TurtlesButterfly

Bittersweet

2012-01-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

We (Dave really) received a present for Christmas that neither of us ordered. We knew this present would arrive before too long as time passes regardless of whether we recognize it or not. Time passes a little quicker than we thought and the day arrived. He received his Honorable Discharge certificate from the USMC. Many of you saw this picture posted on my facebook, but here it is once again in case you'd like a closer look.

When we arrived at my in laws house after Christmas Eve service my mother in law let me know that there were two pieces of mail for Dave. I looked at them, momentarily puzzled, and then I knew. I knew it was the official end to his time with the USMC. I smiled, but it was a bittersweet moment. I waited until after we ate dinner before showing it to Dave. He opened it with a grin, but I know we both felt the tug of sadness too. It signifies the end of some of the greatest years of our life. We both have memories, stories, and friendships that will last us a lifetime. Thankfully, we're part of the USMC family forever now. I'm terribly proud of his service. I'm thankful I was blessed with so many great friends during his service, but especially during his deployment. The BLT 3/8 wives I met were amongst the best and I will forever cherish them. I don't think I realized how special they were at the time, I just knew I loved them. Life beyond the Marine Corps is good too, but I miss being an active part of the USMC family. Now we get to figure out how to support our fellow family members beyond the realm of active and inactive duty.

Some of my favorite USMC memories:

1. Bootcamp Graduation. I had no idea at the time I would be married to a Marine just a year later. I marvel at the fact I was able to see my future husband graduate boot camp even though I didn't know his name at the time. I met him after graduation when he was headed back to his family, and just barely remember the meeting. Two months later I would be spending hours on the phone with him.

2. Iwo Sunset Parade & Friday Night Parades. I only saw the sunset parade once, but my darling husband (fiance then) was part of the firing party. A Marine doing what he loves to do is a fine thing to see. The Friday Night Parades were so much fun as well. You simply must see one. Seriously.

3.Marine Barracks Washington. Thanks to this wonderful duty station. I had so much fun living in DC for 9 months. Days spent walking along the National Mall with my husband. Public transportation so I didn't have to drive, thank you DC metro & Fairfax Connector buses. Close proximity to pretty much anything. Safeway grocery stores, you are a goddess among grocers. Pentagon City Bath & Bodyworks ladies circa 2006, you made me feel welcome and gave me girlfriends when I was constantly surrounded by boys.

4.Camp Lejeune, NC aka Marine Corps Land. You gave me close proximity to the beach. Introduced me to Duplin County Wine, the wine of the gods. You showed me just how awesome the USMC family really is-from the Battalion Commander's wife on down the ranks I was welcomed with open arms. You introduced me to the hardships of deployment, while sparing me the worry of combat deployments. I had one year of teaching that was hellish and one year of teaching that was truly a blessing through some very long days. Did I mention close proximity to the beach?

5. Life beyond active duty USMC. It has shown me the pure joy of encountering a fellow member of the USMC family. It has shown me my deepest desire is to do all I can to support those still in the active duty realm, as well as those beyond it. I just have to figure out exactly what that looks like...

Thank you so much for the memories USMC! You'll always hold a special place in my heart.

A Beautiful Day at the Range

2012-01-02T14:29:00.002-06:00

We have been experiencing some wonderfully mild winter weather here in Alabama so far. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying it has been nice-even if it seems odd to have a Christmas tree up in 60 degree weather. Saturday was a gorgeous day, making it perfect range weather. I'm very blessed in the fact that I am included in the "boys club" at my house. What probably began from necessity has grown into something I enjoy a lot. My husband and his friends have always accepted my presence during their boy time. It began in DC when I was far from my friends and family in Ohio and by the time we reached NC I wouldn't trade hanging out with the boys for anything. They make me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt, they make my heart swell with pride, and they torment me relentlessly at times-but always show me respect as well. I feel honored to be part of their group. I accept the privilege and recognize it as such.

Saturday I was able to enjoy an afternoon at the range with two of my favorite Marines. (Ok, so I really don't think I've spent time with a Marine I wouldn't consider a favorite of mine.) My darling husband and Jordan let me use of some of their range time. I was looking forward to range day all week. Seriously. It might have something to do with the fact that for Christmas my husband gave me something he knew I would love, a CZ, and a pink pistol bag to cart it to and from the range. Be still my heart, that man knows how to spoil a girl. (Who is this girl, right?) His friend Matt, who was missed at range day, gave me the second best present-M frame Oakley glasses! I think we should have recorded my reaction to opening those on Christmas Day. I was extremely excited. Why? Because when you have to wear ear protection for hours at the range along with ballistic eye protection you can get a headache when the ear pieces of the glasses are thick and smashed against your head. I borrowed Dave's M frames the last time we went to the range and they made my range experience so much better. Then to top off the range day anticipation my husband gave me a .22 rifle for my birthday. Wooooohoooo!! Like most things in my life I learned the art of shooting backwards from the typical shooter. Most shooters learn to shoot .22 rifles or pistols first and then move on to shooter higher calibers. I learned how to shoot 9mm first and just recently learned how to shoot a .22 rifle. I enjoyed it so much that Dave decided he would continue the spoiling streak and buy me one for my birthday. Here is a pic of me and my newest love...

Out of a box of 525 rounds I shot probably 250 of them. It was a nice workout for my weak muscled arms. The only reason I put the rifle down was because we ran out of ammo about the time my arms were feeling wobbly. Doesn't this look like fun?

I also had a conversation shortly after Christmas with Dave as we were wandering the aisles of the Piggly Wiggly one evening. (I live in Alabama, ok? I've grown to enjoy shooting and I shop at the Piggly Wiggly when necessary.) He asked me if I had named my CZ yet, because it wasn't mine until I named it. I love the CZ and quickly said "Pearl." He just laughed and said, "really?" I said "sure, why not? I mean I could think up something else..." He said "No, you should go with the first thing that comes to mind. I just think of an old southern lady with a big hat on and an umbrella, the kind used to shade you from the sun not for rain. The kind of old southern lady that will beat you with her umbrella." I said "perfect." (Doesn't she sound intimidating?) He then asked if I had named my conceal & carry weapon. I said "how about Minnie?" Dave said "why didn't you just leave the tags on them, Minnie Pearl?" I just giglged. I like Minnie and Pearl. Minnie is pink by the way so I think it suites her. Fast forward a few days to receiving the .22 rifle for my early birthday present. Dave asks me what I'm going to name the .22. Mom says I should name it Buck Owens and stay with the Hee Haw theme. I decided to name it Roger. It sounds great. So I am the proud owner of Minne, Pearl, and Roger. Together, we had a wonderful day at the range.

I can hardly wait to get back to the range and shoot some more. Unfortunately, we're experiencing some colder temps this week..you know 30's and 40's, which is a little more seasonably appropriate. Not terribly cold, but it doesn't make for as much fun on the range. So instead I'll find other things to do. Not sure exactly what...maybe take down the tree, organize my room/closet, or maybe just waste the day reading a good book.

I remember...

2011-09-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

Perfectly Imperfect is another title I thought about for this particular entry, but really it is about what I remember. What is it that matters the most, that I hold on tightly to in my mind?

There has been a lot of wedding talk around here recently and it made me reflect a lot about my own wedding proposal, our wedding, and our life we've built together. (I have a friend who may be having a wedding very soon and her friends and I are trying to help her plan so we can pull it together at a moments notice. When you fall in love with a Marine you can say goodbye to being able to plan anything...) I'm about to take a trip down memory lane so if you're not interested then you may go back to your regularly scheduled programming.

The Proposal: Which one would you like to hear about? Technically there is more than one. Bivins first proposed during Airport Rendezvous Weekend in February 2005. He asked me to marry him Sunday morning. I said yes. Then he called my mom and sisters to ask their permission. I went home and he mailed me a turtle ring to wear. The second time he asked me was in July 2005. I had flown to DC to meet his parents and he had purchased a diamond solitaire ring. We were in his room at the barracks and I was sitting at his desk. He knelt down beside me with the box and simply said "marry me?" I remember them both vividly. They weren't elaborate. It was simply a man asking the woman he loves to marry him. I'm so glad he did!

The Wedding: It was the on again off again wedding...not the actual wedding part, but the when and the where part. We wanted to be married before he left DC because we knew he would go to a deploy-able unit once he left the barracks. (Deploy-able means a unit set to deploy, not to be confused with deplorable. That word doesn't exist in the Marine Corps.) We also were trying to figure out a cost effective wedding plan with people from two different states-Alabama and Ohio. I don't know if you've looked at a map recently, but they aren't exactly side by side. Can you say nightmare? Ok, maybe not a nightmare for everyone but I wasn't excited at the prospect of planning something. Throw in the ever changing Marine Corps schedule and I had an ulcer before we even began talking. So we began hatching the Augtember plan. I can't tell you how it began...something about getting married on the beach when we came to Alabama to visit during his post parade season leave. The logistics of that kinda made me freak out so we altered the plan to get married in the lobby of his godfather's law office. There were other details to sort out, but here is what I remember...

I remember shopping with my mother for the perfect outfit to wear on my wedding day.

I remember shopping with my mother and picking out the satiny ribbon, lace, and red white and blue button she used to make a garter.

I remember hopping on the plane to fly to Dulles and meet up with my Marine so we could fly together to Alabama and get married. (Ok, technically we flew into Atlanta and Mr. B picked us up and drove us to AL.)

I remember telling Mr. B in the car that the wedding was back on for this weekend.

I remember telling Bonnie that the wedding was back on for this weekend when we met her at Sal's for dinner. (This was when Sal's was in Odenville.)

I remember going to church the Sunday before our wedding and meeting everyone at CPC. I received sooooo many hugs from people that I know cherish as friends and family.

I remember getting ready to meet with Burt on Sunday afternoon for a brief premarital counseling session and praying he would agree to marry us on Tuesday. (If he hadn't agreed we wouldn't have married then. To me, it would have meant it wasn't God's time for us to marry.)

I remember Bonnie asking me if I was sure I wanted a simple wedding. She wanted to make sure I wouldn't regret not having a white dress, family, etc. I told her I wanted a simple wedding. (I thanked her this past Friday for planning such a beautiful small affair. I told her I'm so glad we did it that way. No regrets!)

I remember Lori Booth decorating the carrot cake Bonnie made for our wedding. She did such a wonderful job. I couldn't have picked a prettier cake if I had tried.

I remember getting up bright and early Tuesday morning and riding to the courthouse in Pell City to get our marriage license. (Mr B. and Bonnie made a frantic run to Sam's and I have no idea where else to grab stuff for a mini reception.)

I remember going to the flower shop to order a small bouquet. I ended up with three pink roses and a calla lily with the stems wrapped in ribbon.

I remember reading the letter my mother e-mailed me for my wedding day.

I remember taking a nap on my wedding day. We were so tired from a busy weekend of visiting in Alabama and we were up early to get our license.

I remember Mr. B and Dave leaving to take half of the stuff to Curtis' office and swinging by to get the flowers.

I remember gathering my things to do get ready at the office and riding in to Birmingham with Bonnie.

I remember a trucker and Bonnie exchanging friendly honks that translated into Semper Fidelis. The truck and Bonnie's car were both sporting Marine Corps stickers.

I remember curling my hair and applying my own make-up.

I remember carefully getting dressed and asking Wendy Russell if I should wear the heart necklace Bivins gave me. She said if he gave it to me I should definitely wear it. She also tied the lovely bow at the back of my top.

I remember walking down a hallway holding JT Gosnell's arm and at the very end of that hallway and across the lobby was the man of my dreams-dreams I didn't even know I had at the time.

I remember marrying Bivins around 6:30pm on a Tuesday evening.

I remember it being one of the best days of my life...

4th of July 2011

2011-08-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

By now it shouldn't be any secret that I adore the 4th of July. I was destined for the role as a Marine's wife. After one facebook status post a friend of mine who is also a Marine's wife told me I was the proudest Marine wife she knew. I'll gladly accept that. I Love my Marine. I'm proud of his role in our nation's story and the role his fellow Marine brothers have had-now and in the past. I'm proud of every veteran's role in our nation's story.

*I wrote this first paragraph and have attempted to come back to this post several times this past month, but have been unable to gather my thoughts about my 4th this year. I'm finally coming back to it and am determined to finish this post.

A few weeks before the 4th I heard Toby Keith's song "Made in America" driving home from work late one night. I loved it! I was hooked the minute I heard the line "Semper Fi tattoed on his left arm" and then it got even better when I heard about the old man's wife who "teaches school and decorates for the 4th of July, but says every day is Independence Day." Bivins has Semper Fi tattoed on his left arm...and we know I taught school and adore the 4th of July. I also cried watching the official video to the song. I love the pictures of the families celebrating the 4th of July and their family. Proud doesn't even come close to describing it.

Every year I anxiously count down to the 4th of July. The past two years I have been able to be off from work. I'll work every other holiday throughout the year, just don't make me work the 4th. Seriously. On the 3rd of July Dave and I spent the day together...we ended the day by stopping by the fireworks super store picking out what pretty fireworks we would set off at the house. This is a recent tradition. The first time we set off fireworks was in Jacksonville, NC with the boys a week or so prior to their deployment. Last year we bought a few more fireworks and set them off in the back yard. This year Bivins was the master of our fireworks show. The Sharp family, Tilly, and I gathered at the end of their sidewalk to watch the master at work. It was a wonderful show. A little scary at times because I thought that some of the fireworks were going to come back and hit the spectators, but still great. A thunderstorm came rolling in so we had to have our grand finale a bit before we used up all of the fireworks, yet it was fun. Fun, fun, fun. I went to bed a happy girl.

I woke up very early on the 4th of July because the kitchen demo team, Bivns and Mr. B, began tearing out the lower cabinets at 7:30am. Ewww. A month later I can say the kitchen is looking great, but that morning I was a lil' grumpy about being awake. They worked on putting in the new cabinets until about 3pm. Then it was time to get ready for the fireworks show at American Village. Then in rolled another thunderstorm. I began texting Tilly and Crissy to find out how things were going at American Village because we didn't want to drive an hour just to find out the show was canceled. Matt came over so he could go with us. He was feeling a little bit reluctant about going, but I really didn't give him a choice. He MUST go celebrate my favorite holiday with us. They say the show is still on, so we pile into the car and off we go.

Nothing makes me happier than an adventure with my boys, but an adventure on the 4th of July was fabulous. We arrived at American Village to find out the rain had stopped and admission was free because of the bad weather!! Wooohooo! (Admission is normally free for veterans and $5 for everyone else.) We met up with the Sharps, Postons, and Lowery's so we could scout out our viewing location on the green. We set up our chairs and then Bivins, Matt and I were off to explore the grounds until closer to fireworks time. There was a moment in walking the grounds that I was teensy bit worried, they shot off a cannon and the boys weren't prepared for it. When it went off I immediately turned and looked at the boys to see if they were going to be ok. We continued walking and their heart rates returned to normal and their muscles relaxed. We had a great discussion during our walk as well. We discussed the fact that coming home from the military is hard to do. You go from being in a place where everyone understands you to a place where sometimes people fear you. The same people you fought so hard to protect. Matt said something about being just another grain of sand on the beach, and Dave said something about not being sand, but being a shell tossed around in the ocean, and I said something about there being people like me that scour the sand and pick up shells to collect. I truly cherish all of my boys. I respect them. I'm proud of them. We were still walking around when one of my favorite parts of the American Village program began. First, they presented the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance is said, and the National Anthem is sung. I wanted to smack some adults and children for their lack of respect during this portion of the program. I restrained myself and watched my Marine and our soldier friend do the same. Then the Montevallo Community Band plays a Salute to America's Military Veterans and during each service's song those military veterans present are supposed to stand and be recognized. This year I was blessed to stand between a soldier and a Marine during this tradition. Then there was another song, "Duty, Honor, Country" which again made me proud that I was standing between a soldier and a Marine. One of my favorite lines from this song is "the American man at arms above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war" and those lines are followed by the first few notes of Taps. My teary eyes looked from soldier to Marine and back again. Their posture changed and I knew their minds were lost in memories. Shortly after that song we walked back to our seats and began to wait for darkness to creep in so the fireworks show could begin. It was a lovely show indeed. I was fascinated by the lovely colors. There was one particular firework that looked like a container of glitter just exploded in the sky. Delightful! Both of my boys seemed to enjoy the show. There were a few tough moments, but we had so much fun. I'm proud of my boys and I'll shout it from the rooftops if needed. Although, did you know my family is rather accident prone and I probably shouldn't try to get on a roof?

We drove home after the show and I played with some sparklers in the driveway. Bivins took some pictures, but because of the rain and hunidity they were really smoky and hard to see. This picture made me laugh though...

I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July. I hope you remembered the cost of freedom during your celebration, because our country began with a bloody battle for Independence and we've been battling for it ever since. Not all battle wounds are visible to the eye...

Time With the Boys

2011-06-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

It is no secret that I thrive on time spent with the boys. (If you didn't know this, are we friends? Have you read anything I've posted before? Do I know you?) Never in a million years did I think I'd ever be saying I thrive on time spent with the boys, but I do. It makes my heart happy to have a bunch of boys over and listen to their crazy shenanigans. We recently started watching Sons of Anarchy. I absolutely adore this show. Bad boys, vigilante justice, taking care of family, bikes, leather, the list goes on and on. I turn into a child when I watch tv. I keep begging Dave to let me have a biker gang now. If I was a little lighter and could get away with it I'd dress like Gemma. I love that she is the mother hen of the group of misfits. She has given me the term "family dinner." I know lots of people have family dinners with their blood relatives, but her family dinner means a dinner with the biker gang family. My "family dinner" will henceforth be my group of boys, whoever that happens to be at the time. My group of boys evolves a little each year. It also depends on who is available and in the area.

Our tradition began in the good ol' USMC. The first year we were married we spent Easter in DC and had Bynum and Martin over. It was a fun time. Favorite memories include: the jug of wine which tasted horrible and now that it is empty serves as our change collection jar and the two candlesticks that are still covered in wax from the boys getting bored and playing with the candles. It is from this first gathering that the tradition has evolved. Every time we stayed at our duty station for a holiday instead of driving home we would invite boys over to enjoy the holiday with us. We have continued this tradition here in Alabama too. We gathered at the in-laws house for Easter and it made my heart happy to have some boys over to enjoy the day with us.

Our Easter tree at the in-laws. Cute, huh?

We had a wonderful dinner and great desserts. The boys definitely didn't go hungry. I'd say they enjoyed it...

Post dinner nap time.

I spent the day how I always do when my boys get together~behind the camera trying to catch the best moments on film. If there is a video involved then I am laughing as it records. My boys are the best...even if they argue about being boys and insist they are grown men. They may be grown men, but to me they'll always be boys at heart. Spend 5 minutes with them and I dare you to disagree. They know I love each of them dearly.

Another event with the boys was The Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil. They do boil crawfish, and the boys ate some, but mostly it is an excuse to gather in downtown Birmingham to pay too much for beer and watch great artists and mediocre artists perform. It is a two day event, although we only went Friday night despite my begging to go see Nelly Saturday night. I heard something about me being old and ghetto for liking Nelly. *Let's pause while I sing Ride With Me and relive memories of me driving the Toyota Corolla with beads hanging from the rear view mirror. Ok, we can move on now.* What lured me in to the Crawfish Boil was that Sublime featuring Rome (their new lead singer) would be performing. Dave and I have seen a Sublime tribute band play a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it so we couldn't pass up a chance to catch the real deal (sorta). Sublime was cool, but they played a lot of newer songs instead of the good ol' songs we love. Overall, great performance and the new stuff sounded great, but I missed some of my oldies, but goodies. Dave was stoked that Weezer would be performing. Oh my goodness did I have a blast! I knew I knew Weezer's songs, but until they came out on stage I had kind of forgotten who they were. The opening number, Hashpipe, played and I was like "oh, I remember these guys they're really cool." Weezer put on a fantastic show. I should mention this show was the week the tornadoes had come through Alabama. The tornadoes hit on a Wednesday and the concert was Friday. The Crawfish Boil was taking up donations for the Red Cross at the event and all of the performers made sure to let us know they wanted us to have a good time. Weezer showed us they meant what they said. I would definitely go see them perform again. Really cool. Here is my newest favorite pic of Dave and I.

And one more of me and one of the boys.

Our most recent adventure was a night with the boys during Memorial Day weekend. A friend that is now a Marine was able to come home for the weekend and we invited Matt over for some of the fun too. In true "time with the boys" style we had a blast. I came out from the bathroom to find this:

Boy can't be left alone. I know this, yet I do it every time. Lucky for me they only used up all my tin foil and didn't burn down the house or anything. Life is an adventure, live it up, and have lots of laughs.

Made a Leap

2011-04-24T01:18:00.000-05:00

I've been debating my future career paths. Do I want to continue in retail? It sure is fun. I can take any day of the week off and the business runs smoothly. No worries. The down side is of course all those night and weekend shifts. I get very little accomplished beyond work when I end up with a bunch of closing shifts in the same week. Still no work at home though, it all gets done at the store. Do I want to attempt to go back to school? I think our house needs only 1 person in school and right now that person is Dave. Also, I think I need to do a little more research about what degree I would like to pursue. Social Work? Counseling? Library Science? Who knows... Do I go back to teaching? I've reached the point where I kind of miss it.

This is what my furry boys saw last night:


Zeke says " Momma what is going on? This thing is shooting paper everywhere."

I updated my online application for Teach in Alabama. It is a website that the vast majority of school systems in Alabama use to post vacancies and accept applications. Mine is officially up-to-date and available for schools to search. I've clicked on the apply link for two different generic vacancy positions. We'll see what happens. What will be, will be.


I think Zeus wants to help proofread...

And now we wait. We get things ready just in case some school decides they might like to talk to me about becoming a part of their staff. We hope. We pray. We wait.

In the meantime Zeus has plans of his own...

I can't quite decipher his plan though. Is it to wear the vest himself some day? Does he think if he sits on it his poppa won't wear it? Who knows, silly boy.

Beautiful Day

2011-04-17T19:31:00.001-05:00

The sun was shining. The birds were singing. I was off to the hair salon and trying not to be terrified out of my mind. If you've read the blog before you know I'd rather do just about anything other than find a new hair stylist. Seriously. I think I might rather dig holes in the middle of a field or something equally tiring and dirty. (Misadventures of a Gypsy, anyone?) However, this trip to the hair salon was not the horror show I imagined. In fact it was down right lovely. I think even if my hair hadn't turned out so fabulous I would have enjoyed the day anyway, but great hair makes a wonderful day even better.

The day began with this guy:

Isn't he dreamy?

He was the chauffeur (had to spell check that one) and even though Ms. Daisy grumped at him for taking too long to get ready and she had to skip her trip through the Starbucks drive thru he still happily drove her to the salon. First we made a stop at the gas station for a Red Bull and Starbucks in a glass jar. Then off to the salon!

We arrived at the salon ahead of schedule despite our late start. As we parked I kindly told my chauffeur he had an hour or two to kill while I got my hair did. He was a little bewildered for a minute. He knew he didn't want to spend all that time in the salon with me though, so off he went to explore.

While I spent time changing into my smock, using the magic words my stylist in Ohio gave me to tell the Alabama stylist what I wanted, getting foiled up, steaming, washing, getting the dead ends cut, and then getting all dried off Dave was busy finding a delightful surprise just for me. There are cool little shops in downtown Homewood that I hadn't had the joy of exploring before. He hadn't explored them either until that day. Once my hair was complete in all its fabulousness we decided to explore together, he wanted to show me some of the cool shops he found. I wish I had a camera with me because they were so very unique and wonderful. But first he had a surprise. The man is wonderful at surprises. He said "do you want to put your purse in the car and just carry your clutch?" Great idea. The purse does get heavy after awhile, why not? So he unlocks the car and I go to tuck my book in the front seat and grab what I need from the purse before I put it in the trunk. I stop though because there is a white plastic bag with a present all wrapped up in black tissue paper and tied with a twine bow. I say "what's this?" He says "something I found for you." I carefully open it and am delighted to read little bits like this:

Most of the time, and I do too

I live for his silly stories. They make my day.

Without him I'm lost

Me too babe.

Almost 6 years already? You're kidding me...

These little bits make up this lovely beauty. As soon as we got home that evening we had to find it a place on the wall. A place where everyone else can see its wonderfulness.

My favorite piece of word art yet.

After he unveiled this beauty I gave him a huge hug, we tucked this safely into the car, and we were off to explore the shops together. I found an idea for the new bed of my dreams, canopy and all. He showed me a super cool idea for a spare room couch/raft bed. We dreamed of all the crazy things we would love to do with our house some day. We just have to find the perfect house...

Once we were done exploring the shops of Homewood it was off to a gun store. There's always a gun store involved in any perfect day isn't there? Maybe not in your perfect day, but there has to be in mine. I married a man who loves weapons. I patiently roamed up and down the gun counter with him as he carefully looked over each of the jewels. They look like guns to me, but to him they're jewels. Some need a little more polishing than others. I didn't care. I was happy to be with my man. I also realized with each passing year my gun knowledge grows just a little bit more. I can kinda tell some of them apart from others. My eyes don't glaze over quite as quickly as they used to when he starts talking about them. I can even kind of talk about them myself. Sort of. I am by no means an expert, but I'm learning. After the gun counter it was the knife counter, then to look at bows (the kind you hunt with, not the ones you put in your hair), and then back to the gun counter. Sigh. Yep, kinda bored now...but still being patient. He found one he wanted to we wait while the paperwork is completed. We stop by the register and we're off...

...to another gun store. This time it is the one where he works so he can show off his newest buy. I wait patiently and play with my new fabulous hair. It feels nice and soft so I keep running my fingers through it and pulling it out far enough to check out the amazing color. The boys, er guys, all ooh and ahh over his newest weapon. They talk about refinishing it, because it looks a little rough. It was a great deal though. Me? I could care less, but I'm happy in my own little world. One of the guys says "how do I get that?" I say "get what?" He says "get that. He buys a gun and you don't care." I said "he buys guns and I don't care. I buy clothes and shoes and he doesn't care. The bills are paid. I don't care." He shakes his head still mystified. Seriously. It makes my man happy so I don't care.

By this time I was hungry. I decided we needed to pause for a dinner break. My treat since he bought me such a lovely present and I'm feeling generous.

Then we head to the second hand bookstore. I could spend days in that store. I found a whole stack of books I can hardly wait to read. They're all from the military section of the store though. I still enjoy reading girly books, but I've been captivated by the military section. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day spent with my man. Days like this are rare. Days when I don't have a million other errands I'm worrying about getting done. Days when I can just stop and enjoy the moment with my man. Enjoy spending time with him, enjoy Loving him in all his crazy wonderfulness.

Things I've been thinking about...

2011-03-06T22:02:00.000-06:00

Lately, I've had a lot on my mind. Way too much really, which is probably why up until the latter part of this week my newly found gym habit was flourishing. I thoroughly enjoy hopping onto the elliptical, cranking up the tunes on my i-pod, and for 25 minutes disappearing into the music, the movement, and not thinking about much of anything except breathing through the next 25 minutes. I'm working my way up to longer amounts of time, but this 29 year old body is having a tough time adjusting to the gym again. My muscles are sore. Everything hurts. I'm a whiner, I know.

Some of the many things I've had on my mind:

What does it mean to be a military spouse? How do you help prepare someone for that role without utterly terrifying them about the realities of a military spouse, especially with the nation at war? How do you then adapt to life in the civilian world once you are no longer active duty? How does that change your role as military spouse? I have so many questions...and not nearly enough answers, but like any military spouse does I put one foot in front of the other and I keep on doing the best I can in all aspects of the role. I recently read a blog that very concisely summed up some of the parts of being a military spouse. You can read what she had to say here. Some of it made me smile and nod, other things made me laugh out loud, and some things made me tear up at the memory of those moments in my own life. I think she answered my question about what does it mean to be a military spouse pretty well though when she says "I have no clue how to still my pounding heart when he finally walks through our door again, I don’t know how to pull my hands from his sand-stained neck and say goodbye, and I don’t know how to ever walk away from a man who stands while many choose to sit." I think that is the key to any lasting relationship in the military. Your spouse always has to be worth the wait, if not I'm not sure your relationship will make it-because the reality of military life is rather frustrating and down right hard sometimes. I know I didn't have the worst of it either. I'll openly admit that. It wasn't all a rose garden, but I know it could have had a lot more thorns.

I recently read "You Know When the Men Are Gone" by Siobhan Fallon, an Army wife. I was enthralled. I had read a review or two about it awhile before it actually hit the shelves. I anxiously waited for its arrival. It is a collection of mini stories giving you glimpses into the different aspects of life as a military spouse. It left me wanting "the rest of the story" for each chapter, but I suppose that if I knew all of the story it might not have captivated me. I made it all the way to pg 6 before stopping to write down a quote that makes all spouses that have had their loved one deploy smile and nod...

"She hated grocery shopping, she hated cooking without a man to satiate; the only pleasure in her trip was picking out the food she would send Jeremy in a weekly package-beef jerky, Twizzlers and lollipops, hand wipes and magazines, things that could get crushed, exposed to high temperatures, sit in a box for over a month, and still manage to be consumed by home-desperate soldiers."

I remember grocery shopping with my sweet friend Anna at the commissary on Friday nights after a long week of teaching. Shopping with a friend made the task more enjoyable. The highlight was picking out the items we would mail out to our husbands in their next package. Plus, it helped that once we were done shopping we would eat dinner together and split a bottle of Duplin County Wine. Another quote contained in this same short story that made me chuckle: "Please get that Churchill-headed creature away from me. The wives were always throwing their offspring at her as if they thought that the more she got spit up on, the more she'd want one of her own." As if, lol.

Related to this was an incident that happened last week. My mother-in-law told me we had some mail at their house. Their house is listed as a permanent address on a few things from Dave's time in the USMC. She said he had mail from the USMC. I should have asked for clarification (like read me the return address) and saved myself a few restless nights, since we didn't make it over to pick it up for a few days. You see, the only thing I could think of that the Marine Corps might have for him at this point would be a recall notice. The time is still ticking on the inactive duty contract. So of course, I had to do what I do-run through every worst case scenario I could think of attached to this news. How would I react, how was I going to deal, what would I do, what would he be doing, what happens if it all goes horribly, horribly wrong? I tend to let my imagination run a little wild and the worst case scenario really means absolute worst case. I won't type it, but I'll run through what little I am able to imagine in my head and think about how I'd deal. I'm seriously afflicted. Yet somehow, running through all the worst case scenarios makes dealing a little easier. I feel a little more prepared. Sort of. I had some crazy dreams. I'm sure my sweet mother-in-law had no idea the panic that USMC mail might bring about in me. I'm glad we eventually found out it was a letter from the VA and not the USMC. Nope, not the same. Not the same at all, lol.

Pondering what it means to be a military spouse has also played a major role in another thought that is taking over a large percentage of my brain. What am I going to do for the rest of my life? More than 10 years ago I would have told you I'd be teaching. Even 5 years ago I would have told you that. While I do sometimes miss the classroom and the thrill of watching students learn something new or think about something in a whole new way, the truth is there is plenty I don't miss too. I keep debating about going back, but I just don't know. I don't think it is going to be a retail career forever. While I enjoy it, I'm a little wishy washy about it. I've also been thinking about going back to school too. This will probably wait a bit, but I'm thinking about it. There have been a few things that have prompted me in this direction. I'm pondering a master's degree in counseling or some such thing. I've always been someone that people will share things with. Even complete strangers will share things with me that they might not tell their best friend. I don't judge them. I don't share their secrets. I just listen and comment as appropriate. Rolled into that is pondering about doing PTSD type counseling. I started thinking about it a little on the drive to DC after listening to one of the This American Life podcasts that had a story about a guy living with the effects of his life with PTSD. It made my heart ache for many reasons, but it also made me wonder how can we be doing more to help these people? What can we change about the process? How can we help them return to life as usual after they've given up a part of their soul, their life, their security...? Can we even help? Well, I think I might like to try. Pondering it anyhow.

