January's Goals

At the beginning of the month I decided to start making monthly goals. I kind of have ADD and get bored with things fast so having 30 day goals keeps me from forgetting about them. You can read what the goals were here.

1.) Blog More. Done! I've really enjoyed the outlet and also love when people tell me how much they are enjoying reading. Read about the milestone I reached here.

2.) Potting train Bug. Fail. The kids just not ready. Read about some of our adventures here

3.) Lose 8-10lbs. Drum roll please!! Since Jan 1st, I have lost a total of eleven pounds! WOO HOO!! {{Happy Dance!}} But I have been seriously kicking my own butt. Read about Slap Boxing With Tony Horton here. When Tony and I broke up, I turned to my elliptical {{Old Trusty}}, I've been walking with friends as often as possible and started doing my portion of a walk to Afghanistan, I completed 116 miles in the month of January. I also try and squeeze in some fitness-band work when I have two minutes here and there throughout the day. All of this, plus calorie counting on MFP, has led to my success this month. Let's talk numbers: my original weight when I joined MFP was 173. Minus this month's 11 pounds and I am currently at 162 {{yay I can do math!}}. My ultimate weight loss goal is 138 which means I still have 24 pounds to go.

4.) Days 1-30 of P90X. FAIL.

5.) Write a Business Plan for SBE. I haven't and I doubt I will. I am kind of at a fork in the road with it and am not sure which direction to go.

6.) Clean my office. Done!

7.) Date my husband. We actually did get one in. On his birthday we were able to get out for dinner and a movie. His birthday, his choice. We saw Mission Impossible 3 {{or was it 4?}} and it was surprisingly good and even though I hadn't seen the others, I was able to follow the story line. Also, we are planning a dinner date before he leaves.

8.) Take more pictures. According to my camera I have taken 343 pictures since the 3rd. I'm calling this a DONE!

9.)Planning a wine tasting party. The point of the party was to distract me from J's deployment. They changed his leave date three times and one of them was out into March. Due to that, I decided to pass this goal to February and make it happen sometime in the middle of March. {{But lets be honest, I dont really need a reason to drink wine. I'll drink it to pretty much anything ;o) }}

10.) Paint the LR. The crayoned walls in the LR have been painted over. I still need to do one wall and the accent wall. These will take me a day to do we just need more paint {{thank goodness its almost payday!}}

Now it's on to February. February is going to be a busy month, but I am looking forward to completing some new projects and getting in to a new hobby. Stay Tuned...

Best Moments of Motherhood

When you stop what your doing, where you're doing it, because you can hear your two year old coming up the stairs saying, "It's ok. I just spill it. It's ok. I just spill it." over and over again. And you can't be mad she's left a trail all the way up the stairs because she was bringing her daddy his coffee {{at 3pm after it had been sitting on the table since breakfast}}.

Listening to your husband and your two year old singing, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" over and over together while they are laughing about how fast they are going.

"NO! I do it! I DOOO IIIITTT!!!" When she wants to feed her baby sister, put her own shoes on and cook us dinner.

When I've just spent the last 20 minutes picking up and vacuuming the family room, only to go to the bathroom and come back having some how missed the cyclone that has swept through our house.

Putting something down and being SUPER DUPER ECSTATIC when it is still where I left it the next time I need it.

Having a meaningful conversation with my infant.

When, "I not sure." Becomes the answer to any question asked, even if it wasn't yes or no.

When the whole house is asleep and you've rocked your 12 week old {{eek! How can that be?!}} for 30 minutes and she spits out her pacifier and smiles when you ask her if she can go to sleep now. {{Guess not.}}

Typing out a blog one handed while you try and get your baby to sleep, while she's cooing, gooing and making all sorts of other girlish noises and then is suddenly ticked off you've kept her up so long.

