Organization

My kids have no idea how to organize things!  Their rooms are a mess (to me), their backpacks are disgusting (to me), and the way they allow all the toothpaste to come trickling down the tube is well, gross (to me)!  I just spent the last 30 minutes with Madelyn explaining to her how much easier life would be for her if she would just put her homework/classwork/notes in the corresponding notebooks I bought for her at the beginning of the schoool year (those are lost, probably somewhere in her room).  I remember having this same conversation with Conner....several times, to no avail.  I want those words back (if we do, indeed, only have a set number of words to use in our lives) and the time.  I am pretty sure that if they could learn organization skills, they would be more successful in school.  Right now, at this very moment, Maddie's backpack is organized.  All the loose papers are neatly tucked away in the proper folder but I am left wondering how long this will last. 

As I was looking in the container of extra school supplies for folders, I made the comment to Michael, "Why are my kids so unorganized?"  To which he responded "Because they are my kids too!"  I appreciated this comment more than I realized, for that simple sentence is what drove me to write in my blog tonight.  It's his subtle way of apologizing because had he really said he was sorry, I probably would have blown up about his lack of organization as well but I didn't because, well, he knows!  He really does get me.  He understands that if everyone just put things where they belonged, I would be a much more pleasant person!

Thanks, from Heather

Photo Card

Contempo Grad Graduation

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Cooking

Y'all know I love to cook and I try new recipes all the time.  Today, I made a dessert (which is very rare) from scratch and I thought I'd share it.  It takes a while to make but is worth it, I do not know if you can substitute ingredients or not, it was great just the way it is. 

Stacked Apple Sauce Cake (wish I could remember where I got it so I could give the person/book credit)

3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups unsweetened apple sauce
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
Cinnamon Whipped Cream (recipe follows)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat three 9 inch baking pans with baking spray and coat with flour. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.  Set aside.
Beat butter on med-high for 1 minute, add sugar and beat until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat 2 minutes.  Reduce speed, add applesauce and flour mixture alternating 1/3 cup at a time.  So, 1/3 cup applesauce, 1/3 cup flour mixing well in between.  End with dry ingredients...
Spread evenly in 3 pans.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes.  Remove and cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on cooling rack until room temperature.  Layer cake with cinnamon whipped cream.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream
2 cups very cold heavy cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix everything together until soft peaks form.



What I may do differently is:  I may make a cinnamon cream cheese frosting....I may make it like a banana nut bread.....But it was really good just the way the recipe is.....

Thanks, from Heather

Friends

One of the things I love about our life in the Air Force is the friends we've made along the way.  Michael has been in for almost 18 years and tonight, we had dinner with one of our "oldest" friends.  When we met at Misawa AB Japan, she was just a Lieutenant on active duty and today, she is a Major in the Reserves, and Michael had a line number for SSgt and now, he has a line number for SMSgt.  The neatest thing though, she has been the one to re-enlist Michael the last 2 times.  It is also really cool how our worlds have crossed paths and we realize how small the Air Force is. 

We have been to 4 bases, McConnell AFB, Kansas, Misawa AB, Japan, RAF Mildenhall, UK, and McChord AFB, WA.  I have been lucky to meet and keep in touch with people from each of these locations.  These people have become my family.  I have come to rely on them because they understand, much more so than my civilian friends and even my "blood" family.  I am sad that I am about to say bye to some more friends soon as they are moving on (Turkey, Hungary, England) but I won't cry, I am so excited for them.  They are about to embark on another adventure, a lifetime of memories, and an education for their children.  I am jealous!!!

I look forward to our next duty station, where ever that may be, and making new friends, having new experiences, and new adventures but, I will always remember those that have entered my life, each one taught me something and I am a better person for knowing them.

Thanks, from Heather

Job Fair, Eyebrows, and Nolie

I saw the advertisement for the job fair a few weeks ago and decided it was something I should probably look in to.  Some of you know I was offered a job at a newspaper (as a freelance writer) what you may not know is that I turned it down.  I am pretty confident we will receive orders within the next few weeks so I don't want to find a local job and this job fair was geared for the military so, there were many national companies present.  Anyway, as I was getting ready this morning, I looked in the mirror and realized, "Damn, I need to pluck my eyebrows!"  I instantly thought of my best friend Nolie.  It is her fault, after all, that I do anything with them in the first place.  Exactly 10 years ago, right before my 30th birthday, she looked at me and with all the love she could muster told me I needed to do something with those "things"!  Reluctantly I allowed her to pluck and shape them for me, I had never felt so much pain in my life and by this point, I had given birth to 3 children, broken several bones as a result of being an athlete, and had my heart ripped out a few times by various boys but this, I actually freaking cried.  But they looked amazing.  You'd think I would have stopped this torturous behavior after we moved away from her and I was no longer under her eye (ha ha ha) but alas, I continued.  I have them waxed, I have them threaded (my honest to God favorite form of removal), and I pluck. I pluck because it is faster, I pluck because I don't have time to get to the salon to have them done, and I pluck because I am cheap but I do not pluck because I enjoy it....I do enjoy the end product but I never do a great job, I do OK but Nolie has always and will always do it better.  I think it's because she is a perfectionist but in spite of all that, I love her anyway.

Which brings me to this, knowing we will possibly be moving soon, I really hope it is to Arizona because I can get a job there (a few of the companies I spoke with today have offices there), it is pretty much warm year round, and I can finally get my eyebrows done for free and they will look amazing again, but most of all, because I can be near my friend again!

Thanks, from Heather

Blogging

I read blogs, not a lot but, a few. Some are simply written by a friend to keep family and friends updated on their recent move, how the kids are doing type thing where as others poke fun of the life we lead as military spouses. Most are informative, interesting, funny, and at times, sad but the one thing they all have in common is they are all a way for the author to express themselves one way or another.
Now, I never thought I would be a blogger myself but, if I was one, I’d want to be like Carrie Bradshaw, sitting at my computer in sexy under things looking hot all the time. I’d be informative, fun, compassionate, deep, and seem intelligent. Well, I am all of those things, just never at the same time nor at the level I wish to immolate. But, I do have things I wish to say, feelings I want to express, and knowledge I want to pass along (whether you take my advice, heed my warnings, or just laugh at me is entirely up to you)! Please keep in mind, these “blogs” will be my ideas, thoughts, mood swings, and the occasional rant and in no way reflect anyone or anything other than myself.All of that said, coming up with a name for my blog is proving difficult. Am I trying to write as a wife, mother, military spouse, woman, friend??? All of the above? None of the above? I will have to think about this for a bit and get back to you with a name….maybe it will be something totally obscure, maybe it will make sense, maybe some will get it while others don’t, who knows? The cool thing is, it’s my blog, it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone other than me but, I do hope you’ll read it and enjoy it and maybe learn something about me because I know I hope to learn a lot about myself….
Thanks
From

Heather