To Begin Again

Well, I fell face first off the blogging proverbial cliff.  No excuses.  I just quit blogging cold turkey.  I wish there were other things in life I could quit cold turkey.  Like sugar, I know how can I say that?  Well my body would probably thank me and I just might get to say goodbye to those muffins that have hung on to me way too long.
So back to the 'no blogging' thing.   I think I got overwhelmed with my own personal pressure I put on this blog, on myself, on the life I was living or not living around me.  I always put too much pressure on myself and way too much expectation and that is where I fail. completely. always. Our pastor said once and it has stuck with me.  "Some of the greatest frustrations in life come from unmet expectations."  So here I am starting the new year with a new blog entry.

To Begin Again.

A reboot, a restart, a re_______ you fill in the blank.

I am not a new years resolution kinda girl.  I get so disappointed in myself when I fail that making resolutions are not very fun for me.  So I am going to start small and I am going to try to remind myself to not have so many expectations on myself, others, life.

Peek - a - boo

So there you have it.  I'm slowly coming back into the blogosphere.  More for me than for anyone or anything else.

Pick Up Sticks

Spring has sprung.  Although, with the hail that we just had, I am not so sure that I should be excited just yet.  But I can't help myself.  It has been 6 years since I have had a nice long spring.  While I loved living my adventures in Colorado and Alaska, spring was not quite what it is here, in Indiana.  Colorado had a small spring and Alaska went straight from winter to summer.  Or at least it seemed that way.  It was like everything bloomed overnight (well, some would say it isn't night just dusk).  Which was amazing in itself.  But a slower spring is nice.  You can watch each day as things begin to grow up from the ground, or on the trees, or bushes, or even on the farms.  Baby animals start to emerge.  I suppose in some cases we start to see more infants too.  Long winters will do that.  ;-)

[caption id="attachment_209" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Camp Challenge, Alaska"][/caption]

In Alaska, I worked with my husband as Camp Directors.  We lived, ate, slept camp. We were at a Christian Bible Camp called Camp Challenge.    Every May we would have a clean up party.  People who supported the camp would come out to camp and help rake, scrub, paint, and hammer everything back into place after the long winter.  Now that we have moved from that environment, I still find myself wanting to get out and clean up.  But this time I don't have a clean up party to come and help.  Although, I must say that my dad came one day last week and helped quite a bit.

Pick up sticks is the name of the game. I'm not so sure I liked that game as a child.  So to do it as an adult on a larger scale. Ahem, my backyard.  I'm still not sure that I like it so much.

We are renting a house.  So with renting, I suppose you have the choice to tidy up the house if you want to. Because it is not really your house.  You could just leave it as is.  Well, that is not how my husband and I operate.  We have to get our hands dirty.  The renter before us didn't do much, if any, up keep outside.  So we have begun the gigantic process of trimming, raking, transplanting, and trimming and raking some more.  I love our backyard for the space.  I hate our backyard for the space.

[caption id="attachment_210" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our backyard"][/caption]

So like I said, we have been playing pick up sticks.  Only it is in our backyard.   

I am excited to have our backyard oasis once it is all finished.  Although, we may need to call friends and family who love us a lot to have a clean up party.   Wanna come and play pick up sticks with us?

Setting Up Camp

Today, my son decided that it was time to bust out his PeaPod Tent.  He told me that he would like to lay inside the tent to



watch his morning cartoons.   So I entertained the idea.

He set it up all by himself along with his barrage of blankets and stuffed animals.  He asked if, "his girls could watch cartoons with him in his movie theatre."  I told him I thought that was very thoughtful to invite "his girls", but didn't think it was the best idea.  He went on the rest of the morning watching his cartoons from inside his tent.

As I have been thinking about what to write today, I have felt a lot of pressure.  I felt that it needed to be profound or really insightful into my life.  I mean come on.  It is my second post.  Get it together. :-)  I have so many thoughts running through my head.  I literally had to write some things down so that I wouldn't forget them.  But for today, I feel like I am setting up camp.  I like to camp.  I have so many memories of camping when I was younger.  So I am walking around to find the best spot for me.  Taking in all the terrain, the surroundings, the landscape.  Taking my time, I lay out my tent with stakes, poles, and rain fly.   I am putting up my tent to make my temporary home here.  To see and hear what kind of adventure is all around me.

Will you go camping with me?

P.S. I was so excited, this morning, to see all of the comments on my first post.  Thank you! I hope that you continue to follow me!  I love to read your comments.  My hope is to reply if you commented.  So look back often!

Burning the Midnight Oil

Have you ever thought, "What the heck am I doing?" "What happened to me?" "Where did the person go that I thought I was?"

If I was asked this question, I would be bopping my head up and down thinking, "have you been reading my thoughts?"

I know where I have been, what I have done, and who I have spent time with.  But I have no idea where I am going, what I am going to do, or who I will end up spending time with while I am there.

These are the things that I do know:

1. I thought that I would be a career woman.  I am a stay at home mom.


2. I thought I would be single at least until my late twenties. I am a wife of a wonderful husband of 6 years.


3. I thought I would have children when I was around the age of 32.  I had my first child at the age of 26.


4. I thought 2 kids would be just enough.  I am a mother of a very smart and active 4 year old boy and uber cute (but very loud) twin 4 month old girls.


5. I never wanted to raise a family in Indiana.  My husband and I were married in Indiana, moved promptly to Colorado, then to Alaska, and now guess where we are...back in Indiana.


6. I thought I would have both of my parents until I was, at the very least, 60.  I buried my amazing mother this past January (I'm only 30).


7. I have every intention of going to bed at a decent hour.  I usually never get to bed before midnight. Hence Midnight Oil Momma.


8. I know that everything I have planned in my life never turns out the way I wanted...thanks be to God.

So this is the start of my blog.  Obviously I would like it to be successful. I would like to tell you what I want to get out of it and what I would like you to get out of it.  But as you can see, from the above list, where I end up will most likely not be where I thought.

My hope for this blog is to be able to come to a place where I can write out my thoughts, feelings, my parenting stories, cooking adventures, gardening experiences, travels, my disappointments and triumphs.  I also hope that you will find this blog encouraging, inspiring, a blessing and a place where you can respond to my adventures of being an untrained mom.

Thank you for reading.  Until next time.