Life

"What you thought was real in life, has somehow steered you wrong.

Now you just keep driving trying to find out where you belong..."
- 3 Doors Down, The Road I'm On

Good Friday

So, it's Friday. Good Friday to be exact. And it's been good to me so far. Productive, but relaxing morning at work, then found out I was released from work at noon. HOLLA!! It doesn't get much better than that folks!

Oh wait, yes it does. Then I enjoyed a solo Target trip, impromptu nap in the sunshine (fell asleep on the patio) and got to spend time with my most favorite man in the world.

Nash's friend Hunter is the cutest little man ever.

While we were playing, his sweet new Tom's arrived!  Loving this fresh green color...

Nash loves to fake sleep.  And gets mad when I try to take pictures of it.

I finished my night off with some Moscato and bloggie time...aaaaand, I'm complete.

Just (p)laying Around

 Spending some time with my Babyman today after hitting the Easter Egg Hunt this morning.  Took my camera out to the church and realized how much I missed snapping random pics of my lovie, so thought I'd snap a few during our afternoon play session.

 
How will I ever say no to this sweet little face?  Even when he's pretending to be upset, he breaks my heart.  Haha...and he knows it!

New favorite game?  Fake sleeping.  Tells everyone, "Sleepy!" and makes us lie down, close our eyes and snore.  And then he does the same.  Such a little ham.

 
This last one is from a series of shots of him telling us a story...each face he made was even funnier/cuter/more animated than the last, but this one is pretty much perfect.  Mid sentence...looking all serious.

My lovie almost 28 months old and smarter, funnier, and way chattier than I ever expected he would be at this age.  Who knew...

Musing...

"Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy..."
- Rihanna, Diamonds

New Years Resolutions 2013

Ok, ok, I'm retardedly late on posting this, but I've been busy, I tell ya! So better late than never, right? Seems like a lot, but I feel like this year is a pivotal point for many reasons. I'm approaching my pre-baby fitness levels, have the opportunity to make some good money and great contacts for future employment, and Joe and I are facing some tough obstacles right now. How I/we end up is a product of how much work and focus we exert in the next 12 months.


Health and Fitness
PR the Princess Half (2:29:00)
Run an 8-minute pace 5k
Run the Army 10-Miler in 1:40:00
Earn a 280 or better on my APFT
Go paleo for Lent; make strides toward living wheat and dairy free permanently
Squat 100#
Earn the German Armed Forces Badge

Finances and Professional Growth
Keep at least $25,000 in savings/investments for down payment on a home
Make FYC profitable
Open and maintain Etsy shop
Complete CCC
Find a full-time job making at least $65,000 a year
Blog more
Spend less money on "things"
Create monthly budget and stick to it

Family and Marriage
Keep home cleaner and more organized
No Instagram/Facebook/Pinterest until Nash is in bed
One "date night" a week - movie/tv night
Two "date nights" per month - get a babysitter and go out
Attend marriage counseling
Be more patient with Nash, but maintain a sense of discipline
Communicate
Go on as many vacations as possible - search for low-budget options

Finding Time...

...to empty my camera roll, that is!

Handsome man at his 2-year well check.

He's gonna knock the socks off of some ladies one day...

This next one is just awesome...Joe freezing his, er, snots off at ICE! at Gaylord Palms.

We had the most beautiful sunset a while back...no edits to these next two.  Just gorgeous...

Battles

Struggling a bit here. It's always so much harder after being gone for a while. Story goes like this:

Mama and Bub are getting along great...he's learned that she loves kisses, is good at playing trucks and is the best wrestle partner. Life is grand.

Then Mama has to leave for work. Maybe it's just all day...for 4 or 5 days... but she's home at night. Or maybe she's gone for a week or two. Either way, she's gone.

And when she returns, Nash wants nothing to do with her. I mean, aside from the initial 5 minutes where she's the hot new game in town (aka someone new to show off to). Other than that, he's constantly asking for someone else...even when I'm in the room and we're playing, he's not satisfied with just me. He doesn't listen to me...acts like there's no way in hell I'm in charge of him. Cries, throws tantrums...or, in the case of today, falls asleep on the bedroom floor because Mama said he had to get in the bed for naptime.

Maybe it's just terrible twos. Or maybe I'm slowly losing this battle. i mean, who knew I would have a kid that would constantly test me...test my patience, my innovation and my emotions. He just doesn't seem to care much about me most days...and despises me the rest because I'm trying to be strict with him. And everyone's watching. Asking themselves, well gee...he's usually not like this. Yes, I know. It's me.

It's part of a woman's role in life to be a good mother, raise great children and take care of her family. And I feel like I'm failing at that part. Or at least failing by comparison. My husband is more patient. But he's also more lenient. I'm a little hot-headed, but I stick to my guns. Sometimes feel like I'm on team all-alone-out-here-on-discipline-island...but then I'm barely home anyway so what does it matter what rules I enforce or if I slip him a piece of candy every time I see him.

I'm losing. And part of me wants to concede the battle and say, it's all yours. But I know I could never do that. So I'll continue on...failing, losing...