I always see people posting their "thankful thoughts" on Facebook during November and I wanted to do the same thing. I chose to do it as a blog so I could look back on it someday and remember this year and the things that were going on in our lives.
November 1- I am thankful for my husband. He works so hard for our family, it's amazing. He always keeps me laughing and always keeps me feeling wanted and loved. He's my best friend.
November 2- I am thankful for parents. Although we aren't in the same place and can only see each other a few times a year, we are as close as ever. They are some of the hardest working people I have ever met, but they never let their work come between our relationships. They have helped us out so much over the years, they're amazing.
November 3- I am thankful for my brother. He is my best friend and has been for years. It doesn't take much for him to put a smile on my face and some days, that's all I need.
November 4- I am thankful for people in the medical field. Without them, I wouldn't be able to see and hear the babies growing inside of me. I look forward to ultrasounds every month, it's so much fun.
November 5- I am thankful for the military. Not only does the military keep food on my table and a roof over my head, but they allow me to feel secure and safe. I have always been thankful for the military but the last three years have taught and showed me so much. I am proud to be an Army wife and it will be something I carry with me for the rest of my life.
November 6- I am thankful for God. With the elections going on today, I have faith in God that he will continue to keep our country safe and put it in the right direction.
November 7- I am thankful to live in the United States. After Obama won the election, people have been so hateful and have said how disappointed they are in the American people. All I can say, is that no matter what the outcome is, I am grateful to live in this country. We are much better off than a lot of other countries throughout the world.
November 8- I am thankful for four-day weekends. It gives us a lot of time to relax and enjoy each other without the craziness of everyday life. It's almost like a little vacation...and we love it.
November 9- I am thankful for my puppies. Although they can really be a pain in the ass, they are so cute and they love me so much. I love their fluffy little faces and am so happy to have them to keep me company during the day.
November 10- I am thankful for my friends, especially the friends I have made since being in Texas. Even though all of my very close friends have relocated to either Arizona, Korea, or Germany, the fact that we are still very close in contact puts a huge smile on my face. I love them all...and miss them like crazy.
November 11- I am thankful for all past and present veterans. I have always had gratitude for them, but that gratitude has grown and blossomed over the last three years. It is a whole different world when you are married to a soldier and see what they deal with and go through on a daily basis, when you have friends that have been in the military for years and years and listen to their stories, when you live on the biggest U.S. military base in the world and see soldiers deploying and coming home so often. I have a lot of pride being an Army wife and a lot of pride in my country. Thank you veterans. Happy Veterans Day.
November 12- I am thankful for sleep, especially on days that I get to sleep in. Big thanks to my lovely hubby for taking care of the puppies first thing in the morning.
November 13- I am thankful for cell phones. It may seem like a silly thing for someone to be thankful for, but I truly am. Without cell phones, I wouldn't be able to stay in constant contact with my parents and brother. I always look forward to the days that we have shows on together because then it feels like we are a little bit closer.
November 14- I am thankful for pay day!! It is always a happy day when we see our bank accounts growing.
November 15- I am thankful for the veterinarian. They keep my furry babies happy and healthy!! I'm especially thankful that they got their very last immunizations today!! YAYYY!
November 16- I am thankful for my much-loved crock pot. I have always been very indecisive, but being pregnant has made it 100 times worse. What to make for dinner is always a hard decision for me and keeps me thinking all day long so when I can throw something in the crock pot and not have to worry about it, I am happy!!
November 17- I am thankful for the breakfast my hubby made for me. Although I wasn't too thrilled when he woke me up at 7 a.m., little did I know that when I officially get out of bed, I would have home-made sausage biscuits and orange juice waiting for me. Delish.
November 18- I am thankful for my mom!! Since it's her birthday and I can't be there to celebrate with her, I just want to express how amazing she is. She has worked her butt off her whole life in order to keep her family happy. She is the most understanding person, she listens very well and gives the best advice. She can get crazy and drink a lot of wine and play beer pong or she can relax with you and watch reality shows. She would give you the clothes off her back if you needed them. She really is amazing and I am so blessed to have her be my mom.
November 19- I am thankful for our recliner. It is magical. My back has started to hurt constantly and the only thing that relieves it is the lovely recliner.
November 20- I am thankful for blue skies and sunshine. It is something that is often taken for granted but can always brighten any mood. Just one more reason why I love Texas.
November 21- I am thankful for my favorite part of the day...the end of it. Not because I am ready to go to bed or because I am a miserable person, but because it's the time of day where I can put my feet up, have my hubby home, hear the puppies running around and dinner cooking. I just love to kick back with David and watch our shows and cuddle with Otto and Opie. That is wear I am the most content.
