So, the house is decorated, it's cold, I'M OFF OF WORK FOR 2 WEEKS...
...and the cleaning begins. My parents (hi!!!) get here Wednesday, and Marc's parents (hi!!!) get here sometime after Christmas. Both spare rooms are hurricane disasters. And it's too cold to have them sleep outside ;) Therefore, the cleaning begins. I'm hoping to get some video of Christmas morning, and maybe other events during the season. Check back for the fun!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Lights Are Up!
Do you like 'em?!? I realize there are a couple areas where the lights are out and the two "blues" don't match at all, but overall...??? It took about 3 hours and some good planning. We are proud of our hard work! Click on the pics below to see the process :)
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Tree is Up
It took a few hours total, but it's gorgeous! Marc picked out the blue and silver color theme :) Check out pics below in the process.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Happy November!
I was given this story at the ceremony where Marc was presented with his wings. I thought it was fitting for today's events at Ft. Hood. Frankly, there's a spouse needing this story everyday these days.
When God Created the Military Spouse
When the good Lord was creating military spouses, He was into overtime on the sixth day when an angel appeared and said, "You are having a lot of trouble with this one. What is wrong with the standard model?"
And the Lord said,"Have you read the specs on this order? It has to:
~Be completely independent; yet accept being sponsored to come on base.
~Have the qualities of both father and mother during deployments and cruises.
~Run on black coffee.
~Be able to handle flu, cough, fever, bug bites, poison ivy, spilled milk, and the rest of the standard childhood ailments.
~Move all its worldly possessions on a moments notice.
~Have an embrace that can cure anything from a child's scraped knee to someone's weary day.
~Have the patience of a saint and the guts of a prize fighter.
~And have six pairs of hands.
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way." But the Lord said, "Don't worry, we'll make other military spouses to help." Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem, it's the heart. The heart must swell with pride in its family, sustain the ache of separation, beat on soundly when it's too tired to do so, and large enough to understand the shortcoming of her loved ones. And lastly, say I love you, regardless."
"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "You must get some rest."
"I can't," said the Lord, "I am too close to creating something unique. Already I have a model who heals itself when sick, can feed a house full of guests at a moments notice, and can wave goodbye to a loved one from a pier or runway and understand that it's importan to the country that this separation must happen."
The angel circled the model of the military spouse very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.
"But tough," said the Lord excitedly, "You can't imagine what this individual must do or endure."
"Can it think?" asked the angel.
"Can it think? It can convert 1400 to 2pm!"
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the creek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You, You were trying to put too much into this model."
"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."
"What's it for?"
"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."
"You're a genius!" cried the angel.
The Lord looked somber and said, "I didn't put it there."
When the good Lord was creating military spouses, He was into overtime on the sixth day when an angel appeared and said, "You are having a lot of trouble with this one. What is wrong with the standard model?"
And the Lord said,"Have you read the specs on this order? It has to:
~Be completely independent; yet accept being sponsored to come on base.
~Have the qualities of both father and mother during deployments and cruises.
~Run on black coffee.
~Be able to handle flu, cough, fever, bug bites, poison ivy, spilled milk, and the rest of the standard childhood ailments.
~Move all its worldly possessions on a moments notice.
~Have an embrace that can cure anything from a child's scraped knee to someone's weary day.
~Have the patience of a saint and the guts of a prize fighter.
~And have six pairs of hands.
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way." But the Lord said, "Don't worry, we'll make other military spouses to help." Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem, it's the heart. The heart must swell with pride in its family, sustain the ache of separation, beat on soundly when it's too tired to do so, and large enough to understand the shortcoming of her loved ones. And lastly, say I love you, regardless."
"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "You must get some rest."
"I can't," said the Lord, "I am too close to creating something unique. Already I have a model who heals itself when sick, can feed a house full of guests at a moments notice, and can wave goodbye to a loved one from a pier or runway and understand that it's importan to the country that this separation must happen."
