Cruisin'...

Well everyone, it's time for our cruise! We leave tomorrow morning to get to Houston to board the boat, and we will be happily on vacation for a good 6 days! We will miss you, but look forward to catching up with you when we get back!

Adios! :)

Life is Grand...

I woke up next to my husband, two nights in a row now! The first night was sort of surreal (& lovely), but now I know for sure that it's not just a dream. It's fabulous.

We are so happy & our reunion was SOOO good. :) Thanks for the encouragement ladies, haha.

Our photo shoot was a blast yesterday. The whole family had a great time taking the pictures, and they turned out awesome! Check 'em out here. Slade & Laura are so fun to work with & are really talented at what they do! Mom is so happy to have some great family pictures to display!

Last night was our super Halloween party & we were precious, I'm not gonna lie. Pics to come later on, probably tonight. It was a blast!

This morning, after only 5 hours of sleep, Chad & I met our friends Randi & Jason who are in town from Midland for breakfast at Ihop. It was yummy & so great to get to spend time with them! The lack of sleep was definitely worth some great buttermilk pancakes & playing catch up. Thanks for meeting us so early. We're glad we got to see you guys!

I think I'm gonna go join my hubby in watching some good 'ole t.v. now. Duty calls. :)

Finishing Touches...

Well, Chad is officially safe and in North Carolina as of about 9:00pm last night. He got to see his parents for a little bit & then spent the evening with his lil bro, Chris & cousin, Travis. They had a good time & now he is finishing up his packing & heading out to get to the airport! He leaves Raleigh at 5:05pm & gets here at 9:50pm tonight! I can't wait!

Finishing touches are needed on the following:
*Clean the bathroom before and after I shower to get ready & look HOTT! :)
*Upload tunes to my iPod, fun stuff.
*Sew on some details to my Halloween outfit. I'm going to be a Christmas Elf. I know, that sounds like a silly costume for Halloween. But, there's a back story to it, so here you go. Our friends who are throwing the party Saturday evening are Kyle & De'aun. Kyle has a serious pet peeve against anything Christmas-related being out at any time of the year, besides December. Like, lights put up before Thanksgiving, or God forbid, left to hang all year round are completely torturous to him. He won't go in stores like Hobby Lobby where decorations come out 3 months early, etc. You get the point. So, I'm solely being an elf to get on his last nerve. He's going to FLIP out. It's gonna be hilarious. And on my back will be written "Kyle's Worst Nightmare". Hahaha. He'll probably try to avoid me all evening. It'll be fun to watch. I'll post pics later.
*Steam the beautiful suit with mommy's guidance cuz I don't wanna screw anything up! :)
*Burn some cd's for friends. One being N'Sync and the other being System of a Down. Talk about two totally different ends of the musical spectrum!
*Wash dishes...ewwww.
*Help mom with KK's Smurfette costume. It's gonna be SOOO cute! :)
*Pluck my eyebrows, shave my legs, & paint my toes! Muy Importante! :)

Well, I guess I'll go try and get something done! I'm so excited, I think I just pee'd a little, lol. Just kidding, but seriously, just can't wait! :)

To Do List:

Of things to do before Chad gets here on Friday!! Woo-hoo! We are finally here...to the countdown of T-3 days. So exciting! Now I have to focus all of my efforts on trying to get a lot of things done before he gets here. So far, I've been procrastinating, but the time is here to get my butt in gear! So here it is...what I have to get done between now and the oh-so-glorious day of Friday:

--> Clean out our car...my favorite thing to do...NOT! :) But necessary all the same.
--> Pack all of the extra stuff I don't need in the next 2 weeks. Yuck! I brought SO much stuff!
--> Gather & pack my things for the cruise. Fun!
--> Purchase a couple good bottles of wine/champagne to take on the cruise with us! Woo-hoo!
--> Upload tunes to my iPod to make sure it's ready for highway travel!
--> Get a Halloween party costume ready by Saturday! What to be, what to be?!
--> Clean & change sheets on the bed...oooh-la-la!
--> Get an outfit ready for our family picture to be taken on Saturday by the fabulous couple, Laura & Slade, at Cozart Photography. Yay!
--> Steam/iron Chad's new suit & have it ready to look pimp on the cruise!
--> Turn Chad's phone back on so he will have restored communication, stateside! :)

Well, that's all I can think of for right now. But, I'm sure more will pop up along the way! Wish me luck! :)

Ahhh...

Well, I have officially returned from one of the best weekends of my life. Yes, I'm this happy because we saw New Kids on the Block in concert just three days ago, and no, I still haven't come down off my high from it. I am not kidding when I say that that was the best concert I've ever been to. They even top N'Sync, of whom I was also in love with & saw in concert at one point. Although they're older now, I think that actually gave them a new edge on things. It was hot. And I still love Jordan Knight, lol. These are the days I regret ever getting rid of my NKOTB comforter, beach towels, buttons, & posters. I would still hang them if I had 'em. Seriously.

