Spring!

I love Spring and here in Arizona, Spring is only a month long before it's so hot you regret buying a black car. This Spring will be mine & my husbands first Spring as homeowners! Which I guess only sounds exciting in writing. In actuality, it means a lot of work! So far, we've pulled all the weeds and picked up all the leaves - and that alone makes my yard look a million times better! Weeds aren't normally a big deal, but since we have gravel instead of grass, they're way more noticeable, therefore I think the whole neighborhood looks at our yard with disgust (even though I know it's my next door neighbors yard that is truly the worst!).

Among the weed pulling & leaf pick-up, our trees have all started to blossom! Our two unidentified trees now have leaves again. Our peach tree has the prettiest pink flowers (I didn't even know peach trees had flowers before peaches), and our purple flowering trees look and smell amazing (too bad the bumble bees are always around them, freaking me out). To go with all our nice landscaping, we have to put new flowers in our flower box, hang our hanging tomato plant, and put a new plant in one of our pots - I'm waiting until May though, when I'm sure the threat of freeze is over.

Then of course, there is Spring Cleaning! The only area that we have to do is the garage since I keep my house pretty clean. We still have all our moving boxes, which we're giving to some friends who are moving in May, and giving them back their washer/dryer that we were storing. So that will clear up some space. I'm really excited. I love cleaning and organizing. It calms me :]

Hope everyone has a happy Spring!

All I've Got.

"All that I'm after is a life full of laughter; As long as I'm laughing with you. And I think that all that still matters is love ever after, after the life we've been through. 'Cause I know there's no life after you."

-Daughtry

Have you ever come across a song that really hits home for you? Of course you have, who hasn't? The chorus of Life After You by Daughtry is one that I am just so in love with. It corresponds with how I view my marriage. My husband and I don't have a perfect marriage - who does? But we do laugh a lot. I still look at him and wonder how it's been almost six years of marriage already, I still feel like we're newlyweds. I brought this up to him the other day and he agreed. This is the kind of marriage I always dreamed of, one like my parents had. Of course all my memories of my parents marriage come from the perspective of a child, but I remember there being a lot of laughter in their marriage.

I met my husband when I was 18, almost 19, and while he made me laugh when we were friends, I never would've picked him for my husband. But then I got to know his heart, and honest to God, he has one of the kindest hearts of anyone I've met, to a fault sometimes. But I really think it was all the good laughs he gave me that won me over! Seven years later, we're still laughing.

I believe without a doubt, that laughter is the key to a good marriage.

I have no idea why I wrote this blog :]

Sports Nut.

Growing up, I only liked one sport and one sport only: football. My father is a Detroit Lions fan and my mother was a Chicago Bears fan. Being a 'mommy's girl', that meant I too was a Bears fan. Somewhere around the ago of four, I also became a Buffalo Bills fan. I ask my dad how that came to be, and the only conclusion he could come up with was that I like the way their name sounded, which sounds like a four year olds logic I suppose. The Lions play every Thanksgiving, don't ask me how they earned that honor. Back in the days of Barry Sanders, it made sense, but as of late, I question it. The Thanksgiving after my mom died, the Lions played the Bills and my dad decided he's take my sister Heather and I to the game. The Bills lost, but I remember how cool I thought it was. We didn't have a lot of money back then, so going to a game, a Thanksgiving Day game no less, and staying in a suite at the Radisson was a real treat! Looking back now, I think of how my mom would've loved it - she was a die hard Bears fan and I can remember her screaming at the TV and screaming when they'd get a touch down. I have her Walter Payton pin and I look at it and smile, and realize how much I am like her. Only with a different sport.

When I met my husband, I was introduced to baseball. He is a lifelong New York Mets fan and I had only seen baseball once when I went to a White Sox game in middle school. To take interest in something he liked, I decided to pick a team and go with it. I made the unfortunate mistake of becoming a Yankees fan. That lasted about a day when I realized I didn't want to be some sort of bandwagon fan. So I watched a Mets game and realized why my husband liked them. I can't explain it, but they are the underdog team of New York, and I love rooting for the underdog. We went to a game in 2005 and I loved it even more. I picked a player - David Wright - who happens to be good looking and really good. I never imagined myself as a baseball fan, but I love it and I am glad my husband introduced me to it!

