lately

Source for photo: Unknown.

I don't know about anyone else but I have always disliked Sundays. Sundays are the day before going back to the school/work week. Sundays are dreary and usually full of last minute to dos before the work week or last minute homework plans. I usually spend the whole day moping around that Monday is just around the corner (& don't even get me started on Mondays). Well this year I choose to change Sundays. I choose to enjoy my Sundays and spend them relaxing and spending time with family & having adventures. I choose to make my Sundays happy, as they should be. Mondays... that's a whole different battle.


Making: Plans to make things. I promise a ton of diy blog post soon!

Cooking: Tomato soup & grilled cheese. It's a constant struggle to work protein into my diet.

Drinking: Water & milk. What I really want to drink? A big ol' cup of strong black coffee and a yummy margarita.

Reading: Jodi Picoult's Leaving Time. So far I have to say it's my favorite of hers and that's saying something because I own every single one of her books. Have you read anything from her? Cause you probably should.

Wanting: My first paycheck, which won't happen for another 2 weeks. I want to buy lots & lots of fabric so I can start sewing cute baby things.

Looking: For inner peace. My anxiety has been drowning me lately.

Playing: Sims 4 when I get the chance, which hasn't been often lately.

Wasting: Time sitting around and binge watching Netflix on this dreary Sunday.

Sewing: Hems! Shorty problems.

Wishing: For endless amounts of money to buy all the cute baby items I have been finding.

Enjoying: My pregnancy. I love feeling every kick and dance party that our little one does.

Waiting: For Aaron to get off work. He switched up jobs and now has to work every other weekend. It's a drag.

Liking: The idea of making my own quilt for our little one instead of dropping too much money on one that someone else made.

Loving: The idea of making plans to travel back home in a couple of months!

Hoping: For a happy, healthy baby boy.

Marveling: Over the idea that our baby will be here before we know it.

Needing: A baby moon with my hubby. Both our schedules changing this past week has thrown me for a loop. I hate our time together being dwindled.

Smelling: A clean house and my green tea candle.

Wearing: Yoga pants and a hoodie. It's cold in Texas today (and I'm running out of pants that fit).

Following: My heart.

Noticing: The lovely swelling of my feet.

Knowing: That I kicked butt today on my to do list makes me feel amazing! Go me!

Thinking: Of all my family and friends that I am missing back home.

Feeling: Blessed. Always blessed for this life that I am so gracious to live.

Opening: My monthly package of mail from my parents. Usually full of junk and bills but I signed up for some parenting magazines and I'm excited to read them.

Giggling: My husband will forever always be able to make me laugh when I am in the worst mood. He's pretty amazing like that.

Enjoy your work week lovelies.

XOXO,

Spring Fever

I know I'm not alone in this when I say that I am having some serious spring fever. Which to me is a little crazy considering in Texas we have barely had a winter.  Living in Texas has been a big change seasonal for me. Fall comes later here, the leaves don't change and cold weather does not stick around very long. It's February and it was 80 degrees here a couple of days ago and it smelled like spring! Back home right now it's a whopping 7 degrees and it's still programmed in me to be craving spring even though its supposed to be 70 degrees here all week. Crazy right?

I went through Target the other day and they had just pulled out all their spring items and I pretty much wanted to shove everything in my cart and walk out spending way too much money, however for my husband's sanity and our bank account I did not. Instead I made a list below of all the pretty things I'm lusting over.

Converse shoes: Zappos // Boyfriend Jeans: H&M // Essie Ballet Slippers: Target // PJ top: Target // PJ bottoms: Target // Cognac flats: Target // Purse: Target // Scarf: H&M // Maternity shirt: H&M

xoxo,

I will.

After spending 6 months in Texas I may be slightly spoiled to warmer weather. I have come to this conclusion after Aaron and I traveled back home and had to deal with a -40 windchill. I am an Iowan girl at heart believe me but dang it was cold and as much as I enjoyed spending time back home with family and friends, getting back to Texas and enjoying a sun shiny 70 degree day I can see why a lot of people prefer to live in the south.

Can I just say, what the heck happen to 2014? Though I'm not complaining that this year is behind us I am just surprised as usual that a new year is upon us.

