Wordless Wednesday

My sweet furbabies!

Manic Monday

This weekend was super boring for me and busy for M. M had to work both days. I'm not sure when his next day off will be. He is a grader for the next few weeks, so he may not have an off day for three weeks. Saturday, I cleaned up the house and watched football and Sunday I cleaned a little more and watched football. Yes, super exciting I know! ;)

Today has been a day. It wasn't good, but it wasn't awful. It started out this morning. I live in an apartment complex. I have dogs. I have to take my dogs out. In an apartment, you don't have a yard. Common sense right? Apparently, my downstairs old lady neighbor thinks she has a yard. This morning, M and I were taking both dogs out before he went to his appointment/work. My dog is standing on the sidewalk (not peeing or pooping!) sniffing the grass that is right off her porch. She starts banging her finger in between her blinds and pointing. Since the maintainence man was out, I thought she wanted me to get him for her. I shook my head saying I didn't understand. She opened the door and said 'honey I know you are new here, but the dog area is by the fence.' First off, I dislike being called honey in a condescending way and the way she said it was. Second, my dog wasn't doing anything but sniffing! Third, she has no control over where my dogs go to the bathroom. (FYI: we pick up our dog poop... not everybody here does!) Fourth, she called the apartment manager. WTF?!? I have been so mad about this all day. It grates on my nerves that she came out to me when I know for a fact that my dogs are not the only dogs that pee/poop in that area. Ugh, I get riled up just thinking about it.

So after we got back from the gym (which will be talked about next!), we stopped in to talk to the apartment manager and I asked her if the old lady called. Just as I figured, she did. The apartment manager was shocked that she was talking about us. So tomorrow we get a resident's letter in the mail about 'respecting other's property.' You know, I could understand if my dogs were on her porch or had peed/pooped on her porch. It's freaking grass and we live in an apartment... Ok, I have to let this go somehow.

Another thing, we went to the gym today. I have seen one other female in the gym the whole time we've been going. We are now on week three. As we were working out today, there were other guys in there. Not a problem. I've been dealing with that for three weeks. What I can't understand is why these guys are using 15/20 pound weights. It's doing nothing for their bodies because they are strong than lifting 15/20 pounds. Yes, there are some exercises where they will only use that weight, but for what they were doing... it should have been at least 10 pounds higher. What guy bench presses (with dumbbells!) 15 pounds?!? I just couldn't understand and I still can't understand.

Ugh, I am ready to go to bed and have this day over with! I will be praying hardcore tonight. I hope everyone has a great week. Be Blessed!!

Book Review - My So-Called Life As A Proverbs 31 Wife

I know I was suppose to post this yesterday, but yesterday slipped away from me. Steele had a rough night with it being the first night away from his brothers and sisters. Last night was great! He got up once around 2am and whined for a couple of minutes and then went back to sleep. I think I will be well prepared when we do have an human baby! Now, on to the book review.

About the author:  Sara Horn is the founder of Wives of Faith. She has also written the books God Strong and Tour of Duty. If you haven't read either of those books, you should! Tour of Duty is a bible study to help with deployments and God Strong is an encouraging book.

About the book: In Sara's words:
Welcome to the blog that became a book that became a blog.
My name is Sara and I confess. I am not Martha Stewart. I’m not even her third cousin, once removed. I can’t sew. I am getting better at cooking, though I still read the back of the box to make macaroni and cheese. Which is silly, if you knew how much macaroni and cheese I’ve made.
But a couple of years ago, I had one of those strange experiences that ultimately changed my life. I’m sure I’m the only one who has ever gotten upset at something her pastor said. But there. I said it. I was sitting in church. Angry. Steam coming from my ears kind of angry. Not exactly the right attitude you want to have sitting in God’s house. My face showed the equivalent of the 5-year-old who has been told what he doesn’t want to hear and is beating his head, hands and feet against the floor in protest.
My pastor was talking about the Proverbs 31 Wife. And he was making all of these points about how I, as a woman, could be more like her. Which I didn’t want to hear. Because I didn’t like the Proverbs 31 Wife.
I could have gone home in a huff and forgot about it, chalking it up to one more thing men don’t understand when it comes to women. But for whatever reason that day, I listened. At least to myself. I wanted to find out why I was so mad.
Because deep down, I wanted to be a better wife. I wanted to be a better mom. But I also wanted to be successful. And at the time, success seemed like a word that could never go with those other two. I mean, have you ever seen a woman ordering Happy Meals for her kids, breaking up a fight before they sit down and listening to her oldest ask her if he can go play 20 times in 10 minutes and you said “Wow, she is such a success in that mom job she has!” Yeah, neither have I.
If you’ve found this web site, you have probably seen my new book, My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife. This is my story of what happened after an infuriating sermon by my pastor indirectly dared me to prove him wrong. I’ve been a writer and an author for almost 10 years, and I can honestly say this is my most personal and honest work yet. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope it makes you feel less alone in your own struggles as a wife and/or mom. But most important, I hope it makes you think and ask the question I had to ask myself: is there anything I can do to be a bigger blessing to my husband and my child?
This blog continues the journey I started in the book (which I actually started as a private blog/online journal). If you want my official bio, visit my main website at sarahorn.com. If you’re a military wife, I hope you’ll check out the ministry I lead, Wives of Faith. Otherwise, I hope I’ll see you here. I’m sharing photos, stories, the occasional recipe and new P31 Challenges we can all do together.

