Things to look forward to...

Kale left Thursday, Ive just been relaxing and trying to enjoy having alone time since for the past 6 months we have had roommates, house guests, and family here constantly.  So, I am just enjoying being on my own schedule right now...I figure this will last a week until I get really bummed that he is gone...Im already bummed but at least I am able to distract myself with enjoying the quiet...

That being said, in the next few weeks, I have a lot to keep me busy...and military ladies know..when you are busy, time flies by! So, I thought I would list all the things I am looking forward to in the next couple weeks to keep my spirits up!

Sept 22-26: Vegas with my Dad, we always watch those car auction shows on TV and he wanted to go to this really big one at the MGM Grand and asked if I wanted to go...um, of course I want to go to Vegas!! Ive never been so Im really excited...the blackjack table and the pool are calling my name already! We are staying at Circus Circus...it has an amusement park inside!

Oct 1-4: Family Reunion, I looooove this weekend and look forward to it all year.  We don't have boring family reunions, I am blessed with an amazing family who can always keep me entertained! We all rent cabins in the middle of no-where Pennsylvania (Cooks Forest) and we do all sorts of fun activities, and each year is always the same. Friday- everyone arrives, sit around camp fire and catch up Saturday- canoeing, hiking, perch fry, grave yard trip Sunday- some people leave but we are staying an extra night and we cook a big brunch, hike some more, and make smores Monday- we leave....although we do the same thing every year, it is so much fun!!! The "worst" part is that there is no cell service which is great since we all get to "unplug" and relax but having no way to communicate with a deployed hubby is no beuno!

Oct 6-10: Fort Myers FL! My 2 best friends- Dani and Ashley and myself will be flying down to FL and we are so excited! Dani's parents have a condo down there that we get to stay at (aka FREE LODGING!), they have a car down there that we get to use (FREE TRANSPORTATION) and they said we could charge their account at the club house for our meals (FREE FOOD!)...so basically all we have to pay for it our tickets (130 bucks round trip!)...can you think of a better vacation!??! Its going to be a lot of sitting by the pool, tanning, and enjoying time with my lovely ladies!

(This picture cracks me up...its from my bachelorette party...I was cheesing!)
Oct 16: Dani's bachelorette party- we are going to do a spa day (AMAZING!) then go out to a dueling piano show! We aren't doing the traditional bar crawl, because Dani doesn't drink so we thought a relaxing but fun day would be perfect! I mean, who wouldnt love massages, pedicures, etc!

October 22-24: Dani's wedding weekend!! She is getting married on Saturday! Im her Maid of Honor...she was mine too! I am so excited for her, and to be a part of her day...now if only I can come up with a great speech!

October 31- Halloween...I love Halloween, enough said!

So, as you can see...Ill be pretty busy for the next few weeks...here is hoping it flies by!

Busy Weekend Coming Up!

We have a pretty busy weekend ahead of us...

In about an hour (Friday at noon) Kale will be dismissed from work and not have to go back in until Tuesday night!! This will be his "pre-deployment leave" and although it doesn't make up for the 2 weeks that was planned but its better then nothing!!

For the rest of the day today we are going out to lunch and probably picking up the house (fun right??)

Saturday- my parents arrive! We will probably just hang around and catch up with them.

Sunday- DATE NIGHT! This is what I am so excited for! We get to go on a date night with the Vogels!! We are going for sushi and then out for drinks! I'm so excited about this because we never get to go out just the 4 of us! We are their baby sitters so if they go out, we watch the kids! But my mom is going to watch their children so we are so thrilled to get that "couple time" together actually out and not at one of our houses! Oh and in the morning, Kale's 2 friends- Matt and Shawn arrive!! They are so much fun that I know we will have such a great time with them!! We will be busting at the seams of our house though! Were gonna put the guys in the man cave since we only 2 guest rooms and my parents and sister will be here! 

Monday- Lake Leamon! We will be going to the lake to enjoy one last time swimming and the guys will be jumping off that tower that they love so much!!

Tuesday- Kale goes back to work at 6pm so Matt and Shawn will be going back up to PA so after saying bye to them I hope we can do something fun- like go bowling or putt putt.  

And then, full speed ahead to deployment, yuck! But I'm gonna enjoy the weekend and enjoy time with our family and friends and make some memories that I will look back on throughout deployment!