With this new year and Aaron and I expecting a little one I have pondered over many goals I would like to accomplish this year. Along with a few new daily habits I would like to pick up, (reading the bible every day) and few old ones that I somehow lost along the way, (yoga). I refuse to set anything into stone because as I learned last year you never know what is going to happen but I am looking forward to all the changes and new adventures, including changing up my school plans and becoming a mother.

I only hope that this new year holds just as much hope and promise for you as it does for us.

Here's to a fresh start. 

Photo Credit: unknown. 

Simple Living

62. 62 days I have been sleeping on an air mattress. 62 days with no furniture (minus our really sweet Wal-Mart lawn chairs). It has been a long 62 days my friends. I have heard the horror stories of military move, things being broken or misplaced but I wish someone had warned me about the dreadfully long process. We are finally supposed to be receiving our furniture today and let me tell you I have never been so excited about a lamp before in my whole entire life.

I have a tiny confession though, it really hasn't been all that horrible. In fact I am rather used to having nothing and it makes cleaning a place pretty easy and nothing to stub your toe on. Bonus points for klutzy people like my husband and I.

 We had friends come down to visit over Labor Day weekend, plans that were made long before we realized that it takes this long to receive our furniture. Aaron and I were  worried and felt like the worst hosts ever. I mean sure come on down we have no bed for you to sleep on or no table for you to eat off of, no biggie. However my graceful friend assured us that no furniture was no big deal and it really wasn't. Their kids thought we were the coolest people ever. I mean a house with no furniture equals lots of running around and tumbling. We ate off the floor and had puff ball fight in the living room, adults included. It was a pretty phenomenal time all around. Now I will admit that I have a slight attachment to things but living with only half my closet and no couch has me really thinking that when did all this "stuff" become necessity?
By the end of my friends trip she was ready to go home and sell all her furniture herself. Granted when the movers show up today I am by no means turning them away but it makes me really consider downsizing all the "stuff" we think we have to have.

I'm sorry I have been MIA. Moving to Texas is a huge adjustment. Has anyone been to Texas before? It sucks, but we will save that for a different day. ;)

Scattered Thoughts about Texas and Dress Blues

One day till I get to see my husband. One freaking day and I am grinning ear to ear and the school girl giggles are becoming harder to hold back. I am very much looking forward to seeing my husband. I only just saw him in March but boy does that feel forever ago.

 I know I have already said this probably a million times but I am so proud of my husband. I know he has worked very hard to get to this day and I cannot wait to see him graduate looking all handsome dressed in his blues.

 It has been a very hard and long struggle and a million things has been happening but I know our relationship will become stronger and it blows my mind that after it is all said and done Aaron and I have spent a little over 2 months of our first year of marriage together. I hope the military appreciates that, haha. The way I look at it Aaron and I are lucky because we will actually get 2 first years of marriage together. There is an upside to almost everything, right? (I really can't decide which word should actually be crossed out).

I always swore up and down I would never date a military man. I hated the idea of tearing my family apart and being so far away from home but that's the funny thing about love, it turns you all around. It makes you realize that home is wherever your loved one is. Love means putting someone before yourself and making sacrifices to make sure they are happy. Love means being a stronger person. Love means loving that person with all your heart and knowing it won't fade even when you spend months apart. It means going through the bad to get to the good. But the thing is, you know all this. It's nothing new, sometimes it's just forgotten along the way. Bad days at work, stressful moments crop up in all different relationships, a person might cut you off on your way to work. This is what causes you to forget all the wonderful things of love. So stop, take a breath and remember.

I am  thrilled to be traveling to a state that I have never been to before. It will be very exciting to experience a different view of the world and I am hoping we get the chance to explore it a little. We leave bright and early Wednesday morning and won't be back till the following Monday. Whoohoo, Texas here we come!

I know it's absolutely horrible to be thinking this but I am already dreading the good bye. It's hard to not think about them when there has been so many and it seems each one gets harder instead of easier.

I am fully enjoying my summer and having no classes to be studying for. I have way too much time on my hands but I am trying to fill them with family, friends and catching up on some reading. I have also been enjoying a new workout routine from Beachbody. I'm hoping to get a post up soon. I've been pretty impressed by the results.

