Aww Shucks!

First things first, J from Life as a Secret Squirrels Other Half sent me an award. Me! Okay maybe I think it's pretty neat and you don't but whatever. I don't care. I never really even thought people actually read my blog. Like I know there are 'followers' but I didn't really think people actually read what I wrote. But anyhow.. back to the award. :)

So since it's life, there are rules.
Firstly, to thank the person who gave you the award. So - Thank you J!
Secondly, post 7 random facts about yourself.
Thirdly, pass it along.

So 7 random facts about myself.. hmm.. I seem to be an open book when it comes to things. But I'll give it a shot :)

1. I'm a history nerd, specifically US History, I love learning about it. I love visiting old plantation homes that have been preserved since the 1600-1800's. I just think it's really neat.
2. I may act pretty fearless in real life, and very certain of well - everything. But I have my fears just like everyone else. Example - I am terrified of death, dying, specifically the what happens afterwards aspect. Like I literally have a panic attack every time I think of it.
3. I think I've mentioned it before but I am a medical mess. I have Duane's Retractrion Syndrome and no - it's not as bad as the pictures. But when I take pictures I have to stand on a certain side of Erik so it isn't noticeable. I was joked pretty bad in school about it - dumb kids. I also have Graves Disease which was treated by radioactively killing my thyroid gland and now I am and will be on thyroid pills - synthryoid - for the remainder of my life. I also suffer from migraine's.. but thankfully they have gotten a lot better.
4. I am insane about keeping our house clean. I enjoy having a clean home, and not having to dedicate a whole day a week to cleaning. So I do it daily. It's just us two, and well the furbabies, so there really isn't much to clean up after. But, long story short, I enjoy a clean home.
5. I'm still really new at this blogging thing. I really want to make a cute 'button' as a link to my blog, but haven't a clue how to. I also want to make my page really pretty, but haven't quite figured it out yet. I'd love some help if anyone knows how to do it and wants to help me out :)
6. I'm semi addicted to Facebook. It's on my phone - which is probably horrible.
7. I get really upset when people take advantage of things they have or things that are given to them. The pell grant is a great example of this. It amazes me how much I struggle to pay for school with loans, but yet if Sally want's to go get knocked up and have a baby then she'll get a grant to go to school. It isn't exactly fair in my book. But that's an entire other post.

So now... I have to pick some other ladies to award this to. :)


Cassie at A Barton Kind of Family
Hillary at The Kitchen Bitch Blog


Other than that I hope everyone is having a great Thursday, it's almost Friday! I'll post pictures of my newest diy project, which I am pretty proud of, soon. As for now, it's work and busyness of people fixing things and getting fence estimates.

Pretty Domestic :)

I definitely am getting that decorating and homemaker itch. I officially have my first diy project. There are these really awesome frame's I found that I want to find some fabric for and hang them up. I can't wait to post the before and after pictures of it. I ended up scoring the frames from an old neighbor at the apartment complex. I'm not sure how he scored them, maybe from working at Victoria's Secret, but hey they're pretty neat. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.

On another hand, I've now been off birth control for two months now and am finally feeling pretty good, and like I'm back to normal. I still have days where I feel off, but everyone does. We've also been down in Jacksonville, two months tomorrow. I can't believe how fast time goes by, I also can't believe how much can be accomplished in two months. We moved down here, found and bought a house, and moved into it. Pretty crazy if you think about it. It works for us though.

I'm starting to get this horrible decorating, and home body itch. If it doesn't pertain to us going out and getting something for the puppy/us/house. I don't want to go out. I just want to stay home and make our home, well a home. I love being able to decorate and not having to worry about undecorating in a few months/weeks.

I also forgot to mention my recent coupon scores! I think I mentioned I got two free Lysol Dual Action wipes for free at Target. Well I went grocery shopping on Saturday at the commissary, I didn't score too many things for free although I did get a toothbrush and two Nivea chap sticks for free. But I did save $44.05 thanks to coupon skills. I may not be an extreme couponer, but hey a penny saved is a penny earned. I did score two Clean and Clear products for a $1 each, paid only .25 cents for some Bagel Bites, .79 cents for Nature's Valley Granola bars and .30 cents for Hamburger Helper. Overall I got some pretty awesome deals, and saved a good chunk of money. Let's hope next grocery trip I can top that. I think I would of saved more had they not closed early. But oh well.. I'm hoping for $50 worth of savings next time and making it under $200 for a month's worth of groceries.

Oddball

It doesn't take much to get my mind rocking and rolling in thoughts lately. It could really be anything that gets that ball rolling. I know I'm not the 'golden girl' that followed every rule in life, I'm the girl who tends to do things backwards, sideways, and any way in between.

