31.5 weeks, Updates and Pictures

It’s been a crazy busy few weeks.

Let's see...

I went home to Michigan for a few days and saw friends and family for the surprise baby shower Seth had planned!  Two families that I used to babysit for when I was a teenager were invited, but unfortunately, they weren’t able to make it to the shower. I still saw one family though and we hung out till almost 1 AM! It was awesome. We all cried when we said bye. I hate seeing their little broken hearts when I leave. It kills me. Each of the girls (13 and 8) picked out a gift for our new baby that would remind us of them whenever we used it. The older girl has had a little blue elephant since the day she was born that has a blanket attached to it (it looks more like a cape with an elephant head. That might sound weird and creepy, but it’s actually a really cute toy). Anyway, she has taken that thing with her everywhere since she was born and still sleeps with it now, even as a teenager. After not being able to find a replica for our baby, she settled on a little blue elephant teether toy! If our baby doesn’t automatically like it, I’m going to force it upon him until he loves it! I’m kidding. Sort of.  The younger girl LOVES soccer and picked out an orange soccer outfit. Seth also loves soccer so this was a perfect gift. Also, I learned while I was in MI that when Seth was younger, he would only wear orange colored clothes, so it was even more appropriate :) We got a lot of gift cards and I only had to mail back a few boxes of stuff. I went shopping and got the baby a lot of Detroit Tigers baseball clothes per Seth’s request. He’ll be decked out for the end of the season and hopefully the Tigers make it to the play offs this year!!!

I think the baby liked the plane rides; he was very active on the flights! He’s only 7 months old (in my uterus) and he’s already been on a plane to Michigan twice! He’s a little traveler already! Seth splurged on the seats with extended leg room, and they just so happened to be right in front of the bathroom, which was an added bonus. They were really good flights (minus the first flight where I was seated next to an off duty flight attendant who was on stand by. He was a jerk…I was texting Seth as we started pushing back from the terminal that we were getting ready to take off and the guy asked me if I knew I was committing a federal crime by continuing to text after they said phones needed to be turned off. I told him yes, and he shook his head no at me, and then continued to read my text over my shoulder. Then I silently cried because I was mad at him. Ironically the on duty flight attendant who was seated directly across from me didn’t seem to care at all and didn’t ask me to turn off my phone).

We started painting the nursery last weekend. We’re going with two colors – a dark bluish/turquoise color on the bottom and a light blue almost gray color on the top. The colors match the bedding and it’s going to be sooo cute once we get it done. We’re going to put chair railing in the middle to separate the colors (that's why it's all uneven right now). Hopefully we can finish up the painting this weekend. We just settled on which crib we’re getting, so we’ll be getting that this week or next weekend. I’m excited to get furniture in there and start washing his little clothes and making it look like a REAL nursery!

Since I have yet to post a picture of myself, here you go. This picture is from last week when I was 31 weeks and 2 days. I can’t believe in about 9ish weeks, he’ll be here. It’s CRAZY to think about.  

These two are crazy together. Patrick stands underneath Woody and pretends he's one of those little Russian stacking dolls, and Woody tries to move every which way to get him. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We're working on training Woody right now; he's developed some not so great habits that need to stop immediately. They love each other though.

Seth planted gardens in our backyard the other weekend and they're doing really well! The dogs were getting into them and digging stuff up so we had to get the little fences to keep them out. We have a bunch of stuff: lettuce (a few varieties), spinach, carrots, red onions, celery, garlic, brussel sprouts, lots of different tomatoes, bell peppers, a few types of squash, carrots and jalapeno peppers (I think that's all of them!) We also have two blueberry plants and one thornless blackberry bush. They're in planters behind the gardens. We also have tons of blackberry bushes coming up along the bottom of our fence. Hopefully they produce lots of fruit this year and we'll be able to can some.
     

(ever since he was a puppy, he's loved "working" in the garden. and by "working," I mean "digging")

And because I'm obsessed with Mt. Rainier and take pictures of it ALL the time, here's a pretty picture from today. Ahhh, I love it so much. The last several weekends we've had great weather. I LOVE it. It makes me look forward to the summer, big time. I can't wait- it's definitely going to be the best summer yet  :)

Meet Woodhouse

We got a new dog last weekend. I should say Seth got a new dog last weekend. I wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of a new dog, because I'm the one home all day taking care of Patrick as is, and soon a little baby, but Seth has been wanting a big dog to run with since we moved to Washington. I kept telling him no because we lived in the townhome, didn't have a backyard and I was not going to be responsible for walking a small dog, a big dog and loading up an infant multiple times a day to go for potty breaks (likely in the rain). I was perfectly content with it being me, Patrick and soon to be baby. It was quiet, we cuddled a lot, everything was going fine and dandy and Patrick is well behaved.


