A to Z

I saw this on my friend Emily's blog, so I'm shamelessly stealing because I used to love doing these things in high school!

A. Age: 27

B. Bed size: Queen.  Ryan wants a California King, but we don't snuggle enough as it is :) 

C. Chore that you hate: Washing dishes.  Thank God for the dishwasher...even though the dishes don't even make it there after eating most of the time.

D. Dogs: The cutest wiener dog you'll ever meet, Zoe.

E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast.  Have to have it. 

F. Favorite color: Any shade of blue. 

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5' 5"

I. Instruments that you play: I know how to play "Hot Cross Buns" on the thing that looks like a flute....

J. Jobs: Nomad (sigh)

K. Kids: None, yet.  Zoe is one spoiled doggy, though. 
L. Live: Today? Richmond, VA.  Tomorrow? Fredericksburg, VA.  Friday? Columbia, MD.  2 weeks from now? No clue.

M. Mother's Name: Diane

N. Nicknames: Ains, Hibbs, Hibby

O. Overnight hospital stays: None, unless you count the time I had to take Ryan to the hospital for the awful virus we both got.  I eventually fell asleep in the chair next to his bed and they released Ryan after 2 IVs at 3 or 4 in the morning....

P. Pet peeves:  Slow drivers, workers who don't work, and laziness.

Q. Quote from a movie: Tons.  Mostly from romance movies.  "There are millions of people in the world, but in the end, it all comes down to one." and "So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day."   "

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Two older brothers - Chris (oldest) and Brandon

T. Texting: Too much.  

U. Underwear: What about it?

V. Vegetable you hate: Squash and peas

W. What makes you run late: Zoe.  Or traffic.  Usually I show up early.  

X. X-Rays you've had: My collar bone 2 seperate times (broke it twice), my left arm (broke it), and my teeth 

Y. Yummy food you make: I love making pasta.  Love baking any kind of desserts. 

Z. Zoo animal(s): Penguins.  I will have one for a pet before I die. 

Livin' La Vida Nomad!

This one is going to be a doozie.  So, grab a cup of coffee, glass of wine, or a child to snuggle with, because you're going to be at your computer for a while.

I started uploading pictures from my camera and realized how much I haven't blogged about!  I guess I've been so busy blogging about random crap and taking care of my 5 kids and working 60+ hours a week I just haven't had the time!! Ha!

Please be prepared for a non-chronological, completely sporatic (Clueless, anyone?) list of pictures and events here.  My brain certainly does not work in an organized manner, so why in the world would I try to do something different for my blog?

First of all, if you don't have a DSLR camera, I suggest you get one.  Like, tonight.  The quality of pictures you'll get are 203842038 better than a point and shoot.  My sweet, loving, caring husband of mine got me this baby (baby...hmmm...I'm wondering if that's why he shelled out the big bucks?  perhaps to take my mind off of a bun in the oven and focus on material things instead? yay or nay?) for Christmas:

Isn't she a beauty?  I've considered naming her since Black Beauty, but it just doesn't have the ring to it like my car has (Miss Nelly the third).

Anyway, Ron and Kim got me a Chimpsy photography class so I could learn how to use this sucker outside of Auto Focus.  I ended up going when I went up to Maryland in January for the weekend to visit my brother Chris, his wife Emily, and my beautiful niece Rena Brynn.  Since there weren't any Chimpsy classes in Richmond and I didn't want to wait until March to take one in Nashville, I decided to do one Saturday morning in Washington, DC.

The class was only 2 hours, but I learned a lot about BB (Black Beauty).  Check out some of the test pictures I got:

Test subject.  Inside Union Station in DC.  Oooooh.  Aaaaah. 

Playing with lighting

Woah!  The same wreath!  Taken from the same spot!  Just changed the lighting setting! AMAZING!

This, my friends, is what we call panning.  It's easy and so cool!  Now somebody, please remind me what I did to get this picture.  ;)

Focusing with appeture.  WOW!

Statue in front of Union Station.  No clue what it represents, but it's pretty and it wasn't moving, hence easy to get a decent shot. :)

After the class, I headed back to Chris & Emily's.  I didnt' take a lot of pictures, but I did get a few of daddy and Rena. 

