Things are changin'

Kids are growing like weeds. Little Man turns four in less than 5 weeks and my Little Miss, well she isn't so little anymore. Only 1 month left of kindergarten and she just turned six on Tuesday. They are blossoming into the most beautiful little creatures. Kind hearted, sweet, and a little silliness. As they grow older I love them more and more and love the things I can do with them.

We have now lived in Germany for a little over a year. I love it. We all love it. Brantley attends German Kindergarten and has learned so much. He has even begun to sound like a German even when he speaks English. It is pretty funny but ultimately just awesome. We live in a small town with about 40 houses. Behind our house is a cow farm with about 15 cows and lots of little calves. When we first moved in before we got internet we would spend hours laying in our bed looking at the cows from our bedroom window. We even named them and gave them voices. 

Reflecting back over the last year, I am immensely grateful for getting to live here. This place is relaxing and peaceful. The scenery is breathtaking and more beautiful than words could begin to describe. Most days, I have to pinch myself because it truly is like living in a post card. 

Unfortunately, this time here will be coming to an end much faster than we had anticipated. We haven't told many people yet; just close friends and family. My husband is leaving the military on a medical retirement. He is happy about it which is good. His body is in pain and I am glad the military has finally diagnosed him and he can hopefully improve his quality of life with the help of medication s injections. He has been battling this for many years but it took them a long time to find out what was wrong.

And as far as me. I am just floating. Enjoying life. Soon, I get to decide what the next chapter for me means. But until then, it's a matter of tying up loose ends here and once again preparing for another international move.

What's Wrong With Two?

I find myself constantly getting asked when I will another baby. I have two children. Brantley, who's turning 3 in a few weeks and Lena Jo who just turned 5. These kids, are amazing.

See?! Aren't they perfect?! I really hit the jackpot with these two. They sleep well. They behave most of the time. They are funny and silly and really are the best of friends. They are kind and considerate of others. I'm happy. On our best days sure, sometimes I ponder how nice it would be to have a little baby to kiss on. But then I think of all of the reasons why the two I have...complete our family. I love my kids and if I had another one it would be another blessing. But, for us...as of now we are a two kid family and don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

We love to travel, my husband and I. Having two kids makes traveling a breeze and relatively inexpensive. This is one HUGE reason why we don't want to have more. We also really love that our kids are growing up and becoming more independent. The idea of starting all over is pretty scary to say the least. I can't imagine.

There are a plethora of other reasons why we don't want more kids. But what it comes down to is that this is what works for our family. I am so sick of moms being given unsolicited advice about the number of kids or anything regarding parenting. If you only have 1 or 2 kids you need to have one more or if you have 4 or 5 you have too many. This kind of thinking is insane. It is no one's choice but the parent's on how many children to have. Let's stop judging everyone around us and enjoy the life we have been given.

My Music Idol

I'm sure I've talked about my favorite man before but given I didn't blog much in 2013 he deserves another post. If you've never heard the music stylings of Chris Carrabba you probably should. He was the lead man in a little group called Dashboard Confessional. He also fronted Further Seems Forever. Now, he his heading up a new band called Twin Forks. So different from anything he has done before and it is truly where is passion lies. Twin Forks is a little bit bluegrass and a lot of awesome! Take a listen...


And in honor of his new band...here are pictures from all of the times I seen him in concert and met him!

1. The very first time I saw Chris Carrabba I have zero pictures. It was my junior hear in high school and I saw him up in Michigan performing as Dashboard confessional back in 2005.
2. The second time was in college I saw him with my best friend, M, at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus. Waiting 9 hours to be front row. SCORE!

3. The next time I saw him was with M up in Michigan when I was about 5 months pregnant with Little Miss. Her first concert :)

4. Then I saw him in Florida at the House of Blues in Orlando  with my other best friend S. This concert is VERY memorable because when we were just a mile from my house(after driving over an hour home) we were hit by a drunk driver. It was terrible. But it brought us closer and the concert was amazing!

