Wow, Consuming!

I didn’t know that buying a house could be so consuming!  I mean seriously, I don’t need to work full-time until I have this all put together.  I have neglected friends, family, and, well, pretty much everything at least one time or another!  As a matter of fact, Liz, I promise I am not ignoring you, but you feel my pain, I don’t know how you are handling BUILDING a new house!  I can’t make a firm decision on how to decorate it let alone deal with making decision on what fixtures to do.  Anyway, I am still trying to get this place together.  I have accepted it is going to take some time.  I almost have the living room, dining room, and kitchen done minus a few touches here and there but that is ok.  The hallway is my project this week.  Gracie’s room will be done today, but I have to admit, I let her have more of a say then I initially planned on.  She wanted this metal flowers from Hobby Lobby for SO long that I finally gave it, they look good, but it was the 'feel’ I wanted.  However, I realize that she is my child and one of two things will happen:  She will either get tired of the room and want it changed and I can take the ‘control’ over décor back, or she will be so stubborn and never let up.  Which option is more likely?  For those of you who know me, you know without a shadow of a doubt option 2 is reality.  But it looks good. 

Speaking of Gracie, being a stay at home Mom has been enlightening.  She surprises me with the things she knows.  I am forever grateful for the teachers she has had because they have taught her so much.  Matt and I have decided to not put her in preschool for now.  The preschools here are are already full unless we want to put her in full time preschool.  The preschool that is full time is only available to parents who are dual working (this does not make sense to me) so that it is a daycare as well.  Thankfully she is above average in all of skills.  Not to brag, but when she was evaluated she was doing skills that a 7 year old would be doing.  So even though I would love for her to be in preschool, it’s just not feasible right now so I am making the best of being a stay at home mom.  Honestly, I am looking forward to being back to work but I am loving every minute of this.  My life is full of princesses and tea parties!

Things are finally coming together and life is settling down.  Only a few more days and Matt will graduate his training.  We have some of his family coming down to see the graduation.  It has been really nice to be closer to family.  This is the first time since Matt and I were married 11 years ago that we have been this close.  My mom has already been down twice and we have met Aunt Joy and Uncle Joe is in Paducah once.  It’s a great thing and of course Grace loves it because she can be spoiled ha ha ha!

Well, even though I have been hit by a cold, I want to get some house stuff done.  I should probably take a break from Pinterest (I am on there at least 2 hours a day) and get some stuff done.  I will post pictures very soon…waiting for some updated stuff in the mail.  See you soon! 

All About Grace

Oh my my my,  I have learned a lot from and about Grace since I have been staying at home with her.  She is a mini-me.  I mean that in the fact that I spend a great deal of the day “frustrated” and laughing because I hear myself thinking “wow, this is what it was like when I was younger.”  Even though it is frustrating, I am loving every minute.  I love that I have been able to spend this time with her.  So, since I have learned so much about her the last couple of months, I thought  I would share some of it with you:

• She is determined to be an Olympian.  It doesn’t matter the sport, she is going to do it all, volleyball, swimming, diving, gymnastics, track and field.  We have spent many nights playing volleyball in the house with a soccer ball (not a good idea), diving off of couches, literally, and running super duper fast “just like they do on TV.”
• She is going to be a princess when she gets older because she wants to marry her Daddy.  She is going to wear her Cinderella dress and carry pink flowers. 
• She is going to be a model and walk the runway, because they wear pretty clothes.
• Gracie and I star in many feature films.  My recent favorite, she was Lightening McQueen and I was Mater…I was thrilled but at least I saved the day in Cars 2.
• She still loves to dance and sing.
• She colors in the lines most of the time and has decided that when she goes to work, she is going to color.  Can I get that job and how much does it pay?
• We are already talking about her birthday and Christmas.  She has already started her Christmas list.  She has also voiced concern that Santa won’t know that we moved, so we have to send him our new address via a text message.

Oh, I could go on and on and on.  She is full of it all day everyday.  I am still trying to figure out why I am busier now that I am staying home then I was while I was working?  I feel like I don’t have any more free time!  I know eventually a job is going to come around and I am going to miss these times so I am soaking it all up now.   I sure love this silly girl!

Just Checking In

Hello All!  I promised I would keep you updated but I haven’t! ha!  It’s only because I am still without internet.  I’m going crazy!  However, I only have to last about another week and a half…on August 6th, I should be good.  Oh how I can’t wait….

Anyway, we are still keeping busy trying to get everything set up.  We officially own our house, well the bank does, but you know what I mean.  I am experiencing major commitment issues.  As in, I cannot commit to put anything on the walls!  I have a lot less wall space and a lot of things I want to put on the walls.  So I am just biding time until I make my decisions.  I may need an intervention soon or I am going to have bare walls forever.  At least they are not white, I could not take another home with white walls!

