Back From Vacation!

So vacation was very fast paced and caotic, just like I expected...My very large family never let me down in this area and I love it:p I'm only going to share a few pictures because, sadly, most of the good ones are on my brother in-law's camera up in Tennessee...He's not very computer savy so I doubt I'll be getting copies unless I trot up there and get them myself:) Enjoy!

Kind of blurry I know, Rob was using my head for a tri-pod:p

Love this guy!

My Godson/nephew Matt...What a cutie:)


Rob and I inside Animal Kingdom

Like I indirectly said, nothing spectacular to see here...However, we had a blast! Our condo was even more gorgeous then the pictures and we hated to leave! I came home with a pretty good doozy of a sunburn but every minute was worth it. To be honest, the sunburn didn't come until the last day there; We spent three hours out on the beach with no protection, ekk! I'm still peeling ladies...Like usual, I ate waaaaay to much food and gained four pounds but I'm back on track and hitting the gym everyday:) My sister in-law, Suzi, gave me a kick ass workout and well..... its doing just that...Kicking my ass.

On another subject, I see that I have lost a few followers but have gained even more! How this is possible I do not know but I wanted to say "Welcome!" and that I am really excited to have you on board:) The goal is to fix my still broken laptop so that I will start blogging again more. Maybe then I will feel more worthy of all the loyality and interest:) For those of you who were with me a few months back, yes I am still in the cave...Ummm boo!

Have a great night ladies and thanks for all of your continued reading!

So happy!

WELL HI EVERYONE! Currently I should be packing so I can head out in the early early morning, however, I just got back from a super delish dinner at Chedders and yeah, not feeling the motivation:) Am I excited that today kicks off my eleven day vacation? Ummm, give me a big fat "Hooah!" Tomorrow I leave for my home in Tennessee where I'll be spending time with family and also throwing my sis, Autumn, a pink baby shower...I cannot wait to see the adorable baby bump shes rockin:) Sadly, Rob has to stay behind for this part of the vacation but come Thursday, we're outta here making our way to Orlando, FL and the land of Mickey and Mini! Most of my siblings are driving down Wednesday so we can head out together. Its going to be so much fun seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of my nieces and newphews while they experience Disney for the first time-

Here are some gorgeous pictures of the luxury resort we'll be staying at while there, Vista Cay of Orlando...I think the name even sounds luxurious:p

I claim this room:p

Did I mention the weather is going to be in the mid seventies and gorgeous? Can I say Hooah twice in one post, or is that just tacky:p

Definitely gonna be out here with a hot cup'o'joe in the mornings...Total relaxation I tell ya...
I promise to be back with lots of pics but for now...drum roll please.....

I cut my hair!!!! Still trying to get used to it:p
See you all later and I hope everyone is doing fabulous! I'd also like to say that there are soooo many good posts up right now that I want to comment on them all! Maybe while I'm in Tennessee:) Love you guys!

I'm Still Here!

I am the worst blogger ever... I hear a lot of you saying this exact same thing, but please "will the true worst blogger PLEASE stand up?" DING! That would be me:) Trust me, I wear this badge with shame and I stand humble before you, my loyal followers...Truth be told, I really miss blogging, badly:( I hate the fact that I am no longer on the inside track of all your lives and that it makes me feel like an outsider...I was talking to Rob on Sunday about this very thing...Sigh...One day my life will slow down enough where I can come back strong, I hope...But until then, just know that I do visit your pages, and even though I might do some speed reading with no commenting, I'm still around! I am so excited for all of you and the good things happening in everyones lives...Megan over at Army Alaska Life, just had a wonderful two weeks with her hubby on R&R, D.A.R and her husband are finally back together after Z being deployed for so long and bought a house! Jessica over at "Learning As We Go" made it safe to their duty post and is settling in better then she thought, SO many of your husbands are finally home and this makes me smile:) Everyone seems to be in a cheery mood with the coming of fall and cooler weather, I know I am! See, I am reading and I do care:) So bare with me ladies; I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis before we're all chanting "gobble gobble gobble." Have a wonderful evening chica's!

Noddin my head like, yeah. Movin my hips like, yeah.

So while I'm waiting for the chicken to unthaw for dinner, mid'as'well make use of my time and say hello to all of you beautiful chica's out there! I hope everyone is doing just as wonderful as I am! Big switch from the current mood I had been in...I know, right! Todays just been a great day...No spactacular news to report...Nothing like that....It's just been a day full of beautiful weather and good vibes! Miley's new song, "Party In The USA" cranked up to ear splitting decimels might also be contributing to this disgustingly good mood:p I know some of you are Miley haters, and I do admit that not ALL of her stuff is radio worthy, but come on...You Cannot help BUT bop your head to this song...Check it out here if you haven't already heard it...I dare you to try and stay still:p I think it sounds kind of like Jamaican rap meets American pop, which is a new sound for her.

