Reminiscing

I have a bad habit of reminiscing. I do it a lot... More so when I'm alone. Melissa and I were talking the other day about one of her younger sisters. She mentioned that she'd done some stupid stuff when she was her sister's age (high school). I suppose I waited until college to be stupid. Melissa and I both agree that it would have been really bad if we'd both been stupid at the same time. Really bad. I can only imagine the trouble we would have gotten ourselves into.

I suppose I waited until college because I finally felt free. I still lived with my parents, but they knew no one where I was going to college - no little spies to tell them what I was doing. It was allll on me. Oh, I was a good girl for...the first year. I was still in my "shy shell" that year. Have I mentioned that I knew exactly who Joe was that year? When I started college, he was a year ahead of me. We were both in choir, except he was in Chorale and I was in the women's chorus. I saw him a lot... I also knew he was dating someone at one point. I knew the girl too. How's that for interesting? I even visited the church he went to once with my mom. I even said to her at one point, "Hey, I know that guy in the orchestra! His name is Joe and he's in Chorale." She said I should go say 'hi' to him, but my reply was, "No, he doesn't know me..." Oh how things might have been different...

By my sophomore year, I just didn't care anymore about what my parents thought/wanted from me. We fought pretty much all the time. At one point, my dad wanted to throw me out. That's when I was done trying to please them. As far as they were concerned I was on the "straight and narrow" after that. Little did they know. I didn't go crazy or anything, but I still managed to make some pretty idiotic mistakes.

Melissa and I. Post-stupidity for her. =P

Sophomore year of college... I did a lot of dating... I dated a guy that I'd had speech class with for about a month. During that time, I met a lot of his friends. After we broke up, I proceeded to date his 27 year old best friend. Not the best idea I ever had. But, he was a good guy. He was (still is) a Christian, caring, also a history major, he liked sports (bingo! for me =)) and as far as I was concerned at that point, he was a freakin' catch. Except for one minor detail: he was recently divorced. I don't have to tell you that my parents were less than pleased. But he was a charmer, so he passed. 

Our relationship was very...intense. Let's just leave it at that. Of all the stupid things I could do... *sigh* It didn't really end well... I was 19 and seriously immature. I was so incredibly mean to the poor guy. I'd been taught to retaliate. My parents wanted to hear nothing about him after the breakup. I got no sympathy. I was just angry all the way around, so I continued to send him emails. Oh, it was bad. You know the whole red-headed temper thing? Yeah... It's true. I'm fairly certain my anger was one of our many issues. 

Later - months later - I realized how immature and mean I'd been. We IM'ed on yahoo one night for a long time (after the breakup) and I was finally able to work through all those feelings and understand how he'd really felt. I'm not 100% certain about it to this day, but I believe we loved each other the best we knew how. In the process, though, we made some mistakes...things you just can't take back. Looking back, I'm kind of thankful for it all. If nothing else, I realized that his love was not the type of love I needed. I needed more. And I got it a little while later. After I was "healed," from the whole thing (and not yet dating anyone) I liked to say that he was my favorite mistake. If you can actually have a favorite mistake.

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A few days ago, Expat Girl posted a pic of Sunset Beach, NC. It's seriously one of my favorite places ever. Well, I just love NC as a whole. I don't know when, how or why it happened but NC found its place in my heart not too long after we moved there. Maybe it's the history; maybe it's the memories I made with Joe there; maybe it's the memories I made without Joe there; maybe it's the people who live there that made me fall in love with NC. Make no mistake, I am and will always be an Oklahoma girl, but NC has stolen my heart.

I first visited NC when Joe and I were engaged. We took a trip with his mom to look at apartments and interview at schools in the area. The only thing I got out of that trip was a new-found friend (soon-to-be sister in law) and a love for NC. We didn't get jobs and we didn't find an apartment. In fact, the apartment/loft/house we lived in, we leased without seeing it first. The owners are a family friend, so we got a good deal. That's all we were really worried about at the time. I think we really lucked out with that place, though.

I mean, can you really complain about a place as cute at that?! The garage and door on the bottom right were for the owners' use only. The door on the bottom left is the entrance to the living room. Then you go upstairs  where the kitchen, bathroom/laundry room and two bedrooms are. I stinkin' loved that place. We really couldn't complain about the view either. This is the owners' house, just about 50ish yards from the "back house."

