A little miracle.

Okay okay, it's safe to say I'm no stranger to baby fever. But I have to share the latest little addition to my life, that's thrown me back into the fever 100%.

Over the last couple of months, I've formed some strong friendships with some of my other Pele-wives (wives who's husbands are deployed along with mine). I'm still amazed at how strong of a bond people can create in times like these. Its like you get to a certain point where you just know whether or not you can really be friends with someone within five minutes of meeting them. And from that point on your friendship is unconditional, and you truly care for them.

One of my new, amazing friends was about 7 mos. pregnant when we met. She's had a high risk pregnancy, and from the moment we met I felt like I was along for the ride. This last week, the big day came. After about a week of back-contractions, she was finally admitted to labor and delivery. It was my job, until she had access to her blackberry, to inform her husband of what was going on. So here I was, up all night emailing a man I never me, but feel like I really know, telling him that his baby was soon to be born. Another phenomena that I can't quite grasp.

Finally it was time to push. Rules for the delivery room were kind of hazy, so to be safe I just stepped out into the waiting room. I heard she did so good pushing. It was amazing. I left the room, and there she was, pregnant and honestly quite miserable, so ready to be a mom, but still just an expectant wife. And then, an hour later, I walked into the room and she was a mother, with the most beautiful little boy. A little boy with the face of his father, and the smallest little cry I've ever heard. He's perfect. He is a miracle and I feel as though the fact that he so much has the features of his father that I about lost it when I saw their pictures next to eachother is a gift in itself. Here there is a man who has never met his son (though he's so proud you'd never know that) and a woman who misses her husband, father of her little boy so much words can't describe it, and now every day, when she looks down at that little man, she'll see her husband, in more ways than one. What an amazing world we live in! And how in love with him am I? Oh I can't even tell you.

I just wanted to take the time to comment on this miracle that I witnessed, from the journey to the final destination. I cannot wait to see that family together finally, because it will truly be the best part of homecoming, to see that sort of happiness.

Wow...it's been a while...again.

Hello bloggy world. I'm back...again. Let's see if this time I can stick around for a while. I guess the simple fact of the matter is that my life and my emotions have been all over the place. I'll try to get everything in some sort of order and catch you up as well as possible. :]

Deployment::

Well a lot of stuff has happened as far as deployment goes. Lots of firsts! I went through my first "Rivercity"- or lack of communication. It was different for every department but I went about two weeks without talking to my hubbers. I try so hard not to complain about things that go on during deployment because I know I'm not alone, and I know that it could be worse, but I do stick by the fact that this is my first rodeo and I'm feeling all of this for the first time. It was a wierd thing, not being able to talk to him. Plainly, it sucked, but I can also say that the first email I recieved from him had me literally jumping up and down and that was a great feeling. There have also been about ten million changes in the homecoming date. I think I finally hit that point that, the way I understand, everyone hits at some point. For a week or two I just felt like I couldn't deal anymore. On the homefront it was one thing after another, and while I wouldn't use the word depressed to describe how I felt, it was close. There was a lot of self-contemplation during that time, and while I still somedays feel like I'm in that slump, I'm doing a lot better now. I have to thank my amazing, supportive parents, and my Pele-wives for being there to get me through my rough patch. I could not have done it alone, that's for sure. Of course I owe a lot to my husband- he's been amazing. Distance makes the heart grow fonder- and that's a damn fact.

The dogs::

Well Willow is such a calm puppy now that she's a big sister. She's now officially 15 months old (she was born on our wedding day!) and maintaining her girlish figure at 11.5 lbs. Bailey, however, is going crazy and giving me trouble left and right, but is still a joy to have in the house. She's getting better as far as behavior, it just takes time. She's a whopping 15.4 lbs at8 months old, and she knows she's bigger than her sister. Poor Willow.

School::

Well I barely scraped by in my last two classes, with so much going on I just had a hard time. I don't feel too bad, though, I've made A's in all my classes up until now and I'll have the chance to step up my game next time around. I also went through a tough time mentally. Since I was a little girl, I knew what I wanted to do. The plan was to do 4 yrs at Texas State, graduate with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education, teach for a few years, get married, and have kids. But instead I started Texas state, met Hubbers, dropped out halfway through my second semester due to health problems, got married, moved to California and started online classes. I never went through that phase of not knowing what to do with my life. Until a few months ago. I'm torn between being a housewife, and eventually stay at home mother, and actually persuing a career in, well not teaching anymore, but paraprofessional education. I was also out of funds and stressed beyond belief. So I decided to take a break and take some time for myself. The other day, though, I received a letter of financial aid, some grants to cover at least two more rounds of classes. So I've decided to do two classes now, take a break when Hubbers gets home, and then take the other two. I'll go from there but why not get the education I can now. Especially when I need something to fill my days until he comes home, and am managing my stress much better.

On a random note, I have something exciting to share! I can't be to specific, but I can tell you that right now we are hovering around being half way through deployment! I never thought I'd make it this far, and now I know that he'll be home before I know it!