Some other things makin me smile right now is the news that my sister, is having a GIRL! she just found out yesterday...Their naming her Ella Rose which I think is such a beautiful name! I'll be driving up in Oct. to throw her baby shower, which I'm so excited about because who doesn't like throwing a party in pink:p

Thing numer 2... I just found out at work that their allowing us to wear jeans starting two days ago! This REALLY makes me happy; I've always been just a jeans and tee-shirt kinda girl at heart:)

Reason for smile number 3... Who here can say that they don't smile rediculously when you get to play cupid and it actually looks like its working! Its still too early to tell, and I don't want to jinx it, so mums the word for now...But keep your fingers crossed because it would be a good story to tell!

Heres one...I have managed to cook dinner for an entire week which is making me feel really productive, fulfilled and more like a wife...Call me crazy!

Also, our Florida vacation is getting closer and closer! I booked a beautiful condo in Orlando, just 10 minutes from Disney World! Its still a good 1.5 months away but closer then before:) I can't wait to hangout with my hubby and have some down time, get to sleep in TOGETHER and maybe enjoy a romantic walk on the beach, or two:p We're driving over to Cocoa Beach on our last day to soak up some sun and just enjoy our last day away from it all...

I do believe the chicken is thawed, but before I go...The answer to my random question, which NONE of you got right, was B. Fair Carny! Lol...I figured that would throw all of you for a loop, but GOOD try:p Hope you all enjoy your friday! I am off to finish dinner, go for a run then take dinner to the hubs...He has CQ again tonight:( Catch ya later!

The Squeaker Toy...

As of 3:56 p.m....today is a brighter day! Do I still need to wash my car? Yes. Should I have ran again today? Definitely! *still might get out there* Did Bella chew crators into my phone this morning? Ummm, wish I didn't have to say yes to that... But, after pretty close to a week of feeling moody and unmotivated, I am almost 100 percent better and ready to get back in the game!

Insert a moment of pause [here] because the house is entirely too quite...Must go check on my teething horse, Bella...

Okay! Turns out all is well...Bella was just swallowing our cats head, yet again while squeezing the life out of him...However, two days ago I found the most awesome diversion other then the cats head; a cloth bone! Who would have guessed...Only problem is, it wasn't JUST a big hit with her, but Peanut as well...Those two would go back and forth all day long if I'd let them; stealing it from one, to turn around and be stolen from the other...The important thing is, I FINALLY FOUND A TOY SHE HASN'T GOTTEN BORED OF! Check out the annoying squeaker it has:p Oh, and my non made up face complete with ratty hair...It wasn't planned but I went with it, HA!

when I play this video back to her she immediately grabs her squeeking bone and trys to out do herself in the video...BWAH A HA HA!

But I believe I owe a bit of an update! We'll start with the biggest news I delivered which was me persuing web design...I'm sure you took note of my use of was. Meaning its not looking too good! To be quite honest, I have completely backed off on it. Robert asked me why, the other day, and so I put some thought into it and came to the conclusion that I feel lost. Not with the material or the learning part so much but how to go about making it work for me once I have the knowledge...I've been talking to a lot of people in this field and it seems to me that I'm never going to be able to work for myself with only knowing web design. Building a web site isn't just a one man show...A misconception I obviously had. So while the wind has been taken out of my sails, I still plan to learn web design, but in a more watered down form. I'll continue to think about what I could do in the future for self employed income and hopefully stumble upon something great!

In other news, I finally feel like I'm learning to balance things, i.e my puppy, running, work, husband, blogging ect...My mistake was feeling like it all had to be perfect and that I had to give 100 percent ALL the time...This only left me feeling over whelmed and very much like a failure when I couldn't meet the challenge...So from here on out, I will continue to have expectations for myself, but will not keep setting myself up for failure with this perfect way of living...

Finally, I'll leave you with this *A, B or C* quiz about me:p

"What job did I hold at the age of 21?"

(A) TJ MAXX associate

(B) Fair Carny

(C) Librarian's Assistant

A Tub of Ice Cream Later and I'm Still Not Pooping Rainbows...

