Good times and Free Stuff!

First and foremost I must announce the winner of my Simply Bags giveaway!

The Doll from Shepdogg: One P, Double G 

you will soon be the proud owner of your very own personalized, insulated lunch bag! I will contact you soon with additional information.

Thank you to everyone that participated and for showing your love to Simply Bags. I have a feeling they'll be getting some of my money very soon!! I'm still eying some of these bags! 

I hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did. Kevin finally had a full weekend home from the evil field! I wish he wouldn't have come in at 130 Friday AM though... I didn't sleep right with him in the bed... sharing is not a strong suit for me especially when it comes to the bed/pillows! 

All the same we kicked the weekend off with Fort Carson's Run/Walk for the Fallen. This the second year in a row we participated. We went last year a short 4 days after Kevin's redeployment. This year was a big more emotional for me. I saw a few faces and names I recognized. It was very sad. On Memorial Day I blogged about Sgt Matthew Ingram and his widow, my friend Holly. I spent a lot of time thinking about their family Saturday. You see not only had I known them and saw Matt's picture at the Walk, Saturday (8.21) just happened to be one year since Matt died in Afghanistan. Holly was with family on Saturday and that's probably the most anyone in her shoes could hope for. 

Still it was moving to be apart of it for another year:

Lots of people

Soldier running for all of 2-12 Fallen;
In the Tan is the Post Commanding General

Brody getting some love from Walk kids!

We really did have a great time and were so glad to be there participating!

Thankfully after such a somber event our day took a much brighter turn. Kevin and I planned a night away. We headed toward Denver, after a stop at the Outlet Mall in Castle Rock (and scoring an amazing new pair of Under Armour flip flops) we made it to Denver and finally I reunited with my beloved Pinkberry! I've blogged about my love affair with Pinkberry many times. When we were in San Diego for the 4th of July we went to Pinkberry (you know, because it's a HUGE deal out there) and they didn't have my FAV Pomegranate flavor. Jerks! They had the gall to tell me it was "Seasonal". Ppsshh! Well my new favorite Pinkberry had my Pomegranate with Capt'n Crunch for me in the middle of August! I love it, it was amazing. YUMM. Kevin laughed, at me. I'm ok with that though. It was that good!

We finally made our way to our hotel relaxed poolside in a hammock for a while then headed out for the night. We stopped at Lila B's for a quick drink where we had a great bartender, who somehow (I may have indirectly, possibly dared them into it... but who really knows) wound up giving us free shots to prove he was better at making them than his bartender buddy (from upstairs, Thomas). After the drinks at the bar we had an amazing dinner at Lucy's and headed to Comedy Works for our main event! We saw Greg Giraldo, from The Last Comic Standing. He was hilarious. 

The Hubbin and I had a great time. It was so great to get out of town even for just a night. Sorry I don't have pictures but like the crazy lady I am I forgot our new Camera! BOO! 

I hope everyone had a great weekend just as I did and that some of you (unlike me) found the time to bake yourself some Red Velvet Cupcakes! Get to it ladies! Can't wait to hear what you think of the recipe. I'll get mine knocked out this week!! 

Shout Outs!!!:

My husband ROCKS! So this past weekend my husband saw firsthand my affection for a well made cannoli! Today he wanted to do something special for me. He made a few stops after work and picked up the following goodies for me:


Moscato (if you like a sweet white wine, or aren't much of a wine drinker at all you'll enjoy this inexpensive bottle!)

Flowers (awww)

Two Cannoli's, two Tiramisu and two Cheesecake 'domes'! The Cannoli's weren't much compared to the ones in Jersey, the shells weren't crunchy and the ricotta wasn't up to par! however the cheesecake domes were amazing! Yumm.! I still haven't gotten to the tiramisu -- I've only had this one other time and I wasn't a huge fan. But I know my tastes have changed, so maybe I'll be more partial to it now!



