Happy Halloween!

I won't be around *in blogging world* tomorrow, so I figured I'd throw that out there! I hope everyone has a great time no matter what you're doing. We'll be out of town, more on that below, and I will say that I'm going to miss seeing all the little kids dressed up. Last year we stayed home watching scary movies and enjoying all of our 3 trick-or-treaters (that was such a friggen let down). But hopefully we'll see some out and about in OKC.

I'm SOOO excited to get there. Why so excited you ask? I'm going to meet a blogging buddy!! Our husbands are coming along for the meet. They are actually a big reason we're meeting this weekend. Her husband has courageously signed up for the Army and is leaving for Basic this Monday. He's taking the OCS route as well, so it'll be nice for them to talk about it since Trey went through it all recently. We've been emailing all week, making arrangements to get together. I have to laugh at ourselves because it totally feels like you're setting up a blind date. "Let's meet here at this time... I'll be the girl wearing the cute and sassy sweater dress get up... here's my cell in case anything changes". I'm sure we'll have a great time - I'll let you know next week :)



It hit me yesterday that I've been a little selfish on my blog posts. Talking all about me and not so much about Trey. A few people in his family read this I think (ahem.. I hope) if they haven't gotten tired of just hearing about me all the time ;) and my mum is still a loyal reader and I'm sure she'd like to hear a bit about her son-in-law too... I never update anyone on how HE'S doing. Me me me!

Well, if I had gotten to this yesterday, I would have told you he's doing marvelous. He's thoroughly enjoying his life right now. Come on.. you all know he played Army every day of his childhood... now he's getting paid to do the same. *please forgive me lack of knowledge when it comes to the technical terms of anything... you'll have to live with my girly version* Earlier in the week he was all amped up. They spent the first part basically living a video game. They were pretending they were in tanks overseas, but the game made them feel like they were really there. The first day he "killed a bad guy". The second day he died. He was blown up by an IED. It's the 2nd time he's died in two weeks. I don't remember how he died last week. I talk light-heartedly about this, but you know me.... it's got my mind going in overdrive. All I can say is that I'm glad it's not for real and I hope they are learning lessons.

He got home last night and was still feeling pretty damn Hooah. They are doing combatitives yesterday and today. That means they are spending two days doing nothing but fighting each other. Not my idea of a good time, but soldiers will be soldiers. He came home feeling pretty BA. Thennn.... he woke up this morning. To say he is a little sore is a bit of an understatement. I think he realized he is not 22 anymore... and his punching bag partner is. I have a feeling I'll be doing a little pampering tonight (get your minds out of the gutter).

That's about it for him. I'll be sure to do that more often. I know anyone that is interested could just call him, but lets face it, it's much more interesting from my point of view.



I have a busy day ahead of me! Have an appointment to take care of these monstrous eyebrows. Going to payless to take advantage of a special code I have to get 1/2 off on a pair of boots. Oh you want half off too?? Text "oprahshow" to 242424 and you can get it as well. Just for today so hurry. Your welcome. Need to pick up a bottle of wine. I read in a magazine this week that 1 or 2 glasses of red wine a day will help you fend off any colds coming your way. Need to protect my health! Then it's back home to do my wifely duties. Got laundry to do. Gotta clean the bathroom, straighten up in general, vacuum, sweep, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, and make some dinner. I know, I know ~ I'm pretty awesome.



Have a great weekend!

Bandwagon

Yup... I jumped on it.

After tons of searching to find JUST what I was looking for, I finally found it today at JC Penney. For sale... 1/2 off.

Ta-da!! The sweater dress. With leggings. Uh huh... so not anything I would normally wear (God forbid I break out of my daily wear of jeans, sweater, and Sperry's). But I've been eyeing these on other people for months and have been loving it. The one I got is cream colored, but I couldn't find that one online.

Think I'll be donning this get-up for our day trip to OKC this weekend... perfect for the nice fallish day we're supposed to have.

Blah...

I'm not feeling so hot today. I got the flu vaccine shot up my nose yesterday.. and lo and behold... what do I feel like I have today? It's not horrible. My body's a tad achey and I feel flat out lethargic. Trey told me a couple times this would probably happen so it's possible that this is all in my head... or maybe he was just right for once ;)

So anyway - I'm going to try my best to be a lazy bum today and get some rest. I always feel way too guilty to allow myself to do that, but I'm under strict orders.