I'm the girl who is the 'oddball' so to say. And honestly, I'm pretty okay with that. I've done a lot of things backwards, or not in the 'proper' order. Erik and I live together and we aren't married, and frankly there are a lot of people who aren't happy about that, I'm sure. But I really don't care. It works for us, and I think it is a lot better than those couples who go and get married just so they can live together and then divorce three years later.

I didn't really realize how much of an oddball I was really, until we moved down here. In Virginia Beach, I was still home, I lived out on my own with my boyfriend - which is common. But I was still in my hometown. Since we moved here, I've begun feeling more and more of an oddball. It's like no one else is on the same path as myself. We live in a wonderful neighborhood, in an amazing home. But everyone around us is a good ten years older than ourselves, if not more, and they all of children. Heck - we got looked at pretty funny last night for saying we don't have children. I almost feel as if I am out casted because we are young. I was really, really hoping to make new friends in our neighborhood, and have cookouts and just enjoy the 'community' living. But instead, I'm looked down upon.

I know things will get better, I do. I know eventually I will make friends, and have friendships that are as close as family. But right now, it's a tough pill to swallow. I don't mind being the oddball out, I'm myself, whether or not its 'in style' or not. It just sort of stinks not being able to find a friend who is in the same place in life as I am. I'm not saying by any means, that I can't be friends with someone who has children. Heck two of my great friends do. All I'm saying is it'd be nice to meet someone down here who is in the same place I am. As much as I would love to be a mom, that's just not where I am in life right now. I am still young, I still have things I want to do before embarking on that adventure.

I guess I am rambling - the point I am getting at is it's hard to find girls who are where I am at in life, it's hard to make friends who truly understand where your coming from. I just hope it happens sooner, rather than later.

Oh goodness!

Oh sweet baby Jesus.

I don't know where to begin, nor where to start anymore. I'm so utterly drained emotionally, I'm to the point where I'm not exactly sure where to begin anymore. Erik's back has gotten worse and the doctors haven't called to schedule an appointment at all, it's been phone call after phone call and no calls back. So he's in pain, and ladies we all know men are big babies when they're sick. So why was I expecting him to be able to handle the pain any differently? I really, really needed a break from the dog yesterday. I've been working longer hours and have been taking care of her since we got her. So I needed a break, and was looking forward to him getting home. Did that happen? No.

I don't mind taking care of Jade, she is adorable and is pretty stinking smart. We're getting along a lot better, and she's pretty much my shadow and whines terribly when I don't pay attention to her. But I feel as if, I don't know.. I feel as if I am making all the sacrifices. I arrange my schedule around her, I arrange estimates for things for the house estimates - like the tree removal and the fence. I decorate it and clean up. Constantly it feels like. I admit since all my attention has been geared towards the puppy it isn't as clean as I'd like it to be, and I haven't had a chance to fold the laundry up yet but I will have it done today.

I don't know. Maybe I feel as if I am the one making all the sacrifices because I moved down here and left it all ya know? I don't know if maybe there is some sort of resentment growing, or if it's just frustration. But regardless, I don't like this feeling. I'm sure it will go away eventually, and I know his back will feel better soon. Either way, that's how things are right now. Not exactly hunky doory. I'm trying so hard to have everything just right before the housewarming get together on Saturday night, which is really more or less Erik having friends over, since we all know I don't know anyone here. On top of that Erik's parents will be here in a couple weeks. So I just want everything to look really nice.

Anyways. Enough of my jumbled thoughts for the day. I need to get back to work and keep this puppy occupied. On a positive note, Jade did sleep in her own dog bed last night all night. Only whined for a few minutes and only had to put her back once. So that was a big accomplishment! She's been great with going outside when she needs to go potty. Just need to work on the communication with it. She whines all the time, so when she whines to go out - and there's only been two occasions - I sometimes think she is whining to whine. But I'm sure it will click with time. She's pretty smart. And they say with German Shepherds you only have to tell them no more than 3 times, so we should be good, fingers crossed.

Here's to hoping I can get everything cleaned up today, grocery shop (thanks to Chelsea for coming to watch the puppy while we go! thank god!) and get laundry done.

Happy Thirsty Thursday - I hope someone has a shot of tequila for me!

I've got the fix...

The cure to baby fever, definitely is a puppy. Oh my goodness, my baby fever is gone, at least for a while. I am so utterly exhausted. Sleeping isn't going so well, we're trying to teach her to sleep on her bed but cave in and let her sleep in the bed because we're just so tired. She cries when she can't see us. Not to mention I can't even take a peaceful shower, she sits at the door (we have a shower stall, the stand showers - with a separate tub) and she watches me and whines the entire time. I know its going to be rewarding, but for sure it's tiresome.

