The day before the day before we leave

In case any of you haven't notice ~ I'm just a little excited to go and visit with family and friends! I started getting ready for our trip today and got more done that I planned to. Did bookoos of laundry which was a pain in my arse. Apparently, Wednesday mid-mornings are a very popular time to use the apartment's laundromat! Finally got that done with a little cleaning of the bathroom in between. -this whole house WILL be spotless before we leave, down to fresh, clean sheets. Very important to my sanity to come home to a clean house.- I made my packing list and even got a majority of the packing done (clothing wise at least). I didn't plan to do that until tomorrow.
Trey's CO's are holding fast to the plan that we can't sign out until midnight Friday night. Seriously? You're really going to dismiss him around 2 and then we just have to sit around and look at each other for 10 more hours??? That's precious driving time. I'm still holding out hope that they get a touch of the Christmas spirit and let us leave early. Just in case though, we are staying up as late as our eyes will let us Thursday night and I will sleep as far into the day as possible on Friday. Trey will still have to get up at 5 for PT, but that's good for him. That way he'll come home and if we can't leave, he'll sleep until later in the night. Maybe I'll make some coffee around 9:30 - yes, pm - and maybe we can eat at IHOP before signing out.
Grrrrr while reading over my shoulder, hubs informed me that we absolutely are not leaving before midnight, so operation stay up as late as possible and sleep all day Friday is on. I might as well make the best of the situation - it'll be fun trying to stay up tomorrow night. Pizza and movies it is. Wish. us. luck.

edited to add: my bad! I forgot a little piece of vital information regarding our trip. Hubs leave doesn't actually start until Saturday, hense the reason we can't leave until 12:01. Teehee..
Army 1, Jessica 0

Sorry to bore you with all that, but don't you feel better knowing my sleep schedule for the rest of the week? I may post one more time before we leave, but after that, I'll be on a holiday hiatus we'll call it. I'll be back after the new year with lots more talk and pictures of our trip home. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones!! And if you have a spouse that is deployed during the holidays this year, I hope you are spending it with many friends and other family. Thank you so much for your sacrifices!!

Ohhhh yeah!!! How 'bout that SYTYCD finale??? I am more than in love with Russell. My feelings would not be hurt at all if either him or Katherine win! He has come so far, excels at every single style he attempts, and I just love his personality and heart out there. The only way I will be extremely ticked off is if Ryan or Ashleigh win. Ash isn't that bad, but I really don't see how or why Ryan is still on the show. And the whole "we're so much in love that we cry when we're together and can't stop hugging and kissing in front of the camera thing"? PLEASE don't tell me anyone is dumb enough to fall for that. THEY KNOW IT WILL GET THEM VOTES!!
End Rant. Seriously, each and every one of those dances warmed my heart to no end. My favorites were: Kathryn and Jakob's contemporary ( I admittedly shed a tear or two on that one.. beautiful.. but can't find it on YouTube), Kathryn and Ryan's Samba (she made it.. not him), Russell and Eleanore's Paso Doble, and Russell and Kathryn's hip hop. Now you know I have to show as many videos as possible because I want so badly for you all to be just as enamored as I am :) Aren't you all glad I learned how to post videos??

That hot little Samba I told you about:


Russell and Ashleigh's Lyrical Jazz. He is so so great in this one:


So many other great ones, but those are all I could find... for now.. muaahhahahaha

Tis the season

Colored lights or white lights? If you had asked me this as a kid I would have said colored, but now white.. hands down.. no competition.

Real tree or fake tree? I haven't had a real tree for years, so I guess I'll go with fake. I always think I want a real one, but really it's so much easier dealing with a fake one. You don't have to deal with lugging it up the stairs, making sure it's watered, dragging it down after Christmas and having dead pine needles everywhere. Just light some Christmas Tree scented candles and pretend...

What is your least favorite thing about the holidays? There's little I don't like about the holidays, but I guess I'd have to say going into any store around this time of year. Can we say panic attack?

