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29 June, 2011

What I'm loving Wednesday!

Yay! What I'm loving Wednesday! Head on over to Jamie's blog at This Kind of Love to link up too!

Wednesday already?! This week is flying! Which is one thing I am loving today! I have an extra long week this week. 6 working days, but then a holiday weekend! Woo hoo! I do have to work Saturday, but I get Sunday, Monday, and half a day Tuesday! Yipeeee!

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! I don't know our plans yet still. But we are kicking off the weekend with a little get together at the new house. I'm LOVING this. I've gotten all kinds of yummy ideas for snacks to make that night, and my favorite part is that we're making a HUGE slip n' slide in the back yard! Can you say fun?!

I'm loving that tonight Stephen and I are going to eat dinner at my parent's house and FINALLY deciding on wedding pictures! We've had the proofs for a month, but haven't decided what we wanted and printed and what we want put in the photo book. There's so many pictures it's just too hard to decide! I'm really looking forward to seeing my parents. Now that we live further away, we don't see them as often. Before we moved we went over there for dinner 2 or 3 times a week. The flip side of that is I'm getting more creative with my cooking! (Husband is enjoying this!)

I am LOVING getting settled into the new house. Which also means I'm  LOVING getting a little creative in my decorating skills! I'm no Martha Stewart. My mom got all those genes and kept them for herself, but I'm trying, and recruiting her to help!


I'm LOVING this comforter set to go in our sherbert green guest room. What do you think?



I'm LOVING that it's FINALLY almost the end of this work day! I'm ready to head to my parents' for a yummy dinner and a visit and to see my sweet husband! (Who I'm ALWAYS loving by the way!)



ONE YEAR

ago today, Stephen and Bryan boarded that plane and headed to San Antonio, TX for 8.5 weeks of Air Force boot camp!  WOW! I just can't believe it's been a year. Some days it feels like forever ago, and some days it feels like just yesterday. The craziest thing is even though he's been home for a few months now, I can still feel the way I felt on the day he left. It's the weirdest feeling and you'll never fully understand until you feel it yourself. But it's like being crushed. I was exhausted for that first week just because I was so emotionally drained. I cried at the drop of a hat. And not just boo hoo'ed either, I sobbed uncontrollably. I cried at work(they had never seen me cry before, I think they were all a little concerned!), I cried in the car, I cried at night the most. I had been dreading him leaving since we found out his dates for boot camp, but thought that I would be ok, 8 weeks is no big deal. Nope! Wasn't as prepared as I had hoped. The minute they left to go inside to board the plane, my throat tightened up, my stomach felt sick, and my heart just hurt. I managed to keep it together pretty well on the drive back since Stephen's Mom and brother had ridden with me. But as soon as I dropped them off, I sobbed the whole home, and laid on the couch and just cried until I had to be at work. Unfortunately, it didn't really stop then either! I cried on and off all night at work. We really hadn't been apart longer than a night or two since we started dating almost 3 years earlier. So the thought of 8 long weeks... I can't even describe the feeling. Especially since I constantly had the fear that anything could happen and his graduation could get pushed back. The military loves to change dates! That not knowing when you'll see each other again, is like a black hole. There's no tangible thing to count towards. Anyone that's gone through a deployment knows what I mean. It wasn't all terrible though! I had a wonderful support system. I pretty  much lived at my parents. If it weren't for Natty I would have slept there every night! Natty dog was the perfect protector/cuddler/shoulder to cry on. I had friends that helped keep me distracted. And the mail! Oh goodness, I have never been more excited about letters in my life!! It was hard, but it is cool to look back on those now and read them, and we'll have them forever to be able to read over.

My wonderful husband made it through basic with flying colors! He got expert marksman and graduated right on time(minus one little incident that I found out about later that is now a funny story I will have to tell later!). I am so proud of him! Words can't even express.. I was always in love with him, but I fell in love with him all over again that graduation weekend. He had really grown up into a man of honor over those 8.5 weeks and I loved it! I try to remember to tell him often, but I don't think I say it nearly enough! I am one very proud Air Force wife! :) Congratulations on all your hard work paying off, baby! I am so proud of you and I love you!

That's enough mush for one day! I will leave you with a recap of pictures from the day Stephen left. Can't believe it's been a year, but I'm SO glad it's behind us now! :) Happy Wednesday y'all!