All the same my hubs is the BEST! :) <3 <3 <3


~***~


Next, we have Kaitlin, from Life of a Busy Wife (a non-milspouse) blog which I love! She is currently celebrating her 300th post with a give-a-way!!! And I want it! Please go check her out! PS: We love her Puggle! :)

Lucky

"Do you hear me,I'm talking to you

Across the water across the deep blue ocean

Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Boy I hear you in my dreams

I feel your whisper across the sea

I keep you with me in my heart

You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Lucky to have been where I have been

Lucky to be coming home again

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

They don't know how long it takes

Waiting for a love like this

Every time we say goodbye

I wish we had one more kiss

I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Lucky to have been where I have been

Lucky to be coming home again

Lucky we're in love every way

Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed

Lucky to be coming home"

"Lucky" -- Jason Mraz & Colbie Calliat

I LOVE this song. I'm happy it was featured on this last Sunday's Drop Dead Diva (love this show too... hopeful it doesn't fall victim to the curse fallen upon all show I love!)

My hubby said....

Yesterday we were video chatting on AIM, which works a 1000 times better than Yahoo Messenger. Anywho... I was complaining that our internet wasn't working. There is no problem connecting to the router, evidently the router wasn't liking Qwest. So I resorted to stealing Nikki's internet (my AF homie, from across the street that is currently deployed to Baghdad). Once I got a secure connection to Nikki's internet and was speaking with Kevin, complaining about the internet connection he says to me:

"Babe, I am close enough to coming home that I can deal with it when I get home."

I love this! I meant to blog about it when it happened but as I said in my last post I was sort of out of the blog thing for a few days.

So the countdown is on people. I can't start the countdown from when they leave... that just made it feel like it was going by so slow. But now... it's ON!!! T-minus 46 Days and COUNTING!! WOOO :) Well give or take. ha haaa nothing is ever set in stone.

Does it make me uncouth to be blogging and semi-excited about this right now, today of all days, when Levi shipped out??

Shout out to ME!!!

Ladies... I know that you know my hubby blogs too. Well he wrote a very honest and (I think) sweet post the other day! I'm a lucky girl. Some days are better than others, of course, but overall I feel extremely blessed. Go check my shout out here.

I gotta go again... ha haaaa

Extra sleepy. Marley. The Daily.

Guess what? I'm super tired today. You see, last night I was overwhelmed by my own stupidity. While I was tired, I simply just didn't want to go to bed. Nope... I wasn't doing anything overly exciting just really didn't feel like being asleep yet. I really should have forced myself to just go to sleep anyway because (as previously stated) I was on "kiddo duty" this morning while my sister was at her egg retrieval. I think it went well, as far as these things go. They did successfully "retrieve the eggs". So far the implantation is scheduled for Monday. At least Levi will be here for that (deploying Tuesday).

Anyone ever hear of a lil' flick called "Marley and Me"?? I'm sure you haven't. It was just a small film, not much press, not based on a book... nothing like that. Well there is a bit of a story behind this movie and our very own R&R. I basically dared my husband to surprise me on R&R (my bro-in-law did this to my sister a few times and I thought it was just ridiculously sweet). He is really not the best secret-keeper (my hubby I mean) on the planet and I sincerely did not believe that he could make it work. Well it was just any other day, I had called my sister to see what she was up to for the day... we talked about running a few small errands, maybe seeing a movie then I would hit the gym. So here I was in my gym pants and a hoody looking like a scrub just running errands. She talks me into seeing Marley and Me. Then she says that she was meeting a friend at the bar for a few drinks and that I should come with. So we go and then my mom shows up (this is not abnormal; our family has boundary issues) and then I see Levi pull into the parking lot... and this short guy in ACU's get outo f the passenger seat... "hmm, why is Levi here, and why is he bring some random soldier?" I think to myself. "WAIT" the lil' voice in my head SCREAMS "this is not some random soldier! This is my hubby!!!! woooo hoo" the voice screams. So I haul balls outside and almost tackle him to the floor. Hugs. Kisses. Screaming. Tell me why my husband whom I hadn't seen in x amount of months didn't come running into this bar where he (actually) knew I was but instead he opted to get Nathan out of the car seat... Oh well! That lil' hick-up didn't last long. All is well. My hubby was home. Anyway... tonight I rented Marley and Me and watched it again. I think this is an amazing movie, not about a dog but about life, about love and family. It's such a great story about the trials and tribulations that we are all faced with in life. The curve balls we are thrown that force us to veer from our "plans". It does make me look at Brody and feel thankful that I have him too. I have recently stated that Brody is "two steps from homeless." I wouldn't, I couldn't get rid of him arbitrarily but he can be quite the pain in the you-know-what. Dogs are worth it. If anyone needs a nice, therapeutic, cleansing sobbfest you run out and get this lil' flick and PRONTO!

