Keep Calm and Soldier On

Memorial Day 2011

2011-06-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

How Could I Have Forgotten?

2011-05-07T21:04:00.001-07:00

to include this picture in the Easter post?

My poor son has my crazy hair... I swear I combed it down before I left the house!

The Confession Files

2011-05-07T20:42:00.001-07:00

When I read this post at Huckleberry Prairie, I knew I had to write a confession of my own.

Earlier this week when I was driving onto post to take Joseph to our Infant Massage class, I saw him standing in front of the big Fort Hood sign by the Main Gate. He's Doug Currin, the evening anchor on the news... and my deployment crush. I think that I think he's so darn cute because he sort of looks like E. Looking back, I wish I'd have pulled over and asked for him to take a picture with Joseph, ha!

Yes, I know I'm a nerd. I was so excited that I nearly swerved and drove up an MP's tailpipe. Oops! I bet E would have loved to get that email!

I also had a finger spasm and accidently bought this:

That's what I'm telling E anyway! ;) The quilt we have on the bed (that I may have just bought...) doesn't quite match our bedroom, so it's going to be relocated to the guest bedroom. I saw this one and slobbered a little because I thought it was so pretty! I just love quilts-- they are so pretty and comfy! Plus it's actually pieced and not just one piece of printed fabric-- I got it for a steal!

So yes, I have a crush on a news guy and made an impulse buy that I didn't really need.

My mom would always tell me that I was old enough to know the difference between a want and a need-- I always tell E that I know the difference, but things like this are a need!

Joseph's First Easter

2011-05-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

Have y'all seen the Totally Ticklish Duck from Hallmark? That thing is hilarious! Joseph doesn't think much of it yet, but I'm sure he will when he gets a bit older. I didn't know what to get him for Easter-- I mean, what DO you buy a newborn for Easter?-- so that's what he got.

Oh, a little boy in overalls-- there's nothing sweeter in the world :)

The Birth Story

2011-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

10 weeks ago tonight, E and I decided to go on one last date before little man was born. I was going about my business and getting ready-- about ready to step in the shower-- when my water broke! I was in such shock that I didn't know if it had really happened and I wondered if I was getting a weird end-of-pregnancy thing where one starts peeing herself, ha! I mean, I like to think I'm a little more sophisticated than that!

So E and I get ready and head on post to the hospital-- they checked to make sure that my water really had broken, and then informed me that they didn't have a bed available for me. No, I'm not joking! Thank God I wasn't having contractions then, otherwise I might have really hurt someone! They told us we could either wait for a bed (um, no) or go to a hospital off post (yes, please!). Looking back, we were SO lucky to be sent to an off-post hospital, especially when all I hear are complaints about the one on post. I take these complaints with a grain of salt, though, as they usually come from those whiney, nothing-makes-me-happy Army wives. Anyway, E and I went back home to set up everything for Buddy since we'd be 45 minutes away rather than just 10, and then we set off for the hospital!

When we got there, they had to give me something to start labor, and then the fun began-- contractions. Throughout pregnancy I had seriously thought about giving birth naturally, but let me tell you, when I felt that first painful contraction (which I didn't know were contractions at that time), I wanted medicated and right that moment! They gave me something which made me feel completely intoxicated, but it wore off quickly so I was then offered an epidural. It was wonderful! I was numb from my belly button down, the way God intended childbirth to be, ha!

Throughout the night they kept checking me for dilation and to keep readjusting the straps that monitored the baby because I was moving around too much--oops! I wasn't able to sleep, but I did get some rest and it seemed like everytime I looked at the clock, a few hours had already passed. I was for sure that it would have felt like time was dragging. In the morning my new nurse came in to introduce herself. I have to say, we couldn't have asked for a better nurse-- she was AWESOME! After noon I was finally dilated to a full 10 and it was time to try out some practice pushes. There was a big roadblock in the way, though-- my wonderful, beautiful epidural had worn off on the right side of my body. I was in so much pain that when they had me try to push, I could only hold out for three seconds. They tried to get the anesthesiolgist in to fix my problem, but he was with another pregnant lady. It seemed like it took him the longest time to get to me and I was so ready to tear into him when he got in the room-- I really thought I'd end up yelling things that would even make my husband blush. So I finally get remedicated and the nurses position me to help me labor down. A little while later they came into to let me do some practice pushes again, after explaining to me that a woman usually pushes for 2-3 hours with her first child. This time when I tried to push, I could push for the entire 10 seconds, and with the second push, I had literally pushed the baby down quite a bit and the nurse looked shocked. So then a million people come into the room and they all put on their baby-delivering gear-- they told me that I'd be having a baby soon and I thought they were just saying that so I'd keep pushing. Well... three contractions and ten minutes later I felt an emptyness down there, and looked up at the glass on the ceiling and saw the most beautiful and precious sight I'd ever seen. I started crying so hard that my nurse almost cried too, haha! So yes, I'm pretty much a freak of nature with my baby delivering skills.

After the epidural had worn off, they took me to another room and E went home to check on the dog. While in the room, they made me watch a video about shaken baby syndrome, so that started me crying already. Then that night, with E laying on the couch on one side, and Joseph in the bassinet on my other, all I could do was just cry knowing that E would have to leave us so soon. As soon as I'd feel better a doctor would come in and talk to me about postpartum and I'd start crying again. I have to say the short time between Joseph being born and E leaving was one of the hardest in my life. Every night around dinnertime I'd just start crying and couldn't stop. I was just shocked by how emotional I was because I had really thought I had come to terms with him leaving. It almost seemed like it was a relief when he did leave, as horrible as that sounds. It seems with a deployment that two of the hardest things are waiting for them to leave, and then waiting for them to come home right before they redeploy.

I'm doing fine now with the blues and Joseph keeps me busier than I could have ever imagined. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes because it seems like I can't keep up with the house and other such things, but instead of feeling blue about that as well, I should be happy that I have so much to keep me busy. I hear from E often, and have even heard from other wives that he has been talking about Joseph a lot from their husbands! :) I just can't wait to have our whole family together again and to see E with his son-- I know Joseph is just going to be nuts about his daddy :)

So that is the birth story-- 10 minutes of pushing and I was a Mama.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some pics from Joseph's first day of life:

Two-Months Old

2011-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

A little late, of course.

He weighed 8 lbs, 13 oz. and is now 22 inches long.

He loves looking at his mama and has started to smile-- it melts my heart!

Wordless Wednesday :o)

2011-05-03T21:51:00.001-07:00

Modest is Hottest?

2011-05-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

It sure is!

Aren't these suits gorgeous?

They're pretty reasonably priced too and can be found on Lime Ricki's website.

The only problem with them is that I'd have the hardest time picking just one!

If there ever comes a day...

2011-04-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

{Winnie the Pooh image from Sprik Space. If you haven't visited her blog, you must! She has the most amazing free printables!}

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

2011-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in this week's MilSpouse Friday Fill-In hosted by Wife of a Sailor.

Here are my answers :)

1.Have you and your spouse agreed to live in separate locations (a geographical bachelor tour) knowing that the short-term inconvenience would have long-term benefits for your family? How did it work for you? submitted by When Good People Get Together
E and I have never had to make this decision and I think I'd be okay with it if it was only for a short period of time. I would never choose to be without him if it wasn't absolutely necessary, though. It's important to us that our family is together as much as possible.
2.What is your favorite thing about being a MilSpouse? submitted by Sarah Ruth Today
Besides the sense of pride I get from my husband's service to our country, I have to say my favorite thing is having a hot guy in uniform come home to me every evening, ha! He is just soooo good lookin'! I also love the military community and am blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people at the moment.
3.If you could still have your spouse/significant other and your family, but take the military life out of it…would you? submitted by Trust. Love. Believe. Bake.
I love being an Army Wife, so I'd have to say no.
4.What have your homecoming experiences been like after a year long tour of separation? submitted by Army Soldier, Army Wife
I have had two homecoming experiences, one when my Dad deployed and the second with E. My Dad deployed for 15 months with the Ohio ANG and his homecoming was magical! The town was absolutely covered in yellow ribbons and the streets were just lined with people waving flags! It was amazing knowing that so many people cared. I'm wanting to cry just thinking about it. E's was also very special-- I drove down for Ohio to Ft. Stewart with most of my belongings packed up in my little car. The night I drove on post, I had no idea where I was going and was so scared I was lost out in the boonies of Georgia. I made it on post, though, without getting lost, got parked and made it to the parade field. I didn't think to sit with the other families in the Company and I didn't even see them, so it took him extra long to find me haha! I'll never forget catching that first sight of him after 11 looong months (he deployed for 14, got the second earliest leave, so we ended up not seeing eachother for 11 months after that-- it was hard!). I swear, he had a beautiful glow around him and was so handsome! I'll never forget those precious first moments with him! There isn't a day that passes now where I don't think of his next homecoming :) I'm going to spend the rest of the time planning on how to perfectly decorate the house, car, and finding the perfect outfit for Joseph and myself :)
5.If you have a child(ren) why you chose their name(s)? If not, why you would name your child something? submitted by Tiara’s & ACU’s
E chose to name our son Joseph William after his grandfathers. I've always loved the name William and when I read what the name Joseph meant (Hebrew-- God will increase), I fell in love with it, too. Joseph is my little blessing and God has definitely increased the joy in our lives with him! I'm convinced that our next little one will be a boy as well and I would love to name him Jacob. :) There's no particular reason, but I do love Biblical names, names that aren't too trendy (I don't want my children having names that every other kid will have), and names that actually mean something. I think Joseph and Jacob are good, strong names for sweet little boys :)

2011-04-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

Guess who Joseph got to meet?

That's right, Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer!

We even got a signed picture, too! He recently visited the Hood and taped a show-- I'm really looking forward to seeing it!

Some people even brought their dogs, but I left Buddy at home since I didn't think they'd let dogs into the PX, especially since there is a food court at the front entrance. He wouldn't have enjoyed it though, especially seeing that bad, bad (according to him) man holding his little brother! ha!

Oh, and poor Joseph totally has Donald Trump hair... I just can't seem to keep it neat!

Tail Wagging Tuesday and Texas Bluebonnets

2011-04-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with C Mae again this week for Tail Wagging Tuesday. Sometimes I think I join in just because I feel guilty that Buddy isn't getting all the attention that he wants since the baby came. Luckily for me, though, he loves his little brother so he doesn't get too upset. :)

Anyway, this weeks theme is your pets favorite toy. Buddy has had a series of favorite toys (all of which has has destroyed by biting the sqeaker to death), but this one is his favorite:

Meet Oinkerton. He had a sqeaker that Buddy destroyed within a week, but he still loves playing with it. Since then he has had two replacements, but destroyed both of those within an hour (by tearing their ears off!) so he's stuck with the unsqueaking original. I just love that Buddy is so playful and plays with all of the toys we have bought. One of the best things about him is that he just lives that little life to the fullest!

In other news, Joseph and I are going to have our pictures taken by her this weekend with Bluebonnets! It's something that I just have to do while in Texas! (At every post, I make a list of location-specific things I want to do, and this is on my TX list :))

Aren't they gorgeous?! E doesn't know that we're getting them, so that will be a nice surprise for him to get. I think it'll be a good morale booster :)

Also, I'm REALLY bad at keeping surprises from my husband, so let's see if I can do it this time!

My guess is no, ha!

Tail Wagging Tuesday

2011-04-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

C Mae over at Live What You Love came up with a new link party about one of my favorite things, pets! I know, I know, I'm one of those crazies who loves her dog too much, but Buddy is such a sweet boy and he was our first baby! Dogs really are a part of the family.

This weeks theme was to pick your most treasured photo of your pet and to post the picture. It was so hard to pick just one, but I have to say this would be my favorite:

Okay, so I'm cheating and posting two, but I love this one!:

Buddy is absolutely nuts about the baby and is never too far away. :) He's so protective of him and has to check on him whenever we get home from going somewhere. I'm glad he loves him, because I was sure that Buddy would have been so jealous!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2011-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

E and I have been married for 2 years today!

He's the best husband I could have ever wished for!

I love him (and his little boy, too!) more than words can say! Here's to many more years together! :)

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

2011-04-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is my first time participating in Wife of a Sailor's MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

Here are my answers:

1.What romance movie scene reminds you of your s/o or spouse and the LOVE you share? submitted by Simply Sunshine and Daisy’s.

The scene I'm thinking of doesn't remind me of E and myself, but the quote does: Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with. Mac MacGuff from Juno. Juno was the first movie E and I saw together in a theater and when this was quoted in the movie, E leaned over to give me a kiss :)

2.If you were allowed to deploy with your husband to a war zone would you and why? submitted by I & J

I'm a wimp, so no. Plus E would never let me. Not that he tells me what I'm allowed and not allowed to do, but I think he'd have something to say about that. 3.Have you ever done anything (intentionally, or unintentionally) to embarrass your spouse/significant other in front of his military cohorts? submitted by Marrying the Navy I'm not sure if I've ever unintentionally embarrassed him-- if I haven't already, I'm sure I will because I'm a ding dong!-- but I would NEVER embarrass him intentionally.

4.What is your most irrational fear? submitted by Eights on the Move

This is EXTREMELY irrational, but I'm terrified that a snake will get into the house while E is away. It doesn't help either that I have the imagination of a child...

