The many faces and uses...of my back yard

So, today I was running behind (as usual) and did not have time for my usual run.  I have been working REALLY hard to run most days and I did not run yesterday (though I did some killer kettle bells and tae bo-ha!).  I had about 20 minutes before I had to jump in the shower to make a lunch date, K has requested not to be in the running stroller anymore (I get it--she IS 5, but she still weighs so little), and I didn't have time to go to the track we have been going to where she can ride her bike or swing on the nearby swingset while I complete my run.  What to do?  What to do?

[Enter my "great" idea]

Yes, the back yard.

We spend a lot of time in the back yard.  I love this house--and the back yard was the biggest selling point.  For a family who loves to be outside with two big dogs, this fenced in back yard was calling our name.  So, what did I do today?  I ran a few laps around my back yard--forwards.  Then I galloped sideways to the left, then to the right, then I ran backwards...and repeated.  About 20 minutes of that helped me work up a sweat and made me feel like I had the check in the box for some sort of cardio activity for the day.

Crazy?  Maybe, but it was another chance to reflect on our home here.  I love this house--more than I have loved any other place that we have lived.  Maybe because Buzz is here more often than at our past houses, maybe because we have such great neighbors, maybe because of this yard--I don't know, but I love it.  And the back yard is still my favorite place.  It has it all:

A hammock, under a weeping willow tree.  Ahhhhh...

A playset for our kiddo and her friends--I knew this house was a "yes" when I couldn't get K off of the playset when we came to look at the house.

This is the "cooking facility" and table where we prepare and eat most of our meals--the grill is now dimpled and without a cover thanks to the hail storm, but we still love it.

This is K's private diner--sometimes it's in the tree house, sometimes it's under the tree house, sometimes it's in the yard--today, it was in the sandbox.  :)

Oh yes, and the fire pit.  Notice the "seats" around the fire pit?  Well, those are new.  Those came from an old friend of our front yard--the birch tree.  The birch tree used to drip sap and stick leaves to the cars in the driveway, and Buzz was convinced it must come down.  Last weekend he was on a mission:

That would be my husband--on my neighbor's house, preparing for the goodbye ceremony for the tree.

Thanks to some great friends and neighbors,

And some pulling and tugging while chainsawing...

That bad boy came down!  Whoot Whoot to men with chainsaws!  ;)

It took a couple of days to clean up the front yard, but, anyway, the trunk gave us some fire pit seats.

So, that's about it.  I love my yard.  It gives me rest, play, exercise, food, and good stories--all of which often involve dog poop, but that's okay.  I love it here.  I'll miss it when we leave for the next part of our journey--we found out when and where we are going next year.  I'm excited and ready to get back to the beach--but this yard will always hold a special place in my heart.  :)

Best Day...or, should I say Best Friday Night

In the past, I have written about how I could learn from my daughter, to dance like nobody's watching...even if they are.  Well, I'm feeling bold this week.  Yesterday I poured my heart out about something I haven't dealt well with for a while...Today, I am posting K's and my dance party from this past weekend (that Buzz videoed while laughing at us--in a nice way).  The song is "Best Day" by Taylor Swift.  If you haven't seen the actual video, you can watch it here.  It's a GREAT video, but break out the tissues--it's awesome from the mother AND the daughter standpoint.

So, without further ado, here is my dancing-with-my-daughter-in-the-dining-room-on-a-Friday-night debut.  :)

Head on over to

to hear some great songs and stories and add your own!

Life in the 'Burbs: Dressing your mailbox for success

Welcome to the first (I think there might be more) installment of "Life in the 'Burbs" where I contemplate the strange things in suburban life that are so foreign to me.  I didn't grow up in the suburbs.  When I first got married, I jumped between apartments and base housing...much different from the suburbs.  When we bought our first home it was in Jacksonville, NC--I suppose it was TECHNICALLY in the suburbs, but it was a neighborhood of Marines and their families, so it was pretty much still like base housing except with more bills and less rules.  When we moved to TN, we bought a house in the suburbs--the REAL suburbs...where people act differently than all of the places I have lived before.  I love it here, but as a sociologist, it brings about a lot of questions.  I notice some quirks that I suppose are normal for suburbanites, but I'm not a native.

