Christmas Cards!

We are officially heading into the Christmas season now and one of my favorite parts of Christmas is receiving Christmas cards from people! I like seeing pictures of kids and how they have grown, and reading the highlights of people's years is always interesting.  It helps me to feel more in touch with people, especially since I now have friends and family all over the world and it can be hard to keep connected with everyone. 

This year I am so excited to be using Tiny Prints for our Christmas cards! I first used Tiny Prints for Mother's Day cards this year, and I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the cards! The paper was so thick and heavy and felt very expensive, and the photos that I had chosen for the card looked great! The colors were perfect and bright.  I also loved that even though you can use the wording they have on the cards, you are also given the option of personalizing any wording you choose!

Tiny Prints has a great line of Holiday Cards this year.  They have over 450 different designs to choose from, with lots of great options from classic to contemporary.  When I looked at their page, the very first card was the one that really jumped out at me! This card is called "Traditional Wonder" and I just really like the layout of the pictures and the different fonts and wording.  I also like that you can pick from 3 different colors for the background!

If you are looking for a great company to get your Christmas cards from this year, I would highly recommend Tiny Prints.  Check out their holiday cards here! Do you send Christmas cards? Do you like to receive Christmas cards?

<3 Rebekah

* I am being compensated by Tiny Prints for this post, however, even if I wasn't I would still recommend and use their company because they have a great product!

Give Thanks!

I love Thanksgiving! I really do, its my favorite holiday! I am so lucky and thankful for years and years of great Thanksgiving memories with new friends, old friends, and family! And lots of wonderful food! This year we got to share Thanksgiving with some new friends here in Alaska.  They brought their Shih Tzu, who is so cute, and Sweetpea was so excited! She crawled all over the house chasing the dog, it was hilarious.  The poor dog wasn't quite sure what to think, especially about Sweetpea's high pitched excited squeals!

When we were growing up we lived pretty far from our extended family, so we started a tradition of having Thanksgiving at the house of some family friends. That tradition still lives on, and I am always a little bit sad when I can't make it there.  Just thinking about it makes me remember some great times though!

The best parts of Thanksgiving to me are: the food (hehe), the people, the memories, and its a holiday focused on being grateful for the things you have! Here are 10 things I am thankful for this year, God has blessed us so much!

1. My husband - Who takes such good care of me and Sweetpea!

2. Sweetpea! - She is just growing so fast, learning so much, and teaching me so much more about how to love!

3. My family and friends - I can literally say I have family and friends all over the world! While sometimes I get a little sad because I miss people and I never get to talk to anyone as much as I would like to, it is still wonderful to think of how many people I love and how many people love me!

4. Financial security - Although we are by no means where we would like to be financially, we never worry about if we will have enough to pay our bills.  How amazing is that blessing? And at our age, wow, so freeing and exciting for our future!

5. Working vehicles - After these last few months without having a vehicle, I am so thankful that usually I do.  I just function so much better when I am able to leave the house and interact with people at least once a day!

6. Our health - In general, we are so healthy, we very rarely go to the doctor, its so nice that we haven't had to deal with this worry.

7. Internet - I mean, really, what did we do before internet?  In some ways it has become a little too entangling, but still, what a fabulous invention!

8. Food - I probably thank God every day for food.  No, really, I do.  I love food, and all the different tastes and concoctions and fellowship it provides.

9. Hot showers - I got a lovely, long, hot shower today while Hubby played with Sweetpea, and he even entertained her long enough for me to blow dry my hair.  That really is something great to be thankful for (haha)!

10. Comfy sweatshirts - Its a little chilly here in Alaska, and this big fluffy sweatshirt I'm wearing just makes it very cozy!

It really is the little things in life that make it wonderful, isn't it?  What is one thing you are thankful for this year?

<3 Rebekah

Simple Things 11.20.2011

Sorry about the little blogging hiatus this week.  I don't really have a reason, I had lots of blog ideas throughout the week, just never really got the chance to sit down and write them.  Or to upload pictures to the computer. These pictures are from some silly time on the floor with my girl! She makes me laugh every day, she is already so silly.  I love it, it seems like its been a long time since I really laughed at the silly things in life! I realized when I was looking at these pictures that almost all my photos from this fall/early winter will have the exact same background.  Thats because we have one window in our house that gets sunlight through it for an hour and a half each day.  We are down to about 6 hours of sunlight here in Anchorage, so Sweetpea and I play near the window whenever the sun is out! This is also why we are looking so very pale lately!