Other than that I found two portable swamp coolers on craigslist today. Both of which were no longer available. =( This makes me extra sad because here in Colorado Springs we've been experiencing a bit of a heat wave and we do not have central air. Kevin and I suffered through last summer without AC and good lord it was rough. Somehow craigslist never occurred to me last year... dummy! Thankfully, I hadn't really needed or wanted anything more than a fan until this week (and just 3 days randomly before)! But with windows opened, blinds and curtains closed, and fans going the downstairs remains between 78-80 while the upstairs is a crappy, miserable 82+.... ugh.. yucky! I'll be making due with what we have until I come up with an obscene amount of money for AC (or a portable unit) or until I can get lucky enough to find one on craiglist that is actually still available. hmm... we'll see huh?

Quick note before I hit the hay: Sleepless In Seattle is on Oxygen! I adore this movie- absolutely one of my favorites.

Birthday

I think today is a special day... yes it pretty much was a special day! Yeah, as you all know it was my birthday. I started off going to breakfast with my Pops- biscuits and gravy!!! Yumm! Then I headed to the salon to get my hair did! I wish I could post a picture of that but now it's flat and not looking so good- I will post a picture ASAP. Well, I do love the way it turned out and I think I finally found a stylist that I like and will stick with. My hair and then my Blackberry are my birthday presents from the hubs. So romantic right?? Well it's what I wanted! wooo woo! THANKS babe!

Here's a few pictures of some if the sweetness which was bestowed upon me on this glorious day:My BFF Amanda sent me this great arrangement from Baton Rouge, LA.!

Nathan accidently popped one of my balloons! So this sad flat one laying on my dining table actually should be flying with the others! That's ok though. My sister and Kaitlyn stopped by this morning wth balloons, cheesecake, cards and goodness!! =) I love me some balloons! A birthday isn't a birthday without balloons and blow of candles, right? Well I guess 1 out of 2 isn't so bad right? I got the balloons but I never actually got to make a wish and blow out my birthday candles. =( Yes, this makes me sad but it's not for lack of trying. After my day I met my mother and Wayne for dinner at Zio's. It was great (as usual- but way to much food)! They told the waiter it was my birthday and he brought this very dense chocolate/truffle cake- alamode. The cake was a little too dark and truffle-y for my taste but the ice cream saved it. BUT no candle!

After dinner I had plans with my friend Amy. We decided on going to a movie she checked the times and said either 730 or 855. Well 730 came and went and I hadn't heard from her (I texted and called). Then 8 o'clock came and went so I figured I'd been stood up, ON MY BIRTHDAY!! I was crushed! That only lasted about 15 minutes, when she text messaged me and said she was planning on the 855 show. At first I did think, "huh... you left me hanging." But life happens and I would prefer to get my ass off the couch and go to this movie than have "Stood up" forever plastered in my mind for how this birthday ended! So we met and saw "Ghosts of Girlfriend something" I don't remember the title but you guys know which one I'm talking about! It was exactly what you thought it would be, but all the same it was enjoyable and lighthearted!

