This Week

I don't usually like to do posts just to document, they take a lot more concentration for me and take a lot longer to do,  but I need to get better at it. For one, I really don't want to forget all of the little things. I'm going to talk about the beach and all of the fun we've been having with our friends this week.. I don't want to forget all the details. Secondly, I know Trey will read this more once he is deployed. Documenting our days more may not be thrilling for some people, but that will be the easiest way to keep him in the loop. He'll be able to get a glimpse of the small things that I may not necessarily remember to tell him during a rushed phone call.. if we get any of those at all!

So, here we are. We've been in SC for 2 weeks now and it's really been so great. While I do miss my girlfriends back home (and my husband, but I'd miss him whether I was here or there) and I'm slightly jealous over all of the fun they're having together (I really can't be pleased), a break away from constant Army life has been nice. And the greenery. And rain. All of that is much welcomed!

My parents backyard. I love you El Paso, but your views will never beat this!

Last week we had family come to stay (my Aunts, Charlene and Sharon, Uncle Bob, and Gram). It was great to spend some time with them, we don't get to do it as often as we like. I loved having them get to know Andrew! We mostly hung out around the house, played with Drew and watched a lot of Olympics!

Over the weekend, I was able to take Andrew to the beach for the first time! I have been looking forward to this day since he was in utero. I was only slightly worried over his reaction. No matter how much he loves water and dirt, I know the ocean is a lot to take in for a little person. Whatever worries I had were in vain. He took one look at that beach and took off towards the water. It's like he too had been waiting his entire little life to get there! 

Shot during his first 5 minutes on the beach

I don't want to post too many pictures of the fun times we're having. I promised Trey I'd wait for him to see them before the whole internet world did. Stupid me. I didn't realize how hard that would be. Ahh well. You'll just have to believe me when I say he enjoyed it so much, he's still talking about having a beach day. Splashing in the water, running from the waves, collecting sea shells and throwing them in the water. Shoveling up sand and putting it in his bucket. Eating ice cream on the beach. Good times! 

He did have his moments of exhaustion and frustration though (like when he couldn't scoop up the sand just the way he wanted), so the two days were perfect for him. We can't wait to go back with Daddy!!

Monday we got back to "real life". Real life as in my parents went back to work and besides Steven running in and out, it was just Drew and I. It was kinda nice to be able to get back into a routine and we've been having a ton of fun with friends. 

We went to the zoo with Julianne and her kids and Emily and hers. I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures, but the kids just had such a good time together. Andrew and Mason thoroughly enjoyed jumping in puddles together. All three climbed all over rocks and shared snacks. I love seeing Andrew play so well with some of my best friends' kids. This is the stuff we used to daydream about together years ago! Andrew is just smitten with Reece (Emily's daughter). We've had their marriage arranged from day 1.. they are just falling right into our plans :) I can't wait to get a picture of all the kids together!! (ahem friends.. if you're reading, this needs to happen!)

Andrew and Reece

This morning we went to Edventure (A childrens' museum here in town) and it was AHHHmazing! We went with my cousin Kate and SIL and her two kids. We spend two hours there and didn't have time to do half the stuff. It blew my mind, seriously. A real fire truck to climb in, a construction site, cars to play with, a real car set up that you could pump gas at. You could lift a car up and learn how to rotate tires. A room that was set up like a grocery store (The Pig to be exact). The kids got their little carts and pulled groceries from the shelves then brought them through the cash register. A vet room. Tons and tons AND TONS more that I can't even begin to name.. seriously.. I'd be here all day and you would lose interest if you haven't already.

We have even more plans this weekend to get together with more friends and I get to have a girls night (Amen). We sure do miss Daddy, but we are obviously making the best of our time!

Weekend in Review

I had a REALLY busy weekend.. compared to my normal weekends. Busy. (side note: I accidentally wrote Busty and then laughed incessantly). Very busy. But in a really good way. A few days in a row that really filled up my cup.

Friday night, Trey and I had our friends, Nancy and Bryan, babysit Andrew so we could go out to dinner with Jennifer and Fritz. You've heard me mention them quite a few times (Jenn is the one I went to high school with.. and now we live in Texas together). F is deploying.. umm.. very soon and we wanted to get one last night out with them before he leaves... and since Trey can't be available this week.. Friday night it was it. It was bittersweet. We went to Cattleman's Steakhouse.

both pics found on Google Images

Which is beyond amazing. This coming from a girl who could live without steak for the rest of her life and really not feel like I'm missing out on a thing. (I've been telling people that this place was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, but apparently that's the one in Oklahoma City. I'm not sure if they're the same thing. If not, this one needs to be on the show too. For reals). We had a great time with them (even walking through the stinky petting zoo in heels afterwards where Jenn and I came very close to revisiting the food we just ate), but it was hard to put the reason we were eating together that particular night out of my head. I can't imagine how she feels (or any of the other number of women who's husbands are leaving) if I've been worrying over it this much. I know she will thrive while he is away though.. she's an OUTSTANDING person :)

Another good friend of mine, Ashley, had her baby boy Friday afternoon. I was able to go to the hospital and visit Saturday morning and ohhhh myyy... he is precious! He's just perfect. I don't feel comfortable sharing pictures of other people's babies, so you'll just have to take my word on this one. Perfection wrapped up in a tiny 6 pound 12 ounce body.
Ever since I gave birth to Andrew, I've become super sensitive to others having babies. You can't understand the true miracle of it all until you've had a child yourself, I don't think. I know I never did. I had NO comprehension at all for the amount of love you experience. None. And now.. I do. And I want everyone to experience it. And to see that new understanding in the eyes and written all over their expressions.. it does this girls' heart good.

We then spent the day at JG and her husband's house watching football all day on Saturday. Minus Andrew's new found extreme fright of dogs (WTH... seriously.. the kid has always loved dogs. Loved them. It was his second word. All of a sudden... he clings to me like a koala bear around a tree when they are around. What up with that??) we had a great time! Especially when JG made Pioneer Woman's fried chicken. Slurp.. excuse me while I salivate at the memory of it. Best fried chicken (that was mostly baked) in the entire world. Yes.. including Chick-fil-a. Wowzers. Bama won.. good for us. OU won.. good for them. Too bad the Pats couldn't keep it rolling on Sunday.

