Links!!

My lovely blogger friend Mrs-In-Training sent me step by step instructions on how to post a link since I was having problems doing so. Isn't she the best. Thanks hun!!

So in my last post I blogged about a giveaway. Here is the direct link to the giveaway
Becca @ Yellow Lovely Ribbons is having an amazing giveaway. So since I think I figured this whole link thing out be sure to stop by her page and check it out!! I def entered and hope I win

Blah!

After an amazing birthday weekend reality has started to settle in. School is coming to a close, one more month to go and I have been severly slacking. Work has me so busy I rarely have time to do my homework. Then I try to cram all my school work in on sunday's and barely pass my exams. I am so looking forward to school to be finished

Deployment number 2 will be starting in three weeks. It's only for three months so in reality it is not that long. As many of you can relate, you never want to see your hubby go. And why is it that when your hubby leaves, all your friend's hubbys come home. Go figure. I will just use this deployment to save money, pay off debt, catch up on my stack of fun books to read and get into shape for summer

That leaves me to point out another thing I have been slacking on. One of my new years resolutions was to get into shape. I bought The Shred by Jillian Michaels and sadly to say that DVD is still unopened on top of my tv. I am happy to report that I do hit the gym at least 3 times a week and started taking a spin class. My eating habits however leave something to be desired. Being out of town last week, celebrating both the hubs and my bday last weekend and this weekend caused me to gain an additional 5lbs. OUch
Starting tomorrow I am kicking my butt into gear and hitting up the gym. I then plan on starting the shred and completly changing my eating habits. That is one thing I am looking forward to with the hubby being gone. No peer pressure causing me to eat Mcdonalds or taco bell or whatever else he decides to bring home because he wasn't in the mood for what we have in the house. Men with their amazing metabolism!!

So that's it, starting tomorrow it's a whole new me!!
Also I saw from one of my friend's blog Mrs. Cass href="http://mrscastaneda.blogspot.com/">


Becca over at Yellow Lovely Ribbons

is giving away this cute picture. I love this saying. Our guest bedroom is decorated with my hubby's arny plaque's so this would be the perfect accent to adorn our walls. I hope I win!! Be sure to check out this give away at Yellow Lovely Ribbons-shaywilliams.blogspot.com

Golden Girl!

It's my golden birthday today! 26 on the 26th. It's also a special birthday because it is the first birthday in three years I actually get to spend with my hubby!!

I woke up this morning, hit the gym and went off to work. My hubby didn't have to be in to work until 9am so he was sleeping when I left. I waited all morning to get a call or text from him but none came. Then at noon I finally got a call, he took off work and wanted to meet for lunch!! So we went to lunch and then he had a mystery errand to run. I came home and started cleaning for our party tomorrow.

I wasn't expecting the hubby to come home before I left again for work but in he walked with my presents. Ohh how I love presents and my man did me good this year. I got a $50.00 gift card to Hobby Lobby, $50.00 to forever 21 and a few charms for my charm bracelet. I will add pictures later on this weekend. I am so excited to do some shopping and already put my new charms on my braclet

I have one more client tonight and then the hubby is taking me out to some undisclosed location for dinner. Hmm, I am anxious to know where is he taking me. I love surprising others but am awful at waiting for things.

Before I met the hubby for lunch I used the barnes and nobles gift card I received from my brother to buy two new books. One is Big Girl by Danielle Steel and the other is Love and Respect. I got the Love and Respect book off my bloggy friend Amber's reading list. It is supposed to be an amazing book about love and marriage. I can't wait to read it!!

Tomorrow is our big party. I cannot wait to spend the day with our closest friends. I only wish that our families were here to celebrate our birthday's with us but I will be seeing them in a few months

I am off to do some more cleaning before heading back to work

Oh and be sure to stop by my birthday twins blogs and wish them a happy birthday. Mrs In training at Mrs-In-Training.blogspot.com and Tori at Toriandchad.blogspot.com

Happy birthday girls!!!

Five!

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?
1. A junior in college working on my bachelor's in criminal justice
2. Working a variety of jobs such as waitress at A&W (which is similar to a sonic) and a sales specialist at Victoria Secrets
3. Frequenting the bars in downtown Milwaukee nightly!
4. Wasting my time on a guy I shouldn't have been
5. President of my sorority

Question 2: What is (was) on your to-do list today?
1. Workout
2. Work 9-5:30
3. Do some laundry
4. Vacuum
5. Make two diaper cakes for my friends

Question 3: What five snacks do you enjoy?

1. Tostitio chips and cheese
2. French fries
3. Pizza rolls
4. Ice Cream
5. An apple with peanut butter

Question 4: What five places have you lived?
1. With my parents in Milwaukee, WI
2. With my friends in downtown Milwaukee
3. On my own still in Milwaukee
4. And no North Carolina with my hubby
5.

Question 5: What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off all of our debt
2. Buy a house
3. Buy a Hummer!!!
4. A ton of shopping
5. Give some money to our families in return for all they have done for us

I got this survey from Meant to be a mom over at Hanging with Mr. Cooper. She has the cutest little boy and I just love her blog
I believe you are supposed to pass this on to five people but I decided that instead of doing that, feel free to copy and past this survey onto your blog and answer the questions!!

Thank God tomorrow is friday!!!
XOXO Katie

The Best Part of Waking Up

I received the following award today from my one of my favorite blogger's and also a good bloggy friend Amber from over @fabulousyoungandnewlywed.blogspot.com



"The best part of waking up..." award is awarded to the 5 bloggers that you're most excited to see have posted when you log into your dashboard/google reader/ whatever. Yes, only 5! If you're always checking someone's blog to see if they've posted, they deserve this award!"

