Making Changes

Ladies, this week is the week that my life changes. I have a second interview for a job I reeeeeeeeeeeally want tomorrow afternoon. I just have a feeling. That job is mine! It'd be Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:30, and a significant amount more money. I think that I've finally found the job that's going to pan out and really work for me.

Secondly, I'm really starting on my weight loss journey. By no means am I obese, but I'm not where I'd like to be. I'm owning up to myself that some things need to change. I want to be healthy, I want to feel good, and I want to be happy with myself. I'm done wishing and am finally going to do that.

With that, I'm doing two things to help myself. Last week I joined a gym and have been going as often as I possibly can. I feel great! I love my gym so much I'm sad I hadn't joined earlier. It's an all female gym, 24/7, has tanning beds and massage chairs. It's heaven, really. Also, I've started taking supplements from Advocare! If you haven't heard of the company, you really should check it out. It's an amazing company, built on Christian ethics and the highest quality products around. Drew Brees is an unpaid endorser! There is a product called Spark that has absolutely changed my life! It's definitely my liquid nap... can't we all use that sometimes?! Anyway, I'm starting the 24 day challenge as soon as the products get here and I can't wait to update you all on my progress. I'm so excited!

I am vowing to take back my life, take back my health, and to take back my finances! Here's to changes for the better!

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary?

He proposed on his birthday! I secretly think he did that so he wouldn't ever forget!

2. When is your wedding anniversary?

We have two like most military couples! 2/27 and 8/22

3. How long have you known your spouse?

8 years I think?

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 

5 months

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time?

Church! He was a leader of Junior High boys in our youth group when I was in high school. lol..

6. What is your spouses full name?

Umm. not happening :)

7. Do you have any children?

4 fur-children

8. How many? Boys/Girls

A boy and girl cat and boy and girl dog. We're very democratic...lol jk

9. Do you have any house pets?

Pets... furchildren.... is there a difference? :)

10. Do you own a house or rent?

Renting

11. Do you live in the country/town/city?

Somewhere between a town and a city lol

12. What is one of your favorite activities to do together?
Watch movies!

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot?
Well, we've only been on one vacation, so I don't know if we have a favorite yet!

14. When did you first kiss?
People actually remember the date? Weird. lol

15. What church do you attend?
Sadly, we haven't found one yet. Hopefully my work schedule will get better soon and we can continue our
search!

16. Is this the church you were married in?
Nope

17. What town is current address at?
Eh, I'll keep that to myself :)

18. Do you work or stay home?
I work

19. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Didn't go on one :/

20. What was the funniest gift you gave while dating? 
Funniest? I don't know if I gave a funny gift.

21. How long have you been together?
Together about 3, married about 2

22. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
5 years or so

23. Who asked who out?
He asked me

24. How old are each of you?
I'm 22, he's 27

25. Where do each of you go to school?
Neither of us are in school

26. Which situation is hardest on you as a couple?
My work schedule FOR SURE

27. Did you go to the same school?
Nope!

28. Are you both from the same town?
We're from the same area. Neighboring towns

29.Who is smarter?
Depends on which one of us you ask... I'd same him and he'd say me

30. Who is more sensitive?
By far, me!

31. Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Umm, we don't really eat out enough to say that we east somewhere specifically the most

32. Where is the farthest you two have traveled as a couple?
Destin Fl!

33. Who has the craziest exes?
Crazy? Not so much... Not the greatest? Me.

34. Who has the worse temper?
Well, in every day life, he does for sure. But you definitely don't want to cross me either.

35. Who does the cooking?
Mostly I do. Every once and a while, hubby will cook

36. Who is more social?
Ha! ME!!!! Hubby can barely stand to be around a group of large people.

37. Who is the neat-freak?
We each have our moments... Me more often than not though

38. Who is more stubborn?
Good Lord we both are. I'm already praying for our children. They'll need it.

39. Who hogs the bed?
He says I do... I say he does. lol Add in the cats and we really should just get a king size bed.

40. Who wakes up earlier?
He does, but he also goes to bed earlier. I'm not lazy

41. Where was your first date?
The Angelika Theater in Dallas, Cafe de Brazil for dinner, and back to his house for another movie :) Best
night ever

42. Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends?
Blah. Me.

43. Do you get flowers often?
Not very often. It's always a nice surprise when he gets them for me.

44. How do you spend the holidays?
Splitting our time between families. Sometimes it feels like we spend more time in the car than with our
family. This year his whole family and my dad are coming to us for Thanksgiving though. :) Should be interesting

45. Who is more jealous?
Oh I am. Probably one of the biggest things I struggle with.

46. How long did it take to get serious?
Not long. We were engaged 5 months after we started dating :)

47. Who eats more?
I call him my human disposal. He does.

48. Who does the laundry?
Me! Every once and a while he'll do a load of his uniforms.

49. Who is better with the computer?
We're both pretty good with them. He's better though since he builds them.

50. Leave a piece of advice for other couples:

Cherish the time you have together, whether it's five minutes or five hours. Sometimes you just have to put aside the "life" things and enjoy some time with your best friend!

I promise a real post is coming soon!

Skype!

I officially have a skype! I don't know why I held out for so long, especially being a mil-spouse, but it's a done deal now! Now I just have to figure out how it works and get my family on it! My mom is probably going to sign up tonight and my sis will once she invests in a webcam! Woohoo! Now all I have to do is the my dad and the in-laws in the loop and I'll be golden! Then I can focus on getting some friends on there as well. lol I have a sneaking suspicion though that my niece will be the most fun to talk to! :)

Rain!!

I'm so excited that the seasons are starting to change! I LOVE the fall/winter time more than anything! I love the smell in the air. I LOVE being able to turn off the ac and throw the windows open. The house smells good, I can put out my fall decorations, it's that much closer to Christmas, and I can start wearing sweaters again! So, what are we doing tonight? Hanging out with the windows open, loving hearing the rain, and praying it doesn't flood! :) Today has been a great day.

My Daddy

Throughout the years my family has had it's fair share of ups and downs. To be perfectly honest, we've had more downs recently than ups, but I'm not going to keep count. :) Through it all, my dad has been someone I could count on. We always had an extraordinary relationship thoughout my childhood and that has continued into my adulthood. We're very much alike and always enjoy spending time together. As soon as I got my acceptance letter from Baylor my dad owned just about every piece of Baylor gear possible and hasn't stopped since. He's always been my biggest fan. He even has a bumper sticker on his car that says "My son in law proudly serves in the Air Force". I mean, how cool is he? I'm SUCH a daddy's girl.

Anywho, Dad decided he wanted to see me and drove up here (4 hours) Thursday night after he got off work. When I got off work and walked out to my car there he was! I felt like a 5 year old running across the parking lot to hug him! We stayed up until about 2 am talking and catching up until our eyes couldn't stay open any longer. We spent some time together Friday morning with the hubs and just had fun for a few hours. I was so sad to see him go, but it was such a treat to see him for a bit. I'm lucky to have a dad that would drive 8 hours to see me in shorter than 24 hours and not complain for an instant. :) Love my Daddy Boy!