Sunday morning, Fancy Nancy and I got out of the house super early and decorated the *mostly* outside of the new parents' house. We were so incredibly excited. It looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I hope they enjoyed it all! I also hope it's not too hard to take down!

So yeah... friends + babies + good food + football = a pretty awesome weekend!

Let's catch up, shall we?

Look at this new blogger website setup. They claim it's faster and cleaner. We shall see!

It's been a while since I've sat down to type and I really don't know where or how to even begin. You know what that means.. bullets!

- We just got back from a weekend in Ohio for my cousin Kristine's wedding. We had such a great time for multiple reasons. Of course it was awesome to be around my parents, brothers and Vicky (my future SIL ;)  ) I loved hanging out with them and seeing them spend time with Andrew. On top of that, the wedding was perfectly planned. It was beyond gorgeous, everything went smoothly (as far as we could tell), and tons of fun. But most of all, I loved reconnecting with my dad's side of the family.
It's been far too long since I've seen all of them. Life got in the way. Priorities weren't where they should have been. I was honestly a little nervous because within the past year, words where exchanged that shouldn't have been. But then we got there. None of that mattered... the time past or the harsh words. I was taken back to the age of 10 all over again and it was like time stood still. In short, I'm so thankful we went. I left with a rekindled, genuine attachment to my family and have vowed to not let this happen again. I didn't realize how much I've missed them. I'm still tearing up when I think about them. Trey loved them and was really impressed with the area. Seeing my Grandmother with my son was the ultimate highlight. I hope we got enough good pictures. To sum up what was supposed to be a short snippet.. this long weekend trip was good for the soul.

- When we got back, we realized that the weather has broken around here. The unbearable heat is finally gone and I hope gone until next summer. It inspired me to turn the air off and open the windows (at least until around 1pm.. baby steps), do a little fall cleaning, take out the fall decor, and paint my nails grey. It's my favorite time of year, y'all.

-  I'm not quite sure what's up, but Drew has a temperature of 102.2 last I checked. I noticed today that he felt really warm. He's been just a tad extra clingy and whiny, but I chalked that up to the traveling and all the attention he got over the weekend that he is not longer receiving. It's been as high as 102.5. He's still eating more than enough. Everything I've read though has said to not call the doctor until it gets to 103. I know we are not far from it, but with him acting normal for the most part, I feel comfortable waiting it out. Germs from the plane? Teething? Just a plain ol' cold? Who knows.

-  I REALLY need to jump right back on the WW train. It's been slacking. Well, non-existent is the more accurate term to use. After seeing yet even more friends doing it with success and all the calories that were consumed over the weekend (I haven't stepped on the scale, but I can tell a difference in my clothes), something's gotta give. My discipline!! Where did it go??

- A good friend is going to be leaving me soon. "A good friend" doesn't really do our friendship justice. We've been friends since high school and it just so happened that our husbands were stationed at the same post. How's that for a situation to strengthen an already existent bond?? My stomach already knots up when I think about her leaving, but mostly I'm in denial. It's not going to be good when reality hits me like a brick. I have to switch subjects now.

- Something to lighten the mood... GO.
We'll have lots of visitors over the next few months, thank God. I LOVE having people come to stay with us. Especially now that we live on post and love our home. I really enjoy getting to show off the area we live it to our friends and family. Trey's parents will be coming in about a month, then his sister, then my brother. It's all pretty much back to back. I'm excited.

I think that's all for now. Off to the Commissary for some German goods. Don't ask.. long story. It has something to do with Book club, birthdays and a turtle.

Warning: This is a long one

This post will be a tad bit scatterbrained as I'm feeling a bit.. well.. scatterbrained. It's just been one of THOSE days. You know one where I've had to collect specimen samples from my child so of course he wouldn't poop. Until the most inopportune moment when he went while I was driving, dug into his diaper and proceeded to smear it all over his body and eat it. YUM. So of course if spread to me.. and the carpet upstairs... and I called my husband crying and letting him know that I would not, after all, be joining him for his Hail and Farewell tonight. Since you know.. the baby has had ONE 15 minute nap at this point, I haven't showered since Tuesday morning and I now have poop in my hair.

There. I feel much better. (and don't worry.. I've showered by now)

On to the real topic of the day. Back to the subject of friends, which, I know, I've touched on many times. But here it is again.

When I moved away from hometown, SC, I already had my tight knit group of friends. I've never had a problem finding people and forcing them to be my friends, but when I moved away,  I never ever suspected I'd be as blessed as I am sitting here now. I had a lot to learn when it came to the ways of the military.

Friendships - real, true, amazing friendships - form very quickly. Of course, you don't have that instant bonding with EVERYONE you meet, but it happens a lot. See, you don't have quite as long as the normal person would to forge a friendship. People come and go and you never know when. You meet someone, you click, and you don't know how long you'll have together.
You need them. You need these people, you need these friendships. You are thrown into a totally foreign (to you) place and only have the people you live with. You need people to bring you up when you are down (because you WILL have your down moments), to grab a cup of coffee or a cocktail with you, to vent to, to laugh with, to tell you that you should absolutely NOT walk out of this house with those jeans on, to have play dates with, to give you some adult conversation, to hold your hand through hard times. The list just goes on and on and on.
You have to have people to depend on. Because, honestly, you can't depend on your significant other 95% of the time. I don't say that with any bitterness at all, so I don't want it to read that way, but it's true. I know Trey would drop everything for us if he could, but I also am fully aware that Army comes first and he didn't make that rule up. He hates it, but it's a fact. We knew that from the beginning. He's either in meetings, in the field, training to deploy, or deployed. So, no, he can't come home out of the field and take care of the baby while you have a stomach bug and can't leave the bathroom. But, you have 5 girlfriends volunteering to take you to the hospital, take the baby for the night, bring you soup, gingerale or crackers.
You need people who understand the things you go through without having to explain anything. I LOVE my friends back home and they know that. But this would be 100% more difficult if I were still back home while Trey did his Army thing. I don't mean to sound like I'm in some secret society or anything, sometimes I feel like that's how I sound, but as much as I've always had friends that were there for me, it's different in this world. Everyone else's lives still go on. Their husbands would be home every night to have dinner with them and relax with. I have some girlfriends who, usually, it works out that their husbands are not coming home on the same nights mine isn't. Instant girls night!! It's great. But we also understand when plans are ditched at the last minute, because, "YAY my husband's coming home".
You need people to not look at you like you are a complete loon if you randomly break out in tears because you miss your mom and dad SO VERY MUCH. And people to step in and take that roll when your real mama can't! (Hi Sue and Maridee).

