The Gift of Hospitality

So this week I am going to focus on some dear friends of ours, whom we miss dearly, but even that is so broad because we have many friends we wish could be closer to us! I will never forget Mikayla and Jason's wonderful hospitality towards us as we prepared to move from our East Coast home, to Guam.

We had met Mikayla and Jason in our young adult couple's Sunday school class at church. It was around September 2007 when we first got back to the East coast. I had spent the time Jon was in Cuba, living with my mom across the country, but it was nice to be back to the first place we had really had to establish our home as an independent couple. I admit while I loved being home and all the familiar things where I grew up, the business and wide range of city life had grown on me. I enjoyed being in a 'mega church', which was a huge change from my small town church of maybe 100 attenders on a very good day.
I don't remember exactly the how fast it all happened, but we clicked. We had finally found friends we felt comfortable with, that were at a similar point in life. We enjoyed having Mikayla and Jason over for dinner, and we spent time at their place, or out to eat as well. In fact, they introduced us to the Wii. It was New Year's Eve, we went over to their house for dinner and ended up staying until 1 am (I don't remember if that was actually the plan). For hours we played Wii Tennis, Bowling and Boxing. I felt like I was in youth group again, at one of our regular lock-ins! I had never had so much fun on New Year's Eve before! Natalie behaved quite well, even into the lateness of the night.
Fast forward to February, Mikayla was quickly approaching the due date of their first child. We had invited them over for dinner one night, and Mikayla was complaining of back pain. Well the next morning I got a call from Jason asking what was in that dinner because Mikayla was in labor!! They asked us if we could bring our camera because they didn't have theirs, you see Mikayla had been going to her morning OB appointment and the doctor was concerned about the baby's heartbeat, so she was sent to the hospital right from the clinic. So Jon stayed home with Natalie, as I went up to the hospital. Jason's sister was supposed to be there for the birth, another person to help Mikayla and the baby, but since baby Hannah arrived a few weeks early, his sister hadn't yet flown in yet (I think she was coming within a few days). I was only too happy to help when I got the the hospital, and whether it was from so much pain, Mikayla just didn't care, or because she really did want another woman there, she let me stay to help however I could. I considered it an honor. And I guess it was a help, because I was able to take pictures of there first moments as a family together! I wish someone had been at the births of my children to snap some early photos, but it just wasn't a priority for me or my husband to be taking pictures at the time!

About 4-5 months later, as we prepared for our move to Guam, leaving Mikayla, Hannah, and Jason, they were kind enough to let us stay with them. When it comes to overseas moves with the military it can take up to 2 months for our household goods to make the long journey to us, so we wanted to send it as soon as we could. What better time then right before I would be gone myself, with Natalie (2 1/2 at the time) to visit my mom for her wedding for 3 weeks the month before our overseas journey truly began. And when I returned home our apartment lease was ended, our stuff was gone, and Natalie and I stayed with Mikayla and Jason in their brand new house (which they were remodeling at the time!). Jon stayed with another friend, Eric, from his from work (who also had a young baby born the same month as Hannah), and who lived much closer to work, and he came over during the day to help with Natalie and Hannah when he wasn't babysitting Ava as a favor to Eric. Of course, I was in my 1st trimester of pregnancy with Zachary, which meant I was often nauseous, but as much as I could during the days while Mikayla was at work, and Jason was working on the remodel I played with Hannah and Natalie. It was actually a lot of fun, though it was cramped, during these few weeks. There was no one I would've rather spent so much time with before we left Virginia.
During our few weeks there we even went all together to Busch Gardens for the 4th of July. It was Natalie's first time at an amusement park and boy did she love the rides! And would you know, of all the years we spent in Virginia, so near to Busch Gardens which we could get one free pass to each year (military special), and both time we went I was in my first trimester of pregnancy!! The other time was when my mom and sister had visited us and I was 12 weeks pregnant with Natalie, and though I begged the doctor, they said I should NOT go on ANY rides at all! With my fear of miscarrying again, I did not dare to question that as much as I wanted too, and it was the same way the second time around. So though I enjoyed the shops and shows and even fireworks Busch Gardens had to offer, the closest I got to any ride was the train that ran through the park to shuttle guests from one 'country' to another.

