My Marine and Me

My Valentine

2012-02-14T20:12:00.003-05:00

Since Ryan is 3,000 miles away Miss Rylie was my Valentine today. We had a date with the vet for some vaccines (including rabies) and my porker pup is 26 pounds!! She also got an adorable bandana at her visit, which surprisingly she has on still. I wonder if she even realizes it is there!

And an instagram version, just for kicks!

I leave for Las Vegas Thursday and we plan on celebrating Valentine's Day (and his birthday!) this weekend so I am holding out until then. Ryan's gift arrived in the mail yesterday thankfully, I was worried it wouldn't make it!

Enjoy your night!

Our Love Story

2012-02-13T16:59:00.002-05:00

I have seen this all over the place and I want to play too!

Besides, I don't have much to share lately. Only my work has gone more business professional and I am now in suits/blazers/dresses every day and had a lot of shopping to do... for being here another two months. Ryan said they are an investment for job hunting and future jobs so we went for it.

And I leave for Vegas Thursday! And see Ryan Friday!!!!

Anyway... link up!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We met March 16, 2008 and went on our first date on May 8, 2008. So almost four years now.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?} I am going to try something different here...

I took a small drag from the borrowed cigarette in my hand. The condensation from one of the last Smithwicks dripped down my hand and onto my jeans. It was only my second one, but it would be my last. I wasn't a huge drinker and all that was left was whiskey (no way) and Guiness (not a fan). Either way I am a lightweight so two beers would be enough to make sure I was nicely buzzed for the party. I tried to pay attention to the girl telling a story to my left, something about Dr. Tom and a race up the stairs to class, but the painted shamrock on my cheek was starting to itch and I was losing focus.

All around the deck people were decked out in green, everything from t-shirts to hats to face paint to hair dye. Catholic University takes Saint Patrick's Day seriously. Plus considering 95% of the party goers were drama majors or musical theatre majors (and their dates/friends) it was needless to say we made an ecclectic bunch.

The screen door to the back deck opened and three unfamiliar figures stepped out of Big Blue, the drama house. The first one was crazy tall, over 6'5''. The second one was shorter than me and almost a foot shorter than his friend. The third guy was just in the middle at a cool 6 feet. All three had the haircuts I knew went with the Marines stationed down at 8th and I. The middle one was cute... very cute. I sighed and turned my attention back to the story at hand just in time for the punch line.

Slowly the stories fade and the ones who had more to drink began to get a bit ADD, wandering off in various directions. I light another cigarette, feeling the smoke burn the back of my throat. I was definitely a social smoker, the buzz felt good with the beer. I was about to turn and wander towards the railing when someone tapped my shoulder.

It was him.

"Excuse me, where did you get that shamrock painted on your cheek? I like it."

I was flustered but I replied honestly, "Oh, Katie is doing them in the living room." I pointed throught the back door towards the front of the house. "I'm sure she'll do one for you if you want."

No, I had no idea that was a smooth, opening line. If the Marine in front of me had not been the persistant type, my entire life would have changed. He pushed on and held out his hand to shake mine.

"My name is Ryan."
"I'm Allie."

We shook hands. The small talk commenced. Where we were from, South Carolina and New Jersey, what we did, Marine and theatre student. Who did he come with? Brandon (and the tall guy and the short guy) who was dating Taylor who was room mates with my friend Megan. Gotcha. "My Poppy was a Marine." I venture. "Oh yea, what rank? World War II?" he asks. "Yea, he joined up when he was sixteen and by nineteen was Sgt. Major." Ryan looked in disbelief... but it was true. If you think about it, a lot of people were killed in action and the ones who survived moved quickly through the ranks, especially if they were good at what they did.

The evening continued. My Smithwicks was gone. My hatred of Guiness turned out to be a mutual thing, so we slowly became the most sober people on the porch. He made me laugh and our conversation flowed seamlessly. Eventually his friends were ready to go.

We walked through the house and were tossed onto a "living art piece" on the stair well. I did tell you it was a theatre house. He posed gamely even though I could tell he wasn't into it... but when you're out numbered by drunk theatre people you tend to just go with it.

His friends were growing impatient.

"I'll add you on facebook." he promised.

Sure you will.

Guys like that didn't have interest in girls like me. I expected nothing more to come of the evening.

Ryan reached down and grabbed my hand, planting a kiss on the back of it. Was this guy for real??? In spite myself I felt my face turn six shades of red.

Goodbye.

That evening I plugged in my laptop and curled under the covers. I opened facebook to see a friend request.

You have a new request from Daniel Ryan L....

Daniel? I don't know anyone named Daniel. My mouse hovered over the REJECT button but I caught a glimpse of his picture. The haircut, the dark brown eyes, the perfect smile.

RYAN!

My heart skipped a beat as I clicked ACCEPT.

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

According to my blog counter we've been married for 1 year, 9 months, 1 week and 5 days.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married May 1, 2010 in my hometown in New Jersey. Our ceremony was held in the church I grew up in and that my mother worked at... it was amazing. Our reception was half an hour away at the Grand Colonial. I come from a big family so our wedding was semi-big, around 125 people.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Sweetheart is the big one between us. He also likes to use "my love" for me and I refer to him as Tigger a lot! He has tons of energy, can be bouncy, and he is my only one.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

I love so many things about Ryan I even gave him a book for our first anniversary called 100 Reasons Why I Love You. I can narrow it down...

I love how responsible he is... with everything. His job, his family, his career... he knows what needs to be taken care of and does it. Period.
I love how kind he is... anytime we are anywhere near a dog or a baby they are enamored with him and he is with them! If we see a veteran my husband is the first to walk up and shake their hand to say thank you. If anyone needs help, whether it is moving or opening a door or carrying something heavy, he is there.
I love how he loves me. That's selfish isn't it? But I do. I love that I have him and that he loves me as much as I love him.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

I already gave you a long winded response, so you can click here to read our proposal story! Long story short he proposed to me during the Illuminations fireworks show in Disney World after getting home from Iraq.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Strawberries, champagne and rose petals. He knows how I am about champagne... and strawberries...

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I love either, but more typical for us is a movie cuddled on the couch. Maybe because at the moment our nearest beach is 4 hours away.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Take a huge vacation out of the country. The only time Ryan has left the US is to go to Iraq, so we need to change that! I also looooove to travel and I cannot wait to do it with him. We plan on going in a few months after we PCS. We want to see as much of Europe as we can, and maybe one day do an African Safari.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

I am taking Rylie girl to the vet. Ryan is 3,000 miles away, I have no plans :P

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope. I'd be pretty happy with a card!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

I hate how cliche it is, but never go to bed angry. We do our best to live by that and it helps.

Also, whenever we fight we step back, take a deep breath, and then sit at the dining room table with a glass of water each. We then talk calmly and tell eachother how we feel and try and solve what the root of the problem is. No water has been thrown yet.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Semi - WW - Rylie Girl

2012-02-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

Thank you all so much for your advice and recommendations yesterday. Ryan and I are lining up a realtor, applying for a mortgage/loans and a whole slew of other things. At least at this point it looks like we may be able to add a little more to our budget (yay!) but we shall see.

Last night was Bunco (!!) so my neighbor and resident sanity keeper Carrie watched Rylie for me. While I was gone Rylie girl enjoyed playing with Carrie's boxer Poncho and cat Skyler (her first feline experience). Apparently they ran around and played the entire time I was gone. Of coruse I have to drag her home as someone did not want to leave and proceeded to run around my apartment like a loony before running in circles chasing her own tail.

Then I took a shower and Rylie laid in the bathroom nearby. I think a combination of the running, the heat, the chasing the tail and maybe a littel dehydration made what happened next come into play. I heard a grumbling sound. At first I thought it was the pipes in the wall. Then I thought it was me. Then I realized it was Rylie. Before I could do anything she threw up on my bathroom rug. Ryan wanted to know why I didn't run her outside... um, because I was in a towel? Anyway it was not that bad and she seemed perfectly fine after. I think it was just a combination of everything to make the perfect storm.

Sigh.

Anyway, onto the Wordless Wednesday part.

Carrie took some AMAZING pictures of Rylie when they were hanging out and emailed them to me. I was so excited, I really do love these pictures. Thank you Carrie!

Puppy yawns!!! I love these!

PS - How did my little pup pup go from this...

To this in just over a month?! She is growing up so fast!

Where we are going...

2012-02-07T14:56:00.002-05:00

For those of you who are friends with me on facebook this is old news, but we finally have received orders. Well... not "official" orders, but Ryan's monitor submitted orders to HQ which basically never changes them so it is 99.98% sure at this point, we are just waiting for them to stamp them and hand them over. So, where are we going?

Camp Lejeune North Carolina

People keep asking me if I am excited/bummed/happy/disappointed... truth be told I haven't really felt anything yet. It is closer to Ryan's family (about 4.5 hours) and a hair closer to mine (7 hours versus the current 8) and it will definitely be an easier move. It is what it is regardless and we have a LOT to do. Ryan graduates in mid-April and gets 8 days off to PCS and then the option to take more leave. We have to find a house, I have to find a job, move from Virginia, settle and hopefully go on the trip we have been talking about for ages. Not a lot of time and a whole lot to do! I am nervous... I have lived in DC/Alexandria for five years, moving to North Carolina is a bit intimidating. As is looking at real estate online.

Our budget is not huge. We know this is a starter home and we will most likely be moving in 3-5 years... too long to rent but too short to really invest in a 'dream house'. Our plan is to buy something close to base so we can rent it out/sell it to another couple or some Marines who want to live off base. This has been Ryan's major plan for a long time. My inner Negative Nancy cannot help but find a lot of areas where this plan can go wrong, but I have to trust him on this.

Our budget is probably better for a town home or a condo, but we are finding some cute things that are single family homes. We really need a realtor to sit down with (on the phone...) to help us out. Any recommondations are appreciated! Feel free to leave a comment or email me at imyewneek@yahoo.com if you know someone or used someone who was great.

It is hard not knowing the neighborhoods... not knowing what areas of town to avoid or how the traffic might be or anything at all really! I know some of you lovely bloggers live there and if you have any insider information please feel free to send it my way.

I am also worried about a job. My company doesn't have a branch there (one perk California had) and it is still too far from Disney (also California perk!) for me to commute! I miss theatre and I know moving there is going to make that dream sail just a hair further out of reach. Ok, not going to get to down on you all, sorry!

But I wanted to share the news! I would have done so sooner but my internet is fried at the apartment (Comcast is coming Thursday) and work has been swamped! By the way, men cannot be responsible for sharing big information...

We were on the phone last week doing some small talk when Ryan starts talking about our budget.

Ryan - "Well in North Carolina I'd make X amount of money and rent in North Carolina would be X so we'd be pretty good. I think also the groceries in North Carolina..."
Me - "You sound pretty sure of North Carolina. What about budgets in California? Or Hawaii? Or Japan?"
Ryan - "Oh. Didn't I tell you? ... we're going to Camp Lejeune."

*Crickets*

Word for word people. And he planned to tell me in this manner. He thought it was hysterical. He saw on MOL two hours before that the orders were going through and waited to tell me while he did budget figurations. Regardless of the fact he PROMISED me that he would tell me instantly and text me or call me.... men. Ryan did manage to tell me that it was a planned move on his part and he hadn't known long, two hours I guess is ok, and wanted to mess with me a bit. Luckily he told me before I started really yelling at him :P

EDIT: We are set to move after Ryan graduates which is in mid-April sometime... just a sidenote!

Winner!

2012-02-03T20:08:00.002-05:00

The winner, via random.org, is Jeska! I would post the picture but I can't figure out how on my phone! I'll email you your code tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Note to self: call Comcast and ask why darn Internet is not working in the apartment...

Poor Pup Pup

2012-02-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Just in case I wasn't sure if Rylie had me in over my head or not she just had to give me a little nudge back to the other side! Oy.

As a dog owner, I am definitely not bored, let's put it that way.

This weekend my best friend Sam came to visit. I loved having another person around (especially my bestie!) because Rylie had someone else to ~~bite~~ play with and I had someone else to talk to... that could talk back! We went down to the harbor and Rylie girl insisted on sitting on the bench with us. People would come up to her and pet her and she didn't even have to move, good deal! I got up quick and took this picture on my phone as she people watched. So cute.

But we noticed Rylie, how can I put this delicately... was gassy. I mean craZy gassy that had us running for cover. Then I noticed when she went to the bathroom it was a little (TMI)runny. So Monday I call the vet and they told me to bring her in tomorrow as they were busy. I bring the pup in, as a walk in, and surprisingly saw the vet quicker than when I had an appointment. Hmm...

Long story short poor pup pup has giardia. Puppy Mommy Fail. It is a parasite they usually get from drinking puddles or from other dogs who have it. My vet personally thinks Rylie's favorite snack gave it to her, that being mulch. She loves to chew on it and since it had rained last week and the mulch was damp it more than likely came from there. Now I am trying my hardest to not let her pick anything up on our walks but it is not easy.

For awhile now (worse since she has been sick) Rylie has been extremely bitey. Mostly to me, rarely other people, but when we play she will bite at my hands like no other. I will give her toys and tell her no but she does not seem to bothered by that. It has gone up tenfold since she has been sick. I cannot even sit down without her biting at my hands, feet, shoes or pants. I am constantly up and giving her toys and ice cubes, anything. Geeze pup teethe already!

But two nights ago was a rough rough night, similar to the first night I was alone with her. I think the antibiotics I gave her were messing with her because she was up whining from three am til five am. Non. Stop. Whining and barking. We went outside five times, two of which she went. Needless to say I was a mess yesterday. I was so exhausted and when I get exhausted I get way too emotional for my own good. Sobbing phone calls to my mother usually ensue.

It was a gorgeous day yesterday so Rylie went on two very very long walks. I was sore and tired by the time we were done. For once I was able to shower without her poking her head in or barking at me as she was passed out on the floor. I put her to bed and either I was so tired I slept through any whining/barking or she slept through the night. I think it was the latter.

Thank. God.

It isn't anywhere near as gorgeous today as yesterday (I will take 70 in January ANY day) but we will try lots of walks again. Wish me luck. Two weeks until I visit Ryan and I get a nice little break!!

And to link up with Goodnight Moon, I have Queen stuck in my head today.

Don't Forget!

2012-01-31T17:04:00.004-05:00

Don't forget to enter my give away!! Don't you want to win some free stuff? I would!
(Geeze I tend to have the worst luck at give aways... I should really learn my lesson...)

I only have one entry so far so please go check it out!

Patriot Surplus Give Away!

2012-01-30T16:36:00.005-05:00

Yes my friends, it is GIVE AWAY TIME! So excited! I love when people contact me to host give aways for them, it makes me feel uber special about this little blog of mine. Today I am giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to PatriotSurplus.com!

What is Patriot Surplus?

Patriot Surplus was founded in 2004 by a former US Marine named Steve Berg in Pennsylvania. They started small and grew to a large warehouse at 15 N. Hanover St. in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and welcome you all to stop in if you are in the area! What do they have? Almost anything military related you can ask for! Everything from boats to coats to uniforms to keychains, you can find it on Steve's site. They are also have great customer service policies... check this out from their site:

"You may return any item within 30 days of the invoice date for credit to your account, exchanges or adjustment. As long as it is still in new condition with all tags intact, we'll be happy to help you out. You may return any of our name brand boots for up to 365 days. That's a year folks. As long as the boots are unworn and all packaging is still intact, we'll gladly help you exchange or return your boots for credit. We know what it is like to be deployed and unable to get access to a phone or computer."

Sounds good to me!

They are also huge privacy advocates and will never give your information away or spam you.

When I received the email about the giveaway I decided to explore on my own. My husband, Mr. Romantic himself, asked me for socks for Valentine's Day. When I explained my protest he replied, "They're for work and like $5 a pair! I need them!" Ok! I found just what he needed on the site for $3.95 a pair... a bargain! My husband has a whole bunch of socks coming his way, cushioned soles included.

They include free shipping on any orders over $79.00 and even ship to APO/FPO addresses. Be sure to check out their site and explore around.

Want to Win?

Please make sure your email is linked to your name or leave your email in the comments!

Mandatory entries:
Follow my blog with GFC
Leave a comment telling me what would you buy from PatriotSurplus.com if you win and that you follow me!

Additional Entries: (Please do as separate comments!)
Like Patriot Surplus on Facebook
Follow them on Twitter
Comment on a blog post from their site
Do your own blog entry promoting this give away - two entries (please do 2 comments!)

Notes:
Gift certificate expiration Date: July 30, 2012
The coupon code can only be used once. It does not cover shipping or taxes.

This give away will be open until noon (EST) on Friday February 3, 2012. Winners will be announced Friday afternoon/evening.

Good luck!

(Note: I was not compensated for this entry, all opinions are strictly my own. I ordered the socks on my own accord! I was provided a gift certificate/code as a prize to give to the winner of the give away but this did not effect my opinion of the site.)

Fill in the Blank Friday

2012-01-27T14:58:00.003-05:00

I LOVE to travel, so when I saw this Fill in the Blank Friday, I honestly could not resist!

1. My favorite place I've ever travelled to is a toss up between Venice Italy and Stratford-Upon-Avon England.

Enjoying a Bellini... yum! And yes, I had my nose pierced all of college :P

With my friends studying abroad for Shakespeare in Performance

2. Ireland (not just Dublin), Poland, Africa, Chile, Costa Rica, Maldives, and New Zealand are places I would love to visit one day!

