Country Cruising Day 3- At Sea

We were surprised to see that the guys beat up back out to the pool deck. We really didn't think they would follow through but they did. Even Elliot came back out after he changed to say hello but was the smart one and went back to his room to get some rest. I'll give it to him, he did come back later that afternoon and hung out with us for a bit. 

At some point in the morning Sarah's mom passed by and saw us knocked out and snapped a picture. I can imagine the comments and stories from people as they passed by. We were really out and didn't hear a thing. Mid morning Sarah woke up and decided to go back to the room because she was afraid of getting burned. Smart one I suppose. When she came back out we were telling her about the picture her mom got and she though all along she wasn't there when her mom passed by. Sorry to break it to you honey you were. It was so funny when she saw the picture. 

One of many bathroom breaks with this girl!!!! 

We spent the day by the pool listening to the different artist play. It was quite warm out because the ship was just sitting for the longest time. We were in and out of the pool a good bit, but it only seemed to cool us off for a quickly minute. We enjoyed some yummy drinks to keep us nice and refreshed. Eventually we decided we'd grab some lunch before heading down to get ready for the evening. The first picture is probably how we really all felt but we know how to push through and have a good time. 

Craig Morgan night in the main Theater for the late show. Definitely one to remember for sure. 

Shots and Wine…..well why not. This was the first one of a few that night, once you get up moving and dancing you don't even remember what all you've had. Its once you sit down for a while is when it all hits you. And it hit me and Nancy hard that night. 

Moscato's the only way to go. We brought a couple bottles on with us to enjoy during the show. 

Bathroom breaks in two's something about drinking that makes a girl gotta pee. I've never understood it. lol But hey sometime you make the best memories in the bathroom. One of my fav's of Nanc and I. 

While Nancy and Brandy went on yet another bathroom / drink run, Craig called up two guest to the stage. Joe and I may or may not have made a scene to get Sarah up on stage. It was priceless, I know she was hating us for it while she was up there. She kept looking at us with these evil eyes telling us she was going to kill us. At one point while he was sing / talking he stopped and looked at Sarah and gave her a towel. Told her to cover up her boobs that she was distracting him. OMG, talk about the funniest moment ever. All while Nanc and Brandy are getting drinks. I was hoping they would walk in while she was up there because they'd be completely lost. But no such luck, shortly after she came down they walked in. 

It was such a great show, he's a former service member himself. 

Not sure how but I guess no one took any pictures after the show. Probably a good thing I suppose. We met up with some friends at the Karaoke bar and hung out there for a bit. At some point I lost the girls, not sure what happen there. I had my moment for the trip and the alcohol caught up with me. After getting sick and sobering up Steve and I went looking for the girls. Come to find out they were on the pool deck listen to one of the artist play. Thankfully by this point I was feeling fine but that's more than Nancy could say. Poor girl was DONE. She wouldn't even dance with me. Thankfully Elliot took me up on the offer while Sarah took Nancy to bed. Brandy was having the time of her life dancing with Joe, she even introduced me to a group of people by the wrong name all of which I knew. We laughed about it later and continued with our night. After a little walk around the ship, taking in the views from area's we hadn't seen Sarah and I decided to call it a night.

 It was definitely a great night one I'll remember forever!!! 

Happy 27th Birthday to ME!!!!

Today is my 27th Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

The hubbs is away at school so that means I was celebrating all on my own. Well with the pups of course. I'd asked a couple different people if they wanted to get together for dinner or something but for one reason or another they couldn't

I got this fabulous card in the mail from my hubbs which was so sweet, I love when he makes his cards. He's so creative and such a goof ball. Not to mention he melts my heart with his words.

It was to beautiful out not to take the pups for a walk up to the dog park. I love that its less than half a mile from our house. I get a good walk in and they have so much fun playing. We spent about a half hour there before heading back home. 

After I got home I got ready and headed out for the day. I decided to stop by Starbucks and treat myself to breakfast before doing a little shopping at Target. After leaving Target I stopped by our local Strawberry stand and picked up some of these fresh berries. They by far have the best Strawberries ever!!! So sweet and juicy. 

 I headed over to my 12:30 appointment at Urban Nirvana Salon. I was treating myself to a hour long massage. I hardly ever do anything for myself. I get so caught up with the hustle and bustle of life that I forget to take time out for ME. So today was all about me, even if I did have to spend it alone. It was so nice and relaxing, my first time at the salon. I'll definitely be going back the staff was so nice, super clean facility and they made you feel so comfortable and best part is they give a MILITARY DISCOUNT!!! HollA!!!! The hour actually went by relatively slow which was nice and enjoyable. 