I was at the hospital twice yesterday. First outing was for my eye appointment and it's a good thing I thoroughly enjoy laughing at myself. I may or may not have asked more than one person where the "Optomology" department was and finally got an answer after the 2nd person finally told me she wasn't sure, but am I sure I wasn't looking for the Optometry dept? Umm yes thanks. Is Optomology even a word?
Appointment goes great. I take the elevator down to the first floor, go out the rotating door, and can't find my car ANYWHERE. After walking around the parking lot for a solid 5 minutes, I realize I must not have come out the same place I came in. Go back in the hospital and even though I was on the right floor, I couldn't find the right exit anywhere... swear it disappeared Harry Potter style. So I walked around like a straight up loon for another good 10 minutes before I finally found my parking lot. 10,000 parking lots... who knew!

Dear Santa, please bring me keyless entry for my car this year so I can always find it in the crazy parking lots. They Hundai likes to play hide-and-go seek.

P.S.
After using spell check, I'm pretty positive that Optomology does NOT exist... in case you were wondering :)

Happiest Place on Earth?

Nope... not Disney World. That would be Copenhagen, Denmark according to the Oprah show last week. After watching it today, I have to say that I may agree! *I'm sure there will be lots of differing opinions on this and I look forward to hearing them* :) Did anyone see this episode??

If I move there I may have a little bit of an inferiority complex. Next to all those leggy, blond hair, thin women - my 5'2" brunette self would stand out like a sore thumb! But to enjoy this lifestyle, I think I could hang!

• Cobblestone streets - Charming canals
• They think it's crazy that American people focus so much on getting married and that it's shameful that young girls grow up fantasizing about it. They put more stress on the actual marriage, not getting married. As it should be, they value relationships, not where you are in that relationship.
• 1/3 of the population ride bikes everywhere... even to the grocery store. Exercise? Fresh air? Wind blowing in my face? Yes please!
• If you lose your job, the government helps you find a new one and pays up to 90% of your salary for 4 years. Therefore there is no homelessness, no poverty, women are much more self-sufficient. They don't need a man to take care of them. (so you're with him because you're happy, not because they feel stuck, which we see happen a lot here)
• No fears... no fear of being homeless, no fear of losing your job and therefore losing your house.
  Everyone makes just about the same amount of money... no middle class. Everyone taxed the same. People choose careers based on what they want to do, not how much money they'll make
• Free education from preschool and up. You actually get paid to go to a university. They call it education support.
• 1 year paid maternity leave.
• Free health care... They like their people to be healthy and well educated!
• They do pay the highest income tax in the world.. but they are okay with that. They clearly get a lot out of it.
• They live with only the bare necessities. Small, cozy homes. Very clean because they don't have a lot. One quote I loved hearing from a husband and wife on the show was: "less space, less things, more life" I love that! Makes you think about what's really important... spending time with the people you love and less time thinking about what you don't have.
• They spend a lot of time with their families. It's just about mandatory for everyone to leave their jobs between 4 and 5 - on their bikes mind you and always stop by the market on the way home for fresh bread and produce.
• It's the norm to leave your children unattended. One couple had their 1 month old twins sleeping outside in the yard unwatched. Want to enjoy a nice lunch with your husband with no screaming, whiny kids at a nice cafe? Ehh.. just leave them outside. "No one wants to steal your babies", they say. They don't even think of child molesters.

I know, I know... sounds a lot like socialism? But man, they made it sound like Utopia. One lady said they don't think of it as Socialism, they think of it as humanity. It really got me thinking about this huge health care debate that we have going on now. Why are we making such a big fuss about this? Why would it be such a horrible thing? *these aren't rhetorical questions, I'm really trying to sort it all out in my head. So please... leave your thoughts* In the meantime - I'm fantasizing about packing up NONE OF MY STUFF and moving to Copenhagen.

One more interesting tidbit that got me thinking: They are known as the happiest people on earth, but also the least religious! That I have no answers for.

Toot Toot!!

