I am officially a military wife. Yes, I have been one for a year now (well, two weeks shy of a year!), but I wasn't officially one. It isn't until your husband is deployed/TADing/away, etc. and the WORLD falls apart without him there..THEN it's official.
Yup, pretty much sums up last week for me! Bradley went to California for a few days for some training, and the craziest, most unexpected, oddest things started happening. There's not much he can do to help, so you've got to go into super woman mode and figure it out yourself! After the first incident, I was frustrated, but after the second and third, I just started laughing.
I was sooo ready for him to get back home. Of course, most of the issues had been fixed/subsided once he got home but I missed him so much!! When I was sitting at the airport waiting on him, I had this huge wave of accomplishment come over me. I had done it. It wasn't easy, it was beyond terrible, but I made it. And trust me, I got rewarded for it! :-) (Did I just say that? Yep! It's my blog, I can say what I want!)
We really are pathetic, though. Four days apart and it feels like 4 years. We've been attached at the hip since he got back, but neither of us are complaining! I am so blessed to be in a marriage where God is always first, my husband loves me as much as I love him (even though we argue about this at least a couple hours everyday..but just for the record, I love him more!), we are each others bestfriends, we're soulmates and we are forever...no questions!
We are NOT looking forward to the next time he leaves (who does?!) but it has to be done. At least next time he goes away, it really can't be too much worse than it was this time. Lord help me if it is!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
All you need is love!
I love my husband. No, I really love my husband. More than I could ever write to express it to you. I told him the other night that I feel like I could run my legs off, screaming it at the top of my lungs and yell it off a mountain and it still wouldn't truly express how much!! Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't even care. And the great thing is, I get it all in return! It's not just one sided here people!
We were laying on our bed the other night and I asked him what his all time favorite memory of us was. His was the first time he saw me after Plebe Summer (boot camp). I had flown up for Labor Day, in the middle of a hurricane (I'm not kidding!), and the weather was horrible- rain, extreme wind, flooding. He hadescaped the academy managed to get free that night and meet me at the baseball field. All I remember is pulling up, seeing him standing inside the lobby, me jumping out of the car before my mom had stopped and walking as fast as I could to get in there. It was weird, like some out of body experience. I was in such a rush to get in there but the moment I stepped foot inside, I just froze...starring at him. He was so handsome in his uniform. He had left me at the end of June a boy, and stood before me then (2 months later) as a man. I think I was just in awe of him. The moment I laid eyes on him, my world was complete again, and he felt the same way. We both knew in that one instant, that if we would get through that, which we did, there wasn't anything that was going to come against us. I can understand why that is his favorite moment, because it was pretty magical!
My favorite moment was the first time I laid eyes on him. We had met on Myspace (don't judge!) and it was a blind date. We were meeting at the movies, and I remember sitting in my car so anxious I thought I was going to explode. I saw this terribly ugly truck pull up and I remember telling myself, "Oh dear Lord, PLEASE don't let that be him." Well, it was. Luckily the truck wasn't anything like him. :-) I was sitting in my car, my cell rang- it was him saying "I'm here." I hung up, watched him get out and my heart just sank. I somehow knew in that one instant that 'this was it!' I couldn't take my eyes off him. He walked towards me, said 'hi' and the rest is history. I always thought I was crazy thinking that I just 'knew' so quickly. But he felt the same thing. We both knew right then that we would never have a first date ever, ever again. I never thought in a million years that I would have found 'the one' as a junior in high school, but I guess you just never know what the big man upstairs is planning!
Five and a half years later, and 10 months of marriage and we're still as strong as we were at our best moments together. We have the absolute best marriage. We laugh 24/7, are constantly picking at each other, we probably say 'I love you' a thousand times a day, but the best part is knowing that I never have to worry about anything. He's always going to be there, and I am always going to be there for him. We're best friends.
I am just so proud of my husband. Not just for what he has become but for who he is. He is an amazing Christian man, an incredibly loving husband, he's devoted, he's funny, and he's very humble. I just can't even think of enough adjectives to describe him! I'm just unbelievably, undeniably, utterly BLESSED beyond measure.