I've been lucky enough to meet a great group of girls like that.  I really do count my blessings. I've also been lucky to not have to say, "See you later" to any of them.. until now. I've only known Melissa IRL for a few short months.. just for the summer. But now she is gone and let me tell you.. I felt that goodbye like I was losing a friend I've had my whole life. We bonded.. and we bonded very quickly. The two of us, plus Jaci, had the best time together over the summer. Now she's headed back to law school and (not to sound too dramatic.. it's just the truth) I've felt like I've had this little hole in my heart for the past few days. I will always miss her in my life (until we're stationed in the same area again), but I do realize how lucky I am to have met such an awesome person.. someone who I will always consider a great friend.

Nancy and I had a great conversation about this lately, plus Trey and I were laying in bed the other night, talking about all of these people that have come into our lives. It's crazy when you really think about it.  What if we never left hometown, SC? How can it just be a random thing that our paths crossed with the people that it has. Two years ago I would have never imagined this. That I'd have these wonderful friends that are more like family. That I'd open myself up to and have true friendships with people from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Wyoming of all places (sorry.. but not many people know someone from Wyoming).. all over the country.

Of course I do miss back home. But I'm thankful for all this. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had to broaden my horizons. To meet and become close to the people that I have. Without this crazy, sometimes inconvenient, life that we live now, I would never have known this was out here.

I'll say it again at the risk of pooping out butterflies... I'm truly truly blessed!

On somewhat of the same note, this has been weighing heavily on my heart lately, so I thought I'd share and ask for prayers. I know of so many girls right now that have either just said "see you later" to their husbands for a deployment or who will be VERY very soon. It's the first time that I've been so close to people that are going through it and seeing it happen the whole way out. (hearing they'll be leaving, watching them get ready, counting down the days, etc.) and it's heartbreaking, but also makes me very proud to know them at the same time. It's going to be a hard year for some of my dear friends.. please keep them in your prayers and I promise to do the same!

Busy Bee

I'm surprised I still have anyone following this ol' blog!

I don't know what is going on - ahem.. having a 10 month old and almost 800 extra square feet to keep up - but I have zero free time lately. My days have been jam packed full and I'm too tired at the end of the day to even make my fingers type. Not that I'm complaining.. life has been great.. my blog has just taken a back seat for now. I'm not giving it up, though, you can't get rid of me that easily!

So.. what have I been up to?

Andrew turned 10 months (yes mom, I know I owe you a 10 month post) and there have been so many fun changes with him. Still working on getting rid of that separation anxiety, though. It's bad. Like can't leave his side without him wailing bad. Yes, I'm asking for suggestions. Throw some of your mommy knowledge at me.. even if you think I've probably tried it already. I probably have, but I'm desperate.

I have a friend here that is a photographer and she wanted to take some pics of Andrew to build up her portfolio. Who am I to deny her that opportunity.. what kind of friend would I be? Umm.. they are amazing. Here is a quick sample..

Do you die looking at those? I do. Every single time. So there was that.

Then.. I've become great friends with Mel. Are you jealous? You really should be. She's such an awesome girl and even though she's leaving next month (I already tear up a little when I think about that) I'm so very glad we met and we've been giving this opportunity to get to know one another. We've been busy with a girls night with my other fav, JG, and have another one planned for this week (and another one for the week after.. they don't know about that yet), a day of shopping and Taco Bell, and explaining the lawyerish details of the Casey Anthony trial to me. It's been wonderful. Ohh.. and grilling out...

Trey and I hosted our first big cookout last night in our new home. Our house was full and I loved every second of it. I love having people over.. our last house didn't so much allow for it with it being so small... luckily we have much more space and a great backyard for entertaining. Hopefully, we'll have many more nights like that during the summer and over football season!

And the best news? One of my bff's from back home had her baby today! Precious Madison Leigh was born at 1:13 eastern time. Congratulations Ashleigh and Matthew!! I can't wait to meet her :)

Day 9: BFFs

In this area, I am beyond blessed :)

This is Sara. We've been friends for 25 years. Yeahh.. a long time! Our families were close before we were even born. She lives in Massachusetts. We were in each other's weddings. I.love.her.

My SIL, Melissa. We've been through a lot together. She is definitely my sister in every sense of the word. We have a lot of fun together.. sometimes too much fun. We can talk to each other about anything and everything.

Julianne is another friend that I've had for a very long time! For almost 10 years now actually. We started dating our current husbands within months of each other and the four of us have many, many fun, wonderful memories to last us for quite a while. I can go to her with anything.. she has many a times been my shoulder to cry on. I love our inside jokes. The things we could laugh for hours about that no one else would understand. Strawberry Wine will forever be "our" song. Look at us as mamas now!

Here is Emily circa 2007 (not quite sure why the photo says 2006) at my lingerie shower. I met Emily when she was 17? 18? Trey's BF, Brandon, pretty much robbed the cradle (but that's okay because they are married now and expecting their second child) and I met her very early in their (2nd) relationship. It was love at first sight. She's one of my favorite people ever. I love everything about her, but especially how much she values the people (like me) in her life and her sense of humor.