Then in 2006, I met Kelsey at school. She was a hockey fan, and even though I am from Michigan, I never cared about hockey and couldn't understand her fascination. She finally convinced me to go to a Nashville Predators game in 2007, a playoff game, which they lost and ended their season. I loved it though, the energy of hockey is unmatched by any other sport. The next season I went to more games with Kelsey and fell in love with it. The next year, I bought a half season and became slightly obsessed with the sport.

Which bring me to the Olympics. I was so happy that Team USA made it to the gold medal game, as no one really expected that. Even though they lost the gold, they won silver, which really is an accomplishment, and I was really proud. And it made me happy to hear people talking about hockey. I hope that game brought more people to hockey and maybe created some new fans of the sport. I was sad for the Olympics to be over, but I am happy that NHL will be back in action this week.

Seven years ago, I was football fan. These days, I am sports fan.

Just 2&1/2 years until Summer Olympics, haha.

Bronx.

I have hardly had anytime to update - 2 weeks ago my husband and I got a puppy. My husband has wanted a dog as long as I've known him, while I am a 'cat lady'. I could live my entire life never owning a dog and be perfectly happy. We had 2 dogs and 2 cats growing up and I liked them fine, but I've just always liked cats more. My husband likes bigger breeds, particularly German Shepherds and Huskies, while I like smaller breeds, especially Pomeranians. Since I already have three cats, it was his turn to get an animal he wanted. We had contemplated it in the past, but we already had the max allowable pets at our apartment complex, and secondly, we didn't think it was fair to have a huge dog in a 900 square foot apartment. After we bought a house, it became possible to get a dog, but we wanted to wait until after the holidays so we could go home without worrying about a dog.

So for the past two months I have been scouring the classifieds and pet finder for a puppy. Normally I wouldn't mind adopting an adult dog, but with the cats, I wanted a puppy. We did find one Husky puppy for adoption in the next town over, but after doing some research, these dogs just really aren't good with cats, often killing them, so that was a no go. So I decided to try to find a German Shepherd. These dogs are impossible to adopt as puppies - they get adopted so fast. So buying one was our only option. I found some in Phoenix (3 hours away), but they were crazy expensive since they were AKC registered, something I really could care less about. I'm not breeding my animal, so why pay for a piece of paper. I finally found some pups in Tucson (1 hour away) and showed my husband immediately - and he liked them. They weren't papered, as the mother dog was not papered, but they were fully blooded Germans and that's what we wanted.

I called the owners and decided to drive up that day (Feb 11). The puppies were perfect - they were 10 weeks, had their shots, and had the black & brown markings we wanted. My husband took about 30 minutes picking out the perfect puppy and finally settled on one. We already knew we wanted to name him Bronx after my husbands hometown in NY. He was shy and scared the first day, but is already a great dog! He sleeps in his crate with no problem, the past three days he has not had an accident in the house. The only time he will have one is if we're gone for more than 2 hours (in his crate), but when we're home he goes and waits by the back door. He loves to play - he caught onto fetch after day one of being with us. He is still a little curious about the cats, but is learning to leave them alone. Leash training is a little more difficult, but he is getting better. And he just loves my husband, follows him around whenever he is home.

It's a lot of work, but I love him so much already and I think he will be a great dog!

I Miss Her.

I always miss my mom around this time of year. Not only is it the 'holiday season', but December marks 16 years since she died. Today as my husband and I were driving, we were listening to Dr. Laura (as usual) and a woman with terminal cancer called in asking advice for how to tell her children she was dying. My husband looked at me and asked if I was alright since woman's story hit pretty close to home. I told him yes, and then he asked me to never die, because he doesn't know what he would do without me. I then told him that I often wonder how that must've felt for my dad - his wife of 16 years, dying and leaving him and three daughters behind. How does one live knowing their spouse will die? This of course made me cry out of sadness for my dad and out of admiration for his strength during it all.

