SummersAngel

24 Jan

2012-01-24T00:54:00.003-06:00

Lifes been interesting lately. I'm still grasping this whole pregnant thing. It's a whole new experience i've got no clue about. Sure i've got friends and close family that have been through it but when it's happening to you, it's always different.

Finaly got a 2 day weekend. Not sure what i'm gonna do but the hubs wants to do something together as he's still on leave. He's been having a rough time adjusting to day shift.

My last day at work is next Friday. Yesterday was a joint going away party for me and one of my co-workers who flies out wensday. How she can work upto the last day here is beyond me. I'd be going insane lol. Part of me is saying it is kind of early to quit yet. What am I going to do for 2 months? but at the sametime I know it will go fast and while i may not be very product initialy, the time will be very handy for getting the house together for the movers.

And now it may be very handy to have the time off incase I do get morning sickness.

I did get some cool things from our party, which was sort of a dud. I got 2 cookbooks and a recipe box. One is a vegetarian cookbook and the other is a Bettery Crocker Cookbook binder. Just like the Better Home and Garden one I got from Robs parents. Different recipes of course. The party however, not many people showed up. Not like other parties for other store workers. Oh well. It's certainly no Eglin BX thing. Those co-workers rocked their potlucks.

Rob now informed me he doesn't want to be vegetarian anymore. My heart dropped. I like being vegetarian! I went vegetarian for him! but apparently he said he never had intentions of staying vegetarian. He just wanted to get on a better eating regime. To focus on a more healthy way of eating. So now I guess we'll be eating more fish (well not me for the next 8 or 9 months) and chicken. I had already said I would be eating some chicken through pregnancy but i guess that just got him thinking he wanted to eat chicken again too. Oh well. We'll still be eating mostly vegetarian. He doesn't want to base meals around the chicken but rather incorporate a little chicken here and there. There won't be any red meats or pork. It will be interesting trying to find chicken that doesn't have hormones or chemicals pumped through it like the Tyson shit. Here isn't a problem but in the states it is. We just got Kosher style chicken parts in at the commissary. I think that may be the first step to healthier chicken. Expensive but probably the better choice.

I can't believe January is almost over already.....

21 Jan

2012-01-21T01:54:00.003-06:00

Hey hey i'm here. I've been a little absent minded lately. My brains floating in the land of shock and awe.

Well the news is that we found out this week that i'm pregnant. Holy fudge yes. It did just happen that fast. I'm not telling everybody yet (what a joke when i'm telling the world right?) so if my friends who are on FB read this please don't post about it on my page.

Things are still early on for me so i'm being a bit selective in who I tell incase things don't work out. I am about 5 weeks or so but i'll be going in for bloodwork to check my levels and probably get a more accurate stage. You can read about the latest happenings with all that on this blog.... http://summers-angelttc.blogspot.com/

So because of this news we are holding off on the moment to fill out for housing. We're hoping we'll be eligable for 3 bedroom now.

We got our car back again. Woohoo. Cross your fingers and toes that the car doesn't die on us again!

Monday is my going away potluck at work. It's joint with another co-worker who's last day is next week.

Wanna hear about some awesome ice cream?? Magnolia ice creams! It's a Filipino style ice cream. My favorite one at the moment is the Taro root with purple yams! Yes hard to imagine this being a delicious ice cream but seriously. If you ever get the chance to try it, do it. You can probably find them in an Asian or Oriental goods store. Kind of pricey though. It's $8 for about a 1 1/2 quart tub.

Nothing else new. Life's been a bit...interesting and mentaly busy the last week.

19 Jan

2012-01-19T03:31:00.002-06:00

Have I got some news for you!

Only you have to wait till sometime next month as it's time sensative material lol.

Yup. I'm actually gonna keep a secret for a change, even though it's hard as balls to do. I'm never one to keep secrets very well.

Well hopefully tomorow we'll get our tickets set up for flying home. Rob will be turning in the sheet. Lets see if he decides to fly home or not. He's still up in the air on it again.

I've been freakin' hungry lately. I guess it's safe to say my appetite is back and i'll probably gain back the weight people have said i've been losing lol. Doesn't help the weathers been so unpleasant to bike to work in. Guess i'll be setting up the trainer again. I need to start exercising regularly again. Pretty soon it will be sun and warm all the time! Have i reminded you recently that i'm still uber excited to be able to do laps in the a pool again?! :p

Supposidly I get to pick up my car today. I'll probably be heading over there soon to get it. It ended up being the fuse again. The auto place on base used the wrong fuse so it blew again. The one my dad sent was the right one. Hopefully there really isn't something with the wiring. I would be pissed if the fuse blew again. Arg! I'll be demanding the auto hobby reimbursed me my money for the wrong fuse!

Not much else is new at the moment. 2 more weeks of work. Woohoo!

2012-01-17T06:08:00.000-06:00

If the sun shine really affects my cleaning ability then I will have one spic n span house in Arizona.

I'm home sick from work today because this cold is another doozy. It seems I have that one super bad day but after that it's only up from there. Today is that super bad day and so I called in to work to sleep the morning away. I slept until 11:30am. Score!

Then I woke up super hungry (even after eating a bagel with cream cheese at 7:30). So I made my coffee and some raisin toast. The sun is shining for the 3rd day in a row. I dont' know what to do wtih myself! Aside from feeling like crap I have all this energy that comes in spurts from the sunshine! I know the second It runs out i'll get tired and end up taking a nap but while it's here i'm doing some laundry. The good thing about house chores vs actual work when your sick is that you can stop in the middle of it and lay down if you get to worn out lol.

Of course i'm damn near naked from feeling so warm because of being sick that i'm running around in a shirt and undies with all the windows open. Rob would seriously kick my butt if he came home to me like this. He'd give me a little piece of his mind that i'm sick and should be sitting in bed lol. So off to finish laundry before he gets back from his ride and gets mad at me lol....

16 Jan

2012-01-16T02:58:00.000-06:00

Breath.

If I could I would. My nose is so stuffed up.

People keep telling me it's allergies because it's been reaccuring and Rob hasn't gotten any of the colds i've had. What the heck would I be allergic to? The cold? lol. Hmm. maybe.

So i'm doing numbers. 11 weeks until we're supposed to be out of here. 3 weeks until Rob officialy starts doing our paperwork. Time is getting S H O R T! I don't know what to think yet. I don't know why it doesnt seem real that we're actually leaving here. I know my anxiety over the upcoming move has got me thinking all bad things about Germany at the moment but I know I will certainly miss it. Over the next year there will probably be moments that I just want to be back here for certain things but I got to experience a different country and culture. I do kind of wish we traveled places outside of Germany but that's just who we are, not big travelers.

I've got the bug to get cleaning in the house. Could be that it's been sunny the last 2 days or that i'm ready to get things prepped for movers. We don't even have our moving dates yet but i'm ready to get going.

It will be a very cold bike ride to and from work today. My car should be getting towed today and looked at. My friend wants her car back since it's smaller than her other one. Easier to get around the German streets. So I've gotta bike. Burrr. It's currently 29 degree's out with a hair of a breeze. We're still not sure what we want to do with our car. Just have to wait and see what the problem is. As much as the car has been givign us problem it's been all little things. Just an aging car.

15 Jan

2012-01-15T02:04:00.001-06:00

I'm going to share today's Good Morning message from the book

"My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best i can"- Cary Grant

Good morning! Grant's quote makes the formula for a happy life seem so simple, doesn't it? Confucius said, "Life is simple, it is we who insist on making it complicated." Each day, why not try the simple advice in this quote: Occupy yourself in the best way you can. For, at the end of any day, if we have done our best in all the things we have touched, we can ask for nothing more.

Your turn:

As you go throughout your day today, keep it simple. Occupy yourself in the best way that you can.

Today's Affirmation:

I remember to 'Keep it simple'

Sometimes thats what we need to learn to do. To keep things simple and remember that life is alot more simple than we humans have made it. I always think about this topic and I have that Confucius quote in my little quote side bar, it's been there for years now. We make things so hectic for ourselves. Society has made things hectic for ourselves. We must work to make money to live where we live, eat and drink, take care of our health and own the vehicles that get us places. I wonder what life would be like if we didn't have money or werent forced to work to stay afloat. How simple would things be? We would eat, sleep, and breath. We could sit back and not worry about getting by. To reflect on that Go to a nice field or woods away from everything. Just stand there and observe for a while. Your life isn't ended by disconnecting from everything. You stand there, you breath, you see, and feel the air. It's so simple.

I always things as nice as the convenience of modern life are, they are also our downfall. They give us a false sense of whats real. In the long term these things may be our demise. Just my theory.

So aside from that stuff, I got ANOTHER cold. Seriously? My immune system must seriously be shot or something. Rob hasn't gotten any of my colds leading me to wonder why am I so susceptible (sp). I felt it coming on for 2 days. Over the night was my breaking point and I woke up with a stuffy nose. The onset of the colds always feel worse than the colds themselves. I feel drained and my lymph nodes ache and swell like a mofo and my throat aches. Then I get the actual cold and granted it's inconvenient and unpleasant the onset was worse than the cold itself.

I was a little crushed last night. I called my Dad to chat. The call only lasted 6 minutes. Bummer. He wasn't in a chatty mood and was in the middle of building his basement bathroom. I was a bit thrown off when he eventually said 'alrighty, bye'. At first I thought he was talking to someone else lol but incase he wasn't I still responded with a goodbye. Then, 'click'. He hung up! Well Fine! Maybe my knitting is just as important to end a phone call that way.... But this is just my Dad. When he's in the heat of the moment with something everything else sort of gets put in last place in his mind. Apparently yesterday that last place thing was me on the phone lol.

I went to the mechanic yesterday. He'll be towing my car monday. He seems stumped with the issue but he can't make predictions yet without seeing the car. I gave him the extra fuse just incase that is the problem. As I handed it to him (this is after i've explain the recent happenings with the car..new door, new fuse) he tells me he has that fuse readily onstock. Now I kind of called his bluff mentaly on that one. If no auto store carried this part in the states even and it was available only through select warehouses how would this guy just happen to have this fuse so easily available and on hand at that? I guess it's possible but i think perhaps he was offended I opted to have base fix the problem instead of him. Thus he made it sound like he could have fixed it better? Normaly I would have had him do the work but at the time it was just convenient for us (though that kicked our ass).

As I was on my way out of work yesterday one of our regular customers, and nice older guy, stopped me. He asked how I was doing. I said good. Then he asked if everything really is good with a slight concerned tone. I got confused. Why would he be worried about me? Then he mentioned because I look like i've lost weight, especialy in my chin. Really? Why is everybody noticing this weight loss on me? Sure i've gone down a few pounds but it doesn't seem that drastic to me. At my max here I was about 132. As of the last year i've been about 128. The last 2 months i've gone down between 124 and 125 which is more my normal weight. My most average weight over all is 120 and thats when i'm working out regularly. Though I haven't been that since our last base. I told Mr. George that I have been a little stressed lately and my appetites gone a little down but I didn't feel any different in appearance.

So now everybody is mentioned my weight loss. Seriously though, I look in the mirror and don't feel any different. Perhaps its from coming off birth control lol. Thats when everyone started mentioning my weight anyways. Now if i was anorexic looking then I could see cause for concern but a few pounds between normal weights wouldn't worry me.

This morning my backyard was stray dog heaven. I got up to make breakfast and saw a neighbors dog poking around our backyard. He didn't stay long. Then less than 2 minutes a set of black and gold labs wondered into the yard. At this point Buster was at the backdoor freaking out. I guess everybodies dogs just felt like taking a detour this morning lol

Stupid car...

2012-01-14T01:09:00.001-06:00

The last 6 months before we leaving have been.....kind of less than par.

It seems thats things start to just go kind of wrong. Last night our car died again. It cut out on me as I was waiting to park at the gas station. I restarted it and parked. Then when I got in to leave I started it again but then suddenly EVERYTHING cut out. Just like what happened to Rob. No engine lights, no interior lights, nothign auto, everything cut out. So at least it happened in a parking spot but now I have to figure out how to get the car out of the parking spot as i'm sure the base police will just jump on the oppurtunity to give us a ticket, for the 2nd time.

Uuuuugggghhhhh. I will be calling the mechanic in town in hopes he'll tow it, i know they do towing. Goodbye $$. Then he'll have to do a look over and if it's something to expensive we will be junking it here. I am just sick of this car. It's 14yrs old and keeps dieing on us. I'm alreay afraid to even drive it even 20 minutes out from base because it always seems to be something going wrong.

But at least i've got a good friend that will be lending me her car when I need it again. 2 1/2 more months...at least this way we won't have to worry about shipping the car.

Blah.

So I guess, just go about it with a smile and maybe things will start working in our favor?

Good Morning!

2012-01-13T03:56:00.000-06:00

Ok so it's not the greatest morning. I'm a bit sleep deprived and running on coffee and cinnamon raisin bread.

Lest I even say that it's another gloomy rainy day? I think it's pointless to even comment on that because it's always like that here. It started raining on Buster and I during our walk. Blugh. There is claim that it will be sunny all day tomorow. Of coure I work all day. Boo!

I made more appointments. The pets get upto date on shots next week as well as the car getting its well overdue oil change. I will also have the shop look at a few things on the car. Hopefully it won't be pricey.

Rob forgot to turn in our travel information yesterday. Things arent' going well at work again for him so i'm not sure if he'll be jumping to the oppurtunity to drop them off during his 3 week vacation which officially started. I got the crate measurments and the weight of the pets with the crates. I love him but I think i'm gonna bug him to sneak in and turn in the papers so the sooner we can our flights booked.

Because i'm a self-helpish junky I was at the BX the other day to snag a memory card for my camera to hold pictures. As always I take a sweep through the books and magazine section. My eyes were drawn to this book http://www.amazon.com/Good-Morning-Positive-Ways-Start/dp/1402212240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326444726&sr=8-1

It has a positive point with To Do steps for every day of the year. The goal is to keep you thinking positive every day by starting your morning with quotes and a little story to relate you to the quote. The authro recommends a journal to go along with it to help you jot down things that she asks to get you to reflect on things in your life. I'll let you know how that goes. I picked up with January 12th where it suggest you create a crazy list of goals for the following year.

I am so looking forward to my last day of work. I'm beyond ready to get my house ready for packing. I'm starting to have more of a positive feeling of our exit from Germany. I've been working on my attitude and my attempts to not let the idea of pcsing freak me out or make anxcious. Lets see how log it lasts lol. My main reminder is that we can't control the things that will happen. We can only be ready for what will happen, be somewhat prepared for the unexpected but not to dwell on the possibilty of things that could go wrong. After all when something does go wrong you have to work with it as it comes and all the dwelling prior will only stress you out, not prevent it from occuring.

Insomnia tonight

2012-01-12T16:36:00.000-06:00

What the deuce yo?!?

Where the hell did this insomnia come from?

Ever since my spastic anxiety attacks i've had this aweful sleep pattern. Sometimes typicaly accompanied by a little headache.

I crawled into bed at 8pm, what can I say thats the bedtime i've created for myself. Yea it's kind of early but it works for me, until recently. Not it's 11:30pm and I feel like i've hit a second wind. Of course then the little munchies make their appearance and I dash to the basement for some yummy peach candies. Sugar...sooo not a wise choice but they tasted awesome.

Hm. I went out to dinner with a friend tonight at some German restraunt. I got Onion soup with a fish dish sided with potatoes and salad. Perhaps since i'm not used to eating out like that anymore since going vegetarian the food gave me this horrible burst of energy. I can't finish restraunt meals anymore. I always leave with a box of almost half the dish. The food was very freakin' salty. The onion soup was amazing and the initial few spoonfuls tasted like I was drinking salt water. But it tasted so good. Then I ate the fish. After the first fillet I realized I had downed all my coke. The second fillet...I only got a quarter of the way through it before I had to throw in the fork. It was just way to salty for my tastebuds. Salt is a good staple in meals but hot damn it seems they were aiming to make it the centerpiece of the dish or something.

My friend really wanted to eat there so I sucked it up and ate what I could. Not that the place was bad or something, but my tastebuds have just adapted to a different palate of food and fried foods just don't do it for me anymore.

So i'm wondering if the food is the reason i'm so wired now. Perhaps I should go make a cup of tea to make me sleepy.

All I know is that this insomnia shit is getting worse and i'm not the biggest fan of it. It makes it even more unbarrable becuase I don't have tv that I can just turn on and zone out to. Typicaly I would just set up bed on the couch and eventually fall asleep to whatever's on tv. Don't have that option anymore.

Hm. Or perhaps it's a reverse affect from the passion flower pills. They claim that they make you sleep better at night but make i'm a rare case and it does the opposite. Who knows. Now I just feel loopy because deep down i'm tired but mentaly i'm not.

Fudge.

I Just want to sleep :yawn:

Hair did

2012-01-12T02:27:00.000-06:00

Well I got my hair done. They always seem to cut it shorter than I ask. Just wanted a slight trim on the bottom and to trim the layers. This resulted in a whole new style of layers and shorter hair. Oh well. I also had some highlights and lowlights added in. You can notice the highlights but the lowlights I think are to close to my natural color. In their fancy salon light you could see the shine of the lowlights and they had a slight reddish hue. Boo. I hate red on me. But all in all everythings looks good. I think I will also invest in a nice hair straightener. My hair naturaly gets puffy. Imagine the first picture with more poof and slight frizz on the lower half of my hair. Plus my hair has a small amount of wave (thanks to my dad who used to grow a fro yo).

I think next time I get my hair did (arizona) I will ask to dye it all a nice chocolate brown color :D Of course it has to wait till arizona when I get a nice tan going lol. I have naturaly pale skins (thanks mom).

So the adventure at the hair salon in town only reminded me how much I yern for living in the states again. My stylist did not talk to me once other than asking questions related to my hair. Seriously. The whole time (3 1/2hrs) she just talked with the other hair stylist in German, who was lingering watching her do my colors. So of course I had no idea what they were even talking about. I dont' expect them to translate for me their conversations but I guess i'm used to my co-workers translating for me. Perhpas they hate how most americans don't learn German so thats their way of getting back at us?

I've decided to make an appointment for Buster with the Vet in Trier. Now it's just a matter of getting someone to switch with me as I work that day! Ugh. My boss will not be happy with me. Since they have better vet care there (well more qualified people) i'm going to get a second opinion on his iris cysts. Incase there is something minor they can do to help before we leave that won't affect us flying home. One of his eyes is just getting pretty bad and it's affecting his vision a little. The cysts are taking up half the iris now. Seriously sucks. This causes more volume in the eye and the eye bulges a little more than the other eye. The other eye is still only filled a quarter of the way so his vision is still ok in that one. But he paws at his eyes alot more and rubs them in the floor. Sucks. I hope it's something someone can eventually take care of.

So that motivation I had going yesterday to tackle a bunch of chores? Yea it's gone. I lost sometime after my hair appointment lol. Damnit. The fact it's so dark and gloomy out just makes me want to sit on the couch all day watching 'Drop Dead Diva' (an ok show). Hopefully by lunchtime i'll get a spark to want to do something.

11 Jan

2012-01-11T04:08:00.002-06:00

You ever have days where you just don't feel like being around people? I had that yesterday. I had to work all day and I just didn't feel like being around people at all. They were annoying me. Blah. I was soo relieved to finaly get home.

Today...Eh. It's another day. Another gloomy cold day. Grocery shopping and hair cut/style. Wish me luck on the hair thing. Going to aim for highlights. Lets hope it all turns out alright. If not, it'll grow out.

My house is a horrible wreck. While I was taking that mental break...I was also taking a cleaning break. I didn't want to do a damn thing. I didn't knit, I didn't really clean (though I did manage to put christmas decor away), No laundry, nothing. I was bummin' hard core. Now...my house has taken the hit of my mood and my husband inability to assist in clean-up. So...aside from grocery shopping the next 2 days will be laundry and straightening up. I will also start my inventory sheet. Starting with the big stuff like electronics and things.

The hubs is taking a 3 week vacation. Why couldn't he take it when I quit work? I'm a little bummed about that but I guess February is for the beginning of outprocessing. The rest of this week he will be aiming to get our plane reservations set up. He tried getting us on the housing list at DM but they won't do it until we get our plane reservations. I guess they want to make sure your really headed there? So I just need to pull out the animals crates and meaasure them so they can get on our tickets too.

Other than that? Nothing really. Life's been pretty mundane. Everyday I get up, go to work, come home, and sleep. I am seriously just waiting to get the hell out of here. I love ya Germany, but i'm just way past the prime of my 'enjoyment' phase. I'm ready to be thrust back into good old American daily life again.

I added another page to this site. Now next to the 'about me' you'll find a page for links to some yummy vegetarian recipes. Ones that I really like and make alot.

Alright. Back to the day. I've already procrastinated 2 hrs away on lord knows what.

10 Jan 12

2012-01-10T01:29:00.000-06:00

Dear husband, sometimes I tell you things in confidence. Like when your friends wife says to tell you she says Hi and I make a teeny tiny stink about a chick saying hi to you because you think she's 'not bad looking'. Then confronting her husband, because you think my reaction was funny, whom who you work with that I made the teeny tiny stink about it. A chick I don't know much about who will probably be flattered that you said something to her husband and that I have a teeny tiny hair of jealousy about her. For real. Not a smart move! Now I will feel idiotic everytime they come into the store.....

Hey hey! I'm back! Alive and kicking. Yea I just needed the mental break to gain some clarity. Sometimes when things get really stressful and out of whack you lose the ability to reason and think logicaly. Don't know if it's been hormones or just getting to stressed out.

I got the Cham Lav tea. It kind of gives me heartburn. Odd. Perhaps the lavendar? I've never ingested lavendar so it's possible? I also got the produce bags and Passion flower capsules. The capsules seem to be working. I take one twice a day. If I take 2 at a time I feel a little spacey. Not sure i necessarily agree that they make me sleep better but they do add a little feeling of calm through the day.

Oh, Buster broke out in Hives again. Hot damn dog! Stop with the problems! Since the local vet was closed and I wasn't quite up for driving 40 minutes away to the 24hrs vet just yet I opted for a little benedryl. It worked thank God. As long as his breathing is good I can suck it up a little. You can look up 'dog hives' on a photo search engine and get an idea of what they look like. Not pretty.

I'll be schedualing a hair appointment today. Hopefully i'll get in this week. Slight trim, and perhaps some highlights with lowlights. I need a little change. I will also be setting up for a nice relaxation massage, different therapist this time.

The hubs and I are super excited to do some new clothes shopping when we get to Tucson. I checked out one of the malls online , www.tucsonmall.com . Saweet! Lots of stores! and that's just one mall in the city. Oh lord i'm going to be so overhwelmed. I haven't done real clothes shopping in forever. I've just been ordering online through AE the last 3 years.

Mind.

2012-01-06T14:38:00.000-06:00

The best and most efficient pharmacy is within your own system. ~Robert C. Peale

[link]

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath. ~Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Focusing on the act of breathing clears the mind of all daily distractions and clears our energy enabling us to better connect with the Spirit within. ~Author Unknown

[source]

Pour some water into a tub and stir it up. Now try as hard as you can to calm the water with your hands; you will succeed in agitating it further. Let it stand undisturbed a while, and it will calm down by itself. The human brain works much the same way. ~Koichi Tohei, Ki in Daily Life

Pain of mind is worse than pain of body. ~Latin Proverb

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. ~Buddha

Yogurt-spinach Quiche..Yum!

2012-01-05T01:42:00.000-06:00

Let me rephrase. I won't be posting stories of my day. I will however be updating with photo's and recipes :D

I use my new KitchenAid Alllllll the time now :D

You could probably almost double the recipe to fill in the full pie crust. There was almost an inch of extra crust.

Yogurt-Spinach Quiche -Vegetarian Mothers Cookbook (last nights dinner, this mornings breakfast).

1 (8-9inch) Basic Pie Crust, partialy prebaked -I used the pilsbury double pie crusts, leaves one for later. I baked about 5-10 minutes at 350 before filling.
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, minced
2 cups minced spinach (fresh or frozen)
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 Cup shredded cheese -I used sharp chedder.
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare and partialy prebake pie crust.

Prepare filling while crust is prebaking. Warm oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute 5-10 minutes until soft. Stir in spinach. Cover and steam about 3 minutes, or until spinach is wilted. Remove cover and cook a minute or two to let water evaporate. In mixing bowl, beat eggs, yogurt, sea salt, and nutmeg together. Fold in cooked spinach and cheeses. Pour into prepared crust. Bake 40 minutes, or until center is set. Wait 10 minutes before slicing.

I used a nice little electric chopper to chop the spinach and onion to a minced state. I don't know why I didn't use the thing much for that before. Eitherway this dish came out fabulous! Tasted so yummy! Rob ate it for dinner and I had it for breakfast this morning. I will definately be making it again

mental break time

2012-01-04T04:46:00.002-06:00

I'm opting to take a little break from blogging for a few days or weeks. I've been finding myself in odd spots internaly as of lately. A mix of moods, emotions, and stresses that i've been getting sucked into. A little break from alot of things are in order for a while and one of those is my blog where at times I open up a little to much without giving it much thought.

This is a real break but I promise I will be back at it when I feel things have worked themselves out a bit for me. I will probably have lots to share when I do come back as things will be picking up soon for our pcs.

Toodles for now

03 Jan '12

2012-01-03T01:46:00.001-06:00

And...............

