Off the road, finally...

You may be wondering where we have been for the past 5 days or so. The answer would be back at home on the east coast. We took a crazy 14 hour road trip (one way) to our home in North Carolina on Wednesday and just got back this evening.

"Why?" you may ask...Well, because we have decided to sell our house there. Yes, we are selling it. We figure that we're just wasting money having it there without us in it, so we've decided to make ourselves a potential profit (or just break even) and get ourselves out from under it. We did some killer hard work and got about 80% of our stuff all packed up and put into storage. You would not believe the amount of 'junk' two people can accummulate in an 1100 square foot condo in just a short year and a half of marriage. It's crazy! We packed all of that crap up and made our house look like a nice, neat, magazine-like model home. I really hope it pays off & sells quickly. Please pray for that. We want to be absolutely done with it as soon as possible.

It was our first home together and special to us for that reason, but for the most part, it never really became our 'home'. Unfortunately in the past year and a half, Chad has deployed 2 different times. That means that I deployed back home to Texas during those periods of time. Which in turn means that he & I have only spent a mere 8 months there together. It's rather disheartening, but we have pushed through it. At least after this, we won't have a mortgage and bills that we are paying for while we aren't there. That's the best part of this plan. Nothing like feeling like you aren't throwing money right out of the window every month anymore. We long to have that feeling.

For now, we are happy and dwelling in Arkansas for God knows how much longer. From there, we plan on just playing it by ear and making life all that it can be in the meantime. I'll try to upload our video of the place after it was all cleared out and what the realtors like to call 'staged' with our remaining stuff. We'll see how that goes. I'm just glad that part is over and we are done living out of suitcases for a little while again.

Our 'staged' condo...kinda bare, but CLEAN! :)

Mmm & Ewww...

Sleeping in late, a Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks, a Mesquite Chicken sandwich from Quizno's with Jalapeno chips, and a finished workout with Cassandra on a Sunday. It's been a pretty great day so far. So that's the reason for my 'MMMM' subject line.

If you don't want to hear about my personal acne problems, stop reading now...:)

On another note, I have been battling with some facial acne issues for the past 4-5 months or so. Prior to Chad getting home from overseas in about October, I began 'breaking out' mostly on my chin with a lot of little pimples that drove me NUTS. They wouldn't go away and actually started to look like they were leaving behind small scars. NOT COOL! Finally, they somewhat disappeared but I continue to be paranoid of their possible reoccurrence. I've never really had any acne type issues in my life. Besides the typical occasional pimple during PMS, I have been very lucky and pimple-less until now. At 24, I start breaking out. Kinda weird to me.

So, I finally broke down and decided to use Proactiv Solutions. Chad & I bought the kit at the mall on Friday and I've been using it for the past 2 days. Unfortunately, I think my skin is having a bad reaction to the Benzoil Peroxide in the cleanser and moisturizer. The first night I used it I didn't have any kind of negative reactions. It's really frustrating because after I used it last night, my face turned reddish and started itching like CRAZY. I went to sleep and just let it be, hoping it would be better this morning. It was kinda better, but still itchy and prior to my workout I realized it was rough with little bumps in some areas. After my workout, my face was super-red and started itching really badly again. UGH! How annoying! I talked to Cassandra (who has beautifully perfect skin) about it and she had some good suggestions. So, I think it's time for me to give up on the Proactiv (and let Chad use it from now on) and start using a cleanser called Cetaphil. She said it helped her, so hopefully it works for me! Let's keep our fingers crossed because I really don't want to make a trip to the dermatologist.

Just curious, has anyone out there ever had a similar reaction to Proactiv? I wonder if it's just my skin's tolerance levels against strong chemicals. I guess I'm sensitive like a baby. :) I guess that's all I got. Sorry this was kinda weird and grossy. haha. Appreciate any comments though!

Bullets?