Enter Easter weekend when we go visit my aunt and gramma. They had found a stray puppy a few weeks prior. My aunt had contacted the animal shelters around her to see if anyone reported a missing dog. No one had. He's pretty young, probably 4-5 months, looks to be a mix of Australian Shepherd and Collie, very clumsy, still has baby teeth and is potty trained. Seth fell in love with him immediately and spent most of the day playing with him. He even named him Woodhouse shortly (we call him Woody for short) after meeting him when he wasn't even "our" dog yet. My aunt knew Seth wanted him badly. The Friday after Easter, we drove to my aunt's house and oh hi, we have a new dog. YAYYYYY.


Today, all I've done is listened to the dogs bark (3 solid hours this morning), shut the office door to tune them out, but it's not nearly enough. I give them treats to reward them for being quiet, and then they resume barking. The neighbors are installing a fence today so there is a lot of extra, new noises and that's what's causing all this commotion with them. They get along well about 85% of the time, but Woody knows Patrick HATES his ears nipped at, so that's the first place he goes and it gets Patrick riled up. Then Patrick gets all feisty and snarls and chases after him, but Woody likes it. Deep down Patrick loves it too, and he loves a playmate, but frequently I hear a little yelp from Patrick and have to tell them to calm down. Then they don't. And I get frustrated. Woody gets running so fast in the house, they chase each other up the stairs, down the stairs, around the table, in circles in the living room, in and out of the office into the hallway, up on the couch...I'm just waiting for Woody to fly through the living room window (he runs so fast he can't stop in time so he jumps on top of the couch which is right in front of the window) or for something to crash and break to the floor.


I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the quiet days of Patrick napping and quietly playing with his toys all by himself and being all cute and quiet and calm.They don't share toys too well right now so toys are off limits and I'm slowly incorporating them back. (I gave them one over the weekend and Woody broke it within seconds).


I hope this dog turns out to be good for our family. I have no idea what he's like with kids, but I hope he is good with them, especially infants. We definitely have to work on his rambunctiousness, because he certainly can't be running around the house like he currently does when a baby is playing on the floor. He seems like he'll be protective, but I don't want him to be too protective that no one can get near us or the baby without him getting angry. He is definitely Seth's dog (he usually pees an excited pee when Seth gets home from work), but he doesn't leave my side throughout the day. He lays right by my computer chair, if I go to the bathroom, him and Patrick follow me and watch me pee and when I shower, he's on the bathroom floor. 


There is so much testosterone running through our house these days, Lord help me.

 (don't let these pictures of them being calm fool you. they are very rambunctious together)

Husband of the Year

Can I just say I have the best husband and if I knew where to nominate him as husband of the year, I would?! He is always so full of surprises. I like to think I usually know when he’s got something planned, but I was pretty damn clueless this time. However, looking back, there were a few signs between him and my parents and I didn’t really think too much into them. Silly me!

So it’s no surprise that I really haven’t made any friends here (yet). He kept asking me if I was going to have a baby shower here and I kept telling him I really don’t have friends to have a baby shower with.

Back in February (FEBRUARY!!!!!), he emailed one of my best friends from home, Molli, and asked if she would want to help plan/coordinate a surprise baby shower and he would buy me a ticket. Being the super good friend that she is, she agreed to take on this task! (She started a new job in the fall and has been insanely busy with that AND she’s planning her own wedding for July, so I know she’s super busy). I don’t know if it was her or Seth that got my two other favorite coworkers/friends involved in the planning of this, but the same girls that threw me the wedding shower last year are now throwing me a baby shower!! I am soooo excited and literally cry…like right now…when I think of all of them planning this for me. I get to go home to see all of my favorite people in about 2 weeks to have a baby shower.

My parents and brother came up last week from CA and my sister came up from Oregon and spent a few days at our house. We had a bbq with some family friends and my cousin on Saturday and little did I know, it was also a little baby shower then too! They both brought gifts, which I wasn’t expecting. We got a baby bouncy seat (that Patrick just loves!!!!) and a baby swing (which Patrick sooo doesn’t love!!), some clothes, socks and other little toys!