Projectopia & A Wonderful Milestone

I'm taking a break from removing a thousand upholstery tacks {{not an exaggeration, I actually thought it was a tack strip. Nope.}} I need a minute so my poor arms can rest {{Yes, A. You were right. Ouch!}} and I thought I'd write down a few things for you about living in Projectopia {{a.k.a. the place where there are currently ten things going on/halfway finished/or given up on - usually your desk.}}. When I got on to post I found that my blog had reached an AWESOME milestone over night: 5,000 hits!! You guys Rock! So high five yourself and read on! ;0)

I blame Pinterest for this new need to take random crap and turn it into cool stuff. Most of the things pinned look really easy. Making something look easy I guess is easy to do. Having an idea and following through with it is the hard part. {{Especially in this house.}} Thinking things will be easy {{like say, sitting down to take a tack strip off}} and finding out how hard it truly is, {{a thousand individual tacks that have to be removed ONE AT A TIME}} is all part of the adventure of DIYing, No?

Here is the current list of Projects I would like to complete and start here in the next 30 days:

Painting: {{Every room in this house needs it, but we are starting with these ones}}
The Living Room
The dining room
My office {{Mom's Hide Away}}
The upstairs Hallway

Sewing: {{this may or may not be a joke. I am getting a sewing machine soon and I have NO IDEA whether or not this will be a hobby I'll actually enjoy.}}
Curtains For our French Doors in the Office
Roman Shades for the office, the master bathroom and for Bug's Room
Plus a whole bunch of crafts I've pinned that look easy.
Book Slings for Bug's Room

Crafts:
The frame for the map {{We have to make one ourselves. Having one made that big would cost BIG!}}
Reupholster An Office Chair {{The one with all the damn tacks}}
Make Pallet Furniture {{with pallets we thoughtfully 'picked up' in our neighborhood}}
Clean up and paint an old Army box
And there is also this little beauty {{while excusing the messy garage, of course}}

Be jealous at its awesomeness, before I have even done anything with it.

I've got myself quite a To Do list. Things to keep me occupied during the first few weeks of the deployment. I can't wait to try some of these new things and see how they go and how I like them.

Guess for now I'll get back to pulling tacks.

Yaaaay.

Thursday 5

It's Thursday 5 Day! Click the picture and go link up!

Happy
Thrilled
Joyed
Ecstatic
Elated

I am SOOOO Happy to have such GREAT neighbor-friends! I love our walks and our chats! We are lucky!

I am Thrilled to say that even though Tony Horton and I broke up, I have still been able to get good workouts in every day and stay focused on my goals!

I am Joyed. But how could I not be?

I am Ecstatic that I get to see my BFF soon!! Her and her spouse are currently stationed in Alaska and it has been quite a while since I got to see her and I can't WAIT!! Plus, she may be able to be present when J leaves. It's not a for sure thing yet, but we all know how much better it is to have a good friend around when dealing with deployments.

I am Elated. We did our taxes & there isn't much that is more elating than a tax return!

Have a Great Day!

Culinary Curiosity

Whiskey Chicken

This is an old *new* recipe. It is one of the first ones I tried when I started the new recipes and I have made it a good four times since October. It's delicious and J LOVES it! This is the tweaked recipe I make. It is not by any means a "healthy" meal. But sometimes it is ok to splurge.

First things first. Get in the mood with a little "Whiskey River," Willie Nelson style.

Preparation: 20-25 min
Cook time: 20-25 min

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
4 tbsp Butter or Margarine
2 tbsp minced Green Onion
1 small Sweet Onion Minced
1.5 Cups Whipping Cream
1.5 Cups Chicken Stock
1/4 Cup Irish Whiskey
1 tsp. Tarragon Leaves

Preparation:

1.) Place chicken pieces between sheets of plastic wrap. With the flat side of mallet, pound lightly. Make the chicken as thick or thin as you like, just please adjust the cook times accordingly. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

2.) In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter until pan is hot but don't brown the butter {{med high heat}}. Place just enough chicken into the pan without crowding. Don't let the chicken touch {{that is how the pan gets all watered and it wont let the chicken brown}}. Cook 3-5 minutes until chicken is browned. Remove chicken to a warm place. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked.

3.) After last chicken is done, turn heat down to medium low. Add whiskey, green onion and onion and use a whisk to scrape the bottom of the pan. The whiskey will boil up a bit and then reduce. Now add the chicken stock, the drippings from the chicken you set aside, the tarragon and the whipping cream, stirring as you add. Boil 3 to 5 minutes.

