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25 April, 2011

Monday, Monday, Monday


Oh Monday you came again too soon! We had a fabulous weekend! Unfortunatley I am slacking with picture taking, but that's because I discovered my digital camera is broken. My sweet sweet fiance bought us a new one so we would have one for the honeymoon, and I can't wait for it to get here!!! :) He got a great deal on it from eBay too.. he also became addicted to eBay in the process which isn't so good! Haha


Today I was off of school and work(I know, crazy!!) It was so nice. Crossed several things off my list for the wedding. Finished a take home final, cleaned the apartment, got in a nice long work out, AND got to lay out with my sweet cousin, Mandy for a couple hours! Wonderful day!

Now my work week gets in full swing tomorrow and my last finals are Wednesday! I don't even care because I graduate on Saturday! Woo hoo! :)

My current major items to cross off the wedding list: Marriage license(pretty crucial, right?) and finding some really cute jewelry for my bridesmaids to go with their dresses.

Oh, oh, oh! I forgot we got our first 2 wedding gifts today! :) So exciting!!! I can't believe how close it is!!!!!!

Well anyway, it's sadly my bedtime already! I promise to catch up again soon, I know I have been a slacker!

Happy Monday y'all! :)

21 April, 2011

Fun giveaway to check out..

Before I head to work today, I saw this giveaway on one of my favorite blogs, This Kind of Love. Jamie over @ This Kind of Love is going away a copy of the movie Fireproof. If you haven't heard of the movie, it's about a married couple who find themselves struggling in their marriage, so the husband's dad issues him a challenge called, The Love Dare.
It's a 40-day challenge to strengthen their marriage. I have actually yet to see the movie, but my soon to be mother in law saw it several months ago and told us we should really watch it before we get married next month.

Since a lot of my blog friends are either engaged, moving in that direction, or newlyweds, I thought this would be a cool thing for everyone to check out! To enter the giveaway is easy! Head over to This Kind of Love and follow her, then add a comment on the giveaway post. For an extra entry post about the give away on your blog. Easy enough! :) Good luck everyone and have a wonderful day!

20 April, 2011

And now a bit early..

Not enough time in the day these days, so when I get a second, I'll just go ahead and write both! :) How is it already Thursday?!? Head over and link up with Nicole@ Flip Flops and Combat Boots for Thursday 5!!
This week's words:
 
Dazzling
Spectacular
Terrific
Perfect
Ecstatic
 
1) We went to see Disney on Ice tonight with my wonderful cousins and the show was Dazzling!! We had such a good time, and the best part was playing with sweet baby boy Trae! He is such a little doll! He definitley keeps us all entertained!
 
2) (Other than this morning) The weather has been Spectacular!! Warm and sunny, but thankfully not too hot and humid yet!
 
3) I finished ALL of my undergrad assignments as of yesterday and it feels Terrific!! Just my finals now and I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
 
4) Tonight, I get off work at 5 and I don't have to work anywhere else! :) Perfect night at home with my almost hubby is what we have planned! I'm cooking a yummy dinner and then we'll watch a movie.. can't wait for quittin' time tonight! :)
 
5) Today OFFICIALLY marks exactly ONE month til our wedding!!! Words can't describe how ECSTATIC I am!!!!!
 
I know my Thursday 5 seems pretty redundant the last few weeks, but I promise my life will change soon! After next week, no more school!! So I'll be working full time and hopefully have more interesting things to talk about. And in just a month we'll be married so no more wedding talk, just newlywed stories! Bear with them.. I'm in the middle of some HUGE changes, but I'll be more interesting soon I promise!!
 
Happy Thursday y'all! :)

Just barely made it..

AGAIN!! My life has been so crazy this week that I just barely make it in time for my favorite link ups! And sadly, I haven't found time to write a real post... BAD! I will catch up soon, promise!! But for now, without further ado, What I'm loving Wednesdays!!
There's a LOT to be loving this Wednsday! 
I started my new job, and I'm seriously loving it!
Find Pensacola Beach Vacation Rentals Here!
I'm loving that I turned in my LAST under grad presentation EVER today!!(However, I'm not loving these last few finals standing between me and graduation!!)
Product Image
I'm loving that I finally made myself decide on shoes for my bridesmaids! One thing to mark off the wedding check list! Which is good since we're officially at 30 days!!
 
And of course, I'm always loving my sweet, sweet boys!!
 
Happy Wednesday y'all! :)

18 April, 2011

Quick Monday hello!