There was a time in my life, before I moved to the 'burbs, when I thought that mailboxes were merely receptacles for receiving mail delivered by the USPS.  How silly!?!  Mailboxes are not just for getting your mail...apparently they are for showing off your landscaping skills (or, more likely, the landscaping skills of the landscaping company you hired to dress your formerly naked mailbox).  I don't know if status-symbol is the right word, but mailboxes in my neighborhood have something to prove!  I was thinking, while walking the dogs today, how humorous it is that people have taken this necessary, government-mandated box and turned it into a fashion statement of the front yard.  All mailboxes (and their surrounding areas) are not created equal.  But what makes a good mailbox?  I truly have no idea...but I did take the opportunity to walk just a few houses up the street to document some of the mailbox ornamentation in my little neck of the 'burbs.  Please forgive the lack of quality in these photographs...I felt a little silly walking around taking pictures of mailboxes so I was trying to be inconspicuous.  (On a sidenote, I think this would be a great idea of a coffee-table book--I called it.  Can I get a copyright on that?  I'll get to work as soon as this pesky PhD is out of the way.)

This is our mailbox, poor thing.  The mailbox landscaping came with the house.  But the box itself is falling over and is being overtaken by that bush that we keep trimming back but won't let up.  That little dogwood looks like it might be on its last leg, or should I say branch.  Those white flowers are pretty, but they are taking over, too.  We have a single tulip holding down the perennial fort.  Some of the monkey grass is new since we've been here.  We have no idea what to do with this thing.  We really need some fresh mulch, though.

This, I think, represents a mailbox that has it all.  Residents are obviously well-read (note the newspaper-box-thing).  You also have your classy Japanese Maple, some tulips, some irises (I think that's what they are) and some monkey grass...all encompassed in nice rocky line with mulch.

Here we have your big-time-mailbox-landscaping example.  Look at that mailbox, standing strong on a freshly-painted post-thing.  Complete with your colorful flowers, complimenting the landscape of the larger yard, and your bold monkey grass, all held together with rock and mulch.

I feel like this mailbox landscaper came from our school of thought.  I'm not sure that they knew exactly WHAT to do with the mailbox's yard, but they knew it was something.  So they planted this azalea (I think) around the mailbox and let it be.  Notice the symmetry with a similar bush on the other side of the driveway.

Similar to the specimen two pictures above, this mailbox landscaper went bold, but held off on the color.  Strong, upstanding mailbox in and of itself, it is complemented with a couple varieties (careful not to overdo it) of greenery with some new mulch and brick fence.

A fan of irises (and difficult to contain monkey grass), this mailbox landscaper also welcomes visitors with the garden flag--nice touch to make your mailbox feel homey. 

Woah!  This mailbox landscaping is in need of some TLC (I think--but of course it is quite possible I'm totally wrong).  What probably began with some crisp and defined greenery is spilling over a bit.  I picture the different plants fighting for the attention of the mailbox.  Clearly, this specimen has potential but needs some control.

A common sight in our neighborhood...the brick mailbox.  These pieces of yard ornamentation allow for additional landscaping around them or for the mailbox to boldly stand on its own, as if saying "Dude, I'm made of brick.  I don't need no landscapin'."

Now we move to the somewhat common "there's supposed to be something here, but what?" mailbox landscaping.  I'm glad our little area was filled in when we bought our house...otherwise, our mailbox would likely fall into this category or be extremely tacky with mis-matched plants because, again, we don't know what to do with these things.  I'm thinking of suggesting an HOA meeting on the topic.  People need to know what's expected of their suburban mailboxes.

Oh...this poor guy didn't get the memo. 

Am I the only one dorky enough to notice these things?!?  This is important stuff here.  Urban sociologists, move over--I'm going to dive into the subfield of SUBurban sociology...

