Liebster Award

My friend (and former co-worker) Sarah nominated me for the Liebster Award! I haven't had a blog award in a long time so I am pretty excited... thanks Sarah! Technically I am not supposed to get it due to my number of followers, but we will overlook that together.

The German word Liebster (pronounced LEEB-ster) means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcoming. The Liebster Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
Here are the rules:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Notify the people you have tagged.
5. No tag backs.

Ok, here are the questions Sarah had for me....
1. What is your greatest fear?

It is silly and overly common but, death. My own, someone close to me, anything. The idea terrifies me and has since I was a small child. I have faith and what comes after death is a little frightening as the unknown, but the process itself has me shaking in my boots.


2. Describe yourself in three words.

Actress, Blogger, Quirky

3. What is your favorite passage of Scripture?

Mark 10: 6-9

God made them male and female in the beginning, at creation. That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and will remain united with his wife, and the two will be one. So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, don’t let anyone separate what God has joined together.”

My husband always talks about this verse too (:
4. Name something that’s on your bucket list.   Visit every continent on Earth (and in turn as many countries as possible). So far I have done North America, Europe and Australia.
5. Describe what a perfect day would look like for you.

Is it bad I think about that girl from Miss Congeniality? "Well, my idea of a perfect date would be April 23rd. Because it's not too warm or too cold, and all you need is a light jacket." ;) But in all seriousness any day I am with my family and friends is a perfect day in my book.
6. What is your favorite color?

Blue. I can get geeky and say TARDIS blue, but darker blues make it!

7. Share a brief testimony of how God is working in your life.

Gotta get with the heavy stuff huh? I know God is working in my life because I have my husband here and safe, my home, my bills paid, my pup cared for, my family safe and well and friends to keep me sane. If that isn't God working a miracle than I am not sure what is!

8. What is your favorite snack?

Nutella, right out of the jar I am a big chocolate fan, oreos and cookies are good for my sweet tooth. If not I tend to go for chips and salsa

9. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?

Tuscany. Hellooooo villa! :P

10. Name five things that make you smile.

My husband, the dup pup, my family, Doctor Who and being on stage.

11. Why do you write?

Originally to document my (then boyfriend now) husband's deployment and my life in Disney. Then our engagement and wedding, then married life and then living 3000 miles apart... many reasons all kind of meaning the same thing, to document life. And if my experiences help anyone else than that makes it all the better.

Now my 11 questions:
1. What is the latest TV show you love to watch?
2. Any addictions? (Not bad ones, more like foodstuffs you cannot ignore!)
3. Favorite item of jewelry (not counting wedding/engagement rings if you have them) and why?
4. You have to move out of the country, what country do you pick to live in?
5. What is your dream vacation?
6. What is your main strategy to calm yourself down when stressed or upset?
7. Do you reread books? Which ones can you read over and over again?
8. Preferred method of travel? (ie car, boat, plane, train etc)
9. What exotic pet would you love to own if care and safety were no issue?
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
11. Have you ever completed a project or recipe on Pintrest? How'd it go?

I am going to nominate:
Dani from Hard Corps Love
A Girl from A Boy A Girl and the Marine Corps: A Love Triangle
Mandy from Mommy Musings
LC at Faith and Deployments
Skinnie from Skinnie Piggie
Jordan from Southern Hospitality
Michelle from A'etonu Family Adventures
Ashley from The Gollaschs Adoption

And anyone else who wants to do it! (:


Since the 200 follower rule didn't count when I was nominated I am following in that vein! Can't wait to read your answers!

Aimless. Wordless.

Ever have the every day trivial things just overwhelm you?

Have you ever wanted to throw your routine in the air, set it on fire, and start over?

Or maybe do something out there and crazy, just because?

I feel a little aimless lately. Job worries, household duties, cooking, rehearsal... just turned 25. Quarter life crisis much? At times I am bursting at the seams to go out and do something new, try something, take a risk. Other times I want to hide under our bed and not leave the house.

