I go into all of this because as the upcoming election looms ever near, I find my desire for truth (or in many cases just a possible differing viewpoint), causing me to comment even when it is uncomfortable to do so.  I don’t claim to always be right.  But I do know that when something is clearly unscriptural, and my beliefs are lining up with God’s word, that I’m clear.  Topics such as Christ and issues such as abortion are pretty clear to me.  Politics as a whole, however, are a gray, mushy, miserable area to me that people respond to much like a lion crouches waiting to pounce on its prey.  And I don’t presume to think I’m always right, or even often right, on many of my political stances, particularly when it comes to the economy, foreign policy, and so forth.  Therefore, I have been trying to avoid commenting on political status updates overall.

I failed in my resolve to do this last night and actually made a non-instigative (I thought), friendly comment agreeing that people can’t have it both ways (the context was that conservatives cannot ignore a mistake of a conservative president and then condemn a liberal president for the same mistake).  I then erred by giving an example of this in reverse, but in regard to giving credit to one when it is due another).  And then it happened.  Sarcastic responses, links “proving” me wrong, and innuendo that I am uninformed and not very well educated.  Apparently, not agreeing with some of these people means that I must be an idiot who is just politicking and not aware of the real issues (to me, at least, there was that undertone to some of the comments).  Why, oh why, does disagreement so often lead to judging one another as individuals?

I’m using this post to vent, I know.  I truly don’t mind honest, respectful debate, but I resent the tone that many take and I did have to try my hardest not to engage in a similar response.  I often choose to avoid debate because of the tone of the comments, not because I am uninformed and not able to back up my comment.  I mentioned above how much I dislike conflict, but I probably should have clarified that it is the nasty, mean-spirited, or presumptive kinds of conflict I cannot stand.  I can’t see the benefit of trying to engage with someone in a discussion when that is how they present themselves.

So…where does that leave me?  I suppose that when it comes most political issues, I am going to abstain from commenting because it just isn’t worth it all that often.  When it comes to my hot-button, passionate issues, such as the unborn, I am likely to share what I know to be true and will do my best to do it in a loving, respectful way.  Let’s hope so, right?  Otherwise you are apt to see more posts with me venting!  :)

1) Speaking of paper, I have noticed how much easier it is for me to write online than actually picking up a pen or pencil.  And I really don’t like that I seem to have succumbed to our technologically driven culture so much that my hand actually seems to cramp if I write too long of a letter.  Each year I write a letter to my kids around their birthdays to share special things that happened that year and special things I love about them (during their first year I write one for each month).  I’ve noticed in doing this that I’ve lost something of my ability to write like this over the years, and I absolutely love handwritten letters.  Am I the only one who has this problem?  I really hope not.

2)  I am so thankful that God brought me together with a man who not only brings me flowers “just because”, but also brings home a bouquet for our 3 year old daughter.  My husband is amazing.

3)  Being a married woman, I am not used to men flirting with me, so when I was at the grocery store last week and one of the store employees that often is stocking near the milk (an area I visit frequently) said something rather flirtatious (I think) to me, I was stunned.  And uncomfortable.  Then I started to worry it may happen again and so I’ve been trying to figure out how to respond… maybe something along the lines of “My husband often says that too”?….I almost always have my two kids with me so it is extra surprising.  Needless to say I quickly veered down a different aisle today when I saw him in the dairy section.   I’ve heard others talk about men flirting with them at the grocery store…is this a common occurrence?

4)  I have talked about my love of Pandora.  Yesterday, in the midst of some country and contemporary Christian, the song Summer Lovin’ came on from Grease.  Not sure how it got mixed into that rotation, but it made me smile.

5) I still need to write a post on Asher’s birthday but am waiting to upload some pictures from our camera. Also, hoping to soon post on some DIY projects in our bedroom- I’m overdue on the door headboard we made!

The copy I received is in board book form, which I figured would be good for my 2-year-old son Asher, since his superhero name is Mr. Destructo at times.  It is about a mother polar bear tucking her little polar bear cub into bed one night, when the cub begins to ask the question all children at some point ask…Where did I come from?  Mother Bear proceeds to tell her little cub how she came from God.  She describes how happy she and Papa Bear were to find out they were pregnant and what it was like waiting for her to arrive.  Mama Bear also describes how happy they were when Little Cub was born.

