Bad Girls...

Yesterday HG and I went to the mall in Tacoma. I can count on 2 hands how many times I have been there since we moved her almost 2 years ago. Well as we were walking in with our neighbor and her kids, all of a sudden 2 mall cops are wrestling with a lady. She is screaming "I didn't take anything!" Well everyone has stopped and we are all staring. She is FIGHTING. She knocked over a sign and well it took 3 mall cops to take her down.
My sweet and adorable HG yells "STOP!!!" When they did not listen she started to cry. I was trying to walk on, she is screaming at me. I felt so bad that my innocent child had to see something like that. I ended up having to pick her up and comfort her. I am NOT suppose to do that, well the Mommy in me took over....
We talked and I told her she did not have the money to pay for something and took it. It is against God's laws that we don't take things or steal.
My kiddo asked she is a "Bad Girl?". I had to tell her yes. Well then her little mind started to wonder. She starts telling me Mommy I want be a Bad Girl cause I don't want those Mean Guys to get me. I tell her they are not mean guys cause they are doing their job, and they don't get you unless you are really really bad.
On the to the car, the lady is sitting in the cop car in front of our car. She see's her "Behind the cage" as HG said. She tells me, "Mommy I want to live with you forever." I told her she can leave with me forever. We would love to have her live with us forever. She said I don't want to be put in the cage.
She tells John at bedtime, " I am going to be a good girl and not be put in a cage." I feel so bad that my child had to see something like this. It is so not fair to see her innocence taken from her in regards to people getting in trouble with the law.
I would love to have a conversation with that woman and tell her not only did you steal 2 pairs of pants but you took something from my child I can NEVER get back. It just makes me realize that our actions in public might not just effect us but others too.....

Disconnect from Technology = Connected to Reality

I am guilty as charged!!! I have been so attached to my BB that I think I could not live without. What if I miss an e mail, what if I miss a text message, heaven forbid if I miss a FB message or comment??? WHY??? Seriously?


Well I was challenged by God to leave my BB at home turned off on the charger. I thought, I am not sure I can do it God. Of course I get the whisper, "with Me all Things are possible!". Sure! I will take you up on this challenge. For the past year I have become so attached to this Device that it was taking 1st place. NO WAY! God is 1st in my life!

So we set off to Ocean Shores for 3 days. John asked me 3 or 4 times before we left, are you sure you want need it. NOPE! I am fine. All thought in the back of my mind I am thinking, I NEED IT, I want it!!

We had a blast! I was not checking that darn thing every 5 mins. Yes, I missed texting my friends. I know that I need to reconnect with my family!

We had to go back to the simple way of life, and find things to do! We had to have conversations in the car, and at dinner.

I have to say that it was a very freeing and inspiring experience. Yes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! I can go without being "connected" at all times. I can make conversation and we can have a good time without the computers or phones!

I am going to being going off line more often. 1st I am starting by not allowing FB updates on my BB. I can check FB, but it will not notify me of every little thing that happens. I will be spending more time with my family without my phone! We were not a family for a year!! In that whole year all I wanted was to be a family again. Then I throw this phone in there like it is a family member. NOT!

So if you call and I don't answer or txt and I don't answer it is not against you, it is against the phone! I am spending time with my family! My family is my reality!! I love you all and will get back to you kind of like 5 years ago when you just left a message and the person got back when they had a free moment. Hope this inspires others to do the same!!

Family Vacation

We went to Ocean Shores for a get away! We needed to disconnect from the world and reconncet with each other after a LONG one year deployment. We got there and headed for the beach. On the beaches here you can drive! We found sand dollars! Sand Dollars are so special to me. They remind me of my Nannie. When ever I would visit her at the beach she would have a sand dollar for me. HG found one that was broken and after searching for awhile, John found a whole one! It was super special! Walking on the beach in boots or UGGS is the thing here. The water is freezing cold! We also found clam shells! We had a fablous end to the 1st day with an amazing dinner on the beach and got to see sunset! AHHHHH!

