Cinderella Went to the Ball

On a normal day I wear jeans & a top to clean, do errands & cook. On Tuesday nights I put on a dress or skirt for my Mary Kay meetings. And on completely lazy days I lounge in my pj's & robe if it's cold. Friday I got to dress up - head to toe! This was the first Military Ball we have attended and it was SO much fun. Some people were complaining that they were starting late but I was dressed up with a drink in hand so no complaints from me!

Staying in procrastinator tradition I shopped for a dress the day before with a friend that was visiting to go to the ball with her fiance. We both got lucky & found a dress at the first shop we went to, I got a little "shiny" happy & bought shoes and earrings as well. On my way home I realized that I had two pair of earrings that would have went just fine but they were on sale & shiny so really I had no choice.

As a true procrastinator I didn't get in the shower & start getting ready until a little after 3:00...we wanted to leave by 5:00. I know 2 hours seems like a lot of time to get ready but my hair had to dry before I curled it and my hair doesn't always get along with curls. Plus my hormones went on attack & I had a HUGE mountain of a zit {could have been a mole if it were brown} to cover; luckily I have fantabulous Mary Kay products {concealer, foundation, mineral powder} that made it just about disappear! Next time I'll ask the sitter to come early & keep the kids distracted while we finish things up and I'll have her take some photos before the wind gets to my hair and we've had a drink or few.

I've heard that some balls aren't much fun & wives aren't always excited to go. O_O What?!? Not excited to dress up & get out of the house with your husband? When we were there I was glad that we had a seat far back from the stage. We clapped & stood when others did without having to hear the whole boring speech {just glad the FRG didn't get up & start talking) and we didn't have to fake a smile for the mediocre comedian. I'm sure he tried but most weren't very impressed. We were a little further than the dance floor then I liked but I still managed to drag the hubs out for a few songs. They played "Hold Me" which is 'our song' - not the song we danced to at our wedding {not sure why at this moment} but it has significance for us & if you google "Hold Me" and some strange song comes up, I may not have the song title correct - that's just what I call it. Or that is our song & we may be weird. ;)

After dinner & dancing and laughing with friends we headed to a little Irish Pub that was packed full of people - some from the ball, some not - and laughed more with friends. I even managed to get him on the dance floor again! We'd talked about getting out once a month or more for a date night since we have a sitter that we can trust & the kids like, but we haven't done that with everything else going on. I think we'll start soon.

Here are some pictures from the night. It was dark in the room so they all didn't turn out great but it works. OH & I was "posing" for pictures all night because I didn't think they had a professional photographer, found out they did just before we left! =] See what others are talking about today by clicking the button above.

PS. Michael told me that we could go to the ball ONLY if he & Lydia could go when they were bigger and Daddy & I stayed home with the babysitter...if only I grew younger as he grows older!

Adjusting

Shawn's been home for a little over two months and it's been a roller coaster. First there was the extreme high of excitement and anticipation finally coming to head. I'd look at him across the table or room and be in complete awe that he was so close. Then I was in a spiraling whirlwind over block leave with traveling to visit family & friends, celebrating holidays and just enjoying vacation. Now it feels like I am on that fast track down back to reality.

Am I thrilled that he's home? Of course! Would I be even more thrilled if his clothes made it into the hamper in the laundry room rather than their own pile in the bedroom...? I'll let you guess. It's weird that for 14 months I did it all on my own - or made sure that it got done and it didn't really bother me. So why is it that my 'housewifely duties' are getting on my nerves? Maybe it's because I feel more like a personal maid at times. I really don't mind doing the brunt of the housework but is it really too much to ask for him to put his own laundry in the hamper, or keep track of his 23948985 pieces of Army gear?

Then feelings of guilt creep in as I think that he could be leaving for the next deployment in 10-13 months. It's not something that I focus on but it's hard not to think about, especially when time is just flying by. Time didn't move so quickly while he was gone, why does it have to now? I don't want to waste time arguing about laundry piles, or anything really.The laundry isn't a big problem, just an annoyance that I wanted to get off of my chest. I started writing this post a few days ago and he saw the first draft talking about the laundry. The next morning I woke up to a clean kitchen, children dressed & fed and their rooms clean. It was a nice surprise. But...the dirty clothes were still in a pile on our bedroom floor, along with a pile of clean clothes he hasn't put away since pulling them all out looking for something. I had to laugh.

If you're married what's that one thing that your husband does that just hits a nerve with you?

OH & I forgot! We took Lydia's crib down last weekend, so now she's in the toddler bed. I have some spray paint for it and bought her new sheets - her other was stained. We still need to get her decor on the walls and I still have to organize scrappy stuff so not much from this list was completed but it's progress, I'm hoping to finish her room today. I'm off to start laundry and clean this house up, funny how quickly it gets messy. If you're here from Sunday Scrappin' I didn't get to any crafts this week but I'm sure I'll take a peek at your work. Thanks for visiting & have a great week!

Shopping for Snacks

Yesterday I went to the commissary, crazy as usual around payday and as usual I had to go because we were running out of important things like jelly and cereal and this coming week is busy like most have been lately. I went in thinking I was all prepared with my menu plans and shopping list. Somewhere in the middle of the busyness of the aisles, Michael wanting to dance around or 'help' me shop & Lydia trying to squirm out of her seat I realized that I could get Shawn's favorite foods and NOT send them off in a care package but rather have them waiting for him in the fridge or pantry. :D I would have done a cartwheel if I weren't in the crowded commissary. I take that back, I'm not sure I can even still do a cartwheel. Anyways, I was excited. I got biscuits, pepper jack cheese, pepperoncinis and mandarin oranges. I JUST realized that I forgot to get bacon, hot links & soda. I'll have to go back for milk in a few days so I'll get the rest later.

