Goodbye 2011

WOW this year has FLOWN by, so i was thinking of my year and what all happened and the ups and downs and how it is coming to an end and all the things that i experienced and the wonderful people i have met along the way. So i decided i would blog about all the ups and downs us Rodewald's experienced.

Jan 2011- we spent our last month stationed at Fort Lewis, i enjoyed every chance i got hanging out with Heather and Lainee, going to costco with them, and watching the girls play together cause they were growing up so fast! Jennika was moved into a toddler bed, and she suddenly  became a big girl over night!

Feb 2011- we found out we were having another baby girl! we left WA and started our journey to Fort Campbell KY, we spent a week with John's family in oregon, John went to Chicago to watch his brother graduate navy basic, we picked up my mom and traveled for 3 days to get to KY, got to see so many places i have never seen!

Mar 2011- we moved into our new house and unpacked and organized in 2 days! it was awesome to have my mom there to help and being pregnant it was a relief to have everything done! we went to Atlanta GA for the first time and took Jennika to the zoo aquarium, and to the world of Coke! it was awesome! and so much fun to say "oh I've been there!"

Apr 2011- We got settled into the house, met the neighbors who turned out to be the best neighbors we have ever had, enjoyed BBQs and beer pong in their garage! Mom went back to CA and we were getting back to our routine and starting to feel at home, we then went to SC at the end of Apr to see Josh, Michelle, and Sophee! got to see the beach which was AWESOME i so missed the salt water! and had a blast watching the girls play together!

May 2011- relaxing month didn't do much but enjoyed ourselves and Jennika was growing up way too fast!

June 2011- I met a wonderful family, The Davis' turned out Katelyn and I were only 2 weeks apart in pregnancy and Jack and Jennika are 3 months apart. and talking to her was so easy and watching Jack and Jennika play was like they knew each other their whole life! mom came back to be there for the birth of Ruth. and we did lots of prepping for Ruth's arrival!

July 2011- We welcomed into the world Ruth Marie Rodewald! and getting used to having 2 children under 2 was easier than i expected! Jennika was LOVING having a little sister and had to get used to not being the only child. which she transitioned very well!

Aug 2011- Mom went home and we tried to enjoy the hot weather....Jennika was continuing her Dance and Gymnastic classes and she was talking more and signing a whole lot more!

Sept 2011- Jennika got potty trained!!!!! took 3 days and we went from 4 accidents to none in 5 days! and boy did she LOVE wearing her big girl panties! i turned 23, and enjoyed a dinner with my awesome friends! plus took a shot of grey goose at my birthday dinner and got to almost pee my pants with my neighbor driving me home haha in my car! haha

Oct 2011- the girls and i went on our first plane ride together alone to oregon for Joe's vigil and to have our family meet Ruth. enjoyed super late nights with the family. came home and prepped for another plane trip to take my mom to New York for our first time and her 50th birthday! got to experience the first snow in Times Square! the girls were AWESOME! and again being able to see things that i never thought i would see in my life is amazing! closed the month with a great halloween with family and friends!

Nov 2011- after new york i came to prep for our move in dec only to find out that we would be moving in 12 days and i had to pack up and leave some of the greatest friends i have ever met. it was a sad month and i still miss living next to my neighbors and going to Katelyn's to let the kids play! but we drove out to Fort Bragg NC and thank god we found a home within an hr of being here and got moved in in a day n a half. again if my mom wasn't here to help me i wouldn't have been able to do it at all!

Dec 2011- John turned 26, Jennika turned 2. i got the house mostly unpacked and John helped when he got home from Airborne school, we went to FT Campbell for Jennika's birthday and were thankful to stay at the Davis home while we were there. and i got to spend some time with my friends again! came home and celebrated christmas with Josiah and ended the month meeting new friends!

This year has been a great year over all. and looking back i am proud of myself for getting out and meeting new people and doing good deeds. today i offered my home up to a family i barely knew to have a birthday party for their daughter. a year ago i would have NEVER done that. and i am so glad i did because i had a great day of conversation and watching Jennika make new friends, and wow did she have a blast. I have to say that this year i have changed for the better, i now open myself up more and it may bite me in the butt later on but i won't regret it. I have met some awesome people and if i am going to be moving around so much i need to learn to get myself out of my comfort zone (which is what i did tonight) and meet people that may of may not turn out to be wonderful friends but if i don't take the chance i will never know. its just like how i met Katelyn, she posted on a campbell page to see pictures of 3bdrm homes in our neighborhood. and turns out i know for a fact that her and her family will always be a part of my life. I also could have stayed like a hermit in my house and not met my neighbors and became so close to them, they also will be a big part of my life forever!

So heres to a new year and new experiences and getting myself out of my comfort zone! because if i never would have gone out and did things i would have never met the few people that changed my life for the better!

Happy New Year!

Ashley!

Goals

I feel like I need to set some goals for myself, and that way I can be thrilled when I complete those goals. I h e realized my goal is too high for me to even feel like I have accomplished anything. So my new goals I feel like they are manageable. And I don't need to feel like it will never be completed. So at the end of this blog entry my goals will be listed.

