Why hello, Fall

So as you all have probably noticed, I fail at attempting to blog more. I'm sticking to the excuse that I'm on the computer all day and when I get home I don't want to be. It's true, I never even pin anymore! (*GASPS!*)

There's just so much going on these days that at night the few hours my hubs and I get together before bed, we try to actually spend together and not plugged into media outlets. We're like old people, we literally go to bed before 10 every night. It's kind of sad.

I'm stealing a few minutes tonight to catch up though. Nothing too terribly interesting has happened. Both still working. House is still under construction, but it's going a lot faster than anticipated. The lot wasn't even supposed to be cleared until this month, but they already have the lot cleared, foundation laid, and framing going up. I'm hoping to be in the house by the first of the year, but we'll see how progress goes over the holidays. Don't worry I have pictures of the progress for you. :)

Sadly, I suck and they are in reverse chronological order so they don't make much sense, but I'm in no mood to fight with blogger tonight!

The only other exciting thing we've really done was go back to Tallahassee for the big FSU/Clemson show down. It was both of our first experience at ESPN's College Gameday AND at a sold out game. Both parts were incredible and we had an absolute blast!(Winning the game definitely had a lot to do with that.) We're *hoping* to make it over there one more time this season for the FSU/UF game after Thanksgiving, but we'll see how that goes. We're starting to plan for the first Baby Volheim in our hopefully not terribly distant future, so who knows!

This week has seemed exceptionally long with some family things going on. It's been a rough week for my Sister-in-law and I'd really appreciate it if you all could keep her in your prayers as she goes through this time. Hopefully I'll be able to share more at a later date, but I don't really feel like it's appropriate right now. Thank you all for your prayers and understanding.

Let's see... what else? Oh! My little, tiny baby sister has finally turned 21! We went over to Tallahassee with the family last weekend to help her celebrate. Hard to believe she's already legal. Stephen will be celebrating the big 2-6 next weekend, but other than that and some fun Halloween plans we actually have a fairly mellow next few weeks coming up.

I have some pictures to share of our recent adventures, but other than that I don't think I have anything of much interest to share at the moment. I do plan to eventually get around to making a big post with all my recent pinterest recipe successes to share. One of these days... until then have a great week! Happy Wednesday y'all

Playing catch up

Wow... the last time I blogged was the night before our 1st anniversary! (May 20th) I admit that's beyond a little ridiculous... If any of you are still following, hello again! I'd like to think I'll get better now that we're in a routine, but I doubt it.

I love to blog for us. One day I'll be glad I did so we have all these memories written down in detail, but lately since I work on the computer all day the last thing I want to do at home is get on the computer.

But anyway, I digress! Let's get back to the important stuff. It's been over 3 months now, but let's recap our 1st anniversary.

We both had to work because our anniversary was a Monday.(Boo!) But after we met out at the hotel on the beach. The same hotel we had gotten engaged at 2 years earlier(I know, aww!), the Springhill Suites. I looooove that place. I would live there if I could. We got dressed up all fancy schmancy and went to dinner at Hemingway's(the restaurant we had our wedding the year before). It was delicious as usual. We ended up with a rainy night, but Pensacola beach is always beautiful regardless! After dinner we went back to the room and tried our cake. My mom did an excellent job of wrapping up the top layer of our wedding cake and it was seriously just as good as the day of our wedding!

After that we ventured down to the pool bar and enjoyed the hot tub. We met another couple down there and ended up walking across the street to the Irish Pub and doing karaoke with them for a while. It was a blast! The next morning we enjoyed a little time in the hotel's gorgeous pool, and then our mini vaca ended way too soon as we headed home to relax around the house for the rest of our day off. Can't wait til the next anniversary! ;)

Another major reason I haven't written much is that there hasn't been a whole lot going on around the Volheim house this summer. Too much work, a little playing when possible. Mostly trying to stay cool and dry during this ridiculous hot and rainy summer! So much for Florida being the sunshine state!!

We do have some pretty exciting news!(No, we're not having a baby... yet!) We signed a contract last month and the building has begun on our first home! We're beyond ecstatic! They've actually cleared our lot, but nothing will really get started until the end of next month(that hasn't stopped us from driving by to check once a week though! Ha) It's expected to be finished in February. Needless to say my pinterest has become overrun with house decorating ideas.