We were laying on our bed the other night and I asked him what his all time favorite memory of us was. His was the first time he saw me after Plebe Summer (boot camp). I had flown up for Labor Day, in the middle of a hurricane (I'm not kidding!), and the weather was horrible- rain, extreme wind, flooding. He had
My favorite moment was the first time I laid eyes on him. We had met on Myspace (don't judge!) and it was a blind date. We were meeting at the movies, and I remember sitting in my car so anxious I thought I was going to explode. I saw this terribly ugly truck pull up and I remember telling myself, "Oh dear Lord, PLEASE don't let that be him." Well, it was. Luckily the truck wasn't anything like him. :-) I was sitting in my car, my cell rang- it was him saying "I'm here." I hung up, watched him get out and my heart just sank. I somehow knew in that one instant that 'this was it!' I couldn't take my eyes off him. He walked towards me, said 'hi' and the rest is history. I always thought I was crazy thinking that I just 'knew' so quickly. But he felt the same thing. We both knew right then that we would never have a first date ever, ever again. I never thought in a million years that I would have found 'the one' as a junior in high school, but I guess you just never know what the big man upstairs is planning!
Five and a half years later, and 10 months of marriage and we're still as strong as we were at our best moments together. We have the absolute best marriage. We laugh 24/7, are constantly picking at each other, we probably say 'I love you' a thousand times a day, but the best part is knowing that I never have to worry about anything. He's always going to be there, and I am always going to be there for him. We're best friends.
I am just so proud of my husband. Not just for what he has become but for who he is. He is an amazing Christian man, an incredibly loving husband, he's devoted, he's funny, and he's very humble. I just can't even think of enough adjectives to describe him! I'm just unbelievably, undeniably, utterly BLESSED beyond measure.
Monday, April 4, 2011
On A Whimmmmmm!
Imagine this...typical thursday night, cooking dinner, waiting on American Idol to come on....same ol' same ol'. Bradley looks at his schedule for this weekend...NOTHING. No watch, duty, flights...nodda. Very weird seeing as how I feel like I rarely see him half the time. I was ecstatic! Three whole days with no "Navy"! We are some pretty serious homebodies and are perfectly content sitting on the couch all weekend and doing laundry. Haha. BUT, we decided to eat supper, pack and head to New Orleans for the weekend. I got on Priceline, put in a 'name your own price' 4-star hotel for $90 and I got it! I've never been so I was really excited. We left Friday morning and got there around 1. It's only a little over 3 hours from here so it wasn't bad. Checked into our hotel and off we went to see the sights. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. It was very dirty, smelled something terrible, had really weird people and boobies everywhere, and PIEGONS! Holy cow..they were everywhere. New Orleans is one of those places you need to visit if you've never been, but it wasn't as nice as I expected. I guess I got spoiled with Bradley being in Annapolis, MD for 4 years then us living there because I was expecting something a little more like that. But regardless. Friday we did all of Bourbon Street, Cafe Du Monde (Beignets are amazing!), the Cathedral and river walk area, the outdoor open market, ate at an awesome cajun resturant, headed down Canal Street then back to our hotel because all the creepies started to come out by then. We crashed pretty early that night.
Saturday we had made reservations for the famous brunch at The Court of Two Sisters...A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Probably both of our favorite part of the weekend. We were stuffed so we walked a little of it off then headed to Harrah's Casino! We have never gambled before, but what the heck?! We decided we weren't going to spend over $20 in there (I know, disgraceful to those who gamble). We didn't win anything but it was definitely an experience I will never forget! We really couldn't find anything else we wanted to do there so we decided to come back home early. (I told you, we're homebodies!)
All in all, it was a great trip and a much needed getaway. The Navy has Bradley gone the majority of the time, and if he is here, he's studying. So it was a nice break! And as always, more pictures are on Facebook!
Saturday we had made reservations for the famous brunch at The Court of Two Sisters...A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Probably both of our favorite part of the weekend. We were stuffed so we walked a little of it off then headed to Harrah's Casino! We have never gambled before, but what the heck?! We decided we weren't going to spend over $20 in there (I know, disgraceful to those who gamble). We didn't win anything but it was definitely an experience I will never forget! We really couldn't find anything else we wanted to do there so we decided to come back home early. (I told you, we're homebodies!)
All in all, it was a great trip and a much needed getaway. The Navy has Bradley gone the majority of the time, and if he is here, he's studying. So it was a nice break! And as always, more pictures are on Facebook!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Couponing 101
I have become obsessed interested in this whole couponing craze! I mean, 'HELLO!' who doesn't love free $$$? If I can save $50-$60/week just buying cutting up some paper, I'm there! I'm still learning, and I coupon 'Lauren's way." I get a little annoyed with some of the couponing sites, shows, etc. because all these women have 3-4 pantries full of stuff they have bought cheap/free. That's great for them but we are a military family and could move at the drop of a hat. I can't afford to buy 3 extra freezers to store frozen food....it's impossible to move. So, I'm doing it my own way. I love saving and I love stocking up, but I'm not a crazy shopper, I'm just economical. Yes, toothpaste may be free with a combination of coupons and yes, I may buy 2 tubes but I'm not going to buy 17 of them...just because they're free. Yes, I guess when we're 30 we will eventually use them up but I can't imagine using the same tasting toothpaste for 8 more years. I like variety, I like to use new things and I'm not going to go insane buying things. There is nothing wrong with it, but it's just not economical for us and it just doesn't make sense. I don't want 15 boxes of the same cereal to eat for the rest of my life. I like variety! So..here is how I shop!
