A League of Her Own

The Great Stroller Debate

2012-02-20T19:32:00.001+01:00

All babes need a stroller right? Well, duh! Of course they do. I have the benefit of being the last of allllll the peeps I know well to procreate. I've had the priveledge to get to know there lil' babes. I get to see what works and what doesn't work. And as a commenter said on the previous post, all babes are different. While one will LOVE the swing another will scream bloody murder. These are mines I will just have to dodge and see how our lil babe likes certain things. But there are certain things all babes will need!!

Traditionally people go the Travel System route:

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From what I understand the stroller from the travel system combo tend toward the bulky side and eventually wind up being exchanged for an umbrella stroller.

Then we have this newish Snap-n-go beauty. Which are more compact and still feature the lower basket for all your random crapola. So here's where the debate comes into play. I know I need this:

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All of our most precious of cargo need an infant car seat right?! So here's what I suggested to the hubs. We get he above car seat PLUS:

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Then, I'm thinking this bad boy for when the kiddo gets a bit too heavy to be lugged around in the infant carrier:

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Here's the cause for discussion though. My husband thinks the snap-n-go is just spending more money than is necessary. He's old school (haha). The travel system is just the way to go.

So, now I turn it over to you all!! What do you think of my plan of car seat+snap-n-go+umbrella stroller VERSUS travel system??

I'm having a problem...

2012-02-19T09:29:00.001+01:00

When do I start buying baby stuff?

I'm having this problem... well many problems really. But mainly I have this urge to buy stuff for "the babe". Well, here in Germany they have a completely different style, very minimalist-modern. Just think Ikea. Well that's not my style. So whatever I get I pretty much have to buy through AAFES or via the interwebs. Also, AAFES does not have the best options on baby clothes. So it's kind of hard to find neutral baby clothes.

The other major is this little face that they are dismantling my husbands unit and we stand a chance of being back in the States before the baby comes. So how much stuff do I really want to buy here and transport back with us?

I'm thinking the smart bet is to just wait and see how orders play out. But, I don't wanna!

So far we've purchased a small package of Newborn diapers, the one not-awful neutral baby blanket from the PX and the Precious Moments prayer doll.

How early did you start buying baby loot? What did you buy?

This is why I haven't been blogging

2012-02-16T19:35:00.000+01:00

Yep. This is what happens after a long deployment. We are expecting this lil' one 31 August! This ultrasound was taken today in Homburg. We elected to have the first trimester screening (which they do not conduct in Landstuhl) and thankfully I am cookin' up a healthy babe!!

It's been difficult for me to come up with other topics to blog about. Since I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow and that is the time the hubs and I agreed to "announce" our happy news!

The Voice

2012-02-07T18:53:00.000+01:00

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Do you watch The Voice?
If you don't you really need to. This is only the second season so I'll forgive you if you aren't yet hooked by it. Sincerely, it's awesome. Don't listen to crotchety-old Randy Jackson. He made a comment in the media that The Voice is the show American Idol rejects go to. He's mistaken and as I said crotchety. Yes, they did have ex-American Idol contestants but lets be real... when was the last time an American Idol winner actually did anything productive with themselves?*

I love the blind auditions. They're so exciting and I love that the contestant gets to pick which coach they feel will be the most beneficial to them. Basically, I pretty much love everything about this show.

Outside of that the hubs and I have been passing this virus back and forth. Colds suck. Nothing you can do about it just have to wait them out. This one is really taking it's sweet-ass time!

*Not all winners of American Idol suck. But the most recent winners haven't really done anything. I love me some Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson rocked the national anthem. OH, and lets not forget Jennifer Hudson who wasn't even a winner and she has an Oscar!

Screw you USA TODAY

2012-02-01T13:34:00.000+01:00

oh yeah, this Army Wife is pissed and highly resentful. Did you know that all soldiers are something to fear, they are all highly trained in tactical ops and "ticking bombs"- they're all psychos who will eventually explode. Wait- you didn't know? Well now you do.

We need to help train our police forces to deal with these "ticking bombs"; according to the USA Today article entitled "Police get help with vets who are ticking bombs".

On the other hand I adore Mr. Alex Horton. He responds to the USA Today article here, "Perpetuating the Erroneous “Ticking Bomb” View of Veterans":

"The ticking bomb metaphor, as inflammatory and unacceptable as it was, is a perfect term for this perception of an “increasing number of mentally ill suspects.” The melodramatic language conveys a surprising and violent event. A bomb is bad enough, but a ticking bomb? You never know when a ticking bomb will go off; that’s what’s so heinous, so destructive about it. You may not even now there’s a bomb at all. The only thing you do know is that it will explode at some point. The reader of this story, then—given a story so devoid of context and facts and appropriate measurements and statistics—is left to conclude all Veterans are walking powder kegs. They have always ticked, and it’s only a matter of time before an explosion."

Again I say... SCREW YOU USA TODAY. First, not all soldiers are receive the same amount of training. Not all are high speed, Jason Bourne-esque killing machines. Personally I know all kinds of soldiers, "high speed" ones, Airborne, Rangers, Special Forces, Engineers, Air Assault, Mechanics, Scouts, Infantrymen, various Admins, enlisted and officers and I can't say as I know any ticking bombs; not a single one is a one-track killing machine with no empathy for individuals or lacking respect for human life. You're simple-minded view is insulting.

Evidently I should fear the "ticking bomb" in bed next to me. Do you?

Talking about Pinterest

2012-01-31T09:48:00.002+01:00

I've been pinning for a while over at Pinterest. Mostly recipes. But I was quite taken with all of the holiday ideas, however the holiday's have come and gone and I'm feeling kind of burnt out on recipes. I know- how could I ever say such a thing? Basically, I'm wondering what else there is on Pinterest.

What are your favorite finds?

I wish I were more crafty because I know there is a lot out there! I don't own a sewing machine and really I don't even know where to start with trying to be more crafty. So help me out people. Please, and thank you.

Happy Tuesday!

Fear

2012-01-29T12:44:00.000+01:00

My husband likes to tell me that I "future trip" too much. I am constantly thinking far ahead, down the road and even around the corner sometimes. Sometimes it is too much and I know this. But other times I feel like my future tripping is warranted. My dad always told me, "Failure to plan, is planning to fail." So, I look down the road and I try to plan for what's ahead. You can imagine how well this works with the Army. They never know what they're doing and when they finally make a decision it almost always means Change.

So here's what I'm currently afraid of: Big cuts coming.

The ArmyTimes tells us, "The Army’s total force should be slashed by an additional 30,000 troops, down to 490,000 by 2017. That will bring the Army back to about the same level as 2001." I get it, we're coming out of two wars, it's simple the Army doesn't require as many soldiers anymore. Add onto that the piss poor management of our federal budget (deficit) over the course of a decade and the government is forced to cut their biggest spender- the Department of Defense. And the Army isn't the only one taking the hit everyone is scaling back. So I get it. I'm not without sense.

But can I just say that it sucks. You go out of your way to recruit heros to fight a war on two fronts for a decade and then we're gonna kick em' out. On top of which they probably won't qualify for retirement benefits and we're going to put them out on their asses. Even if they have earned their retirement, haven't you heard we're cutting TriCare and COLA benefits for "working age retirees"(those under 65). So whatever retirement they will have earned they'll be forced to dip into for co-pays and other such medical costs to cover the physical and mental effects of war. Yay. this is a super-duper plan, isn't it?

So, back to my fear. I'm afraid that after 10 years in the Army my husband will be one of the many to go. Where will that leave us? What'll happen next? One thing this Army life has taught me is that we can face anything. We'll deal with whatever hurdles life throws at us. But all the same I'm still fearful.

Sometimes

2012-01-24T09:54:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, I just wish I were still a kiddo! We really didn't get it back then, did we? I know I didn't. Man sometimes I wish I could go back to not having a care in the world, when my mommy prepared my meals, washed my clothes and daddy cleaned out my boo-boos.

Here we are-- all grown up approaching more change. 2012 will be a special year.

Sometimes, I wish life were just easier- and we could just have any ol' thing we wanted, when we wanted it. But what would that teach us....? (to be a better planner, make sure you really want what you ask for) I digress, it's not how life works right?

Sometimes, I sit back and just enjoy the sound of ranges and fight the urge to throw my remote through the TV... I'm so 'over' AFN people.

Shoes in Germany

2012-01-20T11:10:00.000+01:00

So I've been thinking about getting some rain boots.

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Saying (aka typing) this out loud (on my bloggy boo) makes me shudder. Seriously- rain boots. I'm not 4 years old. And, they shouldn't be bright yellow, right?

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Well here's the logic: In Germany there's a lot of rain, and sleet and snow ect... The main thing we need in our shoes is water resistancy. I learned this the hard way. I had my (cough cough) knock-off UGGs (cough cough) when we first arrived and assumed I was on the right page... they're warm. Nope. That won't do. Those bitches just absorb every.thing. And I felt like my feet were going to fall off-- you know, from the COLD! So here's where we are: Water resistant and warm.
I was considering a pair of riding boots.

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They're nice right. BUT, unfortunately peeps built like me I feel should not wear skinny jeans* and just folding up my jeans and stuffing them into the boot isn't pretty. So help me.

Yey or ney on the rain boots???

*this is my personal opinion, no offense intended!!

We Did It!!

2012-01-18T10:14:00.000+01:00

Remember how many times I've told you all about my wanting a Volvo?? Yeah, I lost count too. Well, We did it. About a week ago we got our financing in place and we went back to the factory-direct dealer and built our brand new 2012 Volvo, XC60! It should be finished at the factory in Belgium and on it's way to us early March!

It was interested going into a dealership and not leaving with a car. We left them with a deposit (so they had some of our money) and we left in the car we came in.... Sort of odd. They don't have a huge inventory on hand for you to pick whatever you'd like. Nope you build it to your liking and it's put together just for you!! It's a pretty cool experience, although new and odd- haha!

We're pretty excited about it and just wish it would hurry up already!!

Hopefully I'll get back to my regular blogging soon now that the hubs is back at work. It seems like a whirl-wind 30-days.

More Hurry-up annnddd WAIT.

2012-01-12T10:18:00.001+01:00

So here I am a year into our German adventure (with a combined total of 6 months spent in Germany) enjoying our block leave and we learn Kevin's unit is being disbanned. Oh score! So when, and what does that mean for our lil' family? Lawd, only knows.

Check it out: this news even made it into the Army Times. This article seems to imply that we would be headed back stateside. We heard a rumor about September. Gah.... So now I feel stuck in this cycle of BS.

I guess we'll just wait until we learn more. The Army strikes again.

the 'Low-down' on Paris

2012-01-04T10:02:00.000+01:00

So, the Hubs and I have been non-stop sense he's redeployed! I'm telling you it's utter chaos around these parts! I've barely had a chance to clean clothes before we hit the road again. Here's a timeline for your benefit:
7 Dec: Kevin returned home
8 Dec: Redeployment briefings began.
15 Dec: Block leave commenced.
18 Dec: Mother and Father-in-Law (our first visitors since moving to Germany) landed in Frankfurt- Cue adding miles on our car (which we didn't mind in the slightest bit).
19 Dec: Road Trip to Mannheim Christmas Market
22-25 Dec: Road trip to Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Southern Germany (on the boarder with Austria)/ Bavaria
24 Dec: Edelweiss tour of Munich Christmas Market
27 Dec: Edelweiss tour to random/gorgeous church and wood carving shop and second visit to under-renovations Neuschwanstein Castle:

28 Dec: Return to Baumholder.
AM of 30 Dec: Drop the in-laws off at the airport in Frankfurt.
few short hours, 30 Dec: Jump in the car with a friend and head to Paris!
30 Dec-2 Jan: Paris!!!

Ok, so now that, that is out of the way... Phew.. can I just saw I'm exhausted just reading that. Anywho... Paris: I loved seeing the sights: Sacre-Coeur, Natre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Hard Rock Cafe (that counts right? lol), Pont Neuf, Arc De Triomphe (my favorite site), Louvre Museum and the Army Museum. But here's the deal people. The first was a Sunday. I don't know if you all know this but Europe is SHUT-DOWN, completely unavailable on Sundays, then you add in a "holiday" everything we tried to visit that day was closed. It was sort of a bust.
Also, New Years Eve at the feet of the Eiffel Tower... so not as romantic as it sounds. There was no count down. No organized fireworks. Nada. Just a bunch of drunken Parisians launching homemade fireworks at each other- true story. We were watching the clock: Okay peeps it's 11:58..... chillin... waiting... Nothing. Ok, well crap it's 12:01. "Happy New Year... I guess". Lets go wait in line for the subway now. Woopty-doo. Seriously.
Oh we went to visit the Louvre NYE, we buy tickets at the kiosk and go to drop our coats at the coat check and the lady informs us the Museum closes in an hour (at 2 PM)... WTF? So we literally RUN to the Mona Lisa and Venis De Milo and leave (this was one of the places we tried to visit again on the 1st, but was closed). Can we say FAIL!?? Since I'm talking about the Louvre can I also say I now believe that there is seriously something wrong with people... case and point: What would motivate a person to break the uncircumcised-penis off a statue at the Louvre????! Seriously... many instances of this. Horrible. Just Horrible.

Well, while we were in Paris we were already looking ahead. We got a great deal on a hotel close to Vatican City in Rome!!! We fly out in a short 6 days! We'll be back 13 Jan and the hubster signs back in from leave on the 15th! Wow... hello 2012!!

Regularly Scheduled Programming..