4.) Place chicken in pan with sauce and coat each piece. Let boil for a few more minutes to reheat the chicken. Serve chicken over egg noodles, spooning sauce over them. Garnish with fresh green onion.

This dish is SO good! It even looks good cooking!!

Even the toddler likes it!

2.0 was so impressed with my kitchen skills, she went right to sleep.

ENJOY!!

Step One: A Wardrobe Reno

Since I have nothing entirely pressing to discuss today I think I'll talk about one of my favorite subjects: Clothes. I have been doing a ton of googling recently for Fashion Fabulousness inspiration. It has been helpful and a little annoying. It has helped me decide on what I want to do for a monthly fashion feature {{more to come on that later}}, but its also annoying how people with loads of money just throw out, "Go buy, this, this and this and you'll be fabulous!" Ummm... yea. I'm a SAHM and a military spouse. Can a girl get some coupons or something?

Almost every search I have done for redoing a wardrobe has started by cleaning out your closet. One list said to throw out/donate any clothes that hasn't fit or hasn't fit well, you haven't worn, or touched in the last 6 months {{since I *was* pregnant and all, I'm going to count the six months prior to the conception of 2.0}}. Another List said to throw out any stained or holey clothing {{that's not meant to be that way}}. Another said to get rid of anything you've had since high school...Well, there goes almost every thing in my closet {{except for the shoes}}.

In lieu of going about the world nekked {{but with fabulous shoes!}}, I decided to get rid of the following things:

~ Anything stained and or ripped. I have enough t-shirts {{thanks to J's stint as a DS I have a lot of unit shirts with his name on them}} and pj/yoga-ish pants that I don't have to worry about not having clothes for painting, gardening or any other dirty activity. All those torn and stained clothes can be tossed.

~ Clothes that I have had for longer than my marriage {{not including jeans}}. Out of style and haven't fit in awhile and none of them weren't replaceable. Goodbye.

~ Some, I repeat SOME, of my maternity clothes. I had told my friend that I was getting rid of all things maternity, lest they curse bless me after we've decided we are done. She said that was a bad idea and told me about how surely getting rid of maternity clothes will equal to another baby. Perplexed by both sides, I met myself in the middle and got rid of the things I never wore, were also torn or stained and gave away what I could.

~ I also went through my top drawer {{yes, that one}}. I think a lot of people forget to clean that one out when they are sifting through old clothes. After two babies and a cumulative total of a hundred pounds gained {{and hopefully that much plus some will be lost}} its pretty necessary to clean out that drawer. Besides what better way to thank yourself for pushing out two babies & losing weight and toning up than new lacies? {{I've checked, there isn't one!}}

~ What's left: Some nice shirts that {{hopefully}} will fit soon, some timeless professional clothes, all of my dresses and all of my jeans.

If you've made it this far and your closet is a little barren {{like mine. Sad, sad, closet.}} now you're wondering, what next?

Yay! Now to the fun part filling it back up!! But with whaaaat...?

Stay tuned for step two in Fashion Fabulousness.

Adventures in Toddler Land

We have tried everything to get Bug into using her big girl potty. I've tried the cute Princess undies, talking to her about what a big girl she is and even showing her by taking her to the bathroom with me. We spent the whole day Saturday with her sporting her Tinkle Bell underoos.

I don't know why I thought it would be easy, but I did. You know, "Here's the toilet, the paper, a book. Make it happen. Call me when you're finished." Instead, we followed her around all day and had to talk her into sitting even for a minute. One time we got her to sit for a good 20 minutes. At the end of it I knew she had to sit longer because as soon as she got up she would pee. Guess what? Yup, as soon as she hit the carpet, she peed. Everywhere.

After that little episode {{Where Mommy had to figure out how to be nice without turning to booze}} I decided to try and figure out ways to keep her on the potty until she actually went potty. Here is what we tried:

Reading her Abby Caddabby Potty Time Book {{four thousand times}}

Apple juice. Lots and lots of apple juice.

I painted her toes. Then mine. Then her fingers.

Playtime with her favorite toys.

