Progress. Kinda.

I'm packing....slowly.

Here is a list of things that need to get done.

3rd floor(I want this done by Monday!)
Pack all books
Pack closet
Bag clothes(wait till right before move)
Pack bathroom
Pack L's closet
Pack L's room(half done)
Pack L's clothes(wait till right before move)

2nd floor(I want this done a week from Monday)
Pack movies
Pack all shoes
Pack rest of living room
Pack hall closet
Pack kitchen closet
Pack pantry
Move kitchen
Pack desk/dining room
Pack Laundry room
Pack bathroom

1st floor(all closets are half done)
Pack closet A
Pack closet B
Pack closet C
Pack closet D
Move garage
Move backyard


I'm feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. Haha that's an understatement! I'm doing alright. I got Little's room almost completely done today WHILE HE WAS IN THE SHOWER!!!!!! I never knew I could work so quick! I wanted to be out of there so he could go to bed, and I was(he did go to bed late due to a school function though...). All I have left is some of his toys(half will be left out for him to play with...and his clothes). My room is almost done besides the clothes and the bathroom I hope to finish tonight! I'm just about out of boxes but I have a ton coming in tomorrow!

So, I'm sorry I haven't been on here much! I'm still alive!

Food Quest: Bleu Squid

I LOVE this place! Mandy and I went on a rainy day and sat inside(they have picnic tables outside for warm weather). They have cute little seating inside(not much though) and we loved the decor!

They don't have a website so I'm guessing on what we got....

M- Lobster Grilled Cheese(It was AMAZING!)

-Assortment of cupcakes

K- Grown up Grilled Cheese(I've had it plain and with bacon! So good)!

-They always have the best soups! I've never not liked one.

-DIRT BOMBS! They are cupcakes rolled in cinnamon/sugar. I crave these! Haha.

L- Kids grilled cheese with bacon(He loved it!)

-Mac&Cheese(He would only give me ONE bite!)

What I liked:

GREAT service

AMAZING food

GOOD prices!

The owner really aims to please

Kid friendly food

Outdoor seating for warm weather

If you call ahead they will have it all ready for you!

What I didn't like:

The inside isn't the most child friendly(breakable jars and not much space)

Not much seating on an icky day.

If you want to join in on the food quest, read the section at the top of my blog, make sure you read the "rules", post on your blog then come back here to link up!

Book Review: Deed So

This is the second book that I've agreed to read and review. I was really excited to get this book and it didn't disappoint!

From Goodreads.com

It is 1962, and Agnes Hayden Bashford, Haddie, a brainy Southern teen from a tradition-bound family, dreams of breaking free from suffocating expectations placed on girls and from Wicomico Corners. She vows to escape to the exhilarating world beyond its narrow borders, like her handsome, older friend Gideon Albright who is going to Vietnam. A series of shocking incidents brings the outside world crashing down on her peaceful village, exposing long-buried family secrets and setting Haddie on a collision course with an unstable firebrand who will have to silence her to protect his identity. Haddie witnesses the fatal shooting of a black teen by a white down-on-his-luck farmer trying to protect his retarded son. The resulting murder trial attracts outside agitators and political aspirants, and pits townspeople against each other. Excited about being a witness in the trial, Haddie sees her moment of notoriety dissolve into frustration and discomfort and tragedy claim the people around her. The racially-charged case exposes civic fault lines and secrets within Haddie's own family, shattering her comfortable home life, and unleashes an arsonist who terrorizes the community by night. In Deed So, a young girl and an entire town lose their innocence in the last year of innocence, the year before the Kennedy assassination, the civil rights struggle, feminist activism and the Vietnam War changed America forever.

This was one of those books that you don't know what to expect when you start reading it. At first I didn't know if I was going to get into it.....boy was I wrong! It was hard to put down! You get so invested in the characters! And not just the main girl, you find yourself thinking about everyone! It has so many little plots to go with the big one that you never really know where the book is going!

What I liked:
The flow. It was nice and easy to sit and read for hours.
How you feel so connected to all the characters.
The sub-plots.

What I didn't like:
I like all of it! I would say that some people could find it slow with all the added detail and extra plots. But, I quite enjoyed it!

Whoa there!

I love my kid. He's nuts, but I love him! He's picked up a few things at school that I had hoped would have come at a later time. Language is one of them. We aren't big cussers in our home. We don't even say shut up to the dog! I'm not saying we are perfect, we cuss sometimes and Little has heard his fair share of things but he's NEVER said anything back.

On Monday we had a bunch of the single guys from the boat over for dinner and board games. It was getting late so J and I put Little to bed. He had gotten in trouble for not listening so he had gotten something taken away. He was upset and was throwing a minor fit about it, then started whining that he wanted J to stay up and snuggle longer. When J said that he couldn't because he still had company but would be happy to come up after they left Little got VERY upset. He kept asking over and over while J was saying no. It got to the point where J just tucked him in and left.