5. Fifth time was with S again at the Taste of Pinellas Festival in St. Petersburg, FL.  This was such a great show and we got to meet him for the first time! After five shows, I was so happy to finally get to talk with him. He is such a nice guy!

6. Then S and I saw him again at the Funshine Music Fest in Tampa at the State Fairgrounds. And we talked to him again.

7. Chris put out an album with Further Seems Forever and did a small tour. We saw them at The Social in Orlando. Another memorable show!

8. Then I saw him again at The Social in Orlando with A performing with Twin Forks! So so good!

Dying for him to do a European show so I can see him again!!

The No Closet Challenge

Good Morning from Germany!
The kids and I are stuck in a one bedroom apartment everyday while my husband is in-processing which means if the weather isn't nice the kids end up watching movies on the laptop while I search Pinterest and surf my favorite home decor blogs. So there is one little(big) problem in our new house. It has no closets. Did your jaw drop? Because mine did when the realization hit me. In our Florida house I had a HUGE walk in closet. So big that it even fit a dresser as well as several shoe racks and other storage essentials in it.

So I have been scouring the internet for ideas on how in the heck I am going to make this work for a family of four who has a lot of clothes. Something I have really been loving is garment racks. They can just be so chic when done right. Now this would not work for all of our clothes because that would just look messy. But maybe a garment rack paired with some German shranks(wooden closets/armoires). Then maybe I could hide it all behind a curtain? Or maybe we block off half the living room and make that a play room so we can make one of the bedrooms a dressing room? So many ideas. Well here are some of my inspirations  via pinterest...

via Ikea

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

Don't these pictures make you want to rid yourselves of closets forever?? Okay, maybe that's slightly dramatic. But, they give me hope. Hope that my house will be beautiful even without closets to hide all of my stuff! Happy Wednesday!

Germany:First Look at our House

It sure has been a while but now that I am here in Germany I hope to return to the blog world for good. I will be a stay at mom again so I will have a lot of time on my hands! I wanted to share some "First Look" pictures of the house we will be living in. They are finishing up renovations so we have to wait until May 1 to move in which is hard! We are so anxious! The pictures are not great as I just got a brand new cell phone and took them with that(not quite sure how to work it yet). But next time we see the house I will have my regular camera with me!
The house is located in Neusstrasburg, Germany. 2000sqft, 5 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. I'm swooning over this house just looking at the pictures again. It is so much more beautiful in person!

The house is on a decent size piece of land and will soon have a terrace off the back and a new patio/balcony off the front! On the hill is a Cow farm. Such a beautiful view!

You can't see but to the left is a big tub. Ahhh I love it!

We will definitely be getting grippers for the stairs as they are not made well for little feet!

I couldn't fit the whole kitchen in the picture. This kitchen is gorgeous and huge! I cannot wait to cook meals in it!!

Things will be changing on the blog. I cannot wait to update you on the progression of our home as well as all of our adventures here in Germany. I have missed this blog so much and am thrilled to be back!!!!

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Well Folks. I haven't forgotten about this blog. But with working full time, health issues, two kids, and a husband on night shift....I've been nothing short of busy. But we found out some super exciting news Sunday night!

After almost 5 years of living at my husband's first duty station we will be moving...to SPANGDAHLEM, GERMANY!!! I am so excited I've been squealing since we found out! I will be quitting my job at the end of January and we will be heading out in April! So here's to hopefully blogging again and to a life in a beautiful country!

Defeated.

Three weeks post op from my tonsillectomy and here I am sick again. For a year now I have been getting sick about every other week. My body is weak. I'm exhausted 24/7 no matter how much sleep I get. I am young. I am or at least I thought I was healthy. I am in shape. So why? Why am I sick all of the time? Why am I always so tired? I really thought this surgery was going to solve my problems. I was excited to finally take my life back and start really living again. But here I am feeling awful and run down again. Zero energy. Zero motivation. Zero hope of feeling better.

So back to the Dr. I go next week.