The Car is Purchased...

Well, Dave Ramsey would be proud. Chad & I spent a very long 4 days out looking for a used car that would prove good to us for the next 4 or 5 years. It turned out to be a lot more draining of a process than I originally had imagined, but in the end, I believe we won. We found a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am in great shape and for a good price here in San Angelo. It just so happened to be our favorite car color, which is charcoal gray. It has black interior with the usual things a 2004 vehicle should have. It runs nicely and it's definitely going to get the job done, or at least we hope it will. My biggest thing was finding one with enough room for adults to ride in the back seat comfortably and to be able to fit baby seats in there, for the far-off future of course. :) But anyways, we are excited about it and happy about our purchase...oh yea, and we paid cash for it! There's nothing like getting it done all in one swoop! It was a little weird writing the check for that big of an amount though. Biggest one I've ever done! Here are somes pics...

We're proud of her. Now we just have to come up with a name for her...:)

Glory Days...

Well, as you can probably imagine, our first few days with each other have been wonderful. It's so weird that they can be gone for that long and then come home, and it's almost like he never left at all. I guess that's how you know you've found the real thing. No matter what you go through, all of the elements stay the same. Love, playfulness, laughter, and happiness. It's been great. And I definitely DID shave Cass...I know you'll be proud to know I absolutely fit that into my list of things to do! haha. And it paid off if you know what I mean...and I know you do! ;) haha.

Here are a few pics of his return. This is in the baggage claim of the massive Mathis Field Airport in San Angelo. So glad he was finally in my arms again. And he got skinny, that punk, haha! :) I'm not complaining...just jealous!

This week so far has been filled with car searching & hanging out with the family. We went out on Friday night with my family to Graham's to go dance the night away. It was a good time. Then we went and played Disk Golf out at the lake Sunday afternoon when the weather was gorgeous. It was just one of those days where you couldn't keep yourself inside...we had to go do something fun in the sun so we went with a group of my brother's friends to learn the new game. It was a great day. Here's a pic of that...it was a blast...I encourage you to try it.

Well, he's running me out the door real fast before we go eat, so I'll be back with more later. Adios! :)

The Countdown...

Well, I finally got the call yesterday from Chad saying he was home safe to NC. He is currently on the way to the airport in NC with his brother to get on the plane towards Texas...and ME! He arrives at the San Angelo airport at 11:00 pm tonight. We made signs the other day and we (as in my family) are all very excited for his return. Only 10 1/2 hours until my dreams have come true again.

He is so excited to be home. When he called yesterday, he was like a little kid let loose for free reign in a candy store. He got to sleep in our wonderful bed last night (I'm jealous) and when he inprocessed this morning we were rewarded with an extended Rest & Relaxation period. It's usually 2 weeks for the guys when they return before they have to return to work, but our commander decided it would be silly to make everyone come back on a Thursday or Friday, so he threw in an extra weekend and we don't have to be back until March 10th. That's super-exciting! You can never have too much paid & free leave!

Now, I must return to my monstrous list of things to get done by 10:30 pm tonight. I left quite a few things undone so today's time might pass faster. YAY for the return of true happiness!

Home Again, Home Again...

I am currently anxiously awaiting the call from my wonderful hubby's cell phone to mine saying he has landed in NC and home safe! We are so excited he is going to be back! I'm sure they are all very ready to get off of the plane and on with their REAL lives.

Come on phone...just RING! That's what you were made to do...:)

P.S. I get to actually SEE him, HOLD him, KISS him, TACKLE him in just a short 36 hours from NOW! Woo-hoo! :)

Movie Review & More...

Well, I thought 27 Dresses was a really cute movie. I must admit that I felt like it was a slight knock-off to a couple other romantic comedies that I already love, including How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, with the whole 'write an acticle that upsets you' thing & The Holiday with the whole "I'm deeply in love with my co-worker but am too ashamed to tell him" thing...but it was still cute. I really like James Marsden...he's super-cute and very likeable on-screen. Some of those dresses were truly hideous. Thank God I've never been in a wedding like that! I have to admit though, I think I may be qualified to put 'professional bridesmaid' on my resume here in just a couple more weddings, haha. It's fun though and I love helping out with the biggest days of my best friends' lives. They always create memories you never forget (especially yours Cassandra! Thanks!:)).

We're only 4 short (in theory) days away from seeing my wonderful hubby. They have changed his return date about 4 times now, but I think we may have it finally. I never put all of my hope in one basket though...I KNOW better than that by now! This is why we must be flexible. It hurts, but in the end it's all good. I just want him home safely...that's my main concern...then we can move onto the rest.