November 22- I am thankful for my life. Although I wish I could spend the holidays with my family, I think the only way I should feel is grateful. I have an amazing husband who takes amazing care of me and who I know is going to be a spectacular dad, I have a great house and live in a beautiful state. I have two adorable puppies who love me to death and bring so much happiness into our lives and I have two little babies that are growing day by day...I really can't think of anything more perfect.
November 23- I am thankful for naps. Sometimes, they're just needed. And on some days, I wouldn't make it through the day without one.
November 24- I am thankful for my in-laws. I am so lucky to have in-laws that I love. You always hear horror stories about in-laws coming for Christmas and them being absolutely horrible. Well, if my in-laws were to come to my house for any holiday, I would gladly host them. They are so much fun and brought me in as their daughter so quickly. I love them.
November 25- I am thankful for a clean car. I don't know what it is, but I always feel so refreshed when the car is clean. It just makes me happy.
November 26- I am thankful for water. Any one that knows me well, knows that I never go anywhere without a bottle of water. It's my favorite drink, especially when it's ice cold.
November 27- I am thankful for our treadmill. It helps me a lot. It keeps me from being too sore and I always feel better about myself after I walk on it for awhile.
November 28- I am thankful for DVR. I honestly don't know what I would do without it. It is so convenient. I especially love it on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because it records my Sons and then I get to watch it with David, my dad and Tony on Wednesdays.
November 29- I am thankful for the ability to go shopping!! I finally broke down and bought my first pair of maternity jeans and I love them. They are so comfy and I love showing off my bump right now. :)
November 30- I am thankful for date night. It makes me so happy when I am able to spend special time with David. I know that in a few months, our date nights will probably not exist so I am glad that we are able to take advantage of the time we have together.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The Longest (but very important) Blog Ever!!!
Once again, I have failed to keep my blog updated. I feel totally lame for just posting a blog that I have had done for months and now it's the beginning of November and I have a ton of stuff to get caught up on. The months of August and September were pretty crazy with a lot of changes and exciting new things for us to get used to.
On July 25th, I found out I was pregnant. SURPRISE!! Huge, huge surprise. The three weeks prior, I had a feeling that something was different but wasn't totally convinced I could be pregnant. There was no morning sickness, no weird cravings or food aversions...everything was just as normal as ever. David and I honestly thought neither of us could have kids since we both have issues so when I saw the two pink lines, I was a little shocked. I took two tests while David was at work and refused to say anything to him over the phone because I wanted to be face to face. I wasn't going to be home when he got home so I left the tests on the bathtub figuring he would see them before I got back...he didn't. So when I got home and he didn't say anything, I was a little confused. When he asked me if I had taken the tests, I got up, went and got them and put them right in front of his face. What were his first words? "My life is over." HAH!! We were both in shock but we wanted to wait until I went to the doctor the next day for the official word and that of course came back positive. (His reaction was much better when I told him I was for sure pregnant.) That night we spent two hours calling all of our family and close friends and sharing the news, the reactions were absolutely priceless.
On the 13th of August, I had my first ultrasound. I was kind of in denial that I was pregnant so going in for an ultrasound made me totally nervous. When we got there, I went into the room by myself and was in there for at least 20 minutes before they brought David in. She finally turned the screen toward us and said: "I don't see anything discernible but I want you to look at this. Here is one fluttering heartbeat...and here is another fluttering heartbeat." Uhhh...another heartbeat? What? Really? There is two? Seriously? Oh. My. God. I would put my actual words on here but they aren't appropriate. So there is another surprise!! I am pregnant with twins!! Fraternal twins to be exact...fraternal twins that are two days apart. Crazy right?
Immediately after the ultrasound, we started texting and calling everyone and those reactions were even better than the first.
As of right now, I am 20 weeks, 3 days and sometimes forget that I am pregnant. It has been so easy, especially with twins. I never had morning sickness and can eat whatever I want, but it usually ends up being mexican food. The only thing I can complain of are constant headaches but I would much rather have headaches than being sick all the time. The fact that we will be welcoming two babies in March has finally sunk in. I have always dreamed of being a mom but I had no idea we could be THIS lucky.
Alright, the next big change...moving!! We finally, finally, FINALLY moved out of our tiny one-bedroom apartment into a nice, spacious three-bedroom house on post. Deciding to move on post took a lot of thinking but when we decided to put our names on the list and see what happened, we got so lucky!! Two days after we filled out an application, we got a call to look at a house that is really close to David's work. When we walked into it, we were in awe!! It is newly remodeled, all of the appliances are new, and it has carpet!! Carpet is a huge deal on post. Every house I have ever been in has tile all throughout the house and that was always a big turn off for me so when I saw the carpet, I was in love. It has 2 bathrooms, a ton of storage, huge yards, and a lot of room. There is so much space that we need more furniture. Oh. And the spare bedroom has two closets. Perfect for babies!! We love it so much and are so excited to make it our home.
