The life of an Army wife

Travel Bug

2010-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
I seem to be thinking of traveling a lot lately. I would love to take 6 weeks and just travel Europe! I want to experience culture, history and nature in new and different ways. I get excited every time I see pictures of Europe or movies set in Europe. Oh it is nice to dream. Anyone want to fund a European adventure for me?!?!?! lol

I have also been on a health kick lately. Trying to exercise more and cut back on the junk foods. I walk about 2 miles every morning and evening totaling 4 miles per day. It really does feel good to exercise and eat healthier. I don't do anything fancy just a nice long walk around the neighbor hood during the cool of the morning and evening. I live next to a nature preserve though so I have to watch out for all kinds of critters on my walks. I have come across scorpions, skunks, spiders, toads, and last night I walked up on a snake. I have never been more scared in my life. I was walking along and I looked down and right on the edge of the side walk next to my foot was a snake! I panicked and fled as quickly as possible so I didn't get a good look to see what kind it was but I sure am glad it didn't strike. I jumped at every leaf, blade of grass and spider I passed on the rest of my walk. lol I'm sure my husband got a good kick at watching me jump around like a scared kangaroo. Oh well better safe then sorry.

I just finished watching season 4 of Dexter (by showtime) on DVD and I must say I am even more hooked than ever! Dexter is dark, humorous, and exciting. I can't wait until season 5 comes out on DVD so I can watch it....that should only be a year from now. Oh the torture...lol But seriously a year!?!? Couldn't they release it on dvd right after the season ends so that those of us who missed it could catch up? Gah. Those of you thinking it's just a tv show have obviously never watched it or you would be addicted and impatiently waiting as well.

Anywho I hope everyone had a great labor day weekend! I know my family did. We took our daughters to the park, did a bit of shopping, a lot of cleaning and relaxation, and watched a couple of movies. The Last Song and Clash of the Titans, both decent movies worth renting. I was actually surprised at how short Clash of the Titans was. Still a good movie pick.

Well I wish you all a good week and I will write to you again soon :)

Peace and Love! Thanks to all the service members.

Catching Up!

2010-09-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone sorry I'm so bad at blogging regularly but I'm going to make an effort to stay on track this time! Ok so I'll catch you all up on what has happened since my last blog which is a lot! My sisters baby shower was a success! It all turned out so cute and she made out like a bandit. Two of my best friends each threw me a baby shower which both turned out so well. Thank you so much Jess and Steph! I became an Aunt! I have the cutest sweetest nephew, Colton, born March 29th! He has the cutest dimple, biggest smile and loves to laugh. If you can't already tell I kind of tend to want to spoil him. I also had my baby, Teagan, on May 11th and she is my snuggle buddy! She is so petite and happy and smiley and quiet. She hardly ever gives me grief and sleeps well I feel so blessed. Meanwhile Madison is well in her terrible twos! She can open doors even with the child safety locks...same for child safety caps on medicine. She likes to break into the refrigerator, and out of her bedroom in the middle of the night. She also likes to climb and make messes so I'm pretty much constantly chasing after her and cleaning up! We have been on two TDY's since I last blogged, two weeks in El Paso. We took the girls so that turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. We also spent 3 Days in Galveston, without the girls, so it was awesome! I have accomplished every goal on my list of family to-do's for the year! Played Mini golf twice, picnic'd, and went to the beach! Hmm what else have you missed? Oh and a few days ago I started another blog on Mommy Finds, products, clothes, toys etc. That I come accross/use and then post about with links to where you can find them! Please do check it out!

