Home-sick and Family-sick

So here we are: T minus 5 days away from my sister and my nephew's arrival.

As I was preparing for their arrival this weekend and doing all the necessary things: washing the bedding, cleaning the guest bathroom, cleaning out the car.... I once again realized how much I miss them! I miss my family so much.

I never thought it would be easy to leave them. But it never dawned on me how hard it would be either.

I still remember the day I left Boise with a one-way ticket to England. That was the most epic morning of my life. Still to this day....

My heart was so excited to be with my husband and go onto a new adventure; but I also knew that I would never call Boise home again. I knew that nights having dinner at my mom's when I just wanted to stop by would never be again. I knew going to catch a movie randomly with my sister would never happen again. Walking along the greenbelt with my friends during the sunset just because I had a free night wouldn't be my normal anymore. Stopping by my grandma's house to have Sunday dinner with her wouldn't happen anymore. I was heading into a new normal and it was terrifying! Exciting and terrifying!

But here I was, heading off to jolly 'ol England. The land of tea and crumpets, the land of fish and chips, the land of historic places, and fun accents. This was going to be the adventure of my life. But yet, I was still heart-broken.

Fast-forward seven years from that epic morning where I boarded the plane with my one-way ticket in one hand and my tear-stained tissue in the other. I have traveled all over Europe. I've been to 10 countries. I've seen the Eiffel Tower, Edinburgh Castle, Auchwitz and Berkinau, The Leaning tower of Pisa. I've stood in the Collseum and seen the Sistine Chapel with my own eyes. I have had an amazing time exploring this wonderful world. And now I've been afforded the opportunity to live in the tropical environment that I've always dreamed of living in. Life is great and I am blessed!

But it doesn't change the fact that I still want to hug my family whenever I want. It doesn't change the fact that we have countdowns to visits and countdowns to the time we have to say goodbye again. It doesn't change the fact that if something were to happen to either me or a member of my family, arrangements have to be made for travel and time off of work. It doesn't change the fact that I miss them. I miss them everyday.

But with all that being said, I do get excited counting down the days to arrival. I get excited about planning our activities while they're here or I'm there. I get excited thinking about getting that hug and sharing those laughs that I've missed all this time. I get excited about seeing my nephew growing and changing. And I have to treasure the moments that I share with them when I get to share them.

I've always said that my life would be completely different if I was a military spouse 20 years ago. In this age I have Facebook, I have Instagram, I have Skype and Snapchat. I have the ability to text a photo and a video real time to simulate experiencing something "together". I am thankful for the technology I've been afforded. Without these things, the missing piece of my life, my family, would feel like an even bigger void.

I'm thankful to have a husband who I love and who keeps me great company. I'm thankful for a wonderful church family who treats me like real family. I'm thankful that I still have people who love me in the absence of my family. I wouldn't trade these people for anything in the world. But I will always miss my family. I will always yearn to have them down the street. I will never feel 100% knowing that I can't hug them whenever I want.

I read something today that said: "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because at least it happened."

These words touched my heart today. With the upcoming arrival of my sister and nephew also comes the upcoming departure. The day where I have to say goodbye all over again. But I have to remember these words at that time. I have to be thankful that I had the days that I did and got to make more memories to store in my mental bank.

And then I will start planning for the next trip. The next set of memories. The next "first" hug after a long separation. There is nothing like that feeling of hugging someone that you haven't been able to hug in a long, long time. It's a feeling of home and security that you can't find anywhere else. I felt it when my husband returned home from deployment and I feel it everytime I'm reunited with family.

I will be satisfied in that thought.That is a pleasant thought. The thought of a warm hug!

Thank you, military, for allowing me to really know what I have and teaching me how to treasure the moments as they happen!

Q

The journey into clean eating.....

What a week it's been. Just busy, busy busy.... I didn't even get a workout in on Friday and I'm not going to get one in today either. Just been one of those weeks.

But I've been adjusting well to my new workout/eating plan that I'm on. The basic idea of it is clean  eating....nothing processed.

Seems easy, right?

It's totally not!! TOTALLY NOT!!! Like nothing processed...that's the goal.

Last night I hosted Friday night fellowship at my house and had almost 20 people over. I decided I would cook a "clean" recipe because most of the people that were coming over are doing this diet as well. So I figured, I'll be a good example and make it easier for everyone to make smart choices.