We had plenty of space, a big yard for Jasper to run around in (when we got him), and landlords that were nothing short of amazing. Plus, we were like a mile away from my SIL, Anna, and Joe's grandparents. It doesn't really get much better than that. Oh, and WalMart, Target and ChicFilA were about a 5 minute drive. Yeah, I really miss that place. =)

I also miss Sunset Beach. I know you're thinking that I have plenty of beach to satisfy myself, but it's just not the same. Hawaii is great and all...but... Well, it's just not home. 

We did go to Sunset Beach for our honeymoon, but the pictures aren't on my computer and I don't feel like transferring them over. Sorry!  Rest assured that we did, indeed, spend 4 days there on our honeymoon. =) 

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane. 

Happy Saturday!

FFC Week Four Winner!

Wow.

This was a seriously close race!!!

I'm very impressed. 

I knew this week's photos were good!

Here are the ones we've seen so far:

And finally,

I think we've had some pretty darn good photos so far, don't you?!

Thanks again to the lovelies who shared a photo this week!

Without further ado, this week's winner is....

Amber!!!!

Congrats, girlie!! I am totally in love with the blue pumpkin.

And, seriously, what a close race! I'm still kind of in shock. =)

Thanks to the voters! Way to use your vote. Lol!

I hope to see more great photos next week!

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Happy Halloween Weekend!

Be safe and have loads of candy fun. =)

Fall Foto Contest: Week Four

Wow, what happened this week?! I suppose it's only fitting to have four entries on week four of the contest. I have to say that I'm a little upset, though. We were getting so many there for a while! It was exciting! However, I do love this week's photos. And many, many kudos to my participants! Thank you! =D Alright, here are this week's entries:

Photo by Lacey

Photo by Amber

Photo by Skinnie Piggie

Photo by Via

I gotta say - I'm totally in love with the pumpkins!!! I sort of want to get one and carve it for this weekend. I'm not a huge Halloween person, but I do miss the decorations and what-not. My mom used to (well, still does, sort of) put up all kinds of decorations for Halloween...in moderation, of course. We used to go trick-or-treating too. I always enjoyed it. Then I grew up. And I DON'T feel the need to dress up like a hooker or sexy nurse/cop/whatever. I find that super trashy. Anyway. This isn't about my Halloween preferences or experiences. This is about the Fall Fotos!!! 

Please, please, please do your due diligence and check out the poll on the right sidebar so you can vote for your favorite photo! The winner will be placed in the running for a super-cool gift from Hawaii at the end of the contest in November. 

And just because, this is what fall looks like where I grew up. 

This was taken on my mom and dad's front porch.

Please ignore my brother's truck.

It's still Thursday here, but for most of you it is Friday, so....

Happy Aloha Friday!

{Still not 100% sure what that phrase means, but I hear it every Friday. That must mean it's important/cool, right? ;-)}

While I'm Waiting

Joe's internet is finally back in action!! Although "back in action" apparently means work for 10 minutes, disconnect, work for 2 minutes, disconnect, work for 15 minutes. Whatever. Anyway. We were chatting away with a good connection when we were rudely interrupted by another Soldier, informing him of some completely BS meeting he had to attend. While we were chatting, Joe had brought up a possibility that really ticked me off. I don't really want to talk about it... He had an idea to do something for this couple that, yeah, is pretty sweet but it would take things away from us that I just don't want to give up. So.... I was a little pissed. And - in case you don't know me that well - when I'm pissed, things happen. Usually they're productive things like cleaning the house, doing dishes or laundry.

Tonight's productive thing was a sewing project. Not the one I've been working on for Mom, though. This one was just for me. =) I found this tutorial a while back for a Kindle cover. It's really awesome. I don't have a Kindle, but I do have a Nook. Their dimensions are relatively the same, so it works for both. Except when you decide not to follow the tutorial's measurements and use your own... That was kinda stupid. Anyway, about 45 minutes later (I didn't really look at the clock, so I don't have the exact time) I got this:

She used ribbon in the tutorial, but I like the velcro much better.

