Random Rants and Weekend Recap

It finally snowed here in NC! I was so excited. I did have to chuckle a little when on friday as the forecasters were predicting snow everyone was sent into a frenzy. Even though it was 46 degrees Friday afternoon, they let the schools release the kids 2 hours early, and told everyone to stock up on water and milk. I guess Walmart ran out of bread, water and milk early friday afternoon. This Wisconsite had to leave. 46 degrees in WI is a heat wave but since snow isn't exactly common around here I understood and I was looking forward to a snow day off!

By Friday night, I was convinced it wasn't going to snow. At midnight the hubs and I took the dogs out and it was still 40 some degrees, no sign of flurries or anything. Waking up Saturday morning I was surprised to open my windows and see snow on the ground. Normally I work on Saturday's but I was not going to risk driving in this weather. Even though I am used to driving in the snow, most people around here are not and since I totaled my car in September and had to get a new one, I couldn't afford for that to happen again. So I gladly canceled my kiddo's and crawled back under the covers to get some sleep

This weekend has been probably one of the best weekends I had in a long time. Usually we have something planned on Saturday nights. The past few weekends we've had people over, birthday parties to attend and so forth. Friday's I work until 7 and since I have to work at 8am Saturday morning we don't really do much. Quality time spent with the hubby and I have been lacking lately. Our busy schedule's don't allow us much time together and when we are off, we are usually catching up on cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping or even just sleeping.

This weekend we had the luxury of doing nothing. I had rented a ton of movies on Thursday night and we spent the majority of our day laying around and watching movies. Today we got up, I had class and then we headed to the mall and did a little bit of shopping. Now we are back at home and are about to pop in another movie before watching the Grammy's.

I also used the weekend to catch up on some of my tv shows. Here are my thoughts on some of my favorite shows..
The Real Housewives of OC-I couldn't help but laugh as Lynn started crying about her daughter. Not because of the situation but because of watching her plastic face move as she cried. It really didn't move! I personally think plastic surgery makes people look worse than they did or did not before and this just confirmed my beliefs. I couldn't stand watching her fake face as she cried. But I do feel for her in her situation. I remember giving my mom such problems as a teenager but I do believe that Lynn needs to toughen up and be a stricter parent

Teen Mom-I feel so bad for Maci. Her boyfriend is such a jerk. I did tear up a little when Catelynn and her bf went out to dinner and he proposed. I hope they make it. Farrah is growing on me. I feel like she is really trying to be a good mom and did y'all hear that her mom choked her out during an argument. There has always been something off about her mom. I am looking forward to the show this week

Giuiliana and Bill-My heart goes out to them as they are trying to conceive. I truly love them as a couple and their show is my guilty pleasure on sunday nights!

The Bachelor-I am getting sick of this show. There is something a little odd about Jake. At first he seemed like such a great guy, but now I can't put my finger on it but he is weird. And so are most of the girls this season. And what are with the previews showing some big dramatic event which never airs on the episode. I think this will be my last season of watching the Bachelor, though I will tune in for Molly and Jason's wedding

What else..I can't believe Heidi and all her plastic surgery. That poor girl now looks like a fake barbie. She to me is not even pretty any more.

The hubby and I went to Barnes and Nobles this weekend and I picked up two new books. The Help which everyone says is amazing and Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat Pray Love. I have never read that, it is currently on my reading list but Committed is pretty good so far. It's a very interesting book about marriage in today's society as compared to marriage in other places around the world. I'm not done with it yet but will give a book review when finished

And finally, the movies the hubs and I watched this week are as follows
The Hurt Locker-An amazing movie. Not recommended for people who don't like war movies though
Gamer-Sooo stupid. Interesting concept but that was about it
Whiteout-It was pretty good I thought. A mindless suspense set in the North Pole
Halloween 2-I love Rob Zombie movies. I am a horror movie junkie and love his remake on the Halloween series
Stop Loss-I rented it only because Channing Tatum is in it. Another good war movie. It helps that Channing is shown in a scene in only his boxer briefs. Yummy! The hubby wasn't as excited as I was about it. In fact he acted a little jealous

So that about sums it up. I hope you all had a great weekend!!

The Kindle and The Nook

Reading is my all time favorite hobby. Unfortunately with work, school and housework I never have that much time to read. I have about 15 books on my dresser right now screaming to be read! When the hubs and I go on vacation, no matter how long or short of a trip we are taking, I have my own book bag filled with books.
So I was thinking about purchasing the Kindle or the Nook. I hear the books are cheaper than buying them in the store and it would make traveling easier since I wouldn't have to lug around my bag of books. I am not sure if I would use it though. Even reading blogs on the computer makes my eyes hurt after awhile and I'm not sure if staring at a book reader would do the same. I also love going to Barnes and Nobles and buying books. I think I would miss that if I had a book reader. Does anyone have one? What are your thoughts on it? Is it a must have? Let me know!!

Valentine's Day

Hello my fellow bloggers. I apologize for being MIA lately.Things have been crazy around here since school started and my work schedule picked back up. I had been able to read everyone's posts on my iphone but that broke yesterday so hopefully I can get that fixed. Once everything calms down I will be back to commenting on everyone's posts. Pray that I get my phone fixed today. I am lost without it!

Valentine's day is fast approaching and I have no idea what to do for my hubby. You would think I would have a romantic day planned since this will be our first valentine's day together in 3 years but I don't and here is why.

Our first valentine's day together was celebrated a few weeks late right before we got married. I sent my hubby a stuffed bear from the Vermont bear company, made a cute picture frame with stickers saying We're engaged and took him to the Melting Pot for dinner. I also set up a scavenger hunt with cards explaining why I loved him that he had to find before coming across the frame

Last year we were unable tto spend valentine's day together as I had left NC a few days before to head back to WI to start packing up my things to prepare for my official move to NC

And this year I have nothing. It doesn't help that during M's deployment I made him every cute and romantic thing imaginable. I made him a blanket, a calendar with pictures of us, a photo book that told the story of our meeting, engagement and wedding and every other cheesy cliche thing you can thing of. What's left to do? And four days after valentine's day is his birthday. I can always fall back on the romantic dinner but even that's not that special since I make dinner every night and for new year's we made a nice dinner together. Are any of you having problems deciding what to do? What are you all doing for your spouses?

More Dear John Pics

Channing Tatum, Nicholas Sparks, Amanda Seyfried and Dear John, Oh My!!!

Yesterday was quite an amazing day. It was finally the day of the Dear John Premiere. This event turned out better than expected. It truly was a dream come true.

Dear John is by far my favorite Nicholas Sparks book. I call myself and the hubby the real Savannah and John. In the book Savannah is pursuing a dream to work with children with autism and John is in the military. In the book they meet when John is on his two weeks leave. My hubby and I met when he was on leave also. Five months later we were married and he deployed. In the movie, John's unit in the army is similar to my hubby's. So you can see why I was so excited to be a big part of this event

At the last minute a kiddo of mine's mom gave me an extra ticket. I asked one of my army wife bff's to attend with the hubs and me since her hubby had just deployed. My poor hubby had to deal with two hysterical girls for the day. Friday night we even made him watch Step Up with us!! He was not loving it but was def a good sport.