Work was f*ing insane yesterday. I worked a full 8 1/2hrs and I was nonstop the ENTIRE time. I go into checker-zone-out-mode when it's insanely busy. Customers get mad at me because I scan faster than they put it on the belt. But I don't care because the faster I am the faster the line goes away lol. Why people would want to waste their post New Years day off on grocery shopping blows my mind. I mean EVERYBODY was at the store. At least 75% of the base did their shopping lol.

Aside for today's possible lunch rush, as everybodies back to work, it shouldn't be as bad the rest of the day. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

So now that our car is fixed and we both used it for work yesterday it's time to start looking into our new car. What kind do we want? What characteristics are we looking for? Price range? Brand? Etc. Rob wants something small but bike/kid friendly. We've been tossing around idea's of hatchbacks but we never really gave it much thought. Now we must. We'll probably start looking into them once we get settled in AZ. I guess he want's something 'Rob sized'. I threw out a few idea's but he keeps saying their tiny and I need to consider a kid. So I asked what made a car kid friendly? Seriously? Aside from a 4-door? Apparently ample space. When I look at hte cars online it's hard to get an idea of their actually size in comparison to Rob's size. Looks like it will probably be one of those things you just have to run around to the different dealerships to determine. But alas, I found something that slightly intrigues him.... http://www.hyundaiusa.com/elantra-touring/gallery.aspx

My hand is irritating me. For some reason the last few days i've had a muscle linked to my left pointer finger constantly twitching. It's not all the time but it's quite frequent. It causes my finger to curl a little and twitch. I've tried stretching the muscles of the inner wrist but nothings working. Is it from squeezing the breaks on my bike? Is it from knitting? I don't know. But it needs to stop. Not painful just very annoying.

Yea seriously I don't have much to talk about these days. I started taking those Passion flower supplements but I don't enough to really get far with them. I ordered 2 bottles from amazon but it ships from the company rather than amazon so it may take a little bit to get here. I also ordered the cham-lav tea. I'll probably be sending some to my mom since it's like 6 boxes of 16. I won't go through that much of it. They only sold in bulk. I also started meditating. Ahhh how relaxing it is. I forgot just how into I get. I could sit there forever just zoned out on my relaxing music while focusing on breathing. I need to try to make it routine to do it every morning and every evening if I can. Doing it consistantly should keep me in a pretty mellow mood.

2012 is the year of good news

2012-01-02T01:48:00.002-06:00

What can I say. Going into 2012 i've been having some good things happen. Like us getting our orders, getting our car, getting all the rest of our stuff from family, etc.

I finaly got to calling my Dad. Basicaly he told me stuff that's to be confidential. Things they are only telling select people, stuff they weren't going to tell me but that my dad had to sneakily slip to me while his wife was out of the room (what a great trusting marriage huh? blah!). But I can say that the cancer is getting better and his cancer markers are going way down. Like down by almost half from the last appointment. I'm nervous and excited about the next portion of stuff that he may be going through. Time will tell but things are looking pretty promising. I will say that I had a very negative outlook going into this with him but sometimes life has other plans and takes you down a better road. Noone is ever out of the woods when it comes to cancer, even those that may fully recover. So we are all still being very humble about the current situation and not taking things for granted. If the next step does happen I am debating visiting home for that time period. But it still to early to say what may come next.

My dog. He is the center of my freakin' attention lately. I throw my hands up in the air! I give up! Last night I was on the phone with my mom. He was being very spastic and I was trying to keep him calm because I didn't want him reopening the quick in his nail. A bloody quick is never fun. But I caught him to late. Only it wasnt the nail he recently jacked up. Nope it was ANOTHER nail! Gahhhh. This one wasn't quite as bad as the other one and with the vet being closed we opted to take care of it ourselves. Since it wasn't as bad I felt we could manage. Not much blood came from it but I still doused it in styptic powder. Cut off a little part of the nail but was afraid to take to much off for fear it would rip the part that tore by the quick. Then my mom suggested super glue. Good thinking! I've done this before for some of his nails so I put about 3 coats on to be sure the nail was staying in tact. Goodness this dog is just something else with injuries. Now I just need to find the darn Pedi-paws nail filer so I can file down his nails. I hate using the nail cutters because I usualy jack it up.

And thats about it. It's been a quiet weekend otherwise. Don't feel like working today. One more month.One more month...

Managing stress and New Years resolution (warning epicly long post)

2012-01-01T06:35:00.000-06:00

First off, Heck yes that the latest season of Big Love is out. I ordered it on itunes. Of course it takes damn near a day to download one episode lol.

Second off, My mom sent me some packages of goodies. One was a boat load more Bulgur wheat. I hope the movers will ship it otherwise i'll have to mail it to myself. The other box was some magazines and recipes. I opened that one first thinking it was the grains because that what the customs form said. She apparently mixed them up. I was surprised when I first opened to find a Travel Journal. Pretty nifty thing with checklists and different sections to track our move. After that was something wrapped up. None of these were listed on the form so she threw them in to surprise me. Once I opened the wrapped item I came to find that it was a frame. I ended up crying after opening it. It was a framed picture of my Grandparents (on my moms side). My grandpa passed away right before Christmas in '09. My grandma passed away when I was about 11 or 12 unexpectedly. So it was a mixture of surprise from seeing a photo of them happy and together and the fact that I still really really miss them both. It was a pleasant surprise though. I'm glad I have a picture of them both.

So this stress stuff. Some people are better than others at managing their stress. I know my lack of exercising can't be helping me at all. I got stressed during our move here but I don't know if it was from all the exercise I was doing or the blindness going into our first real PCS but I don't remember being this nerve racked. So aside from having to work in regular exercise again and finding time for little bits of meditation (to clarify this is the kind where you sit there and just empty your thoughts for a little bit of mental quiet time) I am also considering herbal remedies.

One co-worker of mine is also into herbal suppliments and is even more easily stressed than me. There are different kinds of herb capsules that help with stress. Here is a link to some and their supposide properties. http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/herbs/passionflower.php She gave me some of her Passion Flower pills when she heard me complain about being stressed out. I have yet to try them but am debating it as of recently. I hate taking any kind of medicine wether natural or pharmecutical but if I were to try i'd rather it be natural.

Really it isn't much different than drinking a Tea. Afterall, tea is just ground and dried herbs as are these herbal capsules. I think perhaps I should get back into drinking more tea's rather than all my coffee lol. I used to drink it pretty frequently but for some reason coffee took over. One tea that I would like to try is a lavender tea. Typicaly I enjoy a nice cup of Lady Grey. I also drink Chamomile when I have an upset stomach or before bed. So I am opting to buy some of this stuff...sounds yummy! http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Medicinals-Certified-Chamomile-Lavender/dp/B0009F3PMQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1325416978&sr=8-4

In other news, I got a short and sweet email from my mom last night. All it said was that I should call my dad. That he has some good news to share. What might that good news be?? I have to wait like 5 hours yet before it'll be morning by him. The only thing I can think of is that his cancer is shrinking even more! He had a CT scan on monday. Gah the anticipation of this phone call...lets hope thats what it is! Maybe that stuff from canada is working after all...

I've been wanting to eat a good meatloaf dish. I used to make a killer meatloaf before we went vegetarian (the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook binder). My secret? I used crushed herbed stuffing instead of regular bread crumbs. So after looking and looking for a recipe it turned out I just had to look in one of my recipe books. All recipes online called for the veggie 'meat' crumbles. I didn't want to imitate meatloaf for it's 'meat' base, I wanted something made of grains. So in that fancy shmancy Vegetarian Mothers Cookbook I found the Bean and Nut loaf (this is marked as being a good freezable dish). I'll be making it tonight for dinner.

Bean and Nut Loaf

2 TBSP flaxseeds
1/4 Cup water
1 Cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 Cups cooked pinto or kidney beans, drained
2 carrots, shredded or minced
2 TBSP minced parsley
1 1/2 Tbsp minced fresh herbs or 1 1/2 tsp dried (thyme, oregano, basic, etc)
3/4 Cup Breadcrumbs (or 1 1/2 slices of bread)
1/2 Cup tomato sauce
1 1/4 tsp sea salt.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil a loaf pan. Grind flaxseeds in coffee grinder or blender. Mix with water. Combine all ingredients (including flax mixture) together, mashing the beans as you mix. (a food processor works really well.) Press mixture into loaf pan. Bake for 70 minutes or until dry and firm.

Sounds yummy and excited to try it. I have already-ground flaxseed and i'll be using dried herbs. I'll probably go for Pinto beans first. I'm not the biggest fan of kidney beans. I may add a hint of dried onions and garlic in there. I'm a garlic whore as of lately. The recipe suggests eating oven fries with it (another recipe somewhere in the book). We'll probably just eat it with salad or steamed veggies.

Soo onto this New Years resolution thing. As always I rarely actually accomplish stuff on my resolution list. Like most people it slips by and you forget about it. I had put mine on the fridge this year in hopes I wouldn't forget about it but I think I took it off a few weeks later because it was cluttering up the door lol.

So here are some things i'd like to do in 2012

- Get pregnant
- Swim laps regularly again (so excited for this one!)
- Get back into some regular cycling outside of commutes.
- Get a new(er) car
- Reopen my Etsy shop.
- Knit more baby blankets :D
- Finish my SIL's hat once and for all.
- Finish my Moms blanket
- Knit my own blanket
- Go camping
- Buy a Team Tibco jersey kit
- Complete the Tour de Tucson (even if i'm pregnant! if I can!)
- Look into either a physical therapy assistant program or Massage Therapy program (education)
- Aim for homemade christmas for everyone this year.

Kinda short this year but I don't really know what to expect once we move to Tucson. I am hoping that this move back to the states brings me back to my good old self again. I have felt oddly out of my skin since moving to Germany. I've repeated it over and over but it's just so true. I've been negative and bummy for at least 2 years now. I'm ready to kick these blue's away.

01 Jan 2012

2011-12-31T17:42:00.001-06:00

My first post of 2012 (from here in Germany at least!). Wooohooo!

Here's to a good year! Brost!

[link]

Ok so my champagne is actually a Blush. What can I say, I don't like dry anything.

I didn't think I was gonna be up for the clock to strike midnight and I probably wouldn't be if it weren't for the German's and there obsessiveness over Fireworks. The one time in the year when they can go hog wild. Of course fireworks just means a trembling-scared-shitless dog. He actually wasn't to bad about it this year. Hopefully he'll let me go back to sleep soon.

My day wasn't to shabby but for some reason the holiday's this year just seem to result in me being sick. Christmas I had a bad cold. New Years i've had dizziness and bouts of nausea. It could be just nerves about our upcoming PCS that got me all rattled and near vomitting. Or I could be pregnant but I highly doubt this as i've had my monthly 'no baby' sign or because a test said negative lol (one can only dream right?). I need to seriously get my stress under control because 3 months of stressing can not be good on the body. If only my massage therapist was back in town. She's currently visiting family in the states for a while. Oh how I will miss her massages when we're gone.

For our new years snacks this year we made Jalapeno Poppers (recipe here), Fried Zucchini (recipe here), and these taco things that Rob heard about from a friend. Basicly you take the little dipping cup-like tortilla chips, fill them with refried beans, top them with cheese, pop them in the oven till the cheese is melted. Then take some sour cream and mix in taco seasoning and dip the filled cups in the seasoned sour cream. Quite tastey actually.

I never tried the poppers as I don't care for jalapeno's but Rob mashed them down fast. So obviously it's a good recipe. One commenter's suggestion I followed was dipping them in flour before dipping them in the egg so the egg sticks better. As for the fried zucchini...the smell of them deep frying made me want to vomit even more. They didn't taste that bad and Rob suggested dipping them in Ranch dressing which actually tasted good. A little seasoning of some sort would probably have been good in the batter though.

Oh yea and as of Yesterday (friday) we officialy have our orders! Yup that piece of paper that clarifies that we'll be moving to DM and the date we're supposed to be out of this joint. Of course not much will really be done in the planning department until February. All there is in January I think is a 'pre-pcs' breifing. Granted we don't have to be out till the end of March i'm still opting to quit the beginning of February. A little bit of freedom before we move will be nice.

Oh yea, and we FINALY got our car back!!! I washed it, vacuumed it and cleaned some of the interior. It was kind of musty smelling from sitting for 2 months. The breaks kept freaking me out on our drive home so I ended up having Rob switch cars with me. I guess the break thingies got a little rusty from sitting for 2 months. But so far she's running. Now I just need to get her in for a squeeky belt and to get our wind sheild wiper stick (the part on the steering wheel) fixed because I can't use my fluid since the thing broke randomly over the summer. Rob still claims he has no idea how it happened but it seemed to mysteriously happen while I was visiting the states. Who knows.

So thats about it for now. Hope you had a great New Year's!

30 Dec

2011-12-30T01:22:00.001-06:00

I got pretty much zero sleep last night. The dog wouldn't lay down for the first hour of us laying in bed. We sensed perhaps he was in some pain. I'm sure injured nails are a doozy. When he finaly layed down he just kept snoring. More than his normal snoring. Typicaly we just shake him a little and he readjustes and we get our silence back. Not last night. No shoving would make him budge from the position he was in. His breathing was a bit faster too which then only put me in the worry zone. After finaly just giving up and getting up at 5am he ended up upchucking. Seriously? Perhaps that was his issue over the night. An upset stomach. He's honestly preparing me for a kid I suppose. Maybe I don't want one now. Though maybe the husband wouldn't give me so much crap if my worrying was over a kid rather than a dog. I know I can't be the only one that stresses over their pets like this. I am not the hypocondriac (sp) dog owner. I promise. He goes to the vet to have his nail looked at in a few hours. Hopefully the paw wrap will get a nice downsize instead of consuming half his leg.

So enough about the damn dog.

I'm getting even more anxcious as the New Year approaches. One more month until i'm not working (though i've enquired about filling in on occasion as a bagger to make a little tax-free cash. Baggers at the commissary aren't part of deca and aren't on a payroll. They work solely on tips.). January will put us at 2 months. I'm not really counting March because that's the month we'll be dealing with movers, moving out of our house, moving to TLF (base lodging), hitching our flight out of this place, taking a brief stop home to Wisconsin, then finaly hitching another flight to AZ where even more fun awaits. By April I will be spent. At that point I won't care what kind of house we end up with as long as I have a house to declare my own and as long as I don't have to worry about flying and moving for how many more years, hopefully if ever.

There is fun in PCSing I promise, for any newbie's out there. Once your on your flight to one of your destinations you can kick back and relax a bit. Sure the stop home may only be a few weeks but thats a few weeks where neither of you have to work and other ppl are cooking for you :p It's a vacation of sorts. Though it does get exhausting when everybody wants to visit with you. Then the flight to your final destination doesn't seem so bad after having time to recoup from all the moving hell. Your refreshed and ready to start anew. Thats when you get excited about getting your new place and waiting on your stuff to arrive so you can make it your own.

I actually enjoy unpacking (for the most part). Think of how many times you get the chance to redecorate your place with each move. If you didn't like the set up at your last place you get to try something new. Moving back to the states also means more upgrades for the house. While Ikea is fantabulous here It's not really my style of stuff. To clean cut. I like furniture with character. Perhaps hitting up some thrift stores and refurbishing some furniture will be a new past time of mine until I feel my house is cozy enough. I've never refurbished something but i've seen enough friends do it by now that I think I could manage.

Aside from a kick ass new bed set, a fancy schmancy new tv stand, and Robs new computer desk we didn't get much furniture-wise here. This house is to tiny for me to even imagine bringing in more furniture in. Feels crammed enough. I dont' really know what new things i'd want but I know I have more selections in the states of what I would want.

So i'm brewing my New Year resolution list. I'll probably post it tomorow. I really don't know what to expect from this coming year so i'm not quite sure what to put on the list.

29 Dec

2011-12-29T01:36:00.002-06:00

So the big guy turned the big 28 yesterday. After finaly crawling out of bed in my daze from the cold i finaly decided to get making his cake. I opted for Angel Food this year. Easy as pie with the box mix. Just add water lol. And so I then decorated it in all cyclist style...

Yea i'm pretty impressed with how the bike turned out, too! I rocked the decorating on that cake! I'm no Martha Stewart but I think it turned out pretty awesome (note the swirls and text are candy pieces).

My original goal was to catch him just as he was coming in the door and to get him with his bike holding the cake. Didn't pan out that way. He snuck in and started undressing from his bike close. I yelled at him and made him put his stuff back on. I wanted a pic of him in his bike attire with the bike cake.

He's afraid to eat the bike. So he's cutting all around it lol. What a dork :D

In other news. The beast and I made ANOTHER semi emergency visit to the vet again last nigiht. I got there right before they closed. He was being a hyper beast allll day long. I had let him out to go to the bathroom then we went back upstairs. He just kept licking one of his paws, like more than the typical Buster licking. So I finaly went down to see what the fuss was all about. Holy balls he jacked up one of his nails while running rampid in the back yard. I freaked out like I usualy do. Rob refused to assist me to the vet because he was to tired. I was frustrated and ready to cry because i'm sick of all these things that keep happening to him.

So I finaly get to the vet and good thing I did because the nail was pretty bad. She ended up having to cut off that part of the nail. Yikes! It would cause more pain to have it left on than to cut it off. She could sense my anguish and suggested I sit out in the hall while they cut it off as I may get flustered. So I did. And I did get flustered when I heard him yelp. Poor guy! Less than a second after the yelp she came back to get me. My first question 'is it bleeding, is he in pain'. No and No. well tiny bit of blood but to be expected as it was the quick of the nail. So now he's got fancy bandage footwear to sport until his check-up tomorow morning. He was a bit high most of the night from the pain meds. He wouldn't lay down so I got to bed a little late.

and so that was yesterday at the Jones. This dog better not require anymore vet attention until we get to AZ. My wallet is getting tired of it too lol. :sigh:

baby blog

2011-12-28T11:15:00.001-06:00

Ok so i'm a dork. I made a TTC blog. You know it was just a matter of time. So no more 'baby talk corner'. All things related to baby will be on there.

Tootles till tomorow!

http://summers-angelttc.blogspot.com/

Reality check -It's a small world

2011-12-28T01:28:00.004-06:00

And so comes the day. That day. The one when someone actually confronts you about your blog. Someone you didn't know even read the thing or how they found the thing existed becuase you certainly didn't share it with them. Lady X is in fact a newer neighbor of mine. Vegetarian, too. Hecks yea. But it recently just dawned on her that she had been following my blog since her last base after a comment about selling something for our move. Holy Shit balls! Ok so my blog isn't that magnificant. But it still blows your mind a bit when someone has followed you for a few years perhaps and then eventually ends up being your freakin' next door neighbor. That could be the military world or that damn Karma doing it's antics on me.

Well what can one say? I don't think i'm quite the same person when met in person that I am when I devulge on my occasional deep dark secrets. I'm more reserved and shy. I know of 2 friends and a small handful of family that i've informed of this page. As i've said before I often don't share this blog with friends because one- its a place to truly be myself. Yea you can be yourself with your best friends but there is still part of you they don't know! Two- because being myself sometimes ends up in me on occasion getting frustrated and complaining about friends. Three- sometimes things get personal (lest we look at the new 'baby talk corner' ) and it's easy knowing I don't know who actually reads. I will say it does boost the mood a hair, knowing i'm follow worthy.

I suppose it's time to move on in the naive fashion so I don't let it affect my blogging style :p

Yesterday at work, about 2 hours in, my boss surprised me with the option to go home sick. I was stunned. She was in bitch-mode yesterday so I certainly wasn't expecting a nice handout from her. But I did not hesitate in accepting. I WAS feeling like shit and ok so maybe I was pouting around those 2 hours in hopes they'd tell me to just go home but I didn't think it was actually going to happen. SCORE! Of course, I had to rush as fast as I could to get changed in my cycling attire and jet home before someone realized I actually rode my bike. They would have forced me to get a ride from someone otherwise.

Needless to say I slept shit tons. A few hours after work then almost 12hrs over the night. I am feeling a bit better today though slightly lethargic.

It's hubs birthday today. The big 28. No real plans set, maybe we'll see about eating out at Isola Bella's or something. Otherwise I was gonna make homemade Alfredo. Mmmm. I am also making his cake that he is oblivious about. I have everythign all tucked away nicely in my bike pannier so he didn't find anything in cupboards :p I want him to think nothings happening. Yup it's gonna be an Angle food cake. My goal is to draw a road bike on the thing with the new fancy Cakemate decorative frostings (they come with interchangable tips. less annoying than filling my own decorative set and having to clean them lol). I am nowhere great at drawing but I will attempt it. Picture to come when it's finished.

Yea. Not much else to say. It's a dull sick day and i'm going to continue making it a dull sick day until the coffee kicks in. Perhaps some knitting and digging around for more TV-shows in Itunes. I'm running out of shit to rent from the places on base after 3 yrs. Netflix would rock my socks if they didn't ship out one dvd at a time from a damn season set. And thanks Germany, you ruined my chance at Instant videos, all those international laws and crap. Toodles

pictures

2011-12-27T02:45:00.001-06:00

I got Pj's :D

Ok so apparently all I snapped were pictures of Rob and his Lego's. There was nothing else on the Camera. I blame the beer's.

I kind of don't want to put my christmas stuff away. When I do that just means the next step is to get ready for our move. I'm not ready. But I can't bitch because 2 of my friends here have been rushed to be moved out of here. One with in the course of less than a month notice and the other with at least 2 months notice. I at least have ample time to plan ahead.

Yesterday Karma just laughed at me. Well Karma, I don't know what to say to your event yesterday but It was not funny. So screw you. We are no longer pals until I get over your stupid Karma ways.

I called my dentist this morning to reschedual my appointment for tomorow. I refuse to have dental work when I can't breath through my nose. Plus I just didn't feel like having more teeth poked and prodded at. So next month it is.

And so it's time to start biking to work regularly again. I rode once last week then I took the car again. My friend banged her husbands car again. At least it was still only the bumper as it's getting replaced. But twice in 2 weeks? First she backed into a stone then she backed into a wall. So now she refuses to drive that car so i'm giving her little one back. I need to bike more anyways before the holiday sweets catch upto me.

I opted to try Alkiselzter tabs for my cold. Friends kept suggestioning for night time and well they work! Better than Nyquil! You don't wake up as groggy or with a gross nose like you do with Nyquil. I didn't think it would make me sleepy but it did. Doesn't taste great though. Tastes like your downing what lemon pinesol smells like.

Yea i've got nothing interesting to say today. Toodles

26 Dec

2011-12-26T01:49:00.003-06:00

I feel like a Zooommmmbbbiieeeee. No not the flesh eating kind. The kind that's hopped up on night time cold medicine. My craving is not human organs but rather a strong cup of coffee to get me out of the trance.

I took 2 doses last night. Yup you read it. 2. Not all at once, no. I went to bed at 7pm (yes that early when i'm sick). Woke up at 2:30 am wide awake. I took another half a dose and woke up to my alarm at 7:30. Only I thought half dosing would make me wake up sooner. No instead it works the same amount of time but with less of the tiredness (all i had left in the house was the el-cheapo storebrand version of Nyquil so it's not AS strong). So i'm in this half-tired-can't-focus-state. Pretty crappy feeling actually. I can't move my head to fast because my eye's can't keep up then I get dizzy LOL I have 2 hours before i have to leave for work. So at least I have some time to drink lots of coffee.

We didn't do much yesterday. I made those garlic knots and wasn't to suprised by the flavor. I think those baked flesh I made for halloween will also be added to the christmas food list. Only we won't call them baked flesh that time. We intended on playing a board game but once we set it up, and after shoving a cup of nice hot apple cider in his face, Rob realized he was beyond tired. So we never played. Shortly after that we both headed to bed. What a way to end Christmas, huh? Like 2 old people heading to bed by 7pm! Of course working midnight shift and being sick will do that to people.

I have to start thinking about my New Years resolution. I think I'll actually make one this one. A real one. Perhaps with actual intention of doing some of the stuff on it.

I am thinking even harder now about my stupidity for giving my notice at work. Rob's saying without our orders they could easily change up our leave date. Don't tell me that! I already signed something Saturday at work. Of course, that paper I signed isn't legit until I get my orders. Phew. But still. Now he's saying we probably wont' get our orders until January. Knock on all the wood in your house that we get them unexpectidly this week.

My Dad is starting to worry me a little bit. Cancer has brought out a side I didn't realize in him, though i'm sure when your fighting for your life you start seeing things differently. Our phone call last night consisted greatly about him talking about 'Alternative' methods of beating cancer. The ones the FDA hasn't approved and that come from places like Canada or Mexico. Sure I agree where he's coming from that the drug companies pay for certain things to not get approved as it would jeapordise the monopoly the drug companies have going but still. If these alternative methods worked so much why don't more people use them? And why is Cancer still going strong? He is trying one experimental medicine at the moment that if a CT scan is taken to soon after starting the medicine will show the Tumors larger than they were previously. He says this is called the ice-cube affect. The medicine works like an ice cube to the tumor. When it starts working the tumor 'melts' creating a larger surface area before being expelled by the body. He has a CT scan tomorow and gave his doctor that section of the book to read. So my main worries are that perhaps the tumor really ARE growing but this medicine is now affecting his real treatment. I don't reallly know what to say. I can't tell him not to do what I know he's gonna do.

Baby talk corner

I started reading a book. Honestly when I was reading it I thought 'hey this persons verbal tone sounds like what I think my verbal tone sounds like -to me- when i'm blogging'. Of course thats probably not how it goes, but one can only hope their voice is enough to maybe eventually write a book too one day, right?

