a few things about me..

1. I enjoy Diet Coke. But I really enjoy drinking Diet Coke from a straw. Like, a fountain drink version. Preferably in a styrofoam cup.
2. When I eat chips out of the bag (yes, I still do this sometimes), I only eat with my pointer finger and thumb. I HATE getting any other fingers "dirty" with chips.
3. I really enjoy cuddling. With my husband. With my kids. With my dogs.
4. I drive with no shoes. Always.
5. I never wear tennis shoes/sneakers unless I am exercising. They are never a part of my daily foot wear when I am out and about. Never.
6. I wear rubber gloves when doing dishes.
7. I have a hard time making "mom friends," especially if our kids are friends. I have this irrational fear that I won't like the mom but I'll have to hang out with her because our kids are friends. Thankfully, I do like all of my current mom friends :)
8. I can't stand it when guys wear too much cologne. I don't need to smell you unless I'm right up on you.
9. When I eat small foods, such as M&Ms or Skittles, I must have an even amount in my mouth. I have a thing for symmetry.
10. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my sweet boys getting along/loving each other.

ljh

#hubs

So thankful to do life with this guy.

#blessed

#operationgetskinny

I'm officially 40lbs down. Only 10 more to go until I reach my goal weight! I started doing a few before/after pictures side by side. OMG! Take a look:

my fat face is gone and my chin has returned! Hilarious.

#operationgetskinny

#operationskinnydisgusting

LJH

#GodisGOOD

Even with our setbacks, GOD IS GOOD. All the time! Fast version: James healed up nicely from Lyme's Disease. The spot is gone and he's back to feeling normal. He lost 25ish lbs and was cleared to continue with joining the NG. And it turns out the car problem was a $10 fix! Praise the Lord!

All that said, Monday, James took his oath and was sworn into the NC National Guard! I am so so proud of him and all that God's allowed him to accomplish over these last few months. He will have to go away in January for basic training/AIT training so he won't be home until June of next year. It will be hard with him not here but it's temporary and I have to remind myself, women do this all the time (but they send their husbands off to war). But, I'm not thinking about that until January :). I get to enjoy James being home another few months! So excited for this new adventure!!

Peace.
LJH

Setbacks. #bummer

So the week after that super awesome week where the Lord really showed us his hand, we had some major set backs. It started with James finding out that he needed to lose 20-30 lbs to even think of officially joining the NG. For reals? While we were super bummed, we saw God saying, "wait for now," not "NO." So we waited. James was convinced some super cool job was going to come up later on that he wouldn't be able to get if he had joined early. I was convinced someone would die and James wouldn't be able to go to the funeral while away at basic. We went with his less-morbid option. Next up, James was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme's Disease. Gross. We went to urgent care where they didn't have to even run any tests to confirm (the big bull's eye on his ankle did the trick), and they put him on antibiotics immediately. They, of course, made him sick as a dog. Real cool when you're trying to join the military. To finish up our fun week, James was going to meet me somewhere and when he put the car in drive, something snapped and it wouldn't shift. He was convinced it was the transmission. In case you aren't a car person, transmissions cost like $1000s of dollars, which we definitely don't have sitting around. For reals! We had this super awesome week and now everything is turning upside down. I was convinced that Satan was just bothering us because we were heading in the right path. So in intended to keep a good attitude throughout the entire thing. I refused to let this get me down. I still believed we were doing what the Lord wanted. I just didn't see an end yet. 

Mama's Day Off

With hours being flexed constantly, I was off this past Tuesday so I decided to take the kiddos to PUllen Park with my mom. We started the day by going to the movies with my dear friend Piper and her crew. The Lego Movie was still just as funny the 2nd time around! So after the movie, we drove down to the park and hung out until mom met us there with lunch. After our picnic, we rode all the rides and I made the kids walk around the lake with me. Then I decided we should walk up the hill to NCSU and get some ice cream #howlingcowicecream and ride one of the buses around. The kids had such a blast! Then it was home and the boys went out with Pop Pop while Jennifer and I cleaned my kitchen (story for another blog post).

It's looking like I'm off again this upcoming Tuesday. Anyone up for a movie? It's FREE!! I think we're going to see Rio 2. Let me know folks.

Peace.
LJH