I even got to talk to Kevin! Thankfully- he was supposed to be rolling out for another mission... thankfully the mission was delayed for one reason or another so I actually got to speak with my hubby!! We didn't think it was going to work out. But I know that he loves me even if he doesn't or isn't given the opportunity to say it and I know he's thinking of me even when he can't be here! I love him and I'm blessed to have him in my life!

Babe: I know that you wanted to be here, but it is what it is right? Missed birthdays and things are just apart of the gig! I Love you all the same. I don't blame or resent you for it! Thank you so much for a fantast and ABSOLUTELY PERFECT day! Your presence was the only thing missing from my day. I love you so much. Talk to you soon!

So ladies that is all from me for today. It was a great birthday (minus candles and all)! =)

Some things from Yesterday.......

First, I attempted to post last night about my mystery flowers and after I was finished proof-reading for those pesky lil' errors, I hit the "publish Post" button and waited... waited... waited some more... still waiting! Well nothing happened so I refreshed the page and my post was gone. See- lost to the cyberspaces... just plain gone! Seeing as how I was nice and sleeeeepy I decided I wasn't going to worry about it again until this AM. So here I am to tell you guys my stories:


Is it just me or all Army wives (with deployed Hubby's) extra paranoid?? I got a call today from some guy with some flower company needing directions to my house (since it's not on mapquest.. which it's really not but all the same!). So I give directions but not my house number. I figure if they really did have an order for me they'd actually have my address- right? Aren’t I genius! Anyway so I hang up, bathe and run out of the house immediately.. wouldn't be the first time a woman living alone was targeted in this fashion, right? Or maybe this is one of the many sides to me that you weren't aware of... my crazy-paranoid side. All the same my mommy always told me "Better safe than sorry." So... I trust my gut and live with the consequences.

The Consequences:

Well the Newman’s decided they were going to send me flowers to thank me for helping them out so much lately! Aren't they sweet and very thoughtful??! Yes, I thought so...

Oh.. one other thing that did make me a little bit more paranoid and happy that I had trusted my gut and ran out of the house; Kevin called after I had left and I asked him if he was sending me flowers and he said no... and really I didn't think I had anyone else that would so that made me nervous. All the same no need to worry! But ladies, ALWAYS ALWAYS trust your gut!

I also wanted to share this photo I took yesterday of my nephew, Nathan. He's 2 (if you recall) and is pushing like hmm, we'll say 18? ha ha Oh and such a ham too obviously..

PS: No, there isn't a lick of Mexican in this child... he's just dark! ha ha

PSS: Also the outfit you may be asking yourself about was brought back from Hawaii from Nathan's "Pop-Pop" (my dad)! =)

Sunny Day.. sweeping the clouds away.....

So my hubby received this card in a care package from Operation Gratitude. The front if you can't see it says "As long as you need me..." then my hubs added "and then home". Sorry about the crappy picture, as you can recall Brody ate my digital camera, so this was taken with my cell phone. :( I was hoping the Easter Bunny would bring me a new one but that didn't work out so well. Anywho... I got this card out of the blue one day- usually Kevin and I speak everyday and we usually tell each other when we've sent things to each other, so it was a surprise to see this card. So you open the card and it says "You'll find me right there." And it also is one of those singing cards... which is the best part!...

"When the night has come
and the land is dark
and the moon is the only light we'll see
no I wont, be afraid
ooh I wont be afraid
just as long as you stand,
stand by me."

I cried like a lil' baby! I absolutely loved this card! Even though Kevin didn't pick it out on his own it was still really, really sweet and meant a lot to me. He of course added his own sweet message but I'll leave that between him and I. I love him... and when I come across these little mementos I'm reminded that I'm lucky to have him!

OK... enough already with the mushiness! GaG.. tee hee. And interesting enough I don't have anything else I really need to add. Other than I did pursue my goal of finding a job today... but yet again no responses on my resume. But it's bound to happen!