See? Super easy. =)

It isn't exactly the easiest tutorial to follow, but I managed it ok. I'm fairly certain I did a thing or two wrong, but I don't think mine looks bad at all! I would recommend, however, that you sew the velcro on before you sew all the pieces together... I wasn't really thinking things through because of my mental state so it ended up being more difficult than it should have been. I also cut the fabric too short, and had no idea how to sew the flap on... Obviously, I figured out some way to do it but I'm still not sure if it was the "right" way. I'll give myself a B for this one. Not bad. And I can take it to the beach without worrying about sand getting in it. Or I can shove it in my purse and not worry about it getting scratched or beat up in any way. I like it. =)

Then, I sat down to watch some Grey's Anatomy on DVD. I have recently decided that season 3 is my favorite. I blame Lifetime for making me want to watch it again. =) They show reruns around lunchtime and I really just can't help myself. And, since I have all the seasons on DVD (except for 6...which I need to get soon) I figured I'd watch some tonight. I freakin' love this quote:

Addison: What is he doing here? I can't have him here. I'm a professional here. And when he's here, I'm... I'm just...

Bailey: A woman who gets the hots for man candy and cheats on her husband.

Addison: That is just rude; and unkind; and completely true - oh my God, what am I gonna do?!

Bailey: Well, for starters you could keep your knees closed when you're around him.

Bahahahaha!!! I freakin' love Bailey!!! And, can I just say how MUCH I miss George?! Grey's just isn't the same without him. *sigh* I know things change and actors move on, but I really miss George! And I kind of miss Izzie too. Anyway.

While I was watching Grey's, Jasper decided he wanted to play. This is basically the norm when I'm doing something... He wants to play. Well, I threw his toy for him and he ran off into my bedroom. Then a few seconds later, he comes back in the living room and puts his toy in the recliner which just so happens to rock. Actually, I think he was trying to get in the chair and failed. =P Either way, the toy was in the chair and he was not. 

And this was the hilarious result:

Yes, I have a crazy dog. I suppose I'm kind of crazy myself, so it only makes sense. =P 

Oh! I got my TOMS in the mail yesterday! I was so excited about them that I tore open the envelope (nope, they weren't in a box) and put them on immediately. I like them! They're a little tight even with an 8.5, but I'm hoping they'll loosen up a bit the more I wear them. And I'm totally ok with wearing them a lot. They're comfortable! Here's me wearing them today:

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Yup, totally cut my head off. *shrugs* Oh well.

Close up!

So what do you think?

Despite hubby's attempts at being nice [and irritating me in the process], today was a good day! I got some seriously good work done on a new database at the museum, I made myself a decent dinner, I had some Ben & Jerry's (mmm-mmmmm good), got to talk to my hubby on Skype and made myself a super cute Nook cover.

All in a day's work, I say. ;-)

P.S. Don't forget to send in your photo for the Fall Foto Contest this week! 

I'm Not ADD or Anything

Eh, maybe I'm not but I certainly can't focus on one topic for very long. This is the main reason you're getting another random post today. =) You're welcome, readers.

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Remember that really expensive piece of paper I never use? You know the one. It says Sarah ________ B.S. History with Teacher Licensure. There are a few reasons I was able to get that piece of paper. One of them being my uncanny ability to remember obscure dates. 

You see, I have this thing with dates. Once I memorize them, I rarely forget them. Now, I'm not saying you can ask me when such-and-such event happened and I can tell you right off the top of my head. There are over 200 years of American History (which was basically my focus in college), so no, I can't tell you every date. Some, sure. Most, no. 

I can, however, tell you the birthdate of every one of my immediate family members (including Joe's family) and friends. I also know their wedding anniversaries, if they're married. I remember friends' from high school birthdays. Ex-boyfriends' birthdays. Before I had my handy dandy cell phone, I could remember phone numbers like nobody's business. I know my social security number, my husband's (obviously...), my brother's, AND my mom's. I am not even kidding you. Oh, and I can now recite my credit card number on command. (Not that any of you will get this information out of me.) Do I really need to know most of this? Probably not. Can I help myself? Unfortunately not. 