Anyways, that's about all I can think of to catch up on. Hopefully I'll be spending more time on here again!!

(( I just love this picture to sign off with!))

What keeps me going on nights like tonight

So my computer, as of late, has been temperamental at best. I've discovered that HP's have a lifespan of about a year before one thing or another starts to crap out on you. For me, my battery has like zero charging power, my computer overheats and thus causes monitor problems as well as freezing and other various issues. So in the interest of backing up my info in an affordable manner, I'm going to put everything on flash drives, just in case. But there's no use in transferring stuff I don't need anymore, so I'm going through and getting rid of all the junk. I told you that to tell you this.

I'm going through all these photos, and of course a lot of them are getting to me tonight, memories I've made int he last year with my wonderful husband, the man I won't be seeing for a while. Strangely, this one is one that has really struck a chord.

This is freakin' adorable is it not? But it was about to get deleted, because as adorable as my little Willow-Pillow is, I have about a million pics of her doing stuff like this. And then when the little verification box popped up and blocked out my puppy's face, all I could see was that chunk of Hubbs' face that made it in the picture. And I saw his eyes. The way he's looking at me in this picture still stops me in my tracks.

I remember one night when we first started dating, we stayed at his sister's house for a game/movie night. His sister fell asleep on the couch, and the boys went out to talk. I headed to the bedroom we'd be staying in and started getting ready for sleep, putting on my PJ's and finding a movie to watch. My new boyfriend came in the room to let me know he'd only be a few more minutes, he and his sister's boy were having a really good talk. So I of course told him that was fine, I'd put in a movie and go ahead and go to sleep. I'm putting the movie in, and I turn around to reach for the remote and see him there still, standing in the doorway, just looking at me. With that very look in his eyes. When I ask if he's okay, he just says "Yeah, I just wanted to look at you for a few more seconds. I'm so lucky."

And on nights like tonight, I try to stick to one of my favorite quotes, and focus on what keeps me and Hubbs together, rather than what separates us. Those moments are what brought us together, they are the moments in which I feel like all is well in the world, and small moments that I swear I will never forget.

I guess I didn't need to share that, but I feel like it's important to notice little things like that. Like that is God's way of going "Hey, don't forget, everything is gonna be okay".

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

This morning, the first blog I read was a fellow blogger participating in this cute little even to get to know other mil-spouses. It looks like a great idea, so here it goes. If you want to parcicipate, simply fill out the questions and link it back to the original blog at Wife of a Sailor. Happy blogging!

1. Besides the horizontal mambo, what do you miss most when your spouse is deployed?

Well I don't know if I can say I miss this the most, because I miss so many things. But I miss our random little outings to Wal Mart, downtown, or the mall, just to get out of the house and be in public.



2. What do you miss least?

I do not miss Wrestling every night. I don't mind it once a week but I haaaaaaate it every night.



3. You only get three crayons to finish your picture… which three do you choose and why?

I use violet, simply because it's gorgeous, yellow because it is bright and sunshiney, and navy blue because it balances everything out.



4. If you could have your own fragrance, what would it be called?

Hm...I don't know. Probably something like simple housewife, with light floral fragrances that add just a touch of femeninity to hard working woman.



5. If the shoes make the man (or woman), what do your shoes say about you right now?

Well the moment I'm in bed with a cold shoeless, so it means I am laid back? Ha ordinarily my flip-flops say I'm practical and fun, as well as simple.

Starting Over

Hello bloggy world. I have missed you. To put it simply, I just haven't known what to say, or how to say it. But now I am back, I have a lot on my mind and with any luck, you and I can start a new, stronger relationship. So nice to be near you again.

So this is my current big dilemma. School. I have been taking classes online for about a year now, with a break somewhere in there when I was transferring schools. At this point, there are a lot of things causing my problem here. Mostly internal. Firstly, I am more than likely going to fail my education class. I'm going to school for elementary education, it's all I have ever wanted to go to school for. And I love finally taking classes that apply to my major. Problem is, I'm not really interested in the class. I'm not even sure if I'm interested in my major. All my life I wanted to be a teacher but now I'm just not sure of it anymore. And when you don't know if what you're doing even applies to your future, it's hard to stay focused. My heart isn't in it right now. And that raises a whole new set of questions.

The only thing I see clearly right now is being with my amazing husband for the rest of my life, and having a family with him someday. Ideally, I see myself in big dining room, with a huge table, dogs running around the floor, two little kids at the table, construction paper, childproof scissors, paste and glitter strung about the room. I want to take my kids to the park in the fall, all in our cozy little sweaters, and come home and make a stew for my husband when he comes home from a long day on the ship. I want to have bath and story time, tuck my kids in, and curl up in front of the TV with Hubbs. I want that to be my every day, because I just can't think of it getting any better than that.

But what if one day that's not what I want anymore. What if I want to drop my kids off at daycare, head to school, teach math and language arts, watch recess and then come home to my own little angels, cook up a quick dinner, put the kids to bed and go to sleep. What if I HAVE to work, because we just can't hack it being a one income family anymore? What if that happens and minimum wage won't do, and I have no degree to fall back on. Life is full of what if's, isn't it? How do you decide which ones are important?