I've also been reading an enthralling book entitled "What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It." I should add that the book includes Marines and I have found it extremely distracting that this particular publisher did not know that Marine is a title that is earned and as such is ALWAYS capitalized. I want to write over every lower case m in the book, but it isn't my book so I can't. A friend read this book and then loaned it to me to read, knowing that I enjoy reading this sort of book. It gives brief glimpses into the lives of soldiers, what it was like for them, and how they are dealing with it now. I have enjoyed reading this book-as much as anyone really enjoys reading about acts of war and the affects they have on people. I quickly learned that I couldn't read this book at bedtime. I love to read myself into sleepiness, but this is not a book that lets you rest easy if you read it right before bedtime. I have had numerous ah-ha moments while reading and many, many things that these soldiers and Marines share make me want to stop, take notes, and write whole blogs about them. I think I may have to go back and re-read this book doing just that. Right now though, I have to keep reading-just not before bedtime. There are so many things I've read in this book that just seem unimaginable to me. I can't quite imagine dealing with these things and managing to continue day after day after day. These soldiers and Marines did. So have countless others just like them. Oh my heart hurts for them. The thing I love the most about this book is that it is written from a first person perspective. The soldier or Marine is talking directly to you as the reader. It makes it more real to the reader and that much more difficult to digest. Crissy, this is not a book you should read. In fact, you should not read the rest of this paragraph. Other tender hearted readers or those not ok with graphic descriptions of war should skip the rest of this paragraph as well. Look for the next italic sentence to rejoin me... The second story shared is from a Marine from Task Force Tarawa telling about the beginnings of the battle in Nasiriya. He talks about seeing an AAV (amphibious assault vehicle) in Ambush Alley after it had been hit by an RPG. He said he could see the crewman inside on fire, but trying to get out (7-9of them). He and the Doc leave their vehicle and run over to help. He hands the Doc a leg that was laying on the ramp of the AAV and tells him to lay it off to the side because they are going to find who that belongs to. He goes to help get another Marine out of the back, and as he was pulling him out his upper torso separated from his lower torso. He ends up with only his upper half in his hands. He passes it to the Doc telling him to "Put this in the back of the Humvee because Marines don't leave our dead or wounded on the battle field; everybody comes home. Even if its a piece of you, I have a responsibility to your mom and dad to bring everything back." Can you imagine what that would have been like? How do you finish a task like that and then rejoin the battle? I know, it is in the training-but still. Another story shared by a Marine was about care packages sent from home. This Marine was in Mortuary Affairs. They had a big dry erase board in their meeting room with a Word of the Day. His wife had sent him a Webster's build-your-vocabulary dictionary and every day they would choose a word of the day, write the word and the definition on the board, and then get Marines to use the word in sentences. They would also try to see which Marine could use it with the highest ranking officer he could get to. The Marine no longer remembers all the words of the day, but there is another Marine who kept logbooks of them. I can see Marines doing this, it made me laugh. Another Mortuary Affairs Marine shares that the first thing they did when a Marine came in was "we had to get his shirt sizes and his clothing sizes as a form of identification because you're issued garments when you join the Marine Corps, and it's crazy but grunts are known for wearing five different people's clothes when they go outside the wire. They have to go on a mission, but 'hey my shirt's not dry yet. You got a shirt I can borrow?' They go outside the wire with someone else's boots, with somebody else's dog tags. They've got a shirt that somebody else's name is on. So you end up with a Marine that comes in dead and he's got four different names on his person." Wow. I knew grunts would wear all kinds of stuff that was borrowed from someone else, but I never thought of the battle field ramifications of this. One final story is about an MP stationed in Abu Ghraib Prison. He was there during the infamous incidents, but while that is an interesting part of the story he had a lot more to say about other things too. This MP tells us he is a born-again Christian and a born-again believer. He believes that the Bible is the emphatic word of God. He also believes that there is still a lot of good that can be done for people. "Every morning I would go up to the roof and pray before a mission, and put my requests before God to make sure we made it home safely, and that morning I forgot, with all the chaos. I just didn't do it. I didn't pray." On this particular day his job was to transport some of the Iraqi prisoners to court. Normally when transporting prisoners they leave the cover off the back of the Deuce, the two and a half pound truck with benches in the back that is normally used for troop transport, so that the insurgents could see it was Iraqis in the back. Today they were rushed and forgot to take the cover off. They reach a point in the road where they would change lanes and get ready to exit the highway. Cars begin flashing their lights to suggest trouble is coming. The MP realizes he didn't pray today and so he begins praying while driving. "God, I'm sorry I forgot to pray. Please keep us safe." They were hit. All of the US troops were survived, but one of the Iraqi prisoners died. The MP is troubled by this and said "God you picked the wrong guy for this job. You picked the wrong guy to be in this country, because if I've got to deal with this I just can't take it. There's no way I can take it. There's no way I can handle losing like this." His roommate, who was always picking on him about talking to God, came up to him and said "All the times you talk to God, and it paid dividends today, because all of your soldiers are alive. And that speaks to me." The MP realizes he didn't pray for the Iraqis, he never even thought about it, and he lost one. Geesh. It makes me want to just give every vet a hug, although that would probably freak them out a bit.

Okay Crissy and anyone else who skipped the graphic parts you can rejoin me. I'm only halfway through this book. It is taking me some time to read, process, and digest. Some stories my mind has to ponder for a long time before I can move on to read the next one. I think I will begin reading journal with it. It might help me process a little better. It has given me a lot to think about in relationship to a counseling degree. Again, how can you begin to help when you have no idea the realities of war? I suppose you can listen with an empathetic ear, treat them with dignity and respect, and listen, truly listen to what they do share... I may not ever end up working towards a degree in counseling. I may not ever end up working with vets are on a large scale. Who knows? I'm still pondering.

My fortune cookie the other day said "You find beauty in ordinary things. Appreciate this gift." I try to, on both accounts.

Marine Corps Museum

2011-02-21T13:50:00.000-06:00

A month later I am finally blogging about this wonderful place. The Marine Corps Museum was our final stop on the weekend trip to DC. I am so glad I was able to go. The museum was being constructed while we were living in DC and was completed and open for business about a month after we moved to NC. Dave was able to visit during one of his many 2-3 week workup prior to his deployment. They went to train in VA and made a trip to the museum. I was only a tiny bit jealous. Yeah. So, when Dave asked what I wanted to do while we were in DC the first thing on my list was visit the Marine Corps Museum...

I wrote this about the museum when we paused at Tun Tavern for a drink. "The Marines are the best at what they do, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that their museum is amazing. In the gallery you can walk amongst the history of our nation and the Marine Corps. All ages can enjoy visiting the museum."

We began our trip to the museum in the most important place-the gift shop. I did not buy paper or pens, my mother would be proud. In fact I didn't buy anything-at first. I just wandered to see what kind of lovely wares were available for purchase. I had specifically saved the majority of my spending money for the museum. Marines put their emblem on everything they own and apparently their proud wives are no different. (I'm kinda surprised I don't have an EGA tattooed on my butt or something. Maybe I need to go check that out in the mirror just to be sure... By the way, EGA stands for Eagle, Globe and Anchor which is the Marine Corps emblem.) I found many, many things I would love to have. I wanted to ponder my choices so we went to view the gallery.

The gallery is divided into different exposure points: The Legacy Walk (a quick view approach to the museum), Making Marines (a trip through boot camp), American Revolution, Global Expeditionary Force, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam. Each exhibit tells the Marine Corps story through pictures, videos, sound clips, and artifacts. In the Making Marines exhibit there are videos of recruits getting off the bus standing on the yellow footprints, you can step into a sound booth and hear the drill instructor yell at you as if you were a recruit (flash backs anyone?), you can try to pick up the weight of a recruit's or Marine's pack, you can attempt to do a pull-up, and you can even visit the range. I was unable to shoot at the range because the attendant was out to lunch, but on our next trip to the museum I plan to visit the range. If you shoot expert at the range you can get a special coin from the museum gift shop. We will need to dedicate an entire day to visiting the museum. There was just too much to see and experience.

I think I really enjoyed the Vietnam exhibit the most. You enter it by walking through a helo. You had to watch your head, and the floor of the helo vibrated like I imagine a real one does, and then you entered a hot LZ (landing zone). You heard the yelling, shooting, and felt the chaos of battle. I was mesmerized. It was at that particular exhibit that I made Dave get the camera out. I can only imagine what it was actually like to experience Vietnam...or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Arlington.

Another thing I enjoyed about the museum is the age range of those visiting the museum. From the older Marines all the way to the toddler age kiddos of Marines, and yes they do let in people with no USMC association too, lol. There was something there to capture each age group. I enjoyed watching the faces of the other museum patrons as well. They were just as captivated as I was.

After our trip through the gallery we went up to Tun Tavern to grab a drink and a bottle of Jarhead Red. Jarhead is another nickname for Marines (and not one they are particularly fond of). Jarhead Red is a wine produced by a fellow Marine to support Marines and their kiddos. You can read all about it at their website Jarhead Wines.

After our refreshing beverage we headed back to the museum shop. I think I spent at least an hour in there debating and deciding what items to purchase for the grand total of $100. Some of my favorites are my USMC Wife key chain that reads: "Once a Marine Wife, Always a Marine Wife" on once side and the other side says "Wives: The strongest love in the world comes from the most supportive and dedicated women. Those women are Marine wives. Semper Fidelis." and is surrounded by the words "God Bless our Husbands." Wives are proud too, ok? I also purchased a ton of bumper stickers, a deck of cards, two rocks glasses with the EGA, a Tervis Tumbler with the EGA and lid (this is my new favorite cup), a coffee mug for Dave with the EGA, and a recipe for a Marine wife (I know what it takes, but it was cute to see a specific recipe).

Our time in pics:

You can explore more of the National Museum of the Marine Corps by clicking here to see their website.

True North

2011-01-25T01:57:00.001-06:00

I'm not a very good navigator. If you've ever traveled somewhere with me you know that even if I follow the directions word for word I end up turning around at least once because even though I'm pretty sure x is where I'm supposed to turn, I second guess my self and drive right on by. (At this point I could psychoanalyze myself, but I'll spare you.) I can be a co-pilot and follow the directions. I'm much more confident in that role. I'm not sure where I was heading with that info, but ... We made a trip to DC this weekend. It is roughly a 12 hour drive from AL to DC. When you stop at the knife outlet in Gatlinburg for an hour that makes it a 13+ hr drive. That is a seriously long drive. I drove the whole way, Dave drove the whole way, we each drove a different car. (We were driving a car up here to sell to a friend from the good ol' USMC.) The way back will be much easier because we will be able to trade off and we shouldn't have to stop at the knife outlet.

I wrote the first paragraph last Saturday when we were in DC during the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend. I began the first sentence of the second paragraph and then stopped. I don't know what interrupted my thoughts, but I didn't find the time to come back to it until now...

I spent the 13 hr ish drive listening to episodes of "This American Life" an NPR show that airs on Saturdays. A wonderful friend loaned me her ipod for the drive. The ipod saved my sanity. It made the first 6 hours or so pass by very quickly. I really enjoyed the episodes. You can download the podcasts for free. I highly recommend them. I think you can learn a lot about a person by borrowing their ipod. It was fun to listen to someone else's favorite songs and random shuffle playlist. I found a few new favorites to add to my own playlists. (For the record I have an ipod Nano, but I need to do some revamping and updates my song library a bit.)

The second half of the drive was spent in agonizing anxious anticipation (how's that for alliteration?). A long car drive alone gives you a lot of time to think. I needed some time to myself and boy did I get it. Most of the drive was spent thinking about all of the things I wanted to do once we were back in the DC metro area and getting to see our friend Bynum again. (One of my boys I miss dearly.) As we crossed into Virginia the anticipation continued to grow, but I had another 3 hours or so before we would make it to DC. My heart felt a little lighter as each mile brought us closer to DC. I'm not sure anything could have deterred me from my path at that point. My heart was drawing me closer home, my true north. DC will always be home to me. I have had many homes-Ohio, DC, North Carolina, and Alabama. DC will always be the one that calls my heart. I can't explain it. I would love to move back to DC. I'd move back tomorrow if I could. I recently realized though that moving away from Alabama would cause me heartache too. I love my Alabama family. I love them fiercely. They are such a blessing to me. I know I will one day move from our current residence and I will cry. I've only cried during one other mover-it was when we moved out of the farmhouse I grew up in. However, DC still calls me. I felt it the whole drive. I realized it when we drove past the Nissan Pavilion where Dave and I went to see Rascal Flatts and Gary Allan in concert a month or so before we moved. Dave sent me a text about it. My heart started fluttering and big tears rolled down my face. We were home. I instantly felt at peace in a way I rarely do. I sent Dave a text back about being home. I continued to tear up until we reached Bynum's apartment. By this point it was almost 1am EST. We had been up waaaayyyy too long. We unloaded the cars and went to bed. I only slept for a short time, but it was a peaceful sleep. I didn't wake up a single time. I felt refreshed.

Saturday I awoke to Bynum and Dave talking in the kitchen while Bynum made breakfast. I lay there on the couch just listening to my boys talk. It had been too long since I heard them banter back and forth. Dave came to see if I was awake so I was forced to get up. I then had the pleasure of meeting Bynum's girlfriend Kathryn. She is so sweet! I love her. I feel sort of like a mother hen about my boys. I want to see them well taken care of and meeting the ladies they choose has been fun so far. I know they don't need my approval, but I feel a little possessive about them and want them to be happy. I adore Kathryn and she gets my seal of approval-not that it matters. Ok, back to breakfast. Bynum makes a delicious breakfast. He and Kathryn cooked breakfast for us every morning and it was yummy! They made the best french toast I have ever had. I thought Cracker Barrel french toast was great, but I was wrong.

After breakfast we all showered and went out to run some errands and spend the day together. (We didn't shower together though, ok?) Of course lasagna came up in conversation and we decided Kathryn and I would make lasagna for dinner. It is a tradition. It wouldn't have been a gathering with one of my boys present if there was no lasagna. (Which reminds me I need to e-mail Kathryn the recipe.) So we went to Safeway, the best grocery store in the world in my humble opinion, and purchased the ingredients for lasagna. We also stopped at Gamestop, a liquor store, and Chipotle. Lasagna takes awhile to make and we were hungry at this point. We made it back to the apartment and unloaded the car. Dave and Bynum watched the Ravens play the Steelers while Kathryn and I cooked. It gave us a chance to talk a lot. We would occasionally get score updates. While the lasagna was in the oven I decided I needed a nap. We had plans to go out that night and without a nap I would have been a grumpy girl. So I slept for about an hour or so while the boys and Kathryn watched the rest of the game.

I awoke from my nap, had some lasagna, and repaired the mess that was my hair. We then hopped in the car and headed into Baltimore. We went to a neat little bar that was really like 3 bars in one. It had a traditional sports bar type area, a pool table/dance floor area with a dj, and an enclosed patio bar area with a live band. I ordered a margarita and set out to enjoy the night. My second margarita had two shots of tequila in it, by my request. (My husband should tell me no...) My third margarita was my last thank goodness. I had a grand time dancing until it was time to go home. Wizzel was a happy girl. Wizzel went to bed when we got back to the apartment. Wizzel woke up Sunday morning with an upset tummy, but once she had breakfast she was fine.

Sunday we got ready and rode the metro in to DC. Bynum and Kathryn went with us to shop at Pentagon City Mall. They then headed back to the apartment after lunch while Dave and I continued our trek through DC. I miss big city shopping. I spent a half hour in Banana Republic just looking at their sale racks. I really miss big city shopping. Really. After I restrained myself from spending too much money Dave and I hopped back on the metro and went to the National Mall. We walked from the Capitol to the World War II Memorial and took lots of pictures along the way. I spent several minutes just listening to the sounds of the city and breathing in the air, quietly storing away the memories for later days. The World War II Memorial is my favorite thing along the mall, unless it is the 4th of July and then it would be the fireworks. It was dark by the time we reached the memorial, but it is a memorial that looks best at night if you ask me. The fountains were turned off and the pool was empty because of the cold weather, but it was still beautiful. We spent some more time taking pictures there and then we began the walk back up to the Capitol. I had to pause halfway up Capitol hill to catch my breath. We decided to go ahead and walk the rest of the way to 8th and I like we used to. Once we made it to the barracks I nearly cried again. I have so many memories of them. Dave has many more. I remember sitting out front in his big red truck while he went in to pick someone or something up. I remember walking in when he moved the last of his stuff out of his room and into our apartment. I remember going to the E Club after the Friday night parades to grab a beer. I could go on and on. We slowly walked back to the Eastern Market metro stop so we could make our way back to Bynum's apartment. The city had changed, but it hadn't at the same time. I've changed, but haven't at the same time. It is still my home, our home really. We spent the majority of the metro ride back in silence. Each of us lost in our own thoughts and memories. Each of us longing to be there again full time. Sunday can be summed up with something Dave told me as we were standing on the National Mall "best Sunday ever." I agree.

Sunday passed too quickly and Monday arrived before I was ready. I'll leave the story of Monday to another blog. I'm sleepy. Maybe when I slip off into dreamland I'll dream of DC. Maybe my dreams of DC won't need to be dreams forever...or maybe they will. Maybe DC will always be my "happy place" that I love to visit and long to have all the time. Who knows?

I'll leave you with our fortune cookie sayings from Sunday:

Mine said "Your dreams of glamour & luxury will come true."
Dave's said " Your life will be happy and peaceful."

Amen.

I'm missing my true North...

2011 Already?

2011-01-11T20:17:00.001-06:00

Really? Already? Ok, fine.

Needless to say I can hardly believe another year has passed. There have been so many changes in my life it is hard to know where to start...

In a short rundown of things my year went a little like this: became a co-manager at LOFT, went to Chattanooga for Airport Rendezvous Wknd, did a bathroom remodel, Combs came to visit, went to the beach, Mom moved in, received 2 tickets from a super annoying highway patrolman, 4th of JULY!, 5 year wedding anniversary, quit job at LOFT, became and assistant manager at JOCKEY, life came a little unglued, a fabulous friend and neighbor helped me keep my sanity, found some super glue for the life, Bivins turned 25, and Christmas came and went before I knew what happened. Wow. What a year.

There are some years that pass by so slowly that I'm able to blog all the subtle changes and nuances of my life. Other years pass by so quickly and the changes are so time consuming I am left with no time. No time to think about, let alone blog (or journal) the changes occurring. This was one of those years. Some of the changes have been great. Others have been really, really hard. Some have been kinda blah. I'm hoping this year will be better. Maybe not so many changes. We'll see how it goes I suppose.

I'm not really a New Year's Resolution kinda girl because most of the time I break them. I'm calling them my goals for 2011. I'm a goal oriented girl. I'm hoping I achieve my goals. We shall see how it goes.

Goal 1: Get re-organized! I'm not a girl that can focus well in chaos. I'm sure a lot of you know this already. The changes in 2010 brought a lot of chaos to my house. Suddenly, I can't find anything. I can't manage to pay bills on time. I'm forgetting stuff. It isn't good. So, re-organize I MUST...or else no one will want to be around me.

Goal 2: Find a routine! A retail schedule is not conducive to a routine. My schedule changes day to day and week to week. It makes planning anything really hard. Add into that hectic schedule a Mom that needs a driver and it gets complicated quickly. A routine is going to be hard, but the important step of this routine business is going to be a work-out routine. I need to get back into the habit of stopping by the gym either before or after work. I have the most success in stopping after work. I just need to add some discipline to the schedule and make sure that whenever I am able I go. I feel better, I sleep better, life is better whenever I do.

Goal 3: Purposefully make memories and take lots of pictures! The past few years Bivins and I have been on a picture taking hiatus-or so it would seem from my lack of updated photos. Normally we have a camera every place we go and take pictures all the time. The past few years in AL, not so much. It will change this year. The way I remember most things is by either writing them down or taking pictures. That means I need to be purposeful this year in making memories and recording them. (This will also help with the glue situation.)

I'm going to stop with 3 goals. Too many goals and I just get overwhelmed in my perfectionist world. (Oh I'm so helplessly perfectionist. It's awful.) Those are my goals and I'm sticking to them. Yep. I. sure. am.

My Cup Runneth Over

2010-10-16T14:57:00.001-05:00

Hmmm...that phrase really makes me want to go watch Hope Floats now. I love Gena Rowlands and her character Ramona Calvert. Plus, who doesn't love Harry Connick, Jr? Seriously. Ok, back to my original thoughts behind the post. Several big changes have occurred in the last few months. Some of them have received my blogging attention and some of them have not-mostly because I just don't know what to say about them or haven't had the time. The newest change has been a job change.

I had been an assistant manager at LOFT since January. I truly love LOFT, I really do. Who doesn't love to play dress up? However, it was quickly becoming clear in the last month or two that LOFT just wasn't the place for me any more. There are a variety of reasons behind this decision. The biggest reason is the fact that I was driving an hour in to work and an hour home. That is 10 hrs a week spent driving, add in 40 hrs (or more) spent at work, and that leaves very little time for a life outside of work. When I began my journey with LOFT it was at a location only half an hour from my house...as I moved up the ladder the drive increased. I didn't mind it at first because there really weren't any options closer to home-until the Shops of Grand River came along. The Shops of Grand River is a new outlet center opening up a mere 20-30 minutes from my house and right across the street from where my husband works. I knew there would be a variety of opportunities arriving with their opening. The problem quickly became what company could I choose to work with that would be as enjoyable as LOFT with a product I would be able to enjoy. You don't leave the only career you've ever imagined yourself in (teaching) to settle for just any retail job. At least I didn't and wouldn't. I wanted a company I could believe in. Thus began my search. I began checking the website frequently to see what stores would be opening up. I began trying to imagine myself with another company. I began trying to figure out how I would leave my LOFT family, because that is how I feel about the majority of my LOFT co-workers. They are my family. We have our ups and downs, but we were in it together trying to be successful and rallying together through everyday life. We've experienced engagements, marriages, births, and even deaths together-so many new beginnings and endings.

Recruiters began visiting the mall where I worked asking for names of potential candidates for managers, associates, etc. I would kindly take their card and think hmmm...don't think I would really want to work there. One company I did go through the interview process and they offered me a job. I turned it down. {Gasp} I know. It was a very hard decision. Believe me. In a nation with a high unemployment rate I was not only ready to quit my current job, but turned down the first job that was offered. I couldn't explain why I turned it down either. I felt crazy. The job just didn't seem like the right fit for me. I'm a girl who trusts her instincts...sort of. I spent the next few days/weeks wondering if I had made the right choice. Then along came a job that sort of fell in my lap. Granted, I impressed them in my interviews and if I hadn't they would not have hired me. I received a call from the area manager wanting to set up an interview. I went. I talked a lot. Weeks went by with little info. I finally interviewed with HR. A few days later along came an offer. An offer I couldn't turn down. Not because of money, not because of the shorter drive, but because it is a company I can feel passionate about, although those first two things helped seal the deal. My new job is as an assistant manager at JOCKEY. (I think I'll only work at companies who capitalize every letter of their name from now on. From what I've heard it shouldn't be too hard either because people who work at JOCKEY are said to work there for a very, very long time.) I have the pleasure of working with a store manager that I worked with at LOFT. And a fun side note is that another manager I worked with at LOFT will be managing a store right around the corner from my new store. Yay!

I've been amazed at the perfect timing in so many moments along this journey to a new job. I can't really blog about a lot of them but just know I'm feeling really blessed and my stress level has gone down tremendously. My last few weeks at LOFT were spent being the one in charge because our store manager found a new job. I feel like I did my best, but I also feel like it nearly killed me at times too. Not because I couldn't manage the store, I did a great job with that-but I ended up working 6 days a week at least two weeks and didn't work the schedule I had planned all week once in the five weeks or so I was the lone full time manager. It changed daily due to circumstances out of my control. It left very little time for life. A life I love and want to keep. Then came the job offer. A weight was lifted and I began planning my exit from LOFT and my entrance into the world of JOCKEY.

My last day at LOFT was a lot of fun. I went out with a bang and I hope my team had fun. We rocked our numbers and I think our clients enjoyed themselves. There are things I know I will miss at LOFT. (New shipment anyone?) I then had two days off to run errands and pack for Georgia. Tuesday-Friday I stayed in Locust Grove helping move JOCKEY from one store to their newly remodeled store across the street. I learned so much about the company I was amazed. (Personally I think you should look them up on facebook, it will give you a glimpse into how relaxed and fun they are as a company.) I was able to meet my fellow manager peers in the area. I even met some lovely ladies from home office. They patiently put up with all of my questions. Trust me, I asked a lot. The days were long-10 to 12 hours long. The nights spent sleeping were short. Especially when you stay up til 3 am brainstorming ideas and writing a list of questions you want to remember to ask. We were done ahead of schedule so I was able to come home Friday instead of Saturday. This left me with a weekend off. My first Saturday and Sunday off since July. Really. I was able to learn a lot more about my new store manager and I think she was able to learn a lot more about me. There are high expectations for our new store and our team. I know we will be able to achieve them. I'm hoping we can surpass them. Just a note about how relaxed and fun the company is: the two ladies from home office hugged everyone before they left to catch their plane back to Wisconsin. (One of them even swept and mopped the floor. Really!) Retail friends: when was the last time anyone from home office hugged you, let alone did the grunt work in your store? I'm so excited to work with them again next week in our new store! Every job has its draw backs and I am sure that I will learn those in due time. Right now though, I'm ready to have some fun!

In case you were wondering my weekend will be spent sleeping, laying around the house resting my tired muscles, and reading. At some point I will venture beyond the house to shop for groceries. I will unpack my suitcase and do some laundry, then repack for another three days of training in Georgia before coming back to set up the new store. I may be out of touch online for the next few weeks as a result. Can you believe we are halfway through October?! I made my first pumpkin roll of the season. The rest of October will pass in a blur. Maybe I'll get caught up in November...nah probably not.

Off to watch Hope Floats I think.

What's a Wizzel?

2010-10-01T23:36:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we had Jordan and Laura come for a visit. Jordan had graduated from boot camp on Friday and is officially part of the USMC brotherhood. Laura is his proud older sister. Dave and Jordan had fun talking about covers, ribbons, blouses, and all kinds of other uniform parts while the ladies talked. It always brings a smile to my face to see my Marine spending time with other Marines. (No offense to those who aren't Marines, but they just relate to each other in a very special way that you have to witness to believe.) During the course of the evening we brought out a montage of videos that Dave had sent to me during his deployment with the 22nd MEU. One part of the video was a bus ride back to the ship from being out in port. He introduced the Marines around him and asked if they had anything to say to "Wizzel." Well, the guys who frequented our house on weekends were already familiar with my nickname, but on Marine was like "who's weezel, weezer, who?" Then Goodson kindly explains, "you know like fo shizzle my nizzle? She's Wizzel." It goes on to show their conversions for the next 5 minutes or so, which at this point I should add they had indulged in a lot of alcohol while in port. {Sigh} I really miss those boys.

Last night I decided that I was going to make lasagna. Lasagna is a meal I only make when we are having guests over for dinner because we don't really do leftovers well in my house. I sent Dave a text asking if Jordan was back in town (he had driven Laura back to her home in New Orleans where she is finishing grad school). He wasn't sure, but soon got back to me and said the Jordan would be coming over for dinner. You see, lasagna is a meal for Marines. They love it and almost always have seconds. Hence my facebook status about making lasagna and wondering where my Marines might be. It was nice to have a Marine over for dinner. In a perfect world there would have been a few more Marine faces at our dinner table, but maybe some day I'll get them all together in one place for dinner again. I really miss them. (I know if I miss them, Dave must really miss them and vice versa.)

Sidenote: My lasagna was a topic of discussion at one point during the bus ride video conversation.

Now for a complete subject change. I was driving somewhere this week and my mom was along for the ride. We were talking about people hoarding things or having too much junk. I told her that I realized that I couldn't run away from home when I was younger-we've determined maybe around age 13 or so. One time I made up my mind to run away and packed up all the stuff I wanted to take with me. By the time I was done packing I realized I couldn't leave because I had too much stuff and I couldn't carry it all. (This little story snippet tells you sooooo much about me, lol).

Where Does the Time Go?

2010-09-30T01:06:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to blog about this for almost a month now. On September 6th we celebrated our 5th anniversary. I can't hardly believe it has been 5 years already, but apparently it has. It seems like just yesterday I was in Ohio with my ear glued to my cell phone, while Bivins was in DC with his ear glued to his hatching a plan about when we would get married. I knew at the time that marrying him wasn't a mistake. It was something I knew without a shadow of a doubt, more than I ever knew anything else before in my life. I was supposed to marry this man. There are times my heart sings and times that it cries, but I'm always glad I married him. My life wouldn't be the same without him. I wouldn't change a thing.

This new song by Rascal Flatts Why Wait reminds me of our "Augtember" plan to get married. I first heard this song on my commute to work. I really love the song, but I don't really like the video at all...could be because it is so cheesy and ridiculous. I get it, but I wish it wasn't so cliche. Still, I'm glad we didn't wait and have been married for 5 whole years. I have so many memories I cherish from these five years. I'm trying to file them away for future reference while still leaving room for new memories. Our anniversary was spent with dinner our at Cheesecake Factory. My absolute. favorite. restaurant. ever. (Thank you Pailin and Shannon for introducing me to this for my farewell to DC dinner.) We get to eat there about twice a year-anniversary and my birthday-and any more than that and I would need new clothes because it is so yummy! I could eat my body weight in cheesecake...over the course of a month or so anyhow. Yummy.

My original thought for my anniversary blog was to choose 5 memories that are some of my absolute favorites from the last 5 years...we recently spent a night sitting on the tailgate of his truck, looking up at the stars, and sharing some of our favorites-although they were categorized by cities/states. (This is how I make timeline distinctions-life in Ohio, life in DC, life in NC, and now life in AL...)

So in no particular order here are some of my favorite memories of our first five years together.

1. Moving in to our very first home together. Our apartment in DC (technically it was VA) was wonderful...although my memory tends to gloss over the ugly parts. Who could forget the u-haul being stopped on the national mall? Or the fact that there were air fresheners plugged in to our sockets before we even had boxes moved in? Or all those lovely closets? I had a closet just for the boxes we saved for the next move! Our first apartment is where we learned how to live with each other. It sounds ugly...and sometimes it was...but other times it was too amazing for words. I will forever cherish those times spent together, building a firmer foundation for our relationship that would get us through so many times spent apart in the coming years.

2. The 22nd MEU. I'm pretty sure it was anti-together, but we made it through a six month deployment. A little weathered, a little stressed, and a lot of longing, but we made it through. Through the deployment experience it reminded me that even though I am capable of taking care of myself I really do need my husband. I think we both were able to remind each other through cards, letters, videos and pictures that we truly care about each other. I have all of them saved in a box...now if I could just remember which box...and they are some of my favorites. Distance did make our hearts grow fonder. I don't think either of us will soon forget the welcome home hug (really the sobbing Wizzel attack) when I finally spotted him after six long months apart.

3. Anniversary Beach Trip 2008. This one was cut short due to a hurricane, but really did we expect anything less on our anniversary? I mean we did get married in the height of hurricane season. This trip was a fantastic way for the two of us to "get away from it all" after moving back to Alabama and beginning the adjustment to civilian life. (Which by the way, is it really ever possible to adjust to this? Nope. I didn't think so.) I loved our walks along the beach. They reminded me of our freezing cold walks along the beach in NC when I would beg to go to the beach in December (or somewhere around then.)