On the second day we started out with a massage for John and I! Just what we needed. We then headed out to find some family fun! We went and rode go carts, bumper cars and rented a 3 seat bike to ride out to the beach and fly HG's new kite! We had a wonderful day!
We had some time before dinner so we rode out on the beach again in a different direction (toward the Jetty). The sand started to get soft and John went to turn us around and got us STUCK!!! I was so scared! I started crying and praying! If you ask HG what Mom did when Daddy got the car stuck she will tell you, "She was crying and praying!" So much better than yelling, cause that is what the old me would have done!!! John and an on looker try and push us out to no avail. He sink even futher! John said do not turn it off the exhaust is in the water.
I am really praying now!!! We have NO cell phone service! HG starts to panic cause their is water out on her side of the door. GREAT the tide is coming in now!!! Lord please get us out of here!!!! I am praying for a miracle!!! The nice on looker sees a jeep coming up the beach. We flag the nice guys down! Not only is it a Jeep they have a WENCH!!! I am THANKING THE LORD!!!!
They had to use the wench and pull us out by a MILE!! I gave the nice guy a twenty and told him, "I don't know if you believe in God, but you have been our saving grace!! Thank you so much and God Bless!" He told us " No problem glad I could help, just want you to know that in 10 mins you would not have had a rig!" I started to cry!!! Thank you Lord for getting us out of there!!!

Day 3 was rainy and well what better to do on a rainy day? Go to the Rainforrest! We took the beautiful 40-50 mile drive up the Pacifice Coast to Lake Quinault. I had no clue that we had a rain forrest here! It is georgous! We also found a waterfall!! We passed by it twice before we found it! It was so magical!

Then we headed back to Ocean Shores and did some shopping. We found the funnest shirts. They say Tsuami Evacation Instruction with the deal on the front. On the back it says RUN LIKE HELL!! We laughed so hard. Needless to say we bought 2 of them!!!
We then headed back to the Jetty this time on pavement! It was neat to see them and see how the harbor is right there. Lovely views!

We then walked back up the beach to where the car got stuck. We also wrote our names in the sand. We ended the day with a beautiful picture of us with a Rainbow in the back ground. That is right God Always Keeps his Promises!!! We had a wonderful vacation or escape and reconnect as a family again! We Thank the Lord for brining John home safe and sound! Thank you Lord!!!

4 years? REALLY???

WOW! It seems just like yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with our miracle. Today we celebrated her 4th BD! She also shares this BD with my wonderful Dad!! I am so BLESSED!

Today she got a Baby Doll. She named her Baby Jordyn. Well after all was cleaned up we took on the task of getting the Baby out of the box and showing her what all she does. Well it was not long before Hannah-Grace was ready to change the baby. I showed her once how to do the diaper. That is all it took, next thing I knew she was putting on and taking off the diaper like a Mom of triplets! She also was holding and feeding her like she has always known what to do. This blew me away!

It was just 4 years ago that I held her, fed her and changed her diaper. Lord, I think you for the wonderful 4 years and memories I have had with our precious Baby Girl! Thank you for trusting me with your Precious Jewel! I am honored you would pick me to raise her with her wonderful father!

Ok to move on....

Today we took Rella to the Dog Park. Rella is our 14 week old puppy. She is a mix of Blue Healer and Black Lab. She is the sweetest thing. She has been a great addition to our family. She was potty trained very early and I might add very easy to train. She adores Hannah-Grace and Hannah-Grace adores her too. They are great for each other.
I have not let myself get to attached or close to Rella. She was more for Hannah-Grace than for me or John. Although John has bonded with her just as much as Hannah-Grace has. I have to say it was not till today that I was able to really move on.

Scarlet was our dog for 10 wonderful years. We got Scarlet our 1st Christmas together. She taught me A LOT!!! I had never trained a dog or knew anything about dogs till we got Scarlet. She was a wonderful dog and I miss her still every day. During the deployment I missed having a dog at night. She would always stay up with me till I went to bed. Well today we went to the dog park. There was a lady that was walking her dog and her dog's name was Scarlet. How odd was that. When I heard her say No Scarlet, my stomach got a huge knot in it. It was like I was hearing myself. When she got to us, I was blown away how much this Scarlet looked like our Scarlet.
We talk with the lady and let the dogs play awhile. She was nice enough to let me take a picture of Scarlet. As I got to thinking about it, I thought how amazing God is. He knows my feelings with Rella and how I was not bonding like I should. I know he set that meeting up so I can move on. I know that Scarlet is not hurting and would want nothing more than for us to have a dog to bring us joy and love the way that she did. Lord, Thank you for using the little things in life to help us in BIG ways!!! I am amazed by you daily!!!
This is Scalet from the Dog Park!

