Halloween Cookies

This is a good end to a fun weekend making Halloween cookies with my girls.


Brook
Sent from my HTC One™ X

Week 19: Your strengths and weaknesses in your marriage

Now that is personal. Let me see I try not to over share but I definitely like this question.

 

Strengths

• We know how to make each other laugh

• We are committed to our relationship, we were a couple before we were parents so we make our relationship a priority

• We talk, not always about serious stuff but we talk we try not to bottle things up

• Being there, we are there for each other, whether it be a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on, or sometimes even somebody to just vent to we are there for each other.

 

A strength and weakness is our stubbornness, we are both too stubborn to leave, and we both have to be right, although if you ask hubby he thinks he is right 99% of the time. Men 

 

Weaknesses

• Different communication styles

• Being guarded, when I first got together with my husband he was very guarded when it came to serious relationship stuff, his parents got divorced and it affected him. He is much better now but it took 13 years.

• Independence, we are both pretty independent and it took time for us to remember that we had another half and it isn’t checking in it is being courteous and letting the other person know that you are ok

 

There are strengths and weaknesses in every relationship they are unique to that couple or that relationship and they are healthy without differences we would be two people who are the exact same and how boring would that be.

 

Week 18: Random facts about your other half

Random facts about my other half, this could be interesting here we go I will try not to embarrass him!

1. He hates mayo but loves homemade ranch dressing

2. He didn’t eat salad until he met me, now he eats it with ranch, bacon and crackers on it, YUMMY

3. He is not ticklish, I mean not at all in fact he gets annoyed at people who insist that if they just keep tickling him he will laugh

4. He wears a youth size in fitted hats

5. He has been the same weight since I met him 13 years ago

6. He can sing, and I mean sing, the man has a great voice and an incredible memory he remembers lyrics and singers like it is nobody’s business

7. He loves old rock and rebel country, and he likes it loud

8. He wanted a little boy when we found out we were having twins, he got two little tomboys who think their daddy is superman and he smiles just mentioning their names.

9. He loves foot rubs, back rubs, oh who am I kidding he likes full body massages.

10. He has a terrible sweet tooth, cookies, fruit snacks, ice cream he loves it all

I will stop there but you get the idea, I have been with him for 13 years I know a lot and funny thing is I still learn some new things here and there I love that about him.



Week 17: The meaning of marriage

The meaning of marriage, oh man, I could answer this in so many ways. I could be funny and say it is two people who have chosen to drive each other crazy for the rest of their lives. Or I could be serious and say it is two souls who have chosen to walk one path together. Instead I think it best said that marriage is a friendship that you have for the rest of your life. And by friendship I mean that yes there will be times when your other half will drive you near insane, moments when you wonder what the heck you got yourself into, trying times like any friendship where you grow in different directions at different times. But the great thing about this friendship is that you have pledged to spend the rest of your life working on it. That your other half is all in with you, no matter if you are growing at different rates or in different directions you both have a common goal. My friendship is always growing, ebbing and flowing, we fight like good friends do, we agree and celebrate little victories, we don’t have a secret handshake but we have secret sayings that only the two of us know what they mean. My husband is my best friend when I am having a bad day, he is the shoulder I want to cry on, he is the hand I want holding mine, and he is most definitely the one I want ot argue with for the rest of my life. We can be stubborn and mad but we go to bed next to each other every night and we always kiss goodbye and goodnight. It is little things that make marriage and it is different for everyone, but my marriage is about me and him, we know each other he can make my face turn six shades of red in a matter of minutes and have a devilish smile on his face and nobody but me knows why my face is red and he has that smile. I can give him a look and he knows that my patience is wearing thin and I might need a joke to bring me out of my funk I am about to enter. I know that making him lunch every day and texting him randomly makes his entire day and can make is stress level drop. Marriage is knowing the other person, putting your whole self out there and taking a risk, it is living and loving. It is spending the rest of my life with a man that I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without.