I often tell my husband about my mother, the things I can remember in my nine years of knowing her. Mostly I tell him of her laugh, how contagious it was. How down to earth she was and that she would've liked him a lot. It makes me sad that he never got to meet her, that my future children will never know her, that she had to die so young, that my grandparents had to bury their daughter, and that I never got to know her as more than just 'mommy'. Sometimes I struggle to remember things about her, it seems so long ago and like yesterday at the same time.

As I was crying telling my husband things about my mother that he has heard before, but I tell him again because it's all I remember, he told me he doesn't like to see me upset. I told him some were tears of sadness, but others were tears of happiness remembering the greatest woman I have ever known. My mother was not perfect, but to a nine year old, your parents can do no wrong. My mother died being my world & perfect in my young eyes.

I miss you, Mom.

My Secret Identity as a Video Game Nerd

When I met my husband in Iraq 6&1/2 years ago, I was not someone who played video games at all. Growing up, my sister and I had a Nintendo and years later a PlayStation. I also had a GameBoy when they first came out - yes, the big brick one! Most of these systems I hardly played myself, usually my dad or my sister played on them while I would prefer to read a book or watch TV. My husband on the other hand, grew up playing video games. He had more systems than I care to name. He and his siblings and friends would spend hours playing video games, and the amount of time played didn't change as he grew older. After we met, he tried to get me to play games with him, and sometimes I would, but I would never call myself a gamer.

After we got married in 2004 and we moved from North Carolina to Arizona, I was feeling very lonely since I was so far away from my family and had no friends. One of the hubby's friends kept talking about how Halo 2 was coming out. I had played the first Halo once at a friends house and actually liked it a lot. My husband asked me if I was going to get Halo 2, but I of course said no, I didn't play video games afterall. The day the game was released, I had this sudden urge to go buy it - and I did. I became so hooked on this game, it's not even funny. I would play it for hours when my husband was at work. This was around the time when XBox Live first came out, and I found myself making friends with these people on a game. They gave me companionship when I felt so alone and without friends.

A few months later, my husbands coworker introduced him to a new game - only this one wasn't a console game, it was a MMO (mass multiplayer online) game for the PC called World of Warcraft, or WoW for short. My husband was often play this game while I would play Halo 2 -talk about a couple of nerds! He tried relentlessly to get me to play this game too, but I had no desire. I thought it looked confusing with a million buttons. But one day he convinced me to sit down and watch him play. That lead to me making my own character and learning how to play. Again, I was hooked. When my husband deployed a few months later, WoW, school, and XBox Live kept me occupied, since we had again moved and I had no friends.

It's so funny to me that I play video games, especially since I used to hate them. In fact, it's killing me that we don't have our XBox right now and Halo 3: ODST comes out soon. I hate that I don't have my desktop and I have to play WoW on this not-made-for-games laptop. So yes, it's true. I am a girl gamer - and I never thought I would be.

Sleepy Head!

Since we made our move out west, I have been going to sleep fairly early (for me), usually being in bed by 12 or 1am (like I said, early for me) while my husband stays up until 3 or 4am. But tonight my husband went to bed at 9pm. If you know me or my husband, which I assume you do if you're reading this, then you know that bedtime is almost unheard of for him. What on earth could possibly make a night owl so tired? Spelunking. No, I didn't just make up some random word, my husband embarked on an adventure today called spelunking. Why it can't be called cave exploring, I haven't the slightest, perhaps because it just sounds cooler. But he didn't just walk through a cave, he climbed the inside of a completely pitch black cave with a headlamp on his forehead. Judging by the cuts and scratches on his arms and hands, spelunking doesn't appear to be for the average person. He asked me if I would like to go sometime. Aside from the obvious danger, I am pretty claustrophobic and really want no part in this activity. And even though it's not for me, I'm glad he got to go -- he's wanted to for a while. Now if I could just talk him out of urban spelunking.