3. I pass the time on transportation usually reading a book or if it is too rough of a ride listening to music or talking to people.

4. My three must haves when I travel are most definitely my camera, chapstick, and a small notebook to write everything down I have seen or done. My Australia travel diary is pretty awesome!

5. My favorite travel companion is Ryan obviously, but we have yet to go out of the country together. Going out of the country the best was Sam when we went through Europe with our Girl Scout Troop!

6. The craziest thing that's ever happened to me whilst travelling is When I was studying art and history in the Mediterranean and we stopped at this rest stop in Greece. It was literally the only building in this valley in the middle of two mountains. A lot of people were 'bus sick' but I was ok. We had lunch and I ran to the rest room to come out and find my bus GONE. I was left behind! Another bus load of Brits were there and their bus driver contacted his company who contacted my bus driver's company who got my driver. They were back half an hour later luckily as my passport, luggage and everything except what was in my purse was on the bus! I told my professors "No more ouzzo at lunch" and was glad I did not get traded for a camel... the Brits were going to Turkey next and said I would earn at least that if I went along and got traded!

Crete <3

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried whilst travelling is crocodile chowder or Prairie oysters in Australia.

8. If I could live anywhere else, I would live in Italy. Hands down. Or Australia.

9. I have been to 18 states in the U.S. Plus one territory (St Croix). I need to get to the middle a bit still....

Check out the Places I want to go and the Places I have Been on Pintrest! I also may have a slight obsession with Tuscany.

Well, She's Not Boring

2012-01-26T16:56:00.004-05:00

Life with Rylie will certainly never be boring.

Last night Carrie and I went to do laundry and Adam kept an eye on Rylie for me. Well she was bad with Adam having not one but TWO accidents in his apartment (mind you it has been a long time since she has peed in mine). Mortified Mommy. Adam said it was no big deal but I still felt awful. Plus at the vet the other night she got a deworming dose and of course that night I notice she had a worm :( The vet said since she JUST had a dose it was fine, but if in a day or two I still saw them to bring her in.

Eww.

Well Carrie and I get home pretty late from laundry so Rylie is chilling unsupervised (I am trying in SMALL doses here) in the living room. As I get the last clothes put away I hear a CRASH, almost like dishes falling. Well I use paper plates most nights when it just me so I was very confused on the sound. I step into the living room in time to see Rylie speed by me and fly into the bedroom. She won't even look at me.

Uh oh.

SOMEONE climbed on the table and pulled the Scentsy down. Normally I don't have it on when she is in the apartment having free reign but silly me turned it on before going to do laundry and forgot to turn it off. Sigh. Hot Welcome Home scented wax all over my wooden floor. And wall. And lamp.

I get a scrubby sponge from the kitchen and begin to try and remove it when I realize Rylie has not left the bedroom yet. I go check on her and I see my puppy is half purple. Apparently some of it got her on the way down so her back side, back paws and tail were purple. PURPLE. And waxy. So I abandon my scrubbing and try to get it off her with my hands. No dice. I get out the brush and did a little better but not enough.

So into the tub pup pup goes. She did better this time but she kept drinking the water! I usually do not give her water after 8 or so as it prevents her from waking up in the middle of the night. Here she is drinking gross, waxy, soapy bathwater! Ugh! I tried to hold her head up but I couldn't do that and scrub her and brush her at the same time. Between the shampoo, washcloth and brush I got most of it off. She only has slightly faint purple looking fur on the back and a few dots on her legs I couldn't get off.

I toweled her off and blow dried her as much as she'd let me and then took her on a LONG walk outside. It is after 11 at this point. Then I showered since I smelled like wet puppy and passed out in my bed near midnight. Just as I started to doze the husband called a little after midnight. Needless to say we just said good night instead of our usual phone call.

Sigh indeed.

Rylie pup... you make my life interesting if nothing else!

Lucky

2012-01-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

This entry may be a little deep... you may not like it. That's ok. But with all the bullying appearing in the news daily I had to get some of it out. Maybe it will help someone, maybe not. I worked on it for days and debated publishing it... But it is my story regardless so I will.

Some days I cannot believe how lucky I am.

I cannot believe how lucky I am to have Ryan as my husband and in my life. To have someone love me so much and so unconditionally and to feel the same in return. I will see it in the look in his eyes when I catch him staring at me and hear it when he tells me good night and sweet dreams. From his text messages telling me good morning to the jokes he knows will brighten my sour mood. I cannot believe how blessed I am to have found the love of my life at a relatively young age and to be happily married (even if we are currently 3,000 miles apart)!

Well work today was a little slow and I had a lot of time to think. I saw lots of news stories, cyber bullying being a big topic lately. It made me think back to my time in high school. How can I put this delicately?

I was a total loser.

I really was. Middle school was worse believe it or not, I was teased and picked on and bullied, especially in my younger years. I was always a bit of a loner, I loved to read and I was definitely one to have one or two close friends. I wasn't popular by any means. I remember in middle school some of the "popular kids" got ahold of my AIM screen name and began an early onslaught of cyber bullying. They'd pretend to be the 'cute guy' in our class and get me to admit I liked him and then show him the chat and make fun of me. Or Mean Girl A would pretend Mean Girl B had been mean to her so I could say, "Yes, she is mean to me too, I don't like her." and Mean Girl B had been sitting there all along and could jump in and call me a bitch for "not liking her". Seems harmless and petty but when you're 12 or 13 they make you sob for hours. My face is still burning at the thought.

Even when I was in elementary school I cannot tell you how many times I ate lunch alone. It was humiliating. Popular kids made fun of me and I felt like I was under a magnifying glass. Even at summer camp it happened as some of those same kids went to the one camp in the area I went to.... it had bus transportation and lasted all day for kids whose parents worked. I once had my mom let me bring in my pet bunny to share in Nature Class. All the kids on the bus started saying things like I ate rabbits and I was a monster and my hair was really made out of wood shavings... and with that last part they would pull and yank on my hair as they said it. One younger girl did it so hard she ripped out a chunk of my hair, which was agony. So when I shoved her away and she began to cry the bus driver yelled at me for making a girl a year younger than me upset. With her crocodile tears and a huge chunk of my hair on the floor they didn't believe me.

High school was better scarily enough. I found my theatre school where I went every morning and made lasting and amazing friendships with wonderful people. I ignored the kids who tortured me throughout middle school and elementary school and slowly found my footing. I tried sports and did theatre and made friends in upper and lower grades and in my theatre school. I had people to eat lunch with, to hang out at the movies on Friday... but every now and then the snide remarks came back.

Loser. Freak. Weirdo. Fatso. I heard a lot of them.

I nearly reached my breaking point once. I got into some stupid behaviors (no not drugs, but I will leave it at that) and luckily my family was able to pull me out of it, smack me upside the head (gently) and set me on my way again. I am ashamed when I think of that part of my teen years. Selfish behavior hurts more than just you. I know that now.

I found faith and comfort at church... until I had my first boyfriend. It got rocky after that (basically he wanted me to do things I was not ready to do and dumped me when I wouldn't) as he started dating a friend of mine in youth group and I felt ridiculously uncomfortable for awhile. But I got over it. My faith kept me coming back and I still get so calm when I go to church.

After that one boyfriend in my early high school years (I was a freshman and he was a junior) I did not date in my high school. I had a few flings on vacation or when I went to a random club teen night with my best friend... but that was it. My reputation as that loser and how I was treated made me have zero romantic interest in high school.

College I definitely came into my own. I had friends and more hook ups, but no relationships. I didn't really want to admit my history to any guys I briefly hung out with and let's face it, being a theatre major did not throw me in with tons of straight eligable men!! Ironically the ONE girl who came from my high school to college with me was one of the worst offenders when I was little. We ended up on the same floor of the same dorm freshman year. I panicked, my fresh start may get ruined from the start.... but it didn't. I stopped letting it bother me. Aside from seeing her once or twice in the community bathroom I ignored her. She tried to talk to me once and I was polite but indifferent. I guess being far from home and seeing a familair face made her think we could suddenly magically be friends.... no thank you.

College was wonderful, that fact aside. I went through my few first years only getting a little jealous when I saw lovey dovey couples. I was way behind in experience and just not sure of myself. It probably was just not meant for me. For years I thought I would end up alone. I did. I would never find love, I would just go through life single and be fine with it. Mostly.

Then Ryan walked into my life. Literally he strolled right up to me at a Saint Patrick's Day party and asked me where I got the shamrock that I had painted on my cheek from. Guys that gorgeous didn't talk to me, so I thought he really wanted to know and pointed him towards the living room! Luckily he was persistant, I was so oblivious to a pick up attempt he could have honestly just walked off. But he didn't.

I cannot believe I ended up with an amazing man like my husband. He heard about my past, my experiences (or lack thereof) and embraced it all. Ironically I know he was the exact opposite in school... a popular, good looking social butterfly. (He'd never admit it that way, but I learned it over time :P) If we had been in the same high school the odds of him looking at me would have been zero. He would probably tell you otherwise but I think it would have been that way.

But I am so blessed. I never believed something like that could happen to me... that someone so gorgeous, kind, smart and amazing would even look at me twice let alone fall in love with me. I honestly believe I went from Loser to Lucky. I haven't felt like a true Loser in a long time. Ryan gave me self confidence and taught me to believe in myself more than anyone else in this world. He showed me I can be beautiful, smart, funny and make wonderful friends. Ryan helped me become the Allie I was supposed to be.

Sometimes on facebook a tormentor, (as a friend of a friend) will pop up on my newsfeed... still living at home, single, and hanging out in the same places they hung out in high school, and I can't help but feel a teeny tiny bit smug. I went on to bigger and better things that they told me I never would. I left high school behind and felt no desire to look back. I did not peak there. My life will always be an upward climb... I will never hit my peak. Every day is better than the last and will continue to be.

If you read it all, thank you. If anyone randomly stumbles across this through a google search with bullying or whatever.... life can change. It can take you places you never thought you would be. Amazing people exist in this world, just like some awful ones do. It gets better. Hold your head up, keep breathing, have faith.

Q & A

2012-01-23T13:41:00.000-05:00

Erika from Chambanachik tagged me in this Q and A. I cannot resist a survey or questionnaire, it is like a disease I swear, so Erica totally picked the right lady! I hope the ladies I tag will reply as well!

The Rules
1. You must post the rules (and link up who tagged you).
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag however many people you want
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 Facts About Me
1. I love love LOVE to travel and my goal is to set foot in each continent at least once before I die.
2. I absolutely hate talking on the phone, I always have... ironically I now do it for a living AND it is my main form of communication with my husband. Typical.
3. If I could perform Shakespeare the rest of my life I'd be one happy lady.
4. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school to become a pastry chef. Couple that with my theatre degree and I am destined to never make any money. Ever.
5. When I am depressed I will eat nutella out of the jar. With a tablespoon.
6. I am a crazy fast reader, I can't help it. I devour books and will read and reread the ones I really like.
7. One day I will own a pair of Monolos. Fact.
8. My weakness is shoes, but I rarely wear heels for more than ten minutes without pain. Shame.
9. Since before I was born basically I have been a Giants fan (and the Yankees!). There are pictures of me in Giants onesies looking almost like a little boy! So I am a life long fan and will want to hit you in the face if you call me a front runner.
10. If I forget to wear my rings I feel downright naked. Besides my wedding band it is my engagement ring and my college ring. Every day a must!
11. When I was little I was convinced I was going to be a famous actress. No questions asked. I miss that invincible, confident, powerful feeling.

Erika's Questions for Me
(plus a bonus one!)

1. What is something you're known for?
My pintrest addiction or my cornbread recipe probably!

2. What dessert would you make for me if I came for a visit?
I'd make my mom's walnut crumb bars... chocolate, walnuts and heaven in a bar!

3. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would you pick?
A giraffe. Hands down they are my favorite animals!

3a. Where do you see yourself in 50 years?
Sitting on a rocking chair next to my handsome old fox of a husband watching our grandchildren run amok.... with my Oscar in the display case behind us :P

4. What was the best day of your life so far?
Ooh tough call. I know most people say their wedding day, and that was definitely up there, but my first favorite was a day on our honeymoon. We went outdoor sky diving over a huge fan, explored the Biltmore Estate and sat on the porch of my parents' cabin drinking wine and chatting all night. It was just perfect.

5. What kind of things do you do every single day, without fail?
Walk Rylie, text Ryan, call Ryan to say good night, play with my iphone and drink diet coke!

6. What subject do you know more about than most people?
Shakespeare. And movie trivia.

7. What would be your perfect date night?
My favorite date night is always dinner and a movie, simple and traditional but it works well for us!

8. Where is your favorite place to be?
With my husband and my family is first followed by onstage.

9. What is something valuable you've learned from your mom and/or dad?
Just one thing? I learned soooo much from them. To be a strong, independant woman who can think for her self. To love and trust, to learn and make mistakes and not let them drag me down. Everything from how to drive to how to cook and bake and change a flat tire. I may owe them quite a bit ;)

10. What color do you like to wear the most?
I hate to say it but.... black. Blue is a close second. I am wearing a black sweater today even. Let's just say years of being a theatre kid made old habits die hard.

11. What did you want to be when you grew up? (And are you there yet?)
An actress. I was that kid who never let go of their childhood fantasy job. Sadly, I am not there yet. Yet. Anyone want to cast me? I'm looking at you Mr. Spielberg.

My Questions for Tagged Friends
1. If you had to eat one thing for breakfast for the rest of your life, what would it be?
2. What is the one chore you despise doing?
3. Are there any books you can pick up and reread over and over again?
4. Who would play you in the movie of your life?
5. If you had to rename your blog for any reason what would be its new name?
6. What is your favorite outfit to wear?
7. If I gave you $100 what completely non practical thing would you spend it on?
8. What is your favorite childhood memory?
9. If you could be an instant expert in any subject matter, what would you choose?
10. What is your favorite joke?
11. Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

Tag! You're It!
1. Liv at Simply Sunshine and Daisies
2. Mrs. Sykes at Forever Yours Semper Fi
3. Mandy at Mommy Musings
4. Skinnie at Skinnie Piggie
5. Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots
6. Poekitten at Many Waters
7. Erin at Moore to Love
8. Sarah at G.I. Joe's Wife
9. Katie at Like Sunshine After Rain
10. Beckie at Turn for the Nurse
11. Ashley at Celebrating Life as an Army Wife

I'm excited to see your responses!! Happy Monday!

Small World

2012-01-21T16:28:00.004-05:00

Everyone will always tell you it is a small world. Since I have been married to Ryan I have heard it is an even smaller Marine Corps. Someone will always know someone or have been stationed with someone you knew. This week that really rang true with me.

I am sure most people have heard about the six Marines stationed in Hawaii killed in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan. One of them was from New Jersey. I did not know him personally but we had mutual friends... I discovered this on Facebook. Cpl Kevin Reinhard went to the all boys Catholic high school near me and graduated high school the same year I did. I went to middle school with some of his classmates. He went to college in NJ with some of my friends from my younger years.

Seeing that made me cry. I can't lie.

I also got angry.

When I first heard about the crash it was a thirty second blip on tv on CNN. They were barely mentioned. Yet when Marines are found doing unsavory things, like the urinating on dead bodies, you hear about it non stop. Why are those who gave their lives for their country just a blip? Why are they a small link on the fifth page on the AOL homepage when the bad story is on the front page with a huge picture?

I know the bad news always takes priority in anything. The evils of the world always seem to make bigger headlines than the poignant stories that people should be more aware of. I was telling this to Ryan last night and he was very matter of fact about it. They don't do what they do for a pat on the back or thanks and honor and glory. They do it for a higher calling, because they think it is the right thing to do. If they wanted a job with that level of praise they were in the wrong career field. He never expects anyone to thank him, and in fact it surprises him when they do. He is incredibly humble, I've seen it.

Yet if we are at a rest stop and a WWII vet or a Vietnam vet is wearing a hat or jacket saying so, my husband will be the first to shake their hand and say thank you. I am trying to get better at that too.

Thank you to Captain Daniel B. Bartle, 27, of Ferndale, Washington; Captain Nathan R. McHone, 29, of Crystal Lake, Illinois; Master Sergeant Travis W. Riddick, 40, of Centerville, Iowa; Corporal Jesse W. Stites, 23 of North Beach Maryland, Corporal Kevin J. Reinhard, 25, of Colonia, New Jersey; and Corporal Joseph D. Logan, 22, of Willis, Texas. Your sacrifice is not something I can put into words, but thank you. Thank you for answering to a higher calling and doing what you felt had to be done. Thank you to your families. May all six of you rest in peace.

Priorities people. Priorities.

Going Dark

2012-01-18T09:50:00.001-05:00

I tend to shy away from politics or hot button topics on this blog, but occassionally one will peak my interest to the point I cannot resist writing a little something. Mainly, I want to know what other people think. I can sit here and write my opinions day and night (well, duh, it is my blog) but it doesn't make for that interesting of reading material. Not that I am boring or anything (right?) but I just tend to steer clear of such things.