I still can't give out any dates - don't have a specific date & OPSEC rules. But I can say that my husband SHOULD be home in just over a week. So we're literally counting down the days. No longer months or weeks but DAYS. It's amazing. Nearly 14 months ago it felt like it would be forever until he was back home, I was venturing into an unknown reality. I've grown a lot during this time, made good friends & found that I am capable of taking care of several things on my own. But I really enjoy doing it all with my husband alongside & leading the way.

The last time I talked about Shawn coming home I had a to do list of sorts....I just looked at it and wow I was crazy to think I'd get all of that done while maintaining a clean house, getting Michael to & from school and working my business. So I've got a new more realistic list that I'll share.

• Vacuum and clean couch
• Clean baseboards
• I started to write clean ceiling fan until I looked up & realized we don't have one in this house. Yes, I'm losing it. No, it doesn't bother me. ;)
• New filter for vent
• Change shower liner {for $2 I'll save myself scrubbing time}
  
• Take my old clothes to Back Door Boutique {store that lower ranking families can get items for free once a week}
• Find someone who wants Michael's old clothes or BDB
• Send Lydia's old clothes to my sister for my sweet little neice
• Organize scrap stuff
• Organize Mary Kay product/supplies Check
  
• Return patio chairs to friends
• Computer boxes to Lydia's closet {I'm holding two computers for a friend who got them as Christmas gifts for two of her sons but they're in our bedroom, Lydia's closet has room so they're going in there}
• Trash out of car
• Vacuum car
• Wash car
• Organize closet??? {this one may or may not be done until he's home and we get a dresser}

I have some other things that I need to take care of like getting Shawn's cell phone turned on, adding his truck back to the insurance, update registration & get a new battery because he forgot to remind me to start it up once a month or so. I also have to figure out just what I'm wearing to pick him up, have an idea but it's not set yet. The kids' outfits are set & I'll hang up my sign closer to him coming home. Now I'm all motivated to go start getting things done, yesterday I organized my MK product & supplies, the laundry/storage room looks SO much better now but still more to do.

We did this webcamming a few weeks ago & I got screen captures of it. It was fun to do, even more fun knowing he'd be home in person soon. No more worrying if I forgot to forward the house phone or if Comcast was having technical issues, no more putting messenger on my phone everytime I leave the house, no more taking the phone into the bathroom & everywhere with me. No more VTC scheduling, waiting & connection issues. It will be strange to be able to call my husband rather than just waiting for a phone call, but I'm sure it's an adjustment I'll get used to quickly. =]

Counting Down DAYS!!!!!

I can't give an exact date for two reasons, one - I don't exactly have an exact date, two - it would be violating OPSEC to give out specific dates. BUT I do have exciting news. I'm all :D :D :D about it! I'm no longer counting down MONTHS until my husband comes home, but counting down DAYS, to make it seem to go faster I'm counting PAYCHECKS or WEEKS. So I'm sure you can imagine the :D across my face. If my camera were working I'd take a picture for you to see. I'm THRILLED!!! I can say that my husband will be coming home eariler than originally scheduled...just not how much earlier. I've known for a while about the estimated date change but today it just smacked me in the face and well, I've turned into a little bit of a nutcase. I keep making lists in my head of all the things I just have to do before he comes home. Which is funny because none of them are actually must do things. I'll share some of my list with you so you can get an idea of how my CDO {like OCD but alphabetically as it should be} mind has been working:

• Recover dining chairs {a project I intended on doing 3 years ago when I bought the table at a yard sale}
• Scrub every surface - window sills, baseboards, light fixtures {I keep a clean house but I don't spring clean weekly}
• Switch Lydia into toddler bed
• Decorate Lydia's room, I found inspiration for some DIM {Do It Myself} projects
• Get Michael a twin mattress for his twin bed, along with bedding to fit
• Purge & reorganize toys in kids' rooms
• Move computer & desk to different wall in living room
• Get a recliner, bench or other seating for living room
• Get trays for my ottomans {so they can hold a glass or whatever}
• Paint canvas to hang on big blank wall in kitchen
• Get rugs for kids' rooms
• Organize laundry/storage room
• Finish Lydia's one year album
• Do more pages in family albums
• Organize our closet & figure out where all of his gear is going

The list could go on but I won't torture you anymore. Most everything on this list can {and probably will} be done after homecoming {army speak for soldiers coming home} but there are some things I'll want to have done beforehand. The most important is tackling our closet. Because I moved after he deployed we've never had ALL of Shawn's clothing, uniforms & gear in our closet. He's got enough that he could easily take up the whole thing. But because I'm not a nudist {you're welcome} I need some space in there too. So I want to go through all of my stuff & organize it better, making the most of the space. Once he's home he's going through his civi {civilian} clothes and tossing what no longer fits/he likes and we'll go from there. Likely Lydia will have a tub or three in her closet with Shawn's gear that isn't used regularly, she has the space so it'll work. I just don't want him coming home & feel that it's not home and there's no space for him.

I also want to get Lydia switched into the toddler bed {planned on doing that earlier in the week}, recover the chairs, tackle the laundry room and scrub every surface. I'm excited, nervous, anxious and thrilled all at once, but mostly ecstatic. It will be an adjustment for both of us and the kids but a GOOD adjustment. And I figure if there's some bumps along the way at least he'll be home to make up with afterward. ;)

I haven't had a chance to scrap this week...hoping for this coming week, that would help me check some stuff off my list right!

