Easter Surprise

Skype is a truly wonderful thing!  I went to visit my in-laws and was able to get them hooked up with Skype.  His parents were so excited to be able to see The General.  Then on Easter Sunday we went to my sister-in-law’s house.  Everyone was able to chat with The General.  It was so great to get to show them all how to use Skype.  The kids loved getting to see their uncle.  The General told me this week that the girls have been emailing him and they said how great it was to be able to Skype.  One even said it helped her not miss him so much!  I am so blessed to have married The General.  His family has become such a huge source of support.

 

 

Better When We’re Together

Last week I had to travel down to the Gulf Coast for work.  It didn’t go unnoticed that it was the anniversary of the oil spill.  When I asked the office manager to make a hotel reservation, I was surprised to find out that I was going to be staying at the same hotel where The General stayed for the first month of Deep Water Horizon.  I’ve been really missing The General lately but this just made it infinitely worse.  And to add to my misery I was down there alone.  Last year I was able to visit The General and I was able to have our dog with us.  It was very lonely.

It was nice to see the beach though and know that the tourism industry is improving.

101 in 1,001

I’ve been working on this list for awhile.  I’ve been avoiding posting it because I was afraid of actually having to start working to meet these goals.  After really thinking about it, I finally decided that there’s no time like the present.  It’s time to get started and make these things happen.

 