My review:

This book is a must read. It starts out with a church sermon and Sara's feelings toward it. How can anyone be a perfect wife when everyone is on the go these days? It just can't happen.... or can it? Sara decides to try an experiment and life gets in the way.  For me, it wasn't about what happened in the book (although there are a few laughs along the way), it was about the epilogue. My reading this book had made me do a lot of thinking. I know I will never be the Proverbs 31 wife but I can be the best wife I can be. There will be a few changes in our life and hopefully it will be a better, more fulfilling life for us both.

Stay tuned for my next post which will go into my goals for being the best wife I can be and my new schedule.

Be Blessed!!

Intro to.... and Weekend Update

I figured that I would do introduction first because I don't want family members to get the wrong idea.

Here is the newest member of our family:

This is our new puppy, Steele! He is so adorable and we already love him to pieces. Tank and Shadow are both getting used to him, but we are all doing pretty good so far.

We have had a pretty good weekend. Friday was crazy with appointments, gym time, PX, Commissary (on pay day weekend no less!) and people who don't know how to drive. Saturday we relaxed until it was time for the Alabama game. We had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Alabama game (and I live in/close to Alabama!!!). We had a good time. Today has been relaxing as well. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my book review or my schedule that goes along with it. Be looking for those on Monday and Tuesday. Be Blessed!!!

Random Thursday

There are a lot of things I want to talk about, but they aren't all big enough to have their own post. Here we go with Random Thursday!

- Last night, M and I were getting ready for bed. The bad thing about living in apartments... the noise! We were going to bed at 11pm, which is already late enough. On top of that, there were people outside making A LOT of noise. I told him if it kept on, I was calling the cops. I'm not one to complain a lot, but we live in a complex with a lot of military. They have to get up and be gone by 5/530am five days a week. It's not cool when people are outside making a lot of noise. I didn't have to call the cops because somebody else did. Have a little respect! Weekends we can look past (sometimes!), weekdays... I don't think so.

- We made another bodybuilding.com order and I got a new pair of lifting gloves coming my way. I am super excited about it! I have gloves now, but they are too big and it makes it hard to hold the bar even with my long fingers.

- Both of our animals got in trouble yesterday. Ugh, it was not a good day to be an animal in our house.

- I'm thinking about placing another Scentsy order. (If you don't know what it is, go here.) There are nine scents that I want to try out. I'm thinking of doing a bundle and then ordering the other three next paycheck.

- I want to go shopping. I want a scarf (or 4!) and some other key pieces for fall. We will have to see what our money situation looks like. Maybe I can get one thing a month or something.

- I'm still looking for a job! Also, I have a huge test coming up in two months. Be looking for a post on my new schedule sometime in the next few days.

- I am going to do a book review about the new Sara Horn book My So-Called Life As A Proverbs 31 Wife. It will tie into the new schedule post, so they will either be up the same day or two days in a row.

There you have it. Thursday Randoms. I hope everyone has a great Thursday. Be Blessed!!

Workout Routine/Supplements

My last post was talking about how we have started working out again. Today, I want to talk about my routine and what supplements I take. M and I have done a lot of research into this. We found our workout and buy our supplements at http://www.bodybuilding.com/ and they have been awesome at shipping out our stuff quickly. This is the same site that we used while M was deployed. These people get a lot of our money, but they are not sponsoring this post nor do they know anything about it.

My workout routine for the next four weeks looks like this:

Monday: Bench Press, Bent Over Barbell Row, Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Skull Crusher, Barbell Curl
Tuesday: Barbell Squat, Stiff Leg Dead Lift, Leg Extension, Lying Leg Curl, Standing Calf Raise, Lying Leg Raise
Wednesday: Cardio - Moderate Running for 20 minutes
Thursday: Dips, Pushups, Lateral Raises, Tricep Pushdowns, Cable Core
Friday: Dead Lift, Leg Press, Dumbbell Lunges, Seated Calf Raises, Dumbbell Shrugs
Saturday: Cardio - Moderate Stationary Bicycle for 20 minutes
Sunday: Rest

I do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. I normally do 12. If I start out at one weight and can finish 2 sets of 12 reps relatively easy, I go up in weight on my last set. I can already tell that I am getting stronger. I love it! We are also those people that carry a little notebook around in the gym and record our weight and how many reps we did. We are hardcore like that!! ;) My workout will change in four weeks and then in another four weeks after that. Once I finish that, I will change up my workout completely.

As far as supplements go, the most important one is water. Of course, everybody knows that already. FYI, I will not bulk up like a male from this workout. Also, I am not a doctor. This is what M and I decided would work best for me. Use your judgement, do lots of research and ask your doctor!!

I've been working on upping my water intake. It's hard and I go to the bathroom all the time, but I know it's good for me and my body.

As of right now, I take a multivitamin, fish oils, a thermogenic and protein. I take amino acids and pre-workout 30 minutes before we workout and a post workout recovery after we finish working out. It's better to eat small meals more frequently to keep your metabolism up.

