Week 15

It has been awhile since I have blogged...well honestly, I had forgotten to blog. My mind is nowhere like it use to be. I forget things left and right, which is another symptom of pregnancy (so I have been told).

So I am 15 1/2 weeks today...or something like that! My belly is growing and I officially have a little baby bump! :) I do not have any news from the doctor as I do not go visit her until next Thursday! Next weeks visit will consist of the baby's heart beat. I will find out the sex on May 1st and honestly cannot wait! I am pretty sure it is a boy but I could be wrong. Sometimes I second guess myself when I get to over analyzing it! :)

In other news, I have gotten back into exercising a little bit. I guess something is better than nothing! It is a slow process but it is starting to come back. Some other good news, it looks like we will be in NC June 15-24 to see friends, family, attend our High School Reunion, get Maternity pictures taken, have a baby shower, and do various other things. It will be loads of fun but busy!

I know this is short, but I will write more next week after the doctors visit! :)

Weeks 11 & 12

I know, I know. I am behind. The past two weeks have been extremely busy with work and being sick. Now that things are starting to look brighter I have finally gotten the chance to sit down and write.

Week 11 was a decent week other than being sick. Baby Old was the size of a Lime, but now that we are in Week 12 Baby Old is the size of a Plum. It is getting pretty big! The doctor said Baby Old was perfect and healthy with a heartbeat of 158. According to the scale I have not really gained weight but my mid section is no longer a pretty area anymore. I guess that comes with the belly. :)

Things are getting better. I do not get sick anymore (knock on wood) and my energy is slowly coming back. I am still pretty exhausted at the end of the day but I am still pretty productive.  Only a couple more days and then I am done with the first trimester (4 to be exact!!!) The time is really starting to fly by. I should find out the sex in about 5 1/2 weeks...so around May 1st! I cannot wait! I thought I had a feeling I knew what it was but I really do not anymore. Maybe that will change.

Other than that, things are going well. Thanks for all of your encouraging words and advice. I have appreciated it! :)

Week 10

Week 10 is already here! Time has really flown by. Two more weeks and the first trimester will be over! I cannot wait! I am still waiting on my energy to return! :)

This week was a pretty stressful week. We ended up moving over the weekend which was lots of fun (note sarcasm). Very thankful for friends that helped us move since I was working pretty much the entire time. Without them it would not have happened. So thank you!

On Sunday I started getting sick with a Sinus Infection, which I am sure was due to the cold weather that came out of nowhere! It was literally 70 degrees on Thursday and then like 30 degrees on Friday. It was crazy! Luckily it is warm again.

So on top of that, my sweet Grandma Hi-Ho passed away on Monday. She had fought for many years and finally was taken to be with her God. I know she is in a much better place, but it still really hurts. She was such a great human being! She loved to clog, help people, laugh, cook, and serve her Lord. She was married 57 years to my Grandpa Hi-Ho and was a great role model in every aspect. I only hope I am privileged enough to see 57 years of marriage.

It is really hard to lose a relative. As I write this I realize that this is the second grandparent I have lost in a matter of a year and 4 relatives I have lost within the last three years. That's tough. Family will not be around forever so if you do still have family you should really cherish those moments. When they are gone...that is it. All you will have are memories.  No more cooking together, or chatting about when they where young, or getting advice from what I would consider an expert on life. Cherish the moments, even if they are stupid to you. They will mean wonders later.

I'll get off my soap box now...

Back to pregnancy and the wonders of the 1st trimester....what are we kidding? Wonders? I mean yes it is neat how my baby is growing, but there is nothing happy about the actual physical and emotional toll it has on your body. At least for me anyways.  LOL! I am hopeful though that I get my energy back soon. Everyone says it comes back so I will take your word on that. :)

Oh, did I mention that Baby Old is the size of a prune? Yeah, pretty neat, huh? Oh...and there is no more tail and we have toes and fingers now! Yay! Our baby looks like a human and not a tadpole now! Good news! :)

Well besides that....everything is good. James is good. Ella is....well lazy and sleeping beside me as we speak. Everything else in the Old World is good! :)

Week 9

Today marks week 9! Woohoo! The closer to the end of the first trimester the more excited I get. I will say that since I have been to the doctor and and have gotten some medicine, I have felt a ton better. I still get sick, but not as often as I did beforehand.

