I get by with a little help from my friends

I haven't always had trouble making friends. When I was in high school it was easy for me and I think I was pretty well-liked, enough to get a few superlatives my senior year- although I don't remember what they were. Friendliest, maybe?

I am nice, I swear it.

The point is- I had many friends in my school and neighboring schools and I never really felt like I was missing out.

When I got to college, it took me a while longer to connect with people. I even had a couple people tell me they thought I was a bee i tee cee aich- that I was stuck up the first time they met me. I don't know if it's my quiet demeanor, my follower mentality, or the observer in me, but people often take me the wrong way. They equate shyness with something unlikeable.

Eventually, I was able to open up more and make a wonderful group of friends in college, many of which I consider my bestests.

[caption id="attachment_3990" align="alignnone" width="604" caption="here are a few from graduate school"][/caption]

Obviously, I'm not incapable. I just have a harder time connecting with women. I spent much of my undergrad hanging out with guys because I found them easier to talk to. When I got married, I distanced myself from those relationships out of respect for my husband (this is not a time for a lecture in choosing my own friends despite gender) and my own comfort level.

But this shyness or whatever it is has followed me into my adult life. Because of the Army (and having to pick up roots quite often and move), I am reminded of my handicap! It took me forever to establish a good group of friends at our first duty station.





Now, here I am at our third and my sole source of interaction is with my 5.5 month old! Perhaps that's why I blog so much. I feel the need to connect.

I really appreciate all of you who leave comments, send emails, tweet, and leave me facebook love each time I write. It helps me to not feel totally alone throughout the day!

It's tough to not have a job or opportunities to meet other people and get out and socialize especially for someone like me who has to step outside of her comforting box in order to try and meet new friends. If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that a girl needs her girlfriends!

To my friends past and present- love you, mean it.

~Mrs. K

The Sitting Swing

This may very well be the best memoir I've read to date.



Irene Watson's story begins to unfold as she tells her dark and sometimes uncomfortable recollection of her homelife. There were so many points that hit home for me in this book that I'm just not sure where to start.

I suppose I'll start with the one that was truest for me-

"There's not a person in this world who can keep his own, personal ambitions and still give his will over to God. Not one person. If God has ambitions for you, that's fine. But let them be God's ambitions."

You all must know by now that I struggle with this. I look back on leaving graduate school and a budding career to move to Alaska to support my husband the soldier and I wouldn't change a thing. Yet, sometimes I wonder if I should be working instead of staying home because of these goals I made for myself years ago. I find comfort in reading the reminder that I should put my trust in my higher power and follow His instruction in my life.

I digress, though. I was going to give a book review, wasn't I? :)

The Sitting Swing tells the powerful story of a child turned adult who endured a rough upbringing. Her early influences in life shaped her into a person she didn't seem to want to be, one that landed her in what she thought to be a controlling marriage. As a child, Irene grew up in a small town, the second (but only surviving) child to her parents. Her mother kept a close, judgemental eye on her from the very beginning which began to seep into everything Irene knew and understood about life.

The book discusses her difficult childhood, going into details of the abuse she suffered and the guilt she carried with her over the years. Then, Irene seeks treatment and the book takes a different path. The reader is put into the shoes of an older Irene who is dealing with the process of therapy and hoping for a way out of the crisis her life has become.

The best aspect of the book is the emphasis of something that I've studied most of my adult life- the ability to change despite poor circumstance, age, or adversity.

I know my counselor friends will enjoy reading this book and I suspect the rest of you will as well.

The Sitting Swing is available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. Both have to option of an ebook download as well. Check it out!

(Note: I received a free copy from the author and was compensated for this review. Despite this, all opinions given are my own.)

Chicken, Cow Patties, and Cuteness

My car is fixed...hooray! Some handsome hunk-a-man worked on it late one night and after blood (literally), sweat, and tears--it's driving Mrs. K around again.

And by handsome hunk-a-man, I mean my husband of course. He has been able to come home from the field at night for the past two nights. It has been nice! He'll be leaving again shortly so I'm enjoying it while I can.

I thought I'd share what I made for dinner last night because it was easy and tasty and those are my kinda recipes!

Mushroom Chicken 

You'll need:

2 eggs beaten

4 chicken breast halves (although Captain wanted more)

bread crumbs

mushrooms

3 tbsp butter

mozzerella cheese

3/4 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Wash Chicken (duh). Dip in beaten eggs and roll in bread crumbs.

2. Melt butter in skillet/pan. Brown both sides of the chicken.

3. Sprinkle bottom of a casserole dish (I used 9x13) with mushrooms and add chicken halves on top.

4. Arrange more mushrooms over the chicken and pour chicken broth on and around the chicken.

5. Add cheese and stick it in the oven for about 35 minutes.

I love easy, don't you? I made some veggies to go along with this.

And then for my favorite part of the meal. Hello, dessert!

I made no-bake cookies which I prefer to affectionately call- cow patties. It is my desire that people will be so grossed out by that thought that they'll leave all the yummy goodness for me! It doesn't really work, though. I used this pin for the recipe.

You're welcome.

Also, don't spill the milk.