Start Date: Friday, April 1, 2011

End Date: Friday, December 27, 2013

Travel

1. Go on another cruise

2. Go camping in a tent

3. Get passport in my married name

4. Hike back to Laurel Falls

5. Travel to Ireland

6. Drink warm beer out of a barrel in a real Irish pub

7. Kiss the Blarney Stone

8. Travel to 3 states I’ve never been to before (0/3)

9. Travel by train

10. Take husband to New Mexico to visit family

Fitness

1. Complete at least 10 5K walks that supports worthy causes (0/10)

2. Lose 25 pounds from highest weight (0/25)

3. Lose 50 pounds from highest weight (0/50)

4. Lose 75 pounds from highest weight (0/75)

5. Walk dog 3 days/week for 1 month (0/12)

6. Give up caffeinated beverages for a month (0/30)

7. Go to the gym 3 times per week for 4 weeks (0/4)

8. Floss everyday for a month (0/30)

9. Complete the Couch to 5K Program

10. Complete a half marathon

11. Reduce BMI by 25%

12. Be able to do 30 push ups

13. Be able to do 50 sit ups

Finance

1. Pay off all credit card debt

2. Pay off my car

3. Clip coupons at least once a month for 12 months (0/12)

4. Save $100 on groceries from clipping coupons in 12 months ($0/$100)

5. Put at least $50 in savings a month (0/30) or ($0/$1,500)

6. Save 2 months salary for an emergency fund

Food

1. Try 10 new foods (0/10)

2. Eat at 10 new restaurants (0/10)

3. Try 10 new recipes (0/10)

4. Not eat out for a week

Family & Friends

1. Start a family

2. Send 10 cards to friends "just because" (0/10)

3. Travel to see a friend

4. Have a night out with friends at least once a month

5. Host a BBQ

6. Host a game night

Hobbies & Interests

1. Read 50 books (0/50)

2. Complete our family tree

3. Scrapbook our wedding

4. Take a helicopter ride

5. Go rock climbing

6. Go white water rafting

7. Sing karaoke

8. Learn to rollerblade

9. Swing down a zip line

10. Buy new digital camera

11. Complete 31 Photos in 31 Days Project (0/31)

12. Post a blog entry at least once a week for a year (0/52)

13. Go paint pottery at Seize the Clay

14. Complete a 26 Things Photo Project

15. Shoot a gun

16. Take a photography class

17. Take a pottery class

18. Take a sewing class

19. Make a quilt from concert t-shirts

20. Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle

21. Get a plant and keep it alive for at least a year

Entertainment

1. Go to a parade

2. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet

3. Go to an outdoor concert

4. Go to a professional football game

5. Go to a professional baseball game (somewhere other than Atlanta)

Community

1. Do five new things in my city (0/5)

2. Volunteer at a food bank

3. Volunteer in a soup kitchen

4. Donate 10,000 grains of rice at www.freerice.com (0/10,000)

Home Improvement

1. Organize storage room

2. Clean out my closet twice a year and donate what I don't want

3. Have a yard sale

4. Sell the house

5. Fix door and door hinge to storage room door

6. Finish painting trim in house

7. Replace carpet in house

Other

1. Do 25 random acts of kindness (0/25)

2. Go to church at least once a month

3. Get a professional massage

4. Vote in the 2012 presidential election

5. Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011

6. Convert home videos to DVD

7. Spend 24 hours without using the phone – even for texting or checking email

8. Upload a video on YouTube

9. Update my will

10. Read the entire Bible

11. Go one week without buying something non-essential

12. Go on a one week news fast - No TV - No news websites

13. Get a manicure/pedicure once a month for three months (0/3)

14. Get up every morning before 7 am for a month (0/30)

15. Master everything on the list of 75 Skills Every Woman Should Master (http://abundance-blog.marelisa-online.com/2008/05/15/75-skills-every-woman-should-master-the-first-25) (0/75 items mastered)

16. Teach my mom how to use Skype

17. Go one week without television

18. Go to a book signing and get a book signed

19. Buy crayons and a coloring book; spend an afternoon doing nothing but coloring

20. Go one day with TV, computer, and phone

21. Properly store my wedding dress

22. Donate $5 to charity for each goal not completed

23. Add $5 to vacation jar for every completed task

24. Goal to be added later

25. Goal to be added later

Strike through = completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = haven't started
Blue = partially completed
Red = didn't complete
Wish me luck!

Moving Right Along

I haven’t been blogging much lately.  In fact I haven’t been doing much of anything lately.  Since The General left, I have been in a funk.  In preparation for the deployment, I was aware that this might happen to me, especially since I have a history of depression.  However, I didn’t expect it to last this long.  It’s been about 2 months since he left and I still feel that this phase may not end anytime soon.  I’m trying to utilize my support system but I’m still having a hard time.  I know every military spouse is different but if anyone has words of advice they would be greatly appreciated.

A Visit from the Easter Bunny

 

We had a visitor at our house yesterday….he’s a couple of weeks early though!  Just for the record I DID NOT do this to my poor baby.  I took him to PetSmart for a play day and they were having their monthly themed party.  Usually he looks so happy in the pictures but this one he looks terrified.  I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to think about the Easter Bunny again in the same way.

When It Rains, It Pours

I told myself I wouldn’t complain about The General being deployed.  This has kept me from posting for the last few weeks.  However, this story I felt needed to be written. 

To start I have to go back to about a month before The General left.  We had decided that we would move closer to family and move back into the house that I own and lived in before I moved for my job a couple of years ago.  This would put me closer to family and would end the constant string of troubles I have had with the 3 families that rented the house.  So we made the move and were able to get the house fixed up and livable before The General had to report for duty.  And my old roommate moved back in to help supplement costs.

About a week or so after he left, we starting having a ton of rain and I noticed a leak coming from the roof.  Now I’m pretty sure this leak is the same one that I had “fixed” about 3 years ago.  So I find the paperwork and on the invoice all it says is “repair roof.”  No explanation at all so I can’t go back to those people and argue that they did a crappy job.  So I moved on to the next thing.  I called a couple of roofers and had them come out and do estimates.  One guy was referred by my roommate.  That was the guy I decided to go with and we talked on a Wednesday and he told me that his guys would be able to do the job that Thursday or at the latest Friday.  All was good.

However, no one ever came to work on the roof and this guy never called me.  Now I realize that I that I could have called him to ask what was going on but I did not.  That Saturday it started raining again and it continued to rain through Tuesday.  Well on Saturday I was having lunch with my neighbor and we got to talking about the roof.  He told me that a few months back there had been a series of strong storms and quite a few people in the neighborhood had to have their roof replaced due to wind and hail damage.  So he gave me the number of his friend who just happens to be a roofer and explained that I might be able to get a whole new roof for just the cost of my insurance deductible.  (I had not thought to file a homeowners claim since I figured a leaky old roof was just my responsibility – the roof is the original so it’s about 17 years old). 