Speaking of medications...I was given two meds: Zofran for the daytime and another one for nighttime. I cannot remember the name. My doctor told me that it may be wise to cut the pill in half because half a pill will knock her out for 8 hours. Well boy was she right. Let's just say that I woke up on the toilet one night. I am not sure how I got there or how long I had been there. It was quite humorous!

This week Baby Old is the size of an Olive and no longer has a tail! That is exciting! :) I enjoy reading each week what is happening to our Baby. It is pretty neat if you think about it.

Life is going well. Still not really exercising but my doctor says I should get my energy back in about 3 weeks. I look forward to that time! I miss working out but the energy is still really lacking. I have not really been craving anything substantial, in my opinion. I am still not eating totally healthy but I have read that is normal as well.

Well that is all for now! I will write again next week! Have a great week everyone!

Your First Picture

Today was the best day so far! It was the first picture of Baby Old. Since I have been so sick it has been really hard for me to be excited about being pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I am excited, but this first visit made it so real!

Baby Old looks like a gummy bear right now. As soon as the ultrasound started Baby Old started wiggling and the doctor was able to see and hear the heart beat. The heart beat was 173! It was really fast and a really neat thing to here. It made it all very real for me. It brought tears to my eyes. The doctor said that Baby Old was perfect!

Although I have been extremely sick still, I was able to get some medication.  After seeing Baby Old, all the sickness in the world is worth it. :)

I know this is a short post, but I wanted to give a quick update! Oh, and the due date is now October 2nd! :)

Week 7

Today marks 7 weeks! It is going by pretty fast (except for mornings). I would like to say that the morning sickness has resided, but unfortunately, it has made permanent residence in my life. I thought things were changing because the last two days I have been able to manage it. I was still very nauseous but I was able to keep things down. Today was a different story. It is back in full force. I am so terrified because James graduates tomorrow and I want to be there so bad, but I can not imagine being in a car for 2.5 hours with no escape. I am going to pack everything in my house and take it with me in hopes that God will grant me just a few hours of peace so I can see my husband walk across a stage as he accomplishes another goal so early in his career.  I have been to all of his graduations so far and I do not want to miss this one.

I just realized today that we go to our first appointment 1 week from today. I am pretty excited! I cannot wait to hear/see the baby (or what I will refer to as a blueberry right now....or so that's what my book says).    :)

So with being sick, I have somehow managed to gain 2 pounds. Not sure how that is possible....of course I haven't checked my weight in a couple of days. No baby bump yet, although it looks as though I have one because I stay bloated-which is normal from what I have read.  Foods that I cannot be around right now are Eggs and Burgers. I was eating eggs almost everyday since I was on the Paleo Diet (which has been postponed until I stop throwing up). Now, the thought of eggs makes me want to throw up. The grocery store is also a pretty horrible place for me to go to right now. The smells hit me wrong.

Ella is doing well. She stays pretty close to me at all times of the day. Although right now she is looking pretty defeated as I gave her a bath because she smelled so bad. Now I need to work on her breath because it makes me want to throw up every time I get a whiff of it. Gross!

We are still trying to work out dates to go to NC in June. Hopefully we should know in the next week or so. When we find out, we will let everyone know.

I hope everyone has a great week. I will write again next week!

Morning Sickness has Arrived

So yesterday marked 6 weeks-sorry for the delay in posting. I have been extremely busy and sick. For the past week I spend my mornings sick and my afternoon/evenings at work. I am still extremely tired and am having a hard time sleeping through the night because I go to the bathroom about 5 times each night. LOL! I do have to laugh at that. I have always had a small bladder and I can only imagine how much worse it will get over the next couple of months.

