Empty House

So the movers have come and taken just about all of our belongings away.  Which has thrown the animals for a complete loop.  There's no couch to lounge on.  There's no bed to sleep on.  Where did all their things go?

Fortunately, I have an awesome neighbor who's lent me a twin size mattress, table, chair, and a lamp. That's all you need right?

Apparently not in my dog's eyes.

Since the hubby is swinging by for a bit we did get a queen size air mattress, which is wonderful!

And So It Begins

The bird couldn't care less.

As it goes with any navy family, we're prepping for our move.  This is how navy life is.  You move frequently.  In our twenty-three years of marriage we've moved about ten times and we're coming up on move number eleven.

We've been here for about eight years, so it's like it's new again for me.  Been a while since I've planned a pack out or move.  And this time my sweet husband will not be around to help.  Believe me I'm a list maker at heart.  But I still stress out.

Kyla is NOT amused.

This can lead to so many questions from friends and family.  So let me answer the questions I get for you!  Because I just *know* you're dying to know these answers.

My Life Lately

Side by side color comparison

Has been filled with painting.

Painting walls of all nine rooms of the house.  Caulking trim in all but a few of the rooms (Yes, I know that isn't painting).  Painting trim in all those rooms.  And in some rooms I've painted the ceilings to brighten them up.

Oh and did I mention that I had to paint wainscoting as well?

Yeah, I have been busy since just before Memorial Day weekend.  And I'm feeling it.

Orders

The thing that hovers in every military spouses mind is when do we get our next set of orders.  Will we be staying or are we going to move in a month or so?  Can I even go with him?  Some orders do not include dependents.

Of course, your military friends will inevitably ask in one conversation or another if you're leaving and when will you be going.

I've been in the Norfolk area for eight consecutive years now.  You read that right!  Eight years.  I love this area and have been very fortunate to live here this long.  We even bought our first home here.  As a side note, we've been here off and on since 1993. 

You're getting my gist now, right?  The picture clued you in right?  

Happy Belated Anniversary!

Due to my laziness I didn't blog anything on my 19th anniversary.

Bad me!

Back from riding Verbolten.  We're laughing!

We spent the day at Busch Gardens with friends.  We got to ride the new roller coaster and saw fireworks at the end of the evening.  And better yet?  They're still doing Here's To Our Heroes, so we got in for free!  If you're military I highly recommend taking advantage of this!

Luckily for me, my buddy snapped this shot of us as we returned from riding the new roller coaster.  Yes, I know I look like a total goof!  We were laughing like crazy by the end of this ride.

Nothing major, but a nice day all around.

What Do You Do With Your Time

I'm a stay at home Navy wife.  I don't have kids, so I HATE when people ask me this.  One, it's none of your business.  And two, it's so rude!  It's my time don't belittle me because I have decided not to have children and don't have a paying job.  That's not how I measure my worth.

Within the past month I came across a fantastic idea.  A friend I met on Facebook told me about volunteering at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.  Thanks again Christina!

I filled out an application and within a week I was volunteering/working there!

I sit at the front desk when needed.  Do administrative work.  Take photos at events.  Whatever's needed.  And I love it!

And later on in life, if I decide that I want to get a job this will translate well.

Tagged - I've NEVER Done This Before!

Lala over at What? Mermaids? tagged me for a meme... I've never done this, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I tagged a few people, but if I didn't tag you, feel free to play along, and if I did, feel free to not play if you're not interested...!

The rules are:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Paste these rules on your blog post.
Respond to the following prompts (in bold).
Add a prompt of your own and answer it.
Tag a few other bloggers at the bottom of the post.
Leave "Tagged You" notices on their blog/Facebook.
Let the person who tagged you know when you've written the post.

1) The best investment you ever made:

Probably my camera. Since I do get a lot of enjoyment from taking photos.

Wait! Can I answer my hubby? He's the best thing in my life! And you do invest a lot of time, energy and love into your spouse. So yeah the hubby is THE best investment.

