You never know...

This post while late as always is something that's currently hitting me like a ton of bricks. This military life I married into has caused me to, more than once, tell myself "you never know".

You never know when he could be called to leave.
This is something most of us never think about because the military is very organized about when they send the troops out and when they will come back. They usually give proper amount of notice too. But I would be lying if I didn't think about it at least once a month, lying there listening to him sleep and think "hey he could be called away tomorrow for who knows how long." This thought always causes me to hold him a little closer. Kiss him a little longer. And pray for him everyday.

You never know how long a deployment will last.
Again deployments are organized but even when they give you a timeline it could be changed. When they give you a date (and you are planning your wedding around that date) it could (and does!) change. It could be extended, it could be shortened, it could be more dangerous, it could be less dangerous.

You never know when you'll hear from him.
Broken record here but another one about deployment. Maybe it's because he has one coming up soon so that has been on my mind a lot lately. You hear some spouses hear from their troop every day. You may also hear "not at all". And everything in between. It makes those times in between agonizing and filled with worry, prayer and brownies (to numb the pain) but those times he calls you can't seem to talk fast enough or tell him everything you noted to yourself you would.

You never know when he's coming home for dinner.
This hits home tonight since he is usually home before dinner time (6pm - like the Jones') but tonight it wasn't until 6:20. I like to believe I have become a pro at creating dinners that either take forever to cool, taste the same at room temp or reheated in the microwave, OR get better the longer they cook . Now for those times he comes home early - I've gotten better at getting it on the table in the 15 minutes it takes him to shower. I'm not sure which skill I'm more proud of...

You never know if plans will change.
Vacation. Weekend away. Entertaining guests who come visit. All of this is in limbo with the military. They could promise you time off. They could say that it was approved. But at the drop of a hat if something happens they could take it all away in an instant. It's really not the type of limbo I enjoy.

My Faves
Just some items I love right now.

1. Crabtree and Evelyn Lotion - this stuff smells amazing and works incredible!

2. EOS Lip balm - I would buy one in every flavor if I could just finish the one I am working on. It lasts forever!

3. Brutus the Dog Self defense key chain - Yep I walk prepared!
4. Paparazzi Accessories - I can't get enough of their headbands and rings. And at $5 a piece you can get a handful of things and not break the bank!

As for the coffee in my cup I am still turned onto flavored coffee - gasp!

I do mixed it with regular un-flavored coffee but it still makes my mouth water to smell the sweet scent of maple syrup when I add the coffee to the pot. And of course it's time to break out the Christmas mug! I am just willing Christmas to get here with all my might because I CAN'T WAIT to be home with all my family celebrating!

I just realized I haven't updated my blog about the newest member of our family - Sue! He is our adorable, pale grey/beige kitten. Yes you read that right he is a Male. A boy. A boy named Sue. (Johnny Cash you are a legend) And said kitten fills me with so much joy and a little anger when he continues to try and jump up to the light switch with no success. But we are training him to fetch! I am also pretty addicted to taking pictures of him too!

He is the most gorgeous kitten probably ever and he warms my heart!

Cheers!

Marriage Amusements

I think that it is about time that I start documenting/sharing the wonderful things I have discovered in marriage. From things my husband says, things he does it all just makes me laugh. The past 8 1/2 months have really given way to hilarious conversations, I just wish I started documenting them sooner.

Portion Control
I know that my husband can eat twice as much as me and not gain a pound because he burns calories three times as fast as I do. I also know that he knows I love ice cream. But last night when he asked if I wanted ice cream and I said "yes two scoops please with a drizzle of chocolate syrup" I was thinking I would get the amount I normally dish out. The real "two scoop" serving size. Well bless his heart he was trying to use up all the ice cream (before vacation tomorrow) and when my bowl of goodness was given to me I found not two girly-sized scoops, but 2 man-sized scoops..and then some. My bowl was abundant with ice cream. Now I am not one to ever complain about ice cream - the stuff feeds my soul next to coffee but I did feel a bit of guilt eating the whole bowl. Aren't you supposed to loose weight before vacation because you foresee yourself gaining weight with all the special home cooked meals and eating out trips? Either way lesson I learned from this one, either scoop your own ice cream or specify to your husband to give you baby-sized scoops instead of regular sized.