Making Goals

Whelp, here I am again trying to get back into the swing of blogging more often! This time what's on my brain is the goals hubby and I are setting. Currently we're about to start attacking our weight. We recently were given the P90X dvds and with hubby having knee surgery not too long ago, it was just never a good time to start it. Anyway, hubby's physical therapy is doing him a world of good and I'm tired of feeling the way I do about my body... and so is he. So, Sunday is the day we start that journey. I'm ready to be fit again and to feel good about the way I look. Although the plan of attack right now is to wait until we're closer to being in Texas to have kids, I still want to be at my goal weight before having a baby. I'm so sick of the way I feel, it just has to change. I have about 20 pounds to lose to get to where I want to be and I don't think that's unreasonable. If I lost more, it'd just be an added bonus.

Anywho... have any of you ladies ever used P90X? We skimmed through a dvd a few days ago just to see what we were in for and I think it scared me more than anything. It looks suuuuper tough. I'm definitely worried, but I just HAVE to do this for myself. PLUS hubby said if I get to my goal weight, I can go on a shopping spree for new clothes. He certainly knows the way to motivate me doesn't he? :)

M.I.A.

Firstly, I'm sorry I haven't posted a blog in so long. There are so many things that have gone on in the last few weeks that I just haven't had the heart to blog. The overwhelming sense of "blah" has really taken over me for several weeks and nothing fun or interesting to blog about happens when you're feeling so blah.

A few days ago I literally hit my breaking point. I just lost it. My poor hubby has probably never been more scared in his life, but he was so patient and kind. I've been miserable for several months and it dawned on me the other day that I was trying to point the finger as to why I was so miserable at ANYTHING other than the truth. I said I was miserable because of my job, being away from family, not being able to start a family when we wanted to, etc. It was like God's hand came down and smacked me on the forehead and said "No you dummy, you're the reason you're miserable." Oh... I'm making myself miserable. Awesome. So, I've been trying to improve my attitude and accept that the situation is not what's making me so upset, it's how I'm dealing with the situation. That's a tough pill to swallow, I'll tell you that for sure.

I keep telling hubby I wish there was an easy button and am wondering where my burning bush is. I don't feel like I'm doing what I should be doing as far as my career, but I also feel like what I want will never happen. My work schedule sucks so bad I can hardly stand it. At the moment, I really feel like being a teacher is what would truly help me feel fulfilled in my career and enjoy myself, but I have NO idea how to go about it. I got a part-time job at a local elementary school within the past few days and that's an encouragement I suppose, but it's only 1.5 hours a day and that means I'll never have a day off, unless I take vacation from the station over a weekend. That's slightly daunting but I'm hoping I can get a teacher's assistant position at this same elementary school and then I can quit at the station. But then I had a panicky moment realizing... but I won't have work over the summer months! What will we do without an income for those three months?! I'm just lost and feel like I'm drowning. Like the more I hate this situation, the worse it gets, and the less I know what to do.

This isn't quite as cheery of a blog as I was hoping, but it's the best I can muster. I'm going to try and do better about blogging and maybe that will help me feel better. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with you ladies, but I promise you aren't forgotten.

Frustration

Today is the day that having no friends really just kills me. I'm bursting at the seams, NEEDING to vent and I can't do that on here incase someone I don't want reading this, ends up reading it. I could scream. I really just need a friend. Is ONE friend so difficult to come by? Gah!

I want it Wednesday

So, yet another themed post today. We'll see how this goes! :)

Today I want a number of things. I had an interview for a nanny job on Sunday and I won't know if I got it or not until this weekend. I'm trying to not obsess over it toooo badly because I really really really want this job. If I get it, I'll fill you all in more thoroughly later. :)

If I get this job I'm going to join a gym down the street. It's a female only 24/7 gym with a military discount. How awesome is that? With your membership you, obviously, get 24/7 access, use of several tanning beds and saunas, as well as work-out classes and gym access. I'm setting a goal for myself. I want to lose 20 pounds. I'm right on the edge of being "overweight" on the BMI scale and I'm reeeeeally not enjoying that. The hubby said today if I hit my goal, I can use a week's income and get myself some new clothes. How's THAT for encouragement, huh? :)

Anyway, that's it for me today. I have today and tomorrow off from work and I'm using it to catch up around the house, so I hope I can continue being productive! :) Happy Wednesday.

Family Friday

Well, my second one of these and I don't even need to waste one second on who I'm going to write about.

My brother in law has been staying with us for nearly a month now and tomorrow is his last day here! It's pretty bitter sweet to tell you the truth. We've really enjoyed having him here. Anywho...

me and micah christmas morning

When I say Micah is EXACTLY like the hubs, I mean EXACTLY. They act alike, they look alike, they dress alike, they think alike, etc. Most of the time it's creepy, while hilarious as all get out. There is eleven years between hubby and Micah, but they are the second and third out of five kids. While the hubs mostly grew up with his older sister, Micah has mostly grown up with his two younger siblings. There were years here and there when hubby lived at home and boy did those two butt-heads. They are both stubborn, strong-willed, and aggressive. (Again, they are too alike) Their mom's favorite story to tell was when Micah prayed one night for hubby "to move far away again". Lol. Thankfully, they are both at the age now that they can tolerate each other much better and actually see their like-ness as what bonds them, instead of what makes them hate each other. (Although I'm sure they would never in a million years word it quite like that :) )

We have really enjoyed having him here the past few weeks and I'm sure for a while after he leaves, the house will seem empty without him. Hopefully he's been able to see us in a new light as well, and know we'll be there to back him up whenever he might need us, no matter how "far away" we move. ;)

lol He'll hate me if he ever sees this :)

Sweet Miracles

Goodness, I haven't made time to blog lately. I've been completely out of the loop the past few days. My apologies. :)

Meet the new members of our family!!

This is sweet Millie

And this little guy has yet to find a name

So, Millie has a pretty amazing story, but I need to start from the beginning. The majority of my childhood pets were found in rescues. Each and every one of them have their own special story that made them even more dear to all of our hearts. This being said, I have a special place in my heart for rescue shelters, as well as the animals within them.

When we first moved in Oklahoma, which has been nearly a year (Crazy!), we immediately started talking about pets. We'd been dying to have a pet and finally had a yard/house to have one. Instinctively, I started looking at shelter websites in the area. Hubby really likes huskies so I kept a special eye out for one and then one day I came across Millie. (We've re-named her from what the rescue was calling her but still) Her story instantly touched my heart and melted it completely.

The lady that ran the rescue frequents local shelters as often as possible to see if she can save animals from being put down. One day she saw a puppy that looked like she was days away from death, either because of her injuries and sheer point of starvation, or due to her impending euthanization. She couldn't bare to see this poor dog again before they put her down so she didn't come back until after she was supposed to be put to sleep.

Skin and Bones

When she did come back, dog she had seen was still there. She knew she just had to get her and bring her back to good health. It had been a sign. She knew that it'd be plenty of work, but the dog deserved it. At some point she had an infection on her spine that hadn't been treated and had done lasting damage. Her legs would get twisted up easily, she couldn't quite walk straight, and running ended up being more like a bunny hop. Her digestion was less than optimal and her ability to know when she needs to go to the potty was minimal at best.