On Saturday night, we all drove down to Oregon for Easter. I was adamant on having an Easter egg hunt with my siblings and our significant others – we colored eggs and stuffed plastic ones with candy. My dad and Seth hid the eggs and off we went to hunt for them. After they were mostly found, Seth was patrolling the yard to see if we missed any and he gave me a plastic one. I figured it had the wrappers of the Cadberry Crème Eggs that I bought specially for him, and didn’t open it right away because I thought it was trash. He told me to open it and I saw it was a piece of folded up white paper and then I figured it was the hotel receipt from the night before. I unfolded it and it was a plane ticket itinerary to go home to Michigan. I was very confused because it was for two weeks away and I didn’t know why I was going…I was seriously clueless. Then he told me that he had been planning a baby shower with Molli and Sarah’s help and he bought me the plane ticket to go home! Damn pregnancy hormones, I’m literally bawling right now! I’m so so so excited that I get to go home and see all these people AND it just so happens to also be a baby shower for me (us). After the Easter egg hunt, we went inside and there was another mini-baby shower with more gifts from my parents, brother and sister, aunt and gramma. And we had delicious cake that I may have had a few bites too many of. 

It was a very good Easter and nothing at all of what I expecting. I'm a very, very lucky girl. :)

On being homeowners

We're homeowners now. I've had better experiences. We bought this brand new house so it should be in tip top shape with no problems, right? Wrong.

Friday, Seth was over here doing stuff while I was at the old house working. He came home (to the old house) and told me he had some not so great news. He was putting an anchor in the wall to hang the blinds in our bedroom and the anchor came out slimy. He knew that meant wet insulation. Great. Wet insulation on the insides of our walls. Hello Holmes on Homes!!! So I've been dealing with that. Yesterday they were here for a good hour, today they've been back for pretty much the whole morning. It also annoys me big time that I was told they'd get here yesterday between 9:30 and 10:30 am. They come strolling up to my door at about 8:45ish. I was working, so I hadn't showered yet, no make up, no bra, teeth unbrushed. Great. As much as I want this fixed ASAP, I want them to give me accurate times of when they'll be here. Same thing today. A guy was going to come today to inspect the roof for leaks between 9:30 and 10:30 and the boss lady was going to be here between 10:30 and 11 to see what he found. She got here at about 8:30. I was in the bathroom, shower was on, I was naked and Patrick starts barking his little head off. Grrr. I threw on clothes, answered the door and she asked if it was OK if they looked at it now. Sure, why not. So...two ish hours later, bigger holes in the dry wall in our bedroom, she finds more soaking wet insulation, roofer checked out the roof and says nothing is wrong with it, he checks the attic and checks all the vents...all look fine and dandy. She was going to call a siding specialist to have him check the siding and said that would be done tomorrow. Seth had duty last night and was up 30+ hours and laid down in our room to sleep because she said the siding guy would be here tomorrow. About 30 minutes after he goes to bed, there's a knock on the door and it's her again with the siding guy. Seriously? Seth got up and went to the spare bedroom to sleep and there are no curtains in there yet and it's bright as hell in there. Poor guy. No leaks have been found (yet) and they're continuing to look for where the problem is coming from. I'll be damned if I have mold growing on the insides of our walls in a brand new house. Here's a picture of what our master bedroom window looked like this afternoon after they did their stuff. The wet insulation has been removed (and has been contained to this one area) and now the wood is drying out behind it.

Patrick LOVES the backyard though! He literally gets a huge smile (with his huge underbite) when he runs all around. There is a ton of mulch in the backyard and he tears it up back there. And since he's short, he kicks it up and he is covered in mulch in no time. And we have big gaps under the fence so he can easily sneak out (which he's done), so we can't leave him alone in the backyard yet. We bought chicken wire stuff to lay across the bottom of the fence, but he's a digger and has already sniffed out the neighbor dog and they both whine and stick their noses through the fence to smell each other. We were going to do railroad ties along the fence to block the holes, but they're expensive and we'd need quite a few. And it's been cold and very rainy and windy the last few days which make standing in the backyard while he runs around quite miserable. We need to do something with the amount of mulch too; it's on a steep slant that is a little too steep to grow grass (and mow it), so we want to put in terraces, but again, we're budgeting for this, along with all the baby stuff we need to buy.

We ordered blinds Friday night and I'm hoping they get here ASAP. My parents are coming up for spring break in early April. The blinds are supposed to get here on April 5th and my parents will be here April 4th. And they don't rush order blind orders. Perfect. Hello tacky sheets in the window until the real stuff gets here. Painting is done, but we still have touch ups to do (and the baby's room), and all of our stuff has been moved in. We still have to go back to the old house and clean it, which we're doing a few nights this week and this weekend.

