My horoscope and PCSing

My horoscope today said:

Stress and frustration could be the result of having to try to reach people in distant states or foreign lands, Stacy. The time difference could well be a factor. If you think things through carefully, you should be able to coordinate it so that you can get through to them in a timely fashion, and whatever you're trying to accomplish with them should work out. Stay calm and focused, and you'll get through this with a minimum of upset.

And it couldn’t have been more perfect for right now.

When Seth got back after R&R, he mailed me some important paperwork that I’ve been anxiously awaiting. Since January. It’d make my life easier having this paper sooner rather than later. I’ve been waiting impatiently, especially the last few weeks. On Friday, I got one of two letters from him. It was a letter, not the paperwork, but they were mailed at the same time, so I’m sure I’ll be getting it very soon. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but ummm, too late for that. Hopes are at an all time high. I’m interpreting this horoscope as a good sign!

Anyways, in other news that got me excited: Seth got PCS orders!! To Washington state!! While I’m a littttttle tiny bit sad that I won’t have the chance to live in Germany right now at least, it’s probably best if I get acquainted with military life in the US rather than a foreign country. Maybe we’ll get stationed there in the future?! I was born in California and lived there until I was 10, and I’m BEYOND excited to be going back to the west coast. Plus, my sister is living in Oregon and we’ll just be a few hours away from her. I can’t wait to be back by the ocean, marine animals, the mountains, earthquakes (ok, not really, but I feel more comfortable with earthquakes than tornados), my brother and sister. I can’t wait for weekend trips to the mountain, or an afternoon to the coast, or a day in Seattle or maybe even going to Canada for a weekend. Hiking in the mountains, bike riding outside, fishing and camping. And hey, we’ll be close-ish to Alaska, so maybe we’ll find our way up there. A girl can hope.

This will be our first duty station together and we’ll be able to hopefully get a little puppy or kitty, and finally start our lives together.

I don’t do fist pumps, but I seriously want to right now.

Sheer

I have a slight obsession with perfumes. Specifically designer perfumes: Kenneth Cole, Burberry, Dior, Armani, Calvin Klein. We're all BFFs. (My mom is the same way; we have a 2 person perfume club, and we share back and forth. So this is not all that I we have).


My favorite scent has changed many times over the years but I don't know if I've ever had a "scent." You know, the one that if people smell, they will likely think of you. I just love so many that mine changes all the time.

Insert Burberry's Sheer into my life. I think I got this last spring. It's one perfume I can't seem to share and let my mom take for a few weeks. It is the perfect scent and I'm obsessed with it. It's a very girly smell, clean and fruity and floral and can go with any outfit, in my opinion. Plus, the bottle is pretty: light pink signature Burberry plaid. It puts a smile on my face when I get a whiff of it. The other day, I was talking a walk to a building with some coworkers and I found myself smelling my gloves like a weirdo. The gloves smelled like this perfume and it made me happy.

I'll definitely be wearing this on our wedding day!!

Do you have a favorite perfume? What kind do you wear?

MilSpouse Friday Fill In #7

Thanks to Wife Of A Sailor for these questions. Go link up!


1. What are some of your ideas for staying connected with family…you know, those people we moved thousands of miles away from? submitted by Live it. Love it (or not). Write About It.

Cell phone and internet access are my life. Seriously, I couldn’t live without them. I imagine when I do move away, my parents will get a webcam and we’ll “see” each other on that when we’re apart.

2. What’s the most romantic gift you have GIVEN? submitted by Painting My Canvas

Myself? JK. sort of. Ummm, my mind is blank here. Oh, for Valentine’s Day this year, I made a guy-ish version of a scrapbook that had pictures from R&R. I surely liked how it turned out, it was folded paper lunch bags as the pages, it didn’t have all sorts of girly embellishments on it, it was just simple.

3. Would you encourage your child, if they came to you and wanted to join the military? submitted by Perfectly Imperfect

I can’t say right now if I would be encouraging per se, but no matter what they chose, I would be supportive. I think it would be really hypocritical if we were a military family, had kids growing up with their dad in the Army and then told them no, they can’t follow in his footsteps. If our future kids have the desire to serve, I’ll support them 100%.