2) If you could’ve written any book, directed any movie, and composed any song, which three would you pick:

I would have written the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Love the books! But I think I would have ended it just a touch differently. It seemed a bit rushed.

I would have directed Die Hard. I know it seems like an odd choice, but it was Bruce Willis's first movie as the action hero. I think it launched his career.

This one is a toss up. It's between Lady Antebellum's 'I Run To You' or Christina Perri's 'Jar of Hearts'. I really enjoy them both. I'd post the videos, but something's not working at the moment. Trust me they are good! I think I lean more to the first one though.

3) Weirdest quirk:

I'm sure I have one, but I can't think of it. And really people in general tend to think I'm weird.

4) One wish immediately granted:

The perfect body. Hey it asked for a wish. Didn't say it had to be plausible.

5) Most expensive hobby:

Probably my photography. Although I don't spend a lot on my camera. I love it just the way it is without all the bells and whistles. But I think maybe I spend more on the scrap booking aspect of it.

6) An inexhaustible gift-card at which store:

I'm one of those weird people. I really don't like to shop. So I guess I'd want the card to go to Amazon.com cause I do like internet shopping. Can't beat sitting in the comfort of your own home and getting the things you need. Plus you don't have to deal with idiots!

7) In another lifetime, you’d be:

A writer

8) If you could go back to your time in high school and change anything, would you:

The only thing I would change would be my studying habits. Other than that? NOPE!

I Tag: Denise, Sarah P. and Kim

Road Trip!

So the hubby and I made a decision to drive my Saturn (Sally) all the way to Illinois. And yes I do name my vehicles. We've gotten a new vehicle and since my car is still very usable, we decided to pass it on to someone else.

So my sweet husband drove the 16 hours with only a 2 hour nap. And yes I stayed up with him. Hence the goofy photos. We were a bit punch drunk. And we still had a Cardinals game to go to.

I don't know about you, but I think we're pretty darn funny!

I've Learned No...

IS a complete sentence.

And sadly, I have yet to learn how to say it. And make it stick.

Women always seem to take on much more than they honestly should. We strive to do it all. We're the stay at home mom/wife or the career woman. Plus we are our spouse's better half. ;-)

As a military spouse I feel we some times take on even more. We are the maid, chauffeur, at times a secretary, chef, maintenance man and yard boy. Not to mention if you have kids there are times when you are mom and dad. And I'm sure that there are many other jobs that I have left out. Not to mention any social groups you may be involved in. Be it the PTA, the Civic League, a book club, a sport of some sort or social group.

I'm learning I'm a bit of a people please-er, always taking on more jobs because it's asked of me. Never thinking that it's okay to say no to all these things.

That is until my body revolted. After all the stress of trying to do it all my body has informed me I MUST slow down. So I will listen and start turning things down. Politely I promise! I guess I'm a slow learner. But I promise I will learn this lesson.

So don't be surprised, to all my friends and family, if the next time you ask me for something I tell you no.

And that's my ten cents for the day.

My Birthday

How does one tell if they have a fantastic hubby? He buys you a present that you've really been coveting and spends the entire day doing what you want.

So yes, I've been wanting a Kindle for a while. For a few months actually. And it arrived the day before my birthday. I'm still playing with it and so far I LOVE it!

So the hubby got major cool points for this one.

To make things even better, he took me to breakfast at a little place we really enjoy and then took me to see Planet 51. Then he took me to Romano's Macaroni Grill for lunch. Originally we were going to go to Bonefish Grill, but they didn't open until 4. Who knew? I must note that my sweet hubby was willing to come back out so I could have Bonefish if I so desired. I did not, because it was cold and rainy.

We had a late dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and afterwards we drove to a nearby Starbucks for some coffee. I must say I'm hooked on the Caramel Brulee Late. It's yummy! And by they time we were getting a dusting of snow. So it was really appreciated.

All in all, I had a great day. Got tons of birthday wishes on FaceBook, emails and phone calls. And I owe my happy birthday all to my sweet baboo. Thanks honey! You rock!!

Mother Nature Isn't As Sweet As Some Claim

You know how they say it's not nice to mess with Mother Nature. Well I'm declaring war on the witch! And she started it.