But today I had to take notice of certain major websites going dark to protest SOPA and PIPA. SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act, is in the House of Representatives while PIPA, Protect IP Act, is in the Senate. What are they? In a nutshell it is something pushed by big media Hollywood types to prevent piracy. Tons of people download illegal movies, music and television shows that put the studio executives (and the cast and crew) out of profit. It makes sense that they would want it to stop (therefore breaking the hearts of bored college students everywhere). Some of the supporters of the legislation include the Motion Picture Association of America and the US Chamber of Commerce. They say online piracy hurts American companies and destroys jobs. The MPAA estimates the U.S. loses more than 300,000 jobs, $16 billion in earnings and $58 billion in economic output each year because of pirated movies, music, software and video games, according to The Chicago Tribune .

But there is a problem. How far is too far?

The article I mentioned above put it in some easy to understand terms, "For example, Google could be forced to drop an offending site from its search engine results. Or the government could go to court to stop a U.S. company that facilitates online payments to a suspected infringing site. Internet companies say they have neither the time nor the resources to monitor every link on a website or post by a user."

Do you agree? Say you can have a site like the Homefront United Network. Maybe someone there posts a video they found that they love the song in the background or the message in the video. The HUN realistically could get shut down due to user posted content. See where the problem can lie? A spam attack of such material on any website could shut down a user based forum in a heartbeat. Or say you use Site A, maybe a German based craft company. Well Site A has random ads using Site B, a piracy encouraged site. Google and the US internet could block Site A just for mentioning Site B even though they have nothing to do with one another. You could argue that Site A knows what Site B does, but think of Google Ads. Do you get to choose what pops up on your blog all the time? You may get to select categories and interests that relate to your blog, so Site A says they like music which Site B happens to have.... illegally.

Some of the sites protesting today include...

Wikipedia (completely shut down the English version for 24 hours)

Google (still operational but protesting)

and Craigslist (shut down 24 hours)

Others apparently are too. So, when does big brother come in? How long is it before only 'government approved' sites could be linked through Google or Wikipedia? What if your own blog was monitored? I'm just curious to know what you all think. Do you think it would ever get that far? Is this just the first step in that direction? I am curious to hear your thoughts!

Go Big Blue!

2012-01-15T18:47:00.003-05:00

Rylie and I are having a pretty low key weekend. Tonight, we are watching the Giants/Packers game!

She did not like wearing my shirt. She got revenge by peeing on the carpet. Putz.

But now she seems into it! Between chewing her giraffe and stealing my sneakers from the bedroom and bringing them to me (aka me chasing her down and getting them back) we have moments where she is watching tv. Rylie could not be more my dog if she tried! It is too cute.

GO BIG BLUE!!!! Let's do this!

Hot Dog!

2012-01-13T16:29:00.001-05:00

Cuteness for the week... Rylie loves her hot dog!

MilSpouse Quiz

2012-01-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

I have seen this quiz floating around so I wanted to give it a try!

The Milspouse Quiz

1. How did you and your spouse meet?

Ryan and I met at a Saint Patrick's Day party my junior year of college. It was at an off campus house named "Big Blue" and hosted by my fellow theatre majors. You didn't have to be in our major to come to the party, friends of friends always found a way. My best friend at the time Megan invited her freshman year room mate Taylor who invited her Marine boyfriend Brandon who invited Ryan and his two friends, Joey and Wes, because he needed a ride anyway. Yea... it is a miracle we met in that confusion! Ryan saw me talking on the porch and asked me about the shamrock I had painted on my cheek (Catholic University had a slightly large Irish population...) but I was oblivious and nearly blew him off! Luckily he was persistant and we talked most of the night. He friended me on facebook that night and we went on our first date two months later.

2. How old were you when you two met?

I was 20 (and a half) and Ryan had turned 20 about three weeks prior. I am about five months older and I tease him about it all the time!

3. How long have you been together?

We will be married two years on May 1st and 'together' four years as of May 8th

4. Where are you and your spouse originally from?

I was born in Carteret NJ and grew up mostly in Neshanic Station NJ... small small town. Ryan was born and raised in Lexington, SC.

5. How did you feel about him joining the military?

I had no comment! He was in for nearly two years when we met! When he re-enlisted however it was a choice we decided would be best for the both of us and our family, difficult though it may be. Ryan was a Marine when I met him and always will be... even when he retires. I think he will have a bumper sticker like my Poppy does, "Marines don't die, they just go to hell and regroup"

6. Where did your spouse go to Basic Training?

He went to Boot Camp on Parris Island (about 65 years after my Poppy had gone!) and then SOI and MCT were basically at Chesapeake and LeJeune. For his re-enlistment he is now going through BEC and his other schooling in 29 Palms CA to become a Ground Radio Technician.

7. Has your spouse ever been deployed?

Yes, to Iraq in 2009. We were just dating then, not married.

8. Ever been to his promotion ceremony?

No sadly. He picked up Corporal when we were engaged and I was living in NJ, he told me not to drive down and miss work, it was no big deal. Then he picked up Sergeant in 29 Palms last month, a bit too far! But I have been to his re-enlistment ceremony.

9. How long have you been a military wife?

Since I have been married, according to my blog ticker, 1 year 8 months 1 week and 2 days.

10. Did you marry him before or after he joined?

Way after.

11. How did your husband propose?

The short story, when he came to visit me in Disney after he got back from Iraq. I was still working there and he knew I loved the EPCOT Fireworks show Illuminations. He got down on one knee in the middle of the fireworks show by the lake in front of Italy in the World Showcase. You can read the whole story here.

12. Where did you get married?

At the church I basically grew up in... Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church in Three Bridges NJ. Our reception was at the Grand Colonial, about half an hour from there.

13. How old were you two when you got married?

We were both 22.

14. Did he wear his uniform on his wedding day?

Of course! As did all his groomsmen (minus my little brother), my grandfather and his grandfather.

15. Where are you and your spouse currently stationed?

Technically that is a difficult question. He is in school at 29 Palms, but not officially stationed there. I live in Virginia since he was stationed last at 8th and I in Washington DC. We still collect DC BAH and I still go to the barracks for things, such as laundry. As of April we will have a more definitive answer to this!

16. Do you live on base?

No. 8th and I does not have a base technically, it is just a barracks... so we couldn't even if we wanted to. Ryan does live on base in 29 Palms in the barracks.

17. How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation?

Surprisingly we got super spoiled. Our first separation happened two months after our first anniversary. 8th and I is basically non deployable, so until Ryan started school August 1, 2011, we did not have to be separated. August 1 2011 - April 12 2012 is the total time.

18. What is your favorite base so far?

We have only technically been stationed at 8th and I. When he did his deployment work up in 2009 Ryan was at Quantico, which was pretty nice. 29 Palms... I visited once and although the views are gorgeous I don't really want to live there!

19. Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform?

Of course. He looks good in anything, but he is quite dashing in uniform... whether it is cammies, Charlies or his Blues.

20. Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life?

Advanced? How so? In the sense we have to bond together more, perhaps, but there is still drama regardless!

21. Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent?

I suppose. I feel bad using them almost. I hate having to ask if discounts are offered (so I usually don't) for military. My husband is in, not me... he deserves the perks! Ryan would argue that I put up with enough that I deserve them too, but I still feel weird about some of it!

22. Do you have a lot of military wife friends?

Locally I hang out with one other wife Kyndra, her husband Tim is friends with Ryan. I had another girl who Ryan worked with her husband, but once my husband wasn't her husband's NCO anymore she suddenly wasn't my friend.... nice right? Kyndra is wonderful and I love her though! Naturally I then have my blogging friends who are all amazing whether I have yet to meet them in person or not!

23. What is the hardest part of the military life?

I want to instantly jump and say deployments... but really any separation. Even though Ryan is safe and in country and we can text and call every day or even visit when the funds arise... it is so hard to be apart from the person you love. So so so hard. I bet whether they are in training, across the country, or across the world that empty place in your heart twinges,.

24. Do you own military wife stuff?

Not really "wife" stuff. I have a bull dog keychain from my Poppy and a USMC ribbon on my car. Then we have this awesome sign in our dining room and a few other little things. Plus I commandeer my husband's sweatshirts all the time.

25. Do you support your spouse as a member of the military?

Of course. I am so proud of him and I will always support him.

So fellow MilSpouse buddies... give it a go! I am curious to see what your answers are!

Thank you

2012-01-08T18:24:00.005-05:00

Thank you all for the kind comments you gave me on my last wreck of an entry. Blogging on no sleep while very emotional sometimes causes an entry to be a bit of a mess! But I appreciate all of you for helping me.

That day when I got home from work I called my mom and, surprise surprise, cried to her for about an hour. When I hung up the phone I tried to drag Rylie's crate out of my room but it wouldn't fit through the door. Typical. I was crying again. Then my neighbor Adam came and knocked on the door to drop something off for me. He saw the tears running down my blotchy red face and I think I may have scared him a bit!

"Are you ok?"
"Nooooooo!"

The whole thing poured out and still in his uniform from work Adam helped me move the cardboard divider in the crate and fold it up and drag it into the dining room. Sure it isn't pretty in there, but I am not having any dinner parties anytime soon! After that I took Rylie to PetSmart for more food and she nearly gave me a heart attack when she jumped out of the moving shopping cart! This coming from the pup who won't even jump in and out of the car yet! She made tons of new friends of course and I got her a big ol' candy cane rawhide since it was 'Christmas' and 75% off. She loves it!

We got home and played a bit but she started dozing in the living room and kitchen. Even though it was 8:40 I was exhausted so I put her in the crate, covered it, went in my room and turned on the air conditioner and shut the door. She whined for maybe five minutes and then was blissfully silent. Ryan called and I (surprise) cried to him before passing out long before 10pm. Rylie barked around midnight so I took her out, she went, came back inside and went in the crate. Minimal whining. Repeat at 4am and then at 7:20am when I got up. Bliss!

Since then she goes to bed around ten (um, as do I...) and wakes up maybe once at 4 and then 7:20 to eat breakfast. Saturday she did that and then slept again until 10:30am. I was ecstatic. Last night she went to bed at 10 and woke up at 715!!!! Whew! If this keeps up I shall be a happy furbaby mommy.

Saturday my friend Cat came over and we took Rylie into Old Town. We literally could not walk more than five feet without people going "Oh my goodness a pippy! How old is she? What is her name? Can we pet her? She is SO cute!" So our conversation was a little stilted to say the least. When we got to the Starbucks at the bottom of King Street Cat went in to get is some drinks and we were practically mobbed! Then we met Fred.

Fred is a Great Dane. Rylie was smaller than his head!

He was super sweet and Rylie was running around him and on him playing, losing interest and bounding away and then bounding back again. We had a crowd of people come watch and even start taking pictures on their phones! I wonder now if Rylie is randomly on the internet somewhere...

Then Cat and I went and sat in the park and just talked. It was nice. Rylie romped a bit and then curled up in my lap to nap. Then in Cat's.

When we walked back to the car Rylie passed out in Cat's lap in the front seat! I woke her up for dinner and we got to Tango with Daddy for a bit. Then I put her in her crate, no fuss, and Carrie and I walked up to Southside for dinner. When I came back we walked around again and she passed out around ten. Bliss.

Today was low key, I went to church and the grocery store, Rylie napped and chewed things.

Overall Rylie's downtime is spent watching tv...

Sitting in my lap...

And catching her own tail in unusual ways...

So things are getting better. I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed, but it is definitely getting better. I love that little pain in the butt! Thanks for your advice once again, and if you don't mind continuing to send good thoughts and prayers our way, I'd appreciate it!

No Sleep

2012-01-05T16:26:00.003-05:00

Last night was not a good night.

Ryan left yesterday to go back to 29 Palms which was hard enough. He rode into work with me in the frigid cold and we said our goodbyes outside my building before he got on the metro to go to the airport. It was about 18 degrees and I was shocked my tears didn't crystalize :P We are hoping to meet up President's Day weekend, which feels so far away from now, if not we don't get to be together until he graduates in April... which if I think about makes me cry so I can't do that. So I go through that long sort of day at work and rush home to the pup. Happiness!

We go outside, we eat, we play, we go outside again, we play more, we (and by we I mean Rylie) have an accident, we go outside yet again, I shower and finally at 10 I am snuggled in bed ready to put the day behind me.

I call Ryan for our nightly phone call. 20 minutes later Rylie is whining. Then she is barking. Not just a little bark but high pitched, non stop barking like she has never done before. I know we are supposed to let her bark it out, but I live in an apartment, I can't do that! So I hang up with Ryan (upset I can't talk to him already), get on the floor and try talking to her. We have been crate training her all along, soft calming voice and petting her and gently pushing her chest to not let her out. We sit and talk to her, lie down next to her, and basically make her comfy. She has a blanket over the crate, a pillow, towel, toys and stuffed animals inside to snuggle with. But Rylie was having none of it last night. She was biting me through the bars of the crate and shrilly barking non stop.

We go outside again, it had barely been an hour since the last time. We come back in and play a bit trying to tire her out but Rylie did not play like she normally does, she was just biting me and going nuts. Back in the crate. Still not happy.

Long story short it is 12:30am before I can sleep in silence.

Until 4am rolls around. More barking. I take her out. She goes to the bathroom and we go back inside and I put her in her crate. More barking. This goes on until about 4:30 am before she finally stops. Meanwhile in that half an hour I am sitting on the floor next to the crate sobbing and begging her to stop. She does.

Until 5:55am. I take her out again. My upstairs neighbor Adam is leaving for work and mentions he could hear her barking at 4. I apologize profusely but he laughs and said it made him laugh to hear it. He had been there before. Still I am mortified regarless.

We go back in and Rylie doesn't want to go to sleep. She is up until 6:20. I finally doze off to my alarm goes off at 7:20am. We go out yet again. I feed her breakfast.

I am so tired my eyes don't want to stay open and when I think about it too much they literally fill with tears. I was so tired and frustrated and I worked up my stress level so much I ended up throwing up in the bathroom as Rylie at breakfast. I cried the whole way to work so Carrie had to drive and I am crying now as I type this. At work. I gotta suck the tears up! UGH!

I love my puppy, I do, but last night cannot be a normal occurance. I talked to my aunt today, she breeds and shows labs for a living, and she gave me some advice. No water after 8pm, stick to a schedule as much as possible, do NOT play with her after bedtime, and move the crate out of my bedroom. All of which will be attempted tonight.

I feel like a puppy parent failure.

When Ryan was here it wasn't this hard.

Wow that sentence just speaks volumes doesn't it?

Even with a dogwalker during the day I think she is not used to being in her crate. Ryan was in and out when he was home but never 8 hours straight like this.

Once we have a routine down I know it will be ok. But the panicky part of me cannot help but wonder if we ever get there? What if we never get our groove? What if I am a sleepless zombie who cries at the drop of a hat until we PCS and are together again? I texted Ryan all night and he feels bad which makes me feel worse because I know this was not his intention in the least when getting us a puppy.

Sorry, I normally don't go on like this (or have such awful sentence structure), forgive me. The lack of sleep, feeling awful, and just missing my husband so bad I can barely breathe is really getting to me. I just had to let it out.

Please please please do not give me another night like last night.

Sigh.

High Tech Pillow

2012-01-04T15:40:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows one of the most difficult things about being a military spouse is the long distance separations. Whether it is bootcamp, school or a deployment there are long stretches of time when you are forced to be apart. Any long distance relationship can be wearing and sometimes the worst part is going to bed at night. Since Ryan has been away at school our Queen sized bed is too big. Half of it is cold and very empty. I try to fill it by stuffing his side with Bentley and Mutsy, my childhood stuffed rabbit and dog that wear one of Ryan's shirts. I make sure his voice is the last one I hear before bed... but it is not the same as him lying there with his arms wrapped around me.

I was facebook and on my super duber ~~stalker~~ newsfeed I saw my friends Aliee and Connie posting about this. Connie is a mom to a toddler who misses sleeping with her little boy some nights and Aliee had found this article and shared it. I promptly jumped in on the conversation. Could you imagine having a high tech pillow glows and pulses to your long distance loves heartbeat?

There are two pillows. When person A lays their head down on pillow 1, person B has their pillow 2 glow, and vice versa. Putting on a ring transmits your heartbeat.

My first thought was, "Wow... that is pretty creepy."

My second thought was, "Wow... I kind of want one."

I miss sleeping with my husband. I love the glowing idea, to know when his head is resting on the pillow next to mind. The heartbeat I could do without! I did share this with some military spouses on facebook and reactions were pretty similar to my own! One very wise milspouse even wondered "What if during the night one of us has a nightmare or something and wakes up to a fast beating pillow with no explanation?" Good point.

True there is the creep factor and the nightmare factor... but I cannot help but think it would be comforting. It doesn't mention fully how it works (like if it needs wireless or phone signal or what have you) but it does mention it is an insert that goes into a normal pillow and has a ring that you wear with it. Either way the product is not available yet. The company is UK based and is still looking for funds to kickstart the manufacturing process. But who knows, maybe they will be here sooner than we think! They have a paypal option on their website if you want to contribute and if they get enough (and you give enough!) you can be an early tester.

What do you think? Creepy? Cool? Creepy and cool and I want one regardless?

(PS - Little Riot does not know me or know I did this post. I did not get compensation for mentioning them or anything of the sort. They do not know I exist. Just a commentary from me! Pictures and information mostly from here.)

Resolutions?

2012-01-03T15:25:00.002-05:00

Hahaha. I kid. Sort of.

I am never good at making resolutions. I am one of those people who says they will start working out, eating right, quit smoking and become an amazing guru of all things photographic/cupcake/yoga/whatever and then never do.

I even meant to do a 365 photography project but here it is the 3rd and I kind of forgot.

Maybe I can fudge that last one?

I'll let you know!