Ohhhhh, to have him in bed with me at night again...what a wonderful, and very missed, feeling. MMMmmm.....

Movie Night!

I'm going to go see 27 dresses with my best friend, Elya, her fiancee, John, & another best friend, Ashley, tonight at 10:35. Kind of late to start a 2-hour movie, but I'll be a trooper and hang in there. I bought us theatre-style candy at the store today so we could save a collective $10 on the over-priced stuff they have at the movie counter (don't tell on me, please! :)). I'm excited to see this one because I like Katherine Heigl a lot and the guy in it (I've lost his name) is super hott. It should be a great romantic comedy...which I have decided is currently my favorite movie category. I'm over all of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat horror films I used to watch and the goofy comedies I've always loved (don't worry, Dumb & Dumber is still my favorite of all time). I think I just enjoy the happy ending feel of the romantic movies out there. I'll be sure to come and report back to those of you who haven't seen it yet. Off to Starbucks for a pre-movie mingle. Adios for now...

Around the World Valentine...

I must admit that, even though I've had boyfriends during Valentine's in years past, I've never just had a Valentine's Day celebration that I loved. This year turned out the same, but at least I found myself having a good time with good people. We had a pot luck dinner at my sister's house with our best friends & my parents. It was delicious and I got to tell some more people about mine and Chad's story. It was fun. The only reason it was kind of a bummer was because Chad wasn't here to spend it with...for the second year in a row...BUT, he did send me an amazingly beautiful bouquet of flowers while I was at work today. (see left)

The bouquet had my favorite flower, lilies, mixed in with a collection of pink roses, purple stalks (?), white carnations, and more lilies. We let them sit on the main counter at work all day so other people could enjoy them too. I got a lot of compliments from people about how gorgeous they were and the whole building smelled of fresh flowers. It actually smelled like a florist, haha. Another good thing, Chad will hopefully get to enjoy them too when he comes to see me on Wednesday. I'm going to fight to keep them fresh and happy.

I love him for taking the time to pick my bouquet. He put a smile on my face all day long. I love pretty flowers...and now everyone can enjoy! :) And Happy Valentine's Day everybody! (Only 5 more days...woo-hoo! :) )

Celebrity Bash...

The Red Carpet Celebrity bash for KK's 25th birthday was awesome Saturday night. So many people pulled together to get the awesome decorations done and make the house feel Hollywood inspired. Everyone dressed up and had a blast. With a real red carpet backdrop and the papparazzi going, it was truly a wonderful night. I was the host of the night and interviewed everyone as they came down the red carpet about who they were and who they were wearing for the night. We had pieces inspired by even Target & Old Navy...it was super-classy! haha.

I went as Christina Applegate from Samantha Who? (along with many other things). Although she may be best known for her roles in "Married with Children" or "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead". I think she's gorgeous & I'm very jealous of her hair on the show. But, it was a blast. Tell me what you think....any resemblance at all??

SingStar (karaoke on the playstation) was awesome fun with many guests who couldn't sing at all...myself included. I guess that's probably the fun of it though! We also dragged out the good 'ole Guitar Hero too by the end of the night. We also danced til we couldn't dance anymore. We realized how good we really are at throwing parties...haha. Can't wait til next year! :)

"I'm Christina Applegate reporting from the KK's Bash red carpet in Hollywood, California. And this is Hollywood Live!" haha. Maybe that'll be the job I get...some day when I actually get one. haha.

A New Puppy Addition...

Well, my best friend Nicole just got herself a 5 week old Golden Retriever puppy, which I must say, is one of the cutest little things I've ever seen. She's so sweet and timid and loves to plop down on you and pass out any chance she gets. She's a very happy puppy and likes to play with her toys and in the leaves.

I'm sad Nicole has taken her back to Lubbock with her because I know I'm going to miss out on a lot of the growing time and next time I get to see her, she's probably going to be a foot taller and able to fetch already. I offered to babysit her anytime! haha. Her name is Rylie. She's my newest niece, and she's so precious! Good choice Nicole! :)

Workout-Party-Random...