This post probably isn't a very peppy post because I am honestly not feeling peppy...but rather sick. I can't seem to find any foods that will sit with me and I have tried just about everything. Hopefully this will all subside soon.

On a good note, James graduates next week so it will be good to have him home. It has been rough on some days having to take care of Ella (she is high maintenance-LOL!) and things around the house and work. Not to mention that our house is going to be torn down in the near (undetermined future). Sigh...

I am still very excited about our child. It makes the bad times easier to swallow. We go to our first doctors appointment in a week and 1/2. I am very excited about seeing our child for the first time and hearing the heart beat. :)

I have to go for now, but I wanted to write a quick update. I will write more next week! :)

Bun in the Oven

So I have decided that I will be blogging about our pregnancy. All of our family and friends are far away and I figured this would be a good way for 1.) Me to express myself and 2.) For family and friends to feel apart of our pregnancy. I can't promise you the blog will be worth reading or interesting, but none-the-less, entertaining, I'm sure.

I officially found out I was pregnant on January 24th, but I knew I was about a week before then. My body just felt strange and I have to admit that I am pretty in-tune with my body. I had some terrible cramping, and I couldn't sleep, and I was tired. Which is completely unlike me. I am normally on-the-go constantly. I am not the type to just sit around. So I guess I had a hunch.

So I am pregnant. I am tired. And I feel completely lazy. All I want to do is lay on the couch before going to work. Which drives me crazy because I like to be doing things. Don't get me wrong. I am so excited about being pregnant. I couldn't be happier, however, I just want my energy back! LOL!

Besides being tired, I have felt alright for the most part. I have gotten sick a couple times and night time for me is the hardest part of the day, but I am just trying to take it easy.

James and I are both excited about this new journey and cannot wait to share it with everyone! There will be many more blogs to come! :)

Reflection

I know as most of you see this post you are probably sighing because this is what everyone does on January 1st. We talk about regrets and what we plan to do differently...AKA...make resolutions. Yes, I intend on putting my resolutions in this blog, however; I will not be writing about regrets...rather moments from 2012 that have forever changed my life.  So sit back and read if you want, or don't. Either way, these are the top moments from 2012 in my life.

In April James left for Boot Camp. It was one of the hardest times of my life but also one of the best. I was lucky enough to have supportive friends and family that we there through the whole process. James going to Boot Camp was the first step in a new direction. A new life. A happier one. Not just for me, but for him. You see, for the previous year and a half, I was able to use my degree, he was not able to. So to know he was starting something that he worked so hard for, made me happy. It was the beginning.

Working at the CDL, now NDCDC was the best year ever. Yes, it was tough at times, but I met some really great friends who I will cherish for the rest of my life. I also worked with an age group that I had not had much experience with and discovered that I love infants. It was a real "eye-opening" year. So I would like to say thank you to everyone that played a part at the CDC. Love and miss you guys.

This year also had hard moments, but I like to look back on it in a different light. My grandpa passed away and it was really tough. James was in boot camp so I felt pretty alone. It wasn't his fault. It was just a really hard time for me. I had to face new challenges that I knew would one day happen-just did not know it would happen at that moment. In retrospect, it made me look back and realize that life is fragile. You should spend as much time with loved ones as you can. They will not be around forever. Enjoy the moments you have with them. They do not last forever. I will never forget the memories I had with him. He was a good man. I was recently reminded of him when I set up my train around our Christmas tree. He gave me that train and every year I will continually put it up for him.

In September I faced the biggest challenge. We moved to Alabama. A new place. No job. Very frustrated. But since the moment we arrived in Alabama we have met nothing but nice people. Everyone is super nice down here and very different from North Carolina. NC will always be near to my heart, but AL is home now. We have met some really great friends and I have been fortunate enough to earn two jobs, one working with the Boys & Girls Club and one working with the Youth Center on post. I am very fortunate and count my blessings.