What is your favorite holiday smell? Any Christmas related candle scent

Who is your favorite reindeer? Dancer... I imagine he'd be pretty fun

What is your Christmas Eve ritual? I just really love the time spent with family. Hanging out, eating, drinking, baking, with all the Christmas decorations surrounding us. I used to love opening one present on Christmas Eve, but I don't do that anymore. I want more to open the next day :)

Are you a Friday after Thanksgiving shopper? See above when I mentioned crowded stores and panic attacks... absolutely not!

What is your favorite holiday food? I don't think we have all day to answer this one... but to name a few... cookies, cheesecake, dips, pies, apple crisp, celery and cream cheese. Every Christmas morning, my mum makes me a egg sandwhich. So what you say? What's so special about that? She fries the egg in bacon grease... lol... heart attack waiting to happen! Don't worry.. it's just once a year :)

How did you find out that Santa wasn't real? I don't remember exactly how I found out, probably some stupid kid at school. My parents always like to tell the story how I was sobbing in bed when I asked them and found out the truth. I yelled out afterwards through my tears, "I guess this means there's no easter bunny or tooth fairy either!"

Have you bought all your presents yet? I have 2 more to buy!!

Do you still make snowmen and snow angels? I haven't seen snow in years. If I had kids I probably would, but I don't do well with the cold so I don't see myself going out to make a snow angel just because.

Do you still have snow ball fights? Again, the whole no snow thing hinders me here. Yes, I'd probably do this. I'd deal with the cold to hide behind a car and whack Trey with a good snowbell when he least expected it!

What's your favorite Christmas movie? How can I chose just one?? Christmas Vacation, Elf, The Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and if you can count it.. Love Actually

What do you plan to do for New Year's Eve? This year I have no idea. I don't even know if we'll be back home in OK or if we'll still be on the road!

What's the most expensive thing you've ever gotten for Christmas? Hmm.. I really don't know to be honest...

How early do you wake up on Christmas morning? Whenever my little brother wakes me up.. usually around 7 I think..

What do you usually get in your stocking? Candy, gift cards, socks

What is your favorite religious Christmas carol? Oh Little Town of Bethleham

What is your favorite non-religious Christmas song? I'll Be Home for Christmas (see videos below for my fav. versions) and Baby, It's Cold Outside

How long do you leave up your Christmas decorations? They come down New Years Day or the day after


This gets me every. single. time

• I'll Be Home For Christmas by Josh Groban

And this one is just plain pretty

More Josh Groban music on iLike

Just Wondering...

... if any of you lovely ladies are stationed at Ft. Bliss??? You know.. just outta curiosity..

If you don't feel comfortable saying so on here, feel free to email me:
jayetton at hotmail dot com

How old are you now???

So, after a fake birthday on Friday, my mum celebrated her real life 47th birthday today!! Yeah, that's right, I just threw your age out there. You should be proud of that age, hottie. Own that number! my parents at Trey and I's wedding

Mum at my SIL baby shower

Her and my dad flew up to Mass. for the Patriots game this weekend. Best present of all for her? THEY WON!!

Today's gonna be a good day

Finally ~ a morning to sleep in! Even though I don't have a "job" per say, I never let myself sleep in any later than 7:30 during the week. Even that is late compared to my life back home when I worked every day, but I'm usually up between 7 and 7:15. That's after waking up initially with Trey's alarm clock at 5... Today we didn't get out of that bed until 8:45!! It felt SO good. I know he especially enjoyed not having to do PT at 6 in the morning. We got up and I made coffee, eggs, and turkey bacon. Ever since we've just been lounging around with all the Christmas lights on and I'm feeling pretty nostalgic. I have no plans to even shower for at least another hour.

We are participating in the Jingle Jog at 2:00. Okay okay... more like the Jingle Walk for us. It's a fundraiser for the food bank. I'm really excited for Trey to meet some of the people I "work" with every day. When that is over we'll come home and I'll start cooking for our Christmas party tonight! We are getting together with our little group of friends for a chinese gift exchange. I'm making a buffalo chicken dip and brownies. I'm going to be sure to bring my camera. I haven't taken many pictures since we've been out here and I'm wondering if everyone back home is doubting that we do actually have friends...