How sweet is that face!  She's grown so much! 

All smiles!  I know that's not a popped collar I see there, Chris.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures with you in it, Emily!  Lucky for me, I'm heading back up to Columbia to stay with Chris, Emily & Rena next week.  Rena is such a happy baby it's ridiculous!  She wakes up smiling, gets picked up from daycare smiling, and goes to bed smiling.  She loves bath time and loves to dance (and by dance, I mean throw her head carelessly from one side to the other, much like a bobble head).   I can't believe she's turning 1 in March! Crazy!  She melts my heart every time she smiles at me!

On that note, I'll update ya'll on where I've been staying.  I don't remember where I left off, so I'll start from when I left Gallatin, TN.  I stayed with Paige & Jason for about a week and then stayed at Laura's for a week.  I've been in Myrtle Beach, SC with my parents and my brother Brandon's kids, Graden and Abigail, all week.  Pictures to come a little further down in this post.

I wrote about this earlier, but I can't help but love how my dog, Zoe, and Paige's dog, Roxie, are together.  When I first got Zoe, I was living with Paige & Ashley, and Paige already had Roxie.  SO, Roxie is Zoe's big sister.  They are so comfortable around each other and since Zoe is pretty much a b*tch to any other dog besides Roxie, it's amazing to see Zoe love another dog so much.  Paige and I took the girls to the park one day, and I unsuccessfully got a few shots.

Zoe = loner.  At least Roxie is getting her butt sniffed.

"I hate all of these dogs.  Where are the badgers and squirrels?"

"I don't know how to play with other dogs"

Other dogs are nowhere in sight.  This is not a coincidence. 

Look at those ears and sweet face!

My little booger

Okay, okay...enough of the dogs already.  As I mentioned earlier, I've been in Myrtle Beach all week with my parents and Graden and Abigail.  My parents like to vacation in January, mainly because it's their wedding anniversary month.  In fact, tomorrow will mark my parents being married for 34 years!  Congratulations mom & dad! I'm so glad that I grew up in a house where my parents showed me love, have always been there for me, and have shown that marriage isn't always rainbows and butterflies, but it's a lifetime commitment.  

I have to say, I can't remember the last time I went on vacation with my parents, but it's been years and it's hard adjusting to going on vacation without having Ryan.  I feel like I've warped into a 15 year old again.  For example, I needed tax papers (UGH...taxes....I'll save that fiasco for another post) from H&R Block so I told my parents we needed to stop by on the way to the outlet mall.  As I get out of the  car, my dad asks if I need him to come with me.   Being the adult, responsible, 27 year old that I am, I tell him no thanks, I know exactly what I need, it will just be a minute.  I get into H&R Block, and 5 seconds later, I see my dad walking through the front door.  I give him a weird look, so of course his natural reply was "your mother wanted me to come in because if they see me, hopefully they won't charge a fee to get the stuff you need".  Ugh.  

I didn't need him there, but the tax specialist didn't charge me, and maybe, just maybe, it was because he saw my big, burly, old man of a dad standing at the front door.  Maybe we're never too old to need our parents. 

Here are some pics from the week:

View from our condo balcony the first night.  I played with the coloring on my camera and this is what I got. 

Graden and Abigail loooooved feeding the birds.  It's probably illegal, but the birds picked up on our wealth of bread and they flew from miles away to have a chance at a bread crumb.  Poor guys. 

Abigail may or may not of been eaten alive after I snapped this pic. 

Does Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" ring a bell?

I way overexposed this and made the rookie mistake of not noticing until after Abby was done trying to sit still.  It's still a cute pic though! 

Dad and I

Graden playing with a sandcastle we did not build.  No worries, we got permission from the builders.

Another beautiful sunset.

Another one bites the dust.

Graden just had a meltdown because Pop Pop didn't let him throw out the last piece of bread...which is why Graden looks like this and why Abby is looking at him in wonder. 

Alright, enough with the pictures.  I hope it hasn't taken you as long to read this post as long as it took me to write it and upload all of these pictures!  