Before I head to bed, here's a small update on life. The hubby had an interview on Friday and we're waiting to hear back from the company. He was also contacted by a UAV company for a job in Maryland. We're really hoping the Phoenix job works out, hopefully we'll know more tomorrow. Even if he doesn't get it, I am so proud of him for doing well on the interview because he is pretty shy and he was very nervous! Fingers crossed!

Welcome to the Grand Canyon State!

A week and a half ago, the Hubby, our three cats, and myself made the 1500 mile trip from Tennessee to Arizona. After our walk through with the apartment manager, we dropped off our cable box and got on the road at 11am. The first day was fairly uneventful as we traveled through Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. We stopped for the night in Dallas, TX. After I hit up WalMart for some cat food and stopped by Wendy's to grab some dinner, we watched some TV and went to bed. We woke up the next morning at 8am and loaded up the kitties and our bags again to continue our travels further west. I had never traveled directly from Tennessee to Arizona, so I took and unfamiliar route which put us in Texas for the majority of the trip, which wasn't so bad since the speed limit was 80 mph in some parts. After some rush hour traffic in El Paso, we were finally in the worst state in America: New Mexico.

I hate New Mexico so much and have never had good luck in this state, so why should I expect it to be any different this time? I had about a half tank of gas when we entered NM, so I thought there would surely be a gas station along the way. I saw a sign for a town and decided to look for gas with my GPS, but it said there were none close by. So I thought we'd just continue and find one...well, that never happened, so I had to turn around with intentions to head to a gas station 40 miles away. While heading to that gas station, we ended up in that small town where there were supposedly no gas stations, only to find a gas station there. I was annoyed, but glad that we didn't go too far out of out way. After we filled up, we continued in New Mexico, which was right on the border with Mexico, we actually had no American phone service and the Hubby recieved a text from AT&T offering him a deal for international service, haha. I was really glad we did go back for gas because there wasn't another gas station for probably another 150 miles and we would've been screwed with no service. We did get to see some illegals being busted by Border Patrol though, so tha was interesting.

The cats faired alright -- Mitters barfed like he always does (car sickness, I guess), George had one accident on day 2 (we were driving for 14 hours, so I wasn't mad), and Lola was a little angel :] We arrived at our friends house at 10pm AZ time and took showers and went to bed, we were so exhausted!

Since we've been here, the Hubby has continued to look for jobs, submitted a few resumes, and is hopefully going up to a UAV company this week to talk to someone. Our roomates have been great, only asking us to pay for food. They have a bulldog, and while it was rough at first, the cats have gotten more comfortable around him. I hope the Hubby can find a job soon and we can get a place of our own, but for now, this works. I of course miss my friends, AZ just seems so far away from everything and everyone I love. Hopefully when we have our own place, then I can have some visitors :]

Sorry this was so long, I will try to keep everyone updated if anything blog worthy happens, but as of right now, life is fairly uneventful!

Ch-ch-changes!

I don't update this thing because I find it more entertaining to read what others have wrote than post about my pretty boring life. Since I last posted, a few things have happened, most importantly, my husband got his citizenship and my sister had her baby. Both were pretty great days in the month of May. I also went to Atlanta with some girlfriends and got to witness 'ethnic trash' at its finest while at Six Flags. The biggest thing happening now is my husbands departure from the Army next week and our big move. The packers are coming on Thursday, picking up everything on Friday, and after I spend the weekend cleaning (which I am totally looking forward to), we'll do a walk-through on Monday and we'll be out of here. Last night, the husband and I decided officially that we'd go to AZ to stay with our former roommate and his newly pregnant wife. We're hoping that he'll be able to find a job quickly, that doesn't involve him going to Iraq. We talked last night and decided that overseas contract work was really something that we just don't want to do, it would be too hard. So now he's hoping a UAV position opens up, and if not, Border Patrol is something else he's looking at. It's really scary, but what can you do? I'm very grateful to have friends to take us in (we actually had multiple offers, haha), and we'll make the best of it while we have to.

That's it for now! I'll try to update more, I promise.

I Wish I looked Like...

This is another blog prompted by The Imagination Prompt Generator.