Well what has this got to do with the baby corner, well perhaps that it's about infertility issues. Not that I have that (ok maybe after one month i'm worrying if I have issues bahaha). But really the book is actually an interesting read. It gives a real life view of what it's like dealing with infertility in a sort of goofy voice, not quite so serious like alot of informational books. http://www.amazon.com/Inadequate-Conception-Blastocytes-pregnant-ebook/dp/B004I6D3FQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324884702&sr=1-1

"You and your infinite periods''. Thats what my husband said to me this morning when he asked when it would be over. He's referring to AF. She's been lingering for about a week now. I thought we were coming to an end Friday and then BAM Saturday back in full swing. I was little confused and at this moment i'm a little annoyed. I always had the 'break through' bleeding when I was on the pill and thats where his comment came from. Because any form of the above mean's no 'couple time'. Well my sweet darling husband, I informed you that this could be an unpleasant journey going off the pill initialy. Of course, it's just as (if not more) annoying for the person actually experience the changes. Lets not forget that one! Who's to say I don't dread the thought of not being able to shack up either anytime soon?

25 Dec

2011-12-25T02:05:00.000-06:00

And i'm to lazy to hook up the camera for pictures at the moment.

We had a fun Christmas Eve. I was excited that I got to talk to most of my family yesterday. One phone call to my Mom and unexpectedly everybody was there! Got to talk to my nephews and brothers. Today i'll have to call my Dad.

We opened our presents last night. Fun times! Rob got 2 sets of lego's, Ninjaco from me and a fancy White House display one from my mom. Of course he spent the whole night assembling them all. He also got a Kindle from me and PJ's from his mom. We previously opened 2 other presents from his parents which contain food (one with homemade treats and stuff for the kitchen) and the other a set for making homemade hot chocolate on the stove. His mom said it was a Martha Stewart recipe (if I remember correctly).

I totaly got Rob with the Kindle! He was already drunk and I decided to hand him the wrapped Kindle Cover first. His drunk butt didn't realize that the thing wasn't actually the Kindle itself! He thought it was somewhere deeper in the box. So yes he ripped the box to shreds trying to find the Kindle. I was just laughing at him the whole time. Then he realized what was going on and started laughing. He threw everything to the side and came towards me with a big hug saying 'ooooh you got me! I thought that was the actually Kindle'. So he finaly opened the actuall Kindle box and was excited to see I got a better version than he had asked for. I like mine with the keyboard so I got him one too. I opted for the Kindle Keyboard 3G. He better use the thing! He rarely reads books (so I was a little confused as to why he asked for one) so I also considered it an upgrade for myself if I find he never uses it lol.

As for me, I got a set of Pj's from his parents, a knit dishcloth and 2 cloth trivets homemade by his mom with a fancy veggie scrubber. My mom got me a pretty necklace and 2 soup corningware cups (for both of us). Aside from the pannier cover and Kitchenaid that I already opened, Rob got me a knitting needle case and a stone mortar grinder. However, we'll have to send for a new grinder as the grinding stick broke in two in shipping. Booo. And that was christmas. We ate to much, drank to much, and got to talk to our family. Yay!

I really miss my family this morning. We have not spent ONE single holiday with our families since we've been married. So I really really hope we make it home for Thanksgiving next year. I just miss the hugs and face to face talks with my family. I know holiday's will never be like they were when I was younger where we'd go to other relatives houses and have dinners because most of my moms side of the family has passed away now and my parents are divorced and my brothers have their own lives now too. The holidays get a little hard for me in that respect. I find myself hoping that we can get the family back together for when we visit next thanksgiving but I know my Dad can't be in the vacinity of my mother without words flying. It sucks when life has come to that. As i've said before Divorce still affects the kids even when they're adults.

Today is a bit more chill. I didn't want to crawl out of bed (i'm still sick and hopped up on Nyquil) but I had to give Buster his meds. I don't think we have much planned for today. Eating leftover snacks and playing board games. If I don't fall back asleep lol.

Last night as Rob was putting lego's together and I was making food It dawned on both of us that something is just missing from our chrismas routine now. We've established our holiday tradition and now it just feels a little empty. We're ready for a kid to add to it!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-23T13:37:00.001-06:00

Boooo!!! It's Christmas Eve and i've come down with a cruddy cold. Thanks Santa....or the lady in my line who let her kid cough all up in my space without covering his mouth. Lets hope it passes fast. Sore throat and plugged nose is not fun when you plan to get drunk and eat lots.

But today is a good day really. It's kind of to early yet but it'll be good. A little blah though. It's almost 8am and the sun isn't giving a glow yet.

I've opted for one more snack to go along with our goodies. It looks and sounds yummy. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-knots/detail.aspx I had to run around off-base for the phyllo dough. Thankfully my german co-worker told me what it's called in German. The first store I hit up (aldi) had it. Yay.

I tried the white bean chili last night. Sooo yummy! Definately a keeper. Rob said I overcooked the Quinoa though. I did it in the crockpot and it didn't look fully cooked after an hour so I turned it to high. To me it eventually looked cooked so I turned it off. I thought it was fine but he says otherwise but that it was still good. Oh well. Maybe i'll make the quinoa ahead next time and add it in 15 minutes before it's done. At least when I do it in the crock.

I'm totaly on an I Love Lucy kick. Rented the first season. I love that show!!

Baby talk corner

Well curiosity has got me. This whole timing your ovulation thing seems kind of overwhelming. I've decided to play around with it a little to see if I can actually determine if and when i'm ovulating. I don't really know if I want to go as far as checking the basil body thing but knowing my eagerness I can't say I won't make my way there. Going on month 2 and i've already discarded my previous words. It's hard not to get excited at the idea of trying and knowing there could be things that help boost your odds are just to tempting to pass up. This also could be my demise. They say when you really put effort in trying it doesn't happen so easily.

For now I will keep it as it is. Anything I decide to try and if I do manage to figure out if I am actually ovulating and when the day's happen I won't be informing Rob. This way it will appear random and nonchalant :D Then he won't see how obsessed i'm becoming lol. I kind of have a feeling not much will happen this next month either. But who knows. Maybe i'll strike lucky. I have a feeling month 3 will be a good month.

I've decided to try Mymonthlycycles.com

I got to hold a baby. A 6 week old baby. Of course I was afraid to hold the thing for fear i'd drop it or something. He didn't cry when I held him. Score. That means there is hope for me :p Other people's babies don't fully satisfy the baby urge. I want MY own baby that looks like Rob and I. Not someone else's lol.

23 Dec

2011-12-23T01:08:00.002-06:00

Ahhh the lame dealings of Yard Sales sites. I have listed our satellite dish and now have a pending sale but yet again it's flip floppy. We set a day and time but then I get an email prior saying 'I can't make it, how about a different day'. I HATE HATE HATE when ppl do this. I see every excuse in the book. I am trying to hold on to my patience with this person before jumping to the next person. Since we don't have our car it's all on them now to come and pick it up. Next to get rid of is our table but that is going for free since we got it free. The chair's have seen better days as our first dog used the bottom seat posts as a chewing toy lol and one seat broke completely when Rob tried using it as a step stool. It's a nice solid piece of wood table in pretty damn good shape (slight burn mark on the top from previous owners and missing a screw somewhere).

Ooooooh I am going insane with the disaster my house is. I don't mean to whine about my messy house all the time but shit when i only get a day here and a day there to clean not much actually gets accomplished and by the end of a few days it's back to where it was so no real progress gets made. I am Soooo looking forward to when I quit my job. Household overhaul but then there will be no real time to enjoy because then movers will come and take everything. And I told Rob that in AZ he WILL help me clean the house. If I work I can't always do everything by myself. I made the mistake of starting to do his laundry too ontop of mine and now he rarely does his laundry anymore. Then come time for work 'where's this, where's that' and it's usualy in the laundry pile because I hadn't gotten to cleaning it. I guess some wives, like myself, aren't the greatest with routine cleaning. There are much bigger and better things to be done our days off (like bike rides and knitting) that our houses take the hit.

Today is a quick trip to the grocery store for weekend festivity foods. So far our list has the basics...Stuffed Mushrooms, potato skins, Artichoke-spinach dip. I want to add something else. Usualy we'd do pigs in a blanket but well ..yea no meat. I had my potluck for work yeserday. I gave in a tried a little bit of meat but perhaps my choices were ment for failure...cornbeef-hash cornbread stuffing and fried pork lumpia. Yea didn't get far with either of those. My tastebuds retaliated. So my only other option for food was the sides which were ALL forms of potatoes. Fried hash potatoes with creamcheesy filling, potatoe salad, cheesey potatoe casserole, another potatoe salad. Oh yea and one form of vegetable...romain salad sans anything but romain lol. Way to go germans! You certainly got your food group quantities in order :p

Today I will be trying a chili recipe my friend uses. http://girlrunlove.blogspot.com/2011/12/taking-care-of-business.html I'm excited to try it. It looks yummy! Who ever thought to put taco seasoning in it? Mmmm.Guess it's in place of chili powder. Though i'm sure my husband will douse it with chili powder or hot sauce later. He overloaded his portion of the shephards pie with salt and pepper. Guess he has demanding tastebuds.

I realized I haven't been putting up many pictures lately. Sorry about that. I feel as if i'm working fulltime right now (thought my weekly hours say otherwise as does my paycheck). Some how i'm working almost all 8-hour shifts but only come out with 30 hours a week. After christmas I drop down to 20 hours a week which should give me a little more free-time.

In the world of Arizona the Tour de Tucson is next November. I will be participating!! Not sure what length of the course i'll be doing but Rob is pushing me to consider the full 111 miles. Yikes. We'll see what kind of shape I am in then. If i'm pregnant i'll do the short 20 miler lol. If i'm not then i'll do the 111 miler or the one below it..70 miles I believe.

Jumping the gun

2011-12-22T01:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I jumped the gun (before we physicaly have orders) I gave my notice to work. February 4th will my last day. I go on Leave without pay status for about 6 months so I can still try for another Deca position in AZ. Much easier to get a job this way as I get a step ahead of normal applicants. Yay for being with Deca more than a year. lol Now lets just hope the commissary there has a position for me. I'm going to inquire with admin to see if they can get me a slot before I leave. Hopefully there is one open but if DM has a slow turn over rate than chances may be slim.

Maybe there is good in the military. Yesterday Rob came home stunned. The previous issue I had breifly vented about (the bullshit post) has magicly been set straight. The physical thing is not resolved but the most I can say is that someone was looking out for Rob and the issue, with a little bit of time, will eventualy become obsolete. I don't know what to say either. We're both a little taken aback., in a good way.

Today is my potluck and secret santa at work. Today. In about 4 1/2 hrs. And...I still have yet to make my cheesecakes cups. Oops. I got a bit tired after work yesterday and just didn't feel like making them. Sooo i'll be getting the urge here in a few to actually make them in time for work. They really don't take that long. I supposed they could have sat in the fridge over the night but there just as yummy fresh! Who would have ever thought this recipe would be a hit whereever I go? My co-workers in florida praised it too. Thanks BH&G lol

Yesterday was winter Solstics (sp). I guess it was the shortest day of the year. Fuck yes yo! This just mean's it's only up from her! I wonder if AZ has this too. I mean after all they don't do daylight savings. Do they have a shortest day of sun? :p Oh sun....how I am dreaming and dreaming about being around regular sun again!

So i'm trying to decide what to do with the merino I recently bought off that person. The balls look kind of small and I wonder how they could be 98 yards. I hope she wasn't jerking my chain and that she used some of them. but then I tell myself..who in there right mind would use a little bit from each ball? What to make ...what to make...

My moms blanket has been...put into dormant status. I don't if I will touch it much until after we move. I am very very awful in the manner that I always give ppl high hopes that i'll finish a project for them by a certain time (or at all..my SIL's hat..). I rarely follow through. but my moms blanket is huge and it drains the brain after a while with such repeated stitches. A nice break is good once and a while to ensure it eventuallys gets finished. I don't want to burn myself out completely on it. and my SIL hat..it will get done one day damnit. I have the yarn and needles so it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it. My stupid fear of cabling and hats.....

Shephards Pie vegetarian style

2011-12-21T01:40:00.000-06:00

From The Vegetarian Mothers Cookbook

Filling:
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Onion, Diced
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Carrots, diced
2 Cups Cabbage, broccoli, or Kale, finly chopped (i used broccoli this time)
1/2 Cup water, vegetable stock, or Lentil cooking water (I used water but next time I may use veg stock)
2 Cups cooked lentils
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp soy sauce

Crust:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/3 to 1/2 Cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
1 table spoon miso ( i don't have miso so I just put a hint of soy sauce in)
Paprika

Preahead oven to 400 F. Head oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and saute 5 minutes until soft. Stir in garlic, carrots, and cabbage, broccoli or kale. Add water and cover pan. Cook 10 minutes, o runtil filling is hot. Pour filling into 2 quart casserole dish.

While filling cookes, prepare mashed potato crust. Place potatoes in medium pan with water just upto top of potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). Drain potatoes and treturn them to the pot. Add miso. Begin mashing while adding milk a little at a time until potatoes are smooth. Stir in minced parsley. Spread potatoes evenly over filling. Sprinkle evenly with paprika. Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes until potatoes and filling are hot and edges are slightly golden.

Makes 6 servings.

Ok my methods... I used baby carrots since thats what I had on hand. I diced them up. It doesn't mention adding the soy sauce anywhere so I added it once all the veggies were mixed up. Also once the veggies were done cooking I took them off the heat and mixed in the lentils before putting them in the dishes. I added a thick layer of cheese ontop of the veggie mix for Rob portion before putting the potatoes on. I also realized after I started mashing that I had Almond Milk with vanilla flavoring. Oops. Guess I should just start buying the plain incase this happens again. You don't notice it that much as it's the no sugar added version but there is a slight hint of vanilla in the potatoes lol. I didn't tell Rob and he never said anything so obviously it didn't taste bad and Shephards pie is one of his favorite dishes.

I have yet to try it myself. I wasn't hungry by the time I finished it. Rob however, ate every bite of his.

Buster just started pouting at the front door. He is anticipating Rob coming home so I opened the door to show him Rob wasn't there, since he's coming home super late today. Then my nieghbor was coming to his car and turned the alarm off so the lights blinked. I laughed and told him I think my dog thought he was Rob because of the blinking lights. He just half smiled and looked at me like I was crazy. I used to work the dude 2 years ago at the BX so really I don't care what the dude thinks lol. Maybe I am crazy with the way I care for my animals but Buster is a unique breed of dog. That is all I will say lol.

Soooooo I've been craving Chicken lately. Not fried or greasy chicken. Just simple oven baked chicken. I am wondering if i'm not getting enough protien. I will hold out a little bit longer by trying some protien packed veggie dishes (starting with the shephards pie) but if it doesn't subside then I will do what my body is asking and eat a little bit of chicken. (like half a breast lol....and not the Tyson shit which is like 10x larger than necessary for a chicken breast!).

Rob has already informed me that he plans to incorporate meat back into his diet on occasion. I thought about it for a while as to if I was willing to go back to meat. Red meat doesn't seem to strike my fancy anymore (he was never a big red meat fan anyways) but I think I am willing to do eat fish and chicken with him. I mean I went vegetarian for him lol. He said he wanted to go vegetarian just to get used to eating lots more vegetables and grains. I was a little crushed to hear that he had plans to eventually eat some meat again because i've gotten so absorbed in this vegetarian thing. I'm thinking maybe it's a little of a control thing for me, it's easy to control my eating habits when I can't control other things. Rob's belief is that human body is ment to take in some meat. It is packed with good protiens afterall. But he thinks the moderations people eat nowadays is way beyond what is necessary. Which I definately I agree. A little at dinner (like the size of a small apple) is alright but to eat it for every single meal...sausage for breakfast, loaded meat sandwich for lunch and then a hunk of steak at dinner is alot. So probably within the next year we'll be changing to Flexitarian. Which isn't bad because i've given thought to it and decided I would eat meat in pregnancy afterall. Being busy people its hard to make nutritious meals day in and day out and to be sure i'm getting proper protien and iron I would eat some meat.

Baby talk corner

Month one officialy down a couple days early. No baby in this neck of the woods. AF came. This would explain my insane moods last week lol. I am definately not moody anymore which is a relief to both Rob and I! Ok so yes I am slightly crushed that it didnt' happen yet but at the same time I truly wasn't expecting anything to come of month one. I'm actually glad AF came. I kept hearing ppl say they went upto a year without it and I worried my body would take a while to readjust.

20 Dec

2011-12-20T03:02:00.004-06:00

Dear Bitburg/Spangdahlem,
I will not miss you with all your odd business hours and random days of being closed and so on.
-No thanks, Krista

Yup. It seems the longer I live here the shorter and shorter the hours that base stores get. Bitburg is in the works of closing down so this means that they've begun thinning out there facilities and due to this the stores are getting weirder and weirder hours. The BX now opens at 11am and closes by like 6pm and is closed one day out of the week. The commissary there is closed 2 days of the week and has shortened their hours as well. But it seems this is most important when I actualy need something from one of the too and realize I can't get it between their whacky hours and my time of work. Lame lame lame!

Rob has gotten his outprocessing checklist! Another step in the direction of Awesome! Still no orders though. Can't actually do anything we need until we get those piece-of-heaven papers.

I am officialy behind on things. Well not that bad but once I got all gifts sent out to the family (everybody got their gifts from us already! Before christmas!) I kind relaxed on all things pertaining to Christmas. Like forgetting about my potlock and secret santa exchange on Thursday. I still need to get my person a freakin' gift! And make something to eat for the potluck. Cheesecake and girly pre-made giftset it is. Then Rob tells me he needs a gift for his co-worker and to make a dish for his potluck tomorow night! Yikes yo! Pasta salad and liquor giftset it is.

I had 2 cups of coffee this morning and i'm wired. FINALY one day of mental sanity. I have been an emotional roller coaster the last few weeks. I read somewhere that women just coming off birth control are more sensative to the effects of PMS and hormone's. Well needless to say that person nailed it on the head. I have my husband cowering in a corner becuase he can't decipher which mood i'll be in as it changes by like the minute. Hell I have myself cowering in a corner because I don't know what kind of mood i'll be in any given minute! I hate it. It's very frustrating. But today so far...i'm just in a mellow mood. Good enough for me!

We got more snow last night. Nice to wake upto. :D

So my commute was refreshing yesterday. The toe covers for regular shoes work awesome! My toes never got chilly or numb. However, my shoes don't grip on the pedals now because of the covers. Thus my feet slip off sometimes. I also need to rethink my face protection. I found my clear lenses (somehow I placed them in my sewing box...??) and wearing the face mask leads to fogging up the glasses. That and I can't twist my head to see traffic behind me when it's on. So I need to find an alternative face-warmer.

Commutes aren't going to be as frequent though at this moment. I realized we still don't have all of our packages that we've ordered so I need to take the car to pick up our packages.

My car officialy has it's part...but the cover to the fuse didn't show up. So they didn't put it on yet because they need the cover for it. F'ING A. :( I just want my car back. We will be shipping it the beginnig of february and it still needs and oil change and to be cleaned for shipment. Arg!

That is all for today. Time to utilize my caffeine high...

19 Dec

2011-12-19T01:42:00.002-06:00

FINALY! I finaly put the nubbed tires on my bike. I kind of had to between my friend needing her car back, us still not having ours, and the fact it actually snowed an inch last night. After a 2-3 week break i'm not sure i'm gonna be fond of the initial cold commute. It's a bit chillier than it previously has been. But at least i've got tennis shoe toe-covers and all. I've also got wind/water proof pants to go over my leggings if it's that cold. When commuting day after day you don't think much about having to ride the cold but when you take a break and drive for a while the initial first ride back is not always pleasurable in thought. I'm sure i'll be getting lots of looks from co-workers as I roll up on my 2 wheels again. I told them I'll be riding even after it's snowed! :D

I totaly snagged some cool merino wool yarn. Karabella Aurora 8. http://www.spangyardsales.com/item24323705.html?itemId=24323705&src=SEARCH I pick it up from the lady tomorow. $5 per ball (5 full balls) and then after the fact she mentioned she had 2 - 1/3 full balls I could have. $30 for all. I've never heard of that yarn but then again I haven't had much time in the states since i've started knitting so I don't know what's available to me. Then again I think i've seen this brand in a german store once. http://www.anniesattic.com/collections.html?collection_id=283 I'm planning what to make. Each ball says to be 98 yards. Do I see a nice merino scarf in my future? Or hat. Or both if theres enough. :D

So It gets kind of annoying to follow a medicine schedual for Buster. I've had to get creative for him to eat his food when I want him to. Moisten his food, drop a little cheese ontop, or drop a little wet food ontop. I feed him between 7 and 9 am and again 7-9 pm. I've realized that I've had to feed him on a schedual because when I give him the medicine without food his eyes get a little bloodshot and he gets squinty. Perhaps dry eyes or something. He does fine when I give it to him right after food. It'll be interesting how I make it work when we're not supposed to feed him so many hours before the flight home. He'll be missing one of his doses while in flight so hopefully whatever the problem really was is gone so nothing would happen.

Hurray!!!! Ok we didn't get our orders yet, probably not till after christmas as our 10 day mark is this friday. And who wants to process stuff the day before christmas eve? Anywho, we got our newcomers package from DM!!! It includes booklets, maps and a CD of the base and area. Hells yea! The most we got for Spangdahlem was an out of date DVD talking about the area here. Everything in the package was made this year so it's all up to date :D It seems all the information boasts about it's Soaring Heights base housing so i'm praying that this means they aren't really moving people into them anymore. The book includes some photo's of the housing and it looks freakin' awesome. Theres also a pick of the lap pool. It doesn't look like a full Olympic size like Eglin had but it's better than nothing and it still looks awesome.

Ok that chili recipe in the last post. AMAZING! It is now my favorite chili recipe. I love all the veggies in it. I'll probably be making it a couple times before we leave to use up the beans in the cupboard. This time around I used stewed tomatoes instead of just regular diced tomatoes. One of the cans was Italian style. I added less garlic then since it had garlic flavor in it. I ignored the directions and threw it all in the crock on high for about 2 hrs then low for 2 hours.

I've been on a garlic kick like mad crazy lately. I'm finding myself consuming all things garlic. The chili, Boulder Canyon parmesan & garlic chips, snack pack Marinated green olives in Garlic. Maybe i'm pregnant and thats my new craving :p The taste of garlic is just lingering in my mouth and I cant' say it tastes bad lol

Alrighty. Today I have to follow my friend to the car shop so she can drop her car off then driver her back home. After that I no longer have a car until we get ours back or she gets her other one back..which ever comes first. So, bike commuting it is.

18 Dec

2011-12-18T02:56:00.001-06:00

I woke up this morning to see the cars dusted in snow! Just a little bit, not much that stayed. Then a few hours later is seriously snowed. The big huge flakes kind! So happy to see snow! I just hope it stays snowing while I bake christmas cookies today!

I'm starting to go through all the stuff in my pantry. I don't have to much extra stuff but because I have it spread between 2 cupboards and 2 added units with 3 shelves eat it looks like i'd have alot of stuff. Not really. Just lots of pasta, beans and some grains. All stuff I can start using up the next month.

What makes good recipes for cutting down on these things? Chili's and pasta/grain bakes!

So i'm hunting for another vegetarian recipe to make for dinner tonight. I've tried one before but it didn't strike my fancy. It has to contain lots of beans. I'm going to try this one http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rainbow-veggie-chili/detail.aspx I may add some bean assortments to it.

Guess what I got early for christmas?

Yup. He bought me one! I don't know what to do with it. I've been using a hand mixer for the last 7 years. I think it's safe to say I can finaly chuck it since some of the metal is beginning to chip off. I'm not sure if I can part with it just yet though.

So this means today will be lots of baking!

My cookie/sweets line-up

1) sugar cookies (i'm going simple this year with the Better Crocker mix). The frosting I am going to do from scratch with added merange (sp) powder so the frosting is slightly hard.

2) peanut butter kisses. These i'm doing because I have a package of peanut butter cookie mix and left over kisses from last year lol.

3) Basic Truffels

4) Rum Balls with Captain Morgan private stock

5) Cranberry Orange drop cookies.

3, 4, and 5 are new to me this year. We'll see how they turn out. I guess the Rum balls have to sit a week before you can eat them so we'll have them for christmas.

Oh and a lady came through my line the other day with these grocery bags http://www.flipandtumble.com/shop.html . The site offer's neat produce ones too which I am thinking I might invest in! The hold up great and hold alot of stuff. It seems the typical ones you get from stores tend to be kind of week at the seams on the bottom, or so that seems to me to be the first area to break in those bags. The lady says she has yet to have one of the F&T bags tear on here even when she overloads them. The site doesn't seem to show the produce bags ( dense white mesh) so perhaps a phone call or email to them can get you in possession of them.

Things I won't miss about Germany

2011-12-17T09:53:00.000-06:00

What we won't miss about Germany

1. Gloomy winters (Rob especially says he won't miss the crappy weather)
2. lack of Air Conditioning for the rare hot days
3. German's (lots of them) that don't believe in deodrant
4. tiny roads that are somehow supposed to fit 2 cars
5. Tiny parking spots where you have to see-saw to get in and out of
6. Twisty roads
7. The dollar to euro conversion rates
8. Nemesis dog, Paco.
9. All the carbs and sweets (ok so maybe I will miss them but I won't miss how fat they made me!)
10. Transformers
11. European style doors/handles/windows
12. Flies in summer
13. Wasps in fall
14. Language barriers
15. Distance to get places
16. Not being able to pull of to the side of any roads
17. Having to drive 10 miles down the road just to turn around on the autobahn when you miss your exit.
18. The german's running out of salt in the first few weeks of snow.