I can't post without giving a Ryan update.  I'm still getting to talk to Ryan at least once a day, usually by video Skype.  He's doing fine, spirits are fine, and he's made a couple of friends he works out with and eats with.  His beard is getting longer and he's still refusing to shave.  I've grown very fond of his shorter hair and the facial hair, but I told him I'd like it trimmed by the time he comes home :)  He's almost halfway done with his deployment!  Thank God!

Everytime I hear this song I start to tear up because it reminds me of Ryan.  If you haven't heard it, here's the video:

The lyrics that strike me:

Hello world, hope you’re listening
Forgive me if I’m young
Or speaking out of turn
But there’s someone I’ve been missing
And I think that they could be
The better half of me
They’re in the wrong place trying to make it right
But I’m tired of justifying
So I say to you...

Come home, come home
Cause I’ve been waiting for you
For so long, so long
And right now there’s a war between the vanities
But all I see is you and me
To fight for you is all I’ve ever known
So come home

Love you, Ryan.  Come home. <3

Reasons Running Doesn't Suck

I came across a really cute website (www.hellogiggles.com) and I wanted to share this article as to why running doesn't suck.  I particularly like number 10 :)

http://hellogiggles.com/10-reasons-running-doesnt-suck-as-much-as-you-think

Random Thoughts

-I feel so at home now.  It's amazing how different I feel just being on the East Coast.  If only Ryan can come back now and join me...

-I find myself getting unwillingly bitter whenever I hear somebody whining about their husband/fiance/boyfriend leaving them for a weekend, week, or month.  I know that I should feel sorry for them that their significant other is having to leave for a bit, but try 4 months, people.  Ryan has been gone almost 2 months now and it's the worst.  I know that I probably have the best scenario for Ryan to leave for 4 months (no kids, I'm not working, I'm surrounded by friends and family, not living by myself, etc), BUT, it sucks regardless.  Wah.

- I'm not a fan of that quote that starts off "May the wind always be at your back...."  I really, really dislike wind, and if it's at my back, then that would mean my hair would be blowing ALL over the place.  No thanks :)

- I've been planning what to send Ryan for Valentine's Day for 2 weeks now.  I have ideas, but I can't come up with anything amazing.  Ideas are welcomed.

- Zoe LOVES her sister, Roxie.  They act like they never stopped living together.  I love watching them together and Zoe LOVES her Auntie Paige.  Also, Zoe hasn't seen Auntie Ashley since our wedding (1 1/2 years ago) and she FREAKED OUT when she saw her.  Imagine pee all over the place and Zoe sitting on her face for a good 5 minutes.

- The beach is a peaceful and relaxing place, even when you're there in January with temps in the 50s and 60s.

- I've pretty much been around kids all the time since I've been back in Richmond.  I still flip back and forth as to if I'm ready for one.  I think I have a motherly side in me saying there's no better time than now, but I also have a side that tells me I want to enjoy sleep and saving money a while longer before we make such a big investment.  Ryan isn't ready, so for now I'm going to enjoy loving on all the cute kids I've been surrounded by.

- Houses are expensive.  Even with it being a buyer's market.

- There was a quote that all of my friends would share in college when we wanted to stay in at night to get our work done or we were going to miss out on something fun.  I was looking for a certain quote I heard a while back and came it across it, and it brought back SO many memories.  AOL had something called AIM where we could instant message, and we would all have this as our "away message" ALL the time! So bad!

Quit worrying about the stupid things. You have 4 years to be irresponsible. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time hanging out with your friends. So stay out late, go out on a Tuesday night when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink until sunrise. The work never ends... school does.

-  My good guy friend Eric and I had lunch the other day.  A long time ago he gave me a quote, and I can't help but think how accurate it is now that I'm back and able to spend some time with friends I haven't spent time with in a long time:

You know when you're singing along with this song, and you know all the words cause you really love it. Then a train passes and a door closes, and you can't hear the music anymore, but you keep singing anyway. Then, when you can hear it again, you're still perfectly in time with it. 

- I've been working out for over a month and a half now, and I still can't break 2 miles running.  Sad.

That is all :)  More pictures coming soon!

I. Don't. Like.

Please realize that as I'm typing this blog, I'm typing this on my Macbook.