So needless to say...being a home owner is time consuming and expensive. Welcome to adult hood, I guess.

House Hunters

We’ve recently decided to start searching for a house to buy in the area. Lots of things are impacting this idea of ours and we’ve been looking online at all sorts of houses in our price range. We applied to see what we could pre-approved for earlier this week and we’re still waiting to hear back. Last night, we drove by a house we saw online and realized the neighborhood was ghetto, run-down, dirty and just gross. There was trash on people’s lawns, lawns weren’t taken care of, the houses just looked dirty and old and we decided hell no.

We were close by another really nice house we had seen online and really liked but saw that there was a back up offer on it, but we decided to drive by anyways. It was in a gated community and we couldn’t remember the address, but we decided to drive around anyways and see if we could find it. Sure enough, we did find the community it was in! And the gate was open! We walked into the office right around 5 pm and it looked like the lady was closing up. Another guy who worked in the development was walking in at the same time and said we could come on in and we started looking at the community map and the plots of land. Seth pointed out the biggest lot and said it’d be an awesome one. We started talking to the lady and she said that they did have a few available houses that we had been looking at that we could tour. And one of them was even on the lot that Seth liked on the map! We hopped in our cars and followed her up the street to the house. It’s safe to say we fell in love with it pretty quickly (it’s a 4 bedroom + a den/home office, 2.5 bathroom, 2 car garage, large back yard, master bath with a walk in closet). It was pretty much everything we were looking for. We have an exceptionally large kitchen right now, with an island, that we love. The kitchen in the new house is a bit smaller, I think, but it might just be the layout. There isn’t an island, but I think we could easily make it work. We also currently have a pantry, and there’s a pantry (albeit not as big) in the new house.  We back to the office and the lady asked if we wanted to make an offer/write up a contract. We made an offer on it (which includes all of the closing costs include, a new refrigerator, a landscaped backyard (right now it’s just dirt) and a wooden fence to finish off the backyard.  I got an email last night at 10:30 from the lady (I’m not sure if she’s considered a realtor, she just works for the property development) that said our offer had been accepted!! We applied for the loan online to see if we could get pre-approved for the amount that we need. Even though she asked us if we wanted to write up a contract, to take it off the market to other lookers, I didn’t want to do that if we can’t get approved for the amount needed. I really don’t think we’ll have a problem, but I don’t want to tease myself. Ok, honestly I’m already in love with the house and it’s already a tease and I’m going to be very very sad if we don't get approved.

Right now, we’re anxiously awaiting a call back from the lender. We have an appointment tomorrow to go back and look at the house in the daylight and write up a contract, assuming we get approved. The lady also put early March as our possible closing date, assuming we get approved. The backyard would be perfect for Patrick too!! There is a little hill in it that he would love to tear up and down and roam free. There is a big flat spot by the back door that would allow for a hot tub too! It’s a house we can definitely grow into and we really want it.

Here’s to hoping it’s ours soon!

Oh, and P.S. Patrick was with us last night when we went on this adventure. The lady invited him into the office after we toured the house and she fell in love with him  (he’s a charmer, what can I say?!) When she emailed me, she addressed it to Seth, Stacy and Raymond!!! She called PATRICK Raymond!!! So today I’ve been calling him Raymond and he doesn’t seem to mind.

Here’s a picture of RAYMOND!!!! He also goes by Ray, for short. 

Oh hi...I'm on the west coast now :)

Whoa, blogger is ALL different! This is going to take some time to get used to.

So I've been living on the west coast for exactly one month now. Wait, that's a lie. One month and two days. Crazy.

I'm short on time, so this is a lame post.

Since I last posted...

• I moved to Washington! woooo!!!
• I finally live with my husband! (what a concept!)
• We have Patrick with us all day, every day!
• I work full time from home.
• Working from home has its pros and cons. I really miss my work friends and I hardly ever leave the house. I really really really really really miss my work friends. 
• I am pretty desperate for friends, sooooo I volunteered to lead a book club in the FRG. wtf. I'm not really one to lead things, and here I go emailing the FRG leader saying if she didn't have a leader for it already, I would gladly do so! Desperation at it's finest. Now I have to organize a book club and all that stuff. Yes, I googled it and got Oprah's advice. 
• We went to Seattle last weekend and redeemed a groupon my sister got us as a wedding gift! It was a gondola ride up Mt. Rainier! It was pretty cloudy up at the top of the mountain and rainy, so it wasn't that great of a view. But we decided we'd go back in the spring time when it's nicer weather. We were on a tour bus with a bunch of other people and had a fun time. We got back to Seattle early enough that we were able to check out Pikes Place! I got a beautiful bouquet of dahlia's and can't wait to go back!! 
• We have sooooo much exploring to do in this area. I can see Mt. Rainier from my home office on a clear day. We ride our bikes a lot and I'm trying to learn how to hop curbs on it. Last time I tried though, I got hurt and I've been scared to try it ever since. (don't get too excited, I didn't completely fall off my bike - as awesome as that would have been - I just pulled an arm muscle and dug my pedal into my calf.  