Now comes the month of September and it was jam packed!!! The week after we moved into our house, I went on a trip to Colorado to spend some time with my family. It had been a year since I had gone to Denver so I was very excited to see everyone since it would be the first time seeing them since becoming prego. We mainly hung out, ate great food and caught up with family. Like always, we spent a day in Boulder with my grandparents and uncle and listened to stories all day about my grandpa growing up and my dad and uncle as kids and teenagers. The last day we were there, we decided to go on a lot of adventures by driving to the Colorado Wildlife reservation, Cave of the Winds, and the Garden of the Gods. It was a lot to cram into one day, but it was really fun and great family time.
When I left Colorado, I brought my brother with me to Texas!! David and I were so excited to have Tony come spend time with us. We didn't really do too much but we spent some great quality time together and had a lot of laughs. Two days after we got back to Texas, we got puppies!! Yes, that is plural. We have been together for three years and have always wanted a family pet. Sadly, our old apartment wouldn't even let us have fish so as soon as we moved into this house, we wanted some kind of animal!!! I was searching on Craigslist and found a post for 10 week old Pomeranian-Eskimo puppies. I have always wanted a Pomeranian so obviously I called and the lady only wanted forty dollars!!! HELLO?! PERFECT!!! When we went to go pick him out, there was only one puppy left: the runt and since my hubby is such a big softy, he told the couple that we would take him in a couple days if nobody wanted him. Their answer? "You can go ahead and have him, free of charge." Uhh...ok. So there we were, two brand new puppies eventually named Opie and Otto. We are in love. It's definitely a lot of work taking care of puppies, with all of the chewing and the training, but it is so much fun. They are my little furry babies!!
About two weeks after we got the puppies, our anniversary was coming up. I was ecstatic because finally we would be together on our day. The two years prior, the Army stole him and would keep him for days and we never were able to celebrate our anniversary. But, sadly, David got a call that one of his aunts passed away and her funeral would be in California in a week. So, on the 27th (our anniversary) we were headed to Cali with my brother and two puppies. The trip was so easy, the puppies did great and we finally made it to California early Thursday morning.
I was very nervous and excited to go to Cali because I knew that I would be meeting the majority of his family for the first time. When we got there, we stayed at Aunt BJ's house in Hesperia. I loved spending time with them and Aunt Ruthy, they were so much fun and so warm and welcoming. The next day was the funeral and although I was never able to meet Aunt Vicky, I feel like I definitely got to know her. She seemed like such a fun and happy person and was loved by so many. The funeral was beautiful. Afterwards, the family got together for a big dinner which was amazing and we headed over to John's son's apartment. After meeting him and his girlfriend, David took Tony and I to the beach and we got to walk around the pier. It had been years since Tony and I had seen the ocean, so it was fantastic.. For the rest of the time we were there, we mainly spent good time with family and went sight-seeing. One night, David took us to San Pedro to show us his "old stomping grounds." I have heard SO MANY stories about Pedro so I was excited to actually see it. It is such a neat city!! We went to the cliffs where the sunken city is and went to a lookout so we could see the whole city and it was beautiful!! I am so grateful for the time we got to spend in California and extremely grateful to meet the rest of the family. We all had such a great time and hopefully it won't be too long before we see everyone again!!!
When we headed out of California, David had about four days until he was required to be back at Fort Hood. Since we knew we would be driving through Arizona again, we decided that we might as well make a detour and go to The Grand Canyon!! We also counted this little adventure as our anniversary present!! We thought it wasn't going to add any time to our 20+ hour trip...but it did. We got to the park around 8 in the morning and spent about 3 hours there. It was an incredible sight!! We went to all of the main lookout points and just stared in awe, it was so neat. We started to head back to the visitor center so we could check on the puppies and saw that we could rent bicycles and go on our own tour around the south side of the canyon. The price was pretty reasonable and we had the option to put the puppies in a kiddie trailer so we went for it!! We biked for about an hour and went about a mile around it!! I won't lie though, it was probably the hardest bike ride I have and will ever experience. Even my knees were sore...it was pathetic. We all are so happy we made that detour, these are memories that are going to stick with all three of us forever.