1. It is best to chose ONE grocery store and ONE drug store to center your sales and coupons around. I use Publix and CVS and have been doing that for a while. We also have a Winn-Dixie at the end of our street and I am hoping to start incorporating them in and shopping off of each sales to save even more! The reason I chose these is:
2. I only clip coupons of things I use or want to try. If I'm kind-of 'iffy' I don't clip it. Just because I have a coupon and it's on sale doesn't mean I need to buy it. A lot of shoppers buy "stuff" because it was cheap...but if you're never going to use it, what's the point? So what you only paid $1 for it, it's a waste of a $1 if it just expires or collects dust. For example, we don't have animals. I'm not going to buy cat/dog food just because it's free if I have no use for it. I know it seems elementary, but I have seen it before! Some just get on these "free" trip to the store that they get everything that's free and it doesn't make sense!
3. Other than saving money, my other favorite reason for couponing is getting to try new things! If I have a coupon for something I want to try, wait until it goes on sale, combine it with you coupons and you can try it for cheap (or free!). So if you don't like it, it's just a small loss. For example, I have SUPER sensitive skin and can't use hardly anything. When Dove came out with their new body wash a few weeks ago I wanted to try it. With the specialty introductory price they were offering it with and the coupon I had, I got a whole bottle for cents! I ended up loving it, but if I didn't or if it had broken me out, I wouldn't have been out that much.
4. I never buy more than we can eat/use within a month. Like I said earlier, our storage space is limited. I saw a lady the other day that literally had 8-10 jars of spagetti sauce in her buggy. Maybe she was cooking for an army! If something like that is 'buy one, get one' (like it was that time), I only buy 2-4. That's 4 good italian meals, one a week. And I know that Publix has that sale every month..so it doesn't make sense to buy more than that. Plus, it spoils! Food does have expiration dates, even things you don't think about!!
5. Don't stress. It can get overwhelming and stressful the first few times but eventually it comes second nature. Just have fun!
6. My sources! If you don't get a newspaper, subscribe! We only get the Saturday & Sunday paper and it's super cheap! Coupons come on Sundays. Other than those coupons, the internet is my friend! My favorite sites are:
Lysol Disinfecting Wipes (the large container!): $4.99 each
Buy One Get One Free so I got 2 for $4.99 plus I had a $1 coupon when you buy two.
Total: 2 for $3.99
Kraft Shredded Cheese: On sale this week 2/$4
I had a coupon for $1 off 2
Total: 2/$3
Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce: $2.87 each
Buy One Get One Free so I got 2 for $2.87 combined with a $1 off 2 coupon
Total: 2/$1.87
I had much more but I've forgotten them! I shop once a week (a big trip) and only venture back if I see something on a deeeeeep sale or just forgot something. I am going to post my biggest savings each week!
1. It is best to chose ONE grocery store and ONE drug store to center your sales and coupons around. I use Publix and CVS and have been doing that for a while. We also have a Winn-Dixie at the end of our street and I am hoping to start incorporating them in and shopping off of each sales to save even more! The reason I chose these is:
- Closest to our home = less gas!
- Publix does GREAT 'Buy one, get one free' deals. and they are awesome! It's not stupid stuff no one uses, it's really great! They usually have about 20 items per week on that list! For example, some of last weeks items were: Bertolli pasta sauces, Flatout tortilla wraps, Lysol disinfecting wipes, and many more.
- Publix also accepts all coupons (internet and the ones from the newspaper).
- CVS has great weekly deals and when paired with a coupon are mostly always free.
2. I only clip coupons of things I use or want to try. If I'm kind-of 'iffy' I don't clip it. Just because I have a coupon and it's on sale doesn't mean I need to buy it. A lot of shoppers buy "stuff" because it was cheap...but if you're never going to use it, what's the point? So what you only paid $1 for it, it's a waste of a $1 if it just expires or collects dust. For example, we don't have animals. I'm not going to buy cat/dog food just because it's free if I have no use for it. I know it seems elementary, but I have seen it before! Some just get on these "free" trip to the store that they get everything that's free and it doesn't make sense!