After I left the salon I headed downtown to Cupcake a local cupcake bakery in the Vista area. Everyone needs cupcakes on their birthday and today was no exception. Normally the hubbs and I go together on the weekends when he is home but today I had to go solo. I left with a Cinnamon / Sugar and Turtle flavored Cupcake. They are so yummy :) 

Later that evening I ended up going to dinner with Kelly and her famdamly. I met them over at her house and we hung out for a bit then headed to Sato's Japanese Steak House. I absolutely LOVE this place. Mainly for the food of course but the fun atmosphere and the table cook top, were they cook right in front of you adds to the enjoyment of your time there. I alway's have plenty of left overs for lunch or dinner the next day and of course a added bonus they give a MILITARY DISCOUNT!!!!

 We had a great dinner with lots of laughs, I don't think our waiter notices the lovely ring on my left hand because he was trying really hard and working his charm lol. Kelly, her Sis-in-law and I headed out for dessert after dinner at 32 Degrees. A local Frozen Yogurt bar. Which of course also gave a MILITARY DISCOUNT. I'm all about that discount yall!!!!  

My husband works darn hard for it so we use it when we can!!!

I went in to the day pretty bummed that I was going to be spending it alone and that the hubbs was away but it ended up being a pretty fabulous day. 27 is already starting off great and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for me. 

When I got home I popped open a bottle of bubbly and sat down with the pups to enjoy a relaxing evening. It was a great day, pretty mellow and the weather was beautiful out. Only thing missing is my love. But we will be celebrating when he gets home for sure. We'll be making up for lots of lost time and both of our birthday's. His is coming up really soon!!!! 

Little did I know my night / birthday celebrations for the day weren't over yet. I had a Skype date with these lovely ladies :) My Spouse, Mistress and Mini Nanc. :) They called on skype and told me to go get one of my cupcakes I'd gotten today. (thank goodness I hadn't eatin either of them) Then they pulled out cupcakes with candles and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!!! How freaking sweet are they!!! I was almost in tears. They said even though we're a ocean apart we can still celebrate together and that we did. I miss them more than ever but soon they will both be back on the mainland and much much closer so I can't wait. We mapped out our summer vacay trip together and Im excited for our upcoming adventure. :) 

It was a great way to end a wonderful day!!!! 

I can't wait to have my love back home with me, this is going on the longest we've been apart since he's been home from his last deployment and I'm not enjoying it at all. BLAH. 

My Semi Week Review

This week has been a bit crazy, overwhelming and exhausting. I no longer have a 2nd staff in the afternoons at work. The teacher I was working with is now on bed rest until after she has her baby. She's due October 5th and was hoping to work up until her due date but her doctor had other plans. Although I completely understand because she has to do what is best for her and the baby. Still it makes me sad because I enjoyed working with her. Monday and Tuesday were just so stressful that be time I got home made dinner and cleaned up I'd passed out on the couch a couple hours later. I neglected to take any pictures either day. But really it didn't matter because my day was filled with work and not much more.

Wednesday the hubby didn't get home till super late. I was just going to take the pups on a short run which ended up being twice as long as I'd planned. A extra bonus was the pups got to play with a fellow four legged friend and Bailey did great!!! I ran up to a friends house, who's husband works with mine. While we chatted it up outside for about a hour all three pups played well together out front. I was so relieved to see how well Bailey did, even more so because the other dog was a puppy. The hubbs thinks its just dogs bigger than her that she doesn't like. Either way we are making some progress. 

~DAY 321~

Thursday was a bit better at work, although the afternoon creeped by slower than ever I managed to make it through with out pulling my hair out. Partly because I had a lovely bottle of yummy wine waiting for me when I got home. I wasted no time at all popping it open either. On top of that one of our parents gave us a sweet little gift, congratulating us on making it through week two.  

While I was at home sipping on my glass of Moscato the hubby was doing Army stuff. His Company had Flag duty today. This is the 2nd maybe 3rd time they've had it since we've been here. He always seems to be the one who fires the canon. Gosh I love my man in Uniform!!!!

~DAY 322~

Friday was just another day, work, home for a quick walk with the pups then off for the night to babysit. It worked out perfect because the hubby had CQ (yes again) and I got to spend my evening with one of my favorite kiddos from my last class. 