At first glance, it is a sweet book, written much like a conversation between a little child and their parent at bedtime.  It is wonderfully illustrated by Laura Bryant and just the right length to keep a young child’s attention.  After reading it a few times through to my kids, I saw an additional value in the frequent reassurance of Mama Bear to Little Cub- reassurance that she is wanted, loved, and special.  The importance of this message for a child (and really, for all of us) cannot be underestimated or over-given.

*I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books program.

So now life is back to whatever the Adair normal is.  Which means I am diving back (well, some days it’s more like wading) into focusing on homeschooling, potty-training Asher, reading and the occasional blogging.  And pinterest.  Which leads to other favorite  things such as baking, cooking, and decorating/DIY projects around the house.  Eila’s birthday is coming up next month (hello almost 4-year-old!) and Will’s birthday is 10 days after Eila’s.  I will be starting a MOPS group in the next few months and will be holding my first Veggietales event as a Veggietales Ambassador (more on those things later).

Add to that a new debate raging (in my mind) over the timeline on trying for a third child and perhaps life isn’t going to slow back down now that I’m back at home full-time.         And I’m okay with that.

After the couples massage, Will and me (is it “me” or “I”? “I” sounds better but I think “me” is grammatically correct…) relaxed a bit and got ready to go to dinner.  As nice as the massage was, I actually wish that it hadn’t been included in our bed and breakfast package.  It made things rather difficult because it was scheduled right in the middle of the day and prevented us from going to Ocracoke as we had planned.  Although, let me be clear…if that is my biggest problem, I am very blessed indeed.  It’s not a complaint, more of just an observation.

Anyway, that night for dinner we planned to go to the South Beach Grille.  I had discovered this restaurant through Restaurant.com and after reading through many, many reviews, had scored a $25 gift certificate for $4.   I was a bit nervous because even after reading the reviews, I had no idea whether or not this place would be great or a bust.  Thankfully, my worries were all in vain (as they usually are) and the food was amazing.  Very fresh seafood, great service, and a lot of food for a reasonable price.  If we get the chance to go back to the OBX, we will definitely eat there again.

After dinner (and doing our nightly check-in by phone with the kids), we headed back to our B&B to enjoy our last evening in the OBX together.  We decided to grab some wine and sit outside by the fire pit.  But alas, the young couple who had used it the night before had used the last of the gas and we were out of luck.  It was then that we discovered the tree swing in the backyard, and I was ecstatic.  I love swings.  One of my favorite moments of our trip was Will pushing me on that swing behind that Victorian house with a canopy of stars overhead.  It was so much fun.

After playing some more in the backyard, we decided to head in and watch a movie before bed.  I was determined to get better sleep that night too because I knew I would be returning to the land of disrupted sleep soon enough.

Except…it wasn’t meant to be.  I can’t complain though, because the reason for not getting much sleep that night was that Will woke me around 6:00am (granted, I was kind of awake as that is near the time Asher often wakes) to ask if I wanted to go with him to watch the sun rise.  I quickly debated warm bed vs. sunrise, and the sunrise won, as we have never watched the sunrise together and with young children, the chance to do so doesn’t come along very often.  We dressed quickly and drove about a mile down the road to the waterfront.  We walked out on a pier and cuddled up under a blanket and enjoyed the beauty around us.

God gave us such an amazing world to experience.

Following the beautiful sunrise, we went back, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast.  We packed up our things, checked out of our room, and headed towards Jockey Ridge State Park, hoping to have a couple hours there before we had to head back towards home.  The sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge are incredible and are the tallest on the east coast.  Climbing them was actually an unexpected workout!

The view from the ground (Will took this of me at the top)…

And then, after the climb, we did this…

It was like playing in a giant sandbox, although unfortunately, sliding all the way down didn’t really work.  I discovered a way to do it in spurts, though.

Soon it was time to go home, and after grabbing a couple of sandwiches at a local sandwich shop, we were on our way.  It was hard to leave that “couple time” behind, but I was ready to see our kids again and step back into my mommy shoes.  We started our trip with a sunset and ended it with a sunrise, and while some may think the opposite would have been more fitting, I kind of like to think that it was the way it should be.  This trip we took to celebrate our 7th anniversary is only a blip in the time God has given us together- that last day didn’t mark the end of anything but the trip itself.  I’d rather look at that last day as the start to our next 7 years together.

And you know, we never did get to ride that tandem bike.  I guess we will have to go back!