Srcub-a-dub
We all know men find the weirdest things about their wives attractive. No make up, hair all a mess, just woke up, sweaty from a work out - Thank the Lord he made men like he did because I have no idea why this is attractive to them. Well my husband is pretty vocal at times about how cute I look when doing something out of the ordinary. "I like the way you scrub that pan!" Anyone else get this sorta thing? So yesterday when I was cleaning the master bathroom, as my husband read his hunting magazines on the bed I hear a cat call whistle. It took me a minute to respond but when I did I said "does work for you honey? seeing me scrub the bathroom like this? His response was "yeah but the smell is kind of ruining for me". Well I'm sorry that having a clean bathroom is ruining the mood but at this moment it's filthy and I need to clean it. Lysol maybe create a product with a less offensive scent and something more romantic? No? Oh well

Weighted
When a couple first gets engaged they look forward to the wedding, and the wedding night and having the best physique possible to impress the other. After the first few months a marriage some couples continue to hit the gym and keep up the good looks - good for you! Some other couples do not and this results in "marriage weight". All the home cooking and cuddling can lead to less working out and more weight gain. I've personally experienced this and now at the point that I've gained 6lbs since getting married. This is not a lot of weight and I've been trying to work out but lets be honest sometimes after a long day and making dinner the last thing you want to do is work out. Sitting on the couch watching Rules of Engagement is just way more enticing. Well I recently explained to him that I had to borrow my moms dress to a recent wedding I attended because the one I brought didn't fit like it used to. I explained that was because I had gained weight and I wasn"t comfortable with how I looked in the dress. To which my sweet husband replied "you've gained weight?" Enough said. Let the swooning continue.

Bedtime Stories
Does your husband ever get super chatty when his head hits the pillow? Mine does. Not often but sometimes he just tells me about his day, week, month as I try and stay awake to engage in the conversation. Well sometimes my husband talks himself to sleep. It's truly adorable to me - I'm a newlywed what more can I say? Well a while back after my husband had been telling me his thoughts, stories, ideas about whatever it was. After he was done this was the conversation we had:
Jon: I love you
Me: I love you too
Jon I LOVE you!
Me: I love you too honey
Jon: *even louder* I LOVE YOU!!
This continued back and forth as he continued to get louder and louder and I just kept laughing and replying in my normal tone of voice. Then all at once he says "Breakfast!" and passes out. I tried to talk to him while he was sleeping about said breakfast (sometimes I get lucky and he talks back to me) but this time - nope. The following day I recalled this conversation to him and he informed me that he does not remember any of the conversation passed the first "I love you". This man ladies and gentlemen...this man.

These are the most recent Amusements I can think of at this moment but there will definitely be more.

As for the coffee in my cup I'm currently pushing through a bag of Archer Farms S'mores Coffee.

Now all true coffee connoisseurs will tell you that flavored coffee is a huge no-no. It's fake flavored, it's not normal, it's hypocrisy! Well I can agree with them most of the time, but I do have a couple flavored coffees that I love. That said I have to tell you S'mores coffee from Target is the worst I've tasted. It smells like s'mores but the comparison stops there. I've made half of the bag (2 cups per pot, per day) and every single cup I've made is bitter. Like "the first time a coffee virgin sips coffee" bitter. I've tried different measurements to adjust the strength but the only way I can get the bitterness out of the coffee is lots of sugar or extra milk, which completely ruins any coffee taste that lurks in the underbelly of this brew. Save yourself and your taste buds from this bitter brew and go for something else that you trust. If you've read my other post you know I LOVE Archer Farms Tiramisu flavored coffee more than anything but the other flavored coffee I love this Blueberry Cobbler Coffee from New England Coffee. A friend introduced me and I've dreamed about it ever since. I need to get my paws on it soon! (speaking of paws, we're thinking of adopting a cat aka a cuddle buddy for me)

Anyway we are headed home tomorrow for 8 marvelous, family-filled days of relaxation. Let's hope time crawls by? Cheers!