Saturday morning my friend met us at 8:30am at our house. We dressed up to the nine's. Cute dresses, high heels and awesome jewelry. M even dressed in nice dress pants and a shirt. We arrived at the premiere at 9:45am. We were the first group there. We found spots right up against the red carpet and prepared to wait. WE probably should have planned it out better. Everyone else had chairs, coolers packed and games to play. We brought nothing. And can I just say it was 50 degrees and we were in heels and short dresses. We were freezing!!!And we were the only people there dressed up. I wish I could say that everyone else was dressed nice but sadly most were in jeans, tennis shoes and sweat shirts. No lie!People were talking crap about us like no other. Normally I would have been embarrassed but not today. I knew we looked nice and there was no way that I was going to meet Channing Tatum in jeans!!

6.5 hours later I couldn't feel my feet, my toes were white and I was freezing but it was all about to be worth it, it was finally time for them to arrive. They came in awesome special forces hummer's and walked the red/camo carpet. I got pics with Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and autographs by Nicholas Sparks, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Jenna Dewan, Channing's wife was even there and I got a pic with her. They were all so sweet and nice. They seemed very honored to be there and didn't act like celebrities at all. It was such an awesome experience and the movie was amazing. Different from the book but still good. I will def buy it when it comes out

As much as I loved the premiere my fellow community of military spouses disappointed me. When FMWR-(Family and Morale, Welfare and recreation) office handed out tickets, they told everyone that even if you had a ticket you weren't guaranteed a seat in the theater or a chance to meet the stars. Everything was on a first come first serve basis. They also told everyone to dress to the 9's since it was a red carpet event. If people would have listened to this there wouldn't have been a problem. But most didn't. Like I mentioned before, out of 1000 people there, a handful dressed up. Many came to the meet and greet at 2:00 and complained because there wasn't room for them up near the red carpet. I even had some girl tell me I needed to move since I had one signature from Channing. I turned to her and explained that I wasn't moving as I had been there at 945 am and I wanted more signatures. She backed off quickly. One reporter who was interviewing people waiting in line had one girl reply that she never read the book nor did she know who the stars were. Hmm, why was she there!!

The event was separated into two lines. One for the meet and greet and one for the movie. If you stood in line for the movie, you weren't able to meet the stars. If you stood in line for the meet and greet, you may lose your seat in the movie. Again this was announced when the tickets were handed out. They also exlained that to us while we were waiting in line numerous times but they also said there would be a 9:00 showing for those that couldn't get in to the 5:30 showing. SO why should people complain right. Well after I got my autographs and pics we got into the theater but there weren't enough seats. M and I found seats but our two friends didn't so we gave up our seats so that we could leave with our friends. I didn't mind as we planned on coming back to the 9:00 showing. So on our way out, we were standing in the back of the theater. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried were also waiting back there to be announced so they could introduce the movie. Along with them were security guards and more military spouses. These were not happy spouses. They were mad because they had to come back for the 9:00 showing. So right in front of the actor's this spouse starts screaming and swearing about having to leave. I was so embarrassed at this point to be a military spouse. If I was one of the actor's I would have been offended.

First of all the event was free, FREE!! Why were people complaining. WE had the chance to meet famous people and see an early release of a movie and people were complaining. I was so irritated. We were told from the beginning the event was a first come first serve basis. These people had no one to blame but themselves. And I didn't understand what the big deal was, they were showing the movie again in a few hours. Oh well. We went home, changed into warmer clothes and went back to the later showing. It was everything I expected and more. I am even more in love with Nicholas Sparks, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried than ever!

Your Questions Answered!!

I meant to post this last night but didn't get home until late from work and did not feel like doing anything!
Here are the answers to the questions you all asked. Warning, long post ahead

Many of you asked how my hubby met, how he proposed and how long we have been married.
We technically met on myspace. I was working with his sister at the police department and she had asked me to help make her a myspace account so she could keep in touch with her brother who was deployed. So once her account was created, we were her only two friends. So we added each other just for fun. Well he thought I was cute and started talking to me. I responded frequently but didn't think it would go anywhere. Then his sister and I planned a trip to vegas for our birthday's. She then asked if her brother could come along since he would be back from his deployment. I couldn't say no! So he came into town for his month leave and we met up and hung out pretty much everyday until his leave was over. I even went back to NC with him! By the end of the month we were talking about getting married.
The Proposal
After M returned to NC we had to do the long distance thing from NC to WI. So we took turns flying out to see each other on the weekends. One weekend we were unable to see each other because of the price of flights. I remember it was Jan 24th, a friday night and I had just returned to my apartment from going out to dinner with my dad on his bday. M had gone to Charlotte NC for the day to look at rings. However he told me his phone had dies while he was driving back to Fayetteville so I wasn't able to call him. So I was watching tv at about 10:00 at night waiting for M to call and all of a sudden there was a knock on my door. M was outside my door with three roses. He got down on one kneee, explained that the roses represented our past, present and future and then proposed!! Of course I said yes!!
We were married April 11, 2008 so April this year will mark our two year anniversary. All in all we were together about 5 months before getting married. Our families were not happy, nor supportive but when you know you know!
The Wedding
We were married on the beach in Key West, Florida. It was perfect. We had wanted to wait until he had come home from his deployment but his deployment dates kept changing along with the length of the deployment so that was another reason for the short engagement!
The honeymoon...
M deployed a month after we were married and returned home in January of 2009. I came down to NC to set up our apartment and stuff and it was then we planned our honeymoon. We went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in March of 09. It was nice to finally be together after him being gone for so long. Hopefully we can plan another trip soon

Army Life
M dropped out of his senior year of college right after 9/11 because he felt a calling to serve. He has been in ever since.
My favorite thing about being married to a soldier is the sense of pride I feel for him. I am so amazed that I am married to someone so selfless, someone who puts his life on hold to serve others.I am just so proud to be his wife and to be a part of something greater. I love the military community and in being a part of it.
The worst part of Army wife life is the waiting and the constant changes. One day it's the hubby is deploying, the next day he's not, then it's he's going somewhere for training and so forth. You never know what is going on or what to expect. I am def. your type A personality and need to have everything mapped out. How am I supposed to write everything down in my three planners when things are constantly changing!!
Mateya asked how we dealt with the stress of deployment. To be honest, we didn't do a great job of that. I just tried to keep myself as busy as possible. I worked three jobs and was always on the go. M would ask about my day but then get mad when I would tell him what I was doing. If I went to the movies he was mad. If I went shopping he was mad. It was awful. I also didn't do a good job of being there for him. I was more concerned about making sure I was ok than I was in making sure he was ok. I tried sending care packages and being there for him but I think I spent most of the deployment focusing on how it affected me, rather than on how it affected him or us. We were able to sit down and talk everything out after he returned and I know if he deployed again we would be find. It was a good learning experience for me because I needed to learn that I am not the only one affected by what's going on in our marriage. Communication is the key and while we struggled with that during his deployment we have gotten much better at it since he has returned home.
As of know we are deciding whether or not M is going to stay in or not. He has been in 7 years and when his contract is up he will have put in 10. I want him to stay but he is unsure. So everything is up in the air
Future Soldiers
IF it was up to me I would be pregnant now. I want a kid so bad. M says all I ever talk about is babies. I am reading What to Expect Before your expecting, Making Babies and Taking Charge of your Fertility. And we haven't started trying yet. WE will probably start in about a year. We want to focus this year on paying off as much debt as possible so that when a baby does come along we are financially stable. So soon we will start trying!
I want three kids and M want's two. We will see who wins that battle

Blogging
I got the idea of blogging last March, when I was preparing to move to NC. A friend of mine had recently started blogging to announce her pregnancy and I thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch with family and friends back home. I didn't actually start blogging until December of 09. Now I am officially addicted. I love it. I love all my blogger friends and connecting with people I have never met. It's like having your own personal support group.