I have become obsessed with reading all of Sophia Kinsella's books! She is hilarious! My favorite's are The Undomestic Goddess and the Confessions of a Shoppaholic series! I urge you all to read them as well. Her latest book is set to be released on Sept. 21st, my birthday! That's right my birthday is just around the corner and I am excited! I'm planning a whole week of fun things! Lots of crafty girly stuff! Hopefully some sewing, painting, reading, a trip to the coffee shop, and To Fado! My favorite Irish pub for some shepherds pie. :) I am also planning Madison's second birthday party which is a month away! So far I have lots of ambitious plans and no supplies so I am going to have to buckle down and get working on them. Football season is here and it is my husbands favorite! I am not all that into football but I make an effort because he loves it. He likes to do fantasy football as well so we both just drafted our fantasy football teams on wednesday. I must admit I was quite proud of my team full of great players!

Oh I just remembered another thing that you both missed out on! My husband got promoted! I am so proud of him! His office had a ceremony/picnic and he asked me to pin his new rank so I got to pin him! I also made him a cake which turned out really well! I am so proud of the cakes that I have made but on another note I HATE decorating cakes! lol I love baking them but decorating seriously stresses me out. I think it is because I am such a perfectionist and well impatient. Decorating takes me all day because of me being a perfectionist which then drives me crazy because it is taking forever! lol it's pretty much a lose lose for me. Anyways back to my husband...He is taking over a new position at work which leaves him doing two jobs for the moment until they find someone to replace him at his old position so that is stressing him out. He is doing really well in school though. He has a 4.0 GPA and is going to finish a semester early! He is also considering going OCS in the near future which I have to admit seems exciting. I am so proud of my soldier! He is a great soldier, husband and father! I am truly blessed.

Ok I would like to leave you all on a good note so I will tell you about my daughters recent refrigerator story. I was feeding Teagan and I heard my daughter in the kitchen opening the refrigerator so I quickly lay Teagan down. I rushed into the kitchen and there is my daughter in the middle of the kitchen with a cup, spoon, milk and Hershey's syrup all ready to make chocolate milk! I wanted to laugh so bad but I didn't want her to think it was ok to get into the refrigerator. My daughter keeps me on my toes and makes big messes but sometimes she really is amusing!

As always I hope you all have a great labor day weekend, be safe and thank you to all the past, present and future service members out there!

Warm weather!

2010-01-23T09:18:00.001-08:00

Hello all,
It's a new and exciting year and it seems to be starting off with some rather warm weather! With that being said it's been nice to dig out some spring clothes and spend some family time out doors. Madison is now walking like a champ so she is really enjoying the new things she can do outside. I'm just so excited to try and make more family time and family connections in this new year. 2010 is going to be a great year with our newest addition due in May. I also have 2 cousins due within a week from me...how exciting! I am very excited to be hosting for the first time a baby shower for my sister. It is just around the corner so I have been in high gear trying to get all the preparations done. It's going to be an awesome shower if I may say so. I'm not huge on making one big new years resolution so this year I decided to work on having more patience and to make a list of family activities that I would like to accomplish this year. I would love to visit the beach this summer even if it is just a day trip. I would also like to find the time to work in a game of Miniature golf with the family. Oh and on my list I would also like to take a family picnic. Nothing crazy but I feel like so often we overlook the simple little things we can do as a family for little to no money. I'm sure I will think of many more family friendly activities to do throughout the year but these are the ones I would most like to cross off of my list. This past year my husband has gotten to go on several TDY's and I expect he will get to go on even more this year. We will be on the first TDY of the year next week for a few days. We are road tripping it to Houston with a short stop at Nanna and Grandpa's house! As an army wife I have come to expect and even enjoy the short TDY's. Even the ones that Mike isn't able to take us with him on. They usually last 3-5 days with the occasional 2 weeks thrown in here or there. I can't say enough how excited I am for the new year to unfold with all of the babies that are due this spring and the great friends and family I have to share it with. I hope that everyone can find the same positivity and enthusiasm that I have for life. Try to focus on only the positive things and try not to dwell on things that cannot be changed. I'd like to end this entry with a quote: "The past can't see you, but the future is listening." ~Destin Figuier