What we will miss about Germany

1. Green grass (usualy year round even in middle of snow)
2. Pretty view from our backyard
3. Woods right by our house (though I won't miss the ticks)
4. Mildly warm summers
5. Beautiful green landscapes during bike rides
6. Bike friendly communities
7. Yummy food!
8. Autobahns and how the German's use them properly (use left lane ONLY for passing).
9. Fresh brewed beers!
10. Alcohol free beer!
11. Castles
12. My awesome co-workers
13. The biking.
14. The fresh air
15. Nicer, not full of pothole, roads.
16. Highway (autobahn) rest stops! Some of them were pretty convenient.
17. The Bavarian Alps!

Well i'm sure the lists could go on and on. I guess it's 50/50 on likes and dislikes. If I ever get the chance to visit Germany again would I? Probably not. I've had my fill of the european experience. I can at least say i've visited a few countries in Europe and got to experience Oktoberfest, Christmas Markets and Castles. Do I feel bad for never going to a Fasching party or Pig Fest? No. I'm not big into the party things so I don't feel i've missed out on much. The hubs and I are just more-so the kind of explorers that like to do things more local. Planning trips and traveling does not bring out the best in me, I get way to easily flustered and panicy that I don't always enjoy myself.

We are down to 2 months (i'm not counting December anymore, it's half over lol).

What I am currently dreaming about....

Experiencing a desert for the first time and all the blue sunny days and flat roads for biking :D Blue skies make me one optimistic lady!! While Germany's gloomy skies make me one depressed woman ..

17 Dec

2011-12-17T00:40:00.002-06:00

A little cranky this morning. Ok so granted I want my own child, which would entale cranky fits, many frustrating nights, and no freedom...I am not quite ready for it and will take it as gracefully as I can when it comes. Till then..I like my 'me' time.

Today my friend and I were supposed to make another attempt at going shopping in Trier as base is doing the 'give parents a break day'. Over the night however she managed to ding up the bumper on her husbands new car. Her husband is deployed so he wouldn't know until she told him. The practical wife I am told her to just wait on telling him until we covered all our bases..as in getting an estimate, seeing how bad it really was etc...that way when she did tell him she could also add that it was being taken care off so he wouldn't have to freak out about it. If Rob was gone this is what I would do to prevent any added stress..especialy with the dude being deployed.

However, the loving wife she is, knowing the car is brand new to him decided to tell him right away last night. The anticipated reaction happened. He freaked out, told her to stop driving it, and He wanted a police report done asap (It's a Charger, huge. She was driving through a tiny german street and had to back up her car so the other car could get through...amidst this she backed into something so really there is no point in filing. Especialy if she doesn't have the other cars info and the other car probably had the right of way). So this morning when we're supposed to enjoy a nice shipping trip instead will be me baby sitting her kids before the daycare and then possibly still shopping if there is time after her errands with dealing with the car.

What would have holding off telling him over the weekend done? Not much lol. We'd have a fun weekend lol Oh well. Not my car, not my life and my coffee still hasn't absorbed itself yet fully so i'm cranky at the idea of baby sitting kids 30 minutes after waking up.

Hope your day is just as freakin' fabulous if not more!

Babies everywhere

2011-12-16T02:21:00.001-06:00

Oh babies galore!

Another friend had her baby yesterday. She had to go the c-section route as the umbilical chord was wrapped around the neck twice. Wasn't hurting the baby but the baby stayed breached. During all the ultra sounds the baby would not show what sex it was so it was a suprise for them. They had a beautiful little girl named Eliza, 7lbs oz, and 20inches. Awwww.

Another friend brought her baby in the other day. About a month and half old. Awwwww. And again everybodies pregnant or just had their babies. To be honest I do not remember Eglin having this many pregnant women. It makes my baby fever worse.

Well hopefully i'll get over the initial excitement of me being off the pill. Till then i'm still counting lol. 2 weeks into the procreation phase. 2 weeks is probably not a damn thing in comparison to how long it may actually take. In that case, counting will just make me miserable. I still find myself jolting awake right before I fall asleep for the night thinking 'oh shit I forgot to take my pill'. Then just before I whip the covers off I realize i'm not taking them anymore lol. I've done this a few times, once I think I actually jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to look for them. I used to take them right before bed because of that awesome internal reminder that jolted me up at bedtime. 8 1/2yrs of a routine is hard to break lol.

Of course I won't be enlightening people if I were to get preggors right away. It would probably be close to the 2 month mark before I say anything to ensure no miscarriage came of it. Not to be negative but it's a very possible reality for any woman. My mom had a bad one right before me. It ended in hemoraging and a DNC (where the doctors have to get invovled). I know they aren't genetic and they happen on their own due to either an insufficient uterus enviroment or because the baby wasn't viable but it's still scary.

Rob kind of wants to keep the sex of our eventual baby a mystery for us. I think he's just in permanent shock after finding out that he was an assumed 'girl' the whole time in his mom's belly until he popped out a boy lol. He says he wore girl clothes for a while lol. Hey, doctors can't get it right ALL the time. Technology has improved some in the last 28yrs though but he still seems kind of interested in keeping things neutral for the baby lol. I don't know if I could keep that kind of thing a mystery to be honest. I'm such an impatient person.

In other talk..

I think my dog will very much enjoy Arizona. He's a warm weather kind of dog. I let him out earlier and it was windy and rainy and the poor guy kept lifting his paws because he hates wetness under his feet, ontop of a cold ground. I think Busters ready to get out of here too.

We should be getting our orders next week if all goes according to plan. I'm think that we might ship a few things to ourselves in AZ. Some things we don't want stolen. I was told the Germans are very horrible about stealing your shit. Their big on electronics. So i'll have to be sure to inventory and take pics of all of our electronics, including all of Robs new computer stuff. A coworker of mine said during her move here (this would be americans then) her daughter was listening to cd's in her room while the movers were doing the walk through. She had stepped out of her room briefly and when she came back her album of cd's which were laying on her bed was gone. They totaly take advantage of the dissaray of moving. All that was taken from us, or that I noticed was gone, was our damn litter box lol. I guess someone felt a covered litter box was that important to take. I felt we got very lucky during our move here but i'm not so confident of our move back to the states.

Once christmas is over and I get all the decorations packed then my inventory will begin. I'm starting to get rid of more things. I've turned in my decorder box already and am trying to sell my sattelite dish. Theresa few things in the house i'm not sure if I want to keep or sell, like my wicker shelving in the bathroom. It's an ugly green color that could possibly be repainted in the states but i'm not sure if there would be room for it at our next house or if i'd even want it. Ahh decisions decisions.

Some helpful tips for those due to PCS http://dearmilitaryspouse.com/pcs/ In the pcs checklist section there is an inventory form she's created for specific items. You take a picture of the item, attatch it to the form and list it's condition.

Of course the inventory list I had saved on the computer from last move is now officialy gone thanks to a crashed harddrive. Eh it's probably good anyways as some things have come and gone. I'll have to start setting aside the things I specificaly don't want stolen, like heirloom pieces and smaller electronic thing like ipods and kindles and such.

I'm a little more level headed at the moment with the thought of pcsing. After expressing my beyond-normal worries of moving (like my dog's death in-flight, and other such highly unlikely possibilities) i've calmed down some. I don't remember being this insane in-thought during our last pcs. Of course last PCS i had to do most of it all by myself and I didn't know what to expect. So I didn't have room to freak out because if I didn't do it it wasn't getting done. Now i've got Rob doing all the major things leaving me to just worry about our household goods.

Alrighty. I've wrote a freakin' book today. My brain is full if it's not obvious....

lap of luxury

2011-12-14T01:17:00.003-06:00

My luxury being a fresh new pair of Flannel Sheets for the bed in Monkey print!!

Bummer. I was gonna show a link to the set but it looks like I got them in just enough time before Kohls pulled it from there selections. Oh well. Aha found a photo http://www.kohls.com/upgrade/webstore/product_page_multiple.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524892811077&mr:trackingCode=B9C06FF0-E2C8-E011-8D66-001517B188A2&mr:referralID=NA&prtID=pfx&src=k170781&cm_mmc=Performics-_-Affiliate-_-SusanVillasLewis-_-Primary

Well today is my first day riding to work again in the last almost 2 weeks. Cross you fingers that it's not as windy and rainy as it has been. I STILL have yet to change my tires out lol. I definately need to before the weekend as snow/rain is due.

Buster had his follow up and the vet told me to keep him on the medicine he's on until we get to the states where he can be seen by a vet there. She said this after I mentioned my concern for us flying home soon and my worries about pressure in the ears if it is something inner ear. She did another look in the ears but insists there's nothing wrong. What can I say? Am I being way to obsessive about this? I will probably make an appointment with the base vet just to get a second opinion that everything is ok in there. The german vet seems to think he had some 'clogged' veins to the inner ears. She seems to think this is somewhat common though i've never heard of it before. Time to start doing my research on that one....

I'm a little more chill. I had a beer before bed last night and it seems some stresses melted away a bit. Then again it's morning and the husband hasn't come home from work yet to tell me the latest shit fiasco he encountered during work over the night. He's no longer happy here.

13 Dec Ugh.

2011-12-13T07:30:00.002-06:00

I've had better days.

It seems the longer i'm in Germany the shittier I feel my days get. Have you noticed a slight downward attitude in mood since living here? Its another unbeautiful day of wind and rain. Soo freakin' gloomy and i'm so freakin' tired of it.

The bitch mood? Yea it's pushing on like a champ today. But it's been an all-over mood. From bitch to happy to irritable to distracted to bitch. I find it best to just sit home and do nothing. However, today I had to do things. Like finish my homemade gift for my SIL so I could ship them out. Which i finaly did. That took up the better half of my day. Though now my house looks like a tornado ripped through it with bubble wrap, wrapping paper, and stuff for making the gifts all over the floor and counters.

I also need to take Buster for his follow-up appointment. If they won't hear me out with my concerns of his inner ear and at least try to look for something then I will be phone the base vet.

House chores can wait until i'm feeling more upto it. Dishes however, cannot be prolonged anymore. I keep giving out hope that the damn dishwasher will work again. Of course, it will probably start working the second I finish cleaning the last bit of dishes like last time. I've hit the thing before. Rob saw me. I have no more patience for it. Base doesn't do anythign about it. Next time i'll kick it.

With the recent stresses the hubs and I have been going through we both realized that we haven't been eating much. I need to make a more conscious effort to at least make some dinners. Pretty soon we'll look starved lol. Oh..yea it's not really funny but what can I say..stress can sure do a number on you.

6-9 more days until our orders.

12 Dec

2011-12-12T09:04:00.001-06:00

Other subjects.

It's looking like we may out of here by the beginning of March. Rob will be aiming for it instead of the end of March. We are also more than likely going straight to AZ now. After today's fiasco he just wants to take leave...fast... and go straight to the next base.

I have not felt like cleaning or organizing anymore. Somehow the house magicaly got back to the shambles it was before I started. I guess long work weeks and my amazing ability at finding stress has demotivated the cleaning binge.

It's been on/off sunny the last few days. How amazing!! If only there was warm weather to match it lol. Just ensures that living in another sunny place will be soo amazing again.

Something else to look forward to in Tucson...

Vegetarian restaurants! Theres a guy here that is vegan..or as much as one can be vegan with the very limited food options here. I used to work with him at a previous job on base but after chatting him up in line yesterday I found out he grew up near Tucson and had alot of restraunts to suggest for vegetarian's. Kick butt. But I don't remember the names of them lol. So I decided to look some up.

So here are some I have to look forward to http://voices.yahoo.com/vegetarian-restaurants-tucson-arizona-3535667.html?cat=22 and http://voices.yahoo.com/vegetarian-restaurants-tucson-arizona-864993.html?cat=22 . I'm sure once I get there i'll be able to hunt down these places. I'm so excited!!

I'm also excited to check out Tour of Tucson. If they have a group for unprofessional racers then i'll be doing it!

Baby talk corner

Previous issue has subsided. A new one has popped up. Raging crankiness. I have noticed that odd things set me off on this totaly evil mood. I haven't taken it out on anybody becuase I notice it right away but hot damn I haven't had crankiness like this since before I went on the pill. A few deep breaths get it under control thankfully. I mentioned this to my friend (who used to take the pill as well) and she told me this is because i'm not getting a steady dose of hormones anymore. My body is readjusting and the bitch mood is normal. Needless to say I hate it.

Bullshit!

2011-12-12T03:27:00.002-06:00

Thats what military life is somedays. I can't go into detail but all I can say is I feel my husbands tensions as if it was my own. Things aren't going great at the moment. Infact sort of a setback in certain things. But all I can say is the world is full of power-trippers, self-interested, heartless fucking bastards. But then again as always the same could be said for civilian workplaces too but at least in the civilian world you can quit your job if you don't like it and you can tell your superior to their face what you think of them on the way out without something uber serious happening that could affect your life.

The issue has sparked the idea of him wanting to get out again. I don't care if he decides to get out but we don't have a back-up plan and we don't have back-up funds. If I would have known today how much he'd toss around the idea I would have set a seperate account aside just for if we ever got out to keep us a float until we got back on our working feet lol. Ahhh yes. but I don't think it will go that far but I can't rule it out.

So the Jones household is a bit on edge today and I feel pretty much useless. It will probably be like this until we leave now. I suppose this is another reason it's not good be friends with your superiors. The military says not too and now we know why.

And with that I withdrew the giveaway. 2 1/2 days with no responses. I'm gonna give it a shot but if OK reader wants it for being a trusty reader for almost 4yrs simply email me at summers_angel_84 (at) yahoo (dot) com. If I don't hear anything in a day or 2 then the hubs and I have us some sugar to side with this military depression.

11 Dec

2011-12-11T01:34:00.001-06:00

Giveaway fail? Yea it's seeming like it. Sounded like a good idea at the time but with my blog being boring and unread I guess I got ahead of myself. If I don't get takers by tonight then I will quit the drawing early on monday.

Nothing going on. I finaly got the gifts I orderd for the Moms. I had all the rest of their stuff but was waiting on one item. So come monday I will hopefully get all presents in the mail. I still need to do the homemade gift for my SIL.

I hope we get our orders by the end of the month like Rob claims 'should' happen. Once we get the orders and we get our flight dates and shipping dates set up then I will be putting my notice in at work. That probably won't happen unitl February.

We're still up in the air wether we want to go visit home or go straight to the base. As much as I love my family I would prefer to just to go straight to DM. Especialy if we are planning to go home in November for a while. Whats a few more months of waiting, right? I think Rob is sort of feeling the same. It would make things easier to just do one round of flights, especialy with 2 pets. Then insidents like last time are less likely to happen.

Last time on our way here we stopped home for a week or 2. Rob had set up our flights out to Germany which invovled 2 transfers (Milwaukee-chicago-baltimore). Of course I was on edge because thats 2 chances for airlines to fudge up in moving mypets plain to plain lol. Well either way. Prior to us leaving Florida I called the arline to ensure our pets had their spots on the flights upto baltimore. The guy on the phone ensured me they did. However, once we got the Milwaukee the guy at the desk starred oddly at us as we approached with our pets in tow of our luggage. Imagine that...no pets were taken on flights through Milwaukee. Thanks alot duchebag on the phone. It was a hop point airport which means smaller planes and no pet's on flights. There was no way possible for them to even change airlines or flights becuase all planes were this way. So our FIL had to drive us all the way to Chicago in hopes to get our connection flight!! Thankgod we had a decent layover which allowed us to do this.

All was good right? Nope. Once we landed in Baltimore and made it to the military airline we were informed no pets were allowed as carry-on. I had left the cats hard crate in Sheboygan as I was told the rest of my flights to Germany were carry-on for her and the dog as checked luggage. But there is no leg space on the military planes for carry-ons. (though some friends disagree as they were able to bring their pets carry-on). So I spent an hour running from airline desk to airline desk begging them for available pet crates. In the end I all that was left were size Large. I had no choice, I had to fork over the $100 something to get it (another good reason to always have cash or money saved up prior to pcsing). My cat would lay in luxury.

So in the end it all worked out. I swapped Buster to the larger crate and put Butters in his Medium crate. This year I am doing all checked pets. Bekks got her hard crate and Buster still has his.

I am hoping this year goes a little smoother.

Aight. Needless to say this is all heavy on my mind lol.

Off to work..

German's version of vegetarian

2011-12-09T13:35:00.001-06:00

I was checking a guy out today (his item's not the dude himself) when i noticed a german vegetarian patty package zip through my hands. I was thrown off. We started carrying german vegetarian dishes?? Nope the guy put it on the belt on accident. A coworker had given it to him. it was infact from Rewe offbase.

So what did I do as soon as I got off work? Zipped over to Rewe in search of these amazing looking things and to cure my curiosity. However I ended up picking the wrong kind of veggie burger, not the one the guy had but same brand just different style. I'm sure the other kind would be better as it looked like a bean, onion, etc mix. Yum.

So I snagged these..

Not sure what to expect but my curiosity was digging at me. So I made a hodgepodge dinner tonight.

that thing with the fruit ontop is a cheese patty.

Overall take? Never again. The patties (which I bought 2 boxes of 4 unwisely) look like a patty of dog food. The taste...not that amazing. The bratwursts were so/so but after a few bites I couldn't eat anymore. I compare these tastes to those of the LighLife veggie hotdogs. Which I do not care for.

Needless to say nobody can compare to Morning Star and I won't be buying those anymore. Impulsive and curious. Not worth it.

09 Dec

2011-12-09T03:11:00.001-06:00

Um.

I'm here.

But a bit unsocial.

Nothing new.

Lots of work. Lots of night shift work. Like probably for the rest of forever. Sucky. One of our bosses wants more nightshift workers (pulled from our asses as we don't have that many cashiers to begin with). So I get up in the morning, lounge in luxury, leave for work, come home and don't feel like doing a damn thing. I haven't even kept up my regular chats with my neighbor friend. We're a parking lot away from each other and we've resorted to facebook messages lol.

Lest to say I have not commuted still. What can I say...20mph winds and rain just is not that inviting at the moment ontop of a longer ride home and at night. By next week I plan to get back on track. At the moment it's my only source of exercise so I can't hold off to much longer.

I talked to my mom on the phone last night. I am still a little shaken by the dogs experience earlier in the week but she insisted I need to get ahold of myself and stop freaking out. She knocked a little sense into this anxiety filled brain of mine. I think the upcoming pcs isn't help the anxiety level at all. I am hoping once i'm back on american soil I won't feel so stressed anymore. Lately being overseas and secluded has certainly not struck this girls fancy by any means. I still want to note that I will miss Germany and I don't hate it here, I just hate the seclusion and the different culture (which is fun at first but when it becomes daily life either you get used to it or you don't).

So check back tomorow. I'll be posting the giveaway. I will do the drawing on Tuesday. Still don't what i'll make you guys do to qualify for the giveaway just yet. Give me 24hrs to skeem an idea.

Baby talk corner

Ovarian pain. So I started noticing this yesterday. I've had some weird pain in my lower stomach about the area where i'm ovaries would be. This could be from another issue resulting in having more iron in my diet lol but I can't help but notice the area's of the pain. I've never had it before. It's like a mix between light cramps and a sore muscle with the occasional sharp twinge. I feel it when I walk, when I sit, if I twist. I don't want to come off like a hypocondriac (sp). I'm not and it's probably nothing, hell maybe it is just a pulled muscle or something. But in addition so some mild headaches i'm wondering if my body is retaliating on me. Maybe doing it's thing in trying to prep it's own hormones. Who knows. If it doesn't go away by next week then i'll probably call up the doc and be like 'whats the dealio yo'. Pray that it's not ovarian cysts! I hate those things and I never want to experience one rupture! Incase this is the problem I have read coffee and caffeine can irritate them. So I am taking a week break from coffee (oh lord, I think I can I think I can I think I can). Eh steering clear of the caffeine could help my baby making anyways lol.

Robs starting to use the sentence 'trying to start a family'. Awww. Like outside of the house at his workplace. Awwwwww. <3

'A Taste of Germany' Giveaway coming soon

2011-12-07T13:09:00.001-06:00

Ok so since I have a few trusty readers I decided to do a giveaway to give one of you a little taste of Germany before I move away. I am still in the works at getting a few more goodies but i'm looking to start the giveaway by this weekend. Just in time for christmas (granted it may not make it till after christmas due to holiday mail overload). This is a real giveaway..not like my attempts and then my procrastination and then my forgetfullness (ahem..the washclothes and soaps...there will still be one for those one day...)

Here is a sneak peak at what's in store....

The tins are cookies and the middle one is actually a music box.

Breathing a little easier

2011-12-07T03:25:00.001-06:00

...just a little bit though.

Buster is acting normal again. Doing his normal Bustery things. All I can say is ...what the f*ng duece yo! This dog will give me a heart attack one day I swear. People tell me children are easier than pets because 1- they are human..you can typicaly come to more accurate conclusions to their problems 2- they can speak and tell you what's hurting and where.

What have I gone through with my dog since we've had him?
-nose surgery within the first year to open his nostrils so he could breath a little better. Only to be told at a later date by a different vet that this won't help his breathing issue.
-Getting fixed, only for that vet to tell me he highly recomends me not having him put under unless absolutely necessary because he has excess scar tissue in his throat (for whatever godforsaken reason) and this makes it hard to get the breathing tube in and out and could possibly fuck up his throat.
-Slicing his paw on a cut-open beer can during a nightly walk, followed by a rush to a very expensive ER vet visit.
- Iris Cysts that have pretty much taken up half the fluid in both eyes but nothing that can be fixed by the vet, we've accepted the fact that he will more than likely go blind. (though I am highly anticipating our move to Tuscon as their is a vet eye specialist there!...$$$$ :( ).
- getting whacked in the eye with a ball and refusing to open his eye for almost a full day.
-Choking on food. Because of his throat problems he on rare occasion chokes on his food. This sends me into extreme panic mode but a few whacks on the back and the problem is typicaly solved.
-Days with an upset stomach where he mopes around and won't eat or do anything. (typicaly followed by a a poo full of digested kleenex...little ass sneaks into the little trash cans)
-Random breakout in hives.
-Loss of balance for a 24hr period, only for the vet to tell me they have no idea what caused it.

I am sure there are more things that i've perhaps forgotten about but this dog certainly is great at raising my blood pressure and anxiety levels. I will still be persistant in getting his inner ear's checked before we fly out. Last thing I want is it to be that and for him to have a miserable flight back to the states...even if the luggage area they load dogs in is pressurized, those that have flown before know that doesn't help against pressure in the ears.

So with that lets move on from the subject...

Came across this funny set of ladies. http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/ They had a follower send in a video called The 12 Steps of Deployment. Pretty funny. And pretty much accurate.

I am running late for work. Purposefuly because i'm lazy. I don't want to work today. I haven't been biking to work (it's been cold and rainy and very unmotivating, with a few freeze's and slushy evenings and I have yet to put my winter tires on). Thus my legs are rebelling on me by getting stiff, achey and cramping on me when I stand for work all day. Stretching isn't helping. So I need to not be lazy tonight and put the nubbed tires on for once and for all.

I also didn't get around to making the soup. I had no appettite yesterday from my nervousness over the dog and anticipation of bloodwork results. So...maybe one of these days i'll get to it lol.

Rob had a bad night at work last night. After venting and discussing the problems with me I felt bad that he was so stressed so I let him open a present early. Instant mood lifter! I got him a gaming keyboard he's been asking for. I think we have come to the conclusion that we have created our own christmas tradition. Not waiting until christmas to open presents. We typicaly end up opening most of them before christmas. I think Rob wants to make it an official holiday tradition lol.

Rob says our live christmas tree is on life-support. It got chopped down so we could enjoy it's smell and live-ness but it's stuck in a stand with water...the life support system lol.

Baby talk corner

Sooo we're not even a week into 'just letting it happen' and already I want to know when i'll get pregnant. I'm sure the anxiety over the dog wouldn't help at all but i'm used to getting instant gratification on things. I want something..so I get it right away. A baby however, not that easily granted.

It seems people that i've talked to have gotten pregnant with in about a month to 3 months from going off the pill. OMG I have to learn patience.

Oh yea check out Pregnantchicken.com

Frustration

2011-12-06T11:45:00.001-06:00

I have been nerve wracked all day.

Buster has slept in bed with Rob fine and actually jumped down on his own and he seemed fine.

I got a call back about his bloodwork but everything came out in the clear. The vet said to just keep him on the medicine (to help blood circulation) and come back for a check-up after the meds are done. Which would be next monday. It's good to hear his organs and blood cell's come out A-ok but something caused him to have that issue.

I am soooooooo frustrated. I know the internet isn't a doctor but from what i've been reading, inner ear infections can't be detected by simply an ear check or bloodwork. Typicaly it requires an x-ray to show inflammation.

It was seriously the most frightening thing he's been through yet and to come out of it with no why or what just scares me even more that something might be going on we can't see. Something that may perhaps come on in an even worse case in a later date. And the fact we're flying out in a few months has me worried that it may set something off or happen during the flight or at the airport. I'm debating getting a second opinion from the base vet and mentioned the inner ear thing.

At least tonight he is acting more like himself. I let him out to do his business and he wanted to run around and play. So I guess at least he's starting to come back around but it still doesn't ease my worries.

I'm loving this color pattern. I seem to make alot more boyish blankets than girls. Guess i'm not much for girly colors lol. But for my shops purpose i'm going to have to start making some.

