Timing is everything!

This is to see how many of you REALLY read this blog vs. you say you do! I expect after this for all of you to take the 30 seconds to follow my blog.
When I was 18 I think my mom was trying to marry me off to anyone who would take me (not really, I was probably just an overpowering rough teen), but when I finally married Johnny at 21, it was perfect timing. We thought we could plan EVERYTHING. We "decided" to not-not try to have a baby after our first anniversary. Well, wouldn't you know that on our anniversary we got pregnant with Ella.
With being so super fertile we "decided" that at 15 mo. we WOULD get pregnant again so our babies could be 2 years apart. Well, we didn't get pregnant, and a year later, we weren't pregnant . and a year later we weren't pregnant and FINALLY with God's perfect timing we got pregnant with Zoe when ella was almost 3. But we weren't done. We "decided" that God could take YEARs to get us preggo again so we just never- not - tried after Zoe. I was still nursing when we got pregnant with Ada... and my baby is 16 mo behind my zoe.
But I can't imagine it any other way... God's timing is perfect.
Last year we had a miscarriage which was really hard on us because we were mentally prepared for anything... but that.So this August when I missed my period, I just paused.
The test was negative (just like last year). I didn't "feel" pregnant. then at 3 weeks, I started puking my nuggets up. and the test finally said positive. Now, every day my kids say, "mom's sick AGAIN! she's always sick" And yesterday... the baby is perfect, so keep your eye out for another Campbell to rock this world. Maybe a boy this time? This is my last chance, I mean, I'm 30... my doctor informed me that according to her , I'm coming close to advanced maternal age (REALLY???) And if it IS a boy, look forward to an "about time" party!!!! yay.

What's happening?

I feel like jj from that show in the 70's. I look dumb, but I'm happy.
My sister is 9 years older than me and my brother 5, yet we all have something in common: We're all 3 youth leaders. How did this happen?
It's not like my mom had us run around and do dumb icebreaker games with our friends. It's not like we were in the same youth group at the same time EVER. We don't even have the same interests, yet we all ended up with the same passion. Did my mom pray for this?
what will become of this?
It has been real nice, though. I've listened to my sister and brother talk about their jobs, and now we can all have an intelligent conversation together... well, as much as youth can :)
I actually called them up and we got to bounce ideas off each other, concerns, prayers, and maybe a little laughter.
So watch out Southeast United States the Mixers (ok franks and campbells) are coming with the Word of God in laymen's terms... and I'm ready to show how true He really is!

It's not just a name... apparently

Years ago I went onto the greatest site ever, Etsy.com. I wanted to ask a question to a seller, but in order to do that I had to make an account. So thinking off the top of my head, I named my account alimakeswiftly. Much MUch later I decided to open my own etsy site. But when I went to go make the greatest site ever: pineapples and Popsicles, I couldn't because I was CLAIMED to already have an account. I was so appauled that someone used my email address to make their account (feel kinda foolish now, it was me). I couldn't change the name, I could only open another account with a different email. Well, if you know me, I hardly check my first email, much less a new one. SO, I eventually became 6 months later, Alimakeswiftly.etsy.com.
It was incredibly slow. I didn't know what to put on there or when. Frankly, I still am slow at it. I would end up putting things up too late (I still do) and get NO business. Really? Why did I do it... But then at Christmas I got OODLES. Then nothing. Then easter I got OODLES, and then nothing. Now, I can say that my name is out... not on etsy, but it's out.
Then this fall came. If you asked me 2 months ago how business was going, I would have said , :"what business?". Then a friend asked me if I would make some shirts for his business. I've never done anything like that, and hey, I needed money. At that VERY moment, EVERYONE I know came up and asked me to monogram SOMETHING. or hem or glue or fix or patch or ... WHAT???? Well I got jacked up... how exciting. Then I started volunteering my services and ... every night I was up late. I was giving peoples backpacks back the next day, 8 shirts and 13 monograms done in 2 weeks, hemming in a week or so... I trully have embraced my name: Ali Does Make Swiftly.
but now it's expected. So, what happens when I have 3 kids running around and my FIL dies and I just don't feel good and ..and...and. people I find , don't care. they want their stuff done. Will I ever slow it down, probably not! I actually enjoy what I do. Should I mark up the prices, probably, but I'm a sucker. What to do?
The funny thing: in a couple weeks. I'll have nothing, my machine will break (it's headed that way). and I'll be begging people to order things, but yet I'll be too "busy" to get my fall, winter, christmas, school shirts onto etsy. SOOOO , if you see something you want or like be sure to poke me and tell me to put it on the site that is vacant, or just make it for you now... I promise to be swifter than my site. :)

What would you do for skymiles?