A couple weeks after we got back from our trip, I was scheduled for a high-definition ultrasound. I went by myself because David had some things he had to take care of at work so when they asked me if I wanted to know the genders, it took me by surprise. Luckily, David called me at the perfect time and told me he was on his way. I had no idea that we were going to be able to find out the sex, my gender ultrasound was scheduled for the next week! I was not prepared!! But as soon as David got there, they told us and I am still in shock and so happy. We are having a boy and a girl!! The perfect combination in my eyes. We are so over the moon and cannot believe how blessed we have been throughout this journey.
Ok!! Whew!! I think we are all caught up. As of right now, it is November 4th and 86 degrees. Ridiculous. I never thought I would pray for colder temperatures, but the heat has lasted way too long!! In the coming months, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fingers crossed that David and I will be able to travel home for the holidays!! Until next time!!
On July 25th, I found out I was pregnant. SURPRISE!! Huge, huge surprise. The three weeks prior, I had a feeling that something was different but wasn't totally convinced I could be pregnant. There was no morning sickness, no weird cravings or food aversions...everything was just as normal as ever. David and I honestly thought neither of us could have kids since we both have issues so when I saw the two pink lines, I was a little shocked. I took two tests while David was at work and refused to say anything to him over the phone because I wanted to be face to face. I wasn't going to be home when he got home so I left the tests on the bathtub figuring he would see them before I got back...he didn't. So when I got home and he didn't say anything, I was a little confused. When he asked me if I had taken the tests, I got up, went and got them and put them right in front of his face. What were his first words? "My life is over." HAH!! We were both in shock but we wanted to wait until I went to the doctor the next day for the official word and that of course came back positive. (His reaction was much better when I told him I was for sure pregnant.) That night we spent two hours calling all of our family and close friends and sharing the news, the reactions were absolutely priceless.
On the 13th of August, I had my first ultrasound. I was kind of in denial that I was pregnant so going in for an ultrasound made me totally nervous. When we got there, I went into the room by myself and was in there for at least 20 minutes before they brought David in. She finally turned the screen toward us and said: "I don't see anything discernible but I want you to look at this. Here is one fluttering heartbeat...and here is another fluttering heartbeat." Uhhh...another heartbeat? What? Really? There is two? Seriously? Oh. My. God. I would put my actual words on here but they aren't appropriate. So there is another surprise!! I am pregnant with twins!! Fraternal twins to be exact...fraternal twins that are two days apart. Crazy right?
Immediately after the ultrasound, we started texting and calling everyone and those reactions were even better than the first.
Our very first picture of the babies
As of right now, I am 20 weeks, 3 days and sometimes forget that I am pregnant. It has been so easy, especially with twins. I never had morning sickness and can eat whatever I want, but it usually ends up being mexican food. The only thing I can complain of are constant headaches but I would much rather have headaches than being sick all the time. The fact that we will be welcoming two babies in March has finally sunk in. I have always dreamed of being a mom but I had no idea we could be THIS lucky.
Alright, the next big change...moving!! We finally, finally, FINALLY moved out of our tiny one-bedroom apartment into a nice, spacious three-bedroom house on post. Deciding to move on post took a lot of thinking but when we decided to put our names on the list and see what happened, we got so lucky!! Two days after we filled out an application, we got a call to look at a house that is really close to David's work. When we walked into it, we were in awe!! It is newly remodeled, all of the appliances are new, and it has carpet!! Carpet is a huge deal on post. Every house I have ever been in has tile all throughout the house and that was always a big turn off for me so when I saw the carpet, I was in love. It has 2 bathrooms, a ton of storage, huge yards, and a lot of room. There is so much space that we need more furniture. Oh. And the spare bedroom has two closets. Perfect for babies!! We love it so much and are so excited to make it our home.
Our new home. It looks a lot nice on the inside. :)
Now comes the month of September and it was jam packed!!! The week after we moved into our house, I went on a trip to Colorado to spend some time with my family. It had been a year since I had gone to Denver so I was very excited to see everyone since it would be the first time seeing them since becoming prego. We mainly hung out, ate great food and caught up with family. Like always, we spent a day in Boulder with my grandparents and uncle and listened to stories all day about my grandpa growing up and my dad and uncle as kids and teenagers. The last day we were there, we decided to go on a lot of adventures by driving to the Colorado Wildlife reservation, Cave of the Winds, and the Garden of the Gods. It was a lot to cram into one day, but it was really fun and great family time.