5.If you could only live in one kind of climate for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? submitted by Many Waters

Oh, this is a tough one! I really like the weather in Central Texas, but I think I could do without the extreme heat in the summertime. Otherwise it's lovely!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

2011-04-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Since I'm a brand new Mama, I've decided to participate in this year's Ultimate Blog Party, a blog party to meet and network with other moms who blog, over at 5minutesformom.com. All of you Mamas out there should go check it out! :) There are tons of prizes to win also!

For those of you visiting from the Blog Party, Welome to My Blog!

I'm Becky! I am:

-married to E, an amazingly handsome Officer in the U.S. Army

- a brand new Mama to Joseph, aka "The Hunky Monkey"

- and also the Mama to Buddy, a Coton de Tulear (French for spoiled rotten, ha!) pup, who kindly shares his home with us.

I love being an Army wife, most of the time, and love that I'm one of the few women out there who can say that she's married to a Hero.

In my spare time, I LOVE to take an insane number of pictures of my son, read, sew and do anything crafty! Here are some of my recent favorite ideas:

Car Seat Canopy ♥ Baby Nerd Shirt ♥ Sensory Tag Blankie

I also love baking and trying new recipes and will be looking for healthy/healthier recipes as my family continues to grow :)

Unfortunately, between feedings, diaper changes and laundry, I don't have too much time for this stuff anymore, but I wouldn't trade those moments with Joseph for anything in the world :)

Because he is my first and I'm playing both Mommy and Daddy while my husband is away "on business," I often feel like I don't know what in the world I'm doing! I'd love to connect with other blogging moms out there for tips, support and ideas!

By the way, for those of you with little ones in Huggies diapers, they are offering coupons on their facebook page (3.50 if you're willing to share the link via facebook, email, etc). Target.com is offering a 2.50 coupon and when you use them together, you can save $6.00 on a 60 count or higher package of diapers-- hope some of you can use this! :)

Dear Old Navy

2011-03-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Please stop adding such cute clothes to your site. Although my husband is an amazing provider for our family, we are not made of money!

I've decorated Joseph's room with monkies and I LOVE dressing him in clothes with monkies on them too. Aren't these just too precious?!

And then there is this one:

Joseph is MY little hunky monkey!

I mean, with a face like this, how can he not be?

I LOVE when he makes his little monkey faces! :)

One Month Old

2011-03-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

There is just no way a whole month has passed already!

And oh what a difference just a month makes!

Joseph, you and your Daddy (and maybe even Buddy, ha!) are proof to me that God hears and answers our prayers.
I am truly blessed.

Joseph William

2011-03-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Our Sweet Boy is Here!

E and I welcomed Joseph into our lives on February 26th-- the little guy's due date!

We are in LOVE!

Joey's Crib Bedding

2010-11-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

Fed Ex dropped Joey's mattress off this morning, so I was finally able to put his crib all together!

E and I picked this:

Um, maybe it's more like I picked it out and he paid for it, ha! We didn't buy the complete room set, just the crib set, mobile and diaper stacker. I really love it, especially the colors. Now all I need is my sweet little boy here to make it complete :)

Here's what it looks like on our crib:

I "borrowed" the picture from Babies R Us and loved that they had it displayed on the same crib we bought!

If you can't tell, there are little monkies embroidered on the quilt and bumper. I think monkies are so cute for little boys and Joey already has so many things with monkies on them-- it'll be appropriate for my little monkey :)

Now I'm off to bake some pies and to get my Turkey brine ready!

2010-11-21T10:52:00.000-08:00

During the past month I have:

- found out that I have gestational diabetes. However, I am extrememly borderline and I'm having no problem controlling it by making minor tweaks to my diet.

- attended the FORSCOM FRG Symposium in Washington D.C., learned so much, and had a blast! I only wish my handsome soldier could have been there with me...

- said "see ya later" to my husband for a month.

- spent only a week in Texas, during which we found out that we are having a

BOY!

It looks like Joseph William will be joining us soon :)

- went to visit my friends and family in Ohio, where I had my lovely baby shower :)

The theme (which we will be using for Joey's room also) was baby blue and brown with monkies.

- came back to TX where an amazingly handsome soldier met me at the airport.

Yes, I am talking about my husband, ha!

- bought Joey's mattress and crib set, made E go to Babies R Us (one can imagine his delight), and bought our very first Christmas tree!

- Have been an awful blogger, but I will be better soon, I promise!

This week I will be decorating said tree, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for some of E's soldiers and their families, and will get Joey's crib put together :)

I will blog more later!

Book Club

2010-10-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

This week I went to my first ever book club meeting. I have been looking for a book club since E and I moved here-- I was absolutely ecstatic when I realized there was one through the Officer's Spouse's Club on post.

I set out yesterday with my copy of Eat, Pray, Love in hand when I heard the song "My Humps" on the radio. Is it sad when I hear that song I automatically think of my husband and brother-in-law?

Let me just say that they sing a mean karaoke version of the song, which was only made better by the fact that alcohol was involved.

♥ The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsen

♥ The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

♥ Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

♥ Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

♥ Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

♥ The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas

♥ The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel

I'm really excited to read some of these books!

I'm 2/3 of the way through The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and I'm really enjoying it! It's historical fiction, which I love, and I might just have to pick up a nonfiction biography on her too.

Thank goodness it's Friday!

True Blood for Kids?

2010-09-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged about this yet, but earlier this summer (it still feels like summer here in TX) I developed a huge infatution with True Blood. I seriously have seen every episode twice. I sing the theme song to E every time it comes on (I'm sure he loves it! ha!) and I may or may not ask him to pronounce my name like Bill pronounces Sookie's. Sook-eh!

I also read all of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I was actually kind of sad when I finished up the last one, as I don't know when the next one is due out...

True Blood is also a show that is not suitable for children... at all.

That is, until Sesame Street made a spoof of the show!

You can see the video here.

Yay for Mommy and Baby bonding!

Time for a Change

2010-09-21T16:24:00.001-07:00

For quite some time now, I've been contemplating a new name for my blog. I made one change, but it wasn't really me.

So I thought... and I thought... and thought some more.

Hey, give me a break, I'm pregnant and Baby S has taken over my brain! :)

Anyway, I finally found one that fit:

Keep Calm and Soldier On.

It fits for quite a few reasons:

- I'm very uptight and high strung, and I need to learn to keep calm.

- I'm facing an upcoming deployment.

- I'm facing the upcoming birth of our first child, which my husband may or may not be here for.

- I'm somewhat worried about raising this child on my own.

- I'm bound and determined to thrive through this next deployment and not just survive it.

I think it fits me perfectly :)

* * * * *

Lastly, I've been sick on the couch for the last few days. My husband went to California, and all he brought home for me was a stinkin' cold!

I still love him, though. :)

Fall Into Reading, 2010

2010-09-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to stumble upon Fall Into Reading again this year!
My list last fall ended up being a huge mess because I'd keep adding/ deleting books along the way, so maybe this year I'll be able to stick to my list... maybe ;)
Freedom by Johnathon Franzen
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather B. Armstrong
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? by Jen Lancaster
The Confessions of Catherine De Medici by C.W. Gortner
My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I'm going to leave it at that--I'm sure I'll change it again later!

Boy or Girl?

2010-09-17T12:24:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if I've put it out on here or not, but E and I are hoping for a boy.

Now, of course we'll be absolutely thrilled with either a boy or a girl, but we'd still prefer a boy for many reasons.

E wants a boy, because, well, what man doesn't want a son?

I, on the other hand, am absolutely terrified that if we have a girl that she'll turn out like me. My mom will pretend that I was a good child now (she's just really happy with me, as I'm providing her with her first grandchild, ha!), but, to put it mildly, I was a little a-hole. Then I went through puberty and went from being an a-hole to a full blown psychopath. True, I did mellow out as I got older, but I don't think I could handle another little "me" running around. Although I'm sure every parent ends up with a "mini me", ha!

Here's an example of me being an a-hole:

I was five-years-old when my mom was pregnant with my youngest brother, Mark, and she lost her footing and fell down a step outside. I saw her fall from my bedroom window, but instead of being a good child... I pointed and laughed... while jumping on my bed like a monkey.... I used to think that was a great story, but now, not so much. It's actually causing me lots of anxiety.

My mom also has some of my bad behavior caught on tape. For Mark's birthday, she has footage of me ripping my other brother a new one for messing up "Happy Birthday," even though I practiced the words with him all day; me stomping out of the room because my mom wouldn't let me help cut the cake; and me pushing down the neighborhood boy... just because I could.

I'm really, REALLY regretting all of the times I was bad or mouthy with my mom and she'd say "I hope your kids turn out just like you," because I'm afraid it will. I'm sure my mom is absolutely loving knowing that I'm squirming with fear about this!

I just tell E that I hope we have a boy and that he grows up to be just like his daddy, because it's really not fair for him to also be punished for me being such a rotten, stubborn, bratty child :)

God help us!

2010-09-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have to say, being pregnant has definitely made me feel like a woman, but at the same time, there have been things that make me feel like less of a woman....

like my pregnancy-induced aversion to Chick-fil-A.

How sad is that?

I can also smell everything! And it's never good smells! I took the trash out to the curb last week and was gagging the entire way because I caught a whiff of the trash can. I nearly puked into the flower bed and I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm crazy now.

We will have our 20-ish week ultrasound on October 6th, where we will found out baby's gender (if he or she is cooperating, of course). I'm feeling very impatient and almost desperate because I want to know right now! I want to buy that precious baby some clothes! It's so frustrating because Old Navy has the cutest baby clothes ever on sale right now... I'm sure they'll go back on sale again around Christmas though :)

I've been reading It Sucked and Then I Cried. Certain parts where she talks about her baby are so sweet and touching that I can't help but to cry. I'm so happy to be pregnant (although lately I've been very tired and nauseous all the time-- baby is worth it, though!) and I can't wait to hold my little one for the first time. I can't tell if I'll be more excited to hold Baby for the first time, or if I'm more excited to see E hold Baby for the first time :) I'm sure it'll all be wonderful :)

Guilt-Free Cleaning

2010-09-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

I bought a few cleaning products today, and I must say that I am very pleased with the result.

The first things that I bought was this:

My shower looks amazing and all of those pesky hard water spots are gone!

I also use their laundry detergent, as well as other household cleaners.

They usually smell very good (I'm not a fan of a few of the scents, though) and I don't have to worry about getting myself (or the baby, for that matter) high off of icky, strong smelling chemicals.

I also love Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products, especially the Lemon Verbena. It does a good job cleaning and it smells nice and fragrant, not fake and chemical.

I have a big bottle of the all purpose cleaner that I use a lot. It's a bit pricey, but when you dilute it according to the directions, it actually goes quite a long way!

My new favorites are these room sprays:

I'm so in love with the Lemon Verbena scent, but they also have Basil, Lavendar, and Geranium, which I bet smells amazingly good. I bought a bottle of the Lavendar scent for the bedroom since it's supposed to be calming/ good for sleepy time.

Well, that's all-- I'm off to go sniff my house!

2010-09-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend E and I got an amazing deal on baby furniture!

I was just tickled pink when I saw the Target ad in the newspaper and they had the crib I wanted on the very front page. They had it at a great price AND they offered the changing table for free with purchase of a crib.

So here's what our sweet baby ended up with:

{we have a very conceited "big brother." He always thinks that I'm taking pictures of him! :)}

* * * * * * * * * *

I call this thing the Deployment Survivor-- I'm pretty sure this will be good to have while I'm raising baby on my own for a while. I bet Buddy will be so jealous when I don't let him in there with the baby!

I was so excited to pick up these things that I came home and immediately put them together, with a little help from E, of course :)

Now our nursery looks more like a, well, nursery! :)

Have a good weekend!

Eight Questions

2010-09-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

The lovely K from All the Small Things tagged me in the 8 Questions game, so here are my answers:

{by the way, if you're not reading her blog, you should. She is a good friend of my husband's from college, a fellow Army Significant Other, and a super sweet girl!}

1. Do you prefer movies or TV shows?

Definitely TV shows-- I can't stand to sit still long enough to watch a movie. I know that drives E nuts too! :) He can watch movies all day like it's nobody's business.

2. What is your favorite sport (and team) or at least the sport you can stand watching?

Football and the Ohio State Buckeyes :)

3. What is one decision that you still wonder "What If" you did something differently?

I try not to ask myself that question because I honestly think that things happen for a reason. However, I sometimes wonder what my life would be like without my husband, especially since we could have very easily not come across each other's path.

4. What do you love most about yourself? (personality or looks)

I think my eyes are awfully pretty and that's about it haha :)

5. What is your biggest pet peeve?

The Army. No, I'm joking. At the moment, it would have to be hearing people complain about every little thing, especially when he or she is to blame. I also like hearing that officers make more money than enlisted soldiers... a lot. I'm pretty certain that it's common knowledge that a college education = better pay.

6. Beach or Pool?

Definitely beach! I love the sand, the ocean waves and collecting shells. I still have a vase full of shells that E picked up for me on the beach the day after we got married and the sand dollar my younger brother found and gave to me, although I know he really wanted to keep it for himself!

7. What is a bad habit you have? Do you want to break it or not?

I worry too much and I let little things bother me. I have gotten better and I'm still trying, so yes, this is definitely a habit I want to break!

8. Why did you start blogging?

To keep family and friends updated on our life, since we're both so far from home. No one from back home reads it though, ha! I do love the military community on here, though, and it would have done me a world of good during E's last deployment. There are just too many other Mil Spouse forums out there that are pretty much just wives complaining... about everything. I can't deal with that.