Baby Guitars, Stolen Pillows, and Odometers

This week has been INSANE.  I need a moment just to reflect on some randomness and happiness from the past week before I go back into study-mode.  So here are a few of pictures from the past week that make me smile.

Last week, after returning from our latest too-long road trip, my parents met us at our house to return our dog-children (they are the best to us and their grandpuppies for watching them when we go out-of-town where doggies cannot go).  Anyway, K has been obsessed with my dad playing music (even more than usual--it's all she wants to listen to in the car) lately and, while we were at my parents' house on our latest trip, she kept playing my old, cheap ukulele.  So, my dad and Buzz conspired to get her a REAL guitar of her own...a Mini Martin.

There's nothing like the gift of music.  LOVE it!

A couple of nights ago, I go to get into MY bed on MY pillow and THIS is what I find:

Yep, that's my human child and my dog-boy snuggled up on my pillow together.  Wouldn't trade it for the world.  :)

Today, my hard-core, tough Marine husband comes in and tells me he's a dork and I HAD to see something in his car...

I thought it was broken...but he just happened to have ALL 8's on his odometer when he pulled into the driveway.  Dork alert for both of us...I had to take a picture.

Back to studying...Happy weekend!  :P

When I can't find the words...

My life often gets turned upside down.  Being away from home is a blessing and a curse at different points along my journey.  Luckily, I have been blessed with an amazing family--not the least of which are my uncle and aunt, Rex and Robin.  Some of my earliest memories are of Rex.  He has always been there for me--a man who always treated me with respect, even when I was a kid; a man who I knew I could turn to at any point in my journey and know he would lend me an ear--and take me seriously.  Robin entered my life early on as well and has always been a comfort and, in recent years, a true friend.  I was a flower girl in their wedding--I still remember it.  It was one of the first examples of being accepted into a "bigger" world.

Why am I introducing family members?  Because this week, my life has been turned upside down.  My grandmother--my hero--the woman I named my child after--is nearly 89 years old.  She is an amazing woman and has been through so very, very much in her long life.  She took care of me.  She took care of the rest of my family.  But, sometimes, SOMETIMES, it becomes the time that we (who have been so blessed to have experienced her amazing care-taking skills and her long, healthy life that is still moving forward) must adjust our roles in awkward ways.  It is the time that we must all bond together, as a big, amazing family, and take on caretaking roles ourselves.  Every member of Grandma's lineage has been touched by all of her amazing traits in countless ways.  We all love her more than words can imagine.  Yet, none of us can even begin to understand her almost-89-year journey.

So, on that note, I introduce my amazing aunt Robin.  She has found the words I have been looking for.  Check out her blog and this post (which I have copied and pasted, with her permission). 

"THESE FEET, AND THEIR 3 HOUR TOUR"

Life changes. Sometimes we see it coming. Sometimes it smacks us in the face.
Sometimes, it smacks us because we turn away from what we see coming because we don't want to accept it.
We've been smacked. It stings.

These feet...

decided to go out into the 86 degree heat and pull weeds
became disoriented
climbed up a steep hill to the alley
lost their shoes
wandered through the alley for about 3 hours
took several rest breaks
avoided the "scary dog"
finally asked a strange man for help
met a really nice police woman who made sure she got home
turned off the cabbage left cooking on the stove
laughed about how she could see the dandelions, but not her house
cannot explain how this happened

These feet.....
have walked our family into new territory. Territory many have trod before us, but uncertain and a bit scary for us.

These feet....
are forcing us to look at life straight on- no more turning our heads
are requiring us to make decisions, decisions that will bring us closer together as a family because in the end, everyone involved.....

love these feet
and the precious 89 year-old mom attached to them.

USMC Fashion--Awesomeness...and PT Panties?!?

It seems like everyone talks about fashion on their blogs. I don't "do" fashion, myself--I'm a jeans and t-shirt type of girl (much to K's dismay--she tells me I dress boyish--for the record, I did wear a dress to her latest birthday party per her request).  I have no fashion authority because I have no fashion knowledge. I may not be up on what's "in" regarding the fashion world, but I do have some opinions on a certain "line" of clothing...