4. Moving into our own place in Alabama...well our own rented place anyhow. We truly have tried to leave a lasting impression on this new place. We have remodeled some of the rooms-well repainted anyhow. I have enjoyed turning our home, into a colorful home after our bland white and beige rentals from DC and NC. My husband has an eye for paint, let me tell you. Although I'm still trying to talk him out of painting the outside pepto bismal pink. Just kidding. I don't always understand where his visions are going, but he makes great choices and they turn out beautifully. I look forward to some day owning a home of our very own and adding our own personality to it. (Hopefully I can train him not to shoot holes in the floor...another blog for another time, lol.)

5. Blogging while he is sleeping, er sleeptalking I mean. This would actually be several different memories that add up to big laughs, from cleaning supplies to cardboard to speaking what I am certain is Russian-although he will neither confirm nor deny this, the man makes me laugh. He just mumbled something about "blank this, deuces!" Lovely dear. Just lovely. I love him. It's a good thing too cause "hold still, [he has] a flashlight." Lol (If you are confused about this memory grouping you probably need to read some of my other blog posts, but I can't honestly tell you which ones.)

I'm hoping that the future brings many more fun memories. Among them I'm hoping we are able to visit DC again soon, take a trip to Ireland, and spend lots of quality time together. These years post USMC active duty life have been the most challenging, but I've learned a lot and loved a lot too.

What makes you happy?

2010-08-01T12:10:00.003-05:00

I like to say in my other life I was a teacher. In this life I am now a retail manager/wannabe fashionista. I'm not sure why I feel the need to distinguish what I am because really I am many, many things to every person who knows me. Plus, I'm still a teacher at work every single time one of my associates or clients learn something new. I may not be planning lessons or grading papers or having parent/teacher conferences, but I am studying the latest trends and making them approachable for clients of any age, coaching my associates to be the best they can, and dealing with client service issues sometimes too. Over the past two years I have sometimes struggled with whether or not retail is where I want to live and for the moment realized I do and that it isn't so cray for me to spend my day playing dress up. My mom and dad both love to tell stories about how as soon as I was old enough to dress myself I would change clothes several times a day. The first question I ask myself when I wake up is "what am I going to wear today?" If it is an important event like a night out, a meeting with someone, or even a style event at work I can't think about anything else related to the event until I answer the "what am I going to wear question."

My style is slowly evolving over the past two years or so. I am constantly working to dress my age. I think women can find themselves struggling at certain ages to look age appropriate. Specifically, women in their early to mid 20's who are just starting careers and want to look professional, but not stuffy or like they are still in high school and then women in their mid 40's to 50's that still want to be fashionable, but not look like they are dressing like their daughters. I get to help these women find something to suit their age and life. It is so much fun. I had a client yesterday that was so excited when she came into our store. She was a first grade teacher and probably approaching 40. It was her first time in our store and after trying on two tops she said to me "I thought this store was just for young people, but you really carry things I can wear too." I told her that was my favorite thing about our store, we dress women of all ages. She browsed around and found a few other things to try on and I would go and give my opinion on the fit. While she was trying things on she told me "I am having so much fun!" Fantastic! That is what we want-our clients to have fun. You know what? I had fun too because she was so excited about finding two tops she loved to start this school year. Our last client of the day was a mom who had been searching for pants that fit. She said she had no butt anymore and pants would just sag on her. She started off with the wrong style and I said I really think you need to try this other style. She jumped up and down when she put them on and said finally pants that fit! She was sooooo excited. I was excited for her. It was a great way to end the day...

I started my day by answering the ultimate question "what am I going to wear today?" I purchased a skirt two weeks ago that I absolutely love. I don't usually wear skirts at work, mostly because they don't usually fit me well or look flattering. I LOVE this skirt. It even has horizontal stripes and I bought it anyway, secretly wondering if the husband was going to say he hated it. (For the record, he likes it too although that could be because it is a little shorter than most skirts/dresses I wear.) I was inspired by the way our mannequin was dressed to add a little color to my outfit. I typically wear the skirt with a black tank, black cardigan, and my black slingback heels (that I can wear approx 4 hrs before I need to put on my black wedge sandals with a slightly lower heel). Yesterday I wore my skirt with a purple petal tee from last season, a jean jacket, and the bootie shoes that are so in style. Facebook friends: the risk was wearing the bootie shoes with my skirt. I hadn't worn the shoes with anything other than pants and I'm still not totally confident in wearing them with skirts, but everyone loved it yesterday (other than the husband) so I guess it worked. Dee, the store manager, and I had been pulling outfits on Friday for our DM to come try on and Dee said one trend she hadn't been able to talk herself into was the bootie shoes. I agreed that I just couldn't do it, BUT that got me thinking...I have some of the bootie shoes, why not try it? So I did. See... (Please excuse the pic quality b/c these were taken at the very end of the night and I was really very tired and apparently crooked.)

I also talked myself into purchasing a pair of Converse tennis shoes when I went to TJMaxx on Friday. I had a Friday night free and so I met the husband in Trussville and we wandered the Borders, TJMaxx, Target, and Bed Bath and Beyond to name a few. I found the perfect pair of Converse and they were a great price $24.99. They made me happy.

I was anxious to wear them so I decided to wear them in to work. If I didn't have to go to work then I think this is the outfit I would have worn instead. Unfortunately, Converse tennis shoes are not appropriate work attire.

I can't wait to think up new outfits to wear with the Converse. I do that you know. Find something I love and create outfits around the new piece. I don't know if it is the fun color or the fact that they are so comfy, but I instantly feel happy when I put the shoes on. I may have to be careful not to wear out the happy in them.

Sand Between My Toes

2010-05-11T10:27:00.002-05:00

In case you haven't heard this about me yet, I absolutely love the beach. It is my favorite place in the whole world to spend time. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, I love the beach. If it happens to be winter time then I just have to wear about five layers of clothes to stay warm on my walk along the sand. I became really spoiled living in NC because we were only about 20 minutes away from the beach. It was great to just wake up in the morning and decide to head to the sand and surf. I miss it. A lot.

This is my fourth trip to the Gulf (and Dave's I don't even know what number b/c he was so spoiled by coming in the summers growing up...) My first trip to the Gulf (Orange Beach, AL) was for our honeymoon. I had never experienced anything quite like it. (Beach vacations always occurred in VA so the water and sand were a little different.) Our honeymoon was about a week after Hurricane Katrina hit the coast. I wasn't sure what we would find when we arrived at the beach, but it turned out that the beach was mostly deserted and there were tons of sea shells. Dave and I took a walk along the sand together while the in-laws unpacked the car and relaxed for a minute. (Yes, the in-laws went on our honeymoon with us. We stayed in neighboring beach houses and it was kinda fun.) Dave and I came back from our walk with huge seashells that washed ashore whole. (By huge I mean shells the size of my hand.) That is the one lasting memory I have about our honeymoon that years from now I will still share with you, the giant seashells.

My second trip to the Gulf occurred for Dave's pre-deployment leave. We spent about 4 days at the beach. just prior to going back to NC so he could leave "on a boat." We brought Dave's brother from another mother Tyrone with us as well as the in-laws again. It was another fun trip to the beach. Bonnie and I went to lay in the sand while Mr. B. and the boys fished. We took some wonderful family pictures during that trip. Some of the pictures taken are among my favorite pictures of our family together.

My third trip to the Gulf happened for our third wedding anniversary (the summer Dave EAS'd from the USMC). It was our first trip with just the two of us. We had a lot of fun, but just like family vacations growing up our anniversary hits right in the prime of hurricane season. We were able to spend about 2 days at the beach before we had to head home a day early because of Gustav coming along the coast. I remember being happy to spend some time at the beach with my husband (because together is a great place to be), but I also remember the trip home taking a very long time because of all the traffic from people evacuating. Gustav didn't really make an impact, but better to be safe than sorry.

And now to my fourth trip to the Gulf. We didn't make it to the beach at all last year. Not a single time. I decided this year that we were going to make it to the beach or we were going to need to move a little closer to one. (I still want to move closer to the beach, but it may have to wait awhile.) Dave and I began planning and I said that we should see if we could manage a whole week at the beach. We haven't ever taken a week long vacation anywhere with just the two of us. All of our time off when he was in the USMC was spent visiting family (and we loved it that way); however, we were getting to the point we really needed a vacation. After much planning and waiting and planning some more, here we are...together for a week at the beach. We arrived on Sunday and made a trip to the Tanger Outlets to see what deals we could find. We walked around and around and around. I found a few things to purchase and Dave found another pair of Oakleys. We finally stopped shopping because we were hungry and went to Mellow Mushroom for a yummy dinner and a tasty beer (Harp and Guinness on tap). By the time we made it to the beach house we were a little tired. We unloaded the car-seriously how many bags do two grown adults need for a week at the beach? Too many apparently. I dread the day we should have to travel with children. If that happens hopefully I'll learn to be a lighter packer. Honestly. Two duffel bags, a suitcase, a bag of just beach towels & shoes, a bag of food stuffs, and bags of I don't even know what...too much stuff! We watched some tv and then went to bed.

Monday morning I woke up at 8:30am unable to sleep any longer. Someone didn't tell my body we are on vacation and I can sleep all day if I want. Maybe I sleep more peacefully at the beach, thus requiring fewer hours of sleep. I was awake before Dave, like a whole hour or two before him. That doesn't usually happen either. I went to the living room and watched some tv. (We like having cable tv

(Mom, I was thinking about you in this pic and how much you love the beach too. "I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart...")

After our walk we ventured to the grocery store to find some lunch and dinner fixin's. The best part of the trip was Publix. We purchased a basket of fruit and only spent $20. I am now in love with Publix. That same basket at Wal-Mart would have been probably $30 and the fruit would go bad in a day or two. I don't think it will be the case with our Publix fruit, but I will let you know.

I also purchased a travel sized edition of Scrabble. I meant to bring our game from home, but with all those other bags I forgot. (Did I mention I am a last minute packer? It probably didn't help.) I am ok with the new purchase, in fact I love it. The Scrabble tiles click into the board. For an OCD person like me it is an amazing thing. No more making sure the tiles are perfectly aligned on the squares. No worries that bumping the board will shift all the tiles and mess up the words. I love it! We played two rounds last night. It was a lot of fun.

Now I'm off to see what today at the beach shall bring...

Dry Spell

2010-04-24T22:56:00.000-05:00

It has been somewhat of a dry spell for my blog. My life went from part-time worker with an amazing amount of time leftover to write away to full-time co-manager with absolutely no time to think up a complete sentence, let alone take the time to type it out. I spend my "down time" aka "off days" doing all the things I can't manage to do on days I work and I also try to catch up on a bit of sleep. (Yankee's that is what southerner's call a day off...an off day....I know an off day sounds like something is just wrong, but nope-here it means you don't have to work that day.) Tonight I decided I would just blog about the random things rolling around in my head that if I had all the time in the world I might write a whole darn blog about it.

Facebook Status (FBS): Is it a bad thing if you think of random things you would make your facebook status throughout the day? I feel it may be a bit obsessive. Oh well. For instance, I just made my facebook status "If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then the way to a Marine's heart is through the liquor store...just sayin'." I, loving adoring wife that I am, bought my husband a six pack of Strongbow at the liquor store tonight. If you didn't deploy with the 22nd MEU almost 3 years ago then you may not have had the pleasure of drinking the delightful cider in....I think it was Malta. My Marine loves it and spent a lot of time talking about it and hunting it down, but to no avail. (Except for that one time in Ohio last July when we were inadvertently delayed by my stupidity and paid the idiot fee.) One day he was delightfully surprised when he walked into our local liquor store (where they pretty much all but know him by name) and found it. He told the guy how excited he was to find it and the guy said from now on Dave will be able to find it there. In fact, as I picked up the six pack from the store the same guy said "Strongbow is good stuff" to which I replied "Yeah, my husband loves it." He knew exactly who I was talking about. Is that a bad thing? (Note to self: Next time take advantage of that opportunity to ask about the freakin' Duplin!) Anyhow...if I could write a paragraph for my status instead of a line or five....this is what I would write today... I really like doing that. You know ... dot, dot, dot. (I'm crazy. Friday Night ladies, at least I don't overuse adjectives. Honestly!)

FBS: "So much for straight hair..." - It wasn't raining when I left my car to get a delightfully tasty cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera, but after ordering and receiving said bagel it was time to return to my car and zip across the street to the mall for work. It was pouring down rain at that time and I didn't bring my umbrella in with me. I looked a little weathered the rest of the day. My bagel was delightful though.

FBS: "Finally watched Julie & Julia. Thanks Biv Biv for putting it on our instant queue!" - He added it to our instant queue on Netflix probably a month ago, but refused to watch it with me. Thanks to the rain I had time to watch it this evening and it was a wonderful movie.

FBS: "I think I'm allergic to Alabama" - Yeah this was yesterday's status. I think I really am allergic to AL. My eyes are puffy, my nose is stuffed, and my head feels like there is an elephant in there. Ugh. It started with a terribly raw throat. We've progressed to hacking, er I mean coughing and sneezing. Lovely stuff these allergies. Just when I get used to one temp the weather makes a drastic change to throw the sinuses all out of whack.

FBS: "About to slip into a cough syrup coma while watching The Ugly Truth again." - Yeah, I've forgotten whatever else I was going to write and I'm going to allow the cough medicine to take over and watch The Ugly Truth again. I'll probably fall asleep on the couch too.

Blog Readers: Have a wonderful night. Maybe my dry spell of blogging will experience a rainy season soon...

Finally Part 2

2010-03-21T15:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry it took so long to write about part 2 of our fantastic "Airport Rendezvous Weekend" celebration. Life after the weekend away was a bit tiring and it hasn't really stopped. I'm feeling a little over scheduled some days. I can hardly believe March will be over in a little more than a week. It doesn't seem quite right that it is almost over, but time flies when you are having fun, right? Ok...on with part two.

We left the house and were on our way to Chattanooga. I actually stayed awake the whole ride there. I typically fall asleep in the car if it takes too long to get somewhere. It only took a little over 2 hours to get to Chattanooga. We checked in to our room at the Hilton Garden Inn and dropped off our bags. (Almost as nice as the one in DC...they are kinda tied in my mind for the best hotel I've stayed in thus far award...although the Chattanooga one had a wonderfully wonderful bed that allowed me an amazing night of sleep.) Then we walked across the street to find some dinner. Bivins tried to walk me out in front of a car too. You would think by now I would stop trusting that he wasn't going to get me run over and just look both ways for myself, but I haven't seemed to learn that yet. We ended up eating at Applebee's and walking back across the street to the hotel. Our room had a lovely whirlpool tub and it was quite relaxing. I almost fell asleep in the tub it was so relaxing. I somehow managed to crawl out of the tub and into the aforementioned wonderfully wonderful bed for a long night's sleep. I now know that should we ever "settle" somewhere that I would like a whirlpool tub and a wonderfully wonderful bed in my home. It isn't up for negotiation. I don't think Bivins and I would really have to negotiate about it anyhow, he liked them both too. He slept til noon! He very rarely does that.

Saturday we woke up late. Like noon late. We finally managed to get ready and headed out to the mall to wander around a bit. We discussed doing some touristy type things like going to the aquarium and visiting Ruby Falls, but we opted to spend the weekend relaxing and enjoying the time together instead of being tourists. We ate lunch (at like 2pm) at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. We sampled their homemade brews and selected our favorites to sip on during lunch. In addition to great beer they have great food too. My favorite was the baked potato soup. YUMMY! Oh it was sooooo good. I thought about getting some to go, but didn't. Man it was good. I am sure that we will visit there again should we make it back to Chattanooga. We shopped around at the mall a bit and didn't really find anything. (Essentially we were wasting time until dinner, lol.) We did manage to find a set of towels and a shower curtain that inspired the remodeling of our spare bathroom a.k.a the eyesore. After a few hours we decided to figure out where to eat dinner. We selected O'Charley's because we have not eaten there since living in J-ville and we really love their food. Plus, it was right across the street from our hotel and we could walk there. Which means we could both drink and not have to worry about driving. Prior to heading back to the hotel we decided to stop at a wine & liquor store. We thought we would just stop and see if maybe they happened to carry Duplin County Wine. (I'm pretty sure this is the ambrosia of the greek gods. I may be a little partial, but I think it is what they were drinking.) We wandered the whole store, which was pretty big-it almost rivaled the ABC store on Camp Lejeune. Yeah it was big. Anyhow, we wandered and had just decided to leave when we turned around and BOOM! There it was, the drink of the gods. I clapped and giggled like a little girl. I'm pretty certain that the owners thought I was a touch crazy. We bought 9 bottles. We probably would have purchased more, but they only had 3 bottles of the Hatteras Red which is my absolute favorite. (I'm telling you I would have made Bivins buy every single bottle of HR they had. Lucky for him they only had 3.) We did get their business card and they said that if we give them advance notice they can purchase a case of it for us next time. You can bet I'm keeping track of that card. I love that stuff! (I think it was the only thing that saved my sanity at times while the boys were deployed. No I wasn't an alcoholic, but Friday nights with Anna would not have been complete without our bottle of Duplin, especially after a week of teaching.) We carefully stowed the wine in our hotel room and then walked across the street for dinner.

There was quite a wait for a table at O'Charley's so we ended up sitting at the bar, which was first come first serve. It was fine with us. I believe we each started the night with a margarita. The food was yummy and so were the drinks. We had Sangria and Bivins also had a vodka tonic or two and even some beer. Sometime after we finished our food the guy next to Dave said something about "you just drank enough to take down a water buffalo! I would have been sick by now." Dave said "yeah." Then they struck up a conversation about Haiti and somehow learned that the guy was also a Marine and had been with 3/8 (Dave's old unit) when they had been deployed to Haiti. They bough each other beers and continued chatting for awhile. The Marine kept apologizing for his language during some of his stories and I would laugh and say "it's no big thing I'm the wife of a Marine and I love hanging out with the boys." It was so much fun to meet another Marine on our trip away. It made me laugh and smile (Bivins too). We finally wandered back across the street to our hotel room and relaxed in the whirlpool tub til I felt like jello. We set our alarms for the morning and slipped off to sleep.

Sunday we woke up and knew we had to leave. Yucky. We showered and gathered our belongings. Dave did the final check to make sure we didn't leave anything behind and we were off in search of breakfast. We ended up eating at Moe's (similar to Chipotle) and then we drove by a Fresh Market. We decided we would shop there since we haven't been to one since we left J-ville. We bought all kinds of yummy things, including steaks and potatoes. Then we finally made the trek home. It was nice and sunny so I slept 80% of the way home. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. We finally made it home. Crissy was reading on her front porch so we wandered up to show her the stuff we found for the bathroom. She loved it. We unpacked the car and began cleaning the house. It looked terrible. Then Dave cooked our yummy dinner. Steaks on the grill and baked potatoes. Before I knew it I had to go to sleep and it was back to the daily grind of work and school...

Nothing can compare to that first weekend spent together, at least not in my mind, but it was a really wonderful, relaxing weekend spent away with my husband. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Airport Rendezvous Weekend Celebration~Part 1

2010-02-22T00:27:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated our 5th "Airport Rendezvous Weekend" together. The first weekend took place in Feb 2005. Bivins and I began our relationship with lots, and lots, and lots, and lots, and lots, and...you get the idea...lots of phone conversations. Enough to make my family highly irritated about the cell phone permanently glued to my ear when I wasn't student teaching, at work, or sleeping. We first began talking somewhere around the end of September/the beginning of October when my lovely friend Abbie gave some Marine my phone number. (It wasn't Dave, but the other Marine didn't want to call me so Dave did.) The rest as they say is history...but I guess I'll share it in case you haven't heard the story. The idea of "Airport Rendezvous Weekend" was hatched as a plan for me to fly to DC and spend the weekend hanging out with Bivins to see how things would go in person. We chose President's Day weekend b/c he would have an extra day off to spend with me. Also, it gave me time to save some of my substituting money to spend during the weekend. I purchased a plane ticket, spent several hours choosing a hotel I could afford in a decent part of town (went with the Hilton Garden Inn), and then counted down the days until I would get to fly to DC. Finally the day of my flight arrived and I nervously waited to board the plane that would take me to what I knew would be a life changing weekend(I left somewhere around 5ish I think)...I just wasn't sure if it would be good or bad until I got there. It was the first time I had flown by myself and I am a very nervous traveler. I spent the first half of the flight wondering if I had forgotten anything important and the second half nervous about how the weekend would go.

I imagined our meeting hundreds of times, but nothing I imagined compared to how it actually occurred. (I arrived somewhere between 7-8pm.) My plane finally landed at Dulles International Airport after what felt like hours, but it was really probably only 45 minutes or so. I not so patiently waited to get off the plane. Once I got off the plane I followed to signs to baggage claim. If you haven't had the pleasure of a trip to Dulles then you may not know that finding baggage claim at Dulles is a bit like a treasure hunt. I turned down one hallway only to be met with another sign, and another, and another, and another. I'm not sure how many twists and turns I made before I finally came to baggage claim. (By this point my feet hurt b/c in an effort to impress I put on black dress boots with my outfit. They were fun to take off and put back on at security checkpoints too.) I began the hunt for the Marine in the pink dress shirt, which actually didn't take long to find. I think I spotted him a minute or so before he spotted me. I gave him a big hug and at that very second knew that he was something special. We grabbed my suitcase and hopped into another Marine's truck so that he could drive us to our hotel. I was so nervous in the truck I didn't talk hardly at all. I had spent months talking about anything and everything with Bivins, but I couldn't manage more than a few words when I met him face to face. We made it to the hotel-one of the nicest I've ever stayed in-and dropped off my bags so we could go get dinner. Bivins had a present for me since we had missed Valentine's Day the previous week. He had purchased a lovely white gold heart shaped necklace with 3 little diamond chips. It was beautiful. He chose something that suited me perfectly. (I wore it almost every day after that. I even wore it on our wedding day.) The rest of the weekend I only remember in bits and pieces. I know we visited a bookstore and had fun walking the aisles browsing books, we visited the barracks because I wanted to see them so I knew where to imagine him when I was talking to him on the phone, we went to the mall (where I would later work after we were married), we ate out, we found a cute turtle ring we didn't buy, I met a few friends Combs & Martin (and probably a few others I don't remember), and I know he called my mom and sisters (woke the sisters up) to ask if he could marry me. (Mom said he had to ask the sisters-who didn't care they just wanted to sleep.) So from that weekend on we were unofficially officially engaged. I received my temporary turtle engagement ring in the mail about a week later and I wore it everyday. Still have it, but I don't wear it much because it doesn't fit my right hand very well. I flew home Monday afternoon a woman who knew that she had found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with (or his life depending on how it all plays out.) We both had a weekend we'll never forget. So every year we celebrate the anniversary of that wonderful weekend that changed our lives forever. (We both agree it might be more important to us than our wedding anniversary. Even though our wedding made our bond official for the government and God, that first weekend linked us together forever in our hearts and minds.)

So now that you know why the weekend is so very special to us I'll tell you a little bit about how we spent our weekend this year. We decided it was time to get away for a bit. We haven't really been anywhere on a vacation in the last year or so. We've been home to Ohio, but that is a teensy bit different than a weekend spent relaxing. My weekend actually begins on Thursday night when we decided to exchange presents. Bivins knew he was getting a Dremel Multi-Max because I had to call him from Home Depot and verify I was purchasing the correct power tool. So I told him he could go ahead and have it since he knew what it was, but I was saving his card for the weekend. He said I was going to get my present now too since he had his. (He had been trying to give it to me for at least a week or so at this point and I kept telling him it wasn't time yet.) He goes to the gun safe to get it. I'm thinking he purchased something to maybe go with the gun he bought me for Christmas. He comes back and is standing behind where I am seated on the couch and says "close your eyes and put out your hands." I open them to find a Zales box in my hands. I'm thinking maybe he purchased me another necklace, but nope. I opened the box to fin a diamond anniversary band inside. I smiled great big! I was so surprised. I've had a simple solitaire and plain wedding band. I didn't really need anything else at the time. I thought maybe someday down the road I would think about adding something to it, but hadn't thought about it recently. I love my new band. It is so pretty and a very nice compliment to my diamond solitaire. I didn't want anything that would detract from it. Bivins does a wonderful job picking out jewelry for the Wizzel. After I got over the shock and surprise from the the lovely gift I finished packing for the weekend. I had to work all day Friday so I left Bivins with a to do list that included taking Zeke and Zeus to his parents house for the weekend. Grandma Bonnie loves to babysit the fur babies and Zeke loves going to visit, while Zeus spends at least the first day he is there hiding under a bed. (Bless his heart he's just a little special.) All day spent at work waiting to leave for our weekend was similar to the anticipation of waiting to board the plane. I've never been so happy to be done with work for the day. Then I drove home through the end of rush hour traffic. Yucky. I made it home and threw my make-up, toothbrush, and straightener in my bag. I stopped next door to say hello to the Friday Night Ladies and pick up my package from my momma. She did a beautiful picture frame for us. I love it! We put our bags in the car and we were off to spend the weekend in Chattanooga...

To Be Continued...

My Mission

2010-02-15T00:57:00.003-06:00

I started this mission quite some time ago. I even blogged about it and suggested you join me in my mission. It was a mission to purchase, read, and change after reading Beth Moore's latest book "So Long Insecurity, You've Been a Bad Friend to Us." I told you I was going to purchase my copy from amazon. Well, I was...until the laptop came down with a virus and the desktop pc hadn't been put together. Several days after the laptop became infected I finally put the desktop pc together and it was up and running, but running verrrrrryyyyy slowly compared to the laptop. So by the time I checked facebook, read my e-mail, checked my bank account balance, and checked to see if anyone had blogged anything interesting I was tired of waiting on the slooooowww pc and logged off. I finally remembered I needed a book at the beginning of this week. I place my order on amazon and decided to only purchase one book and pay the shipping. Two days later my inbox was lacking a notice saying my items had shipped. I logged onto amazon to check the status of my order to find that my order was scheduled to deliver between Feb 24th and March 8th. What? Are you kidding me? Apparently orders are being delayed on some items due to the winter storms. So I cancelled my order. I decided I would make the trek to a real bookstore and pay the few extra dollars to get the book in hand much sooner. Saturday night I was finally able to make it to the bookstore to begin the journey of completing this mission.

This is the point in the story where my mission changes a little bit. I am still very excited about my Beth Moore book, but have yet to open the cover. Once I enter a bookstore time stops. I must wander all of the aisles browsing the titles looking for something that catches my eye. If it were a library I would take home a stack of books, but since I must pay for the books I limit myself to only 1 or 2 and wait until a book "speaks" to me. I found several books that left footprints on my mind and heart, footprints that I may revisit some day when I have a larger book budget. Ever since I married a crazy, tender-hearted, warrior-like Marine I have enjoyed reading stories about Marines and their brotherhood. (Ok, truth be told I have always loved reading historical fiction and more recently historical nonfiction as well.) So after locating my Beth Moore book right inside the doorway and selecting a copy for myself, I wandered over to the military/history section of my wonderland called a bookstore. I picked up several different selections and pondered spending my $16+ on them, but continued searching until I found a title I couldn't put down, "Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives" written by Jim Sheeler. I read the synopsis on the back of the book and knew I would like it, but just like watching the movie Taking Chance this experience was going to be like poking a bruise just to see if it would hurt. I turned to the center of the book and looked at the 24 picture pages. I quietly read the captions with a sad heart until I came to a picture and caption that made tears roll down my face in the middle of the bookstore. At that moment I knew I couldn't put this book back on the shelf. I simply must read this story...

I couldn't wait to get home to begin reading this story. It is a story that touches upon a variety of aspects in a deceased warrior's journey home to a final resting place. (This is an issue near and dear to my heart since my own Marine played a role in countless other grieving Marine families' lives during his time in DC.) The picture that made tears roll down my face was of Katherine Cathey, wife of Marine Second Lieutenant James J. Cathey, and his casket ( facebook users view original post if you'd like to follow the hyperlink to see the photo). Katherine Cathey refused to leave his side the night before his funeral saying she wanted to spend one last night sleeping by his side. The Marines there to guard him during the night located an air mattress, some sheets, and pillows so that she could spend the night with him. She fell asleep listening to a playlist on her laptop of songs they would have listened to at the formal wedding they would never have. There were several parts of the book that made more tears quietly roll down my cheeks, but several times I had to smile and laugh to myself. I finally read about the Marines locating and preparing this makeshift bed for Katherine. It is so like Marines it makes me smile. It reads as follows:

In the mortuary the night before Jim Cathey's funeral, two Marines stood near the casket, unfurling sheets on a makeshift bed.

"Make it looks nice, dude. Make it look nice," one of them said.

"Who are you, Martha Stewart?" the other one shot back with a grin.

Another looked at the blanket.

"If you're pregnant, do you get hot or cold?"

One of the Marines who has a child of his own looked at the bed.

"She's going to need another pillow," he said. "Since she's pregnant, she'll need to put a pillow between her legs."

Then they saw the car lights outside and took their positions.

One of the Marines asked Katherine if she wanted them to stand guard over Jim throughout the night. She said yes because she felt like Jim would have wanted them to do so.

The next chapter goes on to give you glimpses into the lives of these particular Marines, personal friends of Jim's, who came to bring a brother home and take care of his wife left behind and their unborn child. It is what brothers do in times of need.

Many of the reviews state that this book should be required reading for every American. I agree wholeheartedly, yet I know that not every American would truly appreciate the value of the lives in this book. Some Americans just don't get the fact that there are still Marines and soldiers dying in war and their families are left to navigate life without them. Even though Marines have left Iraq, there are still Marines in harms way in places like Afghanistan. (A country many of us didn't even know how to spell its name 10 years ago.) I still say my prayers for Marines in harms way often and include their families in those prayers too. I finally finished reading this book tonight and I just couldn't go to sleep until I blogged out my thoughts.

I am slowly finding my niche in life beyond my time as the wife of an active duty Marine. It has been a much harder adjustment than I ever thought it might be. It has tested me, my Marine, and even our marriage at times. Slowly we are each finding things that bring us those moments of happiness. Each of us rushes home to share stories about our run ins with other Marines or Marine family members. Those quick moments that remind us that our Marine family is still around, just not as easily accessed like it was during active duty. Those moments bring a smile to each of our faces. We also have taken newer Marines and their family members under our wings as well. A few weeks ago we took a brand new Marine and his lovely girl out to dinner while he was home on leave after completing boot camp. It was a truly fun night and we enjoyed welcoming them to the Marine Corps family. We look forward to supporting each of them in their journey through life during active duty. We know another young man who has made the decision to enter the Corps and look forward to supporting him as well. Our mission continues...

Cold Weather Tips for My AL Friends

2010-01-07T17:24:00.003-06:00

Ok, so after years of living in the north with the cold, snow, ice, and dryness I've learned a few things I thought it might be helpful to share.

To help with the dryness in the house: If you have heating vents in the floor you can place a mug of water on them and when the heat kicks on it will help moisturize the air a bit. This can be problematic if you have small children though. Another option is to just boil some water on the stove and let the steam fill the air. (My mom also boiled water with spices too and it made the house smell like she was cooking something yummy, but I'm not sure what she put in that pot of hers.) If you happen to have a humidifier it helps too.

To help with dry skin: In the winter months especially regular bar soap can be extremely drying to your skin. (It is drying all the time, but it can be noticed more in the winter.) Try using a shower gel or body wash. They make some lovely ones with extra moisturizing ingredients in them so that your skin dries out less. My current favorite is an Oil of Olay body wash that is extra moisturizing...but it was a tad expensive(for body wash) so I bought the Equate version (although Dave says it smells just ok and not fabulous-who cares at this point) and it works the same.