Anyone want to steal these questions? Baby S has control of my brain today, so I'm having a hard time coming up with new questions. Thanks again, K!

Oh, Baby!

2010-09-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

{bought for the entrance of Baby JW or ME's room}

I've been an awful blogger lately, and I have no problem blaming it on the pregnancy. Well, having pregnancy brain anyway. And yes, it's real! :)

And I've been a little down in the dumps too, and no one wants to hear about that anyway.

It is raining today in Texas! It's a perfect day to curl up on the couch with my hound dog and a book! Someone said it was supposed to rain for the next five, or so, days? I hope so, as our grass has been burnt to a crisp by the sun! You can tell which part of the yard gets shade for the greater part of the day, because it's still green, whereas the part that gets the most sun is either brown or looks like straw. Speaking of our yard, I have never seen weeds like there are in Texas! They are obviously mutant weeds, because you'll weed one day, and have weeds again the next! I guess once the weather cools down (enough to the point where I won't have to worry about hard boiling the baby), I'll tackle the weeds at least.

Speaking of baby, I am 15 weeks pregnant ( 4 months) and s/he is 4 inches long from crown to rump, which is about as long as an average sized orange! Baby is already growing like a weed, and by next Saturday it'll have grown another 0.6 inches. They say that I might start feeling movement around 16 to 18 weeks. I think I'm already feeling some movement, but I'm not sure. I'm so happy to be pregnant, but at the same time I'm terrified that something will happen to Baby or that it won't be healthy when it's born. I'm sure every mother has those thoughts, though, and the only thing I can do is keep myself healthy and pray :)

E and I went to Target yesterday and bought furniture for the Baby, but I'll share that later. We planned on waiting until December, when he'll actually be home consistently and he'll get some leave, to make our big purchases. I found such good deals on things, though, that we went and got them early. Oh well, we got great deals and it made me happy :) Our nursery is starting to look more like a, well, nursery. When we first moved into this house, we didn't plan for a baby, so we kind of used up all of our space... When we got pregnant, I kept telling E that I was going to move his brand-new desk and all of his office stuff out to the garage... where his car is usually parked haha! I was nice, though, and rearranged the guest bedroom, so that there is plenty of room in there for the baby's stuff and the extra bed. Plus, I've had to get creative with organization, which doesn't bother me at all! :)

Anyway... I went thrift-store shopping last week and found this:

Yes, a Cuisinart Ice Cream/ Yogurt/ Sorbet maker. I was worried about buying it and it not working. I took a chance and paid the 4.99 plus tax and brought it home. Luckily for me, it works! I've already made some quite tasty vanilla ice cream and a batch of frozen peach yogurt!
Best $5 I ever spent, ha!

ho hum

2010-08-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Silly me. I went through the trouble of tweaking the html for the pics on my last post and didn't even bother to put "click here for info." I ended up buying this beauty.

E has been in the field lately and it's way too quiet without him. I hate to sound like a wimp, but I feel like I've just been sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, and waiting for him. It seems like he's going to be gone more than he'll be here, and then he'll deploy. I missed all of this the last time he deployed, because, well, we met one month before he left.

I know when the baby comes that I'll have more than enough to keep me busy, especially since it'll probably be rotten just like it's father! ;) I've also joined a few groups on post to keep me busy as well, and to get out of the house every once in a while. I joined the Officer's Spouse's Club, and three other clubs within that-- Book Club (I've been looking for a serious one since we arrived at "the Hood"!), Creative Cooking, and Quilting. I'm sure being the FRG leader will also keep me busy, although it's already burning me out....

I had a fun shopping trip on Saturday with a girl whose husband works with E. I bought some fabric for my first Quilting Club quilt, some kitchen utensils, and other stuff. I'll blog about my other good buys later :) I also went over to her house for dinner that night and I had pesto for the first time-- yummy! We finished up the evening watching Fried Green Tomatoes, which I love! Speaking of, I've been craving fried green tomatoes SO bad!! And speaking of cravings (ha!) the pregnancy is going well. I'm anxious to find out the gender of baby (I'll have 5 more weeks to wait after this weekend) so I can start shopping! Maybe I'll even share an embarassing pregnancy story on here.... later, of course :)

Wedding Gifts

2010-08-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my Aunt Mariko and Uncle Earnie sent E and me a wedding gift. Yes, it was more than a year late but for good reason. My Aunt "Koko" is Japanese and her mother died right before I was married. According to Japanese tradition, when one is mourning, they do not celebrate anything (weddings included) for one year after the death. So anyway, they sent a nice chunk of change and E and I bought these in preparation for Baby:

I have too much fun steaming my floors! This thing is an absolute beast, let me tell you what. I cleaned my kitchen with it, and then ran my Swiffer WetJet over it and there was nothing on the swiffer pad! I LOVE it! I also love that it doesn't spew out hot water, so that Buddy won't get hurt when he gets too close, which he does, 'cause he's rotten like that! :o)

We also bought this because, well, Buddy still has the occassional accident. And I want to make sure that our carpets are clean before we have a baby crawling over them. I can also use it to clean the couches, which is good :)

I'm really pleased with my gifts and would recommend them both! They're pretty awesome cleaning machines!

Love at First Sight ♥

2010-08-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

It's funny how an

"I love you"

can turn into

"Will you be my wife?"

which led to

"you're going to be a Daddy!"

Oh how we're in love!

Swish, Swish, Swish!

2010-08-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

E and I went to my first "real" OB appointment yesterday. I had heard bad things about my midwife, so I was already a little nervous, but I was going in there with an open mind! Anyway, the nurse comes to get me and attempts to take my blood pressure. The cuff kept blowing up... and up... and up to the point where it hurt, and I've never had issues with having my blood pressure checked. The thing squeezed so hard that it bruised the inside of my elbow. So by the time she finally gets the machine to work, my blood pressure had gone up because I was getting mad.

So then E and I get sent to another room and we meet the midwife. I have to say that I really liked her. She really seemed to have my best interests at heart without acting all "buddy buddy" with me. We went over my medical history and she told me that I was definitely on the ball because she didn't have to explain everything to me. I'm not one of those people who wait to ask questions-- if I have a question, I'll either stick my nose into a book or look on the internet until I've got an answer. Plus, I've been planning for baby for quite a while, so I was pretty educated about it all before we even got pregnant.

Anyway, at the end of the appointment, E and I got to hear the most precious sound in the whole world, our sweet baby's heartbeat. I'm already in love!

Because I have such a strong family history of diabetes, my midwife scheduled a first trimester ultrasound just to be sure of baby's gestational age and to make sure he or she is not growing too fast. Hopefully I'll be fine as I don't have diabetes and my blood sugar always tests just fine. I'm excited to be able to hear AND see baby! My next appt. is in five weeks, and then at the one after that, we should find out baby's sex (although E swears up and down that it's a boy). Hopefully he doesn't jinx us, as I kind of want a boy too.

By the way, I hate when people ask what we're hoping for and we'll say "boy" then they'll say, "well, it doesn't matter as long as it's healthy."

Really? I wasn't aware of that!

Okay, that's enough. :)

College Survival 101: The husband's favorite college food.

2010-08-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

While in college- when my husband wasn't living off of ramen, cafeteria food, and beer- he'd occasionally make himself pizza bread for dinner. When we moved in together after his first deployment, we'd have this almost once a week.

Now, this is a pretty simple recipe and nothing fancy, and a few of you have asked for the recipe. Hopefully this doesn't disappoint! :)

All you need:

1 loaf of french/ italian bread (the stuff you'll find in the deli/ bakery part of the grocery store)
1 can/jar/bottle of pizza sauce
mozzarella
pizza toppings of your choice

Slice the bread in half horizontally, and then down the middle vertically so you have four equal pieces of bread.
Add sauce and then toppings and cheese.
Bake at 400 until cheese looks hot and melted, being careful to not burn the bread
Enjoy!

This usually makes two good meals for us. I've found that it tastes better the next day, so if I'm making it for dinner tonight, I'll make it in the morning so the sauce will have a chance to really sink into the bread. I don't know why but it tastes better!

E's favorite study snack was usually a dip he made using one part sour cream and one part salsa mixed together. He'd eat that with tortilla chips, tacos and sometimes as a sandwich spread.

I pretty much lived off of Spagetti-Os in college, so sorry, no recipes from me.

And I know I've been a bad blogger lately. Being pregnant has left me with no motivation... to do anything. I'm really waiting to hit that second trimester mark, because everyone tells me that I'll feel better then. I hope so, because my poor house is suffering! Being pregnant has also made me feel braindead. I mean, there is nothing going on in there! ha!

Anyway, I'll be posting more. I promise.

I can't stop crying!

2010-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the pregnancy, I've found myself crying over the most ridiculous things. Okay, they're not necessarily ridiculous, but they're certainly not things I would have cried over pre-pregnancy.

The first really strange thing I cried over was the Ambush Makeover segment on Today with Kathi Lee and Hoda, where a little girl wanted her mother to have a makeover and not because she thought her mother was ugly or frumpy but because she just wanted something nice for her. Okay, so maybe I'm crying again thinking of it... geez, louise.

I also cried over another segment on the Today Show about this precious ederly couple. To see the clip, click here. Are they not the most precious and sweet couple ever?

Seeing soldiers and babies together make me cry (I'm talking about in photos), which is understandable.

Also, I have also cried over pretty serious things such as the unfortunate "d" word, and last night I found out that one of my college professors passed away after a long battle with cancer. I went to a very small school so everyone knew everyone else and we were more like a family than anything else. He was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in the English department and he left behind a wife and a daughter who is still in high school. My heart just breaks for them. That being said, please keep them in your prayers :)

How I Ended up Pregnant

2010-07-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

When a man and a woman love each other...

No, it's not going to be that kind of post, ha! And I think ya'll know how it happens anyway... hopefully. With that being said, I'm just saying now that I'm not going to be writing every disgusting pregnancy detail on here to gross ya'll out/ make you wanna go get your tubes tied. First of all, I'm enough of a lady to not to that, and secondly, I don't like hearing it myself.

Anyway, back to how I ended up pregnant. Let's just say that a deployment is coming up for our family. The date was a comfortable distance away and I was comfortable (well, as comfortable with it as I could be) with that tentative date. Recently we found out that the date has been pushed up... a lot. After we found that out I jokingly told Erik that we were going to end up getting pregnant now that he'd be leaving sooner than later. Two weeks later...

we find out we're expecting.

We're both happy although it's also bittersweet knowing that he'll miss the baby's first year. I'm trying not to get too worked up about that because I'm defintely not the first nor will I be the last to go through this. I feel like the Army has me in a choke hold, though, and the more I try to not think about it and take advantage of the time we have left, the worse it seems to get. I'm sure there is a pill for my anxiety although I'm sure said pill would probably pickle our child.

I'm also a little worried about incorporating Buddy into the welcoming-baby-home process although I think he'll really be good. He tries so hard to be helpful, bless his heart, so I think with a little work that he'll be great with the baby. We're worried though about changing diapers-- we'll have to be careful leaving dirty diapers around Buddy because I know the little sicko will see them and think, "snack wrap, yay!" Not that we're going to leave dirty diapers around but Buddy is smart and fast! It is quite humbling to be college educated and then outsmarted on a daily basis by a dog.

In other pregnancy news, I am grumpy all the time! Everything bothers me and I'm having a hard time calming my crazy self down sometimes. For instance, the other day I was feeling particularly "pleasant" and I came up with this idea brought about by a facebook session:

I think I will send a student loan bill for the month to anyone who says something so stupid or grammatically incorrect that it makes me dumber.

See? I told ya'll I was grumpy :)

We're Expecting!

2010-06-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

I want to preface this by saying that God is good!

E and I jokingly made up a three-step plan to prepare ourselves for parenthood right before we were married and discussing "big picture" things.

We decided that step one would be to get the Amaryllis bulb my mom bought us for Christmas that year to bloom. For me, not killing a plant is a big thing! Lo and behold, the plant grew and bloomed into a beautiful white flower. We took our plantchild across the country to AZ, and then halfway back to TX. I thought all of that travelling across the hottest parts of the country would have killed it, but it's starting to grow this year and I can't wait for it to bloom again!

* * * * *

E and I also decided to get a dog once we moved to AZ.

So this little guy was step two, although the quality of our puppy parenting is obviously questionable, ha!

We joked by saying if we didn't screw up on steps one and two that we could think about starting a family. Yeah, so Buddy might be a little rotten, but we love him nonetheless. We also said that we wanted to wait a year before we started trying. That was actually my idea. So of course a month after we were married I started getting baby fever in the worst kind of way and somehow talked E into starting to try. Months came and went and still no pregnancy. I've always had a feeling that I would have a hard time conceiving so the past months have been pretty emotional. It's pretty heartbreaking to want something so bad only to think that you'll never be able to have it.

So you can imagine our surprise when I found out early this week that E and I are expecting! It just so happened that we did get our first year of marriage (plus an extra month for good measure) just to ourselves. I like to think God was looking out for us because looking back, we really needed it!

We are both so excited that we can barely stand ourselves! And our moms... well they're pretty much crazy with joy, ha!

All of this being said, please pray for my family and that this is a healthy and happy pregnancy :)

We hope that everyone has a great weekend!

