This is NOT a Dead Space!

Really, really HUGE things are on the horizon for this family. Please, please bear with me while we navigate through the finalizations over the next couple of weeks. I should be able to give a real update here within the next week, letting you all know what insanity we're about to do. You will understand my lack of ability to post when we make the announcement, I think! It's all we talk about right now.

In the meantime, you can guess if you like! Unless you are one of the people In the Know...you guys are NOT allowed to "guess". Danny, Melanie, and Denise--this means you! Ha ha ha!

Calling all Facebookers

Is Facebookers even a word?

Anyway. I am going to try out a Facebook page. If it works, great! If it doesn't--well, at least I tried. So if you are a reader of this here blog and you are interested in "liking" it on Facebook, please go here. If you have a Facebook page for your own blog, please let me know so I can "like" you back.

When Do You Blog?

After a very long time of sporadic posting, I have finally fallen into a blogging rhythm. This has helped me cross #87 off my 101 list (yay!) and I am pretty pleased with myself. I am hoping this continues, but our family schedule is about to change so I'm a little concerned!

For the past several months I have been blogging at night (after the kids are in bed) and scheduling my posts. I am usually three to five days ahead of schedule, meaning that when Monday's post publishes I usually have written up to Wednesday and sometimes up to Friday. I want to keep that going--in fact, I would like to be two weeks ahead--but I'm losing my best writing time when Jason's schedule changes. (I love blogging, but I love Jason more. I'll totally be ditching the late night sessions to spend time with him!)

Quick side note: If you didn't know that scheduling was possible or hadn't considered it, in Blogger you click on that "Post Options" hyperlink to the left of the labels field. Change the post date and time to whatever suits you and then hit publish. That's it. Another thing I do is "schedule" my posts in progress for 2020. That keeps the things I am currently working on up at the top of the list and keeps me from having to search from them. For the record, I didn't come up with either of those things on my own; I'm not that smart. I stole those ideas from other bloggers who were lovely enough to share them with those of us who prefer to do things the hard way. I'm not organized enough to remember who they were, though. Oops!

At any rate, now that I have to go back to daytime blogging, I am looking for tips and tricks. Or, if you want, just share where you write, how you come up with your ideas, or the things you struggle with. Maybe you can get a tip or two yourself!

All the Stories that Could Have Been

Do you remember those special pieces they used to do in the news? One of those morning show people used to go to some random city, flip through a phone book, and randomly pick some Joe (or Jane) America. Then he would interview the person to show that everybody has a story worth telling. I always thought those were fun and interesting...and really, not a bad precursor to today's blogs. We're all just out here telling our story, showing the world how we became who we are.

I started blogging more than five years ago for the same reason that a great deal of bloggers started: to keep my far away family and friends in the loop on our life. That blog was about the kids and our family unit. Yeah, it was told with my voice, but it was a reflection of us, not me. For a variety of reasons, that particular blog just didn't work out the way I expected. It was a source of great frustration for me at the time, but it led to better things because now I blog for myself. This blog is about my life, my thoughts, my fears, my struggles, my joys...it's the one place in my life where I can use that many "my's" without guilt. Because here? It's not about the kids or my marriage or anything else that I feel should hold some sort of priority. Here, it really is all about me.

I struggle with where to take this blog sometimes. I want to tell my story, but I don't always know how to do it. To know a person's now you need to know their then...and y'all have missed out on a lot of "then". Some of that comes up in ways that fit and make sense, but I avoid a lot of it due to the potential fallout. (For those who aren't aware, pretty much every family member and real-life friend I have knows where this blog is. Hi guys! Love ya!)

On top of all that, I'm not even sure what my story is. I'm a military spouse, but that's not all I am. I'm a mother, but that doesn't define me. I'm not just an on-again, off-again student (thankfully, since that particular dial is currently set to "OFF"); a daughter; a sister; a granddaughter; an American veteran. I'm more than just the sum of my parts. It's not even that I'm searching for who I am because I don't really think you can ever truly know that until the end, if you ever really know it at all. Living is changing. Who I am now is not who I was one or ten years ago; it's also not who I will be one or ten years from now.

It's funny because there have been times in my life when I could have told you who I was in that moment. Or, who I felt I was, anyway. It's like I have a list of all the stories that could have been running through my head. I defined myself by my job when I was active duty. (That took awhile to get over.) When Jason and I were trying to grow our family I would have defined myself as "that chick that can't get pregnant again". I've been the deployed mom, the daughter caught in the middle, the grandchild desperate to get home in time, the hurt and bitter *fill in role of your choice* , that skinny chick with body image issues (sigh), that girl who lost 50 pounds, the girl that gained the weight back...man, I've held a lot of roles in this life. I'm sure I'll hold more. I feel like I have the best hold on who I am in this moment...but I have no defining label to give you. I'm just me.

