i'm still here

This is basically just me saying that no, in fact, I have not died. I know I've been awful lately. I had so much fun to share and just got sooooo busy with everything and haven't had the time (yes I know that sounds extremely lame). All I can say, is that if you have received a blog comment from me in the last week, you should consider yourself very special. I have been canning and freezing and just all around getting ready for fall/winter. Also prepping for another garage sale (hoping to make even more than last time...which I am aware is asking a lot). I have another day of canning spaghetti sauce going on tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a bit easier since Josh will be here to help me.

I did also want to say a little bit about how awesome Josh and I have been doing these last few weeks. Are there things that I would change? sure. But when you get down to it, we are a good match. We complement each other. I am feeling really close to him lately and for some reason feeling like we have (finally) reached a point where we are in sync. I think we have spent the last 7 1/2 (yes 7 1/2!) years kind of fighting over the little shit because we didn't really know how to deal with all of the big shit. So instead of really talking about it, we ended up fighting over who didn't rinse out their dish or who fell asleep during the movie. Stupid shit! I know it sounds weird, but we are finally just learning to accept each others faults and knowing that we can't change them. When we went to our "pre-marital counseling" with the pastor before we got married (hence the name) he asked us a question that I have been thinking about lately. He said "What is it that bothers you about each other?" We gave our answers and he said "Are these things you can live with forever? Because they are never going to change. People don't change and people aren't perfect. You need to be able to clean up after each other and listen to each others mundane stories and visit each others families and all of that, and still want to wake up and do it again every day of the rest of your lives because that person is worth it to you. No two people are perfect for each other. The best we can do is to try to bring out the best in each other and to complement each other in the good AND bad times." We do that. 5 years ago we went through hell. A hell I wouldn't wish on my enemy and I remember fighting with him one day about the sandwich he brought me to the NICU when the real fight was about the fact that Maria needed surgery the next morning and I didn't know how to say "I'm afraid she's not going to make it". I didn't know how to communicate with him those feelings that were so important, so we fought about Arby's. I wish that we were as good together then as we are now. We would have made life a lot easier on each other. As much as I appreciated the silence at that time, there was so much that needed to be said and never was. We had been married for less than a month. We were young and we were SCARED. I wish I knew then what I know now. What I know now is that there is no amount of hell Josh will not go through with me. He will not leave me when things get tough. It is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and it is amazing. He is who I will wake up next to when I am 90 and I love knowing that.

Camping cont.

OK, so I have been an extremely bad blogger for the last few weeks. Just the normal craziness+my inability to figure out a new way to upload my pics since my freebie photoshop thing is up+I'm too cheap/poor to purchase a new photo software. So I am back and if I do say so myself, better than ever. :D Anyway, I have tons of pics and stories to tell, so hold on to your seats, it's gonna be a fun few posts. I'm going to try to stick to one topic per day, but I'm not promising anything.

First things first. Camping. We went to West Branch Campground in Ravenna. It was nice because it was only about 45 mins away and it was a really nice campground. The sites are mostly really nice. A bunch of them, though were totally wooded so there was NO grass. My parents had the misfortune of having one of these sites, which was not much fun esp after the 12 hrs straight of rain we got the second night. But, to avoid this situation in the future, Josh and I drove around the campground before we left and marked on the map, which ones would be nice for next time.

Our tent was really nice and well worth the $150. We didn't waterproof it, but it didn't need it. After the aforementioned rain, we had only 1 teeny, tiny leak that caused no problems at all. It was also very roomy because it was a "cabin" style instead of the normal "dome".

This was where Josh and I slept and then Jack was in the Pack n Play. Our luggage and other gear is at the bottom of the pic.

Then the girls were in the other bed and our food and kitchen stuff was in the 3-drawer container and the black tote.


The girls brought bubbles, chalk, bikes, their balls and Barbies to keep them occupied

And they spent lots of time at the playground.

And of course the highlight was going to the beach :D This is my sister Erin with Jackson in his little "cabana" (which was awesome and also well worth the money, btw).

Sophia was not really sure about the water at first. But after an hour or two she was walking waist-deep in it.

Maria just loved the water. My sister Melanie took her out and was holding her in the deeper water and she was having a GREAT time. She is still talking about it today.

We did end up leaving a little bit early. We were paid up until Tuesday at 1:00p but we left on Monday at 8:00p. I think everyone was ready. We had all had our fun and were ready to go. It actually worked out perfectly though.

camping is not for the weak

I will definitely say that camping is not for everyone. I once heard a woman we know say that her idea of camping is the Holiday Inn. And I would say that for those who feel that way....STAY AT THE HOLIDAY INN. LOL. It is a lot of hard work and it isn't fun every minute. But if you know what you are doing and you are able to work hard and still find joy in it, it's definitely worth the trouble.

We had a day where the kids did nothing but cry and we had 12 hrs of constant rain (thankfully it was over-night), but we still had fun. Maria FINALLY peddled her bike by herself. Both of the girls went in chest-high into the water and LOVED it. (which for some reason they never do at their Grandma's pool). They built sandcastles and played at the playground. Aunt Val taught the girls some Volleyball. Aunt Erin and Aunt Mel walked Jackson all over in his stroller. We had hobo pies and smores, and we melted styrofoam plates with steaks. I actually managed to get Josh to spend an hour with me playing cards and I read half of a book (Lord only knows when I will have the time to read the other half though lol). The tent didn't leak amidst all the rain...and MUD underneath. Josh did a little fishing (and a little "non-fishing" with the girls lol) By the end of the trip Josh actually said "I don't want to leave, I'm having too much fun." In the weeks leading up to the trip he was quite a fan of the phrase "this is gonna suck". So I was really surprised he loved it so much and was bugging me all the way home about when we were going to go again. I call that a success! I swear I have lots of pics, I just can't seem to get them uploaded onto my computer b/c my free 2 yrs of photoshop is up. So you will have to be patient with me.