Also, I use a thicker lotion in the winter, sometimes even a body cream. My absolute favorite lotion in Johnson's body care deep hydrating extra dry skin lotion. When used in combination with the aforementioned body wash it keeps me from having dry itchy skin. FYI: If you apply your lotion as soon as you dry off from your bath or shower it helps seal in the moisture.

To help with dry/cracked lips: My new favorite is Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with pomegranate oil. I love Burt's Bees anyhow because it moisturizes my lips fast and relieves the chapped lipped ouchiness quickly, but the stuff with pomegranate oil is like magic. I had a big split down my bottom lip and it was healed within a day or so after using this stuff every couple of hours or so. (Friday Night Ladies this is the stuff Crissy said smelled really good.)

Not wanting to bathe b/c it is soooo cold when you get out: If you have a space heater, then place it in the bathroom about 10-15 minutes before bath time to warm up the bathroom and leave it there until bath time is over. It helps warm up the air a bit more so leaving the warm water isn't so painful. Also, warm your towel up in the dryer beforehand or place it near a vent to warm up when the heat kicks on. Keep a warm robe or something in the bathroom to wrap up in right away too instead of maybe having to travel out into the bedroom.

Static OUCH: The water on the vent thing will help a bit with this, but some static shocks are going to happen. So is staticky hair. To help with staticky hair (I'm sure there are super expensive products on the market to help with this) you can rub a dryer sheet on your hair. It will temporarily help keep it down at a normal level. A dryer sheet can help with static cling issues with clothing as well, like skirts that get stuck to tights. Rub a dryer sheet on them and viola problem gone.

I'm cold: Not many options here folks except lots of layers.

Feet: I love wearing knee high socks on especially cold days because it helps keep my legs warm. I wear socks and slippers around the house. (Typically slippers were a yearly Christmas gift or winter purchase for me. Every year I need new ones because I ruin them by the time winter rolls around next year.) Up north I traveled from house to house with my slippers. When we would visit my grandparents my slippers would go on as soon as my icy, snowy shoes came off. (I just now remembered why I would take my slippers...cause of the yucky shoes needing to come off.) Your slippers do not have to be ugly either, although I think they sent all the ugly options to 'Bama and kept the cute slipper options up north from what I have seen here lately. They all look like eskimo shoes or something. My current faves are silver ballet slippers with little rhinestone gems on them, although my mom sent me white furry ones for my birthday. I may have to bust those out in the next day or so with the dropping temps. I did see some ballet type slippers at Wal-Mart that have a nice thick rubber sole on them which is good if you tend to wear the slippers out of the house sometimes. Another option is the fur lined Crocs, but mine tend to squeak when I walk and it annoys me so I don't wear them for long periods of time.

Body: Wearing a robe around the house all day and all night is perfectly acceptable in the winter cold. It is necessary to stay warm. Blankets all over the house to snuggle in is also acceptable. Long sleeve t-shirts under sweaters and sweatshirts are also good.

Hands: Wear gloves. If you are so cold you need gloves inside...well...I'm sorry, but do what you have to do to stay warm.

Neck: Scarves are a must when venturing out into the cold. I have a nice variety from my years spent up north...and my recent fascination with scarves as outfit accessories. If you need to borrow one let me know...

Head: Suck it up and wear a hat, but tuck a dryer sheet into your pocket to deal with that crazy static filled hair. Or, just keep the hat on the whole time you're gone from the house.

Ok, I think that is all the wisdom I've gained from living in cold weather. If you have an issue I've forgotten to mention then leave a comment and I'll see what I can come up with.

Curvalicious

2010-01-06T23:36:00.003-06:00

Curvalicious! (No, I don't think that is really a word, but it is now. Just like Fergalicious...but curvalicious instead.) That is my motto for 2010. It has a whole-lotta meaning around it too. I have decided that I am going back to carving out some time spent on me. Not time spent doing things I like, but time spent on me, myself, and I. The first part of that me-time begins with my new membership to Curves. I have been attending for about 3 weeks now and I absolutely love it. I love that in less than an hour (really about 30-40 minutes) I can complete a well rounded workout set at my pace and speed. If I'm feeling icky I can still workout, but go slower. If I'm feeling super charged then I can go at lighting speed on the machines. (It should be noted lighting speed has not yet been reached.) I am attending Curves because I have gained about 30lbs since Biv Biv returned from deployment and we moved to the land of all fried foods aka Alabama. (So not cool since I was excited to lose that amount over the course of our first two years of marriage.) Also, I want to be healthier in general. I know my lack of movement is bad for me and can result in a myriad of health issues if it doesn't change. So I finally made the effort to change and went to Curves. (It also helped a friend sent me a free 30 day trial membership. Thanks Megan!) I have previously attempted to "be healthier" and my walking and/or eating more salads and veggies lasts for a few weeks at best but is quickly pushed aside. Curves is getting me where it counts-my checking account. I am determined not to waste my one-time membership fee ($99) and my monthly premium ($34) by not going. So the goal set by Curves is 3 visits per week. I started the week of Christmas and managed to make it 2 times per week (they were closed two extra days during those weeks) and so far I've been twice this week. I'm kind proud of myself. Especially since they weighed and measured me on my first visit. I weighed 190 lbs. The nice lady commented "You hide it well." Yes, I do...and that is my biggest problem. I gain 5-10 lbs and don't even notice cause it all hides. Finally, I hit an extra 30 lbs and I'm like "Whoa, I need to fix this. I miss those smaller clothes I bought a year and a half ago." I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'm kinda hoping I can wear some smaller clothes by summer. (All of my smaller clothes would be nice since I have a pretty nice summer wardrobe packed away in a box labeled "Too Small Clothes." (Sigh, and when I moved to DC I had a box labeled "too big clothes." Ho hum.) So we'll see what happens in the next few months. I love that the girls I have met so far at Curves are all upbeat, positive, and motivating. The fellow members I have met are all very excited about the place and super excited about their success too. My goal: Fit into my jeans I bought at White House Black Market about a month after Dave deployed. Once that happens we'll see what I decide to take on next. (It'll be a few months before that happens though.)

The second part of this focus on me resolution is that I am looking forward to a focused bible study/self discovery journey. I recently started reading Beth Moore's blog thanks to some free time and a link on my cousin Julie's blog. It happened to be the day that Beth unveiled her latest book due to be released on Feb 2nd. It is entitled "So Long, Insecurity: You've been a bad friend to us" and in this book she apparently attacks the many insecurities women face and counters those insecurities with God's truth. I'm going to pre-order my copy from Amazon (which if you click on the book title you can read the official reviews and pre-order your own copy if you so choose). As part of the book's release Beth plans to conduct a book study via her blog. The topic of insecurities and female self-esteem strikes a chord with me...as a woman, as a sister, as a wife, as a teacher of adolescent girls, and so many of the other titles I bear. The one that feels it the most is as the teacher of adolescent girls. They are so vulnerable to many things that are all directly tied to their own sense of self worth. Anything I can learn to help me with my own struggles can in turn help me mentor them with theirs. So that is another thing I am looking forward to starting this year.

Ok enough about me spending time on me. Here are some other things I am looking forward to during the next year.

1. A visit from "the boys." Not sure how many of them will make it, but they are all welcome. We'll pack them in on the floor if we need to. Sure beats the field in the snow any day I'm sure. Oh how I miss my boys. Combs is coming for sure. Still waiting to hear what Doc Rob, Byneezy, Fat Travis, Volvo, and...I'm forgetting somebody darnit, will decide.

2. Perhaps a visit from the mom and sisters to my humble abode here in AL. I think it would be fantabulous for them to see where their wonderful brother calls home (and where we currently reside). There must be a Friday Night involved in this visit. The MUST be.

3. If not a visit from Ohio to here, then a visit to Ohio for Dave and I. We'll have to figure it out, but I refuse to go more than a year without seeing the fam.

4. More remodeling for our home! There is a spare bathroom that is in dire need of remodel assistance. It is an eyesore. Seriously. The goal is to remodel before the boys come visit. Guess I better start hunting for remodel pieces. The plan is to start with a shower curtain we like and go from there.

5. Traveling to all the touristy type places in AL that we have not yet been to. Places like Vulcan, the zoo, and some parks n stuff. It is seriously a shame we haven't visited them sooner.

I think I'll stop the list there for now. I don't like to plan too terribly far ahead. You never know when the next move will occur, lol. Just kidding...sorta.

Goodbye 2009

2010-01-06T01:21:00.002-06:00

I have thought about this blog for a few days now. I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not...but it is now 2010. I've been a bit busy so the blog rolled around in my head for a bit until I had time to type it out. Here are some random thoughts about 2010 so far: it is a nice even number, it is now almost 10 years since I graduated high school (holy cow, where did the time go?...), and yeah that is pretty much it. For our household 2009 was a pretty stagnant year. There were some subtle changes, but nothing as big as in years past. I'm rather glad it is over and hope that 2010 is a little more lively for us (I'm probably going to eat my words in the near future and will be kicking myself for wishing this). As the eternal optimist that I am, I forced myself to come up with a list of the 10 best things that happened in 2009. Forcing myself to really sit and think about the past year and remember some of the happy moments. These are in no particular order.

1. Spending time in Alabama getting to know everyone here-whether they are new friends or old friends-and learning what makes Alabama so unique. (I'd say there's no place like home, but it still doesn't feel like home...which is odd for us b/c we've been able to make everywhere else feel like home.)

2. Moving into our own place again! Woooohoooo! It is nice to have a place and space of your own. Now I can arrange my boxes into several different rooms instead of just one small storage area, lol. (Seriously. I'm still holding onto the theory of not unpacking everything b/c it will just need packed up again. I think the earth will disappear if all my boxes ever get unpacked. j/k)

3. Katie graduated from Ohio University! So cool. Which also meant a wonderful trip home to see the clan. (Clan with a C not Klan with a K, ok?) Even if I did have to pay a $300 idiot fee it was still fun.

4. Since we've got a place and a space of our own we are enjoying entertaining again and having friends over. We still don't have visitors often because we have hectic schedules, but it is fun.

5. Combsy came to visit us in Alabama for his Spring Break! It was pretty cool. (We're hoping we can get a few more buddies involved this year...we'll see how it turns out.)

6. Remodeling. For the first time we are able to fix up and paint the place where we live. It is fun to transform the space you live in. I'm so glad to have walls some color other than white or off white. It is fantastic. We are enjoying the remodel process. So far we have been pretty agreeable about paint colors and decorative elements in the rooms. (So far...we'll see what 2010 brings, lol.)

7. Friday Nights! 'Nuff said. So, I'm a little verbose and 'nuff said won't cut it. I really love Friday Nights with the girls next door. It is one of the things I look forward to because they are so crazy. You never know what is going to happen. (I'm so blessed.)

8. Christmas Decorations. For the first time in 2 years I was able to put up my Christmas decorations. (Ok, so the year Biv Biv was deployed I could have put them up, but I was boycotting Christmas til he got home.) I really enjoyed having the tree up this year and the wonderful feeling I had when I could sit in the living room with just the Christmas tree on. Peaceful. (I enjoyed it so much our tree is still up...shhh...don't tell my subconscious 'cause I have a rule about decorations. The tree should be promptly stowed away prior to Jan 1st.)

9. Sibs Wknd @ OU! I was able to visit Katie at school for sibs wknd her senior year at college. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed our time spent together and I think she did too, minus that crazy cough/cold/plague like thing she had. (She sounded terrible.)

10. Refrigerator Art. Ok so this isn't so much an event, but it is fun. The neighbor children draw us pictures and we post them on our refrigerator. (I received a drawing from the half sister for my birthday, but that technically happened in 2010.) It is kinda fun to have something other than our magnet collection on our fridge. We rather enjoy our fridge art without the cost and patience it requires to raise our own children to create fridge art.

We'll see what happens in 2010. I know I have a few things I'm already looking forward to like a potential visit from Katie (Mancub, you better intern in Atlanta, ok?) and a visit from "the boys" for spring break. I can hardly wait for that. Is it March yet? (I know, I know it will be soon.) Also, I'm really hoping 2010 brings me a full-time job. I'm kinda bored with this part-time stuff at the moment (thankful I have a job, but just getting too much unpaid time). We'll see how it goes though. Biv Biv and I rather enjoyed our year together minus USMC interruptions...but...well y'all know ;)

Christmas Tradition

2009-12-25T10:48:00.003-06:00

My favorite Christmas tradition is one that is no longer an active tradition. I can't remember exactly which year this ceased to be our tradition, but it was bound to end at some point as I grew older...and to be honest I'm not sure what year it actually started, I just remember the tradition itself and the fun memories made as a result.

When I was a child my dad worked, a lot. He worked a swing shift as an electrician for the Timken Company so if dad wasn't at work, he was trying to sleep. Thank goodness he could sleep through anything, even a limb falling off a tree right outside the bedroom window, because in our house full of girls we weren't exactly quiet. My dad also ran a lawn care business as well. So he was busy with that from about March to November each year mowing lawns, landscaping, trimming shrubs, raking leaves and cleaning out gutters. Shrub trimming days, landscaping days, and leaf days were when I was able to go along and "help," but those are stories for another blog. The previous explanation was to give you an idea of just how busy my dad was when I was a child. He tried to make time as often as possible for the big events~concerts, field days, and soccer games. I can't recall him ever missing one of those events...he may have, but not often enough for me to remember.

Anyhow, this tradition started as a way for my dad to spend time one on one with each of his girls. So one Christmas it became a tradition for my mom to give dad a list of a few items she would like, things that my sisters and I could pick out. One by one we each had our date with dad to go pick out a gift for mom. Our date consisted of a meal typically lunch or dinner depending on dad's schedule and what time of day we went out and then we went shopping for mom's present. I remember dad reading me the things on the list and asking which one I would like to find for her. I always picked the most practical item on the list, something like slippers or pajamas. Always. Even now I pick out practical gifts for everyone. If it doesn't really have a purpose you won't be getting it from me. I'm just a bit too practical I guess. It was fun to have dad time though. It also depended on his work schedule and how much sleep he had as to how far from home you were allowed to go to shop. Sometimes you only made it into town (Salem), but I remember one year I was allowed to go all the way to the mall (Canton). I think I may have made him eat at McDonald's each time we had our date too. I love McDonald's french fries. He would tolerate eating there just because he knew it was my favorite. Also, as part of the tradition we would rotate out who was able to go shopping first with dad. I don't remember why it was so special to go first each year, but it was. Special memories.

There is one particular year that each of us remember for no particular reason other than the story behind the gift bought for mom. It was Maggie who purchased this gift with dad. They went shopping at the Joshua Tree in Salem, which is no longer there, and Maggie found her gift. It was an old style glass Christmas ornament of an angel in a white gown. She found it and said something to the effect of "oh it's beautiful, Mommy must have this." So they bought it for mom. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, but "mommy must have this" so it was cherished. A few years later (I can't remember when exactly or how) the ornament was broken. Each of us was saddened by its loss and the search began to find another ornament like it. A few have been purchased that were similar, but nothing else has been found that was even close until this year. This year my mother found what she calls "the closest thing to the angel ornament I've ever found." I think I'll stop my search this year since she has found something close. Maggie always picked the fun gifts. She still does. I think Katie falls somewhere in the middle of practicality and fun.

I've thought of this special tradition many times this Christmas season and I do every year. I think it is a very special tradition that should I ever have children I hope to continue with them. Special time to spend time with a parent. (In talking with my mom about some of the details of this tradition she said that she thinks it was started as something she read by Lou Dobbs [scratch that, not sure where Lou Dobbs came from but it was Dr. James Dobson] about dads spending time with their daughters, just the two of them and how important it was that dads spend time with their daughters. It is important. That relationship between father and daughter influences so many things you don't even think about or realize until much later in life.) I'm glad we had this tradition growing up. In talking with my sisters I've realized it wasn't just special to me, it was special to each of us. It is one of the biggest significant memories we have of time spent with our dad. We don't remember the details so much as just spending time with him. Just the two of us.

Merry Christmas! I hope all of you enjoy time spent with your families this year. Also, please take a moment to say a prayer for our military families and their family members serving far from home this Christmas so that we can enjoy time with our family.

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimney With Care

2009-12-12T13:48:00.002-06:00

Besides my Christmas ornaments that hold dear, sweet memories I also love my stocking. I cherish my stocking because my Granny made it for me. I have never had a store bought stocking. It has always been my handmade with love stocking that "Santa" filled with goodies. Typically I would get some kind of candy-I especially remember a life savers book in my stocking each year-and some kind of necklace or piece of jewelry, socks and/or underwear, and a few other random things in my stocking. Also, the things that go in my stocking were always wrapped. I was surprised last year when Dave put unwrapped things in my stocking...and it was just candy. Apparently that is the Bivins tradition. Dave received some candy, but he also had some undershirts in his stocking. Funny how families have their own way of celebrating. Wonder what he will put in my stocking this year? Hmmmm...

Anyhow, back to my original thoughts on this topic. My handmade with love stocking. My sisters also have stockings made by Granny. Katie has one with her name on it, but Maggie's stocking has hearts on it because it was a second stocking I had received from Granny. Maggie was born after Granny had passed away so the heart stocking became Maggie's. We didn't have a chimney in the house we grew up in so our stocking hung on the wall. One year my Grandma and Grandpa made a Santa shaped board with hooks for our stockings to hang from. I loved it! (I kinda miss seeing it.) From that year on our stocking would hang from the Santa. So our first year of marriage I decided that Dave needed a stocking. It couldn't be a store bought stocking, it just wouldn't do. My mom guided me through the process of making Dave a stocking. This was the example we had to guide our project...

Our first step was choosing some Christmas print fabrics. I found a few I liked, but wasn't really liking all of my options. Since the USMC is such a big part of our life I also chose a patriotic blue with stars print. (There is also a coordinating red and white print as well.)

Once we had gathered and chosen our supplies it was time to actually create the stocking. (We do have some excess supplies that have been saved "just in case" we decide to add to our family with some human children and I need to make them a stocking. Their stocking would then match their father's. I just creeped myself out. Pausing for just a minute...Ok, moving on.)

It took several hours. I fought with the sewing machine just a bit on sewing things straight. I had to rip out a few seams since I like to sew crooked. Finally it was time for the finishing details...

This is mine.

This is Dave's.

His says Bivins b/c that is what I called him for the first 2-3 yrs of our relationship. Now he gets called Dave, Biv Biv, and Bivins. Did you also notice the turtle? Yeah, turtle is his nickname from high school so everything we own has been invaded with turtles.

This is where our stockings currently reside. I have little stocking hangers I bought at the dollar store a year or two ago, but we don't have a mantle or a shelf for them to sit. I must look into finding/buying/making a stocking hanger for the future.

The pictures above our stockings are something my mother-in-law made for us one Christmas. (I think it would have been Christmas 2006 when we had just moved to NC.) One has pics of Dave when he was younger at Christmas and the other has pics of me when I was younger at Christmas. Mine has one picture in particular that I love. It was taken at my Nana's house and my sisters and I are in pjs in her dining room. Katie and Maggie are playing with the nativity scene she had set up on the window seat and I am seated on the floor next to them wrapped in a blanket reading to them. Love it.

Not Just Cats

2009-12-10T10:45:00.003-06:00

If you say they're just cats-you're wrong. They are cats, but they are ornery cats. Most people don't really believe me when I say I have my hands full at the moment so here are a few stories to let you know only a bit of what goes on in this house of 2 cats. Most of these stories center around Zeus, but Zeke is just as ornery.

Christmas Tree~Each December (ok, really only 3 Decembers now) I worry about what my cats are going to to do the tree and/or my other decorations. The very first year we put up a tree Zeus decided to chew on the lights. Seriously. Both of them decided to try and sleep in the tree, which may not have been a bad idea, but we bought a pre-lit inexpensive tree and so the branches weren't real sturdy. They bent. A lot. Some branches still have not made it back to their original height, but with careful and artistic arrangement the tree doesn't look like it has been attacked by two cats.

This year I discovered my darling Zeus has been snacking on my tree skirt. I love my tree skirt! It was one of the things we received as a present at the Ohio wedding reception. I couldn't have picked out a prettier tree skirt if I tried. (It is red silky type material with silvery trim and little flowery bead designs every so often across it.) Well, my little orange furball has been snacking on the beads. I heard snap snap and looked down just in time to see him cut the thread with his claw and swallow a bead. Grrrrr! So I swatted him on the head. He looks at me and moves on to the next bead. So I squirted him with the squirt bottle and he ran. I won that battle, although I think he may be winning the war as fewer beads are left on the tree skirt. My mom was highly concerned about Zeus' digestive abilities and the beads. Please don't worry they are very small beads so he should be fine and if he isn't I've decided he shall just suffer as punishment for eating my tree skirt. (It should be noted that if he was truly suffering I would do something about it...but for now since he is not suffering I say he can explode for all I care.) It was after this story that my mother said "you don't have cats, you have toddlers." Yes. I do, very furry toddlers.

What is that noise? - A few weeks ago I was enjoying my day off quite nicely. I had cleaned a little bit, done some laundry, emptied the dishwasher, and had just settled down on the couch to watch a movie when I hear "bang, bang, bang." (Not like gunshots, but like someone beating on something.) I thought "what are those neighbor kids up to now?" because they were out playing in the yard. I hear bang, bang, bang again. Hmmm...now that sounds like one of my cats is trying to get into the childlocked cabinets. Sure enough I get up and see Zeke batting at one of the cabinet doors. I am just about to yell at him when I see an orange paw dart out in the small space between the door and the cabinet. Zeke was apparently trying to help Zeus out of the cabinet. Zeus had climbed in while I wasn't paying attention when I was putting dishes away. Silly Zeus.

Zeus & The Water ~ Zeus loves to play in water. He's a bit daft in case you didn't know from the two previous stories. The automatic water bowl is a constant source of entertainment for Zeus, especially when it has just been filled. He loves to try and stop the water from filling up the bowl and in the process can soak a floor pretty well. (Their water bowl now sits on a towel to prevent this.) Well, he has also discovered our bathroom sink. You simply must watch the video...(facebook users must view original post to get the video)

Now he will hop up on the sink and flurf at you to turn the water on so he can play. Ugh.

Vet Trips ~ Zeke & Zeus made their yearly visit to the vet yesterday. Zeke now weighs almost 17 lbs and Zeus weighs almost 14lbs. They are rather big cats. They rival the size of most small breed dogs. They only go to the vet for their yearly vaccinations. They didn't even see the vet himself and our total bill was $248 for six shots (3 each) and 3 months of flea protection (6 vials of Revolution). It was fun trying to get the boys gathered up and to the vet. It is a two parent job because the carriers we bought when they were kittens aren't real sturdy when it comes to a 14 or 17 pound cat so they make the trip with harnesses and leashes. (Even in carriers it would be a two parent job b/c you can only safely carry one carrier at a time.) So I got their harnesses and leashes on and took them one by one to the truck. They sat side by side on the passenger seat the whole way to the vet's office. Dave followed behind about 5 minutes later in his vehicle because he had to go to class shortly after our visit. He wasn't there when I got to the office so I juggled holding 2 cats and my purse on the way into the office. (They don't really walk on a leash...it is more to ensure they don't run off.) The poor boys were very disgruntled at being carried in such a way. Zeus meowed as soon as we entered the office (that oh no this isn't good kind of meow) and I told him to hush. When I set him down he immediately hid under a chair. Zeke followed right behind him, but not before they tried to get me tangled up in their leashes. Luckily, Dave arrived and he took over one cat while I had the other. They got their shots, we paid the bill, and then the boys got to wait in the car while Dave and I had lunch before his class. (It was a nice day, a balmy 59 degrees or so, and I opened the window a bit for them.) They were grumpy anyhow so waiting in the car only made them more grumpy. (They are very social cats so being kept away from visiting angers them.) I'm just glad I don't have to juggle taking them to the vet again for another year...barring any digestive issues with Zeus. So far so good.

A Really Good Day

2009-12-05T21:11:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a really good day. Dave and I both happened to have the day off and we didn't have any obligations at all. Days like those are rare. Mostly because we typically have a to do list a mile long when we have a day off together.

We started the day by sleeping in. We both actually slept in, another rare occurrence because Dave rarely sleeps late. It was so nice. We finally got out of bed and watched an episode of LOST. We finished watching the first season on Netflix. (I have seen a few episodes here and there and Dave watched all of season one when he was deployed with the MEU.) Then Dave went to change the oil in one of the vehicles while I decided to shower and get ready for the day. Our next stop was BassPro Shops to pick up Dave's paycheck and then off to the bank to get it cashed. We decided it was time to stop for dinner at El Cazador before heading up to Trussville. In Trussville we went to Best Buy because Dave has some reward coupons to use. We meandered around TJMaxx as well and I found a clock and two more things to finish up the redecorated bathroom. (The only thing it still needs is a curtain for the odd sized window. I'm going to have to sew one. I must sew one soon...) We hit up PetSmart to get some goodies for the boys. They needed a new scratch box, some treats, nail clippers, and some food. It was really wonderful to just meander around without any real time crunch.

We gave the boys their new scratch box when we got home. Zeus absolutely loved the catnip we sprinkled in it too. He decided he loves to sit on the scratch box and sniff it. Poor dear.

About 11pm or so I decided to finally put up our Christmas tree. I had so much fun decorating it. This is the first time in two years I have decorated our tree. (I boycotted a tree the year Dave was deployed.) I thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping the ornaments from many years ago and those from the recent past. I would exclaim with joy "cookie monster, oh how I missed you" and "yay, the butterfly ornaments" and "oh, the turtles ornaments." I decided to take a few pictures of some of my absolute favorite Christmas ornaments that I look forward to seeing each year.

My First Christmas

I love this ornament because the bear comes out of the cradle. I loved to play with this little bear. My mom has stories I am sure. I remember getting into trouble for stealing the bear out of the cradle.

Rudolph

My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Dickey made this for me. She was one of my favorite teachers.

Mittens!

I have a thing for mittens...I love them. All kinds of mittens, even mittens attached by a string. I admired these mittens on both my mother's and my grandma's Christmas trees. When my grandma heard how much I love them she gave me a set from her tree and I treasure them. (Actually, she gave them to a boyfriend of mine at the time to surprise me.) One of the mittens has a penny in it. It was how I knew which pair belonged to me when my set hung on my mom's tree.

Red, White & Blue Heart

I know this is a newer addition to our collection, but I can't quite recall how long we have had it. There is also an eagle with an olive branch that matches it. I am 99% certain Mrs. B bought them for us our first year in NC, but my memory can't quite remember. I love it because it, along with so many other ornaments on our tree, remind me of our time spent in active duty USMC life. It also reminds me to pray for those currently serving-here and farther away-and their families.

This is what out tree looks like this year...

Shortly after I finished decorating our tree I realized it had begun snowing outside. So we rushed outside to play while it lasted. God must have known I needed that snowy reminder to make it feel more like home here. .oO(Where I grew up a December without snow is rare. It happens every couple of years or so, but not too often.) So it was a really, really good day.

News of the Day

2009-12-03T01:45:00.003-06:00

It is 1:45AM according to the pc clock. Why am I still awake? WHY!? Eeek. Good thing I have a closing shift tomorrow or else I would be in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Here are some random thoughts I had about posting as my status for Facebook at this lovely hour, but decided to blog instead.

#1. The number of people I know in the married without human children group is growing smaller by the day it seems. (Or in some cases the unammarried or divorced without kids group members too.) My friend Anna and I are trying to give each other some moral support with our "we're not ready for kids/it would be crazy to have kids right now" issues. .oO(Oh how I miss my Anna who lives in Savannah.)

#2. Headline of the Day: AMC Theaters is banning outside snacks from their theaters. When in the world did this become news? I thought outside snacks were always outlawed in the theater. The article I read about it was highly enlightening. Apparently people decide it is a good idea to take Burger King, Taco Bell, or celery sticks into a movie. What? Celery sticks? You mean you eat those on purpose? Oh right, anyhow...back to the issue at hand. Really this is news people? Oh my.

#3. Another Headline of the Day: Obama is upping troop numbers in Afghanistan. Oh this brings a bit of fear to my heart for those troops being sent. Say your prayers people, every time you see a headline about this say a quick prayer for those being sent, being prepared to go, those there ad last but certainly not least those left behind to wait and wonder. And still, knowing all that I know I still have the gall to secretly wonder if it will mean the USMC recalls Dave. .oO(And I get a little excited and then I think "WHAT??" What is wrong w/you?) ...I just want him to be happy. {Huge sigh}

If you already read the note on Facebook about things you WON'T see in the news you can skip this last part, but I felt it fitting to include in light of #3. These are the kinds of things that make a Marine happy and are considered all part of the job, nothing unusual about this at all. (It was originally posted in a newsletter from grunt.com and made me smile...and cry a little so grab a tissue.)

2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines
Messages from the CO

28 October 2009

Sometime tonight our first main body flight should be departing Manas Air Force Base in Kyrgyzstan in route to Hawaii. They will be followed, hopefully in short order, by the remainder of our main body flights as we return home. We are making every effort to communicate with our personnel in Kaneohe to provide as up to the minute information as possible regarding flight manifests and times. Occasionally higher priority missions result in reassignments or flight changes, please be assured that we will make every effort to get that information to Kaneohe for distribution as quickly as possible.

This is a bit of an odd update I'm afraid. It isn't my intention to talk about Afghanistan or our mission here, but instead to address just what incredible men your Marines and Sailors are. I doubt that I will ever be able to express the extent of the respect and admiration I have for your loved ones in this Battalion. I can use words like dedication, courage, honor but in the end words don't quite cut it. So let me tell you what I have seen:

I saw a LCpl bring in his buddy's gear following a horrible IED strike and practically beg to go back out so he could get back in the fight.

I saw a Marine leaning out over the edge of a roof in the middle of a firefight, leaving himself in the open purposefully in order to tempt an enemy RPG shooter to break cover in order to end him.

I've seen numerous Marines standing a lonely post in the pre- dawn hours, keeping watch carefully and correctly even though no one would know if they cut a corner, but doing it right because they were responsible for their buddies' lives.

I watched a Sailor calmly grab his gear and run out in the open to a casualty who needed him, he never asked "How bad is he hurt?" or "How much enemy fire is there?", the only thing he asked was "Where's the casualty?" then he went. Because Corpsmen always come when they are needed, always.

I watched 19 and 20 year old men, who a mere few years before were undoubtedly typical self centered teenagers, earnestly try to make a young child who has only known poverty and war smile. I even saw a very imposing Marine in this Battalion who, frankly, scares the heck out of me, see a little girl off to the side of a group of kids with nothing in her hands so he very seriously went around saying "Somebody give me a teddy-bear, who has a F-ing teddy bear?" until he found one and presented it to her. The only person there with a bigger smile than the little girl was the Marine. He then went right back to chewing on his squad to keep their dispersion and move faster.

I watched FST medical personnel try every desperate measure to keep a good Marine with us, to the point of opening his chest and massaging his heart for what seemed like an interminable time. At the same time I saw a line of Marines and Sailors and Soldiers forming outside to donate blood, we had enough donors to transfuse all of Hannibal's elephants but they all wanted to do something and at that time the only thing they could do was give some of their blood.

I watched an NCO very patiently sum up all the complex nuances of counter-insurgency warfare to a young Marine while both were being pummeled with stones and physically knocking intruders off our wall from a mob threatening to breach the walls of our police station; "They want us to shoot them, so then they can make us all look like bad guys." So we didn't shoot, even though we had more than sufficient justification, and in the end what could have been a horrible incident broadcast around the world actually became a positive as the locals started talking about the restraint of "their Marines" and became angry with the rioters for their "un-Islamic" behavior.