So does stuffing your face with ice cream, Oreo cookies and chips all day while trying to motivate yourself to do ANYTHING classify as a state of depression? Well whatever it is, I'm not liking it...It all started with my sister, Mary, surprising Robert and I with a visit this weekend...I was so excited! I haven't seen any of my family since late April and I'm really starting to miss them all! She left yesterday evening and ever since I've been nothing but down in the dumps...This morning I slept in until 10:00 even though my body was ready to get up at 7:00. I just didn't want to "get up." Once I did, I took Bella out to relieve herself and managed to build enough enthusiasm to smile and talk in a happy voice while she ran around and played with her ball. Once we got back in the house I plopped my butt down on the couch with ice cream and Oreo cookies while I downed my gloomy mood with good ol' Lifetime...The thing about being down is the more you ignore the things you should be doing so you can feed your mood, the more it puts you in a bad mood! For instance, I should have washed my car today, did some laundry, and got in a run earlier then what I did...However, even though I stuck my head in the sand over these things I was really happy with myself that I managed to take Bella to the park for her 2 mile walk, then go back an hour later and run 2 miles myself:) I'm still eating this damn ice cream but maybe that run was just what I needed to start feeling just a bit better...Anyone else struggle with missing your family and having days like this? What do you do to jump start yourself OUT of those moods?!?

Turns Out...

I get a text from the bride , my sister, last night saying that Tyler and she has decided to wait and see how they handle the deployment before marrying one another...YAY! I couldn't be happier...I'd say if they get through this in one piece and are still thinking of marriage, they might just have something...

As Promised...The Dreaded Wedding...

So my sisters wedding is coming up shortly and I know I tortured y'all in saying, some posts back, that I was not excited about it... Well I'm still not excited about it and that just makes me feel like a bad sister...However, maybe not...If I were a bad sister, wouldn't I pretend that they were perfect for each other and that I was all kinds of supportive? Gosh, I don't know...I know that they feel this is the right thing, but its more of a duty to my sister rather then a want...Or at least that's what her remarks in marrying him has brought me to believe...Okay, enough thinking out loud. Onto the explanation!

This is my sister and her *then* boyfriend Tyler...They were really cute together and all of us were really glad to see her smiling again. A long story short, Mouse had been in a really bad car accident involving only herself 1 year previous from the date of this picture. She had been life flighted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN for brain damage as result of that accident. It was very sad to see and most days made me cry. She was so full of life and always wore a shining smile where ever she went...But after that, she barley knew who she was and where she was most of the time, let alone remembering what a smile was. Well during that year recovery, she had flown to Oregon to be with my parents and older sister Mary. The recovery went well. The doctors said she was young and would bounce back at least 97 percent of the way and I feel she did, if not 100 percent! Sadly, in that year she had gotten involved with a guy that took advantage of her less then strong mind, and really did some damage. So when she returned to Tennessee where I was living, she was ready to get back to normal and just have some fun. Gosh, it couldn't have been more then three weeks when Tyler entered the picture. They had met at a club during an outing with my other sister Angel and a friend...

As you can see she was dressed super cute that night and feeling pretty flirty:p Mouse is the one in the black tank. I don't think any man stood a chance that night and from what Angel told me, that's just the way it went down:p

Well Tyler took notice and introduced himself by jumping into one of these pictures and the rest is history. I wish I could say that this was a romantic beginning to an even more romantic life together, but truth be told, things just really went south. After dating 5 months Mouse comes to me bawling saying that she is 11 weeks pregnant.

She was always complaining about how clingy Tyler was and about how jealous he is. Well now they are having a kid together so Tyler proposes...She accepted only because she felt weird being pregnant without a ring on her finger. Not one of her smarter moves, I know...Tyler was and IS obsessed with my sister. All he wants is to marry her so that he owns her and no one elses can have her. I just think that is really scary and that Mouse needs to be careful. He has already went off on her, locking her in the house while the whole time yelling and throwing things; Mouse didn't know what to do other then curl up in the corner of the couch and crying. Man, I wanted to fillet him when I heard about that. By this time She had already had their son Colton, and luckily he was over at Tyler's parents house. Well since then, they've really just been like roommates. She doesn't enjoying being intimate with him. They fight all the time. Tyler is always keeping them in debt. And then there's the whole jealousy thing. Mouse says she doesn't want them to split for Coltons sake and also because I know shes scared of being a single mom; I don't blame her! But marriage is for life and I am NOT of the belief that you should marry or stay married for the child's sake. My own parents were less then happy my entire life and there were times I would have begged them to get a divorce. It was like walking on pins and needles for 18 years. You just want the fighting and hurting to stop. You love them both and you just want it to stop. Well my sister and Tyler stayed engaged, if you will, this entire time until three weeks ago when she announces that they are finally getting married...My first thought is why now? The answer is, Tyler's deploying in October for a year and he is really pushing for the union. He doesn't want to leave without putting that final ring on her finger. Mouse says they decided "now" because she doesn't want another woman raising her son at some point and vis verse. So not only is Mouse NOT in love, but she is getting married a few weeks before a deployment! Ummm, do you see my point? A deployment is hard enough on a strong marriage! A lot of you know this...I'm just scared for her...I'm not sure if this made any since to you all...But the bottom line is, she is not happy in this situation already, and shes fixin to bind herself to it! I would love to hear your thoughts ladies...Also, my sister Mary asked me to to see if some of you would be willing to email Mouse with the , down and dirty, of a deployment to really give her a better picture of what to expect? She won't listen to me because duh, I'm her sister:p And two, because I was not married to Robert during his deployments...So I don't count:p I'd really appreciate it...Of course, Mouse would be aware of you writing her and I would make sure it was okay first:) Just let me know if any of you are willing to do this! I am off to the shower...Work is on the horizon...

