{ You have to have balance....}

It's a requisite for living a good simple life.

I never used to think that it was possible, I used to be one of those people that thought that everything had to be contained, every emotion, every incident, every change in your life.....for example, if you were going through something bad then you weren't allowed to throw in some good things, or if you were worried then you weren't allowed to smile because that would be like cheating on the worry.  So silly isn't it?

Thankfully, that phase of my life didn't last very long, because I quickly realized that you need a little bit of everything, you have to learn to find the perfect balance in life and inject a bit of everything into your day.

I'm going to be brutally honest with you right now.  I truly believed that we were going to stay here for another two years, I had even gotten myself used to the idea and started looking forward to it, to the things we would do, places we would go etc.

Last time I did this was back in Idaho, my husband had just convinced me to buy a house off base, and I said "ok, let's do it" and not even a month later we got orders to Arizona. 

And now it happened again, the minute I accepted Arizona (after 6 years lol), and said "ok, we'll be fine staying another two years, I actually don't mind".....fast forward a few weeks later and we find out he's retiring.  Seriously, I couldn't make this up if I tried.

But all that just to say that the news of the retirement and moving back home hit me like a ton of bricks and the first two days I walked around in a daze.  I burst into tears, I was emotional, I was excited, I was scared and I felt like I was alone.

Then Sunday morning I had a nice talk with myself and with God and I finally let it go, put it in His hands and concentrated on what needs to be done.  I do my part, He does his.

And that is where the balance has come in.   Not only in my relationship with God, but in tackling this move across States.

For one, as a military wife you learn how to move and how to pack, you become an expert.  Really, if you ever have to move ask a military wife for pointers, we have that down to perfection  Hahahah
A deployment scares me to death, but moving the whole family across the country is a piece of cake.

As we get ready to leave behind a place we've called home for 6 years, deal with insane amounts of paperwork which are triple when you're retiring, look for a home, schedule movers and inspections, pack a whole house, gather records and so forth.....it is very easy to get caught up in the moment and feel flustered and intimidated by the daunting move.

Much as I want to let out a little scream sometimes or throw something across the room, I don't, and the reason being that I have to concentrate on the end game and what is coming, and I have to be strong for my children and for my husband.  We can do this, together.

So I try to keep life moving along just as normal as can be, because in between the boxes and the paper wrapped mementos of our life, we are still living.........

In between boxes, bread dough is whipped up

This morning I pulled out a package of chicken thighs, still frozen, dumped them in the crockpot with half a bottle of Teriyaki and 3 chopped up garlic cloves, set it on LOW and let it cook all day.  One less thing to worry about while I muddle through all the other boring move issues.

Most of my kitchen has been brought down, set aside for the movers or packed into boxes that we will move ourselves, so it's looking kinda empty and sad....but I've left the flowers on the window sill, and when you pair that with a bowl of dough rising in the morning sun, it makes it feel like home no matter what is going on around it

Fresh watermelon for the kids and hubby to snack on throughout the day

And a pitcher of Mint/Lemon Sun tea to quench the thirst

Aahhhh bread done rising and headed into the oven, aren't those just beautiful loaves?

Once it was done, my Jasmine was immediately in the kitchen, ready and waiting with her hands stretched out. This child is like her mama, she LOVES fresh bread.

This is what it's all about, those simple things that you do to show your family that no matter what craziness may be going on around you, some things remain the same

It may seem nothing to some, but it really means a lot especially to kids, some sort of normalcy to keep them grounded and in the moment.

So you see, that is the balance I am talking about, and when I find myself about to freak out, these small things bring me right back to the here and now, and if that doesn't help, a step outside the door will do it.

My sunflower seeds are starting to fall off and I've been out there harvesting them so that I can take them back to Idaho.

Beautiful. It amazes me how absolutely perfect nature is, the colors, the details, it's just breathtaking.

The only thing I'm missing in all this???? My crochet.

Oh man, I need to sit down even if for 5 minutes and pick up my hooks, I think it would really make a difference :)

Now I bet you want to see how the chicken turned out, and let me tell you, for throwing something together it was really yummy, sometimes the best dishes are those that don't follow a recipe but are put together with what you have around you.

I'm going to go catch up on the DVR because there are way too many shows on there, and I'm saying goodbye to Dish Network in a few days, matter of fact we may not have any when we get back to Idaho, there's no need to pay so much money for hundreds of channels when we only really watch a couple shows on 2 or 3 channel and we can find the episodes online anyway.

Have a great night everyone, and thank you for always coming by to visit me, I love your visits :)