Homecoming

While my hubby is sleeping in I thought I'd give a quick update. I picked him up from the airport Tuesday. He caught an earlier flight than we were anticipating so we both made it there about the same time. The kids were happily surprised to see daddy. I told them before heading to the airport what was going on but there was still some surprise. Michael was holding daddy's neck so tightly that Shawn could have let him go & he would have been hanging. Lydia was a little shy at first but quickly warmed up and and isn't holding back any love from daddy. A nice woman who worked at a restaurant near his gate offered to take a group picture for us. I didn't get as many pictures as I thought I would but I think we were all overwhelmed with emotion & distracted. So that's okay. It was about the sweetest moment. I'll have much to talk about later, maybe another morning when my honey is sleeping in. The skies finally cleared yesterday & the sun is shining so we'll be having fun with the kids. Thanks for dropping by!

Missing My Valentine

I decided a month ago that Valentine's Day would be just like any other day. Really, it is, at least for my husband & I. There's no significance to this day. We didn't meet, begin dating, get engaged or married on Valentine's so it's really just a 'hallmark holiday' for us. So, I wasn't going to let it get to me. If he were home I would have received a card and probably be eating a nicer dinner than what the kids & I had. Nothing more, and I'm okay with that. I appreciate 'our' days more than this one.

Now that today is here & almost gone I realize I'm more sad about it than I thought I would be. Not because we aren't going out to some fancy restaurant or I'm not opening fancy jewelry. But because he's not here. Because we're not having 'just another day' together. Playing with the kids when he got home from work, making & eating dinner, and then cuddling on the couch when the kids are in bed. Of course arguing about what to watch on TV - tonight there would be no debate, LOST and then whatever he wanted, probably UFC or an action flick. I miss plain old boring normal days with him, though they're never really boring. I miss him & I miss us; Valentine's Day or any other regular day.

Catching Up

Yes, I am back. I didn't post right away because honestly I was overwhelmed by the over 200 e-mails I had, catching up on my message board and reading what all (or most, sorry if I haven't made it to you yet! I will!) of you have been up to. Oh & the e-mails, mostly notifications to the freecycle.org site I signed up with, blog reader subscriptions, message board updates & some e-mails that somehow made it past my SPAM filter notifying me that I miraculously won some lottery in the UK!

So the move went pretty smoothly all things considered. There ended up being 3 trucks, a trailer & my SUV to move things over and it was all done in 2 loads and finished in about 3 hours thanks to the 6 people that showed up to help me out. Oh & we were even brought lunch mid moving so it was great. I've unpacked most things, still have a few boxes to go through and will be organizing & decorating soon - I hope! I'm having a yard sale on Saturday, it's a post wide thing so there will be a lot of people out shopping. So far I have about 4 good size boxes of stuff to sell along with a few larger items.

The new house is great! It's all newly renovated and painted nice - still have grocery store tile but all housing on post (here at least) does. My kitchen has much more counter space (though much of it is still cluttered) and good cabinets (minus the pantry cabinet without shelves but I'll get that fixed soon). I have a separate laundry room which means it's no longer in my kitchen & I don't hear the machines going, plus there's more storage space because the room is large enough. We did lose one hall closet but the bedroom closets are larger so it's not such a loss. The main bathroom has a doorway to the hall & master bedroom, double vanity & good storage. The second bathroom is between the kids rooms so for now I don't have to clean that often & I won't be kicking squeaky toys out of the way when I take a shower. I don't have photos of the house to show you yet but soon!

As you can imagine I've been missing my husband - a lot. (The picture above is taken of us the day he left - before all the tears). I have talked to him a few times, received a couple of e-mails and even got to instant message a couple of times. He is doing well and has arrived at his final destination in Iraq. I appreciate the prayers, encouragement & support that you all have shown. There have been a few times when I've especially missed having my husband here doing the things husbands do. Like when I was cleaning at the old house (all done by the way) and the wheel popped off of the lawnmower and wouldn't start up after replacing said wheel. I kicked the fence! I know that I am capable of doing some 'man' work, I just don't enjoy it. I did learn something over the weekend though - rewiring a dryer isn't as hard as it sounds, no wire stripping and/or twisting copper wires together. I had to buy a new plug for our dryer because ours was a three prong and the outlet is a four prong. Below is a post all about it if you are interested.

♥

All Too Familiar

So I could gripe talk about how far beyond frustrated I am that the housing office called me up today letting me know that my moving dates have been pushed up because it doesn't work with their schedule. I guess the manager decided to pull a redo or do-over on an appointment I personally saw her authorize. This means I'll be getting my keys on Thursday, as in 3 days from now, and I don't have any boxes packed yet, well aside from things like Christmas decorations but that's been packed since well after last Christmas. The kids & I were sick over the weekend so I hardly got housework done let alone packing. The cold/allergies/whatever it was kicked my butt and I was so tired. Not sleeping well at night hasn't helped.

Or I could whine talk about how much I miss my husband because he would have no problem calling up a few guys to get help moving. I did call Rear D and I'll get some help, it's just hard to pinpoint a time and guarantee a day with them. He would probably also know how to take down these stupid blinds so I can wash them - yes, washing blinds in a house that will be getting renovated, even downstairs where there will be drywall dust messing them up again. :/ This would all be so much easier with his help.