Show Me Some Magic

Gosh, I had NO idea that planning a family vacation could be such hard work!!! I am seriously sweating bullets over here from my labor...PHEW! One week solid on the computer I spent clicking, searching and reading my way into a frenzy trying to find the perfect place to stay during our Florida trip. Well I finally found it today! Now I'm just waiting for the Pay Pal request for the down payment. I'm assuming I haven't received it because the owners live in the good ol' land of crumpets and tea *England* where the time difference is at least 9 hours I'm sure...I am so E.X.C.I.T.E.D about this vacation! It will have been six months since I saw my family last which might not be much to some, but to me...Well as you all know, I am very close to my family. I have been having bouts of (missing them) a lot here lately...We'll be hearding out four days after my sisters wedding which I'm still not thrilled about destined for Orlando, FL where magic is promised to happen... For those of you who are not thinking Disney World, get your heads out of the gutter:p We are staying in one of Orlando's newly built luxury resorts with an enormous pool, king size beds and Egyptian Cotton sheets...Pure bliss if you ask me! Now all I have to accomplish is boarding for Bella during the trip and wait the 60 days until we leave!!!


Tomorrow is my day off so I plan to catch up on as much blogging as I can...Heck I might even post again tomorrow:p I've really been missing you all and hating that so much has been written that I haven't been able to read! ARGH...Love you guys! Please don't think I have forgotten about you all...To each and everyone that has me as a follower on your blog; I DO visit your page. I SWEAR! I don't always comment, this you know, but I do care and I do enjoy reading about your thoughts and life:) Bare with me and before you know it, all will be back to normal...

Catch you beauty's later;)

HELLO!

HELLO HELLO! So today's my day off and BOY am I glad about that! Right now I am sporting a pretty good cold with an annoying cough so I could use a day to myself. It feels like its been forever since my last post and I hate that:( But thank you all for your support and understanding *sends hearts*.

Really, there's nothing exciting to report. Bella had a vet appointment on Tuesday for some awful skin condition that she has broken out with. Turns out she has some type of mange...EKK! I asked Robert where in the world she picked that up at seeing as we wash her about once every two weeks and shes not in filth at all...I feel like such a bad mommy because is that something you could prevent? Well, she is on meds for the sores, and they medicated her skin then told us to give her Benadryl twice a day for the itching so hopefully this stuff kicks the bucket soon!

Robert finished up his first rotation last Thursday so he had a four day weekend and then is on leave until this Monday. I'm really glad he was able to get this time off because he was t.i.r.e.d! For the past five days hes basically been living at the auto skills center on post with his stang:p Something happened to it some weeks back so he decided it would be a good idea to rip it apart and find the problem. I am proud of him because its not like he's this big time mechanic that knows all. He's read book after book on the car and it seems to be paying off because he found the problem, then another one...This one kind of hurts the wallet because its a cracked head. Those babies cost a whopping 1,500! Act now, cringe later kind of deal though because if we leave it, that could mean even bigger problems down the road; costlier problems:p I'm going over there today to check out his progress and take a few pictures:)

As for me, its been crazy busy at work, which is better then no work! Kids go back to school today so it should slow down some before the holiday season gets here...A few of my sisters and I are planning a Florida vacation at the end of Oct. THIS I am so excited about! We are going to stay on the beach for 4 nights then commute the 45 minutes to Disney World while we're there! Best of both worlds if you ask me:) Robert hopefully gets to come, but its right in the middle of a rotation so its not set in stone. I've been keeping up with my running except for the past three days. Because of this cold, it has made me really weak and just miserable:( I think its so awesome that two of my older sisters and one younger brother has gotten into running because of me...One of them smokes and she swore up and down that he would never be a runner, so I like to laugh at her now:) Their doing awesome with it! I only wish we all lived closer so I could run with them...Boo...I had to buy another pair of glass which I got in a few days ago. I hated doing that, but Robert wanted me to have the exact ones that Bella chewed up. "You looked good in those babe." He told me, so I folded:p

Well I have not been on any of your blogs in a few days so I'm going to do that now before Robert wakes up. I hope you're all enjoying your week and that its not quite as long until my next post:p

Caio!