2010-06-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Last month my Mom and Dad visited from Ohio-- I was so happy to see them!

My Dad was in the Army so I kept asking my mom if she was going to find a young soldier to trade my dad in for while visiting "the Hood." So my mom, being her usual rotten self, asked if there were any Marines here. To get that you have to understand that my mom spent my wedding weekend hitting on E's best man, who is a Marine Corps Officer, ha!

Lucky for my dad there are no Marines here ;)

I ended up taking my parents to the 1st CAV museum on post.

I think it brought back a lot of memories of the good ole days for him :)

Look! It's Buddy's face painted on a tank!

Well, that's what he thinks he looks like.

Luckily E didn't have to work that Friday so we took my parents to Waco to visit the Texas Ranger Museum and the Dr. Pepper Museum.

We all had a really good time even though my dad spent most of the trip working around the yard and on my car. It drives him nuts to not have anything to do so I just let him do what he wanted. He fixed up our front yard, brought my tomato plants back to life, fixed the broken lock on my car door and fixed the air conditioning so now I have a functioning AC in my car!

The best thing of all is that I cooked my best meals to get back at my parents for not teaching me to cook, and then making fun of me when I tried.

The day after they got home, my mom called asking for a recipe. I was nice and gave it to her ;)

So yeah, it was a pretty good time all around :)

Sugar and Spice

2010-06-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

and everything nice.

That's what little girls are made of ♥

E and I went to a "Couples" Baby Shower yesterday for the lovely lady who is co-leading our FRG with me and had a blast!

I have to say, though, that I think Mr. E had more fun than anyone there. He even won the toilet paper game and won a prize for me, ha!

I'm glad I have a husband who is such a good sport :)

Anyway, I "Becky-fied" this onesie and thought it turned out nice:)

I just LOVE gingham and eyelet :)

I also made this quilt:

The Mama-to-be:

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Look at those Hershey Bars, ha!

Book Review: Android Karenina

2010-06-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben Winters, ha!

I enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so much that I jump on the chance to read the other books.

I have to say, though, that I went into the novel with a fresh mind, i.e. I haven't read the original yet. I am really enjoying it so far.

For more info, see the following:

Android Karenina's Book Page on QuirkClassics.com

Android Karenina Message Board

Mention my blog on the message board for a chance to win one of 25 Quirk Prize Packs. Each Prize Pack, with a retail value of nearly $100, will include:

♥ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

♥ How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

♥ Dracula's Heir: An Interactive Mystery by Sam Stall

♥ Extreme Encounters by Greg Emmanuel

♥ How to Tell if Your Boyfriend is The Antichrist by Patricia Carlin

♥ An Android Karenina Poster

♥ And more!

Happy Reading!!

I'm a Quiltin' Fool

2010-06-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Since my wonderfully handsome husband bought me a sewing machine, I've been sewing almost on a daily basis. I'm actually considering opening an etsy shop.... but we shall see about that.

Anyway, since I've had the machine, I've made two quilts.

I recently made this one for one of the wives in E's company. She is as sweet as can be and they're expecting a sweet little girl after two boys. I'm awfully proud of this quilt and I hope she loves it!

I also made this quilt for our bed. We usually have a duvet on there but it's getting way too hot at night for that. And it's Buddy approved, ha!

Also, I will be getting a break from cooking until Sunday. I have a farewell dinner for the BN Commander's wife this evening, dinner with another couple tomorrow, and dinner at the Commander's home on Saturday. It's going to be a much welcomed break, let me tell you what!

The Renegade Craft Fair

2010-05-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've abandoned my poor, little ole blog. I've been busy this past month taking a ton of classes on post, as I agreed to be an FRG leader, and my parents came into town for a visit. My calendar is getting less crazy, thank goodness, so I'll use that to catch back up on my blog!

So, here I go.

A few weekends ago, my precious husband took me to this:

We had a great time and I came home with tons of great crafting ideas.

I bought these buttons:

and loved them so much that I came home and ordered these online:

I think they're just darling and you can find them here.

I also purchased some other things which I'll share in the next few days.

Because I knew E really wasn't going to enjoy himself at a craft fair, I made sure that he at least got a good meal out of it, so I took him here. Let's just say that the barbeque sauce is so good that I could eat it by the spoon!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Speaking of crafts, I've been crafting/ sewing up a storm. It's gotten so bad that I'm becoming friends with the gals at Hobby Lobby, ha! I keep teasing E by saying that he'll have to get a second job to support my crafting/ sewing addiction. He doesn't seem to think it's as funny as I do though ;)

Anyway, I've made a few bags, a quilt, and even a bed for Buddy.

I'll have to share pictures of those too.

♥ ♥ ♥

Lastly, I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend.

I'll close with this message from the wonderful, and hilarious, Mollie Gross:

Before you apply the SPF, head to the beach and burn all the hot dogs.. take a minute, and say a prayer for the families of the fallen...this weekend has a very different meaning to them than just a day off.

2010-05-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

The other day K from All the Small Things asked if we had an outfit/ article of clothing that makes us feel fabulous.

I have a few articles of clothes that I'm crazy about (maybe I'll blog about those later), but here are some of my new favorites:

I thought these cardigans were so precious that I bought three of them-- green, white and black. I don't think there's anything classier than a lady in a cute cardigan. Well, maybe a lady in a cute cardigan with pearls, ha!

I also love the look of ballet flats, but hate wearing a shoe with nothing to it, so I was so happy when I found these at Target! I have them in brown and black and I might pick up the white ones too.

Anyway, ya'll should go share your favorite items of clothing over on K's blog. She was a good friend of E's in college and is an Army girlfriend. She's just fabulous!

Mother's Day... a day late

2010-05-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

It always seems like I'm a day behind, but you know what they say, it's better late than pregnant, ha!

Anyway, Happy [belated] Mother's Day to my gorgeous mamas!

{Don't worry, however, we did send gifts and they did arrive on time!}

Tuesdays at the Table: Black Bean and Corn-Topped Potatoes

2010-05-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is my interpretation of a Cooking Light recipe I found-- E and I absolutely love it! It's a pretty hearty meal too, although it's meatless... which makes me love it even more.

♥ 1 bag Ore-Ida hashbrowns

♥ 1/2 c. chopped onion

♥ 1 t. ground cumin

♥ 1/2 t. chili powder

♥ 2 garlic cloves, minced

♥ 1 (15oz) can no-salt-added black beans

♥ 1 1/2 c. frozen whole-kernel corn

♥ 1/4 c (1oz) shredded Cheddar Jack cheese

♥ 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook hashbrowns according to package directions.

2. While potatoes cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, cumin, chili powder and garlic to pan; saute 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add beans, corn, and salsa; cook 4 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated.

3. To serve, spoon about a cup of the bean mixture over a cup or more of the potatoes. Top each serving with cheese and cilantro. Serves 4.

{you can also use baked potatoes for this recipe}

My New Best Friend

2010-04-23T14:55:00.001-07:00

My precious husband bought me this last weekend:

Let me tell you, I'm in LOVE!

So far, I've made curtains (they look better in person, the pictures don't do them justice), a handbag, a skirt, and maybe even a jacket for Buddy (don't judge me, ha!).

I also have quite a list of other projects I can't wait to start!

I am in LOVE!

2010-04-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

with Texas Bluebonnets:

{pic found on photobucket}

Aren't they gorgeous?! I just LOVE springtime!

2010-04-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

I saw something today that took every single one of my self esteem issues away.

I saw this:

Now I feel totally awesome about myself, ha!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Has Sprung

2010-04-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-04-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

On Sunday E and I celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary.

To celebrate, I recreated the top layer of our cake:

I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Marble Cake and it was pretty tasty! We also stuck to the traditional first anniversary gift of paper, which we did by buying each other books.

It seems really strange that a whole year has passed, and it left us wondering where in the world all of that time went. Well, thanks to Uncle Sam, that time went all over the country, ha!

Here is a recap of our first year o' marriage:

We were married in Savannah, GA in April. We PCSed at the end of the month to Fort Huachuca, Arizona. We only lived in Savannah for five months, but I fell in love! I get so homesick every time I think of it. :( Because we couldn't take a proper honeymoon, we decided to kill two birds with one stone by turning our PCS trip into one.

We drove through the southern-most states and had our first big stop in New Orleans. We spent an extra day there and had lots of fun, although it was still really sad to see the destruction left over from the hurricane. Our next big stop was in San Antonio where we walked along the beautiful Riverwalk and saw the Alamo. We visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico before we ended our trip in Tucson and then Fort Huachuca.

We settled down in our new home in Arizona, which came complete with scorpions and black widow spiders. You can imagine my delight! E started his CCC a month late as he was bumped from the first one because it was overbooked. Although we were pretty ticked off at the time (I mean seriously, Army, can we not count?), it worked out to our advantage in the end. In July we decided to spend the 4th of July weekend visiting the Grand Canyon. That's also when I started blogging :) On this trip we also decided to add another member to our family, Buddy. We fell in love with him at first sight! We finished up our seven months in Arizona at the beginning of December. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a high school classmate of E's and his girlfriend. We got orders to PCS to Fort Hood, and left in the middle of December. Somewhere betweeen finding a home, signing into the unit, and getting our household goods, we travelled to Ohio for Christmas.

Now we're just adjusting to life in Texas and E's new job. This is also my first tast of real Army life. I've been volunteered to be the company's FRG leader, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, we had a great weekend and a great first year of marriage! Here's to many more!

Do me a favor?

2010-04-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

Please vote for Buddy!

Our local newspaper is doing a pet photo contest and you can vote for Buddy, as well as read about the contest, here.

You can vote once a day for free, or even buy more votes (the proceeds of which go to charity).

Thank you!

Becky, E and Buddy :)

I'm on a Mission

2010-03-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

to recreate the top layer of our wedding cake:

Our 1st Anniversary is coming up (on Easter Sunday) and I thought it would be nice to do since I just finished the first Wilton cake class. Since we've moved a lot and lived in three states since we married, saving the top layer of cake just wasn't going to happen. I think it's kind of gross anyway to eat a year-old frozen cake.

I am also hosting my first Easter dinner this year. Any ham recommendations???

2010-03-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

E and I had such a great weekend!

It started on Friday when I got my beautiful new apron in the mail:

I got it just in time for my cake decorating class too! I bought it here, by the way. I'm really enjoying it and I signed up for the next class. E is pretty happy about me taking these classes because it means he gets cake in his lunchbox everyday. Although we didn't plan it, I'm taking the class with the wives of two of E's coworkers, which I thought was nice.

On Saturday we drove up to Waco to see Macbeth at Baylor University. We had a great time! The play was set in the present time, and I thought it was hilarious that instead of a cauldron, the three witches were working over a meth lab, ha! We finished up the day with a yummy meal from The Olive Garden and we looked around at office furniture. We've decided to buy a desk for E's office. I'm excited for him to get something that will keep him organized and he deserves a nice place to work. Right now he's using a plastic folding table and I have already claimed it as my future craft table.

We're also planning on buying a lawn mower soon. I worked on the yard almost everyday last week and it looks sharp! I just need to finish weeding a tiny little bit, lay down some mulch, and the back yard will be finished. I bought two chairs for the back porch and spray painted a little black metal table to match and it looks so nice out there-- I'm sure we'll have lots of fun out there this summer.

Lastly, I finished reading Eat, Pray, Love and Bitter is the New Black, both of which I enjoyed. I'm really sad, though, that I finished Bitter is the New Black because I liked it so much. I ordered the next two books and they won't be here until Wednesday :( I'm keeping myself busy, however, reading Three Cups of Tea, which I'm liking more than I thought I would!

Tuesdays at the Table: Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder

2010-03-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

I'm putting one of my new favorite (and low-calorie, might I add) recipes up today.

Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder

3 c. frozen Southern-Style has brown potatoes (such as Ore-Ida, I use Potatoes O'Brien and it's delicious!)

2 1/2 c. 2% milk (I use skim and it's still good)

1/4 t. salt

1 c. diced ham (such as Cumberland Gap)

1/4 t. black pepper

1/2 c. (2oz) 50%-less-fat shredded sharp white Cheddar cheese (such as Cabot)

1/4 c. chopped green onions

Combine first 3 ingredients in a meduim saucepan; cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

Stir in ham and pepper; cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Mash potatoes slightly using the back of a spoon (I skip mashing the potatoes); stir in cheese and green onions.

Makes 5 servings, 1 c. each.

Enjoy!

Note To Self

2010-03-11T19:15:00.001-08:00

1. If you are trying to cook something in the oven, if helps if the oven is turned on. It also helps if you put whatever you're tring to cook into the oven. You know, so it can cook....

2. When baking a cake in a shaped pan, put the recommended amount of batter into the pan. It's really, really not a good idea to put too much into the pan. Otherwise, you'll end up with some cake baking on the bottom of your oven.

3. Do not, let me repeat, DO NOT ask Buddy if he wants to go for a walk until you are ready to walk out the door. He is not patient, and when he tries to be patient it only turns into pure rage and fury.

4. There are only a few people in the world worth getting your feelings hurt over.

5. Most of the time, if you want something done, you just need to do it yourself.

6. In spite of #5, sometimes you do just need to ask for help. There's nothing wrong with that.

7. E does like his sandwiches cut in half. I was worried that I was being annoyingly cute-sy by cutting his lunch sandwiches down the middle, but no, he appreciates it.

