BIG news

I’m not sure where to begin so I’ll just start typing.
I started this blog to keep our family and friends alert in regards to our Army adventures. Many times I stray on the subject while drooling over home decor etc, but still, I always want to be honest and share my true feelings in hopes that I may help another that just might be going through the same ole thing.

Writing helps me breathe as strange as that reads. Here’s to breathing:

My Solider has months of training planned. Fortunately during this time, we may fly back and forth on the weekends to see one another as our budget allows. Different from the rest, this training allows us to talk as we do during our 9-5 jobs. He won’t be bound to a dorm and no phone rules either.

By securing the branch he wants, we were also served with deployment orders. That dang saying, “Careful what you ask for” screamed loud in my head when I heard the news.

I was stunned at first. How could this happen so fast? He just became an officer. We haven’t even met anyone in his unit yet. Then came anger. Why us? Who does the Army think they are, taking my hubby away from me for so long? What about our plans? We have so many plans. Then came sadness. A sadness I have never seen before. A controllable ugly cry took over me tenfold.

I teeter from sad to hopeful from day to day now. Hoping for the best and expecting the worse. Is that terrible? That’s simply just where I’m at now. Our first deployment. I have heard people discuss this experience, but never thought I would be one of THOSE people. It hurts. It hurts so much to think about hubby being gone for sooo long.

Staying busy, relishing the time we have together now and laughing as much as possible with friends/family is what we’re focusing on right now. We’re also making trips to the gun range so I feel comfortable with our gun and making our house as secure as Fort Knox. Ha! I try not to dwell on crazy thoughts but questions like, “Who will get my Christmas tree out of the attic for me?” or “I wonder what my giant spoon will be doing when I lay in bed unable to go to sleep at night when he’s away?” And then I snap back into reality and remind myself that men and women deploy every day and not for the first time. I remind myself to be proud. What an honor it is to have a brave and admirable husband as do I.

I look to faith next. I grew up in church. My closest pals growing up were the kids I’d see in my youth group. I was in church every chance I got. I know the Bible well enough. I know what faith is. So why the h-e-double hockey stick is THIS so hard on me? I have faith. I do, but... Dear God, Please keep my Soldier safe. Please keep my Soldier safe. Please keep my Soldier safe. Sink in faith, please sink in. Amen.

That’s about all the Army talk I can muster for now.

In other news and a much more fun subject, we're going to my little sis' (in my sorority) wedding tonight and football game tomorrow night. Should be a funfilled weekend!!!

priorities

We all need goals. I want to afford this La Cornue double over before we start building a house. No kidding. Any sponsors? I see her (yes, her) with an exaggerated, big, yummy and masculine vent-a-hood. The finish I want is displayed below:

Here she is in a couple actual kitchens. Sexy, huh?

Expo

I'm working an expo today. Lucky for me-it's within driving distance. In fact, it's in the same town AS MY HOUSE. So nice to just go home during my breaks or piddle shop around town. It's extra fun because normally my office is about 45 minutes from my house so actually working in the town I live in is somewhat bizarre and I like it. I'm thoroughly enjoying the drive to work the next couple of days. I don't however enjoy getting to my destination at 7am but still-the drive is A-mazing for now and I can nap, yes nap, on my breaks.

file in

My buddy, Taylor, had her swearing in ceremony at the capital this morning. It was fast and glorious. I officially have connections with an atty. Hee Hee Hee. Kidding. Kinda...

Oh! Speaking of Taylor...she was near an Ikea recently and snagged the white filing cabinet that I've been having a hankering for. It's pretty neat. You can customize it the way you want. I had her get the same one Young House Love got shown HERE. BUT, I stacked a hanging file drawer on top instead of doing the cabinet on top like they did. So I have 2 drawers whereas they have a drawer and a cabinet. Make sense? We needed more file space so that's what we're doing. I say doing because they had all the pieces in stock except the sliders. Wop Wop Wop...The part that allows the drawer to open and close and hang the files! So the pieces we do have are put together as much as they can be in the corner of our living room. Like Young House Love, I'll be purchasing non-Ikea knobs. I want to find some with a bit more character than the ones found at Ikea. I'm hoping the hardware dresses it up a bit. Harware is like jewelry to me.

Here's the ones(all Anthro) I'm pondering right now:

Channel Changer

Let’s talk TV for a minute. New shows I’m looking forward to watching this season include: Ringer, Up All Night, Two Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, The New Girl, Pan Am and Whitney. I’m excited for all these NEW shows to air! I’ve watched some, some haven’t aired yet and some recordings just haven’t been watched yet. I hoard shows and watch them when I can’t sleep. Me likey TV.


