The Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you so much to Ines at The Few, The Proud, The Wife for awarding me with:

Award!

Thank you!!

The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award!
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Nominate 15 newly-discovered blogs that you think are fantastic!
4. Let each one of your nominees know about the award!

7 things about me

1. I am terribly awful when it comes to horror movies. I usually spend the majority, if not the entire movie hiding my eyes.
2. I love to bake. It is my guilty pleasure. My waist is usually the one to pay for my obsession, but it is usually so worth it!
3. I am a relatively new resident of NC. So far, it is growing on me. Romeo and i just bought our first home! We're so excited!
4. Blogging started for me when Romeo was deployed. It has been my sanity and my place to vent. Thank you all for listening to it all!!
5. I love love LOVE country music.
6. Fall is my favorite season because I love to watch the leaves change. Moreso, I love football.
7. Romeo and I have been married for 6 months now. Unfortunately, 5 and a half of those 6 months were spent apart. We're working on getting back to being newlyweds again =)

I am going to pass this award on to:

1. Jackie at exposed brick.
2. Carrie at Carrie Goes to Kilimanjaro
3. Elise at notes.
4. The Mrs. at Trying Our Best
5. Amber at The Survival Guide for The Young, Fabulous & Newlywed
6. Sam at Sam and her Soldier
7. Mateya at Our Journey from Iraq to the Altar
8. Birdie at No Model Lady
9. JG at Me and My SoldierMan
10. Noel at Issued to a Soldier
11. Nittani at Finding my way into Army life
12. MrsThomas at Being a Better Wife
13. A Lady in Waiting at A True Long Distance Relationship
14. Amber at Goodnight moon!
15. Brooklet at Life and Times of a Displaced Jersey Girl

Congratulations to all of the nominees!!

Back into wife life....

Amidst the time that Romeo spent in earthquake-land, I had gotten wife-life down pretty well.

or so I thought.

I had become accustomed to keeping house, cooking (somewhat), cleaning, decorating, laundering, and so on and so forth. I figured I was on the path to Betty Crocker's Housewife of the Year.

or not.

So Romeo arrived from home from earthquake-land, and my housewife-ing skills slowly deteriorated. As the days went by, the dishes began to pile up, the laundry was out of control and the house was just in shambles.

humphhh.

Now, we have embarked on our next journey- home ownership.

scary business.

And I see our pending move to be a refreshing possibility. New home, new rooms to organize and decorate, and a new opportunity to start over and work on being a better wife.

not that I think I am a bad wife.

I just know that I could be better.

Like today for instance, I have managed to ruin yet ANOTHER pair of Romeo's ACU's.

Note to self: Check pockets. Thoroughly.

I lost the laundry battle to a black-ink ballpoint pen.

See, every day is a new lesson on how to be better.

Now I'm going to make a list.

Things I've learned about (Army) wife-life:

1. Don't bombard with questions about his day as soon as he walks in the door. If something truly exciting or awful happened, he would have called. Otherwise, allow breathing room.
2. Don't wash ACU's without checking pockets. Thoroughly.
3. Do not begin dinner until after you KNOW he is on his way home, if you start too early, prepare for cold food and disappointment.
4. Clean. A lot. Often. Expect it to never be done. Don't put it off. Things will just get worse.
5. Plan catch-up days. You'll need them.
6. When stuck for recipe ideas, stick to simplicity. Basics never fail.
7. Make lists.
8. Don't get mad when the phone rings in the middle of dinner, or in the middle of a movie, or in the middle of the night. He's not happy about it either, believe me.
9. Expect to need to wash PT's at 10pm. And expect them to need to be dry by 4:45am. Expect to have to wait up to move them from the washer to the dryer.
10. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, let him crawl back into bed before he leaves for work. You both WILL fall back to sleep and he WILL be late and it WILL be your fault for not waking him up.
11. Also, NEVER wake him up any earlier than necessary. This will create a very unhappy GI Joe.
12. Have some kind of breakfast/snack on-the-go available. He'll want it.
13. Expect houseguests. Possibly multiple.
14. HAVE AN OUTLET. Something for you to do BY YOURSELF (or with girlfriends). I run, and believe me, it is the savior of my sanity.
15. DON'T RELY ON HIM TO ENTERTAIN YOU. It's tough moving to a new place and not having friends, but FIND SOME. It will be a blessing to both of you. There's no worse feeling for you to expect him to be home at night to hang out, and then he's working late or out with the guys. And its no better for him to know you're around waiting for him. BE SOCIAL.
16. Always be prepared to have to go fax paperwork at 9:30pm. (Thank you, J)
17. Always be prepared to need to take Class-A uniforms to the dry-cleaners at 9:30pm. AND have them ready for formation the following day.
18. Even though he may not always say it, GI Joe loves you completely.
19. You may be at your wits-end, but it is all SO worth it. Always remember that at least he's there to drive you crazy, and not half way around the world.
20. Finally, no matter what, no matter how awful you may be a doing laundry or organizing or cooking of whatever, he'll always love you anyway!