In November, James lost his childhood pet. He tore me up knowing he was hurting. It was even harder knowing his sister was having a hard time and there was nothing I could say or do. Being 12 hours away can be hard sometimes. Although it was tragic, he is in a better place now.

While 2012 had good and bad, and happy and sad moments, there is not anything I regret. Regret would mean I did not make the choice at the time. Rather I did. I do not regret anything. I only learn. That is life and I will continue to do things that I will "learn from." If you regret things then you are not living life. Just learn from your mistakes and move on.

Now to the part that everyone hates reading. While this blog isn't really for anyone except me. Rather I am writing this so that I can be accountable for my actions and try to stick to them as best I can. None of my resolutions are terribly hard...they just take discipline which I know I can do. So here are my 2013 Resolutions:

1. I will limit my intake of red meat
2. I will exercise at least 3 days a week.
3. I will watch the words that come out of my mouth

Pretty simple list this year, but none-the-less, will take work. And to me, that is all that matters. I am going to try my best. That is all I can do.

So here is to 2013. I wish all of our friends and family a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Heavy Heart

I normally do not write about things like this, because honestly, what I write really will not change anything. However, I feel if more people write about a certain topic maybe more attention will be placed on the subject.

The shooting that happened this Friday is very dear to my heart since I work with children everyday. I have always wanted to work with children and hope I can do  that until the day that I die. Whenever that may be. 

I am having a hard time grasping the reality of what happened. This may be grim but you almost expect   shootings at colleges, high schools, or maybe even middle schools. Now please note, I am not condoning what happened, but it is more likely due to teenage hormones, bullying, grades, etc. What I cannot understand is why someone would ever shoot a child that is completely helpless, and is still very dependent on their parents/guardians.  Some questions that have crossed my mind. What kind of person would do this? What could they possibly have against a small child? This brings me to my next thought. 

This is an act of internal conflict. Not a gun issue. In my opinion. While I am not a huge fan of guns, there are a lot of people who use them safely. Restricting guns will only make things worse, in my opinion. I almost feel like society will in a sense "rebel," which could have alternate consequences. I know people may disagree with me, and that is fine. We are free to our own thoughts and beliefs. I am not trying to get into a debate. 

Now internal conflict. What is it, you may ask? Internal conflict is the process where a person may be confused internally or have unresolved issues. This is common among people, but the difference occurs if the person can resolve and cope with the conflict. Most people can, but sometimes the conflict is too painful to resolve. I believe this is a precursor to someone who may act out. This does not mean they are necessarily a "gun" lover, but someone who feels lost or angry may feel like this is the only way. Obviously there are many other circumstances, and I may be totally wrong. I just felt like I needed to write this down. 

I also feel like individuals with some types of mental disorders may fit this profile. This is not saying I am a harsh person. I am actually very sensitive towards individuals with special needs. I have a huge heart for them. I am just saying that there are some disorders that are very aggressive and can cause outbursts. 

I do not want to offend anyone, but I just wanted to put my two cents in; something I do not do very often. What happened Friday in CT, and at the hospital in AL, and various other places this weekend was terrible. I am truly truly saddened by this and pray for comfort and healing for the families affected.    I am glad that people are being supportive through media like Cable, Twitter, and Facebook. It is sad that is takes such a tragic accident to bring our nation together, but this always happens. Maybe if we were supportive all the time, acts like this would not happen.  

Going back to social media. There is a couple posts going around of pictures of all the children. I love that people are coming together to support, but this is the one thing I cannot re-post or share. I cannot look at those pictures of those innocent children. Call me a terrible person, but it makes me sick to my stomach. So just because I do not "share" or "re-post" a message does not mean I am not supportive. I pray for those families every chance I get. 