Not only was the concert awesome, but I was there with my four favorite girls by my side! It was a much needed weekend away where I was allowed to lose myself in fun & have no worries. Not only that, but I'll be leaving soon and that was a great 'last hoorah' with the chicks before I go home again. We had t-shirts made as you can see from my background and the other girls LOVED them. We even had offers to buy them off our backs. They were pretty pimp!

We spent the rest of the weekend in San Antonio, just hanging out, tearing up the town. We woke up & went shopping at the North Star mall...one of my faves...ate lunch there and tore up the stores. I didn't buy very much, knowing that I'm soon to be on a cruise and more than likely going to have big shopping eyes then, but it was fun looking anyways. That evening we got all dolled up and went to eat at P.F. Chang's...the best Japanese food in the world! We had a fabulous waiter who was good at his job and suggested a place for us to 'go out' to called Posh. It was a really cool upper-class bar that made me feel like I was in Orlando again. It was awesome, but we were only there about an hour before we decided to make our way to the riverwalk. We ended up where we always go which is Polly Esther's...an awesome dance club that plays three levels of music. One is 70's, one is 80's and one is 90's. We had SUCH a good time dancing. We were sweating up a storm and so happy to be there all together. It got crazy, but in an awesomely fun way!

Sunday finally rolled around and we got to make a trip to a little town called Martindale, right outside of San Marcos to see my nephew, his wife, and their baby, Reid, of whom I'm a great-aunt too. Kinda crazy. But, anyways, we got to their house and spent a good couple of hours sitting and talking to them, while playing with little Reid of course! He's gotten so big since I've seen him last, which I believe was at Christmas. WAY too long ago anyways! He's now 18 months and a ham, no doubt! We had a great time visiting with them and then eventually headed home. When we got home, my mom had made us all a birthday feast for herself and we ate, had pie, and gave her presents. Which then concluded the most fabulous weekend since I got married! haha.

Now, all I have to do is focus all of my efforts on getting packed and organizing my mess here. Tomorrow I change Chad's flight to get here on either Friday or Saturday...we don't know which one yet. But it's very exciting! Only a couple more days!! (Thank GOD!) I guess that's it for now!

Here's a couple little clips from the concert! :)

This one is hilarious because you can hear us singing along & my sis is FREAKING out! I think she even shed a tear like those crazed fans you see on tv. Lol. It was awesome!

*Bleeping* Air Force...

As you can imagine, the *bleep* above represents just another thing that the Air Force does that oh-so-pisses me off.

Here is life in a dreamy world when everything (including yours truly) was good & happy:
Chad usually returns on what they call the 'rotator' (which is a commercial style plane that brings many troops home in comfort & all at once) when they come back from overseas. This was the plan for next Monday, the 20th. Yay! That's only 6 days from now! He would then stay in Fay. where he would go to work the next day, and then fly to Texas to see me on the 22nd. We would spend about 5 days (including a non-working weekend) with my family before we head to Houston for our 5 day cruise, head back here to SA-town for a day or two, then hit the road towards South Carolina where we have to be on Thursday the 6th for a USC reunion thingy Chad really wanted to be a part of. Then we spend that next 4 days or so with his family, eventually returning to Fay. to return to work and FINALLY be in our own HOME again.

Today: "Hahahaha" says the AF. "You just thought you had it all nice and planned out."

Reality (as described to me earlier today):
As usual, the AF has changed its days & really screwed up our above-said plans. Now, they're not leaving until the 22nd out of where they are, potentially getting him home on the 23rd, and finally getting him here to TX on the 24th (after a changed flight & mess that I have to fix, because of the AF). Now, we have very little time to spend with my family; like maybe a day or two after our cruise (while my whole family is at work those days). *insert sarcasm* AWESOME...

I know it doesn't seem like a big deal to all of you probably because:
1. We've already been apart for 4 months, what's another 3 days...
2. We both know this is how the AF works. We should be used to it by now & we both CHOSE to accept this lifestyle a long time ago...
3. He's still not missing our cruise (or so we think, as of right now) which would have been the most annoying & wasteful issue.
(there's probably more, but whatever)

And I've kind of had a poopy attitude about it today, and this may be why. I don't know if it's the high-riding emotions that I'm carrying with me because he IS about to return & I'm so happy about it, or what, but I just can't wait to have him home. And it feels almost like it's never gonna happen. I know it will, but just acknowledge my over-dramatic-ness for a second. I haven't started my period yet and I think that's another reason I'm highly emotional. I'm late & I think it hasn't come because of my back problem. Which is a whole 'nother frustrating ordeal. It's been almost 2 full months since I hurt myself and I'm still having pain. I asked the doc the other day if that could be why I haven't started and he affirmed that it is a likely cause. Not to mention, I would LOVE to get that crap (...being my period) over with before my husband returns from a 4 month absence. Seriously ladies, I know you're feeling me here! My family and friends are all hyped about his return and I just want so badly to be able to spend good, quality time with all of them with my husband by my side (for the first time in a long time). I'm tired of being alone (only one without a hubby) when we're all together. It's frustrating. Anyways, enough of my ranting and raving. This is pretty much just a paragraph of emotional throw-up, but that's how I feel right now.