This won't focus on either of those things though. Something happened yesterday that hit me harder than frustration with housing offices and the realities of my hubby's absence. My neighbor's mother died today. At first I was numb, sad for her but distracted with watching the children and attempting to clean - which by the way doesn't fair so well with 3 kids ages 3 and under if you were wondering. Her husband had come over a couple times to check on their daughter but when she came over and we started talking we were both in tears. Her mother died from an accidental overdose of some type of pain pill(s). I don't know of the details and really they don't matter. Her mom had struggled with an addiction, still loved and cared for her family and now she is gone. It was all too familiar. I shared a quick version of my story with her so she would know that I understood what she was going through and she could talk to me, passed along some advice that I received from friends at the beginning of my grieving process and listened to her. She was going to be picking up her mom from the airport today and she was going to be staying for a while to help with the new baby, did I mention she's due to have a C-Section in less than three weeks? So she can't even go back home for the funeral, my neighbor is from California also. Actually, she's from the same town I started out in. She is younger than I am, will soon have two small children, her husband will be deploying in a month and she's just lost her mom. My heart aches for her and though I am glad I was able to be there for her, I wish it was only to watch her daughter. How I wish I couldn't relate so much to her situation. How I wish my mom were out here to help me pack and get things taken care of, she'd be all over it - half my house would probably be packed by now.

So here I am missing my husband and my mom, wanting to just grieve and do nothing but love on my kids but I have a house to pack and move. And a neighbor who has become a friend to help. Life goes on even when it doesn't.

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Taking A Break

Just a quick post to update on what's going on with us. Shawn is going to be leaving a little sooner than what we anticipated. We still don't have an exact date but it will likely be by Wednesday. He's off for the rest of the day (enjoying a little nap) and has the rest of the weekend off, tomorrow included. Not only do we still have details to take care of (working out our new budget, suspending his cell phone, etc) but more importantly we want to enjoy these last days together as a family. Yesterday we got some nice family photos taken, him in his Class A's. Michael wasn't so cooperative but I was assured that my new friend got some great photos. I am very excited to see them! Tonight we have a meeting to find out about our housing situation (a post on that next week sometime), tomorrow we are going on a date!, Saturday we're going to spend the day at CAV Fest - free family fun to honor the soldiers here (& I'll be working a Mary Kay booth for a couple hours), Sunday we will go to church and enjoy the day as a family. Next week is up in the air. We'll enjoy each day we get until it's time to say goodbye. I'll be back to blogging (posting & reading) regularly next week. For now I am going to enjoy the time with my family and getting my priorities back in order (post on that next week as well). If I happen to have a few moments I may do a quick post while hubby is at work, we'll see. I hope you all enjoy your weekend. While you are enjoying your friends & family please remember the many soldiers who are away from the comforts of home and company of family & friends. Politics aside there are many homesick soldiers and many homes missing their soldiers.

Quick Update: So we found out at the meeting last night that we are in the first group of houses set for renovations. They are good renovations that need to be done but the timing just SUCKS. So because people who volunteer to move get better pick of available housing I'm volunteering. Either way my hubby will be gone so what's the difference? Plus I'll be moved before I vacation to my dad's house. Monday I've got an appointment for a walk through inspection and after that I should be able to get an address & move date. I'm planning around the first. So I'm starting to gather boxes now and will have the help of hubby's Rear D (rear detachment = part of the unit that stays back during deployment) for moving. Though it is going to be a bit rushed and life will be a little hectic I am starting to feel better about all of it. We'll likely have a nicer house and I'm actually getting a little excited about it after looking at some of the other floor plans. Gotta run! Just wanted to let you all know what was up with it. :)

Thanks for visiting!

♥

Faithful Friday {week 5}

Wow, two weeks in a row I remembered. And this time without any reminders. So last week I started talking about my dry season I'm in, spiritually speaking. I thought I would elaborate more on that but now I'm not sure what more I was planning to say. I'm dry, that about covers it. I really should start keeping notes on things I plan to blog at a later date so that when that date comes I have some reference. Do you like this little button I made? Click on it to read more Faithful Friday from my buddy Kim at Daily Blessings. I'm having fun making these little buttons. I've got lots in store for Masterpiece Monday but you'll have to wait until then to see.

Today's Faithful Friday is inspired by a devotion that was in a newsletter from Wives of Faith that I read today. An excerpt from the 'About Us' section of their website: Wives of Faith is a new group that exists for the purpose of connecting all military wives including active, retired, Reserve and Guard, who are looking for encouragement and friendships with others sharing similar life experiences. Wives of Faith get-togethers provide a way for military spouses to meet each other, connect for a friendly cup of coffee or conversation over lunch, a play date at the park with the kids, or a heart to heart when times get tough. It's our hope that through this group, women will be encouraged in their walk with God through the ups and downs of military life and discover the hope and contentment that we can all have through Christ.

The newsletter I read this morning talked about the times in life when winning does count. I'm not talking about finishing first in a race, breaking records or scoring points. But rather having victories in life, overcoming circumstances & beating the odds. There are spiritual forces in this world and an enemy that wants to defeat you & me, everyone. He wants us distracted & swated from the Truth & to live our lives in fear & without hope. I have had days that I felt nothing was going right, I was failing at everything and it felt as though the world was falling apart around me. But God's mercy is new every morning, I made it through hard times, I was not defeated. As I'm preparing to enter a new season in my life, a season with my husband away at war I need to cling to the truth & peace that surpasses all understanding. I need to claim victory for my husband, my marriage & my family. I can't let the enemy defeat my thoughts, invade my peace or take advantage of my vulnerability. This isn't to say I won't worry or have bad days but I won't be defeated.

♥

Back to Blogging

With all the SMARTness, showing of my Masterpieces and informing you all about really important information I haven't really been talking much about my actual life outside of the great blogosphere we type in. So here's a list of things that have been going on lately that may or may not interest you.