I love, love, LOVE Marine dress blues.  K calls Buzz's blues his "prince costume."  I love them.  Nothing makes me happier than being able to dress up in something fancy and have Buzz dressed up like my prince. 


2009 Ball--Buzz in his Blues and me in my favorite Ball dress ever

Now, these happy, nice pictures prior to whatever event requires Dress Blues usually turns into my irritation with too much drinking and hanging out with the guys, but I digress.  I also love the Alphas or Deltas--or whatever these are called (I can't remember which is which with the long sleeves vs. short sleeves and the big green hat vs. the little green hat vs. the white hat--I mean COVER--and the jacket vs. no jacket and the blue pants vs. the green pants)..I am talking about the uniform with the khaki-ish shirt.  Not as flashy, but nice, nonetheless.  I do have a slight problem with that banana-hat-thing, but I can deal with it.


Windy day in NC, prior to Iraq deployment #2

I even like cammies.  It might just be that I like that the guys call them "cammies."  Maybe because they remind me of homecomings?  I don't know.  But overall, I think the USMC has picked some great fashion choices for the Marines to wear and us to enjoy.

Homecoming 2009

 Now, where this gets thrown for a loop is when we get into the PT gear.  Those little silky-skivvy-thingies...really?  I mean, really?!?  Some friends when we lived in Florida introduced us to the term PT panties.  What a great term!  It sums up this insane piece of anti-fashion perfectly...

Where did these things come from?!?  Why wear anything at all?  I still think these things equal indecent exposure.  Seriously.  Buzz still thinks they are awesome.  I admit, they are comfy to sleep in--for ME when I am NOT going outside of my home.

There are some other versions of the PT shorts that are not as offensive, in my opinion such as

or even

But not the PT panties.  Just to reiterate, these things...

But I do have to wonder, since I am seeing more and more of the more appropriate shorts, are the PT panties phasing out?  My husband joined the Marine Corps in 1997...so he's been around for a while.  Do the new guys find the attraction in these things as the 30-something-year-old Marines do?  I know Buzz's friends still like them.  I know Buzz still likes them.  (sigh)  Is this more evidence of the changing nature of the Marine Corps?  Are our young Marines becoming modest or more aware of PT fashion?  Is the "trend" of PT panties leaving us?  In some ways, I hope so because of their utter inappropriateness.  But, in another, more personal way, I hope they are here to stay...at least for a while.  Why?  Because Buzz will not let them go.  He will continue to wear them. And I don't want to be "that girl" whose husband is the only one out there in PT panties--and when I mean out there, I mean OUT THERE because these things leave nothing to the imagination.  :)

8+ years in the military life...and finally enjoying some perennials!

I've been married 8 1/4 years.  In those 8 years I have lived in 5 states, 3 base houses, 4 apartments, and 2 houses.  If you do THAT math, it becomes obvious that we don't stay in one place for long.  And that means we never truly get "settled."  To me, part of being settled is having things that I can enjoy over time in a place--like gardens and flowers.  The longest we have ever lived in one building is ALMOST 2 years--we lived in our house in Jacksonville, NC from October 2006 to July of 2008.  My husband was actually stationed at Camp Lejeune and we (mostly just K and me as Buzz was overseas most of that) were in J-Vegas until April of 2009 and those last months he was deployed, so we sold our house and moved on base for that--and we moved to TN 5 days after he returned that time.

We are getting ready to pass the 2-year mark at our house here in Tennessee.  We closed on the house on April 30, 2009.  This is the first place we have come even close to being "settled."  And I love it here, other than the allergies and the fact that we are way too far from the coast.  But I love the house, I love the neighbors, I love the area where we live.  It is the first place I felt like was more than just a house with walls.  And, though I often complain of not fitting in in this "civilian city," I know that our friends here are REAL friends.  They are not just friends with us because our husbands work together or because we are so lonely during a deployment (not that there is anything wrong with that at all and I have made some amazing friends that way--but it's just different and I always worry that people wouldn't be my friends if it weren't for our crazy situation).  But here, we are actually sort-of fitting into society...sort-of.