The angel circled the model of the military spouse very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.
"But tough," said the Lord excitedly, "You can't imagine what this individual must do or endure."
"Can it think?" asked the angel.
"Can it think? It can convert 1400 to 2pm!"
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the creek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You, You were trying to put too much into this model."
"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."
"What's it for?"
"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."
"You're a genius!" cried the angel.
The Lord looked somber and said, "I didn't put it there."
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Decorating!
We have stuff on the walls!
Master Bedroom
Spare Room #1
Hallway
Livingroom/Dining Room/Kitchen
Sunday, October 18, 2009
October, 2009
It's been a while...sorry :( The move took all the energy out of me. Well, let's catch up...
1. The House
Our house is coming together. It's not picture perfect, hence the lack of pictures, but for the past few weekends, we have spent alot of time setting up the house. The garage is still full of stuff, so the cars don't quite fit yet. Our goal is to have the cars in the garage before it gets too cold..aka snow/frost/hail/etc.
2. Marc's job
HE'S DONE! It took 2.5 years, four locations, and LOTS of studying, but he has finished pilot training. He is now a qualified pilot for the ***** airplane :) He's eligible to deploy, but it may be a few months before that happens. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'm so proud!!! And the squadron he has been assigned to is fabulous. There are tons of great/fun people involved. We should be very happy here!
3. My job
It's going. 9 weeks in, 3 more sets of 9 weeks to go. I've been asked to do alot of evaluations for kids that are not mine, or wouldn't be mine after I was finished with the eval. It's fun to do the evals, and great experience, but my only frustration is that when I'm done, and i've determined a whole set of ideas to help the child...I pass him/her off to someone else, someone I may not believe would do a good job in that child's speech therapy. Other than that, the therapy is going swimmingly...knock on wood.
4. Pippin
He's great. Our mattress sat up really high when it was on the frame we bought for it. The frame made it so that every move was felt across the whole mattress. We switched the mattress onto it's box springs, and it feels much better and is low. Well, Pippin was unable to get up onto the mattress when it was high, and is much happier now that he can independently get up onto our bed. :) He's also loving our backyard. He hasn't quite got the idea of "fetch" down. We throw the toy, he runs to the toy, and from then on it's a keep-away game. Keep away from mom and dad. So he runs like the wind across our huge backyard, wears himself out, and is a content puppy!
1. The House
Our house is coming together. It's not picture perfect, hence the lack of pictures, but for the past few weekends, we have spent alot of time setting up the house. The garage is still full of stuff, so the cars don't quite fit yet. Our goal is to have the cars in the garage before it gets too cold..aka snow/frost/hail/etc.
2. Marc's job
HE'S DONE! It took 2.5 years, four locations, and LOTS of studying, but he has finished pilot training. He is now a qualified pilot for the ***** airplane :) He's eligible to deploy, but it may be a few months before that happens. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'm so proud!!! And the squadron he has been assigned to is fabulous. There are tons of great/fun people involved. We should be very happy here!
3. My job
It's going. 9 weeks in, 3 more sets of 9 weeks to go. I've been asked to do alot of evaluations for kids that are not mine, or wouldn't be mine after I was finished with the eval. It's fun to do the evals, and great experience, but my only frustration is that when I'm done, and i've determined a whole set of ideas to help the child...I pass him/her off to someone else, someone I may not believe would do a good job in that child's speech therapy. Other than that, the therapy is going swimmingly...knock on wood.
4. Pippin
He's great. Our mattress sat up really high when it was on the frame we bought for it. The frame made it so that every move was felt across the whole mattress. We switched the mattress onto it's box springs, and it feels much better and is low. Well, Pippin was unable to get up onto the mattress when it was high, and is much happier now that he can independently get up onto our bed. :) He's also loving our backyard. He hasn't quite got the idea of "fetch" down. We throw the toy, he runs to the toy, and from then on it's a keep-away game. Keep away from mom and dad. So he runs like the wind across our huge backyard, wears himself out, and is a content puppy!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Our house is amazing!!!!!!!! We are smitten :) This weekend, we put together all of the Ikea furniture we bought last weekend. The neighbors came by to introduce themselves, and they invited us to a block party happening that night. We were exhausted from all the moving and furniture-assembling, but we went for a short time and met many of our neighbors. They're so much fun! We are very happy.