I don't have a whole lot going on these days, so I guess you will have to do with bullets:
* We are hanging out here in Arkansas, just doing our thing. Chad doesn't ever get called into work, so we pretty much just spend all day doing whatever. Lots of movies have been watched, we are happy good-TV season has kicked off, & we enjoy spending time with some of our greatest friends!
* Working out has been great. It feels awesome to get off of the couch. I struggled a little this past weekend, but doubled up my workout today to try and make up for my laziness. I really hope all of this work pays off somehow!
*We saw Paul Blart Mall Cop this Tuesday night and I would not recommend it to anyone. It MAY be worth renting if there's nothing else, but it didn't impress Elya or myself at all. Chad liked it though. If that tells you anything, I'm not sure. :)
*This weekend was awesome with the family in Flower Mound. We played the Wii, threw the football & fished at the lake, cooked out, played with my nephew Ethan, and played some good family games like Battle of the Sexes, Apple to Apples, & Cranium.
*We desperately need to go to the grocery store, but we're too lazy...imagine that. :)
*It's time for bed.

Sorry this was so extremely boring. Maybe I'll have something more for you soon.

Errrr..

Okay, so since my last post on here, I haven't even looked at the Spanish stuff. So much for discipling myself huh? I guess it's going to take more effort than is currently being put forth. I seriously need you guys to keep me in check!

I started today which makes me wanna...BLEGH! I took a super-duper nap earlier and was in SUCH a deep sleep. It was fabulous. I did it right after getting out of the shower with my towel still on my head and everything. My tummy hurt and a nap sounded appetizing. Sometimes your body just needs you to sleep, and I don't mind :).

I've been hanging in there with my workouts. I don't seem to have quite as much energy as I had to put forth last week, but I'm doing my best. And the rest of the ladies on the workout site are kicking butt too! It's awesome!

Tonight sparks the beginning of the American Idol season 8! Can you believe it's been going on for that long?! It's crazy! We are very excited!! Also, the Biggest Loser: Couples is on again too & we love that one too. We may be joining Cassandra in watching those tonight so that we can all ooh & ahh together. It should be fun.

Sorry this was a mish-mush of things. That's just how it is right now. :)

Se habla espanol?

I have made it a priority to attempt learning the Spanish language while we are here in Arkansas. Chad has a good hookup through the AF that grants us access to any Rosetta Stone language programs that we choose. If I was completely crazy, I could possibly learn French, German, Chinese, Danish, true British English, or any of the other many to choose from. I don't think I'm quite that determined, but it's great to know they are always there and available for us though!

One might ask, why do you want to speak Spanish? And my answer would have to be this:
I took 4 years of Spanish in the 7th-10th grades. Learned the meanings of about 20 verbs, the months, how to count, & some simple conjugations. It is very depressing to think about how much time I really did put into learning the language back then, but how much the schooling system doesn't really care if you learn it or not. I made A's in all of my classes, but can't speak directly to a Spanish-only speaking person without feeling like an idiot. That's frustrating.

Also, Chad & I really hope to be able to raise our children in a bilingual atmosphere. It grows their brains even faster and Spanish is definitely going to be the number 2 (fighting number 1) most popularly used language in America in just a couple short years. My hopes are that we can prep our children for success when they enter school & into the real world. Bilinguists already make more money than unilingual (is that a word?) people, it's true. Plus, I just want to become more cultured to the fact that our world really is a small place. You never know when you might need to speak more Spanish than, "Donde esta el bano?". Ha.

You guys keep me accountable and make sure I'm staying up on my Spanish studies these next couple months. This is exciting! :)

Lfie changing gig...

So, I have joined my friend Cassandra & several other people in her newest blog creation called '500 a day for 30 days'. Pretty much, our goal is to make sure to burn off 500 calories everyday (minus Sundays for rest, cuz that's what God wants us to do :)) for the next 30 days. We have hopes that it will do something fabulous for our mid-20, married bodies because we have slipped into a slump. And like I said on that blog yesterday, it is time to say adios to my flubby pet that I have been so generously feeding for months and months now. I've only been doing the program for 3 days and already feel so much better about myself. Maybe not because my clothes are fitting any differently yet, but because I know how hard I am trying. Feel free to check out the site and see if you would like to join in. It's a life changing experience, cuz everyone probably knows how much I loathe working out. And now I'm actually looking forward to doing it! Besides that stuff, Chad & I have a couple of trips possibly in the works right now. So far, we have a trip to Dallas next weekend to see my family! They are meeting us there because Dallas is the halfway point between San Angelo & Little Rock. Plus, my older brother and sister-in-law both live in Flower Mound & have offered for us to stay with them, which is awesome! Then in March, Nicole & Kyla are planning on coming to see us in North Carolina. I hope that works out, cuz Chad's schedule is looking quite drawn-out and behind right now. God knows how long it's going to take us to get outta Arkansas. It's slightly frustrating, but we are happy right now, so that's all that matters I guess. Then, we are hopefully going to Washington, DC with Joey & Laura in April. We have decided to make at least one trip a year with them a regular thing, so there it is! We are excited! Then, Kyla's birthday trip is going to be to Vegas in May (even though she turns 21 in March), but Chad & I are planning on joining in for that one. Soooo exciting! I know, you might be sitting there thinking...do they EVER stay in one place for very long?? And the answer to that is, no we don't. But that's how we're used to living and that's what makes us happy. haha. We love traveling, therefore we may be crazy. If only you could travel without having to live out of a suitcase. I hate that part! Gotta love the experiences though! :)