TGIF!!

It's funny - I'm not working and still look forward to Friday all week. Why you ask? Why wish my weeks away still? I get to spend a couple days with the hubster after not seeing him all week! I have to say... keeps the marriage exciting!

I have to take a quick minuto to toot this little horn of mine. Tonight when Trey does get home, he'll be sitting down to a nice plate of spaghetti - with sauce made FROM SCRATCH. This is a big big accomplishment for me. It's been festering in the crock pot since 11 and my house smells heavenly. Not only that, but he'll have some fresh french bread. And on the side some of that oil-spice-dipping stuff that I made as well. And you know... salad from the bag :) I'm hollarin' for myself in true Mary Murphy style and put myself on the Hot Tamale Train.. hoot hooooot!

Also, I started a new book tonight that my little Librarian friend suggested to me (I got a library card from the library seconds away from my pad. It's smaller than said pad. It's like a little miniature house... so cute) Anyways... the book... It's called The Gift by Richard Paul Evans and it is nothing short of incredible. I started it last night in bed and couldn't put it down. I'm 1/2 way through. Strongly suggest it to any of y'all out there!

Enjoy your weekend ~ and ROLL TIDE!!

Mountain Men

Saturday morning, hubs and I ventured out to the Wichita Wildlife Refuge. It's only about 10 minutes (if that) away from us with tons of trails to hike. I LOVE hiking so I've been looking forward to going there since before I even moved out here. It did not disappoint. It was hard to chose a trail but we ended up doing the Elk Trail (and saw no elk) because that took us up to the top of one of the mountains. We had a great time, I got sunburnt, Trey made endless fun of me because I wore so many layers and had to take all of them off - except for the bottom layer of course...Here are a few pics. I posted a ton on facebook, but I'll try to simmer it down a bit here:

Oh hello! You see the way this thing is looking at me out of that eye??

I believe we're going back this Saturday as long as we make it home by 3ish for the Bama game!

Feelin the Love!

I'm so so late in posting this, but I've gotten another award - you girls are too much! LAUREN (now that we know her real name) @ Dreams take flight passed this on to me last week... thanks bud!

The rules for this one are simple; just share five things you are obsessed with, and then pass the award on to five of the most fabulous blogs you read!

Here are my latest obsessions:

1. Starbucks - I've always had a little soft spot for this place, but since I've moved to Lawton it's been my saving grace. An expensive obsession? Maybe, but I love going there to meet up with a friend, hang out with hubs (yes, I was blessed with a husband who likes coffee and coffee shops even more so than I), or just to go by myself to get out of the house with a book.

2. Lists - I've turned into a compulsive list maker over the past two weeks. I get so much more done and get it done one thing at a time when I have my lists. I think it's curing my little case of ADD actually. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing stuff during my days and the feeling I get when I cross stuff off the list - Priceless!

3. My camera - it's nothing too fancy, and I am by no means a pro (or anywhere near it), but I've been taking pictures of everything out here. I love showing people back home what I'm doing out here. Which reminds me - I have a post to do about the hiking we did over the weekend. Pics to come tomorrow hopefully.

4. My laptop - I'm stretching to find 5 things I'm obsessive with but this is always one of them. More specifically the internet I guess. Allows me to keep in touch with so many people that I normally wouldn't just by phone. Between facebook, blogging, and plain ol' email - I think we're all set!

5. The Gym - I live for my gym time in the mornings now. I didn't go but once last week and I'm pretty sure that's what caused the slight funk I was in (of which I don't think I blogged about). I'm back to it this week and feel great! It's the one thing I know I'll be able to do every day for myself.

Passing this one on to:

Jessica at The Dent's Deal. Another one of my IRL friends that just started up a blog. She's only done one post, but I know it'll be just as fabulous as she is :)

Beth at Just Ask Beth, High Heels and Combat Boots (did you go private? I can't get on your blog all of a sudden), Jennifer at Crazy Shananigens, and Steph at Watching Airplanes

Good Eats

I'm happy to report that this weekend went much better in the cooking department! And I'm sure Trey is very thankful as well.