I don't know what to do right now. So after a lot of thinking and a chat with my amazing friend Emily, I think that I at least need to take a break. Be it a few weeks, a few months, or until my husband comes home, I need to step away from the situation. I need to make decisions without deadlines. I need to make choices for myself and my family, not so much for what is expected or what might need to happen for one reason or another. Has anyone else dealt with the hanging question of whether or not to continue your education? Why did you choose what you did? Do you think you made the right choice?

My parents' visit...way late!

Mom, Dad and I had a great visit! I truly loved having them here and am one of those freaks that wouldn't mind them living within a mile radius of us. They did, however, have to go home eventually. We did so much that I"m not sure I can recap it all, so thank goodness for pictures. I will try to do things as chronologically as possible.

Dad said they needed a picture here to prove they were in San Diego. Little did he know we'd see a lot of things that were unique to the area!

Some really sweet older women offered to take our picture as we walked the bay at Seaport Village. What's crazy is that these women were in San Diego by mistake. They were on a flight to Florida for vacation that got canceled. The airline put them on a flight for the next day, paying for their hotel room in San Diego and offering a day of sight seeing, and extending their Florida trip for two extra days!!

Of course the dogs got in a trip to the beach.

Yeah...Bailey just loves the public eye.

We all had a great time, God knows how long it's been since Momma and Daddy hit the beach.

We spent nearly a whole day at the USS Midway. It was actually really informative and entertaining. Trying to think about people 40 years ago, working in every space we saw, reminded me to think about Hubbers, sleeping in his rack, working around the ship. I also learned a lot about what he does on his ship, which is nearly as large as the Midway.

Of course there had to be pics in all the planes and helos.

We spent the first part of my birthday down at Belmont Park, on the Mission Beach boardwalk with the Harvey family. We had such a good time, and the place was really relaxed. My favorite part was taking my godson Jude on his first carousel ride!

Birthday dinner at my favorite resturaunt, BJ's. The big 2-0 haha!

Besties Frank and Emily of course had to join us!

The big finale to the trip was the Harbor Excursion. We did a two-hour boat ride that took us up to the northern and southern-most points of the San Diego bay. It was really informative and just a lovely time. But something beautiful happened on that Harbor Excursion, also.

I have read a lot of stories about Military Spouses. The prideful moments they feel when some stranger buys them dinner, or randomly comes up and thanks them for their family's sacrifices. Of course I never expect to experience these things, they happen spontaniously and are beautiful moments, but not for all to share. And I am perfectly okay with that. However, I did share a moment similar to that.

My dad is a motorcycle finatic. On the second leg of the tour, he noticed a man in a shirt from a Harley shop in Australia. On my birthday, Hubbers' ship arrived in Australia for a four day port visit. My dad started making conversation, the people asked about what Hubbers does and how proud I must be.

They even took a picture with me.

Then, as the boat stopped and people started to unload, the man put on that sweater tied around his waist, came over, shook my hand, kissed my cheek, and handed me the shirt he is wearing in this picture. He said how lovely it was to meet me, that I should enjoy the next ride I have with my dad, and that he hoped this shirt made me feel closer to my husband. I shook his hand and thanked him over and over, and he just said "No worries, mate". What a wonderful experience! I definitely classify this as one of those once in a lifetime moments of thankfulness, kindness and pride.

If any other milspouses are reading this, do you have a similar story to share?

A good way to return to blogging, hopefully! 1 year in La Mesa!

So if you follow The Longley's in San Diego, you know that July 7th was their apartment-aversarry! Well, we met because we live in the same complex, and we moved in only days after they did. Actually, our first encounter was Emily's husband Frank helping us move furniture from our Uhaul to our apartment. So tomorrow is our apartment-aversarry! When we got married, we had "planned" (I knew it wouldn't work out and was only a matter of time before we changed our minds) to stay with a family that hubbers lived with for some time before we met. Well in a nutshell, personalities start clashing when a married couple lives with a family of four. So in a matter of two days, we applied for our apartment, took out an advance on our BAH and moved from Santee, Ca to La Mesa, Ca. We'd been referred to the complex by then-friends, and we in love with our first apartment. Here's a little list of things we've gone through since then.

• Moving AGAIN from a two bedroom to a one bedroom
• Getting "adult" furniture
• Months and months of week-long underways
• A sprained ankle
• What I still swear MUST have been swine flu
• Some trials and tribulations with friendships
• Adopting both our baby girls :]
• Making some really amazing friends
• Moving AAGGAAIINN to a two bedroom from a one bedroom

And I can't even list everything else. Needless to say we have grown and changed a lot, and getting our own apartment was a big life changing event. At times I wish we'd sucked it up and stayed with the family, but now I know we made the right decision.

And hopefully this blog will stand as a good little taste of getting back into blogging, because lord knows I have plenty of things to say!

An Award?! Yes please!!