Garden of the Gods
When I left Colorado, I brought my brother with me to Texas!! David and I were so excited to have Tony come spend time with us. We didn't really do too much but we spent some great quality time together and had a lot of laughs. Two days after we got back to Texas, we got puppies!! Yes, that is plural. We have been together for three years and have always wanted a family pet. Sadly, our old apartment wouldn't even let us have fish so as soon as we moved into this house, we wanted some kind of animal!!! I was searching on Craigslist and found a post for 10 week old Pomeranian-Eskimo puppies. I have always wanted a Pomeranian so obviously I called and the lady only wanted forty dollars!!! HELLO?! PERFECT!!! When we went to go pick him out, there was only one puppy left: the runt and since my hubby is such a big softy, he told the couple that we would take him in a couple days if nobody wanted him. Their answer? "You can go ahead and have him, free of charge." Uhh...ok. So there we were, two brand new puppies eventually named Opie and Otto. We are in love. It's definitely a lot of work taking care of puppies, with all of the chewing and the training, but it is so much fun. They are my little furry babies!!
Opie is on the left, Otto on the right. So Cute!!!
About two weeks after we got the puppies, our anniversary was coming up. I was ecstatic because finally we would be together on our day. The two years prior, the Army stole him and would keep him for days and we never were able to celebrate our anniversary. But, sadly, David got a call that one of his aunts passed away and her funeral would be in California in a week. So, on the 27th (our anniversary) we were headed to Cali with my brother and two puppies. The trip was so easy, the puppies did great and we finally made it to California early Thursday morning.
I was very nervous and excited to go to Cali because I knew that I would be meeting the majority of his family for the first time. When we got there, we stayed at Aunt BJ's house in Hesperia. I loved spending time with them and Aunt Ruthy, they were so much fun and so warm and welcoming. The next day was the funeral and although I was never able to meet Aunt Vicky, I feel like I definitely got to know her. She seemed like such a fun and happy person and was loved by so many. The funeral was beautiful. Afterwards, the family got together for a big dinner which was amazing and we headed over to John's son's apartment. After meeting him and his girlfriend, David took Tony and I to the beach and we got to walk around the pier. It had been years since Tony and I had seen the ocean, so it was fantastic.. For the rest of the time we were there, we mainly spent good time with family and went sight-seeing. One night, David took us to San Pedro to show us his "old stomping grounds." I have heard SO MANY stories about Pedro so I was excited to actually see it. It is such a neat city!! We went to the cliffs where the sunken city is and went to a lookout so we could see the whole city and it was beautiful!! I am so grateful for the time we got to spend in California and extremely grateful to meet the rest of the family. We all had such a great time and hopefully it won't be too long before we see everyone again!!!
Sunset on Pacific Coast Highway
When we headed out of California, David had about four days until he was required to be back at Fort Hood. Since we knew we would be driving through Arizona again, we decided that we might as well make a detour and go to The Grand Canyon!! We also counted this little adventure as our anniversary present!! We thought it wasn't going to add any time to our 20+ hour trip...but it did. We got to the park around 8 in the morning and spent about 3 hours there. It was an incredible sight!! We went to all of the main lookout points and just stared in awe, it was so neat. We started to head back to the visitor center so we could check on the puppies and saw that we could rent bicycles and go on our own tour around the south side of the canyon. The price was pretty reasonable and we had the option to put the puppies in a kiddie trailer so we went for it!! We biked for about an hour and went about a mile around it!! I won't lie though, it was probably the hardest bike ride I have and will ever experience. Even my knees were sore...it was pathetic. We all are so happy we made that detour, these are memories that are going to stick with all three of us forever.
Halfway through our bike ride
Incredible
A couple weeks after we got back from our trip, I was scheduled for a high-definition ultrasound. I went by myself because David had some things he had to take care of at work so when they asked me if I wanted to know the genders, it took me by surprise. Luckily, David called me at the perfect time and told me he was on his way. I had no idea that we were going to be able to find out the sex, my gender ultrasound was scheduled for the next week! I was not prepared!! But as soon as David got there, they told us and I am still in shock and so happy. We are having a boy and a girl!! The perfect combination in my eyes. We are so over the moon and cannot believe how blessed we have been throughout this journey.
Our little twins
Ok!! Whew!! I think we are all caught up. As of right now, it is November 4th and 86 degrees. Ridiculous. I never thought I would pray for colder temperatures, but the heat has lasted way too long!! In the coming months, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fingers crossed that David and I will be able to travel home for the holidays!! Until next time!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Don't Expect Pictures.
DISCLAIMER: This blog was written 3 months ago but I was too lazy to upload pictures. So here you have it, my summer blog.