Hello all! I know I have been M.I.A. since Thursday(very BAD on my part!) But I was in Panama City Beach all weekend working for my dad at the SeaBreeze Jazz Festival with my cousin, Mandy. It was a loooong weekend of working, but we did manage to sneak in some fun! :)

Got home late last night and had to be up early this morning... started my first day at my NEW job!! (YES, I did get the job I interviewed for last week!! :)) I'm so excited! The people are so nice, and I love the work so far. Also, I got good news when I went in this morning that they decided to pay me more than they initially had said! The downfall is now I have to quit my current job. I'm going in the morning to put in my 2 weeks and it's going to be sad. I really loved the people I worked with!

I finally talked Stephen into moving the month after the wedding so I'm already in the process of looking at houses.. I love starting fresh in a new house! :) On the same note, we're now just over ONE month away from our wedding! WOW! So much still to do.

This is my last week of classes, just one presentation and 2 finals seperate me from graduation next Saturday! Since I was gone all weekend I'm in the process of catching up on some cleaning, laundry, organizing, and homework/wedding stuff. Needless to say I'm one more thought away from a mild panic attack! So I apoloize in advance I will probably be M.I.A. again this week since I work everyday until Sunday and need to wrap up homework and last minute wedding details.. hopefully I'll have a more interesting post soon.. i'm almost DONE!! :) Happy Monday y'all!
 

13 April, 2011

And since it's now Thursday..

Here is my other favorite weekly link up.... Thursday 5!!

 
A huge thank you to Nicole from Flip Flops and Combat Boots to hosting this one every week! :) LOVE it!
 
This weeks words:
Delicious
Exciting
Awesome
Rewarding
Priceless
1) Tonight I copied my mom and made one of Stephen's favorite dinners. Pork tenderloin, fried(mexican lol) rice, and green beans. It was Delicious! So glad my mama's such a good cook!

2) I had a very Exciting job interview the other day and I feel like it went very well! Still praying it works out and hoping to hear back very soon! :)

3) The weather here has been Awesome!! So warm during the day for getting tan, but cool at night. Stephen and I actually ate our dinner outside on our balcony tonight.. soooo relaxing!

4) Graduation is just over two weeks away now! It's so Rewarding now to look at a class syllabus and see that everything is done but taking finals! Oh how I will NOT miss undergrad!

5) Got a phone call tonight from Trae baby.. he's little voice is too cute! He's growing up so fast and these little moments are Priceless!! It's so funny to see how much he's grown up already! :)
   isn't he a doll?! I just love him to pieces!

It's been a wonderful week and I can't believe it's already Thursday!! Long weekend ahead working for my dad at the jazz festival in panama city, I will be sure to take pictures and will try to post again when I get a chance.

Happy Thursday y'all! :)

Barely made it in time for WILW...

So, I was laying in bed, the future hubs fast asleep already, when I realized.. I hadn't posted my What I'm loving Wednesday post! Ahhh! It's one of my two favorite posts for the week! So just in the knick of time, without further ado, here you go: :)
I love that Jamie @ LittleDaisyMay hosts this every week!

I love that I finally went grocery shopping today! (Boy, did we need food!) I love that I found this awesome tabouli mix so I could make homemade tabouli salad! One of my favorites! Unfortunatley for the guy that ones Four Winds market, I won't need to go in there to buy it anymore because it's way cheaper and just as delicious to make it myself!
YUMMY!!

I'm loving that we finally decided on, ordered, and are now currently waiting on Stephen's wedding band!(Good thing too since there's only 37 days til our wedding now!! Eeeep!)
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I love it, because I think it's different! :)

I love, love, love that Stephen's been making the drive home every night in stead of staying on base and we've been able to cook/eat dinner together and watch our favorite shows! Pretty much my favorite past time! :)

I'm LOVING the awesome weather we've been having! Gorgeous, sunny, and warm all day and clear and cool enough to have the windows open at night! My skin sure is loving the tan!

I'm loving how LAZY my Natty dog is!


I'm seriously LOVING the fact that we've already gotten so many RSVPs back for the wedding! My mom called me tonight to tell me that she checked the mail today and had 18! 18!!! (They just went out on Friday), love that people respond so quickly! (Mom was excited but I think it secretly stresses her out a bit too, it's amazing how quickly weddings grow! ;)

I love that's already Wednesday and this week is already almost over.. next week is the last week of actual class then a couple finals... LOVE that!! Hello graduation! :)

LOVE life! Happy Wednesday y'all!

