"Blue-Collar" Blessings

Today I'd like to send you, dear friends, over to a site to which I contribute: Real Oilfield Wives. I'm particularly proud of my latest piece ... discussing the fact that Tim isn't college educated, and both the blessings and challenges that come with the "blue-collar" label.

I'd love to read your feedback, too! Do both you and your partner or spouse hold university educations? What dynamic does education bring to your relationship? I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

xo

It's Monday. Aren't Mondays Beautiful?

What a whirlwind and tiring past two weeks I've had! Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch, and sent me encouraging notes and thoughts lately. I sometimes wish Tim didn't have to travel for work -- that we could live the life we want without him having to be so far away, so often. And I wish all my family and friends lived down the street, so we could be together all the time. Or at least that dog boarding wasn't so expensive (seriously, it's not the plane tickets, it's making sure our fur babies are taken care of). But here we are ... in Colorado ... a place we love ... and we will be fine! So, as always, thanks for the kind support. It means a lot to me, and I'm grateful.

In other news, it rained here on Saturday evening. "Uh, big deal!" you're thinking. But it is a big deal here. We're in a horrible drought, and it was so wonderful, I wanted to go outside and just stand in it. Our two dogs all but insisted on going out to lay on our back steps; I certainly wasn't the only one feeling a sense of calm and relief. So, I opened a few windows, filled my nostrils with the scent of the rain, and my ears with the sound of its gentle, steady fall. I want to vacation somewhere lush.

Also, we have the rest of our year all but planned. Is it just us, or does anyone else have to do this? Go back and forth between which trips will make the cut? Do we want to take a family vacation somewhere new and exciting, or do we want to spend time with our loved ones in mostly familiar places? Be a typical suburban Denver family that takes Maile to Rocky Mountain National Park, or skip Christmas presents and expand our international travels? And who are these people who live in our area that do all of that and more? There's a reason two-income households are "winning" these days, across America.

Next month, we'll be taking our first family flight since last August. Needless to say, Maile is a completely different little person now. People always tell us to give her Benadryl, or bring the iPad. But I will not unnecessarily medicate my child to fly (Do people really do that?), and we don't have an iPad. Maile has flown a lot, and has always been a good flyer, but do you have any magical tips for toddlers and flying? (She'll be on our laps, if that helps.) Please share!

Yes, today is Monday. It's funny ... SAHMs really don't have Mondays in the strictest sense. But we have Mondays. Trying to balance family, and family fun ... long distance marriages ... terrifying travel plans with a toddler. But it's a beautiful life. And we'll be fine.

xo

14/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Maile: Jumping up and down, holding firmly to her Dada's hands.

Though surely imperfect to the eye of a trained photographer, I love the light in this photo. The placement of the sun on Tim's wedding ring, on our beautiful daughter, on her trust in him. Tim, in the shadow, but there ... strong, present.

Roughneck families are often on the receiving end of a lot of trash-talking. Literally, being called "oilfield trash" (and that's one of the nicer terms), and figuratively, because of the lifestyle. The weeks -- sometimes months -- away from children, wives, homes. What these sad individuals don't see, don't get, is that the majority of these men work this work not to be away from their families, but because of, for their families. They rough their hands and add years to their bodies because they care so much more about the ones they leave at home than they do about themselves. I wanted to add a longer description this week because it is that beauty, that sacrifice, that is represented to me in this photo. It is my hope that you see it, too.

Shrinking Kitchen!

I am so excited to be the newest member of the Shrinking Kitchen team! And of course, I started with a dessert recipe! ;) The brownies, which I call Cakey Carob Brownies, are my first feature for the site. Shrinking Kitchen features a few lovely ladies who are passionate about healthy living for families, and encouraging each other as women. You can browse recipes here. Thanks for including me, Shrinking Kitchen!

PS - Thank you to all of you for being so patient and understanding of me on my blogging journey! You may notice that I'm much less active when Tim is home. Thanks to you, I don't feel like I have to worry too much about this. I can't feel good about this space, or in the friendships formed online, if I'm not giving them my full attention. I never want to give y'all anything but my utmost, so I appreciate your support as I give my family my all during Tim's days off. Love you!

Real Oilfield Wives Writing Gig

Real Oilfield Wives has hired me as a paid writer for their website! I will be writing for ROW twice a month, to start. This is seriously new territory for me, but I'm super excited to now be an official part of such an awesome community of women. :)

To those of you who visited, shared, commented, liked during my application process, thank you!

Click here for today's post on long-distance marriage.

Christmas Day

We had a lovely belated Christmas here at home, with Tim's mom. I love spending this time of year with family, remembering the Reason for the Season, eating good food (waffles!), finally having a good excuse to inhale my weight in chocolate, and enjoying the Colorado snow. 