* I took some pictures of Lydia on her 9 month day, they turned out really cute and I'm excited about that because that means I don't need to take her into a studio where the pictures may or may not come out well, over pay for prints & be manipulated into purchasing the extras they printed 'just in case I changed my mind' and if I don't they'll be burned & who am I to allow such a thing? Isn't that sweet of them to think of my memories {read: their cash register}.
* I still need to take pictures of Michael for his 3 year old photos but am delaying because he hasn't been in such a picture taking mood yesterday and the popsicles are gone so I have nothing left to bribe him with.
* My husband found out that one of his good friends from basic & ait training died in Iraq when the Humvee he was in was hit with an IED. He knew two other people in the same vehicle, one made it out safely and the other was hit with shrapnel. I'm nervous, reality of what he's facing is hitting home and I'm getting scared.
* I was going to go to my first Mary Kay meeting last night but got confused & thought I was lost and by the time I figured out what I did I was too late. I really don't like showing up late so I'll give it another shot next week.
* We have a neighborhood national night out fair of sorts with a {surprise!} cowboy theme tonight. It should be fun, games & fun for the kids and a chance to meet more people.
* We lived for a day without an air conditioner & we were all miserable. Can't remember if I shared that or not. Now it occasionally goes out but we know how to fix it so it's not so bad.
* I spent Sunday trying to cook, do laundry & watch some TV not knowing if my power was going to shut off & how long for. I think the power went off about 10-12 times, no exaggeration. Usually it was for short bits but still - annoying. Luckily no laundry or dinner was harmed in the process.
* I put Lydia's hair in a little pebbles style pony tail on Sunday and it stayed in fairly well. The next day Shawn was inspired by the mo hawk look it left that he gave her a real mo hawk. Cute huh? We tried to give Michael one too but it just wasn't working with his longer hair.
* I think I remembered what I wanted to share. If not there's always another post tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting.

♥

Same Argument Different House

As you know my mother in law has been visiting us from California. Hubby happened to have a four day weekend, which worked out great. Friday morning he got up with the kids so I could get a little extra sleep and while he was at it even did a little cleaning up. Dishes were done, floors swept & laundry was in the wash. {I was thinking his mom aught to visit more often if this was the result} Then I opened the washer.

Let me state a few disclaimers before I continue; I appreciated his thoughtfulness & efforts and I know that my way of doing things is not the only way or the right way - maybe the better way but that's beside the point.

My laundry rules:

• Wash full loads whenever possible
• Towels & sheets go in their own loads
• Work clothes are not washed with 'civilian' clothing
• My tops get washed on cold so they don't shrink
• All kids clothing {and often mine} must be checked for stains & get Zout'ed
• Whites wash on warm or hot
• Dry clean only waits at the bottom of the pile {or usually my closet} until I finally take it in
• I wash when I know I am likely to fold & put away clothing
• Prefer to wash separate colors but not a stickler about it {so long as nothing will bleed}
  

My husband's laundry rules:

• Everything can wash with everything
• Wash on hot

So what did I find in the washer? A mish mash of clothing - varying colors, towels, work clothes and my DRY CLEAN ONLY sweater. :/ I was not so happy about that. Fortunately he didn't pay attention to the temperature setting & it was still on cold so there were no casualties but that was beside the point. He didn't get what the big deal was, nothing was ruined and I said - but things could have been ruined because he didn't pay attention to labels. Plus, I wasn't planning on doing laundry that day but also didn't want a pile of clothing sitting out on our couch. I had just cleaned the entire house so that's not so much to ask right? My mother in law came downstairs laughing and said "same argument, different house". So what's your take on laundry? Do you have disagreements over laundry methods at your house?

Back to Cali {part 7}

Date Night

Hubby & I don't get many chances to go out on dates since we don't know anyone to watch our kids yet so we took advantage of having grandparents around willing excited to spend some time with the kiddos - along with all theirs - to sneak away on a date. Because of the busy schedule we didn't have free time until after the wedding. So after taking some time to rest after the busy day we got dressed, kissed the kids goodbye & left. And get this, we left without our cell phones. Awful, I know but totally unavoidable. Shawn had left his at the airport in Nashville on his way out to California and mine was somewhere in the house but nowhere to be found.

We decided to go have dinner & drinks at Chili's. There was about a 20 minute wait but we didn't mind. After sitting down in our booth we saw three other couples come in, baby carriers in tow & we did all but get on the table saying "na na na na" taunting them with our childlessness. We refrained. But we did give each other five under the table and laugh in our own delight. Having an evening out with no baby carriers, high chairs, booster seats, "mommy this" or "daddy that", or faces & hands to clean was so nice.

I had their featured drink - a fresh fruit watermelon margarita. We both ordered dinner but I can't remember just what it was. The margarita was yummy. I was going to order the small, Shawn said - no get her the grande. Boy they weren't kidding when they named this thing a grande. On my 21st birthday my co-workers gave me a large glass the same size filled with jelly beans - they said I could fill it up later myself - I thought it was for decoration! Ha! I found out later from a friend that it's also called a fishbowl, which makes sense cuz I'm pretty sure you could keep a fish alive in one of those things. That actually could make a cute decoration, have a beta fish in one at a bar area - I'll keep file that idea away. After dinner we went over to our friends house for a while and talked. On our way back to my grandparents' house we talked about how much we missed our friends and wish we had spent more time with them before moving. We also agreed that we needed more date nights so I think we'll take advantage when my mother in law visits next week! I just know she would love to babysit spend time with her grandkids and I think she understands the importance of alone time in a marriage.

If you haven't been out on a date with your hubby in a while get a sitter and go do something fun together. Even if it's just getting a coffee & talking for 20 minutes, whatever you can do to have some time with just the two of you. It's good to spend time together after the kids go to bed but it's just different when you leave the house.

Thanks for stopping by & scroll down to see more posts - this is my third in one day.