2011-12-30T10:03:00.001+01:00

We'll be back with your regularly Scheduled Programming shortly.

Just got back from dropping the in-laws off at the airport and we will be heading out for Paris in a few short hours! I am so exhausted already from all this travel and my house is in need of some serious deep cleaning but I'm on a mission to ring in the New Year in style at the foot of the Eiffel Tower!

A Happy and Safe New Years Eve to you all!!

Makin the rounds

2011-12-23T13:43:00.002+01:00

Things have been very busy around these parts lately. We've been getting tons of snow which is making for a gorgeous Christmas seasons. Back on Monday we picked up Mommy and Daddy-in-law in Frankfurt and yesterday we journeyed from Baumholder to Garmisch, to Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. The drive was nerve-wracking to say the least. There was traffic and the worst part was the Rain, for 6 straight hours in the car! Oh and about 30 minutes away from the hotel we hit some really bad road conditions. We made it safe and sound thanks to the hubs!! The weather and traffic added an additional hour onto our trip. All the same we're here in gorgeous Garmisch and have so many fun things planned through Christmas, Munich Christmas Market tomorrow, Couples massages and a tour of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle! It's going to be a wondering and memorable Christmas!

I wanted to share some Pinterest recipes that I've been attempting lately. Our fav!!: Teriyaki Chicken the recipe is for the Crock Pot but I didn't have 4 hours to wait so I threw it together in a saute pan. It was amazing! Seriously try it!

Thyme-Baked Chicken. This was ok... may make this again.

Mongolian Beef. This was good but not great but I will be trying it again!! You notice the Chinese theme... you see it's pretty difficult to find descent Chinese or Mexican food here in Germany- shocker right? Well I'm trying to learn to make these things at home on my own.

Happy Holidays readers! Hope you have a great weekend!

Wow...

2011-12-16T08:45:00.000+01:00

As my husband's unit uncased their colors yesterday marking their return to Garrison the colors were "cased" in Iraq marking the military exit from Iraq after 9 years.

Nine years later... Part of me wants to scream "ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME!" that we were out of Iraq. But mainly I'm thankful. I'm thankful that this one small family has both of it's soldiers home: my husband and my sisters's husband, safe and sound. Our soldiers endured 5 deployments between them to Iraq. I'll have to get with my sister so we can add up the months. But collectively it's between 60-69ish months of deployments to that sand-ridden hell hole.

I can't help but to be sad also. Yes I'm thankful for this one small families' blessings but so many families were not so lucky. According to ABC News, 4,500 Americans lost their lives, and left more than 32,200 more wounded- in Iraq alone. My heart breaks for my friends who's lives were shattered, who's husbands were lost and husbands who came home without limbs or carrying the burden of mental scars. Yet again, I'm left feeling so humbled and lucky that after all the goodbyes and reunions our soldiers were unscathed.

But for those out there speculating whether it was "worth it" I say shame on you. They were there for each other and 4500 lost their lives. Count your blessings and be grateful it wasn't your son or daughter. Praise the men and women, don't send a message that their time and efforts were wasted. Or that my time spent worrying was for-nothing. Those who choose the military do so with the understanding that the politics involved really are not much of their concern.

I remember asking my brother-in-law on his second deployment (post WMD) why he was there? Why we had to worry if there was no purpose for this damned war and he said He's there because they [the Army] sent him. Simple. No further explanation required. I was floored and completely humbled by his position. It didn't matter what nonsensical crap came out of Washington.

Wow.

Casing of the Colors Ceremony, Baghdad, Iraq. Photo Via Whitehouse.gov.

I Want it Wednesday...

2011-12-14T10:29:00.000+01:00

I want.... to do this segment more regularly (like I used to).

I want.... A Volvo XC60

It's pretty, right?
The hubs and I played a pretty dangerous game of chicken yesterday at the car dealership. Typically it's very difficult to get into the dealership and not walk away with your new car. Thankfully that's not the way it works around these parts. We have to manage our own financing (so it would not have happened yesterday any way that we sliced it). We will be waiting until tax time and just save that much more money on payments. But, I am super excited about it!!

I want.... snow already!! Last year when we landed in Germany there was so much snow on the ground, feet and feet. But this year it's just cold and rainy and overcast and miserable.

I might be an alien:

2011-12-13T16:43:00.001+01:00

So these bumps are weird.

I have been doing pretty good with maintaining my gym visits, since the hubs returned home. But I sort of loath running, since it makes me feel inferior in every way. I have no stamina and I've been working on it for awhile now. Oh well. So I reverted to the trusty power-walk. I was going strong with this for, oooh about a week. Then I started feeling tightness and pain right where the bumps are pictured above. So, I made an effort to really focus on stretching prior to getting my power-walk on! Yeah... that didn't help. I still found myself stopping 10-12 mins in to stretch or stop or move to the bike or elliptical due to the pain. After about a week of this constant pain in the tushy I finally thought to look at my leg (since you know it hurts). And, above is what I found...

I shared this on Facebook (obvi.) and was offered a few suggestions: beginnings of vericose veins, muscle hernia or alien.

I'm going with alien, but I'll let the doctor tell me tomorrow.

Standby.

He's Home.

2011-12-08T14:25:00.003+01:00

As of 2230 last night I've had my husband back. After 284 days my hubby is home!

Tomorrow marks 1 year of our initial move to Germany. We Landed, 9 December 2010. Our first year in Germany was kind of a disappointment as far as making the most of our European experience. Kevin deployed and I went home for a 1 month visit and got roped into staying another 8 months. But today, December eighth two thousand eleven marks a whole new year for Kevin and Sam, and endless opportunities for adventure!!

I'm feeling blessed today. Just so grateful to have my husband home with me, safe and sound from his fourth deployment. We are blessed and so lucky.

Happy Thursday Readers.

Military Ball

2011-12-06T18:20:00.001+01:00

So we're an eclectic bunch here in the military right? A big ol' melting pot o' craziness. Anyone who's spent time living on a post knows this. And, whenever you got to a new post you re-learn just how awkward it can be sorting through "the crazies" (as I call them) getting to "normal" peeps and creating friendships. However, it never ceases to amaze how class-less people can be.

The other day I was perusing the Facebook page of my husband's troop, and saw a thread about the ball. Someone asked "Are you wearing a long or short dress to the ball?" I bit my tongue (so that I could later complain here), because my momma taught me if I didn't have anything nice to say (to say it behind their backs) to say nothing at all. Yet, all I found myself wanting to say was this is formal you moron, show some decorum!!

Military balls have long standing tradition of being formal events. We don't drop upwards of $400 on a uniform for my husband so that I can wear this:

Pinned on Pinterest with the caption:
"military ball?"

Or this:

On Pinterest with the caption:
"ball dress, what ya think?"

Here's what I think: NO! Get some class people. This isn't a trashy club or your boudoir for christ's sake. This is a formal function with people your husband works with, PROFESSIONALLY. Show so class. I'm not saying you have to look like your granny. But you need to know better. Honor the tradition that comes before you. Act right and get some class. Grrrr!

Here are some of my favorite selections:

My Fav:

Am I totally off base here peeps?

Vacation Plans

2011-12-04T09:22:00.001+01:00

I am back in full swing of this European life I am blessed with the opportunity to lead. I'm currently in Homecoming mode (and finish school mode) so that is my main priority. However, I am still planning past that in my mind. Block leave will start the middle of this month to allow for travel over the Christmas exodus. Between now and then I'm hoping to see a few more Christmas Markets:
Here's a few on my list
Saarbrücken
Trier
Heidelberg
Bernkastel-Kues

Bernkastel-Kues Christmas Market

Can you beat that? Don't think so. Bonus! It's only an hour and 1 minute from where I live.

Nuremberg is also on my list but jeeeze, I think there isn't enough time for that this year! We will definitely give it a go though!

After Christmas we're on to Paris for New Years!! Unfortunately they don't do it up big in Paris on New Years... WTF? No fireworks or anything of that nature. We're gonna have a good time though. I'm sure it'll still be good times. Even if New Years itself is lame we're seeing all the sights and I'm stoked. We'll be there the 30-2 so tell me what I can't miss, what are your favorite sites??

After Paris we don't have anything scheduled. I'm thinking more long-weekends than full-on vacations; an excursion if you will.

I think London would be good times for about 3/4 days. (yea or nea?)
Prague?
I was also considering Northern Italy.... something like Ryanair into Florence, hitting up Pisa and on to Venice and flying home from Venice. Thoughts?
** nevermind, Ryanair doesn't like Florence.... face.palm. urg.

Advice is welcomed so please, please offer it up!!

Christmas Spirit

2011-12-03T17:29:00.001+01:00

It's December 3rd, and I'm all about Christmas, already. This is pretty standard behavior for me. I've always loved Christmas time. And it's especially brilliant here in Germany. I've already visited two Christmas Markets and have many more scheduled to see this month. I'm sure they'll be wrap-ups and pictures to come. I decided earlier this week that I could not wait for Kevin to get home to put up the Christmas tree and other decorations. So I went down into the basement and lugged all of our gear up 3 flights of stairs. I thought it was all going pretty well. I was really satisfied with how my tree was turning out until I took a picture to post on Facebook and discovered it was uneven and wonky.

See for yourself.
It's ok to laugh. It's not really how I saw it turning out. But at this point I was all finished and was most definitely NOT going to be pulling all the ornaments, garland, and lights off and starting from scratch. So this will be posted up in my living room for the next month.

Please note, that I did leave the tree-topper (an angel) off because my husband requested that I not do it as he should be home VERY soon and wants to do it. So naturally I obliged him.

In other Christmas-related news. Has everyone visited Shutterfly, and ordered their Christmas cards? I wish I had already. But sadly, we didn't get any good pictures on R&R so I'm hoping for a good one at the Homecoming Ceremony and having Shutterfly address them and send em' out for me. Fingers crossed.

Share your favorite cards! I always need help narrowing my search!!

2011-12-01T08:50:00.001+01:00

I told you kind folks back on the 16th of November that I drank the Pinterest kool-aid and liked it. I got sucked into this fad amongst others (cough, cough: The Vampire Diaries, cough, cough). I originally gave Pinterest a go about a year ago but didn't care for it. Just didn't search for the "right" things I guess... so I didn't get it. All the same, you can search for hair do's, anything and everything decor-related, if you need inspiration on anything in life it's there. Did I leave out recipes? Oh lawd, there are recipes galore!

So easy and delicious!

Chicken Pot Pies

Apple cups

Because who doesn't love anything you can make in a cupcake pan??

Had these over at a friends house:

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Good times.

I've also tried this:

Elegant/ Easy Hair

Some random stuff I'm eager to try:

DIY Cork wreath

Maybe from all of our European travel adventures?? I just might. :)

Holiday Hair

Lemon Chicken

Tyme-Baked Chicken

What's not to like??
And I didn't even link to any of the party foods I "pinned", or stuff for the future (cough, cough baby, cough, cough).
Just sayin' peeps. If you search for the "right" thing you'll be sucked in and never stop. I've been side-lined since arriving back to Germany but I have a feeling I'll back to "pinning" like a crazy person in the VERY near future!
Happy Pay Day all!! :D

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-27T20:50:00.001+01:00

Happy Thanksgiving All.

I wish I could say I spent the day counting my blessings but really I was out of sorts. I was here in Germany with no family. I had the traditional turkey and the fixins with some people I met recently; "acquaintances". I miss real friends, you know? I look forward to being done with the sorting-through-the-weirdos-phase and onto the lets-be-friends-phase.

Outside of the less-than-stellar Thanksgiving I had a pretty good weekend. Friday after lunch I ventured up to Heinsberg to visit my neighbor from Colo, Nikki. It was so nice to get out of boring ol' Baumholder and see a good friend.

Saturday, at the ass-crack of dawn we jumped on a tour over to Munster. After two hours on a bus we arrived and started in on our Gluhwein consumption. I collected three new cups. Somehow I only came home with 2 new ones though. It's ok the collection is growing. Munster's christmas market was spread throughout the city which was helpful seeing as though I had 7 hours in this city to kill. Too bad I forgot my camera!!! I know: giant FAIL, Sam! I scored a few lil' Xmas trinkets and a gift for my momma! So I'm ok with my loot.

Flag Flying Etiquette

2011-11-22T23:12:00.001+01:00

This is something that's really been bugging me. You see, the way I was raised I was always taught if you're going to do a thing, you might as well do it right. (that is not to discourage people from displaying the Flag, but just saying do it right gah!)

First, It's a day time thing. Take it down at night or be ready for my crazy ass to place a spot light in your front yard.

Second, It's a fair weather thing. Take it down when it's raining, snowing or in the middle of a terrential down pour.

Third, It's a suspended in the air thing. Seriously, don't let it touch the ground. Bad juju peeps, bad juju.

These are a few of the easiest rules but there are others. I don't know about you and maybe it's easily credited to my military upbringing but when I heard the National Anthem, I found the nearest flag, I squared off to it, placed my hand over my heart and sang along. National Anthem and flag are same/same right? Well, if not they definitely go hand-in-hand.

In my old neighborhood I would always see people leaving their flags out all night or in the rain it really, really irritated me. Maybe it's irrational or something.... but really I'd prefer people just know the regs and do it right. Doing it "wrong" could be disrespectful... never know. Just saying. Do your due diligence.

See more here.

Supporting our Troops?

