Family Updates!

We've just been trekking along over here. This is always the time of year where there isn't much going on in regards to holidays or vacation...we are just knee deep in school waiting for spring break to come. This year spring break is really late for us since Michael's work conference isn't until the last week in April.

Jackson is most definitely in a good spot in regards to school. He is usually finished just before lunchtime. He's also sitting pretty in regards to his senior year next year. He is most likely going to finish 2 years worth of French in this one year so he won't have to do a foreign language next year. He's also going to finish Algebra 2. Next year he will have to tackle - 12 PACE's in Trigonometry, 5 PACE's in Pre-Calculus, 12 PACE's in English IV, 6 PACE's in Economics, 6 PACE's in US Civics, 6 PACE's in Speech & 6 PACE's in Business Math.

This is Owen's spot during the day. He has been hard at work trying to finish out his senior year. It's been a struggle, but he's moving along. He only has 2 more PACE's in Trigonometry, 5 PACE's in Pre-Calculus, 4 PACE's in English IV, 3 PACE's in Economics, 1 PACE in US Civics, 4 PACE's in Chemistry and 2 PACE's in Speech. He also has to finish a little bit more that one unit in his Spanish. It's still a good amount of work, but he's faithfully moving ahead and I know he'll accomplish everything he needs to. His graduation is going to be held at our church on Friday, May 30th. I just got his Senior pictures back from Starr and can't wait to order his invitations! It's all coming together and he's so close to the finish line. 

Zeke had a therapist coming to our house almost everyday since the beginning of the school year. He has been doing so well this year. Unfortunately his therapist moved to a different job...we were so sad to see her go. However, Zeke was doing so well it seemed like a great time to try and give it a go and see how we could manage on our own. He had a couple rough weeks, but things have really turned a corner and he's been able to regulate his emotions very well. I'm so proud of him and the progress he's made. Zeke is on grade level so he's right on track to finish all his PACE's for his 7th grade year. He does have to write his State History report and that has been giving him some grief, but he'll get through it.  

This girl is so determined. She definitely does not like Math, but she's so good at it! She's working so hard towards her goal of completely 8th grade and 1/4 of her 9th grade school year before summer. I will be mailing in all her completed PACE tests on March 28th and then she'll get to take a break in Word Building and Social Studies. They will have to validate all her tests and then I can re-enroll her for her 9th grade year. My hope is we have all her 9th grade PACE's here by the last week in April that way she'll be able to finish those extra PACE's she needs to to stay on track for her goal. 

Michael has been busy in the basement. We did hire out some of the electrical work. We had our entire panel in our garage redone and then we had a separate panel installed in the basement. After the panel was put in Michael did all the work with running wires for the lights, the light switches, fans, heaters and the outlets. We had the inspector come in and the inspection passed no problem! 

Once electrical passed he moved on to hooking up all the water. He ran the pipes for kitchen...

the laundry closet...

and the bathroom. 

Our contractor went ahead and installed the tub for us since that was something that Michael was not looking forward to doing. 

Once the water inspection passed, our contractor had a few more things he needed to do before Michael could start working again. Thankfully those have all been accomplished so now Michael is able to move onto finishing the insulation. He had already been able to put some of it in, but now he can insulate the ceiling with is really going to change the look of the basement. Once the inspection for that passes he's moving onto drywall...hopefully next weekend! 

As for me...I started 75 Hard on February 7th. I had been thinking about it for a couple weeks and then I mentioned it to Michael. I looked at the calendar and figured if I was going to start I just needed to start. After I talked with him about it I started the challenge 2 days later. 

If you don't know what 75 Hard is it's a challenge that lasts 75 days....obviously! You have to abide by 6 rules each and every day...no break days! 