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! We don't really know what to do with ourselves with no football to watch! ~ one week from today, I will be home ~ !!!!!!!!

Fake Birthday and A Salute

My mum and I got to start our day off to a good laugh thanks to yours truly. I was all excited to call her first thing this morning and here's a little snippet of how that conversation went:

Me to Trey: Let's call mum to tell her happy birthday!
Ring ring ring
mum: Good morning!
Trey and I together in a sing song voice: HAAPPPY BIRTHDAYYY!!!!
mum: umm.. thanks.. but my birthday's not til Sunday.
Uncontrollable giggles came from both my mum and I for about a minute straight. Ahh well - I think birthdays should be week-long celebratoins, so that was just the kick off to her birthday week! Yeah... I really did that on purpose...

Yesterday, I got a text from Trey letting me know he was meeting some friends for lunch at the PX food court instead of coming home. I just so happened to be on post so I invited myself along. I'm pretty sure they were thrilled to have me and that conversation filled with Christmas decorations, my trip home, and presents for my mum were a much appreciated deviation from there regular boring lives ;)
We finish lunch... all is great... and Trey is walking me to my car afterwards. We're walking along, with me babbling on and on about who knows what, per usual, when the two soldiers walking by stop and salute Trey. My husband... getting saluted. It all happened so fast.. they salute.. Trey salutes back.. and I'm sure my face was pretty scrunched up like "WTH just happened". After a second my brain processed it all and I was overcome with emotion. That was the first time I've seen that happen - it made me so incredibly proud of him! He is still pretty humbled by it and doesn't make a big deal out of it... but to me.. it was huge and warmed my heart :)

New Favorite Show

If there is anyone left out there who hasn't seen Modern Family - you are seriously missing out on some great laughs. The show just started this fall and has quickly become the highlight of our week. Sad.. yes, maybe. But don't judge until you watch this beauty. It comes on Wednesday nights. Last night was their Christmas episode and was HILARIOUS. I couldn't find any clips from it, but I did find this preview from before the show started. It'll help you get caught up a little because I know you just have to watch it now that you've heard my testimonial.


And because I really can't get enough and want your day to be filled with laughter... a couple more for your viewing pleasure:








Okay I'm done. Hope you enjoyed :)

Christmas Decorations

I seem to have hit a little bit of a blogging funk - hence the very uncreative title to this post even. I have little on my mind other than going home in ~10~ days. Trey made the mistake of letting me know that his leave papers say he'll be able to leave after the duty day is done (which as of late has been anywhere between 1300 and 1500 hours (1-3) since he is snowbirding. I know with the Army I should not be getting my hopes up about this, but toooo late. I'm there - they are way wayyy up. So with nothing else really to say, I figured I'd show the little bit of Christmas I have going on in our apartment:

You can't really see, but those napkins have a big N in the middle. I think they are so cute. I don't remember where they came from, but I got them last year. I don't think I've actually used them. And see my poor little snowman on the end? His light's gone out... it's been out for about 2 years and I've yet to find the motivation to fix him. Poor guy. I keep those Willow Tree angels out all year. My bff Sara, that lives in Massachusetts gave them to me a couple years ago and started my collection. I love everything Willow Tree. I have another one - husband and wife - that I keep in our bedroom. Those are always welcome as gifts for any occasion ;) I would LOVE to have the Willow Tree Nativity set!Here are our very empty stockings. I sure hope Santa swings by while we're in SC and fills them up for us!That is all. We didn't put a tree up this year. Don't really have room for one, plus the lights I have everywhere else satisfies me enough. We'll have our parents tree to enjoy in A WEEK AND 1/2!

Another Weekend Gone

Time seems to be flying by faster than usual lately. I hardly remember going through November and now we are weeks away from Christmas! * 13 DAYS AWAY FROM BEING IN SC AGAIN * I'm just a tad excited!!!! To say the least...

It seems like it is snowing in every part of the country except where we are. Is everyone enjoying it? I hope to get some here soon! I have some vegetable soup going in the crock pot right now, so it would be perfect timing!

