Award winning stuff here!!!

Okay so I just got my first award! I'm so excited. I love this whole blogging world. I ramble on about stuff that bugs me and I get an award for it! How cool is that??? I'm actually quite the lazy blogger. Most of my blogging friends have something new posted everyday. I on the other hand only get something new up every few days. So to get an award even thought I'm not constantly on my blog (thanks for the heads up Tiffany, I swear I was heading over to your blog tonight to read up) is saying a lot. Tiffany is one of my two regular commenter's on my blog and I love seeing something new from her in my email every time she does. Y'all should really check out her blog at Paging Doctor Mommy. She is one that gets something new up all the time and I love reading all about Reagan, shes adorable!!!!! Thanks again Tiffany for the great award! Also check out these other blogs that got awards from Tiffany!

Disturbing

So most of you know about my son Trevor. But for those of you who dont here is the back story. When I was 16 years old I hit a bit of a, well lets call it a rebellious period. I started dating much older guys and well to be blunt partying all the time. I thought at the time I was so grown up and was as they say 10 foot tall and bullet proof. I met this guy that I thought was so cool. He was 21 and he really liked me. It took us all of 2 months to get pregnant the first time. He convinced me that because he was Catholic it was a sin to use protection... haha So getting pregnant didnt take long. But once I got pregnant everything changed. Anthony and I started arguing all the time and I moved in with a friend. With in about two week so finding out I was pregnant I had a miscarriage and was devastated. I blamed Anthony, but didnt break up with him. Instead I started acting out even more. I moved back in with my Mom, but she had little to no control over me. And to be honest I think she felt so bad for me that she just didnt know what to do. Anthony and I continued to date even though by this time I really couldnt stand him. My mom has said many times that she thought I was just trying to get pregnant again. I've never really agreed with this, but looking back now I cant recall anything that was going thru my head at the time except grief. Even at 16 losing a child really did effect me greatly. I lost the first baby on Dec 12th of 1995 and found out I was pregnant again in Feb of 1996. The doctor said that I got pregnant the first week in Jan. I decided the day I found out I was pregnant again to break up with Anthony. I told him he had to move out and he told me he was going home to Minnesota. He packed up his car and left and I resolved to only talk to him when I had to about the baby. About 30 minutes later is when we heard the sirens going off. I made an off the cuff remark about it being Anthony.... and it was. He had run his car into a tree down the street from my house and my whole life changed. 

Anthony didnt die that day. Actually he wasnt even hurt, but it was enough to make me take him back. He left two days later and I ended up following him up there...

I was a lucky one. I could tell you all the crazy things that happened over the next two years. But its a long crazy story. I'll just say that I couldnt have made it through with out my wonderful mom and sister. Fast forward and Trevor is going to be 13 years old this year. He has spent 90% of his life living with my mom. Which over the years has left us answering lots of questions from nosy strangers. For some reason when you have a different situation in life people assume that they can ask you anything and they do. Everything from "Will he ever come live with you again?" to the much more invasive "Dont you miss him?". Its always amazed both me and my mom what people thought it was okay to say to us. I will sum it up quickly by saying this. At 17 I had no health insurance and little money. Then 4 years later when I did I felt like he was where he was happy and belonged... with my mom. The two of them have always shared a special bond. 

So now to why I am writing this post. The other day I was folding laundry and looking for something to watch on tv. I came across this show on MTV called Sixteen and Pregnant. Watching it I see so many of the same things I went through, but that part of what worries me. I was really blessed with  wonderful family that supported me so much. Most girls dont have that and will a show like this make having a baby in high school seem like fun... like a good idea. Will it make them think it makes you look more grown up? I mean I guess it does make you look more grown up, since you look tired all the time, your constantly working and you cant go anywhere with out finding a sitter, oh and dont forget you never have any money. Why cant we have a show about teens that are saving themselves for marriage? Why are there no shows about the kids that are working hard to go to college or make something of themselves? Am I just getting old? Are there really that many more girls out there getting pregnant these days or is TV just getting more and more disturbing? I know that stuff happens when your young, I know that girls still get themselves into the same situation that I did, but do we really have to have a show about it. Should we really be making these girls feel like their pregnancies are going to make them famous? Dont be ashamed girls, thats so not what I'm saying. I have never been ashamed of Trevor and I love him more then anything. But I do know that if MTV had showed up at my school and said they wanted to put me on TV it would have put the wrong idea into other girls heads. Suddenly getting pregnant would have been so cool and not something that was going to make life so much harder. Because no matter how much I love Trevor, having him did make life harder. My life is still harder to this day simply because I am constantly wondering if I am doing right by him or if by not living with us I am hurting him. I will always worry that I didnt make the right decision... I know that I will be there for my kids if anything like this should happen to them just as much as my mom and sister were there for me, but at least I know that I will never let MTV or any other channel show my kids this glamorized version of teen pregnancy... 

