Anniversary planning

I'm sorry it has taken me a few days to put a new post up.  I have been bombarded with different sickies for a month now and am hoping this is the last of it!  With that being said, let's talk about something fun and exciting!
Bear and I will be celebrating 10 AMAZING and WONDERFUL years of marriage this spring and we would like to go on a real vacation that is for more than just a long weekend!  When we married, we eloped.  Our elopement was due in part to the fact that the war was in full swing (2005) and Bear was serving and didn't know how long he would be home and also in part to the fact that my parents simply could not afford to pay for a wedding for us and neither could his.  With that came no honeymoon because we were living on military pay, one income, no savings at the time, and no wedding money to boot.  So, we want to have at least a small honeymoon like getaway to celebrate!  In the future, we would ideally like to have a big vow renewal with a big honeymoon, but until then, we are trying to plan an affordable week long getaway.
Our thoughts right now are: Ireland, a Caribbean cruise, Belize, or a trip to Napa.  We also considered Sandals but we were unsure of the expense.  We have ruled out the idea of Carnival Cruises because we have heard too many horror stories.  We have looked in Virgin Vacations to Ireland and some other guided tours there.  We have looked into several cruise lines and we are trying to avoid ones packed with singles or young children, and we have checked out the other options but it really just comes down to biggest bang for our buck.  We really do not know what to do or where to go.
Our ideal time would be time to just enjoy each other's company while seeing new things and lots of down time to just relax.  Great food is a MUST but I have to be able to find ample gluten free options for my dining enjoyment!  We do love love love the beach, but we also love our Irish roots and promised when we got married that we would eventually take a trip to Ireland.  Our fear with Ireland is the language barrier, driving, food, and the weather during early spring.
I do have an issue with motion sickness, so cruises do slightly freak me out, but I love going boating and the water!  I have been told that cruises provide the biggest bang for your buck.  I would love to hear any opinions that you may have!  Please leave a comment below with any advice you may have on any of the options we listed or even ideas we haven't listed!  We would love to hear them!  If you have a travel agent that you love as well, please share!


May the blessings of each day be the blessings you need most ~Irish Blessing
The Mrs.    

Finding joy in the ordinary

Today was an ordinary Saturday.  We slept in, had a late breakfast, and hung out around the house.  For most people that might sound boring, but to us, it is amazing and wonderful!  My dear husband allows me to sleep in on the weekends because I am terrible about being able to fall asleep.  He also likes to workout earlier in the day so that it doesn't interfere with any plans we might have later on.  This morning, I woke up to the smell of him frying up bacon... that is a staple item in our home and there is something so comforting about waking up to that smell.  When I came downstairs, he had the kids picking up and had breakfast waiting for me... I think he's a keeper.
If you would have asked me 10 years ago what I thought my life would look like, I couldn't have even imagined it being like this.  10 years ago I thought that I would be a career woman living in NYC working in fashion for a major women's magazine.  I never thought I would want more than 2 children and I assumed I would marry someone with a typical 9-5 job.  Instead, I am a mom to 4 amazing kids, haven't worked since I married Bear, and Bear's job is anything but 9-5 and typical. I love it and I couldn't imagine life any other way now.
Most people would look at our lives and say it's pretty ordinary for the most part, but that is because they aren't living it.  We are a close family that enjoys spending time together, we love each other immensely and take great joy in the everyday things.  We love family movie night and especially last night's.  Last night we watched Maleficent and enjoyed pizza and homemade ice cream sundaes.  We will probably indulge in the same thing tonight!  My heart is definitely filled with joy in this new stage of my life and I am enjoying taking it all in!

Mommy with a purpose

There have been so many days since becoming a Mommy that I have felt that I had no real purpose.  I was missing the point completely!  My purpose is great, it is grand even.  I am a Mother... I helped bring precious lives into this world.  I have been blessed with the job and the purpose of raising my children to become wonderful, caring, loving human beings that will eventually go out into the world and do great things.  I always knew that that was my purpose, but I never felt like that was "enough".  I was always made to feel that being a mother was not enough, that you needed to be SUPER MOM and that you had to be able to do it all while running backwards in high heels in a ball gown, perfect hair, and a 4 course homemade dinner on the table promptly at 6 nightly in order to be successful at being a mom with a purpose.
Now that I am a 30 something mother of 4, I have finally, just today realized that... I am enough!  I have a purpose and I am enough of a mom to feel like my job of being a mother to these 4 amazing children is more than enough and that I do not need to be super mom to do it!  I  can do it in the sweatpants I have worn for 3 days straight, in my husband's old Army T-shirt, and my hair all in a mess and still do it beautifully.  I know that when I go to bed tonight, I can go to bed with a smile knowing that my children are fed, in warm beds, and they are HAPPY.  They are happy because they have Mommy right here.
I have beat myself up for the last 9 years of my marriage because I have not had a "real job" where I leave the home and earn an income to help my family and I have taken it very hard.  I have student loans the size of a small mortgage (when I married my husband I promised my Dad that I would finish school and so I did), I have a degree in fashion that is basically just a very expensive piece of paper, and until now... I couldn't accept that as being okay.  I kept telling myself that one day, I will be able to trim the bills enough to put the little ones in daycare and go out and work so that I can feel like I have a purpose.  Why did I not feel like being a mom was good enough?  Why couldn't I see that what I was doing was filled with purpose and that I didn't have to please anyone other than God with this purpose?  I am not sure as to why, but I have finally awoken and come into my own and realized that being Mommy is ENOUGH!
I was raised in a home where I was fortunate enough to have my mom at home because she was a seamstress and had her office in the home.  I always wanted to do the same, but I am no seamstress... I am artistic but nothing which I could make a real living wage from.  I always felt guilty that my mom was able to stay home yet provide and income and I have been unable to do so.  I felt as though I fell short somewhere.  I realize now that that is not the path that God has chosen for me.  I have my own unique and beautiful path that I am willing to love and accept wholeheartedly as Mommy right here in my own home.
I am choosing to be a mom with a purpose.  A mom that cherishes the small things and realizes that things will not always be perfect. I will not host the playgroup weekly, my house will never be spotless, and I will not be the mom who throws best parties for my kids, but I will always be right here for them.  I am waking up from the fog of early motherhood and realizing that time passes sooooo quickly and it is time to stop competing and to stop worrying about how other moms do it and just embrace how I do it.  It is time for me to focus on what works for our family and what makes us most happy and comfortable.  I want to look back and not scrutinize myself for not living up to the super mom next door, I want to look back and be able to smile knowing that we lived our lives happily ever after in our own way.  After all, that is how we have done everything else... in our own way.

So, here and now, I am pledging to be a Mommy with a purpose and to live this life intentionally with as much love and joy as I can!