My Job
I am a Applied Behavioral Analyst. I work with kiddo's that have autism. My company works specifically for military families who have children with autism and I love it. I work with the kiddo's one on one in their home's or at their school. The programs vary with each kid and my day to day schedule is always changing. It is at times frustrating and rewarding but I wouldn't want to do anything else

Favorite Place to Shop
Forever 21!!! The Fayetteville mall doesn't have much to offer but I love Forever 21. Such cute and reasonable clothes. It's the perfect place to shop when you have a shopping habit like I do

Current Place of Residence
I currently live in North Carolina. I have lived here for 8 months now and finally feel like I am adjusted to life here. I grew up in Milwaukee, WI and while I miss living in a big city I do like the aspect of a small town. Though whenever I drive to Raleigh, NC I get very excited when I see a skyscraper. I do miss the lights and skyline of a big city.
The thing I love most about NC is living near the beaches. I am a beach girl at heart and could spend all my time laying out and reading a book. This summer we plan on spending every weekend possible at the beach! Wrightsville beach is my favorite beach here in NC. I do believe it's where Dear John was filmed!!!

Someone asked where my favorite place to be is. Either alone or with my hubby. I love being in Key West, Florida with my hubby. We vacationed and got married there and it is one of our favorite places to visit.
My favorite place to be when I'm by myself is curled up in bed with the dogs and reading a good book.

Mrs. P asked if I was a shoe, what kind would I be? I would have to say a pair of sexy gladiator stilettos. Like the kind Sarah Jessica Parker wore in Sex and the City the movie during the scene when Mr Big and her are looking at apartments. I would want to be that pair!!

Amber asked if M wasn't in the military where would be be? Well we probably never would have met! Our dream is to live in a small town, somewhere in Massachusetts or Key West, Florida. I have always wanted to run a bed and breakfast. Maybe one day that will happen for us

Hobbies
I don't have much time for anything besides school and work but some of my hobbies are reading, shopping, yoga and working out. Most day's I just love cuddling up with the hubby and watching a movie or reading.

DeDe asked about our furbabies. Both are labs. Kenzie is a black lab. She will be three in July. I rescued her from the Wisconsin Lab rescue. I got her when she was 13 weeks old and she was clearly abused. She is very jumpy and timid. If M and I are talking to each other from different rooms, she shakes and cowers in the corner because she thinks we are yelling at her. But she is def a momma's girl. She was my rock when M deployed. I know that sounds silly but when I was living alone in my apart with her I never felt alone. She assumed M's spot along the side of me in bed when he deployed and was shocked when he returned home and she now had to sleep on the edge of the bed.
We got April in April of last year for an anniversary present to each other. Kenzie was very upset at first. We literally got April two days after moving to NC and Kenzie was still adjusting. After about a day or so Kenzie finally stopped growling at her and started becoming protective of her. To this day, April can bite Kenzie until she bleeds and steal away her toys and Kenzie just let's her. She is such a good dog. April is still growing out of her puppy stage and is quite the handful but we couldn't ask for better dogs

The Blogger BFF Award!!

So I said once I hit 85 followers I would create a blog award. That time has come. I still am in utter shock that I have reached 85 viewers. I remember starting my blog and thinking that no one will ever want to read what I write or even cared what I had to say and now I have 86 followers.Thank you all for following and reading!

The award I created is the Blogger BFF Award! One of my good blogger friends Amber helped me think of the title as I am so not creative! Thanks Amber
I came up with the Blogger BFF award because it was something a little different from the other awards I've seen. I thought up this idea when I was thinking about how friendships are created from blogging. I've seen many people meet up with fellow bloggers and then post about their get togethers. I along with many others feel that I can be more open and honest with my blogger friends than I can some of my own real life friends. I also am amazed by how people share their joys, struggles and triumphs with their readers and how you feel like you know them and can relate to them by what they have written. The bloggers that I have chosen to receive this award are all different but yet I have found something in common with each and every one of them. I feel like I know them through their posts and look forward to reading what they have to say like you would look forward to a phone conversation with a good friend. I like being able to get to know them and read along on their journey's as a newlywed, army wife, mom to be or a new mom. I look forward to reading more from each and every one of them! So here it is, the Blogger BFF Award



I present this award to
Amber from The Survival Guide for the Young,Fabulous and Newlywed(fabulousyoungandnewlywed.blogspot.com
Meredith at Write It On Your Heart(mrsfinn810.blogspot.com
Laura at Cowboy Boots and Booties(littleloveys.blogspot.com)
Mrs. P from A Little Pink in a World of Camo(alittlepinkinaworldofcamo.blogspot.com)
Mrs_Muffins at Mrsmuffins.blogspot.com
Ashley over at For the Love of Shoes and a Baby Too
Kristin at Deeply In Love
Expat Girl at The Sand is Different Here
Tay at Jimmy Choos and a Baby Too(benandtay.blogspot.com)
Tori at Tori and Chad(toriandchad.blogspot.com
Sarah Ann at Misadventures in Matrimony(missadventuresnd.blogspot.com/)


The rules of this award are as follows
1. Thank and link the person that sent it to you
2. Present this award to at least five people and explain why you chose them for this award
3. Copy and past the award on your blog

Weekend Recap

This weekend started off with a bang. I had my last kid late Friday afternoon. Since it was so nice here in NC I decided to take my kiddo for a walk. Now this kiddo is ten, has autism and is low functioning and non verbal. As we walked around the block a loose boxer came running for us. I am a dog lover and have two big dogs at home so I knew enough about dogs to know that this was not a nice one. It cornered us, barking and growling. I didn't run or look him in the eye. I just calmly tried to walk around him. That didn't work, he kept coming closer and closer. I had to go to some random person's house and ask for help!! We were able to walk back in the direction he came before the dog came running after us, at this point I am dragging my kid and walking as fast as we can. We made it into the kiddo's house just as the dog came onto his porch. I was scared shitless but at least we were ok!!

That night the hubby and I went out for some drinks. I'd say I deserved them. Saturday I worked and then went out with some girl friends to see The Lovely Bones. The movie was good but the book was def better. I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. It is excellent.