Diet Week

Well today officially starts the family diets week. Summer is winding down and soon the holidays will be here and we all know what that means - eat, eat, eat!

Today I hit the gym that is on campus and free for all students and staff. It was truly an experience. From the moment I walked in and noticed that all the lockers in the dressing room need to have a lock if you want your stuff to be safe. They are also teeny tiny and no where big enough for my big gym bag. Then I noticed that you cannot change in the bathroom stall and they said to change in the shower stall instead - yeah I broke that rule. Then I walked all my crap back out to my car and then back into the workout room. Upon entering I noticed how small it is, nothing to brag about that's for sure. They had 2 treadmils, a bike, lots of extreme exercise equipment, free weights from 5lb to 40lb, medicine balls and of course plenty of mirrors so you can watch yourself get big and bulky and sweaty. When I walked in I noticed that I would be sharing the room with not 1, not two, but 8 big, iron pumping, college guys. Playing on the radio was the same Eminem song on repeat. They all looked at me as if they've never seen a female before let alone one who bypasses the treadmill and heads straight to the free weights. Yes I love free weights over any machine so even though there were guys watching me and my chubby thighs from every angle at least I didn't have to share my free weights with them. After working on my arms, doing 200 jumping jacks (my favorite!) and doing a mile on the treadmill I was sweating bullets and exhausted.

Now I am home and planning dinner but mostly on my mind is dessert - chocolate zucchini bread baby!

Click the picture for a link to Taste of Home's two loaf recipe

Dinner will be some leaner chicken recipe and probably some pasta as a side. My husband tried to fit in every unhealthy calorie he could before diet week began. So now I'm putting all the fried chicken aside and going with a baked or grilled chicken. I prefer to eat my calories in chocolate anyway!

Cheers!

Mind Games

Why is it that when our mind gets something in mind that it wants, it's not satisfied until it gets it? Example? I just finished making dinner - lasagna roll-ups and yeast rolls. I had put it off until the very last minute (that would let me finish at 6pm) because I simply wasn't feeling the roll ups. But I had lasagna noodles for over a month now. The only thing I didn't have was ricotta cheese but it worked out fine. I enjoyed putting them together and serving them to my husband but the whole time while cooking my mind was looking forward to the rolls that I serve. These are the yeast rolls you can get at SAMS Club - 30 for $8 and they go from frozen to tabletop in 10 minutes - easiest and best rolls outside of homemade.

So with that said I ate the lasagna roll ups and saved the roll for last but...my mind was not satisfied. My mind wanted cereal now. Specifically frosted shredded wheat but ironically enough I JUST finished my last box. Luckily enough raisin brain satisfied my "cereal" tooth. Now lets hope it's satisfied enough so I don't have to make the brownies it's trying to trick me into...

In other news I bought a new MP3 player and I'm going to attempt going to the gym on campus 3 days a week. I'm currently trying to find good workout music since I lost all my previous music when my hard drive crashed. Right now I'm totally in love with the Glee mash-up tunes! Which is weird because I honestly don't like the show Glee past the 1st season. I watched through the 3rd season and when everyone and their cousin was turning gay/bi I stopped. But besides that I'm so lost with what kind of music is current and "hip" right now that I'm going back to my N'sync and Hanson roots. Yes don't hate on Hanson - their actually one of the good bands from the 90s that didn't break up or go postal. 

I wanted to put a few of my favorite things out here right now because I know I'll probably forget that I love them so much at some point so this is to jog my memory. 

1. Peach Poppy hand soap - smells like summer!
2. Lemon Gelato Candle - again, smells like summer
3. My new MP3 player this thing holds up like nobody's business

4. Archer Farms Tiramisu Coffee - I never get tired of it! However I think Target has discontinued it I totally should have stocked up...I am sad

So there you are - whoever reads this. The husband are about to head out for a nice walk since the humidity has disappeared for the day - yay!

