Merry Merriment!

The holidays have finally arrived! :)


I took off the past three days of school/work to visit my husband's family in Colorado!  Boy, did I need the break from my little learners!  It has been so nice to get away from the mundane, regular days of our daily life and take a mini vaca before he deploys!  It has been quite an adventurous trip, since we decided to take our 4.5 month old puppy along.  She is doing beautifully, other than some whimpering on the plane and some tummy troubles.  She's adapting well to the in-laws, and even their dog and cats.


We'll spend and celebrate the holidays until right before Christmas here in Colorado, before returning back to the ole Carolina to spend the actual holidays with my family and his mom's family.  I'm so thankful to be surrounded by all of our family this holiday season, and hope next holiday season will speed by quickly during deployment.


We are less than a month from our deployment date, and I have to say, we are both just really trying to soak in all the opportunities to spend time with each other, and our families.  We've been looking forward to all of our holiday travels, and are even hosting our first ever New Year's Eve party at our home!  I'm looking forward to this last month of "in person" memories before we are limited to Skype, FaceTime, emails/letters, and the phone.  My hope this holiday season is that we continue to appreciate the time we have together, and the family and friends who so lovingly surround us.


I wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Holiday season!  Happy Merriment! <3

Becoming More of a HouseWife

The husband is finally home, and the puppy has settled in.  It feels so nice to have our family back together again, and to actually experience married life, without being separated by time apart.  We still are dealing with time apart, as the husband is preparing all his paperwork miles away before he goes on deployment.  We are taking every bit of time we have to be together, and I am so thankful for this time together.  January is quickly approaching, and I cannot help but think of how my life will change when that month arrives.  We both are struggling with the unknown and just praying our way through this adventure.  I, nor he, ever regret his decision to join the military, but there are times, when I wish I could tell the military "no" and keep him all to myself.

With the holidays quickly approaching, I am becoming more and more aware of the numerous things I have to be thankful for.  I know the holidays will be tough next year, with the husband away, so I'm doing all I know to do -- which is to make this one so memorable we can look back with joy and laughter in the upcoming year.  My one "stump" of the holidays is figuring out what to get my husband for Christmas...buying a husband anything before deployment is a huge task, and he has been getting the necessities he's needed already.  I think a sweet love letter, and something to remind him of me will mean more -- (plus, the promise of numerous care boxes)! :)  We did get a new car, which is his "other baby" at the moment!  He's so excited to have something of his own that isn't an old, used, beat-up, air-condition-less vehicle!

the new Audi

Our puppy, Nutmeg, is settling in extremely well!  She is twelve weeks this weekend, and has adapted phenomenally!  She is loving our little family, and is adapting well to apartment living.  We (the husband and I) are both extremely ready for her to be completely potty trained, but she's doing relatively well!  It's such a huge difference than living alone, or with the husband -- it feels that we have a little baby in the house -- needing to be fed, taken out, etc.  I suppose it's good preparation for a baby -- but we know it won't be for another few years before we see any baby news on this blog!

@ 7 weeks old

@ 11 weeks old

I've been catching up on my own home decor and interests lately through PINTEREST!  Wow -- never knew there could be such a great app on my iPhone!  I absolutely love it!  We are going to be Christmas tree-less, with our puppy, as well as our vacation during the holidays.  I have found a cute idea of hanging ornaments on our three big windows in the living room, as well as painting pine cones to match our ornaments and placing them in a vase!  I'm rather excited about not putting up a Christmas tree, but of these "alternative" ideas!

Happy Holidays!

As the Pup sleeps...

So, I'm absolutely enjoying a day of nothing (other than caring for the excessively peeing sweet puppy of ours)!  I got the new IKEA catalog in the mail today (can you say, perrrrfect timing?), and I am also on the hunt for projects for the holidays and next year.  With my husband's deployment next year, I'd love to do some projects that would just allow me to use my creativity in something other than lesson planning for my third graders!

Here's a couple ideas...

An organizing/hook center at the front door for all our junk, leashes, keys, bags, etc.

Although I have a wreath for the holidays, I'd love a wreath for the winter/spring.

Holiday Wise - I love this as "garland". Not sure we'll do a tree with our lil curious pup!

And Lil' Nutmeg may need something like this eventually... :)

I am lovin' my relaxation and day of "me"...but I'll be happy for the greatest husband ever to be home next weekend!

