13 In '13

A pictorial review of the past year. With some text, too.

Click the pic to join the fun

January

Celebrated Cora's First Birthday

February

It was cold and snowed a lot?

March

It snowed even more

Trip to my home state of GA to see my BIL (sister's husband) join the Catholic Church

April

Cora started walking, and then a few weeks later burned her hands on the oven door as I was taking something out of it

May

Final nursing session

June

BIL's high school graduation

My first time tubing behind a boat (and not down a river, Southern-style)

July

Won my division in a 5K

August

Trip to Virginia and Cora's first beach experiences (she hated it)

September

Went to my first Notre Dame football game

October

Trip to Washington, D.C., for BIL's wedding, during government shutdown

Cora was the flower girl

November

A visit from ALL of my side of the family

December

Cora got sick on Christmas, but was fine a few days before and after (including when she met Santa)

Wow, that was actually really hard to pare our year down to 13 photos! There was obviously a lot more to our year (I didn't even mention that we bought our first house in this post!), but these were some of my favorite pictures of last year.

Liebster Award

My blogging buddy Britt from Tales From a Sailor's Soul Mate nominated me for an award. I'm positive I've been nominated for it before, and I'm 99% positive I've never actually participated. So why now? Because I feel like it, that's why. (That is such a MOM answer!) Also, I guess after 3 years of blogging, I thought I'd have more than 200 followers, but whatever. It's not like I do this for money, or even put a ton of work into it.

The Liebster Award is used by bloggers who have 200 follows or less to promote each other in order to make more friends in the blogging community and attract more attention to their blog! Each nominee must first list 11 random facts about their self, then answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated them. Lastly, choose 11 bloggers who have 200 followers or less on bloglovin' and ask them your own 11 questions!

The rules:

Thank the person who nominated you and link them in your post.
Tell 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated you.
Choose 11 blogs you like and link them in your post.
Write 11 questions for these bloggers, so they can answer them.
Go to their page and let them know that you nominated them.

Eleven facts about me...

1. I'm half-Lebanese, but I hate hummus. Cora loves it, though, so I buy it and make it.
2. I have sung in some type of choir from the time I was 5 years old all the way through the end of college. I've sung in some community choirs since as well. I want to get in with one again soon.
3. I played soccer for my high school's JV team, but I was terrible. There was a shortage of players, though, so anyone who could run a mile and show up for practice basically made the team. I did all 4 years on the JV team, and sat the bench for a few Varsity games at the end of senior year.
4. I only read books once, unless they're some sort of reference or cooking book.
5. I've had a name picked out for a son since before I met my husband. Hopefully, we'll both like it if we ever have a boy! (And no, I'm not telling you what it is.)
6. I get pretty into football when my team (the Georgia Bulldogs) is playing. Jumping around and screaming and "callin' the Dawgs" and all that fun stuff.
7. I was raised Catholic, and although I have questioned my faith, I have never strayed from the Church.
8. I research the crap out of most things I purchase (except food). Sometimes I research it so much, I get indecisive and end up not buying the item.
9. I ate PB&J for lunch almost every day of high school.
10. I hate swallowing pills and will opt for liquid or chewables if given a choice.
11. I loathe ironing.

The answers to Britt's questions:

1. What was the first date you went on with the man who would become your husband? Our first real date was in September of 2006--unsure of the actual date--when he volunteered with me at Habitat for Humanity (I bossed him around because it was my job), and then we went to dinner at a place called b.b.'s in Jacksonville.

I'm pretty sure he still owns this shirt!

After dinner, we walked along the river. I have this picture from that night framed on our wall:

Okay, I still own that skirt and wear it in the summer!

2. Do you open your Christmas gifts Christmas eve or day? Used to be only on Christmas day, but B's family likes to exchange gifts with each other on Christmas Eve, so I do that now, too.

Cora on Grandpa's lap during last year's Christmas Eve exchange.

