All dresses up. Dinner. Dancing the night away. Conversation through the wee hours of the morning. Room service. Breakfast in bed. Relaxing. Perfect.
Rusty flew me out for the weekend last month. It was fantastic. I cried like a baby when it was time to leave although, knowing I would be back in the summer made it a little easier. We stayed at the Blackhawk hotel which is, by far, the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at. Beautiful linens, wallpapers, fresh flowers, stained glass windows & chandeliers. I felt very spoiled.
A few days after Jackson's tournament, a letter arrived for him in the mail. He was so excited. I was impressed that his instructor took the time to write to him and make him feel special.
Looking out the big picture windows in my living room and seeing horses grazing in the field behind us.
Having fresh water to drink on a daily basis
Our rainy week providing lots of puddles for splashing in
Ice cream cones
Freedom. My Dad, living in China who can't even view my blog because of internet restrictions, reminds me of how lucky I am to be living in America.
Tucking myself into freshly laundered amazing smelling sheets at night.
A positive outlook
Having people in my life, that inspire me to be a better person
An unexpected friendship that has blossomed into an amazing relationship
Starting a new chapter in my life... in 15 days
"Count your blessings, is simple to the point of stupid—and powerful to the point of life-altering. Gratitude, that very specific feeling of thankfulness in your heart, allows you to see and absorb all you have, forgetting for a moment all you may lack. It connects your brain with your heart, and gives you the ground to be more giving, effective, loving human. Being grateful allows generosity to flow. And many believe it also makes us more receptive—as in, the more you love what you have, the more you get what you want." -Valerie Riess
I'm lucky enough to have a HUGE walk in closet down stairs. It's at basement level, so it stays nice and cool. Three sides of floor to ceiling/wall to wall shelving that was already built in when we bought this house. Until recently, it's been filled to the brim with my Brother's stuff and an accumulation of boxes and junk from his old roommate moving in/out.
With my new found obsession ..I mean, hobby, of rebuilding a food storage supply, I'm running out of storage space upstairs. I have one small linen closet in the hall for household & toiletry items and a small pantry in the kitchen. So, when I can get cereal for less than $1.00 per box, or pasta for free, I can now stock up. We've never been huge cereal eaters; in fact we never have cereal for breakfast... always just a snack or dessert if we have a sweet tooth. I've been using coupons since Ashleigh was a baby. Then, out of necessity. My favorite coupons, at the time, were for diapers. Since getting the Sunday newspaper (2 papers actually) again, last year, I've been passing those highly sought after diaper coupons to my kid's Stepmom, since they've had a little one in diapers. My brother & his girlfriend get the pet coupons and a friend at work gets a lot of my restaurant coupons since she eats out often.
My best purchase to date is the thirty bottles of body wash I got last week... all for free (That retail for $5.99 per bottle). The store was having a 'buy 1 get 1 free' sale and I had 'buy 1 get one free' coupons. In the interest of full disclosure.. I did buy coupons off Ebay because I wanted to get more coupons than the two I got from my papers. So in actuality, I did pay a few dollars out of pocket. My receipt from the store literally said "Subtotal: $ -.01". I gave some to my brother and some to friend at work, some also went into our donation box and that still leaves me with enough for months on end, if not for the rest of the year.
Standing in the doorway of that closet and seeing food, water, & hygiene items start to fill those shelves, gives me a great feeling of satisfaction. It feeds my maternal instinct to provide for my family and I think being a single mom, even more so because it all falls on my shoulders.
I look forward to getting that Sunday paper to see what coupons I got, what's on sale at the drug stores, and every Tuesday when the new grocery store add shows up in my mailbox. It's kind of fun.
I really loved having my blog open to all readers. I've come across blogs that I've really enjoyed. Everything other Moms that inspire me to recipes & photography. I feel that I'm blessed with the life I have and the wonderful people in it, so if there is even the smallest thing other readers can take from my blog like I have from others, I'm happy to share. I've also connected with other Moms across the country this way, encouraging and supporting one another.
It's come to my attention that there are a couple people reading my blog with a very scrutinizing/judgmental eye. I've gotten some threatening reactions from them, yet have been told about content on their blog, word for word what I had written just days prior. The whole thing is quite silly. It reminds me of Jr. High drama (and not the good kind where you get to play the part of Romeo or Juliet) you know what I'm talking about: "did you hear what she said?" or "did you see what she did?" or how about, "I can't believe she's wearing that!" Hahaha.
Regardless of how ridiculous it is, I noticed myself being careful of what I've blogged about lately and have even left some things out that I've wanted to write about and THAT is not the point of my blog. This is my way of journaling, of documenting the little moments of daily life that can fade out of memory over the years. I do this for me and I don't want to restrict myself based on what certain people might think. So, for now at least, it is private. All friends and family that would like to stop by are, of course, welcome and I am happy to have you here!
Jackson was so nervous for his first tournament. Last night he was saying he didn't want to go. This picture was taken while we were standing in line to check in. You can tell he still feels nervous.