Friday Favorites

Praise the sweet Lord above because we have all made it to another Friday.

This week has been pretty mellow. It was the last week of the semester, hooray! I believe I pulled off all A's again but final grades aren't in till next week. Aaron went back to training today, which is by far the best news I have had in awhile. This whole limbo thing is exhausting. Now we are just praying that from here on out things go smoothly.

Any who, below are a few things I found this week that I am obsessed over. Check, check, check it out.

1. I'm not for sure why but I am obsessed with tie dye this year. I purchased this shirt from Maurice's and have yet to wear it but I am very much looking forward to it!

2. I ended up purchasing these wedges from Maurice's as well(seeing a trend). I made the mistake of wearing these out dancing my first go around but they are sure are broke in now! I love the green color and the low wedge. I can pair them with a lot of outfits while adding a little height at the same time.

3. Have you had Panera's mac n cheese yet? Well you should. It's by far my favorite and I am dying to try this recipe because if it is anywhere close then I am screwed because I will be eating mac n cheese every single day. Seriously though.

4. I am obsessing over Shakira's new song, Empire. If you haven't listened to it yet check it out and sing your heart out. Maybe even wiggle your tush a little. 

5. Pinterest was blocked at work a few weeks ago (I know, sad story) so I have been resorting to my back up Brit & co. Not exactly Pinterest but it does the job. I am obsessing over this engagement idea. Even if they label it as an engagement photo I see myself finding a photographer that is up for the challenge of replicating this photo for Aaron and I.

6. I found this little treasure on Amazon the other day and I have used it ever single day since I received it in the mail. Its crazy how similar it looks to a real lens and I love how people exclaim over it when they find out it isn't a real lens. 

7. I was introduced to this lovely online boutique through a blogger that I follow and snatched up this dress right away. I can't wait to wear it. All. summer. long.

8. If you haven't heard of Theo & Beau then you should probably check it out. Enough said.

9. One of the floaters at work sat up next to me last Friday and somehow convinced me to buy these sandals. (I forbid her from sitting up front again) The bottom of them are made out of yoga mats. Yup, I said it. Yoga mats. They are so comfy and oh look there's that tie dye again. :)

I hope everyone has a spectacular weekend. Mine will hopefully involve Spider-man 2, new work out clothes, and fresh asparagus out of the garden. 

cancer & cardboard boxes in 500 words or less.

I've been MIA for far too long so my goal is to do an update in 500 words or less... GO!

Aaron came home on Valentine's Day and was home for a whole month. Right now that felt forever ago but it was so nice to have my best friend/husband home. Oh I had missed him. The whole drive to the airport  I kept imagining my reaction to seeing him. Tears, giggles, jumping for joy. Instead I walked up and rubbed his bald head, stunned.

Mom finished her radiation weeks ago. Just this past Monday she went up for a recheck and things are looking good. She started chemo again this week and it's a stronger dose, 1 week on 3 weeks off. Spirits/hope/faith/endless love is high in the Fritz household. I must add though nothing is more surreal then shaving your mom's head.

Unfortunately because of circumstances out of my control I had to move out of our apartment this past week and it was not my most favorite week ever. Between work and school I feel like I haven't slept in weeks. I thought I would be okay living with my parents again. I thought I would be okay moving out of our apartment but now that I'm sitting in my overcrowded old bedroom and I am extremely emotional based on the ridiculous notion that this isn't home. Aaron is nowhere in this place and I dislike it to an unnerving level. I am however so blessed and thankful to have such wonderful friends and family that completely kicked butt and helped me move. No words can describe how appreciative I am.

Aaron will hopefully be back in training in a couple weeks. Fingers crossed.

The semester is over in 2 weeks. Praying that I survive.

Bam, I did it. Hope everyone is having an amazing weekend. 

