Memorial Day

I hate to say this, but Memorial Day means a different thing to me this year.

Up until this year, Memorial Day was a long weekend and a reason to have a cook out.

Did I ever stop to think about the reason for the occasion. No.

This year I am a military wife.

This past year, I have met women who have lost their husbands.

I have heard stories of children who have lost their fathers.

I have changed over the past year.

I think of those who gave their life and their families every day.

Seriously, not a day goes by that I don't.

My heart feels like it is crushing when I think of how lucky I am.

I appreciate the little things.

The cooking for a get together with friends.

The harnessing Irie up for a family walk.

Lying in Mr. arms and falling asleep.

If there were not brave men and women who had laid down there lives,

I wouldn't be able to appreciate these things.

Thank You For All Of The Sacrifices.

Zac Brown "Chicken Fried"

I thank God for my life

And for the stars and stripes

May freedom forever fly let it ring.

Salute the ones who died

And the ones that gave their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice

All the things we love

Like our chicken fried

____________________________________________________________

Kerry and I watched Taking Chance last night.

Since it is Memorial Day, I decided to review it here.

This is an emotional movie about the escort of a killed in action Marine back to his home town.

This is not a block buster movie; it is a slow paced movie.

It is a beautiful, emotional movie and I am glad I watched it.

It is a movie entirely about paying respect to the fallen Marine.

All and all I would recommend watching this movie.

Top 2 Tuesday: Dates

 Top 2 Tuesday: Dates 1.) Night in. I love when we spend time alone together. We cook together and then spend time playing a game or watching a movie. It is so simple, but I love the simple things! 2.) Vacation dates. I love when we are on vacation and just get to spend time together on the beach chilling out! I just love the beach period. Wish we were down South and could take a three day trip to the beach! Sorry that I have been slacking on my blogging lately! I have had a whole lot on my mind and a lot of thoughts that I have been wanting to share.Hopefully later I can get caught up. 

Nine Months In

Wow!

Today is our nine month anniversary as living the Air Force life!

Nine months ago, I had a mini break down as Mr., Irie, and I held a long embrace that I knew wouldn't be repeated for a long time.

Over the last nine months, I have learned to independent even when I don't want to be.

I have met other wives that have touched my life.

During the last nine months, the Air Force and I have had ups and downs.

We've had loves and hates.

But all and all, here I am with my hubby and my fur baby and I love this life.

It is crazy, beautiful, and often stressful, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Top 2 Tuesday: Before I Die

 Click HERE to play : ) Top 2 Tuesday: Before I Die  Wow, only two? I have so many experiences I was before I die! Hmm, the big two: 1. Maybe live in Italy, or somewhere else overseasI want to stay on a different continent for at least six months. I think it would be a great experience to soak up the culture of a different area.  2. Babies!I definitely want to have babies after we get more travel experiences.

Our Weekend

Mr. and I had a wonderful weekend! I was kinda sad that it was only a two day week end, but we crammed a whole lot into it.

We started the weekend on Wednesday after work. MARIO PARTY! Yes, so we are addicted.

Thursday we started with a lazy day and then got super busy. Mr. decided he wanted to go to a concert that night, so we got our buts into gear and went and bought tickets. We had like 3 hours until the concert, so we killed time in town. We went to Coldstone because one of Mr.'s friends said it was good. Good is an understatement! It was the best ice cream I have ever put in my mouth. That is truly a statement when you come from the South and have eaten a lot of homemade ice cream in your life. I had banana with extra bananas and Reese cup folded into it inside of a waffle cone. Wow, it was awesome. There was a furniture store across the road, so we went there to kill some more time. The were having a huge sale, so we decided to try to find some living room furniture. We have been looking for living room furniture since the beginning on March - yes it is that hard to please us. We finally found a couch and love seat that we both liked and was in our budget!! I was beyond excited when we paid for it and scheduled delivery. After it is delivered, I will post pictures. After leaving there, it was off to the concert. The concert featured The Letter Black, Red, and Skillet. I have never listened to ANY music from ANY of the bands, so I wasn't tremendously excited for the concert. It was really loud, I am not a big rock fan. I soon appreciated that they were Christian rock bands because there songs weren't filled with foul language and ugly messages towards women. I decided that, excluding old rock bands that I love, that was probably the best rock concert I will ever go to. Now for the song I enjoyed the most (Prepare yourself) "Enter Sandman" yep they did a Metallica cover and it was great; and it was the only song sung that I had ever hear of. After the concert it was off to home to sleep with Irie.

