For Keri

10 years ago I was: married with a 2 year old, and saying goodbye to my husband as he went off to war after 9/11.

5 years ago I was: 4 months pregnant, grieving my grandpas death and my parents failed marriage. (whew-- doom and gloom!)

1 year ago I was: living in Kansas, and getting ready to move to VA with my family. :)

5 snacks that I enjoy: chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, & chocolate. okay specifically, reeses peanut butter cups, the minature kind. german candy bars. OMG they are so flippin good! chocolate milk is my fav beverage, is that a snack? it is for me! fudge, and chocolate cake.

5 songs I know all the words to: amazing grace, silent night-i sing this year round, ask my kids, baby got back. LOL- no i dont. i just thought it would be funny after silent night! uhm, wow. i dont really know alot of songs by heart. thank you for this survey. now i know yet another fault i have! LOL!

5 things I would do with a million dollars: easy. i would buy my mom a home. 1st. and give her a ton of money to live on. oh and then i would buy me a home right next to hers. HA! i would put some in savings for the kids college funds, i would buy ed the truck he has always wanted, and i would give a substancial amount to charity. you hear that God?! go ahead and bless me! hehehe.

5 favorite TV shows: real housewives of atlanta, beverly hills, dc, new york, and jersey. that one was easy. :)

5 things that I'm thankful for: my salvation, and eds and austins. the other 2 are too young yet. thats one. it counts as one. just so u know. cause i got more! good health for me and my family. that also counts as one. thankful that i dont have to work, that i can stay home with my kids. i guess fiancial security is the word im looking for. not that we are rich by any means, but we are doing okay. we aint starving. (clearly) :)
and number five would be this crazy chance we get at living in a foriegn land. it isnt always easy, but we are so incredibly blessed to experience it.

2 names I go by: mom, mama, mommy, babe, honey, cutie pie, kris, krissy, kristina, kristy, oh 2. my bad.

2 parts of your heritage: i only know one. cherokee indian. unless the german came from keris dads side, in that case German too. :)

2 things that scare me: heights. planes.

2 of my every-day essentials: q-tips, shampoo, deoderant, toothpaste. sorry. come on- it says essentials!!! (conditioner too)

2 things I'm wearing right now: HA im only wearing two things! my shirt, and my underpants! LOL!

2 of my favorite bands/musical artists (at the moment): at the moment i have 1 radio station, and its in german. so nothing right now!!!!

2 things I want in a relationship (other than real love): kindness, determination to succeed.

2 truths: God and LOVE. and i dont mean romantic love, i mean loving everyone and everything around you. even ur enemies. it is the Truth. its the right way. the only way to aquire true inner peace.

2 physical things that appeal to me in the opposite sex: their head and body. HA! okay, i like good clean teeth, blue eyes, and big hands. and i like em tall.

2 of my favorite hobbies: READING hands down. and reality tv. ugh. its a terrible addiction.

2 things I want really badly: i want to die before my children, and i want constant contentment and inner peace.

2 places I want to go on vacation: israel, australia

2 ways that I am stereotypically a girl: im SO moody. i want to be pretty.

2 things I normally wouldn't admit: i worry constantly about my kids. im addicted to sugar.

2 things I am thinking about right now: my addiction to sugar, (thanks) LOL, and how blessed i am in my friendships lately.

2 stores I shop at: HA! here or in america? okay lately. the flippin grocery store-and the PX, where everyone speaks english! in the states, it would be the mall, in anywhere, usa, and walmart.

2 people I haven't talked to in awhile: keri n erin. :( the best cousins in the whole world. i miss and love you desperately!

Africa.

We took Ed to the airport this morning. i know its just a week. the kids know its just a week. the memories we have are vicious though. it was hard to not think of all the times i have taken him, and he did his rounds of kissing through the van. first kay, while she wept, then brayden, still clueless and half asleep. then austin, blinking back tears. and then he was gone. and we were alone. with our fears. and our regrets.
on a cold dark night. so many times i have felt this feeling. i admit it. i cried on the way home. cried for all of those times. cried that i was crying! and again, silently. so the kids would not know. so they wouldnt hear. so they wouldnt be afraid.
what a sick feeling. and again they all crawled in the bed with me when we got home. our usual. this time though i stopped crying long before we got home. i slept soundly, and i didnt wake with a start. remembering i had just taken my husband and left him, maybe to his death.
i know its only a week. i know these weeks will be frequent.
i know it isnt Iraq or Afghanistan.
i know he will be "safe."
i know so many women who sleep alone. who worry. who wonder. if they will ever see their husband again.
if they will tell their kids he lives, or dies.
i try to think of them when i have these moments of complete self pity.
the silence is deafening. he is so much a part of our everyday now..that even a week is too long.
tomorrow is a new day, and one day closer to him being home again. :)

xo,
Kris

austria

We went to Austria!!!! Salzburg, Austria, Berghausen, Germany and Munick for new years.


what a treat! and now i have the travel bug. im already planning my next trip!!!! cannot wait to go to france on Ed's birthday. 2-21. we have a vacation jar and we fill it daily with money here and there. all laundry money goes into travel jar, unless it came from my jeans. shhh. dont tell Ed.
best parts of austria?
church bells that ring through the entire city....you could just waltz to them, they are so beautiful....
the architecture. the homes are brillaint colors, stacked together like legos on cobblestone roads...
the handholding and kissing at every corner...there is so much PDA here..
the fireworks...the american music...and the people that sing it with accents.
the countryside with unusual and beautiful trees....
the snow topped terra cotta roofs, and little children with red cheeks and pink noses.
the crowds of people that never seem to mind each other.
the italians, all dressed up in their sunday best...holding arms of the same sex family member with them...
the smiling, the laughter.
the way they dance, just jumping up and down...
the shopping, the selling, the bargaining...
the food...
the hospitality in our hotels..
breakfast.
bitter coffee, and fizzy cola. my kids dont even know what coke is anymore. its just cola.
the driving, with ed at the wheel...stopping to get our passports stamped when we didnt even have too...
sour faces with their arms behind their backs, hands clasped, walking slumped over with a pipe hanging from their mouth.
the fur coats...
(i need one)
the castles...the grey skies and icicles...
the smells of gluwein, and brats on every corner.
the feeling of just us again...where no one knows our names...a family. my family. alone in the world. happily. :)