So I was casually reading my comments today on my last post, and I got another lovely comment from one of my favorite bloggers, A Marine's Wife at Flip Flops and Combat Boots. After commenting on my blog, there was a little sentence at the end that said "I have an award for you over at my blog". EEP! First one haha. So this is called the Sugar Doll award. To accept the award, you write ten things about yourself and then give the award to ten other bloggers. So here is my ten things, and then there will be my list of award winners!

1. I treat my dogs, Willow and Bailey, like children. I talk to them all the time and cuddle them like babies. I refuse, however, to dress them unless it is cold and they need a sweater.
2. I am never satisfied with how my apartment looks. I always think there is room for improvement.
3. I'm big about smells in a home. I don't care too too much about other people's houses, but I can't stand a little stink in my house and have air fresheners, carpet cleaner, fabric freshener, reed diffusers, candles and plug ins on hand pretty much all the time.
4. During the week when I'm home, I pretty much stick the TV on TBS all day because I love Saved by the Bell, According to Jim, Home Improvement, House of Payne and all the other cute shows that come one that nobody watches haha.
5. The only reason my dishes get done is because my husband is usually on my a** to do them. Without him home it's VERY hard to get motivated enough to get them done.
6. I'm fairly obsessed with Italian food of any kind.
7. I never thought I would be a military wife, nor did I see myself married at 18, living in San Diego, playing the housewife role...and loving every second of it.
8. I now truly believe that deployment is just another bump in the road- one that we can get through without a doubt!
9. I'm really lucky to have the most supportive parents a person could ask for, and I love that my husband loves them and vice versa. 
10. I am so proud of myself for finally doing something about being a weight that digusts me! 

So now to pass it on!!

• Emily @ The Longley's in San Diego
• Samantha @ Navy Doll
• Mrs. Gambizzle @ Life as a Sailor's Girl
• Michelle @ The Girl Can't Help It
• Mrs. G.I. Joe @ ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus
• The Sawyer Bunch @ Confessions of a Sailor's Wife
• Hellcat Betty @ Hellcat Betty
• The Mrs. @ Mr, Mrs, & Little Miss
• Jennifer @ My Sailors Mistress
• Wife on the Roller coaster @ Riding the Roller Coaster

FRG

So this afternoon I was able to attend my first FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting! It was the second meeting all together, but many of our first chances to attend. I was a bit nervous because I know so many of them either have children or are expecting. I love kids, and pregnant people (ha!) but I didn't want to be the only 19 year old childless person. Still, I think I was, however there were other women a few years older than me that didn't have children. Regardless, the kids were all really entertaining and not those annoying, disruptive, needing to be the center of everything sort of children. There was a craft table and they could all make fathers day frames, cards, or other gifts. Then they took pictures to send to their daddies on the ship. It was wonderful to see everyone keeping on and enjoying the day.

We talked about a lot of the resources available to us as military spouses. We also talked about a needs tree, where we can all put our needs or services together and help one another out. They are putting together a softball team, doing a few bbqs and raffles, and a group baby shower.

There were some wonderful women there and I'm really looking forward to getting to know more of them.

One of the women is a crafty one (she may be my favorite ha!) and she brought a camera to take some pictures. They set up a little area with a flag and boots and took photos. One of the women brought a set of coveralls and the kids were able to dress up and hold little flags. I'm going to ask if I can borrow a picture to post on here, but I may forget, so don't hold your breath. After another of the girls (the only one I'd actually had conversation with prior to the meeting), took a picture just herself to send to her hubby, I decided to do the same. I was really happy with how it turned out!!

If I get to a weight I feel comfortable with, I'd love to do some sort of patriotic pin-up style modeling! Hopes and dreams, people, hopes and dreams haha.

On another note, my mommy and daddy are coming to visit this week! There will be lots of pictures and updates! I swear to be a better blogger now that I'm taking an itty bitty break from work haha.

Thursday Five

It's that amazing day of the week, where I look back to what helped me get through the week!

Target giftcards coming in the mail literally minutes after I fell in love with shoes in the store!

My momma's strawberry pretzel desert

Nancy's Taco Shop around the corner- a taco shop that is comparable to Mr. Taco, the most amazing mexican food in my home town.

Meeting new friends and spending hours at Starbucks just chatting.

Ending a phase of life along with a job, knowing that everyone involved will be better for it.

Time again for that wonderful day of the week that the Mannland5 convinces up to stop, and look at all those wonderful, beautiful, enlightening experiences life throws at us every week.

Here are mine :]

1. I accidentaly bought an extra lamp for the spare bedroom before I found that we had one, and this spare lamp is now the sole lighting in my living/dining area after a rambunctious 10 mo old destroyed my other one.
2. I have discovered that lean ground turkey can be insanely tasty when seasoned correctly.
3. I have lost FOUR pounds since starting the gym two weeks ago!
4. After growing up, moving out, starting my own life, and taking on new responsibilities- I can still call my mommy and vent at the end of a bad day.
5. I reconnected with an old aquantence that just might become a great friend!