2 Timothy 1:7

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Obsessions of the week

1. I found this amazing recipe Thursday and made them that night. It was my first experience cooking with quinoa and I have to say I like it and will probably use it for a whole grain substitute in a lot of my recipes. I added onions and mushrooms along with the spinach to use up some of the veggies in my fridge. It was delicious and I will be making this often.
http://www.homesweetfirsthome.com/2014/01/quinoa-spinach-and-kale-stuffed-peppers.html

2. I had my hair highlighted a couple of weeks ago, my first time ever mind you, and I had to change up a lot of my hair products for colored hair products. My hair stylist used this oil on my hair after my haircut and it made my hair so soft and yummy smelling that I had to spend the extra bucks to get it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CH3WP2E/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3. I thought this article was pretty amazing and had to share. I am a morning person anyways but found when I traded up to add these new things to my routine it put me in such a better mood for my work day. I had gotten out of habit of starting my day with a short and sweet yoga routine and adding it back in and sticking to it for a few weeks helps me to feel more toned. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect candle to light in the morning. I'm thinking lemon. I love lemon everything. Even though she suggest something calming I think lemon would open up my senses and get more awake in the morning. The biggest thing I changed that really improved my routine is switching to watching an episode of Army Wives to the news. It's easier for me to get up and walk away from the news then Army Wives. I have to peel myself away from the couch and usually end up running late when I watch Army Wives. Knowing a little of what is going on the world makes me feel more knowledgeable.
http://www.homesweetfirsthome.com/2014/01/5-healthy-habits-to-add-to-your-morning.html

4.

I found this lovely hairstyle on Pinterest and gave it a go Friday for work. I cannot however get my hair to twist like that and I am currently on the hunt to found a video that may show me. It was simple to do and was really cute besides the fact I had to used 20-some bobby pins to keep it in but I loved it so much that I think I am going to try it again tonight.

I am also on the hunt for a headband like this so if anyone happens to find one...

Keep on pinteresting on my fellow pinners.

"Ask and it will be given to you, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

Daily Life

Between staying up late to get homework done and getting up early to get homework done I am averaging about 4.5 to 5 hours of sleep per night so I've been grumpy and over emotional so I've been hiding out so no one has to deal with me. My lack of social life is to protect everyone around me.

My mother started radiation and chemo yesterday. They will be staying up in Iowa City all week at the Hope Lodge, a building for cancer patients that live more than 50 miles away from Iowa City. It is completely run off of donations. So for the next 7 weeks she will continue her therapy down here (speech, occupation and physical) on Monday mornings then head up to Iowa City for the week. She will have radiation Monday through Friday then come back down home to have her therapy again Friday afternoon. Lots of running around. Her speech is getting better by the day. She is getting better at forming complete sentences now. The doctor's are hopeful that she will have little side effects from the chemo and radiation. She will obviously be more tired and will loose her hair. She is taking the chemo through pill form so that will help a lot.

No new news about Aaron. He is still on medical hold. He has a doctor's appt on the 4th and he MAY be able to come home for 30 days to do his physical therapy here then he will be sent back to continue his training. I'm trying to not be too hopeful but it would be fantastic to spend Valentine's day with my hubby.

Did anyone else read this article in the Hawkeye?!?! Colleges have Quidditch teams? Where has this been my whole life. If there was any sport I would play this would be it. This guy is trying to get Southeastern to form a Quidditch team and I would so join if my plate wasn't already full enough.

(I am still seriously considering it)

I also just signed up for Birchbox and just received my first box yesterday. I am so excited for this! For those of you who don't know what Birchbox is click here --> https://www.birchbox.com/

I will do a review later after I have tried out my new goodies!

Currently reading: The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes.

It's the 2nd book in the series and of course the books are so much better than the movie. In fact if you plan on reading this series, don't watch the movie. The actors/actresses they picked for the movie completely destroyed my image of what they actually look like. Not worth it.

I received several books from my mother for Christmas and it's taking me a little bit to get through them. I have a hard time finding time to read when I have so much to read for school. I just ordered another book yesterday though that I cannot wait to get my hands on, "Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes. I saw that our wedding photographer read it and figured I would give it a go. I just read the sample on Amazon and was hooked. What really sold me to buy it though was this customer's review on it...

"throw away your shades of gray books and read about a real romance- one where individuals ultimately valued each others' wishes and allowed the other party to grow. I began reading with much trepidation, but quickly learned to love the quirky characters of Lou and Will. This is a life affirming book. You will feel better after reading it."