What is everyone's Thanksgiving plans?  Thanksgiving is probably my very favorite holiday, and I'm going to write about it a little later this week.  This year I don't have many plans yet.  I will be going to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up things we'll need to make a few of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes, but I won't be going all out.  Probably just sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, rolls, and I was thinking maybe some cornish hens or something fun so I don't have to roast a whole turkey for the three of us. What are your favorite foods for Thanksgiving?  Hubby's platoon will be doing a be Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, so we will have a bigger celebration then.  This year I am thankful for so many things - Hubby being home, Sweetpea being perfect and healthy, lots of family and friends that love us (even if  we can't be near them), sufficient finances for all our needs and many of our wants, and so many other things! 

Today I'm celebrating the simple things by linking up here:

Great Phone App!!

A few days ago I was looking for a more "user friendly" Bible app for my phone and I found a great one! Its called YouVersion, and in the last few days it has already encouraged me to read my Bible a lot more!

I've wanted to read the Bible all the way through for a long time.  I think from some of my earlier posts it should be clear that I have a little problem with self-discipline, so though I have started reading many times, I've never gotten very far, or stayed very consistent with reading.  I'm really hoping that this program will change that, and so far so good.  You can read the Bible in all the major translations, multiple languages, and search easily for specific passages.  There are also a plethora of different "reading plans" so if you want to read the whole Bible, certain passages of the Bible, or certain topics in the Bible there is a plan for the amount of time you are looking for.  I signed up for the OwnIt365 plan, which breaks down reading into 5 chapters of the Bible, six days a week for a year.  It gives me 2-3 Old Testament chapters, and 2-3 chapters from the New Testament, or a Wisdom book each day.  I set my settings so I get a reminder each day to do my reading, and after I've completed the reading for the day, it shows how much of the reading plan I've finished.  There is also a button in case you miss a day or two, it can adjust the plan so you don't have to worry about trying to catch up. I think this will be helpful because when I've tried to "catch up" on reading plans in the past I never end up following through because the doubled up reading is too much.

Even if you don't have a smart phone, you can still use the online website (www.youversion.com), which has all the same features. If you do use the smart phone app, it syncs with the website so you can access your information online as well.  The website claims you can follow friends, and see any notes they have written about certain passages, so you can read with someone or just be more accountable with other people seeing how far you have gotten in your reading plan.  I haven't figured out how to add friends yet, so if anyone else does, let me know and add me(my username is Bekahdance)!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this new Bible app on my phone! I really hope it will continue to help me with my goals to increase my Bible reading, and I hope it can help some of you too! Any of you have anything that has helped motivate you to read your Bible more? I'd love to know because this is something I would really like to improve on!

Veteran's Day and an Announcement

Since its Veteran's Day, I'd like to take a brief moment to thank all the military service members from the past, present, and futur, and their family member for their oustanding service to our country. They sacrifice so much every single day, even when they are not deployed.

Speaking of deployment - the Department of Defense has officially announced the deployment of the 4/25 Infantry from Ft Richardson to Afghanistan.  This means that my husband will be leaving for his third combat tour sometime in December.  As we have lived here less than 3 months, Sweetpea and I will be moving to Colorado to be with my family during the 12 month deployment.  In order to protect the safety of my husband and his fellow soldiers, I will not be able to give out details of when exactly they will be leaving, or where in Afghanistan they will be going.

We appreciate all the prayers that we can get during this time, although we know it is our choice to be in this lifestyle, it is still very hard on our family.

<3 Rebekah

On A Lighter Note...

I realize the last post was kind of heavy, so I thought I would post something today that always puts a smile on my face! This little girl got her first haircut today! I was going to wait for our move back to Colorado in a few weeks, so my sister could do the honors, but it was driving me crazy, so I just went ahead and did it myself. 

 Her bangs were getting much too long and her hair was all funky in the back.  She has new growth coming in all over the place, so there were all kinds of different layers in the back! (Can you see that little tooth on the bottom in this picture? Love it!) 

 

So we did a little sideswipe bang action, and then I cut pretty straight across the back to even out all her crazy layers, and gave her a cute little bob.  Thank goodness for directions over the phone from my sister who is a licensed cosmetologist!

 

I'm sure it isn't as good as auntie could do it, but I still think its adorable!

Here she is being nosy and looking in the cupboards! I just love watching her explore! When did you give your kids their first haircut? They sure do make it difficult don't they, moving around all the time.  If it isn't straight across, its not my fault - I'm just glad I didn't cut myself!

<3 Rebekah

The In Between Times

Source

One of the hardest things about the military is all the "in between" and the waiting. On the night Sweetpea was born, as I was sitting in the room holding her after everyone had left.  My husband was exhausted after being my cheerleader the whole day, and he had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the small and very uncomfortable looking chair the hospital room had. I remember looking at my new baby and thinking, "This is going to be a very hard year."  I don't know why it had never occurred to me how difficult it was going to be until that moment, but it hadn't.  Two weeks later my husband called to tell me that the military was going to move us all the way across the world, from North Carolina to Alaska.  Only a few weeks later, we learned that not only would we be moving, but shortly after the move, Hubby would be deploying for the third time.  My one really hard year had suddenly become three hard years. 

