Greetings From Florida

Hey guys, it’s been a busy couple of days! First off, I want to start out saying Happy Birthday to my Mom!!

Okay, let’s rewind shall we? On Friday I drove down to Florida for a weeklong stay, and I was kind of bummed to be away from Shane for an entire week. (He’s leaving relatively soon for deployment, so I’m kind of selfish about our time together!) Imagine my surprise when he showed up at my parents’ house Friday night!!

He drove down to Florida when he got off of work (half day!) to surprise me! He couldn’t stay the entire week, but he did stay until Tuesday, so I was over the moon. I sure do adore my husband.

On Saturday I went to my longtime friend, Isabella’s baby shower. She is expecting her first (a boy named Liam!) and I am actually the one who introduced her and her husband, over a decade ago. She’s just the most adorable pregnant lady, and I can’t wait to meet Liam!

My mom and I put our gifts together, though I am making a blanket for Liam, as well. I got about 80% through one, and decided I hated it, so I’ve got to start from scratch. Luckily I have some time before he’s born (he’s due on his father’s birthday which is neat!). Isn’t she so pretty?!

Sunday Shane and I went out to eat with Izzy and her husband, then headed over to my best friend’s house to spend a few days.

The purple streaks are fake, but on Tuesday I did go with a friend and got the tips of my hair dyed blue. I love it so much, I’ve been wanting to do something fun with my hair since I got out of the Navy, over a year ago! Speaking of the Navy, I found one of my covers from Africa in my mom’s truck. Apparently my brother likes to wear it to school, lol.

Not exactly within regulations… but I’ll take it!

Yesterday my brother’s school had picture day, so I spent the day volunteering to help out. It was kind of fun, especially when I learned that one of the photographers is a cat lady, also! We were swapping photos of our little fur monsters in the lulls between classes, haha.

Well, I better head off. Mom is requesting red velvet cupcakes for her birthday! Have a great day everybody!!

Poor Kitten…

.Ok, so I’m completely and unapologetically a cat lady. I love my sweet (6 year old..) kitten baby, and she is generous enough to mildly tolerate my presence, so long as I don’t aggravate her too much.

But in all seriousness, I just wanted to let you guys in on why this little monster is such a help in household. She really does lead a difficult life, and I decided to show you guys just how tough she has it.

     After all, there only so many hours of sunlight in a day. Tragic.

This is her favorite spot in the house, and sometimes I make her get down so I can use it. So sad.

Sometimes I have to pick her up and put her on the floor to make the bed.

There are times (when I’ve lost all feeling in my legs..) I’ll make her sit beside me instead. It’s almost abuse.

Don’t you guys just feel sorry for my little princess? Her life is pretty difficult. Haha, but in all seriousness, I love my little monster cat, and I love taking pictures of her even more. I think I’m going to start doing more Bagheera posts, so I hope you guys aren’t all cat haters….

**I’d like to make the disclaimer that we don’t actually use that blanket as a bedspread, I was in the process of washing the duvet cover. In the process we discovered she is OBSESSED with that blanket, so we folded it and put it on the floor in our bedroom. She slept there last night instead of in the bed with us. I want to burn it now. My heart is broken.**

Day of Love

Hi!

Shane and I had such a great Valentine’s Day at home. I spent the morning running errands and trying to get the last minute things ready for him to come home to, including a little bit of baking!

I saw a little recipe for these, and really wanted to try them. They did not disappoint, except maybe to my waistline… Haha. Anyway, I had a nice little spread waiting for my husband when he got home!

 

Granted, the flowers were mine, but I thought they looked pretty. Shane came home and we exchanged gifts (I got a Vera Bradley purse I had been drooling over!) and he asked me what was for dinner.

Eek. I was so busy thinking about baking, I totally flaked on dinner prep. (We have reservations at a fondue restaurant set for Thursday, but I didn’t plan anything for last night!) So, I naturally responded with “Cupcakes?” That was frowned upon by my boring husband. So we ordered pizza. Yeah, you read that right. It was delicious, too! We also snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie I’ve been trying to watch for a while, The Ides of March.

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I liked it, but didn’t love it. Though, there certainly was enough eye candy between Ryan and George. (I can dream we’re on a first name basis, ok?!) Well, I’m off to do my chores like a good little housewife. I’ll probably eat some Valentine’s Day chocolate and cupcakes also. I hope everyone had a great day yesterday, and have a good one today, as well!

Time For a Little Rant

**Whew. Excuse me for being a little ragey, if you come here for happy, uplifting posts you should probably turn away now. If you choose to stay feel free to chime in/troll the comment section below. **

As most of you who have any access to Social Media (which would be everyone reading this blog) have heard, Whitney Houston passed away on Saturday night. This resulted in the thousands (or more) Tweets/FB posts/etc about said death.

Let’s do a little back-tracking for a second. I’m prior military (US Navy FTW!) and my husband is currently an Active Duty Marine. The majority of our friends/acquaintances are military, resulting in the majority of my friends list  on Facebook being affiliated with the military (AD, Veteran, spouse, dependent, family member, etc). Needless to say, I’m a very pro-military person.

