Where Does The Time Go?

Truly. It's already practically mid-April?

I really fell off the blogging train. I thought getting a new computer would fix that, but it just caused more headaches. I mean, why is my wireless-enable desktop not recognizing my wifi?? And Windows 8? How does that work?? How much does Microsoft Office cost these days? It took me longer than anticipated to sit down and figure the darn thing out. Honestly, I still haven't. I haven't used it nearly as much as I thought I would. The touchscreen is pretty cool, though!

So, how about I hit the highlights?

I just published my end-of-2013 posts....FOUR months late. Oops. So, those pretty much recap last year.

This year...

Disney World was equal parts amazing and exhausting. Those were some of THE longest days, but we packed so much into those five days. Not much had changed in the seven years since I had been there last, but it was incredible experiencing it with Brian for the first time. Plus, we got to spend quality time with my brother and his better, more handsome (haha!), half. I may have needed a vacation to recover from my vacation and I know I didn't take enough pictures, but it was awesome nonetheless.

I am six weeks away from the end of my second year of work. I'm not sure how many more years I have here (doubtful it'll be more than one) and it's hard to believe the last two have flown by. I signed up to do summer school in June, so I won't be completely free until July. The extra money will be nice though! Maybe I should start thinking of some way to treat myself.

Brian and I have been pretty rock solid. We have friends and go on dates (impromptu dinners out count, right?) and get away every now and then. I even agreed to go camping for his birthday. There was a fire a tent and everything! Now, I am in no way a camper now, but it can be fun occasionally. Next time maybe I can win a round or two of horseshoes! Ha!!

We celebrated seven years in the Army a couple days ago. It's gone by rather quickly. There's a possibility of another deployment at the end of the year, but Brian has a number of things up in the air, so we'll wait and see how it plays out. No matter what happens I know we'll be fine. I feel at peace about the whole thing.

Next weekend is Easter weekend. Instead of going home to see family or even to stay here and chill out (since I don't get a single day off between now and the end of the year), we are heading down to see Brian's grandmother. She's crazy, but she's always been good to us, so we owe her a visit while we're still relatively close. We're staying at a hotel about 45 minutes away from her and I doubt she's all that happy about it. She made sure to remind Brian that she has a bed and we can stay with her. Of course we know all of this and definitely made the conscious choice to NOT stay there. I have a feeling it'll be an interesting and probably tiring weekend.

Despite Brian being in the country this summer, I am ditching him in July to accompany my parents to the Northeast once again. I'm conflicted about leaving Brian behind, but the thought of two weeks on the lake again is too enticing to pass up. It is good for my soul to be there. By the time summer school is over, I think I'll really really need the break to recharge before getting back to work in August.

So there's the quick and dirty update. No promises moving forward, but I have high hopes.

Diamond Rio!

So many times I find myself writing a blog post in my head, but then I get home or get caught up in something and I just never sit down to write. Hopefully some of you are still reading!

School has more or less taken over. It's not hard yet, but it's time consuming. I went to orientation for one of my classes last week. It was pointless. Well, it was good people watching, but horribly boring. There were more men than I thought there would be - one complete with ponytail and leather jacket! There were also more clueless people than I hoped/thought there would be. We went over every detail in the syllabus...the syllabus that I printed out over a week ago and had already read through more than once. I almost fell asleep.

Going to orientation required an over-night stay in a hotel. I got a great deal (thank you military/gov't rate!) and a nice room. About 4:30AM, the wind picked up as a cold front blew through. Well, the wind was howling through the a/c unit under the window so loudly that I couldn't sleep anymore. I was watching local news at 5AM. I waited for rush hour to be over and hit the road right after 9AM. I got home exactly 24 hours  after I left. A whirlwind trip. And I get to do it all over again this week for orientation round #2!

Does anyone know who Diamond Rio is? They sang this in 1991 (yeah...that long ago...)



OMG, just watched that video and cracked up. They're a little older now. Haha! Anyway, they were performing at a telethon in town to benefit a rehab center. Dad had to go present a check to them from the runner's club and I tagged along. What else do I have going on on a Saturday night?! Plus, it was Diamond Rio!

Side Story: In middle school we had "fun nights"... We had two gyms at our middle school - one would be lit up with basketballs and other sports equipment to play with (boys congregated in there) and the other gym would be dark with a deejay and a dance going on. They were super lame and I was super shy so it wasn't ever really that great of a time. Anyway, they gave out door prizes. At one of these fun nights, many moons ago, I won a prize: a Diamond Rio cassette tape!! Heck yeah, man! So, every time I hear of Diamond Rio, I remember that tape from middle school.