It's definitely cured, or at least temporary taken care of my baby fever. I couldn't imagine taking on a baby right now, not with a puppy. She is going to make a great dog there is no doubt about that. But right now, it's extremely tiresome. I also feel the whole one 'parent' thing, Erik is at work all day long, he leaves at 5 and is home at 5. I'm the one with her all day long, I have to punish her when she chews on things she isn't supposed to. Not him, he gets to come home and be the 'good cop'. I'm hoping things will get better soon, I'm sure it'll take a good month or so, I know it's only temporary. So, hopefully before Erik's parents come in a few weeks it'll be done with.

I've had some pretty accomplished days lately, I've gotten estimates to get the tree on the property line removed. I've gotten the ridiculous ComCast issue taken care of, I've set up another estimate for the fencing. I'm going to google some more fencing companies as well and get some estimates from them. Oh! I also scored two free things of Lysol Wipes from Target yesterday thanks to a handy dandy coupon. They were $1.08 each, and I had 2 $1.50 off coupons off of one Lysol wipe product. So, that made them free with a 94 cent credit. :) Go me! I've been really on top of them lately, so I am really excited to use them and score some awesome cheap and free deals!

I hope everyone has a happy Wednesday!

New Addition

So there is a new addition to 'Our Family' you can say. And no, I am not pregnant. Yesterday there was Erik, myself, Funny Bunny and as of last night we added Miss Jade into our family. She seems to be getting into the family, okay. I've got my fears about it. I've had dogs all my life so that isn't an issue. Funny is pretty pissed about the whole situation, this is one bunny who really has an attitude and something to say about everything she has just always been that way. The dog could really seem to care less about her. So, hopefully it will work out. I'm pretty worried about the responsibility of it all, we can't just up and leave for a weekend or anything anymore. And we are always one couple that has been pretty spontaneous. But I just hope we made the right choice.

Anyways, meet Jade, the newest addition:

That's about all that's going on here. I hope everyone is having a great day!

Where were you?

"Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September day?" Where were you when you heard about the bombing of the USS Cole? I could tell you exactly where I was at for both events. I heard about the USS Cole when getting ready for school, I was getting ready to go to school and was in the sixth grade. I think my daddy was deployed during this time and my mom didn't want us to hear the news. But I heard it, and was scared and sad. My heart goes out to those families who lost their Sailors that day, I could not imagine the pain and the hurt that they have endured. My heart hurts even more so for those families, because to me, it seems as if the bombing of the USS Cole has been forgotten.

On September 11th, 2001 I was in school attending middle school in the 7th grade. It was a normal morning for us, my dad was deployed on the USS Enterprise, my mom was getting my brothers and I off to school and herself ready for work. I remember being in band class (don't judge, LOL! I played the flute for a year) and I heard someone say a plane hit the twin towers and didn't really understand what happened. The rest of the day was sort of a blur, in a erry way, many of my friend's parents came and picked them up from school. Most of my teachers were upset and didn't teach much at all, phones were ringing and it was just erry. I wasn't really sure what was going on to be quiet honest. When I got home my mom was in tears and just hugged me long and hard, and then that's when I realized something really, really bad had happened. We watched the horror that had unfolded that morning on the news. Just too shocked to move, to look away. It was heart wrenching. I remember listening to the voicemail my daddy had left us during the day, he had said, "Hey everyone, I miss you and I love you. I won't be home on time, and I'm not sure when I will be home. But I am safe and we are going to go kick some bad guy's ass. I love you and I will call when I can."
I will never, forget that day, not for the rest of my life and I won't ever forget where I was last night, on May 1st, 2011 when I found out that horrible man was killed by an amazing Navy Seal team based out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. I was in bed, exhausted, with Erik and we just so happened to turn on the news and see that Obama was making a speach at 1030 at night on a Sunday, that struck us as pretty weird. That late on a Sunday, something had to be up. Especially since we had heard that the bases security would be raised due to recent events. So we watched and waited and found out that Osama (or Usama depending on who you are) Bin Laden was dead! Thank the lord! That horrible man got what he deserved, a bullet courtesy of the US Navy right in his head.

It was amazing, to see the outburst of patriotism, and relief that our country felt as one last night. I truly think things will change, hopefully for the better, now that this black cloud is gone. I hope that we can move forward as a country and solve the bigger problems that are at hand, and solve them reasonably.

On another hand, we are pretty much completely moved into our home. I absolutely love it, and it's an amazing feeling to have to finally be home. I can't wait to start putting things up on the wall and making it more like ours. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

I hope everyone has a great Monday!