Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act

***Formally Arizona Senate Bill 1070***

I know one should never openly discuss politics. Since the majority of the time it is far too emotional and tempers flare. But I believe in an open forum where EVERYONE can express their views on this controversial law. It will be going into effect on July 29, 2010. That is in 7 days. However, today (actually right now as a matter of fact) Judge Bolton is hearing arguments to impose an injunction that will stop the bill from officially becoming a law until the lawsuit is decided.
I pray that she makes a decision that she can live with and is not persuaded by sheer numbers of supporters or opposers of the bill. She, Bolton, is a judge. Which means she is in place to make sure that trials and hearings are conducted in a constitutionally fair manner. She must also try to safeguard the legal rights of EVERYONE in their courtroom. She is to ensure that the proper rules and procedures are followed.
I would love your input on the matter at hand. Be courteous and respectful of EVERYONE'S views. Even if they differ from yours.

But first, read the bill in it's summary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_Our_Law_Enforcement_and_Safe_Neighborhoods_Act

Following Daddy wherever he gets sent

This picture was a total fluke. It turned out AMAZING!

We were eating lunch by the lake at Fort Jackson, and I was my usual camera happy self. I snapped everything I could. We had been separated from Feb 15th to April 29th. We were separated for my birthday, his birthday, April's Fools Day, and 71 other days.
When we were reunited, it was on the anniversary of our 7 years as a couple. We have gotten into disagreements, arguments, hell... we even got into a few fights (all verbal & emotional), but we have NEVER stopped being together.
12 weeks of AIT and a promotion later, we are coming to the end of his beginning in the ARMY. He will be assigned to a unit and our lives will settle into our new normal.

It literally took me 15 minutes re-reading what I wrote above.The rest is all so "up in the air" That is where everything goes it's own way. We are almost til the 13th week... That leaves a measly 3 weeks to PCS to our first station. I have no idea where. He still has no orders. This is the single sentence I have been saying a few times a day since the Fourth of July.
The only thing I know for sure, is I will be in charge of packing and moving things and our girls. "J" may have to move on without us girls while we get everything situated. I know it is always a possibility, but it just sucks! :)
Ever since "J" joined the ARMY, I resigned myself that we will be placed and moved and shuffled to the needs of the ARMY ( and ultimately GOD). It was such a refreshing change to relinquish control. To not have to worry about where and if it is the right place for us.
**And in many ways, it still is. I would just like to have a little more time to get used to the idea. To plan an A, B, and C scenario.... I want to get on a housing list ASAP... to check out neighborhoods and preschools off post. To have some direction... Does that make me a so-called "Indian Giver"? I willing sat in the backseat and let The Lord drive, and now I am begging for God to tell me where we are going? Telling God, "I am sure where you wanted to take us was really great, but did you see that city you just passed? It was gorgeous!"
IDK... I just simply do not know...
So I am going to continue prepping Makayla to kick pre-school booty in school. To search for a good breed or mix of breeds for our new dog. Working out everyday... AND that is pretty much it... :)

Mama Suvey

1 month old


3 weeks old

Baby age? 4 & 2 1/2
Name? Makayla Lynn & Summer Skye
Before/after due date? 2 weeks after (induced and water broke by doctor) & 2 days before
Birthday? 6.21.06 & 11.15.07
Time of Birth? 3.18pm & 11.25am
How long did labor last? 3 hours & 5 hours from first contraction
Who was in the room? Daddy & Daddy
How long did u push? 13 minutes & 5 minutes
Weight? 9lbs & 8lbs 4oz
Length? 20" & 21.5"
Any hair? Yes dark brown & Yes very thin blond hair
How much weight did u gain? 49lbs & 38lbs
Who does baby look like? Mama & Daddy
Who drove you home? Daddy & Daddy
How many baby showers? 1 & 1
When did baby sleep through the night? 7 days & 2 days
Did you breast feed? Yes 6 months & Yes 7 months
If not, or after; which formula? Enfamil & Costco Brand
How did you pick the name? Internet & Internet
How did u know it was time to go to the hospital? scheduled to get induced & contractions 5 min apart for an hour
When do u want another baby? depends on what day u ask Daddy & me
Pain management? Epi & Epi
Did u go home after the hospital? Yes & Yes

Half Way There

So...

We survived our first weekend without Daddy in a LONG TIME! Due to the Lock-Down in preparation for the FTX that starts in a few hours. That means I got only 5 DAYS until I get my man back in my arms! I had a very hard time sleeping without my husband this weekend. When you get used to a routine, when it all of a sudden changes, it can easily turn your whole life upside down.
Well... Maybe it wasn't "without" Daddy. We brought Daddy dinner Saturday and Sunday. We had an amazing time together. Saturday the girls slept through out the time. But they were both awake and played with Daddy in our car today. Just being so close to my husband makes my heart swell with happiness and contentment. I know we will be continually separated, BUT that just makes me appreciate what little time we get together. I did not expect this positive attitude at all.