Maile must've sensed mine and Tim's anticipation, because she was up at 5:50 on "Christmas" morning. We didn't mind one bit, we were so excited to see her open gifts.

I reused paper from last year, and everyone was assigned their own. White for Tim, red for Maile, and pink and green for me. Tim and I have had many, many discussions about what Christmas will be like for Maile, and although anticipation is probably one of the funnest things about Christmastime, we want to make sure it is the right kind of anticipation! The anticipation of the birth of our Lord and Savior! Or, as Maile calls Baby Jesus, "Bee-bee Juice."

We decided on a few, meaningful gifts for Maile -- the two biggest being a Radio Flyer Classic Tricycle (which I scored for half price on Zulily), and a Bigjigs Fairy Town Train Set (which I also bought on Zulily, for about 60% of the regular price) -- gifts that will last, that can be handed down, and that Maile will be able to enjoy for a couple of years, at least. We couldn't have asked for more when it came to her reactions. On first sight of her train set, she gasped with excitement and said, "Toot toot?!" as if to ask, "Is it real? Is it for me?" It. was. awesome.

I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of this new year! Surrounded by loved ones, and good food, too!

PS - If you're new here, Tim is a driller an an oil rig. Living life as a roughneck wife means improvisation -- and lots of it! Calendar rearranging is often involved. ;)

Real Oilfield Wives Feature

Most of you probably aren't familiar with Real Oilfield Wives; I was fortunate enough to find this page on Facebook a few months ago, while I was cruising for a community page geared toward roughneck families. 

This week, I applied to be the newest member of the ROW writing team, and while the final decision hasn't yet been made, today, the wonderful ladies of Real Oilfield Wives are featuring a short piece I wrote for the site, as part of my application process.

It would mean the world to me if you'd visit my post ... it is an emotional little piece, one that I hope will help you learn a bit more about me and our family. You can find it here.

Enjoy your weekend, friends!

xo

Christmas, Part I

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays (okay, I love all holidays), and every year, when December the 25th comes, I find myself thinking, "Surely, my life can't get better than this?" Of course, with every year, it does get better.

This year, as with the last four years, Tim was away working for Christmas. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The week leading up to Christmas was hard for me -- With Maile understanding more of the Christmas season, it just isn't the same without her Dada home. On Christmas Eve, I felt pretty darn sorry for myself, but that night, I was determined to have a wonderful Christmas Day with Maile!

My friend Sara, whose boyfriend also had to work, came over to spend the day with me and Maile. In the morning, I had Maile open the gifts sent by my mom and dad ... her Marmee and Papa. For the rest of the day, we ate cookies, colored, and read storybooks. After Maile went to bed, Sara and I made apricot-smothered pork chops, and watched The Holiday and Horton Hears a Who. It wasn't a particularly extraordinary day, but it was a good day, full of friendship and warmth. 

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas, surrounded by your loved ones. I know this probably sounds cheesy, but I look at my life: my amazing provider of a husband, my baby girl, all that the Lord has blessed us with, and I think, "What could possibly fulfill me more than this? Certainly not material presents." My life is really something wonderful.

... beautiful handmade rocker, with her name burned and painted into it ...

... traditional gift of new pajamas (not pictured) ...

... books are the best presents of all -- especially Llama books ...

... I'm looking forward to sharing our "real" Christmas with you, early in the New Year!

With Maile, it's guaranteed to be cute.

A Roughneck Thanksgiving

Mr. M, prepping the bird. Or, the breast of the bird.

Some of the goodness that went into our turkey.

Homemade whipped cream is a Thanksgiving necessity.

As is homemade pie.

But we looove our King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. Nom nom nom.

This is how 90% of my photographs of Maile turn out.

Mr. M roasted a beautiful. Beautiful. And delicious.

"More." I'm pretty sure Maile wore out Miss Annie!

Maile just had to try on Silas' Jordans ... Girl's got swag. Ha! I just typed swag.

Sorry, no fancy table setting, here. There was a lot of improvisation involved. Paper plates, ancient dish towels, where babies were concerned. I know, the horror! But love, love, love is all you need.

It was simply the best being able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mr. M, even if it was a week early. When you're married to a driller, you learn to improvise. Make your own calendar. What matters isn't a date, it's being together.

We spent the day leisurely eating cinnamon rolls in our PJs, discovering that Mr. M is the Thanksgiving cook in our house (I made the pies. and the whipped cream. It's very important that you have homemade whipped cream.) ... enjoying our meal with a couple of friends, staying up late for snuggles and football and movies, devouring the aforementioned pies, and not eating breakfast on Friday. 

Yeah. We were that stuffed. 