We still have two weeks left in our apartment, so the moving process will be slow, but I will post pictures/video as they come.
We still have two weeks left in our apartment, so the moving process will be slow, but I will post pictures/video as they come.
Friday, September 11, 2009
HOMEOWNERS!
We took the plunge and signed our names a million times today. And look what we get for it...
The home-buying process is done. Now, the moving/decorating process begins!
The home-buying process is done. Now, the moving/decorating process begins!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Happy Labor Day!
We both have today off, thanks to both of our government jobs. Our plans today involved NOTHING! I'm gonna soak up the nothing aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall day :) Hope you all do as well :)
We're still truckin' on the house! On the website where the builder advertises his available home, ours has been taken off of the list! :) We haven't quite closed yet, but the walk-through is scheduled for sometime on Wednesday and we're scheduled to close at 2pm on Friday. (if i remember, i'll take pictures of the empty place to show here!)
This weekend we decided to do some shopping. Friday was the drive-to-Abilene day, Saturday was drive-to-the-nearest-ikea-and-SHOP! day along with driving-back-to-Abilene day, and Sunday was the drive-back-home day. We stayed at Dyess AFB, which is extremely cheap per night. That simply helped us to save money to help balance the massive expenses on Saturday at IKEA and Target. We bought everything for our master bedroom except the mattress. We also purchased some storage units for the kitchen and livingroom. It's all stored in our current spare room, but i'm looking forward to moving it all to the new house after we close...IN FIVE DAYS!. The countdown has begun.
The renovation furniture has come to a halt. The dining table Marc helped me sand is gorgeous, but I can't decided what color to paint it. I like the look of black, but we already have a black table. White is pretty, but looks dirty so easily, especially where food will be served. Dark grey? A dark color? light color? Then I don't know if we're going to keep it. We just bought furniture from ikea that matches the current ikea table we have. Aaaahhhh, we're so indecisive!
In regards to work, Marc only has 5 flights left until he's officially done with pilot training (after a little over 2 years), and therapy is going well with my students. We're happy to have today off so we can spend time together.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
One step closer
A few days ago, I received a call from a stranger. He identified himself by telling me that our realtor had referred him. I became excited! He was someone looking to rent our duplex after we move out. Because we are leaving before the end of our lease, in order to avoid paying a penalty, we have to provide the owners with someone who will take over.
I described our place, down to as many details as he was looking for. He then asked for a website where they could possible look at layouts or pictures. I directed him to the website, at which time he indicated that they had already been to look at these lots and wanted one. They filled out an application, but someone took the place from under them. He was excited that this one was becoming available.
After a few hours to talk it over with his wife, we have new renters!!! Tomorrow, Marc is going to talk with the owner to get the details and give our 30-day notice. We will provide them with the name and information of the folks that will be moving in, in hopes that we can get the ball rolling.
Speaking of getting the ball rolling...countdown is 13 days until closing on our house. Sometime before this weekend, we're planning to measure lots of things in the house...walls, windows, doors, etc. Our plan for this coming weekend is to take a trip to Ft. Worth to go to Ikea for master bedroom furniture and other such odds and ends.
In the meantime, I (as in Marc and I) have been working on a new dining room table. I'm not sure if we're going to keep it once it's finished, but it's going to be gorgeous. Pictures to come just as soon as it's done.
I described our place, down to as many details as he was looking for. He then asked for a website where they could possible look at layouts or pictures. I directed him to the website, at which time he indicated that they had already been to look at these lots and wanted one. They filled out an application, but someone took the place from under them. He was excited that this one was becoming available.