Here are some links for what I am currently taking:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mrm/smart.html - fish oils
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/women.html - multivitamin
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/revolution/thermogenic-push-female.html - fat burner
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/nb/isolow.html - not this exact one, but close
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/musclepharm/assault.html - preworkout
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/gn/superpump-max.html - amino acids
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/musclepharm/recon.html - post workout (I think this is the one we use!)

There you have it! A lot of information... a lot of research. Everybody needs to make health a priority. Work out and be blessed!!

Day 3

Today is day three of my new exercise routine. It's a 12 week routine where you start with lower weight and higher reps. My lowest weight yesterday was ten pounds and only for two sets. Holy cow am I sore!!! I started on Wednesday with twenty minutes of cardio. Yesterday was upper body. I had about six exercises that I did and I did three sets of 12 reps a piece. It's not easy, but I know I am going to get stronger and leaner. I am going to lose the weight that I have gained in the six months that M has been home from deployment. Today is lower body. I have pretty strong legs, but they could definitely use some toning.

For the next four weeks, I will either stick with the weight I start with or go up just a bit. The four weeks after that, I increase the weight and lower my reps. The same with the four weeks after week eight.

Just for the record, I am not bulking it. It will actually lean me out. I can't wait for the results. I hate the way all of my clothes fit me right now and I refuse to buy any more since I don't have a job yet. When I get a job, that will be different. Until then, it's getting back into the clothes I already have.

I have been doing pretty well at drinking water. I had a coke zero and a mountain dew over Labor Day weekend, but other than that I don't drink caffiene. I am cutting back on my portion sizes. I am trying to eat more healthy that what I already do. It's a work in progress and it's a lifestyle change. So far, I am loving it. Of course, after only two days I can't tell a difference, but I know it won't be much longer until I can tell the difference.

Oh, and I ran on the treadmill for around seven minutes or so. I loathe running on a treadmill, but I did it and I am proud of myself.

On a sadder note, The Unlikely Wife's husband was injured pretty severely. Please stop by her blog and send your prayers/good thoughts. Her family really needs them right now.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Be blessed. Give a smile away!

Weekend Recap

Wow, we had an amazing weekend even though we had to cut it short due to the Army calling. We will start with Thursday night. We found out earlier in the week that M would have to pull duty on Sunday. I thought that meant a 24 hour duty shift. It never occurred to me to asking any more questions about it. Since he had duty, we were in limbo on if we wanted to go up to his parents place for the weekend. I told him it was completely up to him because he was the one that would have to work on Sunday. So late Thursday night when he got in from work, he decided that we would go for Friday night and come home Saturday.

Friday morning we woke up and started packing up the car. It's amazing the stuff you think you need for an overnight trip. In reality, I should have packed more! We left around 0800 on Friday morning so we could drop M's truck off. His air has been acting strange, so we are getting it fixed. We drove the four hours to his parents house and hung out until everyone got home. There were lots of family and friends there and whoever didn't make it that night came the next morning. I was tired so I went to bed early. I do know that a great time was had by everyone that night though and they felt it the next morning!

Saturday, I woke up around 0600. That is not normal for me, but I was wide awake. So I spent about an hour outside taking in the sunrise and quietness. It was beautiful! Once everyone was awake, breakfast was made. After we cleaned up from that, I had to make a run to WalMart. I finally asked what time we were leaving since he had duty in the morning and he told me that he had duty from 2200 Sunday night until 0900 Monday morning. Oh! So we decided to stay one more night and leave early Sunday morning. After we got back from WalMart, I learned how to drive the 4Wheeler. I think I learned pretty well. We brought our stuff down to the camp ground area and decided to go ride the trails. When we went, it was very dusty. (This was before all of the rain we got on Sunday and Monday.) It was so fun. I have bruises to show how fun it was. On Saturday, we sat, talked, ate, went on rides. We did that a lot. Saturday night, M wanted to go mudding. Nobody really wanted to, but I decided that I would go with him and then everybody decided let's just do it! It was awesome. When riding a 4 wheeler with M, you drift... ie: you sling your body to go around the curve instead of actually turning the wheel. In mudding, you do the same thing except you get muddy. Everybody had lots of fun! M and I stripped out side and ran to the showers. There was a lot of cleaning up after that.

Sunday morning, most people packed up and left because of Tropical Storm Lee. We had to drive home in the rain. Poor M was soaking wet because he brought the motorcycle home. We had a nap and I sent him in for duty. I can't believe the duty they pulled. M and his soldier sat in my car for 11 hours. They got out every once in a while to go to the bathroom or walk around and make sure everything was okay. (Shaking my head... how crazy is that?!?)

Looking at the pictures posted from Sunday, we missed a lot of fun! There were quite a few people that stayed and decided to go mudding again. This was after the rain, so it was better. The pictures are HILARIOUS!! Just picture a bunch of people covered in mud and that's the picture.

Next time, we are taking leave and will enjoy every single day! We had a blast and can't wait to do it all over again. I hope everyone's weekend was as great as ours was! Enjoy the short week and be blessed!!