-The Army Wife

New Year

2009-12-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! My family and I had a great time spending Christmas vacation with family. Now I am looking forward to a new year full of wonderful things. I am expecting another little girl this May! I am also expecting a nephew in March, a cousin in March, 2 cousins in May and a friend of mine is also having a baby in May. I am taking my family to California for 2 weeks in January to visit friends and family that we have there. I am currently planning my sisters baby shower which is going to be in January and I am super excited. January is an extremely busy month for us so the task of planning a baby shower is proving quite difficult but I am determined to make it work and make it wonderful. Has everyone thought about their New Year's resolutions yet? I am still trying to figure out what my exact resolution is going to be but I imagine it will involve being more patient. I consider myself to be a pretty patient person but lately I feel myself being less patient and more stressed out. Well at least we are taking a little vacation in a few weeks!!! It will be my daughters first plan ride...I am a little nervous because she is in her "terrible twos" stage and quite the independent one. I'll let you know how it goes. lol
-The Army Wife
Happy holidays everyone and thanks to all the past/present service members!

Ft. Hood Tragedy

2009-11-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

It has been quite a while since I have blogged on here so sorry for that but I feel compelled to express my thoughts on yesterdays tragedy. I had a lot of time to think yesterday as my family and I were on lock down on Ft. Hood for 6 or 7 hours. We were in the Darnall Medical center when the tragedy took place and for the remainder of the day. The first thing we all thought was how sad it was and how angry we all were at what was going on. The second thought that creeped into our minds was the fear of not knowing. No one seemed to know if there were more shooters. I was locked in a room with a bunch of other soldiers, doctors, nurses and the two most important people in my life! I was lucky to have my daughter and husband by my side. Then I thought how awful it must be for the rest of them who weren't lucky enough to be with their families and some of them not sure where their families were. Although being locked in a room for 6 hours while the tragedy unfolded was not the most ideal way to spend my day I am truly lucky. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend the day with my family. My heart goes out to all of those lost, wounded and their families! I can't even imagine what you are going through right now but if anyone reads this and needs help please feel free to ask. Life is way too short. I think the best way to honor the fallen is to live your life to the fullest because they all died for us to have that freedom. Though this was on home soil it is no different in my mind the intent and wishes of those soldiers lost and wounded. Also as for the shooter I am not sure what his reasoning was but in my mind he was no different than a terrorist yesterday when he began shooting and taking people's lives. In light of everything you can keep all of these victims and their families on your minds and honor them in the best way you can! Thanks for listening to my rant. Also a big thank you to all of the soldiers, service members and others fighting to protect our great country and the one's who have died doing it!

-The Army Wife

2009-08-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a crazy couple of weeks. I was up late last night baking cookies. I made orange cookies with chocolate chips, White chocolate chip cookies and my favorite turtle cookies. They turned out alright not my best work but I was up late and I didn't have all the right ingredients. My husband and I were gone to visit family this last weekend. We had a wonderful time and I especially enjoyed shopping with my mom and sister. We had a girls shopping day complete with fruit smoothies. We didn't get to stay for very long but it was fun while it lasted. It seems we have been doing a lot of traveling lately. We are leaving for El Paso on Thursday. My husband will be going on business and he's taking us with him! I'm super excited because this is the first work trip we have been able to go on. I also learned that Wyndham hotel chain and affiliates offer cheap military rates. As you know Wyndham is one of the nicer hotel chains so I was very surprised and excited at my find. The hotel we will be staying at even has a water park! In case you can't tell I'm a coupon clipping bargain hunter. lol Why pay more if you don't have to? Hmm what else is new...Oh we bought a new car! It is wonderful. We bought a 2010 mazda 3 isport! ZOOM ZOOM! lol These last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind of news and events. We just found out my husband will possibly be deploying sometime in the near future. I guess thats not really news though as it is always a possibility in the army. I have a lot to do before we leave for El Paso because the house is a mess and I still have laundry and packing to do. The house has to be spotless because all of the floors are getting finished and sealed while we are in El Paso. We also have a dinner to go to tomorrow night and we are looking forward to it! Until next time...

