And the mayhem begins...

Joe and I got back from the cruise fairly late Sunday evening (after the long 12-hour drive from Tampa) and only had a one day turn around to do laundry, un-pack/re-pack for the holidays. We spent Christmas in Huntsville, AL with my parents and brother. It was the first Christmas my whole family has been together in over 4 years.

Christmas was nice- great food, great presents and great company to spend it with. The pups enjoyed tearing open their new toys and I have to say, everyone got really great gifts (Joe and I got quite a few awesome gifts from our registry from our parents along with new iPods from my brother). We can't wait to go shopping and use all the giftcards we received! Hoepfully we have time to get all of that done before the packers come!!

Speaking of moving, we hope to put in our final pack-out dates next week when the offices are open from New Years. We will have our unaccompanied baggage shipment on the 7th (all the stuff we want right away because the rest of our "stuff" will take longer to get there)... so that means some of the essentials... like a few pots/pans/plates/silverware/glasses, sheets, small TV (who can't live without that?), towels, etc. Then we need to organize the rest of our things for our baggage shipment (everything else that's not going into storage) and hopefully Joe can help me get that ready before he goes to resistance training for three weeks. Yes, this means I will be handling all the packers/movers by myself. I'm a little worried/stressed, but hopefully it will go smoothly.

So in the mean time, we have lots of packing (we will be living out of whatever suitcass we pack for probably a month or even longer), cleaning and going through all our stuff (it always amazes me how much "stuff" I'm able to accumulate in one year time period... and now that there are two of us and two dogs, let's say we've accumulated a LOT in the last year), organizing our things into what shipment things need to be packed up in, and then getting things ready to be stored. The biggie will be my car. Of course the AF can't make anything easy. They only have certain storage locations we can go to, so that means we have to drive my car to Atlanta and fnd a way back. It would make sense for them to pay for a one-way flight or rental car seeing that they are the reason we have to store the car in the first place, but no. We have to find our own way back to wherever we are staying for the time being. Thankfully my parents are willing to drive with us, and drive us back to their house (where the dogs and I will be camping out after everything gets packed up).

Anyway, if you haven't gotten bored enough to stop reading this blog (I wouldn't blame you, I'm just rambling) you can see how much we have to do in such little time!!! I'm hoping we can get everything done! It's going to be a busy start to the new year!!!

We're Back!!!

We're back from our amazing wedding & "honeymoon"!!! We spent several days in Tampa, which were filled with numerous trips back and forth to the airport picking up friends and family. Let's just say Tampa traffic isn't very friendly and probably spent more time in traffic jams and getting lost with the crazy construction more than anything! None-the-less, everyone made it into town safely and we had a blast spending time with everyone!

Joe and I realized we have several different "generations" of friends who came out. Friends from high school, college and friends we've made here at UPT. Even though the military sometimes makes it tough to stay in touch with people over time, it's great to know we were able to have so many wonderful friends come all the way to join us for our special day! It meant a lot!!!

We had a wonderful dinner the night before with many of our guests followed by a fun night out on the town! Getting a group of friends together who haven't seen eachother in over a year in most cases makes for a great time!!! Although the next morning at 5:30am I think we might have slightly regretted how hard we partied and how late we stayed out. Nah, it was worth it!

The big day went by fast. Hair and make-up took up most of the early (very early) morning and I ran around like crazy making sure everyone was ok and ready to go, bags packed, hotel rooms checked out of, taxis ready and dealing with the slow valet service. My wedding planner was a little on the crazy side, and after handling a last minute crisis with the luggage full of wedding supplies being too big, everything else went smoothly.

The day was great, I had so much fun. I enjoyed sharing it with my friends and family and of course, it went by much too quickly. The food was great, far better than I expected and the reception I had been dreading went better than planned. As the wedding portion came to an end, we said our good-byes and were sad to see people leave, but at the same time we were so excited for our CRUISE!!!

Including ourselves, we had a total group of 10 people sailing. We had a GREAT time sailing all over the western caribbean together. December sailing was a little rough some days but overall I can't complain. It exceeded my expectations by far with the amazing food, great shows, beautiful weather, extremley friendly staff and the crazy excursions we went on!!!

