Things heard in my house this morning....

Things heard in my house this morning…..

1.      An annoying alarm clock going off extra early followed by my husband cussing and dumbfounded because he can’t remember why it is going off so early and he is still half asleep and can’t figure out how to turn it off.

2.      Screech….eeeek…screech….followed by a really loud “Crap” and a “Sorry” from my husband.  That’s when I remembered today was “Blues” Monday and the loud pitch sound that reminded me of nails on a chalk board was just our ironing board being opened so that my husband could iron his dress uniform.  The “Crap” and the “Sorry” were because he knew he was unintentionally waking up the boy.

3.      Stomp, stomp, stomp…..Mommy!!!!!  Where are you?  What was that loud noise?  Are we getting a storm? – Needless to say…the boy is awake and it is earlier than he normally gets up.  So….mommy is up now too. 

4.      “Uh Oh – I guess I was supposed to put the icing on after the cinnamon rolls came out of the oven.”  See in my attempt to be a domestic goddess this morning, I decided to make breakfast for my family since everyone was officially up at the crack of dawn.  Still half asleep, I didn’t really read the directions and placed the cinnamon rolls in the oven with the icing already on them.  It melted down into the pan and stuck to the bottom.  That poor pan is soaking in water now because I fear the icing will never come off.  The cinnamon rolls were still good though.  Lesson learned….don’t cook while still half asleep.

5.      Connor: Um…Mommy!!!  Is today morning?

Me: Yes Connor

Connor: Um…why aren’t there any cartoons then?

Me: It is really really early in the morning; your normal cartoons haven’t come on yet.

Connor: Can I have not normal cartoons?

Me: Um…let me see.

6.      Mommy…my cinnamon roll doesn’t have icing.  Did you give my icing to Daddy?

7.      Mommy…can I have a beer with my cinnamon roll…you know the ones in the bottle that I like.  He was referring to root beer but it threw me off guard for a second.  Then the mommy in me kicked in and said “Absolutely…..NOT!  You are drinking milk with your breakfast.”

8.      As I am taking my shower and trying to rinse the soap out of my hair….Bang Bang Bang….Mommy!!!!  The wind is really blowing outside; I think we need to watch the weather channel.  (It made me smile - he is my little meteorologist in the making...well actually he just doesn’t like storms)

9.      Mommy...since I already had breakfast and you didn’t give me any icing on my cinnamon roll….can I have some ice cream? 

10.  If I can’t have ice cream… can I have my beer now?

This was just a somewhat normal morning in our household.  Looking back on the first few hours of the day, it made me smile. 

Anything crazy or funny heard in your house this morning?

Things that made me smile today!

Things that made me smile today!!!

On Saturday’s, it seems like we are always trying to spend quality time with each other while also cleaning the house.  Currently, I am still unemployed, so most standard cleaning happens throughout the week; however, when it comes to the weekend, I still do the major scrubbing then.  With that said, these are the things that made me smile today:

1.      Got to somewhat sleep in.  Travis got up with the boy, and I slept until 9:00 am.  That was so WONDERFUL!!!

2.      Subway for breakfast!  It may not be the nice buttery biscuit with eggs, cheese, and bacon on it that I dearly love from Hardees’s, but I think my Heart is happier that we had low fat from Subway.  Besides, it is still very delicious, and …… I did not have to cook!

3.      We ate at Subway …. So I didn’t have any dishes to wash today (by hand since the landlord still has not installed a dishwasher yet….however, he says he is coming by today to measure again.)

4.      Laundry….. Now that Connor is 4 he wants to help me with laundry.  (Well before he tried to help me but now he’s actually productive instead of causing more work.)  He likes to help me put the clothes in the washer, he wants to help fold the wash cloths, and he can put his own clothes away in his dresser.  LOVE THAT BOY!!!!

5.      Clorox Wipes!!!!  I know I probably don’t have to say anything else with this, because all you all out there know that I am a germ freak and anything that will kills the germs is my friend.  With that said, I LOVE CLOROX WIPES!  They are so handy, and I love to clean my bathroom with them. 

6.      Refillable soap bottles … When the small bottle on the counter top runs out, I love that I have a bazillion gallons of soap underneath my sink that I can use to refill my small bottle.  It is like I get to say… “Take that Mr. Sam Walton Family … I do not have to make a special trip to your store because my little bottle is empty.”