12 April, 2011

Bridal shower, 21st birthday, job interview, OH MY!!

It's been a few days since I've posted anything, but boy has it been a whirlwind around here and it's only Tuesday! We had quite a weekend and it really hasn't slowed down since, so I will attempt to catch everyone up...

Saturday was my bridal shower! (I'm sure everyone remembers me counting down to it!) It was awesome! Lots of talking, laughing, and catching up with my family and friends. We played that clothes pin game where you steal other people's if they say a certain word but this version involved stealing the person's pin if they said the groom's name. Needless to say, mine was gone with in minutes. Some of my cousins were great at tricking other people by asking leading questions to get them to say Stephen's name. Too funny!
I didn't really get that many pins...
Me with all my WONDERFUL bridesmaids!! :)
We got TONS of great things, we're truly blessed!!!

It was an amazing time, and I'm so blessed to have so many amazing people in my lives and I'm truly thankful for everyone that came/helped with the shower!! THANK YOU!!

Three generations of mothers and daughters! :)
**Cool side note, my mom's friends from high school threw my shower, they were MOM'S bridesmaids.. how cool is that?!

As if, that wasn't enough for one day my cousin/best friend FINALLY turned 21!! So we had quite the night celebrating with her out at the beach! So glad she's legal!! :)
All 4 cousins.. all grown up!

Me and the birthday girl!
Me, my love, and our favorite little one, Trae!!

Happy birthday Mandy!! Welcome to the over 21 club! :)

Sunday naturally required some sleeping in! Then we went to have lunch with two of my best friends, Lisa, Whitney, and Whitney's sweet baby girl, Annisten! Then we made the trek into Pace to visit Stephen's grandparents and get all the details on our awesome vacation(AGAIN, SO blessed and grateful for this great opportunity!!!!)

We'll be spending a week in the Bahamas and Stephen's mom and grandparents have been down there a few times so they filled us in on all the do's and don'ts of the trip.... so can't wait to be here:
 The crazy thing is we will be there in 1 month and 9 days, and I'll be Mrs. Lauren Volheim :) Whoaaaaaaa so exciting!

Yesterday was less exciting.. class, trying to get them wrapped up. Only a week and a half left until graduation and I couldn't be more excited!!

Today, I went to my pilates class then had what I hope to be a very promising job interview. I won't say too much about that right now until I find out for sure.. they said I would know at the end of the week so until then prayers are appreciated! :)

Now to wait on the future husband to get home and hang out! Finally a quiet night in... I think lol. Hopefully just dinner and some chill time.. we still have a dining room table full of bridal shower gifts that need to be put away!!!

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful week! :)

08 April, 2011

MilSpouse round up..

It's Friday! So for the rest of your millie's you know that it's time for the MilSpouse weekly round up. As the "rules" state you don't have to post a new blog, but you can just link up on from previously in the week. Well nothing too exciting happened this week, so I found a military themed survey that I thought would be appropriate for the link up. All you other MilSpouses grab the button and head on over to Our Crazy Life to link up!

 


1. How long have you been a military wife?
I'm technically not a "wife" until next month. But i've been a very proud Air Force Fiancee since May of last year.    

2. What branch of service is your husband?
United States Air Force- Fly. Fight. Win!! :)

3. Active/Reserve?
Currently Reserve, but we're hoping there's opportunity to change that down the road

4. What is his job?
C-130 Crew Chief
5. How many deployments have you gone through?
None yet, he was gone for 9 months with BMT and AIT so we're enjoying this training period and hoping  we get a break first
 
6. Camo or dress uniforms on your man?
ABU's for sure!! Something about those uniforms are very hott ;) 

7. What do you like about being a military wife?
Well, we haven't been in for very long and being reserve it's a little different because we haven't had to move yet, but I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of awesome people through this lifestyle.

8. Do you live on base?
Nope, currently reserve
9. What is your favorite base so far?
I've only visited we've never lived at one. I'm sure Stephen would disagree, but I liked Lackland.

10. What is the hardest part of the military life?
Being apart and the schedule. Luckily Stephen is on days, but some of the guys get on crazy schedules.
 

11. Do you go to the grocery store or Commissary?
Both. The commissary is a bit of a drive for us since we don't live on base. When we're doing a lot of shopping we go to the commissary, but usually we'll just go to the grocery store

12. Do you work or stay at home?
Work

13. Do you have a lot of military wife friends? 
I've met several in the short time Stephen has been in, I've also met the really cool people Stephen has worked/trained with and become good friends with many of them too.