On another note we had such a wonderful christmas! It was so awesome to spend time with Josiah (johns youngest brother) his mon surprised John with sending Josiah out here, jennika has had so much fun playing with him and sitting with him, he leaves today and Jennika is going to be so sad! I am so happy he got to come out I know John was feeling a bit home sick since come FEB he hasn't seen any family for a year! And going from seeing them once a month or every other month it is a huge change. But I guess it's something we have to get used to. Since we won't be close to them for awhile. Back to Christmas haha Jennika was overwhelmed with gifts, and she loved it! It was awesome to be here has a family, and enjoy each other. :) now I'm getting ready for the new year and setting goals for me and my family! 2012 is the year for me to finally fully change my life and get all the negative out of my life and live for the positive. No more unhealthy life style and no more rude negative ppl in my life. I will not let anyone walk all over me nor will I let anyone think that they can say hurtful things one day and think that things are perfect the next. SCREW THAT!!! If there are hurtful things to be said about me then I would like to hear them in a "hey can I talk to you about a few things" kinda way. I am also not going to make so much of an effort to make sure ppl are in my life. I will give the same effort they give to me, and if effort stops, guess what?! I am DONE! I feel like the last 2yrs if my life I have bent over backwards to make sure ppl that don't make an effort are involved in my life and that isn't fair to me at all! So no more. I will be nice and respectful but I will tell you how I feel when I feel it. I will not hold my tongue anymore it's just not worth it. And if you don't like it then sucks for you! My first priority is my family and I will do everything I can to protect my girls since they aren't old enough to protect themselves. :)

Here are some of my goals for the new year!

Drop down 10lbs a month.
Exercise everyday at least 20mins but would prefer 90mins.
Drink more water
Eat healthy and no boxed foods
No fast food!
Focus more on my kids
Do a big craft a week with my girls
Make sure to get family pictures every 6m
Be positive!
And keep in good communication with the ones closest to me :)

Have you figured out some goals to change you for the better?

Ashley

Starting to look a lot like Christmas!

What a busy week! Went to Fort Campbell for the weekend, hung out with my wonderful besties! Had Jennikas party and she had a blast! John met us there friday night, and we left Monday morning but didn't get home til 930pm! Longest trip of my life! But now we are home and there are tons of gifts under the tree the kids are going to be overwhelmed with gifts, I want so bad to find something to do on Christmas that we can do as a family to give back, but I think the girls are still a little young and I know for sure once they get older we will be doing things in the community to give back, if John had a unit here and frieds I would invite them over to enjoy Christmas with us. But maybe next year! I am thankful to have my family here and thankful we are in a home. :) loving my life right now and my house is finally getting finished so it's coming together nicely! It helps having John here so he can do all the heavy lifting!

I hope everyone enjoys their christmas and time with their family!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In a funk.

I hate moving, I always do really good then I get in this funk and feel like I am all alone. Which technically I am since I don't know anyone here and all my friends have lives of their own. I always try to keep my head up and stay positive but it's hard when the only ppl you talk to is your mom maybe your husband and your kids that talk back but not in the way you want haha. I'm stressing about a trip to CA that will be happening and how I am going to work everything out and in stressed about this weekend since I feel like I am a burden on others and I hate that feeling. I hate feeling like I am causing others to stop their life for me. Blah I am done for the day just gunna soak in my funk :/

What a great day!

Wow the girls have been so good all day! Jennika has been a great help and back to her old self. :) Ruth is now eating finger foods! She loves them. We went shopping at hobby lobby this morning and I found a stool and box shelf for our time out area. So while the girls napped I painted and then when jennika woke up she wanted to paint so I let her paint the rest of the letters I had left over, man does she love painting! Then once she was done with that I decided to let her paint my nails :) well my toe nails. She did a dang good job for being almost 2! She got distracted by a commercial on my right foot so my left looks better than my right lol. But she enjoyed doing it and that's all that matters! Now we are going to eat dinner, and send the girls to bed and it's my first double workout tonight! Woohoo 30 day shred and the treadmill. Wish me luck!!! :) enjoy the pictures :)

Getting my Daily Routine down :)

I have been feeling great since I started the treadmill workouts! I am excited to start the 30-day shred tonight :) I finally have energy to do things and get my house looking like a home! I am getting the girls back on their normal routines and getting myself on a new routine! I finally got the play room nice and organized, I cleaned every room but mine and the sunroom. I can't do much with the sunroom until my hubs gets home so he can do what he would like with it cause it's technically his "man cave" lol. I am so happy that everything is coming together.

Last night I experienced the first bit of the red headed tantrums that Jennika will be throwing in the future. We had a late dinner and she wasn't eatting so I told her that she was either going to eat or go to bed and WOW she flipped out! I put her in her bed she broke her rail, she almost put a hole in the wall, gave herself a bloody nose, and then I set her in timeout so she could calm herself down, and she threw up. This was all in nearly 2 hours. It was insane! So now I have realized I have to be more on top of things and keep her in a normal routine and not being such a softy when it comes to timeout and bed time. So I see a lot of time outs in our future. :/ I hate doing it but I know that that's how life is and she needs to learn discipline and now that she is getting older she tends not to listen as well as before. So time outs it is :) I hope to never experience another episode like last night again!