Other than those two things and a Corey Smith concert.. we pretty much spent our summer tubing, slip n sliding, beaching, and avoiding the heat! Below are some pictures from our summer.

Now that summer is winding down.. well ok, let's be realistic, it's still going to be a million degrees for the next couple months, but my favorite season is finally back! FOOTBALL SEASON! Namely, Seminole and Saints football seasons are in full swing! We went to the first home game this weekend and it was so much fun! I don't think I fully realized how much I missed it. Stephen even had one of his lifelong dreams come true as our friend Anthony, a Seminole tight end, took us down on the field after the game to take pictures. He was like a little kid on Christmas! It was also my sweet baby Trae's first game and he LOVED it! I thought for sure he would be bored by the end of the 1st, but nope! That boy was cheering, chopping and watching the entire game! I was such a proud aunt. I think it's safe to say he will be a little Nole for life!(At least if Aunt LoLo and Uncle Tephen hve anything to do with it! ;)

Now that we're all caught up, thanks for hanging with me! Let's see if I can get better about this blogging thing again! Hopefully there will be more FSU games, house updates, and other fall fun things in our near future to keep you posted on. Happy Tuesday y'all!

Is this thing on???

Hello, is anyone still out there??

I can't say that I blame you if you've jumped ship by now. I have turned into the world's WORST blogger as of late!

Not for lack of logging in, because I admit I've been a bit of a stalker. I still sign in and keep up with my favorite bloggies. I just haven't felt I had much to write about lately.

Boring, I know!

We've both been working. A lot.

We enjoy every second we can steal with friends and family these days. (Poor hub's days off are few and far between over the last couple months). We've enjoyed our backyard and fire pit to the fullest with dear friends on our few weekend nights off.

Last Saturday we even went to the Professional Bull Riding competition with an exceptionally fun group at the civic center. (Much more exciting than it actually sounds!) We went to our favorite Pensacola restaurant(McGuire's) after for snacks and a few beers. Sunday we both had to work, but after we got to enjoy an incredibly fun Super Bowl party with some awesome people we hadn't seen in a while!

Other than that, we've been trying(rather unsuccessfully as of late) to figure out life.

We finally got all of Stephen's paperwork in order for the recruiter. We're just waiting on the word from the recruiter(*Fingers Crossed* for this week) to send him up to MEPS for a quick "inspection". Basically they just have to look him over and make sure he's still one piece since they sent him to BMT almost 2 years ago.

Hopefully we can get that done end of this week/beginning of next and then we'll officially be in the "waiting" stage.(I know, if you're like me, you're thinking what would you call what we have been doing??) My thoughts exactly! Once the MEPS trip is done we wait anywhere from a week to 4 weeks for word back. So long as everything is approved(which is most likely) and there is still a crew chief position empty(currently there are 2 open in the country), we will get his orders for a report date to his new PCS(permanent change of station).

I'm hoping this means a move for us!! I'm ready for a change of scenery. Also hoping it's nothing too crazy(i/e: Alaska, North Dakota... anywhere this southern girl would turn into an ice cube!)

I've kind of put my plans on hold for the moment as I feel it would be a waste to get too involved in a job here right now since a move is looking pretty imminent. I'm still working my serving job, ticket selling job, and occasionally subbing.

Once we move, if it is near a big city I will attempt to give this PR/marketing thing another go. If not, I'm seriously giving some thought into going to ultrasound or radiography school. I've become fascinated with the medical field and think I would enjoy either of these paths.

In the mean time I've just been praying my little heart out that God puts us exactly where we're needed. Also, that he gives some clear signals since sometimes we can be a little dense on these things! I know he has plans for us, we just have to figure them out.

Since the holidays I've been in work out mode. Being in Florida, bikini season is coming VERY quickly! (As in now. We've had days warm enough to sit on the beach in a bathing suit already!) With my erradic schedule, it's hard to be too intense about it. I've just been trying to make healthier choices when eating, doing my zumba on the Wii almost daily(at least 4-5 times a week), and walking 2 miles almost every night after work with Stephen(this is my favorite since it's turned into something we enjoy doing together). This last week I've started adding in crunches, bridges, push ups, and dips at night to start working on tone too. I admit I haven't been at it very long, but I'm already feeling good! My clothes are starting to fit better, the exercises are becoming easier, and I just feel better. It's definitely not always fun, and some days after work I really have to convince myself to to, but it's good for me and that's what counts.

