Anyone would understand if you fell apart….in fact, you can let yourself fall apart, but the fact that you decide to pick yourself up and carry on shows your strength. Carry on, milspouses.

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There are only so many times you can say, “I understand” or “yes, I’ll take care of it” before one of your eyes starts to twitch. I know that there is no such thing as “Super Mom or Super Wife” yet, we all try to reach our own impossible goals. I’ve written about it time and time again, yet here I am, trying to do it all and do everything well. I know what I need to do…I should let something on my list go…I could re-prioritize…or I could *gulp*… ask for help. That was just as hard to write as it is to say out loud.

This is not a long post, because it is after midnight and I have to be up in less than 6 hours. This is a reminder for myself and everyone reading it that we can’t do it all, BUT we can have it all. Don’t waste your energy and time trying to obtain perfection. Instead, look around you and enjoy your life. LIVE. Right now, there is laundry on the couch next to me, my new programs are not working with my new equipment for the business, and I feel like my head is going to pop from al the thoughts, concerns, worries.

Then I look around again. Those clothes on the couch next to me…they belong to my healthy beautiful children. And even though they make a load a day, how can I be bothered by the fact they go outside and play…that I hear laughing while getting covered in dirt.

My new programs may not be syncing right now, but I’m grateful to have them and I know I’ll figure it out. My head may be spinning, but I have my husband, my best friend, to make it all better. Whether he is here to rub my head or deployed and it takes weeks to get a response, I have him.

So, I may not be able to do it all, but I have it all in my eyes. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe the laundry will get put away, maybe it won’t.

I did JM’s first video this morning. In fact, I had left the house to take the dog to the groomer and instead of continuing on with my day and getting my running around done, I turned around and went back home to work out. I knew if I didn’t, I would have plenty of excuses later. It added hours to my day and caused me not to get my errands done. But, I worked out.

Everyone is asking me what I think of the “Body Revolution” work out. So, here is my honest opinion.

I think you will lose weight if you stick with any diet and exercise. There is no magic process that will make you healthy. With that said, people have preferences and I do believe some techniques may work better than others. 

This series seems like it will work. The concept of engaging different muscles continuously and not stopping for breaks, just makes sense. 30 mins is appealing and easy to fit in to any schedule. 

Besides feeling like I was going to be sick…twice, the work out was great. I do, however, feel that Jillian M. has cameras installed in my house. At one point, I said out loud  (Yes, I talk to myself), “I’m going to DIE!” Within seconds JM Yells, “You’re not going to DIE!!!” I glanced around like, WTH? I kept going. A little later we were doing triceps and I was holding two dumbbells behind my head (one in each hand) and lifting them above my head, straightening my arms. I felt that it was getting heavy and went to put down an weight, thinking I could just use one weight. As I did this, JM yells, “Don’t you put down a weight! No cheating!! I can see YOU!” At this point I’m convinced she CAN see me and I’m a little freaked out. I didn’t put down the weight.  Continue reading →

Have you done your taxes yet? I was putting mine off, because I felt overwhelmed. Being Active Duty, with a new business in WA, rental property in GA, home of record in MO, investments, a refinanced mortgage, and charitable donations….I figured I wouldn’t be able to do them myself this year. I was wrong. After I already bought the software to attempt to do them myself, a friend mentioned that H&R Block was offering free filing for Military through Military One Source.

I hadn’t opened the software and thought, “Well, why not give this a try, it’s FREE!” So, I did and last night I finished and e-filed my taxes. This morning I woke up to an email confirmation telling my that the IRS has accepted and processed my return. My refund will be deposited into my bank account within 8 days. It Was. Easy. If I can do it, you can. You have nothing to lose trying it. There is a help line if you have questions and H&R Block will do a free “second look” if you take it in. (Call to make sure your  local H&R Block participates).

Just thought I’d share my cool find with other milspouses that procrastinate like I do.

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I will be deleting the old one here shortly!

~ Marie

I did the first workout of the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution today. I’m not going to lie. I couldn’t make it through the first workout. I couldn’t believe how hard such simple movements could be when done it fast paced circuits. I really thought I was going to be sick at one point…BUT, with all that said. It is an amazing workout. The concept just makes sense and if I do this every day, I could very well reconsider a career as a swimsuit model. This is going to get me in the best shape of my life. I just know it. This is ‘Day 0′ because I’m giving the first workout a second chance tomorrow with a full nights sleep and a better breakfast. This deserves my full effort. 

I’ll be weighing in every Monday…today I was 169.8  Goal: 145-150 

I love to sleep. I’ve even day dreamed about sleeping. This ‘dream’ has my husband and I on a white sandy beach, tucked away under huge trees with a plush raised bed….sleeping. You would think my dream would include my husband (or a pool boy) in something close to nothing…but it doesn’t. I couldn’t even tell you what he is wearing. I just know he is there, next to me, asleep. It’s quiet. And in this dream, I sleep through the night, wake up eat, and just go back to bed….sleep through the day. So romantic. No hot steamy moments…just sleep. 

I’ve decided I miss writing. I thought that it would be better to wait and launch a new site (which I’m researching), but in reality, I need to write. Even if it’s about the fact that I can’t sleep. So many spouses can relate to this. My husband was recently away for a few weeks and it was terrible. I am a “2 week-er.” It takes me two weeks into a deployment to get my “stuff” together and myself on a schedule. For two weeks I eat like crap, don’t sleep, and completely run off the tracks. But, after that, I can operate without a glitch. I know others are “1 day-ers” or “3 week-ers”. It just depends. So, when the husband was away, I had just enough time to not sleep and be in a complete funk…then he returned.

The first night he was home, I was relieved. I thought, “I’ll finally sleep!!!” Nope. He was breathing. It’s funny how absence makes the heart grow fonder and being there suddenly makes you want to put a pillow over…..push them out of the bed. He’s always ‘breathed’. . .I just spent weeks getting used to him not breathing in my ear and now, it’s back. I know, I shouldn’t complain. I have my husband home. But. I have to be honest. His breathing is why I couldn’t sleep. Funny how that works. I’ve adjusted again, but for the love of all things good, I’m not getting any younger. I can’t spend three-four weeks not sleeping and get up and accomplish what I need to. It just isn’t happening. So, I’m doing what I know….my best. During the first week of deployments that may be just making sure the kids are ok and going on auto pilot for everything else. Now, it means making sure the kids are ok and going on auto pilot for everything else. Don’t re-read. You read it right.  

Good night friends. Isn’t it nice to know you’re understood?