Happy Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my little Princess!

I can't believe we've already had her for 3 years!

Time is just flying by!

She still acts like she is 6 months old, she is not anywhere close to growing out of her kitten stage.

She still purrs just as loud as a kitten does, sometimes she purrs so hard, she literally starts panting because she can't breathe.

It's quite funny to watch.

She LOVE to play fetch.

Weird. A cat that plays fetch. I know.

But she loves it.

She has her FAVORITE ball.

We throw it. She brings it back to us.  Rubs her face in our face for some loving and then expects the ball to be thrown.

Expect she only likes to play fetch as we are trying to go to bed or the middle of the night.

She loves to run around the house like a crazy madwomen.

If we don't get up to feed her when she is ready to be fed, she will knock over EVERYTHING on our dresser, TV stand, nightstands... and then start nibbling at any exposed body part of ours...all while purring her little heart out.

And if we hide under the covers, she will find us.

She loves to snuggle under the covers will us.

She loves to sleep on my neck, my head, and my stomach.

If chris doesn't shave she loves to give him kisses.

If we leave any cabinet door open for more than 2.5 seconds she crawls in, knocks out anything that is her way and then falls asleep.

She loves to take showers with me.

Which is weird because cats don't normally like water, but she doesn't seem to mind it.

She loves to chase Abby around the house and pretend like Abby wants to play with her.

When in reality, Abby wants nothing to do with her.

But she doesn't care, she'll chase her all day and all night long. 

No matter how matter times we yell at her. 

If we leave any snack open on the counter, she'll dig right in and help herself to it. And we let her.  Ok, ok. I laugh, take a picture of her, and then yell at her. Chris yells at her for real. Then blames me because she's so bad. Which is probably true

But she's so dang cute.

It seems just yesterday I sent Chris a picture of her with a message that said "meet our new family friend!"

After telling me not to bring home another pet (which i clearly ignored),

he fell in love just as much as I did at first sight and she is now one of our children.

We love her to pieces.

We spoil her rotten.

She's my little baby.

I'm so glad she came into our lives.

So happy birthday little marshmellow, we love you.

Hard Days

Some days I just feel so disconnected from some of friends back home.  And it's not from lack of trying.  I feel like even though I try to talk  to them, I get the distinct feeling that I'm annoying them.  And it's not always, just some days.  And it might just be my mind playing tricks on me.  I'm trying my hardest to maintain my relationships as close as they were before I left, but some days I feel like my best friends are just drifting away from me even though I'm doing everything I can to keep that from happening.  I understand that they still have their friends there and they're lives keep going, but I don't want to be forgotten. So I'm doing all that I can to keep our friendships as tight as we have always been. I've always been good about maintaining my friendships, so I feel like this should be no different.  I have to put just as much (if not more, since I'm the one who moved) effort into maintaining communication, which is no problem because I love being able to hear about what's going on in my friend's lives and how their days went. 


I miss my friends. I miss seeing them at the drop of a hat. I miss the feeling of closeness that comes with living practically right next door to your best friends of years.  I guess this is something that happens when you move thousands of miles away but I honestly did not expect it to be so hard, especially with all the new age technology, like skype.  But it's hard not seeing them all the time.  It's not being there for all the exciting things that are going on in their lives.

I do realize that this is what WE wanted. This is where we wanted to be. I do love living here. I love the sunshine and the warm weather. I love the palm trees and the beach.  I love the thought of raising our children down here.  All in all I love living down here, but I do miss my friends.  A lot. It's going to take a long to time for me to get used to not being able to see them at the drop of the hat.  I have to just take a deep breathe and just remind myself that I've only been here a couple weeks and I'm allowed to have my hard days.

A little poem I found online...

I found this online the other day and thought I'd share it with you...

You don't know, but I'm the girl who cries every morning, and hopes every night for his safe return. I'm the girl who drags herself out of bed every morning so that he will be proud of her when he comes home. I'm the girl who lies in bed longing for him to be lying next to me. I'm the girl who sits quietly during class because all I can think about is that next moment when he will safely be in my arms again. You don't know, but I'm the girl with a million things to say, but not one will come out without the thought of him. I'm the girl who checks my cell phone every five seconds just to make sure I haven't missed his call. I'm the girl who stops and stares and wishes for him to return soon each and every time another man in uniform walks by.

