If you're thinking about.....

Robbing a coffee joint

stay away from the Dunkin' Donuts on Rt. 12

it's swarming with cops.

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how cliche'

I have been so blah lately. I have no energy. I want Justin to be home so life can get back to normal. This underway has been harder then the rest for some reason. I just feel empty.

I'm getting really excited for our trip back home. We are going to be very busy but it will be worth it.

Not much else going on here. I am going to see My Sisters Keeper tomorrow with a friend and I'm so excited! It should be a really good movie.

Washington Trip

We are planning to go back to Washington for a few weeks next month-ish. We have a ton of things planned and I have no idea how we are going to do it all. If anyone wants to get together let me know. All of this stuff is not set in stone and we are more then willing to make time to see everyone.

Happy Father's Day!

We knew Justin was going to be gone this Father's Day so Landon and I took a few pictures to send to him. I also wrote a few letters with them along with what his gifts were. We can't wait for him to be home. Even if we just saw him it's never easy being without him.

I'm very lucky that I married someone who is such a great Dad. He loves Landon with all of his heart and you could see that the day Landon was born. Justin would hold Landon all night until he fell asleep and now as Landon gets older they have sleepovers in Landon's room or in the Living room whenever Landon asks. Justin hates being away so much but when he is home he really makes up for it. He really is an amazing Dad, and for that I am very grateful.

Here are the pictures we sent with him to open today.

Here are a few oldies of Justin and Landon.

Now about my Daddy (yes I still call him Daddy).

I grew up with 2 sisters. My dad was in a house full of girls, but it never bothered him. He loved us all so much. I do have to admit that we were all tomboys at some point. While I did have a barbie dreamhouse I also had my own hammer. We all went Deer and Elk hunting with him and we all played sports. So while he got all girls he never missed the "boy" things. My dad went to every game and competition I had. I always knew he was going to be there. If I ever got sick at school I knew he would drive the hour and a half to come get me from work. With him it was never a guessing game. I always knew that if I needed him he would be the first to my rescue. He is still the same way. Now I live over 3,000 miles away, but we still make the time to talk almost daily. He's the best. I love you Dad!

Trip to Boston. 2004. We had such a great time. Kat and I hung out with our Dad all day while Mom was working. He took us everywhere!


Walking me down the isle.
After I drained all of his pockets.

Father daughter dance. He had no idea what song we were going to dance to. When it came on he couldn't help but get teary. It was the song he used to sing to me when I was a baby and wouldn't stop crying.

Landon and my Dad at the beach in South Carolina. I'm so glad that they get to come visit us every new place we move to.
Happy Fathers Day. Hug the ones you love and always remember what they mean to you.

Port Visits and Disney World!

Our trip was amazing! Erica and I have decided that every time the boys port in the states we will be going to see them. I guess I should start putting money away now for those random trips to come.

We drove 17 hours down. We got in at almost 7 am. Thankfully I called the hotel at around 2 am to make sure they would have a room ready for us. The guy was super nice and super helpful. Normally they don't let people check in that early but since we were staying a few days he said it would be fine. He even made sure we had the room closest to the door!

We got in, took showers and tried to fall asleep. We slept for about 45 min before the boys started calling to tell us that they were almost out of work. Nice. So the boys got to the room and we decided to go out to lunch in 2 hours. Erica and her husband headed to their room to take a nap and we hung out for a bit.

We went to lunch, headed to base so the boys could buy new uniforms, went shopping at the NEX and then went back to the rooms. Landon really wanted to go swimming so we did that for a few hours. He loved it! We had such a great time and what made it even better was that we had the whole pool to ourselves! Then we went back to our room and took a nap, got dinner then went swimming until 11 at night.

This is us at the pool the first time. I was already getting burnt after a few hours out there.


The next day we headed to Disney World. We went to Animal Kingdom and the main park Magical Kingdom? We had a lot of fun...but we will NEVER go back in the summer time. It was soooooo hot and the lines were way too long. Landon had the time of his life meeting a few of the characters. All he could talk about was wanting to meet Pluto.


Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

We went on a few rides but not much. The main ones were pirates, the tea cups, a safari and we also saw a Nemo musical (Which was AMAZING!).

Waiting to go on the rides.

Rainforest Cafe for Lunch and pictures from the safari.

I'm baaaaaaack!!!!!

After a nasty 15 hour drive yesterday that felt like it was never going to end, we are home. It was so amazing getting to be with my husband even if it was only for a few days. I will be getting on within the next few days to post pictures and recap my trip. But I need to catch up on sleep and get a few things done around the house.

Oh yeah...
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Happy Anniversary to ME!