I watched a Marine, with excruciating slowness and superhuman patience, lead an Afghan Policeman through a patrol brief. And I saw the pride in the ANP officer's face when he lead his patrol out the entry control point, in his town and in front of his people, with the Marines trailing along behind in case he needed some help. I also saw an Afghan Policeman's face when I told him that the Marines thought highly of him and had told me that "Spider" (his nickname) was a good guy to have alongside you in a fight. He sputtered a little bit then said something short and stared at me very intensely, the linguist told me "He says he is just so very proud that the US Marines think that". Once Spider was sure that I understood that he meant it, he strutted away like he had just won the world's highest honor. And perhaps he had.

I know that for the rest of my life I will cherish this period in which I had the honor to spend my days among such incredible men. And I know that it has been your sacrifices that have made it possible. I thank you for allowing me this time with your loved ones.

We are coming home.

~Welcome Home 2/3! Job well done. ~

That is all. I have nothing else to say at this time.

Dreaming Big

2009-11-24T12:04:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm dreaming big. I was searching for jobs the other day and found one with the Department of Education that looked like it might be fun. The job is located in the Office of Non-Public Education. One of the requirements was a year of teaching. Been there, done that. So I procrastinated, I mean worked very hard (yeah, battling self doubt) and submitted my application. I spent a day getting my resume in tip top shape. I spent another day answering 3 questions that you had up to 8,000 characters to respond. (I think my longest answer had 3,000 characters including the spaces so I hope they are ok with that.) I submitted my application online Sunday night and faxed my transcript yesterday. I'm dreaming big here because I'm not certain they will think I am the most qualified for the job, but I thought I would never know unless I tried, right? (I'm taking the fact that I heard the song Shimmer by Shawn Mullins playing on the radio at Office Max while I sent my fax as a good sign. It is the #1 song on my blog playlist.) So I'm dreaming big and hoping it pays off. I'm hoping they at least want to interview me. Eek. That would be scary...certainly I could wow them in an interview, right? Right. Go away self doubt! So if I've seemed a little preocuppied lately it was because this oppurtunity has been looming at the back of my mind for several days now. I've done all I can do and now I must wait. (This could be a long wait though. The last govt job I applied for took 6 months for them to send me a letter stating that they decided not to fill the position.) So here's to hoping it doesn't take that long for feedback.

Happy Belated 24th Birthday Husband!

2009-11-24T11:15:00.002-06:00

I've been a bit busy the last few days so I haven't been able to get the birthday blog ready, it is a day late. So in keeping with the tradition last year I am going to try and think up 24 reasons why I Love my husband or things you may not know about him. It should be noted these are in no particular order either.

1. He wanted to meet Sarah Palin yesterday at Books-a-Million to have his book signed. She is apparently a hot politician. (I think he just likes the fact she totes a gun sometimes.)

2. He did get his book signed, but did not meet Mrs. Palin. He ended up giving his book to a friend to have them get it signed for him and was perfectly happy with that.

3. He supports me in my dreams, no matter how big or small.

4. He bought a cowboy hat last night and wore it in to work today. It made me laugh when he came to give me my kiss goodbye with it on.

5. He keeps trying to buy me a gun. (I don't really want to tote one around, but he just wants me to be protected is all. Sweet really.)

6. He knows I am the organizer of stuff. I know where things are kept. He asked me yesterday where his black sweater vest might be located and I had it for him in less than 3 minutes. He wouldn't have found it that quickly and may have given up the search since it was in a box of winter type clothes.

7. He will wear a sweater vest. It looks handsome on him.

8. He always has a weapon, even if it a plastic sword that had the olive for your drink, at hand because you never know when someone might attack.

9. He loves to eat at Mellow Mushroom. Yummy. We had a birthday dinner there last night.

10. He always has to be somewhere early. If we get there on time we're late. (I'm always on time or late.)

11. He loves to socialize with friends. (It makes me less of a hermit sometimes.)

12. He has been obsessed with anything pomegranate lately. Juice, the actual fruit, chocolate covered pomegranate seeds, and of course pomegranate alcoholic drinks. (They're pretty yummy. We mix vodka, lemonade, and Cranberry Pomegranate juice and maybe some other secret ingredient.)

13. No matter how many times I tell him I will not write his papers for English class he still asks me. (No no no no no. Academic integrity people!)

14. If I needed to gather a militia for something then he would be the head of my militia. (Not sure why I would need a militia, but anyhow...)

15. He told me last night that having a book and never reading it is like buying a gun and never firing it. It's just wrong he says. LoL. (Having a book and never reading it is a waste though.)

16. He was more excited than I was to wear his Max suit for Where the Wild Things Are.

17. He has more product that any man I know. And by product I mean body wash, shampoo, cologne, shaving cream, etc. I think I started buying more in self defense, lol. He always smells good though.

18. He can cook. He cooks yummy, yummy things too. He will just throw stuff together and it is yummy.

19. Did I mention he cooks?! (I know it is cheating to use this twice, but I think it should count for two because it makes my life so much easier sometimes when he cooks.)

20. Our house always smells good too because he buys candles, air freshener automatic sprayers, scented plug-ins, and anything he can find that smells good. (Our apartment in DC had plug-ins in it before we even moved our stuff in.)

21. He will play video games for hours, especially if his Marine buddies are online to play games together. It is fun to listen to them coordinate tactics.

22. He would love to live in our old DC apartment too. (Seriously people, I think we're both nuts about this apartment.)

23. He's starting to act like a member of my family. I can't go into further detail for fear of self incrimination, but we're a crazy group of girls who have enticed him to the dark side, lol.

24. He feels that Arlington National Cemetary is a peaceful place. I totally agree. There is a silent peace there that I haven't felt anywhere else.

Musical Band Aid

2009-11-14T23:17:00.002-06:00

(I'm going to apologize now for my typos. I've indulged in 3 doses of a tasty alcoholic beverage and my brain and my fingers are no longer on the same page.)

I'm listening to my blog playlist and it makes me happy. I said in my previous blog post that one of the songs was like a musical band aid, but really the whole playlist is like a band aid. Each song on my playlist plays a different role in the healing process. Some of them simply cover the wound, others are like a salve put on the wound to make it feel better, some are like the feeling you get when you get to take the band aid off when the wound it healed, and yet others are simply the fun you are having before you end up wounded. (Wow, I sound really damaged don't I? I guess as I reminded my husband the other day "we're all broken, just in different ways.") I've been a bit obsessed with the concept of a musical band aid all day. I'm weird, it's ok.

Darnit...I forgot what else. Hmmm...

Things That Make Me Happy:
1. Thankgsiving is only a week or so away! Let's hear it for a guilt free indulgence in food.

2. That also means Dave's birthday is only a week or so away...must go shopping...

3. I'll get to bust out my Christmas purse soon! (I live a life governed by my own silly rules. See later in the blog post for more abou this.) But, the purse is reserved for the time period after Thanksgiving until Januaryish. This is so that I don't wear out the specialness of my pretty red Christmas purse by using it all year. It gives me something to look forward to.

4. I get to put my Christmas decorations up. Oddly enough I am excited about this. Typically the holiday season is merely suffered through (with the exception of family gatherings...I am sooooo weird, right?) but I'm kind of looking forward to getting all my stuff out this year. It has been two years since I have decorated my house for Christmas. (I boycotted decorating the year Dave was deployed. It was just too crazy and I was headed to Ohio for Christmas anyhow. Last year we got out a few ornaments, but most things stayed in storage.) I'm especially excited to get out my stocking and Dave's stocking~they're both handmade.

5. Dave has been having fun with his new video game. Last night he was able to game online with some of his Marine buddies. It wasn't quite the same as having them all in my living room, but it was still fun to listen to them play and talk to each other. (I cherish the fact that these boys included me in their fun times during all of their gatherings. I guess the fact that I wasn't all drama queeny with them made it easier to include me.) I am really hoping that come March (Spring Break time) I am struggling with figuring out how to rearrange all my furniture to make room for a houseful of boys (and some of their ladies). It would be so wonderful. I know they would all love to be here too for some Marine time. We have one confirmed reservation for two so far.

6. Getting to know my Alabama girls just a little bit better each week. I'm so blessed to have this group of ladies. Really blessed. I can't wait til our New Moon midnight premier adventure this week.

My Silly Rules: I have very strict personal rules about some things. Some are rational, others not so much.

~Pumpkin Rolls may only be made between the months of November and January.

~The Christmas tree & decorations may not make an appearance in my home until after Thanksgiving. Not a minute before. No excpetions.

~The Christmas purse may not make an appearance until after Thanksgiving either. This yeas it has been tough to hold off on bringing it out of hiding, but I keep reminding myself Thanksgiving will be here and gone before I know it. I simply love my red purse. After 4 years of love it may need to retire this year and be replaced, but we'll see if it can make it.

~You can only eat chili when it is really, really cold otherwise it is a waste.

~No gathering is complete without a camera. (Except Friday Nights, we're too busy having fun to pause for pics.)

~Cats do not belong on tables and counters (although they aren't convinced and climb there when I'm not awake/home) and no one should know you have cats until they see them. (Which they see them the minute they walk in the door 'cause ours are friendly.)

~Books may not be written in (unless it is pencil), they may not be dog-eared, the cover may not be bent back thus creasing the spine, and you simply cannot throw a book away-it must be passed on to another good home. (Seriously, I sound like a librarian-right? I had books that received water/mold damage once and it nearly killed me to throw them away.) Ugh.

I know there are more, but those are the ones I can think of right now. I'm off to bed.

Week Update

2009-11-14T00:37:00.003-06:00

There have been many points I have thought about blogging this week, but just didn't get a chance to sit and let the words pour out. So here is my week in review.

Monday~Dave and I spent the day together. It was wonderful. We didn't go anywhere 'til about 4pm and that was a mad dash to Wal-Mart to get some snack foods. Noah and Tyler came over for dinner, drinks, and a few rounds of Apples to Apples. We had a lot of fun. We really need to schedule these gatherings more often.

Tuesday~At midnight Dave picked up his copy of Modern Warfare 2 and that has been all I have heard since then. Also, it was the 234th birthday of the USMC. Wonderful.

Wednesday~Another day spent together because he didn't have school since it was Veteran's Day. I was lucky and didn't have to work. We spent the day sitting on our respective couches. I watched tv on the pc and he played more Modern Warfare 2. (Yes, like any good vet mine was playing war games.) We then went out for dinner and did some actual grocery shopping. We tried to take advantage of Applebee's free dinner for vets, but there were way too many people there se we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. (I would love to get a glimpse at their profits for that day though by just offering vets a free meal. Other restaurant parking lots were nearly empty and people were circling the Applebee's lot looking for a space.)

Thursday~I cleaned the house a bit. Then I headed to work.

Friday~Hmmm...laundry and work. No Friday night tonight, which was good b/c I didn't have to feel bad for working.

This has been a pretty good week. I've been able to spend some quality time with my hsuband, something I don't get to do as much as I would like. (I know, I know...at least he isn't deployed.) Seriously though, I can't believe how difficult it is sometimes to schedule some "us" time. I almost think it was easier to schedule that time when he was active duty. Sad, huh? Oh well, such is life sometimes.

I know there were other things I was going to blog...but darnit I can't remember what it was so I guess I'll go to bed now. Hope everyone had a good week!

P.S. I finally added a playlist to my blog. These are songs that take me to another place, time, memory, or simply make me happy. Shimmer is one of my favorite songs "We're born to shimmer, we're born to shine. We're born to radiate. We're born to live, we're born to love..." Beautiful message. Lullaby is another favorite b/c it helped heal some harsh wounds..."everything is gonna be alright" and it makes me mellow out, kinda like a musical band aid. (Not the band aides we had in high school band, but the "I'm stuck on band aid brand cause band aid's stuck on me" kind of band aid.) So listen friends to my lovely music. (If you're reading on FB you'll need to "view original post" to listen.)

Happy 234th Birthday Marines!

2009-11-10T00:52:00.004-06:00

I love Marines. I'm just sayin'. Today is the 234th birthday for the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps was born on November 10, 1775 in Tun Tavern Philadelphia, PA (the city of brotherly love-how fitting). I have read several lists of "reasons to love the Corps" and while I find myself smiling, laughing, and tearing up at the list I thought I would make my own list of reasons why I love the Marines Corps and "my boys." (But just in case you're wondering what the "official" list says you can click HERE to read it.

This is a pic of Bivins, Volkov, and Combs during their MEU deployment in 2007. (Spain)

1. One word ladies~Blues! A Marine in his blues is doubly handsome as a Marine in cammies.

2. Two words ladies~white trousers! {Sigh} A Marine in a blues blouse and white trousers is just plain HOT! Whew! (Bivins is the hottest of course, but you can't deny that all Marines look more handsome in white trousers.)

3. Evening Parades (Friday nights at 8th & I, Marine Barracks Washington late May-late Aug) They are an amazing display of the Marines Corps. 8th and I Marines are often known as the pretty boys of the USMC and aren't always taken seriously in the fleet, but man can they put on a show. (And let's not forget that if a Marine is posted somewhere there is a reason!)

4. Sunset Parades at the Marine Corps War Memorial ~ Another amazing display of USMC pride, ceremony, and honor. I have only had the honor of seeing one parade, but it is something I will never forget.

5. Brotherly Love~ A Marine loves his fellow Marines like brothers and as the wife of a Marine I know that should I ever need anything from them, "my boys" would be there to help me in a heartbeat 'cause that is just how Marines are. (Ill never forget that as tears were running down my face as I watched the bus leave the parking lot with my Marine and his buddies-half of my family- another Marine-one I knew- who was kept home from deployment hugged me and said "if you need anything call me.")

6. Family~The USMC is like a family. We all serve a purpose in the family and are there to help each other out no matter if we have known you for 5 minutes or 5 years. Even those of us who have left the active duty family still experience the family love of the USMC.

7. Corps Values~The Corps has values, thus Marines have values. Honor. Courage. Commitment. 'Nuff said.

8. Marines run to the sound of the guns. ~If there is a fight to be had a Marine is ready to go and already in it before it starts.

9. It is all true.~I've said it before...everything I have ever heard about Marines is true. All the good and all the bad, but I love them anyhow.

10. History~Marines live, breath, eat and sleep their history. They can tell you all kinds of random facts about the Marine Corps. They know that their part of Marine Corps history will be taught to Marines in the future. (The more I read about the making of Marines, the Marine Corps, and Marines at War the more I am amazed and awed.)

11. Never Forgotten~As part of that living, breathing, eating and sleeping their history no one is forgotten. Marines remember each other and those who came before. No one gets left behind either. It is part of Marines taking care of their own.

12. Once a Marine, Always a Marine~A Marine is born after bootcamp. One a boy/man becomes a Marine he is always a Marine. You can't ever change him back to what he used to be before the Marine Corps. (This is what causes a lot of problems in relationships that begin before the USMC...sometimes it is hard to adjust to the Marine who emerges from bootcamp. I don't have that problem.) I don't know why you would want to try to change a Marine to something he was before the Corps. (Although this is also what makes life after the Corps so challenging too.)

13. Crazy~Marines are crazy. Anytime you get more than one Marine gathered hilarity will ensue. Especially in alcohol is involved. I also can't promise they won't break something, set something on fire, shoot something, offend someone, get in a fight, or any number of other things that may cause a problem. (I have many stories and some of them I have blogged about. Others I have suppressed.)

14. The mind of a LCpl~ Oh the mind of a LCpl. I know it well and yet I don't know it. I have even started having some LCpl thoughts at times. Perhaps this is my own form of PTSD from life after the USMC. A LCpl just has a different perspective on life... (much less annoying than the perspective of a boot.)

15. Perfection~The Marines have rules about things. They follow them or they suffer the consequences. One of them is that their uniforms are perfect (no ip's here). An example...Bivins tried on his blues blouse tonight just for fun and when he had all the buttons done he began to fix and straighten them so they appeared just right. It was such a Marine thing to do.

16. Ooo-rah!

I have many, many more reasons to love Marines and the Corps...

In case you wanted to watch the Commandant's USMC Birthday Message...

17. Valor.

Happy Birthday Marines!

Walk in Closet

2009-11-09T15:20:00.002-06:00

Spoiled. Tremendously spoiled. Our first apartment has the most amazing closets. I had places to hide all kinds of junk (I mean valuable stuff) that I didn't have to see it lying all over my house. We even had a closet that we saved all of the boxes from our move so that we would have them when it came time to move again. (Such is life in the military. You are always prepared for the next move.) I miss those closets. Tremendously. They were ginormous. I would move back to that apartment any day. Yes, I certainly would. Although the closets were a huge selling point that apartment had other selling points, like its proximity to DC. {Sigh.}

Our walk in closet in our bedroom was my favorite. I really miss it. I remember how all of my clothes (and Dave's) fit nicely in that closet. I could go hide in that closet whenever I needed "space" and find my sane self again. There are times when I travel to that closet in my mind and it sort of helps. (Yes, I'm crazy. I'm ok with it. I think Bivins is too.) Oh to have a big closet... If and when we ever own a house I just want a big closet. I really love closets. {Sigh}

Buckle Your Seatbelt

2009-11-06T15:33:00.003-06:00

It's going to be a bumpy ride....through the ramblings of my mind.

I'm rereading the Twilight saga...currently on Breaking Dawn. I didn't read through it quite as fast this time and it is evoking all kinds of emotions and memories I had buried. Buried securely for a reason. Since I read the books at night before falling asleep it leaves for some strange and restless dreams. I've been waking up feeling like I'm in a fog. (Although I take some sinus meds and the fog dissipates.)

Dreams: Had some weird ones lately. The weirdest one I remember though is shoe shopping with my sister Katie. I think we were shopping for shoes for her wedding. (She isn't engaged or getting married anytime soon-as far as I know-so I'm not sure why we were shoe shopping, but we were.) The problem was that we had to find freakishly small open toed stiletto's in white or silver that didn't look like stripper shoes. (The freakishly small must have been my take on the size of Katie's feet. She wear a size 8.5 and is several inches taller than me...I wear a 9.5) I asked her "so where are we starting with this shoe shopping adventure?" She replies "I thought we would go to DSW first and then go from there." I remember sighing and thinking I'd rather be doing something else. Poor Katie. I promise when the time comes to shop for shoes for your wedding that I will work up a little more enthusiasm about it as long as you promise not to make it take allllll day. OK? We'll find the perfect pair of open toed white or silver stiletto shoes to go with your wedding dress with pockets.

Dave's Latest Rumblings: One night this week I awoke to Dave reaching across me towards the table on my side of the bed. I asked "what are you doing?" He says "do you have my gun?" I mumbled some response of "no" and wondered why he was asking me. He then said something about it not being on his side of the bed, but he rolled over and went back to sleep. (Wow. Even if I did have his gun I wasn't about to give it to him when he was sleep talking. The things I manage to survive amaze me, lol.)

Another night this week as I was lying in bed reading Dave wakes up and starts lifting up the edge of my blanket (we each have our own...I'm a blanket hog) and was searching for something. He tells me "when you move I keep hearing something that sounds like the rounds I dropped earlier." So I say "you dropped rounds earlier?" He says "yes, have you seen them?" Uh, nope. (We talked about it in the morning and he said he had no idea what that was about. Me neither.)

Days off: On my days off the previous weeks I haven't accomplished much as far as housework and anything else goes. I managed to watch a few shows online and read. I'd do a bit of laundry or clean a room and that was it. (Dave would come home and say "so what did you accomplish today?) Yesterday I managed to clean our bathroom-scrubbed the toilet, cleaned the tub, scrubbed the sink and counter, cleaned the mirror, and swept and mopped the floor. Then since I already had the bucket and mop out I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. (It makes me crazy! I can clean it and it still looks dirty. Ugh. My OCDness freaks out about it.) I then decided I was going to start reclaiming the flat surfaces in our house. They are all covered with junk. It makes me crazy. I can't stand it. Yet I can't seem to stay motivated long enough to declutter them all. So I managed to focus long enough to clean off the kitchen table. Dave came home and saw the cleaned off table set for dinner and said "did you have too much free time on your hands today?" Ugh. No! I am reclaiming the flat surfaces of our house! Sort of. Hoping that my table stays cleaned off. Eating dinner at the table will help me keep the living room floor clear of crumbs longer.

Perimeter Protection: Remember the floors I mopped? Yeah so does Zeus. He thought it might be fun to take his dirty paws onto my freshly mopped, still wet floors. Not a good idea Zeus. We played a fun game of "keep Zeus out of the kitchen." It involved a lot of yelling ans swatting at Zeus. My mom thought it was hilarious when she heard me stop mid sentence on the phone with her to yell at Zeus "get away from my kitchen floor!!!"

Ft. Hood~Wow. There aren't words for the things we are learning about that situation. Dave and I talked about it a bit last night. I just can't imagine being in the families shoes who have lost someone. I said I think it is one thing when you have said that final goodbye to your loved one deploying and knowing that they might not come home, but knowing you've said that goodbye. I can't imagine them going for their predeployment checkups and stuff and not coming home from that. Granted that isn't the only situation occurring, but it is the one I thought of the minute I heard it was a processing station for the final paperwork and medical stuff before deployment. I pray that the families of all directly involved find peace and I also pray that all those working and living on or near Ft. Hood find peace too. They won't easily put this situation out of their minds.

Hmmm...ok you can unbuckle your seatbelt. The journey is over today.

Living Far Away is Hard

2009-11-02T23:22:00.003-06:00

Living far away from your family is hard (even when you have family really close by too.) I've lived at least a few hours away from my family for many years now. The past four years I have lived at least 6 hrs from my family and 9 hours most recently. Nine hours doesn't seem like a long time does it? Really not more than a days work, but it really is far away when you consider a 9 hour drive. It always seems to me that somewhere is a lot farther away when you add up how many hours it takes to get somewhere.

Most days it isn't too bad living far from my family. I think when things are going well and people are enjoying happy moments it is fun to share in those moments via telephone conversations, e-mails, blogs, facebook, snail mail, and espn (yeah that is what it is). I wish I could be there for those moments (and I make plans to make it home for as many of the big events as I can), but it still tugs at my heart a bit that I can't be there whenever I want.

Some days it is downright difficult to be so far away. This past weekend brought that point glaringly into the forefront of my mind. Saturday I found out the one of my best friends in Ohio lost her mother after a lengthy health battle that spanned a few years. Nope, she isn't a blood relative-but she is my family. I love Chantell like a sister (and I already have a few of those so I'm extra choosy in who I include). We have a special friendship that no matter how long it has been since we've seen each other we can pick right up where we left off. A few weeks ago I knew it might not be long before Chantell would have to bid her mother farewell and I remember waiting intently as my own mother texted me updates about how Chantell's mom was doing in surgery and shortly thereafter. I wanted to be there with my buddy, holding her hand as she patiently waited for news-but the best I could do was sit here miles away, wait and offer my moral support via telephone. It was a long and restless night as I waited to find out if her mom was going to make it through the next 24 hrs. She made it and continued her fight a bit longer, but she finally had to give it up. Her body just couldn't take any more and her daughter is left missing her. I am left missing her and wishing I could be there to support by best friend. I wanted to hop on a plane immediately so I could be there with her. Instead, here I sit thinking of my friend and knowing that no words can make it better, but knowing she knows I support her and would be there if I could.

Also, on Saturday night my own mother was feeling terribly ill. We thought it was the flu, but couldn't quite tell if it was something more severe or not. After several phone calls all around the sisters determined if she wasn't feeling better by Sunday morning she was headed to the hospital whether she liked it or not. (I do mean several calls...Maggie to Katie, Katie to Me, Katie to Dad, Maggie to Dad, Me to Maggie, me to Mom...I think you get the idea...and trying to sort out exactly how mom was feeling, her symptoms, her temperature, etc.) Thankfully she was feeling much better Sunday morning, but once again I was left feeling helpless many miles away.

So yeah, living far away is hard...

Excitement

2009-10-30T21:56:00.003-05:00

I love fall. The beautiful colors, the cooler air, the smell of the great outdoors. Yummy. I also love the upcoming events in the next month. So here is a list of things I am looking forward to:

1) In 11 days the USMC will celebrate another birthday. I love it! Not sure what our plans will be, but I'll find a way to make it special for my Marine. Never did make it to a USMC ball...oh well.

2) Veterans Day is the day after the USMC birthday (which is November 10th btw) and I look forward to celebrating another year with my vet.

3) New Moon premier! (It is the second movie in the Twilight saga if you are unaware.) Been planning on this one for awhile too. I look forward to a night of fun with my Alabama girls. They are my sanity in a place that has taken a lot of getting used to for this Northern girl. I'm so thankful for each of them.

4)Turtle's birthday is coming up and for a few short months he isn't that much younger than me...at least by the numbers anyhow. Better start figuring out a way to make it special.

5)Thanksgiving! I love this holiday (not as much as the 4th of July, but it is still cool) mostly b/c you make a lot of food and you eat and celebrate with friends and family. Ever since we moved away from my blood relatives my friends have become my family and I am happy to say I have family spread across the US at this point. What a lucky girl I am. Truly. This year we have plans to help a friend celebrate his first Thanksgiving as a US citizen. .oO(Wonder if this means another trashcan turkey?)

6) Spring Break 2010!! (March sometime) I can hardly wait. We already have a confirmed reservation from Combs. Wooohooo. I think my dream tradition may become a reality. (I don't know if I want to talk about it just in case it doesn't happen....eeek.) Invites have been sent out to all "my boys" and we have tentative acceptances from a few others. I hope that my boys can gather here in Alabama for Spring Break. Even if we just get Combs here it will be fun, but oh the fun we could have with the whole crew. I already told Bivins I was taking the time that the boys are here off from work. I don't want to miss out on a minute of the fun. I can hardly wait. .oO(Think about the Disneyworld commercials of the kids and parents being "too excited to sleep." Yeah, that will be me when plans are a little more solid and March is a little closer.)

Where the Wild Bivins' Are ~Commentary

2009-10-21T14:15:00.005-05:00

Facebook Readers: Please scroll to the bottom and click on "view original post" so that your reading enjoyment is enhanced by getting the full picture of this post. Facebook doesn't always import links and videos included in my original blog postings. I apologize now for the length of this post. It took two days to create and I became rather verbose.

Ok, many of you know that I have been counting down the days until I could go watch "Where the Wild Things Are" in the theater. Since I saw the first trailer in March I have been reading and viewing anything I can get my hands on about its premier. I became a fan of Where the Wild Things Are Movie on Facebook so that I could see all of the updates. I watched all of the trailers numerous times in sweet anticipation. I was truly excited about this movie and after viewing the movie I am happy to say that I still am. If perhaps you have been living under a rock or your own Wild Things world then you can click here to see the original trailer. And it is obligatory that at the end of the trailer you raise your fist in the air and howl, understood? Ok, good.

My love of Where the Wild Things Are began in elementary school. I loved the story of Max becoming King of the Wild Things and all of the imagined adventures he had as such. (Let's be real people...Maurice Sendak's book is only 10 sentences long so the only character really developed is Max's and the Wild Things are merely shown in pictures.) I remember loving the beautiful illustrations and thinking how fun it might be to be a Queen of the Wild Things. I also remember how much fun my teachers had with this book. I remember truly amazing wall and door decorations created by my teachers, often during Right to Read month (the month of March by the way). It is a book that I feel sparked my imagination about a world of fun that every child would love to disappear into at some point. A world where only fun exists and no adults, because let's face it there are many times during childhood (and adolescence) where you feel like life would be sooooo much better without adults around.

I loved this book then and I love this book now. Although now when I read this book my adult mind analyzes it in ways that my childlike mind never did. When this book was released it was surrounded in controversy and oddly enough the movie has been too. I never really understood why people get so hyper about books-so hyper they advocate for books to be banned from school libraries and curriculum. What are you teaching a child when you ban a book from their library? (Seriously, if you have an answer I'd love one.) Banned books are typically fictional stories-or at least the ones that receive the most publicity in the process of becoming banned. I can understand not wanting your child to read a certain story until they reach a certain level of cognitive development. I'm with you on that, but to ban a book entirely seems like such a waste. Teach your child to analyze what they read and the fact that there isn't any harm in escaping to a world of make believe in a book, but that reality does in fact exist. *Ahem,* I'll get off my teacher-wanna-be-librarian soapbox now. Sorry for the mini rant. I just don't get it, never have.

In watching the movie of "Where the Wild Things Are" you must understand that this movie isn't going to merely bring Sendak's 10 sentences to life. If you want a movie that does that you should probably stick to watching Reading Rainbow. If you want to watch a movie that takes the heart of Sendak's story and melds it with a deeper look at childhood, families, adolescence, and so many other things then this is a movie you will love. If you're ready to take that journey to a world of Wild Things only to realize that even there life is troubled then this is a movie for you. I truly LOVED this movie. It transformed me back into a carefree kid ready to tackle the world, all the while knowing that life isn't always perfect-people get mad, you hurt other people's feelings, and people leave, but oh the joy that comes from running, jumping, building a fort, putting holes in trees, and throwing dirt clods at each other. You can count on me owning this movie when it finally comes out on DVD. The Wild Things are so beautifully crafted and watching Max interact with them you become part of the story. Below is Sendak's thoughts on his book and spike Jonze's interpretation of his book...pretty interesting if you ask me.

Should you take your kid to see this movie? I don't know. I would say it depends on how old your child might be and how discerning a viewer they are. There is definitely an undertone of sorrow in this movie. If your child is enthralled with happy endings and is sheltered in the bubble that life is perfect-nope your child shouldn't see this movie. If your child is old enough to realize that life isn't always perfect, heartbreak happens, and sometimes no matter how much we want it to a happy ending isn't going to happen then I think your child would love this movie. If you're still really worried then do that thing you do as a great parent-view the movie first and then decide or talk to a parent whose opinion you trust who has seen the movie, duh.

And now *drum roll please* on to our adventure in going to watch "Where the Wild Things Are." Our night began by meeting up with Noah, Tyler, Lezlie, and Marilyn. (Noah and Tyler are Bivins' friends from high school and Lezlie and Marilyn are friends of Noah's we met that night.) We started out at Buffalo Wild Wings so that we could grab some dinner before the movie and still be close to the theater. Bivins, Tyler and I were the first to arrive so we grabbed a table and some drinks while we waited. Finally, Noah, Lezlie, and Marilyn arrived and we ordered dinner. I was hungry by this point because all I had eaten that day was an apple fritter at 9am and it was now 8pm. (Not by choice, I just didn't have time to eat anything else all day.) Halfway through dinner we realize we need to go buy tickets for the show so Bivins and Noah head over to the theater to do that. They stop at the car along the way and pick up Bivins' Max suit. They come back into BW's and the crowd begins to stare at Bivins. I wish I could have taken a picture of the man across from our table because he openly stared with a "what on earth" kind of look. Apparently he wasn't a Where The Wild Things Are fan. (This was really preparation for the movie, becoming like a child again where all of the adults misunderstand you. Yeah, that's it.) Bivins has had enough beer at this point to feel 10ft tall and as such decides to go to the bar to order a drink in his Max suit. (This step isn't recommended for those under age 21. Mmm-k?) I, as the dutiful wife and ever diligent record keeper, sent Noah along with the camera. This event must be recorded! (It should be noted I wanted to wear my Max suit to dinner, but I knew there was no way that the waitress would believe I was legitimately 27 years old in a Max suit and I knew I really wanted a beer so I left my Max suit in the car.)