We had a quiet, but great weekend. The two of us went out for dinner to Buffalo Wild Wings Friday night. It was nice.. our idea of a perfect date. Big screen TVs everywhere talking about sports, a few Blue Moon for him and Sunset Wheat for me beers, nachos, boneless wings, and a ton of laughing. We got up early Saturday morning and hit the gym. I am gaining weight and don't know why. (other than the nights of beer, nachos and wings, you say... hey.. no one asked you!). Got home and had coffee and eggs and multiple hours before the SEC championship game, I was about to wring my husbands neck. He could not handle his excitement and drove me crazy well into the afternoon until the game actually started. All was well in the end though, as Alabama beat Florida and is now the #1 team in the country.. yup.. it feels good. And will feel even better if we beat Texas for the National Championship!!

Today was/is a really good day as well. We got up this morning and went to a new church. I had a feeling about this one from the parking lot. It just felt right. I was right... we ended up LOVING it. Everyone there was so GENUINELY nice, we were invited to come to their young adult bible study (which is what I've been looking for), the sermon was great (The pastor was able to keep my attention the entire time.. which is a HUGE accomplishment in any setting). It was the perfect mix of what we both wanted. The Methodist traditions.. you know.. repeat after me stuff and hymns for him mixed with a huge sanctuary full of people and some contemporary music for me. We're going to try the bible study next week and that will either make or break the deal. It's really important to me to get into something like that. We met friends for lunch at a supposedly great Mexican restaurant afterwards, which didn't turn out to be all that great at all. Their "cheese dip" was more like chicken broth. No thank you. After that the boys went to OKC to some shooting range and the girls went to the Christmas craft fair on post. I found nothing to spend money on (you're welcome, Trey), made a quick, very necessary Starbucks trip, then came home to make soup, wrap presents, and thoroughly enjoy some alone time before the boys come back.

I know I haven't mentioned this since my first announcement, but my SIL is about a month and 1/2 away from her due date! She is doing very well and looking even better. She is gorgeous and I cannot wait to get my hands on her belly in about 2 weeks!!!

This is nuts!

First let me say that I really appreciate everyone who commented on my last post. It meant a lot to me that you stopped and took the time to give me your opinion. I hope it was clear that I don't think any decision regarding deployments are wrong! I was just sharing what my decision will be since it was asked of me so much lately. Moving on...

... to a an email my lovely father forwarded to me today. Mmmhmmm.. enjoy. WARNING: at times I didn't know whether to throw up or continue laughing. The lady at minute 2 really does it for me!

The Great Debate: Deployment Style

I cannot tell you how many times this conversation has come up in my life lately. I'm not sure why it's come up so often. We don't even know what unit he is going to be assigned to after this training is over (I feel like training has gone on FOREVER), but I guess because we are quite certain a deployment is something we'll be facing in 2010. Whatever the reason... I can't tell you how many conversations I've gotten into lately about what I am going to do when he does deploy... go back home to SC vs. stay wherever we are stationed.

I have strong opinions on this and know without a shadow of a doubt that I will stay wherever it is we are. I've had to defend this decision multiple times lately though. I have no doubt that people mean well. They are afraid I will be alone. That I need to be around family. I hate this argument, but it was said so I'll put it out there... "what if something happens to Trey, don't you want to be around family".
Here are my views. Number one and most importantly, I refuse to go into this with the assumption in mind that something is going to happen to him. Now that that's out of the way.. A) I'm planning on being extremely involved in his unit's FRG. I want to be surrounded by women who are close to the situation. Women who are going through the same exact thing that I am going through. I want to be there for them and vice-versa. I want to be there so I'm in the know in everything that goes on with the boys. Yes, I am fully aware that all FRG groups aren't so great. I know that they are not all as ideal as I've just described, but all I can do is my part. Maybe I am being entirely way too naive, but I don't see anything wrong with putting myself out there and being as supportive as I can be. Even in the worst group there is, there has to be at least ONE other wife that feels the same way. B) I want Trey to feel secure. Does this make sense? I have it all sorted out in my mind but sometimes have a hard time conveying things out loud (or typed.. whatevs). I want him to know that I'm holding down the fort back "home". That I'm taking care of the house (the same one we're in before he leaves) while he is gone and to know that he's coming back to the same one. I don't want him to worry about where I'll be or how I'm handling it. I've never been through this before, but from what I understand, the more stable and simple things are, the more at ease he will be. Home for us now isn't SC as hard as that sounds. As cliche as it is, home is now where the Army sends us. This is true. Which brings me to my third point. C) Moving around, being on our own, and time apart is part of our lives. We were both fully aware of this when he signed up. Signed up being the key phrase. He wasn't forced into doing this and I wasn't being the submissive wife with no opinion mattering. He volunteered and I supported him whole-heartedly. This being said, I refuse and cannot run home every single time he leaves. I need to be able to make it on my own, and truly believe that I can. This way of life already has so much instability... I cannot add to that. Especially when we add kids into the mix.
Don't get me wrong, I plan on going back to visit my family and friends as much as possible. My family still provides a source of comfort that can't be replaced and they still mean more to me than is probably normal. When I express these strong opinions that I have, I sometimes feel like I'm hurting feelings. No one has outright made me feel like that, but I just worry about it. But really, if my my family hadn't raised me how they did, if they haven't loved me as much as they did, I probably wouldn't be able to handle the time apart this way. I wouldn't be able to stand strong on my own.