Happy 2012 everyone!

2011 Retrospect

2011-12-30T23:00:00.001-05:00

Last year I wrote a 2010 Retrospect entry and I think it is only fitting to do one for 2011!! I love writing these entries because I look at most of it and go "Wow, that happened this year? It seems like ages ago." Time sure does fly...

JANUARY

Ryan experienced his first Swedish Christmas and we rang in the New Year with friends and family in New Jersey.
I met two fellow bloggers for the first time, Kaylee from Moore Kaylee and Holly from Semper Fi to Apple Pie
I did my first Vlog.
My cousin Christie gave birth to our family's first great-grandchild Kimmie.
And we sadly lost Ryan's amazing grandfather unexpectedly after a brain aneurysm. He was a wonderful man and his presence is very missed in this family.

FEBRUARY

The re-enlistment debate takes off in full force.
I did one of my most favorite guest posts ever... hint: it involves Disney!
I used Groupon for the first time to go to the DC International Wine Festival as a surpise for Ryan on Valentine's Day.
Ryan turned 23
My surgery , breast reduction from 36DDD to 36C, that was supposed to be in January happened at the end February. I had a whole slew of guest posts including my husband.

MARCH

I wrote a post about what I was like in high school *shudder*
My cousin Kim gave birth to a beautiful boy named Gabriel
Cherry Blossoms bloomed and my best friend came to visit
25 Facts (out of 100) about me
We began to panic as Ryan's re-enlistment was drawing closer and it was not a good time for use to EAS...

APRIL

Six weeks post-surgery I did a Before and After picture post
I posted facts 26-100 about me
Ryan's re-enlistment/MOS change finally starts to go through!
My car just had to get a little more banged up....
And I watched part of the Royal Wedding because Ryan forgot his keys!

MAY

Ryan and I had our first Wedding Anniversary!
I met some AMAZING ladies at the Milblog Conference!
I went to a Beauty Boot Camp for MilSpouses... appreciation!
My little brother got his black belt in tae kwon do
Thanks to google searches my Yoga entry takes over my blog stats! It is to date one of my most popular entries!
Ryan RE-ENLISTS for five more years! Whew!
A snake climbed up our apartment
I go to Arlington Cemetary alone on Memorial Day to say thanks, and see the president drive by

JUNE

I made some delicious fried oreos for the first time
I found some important things NOT to say to a military spouse
We went on our first big married vacation, a week in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was so big it took me four separate entries to write about it!

JULY

We spent the 4th of July together and went to Mount Vernon
Ryan's Orders officially came in
And we made the difficult decision that I would stay in Virginia and he would go to 29 Palms, CA
We dogsat for Molly and I freaked out when she ate my birth control...
And I saw my FAVORITE artist Josh Groban in concert!

Ryan left July 31st for 8 months (now 9)

AUGUST

I wrote about Ryan's last week home and our trip to Busch Gardens, The Marine Corps Museum, and his going away party
Carrie and I started to become uber close and explored Mount Vernon and King Street
I took my first Solo Venture to the Irish Festival
At 23 years old I experienced my first earthquake... in Virginia!
My Poppy turned 89 and I went to visit
Hurricane Irene hit

SEPTEMBER

I rediscovered the amazingness of a first kiss
We went to LAS VEGAS for Labor Day weekend!
I turned 24
It was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11
Nationals Game!!
For a surprise for Ryan I did a sexy boudoir shoot

I got to shoot my first national commercial

For a change I dyed my hair red

OCTOBER

I slacked on blogging so I wrote a catch up entry about visiting NJ, swimming twice a week and loving pintrest
My commercial aired

Another big entry for me was my USMC Ball Dos and Don'ts
Ryan came home on leave for two weeks

NOVEMBER

I drove up to NJ to see my mom and won tickets to see Miranda Lambert!
After some debate I went completely back to blonde

Ryan and I attended the 236th USMC Birthday Ball in Palm Springs (Student Ball)
Thanksgiving meant Ryan was home and we went up to NJ to see my family

DECEMBER

Ryan got promoted to Sergeant
Carrie and I went to lay wreaths at Arlington Cemetary
Roller Coaster hosted the Milspouse Blog Swap
I visited the Tear of Grief
500 posts!
Plus the best Christmas present ever.... Rylie!

All in all it was a pretty great year, but I am excited to see what 2012 will bring!!!

Meet Rylie

2011-12-28T16:17:00.000-05:00

Last year we spent Christmas with my family in New Jersey. This year we drove down to South Carolina to spend it with Ryan's family. I had to work until 5pm, so we did not get on the road until 5:30pm on Friday for an 8 hour drive. We only stopped once to switch drivers, eat, and get gas before we were on the road again, arriving in South Carolina at about 1am. As soon as we get in the door Ryan stops me in the living room saying, "I have to go to the bathroom!"

I looked at him oddly and said, "Oook. Go ahead." Oddball :P He doesn't need my permission to go! But he barrels out of the living room as I say hi to my mother in law. Suddenly he is back holding a tiny ball of fluff with a red ribbon.

"Sorry she is early, I don't think I could keep her hidden until Christmas."

A puppy!

Oh. My. God.

We sat right on the floor together as Lil Miss Sugarbee proceeded to chew off her red ribbon and give us snuggles. Oh she is so adorable.

I totally did not see it coming. We had talked about it just a few weeks before when he was asking me what I wanted for Christmas. Jokingly I said "A puppy, but you know that!" and he quickly shot me down. So quick that I was actually a little hurt by his tone! But he told me later he thought I guessed (or my sister in law told me!) and was panicking! He had picked Rylie out online in South Carolina while still in California. My mother in law then drove two hours to get her and bring her home the day before we arrived so she would be there waiting for me. Love them all!

Rylie is a combination of our names, Ryan and Allie. It was a joke we had for ages about how celebrities have their names combined in the media (see TomKat, Bennifer etc) and loved that our names actually made a decent name. We didn't want to name a child that way, but we had no shame in doing it to a dog! So Rylie has been dubbed for ages before she even existed!

So far she naps quite a bit, pup is only 2 months old as of December 25th! She will run around like crazy and then pass out snuggled in our arms or somewhere else in a cute position.

These daytime naps sadly do make her wake up at night wanting to play. After we thought we got it out of her system the first night she was up at 3am to go outside. Ryan gallantly took the first run. I got the second one at 8am. One night she did sleep from about midnight until almost 8, but she usually has to get up once or twice during the night. They say at her age it tends to be every five hours that they need to go outside. Oooh boy. Rylie is in for a schock, Virginia is a lot colder than South Carolina!!

Rylie is also teething, so she looooves to chew everything! Including us! We are trying to encourage "No Bites" but sometimes she gets caught up in the moment.

We made a little nest in the back seat for her on the 8 hour drive home, but her crate (in the box) blocked her from seeing us and she did NOT like that.

Before we were even out of Ryan's neighborhood she was in my lap in the front seat. After awhile Daddy's looked more appealing so she jumped over.

Lucky for us she spent most of the drive napping. The first time we stopped for her to go, and us to eat, she decided she did not have to go! We were pretty nervous but we stopped two more times and each of those she went. No accidents in the car! Whew. And considering she slept most of the ride (and tore her giraffe apart in Daddy's lap the 10% she was awake) she slept pretty well last night. Rylie woke up at 6:55am and Ryan took her out. I took her out again at 7:30am before I left. I got a text that Ryan took her to McDonalds then the dog park but someone did not want to get out of the car....

She is mostly crate trained, we have had a few accidents, but we are hoping this week when Ryan is home with her he will be able to get her more comfortable. We are more than likely going to hire a dog walker to come in during the week when I am at work to play with her. If not I work close enough to home that I can drive home to walk her and feed her.

So far she is a big fan of our kitchen in the apartment and follows me in there every single time I go in. Sorry for the photo heavy post, I am quite excited for our new family of three! I am glad Ryan gets until the 4th to be with her because he most likely will not see her again until April when he graduates and we PCS! Hopefully Rylie will remember her Daddy (who is SO cute with her) and video chatting will help. I know we have a few months of sleepless nights until she is on a schedule but it is so worth it

My husband didn't want me to be lonely anymore with us apart, and he definitely helped that with my Christmas Surprise. Thank you Ryan.

I will post more on Christmas later (I have to upload my pictures that are not on my iPhone) but I hope you and yours all had a wonderful holiday.

500

2011-12-23T11:02:00.000-05:00

This is post number 500. I cannot believe it! 500 posts... it feels like just yesterday I started this blog when in all actuality it will be three years ago this June. Over the past two and a half years I have blogged about pre-deployment leave, deployment, Disney internships, an engagement, a wedding, our first year of marriage, re-enlistement and now our separation as Ryan is in school 3,000 miles away. Crazy isn't it?

Anyway... my baking is done!

Hershey hugs on pretzels with M&Ms! Yum (:

And my husband is home!!! His plane landed at 10pm last night and he is probably still sleeping at home while I am at work.

About six clients are here. Total. Usually there is about 40. Most plan on leaving early. We are here til 5. Thanks work. Love it. It is SO dead. Ryan and I are driving to South Carolina tonight for Christmas with his family, so I wish all of you and yours a Blessed and Merry Christmas!!!!

I'll leave you with this, I cannot resist sharing! A package came for a client that we tried to repack to a smaller box to forward and couldn't...

That would be a Scientology ornament thing. It was paper/cardboard complete with L Ron Hubbard quote. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Scientology infinity thing!

Tear of Grief - Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T16:36:00.003-05:00

eShakti Review

2011-12-20T10:26:00.001-05:00

Recently I was contacted by an amazing site for a blog review and I eagerly jumped at the chance! eShakti is a unique women’s apparel store online that allows custom changes in the style of the garment – sleeve, neckline, length can all be changed by the customer to her preference.

You can order clothing in the standard S, M, L, XL etc (0-26W is their selection) or you can customize the garments to fit your shape! As someone who has always been curvy/top heavy I find it immensely difficult to find clothes that fit both my chest and my waist, if I fit my chest it is too big on my waist and if it fits my waist that thing will not zip all the way up! So this site is a godsend for those of us who have more tempermental body types.

All clothes, including the custom designs, are shipped within three days to the US and Canada. These clothes aren't the average dresses in your local stores either. They have an array of unique designs that stand out thanks to their print, embroidery and fabric texturing choices.

Everything is always in stock. Every garment, every size, every color, every time.

Shakti means power in Sanskrit. eShakti therefore means the power of the Net. They believe the internet empowers customers and helps companies be customer-centered. Pretty awesome right?

My dress is super soft and comfortable. It is fit to me. I picked that I wanted the side zipper and knee length. I picked my color and my size to my body measurments. I can wear it as is or throw on a fun belt or even a blazer to wear it all to work.

It was a little chilly last night but I had fun taking pictures in my new dress! Thank you eShakti! I am not much of a model (and thanks to work only photographing at night makes me look extra white!) but I higly recommend this site to all of my readers. Especially since you receive 50% off a gift cards and 60% off your purchases until Christmas Day AND free shipping! Go check them out (:

Note: I was given a garment of my choice from the site for my review of the product. All opinions are strictly my own and I was not offered monetary compensation for this review. Thank you eShakti for contacting me for this and to Carrie for being my photographer.

Holiday Blog Swap 2011

2011-12-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

The ever amazing Roller Coaster has organized this holiday blog swap among some amazing military spouses (and organizations)! We are all switching blogs for the day to share some of our favorite holiday memories, stories, advice... basically anything to do with the holidays. As always there may be that special military spouse twist to some, but you will have to read them all to find out!

My entry for today can be found on the lovely Amanda's blog so please go check it out and leave her some love!

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Now my guest post today comes from Christina at The Journey of a Navy Wife. In her own words, here she is!

My name is Christina aka "Married to a Sailor". I like to write about how I view military life - My Journey as a Navy wife. I'm pretty upbeat and positive when it comes to the challenges of military life. I take it as it comes, plan nothing and expect everything. I thrive in this lifestyle. I have only been a Navy wife for 3 years, but I have learned so much. I'm independent and I like to think my husband is the dependent one- he just makes more money ;) I have 3 obnoxious furbabies that keep me sane- I'm never "alone". I can be found at http://thejourneyofanavywife.com

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Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the holiday scents, I’m like a little kid when it comes to seeing Christmas lights, and I love to decorate.

Thankfully, since starting my Journey as a Navy wife, my husband and I have not missed a Christmas together. In 2008 he graduated boot camp on December 19. He then had to fly to Pensacola to check in on the 21st and on the 22nd we drove down to bring him home to Tennessee just in time for Christmas. In 2009 the ship was in the shipyards, so we had no worries about being apart. In 2010 he had an underway just before Christmas, but was back just in time for Christmas leave to begin. This year, Thankfully, we get Christmas together again. And like every other year, it will be spent in Tennessee with family.

I’ve noticed that I have a lot of “Navy” themed ornaments, and decorations. It all started while he was at boot camp. I was SO proud and excited for him. I bought Navy stockings, Sailor snowmen ornaments.. Etc. Now, 3 years later, it continues. I’ve noticed every year we seem to have some sort of new Navy Christmas decoration. The Navy isn’t just his job, it’s a big part of our life- and my Christmas tree sure is showing it.

The down part to my husband being in the Navy or military in general, is having to travel to be with family for Christmas. I love spending the holidays with my family, but with the planning, the driving and saving extra money to drive 13 hours home and 13 hours back is sometimes stressful. Christmas is a time to be joyful, but slowly, I feel I’m turning into a Grinch! Ok, I’ll never be a Christmas Grinch, but sometimes I think of how wonderful it would be to spend Christmas in our own home, just me and my husband, or maybe family drive to spend Christmas with us. The big decision for us will be when we have children. Will Santa only come in Tennessee or in OUR home in Virginia. This will be something I’m really going to have to consider.

Growing up, my parents were divorced, and remarried. So, I had something like 12+ family Christmas get togethers to go to every year. I loved seeing my family, but my holiday break was so stressful - even as a kid! Now that I’m 24 (nearly 25, gasp!), I still have those same feelings I did as a child. I don’t want our children to feel stressed as I did, and do. Even my husband gets stressed when we go home. Leave is never long enough to see our huge families- but we feel obligated to visit everyone, leaving us very tired and absolutely drained (13 hours in a car doesn’t help!).

I know in his Career with the Navy, I’m not going to be lucky enough to have every Christmas, every anniversary, holiday or birthday. But I know when we do miss one, we will find a way to make it special. A care package, maybe a phone call, an email, or just knowing that he’s thinking about me at some point during his busy days, That’s all I need.

But this Christmas, I am excited to go home. This Christmas is about my mother. In 7-8 years, my mom has not had all her children together for Christmas- or any holiday. My brother left for the Air Force in 2003. In 2008, I married my husband who joined the Navy shortly after. In the past 4 years, I think I have seen my brother 1, maybe 2, times. My husband has only met him once. Now, he has a little boy who is about 8 months. I have yet to meet my nephew. My brother is stationed in Germany. All my siblings have grown up and we all have “other halves”. This year, my family will be together again, and my family of six, has grown to a family of 12. It will be amazing to see how much we have all changed. To see my mom when she sees all her kids in the same room, grown up and now, 2 grand babies. My brother’s choice of job and my husband’s choice of job has separated our families for holidays, but now, we will spend this Christmas together. This Christmas will be special to me, but most of all, It’s the best gift my mother could ever ask for. This Christmas is for her.

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Wreath Laying at Arlington Cemetary

2011-12-12T16:50:00.000-05:00

Most of you who know me know I am not in any way, shape or form a morning person. But when my neighbor Carrie sent me the link to Wreaths Across America and asked me if I wanted to do wreath laying at Arlington Cemetary I did not hesitate for a second when I agreed. Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman, Morrill Worcester, in 1992. Every year huge tractor trailers filled with boxes and boxes of fresh, beautiful wreaths arrive to Arlington and volunteers lay them on every grave. Wreaths Across America now lays wreaths at cemetaries across the country to honor veterans and those who have served. Please feel free to look at their website to learn more!

Lots of people were there!

Saturday Carrie and I got up early, (just like a work day!) and made our way to the metro. We are only a few stops from Arlington, but the train got packed fast! Girl scout troops, boyscout troops, college kids, veterans... tons of people! We almost could not get onto the metro platform since it was so packed. And I am glad we took the metro, because traffic was waaaaay backed up.

Isn't that great thought? SO many people coming to volunteer and say thank you. Amazing.

Helicopters did fly bys all morning in between the various ceremonies

ROTCs and all sorts of members of the armed services came in uniform.

We made our way into the cemetary and saw most people were going up the main hill towards the center, so we instead took a quick left and walked towards the side of the cemetary I have not been to before. On one of the first roads we saw our first truck, but it looked pretty busy so we kept walking to the next one.

Approaching the truck.

Once you made it to the truck volunteers were emptying the boxes of wreaths. You basically got to an open box, grabbed one or more, and then went on your way. Some trucks got a little crowded, but mostly everyone was just trying to help where they could. Some boyscout leaders would just grab a box and take it to their kids instead of having them go into the masses, which I thought was smart! The first time we each only took one wreath, the other times we took about three each.

People then got down to work, laying wreaths. They asked if the headstone had a Star of David on it that you skip it (I heard that after I laid one on one), but I don't think those people would have been insulted! I wish I had some rocks I could have put on top of them or something, I felt bad just skipping those.