There is really no perfect person who I'd like to look like, but there are people who I'd take bits and pieces from to form the perfect person.

Hair
I would love to have long, thick hair like Kim Kardashian. Granted, I have the long part down, but my hair is not nearly as
pretty or well taken care of,
like Kim's.

Face
I love pretty much everything about Megan Fox's face. She has gorgeous eyes, perfect teeth, and nice facial structure.

Body
By far, Shakira has one of the best bodies. She's not to skinnyand not too big. Most importantly, she has a nice butt which is probably the only thing sexy about my own body.

The reality is, I'll never look like any of these women. I wish I were happier with myself, but I'm not. I still have a lot to work on with my physical self, and my own perception of myself. I hate to be the girl who complains about how she looks or how much weight she's gained, but I am that girl. Sometimes I look in the mirror and still see that size 20, 220 pound girl looking back at me. 75 pounds and 6 sizes smaller, I still struggle with my looks and my 'new' body. I wish I could see myself as my husband sees me.

There Goes That.

On Friday, the Predators regular season ended and I'm sad to say, there will be no playoffs this year. I wanted them to make the playoffs more for myself than for anyone else, as I am moving this summer and won't be able to attend games anymore, so I wanted them to make the playoffs just so I could attend a few more games. Oh well, we gave it a good go and I have no regrets about this season.

I spent this past weekend in Michigan. My sister, my step-mom, and I threw a baby shower for my other sister who is about 8 months pregnant with a boy. I had a really good time hanging out with my family, especially my sister who I hadn't seen for almost a year.

My husband submitted his application for naturalization a few weeks back and we received a letter stating they have his paperwork and that they'll contact us within 365 days to set up his interview. Yeah, you read right -- there's possibility we may not hear anything for a year. I checked the Memphis ISCIS website, and they are currently processing applications submitted in June 2008. So yeah, who knows. He has joined a few job search websites and made profiles on them, and we're basically waiting to hear anything. Our last resort is for him to apply for a DoD job. I really don't like our last resort, but I guess that's what most last resorts are like.

As for me, I am still going to school and attempting to keep my sanity in this rather scary and nerve wracking time. I'll keep you updated.

Awarded!

I got my first award today, well a while ago, but I finally have time today to accept it and post one here. I didn't even know I could be awarded by people, but Bestie thinks my blog is worthy. So here is my award:

1. Choose blogs that you find awesome in content or design

2. Put on your blog with a link and let them know you awarded them

3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself

So, onto my ten honest things:

1. I prefer to shop alone. I hate feeling like people are waiting on me, as I need to try everything on before buying it.

2. If I am at home, I can guarantee that I am wearing slippers, no matter what season. I have three different pairs, depending upon the season & I take them with me when I travel.

3. I don't have friends. I mean, I have acquaintances and people who I know, but the people who I let in my life, they are my best friends.

4. I hate people. Seriously, 99.9% of the people in this world I could care less about. I am very impatient and a little judgmental, and lets face it folks, people are effing annoying.

5. I hate when dogs sniff crotches. I know they don't know better and it's natural for them, but it's seriously disgusting and even if my crotch is freshly washed, I feel dirty.

6. I am super competitive, whether is be a game of cards or the clothes I wear, I feel like I have to win. It's definitely a flaw.

7. I hate talking on the phone most of the time. I call my parents weekly, and will talk briefly on the phone, but actual conversations make me uncomfortable. I don't know why. I also never order food, Jenry does.

8. I really want a new vehicle, an SUV or crossover. I love my car, but I'd have it for 5.5 years and I'm itching for something new.

9. I hate cooking. Well, I hate coming up with new ideas. I know my husband probably gets tired of the same 'ol thing, but I'm too scared to try new things because I fear I'll screw it up.

10. I cannot go #2 in public -- unless it's an emergency. If I am somewhere (restaurant, friends house, etc), I will leave to go to my apartment to use the bathroom. When I went to Iraq, I didn't go #2 for 2 weeks because I wasn't comfortable with it.

So there it is. I also bestow this award to:
Kelsey @ Breathe.
Kelly @ Reality Continues to Ruin My Life
Jenn @ Mad Props and Good Times.
Ashley@ Ashley Amazing.