Ruth is getting so big! She is eating stage 2 foods and she loves them! She is finally letting me do things without holding her and she is starting to love her entertainment center things. She is moving all over, not fully crawling but scooting herself forward and in circles to get everywhere. She is growing up so fast and now jennika is more interested in her so they play and jennika brings Ruth all her toys haha. Ruth loves Jennika and screams at her when she walks away. I have thought about getting Ruth a walker but I am afraid jennika will run her into walls but I know we will probably get one after christmas. Jennika will learn :)

Here are some pictures of the house :)
The playroom, living room with dining room behind it fire place area and entry. Once everything else is complete I will share more pictures :)

Feeling great!

Today I decided that I will be off Facebook for awhile. I hate all the negativity I see constantly and people being pissed at their significant other and loving them the next min. And complaining or putting them down and letting all their friends do it too, tired of mothers constantly leaving their kids to go party or go out with a new boyfriend. The main reason I am on Facebook daily is to update my family that lives far away. And I know I post pictures a lot but that's the only daily communication I have with family so that's why I do it. But it's always nice to take a break. I typically delete th app from my phone and then leave my phone in my bedroom so I don't have distractions while I'm with my girls. I am also thinking of only using my phone while they are sleeping. When John comes home we will be having family time every weekend and not having our phones with us. That's the only time we get with John and its important for me and the girls to have quality time every week! I am so looking forward to it. I rely a lot on technology, and love my phone since I have everything on it (including this blog...) so this is a big step for me. :)

Anyways back to the reason for this blog! Tomorrow I do my week 1 day 3 of the treadmill workout and I'm stoked! And Thursday I am going to start the 30 day shred. I do believe I will be starting my monthly gift tomorrow so it will be good for me to force myself to work out at a time of the month where all I wanna do is eat chocolate and be lazy! I feel great and am glad that I have got this far. I will be so proud of myself once I get they a week of the 30 day shred! :) I have so many work out DVDs cause I hate having ppl watching me so once I am done with the 30 day shred I will move on to the next work out! I WILL DO THIS AND I CAN DO THIS!!! Plus it helps that I have lost 6lbs since moving out here. :) yay me!

Getting back into the swing of things.

Well Saturday I finally felt good enough to workout. So awhile ago (awhile meaning a year) I got the iFit Jillian Michaels treadmill workout. So I did it. And it starts you out slow so I can ease myself into it and it was pretty much a 20min mile at an incline of 7.0. And wow was it nice to get on the treadmill. I would do the couch to 5k on my treadmill but I feel like I can control when I want to run and I can stop at anytime. So doing the Jillian thing and she moves the speeds and inclines up and it makes it super nice cause I can read or watch a show and not worry about changing anything. That's my kinda workout. Plus she tells at you the whole time do it work out. I am going to be doing this all week and then I head to KY for a week to visit and celebrate Jennika's 2nd birthday!!!! I can't believe she is going to be 2!!! I felt great saturday and yesterday and today I just did day 2. I have to look online I'm not sure if I'm suppose to do it every day or every other. But when I get back from KY I will be doing the 30 day shred. Which will be perfect cause 30 days from when I get back I will be going to CA to see my family!!!! I am so determined and I know as soon as I start doing something for more than 2 wks I will be doing it every day just cause I like to. :) and i am swearing to myself that 2011 is the last year that i will be unfit and unhealthy!!!!! well got lots of stuff to do. So hope you Had a great weekend! What do you want to accomplish for yourself next year?

Wow. Is really all I can say....

Today has been an up and down kind of day, got to talk with the bestie and I hope her day turned out better than mine! Then went and got the girls' Christmas outfits finalized, and went to get my car registered however my husband signed the title in the wrong place and it would have been over $700 to get it changed into my name!!! Ridiculous!! Needless to say I left the DMV crying cause I was so upset at everything! Then I come home, well a few months ago I helped register my moms car online thru WA DMV well they had always had it set up that you need a WA DL. Well now they have it to where if you are military you no longer need a WA license. :))) so thankfully I was able to order my tabs and I just hope they send them here.

So then I got the girls all dressed up and took pictures by the tree and relaxed with my mom for the rest of the night. Which is so nice because I am exhausted!! I then got to see my wonderful daughters red headed attitude come out. Wow! She has been showing her attitude a lot this last week and I know it's mainly all because all the change in her life! So I can't blame her but when I try to out her to bed at 9pm and its 11:26pm and she just fell asleep with getting out of bed 30 times and me having to calm her down by laying in bed cause she is giving herself a bloody nose, she is finally asleep! Thankfully Ruth is a deep sleeper or she would have been up all this time too! My mom leaves tomorrow and tomorrow will be the only day I can drive until I get my tabs. :/ I have a very very busy day tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy your day tomorrow! (more than I will :/)

Long week!

Well I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving, the girls' and my mom were sick, so we just had a small turkey with some mashed potatos and yams, jennika and my mom made my great grandma's yams and oh do I miss them all year! It has been a long week and I have been going non stop. But my house is mostly unpacked just have some organizing to do, the girls rooms are done, their play room is down, even got them a new cute cardboard house! Kitchen is done, and living room is done, the main problem room is the sun room which is our workout/office/johns man cave, we have so much that goes into this room that it will take me a bit. Plus I have to organize all my craft stuff and get rid of what I don't want.