7.      My husband playing fetch with my child!  I know I shouldn’t smile at this, but it is just so darn funny.

8.      Leftovers in the fridge …. This means that I can continue the no cooking for the day with minimal clean up.

9.      My Kindle … as I relax I am able to finish my current book , and then with the press of a button or two, I can download the next book in my series for less than what it costs at borders, and I can also download free classics such as Little Women.  It is like I get to say … “Take that Borders Book Store … I do not have to make a special trip to your store to find out if the Butler did it, since the killer is not being revealed until the next book…and I refuse to come and pay full price for it.”

10.  Instant air in the truck!!!  Both my husband’s truck (Silverado) and my Trailblazer have something called Instant Heat and Instant Air.  (Thank you Chevy!!!)  This means that you don’t have to wait for it to heat up or in this case….COOL DOWN!!  It is like 10,000 degrees outside right now with a bunch of I am going to make you melt into your clothes humidity.  Therefore, when my husband turns on the truck and the air conditioning immediately starts cooling me down, I have to SMILE!!

These are things that made me smile today.  Did you have anything that made you smile?  If so, comment below.

(PS) I have a friend from school who writes a hilariously funny and also very educational blog entitled, “From Inmates to Play Dates.”  Just like her, I love to make lists, and that is where I got the idea of this post from.  If you would like to check her blog out…here is the link:

http://www.frominmatestoplaydates.com/

First came love.....

Back in 1999, I had a roommate who had just met the man of her dreams and decided to move out to be closer to him (we were in WV - man was in SC), so she had her cousin, Travis, come and help her move her stuff.  Travis was in the Air Force and stationed at Shaw AFB in SC, which is also where the new guy was living.  The day that Travis showed up at my door to help his cousin move, I was not looking my hottest.  In fact, I was down right scary.  To say that I had a bad upper respiratory infection was sugar coating it to be sure.  It was a Saturday, so I was home from work, laying in bed with my favorite flannel nightgown on, and long john pants (hey....I was cold).  I had also dipped my entire self (ok well really just my chest and throat) with Vick's Vapor Rub.  I think you could smell me at least a mile away.  Oh - did I mention the sexy bed head that I had too!!!

Well that was our first meeting.....needless to say....I left an impression.  As for me though, I was so doped up on NyQuil and was not in the least interested in anyone or anything, that I barely saw him nor cared that a sexy guy was in my place.  I just went back to bed and spent the next few days just trying to breathe.

Fast forward a year and 1 month.  My parents have both passed away, the Army has sent my brother to Germany, and my old roommate had broken up with the guy in SC and moved back in with me.  It was Thanksgiving, and she invited me to go to her maw maw's house for Thanksgiving dinner....she said, "There will be a ton of people there, like a family reunion, and we are huggers, so you'll be family instantly."  I thought sure why not.  When I got there I saw this amazing guy, over by the rolls, and he looked good enough to eat.  I asked her who it was and she said, "Oh that's just my cousin Travis.  Don't you remember Amy?  You met him when he came to move my stuff out."  At that moment, I wanted to hide.  He must have thought I was a crazy woman when he met me, but oh my, he was so handsome.

We became instant friends.  We hung out here and there, and spoke on the phone off and on.  He was always gone.....Bosnia, Croatia, Korea, Japan......the list goes on and on.  Plus, he always seemed to have a girlfriend.  When he came home from Korea in 2002 though, he was unattached, and all of a sudden interested in being more than friends.  Finally!

So....First Came Love:

Then on May 29, 2004...Came Marriage

Then over three years later, several fertility drugs/treatments, and fertility surgery for me....Came the Baby Carriage.....oh - and did I mention the 38 hrs of labor and the emergency C-section.  Whew!  That was fun!  I got to try both!!!

But my little man was completely worth it.  On June 26, 2007 our little bundle of joy was born.  He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long.

So I met him in 1999, and feel instantly in love.  It took him a few years to realize how amazingly wonderful I was, but in the end, it all turned out perfect.  I got the man of my dreams, and the baby that I had prayed for so long to come.

Connor, is turning 4 in just a few hours, and I can't believe where the time has gone.  He is such an amazing little guy with such a sweet heart,  He tells me all the time that I am his princess and that he will always protect me.  He is all smiles in the morning and hugs and kisses all day long.  He loves to pick flowers for me all the time....we are still working on the "Wait - that's not our flowers to pick" but then again, he is just turning 4.  All he knows is that mommy loves flowers.  :) 

He is my pride and joy!!!! 

Here he is at 1 yr...