In Grand Cayman we went snorkeling and swam with the sting rays. They were WAY bigger than I expected... probably 2-3 feet wide and were heavy!!! They felt like wet portabella mushrooms. They only slightly freaked me out, but what a cool experience!!! That day the waters were rough and I swallowed a bit too much salt water and was feeling sea sick so I skipped out on the coral reef snorkeling... which I heard was more of a work-out than anything else. Cozumel was beautiful, maybe my favorite place of all! We rock climbed, zip lined and snorkeled in the clearest blue water I've ever seen! Belize we went cave tubing, which was "refreshing" seeing that the water was only in the 70s. We went on a beautiful hike through the jungles and the caves were amazing!!! The saying for the day was "butts up!" because you didn't want to get your butt hit with rocks on the bottom of the water!!! Our last stop was the Roatan Island in Honduras and we decided for a relaxing day at one of their beautiful beaches. We snorkeled a bit but mainly just soaked up the 90 degree weather for all that it was worth.

We had a great VACATIONNNN (the karaoke guy screamed this about every 5 seconds and clearly became the saying for the trip). John was a Legend in the Legend Show, only 1 person got sick and had to be on isolation, we stuffed ourselves silly with far too much food, some money was made and some money was lost for some at the casinos, and great times were had with great friends!!!

Now it's crunch time to get things rolling for our upcoming move and the holidays!!! Speaking of which, I need to run!!! We have SO much to do!!!

It's here! Well, nearly!

The time has finally come! Thursday we're making the grueling 12-hour drive down to Tampa!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to see everyone!!! Most of our friends and family will be coming in Friday and Saturday and we can't wait to spend some time with them! Many we haven't seen in years.

Sunday of course is the big day! Then we set sail on our one week cruise with some of our closest friends and family! It's going to be amazing! A lot of prep work has gone into all of this, and I think it's going to be a wonderful time.

Of course I'll post pictures as soon as I can!

Gobble Gobble

Joe came back last weekend and we packed up our stuff and headed to Huntsville to visit with my parents! Thanksgiving was great!!! I can honestly say I don't think I've ever felt so "full" and consumed so much food in such a short period of time!!! My mom cooked her amazingly yummy traditional Thanksgiving menu and boy, it was good! Let's just say a 20lb turkey for four people (okay, and three constantly begging pups) with all the other side dishes and three different pies... is a LOT of food! I'm not complaining though, I love home-cooked meals! I just hope I can still fit in my wedding dress...

Of course there wasn't a dull moment. To start the little "vacation" off, Kella ran away! She managed to push the big wooden gate open and run out. Of course, typically she's a lazy princess who just stares at you when you toss a ball for her to chase. But no, apparently when she's not attached to a leash and has no fences surrounding her, she some how summons up bundles of energy which in turn meant a 20 minute (which felt more like hours) chase through the neighborhood. Mind you, my parents new neighborhood which I am not familiar with! I was running through people's backyards and she managed to run so far I didn't really even know where I was. Exhausted and running in shoes not suitable for a full-on dog chase made me realize how out of shape I am! Hah. Anyway, needless to say a woman must have seen me running after my crazy dog and stepped outside to distract her long enough for me to snag her by the collar. Great! However, then it sunk in I had no way to get her back other than carrying her... and let's just say a 41lb dog after a good 20 minute full on chase is not the best combination. My arms felt like jell-o and I wanted to cry. I guess Joe and my mom finally realized I was no longer in the backyard and there were only two dogs instead of three... and finally came looking. Making it practically all the way back to the house, I ran into my mom and she had a leash so I could finally walk her back for the last 20 feet. UGH. Oh Kella...

I also have to admit during the break I decided to buy "Twilight" to see what all the buzz was about. Everyone I talked to assured me they didn't think they would like it but they love it and it wasn't the typical "vampire" storyline and that it was REALLY good. Let's just say in one night, I read over 200 pages and I am hooked. I'm already planning to make a trip to the bookstore this week to buy the other books from the series!!!

I think I can honestly say we have everything under control and taken care of for the wedding! The fun part now is packing out stuff, fitting it all in the car, and a nice long 12 hour car ride down to Tampa! I am in no way complaining though! I can not WAIT to see all my friends and family!!! It's a much needed break from Columbus, and I am so anxious! Just two weeks! However, until then Joe and I have a million and one things to take care of with the upcoming move. So if you don't hear from us, it's just because we're crazy busy!!!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! For all our friends and family members coming to the wedding... we will see you soon! :)

Pre-Wedding Nightmares!