Do you have a focus and direction in mind for your blog? What roles have you held in the past that might have made for interesting reading material? And does anyone remember which morning show used to do that interview?! It's killing me!

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Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores giveaway! Comments close this Sunday, 12 December.

changes, they are a-comin'!

First things first. Just a few hours after I posted my award post, I got another one! And it was the same award! This award came from another Air Force spouse, Anastasia at Wild Blue Wonders. She's a new blogger (just started about a month ago), but is doing a great job establishing her voice. I really enjoyed reading and I hope you will too. Head on over there and check her out. Thanks again, Anastasia, for thinking of me!

Now. A few administrative notes, as we begin the week:

Pardon my dust!

I am making some changes to the layout and design of the blog this week. The current design served its purpose very well, but it's time! I've already done a bit of the design planning and I'm very happy with the way it is going. (It's not all fancy or anything; it's just more in tune with where we are now.) I'm hoping to have the bulk of the change done by Thursday, so if you want to stop by and give me some feedback I would love you forever! In that same vein, please excuse any mess I might make of the place between now and then. I just barely know what I'm doing. And that is probably overstating things just a tad.

New (and hopefully improved) programming!

I have wanted, for quite some time, to get this space of mine a little more organized. This blog is never going to be narrowed down to just one thing, but I would like to concentrate on some of my main areas of interest. I feel like I've been a little--scattered lately. Moreso than usual, in fact. So the plan is to get some kind of (loose, very loose!) schedule going on here. Again, I have a plan coming along. Won't you join me in keeping my fingers crossed? I'm really hoping I can get everything done that I want.

Suggestions appreciated!

I would ask that if there is anything that you particularly like about this space (or something that you particularly don't) that you let me know in some fashion. Comments, e-mails, phone calls, or Facebook messages (um, those last two would be aimed at those of you I know in "real" life, obviously) are all welcome. If there is something you'd like more of, let me know. If there's something you'd like less of, let me know. Is there something you'd like me to address that I haven't? I'm always looking for ideas concerning what to write.

And that is pretty much it for now. Thank you to the new readers I have picked up over the past few weeks. I hope that you will all stick around and give me a chance to know you. I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone, so please! E-mail or comment and let me know a little about yourself. If you have a blog, send me the link! I would love to come see where you live on the web too.

30 Days of Me, aka some "canned" posts

I have been struggling with getting the time to think up, write, and post over here. I've got a couple things going on and a few plans and I need a little bit of time to get things up and running. Is that vague enough for you? Sorry! Honestly, between some ongoing move-related issues, the start of summer vacation for the boys, and a couple of personal projects, I am just swamped. I've really been struggling the last few weeks.

Luckily, I read Julie's blog Army Wife Julie. She is doing something called "30 Days of Me." She got it from someone else, who also got it from someone else...I'm not sure where it started but it's going to work real well for me right now. Here are the topics

Day 01: Favorite Song
Day 02: Favorite Movie
Day 03: Favorite TV program
Day 04: Favorite Book
Day 05: Favorite Quote
Day 06: Writer's Choice (See, I still have to think! Just not as much.)
Day 07: Photo that Makes Me Happy
Day 08: Photo that Makes Me Angry/Sad
Day 09: A Photo I Took
Day 10: A Photo of Me More than 10 Years Old
Day 11: A Recent Photo of Me
Day 12: Writer's Choice
Day 13: Favorite Fictional Book
Day 14: Favorite Non-Fictional Book
Day 15: Favorite Fan-Fic
Day 16: A Song that Makes Me Cry
Day 17: Favorite Art Piece (any medium)
Day 18: Writer's Choice
Day 19: A Talent of Mine
Day 20: A Hobby of Mine
Day 21: Recipe
Day 22: Website
Day 23: A You-Tube Video
Day 24: Writer's Choice
Day 25: My Day in Great Detail
Day 26: My Week in Great Detail
Day 27: This Month in Great Detail
Day 28: This Year in Great Detail
Day 29: My Hopes, Dreams, and Plans for the Next 365 Days
Day 30: Writer's Choice

I'll be asking questions at the end of each post and I hope you'll share your opinions and experiences as the month goes by.

New Community for Military Spouse Bloggers!