So i'm still waiting on the part for my car. I think I need to at least go over and start my car even with the lower amp fuse. I'm afraid my car will die or something having not been driven in over a month. My dad managed to come across the part. Well one is a different model but the guy he's getting it from said he can order the part number that was given to me by the shop and that he'll get it by next tuesday. With holiday package traffic I hope it can get here before christmas.

And I think everybody in the states will be getting their gifts late this year. I still have yet to get the package for the mothers and things keep coming up that I forget to make the homemade gift I was gonna do for my SIL and her husband.

Here's for a better tomorow! and a Healthy dog!

06 Dec

2011-12-06T02:07:00.001-06:00

Miserable. Thats the most I can say of Busters condition. Still waiting to get ahold of the vet office for his bloodwork.

This morning he seems to be doing a little better. He slept pretty good last night but that's after I decided to make my bed on livingroom floor for the night. I slept so/so but the floor was the best place for the dog since he could keep himself balanced better. Plus I didn't want him stumbling off the bed at night to get water.

I had to moisten his food for him to be interested in it. He still seems slightly unbalanced but is walking around more and actually pulled out his squeeky earlier but after Rob played a little tug of war with him he started squinting one of his eyes. We're thinking maybe doggy headache? It was a little bloodshot this morning. I just hope it's not something serious. Sometimes it's hard to keep Buster from being hyper but Rob is a hyper guy after a night of work so that just makes Buster more hyper and excited. The vet said not to get him excited, with good reason to because when he does then stuff like his eye and getting dizzy happens.

I'm way to much the animal mom. Rob gives me crap but I just don't want to worsen anything that might be wrong. Raaahhhh. My nerves are still reeling.

So today i'll be making a vegetable soup. Hope it tastes good. I'll share the recipe later.

scared shitless

2011-12-05T12:57:00.001-06:00

As I was getting ready for work this morning I noticed Buster suddenly acting strange. It was almost as if his balance was off. He kept walking with his head down to the right and seemed to have issues walking straight or keeping his head straight. I immediately called the vet to let them know I was headed over. The car was miserable for him, leading me to wonder if it has something to do with his ears.

Once we got the vet however he was acting like nothing was wrong, though still not fully his usual Bustery self. I think it's becuase he was so nervous and excited and anxcious. But he did not show the symptoms I had seen which made it hard for them to tell what it might be. They checked his heart beat, his eyes, his ears and found nothing. They took some bloodwork but the test results won't be in until tomorow. They gave me some medicine that improves the blood circulationg to the inner ears and brain incase it's something related to his ears. They thing thats what it might be but they couldn'd find anything when looking in his ears.

The car ride home was miserable for him as well but this time he managed to just lay down the whole time.

But the second I put him back in the house ( I carried him most of the time) he started doing it again! So I brought him up to Rob in bed and left him there. I padded the floor incase he fell off the bed or attempted to jump down. When I finaly got home for work he was still in bed with Rob but didn't sleep a wink. I guess he kept trying to back up into the corner of the head of the bed.

So now here I am. Sitting with Buster laying on his blankets on the floor by the couch. I think he's kind of sleeping (finaly!) but he keeps fidgeting and doing that backward adjustment. He hasn't eaten his food but he has drank water and used the bathroom. I worry what the side-effects of the medicine might be (as it increases blood flow to the heart and brain) but I hope by morning there will be some improvement in his problem. I am WAAAAYYY beyond nervous and scared. I worry that it might be some deeper problem, I pray not anything neurological. Perhaps it is just vertigo or an inner-ear infection they couldn't see. I don't know how blood work will decipher that but I hope they at least find something. Knowing the problem is better than sitting here with him not know what the hell is wrong.

Holy balls i'm scared shitless!

04 Dec

2011-12-04T06:55:00.001-06:00

Hello Blog-iverse. Today is another gloomy day. I was awoken by pouring, windy rain banging on the rolladens this morning. At first I thought 'ooo sleet?' as this ould be a step closer to snow but when I rolled up the window it was just little old rain. I don't think it will be freezing here anytime soon (which is good since the rainy roads would turn to ice). But like clockwork when we have these gloomy days one after the other, gloomy weather sets me off on gloomy moods. This time around i've just been impatient and cranky with things. Usualy I get lethargic and sad.

I did a little grocery shopping but was utterly cranky and dissappointed that they were out of pretty much everything I wanted to make recipes from that Vegetarian Mothers cookbook. Yet again i've got to improvise or just accept that I can't try a certain recipe. No kale or carrots. I wanted to make a veggie soup so I bought frozen collard greens instead and will chop up some baby carrots i've got in the fridge. Then the joys of them not having anything remotely close to what I need for vegetarian specific meals..no miso, no amaranth, no millet, no nutritional yeast. I guess I can't ask that much from a base commissary. Even some of the vegetarian's don't even know what things are when I ask if they've seen them off-base. I suppose some of the stuff is found more in vegan recipes like Seitan and nutritional yeast. So it's looking like this cookbook is only partialy good to me until we get to the states.

Today however, I decided to chow down on a yummy sandwich melt that's listed in the lunch section. My new favorite section of the book.

Veggie-apple melt

2 slices whole grain bread
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
4 apple slices
2 tbsp shredded carrots
2-4 slices cucumbers
2 tbsp alfalfa sprouts
2 thin slices of chedder cheese

preheat toaster oven or conventional oven to 375 F. Spread one slice of bread with mustard, the other with mayo. On mustard side, place apple slices and carrots. On mayo side place cucumber slices and sprouts. Cover each with a slice of cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

I had to leave out the sprouts since we haven't carried them since that sprout scare here in germany earlier in the year. But this tastes AMAZING! I was a little skeptical because I couldn't picture how this would taste..apples and cheese together? a little weird. But this is one quick yummy meal! Sided with a glass of pomegranite juice. Mmmm. The only that was I had trouble keeping it all in the sandwich with each bite lol.

But now the dishes and clutter are calling my name so off I go so I can get thsoe out of the way and knit the rest of the night. Tootles.

03 Nov

2011-12-03T01:05:00.001-06:00

Stupid blogger photo flipping. Anywho this is the new color set. Love it! Can't wait to see it a little further along. Easier to see how well the colors blend when you've got a couple rows of the colors. The only thing i'm not liking about this one is that each color has a slight variation in yarn thickness. The blue being the thinnest of the bunch and the white being the thickest. Hopefully that doesn't affect the overall look, which it might along the edging. It may look a tiny bit wider in the white and thinner in the blue once it's all done. What do you think?

I'm in a better mood today. Not stewing about the move this morning. I figured I can start worrying come January/February. December is for the holiday's.

I got to open one of my presents already. It was raining the other day and Rob let me open one that he though would be usefull to me. I got a waterproof pannier cover! Hurray! No more throwing my clothes in grocery bags :D

Baby talk corner

GOODBYE!! Normaly I would start again tomorow but I'm officially done till after we have a kiddo. Ahh how nice it will be to not have to take a pill every single day! (aside from vitamins of course). Tootles Ortho TCL You will not be missed :D

Rob talked to his parents last night. Hearing him tell his parents that he's excited to try and have a kid just made it real that he's totaly into this now. I found myself always thinking he was just joking around (maybe that was just me freaking out) but he insisted he wasn't. Soo lets see what happens in the next few months. I'm still scared shitless, especialy after talking to a coworker who just had her 2nd. She said it was the most painful thing ever. but she did say that despite the pain if she never had kids before and was able to experience what the pain would be like would she still have a kid, she said yes. So thats at least promising. Honestly i'm not that afraid of changing my lifestyle habits or losing some of my freedoms, i'm more freaked out about the idea of birth. Blood and gore make me faint. So that's what scares me the most about having a kid.

02 Nov

2011-12-02T12:49:00.001-06:00

Do you ever have the day's where it feels like everything doesn't want to go your way? Yup thats my day. Not that it was that horrible but eh. It could have been better.

You know what makes a woman feel like a bad housekeeper? When her husband finaly decides to shake the rugs, sweep the floor and do the dishes. Typicaly i'd be overjoyed to see him lift a hand to housework but tonight i'm cranky as it is and well i'm just taking it personal that I haven't had time to keep up with the housework. I feel like a failure a little..? Yup maybe a little. Doesn't help the damn dishwasher quit working AGAIN. If only they had new ones at housing to replace it but there's a shortage apparently.

All I want to do is sit here with my cup of decaf, watch Rescue Me and knit some more on Stripe the Squares #2. My moms blanket your thinking? It's on hold until I feel like plowing some more on it. It's not going to be a christmas blanket. It'll be a whenever it's finished blanket.

I finaly threw the towel in at the auto shop. Today marks one month without my card. Now it's not the auto shop itself, it's the place their trying to order it from. Apparently the part is now not instock and on back order so I would have to wait for it arrive in at that warehouse before it would ship here. So I finaly decided to call my dad with the part number and he's going to look if he can get it for me. Cross you fingers people...i'm getting pissed off right now. We are defintely getting a new car when we get back to the states. I'm sure this could happen with even a new car but i'm sick of thigns always happening. Having a new dependable car for a while will be a relief.

It has officialy hit me yesterday that we are moving. I have been having random bouts of anxiety at the thought of moving. I am freaked out. I shouldn't as I was a trooper doing it mostly by myself last move but now I kind of know what to expect and I just dont' want to deal with it again. If it was stateside to stateside move I wouldn't care but the though of flying international with pets again is just a headache. I worry about things getting stolen or broken, especialy my new furniture.

But then I just keep reminding myself that as pretty as my furniture is it is still just a material good. It can be replaced, though the sentimental value can never be replaced. Ahh i'm sure in a few days this initial anxiety will pass. But it just all hit me, the idea of dealing with movers, living in TLF, having no car, airport issues, going home and everybody wanting to see you, flying again to final destination, getting hotel set-up, waiting for housing and vehicle and household goods, and so on and so on. It's just the international moves are a doozy.

01 Dec...where's the snow?

2011-12-01T00:26:00.001-06:00

Woah our tree actually has presents under it this year. That big blue one on the side? Ya thats mine :D And I think it's my new long awaited kitchen accessory :D But we don't have snow yet to accompany this christmasy feeling. I finished decorating the tree last night. Now it feels complete. A little lacking though in spots as I put some of the ornaments on Robs tree.

By body hates me right now. My mouth is still store from my dental visit, my left arm is surprisingly still store from the flu shot and yesterday I got 2 more vaccines and bloodwork done. I got to rock a Sesame Street bandaid.

I finished the blanket. Yay! I love it! I hope the recipient mom likes it too! I'm starting on another one. This time the color scheme will be medium grey, the same blue color, and white. This next one will be for my shop.

Ok the picture flipped again. But yes I looked over to her stretched out over the edge of the couch. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night becuase Buster had business to do and before i crawled out she was laying there starring at me, with 3 toy mice sprawled across the bed.....She really wanted to play! Then when I walked down the stairs this morning a pair of my socks were sitting nicely on a step. She's pulling a Butters yo!

Well I didn't get to putting on my fat tires yesterday. I just hope it doesn't feeze tonight. Pretty soon the gate's will go back to normal hours which means longer rides home at night with more traffic. Yuck. I think i've gotten to spoiled with the new bike trail they put in on base ontop of being able to leave out the gate closest to my house. Short and car free for the most part. Rob will be showing me a trail that brings me along back of base through the woods. Safer when it snows and less traffic to deal with. Might be a little bit longer of a commute home but at least it'll be out of the way of traffic. Once it does snow the roads aren't so friendly and neither are the drivers.

Baby talk corner

Well yesterday I brought in my vaccine records. The lady was happy I found them. I was infact correct about the Hep B shot. I never got my 3rd round of it so she's starting me over on it. Now it's a combination shot with Hep A and B. If i'm not pregnant in 5 months I go in for round 2. I also got another Tetnas shot. I guess you get those every 10yrs. She also requested bloodwork to make sure i've got the chickenpox antibodies. I told her I got it as a baby but she wanted the bloodwork to be sure. Guess safer than sorry. I call back in about a week to get the bloodwork results.

And I think thats about it as far as prepping will go for a while. As for those baby names we have picked out. Whenever we have one If we end up with a girl it'll be Tessa Ann. If we end up with a boy it'll be Chaston (middle name still to be decided but I like Gregory).

30 Nov

2011-11-30T02:27:00.001-06:00

Well after the man sat on his words over the night he came home and apologized. He realized the way he worded it wasn't the best or exactly how he ment to say it. But now I know it's a concern of his. What he ment say worried him was post-baby weight and if I would be proactive in getting back to my healthy preweight. Apparently at one point in time I had said that if I had a kid and gained weight that I would accept the weight. Meaning if I couldn't lose it I wouldn't torture myself about a little extra weight. That worried him a little that I would let myself go. I personaly don't think I could let myself go, maybe a little initialy until I get a routine down but as long as he'd be willing to help me out and give me time to stay active then their shouldn't be a problem.

So that issue aside don't forget to hop over to the Bikeskirt blog to enter the bike-shirt giveaway.

I found my immunization records. I haven't had a shot since '97, aside from flu vaccines. I'll bring in the records and see if i've gotten all I need. The records have a number list for each group of shots and if thats how many i'm supposed to have then i'm short one Polio and one Hepatits B shot. For my arms sake i'm hoping i'm all good to go lol.

Buster HATED his appointment yesterday. The problem I thought needed attention was infact the issue with him. It was a quick procedure but he fought like a mofo in the vet tech's arms when the assistant did the dirty work. One gland was fine but the other was a little full, not infected yet, just not releasing like it was supposed to. The smell was nauseating. I don't see why people would want to do this on their own at home. The vet said he may never need this procedure done again but some dogs come in monthly for it. I hope for Busters sake that this was a onetime thing.

Today I will be putting on the winter tires for my bike. There isn't any snow in the forcast, hell there's a high of 50 tomorow! But it has gotten freezing at night and the roads turn to ice. Road tires wouldn't be the options at this point in the season. Granted I could slide around even with fat tires but it wouldn't be as bad as.

Baby talk corner

Ok so now Rob is seriously uber pumped about having a kid. He wants to start already lol. To bad this week is a no-go. He hoping for one right away. I'm still not used to his eagerness. He's seriously getting excited about it. I was kind of hoping that at this point we would just go about things as normal and not really think about it but it seems to be proving the opposite for him lol. It's cute though. We actually discussed baby names and already names picked out lol. Still working on a middle name for a boy but name's are already taken care of lol. Apparently we don't hesitate. Then agian this has been discussed throughout the years. So they were sort of decided upon a few years ago already. We're dorks, I know. :D

A Give-away for cyclists

2011-11-29T20:18:00.001-06:00

Hey guess what?!?

Vote away ladies (or guys)!

http://bikeskirt.com/2011/11/29/give-thanks-2/

Weight gain and Marriage.

2011-11-29T15:28:00.001-06:00

It is said that when you get married you get comfortable. When you get comfortable you think you can let go of things such as maintaning your youthful weight.

As baby talk has become a little more frequent in the house, the husband has been opening up about some of his fears with pregnancy. Well not all fears but the subject of weight has come up. He feels I don't work out enough as it is at the moment that he fears that I won't change my ways (or snacking habits) once I get pregnant. He worries that i'll use pregnancy as an excuse to eat all the yummy sweets or unhealthy foods or to eat large portions of things. He also worries that since my motivation to workout since living in Germany has been pretty much less than par that it won't change ever anymore. I couldn't get all hot and bothered by his concerns as I usualy would (reading it as him saying i was fat and lazy). I just listened and let him tell me what worried him. I took in the concern and pondered it.

I don't know what pregnancy cravings are like or how i'd act with all the hormones interfering with my normal brain function. I have a goal that I will maintain eating healthy and fit in regular exercise but he does have a point. If i'm not doing these things as I am now whats going to spark me to change once I get pregnant. If anything I might get lazier and more lax with things. It's a mixture of health and actractiveness. I've already been told that the max weight i've gained while living here in Germany is the max that he could stand and still find me physicaly attractive. Now don't go getting all hot and bothered yourself with that sentence. I have women telling me everyday how skinny I am but I will agree with the husband that I don't even the most comfortable with the max weight i've gotten here. It's my max weight ever. And while for some they would worry if I lost anything I had they don't know what my ideal weight usualy is when i'm eating and actually working out regularly. We aren't vane people but we have set standards for ourselves in our marriage.

And I certainly won't deny that i've gotten VERY lazy being here. Ultimately we only have ourselves to blame for our own health or motivation but really...i've had the worst lack of motivation ever in my life living here. The most I can say to that is possibly depression and a homesickness for the states. But I will only be able to tell if that really is the case after I move back to the states and see how my motivational level is a few months from now. Having easy access to swimming and nice weather again may boost my motivation. Being able to leave the house and not worry about language barriers should I get lost biking may also help. I think this culture shock hit me harder than I realized it did. And seeing moving back to the states so close in the future and my excitement to get back there just goes to prove that.

But back to the baby and weight stuff. I am going to try my damn hardest to get movitated enough to work out more regularly again to where it's a normal part of my day that I can carry on with through pregnancy but I do worry about gaining weight in pregnancy now. I see how big some women get and I worry that some weight gain can't be controlled. Water weight for example. I don't want to spend a pregnancy worry about how my husband will think of me should I pack on a few pounds or to worry how fast my rebound to pre-baby body will be again.

Stupid weight. Stupid society for setting weight standards. Now i need to watch my sweet tooth ontop of my caffeine intake. I may be one cranky lady in this adjustment phase.

Oh and i'm contemplating eating meat in pregnancy. Not large amounts but perhaps enough to maintain proper protien and iron levels (remember a portion of meat a day is the size of your fist..not that triple layer whopper from B.K. or that 12oz steak from the restraunt). Time will tell.

Why do men have to bring up the weight thing?? Now i'm gonna be uber on edge and all self-conscious of my weight for a while. blugh.

29 Nov

2011-11-29T06:32:00.001-06:00

Pulled out the christmas decorations. Haven't got all of them up yet but i'm getting there. Next year I think i'm going to aim to getting the decorations up before thanksgiving. Especialy if we fly home next year.

Buster has a stinky appointment today. For those grossed out by things don't read this paragraph. Animals have scent glands in their bums and with some cats and small to medium sized dogs sometimes they have issues fully releasing the sent oils. This can result in butt scooting (butters does this so maybe i'll have that looked into when we get her back), stinky yellowish leakage, or even swallen rear end if it's that blocked up. Well Buster has some stinky leakage I suppose you could say. After reading up on it I believe this to be his case. Today is his vet appointment to have it taken care of. Some people have this done regularly for their pet and it's an easy thing that can be done at home after having your vet show you properly but it can be a stinky process so most have others do it for them. Which I am going to do lol Yes its very gross to think about but I prefer to prevent pain and infection in my dog.

I'm happy that the subway here started carrying spinach and avocado! Yummm now I have a feeling i'll be eating lunch there alot more often. However their kind of skimpy with the spinach.

Baby Talk Corner

Well my appointment today was pretty insightful. Not a whole lot to cover on the subject of preconception at this point. There might be if we were having trouble conceiving. She say the vitamins i'm taking are just as good as the prenatals but that I need to make sure i'm getting iron from other sources then. She says vegetarians have a little more trouble digesting iron supplements. Never heard that before. She says as far as the vegetarian thing goes I need to be sure i'm up on my protien intake. Which means lots more beans and legumes for me. She said they don't usualy do tests for preconception but if I feel the need to have my iron and protien levels checked I can make an appointment for that. And that was about it. As I already knew it's just a matter of waiting to see how my body adjusts to going off the pill as far as how and when AF decides to reappear. She says that I can ovulate as soon as 10 days after being off the pill and I don't need a period to ovulate so basicaly my period could be months later but I could have still ovulated each month. Which means i can pregnant during any of that time. She also said the only tough thing in this process, in combination with us moving soon, is that if i do get pregnant right away the move would post-pone the first prenatal visit which usualy falls between weeks 10 and 12.

I also have to get up to date on my immunizations as some can't be given when your pregnant. Today was my flu shot. Yuck. My arm feels like it's been punched. I have to dig out my old med records to try and see if I have anything on my immunizations. I have a feeling I haven't had any since I was in middle school. Which means then I need all of them over again. Even more yuck to my arms lol

I do have to cut down on my coffee drinking though she said. 4 cups a day (when I work) are to much she said. :( :( I asked if decaf is alright and she yes that it's a good way to ween myself off. So now I have a limit of 2 cups max a day of caffeinated coffee.

Soooo now it's just a waiting game and seeing what happens. The good thing she said is that cramps won't be as bad as I remember them before I went on the pill as i'm older now. Saweet!

Rob is starting to get pumped about it. I'm not used to it so I always think he's just screwing with me. Which then only makes me bark back at him for picking fun of me for wanting a baby. But he did the one and only 'pinky swear' that he is actually kind of excited now. He said now that i've officialy quit the pill it's more of a reality. Woah. Open and forth coming talk about babies from the hubby..i'm totaly on board for that! It's all he says now whenever we hug or kiss or cuddle...let's make a baby lol.

28 Nov

2011-11-28T08:53:00.001-06:00

Cardboard box....your doing it right!

I dragged Bekk along with me today for some quick errands on base. I'm trying to get her used to being out and about in the crate with all the noises and different smells. She did pretty good on the car ride. Just gotta keep doing it the next couple week.

I surprised Rob yesterday with a live tree for his computer room. Usualy he just puts up the table-top tree but the boy scouts were selling tree's outside my work. The tree's were just calling my name. What sold me on the idea was that they also sold the tree stands for them so I didn't have to run around off-base for one. Quick and convenient. He's been asking about live tree's since we've been married. It doesn't smell that piney though.

Buster being Buster. If he's not in bed with Rob he's on my lap staying warm.

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood. Today I had another dental appointment. I really like how my dentist is so gentle, especialy with the needle. I never feel it. Had 3 filling's taken care, 2 of which had been hurting and bothering me for a while. I go again next month for something else. Apparently more fillings? If thats the case then holy crap. I didn't realize my teeth were that bad. Hopefully it's just a cleaning or something. Guess I could have asked.

I'm a little upset with the tricare dental insurance though. The lady I spoke with on the phone got attitude quite easily with me, not the greatest for customer service. I guess i'm not all up on that stuff so I didn't realize that I had to resubmit some kind of form when I dropped my old primary insurance. I used to go through a company when I worked with AAFES and used them as my primary since they covered more and then whatever was left was covered by Tricare. I got a letter today notifying me that tricare didn't cover my last dental appointment (the chipped tooth and new-patient x-rays). I'm going to have to make sure the dental office will wait for me to straighten out the problem with tricare so I don't have to pay out of pocket. That would really suck. I resubmitted some paperwork and i'll probably give tricare another call in a week or so to make sure the paperwork went through and that the claims for my recent work will be resubmitted. Ahhh bills. I like when I don't have to deal with them lol

I should be finishing the baby blanket tonight. I'm on the last 6 rows. Photo tomorow. It'll be nice getting done with it. I like working on blankets at my own pace so when i'm doing one for a friend I always feel rushed. After this one i'll be back to working on blankets for my shop.

Baby talk corner

Well saturday marked the offical last day of my pills. Tomorow i've got my appointment with the women's health doctor. I should have prepared a list of questions but I don't really know what to ask. I guess i'll bring up the vegetarian thing and get her opinion on that and mention my stomach sensativity to prenatal pills (which I hear is normal), maybe see if they have an alternative kind I can try. Yea I may be thinking to much about it and trying to hard but I guess I dont' know what i'm doing so i dont' know what normal is for someone new to this stuff. I'd rather just ask the doctor than get numerous different opinions from other friends/mothers as I seem to be getting. Some say prenatals are vital and that I need to suck up the nausea while others say a women's multivitamin and folic acid are fine. Some say having tomorow's appointment is smart as i'm approaching 30 and my body isn't what it was when I was 20 and i've been on the pill for a long time. Others say just ditch the pills and do my thing, doctors not needed. So instead of doing what other people keep saying is the right thing to do i'm just going to do with whats comfortable for me. After the appointment tomorow I will carryon with my normal routine of life ...just minus a pill everyday.

My dad is getting excited about it though. Of all people I guess I wasn't expecting it from him, not in a bad way.. just 'cause he's a guy. I called him yesterday since he was hunting over Thanksgiving. Shortly after answering the phone he said 'so you calling cause your pregnant?'..I laughed. I told him it might be a while yet.

25 nov

2011-11-25T08:37:00.001-06:00

Post Thanksgiving and my stomach is revolting. Tums and Pepto bismol are my new sidekicks. Doesn't help that my breakfast this morning was 2 slices of pumpkin pie and my lunch was deviled eggs. I so badly want an afternoon cup of coffee right now but the acidity just sounds aweful.

Today I ran some quick errands and came home to take a nap. My sisterinlaw wants to try homemade gifts this year so I had to pick up some supplies. Nothing fancy as i'm not the greatest at thinking up crafty things but I think these things will be cool gifts. I'll share them after christmas as I don't want them finding out via here.

Rob's been begging for a cheese ball. I keep forgetting to look up a recipe so finaly I snagged some ingredients while i was out today and hopefully I have everything ot make one tonight. He's very much about all the traditional things. Thanksgiving it's the homemade candied carrots, cranrelish and apple pie which this years turned out a wee bit less than par as the granny smiths were to hard and I cut them in to big of chunks to soften all the way. Then christmas is the cheese ball, shelled nuts, and finger foods.

I think next year i'm going to aim for us to make it home to the family for Thanksgiving\. Though with my family I'd have to do it on multiple days. I still hate the fact that my parents are divorced. They fight more divorced than they did married. So asking for them to get along long enough to have a family get together somewhere would be a joke. But eitherway I want to be by family for a holidays. I already asked Rob and he doesn't see a problem with trying to go home for Thanksgiving next year.