3222 Chantel Ct NE

Well here it is folks... I thought y'all might like to see what my house looks like clean. Oh and if you know anyone who's buying in the central kitsap area give me a call!!! http://locator.nwmls.com:80/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Locator&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=I9xUF6hi%2BAmcF%2B8gU%2BqONoOGzDp5pUwu2N3a6q%2FlSn8%3D&KeyRid=1&Include_Search_Criteria=

Our first Graduation

Our sweet Carolina is now officially done with preschool. Can you believe it? Just yesterday she was learning to crawl on Matt and Michelle's floor in CT and now she's 5 1/2 years old and moving on to "real" school (as she calls it). When I enrolled her in Silverdale Lutheran Preschool three years ago it was because they had a two's program and she didnt have to be potty trained. I wasnt thinking at the time that it would be where she would spend her entire preschool life at. I didnt know it was going to become our preschool family and where Carolina would actually have schoolyard friends for three years. I'm sure her graduation was like just about any other one going on this week, but being a super proud Mommy I just had to post all about it! 

 They sang songs:

They received diplomas and their very own bibles. At which point all the kids forgot we were there to see them and all of them began looking through their bibles. They had to be reminded that they got to take them home with them and could actually look at them later.

Afterwards we all went all over to the fellowship hall for cookies and some arts and crafts for the kids. All three of them ate their weight in cookies and lemonade and I bid on Carolina's class quilt and won it! It was 20.00 bucks but totally worth it since it has all the kids hand prints on it from her class. Most of the kids have been with her since they were in the twos class and I'm so happy to have that to treasure. We got to see the kids "person" that they drew. Which Carolina has been very excited about for some time now. They actually laid down on the floor and the teacher traced them. Then they decorated it... Carolina is all about anything that has to do with art, so she was very happy to have something up on the walls! The first picture is of Oliver and Cara. They are two of the original kids from the two's class and have always been two of Carolina's best buddies. Oliver was actually Lina's boyfriend they year (which totally freaked me out) and Cara is the other cheetah girl! Our last part of graduation was our annual trip to Evergreen park. I will miss not making that trip every year. This year was by far our most beautiful day that we've had in three years. But I will be doing a whole seperate post because I took some really beautiful pictures that day, even though we were in horrible light...

I've done this a hundred times...

Okay, so this moving thing is really getting this best of me this time. Whats up with that? Ben and I have moved 5 times in the 7 years that we have been married and all of those were in the first 4 years for pete's sake. So when it comes to moving I have it down to a science... Well until now that is. For some reason I just cant seem to get this one going. Every time I walk into a room to get it ready for taking pictures and having the realtor come out it, well it pukes on me! I mean I walk out of every room with it looking worse then when I started. Oh and the kids... Dont even get me started on how much help a 5 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old can be while your trying to "organize" a room. Apparently a child's favorite place to play is a nice (mostly) clean room! This morning they thought it would help me out so much if they removed every piece of tupperware and pots and pans out of the cabinets and put them all in the living room. Which would have been a huge help if I had say... needed to clean out those cabinets (just did that last week) or had been having maybe a tupperware sale. Other wise it was not help at ALL! 

I just keep looking at different rooms realizing how much still has to been done and then walking back out shaking my head... To make matters worse I am completely out of ADD medication! So I'm just floating from room to room like a damn space cadet not really getting anything done. Okay, well I guess it back to getting nothing done. 