Another fun story from while we stayed at Mikayla and Jason's house was first discovering Natalie had inherited my fear of bugs. While I am really only particularly scared of spiders and any bees or wasps, Natalie couldn't tell the difference at this age. One day when I sent her to the room we were staying in because she was in trouble, almost as soon as the door closed I heard the most ear piercing scream. When I went inside, Natalie was climbing from her small toddler size air mattress onto the taller queen size one, as fast as she could move. When I asked her what was wrong, in her panic she cried "There's a bug!!!" And I looked to see a housefly on her pillow! I couldn't stop laughing as I tried (and still try today) to convince her that flies and ants won't hurt her!

This is a post to record my Young Adult years at

Little Moments of Life On Base

Around the age of 6, my mother had recently had a new baby girl (this made me the oldest of 3), and my grandfather and cousin had passed away, it was quite a year. But I still remember some little moments of everyday life surrounding those giant ones.
My stepfather was in the Navy on submarines, so we had the privilege, I always thought, of living in a house on base. It was situated on a col-de-sac, which was neat because it gave me plenty of space to ride my bike. That was the year I learned to ride a 2 wheeler, and boy did I! Growing up, we rarely lived in communities I was able to do this in very much- busy, crowded apartment complexes, or my Grandma's house which is out in the boonies surrounded by trees and a road with many steep hills. But on base, I enjoyed many fun pastimes that year.
Once we got invited to a friend's pool party. I remember being in awe that that had a pool in their very own back yard! It was above ground, and I just remember thinking it was huge!! To a six year old, it was very deep and plenty of space to swim and play. In the future when I saw above ground pools, I always thought they were lame and not deep enough, but this one stands out in my memory as being the biggest one I have ever seen (because I was so little at the time!). I even imagined what it would be like if we bent one of the sides over, like you could in the little kid pools, and the water flooded out. I pictured it being so much, it would wash away the cars from the street!
Then there was my own backyard, or it may have been our neighbors. I just remember that as it had a decline into the trees at the back, there was a little fenced in area, and steps cut right into the hillside. No wood, or stones, just the dirt, like someone took a shove at a perfect 90 degree angle to make steps up into the yard in the steep grassy hill. That part must have been on our neighbor's side, because I remember trying to get my stepfather to do it in our yard but he wouldn't.
Another brief glimpse from my life as a submariner's step-daughter, was going down to meet the submarine when it pulled in after a 3 or 6 month departure. One time particularly, my mom dressed me in this very patriotic dress, with red and white stripes along the bodice and a puffy skirt of blue with white stars. We got on a bus that took us into the restricted area where the submarines docked, though I don't even remember seeing my stepfather get off, just being on the bus in a dress I actually really liked that was perfect for the occasion.
I also remember listening to a lot of Ace of Base in my grandma's old white Subaru as she drove us everywhere. She lived with us here, as well as almost anywhere else we went, and she took care of me and my sisters.

This is the 3rd in a series of 12 posts I am doing to record my youth for my children and grandchildren at

What's Up?