3. What is your favorite Christmas candy? Oh geez, what ISN'T?? I love M&M's, no matter what color they choose to make them. Those Snickers tree things are yummy, too. Really, if it has chocolate and peanut-something, you can't go wrong.
4. What is your dream job and why? Ugh. I know, I know, most gals I know would say, "A stay-at-home mom, I'm living the dream!" But I don't think it's my dream job. I still think I would like to be a Family Life Educator and teach budgeting and parenting skills to people who want to learn them. And I would do it part-time so I could SAHM it up the rest of the time.
5. Were you named after anyone? Nope. The story goes that my mom always loved the name Catherine, but when they adopted my sister a bunch of her friends had just named their kids that. When they got surprise-pregnant with me, she basically said "Oh well, I'm using it anyway." Sometimes I think about if my sister's name and mine were flipped. It would be weird to be a Carolyn.
6. If you could pack up your bags and go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? Somewhere warm! It was 5 degrees here this morning. I just don't do single digits (or negative temps). I need to cross Hawaii off my list of states, and you don't need a passport (mine is expired, and I haven't gotten a new one yet), so that would work!
7. Where is the furthest you have traveled from home? Rome, Italy. (I had to plug a few cities into a distance calculator for this!) I studied abroad in Italy one summer in college, and we ended our trip in Rome.
8. If you were told you could only read three books for the rest of your life, what would those three books be? Ugh, that would suck (see #4 in the first section). I would probably pick the Encyclopaedia Brittanica #25 because I think it's the S's and looks to be the biggest, the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and, ugh, maybe some type of parenting book (the only one I've actually read was The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, but perhaps Parenting With Grace would be better for the long haul, but I wouldn't know.) So, yep, I'm a total pragmatist.
9. Do you play video games? Sorta. We have a Wii; I play it rarely. If so, which is your favorite? My favorite game is a tie between Samba de Amigo (maraca game!) and Lumberjacks (exactly what it sounds like, and an awesome party game). I want to try some of the Zumba games for Wii.
10. Would you rather go to the movies or wait until it comes out on DVD and watch it at home? I haven't set foot into a movie theater in TWO YEARS, so actually, that's kind of appealing to me now to just escape my house for a bit. As long as someone else is paying and will buy me the overpriced popcorn.
11. Were you ever in any plays throughout your school years? Sorta, not really. I was a "chorus member" for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when my 8th grade chorus put it on. I wore all black, but still had to do hand motions and such. Then I did the musical revue things in high school (blogged about here), which weren't really plays. In college, I definitely DID do a play--the 24-hour play project! Our group had to write a play from scratch and then perform it 24 hours after we got the theme. Ours was called "Let's Eat Out!" (the whole play was laden with innuendo), and I played an Indian woman who worked at Outback Steakhouse because the ignorant manager thought she was an Australian aborigine. It was a riot!

Oh wait, I just forgot. My stage debut, if you will, was a Christmas production in 2nd grade. I don't remember if it had a name, but I got to sing some line like, "If you were a little cat, I'd be your meow. MEOW!" and I held out a stuffed cat and yes, actually, did a pretty good meow.

As for picking the 11 blogs, a lot of the blogs I follow have over 200 followers so I am just going to pick a few:

Beth Anne at Beth Anne's Best (She apparently has a load of FB followers, but I'm including her anyway--and she won my giveaway!)
Melissa at The Red-Headed Runner
Kayla at Number One Petersons

Now here are your questions ladies, if you wish to play along!
1. Do you shop at Victoria's Secret?
2. How long do you leave your Christmas decorations up after Christmas?
3.What is something that you're not good at but you would like to be better at?
4. If you could only eat 3 meals for the rest of your life, but your nutritional needs would exactly met with no issues, what would you eat?
5. Do you have a favorite charity/non-profit?
6. What type of music did you listen to in high school?
7. What is your favorite Christmas/holiday movie? And your favorite carol?
8. When is your usual bedtime?
9. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
10. What is the "crunchiest" (most earthy/hippy/green) thing you do?
11. Do you watch reality TV shows? If so, who is your favorite winner of a reality show?


It seriously took me 2 days to write those questions, so I hope at least one person out there answers them! If I didn't actually tag you in this post, but you want to answer them, by all means, go ahead!

A Day In the Life

For your blog-reading pleasure today, here is a snapshot into a "normal" day for our little family. No apologies for length.

The day is Tuesday, July 23, 2013. I am a stay-at-home mother to a girl who is a few days shy of 18 months old.

6am(ish) - B kisses me goodbye. I'm still asleep for the most part.
6:38 - My alarm goes off. Ugh, I haven't changed the time setting since my 5K last Saturday. I hit snooze.
6:47 - Alarm goes off again. I don't hear Cora moving through the monitor. I have to make a choice between showering, eating breakfast, and staying in bed. I decide to play on my Kindle in bed.
7:25  - Still not a peep from Cora. Odd. I go check on her; she's still asleep. Breakfast time for me! Sugary cereal and milk.

7:43 - I hear Cora start a soft babble. Immediately I go in there because I've been trying to get her to use the potty in the mornings. I take her into the bathroom right away. Diaper is soaked but I throw her on the potty for a few minutes anyway. Then a new diaper and some clothes for her. I'm still in my pj's.

7:51 - Breakfast for Cora. I have to choose between oatmeal and 'squapplesauce.' I decide on the latter - canned pumpkin mixed with jarred (natural) applesauce. I spread it on some toast so I don't have to help her with the spoon the whole time. She also gets raisins and whole milk. While she eats, I clean up some dishes left in the sink.