But if you do, don't cry.

Unless it's breast milk. That's reason to shed a few! ;)

All in all, yesterday was a happy day for all of us. Baby K has discovered his feet. He is also enjoying trying to sit up like a big boy. Mama is so proud!

He's cute even with slobber galore and a weird toe. Of course, I could be biased.

Happy Thursday to you, my friends!

What happened to...

Chivalry?

or

Going down with the ship?

I'll admit I always thought the latter was rather silly until I heard of it playing out in real life. I was of the attitude- why would the captain go down with his ship if there was an option to be saved? Why wouldn't he make sure everyone was safe first and then grab a boat/life vest of his own?

Captain Obvious.



But good grief. The entire Costa Concordia cruise ship seems negligent. The Captain, however, should have definitely made more of an effort to get his hands dirty and help the thousands of passengers out instead of "coordinating" the evacuation safely from afar.

Chivalry is dead. Those poor women and children ;)



There's no good reason I can think of in this day and age that everyone shouldn't have been escorted safely off this boat. Think of all the technology! No doubt someone on Twitter or Facebook knew she was sinking before some of the passengers were aware because of that one guy who shares everything on his social networking sites. Where was the organization? Did the staff just wad up the evacuation plan and toss it in Davy Jones Locker?

The nerve.

(Image Credit)

P.S. For those of you who don't know, today is blackout day on the net. Various websites are going down for 24 hours to oppose the SOPA and PIPA acts that would allow the U.S. to censor the Internet. Obviously, I couldn't leave my readers without full functionality of my site ;) but if this is something you oppose, go tell someone about it, will ya?

I am with you

I have been so tempted to complain today, but I won't. I'm sure you're all very tired of hearing about my minor issues. I really wanted to go to PWOC today, but I had (more) car trouble and wasn't able to make it. Instead I gave my kitchen a good cleaning and I'm okay with that. I don't think K would have allowed an excursion anyway. Nothing seems to make him happy this week.

Wait, I wasn't going to complain, right?

Yesterday I came across Isaiah 41:10:

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

And I literally had to keep repeating the words in my head.

He will strengthen me. He will help me.

He will strengthen me. He will help me.

It was one of those days, but you know what? At the end of the day, I knew I wasn't alone. I recognized that I could have it way worse than I do. No matter how much Baby K is unhappy, whiney, and/or crying I have the comfort that 'this too shall pass'. I have the blessing of a healthy baby and I'm forever grateful there's nothing too serious going on.

My back feels like it's breaking because he won't let me put him down.

But one day, he's not going to want me to pick him up.

I guess I'll just focus on that. And until then God is whispering in my ear, "I am with you."

Happy Tuesday!

- Mrs. K

I have arrived!

Did you have a good weekend? I did. {This is me being positive...and only slightly facetious}

My weekend was actually pretty rough. But I won't complain. One happy thing did result from the last few days, though. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but a fluff delivery lifted my spirits.

Yes, I'm officially a mom blogger because diapers in my mailbox thrill me. I have arrived!

Anyway, I ordered two new diapers from Trisha over at Simple Additions.

Her diapers are my favorite cloth diapers I have found to date. I now have three of them and they have never, ever leaked. I can't say the same for most of the popular name brand cloth diapers I have. Maybe I'm overstuffing them? Understuffing them? Who knows...but I haven't had much success with the one size pocket diapers that everyone seems to love.

They're ok, but I prefer the ease and absorbtion of Trisha's One Size All-in-Two diapers.



They have a snap-in insert for extra protection and the insert comes with the purchase of this diaper type. Not only does this diaper never leak, but it's also one of the easiest to wash. You just have to throw it in the washer- no digging out wet, stinky inserts like you have to do with pocket diapers. I think I might appreciate this characteristic most!

Here's a peek inside:



I plan on learning how to make my own diapers if I can ever find more than a couple minutes of free time, but until then I'll be using these because they're great. No complaints. Love them.

She also threw in two bamboo wipes/washcloths, too. She's really great!



K doesn't look too excited about these dipes but I'm positive he was after I put them on his little tush. ;) I love how he always crosses his legs when I put him down on the couch.

Too flippin' cute.

Anyway, if you're a cloth diapering fam--check out Trisha's ETSY!

(Note: I was not compensated in any way for this review)

Project 365- Week 2

A picture a day, a post {of pictures} a week--for a year. Think I can do it? I'm going to try. Do you want to play along? If so, link up here:



Day One: Baby K is happy to cheer on the Steelers in a little Sunday night football!



Day Two: He was happy to cheer on Bama in the BCS National Championship, but I didn't take photos of that. I did capture bathtime, though. What a sweet baby-



Day Three: He turned five months old!



Day Four: Blogging while under the influence of chocolate.



Day Five: Daddy getting his last minute hugs in before he hits the salt mines goes off to play Army.



Day Six: Friday we did some reading. Baby K sure loves his newest books! He sat quietly and listened to all three of them.



Day Seven: The Babe is so smart. Here he is trying to decide who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election.



P.S.- It has been brought to my attention that this year is a leap year so you'll actually get 366 pictures from yours truly. Lucky you.