3. Other than saving money, my other favorite reason for couponing is getting to try new things! If I have a coupon for something I want to try, wait until it goes on sale, combine it with you coupons and you can try it for cheap (or free!). So if you don't like it, it's just a small loss. For example, I have SUPER sensitive skin and can't use hardly anything. When Dove came out with their new body wash a few weeks ago I wanted to try it. With the specialty introductory price they were offering it with and the coupon I had, I got a whole bottle for cents! I ended up loving it, but if I didn't or if it had broken me out, I wouldn't have been out that much.
4. I never buy more than we can eat/use within a month. Like I said earlier, our storage space is limited. I saw a lady the other day that literally had 8-10 jars of spagetti sauce in her buggy. Maybe she was cooking for an army! If something like that is 'buy one, get one' (like it was that time), I only buy 2-4. That's 4 good italian meals, one a week. And I know that Publix has that sale every month..so it doesn't make sense to buy more than that. Plus, it spoils! Food does have expiration dates, even things you don't think about!!
5. Don't stress. It can get overwhelming and stressful the first few times but eventually it comes second nature. Just have fun!
6. My sources! If you don't get a newspaper, subscribe! We only get the Saturday & Sunday paper and it's super cheap! Coupons come on Sundays. Other than those coupons, the internet is my friend! My favorite sites are:
- http://www.southernsavers.com/ You can go there and see daily deals that she has found! Plus, you can subscribe and she emails everyday with new deals, how to get them (which coupons to combine) and a weekly email with other links. I mainly use this one..it's great!
- www.coupons.com
- www.redplum.com
- www.smartsource.com
Lysol Disinfecting Wipes (the large container!): $4.99 each
Buy One Get One Free so I got 2 for $4.99 plus I had a $1 coupon when you buy two.
Total: 2 for $3.99
Kraft Shredded Cheese: On sale this week 2/$4
I had a coupon for $1 off 2
Total: 2/$3
Bertolli Spaghetti Sauce: $2.87 each
Buy One Get One Free so I got 2 for $2.87 combined with a $1 off 2 coupon
Total: 2/$1.87
I had much more but I've forgotten them! I shop once a week (a big trip) and only venture back if I see something on a deeeeeep sale or just forgot something. I am going to post my biggest savings each week!
Bradley's Birthday!
Welp, he's another year older! I really hate my birthday and really don't look forward to it every year. Not cause of the gettin' older business, I just don't care. But now Bradley's....well, that's another story! I must make his great, fabulous, SPOIL HIM! :-) I have wanted my grandparents to come visit us for a while now but just couldn't get it to work out. My mom finally had a weekend where she could come and bring them, and it just happened to be Bradley's birthday weekend! He loves my grandparents (of course, how couldn't you?!) so he was really excited.
My grandpa is a Air Force Veteran and was in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was stationed in Mobile, AL (about an hour from here) when he was in service and really wanted to go back and see what had changed. The old air field he was stationed at is now the 'Mobile Downtown' airport so it's pretty impossible for him to go back and see it. So, ding-ding-ding...I had an idea! Bradley LOVES to fly civilian (probably more than military with his current situation) so I wanted to get him in the air for his birthday. So he took my grandpa up, all over Pensacola, and over the old Brookley Air Force base so he could see it. Let me tell you, they had a BALL! I have never seen Bradley OR my grandpa smile so much!! It was a wonderful experience for my grandpa and was awesome for Bradley to be able to give that to him!! They were both grinning ear to ear, not sure if you could tell just exactly who's birthday it was!!
Saturday night we went out to eat for B's birthday and it was amazing!!!! Right on the beach..perfect weather! Man, I love living here!!! We had the coolest waiter and of course to embarrass the snot out of my husband, I told him it was his birthday. They 'free cake' sounded disgusting and told him not to worry about it because he wouldn't touch it. They did have this really $$ chocolate heart-attack cake on the menu but of course they couldn't do that one, or so I THOUGHT! I had no idea but here comes the waiters/waitresses with the manager approved :-) HUGE cake! It was awesome. Bradley usually would have been ready to murder me but when he saw the cake I think he was just in awe, I know I was!
The rest of the weekend was really just spent chilling out with them and enjoying every minute! I of course love it when my mom comes but I am so grateful that my grandparents got to come visit! My step-grandmother had never been to the Gulf, or Florida and she was blown away. She kept telling us that we live in the most beautiful place in the whole entire world....and I agree....
And lastly, his awesome birthday cake!