8:15 - We finish up breakfast and cleanup. Cora goes off to play with her toys. It's not a gym day, so we're going to stay put in the apartment for a while.  I throw in a load of laundry.

8:30 - I decide to let PBS kids' shows babysit while I take a shower and get ready.

9:00 - I switch off Super Why! so I can watch Live! with Kelly and Michael. My girl (and birthday twin) Heidi Klum is on this episode. Cora plays on the floor and brings me the occasional book to read. Sometimes she walks off before we even get to the second page.

9:45 - I'm hungry again. I make a mental note to eat a better breakfast. I make a bagel and Cora begs for some, so I give her some Cheerios.

10:45 - Diaper change and we head out the door for Mommy & Me gymnastics class at the Y.

Still rear-facing over here!

10:55 - Show up and find out that gymnastics class ended last week. It's a 6-week class, but I thought it was 7 (they apparently shorten the length in the summer). I somehow missed the announcement at the beginning of last week's class that it was the last one.
11:00 - I let Cora walk on the outdoor track near the Y while I swear under my breath and kick myself silently. I try to decide what we'll do next. I decide to just go home. We get home, and Cora is showing signs of being tired. I decide she should get lunch before her nap.

11:30 - Lunch for Cora. What to feed her?? Another decision. She gets leftover baked beans from last night. I find some leftover mixed veggies from a few nights back and decide to sneak them in the beans. She also has a banana. We practice using a spoon and drinking milk from a cup. She's getting great at both.

12:10ish - We do Cora's bedtime routine (book, prayer, song) and I put her down for a nap. She's asleep by 12:30. I eat some lunch and decide to watch an episode of Project Runway I got from the library.

1:15 - I hear babbling. A 45 minute nap, seriously kid?? I check on Cora, and she's still lying down with her eyes kind of open. I decide to leave her alone and see if she'll go back to sleep.

1:40 - I hear a little cough. She's up. Raring to go. Ugh. I just let her play in the living room for a bit.
2:45 - I decide to not waste the nice day. Should we go to the zoo? The splash pad? A park? Or the pool at our complex? I decide on the pool, since it will be the easiest. Our preferred swimsuits are in the wash, so I squeeze Cora into the one-piece that's too small for her. Despite that, she loves the pool and it's a beautiful day.

This is the preferred swim suit, and this is not our apartment (too spacious and clean)

4:00 - We're back from the pool; I turn on Arthur and Cora plays.
4:45 - B gets home (a bit late, but he went on an errand after work).
5:00 - I take Cora to walk to the mailbox. She has on her big pink tutu and a handful of people compliment her on it.

Mailbox visit from a different day. Pink tutu today was way cuter.

5:30 - I start fixing dinner and keep shoo-ing Cora out of the kitchen and yelling at B to come get her because I have to open the oven and there's also oil splattering on my arm. We're having breakfast for dinner-- biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs. I forget any type of fruit or vegetable. Oops.
6:30 - We eat dinner. Cora surprises us by eating the eggs. She also loves the gravy. B cleans up the mess because of our pact that says whoever doesn't cook has to clean up. I take care of cleaning up Cora.

7:00 - I put Cora on the potty again. Still nothing, so I let her brush her teeth while sitting on it. I get her ready for bed and bring her back out to play in the living room. We watch Wheel of Fortune and Cora "helps" Daddy pick up all her toys. Our other pact is that one person gets Cora ready for bed and the other cleans up the mess. Unlike cooking (which I do 90% of the time), we seem to alternate on this one a lot.

7:40ish - Bedtime routine. We read a book from the library (Do You Have a Hat? this is an awesome book btw), do her night-time prayer, the sign of the cross, big big night night kisses for Daddy and Mommy (she gives Daddy like 3 extra ones), then I take her to her room and sing "Amazing Grace" in her glider. She goes in the crib, and I start up her musical giraffe. I check a bit after 8pm, and she is asleep.

8pm and onward - I piddle on the computer, watch TV, fold some laundry (B helps), write this blog post (I've actually been recording into it all day), and B watches Burn Notice (or something) on his laptop. He hates the TV show I have on, so he goes in our bedroom with a slice of pie to watch his show. He'll go to bed around 9:45, and I'll come in between 10 and 10:30 unless I get distracted by something interesting on the internet.

And that's a pretty typical day around here!

12 in '12

I linked up with this last year, and feel like it was a nice quick reflection on the past year. Even though I don't really follow these bloggers, I had fun reading other people's posts!