This is such a cute award. I love it especially since the first thing I do in the mornings is rush over to my computer and see who posted something new since I last logged on!!
I pass this award on to
Mrs Muffins @mrsmuffins.blogspot.com
Mrs In Training @mrs-in-training.blogspot.com
Tori and Chad @toriandchad.blogspot.com
Mrs G.I. Joe @welovelucymichaela.blogspot.com
Jen over at A Girl in Pearls and a Boy with Toys

Thanks ladies for making my mornings more enjoyable by having some new posts to read!!!

Also it is Mrs in trainings and Tori's bday this week so be sure to head over to their blogs and wish them a happy bday.

And on a side note, when I go to insert my link the only thing that shows up is the area that says website address and that is it. Hmm oh well

XOXO Katie

So much to do So Little time

This Saturday we are hosting a joint birthday party for the hubby and I at are apartment! I am beyond excited to have our closest friends over to celebrate our b-day's with us but have so much to do before hand

It doesn't help that my work schedule is crazy this week and on Sunday I have a huge exam for my class. Which I haven't started studying for! AHH

So in order to get ready for the party I decided to make a to do list

1. Laundry-Wash all the sheets and blankets in case people decide to crash for the night

2. Grocery shopping-We are buying stuff to make subs and having everyone bring a side dish. We are also providing the beer so that will help keep everything nice and easy.

3. Pick up the cake-I was going to make red velevt cake and then came across this bakery located in our downtown area. I called and decided to order a cake instead of baking one. And I changed up the flavor. I ordered a strawberry shortcake since that was our wedding cake. Since we had a destination wedding we weren't able to ship the remainder of our cake home so on our one year anniversary we were without our topper. We called the bakery but they were unable to ship us a new cake so we went without. So since M will be deploying shortly I decided to get us a strawberry shortcake both for our birthday cake and for our anniversary cake!!

4.Clean!! Since I was gone last week and we had a crazy weekend, our house is kind of a disaster. I have to mop the floors, vacuum, put all the crap lying around away and scrub the kitchen and bathrooms

5. Make two diaper cakes- My hubby's co-workers wife is expecting and he asked me to make her a diaper cake that we can give her on saturday. I also decided to make my good friend one who will also be there

6. Work-out and eat healthy-I have the cutest outfit planned and have been working hard at dieting and exercising to fit into it. Last week being away didn't help and this week I've been sick and haven't been hitting up the gym. That might be a problem

7. Study-I have to somehow cram in studying in between cleaning and organizing

Wish me luck y'all

Top Two Tuesday's!

After reading everyone's posts about their Top Two Tuesday's, I decided to join in and play along.
Today's top two tuesday's is about your top two favorite tv shows.

I had to think long and hard about this as I am addicted to many tv shows but I would have to say my top two favorites are..



Army Wives!! I just love this show. Sometimes the scenes portrayed aren't too realistic but other times I spend my time watching the entire episode bawling my eyes out since the show does touch so close to home. I can't wait for season four to start up!!

My second favorite is


Giuliana and Bill!

For some reason I just adore their show. I think they are a cute couple and make their unique relationship work. I admire their courage to put their fertility struggles out for the public to see. The issues they face are not easy but the way they interact as a couple and work out their problems and differences is refreshing compared to other reality shows. I hope these two get their wish and conceive shortly. I can't wait for their to be a season about them and their little one!!

Happy Tuesday

I have a confession!

I have some confessions to make

1. I have serious wedding envy! Not that I don't love my wedding. I do. It was perfect. A small intimate gathering on the beach, then a reception dinner overlooking the marina. It was awesome. Just sometimes I wish we would have had a big grand affair. A really amazing reception in some beautiful old ballroom somewhere with tons of lights and elegant decorations. I wish I would have had our photographer's taken more pictures, especially after looking at y'all's beautiful wedding photo's. I think to take care of that problem I am going to have my parent's bring my wedding dress down to NC when they come visit this summer and hire a photographer to take pics of M and I in a few different area's around town. I want some modern, hip photo's of us to blow up and hang around the house!
We were supposed to have a big reception in our hometown this past august but M couldn't get off work so we lost out on the money we put down for the hall and photographer. I guess that could explain why I have such bad wedding envy hehe. I know that our wedding symbolized us and our relationship perfectly and I wouldn't change the way we did it, but hey a girl can dream right!

2. I just bought the Shape magazine for brides. Why you may ask? Because I still love looking at wedding magazines and planning weddings. I even wanted to go to school to be a wedding planner after planning my own. Hmm maybe that will be a career move for me!! So when M isn't with me I sometimes will slip a Bride's magazine in my cart at the store and stare at it when I get home. Hiding it away so M doesn't make fun of me for it

3. Sometimes I love reading trashy novels. Jackie Collins especially. I love her books. She just came out with a new one and I bought it immediately. Her books are filled with plenty of hollywood drama, gossip, and a ton of other trash. I love it. I can read one of her books in like two days. I bought her newest one last week. It's called Poor Little Bitch Girl. Nice title huh! I was reading it in front of my hubby and he laughed so hard! Hey what can I say sometimes a trashy book is what you need to lift a bad mood or escape after a hard day

4. I am beyond addicted to blogging. I love all the bloggy friends I meet, reading other people's blogs and especially reading comments left on my post. I should have started blogging a long time ago!!

Hope you enjoyed my little confessions. Happy Monday everyone!!

The Sunshine Award

I received the following award



I received this from my blogger friend Mrs. Messi. Thanks for this adorable award. Be sure to stop by and check out her blog at Mrsmessi.blogspot.com
The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world.
The rules, once this award is received, are as follows:
1. Post the logo on blog
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers
3. Link the nominees blogs so other can get to know them
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person who received this award from.

I present this award to

Tara at Jimmy Choos and Tennis shoes
Mrs. Stoneking over at the Stonekings
Mateya at Our Journey from Iraq to the Altar
Hailey at Destined for Royalty
Amber at the Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed
Ali at Peach Bellini Bride
Tami over at She Talks to Angels
Meant to Be A Mom at Hanging with Mr. Cooper
Mrs. in Training over at Mrs in Training
Rachael at The Woods, Surviving Deployment
Kelly at Keeping Up with Kelly and Co

Does anyone know how to add the link of my fellow blogger's to my post? When I add them they never show up. Did anyone else ever have this problem?


