Friday, May 30, 2008
Stay or Go, Stay or Go?!?
=>You'll randomly and informally be told that your husband is being deployed only 4 weeks before they are supposed to leave the ground, which will come as a complete shock to both yours and your husband's hearts.
=>You will spend the next few weeks coping with the idea of your husband being gone again, right after he just got home. You find the positives of the situation and sell yourself on it now being a good idea, for the many benefits these situations can present.
=>You might as well make the best of it, so you make plans with your family and friends on what you're going to do and plan to improve yourselves over the period you are apart, in both schooling and your careers.
=> You'll be kept in the dark about all of the goings-on related to who else is deploying and the real reasons your husband has been chosen.
=>Your husband will try his hardest to prepare for deployment, including completion of all checklists necessary to prepare his body (like vaccinations, physical fitness test, & a physical), update all qualifications and flights needed to keep him current in everything he does while he's going to be gone.
=>The wife will be busy at home working hard to wash his desert uniforms and mail off his bedding (which is already on it's way overseas by the way).
=>You may later find out, only 11 days before they are suppose to leave that there is an 85% chance that your husband won't go any longer.
=>The happy idea of having him home during the Holidays for the first time we have been together is quickly shot to you know where.
=>The reason he may not go anymore is because the guy who your husband was a primary alternate for has now decided that despite needing back surgery, he is going to attempt to tough it out and deploy anyways. (seriously...come on!)
=>A rollercoaster of emotions may overcome you because what you're going through is rather ridiculous if I may say so myself.
Risks include nausea, tears, and a strain on your mental health.
***CONTACT AFSI AT YOUR OWN RISK & TALK IT OVER WITH GOD BEFORE YOU GO CRAZY.***
As you can see, life is rather confusing right now. We would really appreciate someone being up front with us. Instead, we are choosing to leave it in God's hands to just let whatever's supposed to happen, to happen. And that's the only thing that keeps a smile on our faces. Please pray for us.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Bad Blogger Alert...
Ohhhh LIFE...
*Load the overflowing dishwasher resulting from last night's Thanksgiving feast...we do that kinda often. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread...we like it, any time of the year :)!
*Re-wash all of Chad's desert gear so it smells fresh and clean...not musty and like the sweaty/sandy mixture of odors.
*Pack for a 9 day vacation both to Orlando, FL and Myrtle Beach, SC. 5 bags here we come! haha.
*Receive my application approval letter from the Real Estate Commission to have the okay to register for my state exam, hopefully on the 14th of June so I can finally get it over with!
*Clean the house completely and make it presentable for my family to enjoy during their visit.
*Cook what groceries we have left so I don't have to throw them away.
*Work out so my legs and tummy don't feel so jiggly. A bikini is the last thing I want to see on my body right now, but yet the beach and Chad's parents' pool is going to be calling my name...in just a few short days!
*Figure out why our Air Conditioner is frozen.
*Take movies back to Blockbuster before they are late.
I think that's all I can think of for now. Oh yea, and please pray for my father-in-law, Rick, cuz his health isn't the greatest right now. Diabetes is in the family and he was just diagnosed with Type 1 yesterday. Pretty sucky. Thanks!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Life is Gooooood...
We then went out to a restaurant/bar called Wild Wing in Columbia. There was a live cover band playing that was AWESOME.
We woke up Friday morning and got Krispy Kreme donuts and took them to a park at USC and sat on a bench to eat them. Chocolate Boston kreme filled donuts and cinnamon twists are the only way to go there! They were yummy.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The End & the Beginning...
Those were the 'ends', now onto the 'beginning' of our long weekend!
Chad & I are soon to be on the road towards Columbia, SC again to hang out with Chris and spend our extra few weekend days somewhere cool before Chad has to deploy. Tomorrow we are going to go to Concord, NC to visit Miss Barbara, Chad's grandma. We should have a good time there. She loves making good ole down home food for us, so homecooking, here we come! We have Friday and Monday off for Memorial Day so, yay for days off! I'll be back to post pics and fun times in a couple of days.
Happy Memorial Day everyone. Put out your flags and support our men & women!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Home Again, Home Again....