2011-11-18T21:01:00.001+01:00

I don't know about you but I'm really sick and tired of the "Bandwagon Patriots". I'm tired of people tooling around with their Yellow Ribbon Magnets on their cars preaching about how much they appreciate, honor, respect or any other such verb, the sacrifices our veterans (past and present), the 1% make. If the other 99% really, truly and honestly, appreciated anything the veterans did the first line item of the Federal budget (which is way past due, FYI) would have been and would continue to be funding Veterans and Active Duty Health care, along side funding for all military required programs effecting mission readiness. But noooo. We are all aware that our country is in the crapper, but to turn around after 10 years of war on multiple fronts, repeated combat deployments, catastrophic-life-changing injuries and 6,826 deaths and say "hey you 1% over there who give more than any other American is willing, we're going to obliterate your health care." Its just completely bat-shit crazy to me.

Seriously?

Stephen Colbert said it pretty well a few nights back. Watch here.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is behind blocking working age veterans from TriCare Usage, see that story on Military.com, here.

So they'll spend their days pillaging our health care, and their nights raping our pensions, spousal programs and TA benefits. It saddens me they'll still find time to screw our Civil Servants (GS workers) but I assure you they will. When will they ever find time for more corporate bailouts, hunting weekends and pissing contests in the schoolyard?

No, sincerely, I insist Keep your damn yellow ribbon, it means nothing without follow through.

Short on time

2011-11-18T09:49:00.001+01:00

Ummm, holy crap Batman! Someone just mentioned on Facebook this week that Christmas is 6 weeks away. WHAT? I haven't even started my shopping. To family and friends here and in the States, all gifts from us will be Tardy for the Christmas Party. Sorry. Evidently this acclimating and re-relocating business causes one Samantha to fall behind on gift buying (along with folding clothes, making regular meals and homework). What am I going to do!!? Eek, the few ideas I had for my husband either wouldn't ship to an APO address (WTF?) or wouldn't ship for at least 1-3 weeks- yeah that won't work. I'm screwed-ola.

Speaking of Christmas gifts I signed up for Crazy Shenanigan's gift exchange and so should you! Head over here for more details.

Good news on the acclimating front though, I finally slept through the night. And not only once but TWICE. Woot woot. Yes, this may sound silly to some but it's a big deal for me.

In other Holiday-related news Thansgiving is a mere 6 days away and I finally have plans. It was starting to look grim. It's funny though, how as soon as you make a plan you get invites all over the place.

Now that I am back from my blogging break I have so many things I want to talk about (hence the randomness of this post). However, organizing them into individual posts which make any kind of sense has been a struggle.

Standby. I'll be back with more VERY soon! :)

Miss me?

2011-11-16T05:21:00.001+01:00

Well if you do, you're in good company. I'm told by people who I know well enough to know they wouldn't lie to me just to make me feel better-- that they miss me too! A lot has happened and changed since I last posted. I can't believe it's been almost a month!

Lets do this the rapid- fire way:

*~* Left Colorado for DC
*~* Stayed with Amanda in DC for 13 days- bonded with my God-son and attended Amanda's baby shower for baby 2.0.
*~* Attended a "foodie" expo in DC
A few hours in the Morning was just for Military Spouses- really cool. Watched a 1 hour cooking demo by Guy Fieri (of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives)
*~* Met Dr. Jill Biden (was floored by the number of people who do not know who she is)

*~* Visited my Granny in NJ.
*~* Returned to Germany.
*~* Fought with my car and WON!
*~* Drank the Pinterest Koolaid and liked it. I'm friggin hooked! I'll be sure to share my favs.
*~* Missed blogging. Missing my family. Missing my friends.
*~* Still missing my man, and awaiting his return.
*~* Became the proud new owner of a Kitchen Aid mixer!! (I know you won't have to hear/see about it anymore on I Want it Wednesdays!!)
*~* Started Christmas shopping TODAY (crap I'm behind, especially if you allow for international shipping)
*~* Currently I'm still trying to acclimate to the time change. Out of the 5 nights I've been home I've slept through the entire night once. And tonight I'm up for the duration. Super. Hoping it pushes me over the edge for bed tonight.
~* Also, Currently still working on unpacking my luggage and boxes I mailed myself, but I've successfully washed the dust off of everything in the house. (scoff... priorities you know).

I think that's about it. I'll be elaborating on some of these things over the next few days or so. I think my bloggy-break did the trick. I'm more into it now. :)

The Early Morning Blog..

2011-10-24T14:41:00.001+02:00

I'm up, I'm up, I'm up!! So what it's only 6:16 in the AM. Typically I'm awake about 830. But I've had some issues lately. By issues, I mean I haven't been sleeping so great. I've been rageful, wildly moody, unfortunately kind of hateful, easily agitated and generally less patient. Also I've noticed I've had a hard time putting a sentence together. I was on the phone with Amanda the other day and had to start saying, Whatever it was, at least 3 times before I got it half way out. Good thing she's known me so well for so long she put the pieces together. Anyone else would have assumed I was having a freaking stroke. I was trying to make a doctors appointment the other day (something routine no worries peeps) and literally forgot how old I was. Yea- it's been like that. So my first though: Pregnancy brain- Hello RnR baby. Well, peeps I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Let me be clear, there is NO baby on board this train!

My next thought was well I'm sorta psycho and need meds. Which there is NO shame in. I have my appointment on Thursday and was going to ask em' about it. It's NO fun for anyone to live with these crazy mood swings, right? Well, it occured to me later my space-case-ness and my rages were related. The culprit: low carb diet. Who's heard of Ketosis? Yup.. that's right, the only diet that actually works for me, literally makes me stupid! Swell.

Ironically, I had to create a 10 slide Power Point Presentation yesterday regarding Carbs for my Nutrition class: what they are, how the body processes them, good ones v. bad ones, ect ect ect... I have known for a while that these things happen while on a low carb diet but I haven't experienced them before. I thought I was "special" (no, not short bus special) but just immune to silly things like Ketosis. Yea... NOT so much. I'm not really sure where to go from here peeps. Any support or advice? Obviously I will be adding some carbs back in. I hate not being in control of my moods and lacking the ability to put into words what I want to say.

Good news is, while I was up 10 lbs from RnR I've lost about 6 of them again (hence the ketosis). Also, you know how I've long said that "running is for being chased"? I never understood this running craze spreading like wildfire throughout the blogging community; to blog is to run. I even drank the "C25k" koolaid once before. Yeah, that didn't work out. I got the shin-splints so bad the docs told me to stop. I've been power-walkin' it out at the Gym. I started to feel like I wasn't getting enough out of that though and began running the straightaways. I did not have any probs with this the first and second trips to the gym. Than the 3rd trip my calf muscle cramped up so bad I had to get off the treadmill all together. OUCH! I feel like it was going to tear. So I jumped on the bicycle. A friend, S, told me to drink a glass of chocolate milk before I went to the gym and sure as shit that worked!! I ran all the straightaways for 3 miles peoples!! Woot woot.

We shall see what happens on the diet and weight loss front (based on my research for school I need more whole grains(=fiber) and "good" carbs). As this is my final week in Colorado before I make my way to DC and then back "home" to Germany I will be very, very busy. I have to get as much time in with friends, kiddos, and family as humanly possible while still being productive. I have a list of things to accomplish (cancel cell, mail packages to myself, hair cut, flu shot, pack, call airline and so much more).

Happy Monday!! Let's go.

Disenchanted.

2011-10-17T18:15:00.000+02:00

So I find myself pretty disenchanted with blogging as of late. Not motivated to write and honestly don't feel like I get what I used to out of it. I don't feel like it's theraputic for me in any way. I am sad about this though because I sort of feel like I lost a good friend or that we're going through a "break up" of sorts.

In other life news, I lost 30 pounds on my weight loss journey and was hoping to lose another 20 prior to redeployment. Then, R&R happened and now I'm up 10 pounds (down a total of 20). I'm just frustrated. It's my bad. I'm back on the wagon people. Here we go!

New Site?

2011-10-09T17:29:00.001+02:00

Anyone else skeptical that this new and improved USAJOBS.com will really improve anything?

We'll see on the 12th, huh...

Highs and Lows

2011-10-04T04:46:00.000+02:00

For an R&R recap post I thought it might be fun to sort through two weeks of madness with the "highs" and the "lows" (hence the title, right?)!

Highs:

Picking up my "cheesy-faced" husband at the airport!

THEbeach at our Hotel
Which I'll tell you more about in a dedicated post!

Serendipity3 was actually VERY disappointing.

While the pictured Frozen Hot Chocolate was great

My $38 Mac N Cheese was AWFUL! I got my $ back!

Anniversary Dinner
4 years.

FREE Oreo Filled Zeppoles from LAVO in the Palazzo Hotel.

Free, from the Manager for Kevin's Homecoming.

So Generous.

Ok, so there weren't so many "Lows". At least not that I happened to get pictures of.... The worst was taking him back to the airport. That blew. All in all we had a fantastic two weeks.

Overload

2011-09-30T15:50:00.000+02:00

So two weeks down and my man is gone again. I facebooked, that the goodbyes have not gotten any easier but I have just come to realize how lucky I am to have someone that is still hard to say goodbye to.
We had a great two weeks.
I am glad that it wasn't all love-making and unicorns; that just isn't our style. We bickered some and had too much to drink on some days (hey, we're still allowed to do that right!!?) but mostly we did enjoy each other. Prior to Kevin's arrival I was worried that we had over-booked our short time together adding San Diego from Sept 15-18 when we already had Vegas from the 20-23. But it worked out perfect. I lamented this AM (on the drive to the airport) that if we had spent more time in Colorado Springs we would have gotten bored.
We did manage to go slightly over budget but it's ok (so Kevin says). Here's hoping I get a job in Germany (haaa ha-).
Over the next few days I'll be catching up on copious amounts of TV (no spoilers people, I haven't even seen Grey's Anatomy annnnd I've missed 3 weeks worth of Jersey Shore), getting laundry cleaned and putting boxes together for shipment back to Germany (I've acquired more shiz than I really should have) and finally go through our pictures from the past 2 weeks. I'm hoping we at least got a few good shots-- which I'm starting to doubt. Ahh, such is life!!

Whirlwind

2011-09-28T18:06:00.000+02:00

Obviously we've had a whirlwind two weeks. We are rapidly approaching Kevin's departure. I'm looking forward to getting back to Germany as redeployment will be a short time after I get back to Germany. So, it's one of those the sooner he leaves the sooner he'll be back, type situations.

We have had a great R&R together. We visited family and our Pup in San Diego. We worked on our tans and managed to not lose more money than we could really afford to in Vegas. We did some laundry and spent some time with family in Colorado. We're just now getting in some rest though. Traveling makes things more hectic than restful. We have enjoyed our time thus far but it has been very busy.

I'll be back in a few days with a full update including 8 air planes one canceled flight and an over-night in Denver, Barrett Jackson Auction, THEhotel and THEbeach wave pool and lazy river and loads of other good memories!

Miss me??

2011-09-20T13:33:00.001+02:00

I've been a bad blogger but for VERY good reason: My mans is home!! Kevin arrived a week and one day ago. I can't believe it! We have been having an outstanding time. We are currently sitting in the Colorado Springs airport waiting to board our 5th plane in this short week we've already spent together. Today we are headed to glorious Las Vegas. We have already been to San Diego And thoroughly enjoyed our time there with great family and great friends!
It's nap time friends I'll be back in a few days for the play-by-play!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Air Cargo Rd,Colorado Springs,United States

I'm kind of....

2011-09-14T03:19:00.002+02:00

I am a lot of things.... I'm funny, annoying, sarcastic, loving, respectful, a sister, wife and friend. But one thing I try not to be is a giant asshole. I humbled myself a few minutes ago. I kind of flipped my shit and got reaaaaallly excited to watch the official Breaking Dawn trailer on Yahoo! Then I "shared" it on my Facebook.

Then I saw the following video shared via the US Army:

And...... I suddenly felt like and asshole. Serious, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 vice 4 minutes of attack. Wow.... Hello reality check.

Given this video and my husband's post's proximity to the US Embassy in Kabul I am very grateful he's currently in Kuwait on his way home to me. However, it's frightening to think he'll be headed back there in two weeks.

((here's to enjoying two weeks without fear))

The Comprehensive 9/11 Post

2011-09-11T04:25:00.000+02:00

{source}
Have you seen the Copy/Paste Facebook status about how Mayor Bloomberg of NYC failed to invite first responders to the 9/11 ceremony/memorial unveiling? I know that's definitely sad. On the other hand after seeing Mayor Bloomberg on The View earlier this week I learned why this was the case: Fire and occupancy regulations. There are only so many people allowed on the plaza at one time and the families of those who died were invited. So yes, I agree it's craptastic that the first responders were not invited but it would have been equally as craptastic if the families weren't invited. So, honestly I sympathize with Mayor Bloomberg having to make that choice. It had to be difficult.

{source}

So, ten years ago was 2001 (obv.) but I was 16 and in high school. I don't remember what class I was in, because I don't remember much of anything from high school... Anyway there I was and my sister came into my class with this look on her face like something very very bad was happening. The last time this happened she came to pull me out of band class in middle school because my grandfather had passed away... so I immediately jumped to something along those same lines. Nope. She said that there was an attack happening in New York and Washington DC. It was awful. I learned later what had actually happened. I watched the video of the planes crashing into the buildings for days. It was horrifying.

I didn't know 10 years ago those events would come to shape my life. I didn't know 10 years ago that I'd be married to a soldier. Nor did I know 10 years ago that I would be missing my husband while he's off fighting the subsequent wars of that day.

