Christmas "Spirits"

J like the typeical Sailor he is, has enjoyed his fair share of bar nights both in the US and overseas. Since we've gotten married those have become quite rare however we do still enjoy a nice cold one (or ones). One thing that we are both looking forward to are finding some new little fun drinks to enjoy! We recently bought four of these fun martini glasses and tried our first drink in them last night....

DELISH! It's called the "Diddy" and its so simple and smooth!

1 1/2 ounce vodka
3 ounces lemonade(we used minute maid)
shake on the rocks and pour over lime wheel


What are your favorite drinks?

The good things in life...

I'm that happy go lucky, very optimistic, crazy smiley type of person. That person that usually doesn't visibly show that she's sad or frustrated or stressed.... My dear husband on the other hand, can tend to look more on the pessimistic side. His job is very stressful, and as those in the military or with military experience know, its never just a job... its your life! They own it! On the days that he has duty or he's just run down, he tends to also see everything that is bad. I asked him to tell me 10 things that were good... They were hard for him! We get to the point in our upset pessimistic mind where we don't want to see anything good... When he finished with them. he began to realize that life wasn't so bad!

During the month of November, I hopped on the lets be thankful every day on Facebook. Sometimes it was easy and sometimes it was very very hard. But it taught me that even when I think the world is out to get me, its not... That I really do have everything I need- and more!

I still try to sit back and think about the good things we have and I encourage you to do the same. Remember especially during this holiday season but also during every part in our lives, that we do have so much to be thankful for. A home, a roof over our heads, plenty of food, indoor plumbing, dogs, a husband, clothing, a christmas tree and ornaments, presents under the tree, tv, freedom, God, love, family.... I can keep the list going...

One huge thing I'm thankful for! J and I are going to be a first time aunt and uncle! This baby is going to be so loved!

It's Christmas Already?

I'm sure many have a story very similar: They want to have the wedding in a specific month but family members want another month.. One side wins or some kind of compromise ensues... The month I wanted was May or June and my parents wanted more time to prepare and would have preferred August or September. J and I have now been married 7 months as of yesterday.

Another similar story for many... This is the story of the military. Even though they may have a pending deployment that will take them away from loved ones for 7 months, the ones in charge set up many "underways" (short little bouts out to sea). If I were to add up all the underways that we have had this far J and I have been apart 2-3 months. There is no way to say it but that it just purely stinks! The fact that we got married in May however, provided extra time together before the deployment... Invaluable time.

Take these two things along with one last thing... an impending deployment and you get reality. J will deploy during the last part of January. Specific songs do get me teary eyed and so do movies, pictures, stories... all right- anything can get me emotional! The reality is setting in that in one month I'm going to have to say goodbye.

As we prepared for Christmas season, I was really excited! I LOVE Christmas and so does J. We are like two kids... in fact as we went to pick out a Christmas tree I actually caught myself skipping! We picked up a countdown decoration.. We get to turn the spinner each day till Christmas. It's a lot of fun, and I can't wait for Kids one day to join in... However, now I pass by that countdown and realize that the countdown till deployment is getting lower as well.

My Christmas spirit has dampened. I wish it could freeze in these next two weeks forever. I wish I could have the time with J and the dogs. The good times with the new Wii, making breakfast together, decorating the tree, going to the dog park, snuggling, all are times that I wish would never end.

But I'm determined. I want to have a wonderful Christmas, make memories... We need those memories to make it through till next August. I'm also determine not only to make it through deployment but to conquer it! We will be successful!

There are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. - I Corinthians 13:13

The Beautiful Story of Our Day...

Getting Ready:

I enjoyed getting ready with my closest friends and family...
These people have blessed my life immensely.

As a gift to the bridesmaids, I made each of their identical necklaces and earrings...

After searching for bridal jewelry, I decided to make my own...
Hopefully before long these can all be a part of a company that I would like to start...
I'm thinking about calling it Sassafrass after what my hubby calls me.

My bracelet actually came from one of my best friends and bridesmaids. L gave it to me a couple years ago and has been something special to me. It was neat that it coordinated so well.

I wanted to take the get ready photos somewhere fun and different...
My parent's rental cabin was being used by family members in town for the wedding, but it just made it for more of a family centered event as we finished getting ready there.

I was so excited! I loved this time with everyone and our photographer was a blast to work with as well.

Bridal Portraits:

I was having a hard time letting loose as you can see from the first couple photos
however soon I was able "let my hair down" and couldn't stop laughing and having fun!

I had decided that it was going to be too expensive to have someone come do my hair (they would've had to travel 1 hour one way) and too far for me to go! SO I had decided to figure something out... However after many failed attempts I was worried about how it would turn out... One of the bridesmaids did her hair BEAUTIFULLY! and I asked her to do mine... She did! She should go professional... I'm blessed...