Friday night I made homemade sloppy joes and used ground turkey burger instead of ground beef. They were delish!! I'm like 99% sure I got this recipe from Charlotte's blog, but I can't for the life of me find where she posted it up so I'm not completely sure. At any rate... here it is.. It made enough for us to have leftovers all weekend!

SLOPPY JOES
Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
12 parker house rolls
Directions:
Set a heavy-based pot over medium-high heat and add a 3-count of olive oil. Add onions and saute for 2 to 3 minutes until translucent. Add ground turkey, season well with salt and pepper and brown well all over, breaking it up with a wooden spoon - about 7 to 10 minutes. Add ketchup, mustard, cayenne, brown sugar and tomato paste. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Finish with a splash of red wine vinegar and season it once more before serving on parker rolls (or any large whole wheat buns).

I'm pretty positive that I'll never use regular ol' sloppy joe mix out of the can ever again!

Saturday night we had a couple friends over for the Bama/Carolina game (of which I had lots of mixed feelings over and can't say that I'm terribly disappointed that Carolina lost. Please no hate mail) so I just made some munchies. A dip made with ground sausage, package of cream cheese, and rotel and then a buffalo chicken pizza.

Sunday night I made Shepperd's Pie. My grandmother used to make this when her and my grandfather visited and I loved it! This one was made a little differently... let's just say I'm a little overly excited to have it for leftovers tonight. Here's the recipe for this one:
Ingredients:
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1lb lean ground beef
1 tsp dried basil
1 clove garlic, minced (I used two)
1 cup of corn
1 cup of tomatoes, diced
2 potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 2-qt casserole dish with cooking spray
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion in oil for 5 min, stirring frequently. Stir in the ground beef and basil, and cook and stir for 5 more minutes. Mix in the garlic, corn, and tomatoes, and simmer for 5 min. Transfer beef mixture to prepared dish.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, egg, and water. Spread evenly over meat mixture.
4. Bake in a preheated over for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes start to brown on top (I had to do much longer for some reason) Sprinkle with cheese and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Although it wasn't even close to being cold here, that was a great meal to eat after watching the Pats play a full football game and kicking some serious ass... in the SNOW!!!! Snow.. in October... I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter for some of us!

Brand New Baby!

My BFF, Julianne, had her baby last night!

Mason Lee was born at 8:22 and was 7lbs 1oz and my heart cannot be smiling any brighter on the inside. I can't even imagine out mommy and daddy feel!

She was due on the 14th, but little Mason was pretty dern comfortable right where he was so he wasn't going anywhere. She was scheduled to be induced on Monday, but I guess he decided he was ready Saturday morning. I haven't talked to her yet, but from what I've heard, it seems like everything went really well. I am so proud of her! Best part - it's Daddy's birthday today so he got the perfect little birthday present! Here are a few pics from camera phones (you have noooo idea how much it's killing me to not be there and have to settle for camera pics!!!)

I CANNOT WAIT to meet this little guy in December!!

Just a Dream

Every month - when it's that time of month (why can't we all just say that? I was on my period dammit! There... doesn't that feel good?) my dreams are beyond vivid. Ask me any other time of the month and I'll swear to you that I don't even dream. But that week... insanely vivid dreams. Take last week for instance...
Dream #1 *and the worst of them all*
I dreamed I joined the Army and was in Basic Training!!! I was hanging upside down on some ropes course and was supposed to be able to climb up to the top.. while hanging by my feet. I was doing the ugly snotty cry crying for my husband to come help me and magically he appeared. I told him through my snot and tears that I made a huge mistake and please please please ask if I can be let out of Basic. I woke up before I ever got my answer, but man... I was uptight all day after that one. Pheewww... thank God that was just a dream. Not everyone can be super hooah and lets just say hubs is a much much much better fit than I!
Dream #2
The next night I dreamt I was back working at Midland Mortgage and there was a huge (I'm talking like bigger than my kitchen table) python roaming around. Everyone was running everywhere trying to get away from it, but not leaving the building for some reason. The monster caught up to me and bit me on my back. But for being such a big thing, the bite was tiny. It felt so real that I thought it was still hurting when I woke up. I felt like my tshirt was stuck to my back in the spot where I was bit. Vivid AND strange...
Dream #3
I also dreamt about my grandmother for the first time since she passed away. I was sitting next to her inside of a church. I don't think it was during a sermon or anything... I think it was just the two of us sitting there. I knew she was getting ready to die, but she didn't. I kept trying to say my "goodbyes" but couldn't get anything out. I was trying to tell her why she meant so much to me and how much I was going to miss her. I would open my mouth and try really hard to say whatever it is that I wanted to say, but nothing would come out at all.