My first wreath

Carrie's first wreath

My first wreath was laid at a Marine's grave from WW2. Purple heart, Silver Star. They ask for each wreath you lay that you take a moment, read the headstone, and say thank you. Some of these graves have been unvisited for years, and this is a moment for them to be honored and showed respect.

Carrie laying her first wreath. Later on we actually found David McCampbell, a medal of honor winner. I was walking by and I saw that on his headstone and I just stopped. It seems surprising, the medal of honor winners have the same headstone and are in the same place as anyone else. I thought perhaps they'd have a special section, or a larger marker, but they are just mixed in. I hope I don't sound disrespectful or weird saying that, but it was very humbling to walk by and see that. Carrie laid a wreath on his grave.

Wreaths stretched as far as the eye could see.

I'm not going to lie, I got quite choked up.

Especially when I saw headstones for men (and women) who died in Iraq or Afghanistan. Those were a lot harder for me to see. Men and women who died fighting where my husband fought. Beloved sons and fathers and husbands and wives and daughters and mothers. Seeing that made be go from beyond choked up to actually having tears fall.

Those in uniform were also very emotional to watch. They all saluted and laid their wreaths with such ceremony. Many people just stopped and watched them do row by row.

People were all across the cemetary anywhere you looked, paying respects, heads bowed and hands brushing marble in whispers of thanks.

Patriotism was definitely high. Motorcycles and cars with flags were a common sight. Obviously cars outnumbered parking spaces so people were actually able to drive into the cemetary and park on the sides of the roads.

We were so far down we were actually pretty close to the Air Force Memorial. As we were finishing up in all our sections we got a text from a friend of Carrie's. His father was a Marine who died in a car accident in 2003, and he wanted us to go over and see if he had a wreath yet.

When Carrie laid the wreath on his grave and said her thanks I definitely lost it. Tears and all flowing down my face. We both were definitely wrecks at that point but so so honored for what we had just done.

We decided not to go to another section of the cemetary as it was pretty full at that point. People were coming and going constantly so we decided to skip the metro in Arlington and cross the bridge and walk up the mall towards DC and the yellow line to get home. Six miles, some cold faces and a potbelly sandwich later we made it to the metro to get home. By noon I was parking at home and getting my slightly frozen self into the shower to defrost. Then I took a two hour nap. Maybe three hours.

Overall it was a beautiful, emotional day and I am so honored I was able to be apart of it. Thank you to all those who organized, those who attended, and to Carrie for getting this girl up before 7:30 on a Saturday morning.

Promotion!

2011-12-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

As of December 1, 2011 my husband is officially a Sergeant!! I am so, so proud of Ryan it is ridiculous. He picked up Corporal in February 2010 after being a LCpL for nearly four years, so to get to Sgt in less than two is pretty cool in my book. Of course... he has cleaned up a bit since those early days ;)

Back in June I was there for my husband's re-enlistment ceremony, but I have never seen him get promoted. When he picked up last time we were engaged, he was in DC and I was in NJ working and planning our wedding. Poor guy, he would drive four hours every single weeked up until our wedding to see me. Gosh I love him. Now of course the hubby is in 29 Palms, so a six hour plane trip to watch the ceremony was not exactly an option, but luckilly the MCCES Facebook page came through for me! Behold... pictures!!!

Hopefully in a few years when he picks up again I will be able to be there to see it!

Oh, also on the 1st my baby brother turned 15. He now has a NC Learner's Permit. As in he is driving. Terrifying. You ladies who drive down in NC better watch out, stay east away from the mountains! ;)

Gosh I feel old.

BUNCO tonight! I cannot believe I have fallen for the craziness that is this game, but I do enjoy it and the girls are wonderful.

Have a great night all!

Cooking With Pintrest

2011-12-01T16:59:00.000-05:00

I have much better luck with the recipes on pintrest than the hairstyles!

Last night, after doing laundry, my neighbor Carrie and I had this lovely dish I found on pintrest a few weeks ago. The two of us getting ingredients and Christmas decorations in Target the other day was hilarious, it reminded us both of shopping with room mates in college. I am glad that Carrie and I have gotten as close as we have, her friendship has been a real blessing in my life!

So the Cheesburger Crescent Bake:

1 lb ground beef, cooked, drained
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dill pickle relish
1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (6 oz)
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Now Carrie is a vegetarian, so I used these fake meat crumbles from Morning Star that were just as delicious as ground beef! I highly recommend them if you want to try the recipe vegetarian!! Excuse the iPhone photos, I know some people make them into works of art, but mine are SO not there!

Directions

In 10-inch skillet, mix beef and ketchup.

Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Then stir in relish...

and 1 cup of the cheese.

Spoon into ungreased 9- or 10-inch glass pie plate.

Separate dough into 8 triangles; roll up 1 inch on shortest side of dough. Place dough on top of meat mixture in spoke pattern.

(Ok, my spoke pattern needs work...)

Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake at 375°F 15 to 20 minutes.

Ta Da! It was delicious!!!! And I am having leftovers tonight (: It is super quick and easy to make, I highly recommend it.

And to link with Goodnight Moon, some Journey... because it has been in my head all day. Especially since Ryan showed me a certain youtube video with this song, have you seen Action Figure Therapy? Warning, some language, but after hearing my husband talk about work sometimes I am sure we all have similar stories!

Sleepless?

2011-11-30T15:49:00.001-05:00

This has been something that has been happening to me a lot lately, especially when Ryan is not here. I know having him far away is part of that, but it seems so silly to be sleepless because I am by myself. Especially when he is perfectly safe, just far away.

A lot of nights I am up super late. Ok having a long phone call with someone three hours behind you does that easily, but even after we hang up I still toss and turn for ages. I usually call Ryan when I get into bed, but last night I stayed up reading until almost midnight before even calling him! I just seem to be in this weird zone when it is just me in the apartment at night. One more tv show, one more cigarette... even if I am exhausted from obviously not sleeping the night before.

And then there are nightmares. I am twenty four years old and I am having nightmares! Sometimes it is just a weird, crazy dream, like my parents and brother and Ryan were flying Delta to Paris for Thanksgiving and at the airport I couldn't work the escalator and I got in trouble at security for having something I wasn't supposed to. I feel ridiculous with the nightmares though. I have seen one episode of the Walking Dead from when my commercial aired, and even for msot of that I hid. Yet I will see the zombie the lady stabbed with a screwdriver in my mind as I try and fall asleep. Or that new movie preview about the people who go to Moscow to party and get invaded by aliens who want to steal our electricity and make people disintigrate? Basically had a dream where I lived it!

Like I said, I feel silly.

But my sleep is heavily thrown. I am up late and out of bed early for work. I down a Sugar Free Red Bull and a Diet Coke or two to get through work. Then I get my second wind at home and I don't want to go to sleep again.

I know this is all because I miss Ryan, but I feel foolish all the same.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T15:34:00.001-05:00

Our plans for Thanksgiving changed multiple times in the time leading up to the holiday, but in the end we had a terrific time together with lots of food, family and friends.

Unfortunately Ryan could not get out of 29 Palms until after class on Wednesday, which basically meant a whole lot of Marines were flying through Palm Springs, Phoenix and even with him in Charlotte! My husband was on a 10pm (his time) flight and did not land in DC until 10am my time. Plus two change overs along the way. That is love.

I got him at the airport and we started the four hour drive to my grandparents' house. And by we started I mean I drove and he slept! Traffic wasn't too bad for Thanksgiving, there was a car break down in the Fort McHenry tunnel, which really sucks considering it is only two lanes, and there was some back up on the NJ Turnpike, but we made it just before 3pm.

Food. Oh man was there food!

Turkey, cornbread, stuffing, cranberry horseradish, stuffed mushrooms, rutebega, gravy, brussel sprouts macaroni and cheese... and that isn't even counting dessert!

My Dad's plum wine, my apple pie (the flower looking one in the picture), two other apple pies, ricotta pie, pumpkin pie, grapes, more wine... it just went on and on!

I look more jetlagged than he does :P

Better!

It was great to see my mom and dad and my brother, even my dog, again. Babci and Poppy as well as one set of Aunt/Uncle/Cousins. Football was watched, champagne was opened and it was a terrific time.

Totem pole? I have no idea what we were doing!

Three generations. My cousin Jill and her mom Joan (one of my mom's sisters), Babci, Mom and Me

Me and Dippy. As my mom said we now have the same colored hair!

LOVE this picture. Babci and Poppy with Ryan and I.

The next day we slept in and spent some more time with Babci and Poppy before getting on the road back to the part of Jersey I was originally from. We stopped by our dear friends Fran and Rob (and Chris and Nicole and Cocoa) for a delicious lunch/dinner that made me so glad I am from Jersey! Sausage and Pepper sandwiches! Also baked macaroni, nachoes, cucumbers and lots of left over Halloween candy. Stuffed.

Then we got back in the car and drove home... Ryan helped this time!

When we got home that night our neighbor Adam got revenge. If you read our Mischief Night story it makes more sense!

Balloons. All taped and netted to our door! It took me forever to pop them all and clean up!

Saturday we slept in, grabbed lunch at ihop, and went and saw the Muppets movie. Hysterical! It was also supremely gorgeous all weekend so we went to the park and watched the sunset. Being by the river and it nearly 70 explains how I have mosquito bites on my ankles. In November.

You may remember we watched the Gamecocks Rivalry game against Clem~~sucks~~son and kicked butt! After that we enjoyed many reruns of Storage Wars on Netflix before crawling into bed quite late.

Which made us almost oversleep Sunday. Ryan had to be at the airport for a flight at 2pm, and we barely got out of bed by noon! By the time we showered, got his stuff together and to the airport it was almost 1! Of course I had to cry saying goodbye to him, it never gets any easier, and I spent the rest of the day grocery shopping, making Christmas cards via Shutterfly, and watching Chick Flicks.

Man I miss him already! Three more weeks until Christmas!

Go Gamecocks!!!

2011-11-26T19:41:00.002-05:00

Husband + Sweaters + Wings + Beer + Neighbors = GO COCKS!!!

Clemson you are going DOWN.

Gotta love rivalries (:

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T21:53:00.001-05:00

I am so thankful to have my husband home and to be here in New Jersey with family. I hope you all had a terrific holiday and remember our troops away from home today. God Bless!

236th Birthday Ball

2011-11-23T17:54:00.001-05:00

Ok this is looooong overdue!! Sorry for the delay. I have been slightly jetlagged (shocked me, I didn't think I was there long enough!) and not sleeping and just trying to get through insanely busy work days. My poor blog has fallen by the wayside. So last week I packed like crazy the night before I was due to leave (surprised? not really) and could barely sit still at work until I could leave to go to the airport! I finally get to the airport, check in, battle security and get on my way. To Cleveland.

I think Nick at Nite lied to me, there was no Betty White and it was not hot.

Sorry, dorkiness over.

I did find a nice little bar where I got an overstuffed sandwich to tide me over. It was bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato, coleslaw and french fries on thick bread. $7. I think my beer was double that!

Anytime I fly I tend to get the wing. No matter what I do, I look and try and choose my flight and I am always in range. So on my grasshopper flight to Cleveland I was in seat 5. I was convinced I was golden. This was my view. I think I lost fillings from the darn vibrations for that two hour flight!

Ryan picked me up in LA, only after he got a little lost, and we made our way on the three hour drive to 29 Palms. In the middle of a dark desert road he stopped the car and made me get out. I was quite confused until I looked up. I had never seen a sky like that before. Stars like you would not believe... I could even see the band of the milky way, clear as day! It was gorgeous. But we finally got to the motel six near base and settled in. Ryan got up early for work the next day and I waited for him to come back. It ended up being 70 and gorgeous. I could not get over how big the sky is. In any direction it is just a giant, unobstructed dome. As warm as we were there was snow on the mountains!

We got some Sonic and made our way on the hour drive or so to the resort where the ball was held. It was at this place called La Qinta and it was stunning! Orange and grapefruit trees everywhere, fresh citrus beverage upon check in, pools and cacti and palm trees nestled in the mountain ring.... wow. We were in a little 'hacienda' with twenty foot ceilings and a fireplace! No time to marvel, we had to get ready. I think for doing my own hair and make up I did ok! But of course I stabbed myself with my eyeliner pencil and my eye turned BRIGHT red. I looked half stoned. Luckily by the time we took pictures it cleared up!

One of my favorites! We didn't know anyone at our table but it was neat to meet Ryan's classmates and chain of command. It was a student ball for MCCES and man did I feel old. Most of these guys were just out of bootcamp, which means six months ago a lot just out of highschool. The youngest Marine was born in 1993! I remember 1993 vividly!

Our favor was a coin that doubled as a bottle opener. Appropriate! The guest of honor was a retired Navy Chaplain and his speech was good, but the entire ceremony felt a little shorter than normal. The video of course had me in tears. Seeing 9/11 footage always gets me really riled and shaken, I remember it so well. And the thing that got me, most of the people in the room were only seven or eight years old when it happened. I am sure they remember it, but remembering something as a kid is very different from experiencing it as a teenager or an adult. I am not saying I was old and knowing at the time, but I know I was one of the minority in the room who not only lived nearby where the attacks were but was old enough to really understand (mostly) what was going on. Does that make sense? I hope it does. I was grateful to my husband allowing me to grip his hand in an iron grasp, he knows me so well. He was smart and watched it ahead of time and was much more prepared than I was.

And the POW MIA table always makes me sniffle a bit. Our cake was gorgeous, here is a side view...

And the front view. Actually this years cake was more impressive than 8th and I's last year. Shhh...

I did not realize until photos were taken that my dress was a teensy bit big in the arm holes. Lukily my bra was black but I am quite mad at myself for not noticing that the many times I tried it on!

Also, my posture still needs a LOT of work! Post surgery my back is 150% better but old habits die hard.
Ryan and some of his buddies from BEC.

And his entire new class. My hubby is the front row far right. Damn I am so proud of him!

This may be my favorite full length of us. It got a little chillier as the sun set so my shawl came in handy, but it also made me feel better about my fashion faux pas! After dancing and enjoying ourselves we hung out in the next hacienda with some of Ryan's friends and one other guy's date. After awhile we journeyed back to our room and lit the fire. In our sweats we curled up on the bed and... passed out. You know you are getting old when!! The next day we slept in and it was once again BEAUTIFUL outside! This was basically the view anywhere you looked.

We ate lunch at the bistro where all the food was farm to table. It was grown either at the resort or local and it was so delicious. I had fresh apple cider and we split a huge cobb salad and then a turkey club and roast beef au jus. Bliss.

Then we sat in the sun and basically digested. Man were we full.

The afternoon was spent idly wandering and taking pictures of the resort....

Gorgeous views

Our room/hacienda. Ryan ate a little too much so we went and laid down for a bit and watched NCIS before venturing back out to the outdoor restaurant. We had a margharita, a quesadilla and live music to keep us entertained. Then we splurged on a bottle of champagne and made our way to the hot tubs and spent the next few hours drinking and smoking and talking to some of his classmates. Awesome time.

Big damn cactus

Sunday morning we had to be up early to get back to LA in time for my flight but we took some more pictures before we left. Especially by our orange tree. We also got some Carls Jr to sustain us on the never ending car ride!

Our fireplace.

Ok, some iphone photos.... you may have seen these on facebook!!!

Ball

Orange Tree

Windmills/Turbines. These things were amazing. I drove to the resort part way through them and it was so windy my car was moving! I had to fight to keep it straight!

Ryan took this from my iphone as I drove... not bad for a camera phone! The rest were on our drive to the airport... and my regular camera again.

At the airport it was POURING rain. We wanted to go to the beach so Ryan could get his first ever view of the Pacific ocean... seriously. But the weather was so awful we scrapped it for my next visit, probably his graduation in April. I told him he should go anytime, but he wants me there for it (: I won't get our airline lady in trouble, but she was AWESOME and gave Ryan a gate pass to come through security with me!!! I loved having that extra hour or two and lunch with him. The only thing that kept me mostly composed saying goodbye (yea I cried a bit anyway) was knowing he'd be home for Thanksgiving. I am a lucky lucky lady.

I love to look out the window when I fly... I always take a window seat. It calms me and I just love the ever changing view. And I loved our weekend together. (:

Weekend Wanderings

2011-11-15T16:40:00.002-05:00

First off I need to brag... I slept a full 10.5 uninterrupted hours on Friday night. It was absolutely glorious! Finally I got to go to sleep and wake up because my body was ready, no alarm, no phone call... just me. Bliss.

Sorry, I warned you about the brag!

Saturday I met up with my friend Jess from college for a needed catch up day. We wandered around King Street, grabbed lunch and got up to speed on each others' lives. After she left I went to the mall to go to Bubbles and fix my hair. I got a bonus at work last month for something I did and most of the $1,000 I was awarded went to plane tickets. But I took a small chunk just for me!

See, after dying my hair red (which I loved and still miss!) I used Color Oops to get it back to blonde. It got most of the red out, but I was stuck in a sort of strawberry blondeish middle color. Not red, not blonde. So I went and got highlights! I hope it pushed me more back to how I used to be.

Before picture. I sent all these to the hubby so he could see and compare as well.

During. Luckily Kyndra was with me for company and to take pictures of me looking like an extra terrestrial baked potato.

And after. Not bad!

I must say the mall having its Christmas Tree up made me cringe! TOO soon!!!