We've talked about Millie ever since then. No matter how many dogs we looked at, Millie already had our hearts. So, nearly a year after first seeing her on the website, she is now snoozing on our back porch enjoying being at home for the first time. We love her, she loves us and she's here to stay. I really do feel like a mother who has brought their child home from the hospital. lol. She's the sweetest thing in the world and is our sweet miracle doggie.

When we finally name our little man, I'll have to post a blog about him, so as to be fair. :)

Family Friday

Well, in an attempt to make my blog even more fun, I'm still trying to think up "themed" posts I suppose you could call them. I like the idea of "Family Friday". On these days I will share stories about... you guessed it! My family! I hope it won't be to boring, and as everything in life, nothing is written in stone. :)

Today I'm going to share about my niece. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday... and man do I feel old saying that. My sister went into labor early in the morning and none of us were awake. Although she tried calling, it took hours for my aunt to finally get ahold of my mom to fill her in. We spent many more HOURS in the hospital waiting for her to be born. My sister ending up having to have a c-section that afternoon and I remember going outside and just bawling. I was scared, excited, nervous, and full of anxiety all at once. I will never forget seeing my brother-in-law walking down that long hallway, with scrubs still on, holding what looked like a little peanut in his hands. He couldn't stop crying, and that instantly set everyone else to crying. Jordyn Elizabeth was the most beautiful, perfect baby I've ever seen. She was so tiny!! (Minus her man-size feet.) It was the cutest thing. :) She's been my pride and joy ever since then.

Oh to be five years old again

Us dancing at my wedding

Isn't she just gorgeous?

I know I may be biased, but I think she is the prettiest, sweetest, smartest, most wonderful little girl on the planet. She is constantly keeping us laughing and really helped our family come back together again. The first time she came to visit us in Oklahoma they got in at about 11 o'clock at night and hubby had already fallen asleep. I opened the front door right as she hopped out of the car and the instant she saw me she starting running across the yard screaming "AUNT JULIE!!!!!!!!!!!". It made me cry so hard. The look on her face was priceless. Anyway, I love her to pieces and am so proud to be her aunt. I can't wait to continue watching her grow up, even though I'd like to slow it down sometimes, I still feel rather lucky to be a part of her life. It'll break my heart to see her go to kindergarten this year, but I know she'll have a blast and learn quite a bit.

Rather photogenic

My sister works pretty hard to keep her dressed fashionably. She succeeds

We tend to have fun together :)

Confusion

Well, I have an interview on Monday for a nanny job and my feelings are so mixed up I don't know how to feel. I'm excited, but scared. I'm nervous, but resigned. I want to get my teacher's certificate, but I don't know how I'm going to make it work. We can't afford any more student loans or for me to not work. This job is for a part-time position and as far as I can tell I'd make just under what I'm making now... we can't do that. If I could somehow make it into a full-time job or get them to up the weekly pay by just 50 dollars it'd be perfect. (Minus the figuring out how to pay for the certification classes and such of course... but I'd definitely have the time to do it) But I could find fulfillment in a nanny job, maybe more so than working at the station right now. I'm thoroughly confused, but hopefully I can work through some of this and have myself figured out by Monday morning.

Yardwork

Yesterday was just one of those days that I wanted to get a ton done and by golly I did! Hubby's brother has been staying with us for a few weeks so I took advantage of having TWO people to boss, rather than the one I'm used to. We organized the garage...which was just horrible to look at, cleaned up all the junk the family the lived here prior to us left in the backyard.. including but not limited to tarps, pieces of guttering, bed frames, etc., I weed-eated like a crazy person, picked my garden, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and cooked dinner. Needless to say I was woooorn out. And so were the boys...even if they won't admit it.

My little friend I found in the garden

While working in the garden I found that guy up there and promptly freaked out. Thank goodness I had my gloves on! So hubby told me just to toss it over the fence and I certainly shouldn't have done that while laughing. I didn't exactly toss him over... more like tossed him into it. Right into the gap between two pieces of wood. I could have fallen over laughing right then and there.

My green green garden :)

Working outside makes me happy. I don't know why. I guess it's in my blood; my dad used to be a landscaper. I enjoy it so much, I might just do it some more this evening.

As for today, we're doing much of the same. Re-arranging furniture, cleaning, and laundry. A big chunk of the day was taken away when we had to take a trip to the base. Paperwork needed to be filed for hubby's extended leave and boy was that a pain in the rear. Anyway, it's taken care of now and that's what matters.

Whoops!

Well, the hubby had his first post-op appointment this morning and it was rather insightful. Apparently I didn't fully grasp the fact that he'll be recovering for quite a while. It's been nearly two weeks since the surgery and he was told not to go to work until they could see his progress at this appointment. Thank goodness they finally got those awful staples out of his knee today! I thought he'd be much better after that, be able to work out some stiffness and have to head back to work on Monday. Boy was I wrong! They told him that he can't go back to work for another month so that he can regain his full range of motion and THEN start back to physical therapy. WOW! That's a lot longer than I expected. I feel bad now because I've been getting onto him for not doing very much around the house and not attacking his "to do while you don't have to work" list. lol The poor guy shouldn't be doing any of it! I certainly got my reality check today and will definitely be more sensitive now. I felt sooo bad though!

This is a picture of his xray. It shows how out of place his knee cap was. 

That was only one of the problems they had to fix.

My poor baby's knee after surgery.

I need to get a picture of what it looks like now.

Time to Catch Up

Well, last week was pretty fabulous to tell the truth. My birthday was Monday and once I got off work hubby took me to the Melting Pot and to see Eclipse. It was so wonderful to spend time with him and just have fun! Plus it was pretty hilarious to see the hubby sit through the movie.

Then the next morning hubby all but threw me out the door to spend a few days in Texas with my family. It did my soul good to spend some time with everyone. I got to play like a six year old with my niece, spend hours talking to my dad, and hang out with my momma. I didn't get to see my sister as much as I'd like, but at least we got to spend SOME time together. Mom and I saw Inception and boy was it crazy! Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a good while. Dad and I went to El Fenix, only the best Mexican food on the face of the planet! Seriously, if you haven't eaten there, you haven't lived. I had a nice big margarita and the best enchiladas ever made.  I also got to spend the majority of one of the days hanging out with my niece and boy was it awesome. Towards the end of it I was lamenting the fact that she doesn't take naps anymore. :)

In other news, the AC is fixed, I'm congested as all get out, and the hubbys finally gets to have his post-op appointment with the orthoscopic surgeon tomorrow. I'm probably just as anxious as he is for him to get the staples out of his knee! Today is my Friday and I'm rather excited to have two days off starting in a couple hours! :)

Blog Award

My brain may be mush today, but that doesn't dampen my excitement!

 I got my first blog award from the ever-inspiring women behind the blog Keep Moving On and I couldn't be more excited! The rules are seven things about me, and then passing it on the nine others. Considering I don't know how much people really actually read my blog, it'll be interesting to see how many people actually catch on! lol

1. I have recently decided I'm going to take my desire to get my teaching certificate more seriously and start taking steps towards changing my career.

2. My family bought me a Nook for my birthday and it's now attached to my hip! It hasn't even been a week and i'm almost done with my second book. I LOVE to read.

3. I really would like to take a cooking class of some sort, but I don't know where any are offered. I'm not a bad cook, I'd just like to have something fun to do.