Last night M and I went out for a good friend's 30th bday. It was soo much fun. We were finally able to just let loose and relax. We danced, drank and had a great time. Today however M hasn't moved from the couch. I spent today cleaning and watching Jersey Shore. It's just so bad I can't stop watching it. Now we are watching the Golden Globes and I am going to start reading Dear JOhn again to prepare for the movie premiere this weekend.

The plan for that is the meet and greet is at 4pm on saturday. However the first 200 people in line are the only ones who get to attend the meet and greet. So you can bet I will be there at around 10am. Most of the people going are wearing jeans and heels. I think I should dress up more, so here is a pic of the dress I plan on wearing. What do you all think? Too dressy, not dressy enough or just right?

Thank god its the weekend!

Happy Saturday everyone.

The hubby and I are out to enjoy a night on the town. Just wanted to remind everyone that on Tuesday I will be answering the questions y'all asked about me. It's not to late to ask away! So please feel free to ask me any questions

On another note, I had wanted to do a blog award when I reached 75 followers. ALl of a sudden I had 81 so once I hit 85 I will be giving out a blog award!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far

Guest Blogger-Amber!!

The day has finally come. During the week I told you all that I would be having a guest blogger. Amber from the Survival Guide of the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed is writing today's post on my blog. Since my link tab isn't working her website is http://fabulousyoungandnewlywed.blogspot.com/. Be sure to check it out. She is an amazing write, one of my favorite blogger friends and has am awesome blog. This post is one I think you all will like. Amber is candid, honest and open and I love her for that. So enjoy!!!


Hello to Katie’s readers! I asked Katie last week if she would do a guest post on my blog today and she returned the favor by asking me to do the same.

As I thought about what to write, I wondered what Katie’s readers might be interested in. After looking over Katie’s followers, I realize that many of you are army/navy/marine wives. I love reading blogs of the wives of military men. Both of my grandfathers, an uncle and now my brother have served in a branch of the armed forces – so I have experienced first hand the toll deployments and time away from loved ones can take on a family.



I read your postings about how much you miss your husbands, how stressful managing a home without your partner can be, how nervous your are for an upcoming deployment, etc. and I think about how easily my life could have been just like yours. You see Steven, my hubby, wanted to join the Marines 3 months before we were married. The company joined right out of college experienced a huge downsize, and as he was one of the most recent hires – he was the first to let go. After a few days of researching his employment options, he approached me about his desire to serve his country. He had researched how to become and officer and the details concerning boot camp and deployments. He wanted to talk with a recruiter about seriously joining and wanted my opinion.



To say that I didn’t exactly handle the situation well would be an understatement. I pitched a fit! I told him that if he joined, I would call off the engagement. We were getting married in 3 months! We had just graduated from college! I loved Charlotte. I loved the friends we had in Charlotte. I loved my job. I did not even want to think about the possibility of moving – especially if that meant my soon-to-be husband would be joining the military and leaving me for months on end.



Steven handled my fit with an astonishing amount of grace. He understood my concerns and promised never to mention it again. He soon took a sales job with my company and we moved ahead with our wedding plans.



Looking back on the situation, I wish I could back in time and strangle my 22-year-old self. How selfish was I? What – it’s okay for other women’s fiancés and husbands to risk their lives – just not mine?? I claim to be patriotic but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my own wishes for the betterment of our country? My happiness was ultimately more important than Steven’s desire to heed a calling in his life. I forced him to stay where I wanted him to and I can honestly say it is the only regret I have in my 25 years on this earth. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I had agreed and supported him . It’s so hard to realize how truly self centered I was - I am getting emotional right now just writing these words. He has never mentioned a word of it. I know he would never hold it over my head or make me feel bad about it. I have since apologized profusely for my childish demands. I have made it more than apparent that if he still wants to join, I will quit my job and follow him anywhere. And I truly mean it. I would sell our home, quit my job, leave our friends and family and follow him wherever the service might take him – just as long as he felt fulfilled in his work. I am so ashamed of how I acted back then and if I could, I would take it back in an instant. But for better or worse – this is our life now and we are still happy. But I know that Steven will always feel like he let himself down somehow – and that breaks my heart.



So I read your blogs about upcoming deployments, time away from your men, days with no word from them and ultimately your prayers that they are safe – and I am moved by your ability to keep your head up. Thank-you so much for the sacrifice you have made to be a military wife. I have said it before on my blog, but I really do think that the families of our troops deserve just as much praise and thanks as the troops themselves.



I have such admiration for a military wife. I admire her courage – her ability to stand on her own and love her husband even though they may be thousands of miles away. I admire her faith – her ability to believe that everything will be okay despite staggering odds. I admire her strength – her ability to forge ahead with day-to-day life and accomplish goals and dreams of her own – mothers who raise children as if they were a single parent – new brides who create a home for a husband who will not be home for months on end.



Thank you again to all the military wives who may be reading this. Please know that there is someone out there who prays for you and your family daily and is ever so grateful for the sacrifice and commitment you have made.

Survival Mode

After my hubby told me he was going to deploy in two weeks, I was sad at first and then started to prepare myself for his upcoming deployment. Facing a deployment is like going through the stages of grief. Anger, sadness, denial and a whole assortment of other feelings all rush up at once. After I got used to the idea that he was deploying I told myself that it was time to pull up my big girl panties and move on. What I did was shut myself off to my hubby completely. After coming home from work everyday this week I kept myself as busy as possible. I cooked, cleaned and did whatever else there was that needed to be done, everything that is but spend time with my hubby. After I was done with all that, I would lose myself in a book. Everything M said or did annoyed me and I wanted to be left alone. When I was alone however all I did was cry. Driving to work was the worst because every time I heard a song that reminded me of M I would lose it. All I pictured in my head was the moment when I would have to drop M off at the airport and say goodbye. I hate goodbye's.
At night, laying in bed I would turn away from M when I should have been cuddling with him as much as possible. I also used every excuse to get mad at M. Somehow I assumed he should know how I was feeling even though I had been cold and distant all week. Finally, M told me that I needed to stop pushing him away and enjoy these next two weeks.
Just when I finally started doing that we got the news he may not be deploying. You would expect me to have been jumping for job but instead I was mad. After preparing myself emotionally and mentally I had adjusted to the fact that M was leaving. Now he was staying. Talk about a play of emotions. M is upset to. They keep giving him the run around and he just wants to know what is going on. In a way he is upset he is not deploying. I don't blame him. I can understand his emotions too. I am not getting my hopes up yet that he is staying here for sure but only time will tell. Sometimes that army drives me crazy!!

On another note, I forgot to pass on the Glamorous Blog award to a fellow blogger.


I present this award to Hailey at Destined for Royalty. Her blog is awesome so be sure to check it out. The rules for this award are as follows

Instructions

1.
Thank the person who gave it to you.
2.
Link the person who gave it to you.
3.
Keep it going and give it to whomever you would like.
4.
Answer this...If money were not an issue what would be the top three things on your wish list?

