Mommy Musings

Ten years.  2015 is a big "anniversary" year for us.  A decade ago, we had got to experience some of the most wonderful moments of my life.  But none was more important that February 26, 2005, the day Skip came home from Iraq. Nothing that came after would have been possible without that day, and I never once take it for granted.  After months and months apart, Skip was finally back in my arms, safe and sound.  There is nothing, nothing  better than a homecoming. Sorry for the picture quality of some of these...I screenshot some of them off the homecoming video we have! Happy ten years home Skip.  Today, and every day, I thank God you were able to come home to me.

A few months ago, I mentioned to Skip that I needed to win a contest like the Unstoppable Moms one Live with Kelly and Michael was having.  A trip to meet Michael Strahan and a grand prize of $100,000?!  That would be my dream.  Obviously I was just saying this in jest to Skip, and went about my day. A few days later I came home from the gym and saw Skip furiously typing on the computer.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he was working on his nomination of me for the Unstoppable Moms campaign.  I shockingly reminded him that I was just kidding when I mentioned that the other day.  But Skip said he wasn't and thought I deserved to win. With the nomination, you have to write a little essay on what makes this particular mom unstoppable.  I didn't have the guts to read what Skip wrote about me for a few weeks after he submitted it, but when I finally did, I absolutely had tears in my eyes.  I obviously wasn't a finalist as I'm really n...

As you all know, this blog is called Mommy Musings.  And while I sometimes blog about myself, or some sponsored posts, I mainly talk about my girls and being a mom.  That's why I started this blog afterall. But today I'm going to take a break from all the mommy-ness and talk about my husband, my Skip.  We've been together for ten years now, married for eight.  I knew he was something very special the moment I met him.  Our attraction towards each other was immediate, and after one night of meeting, we belonged only to each other.  So our feelings, our desire to be together, that was the easy part.  But it's not to say that our relationship has been easy.  In the past decade we have dealt with long distance, the police academy, activation and a deployment, buying a dog, buying a condo, losing a friend, a few jobs for me, weird cop hours, a few cars, selling a condo, buying a house, two pregnancies, two beautiful baby girls, hard career decisio...

Here's another guest post that I did for Allie that I never posted on here.  I know almost all of you have heard the story of the deployment Skip and I lived through many years ago, but it never gets old to me:)  And with this Christmas season upon us, it's a nice little reminder of all we have been through and all I am thankful for:) As you know, Skip and I have been married for 7 1/2 years now....married for 9 1/2.  Emmy and Charlie are the two sweet little girls who complete our family. But the only reason we were able to get married and have these girls is because of what happened on February 26, 2005.  The day Skip came home from Iraq. When Skip and I met back in 2003 he was in the police academy, as well as the Marine Corps Reserve.  He drilled out of Pennsylvania and was an MP.  We were in the early stages of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and sure enough Skip's unit was called to active duty.  After some training in California in the ...

This was a guest post I wrote for Crystal a few months back, but never shared on here!  Here are a few marriage tips I have accumulated over the years. My husband, Skip, and I have been married for seven years now. Crazy how fast the time flew! I feel like August 8, 2004, the day we got engaged, was just yesterday!  I always knew I wanted to get married young, but even I didn't think I would be 22, having only just graduated from college.  Looking back?  I wouldn't have changed a thing.  I am so happy we got married when we did!    In the grand scheme of life, Skip and I have not been married all that long {especially since we plan to be married for 80 years} but in our peer group we're definitely one of the more seasoned married couple.  And after 7 years I think I've got a few pieces of advice I've accumulated.   {one} If you're in love, don't wait.  Sure you want to make 100% sure this is the person you want to s...

I'm very excited for Becky's Women Connect project!  I love finding new blogs, especially when they are in a similar life stage as me.  I think it's important for women to be able to find someone going through the same things they are to share stories and bounce ideas off one another.  So who am I?  If you're new here, I'm Mandy.  I'm newly thirty { ouch }, married for seven years, mommy for four years. I've worn a lot of hats over the years: student, teacher, girlfriend, fiance, wife, Marine Corps wife, cop wife, deployment survivor, Jersey girl...the list could go on. But the most important hat I've ever worn, is that of stay-at-home mom to my two sweet girls. Being a SAHM is the one thing I always wanted to do in life.  I always knew I wanted kids and as long as my husband and I could afford it, I wanted to be able to stay home while they were young.  I didn't want to miss out on a second of their little lives.  So ...

I'm very excited to be linking up with the lovely Becky today for her Show and Tell series!  Today's topic is all about my man Skip:) 1. Tell us how and when you met your love and what attracted you most to him. I met Skip August 24, 2003 at my best friend's house.  She was dating Skip's best friend, and they strategically placed us together in her backyard.  The first thing I liked about him was his piercing blue eyes and the fact that he smoked the same cigarettes as me {yes we used to smoke..I blame it on the young age}  We talked for hours that night and the conversation never lulled.  I can't tell you that I knew I would marry him that night, because I didn't.  But I did know I felt some sort of connection with him and knew he would impact my life somehow.  2. Show us the very first {or one of the first} pictures you guys ever took together.  {Feel free to show us more than one} I have been searching for weeks for the very first picture of u...