4. What is your least favorite bill to pay and why? submitted by A Little of This, A Little of That

Credit card because it’s revolving. I really don’t have that much, but every time I get the balance extremely low, I need some type of car repair that costs at least $200 and then it goes up again. I could pay it off any minute really, but I like the cash cushion more. My goal is by the end of year, if not sooner.

5. What is the proudest moment you’ve had as a military spouse? submitted by Our Okinawa Life

When I found out he was getting promoted last September. Of course though, he got promoted while he was deployed so I couldn’t be a part of it, but I was (still am) insanely proud of him. Can’t say for sure, because it hasn’t happened yet, but I imagine when this deployment is over and he’s home safely, that moment will move into the number 1 spot of me being proud of him. :)

Potato Leek Soup

While my sister was home, we made Potato Leek Soup from a cookbook I got her for Christmas. I've had potato soup before, but not potato leek soup and OMG it was delicious. It was relatively healthy too. I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while. I made some tonight and while it's cooling, here is the recipe. And when it's cool enough to eat, I'm going to sit down and watch Coming Home from Lifetime. I'm prepared with a box of tissues, which I've been told are a necessity.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients
2 TBSP butter (I used EVOO though)
3 medium leeks
5 cups chicken broth
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a large sauce pan, melt butter EVOO over medium heat. Cut the leeks into 1 inch pieces. Add to pan and stir to coat. Cover and let cook until softened - about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. In a medium sauce pan, bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Keep it hot, but don't let it boil. (I also cut up a few of the green part on the leeks and let them simmer and let their flavor seep into the chicken broth).
   
3. Add potatoes to leeks and pour hot broth over the leeks and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to food processor and puree until smooth. Return to pot and place on low heat. It should be smooth. Add water if necessary.
   
   (I don't technically have a food processor, but I do have a smoothie maker and that worked just as well. My sister and I may or may not have put this soup into a smoothie glass and we may or may not have eaten it like that. Either way, it worked just as well. Tonight though, I was not in the mood to dig out my wanna be food processor, so I used a potato masher instead. It's a little lumpy, but it all tastes the same).

Enjoy!!!


Oh, and here is the nutritional value. Following the recipe makes 4 servings.
190 calories
7 g fat
65 mg sodium

Mil Spouse Friday Fill in #....um 6

Thanks to Wife Of A Sailor for these questions. Go link up!! :)

1. During military separations (whether short or long) how do you keep yourself positive and motivated? submitted by Married/Single Parent

Thank God I have a job. A job that forces me to get out of the house every day. I don’t always stay positive – I get sad and depressive about it and then it usually takes a little while to get out of my funk. I try to stay busy, work out, take advantage of doing things alone that I know Seth wouldn’t enjoy doing with me (like going to the Princess Diana exhibit a few weeks ago. He would never go see that).

2. What is your favorite concert you have ever been to? submitted by Young but Not (Completely) Dumb

Umm, Billy Ray Cyrus when I was like 8? JK. I don’t remember that, except being in San Francisco Park and I got a fake alligator on a stick thing. It was made out of Styrofoam and it was pink. I’ve been to countless 98 degree concerts. My favorite one there was in 9th grade when I got tickets for my birthday. I started talking to some groupie and told him the concert ticket was my birthday present and that today, the day of the concert, was my birthday (that was a lie...the concert was in September and my birthday was in June, but whatever). I asked if he could get a signature or help me meet the guys, Nick or Jeff specifically, and he said if I could find him after the show, he’d see what he could do. You bet I found him after the show. During clean up and take down, I was yelling his name...I think it was Joe....and then he came over and talked to me and gave me the rags that the guys used to wipe the sweat off their faces during the show. Yeah, so really, I probably could have hopefully cloned those guys and became famous, but cloning seemed like a lot of work and I wasn’t into that. The guy gave my sister and best friend, who went with us, each a towel and I still have them. Brittany Spears also toured with them, and her tour bus hit my mom’s minivan and scraped up the back of it. That’s my claim to fame. I don’t remember the last concert I went to and it’s about time that changed.

