Dropping By On A Friday Night

1. Kiss your husband goodbye as he leaves for a twelve-hour night shift.
2. Make sure the TV is turned off…
3. Do a bit of internet shopping.
4. Continue procrastinating by making a green smoothie to drink while novel-writing.
5. Decide to get on your blog and make a post, because it was better than getting on FB.
6. Send your husband a text to let him know you love him and because he has been gone for an hour now… You miss him already.
7. Realize it has been an hour already and you haven’t done any novel-writing.
8. Get on Pinterest, only to look for writing inspiration.

I’ve been trying to write everyday. I have only made my word count twice… I am struggling with this so bad. HOWEVER I am trying and that is more than I’ve been doing for months now. Just to prove I was on Pinterest hunting down a helpful writers tips HERE is what I found. It is about how to open a story.

I’ll go for now. Need another glass of my smoothie. Going to concentrate on getting this novel off the ground and incorporating whatever pieces I’ve already written. Wish me luck!

P.S. I’ve also discovered that writing is the perfect time to get all those healthy snack items into my system. I’m concentrating so much of my thought into writing that I don’t even realize what I’m munching, Only that the munchies aren’t feeling so hungry anymore.

It’s November

“It’s November.” Like that explained everything to my husband about why I was writing 2,000 words a day. Then explained to him about NaNoWriMo and that cleared things up for him a little better. 🙂 I love watching his face as I give him an explanation for something but it not really being an answer that make sense to him. His puzzled face is priceless. 🙂

I don’t really have a story in particular that I am working on for this month. I haven’t really been doing much writing at all. Not because I don’t have the time but because I lack inspiration and motivation. So I’m hoping that by writing 2,000 words of any subject that comes to mind will get me to a 50,000 words at the end of the month as well as a new inspiration. Maybe even a newly acquired habit of sitting down to get even a little writing done. I need to be writing again. I need it for me.

I know I haven’t posted on here in such a long time. I won’t make any promises, because I don’t like not keeping them. I know I would like to be posting again. I am hoping to start putting recipes I enjoy making on a blog my Mom and I started a while back. Every week I’d like to be posting a new recipe. However I also know that I have a hard time doing anything on a regular basis. I will try though! Cooking Mom’s Way

Making smoothies is one of the newest things I have been doing. My favorite one is banana and strawberry. Right now I’m using spinach and yogurt (because I love it and want the probiotics.) Right now I am working with a food processor. I consider it good enough for now and a part of apartment living. I’m sure that I’ll feel like a spoiled girl when I get to a place where I’m using a blender.

This was a gorgeous sunset we had one evening.

(The picture would have been better it the camera hadn’t flashed and reflected off the car window…)

The weather here in Missouri has been really nice lately. Still we can tell that it is autumn going on winter. The leaves are falling, especially when it is rainy. It is definitely a little nicer here than in PA as far as the weather goes. With the exception of the tornadoes of course. One of the things we really miss is the mountains. The closest thing I’ve seen to mountains out here is the tree covered hills In Weston, MO. This is a picture from the Lewis and Clark Village State Park.

One of the prettiest places I have seen in Missouri so far.

Feeling Blue

I don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to sit on the couch eat lots of chocolate and ice cream. Then I get this your-fat-feeling an I don’t feel like doing that either. We just got back from a short week long trip to PA so there is a bunch of stuff to do, you know the usual stuff like laundry and dishes and unpacking and locating the items your missing…
Last night I fell asleep on the couch which is expected when you’ve been in a car for hours the day before. Tonight… I don’t really have that excuse. I’m not tired, I just don’t want to do anything. A list of things to accomplish and I have zero ambition. I hate this feeling, this lack of effort, this blah.
Instead of simply indulging in an over abundance of Netflix I got up, lit a candle, pulled together the laundry, and got ready to start dishes. Until I decided to make this rather depressing post. I like to be busy. I like to be doing things. This lack of desire to do the things I want to get done is awful.
I have this I-wanna-go-home feeling, yet… I have everything I need right here. Except for the fact that he is currently at work and out of snuggling range. 🙂 I guess I’m hoping that by writing this out I’ll feel better and I have to admit that it is working a bit.
I still don’t want to do anything. I still want chocolate and ice cream but I am feeling a little less blue.
So much to do… Guess I’m going to have to push myself out of my own slump. 😛 Starting to smell the candle. Dishes won’t do themselves. Waiting for my man to come home.
Hoping for better days. At least ones that don’t feel quite so blue…

