Thomas

One of the qualities that attracted my husband to be was his work ethic. For those of you that don't know, Thomas and I met on-line....risky, yes but the one of the things he was proud of was his job. A civilian Navy employee came to North Dakota State University and recruited Tom straight from College to go and work for the Navy!! Thomas worked long and hard hours for 10 years and I was so proud of what he had accomplished. We were married not even 3 months and Thomas came home and asked how I felt about going overseas. I thought it was awesome but to be honest, I never thought it was going to happen. 3 months later, we were on our way to Germany and Thomas started working for the Army. We both learned a lot during our time overseas and once again, I was proud of him and his accomplishments. Then we moved to to Minnesota and my husband has worked harder and longer hours that he has ever done before. I'll wake up at 2 in the morning and he'll be answering email, more then anything I would love for him to come to bed but his job is the help our soldiers and if I have to sacrifice my time with Thomas so he can help out our soldiers, I'm okay with that. Now Thomas has hit another big mild-stone in his career, two weeks ago we received the news that Thomas was selected on the Engineering Officer at Ft. McCoy, WI. Thomas is only the 3rd civilian to be hired to start at the new location. I'm so proud of him!! So, this move is going to be crazy but I know this is where we are meant to be! So, Mr. Helgeson....I love you so very much. Thank you for all you do here at home and for our soldiers both in the US and overseas.

Spirital Rest

Have you ever felt like you were wondering aimlessly through the Desert!!?? Boy, I have, in fact, I'm there right now! There is so much going on right now, I'm not sleeping well, someday dealing with Makenna is exhausting, my husband is alway out of town and I'm just tired. I think as a mother we all get tired, there is no rest. I often feel that I want to through my arms in the air and say, "God, just give me a break" Then I have to step back and try and look at the big picture....what is God trying to show me? Am I being faithful to him to praying and reading my bible. God is always there for me, am I there for Him, living for Him?! I feel that I'm trying but am I trying hard enough?
This weekend I'm going to take time and reflect on all the blessing that I have been given. I plan on having some one on one time with God while out hiking. Praying and talking out loud to God. I need...Spirital Rest. I'm so looking foward to this weekend with my family, spending time outside and watching all of God's beauty that surrounds us.

As I was writing this blog, I was reminded of a song by Mark Schulz, called "40 Days" This song is life!

Lord, I came to the mountaintop
To be with You
I felt Your grace falling down like rain
And I was made new

But there are times like now when I'm all dried out

(Chorus)
And it's like 40 days out in the desert
Feeling like I'm lost forever
And crying out for You
But in these 40 days I'm going to seek You
With my heart because I believe You
Have brought me to this place
These 40 days

Lord, Your ways are not my own
But I trust You
Lord, You say, "You are not alone,
For I am with you"

But there are times like now when You can't be found

(Chorus)

'Cause You are with me
You never leave me
Even when my world turns upside down
'Cause there are times like now when I will
Trust somehow

Unplugged, Blogging & Ft. McCoy info

This afternoon I'll be officially unplugged. No cell phone, lap top or blackberry....I can't wait. Our family is heading to central MN to camp at Glacier Lake State Park. I'm so excited to get camp set up sit in my chair and read a book...oh and the camp fire and a drink!!! Awesome!

Okay, so I didn't make the 14 days of blogging. I'll try again when I get home from our trip!

Tom has a new start date of 08/18/2008. We have so much to do and right now it seems so overwhelming but I know we'll get it down. I gave my office notice last week. They new it was coming and its hard because I really like my job!!

Anyways, I'll write more in a couple of day, have a great weekend and get outside and enjoy yourself

It's Official

This morning, Thomas receive a phone call from the Civillian Personal Office offering him a job at Ft. McCoy, WI and of course, he accepted!!! Now comes the hard part...getting our house ready to sell and then looking for a new house. It will take us about a month to get the house ready and once the house goes on the market, he have to get three appracial and if the house doesen't sell within 60 the government will buy our house for the average of the appracils. So, if we don't sell, its okay!! Thomas has 60 days to report for duty. The kids and I will stay here in Minnesota until mid-August and we'll go from there. I'm sure they'll be lots of updates, so come back to visit.

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend. Saturday we didn't do much of anything, Matt and I went to the grocery store early, I was having a craving for Cantaloupe and since it was the weekend, I picked up a dozen donuts. I got home and Kevin was up and before long Makenna Jo was up and we all let Thomas sleep until almost 10am. We kicked back and watch a tv...a very lazy morning, I wasn't even stressed out doing laundry or cleaning the house...I very much enjoyed doing nothing. Around noon, Thomas, Matthew and myself headed out to go look at flowers and bark for the yard. We bought about $50 worth of flower some how we ended up spending $120....Oh, Thomas had to by fishing stuff for our up-coming camping trip. We get home and Thomas and Kenna go out shopping for my Mother's Day gift. So, Matt, Kevin and I start planting flower. I love that my boys love to be outside. It started to sprinkle so Kevin went inside...not my Matt he stayed with Mom until I finished all the planting. So, I took my little Matt (kicking & screaming)into the house for a warm bath, which he also seemed to enjoy. I started supper (Steak, yum) and wanted for Tom to get home to put meat on the grill. It was a very nice evening.
Sunday I was taken to a beautiful brunch. I think little Matthew ate more then anyone. Later that afternoon Makenna and I went to Fashion Bug to spend one of my Mother's Day Gift certificate and then we headed home. I was hoping to catch a nap but when I returned home, Thomas was sleeping in this chair, with Kevin sleeping on his lap and poor Matt was in his room crying. So, I got the baby and we went outside and started to get stuff ready for our camping trip next week. Later, Thomas, Kenna and Kevin joined us. Thomas mowed the lawn and we cleaned things up and out in the garage that have been stored all winter long. When we were all finished we enjoye a game of Lawn Golf, Thomas and I didn't win. Then it was time for supper and we had chicken and asparagus on the grill. It was awesome.
So, that was my weekend!!

