Our Stay at the Fisher House at WPAFB

My son and I are trying to get over a nasty virus this week, so we've been staying in to avoid giving our germs to anyone else.  But I'm trying to take advantage of the downtime by catching up on the posts about our trip last month.  So today I'm sharing about our stay at the Fisher House, which is similar to a Ronald McDonald house, except it's only for military members!

The Fisher House Foundation builds houses near big military hospitals where military families can live free of charge while receiving medical treatment.  Because of the way our military healthcare works, families often have to travel for medical procedures so having a nice place to stay without worrying about the cost is an amazing blessing!

Read below to learn more about the Fisher House Foundation and see pictures from the WPAFB Fisher House!  (As always, I feel the need to say that I am NOT a photographer, so don't expect perfect pictures:)

We traveled from Offutt AFB (Nebraska) to Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio) for my husband's corrective eye surgery.  Since it was an elective surgery, we were put on a waiting list at first, but about two weeks ahead of time, we were contacted saying that they had room for us.

 

When we first arrived, we were greeted by the house managers who gave us a tour of the house and explained the house guidelines.  Guests who are physically able are asked to help with basic things like emptying the trash cans, unloading the dishwashers, and shoveling the walk to keep the house nicer for everyone.  

The house is beautifully decorated and well cared for.  The sitting room (above) contains books, music, games and puzzles for guests to enjoy.  On the right you can also see a sweet doll house - I had to keep Hadden away from that because he probably could have done some damage!

The dining room has a booster seat and a high chair, which was great for us.  A couple times a week, meals would be provided by a community or base group, but usually guests prepare their own meals.  Guests are only permitted to eat in the dining room or the kitchen which makes sense.  But was a tad difficult for us since Hadden is used to snacking throughout the day and not used to sitting in a high chair each time.  

The picture of Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher hangs in the dining room.

The kitchen is gorgeous!  They have everything you need to prepare meals (pots, pans, baking sheets, etc).  Milk and juice is provided for your use and there are a couple cabinets containing staples for everyone to use, like boxed mac and cheese or canned soup.

In the upper right hand corner of the cabinets above, you might notice that each one has a label.  Each room is assigned a cabinet and a shelf in the refrigerator to keep personal food items.  It was so nice to have access to a kitchen while we were there.  To be honest, we ate out a lot, mostly at Chick-Fil-A because Hadden could release energy on the play area.  But we normally ate breakfast and either lunch or dinner at the Fisher House.

Often there was fruit and baked goods sitting on the counter for everyone to enjoy.  It was these small touches that made it feel more welcoming.

Off the kitchen is the laundry room where we could do laundry free of charge.  Again, since we were staying there for 10 days with a toddler, this made things easier for us.

The back of the house had a sitting area (above) and a TV area (below).  There were also toys back here for little ones to play with.  That came in handy because there were quite a few other children there during our stay.  The sitting area had a large assortment of magazines that I enjoyed flipping through.  And the TV area had video games, DVDs and board games.

Since we were there in the winter, we weren't able to enjoy the back porch (out the doors on the right), but it would have been wonderful in warmer weather!

Hallway leading to guest rooms

 Since they knew we were bringing a toddler, the house managers provided a pack n play for Hadden.  

To the left is the mirror and vanity and to the right is a walk in shower.

We came back to our room a couple different days to find a stocking filled with gifts waiting for us - just another little touch they added to make our stay nicer.

Here's a picture of Hadden unpacking our first stocking

(we'd just taken his winter hat off which is why his hair looks so matted)

I always liked the idea behind the Fisher House, but now that I've stayed there and met other families who have benefitted from the foundation, I appreciate it even more.  Our stay and my husband's surgery were relatively easy.  We struggled a bit with keeping Hadden busy since there were many things he could get into.  And we had a really hard time getting him to sleep there, which left us all a bit tired and cranky.  But I have a sense of peace knowing that if we face medical issues in the future and have to travel to a different base for treatment, there will likely be a Fisher House where we can stay.

If you'd like to learn more about the Fisher House Foundation, you can visit their website here.

"this i promise you" {my entry into Amazon Associates}

If that title didn't cause you to start humming the N Sync song, you missed the perfect chance to relive the glory of 90's boy bands!  Oh well, this post really has nothing to do with Justin Timberlake, but you should find the song on youtube so just in case you feel like singing along, here's a link. ;)

For a couple months I've considered joining the Amazon Associates program and about two weeks ago I finally took the jump.  Before I started using it on the blog, however, I wanted to explain clearly what it was and why I decided to join.