Camping....

M's parents always have a camp out over Memorial Day and Labor Day at their house. They have a gorgeous property and Tank gets to run around with no leash.

View from the front porch. They camp where the telephone pole is on the right.

The view off the mountain.

I say 'They camp' because M and I don't camp. We reserve a room in the house every time, plus last year when M was deployed he said that he camped for a year and isn't going to camp again until he gets deployed again. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody again. We didn't get to go for Memorial Day since we were in NY, but we get to go this time since we are MUCH closer to home.

Anyway, the reason for this post is because thinking about camping got me to thinking about last year while M was deployed. In May, I got to make an announcement. At first, everyone thought I was going to say I'm pregnant. Nope, not that! I got to tell everyone that M was getting promoted! It's hard to believe it's been over a year. On Labor Day, I got to tell everyone that M's R&R was changed and he would be coming home around November. ***Family, don't get your hopes up! I'm not making announcements this year!!! I should probably put that in BOLD. LOL***

It's weird to think about what I was doing last year at this time while M was deployed. It's weird that M has almost been home for six months. Where is the time going?!?

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Be Blessed!

Tuesday?

I keep thinking that today is Monday because M went back to work today. He only had a two day weekend, but he had to work on Saturday. I can't get it in my head that today is Tuesday.

M was suppose to be in the field last week until Sunday, but the whole bunch of them got sent home the very next day. No worries though, they will be going back into the field soon.

We are suppose to have a couple of date nights in the near future. Two scary movies are coming out that M wants to go see. I think I'm going to make a deal that I go and watch those two with him and he goes to watch 'The Help' with me. I really want to see it since I finished the book. Maybe I can talk him into it!!

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. We need to go through his Army tuf boxes and sort them out. It's ridiculous how much stuff he has. We are going to sort through them and put stuff he doesn't use in a box, etc. That should be fun, right?

I hope everyone is well and safe! I just heard of the earthquake on the East Coast. Be Blessed!!

Update

It seems like I am only doing updates these days. Well, here's another one...

We are doing pretty good. Yesterday was my birthday. We went up North to my mom's house and spent some time with family and friends. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, beans, chips and dessert. YUM! We hung out by the pool, played in the pool, played bean bag toss and played darts. It was a great day. Overcast to sunny, but no rain! It normally always rains on my birthday because it's in the summer and I live in the South.

I've been looking for a job the past couple of weeks since we got settled in. I'm done with my schooling and I have my certificates, but with no actual job experience it's going to be a bit harder for me to get a job. I'm studying for my test which I hope to take at the end of October, but in the mean time I'm applying for anything that I think I'm qualified for. I have a lot of experience in customer service, so I'm applying for clerical, administrative and pharmacy tech, which is what my background work experience is.

I haven't had a job in two years. I've been a house wife. It doesn't look great on my resume that my last job was April 2009, but being a house wife is a job. No, I didn't get paid for it, but I took care of my husband, our house, our animals and myself. I did the bills, the grocery shopping, regular shopping, if M needed something I could take it to him. It was an important job and it still is an important job. I'm just ready to contribute financially to our family. I'm ready to have our vehicles paid off. That's all the debt we have besides normal bills like rent, utilities, etc.

Anyway, that was a little rant that I wasn't expecting to go on. We are doing okay. There is a lot going on in the world and everybody could use prayers these days. I think I'm going to have to make a list to make sure I get everything prayed for that I want to pray for. I hope everyone has a great week and is blessed!

Day 3!

M and I are on day three of our diet. It's really for me, but he's being awesomely supportive and doing it with me. We are on the Dukan Diet. We are in the attack phase where we are doing protein only. It has been really hard for both of us, but we are getting through it. I can't wait to add some vegetables in at the end of this week. However, I weighed myself this morning and I've lost two pounds!!! YAY ME! This is giving me the motivation to keep going. We've been eating a lot of meat and eggs. I'm not a huge egg fan, so that's been a little difficult as well. I had a caffeine withdrawal headache for the first two days, but I'm over that now. I have been drinking water, protein shakes with soy milk, soy chocolate milk (which is disgusting to me!) and decaf sweet tea made with Splenda.

Other than that, we haven't been doing much. We are trying to figure out what M's schedule is going to be like. We've heard rumors that there will be field exercises, but nothing is concrete right now. My birthday is on Sunday. For those who don't know, M is 2.5 months younger than me. That makes for a really long couple of months while he's calling me an 'old lady' and telling me that he's a year younger than me. Oh well, what can you do?!?

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. There really hasn't been a lot going on. We are just figuring everything out still. Once everything is figured out, hopefully I will be able to post more. Beyond that, have a great week and be blessed!

Quick Update

I just wanted to post a quick update. As everyone knows, we found a place. We called and got our stuff scheduled to be dropped off. Being the small world that it is, M found a guy that he went to school with while he was in-processing. Him and his wife were gracious enough to come over and help us unload our stuff. That was a Friday night. The next morning, we headed north to get a few more things and to let the parents follow us down. They helped us put everything together and get the boxes put up. We are settled in with the exception of hanging pictures and curtains. That is happening this week and I still have a few more things to buy, but that will happen over time.

