I'm BAAAACCCKKKK!!!
I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for another blog post from me....and I KNOW you've been faithfully checking in every day for the past 91 days, just to see if I have something awesome and witty to share with you.
(Yes I just pulled up my calendar and counted that out for you - 91).
Sadly, I've been disappointing you. But hey - life is busy over here! I can hardly make time to shower.
That's not a joke. I realized the other day it had been 3 DAYS. Gross, I know. You know you're jealous. My husband loves it. Not really. It's gross. New Years Resolution #1...Shower More.
Back to the point...91 days though - seriously? 91 DAYS?! Time has FLOWN by since I last posted in September. So many things have happened in our lives that I don't know where to begin.
Honestly - that's one of the reasons I put it off for so long. I didn't know where to start, the beginning, the middle, the end? So many choices. So overwhelming....so I did what any good red blooded procrastinator would do. Absolutely. Nothing.
Now here I am 91 days later - facing the last few precious hours of 2013, and the thing I feel most compelled to do is BLOG. BLOG, seriously? Davis and Andrew are napping, Caden is at a friend's house....and I want to BLOG? I should be sleeping too or else I won't make it until 2014, but I felt it calling my name.
So here I am folks. December 31, 2013.
On December 31, 2012 I had NO IDEA what a whirlwind of a year was ahead of us. I had no idea how much love, joy, stress, anxiety, sadness, and general awesomeness would be in the following year. But it was all there.
Without a doubt 2013 was UNFORGETTABLE.
I'll spend some time catching you all up on our lives in the next few days, (New Years Resolution #2 - Blog More) - but for now I just want to take a moment to reflect on the awesomeness of 2013.
#1: Davis McPherson Watts
The year started off right when this amazing stud muffin came into our lives on February 22nd.
This little dude was my hard earned prize for 40 weeks of pregnancy, 9 hours of pitocin, and a DRUG FREE VBAC. I was so proud of his beautiful birth...but that pales in comparison to how much love and joy he has brought into our lives, and how proud I am that I get to be his mommy.
He. Is. Amazing.
This little guy is so loved by everyone. Friends, family, complete strangers...everyone loved D. He has a gift. Aside from his first 2 months where he gave everyone this face...
AKA "The Stink Eye"...he hasn't really stopped smiling. Now we purposefully try to get a bad picture of him, but every time we bring out a camera, this happens....
Can you say photogenic? I hate to toot my own horn here...but this boy clearly takes after me. Andrew turns into a tall, pale, chubby, Asian in most pictures. It's true.
Anyways...this boy is something else. Definitely THE highlight of 2013.
#2: BAHRAIN
Let's go back to February 2013....there I am 9 months pregnant talking about our options for our next PCS with Andrew and my Mom...
Kristina: "Well, Japan and San Diego are pretty much the only places on our lists"
Andrew: "There are several jobs in both places, so we'll see, but we should get Japan, maybe San Diego"
My Mom: "What are the chances that they'll send you somewhere that ISN'T on your list?"
Andrew: "Oh, slim to none...that doesn't happen that often"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
Fast forward a few weeks...Andrew comes home and says....
"So...yeah....what do you think of Bahrain?"
WHAT?! Bahrain?
Bahrain.
As in
The. Middle. Freakin'. East.
Yes. Yes, that is what he meant.
So here we are. In the "Land of the Sand" - though it may be more appropriate to call it "Land of the unreal life where we have maids and live on the water and don't pay taxes."
Despite our ups and downs...we love it here. I am not going to want to move home. Ever.
#3: Kindergarten!!!
My little boy started Kindergarten. I thought for sure I would cry as I left him in his classroom - but due to the amount of tears coming from Caden I essentially had to say,
"Too bad...you're going - stop crying and get in there."
and be the tough mommy. I mean, I couldn't cry WITH him, that would have been a disaster.
Can you tell he's trying SO HARD not to cry here? It was tough.
By the end of the day he LOVED it. So I think it was just some first day jitters.
Aside from the phase where he had an obsession with drawing penises, it's going pretty well. (No, I'm not kidding...believe me, I'll have more on that story later.)
Lucky Caden got to REPEAT his first day of Kindergarten when we got back to Bahrain. We were visiting Washington when school started so he had 2 Kindergartens! Life of a military child.