And, of course, good old fashioned bribery with our M&M jar.

Two: The number of times she made the potty sing.

Six: The number of times we changed her into new undies throughout the day.

Four: The number of times she asked for her diaper back {{womp, womp}}.

{{On a completely unrelated side note}} 2.0 is 11 weeks old today. She is getting so big and has added so much love to our house {{as shown in this pic - ha!}} I can't believe she is almost three months old <3

The Break Up

Dear Tony Horton,

I am afraid that I have to break up with you. The hours we have shared have been interesting, but I fear for my life should we continue our morning 'chats'. At first I thought it was my lack of muscle that made me useless during our sessions; my husband even told me so. But I have come to the conclusion it has nothing to do with my muscles, {{or lack thereof}} it has to do with my inability to stay up right correctly when I'm NOT trying to do the Heisman or run through fake 'big giant knobby' snow tires. I didn't grow up with the nickname "Grace" because of how close to God I am.

This morning was the last straw. I fell while doing at least four of the workouts, bruised at least two parts of my body and managed to punch myself in the face all in the same twenty minutes. It is not bad enough that I fall all over EVERY thing, but I am starting to look like a fool in my own living room when no one is watching. I think the ugly-chair was even laughing. At me {{the UGLY chair!}}

Our time together was precious. Just you and me {{and the freaks behind you}} together. I will miss waking up to your rippling pectorals, the 'word' of the day and your less than humorous jokes. But I can be loyal to you no longer. The elliptical has been there for me through all of this and we have become rather close. We have been spending more and more time together and I really think that is what I need right now.

If you see us out, please pretend like you don't know us. It would just be too awkward and it would resurface feelings of inadequacy that I have had to deal with. I hope you understand. It's not me, its you. It's not you it's me.

Maybe someday....

Life ADD

Have you ever had Life A.D.D?

Let me explain:

I sit down to blog and think I should start laundry first.

I go to get laundry to the wash and think I need water, to the kitchen I go.

Go to the kitchen for water and think I should refill baby bottle, back up stairs.

Walk into the bonus room and find Bug's books are everywhere so I start picking them up.

Books? I need to go back to college. I should get online and look into it. Online? Oh crap, I need to blog.

See computer and think I need to sit down and start a logo I am working on.

I sit down to work on logo and see Bug's sippy I promised to refill.

I Go down stairs fill sippy. Forgot the bottle. Go back upstairs.

Realize I need to take the trash out and the laundry basket is still sitting in the middle of my room.

Look at Bug who asks for lunch.

Making Bug lunch I remember how hungry I am.

2.0 cries. Damn! Her bottle! Get bottle. Feed 2.0 and Bug.

Walk into bonus room again. See books still on the floor, open laptop on couch and the laundry basket still in the middle of the floor.

See elliptical.

Elliptical? Fourty minutes to center myself?

Yes, please!

{{then maybe lunch}}

Workout Check In

I really enjoyed the first week of P90X {{despite elbowing myself in the face and crashing head first into the couch}}. So far, my favorite video is Cardio X. It's a lot of fun and it goes so fast that at the end you don't even know it has been an hour. All that being said, I haven't done a video since Wed of last week {{would have been day 10}}. This head/chest cold that has engulfed the entire house has totally knocked me out! Yesterday we had to take 2.0 to the ER to have her checked for RSV because she was so stuffed up she was snorting {{she is ok and they just told us to spray her nose then suck it out. Things she should hate but it must help because she just lets us do it.}}

The good news is that even though I haven't done P90X, I've had the worst case of the can't-sit-stills. I painted two walls in the living room on Wednesday. Rearranged our entire bedroom and closet on Thursday and then 2.0 and I got some major use out of the moby, running errands on Friday. Saturday we watched the first round of guys leave {{:( womp, womp}} which kicks off the beginning of this deployment. I was glad we were able to be there though. It was nice to support the guys leaving and to be there for a good friend. Am I sick? Definitely. Sitting on my butt? Not necessarily. Sunday it did all catch up with me and I spent a good amount of the chilly afternoon cuddled up with 2.0. I FINALLY felt better enough last night to get in some elliptical time. And this morning I got a nice long walk in with some of my neighbors.