Lately…

Honestly I’ve made two posts since the last time I posted. Either the computer has shut down mid post or it inconveniently logged me out without saving a single word of the post I’d been typing. So here I am. I’ll try try again!
I’ve been crocheting. Finished this blanket…

I’ve crocheted a few other little things since but those are gifts so I’ll not share them here, just in case. Started crocheting a vest unless I decide to turn it into something else… Just bought the yarn today.
Handsome recorded a new song today. Here is the link for the song. Tell All The People.

We have had a week of gorgeous weather, a week of freezing weather with rain and snow, and a week of weather in between that we have been enjoying. We went to a craft store thanks to the help of Google maps and out GPS but unfortunately it was no longer in business. However there were some cute little store there that reminded me of the little places in Wellsboro. They have a neat little pet store there as well. They were selling cute dog treats that looked homemade. There were also so super adorable puppies there that we couldn’t help petting. The little plaza also had a natural foods store that carries my favorite granola. I’ve been consuming yogurt again and you just can’t have yogurt without honey and granola, especially not greek yogurt… with blueberries. 🙂 Anyway it is the first natural food store I’ve seen out here so far. We enjoyed walking around and checking everything out. The best part was we didn’t even have to travel over the bridge into the city. We are still country people… busy cities scare us.
I guess we have just been trying to enjoy life. Looking forward to our trip back to PA in March. We will have a few days there before we come back to Missouri. I’ve already started getting around a few things that we will need.
Hope your enjoying yourselves! Looking forward to Valentines Day. And Spring! Spring will be coming before we know it. Can’t wait to see the flowers again…

Happy 2015

I know… I’m late. I’ve been attempting to write posts but… I just don’t like what I write. I think writers block has a part in it and I’m sure there is something else I have settled on agree with myself about.

It is 3:30 in the AM… Handsome is on night shift and I find it hard to sleep by myself. Plus I’ve been having the strangest dreams lately. Anyway, watched way too much Netflix, finished the dishes, started working on finance stuff (That makes it sounds so big and responsible when it is really just adding numbers together), doing some reading, and attempting some writing. Music is playing, the Christmas tree is lite, candles are burning safely on the clean stove top, the lights are turned off now in hopes that my mind will settle in for a few hours sleep.

I rung in the New Year with a text to handsome who was working night shift. I was watching movies and feeling homesick. Bathed in self-pity, I felt sick, and searched for my optimistic side which kept tuning in and out. At least until I curled up and fell asleep on the couch. The best remedy to sadness, as far as I can tell, has got to be waking up to the face of the person you love. 🙂

We had a wonderful Christmas. Christmas Eve we decorated our tree, played  some Christmas music, ate cookies, and watched our favorite Christmas movie. It was a delightful evening spent together. We recorded a Christmas song with the camera my brother bought us for Christmas.

Christmas Day we slept in. That was nice after our late night. Since it is just the two of us out here in Missouri we were able to do that. We went shopping the day after Christmas. Once we were out there we were wondering if it was really a wise idea. Especially after seeing an accident. Nonetheless everything went off without a hitch and we started early on next Christmas gifts!

We came back from PA on December 8th. I love flying at night! It is so cool seeing all the lights from way up high. It was hard coming back but it helps to know that we must take a trip to PA in March to get the car inspected. So if the Lord doesn’t return us before then at least we know about when our next visit will be. That will be an exciting eighteen our drive there an another to come back. 😛

While we were in PA we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas with all our family and some of our friends. It was great to hug everyone and see their smiling faces. There were a few people I’d have liked to have seen but it just didn’t happen this trip. Got to congratulate Sis, who is now officially dating! I think for the sake of the blog I’ll call him Bowtie, unless I come up with something better. Anyway, we’ve been waiting to hear that those two were a couple and not just ‘friends.’ It was an exciting time for everyone.