We put together the bouquet in the morning before getting ready... The berries actually came from a dollar store! You can find things anywhere!

More pictures to come.. I have so many that its difficult to pick from! All thanks to two wonderful photographers... Ginny Emery at wanderingalbatrossphotography.com and Kelly Kirksey http://kellykirkseyphotography.com.

Lost in time it seems!

Months have gone by haven't they?! I kept meaning to post, but found other things more distracting... However, I've been really wanting to start up writing again, maybe even finish some stories I've started. That would definitely be quite the day. So here I am again! And I think better than ever! I love how my life has changed even though it may not be exactly what I have expected. I would not exchange or alter it for anything.
An overview which will be extended in blogs to come:
- J and I have been married almost 7 months! I can't believe how time has flown.
- We have two puppies that we have added to our family this summer... We got Charlie as a rescue in June. She's a Lab mix... We were looking but not sure if we were ready to add more chaos but when we saw the photo of Mack, a Brittany Spaniel, we just couldn't resist and I am so glad. He is the sweetest thing and just adds so much!
- I work as a part-time nanny now! I'm not sure when I'll go back to school (however I did get accepted into Liberty University's masters program for Family and Marital Counseling), or get what some people would say is a "real job". For now, a real job is one that will allow me to be with my husband when I can...
- I am the Vice President for J's ship's Family Readiness Group... It keeps me busy and I love the people that I meet!
- J is busy as the ship prepares to stand-down for Christmas and deploy shortly thereafter. He's been out to sea much since we've been married but I think its a good warm-up!

So please let me know if anyone is still reading this and I hope y'all enjoy.

To wet your appetite...

Here are some photos to wet your appetite.... The rest are will be sprinkled about...
I got to do a fun bridal portrait where some of them where similar to a trash the dress session. I absolutely loved it! All the photos have turned out spectacularly! Both the photographers involved are highly recommended... They both love to travel. So check them out:

Ginny at Wandering Albatross Photography
and
Kelly at Kelly Kirksey Photography (where you can see more photos of mine here...)

And the aftermath....

It has been way too long hasn't it ladies? I always told myself that I would catch up on it and actually post in the mean time. But how the heck do you newlyweds do it?! I graduated from college, moved, got married and moved again within a span of two weeks. Yep, not much time there! I will start sharing my thoughts and feelings on the matters in the days to come. Now that I'm a new navy wife with a husband who works 11 hours a day, I have some time on my hands.

Finishing College!!!
It really was a bittersweet moment. I decided not to walk because I just had way too much on my plate. Wait really? Is graduating, moving, getting married and moving again enough? yah. Those are my thoughts too. For those that don't know, I graduated with a double major in Spanish and Psychology. I had both senior theses my last semester so yes there was a lot of writing and editing and more writing. Perhaps that is why blogging became the last thing on my mind. Again, the 30 page psych thesis and 15 page spanish thesis (yes in spanish) was not enough. I did have more classes which also had more writing required. This is not to mention the many wedding planning things I had to do or the packing that happened in the mean time.
This is how I felt in the middle of it all:
Packing!
Since many times my head was like the reference you can only imagine what my bedroom looked like! I decided that until I had actual time, real picking up was not going to happen. I knew that it would take waaaay too long to catch up and I needed to focus on school first. So getting to actual packing was intense. The day that i finished with all papers, tests etc both my mom and my brother came to help me out. We were able to get a good girls dinner in before the fun began and able to finish all of it in less than 14 hours including sleep.


So I finished college in three years. In three years, I graduated from high school and moved from Asia to Michigan, finished my first year at a private college in dutchville Michigan, moved to Montana where I went to school for a straight two years no break; after which I got married and moved to Virginia. In three years I grew up; I found my dream. In three years I learned many of life's hard lessons. In three years I became myself. I found who I was and stuck to it. In three years, I lost the layers. The layers of what could be fun, of what I would love to be. I lost the layers of who I really wasn't and peeled myself back to the layer of who I really am. In three years, I fought what I was taught and struggled through what I was told. In three years, I went through heartache and tried to love someone that I never should have. But through that heartache I found a new side of myself. I found a self that was strong and could push through the impossible. I found a self that could. This could self was the self that finished in three years. This self was the self that tried to push through for years. That was underneath all the layers. And in three years I became ready. I became ready to date the right man. I became ready to prep myself to be Mrs. B. A Mrs. that would instantly join the ranks of the Mighty Military Wives. The ones that could, the ones that can and the ones that will. Three years passed. Sometimes three years crept by. Three years flew by. What a wonderful three years. Now I pass over to the ranks of the married women. I have so much to learn. So much to work on but I now can....