I am hoping to pick P90X back up where I left off tomorrow. It is amazing how much better about myself I felt just after one week of doing something. Adding the workouts to what I was already doing {{using myfitnessplanner.com}} has really helped the scale go in the right direction. Also, Not only is the scale going down, I measured myself this morning and I have already gotten results!

I'll post both of those numbers at the end of the month {{haha! You MUST stay tuned!}}

The Great Crayon War

Thanks to a certain two year old, We have had to remove all the crayons from our house. It started with some stairwell "artwork". It happened about a week after we moved in and the result was me having to paint a stairwell.

Shortly thereafter {{and two walls later}} we decided it would be best if the crayons went into "hiding" until Bug was just a little bit older. Apparently, in two year old terms this. Meant. War. Since then, whenever her pudgy little fingers find something that writes, she has tagged a new wall in the house.

One in the living room

A Craft Project

As I said in an earlier post, I have been spending way too much time on Pinterest. Getting all sorts of ideas for stuff to do to our house {{Sorry, Honey.}} A friend of mine posted a very cute map framed art piece and then another one that had heart shaped maps with the words "We met," "We Married," "We lived" above them. We had talked about having a craft day and having this as one of our options. In the mean time we had been planning a craft day to do a Valentine's Day craft. The craft I chose for that needed a love quote and had me on the look out for the perfect one.

While I was out one day {{in my search for Fashion Fabulousness}} I decided to hop into a local boutique. The boutique wasn't what I expected but they did have an area where another vendor had quote signs for your house {{that's right I thieved one - the quote that is}} and I saw a quote that was SO perfect I had to put it on my "notepad" so I would remember it. The problem was that it was SO perfect I wanted to put it up where it could be read year round, not just in February. With the quote on my mind and the map ideas fresh in my head, my brain molded them together into what was sure to be an AMAZING piece of art for the house... if I could pull it off.

You know those ideas that you get and you have the PERFECT image in your head but when you try and execute it, you suck at life?

This wasn't one of those...

I started by purchasing a large poster board {{I wanted mine to be big, but this could be done at any scale}}, a map of the United States, some decorative scrapbooking brads and some laminate.

Then I laid out my items on my kitchen table to start work.

I started by prepping the map. I wanted a distressed look and after discussing cutting options with my friend, we decided the best way to do it would be to tear it. I was a little nervous about tearing {{I was worried about tearing it wrong}} but I guess tearing and distressing go hand in hand so I jumped in. When I finished tearing it down to the places we agreed upon, it still didn't feel done. I kept on tearing until I was happy with it. Then I smushed it into a tiny ball.

Once I was happy with the map, I was instantly unhappy with how white the poster board behind it was. I tried a few different colors of paper to see if I could layer some paper to make a nice background. But none of the pages I used gave me warm & fuzzies so I thought I'd give painting it a try. It was a $3 board and I figured at worst I would just have to buy another. I used a dry brush and made small "x" shapes for the cross hatch pattern I wanted.

Next, I used spray adhesive {{This is the first time I used spray adhesive. This stuff is AMAZING!!}} to glue the map down. Then spent some time on my computer deciding on fonts and word sizes by making a mock up of the board on Corel draw. When all the words were perfect, another friend and I used her Silhouette machine to make the letters. After I got the letters placed, I was SO excited!! I used the decorative brads I bought to mark the places we met, where we lived for the military and where we live now. I am SO happy with the way this turned out!

It now has a home above our crap shelf {{Crap shelf: n. Builder-built place in your home that makes NO sense, where crap will undoubtedly collect. See also, place where children will most likely hurt themselves one day climbing on things they shouldn't}} It isn't framed yet {{we have to make a frame for it, but I will post a picture of it completed when we do}} but I was SO happy with the way it turned out, I decided to post about it anyway.

*If you love it and you make it, give credit where it's due*

{{J's addition to this post: "tgpgkujoflyt9jo"}}

Culinary Curiosity

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe was kind of cheating. Its not really new, it has just been a REALLY long time since I've cooked it and was lucky enough that all the ingredients were in the pantry. Plus, I'm sick with a head cold from hell and was hoping the green chilies would help clear me out a bit.

