Rainbows and Unicorns

Ever since moving back to CS, people have told me that they've never seen me look so happy.

Is it that obvious????

Does it look like the sunshine just follows me around with rainbows and unicorns all around me?!

I have to pinch myself to believe that this is my life right now.

I am FINALLY living back in Texas...my home state....my home sweet home...my sanctuary.

I am in a place where it isn't snowing and below freezing all winter.

I am in LOVE with our house and most importantly our neighbors.

I am gainfully employed as a full time student, and finally feel a real purpose in my life (since getting out of the Marine Corps).

My marriage is in a great place.

My kids are thriving. 

I can't help but grin from ear to ear thinking about my amazing life here. 

I told Nick that he may have to "geobach" the rest of his time in the Corps, because I'm not gonna want to leave here!

I mean seriously...

There is NO WAY we would be playing outside in February like this in Massachusetts...

I like to add dialogue to Mattis when he's playing since he doesn't really talk yet...

Mattis: Hey man...check out my sweet ride.

Eli: Dude, I know it's your sister's car. You can't even reach the gas.

Guess he ran outta gas...

Or maybe it was a flat...

We went fishing today.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous (and windy)!

Another Gunny that is part of the MECEP program with Nick came out with his kids and his dog (in the picture).

I can't believe the weekend isn't even over yet, because it's been such an amazing weekend so far.

I am truly thankful for the opportunity for us to be here.

I really do believe that some of the hardships we endured as a family in Massachusetts was God's way of getting us out of our comfort zone.

Texas is just are reward....

Happy Saturday, y'all!

Sippy Cups and Ear Infections

As a mom, I have struggled with finding the perfect "non leaky" sippy cup.

I don't care what advertisements say, I had came to the conclusion that there was no such thing as a "no leak" sippy cup for my toddler.

That is until my little sister introduced me to the thermos brand "sippy cup" with the straw.

 It has a flip top lid, and the straw has a valve to keep liquids from flowing out of it.

A problem I found with most sippy cups for kids was that the valves in the straws made it extremely hard for the average kid to suck liquid through the straw.

But this thermos is super easy for kids to get the liquid through the straw without having to lose their breath!

 

Dannika and Mattis both have one, and LOVE them!!

I HIGHLY recommend them, and this isn't even a sponsored post!!!

I was just really really excited to FINALLY find a sippy cup that Mattis couldn't destroy my house with!

My little "Bobby Lou" (our nickname for Mattis...future blog post) has his second ear infection in a month :(:(:(

Thank God for our nanny today!!

She cuddled him and took care of him so that I could get stuff that I needed to get done today.

Nick managed to get out of his lab tonight to take him to the doctor so that I could take Dannika to gymnastics.

Just a random hilarious photo that I took of Mattis yesterday....

His hair was a HOT mess...

I am so grateful for such a supportive husband, and SO SO SO grateful that we have made our school schedules work productively together.

Our children aren't neglected, and we still get to be there for their appointments, classroom parties, and walks to and from school (most days).

We've gone through so much as a couple that I feel like college life is the easiest thing we've ever had to tackle together.

When I look at this picture...

I remember the struggles we went through as new parents...

the struggles of recruiting duty...

the struggles of the drill field...

the long hours...

the sleepless nights...

I am so grateful for our life today.

Even with a sick kid, a 5 year old with a schedule more demanding than most adults, and two parents both in college full time...

It's still WAY better and way easier than deployments, special duty assignments, and just regular Marine Corps life.

I can't complain...

Super Bowl Weekend

Did your team win?

My team didn't make it to the Superbowl, but I figured I had a pick a team to root for to win it.

I chose the Seahawks because I have a strong hatred for Tom Brady and the pats. 

When the Seahawks lost (after the worst call in Super Bowl history), I took it extremely personal.

I mean, the Seahawks aren't even MY team, but just the fact that the pats won fueled my anger.

My strong hatred for the team really started with my time in New England.

I left New England with a bad taste in my mouth, and MOST (not ALL) of the Patriots fans I ever met were SO annoying, in my face, and rude.

I once wore my Dallas Cowboys hat to Target, and some random guy in the parking lot started talking crap to me in front of my children.

If my children weren't with me, I'm pretty sure there was no way I could have been the bigger person and just walked away (like I did). 

New England did give me some amazing memories (and delicious "lobstah" and "chowdah")

 I grew a lot as a person both spiritually (thanks to the amazing church we found there) and emotionally, BUT I was the most depressed when I lived there.

Let's face it...I'm not cut out for 6 month long winters, snow, no sunshine, traffic, and Boston sports fans.

I realized that a lot of people who are not patriots fans don't like the patriots for the same reasons I don't...

1. Tom Brady is annoying.

2. The fans (most of them) are rude and downright jerks.

I actually hate the Red Sox too...for the same reasons (well except Brady since he doesn't play baseball).

ANYWAY...

I have calmed down now, and I'm over the Super Bowl.

I'm ready for baseball season (although, I don't keep up with baseball like I do football).

Besides the fact that I had a mini tantrum over the game, my weekend was pretty amazing!

Here's a little recap through my iPhone...

Nick always cooks breakfast on Saturday mornings, lets me sleep in, AND does the dishes.

I don't think there's anything more sexier than that! 

Our neighbors have chickens!

Dannika and her friend that lives down the street from us love to help feed them, clean the coop, and get their eggs!

On Saturday night, we had a "family date night"!

We all went to have some good ole fashioned TEX MEX food at Chuy's!

Nick and I are complete Mexican food snobs.

