Being Thankful

Just some information for you: the rest of our vacation (from almost 3 months ago) will be posted about soon. My computer crashed, but I did manage to save some of my photos. I should have a healthy computer again this week.
This post is coming out of nowhere and is just going to be a whole mess of words. It is for my sanity and I don't expect anyone to read it.
You've been warned.

If you didn't know, I started college classes again in August. For the third time. I'm Pre-AAS in Nursing and am working my butt off to apply (and be accepted) into the program in April. There are roughly 70 of us going for 40 slots, and the school only accepts students once a year. It's competitive, it's stressful, and it is only going to become more so the further into the program I get. However, I'm so fascinated by everything I'm learning, I can't imagine not doing it. Most days.

I thought this last week was going to end me. Seriously. My work hours doubled when I started school, I had presentations due, papers to write, mid-terms to study for, laundry to do, an empty fridge and pantry, unbalanced check book, a crashed laptop, plus a bajillion other things and what seemed like no time. There was pressure and I was cracking under it. I was stressed. I was tired. And did I mention I was stressed?

Here's the thing. I was forgetting about all the wonderful blessings God has given me in life. Things so terrific, they make everything far less stressful. Those things that are still stressful, become manageable.
 I have an AMAZING husband who only becomes mildly annoyed with me when I get stressed and snap at him. If I ask Nate to do it, it's done (if he remembers), and there's never a complaint. Not only is he an incredible help but he is the best cheerleader I could possibly ask for.
Then there's my family. They are super. Their love and support carries me through school and truly nothing makes me feel as great as when one of them tells me how proud they are of me.
And that job that is scheduling me extra? I'm thankful I have a job when so many others struggle to find one. A job that allows me to work just daytime hours so I can attend class at night and lets me clock out in the middle of a shift so I can go register for a test that has a limited number of openings. A job that helps pay for the brand new car I own or that new purse I bought. I'm thankful that my boss values me enough as an employee to give me these hours. And I'm thankful that being a full-time student with a job will ultimately make me a better worker. A better nurse.
That laundry I had to do? Finally forced me to wear clothes I bought but continued to push aside in my closet.
The empty fridge forced Nate and I both to eat food we had purchased instead of continuing to skip over it until it was finally wasted and thrown out.
That unbalanced checkbook? I'm thankful that Nate and I have an income that can support having an unbalanced checkbook for almost two weeks.
All the schoolwork I had? I finished it. On time and received good grades. My time management improved and I'm a better student for it.
That crashed laptop of mine? Ok, that one is still stressful, but there are some things more important than a few pictures or music files lost. I'm thankful I can afford the $100 to get it fixed. I'm also thankful Nate and I own two laptops!

The point of this post? There isn't one. I suppose if I made you see some of your negative in a positive light then this had more purpose then me just getting it off my chest and taking a break from studying. But now our laundry is done, fridge is full, checkbook balanced, laptop almost fixed, and I'm still alive.

Life is good :)

Vacation 2013, Day 1-Charleston, SC

So, please ignore the fact that Nate and I have been home from our vacation for 3 weeks now.

As a reminder, we drove to Charleston, SC and boarded a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas. It was amazing and we are both totally game to go on another cruise! I'm going to try and break our vacation up into 3-4 posts. I might be done with them by December. (Kidding. Sorta.) In the end I'll share our pros and cons of cruising and the things we wish we knew before we left!

We started off our vacation by stopping at Nate's parents to drop off Tripp and Libby. We hung out there for a day and then started the 15 hour drive to Charleston around 3AM. We even managed to hit Augusta around lunch time, so we stopped at Chili's and I was able to see some of my old favorites! By the time we got to out hotel in Charleston, we both crashed. We stayed at the Days Inn in Mount Pleasant. They have a special stay and cruise rate which was around 70 dollars. We had that rate for both nights we stayed and were able to leave our car there for the week and take a taxi to the pier. This was much more convenient than driving to the pier, paying 100 dollars to use their parking for the week, and walking with your luggage tot he drop-off point. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our first full day of real vacationing was spent in Charleston. First on our agenda was the tour of Fort Sumter. For the two of us, the cost was 38 dollars with the military discount. We waited in the air conditioned building (which is right next to the aquarium, which would be another great place to kill some time) until the ferry returned from the first tour. Once on the ferry, we sat on the top deck, which is where I happened to get my first sunburn of the trip. The trip is about 20 minutes each way with amazing views of the harbor, Pickney Island (at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is called), and the USS Yorktown which is at Patriots Point on the Mound Pleasant side of the harbor. We even spotted a few dolphins swimming around!

The Charleston Harbor bridge. Mount Pleasant is on the right.

The USS Yorktown

Lovely Charleston

Pickney Island

Fort Sumter

Original Civil War cannons

View of Charleston from Fort Sumter

After the tour, we headed to downtown. I opted not to carry my camera around, however in retrospect, it probably wouldn't have hurt to snap a few on my camera. We wandered around for a bit before stopping for lunch at Bubba Gumps. We originally looked for a local place but found out that Bubbas gets all their seafood fresh from the harbor anyways. Nate and I love Bubba Gumps!
Sufficiently stuffed, we toured downtown and eventually stumbled on the Open Market. The Open Market is a loooooong building that spans a few blocks filled with local vendors selling everything from t-shirts, purses, photography prints, woven grass baskets (a Charleston tradition), and other random knick-knaks.
Even though there was plenty left to do, like carriage rides, ghost tours, and other random tours, we decided to just end our day at the beautiful Waterfront Park. It really was lovely with plenty of benches, open grass, and a fountain you could go wading in. The whole park was backed by these beautiful old brownstone-style houses and the view of the harbor and the Atlantic was amazing!