Just thinking...

John filled out the census today. I got to thinking, where were we 10 years ago? Well we were in Yuma, AZ with no children. Where will we be 10 years from today? I can best assume we will be done with the military and back in NC. We will have a 14 year old and I pray a few more pattering feet.


In thinking about the 10 years, I wonder what statists we hear daily based on the 2000 census. Well with that, being said the world is NOT what it was in 2000. We had a false sense of security as American's. We thought we were invincible. No one could harm us, and never on our own land. I wonder should it be done more than 10 years. With the technology the way it is we can really do it faster and more often right? Just thinking....

February 20, 2010

Well today is the day!!! I have to say I have dreamt of this day for over a year now. I can remember when we were in the Marine Corps I would hear about the Army's deployments for 12 plus months. I would feel so sorry for the Army wives and thought I could NEVER do that!




Well God had other plans for us. When John told me he was coming into the Army, God instantly put it in my spirit that he would deploy right away. God had been working on preparing me for this deployment a good 6 mo. out.



Well Feb 22, 2009 came and it was one of the hardest days of my life. It was cold, rainy, at o dark thirty that we had to say “See you later” because we don’t say goodbye! I remember a gut wrenching feeling that well I know I will experience again, however it does not make it any better.



As I pulled out of the parking lot and looking into our Baby Girls eyes well I really lost it. I felt so horrible for John. We had prayed and wanted our precious gift from God for years. Now he was going to miss out on a year of her life. I knew at that time, my husband was making more than the normal sacrifice of a deployment. I knew that God would see him and me through it. I also knew I would take TONS of pictures (as you can see from my many albums) as for him not to miss out on too much.



The 1st night was horrible!!! I did laundry that day and well waited to fold and put it away that night (never again). Seeing his clothes and putting them away for a year hurt so bad. I remember calling my Mom at midnight my time and well 3 am hers. She was there ready to talk. She told me don't look at it as a year. Take it one day at a time. That night I know God was there in our room holding me and rocking me to sleep. I could have never gotten to sleep any other way.

Hannah-Grace's 3rd BD came and well I have to say it was one of the hardest for me. I remember the glowing look on John's face when he saw her born. I just want him to be here for this too. Yet another sacrifice he made for this country he loves.



I have to say my several trips to NC made the deployment go by a lot faster. It gave me something to look forward to. I could never have done it without my Mom and Dad. I have to say it gave me a break from the everyday to make it easier.



I have to give God all the glory on the success of this deployment. He has taught me a deeper level of prayer. When I would not hear from John for 4 or 5 days, well what else can you do? Go crazy? Nope not an option. He would remind me in his sweet calming voice "Meredith, no news is good news." He taught me how to rely on Him as my husband. I use to rely on John for everything. Well with God and His strength and courage I did things I would never thought I could do! The Lord also showed me a deeper relationship with John. It is hard to have relationship separated by miles. God would put people or books in my way that would give me ideas to help us grow deeper! He was a source of wonderful encouragement through friends and family. He allowed me to meet and love on some wonderful friends. I have to say us Army Wives well we are a breed all our own. God gives us strength and courage that is amazing!!



R&R was wonderful. 15 days of well Bliss!! I have to say, I am very thankful for the little time we got to spend together. I would not trade it for the world. Thanksgiving and Christmas well they were tough. God taught me to look at them totally differently. It was more about Jesus than me or our family!



I have to say staying busy volunteering and sharing the light of Jesus really helped me though this year. It has not always been easy, but the outcome is not for me, it is for God!



PWOC was a saving grace. It was my weekly pick me up that I needed. Puyallup 4square church helped me keep my head up. Hearing encouraging and humorous messages from Roger well they allowed me to grow and have a deep relationship with God. Roger and Tina made me feel so special; they would always have an encouraging word or just ask how I was doing. In a church that size, they would remember me and our family!



My friends and family were always there for me no matter the day or time. Your loving e mails, encouraging words and well just listening ears helped me so much. You all keep me busy and I love you all for it.



Today is a beautiful Sunny day here in the Pacific Northwest. Today is a day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it!! Today is a day that God wrote in my destiny before I was even born; He amazes me with His love for me!!

Thank you Lord for your Strength and Courage to not only survive but thrive through this Deployment!!!