Renting Vs. Hotel: For your next Vacation I don’t think it matters how many times one tells you that time flies, you really never believe it until it happens to you. It doesn’t seem possible that all of our children have grown up and are no longer under our care, or living in our home. When that day came for us, and each of our three children it was harder than I thought, it left me with a gaping hole in my heart. Time continued to fly, and before we knew it, more years passed since we had last all been together for any length of time. When Trent, one of our twins, signed up for a second tour ..read more

A Tribute to Moms Mother’s Day always seems to sneak up on me, every year I find myself behind the ball.  I want to say that I hope that my Mom understands that it doesn’t mean that I don’t love her, but I know that sometimes that thought sneaks into my head when my boys forget. This post is a reminder to me and everyone that while Mom may seem invincible and strong we have feelings so as a reminder to myself here are just a few things to remember, out of the million, that Mom’s do. What Mom’s Do Diapers: Oh sooo many diapers If you have ever been around a stinky diaper then you know that one ..read more

I Blogging Blastoff Course: Review August 1, 2019 the first day of Heather and Pete’s “Blogging Blastoff Course” for August. Every month Heather and Pete offer their “Blogging Blastoff Course” and like me I see the hope and the hesitancy as people wonder “is this too good to be true.” I thought it would be apropos to share my experience. It has actually been awhile, since I last posted on my blog, but today as I sat down to type up some handwritten notes, I came across this from almost two years ago, November 2017.   November 2017  I can’t recall the number of times I sat down to journal, writ ..read more

The Bible: A Book for All Ages Hey everyone, I have come into some exciting times, and after over a decade of feeling lost, abandoned and hopeless, I had to share what helped me to find my way back. I was in an abyss of fear and worries, except now I understand that these are the distractions/road blocks put in our way to pull our focus, love and commitment to God away. I thought I was doing everything right, but Satan’s machinations are much more complicated and cunning than we can imagine. He is fluent in human psychology he understands how we think, and react and he knows our weaknesses bet ..read more

A couple of weeks ago I sat down with my Mom to have a long overdue conversation about “how she is doing?” See it’s not just that my parent’s are in their 70’s, it’s that for the last 5-6 years Mom has become the caregiver to Dad who has been suffering from Alzheimer type symptoms: memory loss.     We talked about how her life has changed in the last several years, and we talked about what people can do to help someone who is caring for someone with memory loss. One of the things she mentioned made me realize that I was not being there enough, and so I made a commitment to myself to try and c ..read more

The backstreets of Vukovar were silent… Blocks away from any food source. I was starving… Should I drive or walk to find something to eat? The UN headquarters was closed now. Packed up. Mission ended. Although, I still had access, there was no food. No water. Not much of anything, except for the Russian security guards patrolling the perimeter and a few near-empty buildings. The evening before, I tried to pawn off a couple of my Coke Lights to the Russian Guards, but they weren’t having it. In fact, words escalated just shy of an international incident. I knew better than to push things too ..read more

Fasting a Fitness Choice Welcome back. I have some great news. I weighed in at the end of February and lost 5 pounds! Five pounds in a month is a healthy and strong start for my weight loss and fitness journey. My weight loss planIn my previous post Weight Loss not a Success Story, Yet I went into detail about my process for losing weight and getting fit. I have approached this on a month by month basis while assessing progress each month. February was a consistent and strong month for me as far as staying on track, but it was January’s self-assessment that helped me to be successful. Planning ..read more

Warning: This is not a success story. If you have been trying to lose weight and get fit welcome you’ve come to the right spot.  This is the first post of a series that will document  personal journey to fitness. I chose the title This is not a success story: Yet because I wanted you to know that I am just like you I am not a fitness guru or model. I am just a normal person, who is overweight and unhealthy and wants to change that. My baseline is currently:   I am 52 years old, 4 feet 11 inches, (I tell everyone I am 5′) and weigh 180 lbs. Below are my goals: Goal Weight: Between 120-130 lbs ..read more

Millennials are shaking things up, in a big way!  They are being called boomerangs because more and more millennials are postponing getting out on their own and staying at home. According to the census bureau, one-third of millennials are living at home with their parents. While you may know the reasons for the statistics for this shift… prepare yourself for some sticker shock! When our last child moved out, he was hit with the reality that he could only afford to share a house with a group of friends. Even then it cost him $400 a month for a tiny room. Maybe it was empty nest syndrome, but so ..read more

Fitness: One size does not Fit All If you google exercises, health and fitness, dieting, weight loss the number of hits is in the 100’s of millions, so why are there so many of us who still struggle to get fit? I have invested in so many different programs, exercise programs, diet programs, exercise and diet programs and yet I am still struggling to lose the weight, and every year I seem to put a little more on. I’ve even succeeded a few times in losing the weight on some of these programs or drastic diet programs like my soup diet, or the six-week body makeover, but they didn’t last long why ..read more