The Marine Corps strikes again...

All military wives have millions some moments where they feel that they are completing getting RAN OVER by their perspective branch...so in my case...right now, the Marine Corps is KILLING ME!!

I used to think this saying: "The Marine Corps is my husband's mistress and sometimes that b**** gets all the attention!" was cute...until last week...

I'm sure I have talked about it on here...you know, our 8 day 7 night vacation to Sandals Royal Bahamian, all inclusive, honeymoon concierge room, spa day booked, zip lining, private dinner on the beach...ah...sounds wonderful doesn't it? Who wouldn't want to spend a week in paradise....

I bet you all want to be on that beach in the Bahamas too...well....

WE DON'T GET TO GO ANYMORE!

I should have known not to open the email that started "The Department of Defense has..." because then I wouldn't have known that the end of the sentence ends with "activated the 26th MEU to deploy no later then the end of August"....

um, say what, Department of Defense? You mean end of September, right? Because they are supposed to leave at the end of SEPTEMBER....NOT AUGUST!!!

Yep, they are deploying our guys early....I mean, I should have expected it...our unit always gets thrown for a loop, heck last deployment to Afghanistan was supposed to be a deployment to Iraq up until 3 weeks before they left...

So, I might not be around too much...I'm ready for this deployment- it'll be our 3rd, I'm a heck lot more calmer then I should be but that's life...I'm not gonna let it get me down, I know I will be fine once he leaves, but darn it...I JUST WANT TO WHINE ABOUT NOT GOING TO THE BAHAMAS...

This was supposed to be our honeymoon (belated) and now, it will be even more belated...almost 2 years belated! That wouldn't be a honeymoon then...!!!!!!

So, I'm done complaining...complaining about my lack of vacation wont let my vacation happen....and I have 2 best friends (hi Ashley and Dani) who I am going to FL with in October that say that we can pretend we are in the Bahamas to make me feel better, so now to get everything on my check list for pre-deployment done and then to tackle getting a refund from Sandals (easy, I bought the insurance) and from the airline (not so easy, I HATE dealing with airline customer service) so that we can have an even NICER vacation when he gets back...

Semper Gumby....(the Marine Corps wife motto meaning "Always Flexible")

So, BRING IT ON DEPLOYMENT,you might have won the battle of pre-deployment leave, but I will win the WAR!

**Oh and before anyone goes freak out on me for breaking OPSEC, all of this information (about deployment, not about my sad canceled vacation) was reported on multiple news media sources so it is not classified information that they are leaving early, actually, the news articles give more information then I did...**

Making It Monday: August 16th

I swear, I will do "Making It Mondays" that are not about making food...but not this week, or probably next, I will probably wait until all house guests and family are gone before I can really dive into my craft-making ness so hang tight to see my interesting creations and adventures learning to use my sewing machine...

But until that day arrives...more food! And on today's menu...CHICKEN POT PIE! It brings back lots of childhood memories, but I remember my Dad would feed them to us when Mom was working late or had a meeting.  Not the homemade kind, but the individual frozen ones...I loved them, I loved breaking the shell and then would eat all the veggies out of it first, then the chicken, then all the crust! Yum...

Now that Im older, the thought of the nutrition panel of said frozen pot pies makes me not want to get within 5 feet of it...so I make my own..minus the day and a half worth of sodium!!

So, to start, gather:

-1 box Pillsbury pie crust (or you could make your own...no way I was doing that though!)

-1/3 cup of butter

-1 medium chopped onion

-1 carrot diced fine

-1/3 cup of flour (i use whole wheat- because I can)

-1 large garlic clove (I had really TINY cloves so I used 3)

-1 3/4 chicken broth

-1/2 cup milk

-3 chicken breasts cooked (I had leftover grilled chicken from the night before)

-1/2 cup frozen peas

- parmesean cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook the bottom crust following the directions on pie crust- mine said bake for 10 minutes

2. In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add onion, garlic, and carrots until softened- mine took about 4 minutes. 

Then, stir in flour, and season with salt and pepper, stir until blended and the flour doesn't look "raw" anymore.