Aaaaaaaaaand a picture of me and mom from the weekend. She somehow always seem to sneak out of pictures...she's pretty awesome at that. :-)
My grandpa is a Air Force Veteran and was in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was stationed in Mobile, AL (about an hour from here) when he was in service and really wanted to go back and see what had changed. The old air field he was stationed at is now the 'Mobile Downtown' airport so it's pretty impossible for him to go back and see it. So, ding-ding-ding...I had an idea! Bradley LOVES to fly civilian (probably more than military with his current situation) so I wanted to get him in the air for his birthday. So he took my grandpa up, all over Pensacola, and over the old Brookley Air Force base so he could see it. Let me tell you, they had a BALL! I have never seen Bradley OR my grandpa smile so much!! It was a wonderful experience for my grandpa and was awesome for Bradley to be able to give that to him!! They were both grinning ear to ear, not sure if you could tell just exactly who's birthday it was!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
-Life Changing-
A few months back Bradley busts in the back door one morning all excited and can't WAIT to tell me what he had just heard on the radio. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was here, in Pensacola, building a house. We have always watched and loved this show. We record it every Sunday and always said, "I would LOVE to help with one of those!" I was busy that day, so Bradley took off to the site in hopes to volunteer. Fortunately for him, it hadn't been advertised that much yet so not many people know about it. He got to volunteer right away. He loved it!
He came home that night for dinner totally ecstatic, made me call into work for the next day, and we worked that night shift. I haven't never felt so honored and privileged to pick up trash, which was our job that night!
With work and life, I only got to go back one more time after that but B went back several more times after that. We loved seeing the designers (who are a LOT different in person!), and Bradley loved meeting Ty. B has always said that if he ever got the opportunity to meet him he wanted to thank him for all he has done for these families, and Bradley got the opportunity to do that. :-) One day we were both there, we got pulled aside to do a shoot with Johny and Tracy. Apparently they made a bet with Ty that they could make it snow in Florida? So we got to make snowmen with them out of crushed ice. Can you saydisaster. I highly doubt that will make it on tv it was so horrible! Fun, but horrible!
We've talked about it many times since then and it was absolutely THE MOST rewarding thing we have ever done. We didn't meet the family, but we felt like we knew them. I was absolutely in awe of how many people came out to volunteer. Whether it was 5 minutes or 5 days, people honestly wanted to help this family. No one knew them, or their family, or their story for the most part- but people wanted to help. It was amazing to me. If you ever get the opportunity to help with this, DO IT!
The show airs this coming Sunday on ABC at 8/7c!
--I can't show pictures of the house until it airs, but check out my Facebook page after Sunday for more!--
He came home that night for dinner totally ecstatic, made me call into work for the next day, and we worked that night shift. I haven't never felt so honored and privileged to pick up trash, which was our job that night!
With work and life, I only got to go back one more time after that but B went back several more times after that. We loved seeing the designers (who are a LOT different in person!), and Bradley loved meeting Ty. B has always said that if he ever got the opportunity to meet him he wanted to thank him for all he has done for these families, and Bradley got the opportunity to do that. :-) One day we were both there, we got pulled aside to do a shoot with Johny and Tracy. Apparently they made a bet with Ty that they could make it snow in Florida? So we got to make snowmen with them out of crushed ice. Can you say
We've talked about it many times since then and it was absolutely THE MOST rewarding thing we have ever done. We didn't meet the family, but we felt like we knew them. I was absolutely in awe of how many people came out to volunteer. Whether it was 5 minutes or 5 days, people honestly wanted to help this family. No one knew them, or their family, or their story for the most part- but people wanted to help. It was amazing to me. If you ever get the opportunity to help with this, DO IT!
The show airs this coming Sunday on ABC at 8/7c!
--I can't show pictures of the house until it airs, but check out my Facebook page after Sunday for more!--
Sunday, November 14, 2010
I've got the "Blues"...
I can't even begin to express how much I LOVE 4 day weekends! For real, 4 whole days with my wonderful hubby doing nothing but hanging out on base with the Blue Angels! Hello....awesome! Well, maybe a little more awesome for B...I don't really 'get' planes. Anyways, this weekend was the homecoming show for the Blues...they came home for their last show of the season. Exciting for us to see the show but kinda bittersweet to know that it's going to be several months before we have them buzzing over our house again. We had a blast at the show!
I've also got a new project I'm working on that I'm really excited about! I'm wanting to start my own cake/cupcake/cookie business!! This week is hopefully going to be my first 'trial' so I will be sure to post some pictures! Here's to hoping to success!!
I've also got a new project I'm working on that I'm really excited about! I'm wanting to start my own cake/cupcake/cookie business!! This week is hopefully going to be my first 'trial' so I will be sure to post some pictures! Here's to hoping to success!!
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