The morning of our trip, we gathered up our bags and the kids’ bags and headed first to my parents house to drop the kids off.  For me, it was a bit of an emotional ordeal.  As much as I was looking forward to the alone time with my husband (and I really, REALLY was), it was very hard for me to leave the kids, even in my parents’ super capable hands.   Yes, there were tears as we drove away (mine, as I think the kids were fine), but thankfully a few miles down the road I was able to switch into wife mode and realize that We. Were. Alone. In. The. Van.

We made our way to the Outer Banks in good time and checked into our bed and breakfast a little after 3pm.  Once we had been given the tour and got settled into our bedroom, we enjoyed the wine and chocolates that was part of the Living Social deal and talked about what we wanted to do that evening.  We decided to grab something to eat and, um… go to a movie.  Yes, really.  We rarely go to movies (maybe once or twice a year) and when we do go, we often have to rush back to pick up the kids to get them home to bed or something along those lines.  I had purchased a deal through Living Social (noticing a theme here?) a while back for two tickets that I managed to get for $5.  We had both been wanting to see Courageous while it was in the theaters, and given that this was the Outer Banks in October, many things were closed for the season.  So…we first set out to find something to eat.  Did I mention that many things were closed for the season?  The place we had planned to eat was one of them- I had heard it had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network, and some good friends of ours had also recommended it, so I was a bit bummed that it was one of the places that was already closed for the season.

As we drove around looking for a plan B, we noticed that the sun was going down and the sky was becoming a beautiful blaze of color.  So we decided to stop food hunting and find a place to watch the sunset.  We had about 10 minutes before it was due to set and  drove along trying to find a quick access on the sound side.  Thankfully, we found one and pulled off on the side of the road just in time to get some gorgeous pictures that still don’t do the actual event justice.

Because of that sunset, I’m glad that the place we had planned on was closed.  I don’t think we would have experienced that amazing, spontaneous moment otherwise.

We ended up at Five Guys, which I found hilarious because it is certainly not a restaurant unique to the OBX.  But it was good and fast, which allowed us to get to our movie in time. Being that it was a Monday night in late October, there was only one other couple in the movie theater, which was nice actually.  Courageous is an absolutely incredible movie.  And for those of you that have seen it, you can probably understand why it is not an easy movie to watch when you have left your kids for a few nights in a row for the first time…it was like an emotional punch to the stomach…but in a good way.

We got back to our room and reveled in the fact that we not only had a full nights sleep ahead of us with no little feet padding into our room, but that we could actually watch a movie undisturbed!  Our kids had the last laugh, however, because apparently I am now programmed to wake up at 6:30am no matter what.

That first full day in the Outer Banks we had planned to take the ferry over to Ocracoke Island and get back in time for the couples massage that was also part of the deal we had purchased.  Now, normally I am a planner and check into every little detail.  But I was seriously trying to just go with it on this trip.  Which meant that I didn’t realize it would be an hours drive to get to the ferry, on top of the 40 minute ride to and from Ocracoke.  Oh well, we figured we would be a little limited on our time on the island but could make it work.  That was, until the ferry was late.  Over 30 minutes late.  And we couldn’t easily abort our plan because we were stuck in the sardine-packed ferry lanes of cars waiting to board once the ferry actually ARRIVED.  As we sat in our car contemplating what to do, we decided to call our B&B to see if we could push our massage back.  It wasn’t possible.  We didn’t want to forfeit the massage due to the cost, and knew at this point that there was no way we’d have enough time on Ocracoke if we proceeded with our original plan.

We waited for the ferry (which apparently had been having some technical difficulties) and then managed to extract our car and head back towards Manteo.  I was back in my mode of “not managing failed expectations well” despite my attempts at a laidback, go-with-it attitude, and was not pleasant to be with at the particular moment.  Thankfully, we shook it off, decided to pick up a pizza, and ate it on the beach.

We made it back just in time for our couples massage (okay, about 3 minutes late).  And yet again, because this entry is getting a bit long, I’ll stop now and share about the last half of our trip next time.  I know, I know, I’m leaving you in suspense. Ha.

And I may even post the picture of me sliding down one of Jockey Ridge’s 100 feet above sea level sand dunes.  It was definitely an experience.