Now I must go walk Patrick in the drizzly rain and then go crawl into our brand new king size bed (delivered today!) without Seth because he is working late.

I hope to be back reading/posting regularly soon!!!

False alarm, day dreaming and pictures

I so badly want to blog. I want to read a bunch and write a bunch and share pictures but I don't really have the time. Remember when I thought I was moving in…like, right now? Well, I’m not moving this week after all. I’m content yet sad about this. But I still have a ton of stuff going on (like finishing thank you cards, getting my dress preserved, house-sitting for a week, helping my parents move, etc.)

Patrick left to the west coast on Tuesday. My grandma is long term babysitting him until I get to Washington and we get housing. We had a family photo shoot on Monday:

patrick loves his daddy

patrick loves mommy

family photo shoot

please note harry, my parent's dog, standing awkwardly by seth. he definitely wanted in on the family action.

Seth left yesterday for his long road trip out to Washington. I REALLY wish I was going with him. It’d be a fun road trip together, and we’d be able to experience and explore the new post together. But now he’ll know it all before me. We won’t see each other until late September/early October.

My parents start their move to California on Monday. My dad accepted a job in CA a few days after the wedding, so they’ve been busy packing up their house and getting things in order for a big cross country move. They had less than 2 weeks to pack up a house that they’ve lived at for 14 years and no time to sort through things they need vs what can be donated or thrown away, so they’re packing up everything and will sort it out when they get there. So like every good child, I stored some of my stuff at their house that I’d want back in like 15 years (you know, after I have a house of my own with an abundance of storage, and not moving every few years). I threw out a bunch of stuff, donated a bunch of stuff, and burned a bunch of stuff including my whole 98 Degree memorabilia collection that included a ridiculous amount of magazines, posters, sweat rags from a concert, signed pictures, trading cards, etc. The little bit of stuff I do have at their house, I will be taking to my home and packing it up to take to Washington in a few weeks.

I don’t have a lot of motivation right now…hence this post while at work. I find myself daydreaming about driving across the country with Seth and the next thing I know, I’m looking at our wedding pictures that were taken with my camera, while anxiously awaiting the official pictures from our photographers. I wish I was here, where we went on our little honeymoon, in northern Michigan:

Seth's home!!!! (and wedding weather)

Seth got home last night!!! Patrick and I picked him up from the airport yesterday evening. He's back in the states!!!! We were talking in the car ride home and he doesn't remember the last time he was home in the month of July. He thinks it's been before he joined the Army, and he's been in for almost 8 years now.

Anyways, Patrick made himself a little outfit for the homecoming. I bought the materials (duh, he's too young to work, and he doesn't get an allowance because he's naughty!) but this was all his idea. I swear.

waiting (napping) in the car, waiting for Seth!!!!

(he had so much fun, he wanted the underside of his shirt to be decorated too. and p.s. the t-shirt may have come from Gerber...for an infant 0-3 months. it may have also come in a 5 pack, so Patrick may be getting in touch with his crafty side and make some more t-shirts for himself. and p.s.s. folding 5 pure white infant shirts may have given me a bit of baby fever. i can't be certain though. )

They LOVED each other!! Patrick gave Seth all sorts of kisses and licked his face and cuddled up on his lap on the way home. Seth kept checking on him in the back seat to make sure he was content back there in his cage and he was cool enough. It was so cute!!

In wedding news....I checked the extended 12 day weather forecast to get a glimpse of the weather on our wedding day. Have I mentioned that the wedding is outside? In Michigan? Where weather is completely unpredictable? Yeah...it's supposed to be 94 degrees, "humid and warmer with rain." The rehearsal is supposed to be 85 degrees and mostly cloudy with thunderstorms.

I know, I shouldn't have even looked at the weather forecast, because it can change 2,309,098 times between now and then, but I couldn't help it. Sooo if you're the praying type, please pray that it's not nearly that hot because I will literally die in my dress. And my hair won't appreciate that weather. And neither will the guests. Please pray for 76 and sunny with a breeze. But I'm not picky!