And one of the best parts of being at this house for an extended period of time (who outside of the military considers two years an extended period of time in one house?) is that I get to see my flowers come back this year for the SECOND year in a row.  WOO-HOO!  I have a secret desire to be active in gardening.  It hasn't happened yet because 1. we move all the time and 2. I haven't had the time to put into it (thanks to PhD school and the like) and 3. it would take a huge effort because I know nothing about plants.  But two falls ago, one amazing neighbor bought lots of tulip bulbs and another neighbor planted those bulbs in all three of our yards.  I remember the planting day...I was so excited that I was a part of some neighborly activity that did not include a deployment.  I felt like I fit in and like I belonged.  I became a real suburban homeowner in the who does these homey-things with her neighbors to make the street look nice.  In my head, it was awesome.  On the outside I just stood in my yard, made small-talk, and smiled.  On the inside I was doing cartwheels.

It was an exciting week last spring when our tulips started to bloom.  And we all talked about how pretty our shared tulips looked. This year, the tulips started poking through a couple of weeks ago...and my excitement began.  Late last week, the buds started getting bigger and this weekend the first full tulip opened up--ours was the first of the other shared tulips.  :)  And today, more are opening.  Something I didn't know before is that the tulips have TWO buds per bulb this year...and I am so happy I get to see it...and we SHOULD be here next spring to see my baby tulips have three buds. 

I know this is just a simple force of nature, but to me it is so much more.  It's symbolic of something I am experiencing for the first time in military wife life--staying in one place for an "extended" period of time and feeling like I fit in...and having my husband home to experience these joys WITH my daughter and me for an "extended" period.  (Though he's not nearly as excited about those tulips and K and I are.)  I'm enjoying it.  I know it's so simple, but I love to see these flowers open in the morning and close in the evening--the only downside is their beauty lasts only a short amount of time.  But it's here long enough to remind me of all for which I have to be thankful.

Here are some pics of the progression of the blooming tulips the past couple of days...and I've also put a link to another Sarah McLachlan song that sums up what is happening here--Ordinary Miracles, which are so much more than ordinary to me.  :)



A Day in the Life: Family Portraits

My daughter LOVES arts and crafts.  She does them all the time and asks me to join in.  I do--just not as much as I should.  It's fun.  It's an awesome break from whatever I'm working on in terms of school/work.  She doesn't even care that I am the least artistic person on the face of the planet.

I nurture her creativity.  It is beautiful in all aspects of the word.  I have decorated her room with her canvas art.  Our dining room has been transformed into an art room.  I figure it's those little things I can do to help her embrace something that she loves so much.

One of her favorite things to draw is our family.  That makes me so happy.  I believe you can tell a lot about what kids think by looking at their artwork and watching them play.  I am so thankful that she views our family as close-knit and full of smiles.  She often draws us holding hands and with hearts around us. Though all of the ups and downs the Marine Corps has taken us through and all of the separations, I'm so glad that we have come out ahead.  Not to mention, it's not as if my husband and I are sweet and happy with each other ALL the time, so I am glad that she sees the good stuff always shining through.  :)  And it warms my heart to see our family so full of love through HER eyes. 

So, today, I am sharing some of her more recent artwork of our family.  I love how she personalizes everything, even as she is just learning to write.  She likes to write our names--and she refers to my husband as "Buzz" though lately she has taken it upon herself to introduce him to others with his real name, even though everyone calls him Buzz.  Anyway, she always colors me in purple (my favorite color), Buzz in orange (his favorite color), and herself in pink (her FAVORITE color).  She also always draws high heels on the girls.  She also recently received a card where a friend drew a shooting star--so now she really likes shooting stars in her work as well.  I suppose like any great artist, she must go through stages and phases.  :)

Welcome to arts and crafts!

Here is our family portrait (note us holding hands and the hearts in between):

This is a picture of me:

And here is Buzz:

And here is my little artist at work.  :)