I never had anxiety issues before but sometimes even just driving to the store I want to cry and run back home. Being in our house for four months and not having a routine where I would leave it often has made me too attached. It is my security blanket. And when I am home sometimes I want to claw the walls and get out, do something.... but then I feel like I can't breathe and I just want to race back.

Not always. It comes and goes.

Ballet has helped. Rehearsal has helped.

But I feel a little lost. Without purpose. I haven't been unemployed this long since I started working as a young teen. Babysitting to after school care to theatre camps and camp counselor to retail to theatre to assistant pharmacist to camp counselor again and then my last job in executive real estate.

Here I am not qualified for things because I only answered the phone for two years instead of three. Nothing else would excite or make me happy.... retail, restaurants, call centers.... long hours of nights and weekends away from my husband for what? More money? We pay our bills, we still go out to eat occassionally.... the drive isn't there as much as it once was.

My blog has suffered. I am lucky if I blog once a week these days when it used to be constant and wonderful. I haven't written for SpouseBUZZ in months because I don't know what to say. What advice can a stay at home wife offer to these spouses who need help when she can barely help herself?

I love my husband and I feel like I am letting him down.

I feel like I am in a rut sometimes and it scares the heck out of me.

Birthday Party

My 25th Birthday was honestly the best I think I have had. It was just a wonderful day with great people and good times. I woke up Saturday to breakfast in bed, care of the husband, and it was my favorite! French toast and a cold glass of Diet Coke. Win.

We cleaned and got ready for the party after that. I tackled the inside, he worked on the front and back yard. We started watching the Gamecocks game but got too hungry so we made our way to Wendy's and had a nice lunch in the car together... it doesn't sound like much but we always have fun when we go to fast food places and feast in the car. I guess it is just our thing! Then we went to the party store and got blue plates, cups, napkins, cutlery etc as well as a sash for me and a balloon for the mailbox (that lasted about ten minutes before it vanished).

After that we just had to wait for people to arrive. We made a vodka watermelon (well, we tried) and got the stuff ready to grill and people began showing up. Some of my favorite blogging (and of course now real life friends) Nicole and Breanna came as well as their families. Bre's dog Bo got sufficiently terrorized by Rylie for about twenty minutes before she wore herself out and behaved! We had neighbors, my stage manager Justin, Ben and Chelsea and just a great mix of people and food. It was a lot of fun!

We did a fire in the fire pit at the end of the night and the rain didn't hit until everyone was leaving. Nice timing! We cleaned up a bit and snuggled on the couch to watch the new episode of Doctor Who. It aired at 9 so we missed it but it was on again at 1am and you bet we stayed up for it!

The hat did not last long on Rylie girl....!

Favorite! Yellow cake with chocolate icing and yummy blue letters

I was too distracted to take pictures, but I did get Chelsea and Nicole and I at the end of the night (sorry Bre!) Rylie photobombed

Presents

Sunday I enjoyed some of my presents. The wine glass from Breanna, the wine from Miss Donna and the glass chess set from Ryan (I beat him TWICE! A first for sure!). Ryan outdid himself to give me a terrific birthday. Between cooking and knocking presents out of the park I sure know I am a lucky girl. He got me a bag of pure Allie stuff.... tshirts of my favorite things (Mickey, Minnie, Hersheys Chocolate, the Beatles, Coca Cola), three of my favorite candles, a favorite scentsy bar, the chess/checkers set and a silver ring that spells out Love. And a card that made me tear up of course. My parents sent me red neck wine glasses, aka stemmed mason jars, a much needed meat thermometer, and Georgetown Cupcakes which I am trying to make last as long as possible and I am failiny miserably.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and I look forward to what this year will bring!

Always Remember

I don't think I can say much more than I did last year and the year before, but I will always remember 9/11. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims and their families who are still in pain, missing their loved ones eleven years later.