 

11 Years

As I sit here writing this I remember 11 years ago, I was a scared 21 year old girl who had been just life-flighted to Great Falls. I was lying in a hospital bed convincing my family it was all a false alarm and I would be headed back home tomorrow and it was fine if they drove back. They did all leave everyone except Shane he was spending the night with me on a roll away bed that I am sure was not promising comfort. We were exhausted, and young and had no clue that our world was about to be turned upside down in every way possible.

 

11 years later I sit here on my bedroom floor typing a letter to the two most precious gifts that God has ever given me. He chose me to raise them, to have the honor of being called their mom, and to cry and smile all at the same time because sometimes parenthood really is insanity. 10 was a hard year, they are starting to become young girls, emotional, and figuring out their place in this world. They have opinions they have wants, needs, and sometimes demands. And lately they have no respect for me as a parent, I have to admit I was expecting this phase and in denial that maybe it wouldn’t happen and if it did it would happen later. But no such luck for me, darn it. We will make it through this too, they will drive me batty, I will drive them batty and together we will smile, argue, like, and dislike but we are family and we will survive teen girls.

 

Kaleigh & Lauryn,

 

I decided to write you a letter together this year. You two are going to drive me crazy sometimes, you are going to probably swear I have no clue what I am talking about, and I am sure I will hear the words I hate you at some point in time. I promise to drive you crazy most of the time and that I will always know what I am talking about. However I also promise that if or when you say you hate me that I will cry a little, and let it roll off my shoulders knowing that you don’t mean it and that you love me and will always love me. I promise to listen to you when you need to talk, I will always be here protecting your best interests and making sure you remember where your roots are.

 

You are such strong little girls, and you will always be my little girls. You are already independent, think you know it all and you already make time to help those that really need it. Please keep those traits. This last week you witnessed, for the first time I think realizing what it was, one of your friends being bullied. You handled it like pros, you made your friend smile again and let her talk to you and she even said she was so happy to have friends like you. You don’t share many friends and this is a new friendship for one of you but I am so proud of you. I am also very thankful that you knew you could talk to me about it, that you knew I would listen and that you listened when I gave you a little advice so that an adult at your school knows about it also. I lost a sweet dear friend in high school, because of bullying. He was a bright star and although he had terrific friends like I told you sometimes friends can get you more help when you are afraid to ask. I sit here crying wishing that we could skip middle school, that we could skip the girls that are mean, the emotions of your first breakup, or second or third, the growing years, only to realize we can’t. You will go through some rough times, but I promise you two that you will be ok. You two are so caring, compassionate, curious, adventurous adrenaline junkies, sweethearts, rough and tumble wears your heart on your sleeve girls.

 

You will have an amazing last year at elementary school and I am sure I will cry when I pick you up from your last day, because you are just growing up so fast, too fast. I miss rocking you to sleep at night, and to all those people that say you shouldn’t do that I say forget you, because there is nothing like the feeling of your babies asleep in your arms their peaceful faces, and gentle breathing. I miss the midnight feedings it was me and you time, hanging out watching QVC, just the three of us; or four of us because you two hit the lottery on your daddy, he really is the best. I still get the running jumping hugs, the goodnight kisses and I hope those don’t end for a while because I cherish each and every one of them still. You two make my heart smile, my soul smile you are a reminder that I am truly greatly blessed.

 

God chose me, although sometimes I think He might have been crazy because he forgot to give me the owners’ manual for twins, He chose me and He knew what he was doing. He made the last 10 years a ride, and I can’t wait for the next year’s adventures.

 

I love you baby girls and I am so proud of you!

 

Always and Forever,

 

Mom

 

Nature Box Review

So there is a company out there called Nature Box, they advertise healthy delicious snacks and they have a good variety. You can choose from I believe 4 different size boxes with different price points, and you can customize your box in the case of allergies. I chose their basic box and this is what it contained.

Blueberry Almonds - never tried these sorry they didn’t sound that appealing to me however the hubby tried them and said they were great. I wish I had a food processor they came with a recipe for Blueberry Almond Butter, now that sounded good.