1. Drink 1 gallon of water. 

2. Workout out twice a day for 45 minutes each. (One workout has to be outside.)

3. Read 10 pages of a Self-Help type book.

4. Take a progress picture. 

5. No alcohol. 

6. Stick to a diet of your choice. 

I did immediately alter things to fit me and my comfort level. I do workout twice, but my outside workout is in the garage. It's not heated so it's cold like being outside, but I have to get this workout finished in the morning before the kids wake up and I don't feel safe walking around the neighborhood in the dark. 

After the first day I did listen to my body since I was experiencing symptoms of hyponatremia by drinking so much water. I looked up online for a water intake calculator and for my body weight and height I should be drinking 79oz a day. I rounded up so I drink 80oz a day. After my body got used to that I did try to increase it up to 96oz a day, but after doing that for 2 days I started having symptoms again so back down to 80oz I went.

My typical day is like this....

I wake up at 6am and workout for 45 minutes on the elliptical. Michael takes my progress pictures before he leaves for work around 7am. Right after lunch is usually when I have time to read 10 pages in a self help book. I've finished Atomic Habits and have now moved onto Emotionally Healthy Spiritually. In the afternoon anywhere from 2pm - 4pm I will do my second workout of the day. A few times I've had to workout after dinner, but that is rare. That workout is done up in my room. I use the app FitOn and I usually pick a strength or Pilates workout and then after that I do a yoga or long stretching session to bring my time to 45+ minutes long. Of course I'm drinking lots of water throughout the day. I try to be finished with 40oz by 1pm and then I fill my tumbler up again. I don't finish my water until right before bed when I take my nighttime pills. (Man that makes me sound so old!) 

As for alcohol...it's not something I usually drink anyway. I'll have a drink every now and again when we go out on a date, but mainly I only drink at Michael's work conferences because the drinks are super watered down and they are free. I'm so cheep when it comes to paying for alcohol. That ones hasn't really been a struggle at all. 

The diet I chose to stick with is I'm not eating any desserts. No cookies, no cake, no ice cream, no donuts, no pie, no milkshakes, no candy, no chocolate...nothing that would be considered a dessert. Before this I was eating a couples pieces of chocolate after lunch and dinner. Surprisingly it hasn't actually been that hard. There have been a few times that I've struggled like at Ella's birthday party when the girls were having mini chocolate chip cookies and ice cream....I walked out of the room so I couldn't see them. I also had to make Ella her cake and that was tough. I did have Ella and Justine make brownies one day for The Chosen group because brownie batter is my favorite. I know my limits and I'm just choosing to walk away when I'm tempted. In all honestly though I haven't really missed it that much. 

Today is Day 36 and I'm feeling great. A bit tired because of stupid daylight savings time, but my clothes are more loose and my body is getting stronger. I've already talked with Michael about what's going to happen come Day 76 and I'm going to keep going. I doubt I'll do all the rules....bye bye daily progress picture. I'll probably just take one once a month or so. I also might not be as strict with the 45 minute workouts in the afternoon. There are plenty of great workouts that don't take that long. We'll see though. I'm going to continue to not eat dessert and only save it for special occasions. One of the reasons I started this when I did was because Michael's work conference is coming up on April 28th. I'm finishing my 75th day on April 20th. I plan on working out at the hotel in the morning while he's in his classes. I will also probably have a couple drinks and enjoy dessert when we are taken out to dinner. I'm not going to freak out about it, but then when we get home I'm going to get right back into the good habits I've created. This was never meant to be only a 75 day challenge it was supposed to kick start me into a new way of life. 

I want to be healthy and strong and able to move and not hurt myself. I want to live a full life where my body does not betray me and I can be active into my older years. That kind of change happens now while I'm still young! I also wanted to do this so my kids could see that mom can do hard things and if mom can do hard things than so can they. 

Maybe when I'm finished I'll post my Day 1 pictures with my Day 75 pictures....maybe! ;) 

25 Years!

How do you sum up 25 years of marriage? 

You start at the beginning of course! 

The night we got engaged...we were 17 years old and I couldn't imagine living a day without this man. It's crazy to say that now that we have a 17 year old ourselves, but we just knew. When I gazed into my minds eye at my future, he was there. I didn't need college, a career or an inflated bank account...I just needed him! 

