I've got to get better at this

This whole blogging thing is hard to get used to.  I get so busy and then forget to update.  Oy!

I have been really busy with all sorts of stuff.  I have been working, my tire went flat on my car (and my new ones haven't come in yet), school, planning Chad's care packages, cleaning, organizing, and who knows what else!  

I think my brain has been going a million miles an hour.

I still have so much to do as well.  Oy!

I have some special things for Chad in the mix, and I have been busy planning that and making sure I have everything I need.  I'll probably post a little bit more on that later.  

Speaking of Chad, I finally got an address from him.  I have also gotten several e-mails.  It's so nice to stay updated as much as I can.  I still don't know half of the things I want to know though.  A phone call will probably help with that.  

He is not liking it over there.  I think that is mainly because is not in the "action" as much as he thought he would be.  Which I have to admit, I am okay with.  Even though I know when he is in the "action" time goes by faster for him.  

Hopefully some time in the next few days I will be able blog a little bit more.  I Still have another bridal shower and a baby shower to blog about.  I also have a little DIY thing I did that I would like to share with you.  

Since Thanksgiving is SO soon (I know, I can't believe it either), what are your plans?

We have Thanksgiving dinner here like normal, and my sister and I plan on going Black Friday shopping.  

Bianca's Bridal Shower

Here are some pictures from the first bridal shower I hosted!  It was at my church.  It was such a wonderful shower! 

We played two games.  One of them was the mustache and Tiara game I found here.  The other was Bridal Shower Price is Right.  I got the idea on Pinterest.  It was an Etsy site who had a baby shower Price is Right.

We just had Chocolate and Strawberry cupcakes, brownie bites and chocolate covered pretzels.  

I made all of the paper pinwheel decorations.  Pinterest has been my inspiration for all of my parties.  Gotta love that place!

   I don't know why I didn't get more pictures.  I was a little busy, but I thought I got more than this.  Oh well!

The sign-in table

The corsages that I made

The food and the little game packets that I made.

The decorations.

People getting food and enjoying the party.

The bride and me!

It was SUCH a fun shower.  I had a wonderful time hosting it.  I know that the bride (and groom) were blessed :)

A Good Day

The past few days I have been having a little bit of a rough time.  Seeing friends being able to talk to their husbands.  Now don't get me wrong, I am VERY happy for them, just a little jealous.  

Thankfully, I got an e-mail from my husband today.  I was glad that the others were posting because I know they made it okay, but it was nice to read it from my husband's own typed words.  

He is doing well.  He had a very long flight that was horrible (his words).  He is not at his final destination yet, but he is still half way around the world.  I think that is why other ladies are able to hear from their husbands.

It's just an emotional roller coaster.  

Today is election day.  I hope that you got out and voted.  I was able to early vote, and I am so glad that I did.  We had to stand in a line, but it wasn't too long of one.  

I just have a whole bunch of randomness going on in my head.  I had an idea of what I wanted to post earlier, and now I can't remember.  Oh well.

I have been making some plans of things to do while Chad is gone.  I have a couple of surprises up my sleeve for him, and I am super excited!  So many fun things!  I am extremely thankful for great friends.  

Well, since I can't remember what else I was going to post, I think I will leave it at this for today.  I will hopefully post one of my bridal/baby showers tomorrow!

So Much Busyness

There has been so much going on lately.  

After Chad left I have just been going non stop.  It's nice, but man.  I need a break already!  

So now, you will see more Care Package posts, probably a few whiny posts, some excited posts, some super fun posts, and hopefully a LOT of accomplishment posts.  Speaking of accomplishments, I need to go update my Deployment Bucket List.  I also plan on doing some crafty posts and maybe a giveaway or two.  

Over the next few days I will be posting some of the Bridal and Baby showers that have happened recently.  I'll probably also post a few craft posts.  (So far I am doing pretty good at this blogging thing.  I actually think about it more!)

I don't really know if there was a point to this post, but I know I wanted to blog today.  