This seems to happen every month during THAT week. After three dreams like that in a row, I was exhausted! Does this happen to anyone else?

~Happy Humpday~ and a little extra

I almost didn't make it, but I have 2 hours left so I'm safe! The biggest thing I'm happy about this week is that I got my Old Navy bag back today ~ long story but I'll try to make it brief. Me and my Lawton BFF - A - thought we'd take a trip to Wichita Falls today for some shopping (much more options around there, plus who doesn't like a day trip??) None of my winter clothes from last year fit me anymore - why you ask? They're wayyyy too big. Holla! - so I needed to restock my closet. I hit the jackpot in Old Navy. Filled up the bag to the brim with sweaters, long sleeved T's, and scarves galore. Leave there a happy camper bc just about everything was on sale and head to American Eagle to check on the jean sale. Helpful worker guy insists on taking my bag and keeping it behind the counter so I can shop with free hands. Lovely! He's so nice and helpful right? After coming to the horrid realization that I am too old for the level of low rise their jeans provide, I tell helpful worker guy I'm ready to go and just need my bag. Oh, well that's impossible, because he gave my bag away! Uh huh.. gave it to the lady he was holding two old navy bags for. I keep my calm for the time being while some other worker chicks scours the mall in search of my new wardrobe. After about 5 minutes of praying she peeps around the corner with bag in tow, I go in and talk with the manager. She says bag lady payed with a credit card and she's going to try to get in touch with her. Has me write down my name and number and if I had any other shopping to do, would I please go and do that and she'll call me.
I'm panicking, but A tried to comfort me with other sales around the mall and it worked for a while. Head back after a 1/2 hour and no progress had been made. Said the credit card company tried calling bag lady, but number was busy. I only lost my cool for about one minute when she suggests that I head back to Lawton and she'll find a way to get my bag to me. Uuummmmm think again! I'm not leaving that mall until I have my clothes in hand. So after what seemed like forever she got in touch with someone at corporate and got the permission to give me the amount of money I spend at Old Navy (I luckily had my receipt in my wallet, not in said bag). The gods were with me... we get to Old Navy and they had one more of everything I bought 2 hours earlier. Head up to the counter, tell checkout boy he will never believe the day I've had, proceed to tell him the whole story very animatedly (if that's even a word). He doesn't even blink and says... "oh you mean this bag? some lady dropped it off saying she had no clue how she got it". REallly??? I assumed when AE girl was scouring the mall, that would have been the first place she checked. We have a good chuckle over this bc I'm amused at this point. As we're leaving the mall, I realize that I have a big chunk of extra money in my wallet from AE.
What to do, what to do.... after about a full minute of deliberation, (does God want me to prove to him that I'll do the right thing? Or maybe he's saying, "Jess, you've had a bad day.. here's an extra chunk of money" ) and a phone call home, I gave the money back. Yes, it was painful. Very painful. But I would have felt horrible spending every single dollar there. Grrrrrrrr.... it's hard being a good person sometimes ;) I then take the time to warn A that adventures out with me are never uneventful. She's now fully warned! Sorry... I promised a quick story but that was impossible.
I'm tired. Can I skip the happy list this week? That would make me pretty happy in itself. Thanks :)

Weedkend Recap

Technically, we're still on our weekend (Thank You Mr. Columbus), but since Trey is very very occupied with the PlayStation 3 (war games too... you'd think he got enough of that during the week) I figured I'd come on here and rehash the weekend. It went by too fast per usual!

Friday

Trey got home later then he expected so we didn't do much. Hung around the house and scoffed at enjoyed my screw up of a dinner. Lesson learned: fresh basil measurements and basil from the jar measurements are not equal! The little Italian dish I tried out was a big fat FAIL. So we had plain ol' psghetti instead. For the second time this week. I haven't cooked in 8 months (unless you count easy mac). It's NOT like riding a bike. After that we watched a movie - Insomnia - and fell asleep. Pretty exciting night, no?