2 yrs....

3 yrs....

and now....I need to take a picture of him at 4 yrs old.  Until then....here is two pics that I love of my two guys....

Happy Birthday Connor boy....mommy and daddy love you so much!

Indoor Girl

I am an indoor girl.

Maybe there was a time in my life where I was an outdoor girl, but then again, when we were little, most of us were outdoor kids.  At this point in my life though, when it is a bazillion degrees outside, and I melt and stick to my clothes just walking out on my porch, I prefer to say that I am an indoor girl.

My husband is an outside guy.

He spends most days trying to convince me that if I come outside more, that it won't matter that it is a bazillion degrees outside, because I will get used to it.  I don't know if this is really true, or if he just thinks its cooler since he is used to the 140 degree weather in Iraq from all the time he has spent there.  Me though, I like the air conditioning!!!  It is my friend.

Most of the time, he will give up and go on outside to tinker on all his projects, mow the grass, and run.  He will come back in sweating buckets, but he feels fine.  Then some days, he guilts me in to going out with him.  Today, I lasted maybe 5 min, before I felt as if my hair was about to slide off of my scalp.  Luckily, I was still close to the door and was able to move back inside, before a trip to the wig store was needed.

I do not look forward to this months electric bill....and it is times like this that I miss living in housing (since they pay the  bill) but it is all worth it for my nice cool air conditioning.  After all....I am an indoor girl. 

Joy of Finding a Job

As you all know, we just recently PCSd (for the civilian world - that we means we moved from one duty station to another); thus, I am once again unemployed.  Living life married to a military man has afforded me the opportunity to work in various fields in various locations over the last seven years.  I have enjoyed all the places that I have been, and all the people that I have met.  However, with that said, it is always hard to start over again.

I am in the process of writing my thesis paper and will have it finished within the next 2 weeks.  This means that I will actually have my Master's degree in hand very soon.  I thought this would open a lot of doors for me, but unfortunately, I am lacking a lot of the experience that many employers are wanting. 

I did complete 150 hours of an internship that helped me to gain a lot of HR experience to go with my education.  I am hoping that this addition to my resume will greatly increase my chances. 

With all this said, there are still times when everything seems hopeless.  Which of course, this usually happens after I reconcile our checkbook. 

There are many people who understand that it is difficult to quit your job and move to a new location.  Therefore, many states offer unemployment for military spouses.  Unfortunately, Hawaii nor Virginia are states that do that.  Oh well. 

In the meantime, I have been extremely lucky with the fact that I had an HR manager with 19 years experience, and a doctorate in HR, look over my resume and help me make the appropriate changes.  I am hoping that it will just be a matter of time now before I start getting calls for interviews for the million plus jobs that I have applied for.  Until then, I am trying to avoid Wal-Mart at all costs.  There are way to many cute summer things out there that we DO NOT need.   

Updates!!!!

I am so sorry that I haven't updated anyone in awhile, but things have been hectic to say the least.  First off, we have moved from beautiful sun shiny Hawaii to Virginia.  We flew to LA and then drove across the country over 3,000 miles to get here.  We took about 9 days to make the trip, stopped at some really awesome places along the way, and even got to see a few friends here and there.

Touristy wise, I think Travis favorite stop was the Coors Brewing Company.  It was FREE, always a plus in our book, and then to top that all off, they gave you FREE BEER at the end.  That to Travis was priceless.  LOL!  Coors is his favorite beer, and to see how it was made tugged at his heart strings to say the least.  Then at the end, when they gave him 3 free tickets for any 3 beers of his choice, he was speechless.  Then the love in his eyes glistened at me when I gave him my free 3 tickets too.  (I have never liked beer!!!)  After all those years of saying I should just have a beer with him, he finally realized that there was an advantage to having a wife who didn't like beer.  LOL!

Travis was also mesmerized by the gift shop at the brewery.  He bought himself a double set (8 I think) of Coors glasses.  If the beer is cold in the glass, the Rockies are blue (just like the bottle).  Needless to say, to a good ole WV boy, that was amazing and a must have. 

My touristy highlight was going to the Wizard of Oz museum.  It is a little hole in the wall kind of place, but I thought it was really cool.  I have always loved the Wizard of Oz, and this place had every form of memorabilia possible.  I honestly didn't realize that the Wizard of Oz was actually a series of books written over several decades by 3 different authors.  They were small stories, and the movie came from the 3rd book, I think.  I could be wrong.  Wouldn't be the first time in my life, but we are keeping that a secret from my husband. 