Its about time...

Okay, so I've had almost two hundred hits today (thank you Dr Laura!) and so I thought it was about time to make my own button. So here it is: Let me know what you think and if you post it on your blog. I would love to see it and mention your super cool blog on here!

Mandi! So just copy this code and add it to an HTML code box in your layout. <center><a href="http://mandiandbenmartin.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss337/mandi3067/OWBCLbutton.jpg"/></a><br/></center>

Laundry... it will be the death of me

There are a lot of things about being a mom and housewife that I am so not any good at, laundry is one of them. It is the thorn in my side, the cross I have to bear, the kryptonite to my superman powers... Okay, maybe I'm blowing it a bit out of proportion, but its hard. Its always there. I spend entire Saturdays doing it just to wake up Sunday morning to a new pile. Seriously what could be more uninviting then five peoples dirty underwear (ok four peoples undies... my youngest still blesses me with five or six dirty diapers a day) waiting in a huge pile outside the laundry room taunting me... I mean I should have known something was up when the house we bought came with a whole room dedicated to laundry. I'm in my mid-twenties a grown woman and I still enjoy my mother coming to visit just so she can catch the stupid laundry up. Which is great until two days after she's gone and we're right back to where we started. I did learn a valuable lesson recently... If you dont want your mother in law to know what kinda underwear you wear, dont ask her to do your laundry!!! 

So here I am writing a post about doing laundry instead of actually going upstairs and doing laundry. That would be much to productive for me. I would much rather sit and ask the question of why laundry has to be d0ne, then to bite the bullet and actually get it done. Oh and here is another question for you. Why do we hate to put laundry away so bad??? I mean once I get started it really only takes me a couple of minutes. But its like pulling (my own hair) to get my lazy butt up and start putting the stuff away. I would rather look at it in the basket and get stuff out of the basket then to take the five (oh my word FIVE) minutes it would take me to put it in the drawers...Whats up with that? I cant be the only one that feels this way. Oh well I guess I have drug out this topic for all its worth and now I have no choice but to go up  there and tackle the pile that I know will return tomorrow.... Being a housewife is hard!

Dr Laura... Is this crazy or what???

Hey Y'all, So a couple of weeks ago I got this really cool description of a Military wife on my facebook page from another fellow Navy wife. I thought it was pretty cool and very accurate. So, because I liked it so much I decided to post it on my blog and let everyone else see it. I didn't write it and would love to know who did... if for no other reason then to say Thank you... Thank you for writing something that touched me and so many other women that have visited my blog. Thank you for going through it with me and knowing how it feels to be a Military wife and thank you for bringing so many women together. Oh and thank you for getting me on Dr. Laura's website! Next stop Oprah.com lol! Anyways here is my 15 seconds of semi-fame. Notice my blog is at the bottom of the letter!!! So very very cool. Thank you family member to Leeann that sent this in for me. If you havent read this post you can check it out here at What is a Military Wife? Mandi You can read this and the rest of my blogs on OurWonderfulBeautifulLife at www.mandiandbenmartin.blogspot.com

My new baby has a name...

So this post is going to shock some of you, make some of you smile and make the rest of you shrug your shoulders and say " There she goes again..."! As of this week it is official, I am running my own business. No, I did not sign up for yet another direct sales job. I am not selling make up or jewelry or even cooking supplies. Nope this time its all me, my talent and my passion that I'm attempting to make a living doing or at least enough to pay for this equipment I purchased over the weekend...

Okay no more stalling here it is. I am now the official photographer of AJ Photography. Business cards are on the way, my camera is bought and I am even looking into working with a couple other girls that already have  a studio space. I am planning something with the church and maybe even something with my mom's group. I am working on my portfolio and have lots of "plans" that need to be worked out and put into action this summer before we leave. I am so very very excited and cant wait to share all the ups and downs with you. I wanted to make photography my job and now I am. Ben has been super supportive and even questioned why this took so long. Oh and my new camera for those of you that are interested is a Canon EOS 50D. I have been very snap happy since I got it and even took a trip up to Bellingham to hang out with my really awesome photographer friend Chad, from DeRosa Photography, and his girlfriend. They showed me an awesome time up there and I learned so much just from following him around. I cant wait to do it again. Here are some of the pics I took up there. 