I think one of the most exciting parts was staying with Handsome’s side of the family. It was an interesting experience living there with everyone. Fun dinners with plenty of conversation, a nephew full of demands and ‘needs’, movie watching, and of course drama from several sources but mostly just normal craziness of family life. No excuse really for not doing more writing because I should have plenty of fodder to work with. 😉 Still, as crazy as it could get, I still miss being there.

Nearly 5 AM… I might just crash before Handsome returns after all.

It is a brief account of our recent adventures and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for us in 2015. I’ve been truly blessed in 2014. As many downs about the year there may have been there were and abundance of ups. I will look back fondly on the year 2014 for it will remind me again how blessed I have become in all the Lord has provided.

Home

Home is where your heart is. I figured that out when I was a Nanny. Three days with my family and four days with the Little Man. No matter where I was my heart was torn, always feeling at least slightly home sick. I learned it again when my handsome man began to fly back and forth to MO. Now that I’ve joined him out here, we’ve learned together where our hearts belongs. Mostly they belongs to each other and no matter where the Lord sends us we will always be happy as long as we are there together. However, part of our hearts will always remain in PA. It is where all our family and friends live and no matter where we go, something will always draw us back to them.
Tomorrow we get to fly to PA and stay there for a whole month. We are so excited to see everyone! It has been three months away from them. Neither of us has been away for so long before now. Unless the Lord decides to change the course of our loves, we are looking at another year to year an a half out here. We don’t know when we will see them again.
We are doing our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration while we are there. I’ve already sent a box with presents to PA through the mail. We have some in a suitcase to fly back with us. Once we are there we have a few more to buy. I haven’t wrapped anything yet and I’m looking forward to tying some ribbon!

Justin’s best friend and the best man at our wedding got married in October! We are excited to see them and congratulate them in person. Justin has missed his friends as much as I have mine. There is this smile he gets when they call or text him. I can always tell when he is talking to his friends. 🙂
There are some weird things that we are looking forward to as well once we return. Things like drinks, chocolate milk, juice, and just about any beverage besides soda… They taste awful out here. We haven’t notices it so much with food but when it comes to finding something we want to drink it hasn’t been so easy. Papa V’s in Mansfield became one of my favorite places to eat out. Thanks to handsome man, who took me there on our first date! I’ve been wanting their white pizza for the longest time.
If we are flying back out here for a longer stay there are a few things I’m packing in my suitcase or sending in the mail for the kitchen. Not too many because it should all fit in the car when we finally get to drive away from MO. Still, there are a few things from our shower that I’d love to be able to use. I brought a couple of things with me the first time but I was limited on space and not sure what I’d find we already had provided for us.

Justin and I love flying and are looking forward to our trip to PA tomorrow. They have had snow out there already. We’ve had some chilly days but no white stuff yet. In fact, they are running lawn mowers today.
I have to finish packing and run to recycles to the bin down the road so I better go for now. Have a great weekend! I know we will be. 😉

Tears and Traveling

Tears of joy, tears of sadness, they follow us everywhere…
It is quiet here with only the sound of the washing machine running. Handsome man came back from working last night and his clothes were filthy. So I’m washing them while he sleeps. Which is good because I’m clumsy and noisy and this keeps me out of our room for over an hour. Anyway… We are back in Kansas City, MO. It isn’t really a big deal but due to circumstances we will probably be here for six months. At least that is how it looks at the moment. We’ve been pretty blessed in so many ways through this whole thing. Just me being able to be out here with him is a blessing we weren’t promised a week ago. The hardest part is leaving PA. It is our home. Its where our family and friends are. It is where we feel like we belong in the world, with all those old familiar places. 🙂 I go between tears of joy in just being able to be with my man to tears of sadness in missing all the people we’ve left behind. It is hard to be strong when so much keeps happening. Just as we deal with one thing there is another to take its place. Without Christ’s strength… I’d be hopelessly lost in depression and sadness. Between Justin and God I can’t help but find a smile and see how good life really is. So I’m smiling this morning, enjoying being a wife and washing some laundry. Hopefully this afternoon I won’t find myself crying again!
Now to figure out how to quietly eat lunch…

