1/2 beautiful, glorious inches of snow! It promptly started melting as soon as the sun came up Monday morning, but Peanut Butter Cup and I definitely made the most of it while it lasted! He seems to love the snow as much as his daddy and I do, so the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. ;)

Anyhow, here are some pictures of our beautiful Winter Wonderland! Enjoy!

Munchkin decided to wake up before 7am, so I hurried outside and snapped a few pictures since the sun was rising and everything was just so incredibly pretty!

 This is looking from the front deck toward the road (which is beyond the horse pasture and the trees beyond it).

This is looking straight out from the front deck.

 

This is part of the backyard--the snow was so lovely and undisturbed (though you can see where the snow had filled in our footprints from the night before, ha ha!). . .it was covered in footprints a couple of hours later. = p  We had a BLAST!

I love this tree (along with the huge oak out front!)!

Behind our backyard.

The back right corner of our backyard.

The sunrise was reflecting off of the snow in these trees--it was so beautiful!

Looking towards the back of the house.

I was so excited about the snow--I took over 700 pictures within an 18 hour time-frame.

Looking toward the Shop and the barn (isn't the barn adorable?).

Beyond the main horse pasture.

The top of the tree that is in front of the house as seen from the backyard.

 The way the sunrise was reflecting off of the snow while I was out feeding Sasha (who will be the subject of another post!) was so beautiful--I felt blessed to be able to see witness it.

After breakfast we headed down the driveway like we always do to take our letter to Daddy up to the mailbox.

 Part of the driveway looking toward the road.

I love snow covered branches!!

 It was still pretty early in the morning so the sunlight was still making everything look magical!

Our mailbox--ready and waiting for the mail-lady to come and pick up the letter to my Beloved!

 Sooooo, I didn't mean to, but I apparently started Munchkin on a snow-eating addiction. Ooops.

More to come later. . . . Hope you enjoyed them! I love snow (as you can probably tell!) and was BEYOND thrilled when I first realized that it was really, truly snowing.

What about you? Do you enjoy the snow and wintertime in general--or do you prefer a different season?
 

Wordless Wednesday

Discouragement....

Before I start this post I would just like to say that I am not looking for a pity party, nor am I trying to be dramatic (drama and I do NOT get along) . . . this is just me sincerely expressing what I am experiencing at the moment, so please bear with me and allow me to express my feelings. . . .

As those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning may have realized, ever since I got married I have been rather 'friendless' for the most part (aside from my hubby anyhow--especially during our time at Fort Rucker!). Granted, while in Hawaii I did make a couple of friends, but rarely ever saw them (our friendship was--and still is mainly via texting or Facebook), so I still felt kind of friendless in a lot of ways. I do still have some long-distance friends from my teen-years and college whom I love dearly, but between trying to be a wife and a mom keeping in touch with those friends has been a challenge to say the least!


What has been really hitting me hard lately (and has bothered me a great deal over the last 12-13 years at least--not kidding!!), is that I have had friends that I consider to be "best friends", but it seems like no one really truly ever feels the same way back. It's always been hard watching my friends have such a special connection with their best friend--the camaraderie, openness, inside jokes, freedom to share their deepest dreams or hurts with each other and know that the friend has their back, will always be there for them, and can be depended on--while wishing the whole time that I could be a part of it too. Please don't get me wrong--it's not that I wish that they didn't have a best friend (on the contrary, I am happy that they have such a beautiful relationship with their best friends), it's just that I wish I had someone too.


I used to pray so fervently that God would send a girl that I could have that kind of a relationship with, but because my social circle didn't really change much while I was growing up and the girls around me had already developed 'best friend' relationships with other girls by the time I came along, time and time again I would get my hopes up only to figure out later that even if they called me their best friend I still seemed to be on a sort of 'outer circle' if that even makes sense.


My dad always used to tell me that while in college I would have the most friends I would ever have at any given time in my life . . . while I don't know for sure if that is indeed true (though it seems to be true for my life at this point at least!), if it is that really stinks because I think I probably only had somewhere around 10 girls I would consider friends while I was at college. As you can probably tell, I definitely wasn't a social butterfly, and it always seemed to me that even when I did put myself out there and tried to make friends I was still always the last one to be 'chosen'. That was made even more evident whenever it came time to choose roommates for the coming year--no one ever asked me to be their roommate and anyone I asked was already rooming with someone else. Talk about feeling like a loser!