Diamond Rio!

Yesterday was spent eating a lot and watching football. Neither game worked out how I wanted it to, but it was fun to watch nonetheless. Today is devoted to taking care of business. I have a to do list and already crossed quite a few things off. I'll spend this afternoon studying.

Also, it's been almost 3 months since Brian left. Wow.

Adjusting

So I must admit that this little blog has taken a bit of a backseat lately. Let me explain why.

While Brian is gone I have committed to writing to him everyday - via the internet, not snail mail. I generally do this at night before bed which is when I used to blog. It seems I can only write one witty thing at a time. I run out of things to say after writing to him. Also, while he's gone, I am taking pictures every day. I always carry my camera with me, but I had gotten terrible about pulling the dang thing out and using it. Since Brian isn't around to observe the daily happenings in my life, I figured I could try to document them in pictures. My plan is to periodically send him a batch of pictures - one from each day - and write on the back the date and what happened that day or the back story of the picture.

I knew before he left that I planned to do these things, but I didn't anticipate how time consuming it would be.

Wanna know what else I underestimated? How long it would take to unpack and settle down at my parents' house. I got here Thursday afternoon and haven't unpacked a single thing. Both my cars are still half-full of stuff. My clothes are still in a duffle bag. I have 2 big trash bags of clothes to be washed. Blah blah blah. For the moment it's all being put on hold because I need to get at least 2 care packages out to Brian ASAP. Yesterday was my day to make phone calls and change addresses. Today is my day to gather everything for his care packages.

So, I'm still here. I'm just trying to adjust to my new life back at home. In some ways it's weird, but in other ways it's nice. :)

Hello October!

By the end of this month I'll be on my own again.

I read that and then look around this house and panic a little bit. There is still SO much packing to do! My goal today is to get everything off the walls and into boxes. Hopefully we can get a load or two to the storage unit this weekend as well.

It seems that Mother Nature finally got the memo that it's not summer anymore. I think it was 50 degrees this morning when I woke up. It still gets pretty warm in the afternoon, but I can keep the a/c off most of the day. I love having the window open at night and hearing all the night-time sounds when I'm reading before bed. I always sleep better when it's colder, too.

And now I'm reminded why I've sucked at blogging lately. I just can't think of anything to say. I could go on and on about moving and all that entails, but really? Who wants to listen to that?

Oh here's something: I heard back from the grad program I applied for. Since I want to teach math, I need approval from the math department before I can be offered acceptance. Since I didn't take a single math class in college, I have a feeling I'm not going to be accepted into the program. I just know that I'll have to take some leveling classes before they'll let me in. Bummer, right? I'm a little disappointed, but trying not to think about it too much. Either way I'll do what I need to do. Plus, I haven't even heard anything officially yet. Maybe they'll surprise me! A girl can dream...

Have a great weekend, you guys! :)

Blog Redo

I spent most of today overhauling my blog. Click on through if you're in a reader and tell me how pretty it is! :)

A Few Things

1. I ate a piece of lettuce last night. Does this count as an attempt at eating more veggies? (I first mentioned it here.)


2. I made The Pioneer Woman's famous chocolate cake tonight. It was every bit as good (and sinful) as she promised. Go make it.


3. I bought a new swimsuit today! I'm really excited about it. I'd describe it, but I couldn't do it justice - and I'd make it sound ugly and old-lady-ish. I also got a great pair of jeans that actually fits! I've been trying to squeeze into cheap jeans from American Eagle and stuff for the last couple years. The fact of the matter is that my body has changed and those jeans do nothing for me. It's been so long since I've gotten great new stuff - it was alot of fun. It helped that I got to hang out with my brother while shopping! (He's a great sport about shopping with me!)


4. Tiny went to the vet today. He's been having skin problems for the last few months (dry and flaky). The vet thinks it's a staph infection. We have orders to bathe him in medicated shampoo once a week for awhile and see how he does. I really hope it works. It would be so nice for Tiny to have a gorgeous coat again!


5. I called one of my oldest friends today so we could try to meet up while I'm in town and she put me off like she has the last 3 times I've been home. It always goes the same way: I call her, she makes plans with me for the last day I'm in town and then doesn't call me and doesn't answer when I call. Maybe this time she'll call when she says she will. Maybe.


6.  Hannah gave me an award today! I can't say enough good things about Hannah. She's the first blogger I struck up a friendship with outside of blogs. We email back and forth and chat on Facebook. She's a great friend to have, even if we've never met and live far away from each other!


Now about the award:

The rules:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.