Saturday after the hubbs woke up from his beauty sleep / CQ recovery we headed out to do a bit of window shopping / test driving. If you've been following for a while you know that we've gone through our fair share of cars. We aren't in the market to buy right now but that doesn't mean the hubby doesn't like looking. I have to admit the Toyota Tundra's are pretty nice trucks and I think it would fit right in for us. After a little back and forth talking we headed out to dinner. Across town we ended up at our newly found favorite Mexican joint. Its so good, I could almost eat here every night. I absolutely love what I got the first time so I went with that again. Of course we had to try out the Churros since we went with Fried Ice Cream last time. I think between the Chips / Salsa our main mean and dessert we ate our weight in Mexican food. It was so worth every single bite though and I can't wait to go back again. 

~DAY 324~

CQ DAYS :(

While the hubby was MIA today thanks to CQ I was a busy bee. I met one of my co-workers at a local park for a bark in the park event with the pups. I was super nervous because this was my first time (by myself) to take the pups to something like this were there would be tons of other dogs. I've mentioned before how Bailey (the brindle dog) is kinda weird around other dogs. I swear she is bipolar and just wants to pick on every dog that passes her. We stayed for about a hour walking around checking out the booths and everything they had to offer. It wasn't so bad with both dogs but not something I would take them to and do all the time by myself. I kept Bailey close to me so she wasn't really able to bully other pups. I can't wait to get her around other dogs again so she will hopefully mellow out. Its drives me crazy though because she was best friends with the spouses' dog Ella in Hawaii. They got along so well and never had any issues, they would wrestle and play all the time. 

Back home for about a hour to finish up some laundry that I had been putting off forever. That has really got to be the one thing that I hate doing. Simply because its so time consuming and boring. I babysat for one of my families from work at 11:30 for a hour. It was pretty simple to since sweet baby S was asleep the whole time. From there I went and picked up the hubby lunch and drop it off to him. It was so nice to see him even if it was just for a couple minutes. I grabbed myself some lunch at Popeyes which is newly opened on post WOOHOO, then back home to finish that darn mound of laundry before I headed out to see a movie. 

I had plans with a few friends (wives) from the unit to go see "The Lucky One" at the post theater. They were showing it today (a week early) for free, which worked out since the hubbs didn't want to see it. Slowly but surely for one reason or another everyone started backing out. I was really looking forward to going especially since I didn't have any other plans till later that evening. I talked to the hubbs and contemplated going by myself, I just felt retarded going alone. I mean really who does that.......Let me tell you....THIS GIRL DOES. I had a date with myself and it was quite enjoyable. I sat towards the back so once the movie was over I could get out and avoid the crowd. I'm so glad I ended up going it was a FABULOUS movie and I'm looking forward to it coming out on DVD soon. I'm such a sucker for love stories / chick flicks but the hubby not so much. 

I was able to stop by and see the hubbs for a bit after the movie before I headed back home. I hate that CQ fell on a Saturday because that means our whole weekend is gone because he will most likely sleep till after noon tomorrow. I already had plans for the evening to babysit so it all kinda worked out for the best I guess you could say. Still I would have loved to hang out on the couch with my love. I didn't mind at all spending the evening with one of the cutest little 18 month old in my class. It was a pretty chill / relaxing evening, G ended up falling asleep in my lap about 30-40 minutes after her parents left so that left the evening for me to hang out and watch a bit of TV. L & T came home around 11:30pm but I didn't end up getting home till 2:45am. T poured L and I a glass of wine and we chatted away for the next 3 hours while sipping on some bubbly. I absolutely love chatting with her its so nice to have some one here to talk to about life, school and everything in between. Before they got home I was so tired and just wanted to get home and in bed but once we started talking we completely lost track of time. T ended up going to bed and we didn't even pay any attention. I guess we were to wrapped up in our girl time. It was definitely a great night and it worked out perfect since the hubbs was gone, as much as it sucked in the beginning when I found out he had CQ this weekend I guess it didn't end up being all that bad after all. I kept myself busy so the time passed quickly!!!