Here is an encouraging Scripture.

"This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:0

Getting back in the swing of things

Well, it's been 2 full days since I have said "see ya later" to my husband.  I am doing pretty well.  I haven't had too many breakdowns, and I am happier than I was before he came home (I am sure that is because I am more relaxed from the time off).

It is so nice to get back in the swing of things.  I have work, school, a fall festival, a bridal shower, church, and a worship team get together this week.  I am so glad that I have all of these things to help time pass by.

Time seems to be going by so fast already, which is bittersweet.  I am glad that time is going by fast to get my husband home faster, but he hasn't left the country quite yet, and that time is coming.  It helps to be able to text him when I want.

I have to say that I am glad that the National Guard has training before they actually leave.  As much as it sucks to say "see you later" a bazillion times, it helps when the final one comes around.  Because it's like "Oh, they are just gone for some more training.  I got this."  We just did 3 months, and 15 days of it we didn't have any communication.  So we can handle this.

I'm thankful for the holidays coming around.  As much as they will suck royally without him, they will keep me busy.  Christmas is my FAVORITE thing EVER, so I will be alright.  Even though I wish he was here with me (even if he is a Scrooge).

And that is my little update on my life.  I think I will go relax in a hot shower before I get sleep.  I have a long day of school, work, and a fall festival tomorrow.  I'm sure I'll post pictures of the fun we will have.  And that's another thing I am thankful for, my church family.

And so it begins

Well, my honey has left.  So the deployment officially begins.  

In a way, I am glad.

I can start the countdown.  I can start planning care packages.  I can get my mind in order to get things accomplished.  As much as I miss him, I am excited for what I will accomplish while he is gone.  

We had a WONDERFUL leave time while he was here.  I will share a few pictures from it.  

I do plan on keeping up this blog some more, because it's a LOT easier than keeping a handwritten journal.  Plus I will be sharing more information on things I am doing while he is gone.  It should be fun.  

The first night Chad got home we just hung out and went to dinner with mom when she got out of church.  

The next day we had church (I had to lead worship).  It was great for everyone to see him (the little bit that they did).  Once we got home we had lunch and napped and just stayed home.

Monday, Chad ran some errands, and I did some cleaning.  Then we went to dinner with some very good friends of ours, Chris and Jennifer and their two adorable kids.  That was a great time.

Tuesday we went and voted.  We also got to go to the beach.  I had been wanting to go to the beach with him and this was the perfect time.  It was a great day to go.  Sunny with a breeze so it wasn't too hot.  That night we celebrated my dad's 65th birthday.  It was a wonderful time.  

We decided to take a one night vacation to Wimberley, Texas.  I have to say that I am SO glad that we did this.  I went back and forth with the idea for the longest time.  Then I decided that we needed to.  It was one of the best vacations we have had.  Very relaxing, so much fun, and just all around awesome.   

Before we got up to Wimberley, we went to the Outlet Malls.  I didn't find too much, but I did find a lot of Christmas presents.  It was fun.  We even ran into a friend we know from here!  Love the small world we live in.

We stayed at some cottages that were on a creek.  It was so neat to go and explore around that.  The hill country is my favorite spot.  

Our cottages were awesome.  They were like a little house with it's own private hot tub.  They allow dogs (even though we didn't bring Cooper).  They have a little dog pen and offer doggy day care.  It was perfect. We will stay there every time we go to Wimberley, as long as they aren't booked up.  They stay booked constantly.  The website is www.cypresscreekcottages.com 

We also ate at an awesome pizza place there that night, then came back to the cottage and relaxed and went to bed early.

Thursday we explored Wimberley a little bit more. We went to Mount Baldy (aka Prayer Mountain).  It was a wonderful experience.  We also drove down River Road.  It is a road that follows the river.  It was pretty neat.  We also walked around Town Square.  That was another wonderful time.  Every person we ran across was extremely friendly.  We were able to buy a TON of Christmas presents for family.  We spent a ton of money, but it was great.  Once we got home we just relaxed.