I have always been an introvert by nature, so when I do enter into a friendship with someone it isn't on a whim--or an "I'm trying to add as many people to my Facebook friend list so I can feel important" kind of thing . . . when I befriend someone it means that I truly care about that person and what is going on in their life--and that I am willing to be there for them in whatever way I can be. Friendship isn't something I take lightly--maybe that is why it hurts me so much to always feel like I am the first one to be forgotten ("out of sight, out of mind") by most of my "friends", or the one who seemingly isn't valued or trusted enough to be included in the deeper aspects of their lives.

I think one thing over the past year or so that has really been driving home to me my lack of deeper friendships, is watching friends either getting married or being bridesmaids for their friends who were getting married, and realizing that I have never even been in the running to be a bridesmaid for anyone that I know or am friends with who has gotten married. That may seem superficial to some, but to me being asked to be a bridesmaid is a pretty BIG honor because it is a tell-tale sign of one's close relationship and importance to the bride.

Most of the time when my hubby is home I can usually push aside my lack of friends because I love spending time with him and am not the kind of girl who is inclined to "go out with the girls" while I leave my hubby at home with the Munchkin (so, I still wouldn't be a social butterfly in that aspect even if I did have a best friend who lived nearby). Every once in a while though, my lack of friends would creep up on me and I would get discouraged--and now even more so because my husband isn't here, and so now I feel really alone.

I know that in reality I am NOT alone because first and foremost my Heavenly Father has promised never to leave me or forsake me--and that IS comforting to me. However, I do find myself wishing I had a close girl-friend to talk to, share my fears, goals, dreams, and hopes with--and for once have her do the same back and not just have a one-sided 'deep' friendship. It's hard to not question why I haven't ever had a best friend who felt the same way about me; questions like: "What's wrong with me?" "Why doesn't anyone ever want to be MY friend--unless it seems like they have no other options?" "Why doesn't anyone ever trust me like that--what have I done to be so untrustworthy?" "What am I lacking?""Am I really that unappealing as a friend?"

Again, I did not write this post seeking a pity-party, or with the hopes that someone would feel sorry for me and want to be my best friend. Nope, nope, nope! The reason I wrote this post was simply because this blog is my outlet for my thoughts and feelings and I needed to get it off of my chest.

If you stuck through it all the way, thanks for reading! Prayers would be appreciated! I think Satan has really been working overtime trying to find ways to stress and discourage me this past year--and especially more-so now that this deployment is looming before me and is bringing on a whole new set of stressors. I need to memorize Philippians 4:5-7 which says,

"The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

I think that is going to be one of my theme verses for this next year . . . it's definitely something I am going to need to remind myself of on a daily basis while my beloved husband is in harm's way. . . .

Facing the Deployment

So, I meant to post an update a while back, but between moving, getting settled, trying to make the most of what time we had left together, saying goodbye, and now trying to settle into a new routine, there just wasn't any time left over to blog in.

Here I am now though! We arrived in Virginia November 30th, and Munchkin and I said goodbye to DH January 1st. He hasn't deployed yet (though that is coming up in the near future--for OPSEC reasons I will not be posting specific dates and times in order to not do anything to compromise the safety of my husband or the other troops deploying with him), but his leave was up on January 2nd and he had to be there to sign in in person. It's hard to believe that this past Sunday marked it as having only been one week since we said goodbye at the airport--it already feels like we've been apart for AT LEAST a couple of MONTHS. :-( It's going to be a long year folks, please keep all of us in your prayers as we try to make the best of it and keep a positive attitude throughout this deployment. THANK YOU!!!

I've been doing okay for the most part . . . the hardest times are at night when I am putting Munchkin to bed and when I have to turn out the light and I am still all alone. My hubby recorded himself reading a couple of Munchkin's favorite bedtime stories with our video camera and so Munchkin and I watch those every night before bed . . . it is both comforting and yet unbearable to watch (in some aspects). I hate that my husband is going to miss a year of our son's life (especially at this age when he is growing and changing SO much), and I hate that I can't explain to Munchkin WHY his daddy isn't there in person reading the stories to him, giving him a hug and kiss, and then turning off the light. It breaks my heart when I have to close the video camera after the stories are done and Munchkin gets upset because he can't see his daddy anymore. I worry about how this time of separation is going to affect/disrupt his relationship with my hubby. I worry that he will eventually only remember him as "the man on the screen" because he will only get to see him in pictures, videos, Skype, and FaceTime. If I still have any other military spouses reading this blog, any ideas/advice on how to keep a two-year old bonded with his daddy while he is away would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm struggling here and desperately need some sort of validation or suggestions as to how I can help them stay connected.

 Last family picture for awhile...this was taken just before we left for the airport (note the mischievous expression on Munchkin's face, :-p).

Munchkin while we were out playing in the backyard a few days ago.