Well, I did make something clean and it was awesome! Vegetarian shepher's pie. Yum yum!! But then I realized the garlic bread that I asked someone to bring, the chips and dip that I asked another person to bring, and the pizza that I ordered to supplement the dish that I made for the kids and whoever else didn't want to eat what I made all are not clean. (Ok, clearly I knew the pizza wasn't clean.) But when I asked these people to bring this stuff, I didn't think about it not being clean eating. Well, the shepherd's pie turned out well and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Although we had some other items that weren't necessarily on the plan, we did pretty well and it's a start in the right direction of completely going unprocessed.

I had another task of making an entree for Women's Choir potluck this afternoon at church and I knew, again, that I wanted it to be clean. So I made a butternut squash lasagna recipe that I found online. Oh my gosh....soooo good! I wish I would have taken pictures of the process and the final product, but I didn't. But here is a picture of it from the website and the link to the webpage.

 

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-butternut-squash-lasagna/

It turned out awesome. And at least I had one clean option at the potluck to eat. I'm not going to lie, I ate some of the other stuff as well. But I had super small portions and I DIDN'T HAVE DESSERT!!! There were two pies and a cake to choose from.... I had a cup of fruit. Winning!!! I will definitely start trying to take pictures of new recipes that I make so that I can share them here with you all!

The challenge will be to keep this up during the next 65 days. Now, I'm no liar, and my sister will be here for 10 days starting next Saturday. We do plan on cooking at home quite a bit and I have an aresenal of recipes that I will be making; but I'm also realistic....I am going to enjoy my sister's trip and I am going to probably not be 100% on my plan. But I'm completely fine with that. I workout hard and I workout smart and I eat smart the majority of the time. So I am going to allow myself an indulgence or two and some flexibility in my plan while my sis is in town.

Now off to enjoy my Quest bar. I wonder if that is clean..... they do use #cheatclean on their Instagram page.....

Yep, I'm going with that.....

New Program

So, on Sunday I embarked on this journey of completely clean eating for the next 90 days along with a revamp of my workout routine. Let's just say the first two days I failed miserably. I didn't realize how much I eat that is actually processed. Not that it's necessarily bad, but it's processed and that's what I'm trying to get away from.

So today was a fresh start for me! I had my oats and eggs this morning. Had quinoa, black beans, and a salad for lunch. And I'll probably have some more black beans and salad for dinner. Eating healthy and eating clean are totally different things, that's for sure. I'm not even supposed to have cheese on this plan. So last night I went to Whole Foods and I found Almond cheese! So excited to try it!

So needles to say the next couple of months will be interesting with my eating. I have to get creative. I will be a little lax whole my sister is here, I won't lie, but I'll still be making good choices!

Only 10 more days and she's here. I can't believe it!

Welcome....

Ok, ok....so for all those who have been asking me to do a blog, here is my attempt at my first blog. I have been longing to do a blog for quite some time actually; but I'm always afraid I won't have time, I won't have anything to say, I'll be boring, etc. Well, whatever... I'm going to start this blog and pray that I can get it off the ground!

What exactly will my blog entail, you ask? Well, I want to incorporate a little bit of all the things that are important to me: my faith, my family, fitness, FOOD, inspiration that I find....just life! Hence the title of my blog page: life-faith-fitness. I found that to be an appropriate title.

There are some things that I'm hoping to accomplish in the next 12 months and you will be a part of that. More to come on that in the future....

Anyone who knows me knows how important my faith is to me. You will get snippets of that as well. Whether it be a special something that God showed me during the day, an inspirational quote that I ran across, a quiet moment that I spent with the Lord, or struggles that I'm going through. I plan to share the hope and faith that I have and the thankfulness I have in my spirit for my Heavenly Father.

Fitness: Hellooo!!! Y'all know I love some fitness. I hope to share workouts, motivational photos, quotes, etc. Maybe even some specific workouts to help out those who wish to receive the help. It excites me to no end to watch people take control of their health and run with it!!

Family: I love my family to pieces. My dear hubby who gets to put up with me all of the time. My family who is so far away whom I miss desperately every day. My church family of whom I am so grateful to God to have placed in my life. And even my closest friends who are more family than anything else.

More than anything I just want to create a place where someone can come (hopefully daily, or at least close to it) to have a laugh, get some tips on healthy living, find a new recipe that they want to try, rekindle their faith in Christ, and whatever else might come out of this. I'm just going to go with it and see where it goes.... (That's a very abstract statement, but I guess it does mean something...)

Thanks for reading the rambligns of my first blog post. Stick around!

Q