There was something that happened at the museum that was really funny.  This museum literally had all memorabilia associated with the Wizard of Oz, including spin offs and spoofs made from the film.  Posters, dolls, etc..were everywhere.  As we turned the corner into Emerald City, I saw a poster for a "Naughty" version of the Wizard of Oz.  Pasties were placed in the right spots, and things were covered, but the Mommy in me came out like a lion.  LOL!.  In my younger days, I would have thought the poster was funny, but now in my Mommy days, I spun Connor in a different direction and expressed my outrage as to why a family place would display such horrible things.  Travis of course just laughed at me, which of course infuriated me even more, until I realized that I had jumped on a soap box that no one listening to or even cared to hear about.  Connor, was looking at the Flying Monkeys and didn't even see the poster.  Oh well. 

The gift shop there was really nice too, and I was able to buy some scrapbook paper in a Wizard of Oz theme and a wooden sign that hangs on the wall with witch shoes on it saying, "If the shoe fits, where it."  I have it hanging in my home office now.  I like to refer to it at times when I feel a little "witchy."

I am still sorting through the hundreds of pictures that I took and the scrapbook ideas are constantly popping into my head.  Stay tuned for more updates.....

The New House

I am sorry that it has been awhile since I posted anything, but things have been very hectic in the Stricker household – or now lack thereof.  Last week, the movers came and took all of our personal belongings and packed them up, crated them, and drove them off to the blue yonder.  According to their estimates, we will not see our worldly possessions again until the end of April. 

On a good note, we will only be officially homeless for 1 month.  We have found a house in Virginia that is pretty much looking AWESOME!!!!  Granted, we have only seen pictures, but those pictures look great!!  So let me tell you a little about this house….

It is 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, and one level.  It is a brick rancher with a little over 2,000 sq feet.  This alone makes me happy.  This means that I no longer have to carry laundry up and down the steps, and I no longer have to look out for and dodge any Buzz Lightyears or Lightning McQueens on the steps either.  Let me tell you, that was never fun, especially if I was carrying laundry up and down the steps.  Of course Connor didn’t like it either because me stepping on his McQueen hurt his car.  Although since I was the one doing the I just stepped on something small in the middle soft part of my foot dance, I couldn’t understand why he thought McQueen was hurt. 

Anyway….back to the house.  The kitchen has stainless steel appliances – enough said about the kitchen. 

It is located along side a river and has its own private dock.  As for Travis, this was enough said for him.  He is looking forward to many days of fishing with Connor off the dock. 

So this house has been up for sale for a long time.  The economy is not so great in the area that we are moving to.  In fact, there are several thousand houses for sale within just a 20 min radius of the base.  The house that we are getting is in a bit of a pricey neighborhood and was also pricey since it was waterfront.  We are not wanting to buy since the economy is so bad there (we are thinking resale may not be great – plus we have no idea how long we will be there) so we only wanted to rent. 

It just so happens that our neighbor’s mother in-law is a real estate agent in the area, so she hooked us up with this listing, plus talked the owner into renting, and then talked them down on the monthly rent.  When this is all said and done, it is going to be cheaper than if we had went into housing on base, plus we will not have to worry about all the silly housing rules. 

Needless to say, the house sounds great and we are excited.  Plus, we will get the keys to the house as soon as we get there, so no need to hang out in a hotel for a month waiting on housing.  Our unaccompanied baggage should be there at the same time, so we will have air mattresses, a few kitchen things, and some winter clothes.  This should hold us over for a month until we get the rest of our belongings.  Plus, we still have a bazillion things being stored in a garage at Travis’ sister’s house.  (Thank you Lori!!!) With that said, this house/base is about 5.5 hours drive from Charleston.  This will be the closest we have ever been to home.  So it will not be a problem to grab our junk from Lori’s house, and also visit everyone that we have not seen in years.  It is hard to believe that there are still people in the family who have never met my child and he is almost 4 years old. 

So wish us luck and say a prayer for us that we like the house as much once we get there, as we do now by looking at the pictures. 

Oh – and by the way, we will start our 3,000 miles quest across the US in on Friday morning, so we will see how that goes.