We had a great Thursday together!

Now onto Friday! Friday we tried to get Mr.'s finance stuff situated. Ugh, I wish it would get situated already. Then I went to the Spouse Meet and Greet! A lot of us met up to have lunch and bowl. I think we all had a good time and it was SO nice spending time with girls! I met some great people and I hope to get to hang out with them soon. Afterwards, one of the girls brought her puppy over for a play date with Irie. I really don't think he understands that teasing a pit bull is not very smart, but we all had a good time. For dinner I broiled some fish and it turned out yummy. For our weekend finale, we went to the base theater and watched "Clash of the Titans." It was really good.

Saturday I woke up to a surprise.  My  eyes were all swollen again! How crazy is that?! I have decided that I am very allergic to something out here in South Dakota. I took allergy medicine and got to feeling better though. Then Saturday night we played MARIO PARTY :)

I will end with a cute picture of my boys together!

Getting To Know You

Click Here to Join in.

The questions..

1. The most expensive thing hanging in my closet is.....?

LoL. I'm blushing.

 My junior prom dress.

2. Have you ever played a team sport?

In elementary school, I played softball.

3. If you were a bug, what kind would you be?

I would be a butterfly.

Everything else is kind of gross.

4. Where on your body is the worst place to get sunburned? (thanks Ian)

My nose gets crazy sunburned.

It doesn't matter how much sunscreen I put on my face.

5. Are you happy?

I guess you could say that I am a pretty happy person.

6. People are always abbreviating..are there any abbreviations that make your skin crawl when people use them?

I really can't stand "FML"

Seriously, I didn't know what it meant for a long time,

but is anything really that bad?

7. Do you love where you live..or could you live anywhere?

The only good thing about where I live is that I am living with Mr. and my dog.

LoL, the girls I've met here are cool.

I would much rather be living down South again.

8. What, if any, extreme measures do you go to to keep yourself from overeating when you're full?

I cook meat loaf :)

Random Catch Up

So, I LOVE MARIO PARTY 8!!! It is so awesome! I wasn't sure if I would like it when I got it for Mother's Day, but it is so much fun! There are different "boards" you can play on, I think I am going to get Mr. to play it with me again when I finish here :) If you have a WII, I would suggest this game!

On to air line anger. Last night we dropped Mr.'s friend off at the airport so he could go home to see his sister graduate. After leaving the airport, we had to turn around and pick him back up. The airline had over booked by THIRTY seats!! Seriously!?!? I think that is ridiculous, Mr. had to have him back at the airport at 530ish this AM. Boo. But we went  back to bed when he got home :)

We made sausage balls together this morning and they were yummy! We were going to let little man help, but I think his paws are a little dirty and hairy for cooking :) LoL. The sausage balls turned out a whole lot better than my lemon cake. My cake stuck on the bottom even though I greased the pan :( I tore it into little pieces and melted lemon icing on top of it. It wasn't the cake I had in mind when Mr. said he wanted lemon on lemon, but it is edible!

That is all for this crazy random blog...

Top 2 Tuesday: Dream House

Click HERE to play :)

Top 2 Tuesday: Dream House

1. BEACH HOUSE!!!

I think that it would be crazy awesome to live on the beach in Hawaii.

I love watching the shows where people try to find houses to buy there.

Sigh.

2. On the other side of the spectrum, if we settle in the country, I would love a

Victorian style House!!!

I was SUPER young when I fell in love with this style.

Of course whenever we finally settle down,

I want a huge outdoor living area, kitchen, pantry, closet, and bathroom.

I'm not asking for much ;)

Cell Phone Woes

How do I manage to lose my cell phone so often??

Twice in one week?!?!

Hopefully when Kerry finally makes it home, it will be in the car somewhere.