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I've Been Scrappy

As you regular readers know one of my SMART habits this week is to enjoy my time. My time is when the kids are napping or down for the night. Most days this week I've taken the opportunity to work on finishing up a project I started. It's an album of the events leading up to my wedding. I know, it's been two years already - why am I just starting now? For those of you who scrap - you understand the time put into these projects. For those of you don't scrap - you understand that having kids affects all parts of your schedule. Anyway, I'm almost done with this album. I started on it a few weeks back but have been working on it for about 1-2 hours almost everyday this week. If I had had a weekend to just get it done I'm sure I could have finished it in two days. I've kept my layouts simple & most photos explain themselves so there isn't a lot of journaling. To see the album & other projects I've worked on you can click here or click on the 'My Scrappy Stuff' link under Sites to Surf. I also have my honeymoon album there along with a couple cards I've made. I have many more projects to take pictures of & upload - I'm hoping to get that accomplished by the end of the summer. If you scrapbook I recommend checking out the 2Peas website for ideas, inspiration, shopping & displaying your work.

There are two techniques I wanted to share with you also. The first is a trick that I learned from my Aunt Kris. She is even more into scrapping than I am. Her scraproom {jealous over here} is like a little store. Seriously, I could shop in there & she likely wouldn't notice anything missing. Anyways, she showed me a neat thing she did to make flower embellishments on a page she did. She used the tube from an empty toilet paper roll - would also work with a paper towel roll but a smaller tube will last you long enough. She flattened it out, used a ruler & exacto knife to cut approx 1/8-1/4 inch strips. After cutting them you can 'shape' the pieces of cardboard tubing into wider or skinnier petals/leaves. I happened to use white cardboard tubing & inked the edges to add more depth. The background was white so I wanted it to pop some. You can also use brown tubing. Paint, ribbon, fibers or wiring can also be added to these. So far I've only used ink but have a lot of ideas of what else can be done with them.

The first photo shows the pieces after being cut. The second photo is the page that I used the tubing to add to my fabric flower. Note: for some reason scanning this made the strip of pink paper & square of green paper a whole lot brighter than they actually are. This page is in the beginning of the album and has the shower invitation on it.

The second technique is applying rub ons to ribbon. To some this may be old news. I've seen it before but hadn't tried it until last night. I first did a test with part of a quotation mark rub on at the end of the ribbon & guess what? It worked! So I attached the strip of ribbon around the back of the page using tape & applied the rub on as my title. I just love how it turned out. I was a little surprised that it worked on the sheer ribbon. I think I'm hooked on rub ons for the moment & am having fun finding new {for me} ways to use them.

These are photos taken during our rehearsal. You can see the title 'rehearsal' {creative, I know} is on the ribbon along the side. Quick side note: I really, really miss my long hair.

You can click on the images for a larger view.
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Scrappin'.

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My Take on Romance

Thanks to everyone wishing us a happy anniversary yesterday. Things didn't turn out like we were hoping but it was still a good day. Hubby hasn't been feeling well or getting much sleep lately so I let him sleep in without nagging him about it {it was his day off afterall}. So yeah, we couldn't get a babysitter so we didn't leave the house. Instead Shawn made a late dinner that we enjoyed after the kids went to bed and found a movie to watch before turning in ourselves. I did have fun putting on my wedding dress {yep, still fits} and wearing my tiara throughout the day. I forgot how pretty my dress was, so did he - it was fun. Next year he will be deployed so we'll make up for it on our fourth anniversary. We are going to make sure we get at least a few dates out before he leaves too. I think when you've been with someone for so long (married only 2 but together 6) and you have little kids it's easy to let that stuff slide. Schedules, daily routine and just getting into a rutt get in the way of romance, couple time & focus on the marriage. Keeping the 'romance alive' takes effort for sure. It doesn't just happen. I know I'm not very proactive in that area. And let me say this, especially for any male readers out there. Romance doesn't have to mean candlelit dinners, long strolls on the beach, flowers, candy, gifts of jewelry {though I wouldn't complain}, sappy movies, poems or songs written of your love and devotion, basically anything that some men roll their eyes over. I think romance is more about showing your love through actions. It can start just by spending time together having a conversation that doesn't revolve around the bills, to do lists or the kids. A thoughtful gesture can be picking up her favorite ice-cream {or any treat} on the way home from work - just because. Arranging for a sitter so you can sneak away for a mini date to the local coffee shop {or wherever}. And if you're at home turn off the TV and play a game of cards, dice or scrabble together {activity of your preference}. Let me also be clear that I think this works both ways. It is not the sole responsibility of the husband to be romantic nor the sole benefit of the wife to be pampered. Doing something special once in a while is great but it's the consistent acts of kindness that I think help keep the love alive. I think it's also important to say that regardless of where a relationship is in this area, it's never too late {or early} to make changes.

*Disclaimer:

• I do not claim to be an expert in the area of romance, marriage or any relationship.
• I do not claim to have a perfect marriage.
• I do not claim to always follow my own advice - preachin' to myself here too.
• I do not claim that my ideas work for all marriages & do not guarantee positive results.
  