We literally grew into adults together and were with each other through the big milestones such as our graduations from high school. We weren't dating when Michael graduated in 1997, but I was there. By my graduation we had already been engaged for over a month. 

May 8th 1999

Still love kissing on him! 

I only had eyes for him then and I only have eyes for him now! 

We honeymoon in Oahu for a week!  

We had one big thing planned each day and we had loads of fun...minus almost losing Michael's wallet in the Pacific Ocean and almost being pulled out to sea with the tide. 

During the beginning of our marriage we lived in an apartment in Renton. It was like playing house! It was so much fun growing up together. 

We lived in that apartment for about 2 years before moving to a townhouse. We only lived there for about 10 months before we bought our condo. 

I loved our condo....it was 2 stories with a daylight basement. We lived there for 4 years and really made it a home. This was the home that I was sure we were going to bring a baby home to. But God had other plans. 

This was a very hard time in our lives dealing with infertility and miscarrying Brayden, but instead of growing apart or getting angry at or blaming each other we clung to each other. We knew that the only way we would make it through was by the grace of God. His grace was/is sufficient for us. 

The desire of our hearts was fulfilled in the birth of Owen Michael Martin on January 15th, 2007. He is a miracle baby, an answer to countless prayers and a physical manifestation of the goodness of God. 

16 months and 10 days later God blessed us with Jackson Daniel Martin on June 5th, 2008. He's the only baby that truly shocked us. We were so sure that Owen was going to be the only miracle, but God had more blessings to give! 

For our 10th Wedding Anniversary in May 2009, we went to San Francisco. We had such fun time together while Ga-Ga & Pa took care of the 2 boys back at home.

On that trip or shortly after we got pregnant again. By this point we were actually able to plan for a baby which felt so strange after years and years of infertility. 

Our beautiful Ella Grace came into the world on February 16th, 2010. She was the sweet girly that our rambunctious boy house needed. 

Ella was born a few months after Michael had been laid off from his painting job. He still was able to work his own painting business, but for the most part he was completely present during the entire first year of her life. We knew this was a huge blessing and we had faith that God would see us through and he did! Michael received a job offer in early 2011 and a couple days later we found out we were expecting baby #4. Sadly around 13 weeks I miscarried Kyan William Martin. 

The Lord faithfully saw us through the pain. This was when I took a proactive stance with getting my depression under control. It was definitely a trying time and I'm so glad the 3 kids were so young. I was not a nice person at times. I had a lot of anger and it was tough, but thankfully I got medication and went to therapy and have been doing well now for years. 

On May 22nd, 2012, our family was complete with the addition of Zeke Russell Martin! He is our end of the alphabet baby and we were/are so thrilled to have him. 

We had 4 kids in 5 years and as you can imagine it was managed chaos!

In 2017, we said goodbye to Michael's mom after years of her suffering with Alzheimer's. While we were sad to lose her we know that we will see her again and that her body had been made whole! The day after she died was Jack's 9th birthday and even though we were mourning we still put on smiling faces and celebrated our boy as I'm sure Grandma Martin would have wanted it that way. 

Sept 2017 - Sept 2018 we were a two income family when I went to work as the Administration Assistant at our church. I saved most of my paychecks so we splurged and used it to buy our pop-up tent trailer. So many family memories have come from this one purchase!!

 

Michael was hired to be the General Manager at his work in March 2018....he had only worked at the District for 7 years! God is so faithful! Shortly after that we came to the decision that I should go back to being a stay at home mom. It was the best decision ever! While I loved my job it was just too much with 4 kids that needed me at home. I'm so blessed that Michael can provide for us so this is even an option. It's truly my dream job!

In 2019, Michael and I got to go back to Hawaii to celebrate 20 years! 

This time we went to Maui and what a differences getting to go at 38 verses 18! 