So it's your turn to stop and think about the good things in what may be a rough week!!

Deployment Lessons Learned So Far

So in the very small amount of time that my husband has been away on the big grey ship, I have already learned a few things.

What works for some wives, may not work for others.
There are many women that choose to keep everything that is happening at home to themselves, so not to burden their husbands with more stress than they are already experiencing on deployment. While I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY respect how every wife (minus the cheaters) deals with the stress of handling all the affairs, I've found that this isn't for me. No, I will not tell him every time the dogs make me upset, every time I have a disagreement with a friend, if I have a tummy ache or if I had to call and argue with the cable or phone company. But not disclosing any of the stressful situations I made deal with just isn't realistic for me. And I've learned that that's okay. Some days it may be one thing after another after another. And some days, while you're busy kicking-deployment's ass, it may get in a good punch and land you on your ass for a second. I tried to be strong for my husband, so much that I pretended things on the homefront were nearly smoother than they were when he was here. There wasn't a problem in the world. And that ended up hurting me in the end, and it made me end up being the bad guy, because I was strong and there was nothign wrong, but I was taking something out on him, and that hurt us as a couple. I have also learned, however, that trying to get away with keeping all my stressors from my husband is impossible. He knows. Just when I started to feel the brunt of everything at once, he called. And with a lump in my throat I said "Hello", and without skipping a beat he said "It's not what you expected is it? It's harder than you were prepared for, isn't it?". And it made everything better. :]

Even if you think that everything is squared away before he leaves, power of attourney is vital
All bills not under both of our names were paid off and squared away before my hubbers took off. And then some debt that some company thinks he owes...from 2007....showed up in the mail. On our anniversary. Thankfully we had a few copies of power of attourney drawn up, because it's obvious now that there's not way for hubbers to deal with this on his own, or at all.

Keeping busy is very important, but keeping TOO busy is not a good thing
Being my first deployment, it was already a transition to go from sharing many responsibilities with my husband to having them all on my plate alone. I wanted to keep busy while hubby was gone, but I decided to hold off on taking on too many activities before he left. Thank god. Before he left, work school and housework didn't see like much. Now, suddenly, I'm realizing that he must have helped me more than I ever noticed, because even those things sometime overwhelm me. I did try to take on some other crafty projects and what not, but it sent me into a whirlwind of pressure, deadlines, and just plain stress.


Doing things like this may not make him too happy, they make me feel a lot better about things!::

Getting to Know You #1

Well Sunday is almost over but for the sake of fun I'm going to do the Getting to Know you from the Mannland 5!!

1. If a person has a booger in their nose. and you can see it, do you tell them?

It depends on where our relationship is haha

2. What are you passionate about?

My family and friends!!

3. How long have you been blogging?
8 months

4. What is your favorite "summer" drink?

Strawberry Lemonade

5. What is your favorite type of music?

Oh it depends on the day!

6. Something I do before I go to bed is......?

Check my email and brush my teeth.

7. My Summer vacation plans are...?

Maybe a day trip to LA/Hollywood, and late summer a trip home to Texas

8. My favorite must have, can't live without, beauty product is?

Just face moisturizer...does that count?!

The Anniversary Blog

Well, the day has finally come! Well, in my time zone, it is still only June 4, 2010. However, wherever my loving hubby is, it is officially our one year anniversary.

June 5th, 2009, I woke up in the morning, knowing that that very afternoon I would become Mrs. Voigt. I dressed nervously, met with my bridesmaids, stopped at Sonic, and headed to Lockhart State Park to tie the knot. Absolutely the most wonderful day of my life.

This is Hubbers and I the evening of our first date.

Needless to say, it's been an amazing, crazy, scary, and wonderful year.

In June, we celebrated my 19th birthday, realized as a married couple we needed our own home, and started looking.

In July, we planned a move, and executed it in one day. We now had our very own apartment and all the responsibility that came with.

In August, the military finally caught up with us and awarded us some BAH, and we got our first puppy, Willow Marie.

In September, we had to deal with a new stressor of paying rent on an old lease. We moved from a two bedroom to a one bedroom apartment, and loved it...for a few weeks.

In October, Hubbers began week long underways. With the exception of three seperate weeks, he would now be gone every weekday, and home only on weekends, until mid April. We missed our first Halloween together, and I experienced my first true fear as a military wife when there was a jet collision over the waters Hubbers was doing his training in. He was out for three extra days, leading a search crew trying to recover bodies. This was also the first time I felt such an intense pride for what he did.

In November, I cooked our first Thanksgiving dinner. We had ham, potatos, devilled eggs, scalloped corn, regular corn, green beans and pumpkin pie. We also decided we'd take our first road trip and started saving for the holiday vacation. I sprained my ankle a day before one of hubby's underways and hobbled around on crutches. The following underway, I contracted what I swore was swine flu. Hubby came home to find me in bed, sicker than i'd been in almost a year. He was home for two nights. That first night was his birthday. He spent his birthday in the ER making sure I was okay rather than party with his friends.