After living in SoCal and Texas, I refused to eat the atrocious food they called "Mexican" in Massachusetts.

We are planning on completely taking advantage of the delicious Mexican food here in Texas!

Sunday afternoon, I spent my time studying and working on a research paper for school.

After finishing, I had a glass of wine and relaxed while Nick and the kids were outside.

This view from my living room into our dining room made me smile

I am absolutely in love with our home here in Texas...

Our next door neighbors hosted a Superbowl party.

Nick and our neighbors both smoked ribs and they boiled 20 pounds of crawfish!

There was SO MUCH food, and to be honest, no one paid TOO much attention to the game.

It was a true Texas style Superbowl party!

Super Bowl was a blast.

The food was awesome.

The company was amazing.

Besides the outcome of the game, I couldn't have asked for a better time.

I just wish Superbowl was on a Saturday...or Monday was a national holiday....

And lastly...

I got a new Shark (steam mop) today....

D and I were so excited to use it!

You know you're old when you get overly excited about trying out your new steam mop....

Mattis is afraid of it, so he just sat on our coffee table and watched us play with our new toy :)

I hope y'all had a great weekend!

I've been catching up on all y'alls blogs!!!

School has been kicking my butt, so I'm not blogging as much as I would like to, but I've been doing my best to make time!!!

HAPPY FEBRUARY!

Happy 100th Day!

Today is my daughter's school's 100th day of class!

For us, it's not EXACTLY 100 days since we moved here a little later in the school year.

But who cares about details anyway?!

For their 100th day, the Kindergarteners were asked to dress up as a 100 year old person.

Meet "Granny Dannika"

 

This whole get up cost me less than 20 bucks!

The outfit is just stuff we already had in the closet.

I managed to put something together that looked "grandmotherly".

I spent 5 dollars on the fake pearls, 5 dollars on some cheap reading glasses (popped the lenses out), and 5 dollars on a can of gray hair spray!

 As for her walking stick...

 We found a stick in our yard, and being the Marines that we are, we took 550 cord to wrap the end of it.

550 cord and duct tape...all you really need to survive...

I had so much fun dressing her up!

I can't wait to hear about her day when I pick her up from school!

As for Nick and me, college life has taken over full force.

I haven't had a moment to sit down and relax all week!

We hired a part time nanny to watch Mattis a few days a week so that we could get things done, and she has been a MAJOR weight lifted off my shoulders.

I have noticed that he's been way more clingier when I'm around though...

He misses me :) 

I hope everyone had a fantastic week, and is getting ready for the super bowl!!!!

Since I am forced to pick a team, I'm gonna have to say...

GO SEAHAWKS!

Snowpocalypse 2015

People keep talking about this "snowmageddon"/"snowpocalypse" that is going on in New England?!

People up there keep posting pictures and stuff on Facebook about some ridiculous cold weather and massive amounts of snow...

Because meanwhile...

In TEXAS...

Yep...that's 82 degrees...

Notice my sandals, sleeveless dress....and Dannika's attire...

Oh, and we grilled and had dinner and wine outside on our patio tonight...

I was actually really worried about our friends in New England.

I was watching the news like crazy to get details on the blizzard that hit them yesterday.

I was freaking out about the possibility of some of them losing power for DAYS (according to the news).

But of course, most of our friends are "hardcore New Englanders", and none of them seemed too worried.

I guess if you've lived there long enough, a blizzard every few years is bound to happen, and it's nothing out of the ordinary.

I lived through one of the all time top 10 blizzards of Massachusetts...."Nemo"...

That blizzard pretty much solidified my decision that New England would NEVER be my forever home. 

Some people can hack it during the LONG...COLD...LONG....MISERABLE...LONG...SNOWY...LONG winter months of the northeast.

Did I mention long?

While watching all the news reports about the blizzard, and seeing all my friends post their snow photos, I sat here in good ole sunny Texas thanking the good Lord for bringing us here.

Nick and I grilled on our porch tonight, and ate dinner in our backyard...

We listened to country music, watched the sun set over our fence, and drank wine...

We both kept telling each other how we couldn't believe that we were doing this in January.

All of my close friends and family keep telling me how much more happy, upbeat, and positive I seem since moving down here.

I honestly feel better.

My marriage is awesome...my relationship with my kids is awesome...

I feel like I am where I belong, and it's gonna be tough when we have to leave here.

I've been making the most of our time here, because I know it's limited.

We drove down to Houston last weekend to take my mama out to lunch for her birthday.

I realized I hadn't spent a single birthday with my mama since I left the house at 18!!!!

She was really happy that we could do little things like go out to lunch on a random weekend. 

Anyway...

School has been taking over my life!

My kids are barely fed!!!!

(OK...just kidding...don't call CPS...)

We hired a part time nanny (an Aggie, of course!), and she's been a HUGE help so far!

I'll try my best to keep up with this blog.

I'll do a post on time management soon...

I feel like I'm an expert on time management (thanks to the Marine Corps), but being a full time mom taking 18 credit hours is a whole different beast!!

I had a nervous breakdown last week, and poor Nick got the brunt of it!!

I hope y'all are having an amazing 2015 so far!!

And to my New England friends...

Stay warm! Our home is always open to y'all!

And some random photos...

Nick's best friend from high school (who lives in Alabama still) is in Texas this week for work!

He stopped by our house for a few hours to hang out!

(disregard the auburn shirt....)

Mattis' bedhead...

 Alfalfa?

Nick set up two computer screens for me in our office so that I could do my school work!

Best hubby ever...

I took some Valentine's Day photos today of the kids....

This one makes me smile...