Well, the time is here!! It is OFFICIALLY summertime in Tejas. :) Ya know that time of the year when it's really chilly and you can only wear hoodies and have to wear socks constantly and all you wish for is HEAT!? Well, all I want to wear right now is a hoodie and drink hot chocolate. Funny how that works. Don't get me wrong, I love the warmth and the sun and being able to be outside all night long but when I look at the weather forecast and it tells me that the next four days are going to be 100 degrees or higher, I don't enjoy the heat THAT much!! :)
The last couple months have had exciting times, boring times, and sad times. Earlier in the year, we learned that some of our best families would be leaving to either Germany, Arizona or Korea. I wasn't very happy about it but figured we had enough time to be around everyone. Well, five months went very quickly. Our first favorite family left to Germany in the middle of May and that was rough!! Words cannot describe how grateful I am to have a friendship with them. They are amazing people with an amazing little boy and even though I am sad to not be able to see them, I know they are going to have an amazing journey in Germany.
Our second favorite family moved all the way to Arizona. That one was rough too!! David has known them since he first joined the Army and went to Korea. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that they ended up at Fort Hood a few years later and we hung out with them ALL the time. I have so many great memories with them and their little girl. The hot tub, Starlight, BBQ's, cupid shuffle...the list could go on and on.
We have two more families who are leaving towards the end of the summer and I am not excited. Although we won't be able to hang out in person, I know we will keep in contact and am confident that we will have reunions with all of these families someday.
On a happier note, I am pleased to share that my mom and brother FINALLY made it down here!! I cannot express the joy I had when they were here. The feeling that I had when sharing our home with them is indescribable. Whenever David and I are in Idaho, we always stay at my parent's house and are "hosted" by them so it was a nice change for us to host my mom and brother for the first time. Their first night here consisted of yummy finger foods (which I had prepared all day) some wine and Thor! The next day was our Exploring Post Day. I took them to all of the memorials and museums, to the giant PX that is kind of like a mini-mall, we had lunch at the Chili's on post, did some more exploring and at the end of the day my mom got to experience the Motor Pool and the Battery! While in the Motor Pool, she got to see the launcher up close and meet a few of David's friends. When we went to the Battery, that place was crowded with soldiers! She got to meet the Battalion Commander and 1st Sergeant, Platoon Sergeants and some of David's soldiers and co-workers. It can be intimidating walking into the office and being surrounded by all of these guys in uniform, especially talking to the head-hanchos, but she handled it like a pro. That night my mom and I went on a walk to the city cemetery while the guys played Tony's new game, Battlefield 3 and then we all enjoyed the movie Tropic Thunder. I don't think I've heard my brother laugh like that in a long time.
The next day was Friday and we were so lucky to be able to have David home all day!! While him and my brother played more video games, I took mom around town. I showed her downtown Killeen (which isn't anything spectacular) and took her to my favorite store...SPECS!! I was so excited to show her this store because it has everything that we could possibly wish for. Not only is it a liquor, wine and beer specialty store, it has some of the finest foods that you can't find anywhere else!! You can buy a block of parmigiano reggiano for $5!! C'mon!! We could've spent hours upon hours and hundreds upon hundreds in that store. I wish I could just live in it. That would be a dream come true. :) Later that night, David wanted to go fishing out at Maxdale bridge. It's a supposedly haunted bridge with a supposedly haunted cemetery but I have never seen a glowing headstone or a truck trying to force us off the road. While David fished, my mom, Tony and me went exploring. There was only one time where I was really scared: when I almost walked into a huge, fuzzy spider hanging from a tree in the cemetery!! (I really just got goosebumps while I typed that) What's with us and cemetery's?
On Saturday, we were determined to enjoy some real Texas BBQ!! So what better than Salt Lick? Towards the afternoon, we made our way to Round Rock to enjoy a ridiculous amount of food (which they loved) and hustled our way to Inner Space Caverns. I can't tell you how many times we have driven by it and I have always wanted to go check it out!! The caves are thousands of years old and really neat!! Our tour lasted about an hour and a half and it was such a nice escape from the everyday Texas heat! It was a really cool thing to experience.
I had such a great time with them here and I am so happy they got to experience some of our life for a few days.
The week after my family was here, David got to go to California for a family reunion. This was the first reunion that he was able to attend and we were determined to get him there. Little did we know that his work schedule would be jam-packed!! Sadly he was the only one able to travel and his trip only lasted a day and a half. I was so upset that I wasn't able to go since I still haven't been able to meet any of the Summers' family but I was really excited for him nonetheless. Not only did he get to see his mom and his step-mom, he got to see family that he hasn't seen since he was a kid. There were even people there that hadn't seen David since he was in a crib!! I know he had a great time and I am positive the time will come where I can be introduced to everyone as well!
Since then, our lives have gotten back to the normal routine. David has spent the whole month of June in the field which has been lame but is now finally over. We have enjoyed fishing and spending time at the lake during the weekends, soaking up as much sun as possible.
I'm not sure what the summer months have in store for us, hopefully some trips to Six Flags and Schlitterbahn can be included. But whatever happens, I'll keep this thing posted!!