Second person from the left (like if you're looking at the picture, left) is Ashleigh. (I could not get the only picture I have of us one on one to upload quickly enough, Ashleigh, and I just got too impatient) I met Ashleigh in quite the same way that I met Emily. She started dating Trey's other BF, Matt. She wasn't always around because she went to college in Charleston, but she has grown to be one of my dearest friends. She quite possibly could be the sweetest girl that I am lucky enough to know. She makes sure that her friends know just how much they mean to her. Trey and I were beyond touched that she and Matthew flew out to see us after Drew was born. Now she is expecting a sweet little girl of her own and I cannot wait to meet her!!

Jennifer!! Jenn and I were friends back in high school. We had some very memorable moments working at CVS together. Life got in the way and throughout college and life afterwards, we lost touch. Thanks to FB we were able to catch back up. As fate (or the Army) would have it, we were placed back into each other's lives when Trey and I were stationed at Ft. Bliss. Jenn ended up marrying a soldier and came here less than a year before we did and we now live within walking distance from each other! God knew what he was doing when He brought us back together. I'll never ever forget how much her and her poor husband were there for me when Drew was born. She was right by my side in the hospital so Trey could go to the hospital Drew was transferred to and I wouldn't have to be alone. Her poor husband got to know me real quickly and lets just say there aren't many secrets between us any longer. He was such a trooper and will be very prepared for the after-effects of birth when they have a baby of their own! Jennifer makes being miles and miles away from my family bearable!  Side note Jenn: We need to take more pics together.
Another side note: Jenn makes the cutest things for children. Dresses, bows, boys clothes.. anything. Girl is super talented. You should check out some of her stuff here

Blogger's Block

I have severe, severe bloggers block. Partly I guess because I kept myself insanely busy this week and I also just don't have much to talk about.. shocker!

But I figured I'd spit a little something out while Trey is SUPER cleaning the entire house. I tried to help, I really did. But he's doing such a deep cleaning.. everything from the kitchen is in the living room right now and it's like my mind spiraled out of control and I start panicking. I don't do well with chaos and that's what this seems to be right now. My kitchen is well on it's way to being cleaning enough to eat off of every single surface though! Good job Trey. Sorry I am a spaz and can't handle it. ADD kicks in big time. It got bad enough that he told me to just sit down and chill.. sooo.. here I am. Good husband!

I'm getting less stressed about our trip home and more excited. I've made mine and Andrew's packing list (Good God.. Trey is now dusting the kitchen chairs!!!) and that helps a lot.

I can't friggen wait to show him off to everyone! In just one weeeekk... ahhhhh! He's so much fun right now, which I know I've said 100000 times, but I just can't get enough of him. His laugh is so contagious and I kiss his cheeks enough that they should be chapped! I can't help it. If those chubby cheeks are within 3 inches of me, I will be loving all over them.

Let's randomly switch subjects, shall we? I had a much needed night out with a new girlfriend Wednesday night. Why Wednesday night you ask? 1/2 off bottles of wine at Carino's. Good reason for me! Some other girls from Centering were supposed to go, but I think everyone is really busy because of the holidays. The two of us had such a good time.. chatting, laughing, and even crying! It is SO nice to have finally met someone that I really click with! Fun Fact: our babies were born on the same day, in the same hospital. We were laboring at the same time. If I've already mentioned that then forgive me, it's so cool to me.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll go play with Andrew some more while Trey finishes scouring the house. We're going to see some Christmas lights tonight that are supposed to be pretty amazing :)

I'm still alive!

I've just been super, super  busy. And sick :( 

We've had some pretty crappy germs running through our household. Starting with my husband, who oh so lovingly passed it on to me. You know.. the congestion, sneezing, coughing, headache (I feel like a Dayquil commercial), and I, unfortunately, passed it on to our sweet boy who now has congestion and diarrhea. We're both miserable because of it.



Our first family photo... at a wine festival



Anywho... what's been going on in my world? Well I just mentioned most of it, but we had a WONDERFUL weekend! The Storey's (two of our best friends from back home) flew out to visit us! I can't tell you how much that meant to us and how happy it made the both of us. It's so hard being away from family and friends. For those two blissful days, it didn't feel like we were so far away. Thank you Matthew and Ashleigh! I'm so happy that they got to meet Andrew.. Ashleigh got lots of practice and is going to be a fantastic mum one day! Annd the two extra pairs of hands? I loved it!! We watched lots of football on Saturday (y'all.. nothing gets in the way of Football Saturday). Sunday we took them to Taco Cabana (it's the Norton mission to make sure everyone on the planet eats here) and drove out to New Mexico to check on the La Vina Wine Fest. We had a great time and this little mama got a little tipsy over a few samples of wine.. not gonna lie! It was hard to send them back home the next morning and I almost kidnapped them and made them stay forever... lucky they have a sweet pup to go home to!



Ashleigh and I - October 2010



Monday night I watched the Pats.. FINALLY!! They scared me in the first half but came back swinging in the 2nd. That's my boys! I hear now that Moss is leaving to the Vikings. We'll do just fine without him is what I say...

And this week I've just been taking care of a sad, sick baby. Thanks, girls, for your napping advise! I found something that works and have been getting in a nap a day. I curl up with him on the couch when he falls asleep and sleep with him on my chest! I know I'll have to stop doing this with him in the next few weeks so I don't start any bad habits, but for now, I'm cherishing it. It's the sweetest thing to feel his baby breath on my neck and feel his little fingers wrapping around my arm to curling on my chest. I know that I will miss these little moments!

I'm really looking forward to .. ahhh... 4pm or so today. Hubby will be off and he is coming home to relieve me! That's right.. I get some ME time :) I'm heading off to find some clothes that actually fit me!! I'm in this horrible in between stage where I'm nowhere close to fitting in my pre-pregnancy clothes, but the maternity stuff doesn't quite work anymore either. Any suggestions?

And thank you God, it's a 4-day weekend! I was talking to my cousin last night and she mentioned that she had a long weekend, but wasn't sure why. So thank you Christopher Columbus. Thank you for getting my husband a 4-day :) We'll be enjoying some downtime (watching the Carolina-Bama game.. yessss I'm going for Bama! Don't call me a traitor.. I can't help it) and each other's company.



Look at my little man looking fly in his Bama jersey (courtesy of the Storey's)



Tomorrow.. I put up my fall decor. Can't wait. Time to start lighting that Autumn Leaves candle!!