12. Favorite movie you watched: Okay, so you want to know how many movies I saw in a theater in 2012? Try ZERO. And I think I only watched maybe three movies on TV/computer too. So instead, I will respond with Legally Blonde: The Musical which I got to see performed back in the summer (a friend of mine played the keyboards in the pit orchestra). It was great! If you're a fan of the movie, you should definitely see it!
11. Favorite TV series: It's still The Amazing Race, but I want to mention a show that definitely deserves more attention. ABC's The Middle. Hilarious. Sue is my favorite. (Also, it's set in Indiana with an occasional mention of my husband's hometown.)
10. Favorite restaurant: Hopjacks in Pensacola for their brie dip. I made sure to go there on our last night in town! As for Fort Wayne, I'm still exploring . . . but I already kinda miss Waffle House.
9. Favorite new thing you tried: Motherhood? Is that a cop-out answer? I guess the other thing would be parasailing. It was so peaceful.

8. Favorite gift you got: B got me a heater for "Christmas" but we started using it the day he brought it home (about 2 weeks before the holiday). Our bedroom is over our garage, our central heat is seemingly inefficient, and this space heater is the best present ever.
7. Favorite thing you pinned: Chicken taco soup. We need to make this again, stat!
6. Favorite blog post: It's my second most-read post, the Birth of Cora Elizabeth. (If you're wondering, my most-read post is my Homemade Protein Bars--thanks, Pinterest!)
5. Best accomplishment: Still breastfeeding! We definitely had our issues in the beginning, but we will make it to a year!

4. Favorite picture:

My brother-in-law took some pics for us at Thanksgiving, and this one is a favorite

As for pictures that I took, this one from July still cracks me up:

3. Favorite memory: Probably my birthday, even though most of the day had nothing to do with me. Celebrating someone else's accomplishments, which took my entire 28 years to happen, was much more enjoyable than just another birthday.
2. Goal for 2013: Make Cora's "first year" book. And finish the wedding album for my mom! (Only 3 years late now, sorry Mom!) Other than that, I'm not much into resolutions. We're looking into buying a new car for B and a house(!), so who knows what 2013 will hold? If anything, I'd like to go on more date nights. We've had TWO in the past 11 months.
1. One Little Word: Faith. I think that's a good focus for my family and myself in 2013.

10 Years

10 years ago today, I graduated high school.  I officially feel OLD.  Yet I also still feel like I'm 22 and freshly out of college.  Then I hear that Mark Zuckerburg turned another year older; he was born 3 weeks before me and is also a 2002 high school grad.  Well, I'm no billionaire.  But I had a kid first, actually finished college, and didn't have to trick people into coming to my wedding.  Take that, Zuckerburg!

Even though it wasn't my "peak," high school was good to me.  I won various awards and scholarships, got good grades, had good friends and made good memories.  I was the quirky smart girl who purposely mismatched all her outfits and pulled it off.  I got to dabble in everything that interested me--soccer, debate, quiz bowl, choir, cross country, Spanish club, the list goes on and on.  But if I look back on the highlights of my life, very few of them happened in those four years.

My high school has the longest name EVER.  (But we just called it "Central")

I've done a lot in the past 10 years.  Graduated college with two degrees, joined and finished AmeriCorps, moved a few times, gotten and quit a big-girl job, traveled both domestically and internationally, learned a lot of new skills (cooking included), volunteered for a wide range of nonprofits, gotten married, had a beautiful baby.  I'm sure there are a ton of great things I've left out as well, but those are the biggies.

I posted on Facebook about today being our 10-year date, and one of my best high school friends said it made her feel sad because it reminds her how close we are to turning 30!  I'm not scared of my thirties at all; I actually know plenty of people who LOVE their thirties.  Instead of fearing it, I just wonder what fun adventures the next 10 years will bring!

Can't believe my cheapo high school actually gave us our diplomas in this thing!

So I may not have a bazillion dollars like Mark Zuckerburg, but I do have the love of my family and friends, and that's pretty awesome.  I also haven't burned too many bridges, and no one has even tried to sue me.  Heck, I haven't even gotten a speeding ticket.  I guess I can't complain--here's to the next 10 years!

I've figured it out

This is a big honkin' deal.  Bigger than Elvis.  Or sliced bread.  I've figured out what type of career I would like to do!!

Like a lot of people I know, I definitely had a quarter life crisis.  Unlike a lot of people, I refused to pay for grad school until I was absolutely sure.  Now my GRE scores are well-expired, and I'm not sure if grad school is ever in the cards.

Back in 2010, when B was deployed, I blogged about trying to figure out my calling and how I went to a Career Planning workshop at Fleet & Family Support to help me out.  Well, almost two years later, I think  I have it.

I want to be a Family Life Educator.  There it is.  I've written it down.  I feel like I should ring a bell or call my mom or something.

I re-read that old blog post tonight, and the only thing that is missing is "the great outdoors."  But I think I can fill that void in other ways, without having my career hinge upon it.