I am so excited. One of my friends is coming over tomorrow to hang out! Yay!

I think I will have to give Mr. Stinky a bath before we go to bed tonight.

 

Getting To Know You

Wow! I have been doing so much to my blog today! I even have a button for blog now. Go Me!

You can click Here to join in!

The questions..

1. What has been your most memorable Mother's Day? (with your mom, as a mom, or with your wife)

Hmm, I'm not sure that I have had a most memorable Mother's Day. I realize that is a lame answer, sorry.

2. Have you ever been pulled over for speeding and were you able to talk your way out of it?

I personally been pulled over twice. The first time I got a ticket and the second time I talked my way out of it.

3. What's the oldest thing you have hanging in your closet?

I haven't grown in a very long time. I know for a fact that I have clothes that I still wear from ten years ago.

4. Do you whiten your teeth?

Sometimes. Now that you mention it, my teeth could use a little bleaching.

5. Underwear or Panties..What do you call your "unmentionables"?

PANTIES

6. If you could go on vacation right now..today..where would you go?

I would be getting a massage at Sandals Montego Bay.

(Honey, I've been a good girl. I think we should go back.)

7. Do you get offended when people cuss on their blogs?

I think there are better words to use, but if I'm offended I won't go back to their blog.

8. If you had to give up one luxury item, it would be....?

Hmm... can I count our TV as a luxury item?

P.S. Don't you love my  new signature?

I started with a picture of our Groom's cake and ended up with this!

Nope, I didn't get the housework done today.

Ode to My Husband

Sometimes people go on and on about their husbands, and sometimes I just roll my eyes. Today I am going to be one of those people. Just thought I would warn you, so you could turn away from my page if you want to.

Mr. makes me smile more than any other person ever has or probably ever will. He brings out that fire and craziness in me that no one else ever has. We are so different yet the same; we bring out the best in each other and wow, I just love that man like crazy.

Yesterday was Military Spouse Appreciation Day, happy late MSAD to all the military spouses out there! It was Mr.'s last day off the the week, so we spent the day together. The swelling in my face wasn't as bad yesterday (it is gone today), so we went shopping! The BX and commissary are having a case lot sale, so I had to check it out. But wait, it was snowing and hailing! Yes, on May 7th, there was snow and hail coming down from the sky. We definitely are not in The South anymore.

Saying that I love when he goes shopping with me is an understatement. I don't know why I love shopping with him, but it is just so much fun to shop with him :) Yesterday he bought me Rock Band 2 (because I have wanted one for a LONG time) and a 500GB hard disk (because I need to clean off all of my camera memory cards). Then we went grocery shopping, yummy. I love how he spoils me!  We are still using our budget, but sometimes we just have to splurge.

I hope you noticed my new cute layout around here. That is my wonderful Mr. also!! I downloaded some stuff from ShabbyBlogs and I was so excited about adding them here on my blog, but for some reason my computer screwed the colors up every time I tried to add it. I was so frustrated I was getting ready to throw the laptop, then he came to my rescue :) He took it to paint and fixed all the colors and lines for me! Yes, he is awesome like that and it makes me love him even more.

Now is time for me to be a good little house wife and clean up around the house.

Lucky, Loved, and Sick

This morning was not my morning. Mr. had to wake up earlier for a physical and I did not like his alarm clock this morning. When I woke up, I felt like I had been ran over by a train; so I rolled over and put a pillow over my head until Mr. was gone. Eventually I pulled myself out of bed and my nose felt really weird, so I went to the bathroom... BLECK! My face was crazy swollen and the right side was a lot worse than my left. I looked like a monster! So I wiped my nose... and blood! This was definitely not my morning.

I got Mr. to come home straight from his appointment. Now we had to call and get my first taste of military health care. By the way, I hate going to the doctor and if I hadn't been worried about my vision, I would have put up looking like Quasimodo for a while just to stay away from a doctor.

We called at 1200 for an appointment. After explaining what was going on, they told me to be there at 1300. Mr. wanted to make sure we got there earlier, so we got there at 1230 :) You gotta love him, he used to be late for everything, between me and the Air Force, we broke that. They called me back at 1300, I saw the doctor and had my prescription filled, and we were out of there by 1340! I have to admit I was very impressed by my first experience.