I can't believe my baby is so grown up. He's reading and writing, and making friends left and right. He is still the sweetest boy EVER and as if he could get any better....let's add
BEST BIG BROTHER EVER.
Caden loves Davis and Davis LOVES his brother. He looks for him first thing every morning and calls him "Brov" the love flowing between them is something else. A lot of people tell me that they've never seen such a good and caring big brother. It's true. Caden is the best. As if that was every in question.
#4: NOMAD FITNESS
This is the MAIN reason that I haven't really blogged since we returned to Bahrain.....
So, there aren't a lot of workout options for moms in Bahrain. Before we left for the States I started hosting some simply bodyweight WODS to see if people would even be interested in CrossFitting with me. We had about 5-10 people show interest in the first 2 weeks. After a lot of debate Andrew and I decided that I should pursue opening my own "Box" out of our villa.
Well, if you know me - you know that once I decide to do something...I. DO. IT.
So....Nomad Fitness was born.
I ordered equipment, got a logo, made a rough schedule, put it out there on Facebook and prayed something good would happen.
I
HAD
NO
IDEA
It exploded. I am so extremely blessed. Nomad has attracted the most awesome group of athletes. About 35 of them to be exact. That may not seem like a lot to you guys...but let me just say, that's my MAX. When we designed Nomad we thought, "let's just aim for 10 athletes...maybe 20 by the end of the year...30 by next October" Hahah...I went from none to about 25 in a heartbeat.
Here are some of us after our Turkey Day WOD!
I am proud to say that I have wait lists for my 5AM and 5PM classes, and after I put 4 people through Fundamentals this Saturday I will not really have any more space at all. Like totally booked. No. More. People. I can't handle anymore. I am only one person after all.
The best part of all...my athletes are SEEING AMAZING RESULTS.
People who hated running are running 5Ks in under 30 minutes (yes that's you Megan)...
others are getting their first overhead squats after years of trying...
others are getting unassisted pull ups and "real" push ups...
others are losing inches and body fat and weight...
the list goes on and on.
These people have no idea how much they have enriched my life. I am so lucky.
Oh, and we are doing a box-wide Whole30 in January. Let the fun begin!!!
The happy juice is flowing at Nomad....love, love, love my little business.
#5: My Dear Sweet Grandma...
Well, not everything can be all rainbows and sunshine. My dear sweet wonderful Grandma, Betty Jean Squire, passed away in November.
I have no words for what she meant to me and for how I am still struggling to accept that this has happened. I am SO SO SO thankful that I got to see her one last time while I was home. She was so much more than a grandma. She was so feisty and loving and rotten and awesome.
My unforgettable Grandma. There will be a post for her later - I still can't really handle it. It's so surreal here. Since I'm not in Belfair, faced with it every day, I can conveniently forget it happened. Then BAM I remember and the tears start flowing. Yesterday I got a package in the mail from my mom - it was some of my Grandma's things...they smell like her still. It aches to think about it.
I am just so lucky to have loved her so very much. I can only hope to mean as much to my grandchildren someday.
This woman is unforgettable.
#6: WE SURVIVED!!!
I can't end my final blog post of the year on a sad note....that would be a total downer. So I'm going to end 2013 on a very positive note...WE SURVIVED!!!
We Survived:
Having a Newborn
Moving Around the World
Breastfeeding
Ramadan
Our First Whole 30
127 Degree Weather and HUMIDITY
Learning to Drive on the Crazy Bahraini Roads
Another Trip Around the World to Visit Home
Visiting Home
A Wedding
Funerals
Teething
Coaching CrossFit and not being able to move for a few weeks from soreness
A Bahraini RAINSTORM (it was like the world was ending!)
A fridge full of rotten rancid meat...who doesn't love that?
Andrew leaving for 4 exercises
Being apart for my birthday, Mothers Day, Andrew's Birthday, our 1st Anniversary
Hosting Christmas for 20 people!
A foot injury
4 mice in our kitchen
A cray cray maid...
The list goes on and on and on...
2013 has been an INSANE year. Crazy insane.
I can only hope 2014 is a little calmer but just as awesome.
I mean...look at my family! How can we NOT dominate another year?!
Adorabe, right? I'm one lucky mama.
So Good Riddance 2013
DEAR 2014,
BRING. IT. ON.
Love, Me
and That's 'Watts' She Said.....