Also, while mentioning I'm not picky...have I also mentioned that Seth's brother's wife will be wearing a white gown to MY wedding? It's floor length, pure white, and looks like it's a prom dress. She posted a picture of Facebook the other day and said it was for an upcoming wedding and everyone commented on how beautiful it is, and how she'll look stunning in it. Apparently she, along with all of her friends, do not know it's inappropriate to wear a white dress to a wedding UNLESS YOU'RE THE BRIDE! Honestly though, I find it hilarious. I'm not saying anything to her; I'll let the staredowns of the other guests do the talking for me.

MilSpouse Friday Fill In (#: unknown...I lost count)

Head on over to Wife of A Sailor to link up!!

1. Are you a different person than you were five years ago? submitted by Sisterly Thoughts
   Pretty much yes. I had just turned 22, been at a grown up job for a few months (still at it now), living in ghetto student housing, just doing my thang. Now I'm 27 (eek!), getting ready for our wedding, thinking about babies, getting ready to move to the west coast. Oh, and I'm a puppy mom now!!!
   
   
2. If you could go on Amazing Race, who would you take with you as your partner and why? submitted by Thoughts from a Poekitten
   I would say Seth, but that's just asking to fail. We'd be bad partners. Or should I say, I'd be a bad partner? That's what he'd say, lovingly, of course. He's wayyyyy more competitive than me. WAY MORE. We work very well together, just not on competitive things. Like in Cranium. One time, he was drawing and I had to guess what it was, and I was guessing "wrong" and he got mad at me because his drawing was SO perfect and I clearly wasn't getting it. He threw his pen down and said something like he quit. I then yelled...pretty loudly...in front of our families, "DON'T GIVE UP ON ME! KEEP DRAWING!!!" I still never got it. I'm perfectly fine being the loser of a game. Sometimes, I prefer to lose just so I don't have to hear the other person whine about losing. It's just easier that way, I think. Some people are sore losers; I'm a happy loser. I never played sports in school. Shocking, huh?
   
   All this to say...I'd do it with my sister. She wouldn't give up on me!!!!
   
   
3. Does Facebook or Twitter actually bring more stress or good in to your life? submitted by Just an Arizona Girl
   I don't do Twitter, and I wouldn't say Facebook brings more "stress" but I do wholeheartedly think that it eats up a good portion of my evening. (That's why they shouldn't block Facebook at work...I could easily get my Facebook stalking done during the day while I'm on phone calls. Duh).
   
   
4. June is National Soul Food Month- what’s your soul food? submitted by NH Girl Displaced
   Can I just say food, like, in general? No? Well then I guess I would say potatoes? I love a good baked potato.
   
   
5. If you could live in any other era than the current, which one would it be & why? submitted by Sugar in My Grits
   Instead of an era, can I say the Amish? I would be totally fascinated with being Amish. Of course, I would be totally fascinated with being non-Amish if I were Amish. I could NEVER EVER live without my cell phone (we share a heart), the internet, electricity, etc and work on a farm, but their life style fascinates me. (Funny, yet not is that an Amish teen was recently busted sort of in my area and he was sexting pictures to another Amish girl and decided to meet up with her. That part isn't funny. The funny part is that he drove/rode his horse and buggy down to meet the girl. ahaha horse and buggy. Maybe that's funnier in my head).
   

I'm going over to Molli's tonight. We're playing Jenga and Boggle and maybe other board games and drink lots of wine!

Just for fun, because I'm in love, here are two pictures of Patrick. He was helping my mom garden the other day:

and then promptly went inside and crashed! Gardening wears him out!!


Happy weekend :)

Little tidbits

I've been slacking in my blogging, mainly because I've been too busy to devote a whole post on one thing, but since I want to blog, and I just pained my nails and am waiting for them to dry, here's a random post.

Patrick got his first bath this weekend! He looked completely ridiculous, all soaking wet and crying. He had a traumatic weekend. Event #1: I really hate/get disgusted by eye goop all up in the fur by the eyes, so I always dig it out. It was deeply stuck in his eye fur, so I got a warm rag to loosen it up and I started digging it out. He wasn't happy, so I enlisted my mom's help. He started snapping at her and she had to yell at him. He was upset when he got yelled at. Traumatic event #2: (this is gross and I'm sorry)...His little butthole is covered in fur. I can't even find it, to be honest. And when he poops, sometimes it gets stuck in his fur. And then he'll sit down...and smash poop into his butt fur. And then he gets mad because he KNOWS it's there but he can't get it off. So I got out a baby wipe and started cleaning him up. Apparently it was pulling his fur because he was snapping again and yelping. When it got warmer outside, I decided to start traumatic event #3, which was getting a bath. (I also thought that I could run warm water on the dried poop in the butt fur to like...melt it away. It worked eventually.).

poor guy. so skinny and scrawny and nerdy looking here!

crazy fur-do after his bath!

pre-bath, all curled up with Harry, my parent's dog. They LOVE each other.