Things I should be doing

With the upcoming move to the new station, I realize that there are many things that I should be doing right now.  For instance:

1. Go through all of our clothes and see what needs to be donated and what is going with us.
2. Finish up a scrapbook before all of our household goods go away for the next 3 months.
3. Research more into how we need to ship our kitty cat.
4. Plan out a menu that actually uses all the food we have before we leave, since the military doesn't let you ship it, even if it is in a can.
5. Sort through the spare room and see if some things can be tossed.
6. Go ahead and pack the suitcases traveling with us with our winter clothes (it is not like we use those clothes here anyway) and get those out of the way so the movers don't take them.
7. Gather up all our info for our taxes.
8. Clean up the kitchen (that always needs done)
9. Wash laundry (that always needs done too)
10. Go through Connor's toys
11. .......12.....13.... and on and on and on.  By the way, we are not even going to mention the garage.

The list is never ending.  However, with all that to do, I find myself sitting on the couch with my laptop and cruising around on Facebook. 

We did get some good news today!!!!  Everyone under the sun has been telling us that there is over a year wait for housing at the next base, and that you practically have to give them your first born child to get into a house.  I talked to them today, and since Travis is going up in rank, there is no wait for his rank/housing.  With us going straight into housing when we get there, that means we will be able to keep our kitty!!!!  All the places that we were looking at online would not let us have our cat.  We were heartbroken to think we would have to give her up.  She is so wonderful and tolerant with Connor.  Plus, she is just a sweetheart.  Living in housing means that we can keep her.

We have less than a month now until all of our goods are shipped and we check into billeting.  It is crazy to think that we are about to be homeless again for awhile, and that we are excited about that.

In the Land of Eternal Summer

My family has lived in Hawaii for the last 4 years.  In that time, we have been able to go to the beach and play in the water in January, camping in February, and cook outs anytime of the year.  In fact, our grill has been used more in the last 4 years then most people will probably use their grill their whole life.  When you live in the land of eternal summer, you do miss the season changes.  However, when my in laws are talking about having to take the 4-wheeler up and down the hill because of snow and ice, I realize that going to the beach sounds like a lot more fun than bitter cold and sliding sideways down hills. 

Travis was deployed during the major holidays for 2009, but I was determined to make everything extra special for Connor since Daddy was gone.  For Halloween, we went down to the pumpkin farm and picked out our pumpkins.  I carved mine, and we stuck Mr. Potato Head things in Connor's.  I took pictures and we took our beautiful pumpkins outside to be displayed.  By the next morning, mine had a big roach in it.  Luckily, we live in a new house here, so no roaches inside.  Outside though, they are huge.  They never die, so they are big enough to eat a small child.  LOL!  Anyway, I ignored the roach and moved on.  By the next day, my pumpkin was moldy and sunken in.  It looked so rotten, like maybe I had it out on the porch for 2 months instead of 2 days.  Oh well, that it a draw back with pumpkins and 90 degrees. 

Next comes Thanksgiving.  Normally, back in WV, it is getting cold.  Most of the guys are gearing up to go Deer Hunting and we try to decorate the porch with scare crows and hay bales.  In Hawaii though, you are sweating like a pig just trying to hang up some fake Turkeys on your living room windows.  LOL!

By Christmas, it gets really funny.  You pass houses that are putting out their blow up snowmen, and you can't help but think that snowman sitting next to the palm tree just looks wrong in so many ways.  It is right about this time that you wish it was no longer 84 degrees and you are dreaming about a White Christmas.  For Christmas 2009, I put tons of decorations up outside since Connor was starting to really notice the lights and got so excited to see them.  I had some friends help me put the lights up, and then I did the rest of the yard decorations.  We had presents, a Santa this way sign, candy canes along the walk, and a huge blow up Santa on a John Deer Tractor.  It looked perfect - well for about a week or so.  Then I realized that I needed to mow the grass.  Santa and his big John Deer are actually quite heavy to move on your own.  Not too mention again that it is 84 degrees and you are sweating when you are trying to lug the jolly old man around.  I was in the middle of moving old St. Nick when my phone rang.  Of course, when your husband is deployed, your phone stays attached to you at all times, so it was not hard to answer.  It was my father-in-law calling to check in on us and see how we were doing.  He said, "Amy..you ok?  You sound out of breath."  I told him that I was trying to move all the Christmas decorations around so I could mow the grass.  He immediately started laughing at me.  I was thinking to myself that I really didn't see what was so funny until he said, "Well that's a first for me.  I can honestly say that I have never had to move our Christmas decorations in order to mow the grass."  Then I started laughing too.  He was right, most of the time WV has a blanket of snow and there is no need to mow grass for several more months.