Today I watched the stories of four soldiers; four warriors on TIME.com, Portraits of Resilience, along with many other stories. I was most struck by Richard Fern. He worked on the 84th floor of the South Tower. Richard Fern fought to make his way out of the towers. Richard Fern walked from lower Manhattan to his wife's Cousin in Brooklyn.

Then there was Jimmy Riches. Jimmy Riches was a firefighter in Lower Manhattan. He was the oldest son of Jim Riches, Retired Firefighter of Brooklyn and he was 29 on Sept 11th. Jimmy Riches would turn 30 on Sept 12th, 2001. Jim Riches made his way from his home in Brooklyn to Ground Zero and did what he could to help, and as the day went on he came to accept that his oldest son was dead. Jim Riches tells his story here. Jim Riches spent every day at Ground Zero, which eventually lead to a coma in 2005 and almost death. Jimmy was the oldest of his brothers, Timmy Riches, Danny Riches, Tommy Riches. This families story is heartbreaking and motivational all at the same time. I found myself crying as I listened to each of them tell how they carried Jimmy's body up the ramp on March 25, 2002.

Have you visited Ground Zero since 9/11? I've been twice. The first time in December of 2002. I remember walking through the city and watching other people stop dead in their tracks as a plane flew overhead. It was stunning to see that response and the fear in these peoples faces.

Game Plan

2011-09-07T08:11:00.001+02:00

Are you a planner?

I'm a planner to my core. This usually causes problems. I like to know where I am going and when and what I will be doing once I get there. I want to know how much it will cost, to ensure that I'll have enough money to participate in all activities.

I plan. I "future trip", as my husband says. I write lists- constantly.

The last few weeks Kevin and I have been coming up short on the conversation front. This happens to all deployed marriages. It's just the nature of the beast people. With a lack of conversational topics at hand we turned to our impending R&R. Our initial plan was a nice low-key R&R here in Colorado. (yeah right) Our plan evolved to include a visit to Vegas. Let me just say we are within a week from R&R getting under way. This morning our plan expanded to include a jaunt to San Diego. My longtime followers know that my MIL lives there and I also happen to have a great friend there from High School there. Our pup, Brody is also there.

Kevin and I have been allllllll through (and through again) our time in Vegas. Which shows we'll see. What restaurants we'll eat at. How much we'll ~~spend~~ lose at the tables. All in all we've talked out the R&R topic; we beat it to death and then revived it up to beat it again.

Today with the change to our plan to include San Diego... I was thrown a huge whammy. It suddenly smacked me in the face: "This changes everything." We'll spend more money. I'll have even less time for homework. Also, less time in Colorado with my fam here. Cue pressure. Not only am I a planner but I also like to put a lot of pressure on myself. I've now decided that in order to actually enjoy our time on R&R that I'll have to complete 3 weeks worth of homework within a weeks time. Fun, right?

Hey, anyone realllly thoroughly enjoy Econ homework assignments? Get at me. I have something super fun for you. (;

Delusions

2011-09-05T03:23:00.000+02:00

You guys will never believe what happened. My boyfriend called again! I guess he's been missing me or something.... I mean naturally... c'mon who wouldn't miss me- I'm amazing.

Ok I suppose I should come clean and explain to you all what I'm referring to. I guess I should start with when I say "my boyfriend" I am of course referring to this fella:

{source}

Second, when I say "called again" I mean that People.com told me he would be in the states next month.

Third, my husband knows alllll about my many "boyfriends" and how they get in contact with me from time-to-time. They can never stay away too long. Naturally, I don't begrudge my "boyfriends" their other women. Seriously, that'd just be ridic right? I am married after all.

Day # 181: I'm Done

2011-09-04T06:49:00.005+02:00

I've been in Colorado for 5 and a half months. Today I went to my 4th movie by myself. I don't mind the idea of going to movies alone. Sincerely, I don't. I usually rather enjoy it. But today I've had enough. I don't want to go to anymore movies by myself. This doesn't mean that I won't see other movies without Kevin. It just means today I'm really kind of 'over' this deployment nonsense. It's been 181 days since I was last with my husband and I miss him.

{source}

Outside of being lonely I was pleasantly impressed by the movie I saw today. I saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. I'm not a huge Steve Carell fan and based on the previews I didn't think it'd be anything more than a young kid with all the swagger in the world (Ryan Gosling) trying to "fix" the old dude going through your standard mid-life crisis. But nope, it's more than that. It's hilarious, well acted and had a much better story line than I thought! Here's to being pleasantly surprised at the movies!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their Labor Day Weekend!!

Sad

2011-09-01T05:35:00.000+02:00

Somethings have been making me very sad for about a week. I had this very good friend during middle and high school. Her name was Erin. She was my best friend. In high school we drifted slightly we both extended our group of friends-- separately. Anyway the summer after graduation I made one nasty, and admittedly unnecessary comment to her about her new set of friends. I don't remember specifically what I said but it was ugly of me. I called her multiple times to apologize and smooth things over. However, she literally never spoke to me again. I even called her while my parents were splitting up. I left her a message and told her about my parents and said I really would like to catch up with her. Nothing. No response. (me=sad). I requested her on Facebook about a year ago, on a whim. She accepted but clearly had no interest in rekindling our friendship. She didn't comment on my status when I moved to Germany, she didn't care enough to say anything when Kevin deployed.

Well, here's why I'm sad. She got married last Friday. I just keep thinking that I don't get why if we were such good friends she would write me off FOR-EV-VER because I said one nasty thing. I have good friends and sometimes I say not nice things to them and vice versa but you call them on it and move on- turn the page you know? I just felt like I should have been there, at her wedding.
*~~~*
Another situation making me sad: my other friend Kaitlyn got some very bad news at her ultrasound last week. She'll have twin girls Dec/January. However, tragically one of the babies has a genetic syndrome which is fatal. Prayers are very much appreciated.

Don't forget to count your blessings!!

Day 175: On my mind

2011-08-28T06:37:00.000+02:00

R&R is just around the corner. I'm super excited to actually be able to go to the airport and pick Kevin up. Last time he surprised me so I didn't get this experience. I have yet to anxiously wait in the airport for my soldier. (not to say that I haven't anxiously waited for his return in with other spouses and family members at redeployment ceremony, or just in general terms..) Nevertheless, I am looking forward to having that moment.

I am so excited to see Kevin! (yea, yea, I know I already said that) But this excitement got me to thinking. I was thinking about how much trouble reintegration is. I was thinking about the struggles we faced after last deployment. I've been thinking about other people I know who battle through reintegration, shutting down that battle field mentality and the problems it causes and of course the monster, PTSD. For the record, soldiers and marriages can face a number of problems throughout reintegration without PTSD, seen it, lived it. People often just assume problems and distance between them and their soldier is automatically PTSD. Just saying- for the record is all. My point is that R&R is often so easy, peaceful and amazing.

Why doesn't R&R have the same struggles as post-deployment reintegration?

Don't get me wrong I get 15 days- that's it. People only got 15 days out of 15 months; 15 days out of 12 months, ect ect. I am thankful that my 15 days will be enjoyable. I was just simply, "thinking"; just wondering why the experiences are so different?

I Hate it when.... 2nd Edition

2011-08-21T03:01:00.001+02:00

Check out the 1st Edition here.

I hate it when... I'm dealing with a business over the phone and they need some kind of document from me and assume I have a fax machine. Why would I have a fax machine? I know some printers have that capability but that's a business function not a personal function. It's irritating.

I hate it when... I'm on the phone with my husband and hear multiple explosions. Cue flip-flopping of stomach. *

I hate it when... I'm tired and ready for bed at 630 in the evening. What am I 80 years old?

I hate it when... people act superior to others. It's ugly.

I hate it when... the laundry is cleaned and needs to be folded then put away. Any volunteers? haaa

I hate it when... people fancy themselves a photographer just because they picked up a DSLR. Yes, I have one. Yes, I like to share pictures but I don't assume I'm a photographer just because I have a semi-fancy camera. C'mon people!!

*I heard from Kevin about 15 minutes later so he's doing ok! Cue relief... a friend told me Xanax was invented for the military spouse. Raise your hand if you agree! (I agree)

What a Week!

2011-08-20T14:07:00.000+02:00

Monday: Nathan started school and I went with my sister to take some pictures of his first day and witness this little boy growing up.

Tuesday: The drama started. This was Nathan's first time riding the bus. Nathan has been wanting to ride the bus for years. He's see the other kids getting off the bus in the afternoons and ask everyone why he couldn't ride the bus and we'd tell him "Because you don't go to school yet. When you get a little bit older you can ride the bus." Anyway, my sis put Nathan on "The Green Frog" bus in the AM. However, he was not put on "The Green Frog" bus in the afternoon. Nathan was lost for a few. Thankfully, this brave little 4 year old boy knows his mommy's phone number and luckily there was a nice mommy at the bus stop who saw this scared boy and offered to help. My sister got a phone call from this nice lady saying that her son Nathan was with her in a completely different part of the neighborhood. Some foul up happened at the school and Nathan was put on the purple flower or some other bus route.

Wednesday: I finally went to Pinkberry which opened in Colorado Springs months ago. I'm kind of obsessed with the Pomegranate Pinkberry. mmm Cue mouth watering. Also visited Old Navy and DSW where I picked up some new shoes for our R&R trip to Vegas!
I tried a new recipe. Something I adapted from a friend. I pan fried some Pork chops with olive oil and some S&P. When they were all cooked up and happy I threw in a chopped red bell pepper and an onion and a large can of Diced Tomatoes, some more S&P and about half a tspn of crushed red pepper flakes. I put all of this into a baking dish and threw it in the oven at 375 for about 15 mins just to get all the flavors happy. I made some whole wheat rotini pasta on the side and proceeded to stuff my face.

Thursday: I visited my friend and forced her to watch PS I Love You, because she hadn't seen it yet- weird, right?

Friday: I got busy with a friend. We had some lunch and popped into JC Penney then saw The Change Up-- so funny. It was vulgar but hilarious. It's always nice to giggle. :) I tried another new recipe: I started with a marinade two tablespoons Dijon mustard, rosemary, parsley, S&P, olive oil and a lil water. Threw in some Chicken Thighs and let them marinade all day. I pan fried them with some olive oil and had some green beans on the side. YUMMM!!

It's officially been Saturday for ~~5 hours and 44 minutes~~ 6 hours and 5 mins. For some reason I went to sleep about 1030ish and have been up since about 230. Saturday is off to a stellar start. This Am (in about an hour) I'll be heading over to Fort Carson for the Walk for the Fallen. This is the 3rd year in a row I've participated. It's always heartbreaking to be there. It's humbling. The last two times my husband had just returned home from deployment (the first time) and back from extended field rotations last year, so I was feeling especially grateful to have him by my side. This year he's on the other side of the world. I'll miss him. I'll be walking with friends and kiddos for a great cause.

How was your week?

I Want it Wednesday...: Cuisinart!

2011-08-18T05:35:00.000+02:00

I want...

{source}

11 Cup Food Processor

I want...

{source}

4-Slice Belgian Waffle Maker

I want...

{source}

Hand Blender
I'm actually not sure why I want this... just feels like someone a person should have in their kitchen. I have a regular blender so I don't really see why this is necessary.

I want...

{source}

5.5 Quart Stand Mixer

I want...

{source}

Vertical Rotisserie

I want...

{source}

Electric Fondue Pot

I was in no way compensated by Cuisinart for this post. I'm just an admirer of their products- most of which I cannot afford!

Happy shopping.

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets and appliances?

Let me tell you guys...

2011-08-16T04:12:00.000+02:00

Today was a long, long day. I was awake at 6 AM for the first time in a very long time. This is very significant for me. I LOVE my sleep. Anyways, I was up early because my nephew Nathan started school today. Today was his very first day of Kindergarten! I can't believe he's going to be 5 next month! I went with my sister to drop Nathan off at his first day. Elementary schools are darling. Everything is shorter, duh! It's made for the kids and they're short- got it, but it's still adorable.

After I realized my sister is now in the "Just 10 more minutes, mom" phase of life I had to take my mother to the airport. After I was done playing chauffeur I finally booked my return flight arrangement for Germany! I'm really excited. I'll be arriving back to Germany 11 Nov!

Anyone travel to Paris? Anyone who has I want any and all advise you have! Hotels or hostels that you loved?? How difficult are the subways to manage?

I Want it Wednesday...

2011-08-11T00:15:00.000+02:00

A few months ago I was at JCPenney and just had to have this:

I love it. It's ridiculously soft and more of a slate/bluish color. I bought it. Had it sent to Germany and a friend picked it up for me.

Now I Want...

{JCP Source}

Have to have the matching curtains and pillows! Right?

I Want...

{source}

I Want...
people to learn how to merge. We all do it, everyday but if I had a nickel for every time I was cut off because some jerk didn't know that he/she needed to yield to me versus the other way around- I'd be completely loaded!

What do you find yourself wanting today?

Family

2011-08-10T05:31:00.000+02:00

I've said here on this blog many times how much I love and appreciate my family; my blood, the family that I was born into. But, the family I've chosen throughout my life is also so important to me. My friends (the good ones, the close ones) are some of my favorite people on the planet. I've learned that you're born into a family, but you also build a family throughout your life.

Lately I've heard how good of a friend that I am. How much members of that family I've spent some time building appreciates my being in their lives and all that I do with them. I don't do things for people out of obligation or because I'm looking to be appreciated. I do things for the people in my life because I can't expect people to be there for me and help me out when I'm in a bind unless I'm as giving with myself and my time. Don't get me wrong I don't just run around like a super hero handing out acts of kindness to strangers on the street.