3. What do you miss most about your “hometown”? submitted by A Florida Girl and Her Soldier

N/A...haven’t moved yet, so I can’t answer this one yet.

4. If you could run in any race, which charity would you choose to support? submitted by Wookie & Co.

If I were to do a race, which is out of the question, but that’s not the point, I would do one to benefit under privileged kids. Or kids with disabilities.

5. You find out Willy Wonka is your father, what 3 course meal do you INSIST he create in that stick of gum? submitted by A{muse}ing Mommy on a Pink Park Bench

Oh dear, I don't know. This will be all over the place and it wouldn't happen in real life, but I'm tired so here goes: chips and homemade guacamole. Preferably mine because it's the best in the world. Seth says so. And chips from Qdoba because they have that lime-y tangy flavor to them and they're the best. Dinner would be BBQ'd chicken. I think it's my favorite. Marinated though. I like BBQ sauce OK, but I like marinades more. You can't go wrong with it. I'd have it with a side of asparagus or green beans or broccoli and lots of it. For dessert, I'd have a chocolate lava cake like we had at the tapas restaurant while he was home on leave. Hello incredible. I'd also have an alcoholic beverage, probably some zinfandel.

It has been one of THOSE weeks.

On Monday morning at like, 9 AM, I said to my coworker, “is it Friday yet?” That’s always a good sign, right? This seems to be the longest week of my entire life. Nothing is going right, pretty much everybody is annoying the hell out of me, I’m super stressed and I’m done dealing with it. Except I can’t really be done, so it continues. It’s just one thing after another and I really want to give up right now.

My sister moved back to Oregon this week, and I miss her but I like not having to put on a happy face on stupid days like this whole dumb week. My apartment is still not in order to how I’d like it and I’ve had a busy week of getting things cleaned and the way I want.

This week can go F itself. Anyone with me?


Oh, it’s Chuck Norris’ birthday today. What’s your favorite Chuck Norris joke? Maybe that will cheer me up.

Happy birthday to Molli too :)

Donation Drive at work

I work at a pretty generous place (other times not so much, but that’s not the point of this post). I have a close coworker and friend, Sarah, whose husband is a history teacher at one of our high schools. Sarah’s husband, Kent, is the leader of the National Honor Society group at the school, is working on his Masters degree in military history, and his father, as well as Sarah’s father, served in the military in Vietnam.

At the beginning of Seth’s deployment, Sarah went to her dentist (who is now my dentist because he’s awesome) and she asked if he’d like to donate toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss to Seth’s recently deployed unit to Afghanistan. He donated I think 40 of each and this got Sarah’s mind wondering and she suggested we get our whole building (I work at the administration building) in on donating goods. The turnout was awesome!!! I think we had 4 huge boxes of stuff, weighing over 80 lbs, and a coworker named Lynn generously gave me a monetary donation of $100 (her husband also served in the Army) to help with mailing costs, and purchasing whatever else we may have wanted to buy. I couldn’t believe it! Sarah and I went shopping at Sam’s Club with a portion of the money and got feminine hygiene products, multi-packs of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors for male and female, lots of beef jerky and other snacka. Kent also took their two sons to a video game store and they picked out a handful of games to send. I couldn’t believe how awesome it turned out. We sent it in time for Memorial Day last year, and of all the boxes, the one that got there first was the one that had feminine hygiene products. (Knowing Seth, I knew he’d round up a bunch of guys, take pictures of them with the tampons…and sure enough, he did).

Anyways, Seth’s brother Shane deployed last month. Kent recently asked me if his students can do another donation drive. I told him Seth’s deployment is wrapping up, and they didn’t need/want a bunch of things but I would ask Shane if he’d like to be the lucky recipient. He said that’d be awesome. So, Shane has agreed to this and is looking forward to receiving the goods. I asked him for ideas of what they’d like and he said, “any kind of hygiene item, blank ink pens, cookies – especially Oreos – beef jerky, any kind of military book, and xbox games.” My dad and I work at the same place, and I didn't tell him we were doing this for Shane. He emailed me yesterday and said his bus drivers wanted to do a "stuff the bus" donation drive for deployed military members. (They do this during the holidays and donate the food items to a local food pantry and toys to Toys for Tots). This is going to be bigger than I anticipated and I think I'm going to recruit some professional help.