This is not my recipe. I used to have a friend that would make this for dinner all the time and we would kill the whole 13x9 tray in one meal. It's SO delicious!

I'm really bad about measuring things when I cook them. This is one of those recipes that you have to adjust for the amount of people you are cooking for, so I will just tell you how much I used for an 8"x8" pyrex dish and you can add ingredients depending on how many people you are cooking for.

I'm to lazy to list out the ingredients, so I marked them in bold for you.

Preheat your oven to 375*. Boil a pack of large chicken breasts* on medium heat until they are coming a part. While those are boiling, pour the contents of a large container of sour cream, two small cans of chopped green chilies {{mind your heat levels when you buy these! They come in mild med & hot just like anything else!}} and about a cup of ricotta cheese into a bowl. Mix well. Toss in some salt & pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Mix again and set aside. Spray your cooking dish with baking spray and line the bottom with white or yellow corn tortillas.

Remove your chicken from the water and pull it apart. Pour chicken into sour cream mixture and mix well, so all the chicken is coated evenly. Place a few spoonfuls on the tortillas and mash it out so the chicken covers the tortilla. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Now repeat the layers until your happy with them or the dish is full. Top with mozzarella and put into the oven. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until everything is bubbling and the cheese is pretty and brown.

My friend used to top hers with chopped lettuce and salsa, so that is how I served them.

They taste as awesome as they look!

*This recipe could also be a great way to use leftover chicken*

Fashion Lesson #1

While on my quest for fashion fabulousness and how to find it, I have become OBSESSED with the clothing selections on Pinterest. Those wonderful little windows with outfits prebuilt for you? They are awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you can follow the link and see other outfits made with an item so you can see how different people used it. It really shows each items diversity and how one piece can do so much in one wardrobe.

So, yesterday while I was wasting spending time on Pinterest going through different outfits, I. Fell. In. Love. You know those moments when you see something and you know it was MEANT for you to have it? Could be anything. A book, an accessory, something for your kids? Those moments when you see something and it sends you on a prompt and immediate search to purchase said item? I had one of those moments with a navy blue dress I saw. I loved everything in the set. I even happen to have a pair of shoes that look almost exactly like the shoes shown with the dress, which just made me LOVE it even more. I knew that it was meant to be and I HAD to have that dress.

I was SO excited to have found something that was classy and work appropriate but good for date night, too. Squealing like a thirteen year old at a Bieber concert, I clicked the picture to follow the link so I could find out where it came from. The link took me to a page on polyvore.com {{another VERY cool website}}. When the page finished loading I was crushed.

It was Valentino $495.00

{{Womp, Womp, Womp}}

Fashion Lesson #1: Don't fall in love until you know you can afford it.

Thursday 5 - A link up

Blessed
Incredible
Productive
Elated
Happy

I was SO happy to find instant Starbucks coffee in our pantry this morning. We ran out of Folger's yesterday and I forgot to get some last night. J was also elated it was in there. Without coffee in the morning I am an incredible bbbbad word and am not productive at all. Now, I can properly enjoy all that I'm blessed with this morning.

Coffee is a magical thing.

{{Click the picture. Link up your blog. Pass it along}}

Mil-Spouse Quiz

This is me, jumping on the band wagon. I don't normally do these because I always feel that I have WAY too much to say. But this entire house woke up feeling "yucky" this morning {{as described by my two year old while she laid pitifully on the floor}}. Its cold and rainy and a nice day to do nothing. So, F-U creativity.


1. How did you and your spouse meet?

J and I met through a friend, while he was home on leave from a deployment. Before left to go back I got his email so I could 'write a soldier' and over the remainder of his tour we got to know each other as friends through emails.


2. How old were you when you two met?

I was 20, which means he was 22.


3. How long have you been together?

Almost 6 years, minus about six months in there while I was pulling my head out of my butt.


