5 Reasons...

I wish I were in Germany:

1: R&R someplace exotic like Greece or Crete or the gorgeous shores of France or Italy. Can anyone else say Mediterranean Cruise?!

2: It's easier, and much more plausible to secure a job in a place that you actually live- I could have sworn I heard or read that someplace before.

3: Build my friendships. I met some weirdos in a few months in Germany. But I also met some pretty awesome ladies I can't wait to get back to.

4: Random trips: So far I missed trips to Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, MWR trips to Paris, scheduled trips to The Netherlands. One Easter Egg Festival and One Tulip Festival. And most tragically The Sound of Music tour. :(

5: I will have lost 8 months out of our allotted 36 in Europe (down to 28). Just gone- BAM. In fairness so did my husband. We'll make up for it right??

Color me sad. I'll be using this as motivation to thoroughly enjoy all the remaining months we're given in Germany!

Schoolz

On Sunday I finished up classes I was taking with University of Phoenix. Ending these two classes also solidified the fact that I LOATH UoP! Yeah, you heard me. I know everyone else LOVES them but I LOATH them. They make everything hard-- in my experience. One example: when I was registered as a stateside student my Financial Advisor told me that the school had my Pell Grant funds and was working on having them certified (whatever that means) and I should receive disbursements after my next course. Yeah, that was evidently a gi-nor-mous LIE! When I re-registered in Germany my new FA told me that the school never had my funds because of an issue with paperwork. Oh and PS the 2010-2011 school year is coming to a close so I'd be lucky to have the funds instated in enough time to receive any kind of disbursement. Swell! There's 6 g's from the government I can just piss away-- down. the. proverbial. toilet.  This is just one example of all the issues I've had with University of Phoenix.

After I figure out what the deal is with my Pell situation and the hubs and I can get the Post 9-11 GI Bill business worked out (that process has left quite a bit to be desired as well) I'll be transferring to Ashford. Have you guys heard of them? Taken classes with them? What has your experience been? I'm looking forward to the change and getting back to only 5 week courses. I'm excited to change my major and getting focused! :) So, far my experience with Ashford has been great and they offer larger discounts than UoP. For active Duty and their spouses it's just $750/course. The book fees and everything else are waived. UoP I pay over $1000/course PLUS resource fees. No. Brainer!

On my mind

The last week or so I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. I'm plenty tired, my body is exhausted from all the working that I've been doing (my hands ache also a side effect of this gig) and I'm yawning yet, still I lay down to sleep and nada. Awake.... So I take a sleep aid. Still that takes about an hour. I know what is causing my sleeplessness. My damn mind doesn't know when to shut off. It's a huge aggravation actually. I wish it'd just get on board with the plan (plan=sleepy time)!! Any tricks or tips to offer? I'm open to just about anything. Just for the record, work nights 9-2ish (give or take) which has me up moving about quite a bit, so I'm active (and in theory wearing my body out). I have been reading before bed also, you know to relax and calm my mind. Nada.

Ok, so gimme what you got peeps! I need assistance with the sleeping.

I'm wondering if there is a hormonal tie between mid/late twenties and sleeplessness. My sister has been having the damnedest time sleeping through the night or getting more than 3 straight hours of sleep for about 2 years. Well, I know a portion of that is to blame on her babies. But in fairness even when the kids sleep through the night- she often doesn't.

PS: A good friend was admitted to the hospital tonight. She is only 25 weeks pregnant! That's all I can say for now but Prayers and good juju are needed!!

Day 105: Bout half way.

Yeah, it's been one hundred and five days, already. 105 days ago my husband left for Afghanistan on this fourth deployment. 105 days ago I was a hot mess. Today, I'm not a hot mess (but getting hotter... woo woo)! Today I'm living life and trying to roll with the punches in the best ways I know how. I'm losing weight and I intend to continue down this same path! I'm working on my tan, obviously this is a huge priority. I'm going to school. I'm working hard and bringing home some of my own bacon! Yeah, I'm having a good deployment. I say we're forced into these crap-tastic, lengthy periods of time without our spouses we might as well enjoy what we can.*

I say in the title "bout half way", because we're about half way to R&R. We're looking forward to Vegas!!

Can I also just say I'm looking forward to tomorrow. "Why?" I'm sure you're wondering. Well, I'll tell you. Tomorrow is cheat day for my diet. I'm looking forward to pasta (yummm) and ice cream. Maybe beer. (I know I'm classy. Get over yourself we can't always be elegantly sipping Pinot.)


*Just because I can manage to enjoy myself doesn't me I don't love my husband. It just means I know how to be by myself. I've always been a person who needs some alone time to reflect, decompress and relax. It's how I roll. ;)

Addicted..

I got sucked in people. Most of my friends have talked to me about all The Real Housewives; everyone was watching. Well, everyone except me that is. I tried with Atlanta and Orange County... I wanted to punch myself in the face. I couldn't hang with those bitches. I caught an episode or two of New Jersey in past seasons and just really couldn't stand the Danielle broad. She ruined it for me.  Thankfully she's gone now. I was staying a my sisters a few weeks ago and she was watching the new season with the NJ cast... I watched... I found myself caring about whether or not Joe made up with Teresa and admiring Melissa's hot bod. I was sucked in. Addicted.