14. Do you prefer Walmart or the BX/PX/NEX/MCX?
Walmart, we don't ever drive over to the BX
15. How did your husband propose? 

It was perfect, he did such a good job! But it's a long story and the condensed version doesn't do it justice so I'll let you read about it here.
 
16. Did you marry him after he joined or before?
We'll be married after, but we were engaged before

17. How long have you been together?
Since November 29, 2007

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Any kids?
Just our Natty dog.. the best American bulldog ever :)
19. Any kids yet to come?
We both definitley want kids.. but in a few years, we just want to get married and enjoy the honeymoon phase first!

20. Is your husband one of those "I am soldier hear me HOOAH" kind of guys?
Not at all.. he's kind of the opposite actually
21. Have you ever done combatives with your husband?
Umm.. no.
 
22. How many bases have you lived at?
None
23. If you could change one thing about the military?
Sometimes, they just aren't very efficient

24. Do you like military balls?
I've never been, but I'm sure I would.. any excuse to get all dressed up!

25. Where does your family live?
Both of our families live here. Mine in Pensacola, his in Pace

26. What do you do for a job?
Currently I work part time as a receptionist in an optometrist's office, but I graduate at the end of the month and will be looking for something full time
27. Have you ever gotten in a fight with an NCO's wife?
No

28. Name one thing you do when your husband is gone.
Spend a LOT of time at my parents, watch ridiculous tv, and go to the gym more
29. Do you think other wives do that too?
Yes, definitley

07 April, 2011

Thursday five... Wait Thursday already?!?!?!

Yup, believe it or not it's already Thursday! I'm not entirely sure where the weeks keep going! But I'm not really complaining! I love weekends(well the weekends that Stephen is off!) because we can stay up past 10 pm, go to the beach, and just enjoy hanging out together! I also love that now I only have THREE more weeks of school left til graduation.. that's just CRAZY! It also means we're at the 6 week mark on the wedding countdown! WHOA!(In fact, we're coming up on the first anniversary of our engagement :))
But I digress, back to my original reason for this post, it's that time of the week again! One of my favorite link ups, it's time for my Thursday 5! I love linking up to this creative post by Flip Flops and Combat Boots, so you should get creative, grab the words and the button and link up too!



This week has a fun little twist. Nicole chose to use Boston slang words. I had to laugh when I read them. Being that I'm from the deep south and most of these words I've never used in my life, this one may prove a little tricky! But here goes nothing!
Wicked (definition: very)
Mint (definition: excellent!)
Pissa (definition: cool, good)
Fresh (definition: describes any undesired behavior)
Wicked Pissa (definition: something is so cool there's no words to describe it)

1) As I posted above, I am Wicked excited about the next several weeks! Time is flying and there is so much to countdown right now!

2) Some of the most Mint people ever are throwing my bridal shower on Saturday and I'm beyond excited! :)

3) After many missed dates, I will finally be hanging out with my long lost friend, Scotti tonight. I'm thinking that making a Pissa dinner here at the house and having some wine will make for a relaxing evening! (Orrrr maybe 99cent margarita night at los rancheros.. ya never know! ;))

4) So my apartment complex managers thought it would be a good idea to resurface our balcony ceilings. I think this idea is more Fresh than anything and it is really getting on my nerves!

5) So I just wanted to say this morning that my mom is Wicked Pissa!!! She always has been, but she's been super incredible with all this wedding stuff! Seriously, without her nothing would be done! She text me this morning to let me know the wedding invitations went out today.. Eeeeeekk! I can't wait til people start getting them and we start getting our RSVPs back!!! :D

**Side note: I'm laughing because when I link up and Nicole, or anyone else actually familiar with Boston slang will probably laugh at my ridiculous attempt at the words! They were amusing if nothing else! :)

I know I post about wedding stuff all the time(and i'm sure that gets a little old!), but I rarely post about the real reason for the day. I'm beyond ecstatic to be marrying my BEST friend! Seriously, he makes me laugh like no one else, and he laughs at how truly goofy I am. He's one of the few people I feel so comfortable letting my guard down completely with and just being the complete goober that I am. I love that we both love cooking dinner at home, then spending the rest of the night on the couch watching movies or jeopardy because we're both big dorks! :) He really is my other half and I'm SO thankful to have him! :D

Ok enough being mushy for today! Time to go get something done.. remember it's Thursday only one more day to the weekend.. so smile!!