2020 was such a year....we went from having 4 kids in school to homeschooling 4 kids! That has probably been the biggest life change for me aside from us having kids in the first place. We're on year 4 year now and I wouldn't have it any other way. Michael has been such an encouragement to me during this time. It hasn't always been easy...in fact there's been a lot of stress involved, but having him stand beside me and support me makes all the difference. 

One afternoon we happened to be in the area near the school/church Michael and I met at. They just happened to be having services so we were able to sneak inside and get a picture of us on the staircase that I first remember running into Michael. I can envision it perfectly! I was walking upstairs and he was walking downstairs. He had jeans on with a backwards baseball hat and I said, "Hi". I was talking to my best friend at the time who would later become my maid of honor at our wedding and I remember telling her...."He's cute!" 

In 2021, we took the kids on a huge road trip across the county. We went to 9 different states, 7 National Monuments/Parks and drove over 4K miles. It was a blast!!! 

In Sept 2022, we headed back to Maui and it seems that we've started an every other year tradition now since we will be heading back there in Sept of this year to celebrate 25 years. Maui is a special place for Michael and I. We love it there....it's truly heaven on earth! 

The day before our 23rd Wedding Anniversary, I got to walk down the aisle in my wedding dress at my church's Women's Tea! It was so much fun! I was amazed that I still fit into it after having 4 kids! What a joy to get to relive those memories. 

It's hard to believe that we have 3 teenagers now....it still feels like we should be the teenagers...although our bodies would beg to differ! 

These kids keep me young and drive me crazy all at the same time, but as Michael would say you can't be driven anywhere you haven't left babe! :P 

It's been so fun getting to go with Michael to his water conferences. It's our little time to recharge with no kids. So far we've been to 8 conferences together and they've all been a blast! I truly love hearing about Michael's work and I try to know the ins and outs as best I can. I love getting to talk with other people in the industry and actually know what they're talking about. 

Michael and I took a marriage class at church last year and it was so fun getting to focus on our marriage in a more thought out way. It can be so easy to let kids, work, school and whatever else pull you in a million directions that your marriage can take a backseat. The class was so great for us and I honestly think it was God's leading that we said yes to that class. He knew all the stresses we would have with the house come the new year so we needed to rejuvenate our marriage so we could better communicate through the chaos 2024 was going to be! 

  

This whole post has just been about life. Messy, unpredictable, joy-filled and faith-driven life! We have weathered many storms, been in deep, deep valleys and stood atop mountains with the sun shining on our faces and we've done it together...as one! 

My love as I reminisced about these last 25 years....all the joy and hardship was worth it. To be here standing next to you for another year is truly a gift from the Lord. You told me when we were dating that if I gave you a chance you would make me the Queen of your Heart and even though that's super cheesy...I love it by the way...you have kept your word. Thank you for building this life with me babe. You are such and incredible man, husband, father, worker and friend. In fact you're my best friend and I love you with all my heart and soul! 

Happy 25th Sweet Man! 

Homemade Crème Brule!

On Sunday, July 3rd, Michael decided to try to make homemade Crème Brule. It's absolutely his favorite dessert ever and a lot of place don't have it or if they do they are always sold out! 

We had some Heavy Whipping Cream so he decided to give it a whirl. In actuality it's not all that hard. He was able to make up 6 of them with one batch. You have to let them cool on the counter and then you can refrigerated them for up to 2 days before you eat them. Since the next day was 4th of July we waited to eat them until July 5th.  

Michael pulled out his little firestarter torch and caramelized all that sugar. 

 

The kids thought this was pretty cool! 

Oh my goodness these were yummy! 

Michael was quite pleased with his creation! 

It was the perfect amount of hard crusty sugar on top and then the cream was still cold underneath. Yum Yum! 

Even the kids liked it! 

I think Zeke is trying to say something in French like Bon Appetit!

The kids liked it, but it was a big dessert so they couldn't finish it. Of course Daddy wasn't going to let his hard work go to waste! 

Good Job Daddy!