{source}

Do you watch? Which cast is your favorite?

My Love/Hate Relationship

with TV.
Yeah... That's where we're going with this.

I've bitched about a lot of randomness on TV over the years. Teen Mom {insert eye rolling here}. Canceled shows I actually liked. Lifetime programming switch-ups. Well today I love TV. More specifically, I love USA Network. I love that they have good programming even in the summer. I love that June is a HOT month for season premiers over at USA. Covert Affairs and White Collar premiered tonight. Last season I got into Covert Affairs, I gotta say this episode was kind of lame... I didn't catch White Collar (DVR). Premiers for Royal Pains and Burn Notice are right around the corner. Also, looking forward to two new series: Suits and Necessary Roughness.

Last week I was hating TV though. I started watching Mad Love online. I loved it. I found Larry hilarious. I've been a big fan of Jason Biggs for a years. I was watching all episodes from the first season, after completing the finale I learned it was canceled!! {sad face} I was very disappointed.

Gotta say one of my all-time-favorite shows comes back July 24rd! Entourage. Final season people. Don't forget.

The good with the bad

Good: I had a great time at a certain lil' "Cookies" 2nd bday party! She was adorably cranky at first, while she woke up from her nap, but after she got into the spirit she seemed to have an awesome time at her party!!
Good: I re-weighed myself because my "monthly visitor" had just left the day before I had initially weighed myself and thought I could have still been retaining water- hence my plateau. Good news... I was down from where I had been. :) the weight loss continues!
Good: I spoke to my husband quite a bit- usual for us. I'm lucky that way- I know. I count my blessings!

Bad: Saturday night at worked sucked balls. I usually get out around 1-2 AM. I'm ok until about 230. Let me tell you something about the Commissary/DECA they suck. They don't know how to order shit. There is NO good damn reason why I was out Wednesday, Thurs and Friday at a normal/reasonable hour then Saturday I was didn't get out until 5AM (technically Sunday). It's bullshit. Just saying.

Bad: Interweb embarrassment. Today, if you know me IRL (in real life) I asked on Facebook what the female word for "bachelor" is. You also know this if you follow me on Twitter. Two buddies tell me (without being at all insulting) it's "Bachelorette". DUH! Well I feel like a dumbass. All the same... "bachelorette" was not immediately apparent to me because I don't feel like people use it in regular conversation. Outside of "Did you see The Bachelorette last week?" and "I went to a wild bachelorette party this weekend." No one says "Susan is a bachelorette." Right?...
Does it make a little bit more sense now? I'm not a completely stupid broad! I swear.

Shedding...

Since I left Germany I've lost 22 pounds! That's right people. I'm shedding the pounds.

What am I doing to shed all these pounds? I cut carbs, drastically. NO, I did not cut all carbs- I'm Italian. I could never, not have pasta. Plus, I just decided life isn't worth living without all carbs, all the time. Also, my job is very physically demanding in nature-- so that definitely helps.

I'm really wanting to lose another 20-30 pounds. Unfortunately I have started to plateau. Any suggestions?

Chillin'

I hate reading the "I'm sorry, I haven't been blogging" posts too... too bad this is one of those. I'm feeling random and uninteresting. I can't seem to focus on one thing long enough to get my thoughts together and form an entire post. The hubs and I got our R&R plans worked out a lil' better. Which helps. I'm still working. Still learning.
Speaking of learning. I was never really driven to "be" anything in particular. I wanted to "do" something that would be practical for my lifestyle, that I would completely loath 100% of the time and that would have the potential to earn money. I knew that being a stay at home mom and wife (SAHM) wasn't going to work. Unfortunately I'm not getting my education in a particular vocation. I've never cared much for nursing or something equally specific. My drive to get my degree comes from wanting, generally to be employed, and higher education seems more and more a necessity. I've had two people that they think I should "be" a writer/editor. I automatically think novels and fiction when I hear "writer". I said "no no I can't do that!" I really don't think I'm creative enough to write anything people would actually want to read. I'd never in a million years think up a world where Vampires sparkle in the sunlight and are not vicious for fun ::Cough cough::... I've been pondering it for a little while and I'm starting to really consider the editing idea though. I'll have to research it a bit and see how I can make it work with the military but I know I can "do" and "be" anything I put my mind to. I'm kind of excited about the idea. We'll see where it goes and how I can manage it.

In other than being inspired by my closest friends I've been busy doing average things, to include: spending time with my family, paying off debt, talking my husband out of cars we cannot yet afford, and dreaming of not absolutely hating buying a swim suit.

Coming up... more of the same. Plus a lil' girl's 2nd b-day party for this weekend. I'm excited, I've only had her gifts for about 2 weeks. I hope she loves them!