Okay for several weeks now I wake-up remembering the most vivid dreams... ok more like nightmares about things that go wrong with the wedding!!! Last night I dreamt about the wedding planner who is supposed to meet me at the port during check-in never showed up! I was completley lost on what to do and everything turned into a disaster! Also, the DJ refused to play any music I had picked out and was a total jerk!

Sure, it sounds silly but I keep running all these things through my mind that I want to make sure are covered to prevent any possible disasters! I'm hoping that for the most part, things go smoothly. I'm sure there will be a few bumps in the road, however if there aren't any major disappointments I'll be happy!!

It's less than a month now and I'm getting super anxious! Joe gets back this weekend (FINALLY) and we will be busy, busy, busy! We're also visiting my parents for Thanksgiving... mmmm home cooked food!!! I just need this week to hurry on by, but of course I'm sure it'll drag on forever.

Well, hopefully these crazy silly dreams stop and I can stop worrying about everything! I think I have most everything under control!!! I think....!

Time is flying!

I can't believe it's only one month until our wedding!!! I am getting more and more excited each day, and can't wait to see all our friends and family members. I know it will be a great weekend!!! I'm finishing up last minute details and hopefully everything will go smoothly. I drive myself crazy thinking about various situations and scenarios trying to make sure there are no loose ends!

Joe should have his last ride before his checkride next week. Which means, if all goes well and weather stays nice, he will be back by Thursday!!! It's a little surreal, he's been gone for four months and I've just gotten used to him being gone! Now I'm frantically trying to clean (not that I don't clean regularly) and get things ready! Both the computer room and guest room have been taken over by countless boxes full of wedding things and clothes already picked out for the cruise. You're probably thinking that's crazy to already have things ready to go, but when Joe gets back, we have a TON of things to get done for the move, Thanksgiving, and then a week and a half later we drive down to Tampa!!!

Aside from wedding plans, I've been trying to stay busy working, updating resumes, submitting applications to teach overseas, and going through our stuff so we don't end up packing and moving useless junk that needs to be thrown away. I'm always amazed at how much "stuff" I can accumulate in a years worth of time! It's pretty ridiculous. Time for another donation to the Thrift Store.

The pups have been great... I think they thoroughly enjoy me being home with them more during the day. I'm worried about having to board them for nearly two weeks while we're in FL and on the cruise, but there aren't really any other options. Oh and I don't think I posted Joe booked and confirmed our flight from Seattle to Japan with the dogs on a Space-A flight! That means, we don't have to pay $1,600 for the dogs to fly commercially which is GREAT! Apparently, to travel overseas on a commercial flight, it's $800 a pet... not the news I wanted to hear but was so thankful when Joe snagged two seats for us and the pups... so much relief. Now we just have to work with the travel people to book us another Space-A flight from here to Seattle... fingers crossed!

We're officially moving February 18th and boy, I have a feeling time is sure going to fly. I hope we have enough time to wedding plan, enjoy the wedding, unwind from the wedding, organize the house, pack the suitcases which I assume we will be living out of for a few months, clean the house and get the 100 other things on the AF check list we'll have to do in order to move. Let's just say, we are going to be busy, busy busy!!!

Weekend at "home"

This last weekend I went to Huntsville to visit with my parents. Although Huntsville is not really my "home", I'm used to considering wherever my parents are living "home"... must be a military thing. Anyway, it was beautiful weather! Who could complain with mid 70 degree weather in November?!
The pups had a great weekend running around enjoying the enormous backyard and playing with my parents pup, Brandy. I went to my final dress fitting and the dress fits perfectly! I took it home, but unfortunately with all the shopping I did with my parents over the weekend, didn't have enough space in the trunk to take it home. I'll pick it up over Thanksgiving.
I must admit I was spoiled! My mom made home-made stuffed shells and meatballs, and we went out to PFChangs and Macaroni Grill. Oh how I miss having more than a few restaurants to choose from! It was glorious and I'm still stuffed from all the good food.
Joe should be back in a few weeks... crossing my fingers and praying for good weather so he can stay on track! The wedding is a little over a month away and although I'm disappointed with the amount of people now not coming, it's out of our hands and we're thankful for the friends and family members who are coming. It's going to be a blast and I'm soooo excited to cruise with some of our best friends!
I put in my application to sub at the schools around town... fingerprints, background check and all the forms are completed and turned in so I can only hope they need lots of subs :) Wishful thinking never hurt right? That's about all going on here for now! Check back again for more updates and pictures.