It all started over the Memorial Day weekend. My sweet baboo and I were working out in our yard. Mowing, raking, cleaning and pulling leaves. You know trying to keep our property healthy. On Monday I notice a rash on my neck, elbows and chest. I figured it was heat rash, due to the location of it and the fact that I had been sweating a lot. Hey it was hot that weekend.

However, it started to spread. So I know I have poison ivy,
poison oak, poison sumac or, get this one, Virginia Creeper. I didn't even know about this one until yesterday. It doesn't affect most people. Which would explain why my sweet baboo is unaffected. But can apparently present like poison ivy. At least that's what I've been told. Ugh!

So I started using Benadryl cream, calamine lotion and taking Benadryl to keep it at bay. I also started sleeping on the couch to prevent infecting anyone else in the house. Needless to say I've been miserable.

By Friday it was so bad that I couldn't use the Benadryl cream because it hurt. Brought me to tears, that's how bad it was. So I immediately made a doctor's appointment. Luckily they could get me in the next day, early. I wished it was sooner, but hey I'll take what I can get.

So now I'm on a steroid to help keep the itchiness down. And of course one of the side effects is sleeping problems. Hence the reason I'm up at two in the morning writing this. I got about 3 hours of sleep before I decided to start this rant.

So it's on Mother Nature. I will get you back for this. Not only are you making me itchy and irritable. You are messing with my sleep. No one wants to be around me when I'm crabby. Hell I don't even want to be around me. I will get you back for this. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will.

Now I need to put more calamine lotion on and try not to wake the hubby.

The only thing keeping me sane (or somewhat sane) is the calamine lotion and the Poison Ivy soap my buddy Greta makes. BTW Greta I need more!

New Do

So the other day while the hubby and I were out getting him a haircut, he noticed that the base has a hair salon.

I mentioned that I really needed to get myself a hair cut sometime soon. I mean we do have a formal function to attend in about a month.

He asked when the last time was that I had my hair done. I had to think about it.

It's been about a year was the reply after some thought.

So he told me to schedule a hair appointment for myself. Which I did.

And this picture is what I looked like at 10 this morning. Thank goodness for the camera phones.

And here is the after. This is what I looked like by twelve this afternoon.

My stylist, who I love, took a little over an hour to wash, cut and style my hair.

I'm pleased with it. In fact I'll be making an appointment to get highlights later this week. That is if I can get in. He's very popular and only works a couple of days a week.

Normally people don't notice when I get my hair cut. I think this may be dramatic enough to get noticed. Sleeker than normal and hopefully more manageable.

We'll see what the hubby thinks when he gets home.

Growing Older

So yesterday was my birthday. It sucks to get older. Now granted I'm not ancient and I'm in reasonably good health. Still there are times when I ask myself where did all the time go? And holy crap! Where did that gray hair come from? What happen to the young girl I used to see in the mirror? I think everyone should be able to freeze at a certain age. Don't you? Okay I'm done griping. Maybe. This is not a rant I swear!

So I got lots of phone calls and emails from family and friends wishing me happy birthday. Thank you everyone for that. And Tim, I'm sorry I missed your call. My sweet baboo took me out for breakfast. He had the day off. Which was really cool. He then took me to get an outfit. Hey! The man is hardly ever home so I don't fault him for not being able to get me a birthday present before said birthday. At least my hubby got me something I wanted. How many wives can say that? Hopefully more than I'm thinking at the moment. And then we went to get me a new pair of glasses. Hey real life still happens.

By the afternoon we were ready to head to Ingleside Winery for some more Rosato. We were running low. It was also a good excuse to see our buddies back at the winery. Plus they have their champagne now and I had to have a bottle.

As luck would have it the winemaker and his wife were having an Open House/Christmas party at their beautiful home and we were invited. Bill, Maria it was wonderful! Thank you for having us. We saw people that we hadn't seen in forever. Had some yummy food. Met Maria's mom and cousin from Venezuela. And I think I really need to learn Spanish now. And of course we had wine.