I'm a hopeless romantic and could use an actual romantic book instead of all the trashyallaboutsexIwoulddropkickaguythattalkedtomelikeGreytalkstoAnastasia book. :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

"You are my hiding place: You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance" Psalm 32:7





Daily Life

  I found this little nugget of amazing-ness on pinterest the other day and it's helping me come to terms with everything going on right now. My mother will start radiation and chemo here in the next couple of weeks. We are praying for the best and taking it day by day. It's all I can handle right now. Thinking too far into the future makes my heart ache too much.
  With Aaron states away and everything going on with my mom I feel like my world has been flipped upside down and now I get to waltz my way through this world hanging on tight and relearning to navigate.
  That being said and in light of everything that has happened the past few weeks and spending way too much time in doctors offices I have decided that I am in need of a lifestyle change to be more healthy. I am currently challenging myself to run every single day for 21 days straight. I also wrote down my weight and measurements to keep track and will write them down again after 21 days. I am currently on day number 7 and I am feeling pretty amazing. I already feel SO much better, I have more energy and I have a much better mood than usual. I have also been tinkering with the idea of starting the new trend diet of 2014, the paleo diet. This will definitely be more of a challenge then running because you have to cut out dairy, grain and sugar which is my top 3 food groups. I have always ate pretty healthy anyways, salads and what not but I feel the need to take it a step further. My friend Meg has recently discussed the paleo diet for her and her family and I decided to read up on it. I found this book  on amazon and decided to give it a go.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009GULWLG/ref=col_PCxPlH_4k24urYzJGGwBoqjIw
 I highly suggest this book for anyone considering this diet. It's a great beginner book that will explain the diet and help you in the right direction. I just downloaded it on my Kindle app and had it read in a couple of days. I have gone through our apartment to get rid of a lot of junk food and went grocery shopping to fill it up with fresh veggies and fruit, unfortunately some how ice cream ended up in my cart and I really can't let it go to waste. So far I have not followed the diet to well. I am eating more salads and cut out a lot of things but I am at my parents every night after work and end up eating dinner with them and they would not be okay following the paleo diet. Also if you drink the water amount you are actually supposed to drink you just end up running to the bathroom every 5 minutes because you have to pee. Seriously.

  I figured on top of everything else I would also head back to school this semester after taking last semester off. It's day 1 and I already feel overwhelmed so we will see if I can survive another semester.

"Be strong and of good courage; Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you whenever you go." – Joshua 1:9

Ringing In The New Year

  All my posts have been about my personal life lately and I promise I will give you an update on my crafts very soon. My whole entire apartment is covered in a fine layer of gold glitter currently. I told Aaron he better feel lucky that he isn't here cause otherwise he might be covered in glitter as well. I have a slight obsession with gold glitter and pink as of late and I'm not for sure where it came from but this post isn't supposed to be about glitter it's supposed to be an update about Aaron and my mom.

An update from warmer weather Texas:

  Even though Aaron swears it's pretty cool down there I remind him that 30 is better than 1 whole degree here in Iowa. I don't know about anyone else but I'm sick of all this snow. The week of Christmas Aaron had to run a mile or two and noticed his leg was sore and he was limping slightly well then a few days later he was made to run a 3k which ended up with him on crutches. The doctor has looked at his leg and they found several stress fractures around the metal so they decided to put him on medical hold which means he is no longer with his fleet and will not graduate on time anymore. He is stuck in a building with other soldiers that are on medical hold and is being forced to stay off his leg.
  The only plus side to this situation is that I have been able to have numerous 40min phone conversations with him that we have both been enjoying immensely and it helps to keep us updated on the situation.
  So everything is basically up in the air right now for him. They basically have to decide if he will be able to continue or if he will be honorably discharged because of his leg. Aaron's "case manager", not for sure on the correct term but that is what we have been calling him is leaning toward Aaron being honorably discharged because they have found older stress fractures that have healed which shows that this is a problem that will more than likely keep reoccurring. He is seeing the doctor in another 3 weeks that will be making the decision. As sucky as the situation is Aaron and I have been staying in high spirits about it and already have a game plan for if he does come home. Aaron has already talked to the Air Force about coming home to find a doctor to remove the metal and then he will try joining the Air Force again but it will have to be all done before July when he turns 27 because 26 is the cut off date. I also suggested to Aaron that if he does come home we can just go ahead and start making babies (joking, we still want to wait a couple years).
  We are not giving up just yet thought because this whole entire Air Force experience has just been a miracle. It just seems if Aaron has a slim to none chance it works out in our favor so who knows, maybe the doctor will just let him continue.