This week, I sent out 3 birthday cards. 2 to friends and 1 to my FIL. {I also reminded my hubby to send his dad a card and call him. Aren't I a good wife?!} Yesterday, JG texted me saying that she got my card. =) I love how excited she was to get it. I honestly can't remember if she told me her birthday, mentioned it on her blog, or if I found it on her FB. Doesn't matter though, because I remember it. So, I thought I'd surprise her with a card. And surprise her I did! She even blogged about it. Hehehe. =) I'm so glad I made her day and gave her "birthday week" a good start. Today, I got a text/email/tweet from Meagan letting me know she got my card. Meagan and I have been friends for years. Not sure why she'd think I wouldn't remember.... ;-) Apparently, I made her day as well. No text from my FIL, but that's ok. I'll probably call him tomorrow anyway. {Yeah, I do that too.} I do find it interesting that JG lives in GA and Meagan lives in AR and JG is the one who got her card first. Does that make sense to anyone?! I'm gonna chalk it up to the craziness of AR. 

So, yeah. I remember dates. Pretty sure I could tell you Joe's ETS date too.... Not that it matters. I could go on, but I think you get my point. I may be a little bit on the crazy side. =)

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Hubby's internet has now been down since... Well, I can't remember when. We first thought it was just the internet being finicky, as it usually is in the sandbox. Joe called me earlier today and told me that he followed his line (the cable line) and someone had cut it!!!! Like, with a knife cut it! Who would do such a thing?! Talk about cruel! Then he told me that he's heard rumors that the SGT he gets his internet from kicks Joe (or anyone else) off of Skype when they're on it because it uses so much bandwidth. What. The. Crap. The whole reason he's getting his internet from this guy (who uses satellite instead of what they offer on the base) is so that we can Skype!! It is a rumor as of right now, but Joe said he was going to talk to him tonight. I really hope it's just a rumor. I'm going to be so upset if it turns out to be true. I know for a fact that this SGT Skypes with his wife - we're friends. So, for him to do that to us would just be downright mean. 

I'm really upset about this... Even if it turns out to be a rumor, someone still cut his line. Those things aren't accidental. Sooooo frustrating.

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I was watching the local news tonight (which I rarely do), and they showed something that really irritated me. The Honolulu Police Department arrested 3 girls for being late to school this morning, claiming it was truancy. Ummm, excuse me?! I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on this island knows what the crap they're doing! Come to find out, these girls have NO record whatsoever of missing school or being tardy for no reason. None at all. 

Truancy laws are there for the kids that DO miss school all the time. Apparently, this school has issues with truancy and the police are trying to help them crack down. I get it. I do. But these girls were merely late. Not only were they humiliated in front of the school, they were taken to the police department and searched. From what I understand, it wasn't a strip search... Thank God. There is NO REASON for kids who are tardy to be arrested for truancy. Students have to have been absent for DAYS to be considered truant. Not minutes. Days.

The reporter said that the police department said they were just doing their job and that the parents could file a complaint if they felt their children's rights had been exploited. I really hope their parents file a complaint. This is simply ridiculous. The poor girls, too. They're like 16. Can you imagine?! I would have bawled my freakin' eyes out if some cop had sat me down on a curb, arrested me, took me to the police department and searched me.

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Someone posted a picture of their Donut of Misery on Fb today which prompted me to take a look at mine. I am happy to report that there is way more green on it than there is red!! Woohoo!!!! There's also a new saying/comment/whatever you wanna call it.

I like it; I like it. =) I'm kind of feeling this way about R&R at the moment. It's like I can see it, but I can't touch it just yet. You know how it is. Plus, we're not 100% sure that we're getting it. He's on the list for the briefing the month before, but he's just on the list. As we know, things can always, always, always change. I've been told that there's a 50% chance we'll get the dates we want. So, I'm 50% excited. That's better than nothing! Though I've been told only to be 50% excited, I went ahead and downloaded the countdown widget for Dashboard. I couldn't help it. I had to. 

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Today I realized that maybe my craziness has been inherited. You've heard my stories of misplacing things. Attempting to put the milk in the pantry, the cereal in the fridge, get my microwaved food out of the fridge, and so on. I drop things. I run into walls. {It's a joke around our house that the walls like to jump out in front of me.} I trip on carpet. {Running joke in high school was that the "little man in the carpet" kept tripping me.} I've fallen UP and down steps. I'm the girl who trips on a crack in the sidewalk and pretends like it didn't just happen....and giggle quietly. I've hit my head in the car. I've shut my hair in the car door [when it wasn't long]. I've broken 3 glasses since my husband has been gone. Some of these things I've attributed to deployment brain. Others I've attributed to just being clumsy. 