Kyndra and I had some cuisine de food court before heading back to her place where her husband and his friend were engrossed in Modern Warfare. Can I just say I am so glad Ryan is not into those games? Don't get me wrong, I love video games. We have a Wii, and Mario of any degree rocks my socks off, but these run around control your vision and shooting and exploding games make me a little nauseous! I think the viewpoint gives me some motion sickness. I like going in a straight 2D line when I play video games! Old School much?

Sunday I had another mini college reunion with my friend (and bridesmaid) Cat. We went around Eastern Market, did some major major catching up, drank apple cider, at amazing El Salvadorian food at Cafe Tortilla, and hid in the used bookstore. Bliss.

My to die for empanadas from Cafe Tortilla, featured on Diners Drive Ins and Dives!

And my favorite used book store! (:

Of course work today is billing. Sigh. And there is a mix up with our rent at home the leasing office has been emailing me all day about. And I kind of want to just hide under my desk.

But I leave for California in two days! I CANNOT wait! I am excited to see Ryan and to meet all the guys he has been in school with and to go to a ball once more!

Bragging once again, here is Ryan's class graduation picture from his first school... where he graduated with honors and the second highest GPA in the school. And earned another NAM (Navy Achievement Medal) for his leadership. I may be bursting with pride. Just a smidge.

And of course I made a wish. Or four. Did you?

236 Years!

2011-11-10T12:35:00.005-05:00

Happy 236th Birthday Marines! You have had over two centuries of amazingness to become one of the most amazing and inspiring organizations in the world. I am proud to be a member of the USMC Family, as both a wife and a granddaughter. I never imagined in a million years I would marry a Marine and become a Military Spouse and a blogger and be where I am today... and I would not trade it for anything. Semper Fi!

I have done quite a few posts over the past few years for the USMC birthday, the Ball and Veteran's Day. I don't want to repeat myself from all my entries, but I will link them up for you! Please feel free to look back and read. The first is my favorite, talking about my Poppy and my Husband as Marines (:

Veteran's Day and 234th Birthday - 2009
Veteran's Day 2010
The Ball 2010
The Ball Do's and Don'ts

Back home in 2009 my Poppy was the Marine of the Year. He was quoted in the newspapers saying...

"It doesn't get any better than this," said C-----, who served in the Marine Corps during World War II. "We train not as an individual, but as a group. … If I had to do it again, I would, because [these Marines] are an exceptional group."

How can I not love them both? Happy Birthday!

Link up with Goodnight Moon for What's Your Song too!

Pintrest: Good and Evil

2011-11-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

Like most of the world, I am addicted to Pintrest. I will spend hours pinning things and tucking away ideas for our future home, family, crafts, clothes and recipes. Also, like most people, I am guilty of excessive pinning but not excessive doing. So I decided to start actually doing more of the things I am pinning! I had only done one recipe before, and it was delicious, so I decided to do it again. I saw the Cheddar and Cracker Baked Chicken everywhere so I gave it a go.

DELICIOUS!

I loved the garlicy cheddar taste with the crackers for just the amount of crunch. I even put half in the freezer, unbaked, to make for later. It has been really hard for me to motivate myself to cook for one, so this recipe having the freezer option was very appealing to me. I highly recommend this one.

Now the second thing I tried to do was some no-heat curls. I have been reading this girl's blog for ages and her style is amazing. So I decided to try it! I need to figure out how I am going to do my hair for the Ball next week anyway, so I figured this would be a good chance to practice.

Step One: Twist hair until it twists itself into buns on your head. Secure in place, leave overnight.

Step Two: After an uncomfortable night of sleep, wake up and remove pins. Enjoy springy girls. Use your fingers to gently separate.

Step Three: PANIC!!!!!!!!!

Maybe my hair is too fine. Maybe it was too damp/dry. Who knows. All I know is that when I went to gently separate my twists I looked like a lion who had stuck its paw in an electric socket. No pretty curls for me. Straight up white girl afro. I look like my mom did in her senior picture, but it was the seventies so she had an excuse! I was at this point late for work so I had to shove my head under the faucet in the shower and squeeze globs of conditioner in my hair. Quick rinse, then blow dry and I was ready to go.

Slightly frazzled, but not demented.

Oy.

My mom, husband, coworkers and the girls at BUNCO had a good laugh with me over it though! Looking back, I think it was hysterical. But now I definitely need another idea to curl my long, thin, fine hair for the Ball!!!

Weekend in Jersey

2011-11-08T22:24:00.004-05:00

This past weekend my mom was going to be in New Jersey for a craft show at church. Knowing my mom was four hours away instead of eight I drove up Friday night to spend the weekend with her. It officially had been the longest time we have ever gone without seeing one another! July to November. I know it isn't a lot, but it was for us!

My drive up Friday was long. Lots of construction and accidents, so instead of an hour to get to my usual rest stop it took me two. Luckily. I still had my favorite radio station, country of course, 98.7 WMZQ playing a lot longer than I should have. I was about ten miles from the rest stop when the DJ said caller nine right now wins tickets to see Miranda Lambert. I always try so I thought, What the hell? I picked up my phone and got the number out of my contacts (I told you, I try a lot!) and it rang.

On the first try it rang.

AND I WON!

No usual hang up, redial, hang up, redial. One shot, boom I am through!!!!

I am going to my FIRST country concert in January... for free!!! SO pumped!

Anyway, I got into Jersey around 11:30pm. My mom was at my grandparents' house and she didn't tell them I was coming, so they had a nice surprise! I slept in my old room and it was strange... I don't even remember the last time I spent the night there. We used to live 45 minutes away, plenty of visiting... so it was cool. I felt like a little kid again in a way.

We had to get up early the next day to get my mom to the church, but we did enjoy breakfast together first.

I dropped my mom off at church then went and got my oil changed. You get a free exterior car wash with an oil change so I went to watch my car go through and I saw these...

Guns to shoot water at your car! You bet your bottom dollar I used them all. I don't care if they were for kids, it was fun!!!

I then went to our friend Fran's house and took a much needed shower before napping on their couch. Pretty much all afternoon. I then drove and met my mom at the church and on my way I saw these!

It was a little chilly, I am sure especially out there, but I love seeing them in Jersey. Also there were tons of trees down from the freak snow storm last week. No snow, but plenty of damage.

Anyway we went to mass and then out to Fridays. I had a gift card for Kohls and we went there and I ended up getting early Christmas treatment from Mom (: I spent more than my gift card for sure but I really needed sweaters and stockings for work! I love them all.

We then went back to Fran's and had the night talking to her, her husband Rob, and their kids Chris and Nicole. Chris is my brother Stefan's best friend and I cannot believe how big he got! Freshman boys are huge. Dear Lord. Nicole grew too! We watched some football (Sad day Gamecocks, but woohoo Tigers!) and then went to bed.

The next morning I went to the church again and mom told me we had to go look at the house.

My parents couldn't sell the house so we have renters for at least a year before trying again. I was aprehensive, I didn't want to go see the house I grew up in from six years old on with other people in it. But I am glad I did... it was definitely closure. It wasn't my house anymore. It is definitely a country house and they have all this modern furniture in it that just does not work. And they totally were smoking in there. It kind of upset me to see the house in such a way as we checked the hot tub and furnace, but it definitely made me realize that is not my home anymore.

Back at the church Craft Fair I sold raffle tickets and walked around. I got an awesome wine purse (giraffe pattern) as well as a delicious sausage and pepper sandwich. And a meatball sandwich for good measure. Man I miss Jersey food! My two aunts came to the show too with one of my cousins and it was great to see them as well.

Then it was back on the road for me. Gas was SO cheap I had to take a picture...

Luckily the drive home was quicker and I got to see the Giants win! GO BIG BLUE!

I am glad I had the time with my mom. It has been a long time since it was just us two and I really miss her. We talk on the phone daily but it is so much better to be together in person.

Totally worth eight hours in the car (:

Oooh! Want!

2011-11-04T16:50:00.008-04:00

Ok. Going to look very greedy and girly in this post but I cannot help it!!

I have fallen in love with these items. I need to win the lottery to get them all (:

These $98.00 Manolos I saw in a vintage shop in Old Town. And they were my size. Sigh.

This gorgeous dress from Shabby Apple

This set of poppy hair pins from Etsy

or this ring

Because I love what it represents. More people in England wear poppies in remembrance than here in America, but I've seen it. My Poppy used to give me a paper poppy pin (woah that sounds confusing) every year that his VFW would hand out. I want a slightly nicer version of that to wear in November, especially for Veteran's Day.

And basically this whole outfit would work in my book. Thanks pintrest!

I am going to drive to NJ tonight to see my mom since she is visiting there too. I haven't seen her since July, and this is officially the longest we have ever gone without visiting. The four hour drive on my own I am not looking forward to though!

And we found out last night Ryan got extended another month. Sigh. He does not graduate until April 12th instead of March 12th. So that will be 9 months living apart instead of 8. Joy. At least we get to see one another. I leave for the ball in two weeks (and he BETTER pick me up in the airport and not make me drive three hours in a rental car ALONE in an unfamiliar place after flying seven hours since he told me to fly into that particular airport....) and I cannot wait to see him again. Leave spoiled me!

Leave - 2 Weeks

2011-11-02T16:54:00.000-04:00

Before being married to someone in the military I never imagined I would like the word Leave. It usually means someone is going away, saying good bye... but in the military it is an awesome thing. It means my husband is home and not just home, but home for more than 48 hours! I had two whole weeks of having Ryan home. Man did I get spoiled!

Not only did I have my husband home, but he did so much around the house so when I came home from work we could just spend time together. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, dry cleaning, grocery shopping... see? Spoiled! We went out to dinner to some of our favorite restaurants, we played Monopoly at McDonalds (anyone got a Boardwalk? :P), watched Netflix and movies, watched the Gamecocks, went shooting, hiking... we had a busy two weeks! A lot of weekdays were low key as I did have work the next day but coming home to snuggle on the couch with Ryan and a glass of wine made my days worthwhile.

Of course Ryan flew into BWI, 45 minutes away, and his flight was due to land at 12:45 am. Yea. And it was delayed. So I didn't get him until almost 2am! It was so wonderful to see him again, I amy have jumped on him in the airport. It is becoming a trend.

We kept it low key Saturday but Sunday we went to the Renaissance Festival!

I wait all year for Cheesecake on a Stick. AMAZING

I am convinced the food makes it. Macaroni and Cheese on a Stick, Scotch Eggs... oh no I am getting hungry!

The Hubby enjoys Mac N Cheese on a Stick too!

Then we went to juggling school. Ryan was pretty good.

I on the otherhand look terrified of the tennis balls.

But my concentration was totally there!!!

Then Mr. Show Off did it one handed :P

Jousting!

Kyndra, Tim and ~~Boyfriend~~ Bentlee joined us too. Check out those eyes! He is such an adorable baby!

Husband and Boyfriend bonded a bit. The last time Ryan saw Bentlee he was only a few weeks old!

We're dorks and had a blast. We have gone the last two years now, and I hope wherever we PCS next has one close by! I need my Renn Fest fix, if nothing else then for the food!!!

I think Tim and Kyndra had fun too (:

Sadly I did have to work during the week when Ryan was home. We need to save my time off for the ball and holidays, so Ryan enjoyed sleeping til noon and running errands and watching Mad Men until I got off of work! We'd go out to eat or shopping (many shoes were involved in the process!) and then try and go out for definite on the weekends.

Like to Great Falls. It is a special place for us and we go every fall. It was here Ryan first told me that he loved me, so it is definitel uber special.

Plus with the leaves changing it was gorgeous. We grabbed some Subway sandwiches and made our way out to the park and enjoyed lunch on a giant rock in the ravine.

A lot of these are sort of dark, the sun was setting and on my camera display these looked a lot lighter than when I uploaded them :( One day I will know how to take pretty pictures darnit.

Ryan had to give me a heart attack and climb sheer rock cliff faces. No rope, no gear... just him. High in the air above the churning river. He went camping out in Joshua Tree Park while he was in school and climbed one big boulder so now he is an expert.

Oy.

Some perspective... the kayaker in the water, then Ryan, then me zoomed in way up top taking the darn picture.

But he made it. Thankfully!

I made him have to sit for a picture with me after scaring the bejeezus out of me on the cliffs! Self timers are a wonderful thing sometimes!

Insert another work week here. Then Halloween! (Well, a party Friday before) I used Color Oops to take the red out of my hair (sigh, I miss it) for Halloween and the Ball. My red hair just did not work with the dress I have so I knew I'd be stripping it anyway. The Color Oops got most of the red out, but it is definitely strawberry blonde ish more than straight blonde. I think it will get there though. I mean, I used washable dye in the first place!

What were our Halloween Costumes?

Alice and the Mad Hatter!!!

Alice is my favorite costume, this is the third year I have been it! Once I was about 5, then in college, and now. And probably next year. We actually spent money for costumes this year, they will be worn again!

Sunday we went to the shooting range. Because that is how we roll!

I did better this time! Even some bullseyes!

Of course Mr. Marine blew me out of the water. As it should be! There would be a problem if I could shoot better than a former infantryman!

I did ok though.

We also got a fun card game target and tried to get high scores... I just tried to hit the darn things!

After shooting we went to church and then to our favorite Italian place, Trattoria Franco. It was the same place we ate the last time he left... but we do love it. That cannoli was awesome. We also had calamari, veal, and wine. We even got to meet Franco briefly.

As we got home we realized it was Mischief Night and decided we wanted to cause some Mischief.

"What should we do?"

".... Tape Adam into his apartment?"

Genius. I surprise myself sometimes!

We had some painters tape/masking tape stuff that has sat in our closet for over a year, so we used that. Ryan cleaned the gun and I made long strips of tape to hang from our doorway and bookcase. Once we used up the roll we carried them upstairs. Sure some got tangled and we were whisper fighting up the stairs trying to be stealthy, but we did it! Adam said later he thought he heard something, but we didn't alert him or his neighbors dog!

Adjusting the first layer.

We ran out of tape so we thought we could use something more...

Paper towels and duct tape it is!!! Job well done!

Adam was a little surprised when he got Ryan's text asking him to come outside and smoke! We just heard "What the ****?" And saw him slowly punch his way out!

Saying goodbye was hard as usual, but at least we don't have to go too long. I go out to 20 Palms on the 17th for the ball. Cannot wait!

OH! We got IPHONES! No more flip phone for this girl! I am so addicted... and Tango is the best app ever, it is like facetime/video chat but it can use 3G or wifi, best ever!

Sorry for the picture heavy post, I had some ground to make up!

Camouflauge

2011-10-27T16:43:00.001-04:00

I heard this song for the first time this weekend and I loved it. Have to share it for the link up with Goodnight Moon.

Camouflage by Brad Paisley

Back to the regular blogging soon!

Winning!

2011-10-26T10:44:00.002-04:00

I just have to give a major shout out to ! The Crafty Military Wife ! and Skinnie Piggie for this awesome beauty....

Sorry, had to edit for security!

But my husband and I love the sign which is currently hanging in our dining room. We will add duty stations to it as we go and it is definitely something we will treasure. Thank you Skinnie Piggie for hosting the give away for your birthday and thank you Staci for the gorgeous sign! You will be hearing from me again once we know where we are PCSing to exactly. Check out her facebook page or shop to order one for your family.

Thanks again!

USMC Birthday Ball: Dos and Don'ts

2011-10-21T11:10:00.002-04:00

So being slightly bored I decided to look at my blogger stats. My most viewed entry this month is the USMC Birthday Ball post I did last year. It is nothing earth shattering, just me talking about our experience and some pictures, yet google is sending people here for a reason! So I decided to write a post to help those google stalkers out...

DOs and DON'Ts

- DO wear something you are comfortable in

You need a dress you can sit, stand and dance in. Usually before the ball there is a cocktail hour. They sometimes have tall tables to gather around but unless you rock at standing in five inch heels, go for a little comfort! You will also need to sit for the ceremony and the dinner, so do not get a dress you can barely breathe in. As for dancing, you don't want to be pulling up your dress or dragging your hem all night. The two Cs... Comfortable and Classy.

Early in the night...

Later in the night... shoes come off! (during the dancing!)

- DON'T try and recreate My Super Sweet 16

Do not overdo the neon colors, the glitter and the skin exposure. You are a direct reflection of your Marine. Be respectful to him and the Corps.

No

No

No

No!

No!!

- DO try and wear a longer dress

This can be a matter of opinion. Personally, I think longer dresses are more appropriate for the ball. It is a formal event, the Dress Blues are a formal uniform. Now that doesn't mean ankle length is mandatory. Tea length is fine. They won't kick you out if they see your ankles! But wearing a hoochie skirt that lets people know what color underwear you have on is not appropriate. I saw some girls in very short dresses. Remember, there is dancing and fun but you are not going out to the club!!

- DON'T overstress

It is not imperative that you color coordinate to his dress blues perfectly. If you want to, go for it! If you can't, don't stress it. Red and blue and black is great. Want to compliment? Wear yellow. I have seen girls in purple or pink or even green and they looked great.

- DO feel free to bargain hunt

Is a veteran spouse getting rid of her old dress? Are you at an event where they have free dresses for military wives? Did your best friend hold on to her gorgeous prom dress? Go for it! I wore my senior prom dress the first year Ryan and I went, and it coincidentally was a nice blue color! The next year I splurged a little and went to David's Bridal for a red dress... I still spent maybe $100 at most. This year I got a dress at a spouse appreciation night for free. It is black and beaded and may border between tea length and long. It is all good!