~DAY 184~

Its Good to be Home

It's been such a nice and relaxing day doing a whole lot of nothing. I got back about 4:45 this morning and curled right up in bed with my love. Some how I managed to wake up at 8:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I laid there for a bit going over in my head everything I needed to get done today and decided I might as well get up and going. I'm sure this adrenalin rush will quickly come crashing down on me so I better get as much done as I can now. The hubby and I went to breakfast at his favorite place, Dunkin Donuts. Of course I wasn't complaining because that mint I got a big ol' glass of sweet tea for a whopping $0.99 total score. We had a couple other things to take care of today so we decided to go ahead and knock it all out while we were already out. We were able to spend the rest of the day just lounging around. We took the pups out and boy were they happy, it had been a good week since they've gone on a walk. As heart broken as I was to leave Illinois and come home I'm so happy to be back with my love. My original plan was to come back Monday (today) morning and that would have put me home close to midnight. I was having major withdraws from my love so I headed out a bit early. I'm so glad I did to because it gave us all day together before I had to go back to work. I cooked us a yummy new meal that I'd found on pinterest awhile back and we popped open a bottle of cheap wine and called it a night while I caught up on my TV shows I had missed. It feels so good to be home, I only wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow.

~DAY 179~

Let The Good Times Roll

This evening we got a little creative, add in there a mason jar of wine and it was a pretty fabulous evening. See we were getting ready for out trip to Chicago on Saturday. Its National pillow fight day. Apparently its a pretty popular event that happens once a year all around the world. Prior to me heading out to Illinois Crystal had asked if it was something I'd want to do. Of course I mean how many people can say they partook in a pillow fight in the middle of a public street. Plus it also gave me the chance to go to Chicago, seeings I've never been there. So yesterday we went to Walmart to pick up our pillows and while we were there I mentioned to her the idea of decorating them. After all if we are going to make the 2 & 1/2 hr drive we might as well make the most of it. We had paint left over from when we painted our pots so we just decided to use that.

 Neither of us really had a plan on what we were going to do but once we started the ideas just kept coming for Crystal. In the middle of everything I had colored her hair so that's why she looks a bit funny in some pictures. (Side note: her hair turned out fabulous) I'm not creative at all when it comes to stuff like this. It sounded like a fantastic idea but when it came time to putting it all together I was stumped. I decided to go with a heart on the first side with our initials and the year we got married. Typical lovey dovey stuff right lol. On the back I wanted to go with a Army Wife theme but couldn't think of anything, that's when I decided on the Proud Drill Wifey quote. Crystal had some stencils so it worked out perfect, just very time consuming. It was so worth it though I'm so proud of my pillow. I really hope it doesn't get torn to shreds on Saturday because id love to take it home and keep it.

Crystal went with a day and night theme, I think it turned out super cute. One side had a moon on it with stars and the other had a sun with some clouds. She was going to write on it and give it to Chy after Saturday but we got busy and never got around to it. She was always the creative talented one when we worked together out in Hawaii. I just seem to be lacking a bit when it comes to the creative side lol. I try I do and I'm getting better, in due time right :) 

I think they turned out so cute!!! Adam was suppose to decorate his pillow but he got lazy and went to bed. His brother started decorating his pillow (he was going with us as well) but I forgot to get a picture of it. It was the "POW" theme, he didn't finish his because he to was lazy and went to bed. Guess the guys can't hang with us girls. So far we haven't been to bed before midnight since I've been here and we are always up by 8am. So much for relaxing and sleeping in over spring break. But hey that's totally fine by me because I'm LOVING my time here!!!!!!

Enjoying a bit of tasty wine while we painted our pillows :) This picture was actually taken and sent to My Spouse as a "Toast with her"........

....and this was her "Toasting with us". I miss her loads and loads!!!!! 

We had a fun night together painting our pillow and jamming out to Pandora!!! I'm looking forward to Saturday!!!! 

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

I spent the evening with this cutie pie. 

MEET GIBBIES.

She is 1 & 1/2.

She's one of the kiddos in my class @ school.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER. 

& her Momma

She is a spunky, crazy, full of life little princess. 

Wednesday when L (mom) picked up she mentioned she was looking for a occasional sitter & asked if we knew of any teachers at the school that babysat.  My reply ~ "I would absolutely love to watch Gibbes for you." I use to babysit quite a bit in Hawaii, most of our friends in HI were met through first watching their little ones. 
I gave her my number & later that evening she texted asking if I would be able to watch G Friday night.
We spent the evening playing in her little kitchenette set & reading books. She is seriously such a ham.
L & T (dad) got home right around 11pm and I spent the next HOUR just chatting away with them both. After a bit T went to bed, I guess he couldn't hang with us girls.
L is just a few years older than me & T is just a couple years older than my hubbs.
It was so nice to really get to know them better, we talked about so much, L & I loved it. I think if it wasn't so late already we would have stayed up talking for hours. She is such a sweet heart I can't wait to spend more time with her. I've FINALLY met someone that's closer to my age, has the same interests as me, and we have so much in common.
I see many wine date in our future (before they left for the evening, they told me to make myself at home, showing me were the wine & beer stock was lol, no way would I be drinking while watching their little one but it was so funny) I can't wait to get together with L again!!! and watch little Miss G. 