Today I realized there might be a gene... I was in the car on the way to the museum today when this conversation happened:

Mom: I'm gonna tell you something and you have to promise not to tell anyone. {Mistake #1, Mom. This always means it's good. She doesn't read my blog, so I'm safe. I hope. ;-)}

Me: Ok...

Mom: You know what I reach for when I'm fixing my hair, right?

Me: *thinking really hard* Maybe...

Mom: You know what I do when I'm finished with my hair.

Me: *still trying to figure it out*

Mom: Well, my hairspray can looks a whole lot like the can of Lysol I keep in the bathroom.

Me: Uh huh...

Mom: Well... I grabbed the Lysol can instead of my hairspray and used it. 

Me: *dying laughing*

Mom: I wondered why it smelled different and then I looked at the can.

Me: *still dying laughing*

Mom: *laughing* You think that's pretty funny, huh?

Me: *still laughing* YES!!!! I can't believe you did that! Omg, Mom!

Mom: *laughing* I know! I brushed it out of my hair and I really hope that it doesn't bleach my hair! 

Me: I guess your hair smelled pretty good today. *laughing*

Mom: I'm glad I could give you a good laugh.

Me: Yep, you definitely did! Thanks for that!

So, maybe it runs in the family?!!?! Thank goodness I don't use hairspray! 

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Happy Tuesday!!

P.S. Don't forget to send me your photo for the Fall Foto Contest this week!

This and That

Yep, it's that time again! =)

It looks like fall visited my house today and I'm pretty excited about it. It will never, ever, ever be fall in Hawaii, but I just can't help myself with the super cute fall decorations available for purchase. =) This was my sole purpose in traveling to WalMart today. Actually, I was thinking of getting some Halloween decorations but...there were entirely too many bodies in the Halloween aisles. So I wandered on over to the fall decorations. I found a bunch of stuff I wanted but, I did eventually settle on a couple things. Wanna see how it turned out? Of course you do!

click to enlarge

I was going to upload all of the pictures I took, but I have an addiction to Picasa and its collage-making abilities. Plus, it takes way less time to upload.

Even though it may not look or feel anything like fall outside, the inside of my house looks a little bit like it! Now if I could just find a wreath... I did find a welcome mat, but it didn't have a price tag. Sad face.

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Today was a nice cloudy, rainy day. I was seriously enjoying it until my trip to WalMart. On the way there, my old lady knees started to complain. Mainly the left one, which is weird because usually my right one is the "complainer." The more I walked around, the worse it hurt. Pretty sure I walked out of there limping. *sigh* By the time I got home, I just wanted to curl up on the couch. Oh my gosh, it was hurting so bad!! I finally gave in and put some Icy Hot on it. Icy Hot is like my life saver. It doesn't exactly make the pain go away, but it definitely helps! I don't know how or why, but it does and I love it for that. =) Even if it does remind me of my dad...

But seriously? I'm 24!!!! I should not be complaining of knee pain when it rains. I'm not in my 60s, 70s, or 80s. I'm in my 20s. I find this ridiculous. I mean, what's it going to be like when I am 60, 70 or 80?! Sadly, I see a knee replacement in my future. This upsets me until I remember a doctor's visit from a couple years ago. Right before I got married, in fact. 

I went to my pulmonologist (lung doctor) for a checkup on my asthma and stuff. He reviewed my chest x-ray (boy, aren't those a pleasure) and went over some things with me. At this point, I'd been on the drug Advair for several years. When I was a teenager, my asthma was really bad. Not hospitalization bad, but bad enough. I got sick a lot, had to do breathing treatments and basically nothing would keep me from getting sick. Finally, I got put on Advair which is basically a powder you inhale that is full of anti-inflammatories and steroids. The anti-inflammatories help with the pain cause by "swollen" bronchial tubes and the steroids help open them up. By this doctor's visit, I was convinced Advair was a wonder drug. My lungs were functioning at 100% and looked healthy on the x-rays, along with my heart. Yay, me! I was doing so well, in fact, that my doctor lowered my dosage. Awesome. That's when he said it. 