- DON'T feel the need to spend a lot of money

The tickets and hotel room for the night can be pricey. If there is a cash bar more money will go. If you need to coordinate flying 3000 miles to fly to see your husband to go to the ball plane tickets cost money (or maybe it is just me?)! In line with the dress thing, it is ok to do your own hair and make up. My friends did mine for me the first year I went, saved myself a good bit of money. If you want to splurge and get your hair done and go to the Mac counter at the mall, that is fine, but as long as you look respectable that is all that matters!

My first ball with Ryan my friend Laura did my hair for me, and it looked awesome!

- DO remember you are an extension of your Marine

Be polite, be sociable. Meet your Marines coworkers and chain of command (if you are introduced). Sirs, Ma'ams, Please, Thank you... manners go a long way. Now is not the time to go into that funny story about the time your Marine came home drunk and mistook your kitchen garbage can for the bathroom. With his buddies, maybe, but not his chain of command! If you get a chance to shake hands with the guest of honor, do it! Chances are they are an amazing Marine and are asked to be in that position for a reason. Ever see the Geico commercial Why Drill Sgts Don't Make Good Therapists? Or Full Metal Jacket? Guest of Honor at my first ball... Gunny Ermey! Picture to prove it.

- DON't get sloppy drunk!!

At least definitely not during cocktail hour, the ceremony, or dinner! Once the dancing and stuff starts it is ok to let loose a little bit but getting wasted is not your priority. I have seen a lot of girl falling all over themselves at various stages of the night... it isn't pretty. I am not saying stay sober and have no fun, just be careful!

- DO pay attention to the ceremony

Texting, talking, staring around the room, sighing in boredom, tweeting... not things to be done during the ceremony. I saw a girl last year texting the entire time and I was so annoyed. If she had been closer to me I would have said something, but I did't want to cause problems. Be respectful. Listen. I find the ceremony very interesting, yes it can get long, but the tradition is important. The youngest Marine and Oldest Marine cutting the cake always gets to me too, especially as I get older and it seems that Youngest Marine gets younger every year...

My first ball was with my Poppy... he has been the oldest Marine at every ball he has been to in the past decade or so! He is now 89.

- DON'T wear your wedding dres

Seriously. And I am not talking about the nontraditional slinky white gown... I mean a full on ball gown that you look at and go "Dear Lord she is wearing a wedding dress."

- DO have fun

Take pictures, meet people and enjoy the night with your Marine. It is a fun celebratory night that you can both enjoy. Make some memories (:

This post is not to criticize or judge or anything like that. I saw a lot of people looking at my pretty uninformative post from last year and figured I may as well do one that could help some people! Other bloggers have done similar posts, feel free to link them here if you want (: I hope all you ladies attending the ball this year have a blast. I will be flying out to 29 Palms for my husband's at the end of November and I am pretty excited... even if it is on a Friday!

Care, Music, Busy!

2011-10-20T11:07:00.002-04:00

Sorry all, with the hubby being home blogging has taken a back seat! Plus billing at work coincided perfectly so I am finally getting a chance to do a quick update.

I was recently contacted by Sheila over at Caregiver Village and I thought some of you might find it useful... I know there are a lot of milspouses out there who act as primary caregivers to wounded warriors so amybe this is something you can utilize.

The founders of Caregiver Village, which is an online community designed exclusively for those who provide care for anyone with special needs, have put aside a portion of the launch funding to support caregiving organizations. For every person that joins Caregiver Village, they will donate $1 to that persons organization of choice. Caregiver Village members connect with friends, participate in book clubs with celebrity authors, journal, play mystery games, solve puzzles, and learn valuable information about caregiving. So feel free to check it out!

Now for my link up this week with Goodnight Moon I am picking a song I heard on the radio yesterday that has been stuck in my head ever since...

Enjoy!

My First National Commercial!

2011-10-16T20:31:00.002-04:00

Watch AMC's The Walking Dead tonight at 9pm to see the commercial for Run for your Lives!!!

Or if you miss it enjoy the sweet youtube posted version here:

YOU CAN SEE ME! It is quick, but in the second woods shot you see me and over his shoulder running. Plus when he goes through the finish line I am just behind him on the left! Not sure if you saw? Well my husband helped me find myself and we may or may not have taken some screen shots! I am a dork and proud of it! Cannot wait to see it on tv!

Are the circles too much? :P Sorry, I am super excited! Enjoy!!!

Winner!

2011-10-15T11:44:00.003-04:00

Using random.org I have chosen a winner for my poster give away, sponsored by UPrinting. And the winner is Kaylee at Moore Kaylee!! Congratulations! I will be forwarding your information on to them so keep an eye out for an email.

Thank you all for entering, now I am going to crawl back into bed with my hubby (:

Guest Blog!

2011-10-14T12:16:00.005-04:00

Today I have a guest post over on Erin's blog Moore To Love. Go check it out! (:

Carrie and I decided to go swimming last night, seems to be a Thursday thing now, despite the fact that there was a tornado warning out. It wasn't even raining when we left the apartment, although there were some wicked streaks of lightening happening! I love lightening. But we get halfway there and the rain starts pouring down. I mean the kind of rain that makes you put your wipers on full speed and you still cannot see. Of course we get to the pool and the rain stops, such is our luck. But we got a good bit of swimming in plus some sauna time and then went grocery shopping as slightly drowned rats.

Note to self: BUY GOGGLES. Red eyes are not nice looking on anyone. At all.

I also had to watch Josh Groban on the Office last night.... even though I am still on last season (woah pregnant people on the show!) I had to make an exception to see Josh be Andy's Bronard! I wish he could have had more screen time but he was awesome.

Today is the LAST DAY to enter my give away! Go!

It has got to stop raining soon. It stopped long enough for our fire drill this morning, at work, and started again. Oy. I cannot wait for some good sunny days.

Ryan lands in 12 hours and ten minutes. So excited. I cannot wait to see him!!!

Thursdayyyy

2011-10-13T16:31:00.000-04:00

My husband will be home extremely late Friday night, actually Saturday morning really, and stay for two weeks. I AM SO EXCITED. I cannot wait to see him!!! Tomorrow night cannot come quick enough. Half an hour more at work now, swimming tonight, tv, phone call, sleep, work, bounce around in excitement after work, drive an hour then HUSBAND. (:

This week for the link up with Goodnight Moon I am going to go with a little Coldplay - Viva La Vida. It is the first concert Ryan and I ever went to together because... I won tickets on the radio! I was caller 14 or whatever it was, I was driving home from an audition and could not resist calling in. I was so excited I almost drove off Rhose Island Ave! That's why cell phone hands free laws are important :P

Coldplay is amazing to see in concert. They have tons of energy and each song is just so well done! The singing, the music, the effects... it is pretty sweet! They even had one stage in the audience about half way back on the right and other to the left on the lawn so tons of people got to be close!

Don't forget to enter my give away!!! Quite a few people entered yesterday which made me very excited. I will pick the winner tomorrow before I go to the airport to pick up my husband! GO Enter! Please (:

What have I been up to?

2011-10-12T11:23:00.006-04:00

Going to NJ to see Kim in a show:

Reading lots of books:

Being addicted to Pintrest and other random online finds:

Watching Season 7 of The Office on Netflix Instant:

Work:

Swimming twice a week with Carrie:

And hosting give aways no one seems to want to enter:

Really? One person? Come on readers! Don't you want an awesome poster to hang up of anything you want? Baby pictures? Wedding pictures? Go enter! Please? So I don't feel like every give away I do is a dismal failure?

Bragging rights:

My husband graduated from basic electronics school yesterday. With honors. And the second highest GPA in the class! I am so so proud of him. His next school doesn't start until the first week or so in November so he is coming home this week. Probably on Friday or Saturday once his leave gets approved. I miss him so much and I am honestly convinced time is dragging to get me to the end of this week. To have him HOME for a few weeks will be such an enormous blessing and I really just cannot wait!

Fellow Bloggers:

I have read Wife [Window] of Wounded Marine for a long time. Today I signed on to AOL to check my mail and saw her face on the front page for this Huffington Post article. It moved me to tears more than once, and on her blog today she does clarify some things, but it is definitely something you need to read.

Giveaway Time!

2011-10-09T18:30:00.008-04:00

UPrinting is an online printing company that offers different printing services that are pretty awesome. You want just regular poster printing? Calendars? Bookmarks? Got it. They can even go a step further and offer custom posters for you! Their site offers amazing services besides posters and their design templates are great. You can upload your own images and text with their design studio, it is pretty easy!

Prize Details
One (1) Winner of an 18”x24” Poster Print
Semi gloss OR high gloss
1 business day print turnaround time *Free Shipping
Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only.

How can you win?

Mandatory:
- Follow my blog with GFC (one entry)
- Leave a comment saying what ideas you have for your poster! A series of pictures? A design for a business? A welcome home from deployment sign? (one entry)

I kind of want to take all the pictures of all the houses I have taken in Old Town Alexandria and put them together... I think it will look neat!

Optional:
- Blog about it! (two entries, leave two comments saying so)
- Facebook about the giveaway with a link to my blog (one entry)
- Like UPrinting on Facebook (one entry)
- Tweet the giveaway once a day, linking to my blog (one entry per day)
- Follow UPrinting on Twitter (one entry)
- Refer someone to follow! If they comment that you recommended them you each receive two entries! Just post both your names each comment.

So for two entries:
Post one comment/email 1
Post another comment/email 2

That is at least ten (or more!) chances to win!

Please include your email address with at least one entry to win! No email = No prize!

This give away will close on October 14th, 2011

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive a poster for hosting. (:

Art for Wounded Warriors

2011-10-07T11:14:00.002-04:00

I was contacted via email this morning about this and thought it sounded amazing! All my readers with children, I encourage you to participate!! It is for a great cause. Happy Friday!

-------

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is conducting its “Art for Wounded Warriors” program for the second year, after receiving overwhelming support from children and youth from across the country in its inaugural year. The “Art for Wounded Warriors” program, managed by the Museum’s Teacher-in-Residence, is again calling on young artists to submit art to decorate recovery facilities and brighten the days of our wounded Marines. The Teacher-in-Residence program is supported by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

“The wonderful support this program received in its first year was so heartening,” said Museum Director Lin Ezell. “We can’t wait to see what the young artists send us this year. It will surely help make the holidays much brighter for the wounded warriors recuperating in hospitals around the nation.”

This year, the Museum is working with the Wounded Warrior Regiment to distribute the artwork submitted by children to brighten the walls of hospitals from coast to coast. All children who enjoy drawing, painting or coloring are encouraged to show their support for America’s Marines by submitting their original works.

“The Museum’s call for artwork is a wonderful way to teach children about service to the nation as well as for children to express their gratitude and support for our Marines,” said James Hunniford, Teacher-in-Residence, National Museum of the Marine Corps. “Art is a fun, stimulating activity for both parents and teachers to do with children; especially for such a great cause. We hope this program helps our nation’s children understand that there is something they can do to help.”

Children who wish to participate should create a picture and write a supportive message on an 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper. Artists should also write their name, hometown and grade level on the back of their pictures. The Museum will accept drawings, paintings or colorings from children of all ages and abilities. All works of art must be submitted in a flat, rigid envelope postmarked by December 10, 2011. Artwork becomes the property of the Museum and cannot be returned.

“It’s always inspiring to see young artists’ creativity and commitment to support our wounded heroes,” said Lt. Gen. Robert R. Blackman, Jr., president & CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. “I can imagine how much it will mean to our recovering Marines to know that we are thinking about them and especially that young Americans hold them in their thoughts and want to brighten their day.”

Children’s Artwork for Wounded Marines
Create your picture on an 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper.
Package your work in a flat, rigid envelope.

Submit your art by December 10, 2011.
Mail all submissions to:

The National Museum of the Marine Corps
Attn: Teacher- in- Residence
18900 Jefferson Davis Highway
Triangle, VA 22172-1938

A is for Apple and Australia

2011-10-06T12:02:00.002-04:00

If 1% of the people posting Steve Jobs quotes right now follow the advice in that quote tomorrow, tomorrow will be his biggest innovation,

Very brilliant and innovative man, my thoughts are with his family most definitely.

-----

Today my link up song is a blast from the past, for me! When I was 16 I had the amazing privilege to travel to Australia as a Student Ambassador with People to People.

I was with a large group of high schoolers, four teacher/guides, our Australian leader and a bus driver as we traveled from Syndey up to Cairns over the period of six weeks. It was amazing. I had the chance to see some amazing sights; the Opera House, the Outback, the Rain Forest, the Great Barrier Reef... and even a home stay for a few days where I went to an Australian high school for the day. I saw a Sugar Cane burning, Cattle branding and castration on the outback, tons of fish and sea life, held a koala, pet a kangaroo, even held a snake and a crocodile. It was such an amazing trip that I will never forget.

How does this link to my song choice?

Every morning when we got on the bus Dolly, our Australian guide, would play our "Day Song". It was to pump us up and get us singing and our energy flowing because some of our bus rides were very very early! Our song was by this Australian band called The Choir Boys and it was called Run to Paradise...

For a long time after my trip I would tear up when I heard it! But when I drove up to Jersey this weekend I had my ipod hooked into my car stereo (I LOVE that I can do that!) and this came on so I totally rocked out on 95.

I also may or may not have forgotten my windows were open and was blasting Defying Gravity from Wicked when I hit some traffic... and I was singing very loudly. And I am NOT known for my singing.... the guy in the car next to me was laughing. Oops!

Enjoy!

Boots and Nails

2011-10-05T15:50:00.000-04:00

Blog loves... I need your help!

These boots/booties are ones I tried on at DSW last year. They were just a tiny bit out of my price range and I regretably left them... mistake. I cannot remember what brand they are or find them anywhere! I am sorry for the terrible cell phone quality picture, but I figured I would give this a shot. I literally left this picture on my phone all year in hopes I could find these again. They were sooooo comfortable and just adorable. Help!

In other news and awful cell phone pictures... I got my fake nails removed. I put the pink and white gels on two months before my wedding. So from March 2010 until October 2011 my nails were sanded and poked and prodded mercilessly. Manicures feel great, getting a fill does not. When someone literally sands down your nail with a little drill thing it is not known for pleasantness. My husband used to say me going to get my nails done was a luxury and I must enjoy it, soooo not the case!

So I went from these...

To these. A light pink manicure on paper thin bendy nails that are quite sore. I cannot wait until they grow back and get stronger. My nails were never terribly strong, but they were better than this.

Then at Carrie's I decided to follow the advice of a style blogger I recently started reading; love maegan and used glitter to accent my ring finger... and I like it! I am excited to try new nail polishes again, the crackle stuff and fun fall colors. I hope it lasts.... I usually mess up manicures pretty badly (my thumb smeared before I got to my car after getting them done!) so fingers crossed!

Boudoir Shoot with KE Photography

2011-10-04T20:20:00.002-04:00

So last weekend, the day before the Zombie Commercial I did something I had really wanted to do for some time... a boudoir shoot! With Ryan being away and constantly badgering me for pictures (Hey, minds out of the gutters... not those kind necessarily. I believe today he asked to see some sweater pictures because they look cute... anyway) I thought this would be perfect for him. When we are 3000 miles apart, whether like now in school or in the future during dreaded deployments, he can have something kinda sexy to look at.

I nearly fell out of my chair when I googled some prices. I was basically looking at upwards of $1,000 for a shoot alone, forget prints! By the time you pay for make up, the place, the photographer, the editing.... oh it was bad. But lucky for me one of my bests Kyndra found an AMAZING photographer Kari.

Kyndra had Kari take her engagement photos, maternity photos, newborn shots and yes, even a boudoir shoot! So I knew Kyndra would not steer me wrong. And when I heard the price quote I was ecstatic. Totally in my budget!! I started talking to Kari and we set a date for my shoot.

MAN was I nervous! I had never done anything like this before. Ever! Kyndra volunteered her apartment for the shoot (as mine is kind of boring and a studio would have severely limited us) and at my request promised to hang around until I hit my stride.

It was a hectic morning to say the least! I got to Kyndra's house early but sadly the make up artist had the flu. With Kyndra having ~~my boyfriend~~ baby Bentlee we could not risk it... so off to the Mac counter we went, her friend Katie in tow! I did get some funny stares walking through the mall in jeans, a tshirt, and a way vamped face, but it was funny.

Once we got back to the house I definitely needed a drink, I was nervous. But a few sips of champagne later I was fine :P Kari arrived and she was incredibly sweet and I was actually excited to get to work. We taked a few ideas and outfits and went to town.

I started pretty modestly and eventually stopped giving a damn and really had fun. Yes the champagne may have helped but it wore off eventually. Kari is extremely professional and made sure I was comfortable and had anything I needed (from breaks to a cigarette to an outfit change!). She is definitely a perfectionist and I mean that in the best way. She made sure my shots were clear and something I could definitely use. Along the way she showed me in the camera some of the awesome shots she already had, and over a period of nearly six hours we had close to 1,000 pictures!!! Before posting any online she cleared them with me. Only headshots from boudoir shoots would be on facebook or her website, and I approved them before they went up. The rest will be in a locked album on her site for me to peruse, so bonus points for privacy when needed!

When I saw the first few previews I was shocked, I could not believe that was me! Her editing has been flawless and I just cannot wait to get the rest! My husband will definitely have his socks knocked off come Christmas time, I hope I can wait that long to give them to him! I am pretty psyched for him to see!!!