After a few hours to talk it over with his wife, we have new renters!!! Tomorrow, Marc is going to talk with the owner to get the details and give our 30-day notice. We will provide them with the name and information of the folks that will be moving in, in hopes that we can get the ball rolling.
Speaking of getting the ball rolling...countdown is 13 days until closing on our house. Sometime before this weekend, we're planning to measure lots of things in the house...walls, windows, doors, etc. Our plan for this coming weekend is to take a trip to Ft. Worth to go to Ikea for master bedroom furniture and other such odds and ends.
In the meantime, I (as in Marc and I) have been working on a new dining room table. I'm not sure if we're going to keep it once it's finished, but it's going to be gorgeous. Pictures to come just as soon as it's done.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Krystal N Designs
My sister has gone on a quest to sell her beautiful artwork. Check it out!! I've already requested a headboard for our new king bed in our new house and unique art throughout said house...i can't wait! She's selling her stuff at this site on Etsy. What a great idea!
So far, her list includes
Letter art
Canvas art
Tri-canvas art
...And there's more to come!
So far, her list includes
Letter art
Canvas art
Tri-canvas art
...And there's more to come!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Fab weekend
Life goes on...
Marc is still flying, days and nights, alternately. He's also had M-9 qualification (that's a gun...i had to ask :-P), and has been studying and taking tests to gain knowledge of the plane. He's been busy. Tomorrow is the first check ride in this plane, but I know he'll do fine...he always does! Tuesday begins a new kind of training, but still with the same plane.
School has begun. Friday was the first day back for the kids and was hectic, as expected. It's good to see them though, and it's refreshing getting back to doing what I love. Therapy doesn't begin until Monday after next, so I still have some time to gather my thoughts and materials before I begin collecting data and helping the kids with communication at school.
A new challenge Marc and I have had to face lately is our alternating schedules. I leave the house at 7am, while he sleeps in so that he can stay awake during his night flight. Then he leaves for work around 2pm and I get home at 5pm. He flies while i'm getting ready for bed, and arrives home at 2am. Then it starts over. We went three days this week without seeing each other except when he was crawling into bed or I was getting up. Let me tell you how much fun this routine is...it's not. Fortunately, lunch time is free for both of us. I have the option to work while I eat, but would rather spend time with my phantom husband. :)
We went to Lubbock this weekend to pick up a few "your trash/my treasure" items. I am so excited!! We picked up a few end tables with nicks and bumps, but perfect! We also got a wingback chair...YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been nagging Marc about one for forever. And lastly, we picked up a beautiful (huge) coffee table that's painted the worst cream/yellow and is filthy, but I can remedy those problems! Pictures will come as soon as I make them pretty :)
Hope your weekend was just as wonderful!!
Marc is still flying, days and nights, alternately. He's also had M-9 qualification (that's a gun...i had to ask :-P), and has been studying and taking tests to gain knowledge of the plane. He's been busy. Tomorrow is the first check ride in this plane, but I know he'll do fine...he always does! Tuesday begins a new kind of training, but still with the same plane.
School has begun. Friday was the first day back for the kids and was hectic, as expected. It's good to see them though, and it's refreshing getting back to doing what I love. Therapy doesn't begin until Monday after next, so I still have some time to gather my thoughts and materials before I begin collecting data and helping the kids with communication at school.
A new challenge Marc and I have had to face lately is our alternating schedules. I leave the house at 7am, while he sleeps in so that he can stay awake during his night flight. Then he leaves for work around 2pm and I get home at 5pm. He flies while i'm getting ready for bed, and arrives home at 2am. Then it starts over. We went three days this week without seeing each other except when he was crawling into bed or I was getting up. Let me tell you how much fun this routine is...it's not. Fortunately, lunch time is free for both of us. I have the option to work while I eat, but would rather spend time with my phantom husband. :)
We went to Lubbock this weekend to pick up a few "your trash/my treasure" items. I am so excited!! We picked up a few end tables with nicks and bumps, but perfect! We also got a wingback chair...YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been nagging Marc about one for forever. And lastly, we picked up a beautiful (huge) coffee table that's painted the worst cream/yellow and is filthy, but I can remedy those problems! Pictures will come as soon as I make them pretty :)
Hope your weekend was just as wonderful!!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Interesting Week
Our lives were somewhat hectic this week.