I will keep taking people's questions until Monday and will be answering them by next week tuesday or wednesday so continue to ask away

Also remember tomorrow I am having a guest blogger. Amber is one of my absolute favorite bloggers to read. She is honest, down to earth and a truly sweet person. I look forward to what she has to say in her blogs and am honored she is going to write a post for my blog so stop by tomorrow and check it out

Hope everyone is having a great night!

Hollywood Here I come

Well in a way. So I decided to hit up the post mini mall and library where they said tickets would be available for Dear John today. I went after I got off work at 3pm and got the run around before someone told me where to get them. And... I got them!! Two tickets to attend a meet and greet with Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Nicholas Sparks. After the meet and greet we will be shown an early screening of Dear John!! I am beyond ecstatic. I had wanted to see this movie on my bday with my hubby but since he is deploying soon I was going to have to wait. Now I don't have too, he will be able to come with me and see it. It is next Saturday. The meet and greet starts at 4 with the movie after. However they gave out more tickets than seats available so I am going to have to get there super early. Oh and we have to dress up because of media coverage. What to wear? I will be hitting the gym hard this week and counting calories. I need to look good to meet Channing Tatum. Tomorrow I will be heading to barnes and nobels to get a copy of the book with the movie cover on it and you bet I will be bringing it to the premiere to have signed!!!

On another note, in my previous post I told you all as a way to get to know me to ask me questions. I am still waiting for some more questions before answering so ask away!

On friday I will be having a guest blogger. Amber over at the The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed will be writing to you all. She is absolutely fabulous and her blog is amazing. You all will love her so be sure to tune in on friday. You won't want to miss it!

Questions, Dear John Update and Another Blog Award

Laura over at My thoughts-Uninterrupted(http://mythoughts-uninterrupted.blogspot.com/) left me the following award! Thanks Laura




Instructions

1.
Thank the person who gave it to you.
2.
Link the person who gave it to you.
3.
Keep it going and give it to whomever you would like.
4.
Answer this...If money were not an issue what would be the top three things on your wish list?

Wish List

Hmm what would be on my list
1. A romantic trip to Greece with my hubby. I've always wanted to go there. It is so beautiful. That would be my dream vacation
2. A personal trainer that in the past has worked with celebrities. Someone who can whip my butt into shape and make me look like Giselle
3. A house, well a mansion would be more like it. I would buy a huge house with a pool both indoors and out, a jacuzzi and plenty of room for the dogs to run around. Then I would start popping out babies!!!

Questions
So I saw on a few other people's blogs that they had their readers ask them questions about themselves and then they would answer their questions and post them so people could get to know them. I thought that was so cute and have decided to do it. So if any of you have any questions you want to ask me, fire away!!!

Dear John update
Tickets are available tomorrow at 10. I have to work otherwise you bet I'd be in line. I did hear however that there are only 600 seats available but they are giving out more tickets than there are seats so even if you get a ticket, you may not get into the theater. What did annoy however was when the announcement was posted on facebook many of the army wives started planning a camp out tonight so that they'd be in line right away tomorrow. If I didn't have to work I'd probably be there but was irritated me was the girls asking if their two year old or four year old's could get tickets. Seriously, a lil kid does not belong at a movie premier let alone is that movie appropriate for that age group. Who knows, maybe I'm just jealous that they are getting tickets and I'm not!!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far, I look forward to answering your questions!!

More than An Army Wife

I am more than an army wife, I am a daughter, sister, wife, fried, therapist and many more. One thing I discovered after moving down to NC is all the stereotypes associate with army wives. There even is a quiz on facebook that categorizes you into one of the following, the cheating wife, the shopaholic wife who doesn't work and spends her hubby's paycheck, the partying wife(the girl who goes to the clubs and bars as soon as her hubby leaves), the lazy unemployed wife and the barefoot and pregnant wife. Some of these were actual answers on the quiz but others are those I heard from people when talking about army wives.

One of the great things about living in a military town is meeting different people from different area's of the world. None of my army wife friends fit any of these stereotypes. Some of them work, some go to school, some are stay at home mom's but in a world where Dad deploys often, mom would only be working basically to pay for daycare if the kiddo's aren't school age. None of the women that I met are lazy, uneducated, unemployed and so forth. Now are there wives like that out there, of course but it's frustrating to me to be constantly stereotyped.

Take for example this situation..
When I found out that part of my job requirement was to enroll in classes for my applied behavior anaylsis certification, my hubby and I started saving up money so I could enroll. The program at FIT where I attend, didn't offer financial aid or put you on a payment plan so I needed the money up front. After going on a honeymoon and moving extra cash was low. So I heard about the CAA program which is a Financial assistant program for military spouses who plan on attending school. I applied for the program since that would help up out a ton. I went to the meeting, filled out my paperwork and then was called to meet with an adviser. The adviser barely looked at me when I entered his office for our meeting. When he asked if I had attended school else where, I replied that I had, that I had my bachelor's degree. He paused for a second but continued going with the interview. When he asked if I worked, I replied full time. He stopped and looked up. I believe his response was "You do". I was insulted. I should have said something but I held my tongue. I ended up getting approved for the program which has been amazing in helping me obtain my certification without adding to my already enormous amount of student loans

My second example is when I went to my Dr's. appt. Since I live off post, I had to see an off post dr. I went to my apt and sat in the room waiting for the dr to arrive. She barely glanced at me or asked me anything. When it came to making a follow up apt I told her what days I had available between work. When I said I could do tuesday's after I get off wok, she literally looked up and said "You work". What is it with this town. Everywhere I go people try to categorize me into a particular stereotype.

I realize that I used to stereotype people, not even on purpose but after living in this town I realized that there is more to people than what you see. Stay at home mom, teacher, wife, student, etc. These are all labels used to describe people but there are many more things that make up a person other than their labels

And I proudly say that none of the military wives I know fill up any of the negative stereotypes. We are more than what labels people use to describe us

I am more than an army wife. I'm me!

Blog Awards!!!

I checked my comments today and saw I received two blogs awards!!!
The first is..




It was given to me by Risley at the-wilkinsons.blogspot.com and Lori at findingblessingsineveryday.blogspot.com
The rules to this award are as follows
1. Thank the person who gave you the award-Did that
2. Paste the award on your blog-See above!
3. Link the person who nominated you for the award-Hopefully it worked!!
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself
5. Nominate 7 bloggers or less

Lets see 7 interesting things about myself
1. My hubby and I met, dated, got engaged and married all in five months

2. I am a self proclaimed nerd. I love reading and am constantly spending money on books and shopping at Barnes and Nobles. I also carry around 3 planner's so that I always know what I am doing and when. I also love buying school supplies. New binder's, notebooks, pens, you name it!

3. I am/was a shopaholic-I love shopping! Good thing the mall here isn't the greatest or else I would probably spend a lot more of my paycheck.