So many ways that I could answer this question. First, I must point out that as I walked in the airport, I noticed many amazing things. Did you know that I can buy Rosetta Stone in the airport? But can they promise me that I'll learn Mandarin before I land in China? Also, you know how you can earn free crud when you listen to a timeshare. Atlanta had the audacity to tell me I could earn a free flight on Delta if I listened to their shpeel. Now wait! Can I apply this flight to the one that I'm about to board because my flight leaves in half an hour...
But I digress. I must share with you the joy that was my solo flight with 3 girls from Pheonix AZ to Charleston SC. It was 8:30am when we arrived at the pheonix airport. In tow I had a double stroller, 2 carseats, 3 bookbags (because it's a rule that the kids refuse to carry their own bag in public no matter how light it is), a purse (big one!!! full!!!), a laptop.... and oh yah, 3 kids. We began our journey at the flight check in... after it printed 50 copies of our boarding passes and flight schedules all the size of an ATM receipt we left for the security check in.
Now the happiness and candycanes begin. we take off our shoes. load up 8 buckets(!!!) full of junk, and was about to load up the seats to put through x ray when the guy in front of us tried to smuggle something in and they closed the station down... except that by now 50 people have lined up in the other station because they didn't want to be behind me. And we wait.
and wait.
and wait, for no one to let us slide in. so in my jerky way, I force myself in. we transfer all our junk, when I realize ( a minute too late) that ada's sippy is full of milk... they pull me aside to check for bombs in the milk and EVENTUALLY we enter the terminals.
Now I'm actually quite proud of my girls. they sat for 4 hours quietly. they watched thier movie and at thier veggies. Ella even offered the 8 year old boy next to me if he'd like gum. Which was a funny story. This woman in her late 30s gets on the plane with her 8 year old son. She is a 12 year old in a 38 year old womans body. The only thing she brings on the plane (besides her kid) is 5, count them, gameboys of various sizes, a VENTI coffee (1 for her and 1 for her son) and her makeup. She refuses for ella to give her son gum because it's unhealthy, no mind to the giant caffinated beverage he's consuming or the ice cream she forced down him for lunch even though he asked for veggies... hmmm.
After we land, we taxied the runway for 30 minutes so ella and ada unbuckle (no they did not get out of their seats), but the boy next to me can't take it; he had to lecture them. I said, "son really this is much better than them screaming." and I assure him he's super mature. His mom informs me, yes, more than my children (excuse me) and how she has to get off the plane away from them (what!!!!) then as my zoe gets her hand stuck in the bathroom door (I know, how ?) she screams and the lady PUSHES people down the isle to get away from us. I'm still proud of my girls.
We get off the plane, go to the bathroom, where I leave my purse and lose it. we walk to find dinner and order before I realize my purse is gone and we have to run for it. After we get the purse, there is no time to get dinner and the hill goes down.
SCREAMING ensues on the plane, off the plane , to the plane, away from the plane. they lick, bite, spit, kick, throw gum, pry it out and eat it again. needless to say the people sitting in 21c and 22c are a little peaved at those in 21ab and 22ab. but we get there... barely.
it is now 8:30 pm and I drive to chick fil a . the guy at the window asks how I'm doing and I say, " if you want me to give me a free milkshake, my day could be made better." and you know what he asks... what flavor... he made my 12 hour flight worth it... and what do I do... make him regret it. he asks why my children are crying in the back and was it because they didn't get a milkshake.... and in my sarcasm I say , " no, they're just hungry and I won't give them their food. I mean, it's only 9 pm and its early so they can wait til we get home right?"
he didn't find my day nearly as humorous as I did.
the end

home sweet home

Last weekend Johnny, the girls and I went to a family reunion for Johnny's family. this was the first time we had seen these people since we got married (yah, I remember a lot about meeting new people on THAT day) if at all. In the afternoon, johnny took the older girls to the lake for a fishing expedition, while I stayed back to keep an eye on Ada. The older ladies were inside reminiscing over family albums, but I sat outside on the porch with the "old" men.
It made me realize how much I love my wonderfully dysfunctional family, all sides of it. These men sat on the porch discussing how they terrorized their parents. My "uncle" snuck out of the house and took the family boat with his friends, they ran the boat into a tree and split it down the middle and then hauled the leftover pieces home to show his dad. What would I DO if my son brought home a shattered boat that he wasn't supposed to be using? Probably the same thing his dad did; he leapt off the front porch over the railing, fixed the boat, and then out of frustration, sold it.
That afternoon I laughed, I gasped, I cried. I heard stories of the vietnam draft, of family life, I saw the adults love on my girls and get psyched about their little loves, and I fell in love with my family again.
I look back at my family and even though we had our arguments, we can also be very open with each other. My mom and dad were there for me in my hardest times, and allowed me to hear their struggles, which prepared me for my marriage. My brother and I had horrible sibling rivalry, but I feel like we relate to each other so much. For instance, my brother tried to shut me out of the house to tease me in front of his friends, and ended up slamming the sliding glass door on my foot, almost breaking it. But the most beautiful thing I've ever heard was at one of the only youth retreats we ever went on together to my future college (CIU). He told my friend Renee that he envied me that I could be friends with anyone, and easily fall into place. That has stayed with me for 15 years and I know that my brother loves me. My sister let me visit and stay with her in college when I was only 9 or 10; what a loving sister!
Every family is dysfunctional. We all have that crazy relationship with our parents, our battles with siblings, that funky aunt (ok and I think she really is about the coolest aunt that I could share anything with), those grandparents that wipe the smudges off your face with their spit, and the cousins that although you haven't seen in 10 years you could probably fall right back into rhythm with. Now I have 2 more families (plus 1 because my MIL is remarried) I can enjoy the stories that come with my MIL's family and my FIL's family and the step parents and their kids and their kids. It makes me smile that one day, I'll be part of another 3 families with my girls (hopefully) and hear their dysfunctions and just laugh (or maybe write a book)!!! look out for the posts that come in the next few years, I'm sure they'll be great.