If you don't know anything about Amazon Associates, here's a quick summary.  I earn a very small commission (usually 4%) for items that someone purchases on Amazon after reading about it on my blog.

Why did I decide to join Amazon Associates?  Glad you asked!

1.  I do this anyway!  Since the beginning of my blog I've been linking to Amazon for books, movies, music and other products.  I've never gotten any commission or reward for doing this - I just wanted a quick link for readers to learn more about the products I recommend.

2.  I adore Amazon.  Truly, I do.  We've used Amazon to do 100% of our Christmas shopping for the past two years and often use it for birthdays too.  All three members of my family have Amazon wish lists and we used it for our baby registry too.  I am joining the Associates team because I trust Amazon is a good company.

3.  Student loans are pesky and weighty.  My husband and I both have student loans that it looks like we'll be paying off for awhile to come.  I am SO glad that I got the education that I did, but it does make our finances strained at times.  I decided to give Amazon Associates a try to see if I could earn a little extra income for our family.

And now the important question: How does all this affect you?

Awesome news!  It doesn't.  You pay the EXACT same price.  Promise.  You pay what you would normally pay and I earn 4% for recommending it to you.

So here's what I want to you know:

1.  I will be HONEST - I will only recommend things that I would normally link to.  I won't start writing weird posts just to link to expensive items.

2.  I will include a disclaimer every time I post an Amazon Associate link (usually at the bottom of the post just like I do with book reviews).  And I'll probably include a link back to this page so newer readers can see what Amazon Associates is all about.  If you'd rather I didn't get your commission, simply visit the normal Amazon site and search for the product yourself.  :)

Questions, complaints, comments?  Leave a comment here on the blog or send me an email.  I'd love to get some feedback on this!

2013 In Review (because all the cool kids are doing it)

Here's our year in review along with my favorite Instagram picture of the month. :)  There are links throughout so click away!

In January I officially became a Key Spouse for our squadron (but I didn't write about it until April) and we celebrated my husband's birthday with a date to Joe's Crab Shack.

In February we decided to create a separate blog for our family updates.

In March we started our gratitude wall.

In April we started our summer produce challenge to eat more seasonally.

In May I read my favorite book of 2013 and fell in love with Shauna Niequist's writing (I received Bittersweet for Christmas this year and can't wait to dig in).

In June I was a bridesmaid (brides-matron?) for my friend's wedding and we traveled 2,217 miles in 11 days to see family and friends all over the place.  We hope we never have to do that road trip again!  During June I also wrote about about a post about feminism and the Church.  I'm not incredible proud of the writing or the depth because I know I could do better on both of those.  But I am very proud that I overcame my 'fear of man' just a little bit by pressing "publish" on that post.

In July Hadden learned to walk and hasn't slowed down since!  I wrote a second post about our favorite baby items which was a follow up post to this one from last September.

In August we celebrated Hadden's first birthday, I was named as one of the top 10 military mom bloggers and my blog had a much needed makeover!

In September we started our first Whole30 (we'll be doing another in January!)

In October we celebrate Halloween and I reviewed our commissary's pick up system (one word: awesome!).

In November my sister's family came for Thanksgiving which was the best ever!

And finally, in December we traveled to Ohio so my husband could have corrective eye surgery (more on that in upcoming posts).


**This post contains Amazon Associates links

currently reading (my LAST book review of 2013): A Star for Mrs. Blake

While we were away for my husband's surgery, I was contacted about reviewing the book A Star for Mrs. Blake

 by April Smith.  I read the summary and it caught my interest so I agreed.  When we got home from the trip, I was TIRED.  It had been a long two weeks of chasing a toddler around, helping with my husband post-op and I needed a mental break.  This book was waiting for me when we got home and I thought I'd just read a couple chapters to see what I thought.  Things didn't exactly go as planned because soon I was swept away into Mrs. Blake's world and reading non-stop.  In less than 24 hours I had read the entire 334 pages!  If you want to read a little more about the book, check out my review below or look for it on sale on January 14th!

(Image from Amazon)

A Star for Mrs. Blake

 is a historical fiction book set in 1931, thirteen years after the end of World War I.  The story follows Cora Blake's journey from her small town in the United States to visit the grave of her son, Sammy, in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery with a group of Gold Star Mothers (referring to the gold star that hung on their service flags after a family member had died).