I think Nate and I would both love to go back to Charleston. Everything, and I mean everything is old and beautiful and full of history. We only caught just a small part of it.



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If You Like Pina Coladas

Ok, I really don't like Pina Coladas, but I'm sure there will be many other tasty beverages available to Nate and myself on our cruise!

The fridge is empty, house clean, bed made, laundry and dishes done. Just some quick packing and we head out tonight for Nate's parents to drop Tripp and Libby off for their vacations at Nana and Papa's. Then it's two days in lovely Charleston, followed by 5 blissful days on the Carnival Fantasy with stops in Freeport and Nassau.

We're pretty excited to say the least. I get to cross two biggies off my bucket list, swimming with dolphins and snorkeling! I promise to take lots and lots of pictures and rub them all in your faces later. :)

Hang It Up

This post is a little overdue. I just wanted to share how I made our curtain rods.

Yup, made.

Because curtain rods are expensive. REALLY expensive. And I have way better things to spend money on. Like wine.

I say this is overdue, because I had Nate hang the curtain rods weeks ago. Oops. I know you were all just staring at your computer screens waiting for me to tell you about this too.

Sorry.

Anyways... Like I said curtain rods are expensive, and our windows are all about 7 feet wide, which means we were looking at spending $25+ a piece. Once I saw the prices, I started brainstorming ways I could make just nailing the curtains into the wall look good.

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you where I originally saw this, but I will give you the rundown on how I made them.  

I purchased all the supplies from Lowe's. Two 10ft. conduit rods, 4 curtain rod brackets, and a can of spray paint (I used Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze). Lowe's cut the conduit down to size for me, I said a little prayer that they would fit in my car, and I spray painted the rods and hardware at home.

Now the cut ends are a little sharp, but since I didn't plan on trying to feel these babies up anytime soon (no matter how great they look), and because they are about 2 feet above my reach, that wasn't a huge concern of mine. We also don't open and close our curtains, so chipping paint isn't a concern of our either.

I was cool with not having finials. I think I really prefer the look of not having them. I did have an issue with the end tab slipping off the end of the rod, so I got creative and used paperclips to hold them in place. If I hadn't told you, you would never know.

Please ignore the original holes. I will fill them...someday.

The conduit also is sturdy enough that I was able to not have the ugly center bracket, even though the windows are over 7ft wide.

So a quick cost breakdown estimate (I'm rounding up), for two windows

10ft conduit- 2@ $3 each

Brackets- 4@ $5 each

Spray paint- $6

Total: $29

So there you have it. Two nice looking, sturdy curtain rods for the same price (or less) than the best, yet still crappy, WalMart curtain rod.

Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day!

Today is a bittersweet day for me. While I still have some wonderful men in my life, it is my first Father's Day without my dad. It's a little rough, and while I would love to brag about how awesome all these gentlemen are like I gloated about the ladies on Mother's Day, it would involve talking about my dad. Truthfully,I'm just not ready. It's one thing to talk about him with my family, a whole other thing to let it all out on the world wide web.
 So today I'm going to wish all you papa's a very happy Father's Day with a little extra love going out to my dad, Arnie (my step-dad), Roger (my father-in-law), and my brothers (all of 'em!) Steve, Dean, Jason, John, Josh, and Caleb. And of course, to my wonderful husband, and awesome dog-dad.
Nate's parents are here visiting. Dinner last night, and church this morning will round out our Father's Day weekend.
 And of course, no post would be complete without some pictures.

Image by a.photographer

Image by a.photographer

Image by a.photographer

What are your plans for Father's Day?

We Didn't Go Farrar

Over the weekend, Nate and I made an unexpected trip down to his parents.

I finished my new employee training Friday morning and stopped by work to find out that the event I was supposed to work Saturday was cancelled. So once Nate was done with work, off to Farrar we went! This weekend was a special one, not only did Nate and I finally get to meet our niece Grace, but we also made it to her baptism.

Yeah, I'm holding her. You really think I was going to give her up for some pictures? No way.

Please ignore my wrinkly pants.

I also didn't have my camera at first, so I didn't get any pictures of Grace with John and Alex, but I get a picture of her with the proud new godparents. 

And if I didn't get my fill of baby this time around, another niece should be making her appearance sometime in August. Don't expect anything from Nate and I in the near future.

Oh, and one of Julie's cats had kittens.

I'm in love!!
The only thing keeping one of them from coming home with me was the 2 pet limit on post. And Nate's allergy too, I guess.

I promise that mommy only looks annoyed with me, and wasn't actually mad.

Nate's parents are visiting us next weekend. It will be the third weekend in a row we'll see Roger and Julie. I think we're spoiling them. :)

Keeping It Clean

Nate and I have had an eventful few days. Friday, I had my first day of work and, well, it was work. But it felt great to walk away with that tip money again.

Saturday, Nate and I went to Lily, our niece's, 4th birthday party.

It was great to be able to do something with family, which is primarily why we asked to be stationed at Leonard Wood in the first place.

Monday, we got our new washer and dryer. Our old set was a casualty of the move, having been packed and re-packed at least 3 times. Lowe's took our old set, delivered, hooked up, and tested the new set. I love the set. I know I'm old when I get this excited over new appliances.

The laundry pile that was bigger than I am no longer exists. Other than Nate's pile of uniforms, we managed to get it all folded and put away as well.

My life is a sea of digital camouflage, green socks, and khaki shirts . My laundry piles consist of: whites, darks, colors, and Army.

And lastly, Candy Crush Saga is destroying my life. I got Nate hooked on it too. Seriously though, I want to kick whoever made this game.