3. Stir in broth and milk- cook until bubbly and thickened.

4. Add chicken and peas.   I cooked it for a few minutes to warm the chicken and peas though then spooned the mixture into the pie crust.  I put Parmesan cheese on top just for some extra flavor. Top with second crust, seal edge, and cut slits into the top crust.

5. Bake 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown.  I add tin foil to the sides of the crust so they do not burn and remove them where there is 15 minutes left of cooking time. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

ENJOY!!  Its simple yet yummy!!!!

Jane Wayne Day 2010

or as I like to call it "Take Your Spouse to Work Day"

The hubs unit had Jane Wayne Day in July, and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!! It was all of the "fun" things that come with their job and I had a blast...I kept joking throughout the day "When does the playing video gaming or napping begin?" since that is seemingly all they do during the day when they aren't training...

My husband is training to go on the 26th MEU so Jane Wayne Day not only featured the Infantry stuff that my husband does but other equipment that will be on the MEU as well...

When we got there, we signed those waiver (if you die, don't sue us...) and we got a dog tag to wear that our FRO had made for the day! Then, they had the "war paint" station where you could choose to put on...

Most wives were passing up the station, or just putting those 2 little lines under the eyes (you know, like football players!)...but that was not good enough for the Wpns Co husbands...THEY DECKED US OUT!!

After that, we loaded up the buses and headed over to one of the ranges...there was so much to do! They had lots of displays, we could climb in and around tanks, helicopters, mine sweepers, humvees, etc. And my group of friends and I took full advantage of that opportunity! We climbed on everything, put anything on that we could, and pressed lots and LOTS of buttons! 

In addition to all the static things, they also were offering LAV (Land Assault Vehicle) rides so of course we HAD to do one! So you had to wear a flack jacket and a helmet for the ride and as we suited up, I noticed the guys weren't gearing up- they refused to go...and said "You'll see why!" And with that, we loaded up and off we went....

Man, those guys were right...it was so bumpy! I think the driver was steering it a little crazy too though!!!! That is something I could go the rest of my life without doing again...Up next...COMPETITION!!!! The FRO had set up a competition so a group of 5 wives from each company competed to see which company would win Jane Wayne Day! We had to carry ammo cans, take apart then put back together a gun, throw a fake grenade into a box, crawl, then run back with the ammo cans! 

The guys from the husband's company always say "If you aint Weapons, you aint s***"....so we knew we couldn't disappoint them...so of course....

WE WON! AND WE WON BY A LOT!!!!! After that, we were starving...they had burgers and hot dogs but the guys said we couldn't eat them and that we had to eat....MREs! The guys helped pick out the least disgusting good ones and off we went to start cooking our lunch...I had the pot roast, it was...interesting....

Then came the fun part...WE GOT TO SHOOT STUFF!!!!!!!!!! We were able to shoot a SAW, M-16, and the little grenade launcher thing! It was awesome, although after 100 rounds in the SAW, I was over it...I thought it stunk!! So the hubs jumped in finished the last 100! 

All in all, it was an awesome day! One of the best Jane Wayne Days that I have ever heard of!! For all those military spouses, have you ever gone to a Jane Wayne Day? What was yours like?! I hope we have another one next year after deployment!

Making It Monday!

I think from now on Mondays will be "Making It Mondays" where I share what I am making (tough connection, huh?!) whether it be crafts, home decor, food, whatever!

So, since I havent had any time since coming home to do any of my craft projects that I have on my to do list, Ill start with what I am making for dinner!

Its pork tacos with pineapple salsa...I got the recipe from Family Circle magazine that I stole borrowed from a doctors office waiting room and it looks super delicious! Ill post in my normal blue font the recipe from the magazine and then since I suck at actually following recipes I will post any changes or addition in pink

There are 3 main parts- dressing, salsa, and the pork tacos

Dressing:

- 3/4 cup lime juice one large lime

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 1/8 tspn salt seriously, who measures that tiny amount? I just do a pinch

- 1/8 tspn pepper

- 3 Tbsp EVOO

- 2 Tbsp cilantro, i just grabbed a small handful

Salsa:

- 2 cups diced pineapple I used 1 can of pineapple and just ran my knife through real quick

- 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced I got a tiny one, as in it was 99 cents a pound and mine cost 1 cent!

Pork Tacos:

- 1 to 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin sliced in a 1/2 inch thick slices

- 1 package white corn tortillas i just had the normal flour tortilla already!