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These just came in the mail! Justin is so sweet. They came in a beautiful light pink tinted glass vase and they fill the whole room with the most amazing smell in the world. I'm so lucky to have Justin in my life. Even if he's not here today to celebrate with me....I know how much I mean to him every day.

Spur of the moment vacation!

I'm typing on Justin's laptop all the way from sunny Florida! The boat pulled in a few days ago and yesterday morning my friend Erica and I decided that we were going to drive. Yes drive. All the way down here. It was about a 17 hour drive in all. We were so tired when we got in this morning. We haven't done much today but lay by the pool. Tomorrow we are going to head down to Disney World for the day so it should be a ton of fun! I will try to get on and post pictures tomorrow when we get back. I have no idea when I'm going to be home since I think we are going to take our time getting back. So I swear I'm still around!!!

Oh youtube how I love thee.

This has really got to be one of the greatest thing I have ever seen.

Take a look.

I give you: Bizkit the Sleepwalking Dog.

Binoculars and safaris!

Since we have had a little bit of rain I have needed to come up with things that we can do inside and that won't make a big mess (rainy days are my cleaning/lazy days!).

I decided that we were going to do an indoor safari complete with binoculars.

Here is what you need!

Tp rolls

Construction paper

String

A cutter (or scissors)

Not shown: Stapler/glue/tape

Step 1. Cut the paper down to size (so it will completely cover both rolls).
Step 2. Staple (or glue/tape) one end of the tp roll to the paper.

Step 3. Put the other roll right next to it and staple it down.
Step 4. Roll The paper all the way around making sure you glue (or staple) it down along the way.
Step 5. Make holes on each side for string.
Step 6. Put string in holes and tie.

You could decorate it with stickers (Landon didn't want to. He said he just liked it green)

Then go looking for the animals!! I hid them all over the house but you could do it in just one room. It's hours of fun!

Thursday Review

Hello! All I have is one movie review...but I have 4 for nooks!!! Enjoy! Let me know what you thought about these if you have seen/read them.


UP!

This one one of the best little kid movies that I have seen in a long time. It is a tear jerker so bring some tissue!! I highly recommend this to everyone!!



Bitter is the new Black!

This is such a funny book. I have laughed out loud so many times. She is a bit bitchy so be warned. I will have to come back later and tell you all about this one.
I give this 5 out of 5 stars!!!

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Good book. I love these books and I'm glad that I'm reading them. I LOVE the movies.
I give these 4 out of 5 stars.



My Sisters Keeper.

With this coming out in the movies I wanted to read it. It was a very good book about a girl who is suing her parents for rights to her own body. Very powerful, amazing book. A must read.
I give this one 5 out of 5 stars.


Handle with care

Really good book. It's about a very sick little girl and her struggles. I can't go much more into it without ruining it.
I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

Summer fun

We have been trying to keep busy while Justin is gone. So far we haven't been home much! Due to the rain we will be inside for the next few days. During our time inside we will be doing a few craft projects so I will be sharing those later in the week. Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to!

The beach. It was the perfect weather, sunny but not too hot.

Landon's first time flying a kite. He had so much fun.

Sprinkler Park! I have been talking about it enough lately. It's more fun for the kids when it's packed. No idea why. I would think it would be more fun to have it all to yourself.

TATT! Hot Dogs!

It's Tuesday! I hope this week goes by quick! Click on the button to head on over and see who else is joining in today!

Today I'm going to share a recipe for hot dogs (not how to make them but what to put on them!)

It might sound a little nasty but I swear it is sooo goood! I think I even got this from a cooking magazine but for the life of me I can't remember which one!

What you do!

Take cooked hot dogs and put them in the buns!

Cook bacon and put 2 slices next to each hot dog.

then cover with relish!

EAT!

They really are tasty!

Friend Makin' Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Last week was so busy for us. We went out a few times and did some really great things here at home that i will be posting this week at some point!

This week's task is to tell us 10 things you love about summer!!!

Head on over to Kasey's Blog to see who else is joining in on the fun!

Here are mine in no particular order!