Schnookies... aka... Brody!

This is a little video of Brody. I had just gotten home from quitting my job... long story for those of you who don't know about it... and I literally threw all my teaching junk in the kitchen. Well the red little bouncy ball fell from the mountains of stuff, and Brody claimed it as his... I'm amazed it didn't pop! He definitely brightened my day... he's just so cute!!!

Pumpkins!

I finally uploaded a few pictures I had on my camera. Because I don't trust myself enough to carve pumpkins, I opted to paint a few instead. I'm not even going to be around for Halloween, but I couldn't resist putting a few cute little pumpkins outside. I thought they turned out pretty good!

Time is flying

I can't believe it's the end of October... where is the year going!? Not that I'm complaining, it means we're just that much closer to Joe being finished with his follow-in training in Altus, closer to our wedding/cruise, and closer to moving to Japan!!!! I'm so excited... I wish November would hurry up so the fun can begin!

Things here are looking up. A handful of people are back in town from trainings so it's been nice to hang out with people. Joe got news if weather stays nice, they could finish as early as mid November... which would beat the predicted after Thanksgiving time frame.

We're getting more and more RSVPs in the mail and we're so excited so many friends and family members are going to be able to make it! I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone... it's been too long!

I've been busy trying to keep up with a workout routine... jogging with the dogs and going to the gym, but it's tough, especially now that's it's getting cold outside. I'd rather stay bundled up on the couch with a book! Which by the way, I can't seem to get enough reading in... I've gone through 3 books in the last two weeks and I'm pretty sure the people at the book store know me by name (kidding... I hope).

The pups are still being little rascals with secretly digging when they think I'm not around. I spy on them through the blinds and it's funny... they really ARE like little kids. I caught Brody taking a peek at the back door to double check I wasn't there. Little did he know I was watching his every move through the window. After he thought the coast was clear... he immediately began to dig... and I immediately ran outsite with the water bottle to chase him away. One day they'll learn...

I'm hoping the week goes by quickly. I'm going to a substitute teaching orientation, working at Sylvan a few days and then packing up and heading to Huntsville to visit my parents for the weekend. I'm excited for my final dress fitting! Every time I try it on I think I fall more in love with it!!! I can't wait to wear it down the aisle!

Okay, enough babbling... I should throw in some laundry and get ready for work. Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

You gotta love 'em...

This morning consisted of the typical routine... the dogs scratch at the bed until I can't take it anymore (this happens anytime between 6:00-6:45... if I'm lucky, 7:00am) and I stumble to the kitchen to feed them. I manage to fill their water bowls, usually spilling half of it on the floor due to my still-half-asleep mode, open the back door a jar and crawl back to bed.

This routine has worked fine, until today that is. I woke up to discover the dogs weren't back inside yet, like they normally are. Typically, they go outside for a bit... do their business, play around... then jump back into bed for another few hours. 8:00am rolled around and I jolted out of bed... no not because there was the typical "barking at nothing" routine, but even worse... it was silent! I didn't hear a peep and if I didn't know better, I would have thought they'd run away.

Wrong. I run to the windows to first make sure they hadn't some how hopped the fence. No, instead my little brats we're digging and tunneling through the wet grass and to my fear, Brody (my white pup) pulled his head out of a deep hole and looked up at me as if he was saying "What's the matter mom?"... it took less than a second for me to register my white dog was not mostly brown. I know I've posted pictures of him with mud cakes all over his face... but this time it was BAD. And no, I didn't snap any pictures, because to my fear, his entire head, all four paws/legs and under belly were COVERED in wet, clumpy brown mud. As I ran outside to catch him, he instantly thought it was a game and ran into the house and tracked mud EVERYWHEREEEEE!

I scooped him up and threw him into the tub... it took a good 20 minutes to rinse all the dirt off him, the toughest being his snout where there were clumps the size of marbles dangling off him. Needless to say, it took another 20 minutes to scrub out all the dirt from the tub.

I've been keeping an eye on them and of course, once there's a fresh area dug up, it always seems to attract them back for more. I caught them both digging and have been spraying them with a squirt bottle, but it has little effect on them. I tried putting a chair over the area, but it seems like a hedgehog dug up a 6ft long tunnel and they keep tunneling further and further in one steady path!