That about sums it up for us these days. Did everyone have a fun Super Bowl Sunday? Any career advice to either of us at this stage in the game? Prayers are always appreciated for our little family as we navigate all of this craziness! And as always, Happy Monday y'all!

Monday... again???

Ok, ok, ok I know I've been absent again. I apologize profusely, but you should really thank me because we've been pretty boring lately, so I don't have much to share. Seriously. We've both been working a lot, I've gotten back to the gym, we're working on a couple little projects around the house here and there, we're LOVING football season(even though we suffered a heartbreaking loss this weekend!) we never tire of watching our Noles!, and we squeeze in family and friend fun time whenever we can!

Since I really have nothing of any real value to share today, and I'm extremely sleepy (I promise I will try to be better!) I'll just leave you with some pictures for tonight!

 I'm going to try out some of my pinterest recipes this week and will share some pictures and reviews of the good ones! In the mean time, you can see what I like on my boards here. Until next time, here are some pictures of our first football game of the year and our wedding pictures we just got back from the photographer! :) Happy Monday y'all!

Me and my wittle seestor! We're not twins, but sometimes we like to pretend for the day! #mysistercopiesme

Our first game as Mr. and Mrs.!!

The group

Me and Scotti!

Mom and I in the stadium :)

Monday again?

Is it really already Monday? Where have the last couple weeks gone?! I swear I feel like it was just  September 1st and now here we are half way through September! Basically I'm trying to make excuses for my inexcusably bad blogging habits, but there really aren't any. I'm back to just having one job(until I start subbing in the next few weeks) and I have a LOT  more free time. Last week my husband was gone on his first TDY so I had a lot of time on my hands. Did I do anything productive? Not so much.

I did squeeze in some fun though. I had lunch with friends, hung out with my mom, picked up a couple extra shifts at work, watched the first Saints game of the season!(More on that in a minute), went to the beach, got back in the gym, went to the Gulfarium with my family, and just enjoyed some "me" time.

As I mentioned, this was our first TDY since being married, well actually, ever. It did not go well. There was a lot of fighting between the two of us over those 5 days, and I think we just both had very different expectations of what it would be like. I will spare you all the gory details, but for my other MIL spouses out there, did you ever have this problem? What do you do to help make seperations easier on you. I was just surprised because last year he was gone practically the whole year between basic and tech school and our relationship actually got stronger through all that. That's why I wasn't really worried about a measley 5 day seperation, but it was much different this time. He has a deployment next spring so we have to figure out how to handle these things before then so any advice you may offer is welcome!

Back to the fun stuff, I mentioned that I watched the first NFL game of the season. We're mostly college football crazed down here, but my family and I are big Saints fans, always have been. This year they played the first regular season game on Thursday night against the Packers. Well some of our close friends are crazy Packers fans. They had a football party to watch the game and were nice enough to invite my mom and I and even let us wear our Saints gear. It was a lot of fun even though we lost! Lots of food, lots of chatting, a little beer, and plenty of football! I even got to try out one of my new pinterest recipes, which I will share with you because it was super easy and very delicious!

It was kinda pot luck snackage for the night so I brought one of my stand by favorites, pizza dip(which I will share the super easy recipe with you), and tried out my new dessert favorite, the peanut butter ball.

The Pizza Dip(always a big hit!)

Start with an oven safe dish and cream cheese(amount varies depending on how much you want to make)For this occasion I used 16oz

 Combine Italian Seasoning and cream cheese in oven safe dish and spread evenly along the bottom of the pan.

 Add a jar of pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce on top of the cream cheese and add more Italian Seasoning to your taste.

Add a bag of shredded mozzerella cheese and more Italian Seasoning to taste.

Place dish in oven at 325 until melted and warm. Serve with chips, crackers, anything you can think of and enjoy!

**(Again portions can very depending on how much you need to make)

Here are the pictures from my Peanut Butter ball experiment. You can find the full recipe at this awesome cooking blog. It was a big hit too and super easy to make!

It's football season, so hope you guys enjoy these easy football party recipes too! Happy cooking and happy Monday y'all!