Now how much longer until Fall? Pumpkin spice everything, scarves, boots, a chill in the air? Count me in, bring it on!

Cheers

Puppy Love

We are currently in talks about getting a puppy! Since my husband is opposed to lap dogs we have agreed to get a Labrador Retriever - black or yellow. I fell in love with one and by the time we got approved to have the dog in our townhouse she had a new owner. Now I've found another precious one and going to show her to my husband tonight hopefully!

Life as a married woman never seems to slow down and even when it does I find myself wanted to speed it up and doing lots of fun things with my husband. We currently went to a local beach (terrible day in my opinion) and on a double date with a girlfriend of mine down here that I've known for almost a year now. When we are not beach hopping or double dating we are big ole homebodies. We watch more Netflix then anyone I know and play video games and look at puppies on the internet machine. That is when there isn't laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, or cuddling to be had.

My cooking is definitely getting better - I am no longer afraid to fry things! We are trying to work out way through a butt load of meat we bought from a salesman. Yes it was out of the trunk of his car, they do exist! However we bought so much flavored chicken (southwestern, italian, honey mustard) that I don't have enough recipes to use it up. My new tactic is to thaw the chicken completely and then rinse off all of the seasoning. This works way better then I ever thought it would! Also amongst the meat we bought was all sorts of beef so we have filet mignon every other week. I feel pretty fancy when I eat it still.

Our favorite dishes so far have been an Asian chicken and rice dish which shocked my pants off because my husband hates Chinese food! And pretzel breaded chicken - dude regular fried chicken has nothing on this because it's even better the next day cold! The easiest meals to make are meatball subs, any kind of pasta dish, and most recently pizza. Homemade pizza and I had a lot of fights over the last 6 months but I have won in the end and figured out the way it works best for me - in the cast iron skillet. If you don't believe me try this recipe and your life will be changed as well!

Well I better go set the table and take the food out of the oven - it's been warming and waiting for the husband to get home.

Cheers!

Sunday Sunday

Hey looks like I'm getting better at this blogging thing eh? And by still saying "eh?" I guess I'm not as country girl as my husband accused me of being this morning. Yes the Canadians say eh and Ohio is only hours from Canada so I used to say it all the time. Anyway...

Life has been crazy because the husband works 14 hours days now and we barely get to see each other anymore. He comes home, we eat dinner then he buries his nose in his kindle and reads until we go to bed. But trust me, reading is a lot healthier then watching a bunch of TV. We've kind of sworn off TV for now besides on date night we'll watch a movie or Sunday morning cartoons.

Side note: I think our neighbors wear orange when the Volunteers are playing...I think I just noticed that.

This weekend we are headed to Virginia to spend the 4 (glorious, relaxing, amazing) day weekend with close family friends of ours. I seriously cannot wait to get away!!

I also got a surprise phone call that my mom, sister in laws and mother in law are coming down aka flying to see me in September. My one sister in law doesn't fly though. She actually swore to me long ago she would never fly but for me...she is now going to fly. I am beyond honored and excited to have them here for a weekend!

In closing I want to reference back to this post. And give an update as to the other restaurants we've tried.

Cookout - my husbands most favorite place probably ever. He loves the burgers and their meal combos in general. He gets tons of food for $5.00. They do have hush puppies but their not the best in my opinion. But their milkshakes are to.die.for. Seriously, peanut butter/fudge - holy moly I would have one a day if I could without getting fat.

Smithfields - another of my husbands favorite because why? They serve crushed ice in their drinks not cubes. His love of crushed ice is one I will never understand. I love them because their hush puppies are the best in JAX. And you get your food super fast.

Wingman wings - the only one in NC is 2 miles from us so we just had to check it out. Nothing impressive but it was nice to try somewhere new.

The coffee in my cup is Nicaraguan. I haven't been able to buy some so I had to resort to using my precious Nicaragua stash. A stash I cannot replenish until I go back home. Sad.

Cheers!

Coral Leopard

Coral Leopard by freeindeed1018 featuring an oasis shirt