Visions of Home

I haven't been home in over 9mo... I'm not dying of homesickness. I just miss it. The longest I'd ever gone before I got married and moved my life 2,300+mi away was 3.5mo. It's just weird to think about...

I miss...

• My family - yeah, they are a phone call away, but it's not the same.
  
• My best friend & XA friends - I feel as if they truly cared about me and were my friends because of who I am, not because of who I am married too. (no offense ladies.)
• My (parents) dogs- we have our sweet guinea piggies, but someday we both want Labrador Retrievers again (I've had yellow & black, he's had chocolate).
• My church- the one we go to here is great, scripture based sermons, contemporary worship, etc. But it isn't my church family. People smile and greet me, but besides the small group of people from our young married's class...they don't know my name.
• My parent's house- It's open layout, tiled floors, the giant 8-person dinner table (even though we only had 4 people in the family), nice covered patio, jacuzzi, large open backyard... ahhh.
• The scenery- anyone who thinks Arizona is just a whole bunch of desert sand. You are wrong. Completely. I miss the sunsets that look as if they were just painted, the beautiful red rocks in the mountains, the blooming wildflowers in spring, the endless hiking trails, the lizards & hummingbirds, rock climbing/bouldering, the lakes, trips down the river, playing in the snow up north, canyoneering, and backpacking the Grand Canyon.
• Dry Heat- what the crap is this humidity thing we've got going on? How do you people live with it?
• Yogurt-land- If you don't know what this is, it is safe to say you are missing out.
• Serrano's- or any authentic Mexican food for that matter, the stuff they try to pass off as "authentic" here makes me cringe.
• Directions- knowing where everything is. I've been here for a little over 9mo (obviously) and I'm getting pretty good with the freeways/highways, but what on earth is with giving a street a name & a # and changing that 3 times within a 5mi span? All of the roads seem to run whichever way they like, I come from normal-land... roads run E-W and N-S... none of this crazy curvy shenanigans, haha.
  

The Bounty Hunter

Okay so it won't win any awards...
But it was produced by the same people that made Hitch.
It totally made hubs and I crack up!
(Gerard Butler isn't up to 300 standards but he's still not bad to look at...)

Our favorite line...


Milo: "You know how we used to be in love?"
Nicole: *sniffles* "Yeah?"
Milo: "That means I know when your crying for real and when you’re faking it! Buh-Bye!"


It's so true though, when you're married you can tell things about each other the everyone else can't. Haha!

Monday: Pick-Me-Up

Look what my husband got for me:


We've had that open space by the piggie's playpen since November. I've always wanted to put something there but couldn't quite figure out what. Hubby always bugs me about leaving my laptop on the couch, so he deemed this my "computer chair," even sawing out the lower edge of the table the pig's pen is on so I could utilize the outlet there. You may be wondering about the color... but our living room is actually decorated in oranges, greens, tans, and browns (hence the blanket). So it's perfect, not to mention comfy!

I love my new "computer chair" =)
Beans & Twix love it too because they can beg whoever sits there for treats.

The tale of one toilet...

I peed in the shower today.
I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!
We have one toilet.
Just one.
This morning it got clogged...Marine was gone.
Convenient for him =/

I am volunteering at my church's VBS.
I had to be there no later than 9am.
I plunged & plunged & plunged...
To no avail... ugh.
8:45am... I had to leave.
Closed the lid...
Sprayed air freshener.
Closed the door.
Left.

I forgot about the toilet.
The kids were B-A-D today.
Like, wanted to pull my hair out bad.
After VBS I ran my errands.
Got home and had to pee.
Like REALLY bad!

CRAP.
Now there was no water.
But it was N-A-S-T-Y...
I'm sure you can use your imagination.
So I flushed it, hoping against hope.
Nope, of course... filled to the very top...
AGAIN.

So, the sink or shower were my options.
*sigh*

I really could have used one of these...
Too bad for me.
I finally got it to flush normally...
Only took another 45min.

Summer Essentials - My Goodies!!

[click on the image to see what everyone got!]

I'm so glad I signed up for this swap, my partner Whitney (Everything Happens for a Reason) was super thoughtful and got me all of this:

• Cute heart card from her
• Mini photo album
• 2 candles: warm apple pie & vanilla (sadly the whole back of the vanilla candle is shattered, I think I'll roll it in an old towel and break the rest of the glass off outside so I can still burn it!)
• Hard Candy lip gloss
• 3 super cute bracelets/anklets?
• Stride gum
• Floral make-up/travel bag
• Assorted hair ties

Thank you so so much Whitney, it was so much fun to open the package not knowing what would be inside and then being treated to so many lovely items!

I hope she receives my package soon, I can't wait to see if she likes what I got her =)

Monday: Pick-Me-Up

So... ANOTHER one of the wives is having a baby (In our small circle of Marine wives... we have 2 in their 3rd trimester, 2 in their 2nd trimester, and another in her 1st trimester... every day I make a mental note to "not drink the water" haha, kidding. Maybe.) and yet again I'm helping to plan the baby shower. You'd think I had a degree for this? *I do.


I think a Lemonade Shower would be so cute, here are some ideas:

"Summertime Lemonade Shower"
Click to view entire post.

"Lemonade & Sunshine Birthday Party"Click to view entire post.

I love how all these elements could be tweaked for a super cute and fun baby shower...

A Golf Ball Story

I needed to exchange something at the sporting goods store today and as my husband was leaving for work he asked me if I could pick up the golf balls that were on sale. This was all fine and good, really... until I actually walked into the golf area.

EVERYTHING was on sale! Boxes of balls were 2 for $40, or 3 for $35, or 1 for $9.99, then a mix and match area where you could get 3 types for $45, and more...