I am loving our new home, but I am missing my friends so much! I am excited to go visit everyone in a week or so. My good friend Clifton is coming to visit, haven't seen him since I left Washington. It's nice to have friends come see me. This will be one of the few friends of mine that has ever came to see me. I have always gone to see everyone and to be honest it gets old. I enjoy having friends visit. :) I love being in the comfort of my own home.

Jennika is all confused with this move, she has regressed with potty training which is normal and we are finally getting it back to normal. I have a busy week ahead of me. I have to get everything unpacked and organized before wed since my mom leaves and she is a huge help with the girls and keeping them occupied. But I'm off to bed its late and I'm exhausted!

Ashley

It All Became Real :/

Well Sunday we left fort campbell :(( I had to say good bye to my best friend. And her wonderful family. I hate that. I know I will see her a lot but it's just not enough. My worst thing is that she's not just a few blocks away if I need her. Jennika was looking at a picture in my phone of her and jack and I wanted to break down n cry cause she pointed at it and said "my jack" and then turned around and started yelling for jack, then screamed "where's my jack?" broke my heart. :( I missed them as soon as they pulled away. :(

We left Clarksville around 4 and headed east. We drove til about 1am (12am KY time) and stopped to rest in a hotels. Ruth and jennika did awesome on the trip, however Ruth decided it was a good day to start projectile vomiting again. so the 4th time she soaked her whole car seat and self :( I had to pull over immediately and nearly caused an accident, but she started choking and thank god she was in the front seat or I could have not gotten to her quick enough. We started driving again at 830am and made it to Fort Bragg/Fayetteville around 1. I was calling on houses as soon as we hit 100mi left, I randomly looked on their off post housing website and found a house that would fit our needs, so I called the owner and set up an apt to see it. This house was just listed on their website on Saturday. We got into the area and this neighborhood seemed very quiet and the house looks great from the outside. So the owner got her and showed us the house, we walked in and you have a great room (living and den) then to your right you have your dining room which is open to the living room, walk into the dining and you have your kitchen take a lady and your back to your den, the master bedroom is off the den, and there is also a sun room/bonus room off the den, you go down your hall off the living room and you have a room to your left a bathroom in front of you and a room to your right. We then went into the back yard thru the sun room and wow was I in aw. It is sectioned off by fences into 3 sections. Your main section has your walkway, a little pond, 2 fire pits, and a hot tub (:D) a section to the right is a huge play area, it has a house, sandbox, swing set, a slide, and just a bunch of fun stuff kids enjoy. I wanted this house. So I told then I'd like to rent it what do you need from me. They gave me their real estate guys number and I called instantly. We were talking for a bit outside waiting for him to call back and I found out the owners and our landlord are civil affairs. How awesome is that. What are the odds right? So we went to eat and check out the area. We are like 5. Mins from the mall and shopping areas. (awesome right?!?) got a call an hr later and started signing our contract at 5. Started moving our things in around 6 and got half the truck unloaded by 11. I just wanted to get to our beds! Ruth does not sleep well when she isn't in her crib she loves it. So here I am it's 8:30 on Tuesday and I have realized I am not going to be able to have my neighbor over for coffee, and chit chat for awhile, and I am not going to be able to have the Davis' over for dinner and let Jack and Jennika test out the new play ground area. :,( nor and I going to see Jonah and Ruth lay on the floor smiling while Jonah swings at Ruth and Ruth sucks on Jonah's arm. Haha. So needless to say I am super sad today. And probably will be for awhile. I do however get to look forward to going out there for a week and seeing everyone again and enjoying Jennika's party!

Army life sure is great when you think about the stability of a pay check when others are fighting trying to find a job to keep a roof over their heads or food in they children's mouth. It's also great that you get to see places you prob wouldn't see. I never thought 5yrs ago I would be living so far away from where I grew up. It's also great when you meet new people and get to explore different views of life. But the down falls are being away from your husband, John isn't deployed now but I won't see him til Jennikas birthday. But I am grateful he is in the states and I can talk to him anytime I want. But another huge downfall is meeting these awesome people that you never expected when you first met them that they would be life long friends and friends that you would always go to visit and talk to on a regular basis. And leaving them hurts just as bad as leaving your family behind when you move to another post. It was hard for me to move from Washington cause I had my nieces and nephews and my great friends I made there (one of which I had known for years and we ended up in the same place) moving sucks cause you have to start your life over and you have no clue where to even begin. I am sure I will get used to moving but it will never hurt any less to leave friends behind. :(

Well I'm off. Enough crying for one day. Time to get an early start and unpack what we have got outta the truck. Here are some pictures of our travels.

Wish 12 days ago didn't happen :(

I am laying here on my neighbors couch because my house is packed in a u haul. It has been a long last 12 days and it all ended too soon! I am so thankful for all the wonderful friends I made here and thankful that katelyn and Erica have been so helpful. I had to say bye to my neighbor Friday morning, that was rough. The only thing that kept me from balling is that I'll be back in a few weeks to visit for a while. But knowing that I'm moving away from who is the best neighbor and friend I could ask for sucks! What sucks even more is she's pregnant and due in Feb and I won't be her neighbor to stand outside waiting for them to bring home baby Dylan like tim and Baylee were for me when I brought home Ruth. I have became so close to them and I sure am going to miss our morning coffee and Erica telling me I need to stop buying cupcake things for the girls haha. I'm sure I will be here at campbell a lot since I am not that far away and will miss everyone so much.