Finally mastering this blog thing!

So it only took me several months of blogging, but today I was finally determined! I sat down and figured out how to make a better looking blog header aaaand a blog button!!

Here's my new button:

And the code:

So, feel free to grab it! :) That's about the most productive thing I've done today, sadly! I've been working on that all day, then went to class. Then by the time I got home, my amazing fiance was home and had started dinner and rented a movie(he even rented a chic flick for me! :) ) So we ate dinner, watched Jeopardy(unfortunately, he's currently house champion!), watched our movie, then bed time! As you can see I'm still awake.. I haven't fully adjusted to this new schedule. But he's been asleep for a couple hours now. Now that I'm content (for now, at least) with my new header and blog button. I think I will call it a night. I'm still working on the header. I want it to be more professional looking, but my computer doesn't have publisher or any good design software so this is all i've got for now, but i'm going to see what I can do. It's Thursday already y'all, so that means just one more day til the weekend!

06 April, 2011

It's that time again....


Yup, it's What I'm Loving Wednesday!! So tell us what you're loving today and head on over to this kind of love to link up!


Personally, today I'm loving that it's already WEDNESDAY!! Feels like the week just started but we're half way through. That means two things: 1) I only have three more weeks left in school FOREVER!! and 2) my bridal shower is on Saturday and I'm super excited!! I'm so blessed to have such awesome people in  my life to do something like that for me! I've showed them before but they're just so cute.. here are the invitations to my shower that I just LOVE ..

They were made by Jen @ Gaboodles, Ink. and she's into EVERYthing so definitley check her out!
I also love that this weekend means my wittle seestor will be coming home!! Beach day Friday! :) Excited to see her!


I'm loving this awesome weather we've been having, got a little cool the last two days but it's a nice reminder that it's still spring, not summer yet!

I'm loving that we got the honeymoon flights booked last night! My awesome soon-to-be grandparents-in-law were amazing for giving us their timeshare for the week, so Port Lucaya, Bahamas here we come!!


I'm loving that there are only 45 days until our wedding!! Finally picked the menu Monday night with mom and Stephen, just the last few little details and we're there.

I'm also loving that on Sunday my amazing cousin, Mandy FINALLY turns 21 and we'll be celebrating with her Saturday night!!

I'm loving that my airman finally went back to work after a 6 week "break"! I definitley miss him being home, but LOVE that he's back to work which means paycheck again! I'm also loving that him and Bryan have decided to carpool so he'll come home at night instead of staying on base. I wasn't too excited about that idea.

Of course, I'm loving my sweet fiance and puppy dog!

Happy Wednesday!! :)


04 April, 2011

Military Monday blog hop and some catching up!




It's Military Monday blog hop.. so head over there and link up! This seems pretty apropriate for my day since the military is exactly what I was going to vent about. There is so much going on in our lives it's been a whirlwind! I had felt like things were settling down with school winding down and all, then it became decision time.

Stephen is doing his seasoning training at Duke Field for the next 6 months. It's only a little over an hour away, but that makes for a pretty miserable commute and with gas prices being so outrageous driving back and forth doesn't seem very practical. I'm done with school at the end of the month so there's really no real need for me to be over here since I'm only working part time jobs. It's time to get a full time grown up job. So I've been sending my resume out and applying to places closer to his base so that we can just move over there. Originally we thought about just staying where we're at and he would live at the dorms during the week and come home on weekends, but that's not really the way I want to spend the first 5 months of our marriage when we don't have to.

Sounds simple enough? Ya, right. Our lease is up at the end of May, but we get married May 21st then will be gone for a week on our honeymoon. Putting us back in town on May 29th. So either we pay extra and stay in this apartment and move at the end of June(back to the commuting issue). Or we try to hurry up and be moved before the wedding. This doesn't seem so crazy to me seeing as how come May 1st, school is officially done, internship is over, and I will just be working a few days a week. So packing would be pretty easy. But that means I have to find us an apartment or rental house over there pretty quickly so we can get everything finalized, not so easy!

Job hunting thing, also not so easy. I've sent at least 20 emails with me resume replying to job ads and applied for open jobs and the base and have yet to hear anything. I know we're supposed to trust God to handle everything, but sometimes I wish he would let me in on his plans because he knows i'm not a very patient person! In the mean time I'll just keep praying that things start falling into place.... Ahh, military/newlywed/recent college grad life! To be in kindergarten again!! Happy Monday y'all!