Advair can cause osteoporosis in women. Especially if they've been on it for long periods of time. 

I was somewhat concerned at the time, but didn't really think about it. I did realize, though, that he was wanting to wean me off of it. That was fine by me. More money in my pocket. Then I got married and didn't have insurance. I got samples (thanks to my awesome mom) so I was still able to take it. After a while, I just stopped taking it. I really committed to getting off of it earlier this year. I was feeling great thanks to all the exercising I was doing and hadn't been asthma-sick in a long time. After a few weeks, I started having chest pains...the normal ones that just come with having asthma. Even though I'd decided not to take it, I went to the medicine cabinet and reached for it. 2 hours later, my hands were so shaky I couldn't write. Steroids. My hands are shaky even when I don't take it (which I haven't since that last time) and I completely blame Advair. I'm thankful that it has helped my asthma, but the shaky hands kind of suck.

Then today, I remembered what my doctor said about osteoporosis. I'm curious if the lovely Advair has caused me to develop early arthritis. If it can cause osteoporosis, surely it could "help" me in the arthritis department, right? There's no real way to tell, but I suppose it is possible. 

Wasn't that a random jaunt?!

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Does anyone watch Hawaii Five O? Tonight's episode made me laugh a little bit.

At the beginning, the main characters are at the crime scene sort of evaluating things. Then, this Hawaiian surfer dude comes up to Danny and starts critiquing him...in Pidgin (pronounced like "pigeon"). Danny looks at the guy and says, "What? [pause] Are you speaking English?"

Oh my gosh, I totally, completely feel this way sometimes!!!! I swear, it might as well be considered a foreign language. All I caught from what the guy said was "bra" (which means something to the effect of man/brother). They say that word a lot too. I really felt this way on Sunday at church. We had a guest speaker who lives on the Big Island, but is actually from Oahu. He's a local. Totally speaks Pidgin. He translated several times, which I was very thankful for. Our pastor doesn't usually translate for us non-locals and I sometimes feel like I need a dictionary or translation guide. Seriously. 

Pidgin is like a really rough dialect of English. Yes, I said dialect. Every now and then I can catch a word or two, but it still makes me feel like I live in a different country. You spend enough time here and you'll know what I'm talking about. 

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Last but not least - some whining. 

I miss my husband. His internet has been down for entirely too long a few days and it's killing me. I did get a phone call yesterday, but it didn't last long enough. =( I miss having Skype time with him. There's so much I want to tell him and can't because of stupid internet!! 

Have I mentioned how much I hate deployment?!

He did manage to tell me yesterday that I'm allowed to get somewhat excited about Christmas. =) I'll let you decipher that one. 

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I did tell you about my fascination with making collages, right? Ok, good. 'Cause here's another one. But this one is of my furbaby. Much cuter, I think. =) I'm so glad he's here. I don't know how I handled 2 months of deployment without him!

Hope you guys had a good Monday!

Almost Martha

I think it's safe to say that I've become quite the "Suzy Homemaker" lately. I've started sewing, I like to bake, I cook [occasionally], I decorate my house [well, attempts are made], and I keep it relatively clean. I'm sure most of you understand when I say that I would be more of a "Suzy Homemaker" if my husband were here. For me, all of my "want to" to keep the house clean and orderly goes out the window when he's gone. I mean, I'm the only one who sees my house on a regular basis so what does it matter?! At this point, I can almost understand the whole bachelor mentality. Stereotypically speaking, of course.

However, I've found myself spending a lot of time with this little guy recently:

I say "guy" because, well, his name is Brother. =) And together, we are creating what I hope will be something magnificent. I hope.

Any guesses? Shouldn't be too hard... ;-)

Considering it's my first big project, it may not turn out as well as the perfectionist in me would like. Until I learn to draw, cut and sew a straight line that little perfectionist better learn how to keep her mouth shut! As you know, I have several other projects planned for myself after I finish this one: a baby quilt, a cover for my Nook, possibly some drink cozies (found a super cute pattern in a magazine!), and who knows what else.