Katelyn and her wonderful family came over to help us load the truck and I'm shocked I wasn't crying all day. Jennika and Jack were on the truck axle just sitting and I was inside but Katelyn took a picture for me and I just about cried. Knowing we are leaving all of Jennika's friends and she has met so many here, just sucks. I know she will meet more friends but it won't be the same. Katelyn and her family have been a huge part of our life here and i don't think I will want to make friends at Bragg. I hate leaving people I care about and I hate knowing that Jennika really has no clue what is going on and probably thinks its just another day and she will see jack at the playground or at his house tomorrow or the next day. Or when we Skype jack why she isn't in the same room but he's on the computer. I again am so thankful we aren't going too far away since if we were I would be crying even more. When we moved from Lewis I knew we would be visiting since we are from the west coast and have family there. If we were going back to Lewis or some where more than 12hrs away I would be devastated. I haven't even left yet and I am crying. I am going to get the house finished and the truck finished this morning so I can enjoy the rest of the day with my friends. We leave tonight or earlier I still have not decided. It is raining which means we should prob leave during the day so we don't go thru the hills n such at night but I don't want to go!!!!!!!

Getting to the End.... :(

WOW, it has been a busy few days, in the last 4 days i have cried, been super upset, awesomely happy, and SUPER stressed out! This move is all coming so fast that i am just over loaded with emotions. We finished packing on monday, and i had a few last min things after the house was cleaned, but it was great cause i packed the first two days, and John packed the last two days. I packed away the rest of Jennika's toys and my dogs are freaking out, warren is acting out i think he is just nervous. Thor is being good but a little worried when i leave the house. Jennika is doing very well considering everything she normally plays with is gone and she doesn't have a million books and babies out. Ruth has been sleeping in her crib for a week now and she sleeps so much better! She hasn't slept thru the night since we went to OR last month and the night i put her in her crib she was out like a light and slept 10hrs! it was so great to have sleep again. I discovered Jennika is getting her 2 year molars, so she is in pain during the day but thankfully isn't waking at night like she normally does when she teethes, Ruth's front bottom teeth are at the surface I'm wondering when those are going to come in since Jennika's sat there for 6 months. I have not been running or working out due to the fact that Jennika got sick and i don't wanna take her out in the cold and i am so exhausted cause I'm so stressed out. BUT I found a track at fort bragg that was talking to another wife about and i plan on going there every other day to run. my mom is going to try it with me as well. I am also not going to buy crap snack foods, i will only have fruits and veggies and other healthy snacks in my home, my husband may not like this considering he is a chips and sandwich kinda guy BUT he can go eat somewhere else. I want so bad to be able to be healthy and show my children good eating habits and healthy exercise habits, My husband and I are getting each other bikes this christmas, and seats to go in the front for the girls. I plan to ride my bike a lot and when the hubs is free i plan to go on at least one weekly bike ride together. I may even get one of those trailer things that go in the back so when i want to ride alone i will be able to take both girls. I finally have the drive to want to do these things and workout and i am bummed i am not running this week but i WILL be starting again once i get all moved in. I will also hopefully have enough room in a home to do my Jillian workouts i know she will kick my butt! and after i am finished with the 30 day shred i will do another much stronger workout I'm thinking the PX90 i have heard great things! I hope everyone is enjoying their week i am dreading the end of this week. :(

Ashley

Happy to be Running Again!

I am so glad I ran today! It really helped clear my head and get things in order. I enjoy running however my body doesn't. :/ but I am going to stick with it. I have no excuse since I have a double jogger and I don't have any broken body parts. My hubs ran with me today so that was nice! We were able to take our boxer mastiff out to and I know he enjoyed that! Tomorrow I plan on running again even though you are not suppose to run everyday but I would like to only run mon wed fri. And have weekends to myself and doing my chores. I also will be starting once I get all moved, Jillian michaels 30 day shred. If I can start running 3 times a week for 30mins and doing Jillian I am bound to get into shape and healthy. I know I will bitch about it a lot but I think I bitch more about being fat than being sore. I have lots of things I want to do and I will be doing them. I was to be thin and in shape when we start trying for our next child and that starts in march. I have a good 4 months to get into a workout routine and stick with it. I figure if I can do that I will be able to work out during my pregnancy and I won't just be sitting on the couch. I also figured out I need to not do so much when I am just starting out. So I found a new workout thing and I will be doing that it is a 60 day program and it works you up to doing so many things per day just like the c25k and I think that's good for me :) I know I have a bad back and I know my weight puts a toll on my body when working out. So I am going to start out walking not running when it comes to workouts. I am not going to force myself to do things that I know will injure me and cause me not to do work outs at all. I have found out that I enjoy working out and running if I don't push myself too hard. I think that the c25k program is perfect simply be aide it works you up to running. Not just going out and going on a 30min run.
And that is what working out and running should be about. Not jumping into things but gradually working yourself up to doing hardcore workouts. :) glad I enjoy working out now because before I would dread it! And I can't wait to be at the point in the c25k that I can just run at a stable pace and not have to change speeds all the time cause then I will be able to run on my treadmill! :)

When it comes to packing, I am almost done! I just need prob 3/4 more huge tubs to put everything else in and I'll be done! I have to make a trip down to a Walmart tomorrow to grab a few more. My wonderful bestie helped me pack up 95% of my down stairs and I am so grateful for her! I packed the rest of my bedroom tonight and bathroom (what we don't need for the week) tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to and then we are going to finish packing and getting everything into the garage that we don't need. Almost done then I get to enjoy my last week here and spend time with my awesome friends :)

Hope you had a great day!

