Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Easter cuteness

It's late again, but I wanted to share some Easter photos with you.

 photo DSC_0399_zpsf1a8818e.jpg

This is isn't too bad, considering I had to do a self-timer and grab a runaway Winnie.

See that weird blueish gray cast on my hair? You do? Yeah. That's not due to bad lighting. Those are my grays. I earned one for every day Kevin was gone. Per girl. Per hour. Plus a few bonus ones here and there.

Last year's Easter pictures turned out so cute of the two girls that I tried to recreate the cuteness. It wasn't exactly the same, but I did get some funny expressions from Winnie.

 photo DSC_0405_zps16cddb70.jpg

 photo DSC_0403_zpsfa7c539a.jpg

 photo DSC_0424_zps7d7e3ba5.jpg

Eden was not feeling any genuine happiness so her smiles all look fake and cheesy, but that's okay. She was a better picture taker than Winnie was.

 photo DSC_0446_zpsbc6b11f1.jpg

 photo DSC_0457_zps1ef90376.jpg

At least my subjects are fun to look at. :)

 photo DSC_0473_zpsef9eff3c.jpg

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

One photo...to be followed by more

I just spent 3 hours editing photos from the past month. I have concluded that I take way too many photos. I only end up keeping maybe 15% of the original amount that I took. Then the editing sucks me in...

Anyway, I'm done editing, but I'm too exhausted to do a long blog post with a bunch of photos tonight (plus there is rumbling thunder and severe weather reports running in the background -- night number two of this, no less). So you only get one photo. But it's cute.

 photo DSC_0415_zps34bc17b4.jpg

Ta da. This was a shot from Easter. They were making some goofy faces.

Off to bed I go. Pray that we are safe tonight from all the crazy weather we've been having. Last night at 1:30 we had to go "thunderstorm camping" (that's what I told Eden and Winnie so they wouldn't be scared) in my closet till 3:00 till the tornado sirens went off. The four of us (Sparty was in there, too) hung out and snuggled on the floor while I texted my neighbors back forth and watched the radar on my phone. Fun stuff, lemme tell ya.

But we're safe. That's what matters.

Anyway, toodles till next time. (P.S. 6 more days till Kevin comes home!!)

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Dates

Another update about our future plans.

Kevin will get home from Saudi on May 5 in the afternoon.

The movers will come pack us up on May 6 or 7 (still waiting confirmation).

A few days later we will head out to Myrtle Beach. 

It'll be crazy, but hopefully a fun-ish kind of crazy.

On another note, the girls and I just got back from a week in Destin, Florida. I took a few cute pictures that I'll share. Now I just have to prep for a garage sale this coming Saturday and then a move in 10 days. No stress (ha). 

And another note, I fiiiiinnnnnaaaaallllllly gave in and joined Facebook socially. I deactivated my Montgomery Doula account since that will obviously no longer apply to me. I figure that if we are moving to Saudi Arabia (still haven't heard anything yet), I may as well utilize Facebook as a tool to stay connected to people. So I'm on there as Cameron Lawracy. If you see a photo of camels, that's me.

Okay, off to bed. Driving with children for several hours in the car always exhausts me. 

Toodles!

P.S. To answer your questions, yes, Jen, we can have visitors to Saudi Arabia. It's hard to get a visa there, but not impossible. And Charli, we will DEFINITELY be hooking up with you guys when we are near Shaw. And yes, Jess, Kevin will thankfully be home before we have to leave for Saudi. Moving by myself = me running away screaming. :)

Friday, April 18, 2014

The big question...

...Where are we moving?

And the answer is...

...We still don't know long-term, but short term we do have an answer. It's probably not what you're expecting.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Here's the shortened version why:

Kevin is separating from the Air Force, for several reasons, but mainly because with all the reductions in force and the potential for our retirement to go out the window if the RIF affects him.

He is applying for jobs (doing the same things he did in the Air Force) with an oil company called ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia in the same city he lives in now.

We have renters moving into our house on May 16, so we must vacate before then so we will be staying at my mom's beach house in North Myrtle Beach for...well, that's the thing. We don't know for how long.

The job application process with this company typically takes 4-6 months. We started counting the beginning of March. So, in theory, we will know something around the end of June. Or maybe August. Or maybe before that. Or maybe after. Who knows? We don't.

So we will be living in limbo for this summer, praying our hearts out to God to give us faith and patience to find out what is next in our lives.

There are more details to this story, but those are the main ones. And to answer the questions that most people seem to ask:

-- No, we do not feel unsafe in Saudi Arabia. No, we are not taking our tiny female children to a place where they will be suppressed and grow up in slavery. No, there is no more terrorism over there than there is here in the U.S.

-- No, Kevin does not hate the Air Force. The AF has been very good to us. We are just ready for a little more job security in light of all the RIFs.

-- Yes, I support Kevin in doing this. It was my idea (sort of).

-- Yes, we love Saudi Arabia that much.

-- Yes, we will miss our families and friends.

-- Yes, the pay will be good if he gets the job.

-- Yes, the flight to S.A. is long.

-- Kevin will get paid from the AF till September so we will have definite income  and insurance till then.

-- Yes, we have, like, 3 back-up plans in case this whole S.A. thing doesn't work out. But truthfully, yes, we will be perturbed about leaving the AF if S.A. doesn't work out.

-- No, I'm not scared. I have faith that God will take care of us, as long as we make responsible decisions about our financial security and have patience in this whole process.

-- And finally, yes, yes, YES, I PROMISE to let everyone know what happens as soon as we know something definite. When that will be, who knows....

-- And finally, finally, because for some reason this question seems get asked along with everything else, yes, we are planning on having more children. I don't know how many. No, I'm not pregnant.

And P.S. Yes, this means I will probably succumb to using Facebook more if we do indeed move there. Evil, evil Facebook.

If there's a crucial question you just must know the answer to, by all means ask it. I will be happy to answer it with as much info as I can. Though, probably my answer will involve some form of "I don't know. I hope so."