I know that I've talked about it a little before but I love reading blogs. I have a ton in my reader, all for different reasons, but the majority of them are written by moms. I'm in the midst of the "mom" portion of my life, so I think it makes sense that I should be attracted to those. There are hundreds (I'm guessing!) of places where you can find mom blogs. Just do an internet search for "mom blogs" and see what I mean. Go ahead. I'll wait.

See? Told you. Easy to find.

My other favorite category of blog? The military spouse blog. There are a handful of places to find those online but not near as many. And for the number of military spouse blogs out there, you don't find them grouped together very often. I've picked most of mine up from military spouse forums. Or some internet searches. Or blog searches.

Not too long ago I stumbled across this blog written by Ann-Marie. I love the yummy recipes and the beautiful pictures she posts, but what I love most about her blog is the community feel she gives it. It isn't just a place where she tells the story of her life; it's a place where she asks for the stories of her readers' lives as well. I've never met Ann-Marie, but I'm guessing that is a good indication of how she is in the flesh.

Her newest project is a Military Spouse Blogging Community. And I love it! So if you are a military spouse who blogs, hop over and sign up. If you are someone who reads military spouse blogs in order to better understand or give support to military families, head over and start reading! There are some wonderful blogs listed already and more on the way. Either click on the link above or hit the new button over in my sidebar.

Tell Me or Ask Me

I would like for you to either tell me about the best/worst thing that happened to you today OR to ask me any question you'd like me to answer (site appropriate and within my knowledge level, please!). I just loaded Disqus into the blog template and I want to test it out a little.

Disqus is a (free, so I'm not getting anything for this) commenting platform that I've seen in a number of the blogs I read. You do NOT have to have a Disqus account to comment. Just fill out the form and click the "comment as guest" option. Disqus does require you to input your e-mail address but nobody will be able to see it.

If you can't comment it probably means I did something wrong...so if you could shoot me an e-mail at a(dot)calm(dot)crazy(at)googlemail(dot)com I would appreciate it! Thank you!

pardon the dust!

I'm in the middle of changing the layout to the blog. It's something I have wanted to do for several months but was too scared to attempt. I finally just went for it and I'm so glad I did! It seems to be going well so far but I am still ironing out a few kinks and tweaking a few things so there will continue to be some changes over the next few days. I could use your help there! If you happen to notice anything wonky here at the site, could you drop me a line or a comment and let me know? (Or, you know, if you think it's bee-u-tiful! I would love to know that too. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) I'm looking at everything in Mozilla and Google Chrome but there may be errors in other browsers.

If you like the style of this layout and are interested in getting something like it for yourself, head over to Lauren's site and see if you can find something that works for you. She has several free Blogger templates that are wonderful! Installing them isn't too bad either; if someone like me can do it then anyone can. Seriously.

Anywho! Let me know what you think. Thanks!

an update before we get back to business

I think things have calmed down enough after the craziness of school that I can get back here on a semi-regular basis. But first, here is a smallish update to bring y'all up to speed.

(Yes, I sometimes say y'all in real life. I married a good, old southern boy. What?)

School: Ended well. The biggest lesson I learned was that online school and I do not get along. The biggest surprise was that it wasn't for the reasons that I originally feared! More on this soon.

The holidays: Were awesome! We had Jason for so much of the time and it was beyond spectacular. I really wanted to do an "after the fact" blog entry detailing all the things we did but it's too overwhelming.

My 365 project: I am pushing the reset button tomorrow. I would love to backdate, but it would take me way too long with the internet speeds we deal with over here. So we'll consider that first week a "warm up" to the real start.

My 101 project: Still in the works! Remember that school is one of my goals on there, so I've been working on it steadily for the past three months.

Our next assignment: Since I last updated we have played around with the idea of many different locations. An assignment opportunity came up and Jason volunteered for it...but we were pretty sure he wouldn't get it. He volunteered mostly so that we wouldn't wonder "what if" sometime down the road. We've also had some HUGE talks about our future over the past couple of days. More on that soon as well. At any rate, we don't know anything for sure and likely will not know until sometime in MAY. Blah!

Blogging schedule: I would love to set up a regular weekly line-up but would really like some feedback on what might be wanted. Family and friends, feel free to e-mail me or comment below. If you are an anonymous reader (isn't that so much nicer than "lurker"?) feel free to post your ideas too. What would you like to see more of?

I hope everyone is doing well and still checking in!

hello...hello...hello...echo...echo...echo...