My point is that I love my friends and I'd do anything for them. I have high expectations for the people in my life but I feel like that's okay because I hold myself to a high standard. Treat others... and all that.

Someone made the observation to me the other day that this "Army Family" is not all it's cracked up to be. I gotta say I agree. I don't know that I've been in a position to really need my Army family members. But really when I've seen people in need of that support, miles from home and their blood family I've seen people be forgotten, left behind and forced to "suck it up"-- as we often are over here in the Army life.

Family is what you make of it. Appreciate what you have and that they will always be there for you no matter what, and looking forward to building your own family- choose wisely.

So Many things

2011-08-08T05:34:00.000+02:00

There are so many things going on in the world right now. So many bad things for the US; it's been a horrible week in the news, hasn't it? I couldn't decide where to start. I mean seriously there's just so much. Beginning of the week our country was saved by the hairs on your chinny-chin-chin with pretty craptastic legislation to extend the debt ceiling. Proof of the unsubstantial changes included word of the S&P lowering Americas AAA rating and China's reaction.

Or I could talk about military news. Army announces a move to 9 month deployments. Then tragically our small military community lost 30 Americans on August 5th.

Thus my dilemma: do I comment on all the recent news, or do I babble about "what I did today"?

Incase you've been really curious. I've been hitting the pool with my sis and nephews, working on my tan! Hashing out semi-last minute R&R plans. Being jerked around that R&R would get axed altogether and looking futher into New Years plans in Paris. Also been contemplating attempting to make homemade croissants. Have you done it? Is it worth it to make the dough or just use frozen, pre-made puff pastry?

I Want it Wednesday...

2011-08-02T23:17:00.023+02:00

It's been so long since the last installment of I want it... nevertheless, I'm back to let you know what my lil ol' heart wants:

I want... my tendinitis to go away. It hurts, BAD today people. From what I've read there isn't much to be done for it than ice, resting it and NSAIDs.

I want... a steam mop. I'm so domestic it's lame.

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I want... to figure out our plans for New Years Eve: London? Paris? London...? Paris...? So many choices.

I want... to know some people that aren't pregnant. Seriously I spend more time on Etsy looking up Monogramed burp cloths than any baby-less person should- it's ridiculous.

I want... the next month to FLY by. I say that now because I cannot wait for R&R. But the next month will slug by then Kevin will get here (God willing- R&R is currently on the fence. 80/20% we will get it but never know with the Army) and those next 15 days will fly by. It's strange it feels like I only arrived back in Colorado 30 days ago but it was in fact 5 months ago. Holy Moly.

I want... to sit in my couch and watch cheesy Christmas movies. All. Day. I'm corny like that. It's August and I want Christmas movies. Who's down?

What do you want?

Gripes

2011-07-30T01:47:00.000+02:00

If you're not feeling like you're in the mood for gripes today than forego this post:

Gripe #2: Richard Spencer, former Marine Corp pilot. You may be wondering why Sam's upset with Mr. Spencer. Well here's why. Mr. Spencer told ArmyTimes that the current retirement system is "unfair, unaffordable and inflexible." Mr. Spencer led a DoD panel recommending a "corporate-style 401(k)" retirement plan versus the current pension based plan. Please visit the ArmyTimes story here to see how this would effect your soldier, their retirement and your future.

Removing the 50% retirement, which lets face it, isn't that great for us enlisted folk considering it's based off base pay only and averaged off of rank held the last 3 years of service is unfair Mr. Spencer. The majority of career (at least 20 year) soldiers I know today are planning to stay in based on the retirement benefit. To remove or drastically diminish that option because you couldn't hang in for 20 years is unfair. You, Mr. Spencer had the same options as those who chose to stay in and earn the retirement and chose not to. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is available to today's military. Invest in it and press on with your life. Don't take away from those who earned more than you based on their service.

One portion of Mr. Spencer's plan I actually agree with is the options to "increase contributions to give more money to troops who deploy frequently, accept hardship assignments or serve in high-demand jobs."

Gripe #2: People who act superior to others. Guess what you're no better than me and vice versa. Wise up.

Gripe #3: People who act like the Army is beneath them. Get over yourself. It's honorable and involves more sacrifice than most other careers.

Gripe #4: Carbs. I love them. They are my arch nemesis.

Gripe #5: Family. At the end of the day Family is life's greatest blessing-- bottom line. However, sometimes they are a burden. Don't lie, you know it's true. Whether you're pressured to show up very Sunday for a 6 hour Dinner at Gramma's or constantly loaning a long lost cousin money or racing to beat your siblings to the best baby names... sometimes it's just easier to throw your hands up.

Let me reiterate I'm simply frustrated I'd never turn my back on any member of my family.

Gripe #6: Disrespectful people. Check it:

Well, there's my Friday afternoon gripes.

Something bugging you today? Where do you stand on the retirement debate?

Humbled

2011-07-28T19:22:00.000+02:00

First off, I no longer feel craptastic (per my last post). It took about a day and lots of water and I finally was feeling like myself.

I wrote on Facebook: "Being a grow up sucks.. Especially when all your grown up business is 6000 miles away!"

Well it does. In case you guys don't know it's especially hard to handle the random things that come up in life when they aren't around the corner or available to you via mail or the telephone. Stuff happens, things fall into our laps that we have to manage and deal with and sort out... I feel like that's the definition of "being a grown up."

Here's what happened: I was contacted by the lien holder for our car (in Germany) that they needed our proof of insurance (actually they said since our insurance lapsed they had added their own insurance to our account, which is expensive). In fact our vehicle is covered lest the proof of that lies in Germany -- out of my reach. The lien holder said they tried to contact us via mail... oh but they've been sending mail to our Colorado address (you know, where we no longer reside). The whole thing has been beyond frustrating! So, I got myself a handy dandy phone card and tried to call my German insurance company they don't answer. Anyone in Germany or about to PCS there should know that the Germans are great people... truly they are. BUT they work on their own time. So I've had no luck getting them to answer the phone.

A sweet, sweet friend I made in my short time in Germany responded to my status and said that she'd be back in Baumholder on the 15th and could go by the place for me. At this point I have no other option but to accept her offer. I just feel humbled by it. We haven't been friends that long and she offered to pick me up from the air port when I fly back to Germany. I sent her the key to my apartment because when you're gone for an extended period of time Rear D likes someone to have access to your house and she took it upon herself to go by every so often and open the windows for me and clear anything out of the fridge that wouldn't make it 6 months. So I feel craptastic about accepting her help with anything else!! She's done enough. :( Beyond that I sorta just feel like I've failed in someway because I'm unable (as a product of my choice to stay in the states) to take care of this crapolla on my own.

Pride comes before the fall right?

Gotta put my pride aside sometimes and accept that I cannot do everything and that everyone needs help now and again.

yuck

2011-07-21T18:57:00.000+02:00

I feel craptastic today. Yesterday evening I attempted to go to Aspen with a friend of mine for a long weekend. It was a huge, GIANT sized failure. As we approached 8400 Feet (Woodland Park, Co) I started feeling really awful: lightheaded, nauseous, tired-- overall crappy! So we stop in Woodland Park about 40 mins into our trip and get something to eat and feed the kiddos... this is where everything went bad!
First of all, if you ever find yourself hungry in Woodland Park Colorado avoid the Wendy's like the plague. I was no impressed. They "forgot" the cheese on my "cheeseburger". C'mon seriously. Anyway, I ordered a sprite with my "cheese-less-cheeseburger" hoping that would settle my tum-tum. Nope. I proceeded to vomit in their less than spot-less latrine. Talk about making an already unpleasant experience worse. Bleh- no thanks. So I tell my friend I really don't think it's smart for me to continue. I tell her to continue you to Aspen and I'll call my mommy for a ride. I've always known that my Mommy would come get me anyplace I needed, under any circumstances. She's cool like that.

After I got home I had a piece of bread (gotta get something in my stomach right?) and pound water (gotta re-hydrate, right?). Then I proceeded to fall asleep at 830 pm. I slept for about 11 hours and got up a lil after 7 this AM. I'm still not 100% maybe about 75-80%.
I wish my hubby was here. I'm the worlds-worst sick person. I just want someone to pat my forehead with a cold damp towel and bring me Gatorade with a straw (you know so I don't have to actually sit up to drink it). Oh, 800 mg of Motrin... because that fixes everything... right? No? Well I guess it couldn't hurt. May help with the headache (woo hoo found a justification for Vitamin M).

Twilight Loot

2011-07-20T05:39:00.000+02:00

Here I was minding my own business at my homie's house... when we were bored witless with SoapNet programing (The OC, 90921, One Tree Hill) so we flip through the channels to see what we can find and what else just so happens to be on Cable... Twilight marathon. We caught the last 40-ish minutes of Twilight and we've now started on New Moon (maybe we'll make it through Eclipse... time will tell). I was just running out of peeps to talk to on the interwebs when I googled "twilight onsies" (for a friend's babe... obviously). Which of course lead me to tons of Twilight loot via CafePress (duh). There is some REALLLLY hilarious options out there people.

Need gear for your iphone right?

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Comic T's: Got ee'

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For preggers and babes:

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My personal fav:

Sparkle you Fool, Sparkle!
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Runner up:

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Round up

2011-07-18T21:53:00.000+02:00

I've been spending a good part of my allowance (haha) on movies. I've seen 8 of the 13 movies I blogged about here. It's been a good summer for movies people! Since everyone I know has kids and some of the movies I've wanted to see where not kid friendly I've had to go to a few all by my lonesome. Some people consider solo movie outings depressing. I don't mind. I'm not one to go sit and have dinner in a restaurant by my self... can't bring myself to do that. Well anyway, this past weekend I broke down and saw the final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part II (like everyone else-- it knocked The Dark Knight off the pedestal for highest grossing opening weekend with a whopping $168.5 million)! It was sad for me though. I only got into the whole Harry Potter franchise because my husband enjoyed it. I grew to like it. I had trouble following it at first because of the accents and weird names... I got the hang of it eventually. Yesterday, I bit the bullet and saw the movie without my hubby. It was great, answered a lot of questions and was very well done. Sad that Hogwarts was destroyed though... I was really hoping to see that rectified. Such is life.

A friend on Facebook posted this quote over the weekend:

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."

- Stephen King

We all know I love my some Twilight but there's really no denying the truthfulness of Mr. King's statement.

Summer has been good for movies. Anything you're still waiting to see? Next up for me: Friends with Benefits with my mans Justin!! :)

Military Wife Complaints

2011-07-14T06:00:00.000+02:00

zSo, do you guys know the military spouse that complains about EVERYTHING: TriCare, MyCAA, employment opportunities, housing, MP, neighbors, uniforms, deployments, Military OneSource.... the list can go on and on and on; it's never ending. I don't know about you guys but I have found far to many martyrs in our ranks. (I'm sure this will be another of my unpopular opinions, so be it). I'm kind of over it. I get it's tough. I get some have it tougher than others. Honestly, I don't want to hear "woe is me" all the time. I am a firm believer is none of us our victims of our choices; we chose to be where we are, therefore you should embrace it. All of it. The good with the bad. Furthermore, I don't feel TriCare is the devil. I was raised a military brat; with doctors on base, in uniform passing out 800 milligrams of Motrin (aka Vitamin M) like it's candy. However, there are downfalls to all insurance companies ::cough cough:: premiums ::cough cough::

I have just come to the conclusion that some people will never be satisfied. Some people will always concentrate on the negative verses the positive. Some people will bitch and whine regardless of all their blessings.

My favorite complaint is how the military moves our active spouse around all the time making it impossible for the milspouse to maintain a career. As valid as this may be... I say "So what?" I was raised by a working-milspouse-mother and an active duty service member. I know many other career oriented, working military spouses. It's do-able. However, you do have to choose a practical (to the lifestyle) career. I always hear "But then you throw kids in the mix.." following the "I can't find or maintain a career" argument. I kind of feel like these constantly complaining milspouses won't be satisfied until they are provided salaries as there active counterparts are. It bugs me.

I feel as an Army wife I support my husband, I maintain the household, pay the bills, I miss and I worry for my husband while he's deployed. I fight for my marriage when he's home and we battle through reintegration. HOWEVER, I will never sacrifice or serve the way my husband does. He earns the paycheck- I do not. There is a huge leap from the soldier to the spouse.

Again this is my opinion based off complaints of milspouses that I know.

This is my life because I chose it knowingly. I complain to. This is not holier than thou vice woe is me. I get that nothing is perfect. My point is simply that this life verses any other is no better or worse. All lifestyles have problems and ups and downs, positives versus negatives. This is life.

Count your blessings. That is all.

2011-07-13T03:45:00.000+02:00

Social media is cool right? Everyone does shares photos, experiences and other random shiz on Facebook. People tweet (not always me- I know; I suck at it). And there's probably a handful of other sites and social media options I don't even know about. But now there's this Google+. I mean really. I checked it out. It is Facebook, with a different name. How many different sites do we need to invest in: upload all my coolest photos, find our old, long, lost homies on and attempt to reconnect with??

Keeping up with the new hotness is exhausting. I'm over it. I feel like I'll stick with Facebook because I'm too lazy to invest with the next thing.

Will you try Google+? Did I miss some outstanding aspect to this Google+ that you all should enlighten me with? Thanks.

I hate it when....

2011-07-11T04:51:00.000+02:00

I hate it when... I really want ice cream but already took my bra off for the night.

I hate it when... someone has something I want (and can't have).