Good friends are like stars...

... you may not always see them, but you always know they're there!

Around this time, about 8 years ago, I met a group of people that would forever have a huge impact on my life. Not only did I meet my future husband, but also the people that would be my BEST friends to this day.

I worked at CVS (mainly in the photo department) starting in high school and for the next couple of years afterwards. I LOVED it. I had so much fun developing pictures and always getting the first look at new products that came out. I've always sworn that if I was ever hard up for a part time job again or just for the heck of it... I'd go right back. But mostly I really enjoyed the people I worked with. One of them being a close friend that actually lives here in El Paso with me, but that's besides the point.


I worked with an older women named Linda who I got pretty close with at the time. I would go over to her house occasionally. She had three sons and two of them were around my age. One night she invited me over for a little party.. one of her sons was having a few of his friends over and she thought I'd have a good time with them.


So that's the night that I met my husband. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I was beyond three sheets to the wind (hey.. I was in college.. what do you expect) when he and Brandon showed up. Uggghhh... I can't believe I'm putting this out there, but the first time he saw me, I was dribbling water out of my mouth thinking I was HILARIOUS because I was acting like I was drooling. I tell on myself only to show you that he really does love me. If you can look at a girl in that state and say, "now that is the girl I want to marry", than you know it's true love! Maybe not love at first sight.. we didn't officially start dating or even showing any REAL interest in each other until October, but a deep friendship definitely sparked.


Anywho.. throughout the next couple of weeks I started hanging out with this group of people more and more. Trey, Brandon, Matt (those three had been bff's since 9th grade), Chris, Julianne, Tiffany, Wendy, LK, Jeff, Matt G. We started doing everything together. And by everything I usually just mean hanging out together, drinking too much, movie nights, concerts, pool parties, beach trips.. just having a good time. Trey and I started dating that October. Chris and Julianne started dating a little while after that I think. Some people kind of weeded themselves out and some people were added in.

After a while, Brandon started dating Emily and Matt started dating Ashleigh. They were both immediately just a part of our little group and the good times just kept on rolling. Ohhh man how I wish I had some old pictures saved on my computer that I could upload.. then again.. maybe that's not such a bad thing!


We grew up together over the next few years. Trey and Chris moved in together along with two other guys. We were all like a little family, spending every single weekend together, all weekend. I can't even express how much fun we had together.

Fast forward a few years later and we're all finishing up with school and get big people jobs. Chris and Julianne are engaged and moving into their own place. Brandon, Emily, and I moved in with Trey. Chris and Julianne get married, a little bit of time goes by... Trey proposes to me... Brandon and Emily get engaged (while I'm sitting in the next room over!) and before you know it we're all growing up.


I'm sitting here looking at us all now and how close we all still are. Some of the people I mentioned above, I'm no longer in touch with. I grew out of some of them, but I'm very thankful for having them introduce me to my best friends.

It blows my mind to look back on pictures and to see us in college, where life was nothing but a party. Since then, we've grown up together and have gotten to the next stages in life.
Chris and Julianne are married and have a 9 month old precious son.
Brandon and Emily are married and have a 4 month old beautiful daughter.
Trey and I are married and are about to have a little gift of our own.
Matt and Ashleigh are married and just celebrated their 2 year anniversary!
What are the chances!?


We've all moved on separately with our lives but still have that connection and bond that has kept us together all of these years. I remember endless talks with Julianne about how we'd have our families and our kids would be best friends. It makes me a little sad to think about that now, when Trey and I are so far away and not knowing what the future will hold for us. But I now that even if it's not exactly the way we planned for it to be, I know that I'll still be "together" even though distance may keep us apart. We'll still be Bffs at 85 years old, celebrating life's victories and being there for each other through life's disappointments. I couldn't ask for more!

I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

*I know I usually don't use friends names on here, but I'm hoping that they'll be too sentimental and too busy reminiscing to care ;) *

Ketchup Time

After my unintended week long blogging hiatus, I guess it's time to play a little catch-up. Bullet style.

• We had a great, long 4th of July weekend. What started out as only a planned regular 2 day weekend (there were meetings, I guess, that he was going to have to go to), turned into a 4 day, turned into a 5 day! We spent our time together doing LOTS of relaxing, putting a crib together :), helping a friend move, and eating lots and lots of burgers with friends.

• The nursery is ALMOST finished. We have lots of the basic necessities and just need to work on the finishing touch-ups. Which I better get busy on because time is running out! We had this quote from Hob Lob that I wanted to put above his crib.. would have looked great right?? Except for the fact that it wouldn't stick since all of our walls are bumpy.. you know.. they are all painted like popcorn ceilings..grrrr. So now I've got to figure something out that I like just as much!

• Had my 32 week appointment yesterday. He is doing well and seems to be healthy, but he is still breech. I know he still has about a good month to turn, but I have a strong feeling that he won't. He is always sitting as high up as he can in my ribs (yes, it's as uncomfortable for me as it sounds) and I think he is comfy enough up there. If he's anything like his mother, he knows what he should do, but is quite happy doing what he wants and is not moving for anybody. We'll see. I know there are exercises I can do to try and get him to turn... I'll do those.. but I AM NOT doing that ECV thing where the doc can try to move him manually. No, I'll just take a C-sec thank you very much. We'll find out for sure at my next appointment in 4 weeks!
  
• I've been going to the pool on-post to get some workouts in and I'm loving it! It's a great big Olympic sized pool that is great for doing laps in. I only wish I had discovered it 2 months ago when we first moved here... CRAZY that we've been here for 2 months already.

• A good friend of ours has left for his first deployment this week. Trey met Mr. Soldier at OCS and they were good friends throughout. We moved to Ft. Sill together and the 4 of us became good friends while we were there. It was nice to have a familiar face during our first move and have a girlfriend to watch The Bachelor with every week :) Anyways, in May we all went our separate ways and have been adjusting to our new areas. We knew his unit was getting ready to deploy, but it never seemed real. We've all been in this undeployable training bubble for over a year, and all of a sudden, that bubble was popped. I wish that I could be with Mrs. Soldier now as she is going through the first couple days without her husband! They will both be in all of my prayers for the next year! I'm trying to convince her to start a blog so she can see what a great support system you ladies are!!

