Let's just jump right back in...

    So, well... it's been a long time.  I'd like to take a moment to blame this long pause on 4 weeks without my computer because my computer is most comfortable to me and I enjoy using my computer.  I'm not quite sure if that excuse could "hold water" or if you could "take it to the bank" but I'm going to go with it for now.

     What has happened in the last four weeks???  Not a lot of exciting things, but a lot of life has happened, I suppose.  After a wonderful week spent in Dallas with Brian, Jackson and myself  hopped on a plane over to South Carolina to stay with Grandmama and Papa Bruce.  The day we arrived was a tad bit cool and a little dreary.  Lucky for us, that didn't last long.  Let me just go ahead and sum up the fact that the rest of our 3-week stay stayed pretty consistently in the 70s and 80s ... and it. was. heaven.  We loved spending so much time with my mom - we worked on the rental houses and even had a very successful yard sale (all my share is going to paying off our son, of course! :))  Jackson was a man of great travels, of course; his doorway jumper was used nearly every day in several different locations.  Let's just say he has mastered the art of the jump.  I took him by the Clemson University campus where I had to get my transcripts for starting school.  It was a beautiful day with green green grass and flowers in early bloom.  We got some of the most precious pictures in the alumni garden, and I got excited for returning to get my masters in the next 4 years or so.  When we got back to Grandmama & Papa Bruce's house we set up the little kiddie pool my mom had bought for my water bug.  I'll let this picture tell you just how much he loved it:

I would venture to say "pure ecstasy." 

     We came back a week before Brian just so we could re-adjust ourselves to life at home.  The most depressing part of our return??  Forty-degrees and rainy.  Ick.  It's gotten to the 50s but it's still not the spring it was in Carolina and it's still pretty miserable.  On top of that, Brian's simulator broke on the day he was supposed to complete his "phase check" which is kind of like the pre-test before the check ride (a.k.a. the final).  Seeing as this was putting a major kink in his Easter weekend hopes and extending his time in Pheonix, Brian called headquarters and had them fly him home Friday until they could get their act together.  Turns out, he gets a week "off" here at home with us!  As much as getting everything done is goal number 1, it's really nice having him home!  We had a wonderful Easter with our families, and we're enjoying our quality time together this week.

     I think that pretty much brings us up to date.  I'll put some serious effort into updating more often than 4 weeks apart! 

Until next time, find something you love doing with your family and make it happen!

To my son...

I whisper this to Jackson (maybe not verbatim, but the gist) now almost every night when his eyes get heavy.  I'm putting it on here so I have a written record of the things I wish for him.

Be strong

Be smart; Be wise.  There's a difference, know it.

Stand up for yourself; stand down when you should.

Stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.

Hold onto your dreams, but don't get discouraged if your path alters.

Keep you eyes on the future, but live in the present.

Love unconditionally; discriminate against no one.

Find your happiness.

Keep your head held high and maintain your truth.

Study hard.

Eat your veggies, and know I'll see you when you don't.

Be a good friend; be loyal, and trustworthy.

Be a good man; have integrity and heart.

Never be afraid to cry - it can be the greatest sign of strength and endearment.

Fall in love, but don't be afraid to walk away from a loveless relationship.

Learn from your mistakes.

Find something your passionate about.

Be compassionate.

Dream big dreams, little man, and know I love you more than life itself.

Naughty Little Blogger!

Ugh!  I feel just awful... I've gone almost 2 weeks without a word on here!!  Naughty!  I mean, really, I never had such a plan to stay away for that long.  But it has been quite busy...

We went to South Carolina on March 4 to see my family and to celebrate my 25th (!!!) birthday.  A quarter of a century gone by... unbelievable.  Though Brian had to leave on the 7th to get started on his upgrade stuff, Jax & I got to stay for the week because I was asked to speak at my old high school in an Alumni Forum.  It was so insane to be back at my old "stomping grounds" ... I haven't had to be at the high school by 8am in seven years so that was a bit eerie! 
Back in Lake in the Hills... Brian got to work from home all of last week which was heaven.  It was especially wonderful because we had some warm-ish days and lots of sunshine while he was home so we got to enjoy our back deck for a few days.
I was just about to say that "that's that" for the past couple of weeks and move on to current events, when I remembered we had milestones reached while we were in South Carolina!  Jackson started sitting up on his own on Monday March 8th! 