-The Army wife

Thanks to all the troops out there for all you do. Special thanks to my husband for all your service. I love you!

2009-07-25T20:11:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't really blogged much this week but it has been a busy week for me! I had a promotion/going away ceremony for two soldiers at my husbands work. I have also been setting up, cleaning and decorating all of the new furniture that my husband and I acquired. This week I had two doctors appointments plus my weekly gymboree session with my daughter. Yesterday I went on a dinner date with my husband out to sushi and it was yummy! I love the "Mikey roll." My husband made me dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth while I snuck in a little nap earlier. Today I have just been doing cleaning the house and sorting through mail and old documents. I also reorganized all of my scrapbooking stuff and grouped it together into categories. Tomorrow I need to prepare for my surgery on Monday by filling my post op prescriptions and going grocery shopping. My husband and I cleaned the entire house today in preparation for this coming week. My mom is coming tomorrow to help out on Monday. Monday morning I have to get up and go to the hospital to have my tonsils removed. I thought it wasn't going to be a big deal but everyone is telling me that it's going to be harder than I thought. I will be put to sleep and they will burn them off with a plasma wand. Then they will wake me up and I have to spend the next 3-4 hours in recovery. Apparently it's supposed to be pretty painful also. I don't really like taking pain killers so I was hoping to avoid them and my doctor just laughed and said I would need them. Yikes! I also have a lot of packing to do tomorrow. I won't have time to pack on Monday plus it sounds like I will be pretty doped up. Tuesday we are leaving for the week to visit friends and family in East Texas! I am super excited to visit my best friend Jess. She recently just had a baby girl that I will be seeing for the first time! Truth be told I am very nervous about how things are going to be on Monday and the rest of the week following the surgery. I've never had to have surgery before and being put to sleep is a pretty scary thing! At least I will have my husband there for support. Hopefully I will recover quickly so I can truly enjoy the time with my friends. I also have my husbands family reunion to go to the following Sunday. I am looking forward to August! I have another baby shower in August. I also have more trips and birthdays in August! On another note my daughter is getting so big! She now has 2 teeth and is crawling and cruising all over the place! I love that she will eat absolutely anything! Today I just cooked up some Lima beans for her as a snack and she sat there feeding herself contently. She also will eat edamame, bell peppers, onions, fish you name it! Well I think that about catches you up on the goings on this week. I'll try to sneak in a blog this next week but most likely I won't have the chance. Hope everyone has a good week!

-The Army Wife

Thank you to all of the past present and future soldiers out there serving the good old USA!

Home Sweet Home!

2009-07-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a weekend trip to my home town with my family. We went to celebrate my moms birthday, hang out with family, and attend my friends baby shower! The visit went great! I picked up some neat decorations/favors for my daughters b-day, and I got some great furniture. I got 2 brand new desks with hutches, 2 book cases and a small cabinet all for free from my old neighbor! She is moving into a smaller house and had to get smaller furniture but it was all pretty much brand new. SCORE! The desks will go in the office to free up my project desk which is currently our computer desk and the shelving and project desk will go to Sweet Pea Giftbaskets area! All in all I am very excited and glad to be home. The giftbasket that I made for my friends shower was a big hit! I have had a wonderful weekend with my family. Things just seem to be going very well for us lately. I have family coming over tomorrow, and a lot of cleaning/rearranging to do to move in furniture. I also have to take my daughter in for a check up tomorrow so it will be a busy day! I'm definitely up for the challenge though. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

-The Army Wife

Thanks to all of the soldiers out there who serve(ed) our country!