Again, Friday we just relaxed.  

Saturday, we went to the gun show.  It was fun (ad long), but it was great to spend some time with Chad.  We went with my parents and a guy Chad went to the police academy with.  I found some stuff for Chad's future care packages, and found the car I want in the future ;).

After relaxing last night, here we are.  Today.  The day he left.  I had a little bit of a rough time right before he left and right after he left.  I am doing okay now.  

And onto some of the pictures.  :)

There were a bunch of jelly fish.

They were fighting for the shade.

And from Wimberley

Our little welcome message from the cottages

We went exploring the creek for a bit.

A little house outside of the awesome pizza place.  I thought it was cute!

A little bit of the cottage.  I love this.

The hot tub was perfect.

 

Part of River Road.  The only color change we saw, besides small parts of red on some trees.

These geese were hilarious.  Walked right out in front of the car.

This was outside of prayer mountain.  He stopped and posed for me!

Prayer mountain.

Up we go.

I loved this.

The view was great.

He didn't know I took this.  

I thought this was cute.

Well, that's a little from our leave time.  I'll be sharing some more from some bridal and baby showers I've done recently.  Thanks for reading!

Deployment Bucket List

Well, here is my deployment bucket list.  I have it written down in my deployment journal, and will probably add to it as things come up in my brain.  

1. Finish school

2.  Learn to play the piano

3.  Have a slumber party

4.  Road trip to the Outlet Malls (kind of already did this one!)

5.  Run a 5k (I'm thinking of the Color Run)

6.  Learn to sew

I am sure I will be adding more to these.  There are also some unspoken ones I have, but it's a huge jump and only God can pull them off, so I'll leave those between us until it becomes real :)

It's been a while **Picture overload**

Wow.  It really has been a while since I have updated this thing!  I said I would try and keep up with it, and oops!!  I haven't.

I will post to try and update everyone on what has gone on since then to catch you up to today.  I will probably have some separate posts for the longer updates :)

Since our vacation to San Antonio in October 2011, Cooper was bit by a rattlesnake.  We didn't even realize he was bit until he came on the porch, and sat down immediately.  My dad was outside and didn't hear anything.  He usually comes to the porch and barks or walks around, so sitting down was unusual.  We thought he cut his leg at first...until it started swelling.  It was about 10:30pm before we took him to the emergency vet.  That was a horrible time.  The vet scared the crap out of me.  And this boy is definitely not a cheap one!  But he is so worth it :)

This picture doesn't even begin to show how swollen his leg/foot was.  My poor baby.

He HATED being in doggy ICU, but he was such a trooper and loved it when mommy came to visit (which was every day).

The scar on this side of the leg.  He has a little bit on the other side as well, but he healed up nicely.  He will always have the battle wound to let us never forget how close we came to losing our boy!

In November my dad and I flew up to Kansas for my cousin's wedding.  It was SUCH a beautiful wedding. The flight to get there was not so fun.  We had a 6 hour layover because of horrible planning.  Thankfully the ride home was MUCH better.  Here are some pictures of the wedding and leaves changing (my first time seeing them ever!)

She was so beautiful!

Next up is me and Chad's vacation to New Hampshire for Thanksmas :).  We combined Thanksgiving and Christmas and saw his family right in the middle!!  

We helped pick out and decorate the tree

All ready for Christmas!!

We went and saw a show.  It was amazing!

Thanksgiving dinner :)

It was a great trip!

Next up was Chad's and my vacation to Fredericksburg, Texas.  It was a great vacation. 

Our cute little B&B

We went to the National Museum of the Pacific War.

We did a lot of hiking on this trip as well.  It was great, even though I was sick.  I had gone to the ER a few days before to find out I had a bad cold (worst ER experience ever...first one actually.  That's another story for another day).

Since then I have helped some friends get engaged.  It was so beautiful and perfect!

I've gone to several graduations, had a lock-in with the youth, and several other things.  I'll update more later!