Girlfriends & Goodbyes

thursdays are my only weekday that i don't work out. {mostly, anyway} because on thursday mornings? i have a standing date w/my girlfriends. we all meet at a local coffee shop and spend a couple of hours chatting, sharing our hearts, encouraging, laughing, and just being real. real women, wives, mommies, sisters in christ! girlfriends are such a cherished blessing!



but goodbyes?? they aren't so fun. unfortunately, as a military wife they are all too common. one of the absolute hardest parts of this lifestyle. i am thankful that God continues to bless me with the ability to open up and let new friends in, knowing from the start that our time together will be short. it isn't always easy and at times everything in me wants to close and protect my heart, but then i would miss the beauty these friendships bring to my life!

Jen~ you have been such a blessing and i know that our friendship does not end here, even though our physical time together does. I will miss your smile, your laugh, your energy and the sparkle in your eye! The way you share your heart and are such an encouragement to me ~ always there to listen, to pray, to give the BEST hugs! You live big, you love big and i love you! Praying God's best for you as you guys continue on your adventure!! {let brandon know i'll miss not talking to him at the gym! ;)} you are already so missed....

helping hands

i have quite the little 4 yr old helper on my hands.

brayden loves to help me in the kitchen!

that stinkin' sweet little voice....

"momma, can i stir stir?"

"i wanna do it myself momma!"

"can i spread momma?" {he love pb&j!}

and my reply? {most of the time...}

"yes monkey! come help momma!"

and while it takes a little longer and may not be as pretty or perfect as i may like,

i know that all too soon i will miss those sweet little requests to help.

that sweet little voice that melts my heart every time!

Catch Up {bullet style}

Not even really sure where the last two weeks went other than to say they FLEW by!! We've been staying pretty busy with day to day "stuff" and by the time the evening rolls around and i have an opportunity to blog, i just haven't felt very inspired. please tell me i'm not the only one who gets this way?!?

here's a quick update~bullet style!

• colby had a skating birthday party for one his classmates and we all got to go! brayden even got to skate for the first time!

{colby & friends @ the birthday party!}

{hubby trying to help brayden skate for the 1st time!}

• our small group had a not so small super bowl party! we had a great time!

• hubby was nominated for sailor of the quarter!! i am so incredibly proud of him!! he gives his best ALL the time and never expects any sort of recognition for it. BUT....as his wife it is such a blessing to see his hard work recognized! he went before the board last week, but we haven't heard yet if he was selected!

• the small group that i lead for military wives at our church has started back up after a long holiday hiatus! i'm so blessed by each of the ladies in the group and i missed seeing them each week!

• last friday, pensacola shut down because of a chance of snow. i guess i kind of get why, but seriously it was comical! the military bases and schools shut down which meant i had all of my guys home with me! and just take a guess at how much snow we had?!? ZERO! ha! but we had a great time as a family on our non snowing snow day! =)

• hubby and i were blessed to be able to attend a marriage conference at our church on friday night and saturday morning! i am firm believer that no matter how great or not great your marriage is, these conferences are such a blessing if you go into it with a heart to hear what God has for you! we really enjoyed it and even got to go to dinner together before the session on friday night!

our good friends seth and ryan hung out with the boys so we could go and they ALL had a great time! apparently seth went to walmart and bought something like 50 nerf darts and they had a BIG nerf fight! i'm still finding darts! ;)

• and last but certainly not least, i have added 32.58 miles to my total since i last posted!! quickly approaching the 100 mile mark!!

so. life is crazy and busy but so so blessed!! i am looking forward to mops and a scrapbooking night with friends this week and relaxing w/ my 3 favorite guys this weekend!! oh yeah, and finding more time/inspiration to blog! ;)

50.

THAT'S HOW MANY MILES I DID IN JANUARY!!!!

seriously y'all?!? that is a huge accomplishment for me. HUGE! and it feels so stinkin' good!! it wasn't always easy, but this 500 miles in 2010 challenge has been a huge motivator for me! i can't wait to push myself this month, and next month, and the month after that and see how many miles i can rack up! and see my waistline shrink as i go!! ;)

and i was thinking the other day about when i hit my all time low. when i stepped on the scale and i had hit that number that i just never dreamed i would. it was a year ago....january 2009. today i am so excited to share that i am 40lbs lighter than i was then!!!! 40lbs!! and just for the record, since i actually got serious about weight loss and decided to change my life, i have lost 23lbs. slow and steady and i LOVE it!!

and because he's hot and we're hot together and posting without pictures just isn't as fun, i thought i would share a picture of me and my hubby that colby took yesterday! enjoy! =)