In the end, I managed to mow every week and Connor loved the decorations.  Me, maybe not as much, but it was great to see my little man so excited. 

Fast forward to now - January 2011.  We have finally put up all the Christmas decorations, so we no longer have to mow around them.  I also went to work this morning with the heat on in my car and a sweater to stay warm.  See it was only 68 degrees this morning, which for someone who has lived in Hawaii for 4 years was FREEZING!!!! 

Our time in the land of eternal summer is almost up, and Hawaii, we will miss you.  In just a few short weeks, we will be making our way to our next duty station in Virginia.  I have a feeling that it will not be 68 degrees and that we will be in for a rude awakening.  We will miss going to the beach anytime we want and wearing shorts all year long.  However, next Halloween it will be nice to have a pumpkin minus the roaches and the mold and Christmas decorations that you do not need to mow around.

WV to NY to HI to VA: Its all about what you are used to.

Before Travis came into my life, I lived in WV.  I had visited other states, but I had a house, a good job, and great friends all around me, so I had no desire to ever live anywhere else.  I was happy.  I really thought I would retire from my job at the phone company and grow old with all my friends and family.  Then the love bug bit me.  Boy did it sink its teeth in and bite hard.  It didn't take long until I realized that I would live under a bridge with this man if I had to, as long as we were together.  Granted, life as a troll under a bridge may not have been fun, but at least we would have each other.  He was stationed in NY and property of Uncle Sam.  I was was thinking NY sounded scary,but fun, and I didn't belong to the phone company, so I was able to quit my job and follow this whole love thing. 

We got married, packed everything up and headed to upstate NY, Ft. Drum to be exact.  It was summer time, so I was naive and did not realize that when people talked about a foot of snow at a time, that they really meant it.  Shortly after getting to NY, I got a job at Sprint.  I figured I used to do landlines, now I will do wireless.  After all, how different could it really be?  THANK GOD for the wonderful people I worked with who were very patient with me, because if you haven't guessed, there is a HUGE difference.  Anyway, my new friends/co-workers were telling their stories about winter, the cold, snow, etc... etc... etc... and I really didn't believe them.  However, I did not have long to wait - see winter comes early in the North Country, and it does get really cold, and there is also tons of snow, etc.... etc... etc...

I remember hearing their stories and getting a little anxiety ridden about it all.  I was at home one day and I was flipping through the stations on the TV and I found a news program.  It was probably towards the end of October or so, and I saw the weather man predict negative numbers for that night.  I was stunned!!!  I knew that everyone at work said that when it came, it came hard, but would it really come that fast?  Needless to say, I was really worried.  I called Travis at work, hysterical, to let him know and express my concerns, and he got really quiet for a minute and then started to laugh.  Little did I know that being only a few miles from Canada, that we picked up the Canadian stations and I was really seeing the weather reported in Celsius and not Fahrenheit.  LOL!  It didn't take long though, and the NY weatherman was predicting the same weather, and it was not Celsius this time.

I tell everybody that they do not know what cold is until they walk outside their house and it literally hurts to breathe, and that is when you are breathing through a scarf because there is no way in you know where that you would expose your skin to those elements.  After all, -30F HURTS!!!!  The Sprint store was located in the mall, so it was possible to go to work and the roads were clear, and then come out of work and your car was buried in snow.  Believe it or not, it was the first time I truly used the whole packing list of safety items to always keep in your car during the winter. 

Fast forward a few years down the road, several Columbia jackets, lots of winter snow boots, and blah blah blah.....and we have orders to Hawaii.  The day that we left NY for HI, there was a huge blizzard dropping over 10 ft of snow.  We sat in the airport for 13 hours before we even stepped on a plane.  Luckily, we were able to fly south and then across the US.  With delays and layovers, all total it took us 37 hours to make it to Hawaii.(Oh - did I mention that by this point in our journey that I am 6 months pregnant!!  That made traveling really fun!)  We exited the plane wearing pants, boots, heavy socks, layers of shirts, and holding our Columbia coats good to -30F.  We see the ocean, palm trees, and a blazing hot sun.  By the time we got our luggage and got to the hotel, I thought we were going to pass out from heat exhaustion.....it was 70F, but with all our NY cold weather gear, it felt like 120F.

