Just thought I'd share..

I was going through my pictures to try and find a new picture for the top of my blog. The picture I chose for the blog is probably my favorite flower/nature picture. But then I found others, I guess I would call them the top 5 of some pictures I have taken.

I don't know why, but this is absolutely one of my all-time favorite photos I have taken. I took 3 pictures of this owl. In the first one, I couldn't see the mouse at all. In the second one, you can see it under it's foot. And there's this one, which is pretty self explanatory. I didn't even realize it had a mouse in its mouth until I got home and uploaded my pictures from the day.

From her 4th birthday party. I love the look on her face. Happiest kid in the world right there.

Aside from taking pictures of people, I love taking nature pictures. Nature doesn't move around much, and it's always photogenic.

My favorite picture of him. His ears were always up and his eyes were so light in this picture.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mac, my mom's border collie.

2011 and Finding my Optimism

2010, you were interesting. Actually, you were kind of boring, sorry. Some parts were fun, but mostly dull.
2011, you definitely started off with a bang! Not the best kind either. But I'm willing to look past it and not hold a grudge against you.
In 8 days, I will be surrounded by some of the people I love the most for 3 weeks, awesome right? In 2 months, I will be going on my very first solo vacation for my birthday, totally awesome! This year, my babies will be turning 5 and 2. Shannon starts Kindergarten in the fall! Husband will be reenlisting this year and is also up for E-6 at the end of the summer. So life gets tough sometimes, I just needed to find my big girl panties and suck it up!
I attempted the whole school thing fall semester of 2010 so I could get a degree and become a Physical Therapy Assistant. I couldn't find those same panties in time, let life get the best of me, and got way behind in my classes. I'm not going to lie either, Biology was almost traumatizing for me lol. You know what though, it was an eye-opening experience. I realized becoming a PTA probably isn't the best career choice for me, or much of anything else in the medical field.
One night I got to thinking about my passions in life, and what gets me excited. In a previous post, I wrote that my DREAM job would allow me to travel anywhere around the world, take amazing photographs, and write about the places and my experiences. So, why can't I do that? Someday I will see different places I have never been, I will never give up on that. I can write now, and more, maybe someday have that published book. Lastly, photography is a hobby of mine, I love it. I have a great camera which can help me learn how to use a SLR camera someday. I also looked into degrees and certificates at the local community college again and found they offer an Associate of Arts in Photography. I still have some thinking to do and decisions to make with the husband, but I am actually excited about this. Before, I wanted to go to school for a job I knew I could do anywhere in the US, no problem. But, I didn't think I would actually be happy with that career choice. Photography on the other hand, could remain a hobby and be a career. Anyway! Husband is hungry, so I should go remedy that. Until next time...

Haven't done this for a while, 5 question Friday!

1. If you could have any talent and turn it into an occupation, what would it be?
- Professional organizer. I really wish I was an organized person. Now, if I was this type of person, I would be AWESOME at it. I'm a perfectionist, even though you may not be able to tell, I'm beyond neurotic about some things. So, if I organization was my talent, I would help others. Starting with my mother. =o)

2. Would you rather have a house at the beach or a cabin in the woods?
- Cabin in the woods. Seeing how I was raised as almost "in the woods" as one can get, I'm extremely comfortable in that environment. A house on the beach would be awesome, but I would feel most comfortable in the woods.

3. Is there any meaning or reasoning for the names you chose for your child/children?
- No meaning, but there is reasoning. Erin and Shannon, doesn't get much more Irish than that. Well, it could, but I wanted to stick with somewhat normal names. For a boy we had the name Connor picked out.

4. What is your guilty pleasure? (I know we've done this one before, but I'm guessing people's "guilty pleasures" change frequently. At least mine do!)
- iCarly. I think that's even what I answered last time. I LOVE iCarly. The husband does too. Even if our girls have left the room, we generally don't change the channel right away...

5. Do you live in a house that is deep cleaned or straightened?
- Neither? Joking! Kind of... It's certainly not deep cleaned, mostly straightened. But when I really get in the mood, definitely deep cleaned. In answer 1, when I said I'm a neurotic perfectionist, I can be that way with cleaning sometimes. The military definitely helped with that a little...

5QF can always be found at http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Halloween and the sudden onset of November

Heading out the door, all ready to trick or treat.

Meet Astrid aka Shannon.

And Erin was transformed into Snow White for the evening.

This is one of my favorites, Shannon is practically staring down this skeleton decoration on their porch.

Little Erin had to get in on the action.

It started to get cold, so I put the camera away.

We had SO much fun despite the fact it was severely cold this year. The girls didn't whine once about the cold, and lucky for us, they didn't fuss one bit when he said it was time to call it a night.

I still can't believe it's November already. No word yet, but I'm hoping they don't send the husband out to Maryland until after Christmas. 2 years in a row now I've had to finish the Christmas shopping and decorating by myself. Who knows what they will do since the unit didn't renew his clearance, even though he filled the paperwork out before he left for his deployment last April. Sometimes I wonder who deems these people as competent to carry out specific tasks. Oh well, not my job to worry about it.

On another note, tomorrow has been marked as the day... the day the husband and I start our P90X journey. I told the husband I wouldn't post his, but I will be taking my day 1 pictures and measurements today, and I will probably post them by Friday.

That's it, I'm jumping in head first!

