Home sweet home

We are finally settled in at our new home (my old home) in Auburn GA! I truly love being back in the South and being back in the land of all things familiar. The best part is having my own home to come to at night and to retreat to when I don't want company or just need my space. I love my family but it has been tough at times to visit for extended periods and feeling like we are living out of suitcases and just not able to be free and messy and on our schedule.

It is SUCH an adjustment being out in the civilian world though. I overheard a conversation at dinner tonight that included "USAA" and "Iraq" and other key phrases that pop up in the Army- I asked Jason if I should ask them if we could be friends. Weird?

I love the new house and the space and the country, including the obnoxious rooster and train that alternate every 30 minutes! The gun fire is kind of soothing. 6 years of on post living has me trained to find helicopters and artillery soothing.

So backing it up a little- when you are PCSing (moving from) Ft Irwin it is tradition to "kiss the Coyote" this is supposed to ensure that you never return! I joked that after 3 years there I was going to make out with that coyote but when the time came to even give a peck I felt silly :)

I feel like I look chubby in the picture but I swear I was wearing 19 layers-it was freezing and I had dressed in layers in prep for our non stop 2.5 day drive from CA to GA!

We have been cramming tons of fun family stuff in since we moved in. I need the kids to feel at home here once Jason leaves. So to start it off we bought a pet...Meet Wii

His main purpose is to act as a night light in the kids room!

Checking out the local parks

And the kids have learned a new way to take out the trash...no I am not saying Charlotte is trash but this is the only picture I have of the process...remove Charlotte add trash bag. The drive way is really long, don't judge!

 

And I opened my new food processor and decided to tryout homemade peanut butter...add peanuts, turn on processor and process. That's it!

 

I questioned my decision to move back home but I know with my whole heart that this is where I am supposed to be right now!

 

2013 Goals and Expectations

2013 is going to be a big year for my family and a year with a lot of changes. I am looking forward 2013 though and the challenges ahead.

Jason will only be with us as a family until March and then he will be headed off to Hawaii to train followed up by a deployment to Afghanistan. We are going to miss him so much but these goals are going to make the time pass and make me a person wife, mom and Daughter in Christ ready to manage our family as a whole when we do finally come back together.

The kids and I are moving back "home" for the time Jason is gone. We found a fun cabin home between my mom and dad, as much as I hate the circumstances that are making these changes happen I am excited to be home for a little while.

So here are my goals:

1. Read one book a month. I am going to keep track of this on Goodreads. You can follow along with what I'm reading on the side bar. Goodreads has a challenge that helps you track your goal of a certain number of books read. I choose my goal to be 24 in 2012, 12 for pleasure and 12 Bible studies.

2. Maintain the weight range I am right now. I set a healthy range and I would like to stay within that range. And no I will not say what the range is :)

3. Finish Jason's Army Scrapbook.  I have been working on this for quite a while and would really like to finish it up this year!

4. Potty train Charlotte.

5. Bench press my weight. This was actually a challenge given by Jason but I think I can achieve it if I try.

6. Run a 10k. I don't like to run so this is huge! It is something Jason has wanted to do as a couple for a long time. I want to run a 10k with him when he comes home.

7.Make Silver Level Distributor with Advocare.

8.Constantly be in a study or devotional.  I can also track these on Goodreads.

9. 1 Art/craft project a month. In other words start actually doing what I pin on Pinterest.

10. Pay off my car.  We are firm believers in the Dave Ramsey plan of debt removal and being a cash family, We only have my car left and we will be debt free.

11. Get my tooth fixed. Weird goal I know. I had a root canal done a few months ago and the pain, experience was too much for me to back and have them do another on my other back tooth....pregnancy and poor health habits did a number on my molars! So now that I am going to be back home with my dentist from forever, I would like her to fix my teeth.

12. Cook and bake more. Again to utilize those Pinterest pins.

13. Host Christmas. I have lived in another state since we got married almost 6 years ago so I have never had the chance to host a big holiday. I would love to have my family over for Christmas since this will most likely be my only chance for a long time!

14. Take time for myself. Take a class. Go see a movie. Something that allows me time away from the babes.

15. Join a gym. I have always worked out at home but I would love to join a gym and maybe even get a personal trainer.

So there they are....I can't wait to revisit this post on January 1, 2014 and see where I am then.