Famous sitcom living rooms engraved into my memory include:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Image: Full House, Friends)
 
Could you guess the living rooms without seeing the caption above? I used to watch Full House everyday after school and I have great memories of watching Friends with my gfs in college. I remember being at a local eatery in my college town eating dinner with a lot of my sorority sisters and my new Lil (little Theta sister) watching the season finale of Friends on the big screen in the bar. Tear.
 
Random. What do you call the thing that changes the stations on the television? It's "channel changer" to me. Are you a "remote" or "flipper" person? Or something else?

happy FALL time ya'll

I feel like Lee and I need to do so many things and fast. Days fall into months and then years and you find yourself making excuses for why you don't have time to do the things you talk about doing. So this weekend...I plan to share a banana split with my hubby just cause and I plan to carve a pumpkin with him just cause I can and haven't ever. I REALLY love this time of year. The first day of FALL is on Friday and I couldn't be more excited. I plan to really milk the holidays for all their worth this season.

Starting with Halloween:

I need some pumpkins.

Wishing I had stairs.

Don't forget the hot chocolate! My friends tease me about my marshmallow obsession. You should see me build a smore.

more for me than him (oops)

I did a little shopping over the wknd at our new outlet mall. I'm the most excited about JCrew. Here's a few things I found (I heart gingham anything):

This shirt is more solid and not so faded in person. I couldn't find its twin on the web this morning but everything else is the same:

I finally bought a schoolboy blazer. It has 3 gold buttons on each cuff too:

I'll be wearing this skirt with the above blazer and the denim shirt fo sho:



Also from JCrew, I also snagged: cute earrings, a necklace, a leopard headband, and two long-sleeve fitted (best fit ever) tees with a crew neck. (One in the same color as skirt above and the other one in grey.)

I found a cute grey skinny belt at Gap. A nice light weight striped sweater at Banana Republic for Lee (60% off!). A uber cute plaid button up from RL POLO for Lee (Only 30 bucks!). And the oxford pumps from Nine West for me:

I found a cute camel colored full skirt at The Limited (not at outlet) too, but the one they had in stock had an ugly seam coming unraveled AND they were sold out of my size online! Phooey. So I'm looking for one now elsewhere. I did find one from ASOS that I'm considering, but I've never ordered from them before and that makes me nervous. Ha.

TOP 5

Things that have me completely stoked today.

1. It's Friday! Tonight we're going bowling downtown for a pal's bday. I'm a horrible bowler, but it should be fun nonetheless.
2. My buddy (and sorority sista), Morgan finally had her bambino. Several days late and 21 hours of labor later, we welcome Maggie Ann into the world! Yay! Morgan and I were roomies in college. I can't wait to watch this little girl grow up and tell her stories about how her mommy and daddy were in college. Hee Hee Hee....
3. Football season is in the air. Boomer Sooner! We're cooking out with friends and watching the game on Saturday. Woot Woot! I've been summoned to bring my famous dip for munching. I think I'll stop by my friend's new sweet shop in town to get a dessert too. I love supporting local businesses and especially her because she's from MY hometown. In fact, we graduated high school the same year just from different schools. Love this chica and so very proud.
4. I plan to do some shopping tomorrow for a few Fall staples to wear to work. Brandi will be my shopping partner which could be a very bad thing for my wallet. I know Taylor would be down, but she's too busy celebrating the passing of THE BAR EXAM in Vegas and San Fran with her mama. I'm sooo proud of her and her smarty pants self!
5. My annual charity golf tournament I host for my company is over and it went VERY well. I can't believe it's already my 4th one to do. Lee came out to support me and got to see me present the charity's check for the 1st time! Our company owner usually does it, but he's overseas at the moment so I got the honor! AND what a great honor it was. I always feel extra special when Lee sees me in action because I feel like I'm always watching him being great and conquering achievement after achievement. 

Lots to be happy and cheering about the weekend! TGIF!

Toot (Thought by Erin)

I fear that the Army will completely take over our way of thinking. I'm a toot your own horn kinda gal. I ask why, how come, how can we do that better, and my favorite...Are you sure?
I don't like blending in. I like speaking up and standing out.
Lee and I are both leaders. Growing up, we have each held many leadership positions and I know Lee will make a more than great officer. I can only hope that he continues to toot HIS own horn. 
I struggle with these new acquaintances we're meeting. I'm not sure I'm ready to blend my personal life with these strangers. Yes, Lee has known them for over a year now, but not me! Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of new information. These people are becoming household names and influencing our way of making decisions. Brakes, please.
I teeter on calling them strangers because I know in my heart of hearts that this is the Army family that will love and protect my soldier when I cannot.
So much I want to tell you, but still too soon.
I hold my head up high and smile. We wait.