Yes, I'm just going to close my eyes and jump, then pray that I don't smack my head on the bottom. Okay, so maybe it's not THAT bad, but still. I've decided to go ahead and start P90X on Monday. Yes, 6 days from now. Since it's Halloween this weekend and there are yummy goodies this week (thanks much to my mil for providing us with awesome cookies) and trick or treating this weekend, I figured, why not?

As you know from previous posts, I hate New Years resolutions, so I refuse to start this after then. Also, Thanksgiving and Christmas are almost right around the corner as well and I tend to gain up to 10 lbs every holiday season. So there really is no better time than the present in this case.

I totally sprung this on the husband yesterday, but he's being supportive. Even when I said there can be absolutely no soda in this house, or at least any that I can see. Before he had even talked about doing it with me, so we shall see if this will be a couples journey, or if I'm flying solo.

On another note, Halloween is this weekend (of course). Shannon is going as Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, I am SO excited for this! Erin is going as Snow White. I'm excited for this year because Erin will actually have somewhat of an idea of what's going on! AND - I got her to say trick or treat, I'm surprised since it only took 2 days to teach her. Well, gotta run, hope all is well!

I'm alive, I promise!

Yes, I'm alive. And I can't believe I've gone so long without writing! Where do I start? lol...
Erin is 17 1/2 months old already. Walking, talking, and completely weaned (for almost a month now). She absolutely loves animals and books, or any combination of the two. I am having so much fun with her at this age. She's like a little sponge always asking me "whas dat?"
Shannon is doing great too. She's huge too.. I swear, she's going to be taller than me before I know it. She's still going to "school" out at the Children's Center in Kearns. It's been a little rocky with her, but I think we're handling it pretty well. Her counselor at the Center is trying to convince us that medication is the way to go for her ADHD, but I still have a hard time with it since she's only 4! Even though I have my moments of desperation at times and wish for one of us to be medicated, I still want to try other options.
Husband is battling the cold from hell, but good. He's still enjoying his job and got to go elk hunting in the mountains for a week. He also passed his most recent dlpt with a 2,2, so we are in the clear for another year!
And me! I'm still in the first semester of school, not going to lie, it's not going well at all. After battling with some depressive issues and some rough patches with the husband, I definitely let it get to me and I got behind in my classes. I won't be going back next semester, and I honestly think it's the best overall decision for myself and the family. I haven't given up completely, and I'm still trying to get the most possible out of my classes. So, while I'm still on the journey to find me, I also decided not to continue on the path of a degree as a Physical Therapy assistant. I still don't think it's for me, and I'm confident I'll find something that's more suitable. I'm doing well though. The husband and I are almost back to how we were in Monterey the second time, which has helped things tremendously. Anyway! I don't wanna make this too long, and I will write more another day, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Ugh!

I think gender roles are complete crap. I didn't grow up thinking my mom did anything specific because she was mom, and the same thing with my dad. I'm not going into any kind of details here, just need to vent.
We are back from Oregon and California. I had such a blast in Oregon. I can't wait to go back, hopefully before next summer.

Well, it's official

I have ADHD as well. I NEVER would have guessed this until I started reading books about it to help me understand Shannon, and I also started seeing a psychologist. Even Shannon's counselor thought I showed signs of having it since the day she met me.

Ever since I was a kid, I have always felt a little "off" and totally out of place. I'm famous for random outbursts and constantly putting my foot in my mouth. As a child, my parents would joke about paying me to be quiet for 5 minutes even. So many things make sense now. Now I know how what needs to be done, I just don't have a clue where to start. I'm excited to make some big changes. I'm ready to stop feeling so socially awkward. I want to be able to finish all the projects I start. I'm tired of procrastinating because I'm entirely too overwhelmed. I'm SO ready to tackle this thing head on.

Anyway, I'm off to Barnes and Noble to buy a book or two. Happy Friday!

P.S. - I'll be back to do the 5QF later!

Unclear frustrations are frustrating

I'm not sure why, but something just doesn't feel right. I hate feeling like this. I can sense this hole or void that needs to be filled. I just can seem to put my finger on what it is.

I'm actually somewhat looking forward to my appointment with the psychologist tomorrow. I'm also thinking I need to work out tomorrow morning sometime. I think I need a good cleaning session in the apartment and a hardcore work out.

I hate feeling like this and I'm really hoping I can change it soon. There are some things I want to discuss with the husband, but I can't seem to find a way to do it. Anyway, logging off Blogger and making some lists. To do lists, long-term "to do" lists.. Or, maybe I will just take some melatonin and go to bed.

I jinxed myself by dyeing my hair

It's totally true.

I'm back to my old ways. Since I dyed my hair blonde, I have managed to sprain my ankle in a very humorous fashion. Last Friday after my college placement tests, I tripped as I was walking up the stairs. Good thing I didn't trip going down, eh??? My newest injury is due to poor depth perception and long legs (thanks genetics!).

In order to get into the kitchen, you now have to step over a baby gate. So, I attempted this daring feat about 30 minutes ago. I had one leg over, then as the second was going over the gate, I SMACKED it right into the little piece of the counter top that sticks out. It is already slightly swollen and beginning to bruise.

In conclusion, I think I'm going to walk around with moon boots, football pads, and a bicycle helmet. If you see me in public, please don't avoid me..