In December, we got to actually spend our holidays together, rather than living across the country. We packed up the truck, and drove 19 hours, Willow in tow, to Texas and had an amazing holiday with our families. We met my nephew for the first time, and really bonded with our new in-laws.

January brought more time apart, but a closeness when we were together.

February marked one year from the day Hubbers proposed to me. It was also the first time I hadn't been "alone" on Valentines day. He brought me tiger lillies, roses, the most perfect stuffed giraffe and Carlos, the huge stuffed bear that I snuggle with now that he's deployed.

In March, we added Bailey Rae to the family. Bailey was infested with fleas and had worms, but Willow welcomed her to the family as warmly as she could.

April was finally the end of underways, and the begining of the deployment countdown. Hubby started a special school and was home every night with me. We got tattoos together and got to lotion eachother's new ink. We also finally had the means to move into a two bedroom apartment again.

In May the real stress began. We relished in our final weeks together, becoming closer than I thought possible. We made final arrangments, and when Hubbers was on leave, he spent the days with me and the baby girl I watch, making me eager more for the days that he'll be with our own child, years down the line. He's going to be an amazing father.

Eventually, hubby got on that big grey boat and left. The remainder of our first year together has been lived together via emails and facebook. Now hubby's dog-tags hang around my neck, and that is how I kiss him goodnight before I turn to sleep every night.

I put a lot of work into this post. Actually more so in the video to follow this paragraph. This is because to me, this post is my celebration of the past year. I haven't decided yet if I'll spend the day quietly lounging around watching movies and ignoring what it is, or if I'll try my best to make it an amazing day, go out to the beach, celebrate with friends, and rejoice in my anniversary. But what I do know is that inevitably, these photos will be playing in my head, as will every little conversation, every night we fell asleep in eachother's arms, every time he wiped my tears away, and every single memory we will make when he returns to me. So I want to share these beautiful memories with all of you, and I hope that you all have the happiness that I have in my life, with this man, in this world.

Thursday Five

It's time again for the Thursday Five!!

I love this time every week too look at the good in life.

5. Boy Meets World on ABC Family in the mornings

4. Netflix on the X-box 360 to get me through the weekends!!

3. Zumba!!

2. Getting to hubby's soft side via email

1. Passing Political Science with an 87!!!!

A Great List for the Week- Why I love My Husband

This week is week two into my first deployment, my hubby's third. So perhaps it's not super great timing for our first wedding anniversarry. We knew he'd miss it when we picked the date, but it was more important to get married than to celebrate an anniversarry together. None the less, I'm very excited and also kinda sad that we aren't together to really celebrate an amazing first year, full of ups and downs, and a billion first-times.

So when I hopped on over to Riding the Roller Coaster, I thought it was funny that her top ten list was "Top Ten Reasons I Love My Husband". Okay, that's not the funny part. The funny part is that she chalks up her mushiness to the fact that her tenth wedding anniversarry is this week, and her husband isn't here to share it with her. I'm not sure if it makes me happy to hear I'm not going through it alone, or sad that even after ten years, the same thing will probably be happening to me. Regardless, Happy anniversary to that wonderful couple!! And here's my list.

Why I Love Ya Baby!

10- At any given moment he can quote one stand-up comedian or another, word for word, even when it's least appropriate.

9- He can sense when something isn't right, and won't let me go on until he knows what it is and tries to fix it.

8- He is a proud member of the U.S. Navy and sacrifices much  to do what he actually loves- serving his country.

7- Though his methods may be off sometimes, he is still insanely encouraging to anything I want to do. Or things I don't want to do, like homework.

6- He is great with children.

5- He puts family above all else.

4- He loves that I play cook every meal and clean up ever mess- but he never stops thanking me or showing me his appreciation.

3. Some intuition of his allows him to always say the right thing at the right time- even if I'm having a bad day, I will probably receive and email that says "Smile, it makes your butt tingle".

2. He simply holds my whole heart.

1. He is nothing but himself. Himself happens to be a loving, passionate, hard working, thoughtful man with a very handsom inside and out.

Cooking for One:: Basil Ranch Chicken and Pasta

Basil Rach Chicken and Pasta
Use::
Two boneless skinless chicken breasts
Two servings worth of uncooked penne pasta
1 diced roma tomato
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup parmesian cheese
1/2 cup mozerella cheese
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs basil
1tbs oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Do it!!

Wash and dry chicken (As Julie and Julia says, meat never browns evenly unless it's dry!)

Dice chicken into half inch cubes, or strips. Toss in small mixing bowl. Season with basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet. While heating oil, begin to boil water and cook the penne while preparing rest of recipe.

Toss the chicken in the skillet and stir until no longer pink on the outside. Stir in tomato, 1/4 cup ranch dressing and the parmesian. Continute to stir until chicken is browned evenly and ranch and parmesian are cooked into meat. Use rest of ranch and simmer.

Drain pasta and put into large mixing bowl. Stir in chicken. Add more ranch and parmesian if desired, and sprinkle with mozerella. Stir until cheese melts and serve.

