I hope I didn't snore

Ya know the times in life where you have to have a mantra in order to survive, something you can repeat over and over to yourself throughout the day in order to keep your sanity. Lately, mine has been:

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethen were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." (Mosiah 24:15)

With all of the changes happening in our lives, some of which we have chosen - some of which are being forced upon us, I've had a hard time being able to accept it all... and accept what it means to our day to day lives. I've had an ever harder time doing this all with patience and/or a good attitude. So I read my mantra everyday and tell myself that whatever happens I can handle it, and handle it with a good attitude. What I didn't expect to see from this is the blessings that have come this week... being able to recognize the little (and BIG) things that have helped me to bear my burdens with ease.

1. Zee and Wil have the boys. I know this isn't easy for them! It's allowed me to work long days and still recover from this nasty sinus infection.
2. Dad picking up dinner so I don't have to worry about it.
3. My boss... who gives me the freedom I need for my family.
4. Medicine. Especially the kind that knocks me out so I'm getting the sleep I need.
5. A Starbucks gift card.
6. Kind and generous people. A local massage thereapist called our office yesterday and offered free massages to all of the Hospice employees. You know I was first in line! I went over to his office expecting a 15 minute hand massage... an HOUR later he woke me up and sent me back to work.

Now I'm hoping that I've been able to regroup and rest enough that I can conquer the next 6 weeks.

Wil, Zee and the boys left grandma's house yesterday evening to head back to West Virginia for the week. I'm still in Maryland, trying to get caught up at work, without the stress of temporary single parenting. It is really strange (and super quiet) without my 3 boys.

Just to make sure I wouldn't miss them too much, they left me a present... the sinus infection I've been avoiding for the last 3 weeks. Dodging that bullet was too good to be true. But thankfully, I have the time this week to rest and get better.

So, "meet our animals" will be postponed til next week. Medicine is waiting at the pharmacy. And fingers are crossed that my boys will be good for their Zizi.

Five years and counting...

It's been five years since this day:

and I don't even know how to express how grateful I am for my wonderful husband.

So, in honor of our fifth anniversary, I'm going to give you my top 5 reasons why I love Wil.
1. When a mouse runs across the kitchen floor at 9:30 at night, he tries to catch it. Even though he's dog tired from being up since four and spending 14 hours at work.
2. When said mouse chase causes our living room to look like this:
He puts it all back AND does the dishes.
3. Our boys4. He works hard to be a better man, husband and daddy.
5. He loves me... even when I'm a big hot mess and forget it's our anniversary.

First there was Mrs. Mantis. Then the stink bugs came in droves. Now my husband is trying to catch the mouse in our living room. West Virginia hates me.

Meet Our Animals Monday

Today we took a trip to visit the boys' great grandmas in Pennsylvania, which means we also got to visit Trooper. Here's a video of Little Man and Trooper becoming fast friends during the summer of 2008. You might need a translation, he's very worried about the stuffed bee Trooper is playing with...

Here's Little Man and Trooper today


(this is the best I could do to get them both sitting still at the same time)

When you don't have to share

I stopped at Starbucks this morning on my way to work. I had left the house without breakfast and dreams of a Pumkin Spice Creme frappacino were dancing in my head. So I ordered a large... it's 3 hours later and I'm trying to figure out why I can't seem to finish it. Then it dawned on me that I don't have 2 little boys snitching my "smoothie". Next time, I'm by myself can safely order a small.

I'm the guest blogger at "On How to be Lovely"! I think my sister just knew that I needed to be reminded of this with everything that has happened this week.You should check it out.

I had to fire a vendor yesterday. It was awkward and made me want to throw up. You see, I avoid confrontation as much as possible. I really don't like having to "discipline" an adult (although I have no problem telling my children "no"). As a reward for being courageous and not crying in the midst of the meeting, I bought myself a birch beer... then I had a lot of  some chocolate.

Wil says I need to not be so hard on myself, that it's understandable with the stress of work, sick babies and being far from home, I'm going to need some chocolate. The problem is, I feel out of control. I can't walk past the dang candy dish in the office without something finding it's way into my hand. And let's not even talk about the cookie jar at my parent's house. When one part of my life feels that out of control, so does everything else. I have a hard time focusing and decision making is near impossible.

Which brings me to the big question... how in the world do I get it back under some sort of "control"? Recognizing of course, that I can't "control" everything. There is always the element of faith in the mix... maybe "find the balance" is a better way of putting it.

In the midst of the chaos, how do I find the balance?

A well planned week has turned into chaos... We are at my parents house. Little Man has croup. My sil (who watches the boys while I'm working) ended up with a nasty flu. Two days at work have turned into a full week.

It's getting late. I miss my husband. I'm stressed about work & the boys. I'm exhausted.
I don't know what I would do without a supportive husband and a wonderful sissie, who's coming back down here to watch the boys so I can take care of the problems with my event without feeling like a horrible mother.
I have to keep reminding myself that this is temporary and will all be over in December. We just have to make it through until then, living apart and working full- time. Wish us luck...and me a lot of patience.

Meet our Animals Monday

Lemonade Kitty


Bird

A work in progress

Our empty living room

I don't have a picture of our room when we only had the two chairs. But here's our work in progress:

The big chair and ottoman are being moved back to my parents house. We still have to hide cords, hang pictures and I'd like to get a smaller Karlstad chair from Ikea to replace the big one. Eventually we're going to replace the tv and entertainment center with something that coordinates. Wil picked out our fun lamps, which took me completely by surprise. I love them! And that space on top of the entertainment center bothered me in the apartment too. I just haven't been able to find something that works up there. Last of all, my dad is going to build me boxes to put on the tops of the windows and then I'm going to cover them with some kind of fun fabric... no curtains in this room. I love the light, but want to be able to hide the mini-blinds. I'm so excited to see it all come together.