Saturday

Got up and made breakfast. Another FAIL. Long story but with the help of my mother yesterday, I realized I had the toaster on bake, not toast. That's why the english muffins were not browning and after 10-15 minutes of trying to brown them, they were hard as a rock. Literally. They were baking at 375 degrees the entire time. Poor hubs ate them anyways. At least the eggs, turkey bacon, and coffee were all a success. Grrrr
After that we met a few other couples for Oktoberfest, which I had long been awaiting with baited breath for 2 weeks. Had a good time - of course - but it was NOTHING like I expected. It was empty! Very much geared towards the chilren. Here's a few pics: *Or not? Blogger didn't like my Oktoberfest pics I guess!*


I missed out on the Carolina game, but thankfully had a friend texting me score updates. We won, but I hear it wasn't too pretty. We did get to watch the FL/LSU game that night.. I was hoping for a big fat Florida loss... only bc that would have put us at #1 in the SEC East. Can't get everything we want I guess!

Sunday

Went to Oklahoma City for the day with another couple. This was more of a boys trip... the main goal was to go to a shooting range... but I WAS curious. I went in there thinking I was pretty bad ass, but I have to admit, I immediately cowered in a chair and jumped out of my skin every time a gun went off. I was terrified! I did shoot off my 9 milli, but it was not so much fun for me. My palms were pouring sweat. I don't know if I'll be making any more trips to the range! We had dinner in front of the Patriots game per my demands requests... that was a mistake. Lost in overtime. But the day did end in a huge success with a trip to Target. Ahhh Target, how I missed you!!

That's about it. Having a pretty lazy day today, but I'm being dragged out in the torrential winds in just a few minutes to make the almost daily trip to Walmart. Hubs goes back to the barracks tonight until Friday and I actually have a pretty busy week ahead of me!

And the award goes to...

Kate over at Sometimes Life is Messy tagged me with the Kreativ Blogger award last week :) Kate's such an amazing person and I've LOVED getting to know her! If you haven't already, go on over and check out her blog. (along with the other amazing people I tag at the end)

Here are the rules:

1.You Can Only Use One Word.
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers

I'll try my best to use only one!!

1. Where is your cell phone? close
2. Your hair? shorter
3. Your mother? thoughtful

4. Your father? hysterical

5. Your favorite food? junk

6. Your dream last night? better
7. Your favorite drink? choc milk

8. Your dream/goal? mother
9. What room are you in? Living

10. Your hobby? blogging/pictures/reading

11. Your fear? alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren't? normal ;)
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish list item? coffee maker

17. Where did you grow up? Mass./SC

18. Last thing you did? clean

19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? on

21. Your pets? none

22. Friends? thankful

23. Your life? unpredictable
24. Your mood? calm
25. Missing someone? everyday
26. Vehicle? dirty

27. Something you're not wearing? jacket
28. Your favorite store? hobbylobby (like how I made that into one word?)
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When was the last time you laughed? seconds

31. Last time you cried? last friday
32. Your best friend? trey

33. One place that I go to over and over? walmart
34. One person who emails me regularly? dad
35. Favorite place to eat? lots

Now I get to pass the on... lucky girls!

Ashleigh at The Storey Family: Please go check her blog out.. one of my IRL good good friends. She's honest. Writes about the bad along with the good. Which I love. Our lives aren't always rainbows and butterflies and I love that she puts her heart into it all.

Kim at A Life Less Ordinary: My cousin! Semi-new to the blogging world. She has a way of writing about day to day everythings and making it VERY entertaining!

L at Dreams Take Flight: I'm a new reader of hers. I LOVE her blog! I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and reading about her weekend visits with her boyfriend.. they are so cute and always seem to have a great time together.

Katie at Loves of Life: I love her outlook on everything. Very uplifting and has a positive way of looking at everything ~ and taught me how to wear a scarf :) She's going through such an exciting time in her life right now!