Ever since we booked this deal, I’ve been torn between guilt, excitement, and a bit of anxiety. The guilt is due to our typical spending habits and the knowledge that this vacation is not part of our usual budget. We were blessed to be able to pay cash for this trip (or we wouldn’t have done it), but it does take away from the savings we had been building up. The excitement part should be obvious. And the anxiety part? Well, that is because of our almost 4-year-old and our almost 2-year-old. We have never left them overnight before (2 exceptions: the first was when I was giving birth to Asher- Eila stayed with my parents; the 2nd was when Will had to go out of town, Asher was not yet sleeping through the night, and my parents offered to have Eila spend the night so I would only have one child waking me mercilessly). In fact, we’ve never been gone from both of them together more than maybe 5-6 hours. I will miss them terribly and worry primarily about Asher since he is in full-blown “must be with mommy” phase and I’m not sure how he will do sleeping in a bed rather than a crib! But…

Now that we are less than a week out from our trip, I am getting very excited. The anxiety is easing because I do know that, overall, the kids will do great and my parents will do a great job with them. The guilt has eased, primarily because I know we are responsible with our finances but also because I believe that having time with just my husband is so incredibly important for our marriage. I am a homebody most of the time, but I definitely love opportunities to experience new things and new places, and who better to do that with than my best friend? I can’t wait to be able to have uninterrupted conversations, uninterrupted sleep, and the opportunity to go out and explore without having to accommodate naptimes!   The bed and breakfast we are staying at has gotten great reviews and the deal we purchased through Living Social included a couples massage, which will be especially welcome by my tension-filled shoulders (resulting from carrying a toddler around on clingy days).

The B&B also has a tandem bicycle couples can use.  I hope we get to take it around the Outer Banks.  My last experience with anything remotely similar was kayaking with Will pre-kids on an NC mountain lake.  Let’s just say I use that experience frequently as an analogy for marriage- when you both try to do it your own way, or to go your own way, you get nowhere.  We you finally start to work together towards a common goal, progress is made and it is filled with an amazing amount of fun and excitement!   Let’s just say that with the kayak, my stubborn self had a hard time doing it anything other than my way for a bit, and we made some beautiful circles in the middle of the lake…at least the bike won’t allow that some degree of stubbornness!  Although, I’m now thinking that it would be incredibly great to rent a kayak while we are there…

Anyway, I’ll make sure to take some pictures and share about it when we return.  I’m going to go back to knocking things off my pre-vacation to-do list!  

1)  trying to fill my mind with songs other than those designed for those age 5 and under.  And I thought the Sleep-Deprivation Ipod was bad…with a toddler and a preschooler, I am inundated with children’s music to the point that I found myself singing Barbara Manatee in the shower the other day.  Yes, Veggietales.  Still.  At least Veggietales is entertaining for adults too!

2) due to aforementioned constant of kiddie music, it took me a couple of weeks to realize that the reason I am no longer able to pick up my favorite radio stations in the van is because someone stole our antenna.  Seriously.  Unscrewed it and took off.  It is a conspiracy to prevent me from ever listening to adult music ever again.

3)  I. Despise. Fruit. Flies.  Like others that I have noted airing their frustrations via social media, I am currently waging an all-out war on these horrible creatures.  After trying the paper in a cup of vinegar and juice trick (fail), I now have cut-up apple slices in a slightly open ziploc bag.  We’ll see how this goes.  I need to kill them all before the maniacal laugh that exudes from my lips whenever I kill one scares my children.  What?  It is satisfying.

4)  I am within two weeks of THE VACATION.  The one that consists of just me and my husband.  By ourselves.  For two nights.  Our first true vacation since we have had children, and our first time leaving our children overnight.  We scheduled this trip after seeing a Living Social deal back in April and decided to do something entirely out of our characters at this point in our lives (read=due to living blessed but frugal lifestyles) and bought the deal. I am super excited about it (especially after getting the final confirmation today from the bed and breakfast we will be staying in), but am definitely feeling a bit anxious about leaving the kids.  They will be in great hands (yay Mom and Dad!) and I know my oldest will be fine, but it is the youngest I am unsure about.  Mainly in regard to sleeping somewhere besides his crib.  Oh, but to have this time just with Will.  It will be close to heaven.  No kids busting in our bedroom in the middle of the night with “I NEED WATER!”.  Not having to stop what we are doing to get back for naps.  I may end up slightly disoriented.  I do know, however, that I am going to miss them like crazy!

5) Castle is about to come on.  I hope our antenna still picks up the signal after Eila decided to experiment and make it look like modern art.  I’m off to find out!