Please also realize, I. hate. my. Macbook.

Please also realize that hate is a very, very strong word for me.  This isn't a descriptive adjective I just throw around.

I hate it.

Maybe I hate my Macbook because I bought it over 3 years ago when they were the thing to buy and I didn't realize what I was getting into to.  Maybe I hate it because I bought something that cost A LOT of money that I didn't do my research on.  My fault.

Maybe I hate it because I was raised using Windows and there are some things that I don't know how to do, and I don't care to learn how to do.

All I know is that I hate my Macbook, and I will not be buying another one.

Pros:  I can Skype with Ryan and play iTunes.

Cons: everything else in the universe.

I cannot print addresses from iWorks because you can only print address' from your Address Book with a Mac.  You cannot do ANYTHING quick at all with the Mac I have, because Safari will freeze on you every 2 seconds and you will be required to restart your computer.  No, I am not stupid and I do not have a virus.  Yes, my computer does restart all. the. time. and I have no reasons as to why it would do such a thing.

I use my computer ONLY for blogging, occasional music and web browsing.

When I was in college, I had a Sony Vaio and I LOVED my computer.  It had a TON of space, knew exactly what I was trying to do and I never had a problem with freezing/crashing/stupidness.

I got rid of it when I wanted a laptop and quickly decided on a Mac.  Sony Vaio, I cannot WAIT to come back to you.  Please be as good to me as I remember you being as good to me.  I'm sorry I betrayed you and it won't happen again.

:)

A Few Things

I would of thought by this time I would be so tired of not working and not having a permanent address would make me go crazy.  Don't get me wrong, I'm going a little stir crazy, but nothing like you would think.

People are probably wondering what the heck I've been doing if I'm not working and I don't have a husband or kids or a house to take care of.

I typically sleep in until about 8am, get up and go running outside.  It's been sooo cold it's been harder than I thought, but I'm able to run at least about 1 1/2 miles before like my lungs are going to freeze and I'll die.  After I go running, I'll shower then video Skype with Ryan before lunch.  After that I'll run errands or cross off things on my Honey Do list my now-roommate Laura has given me. :)  If I'm not working on her To Do list, I'm babysitting Nikki's girls or helping Paige with her wedding planning list. There's always something to do in the evenings, so it's been keeping me busy.

Saturday night I got to have a PAACK (Paige, Ashley, Ainsilie, Cindy, & Kendall) dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and it was so nice to catch up with each other.  I lived with these 4 girls our last 2 years of college, and even though we're all so different, we're so alike in a lot of ways, too. It's crazy how much our lives have changed since we lived together, but we're all in a good place right now and that makes me happy.

Paige, Ashley, me, Cindy & Kendall) (here's your picture Cindykins!)

I'm also looking into volunteer work around the area.  I've had more time on my hands than I can ever remember and I want to use it in a good way.

For those of you who don't know, ever since I met Ryan we've pretty much moved from place to place.  This isn't his fault, but we've just constantly been on the move.  We both lived in the Fan when we met, then I moved to Mechanicsville, then we moved in together in Maryland, then after we got married we moved to Kansas City.  You can probably imagine how often I dream, and wish, and hope that we'll soon be settled, buy a house, and really feel like we are in a more permanent place.  Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't trade our experiences for anything.  BUT, because of our in-limboness for the past 4 1/2 years of being together, I can't help but look for houses in the place we're praying we'll settle down in - Charlottesville, VA.

I know......I should be looking for jobs before I look for houses.  However,  house searching is WAY more fun than job searching.  Also, the chances of a job being around by the time we know for sure if we'll be able to live there is wayyyyy less than the chance of a house still being around.

Folks - take it from someone who's wasted over $50,000 of her hard earned money on rent.  (Yes, I took the time and calculated how much I've spent in rent since I moved out of my parents house.)  Enjoy the freedom of being able to paint your walls the color you want.  Enjoy complaining about mowing the lawn.  Enjoy having a fenced in backyard.  Enjoy knowing that all of the money you're throwing into your house will probably someday pay itself.   I envy you.