Sometimes old friends do stick around

Today, my good old friend Amanda Nicole and I had a girls day...plus one little man. We had a very succesfull day at the mall, each spending under fifty dollars (woohoo). Something I forgot we have in common is that, aside from grocery shopping and household necessities, we ONLY shop clearance. I discovered stores she loved and got shirts for TWO DOLLARS! Love it.

But afterwards, we started talking about how great of a time we had together, doing our girl thing like we used to when we lived fifteen minutes from eachother. We pratically lived together before I got married. And we came to the realization that it had been a year or more since we had a girls day. I am SO glad to have her back. Have you ever had a friend become absent from your life for one reason or another, and you didn't know there was a void there until that void was filled back up? it's a wonderful feeling. Anyways, here are pictures from the past, and from now. Memories.

June 4, 2009

May 15, 2010

Week 1 Deployment Accomplishments!!

Well I survived week one of deployment. Hubby says that counting the days makes it harder for him, but I feel like week one was an important thing to get through. So rather than focus on how much it sucked, I thought I'd put out some of my accomlishments.

• Killing a big buggy in the tub
• Walking the dogs every day by myself
• Taking out all the trash by myself
• Going to the gym almost every day!
• Trying a new mexican food recipe
• Eating at a hole in the wall resturaunt and loving it
• Grocery shopping alone (and saving a bunch of money)
• Cutting up a cantelope without slicing off a finger
• Buying the perfect anniversary card, and sending this picture in it :]
• 

It's not so bad. It'll all be over by Christmas...hopefully.

Thursday Five :]

Once again, thank you to the Mannland5 :]

This week, here are 5 things that put a pep in my step!

1. Emails!!!
2. The gym, and friends that will act as my personal trainers

3. Kix- the only thing the teething little girl I watch wants to eat right now!!

4. Empty gatorade bottles full of change, that stops dogs from barking uncontrolably. (Try it, it really works)

5. Hair dye, for making me feel like I can still get dolled up and look good, even if hubby isn't here to appreciated it.

What's yours?

Getting it together

Well I'm still less than a week into this deployment, and while I wouldn't say it's kicking my ass in any way, I'm not sure I'm kicking its', either. Of course sending my husband away for a very lengthy time (could be longer, but that doesn't make 7 months insignificant) comes with a feeling that no one could have ever described. I held strong the first day, and even most of the second. About halfway through, little stuff started happening. It's so silly. But our neighbors have been on vacation for weeks, and they finally came home. Our little puppy Bailey finally got brave enough to go all the way up the stairs to our apartment. The people with an adjacent balcony to ours finally cleaned all the ucky trash out of their balcony. It's little stuff that I would turn around and tell Mike, or add it to my mental list to tell him when he got home from work. Sure, I could email him, but I dont' feel right emailing him ten million insignificant things a day that make me miss him. How would that help?

So so far this week I've been working on getting things together. Doing the last of his leftover laundry, cleaning the house, I even rearranged the bedroom. I've started going to the gym and I'm working on my final projects for school. I'm keeping busy but it still seems like I can't get it together. I feel like I don't have much control over anything.

So since there are so many milspouses out there, I'm asking- when your loved one deployed, what did you do to get it together?

Thursday Five [[On Friday, but I've been busy!]]

Well a few friends have been doing this wonderful thing called "Thursday Five" from the Mannland 5. I think that right now, since I am officially a woman with a deployed husband, would be a wonderful time to start looking at five things every week that make me happy, estatic and joyful. So here we go :]

1. Hubbers' ship "broke" and deployment was delayed a few days!
2. Bailey finally got brave enough to take the stairs up to our apartment!
3. Willow braved the waves at the dog beach!
4. I finally got a new set of sheets for the bedroom and am in looove.
5. Frank found me a pretty black sea-shell at the beach.

So I have one more little thing to talk about. I'll probably write a few more blogs on today later on, when I'm more functional. But today I said my "see you laters" to my hubby, because he's got a lot of responsibility and won't be able to come see me the day the ship pulls out. My amazing friend Emily took me to base to see him, and she snapped some pictures. Here's what I like to call our official "See you later 2010" photo. Thanks to all of you already offering support and letting me know I'm not alone. Every single well-wish makes a difference.

Love you, baby. See you later.

New Page :]

So I am still fairly new to the serious blogging world, ha, but I'm trying something new. I've added a new page to the blog. It's called Cooking for One and it's going to be a collection of my own and others' adapted recipes for my fellow spouses of military men or anyone that wants to take advantage of a yummy meal solo style. I haven't quite figured out how to get that to come up on the dashboard, so maybe I will post on the home page every time I put up a new recipe. Anyways, keep checking the page in case I forget to update on here. There are two up now to check out so I hope ya'll enjoy!

The Mrs.Voigt Alphabet :]

So I've seen a few of these in the last few weeks. I got this one from One Lucky Monkey, but I'm not sure where she got it. Just thought it'd be a fun little blog to do before I go off to sleepy land. :]

I saw this cute A to Z of Me on a few blogs and decided to do it for myself tonight. I love filling out these things - in particular when I'm trying to procrastinate:-)

A to Z of Me

 

A. AREA CODE : Raised in 512, currently residing in the 619

B. BED SIZE: Queen, but I wouldn't mind an upgrade!

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Doing the dishes and cleaning dog booboo from our untrainable puppy :(

 

D. DOG'S NAME: Willow Marie, red/dapple dachshund, and Bailey Rae, fawn puggle.

 

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Uhg, I swore I'd never be this way, but sadly, coffee.

 

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Hmm generally I'd say purple, but here lately I'm loooving teal.

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver or WHITE gold

H. HEIGHT: 5' 5"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: My vocal cords and the radio dail

J. Job: Babysitter and Housewifey

 

K. KIDS: None yet. Someday. Although I'm occassionally guilty of baby-fever.

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Apartment with my hubby dubby

N. NICKNAME: Just Mikey. Or Mikey-May

M.MOM'S NAME: Shellie

 

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Every year of high school due to Reactive Airway Disease

 

P. PET PEEVE: Starting to say something and not finishing it, and "This branch of military is better than this one" debates.

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: Really? There's a Stalker Book? Man, I gotta read that one." [Eternal Sunshine]

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Lefty :]

S. SIBLINGS: Brother-Charles. And two of the most amazing sisters in law a girl could ask for.

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: On weekdays, 7a.m.

U. UNDERWEAR: Boyshorts all the way.

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Most of them, but green beans and peas make me gag.

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: Getting lost. Lol.

 

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Teefs, tailbone, chest, wrist and back.

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Hmm. My favorite is probably chicken cordon bleu. Probably.

 

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Giraffes and elephantes!

Skinnie Piggie's Military Wedding Week Contest!!

So I follow a wonderful blog called Hellcat Betty, and today her post turned me onto Skinnie Piggie. I spent a few hours checking out the blog and then I decided to enter the Military Wedding Week Contest! These contests are just really fun to participate in and it's a great way to find new blogs. You should definitely go check some of these entries out!!

So here it goes! Our wedding story may not be much of a story, it was simple and cozy, but so perfect for us that I still think it's worth sharing!

Hubbers proposed via text message. Me being in Texas and him being in California, and him being impatient, he couldn't wait to get leave, so this actually completely fit our relationship. He put a lot of thought into it still, and even though we knew an engagement was coming, he was pretty nervous as we spoke on the phone.

This is the picture I got while he was on the phone, asking me to marry him.

[I know that this isn't a proposal contest but I feel like that's the best way to start a wedding story!]

So Hubbers proposed February 11th, and four days later the date was set for June 5, 2009. I knew exactly where I wanted to get married- the state park in our home town, on top of a cliff overlooking the forest.

The building we held the reception at.

[Photo curtesy of http://texascccparks.org/parks/lockhart/]

Originally, I chose navy blue and lavender as our colors, and wanted a light springy look. I was going to wear a knee length gown and he would wear a lavender shirt and black slacks. However, (I will spare the details of the drama, but long story short we discovered his side of the family was MUCH more religious than we knew), I ended up wanting to be respectful and not show all the "horrific" tattoos on my legs, so a full length gown was a must and he refused to wear lavender. So the idea kind of changed when I fell in love with this dress.

Not such a pretty face, I know, but this was right when it hit me that I was about to become a married woman, and there was no AC in the building...in Texas...in the afternoon.

We invited about a hundred people, and I'd say about 60 showed up, if that many. I'm horrible at estimating. It was just what we wanted, though. He had two groomsmen, and I had two maids of honor. They picked simple dresses that didn't match but I thought it was just perfect.

I didn't want the wedding march, it just wasn't us. So I walked down the aisle to a song called "So Much" by The Spill Canvas. It was beautiful and perfect. The music started, I took my Daddy's arm, and saw this lovely sight at the end of the petal-covered, stone walkway.

He looks so handsome. There are rumors that he teared up here, but he refutes them.

I was too anxious to wait for the pastor to speak, I kept jumping ahead and repeating the vows before he finished telling me what to say. There were lots of laughs.

The most amazing part of this whole ceremony was when my daddy walked me to the end of the aisle, and the pastor asked if Hubbers would take me (with all the yadda yadda that goes with).

Hubbers smiled, didn't take his eyes away from mine, and in a loud, happy voice, said the words "Without a doubt". Those words never meant so much.

So finally, we kissed.

And for exactly 15 seconds of "our song", I forced him to dance with me.

(He changed out of his heavy Blues for the reception)

He cracked open a Monster Energy drink, we had some of his Mimi's delicious cake, opened presents, said hello to everyone, and then, simple as that, we went on into our happily ever after.

So that's pretty much it. It was a small afair, all decorated by hand, all planned by yours truly, and all made absolutely perfect by Hubbers. Small and simple, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/mls_wizard2_1.php?sid=54488-166-243AB29DA08EED35CC2410262DB76A7F#ixzz0nmhTeOiX