That being said, I was very put off when I started seeing a flow of posts condemning people for discussing Whitney Houston’s death in the vein of (paraphrasing here!) ‘There are US service members who die everyday for your freedom, who cares about an overpaid celebrity with a drug problem’.

Wait, what?! How does wishing another human being to ‘Rest in Peace’ after passing have anything to do with KIA service members? I’m perfectly capable of having compassion for someone who suffers from an addiction AND mourning the loss of American Service Members. It’s not a case of one or the other, for Goodness sake!

Then came the memes.

I don’t know about you, but I see news coverage for KIA Service Members quite frequently, and it makes my heart break every single time. Believe it or not, I wish there was far less coverage (due to less deaths, not ignoring the sacrifice!) than there is. When my husband is deployed I cannot turn on the news at all, EXCEPT for celebrity news because it causes me to have panic attacks.

Whitney Houston isn’t famous for “going to rehab”, she’s famous for her music, and I don’t know about you, but music influences my life. It can help soothe my soul, and mend a broken heart. It makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me think, and makes me smile. It helps me get through everyday mundane tasks, and overcome life’s hardest trials. Music even helps to make a deployment bearable.

But this isn’t about Whitney Houston, or why she was famous. It’s about the fact that death, and mourning the loss of HUMAN BEINGS isn’t a fucking contest. It’s tragic, combat is tragic, drug addiction is tragic, losing someone who has had an impact on your life, whether because you personally knew them, they sacrificed their life for your freedom, or they just created something that meant something to you, IS TRAGIC.

So grow the fuck up. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend my time with my own personal hero while I still can before he goes back into a combat zone for the fourth time. And I’m going to listen to a fucking Whitney Houston song while I do it. One that spoke to me and helps me get through the tough times.

Love Is All Around

Hey guys!

So as of today I’ve been married for two whole months. Whew. In the Kardashian world, that’s like 18 years. Sorry for mentioning being married so much, but it’s still kind of new to me, and actually… I’m not really sorry, haha!

Yesterday I went shopping with my friend Jess to find a Valentine’s Day outfit. I had an idea in my head, and actually found an outfit that fit the idea pretty well! I'm super stoked for my first Valentine’s Day as a married woman!

Our first Valentine’s Day together. <3

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, let’s chat about it. I love Valentine’s Day. I always have, ever since I was a little girl. I like red, pink, and white, I like stuffed animals, I like chocolate, I like jewelry, I like wine… the list goes on! Most of all, I love love! Even the years with no significant other, I always celebrated with friends or family!

I even used to send my best friend ‘wife’ Valentine’s Day cards, because I’m a big nerd. Also, she’s hot. I was heartbroken when she said she wanted to see other people. THANKS ARBIE.

But, seriously, Valentine’s Day is about love. So go celebrate the people you love <3.

So thanks to all the people who make my life full of love.

Girl Marries Boy

Howdy!

I wanted to talk about weddings here for a minute, mainly mine. Shane and I got married in a courthouse in Jacksonville, North Carolina in a ceremony that lasted exactly one minute and five seconds. The courthouse itself was under construction, so our entrance was a plywood hallway.

Our Justice of the Peace was a rude, grouchy lady wearing acid washed demin, and made us wait until she finished her Spider Solitaire game before talking to us. My husband appears to be glaring at me while I put the ring on his finger….

You can only imagine what comes to mind whenever I think of our wedding. BEST DAMN DECISION OF MY LIFE.  I’m married to my best friend, to the man I love more than anything, and that’s the ONLY thing that matters. We talked about having a big wedding later on down the road, but I don’t want one. We’ve decided on a super tiny vow renewal with our families, so they can see that part, and then scheduling a professional shoot, in which I’ll wear my (already purchased – whoops!) wedding gown. Then, instead of spending an absurd amount of money on a wedding, just going on a kick-ass vacation.

This was the right decision for me. Wedding (or any event!) planning makes me antsy, stressed out, and miserable. I love my husband, and I am no less married than if I had the whole big fairy-tale wedding, yet our bank account is much happier. Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos eloped in 1996, and are still happily married. Kim Kardashian had a 3-Ring circus for a wedding, and you see how that turned out.

So, there’s my wedding story. It’s not huge, fancy, or elaborate, but it’s mine, and I’m happy. :)

Waiting on the Spider Solitaire game to end. I wasn’t kidding.

Happy Birthday Baby!

So today is a big day for my (as Kelly Ripa would say) Immortal Beloved. It’s his 25th birthday! Yay!

         Disney Princess wrapping paper!

Unfortunately, he has to spend his birthday on base doing training, so I won’t get to see him until tomorrow. Since we don’t get to spend the day together, he got to open his presents early.

I also made him (then ate the majority of!) these little gems…

Photo and recipe courtesy of HERE.

Mine didn’t look quite as pretty, but damn were they delicious! Shane forgot to take the to work with him (he always forgets!) so I’ll end up eating them all. This is why I don’t bake… Lol.

Personally, I think the best present of the weekend was watching this happen.

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I don’t really care for the NY Giants one way or the other, but I hate, hate, hate the Patriots, and especially Tom Brady. Needless to say I was pleased with the outcome of last night’s game. :)

Well, I’m off to do laundry and wish I was spending today with my husband. Happy birthday, sweetie! I love you and hope you have a great day!!