Check it out! These first shots are from Kyndra's boudoir shoot:

Don't her eyes look insanely awesome!?

And these are from mine!

I am sure you are DYING to know where you can find Kari and KE Photography... have no fear! Kari works in the DC/MD/VA area and I have to mention does stunning pictures in natural light. Boudoir shoots are more indoors, but her maternity, engagement, wedding, and newborn shots will astound you. You all should regardless of location LIKE her Facebook Page (and tell her I sent you so I can win another (mini) shoot!) and definitely check out her Website to see more of her terrific work!

Kari even has a Blog as well as a Twitter account (not that I have any idea how Twitter works) but go follow her!

I am going to end this shamelessly glorious review with saying I cannot wait to see the rest of my shots Kari! You were so fun to work with and I will recommend you to anyone, including my trusted blog followers!

What's Your Song? - 19

2011-09-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

I first heard this song a few days ago. The Country Station around here (98.7) does what they call "The 5:30 Future File" where they play a new (or not often played) song on the radio and people call in to rotate it or recycle it. When they first played the song Michael J (the DJ) did not say who sang it.

As I was driving home I definitely got teary. I can't help it, these kinds of songs always tear me up. So I actually called in, for the first time, to vote for rotate. Michael J thanked Ryan for his service, which my husband got a kick out of when I told him over the phone later! Most people wanted to rotate it, a few did want to recycle because "Billy Ray is just trying to make a buck on a sensitive subject" and one who said that was former military even. To each their own.

I liked the song. Hope you do too.

Link up with Goodnight Moon.

PS - A lot of people are saying they cannot comment on blogger blogs... now I can't either! Anyone have a fix?

Helpin Out

2011-09-28T12:49:00.004-04:00

So I met this cool zombie on Sunday named Shane. Shane was another fellow actor actually at the commercial (lots of people were just there for fun or because they were doing the 5k, only a few of us were actually wannabe actors) and he is auditioning for Season 2 of the Glee Project. Please Click HERE and like Shane's video! Help a fellow zombie out so when he gets to be on TV and uber famous you can say "I knew him when..."

And Skinnie Piggie is hosting an awesome series of give aways for her birthday! YAY! I love birthdays, and I totally love today's prize... so go enter! Staci is the sponsor and she makes these amazing "Home is where the "Insert Branch Here" Sends Us" Signs. Ours would be the Marines obviously, but I think it would be a fun thing to have and add to for the next fifteen years....

Not much else going on around here. I have just been working and lazying about. Time has slowed down recently, especially knowing Ryan will have leave in two weeks. Some days I am so absolutely fine, it feels like I have been doing this forever. Other days I miss him so much I almost can't breathe. I am a regular ping pong of emotion which I am sure is enjoyable to those around me! Just two more weeks. I have to get through 2 more weeks and Ryan is home.

Is it October yet??

Change?

2011-09-27T12:36:00.000-04:00

So I decided I wanted to do a small change. I have dyed my hair once before (back in 2008 when Ryan and I were first dating) and everyone but me pretty much hated it. Ok, it was a little RED if you know what I mean, but I liked it. This time I went a little more subdued I think... but it is a big change for me! And thank you Carrie for helping me do it... and by helping me I mean basically actually doing it! Personally I love it, maybe you all will too?

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

These last two pictures are a little more of what my hair really looks like. Without the flash it looks almost purpley but with it you can see it is a nice reddish brown. It is a temporary dye, a good 30 washes or so, and if it gets too icky in the transition back I will splurge the $8 needed for OOPS Dye Away and be back to blonde!

My mother of course hates it.

Surprisingly, Ryan loves it! I sent him two pictures swearing it was temporary and I could change it back before the ball if need be. He then simply said, "More pics please." So I sent more and he loved it! Since his first school ends October 11th and he has a few weeks before his next school starts he is COMING HOME! For 2 weeks! I am so excited. I told him he would see my hair in person then but it would probably be a little lighter.

"So.... will you do it again so I can really see it?"

Not even false flattery, the hubby digs the reddish brown! Maybe he had a thing for brunettes/redheads all along... :P

People at work are funny, doing double takes and making comments ranging from they "love it" to "it's interesting". Most reviews so far are positive though!

I thought it would be a nice Fall change... what do you think???

Run For Your Lives! - Commercial Shoot

2011-09-26T13:10:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was exhausting, long, sticky, and full of crazy awesomeness. Two words...

Zombie Commercial. (photo from the Run For Your Lives facebook page)

Holly over at Semper Fi to Apple Pie posted on facebook Friday that she wanted to go do this commercial up in Maryland and wanted someone to go along. My inner theatre/acting nerd jumped for joy and said I would totally do it!! Holly heard about it as she plans on running the Run For Your Lives 5k in October and they were wanting people for this commercial to promote it. This 5k is in Maryland on October 22nd, but next year is the "Outbreak" and Zombie 5ks will take place all across the country!!

So the night before Holly came and crashed on my couch so we could be up bright and early at 6am (ugh. I so do not do mornings...) and on the road by 6:30. We reached the shooting location by 8am or so and were finally awake with excitement!

After waiting around for wardrobe to check out our dresses (as they strongly encouraged not to just wear jeans and tshirts) they were deemed worthy and got shredded. And rolled in the mud. And dunked in fake blood. Sand paper may have been involved. Needless to say my maxi dress (really, I only ever wore it once in the two years it sat in my closet) had seen better days!

Mud was a popular choice to drag costumes around in! People got waaay down and dirty with that puddle!

And my shredded costume. I figured I was on a date with the hubby and we were walking back to the car when I got jumped and zombiefied.

There were zombie cowboys, nurses, doctors, brides, grooms, and even a zombie Marine. We had a nice variety! Some were in jeans and tshirts, others in full formal wear. We ranged from pretty young, like our cub scout or karate zombie, to older gentlemen in distinguised business suits.

In other words, we were an awesome Zombie Horde!

Make up was next, we had four lovely artists who made up a good 80-100 people! I think I turned out pretty darn scary (but my husband disagrees... he thinks I look cute regardless. Sigh.) in the end!

I had quite a bit of fake blood, both liquid and hair gel with red food coloring to look congealed as well gel in my hair.

Next was a pep talk from our director with instructions on what the heck we were actually doing and other information.

We then made it to the field. 2 hours of running down the hill, walking back up the hill, and running down and walking up trying to catch our hero we took a small break. I got to meet some pretty amazing, fun people (you expect anything less from a Zombie Horde??) and thoroughly enjoyed myself. We then filmed the end scene as well as a smaller segment of zombies smashing through the woods (me included!).

Filming was finished around 4:30pm and a whole lot of zombies slowly scrubbed off their make up and fake blood... I still had a fair bit on my arms and legs to take home though. Poor Holly cut her foot on one of our last shots running down the hill, I felt so bad for her, but luckily there was a zombie who was an EMT in his other job (you know besides being a zombie) and he was able to wrap that up for her. One tetnus shot later and I think Holly was good to go!

I helped clean up a bit after we changed, and of course I promised to write a glowing blog write up of my day. Glowing enough? I had a blast working with everyone, from the extras to the lead actors to the crew to our director Chilibear (aka Brian), they made the day fun and I am so excited to see the finish product!

Check out Run for Your Lives here, or Like it on Facebook.

Watch for our NATIONALLY BROADCAST commercial (hellooooooo 30 million viewers!) on October 16th during AMC's season premiere of The Walking Dead. It will also most likely be on youtube at that point and I will be sure to post it here.

Zombie Allie, over and out!

God Gave Me You

2011-09-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

My husband drives me nuts. He knows how to push my buttons better than anyone else on this planet and in just the right combination. He can pick a fight with me from 3000 miles away and make me want to throw something at him... and that would be throwing something very far! And yet...

I love him more than anything else in this world.

He makes me laugh, makes my bad days better. There is a bond of safety and trust and friendship and love that is unparalleled to anything else in this world. He makes my heart skip a beat with a mere glance and makes my day with a simple phone call.

And yet the man drives me bat crap insane :P

That's love for you.

Having a three hour time difference is not the most convenient thing. We like to talk right before we fall asleep, but when I call him at 10pm or 11pm I end up being awake talking to him til midnight or later. And let me tell you, I do not do mornings well at all. I am one of those people who needs sleep to function or I am a nightmare! I cherish those late night talks, but I am not good at deep life altering talks as I am laying there half asleep. Finances, moving, where to ask to be stationed, should I move to 29 Palms if his schooling is extended, should we visit on this date, can we afford this and that.... not the best when you are half asleep. Especially when finances make you all flustered in general and then you snap at the man you love more than anything and are tempted to just hang up on him!

Am I complaining enough?

I love Ryan with all my heart. I do. I miss him terribly and because when we tend to be apart we bicker over stupid things. Sigh.

Regardless of the back and forth ADDness of this post, this song is perfect for how I feel about Ryan, which is the most important thing of all.

Link up with Goodnight Moon

Video Share

2011-09-21T10:12:00.002-04:00

Remember when the Marines in Afghanistan became a viral sensation with their amazing ability to lip sync to Britney Spears? Well apparently they had tried a few others before settling on that song! The following video is actually one they shot before the Britney video went viral. Enjoy!

Play Ball!

2011-09-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

I love baseball. I really do. My blood will always flow with pinstripes for my first love the Yankees, but I have adopted the Nationals since moving to DC! I try to go to at least one game a summer, usually I make it to two or more, but this year I realized I was cutting it close! The season ends this weekend, so I roped my neighbor Carrie in to going with me last Saturday night.

You can tell it is the end of the season because all the Presidents were looking a wee bit worse for the wear!

It was a little chilly but we made it out into DC with plenty of time and trekked our way up the stadium. Of course getting $10 tickets means you sit at the tippy top, but hey, at least we were the second to last row!

It was also Half Way to Saint Paddy's Day, 9/17, so that was fun to see. Lots of green and half priced beer!

We split some aaaaamazing garlic parmesean fries and I got a hot dog as well. But man oh man those fries were heavenly. So worth $9.50... almost as much as our seats! The Nats were playing the Florida Marlins and I finally got to see the wunderkind Strasberg start and pitch!

It ended up being a looooooong game. Just my luck eh? 13 innings! It was 1-1, cringe I know, until the 13th inning when the Marlins busted out three runs from nowhere. Drat. The game went so long the Presidents raced twice!

The first race Teddy was doing so so well, but then the leprechaun came and stole his Lucky Charms. Poor Guy.

The second race he was way out in front, but he ran the wrong way around the stadium. Poor Teddy, he is just never going to win at this rate!

All in all, good night, lots of fun and plenty of baseball loving for me!

Oh! One of our clients got me flowers and chocolates today to say thanks for all my help (: Nice to know people appreciate things! I was very surprised.

Photo Book

2011-09-16T11:34:00.004-04:00

Man I love me some Shutterfly! I got an email with a coupon code (just because?) for a free photo book! I only had to pay shipping and handling, not a bad deal at all. And it is hte perfect thing for all our Vegas Pictures. I love how easy and efficiant their photo book editor is... I can make it as simple or complex as I want. I went simple this time and had Shutterfly place all my pictures in a book for me, then just moved them around to my liking. Thank you Shutterfly!

Click here to view this photo book larger

What's your song?

2011-09-15T15:05:00.003-04:00

Wooo I am a little choked up. I just watched as Sgt Dakota Meyer became the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the start of this war. He went in to enemy fire five times to rescue wounded Afghan soldiers and Marines and to retrieve the bodies of his four team mates, because no one gets left behind. Because of him 36 people are alive today who may not have been and four Marines were able to be laid to rest with dignity and respect. God Bless Sgt Meyer, his team, and the men who lost their lives. Semper Fi

Link up with Goodnight Moon and share what music speaks to you this week.

Coco Sala!

2011-09-13T16:02:00.002-04:00

For my birthday Kyndra took Carrie and I to this amazing restaurant in DC called Coco Sala. Oh my word, if you love chocolate you need to go to this place because you will die and go to culinary heaven! We sat in the back in this semi VIP area with cushy red seats and gauzy curtains all around, I felt pretty special (: The day of my birthday it rained like crazy, but that Friday night was gorgeous so it was a great celebration with great friends, even a day later!

I started with a 'choco-jito'. I am not a huge drinker but that thing was GONE. It was made with chocolate infused vodka and had chocolate shavings on it, but it did not taste too chocolatey at all. The lime and mint were almost just given a boost by it, hard to explain but I could sure use another one of those right now :P The joys of work eh?

Now Coco Sala has entrees and salads and regular food, but they are known for their desserts... obviously. I ordered the "Three Course Desert Entree" where you basically get a starter, a three selection 'main course' and petit fours. Oh my...

This is the starter. Home made warm churros with a chocolate dipping sauce. YUM. The chocolate was perfect for the churros which was just the right mix of sweet, crunchy and yet still doughy.

Kyndra and I

Carrie and I. I am not sitting in her lap, I just leaned in the chair weird....

Next was my entree!

I got the Chocolate Seduction. It came with a warm linzer chocolate souffle, raspberry rose panna cotta and hazelnut praline. As well as a candle as someone told them it was my birthday! Delicious.

Kyndra got the Some More Coco, which was chocolate crème brulee with toasted marshmallow and graham crumble, chocolate brownie and a chocolate malted shooter. I may have tried all of them, and they were awesome. I don't normally care for crème brulee but this was good!

Carrie got Coco Grown Up. It came with milk chocolate peanut butter gelato (honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten, holy cow), bananas foster, a mini co co. cupcake and a malted shooter.

Are you hungry yet?

I did not eat dinner before we left, and I am SO glad I didn't! I would have burst! The portions may look small, but they aren't. All of them ar so filling and just the right size. It was delicious and if you want a great night out I highly suggest Cocos. But make a reservation ahead of time! They are part of Open Table so you can do so, otherwise you may be sitting in the bar instead of the lounge. If you don't mind that sort of thing you're fine, but the lounge was much quieter and enjoyable for me!

Saturday and Sunday I wandered that King Street Art fair with Carrie and I got a gorgeous print to put up... somewhere. I also went to church, a movie, and had some loooong talks with the hubby. On what? Well, you may find out... if there is anything to find out!

Also, I added a new button to the top right of my blog. I joined the National Bone Marrow Registry (well, applied to join and get my free cheek swab kit!) and it has been something I have wantd to do for a long time. Reading about Super Ty encouraged me to finally sign up... you should to! You may just help save a life (:

Ten Years

2011-09-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

This was taken Labor Dady Weekend 2001... our first visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island... days before the attack. This was taken on the ferry between the two by my dad.

I know a lot of people have written many things about 9/11 already. I even wrote about what I experienced on 9/11 on this day last year. But I have something different to share this year too.

In my acting school, on September 12, 2001, when we came back to school, our teacher had us write a note to ourselves in the future. He promised us to mail them to us ten years from now. After experiencing the tragedies of the last twenty four hours the mere idea of comprehending ten years into the future seemed impossible. I remember sitting on the studio floor, struggling with what to write.

A few weeks ago I remembered that we wrote these letters. I wrote to my teacher Joe on Facebook asking if he still had them, and he did. On Thursday the letter arrived to my address here in Virginia. This morning I opened it and took my time to read it as I watched memorial coverage in the background. I was fourteen when I wrote this letter and had just experienced one of the biggest horrors imaginable. My handwriting is different, it is when I did the circles over my eyes and curled the bottoms of my gs and js. Joe included his own letter to us.... not to judge ourselves or what we wrote. We are to use this as a vehicle to recall the person who sat on the floor of the dance studio and tried to figure out what was happening.

I debated sharing it here, but I will. I think it is important to remember, and I know having such a direct link in my hands is something most people do not have. So, no judging, here it goes.

Hi,

I am sitting here in Joe and Shelias class for drama writing you a letter. Do you remember yesterday? Yesterday was the attack on America. I don't understand why this happened. Why did thousands of poeple have to die? Why were those planes hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon and World Trade Centers? Do you remember sitting in Mrs. Pacilios Spanish 2 class and hearing Dan K**** tell you what you and Jay heard on the radio was true?

On the bus from Vo-tech Jay, Meghan C and I heard a plane crashed into the twin towers, or one of them. Do you remember thinking the pilot just couldn't fly? Hijacking never entered our minds. Then in Spanish, actually hearing the principal come on the loud speaker and telling you this, and to feel free to call relatives from the guidance office.

Do you remember missing part of Algebra to call Mom and Dad to see if Greg, Rob, Ken, Uncle Bob, Joni, and eventually remembering George... were ok? They were. George ended up being off, and you call him before lunch with no answer and lecture him for forgetting your birthday but to be ok.

I'll never understand why this was done. Ever. Or how it was fully done. These sick people may cause a World War III, but they haven't broken us. They made us stronger. Don't ever forget that.

And don't forget the discussion we just had in Vo-tech. You, Jay, Melissa, Megan... everyone. Speak your mind.

Love always,

Allison O Age 14 -> You!

Wow.

I forgot I called George... my biological father. He worked in the Lincoln Tunnel. This was the first birthday of many of mine he had forgotten but I didn't care, I wanted to make sure he was ok. He didn't go into work that day. I don't remember that. Or the convesation I wrote about at the end.

This event caused my husband, then a 13 year old 8th grader, to want to join the Marine Corps. He decided on THAT day then and there.... this altered our futures and made our lives into what they are today. I will remember all those who were lost in Washington DC, New York City, Shanksville PA, Iraq and Afghanistan. We will never forget.