That's just about all that I can think of. Maybe that's why I haven't been updating much.. nothing to tell! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

June?!?

The 1st of June comes with a few different realizations for me.

1. Seriously?! It's really June already? The month of May flew by for me... I'm not really sure if I really even participated in May, or did it just skip from April to June for me?
2. Hubs and I keep talking about this human growing in me like it's a far off, pretend concept. As I was peeing for the 3rd time in a 1/2 hour today, it suddenly hit me that he will be here.. like soon. Like in possible 12ish weeks soon. Holy crap! I have a lot to do. WE have a lot to do!
3. My busy period is over.. for now. That is until the above mentioned child decides to enter into this world. Which means.. I should be back to my blogging away self. Everybody all together now - "yyaaaayyyyy!! Woohoooooo! Oh Em Geeee we've missed you" *all while jumping up and down and clapping*

Awww thanks guys... I've really missed you too. I seriously skimmed over the last 500 some odd blogs you've all written, so hopefully I have a free pass for a while if I've missed anything important. I'll catch up soon.

I just got back from a short little trip to Massachusetts for my long long time friend's wedding. Really.. it was a little emotional watching the girl I used to take baths with say "I do" to the best man out there for her. She was absolutely the most beautiful bride I've ever seen!

The bride at her rehearsal... so pretty!!

In her beautiful dress dancing with my cousin

When the bridal party was announced into the reception, we all came in to different songs and acts to play out. I'm pretty sure ours was the best. He's a huge hulk fan... I've never seen him wrestle a day in my life. He quickly showed me what to do and we were champs out there. Here I am in the shirt he made for me. If only I had it on video.. it was pretty classic.
It ended with us ripping those shirts off and throwing them out to the crowd. They loved it.

Now, I'm back in El Paso with my hubby and enjoying a few more days of free time before his 10 days are up and it's back to reality. We'll be doing a lot of relaxing and going a few different places we want to see here and there. Tomorrow will involve calling our landlord. I know that I still don't fully understand the whole Swamp Cooler concept, but seriously, somethings gotta be wrong. I know it's hot down here, but I'm pretty sure I'm living in cruel and unusual living conditions. I'm sweating from every orifice of my body and it's not pretty. Makes for a very cranky 27 week pregnant woman.

Tomorrow is also our 3 year anniversary!!

A few random thoughts before my hiatus

My husband finally *is jussst about done* with training!! Yesterday he graduated from his FA BOLC 3 class and I could not be any more proud of him than I am. He has worked harder than I've ever seen him work at anything before. Long long days, starting at 5am and not ending until around 10pm. Constant studying and having very little free time. Test after test after test. Days out in the field. All while also taking great care of an ever growing pregnant wife. He really is my very own hero and I realize that more and more every day.
The ceremony yesterday was perfect. Only lasted an hour and had plenty to keep my self-diagnosed ADD self occupied. The speaker (a COL from Fort Hood, I believe) was entertaining and even got a few laughs out of everyone. All the graduates got up on stage and said their names and where they were headed instead of someone just calling their name and handing them a diploma. And that was pretty much it. They sang the Army song afterwards and it was on to picture time!


Here he is, in all his glory, excepting his diploma.

We are here for another 2ish weeks before we move on for his AOT training. Then it's on to the real Army - finally. He's a little nervous just because he has no clue what to expect, but I have so much faith in him. I think he's going to be wonderful at his job - whatever that may be.

Afterwards we went to dinner with 2 other couples that we have gotten to be incredibly close with. One of them left this morning for their new post, so it was a last night out together type of thing. I thought I had my emotions under control, but was quickly proven wrong when Trey and I got ready to leave. The waterworks were in full force. It's funny how quickly us Army families form a bond with one another. I guess we know that our time together is never indefinate so you don't waste any time in getting to know each other. All I know is that this couple filled so much of my heart in just a quick 3 months and they will be friends for life. It truly is more of a family than friendships. I know they will do great at their new post and I can't wait to hear about what the next few years brings their way!

I'm going to be on a blogging hiatus for a little while. The next month of my life is going to be CRAZY! I'm leaving tomorrow for a visit home for a little over a week. I'm so so excited to see everyone - especially my family. I'm going to soak up every moment I can with my parents and even some extended family flying in from Massachusetts. My mum, SIL, and MIL are throwing a shower for me on Sunday. I can't wait for that. It really overwhelms me to think about all the people will be there to celebrate Andrew's life. I highly doubt I'll make it through that afternoon without more tears!

We'll be moving three days after I get back from that trip. It'll be a two day drive. A week later, our household goods will arive to *hopefully* our new home. Less than a week from that day I'll be on another plane headed to Massachusetts for a very good friends wedding. Finally, 4 days later I'll be headed back to my husband to celebrate our three year anniversary!! I think around then I'll be ready for a break and exploring our new life in El Paso!

I'm bringing sexy back

Welp - I survived day one of hubs in the field. Kidding, I never doubted I could handle a week on my own. I do miss his crazy self, but I also don't mind a few days/nights of alone time. It's good for the soul says I.

Last night, however, was not one of those nights. GIRLS NIGHT. and it was the ultimate girls night let me tell you...  nail polish galore, hand and foot scrubs and creams, face masks and the N'Sync channel on Pandora to top it all off. I had more fun than I've had in a long time. It was great to be able to just let go and be silly girls for a night. No making dinner for the men, no watching them do homework in our peripheral vision. Just the 5 of us blasting the music and being complete girls. Much needed!

Some other things that have went on or will go on that I feel is worthy of your knowledge:

My sweet, amazing brother got a little confused when he was buying Andrew's shower gift and had it sent to our apartment instead of my mum's house. Imagine my thrill yesterday when the UPS man delivered our STROLLER!! (Jeep Liberty Sport jogger stroller) and Andrew's very first dump truck. I can't wait to see my son *that still sounds sweetly strange rolling of the tongue* crawling on the floor, rolling his truck around and making vrrooom vroomm sounds. I'll make sure he knows his Uncle Charlie gave that to him! I really wanted to open the stroller immediately and find something to push around, but I surpressed that urge...