After I finished working on my project today, I decided it was about time I made some goodies to send to my husband. It's about package time again and I like to make him a little something to stick in there. Call me crazy. ;-) A few weeks ago, I found what seemed like a good recipe using an app on my phone. {Seriously, what would I do without my iPhone?!} It's a recipe for sugar cookies. I have two recipes (I think) for sugar cookies and both of them have about killed my poor hand mixer. So, I was searching for something easy, something I already had all the ingredients for and something that wouldn't kill my mixer. About 5 seconds later, I found it. *insert Allelujah chorus here*

Chewy Sugar Cookies

{no lie, that's their name}

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder (I just realized I probably used a WHOLE tsp. Eh, they taste great anyway.)

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tbsp buttermilk (I used 2% milk and it was just fine.)

Sprinkles/colored sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. (If your mixer isn't a "heavy duty" mixer, add a little bit at a time and it won't hurt your mixer.) Add enough of the buttermilk to moisten the dough and make it soft, not wet. (This totally helps!)

Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls (Or use your Pampered Chef scoop! Best thing ever, I swear.) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. With a brush or fingers, moisten the top of each cookie with remaining buttermilks and slightly flatten the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with raw sugar or sprinkles.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden. 

Easy peasy! 

Seriously, these are the BEST sugar cookies I've EVER made. I'm not even kidding you. Beware, though the cookies WILL spread on the sheet. It's been a while since I made sugar cookies even remotely close to these so I kinda forgot. Here's how mine turned out:

These are going to Joe...

And will be sent in one of these...

With a very tight seal.

Aaand these are mine... 

Mostly because they won't fit in the Pringles can.

Just when I was so close to being "Martha," I made Campbell's Broccoli and Cheese soup [out of a can] for dinner. Martha isn't allowed to do something like this, but I'm pretty sure "Suzy Homemaker" is. =) The woman's got a tough job, I tell ya!

I called the day "done" after a phone call from my hubby and good 'ole Netflix movie, The Duchess.

Hope y'all had a good weekend!

Obligated?

A few weeks ago, I got an email from our FRG leader stating that her husband would no longer be the company commander. Translation? "My husband is getting moved to a different company and I'm not going to be your FRG leader anymore."

I wasn't upset about this at all. Her husband is a decent enough guy, but she had no business being FRG leader. I think she just got drug into it because her husband was the CC. Then we got an email saying, "CPT New Guy is asking for volunteers for FRG leader." Greeeaaat. 


This week, we got an email stating that one of Joe's NCO's wives (did you follow that?!) was taking over the FRG. Thank goodness! I was glad that she was taking it because she had been the secretary or something before. Our former FRG leader had ZERO experience with the Army, let alone the FRG. (Not that I had/have any either.) Plus, she works a full-time job as a nurse. Not exactly the ideal FRG leader. Anyway.

Today, the new FRG leader friend requested me on FB and then added me to the company group she created. And then began the onslaught of "can you help out?" messages. It's not that I don't want to help them. It's more like I offered my help when the CC's wife took over and she never told me what she needed. Now I'm volunteering at the museum 3 days a week (for 3 hours) and I'm the advertising person for the spouses' club on post. That's kind of a lot! It may not be a full time job, but I really do feel like I'm busy. Then I got this message from the new FRG leader:


"my husband suggested that I ask if you would like to take the co-leader position. He has had a lot of good things to say about both you and your husband."


Now the question is this: Do I step up and volunteer so it makes my husband look good - even though I've got a lot on my plate as it is?

I don't know. Supposedly, it's not that much work. Just 2 - 10 hours a week and filling in at meetings when necessary. That's it. =/ I did sign up to support my husband in his new career. I said I'd stand behind his decision and support him all the way, in everything. Is this one of those times? Is this one of the things I'm supposed to do to support him and hopefully help his career? It would definitely look good for him if I were co-leader of the FRG. He doesn't get any promotion points or anything from it, but we all know that these types of things make a Soldier look good. Plus, if he does decide to go officer (which will definitely happen if he decides to stay in the Army) I'll probably need the experience with FRG.

So, what do you think? Should I give up a day a week at the museum to support my husband's career and take the co-leader spot in the FRG?

❊❊❊

In other news, because I was feeling crummy today [and didn't get to have dinner with the girls] I got to stay home and watch the Sooners play. Unfortunately, they made my crumminess worse by losing to Mizzou. *sigh* It could have been worse, though. At least we didn't lose to Iowa State like Texas did. Thankfully, we stomped them in the ground last week. And for the record, the last time we got beat by Mizzou was in 1998. We let them win this one. ;-)

Happy Saturday!