I hate it when... people are offended by my snarkiness (it's really all in good fun).

I hate it when... I can't think of anything to blog about for weeks on end.

I hate it when... someone else proves me wrong (but, in all sincerity being humbled every once in a while it good for the soul peeps).

I hate it when... I'm helping out a friend on best rest and see naked people in the shower (insert snark: wait, people usually take their showers naked? no... can't be right)-- no I didn't walk in on my friend in the shower. The window over her sink faces their neighbors window which happens to be directly over their shower (Dear Builder.... don't put windows in the shower). Did I forget to mention this happened two days in a row.

I hate it when... I forget that the chat on Facebook sucks ass. It's forever dropping in and out, telling me the person I'm conversing with is offline when in fact they aren't. Facebook=liars

I hate it when... you miss a friendship and the other person doesn't... sucks. Big time.

I hate it when... time goes by REALLY slow. I miss my husband and wish I could skip right to September. HELLOOOO R&R.

I hate it when... scumbags who mooch off the government bitch, whine and complain- or generally commentate on the Federal budget crisis.

I hate it when... I bang up my tire/wheel base... ramming my car into the curb. (my bad)

What do you hate today??

Justin Bieber...

2011-07-05T21:16:00.000+02:00

... is Everywhere. Obviuosly I've heard "Baby". I don't live under a rock. However, I also don't worship the kid for fun- I mean seriously, I'm not 13. The Hubs and I were on a bus in Germany headed to Idar Oberstein and there was this kid in the back of the bus with his headphones on and blaring some music. After a few stops and some peeps got off the bus I could heard what the music was. None other than Justin Bieber. I was shocked.

... can actually dance. Have you seen him Dougie? Entertainment. You should really look it up.

... has catchy songs. I hate to admit it but it's true. You can't deny the catchiness of Baby.

Christmas

2011-07-01T20:36:00.000+02:00

Yes it's July and I this girl is already blogging about Christmas! In fact, I was already Facebooking about Christmas on June 29th! I am usually pretty stoked about Christmas under normal circumstances, but Christmas 2011 isn't going to be normal. It's going to be extraordinary! Kevin and I will be spending this Christmas at the foot of the Bavarian Alps at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort!!!

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I really don't think there is a more fitting place to spend Christmas. (although it literally just occurred to me that this will make 2 Christmases in a row spend in a hotel... hmmm)
When Kevin and I spent the night there a few months back first thing I thought when we walked in, is that this would be the best place to spend Christmas. Well, as you can imagine they are pretty popular around that time of year. We asked the desk and they said they have a lottery for rooms; you had to request a room starting May 1st and wait to hear... So that's what I did and we found out two days ago we got chosen! In fact we got two rooms! We're excited at the possibility of having my in-laws there with us! Nothing better than a Bavarian Christmas spent with family!

I'm not sure I've blogged with more exclamation marks in all my life. Or said "excited" or "stoked" more. haaa

5 Reasons...

2011-06-30T11:08:00.000+02:00

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

2011-06-28T20:38:00.000+02:00

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

2011-06-25T11:05:00.000+02:00

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.

2011-06-18T10:22:00.000+02:00

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..

2011-06-13T08:53:00.000+02:00

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.

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Do you watch? Which cast is your favorite?

My Love/Hate Relationship

2011-06-08T09:43:00.000+02:00

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

2011-06-07T01:04:00.000+02:00

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...

2011-06-05T02:19:00.000+02:00

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'

2011-06-03T03:39:00.001+02:00

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!

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T19:34:00.000+02:00

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I don't mean to be pompous, sincerely I don't. However, people all over today seem to have forgotten that Memorial Day isn't about some sale on bedding or furniture or even their service member. No today is about the fallen.

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Today isn't about the fella holding/presenting this flag. It's about the fella (or female) who earned it. Today isn't about my husband and his service. We have another day in a completely different month for the veteran. Today isn't a day for "Happy Memorial Day". Today is about honoring the sacrifice of those who have given their lives for our country.

Random

2011-05-27T02:22:00.000+02:00

Picture it: 2011. Colorado Springs. I was sitting by myself for about an hour and half at the Starbucks getting my homework assignments knocked out for the week. No one spoke to me while I was there and I was concentrating on what I had in front of me. When, all of a sudden the woman sitting behind me says "Excuse me". To which, I responded by jumping out of my skin.

After I answered her Mac related question (because obviously I'm an expert, haha) and turned to continue what I was working on I started to think about what had just transpired. Why on earth would I have been so startled by a kind lady saying "Excuse me?" And I've decided to blame Google. Well, not only google but any search engine of your choosing and the interwebs in general. I feel like people generally (of course not true for all people) don't ask strangers, the harmless person next to them in the store for advice or guidance.* I don't see a lot of people chatting with random strangers. From what I've seen we all kind of run around with our heads down, not making eye-contact, no courteous smiles of hello, rarely asking the check-out person at Walmart how their day is going. Just trying to get through whatever it is you're doing and press on to whatever is next.

I know for me I talk to everyone. I ask the people how they are at the Walmart, the MP's/Gate Guards as I go on post, peeps in toll booths... I don't discriminate. I talk to everyone. What's it hurt? What's the worst that could come of it?

I think I was caught of guard and thusly startled when this woman started speaking to me because people don't speak to other when they're out and about.

Anyway that's today's story.

Do you turn into chatty-Kathy when you leave the house?

A whole lada nada...

2011-05-23T23:51:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time I used to blog quiet a bit. These days I'm lucky if I post once a week... you're missing me aren't you?

Sadly, I haven't had anything nice to say. I'm stressed with this crap-tastic job I find myself in and the future. I'm stressed from being in Colorado, sans husband. I generally feel detached from my life. I feel detached from my role as a spouse, the Army, and our plans for the future. Please do not misunderstand, I'm not announcing a divorce... I'm not admitting to doing bad things in the absence of my husband... What my point is, is that I don't find being away from my home and my things and obligations to be a positive thing at this specific moment. Long story, short: Running home during deployment (although, never my goal but where I wound up) is not a good thing. I find it to be counter-productive. Being here and this feeling of detachment is creating emotional distance between Kevin and I. I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem the last few weeks but there it is.

I feel like it's my fault. So then I beat myself up over it... you know, because that's so productive. Well, I'm working on it. Trying to turn a corner.

I was hoping that some alone time on R&R would help... doesn't look like there'll be a whole lot of that. :( boo. We'll work something out though. I'm sure of it.

What do you do when you start to feel the distance of a deployment??

Baby Time

2011-05-19T02:57:00.000+02:00

No no... this is NOT a "Baby on Board" Announcement. Haa! I know my mother-in-law (who reads everyday) was just slightly offended she didn't get a phone call versus being told of her next impending grandchild via Blogger. All the same, I am now the only person that I know and actively hang out with that doesn't have a child. As a matter of fact most everyone in my age group is on child numero-dos. I'm 26. I don't feel old. I've been married 3.5 years but have only spent about 1.75 of those years with my husband (if i'm lucky). You know, Deployments, NTC, other trainings and travels. However, I have had "the fever" come and go, and come and go.... you follow.

I remember when I first got married everyone was like "YAY! When are you gonna get pregnant?" I just don't get that school of thought. Why does my being married mean that I have to immediately procreate? Oddly, enough I wanted to get to know my husband, strengthen our marriage and relationship as a whole with Kevin, get to know my new life and role as a wife, make peace with the Army, finish school, travel about, start a career and generally just live more of my life prior to it being taken over by my babies. That's my take. I do not feel there is anything wrong with having children right away.. just didn't feel it was for me.

When did you have your baby(s)? Did you wait? Did you get on the ball immediately?

Share why!

I wanna go!!

2011-05-12T02:13:00.000+02:00

Today I made the mistake of checking out the USO website listing their tours for the next coming months. It makes me really sad that Kevin and I are both losing this time (almost a full year) of Germany and travel opportunities. I'm thinking of all the places on my "list." All the places I want to see before we get a new assignment (Dec 2013).

Paris
London
Ireland
Italy

These are the places I realllllly have to see. I mean, I'm sure Amsterdam (for example) has lots of awesome things to offer I just wouldn't be devastated if I don't get there.

What trips have you taken throughout Europe that'd you'd recommend? What places would be on your "list"?

Somethin' somethin'

2011-05-09T08:47:00.000+02:00

I have a few somethin's to share with you all. First: Since arriving in the States I've lost 16 pounds!! Woot woot. Which is definitely a good thing. I was getting uncomfortable. I don't get how people can say they didn't know they were gaining weight. Well, good lord clothes don't fit and I felt like a big tub-o-goo, sluggish you know?? I was eating larger portions than I girl should have and really the stress of the move caused a lot of it (along with my larger-than-neccesary-portions). But I'm back on the ~~ridiculously~~ low-carb bandwagon and it's working well for me.

Second: Please for the love of God and all that is good in the world don't ever give your money to Zales! Here's why: it all began June of 2007 when Kevin and I purchased my Bridal set.

I loved it. It was everything I could have ever wanted. Allow me to clarify, I still LOVE my set. However, since June 2007 I've had many, many problems. When I initially got my engagement ring I was just so over the moon, I was engaged and just didn't pay that much attention. The next thing I know I'm admiring my new ring and see a black speck inside the center stone. COAL! Yes, coal! I took it back and swapped it out for the same exact one. Yes I know all stones have "natural imperfections" well I was not prepared to spend what I spent at the time (which is not the price on the website currently) on a ring with "beeping" coal! So they swap it and I press on with life. About a year later one of the side stones that hug the center stone pops out. Had that replaced. Then last December as soon as we got to Germany (go figure) I lost another one of those side stones. When I returned to Colorado, first thing I did was drop that off and have that fixed.

Oh I should also mention I purchased this Tungsten ring for my husband.

Tungsten, you know one of the strongest metals on the earth, yeah well the gold incased in the tungsten busted twice. Yes, NOT once but TWICE! So we traded that in for a standard white gold band with some diamonds.

Now you're caught up. Well today I stopped into Kay Jewelers to have my rings cleaned while my mom picked up something. So, my sister, mom and I figured why not get our rings all shined up! So we did. Remember I just got my ring back about 3 or 4 weeks ago from having a stone replaced. Kay inspected the ring and found that a stone on the band was crushed. Oh yes, crushed. I only wear my ring when I leave the house which isn't much these days since I'm on this jacked up sleeping schedule. So I didn't do it. Zales sent it back to me busted!!

The icing on the cake: Kay appraised my ring and said they could only offer me $750 for it!

I was completely devastated. My wedding set, my ring that I LOVE is a lemon!

PS: I miss my husband.

Straight Up!

2011-05-04T02:32:00.000+02:00

I wish we could just go back to marveling over the pomp and beauty that was ~~Prince Harry~~ the Royal Wedding. Recent news has given folks memory loss. Well, not all people (my Cultural Diversity class is teaching me its BAD to stereotype) but some. For goodness sakes. They other I pointed out on a non-milspouse bloggy that I love that I wasn't celebrating (but that I get why other people are) because I was scared and concerned about my husband in Afghanistan. I went on to say that I get why it is a much simpler issue for some people though: he's bad, he orchestrated 9-11, now he's dead and you celebrate. But it isn't that simple for me. His death has the ability to affect the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. Maybe I'm just banging my head against a wall. But I felt attacked afterwards. Egh... such is life in blog-world.

Forgive me while I abruptly change the subject:

The dress:

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First and foremost, I think Catherine was just stunning. Gorgeous.

Everyone said the dress was reminiscent of Grace Kelly's:

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Lace. Got it. Similar.

My first thought was:

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You know, Maria from The Sound of Music. No lace. Fine. Cut is very similar though. Either way.
Just occurred to me he only real similarity here is the neck line, all the same it was my first thought.

Compare it to whatever you like. Catherine's choice was timeless, beautiful and just stunning (yes I know I already said that).

While these two:

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were the stars of the show (can I just say this is a very stuffy picture but it does show off their attire quite nicely), I gotta tell you my eyes were glued to Prince Harry!

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Obviously I'm into soldiers/man in uniform.

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But really, c'mon people. This is one Ginger I'm totally on board with. PLUS!! You can just see his wheels spinning and you know he's thinking dirty thoughts. I know I wasn't the only on who took notice.

If you're one of the people who didn't care for Catherine's dress... please tell me why. Honest, no retaliation here. I genuinely want to know why people weren't into it!
Please and thank you!

Can't I just skip it...?

2011-05-02T20:12:00.000+02:00

or AT LEAST postpone/reschedule until for another day. You see yesterday (May 1st) was the 26th anniversary of my birth. It was sucky and rather great all the same time. My husband knows I love birthdays. So, even though he's half a world away in Afghanistan he's been plotting and planning for about 2 weeks to make this day special for me. He sent me gorgeous flowers:

And was planning a surprise party for me with the assistance of my sister and mother. However, the problem with a surprise party is that the person you're surprising doesn't know about it. So, trying to now completely skip my birthday this year I sent out a request to get some friends together at The Melting Pot. Kinda ruined the surprise shin-dig. Boo. After I "ruined" (more like rescheduled, unknowingly) my surprise I had to work on Saturday night. Usually Saturdays are kind of heavy at work. I figured "why bother taking it off though, I'll be home around 230 and press on with my day. Nope! It was "label night" we had to change over 5000 labels in the commissary. I left at 4... I was like people "it's 4.. and it's my Birthday and I really don't want to sleep the entire thing away." they were like "ok homie... beat it". So basically my day consisted off homework and sleep. Thank God for my Momma though! She got some goodies and her and my sis gave me some gifts so I had a lil birthday celebration! I tried to make the best out of the day I was dealt and my husband helped me out a lot with that. :)

(I'm a lucky girl)

Another bit of news I wish I could skip is the fact that Osama bin Laden is dead. I mean, great job troops ! But forgive me for being concerned for those still in Afghanistan. It amazes me that people "forgot" or simply "don't care" that there are still 1000's of troops there. I guess it just doesn't occur to people that there could be retaliation. hmmm.