4. My favorite color is purple. If my husband would let me I would have our room and bathroom decorated in purple and white. I still haven't convinced him yet

5. I love dogs. We have two of our own but I always want more. Seeing a stray dog or visiting a rescue shelter always makes me cry. I just want to take home every stray I find on the side of the road

6. I am addicted to reality tv and celebrity gossip magazines. I love Teen Mom, Tori and Dean, Guiliana and Bill, The Real Housewives of Orange County and Keeping up with the Kardashians. I always buy Life and Style, Us Weekly and In Touch every time I am at the grocery store or target

7. I am a glorified beach bunny. I love the sun, being tan and spending time at the beach. My ideal summer day is spent lounging at the beach with a good book in hand

I nominate the following ladies whose blogs I always look forward to reading

Annie at Chapter's of Our Lives at annieandbillychaptersofourlives.blogspot.com
Samantha the Army Wife at A Day in this Army Wife's Life. Website myshoes-armywife.blogspot.com
Mrs. Muffins at mrsmuffins.blogspot.com
Adorably Distracted at adorblyd.blogspot.com
Heather at Live.Love.Laugh
Jess at Brad-n-Jess A Whole Big Mess
Lori at Everyday Blessings
Mrs. P at Two P's in a blog

The second award I received was



I was given this award by Ashley at Raising Brats. Since I'm having problems posting the links, here is her URl raisingbrats.blogspot.com

The rules of this award are as follows
1. To accept the award, you must post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted you the award, and a link to their blog.
2. Pass the award on to approximately 15 other blogs that you recently discovered, and think are great!
3. Contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I present this award to these fabulous ladies. Love you all!!
Check out all these great bloggers. They are some of my favorites. And sorry the link's didn't post correctly. It kept deleting the link out of the link tab. Sorry everyone

Amber at The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed
Ashley at Raising Brats!
Risley at Adventure's of the Wilkinsons
Lori at Everyday Blessings
Juliana at A Blonde Walks Into A Blog
Meredith at Write It On Your Heart!
Little Daisy May at This Kind Of Love
Mrs. G.I. Joe at ACU's Stilleto Shoes and Pretty Pink Tutu's
Sassy and Classy Southern Mrs at Happily Ever After
Meant to Be A Mom at Hanging with Mr. Cooper
Dede at Weathering the Storms
Laura at My Thought's -Uninterrupted
Alissa at Newlywedded;Life, Love and Me
Mrs. Love Bug at The Adventures of A Mrs.
Jen at A Girl In Pearls and A Boy with Toy's

Common Courtesy and Getting to Know Me

I had to put my foot down with a parent whose kids I provide services to. This was hard for me as I am usually pretty easy going and afraid of confrontation but today I had it. Some mom's treat me as an on call babysitting service and one mom is constantly asking me to do sessions at one location and then after I've arrived, asking me to come elsewhere or canceling at the last minute. Today after waiting an hour at one location she changed her mind and asked me to meet somewhere else. I politely declined and said I would see her later on this week. I felt awful because I hate canceling sessions but as this was the third time in the row, this couldn't continue. I felt proud of myself for finally putting my foot down!

So I have enjoyed my morning off. I went tanning, hit the gym and took the dogs to the dog park! It has been a nice relaxing day so far!

I saw this little getting to know you survey on Little Daisy May's blog and thought it would be a fun way to let my readers learn a little more about me

1. If you were stranded on a desert island and could pick one person to be stranded with you would you pick? Family members not included.

Johnny Depp. Need I say more

2. Do you read celebrity gossip?

I love In touch magazine, Us Weekly and Life and Style. It's an addiction

3. Favorite show you're waching this season?

Guliana and Bill-If at first you don't conceive, Desperate Housewives and Brother's and Sister's

4. How tall are you?
5Ft 1

5. What was the last book you read?

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

6. Flats or heels?

I love heels but have to wear flats with my job

7. If you had to choose one natural disaser to go through, what would you choose..Earthquake, Tornado, or Hurricane?

I am terrified of tornado's so probably a hurricane. At least you know when one is coming and have warning so you can prepare or get out of town


8. Thong, panties, or (gasp) granny panties?

Thongs, my hubby would probably kill me if I wore granny panties.

The Simply Fabulous Award!!!

I was given this award by Amber over at The Survival Guide for the Young, Newlywed and Fabulous! Her blog is amazing so everyone should def. check it out.She will actually be guest blogging on mine this coming week. I will post more on that later. Thanks again Amber!

The rules for receiving this award is to blog about a woman,real or fiction who I think is fabulous. And that woman for me would be my mom. Growing up my mom was always there for me. We went through a rough period during my teenage years but now she is honestly my best friend. My mom is a nurse and two years ago at the age of 51 started going back for her master's. She is also working full time in the oncology unit at the hospital that she works at, teaching at a private university in WI for their nursing program and attending classes for her master's. All the while still having a life at home with my dad and brother. My mom always taught me that I could do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard and tried my best. To me my mom is proof of that. She achieved her dreams of becoming a nurse, raised her family and now is off setting new goals for herself. I am so proud of her and if she had a blog I would have to give her this award! Love you mom

Now for the blogger's that I present this to. I love reading these women's blogs and look forward to new posts. It is exciting to read about their adventure's along the way as newlyweds, army wives, and mom's to be. They are candid and open and really let you in to discover what there lives are really like. SO the Simply Fabulous Award goes to
Southern Belle at A Southern Belle & Her Officer
Jessica at Learning As We Go
Jamie at Better when We're together
Amanda at My Life as A Wife
Shannon at An Army's Wife's Alaskan Adventure

Dear John

My absolute favorite author is Nicholas Sparks. As soon as I know that he has a book coming out, I pre-order it and count the days until it is available. My favorite by far is Dear John. I fell in love with this book from the minute I opened to page one. At this time, I had never met my hubby and had no real connection to the military but the love story between John and Savannah and the reality of war and relationships just really got to me.

I love this book so much that I reread it every year. Once I met my hubby I realized how much the story parallels our own love story. M and I had met through his sister but technically online while he was still in NC and I was in WI. Once he came up to WI on leave it was only about two weeks that we spent together but as Savannah says in the movie, two weeks was all it took. I knew M was the one for me and I knew that to be with him our relationship would have to take a back burner to the military. It wasn't ideal in any way but I knew that we were meant to be together and I would do whatever it took to make sure we made it through whatever the military threw our way. Five months after we met we were married and a month after our wedding, M deployed. I was in no way prepared for this deployment and things were rough.

Going back and rereading Dear John, I still have conflicting feelings about Savannah, but I understand how hard it is to be separated from the one you love, the constant fear and worry about whether or not they are safe, counting down the days until they are home and the sadness when things change between a couple during the months away. Everytime I read this book I somehow think that they will end up together and am always sad that the ending is different than the one I expected.

I found out this book was being made into a movie about a year ago and have been anxiously awaiting it's release date. I had planned on going to see it on my bday with the hubby but since he will probably be gone by then I had set my mind to the fact that I would see it with my girlfriends.

Yesterday night, M was browsing the internet and we saw that Hollywood is holding an advanced screening on Jan 23rd at the base the hubs and I are stationed at!!! There are 700 tickets available for military id holders. I am checking online hourly to see if they have been released yet. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried will be there along with the cast and I am dying to go. I love the two actors they chose to portray John and Savannah and I cannot wait to see my favorite book acted out on screen

And the nerd in me wants to run right out and by the book with the movie cover, even though I already have a copy of Dear John when it first came out!! Keep your fingers crossed that I get tickets!!!