Annnnnnd, he also started getting the hang of eating!  You know, babies are inborn with the instinct to push food out of their mouths with their tongue and they develop the ability to move the food from the front to the back in their first months.  Well, he had been trying and spitting more than he was swallowing until we tried some sweet potatoes at Grandmama's house and we flipped the script - big boy swallows!!  Though, he did still end up with a sweet potato mustachio!

So, yaaaaaaaaaaay! Jackson!!  We are so proud! :)

Okay, now we'll get to more current events.  After a week of home training, it was time for Brian to go to Dallas for his long-term (as in 5 weeks) training at the flight academy.  Well, I don't like the idea of just hanging around the house for 5 weeks by ourselves and Brian didn't like the idea of 5 weeks by himself so we decided to do something to appease us all.  Sunday morning, bright and early, we made our ways to Dallas.  Brian was on a positive space ticket so he had no issues getting down direct from O'Hare.  Jax and I, on the other hand, had to go another route because direct flights to Dallas were obscene for standbys on Sunday.  They always are, really, but the obscenity was exponentially worse because of spring break and such.  So, we decided that going through Charlotte was the best route.  The original itenerary was a 7am, 1.5 hour flight (that meant getting up at 4am, folks) from O'Hare to Charlotte, a 2-hour sit, and then a 2-hour flight to Dallas.  Well.... I did say "original."  So we made it onto the 7am ORD-CLT flight with no issues because it was only about half full.  An hour and a half later we landed in Charlotte and quickly realized that the CLT-DFW flight which had looked fine at 4am now had 30 oversales and 7 non-revs (that's what we are who fly on company passes standby) listed above us.  All you have to understand about that sentence is that it translates to: no chance.  We sat and waited for 2 hours until they began boarding, they did get 27 of the 30 oversales onboard, so it got closer than any of us thought it would, but a lot of good that did us since we were still left sitting in the terminal watching the flight go out full.  Bleh.  That flight departed at about 12:30, and we now knew we were going to have to wait until 3:40 to try again.  Now, the Charlotte airport is a decent airport, but after about an hour you really run out of things to do.  Jackson, thank God, was an angel during the whole ordeal.  He slept and when he wasn't sleeping he was a smiley, talkative little boy. 
Speaking of, he's waking up from a nap so I gotta get him up and fed.  Be back in a moment.
Okay, he's not terribly hungry so we're going to see how much of this I can get through before he let's his hungry monster roar.  

Anyway,  back to our crazy travel adventures.  So after another 2 hours in the airport they started boarding the 3:40 flight.  The stats had improved, 3 oversales and 7 non-revs above us.  We watched the list as the agent called people waiting for seats to the podium.  Six people above us, four, three, a party of 2, and then a painful pause in the name-calling.  Really?  Now, I should mention things were so "dire" that my wonderful husband had already rented a car and carseat and my amazing friend Kelly, who lives in Charlotte, had already offered us a place to stay because I had already decided that once we didn't make the 3:40 we were going to dismiss waiting another 2 hours for the 6something flight and call it a day.  Lo and behold!  "Spears... Brittany Spears [snicker]" comes over the PA and I nearly fell over myself getting up to the agent who so graciously gave us a seat.  Granted, he gave us 25E which is the middle seat of the 3-seat side over the wing.  At that point, I didn't care.  Two hours of a sleeping baby and a completely wrecked neck/back later we landed in Dallas and took in the beautifully breezy 85-degree weather.  Whew!  I'm exhausted just remeniscing! 