Pause for Bivins' silly story: He goes up to the bar to order his drink and is apparently standing in front of some guy's chair. The guy is kind of irritated and says "excuse me." Bivins moves so the guy can sit down. There is (in Bivins' words) a kind of hippie type chick sitting across from this guy. She is sitting on her stool indian style with her legs crossed (criss cross apple sauce style, yanno?) The guy then says "what are you anyway?" and Bivins reply is "I'm f*cking MAX!" The guy kinda rolls his eyes and the chick says "Like from Where the Wild Things Are?" (in a super excited in the know kinda voice.) And the guy takes his drink and walks away. Haha! The chick and Bivins proceed to have a conversation about the fact he is headed to the movie since it came out today. (See the guy seated in front of Bivins? Yeah that's Mr. Cranky Pants and the girl across from him in the flowery shirt? Yeah, that is hippie chick.)

Ok, so the boys return to the table and we finish our drinks and head over to the theater. The rest of the story shall be told in pictures...

We're HERE!

The Whole Gang of Wild Things!

ROAR!

Awwwww, new kissy pic!

Ok, in case you are still debating about going to see the movie you should read this article. Once you are watching the movie it is truly important that you allow yourself to be absorbed into the world of the Wild Things. (I wanted to reach out and pet the Wild Things.) And again, you must raise your fist and howl when the Wild Things and Max all do so at the edge of the cliff, ok? It is vital to the enjoyment of this movie. (Ok, maybe not, but it still makes it a lot of fun.) Enjoy and "Let the Wild Rumpus Start!"

P.S. One last thing. Zeke made a cameo appearance in the movie. One of the Wild Things is shown holding and petting a cat that looks like he could be Zeke's twin. (Can't remember if it was Douglas or Alexander. Random note: Sendak named each of the Wild Things after members of his family. Jonze's Wild Things also have names, but they are not Sendak's original names.) I think I better talk to Spike (who names their child Spike? no wonder he interpreted the story so well) about some royalty money...

To Be or Not To Be

2009-10-12T20:47:00.002-05:00

What am I doing? Ugh. That is the question that has been gnawing at me for over a year now. I left North Carolina with 2 years of teaching experience and about 6 years of retail experience. I have gone back and forth as to which vocation I should plan to do for this next chapter of my life. I'm currently still undecided. I have been chugging away at my retail ventures here in AL until an opportunity arises in the teaching field. I have been frequently checking teaching job opportunities available in my area as well. (Since the day my certification arrived in the mail-back in Sept.-I have been checking the postings on a weekly basis.) Each time I check it I think, "I really should just get my Master's degree." Which brings up the question as to which degree do I obtain?

So, which degree do I obtain folks? Here are your choices: an English MA or a Special Education MA? An English MA would still allow me to teach reading & language arts for grades 7-12, but it also opens the door to teaching at community colleges as well (at least here in Alabama). I think I would enjoy teaching college students. The Special Education MA would pave the way for me to be certified to teach 7-12 Special Education (it may allow me to teach elementary as well, but I rather enjoy the older kids) and it more than triples the amount of job opportunities available to me. Case in point: There are currently 125 job postings in the state of Alabama for certified employees. Of those 125 jobs I counted 17 for Special Education, 1 for a Reading Intervention teacher, and 1 for an English teacher. It should be noted that the Reading Intervention and English teacher postings are for the southern part of Alabama.

I'm leaning towards Special Education, but I just don't know. There have been many things placed in my path to lead me towards Special Education. During my time as a student teacher (you know when you get to be the teacher, but don't get a paycheck), I had the opportunity to work with students who were identified as being exceptional students (students with disabilities-behavior or learning) and I really bonded with them. During my time as a substitute teacher I was sometimes asked to sub for the Special Education teacher. Again, I worked with the students very well. During my time as a teacher in NC I had two inclusion classes both years. An inclusion class is a mixture of regular ed and exceptional ed students and a Special Education teacher also joins the class. The idea is to differentiate or adapt instruction so that the exceptional students can excel, but those adaptations don't take away from what the regular ed students are learning either. (Well, in a nutshell that is what should happen anyhow.) Once again, I really enjoyed it. I seemed to really work well with my exceptional education kids. My first year the students with behavioral disabilities didn't act up a whole lot in my class...mostly because I didn't play along with how they wanted me to react to their behaviors. (It was my regular ed kids who gave me hell my first year...) I think one of the reasons I enjoy these students so much is that I enjoy unlocking the mystery to what makes them tick and what is going to work best to help them learn. When I hear Susie isn't doing x, y, and z I wonder why? Immediately I begin going through all of the things I have been taught and all of my experiences as a teacher to think of things to try to help Susie do x, y, and z. Regular ed students have mysteries too it is just that sometimes their mysteries are not as debilitating or as mysterious to unlock.

So I'm left with a choice: English MA or Special Education MA?

Recovering Marine

2009-10-09T12:58:00.003-05:00

As the majority of you know, Dave has been out of "active duty USMC life" for about about 22 months now. The adjustment to civilian life and no longer being an active duty Marine has been somewhat challenging to say the least-for both of us. There are a variety of reasons why this has been challenging, most of which I have blogged about before. No need to go into them now. If you know and/or love a Marine that is no longer active duty then you have a much clearer understanding of this process and can empathize with my current situation. I finally had an "ah-ha" moment while reading my latest installment of Sgt. Grit's newsletter . (Note: by clicking on Sgt. Grit it will take you to USMC paraphernalia heaven and by clicking on newsletter it will take you to the archive of this week's newsletter.) I love this newsletter because it has reminded me on every step of my journey as a Marine's wife that my path is not unique and humor is required to deal with life as such. This newsletter also has a tendency to make me cry on a regular basis because I am so touched by a story included. Ok, back to the story at hand...

There has been a continuing debate about what to call a Marine once he/she has left active duty life. The saying is "once a Marine, always a Marine" and it is very, very true in so many different ways. Again, this is where the knowledge of what it is like to know and/or love a Marine comes in handy. Do we call this Marine a Former Marine? Well, technically he's still a Marine so no former applies here. Do we call him an Ex-Marine? An ex is something you get rid of. Nobody gets rid of a Marine, he's always a Marine. This is why I have taken to referring to Dave as a Marine who is no longer on active duty. Finally, I have a more apt term to explain his current situation and status as a Marine. He is a Recovering Marine. Please read the following to understand why...

Sgt Grit,
Much has been written about being a Ex or Former US Marine, but after doing 4.5 years in the Corps, I am neither an Ex or Former Marine.

For I go by the title of a: Recovering US Marine and I am still in Recovery.

Since I am in Recovery, with some sort of Recovery plan to deal with my Marine Corps ways, for my family and love ones ... every day is a struggle for these good kind people. But with hope, kindest, care, happy thoughts, love, feelings, and other happy words & kind thoughts ... I will get over being a US Marine, someday, maybe, if I try hard, I can kick it, I know that I can. {Oh, how I love this part. As one of those good kind people left to deal with a Recovering Marine it is good to know my Marine is at least attempting recovery no matter how insurmountable that task seems.}

In the mean time I just tell people, when I am asked: are you an Ex-Marine, I say no, I am Recovery US Marine, I am still in Recovery. And some day, with time, hard work, doing some sort of recovery plan, that I will get over being a US Marine. Maybe, with time, it could take a while, I am working in that direction, I am trying, but someday I do hope, maybe with time to get out of recovery and no longer be a Recovering US Marine. {True Marine spirit hard at work here...never give up.}

So in the time being; I still ring the ships bell for "all hands man your drinking stations, this is not a drill", think fat kids should do rifle PT or throw square bales on a farm, my rifle is still my piece, if you say K-Bar ... I giggle or grunt, I still like M543s, still have a house wife, a rubber lady, can rant and rave on command, I go to the Chow Hall Store, the head is a head, the shower is the rain room, still sweep and swab, and I can still find my sea bag, I think. For the sea bag, may have to field day below decks aka the basement but since winter is soon to be in MN that could happen. {Well, the good news is Dave won't have far to look to find his sea bags. They're still full of his leftover gear from active duty life and easily found in our spare room.}

So, make a Tee shirt out of that! Recovering US Marine. Maybe I should have copyrighted Recovering US Marine, before I told you. But h&ll, I am still in Recovery!

Take care, Semper Fi,
Pete Berg
Deerwood, MN
73 to 78

Note:
We took your advice.. Recovering Marine T-Shirt

Semper Fi Sgt Grit

Sgt. Grit- I love the t-shirt. Can we have one for the wife of a Recovering Marine too please? It should come with a chocolate bar too. I hear chocolate relieves stress and I know my Recovering Marine causes me lots of stress sometimes. Thanks.

So henceforth and so on Dave shall be referred to as a Recovering Marine instead of a No Longer Active Duty Marine. Now if only there were some 12 step program with a proven success rate for kicking this habit we'd both be happier...that or we'd be knee deep in a 12 step program. In the meantime I will be living life with my Recovering Marine and in those especially trying moments when being married to a Recovering Marine becomes almost unbearable I will try to remember that I am not alone in my journey as the wife of a Recovering Marine.

Rewind?

2009-10-09T10:41:00.005-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days you just wanted to press rewind and start over? Wednesday was my day that needed a rewind button. The moral for Wednesday is that "pride cometh before a fall."

My Wednesday unfolded as follows:

Midnight-6:30am - Woke up at 1 hr or so intervals. It makes me angry to wake up so much throughout the night. I don't know why I woke up so much, except that when I woke up at 3:30am there was very bright lightening and loud thunder. Maybe that had something to do with it.

6:30am - I get out of bed, very unhappy to be awake at this hour. I begin the process of showering and getting ready for work.

7:45am - I am dressed. I have coffee in hand (that is thick and black enough to strip paint off of anything - never let Dave make coffee, he followed the Dunkin Donuts dosage recommendations for coffee ground measurement) loaded down with lots of sugar and creamer. I grab the two bags of trash that need to go to the end of the driveway and I am off to work. I managed to get ready and leave early for work so that I can stop and get gas and still make it to work on time. I'm quite proud of myself. I'm talking really proud.

(From this point in time all times are recorded as "-ish" b/c I don't know the exact time each event occurred.)

7:46ish am - I get out at the end of the driveway to remove the two bags of trash from my car to place in the garbage can. In the process of pulling them from the backseat the card door starts to close and smacks me in the head. I remember thinking "grrrrr, that sucked but I'm still on my way to work early so it will be ok."

7:48ish am - I am driving down our road and a truck is coming from the other direction. I move over to the edge of the road to make room for the both of us on the rather narrow back road. No big event here, just keep reading because this may be a necessary detail to the story.

7:50ish am - I hear a funny noise while driving. I turn off my iPod w/speakers (it is my version of a car radio, apparently I'm no longer cool enough to have a real car radio) to listen. Hmmm, it just sounds like maybe I didn't get the car door shut all the way. You know, the one that hit me in the head. I keep driving.

7:55ish am - The noise is louder. MUCH louder. I'm thinking we have a problem here since it feels a little tough to drive. I pull off to the side of the road (another back country road) and hop out to see what it up. Nothing is up, in fact something is very, very flat. My rear passenger tire is flat, well shredded really. (Remember that pulling off to the side of the road detail, I think I may have done something to injure my tire then.)

7:56ish am - I pull out my cell phone and hope I can reach Dave at home before he leaves for school. I'm approximately 2.5 miles from home. (I'm supposed to be at work at 9am and it takes an hour to get there. I now need to change a tire-hoping that I have a spare- get gas, and still make it to work on time.) Unfortunately, I have already crossed into the no cell service range of my drive. Darnit! Luckily, I have worn flip flops (and planned to change into my dress shoes at work) so I grab my purse, lock my car, and begin walking home. I'm hoping I can get cell service before I have to walk the whole way though or I am not going to make it in time to reach Dave.

8:00ish am - I hear a car on the road behind me. It slows and I hear "hey, you need a ride?" Before I turn I think "please Dear God don't let them be crazy." I say "yes please. If you could just drive me to the end of this road that would be great!" I hop in. He says "I saw the car and wondered what was going on and then I saw you walking." I said "yeah, I got a flat tire." A few minutes of silence pass and then the man says "I'm headed to the doctor this morning because I'm tired of feeling this way." I said "oh, that isn't good." I purposefully did not ask what was meant by "feeling this way" because I was almost scared to ask.

8:04ish am -We arrive at the end of the road. The nice man driving asks "where to?" I said "you can just drop me here because my house is the first one across the street." (If you don't know where I live you know I have to walk a few feet down the road and up the driveway to reach my house.) So he does. I say thanks for the ride I really appreciate it. I begin walking towards the house. I also try calling the house phone and get no answer. I call Dave's cell phone and get no answer. I am hoping and pleading that he will still be home when I get there.

8:08ish am - I make it far enough up the drive to see that Dave's car is still at the house. YAY! I finally reach the door and unlock it. I go in the house and realize he is still in our room. I have a fleeting thought of "I hope he doesn't shoot me." I open the door to see he is brushing his teeth, rather he has paused while brushing his teeth to see what the noise was and who might be coming in his house. No gun in hand, just a toothbrush. Whew! I say, I got a flat tire. I go through the story of what happened. He finishes getting dressed and I go to start calling my co-workers. I was scheduled to open the store with another sales lead so that is great because the store won't have to open late, I just need to get in touch with one of the two associates scheduled at 10am to see if they can get there a bit early. I make some calls and leave some messages.

8:15ish am - We arrive back at my car so Dave can survey the damage. He notes that I do indeed have a spare tire, the ground is soft from all the rain last night, and we will need to locate a jack to change the tire. We hop back in his car and drive the 5 miles to the in-law's house.

8:20ish am - We arrive at the in-law's house. I wish I had remembered to grab my MIL's birthday present (which is STILL sitting on my kitchen table as I type) b/c her birthday was Sunday. We locate a jack. My FIL also comes to help. And we're off to visit my car.

8:40ish am - I determine I have an associate who can open the store with the other sales lead so that store is covered. Whew. We arrive at the car and the boys begin changing the tire. It is a long process. The good news is that my spare tire is a full size spare. Which still means it is dangerous to drive on the spare because it is a different brand and slightly smaller than the other tires on my car, but better than a donut size spare-especially on a top heavy SUV.

9:00ish am - I am sent home with Dave's car (which is actually the in-laws Cougar) which has funny noises and quirks all its own. It is aging. Dave is off to find a replacement tire. I wait to find out if I can make it to work sometime today to at least get my hours in and allow the other sales lead to take a lunch.

10:50ish am - Phone call from Dave. The first place he stopped did not sell Kuhmo tires. He is off to another place to see if he can get a tire to match the others.

11:50ish am - The other place he stopped can get a tire, but it won't be here til tomorrow morning. Ugh. I let work know I won't be in at all today. My FIL has agreed to pick up the tire for us on Thursday.

Dave finally arrives home sometime later in the afternoon. A mere $150 later I will have a replacement tire...sometime tomorrow. I arrange with work to make up my missed hours on Thursday so I can still enjoy a weekend off. I try to take a nap...but every time I am just about asleep the phone rings or something happens and I wake up. Ugh. I really just wanted to rewind the day and start over so that everything could go according to my plan that I was so sincerely proud about following so well early Wednesday morning. I guess I needed that reminder that my plan wasn't really that important anyhow.

Thursday's Tire Update: Still no tire. I cautiously drive to work on the spare. Praying the whole time that I make it there and back safely. I have a pair of tennis shoes just in case I need to start walking again. I did make it there and back safely. I'm thankful.

Friday's tire Update: No plans to go anywhere today. The tire can come whenever it pleases. Dave is off tomorrow so I am sure it will be on by Saturday night. In the mean time I am not traveling far and only if necessary. It is raining at the moment so I am perfectly fine with that. I am supposed to be cleaning out our spare room this weekend anyhow. It has become a storage place for all of the things we have no idea what to do with. Along with many things we have been too lazy to unpack. If I get it cleaned out I am told we may be able to purchase an elliptical machine. That would be very exciting because I rather enjoyed the last one we owned until it broke beyond repair. Owning and elliptical and using it on a regular basis would not only be "heart healthy" but it might also allow me to work off some of this extra stress Alabama living has brought (you should insert the words "massive amounts of over indulging on yummy southern cooking" for the word stress if we're being honest with each other and the reality of those words has meant an extra 15-20 lbs since Dave's deployment and return home over 2 yrs ago now.) We'll see how it goes.

Misadventures of a Gypsy in a Hair Salon ~ Part 2

2009-10-03T12:22:00.002-05:00

As the oldest child in a family of 3, er well...3.2 (3 full blood siblings, 2 half siblings) I am all about being fair. The oldest often ends up with a lot of responsibility and sometimes for things the oldest has no control over. So I must be fair and blog part 2 of the hair salon saga. I know you all were on the edges of your seats wondering what was going to happen to my multicolored hair. (So maybe you weren't...it is okay.)

Sunday afternoon I receive a call from the stylist asking how my hair is going. My response "it is ok, but I still have a root problem." Stylist responds with "well, come back in and we will redo it. When is your next day off?" We talk and settle upon a Thursday am appointment time. I am left to wonder all week how this appointment will go and determine that it can't be any worse, right? Worst case scenario is that I have to pay someone else to fix it. (Which is what I would have to do without giving this stylist a redo.)

Thursday morning arrives and I get ready and head to the salon. I am less surprised at my surroundings and since it isn't a suer busy day for the salon ( like a Friday would be) there is less going on and I can observe. I notice my original observation that there isn't a styled person in the building is incorrect. I notice a nail tech and a hair stylist with cute hair and some fashion sense. These two were there on my original visit, but they were lost in the mass of clientel who did not looked styled. I even saw some clients walk in that had style themselves, not just elderly ladies coming in to get their hair washed and styled for the week. (Again, nothing wrong with that...it is just that given too many elderly ladies to style it could make your stylist forget you are well under the age of 50 and don't even begin to look your own age. I'm 27, I swear, ok? No, Katie is not the oldest, no I am not the youngest and yes I am quite sure that Maggie and I are not twins.) Sorry for my mini rant. Ok, so I notice more style and feel less overwhelmed with the entire place. The stylist takes one look at my hair and says something about the color washing out alot and it doesn't look good. The stylist explains that the first round of dye was a blond and a brunette color mixed so that it wasn't too dark and didn't startle me after being blonde. I tell the stylist that I am used to going from blonde to really dark so it would have been ok. The stylist goes off to mix the color, which is just going to be a brunette dye this time, and I sit and wait. The stylist applies the dye, I sit and bake under the dryer a little longer this time, and a little longer out of the dryer, and then we wash it off. Wow, HUGE difference already. No noticeable root line. We dry it and reevaluate. Nope still looks good. We head out into the sun to check how it looks there. On one side you can see a slight difference if you're being super duper picky. I think it is good. The stylist then finishes styling my hair. No bit swoop this time, no hairspray, no flipped out ends, which means I am left with a simple bob like look. Who knew? No Stepford wives look this time. Yay! I am given directions to do my hair the next two days and then evaluate the color. See how much has washed out and if we need to dye it one step darker or possibly add just a few highlights to mix up the stark root line.

It is two days later. My hair looks good. The dye didn't wash out. Yay! I didn't need a sedative this time. Much better experience.

Special Moments

2009-09-24T01:31:00.003-05:00

I think I have written once or twice about the unique bond Marines and their families share with any other Marine or USMC family member. It is an instant connection and a mutual understanding. While that connection may not be as strong with other branches of the service there are random moments that bring a smile to my face.

Several months ago I was working at LOFT and was ready to ring up a client. She was wearing a USMC Camp Pendleton t-shirt and I said "I have to ask, who is the Marine?" She said "my son is. He just returned from deployment a few weeks ago." I said "oh, congratulations. Who was he with?" She replied that he was on an aircraft ship. I said "oh so he was on a MEU then." She got this puzzled look on her face and said, "so how do you know about MEU's?" My response was "my husband did 4 years in the Corps and deployed on a MEU as well." We continued our conversation about the USMC as I finished her transaction. It brought a smile to both of our faces. It made my day a little brighter. Editor's Note: A MEU is a Marine Expeditionary Unit and is a regularly scheduled deployment where Marines deploy on Navy ships...sorry for the USMC lingo.

When I got home from work that day I told Bivins about my experience and as it turns out he had met a Vietnam Marine on that very same day. He said they had a great conversation about their respective times during life on active duty. I remember thinking that it was something we both needed that day. A jolt of USMC family to tide us over until the next chance meeting.

Tuesday I was headed to work and feeling particularly morose about being so far away from our USMC friends. I really miss having the boys over to our house for dinner and the craziness their visits always brought. Lasagna anyone? I promise to turn off all the burners when I put it in the oven. Bivins will stay away from the stove. (If you haven't heard his story...I made lasagna a few nights before the boys deployed. I left a burner on and Bivins found it with his right hand. Needless to say it made the beginning of his deployment a little painful and left me feeling stressed. Not a great way to start a deployment.) Anyhow, as I pulled into the mall parking lot I saw a recruiter headed to the mall as well. It made me smile. I kind of wanted to hunt him down and talk to him for just a few minutes...but I had work to do. Then during my shift at work I happened to talk to a woman about what she was looking for on her shopping outing. She said she was headed to an Air Force reunion this weekend in Yorktown, PA. We talked a few minutes more and I learned she was born in Toledo, Ohio (not terribly far from where I grew up) and that she now had a son and a daughter who had each given them a granchild here in AL. I wished her happy shopping and said I really hoped that she enjoyed the reunion. {Sigh}

My dream is that I can start a reunion like this for all of "my boys." I can't decide if I would like it to happen on the 4th of July or if it should take place on the USMC birthday (which is getting closer...I must plot a night of fun to celebrate the 234th USMC Birthday.) I would like it to be a yearly reunion so my boys can stay in touch with each other and so I can sit in on some of their fun times. Also, part of my dream is that we would be able to fund the majority of this reunion so the boys will be further enticed to participate. Who doesn't want a free trip? Or maybe a mostly free trip? I'll keep dreaming and hopefully one year it will become a reality. So far we've been able to get Combs to come visit. The way I see it we only have a few more Marines to entice here.

Misadventures of a Gypsy in a Hair Salon

2009-09-22T00:05:00.004-05:00

I feel like this post should come with a warning, but I can't decide what kind of warning to give...so be forewarned.

It should be noted that I like to think of myself as a fairly low maintenance kind of girl, although I am beginning to realize that I may be only partially low maintenance. There are few things that I require to be happy in any particular place we have lived. One of them is a decent hair stylist & colorist. In DC the hair stylist wasn't a huge problem b/c we were only 6 hrs from Ohio and I could visit Amy, the fabulous hairstylist whom shall be referred to as Fabulous Amy from this point on. I am aware that it might seem slightly impractical to drive 6 hrs for a hair color and cut, but seriously people, I had family to visit there as well. In NC I was able to find a hair salon that was comparable to the one in Ohio. While I didn't find a particular stylist there that I loved as much as Amy, they were able to apply color and give me a decent cut (especially when I gave them Amy's handwritten color mix and application instructions). I also managed to have Amy do my hair once or twice on visits home to Ohio. AL has presented me a challenge. I would rather have a root canal than find a new hair stylist/colorist. Before you ask, yes I have actually had a root canal before, twice on the same tooth. I've also had several cavities filled. I'd still rather visit a dentist. And this is where the real story begins...

Typically a trip to the salon leaves a spring in my step and a smile on my face...at least when I visit Fabulous Amy. I was hoping this trip would do the same for me because I've been a bit stressed lately and I'm finding few things that bring me joy. There were many warning signs long before I ended up in the hair salon (I'm using this term loosely in reference to this particular place) that this trip would not end well. This particular salon was located in a rather nice area of Birmingham, not the snobbiest of places but still snobby. (This typically means that you're going to find somebody with some kind of knowledge there...but that you will also being paying for their knowledge as well. I have no problem paying for a great color and cut; however, I do have a problem paying for a less than great one.) It was all good and fine until I drove up and realized that this particular salon was in a strip mall type place. Ok, not a problem there could still be potential...and then I walked through the door. I was bombarded with thoughts and my brain frantically tried to sort them out. I was greeted by a big green desk-the kind you find at nail salons, except there was no one sitting at the desk to greet me and there was no clip board to sign in. I went to sit down as I tried to discern if I was in a nail salon or a hair salon (because behind the desk were several nail tech desks) when I saw my stylist wave me on back to the chair. No personal greeting or coming up to retrieve me as a client, nope. Just a wave and a come on back. .oO(Oh crud, I feel like I just walked in to some "down home" salon where I can't find a single person who looks like they might have stepped beyond the 90's. Now what? It will be ok, right? It isn't Fabulous Amy, but surely this person can do hair after years of styling, right? Right?!) Everyone was dressed rather casually and not up to date casual either. I can't say I'm the most stylish person, but typically a hair dresser has a put together sort of look, their hair is styled, and they've looked at a fashion magazine in the last decade and taken some notes. .oO(Yes, I'm still holding on to being a low maintenance girl...)

As I walk back to the chair we have to locate a clean smock for me to change into so that the stylist doesn't ruin my shirt with hair color. Ok, good sign, right? Well, maybe it was a good sign but we have to hunt a bit too much for a smock, we manage to get one straight from the dryer. Then the discussion of what to do with my hair begins. It should be noted that at that point in time I had highlights and low lights that were looking very nice, but about an inch and a half of root growth that was a lot darker. My mission was to get the root problem fixed and trim my hair back into the sleek bob that Fabulous Amy created for me. The stylist recommends dying my hair back to my natural color for fall/winter and if when my hair is dry afterwards I decide I want some caramel colored highlights the stylist can add them. Ok, it sounds like a good idea to me. (Even though I was loving the high & low lights I know that an all over color is easier to maintain than the multi-colored tresses so I agreed. I'm thinking it odd to do the all over color first and then do highlights-kinda seems like there might be some skill issues here, but whatever.) The stylist went back to mix the color after guessing at what my natural color. (Nope, no color samples to look at-just an inspection of the root color and off we go.) I'm starting to wonder if this is going to turn out all right or not. The stylist comes back with a single bottle of color and begins messily applying it to the roots of my hair. Once the roots are covered the stylist just starts kind of mushing dye onto the rest of my hair. I'm pretty sure you need to ensure that the hair dye is evenly applied to each section of hair, but who am I to judge? I didn't go to cosmetology school...then again I have been getting my hair dyed for at least the past 15 years even if it was only highlights at first. .oO(I'm starting to panic, but trying not to show it. I'm wishing I would have taken a sedative or something before trying this.) Also, the stylist only used one single bottle of color. Again, it wouldn't be a problem for most people, but I happen to have very thick hair. I've never seen a stylist use only one bottle of color on my hair. .oO(My heart sinks because I can already tell that this hairstyling adventure is not going to lift my spirits...in fact it just might crush them.) Once the color is applied a plastic shower cap is placed over my hair and I am sent to sit under the dryer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the plastic comes off, the dryer gets turned off, and I sit in the air for the dye to oxidize. It's a different kind of dye but no biggie, I'm game for trying it.

Time is up and I am sent to the shampoo bowl where the attendant washes the dye out of my hair. Then it is off to the stylist's chair to get the cut. I say "I had a bob that had a few different subtle layers to give it some movement. So if you could just cut it back into shape and take off about an inch and a half or so that would be great. My hair gets hard to deal with in the humidity when it gets to a certain length. " The stylist asks a few more questions about how it was cut and then begins cutting. I begin to relax. Surely I can get a decent cut. Just follow the map and cut off a proportionate amount the whole way around. The next thing I know the stylist has whipped out a razor. (Sharp intake of breath because I'm fairly certain my hair doesn't do well when cut with a razor, but it has been so long since someone cut it with a razor that I can't quite remember. The Fabulous Amy knows not to use a razor on Frantz hair. She's smart like that.) The stylist realizes my shock and says "I'm using a razor so that the layers will be subtle and you can easily style it." I smile and say "ok." .oO(I know that is why a razor is used...but come on. The voice in my head is saying "SCREAM" I quietly squelch that voice.)

The cutting and slicing is over. Thank goodness. Now begins the drying. I'm carefully looking at my hair as the color is revealed to me. It kinda looks like I still have a root line, it's just darker now. Surely that isn't right. I came to get my root problem covered up, not to change its color. Honestly people. So we dry and dry and dry some more. (My hair takes a long time to dry.) The stylist asks if I'd like some highlights. .oO(Uh, NOPE! Do I want to give you one more chance to screw up my hair? NOPE. I want to get out of here asap!!) I say no thanks this is good. .oO(Why can I not scream at this point and say what I'm thinking? Something like, uh can you try dying my hair again because you still haven't fixed the root problem. Why? Because I am still too shocked it even happened.) Surely the torture is over at this point. We've dyed it all one color, supposedly. We've cut it, more like liberated it in all the wrong ways with a razor. Surely we're done.

But alas, we still have to style it. We flip out the ends. Not a big problem, flipped out ends can be stylish. Then we begin to tease the hair at the crown of my head. Teasing it with a metal teasing comb...you know, the kind your grandma uses. (Sorry, no offense grandma. Your hair looks wonderful teased. Mine doesn't.) I don't have a part just a sort of swooping, teased creation. To add insult to injury hairspray is applied to the swoop. Goodness knows we don't want that swoop to fall in the humidity. Seriously? I look like I just stepped out of the 50's. Can you say Stepford Wife? Eeek!!

Somehow I manage to change out of my smock and pay for the disaster on my head. I grumble to my car and spend the rest of the day grumpy about the fact that my hair didn't go as planned and now I'm left wondering what to do about it. I run my fingers through my hair and kind of calm down the teased mess. I find a part line and make it look a little less 50's and more like something from this decade. I try to soothe my frazzled nerves with some retail therapy. It doesn't really go well because I am unable to really find any of the things I was looking for to finish the bathroom remodel and to accessorize my wardrobe for the move to the higher volume store.

It is now 3 days later. I have washed and dried my hair twice at this point. I am trying to determine if I am going to try and have Bivins dye my hair for me to make it truly all one color or am I going to wait a week or two and try again. (In retrospect he didn't do a bad job when he dyed it last December.) I have managed to get my hair to go into somewhat of a sleek bob, but I still have some unruly strands that were liberated with the razor and think that they don't have to follow orders from my straightener. .oO(Stupid razor.) It isn't as bad as it felt the day it was done, but it still irks me. All I wanted was a great hairstyle to bring me some joy in a place where nothing feels familiar. Apparently it was too much to ask. This gypsy is wishing her travels had brought her a bit closer to the Fabulous Amy. Maybe the next move will bring us closer...

CaTcHiNg Up

2009-09-19T05:08:00.002-05:00

Hmmm.... haven't blogged in awhile. I had every intention of blogging, but something else always eats up my time. Plus, I've once again had writer's block...or a not knowing exactly what to write. So there are some things you need to be caught up about.

1. Married for 4 wonderful years. As of September 6, 2009 Bivins and I have been married for 4 years. Most days I can hardly believe it. I love my life with him, yes even in Alabama b/c I am with him. I know when I "ran away" to get married there were some people who were a little nervous, but I'm so happy that we got married in our own way...in God's way really because I know I wouldn't have met my dear husband without his intervention. (Honestly, have you heard "Our Story?" An Ohio teacher talking to this sweet southern Marine stationed in DC on the phone for hours, and hours, and hours and annoying everyone she knows by doing such, lol. If you haven't heard it then ask me sometime and I'll be happy to tell you. I apologize now for the dreamy look I'll get in my eyes.) As I told Bivins on our 2 year anniversary when he was an ocean away-he literally was-"I wouldn't change a sentence of Our Story."