What you don't know is that I know love on an entirely different level from most. I know the love that spans time and space; that love that most people are constantly searching for. I'm one of the girls who waits months for a single kiss; a kiss that will make the months apart worth every second. A kiss where everything in the world stops and for what seems like eternity, you can see into that person's soul and know that without them, life is not worth living. You tell me, I'm too young to be "so in love"; I know that love has no age limit. You tell me I don't even understand what love is, I tell you, I know more love in one homecoming, than most know in a life time. You don't know that every time he leaves part of me goes with him and part of him stays with me. You tell me that people change and I tell you, true love with always remain constant and steady. You tell me, I'm too young to be married, I tell you, and I'm too in love to not be. You tell me you know how I feel and that you understand what I'm going through; you have no idea. What you don't realize is that I understand the true meaning of not only love, but of longing and anticipation.

You don't see, but I'm one of the few who gets goose bumps as my heart fills with pride every time the National Anthem is played. I'm one of the girls who will stand tall and stay strong on the outside, but be dying on the inside. I am one of the girls who will make friends with complete strangers for only they can even begin to understand what I am going through. You don't understand that I picture his face everywhere I go and that he is with me in everything I do. You think I don't cry anymore, that I have gotten over it, but what you don't know is that I just hide it better.

You don't know the feeling the first time you hear the word deployment or the feeling of his hands as it slides out of yours for what could be the last time. You don't know what that last hug or kiss means and how important that goodbye truly is. I'm the girl you see standing alone in the corner of the airport watching quietly out the window with tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm the girl you see walking by with a disheartened face staring silently at the ground. What you don't know, is that I know true love and that no matter what obstacles we have to face, our love will live forever, that only we know.

You tell me that you support the troops; I tell you, I'm in love with one. I'm one of the silent, but outgoing; weak, but strong; scared, but grateful. What you don't see is that without me, he is nothing and without him, I am nothing. I'm one of those girls; the girl who stands tall behind her Soldier, stands proud behind her Hero, stands strong behind her man, watching silently as he serves and defends our country.

Welcome Home Blog

It doesn't matter if you are against the war or for the war.

No one can deny the joy and goosebumps the feel upon seeing loved ones return home and being reunited with their family members.

I found this blog which is all about celebrating the return of loved ones with amazing welcome home videos.

It is extremely heart warming and you can't help but smile when watching these homemade videos and feel nothing but warmth in your heart for these families who have been through so much in deployments.

So enjoy! :)

http://welcomehomeblog.com/

A Military Promise

A Military Mans promise…

I cannot promise you every night of my life.

I cannot promise to be beside you for every difficult moment, every trial, every hardship.

In truth, I can promise you that I will not be with you for most. I will leave you at inconvenient times. I may miss the births of our children. Any special date to us may be tainted with the anniversary of the... death of one of my friends..........

I will ask you to take over whatever life we have built together for months and years at a time. And will then crash back into that life that you have used your sweat and your tears and your heartache to keep together and try to take it back as I knew it before.

I will shut you out at times because it will be the best way for me to hold it together at that moment. I will lie to you. I will tell you I don’t know things when I do. I will not always tell you where I am going, when I will be back, or who I am with. I may not call you for weeks and months and you will not be able to call me.

You will ask questions that I won’t answer. You will know answers to questions that you will hope you never need. I will share things with my brothers that you will never understand. They will know things about me that you never will. They will be a support to me in some things that you cannot be.

I will miss birthdays. I will miss anniversaries. I will have to get to know our children over and over again. I may need time to process things that seem natural to everyone else. It will seem that someone - or something - will always take precedence over you. You may lose me long before you ever thought possible.

I will uproot you and ask you to re-establish our family anywhere in the world, in any season, at any time - over and over again. Sand and mud will be tracked through your halls from the boots I am too tired to take off. I will leave you when you beg me not to. I will stand at attention while you cry beside me. I will not turn my head and I will walk away.

I will knowingly break your heart. And I will do it again - and again.

I cannot promise you all of me. I cannot promise that to our children. I cannot promise you much of anything.

But if you will have me, I can promise that as I march away from you it is not without sharing your heartache. I promise you that every time I break your heart I will be breaking mine. Every time that I cannot answer you I will be protecting you. Whenever you want to call and you have no number to dial I will be wanting to do the same. I will protect everything that we have created together with every fiber of my being while you do the same back at home. I will honor you in everything - every moment that we are apart and every moment that I am with you. I will fight harder and push further knowing that I do so for you. I will see the faces of our children in every life that I protect. And I will carry you with me in everything until my sandy boots once again sit just inside our door.

A Military Spouse's promise …  

I cannot promise that I will not become frustrated when you leave me and the world seems to fall apart around me.

