A Coaches Wife During Recruiting

I'll be completely honest. Recruiting is my least favorite part of being married to a football coach. Weeks apart can be pretty lonely and tiring (emotionally and physically.)

In almost 15 years of marriage we have not had much time together in the month of May.....or January for that matter👰🏼🏈💍.

He leaves in search of new players while I handle our home and family. Don't get me wrong....I am used to zone coverage when it's handling our 4 boys. When it's football season, many wives will agree, you're pretty much handling it all anyways👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼🏈👰🏼💍.

During the season, however, you actually get to see each other. Maybe it is not a lot....but at least it is sometimes. When he is away  for weeks recruiting, FaceTime (thank god for it) is the only time together we share. My 4 sons and I will squeeze together on the couch for a brief moment in the evening just to say hi and tell daddy about the day at school👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼👩🏼‍💻🛋.

During spring recruiting, I juggle my 6, 12, and 14 year old boys in their different sports....with our youngest babe (who is just under 2) on my hip.....or more likely he's probably running around getting into something🤹🏼‍♀️🥅⚽️⚾️🏃🏼👶🏼😳.

Our "dinner times" will consist of the staples that only kids like.....chicken nuggets, corn dogs, PB&J's, and mac-n-cheese. To be 100% real...I eat a lot of cereal during recruiting...just to keep it simple. I know....it is not the healthiest meal....don't judge. I try to work smarter, not harder in regards to "cooking" while dad is away. 💡👩🏼‍🍳

I'll be doing the dishes, cleaning the high chair (3 times a day), folding the laundry, changing the diapers, helping with homework, mediating brotherly quarrels, bathing the little one, driving to practice, shopping for groceries, reading bedtime stories, playing "handyman" (with four boys something will probably need to get fixed at some point), and tucking in kiddos........ALL.....ALONE......Let's just pray no one gets sick. 😳👩🏼‍🔧👩🏼‍🏫👩🏼‍⚕️👩🏼‍⚖️👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼🗣📝📚🛒🛁💩🚕🛌🤦🏼‍♀️.

Then there is work. I am a full time nanny to a family with three children, so I can be home with our baby. This can be rough while he's away. My 19 month old's favorite three words right now are hi, please, and no.....which can make things pretty interesting in the conversation department. Not exactly much adult conversation for me when my husband's gone👶🏼👶🏻👦🏻👧🏼.

When he is gone recruiting, with all the hours and miles he spends on the road, I also worry.  This week he left with snow on the ground...not my favorite thing to see in May, especially when you know your husband will be driving 8 hours to find future Jackrabbits. I don't think there's been a single time he's left without a little concern or a tear in my eye👰🏼🙏🏼😢.

So this post isn't to get you to feel sorry for me or any other college football wife.....believe me.....we know it's part of the deal. To find great future players you have to search for them. Plus I've never met a coaches wife who doesn't like to win games.....you need great players to do that......right?? 😉🏈👍🏼

This post is just to let you know the daily sacrifice we make when our husbands are gone for weeks at a time, working hard finding those future players. They are looking to add to our football family.....while we lose time with our own immediate family. 

So bless all the coaches spending all those hours on the road.....but bless those great women they leave behind with their hands full even more.  We are juggling everything because we love our coaches....and our teams. Go Jackrabbits!💙🏈💛🐰💍👰🏼👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼

11 Budget Friendly Beauty Buys

Here are my top 11 favorite beauty products you can find at any drugstore or Target. I know all you makeup lovers out there could drop some serious money at a MAC counter. I swear by these inexpensive products.......I know you'll fall in love with them! Look at it this way......more money for shoes🙋🏼💵👠💃🏼‼️

1. Elf Liquid Eyeliner. It goes/stays on beautifully and is ONLY $1.....uhhhhh.....yes, please 👁🙋🏼

2. Elnett Satin Hairspray. There's a reason it's a staple at red carpet events and photo shoots. It works better than other professional brands I have used.

3. Coconut oil. I use it as a deep conditioner. You can also use it with brown sugar as a natural body exfoliate. I have even used on my son as a moisturizer to help with eczema....it helped faster than the expensive creams. There is literally an endless amount of ways you can use coconut oil💆🏼✔️

4. Vaseline. I use it every night on my lashes and they have grown so much. I also use it as an under eye cream at night. It keeps the eyes hydrated and let's face it...if Tyra Banks has claimed to use it...why not try.

5. J.R. Watkins Hand Cream. I have tubes of this all over. I love it because it's non-greasy, but keeps my hands very hydrated. A must when you have small babes and have to wash your hand a lot🙌🏻👶🏼.

6. Burt Bees Tinted Lip Balm. I wear dramatic eyes so my go to is a nude lip color. These are great for adding a little sheer color.....without looking heavy. They look moisturized while adding a hint of color. Great for a more minimal lip....if Rachel Zoe keeps them in her purse....so can I💄👄🙋🏼👜.

7. Elf Baked Highlighter. I love the color moonlight pearls. Great above the brow bone to help lift the eye. It lasts forever and is only $2-3 👁👁.