Over all, I really love our new place and our new post. It's pretty nice, even though they have a ton of construction going on all over post. M and I are starting the Dukan Diet this weekend. I'm pretty excited about it and I hope it helps me lose a few pounds.

We are all doing good. M is getting settled in with his new unit. I'm starting the process of looking for a job. Things are still up in the air regarding field exercises, NTC/JRTC and a deployment, but we will find out about everything eventually.

I'm trying to catch up on blogs and I will eventually.... it will take time though. I hope all is well with everyone and you are remembering to be blessed!

WE HAVE A PLACE!!!

WOOO HOOOO!!! I am so excited to be able to say that we have a house and we start moving tomorrow! We have to head back up north to the parents house to pick some things up (and a couple of parents up!) and then it's time to head back south and start moving our stuff in! We love our new place and can't wait to get everything set up and have a "home." It's still an apartment, but it's bigger than the house we had when we first got married. After we get everything settled and set up, I will be looking for a job. I'm so nervous about that! I haven't had a job in over two years, but it will be nice to have a little extra money to pay on the vehicles to get them paid off.

That's been about all that's going on. We have been staying at the hotel since Sunday night and I'm so glad tonight is the last night here. This has been a great hotel though. I would recommend it to anybody coming to this area.

Have a great weekend and be blessed! We will talk soon!

Another Update

I know it has been a while since I updated. We finally made it to Alabama on Friday and looked at a house. We turned in the application on Tuesday and now we are waiting to hear back from them. We are hoping to hear back from them today since M has to sign in on Sunday. The drive down was super long, but we made it. It's so hard to travel in two vehicles with a dog and a cat. The new post is huge and has lots of construction going on. We spent about two hours Tuesday wondering around post. I will definitely get lots a few times! We didn't go in the Commissary, but the PX was huge. It's way bigger than the last post we were at and just a little bigger than Carson. New post also has an actual hospital on post which is great. Hopefully, it won't take too long to get appointments set up and such. Our stuff is still on its way from NY. I think it will get there either today or tomorrow. Hopefully we have a house/place to stay so we don't have to store it.

That's our past week in a nutshell. I hope everyone is well. Be Blessed!

Update

I just wanted to pop in here, say hey and update everyone on the big move! Hey to all of my new followers. Please leave a comment and let me know that you are following me. I would love to follow back!

As for the move, WOW! It's been crazy around here the past couple of days. We packed up a lot of stuff on Monday. I mean, we spent just about the whole day packing. It's crazy how much stuff you accumulate. On Monday, M has took my car (Mazzie the Mazda) to get the oil changed and then brought her back. He washed her and then I helped him wax her. Yesterday, the moving truck got dropped off. We started packing around 1100 or so and finished about 2200 last night. Exhausted was not the word for us. Today, M has taken the truck (James the Chevy, yes we do name everything! LOL) to get the oil changed, etc and then we finish packing up the truck. One more night here and then it's off to Georgia. I'm ready to be there and be settled!!

Also, if you have a front load washer, please be sure to get the shipping kit to keep the washer stabilized before you are about to leave. For the washer we have, it's apparently not something that you can just run to a hardware store and get. We had to call the manufacturer and have it shipped to us. It has been such an inconvenience to our move. We will not forget again. I promise!

I hope everyone is having a great week, has a great rest of the week and a great holiday weekend! Be blessed. I will update when I can!

It's a bittersweet day...

Today is M's last day on post. It's bittersweet for me, but I don't think it is for him. He's not as emotional about things as I am. It's bittersweet for me because a lot happened here.  Well, not really a lot, but the big thing... Deployment. I knew when we got orders for this post that deployment would be on the horizon. This post is known for it. What I didn't realize would be what happened to me during that time. I grew stronger, realized that I could be independent while still being dependent, developed a deeper faith and welcomed my husband home. It's been three months and I think we have settled into a new routine. Now, that routine is getting interrupted with packing and moving. I'm ready for this move. I hope that all of our dreams come true in Georgia.

As far as packing.... Now, we are down to the nitty gritty. We leave in less than a week. Now I can start the main packing. Things we won't wear here anymore, things that we won't use the next 6 days... It's going to be busy around here. M wants to get the vehicles waxed this weekend, we need oil changes in both vehicles, cancelling our utilities and such, packing in boxes, packing in the moving truck, cleaning, inspection, the list can go on and on.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope you are blessed!

Wordless Wednesday... Or not!

Well, I was going to do a Wordless Wednesday post, but I can't get my pictures in my post. So instead, since I have a few new followers, I figured I would introduce myself. Please leave a comment so I can follow back!

My name is Jessica. I have been married to M for just over four years now. We got married in May 2007. He was previously in the Army, was out when we got married, and rejoined back in September of 2007. We have a dog named Tank. He is the best dog ever. We rescued him in Colorado in October of 2008. He weighed 50 pounds when we got him. It was so sad. He didn't bark at all the first month we had him and only howls in his sleep. He gets a little antsy when we start packing, so we think that he was abandoned like that. He is very spoiled, but knows his commands and what he's suppose to do. Since M's deployment, Tank gets a little antsy when dad leaves and so excited when he comes home. Yup, from March 2010 to March 2011, M was deployed. I moved back home to Alabama. It was nice being there. We also have a cat named Shadow. Cats are so independent. That's us in a nutshell. If you want pictures, take a look. There are plenty on the blog!