Well, the time is here!! It is OFFICIALLY summertime in Tejas. :) Ya know that time of the year when it's really chilly and you can only wear hoodies and have to wear socks constantly and all you wish for is HEAT!? Well, all I want to wear right now is a hoodie and drink hot chocolate. Funny how that works. Don't get me wrong, I love the warmth and the sun and being able to be outside all night long but when I look at the weather forecast and it tells me that the next four days are going to be 100 degrees or higher, I don't enjoy the heat THAT much!! :)
The last couple months have had exciting times, boring times, and sad times. Earlier in the year, we learned that some of our best families would be leaving to either Germany, Arizona or Korea. I wasn't very happy about it but figured we had enough time to be around everyone. Well, five months went very quickly. Our first favorite family left to Germany in the middle of May and that was rough!! Words cannot describe how grateful I am to have a friendship with them. They are amazing people with an amazing little boy and even though I am sad to not be able to see them, I know they are going to have an amazing journey in Germany.
Our second favorite family moved all the way to Arizona. That one was rough too!! David has known them since he first joined the Army and went to Korea. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that they ended up at Fort Hood a few years later and we hung out with them ALL the time. I have so many great memories with them and their little girl. The hot tub, Starlight, BBQ's, cupid shuffle...the list could go on and on.
We have two more families who are leaving towards the end of the summer and I am not excited. Although we won't be able to hang out in person, I know we will keep in contact and am confident that we will have reunions with all of these families someday.
On a happier note, I am pleased to share that my mom and brother FINALLY made it down here!! I cannot express the joy I had when they were here. The feeling that I had when sharing our home with them is indescribable. Whenever David and I are in Idaho, we always stay at my parent's house and are "hosted" by them so it was a nice change for us to host my mom and brother for the first time. Their first night here consisted of yummy finger foods (which I had prepared all day) some wine and Thor! The next day was our Exploring Post Day. I took them to all of the memorials and museums, to the giant PX that is kind of like a mini-mall, we had lunch at the Chili's on post, did some more exploring and at the end of the day my mom got to experience the Motor Pool and the Battery! While in the Motor Pool, she got to see the launcher up close and meet a few of David's friends. When we went to the Battery, that place was crowded with soldiers! She got to meet the Battalion Commander and 1st Sergeant, Platoon Sergeants and some of David's soldiers and co-workers. It can be intimidating walking into the office and being surrounded by all of these guys in uniform, especially talking to the head-hanchos, but she handled it like a pro. That night my mom and I went on a walk to the city cemetery while the guys played Tony's new game, Battlefield 3 and then we all enjoyed the movie Tropic Thunder. I don't think I've heard my brother laugh like that in a long time.
The next day was Friday and we were so lucky to be able to have David home all day!! While him and my brother played more video games, I took mom around town. I showed her downtown Killeen (which isn't anything spectacular) and took her to my favorite store...SPECS!! I was so excited to show her this store because it has everything that we could possibly wish for. Not only is it a liquor, wine and beer specialty store, it has some of the finest foods that you can't find anywhere else!! You can buy a block of parmigiano reggiano for $5!! C'mon!! We could've spent hours upon hours and hundreds upon hundreds in that store. I wish I could just live in it. That would be a dream come true. :) Later that night, David wanted to go fishing out at Maxdale bridge. It's a supposedly haunted bridge with a supposedly haunted cemetery but I have never seen a glowing headstone or a truck trying to force us off the road. While David fished, my mom, Tony and me went exploring. There was only one time where I was really scared: when I almost walked into a huge, fuzzy spider hanging from a tree in the cemetery!! (I really just got goosebumps while I typed that) What's with us and cemetery's?
On Saturday, we were determined to enjoy some real Texas BBQ!! So what better than Salt Lick? Towards the afternoon, we made our way to Round Rock to enjoy a ridiculous amount of food (which they loved) and hustled our way to Inner Space Caverns. I can't tell you how many times we have driven by it and I have always wanted to go check it out!! The caves are thousands of years old and really neat!! Our tour lasted about an hour and a half and it was such a nice escape from the everyday Texas heat! It was a really cool thing to experience.
I had such a great time with them here and I am so happy they got to experience some of our life for a few days.
The week after my family was here, David got to go to California for a family reunion. This was the first reunion that he was able to attend and we were determined to get him there. Little did we know that his work schedule would be jam-packed!! Sadly he was the only one able to travel and his trip only lasted a day and a half. I was so upset that I wasn't able to go since I still haven't been able to meet any of the Summers' family but I was really excited for him nonetheless. Not only did he get to see his mom and his step-mom, he got to see family that he hasn't seen since he was a kid. There were even people there that hadn't seen David since he was in a crib!! I know he had a great time and I am positive the time will come where I can be introduced to everyone as well!