4. Where are you and your spouse originally from?

We are both from the same part of the Bay Area in California. We lived very close to each other through parts of our lives and were even in the SAME place a couple of times. {{Meant to be?? I think so!}}


5. How did you feel about him joining the military?

He had already been a soldier for 5 years at that point and since we were just friends I had no opinion. But I will tell you I said quite a bit further into our relationship that I didn't want to be a military wife {{*cough, cough* you can see how that worked out}}.


6. Where did your spouse go to basic training?

Ft. Benning, GA


7. Has your spouse ever been deployed?

Yes. He is getting ready for his fifth deployment.


8. Ever been to his promotion ceremony?

Not yet, but I am hoping I can be a part of the next one.


9. How long have you been a military wife?

Four years.


10. Did you marry him before or after he joined?

After.


11. How did your husband propose?

In the mall :) At the time I was living in CA & him in NC and I had flown in for his birthday. I knew I was getting my ring and was SO excited. When we got in the car after he picked me up I asked where my present was and he handed me a big box. I quickly tore off the paper to find the box full of MAC make up brushes and a gift card {{which I loved but I was expecting a ring so I looked REALLY disappointed}}. Apparently, the ring wasn't ready so he bought the brushes to stall me. We went straight to the mall so I "could spend my gift card" but it was really so J could pick the ring up. We went inside the MAC store and he quickly disappeared. When he came back to where I was, he waited patiently while I paid and then after we walked out he handed me the ring and told me to put it on and never take it off :)


12. Where did you get married?

We had a JoP ceremony at the Raleigh Courthouse while he was home on R&R and then had a wedding ceremony at a friend's house in Durham after he got home with all of our friends and family.

13. How old were you when you got married?

I was 23 and he was 25.


14. Did he wear his uniform on your wedding day?

No. Not at either ceremony.


15. Where are you and your spouse currently stationed?

Ft. Bragg, NC


16. Do you live on base?

No. I feel like living on post is like Chinese Water Torture for a marriage. A slow & painful death.


17. How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation?

We got married in the middle of a deployment.


18. What is your favorite base so far?

We've only been here and Ft. Sill and we both love it here.


19. Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform?

Duh! Yum!


20. Do you think military life is more advanced then civilian life?

I don't think I've ever used the word "advanced" to describe military life. I would probably point and laugh if someone around me ever did.


21. Do you like the benefits you receive as a military spouse?

Definitely! There are so many good parts of this life that I think a lot of spouses take for granted.


22. Do you have a lot of military wife friends?

I'm pretty picky about my friends. A few bad experiences will ruin your desire to make friends at all. So, I have a couple really close military wife friends but I don't get wrapped up in it. It IS nice to be able to call and talk to women who understand what its like and wont ask you how you "do it".


23. What is the hardest part of the military life?

Well, the separations suck pretty bad.


24. Do you own military wife stuff?

No.


25. Do you support your spouse as a member of the military?

Absolutely. There isn't much he *could* do that I wouldn't be supportive of.

I Need A Stylist

A free one. With a huge fabulous wardrobe {{*cough, cough* That ALSO needs to be free.}}

{{First, I'd like to say thanks for all the thoughts yesterday. I just needed to process and I feel much better about everything today. It's how I dealt with the last one and I have found that quiet a few people handle deployments the same way: Ignore it when you can, process it when you have to. And, now, Back to our regularly scheduled program}}

Remember earlier when I said I wanted to do a regular feature post about fashion? I have been really excited thinking about all the posts I could will do. All the fun times I'll have and all the {{deployment}} time it will take up. Yay! Fashion! Style!

Then this morning, I woke up and remembered that I have none. Style, that is. For the majority of the last three years I have been wearing maternity clothes {{yes even after I lost the baby weight from bug}} and barn-safe-wear. Any style I may have had prior to having children is getting {{gulp}} old {{I just threw up in my throat a little bit}}.

In the 'olden' days {{aka before I had kids}} I used to shop at BEBE, Arden B, and Buckle - before they sold out {{and yes, they did}}. All of the style that I had came from my friends and the people around me. Now, I throw on jeans, any shirt that will hide a muffin top {{and/or spit up, if I'm lucky}}, throw on some tennis shoes {{my 21 year old self just gasped in my head}} and go. If I went off of environmental cues now, I would live in yoga pants and baggy t-shirts. I REFUSE {{Reapeat, REFUSE}} to fall into that category of house wife. There are too many wicked adorable pairs of shoes in my closet for me to give up on life and start living in elastic wasted pants and tennis shoes.

