Lets Be Real

First a little back ground on this post.  I lost my father in February of this year.  I have always been a daddy's girls, I could always count on him to save me from my "evil" mother, bail me out in financial difficulties, but most importantly he talked to me everyday.  Every morning we would have our coffee and just talk, yes some times I would have to listen to a sea story he had already recited to me over a hundred times before, but I cherished it.  I didn't understand how much I did until the day came that he no longer had the ability to do so anymore.  My mom decided to a leave of absence from her job as a nurse to care for my father 24/7.  My parents had been through a lot together in 29 years, anger, hurt, finances, 2 divorces only to be married to each other again for the 3rd time.  No matter their past, I witnessed the forgiveness my mother showed toward my father.  The compassion and selflessness she showed, is something I will forever be grateful for witnessing. I was also able to meet my dad's hospice nurse.  For those of you who don't know, when a family member is dying Hospice is there for you too.  I had the pleasure of know my father had made an impact on his nurse just by being who he had always been, an ear to listen and a mouth to speak...A LOT.  I was also fortunate enough to be able to travel to Florida a help with my father for a short time.  I have always been fascinated with biological sciences.  Growing up medical terms were common language in my house, so being able to look at it from that stand point, knowing his disease process, took away my fear of watching and helping him.  The experience helped show me what I was meant to do in this life and prompted me to return to school to become a nurse, just like mom. 


Now to my point.  I started following a ton of blogs for the sole purpose of entering there giveaways.  If you have ever entered a blog giveaway you know to earn extra entries they want you to sign up for there newsletters and you probably go back everyday for your daily tweet or share.  Aggravating at first, yes, but that's not my point.  When I started doing my daily tweets, I started to feel more like a taker which is not my nature.  I have always wanted to help whether it be big or small I delight in doing my part.  As the days have gone by and I am actually paying attention to the new post daily, I find myself reading more of what these REAL women have to say.  These women are truly amazing.  They are REAL people with REAL families.  I was even surprised to find out that some have been on the page I am on in life.  These do some amazing things.  I have been fortunate enough to find out about companies that are doing their part too, to help give back.  So along with my daily entry tweets and shares I am also committing to give them shout outs so more people can discover these wonderful women and companies.  Here are just a few in no particular order.

Brie Brie Blooms - Family, crafts, recipes
Laughing Lindsay - Personal, reviews, travel and recipes
Midget Momma - Parenting, diy, travel, money saving
Lime Lane Love - DIY, reviews
Viva Veltoro - Reviews

Disclaimer:  I am not receiving any composition for this post.  I truly believe in helping.

Christmas time...

I used to love Christmas, every aspect of it.  The decorations, the carols, the togetherness, and even the craziness all brought me so much joy.  I was that person who had to be talked out of putting up a Christmas tree in October;  I never wanted Christmas to end.  Five years ago all of it started to change, I no longer care when the tree goes up and I can't wait for it to come down.  I have my faith in Christ, I have four beautiful children, and I have a wonderful husband (most of the time).  I should be filled with so much joy, but I'm not. 

Five years ago I met my now husband.  5 weeks before our first Christmas together, we had just welcomed our first child together, into the world.   That was the first time I had ever felt depression at Christmas time and naturally I just thought I was suffering from PPD and fatigue;  however, the depression would come back each Christmas there after.  Fast forward three years later, my husband's job had taken us to Upstate New York.  I was so nervous, I knew about the stereotypical New York, but Upstate was nothing like that.  It was perfect and that Christmas was perfect!  Every inch of the house was decorated and just like a movie, snowfall on Christmas morning!  

We ended up spending one more Christmas in New York and then my husband's job moved us again.  Now we are just outside of Baltimore, in the loop.  I tried to be supportive of my husband, I knew he wanted this promotion and so I kept my reservations to myself and agreed to the move.  I hate this place, I tried hard to find some positive but couldn't.  This place is ugly, shopping center's everywhere, traffic everywhere, rude people everywhere.  I pulled my oldest out of the school system here because the children as well as the teachers are unbelievable. I don't feel safe here, a few months ago I was sitting on my back porch and heard gunshots; now where I originally come from there was nothing unusual about that, we had hunters and woods.  The police helicopter circles our area at least twice a month and all day I sit here listening to sirens...  I just want out.

I truly hope everyone else has a Joyous and Merry Christmas! 

This is a blog?

I promise I am getting there!