The hubby and I finally left around 11. Which means we didn't get home until somewhere around 1:30-2 a.m. time frame. We had to make a stop along the way. So of course we slept in this morning. But at around 8:30 there was a knock on the door. I don't know who freaked out more. Me, the hubby or the poor FedEx guy. Kaiser went bonkers and scared my sweet baboo awake. There's no way you can go back to sleep after that.

All in all it was a pretty good day. And I have my sweet baboo to thank for that. So thank you darling!

I'm Home

How appropriate was it that as I arrived in Norfolk early Saturday morning Daughtry's 'Home' started playing.

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The miles are getting longer, it seems,
The closer I get to you.
I've not always been the best man or friend for you.
But your love, remains true.
And I don't know why.
You always seem to give me another try.

So I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.
Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah.

Oh, well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old.
I said these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
I'm going home.

I grinned at the cat and announced that we were home. He meowed and promptly rolled over to go back to sleep. I don't think he appreciated my joy. I'll admit I was a bit punch drunk at the time. We had been on the road for a total of something like 13 and 1/2 hours. Traffic sucked!

But I digress. Norfolk has always had a feeling of home to us. And thankfully we are now back. We look forward to our life as homeowners in this area. And were thrilled when we actually pulled into the driveway.

It'll take the animals a bit to adjust, but they'll survive.

Assignments

I recently started attending a Digital Photography class. Actually it began at the end of June. I was a bit nervous, considering I haven't been in school for nearly 14 years. I'm taking this class purely for enjoyment. And went out and bought myself a new digital camera. So far we've played with lighting and shutter speed. We don't get a lot of direction and are just told to go out and take pictures. But we are playing in Adobe Photo Shop quite a bit.

So I thought I would bore everyone with a few of my photos. The first one is a motion shot. I find these shots to be the hardest and am still working on them. I put the shutter speed on a slower speed and followed the moving subject. It was taken over 4th of July weekend while the hubby and I were in the Virginia Beach area. This one is a still life composition taken at one of the beaches in Rhode Island. This was a fun one to do.

My teacher seems to prefer outdoor shots to the indoor, so I'm trying to stick with that. This class has helped me in looking at things with a totally different perspective. I look for little details so much more than I used to. In fact I've even gotten the hubby and friends in on this. They're always on the lookout for good photo ops. And the camera always seems to be with me. This is just a shot of a fence line, but I really liked the scroll work on it.

So not only am getting out into that fresh wonderful air and getting a tan. But I'm also getting exercise from the walks I'm taking to find these pictures. And of course I always make sure that I print off the pictures the teacher mentions that he likes. I'm no dummy. I'll be graded on 10 photos at the end of the semester and it's coming up quickly. So anything he says he likes I'm keeping just to ensure my grade isn't crap! =)

Five Days Old

On Friday I got my haircut, but didn't get a picture of the haircut until today. Yeah I know I'm lazy. Most people probably won't even notice that I got it cut. I don't do anything drastic. That's just not my style. It was down to the middle of my back and now it's just below my shoulders. And I got layers.

The hubby helped me pick out a style. I think I shocked him by asking him to help me choose a style. Normally I have something in mind when I decide I want to get my hair cut. I always start hating my hair as summer gets closer and decided it had to be cut before I went to New York on Sunday. I'm so wishy washy when it comes to getting my hair cut. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it. Now I need to get some highlights. I'm starting to look like a brunette. Not sure how I feel about that.

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful fall day. And at 72 degrees the hubby and I are sitting on the back porch enjoying the last of the nice weather. I say this knowing that by this time next week it's predicted to be in the low 50's. Hey just the other day I had the house closed up and the heat on. Now I have the heat off and the windows open. No wonder people get sick so much with this crazy weather! So instead of cleaning my kitchen I'm out here playing on the computer. I'll get to it tonight. Yeah right. I only plan on having company this weekend and my parents are coming Tuesday. I am the queen of procrastination! Hey I even convinced my dog to come out and he's now sniffing around in the backyard. An accomplishment I must say since my dog lives for sleeping on my bed.