Note to Buddy:

Sorry, Bud, but no one thinks you are-- in any way, shape or form-- intimidating. It's precious to see you try though :)

Coupons and Cakes

2010-03-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

I've been couponing big time lately. I will rarely go to a store without a coupon in hand, and I've already saved almost $100 in just two months. This is my latest great deal:

A Tempur Pedic Symphony Pillow.

E bought one when he got home from Iraq and it is SO nice! I always steal it when he gets out of bed in the morning to go to PT. We got a Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon in the mail last week so I thought I'd use it to buy a fitted sheet that I ruined in the laundry to match the rest of the sheet set. They didn't have the sheet in stock, and I couldn't find it online to save my life. I spent a few minutes looking around the store and found the pillow, that E bought for $99, marked down to 40.00. With my coupon, I only paid about $32 for a $99 pillow! E couldn't believe it! Now I don't have to steal E's pillow anymore, and it's like laying my head on a little slice of heaven every night.

On Friday night I went to my first Wilton Cake Decorating class and I loved it! I ended up making a cake yesterday just for fun and E said it looked nice, although I think he was just being nice :) I think he's just happy knowing that if I'm taking these classes that he'll get lots of cake, haha! I went into Hobby Lobby yesterday to buy some cake things and then of course there is a 40% coupon off of all Wilton products online for this upcoming week. Oh well. I still have a few more things I want to get and I might get this too.

Anyway, where in the world did the weekend go?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

2010-03-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

This is my second book review this week!

Apparently my motto should be "Will work for books," ha!

Anyway, a girl I went to college with read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and wrote about it on facebook about a year ago, and since she has great taste in, well, everything, I thought I'd read it too. I saw it at Target when we were in AZ and finally decided to buy and read it. I wasn't sorry! I was worried at first that the integrity of the original would be ruined or poked fun of. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to realize that when one reads this book, he or she is essentially reading the original with some Zombies dropped in here and there, ha! It's probably what Jane Austen wished for in the first place ;)

I loved the book so much (this is a big thing for me to say, as I'm not really a big fan of anything to do with zombies) that I looked at the Publisher's website (Quirkclassics.com) and saw that they had another book out, Sense and Sensibiltiy and Sea Monsters.

E ended up getting it for me for Christmas. I also became a fan of Quirk Classics on Facebook where I saw they wanted bloggers to review the book, which is a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

I spent last week reading the book, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed at all. It was absolutely hilarious! I love, however, that the line between hilarious and just plain ridiculous wasn't crossed. I mean, I have an English degree and Jane Austen is serious business, ha!

Also, click here to be entered to win one of 50 Quirk Classics Prize Packs.

Each pack, worth over $100, includes:

-An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:Dawn of the Dreadfuls

-Audio books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

-A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls

-An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls poster

-A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal

-A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards.

The poster is pretty awesome, by the way. It's actually the cover of the book and I'm thinking about hanging mine up in the guest bedroom, especially since my parents will be visiting in May. I mean, I can't think of a better way to say "Welcome to our Home," ha!

I like to think of myself as a book snob, and I really, really love these books! I'd recommend them to anyone who loves Jane Austen in the first place, someone looking for something humorous to read, or someone who enjoys reading something they've already read before, but with a little twist. Actually, I'd recommend thes to anyone :) Just don't read Dear John, as I thought it was crap! It should be titled: Dear Nicholas Sparks, Thanks for Trying to Capitalize on the War. Bitter much? Anyway....

The book goes on sale March 23, 2010.

The next book, Android Karenina, will be out later this spring-- I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Things I'm Excited About, Part II

2010-03-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

1. I won Jennifer's (from Crazy Shenanigans) blog giveaway and got it in the mail this week! I absolutely love it and it will come in handy (and will definitely cheer me up!) when my insomnia issue rears its ugly head. She even included a sweet note, which I thought was so nice! :)

2. I finally found tortillas that don't have a million calories and still taste good. Thank you, La Tortilla Factory and the Fort Hood Commissary for actually carrying them! I found them just in time for the fish tacos I'm making for dinner tomorrow, too. Go me!

3. I bought a food scale, which has helped me tremendously! It's so hard to guess how many ounces are in certain foods that are measured by weight rather than volume, but not anymore!

4. I also bought this kitchen gadget:

It's a Martha Stewart food chopper that I found at the PX. My Mother-out-law has a similar one that she likes. She actually told me it's good for getting out pent-up aggression, haha! I'm having a hard time with it, but I'm sure that I'm either not using it right... or that I don't have enough pent-up aggression in me, ha!

5. I found a yummy Snack Mix recipe in this month's Southern Living. It makes a lot, so I put half of it away for E, and the other half is going into a care package for E's good friend from college. He was the best man at our wedding and is a Marine Corps Officer who is currently deployed to A-Stan.

Here it is: Toss together 5 cups rice cereal squares, 2 (19.2 oz) bags candy-coated chocolate pieces, 1 (16 oz) bag pretzel twists, 1 (16 oz) container honey-roasted peanuts, and 1 (13.7 oz) package bite-size white Cheddar cheese crackers in a large bowl. Store in an airtight container. Makes 30 cups.

The Marriage Project

2010-03-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I recently read Kathi Lipp's The Husband Project and LOVED it! After reading it, I did a little research on her and found her website and blog, and saw that she was offering free copies of The Marriage Project to bloggers willing to review it. I loved the first book so much that I jumped at this opportunity!

The first question I asked myself after reading these books is "why in the world aren't we taught these sorts of things?," i.e. "why arent' we taught how to be good husbands and wives?"

E and I went through two separate marriage counseling sessions-- one was a marriage seminar that we attended with other Army couples and then we met with the Chaplain who married us for three weeks in a row. We went over two books, The Five Love Languages and The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work , and then covered some background information (how'd ya meet?, family, money, career plans, children, etc.). Although I felt these sessions were very helpful, I think they could have been improved with a little more "here's how to be a good spouse" info. I found this information in Kathi's books.

I haven't completed all of the projects yet, but reading the books, especially the first one, was a quite an eye opener for me. I feel much happier and more secure with our marriage just from reading the books. I would strongly recommend them to any couple. I think the one theme that is constant throughout the books is that one should just be nice to his or her spouse, it's as simple as that. The book also makes it clear that to serve and honor your spouse does not mean that you have to be a servant. You can do these things just by showing and doing things to let your spouse know that you love him or her.

The books are fast and easy reads, are well formatted, and are written by someone with a great sense of humor and who includes her own experiences (which, in my opinion, strengthens the message of her books), as well as biblical references. I really just can't say enough good things about the books. I'd be lying if I said the first year of our marriage has been all sunshine and rainbows, but after reading these books, the next few eight-or-so decades (ha!) just might be that :)

I read somewhere that she has a "The Me Project" in the works? If so, I can't wait to read it too!

Lastly, check out her "Freebies" page-- there are some really good resources on there :)

Things I'm Pretty Excited About:

2010-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

Today was day one of a four-day weekend.

I bought a new mixer since the last one died. I love the new one, it's glorious. It's awesome to not have batter flung everywhere when I bake, ha!

I love Shakespeare, no joke, so one can imagine my delight when I found out that the Theatre Department at Baylor is doing Macbeth next month! It's no Hamlet, but I'll take it! I plan on taking full advantage of Baylor U's theatre dept. while we're in TX.

I'm taking over the extra linen closet that we neither use or need for all my crafting things. This means I get to organize (and there are other places in the house that can use a bit more organizing), which is something I love to do! Sick, I know.

Also, I've lost 10 pounds! Yay for me! I've still got quite a ways to go, but I finally feel like I'm making some progress! E has been so supportive too, by the way. He was worried about buying chocolate for me for Valentine's Day (he knows how I am with chocolate), so he ended up eating a whole, big box pretty much all by himself, ha! He also hid the Girl Scout cookies from me, as per my request. I love him. :)

Tuesdays at the Table: Two-Pepper Macaroni and Cheese

2010-02-23T15:05:00.001-08:00

This is one of my favorite new recipes-- I just love macaroni and cheese and this is a great variation on it.

Two-Pepper Macaroni and Cheese

This is my take on this recipe.

Ingredients

5 cups uncooked pasta, I use whole-grain rotini (16 ounces uncooked pasta)

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped pickled jalapeño pepper

1/2 cup sliced green onions

Cooking spray

2 slices wheat bread

one small dash of each: ground nutmeg and ground mustard (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, and drain.

3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add to pasta.

4. Add flour to pan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheese, stirring until cheese melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in jalapeño. Add cheese mixture to pasta, tossing well to coat. Stir in green onions. Spoon pasta mixture into a baking dish coated with cooking spray.

5. Place bread slices in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure about 1 cup. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Combine butter and breadcrumbs in a small bowl; toss until blended. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned.

6. Enjoy! I usually pair this meal with thin ham slices.

* * * * *

I also found a recipe for Ranch Chicken Macaroni and Cheese and I can't wait to try it!

It actually snowed in Texas today, and I have to say that I'm not surprised at all that Buddy loves snow. He's laying by the window now looking out and I'm sure he wishes I'd let him out to play some more, ha! I was super suprised, however, when I found out they had closed post down early because of the weather! E is celebrating right this moment by taking a nap, ha!

I went to Old Navy yesterday because they have tshirts on sale and I found the cutest little hoodie for Buddy... and I just had to have it!

I think he looks precious in it:

It's personalized with his name, "Good Boy!," written on the back, ha!

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm today!

Love is in the Air

2010-02-21T23:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, love is in the air here in our household. Our backdoor neighbors have this huge, and I mean huge, dog named Jinxy. Her head comes up to oh, about my neck... and that's when she's on all fours. Anyway, Buddy is in love with her. Yes, our 13 lb. dog is in love with a human-sized dog. Everytime we let him out he runs right to the fence to see if she's out, and the other day I caught them sniffing at each other through the fence.

It totally reminded me of this:

{except that Buddy is the pretty one, ha!}

Also, I LOVE Huckleberry Prairie and here is one good reason why:

Make Your Own Box of Chocolates

I can't wait to make some of those for E, especially the cherries-- he LOVES them!

Lastly,

Pizza? Only 200 calories?

Yes, Please!

Thankful Thursday, er Saturday!

2010-02-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

So maybe I've been a little behind this week, ha!

On Wednesday I had a little scare with Buddy. I gave him a bath, dried him off, and took the towel to the laundry room, and while I was in there, he started crying like he was hurt. I'm sure all of you with dogs know how they behave when they're wet (Buddy runs all over the place!). I went to find him and he was sitting down and he was holding his right arm up and it was just dangling there. Being the calm, cool and collected person that I am, I overreacted and absolutely freaked out! He hobbled up to me and stopped crying, but he still wouldn't walk on it and he whimpered the few times he tried. I felt his arm and it felt alright and he didn't cry, so that made me feel better. By the time I called a vet to see if they offered emergency care, called E to let him know what was going on, and got dressed, Buddy was walking on all fours again, with no cries or whimpers at all. He saw me grab my jacket and he knows that I wear it everytime he gets a walk... that made him feel all better, ha! I was so shaken up by it all, though, and the first thought I actually had when I saw Buddy was that I don't think I'm fit for motherhood, as I absolutely freak out over the dog! I can't imagine what dealing with a sick or hurt child would do to me... So I'm definitely thankful this week that Buddy didn't break his little leg! We are also proud of the little guy because he can do puppy pushups now! It's where you train your dog to sit, then lay down, sit, repeat, like they're doing pushups. He's getting all big and bulky, haha!

On Thursday, E and I went to his Battalion Ball. It was nice, but kind of boring since we didn't know anyone. This one was so much better than the last one we went to. The last one didn't have a receiving line and everyone got trashed out of their minds. I mean, if your soldiers are going to pay for childcare, attire, and for the tickets, then you should be respectful enough to greet everyone. I also loved that this one didn't have a guest speaker in the traditional sense, but enlisted soldiers were chosen to speak about the deployment. I also got to see my first Grog Ceremony (I think that's what it's called?), where they'll take a foot locker and put in alcohol that symbolizes different parts of the Battalion's history. It looked refreshing, ha! I'm so happy that we ended up here in TX, especially since we drove through the Ft. Knox area (which was our number one choice coming out of the Career Course) and I wasn't impressed... at all. I think we'll be very happy here and we're looking forward to what the future, and Texas, has in store for us.

2010-02-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

{I meant to post this yesterday}

Au revoir, Liquid Satan.

I shall see you in 40 days. Or maybe I'll just give you up for good?

Goodness... I want a coke....

Tuesdays at the Table

2010-02-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite recipes, and I just happened to find it tucked in a small corner in one of the back pages of Woman's Day magazine.

Mexican Pasta Skillet

(it's essentially Mexican goulash)

heat 1 t. oil in skillet. Brown 1 lb (or 1/2 a lb... that's a lot of meat) ground turkey with 1 small onion, chopped and 2 t. cumin.

stir in 1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce, 1 can (11 oz) Mexican-style corn (I use Southwestern-style corn since it has black beans, which I love, in it) and 1 c. cooked pasta.

add 1 T. cilantro to skillet and cook until mixture is heated through. Garnish with shredded Mexican-style cheese blend.