9.  Elf Lip Exfoliator. Don't apply lipstick on dry lips. Use this before balm/lipstick....I swear by it. At $3, it is definitely a great price and worth trying👄👍🏼.

10. Maybelline's "The Falsies."  My favorite new Mascara!! It lengthens and separates. I am extremely picky about a mascara. It closely reminds me of Lancôme's Définicils but "The Falsies" is about $20 cheaper👁👁💵👍🏼.

11. Charcoal and Black Sugar Mud Mask by Freeman. LOVE this mask. This mask/scrub works together to detox skin. Naturally purifying activated charcoal helps absorb oil and impurities without over-drying. The black sugar helps exfoliate away dead skin cells for softness and clarity. Plus it's great for all skin types.

10 Reasons Why This Coach's Wife Is Fired Up For Spring Football This Year......

Last year, I was in Montana with our 4 boys (Ages 13 to 5 months at the time), while my husband was over 12 hours away, going through spring football practice in South Dakota. I had done it before....it's what we football wives just have to do....but it doesn't make it any easier. So this is why I'm happy I'm not spending another Spring ball away from my husband......like I have done as a football wife 7 other times before....but whose counting😳.

1. We are not MOVING or getting ready to.....period‼️🙅🏼🚫🚛📦🙌🏻

2. I am not calling/searching for boxes, packing paper, or that tape gun I misplaced for the 100th time😜📦🚛🤦🏼‍♀️

 

3. I don't have to pack a single box this Spring. That's right.....not all moves are fully paid for. I consider myself a somewhat "seasoned" wife knowing I have packed 7 of our 9 moves....on my own🏈👰🏼📦🚛💍💪🏼

 

4. I am not racing kids to appointments like a crazy woman before our insurance changes over😳👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼🏎🚦🏥

5. I don't have to get estimates from 3 or more moving companies📋🚛✔️✔️✔️

6. There won't be any hodgepodge meals on our dining room table to clean out the fridge. Chicken nuggets, pancakes, and meatballs is kind of a dinner.......right??? A mama with 4 kids does not throw away🥞🍗🍝🤔

7. The boys actually get to see their  Dad....and he gets to come to their activities. Sorry FaceTime is not the same. Spending months at a time apart isn't easy on any of us😢

8. I have my husband to help with our team. Let's be real, with four kids it's always zone coverage, but it's always nice to have an extra set of hands to help👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼❌⭕️🏈

9. People actually believe I have a husband. He's around and he's real....people tend to make you feel like he is an imaginary figure when you are living in two different states👰🏼🏈🤵🏻❤️

10. FOOTBALL!!! I mean come on....it's been long enough since our season ended. This coach's wife is ready for a little taste of what to look forward to next football season. GO Jackrabbits!! 💛🐰💙🏈💍👰🏼🚫🚛📦👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼

📱Is social media....really that "social"👥???

We live in an age of technology....we have information readily available anytime, right at our fingertips. It's amazing....right?!?! I mean sometimes I use google when my children ask me a question and I have NO idea what the answer is. 😳📲💡?!?!?!

Social media will even remind us of just about anything.....you don't even really need to remember someone's birthday anymore....Facebook tells you.

I love Facebook because it's like my own virtual scrapbook of my family year after year. I also love it because I get to stay close with coaches wives, college, and high school friends. It even helps me keep in touch with people I became close with through the many moves in football, but there is a possibility I may never get to see again.

I don't think, however,  it's should be a main source of communication between close friends or family. In modern times, instead of calling someone to see how they've been....it's easier to click on your mouse or tap your smartphone and see what's going on with them. Look around at a restaurant the next time your out and you'll see the majority of couples out on their phones.

Most people don't even send cards to their family anymore, they just write a post with the few hundred other people reading "happy birthday🎉🎁🎈🎂." Although nice....it's very impersonal.

Last year I gave up social media during lent. At first it was really hard.....I mean reallllllly hard 😫. It's almost too easy to grab and scroll through your twitter timeline or the latest pics on instagram. Scrolling through quote after quote on Facebook, past thousands of those recipes you probably have never even tried.....or wanting to upload that cute pic of baby you just took and can't wait for all your friends to see.

When I gave up all social media....I actually learned a valuable lesson.....to live more in the moment. Not every picture has to uploaded that very second. I played with my sons more than I ever have because I wasn't distracted by my iPhone. Sure, when lent was over, I uploaded mannnnnny pictures into different albums on Facebook...what can I say that's me 📷💻......I like pictures of my family👶🏼👦🏼👦🏻👦🏼. I didn't do it, however, until later at night after we spent an amazing Easter togther and they were all tucked in their beds.

I don't hate technology, but I do think it's sad how we seem less social then ever before. I mean no need to call....just shoot a text. What message is that sending to our future generations.

So this year during lent I won't be giving up all social media like last year....I decided on sweets to support my husband. I will, however, work harder on living in the moment with my house full of boys. I'll always want to post that cute photo of baby or my many proud mama moments....I'll just have to remind myself it's okay to #latergram.