Gracie is still doing good.  She spends her days taking care of the the dogs and playing with her dolls.  I think I could get rid of the rest of her toys and she would be happy.  All she plays with is the million dolls she has.  We went to Nashville last weekend with my mom and she came home with a Merida doll from Brave.  She told me that Rapunzel and Merida were best friends because they both have long hair.  Now she totes them around the house in dramatic play and I am not using the term dramatic lightly either. 

Matt is just now getting started with his training.  I will be glad when it is over.  My washing machine is getting it’s work out and the course hasn’t officially started!  Either way on September 5, it will be…is it sad  I am already counting down the days? 

Well, that is about it.   Gracie has told me she is tired of playing at Chick-fil-A.  Oh how Chick-fil-A has been good to us with their free internet!  I haven’t taken any pictures lately, I really don’t have an excuse, but I am thinking about doing some pictures with Gracie soon.  Why not, I have nothing but free time on my hands right!  Oh that’s right, that only happens in my dreams….

Be & Let Be

This is one of the new phrases in my life that I am trying to adhere too.  One of the things that made me so unhappy is that I would go SO wrapped up in the stupidest little things.  Now I realize that I am not the only person in the world or honestly, amongst my group of friends that have this problem, but I am really trying tto let go.  Just because it is not my way or on my time schedule doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.  Sometimes (and this is hard for me to admit) it might actually work out for the better.  So the moral of the story, be and let be is fundamental for me at this point.  This move is DEFINITELY testing my commitment to this simple 4 word phrase.  I am not one that normally wastes a blog post on the misgivings in my world, but it has become a pretty substantial list that I had to share it.  Only in my world do these things happen to me.  

• Do you want to know where I am right now?  Sitting in Chick-fil-A using their wifi because AT&T is having a wiring issue.  By the way, it took them a week AFTER they were supposed to install our services to tell me this.  They have also proceeded to tell me that it could take up to 3 weeks for them to fix it.  Seriously…
• Bright Side: Gracie gets out of the house for a couple of hours to play in their play place and possibly with some other kids at the low cost of breakfast…this could expensive after awhile, but it’s worth the time not to browse Pinterest on my iPhone!
• We were supposed to close on our house today.  Now, because the paperwork wasn’t filed right we have to wait another week at the cost of $175 in Early Occupancy Fees to us.
• Bright Side:  I may have a visitor down to watch Gracie so we do the paperwork without stopping to explain to her what we are doing or without reminding her that the CAN be quiet for longer then 5 minutes.
• I have finally located a lawnmower (we didn’t want to buy a brand new one just yet) so we can mow the forest in the back yard.  It is now raining, for the second day in a row…
• Bright Side: We need the rain and it is quite beautiful to see the rain after living in the desert for 5 years.  It makes everything so GREEN.
• I have many, many broken or damaged things in my house.  Most importantly 2 polish pottery dishes I bought in Poland and a dressed egg dish that my grandmother gave to me on a trip home before she passed away.
• Bright Side: Even if things can’t be replaced, you still have the memories.  The things that can be replaced will be and the moving company will pay for it.
• And even though this list could go on and on, I will only give you one more…I can’t hang anything on the walls yet until we close on our house.  I feel like the house is very bare….
• Bright Side:  I have a reason to justify spending two hours in Chick-fil-A browsing Pinterest!

Alright, I think I am done.  I really don’t have much to update.  We are just trying to settle in.  I plan on picking my camera up more to take fun summer pictures rather then pictures of damages!  I will have to post some more soon.  Alright, well I am off to enjoy the rain!!!!

Long Time No See…

So, it’s been months.  Yes, I know months, since I have done an update.  I have my personnel reasons in why doing so.  I am choosing not to explain for a multitude of reasons.  Mainly, I am looking towards the future, focusing on today, and choosing not to ponder the past.  What I will say is that I am more sure of is that life isn’t easy.  Love isn’t easy.  My family was forced to face a lot of difficult decisions and in my heart of hearts I know that I made the right one.  Through out the last 6 months I have learned a lot of lessons and became a stronger woman.  I am happy with where life is right now.  So let’s just move on and talk about life right now!

The biggest change is that we are no longer in El Paso.  Those close to me know that Ft. Bliss was not an easy duty station for us.  A lot of great things happened there but I will admit it was a long 5 years.  My marriage stood the test of time, heartbreaks, and difficult situations while we were there.  I am glad that on June 1st I was able to look in the rearview mirror and know that a long dark chapter of my life is now over.  We are now living in Ft. Campbell, KY.  The Army has put us in Clarksville for at least 4 years and it is looking like we could be here a lot longer.  I am looking forward to this new road that is in front of us.  I can honestly admit I feel more like myself then I have felt, well, in 5 years! 