And yes, I realize that all of those things have something to do with eating. We've got our priorities straight. ;)

PS - We really missed you, Mom, Dad, Molly, Emily, Clark, Michael, MomMom, Chris, and Brandy! Maybe next year will be the year!

Happy Almost 18 Months

Today is about you, sweet girl. Waking up to your Dada gone is always hard -- on both of us. It's up to me to keep us busy. To explain to you how hard your daddy works. To tell you that the reason he has to be gone so often is because he loves you more than life itself, and he wants great things for you. And maybe all that you understand now is that he's gone. But someday ... Someday, you'll understand the rest.

So, instead of hustling and bustling out-and-about, planning our Thanksgiving meal (which we had last Thursday, since Mr. M will be on hitch [working] on November 22), I'm home with Miss Maile, thinking on how I'm going to make her 18 month "birthday" special. A visit to our favorite cupcake spot might be the perfect half-birthday celebration!

How we celebrated our roughneck family Thanksgiving, coming this week!

In the meantime, here's the cutest little "I'm in trouble" face you ever did see. (Maile doesn't get in trouble very often, but when she does, this is The Face.)

My "Home Alone" Lifesavers

When Maile and I are coming up on the end of a two-week hitch (hitch is basically another word for shift -- the days when roughnecks are on their rig), I'll be honest ... sometimes we start to get sick of each other! Here are a few things that seem to work magic, holding us over until Dada gets home.

1. Gymboree Play & Music: Age appropriate classes, from 0-5 years. We still don't know many people in the Denver area in our "life stage" (thankfully, none of you have been witness to my monthly sob fest over this). Even though we haven't made any play date friends here, I mostly credit Gymboree with keeping Maile and me socialized. ::grin::
2. Prenatal yoga: But you're not pregnant ... Right you are, friend! But I have become a big fan of yoga since starting our marriage in hippie-dippie California, and I like this DVD. (I hate fitness DVDs. Hate. So the fact that I like this one is kind of a big deal, you see.) I do it for relaxation more than exercise, during Maile's morning nap, or after she's in bed. I love how I feel after I've done yoga, whether it's 15 minutes, or a full hour. Stretching does wonders for a frazzled mama's state of mind.
3. Oven mitts: Hopefully you have a toddler who is as entertained by the most random things ever ... like mine. Carrying a 14 month-old on your hip, trying to cook dinner in the oven? Who does that? Well, I try. Some days. And, whadya know, an oven mitt trying to eat Maile's face is hi-larious! Ours are old and pea green and grody, so you should get this cute, handmade Amy Butler mitt. Or a real puppet. Though I'm convinced Maile would be totally unimpressed by an actual toy.
4. Bananas: B-a-n-a-n-a-s. (You're totally singing Gwen Stefani now, aren't you? HA.) Kid loves 'em. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you probably shouldn't buy them online.
5. Dove Raspberry Dark Chocolate Swirl Squares: I have one, or three, when I feel like I've reached my limit. Morning. Afternoon. Evening. So. good.
6. Sweet Pea Creations Baby Wash: We recently discovered this small business at our local farmer's market. Out of our usual California Baby wash for Maile, we decided to try their homemade wash. It's made from 5 essential oils and ... that's it! No store-bought product I've come across can beat that. Plus, it's half the price for a few ounces more product. Maile loves it so much, she will rub it into her own tummy in the bath. I've started using it on my legs. Mr. M has started using it on his face. Soft and smooth, that's what your whole family will be! Try a bottle, and tell Jill I sent you!
7. Boppy Prenatal Total Body Pillow: Some days Mr. M is away, it feels like Maile and I live in bed. I resort to wearing Mr. M's old tees around the house. Maile just wants to snuggle and be read to and nurse. It's not so bad. But Baby Girl sleeps best with a warm body next to her. We ::gasp!:: still bed share, so Mr. M's time away is always an adjustment. Propping my preggo pillow on the other side of her at night seems to help her sleep as well as she can without Dada in bed.
8. Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Milkmaid Tea: I keep it stocked because it's magic. I'm still nursing, but even if you're not -- heck, even if you don't have kids -- fennel and fenugreek are used for a host of medicinal purposes, including digestive issues. I've been drinking it so long, I actually like the taste, but a dollop of local honey makes it extra relaxing. I'm not a doctor, but please don't drink this if you have a bun in the oven; it's for postpartum mums only.

Hope this list might help some of you mothers with men away, too. What are your home alone lifesavers? Do you have anything you'd like to share?

Tomorrow we are off to California, for the wedding of one of Mr. M's oldest friends. We have some super guest posts in store on the blog for the next few days ... They are coming from some truly awesome ladies, and I just know you'll love them.