Since then, our lives have gotten back to the normal routine. David has spent the whole month of June in the field which has been lame but is now finally over. We have enjoyed fishing and spending time at the lake during the weekends, soaking up as much sun as possible.
I'm not sure what the summer months have in store for us, hopefully some trips to Six Flags and Schlitterbahn can be included. But whatever happens, I'll keep this thing posted!!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Beginning of a New Year...In March.
I am a little irritated with myself. It seems like I cannot keep constant blogs coming!! So here is my first blog of the year, better late than never right?!
Our Christmas was fantastic. Once again we were able to go home and spend great quality time with everyone we love. It was a great little escape from the craziness of our military lives until we started our trip back to Texas on New Year's Eve.
Once we got back into town, the craziness began! David's battalion was given a new mission at the beginning of the year so that has led to a lot of training and field problems. In all honesty, that's really what our year has consisted of so far. Stress, training, laundry, stress, cleaning, more training, more stress, and more laundry!!! Luckily, living in Texas means springtime is here very soon so no matter how stressful our lives are (mainly David's) everyday the sun is shining, it is a good day!!
Speaking of sunny days, we had a VERY sunny day yesterday!! David's battery put together a special family day for us and gave us the opportunity to travel to San Antonio and go to SeaWorld!! And even better, it was on a WORK DAY!! We were so excited! Great friends, roller coasters, penguins, roller coasters, dolphins, roller coasters, sharks, sunshine, roller coasters and Shamu!! (I later learned that it wasn't the real Shamu, it was just some really amazing Killer Whales. Don't laugh.) It was so much fun. I was a first-timer so I was like a little kid and a tourist all at the same time, taking a ton of pictures with a huge smile on my face!! When we left, not only did we have great souvenirs, we had our first sunburn of the year!! Yay!!
We also decided to take advantage of being in San Antonio and go to the Alamo! When we got there, we learned a lot! Firstly, we had no idea it was smack dab in the middle of downtown. Secondly, we didn't know that there was a lot more to the Alamo than just the building. Since we got there later in the evening, we didn't have enough time to look at everything but we got to go inside the Alamo and that's the main thing we wanted to see. We plan on making another trip to San Antonio fairly soon so we can see ALL of the attractions that the city has to offer.
So that was a little snippet of the last 2 1/2 months. Coming up is my 24th birthday!! Yikes! Some St. Patty's parties and more field problems. I want to say that I promise I will become a better blogger...but I don't want to lie. But I will promise to TRY to become a better blogger.
Our Christmas was fantastic. Once again we were able to go home and spend great quality time with everyone we love. It was a great little escape from the craziness of our military lives until we started our trip back to Texas on New Year's Eve.
Once we got back into town, the craziness began! David's battalion was given a new mission at the beginning of the year so that has led to a lot of training and field problems. In all honesty, that's really what our year has consisted of so far. Stress, training, laundry, stress, cleaning, more training, more stress, and more laundry!!! Luckily, living in Texas means springtime is here very soon so no matter how stressful our lives are (mainly David's) everyday the sun is shining, it is a good day!!
Speaking of sunny days, we had a VERY sunny day yesterday!! David's battery put together a special family day for us and gave us the opportunity to travel to San Antonio and go to SeaWorld!! And even better, it was on a WORK DAY!! We were so excited! Great friends, roller coasters, penguins, roller coasters, dolphins, roller coasters, sharks, sunshine, roller coasters and Shamu!! (I later learned that it wasn't the real Shamu, it was just some really amazing Killer Whales. Don't laugh.) It was so much fun. I was a first-timer so I was like a little kid and a tourist all at the same time, taking a ton of pictures with a huge smile on my face!! When we left, not only did we have great souvenirs, we had our first sunburn of the year!! Yay!!
We also decided to take advantage of being in San Antonio and go to the Alamo! When we got there, we learned a lot! Firstly, we had no idea it was smack dab in the middle of downtown. Secondly, we didn't know that there was a lot more to the Alamo than just the building. Since we got there later in the evening, we didn't have enough time to look at everything but we got to go inside the Alamo and that's the main thing we wanted to see. We plan on making another trip to San Antonio fairly soon so we can see ALL of the attractions that the city has to offer.
The one on the right is Davie Crockett.
So that was a little snippet of the last 2 1/2 months. Coming up is my 24th birthday!! Yikes! Some St. Patty's parties and more field problems. I want to say that I promise I will become a better blogger...but I don't want to lie. But I will promise to TRY to become a better blogger.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)