We got there about 6:30 Friday evening to spend some time with the Sellers family. We ate a wonderful bar-b-que dinner with them and hung out watching AFV and laughing away for a couple of hours. About 10 o'clock, we decided we would try to catch up with the homies at a downtown Atlanta bar/restaurant called Rio Grande. We only spent about an hour there before we headed to another dancing place called the Twisted Taco. That was a great time. It was crowded but us ladies still got our groove on! They played some old school songs like 'Poison', 'Thriller', and 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'...along with the usual dance club rap songs out there today. As we got swarmed with single men, we decided to head back outside to where our hubbies were before we caused too much of a ruckus. There's something about a diamond ring on the left finger flashing in their faces paired along with an "I'm married" that they just don't understand. It was rather entertaining though. We sat out on the back deck for a couple of hours chillin' and talking with the local folk about a lot of nonsense. Then we danced again, etc. By about 3:00am we headed home and got in bed about 3:45. LOOOONG night, but a great time!
Saturday, we slept in and finally got a start on the day around 1:00. Chad and I headed out to an outdoor mall that his cousin Ashley works at. It was a great collection of stores. From Banana Republic, to Loft, to Borders, to Gap, to White House Black Market, to Williams-Sonoma...you get the point. So, we walked around there for a bit and decided we were hungry. We had lunch at one of our favorite pizza places called the Mellow Mushroom. It was deliciously fatty and scrumptious! All 1500 calories of it! haha. Then we went back to shop some more and finally headed to the hizzy to rest a bit. We then decided to host a BBQ on the back porch of his aunt and uncle's beautiful house, so we invited the friends over and had a great time. Despite the BBQ smoke inhalation and a somewhat chilly night, it was super duper!
We then slept in again on Sunday morning and ended up meeting Aaron and Cassandra at Chipotle for lunch. Fat kids Kelly and Cass decided we wanted to hit up the Dunkin' Donuts on the way out of town too, so off we went (as if our diets hadn't already been ridiculously ridiculous this whole weekend already). So, we got our donuts and hung out a while longer before we both hit the road for our looooonnngggg drive home. We got home about 8:30 last night and watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition and last week's LOST and called it a night. A great weekend overall! Now, on to the next thing! :)
1. Me & Chad airing the smoke out! haha.
2. The group in the kitchen...
3. The ladies hangin' out by the fire...
We are so glad we got to spend time with you guys! Miss ya much! :)
Friday, May 16, 2008
Road Trip to GA...
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Hair Yuckiness Overted...
That's almost 3 inches of regrowth. YUCK! I guess with all of the real estate stuff going on, and not having my KK (my hairstylist in TX) here to take care of me, I got distracted and let it get out of hand. I'm very thankful for Alyssa and her referral to a woman at JCPenney's. She was really cool and did a great job. It feels so healthy and smells so salon-y...I love it! Here is the after photo.
And here I am a happy girl. Hooray for hairstylists!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Hmmm....
Chad comes in with a serious demeanor and the goal of talking seriously to me about something (this is unusual behavior). He looks me in the eyes and says, "they just told me at work that I'm the primary alternate for the June deployment and that I should plan on going." My face probably turned white. I sat silent for a couple of minutes and then the tears began rolling down my face. At first I was hoping I heard him wrong and maybe he meant a year from now or something, but no. They are planning to take my baby away from me for another full tour only about a month from now. I still can't believe it. My heart is overwhelmed.
What to do with myself...go back to Texas to be with my friends and family for the summer? Postpone trying to get a job because if I do get one here, I'll be alone for the whole summer until my birthday in October? Go to Texas and get a job there? Take a couple months trip to Mexico to learn Spanish? Be a big girl and stay here to live life alone in this town I don't know very well still and in which I have very few contacts? It's a mess.
Luckily, my family is still coming to visit at the beginning of June and will be here to help me through the crappy times. We are just so frustrated at the system right now. We are trying to be positive for the sake of our well-beings, but it's really hard to keep your head up when you're thrown a life curveball like this one. I just want TIME, like REAL time to spend with my husband and be a happy, loving, uninterrupted married couple. Please pray for us right now because it's definitely taking a toll upon our hearts.
By the way, I didn't even mention all of the plans we had for these next couple of months that he's now going to miss. First is our first anniversary (very sad), then is Elya's wedding (which means a visit to TX), then Chad's birthday, then the Royal Caribbean cruise wedding for Joey & Laura (which we were both in the wedding party for), then my birthday, and hopefully soon after that, he'll finally be home again. GRRRRR. I'm done now.
Monday, May 12, 2008
On the Attack...