Cora Blake, a volunteer librarian, lives on Deer Isle, Maine where she cares for her three nieces, and keeps tabs on her trouble-making brother-in-law.  Living the midst of the Great Depression, Cora makes ends meet by working in the cannery and a frugal lifestyle.  When a letter comes from the US government, Cora has a flashback to the letter she received 13 years ago telling her that her only son, who had lied about his age to enlist in the Army, had been killed in action.  This letter, however, was an invitation to join other Gold Star Mothers to visit their sons final resting places in France, paid for by the United States.

With little hesitation, Cora decides she will join the pilgrimage.  She travels to New York City where she meets the group with whom she'll be traveling - four other Gold Star Mothers, a young nurse and a newly commissioned Army officer.  The women are all unique, coming from different religions, ethnicities and socioeconomic levels, which adds drama to an already emotional journey.  Once in France, Cora meets an American journalist, Griffin Reed, who was injured during the war and is now forced to wear a metal mask to cover his wounds.  When Cora tells Griffin the story of her pilgrimage, including a secret she's kept for years, he writes an article about her that brings with it a surprise ending.

A Star for Mrs. Blake is based on the stories of deceased Army Colonel Thomas West Hammond, "whose first assignment as a graduate of West Point Academy was to accompany a party of Gold Star Mothers...on the pilgrimage to France."  After I finished the book, I did some researching of my own and found that April Smith had done an excellent job of weaving historical fact within her fictional story.  The characters quickly grew dear to my heart and I was moved to tears many times throughout the book.  As I read about mothers crying over their sons graves, I found myself stopping the book for a moment to scoop my son into my arms and tell him about much I love him.  This book gave me a greater appreciation for the sacrifice of our veterans and their families and a great appreciation for my own family.

My Rating: 5 Stars

**I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

**This post contains Amazon Associates links

Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth!

"Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings

Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

My throat clenched and my eyes filled with tears as we sang those bolded lines in Church on Sunday.  My son in my arms, a chorus of voices around me all and I was instantly overcome by this Truth we believe: that God became Man that He might die in my place so that I might live with Him forever.

Glory to the newborn King, indeed.

It's not Christmas until...

Since we were away for the past two weeks, I've been going overboard on everything Christmas for the past few days to make up for the lost time.  While we were gone, we tried to keep up on our Advent reading, but that was about it!  So I have a checklist in my head of things that we MUST do in order for it to feel like Christmas.  Starting with the tree farm...

It's not Christmas until you freeze your tail off at a tree farm and walk around in circles for an hour trying to find the right one.

It's not Christmas until you sing along to Point of Grace 'A Christmas Story' album (preferably while doing something else on the list)

It's not Christmas until you've spent an afternoon (or two or three) baking.

It's not Christmas until you've collected a pile brown paper packages from your doorstep.

It's not Christmas until you spend an evening driving around town to admire lights.

It's not Christmas until you sing carols (bonus points if you know the harmony).

It's not Christmas until you go to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve.


Your turn!  It's not Christmas until you...

Purgatory Exists - It's Driving Through Iowa (a recap of our trip)

We spent the last two weeks at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio where my husband was having surgery.  Since we just got home, I'm still catching up on emails and trying frantically to get things ready for Christmas.  I can't wait to tell you more about the Fisher House where we stayed and show you the pictures - it was gorgeous!

But I wanted to write a little first about our road trip there.  It is an 11 hour drive, which we split into two days by stopping at my parents' house each way.  Our time at my parents' was short, but we did have time to take Hadden sledding for the first time!  We requested a toddler sled for a Christmas gift, and my mom found this one at Target.  Hadden had such a good time!  We don't usually post videos of him on my blog, but I had to share this one.  So here's a video of him going down the little hill by himself.  :)

Now about Iowa.  Have you ever driven through it?  Man.  I'll tell you.  I grew up doing road trips and I usually love them!  But there's something about driving through Iowa to get home that seems ENDLESS.  It's the same view the whole time (flat farmland) and there aren't great options to eat along the way.  I told my husband that I will only drive through Iowa once more in my life and that will be when we're moving away from Nebraska!  Of course, that won't be true - we'll probably be doing that drive this spring.  But I'm trying to not think about it right now.

Other than Iowa's dullness (and our son throwing up on the way home - another thing I'm trying to forget), the road trip was good.  My husband and I have great conversations along the way and I love that uninterrupted time to talk and pick his brain.  The best times are when the baby falls asleep and it's just the two of us passing ideas back and forth, planning for the future and learning more about each other.  

It seems like most people I know fall into one of two camps: love road trips or hate road trips.  I've also noticed that the people who love them usually grew up road tripping with their family and have good memories of it.  Which camp do you fall into?

Sorry for this scattered post - we're off to look at Christmas lights and I don't have time to edit (as usual)!