Two Years Down, Forever to Go

Thats right - it's our anniversary. It seems odd to me that it's only been two years. We were together almost four years before getting married so even though it's two years of marriage we've been a couple for nearly six. Sometimes I feel like we are an old married couple already. We are so comfortable with each other, I don't think there are too many surprises left for us - from each other I mean, not from life. We can often finish each other's sentences, know just how to push the other's buttons and can easily make each other smile & laugh. We've had trials during our marriage and have both thought at times "what was I thinking" - most honest marriages have I'm sure - but we have stayed committed to each other, our marriage & our family. It feels like we are out of the 'newlywed' phase - having two kids quickened that some I'm sure - but we are still young in our marriage. We are still learning how to best communicate, compromise and care for each other. I think that as long as we continue to grow, learn and be willing to change we'll be just fine. My hubby is so great about making sure I know that he loves me. He tells me about 324,948 times a day I think, but not just with his words. He works hard everyday to provide for me {and our kids}, when he notices that I'm having a hard day he pitches in with dinner or the kids, he comforts me, he listens to me & he talks to me. I love it when he is in a playful mood - he is so much fun. I am so proud of him and how far we've come. Our marriage is not perfect and it's not sunshine & roses everyday but we've got a good thing. I wouldn't trade him for anything. I'm not sure what we're going to do to celebrate today. It's a three day weekend so he's got the day off. {We're not sure why, Armed Forces day maybe? There are a lot of extra holidays in the military so we don't question, just enjoy.} We have to mow, weed whack & trim the lawn - and by we of course I mean hubby. I have my usual household chores to do. I was thinking it would be fun to take the kids to the park since we haven't gone in a while & I'd like to go before it rains again - around here ya never know. Our challenge will be to get out of the house and away from the kids. We don't really know anyone out here that we can just leave the kids with. All of Shawn's friends are younger and don't have kids. Lydia goes to bed around 7 so we'd be free after that, if we had someone here to sit with Michael for an hour & make sure the house doesn't burn down. I really do want to get some time for just us and out of the house. Shawn will be gone for our next anniversary so if we don't celebrate this year we won't be able to until our 4th. I'm hoping something will work out. We still have a couple things we may be able to look into. Crossing my fingers! Yesterday we had a much more relaxing day than Saturday. I did a little cleaning but no big projects. I took advantage of both kids napping at the same time, I think I had a full two hours with both of them down, and scrapped. I didn't get much done because it took some time for me to find all my stuff. That is my next organization project. I need to put all of my photos, scrapping magazines & craft stuff in one spot. I did get some done though and am hoping to do some more today so I'll post photos this week. I've been working on my 'Bride to Be Photo Journal', it will have all of the events that took place before our wedding. I had already done the pages with photos of finding my wedding dress {finished journaling}, so I started with photos from my bridal shower. After that will be photos of the bridal tea my grandmother threw for me, our rehearsal & dinner and the night before the wedding. I haven't decided if I'll put the day of preparations in this album or the front of my wedding scrapbook. At the rate I'm going I've got plenty of time to figure it out. I haven't scrapped our wedding photos yet. I was very intimidated at the project so I've stuck to focusing on the family & kids' stuff. I recently used my Picaboo software to create a wedding album which has inspired me to start on wedding stuff. I've put some photos of our wedding in this post. You can view my complete wedding album by clicking here if you would like. We had a fun wedding day. I loved the location for the ceremony. I had looked for two weeks to find a place that we could have an outdoor ceremony, indoor reception, was in budget & available for my day. Finally we found the perfect place. The reception room could have been a little nicer but it served its purpose. And as all married folk know {and unmarrieds need to know especially if you are planning a wedding} there's always something that doesn't go quite right at a wedding. Some are worse than others, but it's always something. We had a couple things. First I was late in starting to get ready because I had to make a trip to the store for our communion bread, juice & a few other last minute items. Second, my veil came loose from my tiarra & had to be re-sewn. Due to delays me & my bridesmaids had to wait until after the ceremony for our formal shots. And here's the big one - my wedding cake fell apart. Twenty minutes before the ceremony it fell over. My stepmom dashed over to Albertson's & talked the baker into letting us borrow a fake display cake & bought a small cake that we could cut. Our original cake was still edible, just not pretty enough to display so everyone still had cake. I was confused & surprised when I saw the new cake but relieved when I found out the whole story. The only bummer about it was there weren't any photos taken of the fallen cake. There may be video footage - I still haven't seen my wedding on video. It's a long story but I'm hoping to have it by next month. At the end of the day we were married and that's all that matters. I'd love to renew our vows one of these years, maybe on our 5th, 7th or 10th anniversary. It would be fun to do again but smaller this time. Thanks for visiting. I probably won't be on a lot today. But I will be posting daily this week I'm sure. See you next time!

Mother's Day Re-cap

So I'm a little late in getting this done. Yesterday I was tired and uninspired to do anything. Because of that there is now a large pile of clothes waiting to get folded on my couch, a larger pile of clothes in the entry waiting to be cleaned {plus the full hamper}. Every time I think I've gotten ahead of the laundry it starts popping up all over, I'm not even sure where it comes from - I certainly don't have a large wardrobe. So - Mother's Day! It was a good day. Shawn was very sweet and made breakfast, lunch & dinner and even did clean up afterward. He also had Michael make me a card, mostly scribble but very cute. We spent the day at home relaxing and playing with the kids. That night we rented "The Pursuit of Happyness", it was a very good movie. Will Smith did an excellent job and is one of my favorite actors, oh and his son is so adorable. So that was my day. Nothing too big but it was nice to be recognized and feel appreciated. Oh, I almost forgot. When we were eating breakfast, pancakes & eggs, which Michael was very excited about, I told him that it was Mother's Day and asked him if he knew what that meant. His response - "Pancake Party". Shawn and I had fun taking some pictures while we were watching a movie, Under the Tuscan Sun. We actually only saw parts of it, missing a lot in the middle so I'll have to watch for that to come on again. So often our pictures revolve around the kids so it was fun to take some of us. While taking these photos I was thinking in scrap - shocker I know - and I plan on making them look like photo booth photos, you know in the strips. We took more with kisses & funny faces but I'm just posting this one. He was a very good sport about it. It really was a good day. This was the first mother's day that we didn't have any other moms to celebrate with. In the past years I've had my mom, stepmom, mother in law and grandmothers to celebrate with. We'd usually have them over for lunch and give gifts and cards. {I still need to make & mail out cards for my stepmom & mother in law - oops!} This last photo is a picture of the dinner Shawn made for me. It was chicken alfredo over pasta topped with oven roasted tomatoes and served with steamed green beans & zucchini. My hubby is such a great cook and dinner was very tasty. I loved the tomatoes and want to try making them myself on day. Oh and one more thing, to get the picture of me and the kids we had to bribe Michael with ice-cream. He did not want to take a picture. This is also the only one that has both kids looking at the camera - of course I wasn't but oh well. I think with little ones it's hard to get a picture with everyone looking at the camera while smiling. I still like it though.