Becoming a Puppy Mom

   As I laugh at shows like Dance Mom, and Toddler and Tiaras, I find myself becoming a "puppy mom"! :)  As of yesterday, I become the little momma to a sweet Cockapoo baby girl.  She came home yesterday right at 6 weeks old, and is the sweetest pup!  She is already sleeping in her crate all night - we only got up a couple times to potty last night!  She hasn't whimpered at all, unless she was hungry or had peed.  She loves to play, and snuggle.  My husband is jealous, because he's not home yet, and is having to live through this first week with the pup via Skype, videos, and photos.  His time is coming though ;-)

   As a little girl, I was terrified of dogs, because a big dog jumped on me when I was younger.  I've gotten way better, and am already in love with our sweet baby pup.  I'm trying not to spoil her, and allow her to explore different areas of the house after she wakes up from her naps and potties.  I cannot wait to see more of her personality, and see the bond between my husband and her in the very near future!  YAY for him coming home in less than a week for good until his deployment!

Sweet Little Nutmeg Snoozing with her Momma

Such a Memorable Day...

    I remember 9/11 so vividly, and today is still breaks my heart to think of the families that have suffered such a huge loss, as well as the amazing lives that perished on that day.  As I was speaking with my third graders this week about that day, they kept asking questions like, "Did the people in the plane mean to do it?", "What happened to the people in the building?".  I remember asking those questions at the time of the event.  It was really surreal to talk to my third graders about that fateful day, that they have absolutely no recollection of, because they were born into the war that was the effect of that day.  It was awesome to see the connection "click" in their minds of the event of 9/11 creating the effect of the war they have lived through their entire life - definitely something they needed to understand in order to understand the effect the war has caused, as well as the effect the event that caused the war had on those who lived during that time.

On a happier note of a more memorable day...
   I've finally been able to gather myself together enough to get prints of our wedding, as my life hasn't allowed me to have time to do so after almost two months of being married!  Our photographer, Dana Laymon of Dana Laymon Photography, did a phenomenal job!  I am loving having my husband home, if even for a couple weeks.  And I'm so looking forward to him being home for three SOLID months!  We are talking to a breeder, and will be proud owners of an adorable little pooch in the upcoming month!  I cannot wait to have our little pup, and am looking forward to training him with the hubs before he deploys.  I will definitely be posting pictures of our happy little pup when he arrives! :)

Over and Out until my next post! 

HLR

Let the Blogging Adventure Begin!

   Hello Blogging World!  This is my last and greatest attempt in blogging, but I am looking forward to having my blog as a little "corner of the world" for me!  I love writing, so blogging should be a great waste of my time! :)  I am a newlywed, as in barely over a month!  I love married life, although our beginning to our married life isn't the norm - but what in our life is the norm?!  My husband is a "weekend warrior", but has been stationed about three hours from our home doing full-time duty since before our wedding in July! Although I have enjoyed being able to hog the television at home, and watch all the HGTV I want, I am so ready for him to be home to play "house" with me!  My husband won't be home for long though - we're adventuring upon our first deployment --  not anything we wanted or expected, but we are "grabbing the bull by the horn" and just conquering each little challenge!

   So, this blog is supposed to be about me and my ramblings.  As you can see, I'm doing an excellent job of ramblings, and not enough about me!  As I said before, I'm loving being a wife.  I am enjoying setting up our first place together, and trying new recipes.  In my spare time, I'm usually planning lessons for my third graders, or trying to keep this apartment clean.  I'm enjoying having time to read and watch all the tv a girl could want to watch, but I'm looking forward to joining the gym and getting my workout on.  My husband will be home in a few weeks, so that will make our social calendar a bit more busy as well - which makes me super excited!

   Sundays remind me to be so thankful for what I have...I've been realizing with this big hurricane that passed through, as well as just the chaos of my life how appreciative I am of my life and the people in it...(or maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old).  I'm thankful for:

my loving husband -- who works so hard to provide for us, and loves me all the while

my supportive family, and my in-laws -- they keep me grounded

our apartment -- safe, cozy, and perfect for us

my job -- the extra income is just enough

the good Lord -- who knows exactly what we know even when we aren't so sure

electricity -- never realized how much we rely on it

our comfy bed -- because I don't lose a wink of sleep in that thing!

With that said, my bed sounds really good!