In the past, when I felt neglected or ignored, I would become Super-Beotch! I would be short, rude, and just put out there those vibes of resentment. No, it was never right, but it was my insecurities that would make me push him away. Which would make him not want to be around my attitude, which would make me even more pissy! LOL It was just another crazy cycle.

My fear with Josh joining the ARMY, is that I would be that evil, insecure person ALL THE TIME! I am so impressed with God. He designed marriage, my husband, and myself so perfectly! When conflict arises in a relationship, especially in a marriage, it is supposed to bring about more intimacy. Conflict is healthy, as long as both parties handle it correctly, with love and respect!

So... I will be keeping myself busy this week.

***Watch, we get orders this week, when I can't tell Josh! So I will not tell ANYONE til my hubby knows where the Army is sending him (and us girlies, too).
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As a side note, I am watching a repeat of Nancy Grace. She just did her signature sign off where she honors our military members who gave the ULTIMATE sacrifice. There was a CPL in the Marines who enjoyed riding his Ducati... which he pronounced as "Duke-a-tea". That made me smile. How funny, I forgot his name already. But I will never forget his face, or his love of his "Duke-a-tea"! :) He gave his life March 4, 2009. He died at the age of 25. He would have been just one year older than my husband.

Thank You!

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So here are my goals for the week:

1. Go swimming at least 2 times this week

2. Workout EVERY day

3. Check his orders every day

4. Resist revealing any new information til my hubby knows

5. Try at least 2 new recipes

6. Pamper myself (paint my nails, facial, etc)

7. Meet up with a good friend and give her a few baby gifts

Yes, that is a pretty short list!

I WON!!!!!

I finally won something! As a kid I was "lucky"... But once I hit 12 or 13 years old, I never won anything in a drawing... Until today! A friend of mine's blog has really taken off. She has two shops on etsy.

The first is Heaven Baked Sweets.

http://heavenbakedsweets.blogspot.com/2010/07/friday-feature-jewelsbytrish.html

**That link is of the contest I entered and won on her Blog. Follow her links to the actual etsy shop.** Everything looks so amazing! She makes dry mixes of bakery and miscellaneous items: cookies, cobblers, coffee creamers, and she makes her own syrups. Yum! Head on over and take a look. Your mouth will water!!!

The second shop is called Paper From Heaven.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperfromheaven?page=2

This is all her hand sewn crafts: onesies, crayon-rolls, notebook covers, hand made stationary, etc. It is a refreshing read.

Go... Shop... Enjoy...

I DID IT!

I tried to copy and paste her button, along with others, and I can't seem to find out how or where to paste it. Eventually I will master this blog and all of it's possibilities. :)

SPC Jason Dean Hunt

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus: If this doesn't make you proud...

Please read this blog and follow the links provided. This is a horrible example of a Soldier who lost his life for our country, and how he was (or WAS NOT) honored! Please pass this around and raise awareness. I do not have much to say, but thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to make a difference! HOOAH!

MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY

This wonderful shot was taking my me. Like always. I was going through the MASS amounts of pictures and it turns out I am barley in any of them... I guess I am just your typical picture happy mama. I want to document almost everything. But by doing so, I am, sadly, left out of most pictures. I am very pleased with Makayla and Summer. They have developed a love of picture taking at a very young age. Now that we got our camera charger, I will be turning over the reins, so to speak. I am looking forward to the day where I can look back at pictures with me actually in them. :) I will be able to say, "see.... I was there..." I love my life!
Makayla, Daddy, and Summer

Sometimes the most beautiful flowers are the ones we over look. My girls have always been drawn to nature. When we were staying in Arizona with Grandma Lisa, we couldn't walk the dogs without Makayla or Summer bringing home "crystals" or plain-Jane looking rocks that they thought were priceless. Each time they would bring them home, they would say that they were going to mail them to Daddy at Boot Camp. :)

These pictures were also taken at Newport News Park using my cell phone. Can you tell they thrive in front of the camera?

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As of this morning at 1100 hours, still no orders. My friend told me she believed we would get my DH's orders on Tuesday. Well, tomorrow is D-Day. If we do get the orders, I will be buying her and her beautiful kids lunch or dinner. In celebration... (Please, don't be Korea....)