Where is the Snow??

Yesterday at around noon, the news and radio stations started reporting that North Carolina was going to get hit with a snow storm. SO by 5:00 everything was on a two hour delay for the following morning. As everyone was rushing around, heading home to beat the storm I couldn't help but laugh. In Wisconsin, where I am from, they are preparing to get a foot of snow and nothing will probably even get canceled!!

Since I was supposed to work with a kiddo at his school for the first half of the morning today, I called his mom last night asking if she knew about the delay. I never heard back from her so I set my alarm for 5:30 and set about getting ready. At about 7:30 which is when I normally head out the door she called and said she wasn't going to send her kids to school.

So I now had a free afternoon until 3:30 and since the hubby was still sleeping, I decided to catch up on my tv shows. I probably should have hit the gym but The Real House Wives of Orange County and Teen Mom was calling my name

For some reason I am addicted to reality tv. It's just mindless entertainment and watching it is my way of relaxing. I couldn't help but laugh at the stereotypes portrayed on these shows but I love them all the same

My favorite part of the Real Housewives of Orange County was hearing about how the new housewife, Alexis, a small town midwestern girl who is married to a god loving man explained that their relationship is based on god, their marriage second and their children third. They showed a scene of her and her family at church and I couldn't stop laughing. Her plastic surgery enhanced boobs were falling out of her shirt!zI have never seen anyone at church wear what she wore. It was also hysterical to watch her husband tell their three year old that she needed an attitude adjustment and her behavior was unacceptable. I'm sure she really listened to him. And one more point about the new housewife, I don't understand why she is a stay at home mom with two nannies? Now before anyone takes offense to this, I do not mean anything by it. I do not have children so I know nothing about parenting. I just find it amusing that she calls herself a stay at home mom but then has the nanny watch her kids during the day.
Gretchen is my favorite of all the housewives.Dspite her bad reputation, she seems to be more real and down to earth than the rest.

Teen Mom- In a way I feel bad for these girls. The story of the one who gave her baby up for adoption is heartbreaking. Farrah,the party girl however is another story.She is constantly pawning her baby off on her parent's and screaming at them when they tell her should spend less time partying and more time with her baby. This makes me want to reach into the tv screen and slap her across the face. I feel bad for judging, I probably wouldn't have been the most responsible parent if I would have had a baby as a teenager. Heck I will be 26 in a month and am starting to feel that i am ready for parenthood!

All in All it was a great morning catching up on my shows. The DVR is all set to record them next week. I can't wait to see what happens

On another note, M and I went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. I stuck to my diet and got a grilled chicken salad and a water!! However, tonight we are ordering pizza for dinner. I am only allowing myself to have one piece as I also ordered a salad from the pizza place. I still haven't made it to the gym but tomorrow after I get off of work, the hubby and I are working out and then tanning. I love doing things like that together. No one can get me more motivated than he can!!

The pizza just arrived so I am off. Hope everyone has a great start to the weekend!

An Unexepected Announcement

Today started like any other day. I woke up, went to work, and since my last kid of the day canceled, I was looking forward to coming home and relaxing before heading over to a friends house for a much needed girls night. I came home to find my hubby already home from work. He explained that he had come home to nap because he needed to go in later tonight to see off some of his soldiers off that are deploying.As he was saying this, he kept looking away and fidgeting. I knew something else up so I finally asked what was going on. I wish I hadn't. My hubby told me he would be deploying in a few weeks.

Now in a way I knew this was coming. My hubby has been home for almost a year and I have been lucky that he has been home this long. Last week we received news that his unit would be deploying but according to the CSM, half of the unit was deploying and the other half was not. M was on the half that wouldn't be deploying. However today we received word that he will be deploying. Now we have to wait until the army gives the final word. So it could be anywhere between two days, two weeks or three weeks. Time for us to "hurry up and wait" as the army saying goes

Thankfully it is only a three month deployment. After surviving a 10 month long deployment right after getting married, this one will be a piece of cake. But what makes me upset is that he is going to miss our birthday's and valentine's day for the third year in a row. This year we had planned to go all out for our birthday's. He will be turning 30 on Feb 18 and it is my golden birthday, 26 on Feb 26th. We were really looking forward to him being home this year and had planned to go somewhere romantic for a long weekend.I also was planning to throw him a surprise party and today had actually started calling his friends to try and plan a date. Well go figure that today we get the news he will be deploying and won't be home for it. Boo!!

I realize I am being a baby about this. I just really wanted M's bday to be something special, something he will never forget and now he will miss it completely. Oh well, I guess I can just postpone the party for a later date and not get too upset about it. I have a few weeks left before M leaves and I plan on spending every moment with him.

The plus side of him deploying is that I will knock out some of my resolutions
1. When M is gone I eat less so I will lose weight!
2. Save money and pay off debt- Extra money made during deployments will be going directly to our savings account
3. Working out-I will be so bored I will just spend all my time at the gym!! Hopefully M will come home to a thinner version of me!!
4. Concentrate more on school- I will have no distractions other than two big babies, aka dogs
5. Read-I have a huge stack of books that are screaming at me to read them

It's three months. We can do this. I just am dreading the thought of saying goodbye again. It's the worst feeling in the world. Welcome to the world of an army wife I guess

In other news, my friend's MIL did pass away yesterday night. Luckily they made it in time to say goodbye. Her hubby is taking emergency leave and will be postponing his deployment for a few weeks. I am glad he will get to take this time to be with his family. I feel bad complaining about M missing his bday and leaving for three months when my friends are dealing with something much worse.
So that's it. I am done complaining about upcoming deployments and missed bday's.
At least he will be home for our 2 year wedding anniversary!

The Good and the Bad

I am one step closer to becoming a board certified Behavior Analyst. I had my final exam today and barely passed. As of yesterday it wasn't looking too good.

I am currently enrolled at Florida Institute of Technology for there online certification course. The course work is broken down into 3 classes, each class comprised of 7 units approximately 2 months long. Every week I have one online meeting to attend, over 30 online videos to watch and an exam at the end of each week. My first class went very well. This class however was a different story.

It didn't help that at the time I started this class, my work hours changed. Now if I worked a typical 9-5 job it would have been ok. But since I provide in home therapy to children with autism I spend a lot of time driving. Most of my kids live a half hour to an hour away so if my session with them ends at 5:30 I don't get home until 6:30. I also picked up later hours during the week since the district and post schools stopped allowing outside help to work with their student's. SO my schedule looks something like this, Monday 8am-7pm, Tuesday 8am-7pm Wednesday 8am-530, Thursday 8am-5:30, Friday 8am-7pm and Saturday 8am-230.