***

Wedding is coming up. Like, SOON. Less than a month! I'm stressed to the max. I got all of the wedding favors (homemade vanilla extract) done this weekend! These deserve a post all on their own, so I'll try to do that this week. I'm very proud of how they turned out!

***

I cannot wait for the 4th of July! My sister is coming home in the afternoon and staying for a few weeks (for the wedding and all that). We're having a sister date: going to a little beach on a big lake we grew up by and watching the fireworks while having wine and cheese!! In high school, right after I got my driver's license, we'd go to this little island during the summer, and we'd hang out there all day, pack a picnic, play in the water, read books, have photoshoots, etc. We'd borrow my mom's minivan and drive to the lake. (It's awesome being 16 years old and driving a minivan...) I'm SO excited to see my sister!!! And have a sister date. It's long over due.

***

Seth comes home in just over two weeks! He doesn't even have to go back to Germany after that! For the first time in our relationship, he'll be in the US for an unknown length of time!! Of course, he'll be going to Washington shortly after the wedding...and I won't be going with right away...but at least we'll be in the same country, even if we're 3 hours apart. This will also be the first time that I'm in a time zone ahead of him. And this will be the first time we've seen each other in the month of July. Whoa.

***

So the wedding. We're not having a military wedding. But I sorta wanted a little bit of something military in it, so I looked online for a military chaplain in our area to perform the ceremony. I found a lady and emailed her a while ago, and she took FOREVER to reply. Literally, forever. I was getting anxious, so I emailed her again and again. Over a span of about 4 weeks, she replied to my email twice. I'm still waiting on her to contact me to set up a time to meet to go over the ceremony (per her request). The wedding is less than a month and I've given up on her. But rest assured: my friend Molli referred me to a Reverend that has married numerous people in her family, and she said he's a really nice guy, lives in our town and is in high demand for performing weddings. I emailed him just last week...about a month before the wedding, and asked if by any chance if he's available on our date. Turns out he IS! It is TOTALLY fate and I am SO excited for him. I meet with him this Thursday to go over how we'd like the ceremony. I'm not contacting the Chaplain lady to let her know we're going with someone else. She penciled me in on her calendar, so she said, but she hasn't made any further contact. And honestly, I don't think she will. I want to see how long, if ever, she waits to contact me before the wedding. She knows the date, and the location, and I'm hoping she doesn't just show up and want to perform the ceremony. That'd be awkward.

Isn't Patrick the cutest?! I'm completely in love with him!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In # 5

Link up Wife of A Sailor!!

1. Do you think civilians, in general, understand the meaning of Memorial Day?
   
   No, not really. I just read a post by Wife on the Roller Coaster that only 28% of Americans understand the true meaning of it. Only 28%!!!! She did a really nice post on 10 ways to observe Memorial Day. For the civilian world, it’s an extra day off work/school and the kick off of summer.
   
   
2. What are your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend?
   Since I don't live in a big military community, I found a volunteer opportunity in a neighboring town. It's placing American flags at a military cemetery. Patrick and I will also be attending the parade in town (and he'll be dressed up wearing red, white and blue) and I'll be wearing my I <3 my soldier t-shirt. (This is the 4th Memorial Day that Seth and I have been together, and we have yet to actually be in the same country to observe it. Hopefully next year will be different!)
   
   
3. What skill/talent do you wish you had? submitted by The 3 Turners
   
   I wish I had a lot of talents. I lack a lot. Really. It'd be cool to sing. Or to be an artist so I could do all sorts of cool one of a kind paintings for our house.
   
   
4. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? submitted by I Married Into The Army
   
   Oh wow, interesting question. Hmm, I'm going to say chicken because I like chicken.
   
   
5. What is the best thing about your post (base)? The worst? submitted byRandomly, Robyn
   
   I don't live on post, so I shouldn't answer this. But, I will give an answer based on Seth's current post. Best and worst is that it's in Germany. It's awesome that he's in Germany and gets to be stationed there, but at the same time, he's soososososo far away, isn't home for most things, calling cards are expensive, we're apart, etc.
   