Meanwhile back at home:

This past Saturday my parents invited me out for lunch and a walk around East Lake since the weather was so nice. We were all very happy and having a lot of fun, throwing snow balls and enjoying the sunshine. After my parents dropped me off and headed home they stopped to get the mail out of the mail box and things went down hill from there. When my mother reached in to grab the mail she couldn't get her hand to grasp the mail and she noticed her fingers were tingly, not saying anything to my dad they headed into the house and dad noticed my mom was be very, very quite. At that point her right hand was tingly, her whole right arm felt heavy and the right side of her lip was tingly. She stated that she thought she was having a light stroke and asked my dad to take her to the ER. In Mount Pleasant they did a cat scan and saw something on the left side of her brain and decided to send her up to Iowa City. Once we got to Iowa City we did a whole lot of hurry up and wait. She had a MRI done around 8:30 Saturday night then was admitted to the hospital at around 2 am then at around 5 am we found out the results. She has a mass about the size of a golf ball on the top of her brain on the left frontal lobe which is causing her brain to be inflamed which caused the effects of what she thought was a light stroke. After a string of different nurses and doctors and more scans, including a body to make sure there were no other masses inside her body she was sent home Monday afternoon and will be returning tomorrow bright and early to have surgery. The game plan is for them to go in and try to remove all of the mass and then they will test it to see if it is cancerous which will take us about 2 weeks to find out the results.
  I never in my wildest dreams would have thought this was how I would be ringing in the new year. It's surreal and very, very scary. We are all staying positive and hoping for the best. A lot of friends and family have been asking how they can help and the only thing we are asking for right now is prayers and positive thinking. I'm feeling very selfish right now and wish I could beg Aaron to come home. I would feel a whole lot better with him by my side.
   No matter what I know God wouldn't give me more than I can handle and with Aaron I know I can take on anything.

  With everything going on I haven't given much thought to my new years resolution until PostSecret posted one the other day on Facebook that really stuck with me so I'm stealing it and sharing it with you- Consume Less; Savor more.




"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:6-7

Up and Down like a Yo-Yo

  I know it sounds so cliche but that is literally my day today; up and down like a yo-yo. I had a fantastic run after work today and if you would have told me that I would be running right now 5 years ago I would be doubled over, hysterically laughing at you. It just makes me feel so much better. Nothing is more satisfying then a nice long run to calm the nerves and clear the mind. I feel so accomplished and sweaty at the end it just makes me feel so happy.
  I had received my new phone in the mail today as well, a couple days early which I was ecstatic about. After about 15 minutes of being on hold to activate my phone they finally picked up and completely ruined my good mood. Apparently since I'm not the account holder I unfortunately couldn't activate the phone. Which is such complete bologna. Aaron and I went to the cell phone store and set it up where I would be able to make decisions on our cell phones before he left. Yea, apparently not so much. I feel so sorry for the guy that was helping me, I know it wasn't his fault and he was just doing his job but I was just so frustrated. I explained to him that Aaron was currently at bootcamp and there was no way he could call to activate my phone. He preceded to ask me multiple times that I was sure I couldn't reach Aaron before I just finally lost and it and might have accidentally got a little rude and explained to him that apparently he didn't realize what bootcamp meant and I unfortunately couldn't have my husband call since I couldn't even call him if I wanted to unless I felt was an emergency and called the red cross and I really don't think upgrading my phone was considered an emergency and then I hung up. I know, I'm awesome.
  It wouldn't be such a big deal besides the fact that my current phone likes to restart in a middle of a conversation which is the last thing I want when Aaron calls.
  So I hung my head in defeat and bought wine and Water For Elephants and accepted my defeat. You win some, you lose some and I'm chalking today up as a lost and calling it done.
35 days. 35 long stinking days probably filled with a ton of more yo-yo days.