Teriyaki Twists – These are rice twists, they had a pretty good flavor and an even better crunch. Yep most of the time when I am looking for a snack I want crunch unless I am looking for sweet but when it comes to savory I want crunch and a lot of it. Yummy

Cocoa Waffle Wafers – Chocolate colored pieces of cardboard. Sorry but these are terrible. Hubby didn’t’ mind them so much but the girls and I thought they were terrible. Yucky

Berry Good Blend – This was one of the first things to go in our box, it was blend of blueberries and cherries I do believe and it was delicious. Super yummy I only wished I would have received more.

Fiesta Corn Strips – These were item number two to disappear. They were crunchy corn chips that were healthy and they were so good. Great flavor not too spicy I could have loved them even more on a salad.

I was not paid for this review, and I forgot to take pictures although all the packages look the exact same. The items were delicious and I would totally order again, next time I promise pictures.

FMF - True

Linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday. Have been missing this lately read on to learn why.

So here we go writing for five minutes with no corrections, pre-planning, oh yikes.

GO...

It is true, I have gone and lost my mind. I decided that at the age of 32, with 11 year old twins, a full time job and a hubby that I would go back to school.  Yep I am pretty sure that constitutes madness.  So I took on 9 credits, by the way for me that seems like 100 credits, it is three classes, two in classroom and one online. I do homework here and there and everywhere, like for instance when I take my youngest to volleyball practice I go upstairs and sit in the family room and do my homework for Sociology class oh yeah what a joy.  I do love school I love that after being graduated from high school for so long and being out of the school world I can still pull some good grades, this mama still has it.  I am happy because I am pursuing my passion, I have wanted to be a teacher since the 3rd grade, when my teacher inspired fun and a love of learning into me. Thank you Mrs. Hanson (Ms. Burke), I can't thank her enough. So it is true that I might not be as organized as I once was, that my house is definitely not as clean as it used to be, and that there are days plenty of days that I run around like a chicken with its head cut off (I almost mean that literally you should see me). But I am enjoying the ride I am on and it is also true that my husband is a saint for putting up with all the craziness that is this semester of my life, he owns two businesses and so keeps odd hours so being home by 5 so I can go to school is sometimes a little extra stress on him, and he sits in bed and watches TV while I do homework and waits. So it is all true, I have lost my mind, my husband and girls are amazing, and it is also totally true that this too shall pass.

STOP!

So what is true in your life right now?

Week 16: How my childhood impacted who I am today

My childhood made me who I am today. I grew up with both of my parents, I am an odd man out in today's statistics, because my parents are still married. Not only married but married for over 30 years. I knew what they expected of me, not my mom wasn’t on the PTA, and my dad didn’t coach little league anything. But they were involved with me, they helped me with my homework, let me cry on their shoulders over pets that had died, boyfriend troubles, or just teenage drama. And they trusted me, I knew that I didn’t give them any reason to not trust me and I knew that that trust was a gift and that if I broke it it would be a hard road earning it back. My childhood was full of my mom taking me to school, making my lunch even through high school and being there when I got off the bus to ask me how school was today, even if my answer was OK for days upon days. My mom would go to work for the night and my dad would be there, to cook dinner, help with homework, referee fights between my sister and I and he even washed dishes. My parents are the best examples of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to have a home of my own, a partner in life that I could just hang out with and that would still give me kisses each and every time I left the house (yes my parents still do that they kiss goodbye all the time). I wanted kids of my own to share my heritage with, to share my family with, kids to pass on the traditions of my family to. My childhood made me want the basics, dream of the future, live in the present and respect the past. I am thankful for the fights my mom and I had growing up, because now she is one of my best friends, I love that my dad is still really pretty quiet he might not say much but he is a great listener and when he does talk you better listen. I am thankful for all the lessons I have learned the most memorable ones were a hard but they stuck. I don’t know if it is correct saying my childhood impacted me, so much as saying my parents impacted me. So Thanks Mom and Dad, I would say you did a pretty damn good job. You have two daughters with families of their own, who love spending time with you and are proud to call you our parents.