The 4 Worst Valentine's Day Gifts You Can Get

We have all been there ladies....you can all remember that one Valentine's Day where you had to painfully force a smile after looking at some ridiculous gift your boyfriend/husband gave you. Hopefully you have your man trained well....and you will be having a wonderful V-Day......sans the top 4 worst gifts you can receive on Valentine's Day:

1. Ginormous stuffies that you find at Walmart or Target. I mean come on......we are not 5 years old guys!!!Take that $50 and buy her a fragrance or even a gift card to get pampered. 

2. Cheap heart shaped box of chocolates. I mean most of us love chocolate, but that literally requires no thought. Step away from those rows at the front of the store and put a little thought into it. Maybe take that money and take her out for a dessert,  or better yet, make her one.

3. Light up roses. I want to know who is buying those??....seriously. What would any women want to do with those? I can't even help someone who thinks of this.....how about real flowers. 

4. Heart lingerie. YUCK!!! Cheesy lingerie with velvet hearts on it....it seriously makes my skin crawl. Go to Victoria's Secret and pick something out beautiful that she'll actually want to wear again. 

Happy Valentine's ladies....if your guy stayed off this list....he just might be a keeper💘🙏🏼💝😉👍🏼.

Super Bowl...Super Party

This is a football family...so the Super Bowl....it's almost like a holiday in our house. One of my favorite parties to throw almost every year, is our Super Bowl party. Food, drinks, friends, family, and football.....I mean could it get better than that💃🏼🎉🏈🍺

These are my top 4 reasons why we like to celebrate the Super Bowl:

1. Food. I make plenty of dips...they're easy to prepare ahead of time, and then throw in the oven before your guests arrive. Some of my favorites are Buffalo chicken dip, chili cheese dip, salsa, and my famous guacamole. Nothing is remotely healthy....but they are always good🎉🏈🍺.

2. I love a good theme party!!! I have seriously been missing all my football serving dishes/platters that are used regularly for  tailgating during the college football season. I am sure coaches wives all over can relate to the abundance of football cookware you accumulate through the years being a part of this football life.  The Super Bowl party gives me another reason to bring them all out. I also like to think of every detail...football plates, napkins, table covers, and decorations. You could imagine my excitement when I recently found the most amazing football glassware at the Dollar Tree....I bought every one they had 🏈😍.

3. It's a family friendly party. We have always invited our football family and close friends. It is for the grown ups, but the kids love it too. It's a way for all of us to get together in our offseason.

4. It's the last football game until the Fall......hello?? (except the Jackrabbit Spring Game💙🏈💛). Why not throw a party and enjoy the last wonderful touchdowns and tackles if the NFL season. It's fun to watch and cheer no matter who is playing....even if your team has long since put away their pads. Somehow we all end up picking a side in the Super Bowl, but I will say, on a positive note, when you don't have your favorite team in the game it allows you more time for socializing and entertaining. Even though I thought it was going to be the Vikings year this season....👎🏼☹️💜🏈💛 (I can almost here the remarks from my friends back in Wisconsin as they read this 🙄)...I'm still looking forward to celebrating another great Super Bowl.

For other great super bowl party ideas follow me, Kimberly Eck, and my board Super Bowl Super Party. I hope you have a great time watching the Super Bowl everyone.....I'm pulling for the Falcons on Sunday! ❤️🏈

Why This Football Wife Loves The 1st Wednesday Of February

Signing Day falls on the first Wednesday of February each year. It's a moment I, as well as many coaches wives in college football, celebrate for an abundance of reasons.

Selfishly, I am not going to lie, it's nice having my husband back. Well....until spring ball that is.....yes coaches work hard year round. It will be nice to have a little time to sneak a few dates in.....that don't involve a football event. Even though I enjoy them......recruiting dinners and team banquets are not quite dates.

It's nice to finally see the rewards from all the hard work involved in recruiting. The time on the road (sometimes weeks at a time), phone calls, tweeting, and all the recruiting weekends finally pay off. Plus we get the benefit of adding more to our football family.....GO Jacks!!!!!🐰🏈💙💛 It is always exciting to see who will be the new players we will get to know over the next 4-5 years. Our sons enjoy having all of my husbands players over, and I love serving those boys a home cooked meal when they're far from home. 

Speaking of a home cooked meal....it warms my heart when I hear my boys excited that Daddy is home for dinner....something maybe the typical family takes for granted. It's finally time to have a more "normal" family life.

Lastly, I get an extra set of hands around to assist with daily family life. I am keeping it 100% real....after going through an entire football and recruiting season handling everything at home, this mama of four boys has had enough of single high safety parenting.... and is ready for some cover 2! (Ladies...If you don't know what that means, your husband can fill you in😉.) It will be nice to have some help with baths, bedtime, chauffeuring kids to activities, or even just letting me get to that hair appointment without having to call a babysitter.

So ladies.....celebrate that Signing Day is finally here 🎉🥂🍾!! Enjoy time with your husbands.....watching your kids spend quality time with Dad...and get excited about what is in store for that growing football family this fall! 🏈