Don't forget to introduce yourself and be blessed!

Weekend Update

M had a four day over the weekend. A town close to post has Riverfest every year and if you purchase a ticket, you get out of work for the day. Friday was a training holiday. So, Thursday we got ready and headed up to almost the Canadian border. We met up with some people from M's unit and had a good day.

Trying on hats!

I think this is the castle the boat tour drops you off at...

Yay, he actually took a picture with me!!

Taken at Wal-Mart - we went there to get something for the XBox at 2000.

We didn't do much on Friday or we did a lot... I can't really remember. Does that mean I'm old?!? Saturday our town had Flag Day. We loaded Tank up in the car and went to walk around. After walking around, we went to get lunch. Later Saturday, we went to M's going away party. It was pretty fun. The food was delicious, though!

Our sweet boy! He loves the wind in his face.

Waiting to cross at the crosswalk...

Appropriate. "Our Nations Defenders" My soldier walking to it... ♥

Bonus picture of me! I dyed my hair black and got an A line cut.

We didn't do anything on Sunday. We just relaxed from the other three full days that we had. We did have fun, we were just exhausted from it all. Yes, even Tank was exhausted. He was on high alert all day on Saturday and had to take frequent naps on Sunday. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Be Blessed

Heaven

When you think of Heaven, what do you see? I see streets of gold, angels on clouds playing beautiful music on a harp, ancestors I've never met and the face of God. Well, that's what I saw until I read the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. Yes, this is the book review I've been promising for a while now. This book is super long. I'm a big reader and it still took me a while to get through it. Not because it was a bad book, it's not. It's a fantastic book that really made me think and made me excited to dig deeper into God's word about Heaven. There reason it took me so long to read is that it's so much information, sometimes I just had to take a break and read something a little lighter or go a few days before I read it again.

This book was recommended to me by JG over at Me and My Soldier Man. I can't thank her enough for reviewing this book and pointing it out to me.

 

 

Not my picture... thanks Google!

You can go to Amazon.com and order the book. Or, you can go to his website, a Christian book store or a big book store and get the book. It's definitely one that I recommend reading. It truly gives you an entirely different perspective on Heaven than what you are used to. It really makes you think and get excited about going to Heaven when it's your time. I hope you enjoy the book if you do read it!

Be Blessed!!

Wordless Wednesday

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. There isn't much to post about. Here is my post for today. I hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Yes, Tank is a very spoiled, very loved dog!!

DITY Move

I hope everybody had a great weekend. Mine was fantastic. We didn't do anything on Friday except watch Ghost Adventures and went to bed after the new one. Yes, we were in bed at 2200 on a Friday night. Does that make us old?!? LOL Saturday was pretty chill. We hung out, watched movies/tv shows on Netflix, and then Saturday night a few people from M's company came over. We fixed hamburgers and baked beans. Yummy! Then they played spades (I don't know how to play plus there was five people). After they played a few hands of spades, we played Uno. Yup, I love that game. Sunday, we just relaxed. I read a little on my book, M played his game, we talked about the move and just hung out.

Today has been productive. I canceled (cancelled?!? I don't know which... LOL) a couple of appointments that I had in Alabama. Finding dentist and hairdressers is the hardest part of the move for me! I also scheduled for the truck to be dropped off on 28 June. We will pack on the 28th and 29th, have them pick it up the morning of the 30th, have our inspection on the 30th and then head out. They will be a busy couple of days.

Also, for anybody that actually wants to do a DITY move, check with your transportation office. I don't know if it's just this particular one or if the Department of the Army has changed how they do DITY moves, but they aren't as lucrative as they once were. We got a small amount. Whatever we don't use, we get taxed 25% on. It's almost not worth it to do the DITY move, unless you are in our boat and have too.

Have a great week and be blessed!!

It's Friday...

Woo Hoo!!

On the agenda this weekend is buying moving supplies, cleaning the house, cleaning TA50 and going through our extra things here. I know, everyone should be jealous! LOL

In other news, M and I are going vegetarian. He follows a high protein, low fat diet. Does anybody have any recipes they would like to share?!? It's a little harder than I thought it would be. I've been doing lots of research and I've found some recipes, but I need more. I told him that he could still eat meat if he wants to, but he said that he didn't want to. That made me happy, and now I am looking for recipes.

I think we may have found a solution to our DITY move. I will keep everyone updated on that situation. I can't believe that we have just under three weeks before the move. It's going to be crazy. It kind of stinks that our move happens during Fourth of July, but we usually don't do too much during that holiday anyway. We will make up for it during Labor Day weekend, I'm sure.

On another topic, I think I'm making reservations next week when we get paid to go to the Wives of Faith retreat. Is anybody else going? I'm really looking forward to it.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Be Blessed!!

Rules

Since M got back from his deployment (almost three months ago!!), I've came up with a set of rules. This may seem weird to some people, but only I (and family) truly know how he is. Deployment affects everyone in different ways and this is what works for us right now. There aren't many rules, but they are pretty important.