Ashley!

Almost packed.

I have sadly not worked out in 3 days. :( I feel exhausted and really need to get back into the groove of things. I was suppose to go on a run with my husband this morning but got into packing and clearing out the garage. But tomorrow morning I am going on a run! I need to get back into my routine and stop slacking. I saw a glance at myself in the mirror and I hate the way I look. I really need to buckle down and only drink and eat healthy. This move is going to help me since it's kinda like starting over. I will no longer be buying snack food that isn't a fruit veggie or grain. John is going to come home to a new person and hopefully pounds lighter. I will be running or walking every morning from now on! I am buckling down and stopping my bad habits. No more eating out and if I do I will only be eating salads and fruit. I will be writing down all my meals and snacks and tracking my calories. If you see me on a daily basis and I do not have a bottle of water please tell me to get one lol. That is my biggest problem is I don't drink enough water nor do I eat enough healthy foods. I will also be killing myself with Jillian micheals. She is mean and I don't like her but I really need to get into shape and a place where I am comfortable with myself. In other words I need this fat crap off of me. And for me it's an every day struggle to stay in top of it. And no matter how much I ask my husband to keep on top of me he doesn't. When. I get to Bragg I may be getting a personal trainer to come and tell me what to do and force me to do it. I just really want to be happy with myself.

Well that's all for tonight. Hope everyone had a wonderful veterans day.

Ashley.

Fort Bragg Came Too Fast!

Well I skipped a workout today because I do believe I hurt my back. I'm gunna give myself another day an then get to it :) hopefully I'll be able to run tomorrow cause I need to clear my head.

So much has gone on in the last 12hrs I wish I could have skipped today.
To start out I woke up and called on a house in NC since we are moving in 6wks I wanted to see if they could hold this house for me. Well turns out they could, I was so excited then got off the phone with them and my husband. calls me and says we either move before he leaves to Airborne school (on the 27th of this month) or try to get everything done when he comes home (dec 19th) and fight the holiday hrs. So we decided to move before not thinking about thanksgiving holiday, and turns out we will be moving without my husband on the 20th of this month!!!! So not only do I not get to see my husband for 3wks for him to go to training, I have to leave a week earlier and not spend thanksgiving with my husband and move into a house with only my moms help! :( and I was even more upset because I am leaving my best friends, I have met the greatest ladies here and surprisingly this is the first time in my life that I have gotten along with so many women! Thankfully my bestie is inviting me to have Jennikas birthday party at her house since I deff want my daughter to have the greatest party ever with all her friends! I have a feeling I will be coming to Campbell a lot since I will miss everyone way too much, I cried when I told Erica and Katelyn I was leaving a month earlier than expected, and am crying as I'm writing this. Being in the army has its perks and one of them is meeting awesome women who are in the same shoes as you, we marry a man who's schedule is so unpredictable you can hardly plan anything (which me being a huge planner doesn't help much) and they leave for weeks, months, and years, they fight for ours and your freedom, we move every few years, and when we meet women that we get along so well with at the first moment you meet them you never want to leave, never in my life would I have thought I would meet someone and instantly have a connection that makes you think you have known them for years! I was so sad to leave my friends at ft Lewis but grateful I had more time to spend with them, we have been here since march and are already leaving. :( I know the 20th is going to be a water works kind of day just like Feb 9th 2011 was. Not looking forward to leaving but I am thankful I am somewhat of a short drive away so I can visit with everyone I have met here. jennika has made so many great friends and I know she is going to be so bored in NC for the first few months. I hope I can meet some awesome ladies there as well.

Today was such a long day I am going to pass out early. Hope everyone else had a better day than I did. Thanks Katelyn and Erica for letting me vent all day long :)

Ashley.

I Did Not Slack, I Promise!

I didn't blog last night cause well I forgot. But I didn't skip my workouts either (I learned my lesson with 200 jumping jacks)! Yesterday was a busy day. I enjoyed the company of Jennika's friend Jack, and his mommy Katelyn for a bit! Then I baby sat for my friend Denise! My neighbor even came to hang out for a but :) I did a workout while all three girls were napping and Katelyn and I went to the gym! I got just over a mile done on the elliptical and two miles on the bike! Came home and did my workout :) it was a very good but busy day!

Today I woke up at 5, well Ruth woke me up at 5 I let her lay in her crib til 6 since she was still acting sleepy but she was wide awake by six. Which is fine of she would just wake up at 6 for some reason 5 is just too dang early to get up. So I'm gunna get a workout in and then Katelyn and I are starting C25K and we are sticking to it!!!! Since its too dark by time my hubs gets home he won't be doing it with me :(

I am been doing my workouts for a week now and have not seen a change on the scale which normally would discourage me A LOT but I feel a lot more energized and love not spending money to eat fast food. :) I am 7 days into my 21 day challenge and I feel great! I just hope I start to see a change in the scale soon. I know with the C25K I will hopefully start to see something! :)

Have a great day!!!

Ashley!

Going To Be Sore Tomorrow!