 




28 June, 2011

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday

Day 2 of a very long week, so far not so bad. (But I'm knocking on some wood!) This is our busiest week of the year at work. 4th of July and the Blue Angels homecoming beach show falls in the same week this year which is just crazy! We have 0 vacancy, and mind you we manage over 140 properties on the beach! It's going to be nuts. I work Monday-Saturday this week, but then I'm off Sunday, Monday, and half a day Tuesday. I'm pretty excited about 4th of July! We don't have plans yet but it's one of my favorite holidays! Last year it was depressing because it was the first weekend Stephen was gone to bootcamp, so I'm excited to be able to hang out this year!

This past weekend, we were both off Sunday so we went to Hurlburt and went to the pool with some friends then went to Destin and did some shopping and had dinner. It was a great little date night and we both had a blast! I'm thinking of trying to talk Stephen into going over there for the 4th, but I don't know with all the tourist traffic!

We've made some progress in the house and it's starting to come together. I'm still shopping around for some various furniture to fill up all this space we have now so it's hard to get it all put away until then. I ordered an entertainment center from Target for the living room that should be here this week that I'm excited about. Tonight I need to order a pull out futon for Stephen's "man cave" from walmart.com. Hopefully they'll both be here at the end of the week. I'm excited for them to get here so we can get stuff situated!

This Saturday we're having people over to the new house for the first time. At first I was dreading it because I have a busy day at work that day, and was afraid the house wouldn't be "ready" for company. But Stephen finished his beer pong table, and we've decided to make a big slip n slide out back and just hang out. I think it will be just what I need after a long day of work!

I'm sure you've noticed, (if you have ever visited my blog before!) that I finally got around to changing the layout. Let me know what you think! I'm not very good at this design thing. I don't have the software. I want to buy some later on and learn to do it myself, but in the meantime, this is what we have! I may attempt a new button here eventually... but we'll see how ambitious I get. I'm finally content with it for now though :)

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and don't work too hard! Happy Tuesday y'all!

25 June, 2011

Saturday AND a day off!!

Saturdays off work have become rare with my new job. I work for a vacation rental company on Pensacola Beach and we typically rent our properties from Saturday to Saturday in the summer. Meaning: Saturdays mean all hands on deck!

This is my weekend off, which is SO nice I have to say. Last night, I made dinner and my sweet friend Whitney and her precious baby girl came to eat with us. It's great getting to catch up when she's in town! Stephen and I were pretty beat and went to sleep pretty much right after Whitney and Annisten went home. Stephen had to work today, but gets off tomorrow all day! Needless to say, I was wide awake this morning by 6a.m. and never went back to sleep. I caught up on some of my favorite tv shows, did some laundry, dishes, and straightened up some more then went on a hunt for some furniture for the new house.

We have two extra bedrooms now and they're practically empty. I'm on the search for a full size bed for one room, a futon for the other, and a new entertainment center for the living room. I drove all over Milton and Pace today without much luck. Back to Craigslist searching I go! I came home and had lunch and played out back with the pup for a bit. Now I'm debating a nap or the overhaul of my blog I've been meaning to do. I'm thinking probably nap now and then blog updating when I wake up :) I get frustrated with the computer software I have pretty easily, so I'm thinking being rested will help... wish me luck!

Hope everyone is having a wonderfully relaxing weekend! Happy Saturday y'all!

24 June, 2011

Milspouse Friday fill in.. TGIF!

Happy Friday! **FINALLY!!** I'm so excited I have an actual weekend this week! Last day of work today, and then two, whole, glorious days off! Let's kick this Friday off right with a link up I love that I have been slacking on! So excited to be back at it! If you wanna answer these fun questions and link up too head over and visit the cute blog, Wife of a Sailor.


This week’s questions are:
1. Are you a different person than you were five years ago? submitted by Sisterly Thoughts
Much! Five years ago I was going into my senior year of high school, and now I'm graduated college and married! I love it! I wouldn't do anything differently, but I bet 17 year old me would be surprised at 22 year old me!

2. If you could go on Amazing Race, who would you take with you as your partner and why? submitted by Thoughts from a Poekitten
I've never actually watched an entire episode of this show, but what I've seen looks fun! I would definitely take my husband as my partner. It sounds cliche but we really do make a killer team!

3. Does Facebook or Twitter actually bring more stress or good in to your life? submitted byJust an Arizona Girl
Oh boy! It can be both. I love them and I'm a total Facebook junkie, but it is amazing the kind of drama it can start!