Stephanie over at Army Wife on a mission

Getting to Know You Sunday's

I decided to participate in this Getting to Know you survey from over at Mannland5! Join in the fun and check out her website at Mannland5.com

Here are the questions!

1. How often do you wash/change your sheets? I wash and change my sheets every week. I am very paranoid about my sheets and during the week will constantly spray them with febreeze fabric refresher. My hubby get so mad at me for doing that since I tend to spray them heavily with the stuff

2. When is your birthday? My birthday is Feb 26th! Coming up this friday!!! This year it is my golden bday as I will be 26
3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? No but I am hopefully meeting my good blogger friend Amber in March. I am so excited. I love meeting new people and hope to meet more bloggy friends
4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney? . That's a hard one. If it was pre Angelina I would have to say Brad Pitt but now George Clooney

5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be? I would love to have my flat stomach back. After a stressful deployment and adopting unhealthy eating habits I gained a little flub that I am trying to get rid of

6. How often do you wash your hair? Every day. I have naturally oily hair so if I don't wash it daily it looks greasy and dirty

7. Do you have pets? We have two furbabies! Kenzie who is a 3 year old black lab and April who is a one year old yellow lab

8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be? I belong to Facebook, myspace, and twitter. If I had to give one up I would def. give up my myspace. I started my myspace account in college but stopped using it for awhile. Then when I moved to NC I saw there were a lot of army wife groups on myspace so I started keeping up with my profile again. Though lately I've been getting weird friend requests and messages so I'm thinking of getting rid of my account

Now y'all join in on this survey. I love Getting to Know You Sunday's!

Turning 30 and random thoughts

SO my hubby turned 30 on the 18th! In my valentine's day post I told y'all how I fed into his video game obsession and got him a wireless keyboard for his playstation. Today at a friend's house he received the bluetooth headset for the playstation as well so he is good to go. We just returned home from our friend's at exactly 12:37am and he is already turning on the tv to try out his new toy

Oh well, I can't complain too much. You only turn 30 once! Yesterday I took M out to a nice dinner for his bday and we had planned on going to see Shutter Island but weren't able to make the 7:35 showing.We didn't want to go to a later showing since I work at 8 Saturday mornings so tomorrow we are going to see it with some friends!

Today I worked 8-2:30 and then went with the girls to this pottery place called Just claying around. We each picked out a piece of pottery to paint and glaze. I chose a plate and am very excited to pick it up in a week. I will wait to show you picture's or explain how I decorated it until I pick up the finished project.

Some of you may remember my friend who went into labor at 26 weeks and then again at 29 weeks. Thank you all so much for your prayer's and well wishes for my friend. I have received many comments and private emails about her. She is doing well and has reached the 32 week mark!! We have been trying to go over to her house at least one day during the weekend so that we can keep them company. M and her hubby play Call of Duty and her and I sit and chat. Tonight they had some of our other friend's over and we enjoyed a night of relaxing and good company.I am going shopping tomorrow to get stuff to make her a diaper cake. Since this is her second child she is not having a shower but I wanted to do something special for her. I cannot wait to make it and give it to her!!

Next weekend we our having a joint bday party for the hubs and I at our apartment. I turn 26 on the 26th so on Saturday the 27th we are having our closest friends over for a celebration!! If any of you have any good appetizer or finger food recipes let me know! I am always looking for some new recipes to try out!

Hope you all are having an amazing weekend so far!!

On a side note

Has anyone ever read the following two books?






The first I picked up not only because in about a year I would like to start trying to have kiddo's but also because I would like to get off birth control. I've been on it for the last 8 years and all those hormones may not be the best thing for my body. I also dn't know much about my cycle, what days I am most fertile and what days I ovulate and have heard this book explains all of that information

The second book my cousin told me about. I always like to read books on relationships and thought I would give it a shot. I just ordered it from Barnes and Nobles and it arrived in the mail yesterday but since I am still at the conference it is awaiting me at home

If any of you have read either of these I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about the books!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Book Review

I started reading the book Committed and decided to write a little book review about it. Just to clarify I have not finished reading this book so my review is only based on what I have read so far

This book was written by Elizabeth Gilbert who also wrote Eat, Pray Love. I have yet to read that book and am interested in reading that book after I finish Committed. Eat, Pray Love is about the author's divorce and her journey around the world as she tries to find herself after the divorce.

This book is set after her divorce. She has found love with an Australian citizen who does business within the U.S. The two make a pact never to marry and devote their relationship to traveling and not tying each other down with the so called constraints of marriage.

On a trip back to the U.S. her boyfriend was detained and deported. They were told he couldn't return unless they got married. Of course they hadn't wanted to get married so this threw a wrench in their plans. They end up agreeing to get married and as they travel again all over the world until her bf can get a visa to the US she explores the history of marriage. Let me just state that she is neither an anthropologist nor a sociologist so her studies are not scientifically validated. Her interviews of the various cultures and their thoughts on marriage are her own opinions and biases.

I am now on page 70 of the book and am struggling to get through the rest. For one I disagree with most of what she says throughout the book.For one she constantly states she is against marriage. But she is only against marriage because she had been through a divorce. There are no other reasons besides her divorce that validates her reason to be against marriage. She then goes on to proved biased opinions about gay marriage, christian marriage and marriages within the western world

One of her statements is that since people started choosing who they wanted to marry, divorces have increased since these people are so quick to end the marriage at the first sign of trouble. I agree that within the last few years, divorces have risen around the world, people are choosing to marry later and have children later. However I believe this has alot to do with how society as a whole is changing. I also disliked her statements about christian marriage. She claims that Jesus didn't want people to get married. That they actually shouldn't marry. They should give up their spouses and their option to marry and follow him instead. Now my opinion about her beliefs may be biased also but I disliked the way she discredited christian marriage continuing on to say that christian marriage wasn't recognized for the first few centuries of Christianity and was only estalished by the church after many of years. The worst claim was that people get married in the church to create a false sense that their marriage is destined by God and will withstand the test of time

Again I am only on page 70 and my opinions are based off of her opinions so I'm probably not the best judge of reference for this book

I think why I disagree the most about this book is that she constantly is claiming that love is fickle, marriage based on love don't last and that people are constantly falling in and out of love. To some extent I do agree but what I would like to argue with her one is this..

