Perspective

God has a great way of putting things into perspective, right at the perfect times. Just as I was complaining to myself this week about various things dealing with Nick's job.

I could go into detail, but I won't. In a nutshell, he's working his butt off.  Flying is actually his break.  He sees Tanner maybe 30-60 minutes at night.  Tanner calls for him throughout the day, every day.  When he comes home, he is still working.  Dealing with calls, emails, or trying to fix problems with the schedule. And he hasn't even started grad school yet.  

This week I was hating his job.  Wishing he could have normal hours, and a predictable routine like the majority of the families out there.  

But that perspective thing I was saying earlier?  Yeah.  I am very lucky.  Nick could have a predictable schedule with a regular job, but he would be miserable.  He loves what he does.  He also could be deployed.  So the little time he does get with Tanner during the week is more than our friends get with their loved ones who are gone.  

I won't lie though, it's tough.  Tanner loves his daddy, and I wish he could see him more.  And I miss him, too.  But I will take this. This is the military way of life.  This is our life.  He won't have the normal 9-5 hours.  And I need to get use to that.   

I was thinking about all of this last night.  I woke up and looked over at  my sleeping husband.  He was there.  And for that, I am thankful.  

C25K (Couch to 5k) Week 1 Day 1

I've seen quite a few of my blogger friends and youtube moms make blogs/videos about starting the C25k training program.  All for various reasons: weight loss, to run a 5k for charity, become healthier...

My mom did the program a few years ago before I was married and I remember listening to the first podcast.  All I remember was how the music was really boring.  It wasn't motivating enough for me.  But after reading a few more blogs and watching videos the past week, I've started looking into it again.  The iPhone apps out there now have the capability to play your own music.  

Finally today, I dug in and did even more research.  I asked my friend's what apps they recommended and found a few ladies who want to do this with me (all over the country).  There is even a really awesome looking 5K in the city in May!  It might be something to look into!  I want to sign up for it now so I have something really pushing me.  But I think I will wait a week or two to see how I feel.  Hopefully I can stick with this.  I want to be healthier.  I need to be healthier.

I just finished my first run.  Week 1 day 1 wasn't as bad as I made it out to be.  The 30 minutes really went by fairly quickly.  I didn't feel like I needed to stop at any point.  (Although it was only stretches of 60 seconds running followed by 90 seconds of walking).  Typically I will have this nagging voice in my head telling me to "Stop! It hurts! Walking is so much easier!"  But not today!  I'm almost certain it's because I knew I would be walking soon, and I had my rock music playing.  

Tanner was such a trooper, too.  He was all bundled up and just hung out in the jogging stroller with us the whole time.  Didn't fuss one bit!

I really want to do this! Don't let me quit, ok?! :)

Vacation Part 4/4 (St. Pete Beach)

We visited St. Pete beach while we were in Tampa.  Tanner has been to the ocean before, but he slept through it the whole time in an Ergo baby carrier.  This was his first time actually experiencing it.  I sure hope our next base is on the coast.  We have a major water baby on our hands!

(Picture heavy!)

"What is this?"

"SO COOL!"

Tasty?

Blowing kisses to Memaw

He loved being swung around.

Trying to get his foot prints

Vacation Photo Dump Part 3/4 (Lowry Park Zoo)

My pretty momma!

Stingrays!

Sweet little man fell asleep!

I love this picture!

Vacation Photo Dump Part 2/4 (Christmas Day)

I apologize in advance, I shouldn't have waited until that night to bite the bullet and shoot pictures in automatic.  So the lighting in the majority of the pictures are terrible.  But that's fine, the memories are still there! :)

Christmas day we spent time with Nick's side of the family.  We had a mini Christmas at his mom's house in the morning, followed by another Christmas at Tanner's great grandma's house  and great, great grandma's house!  And that night we visited Tanner's great grandpa's house for more Christmas!

Tanner's absolutely favorite animal!  He LOVES dogs! Buddy was a trooper!

Opening presents with Daddy.

Baby steals daddy's drink, daddy decorates baby's head.

Quality time with Uncle Don!

I really like this picture! I'm so sad it's over exposed!

Tanner with his great, great grandma!

Great grandpa!

LOVE THIS PICTURE! Tanner with his...great great uncle? My mother-in-law's uncle Bud. Such a sweet picture!

Vacation Photo Dump Part 1/4 (Christmas Eve)

Instead of making one really long post full of pictures, I will make 4 separate posts with 10 pictures each (more or less).  

We really enjoyed our time home with family! We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and Christmas day with Nick's family.

The bow was just on his head.

This is his "OOOO!" face.

This is pretty much all he unwrapped.  He didn't really care to open presents.  Easily distracted.

I LOVE those open mouthed kisses!

Kissing the picture of himself.

This is what happened when we tried to get him to open another gift.

He's totally going to be a pilot like his daddy. Haha! 

2013: 13 goals for myself

The Holidays are over, and we are back home and getting settled into our routines again.  (Of course I start typing this after Tanner has been sleeping for 2 hours, so he will be waking up any moment...)

I don't know if it is putting away the Christmas decorations, or the warm weather we were able to enjoy in Florida just a couple days ago, but I am on a roll with cleaning and organizing.  I've also had a bunch of goals for this year I want to strive to meet.  I'm not planning on calling them New Year's Resolutions, because I feel like its setting me up for failure, ha! Yeah, I'll stick with "goals".

 #1: Spend less time on my phone/Facebook/Pinterest while Tanner is awake.  He's growing SO fast and I don't want to miss any of it! 

#2: Get outside.  We have been doing this pretty often up until the middle of December.  Now that it's cold it's harder, but still doable.  

#3: Spend some time on myself.  Whether it's spending a little more time in the shower, painting my nails, or exercising (ha).  I'm not just a wife and a mother, but a person, too.  I'm don't want to lose myself.  

#4: BLOG MORE!  I'm so disappointed in myself for not blogging more the last several months.  I know life can get in the way, but these memories I am making with Tanner, with Nick, and with life in general, I want to remember them in the future.  I want Tanner to read these posts one day.

#5: Stay on top of cleaning.  I've gotten many ideas off of Pinterest that I think will help me.  And I'm pretty obsessive/compulsive, so having check lists and to-do lists will be the way to go.  

#6: Budget.  We're going to stop spending money on frivolous things.  Including fast food and eating out.

#7: Organize my house.  My spare bedroom shouldn't be a storage room. :)

#8: Start a Tot-School for Tanner. 

#9: Stick with said Tot-School.

#10: Learn all about my camera, and use it more. 

#11: Take care of myself. Exercise, eat healthy, blah blah blah...

#12: Breathe.  When I feel stressed out or anxious, I will just stop, breathe, gather my thoughts, and go on. 

#13: Live in the moment.  No more, "I can't wait until...", or "one day...". 

And Tanner is awake! So I'll end this post with some pictures of our trip. (I'll add more at another date).