Well, that week seems like it was closer to a month long! As I sit down hoping to add a new Mommy's Piggy Tales for this week I am struggling to think of anything since I have been out of writing and remembering mode for 'so long'! Don't get me wrong, I truly love writing, but it was nice to not worry about it for a week, not wonder what to write about next. And honestly I don't think I could've kept going as last week wore on even if I wasn't having some technical issues, because my cold really bore down hard on me. Now though I am feeling physically better with only a lingering cough as a reminder, though this week has brought new challenges as my husband had to go off island for a week, and this is the first time since Zachary was 3 months old that we have had any time apart, though luckily by the time I even begin to adjust to being the only adult in the house, my Jon will be back, and soon we will be off to my sister's wedding!
I am so excited for our trip home which has all ended up coming together perfectly (despite much stress early on). Our whole family is in the wedding, my daugther is a flower girl, my son is a ring bearer, my husband is a groomsman, and I am a bridesmaid! And as of yesterday, I guess I will be singing in the wedding as well. I am honored she would ask me, but also quite nervous. I haven't sung on stage by myself in about 3 years. At least in my case, for a while I had built up to not being so nervous about it when I was regularly or occassionally singing at church for solos, but over such a time period having NOT done it, the butterflies are bunching up in my stomach when I think about it! Luckily the song is familiar, I just hope I do it some justice- From This Moment On, by Shania Twain, one of my sister's favorite singers and one I enjoyed when I was younger though I haven't listened to her very much in recent years.
Now that you are formally updated, and my new computer power cord is plugged in and ready to keep my laptop from dying down, on to my next post! Thanks for understanding my absence!

Technical Issues

I am experiencing some technical issues with my computer, so I may not be on for a week or so! I promise to read all the posts of my Mommy's Piggy Tails group when I get back up and running! I haven't forgotten you!!

Who Wants to Marry Me This Time?

I am honestly not sure when exactly this was, but I do remember I went to a school of some sort- whether is was preschool or grade school is sorta jumbled up in my memory.
I do remember that my mother and stepfather were managers of an apartment complex and while they lived in an apartment close the the front of the complex, beside the office, I actually lived with my grandma in a small two bedroom unit towards the back. It was just her and I, as my sisters (I think this was before my youngest sibling was born) lived with my mom.
I remember coming home from school and watching Care Bears in my Grandma's living room with my sister Carolyn. And sometimes if we were really good, we would get to have some fruit snacks, something my mom never kept in her own home.
And one of the good things about living in an apartment complex is having friends who live right outside your very own door! There were two little boys, brothers, who lived just across a small courtyard type area. And as any little girl, my favorite game was pretending to get married! In fact I had my first kiss (just a little peck on the lips- but that was a big deal to a very young girl!) with the older of the brothers. Though in fact, they would argue over who got to play the groom, and boy did that make me feel good!! Probably the only time in my whole life I had boys fighting over me!!

This is my 2nd post in a 12 week series I am doing to record my youth for my children at
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WFMW: Travelling with Necklaces

I am very excited to share that very soon we will be making our nearly 16 hour trip home for a much needed visit with my family and friends! Let me clarify, I am excited to be at home for a while, not quite so excited for the travel itself with 2 young children! (Pray for us as we take the kids on some long international flights back to the states- my big boy Zachary is going as an infant in lap which should be interesting!)
But it had me thinking, how am I going to get my jewelry there without all my necklaces turning into one big tangled blob! That's when inspiration struck! I don't see how I didn't think of it sooner... snack size Ziploc baggies!!
After reading a post by ohamanda, and hearing her own tips for using large Ziploc bags for the children's outfits (tip #7), or to keep delicates separated from everything else neatly, I thought why not use the teeny tiny ones for my necklaces! Now I haven't done this yet, so I don't know how well they will stay untangled from themselves, but at least if you ask me, it is a lot easier to untangle one necklace from itself then from a wad of 10 others!!

I have no doubt this will work for me! Do you have any travelling tips or tricks you would like to pass on to me? I would appreciate any helpful suggestions, particularly for flying with young ones!

This is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Contact Me!

Well, I have heard many other bloggers share their own disappointments when they find they are unsure of how to get ahold of a fellow blogger who doesn't have any contact info on their blog. Well I don't know if that is me or not, but I am guilty either way! At least until now!

I have added a new "About Me" page, and at the bottom is my new email address! So please feel free to email me directly with any questions or comments, I would love to hear from my readers!!

My new email address is crystalizedreflections@yahoo.com. I can't wait to hear from you!