We have lived on this little island now for 4 years.  I have a baby boy who has the forever sun tan and the brown hair that has blondish sun kissed tips.  He doesn't know cold and only see snow on the TV.  We have also become very climatized to this weather.  We love going to the beach in January and playing in the water all year long.  The temperature is pretty constant here, and will only get a little chilly in the winter time at night.  Just the other day, it dropped all the way down to 66F.  I was so cold that I had on my winter clothes I brought from NY and the heater on in my car.  If the temperature drops below 70, I want a sweater now.  I know it may sound ridiculous to all my friends in NY and WV, who are right now experiencing snow and bitter cold, but it is really all about what you are used to.

We now have orders to move to Virginia.  We will be arriving in the winter time, which I am sure is very cold (well to us anyway) and there will be no more playing in the water all year long, unless you count the bathtub and a heater in the bathroom.  I have a feeling that we are in for a big shock and will be missing our forever summer island the first time we slide down the road on some black ice, or have to scrape the ice off the car windows.  But then again, when the love bug bit me, it also bit a guy who is nice enough to let me stay in the warm house while he goes outside to warm up the car and scrape the windows. 

When it is all said and done, whether it is hot or cold, I thank God everyday for love bugs.

Friends that come and go.

Life in the military (or in my case as a dependent - we won't get me started on calling me a dependent) can sometimes be very hard. We move frequently - which means that the people we meet will only be in our lives for such a short time. In that short time though, we are able to bond so fast and so deeply. We live through the same horrors, and we celebrate the same victories. It is bittersweet to say goodbye, but at the same time, with a career field so small as ours, we will more than likely see them again.

Ok - before I go too much into this, I should first say that I am sorry if I use any acronyms and forget to explain what they are. The lingo becomes second nature and you forget sometimes that everyone doesn't spend their lives spewing out letters of the alphabet instead of talking in complete sentences. For reference to this blog - and many more to come - a TDY is a temporary duty. Usually this is a trip somewhere. You are not changing where you are stationed. That would be a PCS - Permanent Change of Station. A TDY just sends you somewhere for awhile. It could be as little as a day up to months at a time. It can be to foreign countries, or right here in our own backyard. Either way, it means he is gone and not coming home at night.

As a military wife/family we understand how important it is to stick together. Deployments and sometimes even TDYs can be scary. You hear rumors and watch the news and wonder. Back in 2003, there were very little lines of communication. I can remember letters taking 3-4 weeks to go back and forth. No email and no phone calls. I can only imagine how my Grandma felt when it was my Grandpa during WWII and it was years - not weeks. You spend your life sitting in front of the TV watching the news. Hoping to catch a glimpse of your loved one in the background walking by, but then praying to God that he is not one injured and being worked on. Then you beat yourself up when you hear that someone else's husband was hurt or killed and you find yourself thanking God that it wasn't yours. I know it is only natural to think that way, because our hearts do break with those people who are living that nightmare and we try to support them as much as possible, but like I said, we also feel guilty for secretly being so grateful that our loved one is still ok. Going through these ups and downs, these emotional roller coasters makes you form friendships that will literally touch your heart and soul.

With this said, it is hard to say good bye. Sometimes you are the one leaving, sometimes you are the one being left. This week, I am the one being left. This week, I will be saying good bye to a dear friend who had shared baby stories, teething, walking, and diapers and everything else baby related with me and also deployments, and a bazillion TDYs (think at least 1 week out of every month, and many months it was 2 weeks a month) and did I mention that she is just cool to hang out with and have a drink. Although I will miss them greatly, I am so happy for them too. Their new duty station will place them close to home, and that is what we all long and wish for. So, Erika, Seam, and Skylar......you will be missed greatly, and I hope to see you all again one day. In the meantime, thank God for Facebook!!!!!!

Measure Twice...Cut Once

I love being a Mom. My little guy brings me more joy than I could ever have imagined. It is funny how this little person who was born 8 yrs after my father passed away and 7 years to the day that my mother passed away, can remind me so much of them.

My father was a tinkerer. I am not sure if that is really a word or not, but basically it means he liked to tinker around with things. Check them out, find out what made them work. This also made him quite the little handy man. Dad was proud of the fact that he changed his own oil, replaced his own fuel pumps, and everything else under the hood of a car. (Don't worry Dad - I won't tell them all about the bucket on the porch that held all the "extra" parts that the car really didn't need to work after all.) He mostly did it out of necessity, but even if we had the extra money, I am not sure he would have wanted to pay someone else to do something that he could do himself anyway. Growing up with a tinkerer meant that I heard sayings such as "Measure twice, cut once" lots of times. He even had my Mom saying it when she would work on crafts with us or when she made curtains.