Chad & I went on a Sundate (date on a Sunday) yesterday and it was a lot of fun. We went to get lunch at a place called Zaxby's, then grabbed me a cappuccino in this really cute local coffee shop, and then we went to see What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. It was super-cute movie. Funny, funny. Movie tickets around these parts are way out of control. $9 for one person. Luckily, yesterday was the Sunday matinee and ONLY (haha) cost us $7 each. How ridiculous, huh? Anywho, good thing we enjoyed it! :)
P.S. Happy (late) Mother's Day to all of you out there & also to all of the 'soon-to-be's'! :)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Movie Inspiration...
Then, my brother and new sister-in-law got married in April 2006 in a beautiful backyard wedding in Christoval, Texas.
Then, I got married myself to the bestest man in the whole world this past July of 2007. They let me wear a different dress that day. :)
To happily add to the bunch, by mid-August I will have been in my best friend Elya's wedding in Abilene, TX and by mid-September, I will have been in our good friend Laura's wedding on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Not too bad for a 23-year-old. Keep the happiness and the vows coming! Like Jane in the movie, I'll do anything anyone asks of me to make their day shine even brighter. I love weddings.
Today's Agenda...
Also on my schedule of 'things to do' today, I need to wash some clothes and the bedding for Chad's parents and brother. We have converted what used to be a guest room into an office since we don't have many guests and Chad is studying a lot too, so we must change it BACK to the guest room and figure out where we're going to stuff the extra desk we have in there. It should be interesting. I'm excited they're coming. They'll probably only be here for less than 24 hours since they are on their way to D.C. (I'm jealous) and need to hit the road. But it'll be fun while they're here! Bring out the spades...
So, anyways, a test, laundry, deep house cleaning, and rearranging furniture...sounds like a fabulous Friday to me. Excuse me while I go get stoked about it all...:-P
Thursday, May 8, 2008
I Made the Cover of HOT Magazine!
Changes, Changes...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Weekends for Fun!
Well, I thought I'd share with you our plans for the next 5 or so weekends. It's very unusual that we have such a pre-planned succession of events, but here it goes:
*May 10-11th: Chad's parents from Orlando and brother from Columbia are coming to stay with us on their way to a visit to Washington D.C. They haven't ever visited since I've been here, so it will be fun! We're sure to break out some Spades while they're here! :)
*May17-18th: We hopefully will be able to make our way down to Georgia to see the Webbs??(Cassandra, are you going to be there?) and Dom again. Pat Green is playing a concert down there and the Braves are playing a game that weekend too. It's going to be a potentially great weekend, if everything works out and despite the almost $4 gas prices!
*May 24-25th: A trip planned to see Barbara, Chad's grandmother, in Concord. We like to go and see her any chance we get. She makes fabulous biscuits too! :) MMMM...fat kid's delight!
*May 31st: We help Cathy, Chad's sister, move into a new place down in Myrtle Beach. This is an exciting move for her so we're glad to help out!
June 6-12: My family is coming to visit!! YAY! We're so excited to see them and to have them come to us! My sister and little niece Taylor, along with my parents, are all meeting us at the beach and then we will spend some more time here at our place. It'll be their first trip to the east coast beaches. GOOD STUFF! :)
Well, that's about as far as I can look forward. Looks like any hope for a weekend to ourselves is out of the question for several weeks. We love the company though and especially love the family time! Oh yea, and we decided to meet Dom at a popular pizza place across town instead of cooking...Whew! I was NOT looking forward to tossing something together tonight. Off to dinner we go! :)
All Kinds of 'Going ons'...
Today was my last day of real estate class. We have been in class for 5 weeks and my first big test to pass this course is next Tuesday, so a LOT of studying will be going down from now until then. All I can hope for is that I prepare myself well enough to pass it the first time. I will be beyond frustrated with myself if anything happens otherwise. Plus, it's about time I start bringing in a buck! haha. Also, I met a new friend in class this past week. Her name is Alyssa and she's really cool. We went to lunch together with some other class people and seem to be a lot alike. We seem to be two of very few 'younger people' in our class. It's a relief to have others like you in classes like this, especially when all of the 'oldies' KNOW EVERYTHING and have their 2 cents to throw into every subject. In other words, we know how to keep our mouths shut and not annoy everyone. haha. Anyways, she's really nice and it would be great to start having some good friends around these parts.