In the overall scope of things I’ve grown a lot as a person. Being married is such a joy and honor. Every morning I get to see the most handsomest face in the world. Everyday I get to hear him singing and playing guitar. Every other week I get to help take care of things while he is away at work. One of the things that is most fun to do is cook. It can be a challenge here at the motel but I’ve some amazing friends on Facebook who have been helping me out!
The motel rooms have a small kitchenette. The only thing they don’t have is an oven. As you can imagine, baking becomes a challenge. 🙂 This week we have only done one run for groceries and that was to Walmart, which of course didn’t have everything I needed. So I didn’t cook yesterday but hopefully today or tomorrow we will get out to finish that up. Meanwhile we are looking for an apartment to stay in for possibly the next six months. Being next to a city gives us quite a few options, so it should be just a matter of asking the right people to find a place we can be happy staying in. We have nine more days to get that resolved.
As for things to do while we are here… The possibilities are numerous. There is a zoo, some aquarium type places, a few water parks, at least one amusement park, several museums, and of course there is Legoland. As for churches… There is a lot of those to choose from. I’m sure that if we get bored out here it will be our own fault.
We drove here from PA so we have our own car to use while we are here. Plus we were able to bring more things with us. It was a lot of fun road tripping across nearly five states. Quite an adventure for two people who have hardly left PA on their own. It was interesting to see the difference between the states, mountains to hills to trees to pretty much flat. We got to see the city of Indianapolis and cross the bridge over the Mississippi River. There were so many signs for places we had only heard of before. I think passing Mansfield, OH was the hardest because it was a huge reminder of the home we had left hours ago. A reminder of all the people we were already missing so much. Handsome man drove the entire trip. I sent text updates to all our family along the way. We stopped at the Red Roof Inn just before the Ohio border to Indiana. It wasn’t the best choice we made along the way but it served its purpose. We had a roof over our heads, a nice big bed, an a warm shower. The bonus was that we weren’t the least bit enticed to stay instead of traveling on. 🙂 We reached our destination before night and were able to settle in a little before tucking ourselves in bed.
We are happy to be here and done driving for a while but we are also ready to make the trip home… Fortunately or unfortunately that will have to wait a while yet. In the meantime… Don’t be afraid to go out and see a bit of the country it is quite a beautiful place even if your only seeing it from the highway.

Good Bye Miss Weaver

Hi there Mrs. Doud!

Oh wait! Your talking to me? Why of course you are! That is my name now isn’t it?

Yes, I’m married and I’m loving every minute of it! I have been blessed with the most amazing man. Today is one week! Doesn’t feel like that long. I started two post before the wedding but they didn’t make it very far. I ended up being way busier than I expected.  Sorry it has been so long since I’ve written. I suppose a picture or two are in order. Okay! 🙂 We haven’t gotten any from our photographer yet but… I haven’t been home much either. I can’t wait to see what she has but in the meantime I’m making due with these fantastic shots taken by my family and friends.

This is one of my favorites. I’ve edited it some on my tablet. He is such a handsome man!

This is one my Aunt took that I think turned out perfect. My Dadda is pretty awesome! I couldn’t have wished for a better Father.

Three generations; me, my mother, and her mother (my grandmother) altogether.

There was only one person missing that day that couldn’t possibly be there, that I truly missed. That was my Gram Weaver. If there was one wish where I could have asked anything it would have been to have her there. She was quite a woman and I miss her a lot. I find there are things I’d have loved to ask her that I never thought to ask while she was here. She would have loved Justin, I have no doubt. I just find as my life goes on that she is the one person I miss more and more.