4. I have a weird array of things I DVR including, but not limited to General Hospital, The Bachelorette, True Blood, and E News.

5. The hubby and I LOVE to watch The Food Network, but it ALWAYS makes me hungry. That phenomenon just absolutely amazes me for some reason. lol

6. My niece is one of the funniest people ever. She just says some of the most honest and hilarious things ever. She never ever fails to make me laugh, and not much makes my heart happier than hearing her full blown belly laugh.

7. Although Texas is where my heart is, I believe without a doubt that I could be a beach bum for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. I LOOOOVE going to the beach. Love it.

And here is who I'm giving this award to in return

Julie the Army Wife

Life of an Army Wife

Superheros, Princesses, a Soldier and Me

It's a Hectic Life, but it's all Mine

The Sand is Different Here

Flip Flops and Combat Boots

Fearfully, Wonderfully

Leaving and Loving on a Jet Plane

The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. M

Sunday Funny

This Sunday finds me feeling drained and slightly sick. Truly, if my head gets any more congested I might just
scream. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that my brain is mush and I doubt I have the patience to really dig deep for this week's edition of the Sunday Funnies. However, as luck would have it, I found this clip and it works perfectly with last week's blog. Thank Heaven for Jay Leno thinking Biden is an idiot too. Gotta love it. Enjoy!


Jay Leno Interviews Biden

Thank you GOD!

So, in an update to the air conditioner issue, the repairmen finally made their way out here and brilliantly told us that the compressor had died. My husband knew that without even looking at the unit, but whatever. Anyway, they said they have to order a new one and it won't be here until Wednesday or Thursday. Well... that's swell! What are we supposed to do until then? So tomorrow is my birthday and I was planning on using some sick days to go back home for a few days (starting Tuesday) anyway, so it doesn't really affect me much. However, the hubs is another story. He swears up and down that the heat won't bother him but I beg to differ. It got up to 100 degrees in the house yesterday... can anyone say heat stroke?! So today we bought a window unit to help bring the temp down even just a little bit and thank the Lord we did! By no means is it cold in the living room now, but it is MUCH better than what it was. Looks like I'm sleeping on the couch tonight :)

I've pretty much had the week from hell and I'm so completely exhausted I can't even bring myself to blog about it. My brain is about two days slower than normal so I'm sure that doesn't help much either.

Sunday Funnies

So, here it is. Another Sunday has rolled around and I'm slated to blog my second ever "Sunday Funny". Like I said last week, I work Sunday mornings so I have the opportunity, or misfortune, of airring the news shows that morning. (It depends on which mood you catch me in.) And of course, during the week I'm always working during the evening news and get to catch "World News". At the end of the week I feel like I've met my quota of news and feel adequately in touch with the world.

Anyway, getting to the point... The whole game of politics amuses me most of the time. I feel for the people who find themselves in the public eye because I certainly would stick my foot in my mouth more often than not, if I were to find myself in their shoes. However, I feel like having your words quoted, recorded, disected, and replayed second by second is something that comes with the territory. If you are unable to put truthful words together in intelligent sentences and have the ability to back them up with hard facts, then I don't think politics is for you... or at least it shouldn't be. Being a military wife, I take the government and all our leaders pretty seriously. Not that they, themselves, always deserve to be treated that way, due to some of their outrageous words and actions, but their elected position does. Lately the back and forth between politicians has done nothing more than make me laugh at them. The banter back and forth is just ridiculous, yet they keep doing it! What a waste of time. Our men and women are at war in foreign countries, literally giving their lives so that these politicians will have the freedom to continue what they are doing. Doesn't that seem unfair? I wish the smoke and screen of our government would get torn down, sooner rather than later, so that we can have complete transparency into what our government is doing and what their intentions are, as well as what the people desire of the future.

The clip this week is from ABC's "This Week" and is an interview with Joe Biden. He adamently swore that troops would have a significant decrease in numbers in Afghanistan by the time the July '11 date rolled around. Well, watch as he tries to un-do the words that he said and manipulate them into something else entirely. All it does is make me laugh because we all knew better anyway... it's not like anyone actually believed him. The link is found below.

Biden eating his words

Also, this story made me laugh this weeks as well. While I have my own religious beliefs, I am well aware that some people may not agree with mine, and am glad they have the ability to express that. However taking a blow dryer to your forehead to "de-baptise" yourself is just a little on the hilarious side in my mind. Enjoy the link below.

De-Baptism

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday and has a fabulous start to the week. Feel free to leave me any kind of feedback, correct my mistakes, assert your own opinions, or share any type of "funny". :)

I could cry

It's 11 o'clock and it's 88 degrees in our house. Why you ask? Because our AC is broken. Of course the hubs would have knee surgery and then the next day the ac goes out. Of course. I really need to go have a good cry

Knee Surgery

Well, the hubs had his surgery today. They found that the tear in his miniscus was larger than they thought, but were still able to fix it. Thankfully there was no lasting damage to his knee cap and he should be back to tip top shape in a few months. He'll be off work until the end of the month and that's not making him sad at all. lol I'm glad I'm off today and tomorrow so I'll be able to baby him thoroughly. He's not in much pain at the moment, but I'm expecting that to change by this evening. He's so strong. I can't believe he lived with such a big tear for so long. Definitely another reason why he's my hero. :) Off to go fill his prescription!

Sunday Funnies

So, I'm going to try and do more with this blog. I'm still brainstorming but the first change/addition I want to institute is the "Sunday Funnies". I know with time this will evolve and take on a life of it's own, but this is how I'm going to start out.

I work at the station every Sunday morning and air ABC's "This Week". By no means am I politically savvy, but I enjoy this show mostly because of the range of guests and I feel like I can keep up with what's being said. I cry evey week when they air the "In Memorium" segment which lists all of the service members who have been killed in action, and laugh at their very own "Sunday Funnies" section. This was what sparked this idea, so thank you Jake Tapper. Being a military wife I feel like we all need to somewhat be in the loop of the political world. Our significant others are a part of that world, whether we like it or not. I am very much a person that loves to laugh and I hope I can inspire you ladies to do the same...while also staying connected to this great country of ours. :) Some weeks I may take this a little more serious than others, but we'll just have to deal with that as it comes.

So, here is this week's. It may not be mentally stimulating, or totally about politics, (maybe I'll just focus on funny things that happened in the world rather than just the political world, hmm...) but I have to admit it's hilarious. Honestly, I chuckle every time I watch it. Just click the link below.

Unnecessary Censorship

Stick with me as I figure this one out. I know at times it'll be difficult. If I could edit the video myself, it'd be a lot easier to produce a mash-up of funny stuff, but alas I am at the mercy of the internet. :) Enjoy your Sunday.

Homesick

I know I'm homesick every now and then, I'm the first to admit it. Hubby knows how much I miss home and my family, but I try to keep it underwraps as best as I can. Due to work I only got to spend two days at home for Christmas and haven't been back for longer than 24 hrs since then. That's not exactly the life I pictured, but I'm married to a man far better than I ever dreamed, so I can deal. However, when I can't make it home for certain events I feel like the worst daughter/sister/aunt/friend ever. My mom has been living with my sister and her family for a while to help them along while my sis finished school. Well, she graduated so my mom found a place of her own and started moving last week. Of course I can't come help because all I get is one lousy day off a week (due to EVERYONE taking vacation). It seems like everyone and their dog came to help mom move, but could her own daughter be there to help? Of course I couldn't. I don't really care what people think, but gosh, what must all of her friends think of me?