Rule #1 - If M is sleeping and I'm not touching him in some way, I won't touch him if he starts twitching, jumping, etc (like a nightmare). I will say his name, but no touching. It's not because I think he would hurt me, but I know it would startle him.

Rule #2 - If I'm already touching him in some way, I will rub his arm and tell him to calm down. It seems to work most of the time. I know he is still having the dream, but it's not bothering him as much as it was before.

Rule #3 - At first, I tried to watch his alcohol intake when we did drink, but it seems that it doesn't bother him as much anymore.

Rule #4 - Never ask questions unless he's already brought the subject up, and even though watch what I ask.

There they are... Not a lot, but very important for us. Did you have any rules when your spouse came home from deployment?

Wordless Wednesday

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO MY NEPHEW ALEX

I will have to post his birthday pictures next week. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it.

It was a good news/bad news kind of day...

I know it's only 1646, but it's been that type of day. Today we found out for sure that we will be PCSing next month to our new duty station in Georgia. Today we also found out that we have to do a full DITY move. From what I understand, there are a lot of people PCSing (moving to a new duty station) and ETSing (getting out of the Army). Our post has a new transportation policy. They are only doing so many moves and we are not one of those moves. Yes, we got rejected! I didn't even know they could do that.

I now have the rest of the month to pack everything, turn everything off, rent a UHaul, get oil changes in both vehicles, clean the apartment, and everything else that comes with moving. I think my mantra for the next month is going to be TOO BLESSED TOO BE STRESSED!!! I have begun making my to do list. The first thing I will be doing is going through clothes, shoes, books, etc to see what we can get rid of. We haven't been in this apartment very long (since M got back in March), so we shouldn't have accumulated too much stuff. I know there will be a few things that we can get rid of though.

I am open to any and all suggestions/tips on doing a full DITY move. I hope everyone had/is having a great Tuesday.

Wow! I have so much that I could complain about today, but instead I'm going to count my blessings. I am blessed that we have a little money in the bank (and I mean a LITTLE! lol). I am blessed with a wonderful husband who would do anything for me and vice versa. I am blessed with a gorgeous dog that every one loves. I am blessed with a cat that my husband is beginning to like. I am blessed with a beautiful day outside. I am blessed to have great family and friends. I am blessed to have an AMAZING Father in Heaven that I will one day get to meet. I feel much better!!

Now that I got that out of the way, I will give you a weekend recap. Earlier in May, I post a blog titled "What Freedom Means to Me." It was for a giveaway. I won the giveaway along with someone else. I won the Angel of Freedom shown here. I love it! It's so gorgeous. It's not set out yet, but will be at wherever our next home is since we are about to move.

We didn't do anything on Friday. One of the guys from M's unit ETS'd (got out of the Army) on Sunday, so he wanted M and a group of people to play basketball on Friday. M got in around 2100 or so. Saturday we ran on post and got a couple of things and my nephew's birthday present. His birthday is 8 June and I can't believe he is one already! After that, we got home, got Tank and went to this same guys going away party. You know you have a loved dog when you pull up and everyone goes to Tank and not his owner's. LOL We stayed there for a bit and then came home and went to bed.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. We just relaxed around the house, did a little laundry to get M ready for the week and watched movies.

I hope everyone has a great and blessed week.

Reshaping It All

Right before M came home from his deployment, I read a book called Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure. It's definitely an awesome read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes her. She talks about growing up in Hollywood, her fluccuating weight, meeting her husband, raising her children, and how she found her faith.

In March, I had the opportunity to see her give her testimony. Wow, she made a powerful statement. She made me laugh. She made me cry. She made me realize that I'm not where I want to be with my faith. She made an impact on my life that night and I am forever grateful. If you ever get the chance to see her, please do! If you can't, she has her testimony on CD. You can buy it at her shop on her website.

She is a gorgeous person inside and out! I hope you have a great Wednesday!!

Edit: Because I forgot to post the pictures! Whoops. 

Weekend Update

I just wanted to type out a really quick weekend update. I'm about to leave and go get a new ID card. I will be an official Army Wife until (at least!) December 2013.

We had a great weekend. We didn't do much on Friday. We went down the road to a small roadside restaurant and M had the fish fry he has been craving. He really likes this place. He told me while we were eating that when he was little his grandfather (he called him Pa) would take him to a similar place. A place where everybody knows your name (Cheers, anyone?!? LOL), knows what food you will order, how you take your coffee, etc. It brought back really great memories for him and I loved hearing him share them. Friday night a couple of people from his squad came over. We had tacos and watched scary movies. Saturday was pretty chill. We hung out, went to post, hung out some more, went to the neighbors house and came back home to watch more scary movies. (We are on a paranormal movie kick right now. Any suggestions?) Sunday we placed Zombies on Call Of Duty Black Ops with his brother. Monday was much of the same... hanging out, Zombies and movies. We also went on a walk with Tank. It was gorgeous outside yesterday.

It was hard to get back into routine today! I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Sunny, FRG, Volunteer.... OH MY!