 Now we have completed the first few months of parenting, our first transcontinental move, and are waiting for the deployment phase to begin.  The last few months have been even more difficult than I could have ever imagined.  This is the first time since I was a teenager that I haven't had a car of my own, the first time in almost 6 years that I have had to start over somewhere without any friends. Since arriving here in Anchorage we knew I wouldn't be staying more than 3 or 4 months, so even if I did miraculously meet some people, it would be difficult to form any lasting relationships.  Needless to say, the isolation has been extreme. 

The extreme pressure of this isolation has been eased best by some great military wives that I have met in the past few years. Even though geographically I'm alone most the time here, I am part of a larger group of military wives who are currently, or have been "alone" while married.  My friend recently posted this quote on her facebook page and it really hit home with me - "Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It's for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough..."  In light of the last few months, and since we are about to start the deployment cycle again, I think I need to post this quote somewhere that I can see it to remember. Its been worth it to be with my husband during the last few months despite the hardship.  And we will make it through this next deployment.  It will be hard, but it will be worth it, to be back together as a family.

Anyone else going through a hard year?

As an afterthought, the link to the picture above also has an article about patience that was something I really needed to read!

<3 Rebekah



Kids Are Funny Creatures

I'm not entirely sure what happened...but she went from this crazy silly girl...

...to this very sad and upset girl in the matter of one minute.  Kids are so dramatic!

One Happy Strawberry Eater!

Hubby and I found out this weekend that Sweetpea LOVES strawberries.  She can't cram them in her mouth fast enough! Its hilarious and adorable at the same time. And kind of a relief too. Until the last few days, she hasn't shown much interest in eating anything other than momma milk! We tried the obligatory rice cereal at around 5 months: it was met with coughing and gagging and refusing to open her mouth. Again at 6 months - same reaction. It has continued like that despite the different foods we've tried, the different ways we have tried to feed her. We tried baby led weaning, which basically means you put things on their tray and let them pick up what they want and eat how they want. That is pretty much what we are doing now because she is much too independent to let someone feed her.  But it wasn't until just this past Friday that she actually really showed any interest in eating.  So, hurray for that, because although I was fairly certain she wouldn't be headed off to college still nursing, when your baby is 9 months and she will hardly put any real food in her mouth, sometimes you start to wonder. Anyone else have baby food drama? Enjoy these pictures of one happy little strawberry eater!

Contentment...

I'm trying to learn to find contentment in life.  Despite being in the top 99% wealthiest people in the world, I still find myself wishing I had different things, was in a different place, had a different life.  How ridiculous!

I read a blog post earlier this week, although I can't remember what blog it was on, that reminded me of a book I had read earlier called Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment.*  In it the author talks about a missionary woman named Ella who worked with the pygmies in Africa for 52 years.  After her death her daughter found in Ella's journal a "recipe" for contentment.

1. Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.
2. Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
3. Never compare your lot with another's.
4. Never allow yourself to wish this or that had be otherwise.
5. Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that [tomorrow] is God's, not ours.

I need to put this up somewhere I see it everyday to remember.  I have a very good life.  A beautiful daughter, a loving husband who provides for all of our needs and many wants, family and friends, running (hot) water, internet! How could I want anything different???

P.S. I love this photo of Sweetpea! It reminds me of Sesame Street that we have been watching lately and Cookie Monster saying, "This does not taste like a cookie!"


I'm celebrating contentment and the simple things in life today by linking up at:

*Please see my disclosure policy here



I'm a lazy blob!

What strikes me most about this Proverbs 31 woman is that she never seems to stop.  She is always doing something. That is something that I really need to work on.  When you get down to it, I'm pretty much a lazy blob.  I spend a lot of my time putzing away the day.  I play around on pinterest.  And check my facebook page 8 million times a day. And open the fridge and peer into it for several minutes to see if there might be something I want to eat. And write lists of things I should be doing. And generally just waste the time away.

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to make friends with several women who ALWAYS have spotlessly clean houses.  No joke, I think ever single person I've become close friends with in the last 2 years has the most organized, clean and neat homes I've ever seen.  I'm always jealous of them.  But that is silly, because the reason their homes are clean and neat is because they get off their bums and clean! 

I'm tired of being jealous for no reason, and for feeling guilty for wasting away my time.  I want to be one of these women who have clean, neat, and organized homes! I want to be this Proverbs 31 woman! One thing I really started in on today is going through some of our current boxes.  Most of you probably don't know, but we recently moved from North Carolina to Alaska! We moved into a much smaller residence, and we are only going to be here for a short time, so most of our household goods are still packed in boxes.  I am going through them to majorly downsize.  We collected a gross amount of stuff while in North Carolina, and while I should have gone through it before we left there instead of carting it across the world, I was *gasp* lazy.  But now I'm feeling more motivated.  Plus we can't fit all of it into the storage unit, so I've got to get rid of some of it!