I have never missed my niece's function, no matter what. All school events, ballet recitals, birthdays, major and minor events, I've been there...Until this year when I missed her ballet recital this year and her pre-k graduation. When I asked a couple of weeks ago if I could take a vacation day to be at her birthday party in NOVEMBER I was told I couldn't because November is a ratings period. Umm, I can't take one, single solitary day to see my niece celebrate her 6th birthday? My niece called me the other day and asked if I was going to be at her birthday. (The child counts down to it practically starting the day after.) I told her I'd try my hardest, while inside my heart was breaking. I just have to find a way to be there, or I might as well just crawl in a hole and never come out.

I hate what living in another state is doing to me. I have always been surrounded by family and now I'm all alone with only the hubby around. (Not that I'm complaining about him being the only one, but you know what I mean) I just hate being so far away sometimes. I hate how disconnected I feel. I hate that I have to plan out seeing my family and being there for major events. I guess I'm a little more homesick than I'd like to admit sometimes.

Fabulous Day!

Today was my one and only day off this week and boy did I enjoy it! The hubby got put on mid-shift this week so we're still adjusting to him being gone at night, as well as him being home during the day. It was AMAZING to spend some quality time with him while we weren't about to fall over asleep or worrying about needing to go to work in the near future. (Generally we only see each other when I'm getting home from work at 11pm and wake him up when I get in bed) I literally feel like I'm on cloud nine I'm so happy at the moment. I love nothing more than to just hang out with my husband being silly and catching up. My heart is so happy from this day I don't know if anything can bring me down. :)

4th of July

As I grow older I become more and more aware of how lucky I am to have been born in America. I guess being a military wife helps with that as well, but I feel it's also with age. My mind can't wrap around the injustices so many people in the world continue to face on a daily basis, much less all the horrors the world has seen in previous years. Living in America your whole life, it is so easy to take for granted the liberties some people still don't have. I also can't wrap my brain around how many people fought with all their might and literally gave their lives so that the dream of freedom could become a reality. Although I sometimes like to put my blinders on and think my hubby's enlistment is just a job and involves nothing more, in my heart I know it's much deeper than that.  Our men and women in the military literally work every day towards the protection of our liberties. Whether some days are mundane or hectic from 4 am until their head hits the pillow late at night, we civilians depend on them to be able to continue our way of life.

I'm so proud to be married to one of America's hero's. :) I sure am I lucky girl! And we are all lucky to be able to call America our home!

Funk

I'm in such a funk today. It's my only day off and I'm milking it for sure. It's the middle of the afternoon and I have yet to shower or even get out of my nightgown. All I can think about is what is wrong with my life at the moment. It's pathetic. I've been applying to odd jobs all morning. We really need a better income. I literally hate that I'm applying for retail jobs again, but you gotta do what you gotta do I guess. I've even been looking at jobs in the Air Force. I don't know if I'm cut out for the military, but at least it'd be a better income and I'd mostly have a decent schedule. I just don't know what to do. Having a Wednesday as my only day off and working afternoons leaves VERY little time for the hubby. We're really wanting to start a family and how will that work? If we can barely have time for us, how are we going to have time together as a family? I'm just feeling a little lost and making myself more and more miserable as each minute passes.

Vacation Pictures :)

 

We were so excited to finally get on the road!

 

My handsome hubby!

 

I could totally be a beach bum for the rest of my life.

 

We really did have a blast. :) I miss it already

 

This is my desktop background now. It's so peaceful.

We're back!

Praise the Lord! We made it to Florida and back in one piece! I've never felt more rested and loved and happy. We reeeeeeally needed to have time away and time together! I tried my darnedest to make hubby fall in love with Florida like I love Florida, but I don't know how well it worked. I love Florida so much I wish I could bottle the air and make it into a Febreeze smell or something along those lines. It could be 110 degrees and as long as I'm in a bathing suit with my butt in the sand I'd be happy as a clam. :) Once I figure out how to post pictures in a post, I'll put some up :)

Against all odds

Goodness gracious we need this vacation. It seems like the more I want it, the less likely it is going to happen. Yesterday hubby was almost told that he couldn't go on leave because they "didn't realize how many people had put in leave for that week" and they've now left themselves with about four people on the team to be there. A LOT has happened, other than that, that has seemingly put our vacation in jeopardy, but we've gotten past it all.

Today we went to go grab some lunch and a snowcone before I needed to go to work. Well, on the way back home my explorer started driving weird and I thought I had a flat. So, we pulled over to see what was the matter and turns out the wheel bearing (however you spell it) on one of my tires has worn down so badly hubby was afraid to even drive it home. Well, we got home and he started doing his mechanic thing and looking to see what needed to be done. We literally have nearly no money to spare until he gets paid on Tuesday and I get paid on Friday and there is NO way his truck could ever make it to Florida and back without some major issues. Thankfully his supervisor is also a good friend and he says that between the two of them they can get it fixed this afternoon. I'm praying so stinking hard. Harder than I have in a long time. I'm praying it's a cheap fix and that they can actually fix it with what tools they have. I'm praying we can still hit the road tomorrow and have a fabulous vacation because we NEED this time together. If we can't go, I know we'll still have fun together and make the best of it, but I'd MUCH rather be sitting on the beach with a beer in hand. Oh please Lord! PLEASE help them fix it.

Finally Summertime

Well, once again, a lot has happened since I last posted. And once again I'm blogging while my mind is eight steps ahead of me, so please bare with me through this one.

First off, I was offered a job at a different station and I ended up turning it down. It was the same schedule and only slightly more money so I didn't see the point in giving up the good standing I have where I am right now and the little bit of seniority I've gained for just a bit more money. It was a scary decision to make, but I really feel good about it now. I still feel like my career has room for improvement, but I'm completely lost as to what to do. I'm still working the exact opposite schedule from my hubby and that makes me miserable. We've considered asking his superiors to let him be on the swing shift, which would put him and I on the exact same schedule. That would be amazing, but I can't help but ask what would happen if we had a baby? Who would possibly want to keep our kid on our schedule? 3-11? No daycare would work and could we afford a nanny? How on earth would we find one that wouldn't turn out to be a psycho?

Second, WE'RE GOING ON VACATION!!!! We didn't get to have a honeymoon so this is our very first vacation together. I'm going crazy trying to make sure everything is perfect. We're driving down to Florida and are going to plant our butts on the beach and not move for a week. :) I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Anyway, as far as everything else goes, it's the same I guess you could say. The hubby is still doing well. His physical therapy for his knee is going ok I suppose, but he still has to go see an orthopedic surgeon after we get back from vaca. We have all kinds of plans for the rest of the summer, decided to quit trying to NOT have a baby, so we'll see how that goes, and are super excited about the possibility to visit with our family more. Hubby's younger brother is going to be spending the better part of July with us, his whole family is going to visit at least once, and my sister will probably be taking her RN tests up here once her paperwork goes through. Lots and lots on our plate and I'm excited about every last second!

