The Lost Valentine

Last night I decided I would watch this movie. I had my DVR recording it so I could have watched it later but now I decide to watch it last night. It was my first night back in my house following having my wisdom teeth pulled. And so I sat and watched this touching story of a Navy bride whose husband had gone MIA so many years ago and yet she waited. She waited to see him again or to hear what had happened. To say Betty White was brilliant in this movie is an understatement. She did a great job! Both she and Jennifer Love Hewitt tell a great story of love and loss. I highly recommend watching this movie but be prepared with tissues. I realize I may be more emotional when it comes to this movie because A) it is a Navy wife, B) my husband is away, and C) I'm still recovering but it was a tear jerker. But well worth the tears.

Wisdom Teeth

 

So I have put it off and put it off but I can't put it off any longer. I'm having my wisdom teeth pulled today at 10:30 AM. Whoo hoo. Good news is I only have three and only one of those is on the bottom. Everyone tells me it will go fine but I'm still nervous. So say a prayer for me. And I'll see you next week...puffiness and all.

House Hunting

So Mom is now in the house hunting part of this journey. She's been in her apartment for about two months and now she is ready to look at houses. But this is not an easy search. She wants something all on one floor. She wants something that is a decent size 1400 sq ft. She wants to stay in her immediate area. And she wants it all for about $200,000. Which is doable we just haven't found "the" house yet. We will it just takes time. I'm hoping all will go well soon so she can get out of her apartment. We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed.

Giveaway over at Pretty Things

Lori is having a fantastic giveaway over at Pretty Things you can win a set of metal stamps from PJ Tool & Supply. I know I would love to get a set of these because this is something I would love to get into doing. So go over to Pretty Things and check it out but hurry the give away ends tomorrow at noon! 

Mil-Spouse Round Up

 

Head over to Singing Through the Rain and link up.

First Place 4 Health aka My Weightloss journey

 A Four Sided Approach to Weight Loss
Putting Christ in First Place

Starting January 6th I began leading our First Place 4 Health program at the church where I work. I love this program because it is a four sided approach to weight loss. It focuses on your heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is easy to focus on only one side of this which the physical of eat less and exercise more but the reality is we aren't just a body so we have to focus on all sides of us. It is a great program and I'm looking forward to working with this group of people.

I'll keep you updated about how it is going.

I Will Thrive - Deployment Stories

Hamilton Beach Programmable Crock Pot - Picture from Target

Cooking Deployment Style

I admit I was quite spoiled before J left. If I planned the menus, did the grocery shopping and had the recipe easily accessible he would cook dinner when he got home since he got home earlier than I did. It was so nice to get home and not have to worry about starting dinner at 6:30 PM. So when he left I tried to stick to the menu planning and it worked at first but I admit by the time I get home at 6:30-6:45 PM I really don't feel like doing a lot of cooking. So I started going out to eat...this is not good for my budget or my waistline. So as part of my First Place 4 Health weight loss I decided to get back to menu planning. And I decided the crock pot would be my friend. That is until my crock pot went on the fritz and started burning things.

So Monday night I went to Target and bought the Hamilton Beach Programmable Crock Pot with thermometer
and Tuesday I tried out my first recipe in it. Fix It and Forget It's Sweet and Sour Chicken. So I put everything in the pot and set the program to cook for 6 1/2 hours on low and then go to warm. It worked beautifully. I came home to an almost completely cooked dinner. I had to add some cornstarch per the recipe and cook some rice. Thanks to Trader Joe's frozen brown rice that took 3 minutes. It was great!!

Bra Shopping...Exciting or Torture

This weekend I'm going to The Full Cup for a bra fitting. They are a wonderful place with wonderful staff who treat those of us being fit for a bra delicately. As a girl who is well endowed in that area this has always been a torturous experience for me and they make it bearable. Because of my size I'm self conscious about standing in my bra in front of someone other than my husband or my doctor and they put me at ease.

Every time I go for a fitting I think back to my first bra buying experience. I developed early so in 4th grade Mom took be to buy my first bra. And because "it was a special occasion" it was a production. We went to a department store in Anchorage (we lived in Eagle River at the time) and we picked out a training bra. I will never for get that bra...it was padded and had this horrible itchy lining. But the sales clerk said it was great. Then because that wasn't enough fun we went to dinner "to celebrate." To this day I don't understand the celebration over buying a bra. I mean I get the whole womanhood thing but as a 10 year old girl a bra is not exciting at least it wasn't to me. None of my friends had them so I was the first.

Well I ended up getting a raw spot or a rash due to the lining so Mom decided the bra needed to go back. We went back to the department store only this time the clerk was a man. Whoo hoo can it get any better. So Mom explains as my face is getting redder to the clerk about the fact that this bra has a scratchy lining and that it is causing issues so we want to return it. Not believing he decides to feel it himself and surprisingly agrees it is scratchy. So he shows us some "preteen" bras made of cotton. To this day those were my favorite bras. Little triangles of pink, yellow, and white cotton with no underwire. The most comfortable bras I would ever wear...little did I know. So although having a male clerk was embarrassing to a 10 year old girl he knew what he was doing and did a great job. 

No wonder I hate bra shopping...I've been buying and wearing bras for 24 years. Holy Cow that is crazy. Boys have it easy...

Last Words

I am a fan of "How I Met Your Mother" it is a funny show that has a great cast. Usually it gives me a good laugh on Monday nights. Until the last two episodes...in the previous episode we learn that Marshall's dad died and in last night's episode they had his Dad's funeral. The theme was last words his Dad had said to his family. Marshall was stressed because his Dad's last words to him were about Crocodile Dundee III but as the show progressed you learned his Dad had left a voice mail telling him that he loved him.