Okay, I actually already sorta am a Family Life Educator.  I have been (volunteer) teaching Budget for Baby class to expectant military couples for almost a year now.  It had been growing on me, obviously.  Sometimes my classes stink and the participants sit there like bumps on a log and just listen to me bumble on about the parts of a budget.  But I taught a class today and seriously hit it out of the park.  I was able to somehow transform it from almost non-participatory to a pretty lively and informative class!  I don't even know how I really did it, but it was kinda magical.  Thinking it might have been all in my head, I read the anonymous evaluations that the participants filled out, and I got perfect marks from every. single. one.

I think this is actually a great field to combine my educational background.  My degree in Child & Family Development can help me teach more of these budget types of classes, and I would also like to get into teaching some parenting skills or other family topics.  My advertising background will definitely come in handy because I will probably be the one who has to market these classes.

As for the next step, I'm not sure.  I know I want to be primarily stay-at-home for a while, so this will be sorta put on the back burner until I'm ready.  I then will need to get some certification and find someone to pay me (the hard part).  However, I am already volunteering my way into it more fully, as I am now taking on more than just teaching the Budget for Baby class.  They made me the chair of the operation, so I'm making some marketing materials and making this class the best it can be!

Have you figured out your calling?  How long did it take you to really know?  (I'm just about 10 years out of high school, in case you're wondering!)

it's that time again

Head on over to Wife of a Sailor to link up!

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed? I wish that I still wasn't in pain from giving birth!  Ugh, this healing process is taking longer than I anticipated.  If I'm still in this kind of pain in a few weeks, I'm calling my doctor again.

 2. What was your favorite thing that happened in March? Probably our baby really starting to smile and get active and cute!

 3. Check your phone… who was the last person you called and what is your favorite thing about them?  Um, it was the childcare center on base!  I have to call every Friday to arrange drop-in care for Cora while I volunteer.  She did her first day (well, 5 hours) this past week, and it went well!  And we were so busy at the office that I didn't have time to dwell on it.  From the looks of it, it's really good childcare--and they definitely aren't pushing schedules on or overfeeding my "everything on demand" baby--so I guess that's my favorite thing!

 4. If you were a crayon, what color would you be and why?  Burnt orange.  It's a happy color, but still sort of earthy, too.

 5. What are you looking forward to in April?  Baby's first road trip is next week!  We are driving to Indiana to go to B's cousin's wedding, and baby Cora will get to meet lots of her family.

milspouse q&a

Since I only have a few months left of being considered a "milspouse," I figured I would answer some questions on it now.  (Yep, joining the bandwagon!)  Mine might be a bit different from others you have read lately, since we're on our way out of this interesting lifestyle.  This was looking like a major wall of text, so I added some pictures :)

How did you and your spouse meet?  Via the internet, specifically okcupid.com.  I had been using this free dating site my last semester of college and found B on there right around the time I graduated.  We met in person after I moved to Jacksonville, FL, a few months later.

This was taken by one of my new AmeriCorps friends on the night we met

How old were you when you two met?  I was 22, he was 23.

How long have you been together?  Dating since fall of 2006, married since fall 2008.  So, together for 5 years now!  (That still kinda blows my mind sometimes because I still feel like I'm 23.)

Where are you and your spouse originally from?  I'm from Lawrenceville, GA (read: suburban Atlanta), where I lived in the same house for as long as I could remember.  B's hometown is Zionsville, IN (read: suburban Indianapolis), but he moved around a bit as a child.  His family settled in Z-ville when he started middle school.

How did you feel about him joining the military?  We hadn't met yet, so I had no say in the matter.  I didn't grow up around military, so I didn't really understand it until I met him.

Where did your spouse go to Basic Training?  He was commissioned through OCS here in Pensacola.  I don't think he ever thought he'd be coming back here to live!

Has your spouse ever been deployed?  Yep, twice with the same sub.

Ever been to his promotion ceremony?  Nope.  I was a girlfriend when he was promoted to LTJG, and he didn't know he was allowed to bring me (his command at the time was pretty anti-girlfriend).  He got his dolphins while on deployment, and he was promoted to LT while on an underway right after we got married.  In the grand scheme of things, this is all not a big deal since we're trading it in for him to be home for things like his daughter's first day of Kindergarten.

His first homecoming.  I'm pointing to his newly-earned dolphins!

How long have you been a military wife?  2 years and some change.  And I won't make it to 3!

Did you marry him before or after he joined?  After he joined.

How did your husband propose?  We took a long weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA, to celebrate the end of his first deployment.  I told him to pick a nice restaurant for one of the nights, and he made reservations.  He proposed in the restaurant, after dessert.  I honestly did not expect it that night!  If you want to read the long version of the story, here it is.