Life on the (funny) farm

I was born at lunchtime on women's day. I'd like to say that the date and time of my birth would say something about my personality; I'm a strong decisive independent woman, who always takes charge. That rumor is not so.
I grew up in a neighborhood with no children. Halloween was great because every house would buy a bag of candy for me and my siblings and our pillowcases would be full before we made it halfway down the street. Frankly, I loved my neighborhood. I learned compassion and how to be grateful (plus there was always a captive audience). I really only had 3 friends til I was 9 (and we moved): Cory, Laura, and Rebecca.
I sat in the back of the class at school. I fell for peer pressure on a contagious basis; What I mean by that is that I would do what one person would ask me to, and then I felt that I needed to oblige everyone, so no one's feelings would be hurt. I think I did this because I never really learned how to relate to other kids. I was raised around adults (and my brother and sister who beat me up). I watched shows like Murder She Wrote and Columbo. The person I wanted to be like was Jessica Tandy (and was devastated when she passed away).
This has affected me as a 30 year old. I've changed my ways. I'm learning how to say No!. God has helped me stop running through those endless hypotheticals that start when someone doesn't call or is late. I'm searching for a best friend.
Now I take charge when the situation calls for it (because I can't stand wasting time), but by no means am I a take-charge kinda girl. I'm a little outspoken, but I lied for years (another story for another time). And i look to my daughters and I cringe. Why? Well, I have no idea what is a normal amount of time to spend with neighborhood kids (I didn't), I don't know what is an age appropriate arguement for a child is (never had em). Will they ever find thier best friend as a kid? I don't know if they're missing out on something ,but I'm going to take my hypothetical's word for it. That voice keeps telling me that I didn't miss out on anything, so neither are they. It tells me that my caring will one day be acknowledged by my girls and appreciated. It tells me , "ali, suck it up, you're 30, not 13". So, now I'm going to go out there and live like the girl born at 12:11 on March 8... maybe, if that's ok with you.

Vacation

When I was growing up, we went on vacation atleast twice a year. Vacation was always the same. We went to The Florida Keys once a year and we went to Okeefenokee swamp every fall. Now, vacations were about family. we spent 16 hours in a car together on the way to the keys. For you youngun's, back then vacations in a car weren't the same as today. we didn't have airconditioning all the time. we didn't have DVD players and game boys (oh wait, even that reference is old: I mean PS3's), we had little cars that didn't have all it's working seatbelts, and books. we had sisters and brothers that forced you to sit on the floor of the car so they could stretch out and take a nap. Luckily, I learned to fight off motion sickness and read while we drove and sleep on the floor of the car (thank God that Florida is flat and straight). Okeefenokee is a SWAMP. and all the excitement that comes with that. What? you dont know what can be exciting about a swamp? Living in a cabin for a week, riding a boat with alligators and indian burial grounds. and well, swamp creatures. The great thing about that vacation was that there were about 20-30 other people who came with us ,and as a kid, you met new kids to play with each year. We ate donuts on a string, scavenger hunts and misquito counting.
Now I'm 30 and I have kids of my own. What vacations do we do? I have to laugh. We go to the beach (not the keys) every year for the 4th, and we go to okeefenokee every fall. And for some reason, it's more exciting for me now than it ever was as a kid. People know I'm going and ask about it; they ask if I've gone yet and what it's like. I force my children to eat donuts on a string and scavenger hunts. I found myself this past week at the beach, having a contest who could fill up a grocery bag with trash the quickest to get a prize... and they did it! Happily! Forget DVD's kids. Forget TV and ipods. give my kids a book and NATURE and maybe they'll grow up as well-rounded and happy as I am.
Thanks mom for forcing me to sit through all the okeefenokee lectures in the educational hall.
oh and p.s.: Zoe will be celebrating her 4th birthday with the alligators this year. I plan on taking advantage of that! For all my peeps who join me on vacation, we will be the envy of all my friends.