Link to Pictures for you all to see...

Here is the link to my MySpace albums. There are at the very bottom labeled Christmas 2008 and New Years 2009. Feel free to check em out!

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=58962266

Hope that works! :)

Happy 2009!

Whew! Our trips were just amazing! Chad & I are both in a slight 'post vacation depression' right now. Life has gone back to normal and it's soooo not as fun and interesting as it was these past 2 weeks. Once we got to Boston, we had a great time with Joey (Chad's best friend from college) & his wife Laura. They are awesome. Laura & I spent the first night shopping for some boots so we would both have something warm to wear while we were in NYC. That was fun and I finally found a pair at American Eagle. They definitely did their warming job! I was very happy with them. We then went home and cooked a porkloin dinner for our hubbies. It was delicious. As we ate, we watched Eagle Eye and the Death Race (I sat out on that one :)). Tuesday, we headed to NYC. Our reservations were for the Comfort Inn on 35th street. Only about 8 blocks from Times Square. So, as soon as we got there and checked in, Chad & I had to leave them to go to our Broadway show, Irving Berlin's White Christmas. It was awesome!

Wednesday, which was New Year's Eve, we woke up and got started early and spent our day sight-seeing. We started at FAO Schwartz, the huge toy store that is featured with the big piano from the movie BIG. I even did the famous scene and played the tune with my feet. It was funny and by the end of it, I had about 40+ people in the room watching me. It was amateur, but funny and a lot of fun. Then we checked out the new Apple store which was next door and it featured all of the latest and greatest Apple products. Pretty cool. On over to Rockefeller Center we went. Saw the infamously huge Christmas tree and skating rink, as it snowed down upon us. Then we headed over to NBC Studios to see some fun stuff. We almost took the tour, but it didn't end up working out for us, so now we definitely have something to add to our to-do list for next time we go. We ate in the huge shopping/dining area in the bottom near the Rainbow Room in a restaurant called Cucina & Co. It was yummy. Chad & I went and warmed up with a Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate. MMM, MMM. We then headed back to the room to take a nap and recharge for the late night to come.

This New Year's celebration is definitely the best one I've ever had! We made reservations at The Capitol Grill on 42nd street. And oh-my-gosh, the food is SOOO good. It's a high-rollin' type restaurant, so we kinda threw the money watching habits out the window and had the greatest night of food, friends, champagne, the ball dropping, and a small dining room dance. I'm sure we probably broke some kind of rule with that one, but it was so fun! Our wait staff (yes, we had more than one person waiting on us, AWESOME) was so cool & SOOO informative. They describe their food like it is a million dollar painting by Picasso. It's crazy but very accurate in its description. We started there at 10:30 and finally left at 1:30. It was so great! We finished off our NYC trip with a little souvenir shopping in Times Square, Dunkin Donuts, and a famous bakery called Junior's Bakery for lunch. The food was superb! Seems like we ate a whole lot, and we did! But I am happy to say, it was all tasty and fantastic!

When we returned to Boston, we found that it had snowed 8 inches while we were gone. So, we played in the snow, ordered Chinese takeout, played SingStar on PS3, and watched eachother's wedding videos since neither couple was able to make it to the other's. It was definitely one of the greatest trips I've ever taken. We would go back and do it again in a heartbeat. As I said before, a small bit of post vacation depression has come upon us, and maybe now, you can understand why!