1000 miles a minute

My brain will NOT shut off. Will not. And to be perfectly honest I'm rather surprised with myself about it.

I haven't posted in quite a while. I guess I've just gotten overwhelmed in the last few weeks or so. Working non-stop and making a trip to see my sister graduate, hubby's birthday, and everything else on our plates. Despite all of that I've been rather happy during the past few weeks. Hubby and I are happier and more in love than ever. I really am so lucky to have snagged him. A few days ago we mutually decided that we were tired of putting off starting our family. We both really really want it and feel like there is no better time than the present! So as soon as possible I'll be ditching the pill and seeing what happens. Because of that we also decided although I really find it difficult to handle certain things at work, I would be sticking it out and sucking it up and stay there as long as I possibly can. I would clearly need the maternity leave security on top of general security. I would hate to be at a new job and quickly getting pregnant after that. Also, hubby has made the difficult decision that he won't re-enlist when this four year stint is up. So in about 2-3 years we'll finally be getting back to Texas! I'm terrified and thrilled all in one. Honestly, I don't really know how I feel about it yet. I keep telling him he might change his mind (again!) and I won't be holding my breath. lol

So, tonight I find myself not able to turn off my brain and go to sleep. I'm tired, but not. I'm certainly exhausted, but I can't help feeling like I've set up an IV of caffeine sometime over the past few hours. In order to not disturb hubby toooooo much I decided to come in the living room and read/watch TV. Seeing my laptop I realized I hadn't checked anything all day long and hopped onto my email. Low and behold I have an email from an operations manager at an different tv station than the one I currently work for asking if I'd like to come in on Friday for an interview! What?! I'm completely shocked. Yes, I applied for it but gosh, I never ever expected to hear anything in return. And now I have no idea what to do. What about babies? As soon as we decide to go for it, I get an interview. There is no hope for me going to sleep soon. I truly don't know what to do. I guess I'll go just to see what they have to offer. If they pay more, I will just have to go for it... or if they can offer me a better schedule. And what about our vacation we have scheduled!? Oh geez. I can't wait for hubby to wake up and make me feel better about this whole situation.

Just to pass the time

A to Z of Me


A. AREA CODE: 972, that's what it's been most of my life. Funny.

B. BED SIZE: We have a queen. We considered going King, but I like being close to hubby. :)


C. CHORE YOU HATE: Taking out the trash. I just think it's icky.


D. DOG'S NAME: We don't have a dog yet. :/ Hoping to fix that soon though!


E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Coffee and cheerios!!


F. FAVORITE COLOR: Blue.


G. GOLD OR SILVER: Between the two it's silver, but I prefer white gold... that's what our wedding bands and my engagement ring are.


H. HEIGHT: 5' 7" ish


I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: Drums! I was drum captain in high school. SO MUCH FUN!


J. Job: Engineering department at the ABC affiliate where we live. I work with the studio cameras, audio, prompter, and tape/master control operater. LOVE MY JOB!


K. KIDS: I have crazy baby fever. Crazy. But we have some things to work out first


L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Renting a house in a nice surburban area. Love it!


N. NICKNAME: Jules. Hubby calls me baby girl and little lady :)


M. MOM'S NAME: Gayle


O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Don't know that I've ever had one


P. PET PEEVE: Oh goodness, too many to even begin.


Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: Hmm.... that's a difficult one. Hubby can practically remember movies word for word, but I'm awful at that!


R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty


S. SIBLINGS: Katie Jayne!


T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: That changes. Generally I get up about 9 am, but depending on what needs to get done I'll wake up earlier or let myself catch up on sleep.


U. UNDERWEAR: I don't really have a preference. I have another comment but it's probably TMI. lol


V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Do brussell sprouts count? Gah, I even hate how they smell!


W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: Stupid stupid trains.


X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Teeth, chest, back, and elbow. Fractured my elbow, obviously had braces, and was in a car wreck.


Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Some of hubby's favorites that I make are Poppyseed Chicken, Manicotti, Pot Roast, Tangy Ribs. Among others. He's easy to please in the kitchen department.


Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: I love everything at the zoo! Minus reptiles!

A sea of boxes

Will I ever finish unpacking? Will we EVER be done settling into the new house? I feel like with every step forward I take, I take another two backwards. I really haven't been able to get a leg up on this crud. Hopefully I can really get going on all this mess this week and at least be done in ONE room. Our garage looks like the home of a hoarder... no joke. It's awful. In one little section I'm painting the furniture for our guest room, in another corner I've piled the garbage that didn't fit into the trash cans this week, and the rest of it is piles and piles of boxes. I literally have to keep my eyes straight ahead when I walk through it to get in the car otherwise I'll just feel even more miserable about all that's still left to do. I wish I had more than one day off this week, but I am determined to make headway! wish me luck!

Mother's Day

Today all I can bring myself to think about... other than being at work and attempting to be a productive employee, is how badly I want to be a mom. Lately, it seems to keep jumping out at me all over the place. Our evening female anchor at work (I work at a television station) is pregnant and has been showing off her sonogram pictures. I want to be the mom that shows off her kid even before they are born! I know three people in the last week that delivered their babies. THREE! I swear everywhere I turn something reminds me of my baby fever. It's kinda ridiculous. Hubby and I have been talking about it and going back and forth about what to do. My heart aches over this, it really does. We both really want to start a family but I honestly have no idea how we'd make it work. You ladies know how it is with being in the military and how the schedule is more of a guidline instead of something that's strictly followed. Well, generally, I work 2-11pm. What daycare could we find that could watch the baby for just the afternoon or a nanny that could do that for us? What if Hubby deployed? I'd be sunk for sure, especially with having NO family up here and no close friends to really speak of. Hubby and I don't cross paths near as often as either one of us would like, so when would we ever have family time? And it's really all because of MY job. That makes me feel worse. I love my job. LOVE my job... don't really like who I work for OR my schedule... or lack-thereof. I've been trying to find something else at a different station, but nothing has really opened up yet. I just don't know what else to do with my life. Deep down inside my deepest desire is to be a stay at home mom, but I fear that we'll never be able to live on just one income, much less a military income. I am completely awed by the families that are able to do that. I'm just down in the dumps I guess. I want nothing more than to be a mother, but I don't know how to make it happen and I think that's the most depressing thing about it all.

Almost done

Ok, well tonight will be our first night to sleep in the new house but we still aren't done with everything. I'm at work right now while hubby is finishing up another load with his dad and two younger brothers. We only have a few things left at the old house and need to MAJORLY clean it before I'll feel ok giving the keys back and such. I am sooo anxious to get in there and start unpacking and getting organized again I can hardly stand it! Tomorrow I'm working the morning shift and then we're racing down to Texas to go see a concert with the in-laws and then back Monday morning in time for me to get to work that afternoon. Thank God the hubs took all of next week off otherwise we'd be sunk for sure. I've been laughing since we started moving because even since I've "been on my own" everywhere I've lived hasn't been big enough for all my stuff to really fit, but now I feel like we have zero furniture because there are too many place things could go! But, I guess that's a good problem to have :) Man, I'm beat!