I know today will be a hard day for parents taking their children to school. Some will be fearful, but I know that today will be the safest day for your child to go to school as security will be high today.  For those struggling here is something that I always rely on when in need. I am not normally one that will throw it in your face, but this scripture is powerful and comforting.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Sweet Home Alabama

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted! So much time has passed and so much has happened. 

So here's an update! We moved to Alabama September 3rd. The drive wasn't terrible until we crossed into Alabama (how ironic). The Hurricane that was coming through at the time was in Alabama and it was terrible. Let's just say we were only able to go about 40 miles an hour AND once we got about 2 hours away, it was all back roads. Go figure. Ha ha!

So we got here and all was well. We stayed in Army lodging (hotel) for a week, which kind old after awhile since there was no space and we had Ella. I must mention though, that the breakfast they served everyday was awesome! :) So after a week in the hotel we had our housing appointment. We had two options and long story short, we decided on the older home that had more bedrooms. After deciding on our home, we had to get Ella micro chipped, and work on getting our HHG (household goods). It only took about another week before we were able to get our goods and our experience was less than pleasant. Instead on showing up at 9 am, as discussed, they showed up at 12:00 pm. The worst part was they did not have the decency to call and let us know they were going to be late until about 2 hours after they were already late.  Once they arrived, the unloading went at a decent speed. It took about 5 1/2 hours for them to unload all of our stuff.  Most of our stuff came out okay minus 2 plates, 1 bowl, a glass, our hutch and my Nautica dress. My Nautica dress looked like it gotten into a fight with bleach and a cat. It was terrible.

Anyways, so we have our place, our stuff, and are settling in to Alabama life well. The area is really pretty and the people are extremely nice. There is nothing quite like an Alabama sunset which I have the pleasure of watching as I drive home from work everyday. We feel very lucky that our first duty station was here and look forward to all the possibilities that may arise from living down here. :)

Another update to follow soon! :)

RIP Grandpa

This has been a very hard week for me. My grandpa passed away this past Monday and we laid him to rest Friday. It was a beautiful service and I truly have the best family ever! They are so supportive and caring and can make the darkest moments-bright. I know he is in a better place and not suffering anymore.


The really hard part of this is as you age you don't realize that your loved ones are aging as well. When you are little you think your loved ones are invincible and will be around forever. You do not stop to think that they age while you age. Years have passed and one day you realize that time has flown by. Cherish the moments you have with loved ones. You cannot get them back or rewind time. 

Some memories I will never forget about my grandpa...eating BBQ sandwiches (he loved them!), the antique store where I would run through and play hide & seek, walking around downtown Hertford,  swinging on a swing when I was really little, and the love he had for me. These are moments I will forever cherish. 

May 14, 2012

"Beulah Land" was sung at the funeral. It was so beautiful and perfect for my grandpa. The singer was amazing! The words are below:

"Beulah Land"

Verse 1

I'm kind of homesick for a country

To which I've never been before.

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

for time won't matter anymore.

Chorus:

Beulah Land, I'm longing for you

and some day on thee I'll stand.

There my home shall be eternal.

Beulah Land -- Sweet Beulah Land

Verse 2

I'm looking now across the river

where my faith will end in sight.

There's just a few more days to labor.

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

26 Days

I realized I haven't blogged in awhile and I decided I would sit down and finally jot down some thoughts that have been going through my head. So here goes nothing...

My husband has been gone for 26 days as of today. I know that doesn't seem long because I know some spouses, brothers, and sisters are gone for a year at a time, but it is still hard. When you are use to seeing that person everyday, it is hard. This is the longest we have been apart since we have been married. With that being said, I can say that it puts me at ease to know that he is safe. That really helps whenever I get down. I have been able to communicate with him and he is doing well from the letters I have received. Besides the occasional "smoking" (i.e., working him to death), he seems to really like it. I knew he would-it is very much apart of his personality.