Love isn't going to make a marriage work. Passion isn't going to make a marriage work. Money isn't going to make one work. There is not one thing alone that will ensure a marriage will last in relation to other's. Marriage takes work. It takes love, honesty, trust, committment and a desire to make the marriage last no matter what happens. If you enter a marriage and base it off one of those components, no wander the marriage will not last. Lot's of people end marriages because the going gets tough. You can't do that. Both partner's need to be committed to the marriage and making it last. Marriages have their good days and bad. Both people have to learn to grow together. SO I feel that it isn't love alone that will make a marriage work. Love plays a big role in marriages. Most of us get married because we fall in love with that one special person. We may have been in love before but for some reason, something about our spouses just felt right. We then base our love and marriage of other variables and grow together. That to me is what makes a marriage work

So for all the marriage bashing that she does, I feel that the only reason she is doing so is because she had a marriage that didn't last. There is no other reason than that

Hope this makes sense. I had so many thoughts reading this book that I couldn't keep them all straight!!! I had so many points I wanted to make and to discuss with others. Have any of you read this book? What are your thoughts?

Seriously!!!

Hello my fellow bloggers!
I have arrived safely in Winston Salem and am awaiting the start of my conference. Since I packed along my cute little netbook I decided what a perfect time to post!!

I had another idea planned for today's post but a facebook message I received last night made me change my mind about today's post.

So remember a few days ago I posted about how I was unable to purchase a bridesmaids dress for a friend's wedding. If not I will quick recap. My friend is getting in married in July 2011. She emailed us last week saying we needed to purchase the dress she found since it is being discontinued in two weeks. I wrote her back and said I couldnt purchase it at this time as I had just dropped a grand on a new phone, my work conference which is mandatory and money for my cousins bridesmaid dress which is this July. I also have to limit my spending as I am a 1099 employee so in about a few weeks I have to write a big fat check to uncle Sam.

Well this past Sunday she asked if I purchased the dress. I told her I did not and again told her why I was unable to do so and asked her if she could purchase it and I would pay her back in about a month or if I could wait until March to purchase it. She asked for my measurements which I figured meant she would be purchasing it for me. Well last night I get a facebook message from her which states that she didn't bother calling me since I'm always busy with work but that she is sorry that she has to cut back on her wedding party and has one too many girls in her wedding. She then states she feels bad for doing so but she should have figured out how many people they needed to stand up before asking. She finished the message by asking me to respond so she knows I received the message.

Now we were bff's all through out college, sorority sisters and roommates but in the past few years had lost touch a little. WE also live 1400 miles apart. I was honored to be in her wedding and even told her this past week that the only reason I couldn't get the dress at this time was because of taxes so when I received this message my feelings were hurt. Then I became angry. Why did she message me this on facebook? She couldn't have called. I called our other roommate who also was unable to afford the dress at this time and asked if she had heard from her. Nope she is still in the wedding

I then became angry and the immature side of me wanted to email her and tell her that at the age of 26 she should grow up, get a job and move out of mommy and daddy's house and that once she entered the working world and started paying rent she would see how hard it is to expect someone to pay for a dress when you only give them two weeks notice. I then also wanted to tell her that if she wanted to pay my taxes for me, all $5,000 of them then I would gladly buy the dress

But then I realized that it is best to say nothing at all. Clearly she did not want me to be a part of her wedding and was upset that I couldn't order the dress. There is no point in arguing with this girl or making the situation worse. It is her wedding and she is the bride(zilla). Just kidding. I'm sure you all can see both sides of our situation. I just wished that she would have had the decency to call or at least email me this instead of face booking me. I know that after this our friendship will probably never be the same so I am going to let it end quietly and not cause a fuss. If this girl was someone I was really close too I would have asked my parents for the $80.00 for the dress but since she wasn't I didn't feel a need to do so. Part of me thought that my friend would understand my circumstances, since if you don't pay the government they take things away!! But maybe we were both just holding on to a past friendship that ended years ago. We saw each other through the ups and down of college, relationships, moving out on our own for the first time and we shared everything together. Things changed after graduation as they always do and our friendship wasn't the same. My hubby is always telling me that I am at that awkward age. I don't have as much in common anymore with my unmarried college friends. I am a little too old to spend my nights drinking and partying with friends, not only because I am married but because I now have a career instead of a job, rent and student loans to pay instead of splitting rent with 3 girls and a husband to take care of. I am now officially an adult. I am also in the in between stage where our friends are starting to have babies. I myself am at a crossroads to pursue a master's degree or start having children. In a week I will be 26. It is hard to believe how my life has changed these past two years but I would never change it for anything.

So maybe part of me expected this message from her and was shocked when she even asked me to be in the wedding. As sad and hard as it is I will see the end of this friendship like a mature adult.

Do y'all think I should respond to her or just leave things be?
Thanks for listening to me vent

Winston Salem Here I Come!

Come Wednesday morning I will be out of Fayetteville and here.. Winston Salem North Carolina.

I love my life here in fayetteville, but I am a city girl and miss living in a big city. I miss skyscraper's, loads of cute boutiques and restaurants and the night life of big cities. I also miss driving into the downtown area of big city's and seeing all the lights! So I am excited to get out of Fayetteville for a few days and live it up in a bit city. Why am I going you may ask?


