Top 100

reasons I love Justin
I'll first start off and apologize to those who don’t like all the gushi-ness, stop reading now and this warning is also for the love-intolerant; the following might make those with weak hearts sick.

These are in no particular order and exclude the really graphic mushy stuff

100 He is an amazing writer; he doesn’t really give himself credit but he has a gift
99 He is a grammar stickler….and he HATES text language like LOL, RMOF etc
98 He loves the comic strip “Sin Fest” and that he thinks it’s awesome that the devil girl has a crush on the nerd
97 He is the co-creator of our movie quote game; and a movie genius
96 He loves watching movies almost as much as I do; and also hates so called “Scary” movies ex: Saw, Bloody Valentine
95 He adores our cats; basically the fact that he is a cat person
94 He loves all animals and has the same love and admiration for them that I do
93 He saves me from spiders
92. He loves art; and really enjoys drawing and woodworking
91. Like me he enjoys a good game of Mario Cart or DOA
90. He has never once thought I was strange for wanting to give birth naturally or nurse Klayton.
89. He thinks cloth diapers are cute
88. He doesn’t mind when I fiddle around on my sewing machine
87. He is a math wiz; my own personal human calculator
86. He is a vegetarian
85. He loves the color orange
84. He is a die hard CUBS fan 
83. He is the calm one in the relationship
82. He is passionate about Jujitsu
81. He not so secretly LOVES that my dad named a pizza after him
80. He is picky about beer
79. He loves to read and study history
78. He knows everything about Harry Potter
77. He secretly makes Klay watch Star Wars in hopes he will one day say “Let the force be with you, or these aren’t the droids you are looking for.”
76. He looks gorgeous in a suit
75. Like me has a desire to travel to the west coast by train
74. Likes camping
73. He loves that I am his one-match fire starting wonder
72. He too would rather be outdoors surrounded by trees than anywhere else.
71. He drinks tea
70. He peels oranges for me
69. He repeatedly tells me he loves me BECAUSE I’m different
66. He loves being a dad and wants to have two more children
65. He always carries his satchel of stones and a penny I gave him 7 years ago
64. He takes care of the bills
63. He freely gives our son hugs and kisses
62. Loves cake and ice cream for breakfast
61. He prefers the edge pieces of brownies, while saving the middles for me
60. He doesn’t think recycling is strange
59. He loves to run while it's snowing
58. He gives the best smiles; especially while drinking a Route 44 Cherry Limeade
57. He flosses every day
56. He LOVES amusement park rides; especially water slides
55. He doesn’t get annoyed with my NPR obsession
54. He can quote Savage Garden
53. He doesn’t think Michael Franti is too preachy
52. He is a closet communist (well maybe not, but according to the right wing he is)
51. He likes that I get excited about gardening and doesn’t think it’s strange when I say “I have a hard on for plants”
50. He is slightly anal retentive when it comes to the matchiness of his clothes, no blues with jeans, no browns with khakis
49. He genuinely cares about my friends
48. He knows Sunflowers are my favorite; but that I love the smell of lilies
47. He remembers lilies at Nani’s funeral
46. He likens himself to a penguin “wishes he could fly”
45. He is very good at buttering toast
44. He folds clothes so much better than I can
43. He dislikes huge clunky watches and prefers the ones with the visible gears
42. He can do a back hand-spring, and it always makes me smile thinking of the first one he did; just for me
41. He drools over Apple Computers
40. He was (and will be eventually again, hopefully); a wonderful labor coach
39. He loves Dr. Seuss
38. He has blue eyes and for a while blue hair
37. He believes in me and makes me a better person every day.
36. Loves teaching
35. Enjoys going to Chicago as much as I do
34. He operates a motorcycle and is always extremely responsible in regards to safety: helmet, boots, gloves, and jacket.
33. He likes Mojitos
32. He hates sour cream, which means more for me
31. He loves tattoos and has his next two planned
30. He puts up with rubbing my back for hours on end
29. He loves gumball machines……I wonder if Spencer’s still has that one for sale
28. It is not possible for him to lie
27. He collects playing cards
26. He is simple when it comes to ordering at Ritters; chocolate and vanilla with sprinkles
25. His favorite pizza is roasted red peeper and pineapple, with the occasional red pepper flakes
24. He loves to go on bike rides
23. He thinks that I hate that he tries to test the quality of the cheese-sticks by how far the cheese stretches
22. He kisses my forehead when I’m sad
21. My physical deformity never fazed him
20. For a brief time had gauged ear lobes
19. He is extremely against circumcision
18. He prefers clicky top pens
17. He never forgets to kiss me when he leaves
16. He helped me dread my hair
15. He is the over-protective one in our co-parenthood-ness
14. His favorite “holiday” is Halloween
13. He likes it that I hate using strong smelly girly perfumes
12. He thinks blackened tofu is awesome
11. He is strong and assertive in conversations
10. He is an Air Force OTS select.
9. More often he likes animals better than people
8. He is a self-proclaimed mutt
7. He is a very patient and giving lover
6. He reminds me not to chew on my fingers when I’m nervous
5. He thinks I am the most beautiful person in the world
4. He is an amazing, like weak in the knees......fall over, kisser
3. He loves different languages and hopes someday to be fluent in three or more
2. He loves learning to fix things, like plumbing, appliances and electrical stuff
1. He will be smiling once he is finished reading this.