I can't believe we are moving in 3 months! I am pretty excited about it to say the least. I am ready for change and a new adventure! Not exactly ready to be looking for a job since I do enjoy my job but none-the-less, I am ready for a change.

Well, I know this was a random post, but I figured I would give an update.  I will write more later.

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

So weekend I tried another crockpot recipe that was really good-Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup! I must say, it was really good! I have attached the recipe below. The only thing I did differently was I did not use beans because James does not like beans.

Here is what you need:
2 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans Ro-Tel (I like the lime & cilantro, but the regular is fine)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn
1 onion, chopped
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth
1-2 cups of water
1 Tbsp garlic powder*
1 Tbsp chile powder*
1 Tbsp ground cumin*
1 Tbsp dried cilantro*


Tortilla chips
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese


*Instead of these spices, you could include a packet of Taco seasoning if you prefer.*


Put chopped onion, cans of beans, rotel, corn, chicken broth, water, and spices in CrockPot and stir. Put chicken breasts on top of mixture and make sure they're at least partly submerged in liquid. Cook on high 6-7 hours or low 8-9 hours. Before serving remove the chicken breasts from soup and shred, if needed, (I shredded it about 1/2 way through cooking). Return chicken to CrockPot, stir to combine.

To serve, pour soup in bowl and add cheese and sour cream. I ate with a spoon as well as with chips! It was very yummy!

Disregard the plastic utensils and bowls. We are in the process of moving! LOL!

New Recipe

So I have been trying new recipes on Pinterest and have failed to post them so I am going to backtrack. The first recipe I tried was Chicken and Dumplings. If anybody knows me, they will know that I LOVE Chicken and Dumplings! It is one of my favorite foods! So when I found a crock pot recipe on Pinterest, I HAD to try it. I mean my favorite food AND in the CROCK POT? So easy! So here is the recipe:

Here’s the ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 onion diced (I used half of one)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
4 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits (I used five)

Put the chicken, butter, cream of chicken, chicken broth, parsley and onions in the crock pot and cook on high for four to six hours. Mine only needed five, and probably didn’t even need that much.

As the chicken cooks and gets tender, break it up with a spoon or fork, whatever.

Get your biscuits and cut them into nine pieces. I kind of rolled them into balls to ensure they stayed whole but it’s not necessary. Stir into chicken mixture and cook for another hour.

(The recipe says to cook for 30 minutes and my biscuits were not done at that point. One hour did the trick.)

That's it! It's Done!!!

The recipe is amazing and anyone that has reservations about biscuits as dumplings-DON'T!!! They tasted and had the same texture as the real ones made out of flour!

Baseball Season begins!!

This blog will not be long. I am actually blogging from the ECU Baseball game where I realized that there was an app for blogging. How cool is that? I can now blog on the go!!

On a separate note. ECU Baseball started yesterday and I love baseball, let alone, it is beautiful outside today! I have attached a picture from my view!!

Valentine's Day Special

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We started dating September 2006, so that means we have been together 5 and 1/2 years!

2. How did you meet? {What’s your “love” story?}

Oh wow! This is a tricky question actually. We met back in High School since we both attend Northeastern High School and were both in the band. We went our separate ways for college but met back up during my last year at ECU via MSN Messenger! Ha ha! Remember those days??

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We have been married since June of 2010 so 1 year and 8 months.

4. If you are married, where did you get married? Big or small wedding?

We got married in Elizabeth City at Berea Baptist Church. Both his sister and brother had previously gotten married there so we wanted to continue the tradition. A reception was followed at the Lions Club out in Weeksville. We had a pretty big wedding. We had about 200 people attend.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Hmmm...nicknames. Well I call him handsome sometimes and he calls me sweetheart, but normally he just calls me Meg.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Three things I love most about James...1.) He is very sensitive and caring, 2.) I love his eyes!! and  3.) I love that he can be protective over tbe people he loves.