FFC Week Three Winner!

It's only Week Three and we've been seeing some great photos around here!! We've still got several more weeks, and I'm excited to see what's to come. I know that not many of you are experiencing real fall just yet. =) Hopefully that will change soon and ALL of you will be able to send me a photo! Here's a little bit of what we've been seeing around here on Fridays...

First there was this:

And then there were these!

Seriously, how awesome are these photos?! =D

But, we have to choose a winner. It's so hard. 

This weeks winner is....

[Drum roll, please]

Via!!!!

Congratulations!!! 

Thanks again to all of the lovelies who entered. You're all winners in my book. ;-) Yeah, that was totally cheesy. I really DO love all of your photos, though. I hope that you'll enter again next week! For those of you who didn't enter, I hope you'll keep an eye out for great shots this week. =) I'd love to see what fall looks like where you are!

Happy Weekend!

Fall Foto Contest: Week Three

If I haven't told you so already, thanks to all of you who send me your photos! I really love seeing them all in my inbox. For a whole bunch of amateurs, y'all are taking some fabulous photos! ;-) Here are this week's entries (in no particular order):

Photo by Via

Photo by Lacey

Photo by Amber

Photo by Kristen

Photo by Jessica

Photo by Jes

{not to be confused with Jessica =)}

Photo by Monica

Not quite as many as last week, but I think you'll agree that it's about quality not quantity. =) Now comes the part where I tell you to vote for your favorite photo. 

So, vote for your favorite photo!!! =D 

The polly thingy is over on the right sidebar under the FFC button. If you're participating in the contest (or if you just want more people to participate), please grab the button and stick it somewhere on your blog. =)

Happy Fall!! And keep those fall fotos coming! I am seriously loving it! =)

Snail Mail!

I don't know why, but I love getting fun mail. A card, a little note, a postcard (like the one I got from my hubby), or a box. I especially love getting boxes!! Boxes mean goodies. Sometimes they mean goodies I ordered. Today, I got a goodie box from my bestie!! And, oh, was it EVER full of goodies!

Just to show you how BIG it is...

 Can you believe that they left this in one of the mail lockers?!

I had to carry this BEAST all the way back to my house.

Seriously, it weighed a ton. I'm thinking like 20 lbs.

Jasper weighs 16 and he is light compared to that box.

My house is like 4 houses down from the mailboxes. Grrrrr.

I'm considering calling the post office about this.

She left me a little note. =)

Sheets! Woohoo!

Look at all those goodies!

There was fabric...

This will be a little somethin' for my momma.

This will be a little something for me... 

Well, for future babies, really.

There were journals. 

Hallelujah!

A sweet invitation to a baby shower...

This will be a cover for my Nook. Eventually.

Extra fabric that Melissa didn't want.

Scrapbooking stuff!!!! Woohoo!

It's really for her, but I'm kind of excited about making a new scrapbook.

Needless to say, I'm going to have plenty of projects for a while. =) I actually have another one I'm thinking of doing, but I don't have the fabric for it. Plus, I'm sure I'm going to be busy working on other things.

While we're talking of mail, I finally got paired up with some lovely ladies who are participating in a fun little swap! Jessica from Jesstagirl and Her Officer came up with a fabulous idea: a postcard swap! 

 

I signed up along with a bunch of other ladies and we all got paired up! Now, we just send out a postcard and wait to get our own. I'm kind of excited about it. I can't wait to see where mine is from! I'm sure my lucky person will be excited to get one from here too. I mean, who wouldn't, right?!

In other news, today has been a good day. I did Pilates, went to the musuem, carried that heavy freakin' package in and got to talk to my hubby via Skype for an hour! Today was his day off, thank goodness. =) Since he "called" so early, the connection was better than usual and we were able to actually hold a conversation! He got to watch me make dinner (pancakes, yum!), and then we sat down at the table and he got to watch me eat too. Lol! It was almost like having dinner together.... Almost. 

All in all, I think it was a good day! Happy Hump Day!

P.S. Don't forget to start sending me this week's photos for the Fall Foto Contest!