Anyone out there lazy like me? I would love to have some company, you know, moral support and all.  Anyone out there a "cleaner" who has some motivating words, or maybe some little tips for keeping a clean and organized home? Leave me a comment!

<3 Rebekah

The Proverbs 31 Woman

^{Proverbs 31:10-31 from The Message Translation:
10-31} A good woman is hard to find,
and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
all her life long.
She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places
and brings back exotic surprises.
She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day.
She looks over a field and buys it,
then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden.
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
She makes her own clothing,
and dresses in colorful linens and silks.
Her husband is greatly respected
when he deliberates with the city fathers.
She designs gowns and sells them,
brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.
Her clothes are well-made and elegant,
and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"
Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
The woman to be admired and praised
is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.
Give her everything she deserves!
Festoon her life with praises!

Ok, I know its long, but its an incredible passage in the Bible.  And incredibly challenging.  I just started reading a book about this passage called Beautiful in God's Eyes: The Treasures of the Proverbs 31 Woman (George, Elizabeth (Insp)) .*  So far, it has been a great book that really motivates me, which is good because this proverbs lady is a little intimidating!!! I know God wants me to be more like this woman, but she is just so...productive! Over the next few weeks I will be posting more about the different things I am learning through this book and through my desire to become more like the woman God wants me to be.  Anyone else intimidated by the Proverbs 31 woman? Let me know, so I don't feel so alone!

*Me and My Army Brat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The Simple Things 10.23.2011

This week was filled with lots of new things for my baby girl! Her first tooth, learning to crawl, and discovering the joys of pots and pans!

I'm linking up here:

10 random things about me...

1.

I love ellipsis...(that is the ... if you didn't know...and yes, they are terrible grammatically incorrect, but i don't care!).

2.



Hubby and I have been married for 6.5 years!!! and lived together for 3 of those years... (Army life is interesting).

3.

I have a bachelors degree in psychology, and am currently working on becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor.

4.

I love stripes! And jeans! but not stripes on jeans;o)

5.

I love crafting, but haven't done very much of it for several years. Hopefully that will change soon.

6.

I would really like to always have a clean/clutter free house, but somehow my piles and dust bunnies just never disappear!

7.

I really like to cook, and try new (simple) recipes.

8.

I love the feeling of capturing a great picture, especially of my little girl!

9.

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, even though I fail a LOT in my life.

10.

I am addicted to Facebook.  Its pathetic.

So there you have it.  10 random things about me.  Leave me a comment with something random about you - I love learning little things about people!

Sweetpea is 9 months!

I know all first time mothers say this, but I can't believe how much she has grown! Such a funny mix of independence and dependence at this age. And I'm going to have a much harder time getting her to sit still for photo sessions from now on, I can tell.  She kept doing a superman dive in order to get some nice crunchy leaves to chew on!

Just today she started pushing herself up to sitting from her belly. I'm happy for this development, as lately whenever she wanted to be sitting she would just start screeching until I helped her up. Now she can do it herself!

Her first little tooth is poking through on the bottom. You can't quite see it yet, but you can feel that razor edge with your finger!

I love the way she studies everything.  She is really starting to love having books read to her, and touching different textures.  When you give her something new, she is a little hesitant at first, but she is so excited at the same time that she shakes.

.

Her hair is getting SOOOOO long! I should be able to put it in a ponytail soon! That is, if she will hold still long enough!

Happy 9 months sweet girl!

Rebekah

Becoming a Diamond

My name is Rebekah and I am a Christian woman, struggling to become the diamond God wants me to be.  I am a wife to a wonderful, hardworking military man, and a mother to my beautiful daughter, who will be 9 months old in 2 days!

When my daughter, Sweetpea, was born in January, with the euphoria of her birth also came the realization that this would be one of the most difficult years of my life.  Little did I know at that time what awaited my family this year! Two weeks after she was born, Hubby informed me that for the first time in seven years the Army would be relocating us.  And for our first PCS they chose the furthest base within the United States they could, from the coast of North Carolina across the world to Anchorage, Alaska! With this news also came the news that within months of our arrival in Alaska, Hubby's new unit would be deployed (his 3rd deployment) to Afghanistan.

After a month of traveling, we arrived in Anchorage almost 2 months ago.  It has been a whirlwind since then of trying to arrange somewhere to live, storage for our remaining belongings, and re-establish some form of normalcy, all to begin preparation for Hubby's upcoming deployment.  This time in my life has made me realize that a lot of the beliefs I hold and ways I deal with life are not exactly in line with the person I want to be. 

This blog will be a way for me to document the day to day life of my family and I, what we go through as a military family, and will inspire discussion about how the pressures of life can help transform us into diamonds.

Rebekah