What a busy day! I got Christmas shopping done for my nieces and nephews, got Jennikas ideas narrowed down and I have no clue what to get Ruth! But time will tell when I become the crazy person that is shopping black friday!

I failed to do a workout last night and this morning so I punished myself and made myself do 4 sets! That's 200 sit ups!!!!! Man will I be sore tomorrow. The jumping Jack's are still kicking my butt but I can now do all 50 without stopping! Yay me!

This is a short one tonight cause I am exhausted. Hope you had a great day!

Ashley!

What a Lazy Day!

Today was a lazy day. Not lazy in the words that I didn't do my workout cause I am proud to say I did :) but lazy in the fact that I was in pjs all day and didn't step foot outside! The girls were in pjs all day as was my husband. Today was the first day we started to spread out Ruth's eating times and she did great! And she also fell asleep to both naps and bedtime alone! This is a huge step for us since I LOVE to cuddle her and snuggle her until she is asleep. I did that with Jennika until she was a year old but I figured I will stop with Ruth sooner since whenever Ruth falls asleep on me I just wanna sleep too and I never get anything done around my house when i do that haha.

I also attempted to make my own tortillas. They are super tasty but I'm pretty sure I can't roll a burrito with them haha. I need to work of shaping them! This is the first thing I have made from scratch and I plan to make much more. :) I am feeling like Betty Crocker.

My husband is an awesome supporter in the whole getting me back into shape I am so thankful to have him pushing me to do more. I noticed this morning that I would get to the last 2 of each workout and I would continue to do more because I didn't feel the burn! I find this amazing because I normally stop when I feel the burn or when I have done what I am told to or planned to. My biggest struggle is jumping jacks. I'm not sure why but those things kick my butt every time. I am getting better at my plank but my muscles are still weak. The real challenge for me will be getting back to running. I am glad my husband will be here to push me the first 3. Weeks but then he will be gone and I will be forced to push myself. I know I will succeed and when I go to Cali to see my mom I want to be able to show her that i finally did what I have been complaining about for years.

Lastly thanks for reading this. This so far has kept me going with working out cause I can just share how I feel and what problems I have. And even though I know you aren't directly telling me to go work out I feel like I have to since I started this. That is one of the main reasons I started blogging so I can force myself to keep up with everything. So thanks. :) I come on to write my next post and see all the views I got and it just inspires me even more!

Ashley.

Getting Into The Grove Of Things!

Day 3 complete!

What a long but awesome day! I started the day with my workout :) must do that every day it really gave me the energy i need to make it thru the day! My baby girl had her 4 month check up, she is getting so big! 11lbs 12oz, 2 feet tall, Doctor says she is ahead of the game and doing awesome, healthy as can be! She had her shots and did great until they were over, she was laughing and talking until they were finished and i said ok all done and she screamed, but only for a second, once i picked her up she was perfectly fine. Jennika got to play with her friend Jack, i am so thankful to have the Davis family to help when i need them :)

Then a busy day of errands and shopping with my neighbor! I am pretty sure Jennika is sick of traveling around! She hates being in stores and for that reason we are spending a nice lazy weekend in doors. I must get my girls back on track with their schedules, and Ruth needs to be on her strict schedule again. I need to get her sleeping all night again. Welp, Off to do my work out :) weird that I'm getting into the grove of working out daily, can't wait for Monday! Hubs and I start the C25K! :)

Ashley

Day 2 Of The New Me!

Well it's day 2 and I was proud of myself for doing my workout. It consists of:
50 sit ups
25 leg lifts
50 bicycle legs
25 squats
15 sumo squats
50 calve raises
100 arm circles (50 each side)
15 push ups
50 jumping jacks
And a 1 min plank.

WOW is it a workout! Each week I will be adding 10 to each and 30 seconds to the plank. This morning I woke up and could barely walk down the stairs my calves were so sore! But my wonderful husband is pushing me to do it every night and starting Monday we will be starting the couch to 5k. I am very excited to be able to get into shape with my husband by my side. And also Jennika hahaha she is so cute. Today while I was doing my sit ups she sits on my hips and says "come on mom up mom." she is deff my motivation as well! She also does jumping jacks with me. I am so glad to be able to show a healthy life style for my girls. I have been really good and have not had fast food, soda, or anything with fructose corn syrup. Which are big things in the world this day in age so I am proud of myself! Tomorrow is day 3 and I am planning on doing my work out set twice. Once in the morning while John is home for breakfast and at night before bed. I feel great and am so excited to see some results!

Hope you had a great day! Thanks for reading!

Ashley

The Start Of The NEW Me!

What a week! NY was AWESOME! It was a wonderful experience to be there and share it with my girls and my Mom. It was very emotionally overwhelming to visit the 9/11 Memorial site. To know that 10 years ago that area was a bunch of rubble and thousands of people were killed there, and thousands more in the ten years, all i wanted to do was cry. To see all the roses, pictures, and letters on some names of Husbands, Wives, Sons, Daughters, Sisters, Brothers was heartbreaking. To know that my husband and many of my friends and family have been over seas to fight for what happened and even more emotional to know that a year ago my brother was killed in that war, it was all overwhelming. I was so glad to be able to experience it. My Mom and I got a tattoo and NY Ink! WOW what an experience! They were taping for their next season and it was so neat to see everyone, meet them, have normal life conversations with them, and just be there! We both had so much fun! The girls were awesome! Jennika didn't have once accident, and LOVED the M&M world and the HUGE Toys R Us! Ruth was up all night every night but she did great throughout the day! We wrapped up our trip in the first snow storm of the season! My mom turned 50! (she defiantly doesn't look it) Our flight was canceled so i had to buy a whole new plane ticket, but i was so glad to be home!


