Memorial Day

"Poor is the nation that has no heroes, shameful is the nation that has them.. but forgets." 

-Courtesy of 'The Unknown Soldiers'

Today I was cautious not to say "Happy Memorial Day" while I was working, because me too like other spouses/girlfriends/fiances Memorial Day should not be "happy."  As I was thinking of all the things that I have been reading on Facebook and on blogs, I thought of what I wanted to share with you.

This was on many blogs, but I thought that Skinnie Piggie was one who explained it best.  Her blog about Memorial Day is worth reading.  Also at Boonie Caps & Tiaras she has been posting vids to commemorate Memorial Day, which is worth a look.

There is also a new article about how Time Doesn't Fly for Military Spouses which I also thought more people other than milspouses should read...Because we already know!  If you would like to read an article on 5/2, the first stryker brigade in Afghanistan, you can read that here.

Etsy also is recognizing the military on their page, which I enjoyed reading also.

If you are a fan of 3 Doors Down on facebook, check out their page if you didn't see it already.  They reminded all of their fans out there to remember Memorial Day too.  

The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem. -Aaron Kilbourn

A HUGE HUGE HUGE

THANK YOU!!!

To all who served & have served,

Active & Retired,

MIA, KIA, or WIA

for it is because of your bravery that we are the

Land of the FREE.

2-1 IN, A Co Tribute For Memorial Day

NEVER Forget!

30 Days

I am going to participate in this, I found it on the Dogtags and Pearls blog.  I will likely bounce back and forth from this...especially if I have nothing to talk about!  So, I will get started.


Day 01:  Your Favorite Song


Right now I would say anything Lady Gaga.  Yes, I tend to notice some people love her, everyone else hates her.  But I have her CD on my iPod and listen to it all the time.  I'm sure it'll get old, but, until then...

Not my favorite song, but the dogs are awesome in the vid.  I'm a total animal lover and thing spotted danes look so cool.


Here's the Sched for the next 29 days:


Day 01 - your favorite song
Day 02 - your favorite movie
Day 03 - your favorite television program
Day 04 - your favorite book
Day 05 - your favorite quote
Day 06 - whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 - a photo that makes you happy
Day 08 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 - a photo of you taken recently
Day 12 - whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - a fanfic
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 - whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a YouTube video
Day 24 - whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - this month, in great detail
Day 28 - this year, in great detail
Day 29 - hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 -- whatever tickles your fancy


Thank you all who have responded to my previous post, and I am going to do a double post in one day....Normally I do not, but I think that this deserves it, especially for this Memorial Day weekend.

Hawaii

There might be a Hawaii trip in our future....Does anyone have any good advice or tips they could give me....Or things you wish you would've known before you took your trip?

Thanks for your input!

What I Woke Up Next To Yesterday

I love him!

*Disclaimer:  This is not my pillow, nor my husbands.  It's a special pillow no one uses.*

Yes, I realize how gross that would be to let him sleep on our pillows.

Happy Monday!

Friday Follow....But on Sunday!

I was a slacker and didn't post anything Friday, but I would like to see who my new followers are....And what your blogs are so I can follow back.

Thanks everyone, hope you all had a great weekend!

Anxiety and Deployment

Oh lordy.  Today at lunch I was looking at my Facebook and saw that a few high ranking officers were killed in Afghanistan.  I immediately text a friend of mine who is at Fort Drum, wondering if they knew who they were.  The entire thing was unsettling.

I read on one person's blog once that they felt as though if someone was hurt or killed in a deployment they felt as though their husband dodged a bullet.  I usually don't stress much, but I feel like at times its like a game of Russian roulette when they're deployed and are placed in dangerous situations.  You just never know when or if they're going to get shot at, or hit that IED.

Then a couple of hours later I got a phone call later in the day from a number I didn't recognize.  My stomach dropped.  As much as I realize that being an FRG co-leader may cause me to get phone calls from numbers I don't recognize, it still makes me anxious.  It wasn't a big deal, but for that split second it gave me a scare.

I know many of you do this already, but please continue to keep our men & women serving in your thoughts and prayers.  

I know that I do, today and always. 

♥

I hear this song playing at work, and always think of the men & women that are currently away from their families....