I need to decide what cookies I plan to make for christmas this year. I'll probably start baking the end of next week. I know snickerdoodle is calling my name and those green cookies that look like wreaths have been striking my fancy, though I don't have the equipment for making them look like wreaths. I kind of want to say screw sugar cookies this year but Rob would probably be devistated.

I also need to plan out our christmas finger foods. Christmas is usualy just for Rob and I (and hopefully soon with an addition). We don't invite ppl over and if people ask to come over we usualy say no. We eat finger foods, open presents, play games, rock out to christmas movies and music and have some booze.

now....where did my water and saltines go...

24 Nov

2011-11-24T12:56:00.001-06:00

I am harboring one of the most epic food babies ever!

Since going vegetarian it wasn't until today that I realized my stomach capacity has shrunk boat loads. I am literaly in pain from being so stuffed lol. But the food was fabulous and i'm sure the double slice of pumpkin pie didn't help.

My pumpkin's turned out great. Thankfully another vegetarian showed up to the dinner. Between 3 people one little pumpkin was enough. I have an entire one left over that i'm sure we'll eat with other leftovers over the weekend.

I think tomorow either a real bike ride or a ride on the trainer is in order. Perhaps the entire weekend until the pies are gone lol.

I hope everybody had (has, for those in the states) a great Thanksgiving!

22 number 2

2011-11-22T15:01:00.001-06:00

I was getting ready for work this morning only to look over and see this..

I don't get it but I guess if it works for him...

Progress!! We made progress, people!! Yes, The husband actually went through some of his stuff! I mean theres still lots more to go through but hot damn ppl he actually sat down on the living room floor next to mounds of boxes (I think i've got 5 tubs at the moments) of all his ~~crap~~ stuff. A few unneeded chords were chucked...old game manuals...tons of paperwork (i'm terrified to throw out ANY of his paperwork) which are now sitting in a pile to be shred. One of 5 boxes down. Woot!

I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath. I'm actually a bit drawn to the book. I was thrown off a little an entire chapter was devoted to travelings of a turtle. I think i'm on Chpt 4? Still waiting to get to the good stuff. Gullivars Travels isn't coming along as i'd hoped. It initialy started out decent but I think watching the movie with Jack Black first kind of throws off the book. I keep reading it, waiting for me to bust out laughing at some stupid thing the character does. Maybe i'm not far enough into the book yet?

I got off work early today. Was pretty sweet. We had to many cashiers and I was the lucky winner. I took advantage and ran some errands while I had the time. Cruising on my bike for errands always makes me feel awesome. I didn't feel so awesome, however, when some ass-wad did a yield at a stop sign. I saw it before it even happened, I anticipated it and good thing I did. He saw me last minute and slammed on his breaks and waved his hands at me in an apologetic manner. At least he didn't blame me for his error like most drivers do.

22 nov

2011-11-21T23:24:00.001-06:00

It's early. My ipod alarm was going for 2 minutes in my dream before I finaly came out of it and turned the thing off. Then I swept back into dream land lol only to be woken out again by the thing. I was pretty deep in a zombie/vampire dream. Creepy one at that.

Got more straightening done around the house. Specificaly the tv stand. The things huge and stuff managed to creep its way into every door and shelf. Weird having it clean and orgazined.

First news of the morning..a close family member on Robs side of the family is pregnant with numero 2. Still very early but she's got one on the way. How exciting! Though i'm sure Rob will pick fun of me saying now i'll want to try for one even more. Not really. At this current moment i'm pretty lax on the idea of trying. Not like the last few weeks. I've mellowed out since our little talk. For some reason in my gut I have a feeling it will take us a while. Like perhaps a year or 2-while. Now that i've let it slip amongst some friends that I'll be trying it seems the ones who had trouble conceiving are coming out of the depths. First someone who's been trying for 11yrs and now another one who's been trying for 8 years then a friends sister who tried for 9yrs then suddenly got pregnant out of nowhere. Those aren't the stories I want to hear, people.

I've decided to go with the 2nd link i posted for stuffed pumpkin. Rob seemed to like that recipe idea.

My coffee doesn't taste good this morning. Wonder what gives. Didn't do anything different than I usualy do. Weird.

yea I don't have anything to talk about today. Chow.

Different stuffed pumpkin

2011-11-20T14:09:00.001-06:00

Confusion says 'this recipe is a doozy'.

Remember that fancy shmancy Pumpkin stuffed stew i'm planning to make for thanksgiving? Hint: this one http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2007/11/pumpkin-stuffed-vegetable-stew Well after finaly reviewing the recipe I noticed the nice little link for an additional recipe that is part of the recipe. Hmmm. Thats where I got a little confused. 2 Roasted vegetable recipes combined for 2 tiny pumpkins? Yes. But i got even more confused when the original recipe didn't say when to add that linked in Sauce or additional set of veggies. Upon reading it over again a few times I think I got what it's doing. That linked recipe is just for stock and sauce. You waste all those veggies to make stock and sauce by deglazing them. If I read it correctly. Sooo i'm thinking of hunting for another, stuffed-pumpkin beginner, recipe. It sounds like alot more work that i'm willing to put into a main course this year.

Here are some runner's up that sound much easier to make:
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Baked-Pumpkins-With-Wild-Rice-Stuffing-Recipezaar -This one would be uber perfect for the size pumpkins i've got. Plus i've got wild rice I need use up in the cupboard.

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/northam/holiday.html -Rob says this one sounds yummy but i'm having a hard time imagining the flavor. It has a few variations you can go with.

Not on my personal list for a recipe but for my meat eating readers who are curious to the idea of stuffed pumpkin's here is a good one too.. i like the pine nuts idea..perhaps i'll add them to mine. http://whateversleft.org/2011/10/29/stuffed-pumpkin/

I finaly sold my Yamaha keyboard. I got it back in highschool from my dad who bought it from our neighbor. It's about circa 1995 but it's a great keyboard. I just haven't used it much the last few years so I finaly opted to sell it. I posted on a local FB sale site and I got a request an hour later. Now it's just a matter of meeting up with the person. His wife seems excited about it.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/digitalkeyboards/portable_keyboards/psr320/?mode=model

I got rid of more stuff. Feels great to do that. But cleaning out the house is a slow process, for me at least. When I start making free-space then I start feeling like i'm actually thinning out, which I did today.

Idea for Cathy

2011-11-20T04:49:00.001-06:00

This part of the post is for my Mother-in-law. She has recently opened an etsy shop and I came across this item that a friend purchased and figured it could be something she could design for one of her own shop items. Unfortunately I don't have directions for this as it was just an item my friend purchased at a craft baazar. But she's a crafty lady so i'm sure it could be easily designed from the looks of it.

Bread basket. The edges and bottom feel as though they have cardboard in them but since it's handwashable the person who made them said it was plastic not cardboard. The corners are fabric only, as they bend outward. The basket is reversable so you can choose the pattern you wish to display on the outside. The accompany pot holder fits nicely ontop to keep the biscuits or bread warm.

Not much going on here. I'm being lazy again today. Last night my friend came knocking on my door at about 5pm asking if I wanted to drive an hour to an Ikea store. I've never been in one so I said why not. She wanted to purchase a kitchen island. The store is pretty nice. If only I wasn't moving so soon i'd totaly go there to redo my house lol. I hope there is one in Tucson. I'll have to look that up. It was quite an adventure getting the island into her car. The top piece was to big for the trunk and we didn't think to bring bungee chords. So we had to squeeze it into the backseet. Thankfully isn't wider than the car, otherwise she'd be screwed lol.

Today I NEED to get cracking on my straightening up my house. I forgot Robs friend had his girl visiting and he'll more than likely bring her by at some point. My house is nowhere near visitor friendly. Boxes of stuff everywhere and bike and knitting things strewn across the living room as i've been going through things for pre-move.

Thats about it. I'm really not motivated to anything though lol. Guess I need to pop the ipod and earbuds in and just go till the sun goes down. I was invited to a Scentsy party tonight but I'm not sure if i'll be going or not. I'm sure once i get into Scentsy I may get addicted and I don't feel like blowing money on that kind of stuff at the moment.

aight. i've got nothing to chat about. Tootles.

19 Nov

2011-11-19T02:44:00.001-06:00

I don't know what to do today.

Another weekend off, I can't complain. I'm being spoiled. I still need to do my thanksgiving grocery shopping but I think I might save that for tomorow. Perhaps today I will knit a bunch and relax but squeeze in cleaning out the kitchen and spareroom. I went through my cleaning supply cupboard and maanged to thin things out in there. I gave my friend a box of Borax from when I was in a 'make my own cleaning supplies' kick. Only I never opened the damn thing. A year later and I doubt I will.

Cool Tip's for a pre-pcs cleanout http://www.styleathome.com/homes/real-estate/top-10-tips-for-downsizing/a/308

It's another foggy day out. Robs heading out for a ride with the guys. If I knew one of the wives was riding (there is one wife that rides but she is not 5 1/2 months preggo, still rides lightly though) I would go along but I didn't know till I was heading to bed that the group was riding. Thus I couldn't see if she was planning to ride on her own that day. She's asked about riding but with the weather as it has been, foggy, I haven't been in the mood for going. If it's slightly foggy from our house view that means it's much more foggy once we ride out of town. Not very safe. One day Rob actually gave into the fog and rode the trainer instead. Some area's will remain clear during rides but then you hit those long stretches that are so thick with fog you feel unsafe, especialy with the germans speeding down roads. They can't see you until their right up on you.

One scenario I hate most however,when Robs in a rush to get ready are when he can't find some of his cycling clothes. I have tried my best to create a space for all of his stuff, a rack for hanging just his cycling stuff, drawers for his cycling accessories, an entire room for his cycling parts and tools. But...what ends up happening is his clothes gets strung along the living room/bedroom floors or dropped all over the couch or kitchen table. With the occasional pieces thrown over radiators. My attempts at organization were a big fail in that area. Just saying because this happened today lol. He headed out to meet with the guys only to realize he dressed to warm so he rushed home to change into cooler gear which were all around the house lol. Ahhh. I tried.

Wanna hear a sweet deal I got yesterday? The perks of working in a store and knowing the vendors means you get good deals on their merchandise. They fill you in prior to them putting something on uber discount. We had left over Tide (the super huge containers) from a 'one time buy' kind of thing. Well they will usualy double coupons for the items so that they fly off the shelf. Only the vendor will sometimes give you an extra coupon or let you know before they gives it tot he customers. I got 2 -150 floz of Tide with touch of Downy for $4. Yup you heard it correctly. $15 in coupons per container which normaly run $17.00 a pop. I got one for my friend and one for me. One of those will last Rob and I almost half a year. So i'm good on detergent until we leave lol. I've still got quarter of one of those size containers I need to use up from when a different neighbor moved. Another perk from being in the military, when people move you get their left overs and stuff :D I've payed $2 in detergent for the last 5 months :D

I made Rob smile for his parents :D

My final week of no-baby pills. Start sprinkling baby-dust my way. :p

18 Nov

2011-11-18T01:21:00.001-06:00

And life goes on.

A night sleep always seems to fix issues, or at least makes for a better tomorow. The much needed discussion, which we apparently post poned for a few years (unintentionaly or without realizing it) has made the discussion of baby a little easier. So with that said I can now relax a little on the subject when around the house.

I finished off my piza bites last night. I won't be eating those anytime soon again. They were tastey but ended up jacking up my stomach. Even it was a little bit of meat it still enough to slow down digestion. Sheesh.

In other food news I completely lost one of my favorite recipes. My Bulgar stew recipe!! I had posted it on my veg blog originaly but now that i've deleted it i've foolishly lost the recipe. I had bought the ingredients for it but soon realized the recipe is nowhwere to be found. I will have to try and remember which recipe book it was in but I don't believe it's one I have at home. What a bummer! Thats the perfect cold winter night recipe!

So i'm totaly slacking this morning. I work in 30 minutes and I haven't even gotten dressed or put my make-up on. Totaly in slack mode. Obviously i'm driving today. This evening is 'give parents a break' night so my friend and I, and possibly another lady, will be venture out this evenig. Base is holding is yearly Bazaar so we'll be browsing that and then eating at the awesome italian place in town. Ahh it should be fun. Mercandise at the bazaar is way to expensive for my liking so I usualy just go to browse. I might sneak a peak at their Italian charm's for my bracelet.

Alrighty. Tootles.

17 nov

2011-11-17T16:23:00.001-06:00

One word. Communication. I need to learn it. It avoids problems and sparks solutions.

Sorry for getting all personal recently in posts. I don't like giving incorrect portrayols (sp) of my husband as I sometimes do when I get emotional about things. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and he is in no way a shitty husband. So for those that did manage to read that post and other previous posts..keep in mind that I mull thoughts over and over in my mind, especialy when I don't get a response or reaction I anticipated. The topic of baby has brought to light a few things about ourselves that we didn't really realize until recently. In marriage this is called growth (or for some it's called pre-divorce). along that road there are sometimes misread opinions, mixed signals and one close lipped Krista. I'm a bottle upper. I don't do well with the deeper discussions in life. I get easily emotional about things. And because I get easily emotional I always try my hardest to avoid those kinds of discussions.

But sometimes those discussions are needed to make things work and fix things before they get out of whack (kind of like the Cancer talk with my dad). My husband is a true believer in communication, he's never had a problem expressing himself. I on the other hand...am quite the opposite. I make my own drama sometimes. Like I said before...i'm may be one awesome Krista but i'm not perfect.

So. with that in mind and after an evening of discussion, The post-pill appointment will stay written in my calendar and life will proceed just as it was kind of planned. Just on a much more toned down level. So if I do not talk much more in the 'baby talk corner' do not be dissappointed. Sometimes certain excitements are best kept private. Of course I will inform you all when that fabulous day happens but I probably won't be discussing much of the leading-upto moments anymore. That will be saved for my close girlfriends.

The Persimmon

2011-11-16T09:57:00.001-06:00

Have you ever heard of the fruit 'Persimmon'? I know I hadn't until we started carrying it at work. I always thought maybe i'd try it one day but it confused me with it's appearance. It looks like a mix between an orange and a tomato so thus I assumed thats what the taste would be like. Not the most appealing in thought.

Well today after a friend of mine purchased one for a snack I finaly tried one. OMG is all I have to say. If you like sweet's switch over from your candy and eat a persimmon! It's the perfect pms sweet tooth healthy snack. The best way i can describe it's sweetness is to compare it to a sweet pudding. I ate it like an apple, though most ppl say to peel the skin. I'm assuming that since i'm still alive the skin is edible. Incase you would like to read a bit on them.. http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/persimmon-fruit.html . Because they are so I do question the amount of sugar in them.

but i'm not in much of a healthy mood these days. Yesterday I monched on a veggie burger, fries and shake from BK. Today I'm cheating my vegetarian lifestyle for what used to be one of my favorite indulges, pizza bites. After not having them for over a year I can say they are still yummy but very salty. Perhaps they arent AS tastey as I remember them being. The little meat chunks certainly stand out to me now and i'm thinking after this random meat splurge I can safely say I do not miss them as much as I thought. I suppose I can wait until we get to the states where I will be able to indulge in the plain cheese ones.

Hey I might be one awesome chick but i'm not perfect :p

16 Nov

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

Little upgrade for Shirley in the form Terry awesomeness.

I ran to the bike shop for a few supplies and while waiting for him to help me I browsed. I had been eyeing up the Butterfly S on Terry's website. Specificaly the pink one. But when I saw the black one infront of me at the bike shop I had to snag it. Pink or not it was there and ready for me to use today.

I swapped seats and tried it out. My sit bones were in rear-end heaven. Of course it feels just a tad stiff because it needs some breaking in. I'm hoping that it will feel just as amazing for my everyday riding.

Whats a knitters worst situation? (aside from running out of yarn or snagging the yarn) Realizing a few rows later that you've fudged a section and not descreetly. I apparently got side tracked by the TV that for some reason I just kept knitting and forgot to purl some. Oops. Now I get to spend the next day back tracking...

15 nov

2011-11-15T01:30:00.000-06:00

So in defense to my husband and my need for his glorious 'lets have a baby' moment I suppose I made it sound a little worse than it was. Or maybe you didn't read it as I did after I posted lol. Hubby is a very very laid back kind of guy. He isn't one to jump out of his seat in decision making (unless it involves bicycles :p ) , as am I either -as 7 1/2 years proves-. So after thinking on it...him saying that I should stop my pills despite how I read it as a result of my urges is actually a very big step for a guy, especially him. He's basicaly willing saying he would give up some stuff in life for a kid, in his own way. So I actually don't have anything to bitch about. Perhaps I tend to use him as my scapegoat when i'm feeling uncomfortable about something, like the decision to jump on the baby bandwagon. I love the hubby beyond boat loads. ::dreamy Krista gets side by thoughts of her husband::

I'm planning ahead. Assuming we get a tiny house on base I will need to be very strategic in my house set up. Particularly in the bicycle area. Not quite sure how i'll set it up yet. It would have to be a loose idea as i'm not sure of the size of the rooms. So i'm thinking either devoting the 2nd room completely to bikes or sectioning off part of the living room for it. If I put the bikes in the spare room then the computer 'room' would be part of the living rom. If the bikes were part of the living room then i'd have to find a nice...large.....room divider lol. And organization of the bike crap would be key as they've take over our current house. I am leaning more for devoting the spare room than sectioning off the living room. If all things came out perfect we'd get a 3 bedroom with garage! then the garage would be bike haven.

Speaking of bikes...here's what I look like on a cold dark night

Baby talk corner

Note to self: Do not stock up on pregnancy tests from the same store you work in. People will want to talk and ask questions. And some women will spill their personal information like one lady telling me she's been trying to get pregnant the last 11yrs but her husbandf has slow swimmers. Why do I need to know that? Basicaly I bought 2 cheapo tests just to have on hand incase. What can I say....i was anxcious that day.

14 Nov

2011-11-14T01:06:00.001-06:00

I sit here this morning with my Garmish mug full of coffee and a biscotti sitting nicely next to it. Last night I managed to clean out one of those boxes completely. Yes I now have an empty box. Score! (to bad it's missing a latch and I can't find the top).Rob says if I can condense all the cords to one he'll be content. Well yippie.

I'm thinking about finaly sucking up the shitty german's form of swimming laps and start doing them in the mornings. My massage therapist goes quite often since it's in her town but she says what she's found to work best is to use a snorkal for breathing and just go. The people in the pool eventually get the idea after a few laps and give her space. I've messaged her if we go together one of these days as she's invited me before. We'll see if she's upto it. I've never swam in the indoor pool at this place. I don't think it's quite as large as the outdoor pool but laps are laps. It's better than sitting on my ass.

I feel bad for my good friend here. Her daughters are ages 3 and 5. Since her husband deployed her oldest daughter has seriously acted up by not sleeping at night and giving her total attitude. My mother-urges always want to step in and give her daughter my 2-sense and after her coming to me complaing i've asked if I could step in and scold her on occasion since she needs the extra help with the hubby gone. Some kids dont' always take the parents seriously since it's their parents and they know what they can get away with. Last night my friend came to my door distraught and full of anger/stress. Her daugher was in bed at 7pm but by 10pm was still awake. I could here her daughter banging on the inside of the front door all the way from my front porch. So I threw on my jacket, went to her house and started lightly scolding her kid to get in bed and sleep. After some repeats of this I guess her daughter finaly stayed in bed for her. her other daughter was totaly wired for 10pm at night. Not sure if that one stayed in bed but the main goal was her 5yr old because she had school in the morning. As my friend says...sometimes it takes a village to raise a child. She said that after I caught myself scolding her daughter for talking back to her a previous day. i freaked thinking 'shit should I have done that'. My friend assured me it was ok.

Baby talk corner
Straight to it this morning huh?
What i've seen from perspective and what i'm learning from personal experience is that some men are all about babies and some just arent. While my husband has convinced me to just ditch the pills I now have a feeling it's more becuase of all my urges for a baby. Not necessarily because he wants one too. He has mentioned how he doesn't have an issue if I were to get pregnant, he thinks a kid would be cool but I suppose i've always secretly hoped that he'd be one of those guys that got really excited about the idea of having a kid. The kind that are totaly into the whole process. I think thats another reason i've waited so long..i've been holding out waiting for my husband to come out and say 'lets have a baby!'. One of my friends husband was this way, Going out of his way to get baby stuff he liked and to picks names he liked, which they now have a week old baby girl, AnaBree. Maybe once I finaly get pregnant things will kick in for him but for now I won't hold my breath.

I guess I just say this because i've been very chatty on the subject now that i'm into the idea of trying. He's shown some slight annoyance by telling me I talk about it alll the time. :( (perhaps the same could be said about his cycling). Suppose I should keep the chat strictly for my lady friends and on here. Makes me a little sad though. Men are men. Guess I should take his convincing me to quit my pills his 'lets have a baby' moment.

13 Nov

2011-11-13T04:39:00.001-06:00

Soooooo it just hit me. Tucson is a large city. Rob says it's as big as Milwuakee. I always freaked out driving through Milwaukee. I don't do well with big cities. I get easily flustared. I'd get lost easy. Are there highways in the middle of the city just like Mill-ee-wau-kay? Double and triple and quadrupal lane highways. Shit. I guess it's time for me to get used to big cities.

sleeping yoga?

Ugh. these are the 4 boxes of crap and cords that I have dreaded having to deal with. I'm hoping to condense it all to one box for Rob to go through. This is what i'll be doing this evening. Twisty tieing cords and all that stuff.

I started stocking up on christmas candy for our candy dish and stockings. I have 2 large grocery bags of candy. Am I insane? That much candy for Rob and I? Heck yes I am.

I've had this very very annoying upset stomach the last few days. It initialy started when I nearly threw-up in my friends car. Between the iron in the prenatal pills and a new found car sickness (since living in Germany) I almost had to ask her to pull over once or twice. Since then i've had the very faint feeling of nausea. Perhaps it's nerves, maybe i'm working myself up more than I think with this baby thing. Time to tone it down a little. Perhaps day dreaming of nursery themes isn't the way to go this early in the game......

Riding and babies

2011-11-12T08:40:00.001-06:00

Bike rides are fun. I forgot that. I took a long break from riding (not counting commutes) and am feeling the pain of it. I didn't put my bike computer on the bike partly because I wanted to just ride without focusing on time/distance/speed but also becuase I couldn't find the computer lol.

Though the hills tried to kick my butt it felt refreshing to get out and ride again. I hit patches of fog which made things chilly but I dressed for cold weather so it was ok. I used my new shoe covers which are pretty neat. My feet were still chilled but nothing near what they usualy are. I didn't feel the safest though in my grey jacket when I hit the patches of fog. I didn't have a tail light at all because I didn't think i'd run into fog but apparently I shouldn't assume when we've been having fog around here alot lately.

On this ride I realized that I will definately miss riding through Germany. All the views of the towns and architecture and nature. I felt a little sad that these next couple months of riding are my last here.

First thing i'm noticing though are the differences between Lulu and Shirley.

Shirley (Surly) is stiff and heavy and i've got her handle bars in more of an upright position. More comfortable for commuting. She gets a little wobble sometimes when my pannier is full. I'm afraid to go fast with her.

Lulu (Giant) after not being rode for a while now has a shimmy. I've never had a shimmy with her before so this makes me feel less safe speeding down hills. I feel completely different on her now that i've been riding a different bike. She's the opposite of stiff, needs new break pads, has much more downward facing handle bars and much lighter and easier on hills.

I feel as if i'm relearning my road bike. The shimmy freaks me out. I'm going to say this is due to variations in each bikes set up which have different feels. I've never had issues with Lulu before so now I know it is more than likely just me.

I have also forgotten how hungry riding makes me. After just a simple ride (maybe 1-1/2hrs) I was starving. I made a yummy spinach wrap with romain lettuce, hummus, radishes, cucumber and tomatoes sided with yogurt with strawberries and wheat germ. Yum!

I am also down to my goal weight since living here. How that happened beats the hell out of me. Though i'm sure I may gain some again if I start riding regularly again. I will say that going vegetarian has helped me. All I eat are veggies and grains now (on the rare occasions french fries and soda). Makes me feel awesome at the moment!

Baby-talk corner (i will do this from now on for those that don't feel like hearing about baby chatter)

I'm starting to get excited at the idea of trying for a baby. Of course the unknown's of pregnancy and being a mom freak me out (it's whats kept me from trying for so long) but i'm sure i'm not the only one to ever experience this. I have decided to cut the pills next month rather than January. I have 2 weeks left on my current pack then i'll be done. Now or never baby! If I could i'd stop where i'm at currently but that will mess things up for my body so I've gotta suck up finishing off the pack. (as for traveling during our move, At the earliest it wouldn't be until December sometime if we started to concieve which put me at 3-4 months before we travel. I don't count on getting pregnant until at least next year (2012), though I know it could still happen. Thus why i'm not worried about starting right away).

So once i get pregnant I plan to stick with my new vegetarian lifestyle as much as possible (i say that because I hear cravings can sometimes be so damn strong, if I crave meat that bad or am not getting the nutrients i really need I may have to give in). I'm sure i'll hear criticism from people and quite possibly the doctors but if I can do it properly (getting all nutrients I need) I should be fine. I mean if someone who eats frenchfries, drinks soda, chows down on burger after burger, eats chips and cookies and fried foods and candy in their pregnancy can produce a healthy baby then a concious vegetarian can too.