I cannot promise that I will not curse those who sent you when the dryer breaks, and the transmission needs to be replaced, and the dog eats the couch all in the same week - most likely the week after you deploy.

I cannot promise that the sand and mud that cakes my floor will not cause me to give you harsh looks and rude thoughts. I cannot promise that my heart will not be torn in twelve different ways when you march away from me.

I cannot promise that I will not let my anger show when you refuse to answer questions.

I cannot promise to understand why you share things with your comrades that you will not share with me.

I cannot promise that there won’t be times when my heartache makes its presence known before my pride can mask it.

I cannot promise that I will not show my worry and my concern when it is best for you not to see it.

I cannot promise to understand why you do so many of the things you do.



Two months and counting

Today marks the two month mark. Two months that Chris has been gone. Two months since I've hugged my husband. Two months since I've kissed my husband. Two months since I've felt my husband's hand touch mine. Two long months.  These last two months have felt like years.  The days have felt like are crawling by.  They are not moving quickly at all.  But on the other hand, we're two months closer to being back together.  To being whole again.  

Chris has said on multiple occasions that deployments are like groundhog day for him, same crap different day.  And I have to agree with him.  Although, I must agree, it's way worse for him.  Literally, its the exact same thing for him, day in and day out.  For me, I get into a weekly routine (monday I do this, Tuesday I do this and so forth) and I pretty much do the same things week in and week out and just count down the weeks.  I'm not one to wish away time; I know that the time we have on this Earth is precious and can be taken away from us at a moments notice but when Chris is deployed, I can't help but wish I had a magic wand to pass time away so he could be back home with me.  So, while I try to enjoy everyday as best as I can, there's always that lingering thought in the back of my head "I wish Chris was here with me."  I try not to sulk and be miserable because who wants to be around a Mrs. Grumpy Pants for 6 months? No one. That's who.  And let's face it; I don't have a magic wand to wave away time, and these 6 months are precious 6 months that I'm lucky enough to blessed with down here on Earth so I'm doing my best to enjoy them.  I'm incredibly grateful for the times I get to talk to my husband, even more grateful for the times I get to skype with my husband (thank goodness for technology!), and just crossing my fingers that time starts to speed up just a little bit.

It's funny how when you're younger you think you're never going to be one of those people who needs another person to make you feel you feel whole, complete.  That another person will ever be your missing piece.  But that overnight it happens.  You meet "that person" who is your missing person.  You suddenly realize all that has been missing from your life is now there.  Your life feels whole, feels complete and it's all because of that one person.  You've became that person who needs another person to feel complete.  I've become that person.  I need Chris to feel to complete.  And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.  I love feeling like we are two halves that come together to make a whole in a world of halves. Together we can face anything that life is going to throw at us.  Together we are a force to reckon with. Together we can, and we have, beat all the odds.  Before I met Chris I was wondering around just trying to find a purpose in my life.  Wondering who I was, what I was supposed to be doing,  wondering where my life was leading me.  But now I've found it.  My life was leading me to him.  The rest of life's journey I will continue on a path not alone, but hand in hand with Chris as my partner.

True Love ♥

I stumbled across this news story today on facebook, and I couldn't help but tear up as I read their truly touching love story.  I can only hope that the love I have for Chris is as strong as this couple's love for each other the day that we die.  This is true romance, and although it is sad that they passed away, it warms your heart they way they died together.  The wife really died of a broken heart and the husband couldn't bear the thought of going to heaven without his wife so he waited for her before going along to the afterlife, such a truly touching story.  Truly makes you believe that there is such a thing out there as true love in a world filled with hate and cruelty.  Gives me hope that Chris and I will make it and our love will continue to grow with each day that passes.

My only only wish for Chris and I is that our love for each other continues to grow for each other day by day and that our relationship grows stronger with each milestone that we cross.  As my sister said to us in her maid of honor toast; she hopes that in the years to come when we look back on our wedding day she hopes that we remember it as the day that we loved each other the least.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/iowa-couple-married-72-years-dies-holding-hands/story?id=14771029

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

While flipping through Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine last week, I stumbled across this super simple recipe.

I was putting together a care package for Chris and also a package of cookies to send to my brother and I thought these cookies looked  easy enough to bake in 20 minutes and sounded delicious enough that both men would enjoy them, so why not add them to both boxes.

And they were a hit!

