Back to Life

The transition from vacation to real life was swift and we weren't all the way ready for it. All the girls were at home at the beginning of the week and then suddenly all the girls weren't here because Madison left for Utah and everyone else went back to school. Well, not everyone. Emily was sick so she spent most of the week sitting in the same spot on the couch alternating between napping and complaining about how sick she felt.

During that strange week between Christmas and the new year, I decided that I wasn't going to go grocery shopping. There was enough food in the house as long as we used some imagination with recipes. By Monday we were scraping the bottom of the barrel food wise and we really needed to buy some groceries. I didn't realize that everything would be closed on New Year's Day - even the stores on base. So we paid way too much for six eggs at a gas station and had waffles for dinner that night. Tuesday I was determined to find actual groceries.

This is what I found at the commissary. I have at least six different pictures like these. Yeah, not very much actual food. Either everyone else really, really needed food or the commissary is having supply problems. Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised because this is not the first time I've gone to the commissary and found empty shelves for no apparent reason. And yes, there are British grocery stores. We actually do most of our grocery shopping off base. But there are some things that just aren't the same off-base - pepper jack cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, bacon, chocolate chips, toilet paper. There's more, but it's kind of a long list. And just when I need a bunch of those things it looks like the night before a snowstorm or a hurricane at the commissary. We continued being creative with the food we had at home and for the most part, our meals were alright this week. I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can find cheese and peanut butter this time.

Last month I bought the pattern for the Hold it Bin and I've been dying to give it a try. Mark and Allison's upcoming wedding seemed like the perfect opportunity to do a little sewing. Thanks to Charissa's willingness to pick up sewing supplies for me I was able to make my sewing dreams come true! I'll quickly give my thoughts on the Hold it Bin - the pattern is really straightforward with fourteen different size options, lids, and handles making these things perfect for pretty much any room in the house. The actual sewing is simple and easy, but this pattern requires a lot of preparation before it's time to sew. I definitely spent more time getting ready to sew than I spent actually sewing. I do love the finished product and hope the happy couple does as well.  Their gift was mailed off on Thursday and on Friday we made a last minute decision that I'd actually be attending the wedding in Detroit later this month. I'm so excited to see Mark and Allison and to be there for John and Larisa on this important day. Jared is always supportive of crazy ideas like this and I'm blessed to have him by my side encouraging me to relax and be spontaneous more often. He balances my over-analytical nature really well. 

You know what's fantastic? Every place the Air Force has asked us to live has been within two hours of a temple! It's not like Utah, but it's still wonderful to be able to live close enough that we can head to the temple in the morning after the girls leave for school and be back home before their bus drops them off in the afternoon. For a brief period of time last year, Jared and I were temple workers at the London Temple. But then the temple realized that we have minor children living at home and women with kids can't be temple workers, even if they're self-sufficient teenaged children, so we were released. Not sure how they missed that information initially? It was still a great experience and a chance for me to learn more about the temple. This Saturday was our ward's youth temple day and I love that these girls had the chance to be there together. It was heartwarming to see how happy they all were as we were walking to the car at the end of the day. I hope they were able to feel just how powerful the spirit of the temple is and that feeling makes them want to keep going back.  

One thing we all look forward to on fast Sunday is the food we'll eat after we've broken our fast. I know it's stupid and that we should be looking forward to increased spiritual feelings and the strength and healing that comes from fasting. But it's hard not to think about food when you're not eating any food. I mentioned maybe making a pie for dessert and everybody was on board. It took until 8:30 tonight, but we made the pie happen and I've seriously never made such a beautiful pie in my life. I like to think that I've got some skills in the kitchen but making pies can be intimidating. Thanks to my favorite food blogger Mel, I'll no longer resist making pies because of my kitchen insecurities. 

I spent a lot of time this week trying to get back into my school week routine of family responsibilities and volunteer work. It was rough, but I managed to accomplish many of the things on my list. I sat down today and made a list of what I still need to get done before I leave for Sicily in a couple of days. It's safe to say that I'm going to be working nonstop to get it all finished. At least I found some time to cross a few of those items off the list today.  Anyone else have more tasks to complete than time in which to complete them? 

Despite the empty shelves at the commissary, Emily being sick all week, saying goodbye to Madison, and a monster to-do list, 2018 is off to a great start and it feels as if we're going to have a great year at the Moran household. We hope your first week of 2018 has been wonderful!