Yeah, so for the six of you who show up on a half-way regular basis...I'm coming back. No, really! I had to drop something to keep doing well at school. My choices were to quit feeding the blog or quit feeding the kids; I figured that the blog would still be around after a few weeks of neglect so it was probably safer to go this way. Hopefully you understand!

Exams tomorrow and Thursday. One last assignment in one of the classes. That is all that stands between me and (relative) freedom. See you in a few days!

P.S. By the way, I will be back-dating over on the 365 blog. I didn't give up; I just haven't had the time to upload and edit photos.

happy new year...and stuff

It has been super-quiet here at the old blog lately. Jason has been home and we've been enjoying some serious family time. We didn't really go anywhere, but we did all sorts of fun stuff around the house: mock gingerbread houses, salt dough ornaments, paper snowflakes, Christmas cookies, a ton of Wii playing, movies out the wazoo, and a whole lot more. I honestly did try to upload and post some of these activities; I just didn't have the time to go through the entire process. (Have I ever whined about the internet speed here? Yeah, it's bad.)

In addition to all that I have hit major "we're moving" mode. I have started cleaning out the basement of alllll of our unneeded baby items. If you are here in Germany you are probably familiar with the RYS site. If you aren't, it is a good place to get used (and sometimes new) items at (most of the time) reasonable prices. (No, I am not getting anything for saying that. Take that FTC.) In addition to the four Rubbermaid totes and various "big ticket" baby items I have photographed and posted, we have also taken 15 bags of children's clothes to the donation station here in the village. I knew we had a lot of stuff but holy moly! I'm afraid for when I start the toys. It's going to be ugly.

This will probably be another light week on the posting front. I have a couple major projects due in my classes and I've let myself get a little behind. I have to get cracking! I have started another blog however, and I want to put it out here. It's for my 365 Project (which is, of course, part of my 101 project). There won't be a lot of words going on over there; it's mostly just pictures. The goal is to have daily pictures, though. It will be interesting to see how that goes!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. I cannot believe that 2010 is finally here! This is going to be such a huge year.

comments

It was brought to my attention that I had the comment settings a little too binding. I guess I didn't switch it from the default! That has been remedied so there is now no need to register in order to comment.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

opening the window

I love to read blogs. My "blog reader" account is full of blogs about all sorts of things: families, cooking, politics, crafting, travel, photography, military life...the list goes on and on. I think it's one of the great injustices in life that we only get one shot through. I wish life was a little more like one of those "choose your own ending" books. That way we could choose to have our "normal" life (family and whatnot) at page 10, go through and live the whole glorious thing, and then come back and choose "join the circus". Just for the giggles of seeing what it would be like!

A little background on me: I grew up an Air Force brat. We moved a lot. I think the longest I lived anywhere prior to leaving home was four years. Thirty-five days after I graduated from high school I left home and joined the Air Force myself. At the time, it never crossed my mind that I wouldn't return back to Indiana to live but that is almost certainly how it's going to play out. I met my husband at Goodfellow AFB (in San Angelo, TX) while going through technical training school. We got married about 12 weeks (give or take) after we met. We have four boys together. We'll be celebrating our 14th anniversary next month. We have been living in Germany for over six years now. We will leave here for Destination Unknown (duh-duh-duhn!) in roughly 10 months.

I love my life. I can honestly say that I wouldn't change any of the choices I made. But I regularly allow myself to engage in "what if" thinking. What if I hadn't joined the military? What if I had gotten out at the end of my first enlistment? What if (and this one is a doozy!) we both had? What if I had taken the assignment to Korea and not gotten out? What if we hadn't extended here in Germany? I like to think about what might have been waiting behind door #2. Would we have the same kids? Would we still be married? What happened down those other roads? I don't want to give the impression that I really dwell on these things, but I certainly think about them often enough. I just find the whole idea rather fascinating.

Blogging, to me, is a way to explore those ideas. Not the writing part, but the reading. Some are people I would like to think could have been me; some go places I wish I could go; some make me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants; some make me nod my head in agreement most of the time. I read religious blogs, agnostic blogs, and atheist blogs. I've never found a blogger I agreed with 100% of the time (wouldn't that be boring, anyway?) and some of them I heartily disagree with a lot...but I enjoy reading them for the views they express. Sometimes you "don't know what you don't know" and having these windows into other people's lives gives me insight I wouldn't otherwise have.

So this is my place to tell you about my life. The "calm crazy" of having four boys, being a military spouse, going to school while doing those things, living overseas, moving to another location (which we will hopefully find out sooner rather than later!), cooking things we love, (hopefully) losing some weight, making my family more goal-oriented, and just living our life. Here's your window into my world. Enjoy!