So, here we are.  Tuesday in Dallas.  Yesterday, Jax and I spent most of the day in WalMart.  Not my favorite store, but it's really all that's around, unfortunately, and it was definitely better than a day in the hotel room.  So, WalMart it was; we perused the aisles and bought some food and some little things to make life in the hotel a little easier and more "homey."  Oh! This was all after Jackson took a dip in the indoor hotel pool!!  Although, since Daddy must be here for his "first swimming pool experience," we didn't take pictures so it doesn't count!! ;)  Maybe tonight we'll get Daddy down to the pool to see our big boy and take pictures of his second "first" pool time!  (Stay tuned!)  Brian is in class from 9-6 and trying to put another 2 hours of studying in once he gets "home"; he did squeeze in time for a wonderful dinner at Aspen Creek near the hotel, and tonight Jax and I are probably going to meet Brian and our friend Ryan (who we call Glanzer, his last name).  Glanzer is also a pilot at Eagle and has been down here for his upgrade training already (the end of this week is his oral exam which, from what I hear, is brutally nervewracking for pilots).  So hopefully we'll get to have dinner with him tonight & he can meet the little guy finally.  Then, tomorrow night we're meeting with Creech (Brian has a lot of friends named Brian so we call a lot of his friends by their last names... this one is Bryan with a "y") and his wife and new baby for another dinner and another "meeting of the babies." 

Right now, the plan is to head over to South Carolina next week (Monday or Tuesday maybe) and spend some more time with Grandmama & Papa Bruce (and GGmama & GGpapa, and the Great & Uncle Robbie & Zachey & BayBay, and Auntie C & Uncle J... just to name a few, holy moly!)  I'm quite excited for a lot of reasons, but one in particular is that, after 25 years, I'm finally going to make my mom teach me to sew!  The goal is to make at least one summery dress that I will wear!!  I also cut up all of my old sorority tees to practice on and make into a t-shirt quilt at the same time.  I'm really excited, and I'm really hoping to enjoy it enough and get good enough at it to justify a request for a fancy schmancy sewing machine.  (To go with the fancy schmancy camera I'm also in the market for!) 

Well, I think that about brings us all up to date.   Now, I have to catch up (again) on the 31-day Challenge stuff.  Again, I'm going to post them under the date that they were supposed to be posted, so if you're interested in seeing them you're going to have to scroll down to past dates. 

Until next time, take in some fresh air... it does the soul some good!

.Day 18.

Day 18 - A Picture of Your Biggest Insecurity

I'll work on a picture tomorrow for you guys.  I'm going to be brave.  It may just be the first step in changing the way I see this insecurity.

These days I am terribly insecure of my thickened middle and the stretch marks left behind from my pregnancy.  Not that they're the worst (they're not the angry red kind, but still), but they're there and they're all I see on my loosey goosey tummy.  I've always had a slight insecurity about my tummy and wanting to keep it trim, but now that I'm at the biggest I've ever been it's a little worse.  I would jump at a chance of a mini tuck and some laser therapy, but, you know, that requires a little more expendable cash-on-hand than currently available... so maybe we'll save those for later.. ; ). 

Check back for a pic... you know you're on pins and needles... I know I am! ; ) Ha!

.Day 17.

Day 17 - A Picture of Something That Has Made a Huge Impact on Your Life Recently

Really??  Have you been paying attention to this blog???  This has been an impactful year.  Seriously.  But at any rate, here we go:

A walk down the aisle...

We bought and proceded to renovate our new home
(while I was 8 months pregnant!!)

And then there he was.  The gift that erased any
negative there had ever been.

.Day 16.

Day 16 - A Picture of Someone Who Inspires You

Well, I have to do it again... sorry folks. 

That little face.  That smile.  That giggle.  The way he holds my hand.  The way he lights up when he wakes up in the morning.  The way he gets so cuddly when it's time to go night-night.  The changes every day.  The way he learns things and does something new.  That sweet, sweet little face.  It all inspires.  It all inspires me to be a better person tomorrow than I was today.  It all inspires me to love more deeply, cherish more completely, and enjoy every small thing in life.  

Awwwww Maaaaaaaaan!

Yeah... slap me on the wrist.  I've let the blog sit idle for far too long (gasp).  Although, it was my husband who commandeered my laptop for the purpose of completing his at-home training for the captain upgrade.  So... I'm actually going to "schedule" the 31-day Challenge posts on the days that they were supposed to have been posted, so you'll have to work from the rears. 

I will have a sort of "wrap-up" of all the goings-on from the past week and a half after I do some catching up on the challenge.  So, bear with the weirdness, and you shall have your "real time up-to-date post" soon enough!