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????

The pee chronicles...

So we have had many adventures potty training our little man. Potty training Carolina, while not easy, was pretty straight forward. Sit on the pot, pee or poop, wipe, wash hands and flush. Easy right??? Well not so with George, because of a little thing called "standing up to pee"! Who came up with this nonsense? At first we of course told him to sit to pee, it was easier and he really wasn't interested in standing up. Things have gone on like this for some time now. And I will be the first to admit that I'm the one usually asking "George don't you want to stand up to be like a big boy?" But what the heck was I thinking? It goes EVERYWHERE and by everywhere I mean, on the back of the toilet, on him, on me, on his feet, on the floor, on the seat and then just the very last little bit makes it into the toilet!!!! Its pure craziness people, oh and its also one of the grossest things ever. I thought after the whole spit up thing was over I wouldn't have kids spraying bodily fluids at me anymore! Boy was I wrong. Plus its not like its something that I can just tell Ben he's in charge of. No the boy demands to go pee, even if his dad is at work!!! We have tried different things to get the aim a bit better, but so far nothing kicks in until he's half way done already! So I'm off to mop the floor, again and hope for a better shot next time. 

I will keep you up to date on the progress of our little man and his peeing habits. I know your on the edge of your seat... lol

Is there a future in this.?.?

So photography is starting to take over my life... I'm am so absorbed in it, reading everything I can get my hands on, walking around with my camera everywhere I go and taking so many pics of the kids they actually whine when they see the camera come out! I dont know what this all means yet, but I do know that my life has changed since getting a DSLR and photoshop. I spend almost as much time editing pics as I do taking pics. I think I see a difference (for the better) in my photos now and it just keeps spurring me on. I am sticking to the fact that I am very happy with the camera and lens I have now, but I've heard that upgrading can become quite an obsession in this field. I am planning on working towards the goal of actually being paid to take pictures. But for now, I am willing to take anyone's photos anytime FOR FREE, just to get the practice. I cant promise you any great ones, but I might get a few pretty good ones out of it. Here is a couple I have taken and edited or some that Ben has taken and I have edited. Let me know what you think!