My year in review

I have been back and forth with committing to a blog. Having been in the military, and now a full time spouse of a military member, I understand the sensitivity of putting your life out there for everyone to see.

I wanted to create a blog that other moms would find helpful and I realized that I am not just a mom, but a military spouse, which is a whole secret society within itself.  This is my way of reaching out to those women (and men) who have some of the same similarities.  Being a new Stay at Home mom, I have a lot of free time, and ideas roll around in my head all day.  This is a way of getting them all out in the open so that it can all be sorted out.

If you are reading this, thank you for supporting me.  I don't know how big this will get.  If I can just be there for one mom, or support another fellow spouse, then I have completed what I set out to do.

I am a mom to a healthy, happy, and starting to walk, lil boy.  Over the last year, he has shown me how to love and what the meaning of unconditional love is. No matter what I look like, smell like, or what I have done in the past, every morning he wakes up, says "Ma" and is ready to give me an open mouth kiss!! (drool included).

I am married to a handsome loving man named Brandon.  We met while we were both in the military in 2009.  3 states, and a country later, we are living in Germany where I am a full time mom to our son (and crazy dog Athena).

The last year has been full of adventures.  While I was pregnant, he was deployed overseas.  Our little man was scheduled to come a few days AFTER dad got home, but he decided to come 3 days BEFORE dad got home.  6 weeks later we were heading cross country on a road trip to Alabama for an 8 week training.  Crossing the states again to head back to Wyoming after training, we were planning our next big task; selling our house because we were due to move overseas.  Sold a house,and lived in a hotel for almost 2 months before we are scheduled to fly out to Germany.  Lived in another hotel for a month before we found a place to call home.  In a small village in southwest Germany is where we will start this adventure.

So far it has been amazing.  Germany is a beautiful country.  The possibilities are endless here.  But what is it like to finally settle down and not have my "career" anymore?  We have been so busy that I have not had time to think about it until now.  I am definitely a type A personality, and very task-oriented.  I like making a list and being able to check it off at the end of the day.  That has been my one struggle.  I usually have a list but the one thing that gets checked off for the day was keeping the kid alive!! (very important thing I suppose).  It can be hard when I want to have a job with tasks, or go back to school, or just get stuff done around the house.  But then I have those days where I am able to get stuff done for my son, and my hubby calls and needs some help with something at his job, or I am able to meet with a spouse and help them out with something, and I realize that I would not be able to do those things with a "normal" 9-5 job.

So where does that leave us financially? We went from a 2 officer income, down to one, just like that.  We would go to basketball games multiple times a month, take trips, and have the luxury we wanted. Just so happen that when we got rid of one income, we added another person to our lives.  Priorities have changed.  The newest Michael Kors bag isn't my obsession (although I still take a peek at them every once in a while). Instead, finding a coupon for diapers, or finding the right sippy cup for my lil man is the new obsession.  Again, I would not trade it for the world.  We have made it a year and we are doing fine.  Extra money would be great so that we could have the freedom to do more, but I am the happiest that I have been, and I want to continue to do what makes me happy.  If I can make some extra money on the side for my family...GREAT!

Overall, this has been a crazy ride, and I would love for you all to come with me.  What types of things would you like to see, or hear about?  I am interested in doing product reviews as well.

With Love and Joy,
Nikki