Marriage Meme

Yep, that's right. I've been tagged - again. This time is a little different though. My friend Chriss who many of you in blogworld know her as Christine, but I've known her so long she's lucky I'm not still calling her Chrissy (even though her kids, mom & sometimes she even calls me Becky), created & started this meme. She brought up a good point in her post about it - what is a meme. I understand the concept of a meme; answering the question(s) that is asked and passing it along to other bloggers to answer and pass on. But why is this pass along q&a called a meme, what does 'meme' mean or stand for? If anyone knows, would you be so kind as to satisfy my curiosity and share the answer with us all? I'd appreciate it. I'm glad that she started this meme. And not just because I haven't posted in three days, though it helps. We haven't had much going on worth blogging about. Just the usual attempts at housework. Saturday was a very lazy day. Sunday we got some things accomplished. I now have pictures hanging up on the walls downstairs and in the bathroom. I also have a better idea at how I would like things to be eventually and got some more laundry done. Though there are still two loads sitting on my couch waiting to be folded & put away from yesterday. *And no I don't fluff my laundry - I'm not even sure how I would do that if I so desired. If you know about laundry fluffing please don't tell me, I don't want to know. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.* Now that you know the gist of my weekend & Monday on to the meme. Oh, almost forgot. The picture above is of Shawn mowing our backyard. I realize that this is probably a weekly or bi-monthly occurrence for most people and it's no big deal - Shawn even raised his eyebrow at the notion of me taking his photo. But this is our first backyard and it was the first time he had mowed it. (Yes we've been here almost a month but they mowed it for us two weeks ago). So I don't know about Kentucky 'bluegrass' but the green stuff sure does grow fast. We still need to get our own lawnmower but a neighbor was nice enough to let us borrow one. That or he was tired of our jungle decreasing the property value. Either way, it's mowed now. Now onto the meme - after the photos.

Just 5 Things I Love About My Hubby{In no particular order}

• He makes me laugh. He has always made me laugh, even & especially when I don't feel like it. He tells jokes, talks in silly voices/accents, tickles me - whatever it takes to see me smile.
• He is a fantastic father. He loves his kids so much and shows it. The first thing he does when he comes home is give the kids {& me} hugs and kisses and starts rough housing with Michael, tossing him around and playing with him. Lydia's not quite at the tossing around phase but he holds her & gets her to smile & laugh.
• He is a provider. He works hard to take care of his family. When he signed up to join the military I was never more proud {& a little scared} of the sacrifice that he was making. He works long days, odd days sometimes and was willing to spend a large amount of time away from his family to provide us with financial security & health benefits.
• He is a great lover. No, not just in that way. He makes an effort to be affectionate towards me. When I'm cooking dinner or doing the dishes he will come over to give me a hug and kiss my neck. He gives me kisses & hugs throughout the day and always tells me that he loves me. He also does a very good job at acknowledging what I do and tells me that he appreciates me.
• He is my other half. We have similarities and that's all good but we also are opposite in some ways and that's even better. Where I'm more of an introvert he is definitely more outgoing, I'm a planner and he's spontaneous, etc. We compliment each other well.

Just 5 Wifey Goals {In no particular order}

• Get a grip on my emotions. I can't blame PMS for this one right now {still no 'Aunt Flow' visiting} but I guess I could blame nursing hormones or still recovering from growing & birthing a child hormones. I'd rather take control of my emotions, or the way that I deal with said emotions and how I respond to things. My poor husband. He really is a strong man to deal with some of the stuff I throw at him {figuratively speaking}.
  
• Take care of myself. I know he likes coming home to a wife that doesn't smell like dirty diapers, breast milk, sweat & cleaning supplies. I also know that he doesn't get that too often. Most days I am well, frumpy and I'd like to change that. I don't see myself all done up everyday - just not gonna happen - but I would like to be at least showered & in fresh clothes 3-4 evenings out of the week and my hair and make up done at least 1-2 evenings a week. I'm not including the weekends, I'm usually good about the weekends.
• Have dinner ready when he gets home at least 2 nights a week. Lately he comes home to me trying to finish {or start} dinner and the kids are fussy and it's chaotic. He steps in to help out either with the kids or dinner and I really appreciate it but it would be nice for him to come home and it just be taken care of already.
• Take care of his needs. {Get your mind outta the gutter!} ; ) I think I spend a lot of time thinking of all I do and what I deserve and what I need and what I want. I need to remember all that he does and think about {or ask him} what he needs and wants and do my best to make it happen for him.
• Continue to keep the vows that I made to him almost two years ago. I vowed until death do us part for better or worse in sickness and health for richer or poorer. And that's what I intend on doing, but not griping & dragging my feet the whole time. I want a successful marriage, I want us to be happy when we celebrate our 50th anniversary - not planning separate vacations. So I'm willing to do whatever necessary to have a happy marriage, be it counseling, planning dates out together, etc.

Now I will pass this meme along to:

• Bethany
• Samantha
• Wornoutwoman
• Shannon