* * * * *

In other news, I found the most delightful cleaning product today. Is it sad that I get excited over such things? Anyway, I was perusing the aisles of the PX when I saw this. I thought it was a bit pricey at first but when I read the bottle, I saw that it's concentrated and when diluted it makes 8 gallons of cleaner... that's a dollar a gallon! It's smells SO good and leaves everything clean and smelling fabulous. To top it off, it's not full of harsh, nasty chemicals. The Lemon Verbena scent is on sale and I'm really tempted to try out a few other products.

Love Stuff, Day Five

2010-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from E, Buddy and Me!

Here are my plans for the day:

I'm going to make E heart-shaped eggs and pancakes with turkey sausage for breakfast.

I'm planning on making Steak Pinwheels stuffed with Spinach and Bacon, Herb-Roasted Red Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts for dinner. The potatoes are for E, while I get the Sprouts. Lord knows he's not going to eat them, ha!

Then I think we'll watch a movie and finish the evening with homemade Chocolate Souffle.

Buddy will even be treated to a Cesar doggy meal rather than the usual kibble, ha!

Anyway, I hope you all have a fabulous Valentine's Day!

* * * * *

Project #5E-flirt.com
Text or E-mail Some Sweet Nothings

“I turn on my computer. I wait patiently as it connects. I go online. My breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words, “You’ve got Mail.” I hear nothing, not a sound on the streets of New York. Just the beat of my own heart… I have mail, from you.”Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kennedy in “You’ve Got Mail”

Your Project: Send a flirty text or e-mail to your husband.

I had to do this one yesterday, since poor E had staff duty. Boo hoo.

We usually text each other during lunchtime every day-- I'll tell him that I hope his lunch was good, or he'll text thanking me for the lunch I made him. Yes, I make his lunch. I read a study somewhere that said a lunch that was made for you rather than made by you is tastier. I think it's the bit of love I add to it. I know, I know, I'm gagging from the corny-ness too, ha!

Love Stuff, Day Four

2010-02-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Project #4Heart vs. Stomach
A Treat Just for Him

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”Ronald Reagan

Your Project:Get a food treat for your husband that he’s not required to share with you or any other family member.

I will usually buy E a treat every time I go to the grocery store-- he loves Little Debbie Brownies, so that's usually what he gets. I recently put a glass jar on his desk that I will keep full of his favorite candies. I call it his "your wife loves you jar," ha!

* * * * *

Everyone knows how much I love crafting, so I was delighted to find these crafts:

I have a ton of 5x7 frames and I loved this craft! I thought it would be cute to print out those quotes on pretty paper, buy mats for the frames and then frame them up. I just need to get myself out to buy cupcake holders because I only have half a pack of the silver ones...

Here are some other cute crafts that ae filkins posted.

And I couldn't leave out Huckleberry Prairie-- I love the crafts she posts on her blog!

And just how cute is this?

Love Stuff, Day Three

2010-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Project #3You da’ Man
Spreading Great Gossip About Your Guy

Your Project:Say something nice about your husband to someone else. Make sure you tell him what you said, and to whom.

This one will be so easy, as I do it all the time, ha! What can I say, I love E a little bit. ;)

He is such a wonderful husband and is so kind and caring. He is an excellent provider with a work ethic like I've never seen before, and he takes the very best care of me and I know that he'll be an amazing father someday. I am truly blessed to have him in my life!

* * * * *

Okay, so I'm a nerd and I LOVE history. Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I looked up some history about it and History.com has some really great articles, which you can find here.

Love Stuff, Day Two

2010-02-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

Project #2 Back in the Day

Do Something He Enjoyed Before You Got Married

“Lust is easy. Love is hard. Like is most important.” ~ Carl Reiner

Your Project:
Initiate an activity that your husband used to love. Whether it’s his favorite hobby, sport, or pastime, it’s time for you to get involved – be his buddy today.

This one is hard to do today, since E's at work and we have a Hail and Farewell to go to later. So... on my 101 in 1001 list, I put a few things that I know he'd love, such as camping, a roadtrip to MT, bowling and watching movies. Maybe I'll do this project this weekend by watching Anchorman with him (I've been refusing to watch this for about two years now). For me to willingly watch a Will Ferrell movie with him should be proof enough that I'm crazy about my husband, ha!

* * * * *

I finished reading Dear John last night and I have to say I was terribly disappointed. It just didn't make sense or sit well with me at all.

I just didn't like it, although I knew I probably wouldn't.

I thought Savannah was awful and that the author was trying to capitalize on the war/ military relationships/ our misery. Heck, E and I have a much better love story that that!

I'm nosy though, and that got the better of me, ha!

Love Stuff, Day One

2010-02-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought I'd spend a few days talking about love/ marriage/fluffy, warm stuff. You get the idea.

Everytime I'd write to E while he was deployed,

I'd try to include a sweet poem or quote into my letter.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"i carry your heart with me"

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

from Juno

In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find

a person who loves you for exactly what you are.

Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you,

the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass.

That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.

Genesis 31:49

The LORD watch between me and thee,
when we are absent one from another.

* * * * *

Lastly, please check out Christine's blog for the next few days,

as she's doing a review of The Husband Project--

I can't recommend that book enough!

Here's the project for today:

Project #1
30 Minutes is All it Takes
Create Some Free Time When He Gets Home

“There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Your Project:
Focus on your husbands transitional 30 minutes today. Would he like to be left alone to rest and rejuvenate, or does he want some undivided attention from you? The point is to let your husband know you value what he does out in the world, and that he has a safe loving place to come home and get refreshed at the end of the day.

I try to spend that first half hour when E gets home welcoming him home and listening to how his day was. He'll usually crash on the couch or in his office and I just like spending that time with him, just listening. I try really hard to make him feel welcomed home and loved, so hopefully I make him feel that way! I guess he's kind of grown on me ;)

Tuesday at the Table

2010-02-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Not to toot my own horn or anything (toot toot!) but I made some pretty tasty chicken for dinner tonight. It was a new recipe, so I didn't post it earlier in case it didn't turn out. It is also a Weight Watchers recipe so it's not so bad for you either. I will definitely be preparing this meal again!

Baked Chicken

Use fresh herbs and lemon juice to give plain baked chicken fantastic flavor. This combination of flavors also works well with turkey cutlets or white fish filets.

♥ 1 lb uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (four 4 oz pieces)

(I actually used a lb of chicken breast tenderloins-- they're small and nicely sized, just like chicken fingers, and cooking big hunks of chicken breast kind of creeps me out because I'm always afraid of undercooking it)

♥ salt and pepper

♥ 1 t. olive oil

(I omitted the oil and just spritzed the chicken with olive oil cooking spray)

♥ 2t. lemon juice

♥ 2 t. rosemary

♥ 2 t. parsley

♥ 1/4 c. chicken broth

(I used chicken stock, as the commissary was out of broth)

♥ 1/2 medium lemon, quartered for garnish

(I nixed the lemon quarters)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat a small, shallow roasting pan with cooking spray.

2. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Transfer chicken to prepared pan and drizzle with oil; sprinkle with lemon juice, rosemary and parsley. Pour broth/ stock around chicken to coat bottom of pan.

3. Baked until chicken is cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes.

It was absolutely delicious! I served it with steamed peas and carrots that I seasoned with chopped onion, salt, pepper, and parsley. I love parsley and put it into everything I can, ha! It was a pretty tasty, low-calorie meal.

* * * *

In other news, I started today off with a wonderful surprise-- I won Crazy Shenanigan's pillow case giveaway! I was so happy and can't wait to get it. They're absolutely lovely and I think that I'll purchase some in the future for gifts. I absolutely love bed linens! Thanks again, Jennifer!

Also, Christine is starting a blog review of The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp tomorrow and I can't wait to do that. I've been meaning to for a while but haven't. I haven't even started the project officially but I read the book and it's already had such an impact on our marriage. I'll be doing a review for The Marriage Project soon and am excited about that too!

101 in 1001

2010-02-08T04:28:00.000-08:00

*tentative*

So...

here is what I came up with:

101 in 1001

I'm going to wait a week just to see if I want to tweak the list or not.

Wish me luck!

2010-02-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Apparently I married a comedian.

I've been working on a 101 in 1001 list and was talking about it with E.

He said that one of his goals would be to sleep for 24 hours and I said that wasn't a good idea, as the list is supposed to have things that are good for a person on it.

So he then told me that one of his serious goals would be to pass his next "piss" test at work.

What can I say? I love a man who has goals for his life! And on top of that, he's just so darn eloquent-- the boy should write poetry!

By the way, when my dad was in the Army, he told us that he never worried about passing those tests because he'd study for them. I wasn't aware that one could study for that kind of test, ha!

Show Us Your Life: Beauty Tips and Favorite Products

2010-02-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite beauty tips is from Coco Chanel's granddaughter. She said that her grandmother would tell her to use a darker eyeliner for her upper eyelid and a lighter color for the lower lid, to make it look more natural. I will usually wear black on top and gray on bottom and it looks a lot less stark than wearing black on both.

My mother-out-law also gave me a pretty good tip. She says that aging is pretty much all about your attitude, I think that's a pretty good one!

For my face, I use Clinique products and I'm pretty happy with them.I buy them at the PX too, so they're cheaper.

I LOVE this scrub, it smells nice and minty and it makes my skin look great!

This is my favorite eyeshadow ever! I have it in Gold and love it so much that I wore it to E's homecoming from Iraq, MilBall, and our wedding. I'm sure I'll end up wearing it to our upcoming MilBall too.

I can't live without Carmex... that stuff is addictive!

I've had the hardest time finding lipstick that doesn't make me look like a little girl who is playing with her mother's makeup. I recently got Clinique's Different Lipstick in Apple Spice in one of those "Spend-this-much-and-get-a-free-bag-of-stuff" bags.

I love the way this shampoo smells and it makes my hair so soft!

I bet this kind smells amazing too and I'll have to try it next!

I also use Organix hair serum/ spray to calm my wild hair.

I swear by Vaseline! I'll put some on my face, neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, feet and hands before bed and my skin is so soft in the morning!

I love this hand scrub and it makes my hands feel amazing!

I love the brush in this nail polish. I usually have the hardest time painting my nails and it always looks sloppy, but this stuff is wonderful!

My Aunt bought me a bottle of Chance by Chanel for college graduation and it's my special occasion perfume.

I also love the Secret Garden Collection from Victoria's Secret, especially Berry Kisses and I love Coconut Lime Verbena from Bath and Body works.

Blizzard Bloghop

2010-02-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

Howdy from Texas!

I'm Becky, and I'm the proud,

newlywed wife of E,

an Officer in the US Army.

I am also the mommy

to an adorable four-legged,

hairy child named Buddy.

Don't let this picture fool you, however; he is not half as sweet as he looks. He's a little terror, but I love him nonetheless.

I love being an Army wife (well, most of the time), and I'm not happy unless I have my nose in a book, a mixing bowl in my arms, or am working on a craft project of some sort. Time spent with my mini family makes me a pretty happy girl too! We have lived in four different zip codes in the past 15 months (no joke) and we're excited that we'll get to be in one place for longer than six months!

I am a college-educated housewife who still doesn't really know what she wants to be when she grows up. I have a Bachelor's degree in English and Humanities from a small university close to my hometown in Southern Ohio. Yes, I am a proud Buckeye!

We have no kids yet, but the baby bug has gotten to me big time. So we'll see what happens with that :)

Anyway, that's pretty much me in a nutshell.

I look forward to reading the rest of your blogs!

Tour Our Home Tuesday: Entryway

2010-02-02T11:02:00.001-08:00

Well, a part of our home anyway.

I still have a few things to do, decor wise, before I'll be happy with it all.

Plus I need my tall husband to come home to help, as he has a not-so-tall wife.

Upon entering, you will more than likely be met by this little guy:

Don't be scared, he's had his shots, ha!

The book shelf looks a little sloppy, but it's staying put. My books are like children to me.

The other side of the entryway is a little bland, but that's okay. I don't want to go for overload.

This bad boy will be hanging on our door during Valentine's week. I thought it turned out nicely and you can find directions on Huckleberry Prairie. I eventually want to make a door hanging for every holiday and season. We'll see....

I'll do another room next Tuesday!

Dirty Rice and German Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-02-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

A few people have asked for the Dirty Rice recipe, and those cupcakes I made for E were so good that I thought I'd share that recipe too!

Dirty Rice

1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage (I use smoked turkey sausage instead and cut into slices)

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 cup uncooked long grain rice

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup finley chopped celery

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

butter or oil

1. Brown sausage in skillet 6 to 8 minutes.

Or, if you bought smoked sausage links instead, cook according to package directions.

2. Melt butter or place oil in a pan and saute rice until golden. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, stirring occasionally until rice is tender.

Enjoy!

The German Chocolate Cupcake recipe

can be found by clicking on the picture:

2010-01-30T18:20:00.001-08:00

20-some years ago today, my precious husband took his first breath, let out his first cry and the world became a better place :o)

Today Mr. Man got a good breakfast of ham, eggs, and an English muffin (in our house, a hot breakfast is usually a treat reserved for Sunday mornings... and E's tummy can't handle it during the week before or after PT anyway). Then I made homemade German Chocolate Cupcakes. Not to toot my own cupcake-makin' horn or anything, but they were delicious! That Martha Stewart really knows what she's talking about, let me tell you what!

For dinner, I made tasty oven "fried" onion rings, while E grilled steaks on the charcoal grill. E does such a good job grilling, and we finished off the evening watching The Hangover, which was E's gift from Buddy. Yes, I use the dog as an excuse to get an extra gift for E ;)

All in all, I had a fabulous day with my sweetheart!