It got me thinking about some of the last words I've said to people in my life. In the case of J and I we always say "I love you." So every email, voice mail, phone call, and IM communication ends with "I love you." But in the case of some of my other family and friends what last words would they remember? Plans for an event, lunch plans, questions, etc. So I wonder should I make more of an effort to leave people with profound last words or do I leave them as they are leaving it open for another day. I guess for me I foolishly assume I'll see them again. But for those I see seldom I do think I'll make sure to leave it on a positive and semi-serious note. And make sure they know I love them.

Mil Spouse Round - Up

 

Head over to Flip Flops and Combat Boots and link up.

Bead Soup Blog Party 2011

Today's the Day head over to Lori's Pretty Things and sign up! It is really a fun challenge. I did it last year and loved it. It's fun to see what people send you and what they come up with from what you've sent them. So go check it out!

A Look Back to 2010

So 2010 started on a very high note for us. We got married again but this time both our families were there and we were in our church. It was a day I'll never forget. We celebrated 2 years of being together and 1 year of being married in 2010. For us personally 2010 was a great year right until the point I put him on a plan to Japan. And for our families we had some pretty good moments too...my brother got married to an absolutely wonderful woman. We welcomed two new grand nephews to J's family. His sister M got married. Another one of his sisters celebrated 10 years of marriage.

Now this is not to say there weren't some dark clouds along the way with my parents and an incident with his niece. But over all 2010 was a good year for us. So here's to next year! Cheers!

I will Thrive - Deployment Stories

First a little deployment irony...

We live in Virginia...specifically southeastern Virginia. We don't get snow very often and when we do it is about 4-5 inches at the most. This year we have had two snow storms in December. The first was on my birthday and brought about 3-4 inches. The second was the day after Christmas...it was the third largest snow storm in years (I mean since the 1800s) and both required shoveling. And where is J...in Japan.

Our dog is a bit of a trash compactor. I love him but if he can eat it he will even if he shouldn't. So the fact that he got a hold of something he shouldn't doesn't surprise me. The fact that he would have to go to the emergency vet on New Year's Day and have major surgery does. And of course it would happen while J is gone. J felt bad about it but I told him there was nothing he could have done if he was here. Other than sit and worry with me. 

I have mentioned in the past that during this deployment I'm doing things for me. Part of it is him being gone, part of it is stuff I need to do for myself.

So in January...

• First Place 4 Health starts this Thursday and I'm the leader so I'm excited about that. So I'll start discussing my progress in the weight loss and eating side of things.
• Beginner Stripper Exercise Class starts on Monday the 10th so excited about that.

I also went and talked to my tattoo guy about another tattoo and I think I'll be getting that in February. I'm excited. I've been wanting to get this for a while. I'm going to use my Christmas bonus to get it and to pay for the class. I'll keep you posted on how things go. 

Holidays Recap

Ok so I'm a tad behind on this but you'll see why...

•  Christmas Eve - I work in a church so I've often had to work on Christmas Eve but over the past few years my boss has generously given us Christmas Eve off. So I spent most of my day finishing a purse for my mom for Christmas. I finished wrapping gifts. Then I went to pick her up and we went to dinner with my friend S. Then the three of us went to church. Following the service S went home, I dropped off Mom, and I went to my friends annual Christmas Eve party which is always a blast. 
• Christmas Day - I got up and puttered around the house. Then I got ready and went over to Mom's to exchange gifts. We exchanged gifts. Then we watched Charlie Brown's Christmas. Then we headed to Williamsburg for our Christmas Dinner in the tavern. If you have never done this I recommend it. The food was amazing and the service was even better. After dinner we were going to go see Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader but it started to snow and Mom was tired. So I took her home for a nap. And then came back to her place to watch The Chipmonk's Christmas. Then I went to my friend's house to drop off Christmas presents. I headed home early because it was snowing pretty heavily. 
• The Day after Christmas - lower VA got snowed in. We got 12 inches of snow. It was pretty but clearing it and dealing with it...not so pretty. 
• The Days between Christmas and New Year's - I had Monday off...then back to work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We got off work at 3:00 PM on Thursday so I decided to extend the olive branch to my father and go bowling with him. It was pleasant. A tad awkward. Ares had shredded a suede handbag or so I thought...turns out he ate pieces. He threw up on Monday and then again on Thursday morning. I called the vet they said to keep an eye on him and if he threw up again bring him in. He did fine all day Thursday and Friday so no vet trip. 
• New Year's Eve - I spent most of the day home with the dogs sleeping on the couch. Then went to meet Mom for dinner. Then home to check on the puppies. Then off to my friends New Year's Eve party. The party was laid back and fun. We played Win, Lose, or Draw. And I headed home around 3:00 AM. All was good until I was awakened by Ares throwing up at 4:00 AM. So we got up and I tried giving him some food. He got sick again.  
• New Year's Day So I called one emergency vet...they said not to feed him until dinner time and to keep an eye on him. He kept whimpering and hiding in his crate. This is not my dog he is so social it is scary. I decided to take him in. I called my vet and they sent me to a different emergency vet. Ares had a blockage in his stomach and intestine and ended up having surgery. In an effort to keep myself occupied Mom and I went to the outlets to do some returns and some shopping. I got the call around dinner time that he was doing well and in recovery.
• Day after New Year's - I called the vet in the morning to check on him. He was doing well so they said I could bring him home later that day. I called Mom and we went to see Chronicles of Narnia's Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Great movie!! Then we went to Barnes and Noble. Then I went to get my baby!! I had the uphill battle of keeping him calm and settled down. He is on a restrictive diet and activity schedule but he is on the mend and doing well. I'm so glad!!