On that note, I'm going to bed for the night as soon as I talk to Ryan.  If you're wondering how Ryan is doing - he's fine.  Not great, not awful.  I sent out a package to him last week, so I hope he gets it soon and has a little taste of home.  My countdown isn't accurate since I have no clue when he'll be back in April, but according to my made up countdown on my phone, he'll be home in less than 95 days!  Can't come soon enough <3

Woah My

It's been so long since I've updated that I had to go back and read my past blogs to remind me where I needed to pick up.  Bad.  I know.

So, brace yourself, because this is going to be a long post.

First, and most importantly, it's Zoe's (aka booger, booger head, missy pissy, zoe pants, britches, da boogers, and lil baby) birthday!  She's 5 years old!! It seems like yesterday Ashley and I went to go pick her up and bring her home, only to throw her in a box and leave her for 4 hours to go out to celebrate with a beer.  Good things I'm not that irresponsible now or who knows where Zoe would be (or me!).

I took her to Three Dog Bakery to get a treat and a birthday hat.  Here's a few pictures from her mini bday party with her only friend, Roxie.

You probably noticed while looking at these pictures how amazing they look.  Yes, I am an amazing photographer, but it also might be because of my amazing camera my amazing husband got me for Christmas.  

I can't say I was honestly surprised he got me the camera.  I asked for it, and usually when I give him ideas for gifts, he gets them for me.  Spoiled?  Maybe.  Easy to buy because he knows what I want?  I'd say yes :)

I LOOOOOVE it!  Ryan's parents got me a photography class through Chimpsy to learn how to use my super sweet Canon T2I DSLR camera, so now I know how to actually use the thing!  I still probably only know about 10% of how to use it, but I figured some of this stuff will come with time by playing with it.  

I took some good pictures in DC when I had my class, but I'll leave that for another post.

Anyway, to back track, Christmas was very good.  I was scared I was going to break down and cry at Christmas dinner since I was surrounded by Ryan's family without him being there, but I didn't.  It was hard, but I focused on the positives and how lucky I was to have great in-laws surrounding me than nothing at all.

I took lots of pictures on Christmas day while playing with my new camera, but I'll only post a few of my favorites:

poor old Poochie, diaper and all.

Zoe got a "Christmas dinner" plate & a collar...this is her eating her corn on the cob

George running away from the camera.  He hates them.  Zoe loves George.

Perdita, Randy and Joni's dog

Grandma Bev & Charlotte

Charlotte putting "make up" on Isabella.  So. Cute.

Crazy faces.  Love them!

a TV for Grandpa Ralph & Grandma Judy!

Randy couldn't solve the puzzle to figure out what he got.  Poor guy.

Christmas dinner table with Christmas tree light reflections.  Oh yeah!

Grandpa Levi putting together Isabella's princess tent.  Too cute. 

Isabella attacking Grandpa Ron as Charlotte is running away from food.  Classic.

Grandpa Levi & Grandma Bev

Mark & Aunt Deborah

Grandpa Levi, Kim, & Charlotte

After Christmas, I left for Richmond.  As soon as I got to Richmond, I left with Paige & Jason to ring in the new year in Charleston, SC.  We had a good time, and I've had my fair share of road trips for quite some time.

I went to Maryland this past weekend to see my niece Rena, my brother Chris and Emily.  I'm going to stay with them for a longer period in February, but I didn't want to wait another month to sweet my sweet girl!  She is SUCH a good baby and such a joy to be around!  I should of taken more pictures, but for whatever reason I didn't.  I'll get lots of pictures when I'm there for longer!

Other than that, I've been staying busy with seeing friends and running. 

Ryan update:  it's been a month and 1 week since he left.  He's still doing fine, just missing us and I think he's starting to get a little anxious about what we're going to do with our lives when he gets back. No big deal.

I promise to update this sooner than a month! 

Quickeroo

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

You would think since I "moved" back to the east coast and I'm not spending 50+ hours a week working that I would be writing in this blog everyday.  Yeah right!

The holidays have kept me busy!  I promise I'll update and post lots of pics very soon!

In case you're dying to know, I have been able to talk to Ryan almost twice a day and mostly on video Skype!  I hate him being away, but I love technology!!

Check back soon :)