2. Weekend Remodel Project~During our anniversary weekend we typically try to get to the beach or spend the weekend doing something fun. We were unable to get away this year~funding was limited and we were both very, very tired from fighting sinus problems. So we decided we would work on one of the many things that need a little fixing and tlc in our home. We started in the master bathroom. It had vinyl floral walls. 'Nuff said. So we painted the walls and we replaced all the fixtures~the lighting fixture, the towel bars, the toilet paper holder, the shower rod, and the electrical face plates. We replaced the mirror and cabinet with a mirrored medicine cabinet (which was a steal for $44 instead of $100). We painted 2 walls a creamy color and then one wall is a chocolate brown. I feel like we doubled the size of the bathroom just with the paint and the new cabinet. I still need to find a rug, a curtain for the window, and some new towels which is why I haven't taken any "after" pictures because I don't feel like it is completely finished yet. If you happen to know where I can find a curtain rod for a window that it 14" wide please let me know. The smallest one I have been able to find is 28" and it is too wide for the window and the wall space. I love walking into the bathroom though because it feels like a completely different place. I think the next project will be painting the master bedroom. It has speckled vinyl walls.

3. I woke up at 4am for no reason and have been unable to go back to sleep. I'm very sad about this. I typically sleep very well when it rains and it is pouring down rain right now, but I am wide awake. Why? Why? Why? Ugh. Hopefully once I finish blogging I will be tired enough to go back to sleep again. {Yawn} Yes, maybe I will...

4. LOFT~I will be moving to a higher volume LOFT store this week. (If you don't speak retail that means I will be moving to a busier store that receives about double the amount of traffic my current store receives.) It is an exciting move that will offer me a chance to sharpen my skills as a sales lead and help prepare me for a co-manager position should one open up. While I am excited about this move, I am also a bit nervous. I am a bit of a perfectionist and I tend to get really frustrated when I feel like I'm not doing a good job. I enjoy a neat store with everything in its place. When you have a lot of traffic in the store it makes it harder to keep everything in its place. I hope my OCD about not being able to function well in a mess doesn't get the best of me at this new location. I hope the challenges brought on by this new store don't kill my "love for LOFT."

5. Alabama Living~We are still in Alabama. It still doesn't feel like home. .oO(I don't think it feels like home to Bivins either even though he was born and raised here.) I don't know where home is...I know it is a feeling and not a place, but really where are we supposed to be. I feel like we're going through the motions of life instead of living it sometimes. Bivins is going to school still and doing well, but he still dislikes it most days. I am still working my retail job and enjoying it, but wondering if retail will be my life or will I end up back in the classroom. A few weeks ago Bivins was notified that he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. (He is still on inactive reserve duty for 3 more years.) The letter originally went to the in-law's house since their address is still listed as his permanent address. When I heard that the USMC had sent him something I was almost hoping it was a recall notice. And then the guilt sets in because if they called him back he would most likely deploy and I don't want to spend time apart from him again, but it would get him back on active duty, which he misses. (I miss it too, which is a bit ironic b/c if you go back and read my posts about him getting out all I can say is how excited I am for "life after the USMC"...) I even asked him if the promotion to Corporal would up his chances of being recalled or help him get back in, we don't know. So I'm in Alabama trying to remind myself God has a plan and I just need to trust he is working it out...

I know there were a few other things I was going to blog about, but I think I may be feeling sleepy again so I am going to try and go back to sleep for a bit before I have to head into work.

False Starts

2009-08-13T15:04:00.003-05:00

I've started to blog numerous times the past few days and when the "new post" page opens up I sit and stare at it wondering exactly what I want to type. With no good plan I end up closing the page and logging on to Facebook to waste some time and the blogging goes by the wayside. So I refused to give up today. I'd love to type a happy, upbeat post full of jokes and laughter...we'll see how it goes. In true English teacher style when a well planned blog fails to form I just start typing. I believe the technical term for my writing might be stream of consciousness. I am a little too rigid though and can't really do that properly. You are supposed to just write (type) without any thought to spelling, grammar, etc. Yeah, that's not going to happen from me. My mental red pen refuses to quit. So welcome to the random thoughts and tangents my mind is going to lead you on today.

Music~Our house pretty much always has music playing if someone is home. (A house can't really play music, but you know what I mean.) I hadn't really thought about it until our neighbors commented on it. Crissy said to me one day "you always have music going don't you?" Yes we do. Pretty much. We love music in this house and the many moods it creates and soothes, the memories it evokes, and the memories it helps create. Then a week or so later one of Crissy's children came to visit and talk. She asked me "where is the music today?" Well, I had been napping shortly before her visit so I hadn't turned it on yet. The music I have been listening to the last few days has been Chris LeDoux. After blogging with his song titles it had me thinking about his music and the need to listen to it. So listen I did. I was thinking about a dear friend who would have been celebrating his 35th birthday yesterday. He loved Chris LeDoux's music and it made me love it just as much. So in his honor I turned it up and sang and danced around the house. Until Dave came home and I had to act civilized again, lol. Today the LeDoux mood has passed for awhile and I am listening to a mixed cd Dave made called "Me and Love October 2005." Good stuff. I forget what movie it is that the daughter always knows her Mom is having a rough day when she listened to a Carley Simon record, but Dave can always tell what kind of mood I'm in depending on what I'm listening to when he comes home.

What I've Learned as a Result of Death~Morbid? Maybe. So I've learned several things as a result of the loss of people close to me. One loss in particular taught me a lot. Each loss is different for each and every person. I'd love to say you "heal" and the pain goes away. No it doesn't it just changes and evolves just like you do. I've learned never to take those you love for granted because you just never know what tomorrow will bring for anyone. I've learned that even once you've said good-bye it still hurts. I've learned that random things happen in life to make you think of them on a regular basis. I've learned that even if I decide to be cremated when I die (well, I'd have to decide before I die because once I'm dead I won't be deciding anything) that I want to be buried in the ground. I don't want someone to have my ashes in their house or have them scattered anywhere. I want to be in the ground somewhere. (Where? I have no freakin clue...) I learned this after going through the grieving process. My dear friend Scott was buried in a mausoleum (my mom and I have nicknamed it a high rise). I would go to visit and I felt like all the "neighbors" were listening in on my conversations with him. (Yes, I'm aware this makes me sound a teensy bit crazy.) I suppose if he had been buried in the ground the neighbors still could have listened but they would have been a little farther apart. Anyhow, the point is that I want whoever comes to visit my grave to have some room to sit and talk without worrying about the neighbors.

That is as far as I am going to get with the blog today. Maybe I'll have more next time.

United

2009-08-06T19:48:00.002-05:00

(For those of you not from Ohio I'm talking about United Elementary/Jr. High/High School.)

The school built literally in the middle of four cornfields. By the time I graduated high school I loathed the whole building. I was so ready to be done with small town life and everyone knowing everything about everyone-or thinking they did anyhow. I still don't have any desire to move back, but I can appreciate its good qualities now. I received an excellent education from some very talented teachers. Teachers who influenced me to become a teacher myself.

I sought refuge in "Mom Peters" office during study halls and after school. Her office brought sanity to a world that had been really up heaved during my high school years. She also encouraged me to be my best at everything I do and to strive for excellence. I longed to visit her office earlier this week...still kinda do.

I'm not the only one who found refuge in Mom Peters office so I'm guessing her office has been or will be busy right now. You see tragedy struck United earlier this week. A student, Gavin Ward, died from an asthma attack after his Jr. High football practice. Gavin was the son of Mike and Denise Ward who happened to be teachers at United.

I was a student of Mr. Ward for a health class my sophomore year I do believe. Denise Ward was the adviser for flag line my first year and if memory serves me correctly she was pregnant with Gavin at the time. I was really kind of scared of her at first, but realized that she wasn't all that scary she just had high expectations of each and every one of us. My first year on flag line I was an alternate because the "judges" felt like I could do it, but they just didn't feel I was ready at the time of auditions. As an alternate I had to prove I could do the routine before I was allowed to perform it on the football field at half time. To prepare for this I would practice my routines in the yard on almost a daily basis. I happened to live on one of the "main" roads and so lots of people would drive by and see me in the yard with my bright yellow practice flag doing the routines over and over and over. (This was one of the first times I had ever had to "practice" anything. Most things came pretty easy to me.) Friends would always laugh and talk about how I was practicing in the yard. I loved being on flag line and was going to "prove" that I was good enough to perform. My practice paid off and I was able to perform in every show. I distinctly recall one show that involved a lot of rain so we performed on the track in mud puddles, the power went out during our show, and our routine involved ribbon streamers...we were a filthy mess afterward. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to prove myself that first year and eventually my Junior and Senior year of high school I was the captain of the flag line. I also was Denise's student my senior year of high school for Honors English. She once again expected a lot from each and every one of us. She knew we were bright and talented and she wouldn't let us get away with any kind of slacking off. The influence Mike and Denise have had on so many classes of students is amazing. A Facebook page was started to show support for the Wards during this time of tragedy and there are currently 163 members and many of them are current and former students. If you look at their locations they are spread across the states...

Small town communities are a unique and interesting thing. They band together when tragedy strikes and even if you fought with the kid down the street you find yourself standing side by side supporting those closest to the tragedy when it happens. I know the upcoming school year will be especially difficult as the family and community works through the grief, but they will all be there supporting each other throughout. Nothing can replace Gavin for the Wards, but hopefully with the support of family, friends, the community, and many prayers they will get through the next few hours, days, weeks, and years together. The same way they faced the obstacles brought on with Denise's diagnosis of breast cancer a few years back.

Not Much to Blog About

2009-08-06T19:05:00.002-05:00

Well, maybe there has been a lot to blog about, but not much I'd really like to say about it at this point in time. Life still feels completely random most days.

Jobs~Dave is working at Bass Pro in the gun department. (Did you really think he'd get a job that didn't involve guns? Me neither.) I'm still working at LOFT trying to decide what on earth I'm going to do full-time. I had an interview for a co-manager position at a Loft in Spanish Fort, AL a few weeks back. It sounded like a great opportunity and a nearly done deal, but instead of getting the "pack your stuff and move asap" phone call I received the "you need more experience and time in your current role" phone call. I'm guessing God has other plans for me. Trying to be patient and wait...it isn't really working.

Teaching~I haven't been real excited about teaching for about a year now. I don't know why I can't seem to muster some excitement. I do get brief jolts of excitement when I walk by the school supplies in area stores, but nothing too long lasting at this point. I also had the urge to plan something (not sure what) last week when I went to watch Crissy, Missy, and Kim plan their school years. It didn't last too long though, but it got me wondering if maybe I needed to try again. Still no teaching certificate for AL yet, although I seem to be getting closer. An e-mail inquiry revealed they were waiting on my official transcripts. (They've had my paperwork, with every imaginable way to contact me on it, for months. I guess I missed out on giving them my espN channel so I would magically know that is what they had been waiting on.) Ugh. Sent that in a week or so ago. Now I'll start stalking the mailman. It won't do much good right now since school starts next week for most area schools, but maybe I can get a position mid year or something...or who knows maybe some other fun career will evolve.

Grad School~I've been starting to think maybe I should go to grad school and get my master's degree. Then I could teach at a community college and deal with older students. Still thinking about it though because then I would need to decide what kind of a master's degree. Do I want to do an English related degree to solidify the college teaching aspect or do I want to try a special education degree? I've thought about doing that for quite some time now. Oh what to do. And do I really want to add to the amount of student loans I already have at the risk of not "using" my master's degree like I am my teaching degree? (I mean I have the knowledge I gained in college and use it, but not "officially" like I would working in a classroom. Welcome to my mind...it is a very twisted and guilt filled place some times.)

Zeke & Zeus & No Children~Over the past few months as more and more and more of my former high school classmates and friends across the country have babies it has become more and more and more clear to me that I really don't want to have children. (Great now I've "published" this fact online and if I do end up with children they can read it and think they weren't wanted. Therapy here we come!) Anyhow, I really just don't. I sometimes feel very, very, very out of place as a result. I don't have anything against children really, I just don't want one full-time in my home. (My mother feels the same way about dogs and men.) I'm slowly growing accustomed to the look I receive from people when I tell them I am 27 years old and still have no desire for children. It looks like I suddenly grew three heads and told them I'm going to eat them for dinner. They calmly sigh and say "you'll change your mind." Maybe, but it hasn't happened yet. Dave and I are slowly becoming the weird married couple with cats. (We've been married almost 4 years and no kids. That's crazy to most people, even in the north.) We're really excited about being the "cool" Aunt & Uncle that aren't really related but are part of the family anyhow though.

The Things I Catch Myself Saying~ Zeke and Zeus are similar to children in that they will do crazy things to get attention when you have the least amount of attention to give. Something magically happens when I am having a conversation on the phone. They start acting crazy! I am amazed at the things I hear myself say to them...

I have threatened to shave Zeke entirely if I find one more patch of fur missing on Zeus.

I have threatened to lock Zeke and Zeus in seperate rooms all day long and only let them out together when someone is home with them, which as they know isn't very often.

I actually have locked Zeke in the bathroom by himself for a time out. When I opened the door 5 minutes later he was laying by the ac vent acting lilke it was no big deal and I was bothering him.

I have threatened to put Zeke back under the clothes basket. (Just did this one today. I got out of the shower and heard Zeus hissing. Went to check it out and of course Zeke was being a bully so under the clothes basket he went. He still wasn't being too friendly when he was released. )

Zeus get down from (insert random place here) - the counter, the stove, the speaker, the table, the washer, the toilet, the shower, etc.

Zeke I am going to skin you and make a fur muff out of you if you do not leave Zeus be! Zeke gives me that "you wouldn't dare" look and I camly remind him that his father wants to have Zeus stuffed when he dies. I doubt he'll object to skinning Zeke. (Not sure what I will do with a fur muff in AL, but I'll figure it out once I actually have to skin him.)

Can you tell Zeke is the bully?

I had one other thing to blog about but realized it deserves its own blog....

Life According to Chris LeDoux

2009-08-01T20:29:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I originally did this using John (Cougar) Mellencamp songs. My mom enjoyed it. I thought I would do another one using Chris LeDoux. If you haven't heard his music you should. Actually, you should find some of his performances on YouTube. He was an awesome performer and a very talented man.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Re post as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist:
Chris LeDoux ~ Put on the best concerts ever!

Are you a male or female:
Look at You Girl

Describe yourself:
Tougher Than the Rest

How do you feel:
Wild and Wooly

Describe where you currently live:
Cadillac Ranch

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Western Skies

Your favorite form of transportation:
Hooked on an 8 Second Ride

Your best friend is:
Little Long-haired Outlaw

You and your best friends are:
The Cowboy and The Hippie

What's the weather like:
One Less Tornado

Favorite time of day:
Rodeo Moon

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Bang a Drum

What is life to you:
Don't it Make You Want to Dance

Your relationship:
Graviational Pull

Your fear:
Watcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy

What is the best advice you have to give:
Life is a Highway

Thought for the Day:
Five Dollar Fine

How I would like to die:
Scatter the Ashes

I must admit I had a really hard time deciding which songs to use and exactly where to use them. If you asked me what my favorite Chris LeDoux song is I would have a really hard time choosing. I first heard Chris Ledoux's music speeding...er I mean riding around in a red Chevy Cavalier with a super tall cowboy. I've loved it ever since.

My Sweet Husband

2009-07-16T10:53:00.003-05:00

Do you know how much I love my husband? I do. A lot. Obviously, since I married him almost 4 years ago...can't believe it has been almost 4 years. Life has taken us many places since then and I look forward to the many other places it will take us in the future. (Maybe some places sooner than others...but that is another blog for another time.) I think when choosing a partner in crime er I mean a partner in life the selection process is sometimes daunting. You learn a lot along the way, but there are some tough lessons to learn as well. Luckily, those lessons guide you the rest of your life. I'm overjoyed to be married to Bivins and couldn't imagine life without him.

My husband, before he was my husband, probably had no idea what he was getting himself into with my family. The women of my family are a bit jaded about life in general although we try not to be, but it really seems inevitable at times. We are also staunchly independent from any man, but will if absolutely necessary call upon each other for help at any time of the day. We tend to be a bit critical of men in general and expect the worst from them. Secretly we hope for the best, but are not surprised when disappointed by them. My husband could probably go on and on and on about the crazy Frantz women, but being one of them I am oblivious to some of our insanity. My husband has survived the Frantz women and even managed to thrive among them. No small feat for sure. I distinctly recall a car ride during his first ever visit to the Frantz compound in which he was sitting in the backseat sandwiched between two Frantz women and there were to Frantz women up front -all talking at top speed in our own Frantz women language and he scrunches down, covers his ears, and starts rocking back n forth. (Mind you he was used to being surrounded by Marines 24/7 no girls allowed, lol.) Now 4 years later he feels like he has some wisdom to bestow upon males venturing into relationships with Frantz women...

His first comment was "dating a Frantz as your first girlfriend is like never having a cat and deciding to get a tiger."

His next comment was "you better know what you are getting yourself into and be able to deal with it because there is no 1-800-fix-a-Frantz."

I think he had a few other comments, but I was laughing so hard at these I couldn't hear him. My family loves this man almost as much as I do. He is my sisters' brother not brother-in-law. They rely on him just like they rely on me. I think maybe I am heeding my mother's advice to me on my wedding day...

Show them what a ~fabulous~ thing it can be when two people truly love and care for each other and want only the best for each other. Show them how to work through the difficulties and challenges that go along with “living with a boy”!! Show them that you can commit to someone and not lose sight of your own dreams and goals. Show them that you can retain your own identity while making your way as a couple with common goals. I’m counting on you to show them how to do this the ~right~ way; I’m counting on you to show them that you can make mistakes and forgive each other. I’m counting on you to show them that as long as a couple doesn’t lose respect for each other they can face anything. Don’t lower the standards; continue to strive for excellence for your sisters to see.

4th of July - 2009 Edition

2009-07-06T21:39:00.004-05:00

This is a picture of me during my very first time playing with sparklers.

So in my previous blog did I mention how much I love the 4th of July? I didn't think so. I guess I better tell y'all again...just kidding. Instead I'll tell you how much fun I had this year. It was truly a special day, even if I did start out kind of grumpy and thinking I just might have to "go it alone."

My 4th begins at 10:30am when I rolled over and woke up. (Keep in mind my sleep schedule is a bit off kilter and I didn't go to sleep until 2am.) I woke up grumpy. Of course I did. I always wake up grumpy. Always. As my husband says "you wake up grumpy and stay that way until about noon!" Yes sweetie I do. Sorry. Just because it was the 4th didn't mean I wasn't going to be grumpy. Especially when asked about what time we will be getting things rolling for our 4th of July plans when I'm still trying to sleep. Selfish? Why yes I am. Irritable? That too. Sorry again.

My dear sweet husband wakes up ready to go. Always. And he rarely sleeps past 9am. Rarely. He was a super sweet guy on the 4th and made me blueberry pancakes. Thinking back it was really very festive. He made me a special heart shaped blueberry pancake. Even when I woke up grumpy. I love him.

After breakfast I made a batch of brownies. We had plans to go to American Village and meet up with some other wonderful families - the Postons, the Sharps, the Lowerys and I even glimpsed some Davis'. The plan was to eat a picnic supper and no supper is complete without a dessert. So brownies I baked. They were rather large brownies too. You see...what happened was...I started with one mix of double chocolate brownies. I put that one batch into a 9x13 pan. It wasn't even enough to cover the bottom. So I pulled out the reserve bath of plain brownie mix and added it to the pan. I baked it. For at least an hour because of course they were thick brownies. Then when it was time to cut them the trouble came. They were really hard to cut. So I decided to make short work of it and cut big squares instead of small ones. The end result was a brownie big enough to kill...or at least cause great bodily harm to someone who can't eat chocolate.

Fast forward a bit through the getting ready to go stuff and we arrive at American Village just in time-5pm. (I guess I should explain that I carefully planned this arrival time so that we wouldn't be there too long. And by too long I mean long enough that my husband was thoroughly bored and grumpy with too much time before fireworks. I was NOT about to miss fireworks.) So we arrive and walk around a bit. We spot the Sharps carrying their picnic stuff to set up and save a space to watch fireworks. We trek back out to the car and get out picnic stuff. Then we rush off to hear Patrick Henry give a speech. It was definitely a good speech. You may have heard it before....something about "give me liberty or give me death?" Then we went back to munch on some snacks. By this point it is about 6:30-7pmish and we decide to walk around and take some pics so I have something to post on my wonderful blog. We had fun being silly.

Finally we hear the pre-fireworks ceremony begin and we head back to our seats. We pause during the national anthem and we are facing the crowd. A crowd where everyone is standing and many are singing along. It gave me goosebumps I tell you. It is special days like this that remind me how proud Americans really are about our freedom and independence. Then the community band plays a few songs, one of them the 1812 Overture which always reminds me of evening parades at good ol' Marine Barracks Washington. (I really must make plans to see another one next summer.) We made it back to our seats in time to hear a local choir begin a medley of all the services' hymns. When the hymn of each service was sung any crowd members that were a part of that service were asked to stand and be recognized. It began with the army and those in the army just kind of stood there, next up was the navy and again the seamen just stood there any old way, then the coast guard (which the crowd was asking...what service is this? Oh, it must be the coast guard...) and a few stood, then it was the air force and again mere standing any old which way, finally it was time for the United States Marines and all at once *boom* they were up and all standing in the exact same position. I'm sure it has an official name, but I don't know what it is. They were at an attention like stance with their hands clasped in front of them. It made me smile. After that a few more songs were played or sung.

Finally it was time for fireworks!! It was a beautiful display and I truly enjoyed it. I thanked my husband several times for braving the traffic and crowd to take me to see fireworks. The children played with sparklers once the crowd cleared a bit. We made our trek to the car after the majority of the crowd had found their cars. Traffic was still a bit heavy so we waited some more and I was able to play with some of my sparklers. I'm pretty sure people thought I was a little silly playing with them, but I truly love sparklers and fireworks.

Here are some pics of our day:

We took about 73 pics on the 4th of July 2009. Wow.

Excitement & Anticipation

2009-07-03T23:13:00.002-05:00

I have very slowly been counting down the days until the "best holiday ever" arrives. In case you're wondering what holiday that might be it is the 4th of July. I LOVE it. Love, love, love the 4th of July celebrations. (Coincidentally, my cousin Mandie also loves the 4th of July and is getting married tomorrow. Sadly, I could only afford one trip to Ohio this summer so I had to miss the wedding and see Katie graduate instead. I'll be sending happy thoughts and prayers to the newlyweds tomorrow.) Ok, back to the 4th.

As the 4th of July rolls around each year I reflect upon several things. I love the celebration of our country, our independence, and the men and women who fight to keep that independence for us. I love picnics, barbecues, red, white, blue, stars, stripes, and fireworks. And last but certainly not least, no 4th of July celebration is complete without sparklers! Sparklers are always so much fun. Fun fact: I am 27 years old and still do not light my own sparklers. In recent years (since I've moved away from my mother) my husband has had to light my sparklers for me. Strange, yes. I'm pretty sure you can watch me magically transform into a 5 yr old just by handing me a lighted sparkler.

To celebrate the 4th of July this year we will be going to a place called American Village. In a nutshell it is like a mini Williamsburg in the activities you can enjoy there on the 4th of July. I am thoroughly excited about going there. The thing I look forward to seeing the most are of course the fireworks. I can hardly wait. I have visions of pretty red, blue, green, gold, and silver sparkles in the sky. I think I could watch fireworks every day and still not get over how beautiful they are. I stare at them with wide eyes and an open mouth. (Yes, again I turn into a 5 yr old.) I'm hoping I remember to take lots of pictures of this year's 4th of July.

I've had so many fun 4ths all over the country. I think my best 4th to date was in 2006 when we lived in DC. My in-laws had come to DC to visit and surprised us by having Tyrone fly in as well. We woke up and went to watch Dave march in a 4th of July parade in DC. I, pale being that I am, ended up getting sunburnt during the parade. Then we went back to our apartment to cool off, shower, take a nap, and change clothes. That evening I was able to cross off "seeing 4th of July fireworks in DC" off my list of things I'd like to do before I die. It was a wonderful show. I'd love to go back sometime, but I think it may take an awful lot of convincing before I can get Dave to go again.

The second best 4th of July just might be the one spent in NC during summer 2007. We had Doc Rob, Combs, and Goodson (just some of "my boys") over to our house to celebrate. The 4th happened right before pre-deployment leave so the boys were stuck in town waiting to go on leave. We grilled out and the boys drank. Then we decided to get some fireworks and sparklers. Once those were done burning they found other flammable items to amuse themselves. It was truly a lot of fun and it made it more special to me because I knew that soon the boys would be gone for several months and I would be left to find some girls to help me fill the silence they left behind. Random Sidenote: If you watch videos of Marines being silly at home-not depoyment-there is typically a female laughing in the background. You never see her b/c she is the one holding the camera ;)

I have other random memories from past 4th of Julys...
Going to see fireworks in Centennial Park in Ohio with my gradma.

Making a sidewalk chalk drawing of people watching fireworks for the Jubilee celebration.

Watching fireworks in Centennial Park again with my cousin Lindsey and shouting "periwinkle" at the blueish purple hued fireworks. (Hmm. Good memory. I still have the urge to shout periwinkle when watching fireworks to this day.)

Sparklers in the yard, on the sidewalk, and in the center oval of grass in the driveway at the farmhouse.

Fireworks during Red, White, and BOOM in Cbus, Ohio. Super fun.

The Lands End catalogue cover that featured "Lands End" written in fireworks. It was amazing to read about how technically challenging it was to create the cover.

Bottle rockets and cherry bombs flying past my head in Megan and David's backyard.

So many fun memories. I can hardly wait to see what new memories I will create this year with my new friends in this new place. I wonder where I might be next year during the 4th of July? I'm off to dream of fireworks in the Nation's Capitol...

Ohio Trip = Katie Graduated Undergrad!!

2009-06-25T00:18:00.002-05:00

Our most recent trip to Ohio happened a week or so ago with one goal in mind...watch Katie graduate from college. It was our (my husband was there!) longest visit to Ohio to date. (The length of our stay didn't happen entirely on purpose though...) Here is the "short," less exhausting version of our trip to Ohio.

Thursday: Arrive in Ohio about 1pm I think. We head to Easton to do some shopping...mainly to pick up Katie's graduation present from Dave and I. I had called to purchase it earlier in the week so that it would be there. Then we headed to mom's house for a bit before Maggie and I went to have our hair done. A trip to Ohio isn't complete without a trip to visit Amy, the beloved family hairstylist. I love that I can sit down in her chair and say "do what you want." She can somehow look at my hair, see what is going on with it and say let's do x,y,and z. I say "ok." An hour or so later I have a hairstyle I LOVE. (This one I truly, truly love.) I can dry it in about 5-6 minutes (drying my hair is an ordeal...I typically go through a hair dryer every 2 years or so...my nana has had the same hair dryer for like 20 year probably.) I straighten out the ends and I'm ready to go. So easy and so grown up looking. Love it.

Friday: Went to the dr so he could look at my "leg fungus." Every summer I get this stuff on the same two spots on my leg...for the past 4 yrs or so. Ugh. Good news is that the antibiotic is making the stuff go away super fast. Side effect: you burn easily in the sun. So I'm currently hiding from the sun til the fungus and meds are gone. Let's hope it doesn't come back. Doc also gave me some advice and once I have med insurance again will go further into investigating why it keeps coming back.
We also did a lot of shopping Friday. We were going to see a movie, but mom had a grad gift to make for Katie's roommate (should have taken a pic of it...but I forgot to do so...) We ended up going to bed kinda late that night if I recall.

Saturday: Graduation! We also had to pick up a Uhaul so Katie could get her bed from college to home. We were seated in the convo center about 1:30pm. We finally left there about 4pm. LOOONNGGGG ceremony. The speaker was fantastic though. The graduate's family was able to leave after their graduate's name had been called. It would have been more of a priviliege for our family if Katie's college (the College of Arts & Sciences) wasn't called dead last...and Katie was in the next to last row of graduates. Darnit! I dozed a few times while waiting for her name to be called.
Dave and I stayed in Athens that night and went to dinner with Katie's friends and then talked a lot. It was fun to talk with some of her friends.

Sunday: Drive home to mom's house. Stopped by Chantell's house to see my buddy. I miss my buddy and our long conversations in the electronics department of Sears at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning putting up sale signs. (Sears btw is not the great place it once was 8 yrs ago...looking a little run into the ground and too much like a ghosttown.) We also went to Jean's hosue for a party on the deck. Tried to go bowling (the Ohio tradition) but the bowling alley was closed by the time we got there. Which is probably why we typically bowl on Saturday nights.

Monday: Wake up. Shower. Pack. Eat lunch. Go to the airport. I try to check us in for our flight. It can't find me. Hmmm....look carefully at the flight info confirmation e-mail...leave on June #...fly back July #. What?? JULY!? Oh noooooo... So we talk to the very nice guy at the desk. He can get us back on Wed for the small fee of $150 per person. (Silently cursing myself in my head at this point, but knowing it could totally be worse. Trying to find the hidden blessing of more time with family.) I call work to see whether they can cover me til I get back. They can so we pay the $300 idiot fee and head back to Mom's house. (OSU graduation was that weekend as well which is why all of the flights were booked.)

Tuesday: Can't really remember. I think I tried to nap a bit.

Wednesday: Get up at the crack of dawn after 4 hours of sleep to fly back to AL. We get on the plane in Cbus and start to taxi down the runway and then we stop. Not cool. At all. The nice pilot says traffic is being rerouted around Atlanta and we can't leave yet due to storms in TN and NC. Ok. We pull into a runway "parking space" and they let us use electronic devices. They serve bottled water. They begin an "in flight movie." Soooo not a good sign. An hour later we fly out. This means we have missed our connecting flight, but we will automatically be booked on the next flight. Ugh. We finally land in ATL. We find that the next flight to Birmingham is still boarding. (I won't get as long of a nap before work but no biggie.) We find out that since we have checked luggage (for the nominal fee of $30) we can't board this plane and the next one leaves ATL at 1pm. (2.5 hours later more silent cursing and grumbling) That leaves no time for a nap. When it is all said and done and we are back in Alabama I have enough time to get the cats from my mil's house, go home and change, and then get to work...15 minutes late. Long day.

It took awhile to recover from this trip. We started the trip off short on sleep and even though I took a nap several days I still wound up tired. Super tired. Here are some pics from our visit.

Katie & her present...a Tiffany's crown key charm (Money is nice but this will be a lasting reminder of her accomplishment and I hope she remembers how much her hard work paid off each time she looks at it.)

The whole family.

Mom & Katie. Mom is the silent support system behind all of our accomplishments. No matter what she cheers us on, even if she knows in doing so it sometimes puts more miles between us. Yet she knows we will always find out way home to visit.

Katie & My Grandparents. (My Nana & Pap couldn't make it, but they really wanted to.)

You did it girl! Go Bobcats!

Roomies & Friends for life!

Alumni!!! Woooohoooo!

My Life in Pictures

2009-06-04T19:03:00.003-05:00

I've taken many, many, many pictures over the past few weeks that I keep meaning to add to my blog...but never seem to have time. I'm forcing myself to add some pics today.

Zeke & Zeus staring out at a neighbor child staring in.

Meet Bagheera (Or Diana if its a girl)...but during its time in our house it was called "Baggy" from Baloo's line "C'mon Baggy get with the beat" in the movie The Jungle Book.

Baggy learning how to play with USMC gear. (Kittens love boot bands too.)

Words of wisdom for Baggy from Zeke.

My favorite pic of Baggy.

Zeke's new favorite place to sleep.

Zeus loves to sit on tables and counters. It means I frequently clean them with clorox and other cleaners to keep them fur/germ free.

This is Zeke's face after he learns he won't be going to visit "Grandma Frantz" (poor little guy)

This is my "Librarian Chair" a fab find at only $15. I love it...Dave hates it.