I worked out today, all by myself! YAY! And I feel good about it. I'm glad I forced myself to the gym and I'm glad the chick at the desk of ASU's CHP didn't kick me out for not being enrolled. Haha. I think she let me slip through because she knows it really doesn't matter, lol. Thank you nice lady! :)

This weekend is my sister-in-law KK's 25th birthday party, and as always, we're going BIG! This time it's a Red Carpet Celebrity-inspired party theme so everyone can dress up and be glamorous, or in character, whatever they want. I got this really cute and sexy black dress that I'm going to wear, I just need some suggestions on who to be. My short hair is kind of deterring me and throwing me a slight curveball. I would prefer not have to wear a wig. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to suggest, haha. I'm considering being the host of the night with a microphone asking everyone questions...I just have to figure out which anchor from which station. Do I even slightly resemble anybody famous that you can think of? HELP! :) (That's us in the pic :))

I love the Chick-fil-A calendars this year (random thought, but I just looked down at mine that I added birthdays into the other day). If you haven't seen one, their marketing theme was "One-Hit Wonder Cows" so they have each month as a new band of cow-musicians. It's super cute. I got one, comliments to my brother for being manager there, and I now get to reap the benefits of the food coupons located conveniently at the bottom of each month. YAY for chicken! Chad will be so happy. Saving money and getting to love him some Chick-fil-A when he gets back! 16 days and counting...:)

GOOOOO Giants!

And I'm not just saying that as a person who just cheers for the team that won...after the fact (cuz those people really get on my nerves). I was cheering for them from the day's start because I figure they deserve it if they can pull one over on a team like the Patriots that has achieved an undefeated season thus far. I sat in front of the TV all of the way from the introduction of the teams, through the amazingly beautiful national anthem sung by Jordin Sparks, and the entirety of the game, commercials included. The Budweiser commercial with the Clydesdale-in-training by the dalmation won my own personal commercial contest. E*Trade's talking baby was pretty cute too...til he threw up, haha. It was a rather slow-starting game, but by the fourth quarter, I was so fired up I was clapping and squirmingly nervous their at the end. There were a few clutch plays that really gave the Giants the momentum they needed to finish it out strong...and they pulled them off...YAY FOR THEM!
I am looking forward to a couple of good workout weeks ahead of me. I have plans to really kick it into gear for the little time I have left to attempt looking hott before Chad gets home. He's working out so hard for me (and him of course) while he's over there, I feel as though I owe it to him too, to look hott and sexy for his return. You would be amazed at what can be accomplished in just a couple of weeks when you do everything right, so that's what I'm trying for. Whatever product I end up with at the end of it, I'm sure he will be happy with no matter what. That's why I married such a wonderful man. But seriously, I'm feeling rather flabby = not okay with me. So wish me luck and perseverance! Good night for now...

Super Bowl 2008...

Shall I cheer for the Patriots because they are currently undefeated and it would be a really cool record-breaking feat to finish the season completely undefeated too?...even though they cheated at the beginning of the season and they're reputation is shot?...and even though their quarterback had a kid illegitimately and has nothing to do with the mother or child? Hmmmm, I'm torn.

ORRR, cheer for the Giants, of whom I've never cheered for before because they are simply the underdogs and everyone loves to see an upset (except for Patriot fans of course). I think I might just be neutral for the evening and say "yay for them" to whoever wins.

Well, as you can probably tell, I'm not all that jazzed about either of the teams playing in the 'big game' tomorrow, so I think I'm just going to go to my oldest bro's house to tailgate and hang out with everyone. They're having a big party, but they have a small TV, so I'm really not sure how that all works out. 30 people watching in on the same 27" TV should be interesting. I love football, but I like it even more when I care about one of the teams. I guess if nothing else, Tom Brady's not too bad to look at. Hmmm...

Updated 'Come Home' info...

Good news! My hubby's return is scheduled for the 17th of Feb. back to the base, and I'm hoping to get to see him on the 20th here in Texas. That's a week earlier than we had initially expected! YAY! 7 days sooner makes a bigger difference than you would think! That is, assuming things don't change between now and then...and that wishful thinking is pretty much just that...WISHFUL! haha. I don't think they ever do what they say there going to do when they say they're going to do it...and in the meantime we are all just sitting here, waiting for answers...that's why we spouses must be flexible. It gets kind of annoying being flexible all the time though. Just do what you say, when you say you're going to and we would all be good! That seems slightly out of reach though for some reason. Hmmmph. Maybe someday the government/military will change its ways. In the meantime, I'm not holding my breath (cause I would probably die by doing so) and instead, I am going to be positive and just wait and see. YAY for seeing my Chad. I'm so excited! I miss him...and love him :).