Recently, my son started watching Handy Manny and Bob the Builder, and he now thinks that he can build anything! He grabs all of his tools (he recently got a huge kit made by Home Depot of kids toys for Christmas from our neighbors and dear friends) and he tries to stick them in the side of his pants, or in most cases, the sides of his underwear, and take off to fix everything in the house, and then of course, to "Build Mommy a Big House." The other day, I heard him say something that made me stop in my tracks and smile. He was holding up his toy tape measure and I heard those familiar words, "Measure twice, cut once." It literally warmed my heart. This little boy's voice flooded me with warm memories of loving parents and a wonderful childhood. He may have learned these words from his cartoon, but in that moment when I heard him say it, I could almost picture him tinkering around with my Dad and working on a craft with my Mom.

Thank you Handy Manny and Bob the Builder for making me smile.

Moving and Selling Everything Not Nailed Down

For those of you who do not know me, I am married to a military guy. With that, comes a lot of extra stuff that wouldn't be around with a "regular" marriage. In fact, there are days that feel like I am married to the military. When people ask, "How long have you been married?" I want to say....Do you mean civilian time or military time? Because, there is a difference. Technically, we have been married for almost 7 years, but if you take out deployments, TDYs, training, and any other reason they send him away, we are at about 3.5-4 years. LOL!

Being married to a military guy means moving from here to there, and doing it quite often. We have moved from WV, to NY, to HI, and now we will be moving to VA in less than 2 months. There are lots of rules, conditions, forms, appointments, and everything else under the sun when it comes to moving with the military. It is not just going to UHAUL and saying - umm... can I get a big truck? For this move, we will literally have to put our stuff on a boat and ship it.

When we first got married, we moved everything to our station in NY using a trailer and a Ford Escape. Since then, we have collected quite a bit more junk. When we first embarked on our journey to Hawaii, it was just the two of us. The military said that we could move 11,000 lbs for free, after that, we had to pay. So we threw out tons of junk, stored things with family that we didn't think we would need here (lots of winter coats and boots) and when the scales weighed it all, we only had 6,000 lbs. WOW!!! All of our stuff only weighed 6,000 lbs - and that included a motorcycle too!!!

Since then, we have had a little guy.....and I have to say, it is funny how one little person can add so much more stuff to this house. Not only did we add 1 more extra bedroom of things, we added a bazillion toys, inside and outside, and enough clothes that this child could become a fashion model. (However, I am quite proud of the fact that most of this was found super cheap or completely free.) So we have orders to move back to the East Coast, and the military says, you have 11,000 lbs for free, after that, we have to pay. Hmm....I don't think we are going to make it!!!!

Thus enters Craigslist. I have to say, I am in love with this site. I am not trying to promote them or anything, just telling it like it is. I have been placing everything that is not nailed down in this house on that website, and it has been selling like wildfire. I love how I can post something for sale and within minutes, I have 6 people wanting it.

However, I also have to say that I wish that all the wishy washy people would stay away from Craigslist or at least my posts. I had a wagon and tag a long trailer for sale on it. Posted it on Sunday night, and within an hour had 7 people who wanted it. Called the first person and they met my husband the next day. They had specs, pictures, and details about it. However, when he meets them to exchange the item/money - they didn't realize that it would be that big. HELLO - ITS A WAGON FOR TWO KIDS AND A TRAILER. So on to the next person. I called them, and come to find out, I am about 35 min away from them. I was heading their direction to go to Wal-Mart and sell another item along the way, so I offered to meet them about 10 min from their house. She said that wasn't really convenient for her. Again - HELLO - when do I have to make it convenient for the buyer??? After spending the next day trying to figure out when and where to meet her, she decides she doesn't want to pay the asking price. Hmm....shouldn't you negotiate price before you tell the person you will take it???? At any rate, I told her bye and moved on to the next person. The next person lived 40 min away. When I called though, she was so thrilled, she jumped in the car immediately and came to me. It all worked out in the end, just wishing the other two people would stay away from craigslist in the future.

Now that I have sold quite a few things, I am starting to think that this 11,000 lbs weight limit may not be too bad after all. Especially since I have been eyeing a lot of my husband's things - I think I could get some money from them on craigslist. After all, how many fishing poles does he really need??? Just kidding. His stuff is safe for now....well at least until they tell us we busted our weight allowance.