Firstly, Marc...
He is flying now and the instructors are trying to have him fly as much as possible to finish training. (And I don't mean, finish and move on to training in another plane like it has been for 3 other planes. THIS IS IT! Once he's done learning this one, he's done for the duration of our stay here! yay) Well, the planes aren't really cooperating. One is flying overseas to join the war, while one that is there is coming back for an overhaul on maintenance, one is being flown somewhere for upgrades, one a truck drove into and broke the tail of the plane (um...can we say stationary object??!?), and one has parts of it that are broken, but aren't pertinent for flying. So, the squadron has one working plane for all of the students. Needless to say, Marc's flying schedule has been anything but set in stone. And to add insult to injury, he has a check ride (every AF pilot has random flights where they're tested to make sure they're still competent on the plane) scheduled for next week that may or may not happen....we'll see!
He also has something like 4 papers due by Wednesday of next week, and 4 more due just a few days later. So, he'll be busy for a few days.
Secondly, me....
I rolled out of bed at 9am Wednesday morning, not expecting to go back to work until Friday. I actually received a letter saying I needed to be at a meeting on Friday. Fine and dandy. Until...2 minutes after getting out of bed, I received a text from a dear co-worker. And transcript goes as follows...
Friend: "Where are you?"
Me: "At home, should I be at work?!?"
Friend: "Yes, uhoh!"
Me: tried to call her...no answer
Friend: "I'm in a meeting. we received a letter from the director of special ed that today was our first report date"
Me: "should i call in?"
Friend: "i'll call you when we're done here"
30 min later
Me: "i'm on my way"
During those 3o minutes, I was in a panic. I kept thinking "what letter?!?" I really had not received a letter. Long story short...i'm not on the mailing list. And, to make matters worse, Marc didn't answer his cell phone all day and I was without my wallet! The phone was just "in the other room." :/ He flew over night that night, too. So, I didn't see him until after work the next day :(
Whew...the weekend is a blessing!
Firstly, Marc...
He is flying now and the instructors are trying to have him fly as much as possible to finish training. (And I don't mean, finish and move on to training in another plane like it has been for 3 other planes. THIS IS IT! Once he's done learning this one, he's done for the duration of our stay here! yay) Well, the planes aren't really cooperating. One is flying overseas to join the war, while one that is there is coming back for an overhaul on maintenance, one is being flown somewhere for upgrades, one a truck drove into and broke the tail of the plane (um...can we say stationary object??!?), and one has parts of it that are broken, but aren't pertinent for flying. So, the squadron has one working plane for all of the students. Needless to say, Marc's flying schedule has been anything but set in stone. And to add insult to injury, he has a check ride (every AF pilot has random flights where they're tested to make sure they're still competent on the plane) scheduled for next week that may or may not happen....we'll see!
He also has something like 4 papers due by Wednesday of next week, and 4 more due just a few days later. So, he'll be busy for a few days.
Secondly, me....
I rolled out of bed at 9am Wednesday morning, not expecting to go back to work until Friday. I actually received a letter saying I needed to be at a meeting on Friday. Fine and dandy. Until...2 minutes after getting out of bed, I received a text from a dear co-worker. And transcript goes as follows...
Friend: "Where are you?"
Me: "At home, should I be at work?!?"
Friend: "Yes, uhoh!"
Me: tried to call her...no answer
Friend: "I'm in a meeting. we received a letter from the director of special ed that today was our first report date"
Me: "should i call in?"