Moving This Week

Oh boy I'm so behind. I have a bajillion things to do before we start moving on Wednesday and I feel like I'm at square one still.... even though we aren't, but still!

1. Finish my mounds and mounds of laundry
2. Pack the kitchen, guest bedroom, bathroom and any other odds and ends
3. Clean the house we're currently in
4. Clean out our fridge/freezer and pack up what's left
5. Touch up the paint in the old house and repair what's broken
6. Hire kid down the street to mow the lawn
7. Finally get into the new house and do a deep clean (crossing my fingers for wednesday)
8. Throw down some primer on the walls in one of the bedrooms
9. Move Thursday, Friday and Saturday!
10. Go to concert with in-laws in Dallas on Sunday
11. Finish cleaning the old house on Monday and never ever go back again :)

I'm exhausted just thinking about this week. PLUS having to work all but Wednesday and Thursday, I'm really going to be worn out once we finally get into the new house. The only good thing about the next week is that I'll be so excited to be in the new house that I'll bust my butt to get it looking right. PLUS hubby took that whole week off so I'll have plenty of help :) Gotta get going!!

Hurt Feelings

So, hubby and I had a rough day last Saturday. He did some things and then lied about a lot of things and really hurt me. It wasn't even what he had done, but the numerous lies that he told that hurt the most. Sadly, this isn't even the first time we've been through this, which is frustrating beyond belief. Anyway, so the past few days we've slowly been working past the events of this weekend and I thought we were doing better. Today and tomorrow are my days off this week and he took leave to be with me and help get our house ready to move. (which was super sweet) We were hanging out in our bedroom and being goofy when I playing-ly pushed him off the bed and he playing-ly said he was just going to go sleep on the couch and I, again, played along. No matter how bad our arguments or disagreements or what have you, we've never spent a night apart if we can help it... obviously since we are a military family... So I was just going to wait him out and see how long it took him to come back. That stinker actually fell asleep on the couch, while I'm in here not able to shut down completely without him laying next to me! It's stupid how much my feelings are hurt that he was able to just plop down on the couch and have no problem falling asleep. He even said tonight how excited he was to get to fall asleep snuggling me... (I work 3-11pm so I get home way after he falls asleep, so it really is a treat)

So.. here I am.. blogging in my bed... alone. Every snore I hear it's just a reminder that he doesn't really need me as much as he claims, or at least that's how it feels.

I HATE PACKING!

Uuuuuuugh. How did I get so unorganized in the past few months??? Thank goodness we aren't pcsing and are only moving closer to the city.. but still. I'm stressed beyond belief. Where are the professional organizers when we need them?? There just aren't enough hours in the day to get done what needs to get done. Hopefully we can pull this off without me losing my mind... or what's left of it! lol :)

confusion at it's best

I don't know what to do. Lately I'm consumed with trying to figure out our future and where this life is taking us. It's starting to make me insane.

My work schedule is less than desirable and I hardly see hubby because of it. We both really would like to start trying for a baby, but I'm so unsure. He works the morning shift and I work afternoons, we have NO family up here whatsoever and no friends that could help us in a pinch with kids. We would only need daycare or a nanny three days a week for MAYBE three hours. What if our kids get sick? Who will watch them if they get sick and we both have to work? Hubby can't just take off work and I only am given so many sick days a year. What about holidays? We're only four hours away from both our families but would we really want to drive home every Christmas?

Hubby has been asking me a lot lately about my dreams. What my dreams were growing up and how they've changed now. Growing up I wanted to be a mother and a wife more than anything in the world. I quickly learned that that answer wasn't deemed acceptable during those days and that I should "want more for myself". I never dreamed that I would marry someone that would support whatever I wanted to do, and not just what was "acceptable", so I tried for years to repress those feelings. Now, having the amazing husband that I do, it's so hard not to crave being a stay at home mom. My heart aches for it, but I know we aren't quite there financially yet. I never imagined being a military wife and that definitely changes the way I pictured my life. I never thought I'd live too far from my family. My sister and I always said we would flip-flop having holidays at our houses. Thanksgiving at mine and Christmas at hers, and then the next year switching. I always thought my family would be at my kids birthday parties and be able to see them be born. I am a Texas girl through and through so I'm still having a bit of a shock to my system to no longer live there and my hubby knows it.

In our talk yesterday he said he'd be willing to not re-enlist and we could move back to Texas once this enlistment was up. He would work really hard these next couple of years to finish his bachelors and could find a job at an airport or something of that nature. At first I just cried. To get a man better than my dreams, and get all of my other dreams too, is just too unreal. The thought of him changing his dreams to make me happy makes me sick with guilt though. I just don't know what to do. I want to be near our families, I want him to be happy, but most of all I just want to have a family with him. Where's the compromise? Do we just take it one day at a time and live the best way we know how each day? Or do we try and look into the future and plan for what we want? I just don't know. I wish I had a crystal ball or something to look into and have a definite answer. If I had normal hours at work, I wouldn't be so neurotic about having kids... or if I could be a stay at home mom, I know I'd be tons happier. But none of that is possible any time soon.

BLAH! I neeeeeeeed my brain to turn off for a while.

Busy Beaver

Well, I've been kind of out of it lately. I feel like I've been running around like crazy the last few days. I did some spring cleaning yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The house isn't perfect yet, but it's certainly cleaner. I'm almost ready to start packing everything up for our big move in May. SOOOO excited about our new house. I can't wait to get in it. It definitely helps that I can finally open all the windows in the house and let the breeze in. I love nothing more than fresh air in the house and being able to hear the kids in the neighborhood playing outside. Makes my heart happy.

Hubby had his promotion ceremony this week and I enjoyed it. It was nice to see him so proud and I appreciated being able to be a part of the celebration. Later that night we walked around the mall just to spend some time together and ended up at dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We sat there and had the best talk we've had in MONTHS! MONTHS I tell you! It almost broke my heart to have to leave. It was glorious just to sit there and catch up with him and talk about what all life has in store for us in the coming months.

At the beginning of the week I had been kinda down in the dumps and we had to talk about that too, but it was good to get it off my chest. I love my job, really I do... but sometimes I just don't know if it's worth it. I work nearly a completely opposite schedule to his. He works (generally obviously with it being the military and all) 6:30-3:30 and I work either 3-11 during the week and a 4am-8am shift on Saturday mornings. I don't have set days off yet but have NEVER had a normal weekend off, and I'll probably have tuesdays and wednesdays as my permanent days once we get another full-timer. That pretty much means unless it's his days off, or mine, we can kiss each other good bye in the morning when he leaves, and kiss each other goodnight when I get home. That's just not how I pictured my life... or my marriage for that matter. Every once and a while I get it in the back of my mind that maybe I could get my teaching certificate and teach multimedia in high schools. So when I brought that up to the hubby all he says is "do whatever you want to do babe" and "it'll get better once we move closer". Umm... that doesn't make me feel better in the least, and that's really not all that helpful! It hurts my feelings even more because I never imagined marrying a military man and being so far away from my family, but I love him more than anything and would do anything to be with him... even give up seeing my family more than three or four times a year. But that's a difficult sacrifice for me. I willing gave of myself so that he could fulfill his dream of being in the Air Force and find a job that he could be proud of, but he can't help me fulfill my goals and dreams? Help me find what will make me happiest? That makes me feel like I'll give anything to help him be happiest, but he wouldn't do the same. Slightly frustrating at times but I know he's not being like that on purpose. I'm not exactly making it easy on him... or myself for that matter. I guess my desire to be a stay at home mom is so overwhelming at times I can only see how long it's going to take us to get there... and not the excitement of getting there in general. I mean, we don't even have kids yet for goodness sake.