I am attending my very first work conference! I feel like such a professional adult telling people that I am off for a work conference! I am attending the Applied Behavior Analysis Conference in Winston Salem, NC. The conference starts Wednesday and ends Friday. I am heading up to Raleigh tomm night to stay with a co-worker and then we are leaving early wednesday morning. I have my bag all packed with professional attire and even have a cute dress packed for the cocktail hour they will be having. AHH

The only downside about going is the fact that I will miss the hubby...and his 30th Birthday which is Thursday. And of course he loves to guilt trip me by whining about me leaving him on his bday. I follow up with Well, you deploy all the time and leave me alone. His answer was that he doesn't choose to deploy, but I chose to go. I know he is kidding and wants me to go. It is a great opportunity. I will get some more hands on training that will enable me to grow professionally as a behavioral therapist and it will also allow me to meet fellow professionals in the field besides my co-workers. I am beyond excited for this opportunity!


On a side note, I was very ashamed with myself today and was reminded of how selfish I can be. My hubby got a call this morning and was notified that he would be on funeral duty this week. Which means that a fellow soldier died and M would be part of the funeral such as a pall bearer or one of the gunsmen who does the 7 gun salute. He assumed that he would be going out of town for the funeral since they didn't mention the location. Right away my first thought was Great, now we have to board the dogs and pay alot of money to do so, money we need to save for taxes. I immediately was ashamed.Here I was bitching about money, while some poor woman, mother and children were mourning the loss of a husband, son or father. I felt awful and chided myself for my selfishness. I sent out a prayer asking for forgiveness for my selfishness and praying for the family of those that lost a loved one. I vow to never again react so selfishly

On a side note, I told the hubby how awful I felt about my behavior. M tried to reassure me by telling me that the soldier that dies was an 80 year old war veteran. That did make me feel a little better but still I was reminded that in the military community, war affects everyone and that many families around the world have lost a loved one in battle. I pray for all those families and again am deeply sorry for my selfishness.

L-O-V-E

We started off Valentine's weekend by going to see this movie



We went to see this movie with another one of our couple friends and our good friend whose hubby is deployed. Us girls loved the movie but the guys didn't care for it too much. All in all I thought it was worth seeing

Saturday I had to work 8-230. I came home from work expecting to lay around all day but the hubs took me on a little shopping spree! We then went over to a friend's house where us girl's drank a few glasses of wine and the boys played Modern Warfare

This morning I woke up and attended my online class. I then made the hubs and I a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. During breakfast there was a knock on the door, M had had flowers delivered!!(Now on a sidenote, M has the worst luck with ordering flower's. For the past 2 years everytime he has ordered flower's for me they are either the wrong flower or they turn up a week later. I finally had to tell him that the romance of receiving flowers was taken out of the gesture when they turned up dead!) Again this time the flower's were wrong, a day late and there was no card. But hey, it was the thought that counts and they were beautiful!

After breakfast I shooed M out the door to do some grocery shopping. As soon as he left I set up our table with his v-day and b-day presents!
Our table looked something like this


M came home and I immediately had him open his gifts. For Valentine's day I blew up one of our wedding pictures and typed out our vows and put them in a frame
Here he is opening up the frame





Next I had him open his Birthday presents. I knew he really wanted a wireless keyboard for his play station so I gave in and bought him one. You only turn 30 once! And since I will be gone this coming week and I will miss his birthday I figured it was the least I could do. I also bought him the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition since his subscription to the magazine hadn't gone into effect yet




After gift's I made some yummy red velvet cupcakes..


and after relaxing most of the afternoon we ordered chinese food and rented A Time Traveler's Wife.
It was a perfect day. I am just happy that for the first time in almost three years we were able to spend our first valentine's day together. I love you babe!!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!!
XOXO

Calling all Brides and Bridesmaids

I need advice!!

I am standing up in two weddings. One is my cousin's S's which is this summer on July 31st. The other wedding is my college roommates which is in July of 2011. I just paid for my cousin's dress and didn't think I would have to worry about the dress for my friend's wedding for at least a few months. Last time I had spoken with her she had not picked out our dresses yet

Sunday night I received an email from her stating that she found the dress she would like us to purchase. The price tag is awesome, only $80.00 but the dress is being discontinued and we need to buy it within the next two weeks!!

Ouch. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with the $80.00 but since I paid for my cousin's dress this past week and am going on a work conference this coming week, money is a little tight. TO make matter's worse tax season is upon us and this is my first year as a 1099 employee. Which means that since my paycheck's don't get taxed I will be paying out alot to the government. Since we don't know yet how much we owe, we are trying to limit our spending. It also doesn't help that our tax fund has dwindled due to the fact that in September I was in a car accident and totaled my car and that in October after having a creepy neighbor take pictures of me on his i-phone and having our apartment complex being canvased by a gang of criminals who proceeded to pull a gun out while we were taking the dogs for a walk we decided we needed to move to a safer location. So we had to pay to get out of our lease and then pay a security deposit and first months rent at our new apartments all within a few weeks. There went our tax money. WE have been building up our account again but I still cannot spend the money on her dress until we have done our taxes.

I explained this all to her in a detailed email. She hasn't called or anything until this morning when I received an email from her saying this is the only time we can get the dress. I don't know what to do. Do I tell her than that I won't be able to stand up in her wedding? How would y'all feel if one of your bridesmaids weren't able to purchase the dress?

I had a bridesmaid drop out of my wedding and it hurt that she couldn't be in it and I do feel awful about not getting the dress but at the same time I feel that two weeks isn't much notice.
What are your thoughts on this?

Boudoir photography

Before I get into my post about boudoir photography I would like to thank my blogger friend Tami at She Talks to Angels for the following award. If you haven't visited Tami's blog you should def check it out. The url is tamitalkstoangels.blospot.com. She is one of my new favorite reads. So be sure to stop by her blog.



The rule to this award are as follows.

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and insert a link to their blog.
2. Pass on the award to about 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are great!
3. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.
4. Say 7 things about yourself.