4. June is National Soul Food Month- what’s your soul food? submitted by NH Girl Displaced
Ooooo tough question! Pretty much anything my mama makes! Other than that it would be a tie between Mexican and Italian food for sure.. Yummmm!

5.  If you could live in any other era than the current, which one would it be & why? submitted by Sugar in My Grits 
Hmmm I'm a sucker for modern conveniences and would die without my A/C but I love the movie Gone with the Wind, I think I would fit in the Civil War era south and all their gorgeous dresses

23 June, 2011

Thursday 5.. Finally!

Well it only took me 6 weeks to get back to normal, but I finally did it! So on with one of my favorite weekly link ups, Thursday 5! Is it just me or is this week dragging on? I feel like I've gone through 5 Thursdays already this week! But alas.. here it is!




If you want to link up to, head over and join up with Nicole @ Flip Flops and Combat Boots!
This week's words are:
Nice
Ideal
Enjoyable
Outrageous
Loveable
 
1) Last night was so Nice! We were finally able to relax. We went to Ollie's (a Milton favorite) with Mixson when they got off work. It was my first Ollie's experience and I have to see it was pretty good! We will be going back I'm sure. After dinner I did a little unpacking then we just hung out and looked for furniture online.
 
2) Our July schedule came out at work, and I somehow managed to get the ideal schedule for 4th of July! I'm pretty excited about that! We haven't made plans yet because we were waiting on my schedule, but now we will be! I'm the 3rd, 4th, and don't go in until noon on the 5th! Hello 4th of July celebrating!
 
3) I'm off ALL weekend this weekend! I plan on making it an Enjoyable one! I'm cooking dinner tomorrow night and my sweet friend Whitney is coming over to eat and bringing her beautiful baby! I'm so excited. I finally unpacked all my wedding gifts and it's been so much fun to cook with them!
 
4) Just going to put it out there that the cost of moving is Outrageous!!! All the utility companies and their "connect/disconnect" fees and what not.. It's all a crock if you ask me! But I suppose that no one did..

5) My sweet baby boy, Natty has been so Lovable since we moved. I think he's still adjusting to the new house and has been wearing himself out playing in his new big yard so at night and in the morning he's just been a love bug!
 
Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! Remember tomorrow is FINALLY Friday!
 

22 June, 2011

Catch up and What I'm Loving Wednesday


I know it's been forever since I've participated, but here it is! I'm finally back with one of my favorite Link-ups, What I'm Loving Wednesday! Head on over to This Kind of Love's blog to link up and tell everyone what you're loving today!

I'm loving getting back into the blog world! Including all the new ideas I have to overhaul my blog. Our lives have changed substantially.. time for the blog to catch up too! (**Be patient, this will probably take some time!**)

I'm loving that after a VERY long hiatus we're finally getting settled and into the swing of things again in our new house, which I'm absolutely LOVING!

Once I get the inside under control and clear these boxes out I will post some pictures of the inside! I am loving all me ideas for the inside though! I am also loving the HUGE yard for Natty dog to play in. He's been wearing himself out everyday!

I'm loving my job! I'm also loving how busy we've been, it certainly makes work days fly by, and it's great for business on Pensacola Beach!

I'm loving all of our wedding pictures! However, I'm not loving having to choose which ones to print! Here are some of my favorites taken by friends and family!






Here are some sneak peeks of the amazing pictures our wonderful photographer, Tara Cook Photography, took:




To see the rest go to our proofing on Tara's website at http://www.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8058529 (WARNING: there are a million!!)

I'm loving that I finally have time to blog again! I promise I will get better at keeping up with my favorite weekly posts and just catching up on all the wedding details and honeymoon stories! It will take time, but I will get there!

I'm loving that it's summer! It's been hot here for a while, but it finally feels relaxing! Time for cookouts and nights out on the town!

Of course, as always, I'm loving our wonderful friends, supportive family, adorable dog, and sweet sweet HUSBAND!



Until tomorrow.. Happy Wednesday y'all!


08 June, 2011

The BIG day: Round 1

May 21, 2011, was the longest, but best day of my life! It's going to take more than one post to sum up this day! So we'll start at the beginning. The night before the wedding, after the rehersal dinner, I went back to my parent's house with my sister and Scotti for a slumber party. (Ben and Brian made an appearance of course). Stephen and his groomsmen went out that night for one last hoorah before the wedding. (I needed my beauty rest!)