Halloween was awesome! Jennika was a cupcake fairy, and Ruth was a little cupcake, we got to enjoy the first bit of trick or treating with the Davis family then went trick or treating with the Raddatz family, I only went for a little bit because Ruth wasn't enjoying it so i can home to pass out candy to all the little princess' and monsters! Jennika came home shortly after me and had so much fun with her Daddy! Nana got to take lots and lots of pictures and we ended the day with Jennika running around the house screaming " GO GO GO" (she had a little too much candy, considering she hasn't had more that a few M&Ms a day!) Over all i wouldn't change the day for anything I was so happy to have my Mom here and my husband. :)

Today is Nov 2nd and my Mom leaves. :( However I start a new me today. going to be working out with the husband in the morning and at night, and getting back to doing the C25K program. I will be starting doing my own little work outs throughout the day and I also have started to cut out Fast food, candy, chocolate, soda, tea, coffee (oh boy I've grown to love it the past month since i have been going and going non stop), chips, white foods, and adding lots more fruits and veggies! I will be hoping to blog everyday to get my frustrations out and hopefully keep myself on track! I have told my husband that i am to work out with him no matter what if i tell him i already did something today he is told to force to me do a workout with him! it is going to be a rough week with trying to get into the swing of things but i am SO ready to get all this fat off me!!!!!!

As of this morning i have not worked out but am going to as soon as i am done here. I have taken my supplements which includes ItWorks greens, vitamin, and metabolism booster. I have heard so many great things about ItWorks and i have done their wraps myself and it deff worked!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! I am off to do a little workout!


Ashley

Introducing Me and My Life.

HEY! I am Ashley, I decided I would start a blog to help me get through some things that are going on with my life and I know if I write everything down it will be a good outlet for me. Bare with me since I am not a great writer and this is the first time I have wrote anything aside an email or text in 5 years! :)

First things first, I am a wife to the most amazing person, John Rodewald II, he has been there for me when no one else was and I wouldn't have it any other way. We got married March 22nd, 2009, John is in the Army so it started a whole new life for me. I discovered what "Military" life truly is about and how different it is from "Civilian" life. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into but I soon learned how to adapt. We found out shortly after we got married that we were expecting, this was wonderful news to me since we had just lost a baby Jan. 2009, John was so thrilled and I did everything I could to make sure everything would be okay. John deployed Jul. 2009 to Afghanistan and wow what a shock. I never thought I would get married only to live alone for a year and have the pain of my husband being in great risk. In Dec 2009 I delivered Jennika Rose Rodewald, she is one amazing little girl. John got to meet her when she was 2 wks old and I was complete even if only for 2 weeks. John left again and it was just Jennika and I. Being a mom is the greatest feeling in the world. John came home from Afghanistan in Jun. 2010, we started prepping to move to KY. In Oct. 2010 John's younger brother Joe was killed in Afghanistan and it was the WORST feeling in the world having to tell the man you love that his brother was killed. we were devastated. John, having just came back from the same area and traveled the same road that his brother was killed on, he lost a piece of him and myself not knowing Joe for all that long lost a piece of me also, I hurt more knowing that my daughter wouldn't be able to run around and play with her Uncle. October was a hard month for us, and as a family we came together and spent as much time as we could doing things we loved. November we found out we were expecting our second child and at a time of grieving we were so thrilled! Telling family at a time like this was a little harder however everyone was so happy for us, I know Joe would be thrilled too! In Feb. 2011 we left WA and headed towards KY, we got a month and spent time with family cause we knew it would be a while til we got to see them again. Traveling was a whole new feeling when you are going to a place where you have never been and leaving the west coast was a shock since i grew up there my whole life. I was thrilled when my mom said she would come with us and help us get settled. I was 4 months pregnant and really didn't want to unpack and organize alone haha. In Jul 2011 we welcomed Ruth Marie Rodewald (named after my grandmother)  she is a spitting image of her sister and WOW are they so much alike. I quickly got the hang of having two kids and LOVE being a mom even more. every day is a new adventure and they do something new. Now its October and we are prepping to move again to Fort Bragg NC, it is going to be a huge change since John has accepted a new job and will be busy a lot more than before. I was grateful to go to Oregon this past week to visit family and introduce Ruth to everyone and i had a blast, we went for Joe's year mark and Jennika talks about him a lot with is so wonderful to hear. Jennika is now 22 months and Ruth is 16 wks. i look at pictures of John when he was little and see a lot of Ruth in him, and we look at pictures of Joe when he was Jennika's age and WOW do they look a lot alike! Jennika is changing every day and getting so smart, she is talking and signing, potty trained (which is awesome!), such a wonderful big sister and loves her sister so much! Nana is visiting and we are heading to NY for my moms (nana) 50th birthday! It is going to be SO much fun!

Well there is my last 2 1/2 years in a nut shell, and I am excited for the future.