Today I plan to pack away all of my winter clothes for the movers. I bought a plastic tub for them yesterday. That way when we get to El Paso, I can just store them away without even having to look at them.

I'm going to be cutting up my first real, live pineapple today. I've always been too intimidated... I'm going for it today!

It's been really cool... I can feel Drew's body usually after I eat. He was a little further up last night and I could feel little body parts and feel them moving when I'd press on them. I'm assuming feet. I then insisted all the girls feel as well.

The other day, I found out how old my Wii thinks I am. I thought I was kicking ass the whole time. Not so says the Wii. It told me I was 46 years old. Isn't 40's the new 30's??

Also, 9 days before I'm home for a blissful 8 days!

Gender Reveal Party

We had our gender reveal party yesterday, and it was so much fun!

Some of our closest friends got together dressed to let us know their guess..

We had lots of delicious food and pretty decorations

We finally cut the cake to surprise *almost* everybody. I kind of stayed true to form and blew it for the first couple. I was showing them the US pics and said, "I'm just not sure what's going on with him in this one. Are those his arms...ohhhhh nooooo". Yeah, throw up of the mouth, as per usual.

We grilled out in the perfect spring weather and ate the best burgers ever!

The boys *and dogs* played some football

It was truly a perfect day.. and a long one. And finally, here was the most exciting moment.. I caught the cake cutting on video.. hopefully blogger will cooperate with me and let me upload it.

Yup.. just what I thought. I'm going back to the original posting page. I'm sick of no spell checker anyways.

Thank you SO SO much for all of your comments yesterday! We are on cloud 9 :)

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend - I know we did. If you were without your loved ones, please know that I was thinking about you! It has to be so very hard to spend holidays especially without your spouse, sibling, or parent... I hope you at least got to chat with them and you found comfort through friends or a great church service.

The weather was beautiful here in Oklahoma! It seriously could not have been any more perfect.

We picked my brother up from Sheppard AFB so he didn't have to spend Easter alone.
Sunday we went to a beautiful Easter morning service at the church we have been attending here. I think Easter service is my favorite one of the year. It's such a nice reminder of what our Lord did for us and what that really means. That we are forgiven and loved PERFECTLY. The God loves us SO incredibly much, that he had his only son crucified just to bring US closer to him. Could you imagine doing the same... it's overwhelming really and makes me want to be such a better Christian.

After church we went to a friends house for a huge potluck Easter lunch/early dinner. It was delicious!! Who knew our little group of friends were so talanted?? We had a cheese ball, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (courtesy of me), deviled eggs, potato salad, coleslaw, buns, death by chocolate, rice crispy treats, ice cream sandwhich cake, red velvet cake balls... Ohh my gosh!! Everyone left hurting!

I can't even explain how much it means to me to have this group of friends here. It's so important when you are away from your family. In a sense, we've made our own little family away from home. We're all in the same postition and it takes the sting out of missing your loved ones back home, especially on such important days. These people mean the world to me:                     
                                                                                                    

                            

P.S.

My mum's package hasn't arrived yet, but I did want to reassure everyone that she did put a few Easter goodies in there for me :)

Want some cheese with that whine?

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. It was a little strange here in Oklahoma. Friday, it was a beautiful 70-something degree day; on Saturday it was snowing all day and freezing! I was not too much of a happy camper about that! I'm happy to report though that there is no trace of snow left behind :)
We started our baby registry on saturday, so I'm sure my mum feels much better now. We had to drive to Wichita Falls, Tx since we don't have any decent stores here, but unfortunately they don't have a Babies R Us either, so we'll be making another trip this coming up weekend to OKC. Not a simple 10 minute drive down the road for us!

So, on to my whining. Hey.. you were warned in the title! I don't complain very often on here, not about serious stuff anyways... but it's a big part of our life right now and something I'm having a hard time dealing with.

Trey is going through the last phase of training. I know it differs with each branch, but I'm not sure if the intensity level is the same for all branches, so all I can speak for is his (Field Artillary - FA). It's very tough for them. Our life revolves around homework and studying. Here's what every day in our life looks like: he's gone from 5:30am to 5:30-6pm, he showers, then heads straight to the books until about 9-9:30 and we go to bed. This has been every.single. day since January. He doesn't have classes on most weekends, but the homework doesn't end for the weekend. And it's hard for him (and most of the guys) so we always get together with study buddies. Let me emphasize here how much I truly LOVE our friends here. I would have gone crazy by now without them. I love getting together with our friends. But yesterday, I had a bit of a mental breakdown.

I know he is physically here. I know it sounds awful for me to say this compared to women who are without their husbands completely right now. But I miss spending time with my husband. I truly value the time we get to spend alone together. I don't want it to be just him and I, by ourselves, all the time. All I'm asking for here is one day out of the week. I guess what I'm trying to get across is that I desperately miss having a little bit of one on one time with him.

I know it's not his fault. I know he doesn't enjoy living and breathing FA. I know he is doing whatever he needs to do to get through this last class, and get through it with a good grade. But yesterday, I didn't care what sounded logical. We spent Saturday night doing homework and then literally all day long Sunday doing even more homework. We got home last night and had 5 loads of laundry to do together. I may have, through lots of tears, broken down and told him exactly how neglected I felt... even though I knew there was not much he could do about it and me admitting this to him would only make him feel worse and more pressured.

He was a saint. He hugged me... and hugged me... and hugged me. We spend our laundry filled hours last night without any interuptions of the phones or computer (we did watch Life together.. that was pretty cool!) He made sure to kiss me goodbye this morning before he left. And I've received a few texts today from him, wondering how my day was and telling me he loved me. Really, that's all I needed. A little extra attention. So maybe, I'm a little high maintenence.. he's kinda okay with that :)

Bright side to this all, is I will say that I'm very thankful for his study buddies' wife. At least I have someone to share this time with. We take turns making dinner for the boys and then just hang out to pass the time. I think I'd be insane without her.