7. Tell us how he proposed?

He proposed on November 26, 2009 (Thanksgiving Day). He came over the my parents house for lunch and to hang out as well as ask for permission (I did not know this at the time!). After lunch we went to his family's house to have dinner. After dinner he asked if I wanted to run down to the gas station to grab something and I said sure. He then wanted to go look at Christmas lights down at Waterfront and I agreed because we both love Christmas. When we got down there we went out near the water and were talking. Next thing I know, I look over and he is down on one knee and asked "Will you be my wife?" Of course I said YES!

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

James is a flowers, dinner, card, candy type of guy. He is very sweet. He even likes to sometimes bake me cakes!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I can say both. We have done both and I really like it to change from year to year. Valentine's Day should not be a one-day a year ordeal. It is an everyday task.

10. Tell us one thing you’d like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I would love to take 6 months and travel the US and Europe! I think it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine’s Day.

We actually celebrated yesterday by going to Olive Garden (we knew it would not be as busy as it will be today). Tonight we will probably make dinner and relax.


12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine’s day?

We actually decided to not do anything. We got each other a card and our favorite candy (his was a Chocolate candy car mix, mine was Dove Chocolate!)



13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication! It is everything in a relationship, but most especially in a marriage. You cannot be afraid to talk to the one you love. It is everything.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

                                          Engagement Picture, 2010

A New Adventure lies ahead

So we found out about a week or so ago that we will be moving to Fort Rucker, Alabama. Below is our destination!

We are very excited about our new location. We did have some options, but most of them were bands that were likely to be deployed. I have already started a bucket list of stuff I want to do while in Alabama (even though I have done some of them before). Here it is:




*Go to Mardi Gras again
*Go to a Falcons Game
*Go to a Braves Game again
*Visit New Orleans for the first time
*Go to an Auburn Game
*Visit Florida as much as possible

So far that is all I have come up with but I am sure there is more that will be added! Let me know if there are some great places, whether it be historical, restaurants, etc. that you think we should visit

A New Year

“Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.” 


With that said, Good-bye 2011 and Hello 2012. As I reflect on 2011, these are some of my memories, good and bad: It started with a good friends wedding, the engagement of my sister-in-law, my first year or "true" experience under my belt, my first job loss due to budget cuts, my first wedding anniversary, my 26th birthday, another job opportunity that gave me experience but also had some let downs, my husband starting a new journey and it ended with a great Christmas, our last, for awhile, in NC.


So I can say that 2011 was a good year. Of course it had its good and bad moments but overall, it was just another year. Nothing too exciting or disappointing. My outlooks on 2012 is good though. Here are some things I plan to accomplish: Move to an undisclosed location (for now) and find a great job, publish my thesis, decide on a Ph.D program/maybe teaching license, think about the future, enjoy my second wedding anniversary, find a local church that fulfills our needs, do more DIY projects (because I love them), learn more about photography, write more (because I love this as well!), and of course work on my fitness and finally work on my not swearing so much. It is a fault of mine sometimes and it needs to be worked on. 


So those are my goals or my resolutions for the year. I am happy with them because I know when I look back at 2012 I can look back with a smile. Good luck to each of you as you follow your own paths in 2012. Have a great New Year!

Update on Life

So it has been a long time since I have posted, well, rather, I started over. I deleted my old blogs and am starting over....

Life in the Old household is pretty typical of any married household. Our jobs are going, our life seems busy, but our love for each other is the glue that holds everything together. We have passed our 1 year anniversary and I can say without a doubt that cake one year later isn't horrible but definitely not a fantastic taste.

Besides still residing in Greenville and ultimately looking for our dream jobs we have been doing well. We did get our 1 year pictures done (well, almost 1 year at the time).

James has been really focused on practicing and we both have been really focused on getting into shape and eating healthy. I would say we have been doing pretty well! Ella is doing well and still being Ella. So I can say everyone in the Old house is doing well!

So for now, I am signing out. Another update to follow soon!