And despite the tough parts, I'm thankful for ALL of the lessons I've learned thus far!

Sometimes this life is bittersweet...

Life as an Army Wife is one that most of the time, only an Army Wife could understand. Today, its one that I hope everyone, especially those who this post is geared towards, will be able to put into perspective.

My days (180 to be exact!!) that have been spent married to the US Military, have been the greatest learning experience of my life. Each day has brought a new eye-opening moment, or a life lesson that I'll carry with me. There have been so many new tidbits of information and advice, and even more new questions that have prospered out of these past 6 months. Each day brought a new challenge, and in turn, a new lesson learned. Nonetheless, I can say that the woman I was this day, 6-months ago, would see who I am today and be proud. I'm really thankful for that.

Sometimes, though, the lessons that life as an Army Wife may teach you, are not the ones that you ever wanted to learn. Honestly, I never wanted to learn what it was like to say goodbye to Romeo for months at a time. I really didn't want to know how it felt to not see my friends on a regular basis. Most of all, I didn't ever want to learn to miss out on the lives of our families. But whether I like it or not, I'm learning.

Today, K and K (our younger siblings) are graduating from High School. We are so proud of them. Each one has grown into a truly remarkable young adult, and they both have such great potential in life. We are so blessed to have such amazing families, and we are so thankful for each and every person in our lives. This often makes it so much more difficult to miss out on these monumental events. We would have loved to be there to congratulate you in person, but sometimes, the Army dictates otherwise.

To KA-

You have worked so hard to be where you are today. Honestly, the road from here is harder, but we have no doubt that you will be successful in the endeavors that you pursue. You are kind, and caring and generous and there is no doubt that just being the beautiful person that you are will take you far in life. You are such a gift to us. Thank you for being who you are, and please know that we want no less that everything for you. Congratulations!! Enjoy your day and your celebrations, you have earned them!!

To KH-

The young man that you have grown into astonishes me. Your personality and smile is infectious, and your future is so bright. You have so many open doors in front of you, and I cannot wait to see which one you choose. You will be great at anything you decide to pursue, but please promise that you'll never lose sight of being "Happy Jack" and the truly amazing person that you are. We are so proud, and we know that this is only the beginning for you!! We can't wait to see where your life will take you!

We love you both and are so proud of who you are.

We wish we could be there to share today with you,

but please know that you are in our thoughts, and we're there in spirit!!

Congratulations to the Class of 2010!!

Love,

Romeo & Juliet & Calymonster

I don't think that it will ever get easier to miss these things, but one fact is true, we will most certainly appreciate the moments that we do have with our families. The most meaningful lesson that I have learned throughout my Life as an Army Wife, is that the moment you stop truly appreciating something, it will be gone. Whether it is by deployment, or move or something else, it will be gone.

Even if it doesn't get any easier,

I'll still be thankful for the lessons learned.

My GI Joe is...

Thank you to Amber over at The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed for the inspiration of this post. It may be a bit different, but you'll see the pattern.

My GI Joe is my late-night-snack PIC. He's the one who whispers "Go get the chips and dip" ever so convincingly. He makes breaking my diet oh-so-worth-it.

My GI Joe is my support trellis. When I'm crumbling from stress or exhaustion or whatever other nonsense life throws, he's there to hold me up. Even from miles and miles away.

My GI Joe is my Channing Tatum, Mel Gibson, Josh Hartnett, entire A-Team, and every other war-movie character, all mixed into one handsome, charming, loving, ACU-wearing hero.

My GI Joe is a sunny day, in the Jeep with the top down, a song in which we can sing every word, and a hand to hold over the center console.

My GI Joe is undeniable in uniform. No, really. U N D E N I A B L E.

My GI Joe is a cozy pair of sweatpants and an old sweater, cuddled up in the corner of the couch, with a Harry Potter marathon and the cutest CalyMonster in the entire world.

My GI Joe is my shoulder to lean on when I fall asleep at the movies.

My GI Joe is my hero. My best friend. And the one man that I live to wake up next to. When the Army lets me, anyway.