1. Heat grill, while it preheats mix up dressing until blended well

2. Mix together salsa ingredients and 2 tablespoons of the dressing

3. Combine remianing dressing (about 1/3 cup) with the pork in a resealable bag and marinate 15 minutes I had mine marinate for 6 hours.  Grill pork about 6 minutes turning until desired doneness.  Slice into thin strips.  Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave 1 minute.  

4. To serve, fill a warm tortilla with a few pork strips and some salsa and sour cream, enjoy!

Pictures I Promised!

Crap- I wrote this post yesterday and forgot to post it :( Oh well...looks like I will have 2 posts today!

Like I said, I have some pictures from the wedding Kale was in, and our cake eating- 1 year later!

 

With the hubs before the ceremony, he looks so cute in his tuxedo!

 

The Bride and Groom, Im so happy for them!

  

Cake, 1 year later!  

The cake fight!

And with that, my month long trip to Erie PA had ended! It was a fun time but I am so glad to be home!

Home Sweet Home

Were back in our house...it feels so good! I forgot how much I love my King bed!! I also enjoyed (kinda) the cleaning that took place the day after I got back!! Now, we are just hanging out!


I really need to garden because it is FULL of weeds...I don't even think it is salvageable! I'm going to just take it all out and see if I can find some cheap annuals to fill some space until it gets cold and everything dies...again!

On my agenda for the weekend:
Friday- well, I dont have the keys to my car so NOTHING!
Saturday- baby shower, grocery shopping, and Sams Club is having free entry with no membership so I want to go there to check it out!
Sunday-  babysit baby Braxtyn and big sister Kylea because my friend LeShea and her hubby Taylor are celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary!

I'm pretty excited and I haven't forgotten about the pictures I need to post, I will get to them next week...PROMISE!!!

Wedding Weekend

Kale was in a wedding this weekend! His high school friend was getting married to another one of their high school friends! Joe and Kale played football together and he was also in our wedding too! Kelley was in the same group of friends but they didn't start dating until a couple years after high school graduation.  

The rehearsal went well and we were excited for the big day, Kelly looked amazing and while everyone else was watching what the Deacon was saying as he was greeting everyone, I was watching Joe stare, open-mouthed, at his wife while whispering to her "You look so beautiful".  He couldn't take his eyes off of her, it was so sweet!

During the sign of peace, Kale walked back to where my family was, to share a sign of peace and he was looking FINE in his tux! Then he commented on how pretty I looked, I melted...hehe

The homily was a little weird, it started off with "The Joe and Kelley you once knew, is now DEAD...we are morning the loss of Joe and Kelley but..." then he went on to talk about how they are reborn as one and all that jazz but it was just so weird the whole death reference! The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch and it was reception time!!

The room was awesome, light pink and green were her colors and although it sounded to me like it could easily be overdone, she totally got the perfect amount! So Kale's cousin (way older cousin...) was the DJ and when they were announcing the wedding party in, he said his name wrong!! I couldn't stop laughing! He called him Kyle, but Kale said "at least he didn't call me Kayley" which he has gotten many times! 

After the dinner, it was everyone's favorite part of the reception (well the favorite of our group of friends)...DANCING! We danced and danced and probably burned enough calories that all the drinks we had were burned off (almost...).  One of the most exciting parts was that Kale and I made it past the 1st round of the Anniversary dance!

So after lots of drink (LOTS!) and lots of dancing, the reception was over, we stumble walk outside and bam! we are hit with SUNLIGHT! It was so dark in the hall, that we all forgot the reception ended at 7pm! A lot of comments were being made "Oh man, were drunk before the sun goes down" and it was so funny! 

We ended up hanging out with the big group of Kale's high school friends, that since we dated for 2 years of high school I became very close to them as well so I guess I can say our friends, for the rest of the night and it was so fun to catch up! It seems now that everyone has jobs that we only really get together at weddings! Ours was last summer, Joe and Kelley was this summer, and we have a couple planned for next summer!

And once again, I haven't had a chance to upload the pictures yet so you'll have to wait until I get around to it, which may be a few days because..

I GET TO GO HOME ON WEDNESDAY! I am so ready to be back in my house, in my bed! I loved spending time with my family but I WANT MY PLACE!