So, long story, short...I am temporarily hating the AF & keeping empty hopes that the plan returns back to normal. And if it doesn't, we'll just deal with it as we always do. But in the meantime, I'm pissed. (Did I mention I don't like the AF?) Okay, end of story.

All Wrapped Up...

The Toga party was a hit! I was so happy with everyone who came and represented the Roman times so very well! That's what I love about my family and friends...there's always an understood 'go big or go home' attitude when it comes to life & the things we do together. It was so much fun. We decorated the backyard & had washers to play with music jammin' in the background. We ended with some Spades & dance party. And as always, we got a lot of fun pictures!

Here is a pic of the two birthday girls!

The group of Togas...minus a couple!

My ladies & our favorite sign & saying for the night!

It was a really good night. We even got the cops called on us, lol. He was really cool about it though and told us just to turn our music down. I guess he had a point, considering it was already 3:00 am. Haha. Anyways, we did and it was handled. That's when you know you really have hosted a great and unforgettable party! Happy 24th to me and happy 28th to Stephanie! One more year down...

The only thing missing was a hubby for the birthday girl! Only 9 more days 'til I hold him in my arms!! :)

TOGA TOGA TOGA

I am so excited about tonight. Me & my friend Stephanie have the same birthday so we decided to throw a joint party...fun, fun!! And, neither of us have ever been to a toga party before (and my family is all about theme parties), so we decided we would be Roman for a night & throw a toga party for ourselves!

So, it's going to be in my sister's backyard tonight with columns, a chariot (homemade), vines, friends, family & a feast! It's going to be awesome!

I have my toga all figured out. It's going to be mostly gold, with a little offwhite/gold zebra pattern. Sounds kinda crazy, but should be pretty cute. I will definitely be posting some cool pics in a few days. There's a little bit of cloud coverage as of right now, so I'm really hoping we don't get rained on today. We have quite a bit of setup to get done so that would be a huge damper...literally. :)

Well, I better go! Yay for party day! :)

I'm Officially Old...

I've now officially reached the age of 24. I can't say that I'm completely happy about this birthday because I would have been happy with staying at 23, but it was a good day in itself! Although I worked today, I also ate dinner with my family at Johnny Carino's which was MM MMM good and we had strawberry cupcakes with vanilla icing for dessert. One of my faves! I have to say that the Bowtie Festival at JC's is my favorite. Even though you're left with some stanky garlic breath afterwards, haha. Anyways, I got a lot of calls from family and friends, and many wishes left on facebook and myspace! It's always fun to check your 'walls' to see who actually remembered your birthday and/or those who were lucky enough to accidentally sign onto their account to be reminded by the networks that it is your birthday; so they don't feel as bad for missing it & they leave messages to cover themselves. Haha. Overall, it was a great day. I just can't wait to actually celebrate it with my hubby.

He shall arrive in Texas on Oct. 22nd! I am so excited! Only 12 more days!! :)

HELP ME!

With the issue of Absentee Voting...

I'm shouting out to all of you who may (or may know somebody) that has had to absentee vote in the past. I'm not really sure what I need to do because I am in Texas (and will be during the election), but I'm a registered voter in North Carolina (from when the real estate commission made me change my residency...grrr, yes, I'm still bitter). I've searched a couple of sites online and haven't gotten very far or a clear answer just yet.

Anybody able to reach out and help a sista? Helpful websites, random knowledge of how this works, or personal experience will all do good things.

I have to vote...this election is huge & I am now in the military! :) haha.

One Less Day...

Livin' life on a countdown. Seems like a silly and disrepectful thing to do, considering God blesses us with everyday that we are alive and some people aren't as lucky as we are. So you would think taking advantage of everyday as it is would be the thing to do. And I do, but sometimes I find myself taking advantage of my days and how slowly or quickly they pass by. I just CANNOT wait until Chad gets home. It's only about 3 weeks away, but it's now within our reach, which leads me to counting down the days. I'm not usually a big countdown kind of girl. Most of the time, I just don't think about it all and before I know it, a week and a half has flown by under my nose. We are just so excited for his return that we can't take it anymore. About 19 days and counting...Now onto Thursday!! :)

P.S. He just told me on the phone that he loves me more than donuts...only I would understand how special that is. Cute, haha.