I love how Mr. babies me when I am sick! Now to rest and feel better.

Cinco de Mayo

The second half of today has been pretty eventful.

We are finally rid of our dog house guest. Hallelujah! We have had a horrible time and we are done being used. We are both hoping that my stress level returns to normal now. Our taco salad plans got changed and we went to La Costa tonight with one of  Mr.'s coworkers. It was pretty good and I ate WAY too much.

Afterwards, my mouth ulcer was killing me (thank you dog for giving me too much stress) We went to Wal-mart and stocked up on mouth medication and I hope it works soon. I think I may have over medicated, LoL: I rubbed alum on the ulcer, rinsed my mouth with peroxide, put orajel on the ulcer, and then put my bleach trays in to keep my teeth off the ulcer. I'm on full out war with this thing!

I am so tired; Mr. doesn't know it yet, but I think my night is done.

Wordless Wednesday

A moment relaxing with my MawMaw before walking down the aisle

I love my MawMaw

Click HERE to join Wordless Wednesday.

Top 2 Tuesday: Splurge!

Today's Top 2 : Splurges

(Sometimes cost just doesn't matter)

1. I love food. Sometimes I just want it and I don't care what it costs! (wallet or waist line!!)

2. Vacation!!!

Chocolate Drama

I don't know what it is, but sometimes I feel like a drama queen. Last night I wanted needed chocolate. It was nothing to laugh about, I wanted chocolate and we didn't have any. Yes, it was that big of a deal. No, I am not sure why it was so important, but at the moment nothing in the world was more important. Luckily, I thought about the box of cherry chocolate granola bars in the pantry, so the night was saved. Today I found two boxes of hot chocolate in the pantry; why couldn't I remember they were in there last night? So today I was sipping my yummy chocolate from my favorite mug!!! Yummy!!!

And that's the way our story has been going.  We have a normal life, with me having meltdowns over extremely trivial things a couple times each week. Does this happen to any other people out there? It makes me feel a little bit crazy sometimes.

Little man is stretching it out and wanting some play time, so it is time for me to go.

Recipe - Potato Candy

Potato candy is a yummy treat that I would eat at my baby sitter's house when I was little, and no, it tastes nothing like potatoes.

Here is what you need:

1 SMALL BAKING POTATO

2 POUNDS OF POWDERED SUGAR

PEANUT BUTTER

It is important for the potato to be as dry as possible.

Used a fork to poke holes all over the potato and placed it on a microwavable plate.

Microwave for 3 minutes, flip potato over and microwave another 3 minutes.

Use a fork to flatten potato on plate and place into freezer until cold.

It is important for the potato to be cold or it won't react to the sugar appropriately.

Use a hand mixer until potatoes are smooth, then begin slowly adding the powdered sugar.

When beginning to add sugar, the mixture will look gooey, but that is OK.

Add sugar until the mixture is thick and firm, you may not have to add all of the sugar but it is good to have it on hand just in case.

Once the mixture is firm, place the mixture into the freezer until cold.

Get a large piece of wax paper and spread on counter and coat with a layer of powdered sugar.

Dump mixture on top of the powdered sugar, cover in powdered sugar and roll flat into a rectangle.

Let mixture cool in the freezer again.

Spread with peanut butter all over the mixture as thick as desired.

Then roll like a jelly roll.

Cover in wax paper and leave in freezer until firm.
Slice into bite size pieces and enjoy!

: )

Fixing our Budget

Budget...

 I don't like the word. I don't like the concept. I think it should be classified as a four letter word.

Why can't we just have infinite funds in our bank account? I love having money in the bank. I am the saver, and Kerry is the spender; at least we are opposites when it comes to that so we balance each other out. We are making small changes each month and we are really making progress on our budget. I would feel a whole lot better about everything though if I could just get a job here as a sonographer, I'm still optimistic : )

We have been eating out at a minimum and I have been doing good ole home cooking at a maximum. It feels good to cook. I am finally getting a passion for cooking. I have been cooking meals in bulk in order to freeze them to have healthy convenient options even when I don't feel like cooking. We are also trying to cook healthier with whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.

