More life updates

Gosh, it's been a while since I've sat down and written something other than monthly milestones about Ian. Honestly, I go back and forth regularly about whether or not to even keep this blog open and active because I just don't have time for it. Or lets be totally honest, I choose not to have time for it.

But there's so much history written here about our lives and our babies, that I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. It's also an easy way to give family access to pictures and kid updates considering neither side of our family lives very close. Plus I'm still getting crazy amounts of traffic on some older blogs and some things that have been pinned.... but don't get me wrong, Pioneer Woman I am NOT.

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity. Jordan has been gone for most of it, which has been hard for me and the boys. I'm not sure how single moms do it. Seriously. The last of our summer activities (aka: trips or obligations that remove Jordan from the home) will come to an end this Saturday afternoon. I couldn't be more thrilled to be done with this chapter. On one hand, I'm so incredibly proud of my husband and the leader that he is, but it requires him to be apart from us often. On the positive side, I consider these weeks to be refining moments, where I am stretched a little farther and in need of some big helpings of grace. Then, I wake up a little more confident and a little more patient. Days like this really bring to life Hebrews 12:11, "For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." It never ceases to amaze me how the parent/child relationship so intimately reflects the relationship I have with Jesus.

Some happenings so far this month: a quick visit from Aunt Casey while she was transitioning from her job in Plano to a new job in Madison, WI. (While I know it has its downfalls, I'm a little jealous of her travel-nursing-nomad-life.... could you even imagine being able to pack all of your belongings into 2 cars? And seeing a new part of the country every 3 months?) We had a quick visit from Jordan's parents AND we also took a short trip to Houston where they live. While in Houston, we met Jordan's new, more specialized cardiologist. It was a good check up and we loved Dr. Lam. I think I spend about 90% of my year in blissful ignorance and then the other 10% remembering that my husband has pretty significant CHD. I'm usually a little anxious when it's time for yearly check ups, so it's nice to have these good doctor checks and hear, "We'll see you in a year or so!!"

Work has been sporadic. This is the time of year where my PRN status is most needed and some months I'm barely making my minimum requirements. I enjoy my job so much and I look forward to getting back into a semi-consistent work routine. I'm working on some unit-based education and prepping for my next fetal monitoring class on top of doing patient care. What can I say? I love my job and I'm really passionate about pregnant moms. On a related note, I've been thinking that I may do another L&D series here on the blog sometime soon, so if you'd be interested in submitting questions or reading about the L&D world, leave a comment!

With 2 kids under the age of 3, we've been doing a lot of cooking in the last few months and have been subscribing to eMeals since May. It's been awesome! I get 7 new dinners with side dishes and a grocery shopping list every Thursday. Some of the meals have been huge hits and some have been duds, which is to be expected.  With eMeals, I've expanded my cooking abilities, especially in the Asian realm... pretty much any asian recipe I've tried has been delicious. It's nearly put an end to the grocery store/meal plan battle, and I say nearly, because some weeks still need our old go-to favorites. Plus, like I said, not all the recipes are total winners... "crispy chicken with peaches and cream sauce" sounds revolting, and "ham & cheese sliders with fresh fruit" isn't all that ingenious. I'd give eMeals 8/10 stars for ease and convenience, minus 2 for missing the mark with some of the meals. (for the sake of full disclosure, this is just me rambling about my cooking. eMeals doesn't know I even exist, because the account is under my husband's name. I get zero compensation for the above comments.)

Speaking of compensation, I have a post in the works about my latest VoxBox from Influenster. It's the best box I've received so far! A girl could get used to getting free stuff in the mail.

It feels good to get words on a page again.