Life’s a Dance

I’m in a total funk right now. Things to share that I’m not ready to do yet. But, more than that, I’m feeling lonely and blah this week as I have so many other weeks. This summer has seen my few close friends move away. And I don’[t think that’s something you ever get used to doing. Then we had R&R and then went on a last-minute trip to Indiana. Wonderful! But now I’m here, alone. Next week my base bible study and MOPS start up, so that will be good. But this week I could really just use a friend to come over and chat with me. We’ve gotten some new neighbors but none that I’ve really connected with. The one newish neighbor I have connected with just had a baby, her husband is getting ready to deploy and her in-laws are here. Plus she has three other kids. So her plate is full. And so I’m lonely and blah.

I’ve had a hard time making friends at this base. Good friends. The kind you call up just to shoot the breeze for 10 minutes. The kind you can have deep conversations with. To some degree I just haven’t put myself out there enough. We moved at a weird point for me with being so far pregnant and over the holidays. By the time the holidays were over, I was ready to pop. And by the time I was getting really moving again after giving birth, programs like MOPS & my base bible study were ending their session. Come last fall, again I was in a weird time with Jim deploying. I put myself out there more but never found a close friend. And now we’ll be leaving within the year. So it seems pointless. Yet it isn’t, I know. We could still have another year and that could be an awfully lonely year. And Jim is coming home. And other things. Times like this we could just put down our roots and I could find close, lifetime long friends.

I’m just in a total funk.

Wow, this was hard! I’m not sure if its because I have been out of menu planning with this deployment or if we’ve just gotten into a terrible rut. I finished my starter list….we’ll see!

This assignment comes from The Happy Housewife’s blog. She recently started a series on how to menu plan. I have struggled with menu planning off and on since E was born. I have to get back into it. Hopefully these assignments will get me on track.

1. Hamburgers
2. Tacos (ground beef, shredded beef or chicken, hard shell or soft)
3. Spaghetti (marinara sauce, meat sauce, baked, ravioli)
4. Slow-cooker sandwiches (Italian beef, pork barbecue, beef barbecue, chicken barbecue, French Dip, ?????)
5. General Tso chicken
6. Teriyaki chikcen
7. Grilled chicken (variety of marinades)
8. Baked chicken (variety)
9. Beef Noodle Skillet
10. Pork chops
11. Pizza
12. Roast
13. Asian chicken part 3 (Sesame, Bourbon, Kung Pao)
14. Tacos part 2
15. Grilled chicken part 2

16. Homemade chicken fingers
17. Mexican part 2 (enchiladas, rice burritos, Mexican stuffed shells)
18. Round steak
19.
20.

The rest of Challenge Part 2–Side dishes
Spanish rice
Lime cilantro rice
roasted potatoes
baked potatoes
corn (fresh or frozen)
green beans (canned for Jim, fresh/frozen for me)
white rice
fried rice
chicken rice (rice-a-roni or a knockoff)
green salad
baked potatoes
pineapple
chips
raw veggies
bread (garlic bread, garlic knots, breadsticks, 5-minute bread, S bread)
honey red potatoes

Wow, this was hard! I’m not sure if its because I have been out of menu planning with this deployment or if we’ve just gotten into a terrible rut. I finished my starter list….we’ll see!

This assignment comes from The Happy Housewife’s blog. She recently started a series on how to menu plan. I have struggled with menu planning off and on since E was born. I have to get back into it. Hopefully these assignments will get me on track.

1. Hamburgers
2. Tacos (ground beef, shredded beef or chicken, hard shell or soft, enchiladas, rice burritos, Mexican shells)
3. Spaghetti (marinara sauce, meat sauce, baked, ravioli)
4. Slow-cooker sandwiches (Italian beef, pork barbecue, beef barbecue, chicken barbecue, French Dip, ?????)
5. General Tso chicken
6. Teriyaki chikcen
7. Grilled chicken (variety of marinades)
8. Baked chicken (variety)
9. Beef Noodle Skillet
10. Pork chops
11. Pizza
12. Roast
13. Asian chicken part 3 (Sesame, Bourbon, Kung Pao)
14. Tacos part 2
15. Grilled chicken part 2
16. Homemade chicken fingers

Beautiful church painted by a serving priest who had no formal art training!

As I’ve posted about before, I started a picture blog when Jim deployed. I’ve decided to merge it with this blog and the family blog (entries will be posted to both blogs). I wasn’t keeping it up to date as well as I wanted (this one either, I know!). So having one less place to go to post, I hope, will make me feel less overwhelmed and encourage more postings.

I have the bulk of the entries imported already. You can find them here (you’ll have to open each post to see the pictures).

The main category for the pictures is ‘This Side of Deployment’.