I'll be sitting here thinking happy thought- trying to convince myself that everything will be ok.

I'm watching!

2011-04-29T09:33:00.000+02:00

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They're gorgeous! And Royal. The Royals have always fascinated me, there's so much pomp and so many years of tradition. Fascinating!

Just so everyone knows I'm not staying awake waiting for it. This new job has my schedule all flipped upside down. I'm usually up until 2-3 AM. So the timing just worked out. Ha!

Treats

2011-04-28T09:26:00.000+02:00

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We all know and love these lil' beauties! Rice Krispie treats. They are of course made with marshmallows, butter and the one and only Rice Krispies Cereal.

Have you ever made "treats" with a Rice Krispie alternative??:

I think I have had the Fruity Pebble alternative at party or something in the past... I think. But I can't be sure. I do know I've had the Golden Grahams and the Reeses Puffs! Both are delicious options!

Here's a recipe for "treats" try something new this weekend and let me know how you liked them!

Maybe this post is a side effect of my job- I stock the cereal aisle? Who knows?

Insight into myself

2011-04-27T11:21:00.000+02:00

I don't have to prove that I'm a good person to you, or you... or you over there. I know it. I know it because I have the love and support of dear friends that would do anything for me. Not to mention my family and my husband who've yet to fail me and are always there.

I can't please everyone all the time. I can only hope that people won't be so hasty in the future to assume I'm a horrible person... yet to take my words at face value, and going forward will consider my entire post (and all the words making it up) prior to commenting on only one part that was more than likely taken out of context (not considered with the rest of the information provided either in the sentence/paragraph/or entire post). I say what I say (as most people do, unless they're lying) because it's my life experience. I face every experience and encounter with a positive attitude, because I've found that I receive better results going into things with that out-look versus a negative "everyone sucks" or "I'll get nothing from this" or "it won't be successful for me" attitude.

I'm here to help. I'd give you the shirt off my back if I could, the last dollar in my wallet if you truly needed it. I'll also, (always, without fail) offer you a practical, real-life idea that could potentially help you... I'm logical and real. It's how I roll.

Please don't assume that in sharing my experiences that I am short-sighted enough to believe what works/ed for me will help everyone 100% of the time. Shouldn't a good friend share things with the people in their lives that've been successful for them? Kinda what I thought.

I'll leave you with one of my all time favorite quotes:

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Wednesday all!! Today, all I want... is for people to give others the benefit of the doubt. :)

So Dramatic

2011-04-26T09:32:00.000+02:00

I have a couple questions. I tend to have unpopular opinions. I'm starting to think that's only because I don't understand things thoroughly.
(versus the alternative, which is that I'm just a shitty-judgemental person)
So, I'm turning a new leaf. I'll start asking more questions, hoping to to inspire more conversation; versus vomiting up my unpopular opinions.

About two weeks ago the milspouse blogosphere was all "atwitter" when we read Jessica's post, "A Final Goodbye". I have to say I was first and foremost worried for her, and also saddened to hear of her plan and the douchebaggary her husband pulled. In the days that followed I've seen a lot about support for military spouses and whining within our ranks, "what about us!" Oh, and the unforgettable "It could've been me!"
Question one: Say what??
Question two:
I know the initial question "what about us" is more about programs and emphasis being placed on what the families go through and programs directed at our mental health stability.
What's wrong with MilitaryOneSource? Personally, I've used their services before. Simple. Easy. Effective. Call the number (1-800-342-9647), tell them (it's humbling I know) that you're in need of a counselor/ therapist for ______reason. You'll be transferred to someone who'll ask you for additional information in regards to your specific problems and information (this individual was caring and supportive to me and my situation). Eventually, they'll provide you with options of a counselor in your area, even help you to schedule your first appointment.
Additionally, you can just call TriCare directly and ask for a list of all the approved therapists/counselors in your area... you get a bunch of number and options, call them, set up an appointment and press on with business. Easy breezy!
Question three: How does being a milspouse automatically mean you'd be in her situation with a husband that cheats and treated her poorly? I don't know Jessica. Outside of all the detail she provided in that "A Final Goodbye" post I don't know any details of her life. Aside from both being married to soldiers her and I don't have anything in common (that I know of). I'm not sure how her situation automatically makes all milspouses susceptible to suicide/ mental illness. I feel like, all of the "That could be me" happening is a way for people to take away from Jessica's very real pain and for some reason (that escapes me) pull the attention from Jessica .

Let me just say for all the people out there that are enraged: I am by no means judging Jessica. I genuinely sympathize and empathize with her. I am concerned and sad for her. I'm no stranger to suicide and mental illness. I also feel that she deserves all the support and encouragement that she can find! Furthermore, I love that so many bloggers rallied around her during this very difficult time in her life.

Donald Trump.
Question one: WTF?
Question two: Why do people think the president has any control over the price of gas? The oil industry consists of private businesses. I made the comment to a friend yesterday, I'm (legitimately) shocked that such a successful man can make such stupid comments. I suppose President Obama can release the oil reserves, which would raise the supply (we all know about supply and demand), inturn lowering the cost of oil domestically. However, that doesn't really seem like such a brilliant idea to me. I think we all know from middle school that oil is a nonrenewable recourse. Once we exhaust what our planet has to offer then.... we'll be... screwed-ola. Outside of releasing the reserves the president has no control of the price of anything... I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Can we ask Mr. Obama to lower the price of DSLR camera's. Shit, I really wish they were much cheaper... just sayin'.
Question three: Why won't he just go away or at least add some mildly educated point to the political debate?

What a good day!

2011-04-26T04:56:00.000+02:00

I got off of work early (930) last night which means I went to bed before 3AM (woot woot!) all this also means I was awake today before noon. I know that I should just accept this new schedule and that I'll be sleeping through the morning... but I really feel like a scumbag when I'm not up and functioning with the rest of the world, by at least 9AM. Anywho- back on topic, I was awake today at 9AM, cleaned up, chatted with the hubs then bathed (always a good thing). I think that was a good day. I was awake while other people I know were awake, then I got one of the movies on my list, knocked off today with my homies, Erin and LB.

I loved it. I bet you there were a few scenes Rpatz wished he had his ol' vampire strength. But, after falling in love, training a Polish Elephant and getting his ass kicked all over New York State, Robert Pattinson really impressed me. My only negative about this movie was that I didn't really "buy" Rpatz and Reese Witherspoon.

Now that you know my opinion on this movie I have a question... What makes a "picture" a movie or a film? This is not a rhetorical question people... please tell me if there is actually a difference?!

Have you seen Water for Elephants? Did you like it?

Change of Plans: Vegas Baby!

2011-04-22T07:44:00.000+02:00

Originally we were planning to go to Los Angeles for R&R. Well, LA turned out to be far too expensive for what we were looking to accomplish during our time there. LA's out... Vegas is in. You may be thinking "How can Vegas be any more affordable than LA?" Well it is people. I found round trip airfare and a suite at THEhotel, Mandalay Bay for about half the price of that in LA!!

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Who wouldn't want a suite here for 3 nights?

If you've been a longtime follower you know that Kevin and I went to Vegas after last deployment. Overall I wasn't that impressed with my first Vegas experience. But we have more money this go-around and we'll do it completely differently! We're both so jazzed to go back, stay at THEhotel, she more legitimate shows (Jersey Boys- cough cough) and most importantly relax by the pool!

What are some of your fav's in Vegas? Restaurants? Clubs/Lounges? Sites? Please share!

SO many movies, SO little time...

2011-04-19T08:06:00.001+02:00

So today is April 19th, right? Yea, I'm pretty sure. Anyway.... there are tons of movies I'm looking forward to:
Starting with

Breaking Dawn, Part I.
I know this movie isn't going to be released until November 18th of this year and I'm super sad that I'll be missing the release in the states (by a mere 13 days).. yes there are theaters in Germany and I'm sure I'll see it. I'll have to wait a couple of weeks but at least I'll still see it!
I started with Breaking Dawn because it's the movie I'm most looking forward to seeing.

Water for Elephants.
(22 April 2011) only 4 days..
You may be thinking there is just a Rpatz/Twilight theme.. but I promise that isn't my motivation there.
But it legitimately looks like a good movie. I was considering reading the book... but why would I do that when there's no Rpatz in the book? (haha)

Abduction.
(23 September 2011)
I know I'm not doing much for my case on this post not being all about Twilight and/or the Boys of Twilight. I was shocked when I saw the trailer. This also surprisingly looks really good.

Friends With Benefits.
(22 July 2011)
Because who doesn't want to stare at Justin Timberlake for an hour and thirty minutes?! Plus it looks hilarious!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
(11 July 2011)
Because I'm committed to the series now. Although, I am really wanting to see what they say about Makayla (Megan Fox) being gone?!

The Hangover II.

(26 May 2011)

I think I've been saying RA-tard since I saw the first movie. It was hilarious! Hoping the sequel lives up to the first movie.

Fast Five.

(29 April 2011)

I've been watching this serious since I was 16, and who really needs more of an excuse than Paul Walker. The man is hot.

A few other movies that deserve a mention: Rio (I know, it's already out but I do wanna see it), Something Borrowed, Cars 2, Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, and Madea's Big Happy Family (I <3 all the Madea movies, they're hilarious).

I couldn't end this post without

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.

(15 July 2011)

Nuf said.

Joining Forces

2011-04-19T01:58:00.000+02:00

Did you catch The View today? First Lady, Michelle Obama and Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden were on with the other ladies of The View to discuss their new initiative to gain support from the other 98% of Americans for our service members and their families. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden created this new initiative called Joining Forces.

"Joining Forces is a national initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned."

I'm down for spreading awareness about what we military families experience and encouraging more more American's support. But honestly I have my doubts about this program. The website for Joining Forces is great, it's user friendly and easy to navigate. It provides links for people to share their messages of support and (my favorite part) to the Serve.gov website. Serve.gov is great as well, you can type in your zip code and find out what the opportunities in your area are to get involved with supporting the military within your own community. You can initiate your own project to help support the military and gain support within your community. I love the options that are available.... I can only hope that people will take advantage of these sites and find ways to get involved.

I have my doubts because we all too often here "well, they volunteered" which, obviously I know... but I hate the meaning behind it. They volunteered, so why should I care... so why should they get special treatment... so why should I pay for their healthcare...! I think each of us military spouses have complained about the same topic in one way or another. All the same... this attitude is the same reason why I'm apprehensive about Joining Forces. Still, I'll remain hopeful that these program will inspire someone to get involved that wasn't so moved before.

Day 36

2011-04-14T02:08:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to share something about myself with the group:

I'm a person who likes to be honest with myself and with others around me. I tell it how it is. However, as a reasonable minded person I know that telling it, how it is, is based on my opinion, and what I know to be true. This being said, I always try to give my opinion in a sympathetic manner. I don't force my toughs upon others. Nor do I judge them for viewing the world differently than I do.

This personality trait often causes a lot of problems with people. Often because I have unpopular viewpoints; and evidently I have high expectations of myself and others. Silly me.

Now you all know.

A message from Deputy Secretary of Defense

2011-04-08T19:54:00.000+02:00

I know there is a lot of division and misinformation out there in regards to the impending government shutdown- well, hopefully Congress will do what the hell they're supposed to and reach an agreement on their (WAY) overdue budget. We can't count on that because they get paid out of emergency funds (just as the President would) if there is a shutdown. Anyway... back to the message from the Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III. You can find it in it's entirety here. Basically the Deputy lays out what can be expected for both active duty and civilian personnel if there is a shutdown:

“Operations and activities that are essential to safety, protection of human life, and protection of our national security, are ‘excepted’ from shutting down. The DoD will continue to conduct activities in support of our national security, including operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Japan; Libya-related support operations; and other operations and activities essential to the security of our nation. The department must also continue to provide for the safety of human life and protection of property."

Which means the operations themselves will be financed. The personnel are a different story:

“Military personnel are not subject to furlough and will report for duty as normal during the shutdown. Reserve component personnel should refer to the DoD Contingency Guidance document and to their chain of command for more specific information.

“If the government shuts down due to the absence of funding, the DoD will have no funds to pay military members or civilian employees for the days during which the government is shut down. However, both military and civilian personnel will receive pay for the period worked prior to the shutdown. Military personnel, and civilians occupying excepted status positions and required to work, are entitled to be paid for work performed during the shutdown, and will be paid retroactively once the department receives additional funding. Congress would have to provide authority in order for the department to retroactively pay non-excepted employees for the furloughed period.

I hope this is helpful to my milspouses out there. It appears grim to me but if the posturing continues in Washington and a shutdown takes place we can all hope that it'll be short-lived and have a relatively low impact on all those effected; lets not forget this is a Government wide shutdown affecting not only the Department of Defense but all others as well, families who rely on pay from their positions in the Department of Energy, or Transportation (for example) will also be affect.