Here it goes
1. Thanks again Tami for the award!!!
2. In the last few weeks I have received and passed on a few awards so instead of passing this on to 15 more people I decided to pass this on to any of my readers. In the last few weeks I also have come across many new blogs which I am in love with. I enjoy reading other blogger's posts and reading the comments you all have left me. So this award goes to all my lovely blogger friends!
I will skip 3 and head on to step four
4. 7 things about myself
1. I want to get a tattoo with the following saying in Hebrew-For I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.
2. I am obsessed with candles. I literally have a big box in my hall closet full of candles. I always want my house to smell good. My favorite thing to do is light candles all over the house and curl up in bed with a good book.
3. I love summer. I can not wait for the weather to get warm so I can lay outside all day long
4. Despite my hubby's video game obsession I am a lucky girl to have him in my life. He gets me like no one else ever before and as husbands go, he is great! I am truly blessed
5. I am obsessed with taking pictures. When I'm done finishing up school for my ABA certification I want to take a photography class just for fun.
6. The hardest part I found about being a military wife was not dealing with the hubby's deployments but in finding meaningful friendships in a new town. I am so over dealing with petty, immature girls. I have learned that quality is better than quantity
7. I love Vera Bradley purses and their design in general and I adore anything in Damask print. I love it all! If only my hubby would let me decorate the house in those styles

And now on to Boudoir photography
The photographers I hired for our wedding did boudoir sessions along with shooting weddings. Since we had a destination wedding, I didn't hire them to shoot a boudoir session since I didn't want to be crunched for time. Then after the hubby deployed I decided to book a session with an area photographer. I was unable to find one in Wi and booked a session with Glamour shots. I then had to cancel due to a work conflict and have never made another appointment.
I've seen a few blogger's posts recently about them doing a boudoir photo session for their hubby's. So to all my readers, have any of you had boudoir pictures taken? Was it uncomfortable? Would you recommend doing a boudoir photo shoot? And if anyone of my reader's is from North Carolina, do you know of any photographers that does them?
Happy Wednesday everyone!

Our Engagement Story

Thanks to all my lovely readers and friends who commented on my video game rant. I appreciate all your kind words and am glad to know that I am not the only one whose husband is addicted. He is deploying in a month so I'm going to try and bear with it since he does use it as a way to destress but I am going to have a chat with him and as someone suggested I am going start limiting his video game time and if he won't get off, I am going off to a friend's!!

I've seen a couple other people this week write about their engagement stories, so I am going to join in the fun

About two weeks after M and I met in person, we started talking about marriage. We knew he would be deploying soon and since he was stationed in NC and I was living in WI we both discussed that in order for us to work I would eventually have to move down to NC. I flat out told him that I would never move for any guy unless we were engaged or married. I know that may sound harsh, but I had seen too many of my friends quit their jobs, leave their family and friends only to be dumped shortly after moving to be with their boyfriends. My best friend forever was engaged to her high school sweetheart,dated all throughout college while he was stationed down in Florida and became engaged her junior year of college. So she transferred to a school in florida and moved down only to find out he had a girlfriend on the side. She was devastated and it took her a long time to trust anyone again. So I was just protecting myself

M luckily said he understood. I did tell him that I was in no way pressuring him and that if he didn't feel ready to propose or be with me that we would go our own separate ways.

Two weeks later M took me on a surprise trip to Key West, Florida. We stayed at this amazing bed and breakfast! I was in love. Our first day at the beach we saw a wedding being held right on the beach. We both turned to each other and said Let's get married here. I looked at him in shock. I wanted to marry this man but didn't want to get my hopes up. Later on, back at our room we planned our whole future together. It was so exciting until I had an allergic reaction to something. So off M went to go get me some benadryl and came back with the medicine and wedding magazines for me to start planning. I knew then this was serious

The day we returned home from Key West, we planned our whole wedding. We picked the florist, the bakery and our photographer all based on places we had seen on our trip. However I still had no ring on my finger

Every weekend that M and I saw each other I was anxious thinking that he would propose. One weekend M and I hadn't planned on seeing each other because constantly buying flights from NC to WI or vice versa was starting to get expensive. So Friday, Jan 23rd I went out to dinner with my family for my dad's bday. I had talked to M before dinner and he had said that he was going to Charlotte for night to do some ring shopping. What a tease he is! Halfway through dinner I received a text saying that his phone was dying and that he would call me when he got back to Fayetteville. I bought it hook, line and sinker

After dinner, I returned to my apartment. It was after 10:00 at night so I changed into my pj's and curled up on the couch to watch tv. Around 11ish my phone rang. It was M. He asked what I was doing and after I responded he told me to come to the front door. I flew down the stairs and there he was waiting with three roses. I let him up to the apt and he took my hands and said, These three roses represent our past, present and future. The past we can throw away since from now on we will only look forward but these two represent our life together. Then he pulled out a box from here...


Dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was still in shock from seeing him at my door that I just kept trying to hug him! Of course I said yes! I later found out that he drove to Charlotte, picked up the ring and hopped on the earliest flight to WI. My bff picked him up at the airport and dropped him off to my apt! It was the most romantic night ever

Here are some pics I took the following morning



This picture I was still so giddy and excited from the night before I couldn't calm down to smile normally lol!! I kept having to tell myself over and over I'm engaged I'm engaged. It was too good to be true

So this is the story of our engagement!

Play Station-How I Loathe Thee

First and foremost I want to give a big Thank You to my blogger friend Mrs. Muffins! She made my blog into a 3 column blog. So all the credit needs to go to her. Thank you so much!! This computer illiterate blogger owes you big time! I greatly appreciate it!!!

On another note, as I am typing up this post my resentment toward my hubby is growing and growing. Now before I continue let me explain...