And can only imagine this is thee way they feel sometimes.

Recipe Blog Hop

(Click the button to join!)

I've mentioned this before but I love love love these!

Roasted Balsamic New Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs of olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dried rosemary leaves, crushed
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 lb small red potatoes (about 17)
• 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp kosher (coarse) salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to 375*F
2. In 1-cup measuring cup, mix olive oil, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, and garlic.  Cut potatoes in half; spread on nonstick 15x10x1 inch pan.  Drizzle with olive oil mixture; toss to coat.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are golden and slightly crispy.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar; toss to coat.  Bake 5 minutes longer.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Thank you to Army Blogger Wife for posting & clueing me in on this blog hop! :)

Old Photos of a New Pup

I was looking at some photos and had to share.  This is our four month old pup, Stryker, and some of the first few months as him as a pup.

This is our cat, Spuz, thinking:

WHAT THE %^&* is that?!?!

Playing with his brand new toys, including the brand new one from grandma (the yellow toy).

You can get an idea of how big he is here.  So small!  Imagine him now, a 85 pound dog!  I think he was like half of that here.

He looks like such a puppy here!

One of my fave photos.  Most people have photos of their soldier with their kids.

I have photos of my soldier with our dog.

And to get a glimpse of what he looks like now.

I ♥ my pup!

Ok, I'm done now :)

The Beautiful Leavenworth

While Jesse was home we went to Leavenworth, Washington.  It is a Bavarian town in the mountains here in Washington.
Here is some photos from a walk we took.

The map of the park and the Wenatchee River

The Wenatchee River

There are bears.  Go figure, we were in the mountains!

Wenatchee River and a view of the mountains

Us

Friday Fives

I discovered this blog and thought I would participate :)

:Five Fave Photos:

(I probably should say five of my fave photos :)

Jesse driving a HMMWV in Iraq. He sent me this photo a long long time ago, and I printed it out and kept it on my keychain with me.

This photo was one of my favorites especially after we got married.  Our silhouette with Jesse's father's truck behind us (his father passed away a week before we got married).

My Baby

This is a candid photo that I took of my husband and our friends (and at the time neighbors) talking before I took a group photo.  They are a couple of great guys, and really this photo brings back so many memories that we had in Georgia.  Even if Georgia was a pain in my side every so often :)

♥

This photo is one of my favorites from the professional photos we got taken last summer.  Maybe I just like the silhouettes?

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sweet Blogging

Thank you to Just a Girl and Ines for the lovely Sweet Blogger award!

The rules of this award are just to pass it on!!  So, to share the love I gave this to:

Kristen @ Requires Heavy Lifting

Laura @ Diamonds and Dog Tags

Chantal @ Chantal's Blog

Now I have to admit I've been ridiculously behind on getting to know everyone from the blog hop!  I will try and touch base with as many of you as possible in the next week.  Things have been a little crazier around here than I would have wished them to be!

I have to say here in Washington, we are enjoying an amazing streak of beautiful weather.  It's been gorgeous outside.  I love it when it's this pretty.  This morning when I woke up though, I wished it was rainy.  The sun was filling my house (I really have good light in the house) but I had absolutely no want to roll out of bed and face the day.  I'm hitting a slight hill in this deployment where it just isn't fun.  He's not around....Still.

I managed to get out of bed, and things got better.  I have to say in Washington if it's sunny, people drive like idiots.  Hopefully after a stretch of sun it doesn't rain, too, because no one will be able to drive in that either.  Trust me on this one.

As positive as I tried to be today, there were lots of hiccups.  My dad and I were going to take the dogs out for a walk, and last minute my mother wanted to go so we had to take two cars (3 dogs + 3 people + 1 car = no go).  We met dad at the park where he had already let the dogs off the leash, and this park we go to isn't specific for "off-leash" dogs.  The dogs are always off leash though, so the proceeded to make it extremely difficult for me to pull into the park, and then jumped on the car.  They scratched the $#*% out of it.  One dog in particular.  And it wasn't mine (there were only 3 dogs there).  I do have to say that my dad attempted to fix it, but he does things pretty spaztically, and missed multiple spots.  Sigh.