I just keep reminding myself to count my blessings: I have a warm place to sleep and food in my belly. When the food runs out I have a savings (what's it for after all?) and a credit card. My pops always told me "Failure to plan is planning to Fail." Sometimes it sucks being a grownup because you have to be prepared with contingencies for the worst case scenario. Lucky for me I had great advice from my father. :)

We'll suck it up and drive on like we always do, right? I would remind everyone to get your news from reliable sources, as well as verify and research what you do find.

PS: I got an email from the FRG in Baumholder that some services on post would be affected by the shutdown, check with your FRG to see if services in your area are also going to be canceled/delayed or otherwise affected.

The Great R&R Debate

2011-04-06T08:20:00.000+02:00

Since the opportunity to stick around in CO came up Kevin and I have had to adjust our plans for R&R. Originally I was looking into a Mediterranean cruise. Considering that is far less accessible from Colorado we've been talking through all of our options: visiting family all over the West Coast (including Brody in San Diego) or another vacation spot. Considering last R&R we traveled to Portland and San Diego and it was exhausting to do both in only 2 weeks. So we're now considering:

LOS ANGELES!!!

I mean, it's not the Mediterranean, but hey there is a lot to see and do there. I'm hoping to get to a taping of the Ellen show, maybe Jay Leno...? Kevin wants to tour Universal Studios. I'd like to see the Walk of Fame, Hollywood Sign, The Santa Monica Pier and so much more.

We're still in the planning stages, I'm going to contact a travel agent tomorrow and see what they can tell me. Maybe all of this will be affordable? (haaaa... right, LA... usually affordable riiiight!?) We'll see if it works out!

Who Needs Teen Mom

2011-04-03T21:52:00.000+02:00

You remember when I ~~ranted~~ blogged about the TV show Teen Mom? Yet another reason I don't need to watch that crapola is I have a front row seat to all the real life drama one girl can handle. I said front row, as in not my own personal drama but close enough to watch, gossip about and worry about the people involved.

In other news, I start my new gig tonight!! I'm looking forward to being closer and closer to a debt free lifestyle! Bad news: forecast is calling for SNOW tonight. yay- that's always makes things fun for the commute home at 1-2 AM.

Thats all for today (:

Change of Plans

2011-04-02T17:48:00.000+02:00

About four days after I arrived home to Colorado my moms neighbor (who is a realtor and takes care of all of our realtor related needs) calls and says that the commissary on Fort Carson is hiring for stockers at night which pays like $20/hour. So I figured, "what the hell" I can at least apply and see what happens- nothing saying I'm actually going to get it. So I applied and turns out I got it. Yesterday I was a mess about the decision. My place is in Germany. But I feel like it's time to contribute where I can; sadly there aren't job opportunities for me in Germany. Staying here for the next 7 months will allow for my husband and I to start the next chapter of our lives completely debt free. Sacrificing my independence, missing my bed and my things is worth it in the end.
For the record I know how this will be perceived, I know that it'll look like I just can't hang with the deployment... but it just so happened that this opportunity came my way- why would I pass it up???

I'll miss Germany and Baumholder, and the opportunities to travel... on the other hand we'll have two more years there and TOGETHER!

Perfect Day

2011-03-31T22:16:00.000+02:00

Today has been perfect!! I spent last night at my Pops house which is always good- love him. Got up this morning and watched some TV and putzed around the house a little bit. Then I cooked up a sauce for my Daddy and whipped up meatballs and sausage. Tonight we'll have pasta for dinner (shocker, huh?). So after I finished cooking, my sister messaged me on Facebook and said Grumpy Old Men was on CMT! She knows I love these movies! I watched Grumpy Old Men even though the sequel, Grumpier Old Men is my favorite. So after that finished I was walking to go get into the shower when I heard the beginning of Grumpier Old Men! I am so excited this is on. It's one of my all time favorite movies!

Speaking of movies, go check out my buddy JMo and enter to win in her give-away and her 100th Edition of Theater Thursday! (you know, since I live in Europe and I'm ineligible! *wink wink*)

Day 22: Self Portraits

2011-03-29T06:49:00.000+02:00

I have (what amounts to, basically) (not confusing at all right? haha) this cousin on Facebook who (evidently) thoroughly enjoys looking at herself. She's constantly snapping pictures of herself at all angles in all kinds of outfits and posting them on Facebook for the world to see. Do you do this? Do you know people like this or have them on your Facebook page?

She's a really good looking (ok, she's hot) girl but I mean.... I can't imagine being that' impressed with myself, where I'd have to stop almost daily just to snap a few pics of myself on my iphone and automatically assume the rest of the world cares enough about my puckered lips, awesome hair and gorgeous eyes. I'm just saying.... While she's very attractive that's not the point. Right?

Whatevs... 22 days in and I'm already back to my overly critical ways. I love my (basically) cousin but enough's, enough!

Motivate Me

2011-03-24T15:27:00.001+01:00

Before I get to the actual purpose of this post (Twitter), I have to first discuss the pictures I found! I googled "Twitter", and then chose "images" and there were so many options! Can we just talk about for a minute how many different versions of that damn twitter bird there are? A. LOT! I was originally just looking for something like this:

Pretty standard right?

Well I saw these and just thought they were hilarious and adorable:

This one is my favorite- thought the lil' winky face was so cute!
Ok so now that we've discussed all the twitter birds, I'd like to now get back to the topic at hand: My motivation.

I need motivation. I need some kind of Twitter-vention. I need to know what you Tweet about? (so naturally I can tweet about it too) I need to know if you re-tweet or tweet at/to Celebs... or are you scurred? I need to know who you LOVE to follow, anything good out there?? I'm feeling like quite the Twitter failure people. So I'm currently trying to re-commit myself to the Twitter-verse. I downloaded Tweet Deck (because that's what the cool kids have, right??) I figure if I see more of other people's tweets that I'll be motivated to tweet more often, myself. Thoughts?

Motivate me... or follow me here. But preferably both! :)

I want it Wednesday...

2011-03-23T15:14:00.000+01:00

I know everyone has missed knowing what I'm currently wanting every Wednesday out of life... so I figured I'd clue everyone in this week.

I want....

I had a stand-mixer, a cheapo-one but a standmixer none-the-less. It did what I needed it to do without spending $300 on it. So I was pleased. Well, something weird happened to it in the packing/shipping process (in our PCS to Germany) because now it only has one speed and that's super-duper FAST. So now I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet and get the Kitchen Aid!

I want...
My nephew to come back to his house so I have someone to hang out with! Remember how I told you guys that I was back home in Colorado for about a month? Well the downfall to surprising everyone is that they don't plan on you being there... (duh) so lil' Nathan had plans to stay at his Gramma's for about a week and since he loves it there and as so much fun I couldn't insist that he stay home just to hang out with me! that'd be selfish.

I want...
My husband to be here with me in Colorado. It's more fun when he's around.

Now you know what I want.... What do you want on this lovely Wednesday??

Busy come of days!!

2011-03-21T16:26:00.000+01:00

My busy (I say again, BUSY) weekend started at 6AM Thursday (Central European Time). "Why was I up so early?" you ask. Well, I had to get up to Frankfurt for a 1030 flight!! I purchased a plane ticket Monday to come back home to Colorado for a visit. My youngest nephew was having his first Birthday party on Saturday and that job fell through so I figured if I would be coming home for a visit during the course of this deployment now would be a good time.

The fun part: it was a total surprise to my family!! Lauren was supposed to pick me up from the airport in Denver but some jerkoff hit her person with his car! Thankfully my friends Lauren and Erin enlisted Erin's momma to come up to Denver and get me (to keep the surprise intact). Thank the Lord for Erin's Momma!! :) I finally made it back to Erin's house about 9 PM on Thursday (Mountain Standard Time). I was at least 8 kinds of exhausted (hello dark circles-- eeeek) so I hit the hay after a much needed shower!

After two nights at Erin's house it was time to surprise the family at Logan's Birthday party. I showed up a little bit early and my sister was completely SHOCKED, then as my parents showed up they were also so shocked and happy! It was such an amazing surprise! :)

I'll be in Colorado for about a month just spending some quality time with friends and the family! The only thing that could make this time better would be my hubby! I wish he were here with all of us. I miss him.

The Realness

2011-03-15T22:19:00.000+01:00

I miss my husband. I miss him more when I have an itch, I can't scratch (on my back- you pervs) at 11:00 PM. I've had the opportunity to speak with him quite a bit when I'm sitting around really wanting his opinion on something I haven't had to wait too terribly long to get it, so I can't really complain on that front. I do just miss his company, in the car, in the kitchen, at the dinner table, in bed to snuggle with... I have to say, we do the whole pre-deployment-fighting-wonderfulness. The ownership for that belongs to both of us. It's not all him but it's not all me either. We come together in the end, we do eventually see the bigger picture! My point being that while we do love each other we fully understand the other's faults and shortcomings and today I'm missing him.

(and I missed him ALOT last night when I couldn't reach that spot on my back!)

Troops work without PAY...?

2011-03-14T08:14:00.000+01:00

First reaction to this story: O.M.G!!

I've seen it all over Facebook for days now.... Yes, it's scary to think about my mans down range not being funded and volunteering (as in, not getting paid) because I'm pretty sure I'm still unemployed (whole other conversation right there) and I'm pretty JP Morgan/Chase is expecting our mortgage on 1 Apr regardless of whether or not Congress pulls their heads out of their collective ass, and stops with the posturing and pissing contests. It's ridiculous really.... We may be kind of behind on the news over here in Germany (not an excuse with the internet, but silly me I find everything in the world kind of depressing so I don't do much to in the way of searching it out anymore... when I see it on a commercial then I'll watch) but what I gather is the Demo's presented a plan to cut like $8 Billion and the Repub's offered up a plan to cut some $61 Billion from the budget. The commentary on AFN was saying both sides are on complete opposites of the spectrum only to get their political bases fired up then will ultimately come together and compromise.

I say why not cut out the bull-shit and just compromise?? Seems like a much better use of our tax dollars, having them all in Washington and actually doing something constructive.... egh, maybe that's wishful thinking but, hell a girl can dream.

Lets also recall (milfolks) that in the 90's when the government shut down, this effected the civilians our military was still paid and life went on. My mother on the other hand (GS worker for over 20 years) may not be paid, hell may even be furloughed but such is life... right?

Lets remember with all the posturing going on for the Presidential race no one wants to be this close to any election with troops downrange and NOT fund the military. It'll never happen (my prediction). I mean... lets hope not, because I'm pretty sure come the 1st, those JP Morgan/Chase folks are going to want their money regardless.

Personally, I'm not going to bogged down in the politics and banter.

German Wine

2011-03-13T10:24:00.000+01:00

Friday night I had just settled in for the night (aka took my bra off already), made peace with the fact that I'd be chillin' by my lonesome and was going through the process of picking out some chick-flick to keep me busy until bed time... when a new friend M, invited me over for some wine with a couple of other girls. Usually I limit myself to 2 drinks, I don't like to get buzzed or tipsy, or (God-forbid) Drunk... no no, that's just not my style. However, M and I were sipping our glasses of wine, as a lady should as soon as I stood up after my 2 drink limit to hit the little girls room I was already buzzed. EEkkk... this 30% wine is no joke people. I proceeded to have another 2 glasses (I think) and some bread (carbs are a must when one drinks, right?) (does that mean this evening with friends, wine and bread counts as Communion? Just saying...). Needless to say good times were had by all!

I've been lucky enough to speak with Kevin quite a bit since he's been gone. He finally met up with his company and is getting to know the guys on his maintenance team. Seems like there's less structure with this group of guys than the team he was on in Colorado- time will tell though.

Other than alllll of that exciting news there isn't too much to report. Still waiting to hear back on that job. I think the hiring official with the contractor was out of the office the end of last week. GRRrr. I love waiting. It's my favorite.

Day 3: Interview

2011-03-09T20:15:00.000+01:00

I had an AWESOME interview today with a really good government contractor. Things went really well (hence the "AWESOME")! I've sent my Thank You email for the interviewer's time and contacting the hiring official.... we'll see how it plays out. The ONLY downfall is that it'd be an hour commute to and fro everyday. It's a great opportunity and I can't wait to hear if I got selected.

Other than that I've had some new and great friends stop by to keep me company the last few days-- just like Monday, I'm Stayin' Busy!

In other amazing news I heard from my fella! <3

Day 1: Staying Busy

2011-03-07T23:31:00.000+01:00

Today, I hit the ground running. Not literally, of course- I loath running. I got up (always a good start), watched Army Wives (color me unimpressed), worked out, mopped floors, fixed myself for the day, had a friend bring me a box of brownie mix (yes, just the mix, for me to bake later, haha), went to the Commissary and PX and then I ate.

Best part I heard from the hubs. He's good but still knows nothing.... we're waiting to see where he'll end up and who he'll be with ect... Hurry up and Wait, such is life!

Today, I accomplished my goal to stay as busy as possible. Thankfully, I have some other friends to visit with and other chores to complete this week. Here's hoping, I'll have plenty to keep me physically and mentally busy over the course of the next few months!!

And he's....

2011-03-06T15:25:00.000+01:00

Gone.

Maybe Bone Thugs n Harmony isn't your cup of tea... but right now I can't find a more fitting song.

That could have something to do with the fact that my husband texted me from "parts-unknown" telling me to look up this song and he was dedicating it to me. But then again, could have something to do with the chorus:

If I had one wish
That wish would be clear
That I would not have to go
That I could stay here
And although it hurts me
To leave you all alone
Just know I'll come back for you
For now I'm gone.

It's strange I didn't completely flip my shit until I heard this song. I was 'ok' until ~~I got home and found his dirty draws on the bathroom floor~~ this song.

I miss him already.