I was in my room folding some laundry and Little had no idea I was in there.

After I heard J go downstairs I hear out of Little's room "...Asshole".

I walked into Little's room and he KNEW he was caught. I called for J to come up and deal with it(since it was said to him not me I thought he should deal with it(How it hurts feelings and isn't nice)). Little knew he was in trouble and now his thing that was taken away for one day is now taken away for a week.

As I'm writing this I can't help but laugh. He's a kid and he will try to push us. I know this. After J got done talking to him and all I could do was laugh and say "At least he knows the right context to use it!" Haha.

After talking to little about it the next morning I found out it was the "problem child" in the classroom that had taught him the word on the playground a few weeks ago.  I know these things are coming(heck I learned about sex on the school bus from a friend) but still, I don't know how to prevent it from happening again or being something worse next time.

He knows it was wrong(and why it's not very nice) and has promised not to do it again(until at least age 16). I hope he means it. For the most part he's wonderful and never does things like this, but I know every child does it at some point. I remember being his age and asking my mom what the Eff-word meant. Haha.

Kids.

Riddle me this

I've been noticing a trend lately and I don't get it.

If you know you're not happy in your marriage(whether you just don't get along, one is cheating....ect) why would you try to bring a baby into it? I've seen a few people split up, get back together, have a baby THEN get divorced. I don't get it. Do you think a baby will fix it?

If a guy sucks enough to not be faithful, having another baby isn't going to change your mind when having the first baby started his cheating. I know it's none of my business, but why would you intentionally bring a child into a broken home?

If you treat your marriage like a high school relationship and you "break up" with your husband every few months then I would say trying for a baby shouldn't be on your list of things to do.

OR

Why do people post blogs or FB statuses saying how happy they are, how amazing their husband is and how much they miss and love them.....then a few weeks later, they're done, they don't want to be married anymore. I don't think a divorce comes out of nowhere(personally). Why be fake? If you're happy and post about it GREAT! But don't pretend to be happy when you're not.

Are we Military Wives so hooked on looking perfect that we can't reach for help when we are falling?  Are they scared people won't understand? Maybe if they reached out, someone would have "been there" and could offer a helping hand.

I'm just sad to see so many people splitting up when they seemed so happy not long before......

I admit that I'm not one to post about the bad things. But, to be honest, I don't have many bad thins to post about. I also don't believe in "airing my dirty laundry" and possibly saying something I will regret. Do J and I argue? Sure! But I don't feel the need to post every time he falls asleep in the middle of a movie or forgets to take the trash out......I like to post about the good. That way, when he's gone I remember all the wonderful moments and the little bad ones are forgotten. But I am real. I won't post that I'm happy when I'm not. Here I am! I won't sugar coat anything just to make myself feel better, that's just not me.

WoooHoooo!

We have a house!

After waiting, more waiting, get yanked around, then a lot more waiting.....we have an address!

The lady told me that she would call me this next Monday with our address since they were moving out on Friday. BUT, as I was driving to a friends house on Thursday I decided to do a little looking around for moving trucks. It wasn't hard to spot! I drove by a big ol' truck and saw them loading up.  I called the housing lady with some news on something I needed fixed in my current house and we got to talking about the new house. I asked her if I guess the address would she tell me if I was right. She said she couldn't....so I told her how I saw a moving truck and I was super curious as to if that was going to be our house or not. She then asked what the address was, when I told her, she replied with "Yes, that's a mighty fine guess" and asked me if I was happy with it(I am!).

YAY!

Shes calling on Monday so we can set a move date! I'm so excited!!!!

Off to pack I go!!

Food Quest! An idea.

Last year, a good friend of mine and I started the Food Quest. We started it as a way to get out and try new foods at new places. It was so much fun! Asking people(that we knew or didn't) where they like to eat and taking a day to go try new things. I tried so many new foods and found so many things that I now LOVE! I like the idea of posting on my blog so that other people who might move into the area(or already live here) can find new & exciting places to eat.

So, the point of this blog....who would be interested in taking part of a monthly link-up of a fun place to eat in your area? Or even, post about a resturant or even a new recipe that you tried? I think it would be so neat to see all the good places to eat all over are, and since we travel so much, it would be nice to have an idea of where to eat(or steer clear of!).

Let me know if anyone would be up for it!

Hello SPRING!

I've felt so *blah* lately. This whole move thing is kicking my butt. They've been yanking us around a bit. Telling us we can't move, then we can. I know it's mostly because they don't want to move us within housing because they will lose money(to clean our old place to get it ready like ths new one is). Now they say they might have a house for us. We will know on monday.

It's been raining here, which I LOVE.  Little has been enjoying the rain-gear wearing weather as well, and he's so stinkin' cute in his get-up! The snow is now all gone and flowers are stating to show! YAY spring!