Korea is not wanted for the following reasons:

1. Josh doesn't want us 3 to tag along with him there.... Boo!

2. PCS-ing will be difficult enough for the first time, let alone being separated from my husband for a year!

3. yea... those two pretty much encompass every reason why I do not want to send my man off to Korea without his girls.

*Please ignore the fact, that they kind of go hand-in-hand: being separated from my Soldier.....

FUN TIMES IN VIRGINIA

I love my hubby! He is in the total weapon immersion, it lasts for two weeks. He has to carry around his M16 everywhere he goes. It is in preparation for the FTX that will be coming up shortly.

I love this picture of me and Makayla. I also love his PC. So much better looking than that damn Beret. :)

Makayla loves taking pics. Us having dinner with Josh by the DFAC.

Makayla having a popsicle right before we went swimming.

Summer is really turning out to be a Fish. She is so proud of herself that she can swim by herself. Well, with the vest on, but still. Daddy will be going swimming with us tomorrow. I can't wait to have Daddy see her. :) My little baby is growing up so fast!!!!

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This video is one of many from our Independence Day. Josh and myself took our two girls to downtown Newport News for a great celebration. We were on a patch of grass right above the Atlantic Ocean. Well, a bay first... but not sure which one. So to cover all the bases, the Atlantic Ocean, if you will. What you can't see in this video is Makayla's friend. They were sitting next to us. This adorable little boy who was about her age. They were almost battling. It was the cutest thing to watch. I wanted to record him so bad, but did not, since I knew I was going to post this on here.

Makayla always cracks me up with her facial expressions. When she hold her head up, and almost completely closes her eyes, smiles, and slowly turns her head away from the boy, it almost looks like she is saying.... "okay, that move is pretty good, but watch this!!!!" :)

Summer has ALWAYS been able to keep a beat effortlessly. Makayla and I always have to work at it. :) When she puts her hands on her hips, she looks so darn cute!!!!! She is going to be a heart breaker, if she ever lets her hair grow out. :)

Tell me what you think Makayla is saying with her looks. I would love an outsiders opinion....

Your Blogging Fool...

Jamie Mitchell

No orders yet, BUT....

I get a call from my DH today with good news and bad news. Bad news is it would take 8 travel days to drive from VA to So Cal, so the recruiter will most likely deny the HRAP. If my DH were to fly there, he would probably get approved. The ARMY will not pay for travel expenses, so he will fly, and the girls and I will drive back. So not looking forward to the drive back home. What once was a mini vaca, now might turn into a lonely, stressful, and tiresome time. With one driver, that would mean taking at least TWICE as long, looking at almost 4 days in drive time. While my hubby is back home with great friends and wonderful family! Something just seems totally not fair about that.

So Josh thought that maybe I could head back home 4-5 days before he would fly home. That means I would miss his Graduation from AIT. I would not get to pin his wings on him, BOO! Plus I would still be away from my man that long PLUS missing his Graduation. I just can not do that. Not because I don't think Josh can handle it. He is a big boy and understands the situation. I merely am being selfish! I want my girls to see what this time of uprooting and stress has all been for. I want to stand proudly next to my husband! I want that personal experience!!!!

So option #1 is having someone fly out to Virginia, and then drive back with me. It would take less than 2 days. It was amazing with my mom. And I would really like to do that trip with my sister Sarah, my sis-in-law Dina, or my "Ruth" Saskia. These 3 women do not have kids. So it is ideal. Plus I love them all dearly! I just hope one of these ladies will do us a HUGE favor!

Option #2 is flying out with Josh, which would be fun. Using a rental car there. Pack up our stuff into a U-Haul and DITY move our own stuff. Drive to wherever we are getting stationed at. Have our car shipped if too far, or just drive to it and then bring the car to our first PCS location. IF the orders are to overseas, then we could leave the car here, fly to Cali, drive u-haul back to VA, then transport our stuff and car through this port.

So obviously, by logic, Josh's plan would work out easiest. Then option 1, followed by option 2.

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Not only do I have to contemplate the immediate plans, but I need to start our PCS process. Covering all bases in case they send us overseas: Passports for all 4 of us, medical history, medical screenings for our girls, check-ups, vaccinations up to date, enrolling in TriCare (hopefully tomorrow), then I need to get several disease tests, the only one I remember is the HIV/AIDS test.

Josh needs to up his life insurance to the maximum and make me his POA.

So as you can probably tell, I am slowly getting stressed out. The only cure is making a list by priority and checking things off one by one.

My goal is to get the majority of this stuff done before we get Josh's orders. Then I will need to begin to find out whether to live on base or off base, which school to enroll Makayla into for preschool, security deposits, mail address changes, etc...