SCH at Uncommon Life, Uncommon Joy: I'm a somewhat new reader of hers and have been loving every minute. She's such a sweet girl and has a great outlook on life.

JG at Perpetual Newlyweds: She's been great with giving me little tips in settling in in Oklahoma. Her and her husband are BRAND NEW into the military life ~ I'm sure she'll have lots of adventures to write about. Hopefully I'll be meeting her IRL soon!

Off to Oklahoma City for the day :)

decisions, decisions...

I've been in my new little town for almost 2 weeks now. Something I've been struggling with since I came out here was the whole work situation. I've been thinking and thinking, looking, talking about it with Trey.. so it's only natural that I blab about it here now too.

To work or not to work.. here's my dilemma.

I've been looking for jobs and really... there's not much going on. I'm partly to blame for that though. I have too many conditions and they may be a tad unrealistic. I looked on the NAF website (helps spouses find jobs on post) but you have to be stationed here for at least 12 months. We'll only be here for 1/2 that time. I look in classifieds but see things like, "looking for an exciting new career path? Applebees carside to go is the next step for you". I'm in no means above any job, but here lies my problem(s).

A) I only want to work part-time. For right now at least.
B) I want very specific hours and it's very very selfish. I want to be able to fit going to the gym, running errands, and still being able to make dinner in my day. I want to have weekends off to spend with Trey.
C) I REALLY want to figure out what it is that I want to do with my life. I feel like I'm just passing through not really knowing what direction I'm going in. Even if we were stationed here for a couple of years and I was looking for a full time job, I wouldn't know what I wanted to do. I'm thinking about going back to school, but have no clue what for. Basically, think I've got some good ol' soul searching to do!

I know what I listed above is not real life. I'm going to have to get over that. But part of me just wants to enjoy that for a little while. I keep the house clean, do the laundry, and run the errands during the week when he's training.. which all used to take up our weekend. Now we'll be able to actually enjoy that time and cross off things on our list to do while we're out here. But the other half of me is having a hard time letting myself enjoy that. Don't get me wrong, I keep myself busy during the day for the most part. I'm hardly ever sitting around doing nothing. But I've been working nonstop since I was old enough to work. The fact that I'm making no money right now is causing so much guilt inside myself. The rare times that I am just sitting around never last long because I feel like I always have to go go go!

I think I've come up with my own solution, which may be to find a place or two where I can volunteer a couple of hours a week. That way I'm doing something productive that I can feel good about and could set my own schedule. We'll see though. I'm sure I'll figure it out. In the meantime, I will try my best to enjoy long morning workouts, occasional coffee dates, and spoiling hubs. I know - tough life right? But trust me, I'm my own worst enemy... enjoying this is harder than it may seem!

~Happy Humpday~

Time to put my happy pants on again...

1. trying a new kind of wine - picking it out solely because I think the bottle it cute (it had polka dots.. come on.. ) and it ending up being delish.
2. having date night last Friday and a Mexican restaurant, then coming home and doing nothing but jamming out to some fly tunes and drinking said bottle of wine.
3. The movers bringing our stuff over the weekend and having the majority of it unpacked by Monday... feels much more like home around here.
4. The feel of the brand new carpet beneath my bare feet.
5. The fact that I'm actually starting to love going to the gym makes me happy.
6. finding out Trey can come home for a couple hours a night.
7. Dinner/Starbucks dates with my one and only friend here and laughing almost non stop when we're together.
8. Loving my new haircut and thanking God my eyebrows are cleaned up!
9. Hearing from friends and family back home on a daily basis makes my day more than they know.
10. The one piece of dark chocolate I have a day.

These Boots Were Made for Walking

Need some fashion help over here!

I wouldn't say that I'm completely clueless when it comes to the fashion department, but really I keep things very simple. My daily winter wardrobe will always include jeans and a sweater. The fanciest I get is adding some layers in. I love the whole sweater dress paired with boots look, but it's so not me. So I'm having a hard time picking anything out. I realized I wasn't the only one having this problem when I read my cousin Kim's post yesterday.

I know I like these boots from Target. But that's all I got. I have no clue what I'd match them up with. Sounds like an easy enough task, but I swear when I start looking, my new found ADD starts acting up. I start looking at a million different things, get way too sidetracked, start worrying about whether I need the brown, light brown, black or grey boots... blah blah blah and then I give up.