Anyway. I might post more pictures once we get back in PA… Back home. We can’t wait to go home. I mean the plane flight was great! It was my first one and I understand now how Dear gets so much pleasure out of them.

They aren’t great pictures but they are the only two I took on the flight.
We are in Kansas City, MO. where Dear is currently working on ten day rotations. This is the farthest I’ve ever been away from home. I am enjoying myself. Getting some writing done, recuperating, and least night I cooked our first dinner. Apparently Dear might not get jet lag but I’m pretty sure this girl does.
We are here for several more days. Dear should get home from work in about an hour and I’ve a sink, small as it is, full of dishes. So… More updates as they come along.
I missed blogging so much!

Ordinary Spring Day

Pretty ordinary Spring day. The sun is shining and the the skies are darkened in rain. I’m watching my handsome man write his own blog post. It isn’t a thought he has been sharing since Tuesday. Dear seems to be quite a studious studier. I know little about the subject but I’ve gained quite an insight from him these past few days. I enjoy watching him work. It reminds me of myself when one of my stories has taken over my life… Which won’t be happening for at least several months. I’m a busy girl til then at least but details on that will come to you on those matters at some point. For now… I’m just watching Dear type and put his thoughts together.
I’m starting back with CrossMark this coming weekend. If you don’t know what that is then let me explain. They are the ones in your supermarkets promoting products. There are other companies that do the same thing, just happens that CrossMark is the one who works with our local Walmart. I did this before a few years back but the hours were irregular and not enough to support myself. Now with cleaning jobs, they are perfect for me to work with again.
I’m still going through everything in my room. I’m taking it slower than I probably should be but I don’t see the need to rush. I went through a stack of notebooks and reduced them to some filler paper. Most everything else went in a trash bag. One day soon I’ll carry it out and burn the entire contents of the bag. So much stuff! It has been forever since I’ve gone through all my clutter. I actually have two bags to burn. I kept a ton of school papers for some reason. Well… Not anymore. 🙂
The rain has past again and the blue skies are a bit cloudy but for some reason it reminds me of the yellow daffodils I saw the other day. Which all for some reason reminds me of Easter…
I don’t know why yellow daffodils remind me of Easter but they do even more so than the Easter Lily. I think it might have something to do with the bright color after such drab weather. Like the evidence of new life. Anyway the holiday went very well! Met up with some friends after church and made some plans. Then spent most of the afternoon with Dear’s family. Even got to listen to him play some guitar with his cousin. 🙂 It was a good time and an interesting experience. Aren’t all family gatherings? 🙂
I feel like I’m going on without any real purpose. It is just that I hadn’t posted anything in such a while that I thought it might be a good idea to share with you even if it was just to get me back in the mode. 🙂 I hope your finding ways to enjoy Spring!

I Know… I’m Not Alone

God has been making it pretty clear what He wants from me lately. So clear that having faith and trust in His decisions is easy. That doesn’t mean that everything He is saying is easy to deal with. I know I’m not alone. I know lots if people go through similar things. I know that they are all asking God the same question I have been. “Why? Why is this necessary? I don’t understand why Your doing this.” It isn’t like other people don’t go through similar things all the time. It is just that it isn’t what I want and I don’t see how this fits into the puzzle of life.
Still He asks me, “Do you trust me?”
Of course I trust Him. More than I trust myself. I don’t understand the why but I understand that no matter what the answer His way is best.
So my sweet darling man is going away for about two weeks for his job. They don’t have work here right now so they are sending them out for rotations. I’ll miss him …a lot! Everyone tells me it will be alright and I know it will. Yet… I know I’ll miss him. Fortunately he has a new phone so we can text and call all the time! Someone suggested we should Skype but… that would make it worse for me I think. And… I’ve written him a letter for everyday that he is away. I have two more to do up. 🙂 Writing is my thing if you haven’t been able to notice from my blog yet… and Dear likes the letters I make for him.
I know I’m not alone. My friends and family are here for me. God is here with us the whole way through this things. So I might not want him to leave but… God has it all covered and I’m just trusting in Him.