Crazy huh. I found it so hard to find time for everything. School, work, the husband and even me time. By the time I got home and made dinner it would be 8:00. The last thing I wanted to do was watch videos for school and study. But somehow I made it through it and passed the exam. I studied non stop all weekend, had my first exam yesterday and missed the passing score by 1 point. Luckily I had two chances to take it and passed today. I now have a two week break until my final class starts and I am finally going to get some "me" time. I have a whole list of books I can't wait to start reading

On another note, I am doing good on one of my resolutions for this year. I have not had any soda in a week! That is quite the accomplishment for me since I usually drank about 3-4 cans a day. Awful, I know. We did go to the movie Saturday night and I allowed myself to get a small soda. I chose Coke zero as it has no caffeine and sugar so I figure I didn't cheat too much

Now that i have a break from school I hope to hit the gym starting tomorrow. SO wish me luck on that

The bad News:
One of my army wife bff's just found out that her MIL was flight for lifed to her local hospital. About 6 months ago she had been diagnosed with ( I can't remember the medical term) but a condition that causes her lungs to fill up with fluid eventually causing her to suffocate. She was told then she had 6 months to live. My friend and her hubby were able to spend the holiday's with her and just got home from seeing her two days ago. Sadly today they got the call they had been dreading. They are now driving over 10 hours to see her but it's not looking to good. Her hubby is also scheduled to deploy in two days and thankfully he will be able to postpone his deployment but will still have to meet his unit overseas after everything. Please keep them inn your thoughts and prayers.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!!

Blog Awards-Spreading Around the Blog Love

It made my day today to receive these blogs awards from fellow blogger Amber at The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed. Thanks hun!!




So I decided to pass along the wealth and present these to a few of my favorite bloggers!
I love these girls blogs!
Amber at The Survival Guide to the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed
Mrs. In Training
Mrs_Muffins
Little DaisyMay
Mrs. G.I. Joe
Lauren at
Semper Wifey

I look forward to reading many more posts by these and by others that I follow. I love you all

Name Dropping
My good friend and fellow army wife recently started a blog. Check it out at mrsfinn810.blogspot.com
And for some reason the links wouldn't post. Sorry guys!

Hair Woes!

This weekend I started going through some pictures from the past few years and after looking at them realized how much I changed my hair!

A few years ago I had a friend who worked as a hair stylist and she was constantly trying new things out on my hair. I went from brown hair, to highlighted hair, to platinum blonde hair to permed hair. After awhile though my hair was starting to get really damaged so I had to cut it off and start over. I grew it out up until my wedding and throughout my hubby's deployment but when I moved to NC I wanted a new start. Driving around from client's to client's house in 100 degree weather made having long hair unbearable. My hair is thin as it is so no matter what I did to it the minute I stepped outside it dropped and looked greasy. Plus I was sick of people thinking I was 18 years old. I wanted to look like a 25 year old professional. So around June I cut my hair a little bit above my shoulders in a one length bob cut and loved it!

A few months later, I needed to go back in for a trim and decided I wanted the lob. A long bob. I brought in a picture and told the stylist I wanted to keep the length but just go up a few inches in the back. Well she decided to go for it and I left with what I call the inverted mullet. The shortest layer was ear length and the longest was about chin length,. Plus it was uneven on both side. My hubby hated it. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I have been struggling to lose those pounds gained during his deployment, so being a few pounds overweight and now having short hair made me feel very unattractive. But I decided to post some pictures of my different hairstyles over the years just for the fun of it..

Platinum blonde-Halloween 2006


Graduation-December 2006: A little more natural despite the frizzy perm


After I had to cut my hair and start growing it over: October 2007


The day before our wedding: April 10, 2008. My hair grew pretty fast from October until April. I added highlights and lowlights to create a beach look



My 25th B-day. Feb 26, 2009. I decided to try out bangs.



My hair this past summer right before I cut it, June 2009


My new one length bob-So cute!


My inverted mullet: I guess it's not horrible, but it's not the long layered inverted bob I asked for. Not to mention that my hubby now said I looked like a boy and called me his lesbian wife. So good for the self esteem


My hair currently-Starting to grow out a little


Feel free to comment. I'd love to hear people's opinions. I think my new hair color might be too dark. I just wanted to go natural but the stylist said I needed to go a little darker, not sure if I like it.

In the end it's just hair, it will grow. Now if only I knew a way to make it grow faster

2010 Reading List

As an avid reader I am trying to compile my book list for the following year. I also thought I would share with everyone some of my favorite book.

Currently Reading:
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

Favorite Reads:
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
The Twilight Series
Mommywood by Tori SpellinC
The Confessions of a shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Love the One your with by Emily Giffin
Let me hear your voice by Catherine Mauerice
Remember Me by Mary Higgens Clark
Where the Heart Is

Upcoming Reads:
Going Rouge by Sarah Palin
The Nanny returns
Not my Daughter by Barbara Delinsky
What to expect before your expecting
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Laugh your way to a better marriage
The Love Dare

Favorite Reads written by military spouses:
I love a Man in Uniform by lily Burana
Army Wives by Tanya Biank
Behind the Blue Star Banner by Michelle Cuthrell
Confessions of a Military wife by Mollie Gross

Does anyone have any good reads I can add to my list?

Deployment and Newlywed Weight Gain!!

This morning as I stepped on the scale I cringed. I had gained 7 pounds due to all the holiday festivities these past two weeks, on top of the weight I had gained during M's deployment and after!!!

When M' deployed my goal was to keep myself as busy as possible. On top of my already full time job I added two other part time jobs to my schedule. Basically I worked 8am-midnight. My full time at the police dept was second shift. I was warned when I started that by my second year on the job I would start to gain weight. When I asked why, all the police officers said it was because of the shift in general. Having to eat at 8:00 at night and drinking soda to stay awake wreaks havoc on the body. Add to that deployment stress and also working with three pregnant women who constantly brought in food for the office, it wasn't long before I gained ten pounds.

M's deployment was rough on us. We were newlyweds who were spending our first year apart.we had to figure out everything over the phone and through email. Needless to say we were awful at communicating and instead of focusing on the other person, we became two selfish individuals. We fought constantly about anything and everything. I was stressed to the max! I had read somewhere that when you are stressed you gain weight differently. As someone who luckily only gained weight evenly I started to gain weight in the worst area a woman can, my stomach. My once flat tummy now had a pudge!

So before M returned I hit the gym hard and dieted like no other, finally losing the weight I gained. That didn't last long however, after months of eating rice and beans, M wanted to eat anything and everything. Chinese, mexican, burgers, you name it. He was always wanting to eat out. I went along with it and worked hard on choosing healthy portions and meals. I figured once I moved down to NC I would lose even more weight since I wouldn't be working second shift anymore,not to mention that my main cause of stress, the deployment was over!

I was wrong. For the first few months, I did good. I hit the post gym with the hubby and started getting on a routine. However once my work schedule changed, I was unable to fit in working out. I fell into a work out rut. A friend of mine joked that just like the freshman 15 in college, I was starting to gain the newlywed 20. And I was shocked to realize it was true. Now since M was home we had fallen into the comfortable routine of being with each other, eating out and even just snacking when watching tv at home.

I need to get back to the gym and start living healthy. My resolution this year is to give up soda, eat right and hit the gym.

How did everyone else deal with deployment stress? Does anyone have good diet tips? Please comment and let me know!