In other exciting news, we took a leap of faith, became adults and bought a house!  It was sudden, unexpected, and it felt right.  I feel that God was giving us the nudge that this was His will.  So, we were not going to argue.  Matt and I came down to Clarksville to take a look at the area.  I had to get set up with CPAC (the personnel office so I can get a job) and Matt needed to have a meeting with the people he is going to be working with.  During our stay, we looked at a couple of places we wanted to rent.  I took down some numbers but felt this urge to call this particular realtor.  Norris came into our lives and explained to us that if we could rent this house then we could buy a house and save money.  Who isn’t in the market to save a little money in this economy these days?  Especially since I am officially unemployed!  So long story short, we are now the owners of a beautiful house in Clarksville, TN. 

Gracie, oh sweet little sassy Gracie.  She has become quite the little lady who is full sass.  It has gotten quite trying a few days, I am not going to lie.  But I am chalking it all up to the changes we have been forced to make and praying that the worst is over.  She is growing bigger and bigger by the minute.  I am sure she has gone through at least 2 growth spurts this month.  I am thankful that it is summer and I don’t have to keep buying pants!  She loves being able to play outside and be apart of the Midwest summer.  It is definitely different from El Paso.  She loved spending time in IL playing with all of her grandparents.  There was a lot of BBQing out, a wiener roast, swings, lightening bugs, and many more adventures throughout the last month.

Well, now that I have given a very short update as to what is going on in the Cunningham household, I will promise that I am going to keep you updated on our new journey.  I want to thank you for your understanding about leaving you in the dark.  Thanks for respecting our privacy during a very difficult time.  I also want to thank those who supported us as well.  I couldn’t ask for better friends!  So, I will say that you will hear from us soon!  We get all of our household goods tomorrow and internet and cable on Thursday.  I have been without internet for almost a month, it’s killing me!  I am very thankful for an iPhone. Ha!  Until next time…

Off the Grid

I have been off the grid, and I seriously apologize to those of you who check the blog regularly. There has been a lot of changes happening in my world.  Some good, a lot not so good.  Change is hard and difficult.  Change is especially hard when it is unwelcomed.  I am not ready to talk about these specific changes, but I will ask for prayer.  I need prayer, Gracie needs prayer, and Matt needs prayer during the changes.  There is a lot coming in our future, and I am not sure where it will end.  I have hopes it will end one way, but only God knows where the future will lead.

In other news, Matt is finally on orders to another post!  Ft. Campbell is on the horizon and he couldn’t be more excited.  He has wanted to be apart of this particular unit for so long and it finally happening for him.  I honestly couldn’t be more proud of him.  He is going to do fantastic with all of the schools and the job like he always does.

Gracie is still crazy, spunky, and honestly a little attitude-y girl.  She constantly keeps me on my toes!  I could go on and on with the things she says.  For instance, we were playing school in her playroom the other day.  She had all of toys sitting around the blanket.  I was laying down while she “read” the book too us. She paused about half way through the book and told me that she couldn’t keep reading her book unless I sat up and sat criss-cross apple sauce.  I laughed so hard.  She just sat there until I listened.  It cracked me up.

She is still doing great in gymnastics and has proven to us that she is quite the soccer star.  She has really blossomed on the field this year.  She usually scores at least 2 goals a game and actively plays the whole time.  I think it really helps that she is on a team with all girls.  Those boys can be so intimidating!

As I close, I do hope that you will send up a few prayers for me.  I rarely ask for prayer, but my entire family needs it right now.  Please pray:

• My cousin David was in an ATV accident last Friday.  He is stable but in a coma.  Please pray that God will lead doctors and give comfort to his wife and their 2 girls.
• Pray for us.  Our family is in a fragile state right now.  Please pray for guidance, comfort, and direction.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.  Don’t be surprised if I am updating as often.  Right now I need to focus on my family but I will try my best to drop in and catch up.

Courage

Courage. It takes courage to speak up. It takes courage to stop and listen. It takes courage to admit when you are wrong. It takes courage to ask for help. It takes courage to lean on someone. It takes courage to reach out. It takes courage to overcome your fears. It takes courage to go down the slide at the pool AND go under the water. It takes courage to love. Our family is courageous. I am so thankful to have my family and friends by my side. I am proud of Gracie. She is growing up so fast and becoming a little lady. She conquered a fear today at the pool. She continues to excel in everything she does. She is full of courage and I am thankful for that.