I hope everyone else is having a great weekend too!

2010-01-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I think that I'm up to my ears with things I ~~want~~ need to do.

I finished reading The Husband Project and Devil in the White City and loved them! The Husband Project really changed my perspective about quite a few things. I haven't even officially started, but it has already made quite an impact on our marriage. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about going through each day of the project on here by describing what I'm going to do for each one. I will also be reviewing her book The Marriage Project. I'm really excited about that! If you have time, you should really check out Kathi's website.

E's birthday is this weekend! I'm awful about surprises, so he already knows everything I got for him.... I made him a sign to hang about the door of his office, I painted it to look camouflauge and it says "Man Cave" in stenciled, manly looking letters. He also got a book he's been wanting and a few tubes of vanilla mint chapstick that I had to end up ordering online because we couldn't find them in stores. We'll be having steaks for dinner (his favorite) and I'll make homemade German chocolate cupcakes. They're Martha Stewart's recipe, so they should be tasty!

We have a Hail and Farewell coming up, which I'm not looking forward too. I just get so nervous at those things. Also, we have a homecoming ball coming up too, which I am looking forward to, ha! I mean, I get to get all dolled up AND see my handsome husband in those dress blues. ;)

I found this completely adorable project on Huckleberry Prairie. I just love her projects and they're usually pretty easy to do.

Lastly, I'm now reading The Happiness Project. I know, that's all I need, one more project! It's pretty interesting so far, and I'd like to make one of my own, plus finally get around to making a 101 in 1001 list.

We'll see when I get around to all of this stuff....

2010-01-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Two years ago tonight, E made me the happiest woman

on the face of the planet by asking me to be his wife.

He was home on his midtour leave and hadn't necessarily planned on asking me, so apparently I had done something right. :)

He didn't have a ring, but, of course, that didn't bother me any!

The man of my dreams had asked me to be his!

The next day we went to the mall , as I wanted to take him to The Cheesecake Factory for his birthday. He spotted a Fossil store and took me in and made me pick out a watch since he felt bad about not having a ring. I tricked him by picking out a watch that I not only liked... but it was on sale too, ha!

When we were in the car leaving, he told me that I could see the watch on my wrist everyday and know that I was one second closer to having him home with me again. Isn't that just precious?

He just melts my heart! The same heart that he made whole :)

Friend Makin' Monday: My Daybook

2010-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

This week's theme for ae filkin's

Friend Makin' Monday is "My Daybook."

I just love these things.

So, here we go!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...

It's dark, and I can see the Christmas tree lights on the backdoor neighbor's tree.

I am thinking...

about a lot of things-- my mind is racing.

I am thankful...

for my handsome husband and my precious puppy.

I am praying...

for Haiti, for my family.

I am reading...

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It's so interesting!

Also, magazines and blogs.

I will be reading my lovely mother-out-laws new blog.

She's wonderful!

I am creating...

a cozy, warm home for my mini family :)

I'm always creating something,

I don't think I'm happy otherwise.

From the kitchen...

I can smell homemade dirty rice in the slow cooker.

Around the house...

It's quiet--

the tv is on and the puppy is sleeping.

One of my favorite things...

[or four, haha]

hugs and kisses from handsome husbee and Buddy!

getting things in the mail

a good song on the radio

a good recipe

A few plans for the rest of the week...

I'm going to the commissary tomorrow

and E's birthday is this week,

so I have to plan for that too!

Ooh la la

2010-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

I was flipping through tv channels today and noticed that She's Crafty was on. It's a Canadian craft show that's on Ion and HGTV Canada.

The show's description is as follows:

When stichin’ became bitchin’ and knit cafes began popping up in the trendiest of neighbourhoods, it became clear that crafts weren’t just for grannies anymore. Host Wendy Russell demonstrates that crafting is fun, easy and a great way to liven up the home, as well as offering up tips like how to knit a laptop bag or reinventing ways to reuse an old tee-shirt.

I like it because most of the crafts are modern, stylish and pretty easy to do.

I was shocked, however, watching today, as she was making "Sassy Nipple Tassels," no joke. The segment even included dance lessons.

Well, my mother-in-law's birthday is coming up and at least I now know what to get her, ha!

In case you're interested, you can see instructions here.

I guess I just never realized how racy crafting can be....

Friend Makin' Monday-- Projects

2010-01-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

This weeks theme on Friend Makin' Monday is "projects," and since we've just moved, I have lots of those!

1. Finish organizing my kitchen-- it's 98% done, I just have to put a few more things up on the cabinets, and I want to get some vines or some sort of greenery to put up there too.

2. Find a collage frame for some of our wedding pictures.

3. Print/ copy my recipes and organize into a binder.

4. Finish up our wedding scrapbook. Although sometimes I feel like we'll be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary before that bad boy gets finished.

5. Get a bookshelf and organize our books.

6. Organize our laundry room.

7. Organize the hallway closet, which is currently full of a bunch of random things...

8. E's birthday is coming up too, so I need to plan for that! And make a present for him. Don't worry, I'll be buying him something too, haha! :)

9. Make a 101 in 1001 list. I started but could only think of 20 or so things... surely there are more things I want to do....

Let's see how many of these I can get done this week!

* * * * *

I have to go to the commissary tomorrow, I've put it off way too long. I might accidently stop by Hobby Lobby too. You know, because it's on the way... okay, that ~~might be~~ is a lie.

Lastly, I might do a blogger challenge for The Husband Project, and possibly a review for another of Kathi Lipp's books. We shall see :)

The Husband Project

2010-01-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

When E and I lived in AZ, I saw a copy of this book at the PX and was interested so I bought it later from Amazon. I started reading it this week and it is amazing! I'd like to say two things though: I truly believe that a marriage is an organic thing that needs nurturing to thrive. Also, I don't feel like I should be E's servant/ doormat/ inferior just because I am his wife-- to us, marriage is a partnership. I was a little concerned that this book might promote that subservient wife attitude, but I was wrong, thank goodness.

This book focuses on honoring your husband first and foremost. I haven't even officially started, but I've done a few of the projects and I already feel so good about our relationship-- I feel like we're dating again, eek! :o) I want to wait to start so I have time to think about what I want to do for each of the projects.

I'm really excited to see E's reactions, and I'll put more about The Project up later.

To order the book, click here. To visit Kathi Lipp's website, click here.

The Patton Museum

2010-01-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

E and I left a half day early to go to my parents' home for Christmas, so we took advantage of the extra time by stopping by The Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, KY. From the looks of Ft. Knox, I'm glad we didn't get stationed there and that we got our second choice instead-- I think I would have been disappointed there.

Anyway, I've always loved General Patton for some reason, so E decided to take me, and we both love that sort of thing anyway.

He was a little upset with me for not telling him to look in the right direction, haha!

Heck yes, women were in the war. I would SO have been Rosie, er Becky, the Riveter.

Sometimes I wonder if he'll miss tanking.... I mean, look how happy it makes him, hehe

I love what the caption underneath says, "Should a man get married he must be just as careful to keep his wife's love as he was to get it."

I asked E why he doesn't have this many medals yet, ha! He didn't think it was funny... at all.

His ivory-handled pistol.

So Many Books, So Little Time

2010-01-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

I finally finished up my Fall Into Reading list, although the list of books I ended up reading is a far cry from the list I had originally set out to read.

Anyway, here are the most recent books I have read:

I loved Julie and Julia,

so I jumped at the chance to read Cleaving.

I really liked the story, I love her writing style,

but I think that she is simply a twit.

I don't see how anyone can think that infidelity is okay,

and I think she has attention issues.

Those are just my thoughts, though....

E bought this book for me

for Christmas and I LOVED it!

It was such a good book

and I was so sad when it ended...

how sad it that?

The characters were absolutely delightful

and I just fell in love with them all.

The book made me want to go live on Guernsey, ha!

Lastly, my brother gave this to me for Christmas, too.

I also loved it and I couldn't get enough of it--

it was just so interesting,

and is one of Oprah's book club picks.

I love books that follow a family's history

and this one did a great job!

In The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,

the main character said something to the effect of

"good books ruin you for bad books."

That's how I feel.

I don't know what to read next.

Any suggestions?

Puppy Dogs and Meal Plans

2010-01-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

The house has come along nicely-- I've got about 95% of everything done and will be happy to tackle the remainder with, of course, the help of Buddy:

Bless his heart, he tries so hard to help, although it usually makes things harder for me.

He just loved this packing paper! He'd run through it either by tunneling his way through the bottom or by hopping over it like a deranged rabbit.

We've only had a couple of snags with moving, though.

1. My car is leaking antifreeze or something like that... ugh. It smells funny and it makes me sad. I'm just happy it made the trip from AZ, and I'm sure it'll be an easy fix.

2. We've requested a normal-sized trash can three times now and have yet to get one. What we have instead is a tiny can that holds two kitchen-sized bags of trash. I call it our "old person who doesn't throw anything away because they grew up during the depression" trash can. I know it's a little silly but it bothers me, especially since I'm the person who empties trash cans too much. Speaking of, I'm so pumped that withing two days that we're already got our recycling bin nearly full! Go us!

Lastly, 3. It took us forever to find Buddy's toy box and the few toys we didn't travel with over the PCS trip. I searched all over the place and couldn't find it-- I kept telling E that it must have been in his office, so I finally made him go through his stuff, and lo and behold, it was in there. Buddy was a pretty happy boy to be reunited with his toys!

It's like Buddy's trifecta of glory: his bed, toys and a window to look/bark out of all in one place! I love his crooked grin and E grins in exactly the same way, haha!

I've also gotten back into the habit of meal planning, as to save on our grocery bill and be more organized. Here's what I've got so far:

Last night- Sausage and Cheese Frittata with Homemade Pancakes

Sunday- Mediterranean Beef Pitas with Roasted Potatoes

Monday- Two-Pepper Rigatoni and Cheese with ham slices

Tuesday- Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Wednesday- Salmon and leftover Rigatoni

Thursday- Jambalaya

Friday- date night (although I have yet to inform E of this, ha! I really want to see The Lovely Bones....)

Saturday- Turkey Chili and Peanut Butter Sandwiches

I've been scouring magazines for new recipes to try and have found a lot of good ones to try. It's so easy to feel burned out when it comes to cooking, so it's been a good change. I'm a nerd, I know....

2010-01-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

It was rainy and dreary in Texas today, which did nothing at all to help motivate me to get the house in order. E's closet alone is enough to overwhelm me into just giving up, ha! The boy just has more tshirts than any one person should own...

Since it was cool and rainy today, I thought it would be a perfect day to make soup and let it simmer on the stove all day! I had made a meal plan (I think it will help keep me organized/ the grocery bill lower) and lucky for us, Vegetable/Beef soup was on the menu. Not to toot my own horn, but it was SO good! I used to be the butt of so many cooking jokes at home, which is funny as my family never taught me how to cook. Then I go home (after moving out and teaching myself how to cook) and they're all impressed and begging for recipes.

E starts back to work tomorrow, and I think I'm more nervous about him starting his new job than he is-- I don't know how he does it, I'd be nervous to the point of making myself sick if I were him. I have a feeling that Ft. Hood is going to be my real initiation into Army life. Does anyone have any tips/ good advice about this? What kinds of spouses clubs do you like to join and why? I'd really appreciate some guidance with this :) I'm thinking about joining a book club, but I'm so nervous! I know I'm a nerd, but socializing literally scares me and I'm awful at it! Eek!

Lastly, is it sad that E and I both bought kitchen appliances for each other for Christmas (a toaster for him and a food processor for me) and we're both tickled pink with these gifts? I woke up this morning to the smell of a toaster strudel wafting through the house, and I've been putting all sorts of things through that food processor! I love that it will shred a block of cheese in about five seconds so that I don't have to grate it myself (I always end up hurting myself).

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be more motivated to work on the house tomorrow-- all of this clutter is driving me nutso!

House Hunting and the Bully Puppy

2009-12-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

We've driven 3200 miles in the past month, and we're finally settled down at home, thank goodness!

When we arrived, we began our search for a house. When we lived in GA and AZ, it really wasn't that big of a deal if the house was nice or not, as we were only in those places for about six months each. We'll be here, however, for about two years or so, so it was a big deal to find someplace nice to live.

We started looking in vain (realtors have the most confusing websites, I swear) and then we were pointed in the direction of ahrn.com (thanks so much, Brianna!) and through that site, we narrowed down our search to two homes that just happened to be managed by the same realtor. We made an appointment to see the first house and it had everything we wanted, plus much more! It's in a safe and nice looking neighborhood, it has a fenced-in back yard for poochy poo to play in, has lots of closet space, a huge master bath and an amazing kitchen!

The second house, however, was in a neighborhood that looked like it could either be good or bad, it was hard to tell. The living room, kitchen and dining room of this home were absolutely gorgeous, but the house was dirty and smelled bad, as it hadn't been cleaned yet. There was damage on a master bedroom wall that had been fixed by the previous tenant with paint that didn't match, and the guest bedrooms were, well, interesting. One had alternating walls of yellow and blue (and we're talking crayola colors, too), the second had red and blue and the third had the lower half of the wall, under the trim, painted baby pink while the top half was painted sky blue with clouds sponged on. I jokingly told E that he could use that room as an office, ha! It was crazy! It wouldn't have been too bad if those three rooms were set on fire...that house was just too big, too dirty, and those extra rooms were just too wild for us, so we chose the first house.