He's been learning these moves and practicing with his weapons for months. He knows them inside and out but he was scared about reporting in to the judges. He was worried he would forget, or mess up the wording, or forget to bow at the correct times. Having no idea what to expect, he was imagining quite the scary scenario.
This is probably my favorite picture of the day. Taken while he sat on the edge of the mat, waiting for his name to be called. He looks so focused but still concerned, so unsure.
Once the tournament began and he saw the other kids performing their forms, it became less scary. I could see his face relax and start to get excited.
By the time his name was called, the nerves were gone completely. He did fantastic! In fact, he did so good that he got first place for all three of his events!!
I got teary eyed as his name was called over and over and he walked up to the judges to receive his first place medal.
First place aside, it was fun to watch the other's compete and see some of the things he would get to do as he progresses with earning new belts, learning new moves and using new weapons. He's very excited to get to use a sword someday.
It was all smiles for the rest of the day. Jackson and his buddy Cody, who took second in the two events he did. They did great.
I was such a proud mommy, I was just as proud as he was. His instructor was proud as well and had the the greatest expression on her face to see that Jackson got first in all of his events. Jackson congratulated Mira, another student from his Karate school, as we walked passed and noticed her first place medal. Jackson got smiles and high fives from complete strangers as he walked proudly out of the Expo center with three medals clanking against one another.
My Mom treated the three of us to breakfast at Johanna's Kitchen after the tournament. Just hours before, Jackson didn't even want to attend so as we were walking out to the car I asked him if he would want to compete in the next one.... his response was a very enthusiastic, YES!
Being a mother teaches you patience and how to 'roll with the punches'. My perfectionist side tends to plan everything out, so kinks in the road keep me on my feet. After I became a mother myself, I've been more appreciative of my own mom. I think of all the times I left the kitchen a mess, or left my things around the house and all the times I could have offered to help cook dinner as I was growing up. I sure appreciate her patience. I can't remember a single time my mom ever lost her temper or even raised her voice.
Thank you for being such a great example of a good mom.
Mother's Day was odd this year. My kids were gone camping with their Dad for 4 days. Originally he wanted to take them this weekend, but that would have meant Jackson would miss his Karate tournament and I would rather them be gone Mother's Day than him have to miss it. Jackson has been working hard in Karate for the last few months to get ready. I said as long as the kids were home by late afternoon, so we could have dinner together, it would be fine.
I had been planning on taking my mom out to her favorite resurant for brunch for about a month. I had her write it on her calendar to keep the date open. My brother had a similar idea I guess because I found out the day before mother's day that him and his girlfriend were going over to her house to cook her breakfast. Long story short, I canceled our reservation and picked up some extra groceries, woke up early and joined them in the morning to cook. It turned out delicious and we all had a great visit, just not at all what I had planned. You're supposed to sleep in and have other people cook for you on Mother's Day! haha
I heard from my kids around 2 PM, I got a sweet text message from Ashleigh's phone:
"Happy Mother's Day Mommy. Your so amazing you take care of us and help us no matter what. I love you bunches. Can't wait to get home and see you! <3 love you lots and lots
- Ashleigh and Jackson"
They got home around 5 PM. A little sunburned and absolutelyfilthy. I could tell they had a great time. They told me they got fast food for dinner on the way home. Well, there went that idea. The next two hours consisted of getting them showered, and their clothes washed and ready for school in the morning. "A mother's work is never done". We talked and laughed and they told me all about the camping trip.. and the tons of caterpillars that were there. Lots of hugs and snuggles. Then off to bed.
Is it bad of me to admit that I look forward to doing nothing and getting papered on Mother's Day? But at the same time, I know how much my kids love and appreciate me and that's really what matters. I know that I'm being the best mommy I can be.
There was a large black moth in the hallway that night. I joked with the kids the next morning that a caterpillar turned into a moth and snuck home with them!
It's quiet around here. My kids are on their annual spring camping trip with their Dad & his side of the family. I'm excited for them, they will have a blast. However, I'm really bummed out they couldn't do it over spring break because Jackson is only three weeks away from perfect attendance at school this year and getting a special award. He hasn't missed a single day, until today.
Today was my day off since I'm working Saturday. It gave me the chance to organize coupons & go shopping with the kids gone though. Ashleigh has told me I should be on the show, Extreme Couponing (about people that get amazing savings using sales and coupons). I had to add extra storage in my linen closet this month to accommodate some of the great deals I've found. I have to admit, I love a great deal. I absolutely love getting high quality supplies for free, or next to free; some items the store actually pays me to purchase because the coupon I have is worth more than the sale price of the item.
I spent a combined total of $94.10, at four different stores, for $404.25 worth of items today, and pardon my gloating, but I feel very accomplished. If you aren't utilizing coupons.. you should be! It's free money. Either use them, or pass them on to me so I can put them to good use. With all these natural disasters happening it makes me want to build up our storage even more, and I'm thankful that with sales & coupons I can afford to do just that.