So yes. I'm excited to start trying. I just hope I don't get disappointed after each month that I don't get pregnant. I hear that can be gut wrenching at times if your so absorbed in the idea of getting pregnant. Dear self, stay relaxed and worry free!

I called my best friend tonight. Who else is there to go to when you've decided to venture into something so life altering. She was excited but then the advice began. She doesn't have a baby but I still got advice. I found myself getting annoyed. This is my adventure in which I choose what I will do with it. I don't think I will do well with people telling me what I should do once I get pregnant. (i'm very stubborn, just ask Rob. I thank my mother for that). So perhaps i'll keep it to a minimum with whom I share my adventure with. I love my best friend but sometimes we have very different opinions.

I also spoke to my mom about it. I wanted motherly advice and to share the excitement with her. I think I read her wrong when I assumed she didn't care. She is the kind that has learned from years of 2 sons not to pressure your children (I was always graced with the more relaxed side of I my mom because by the time I came around she learned her lessons from my brothers) So I think her quietness about the topic was more her just keeping thoughts to herself, because after all when i did talk babies with her it was in the future-tense so I think instead of asking 'when' it was more 'when your ready it'll happen'. Her advice was to just enjoy the adventure and try not to think or stress about the idea of trying to get pregnant. She said when she planned for a baby it took her a year to get pregnant.

http://women-consultancy.blogspot.com/2011/09/pregnant-vegetarian-what-do-you-need-to.html
http://preggovegetarian.blogspot.com/ (i'm reading her blog from start to end)

12 Nov

2011-11-12T02:39:00.001-06:00

I have this weird taste in the back of my throat. Like some weird plastic or something. It's extremely gross. I'm thinking it has to do with medicine I took from my friend yesterday. I was hanging out by her and snagged a small amount of her childrens cough and throat medicine. but my throat's quite loaded with shit so maybe stuff is lingering in there. EEwwwww. I want this taste to go away! Fast! It's weird.

I want internet that responds instantly. Downloads fast, doesn't lag horribly and that doesn't constantly restart.
If I was one lady in S&TC I would probably a mix between Carrie and Miranda.

Whats for breakfast this morning? A bowl of Reese's Peanut butter cup ice cream. Go me!

Only in Germany can you walk to the kitchen for another cup of joe in the morning and see this out your kitchen window....

Giveaway coming soon

2011-11-11T01:11:00.001-06:00

So. You remember those shirts from Cafepress I had posted about a while back? Yea keep an eye on the BikeSkirt blog.

I didn't sleep at all last night. Rob was putsing with his computer, adding new hardware. He plugged something into something else incorrectly without thinking and now he needs to buy a new part for it. Memory to be exact, I hope we get the songs, pictures and everything back eventually.

I plan to buy this book. I hear it's good for everyday meals not just for those in the title. Almost full 5 stars in it's review..
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Mothers-Cookbook-Pregnant-Breastfeeding/dp/0972469060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320995928&sr=8-1

Nothing to talk about this morning. I'm running late for work. Yippie.

One dark foggy night...

2011-11-10T03:22:00.001-06:00

--It was one cold dark night. The fog was so thick it felt claustrophobic. Krista found herself pedaling fiercly in hopes to get through the streets faster. The air was soundless but yet it seemed as though there was an eary presence following behind. Alas, the town street lights came into view just as the fog began inducing fear. --

Yea. It was dark last night. Maybe half a mile visibility whenever bright lights were in sight. I snagged a reflective belt before heading home after work. I have a bright front light, a flashing back red light, a jacket with some reflectors on it, pants with reflectors and a reflective belt around my pannier which also has reflecivors on it. But I still didn't feel 100% safe because the fog was so damn thick and you didn't see cars until they were already close to you. The extra belt I put around my body. It was enough that cars were giving me ample space on the raod but I still used the side farmer paths whenever I could. Thats where I felt claustrophobic. There aren't lights in the farmer fields and with the fog so thick you couldn't see the city lights. It really felt like there was something out there lol. Obviously there wasn't but the fog....it's like that one 'scary' Fog movie lol.

I ruin my exciting moments. I'm like the girl who cried wolf with things. I say i'm going to do something but end up not doing it for whatever reason then if I was to actually follow through nobody would believe me. This is a flaw of mine that I know I have. Oh well. Shit happens, huh?

I talked with the Mr yesterday and we came to an agreement that once the BC pills I have on hand run out I am not refilling my prescription. That would put us at January. I am nervous as fuck but I am also to the point where it's now or never. I know I will always be coming up with excuses for waiting. Like right now i'm thinking about when I get back into school in AZ. I know the smart me would finish school before kids but i've put off school to where i wouldn't finish until i'm in my 30's anways. Then once i'd finish school i'd want to start my career and get that established. So really, there is never an appropriate set time to have kids unless your young and lucky enough to accomplish your school and career path really early on. Then for those people it may be they want to advance in their career and would think kids are a barrier. I will make it work with a kid. I will still finish schooling and I will get started in my career before Rob retires.

I think my problem now is deciding on what exactly I want to do. Massage doesn't seem like a stable enough career for me but rather something i'd do on the side. I think it to be best to try and get in a government position. Good pay and good benefits. And being a milspouse I have a better chance of that oppurtunity, especialy techincaly being a government employee already through Deca. If I did get a degree in Physical therapy (full on therapist or assistant) i'd love to work in rehab for a military hospital. But at the same time the government is severly cutting the civilian positions across the board. I guess I can't think about that at the moment. These positions may rebound in the future. I just thinkt he health field is the way to go, people will always need health assistance.

So anywho the kid thing. I don't think the inlaws are jumping out there seats in excitement. I've taken that away by 7 years of waiting and all my false alarms at attempts. Plus the first grandkid is officially out in the world. With my side of the family I woudln't anticipate excitement. I've mentioned babies to my mom but I don't ever get a reaction from her. She's got 4 grandkids already going back to 16 years ago. Grandkids are nothing new for my side of the family. I'm the baby of the family so the shock and awe of babies is well past it's prime. I guess i'm not out to have a baby for the excitement it would bring but rather because I just want one. But it does kind of crush me a little that my mom isn't giving me any kind of feedback or excited reaction to the idea of me getting pregnant. I know she would be excited once it happened but I dont know. My moms gotten alot more blue and less excited about things in life as the years go on. I think it's a depression.

Soo beginning of next year we'll see just how long it takes post years of birth control to get pregnant.

More milspouse blogs

2011-11-09T02:06:00.000-06:00

http://www.inlovewithanairman.com/

http://guinnandbareit.blogspot.com//

http://household6diva.com/

Still on the hunt for more to follow.

I'm getting annoyed. The German's are very particular about their trash. Very all about proper sortedness and all that stuff. Sure it's nice but it's also annoying. Especialy when the garbage people keep forgetting our street and our trash bins are very full. We need special garbage bags when we put bags outside of the trash bin. But these bags you can't just buy at the store, nope you need to hunt them down in your town. I believe ours are sold by the little window at the bank but i'm not sure and they have weird hours. Lets hope they are open when i'm heading out for work.

I haven't been knitting. I think I knitted myself out by plowing through the blankets. I've knit one row this morning and then snagged my laptop and got sidetracked. I hope by the weekend i'm in the knitting mood again.

I got my spanish books. Acutall physical books, not on my kindle. Yay. Now I just need to sit down and read them. I got these 2 books..

http://www.amazon.com/Madrigals-Magic-Key-Spanish-Creative/dp/0385410956/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320824516&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.com/See-Say-Spanish-Margarita-Madrigal/dp/0451168372/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320824652&sr=1-16

I am also waiting on the audio CD's from the library. Hopefully I can self-teach myself.

Idiot Driver moment: I rode to work as usual yesterday. I came to the stop sign just after getting on base where I was waiting for oncoming traffic to disappear. A car was behind me, I was waiting to turn left. The driver got very impatient that I was waiting for this traffic, which happened to be turning to the road I was on. But as a cyclist and driver myself I never assume each person in the line of cars intend to turn on this street, especialy when I can't see their blinkers. The driver however, decided it best to go around me. He pulled upto my right. At first i thought he changed his mind and wanted to turn right until I realized he had his blinker to the left. I was in shock that this asswad would attempt to go around me. I got pissed off and as soon as the cars cleared I took off infront of him and took up the whole lane until I turned off to the bike path. I shook my head and yelled some obsenities at him. I doubt he heard me though. Ahhh I hate inconsiderate people.

Coffee not beer....

2011-11-08T01:58:00.001-06:00

.....is the thing to drink when going through STUFF.

After lunch out with my friend and a longer shopping trip to Hela than planned (it's the closest thing to walmart we have here lol) I hit up the grocery store then headed home. It was fun getting out and about with a friend again. One's with kids don't always have the money or the time to just jump in the car and go window shopping. Kids make it harder so when we do make it out it's a blast.

Anywho, so I came home and relaxed. Threw a kashi pizza in the oven, popped open a beer and sat down to start digging through boxes again. Beer is not the smartest thing to make cleaning through stuff less boring. It makes you sleepy after running around all day. Soo I changed my mind and decided to brew some coffee instead. We'll see how beer and coffee mesh.

I am not having fun this time around in the sorting department. Having gone over it once before now I really have to think if it's stuff I want. For some stuff it's hard to decide on because most of it we haven't used because we're overseas and some stuff I haven't dug out because I don't have the place to display them and what not. I didn't want to invest money in certain things or just didn't like the german styles of say a foyer table or nice bookcase. These are all things I plan to get once we get back to the states. However, foolish me is still deciding if I want to hunt through the german 2nd hand stores for these items I don't have room for. Garage till moving?

An hour or 2 later I managed go through one box and clean out part of the tv stand lol. Hey at least I gained another rubber tub which now homes more yarn. I have to much yarn though I refuse to thin through that. Once we get situated at the new place I will make a nice yarn storage closet or shelving unit.

I dream of good storage and organization but as i've said before I lack the true eye to execute it on my own. I like the look of this yarn closet.. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2103/2428665001_752e95444f.jpg

My laptop is ticking me off. I've been on the little laptop lately as Erik has been upstairs sleeping by the big one, that and i've been watching tv show downstairs again. The laptop chucks from when I last remember using it. As if it's always loading something but it's not. Arg.

One of my friends who recently PCS'd to Oklahoma posted about the earthquake and tornado warnigns they've been having lately. I replied that I was glad we didn't get OK as it was on our listing. Poor chick doesn't have a basement or storm shelter either. Wisconsin would get tornado warnings but they weren't that often though I do remember being rushed to the basement once or twice. I'm sure growing up in OK you'd be used to the tornados and such but personaly that would constantly freak me out. To think they've got a few years yet there and this is only week 2 for them. Yikes. What a grand welcome from OK, huh?

You see the sun in there? That little ball of light just at the tree top? Yea less than a minute later it had risen more..minute later it was even higher. Insane how fast the sun rises and falls but crazy how long it takes for it get across the sky....

Peace out yo! (psst you see the storage boxes of crap by my armpit lol)

07 Nov

2011-11-07T02:59:00.001-06:00

A. AREA CODE: 049

B. BED SIZE: Queen but with my side-ways sleeping habits, a dog at our feet and Rob's blanket hogging antics...we could use a King.

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Um..all of them? If I had a maid i'd be in heaven. However, it is sometimes relaxing sooo folding laundry I suppose is the worst.

D. DOGS NAME: Buster

E. ESSENTIAL "START OF THE DAY" ITEM: Coffee, i'm often a bitch with out it.

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Turquoise (aqua)

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver

H. HEIGHT: Perfectly short

I. INSTRUMENT YOU PLAY: Voice and sometimes horrible piano and guitar

J. JOB: Cashier

K. KIDS: 1 in my day dreaming....

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Renters

M. MOM'S NAME: Diane

N. NICKNAME: Nista

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Haven't had one yet.

P. PET PEEVE: To many to name

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: 'Did you just google..finance?'....'Yes I Googled' -confessions of a shopaholic.

R. RIGHT OR LEFTY: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: 2 older brothers

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: Between 6 and 9am. In summer it's closer to 6 in winter it's closer to 9.

U. UNDERWEAR: Hey now, we're getting a little personal here. But yes I do prefer to wear them.

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Hm. I used to despise brussel sprouts but i've grown fond of them. I hate eating the stem of broccoli.

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: If you do not know me by now I am a Grade A Procrastinator! I do not need reasons for this procrastination..it is self imposed laziness in preparing ahead of time for things.

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Teeth, fingers and well...ultrasound when I had some issues.
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Cheeeeese cake and everything I cook lol

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Tigers, raarrr

I went for a bike ride today. A genuine ride on my road bike. 50 minutes with an average speed of 13 I believe Rob said. Yikes. Yea what can I say that's the first ride i've had on Lulu in almost 3-4 months. She has been overly neglected and leave it to me to get interested in biking now that snow is soon to arrive in the next few weeks.

There isn't much new going on. Today i'm eventually going to start going through stuff again. We have a temporary visitor so the area's I plan to attack are currently occupied by this person. One of Robs good friends got a bit to drunk and lost his house keys in the jist of drinks soooooo he's staying here until things are situated and he can get back into house. Which is proving to be a bit of a challenge as technicaly german landlords aren't allowed to have a spare set of keys to their tenants. They aren't allowed to get into your house without your approval and your keys. At least thats what I was told. So a lock smith and a new lock may be in the future there. I don't know how long that takes.

Yea. It's a boring weekend here. I worked all weekend so nothing interesting happened.

Tootles for now.

Other milspouse blogs.

2011-11-06T02:05:00.003-06:00

I'm always on the hunt for good blogs to read. I often try to find other military spouses to follow but to often the blogs are solely all about military and well I live it everyday so i'm not to intrigued by reading it everyday. I'm more for the everyday life of a mil spouse. What we do outside of the term 'military'. This is sometimes impossible though seeing as it's our life but we all have hobbies and things and those are what I like to read about.

So as my hunt continues here is one for those that are into the mil spouse blogs. This one seem's fun to follow and it isn't all about Military. Woot. I am also jealous of her eye for decorating lol. Perhaps I need to start reading up on Martha Stewart's techniques too.
http://www.mooretolove.com/

360 readers yo. I'm definately lacking that blogger style that would get me that many readers. Maybe it's because my blogging is spiratic and life things most people don't care to read about. I could careless though. It's probably best my life isn't follow by that many people lol.

In other news, Tomorow starts my 2nd pre-psc clean sweep. This time i'm digging a little deeper. Starting point? The huge box of wires and cables.

05 Nov 2.0

2011-11-05T15:04:00.001-05:00

Kidney and pancrease shut down.

My dad answered his phone quite chipper tonight. I was suprised given this week and the passing of one of his best friends. He informed me that the doctors are stopping chemo over the holidays. Their giving his body a break. But all I heard out of this short conversation was that they decided this based on the fact his kidney's and pancrease were started to shutdown. He is doing better now but he just says it so casually. I suppose I should take his cue on how to deal with this stuff. Take it as it comes but not freak out about it. Otherwise I would probably freak out about everything he went through.

They decided the cancer was stable enough to go off the chemo for a while. It is not growing anymore. But they are putting him on Protocel 50 in the meantime. It's not chemo but it supposidly has a good outcome as a cancer treatment. http://protocel.us/index.htm

Ahhh. Yup. Just breath and we'll all get through it in one piece.

05 Nov

2011-11-05T04:10:00.000-05:00

Well it seems there really isn't anything bad to be said of Tuscon. Still doing my research but it sounds like theres alot of crime in certain area's in the city. Which I guess is to be expected in a bigger city. It's about the size of Milwaukee maybe even a little bigger or just slightly smaller. Milwaukee has alot of crime in it's outskirts and in certain districts. This just means come time to find a house we will have to do our research. Another reason why I think it's best to live on-base initialy.

I've ordered 2 books for learning spanish. I'm excited. I've also found some CD audio programs at the library for learning spanish. 4 or 5 levels. Rob knows some already so this will help me learn while help him brush up on his.

I'm a little torn in the baby department. Knowing that i'm going to an area with lots of good school options i'm wonder if it's a good idea to aim for a baby so soon after all. I know school can be done with a kid, I see spouses do it all the time. but I also know it's not easy. Soo do I just go for it anyways and continue with school until baby happens, take a little break while adjusting to baby then finish up again..probably much easier said than done but at hte same time I don't want to keep coming up with reasons to post pone. What would I cherish more? A kid or having a career when hubby retires. I want both. But I feel a little pressured in both areas. Self-pressure for the kid and some pressure from the hubby to have a good paying job/career by the time he retires. If only there was someone there telling you step by step what decision to make in life lol.

Good news as far as work goes. My job will put me on Leave Without Pay status when I put in my notice at work. That will be good for 6 months before i'm dropped from the deca system. This will make it easier to get a job at the commissary there, though i'm not garaunteed one. It will put me at higher priority than other people applying though. I have a feeling the turnover rate there is very slow hopefully i can get in with in that time frame.

Not much else going on. I'm getting nervous. I hate traveling. Traveling should be fun i've never done so well with it lol. Guess everybodies differfent.

We've had alot of sun lately. It's been weird and it's been putting me in a good mood. Yesterday my ride to work felt like spring. It was weird. This either means the winter will be mild this time around or very bad. I'm hoping for the mild winter but other say the opposite will happen. It'll be nice not to worry about snow again.

i've been getting a little worried about Busters eyes. Particularly the worst one with the iris cysts. The vets here really can't do anything about it. The cysts now fill up about 1/2 the eye. Which means that the cysts are more than likely behind the iris now too. Over time this will eventually make him blind in that eye. and eventually after that the eye will probably have to be removed due to pressure build up and pain from what i've read. It worries me. But i'm hoping he's not in pain with them right now, though i'm sure the pressure in there from the cysts can't be comfortable. I'm hoping to find an eye specialist near Tucson when we arrive in. And well there just happens to be one... http://www.eyecareforanimals.com/locations/arizona/tucson.html

Teeny Tiny Pumpkins and some of Halloween

2011-11-04T03:46:00.002-05:00

Found my thanksgiving dinner pumpkins. This style of kurbish (german for pumpkin) is the Hokkaido. Only kind they sell here I believe. I think it's actually japanese in origin. I put it upto an apple for comparison. They are pretty tiny so I will have to half the recipe to fill both unless they gut out with enough room. I was told these make a very soft cooked pumpkin. Can't wait to try it out. I hope they turn out!!

Our carved pumpkins and halloween fun. Robs was the Pirate...mine was a bat boy?

Baked Flesh. Was VERY yummy!

Marinated eye balls. They were ok. Rob loved them but the marinade didn't really do much for the mozzarella balls in my opinion.

We got our new cycling kids. Yes I finaly have a full out kit this year! 2 of them in fact. What ever will I do with so many bibshorts now? Yup. I've definately gained some beefy legs (and a double chin LOL).

I like the colors of this years kit.

03 Nov

2011-11-03T08:58:00.003-05:00

Another day another....car part.

We found out whats wrong with the car. Nope not the alternator like everyone was presuming. It was infact as Rob had originaly assumed...a fuse. A quite large fuse. A 120V fuse that hooks upto the battery. It melted it's casing which is probably what Rob smelt. The auto people said we were lucky becuase it would have done some damage had we been driving faster. Yikes. This seems to be the case with this car. Same thing was said when that other major metal piece broke on it when we first got here.

I don't really know what to say. Yay that it'll probably be a cheaper repair (though the labor is whats gonna be a knife to the wallet..$60 an hour). But this will only make my personal driving experience all that much more intense. I fear driving the 20 minutes to Wittlich or Bitburg now. What else will go wrong? I don't want to know and I don't want to jinx it but this car is aging and so are it's parts. It just needs to hold us over until we move.

So the tuition for the Medical Instute is a bit pricey. One year for an associates in PTA is $27,000. I found a DM spouse group on FB and have been conversing with some of them. One suggest I consider an accredited school as apparently this place isn't outside of Arizona. I have other options for schools so we'll see. I requested that info and we'll see what they say. If we don't move out of Arizona then there shouldn't be an issue with that.

It's time to do another clean sweep of the house. Now that I know my odds of a small house are even greater I need to re-evaluate the crap I decided to hang onto the first clean-out. Now i'll probably start aiming to get everything prepared in boxes or rubber tubs. I am also forcing Rob to finaly go through his computer stuff and games. If not I will and I can gauruntee his stash of cords and unplayed games will much smaller. I will also have to start figuring out how I plan to organize our cycling crap at this new house. I have an idea of the size of the place (if we get uber lucky we may get a new house but I'm not planning for it). These 2-bedrooms don't have basements nor garage's. They do have carports but I know Rob won't want to put up anykind of bike rack in the carport for his expensive bikes. We'll either have to devote a spare room to the bikes unless the place has a slop room (small room coming out of the garage). Depending on the wall structure I may see about investing in bike hooks to give us a little more floor space. But i'm not sure if base has rules about the size of holes we can put in the walls lol.

Speaking of walls..I would like to paint in this place. Depending on how comfortable we feel in the place we may be there a few years before deciding to move off-base. I was told that we can paint but only from the color selections they allow us. All I know is I want a yellow kitchen yo! This is where my mother-in-law would come in handy. Maybe we'll fly her out for a visit and she can help me paint my house as she's got good taste for that stuff :p

Ok so i'm dreaming excessivly here. I dont' even have a house and i'm already planning it's set-up. Go me!

Knitting.

I've been taking a break from my moms blanket. I'm pushing to get the baby blanket done.

Once again I made a wide blanket. I guess I should have just stuck with the original cast-on number instead of upping it. I was only down 1/2 a needle size but I casted on a few more thinking that would be a big change. Wrong. So I should have enough yarn to match the width with the height. It will now be a crip-size blanket lol.

Sorry it's dark. I took it bright and early this morning. The tree that was once so beautiful has shed it' leaves over night. How sad.

And the dreaming begins

2011-11-02T01:32:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to get pumped now. It's starting to sink in that we've got our assignment and i'm sooooo happy it's a sunny place! I've realized living in Germany just how much SAD I get with the gloomy weather. I never noticed much in Wisconsin becuase we'd at least get the nice sunny winter days and most of the year it was sunny. Florida..well come on..that'st he Sunshine State. Germany though..you get a day of cloudy and it lasts damn near a month and in winter it's the whole winter. This year suprisingly hasn't been that bad. We've had alot more sunny days this fall than I remember the previous years. Aside from the language barrier that gets to me sometimes I think those 2 are the only major complaints i've got about living over here. (minor things like internet speed, slow USPS, and limited selection on merchandise in the stores are other things).

This bug i've got I think is slowly starting to disappear. I don't want to jinx it but I finaly got a good nights rest last night! After almost 2 weeks of inconsistant sleep. Rob was getting worried that I might have caught pnuemonia or something. But my hacking this morning is way less than it has been. My lungs don't feel as heavy and I have a bit more energy. I decided to be bold and take some chest decongestion stuff. I'm afraid of some medicine. So starting out I'll usualy take half dose so if does hit hard it doesn't hit as hard. I have to do this with nyquil or else i'll be a zombie the entire next morning. Thankfully it's a half day today so I could probably sneak in a nap in early afternoon. Oh now amazing naps are. And yes i know...I won't know that term once I pop out a kid. Trust me i'm indulging all I can now.

So what does DM have that Krista approves of?!

-Aside from the awesome indoor lap pool that i'm totaly gonna utilize the second we land there, they also have an outdoor whatever-pool and indoor running track.

-Tuscon has 3 malls. Can we say new wardrobe?

-They have yarn stores! With lessons and Knit-in's! http://tucsonyarn.com/ , http://www.kiwiknitting.com/ , http://www.purlstucson.com/index.html

- They have the dessert foxes http://www.desertfoxescycling.com/

- Tuscon has 2 Joann's Fabrics. Woot Woot! If ones out of fabric..run to the other!

-Massage school http://www.cortiva.com/locations/tucson-massage-school/programs.aspx. Though now i'm considering Physical Therapy again. If I had all the money in the world I would just do both lol. They have a medical institute there. http://pmi.edu/careers/physical_therapist_assistant.asp (psst..the math and physics course scares the hell out of me!).

And to end the post with a view of the future home..

[link]

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T13:54:00.000-05:00

Arriving at Burg Frankenstein.

One of the creepiest.

This one scared the crap out of me. He came up next to me and waited for me to turn around. I found whipping out the camera worked like a charm because most of them would stop and pose LOL

She tied this guy up before he realized it. It was quite funny. This was the vampire section.

The devil. He didn't do much other than occasionaly get up from his seat..walk around slowly and some flames would come up. His minion came into the crowd and eventual came behind me. I was tired by this point and ended up just sighing when I realized he was behind me. He then pet my hair.

The awesome tree in the front yard. Giving us a farewell burst of color.

So Burg Frankenstein was pretty awesome. They had some of the classics like Freddie, Pin Head, and Jayson but my camera wasn't work well with all the darkness so I only got what I got. They had different 'stages' set up throughout. Some were grabbing people from the crowd and putting them in chests or parts of the scenes to scare them. And some of the 'stages' actually had little skits they did. We went into this little room where they picked 2 ppl out of the crowd 'tortured' them. The lady was tied up and they would mess with her infront of all the people (tickle, pretend whip, lightly slap, mess up hair, etc). The guy they tied to the table that stretched the arms and legs. Poor guy..they tweeked his nipples, jiggled his fat and put ice on his stomach, gave him a front end wedgey and put ice down his pants lol.

So tonight we had ALOT more kids than last year. I ran out of candy in the first half hour and I was only giving out single pieces! Jeez. Doesnt help that Rob and I ate most of it before hand lol. But some kids don't pay attention to signs wether it's written in German or in English. They still ring the doorbell. I even taped over the doorbell and they still manage to find the buzzer. Guess they really want their candy. Buster is scared shitless needless to say and is shaking like a mofo.