Sidenote: I was able to go into the store the next day and they were very happy to activate the phone for me. Thank goodness.

A Heavy Heart

As I was laying in bed this morning and watching the snow fall outside my window I was craving to have Aaron by my side to be enjoying the peacefulness of the first real snowfall of the season. Tomorrow will mark the 2nd week that he has been gone. They first week is actually week 0, it doesn't even count toward the 8 weeks he will be gone. It sure counted to me. I miss him like crazy and every single day feels like a lifetime. Living without my husband has been difficult I feel like I'm 18 again and venturing out into the world without anyone by my side, timid to do things by myself and cautious to venture too far outside of my front door. It's like I lost my right arm, I don't exactly need it but I feel like I am having to relearn how to do everything all over again. You never realize how much you depend on someone till they aren't around anymore. He's just gone and everyday I feel like I'm just waiting around for him to come back.
I hope things will go back to normal and that I lose the feeling of just waiting around. I hope my motivation to get stuff done will return very soon. School will start next month and I will have plenty of no time to sit around and worry about it.

As unhappy as I may be in moments and how heavy my heart may feel I know it will ONLY be for a short amount of time in the long run of things. I have plenty of things to keep me busy and I get to eat whatever I want right now without Aaron yelling at me for having cereal for 2 out of the 3 meals of the day. I know I am beyond blessed to be married to my soulmate and best friend. I have a wonderful support system with my family and his as well. Aaron is an amazing husband, brother, son and friend. I am so proud of him for sacrificing his time away from friends and family to create the future that we want for ourselves and our future family.

Honeymoon Part 2: Holiday Edition

  Aaron and I decided that we needed to have a mini get away before he left so after seeing a commercial for Festival of the Trees we decided on our destination and labeled it,  Honeymoon Part 2: Holiday Edition. We decided to head up to Davenport Friday and eat at Cracker Barrel then head to the IMAX to watch Catching Fire then spend the night in a hotel and visit the Fesival of Trees Saturday.
  Aaron was all ecstatic because this was my first experience at the IMAX. He was going on and on about it at dinner on how fantastic it was. He kept talking about the huge screens and how loud it was when he abruptly pauses and said, "I hope I'm not talking this up too much!". Haha, he cracks me up. The movie and the theater was pretty impressive. I really enjoyed the whole experience. (I have to say as a book nerd that fully stands behind books being wayyy better than the movies they do a pretty fantastic job following the book). But what really made the experience awesome was the scene when the monkey fills up the entire screen and growls, Aaron jumped out of his seat! Usually I'm the jumpy one so it was pretty fantastic to see Aaron react the way he did. Not a lot catches him off guard.
   We of course had to eat at Cracker Barrel while up in Davenport as well. It is my favorite place to eat when we are anywhere close to one, which does not happen often. I love their food, it is so yummy. We also picked up some Christmas decorations while we were there as well to decorate our tree.
   To complete our night we sipped on some eggnog. It wouldn't be a Holiday Edition without it.

They had tons of different themes that I would have never thought of at the Festival of Trees. A couple of my favorites were the Lego/Toy Story one and the Sherlock Holmes one as well. Very creative!

They of course had lots of yummy sweets that we couldn't pass up. Aaron ended up with a bag of cake batter puppy chow and I with a white chocolate covered marshmallow with crushed peppermint stick, ie: heaven on a stick.

It was a perfect get away for Aaron and I to get some quality time in before he headed out for bootcamp.
By the way, my camera is currently broken and I haven't ventured too far to figure out what is wrong with it so I apologize for the ridiculous phone pictures. :/

Daily Life

I have always wanted to be a nerdy blogger. I check out all these blogs on the internet and I keep thinking how cool it would be to actually keep up on a blog, but now a days who really has the time? Well.. I'm going to make the time. My goal currently will be to post every other week. Between wedding planning and well, life in general I feel like this goal is manageable. .)

I'm a firm hater of Facebook I would delete it if Aaron and I were not going into the military life but I know Facebook will become something I will rely heavily on when we are across the country away from family.

This will be something for friends and family to keep an eye on to keep up with Aaron and I's busy life.

So welcome to our crazy, messy and amazing life. :)