By His Heart

Joel deployed 126 days ago.  126 mornings without his girls to wake up to.  126 days without being able to hold his two little ones.  He is thousands of miles from a life he left behind so he could serve.  Joel and so many other soldiers are thousands of miles away from those they love.  They eat, sleep and sweat war and a mission that is bigger than any of us could imagine.  They fight so that we can lay our heads down at night in peace.  They fight so that we can go about what we consider to be busy and stressful lives.  They fight so that their loved ones will have a secure future.  They fight so that people who are strangers to them can be free.

Thousands of miles away from home, Joel is at work with a tiny flag in his breast pocket.  The flag is close to his heart, and he serves, like so many thousands of soldiers today, to maintain the freedom that our flag represents.

To those who serve today and to those who served in the past - thank you.  Thank you for your sacrifice, your unwavering commitment and your drive to keep us safe and our future secure.  We honor you today and we pray for you always.

Retailers Cheapen Tomorrow's Meaning

I'm not going to rant tomorrow on Veteran's Day - so I'll do it today instead.

I know I'm a bit biased, being a wife of a veteran...  But I HATE Veteran's Day sales and advertising.  Seriously, I have to change the channel every time a Macy's Veteran's Day sale pops on TV flashing images of shoes, jewelry and coats with the U.S. flag streaming in the background.  A few years back I was shopping at Macy's on Veteran's Day and asked the lady who checked me out if they offered a Veteran's discount.  She looked at me like I had just asked her if they sold llamas or something.  Like it would be so absurd to assume with all the red, white and blue balloons and streamers all over the store, that they were actually acknowledging that Veteran's Day meant something more to them than a discount and their bottom line.

Joel and I never expect to get any advantages because of his military status and his deployment history.  His service is just that, a service.  I love that some companies like Disney and Applebees, honor veterans and their families with a free meal or discounts on vacation packages.  I think that's really thoughtful and even though we've never taken advantage of those offers, I respect those companies for reaching out to those who've served in a tangible way.

I wrote Macy's and told them what I thought about their advertising.  I didn't get a response and I didn't expect one.  But tomorrow, on Veteran's Day, I will write them again and next  year, I'll do the same. 

Wednesday Weigh-In

Happy Wednesday to you all!  Another kinda sad day of weight gain for me - just one pound, though, this week.  I know everyone has a bit of weight fluctuation, so I'm trying not to to beat myself over being up a pound this week.  Trying.  So, I now have 4 more pounds to meet my goal.

I know I said last week that I intended to talk this week about some of my body image struggles.  And I absolutely intend to!  It just seems that this very broad and very personal topic has been hard for me to write about.  Every time that I've sat down to write about it, my thoughts are all over the place.  So, I just need another day or two (I hope) and I'll try to get back on it and write again.  I promise!  Honestly, my past body image struggles completely affect how I deal with my current goals toward health and weight loss, so I really want to talk about it!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Thanks, Wife of a Sailor for another great list of questions.

1.A different twist on last week’s question. This week, the first question is: what’s the nicest thing a MILSPOUSE has ever done for you? (brought to you from navy_smurfette)
Honestly, I've been really touched by the unique ways that military wives have come out to support and encourage me.  One particular MilSpouse comes to mind, however.  A sweet lady that goes to my church is a "retired MilSpouse".  A few weeks ago, she gave me a newspaper clipping and this is what it said:
"Although my husband's status has changed, I still consider myself a military spouse, and I must say this: Military spouses are not government-issued, and they are one of a kind that never goes away or ever fades away.  Our love does not come once a year on Valentine's Day.

To all the readers of Stars and Stripes around the world, may you be comforted as I have with these words.  'Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.' - Isaiah 40:10.

With courage, purpose and devotion from the depth of our hearts in supporting those who serve our country, I know we'll continue.  May God's grace and unfailing love comfort you day by day."


2.How often do you drive faster than the speed limit?
Well, I'm from Chicago where speed limits are really just treated as suggestions.  So, there you go.

3.Did you have a nickname in school? If so, what was it?
Thanks to a classmate if 4th grade, Kitty Litter stuck around for a while, from a play on my maiden name.

4.If your life was a book, what would the title be and how would it end?
"My Journey Toward Contentment"
I would hope the book would end with my will finally submitting to God's.  And I know that's an incredibly broad statement, but as I look back and what I've gone through at this point in life, my struggle has always been contentment and I hope that someday I will let go of that struggle and rest, I mean really rest, in God's perfect plan for my life.

5.Look back (in your planner if you have one) to September 14th… what did you do that day?
September 14th was day 68 of this deployment and I had a stress echo scheduled at 12:45 pm.  Yeah, that was a fun day.

My Baby's 6 Months!

Autumn turned 6-months just a few weeks ago.  My baby's growing up!  She's now rolling over from both her belly and her back.  She's holding on to toys better and is for-sure a mommy's girl.  Autumn's such an easy-going baby and I'm so blessed by her.

Here are a few pictures I had done last week.  She's currently working on four teeth, so she wasn't thrilled to be there and she wasn't giving smiles that day.  But she's even cute while grumpy.

My friend, Stephanie, made the tutu for Autumn.  She has a fan page on Facebook called Cutie Pie Accessories.  Look her up!

Wednesday Weigh-In

This week was just so-so with eating for me.  I managed to share one brownie out of an entire pan with Grace and I think I've eaten my weight this week in hummus.  Seriously, that stuff is good.  But, I did manage to still lose one pound this week.  That makes the total weight loss since Joel deployed (118 days ago) to 22 pounds and I have 3 more to go to make it to my goal weight.  Woo-Hoo!

A few weeks back, I saw my doctor about another issue and asked her about what she think my ideal weight would be... Well, as of today, I'm at that weight!  It feels great to know that I'm healthy and I do feel so much better about myself.

On my next Wednesday Weigh-In post, I want to share some about my own struggles with body image and how I try to keep that balanced now with my venture toward personal health.  So, be on the look-out for that.

Happy Wednesday to you all... cute baby pictures are coming soon!

Go Vote!

It's Election Day and I hope you either plan to vote or did so already!!!  I remember how excited I was the first time I was able to vote and I still love the feeling of getting in the voting booth and pushing the button for my candidate.

This is an important election, and I hope that you get out and make your vote count today.  So many have fought and died for our freedom to do so.  We honor them by taking a few moments each year to help decide which direction our great country should go.

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.  - Sydney J. Harris

Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason. - Author Unknown