1st Dining Out

Lee and I attended our 1st Dining Out or you could even say our very 1st Army event after being assigned to our very 1st unit. I can't say that it wasn't what I was expecting because I had no idea what to expect!
I'm glad I wore a long dress rather than a cocktail dress like it was suggested I wear by another Army wife. (She wore a short dress.) After looking around inside I started thinking how glad I am that I toot my own horn. (More on that tomorrow) Even something as small as a dress decision can be reflected poorly on you at an event such as this. And man...were there some poor decisions. I so wish I could have taken mental snap shots to share with you all. How funny would that have been if I had literally gone around and taken snap shots of all the boob-e showcasing and short O' so short dresses?! Here's us:

The evening started with a social cocktail hour.
They then asked for E6 and above to go on inside the ballroom and find a seat at a table while the others went through a reception line with the uppity-up; MUCH higher rankings. I was so glad that we got a good seat inside. I am def one of those kids that likes to sit as close to the front as possible to have a good viewing of what is happening on stage.
There was a Gavel presentation to begin the dinner. More like a meeting but whatev.
Then the Chaplain said a prayer. I've gotten used to hearing them all begin with, "Please join me in prayer as I pray in my faith and you in yours..."
Presentation of Colors was next.
MIA/POW Ceremony followed and it was really really neat. You see, all of our tables were round with black drapes. However, there was one table in the center of the ballroom with a white drape. During this ceremony, all the lights were dimmed and a spotlight was on that white table in the middle of the room. It was then described to us all how each item placed at the white table represents the soldier missing from tonight's event. How the white drape represents the purest of sacrifices...How the lemon represents the tears shed on their behalf, the empty seat represents their body that isn't among us...How their glass isn't full for they aren't here to drink fronm it...but the most touching part of all for me was when we were all asked to stand to toast a great thanks and share a moment of silence but not take a drink for they weren't here to drink the toast with us. So there we all stood holding our glasses high...and the moment was over.
Then there was a Building of the Grog. There was a giant container at the center of the stage in the front of the room. Several bottles were then emptied into the container. A huge bottle of tequila, a huge bottle of vodka, whiskey, red wine...etc. It was then stirred. Out of no where, people began to blurt out requests to the "Vice" for fines. There was a variety of silly violations printed on the back of the program such as having shoe laces left over right instead of right over left, not buying more than one drink at a time at the cash bar, not introducing your spouse before yourself...etc. Civilians were not included in the fines and thank goodness because I would have declined my fine. Thank you. Ha! The fine was to pay $.25 to the Grog and take a drink. Gross. I think the money rasied goes to the unit's FRG (Family Readiness Group). I thought it was neat that they made fun of themselves and had fun with the outrageous critiques. Reminded me of some of the silly things Lee would be evaluated on during his training. Ridiculous.
We ate...
They gave out Awards...
And then they asked for a young enlisted man to come up to the stage. I thought he was introducing the next and last award for the evening, but NO! He started by saying that the day before was his birthday and he turned 25...how his girlfriend of 6 years has stood by his side and been his best friend...blah blah blah and then he came down from the stage and in front of EVERYONE got down on one knee and proposed!!! It was A-maze balls. I had no idea who she was but you know me- I had to meet them both. When the gavel went back into the box and the colors came down, everyone started to get up and I (of course) raced over to the newley engaged couple. I said, "I don't know you from Adam, but I have to tell you congrats and..." I gushed over the whole thing. I thought that was just too cute and I'm a sucker for mushy stuff. As Lee and I left them, I told them to live happily ever after. (of course)
Instead of changing clothes and heading back downstairs to hear the comedian and dance to the live band, Lee and I passed out. I barley got my makeup off before my eyes closed on me. Lee had gotten up way early to be at drill and we both had not slept a wink for he had his 1st drill that day with his new (and 1st) unit and I woke up everytime he reached for his phone to see the time to make sure he hadn't slept past his alarm. AND we didn't pack any clothes to change into. No one told us there would be an outfit change at 10pm!

wound up

Today is a big day for me. I have a big deal kinda meeting downtown tonight and I'm wound up excited because it's Thursday. I get excited about Thursdays because tomorrow is Friday and I get to fly home! WooHoo!
Anywho. Lee gave me a task to complete when I get home. Psshhh. That's usually the other way around but whatevs. Task: Organizing our files, etc.
Yes, please! I've been meaning to do this for awhile. My filing cabinet that I purchased in college is just an organized mess now. I mean...I know where everything is but....no one else would know how to begin to find something. Sound familiar?
I absolutely love what Young House Love did with a simple filing cabinet from Ikea. I def want a filing cabinet that doesn't resemble my black metal filing cabinet in the least bit.
I'm thinking I'll get one of those bad boy cabinets from Ikea and do something fabulous with THESE overlays. O how I love a good project! Look how great this overlay redo turned out: