It is the fear of one's own self that haunts the lonely.

I am proud to say that today I came to realize that i'm actually rather used to this occassional living on my own situation. Which is good, because it's nowhere near it's end haha. The last week has been hard on Mike, since he's working shifts between 12 and 14 hours a day, and he will be underway for most of the next two weeks. So i've taken to hobbies and cooking again.
Tonight I decided to make something up, since I saw an attractive recipe that didn't QUITE fit my needs. So I took a single boneless skinless chicken breast, butterflied it, and filled the inside with swiss and parmessean cheese, and crumbled bacon. I took vegetable oil (olive oil would have been better), and made a baste with oregano, basil, lemon pepper, minced onions, a little bit of garlic salt, and pepper. I baked it in the oven and had pasta with a jazzed up alfredo sauce as a side. MM! I wasn't sure if the lemon and garlic would go well, i'm just delving into new tastes, but it was great. Next time I would like to cut the lemon pepper and mix lemon juice with the olive oil. Here's what it looked like.

I also got a really great 'family photo' of us and our tree and I wanted to share that even though the holidays aren't so close as i'd like.

The 1st Voigt Thanksgiving :]

Well Thanksgiving turned out great! We woke up this morning with Willow in time to catch the Thanksgiving day parade, which we watched and flipped around channels for a while. I skipped breakfast because I just knew that we were going to get stuffed at dinner. After talking on Skype to my family in Texas, I started getting hungry and bored with not cooking. Since it was just the two of us we decided hey- we can eat whenever we want! So I put the last few things in the oven and it turned out loverly.
I thought I showed pretty good restraint, waiting until the evening to start puttin the tree up, but Mike still thinks it's a little early. Well I didn't need his help, haha, I put the tree together and decorated it and I think it's a great first Christmas tree! I'm just goint to put a few of the pictures up because it's not even December yet and i'm sure we are going to have a bunch more pictures throughout the month. Happy holidays :]



Oh- I also wanted to share a picture of my side of the family, who we really missed today but are so glad to have in our lives!

Mission Trails

Today Willow and I went along with Emily, the pups, and Emily's mom for a hike at Mission Trails. I was super excited, although I still didn't want to wake up this morning, because she had told me how gorgeous it was and it's one of the places I still haven't seen out here. It was really close to where we live and was just as nice as she said it was. We decided to turn back just before the halfway mark because Emily hadn't taken the trail at Cowel's Mountain before and it looked like it went pretty far up, and we just weren't sure if her mom and I were up for it ha. We got some great pictures!







The downside; Willow got SO dirty. Eventually she faded into the dirt ha. Giving her a bath was such a hassle, and the tub was like solid brown when I finished. Totally worth it. I hope one day I can make it all the way to the top with Emily lol.

Back to blogging!

Well, it has been quite a while, and still not much has happened. As you have read in past blogs, Mike has been gone for the majority of the last month or so. While I missed him dearly, I am proud to say that my husband was involved in the rescue efforts for the collision of a Marine Copter with a Coast Guard plane. I was very shocked at how much the tragedy shook me up, as well as the Fort Hood shooting that followed, but I guess for the first time reality really hit me on the dangers that not only every day people face by going out into the world, but also that our soldiers and sailors face, even when not on duty overseas or otherwise. I would just like to take a second to say that we are very sad for the families that lost people in the recent tragedies, and we hope their souls rest in peace.
On a lighter note, I did not get nearly as much accomplished as I had hoped in my husband's absence. The first half of his being gone I hobbled around on a bum ankle, and the last two weeks I had a horrible case of the flu, in which I learned that military hospitals will nearly always have atleast a three hour wait in the emergency room. I did, however, manage to try the little recipe I got from Emily, who got the recipe here This is a double decker pumpkin pie, and while the picture I took do not do it justice, it was absolutely amazing!!

I'm also putting up some updated pictures of the adorable Willow, as she has hit a growth spurt, and a picture of my very handsom husband sporting the new working uniform, as I know a few women on my side of the family that would love to see how well-dressed the Navy keeps its sailors these days. I am very excited to soon be posting our Thanksgiving photos, along with the Christmas tree I am so anxious to put up! Happy pre-holidays to all!

Mike in Uniform

She loves the camera


I guess it was too bright for her nap?

Getting ready for a long few weeks.

First I wanted to show everyone our first [succesful] jackolantern together!!
Mike will be going out to sea for another underway this week. That wasn't the original plan, but since the last week got messed up they have to be gone this week, and the next three. He does get to come home on weekends but his duty days kind of clash with those. Unfortunately he has duty on his birthday also, so he will be gone for over an extended period of time that week. I have to say this underway really snuck up on me and I am not in the right state of mind at all. I'm not so prepared as I was the last time but when we are done with this one, we don't have to worry about it again until deployment, and I KNOW that won't sneak up on us since I have plenty of time to prepare.
I also want to share a photo of my nephew and I, sort of together. This was his mom's idea and I thought it was really cool. Since we can't be together, this is our way of bonding when he goes over to my parents house for time with Gramma and Grampa.
Micah and Aunt Mikey

Bittersweet

This blog isn't about food of anything like that. Today I was cleaning the closet, so I of course I had to go through all my old photos. I picked out a few...a lot, of the ones that really reached out to certain memories, or just made me realize how great my life has been, and how much it's changed. So I thought i'd put them up, for my piece of mind, and maybe for you to enjoy. :]


Daddy daughter girlscout dances.

WOW! First trip to six flags in junior high.

When Charles was younger

The good ole days.

A friend and I at my junior prom.

First trip to the beach since I was a toddler. Obvious by my sheet white legs.

Headed to my first trip away from my parents, back when I was skinny[er].

My beautiful momma sharing some of all that love she has.

Chopper and Blizzard, my pups in Texas.This picture almost made me cry, I can't believe Chopper was that big.

Lots of important people in this picture.

When I first learned to tattoo, in our kitchen.


Probably my favorite, my daddy and I when I was cute and snuggly.

Baked Spaghetti and Pictures from Our Walks

Tonight I thought Mike'd be home pretty late so I thought I'd make baked skettie for dinner, that way I could prepare it during the day and just throw it in the oven when he got home. Well he got home AS I was preparing it but was patient enough to let me finish, haha. Anyways this dinner was a COMPLETE success because I made half to his liking and half to mine. His taste is minimal with very little flavor and I love seasoning and cheeses and sauces. So both of us ended up completely satisfied.

I also got around to stealing some of the pictures from Emily of our walks, so here those are.

Mt. Helix

The View

Molly and Ellie!!


Willow!!

Fall Findings

It finally feels like fall here in La Mesa. We are still getting our hot afternoons but nothing like it was, and the mornings are pleasant. That's great for the walks Willow and I take with my friend Emily and her pups Molly and Ellie. The view is great and I will post some pictures when I can steal them from Emily.
We tried to do a little decorating for Halloween, though it's a bit difficult with our balcony being blocked in by a tree. We did hang the old Keplar Pumpkin my dad and I made years and years ago, and a wreath on the door. We also decorated and carved our own pumpkins. Unfortunately the pumpkin we chose looked perfect on the outside but only took two days to rot so I never got a chance to get a picture of it. I do have pictures of our decorated baby pumpkins.


Our family pumpkns.


A sleepy Willow after I finished her pumpkin.
Last night I tried a new recipe, called Bacon Cheeseburger Upsidedown Pizza. I thought it was something Mike would definitely enjoy but I thought wrong, though that says nothing for how good the dish actually was. I'd say next time I could cut out the bacon and use a little less sauce, but I loved it and think it would be a great family meal.


The end result.
Today I notices our strawberries weren't going to last much longer so I wanted to use them all with something, so I searched for recipes. I ended up making a delicious strawberry bread.