Family trouble

2009-07-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hey so I have been a little busy and haven't updated in a few days. Let me try to catch you up... I made a cake for my husbands coworkers SSG Reyes and SSG Meza. It turned out really well! It was a white cake with strawberry icing and I made some flowers and a tank to put on top. It was delicious if I do say so myself! lol His office and myself all went out to lunch and then back to the office for cake. My daughter and I had a blast! My husband works with some really great people and I enjoy hanging out with them. After the office b-day party I went shopping for a few things and I found some great deals! I bought myself a new shirt for the baby shower this weekend and a few other things all for under $25 combined! I also found some really cute stuff for my daughters b-day. I found some really cute stuffed animals for favors and an ice bucket for a dollar! I made a really cute giftbasket for the baby shower I'm going to. It was supposed to be on Saturday but it got moved to Sunday due to a death in the family. I feel bad for the happy couple. It also kinda sucks because it extended existing plans but no biggie. I'm used to plans changing! Speaking of plans changing we are celebrating my moms birthday this weekend...and my brother decides to invite himself out of nowhere to ruin my moms birthday! Ok so a little background on my brother. He is a complete jerk that most of my family doesn't speak to including my mom and I. He is only my half brother and my mom is his "step-mother". He got kicked out of the house for stealing and trying to hit my mom when he was 18 and calls my dad or shows up about once every 4-5 years. Lucky us he decided to pick this weekend so we can all be miserable and my mom can have an unhappy birthday! (I'm sure he planned that part) Well I am very nervous about this weekend because like I said we don't get along and my husband wants to kill him. Ok well maybe not kill him but beat the crap out of him. lol You might think that seems a bit harsh but trust me my brother deserves the treatment he gets. He wasn't told about or invited to my wedding, doesn't know anything about our daughter or my new last name. He doesn't know where I live or my phone number. I have done my best to keep him out of my life all together and now I am forced to be around him this weekend. I'm still pretty pissed in case you couldn't tell....lol ok well I have to get my day started and get packing! Going to visit the family! Until next time.

-The Army Wife

Thanks to all of you out there serving our country or have served in the past!

2009-07-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well as you all know the weekend has finally come to an end. All of my company has come and gone and once again it is just me and my happy little family. I was happy to find out however that my parents are coming into town tomorrow on business and are going to drop by! I get to spend most of the day with them. I feel very lucky to have such a great relationship with my parents. Now my Mother-in-law is a whole other story! I don't know about you but I do not get along with my Mother-in-law. Its not so bad when you get married but once you have kids the unwanted family gets drawn in like a moth to a flame! lol Today has been a lazy day for me and my family. Just hanging around the house. We have recently become rather addicted to the "Farmtown" game on face book. I know it sounds silly but it's pretty cool and thats what we did with a lot of our spare time today. I have to get up early tomorrow morning because someone is coming by to dust our attic for scorpions...goodbye you won't be missed! On another topic, airport USO's have been on my mind alot lately. They have a USO in some of the major airports but not nearly enough. I'm sure its due to lack of funding but I would personally like to see a USO in all major airports in the country as well as overseas! I'm not really sure how to go about getting that accomplished but I would sure love to try. For those of you who don't know about USO's they are little areas in airports where active duty soldiers can wait for their flight and watch tv, use computers and even take a nap! There are volunteers who help serve donated food and drinks and will wake you up at a designated time so you don't miss your flight. Its just a little something extra for our troops. It might be the last bit of luxury they have before flying over seas or a nice stop in on their way home. But its not only important for soldiers leaving the country. Sometimes soldiers have to leave their familys for a month or longer to go train in another city or state and they deserve to have a USO too! Alright well I've said my peace about USO's for tonight. lol I guess it's probably time for me to hit the hay as my eyes are starting to droop and the coke's not helping anymore! (I know bad habit..I'm trying to kick it)

-The Army Wife

As always thanks to all of you troops out there currently serving our country and thanks to anyone that served in the past!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