I hope everyone is doing well. I hope to get back to regular posting here soon. And I want to set up some guest posts for weeks like this that I just don't sit down on here enough.

Now, I leave you with this picture of Little from our first rain of the year(2 weeks-ish ago)

Book Review: Semper Cool by Barry Fixler

I was asked to read and review this book. I was a little hesitant at first. Being a Military wife and reading a "War Book" isn't always the best choice. After talking it over, the BBC decided to read it.

I've never read such a real book. So real, it was scary.

As a Navy wife I feel lucky that my husband never has to face anything like what the men in this book have to. I feel honored that we have men and women fighting for us each and every day, knowing their life is on the line. I'm truly proud to be an American.

What I liked:

It was REAL. No doubt this is what it was like.

It had a good flow.

It didn't drag on.

AMAZING message.(more about this at the bottom)

What I didn't like:

A LOT of cussing. I'm a bit of a prude and I read the "F-bomb" well over 100 times in this book.

At times it was a little too real. Vividly so.

At times I feel like he painted a not-so-great picture of others who have fought for our country....

All in all. It was a good book.

But, I think this is the most amazing part

(From Sepmercool.com)

THE BARRY FIXLER FOUNDATION

I have established a non-profit organization called The Barry Fixler Foundation. All of the royalties from Semper Cool will be paid directly to The Barry Fixler Foundation, which will then distribute the money to directly to wounded troops and their families, and to non-profit organizations on a case-by-case basis.

ONE MILLION DOLLAR GOAL

My goal is to raise at least $1 MILLION for wounded combat veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Well meaning individuals have cautioned me that publicly stating my goal may be perceived as naïve or pretentious—or both! I say to them: “You’re under estimating America!” It may be MY goal today, but I’m not doing it alone. I have already, with the help of the great Americans and patriots in my home county, raised more than $100,000 for one wounded warrior. When America gets behind this entertaining book and this great cause Our One Million Dollar goal will seem too low.

If you go and buy this book, you will be helping someone in need. Someone who had fought for you and put their life on the line. If anything, help get the word out to help our Vets.

Toy Story on Ice!

For Little's big Birthday gift we got him tickets to go to Toy Story 3 on Ice in Boston. He had been asking for months if we could go and it just so happened that J's boat would be back in time!

We had to leave here early in the morning to get there in time. We got up, headed to the little store, got donuts and drinks then we were off! Even though we woke up to it snowing, the drive went great. We got up there with plenty of time to find our seats and settle in.

The show was cute. Little LOVED it while J and I thought it was alright. We were sooo impressed with the circus last year that I don't think anything can top it. All that mattered was that Little loved it. And he did!

I'm so glad we got the chance to do this as a family. I was so worried J wouldn't be home in time.

After we headed to Red Robin for dinner(Little's choice) and had a great time laughing.

After dinner I drove home! From Boston! I've come a long way with my fear of driving!

Rings!

I've been watching people link up to this all day, so I decided to join in! Go HERE to link up and join in!

The link up is...Show me your rings!!!

Here is mine.....

On our wedding day!

Up close.

Did you look at rings together?
Nope. He asked me a few basics like white or yellow gold then did it by himself(without me knowing!)


Do you like your ring? Did you from the beginning?...and be honest!
100% yes! But, I think I would have no matter what...ok, maybe not. Sometimes I wonder if I would like a bigger one......but I don't. I love this one. I love that he picked it out and I love that I wore it when I said "I do". I'm not one of those girls who asks for an upgrade. If I trade up does that mean he can to(and I'm not talking about rings on his end)? Lol. Kidding! But I wouldn't trade this one for the world!

How often do you wear your rings?
Always, unless I'm doing the dishes or using harsh chemical cleaners.

Do you clean your rings?
I get them cleaned 2-4 times a year at the jeweler.

What went through your mind the very first time you saw your ring?
WOW! I was soooo surprised. I felt even more in my heart that he knew me. He picked the perfect ring without my help and I'm a pretty picky girl! I have to say I was more shocked when I saw my wedding band. It was the perfect set and I was over the moon.

Hello there!

I'm going to be contacting everyone within the next few days about the guest posts. Sorry I haven't gotten to it yet.....BUT I've been cleaning like a mad women! We have our papers turned in to move and before we get a new house(or can even look at one) we have to prove we have taken care of this one for the past three years. Meaning, we have an inspection in 2 days where if the house is not perfect, we won't get a new/better one. While we've been cleaning. we've also been gutting all the junk we have so we don't have to move it. While this makes it take more time, it will be better in the long run for us.

So, I'm sorry. I will e-mail you as soon as this part is over I promise!(If you want it to go a little faster, you can email me and I will write back as soon as I can(since I have email on my phone I can reply to emails a little easier then getting on here to find the addresses and write them))