Hopefully tomorrow evening, I will log back on and let u know that the girls and I are finally enrolled in TriCare and we got all necessary forms for the passport. The passport can take up to 6-8 weeks to get mailed out, hopefully it will get done ASAP.

Now, gotta get the girls a snack, and then all dolled up to bring dinner to my DH and his battles. :-)

Jamie

A great day out!

This is a little past due, but I definitely want to document this and share with a few of you guys. Last week I had made plans with a fellow Army Wife. We both brought our kids and went to Newport News Park. We had a great time. Saw the usual turtles, birds, fish, ducks and squirrels. But we also saw a large group of deer, EIGHT! I have never seen that many deer in one vicinity. Candice got very close while I hung back with our noisy, restless and excited kids. We also saw a Buck with about 6 female deer later on. The hawk was gorgeous, just perched on a low electric pole.

We also brought the kids to the play ground and let them chase each other around. After that, we drove to Taco Bell, then brought some food to both of our husbands. It was just a BEAUTIFUL day. Nice breezes, with very low, almost non-existent humidity!

Had a great taste of life with close friends and I love it! Hopefully many more to follow.

Jamie

P.S.

I can not forget about the mother deer and her two faun crossing the road right in front of us as we were leaving the park. Wish I had my camera charger. :)

Happy Fourth of July America!!!!

Having tons of fun at Down Town Newport News, VA. There was beautiful weather, great music, tasty food, great ocean view and AMAZING Fireworks! I got all choked up when they played our National Anthem. Daddy stood so tall saluting the flag. Summer was looking up at him and trying to salute as well. Got me all teary eyed! :)

Very crowded, but surprisingly only a few rude or inconsiderate people. We heard two different girls say out loud that this was the most white people she has ever seen. I kind of got offended at first, but then I realized I was thinking the same thing, but only reversed. We were all here together celebrating our countries 234th birthday. Our differences make us a stronger nation. Free kiddie rides and free balloon sculpting it was GREAT fun for the girls.

I know this is kind of a gay picture, but the fireworks display was so amazing! Very long, as well. That finale was breathtaking! They almost looked like colorful sprinkles in the night sky. A little hard to explain, just a feeling that brought me back to my memorable childhood.

The girls fell in love with the fireworks. Especially Summer. Her eyes were so big and she'd randomly stand up and clap! Great times.

Happy Fourth of July America!!!!

Washington DC

We took a trip to our nation's capitol, Washington DC. It was gorgeous weather. Bright, breezy, and completely tolerable. The only thing we could not stand was the walking! Our goal was to rent two bikes and a kid-trailer. So we could ride around the city and not have to carry or push our girls in the stroller. No such luck! BOO! But the architecture was amazing!

As you can see, Daddy got pretty tired. His girls all wanted him. Even me. :) We are so thankful for the opportunity to be so close to Josh. If we would have stayed in California or Arizona, we wouldn't have had a chance to see him at all these four months! We had a great time on the 3.5 hour drive up there. Josh and I talked a lot about things we wanna do and places we wanna see. Josh brought up the idea of going to Build-A-Bear and each making an animal that resembles each of us. Then wherever we go that is picture worthy, we will place our animals there and take pictures! So when Josh eventually gets deployed he will have to take his bear and take pics! I love this idea!!! Hopefully we will end up with a photo album full of pics just like those!

I had the bright idea, which I stole from Army Wives, every where we go, I want to collect a vial of sand or dirt. We will label them. Then when Josh retires, we will have quite a collection! Josh thinks it is a little weird, but he will do what I ask, because he loves me and wants to make the separations we will eventually encounter a little easier! I love that man of mine!!!!!

Before we go back to Cali for Home Recruiter Assistance Leave, I would like to go back to DC. I will be contacting one of California's senators and get on the list for a tour of the White House. If all goes well, we will rent those bikes and get a chance to see and do a few more things! I would like to get there while it is still dark, so we can watch the sun rise over the Lincoln Memorial! Definitely going to have to check out the Smithsonian Museums. I would also REALLY like to check out the Holocaust Museum. I know our girls are still very young, but I want them to know what hate and being afraid of differences can lead to. Plus, what Daddy fights against in the rest of the world.

In short, we had an awesome time! Quality time together as a family! Doesn't get much better than that!
Jamie Mitchell

P.S.

Still no orders as of July 5th at 1100 hours. I am enjoying this time of not knowing. As soon as we get the location, I need to begin finding a temporary house til Base housing is available. Have I said that I love the US ARMY yet? I do. I love what it stands for. I love the ultimate good it strives for. I just need to deal with the negatives that will soon pop up. I am strong in Christ. I think I can handle it! :)