Chad & I received '27 Dresses' and 'P.S. I Love You' in our mail from our Blockbuster online yesterday and, even though I've already seen both of them, I'm super-excited to watch them again...with the hubby this time! :) I think these two movies at once might be the best movie combo we've had arrive in our box so far. haha. Nothin' beats a chick-flick weekend! :) Woo-hoo! (poor Chad, haha)
Our friend Dom is in town for a couple of days. He came over for dinner Monday night and I believe he's coming over tonight for dinner too. We love getting to hang out with the friends we don't get to see very often. He's great fun.
T.V. is getting out of hand lately. All of this studying and trying to get in bed at a decent and healthy time has been forcing postponements on our shows. It's driving me nuts. But I did see 'Dancing with the Stars' last night and I was happy with Mario leaving. I've also decided that one of the professional dancers on that show is MY IDOL. Her name is Julianne Hough and she's amazing. At only 20 years old, she's the prettiest, most talented, best choreographing, and playful dancer of them all. She's won two of the past 5 "Dancing with the Stars" trophies. Oh yea, and she's only been on the show for 3 seasons. Not a bad track record if you ask me. She also recently released a country music album that I haven't had a chance to look into yet. But seriously, given the ability and opportunity, I would love to be her. haha.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I shall go on to make dinner.
Monday, May 5, 2008
New Layout...
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Fender bender...grrr.
Chad walked outside to leave work Friday evening only to see the Colonel and one of our friends out in the middle of the parking lot admiring what had just happened. The friend, who drives a large Dodge Ram Crew Cab, was pulling out of his space right next to our car. He cut the angle a little too sharp and his wheel grabbed onto the front of our bumper on the Grand Am and pulled it back a bit. It looks like someone just hit the left front of our car at about 15 mph. It's not a lot of damage, but its enough to get USAA on it and to have to get a rental car this next week. Sorry there aren't any photos yet. Chad has the car today :).
Good thing is we don't have to pay for anything. Another good thing is that when we bought the car in San Angelo, we failed to notice that there wasn't a light cover (the plastic part that the light shines through) on our left fog light. This made us slightly frustrated when we got all the way to NC and realized we had been jipped. Anyways, we definitely stand to get a free fog light cover and maybe our blinker clicker fixed too. Wait, have I ever told you about the blinker?? I don't think I have. Well, here's that story.
So, we bought the Grand Am used from a dealership in my home town. We run into several problems with it on our long trek home from TX to NC, by way of FL. One of the most annoying things was the blinker. I call this blinker "possessed" and this is why...
Chad & I were getting tired one night and ready to pull over, find a hotel, and call it a night. We had driven 8 hours that day and all we wanted was a nice dinner and a not-too-expensive, clean hotel. So, we ate at The Macaroni Grill and headed out to find a hotel. It's about 9:30 at night, mind you. We were doing fine until we stopped at the first hotel and it was going to be $129 a night (plus tax of course, because they always 'plus tax' you). On to the next we go. There we found $175 a night. No thank you Marriott! Then, the blinker began. On a random street and in addition to our slight frustrations already, the blinker starts clicking in the middle of our dashboard (what sounds like right behind our radio). No big deal, you may be thinking, but I haven't yet mentioned that he nevered turned the blinker on! It's just going 'click...clickety...click......click, click, click...clickety..." FOR NO REASON. At this point, my husband is NOT doing so well. He is so frustrated it's becoming rather funny to me. It was as if the blinker was mocking us for not being able to find a hotel, knowing we were stuck in the car with it.
So, I'm finding this situation frustrating too, but now it's actually becoming rather funny. I start giggling to myself as we continue driving and Chad hits the dash so forceably. "STOP CLICKING"....I'm not even using the blinker!!!! I start laughing now...this is hilarious. We are so beyond delirious and just want a hotel. So, we pull into another one and low and behold, "No Vacancy". Seriously?! I better get my hubby out of this car before he drives it purposely into the nearest pole. haha. So, we find nothing better than the first hotel we tried so we headed back that way. I'm still laughing so hard that I begin to cry. Chad doesn't find it quite so funny until later on that night when our hotel was chosen and we were no longer stuck in the taunting car. All that night we laughed about the blinker, only hoping that for goodness sake, it wouldn't still be possessed the next day. Well, we've had no such luck. Clicky-clickerton doesn't want to stop. That's why we hope to get it fixed too out of this unfortunate fender bender.
Well, anyways, if anything interesting happens out of this car trouble/fixing coming up, I'll keep you posted! :)
Blake's truck being totaled, Cassandra's tire exploding, and our car getting smashed in...Let's make next week a little less troublesome, huh? Glad everyone is okay though! God bless & careful driving.