21.5 Months

It has come to my attention that with matters concerning the military time is very important. Whether it is to turn in a OTS pack or getting finger-printed on a certain day or time; being ON time is necessary. However you can not count on the military to reciprocate. Justin went to his flight physical at the end of July but did not pass the color vision test and is now waiting on a waiver. Our lives have become a waiting game; trying to be patient when all we can is anticipate our future. I feel it is starting to wear on our relationship and my personal feelings of our lives in the Air Force. I need to keep in mind that it will happen, he will go to OTS and until then we should be thankful for the time we have together and with family.

I was not able to return to the one school that I loved and also did not find a replacement art teacher position. Even though most days I feel like a failure; I’m trying to continue to contribute financially by substitute teaching and tutoring in after-care. It has been a difficult adjustment for me and now I realize how fortune I was to have a job that I hated so much. This time last year I had four different jobs and felt overwhelmed; but now it is just the stress of not having a job that is overwhelming.

This past year has been a journey of personal soul-searching. I find that far too often I try to mold my needs and wants into what other people have told me they should be. I deny strong personal desires for fear of rejection and ultimately a part of my soul perish. Though this may sound selfish I need to work on independent thinking and providing my own research into my life. Becoming a mother has changed me; and for the most part for the better but still a part of me yearns to achieve greatness beyond what is expected. Many people don’t have faith in my abilities and struggle to understand my reasons. I don’t think I’m really set-up to make deep intellectual opinions on what I am missing but I will continue to create my own path and strive to find my place in this world one day at a time.

Klayton is a full-fledge 28 lb two year old with all the terrible and wonderful aspects of his age. We think he is extremely smart for an almost two year old. I really need to figure out how to upload video so we can show off his talent. I can’t even begin to list the amazing things he can do but to say the least he is beautiful and I am so proud to be his mommy. His favorite activity will always being reading but recently has became very found of School House Rock, especially Grammar Rock. I too love this adorable animation with its lyrical voice and educational themes. Although watching it several times a day has not helped with my inability to sleep alone on nights Justin is working. I repeatedly wake up to “Mr. Morton is the subject…and what the predicate says…..he does!..” Klayton says a few more words like Tanto, Thank you, Aunt Katie and of course his favorite NOOOOO!!! (at first was very cute because it was such a dramatic NNOOOOO, now not so much.) He is a little bit of a dare-devil, but what two year old isn’t right, he loves to work on his new tumbling techniques. He is starting to jump up and then kick his feet out to land on his butt. He thinks it’s hysterical and it was until he tried it in the nude on the bathroom floor. I think he learned that tumbling naked hurts. He still loves cars and dinosaurs; also likes airplanes and trains. He enjoys drawing circles and trees. We have to continually hide pens and pencils so he doesn’t write on everything. More pictures for your viewing pleasure.