My new trench coat originally priced at $79.95 (New York & Co.) and I paid $7.99 + tax. I sort of lusted after it when I first saw it, but put it out of my mind once seeing the price tag. (A retail girl never pays full price for something unless she has a darn good reason.)

A recent visit with our niece Zoi. I frequently give Dave the same look Zoi is giving him. Shortly after this she started crying and wanted to go back to her momma, lol.

My newest addition to the doo-dads. It says (for those of you who maybe can't read it)

"It is not the length of life, but the depth of life." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yes, it is.

I'll have more pics to put up in about a week or so. Only 6 days until I am in Ohio. I can hardly wait. We're going to have so much fun.

A Year Later

2009-06-01T20:27:00.003-05:00

Dave kindly reminded me today that it is his 1 yr anniversary of being out of the Marine Corps. We celebrated it much like we did on the official separation day...with pizza and beer. It seems like a good night to reflect on the things we have learned and experienced in the last year during "life after the Corps." Many things are still the same and many things will never be the same again. I'm happy knowing I don't have to worry about him being gone for months on end in a war zone. I'm sad that he no longer gets to do what he loves. I'm hopeful he will find something new that he loves, but am not holding my breath at this point and am anticipating a long hard road ahead while he figures it out.

In the months following his EAS we discussed his going back so many times I told him we had to stop talking about it because the anxiety of indecision was driving me nuts. Finally in November we started the process of trying to go back to the Corps. Fast forward several months and we discover that it will be a no go. Headquarters Marine Corps decided he had too many tattoos for the Corps. (At first we thought it was a different reason, but last week we found out that was the real reason.) Wow. I find that a little crazy if you ask me, but I understand "uniform standards...blah blah blah." I still think it sucks, especially since almost half his tattoos are USMC related. The man tattoed an EGA (Eagle Globe and Anchor...or as Brody calls it the eagle and the world), Semper Fi, Fortitudine (the original USMC motto), a spartan punisher (the India Co mascot from 3/8 - woohoo welcome home 3/8), a ship to represent the 22 MEU, and a Marine pin up girl (very tastefully done btw). I think I may be forgetting one. Do you think he loves the Corps? Yeah, me too. I hate he can't go back. Some days I pray that God might see fit to have the USMC recall him. Forget the bonus money, just give him the active duty life back. I could go on a whole big long rant about my thoughts on the USMC tattoo policy...or rather the Commandant's policy...but I probably should just keep that to myself. It saddens me that I have a Marine ready and willing to go back to the Corps (and potential warzones) but the Marine Corps persona will not allow it...anyone who looks at him (or anyone who looks at him and knows Marines) knows that he is a Marine-a Marine without a Corps.

So a year later...

We are in Alabama and no longer NC. (Some days it is good and other days I long for NC or DC again.)

I am working at Ann Taylor Loft and wondering if I should head back to the classroom, just stay put, or try a new career altogether.

Dave is going to school. He is doing pretty well. Some days he even likes his classes. Other days he'd rather be sitting in the rain in the middle of the woods surrounded by a platoon of Marines in the middle of February.

We're living on our own again and all of our boxes have moved out of storage. I'm delaying on unpacking all of them...possibly subconsciously I am trying not to get too settled so this isn't permanent. I haven't figured out what happens if I totally unpack every box. (I've never done it in any place we have lived. Not since that first move from the farmhouse I grew up in. Commitment issues? Definitely about certain things.)

We have a few select friends we hang out with on a very irregular basis. I miss "my boys" all the time. I miss the days that I would come home from a long day/week at JCMS to find one of my boys staying with us for the weekend. Hilarity always ensued at some point during the weekend.

Sometimes I even think I miss payday weekends. (Surely someone needs to save me from the monotany of AL life if I am longing for a payday wknd in J-ville. I think I've lost my mind.)

{Gasp} I think I even miss listening to the boots in line behind me talk. Why yes I have certainly lost my mind for sure. (Not boots like you wear, boots like newbie Marines.)

In Alabama we have a whole church family that loves us, just the way we are.

In NC we had a whole USMC family that loved us the same way. (Granted they still love us...just from afar now.)

In summary, I know life always changes. Even life back in the USMC would be different than it was when we left it last June. I'm hoping we don't always look back on this day with such a mixture of emotions and sometimes even dissapointment over what could have been..."if only." I'm hoping and praying we figure out what our purpose is at this point in time and where we should be headed.

They're Almost Home

2009-05-23T23:45:00.002-05:00

I am excited for my 3/8 family. Their Marines will be home very soon. (Not totally sure how soon for most of them, but I know soon.) I know that this deployment has presented several trials for the Marines and their families, but reunions are in store for them. I pray that each of them makes it home safely (because after all they're not home yet). I remember how busy and exciting those last days of deployment were and I hope that the Marines arrive home according to schedule. Let's hear it for no delays!! (Marine wives are tired of Semper Gumby, lol.)

MiSh MaSh

2009-05-19T00:31:00.002-05:00

This is a blog containing all the things I haven't blogged about recently.

My new favorite "happy" song is Run to You by Lady Antebellum. (Thanks Steph for blogging about it so that I had to go to YouTube and check out the video/song.) I love this song. Put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

The church down the street from out new digs had the strangest sign for awhile...it read "Carla Robinson Cancer singing" (and had the day and time...not sure if I got her name right.) I'm not really sure I know what a cancer singing really is, but I don't think I want to find out.

Veterinary Sign: There is a vet on my way to work who has the best signs. I'm convinced. I think their most recent is my favorite "You should watch the road." I'm guilty. Other signs have read "My boss told me to change the sign. So I did." and "If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble you win. Forever." (Technically it is against Scrabble rules so you couldn't, but it still makes me laugh. And yes I am aware that my thorough knowledge of Scrabble rules makes me a total geek.) They also sometimes advertise free kittens to good homes. Sooooo tempting, but the crazy, married cat lady is resisting. I fear a revolt-human and feline alike-coming soon if I don't continue to resist.

I attended a 6 yr old's birthday party on Saturday and had the best time I've had at a birthday party in a long time. I followed kids around the yard taking pics and laughed a lot. (No offense if I've attended a birthday party for you recently, lol.) Unfortunately said 6 yr old thinks my husband is awesome, right down to his tattoos. I fear we are a bad influence on said child. If he starts walking around drinking beer I think we may have to move, again. On the other hand my husband did remind the 6 yr old's mother not to google things that might put her on an FBI watch list while attempting research for the party. Hmmmm...does one outweigh the other?

Working retail is very bad for a shopping addict. I have my addiction under control at the moment, but it certainly is a battle.

I love my retail job. Do I love it more than being in a classroom? Most of the time I do. Sometimes I long for a classroom again, but is it just in a quest for an excuse to buy new school supplies? Probably.

A family near and dear to my heart is having to say good-bye to yet another member of their family at the moment. It makes my heart hurt for them to think about it. There are children losing a great-grandma, a woman losing her grandma, and a woman losing her mother. I wish I could be with them to offer support, but I'll have to settle for offering my moral support from AL at the moment and passing out hugs when I am in Ohio in June.

June...the countdown begins! I'll be in Ohio for a whopping 5 days almost. Granted I arrive one of those days and leave another one of those days, but still that is a lot of days. My husband will be with me too! He won't be my imaginary husband this trip.

Katie is graduating college. She has been accepted to 3, yes 3 law schools. She can rattle off the statistics about how rare that is...so we're more than a little proud of her. Plus, your prayers have paid off and all of the schools are offering her scholarships for about half the cost of tuition. So far it looks like she will be attending Ohio Northern, but she is still waiting to hear from 2 other Ohio schools. (The out of state schools were just a bit too expensive.)

Do I feel a bit like an underachiever? Yes. But I'm over it. Lol.

I'm looking forward to bowling with the family. It should be fun. We'll have to take pictures. Lots of pictures.

My husband has been playing either Gears of War or Fable 2 on his XBox 360 for the past week. Ugh. He tried to teach me to play Gears of War. I spent my time "playing" trying to follow him, not get shot, and looking up and down. We played for about an hour at least. That is what I mastered...looking up and down. There are waaaayyy too many buttons on that controller for me. The last gaming system I used was the original Nintendo and my favorite game was Dr. Mario. It was like Tetris, but colored pills instead of shapes. Shapes were too much for me, lol.

Taking Chance

2009-05-16T01:00:00.004-05:00

I feel like I should start this post with a slight warning that you may need some tissues and it may be rather grim. I know what I want to blog, but not sure if it will turn out that way or not. I also may ruin bits of the movie for you...although it isn't like you wouldnn't know how it ends.

Preface: Taking Chance is a movie made by HBO about the journey of a Marine, PFC Phelps, home from Iraq to his final resting place. It is based on a true story of Phelps and the Marine officer Lt. Col. Michael Strobl who becomes his escort from Dover, MD to WY. It is a highly unusual thing for a man of Strobl's rank to escort a PFC (the next to lowest USMC ranking) unless they were friends or relatives, Strobl and Phelps were neither. The movie aired on HBO in Feb and we didn't have HBO at the time (still don't) so I went online to see if I could order it. I knew I must watch this movie. I couldn't resist, even though I knew it would make me horribly sad and cry. It was like a bruise I simply had to touch just to see if it would hurt. So I ordered it from HBO directly. I was excited about my order...until I received the notice that it was back ordered until its official release date, which was undetermined at that time. Slightly disappointed, but still ok since it would arrive eventually. Fast forward a few months to the move...well the DVD was going to be shipped to the in-laws house. Not really a big deal, but I wanted to have it the minute it hit the mailbox. (Crazy, why yes I am.) So I view my order. At this point it tells me the official release date is May 12th. I try to change my order by contacting the online customer service. They can't change my shipping address even though it is "backordered." They can cancel my order though and I can reorder it. "Fine." So I am about to reorder from HBO when it hits me...I may not have to pay full retail price if I can get it from amazon.com. I search and can get it for $16.95...my HBO order was $22.93ish. So amazon.com saved the day. "Taking Chance" was also in my mailbox waiting for me on May 12th.

I patiently waited for Dave to get home from work so we could watch this movie together. It was something we had to do together (or at least I felt like we did). I knew Dave had taken part in the ceremonial aspect of funerals and I just wanted to see what exactly the process is for a Marine (or and service member) during their final journey home. I had made myself a salad to eat while I watched the movie. I ate a few bites during the previews and immediately stopped eating when the movie began. The first scene was just like a punch in the stomach, especially to a woman who lived the Marine's wife life. I won't tell you what it is, but it is gut wrenching. I may get some of the details to the actual process the USMC goes through wrong so I apologize, but once a casualty is confirmed Marines in dress blues are dispatched to notify the next of kin. It showed the two Marines sent to Phelps' family arriving at their house. The Marine on the passenger side got out of the car and waited at attention for the driver to join him and they walked in step to the door. I don't know if that is really part of the routine or not, but it struck me as being an excellent detail used to portray just how precise the USMC really is. It made me smile.

Another scene depicts the bodies being packed up to leave from Iraq and fly to Dover, MD. Random fact: All military deceased (in combat/overseas) are flown to Dover for processing regardless of their branch of service. They show the passing of bags of ice to place in the plastic shipping containers, similar to the passing of sandbags. I had never thought of that aspect before, that they would need to be able to keep the bodies cool.

Another scene is after Lt. Col. Strobl has departed from Dover in a hearse with Phelps on their way to the airport to fly cross country to WY. Strobl and the hearse driver are having a conversation about why the hearse driver began doing this. The driver said he wanted to do something to help, but he didn't want to go into the military. (The hearse driver has shoulder length hair.) The hearse driver begins talking about having classmates from high school served in Iraq. One was injured pretty badly and the other one came home in a casket. The hearse driver says I really don't understand all the shit that is going on over there. He then aplogizes for saying shit. Strobl chuckles and says "it's ok you can say shit." I laughed and looked at Dave with the look that says "silly Marines."

Another scene shows Strobl on a plane and his seat mate is a younger girl. She talks to him and offers to let him read her magazines and then begins texting. She starts to text "Hot Soldier on the plane next to me." Strobl sees what she is texting and says "actually its a Marine, not a soldier." Again I look at Dave and totally crack up because it is such a Marine thing to do. Never, ever call a Marine a soldier unless you want to totally tick them off. This also happens to be the leg of his journey that the pilot is prior Air Force and asks all passengers to wait and let Strobl off the plane first as he is escorting a deceased Marine home. The young girl cries and apoligizes to Strobl.

I could go on and on and on about this movie and how each scene touched me in a different way and the things I thought about. I think it is a must see movie because it depicts a relatively unexplored aspect of military life with such care and detail. I cried through 95% of the movie. It got to the point that tears would just stream down my face as I silently watch this movie. The only two times I spoke were the two scenes I told you I laughed. I was near sobs by the end of the movie. It was beautifully put together. After watching the movie it took me awhile to relax and my mind was just turning. I hugged my husband several times and told him I Loved him. I also fell asleep praying that night (and had the best night of sleep I've had in a really long time) for all of those is harms way at the moment because we still have so many who are. I prayed for those who are tasked with transporting, preparing, guarding, and burying deceased service members because the deaths weigh on them too, even if they didn't know them. I think Marines especially feel a lot of guilt in dealing with deceased brothers & sisters because they feel they should have been doing more. .oO(I shouldn't be marching around or working in an office I should have been there shooting right next to you, protecting you.) If you think about it say a prayer for all of our service men and women, but especially those tasked with these difficult jobs that leave impressions and scars on their lives that they may never ever talk about with anyone.

8 Things

2009-05-01T10:40:00.002-05:00

I was "tagged" by my friend Stephanie to do this several days ago and am finally getting around to it. I am not going to tag anyone else to do it though, but feel free to join in on the "8 Things" bandwagon if you wish. (I always feel like a bad person for not doing something I was tagged to do...crazy, I know.)

Here's how 8 THINGS works:-
Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:
1. Going home to Ohio in a little over a month for Katie's graduation.
2. Spending the next two days with my husband.
3. Finishing the unpacking process...probably just in time to move again.
4. Eating my Lucky Charms for breakfast. (I'm 27 and I can eat whatever I want for breakfast.)
5. Going to the beach sometime this summer. (It better happen or I think I'll up and move again, lol.)
6. Getting a tan instead of a burn.
7. The day I can actually have a radio in my car again. (Mine stopped working and can't be fixed. That makes for a very long 45 minute drive to and from work.)
8. Spending time with my husband the next two days. (I know this is on the list twice, but I'm really excited about that.)

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
1. Went to work @ Ann Taylor Loft. (Mention Friends & Family and you should get a 30% discount til Sunday.)
2. Put lotion on my sunburned skin.
3. Scratched my back a lot yesterday since the peeling process has begun. Icky.
4. Drank a margarita and it was YUMMY!
5. Watched not one, but two movies with my husband.
6. Ate french fries from Five Guys Hamburgers and Fries yesterday for lunch. YUMMY, YUMMY! (Like fair fries, but better since you don't have to tromp around the fair grounds to get them.)
7. Made a list of things to do today.
8. Snuggled with the furry children. (Zeke & Zeus)

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
1. Live at the beach all summer.
2. Get another kitten. (I'm pretty sure Zeke and Zeus would torment it. I'm also pretty sure it would be next to impossible to find housing in the future with 3 cats. That is the one thing (and Dave) keeping me from being the crazy cat lady.)
3. Live in DC again.
4. Be a librarian at the Library of Congress.
5. Have a room with wall to wall bookshelves, complete with a wooden rolling ladder (like in Beauty & the Beast), and have those bookshelves filled with wonderful books. (I know, I simply could have said "have my own library in my house" but my way was more fun. I do however own a "librarian chair" thanks to the church yard sale...more on that later.)
6. Fly my family to Alabama so they can all see how crazy and wonderful it is.
7. To teach or not to teach? Yeah, I can't decide.
8. End the repetitive deployment cycle so my friends can spend more time with their husbands home.

8 TV SHOWS I WATCHed: (I added the -ed because we don't have cable/satellite/etc and I don't watch tv anymore I watch movies.)
1. Army Wives
2. Jon & Kate Plus 8
3. Real Housewives of Orange Beach (I love to hate watching this show...)
4. What Not to Wear (I fully expect to be "surprised" by them at some point.)
5. Project Runway
6. Guiding Light (I hear it is being canceled...so sad. I remember watching this with my mom when I was little.)
7. The Real World (Another show I love to hate watching.)
8. The View

THE END. Especially since I didn't tag anyone. Off to enjoy my Lucky Charms and my day.

Excitement

2009-04-22T23:59:00.002-05:00

Here is another list of things I am excited about:

1. Katie was accepted into a law school!! Western New England College School of Law (I think I got that right...) in Massachusetts called her to let her know they were sending her an admissions packet and that they would also like to offer her about half the cost of tuition without any restrictions! WoooHooo!! My sister was accepted into law school ;) and they want to give her money.

2. Katie graduates soon...in June. I'm going to Ohio in June. Yay! I haven't been in the convo center since my own graduation. It will be nice to enter for yet another celebration.

3. We (Dave) found the microwave and the toaster oven. I can live without them, but life is nice with them. They were still in storage with the rest of our furniture.

4. The rest of our furniture arrived today. (Well Dave and my FIL moved it from storage to our house today really.) Yay!!

5. I have this weekend off! I might actually have time to put our house together and get some much needed rest and relaxation time. Wow.

6. I don't have to be at work on Monday until 5:30pm. I might actually get to spend most of the day with my husband. I was starting to forget what that might be like. (Ahhh, and the guilt sets in for whining about not seeing him when he is stateside. Oh the joys of knowing the trials a military wife faces. Hugs to my military wives...I still remember.)

Sweet HOME Alabama

2009-04-21T19:02:00.006-05:00

Did you notice the capital HOME? That is because we finally have a place and a space of our own. We moved the boxes into the spare room on Easter Sunday and then I moved more stuff the next day. Slowly we have been unpacking those boxes. Very slowly. Do I care? Nope. I think we only have one more box of kitchen stuff to unpack. Oh-we can't find the microwave...or the toaster oven. I'm pretty sure the microwave was in its own box, but there is no box listed on the packing log as having the microwave inside. (Not that the packing log was all that detailed anyhow...) We'll eventually find them-or buy a new one if we don't, but it is rather annoying not being able to figure out where it is. I've even asked my friend Anna who helped me pack and asked Katie and Maggie. At any rate, I'm not stressing about anything. I figure this move will go like all the others. We'll unpack the necessary boxes and when it is time to move again some of our boxes will still be packed :)

I have really been looking forward to unpacking my box of doodads. It is a box that holds items very near and dear to my heart, thanks to my Grandma. When Dave and I got married one of our presents was a "box of doodads" and she enclosed a letter to explain what they were. It reads as follows:

Dear Wendy & David:

Wherever you are together from now on, that is where home will be.

Every home needs a few keepsakes, or doodads as my Grandma called them, to be set out or hung up which will proclaim to the world that "this place is home to us at this time."

These few doodads are to remind you of some of the special people in Wendy's life. One was made by your Mom for me many years ago. One was bought by me at a flea market, because you were playing the flute at the time, and I was really proud of you. One belonged to Daadoo, and the other Grandpa and I thought was the perfect place to keep a picture of "The Kiss," which is about the cutest wedding picture we've ever seen.

I hope you collect a few more doodads from other parts of your families, so that you will remember where your "roots" are while you are living your new life together, which I'm sure that God planned for you when he gave you life!!

Love,
Grandma

This box has become one of my most cherished possessions. I always make sure it is tucked away safely before each move. Once we arrive in a new place these are the things that I find a place for that makes it feel like home. Just like Grandma said I have added a few things along the way...

This is the end of the "originals"...

Mrs. B gave us this plate and we have had it in our DC apt, Nc townhouse, and was the first thing put on the wall so far.

These magnets were given to me by Jean M...but I can't remember if I had them in DC or not. I don't think so...but I love them b/c they are butterflies with some of my life's mottos "Live. Love. Hope."

This Turtle joined the family in DC and was the first of the turtle & butterfly combos we have found so far...

This turtle joined us in NC as our front porch decoration. The Carolina sun has taken its toll on it. So did Lou Dog as he chewed off a butterfly that was attached by a spring coil to the larger turtle. It is how people knew which townhouse was ours...and now which home is ours.

The unpacking has only just begun, but I'm sure you will hear a lot more about it and see many more pics as we go along. For now, we're happy and enjoying this "place and space of our own" because...

No Longer in the Desert...

2009-04-07T20:59:00.002-05:00

To understand the title post you would have to reference a comment my cousin made when I was blogging about not really knowing if Alabama is where Dave and I are supposed to be at the moment. She reminded me of the Israelite wandering the desert and pondering going back to Egypt and slavery instead of continuing to wander. I can say that Dave and I are supposed to be here in Alabama, at least for this point in time. It has become abundantly clear in the past few weeks that Alabama is home for now. (My gypsy-like heart and I are still adjusting to this idea...I know we've already been here for 9 months now, I only lived in DC for 9 months though.)

Week 1~We receive an offer for affordable cheap housing from a friend. We are excited, but uncertain as to whether we can really afford it even though it was so cheap since Dave was only working at Domino's a few nights a week after school. So we ponder it a bit.

Week 2~Management shifts are made at Loft. One of our managers and one of our Sales Leads goes to a neighboring store. Another Sales Lead found a full-time job which limits her availability. This leaves lots of free hours...hours I get to take. That means a big paycheck increase from the barely 15-20hours a week. Dave is told about a possible supervisor security job at a nearby mall. Dave goes to apply for the job. We're thinking the housing is way more affordable with my paycheck increase alone, but a job for Dave would be excellent.

Week 3~Dave gets the job!! It is a full-time position and he will also be able to stay in school. We're both rather excited. (And his boss is a former Marine!) We go to investigate housing opportunity. We love it and its great price. We love that we can have our furbabies with us without a huge fee. We plan to move.

I think this week would be week 4. We are planning to move next week as long as the everything goes according to plan and the current tennants are able to move into their new house as scheduled. God's hand can be seen in how this story has unfolded. I am thankful and counting my blessings. I really don't know what the future holds for us-a teaching job? a USMC recall? another move? the possibilities are endless, but I am confident that we are supposed to be here. I guess maybe I should start putting down some more roots. (That is sooooo scary to me...lol)

Things I am excited about:
1. Moving!!
2. Opening up my boxes from storage. I really can't remember what I might have in some of them.
3. Purging some of the unnecessary items I unbury in those boxes so there is less to move the next time (whenever that happens to be).
4. Katie's College Graduation - I would number the days, but I am afraid I would incite more panic in her life.
5. The day Katie opens her mailbox to find just the right acceptance letter to the law school of her choosing. (And Dear God, If it isn't too much to ask can she have some funding from the school too? Please.)
6. Maggie finishing college-on her own schedule of course, like everything else she does. lol.

Promised "Big Gun Show" Blog

2009-03-22T18:17:00.002-05:00

I promised all of my darling Facebook friends I would blog about my adventure to the "big gun show" today. I didn't seem to write down as many things from the gun show as previous visits, but I still found a few humorous things to blog about.

The Award for Best Dressed~This trip it goes to the gentleman who decided to wear digital camo pants (Army's pattern) and a pastel turquiose, short sleeve button down shirt with palm trees on it. These two items in no way shape or form matched. It was a rather interesting ensemble.

Interesting Vendor Signs~ "Guns are like wives-If it ain't yours don't touch it." Well, ok then.
"LOOK! Not made in communist China M.F.G in Florida" - Found at a booth selling cloth gun cases.

Personal Favorite of the Day~This particular sign would not necessarily have made it to my "make fun of the gun show blog" (as my darling husband calls it) but I just couldn't resist when I saw their error...
Will "Listen" to
1.) Offers
2.) Trades
3.) But NO (underlined twice) wifes/kids/dogs

Apparently he never listened to his English teacher either...otherwise he would have known it is wives not wifes. I did later find out (when Dave was talking to the vendor about his wares) that this particular man has been happily married for 30 yrs-to 3 different women. Go figure! It also took all of my restraint to not walk up to his sign and correct his red ink with my black pen.

Moms & Children~I saw two rather interesting mother/daughter pairs. The first pair that caught my eye was a mother carrying a Coach purse guiding a young daughter (elementary age) around who happened to be wearing a Vera Bradley backpack! Wow. The second combo I saw was a mother with acrylic nails that decided she would flick them on the stock of a vendor's rifle as she was talking about the finish. .oO(Thankfully I wasn't the vendor cause I probably would have barked something unpleasant at her.) The mother/daughter combo was tan, fake looking dyed blonde hair, arms full of bracelets, and boobs hanging out. Wow again. Thankfully my mother taught me less is more-when it comes to make-up, jewelry, and showing off your skin-among other things.

Overall the trip was more enjoyable than the last one, but I think I may be growing immune to the oddities one can see at the gun show.

Mom's Orders

2009-03-12T16:00:00.002-05:00

I'm under orders via my mother to blog again. Thanks Mom, it doesn't really help the writer's block when you demand I blog. So here is my list of random things to pacify my mother.

1. Snow in Alabama~It really did snow in Alabama. I told everyone I would "believe it when I see it" since the weatherman had been predicting snow at least once every two weeks for quite some time now. I believe it. It snowed. I took the cats out to play in it. Zeus was cranky and wanted back inside asap. Zeke would have stayed outside all day in it if I had let him. He was crawling all over the place in it. i took some great pics with the intentions of uploading them to my blog...but they did end up on Facebook. The snow reminded me of winters spent at my Nana & Pap's house sled riding down the hills in the back yard. Then we would come inside and drink hot chocolate until we warmed up and our snow clothes dried out. We could even watch for the snow plow to come down the road if it was really bad out. (No snow plows in Alabama though...they just drop sand on the icy bridges and that was it.)

2. Taxes~I despise gathering up all the information needed to file our taxes. Every year I swear it will be different and I will do a better job throughout the year of organizing things so it doesn't take forever to sort through receipts and what not. So far no better system has been found. It probably doesn't help that at least 3 of the 4 years we have filed taxes as a married couple there has been a move involved. If you have a great filing system please feel free to share.

3. Combs is coming to visit!!~ I am rather excited that Dave's friend from the USMC is coming to visit us in AL this weekend. He will arrive on Sat and leave on Tues. Not a very long visit, but we're used to making the most of the time we're given with the people who are important to us. Sadly, I have to work every day he is here. Combs (known to everyone outside of the USMC as Blake) was Dave's roommate in the barracks in DC. When they were transferred to Camp Lejeune, NC Combs was put into the MARSOC unit at first. It was several months later, but eventually Combs came back "home" to the rest of the DC guys and they were one big happy family again. I know Dave was happy to have his "brother" back. During their deployment Combs and Dave were often mistaken as being twins. My own mom misidentified Combs as being Dave in a few of the deployment day pics I took. Anyhow, we look forward to having some fun visiting with a very special friend.

4. Storage~I have made a vow that one way or another the Spring/Summer season here in Alabama will be the last season that we have a storage unit. Meaning, we will be moved out of the in-laws house by the end of the summer...hopefully sooner rather than later. I am very, very, very, very tired of going to storage to dig things out and put things away, among other things.

5. USMC~The majority of you know by now that Dave is trying to go back to the USMC. It has been an almost painfully slow process to try and get back into the USMC. Who knew that it could be so infuriating? .oO(I did, it is the beloved USMC...everyone seems to have a love/hate relationship with them.) {Sigh} As I told my mother not so long ago...you all will know more when I know more, which apparently won't be soon.

6. Which brings me to my last point...Thanks MOM! I don't tell you thank you nearly enough for all the things you do for me now, the things you have done in the past, or the things you would do for me if you could. Thank you for always supporting me, even when you had your doubts you wouldn't voice them too loudly you just let me keep on doing what I was doing. .oO(You know, like "running away" to get married to this silly Southern Marine we all love...) Thank you for never making me "prove myself" to you. You gave me far more in life so far by just believing that if I wanted to do it I would. I didn't have to earn your support, you just gave it...and you still do. I don't doubt myself nearly as much since I have the support of my mother. Even if I fail at something, she still knows I tried my best and that is what is important to her. I love you Mom!

At a Loss

2009-02-21T22:27:00.002-06:00

There are so many thoughts running around in my head at the moment that I am at a loss as to what to blog about. Some things I really don't want to blog about because I don't have enough information to really blog them. I hate not being able to blog. I blog to release stress, free up space in my mind, and share my crazy life with all the people who love me. So if you dare to read on, beware...it may not make sense, I may not answer all your questions, and I may step on some toes or hurt some feelings. I apologize for that now.

Feeling Miserable~I really feel selfish for complaining. I really shouldn't complain...there are definitely other people with situations far worse than mine. I should be grateful...but instead I feel miserable. Not a I hate my daily existence kind of miserable, more of a stuck in the mud kind of miserable. It isn't that bad; however, it is still mud and I hate being dirty. I realize this is vague. Sorry.

Goals~I am a girl who has always had a goal. A goal of getting through h.s, getting my college degree, being a teacher, etc. I really don't have a goal for myself at the moment (other than getting a full time job-and there are far too many variables in my way at the moment). Why have I stopped giving myself a goal? Why have I put myself on pause?

Hurry Up and Wait~Is a USMC phrase that I am all-too-familiar with at this point. I hate this phrase. It makes me ill. It may be starting to make me physically ill...ugh.

Irony~I find it ironic (I guess that would be a good word?) that you can do something thinking it is the best thing for you. You think surely this will be great. Then you discover that even though the people are wonderful, you have many friends, you have at least a job in a time where lost of people are losing their's (spellcheck says "their's" is wrong...I'm fairly certain spellcheck is wrong), and all the while you're miserable. Stuck in the mud miserable.

Sorry for the doom and gloom post. Hopefully I'll get my head sorted out and will have a more logical upbeat post tomorrow.

4th Anniversary of the "Airport Rendezvous Weekend"

2009-02-18T12:10:00.002-06:00

Yay! I Love this day, almost more than I love our wedding anniversary. .oO(Hmmm...that probably sounds rather strange, but they are both about equal as special days go.) Four years ago today I boarded a plane in Columbus, Ohio with Dulles International Airport as a final destination. Boarding that plane was the beginning of a weekend that changed my life forever. Upon landing and working my way through the treasure hunt to baggage claim I was greeted with the biggest hug from the cutest Marine I've ever seen. (That would be my husband in case you were wondering.) I was so nervous! I hardly talked to him on the drive from the airport to my hotel room because there were a million things running through my mind. Even though we could talk for hours and hours and hours on the phone I was overwhelmed with actually having him next to me. We dropped my stuff off in my room and he presented me with a heart shaped necklace he had bought for me. I wore it nearly every day after that for at least a year. I wore it on our wedding day. And I still smile when I wear it because it reminds me of how special it was actually meeting the man who had become such a huge part of my life through phone calls and letters.

Then we went to dinner...a very late dinner because my plane hadn't landed until about 8pm or so if I recall. So by the time we fought DC/NOVA traffic it was pretty late. The nerves wore off, but I had a huge dopey grin on my face the whole time. Looking back at the pictures he had a huge dopey grin too, lol. The rest of the weekend was spent touring the DC area, including Pentagon City Mall. Sunday morning he asked me to marry him. He even called my mom and sisters to ask their permission. We didn't make it back to the little shop where we saw a turtle ring before it closed on Sunday evening so Dave bought it later that week and mailed it to me. The turtle ring became my engagement ring until I decided upon a 1/4 carat diamond solitaire a few months later. (I'm not big on flashy rings with lots of stones. Sure they look pretty...but I don't really need that much bling.) I flew out Monday morning and that was the beginning of the visits back and forth between Ohio and DC. And the rest as they say is history!

So today we are once again being lazy and enjoying spending time together!