Happy Birthday to me!

So... the big day is here and soon it will be gone. I turned 30. I don't know why we make this out to be such a big deal in life, or maybe I should say that I don't know why I made it such a big deal. Like I accomplished something by living 10 more years?? On the other hand, knowing that the big 30 was coming up it caused me to do a lot of reflection on my life, and beyond just reflecting, I would like to think that I started to make progress. Let me explain...

Exactly 6 months ago today I had a sort of break through in my life. As I realized my 20's were almost over I began to reflect on who I was and who I wanted to be. What was holding me back? What would propel me forward? These weren't the easiest questions to ask or answer, after all when is honest self reflection ever easy. Don't get me wrong - I do belive I was doing pretty well by most people's standards, (I am not going for pitty by saying all of this) I also believe that life is about always leaning and growing and becoming more than we already are. There were things in my life that I had never truly dealt with. (Some hard divorces and some serious abandenment issues to start) I tend to be the type to shove everything under the rug and not deal with emotions that are hard - I would much rather just have fun!! So, I decided it was time for some spring cleaning of my past. I was determined to enter into my 30's a stronger person, more self assured, and more confident in who I was. It has been a journey to say the least. Painful, heart renching, enlightening, comforting....I could go on and on. With out boring you will all the details of my therapy, (ok...so they aren't boring at all - I am just not willing to put it all out here!!) my point in all of this is that I do feel like I have accomplished something more than simply "living" through my 20's. While I still have work to do, I have healed, I have found closure in so many areas in my life. This has allowed me to be a better mom and a better wife to the 4 people who mean more to me than life itself. It is so cliche to say that we would "walk through fire" or "Face fire breathing Dragons" for our family or those we love. It was in my 20's that I realized that my fire and my Dragons were within myself, as I believe most everyone's are. I am happy with the progress I have made, happy with the person I have become and that is all I can ask for, all I really wanted on my 30th birthday. So, on this birthday I can truly say "Happy" Birthday to me.

To my "BFF" Happy Birthday!! :)

I have been working on this for a few days....so of course it is late just like everything else in my life. But, I still wanted to post it, better late than never right???

If you are lucky, at sometime in your life you run across one or two of those people that you know almost instantly you will love forever. It was like that when I met my husband. I was young, everyone thought I was crazy, but somehow I just knew. The second time was when I met my best friend Melanie.

We were born just 3 days apart and while I am counting down the hours until I turn 30, she has to face it 3 days before me!! If we had met when we were younger I am sure it would have been the cool thing to be older but now that 30 is approaching, I am thankful to be younger and I love letting her know it!! So for her birthday, a simple tribute, so that she can know just how much she means to me and to so many others that love her!!

Melanie and I met when I moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming. She lived down the street, we went to church together and our oldest children were in the same kindergarten class. It took us 6 months (so much wasted time!!) to finally have a real conversation but from the moment her family came to dinner and we realized our mutual love for Diet Coke, :) we never looked back! Our lives followed such similar paths. First - our birthdays, but after that we married "older men" just 7 months apart. Both of our husbands became Air Force officers while we were busy having our first children, Callie and Jason, 2 months apart. We both followed that up with 2 more children and while I was living in Germany, she was living in England. After we met, both our husbands left the air force within months of each other. It is crazy to find someone that you have this much in common with and then to get the added bonus of loving the time you spend together!?!

The truth is that I have always thought that our friendship was a gift, a blessing from above, sent to me just before I was about to need it most. She helped me through some tough stuff and I learned what friendship really means. I will always feel indebted to her for the friendship she gave me when I needed it most.

So... here are all the things I love about Melanie.... (I seem to be into lists lately if you look at my blog entries! Oh Well)

1. Her sense of Humor. Melanie can always cheer me up. Whether it is with her sarcasm, whip cream fights at dinner parties (oh how they must have hated us!), or just laughing until we cry!

2. She is insightful and smart. She can read a person or a situation so accurately. She seems to know what I am thinking or feeling before I even say it.

3. She loves me for me. I know this sounds corny but she is like this with everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, she is truly interested in who you are.

4. She would never intentionally hurt anyone (unless they are hurting those she loves!) and she hates seeing people in pain.

5. She is the fastest runner I know!

6. I know I can call her day or night, any time and she would be there for me.

7. She is a great mom and I love her kids. Plus she loves my kids - they loved being at her house not only to play with her kids but because she treated them like her own.

8. She loves the Lord. She recognizes that we all make mistakes but she never gives up and never stops trying. I don't even think she realizes her own level of commitment. It inspires me...