Today has been one big whopping doozy. I had a multiple mix of good news and bad news. First bad news with the car issue, then good news with getting our assignment ( reveal below), Bad news that I had to cancel my dentist appointment, good relief in that we got a friend to tow the car to the shop on base so we didn't have to pay a towing fee. Unfortunately the shop was closed for the day due to a down day. Then crappiest of all news that a good friend of my family...one of my dads really good friends..passed away last night. He had just seen him the night before. It sucked hearing my dad choke up on the phone. We used to go camping with this family and stay at their house in Madison to watch the fireworks on the 4th each year. He has made it through a liver transplant a few years ago but unfortunately had a bowel obstruction that the doctors didn't fully fix and it cost his life. I feel so bad for his kids and wife. He was one of the most nicest guys you'll ever meet.

All this news has just left me stunned for the day. Maybe tomorow will be a bit better. This Vodka punch for our halloween evening thing isn't faring to well in the tummy. This halloween is a bit blah now. Still trying to make the best of it. I'll post my pictures of the two creepy dishes I made...marinated eyeballs and baked flesh. Robs bummed that i'm bummed. Would you not be in kind of the same mood if your day was very unnormal.

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We got Davis-Monthan in Arizona Yo!

Pack your bags we're headed to...

2011-10-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

People of the blog.

I was awoken tonight around midnight by the hubby.

Our car died on him mid drive to work. He says it smelt like a burnt fuse. How can a fuse affect the entire car? I hate this car. I have hated this car since the first time it died on me in florida and i've hated it all other times it has died and failed me. If only it could last us until we leave but now I will only fear driving this car even more. Time to keep my cellphone fully charged with numbers on hand for people that can save me from me from any dispare.

5 minutes later I got another call from the hubby. The night wasn't all bad. We got our assignment!!

Now usualy I can't contain my excitement or keep secrets. Just look back to my horrible christmas antics of giving Rob his presents early. But now that I know where i'm going I can do all the research I want. Infact I found myself gravitating to the Moving House for the Military spouse page to look at their housing again before I drifted off to sleep tonight (before I was so rudely awoken).

Lordy lordy. I don't know what to do with myself. What ever will I do at this base? This base will probably be our retirement base. We may never leave that state again. This is the state our kid will be born in. What state is it?

I'll leave you guessing until I feel like sharing. It was infact one of our top 3 choices. Neithere of those choices were bad all around. Each had it's own little positives and negatives. AZ may be to warm at times for Buster but the houses have AC. ID is a bit isolated and we'll still get snowy winters. S.C. the base and housing is quite in poor shape and I infact don't know much about the surrounding area. So which of those did we get? AZ, ID, or S.C?? I'll leave you to guess.

Life as a vegetarian

2011-10-29T04:49:00.000-05:00

Whenever you live a life that is slightly out of the norm you always find yourself planning around it sometimes. Knowing that most things don't cator to you, you have to adjust to that. Wether it be an eating lifestyle or a health issue. I can only imagine one who has to monitor their sugar levels or watch out for gluten or hell some even with food allergies from nuts or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). But as vegetarian my options are at least an easy adjustment. Just watch out for meat! Being a loose vegetarian I don't freak out over geletain or if a dish happens to have a meat broth. I just don't really feel like consuming the actual hunk of flesh.

Coming up on a year of no meat, i've had some slight curiosities as to what i've been missing out on. Lumpia used to be one of my favorite filipino snacks. But they use pork in the dish. A few weeks ago I snagged me a thing of lumpia (small egg-rollish type food). The initial bite was just as fabulous as I remember, fried yumminess! Until my 2nd and 3rd bite when I actually hit the pork section. I could not finish it. I even spat out the piece I had in my mouth. Pork tasted disgusting!

The other day co-worker made a pumpkin soup. I was excited to try it only for her to note last minute that their was sausage pieces in it. I didn't think much of it and figured i'd sample around the meat. My spoonful of pumpkin soup tasted aweful. All I could taste was the sausage it was cooked in.

I'm finding that my tastebuds have definately changed. I kind of want to sample a hunk of steak, burger, and chicken just see how different they taste to me now.

Anywho, moral of the story for today....as we're about to head out for our ultimate fright fest this evening I realized that I had to pack food for us. We aren't garaunteed a spot at the Burgs (castles) restraunt and Rob has heard you need reservations. Not to mention our base is going in 2 bus loads and we aren't going to be the only group going. I need to pack us some food because I know all the food stands will have just greasy fries or Wursts.

So what does one pack for their dinner for a 12hr day? I have no idea. I'll probably make some veggie pita's with hummus and PJB whole wheat bagels and stuff some bagged fruit/nuts in their as well. Nothing that will horribly go moist or bad or that requires refridgeration or re-heating.

In other news, Baby talk again. Yup i'm surely in one of those moods and this will probably be more of a constant blog topic as the months progress. I started reading 'The Joy of Pregnancy'. Curiosity has got me. I'm sure no harm will come from reading ahead of what will happen come that day. Hell if anything it just pump me up for one lol. But i've decided now that next year will probably be the year that we start trying.

No more excuses. It will more than likely take a while anyways so i'll have time to finish my degree. I hear it takes a while for one to get preggos after being on BC for as long as I have. There are still mixed opinions on that however. Some say the length of time being on BC does not affect fertility at all. But the last year i've been reading up on that. Scientificaly they find no affects but reading comments from women that have experienced it personally, there seems to be quite the delay once off the pill. Some women find themselves pregnant as soon as a month later while others upto 2 years with help from doctors. You have to figure that the pill takes over your homones, your body gets used to these hormones being pumped in every single day for how many years (8 for me so far). The body gets accustomed to this and gets all confused and is slow to start doing it on it's own again. Some women don't see aunt flow for upto a year after being off it. Yowza! Everybodies body is different however. It will just be a matter of waiting to see how mine will react.

Anywho. Once we get settled into the new house (Rob start up work again, we get all our household goods, and I land me a job..figure by May/June) I will officialy get off BC. He doesn't know this yet but i'm sure there will be no argument. I don't want to bombard him with baby talk all in a few days. Its a process and i'll leak him bits of my plan over the next few months lol. I make it seem as though the hubby is freaked out about having a kid but honestly he doesn't care anymore. I tend to mask my fears of it by putting fault to him. He's even told me this about myself. He finds me blaming him to his face which then only makes me realize it's all just me.

28 Oct

2011-10-28T01:37:00.001-05:00

The world is not for Krista lately. At least the world of healthy body. I could not sleep last night due to an annoying scartchy throat. I eventually took some dayquil (I don't like being groggy from nightquil). It helped enough for me to at least fall asleep for a bit. I'm hoping I am well enough to enjoy our trip to Frankenstein castle tomorow. Guess I should charge the camera huh? Though i'm not sure how well pictures in the dark will go.

My friend posted this to her facebook. I thought it was funny and the chick seem blunt and funny. This really doesn't pertain to my husband other than numbers 10, 11 and 14 lol.

http://thatheathergirl.com/how-to-have-a-happy-marriage-tips-for-men/

No Parenthood this week. Thanks World Series.......

[link]

If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would that person be your friend?

I started taking prenatal vitamins. I informed the husband so he wasn't suprised when he saw them sitting on the counter. He looked at me with this look of 'Oh Oh'. That doesn't help my decision on kids at all..it just adds to the fear...last thing I want to do is take away his freedom too. I assured him it wasn't anytime soon. I am half trying to calm this baby thing by faking myself out a little with the vitamins while half really thinking it best to get those nutrients ready in my body. Even if its another year a little extra vitamins won't kill.

27 Oct

2011-10-27T04:52:00.000-05:00

Ok so here's a new thing. Days I don't really feel like blogging will consist of an awesome photo and a thought provoking question. -Tootles

[link]

Why it is when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

The baby train

2011-10-26T14:18:00.000-05:00

Everybodies been aboard it, some more than once. Except for these Jones'. I was bored tonight so I browsed the 'find friends' thingy on facebook..specificaly looking for this vegan chick that offered to give me her recipe for Seitan. Don't know the girls name but she seems very friendly and i'm always gawking at her tattoo's when she's in stocking the magazines.

Anywho so as i'm browsing i'm finding people i used to know in highschool and people I had as aquaintenances through Robs work back at Eglin. One of Robs better friends got married right before Rob left for Korea. Then we all departed our ways as the squadron closed down. No more than 3 years or so into their marriage and the chicka is preggors, due any down now I believe. A guy that went from club hopper to married club hopper settled down and brewed himself a kiddo. Soo now i'm jealous again. That jealous wave of baby has kind of swept over me again. Yea that one that I got when my sister-in-law got pregnant. Only this is less intense. First-baby competition between the Jones kids had reached it's prime with Damon (Rob and I had a bet that it would be one of the others rather than us first, while i'm sure most thought it would be us since we've been married a while and babies follow marriage, right? Wrong.).

Eitherway, We'll be approaching our 10 year mark soon. Yes we're coming up on year numero 8 next summer. That year will probably be a year of all things new as we'll be settling into a new base and new home. Year number 9...Hm. Perhaps an attempt at trying? Only time will tell. If there is a bun in the oven then it probably wouldn't be ripe until year 10. 10 years before baby. I can't say I am not enjoying these years. It's peaceful. I'm enjoying being lazy and only having pets to care for. But it does not help that freakin' biological clock screams in the back of my head..'offspring, offspring, offspring, would it look like me? would it looks Rob? offspring, offspring'.

Eh what can I say. Thats exactly what is sounds like.

I guess my main fear is that i'm so used how things are with just Rob and I that i'm afraid having a kid would bring something scary to the relationship or something. I see the hell some parents go through on the husband-wife level and it freaks me out. I don't like conflict and the least I want is it in my marriage. That and I Hate blood and the though of unusual gross things happening to my body also freaks me out.

Next up on the baby train?

26 Oct

2011-10-26T01:19:00.002-05:00

Hola world.

Its a new day.

A day that I kind of feel better in.

I came down with a fever yesterday morning and slept nearly 12 hours that night while having taken a 4 hr nap only hours prior to calling it a night. I was (still am a little) sickly. But due to excessive sleep hours I was fidgity the whole day yesterday. I tackled all the laundry and dirty dishes (dishwasher still on the fritz). Thats pretty much all I did the whole day. I crashed shortly after Rob got up for work. Aint no thang like sleep! I'm just glad I had the day off!

We're supposidly getting our car back today. We shall see. I haven't really missed it much. The only thing I really need it for is running errands or getting groceries and well thanks to this new rent and me wanting to get a month ahead we are broke this paycheck. It took a little pursuading the hubby to fork over another thing of rent in one month (we had to pay Octobers from the first of the month paycheck). But by the next paycheck we will be A-Ok with rent. Thankgod it's only 5 months..well 4 since November is covered lol. Can you really believe that at 27 this is my first time ever paying rent. It's weird. We're spoiled with base housing.

Saturday we get to be spooked to the point of pant-shitting. Ok a bit excessive but I hear it's gonna be creepy. The Frankenstein Castle party is pretty much a haunted house/grounds kind of thing. We're free to explore the castle and it's ruins but there are ghosts and monsters in the mix that will be jumping out at us. They can touch us which will make it 10x more creepy. I rarely went to haunted houses so i'll probably be clinging to Rob for dear life. Maybe a little alcohol will make me less responsive to the stimuli and perhaps i'll find it more funny than freaky then lol. You'd think though, growing up with a brother that always tried scaring the crap out of me with his creepy masks and face paintings (he's a huge volunteer person for the haunted house in our town) that i'd be used to that by now.

My brother emailed last night. My mom was sending me a message via him. Initial when I saw the email titled 'mom' I freaked out. This is the same way he sent me the message that I needed to call my Dad in which I found out he had cancer. But all this one was, was my mom letting me know her phone got cut off temporarily. Must have missed a payment for the phone or something. She can't email either right now because her computer got a virus. So no contact till next month I guess.

Alright. Toodles for now all.

Tis the season of Sicknesses

2011-10-24T01:01:00.002-05:00

I was never uber fond of fall. I don't like dieing life of nature and the coldness sweeping in. Halloween is an exception but it hasn't been as exciting since we've been here..probably because we're limited on everything we can buy for decorations and the fact the Germans don't celebrate it. But most of all I hate all the sickness that comes with this time of year.

I've gotten over a cold which thankfully didn't last to long and didn't leave me bed ridden. But now i'm coming down with something new. I woke up throughout the night with feeling of lumps in my throat that just wouldn't go away. Was sore too. Once I got up and about then the body aches and the icky feeling stomach kicked in. Then a wave of complete tiredness overtook me. I do not want to go to work today by any means. But I hate how I always get sick after a long weekend. Especialy when I have another day off tomorow. I worry that they would think i'm playing it get a 4 day weekend or something. Then if I do call in theres a 50/50 chance i'll start feeling better by lunch time then i'll feel horible for calling in. So since today is a short day I downed some tylenol and i'm gonna stick today out.

Good news is I take the car in in a few minutes for the new door. Yay. (boo that i have to bike to work feeling crappy though).

And other happy news...the pie is made..

Turned out a little tart. I forgot I have to add a bit more sugar than the recipe calls for. Oh well. A little icecream on the side should fix the problem. I was happy to see the apples were in good shape once I got the peel off and the brown spots removed. Tastes like a mix between granny smith and golden apple.

I bought the pilsbury premade crusts because i felt lazy. After reading the ingredients of one of those I think I may stick to homemade crusts again. I hate buying stuff where the ingredients sound unnatural. Most of it is just for preservatives.

i decorated. Lets see if it stays that way till monday.

23 Oct on a better note

2011-10-23T07:15:00.002-05:00

Ok so i've apparently never recovered from that awefull day yesterday. As today progresses i'm feeling a bit better. Sometimes we just have days that aren't pleasant and that only seem to get worse. Then you get in the mood where everythings seems to go wrong and so you feel sorry for yourself.

As my brain was running rampid I tried to sleep with headphones in to avoid the noise of loud video games and to drown out the self-pitty pit I had fallen into. I had Juliette Commegere on repeat.

After some cookie decorating and cuddle time with the husband this morning my day is slowly starting to get better. It's helps that it feels like a heat wave outside. 51 Degrees and it feels like 70 to me. Sun crazily shinning for another day in a row.

More progress on moms blanket. It's about 25" in length at the moment.

I'm also on the last repeat for the last washcloth to the purple yellow set. Sorry i'm a horrible procrastinator for giveaway items. I'm workign 3 projects at the moment with my moms blanket taking lead. So once I get started on one it takes me a while to switch back to the other 2.

Yesterday evening after I got back from hanging out at my friends house she came knocking on my door. She had a pretty worried look on her face and asked if I could sit at her house and just keep an eye on one of her sleeping daughters while she brought her youngest to the ER. Of course I wouldn't say no so I headed over. Her daughter had a fever all day but by the evening medicine wasn't controlling it anymore. Once she got to the hospital her daughter ended up throwing up in the hallway just as she arrived in. A nice german man on his way out with his kids not speaking english realized my friends dilema. He sent one kid off to get help and rushed my friend to the pediatric sections demanding help for her. Her daughters fever spiked to 104 in the hospital. She apparently had a stomach virus and so she got medicine and stayed a while to be monitored. As of this morning her daughter is a different person and ready to play again. My oh my how kids are resilient.

While I was chilling at her place I got bored and browsed her book section. I snagged 'The Housewifes Handbook: How to run the modern home" by Rachel Simhon. It's all common sense ways to clean the house but there are some useful tips in it. I think I may buy myself a copy.

Today if procrastination doesn't get the better of me I will be baking an apple pie with the apples from my friend. We shall see. My dishwasher quit working again and my counter is full of dishes to be done. Sometimes that task exhaustes me to the point of not wanting to do anything in the kitchen once it's all spic and span again.

Grocery shopping is calling. Though i'd much rather just knit the day away.

23 Oct

2011-10-23T02:59:00.000-05:00

Some things were said to me recently that made me self-reflect on my actions.

I don't feel so strong as of lately.

Where's rewind and fix? Perhaps some self-improvment?

Link

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed surely makes for crappy days. Not falling asleep till 4am the following night makes for a shittier tomorow. The brain never stops.

22 Oct

2011-10-22T02:17:00.001-05:00

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

It was also inevitable.... Today my friend and I were bound for some window shopping and bowling for a few hours while her girls were in a mommy-day daycare. But her youngest woke up with a little fever and so there is no mommy-day. I think I will order some pizza for us and rent some movies instead since she can't leave the house. Just that time of the year where kids are getting sick. Everybodies getting sick actually.

So i'll be heading to Bitburg today to hunt for a pumpkin a little early. It should last the month until Thanksgiving arrives. Guess I just want to be sure i have one since it's the main dish for Rob and I. I was told pumpkins last a while as long as they aren't cut into. I just hate the drive there. 20 minutes each way just for a pumpkin. I could check a closure city but chances are low they'll have the pumpkins.

The other item I need is the Seitan. But i hear it's expensive to buy and no german seems to know what i'm talking about. Hell no american knows what i'm talking about. Yay for being vegetarian huh? So instead i'll be making it myself. Easy to make Recipe here.... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/FAST-EASY-HOMEMADE-SEITAN-1220052 . I am glad that work currently carries Vital Wheat Gluten. Nobody buys it. The shelf is fully stocked and I have a feeling it'll be pulled soon because of this. I mean really. Everybody is on an anti-gluten kick becuase it "bloats you". Thus nobody is buying it. This will be the only time I need it so I can deal if they end up ditching the item.

5 more months...5 more months..5 more months

21 Oct

2011-10-21T03:13:00.000-05:00

Its.....Cold! Todays high? 40's. Last nights low...in the 20's. Time to whip out the winter cycling pants. Maybe the wool socks too. (Christmas Hint: I would like some more wools socks).

First real freeze this fall.

Bekk likes the view of it all.

Buster could careless. He's just happy we have heat again.

I got a call this morning from the auto shop. Our car door arrived in and I drop the car off Monday and hopefully get it back Wensday.

I'm a little bummed this morning. Rob wants to start staying up later when he gets home from work rather than heading straight to bed. This is good and bad. Good because I get more time with him but bad because he's taken away my morning routine of watching TV shows and knitting before work. If I could get our AFN working again then i'd just go watch stuff downstairs but for now i'm TV-less and show-less. I was excited to watch the latest episode of Parenthood but it seems that may have to wait a while. Bummer!

Tomorow i'm hanging out with my friend while her kids are at the montly day-care thingy. We were going to go to Trier for shopping but she's broke as well as I am. So instead we're window shopping localy and having an day of Bowling while shoving our face with their greasy cheese sticks and crap food. Yum!

So speaking of christmas lists. I already have most of the stuff for the mother's presents. I'm leaving Rob to get his dads stuff. I never know hwat to get my Dad so usualy he just gets a card. Is that rude? I don't think so. It's just how he is I know he doesnt feel offended. I suppose maybe I could get them fancy mugs and buy hot cocoa packets or something and send them off. I don't know what his wife likes...

I still have yet to buy anything for Rob. He didn't tell me anything yet and well as always he buys everything he wants or needs when he wants or needs it. So i usualy don't have much of an option for things.

But my christmas list so far consist of a few little things. Not much I want this year really:

-Knitting needle organizer

-Stone grinder (for seeds/herbs)

-Team Tibco cycling kit from Voler.com

-Kitchen Aid Mixer -this has been on my list for years now. Why the hubby won't just invest in one for me is beyond me. Maybe i'll buy one and say thanks to him lol.

-Food processor.

-a nice wool or knit sweater would be awesome too. I'm wearing out the one Rob got me 3 years ago. Maybe he'll snag me another one.

20 Oct

2011-10-20T02:02:00.000-05:00

Moving House for the military spouse. If your a military spouse who tends to live on-base or post and haven't heard of this yet check it out on facebook. The page was created to give military spouses an actual look at the military housing quarters vs the layouts the base gives you. You can also email her and contribute to her photo albums if she doesn't already have a photo of your housing. I will be digging through my album for the new housing I got at Eglin which she doesn't seem to have much yet. https://www.facebook.com/#!/movinghousemilitaryspouse

This is my all-time dream come true when it come to moving time. I'm always hunting like crazy on the internet to see what base housing is like at our possible future destinations but rarely do I come up with anything at all. I just want to see if I really want to live in it or not. Having the mental preparedness for it is always good. I've already checked out some of our possible bases. And all look pretty decent if not awesome (the remodeled or new ones). Our #3..Shaw, for instance, is officialy not on my list for housing. If we get Shaw then we will be looking off-base for the first time. Their housing is so old and uninviting. Wood paneling inside? Really?

Starting today we could hear anytime. I'm anxcious but I have to try not to think about it.

I got a 'B' in my biology class. Pretty much figured this.

I get my fat cat back in 5 months. I think my MIL is ready to hand her back over. Last I heard she was proving her clumsy antics by knocking a lamp off their nightstand. Their is also tensions between her and his parents cats. Liveable tensions but probably not fun to have to deal with if they ever have at each other. You never really know how cats are going to react with each other in the long run. Maybe it's the male/female thing. Bekk and Butters (females) got along great and his parents 2 cats I think get along fine with each other and their both males. I have a torn reaction to getting her back soon. I miss my cat that sits on my lap and cuddles but I don't miss her clumsy bitch side.

Nothing else new going on. Getting mentaly prepared for Thanksgiving. I'm not used to dividing up the dishes when having it with friends. Usually I just make everything. Part of me wants to just do it all but I have to let go and share the cooking responsibility lol. Not sure who's cooking what yet. I'm still set on that pumpkin dish. I need to run around to the stores to see if they carry Seiten here. It has a german name so I will print off the german definition and bring it with me since they may not have it labeled as Seiten (pronounced Say -Tahn....'satan'?? I always thought it was Zee - Ten)

Cheesecake party

2011-10-18T23:34:00.000-05:00

I made the hausmeisters each a cheesecake for working hard to get the heat working in our whole row housing.

I had enough extra batter between both batches that I could make an entire other cheesecake for myself! However, I didn't have another crust ( I use premade graham cracker). So then it dawned on me..I had 2 boxes of graham crackers and the recipe comes with a crust but I never use it. So I checked it out and I had everything at home to make one so I did.

My friend also picked a ton of apples from the tree in our neighbors yard. Some don't look the peachiest but I will blame that on the fact our stores make apples seem perfect from the tree when they aren't. So I will probably make an apple tart or pie this weekend.

Bekk is insane.

And the baby blanket for my friends friend. I'm over halfway done. Loving it!

Starting Thursday we could find out anytime in the next month (2 max) where we go to. Till then..i've gotta get ready for work. Chow.

Just noting that it's the 19th here. For some reason blogger has me set to one of the stateside time regions. I promise i'm not on a 2 posts a day kick at the moment.

Turkey Substitutes for Thanksgiving. Creepy

2011-10-18T02:18:00.000-05:00

I'm subscribed to Vegetarian Times on my facebook. Last night they posted a questions...what were people eating inplace of turkey this year. I commented with my Stew Pumpkin bowl (gut a baking pumpkin and roast stew in it in the oven). Makes a very appealing center to a thanksgiving meal just like a turkey does. We'll see how it tastes but rarely am I let down by vegetarian meals. Someone else commented with the same thing. I was excited about that. Promising that it is a good meal.

But everybody else commented literaly with meat substittues....meat imitations. Now don't get me wrong....i LOVE my Morning Star Grillers and on occasion the veggie crumbles for taco salad or the Chik'n patties/Chik'n nuggets but thats becasue they taste good. Some people do it to visual fool themselves that they are eating meat. But that stuff is overly processed and not much better than meat itself if your going vegetarian for health reasons rather than 'save the animals' reasons. So when people responded with the imitations like Tofurkey and Quorn Roast I had to see just what these things look like as we don't get them here.

Tofurkey for thanksgiving....
http://www.kuliniewicz.org/blog/archives/2006/11/23/a-thanksgiving-reminder/

http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/California/Mountain-View/pandabear5's-Home-Cooking-1591424/Thanksgiving-TOFUrkey-44411

Quorn Roast...
I guess visual from this photo it just looks like a hunk of pork. Probably what it's trying to imitate?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chickydanger/307379278/

From the slice in the last photo is looks like a hunk of meat when cut ino but still..
http://boyinthebands.com/archives/the-other-turkey-day/

At least Quorn is honest it's title...roast. It visually looks more like a hunk of roast than tofurkey aiming for the turkey side. Really though it just looks like one huge hunk of sausage. It creeps me out. I don't know if i'd feel good after eating that much processed stuff. Unless really it's just seasoned tofu. Then it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe I will have to try it next thanksgiving just for shits and giggles. Maybe give it wing limbs and leg knubs for the hell of it like a turkey lol.

Honestly...I Much rather prefer this more eye appealing, mouth watering, body healthy hunk of pumpkin stew..

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2007/11/pumpkin-stuffed-vegetable-stew

I have a feeling I won't find a baking pumpkin quite that large so I may cut the recipe in half or use 2 pumpkins.

Sunday fall run in photos

2011-10-16T23:34:00.000-05:00

I kicked off my work out plan (until I get some of the P90X workouts) yesterday. The run was kind of spiratic as I just remembered that sundays would be my running days. I forgot to stretch a little before hand so the run wasn't the most pleasant as my knee kept tightening on me. But I did manage to take pictures along the way...

A wave from Germany

This is how German's roll

They honked the horn after they realized I took a picture of them.