That morning, I was awake bright and early. The nerves hit like a ton of bricks! There was a swarm of butterflies flying around in my stomach and I was too anxious to close my eyes. So I got up. My mom was already up and getting ready. (**Side note: This wedding wouldn't have happened if it weren't for her! She kept me in line the whole way with planning, and the day of she had everything together. She should consider going into event planning!) She and some amazingly wonderful volunteers went out to Hemingway's and got set up. I wanted to go help so I could see how things looked together, but the schedule for getting ready wouldn't allow it. We had breakfast early, since we were all awake.


After breakfast, my Mom, Aunt Cheryl, and Sophie left to go get set up. Lindsay, Scotti, and I climbed into my mom and dad's huge bed and managed to get a couple more hours of sleep(which I was grateful for later!!) Then we started getting ready. We had some time to kill before my hair appointment so we ran to the mall in search of a new bathing suit for my honeymoon.
I found one at Victoria's Secret(my favorite!) and grabbed some lunch before finishing up the getting ready process. Lindsay and Scotti came with me to my hair appointment to keep me company.




My hair dresser was AWESOME!! I used Megan from 10th Ave Hair Design and she copied the picture I brought her to a "T"! I recommend her to any bride getting married in the Pensacola area! After hair was done we went back to my mom's to finish with make up and meet up with the rest of my beautiful bridesmaids.




We were finally all ready! (Except for my dress) So we loaded up the cars and headed out to the beach(talk about some serious nerves!) so I could get into my dress and we could take the pictures of the girls before everyone started showing up. My next post will be the wedding day summary and the wedding pictures, but that may have to wait until tomorrow night! It's already way passed my bed time! I'm slowly, but surely getting all caught up with our big weekend!

Wedding weekend: Friday

And so it begins! Thursday was a nice relaxing day of hanging out. Friday was the kick off to all things wedding. I started my day by meeting my wonderful bridesmaids, and all of my family at the Village Inn for a yummy breakfast! It was a great way to get everyone together and start off the weekend in slow motion. After breakfast we all went down the road to my favorite nail salon to get our nails and toes done for the wedding. It was so relaxing(well as relaxing as you can be with this group!) and fun! I loved going with the whole group because we really took the time to enjoy it and hang out instead of rush through another appointment to get it over with before the wedding.



                                                   Baby Annisten got to come too! :)



With a group our size, this pretty much took all day. We got done at almost 1 in the afternoon. I had just about enough time to rush home, shower, and finish getting my stuff together(not to mention wrangle up the guys!) and then head out to the beach for the rehersal.
We had our rehersal at Hemingway's at 4:30. It took a few minutes to get it all together, but everything went really smoothly! I felt much better about everything once I saw it come together.


After our rehersal, we headed over to McGuire's Irish Pub for our rehersal dinner. Stephen's parents threw the rehersal dinner and it was wonderful! Everyone had a great time and the food there is always delicious! It was the perfect way to end our day.


                                                                My family at dinner

                                                                  Stephen's family


                                                             Handing out bridal party gifts
                                                      Whitney and her bridesmaid bag :)
                                                         Adam with his groomsman mug :)
                                  Shawn ordered the garbage burger... and actually ate it! YUCK!
                               The cute cake Stephen's mom ordered for us for the rehersal dinner! Disney and beach themed! Perfect!

Let wedding weekend commence!

I know, I know. I let another week pass, AGAIN! But here it is without further ado, the recap of our wonderful wedding festivities!

Thursday:
I took off work Thursday and spent the last day relaxing at the beach with friends. That night all of the rest of our family and friends got into town. I went to dinner with my family to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, and Stephen went out with his buddies that were in town for steaks and burgers(I will never understand men's obsession with beef!) After dinner, everyone met up at our apartment and we decided to go out for one last group outing so we headed to Seville Quarter to hang out at the Dueling Pianos show. Best way to spend our last night out together unmarried! We all just hung out and enjoyed each other's company and the awesome piano show. Our night wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the stage to celebrate the upcoming wedding with the entire bar! Leave it to our friends to make sure that happened! We were called on stage to play "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" It was a blast. Round 1: we had to follow with the song and touch our own body parts. Round 2: we touched each other's body part as the song named it off. Round 3: We put our hands behind our backs and had to touch each other's body part with our head. (Ending the song in a lip lock as they got to "eyes, and ears, and MOUTH and NOSE) It was a cute idea and we had so much fun!