And the winner is.............Thomas Helgeson

One of the things that attracted me to my husband was his work ethic! He is one of the hardest working men I've ever known. When he is home, he works in the office for 9 hours, comes home and spends time with the family. Then when the kids go to bed, the computer comes out and he starts working again, sometime even until 1 or 2 in the morning. Sometimes, I get a little jealous because I would love for him to spend more time with me but he's busy tried to take care business to support our troops both here in the States and in Iraq.
So, his hard work has once again paid off. Last year he won an award for the Base Op Engineer of the Year for the Army Reserve. He didn't attend the awards ceremony because Matthew was still in the NICU! Then this year he did it again, he was one of the winner of the Civil Servant of the Year Award 2008. About 50 other Federal employees received the same award but I was proudest wife in the room. Way to go Thomas, I know how dedicated you are to your work and its nice when other also notice. I love you, T!!

Happy Mother's Day

So, its Mother's Day and I'm up before the rest of the family...taking a few minutes for myself when I should be downstairs doing the laundry.
This morning, I'm thinking of my Mother. She is so tired from starting a new Resturant, I wish I lived closer so we could spend more time together and I could help her. I was so lucky to spend 10 days with her in Febuary. I know today will be a hard day for her because she lost her own mother in October so its the first Mother's Day without her own Mother. So, this Mother's Day, I"m thankful that I still have my mother!!

Matt loves to be outside

Matthew not only shares my hair color, temper and stuborness but also my love of being outdoors. I was cleaning out the front flowerbed and Matt just loved to play in the dirt and eat everything. He tried rocks, sticks and a few tulips...those where his favorite. I can't wait to take him camping in a few weeks...I know he'll have a ball!!

Go speed Racer!!!

We haven't even seen the movie yest and Kevin is already a huge fan or Speed Racer!!He is sooo proud of his new shirt!

Thursday Nigh Concert

Makenna had a choir conert on Thursday, she had an attitude and it wasn't a plesent night!! I love having a teenager!!

The Internet was down....my world stopped

Okay, so for the past two days our Internet has been down, at least I thought it was down. Thomas was out of town and got back late Thursday and so yesterday he took one look at the computer and said..."yep, it's down"!! I figured that much. Then then asked me if I restarted the computer....Duh....of course, I restated the computer. He then asked if unplugged and re-plugged the modem. UUMMMM...No! So, he did that and boom...it worked. I felt stupid but at least I'll know next time. I'm three days behind on my 14 days of blogging but I'll make it up today

In over my head....Again!!

So, when my husband is out of town, I do things that I'm not supose to....like rearange the bedroom furinture!!! Tom will be so mad when he gets home because, I totally cleaned our bedroom and then I taped the floor boards because we are painting this weekend. So, I took everything out of the closed and got rid of a lot of stuff. So, now the problem is that our bed it piled high with "Stuff" Thomas is coming home tomorrow which means Callie will stay up most of the night just putting things away. Once we get paint on the walls...I'll have post a picture.

14 days of Blogging

Okay, so one of our Pastor's at our church is trying to Blog for 14 days in a row, he's trying to become more disciplined and a little more creative.... check out his blog.
http://www.jeffkerr.net/jeffkerr/2008/05/a-fortnight-of.html
If Pastor Jeff can do this so can I.

So, for my 1st blog, I'll talk about work. I love my job! For those of you who don't know, I work at Fish & Wildlife Service in the Engineering Department. This is a great fit for me since I'm married to an Engineer and we all know that Engineers can be a bit quirky?! I have learned so much in general but I really learned what my husband does as an Engineering Manager in the Government. I learned about construction contracts, acquisitions, payments, policies and procedures. But that isn't the best part of my job, its the people. Most people at Fish & Wildlife are here because they believe in our Motto, "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. " I love nature, I love being outside....I LOVE CAMPING!! I'm currently reading a booked called, "The last child in the woods" am amazing book about children today and their disconnect with nature. I was so inspired by this book, that I'm helping our daycare take a trip to one of our Refuges to learn a little bit more about nature and just go outside and play!! So, as you can imagine...this isn't your typical place of employment. In the Engineering Department we have a Moose, Caribou, a hawk and a few other animals up on the walls. The rest of the building is the same way. These are all animals that were seized for a verity of reasons and now they grace our walls. Put away your business suits, its jeans and flannel shirts in this office. I've been here for almost 2 years and I've only seen my boss in a suit 1 time. It took me about a year to learn to dress down.
I take so much pride in my job and do it to the best of my ability. Apparently is shows because this years, I have received $1000 performance award, then last week, I received $100 on the spot award for some work I did for our Safety department. Then just today, my office gave me a $50.00 gift card for doing such a great job. It nice to be appreciated for what I do.
I'm so sad that my husband's job will be taking us to Wisconsin. The HR department will help me get a job when I move but I really don't want to leave. This will be the 1st time in 8 years that I'm not looking forward to moving to a new duty station. I know things will work out and God will provide me with another job, I just pray it will be awesome as it is here at FWS!!