ADD... my reason or my excuse

Okay so let me start this post by saying that I do actually have clinically tested and treated ADD. Anyone who actually knows me or talks to me for longer then ten minutes or tries to keep up with me when my mind is going a hundred miles an hour or even relies on me to do something that could possibly (in any way) resembles doing something on a regular basis, can attest to this. So tonight I thought I would give y'all a little glimpse into my head. Some of you will walk away saying "Hey that sounds just like me!" and others will be thinking "Theres no way one person is that flighty!" Let me assure you there is... I am constantly bouncing from thing to thing. I love stuff and when I love it, its all I can think about. I'm going to be the best at everything. I am passionate about everything from the type of toothpaste I use to my photography. Problem is I'm only passionate about stuff for about a week... Do I still feel the same way about my toothpaste? Yes, am I still willing to drive all the way to Tacoma to get it like I swore I would from now on last week... ummmmm no. Am I on my blog everyday? No, but do I constantly think about my blog, even think thoughts like I'm writing a post. Absolutely!!! Do I ever actually write them down or make a point to get on here two or three times a day...ummmm no. Do I make friends everywhere I go only to lose them because I am the worst caller/emailer/facebooker/comment on other's blogs friend ever.... ummmmm yes. Do I spend hours online looking for classes to take only to get bored by the time I actually find the one I want.... ummmm yes. Was I told to take it easy this week because of surgery and then have one of my most productive weeks in months? ummmm yes What is it about someone telling you to relax that makes you want to do laundry? I never want to do laundry, but this week I actually got satisfaction outta putting all the laundry away. (Maybe my husband is slipping something in my tea, that just doesnt sound like me) haha that totally rhymed y'all! Want to know whats happening at this very moment in my head: well, theres a song playing (forever by Chris Brown fyi), I'm wondering if its this week or next week that the kids are outta school, did I feed the dog dinner?, what time is it?, is anyone going to read this, does this make sense?, im itchy, "i wont let ya cha fall, let ya cha fall, let ya cha ummm girl" (sorry its that damn song) Well there it is. Not much to look at but hey thats me. Tomorrow you get to hear all about my kids running from my camera and see the resulting pictures! Also, check back to see if I managed to talk Ben into the Canon 50d + accessories! lol

Not Me Monday

Are you feeling guilty for pretending not to notice your toddler playing with the dogfood? Feel like a slouch for staying in your jammies all day? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of MckMama's desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing! Enjoy this weeks Not me Monday and head over to MckMama's to check out all the other ones from around the world!!! Okay, so this past week was not one of my craziest yet. I did not at any point get my belly button peirced and then turn around two days later and get a tattoo on my arm. I am way to old for that kinda stuff and there for would never do that. But if I did, it would be way cool looking and I would so post about it later. Oh, but I didnt so do dont look for it. I did not get a text from a girl that was watching my kids asking if my kids could swim in their undies. I did not tell her that I couldnt care less if the kids swam in their underoos, I so dont raise my children like that people. I did not arrive to pick them up and quickly strip my 2 yr old down to a diaper, only to decide that it was going to fill up really fast and then remove said diaper. So I did not end up with two kids running around in dirty underwear (from sitting on the ground, not from me not washing them) and one completely naked. Who does that, I mean really have some class... Oh and then when we were leaving I did not decide that it would be better for everyone (well not me) to ride home naked since their clothes were wet. I was not worried the whole ride home of getting pulled over or in a wreck simply because my kids were naked in the back seat. lol I have not been trying to figure out how to convince Ben that I need a new Canon 50d soon. I'm not currently looking online to see if I can find a really sweet deal on one and I'm not trying to figure out how to make it seem like buying it was his idea. The thought of telling him that I really want this other much more expensive camera and then convincing him that I will be willing to settle for the canon hasnt crossed my mind at all. I dont think that way and I would never try to intentionally manipulate my husband like that. What kinda marriage would that be????