   
   Happy Friday! For your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of Patrick :)

No brides were harmed in the dress fitting

On Saturday, I had my first dress fitting. I managed to pass out and collapse during it. Pretty awesome, right?! Apparently it's common.

The seamstress was yelling at me to stand still and not move. She put a rose up on the wall for me to stare at. I was standing there and thinking quietly. I even thought how I could probably easily get myself worked up for no reason at all, really. Then I pushed that thought away and was standing very still while she pinned the bottom of my dress so she can later hem it. The seamstress yelled at me, "This is the hem on YOUR dress. If you want it to look nice, you NEED TO NOT MOVE." (Ok lady, dang). After maybe about 20 minutes, I started to get really hot and felt like I was going to throw up. (I've passed out before, but I didn't want to acknowledge that I felt it happening again). Then the room started to get dizzy and I called my mom over. I said, "I'm really dizzy." That's the last thing I remember. The next thing I know, I'm down on the floor, kneeling, and my arms are stretched out and my mom's holding one, the seamstress is holding the other, they're saying my name and smacking my cheeks. Then employees started rushing over to me, they put a cold, wet rag on the back of my neck, fanned me down, gave me a bunch of water. They wouldn't let me get up for a while, but I felt completely fine.

I later asked my mom how long I was out for and she said just a few seconds, but it seemed like a long time. I asked her if she got any pictures of me and why didn't she pose me in positions that looked like I broke my leg or something. It would have been hilarious!!

The fitting room is filled with mirrors, no windows and no air circulation. The seamstress asked if my knees had been locked (probably, I don't really know, but I was standing completely still for at least 20 minutes not moving AT ALL) and said that it's common to lock your knees, and after a long period of time, you pass out. She said that about 1 in 20 brides pass out during their dress fitting. (Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed to not be the first do do this. Just add my name to the list, I guess). I've heard before to not lock your knees during your wedding ceremony, but never for the dress fitting. So take warning, other brides :) I have pictures of the cold, wet rag on my neck (you know, as proof that I passed out, since my mom failed to get pictures of me!) but I can't put them on here, because Seth can't see my dress.

In other news, I got Patrick on Saturday!!! He is the cutest little puppy ever!!!And SO sweet and such a little lovebug!! The owners met me at the bridal shop and we did the exchange there in the parking lot. Then I promptly went to Petco and spent a bunch of money getting things for him. It was cold and rainy so I had Patrick wrapped up in a jacket from the car. He was so cute all cuddled up and everyone wanted to pet him!!! He threw up on the jacket when we were checking out. He is doing really well at my parent's house and I spent the night with him on Saturday. He slept in his crate for about an hour then started to cry a little bit so I brought him to bed with me. He curled up right next to me (he didn't pee in the bed either!!!) and slept soundly all night long. He had a little chew toy bone thingy on the bed and he played with that in the morning and rolled around in the bed and loved his little belly being scratched. I'm so madly in love with him already!! I can't wait until Seth comes home to meet him!!!

Two months exactly till the wedding!!

MilSpouse Friday Fill in #3 (i think)

Go link up with Wife of A Sailor!!!

1. Which was the best day of your life- Wedding day or Homecoming day? submitted by Pink Champagne, Gatorade & MREs
   
   Trick question! We haven’t had our July wedding yet, so I’m going with homecoming day :)
   
   
2. Were you a part of the joining the military question or did you sign up for the relationship when your man was already in the military? submitted by Cammo Style Love
   
   Signed up for the relationship after he was already waist deep in the Army (deployed at the time, too). I have been part of the re-enlisting conversations though.
   
   
3. What is your favorite Disney movie and why? submitted by Raising Roscoe
   
   The Little Mermaid! Because Ariel is gorgeous and she has a beautiful singing voice. And that movie has the best soundtrack. Yes, I own it. And Prince Eric may be a little bit dreamy.
   
   
4. What is your favorite family activity to do on the weekends? submitted by Destination: RN!
   
   I can’t answer this yet, because we haven’t lived together to really establish a “family routine.” However, now that we have Patrick, I fantasize about us going on long walks and bike rides (I’m going to get a basket for my bike!!!) and exploring the outdoors in Washington.
   
   
5. Where do you secretly wish you could be stationed with you/your SO’s line of work (realistically speaking, not everyone can be stationed on NAS Fiji)? submitted by Wookie & Co.
   
   It’s not a secret, but I want us to get stationed back in Germany. And Hawaii and Alaska.

P.S. Patrick is officially OURS!!!! I pick him up this afternoon!!