Anywho, I hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend and enjoy some down ttime. :)

My sister

Well, here I am at work... getting paid to write my blog for the day. We only have two newscasts on Sunday evenings, so that makes this shift go by even slower. I'm still trying to find a focus to my blog, whether it by full of every day life, consumed with only military babble, or specific stories that I care to share. Today I choose to focus it on a specific story.

My sister is five and a half years older than me and I adored her from the very beginning. When we were younger, it was easy to get caught up in playing make believe and Barbie dolls to make the time fly by. My fondest memories of us together are those that include playing in the sprinkler in the front yard during the summer time to cool off, "camping out" in a certain yellow tent that somehow managed to live about ten years no matter how tattered and torn it was, running around the yard in the evening time with mason jars trying to catch more lightening bugs than the other, and being allowed to eat our pizza in the living room during dinner so we wouldn't miss one second of TGIFriday on ABC. She was easily my very best friend.

Of course, as time went by our age difference started to be more of a gap than a bond. She was becoming a teenager while I was still just a kid. While I began to annoy her more than anything, she was still who I looked up to more than anyone else. I desperately tried to cling to her when I could by volunteering to be the bat girl for her softball team and pretty much being a butler to her and her friends whenever they came to our house. Looking back I probably looked pretty pathetic but I just wanted to find a way to be a part of her world in any way I could. During her junior high and high school years she had the best of friends, was in the best marching band our high school had ever seen, was dating the preacher's son, and seemed to have the world at her fingertips. She even got accepted to Texas A&M, which was a huge deal to our family. I was in awe.

Eventually the pedestal I had built for her would crumble. For several months my heart broke a little each day as I became aware of lies she had told. What I didn't know was that my sister was dealing with more than I ever could have imagined. After trying to mend the bridge between us, my sister ended up pregnant nearly a year after the family drama had begun. She had been hiding it while she and her boyfriend tried to grasp what was about to happen to their lives. One week we found out she was pregnant, the next week that she would have a girl, and the next week I had the most precious niece in my arms. In that whirlwind of time, I began to see my sister in a whole new light and my world changed forever as I became an aunt.

In the years since then, my sister has remained a pillar of strength that I could look towards for wisdom. She had her fair share of heart ache, pain and suffering, but handled it with such grace. She is now a wife, mother and will soon be a RN, but she'll always be my one and only sister. The sister that taught me how to dig throught the presents under the Christmas tree and try to guess what each one of them were. The sister that I chased around the house once with an umbrella trying to beat her because she didn't want to spend time with me and had hurt my feelings... that ended with my 300lb grandmother literally sitting on me until our parents got home. (a story that of course is now one that is retold every Christmas) The sister that helped me make it through the months that our father spent in ICU, when our parents eventually divorced and all the ensuing drama that unfolded. The sister that was ever encouraging through every uphill battle I've ever faced in life and the one who always congratulated me for making it to the top. I love her and am truly blessed to call her "sister".

Still Unsure

Well, my blog looks lame and I'm feeling lame about it. ha! I have no idea how to make this thing look better. I'd love to post some pictures and jazz it up a bit... but I'm still learning. Bare with me!

In other news I finally had two days off in a row!! I can't remember a time that's happened since I got this job in November, so it's a HUGE deal. I've had a TON to do yesterday and today but I just can't help feeling the urge to relax and put it off. There's no telling if the whole idea of having two days off in a row will stick for very long and I really should take advantage of it. I'll probably get up off my butt soon.. just not yet. lol

In other news, hubby is busy as ever at work. Good news first, we thought he was up for promotion next month but he was told YESTERDAY that he'd have a promotion ceremony next Wednesday. We're so excited! Gotta hurry up and get new patches sewn on everything. (My to-do list keeps getting longer!!) AND He was supposed to take his 5-level test today, but it got pushed back to next week due to scheduling issues. So today he's been taking his pre-tests and for some reason having the hardest time! He's been studying for months now and I really think he's just psyching himself out. I feel awful for him, but don't know what to do! I know without a shadow of a doubt he'll be able to pull off a great score, but his confidence in himself is starting to dwindle. Poor guy.

A little bit of time wasted :)

So I've done this survey on facebook before and thought it'd be fun to post it on here... So here we go!

1. What are your middle names?
Richard and Elizabeth

2. How long have you been together?
Married 1, "together" over 2, and known each other for about 7

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
About 5 years of being friends

4. Who asked who out?
It was him! I was waaaay too chicken. Always thought he'd only think of me as a friend.

5. How old are each of you?
I'm 21 and he's 26.

6. Did you go to the same school?
Nope! He was homeschooled and I went to public school

7. Are you from the same home town?
Close enough that we went to the same church..,

8. Who is the smartest?
I'd say him and he'd say me. But really it's him! I guess we each have what we're best at though and that certainly helps keep the balance!

9. Who majored in what?
I have a ba in film and digital media and his degree is in recording arts

10. Who is the most sensitive?
I certainly am, although he tries to act like he never is

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Together? Not far! Probably Austin, TX. We're heading to the beach this summer though!!!

12. Who has the worst temper?
Him by far. He can really spark my temper though sometimes. It truly depends on the situation

13. How many children do you want?
4-5. We might be crazy but really want a big family

14. Who does the cooking?
Me mostly... he can handle the easy stuff and I LOVE when he grills, but that's about it.

15. Who is more social?
me for sure! he really doesn't like a being around a lot of people at once. it overwhelms him

16. Who is the neat freak?
We're pretty messy at the moment, although if I had more time and motivation our house would be a LOT cleaner

17. Who is the most stubborn?
ha! we're both pretty set in our ways

18. Who wakes up earlier?
him, the poor guy!

19. Where was your first date?
movie and dinner! even though it seems pretty simple, it was the best first date of my life!

20. Who has the bigger family?
He has the bigger nuclear family, but definitely beat him when it comes to the extended family. It's going to take him a decade to be able to remember who everyone is and how we're all related. lol

21. Do you get flowers often?
nope! he's given me flowers maybe 3 times...

22. How do you spend the holidays?
going back and forth between each family and trying not to pull our hair out

23. Who is more jealous?
Oh geez, me for sure

24. How long did it take to get serious?
about a week. lol After being friends for so long and hiding our feelings for each other, it was easy to open up quickly

25. Who eats more?
Hubby without a doubt!

26. What do you do for a living?
He's a mechanic in the AF and I'm an engineer at a local television station

27. Who does the laundry?
ME! I don't let him do it unless I can be there to supervise.. lol

28. Who's better with the computer?
He can build computers for the ground up.... HIM!

29. Who drives when you are together?
I have a 40 minute commute each way to work, so I hate driving more than necessary

30. What is your song?
Weezer's Best Friend. That was our first dance!