1. No more snow! Just rain, and I love the rain!
2. Sprinklers, swimming pools and slip-n-slides! Last year my neighbor and I made a 100ft slip-n-silde down her hill. It was one of the best times last summer. We are hoping to do the same this year. Until then we use the military housing pools and sprinkler park (and it's great because they are free!).
3. Subfest. Here on the Subase they have Subfest every 4th of July weekend. It's rides and all that good stuff and then really great fireworks. While we could see them from the house, we love going and sitting on the lawn and watching them.
4. BBQ'S! We love having our friends over for good food and board games! They will be more fun since we refurnished our backyard. Lol.
5. Vacations! We love taking little (and not so little) trips. Most of the time we plan to go home for a few weeks.
6. Camping! We LOVE going camping! We bought all new 20 degree LL Bean sleeping bags for this year and I'm so excited to use them!
7. I love that Justin will not be deployed this summer like he was last year. He will be gone a lot, but at least I know he won't be gone for too long.
8. PICNICS! We go sometimes during the spring and fall but summer is the best time. We like to go almost every other weekend during the summer.
9. The food! While I'm sure I could make some of it during other seasons....who makes kabob's on the grill in 2ft of snow?!?!
10. Family time. We spend a lot of time together while Justin is home, but during the summer we all go outside and play while dinner is cooking and we do a lot more little day trips. Since the days run longer so does our time outside.

Water fun!

When Justin leaves I read and clean a lot. I mean a lot! I'm on book four since he left last week. CRAZY!


Landon and I are doing good. We went to the park to have a picnic the other day and ended up going to the splash park (for the second time this week). Last Sunday we also went to the beach with Michael and the boys. We had such a great time. Landon flew a kite for the first time and was so good at it! Here are just a few pictures. I will come back later today to add more after I put them together.

Flying the kite at the beach.

Splash Park

TATT! Cocoa & Toast!

Hello! It's time for Tuesday's at the Table! This week I'm sharing an old family favorite. We used to eat it all the time no matter what meal, Justin claims that it can only be for breakfast. It might seem a little gross to some but it's SOOO good I swear!

Click on the button to go see who else is sharing today!

What you need

1-4 slices of bread

peanut butter

milk

nesquick

Heat the milk in the microwave while the bread is in the toaster. Add as much cocoa powder as you like when the milk is done. let the bread cool a little bit before you put the PB on. Cut as shown above.

(don't mind my John Deere cups). Take one half and dunk it!

Then EAT!!! It's really good I promise! It kind of tastes like a big Reece's!

Friend Makin' Monday!

Hello! It's Monday again! So it's time for Friend Makin' Monday! Head on over to Kasey's blog to join in on the fun.

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Today's task is to share as few or as many everyday, little tips that you use to make your lives easier. You know- all those special tricks you might have to cook, clean, raise kids, work in the yard, and on and on!

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I'm going to divide these up in sections just to make it easier.

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Laundry

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1. When the clothes all come out of the dryer I sit on the floor and sort it. Each person has their own basket and then an extra one for linens. Then I take them up and fold them IN THE room they belong. It makes it so I don't just "wait till later".

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2. To make my husbands life easier (and to get more sleep time for me) his clothes to get ready for work are in the laundry room (it's a really big room I swear!). I have two baskets for his socks (black socks & white socks), I roll all of his white T-shirts and put them on the shelf then have a basket for all of his underwear. It saves him time in the mornings because it's all in once place and he doesn't have to run around our room turning all of the lights on at 4 am!

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3. Did you know dryer sheets can be used for many things? You can put them with your clothes that you are storing for next season and they will keep them fresh. You can also use them to freshen candles that have been siting out, just take a used dryer sheet and rub it over the outside of the candle and TA-DA it smells pretty again!

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House Work

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1. I have a list of the chores I should do everyday to keep my house clean so I don't get overwhelmed. One day can be as easy as "Do dished and tidy living room". It has made my life a lot easier!

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2. I don't let Landon move on to the next activity until the first one is cleaned up, otherwise I will throw it away.

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3. I weed after it rains. The ground isn't as hard and while I get a little dirtier it's not as hard to get the weeds up.

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4. My little vacuum is my best friend!

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Cooking

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1. At the beginning of each month I write out my grocery list. I always come up with enough dinners for the whole month and make sure that if one used half of something I can use the other have later so I don't waste anything. All we ever need to pick up later is milk, bread and fresh produce. It has made it so I never spend more then $200 a month on groceries.

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2. I have zip-lock bags of every size in my kitchen. When you only have a tiny bit left of something (like cereal) put it in a snack bag. It might not be enough for a bowl of cereal but will be great for a snack at the park!

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3. We always have all of the fixings to make ice cream sundaes. They are great for special movie nights and it saves us from wanting to go out and get ice cream from out in town.

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Outings

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1. I always have a bag packed with everything I need for a day trip (Extra set of clothes for Landon, extra shirt for me, snacks, sun screen, toys, water bottles, camera and a few dollars cash) It has saved me so many times!

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2. I keep a little travel toilet in the back of my car for just-in case stops. I also keep plastic bags and paper towels in there. I'm happy to say that we have never had to use the toilet! But it's nice knowing if we have to it's there.

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I hope I had enough to help you in some way! Have a great week!