So I'm going to share them with you :)

Ingredients

1 Cup peanut butter (I used Skippy all natural with honey PB)
I cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (i used chocolate chips instead)
Directions
*Beat first 4 ingredients in mixer.
*Stir in in chocolate chips.
*Drop round tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.
*Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes
*Let cook on pans

"Truly Great Friends are hard to find, Difficult to leave and IMPOSSIBLE to forget"

I am happy to say that I've found a new job.

And it only took me exactly one week to get it.

Wahooo Go Me!

It's a job I think I will absolutely love, since it's a passion of mine.

I'm teaching gymnastics FULL TIME.

So far, so good.

But only time will tell if this is what I'm meant to be doing.

In other news, I'm adjusting to life in the South relatively well, I believe.

I love the warm weather and being able to go to the beach in October.

I've thrown myself into my new life and have adjusted pretty well.

I don't love being so far away from my true best friends and siblings.

I miss my friends and siblings like crazy.

This Saturday was the first day I really wished I was back home.

One of my very best friends had her first dress fitting and I missed it.

I was extremely sad I was missing this fun moment of her wedding planning.

That night her and Heather went out.

I wished nothing more than to be there with them.

The 3 of us used to inseparable, until she moved to Richmond.

So the few times a year when she is home, we always got together with our other halves and had a ball.

This was the first time I missed our little gathering.

And boy, I was sad.

Thank goodness for technology these days, between facebook, text messages, phone calls and Skype it's nearly impossible to lose contact with a good friend, unless you choose to not make time.

That's what I kept telling myself this weekend.

As long as I make just as much effort as they do, no one will forget about me.

But, I do believe it's normal to feel like your friends just might forget you live so far away.

I sure hope it's normal.

But when I think something like that, I just have to knock the sense back into myself.

My friends are the best that any girl could have, and the next time we see each other, we'll pick up right where we left off.

Nothing will change, we've been through the times in life when friendships end.
We are stuck with each other through the rest of time.

We are going to watch our children grow up together.

We are going to grow old together.

Sometimes I just have to remind myself that I'm being crazy.

I'm lucky enough to have such wonderful friends who were so hard to leave.

I am truly blessed beyond words to have so a wonderful group of girls in my life, who will always be there for me regardless of how far apart we are in miles.

Halloween Goodies

Since I made the awful mistake of packing all my beloved baking tools in boxes that are in storage,

I been having baking withdrawls.

I'm talking about almost 3 weeks without baking anything.

At all.

Oh my goodness.  Tragic.

Anyway, my mom and I went to Home Goods (L.OV.E.) on Saturday and I found this little treasure...

Isn't it just a little Halloween gem?

So, naturally I decided Chris needed brownies in the shape of skeletons to get him in the spooooky spirit.

Because it's not like he has anything better to do.

Like save the world.

While they didn't come out as beautiful as they would've if I'd had my tools, they're still pretty scary (aka cute) looking. If you ask me.

I also found some really cute halloweeny cookie cutters.

So he got these little gems in his package as well.

Adorable, I know.

But not as adorable as they could've been if I'd had my baking tools.

Sigh.

I made them with sugar cookies, for anyone who is wondering.

The Big Move

I made it to Florida, cats in tow.

The drive down here was long but uneventful.

The cats were little angels, they were so good.

Peaceful little snuggle bunnies, they slept and purred the whole way down.

Now that I'm here, I feel so much more relaxed. The whole moving deal was incredibly stressful

Especially doing it without my husband.

But I'm here and it's sunny, warm and blue skies.

I love being able to wear shorts in October.

I love being able to go to the beach/pool when it's freezing cold back in Virginia.

Most of all, I can not wait for chris to come home so we can enjoy this new chapter in our lives together.

As hard as it was to leave my home, friends and family; I know that the friendships I've made will last a lifetime. 

Those are the friends that I am incredibly thankful for.

Those are the girls who will never truly understand how much I love them and how much they mean to me.

Those are the friends that I would do anything for.

Those are the friends where distance doesn't matter, they're the girls who the next time we see each other, we'll pick up right where we left off.

I've learned things from seeing my mom move around; and it's that best friendships will never end no matter how far the distance is bewteen you two.

The memories that I took with me from the little yellow house, will last a lifetime.

They are memories that I will forever keep close to my heart.

They are the memories that helped to shape me as I grew into the young women that I am today.

My babies

Abby Baby was cold too...she is actually sleeping under the covers like a human. hahah she's so goofy!

Marshmellow has a thing for sleeping in the cabinets. Don't ask me why. But she has now mastered the art of opening them with her paws and crawling inside. It's quite the treat for anyone who opens the cabinet.

My little packing buddy, being quite the helper



"Look mom! I told you i could fit in the basket!"