Today is a gorgeous day here! It's bright and sunny out. I can't wait to get outside with Tank. I just wish we had a yard so he didn't have to be on a leash or a leash free dog park somewhere nearby. Oh well, he will enjoy a walk today anyway.

Yesterday, not a lot happened. I cleaned the house and made a fabulous dinner. It really was too bad that M had an FRG thing to go to and they fed him. Don't worry, he gets leftovers tonight!! Why didn't I go to the FRG thing? First, I didn't know about it until 1200 yesterday. It was at 1700. How do they expect any kind of participation when they can't even send out an email about it?!? Second, M has the car. I have his truck. Gas and diesel is expensive in New York. I'm not drive 45 minutes one way in the truck to stay for less than an hour. I'm really crossing my fingers that our next FRG is awesome. I would really like to volunteer or something with the FRG, maybe on-post, maybe at whatever church I/we decide to go to. Hopefully, I will find something. I feel like God is telling me I need to get out there and help others more. I just have to figure out how now.

I'm reading a really awesome book right now! I can't wait to finish it so I can share it with you all. Fair warning though, it's a long book! I've been reading it on my Kindle for about two weeks now (granted not every day and some days only an hour or so), but I'm a quick reader and it's taking me a while.

Also, if you have any suggestions on a Bible study, please leave me a comment or send an email... just put Bible study in the subject.

I hope everyone has a beautifully blessed day!

Quick Update

Afternoon Everyone!! I hope everyone had a great weekend and a great start to the work week if you work. This morning was a bit hectic for us. M's alarm clock didn't go off, but we only got up ten minutes later than it was set for. However, we still had to run around and get everything ready for him to get out the door. We were running so far behind he had to drink a Slim Fast for breakfast before PT. (Don't worry! I packed him an after PT breakfast as well!)

Our weekend was great, other than Friday. He was suppose to get off work around 1530. Unfortunately, he got home around 2100. We had a late supper and then went over to the neighbors to hang out for a bit. We had to run on post early Saturday morning (0800... not THAT early, but we live 45 minutes away from post) and then I got introduced to being an NCO's wife. We got a phone call early Saturday morning (around 0400), but nothing was said. We figured M had been butt dialed. M got another phone call around 0745 Saturday morning, which turned into an all morning into early afternoon affair. I finally came home around 1200 and M got home around 1400. (It happened about three minutes away from us.) After that happened and everything got solved, we took a nap. After our nap, we headed back to the neighbors house where they grilled us some yummy food. We hung out, drank a little, and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday, we had to run back to post because we didn't get everything finished on Saturday. After that, we just hung around the house, played video games and looked at houses at our next duty station.

I hope everyone's weekend was as wonderful (minus the incident!) as ours was. BE BLESSED!!!

What Freedom Means To Me

Manda over at My Explosive Life as an EOD Tech's Wife is having a giveaway. To enter this giveaway, I'm writing a blog post on what freedom means to me. If any of my followers go to her blog and start following Manda (which you should because she's awesome!), leave her a comment on this post and tell her you found her through me. Thanks! Now then, on to my entry...

Freedom to me means sacrifice. I was blessed to be born in America. I was blessed that many, many people before me sacrificed their time with their families for me to enjoy the freedoms that I have today. I AM blessed today by the many people (including my handsome husband!) who sacrifice their time with family to protect my freedom. I have the freedom to go where I want, do what I want and when I want. I can't imagine living any other way. I will never have to know what it's like to be turned away because I'm a woman. I will never have to know what it's like to say I can't do this or that because of the color of my skin. I will never know what it's like to be punished because of what religion I am. When you sit down and look at the facts, we are so blessed and we take it for granted mostly. If I want to protest something I don't like, I can because somebody sacrificed for me to be able to protest. If I want to disagree with someone, I can because someone sacrificed for me to have freedom of speech. We couldn't have the freedoms we have today with someone sacrificing something for a country that they love.

WE ARE BLESSED!! Take the time out of your day to look around and see the beautiful things in the world, not everything else.

Anniversary Update

As you all know, our anniversary was Thursday. In a way, Blogger being down was a good thing for me. I stayed off the internet and spent time with M. He worked Thursday, but he was off Friday and will be off Sunday and Monday. They have a four day weekend, but unfortunately, he got CQ (24 Hour Duty) today.

We didn't do anything on Thursday. Yesterday, we went to a bigger city and ate at a Mexican restaurant. It was okay. Nothing spectacular about it. We went early... M says that's what happens when you have kids AKA Tank and Shadow. We did find a little shop that made us excited about hiking, camping, and all things that summer brings. Anyway, we got to the restaurant around 1630 and got home around 1900. We spent the next couple of hours playing Borderlands on the PS3.

Today, M is at work and I will be cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. There is no telling what we will do on Sunday and Monday.

Have a great weekend!! Be Blessed~

Wordless Wednesday

Just some pictures of us in celebration of our anniversary tomorrow.

It has been four years of love, fights, tears, anger, moves, separations, deployments,

TDYs, missed holidays, loneliness, employment/unemployment, etc, etc, etc

I wouldn't change a minute of it... except maybe the deployment! 

I can't wait to see what the next four years brings us!

I love you, M!!