Emotions

Whew ~ they are all over the place, but let's focus on the good ones :)

First off, our great friends back home, Brandon and Emily, gave birth to their sweet little girl this morning! From the few pictures I've been sent already, I am just overcome with happiness for them. She looks perfect and Brandon already is the doting daddy! They are going to be WONDERFUL parents!

Second - I got to see our sweet baby for the first time on Tuesday!! It was completely on a whim.. i wasn't expecting to see him/her until 20 weeks, but I heard of this Christian, non-profit place that gives ultra sounds for free (!!) and remembered to give them a call. They asked if I could come in that day... pshh.. of course! It was the most amazing thing to see it moving around in there. There was my little monkey doing flips, sucking it's thumb, playing with it's hair, waving to me, and even sticking it's little tongue out.. sassy already.. just like momma! I wish more than anything that Trey could have been there with me, but the nurse was able to get some good shots for me to show him. I've looked at them every day since :) and I just cannot wait to meet him/her in real life! Can't wait to see how it feels to have that squirming monkey in my hands and see the look on Trey's face the first time he sees it! The heartbeat was back up again at 174!! So we've had 161, 144, then up to 174!

The emotions I've been going through have not all been sappy and sweet, let me tell you! Out of nowhere this week came the irrational hormones! Tuesday night and last night, Trey said the smallest thing and I've snapped at him big time with each. Then I get mad at myself for being so silly and start crying because I was "mean" to him. It's crazy.. or rather I'm crazy!

I tried to upload the pics of the sonogram, but blogger wouldn't let me. They are all saved together on my usb drive.. not separately. I was going to ask from the skeletal pics, what your guess was... boy or girl.. but how about just your gut... you can vote up at the top to the left!

No Place Like Home -Part 2-

The second half of our trip was spent much like the first.. spending as much time possible with as many people as we could.
The day after Christmas we went to a baby shower for our friends Brandon and Emily (you were introduced to them yesterday). They are having a little girl whose name will be Reece and are due on March 17th.. St. Patty's Day! It was a fun night.. very relaxed... the majority of our friends all together again.. and lots of pizza. All factors add up to a good time!

On the 31st, we left to come back home. It was hard leaving my family again. I was already crying as we were driving away, but as we were passing the house, I looked over and saw my dad and brother waving out the window which made the tears flow even more so! It's just not easy at all for me to be away from them! I do have to say though, as we got closer to our home away from home (back here) I got more and more excited. It was good to be back. It felt great to be back in our apartment and sleep in our bed again, and it'll be good to get back in a routine. And I SO have been enjoying our new coffee maker <3 This weekend was full of spending time with our friends here which has helped immensely. I cannot express how much my friends mean to me... on both sides of the country!

Trey and I didn't get to see the ball drop this year, as we were sound asleep 2 hours before. Life is changing.. all for the better! I'm excited about this new year and new decade. I'm not making any resolutions for once. I just plan on taking a lot of time to reflect on the changes I want to make within myself and to carry those changes out. Nothing physical, although I do want to be healthier...not so I can fit into those size 4 jeans... so I can feel wonderful about myself.

No Place Like Home

Why oh why does time have to go by so quickly?? I had such a great time over the past 2 weeks, but it sure did feel like it only lasted 5 minutes! Needless to say we enjoyed every minute of our time back home with family and friends. I'll sum it up the best I can without making this a 10 page post.. it's a pretty daunting task coming back after being away for so long...

We left in the very weeee hours on Sat. the 19th. They didn't let us leave at midnight after all, but could sign out at 5. So that's exactly what we did and drove straight through.. and didn't get home until a little after midnight. Will NEVER do that again no matter how anxious I am. It's a wonder I didn't throw myself out of the car and out onto the highway. But the welcome of my family after they stayed up waiting for us - made it MORE than worth it.

We got up verrry late Sunday morning and started preparations for the 1:00 Patriots game. Our friends Brandon and Emily came over to watch with us. We feasted on my mum's own little rendition of one of Olive Garden's soups (the one with the crumbled sausage and potatoes.. I forget the name) and some sloppy joes.

My dad, Brandon, and Trey. And of course Cayce hanging out with the boysThe next couple of days went by in a big *wonderful* blur. Monday was a full day with my SIL. We did some shopping, eating, pampering, and I went with her to one of her now weekly doctors appointments until the baby is due. Monday night was dinner at Za's with some of my favorite girls from work. It was great catching up with them. Tuesday, I had lunch with my old bosses from work which held plenty of laughs. They are a mess.. I don't really know what else to say about them! Trey's grandfather came in so he spent the day with him and his dad. Tuesday night we met with our good good friends Chris and Julianne. It was the first time I got to meet Mr. Mason, they're alllmost 3 month old little boy!There he is! This is NOT mama, but it's the only picture I snapped of him. I really didn't take too many pictures. Was too busy soaking up every minute!

Wednesday I saw everyone at my old office for lunch (see a theme here? food?) then went home to bake cookies with mum all day. We did pretty dern good for ourselves and I must say I think I'm the best cookies baking assistant there ever was. I don't know how she manages without me ;) Christmas Eve was spent with Trey's family. A nice laid back day and I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves: My very pregnant SIL and MIL

Trey with his crazy grandfather.

We spent Christmas Day at my parents house. We got up early, opened presents (I'm soo happy that Santa thought I was a good enough girl to give me our single cup coffee maker.. it's already been put to great use), and very unhealthy egg sandwiches that may or may not have been cooked in bacon grease :\ and played lots of Wii darts and shuffleboard. I'll just say my dad and I are a power house and are an unbeatable team. I didn't take many pictures at all...

Cayce sniffs out her gift every year!

I am about picture uploaded out so I think I'll save the rest for tomorrow. Plus, if I sit around in my PJ's while Trey is being over-productive, I'll start to feel really bad.

I've been reading through every one's posts all this time and it sounds like everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! I'll get back to commenting soon. I will say we had a very calm, great New Years Eve. I'm very excited for what this new year has in store for us!!