9. She puts up with all my "only child" traits. Let's not go into that one!! :)

10. She understands my husband. This may sound weird but we like to joke about how alike the two of them are. (aside from the obvious boy/girl thing) It really helps when I am frustrated with him - I go to her and she can usually tell me his side of the situation in a way I can so much better understand!

11. (Yep, I am going beyond 10!) She has the BEST stories! :)

12. Watching scary movies together..... I'll just be in the kitchen....

13. Her strawberry pie, her peanut butter cookies, her guacamole.....

14. I love how much she loves people - everyone in her life. No matter how long it has been since she has seen them - she still thinks about them, worries about them, wonders about them and will take the time to make the effort to keep in touch. This too inspires me! :)

15. She is my favorite and you can tell the others - don't worry - I will still keep your secret safe!!

Melanie - I love you! I love our friendship and the all the memories. Even though we no longer live down the street from each other, I know we have years of memories to make. After all, you guys are my family's favorite family!! I hope your 30's are all you want them to be!

My Top Ten

We have been in Alabama for 2 full weeks and there is so much about it here that I am loving. Mainly, I love having so much time together as a family. Sean only has to work a 40 hour work week - something we had forgotten existed!

So, here is my top ten list of all the things I love about being here.

1. The people - everyone is so friendly and helpful. Also, no one seems to be from Alabama - they have all moved here from somewhere else so that puts all of us in similar situations.

2. The humidity - I know, I know... who in their right mind would love the humidity! I never thought I would but it has cured Sean's sinus problems! That just makes for a happier husband which equates into a happier me!!

3. The rain - I have missed the rain. It was one of my favorite things growing up. I love everything about it: the smell, the puddles, the frogs, the sounds. Watching my kids play in the rain brings me more happiness than I can say.

4. The lakes - yesterday we walked to the lake nearby and took the kids fishing. I can't remember the last time we had that much fun as a family. I will post pictures soon. It is so fun living in a place where my kids can get covered in dirt while they do everything from try to catch minnows to fish with live crickets to fall in the water and get covered with dirt from head to toe. The kids loved it and I love seeing them so happy. Doing the laundry afterward didn't make me quite as happy... I am quickly learning that we are going to need a few pairs of getting dirty clothing!!

5. The House we found!! Yes, we have found a house to buy and it is almost a done deal. We have a few thing to sort out tomorrow but all the big stuff has been agreed upon. I am really happy with it and we should be moving in mid August!

6. The pace of life. Maybe it is just me but things seem slower here. You don't have the traffic and you don't have to drive very far to get places. Plus, there are so many trees everywhere that you can be in the middle of the town and suddenly feel like you are in the country.

7. Shopping at the commissary. I can't even tell you how I have missed this!! The first time we walked in I told Sean we had to stop - I was having a moment. There was just something about having BBQ sauce cost $0.67 again that made me feel like I was coming home! Living in Arizona for the last year we lived too far from the base to make it worth the drive to do our shopping there, I am so so happy to be close again. The Air Force spoiled me in that respect and I hate shopping at normal priced stores anymore.

8. The frogs. We have lots of them. A whole family I think. They sing to me every night and every now and then the bull frog chimes in. :)

9. My parents are within driving distance!! Close enough that in a few weeks they will be taking all three of my boys to their house for a week. I have no idea what I am going to do with my time but the kids are so excited!

10. Ten is yet to be discovered but I will let you know when I find it!

Butterfly

So, I have fallen in love with this picture I took while we were at the botanical gardens on Monday. I have many more pictures of the boys that I will share in a later post but I just wanted to put this one up by itself. All I can say is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new camera!!!

A Firework Frenzy...

Happy 4th of July to all of you from the Eames family.


Our 4th was filled with fun and fireworks...but mainly fireworks. It is on days such as these that I realize how much of a kid at heart Sean can be. Let me explain...

As most of you know, having your own fireworks in Arizona is a huge taboo. Something I completely understand given the fires that seem to spring up every year around this time. So, when we got to Alabama and there were firework stands everywhere, Sean started his master plan. On the afternoon of the 4th he and the boys left for the firework store and came home with this.....


I couldn't imagine for the life of me why we would ever need so many fireworks but Sean assured me that it was needed and the boys were beyond excited to start blowing things up! Here is how happy a van full of explosives can make my ALL of my boys.....







An Alabama sunset I couldn't resist capturing!
Sean brought home some pretty big fireworks - even I was impressed! The boys thought he was the best Dad ever - they usually think that but on this day they couldn't stop telling him how great he was!


The boys favorites were the ones that made the most noise and had the most expolsives - I loved the smoke bombs because I loved the effect in the pictures I was able to capture!






So "Happy 4th of July" from our family to all of yours. Hope yours was just as great and full of fun if not fireworks!! We love and miss you all!