I was very concerned though, on the first day when E and I drove into the neighborhood, as we saw three little boys picking on another little boy. I told E to yell out the window for them to stop, but he wouldn't, and he wouldn't let me do it either. Let's just hope I don't catch those rotten boys in my front yard-- I'll get the Great White Gopher (Buddy) after them, ha!

* * * * *

Before E and I went to Ohio for Christmas, I was really worried that my dad and my parents' cocker spaniel, Maggie, would absolutely torment Buddy to the point where he'd never be right again. Maggie isn't mean, she's just extremely territorial, and I have a scar to prove it. We were absolutely shocked though, when Buddy would bark at Maggie to try and get her to play with him, and she was scared to death! He'd chase her and he ended up biting; her little nub of a tail a couple of times. He made her so mad a few times that she would chase him off. I couldn't believe that Buddy (who was so terrified of a little shih tzu on the first night of puppy school) was tormenting a mean, old dog who is a lot bigger than him. I though my dad would pick on Buddy, too, but again, Buddy was the bully. He'd chase my dad through the house and would bite his ankles and barked when dad had something good to eat and wouldn't give Buddy any. It's strange he did that, because we do not allow that at home! I guess he knew that my dad is a sucker for a cute puppy, ha!

Friend Makin' Monday: New Year's Resolutions

2009-12-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

Geez Louise! E, Buddy and I are tired! We'll finally be home tomorrow, and then we'll get our household goods on Thursday. That day can't come fast enough and I'm so excited to get the house all set up, especially my kitchen!

I'm so excited to be able to cook and bake again!

Anyway, this week's theme on Friend Makin' Mondays is "New Year's Resolutions."

Now, usually I don't like to make New Year's Resolutions, because I feel like that's a good way to set myself up for failure, i.e. I never stick to any of them. This year though, they are different, so I think I'll be fine.

1. Recycle

2. Use cloth shopping bags as much as possible, especially at the commissary

3. Make meal plans every week and stick to them

4. Get off my rear end more

5. Prepare healthier meals

I don't think those will be too hard... we'll see, I suppose.

I'll write more about our PCS trip and our Christmas trip later. I hope everyone's holiday was fantastic!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe

Help to make the season bright

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa's on his way

He's bringing lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh

And every mother's child is gonna spy

To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

And so I'm offering this simple phrase

To kids from one to ninety-two

Although it's been said many times, many ways

Merry Chrismas to you!

Love,

B, E and B

It's a Christmas Miracle!

2009-12-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

That's what E said this morning with joy in his heart when he discovered that he had an extra Little Debbie Christmas tree snack cake that he didn't know about. I just don't know about him sometimes, but it's nice to know that he values the little things in life... I guess, haha!

Also, is this not the most disgusting thing you've seen?

Yes, Buddy does not have fleas, but a flea.

This is Buddy's favorite toy, Flea.

You can see the gross slobber marks he's left behind

Buddy got a bath earlier, and much to his despair,

Flea will be getting a bath via launderette this afternoon.

Hopefully, Flea will live through it;

otherwise, we'll have a sad puppy on our hands.

Travel Essentials and Crazy Army Wives

2009-12-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

E and I have traveled a lot during our relationship, and I've just now come up with some really good things that I'll never travel without again.

1. Downy Wrinkle Releaser--

my best friend introduced me and I've been hooked ever since. I hate how wrinkly clothes get in a suitcase, and I am surely not going to iron them, ha! It's one of the few household chores I'm not good at it-- good thing E's uniform doesn't need ironed, he'd be in trouble!

2. Wet Ones Antibacterial Wipes--

I'm one of those people who washes my hands way too much, and I hate having dirty-feeling hands, so these things are wonderful! It's also great that they're antibacterial with us doing all of this traveling with the move and holidays and it being cold and flu season.

3. Pet Travel-Tainer--

This thing is fabulous and makes traveling with Buddy so easy! We've been out and about for a week and a four days, and it's only half empty. It's a lot bigger than it looked online, and it's pretty sturdy too. Also, if you're traveling with a dog, bringfido.com is wonderful!

* * * * *

I was so overwhelmed by Ft. Hood and the area on our first few days here, but we're getting used to it. Our new house is lovely and we think we're going to be very happy here and are excited to see what the future holds in store for us! The house is smaller than the one in AZ, but it seems bigger because it's layed out a lot better. The one in AZ had a lot of wasted room also.

I don't like complaining about other Army wives, especially when I've read a few blogs who do the same, although if you look at the blog you can see quite a few things that just aren't right... like my pet peeve, soldiers wearing bouttonieres on their dress uniforms. I mean, really, why make a man put something girly on his manly uniform? It's stupid and it says in the "Wearing of the Military Uniform" guide that it's a no-no. I guess I'm just a stickler for the rules... what a nerd, I know....

I ended up going on post the other day to do laundry and to pick up a few groceries. I was completely unaware that they were holding a crazy convention in the launderette. It was me, a bunch of crazy Army wives with crazy Army brats, and one, poor soldier stuck in the middle of it all. One was walking around the place pushing a stroller and talking on her cell about how some other girl was such a slut. Then she started telling her infant child stories and was being way too animated. The girl she was with also said at one point, "I'm not retarded, I just had a 103-degree temperature that fried my brain." Hmmm. I came home and told E that I'm not crazy enough to be an Army wife, ha!

The next day at lunch E saw a woman wearing a backless shirt and her bra was showing. He said at first that he really thought she was a hooker, but then realized that she was just an Army wife, ha! I didn't see her, but it must have been bad for him to say something like that.

Lastly, we were driving through McDonald's today, and some crazy Army wife that was in front of us was holding an infant on her lap! I was tempted to call the police, but I doubt it would have done any good. I mean, didn't she learn anything from Britney Spears? It's so sad that there are people out there who would be amazing parents and can't have children, but then there are crazies like that woman who can pop 'em out like popcorn. I treat Buddy better than that, and he's a rotten, little dog! I was pretty ticked about that one....

So, I guess all I can say is "Thank you crazy Army wives for making the rest of us look bad!" I try hard to be a good wife, and a good Army wife, especially since I'm not just representing me, but my husband as well. It gives me comfort though, to know that there are still nice Army/ Military wives out there, who behave like ladies, like all of you!

Blog Award

2009-12-17T23:26:00.000-08:00

The lovely MG over at

Magnolias and Mimosas

gave me this blog award--

thank you SO much!

The rules for this award are:

♥ List 10 things that make you happy ♥ Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day

Here I go....

1. I'm pretty happy that we made it to Fort Hood safe and sound, and that Buddy was well behaved the entire time. I was kind of worried about devil dog.

2. I'm so extremely happy that there is a Hobby Lobby, Cracker Barrel, Target, Kohl's, Olive Garden and Old Navy right here in the Fort Hood area and that we won't have to drive over an hour just to do basic shopping/ eat someplace that's not fast food. I was especially happy about the Hobby Lobby-- now I can do all the crafts I want (much to E's despair) and it's not three hours away like the nearest one to Ft. Huachuca was.

3. It makes me happy seeing Christmas decorations/ lights, or just going through the Christmas section of Walmart, Target, or Lowe's. It's all so pretty.... :)

4. Finding a wonderful new recipe. I just love cooking and am planning on cooking lots of healthy meals once we get our new home set up.

5. Speaking of our new home... we had an appointment to go look at it today. It's absolutely gorgeous and I think we'll be happy there. Hopefully all of the application stuff goes through tomorrow and we can sign for it soon--that would make me pretty happy!

6. E makes me happy-- the boy is hilarious! I just love him to bits and pieces.

6. A good book-- oh how I love reading. After majoring in English, it took me a long time to be able to read for pleasure again. I just finished up The Pillars of the Earth, which was fabulous, Girl With a Pearl Earring, and Push, and now I'm reading Cleaving by Julie Powell. I love her writing style, I just don't think that I like her....

7. Jamming to Christmas tunes in the car with Buddy. I've already warned E that it's gonna be Christmas music all the way to OH next week, ha!

8. McDonald's Coke. It's so much better than coke from a bottle or can. I've been known to go to McDonald's just for a coke.

9. I love when Buddy wakes up in the morning and he's so stinkin' affectionate. He won't even go outside to potty in the morning until he gives us some love. I think it's precious.

10. Lastly, Blog Friends make me happy! I wish I would have blogged while E was deployed-- I think I would have coped a lot better with it had I blogged! I want to especially thank Brianna and Jessica for helping E and I with this PCS move. Brianna, thanks for recommending that site-- E and I found a lovely house through it! And Jessica, I can't even begin to thank you enough-- you are wonderful!

I tag:

Brianna at The Simple Life of a Not So Simple Wife, Jessica at Confessions of an Army Wife, Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans, Karren at A Bee and His Honey, Erin at The Unexpected Army Life, Jessica at Learning as We Go, Christine at A Leap of Faith, Marsie at Quite Contrary, Sarah at Faith, Hope, and Love, JG at Perpetual Newlyweds.

Again, thanks so much, Megan!

"The Great Place"

2009-12-13T15:50:00.000-08:00

First of all, I want to thank all of you who prayed for E's grandpa-- it means so much to us! He made it though the surgery and is doing just fine.

* * * * *

We made it to Ft. Hood safely, thank goodness. I'm so proud of Buddy, too-- he was such a good boy on our trip. Everyone who sees him asks what kind of dog he is, and they look at me like I'm speaking French (ha!) when I say that he's a Coton de Tulear. So I'm just going to start telling people that he's a mutt, ha!

Jennifer over at Crazy Shenanigans wanted to see pics of Buddy's carseat, so here are a few:

{Peek a boo!}

{Mommy, PLEASE stop singing!}

{Drive faster!}

I haven't been on post yet, but I'm sure I'll get more of my fair share of Ft. Hood over the next two or so years. I'm a bit intimidated so far by the size of this place. Sierra Vista was small and so easy to get around... hopefully I won't always be lost here. We'll see! Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Prayer Request

2009-12-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Please keep E's grandpa in your prayers-- he is having brain surgery this evening.

100th Post

2009-12-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

So, the movers are here. They won’t let me help (I asked) so I’ve barricaded my ferocious, little guard dog and myself in E’s office while they work in other rooms. I don’t want to be unsocial or anything, but it drives me nuts just to sit around while other people are working, especially when their work involves going through all of our stuff!

It’s already been a hectic morning, and I’m ready for the day to be over with. We had an awful storm last night that tore more shingles and completely detached the brand new privacy screen off the house. All I can say is that I’m glad E and I are not homeowners yet. The storm also blew the charcoal grill, little table, and chairs across the yard. E said the winds got up to 70 mph last night, but I haven’t heard any numbers on the news yet. E was all flustered this morning because he misplaced a cd that he needed and he couldn’t get the washer unhooked. Oops. I guess it should be okay since they’re just packing today and loading up a truck on Thursday? We shall see!

{After the nasty storm, however, there was the most beautiful full rainbow stretching across the sky. Everything will be okay!}

Buddy is mad because he’s locked up with boring ole’ mom, when what he really wants is to wander around the house making new friends. He’s horrible about walking underfoot, though, so poochy poo will remain incarcerated for the day.

Buddy will be making the drive to “The Great Place” with me. I have to admit that I bought him a doggy car seat-- he’s already learned how to jump in it and he loves it! Don’t judge me, that dog is my baby! We also bought him a pet taxi thing since we don’t want to lug that big crate around-- we call it Buddy’s vacation home, haha! We’re such nerds…. I keep teasing E by asking if he wants Buddy to ride with him, and he just laughs at me-- Buddy is known to absolutely torment E, and I think it’s hilarious! So it looks like my shadow and I will be riding together, and I saw a bumper sticker the other day that I ~~want~~ need! For me to say that I want a bumper sticker is a pretty big deal because I usually think they are so tacky. Anyway… I saw one that said “My Dog is My Co-pilot” and thought it was cute, especially since Bud will spend a few days being just that.

I wish E were here with me… but alas, the Army says he has to work today, but he should be home fairly early, thank goodness.

* * * * * * * * *

Okay, enough of that not-so-fun stuff. This is my 100th post, and I wanted it to be about something nicer than our move. I’m going to write about another move of ours that happened exactly a year ago. I moved from Ohio to Savannah, GA... and E came home from Iraq! I can't believe it's been a year already-- the time has just flown. I was so lucky to have him home for Christmas, and it was the best gift ever!

I don't think I'll ever forget the night/ early morning he got home. I was in tears before I got to Ft. Stewart because I thought I was lost out in the middle of nowhere. I was in tears when I saw those beautiful, white buses pulling up, and when the soldiers marched out onto the parade field. When they were released, I couldn't see E and it took him a while to find me, so once again, I was in tears. It was such a sight seeing him for the first time in eleven months (no joke! he got a super-early leave) and I'll never forget it. We were both in such shock that all we could really do is look at each other and smile at first, haha! It was a good day, to say the very least!

* * * * * * * * *

Now the day is over and I'm relaxing with my sweethearts in a hotel room on post. It's right next to the Class Six, so I keep teasing E by saying that I'm going to go buy lots of stuff, haha! Buddy didn't know what the think about the place. The day went by very fast, thank goodness, and the only other hard thing this week will be tomorrow when they come to load up all of our stuff.

{Buddy with his "Vacation" home}