I dream of pigs

I have one dream when it comes to the rest of my life. I want to own a farm and on that farm I want to have pigs. Juliana pigs, micro/teacup and even potbelly pigs. Big and small. I don't care how annoying their oinks are or how messy they can get, they belong in my life. I'm so happy Mike has the same dreams, farm wise. Sure, he doesn't care too much for the pig idea but he's okay with it :) He wants a dog, I get a pig. I believe that's an even trade, right? 

The New Myspace

I'm embarrassed guys. I'm goo goo gah gah over the new Myspace look & it's been YEARS since I've been on that site. To be honest, who is really even on there? I don't know a soul who is on Myspace. Do you even remember it? Justin Timberlake does. He remembers it so much, he decided to shell out some money for it and with the help of other investors, revamp the site. Think it sounds silly? It doesn't look silly. It looks really aesthetically pleasing and exactly what I've been looking for in a social network. Eeeeeek.

Now the question is, would you go back?

The Art of Tracing

So I got bored tonight and somehow got the urge to trace via photoshop. I have to say, it was incredibly relaxing and I was so excited to see the finished product. This is my very first attempt to ever do this & its kind of hard using your couch as a mouse pad but I did it! I wasn't sure exactly what tools other people used in photoshop for this so I had to wing it & guess. I think I did pretty decent for my first go around. I cannot wait to practice more! Anyone have any tips out there that could help? 

Deer in the headlights

Honest post here guys. Where is my happy face? I know many of you who follow me on Instagram (goodluckjenn) might have noticed something missing in my self portraits. I have too & it bothers me a lot. The last time I remember seeing a glow on my face was (according to my IG) 7/21/12. It's been about 2 months since that picture. Has something happened between then and now that I look so exhausted and blue?

My son came home. Am I unhappy my son came home? Hell no. Then what is the problem? It made me look at the hard reality of my new life. I miss being a stay at home mom. I truly and honestly do. I miss obsessing over time spent with my family. Now I work full-time at a job that I can't truly advance in. Not only that but I cannot afford childcare. Thank goodness for family at this time. It's not my jobs fault that I can't afford to pay childcare but in this reality, I either must get a second job or find another one. I'd hate to leave my job before the busiest time of the season but it's a dog eat dog world and I have to do what I can to survive & provide. This is the real world. As much as I want to be with my baby all day, every day, I cannot. It hurts.

Walk and bike

Before my son came home, the BF and I went to the park pretty often. It's not too far of a walk from our home & provided a great chance to get out and get some fresh air. It's a guaranteed 2 mile walk (total) just to get there and back, not adding up the walking we do around the park. Now that the weather is cooling down and the tot is home, our trips have become a bit more frequent. My son use to complain about the walk. He wanted a car by the time it was time to head back. Today, however, was different. I think he's finally accustomed to the fact that the BF and I walk/bike a lot of places. In Alaska, he couldn't just walk around the corner to the store & quite frankly, when it is cold, who would want to? He wasn't use to exercising either. Today he asked us why we walked. I plain out told him, "We walk because we want to exercise so we don't get "fat" and because we like to walk." He responded with an "Ohhhhhh!" and I really think he understood that it was a good thing. On our walk, we made it into an adventure. He led the way with a big stick in every which direction. Mike took his bike as I carried our backpack & we hunted for bad guys. But not before we fed the ducks.

He was so eager to feed these ducks & brought along his personal crackers to share with them. That was until they started chasing him for more. Seeing him squeal in delight while running from these harmless things made me laugh. I did notice that some of the ducks seemed sick and alerted the local city's facebook page (who are actually pretty active with commenters) to come and take a look at them. 

After we fed the ducks, we walked around the park to experience our adventure. My son had no stopping point. We actually had to tell him it was time to head home and hour and a half later. Little did he know, we had walked 4 miles total by the time we hit our doorstep. My feet knew of course, all blacked out in my flip flops with dirt. There is nothing more entertaining then seeing your child develop and use their imagination though. Not just that but you get an excuse to act like a child as well. It was an awesome end to my day & he still didn't fall asleep until 1030 tonight. He has so much energy!

Speaking of walking/biking, I'd love some advice. Is 4/5 too old to have a jogging stroller or a bike trailer? There are just going to be some times where we might want to go longer distances or when I'm with my son might be the only time we get to exercise and he might not be able to keep up the pace. What do you guys think? 

Also, what do you think about watermarks? I personally hate them but I'd also hate if my pictures were stolen or put on Pinterest without an original URL attached & I get jipped. I'd love your thoughts and suggestions!!

Saturday

This weekend in North Texas, we went to a Pow Wow Championship. Now, I've been to a few pow wows in my life and they were wonderful. This one was not as grand as I was use to & I even got a little bored. I was a little lost and confused on how these contestants were judged and what they were judged on. Never the less, my son and I walked around the flea market (Trader's Village where it was held) & had a blast checking out all of the contestants traditional gear. My son did not want to leave without a dreamcatcher, so we traveled around the flea market to find one just for him. After he bought one, he bought another one just for our room so that it would catch our bad dreams as well. How considerate of him :) He also bought a hand drum and all the items we bought were handmade, which I'm very proud of. Will I go to the Pow Wow next year? Probably not. However, I live 45 minutes from Oklahoma. Problem solved. Below are a few pictures from the Pow Wow Ceremonial Dancing Championships that I was able to take:

Oh and did I mention that while I LOVE photoshop actions, I just discovered the power of curves here. WHY didn't anyone tell me about this sooner? You guys need a spanking. If you didn't know about the power of curves, you know now.

Let's start over.

Guess who came home after 6 very long months? My angel baby. I can't believe he has been home for 2 weeks already! I was truly worried about how the transition was going to be for him when he got home. As usual, he shed some tears the first night. Never fear though, I always seem to explain what's going on really well and make sure to listen to his feelings. I think listening is incredibly important with young children. You can't just tell them how to feel. You have to let them feel. When his Dad left for his last deployment, my son was upset. When we moved out of our home in Alaska, he freaked out when he walked in his room and everything was packed up. He has been through so many transitions in his short little life. Deployments, moves, divorce. He is incredibly strong and brave for a little guy. And let me tell you, his memory from the past 2 1/2 years is phenomenal. He remembers everything! I'm so impressed. 

When he got home, he made sure that I knew that he knew how to clean his room. He let me know about his new cartoon love, Phineas and Ferb. He sings songs in full, which he never did before. I worried about if he forgot about me since he was gone for so long. He surely didn't. The first time he laid eyes on me after getting off that plane, I knew he remembered. He was amazed and glowing. He didn't scream or act crazy. He just wanted to hold me and he had the sweetest grin on his face. It was wonderful. I'm happy to know he still loves broccoli but it saddens me that we no longer share the same love for gravy. I got to take him to see The Avengers, something we've both been waiting to see together for months. He was thrilled. 

Mike and my son get along great together. Michael is so good with kids and especially Xavier. They entertain each other and when I don't happen to have the energy to want to do something, Mike does. If I don't want to build legos, Mike will. Our environment is so peaceful here. I'm so happy that I have my two boys. I hate going to work and leaving them behind. They really lift my spirits up and put me in a positive mood. I will never get bored with these two men in my life :)

testing, testing

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