2. Name 10 things that make you happy.

3. Pass on to 10 bloggers and notify the winners.

So....thanks, Hannah! :)

Happy things:

1. Shopping

2. Tiny

3. Family

4. Good books

5. Rainy afternoons

6. Dessert

7. Yankees

8. Clean sheets

9. Spring days

10. Long walks

Seven bloggers (finding and linking 7 that Hannah didn't already tag took long enough - I just couldn't make it to 10, sorry!):

1. My real life high school friend Leslie @ Little Leslie Grows Up

2. Meg @ Adapting to Change

3. Allison @ I Heart Change

4. Becky @ My Life, From {Army} Brat to Wife

5. Marsie @ Quite Contrary

6. Casey @ The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife

7. Katie F. @ The Life of an Army Wife

Geez, that took a long time! All the linking and searching and thinking! I worked on this through the entire 2 hours of DWTS! Oh well, all you girls deserve it and Hannah deserved a big fat thank you.

I'm Procrastinating...

So I'll blog!


I have 2 loads of laundry waiting to be folded. I should have just buckled down and folded it the day it was washed. I hate when I put it off! I need to jump in the shower, too. I'll be hitting the road bright and early tomorrow and don't need to worry about showering before dawn. And speaking of hitting the road: I need to pack! I'm terrible about putting it off until the last minute. It's going to be a short trip home, but weather is always unpredictable in West Texas in Spring. Snow one day, 75 the next. What's a girl to pack?


Yesterday at work a creepy bug was crawling down the hallway when I was working with a group. I kept flicking it away with my finger when it got too close. It was a resilient little thing - it would pretend it was dead and suddenly it would be crawling around again. When our group was over and the kids were walking back to class, the last 3 boys stepped on the bug and killed it. It struck me as ironic - I'm the adult, but they killed the bug for me.


So, anyone wondering how my vegetable thing is going? Well, it's not. Ha! I didn't feel right buying vegetables and experimenting when I knew I was going out of town for 6 days. I've been making an effort to eat better in other ways, though. I've committed to upping my fiber intake - which is truly what I needed to do. It's an empowering way to go about eating, in my opinion. Instead of taking away calories, I'm adding fiber. I'm making easy switches between white pasta and whole wheat pasta. I'm eating alot of apples (love apples!) with the skins still on! I'm adding more beans which I've always loved. Truly, I haven't made any major changes to my diet, but have been more aware of what I'm eating. Once I get back next week, I'm going to start adding veggies to the mix. I'm nervous about this. I hope I don't gag too much!


I've had a mini-surge of new followers lately. How are you guys finding me? I don't show up in search engines so I'm always curious how people stumble upon me on the world wide web.


Well, Brian's home early and I need to get cracking on my to-do list. What are you doing this weekend?

Hi, My Name is Sarah...

...and I am a blog stalker.

I have quite a few blogs that I read on a regular basis and (as far as I know) none of them know that I read their blogs. Tonight I left a comment on a fellow Army wife's blog that will also be at Fort Polk soon. I felt good about it when I did it, but now I'm all nervous and insecure and worried that I shouldn't have. This blog has been mine and only mine for a long time. Brian and my mom read it and that was all. Well, occasionally my brother would read it too, but that was rare.

I am afraid that if I know others are reading this that I will censor myself. I want to be able to write whatever whenever I want. I want to feel like I am not being judged. On the other hand, what if people judge me? Will it change who I am or the life I lead? Do I say anything on here that is hateful, hurtful, or untrue? The vast majority of what I write is how I feel and how I feel is always honest and true at least in that moment.

So, tonight I took a leap of faith. I put myself out there. I hope it turns out to be a blessing. I hope that in the future I feel able to reach out to others through the world wide web. I mean, if everyone else can do it why can't I?

I guess we'll see.

S.

I cleaned my room!

It's sad when that deserves a post. I would take pictures if it wasn't so dang cold in here. My feet are under a sheet and two blankets - one being a down blanket - and they're still cold.

I just finished writing Brian an email. I always think everything I write (on here included) is crap when I write it, but when I read over it...it's not that bad. Maybe I'm hard on myself.

This is a pointless blog. I knew I should have just gotten ready for bed and written tomorrow.

I'm going to lunch with my mother-in-law tomorrow, so I'll probably blog about that afterwards. I'm a little anxious about it. It'll be a new experience.

S.

Memorial Day

Hey there. This is going to be quick because I'm already waaaay behind on getting ready for and getting to work.

My mom made one of these this morning so I figured I would too. Maybe I won't share it with anybody so I can write about anyone/everything I feel like.

I need to get ready for work. More later maybe.

24 Days.

-S