~DAY 134~

Get in my BELLY!!!!!!

DAY 106

Its been one of those days......or should I say one of those WEEKS!!!! 
Were this was much needed. 

It's always 5 O'clock some were right?!?!?! 

As soon as it hit 5 O'clock here in the South I was off work & headed out the door. I was so ready to lay back & enjoy the weekend. I needed it heck WE needed it so badly. I made a pit stop by the Class Six on my way to the house & picked up a couple bottles of our favorite Moscato d' Asti wine. Last night the hubbs said he might be at work as late as midnight tonight, I wasn't looking forward to that. I was determined to stay up till he got home and we would enjoy a glass together. He needed it as much as I did if not more. Much to my surprise my phone started ringing about 5:30pm and it was MY LOVE calling to tell me he was off work and headed HOME for the evening. YAY!!!!! 

We decided to take advantage of his early evening, we took the pups on a short walk & then went out for a wonderful dinner date. He passed his first 3 tests in Drill School today so celebrating was a must, plus we needed some US time. We had decided on Olive Garden but the wait was crazy long so we changed it up & though we would give Carrabba's a try since neither of us had been there before. We had a great dinner, a wonderful waitress & best of all plenty of us time with out anything interfering. I'm so glad we ended up going out for dinner I really enjoyed our little date. It was totally unplanned and a nice change from the normal that we have been living over the past couple weeks. 

Needless to say we never ended up popping that bottle of bubbly, shortly after we got home we both were so ready for bed it has been a LONG day. 

I can guarantee that we will dive into it tomorrow night though. Umm I can't wait so so yummy. 

Whats your weekend splurge after a long ruff week ?!?!?!?! 

Nail Salon

DAY 67

Every Girls needs pampering

What better to do when your Spouse is in town then to go get your nails done together.

Pedis, YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!

It was our thing to do, about once a month we'd make plans to go get pedis together. A pit stop at the Starbucks on the corner first to grab a drink and something to munch on. So while she was here we made plans to go get our toes down. I hadn't had the chance to go since we arrived in SC, really I just hadn't made the effort to go. I was told about a place in a shopping center that freaquently went to and so we decided to try it out. I have to say as far as the pedis themselves went they did a pretty good job. However their customer brightness was a little off, as well as the chairs. Come on I mean every body loves the comfy over sized chairs that massage your back. They had these awesome over sized bench seats that sat two but only one of them worked. We did notice they had regular salon chairs further back so I suppose if I go back there I'll just have to request one of them.

We sat back and enjoyed the moment, talking about how neither of us have gone to get a pedi in BLUE JEANS. We were always wearing shorts or a summer dress but not here in the South, not right now at least. Burr the cold weather is killer & I'm not diggin it one bit.

After our toes had dried we went next store to check out Wine Styles, awh yes we were in love. We have one back in Texas and I've been a time or two but that was really before my love affair with wine. I fell in love with a glass personalized wine stopped, I mean how cute is it I just had to have it. S was a bit sad because they didn't have one with a M on it. (not to worry spouse I'll keep checking)

We also stumbled upon a bottle of "Pink Moscato" that we though we would give a try. Yes just because of the name, is pretty and every girl loves PINK. It ended up being ok, not fabulous but it was good. I think it's safe to say we will stick with regular Moscato though.

That afternoon we spent on the couch watching the movie Bridesmaids before venturing out to the gym. I attended a Spin class with S in Hawaii a few weeks before we left and enjoyed it, once I got the hang of it. I had been wanting to try the Spin class here but hadn't got the courage up to go by myself. Thankfully S didn't mind going at all, the class we did was called Spin & Pump it was a good work out and I felt so much better about myself afterwards. It gave me that boost of confidence that I needed, reminding me that I CAN DO THIS and I WILL. I just needed to take that first baby step.

The rest of the evening we hung out at home cooked dinner and talked about how much we weren't ready for her to leave. Although there are great things that await her when she gets back to HI (after a trip to WV to visit family) for that I am happy and will let her go. lol Also another thing that keeps me going is knowing that I will see her again in 6 short months for a trip to DC.