Where did you get married?  My home parish in Lilburn, GA (same place I was baptized and hit every other Catholic milestone).  I think that was the one stipulation my dad gave B when he called a few days before proposing to "ask" for my hand.

How old were you two when you got married?  I was 25 and he was 26.

Did he wear his uniform on your wedding day?  Nope; B wore a rented tux.  The only person in uniform there was our friend who helped as Eucharistic minister, whom I had known since high school and was one of the enlisteds on B's sub (small world, huh?).

Our wedding day: no ribbons or swords

Where are you and your spouse currently stationed?  NAS Pensacola.  And no, he's not in the aviation community!  (His command is NSTC Great Lakes Pensacola.  Confusing?  Yes.)

Do you live on base?  No, but we live 2 minutes from the back gate.  I like the buffer.  And the monthly profit we make from BAH.

How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation?  I think about 10 days.  He went on an underway for a few weeks, missing Halloween and a fun party where I somehow got involved in a ridiculous dance-off.  During that underway, I also moved us into our 2-bed apartment (we didn't live together beforehand), and he had sent me an email about how late he'd be home when he got back, so I didn't leave keys to the new place.  His version of "late" was different from mine (I usually got home from work at 6), and he ended up hanging out at a local pizza joint until I got there because there was nothing at all left in the old apartment.

What is your favorite base so far?  It's really hard to compare Norfolk to Pensacola, since I did most of my time in Norfolk as a full civilian, not a milspouse.  The community I had in Norfolk was amazing, but I never really even felt welcome on the base there.  In a pure aesthetic sense, the base here in Pensacola is beautiful, but I haven't been forced to make friends in the same way, so the community is a bit lacking and people don't stay here for as long.

NAS Pensacola jogging trail with sandbar and bay behind it.  Picture taken from the passenger's seat of B's car.

Does your spouse look good in his uniform?  We both think he looks ridiculous in NWUs, but he only had to wear those for a brief time.  He looks good in the khakis he wears every day here, though!

Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life?  I think it can make things move faster, as I see people get married and grow up a bit quicker than they may be ready for.  But if you're thinking of "advanced" as in "more forward," no.  I think military life can be a bit backwards at times--hell, sometimes I blame it for turning me into a 1950's housewife.  I don't think one way is better than the other, however.

Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent? For a frugal gal like myself, of course.  The top 3 parts I will miss when my dependent ID expires: 1) Free healthcare.  This keeps me awake some nights, but then I remember that both B and I grew up in civilian households and our families didn't go bankrupt from  our civilian insurance.  2) Commissary.  Even though the cost of housing is way lower here in Pensacola than it was in Norfolk, groceries are the same price.  And most FL stores don't double coupons, so the best way to shop without spending 30 hours a week trying to find the best deals at each store is to use the freakin' commissary.  3) Free gym.  I've budgeted in a gym membership for after we leave, but we even have a gym here at the other base that has free childcare.

Do you have a lot of military wife friends?  Yes and no?  I volunteer on base, so almost everyone there is a milspouse (or a retiree).  I click a bit better with milspouses right now, but just don't have a lot of friends in this area.  I'm planning on joining some mommy groups that will hopefully have a variety of women.

What is the hardest part of being a military wife?  It used to be the deployment "work-ups" (underway times) when he was on the boat.  Yes, the years he wasn't deployed were harder than the years he was.  And we somehow planned our out-of-town wedding around that blasted work-up schedule, which was a feat in and of itself.  I don't think there's anything hard about our life right now though.  This shore tour is so easy.

Do you own any military wife stuff?  I don't think so.  I have one shirt that just says NAVY across it.  Oh wait, my mother-in-law gave me this rock thingy when B was deployed that says, "God bless my sailor" that's on our bookshelf next to some trinkets B brought back from his port calls.

Bookshelf pic from old apt with the rock-thingy in the top middle.  Left of it, genie lamp from Bahrain; bull from Spain.

Do you support your spouse as a member of the military?  Of course.  And if he had any desire to be a "lifer" or even a reservist, I would be behind him 100%.  I'm definitely not the one who made him want to get out.

 

11 in '11

A year-end recap post!  Just in the nick of time, right?  We still have a few hours to go here in the Central Time Zone.

11. Favorite movie you watched:  Probably Toy Story 3.  Easy A was good also.

10. Favorite TV series: The Amazing Race.  It has been my fave for many years now.

9. Favorite restaurant:  Bagelheads.  I wish I could spend every morning there.

8. Favorite new thing you tried: Tie between kayaking and crocheting!

7. Favorite gift you got:  B surprised me back in August with a maternity shirt that says "what's kickin'" and has little footprints on it.  And in the same order, he got me a set of dumbbells, which I had wanted.  He's a really good gift-giver when it's on his own terms and he's not being forced into because of a date on the calendar.  (Although the bathrobe he got me for Christmas is really nice, but I love his unexpected gifts.)