I have come to the conclusion that sending a girl to buy boxes of golf balls is the same as sending a boy to buy tampons/pads*

[*obviously if you know the exact brand/type this statement doesn't work...]

Seriously though!
I mean think about how many different brands of feminine hygiene products there are... different applicators... different absorbency levels... different sizes... and on...

Did you know...
There is a huge array of golf ball brands? The balls range in soft-medium-hard exteriors, have 2-5 layers, some are made specifically for practice and others for driving ranges, It was CRAZY!

Needless to say...
I did not buy any golf balls today.

When he got home from work:
Him- "You didn't get any golf balls for me?"
Me- "I decided that if you won't buy me tampons I'm not buying you golf balls, there's just too many different kinds!"
Him- *laughing* "Alright, if that's what you say!"

Although he probably would buy me tampons because he could just take the empty box to the store and match it, I've never needed him to though. He is new at golf and hasn't found the specific golf ball that is "just right," so I was at a complete loss.

Back from the big OH

Our trip to Ohio was fun!

I hate the day after vacation though...
I am SO lazy today. I have laundry to do, a house to clean, and groceries to hunt down and buy. I should probably find a few minutes to take a shower as well seeing as the ladies from our Young Married's group are headed over this evening... oh life.

Anyway...
We got to visit his family and friends =)It may be the last time in a long time depending on upcoming deployments and our next duty station, so we made the best of it!

Wright-Patterson AFB
Hanging out with friends


Newport Aquarium

It's nice to be home, in our own house, sleeping in our comfy bed, and not going out to eat for almost EVERY meal... the guinea pigs are happy too. They have their playpen back no more being stuck in their "bedrooms" (cages).

I hope you all had an amazing week... I better get started on my list of things from above...

Event Lighting

Hey everyone,
I really hope your holiday weekend was great, I know for us military wives we got the added advantage of a 4-day weekend! Anyway, as I was celebrating my mind went into event planning mode (as usual!) and I started thinking how much lighting plays into the mood and decor of an event.


Considering I celebrated on a boat, there wasn't much lighting... however I couldn't stop from thinking how we could have dressed the boat up a bit. Mood lighting is always a great idea for events. Most people tend to lean towards paper lanterns and while those are nice, I just found hanging LED lanterns which are seriously cool and no outlet is necessary! Check them out:

Then I started to think about all the backyard BBQ's that I had attended on previous Independence Day's. I think fire pits are an amazing thing to have especially in a party setting. My parents had one and all of us kids loved to make s'mores while the adults would sit around chatting and sipping on their drinks.I couldn't resist posting a picture of this fire pit, it reminds me of summer nights enjoying a mini bon-fire after a long day at the beach.


Speaking of events, I am currently in the middle of planning a baby shower for a friend (yes, another one...all of my friend's are becoming mommy's, and no I'm not jumping on the bandwagon anytime soon!). I think a light to match the theme of the baby's room would be an amazing shower gift that could double as a decoration for the actual shower itself. Look at this elephant, is that not cute? PS: He's on sale!

Well ladies,
That's my take on event lighting!
Hope you are all having a great week.
I will have a very iffy internet connection for the next 6ish days, so there will (most likely) be no posting until next Wednesday... but I WILL check my e-mail to get the info for my summer essentials swap partner =)

This post was completed as a requirement by CSN Stores in order to review a product from their stores.

4th Re-cap...

So... since I'm sure you're all "dying" to know...

We picked watching fireworks from the boat!
[and YES, the guys contemplated making an "I'm on a boat" music video... *rolling eyes*]

We are so glad our friend's invited us to celebrate with them. It was such a fun night, it's really cool when you can connect with people from Bible study so well. [That's what it's all about right... fellowship! Love it!]

In case you missed fireworks, here is the video of the "grand finale" of the ones we got to watch:

I hope you all had as much fun as we did
[from the blog posts I've seen so far, it looks like it!].
What a nice fun way to start the week... =)

4th of July Cupcakes? Yes, please.

I love searching through blogs finding amazing ideas... I also love cupcakes... and holidays. So this is all of those loves combined! Plus, last minute ideas and inspirations for your 4th of July Soiree's!

First... If you are throwing a party and want some rocking party favor boxes, for take-home cupcakes, you have to check THESE out at Don't Eat the Paste.

This lady is awesome, she designs printable boxes for all occasions!


Second...
The Cupcakes, of course!

No Fuss Fabulous has an absolutely amazing entry (photo above) that includes links to all 9 recipes/how-to's!!! Check it out HERE!



I hope you all have amazing plans for celebrating Independence Day, we are going back and forth between a couple of invitations we've received. However our friend's with the boat might be winning... sitting on the dock, eating food, and watching fireworks over the water sounds like a blast. I promise to post pictures if you do!

As always- don't forget the men & women who died for our freedom, those who served, and those who are serving. God Bless you all this weekend!

**Personal note: don't be stupid. Give up the keys. Drunk driving is not funny in any way, shape, or form.

She beat me to it...

I've been wanting to host a "Swap" or "Package Exchange" for a very long time. After hosting my Wedding Contest and not having that many entries, I decided I needed to wait awhile until I did anything else. Although today I noticed I am over 100 followers, crazy! [who are you people anyway? I think maybe 8 people comment regularly...]

Anyway... enough of my rambling...

That's right! The lovely Nicole from Flip-Flops & Combat Boots is hosting a SUMMER ESSENTIALS SWAP! The package limit is $20 (not including S&H), and the deadline to sign up is Wednesday July 7th.

So why not join in the fun and receive an awesome summer treat?