2009-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Today was a long but very fun day. The only part that was not fun was when the ac stopped working in my car being that it was over 1oo degrees out! lol I got a lot accomplished today and spent some quality time with my family which is always a plus. We went out to lunch and to a plant nursurey in search of some texas native plants. We also went ornament shopping and stocked up on birthday cards. All in all it was a very successful day! I think the best part was just coming home, taking a nap, and then spending the evening relaxing with the family. I love being able to spend so much time with family. I have a lot of social engagements coming up including multiple birthdays, a baby shower, family reunion and just spending time with close friends. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming busy schedule! I think I enjoy the storm before the calm so to speak of getting ready for things. Of course I very much enjoy the time spent relaxing also. I am currently on the look out for great ideas for age appropriate party favors for a one year old. Any suggestions? lol I have about 6 birthdays coming up very quickly! But like I said I secretly enjoy the pressure of this type of thing. I also have to come up with an age appropriate menu for one year olds as well as adults! That will probably be the hardest task. Horray for Birthdays! I am also excited that one of our Army buddies from out of state just moved to town 2 days ago! We are definately enjoying having him close by. Well it is getting pretty late and I need to get to bed. I just wanted to update everyone on my goings on before bed. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

-The Army Wife

Thank you to all of you out there who have served or are currently serving our great country!

Cars, Crafts & Gymboree!

2009-07-09T10:37:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone so I did get my car fixed yesterday...it was the battery. Unfortunately it took about 2 & a half hours because of my alarm! lol So right now I am waiting on a home inspection/estimate person to show up and tell me how much it will cost me to get rid of some scorpions! Yay!Hopefully those guys get here before long because I need to leave in about an hour to take my daughter to Gymboree! I finished all of my cleaning yesterday as I have company coming but my daughter is slowly messing everything up again! lol So I'm really excited that my daughter is finally getting a tooth! One corner has finally broken through the gums a few days ago. I feel very lucky because she isn't cranky, running fever, or drooling excessivly. I feel lucky but not surprised because she has always been a good baby and never given me any trouble...even when I was pregnant. Babies are so wonderful! Anyways I would like to back track a little bit and talk about Gymboree. I absolutely love going to Gymboree and so does my daughter. Its for kids 0 months to 5 yrs and they are split up into classes by age groups. It is great because the babies/kids get to interact with other kids their age in a controled environment. There is music, bubbles, toys, tunnels, parachutes and much more. Bonus is they give a military discount for all of you military families out there! I just love it because she enjoys it so much...she plays hard and then she naps hard! Ok enough about Gymboree. I am starting a few projects of my own. I am going to start a couple of clothing projects in the next couple of days which I am really excited about! (I'll let you know how it goes...). I am also trying to update some scrapbooks that I haven't touched in a while...which is going well so far I have completed one page and have another page started. (I am kind of a perfectionist) lol Lastely I am going to start pulling all the decorations and ideas together for my daughters birthday party! Oh yeah and did I mention I have company this weekend? I am going to be busy busy busy! Oh I just remembered that my husband has drill this weekend so he won't be here to help out. Thats where the Army wife part kicked back in! Alright well I have to get back to my life and my daughter.

-The Army Wife

Thanks to all of you out there who have served or are currently serving our country!

Car trouble

2009-07-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

I am a stay at home mom and an Army wife. For anyone that thinks my job must be easy I would love for you to step into my shoes! I am not here to complain about my life because I love it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It isn't always a piece of cake though. Anyways today I am cleaning and doing laundry during my daughters nap times because I have company coming tomorrow! When my husband gets home I need to find out if my car is having battery trouble or alternator trouble because it won't start! Yay! lol This is my first blog so I'm not entirely sure what to write but if anyone out there cares to have some incite into my life then keep reading! I want to get as much done as possible today because I have a full day tomorrow between company coming, taking my daughter to Gymboree and having ABC pest control come out to give me an estimate on getting rid of the scorpions! lol gotta love central Texas! Hopefully everything goes smoothly tomorrow so I can fit everything in and we don't have to miss out on Gymboree. Well I have to get back to my chores but thanks for taking time to read this.

-The Army Wife

Thanks to all of you out there serving our country!