I have been searching recipes on-line and I have fallen in love with with the site http://www.allrecipes.com/; it is awesome. I have found so many good recipes I have tried and cannot wait to try. I am thinking about posting a page on my blog for recipes.

The one good thing that has come about from budgetting is: cooking at home. Not only is it a HUGE money saver, but I know we don't have all sorts of unhealthy things going into our bodies. Cooking at home makes me feel like a good house wife :)

Pillow Talk :)

Last night when Mr. finished playing his video game for the night, we headed to bed. Since we are puppy sitting, Irie has been enjoying sleeping with us instead of his crate (since the visiting dog sleeps in Irie's crate). Before Irie will go to sleep, he typically demands attention by needing kisses and jumping around the bed until he finds his little spot. Last night, he settled underneath the bed, so Mr. and I were able to talk without the possibility of a dog tongue finding our tonsils :)

Our first topic was aviation engines. Mr. was explaining things and trying to get me to ask questions, but I don't feel like I really know enough about engines and aviation crafts to be able to ask decent questions. He then went on to tell me about a kind of engine that doesn't have a starter or a stopper and has the potential to go infinitely fast, IF the wind was strong and fast enough. My thoughts are: What is the point if you cannot control it? You cannot control the wind and you have to glide it to begin with, it just seems a bit pointless to me. Just my thoughts, but maybe if I do a little research I will understand better.

Then we got onto the topic of diseases and viruses. I do not even know how we got there, but we couldn't agree with each other. We were trying to decided which is worse, a disease or a virus. Mr. argued a disease is worse: Parkinson's Disease. I argued a virus is worse: AIDS virus. I decided I was right, he decided he was right, so we went to sleep. This morning I looked it up on Merriam-Webster.com and here is what I found:

Main Entry: dis·ease
Pronunciation: \di-ˈzēz\
Function: noun
2 : a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms

Main Entry: vi·rus
Pronunciation: \ˈvī-rəs\
Function: noun
2 a : the causative agent of an infectious disease b : any of a large group of submicroscopic infective agents that are regarded either as extremely simple microorganisms or as extremely complex molecules, that typically contain a protein coat surrounding an RNA or DNA core of genetic material but no semipermeable membrane, that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, lower animals, or plan

So I guess we were both wrong. If a virus causes a disease, how can one decide which is worse?

I love the crazy conversations we have before bed :)

Road Trip to Badlands

Since yesterday was Mr.'s Friday, I had to separate him from our Irie man so we could get out for some time alone. Once I got him going, we decided to go on a little road trip.

As we were driving, the sky started looking kinds stormy. Kerry obviously doesn't think I'm made of sugar anymore, so we continued our drive with the open sun roof :)

We headed out to the Badlands. Right before we got to the point where they take your entrance fee, we saw this sign:

?!?!?! The prairie dogs have the plague??? How crazy is that? Poor little prairie dogs, maybe they just need some chicken noodle soup. This definitely helped me decide to steer clear of those little guys.

The variety of landscapes in The Badlands is incredible. It was beyond beautiful - and it was horribly overcast, I can't imagine how beautiful it would be on a sunny day. There were areas of layered sediment that looked like we were on a different planet.

Then... There were buffamooses!! It was crazy/scary/awesome all rolled up in one! And we were driving and one of them (I named him Herman) walked out in front of our car! It was so scary seeing it up so close, it was insanely huge. LoL, my last picture here is all blurry because I couldn't quit shaking. Half of me wanted to jump out of the car and pet Herman and the other half wanted to jump into the back center seat so I would be safe if he attacked the car!

We came up on the prairie dog village and of course, Mr. jumped out of the car because he wanted a close up. Yes, he read the sign about prairie dog plague, what can I say. The prairie dogs where not like the ones we saw in the zoo. These prairie dogs we short and fat with long skinny tails. They were pretty camera shy, but Kerry got a good picture of one of their little homes.

After a day of sight seeing, we went to the movies and watched Bounty Hunter and it was pretty good for our date night movie. Ahh.. I love my little family!