My little brotehr and I the weekend before 9/11. We went to the Staute of Liberty and Ellis Island for the first time.

The new Freedom Tower, slowly being built.

Quarter Century Birthday

Happy Birthday to meeee!

This is currently my mom's facebook profile picture. Yes it is me. No not much has changed!

I am 25 years old. I cannot believe it! When I started this blog I had just graduated college and my boyfriend was preparing for his first deployment to Iraq. I was 21 and I had no idea what I was doing with my life.

In the last nearly four years I completed my job at Disney, got engaged, married, moved to Alexandria, got a grown up job, met amazing amazing people, got my first pup, did nine months on opposite coasts from my husband and did our first PCS to North Carolina.

Whew.

And that is only the really big stuff! All the little things, the commercial, getting cast in this show, driving a road trip on my own.... they happened too.

My brothers all went from kids to young adults who are now all taller than I am.

My family moved from New Jersey to North Carolina and still managed to be seven hours away from me in the same state!

I have had my longest period of unemployment since I started working in my early teens.

I had french toast given to me in bed this morning by an amazing husband. There is also a huge bag on the dining room table I am not allowed to open until tonight!

And a box from my family. And Georgetown Cupcakes. And a cake that is yellow inside with chocolate icing and blue letters, my ultimate favorite. And a watermelon draining in the bathtub to make a vodka watermelon for all the people (friends who are new and wonderful and some known for a long time who are equally as wonderful) coming this evening.

Plus, for the next five months I get to be older than my husband!!!

The first 25 years of my life have been an amazing journey, I cannot wait to see what the next quarter of a century has in store for me!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes (here and on facebook and instagram and texts etc!) (:

New Bern and a Wedding

Last weekend we got ourselves out of the house again!

Saturday was spent cleaning and doing yard work, but we finally made our way to downtown New Bern for a visit. We heard it was a lot like Alexandria, a quaint downtown with shops and restaurants and the like. It was cute! Smaller than I thought, but still nice. We have to get there earlier in the day next time though, everything closed at 6pm!

City Hall

Gorgeous outdoor church area

We didn't get to go into the Drug Store where Pepsi was invented as we found it after 6, but its on the list for next time... even though I am definitely a Coca Cola girl. We got some fudge and walked by the yacht club and explored some shops before heading home for burritos and the season premiere of Doctor Who.

Sunday Ryan's good friend Garrett got married! So now all three (Josh, Garrett and Ryan) of the trouble makers from Task Force East are now married. Crazy. These three were joined at the hip when they all went to Iraq in 09 and I hadn't seen Garrett in ages. It was the first time we met Debra, his wife, and she was an absolute doll. The wedding was at a Boat House up in Beaufort and just gorgeous. We got to spend a lot of time with Garrett, which we didn't expect, and there were a few other Marines present so we were good to go!

It was the first wedding Ryan and I have been to since our own and we had a blast. Great food, dancing and socializing! I teared up during the ceremony... all I can figure is since being married hearing someone we care about start that amazing journey just got me all choked up. It is such a big adventure to have! I remembered my own wedding day and the vows and the love.... how can you not choke up!?

Even though it rained as we all arrived (and there ceremony was moved indoors) the sun came out in time to set as the party started!

Ryan and Garrett (and Debra's bridal portrait in the background, perfect!)

Marines

Garrett and Ryan doing "Jump On It"

I didn't have my camera so these are just a few I snapped on my iPhone, but it worked!

Rehearsals are going well. I am pretty much off book for Act I (aka I got all my line memorized for Act I) and we start Act II next week. I alternate between thinking I have so much time before the show and no time at all! The cast and crew are terrific though and this is something I have really really really missed. I hope I can continue to do more shows after this one! I do see less of my husband though, especially since he has had an awful cold the past few days and is passed out when I get home! On Wednesday I didn't see him at all since he worked late. At least we are in the same time zone :) It could always be worse.

Aaaaand............ birthday tomorrow! 25!!!!