My hubby's favorite thing to do is play Call of Duty on his playstation. Fine, everyone needs their hobbies and something to do on their down time but his hobby consumes his life. For awhile I thought it was cute the way he got so into his video games. Now I am scheming up ways to break the damm play station without him knowing I was the one that broke it

Here is why his video game addiction bothers me so
I work 11-12 hour days. I get up at 4:30, go to the gym, come home and let the dogs out before getting ready for work, feed the dogs, let them out again and leave for work. The hubby gets up at 8:30am, way after I have already left and does nothing with the dogs since I have already done so. He gets home around 3:00-4:00 and once again sits his butt down on the couch to get in some quality time with his play station before I get home. Another thing I should clarify is that he doesn't think the couch gives him the best tv watching angle while playing so he sits on our coffee table. Our freshly dusted coffee table has a perma butt print on it. Nice

So I get home aroun 7:00-7:30 and once again have to take the dogs out and feed them since they are still in their kennels because Daddy had to have his alone time. So after letting them out and feeding them, I now start on dinner. All the while I am doing this and I have barely received more from my hubby than a grunt hello. He barely tears himself away from the game during dinner and once again returns to the game while I'm left to clean everything up.

Weekends are the worst. I work Saturday's from 8-2:30 and have class on sunday mornings at 8:30am. You would think that for two days the hubby would let me sleep in even just a little bit, or take care of the gos, but nope once again I have to set my alarm even earlier just to get up and take care of the dogs before heading to work and class while the hubby sleeps in until 10:00 and then resumes his position on the coffee table. There he sits until I get off work and finish class and even then he barely wants to get off the game to go do something

Now I know I'm making him sound like a bad person right now but some day's I just can't take the video game addiction. Where is my free time, when do I get a moment to myself

This morning, while attending my online class I had two dogs jumping on me and knocking over my computer just to get attention. Tonight though my hubby really irritated me. Every time I see a kiddo, I have to write up a one page summary of our session. Seeing as I see 4-5 kids a day, I have about 35 session summaries to turn in at the end of the week. Normally I take my netbook to work and type them up during the last 10 minutes of a session but this past week, with constantly being at the hospital with my friend or studying for my exam I haven't been able to do so. So tonight I sat down to type up all 35. Now these session summaries need to get emailed to my boss, so as I go I attach them into an email. I was just about done when the hubby decided he was going to play his video game. Fine, since I was busy I didn't care. But today however, our router wasn't working so he couldn't get on his game. So I was the one who had to connect to a different network. If I would have been playing on the computer I would have been fine with it but since my session summaries are confidential documents I was uncomfortable with connecting to another network. When I said as much, M told me I needed to calm down and he didn't understand why I had an attitude. I explained that he should be the one connecting to another network since I was doing stuff for work. This just pissed M off even more. I gave up and connected to another network and finished my work with my hubby still making remarks about me under his breath

Some days I just give up. If he would rather spend time with his play station than me, there is not much I can do. I used to make plans with my friends when he sat around all weekend playing video games but he got mad at me for that, so now I sit home and end up cleaning, doing laundry, working or studying while he sits away and plays!! AHHH!!
Thanks you all for letting me vent. I really don't mean to bitch, I love my hubby to death but some days I just want to scream

And to clarify, we live in an apartment complex that includes wireless internet in their rent. So that if you don't want to pay for high speed internet you don't have to. So I'm not connecting to some one else's internet. I am connecting to the apartment's network. We do however pay to have our own network since we do need the high speed internet. So my hubby uses our network for his video games and I have to use the apartment's for my work stuff. Very frutrating indeed

Oh well, hope you all had a great weekend

3 Column Template and Blog Awards

Hello everyone! I have spent the last hour and a half trying to figure out how to convert my blog into a 3 column blog. My good blogger friend Amber sent me a website which provided instructions and still my blog did not turn out right. I then found another website that offered instructions and I played around with my html code. And again, no such luck. I even tried downloading the code for already made 3 column blogs and almost downloaded a virus. I know that most likely I am doing something wrong so I will probably have to give up on the 3 column blog. Unless anyone knows any easier way to convert your blog from 2 columns to 3 or if there is anyone out there that could do it for me that would be awesome!!!

I received two new blog awards!!


The first is called The Bogart given to me by Mrs G.I. Joe over at ACU's, Stiletto Shoes and Pretty Pink TuTu's! Thanks so much.
This award means you're really going places, Baby.
You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now,
and I'll still be reading them.



The Rules:
Link back to the blogger who sent you the award.
Post where you would like to be in 10 years.
Pass this on to 10 other special bloggers.

Again this award was given to me by Mrs. G.I. Joe
In ten years I will be 36 years old(That's a scary thought) and will hopefully be running my own company that provides ABA services to military families who have kiddo's with autism. I also hope to have three kiddo's of my own, two girls and one boy and the hubby and I will be even more in love than ever! We will be living somewhere in Florida, right on the ocean and we will spend our days with the kid's and dogs at the beach

I pass this award on to
Mandy at Tickled Pink
D.A.R at Just Another Day in our Midwest Paradise
Alissa at Newlywedded, Life, Love and Me
Lindsay at And We'll Just Laugh Along the Way
Risley at Adventures of the Wilkinsons
Mrs. Muffins
Mrs Lukie at Sarah Says
Lauren at Modern Day Knights
G.I. Joe's Wife at A Day in the Life of this Army Wife
Ashley at Pink-ture Perfect
Mateya at Our Journey from Iraq to the Alter

The second award I received was from Alia T Yellod Ribbon Diary. Y'all need to check out her blog. I love it! Her url is www.yellowribbondiary@blogspot.com since for some reason my blog won't let me post link's!!
The award is..



The rules for this award are as follows
First, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Third, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you."