And, so, I have identified the problem. Now it's time to figure out the solution. While I try and figure out where to start on that, I can at least share this months super awesome New Shoe Day pick:

“It takes true courage to be a dove, but no honor accrues to being an ostrich”


2.0's two month check up was this morning. She turns nine weeks today and it seems like she was JUST born! She is growing like a bean stalk and will soon be a giant. She is already 24" long and she weighs almost 14lbs. When the nurse asked if I had any concerns about her eating habits I asked if she needed a diet.

When the doctor came in we went over all of my questions about 2.0 and then I asked one about Bug. I've been through a deployment alone, never with kids. Especially, not such a super daddy's girl. So, I asked the Doctor about how best to prepare Bug for J leaving. She told me to tell her that he's going to work and that we'll see him {{on Skype}} and talk to him when we can. Then she said, "The best way to prepare her, is to make sure your prepared. Are you ready?" To which I instantly *burst* into tears.

Are you kidding me? Am I ready? For my husband to go replace a unit that has lost 56 soldiers in the last 12 months? In a country fighting a war that most of America has forgotten about? Hmmm.... Nope. Actually, I've been blissfully ignoring all those things hoping that the heavens would open, something miraculous would happen, and I wouldn't have to deal with it. An ostrich, with it's head in the sand. I've been doing good too. I made it through all the deployment questions from family over Thanksgiving. Managed to squeak through Christmas without being an emotional wreck and even managed to have a happy & hopeful New Years. But I can't do it anymore. It's time to pull my head out of the sand and face reality. He's going. And it sucks.

After a minute I had composed myself enough to make jokes when she asked if I had lots of friends and family close. Then she told me that she would be my friend and suggested I drop the kids off at daycare, go pick her up and we could have a beach day {{hahaha! that's even more absurd now than it was in the office}}.

I cried all the way home. My husband is REALLY deploying....

and it REALLY sucks.

Slap Boxing Tony Horton

I'm getting old. Do you know how I know? I am only on day 6 of this beach body endeavor and my limbs want to fall off. Not only that, I have been popping OTC pain relievers like an 80 year old.

Day 6 of P90X had me doing Kenpo X. Day 5 was Legs & Back. After the legs and back video I thought it would be an AWESOME idea to stuff my wobbly legs into some super cute 4" boots and go walk around the mall for awhile. Terrible idea!

Other than the expected soreness {{ouch!}} I am really enjoying the program and am excited to be almost one week down. There is only one serious issue I am having with P90X and that is coordination....

Namely, I don't have any. I fall walking up stairs, trip over my own feet, and I have awful depth perception, so I am constantly running into things that don't move. Seriously, I walk into at least three different walls in the house on a daily basis. They've always been there. They never move. And still, I smack right into them.

So when I am instructed to do whatever the hell this is....

I start to fear for my life. Think it looks simple? Get into runners pose, then straighten your upper body out, reaching you arms and hands straight up to the ceiling. If you've made it this far without falling over, congrats, you're already doing better than me. Then bring your hands down into Namaste {{prayer}} pose, twist at the waist, bending forward and place your elbow on the OUTSIDE of your font leg. Then stay that way and breeeeeaaaaaaathe. Oh, and try not to smash your face into your elbow, the ground, couch, or whatever else is close by {{not that I did or anything}}. If I were to film myself and put it on youtube, I would go viral...

So, Today was Kenpo X. The majority of the video {{actually all of it}} is punching and kicking. It's loads of fun {{soooooo 'fun'}}. My favorite moment of the workout today was some crazy combo move: Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut. At first I am doing very well. Then he speeds up and I wonder if I'm doing the move right or if I've started the chicken dance. Then he speeds up a little bit more. {{Excellent.}} I am slap boxing Tony Horton... He says, "It doesn't have to be pretty..."

Don't worry, Tony. It's not.