Friend: "i'll call you when we're done here"
30 min later
Me: "i'm on my way"
During those 3o minutes, I was in a panic. I kept thinking "what letter?!?" I really had not received a letter. Long story short...i'm not on the mailing list. And, to make matters worse, Marc didn't answer his cell phone all day and I was without my wallet! The phone was just "in the other room." :/ He flew over night that night, too. So, I didn't see him until after work the next day :(
Whew...the weekend is a blessing!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
New Hair
Ever since my sister chose the bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in June of 2007, I've been trying to get my hair back to it's natural color, light brown. My hair had been red before that, and she chose apple red bridesmaid dresses. Hair red and apple red...clash! Well, I had done well for two years, keeping it natural, when I decided to try out blonde. Marc has been asking ever since i've known him to try blonde. I gave in, and it was outrageous! I liked it alot, especially laying on the beach in Florida and swimming so much. I fit right in to the "blondes have more fun" stereotype. (Ps. they do!) However, with work starting back up on Friday, I didn't want the hassle of trying to figure bi-monthly hair appointments around my work schedule, so I decided to go back to brown.
As promised...
My hair until May 2009
The drastic change...
And my transformation
As promised...
My hair until May 2009
The drastic change...
And my transformation
Monday, August 3, 2009
I Found the Perfect Shade
So maybe, if I'd been looking for months and months, it might be a bigger deal, but it's a big deal to me :) I found the perfect lamp shade for my newly painted lamps.
First, I tried one that was hilariously huge.
Second, this one....
...eh, still too big
Third, this one...
Lastly!!!
Perfect!!
First, I tried one that was hilariously huge.
Second, this one....
...eh, still too big
Third, this one...
Lastly!!!
Perfect!!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Vanity Tables
We will soon be moving into our new home (if all goes well through closing in Sept.), and the Master Bath only has one sink. We currently have two sinks, so I've been looking at ways to get away from the sink as soon as possible after I'm done. I thought it might help if i had a vanity, but I don't want to fork out the cash for a piece of furniture. The internet is a great place to find alternatives such as this DIY idea! So, in my hunt for a vanity, I went to the local antique place, the same place I found the lamps in a recent post. I found two of these end tables...
Ugly!! It was wood grain on top with white paint on the rest of the end tables. There was some sort of paint over the white, that looked like it was meant to make the tables look antique. However, there were drip marks and areas that the cover didn't get to. It just looked like a quick job.
I couldn't decide what color to paint the tables...white...black...wait and paint it to match the decor. I decided on black. I love black furniture. There are many blogs that I follow that love painting furniture white, sometimes with distressing. While that is gorgeous as well, I love the glamour look of black. So, I began with a tinted primer to cover the white...
(That's a new hair color you see there! More pics of the new hair to come)
Once the primer layer dried, I began painting the high-gloss black onto the tables. It took two coats to cover the primer. Marc even helped...reluctantly. Ignore the piles and piles of junk in our garage. We're looking forward to the new and BIGGER house :)
My mother-in-law is visiting (thank you for taking these pictures!) and went with me to pick out the hardware.
And the final product that I'm so proud of...
Ugly!! It was wood grain on top with white paint on the rest of the end tables. There was some sort of paint over the white, that looked like it was meant to make the tables look antique. However, there were drip marks and areas that the cover didn't get to. It just looked like a quick job.
I couldn't decide what color to paint the tables...white...black...wait and paint it to match the decor. I decided on black. I love black furniture. There are many blogs that I follow that love painting furniture white, sometimes with distressing. While that is gorgeous as well, I love the glamour look of black. So, I began with a tinted primer to cover the white...
(That's a new hair color you see there! More pics of the new hair to come)
Once the primer layer dried, I began painting the high-gloss black onto the tables. It took two coats to cover the primer. Marc even helped...reluctantly. Ignore the piles and piles of junk in our garage. We're looking forward to the new and BIGGER house :)
My mother-in-law is visiting (thank you for taking these pictures!) and went with me to pick out the hardware.
And the final product that I'm so proud of...
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