So here it goes
1. I have bad OCD. When I was younger I was like Nicholas Cage's character in Matchstick men. I constantly washed my hands, had to do things for the same amount of time with both hands and worried obsessively about bugs and germs. Luckily I have outgrown most of those things but I still worry about bugs!!!
2. If my hubby was ready to have children I would be pregnant NOW!!!
3. My bachelor's degree was in criminal justice and I used to want to be a police officer.
4. My biggest pet peeve are friends who use you and then dump you when they meet someone else
5. I am honest to a fault. To some my honesty comes off as bitchy which I never intend but I believe in honesty above anything else. I have been lied to too many times in the past by people I cared about and refuse to do the same to others.
6. My favorite thing to do with the hubby is to just lay around all day and watch movies
7. I love being a housewife. I love cleaning, cooking, doing laundry and making our apt a home
8. I love doing girly things with my friends-shopping, getting a pedicure or having a girl's night with pomegranate martinis
9. A perfect day would be a day spent at the beach with a good book and my hubby
10. My favorite holiday is Halloween!!

I pass this award onto Annie at Our Little Family
Ashley at Raising Brats
Katie at A little Sugar and a pinch of spice
Brittney at Far More then Rubies
Emma at Pink Bliss
Tori over at Tori and Chad
Kayla Sue over at Nineteen
Beth at All I've Ever Wanted
USMCWife at Empty Nest, PCS and All the Rest
Brandi at Excess Baggage
Tami at She Talks to Angels

I tried to pass out these awards to those I haven't given an award to in the past and to those who are always commenting on my post's. I look forward to reading everyone's comments they leave on my page and to also reading everyone's posts! Keep blogging everyone
Hope you are all having a great weekend!!

Prayers Needed!

There are certain events that occur that really make you stop and think about what's really important in life. One of these events occurred a few days ago

On Monday at around 4:00 I had just gotten home from work and was looking forward to sitting down and relaxing for the night. A phone call changed my plans. One of my good friends here in NC called to tell me that another good fried of ours had gone into labor. You would think that would be an amazing thing, but my friend was only 29 weeks pregnant. 2 weeks ago her mucus plug started leaking and she started having contractions. Luckily they were able to stop the contractions and fix the leak and she was sent home. Now here she was two weeks later with the same thing happening again. I immediately asked what needed to be done and if there was any way we could help. My friend was heading toward our preggo friend's house to watch their one year until her in law's arrived. The hubby and I headed to the hospital so that we could pick up her car from her Dr's office and drive it back to her house so that her mother in law would have a car with the car seat.

At the hospital M and I went up to visit our friend and her hubby. She was terrified. The Dr's weren't telling her much and after having already given birth prematurely to her now one year old she was afraid it was going to happen again. After never having gone through labor myself I had no idea what to say or how to make her feel better. I was at a loss. M and I left after visiting awhile and drove her car to her house where we met our other friend. We took turns playing with their one year old son, packing him a suitcase for his stay with grandma and changed his diaper and fed him. At least i felt better knowing that I was doing something to help. M ended up going home since he had to work the following morning at 5am but Jent and I headed back to the hospital after the baby was handed off to grandma. We stayed until around 2 in the morning and right before we left our friend's contractions started decreasing and slowing down.

Tuesday afternoon as soon as M and I got off work, we returned to this hospital. Things were much worse. The magnesium and other medicines that were stopping the contractions were also making my friend sick. She had started getting toxicity poisoning from the magnesium and they were planning on taking her off it and letting nature take it's course. My friend was a wreck. She is normally a strong and private person, one who hates to let her emotions show but today she was terrified. Again I felt helpless knowing nothing I could say would make her feel better. M, Jent and I all just hung out trying to cheer her up and providing as much comfort as we could but as the contractions went from around 20 to 80 we knew there wasn't much we could do. The Dr's came in and basically told her she would probably go into labor. It didn't help that her mother in law came to the hospital and told her that with a preemie baby she wouldn't be able to hold him, or take him home for awhile. While it probably was the truth it sure wasn't the best thing to tell her. We left shortly after her hubby came to the hospital so that they could be alone together.

Wednesday morning came and she still hadn't gone into labor. The contractions had slowed and things were looking up. We didn't go visit her again as she explained that since things had finally settled down all she wanted to do was sleep. Today she was doing so well that she was able to be discharged from the hospital. The contractions had stopped this morning and things were looking good. Right before they officially discharged her they checked one last time only to have my friend start having contractions once more. The readmitted her and gave her a steroid shot to try and stop the contractions. As of right now the contractions are still occurring and she is still in the hospital.

I am so worried for my friend and hope that the Dr's can do whatever they can to prevent the baby coming out any earlier than he needs to.As I was at the hospital with my hubby and friends I thought long and hard about life in general. Life is full of trials and tribulations and nothing is ever a guarantee. This experience made me realize which friends I can truly count on and it also made me realize how strong my friendships with certain people are. I also admire my friend for her strength and courage. For as she was in pain, terrified for her baby she kept thanking us for all we did to help and apologizing for making us do things for her. As if we wouldn't do whatever she needed.

This experience also hit close to home. I had an older brother who was born at 29 weeks and died 3 months later. My parent's still have never fully recovered from their loss. Then a year later, I was born at 34 weeks with undeveloped lungs and intestines. I was in the hospital for two months and once again my parent's had to worry about losing another child. For my parent's third child my mother was put on bed rest for the majority of her pregnancy and after my younger brother was born, the Dr's told her it was best if she had no more children. Again my parent's were devastated as they had wanted to try for one more child, but gratefully accepted their life with two children. Seeing my friend go through this experience made me realize the hardships my parent's faced and it also made me understand the way they raised me. My parent's are overprotective to a fault and while it annoyed me as a child I realize now that they almost lost two children and knew firsthand what it felt like to bury a child. I called my mom immediately after my friend went into labor and talked with my mom about her experience. I think it was good for my mom to let it all out and talk about it since it's kept bottled up at home.

This experience just really made me realize what is truly important in life and enabled me to reorganize my priorities. Lately I had been worrying and stressing over the wrong things and I realized I needed to stop doing that. What is most important in my life is my hubby, my family, my friends, my job and school. I intend to start making sure I have my priorities in line and being thankful for the life that I have.

And to all my blogger bff's please please pray for my friend and her little one.