I did everything I wanted to do today, but as we were about to watch Oceans Thirteen the remote broke and there was no way to manually change the TV over to recognize the DVD player.  Yes, my parents have an old TV.  UUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHH.

But other than that my day was ok.  I plan on having a relaxing morning/afternoon and heading to the dog park with my adorable pup.  Maybe do some fam stuff, and take the doggie in for a mini-check up to see if he's keeping on weight (which I can tell you he is).  The next month is likely going to be a busy with work and all of that....I'm looking forward to May being behind us!

Have a great weekend,

It's No Fun Being Sick

It's been a while since my last posting, I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with your families!

Yesterday I was supposed to be at work, but at 4 AM I was awake, and very sick.  About every 30-60 minutes I was up.  Ugh, it was miserable!  One of those times where it's no fun being sick when your husband is gone and isn't there to take care of you.  It was tough feeling like I couldn't walk or stand without feeling woozy.

My parents came by and dropped off some popsicles and sprite which was nice.  My food intake was basically crackers and popsicles.  I am really happy I don't have kids - because feeling like that I don't know what I would've done!  It was hard enough having my dog who couldn't go out for a walk and didn't get to take a potty break until 4 in the afternoon.  Sorry, Dude.

Anyway, today I am going to try and get a few things done today.  Have a great Tuesday!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Here's to you, 

the one who waits, no matter the distance, no matter the time. 

Here's to you, 

the one who fights your own battle at home, between the tears and sleepless nights. 

And here's to you, 

because while people may think they know how tough it is to be a hero, 

no one but us will ever know how tough it is to love one.

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

A few of my friends posted this to their Facebook today and I thought that I would pass it along to you guys.

Enjoy your day!

A to Z

Hey everyone!  I found this on a few people's blogs, and thought I would do my own!  Here's something you can read to get to know me :)

A to Z of Me

A. AREA CODE: 253.  I remember when the area codes around here were 206.  That's how I remember Phoenix (AZ) area codes, they're backwards.

B. BED SIZE: Queen.  Jesse has always had a queen size so we've pretty much stuck with that.  I hear getting a King can be horrible in the fact it's very hard to move the mattress and fit it into all the different crazy housing...Especially on post.  Getting back to our mattress...It's a pillow top.  Love it!

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Cleaning toilets.  ICK.

D. DOG'S NAME: Stryker.  Also known as Strykie, Stryke, Stryke-Dude, Dude, Pup, Puppers, Puppy, Bub, Bubby.

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Use the bathroom, shower, let the dog out.

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Blue.

G. GOLD OR SILVER:  White gold.  Take that, survey.

H. HEIGHT:  5' 2" or something similar.  The Army does it in inches, but whatev.

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY:  None.  Don't really care.

J. Job:  Sales support at a very large jewelry chain.  Want a hint?  Every kiss begins with...?

K. KIDS:  No thank you.  Kidding!  Eventually, just not this very moment.

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS:  Washington State.  With my husband (when he's here), my dog Stryker & kitty Spuz

N. NICKNAME:  Boo, Boey, Boo-Bear (these are Jesse's), Rissa.  I've also been called Mar, Mari, and Mer.

M.  MOM'S NAME:  Marian.




O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY:  Please no.  I don't like hospitals.




P. PET PEEVE:  Oh lordy, I could make a list.  What seems to have been irritating me to day is people who can't write correctly.  I like Macs because they automatically check spelling and things like that.  But when you write like: "sup. wat u do cuz?" I want to smack you.




Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE:  My kick-ass quote on the side.  Also - "You'll shoot your eye out!"  Love that movie.

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: Brobie Taylor.

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP:  Depends.  If I'm not working I try to get up at 8 AM.  Tomorrow is my day off and I plan on sleeping in forever if I need to.

U. UNDERWEAR:  Victoria's Secret Pink.  They have this seamless kind that I like to wear, because it's comfortable, covers your ass, and there's no panty lines.

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE:  Thinking.....Not sure.  I'll get back to you.

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE:  My dog or I'm checking the house 500 times before I leave.  I am paranoid.

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Teeth and chest.  I had asthmatic bronchitis.




Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE:  Jesse likes my Cola Pot Roast.  I like corned beef, corned beef sandwiches, and chicken noodle soup....And those are the ones I can think of right now.

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Otters.  Just like Jesse :)

Wednesday Craziness

Oh, where to start?

I'm sorry that I've taken a while to do a post.  And as you can probably guess, I haven't been ontop of the new followers.  So, I'm trying to catch up!  Hang in there!  I added some feeds to my right with everyone's pages...If I missed you please let me know.  I separated people by branches...And I think that I need a section for "Those Who are Good at Keeping their Branch Secret" section.  SO if I missed you and you want me to mention you, drop me a line.

So in news with me:  Stryker went to the vet.  They ran blood and stool, I have yet to get in there to drop off a urine sample (now doesn't that sound fun....Let's just say I have to get it mid-stream).  They think that his issues could be:

1. It's spring, new things are blooming.  He could have gotten into an animal's...Well...Business.  So basically we have to keep an eye on him if he's in the back yard...Or anywhere...To make sure he's not getting into anything abnormal.
2. He could have allergies.  I find this somewhat not possible, because I feed him an allergy-free, byproduct-free, wheat & corn-free, natural food.  This is because he's had some bowel issues in the past.  But, I am not always as cautious when it comes to treats.  Which brings me to point number...
3. He could have something they call Irritable Bowel Disease.  This could equal him being on a limited diet indefinitely.

I have to give him two pills a day (for the bacteria they keep finding in his intestines), dewormer (covering our bases), and a bland diet.  I also have to get some blood work from our previous vet in Georgia for the current vet, get an outline about Stryker's diet, and turn in that urine sample.  I believe that's everything, and to top it all off the dog hasn't pooped in two days.  Yes, I know that's TMI but ya know.  Just not normal.  He hasn't gotten his energy back either - which breaks my heart.

I was surprised that Jesse wasn't as mad about the entire thing as I thought he might be.  Now, he doesn't blame me or the dog, but he's gone to the vet probably 7 times in the last 7 months.  Vet bills = not cheap.  Enough said.  AND if this keeps happening, we get x-rays.  I better get a second job.

In other news, work has been busy.  Mother's Day coming up, which I'm sure everyone knows.  So we're just handling that.  Between that and our printer at work dying (I do everything handwritten that way) it's been no fun.

I am also going to be doing some FRG stuff...Which is going to take up some time, but I'm looking forward to plan and organize some events.  That should be fun.  Tomorrow we have a meeting which I'm looking forward to.  Redeployment, baby.

Jesse got to where he needed to be, and is adjusting to the conditions at his new location.  I talk to him enough to make me happy.  I am going to be mailing him a package in the next couple of days which I'm excited about.  Getting closer to that cut off date!

One last thing I want to say....  Katie at Life of an Army Wife is having a giveaway which I encourage you to be involved in.  I love Emily Giffin!

Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers...I am going to try and enjoy a margarita!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

A Day at the Dog Park

Jesse and Stryker playing at the dog park!

Keep my puppy in your prayers...He's sick again :(

I'm taking him to the vet today,

and will keep you posted on how he does.

Enjoy the photos!

Seattle

First of all, blog hops can be exhausting!  I have gone through so many that blogger keeps asking me to do their weird word codes (I can't think of the name of them) every time I click anything.  So, I'm trying to keep things going!  If you're following me and I'm not following you, don't hesitate to tell me!


So next I want to share with you some photos of Seattle's Pikes Place Market:

Famous Public Market Sign

More Famous Signs

He doesn't really care to get is picture taken...

...And I didn't really care to get my photo taken.

Note Starbucks cup in hand...

From the 1st Starbucks opened!

Love it!!

Food!

Joey is famous for their potatoes....

Do you see them?

They're the rolls underneath the salmon.  It's mashed potatoes in a wrapper and (I'm guessing) fried.

Pretty good.

Oh, and I got salmon with a strawberry martini, if you were curious.

Us.

I would've taken more pictures...But you have to pay to park in the big city, so I didn't have enough time!  We were close to going over our time, but it was worth it.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

It's 1 am here as I post this, so I'm going to finish my glass of wine....

And get some beauty sleep.

Happy Sunday!