So, my question to all you readers is: do you have any Marine specific recommendations for us to gather? I need to make a list to give to Kent for his students. What do you normally put in a care package? I know what I send to Seth but I feel pressure to make an ultra cool package for Shane.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

MilSpouse Friday Fill In #5

Thanks to Wife of A Sailor for these questions! Go link up!!! :)

1. Do you or your husband ever wish that your husband was in a different branch of the military? submitted by The Turner Family

I don’t think so. Sure, I would like the benefits of the Marine’s or Air Force’s shorter deployments. But I’ve only had experience with the Army so I can’t really say I’d prefer a different branch.

2. What duty station(s) are on your “No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied” list and why? submitted by Every Branch

I don’t know if there are any. I think I could be content anywhere. We've been separated long enough that I wouldn't care where we were at as long as we're together. Cliche and possibly cheesey? Yes, but it's entirely true. I would LOVE to be stationed in Germany or even Alaska. And really, it’s somewhat temporary, so if I didn’t like it, it’d change in 2-3 years anyways.

3. If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why? submitted by Three Krakens

27

I’m know, I'm not even 27 yet (still three-ish months away). But 27 has fun things and lots of changes and I am so friggin excited for them it’s not even funny: wedding, starting our married lives together, quitting job, PCS’ing, living together, end of deployment (I’ll still be 26 for this though), getting pets. Yeah, it’s going to be pretty damn awesome!!!

4. If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be? submitted by the C.W.

Ummm, raisin bran? Or Total has a new cinnamon toast crunch that's pretty good.

5. What is your morning beverage of choice and why? submitted by NH Girl Displaced

Water. That’s pretty much all I ever drink. Or milk. Well, I guess I have milk with cereal in the morning, but I don't drink a separate glass of that. I very occasionally want coffee, and when I do, I want Kahula in it like the day R&R ended and Seth had to go back. What? It calmed my nerves. It was NECESSARY.

Show me your....

Rings!!

Soooo this looked fun and a little sparkly always catches my eye!! Link up at Mrs. Yellow Ribbon :)

Did you look at rings together?
Yes and no. He was in Germany when we started looking at rings for me. He'd send me links to show me ones he liked and I'd send him links to show him what I liked. The day he got home for Christmas leave in 2009, we went to Helzberg to look at earrings and oh, just happened to find our way to the engagement ring section. Planned? Of course not :)

Do you like your ring? Did you from the beginning?...and be honest! Holy crap yes. He sent me a link to one and I was drooling over it immediately. I may or may not have saved it as a favorite and I may or may not have looked at it each week, admiring how pretty and sparkly it was and dreaming about it. I still look at it and can't believe how beautiful it is. And he picked it out all himself :)

How often do you wear your rings?
I only take them off when I shower, clean or bake. And I assume when we have a house and I do yard work, I'll take them off then. And when I put on lotion. I hate taking them off, but I don't want to ruin them.

Do you clean your rings?
Yep. I clean them maybe once a month. And of course I take them on their 6 month inspections religiously.

What went through your mind the very first time you saw your ring?

It was SOOOO sparkly!!! I thought it was the one that I'd fallen in love with online, but the center diamond was raised and I couldn't tell that from the picture. I still loved it though and I love sunshine-y days when the sun catches it and makes pretty sparkles ALL over.

We went shopping for his wedding band when he was home on leave in January. I love his hands much :) You can find more pictures of my rings HERE. I like to put my ring in flowers that he sends me :)

(Ignore my nice black finger nail here...the washing machine lid fell down on my finger and immediately bruised it. This happened about a month and a half ago and it's still very black. I'm awesome. I just hope it un-bruises by July!!)