For now, I'll have to monitor their outside time, which to be honest is a big pain in the butt. Hopefully the grass grows back quickly and they get the picture they're in BIG trouble when they dig holes in the backyard. As much as I wanted to paddle their little butts, they are cute and you gotta love 'em... even if they do ruin the backyard, track mud everywhere and have to bathe several times a day...

Hump Day

Today was productive! I managed to take the dogs out on a walk/jog... mainly I had to keep stopping because poor Kella (for those of you who don't know her, she's our spoiled princess who for the most part is very lazy) couldn't keep up and kept looking up at me like "Why the heck are we running?". I also got a short work-out in which felt great. I always have difficulty scrounging up the motivation to work-out, but without fail I always feel great afterwards! It's time to tone up again! I keep telling myself I want to be in the best shape of my life before I have kids (the topic comes up from time to time when we want to start a family, but no definite answer yet).

My friend Tina came over and helped me organize and categorize my hundreds of children's books! The pups only chewed up two baskets throughout the process but overall, what a success! The guest room is now only slightly chaotic full of "this and that" sort of stuff.

Killing a little time before I head out to La Fiesta... only my most favorite restaurant probably in town, with a couple of friends and the a some bowling is in the forecast as well. Good times with good people!

Hump Day L's:

Love:
-Working out and feeling great
-Receiving my first wedding gift in the mail (Thanks Linz!)
-Tackling the ginormous (yes you read that correctly) task of organizing my children's books
-The cool breeze in the air! It feels great to open the windows and let the air in rather than pump the AC all day!

Loathe:
-When my dogs eat things.... grrrrrr. I have to say, they are MUCH better though these days.
-Forgetting to put the trash out. Oh well.
-That I'm not creative enough to make meals for one... it's such a waste to make meals, especially when I'm not a big left-over fan... oh well, that's what snacks are for.
-That DoDEA hasn't posted any of my paperwork as "received" yet and it's been over a week.

Looking Forward To:
-Joe coming home... about a month left!
-Our cruise wedding... duh! Only a little over a month!
-Knowing a definite number of guests who are coming to our wedding!
-Visiting my parents next weekend for my final dress fitting and just to spend time with them. The pups love running around their huge backyard!


*I realize I need to post some recent pictures... I'll have to do that sometime this week! :)

Side note

I should probably note that to my last blog, yes it's "cold" in the mornings and evenings, but it's still rather nice during the day once the sun actually warms everything up! I can't complain, it's still reaches the 70's where most places were only wishing were that warm ;-)

Brrrr!!!!

It's official! Autumn is in the air and quite frankly, it's strange not to be pumping the AC all day long... rather, I'm bundled up in a fleece blanket, fuzzy slippers, sweats and eventually I'll probably turn on the heat for a few minutes to get the ice cold air out of the house. It's been "cool" for a week or so now, and even though it's the end of October, I guess I really got used to the hot and humid summer days Columbus has to offer. I must admit, I'm ready to pack away all the shorts and tank-tops and pull out all my sweaters and boots. A change in wardrobe is always exciting, and always gives an excuse to buy the latest trends of the season... right?!

With the change of seasons, I'm beginning to realize how close our winter wedding is coming up!!! With RSVP's coming in the mail, and wedding plans on full throttle, I'm beginning to get VERY excited! I can't wait to see our family and friends... for some it's been years!!! More over, I'm anxious for the actual cruise... it will be a much needed "honeymoon/vacation" and with 8 friends joining us, it's going to be a blast!!!

With lots of extra time on my hands after leaving my job at the preschool, I've been doing a lot of reading and it feels great to actually have some time to sit down and enjoy a good book. It's too bad the local book store is rather small, but I've found quite a few books that have caught my interest. I find myself curled up with a blanket on the couch (of course, Kella curled up right next to me and Brody at my feet) a lot, which has been causing me to put off a lot of "to do" things I should really get done! I always figure "oh it can wait until tomorrow", but then tomorrow turns into two days later, then three, and so forth. So on that note, I'm off to run errands and get things done before work this afternoon!!!

New Blog

After searching around other people's blogs and seeing their super cute backgrouds, I finally got around to creating a new one. To read my old blogs, I attached the link. But from now on, I'll be blogging on here!
http://chicainred.vox.com/library/posts/2008/