Most of all, My GI Joe is mine. All mine. Lucky me <3

the update

It's been awhile...

again.

I know.

Nonetheless, amongst my MIA-ness, I have been terribly distracted by keeping myself distracted- because....

ROMEO COMES HOME IN 5 DAYS!!

Therefore, my mind has been wrapped around a whole ton of excitement and a glorious array or to-do lists.

Whew.

I'll be so happy when this is all over and he's here and we're back to (normal) married life. I almost feel like none of it ever happened. I feel like when he was here and we were together, I was like a dream. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to re-making my dreams into a reality.

Funny story though, as forementioned, I am currently engrossed in a MASSIVE to-do list. Normal things like cleaning and laundry and whatnot, but then I am also trying to re-adjust my life to pre-earthquake-ridden-country-deployment. As silly as it sounds, Romeo and I share a closet, and I must say, in his absence, I may or may not have taken it over entirely. So now I am struggling to remember where everything was before he left and how things were situated. Who would've known how much of a difference 6 months could make? Closet aside, there are so many other things that I am slowly, but surely, working to adjust. My morning routine, for instance, has been down-to-the-minute (I'm a little OC) and I know once Romeo meanders back from the island, things won't be just so. I'm trying to prepare as best as I can for EVERYTHING to change again. How does one prepare for that? I'm doing my best to learn NOT to get set in any way, but at the same time, I need a little bit of stability. And now, with my own pending "earthquake", how can I get ready for so many things to change again?

I guess I shall soon find out....

Running has been going FANTASTICALLY. J and I are OFFICIALLY prepared. It is a wonderful feeling, but I'm feeling an impending addiction kicking in- we're already planning the next race! It's a great thing, of course, but yet another commitment on the horizon. Oh well. I love it and am having the time of my life preparing. I can't wait for race day!! (2 weeks tomorrow!!) We've also been hitting the pool a lot lately, which has served as awesome cross-training, and a great way to really stretch out during laps. The best part about all of this has been the twice-a-day opportunity to get out of the house, work out, and make time go by just-that-much faster.

Other than that, I've just been doing everything possible to keep the clock moving. Every morning is a great feeling because it is one step closer. And every night is hopeful because it is one more day completed.

Soon enough.

I'll be sure to do my best to keep the updates coming!

Running into a whole new time-consumer

Well hello!

I know, I know...

it has been forever...

But now I will explain why!!

Ok, so as of late, I have been running, running, running like crazy!! My favorite Miami-ian (J) and I are up to doing 2-a-day workouts and seeing TREMENDOUS progress. Starting cold at the beginning of May, both of us weren't sure we were going to make it to Race Day successfully, but now, J and I are more confident then ever, and heading towards Race Day, one mile at a time!

Now, I must say, I'm not sure either one of us would be this dedicated to our training if we had our lovely Romeo's at home, but since it is just us and our girls:

(They're besties)(And adorable)

... we've been a bit more inclined to do ANYTHING to be out of the house. We're both patiently awaiting a plane from Haiti, and hopefully it will be here soon!! (I'm not sure my patience could withstand yet ANOTHER extension)

So, as our countdown to Race Day gets shorter and shorter, the runs get longer and longer, and I must say, it feels great to be so close to our goal. I also know that if it hadn't been for mutual motivation (Thank you so much, J!!) I couldn't have come nearly as far as I have. Having a running partner is not only a huge benefit safety-wise, but it also keeps your mind moving as quickly as your feet, and the conversations DEFINITELY help the long-runs go by. As for the other benefits of running, not only am I sleeping better at night, curbing my appetite, hydrating appropriately, and feeling stronger, watching the inches dwindle right down to bikini-size is wonderful. So, between now and Race Day, I am hoping to maintain, if not exceed my motivation, and hopefully be more than successful on June 11th.

Other than that, all is well. We are not-so-patiently awaiting a homecoming from Haiti. Hopefully (fingers-crossed) we'll be celebrating come June 1st. We shall see..... But between now and then, I'll be a busy girl.

And I'm SUPER thankful for that.

From the Not-Always-So-Silent Ranks...

Happy Military Spouses Appreciation Day!

Now how to celebrate....

Send yourself flowers!

(or just go buy some!)

Treat yourself to a spa day!

(Even if it is in your own home)

Indulge in a decadent dessert!

(Ben & Jerry's!)

And know that we're all VERY lucky to have our very own GI Joe!

(That one is mine.)

Thank you to all of the Military Spouses who offer kind words of wisdom and experience!

The support network that each and every one of you provide is truly a blessing!

Thanks! And Happy MSA Day!