So where do I go to easily find cute fallish dresses to wear with these boots I don't yet have??

If You Can't Beat Them...

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend :)

Trey found out Friday afternoon that BOLC II would not be starting Nov. 1st, it will be starting Monday. Yup. This Monday. He had to report at 10:30 this morning. So here starts 7 more weeks of training. He can come home on Fridays at whoknowswhat time and has to be back Sunday mornings (I believe.. I'm hoping for afternoons though). I'm giving myself today to sit around and be a lazy, sad bum but that's all! I really am actually glad he's starting early. He'll be done that much sooner (is that a word?), we may get to go home earlier for Christmas, and it's giving me the opportunity to get out there on my own and figure things out. When that turned into a positive thing for me? I'm not sure...

The only thing I accomplished today was getting my kitchen in order. I did the best I could. Really. It's very small. I didn't realize how small it was until I tried to put all my stuff in it. The movers came at 7:30 Saturday morning. I was pretty sure my neighbors were going to murder us. Good news - NOTHING was messed up. So far. I still have one room to unpack. More good news - my vodka DID in fact make it to me!! Man I was pretty sure mover man #2 drank it before he left my driveway in Columbia. Trey and I were both surprised when I opened the box and saw it staring up at me. Bad news - Mover Man #1 blew up my bathroom AGAIN. Can you believe that? I mean if you gotta go, you gotta go, but really??? This man is pretty regular! At least there were no tools necessary after he left this time!

So where was I.. if you can't beat them, join em right? Ehhh.. I broke down and finally signed up for Twitter. I've been fighting it for so long. Another website to be addicted to is the LAST thing I need. But seriously? A website fully dedicated to Facebook like status updates.. I couldn't resist one minute longer. I have no friends though! I'm not sure how to find them either. So come over and follow me ~ janorton07

I Forgot My Anniversary!!

Thanks for all of your input on that email I received the other day! I've decided not to go with it. I'm not totally convinced it's a scam (I took Becca's advice and googled the email address - nothing negative came up, in fact a lot of other bloggers have heard from her and have taken her up on her offer - who's to say nothing happened with them though), but basically it comes down to me not wanting to take the risk. Not worth it. I didn't make this blog in order to make any money off it... not that I'd complain if I did.. but it's not my goal. Problem solved ~ moving on ~

I realized - almost a month too late - that I've been blogging for a year now! I really can't believe that. When I started this, I never knew it would become this much a part of my life. I've said this before, but I am extremely thankful for the friends I've met over this. Y'all got me through one of the toughest parts of my life that I've had to experience so far. This kept me sane and all of you kept me happy, grounded, and in the know when it comes to everything Army. It thrills me to think about where we'll get stationed next.. chances are it could very well be near any of you! I'm keeping my fingers crossed at least. We'll be moving again before you know it!

Major success story of the week:
Hubs and I were at Starbucks last night (for the my 3rd time this week..) when I spotted her. The one girl I've been looking for since I got here. You know... the one with the fabulous haircut. I walk up to her immediately and beg kindly ask where she gets her hair done. "Oh", she says, "I work at so and so. Right down the street". She's a hairdresser!! She gave me her card with a promise of $5 off on it. I know a good cut when I see one!! I'll be making my appointment shortly. I pray they wax eyebrows as well bc these monsters ARE NOT looking so hot!

Flattered or Weary??

I got an email yesterday and I don't quite know how to feel about it. Here's where you girls come in - Help!

It's the second time I've gotten an email like this.. the first one I didn't pay any attention to. Now I want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything. The email popped up in my junk mail from Sarah. I usually go ahead and delete these immediately, but the subject of this one said something about reading my blog. I maybe still shouldn't have opened it (I'm more than a little worried about catching viruses... I'd die without this laptop of mine), but I did and it said something about her wanting me to post about the boots her company sells. Something about me posting a link for them and if it gets so many clicks, she'll give me a certain amount of money. The company is in the UK. Sounds easy right? I can't help but be extremely weary.

So tell me ~ is this a normal thing that happens to y'all or simply too good to be true??