As a disclosure - these are just MY opinions. And clearly, I haven't been through a deployment yet, so I can't speak for anyone that has. As much as we prepare ourselves for these things, we really don't know exactly how hard it can be until it happens. I absolutely don't think that people that don't share my views on this are wrong, this is just the way I want to go about it. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, but how do you feel about it? Please, feel free to let me know what you agree with, disagree with, or where you flat out laughed at my naive way of thinking! I love to see others opinions and different viewpoints!

Reasons 232435 and 232436 why I love my husband

Yesterday morning he came home bright and early after PT, before I even jump outta bed, and tells me it's going to snow that night. I do my sleepy happy dance and carry on with my day. Later in the day, when I got into my car, I look over and what do I see? An ice scraper. THAT speaks to my heart <3

Reason number 232436 is this little interaction:

After waking up and realizing that it is not after all snowing (no need for that ice scraper I guess) but just really really cold out and raining, Trey walks in from yet another morning of PT soaking wet from said rain. He showers, I selfishly get a bowl of cereal for myself and plop down on the couch. He comes out and I hear him in the kitchen:
Me: Treeeyyyyy, are you making coffee??
T: Maayyyybeeeee
Me: YES!! I would have but I didn't even think about it.
T: breaks out in full enthusiastic rendition of "Who's yo daddyyy, who's your baby..." blah blah blah.

Off now to drink my hot coffee and try to work up the enthusiasm to go to the gym in that freezing rain. I wish working out was part of my job, like Trey, so I didn't have a choice!

Like Beyonce says...

I got a big ego....

I have a new favorite cashier at Walmart. As I'm unloading a full buggy's worth of food on to the register conveyor, the hmm.. how do I put this... eccentric looking cashier immediately starts talking my head off. Me being me, start talking right back with him and before you know it I'm teaching him about spices, he's telling me life stories about his friends, I'm coming back with stories that can beat his.. blah blah blah. Then he tells me he's giving me a discount today. He says I'm getting the "attractive lady" discount (in a completely non-creeper way). I tell him I'll take it with a shrug of the shoulders, not really taking it seriously. He finishes ringing me up, I take note somewhere in the back of my mind how low the price sounds for all the food, we wrap up the conversation and home I go.

I forgot all about it until this morning when I stumbled upon my receipt. I can't remember everything I bought, but I did notice this:
the 3 lb Roast I should have been charged $10 for - not on my receipt.
The beautiful *calorie free* Christmas sugar cookies sitting on my counter - no proof that I actually bought them.
The 6 yogurts sitting in my fridge - only shows 3 on the receipt.

Dude really? I'm appreciative and all, but please don't risk your job. The more I think about it... I had no makeup on and felt like ass - remember - I didn't feel so good. I'm pretty sure he just felt bad for me.

* I don't have much to say about that mess of a Patriots game from last night other than that is not the team I have come to know and love ~ on to the next one... *