Will update soon!

I'm Proud to be an American

Citizen, that is. My husband however, is not one. No, he's not in the country illegally, he's a legal alien resident, which means he came here the right way. We're in the process right now of getting his citizenship. We attempted to do this while he was in Iraq, but they sent him on his way with a stack of paperwork. However, today he actually sat and spoke to someone who gave him the correct paperwork & advice on filling it out -- which by the way I will be filling out since I have 'pretty handwriting'. He was also told that he would still have to take the Citizenship Test, which he will have to travel to Memphis to take. He was told he would be asked 5-10 questions by a person, but someone told him that when they took the 'test', the examiner asked him how long he had been serving and didn't even ask him test questions, he was approved immediately. We're hoping that the case will be similar with my husband, as you have to answer all questions correctly. After nearly eight years of service, I hope that make up for his lack of remembering stuff.

It's not that he is uneducated or doesn't know anything about America, afterall he's been living here for 18 years. It's just that he 1) hasn't been in school for 7 years, and 2) History wasn't his best subject. We took a look at the 100, yes 100, possible citizenship test questions and some of them are absurd! I'm not a betting woman, but I'd put money on it that the majority of Americans could not answer all 100 of those questions correctly. So, needless to say, it will take some quizzing on my part to help prepare him for this, if they do indeed ask him the 5-10 questions.

I'm excited for him though. I'm glad we're finally starting this process up. It will help him with job prospects once he's out of the military and really just in daily life. On a side note, I think that if a LEGAL non-citizen serves in the military for four years, they should automatically be granted citizenship. I understand the paperwork...but seriously, 20 pages of the same information, my hand hurts already :]

Arizona? Maybe, Baby.

As my husbands time in the military comes to a close, we're starting to really think about our future. Today on our way home, we were talking in the car about what we were going to do, since we only have 5 months to figure this all out and continuing to serve in the military is NOT and option here in a few days. Anyway, he has been dead set on finding a way for us to make it in New York City, where his family is. He has always listened to my point of going elsewhere, saving more money, and settling for a few years before we go to NY. Well, today, he told me that I was right and that we probably should do that. I was in shock! He has always listened to my points, but would always go right back to arguing his point for NYC.

One big concern of his was housing. I had looked at homes for sale in Arizona (where we're seriously considering going) and I didn't like any of them, but I explained to him that I was looking at home in our current price range. If he were working at one of the jobs he's considering, we'd be making considerably more and would be able to afford a nicer home. I was looking at homes online this evening and found more homes that I like and some that I even *gasp* love! If we do indeed go to Arizona, my husband would continue working for the for the government either as a civillian on base or Border Patrol. I know nothing is set in stone, but I love Arizona, the weather, the vast open spaces, and the history.

We have a lot of work to do if we want this to happen, mainly paperwork for my husband. Even if we don't end up there, we're on our way to somewhere else and I am so very excited!

Long Time, No Blog!

I haven't blogged in so long, partially due to my husbands return from Iraq & the holidays, partially because I was starting to resent blogging. I don't know if you recall or not, but I had a class last semester where I had to write blogs on blogger and therefore blogging turned into homework. However, I am back and will try to blog more often.

Anyway, here is a small update on my life! My husband returned home from Iraq November 2nd, which of course made me incredibly happy! Here's a photo from that day. Thanks Bestie for coming along as a photographer (and for support of course!).
After he returned, leave started the day before Thanksgiving, so we traveled to Michigan to spend the holiday with my family. I still had about a month and a half of the semester remaining after his return, so even though I was very distracted, I finished the semester (this includes a 10pg paper, a 5pg paper, a presentation, and a few tests). A week or so after the semester ended, Jenry and I traveled to New York City to spend Christmas with his family. We had a good time hanging out with both his family and friends while we there, but we both eager to head home. The past week has flown by and while we are sad that he has to go back to work, we both know he has no choice.

That's it with me! I still have a week and half until classes start up again for me, so you may see me here again soon :]