6. Favorite thing you pinned: I have a maternity pics board for inspiration when we did our shoot, which had this picture on it:

Our version: 

We put it on the back of the Christmas card and everyone loved it!

5. Favorite blog post:  I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think it was the post about my miscarriage.  I've re-read it more often than any other, love all the supportive comments, and I've been very open to talk about it with anyone all year.  If you'd rather read something happier, check out when I announced my current (viable) pregnancy.

4. Best accomplishment:  Finishing the Couch to 5k and then completing a race!

3. Favorite picture:  I really like this one from our maternity shoot:

2. Favorite memory:  Probably the night I took the pregnancy test in May (current pregnancy).  I was scared of another miscarriage and also scared of being a mom, but B was so excited and he was like jumping up and down.  (He didn't do this with the first because he was sick and lying on the couch.)  He doesn't get easily excited, so this was really different.  I was thinking back on this memory last week and burst into tears because it made me so happy.  It doesn't take much for that to happen right now, though, since I am ridiculously emotional thanks to being 9 months pregnant.

1. Goal for 2012: Have baby, keep baby alive.  I'm not big on resolutions at New Year's, especially since I have my 101 goal list.


I didn't really intend for half of this list to be pregnancy-related stuff, but it has taken up over half my year so I guess I'll let it go.  I'll be full-term (37 weeks) on Monday, if you lost count!

 

twenty seven

Yup, today is my 27th birthday.
The day is known better in these parts as the "official start of hurricane season."  And also when your rent is probably due.

Maybe I'm weird, but I thought 26 was a "dumb age."  I know it's just a number, but nobody is impressed when you say you are 26.  Characters in books and movies are never 26 years old.  I read a lot of chick-lit novels, and I think the characters are usually 27-29.  So I'm excited that I won't be a "dumb age" again until probably 32.  However, I know I look young, and I don't think I ever will be a "sophisticated woman."  (Is 27 the age where you officially become a woman?  If so, yikes!)

I know a lot of people like to reflect on where they thought they would be by xx age.  I hear 24-year-olds whining that they thought they would be married and/or have kids by now, and I hear 42-year-olds wondering what happened to their career goals.  I actually never had a real "plan" for myself.  My big goal was to go to college, graduate, get a job.  (For being a straight-A student, you'd think I would have had loftier ambitions, right?)  Well, I did all of those things.  Although my job never turned into a career (or even something I remotely enjoyed), but I'm not sure if that was in the cards anyway.

I think a lot of plans we set for ourselves are based on what our parents did.  My parents are an anomaly.  They didn't meet until their 30's.  Neither had been married before.  Mom was a true pioneer for women, working her butt off in her 20's to put herself through college and then working even harder to break through barriers and glass ceilings in a man's field (accounting/bank examining).   For me, getting married at age 25 was sort of weird (even though it's right around the average age for a bride in America) because it pre-dated my mom by 9 years.  At one point in my youth, I might have told you I didn't think I'd ever get married or have kids.  I was always an oddball anyway.  So, I can't really say much about what I thought I would be by the time I was 27 because, in all honesty, I never gave it much thought.

But I can say that I like myself.  I don't think I got married too early.  I don't think I'll be having children too early or too late.  It sorta bothers me that I haven't really figured out what I want actually do for a paycheck, but if I'm just a wife and mother, I'll be happy with that.  (A happy family is a very nice paycheck.)  I'm self-assured and comfortable in my own skin.  I have a wonderful husband who supports me in many ways.  I'm happy with the knowledge and skills I have, but I also am aware of all that I don't know.  I have few regrets, and even without big plans and ambitions, I think my life has turned out pretty darn well.  And it's only getting better!

friday fill-in

Link up with Wife of a Sailor

1. Do you think civilians, in general, understand the meaning of Memorial Day?
Well, like any holiday in America, it's been over-commercialized, but I think people sorta get it.  I think a lot of people just don't know how to honor our fallen military.  My family put out our flag, but if you don't live around a military community, there aren't many traditions going on to pick it up from.

2. What are your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend?
Tonight we're going to a friend's house and then tomorrow we're going to the Historic Pensacola Village, I think.  Then I don't know.  I think both of us forgot that he has Monday off.

3. What skill/talent do you wish you had? submitted by The 3 Turners
Playing an instrument (other than my voice), reading music effortlessly.  Or anything I could get good enough at to turn into a part-time career.  I wish I had some type of focused ambition.

4. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? submitted by I Married Into The Army  
I'll go biblical and say the chicken. 

God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth." (Gen 1:21-22)

Although in the next chapter it says something about birds of the air being formed out of the ground, so who knows?

