S'mores Life

Nine months and my entire second pregnancy of six weeks away, two weeks home. A year of four weeks on, two weeks off . (The "best" year of this job.) Nine weeks of "Oh you're coming back in a week. No, never mind. Ok you're coming back in two weeks. No, never mind..." Eight months of anywhere from four to six weeks on, averaging one week off. No consistent schedule. Alternating between gratefulness for the opportunity and the ability to move our family back to Alaska, and (probably irrational) pure hatred of the slope, everything it stood for, and what I felt "it" was doing to our family. But I knew, deep down, it wasn't doing anything to our family. Maybe some families are strong enough for that lifestyle. In fact, I know a lot of thriving slope families. Our was not one of them. For everyone who thinks that the money is "so good" on the slope, I have a couple thoughts for you. First off, he isn't paid when he's hom...

It's come up in discussions around me a lot lately, whether it's in church classes or just with friends. Christmas letters. And our tendency to brag, show pride, or gloss over the reality of our lives. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas letters and cards. I wish more people sent them, I love reading them, and I love writing them. I also try to be "real" when I write them...this year, instead of a typical letter, I decided to put our top quotes of 2015. Hence, why the words "vagina," "wine," and "poop" (twice!) are on our Christmas card this year. I don't try to sugar coat our lives or our reality in real life, and I try to be pretty honest online too. However, reading this brutally honest Christmas card  made me realize that I really was not being as honest about the brutal parts of our year as I could be. And yes, we want to be uplifting and positive and not complain or drag people down...also, as someone who suffers fr...