When life hands you lemons...

I got this amazing award from D.A.R. at first comes love, then comes marriage. Thank you so much. I feel like I'm complaining a lot on here because that is usually what I have to vent about, so thanks!



In continuing on passing the award on to one person who has a blog that shows an amazing attitude and gratitude, I would like to nominate T from The Quest for T. She has been through a lot in her life and she refuses to shut down or put up a protective wall for her heart. She's constantly looking for ways to be the best person she can be, and I love that!

Ponytail on a monkey

In case you didn't know

Prices to mail packages are going up starting January 18th from the USPS. Maybe you can send out that next package a little early and save a little change!

More things about me

I finally got tagged by Katie to do the random truths about myself. I had to think really hard about this one! I think everyone has done it by now, so I'm not passing it on, but enjoy learning a little more about me!

I have allergies...lots of allergies. Allergies to food, animals, and outside weeds, etc. However, while I was pregnant, I did not have one allergic moment. It was one of the few great things about being pregnant!

I am a night owl, always have been. It's not that I'm up late because I'm busy doing things, I just don't like to go to bed, and I love to sleep in. (This doesn't work well when you have a child)

I get more emotional about other people's big life experiences than I do my own. Engagements, weddings, babies... I can watch stranger's stories on TV and cry my eyes out, but I didn't cry at any of these events of my own!

My mom can guilt me like no other. I'm working on that.

I have a completely irrational fear that when the dentist uses the pick thingy to check for cavities it's going to go right through my tooth. Now that makes me emotional.

My biggest pet peeve is when, in the winter, people walk in the house with their shoes on and I step in a melted snow puddle while wearing socks. Stepping in liquid with socks on at any time is gross, but for some reason melted snow puddles irritate me more.

This is the story of the hurricane...

I only got a few questions about the journey, but without further ado...

Did it go by faster than you thought it would? (Jenny)
Yes and no. My first reaction is yes, absolutely it went by faster than I thought it would. Fuzz has been such a joy and has kept me so busy that I haven't hardly had time to miss Stryker.

But.

When I look back on things that happened during the deployment, it seems like they happened a long, long time ago.

Did you get your BAH changed to where you lived or did it stay to the base he was stationed at? (Kati)
Our BAH stayed the same as it was for his duty station.

When does he come home? In 2 months or are they getting shortened too? (Sara)
They are not getting shortened. Boo. He will be home, at most, 2 weeks before the 15 month mark.

I have to admit, now that the end is near and I have to deal with all this moving stuff before I head back, I'm getting a little overwhelmed. So much to do, and so hard to do it when as soon as I pack something up, little Fuzz hands unpack it. Which leaves nap time and bed time, and I prefer to have those times be relaxation time, not work time!

I am seriously considering a moving company to pack for me after I saw how amazing it was when they packed our things in Hawaii. It.Was.Amazing. Three guys came in like a hurricane and had the whole house packed up and on the truck in 3 hours. However, it would save a lot of money for me to do it myself, especially since I'm not exactly sure of the cost since they charge by hour and I can pretty much guarantee if they are getting paid hourly, they aren't coming in like a hurricane.

It's been quite a ride

Yay Loqi, bonus points for you on the Tom Petty guess!

13 months ago, I said goodbye to Stryker. 13 months! Wow... Here's a recap, month by month, of what has happened.

December 2007
After Stryker left, my dad flew out to help me pack up and move back to Wisconsin. We celebrated Fuzz's first Christmas, the first of many holidays without Stryker.

January 2008
Not much newsworthy in January, just getting accustomed to life as a twosome just as we were enjoying life as a threesome.

February 2008
Signed the lease for a duplex for Fuzz and I. Started moving in on the 29th, finally received my car after a long (and still ongoing) fiasco with the transportation company.

March 2008
Enjoying life in our own place. Fuzz was learning to eat solids, and I'm pretty sure this is the month she started sleeping through the night!

April 2008
My sister and I had an intervention for my dad. It's been a hard road, but he's doing really well so far! We got snow, even at the end of the month.

May 2008
I got to celebrate my first Mother's day this month. I also ran the garbage disposal with a glass baby food jar in it...

June 2008
Our 3rd anniversary, went on a road trip to meet a fellow military wife in Chicago.

July 2008
Reached 50% in the deployment donut! Stryker and I had our first big fight of the deployment over him missing out on Fuzz's "firsts". Took a road trip to visit family in upper Michigan.

August 2008
Fuzz turned one! And then the lowlight of the whole deployment, we lost Gibby.

September 2008
My wonderful birthday with my mom and sister. Stryker was home for R&R, the highlight of the whole deployment! We celebrated Fuzz's birthday, and we got a weekend just to ourselves in Door County.

October 2008
I tackled my first big sewing project and made Fuzz's costume.

November 2008
Went to California for my cousin's wedding. Fuzz had her first experience playing in the snow. Spent Thanksgiving with family in upper Michigan.

December 2008
Found my necklace! Had a wonderful visit with a friend. Our first holiday that Stryker has missed twice in a row, Christmas. That was tough.

Well, there we are so far. Any questions about the journey so far?

Breakdown, go ahead and give it to me*

Since Saturday is the last day to send packages to Stryker (you know what that means :), I broke down and baked him some M&M cookies (family recipe, yum yum) and made him the Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites.

He actually was appreciative of the Christmas goodies, he just needs an edit button sometimes before he speaks. In actuality though, how many of us aren't guilty of that on occasion? The problem is, that's a trait he got directly from his mother, which I guess just makes it worse for me.

Anyway, they turned out great (will definitely be making the pretzel bites again!), and I didn't tell him that I snuck some baked goods in there, so I know he'll be excited...he better be excited. I didn't even write them on the custom's form, because he always cheats and looks on there first (shhh, don't tell the feds).

*Bonus points for anyone who knows the artist of the lyrics in the title.

Where did December go??

Seriously...where? When Stryker left at the beginning of October, I looked ahead at the months left in the deployment. I noticed there was something going on in every month, and used that as my kind of count down.

October - Halloween, and I had to make Fuzz's costume
November - Thanksgiving
December - Christmas
January - Cousin's baby shower
February - leave to go back to Hawaii

I never expected that those milestones would fly by like they have. There have been a few days that felt like we were just crawling along, but overall, it's been a whirlwind.

Lately, I've been stressing about getting everything ready for our move out of this place. We are leaving for Hawaii the second week in February, and I'm moving all of our stuff to my mom's basement to hold for us until we move to Georgia. No sense renting a place while no one is living here.

Moving...don't get me started. Ick.

I've been keeping myself busy. I made it to church 3 out of the 4 Sunday's in December, and am getting back into working out. I'd been slacking off and it's a great time for me to just...be. Relieve some stress, time away from Fuzz, and good for me. It doesn't get much better than that.

Of course as soon as I start doing something good for my body, I get a cold, and give it to Fuzz. Or maybe she gave it to me...the other day when I dropped her off in the child care area at the Y the first little girl she went up to and started smiling at had snot running out of both her nostrils.....