Anyway, this Roofer #2 came to the house on Tuesday afternoon (still hadn’t received a phone call from Roofer #1).  Roofer #2 said that indeed there was enough damage to make a claim to have the entire roof replaced instead of just repairing the area where the leak was coming from.  This sounded like a good deal to me.  Roofer #1 had estimated $450 to fix the leak and Roofer #2 would replace the entire roof for my $500 deductible.  No brainer, right?  So on Wednesday morning I called my insurance and made the claim and an appointment was made for adjuster to come look at roof the next Tuesday.

Well I leave town Friday morning to go see my family.  Friday afternoon I get a text from my roommate asking if I was expecting someone to be working on the roof.  Turns out Roofer #1 had finally sent his men to repair the leak – 10 days after he had promised.  So I called Roofer #1 and explained that I was very unhappy and irritated that he had not called prior to just showing up at my house and working on my roof.  His explanation was “we’ve been real busy and I was too busy to call.”  Not a good answer.  I apologized for not having called him but in my mind it was his duty as the business owner to call 9 days prior and explain why his men didn’t show.  Or he should have called any of those other 9 days – he should definitely not have just showed up at my house.  I explained to him about having filed an insurance claim and waiting for the adjuster.  Luckily his men hadn’t gotten too far – so I told him they needed to put everything back the way it was and get off of my roof!

My dilemma now is which roofer am I obligated to use?  I haven’t signed a contract for either.  I’m going to feel bad either way even though I’m still not sure this is my fault.  This is just a lesson in proper communication. 

I hate not being able to talk to The General and get his opinion on the matter.  I’m hoping the whole thing will work itself out somehow. 

Seems Like Just Yesterday

Well it was yesterday that these pictures were taken…but it seems like just yesterday that the beautiful girl in the blue dress was born.  She’s turning 17 years old on Tuesday so I went home this weekend to visit the family.  Since we moved it’s only 3 1/2 hours away instead of 6 which is awesome, but I still don’t get home as often as I would like. 

That’s my brother and my 2 nieces.

There’s the birthday girl and her mom.

This is a great picture of the family.  My mom and I are on the left and my sister-in-law’s family in the middle and my niece’s boyfriend on the right.

This is me, my nieces, and my mom.  These kids grow up way too fast!

Snow Day

This year it seems like we have had a lot of snow.  Lucky for us we were able to play together as a family before The General deployed.  Here are some pictures.  We love this dog!!  He had so much fun playing in the snow.

 

Clear as Mud

Yesterday was a strange day.  The General and I were traveling back home and stopped for lunch.  The General asked if they gave a military discount and the woman made it abundantly clear that they gave the discount “only to soldiers in uniform.”  This annoyed us both.  Does that mean anyone who comes across a uniform gets a discount?  Well that wasn’t the strange part of the day.

Later we went to dinner.  Normally we wouldn’t be eating out twice in one day but since we are moving soon we had to make other plans.  So we were ordering our dinner and I asked if they gave a military discount.  The guy said yes and The General showed his ID and I said “great!”  As we were eating, I glanced at the receipt…no discount.  Then The General decided to go for ice cream.  Again I asked about a military discount and the girl said yes.  Again The General showed his ID and I said “sweet!”  Then as we got in the car I looked at the receipt…no discount.  We tried to figure out if they just didn’t understand that The General is active military or if it was something else.  I think we were pretty clear though.

Operation: Love Reunited

 

In preparation for The General’s upcoming deployment, I contacted a photographer abut Operation: Love Reunited.  Just after Christmas we were able to do a quick photo shoot.  I’m so pleased with how the pictures turned out. 

 

Holiday Happenings

We had a fabulous holiday.  Just before the holidays we got confirmation of The General’s upcoming deployment.  So we spent the time traveling to see various family members.  It was so great to see everyone!

This was just some of the beautiful decorations at our church.  They had a special, “Carols by Candlelight” which was absolutely amazing. 

This is The General’s sister and her family.

Our attempt at a family portrait.

We even had a White Christmas!  Just enough to make me happy.

The day after Christmas the whole family came over.  There were about 25 of us.  It was so much fun.  The General’s uncle dressed up as Santa and after entertaining the children he went outside and started waving at cars.

GOOD TIMES!