5. What is the best thing about your post (base)? The worst? submitted by Randomly, Robyn
NAS Pensacola is beautiful!  If you drive along the main East-West road, you get to see this stunning beach with white sand and usually some sailboats in the water.  The sun is usually shining, and it is just so serene.  There are no nasty steam pipes going over your head like I was used to in Norfolk.  Also, there are a few tourist attractions on base (aviation museum, 'haunted' lighthouse, an old fort, etc.), so you can spend a whole day there and spend very little money.

The worst part is that there are only two ways in and the one we live near closes at 9pm on weekdays (this cost-cutting measure started after we moved here).  This led to me speeding through base last night to make it out in time so I didn't have to drive all the way around, which would've added 20 extra minutes to my trip.  I made it with seconds to spare!.  Another bad thing about our base is that if a bad hurricane hits again, we're totally in the way.  Hurricane Ivan wrecked the place in 2004.  Oh, I suppose I don't have to mention how humid this place is from May through September?  At least we have a beach!

getting to know me

Yes, I realize that I don't do a lot of "who I am, what I'm about" posts. For the most part, you've had to read between the lines to figure me out.

But today, I'm gonna be a nice girl and throw you a bone.  I'm linking up with MannLand5's bloghop.  I'm also gonna do 25 facts about me, inspired by the #100factsaboutme twitter tag.  Maybe I'll come back at another time and do the other 75, but right now I can only think of 25.

1. do you weigh yourself?

I weighed myself constantly when I was pregnant, and I didn't gain any weight the whole time since I miscarried.  Since then, the only time I think to weigh myself is when I'm watching "The Biggest Loser"

2. what's the nastiest thing you've ever eaten?
I'm kind of a picky eater, so I'm sure there have been many. Raw oysters when we didn't know what we were doing was awful (it was like swallowing a mouthful of seawater). Years later, someone else taught us how to do it properly, so now I don't flinch when I hear that other people like raw oysters.

3. snail mail or email?

I sign up for a lot of free samples, and I can only get snacks in snail mail!
4. do you have any irrational fears...what are they?

Spiders and bugs, but only in the house. If they're outside, I don't care. I also don't really like toads, especially when they're ON my front door (yes, ON).

5. do you play an instrument?

Voice: the only instrument made by God (my choir director has a t-shirt with those words, and I love it!)

6. would you rather be bitten by a snake or attacked by a bear?

Ugh, terrible question. I guess snake bite and pray.

7. do you ever go braless in public?

Nope. I do wear those shelf-bra tank tops, but I don't think that counts as braless.

8. today i am thankful for........................?

God, the season of Lent, the beautiful weather we get in north Florida, that I'm only a 10-minute drive from the Gulf, that my husband is here next to me and we're both healthy, that we have enough money for food on the table and a nice place to live and that we can do that without me working.

25 Facts About Me
1. I've lived in 5 different places, but all of them have been east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
2. I hate cream cheese, and I definitely hate cheesecake.
3. In college, I had a job that consisted of reading text books onto cassette tape.
4. I was a member of my high school's Quiz Bowl team, and we came in 2nd in the state tourney my senior year.  We also won the "sportsmanship award."
5. I'm Catholic, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've missed Sunday mass in my entire life.
6. My sister is adopted.  I'm not.
7. I haven't had any living grandparents since I was 13.
8. I really love cats and cannot get one because my husband is allergic.  I have no interest in dogs.
9. I "own" a cat named Frisky that I got from the pound when I was in 4th grade.  He still lives with my parents, and he now only has 3 legs (and he's 17), but he's a fighter.
10. I am a huge Kelly Clarkson fan.
11. Things I've volunteered with on a regular basis in the past few years: therapeutic horse-back riding, botanical gardens, and currently Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society
12. B and I forgot to kiss at the end of our wedding mass.  I didn't even realize it until someone said something afterward.
13. Neither of my parents are from Georgia.
14. I was in Girl Scouts from 1st through 12th grade, and I earned my Gold Award.
15. I graduated 4th in my high school class of 300.
16. I've never dyed my hair and don't plan on it.
17. I did gymnastics from when I was 4 until 5th grade.  I still can't do a back walkover and wish I would've stayed with it a bit longer.
18. My birthday is June 1.
19. I've never weighed more than 116 pounds.
20. I have two bachelor's degrees (not a double major, but two actual degrees).  One is a BS in Child & Family Development; the other is a BA in Advertising.
21. My college tuition was $0 because of the HOPE Scholarship.
22. My first job was as a waitress at a sit-down Chick-Fil-A (Dwarf House).
23. I can't stand medical dramas or cop dramas.
24. I love college football but don't really care much about pro football.
25. We went to Mexico on our honeymoon because the swine flu outbreak made the plane tickets cheaper.