Chapter 2013 Page 1 of 365...

 Peace Out 2012. 

Unfortunately I will spend the majority of the year away from my hubs. I still have a hard time believing that he is actually gone again. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time this go around, but I am. 

Up until now, I have spent the past 37 days mostly doing nothing but willing the next day to hurry up and get here so that it too may pass.  

I was lucky enough to have my sis and niece come spend a little over a week with us. It was a nice distraction to be around family. We took a mini road trip to New Mexico and explored a little over there. [More on their visit to come.]

As for now, it is high time to knock off the Poor-Pitiful-Me BS and get back to reality. He has his own time consuming daily agenda  and I need to get back to mine as well and get out of this damn rut once and for all.

 

So here's to a 

New Year, New Adventures, 

New Friends and Cheap Wine!  

{CHEERS}

Money & Attitude

I was the person in our relationship to take care of all household finances. Was, being the key word. Admittedly, I have a bad habit of taking things the wrong way (almost always. I'm working on this) and lets just say that my hubs had asked too many questions about our accounts one day. I took it as him questioning my abilities and maybe I told him he could F himself and do it alone. Maybe.

Fast forward a year and a half and he is now deployed and I'm back at the budget stuff again. Now that I have the bad ass Mac I'm looking for an awesome app to help me keep track of everything. I'm still used to living on post and them automatically taking out our rent & utilities. I never realized how spoiled I had gotten. 
Do you use one of these apps to help you keep track of everything?

Deployment Tip:

• Call your cell phone carrier and suspend your soldiers phone line. 
• Also ask if you should lower your minutes now that you're the only one using them. (Between suspending my Mr's line and lowering my mins. I was able to knock $30 off my cell bill. SCORE!)
• Soldier and Sailor Civil Relief Act info here
• Deployment Checklist here

You say Potato, I say Vodka.

True Story.

Weekend recap- You say Potato, I say Vodka. 

And yesterday, I turned old. But it's OK! Cause I had this as my birthday cake and O.M.G sinfully amazing!

And then I went for a ride in the replacement bitch. (well, OK. This was actually the day before the Vodka)

Follow @bgbecky

Whew, what a week...

bits & pieces of the past 2 weeks.

1. The Human Highlighter
2. Pink and Glitter and Girly Stuff - heart cakes of Loooove
3. Sleeping off her sleepover hangover
4. No, you may not call your brother an ass, even if it is a donkey
5. Getting so excited for The Great Gatsby to come out
6. Mushy lovey dovey junk - with coordinating tattoos
7. I burnt dinner and my hand 
8. Monster Monday - bfc style
9. ah, our weekend. Beer + guys deploying soon + CNN = LOTS of Heated Debates
10. annnnnd.... Drunk Face Says Hiiiiii

other random thoughts:

1. Why are there so many creepers on Craigslist?
2. Am I really almost THIRTY-ONE?! wtf
3. After these past few months hanging with pretty much only my hubs and his friends, I really miss girls. 
4.  We have a maybe deployment date. No orders yet, so things can, and experience shows that it probably will, change twenty more times before the Day.
5. It is impossible to keep a house clean where there are three men, two children, and one dog in it. IMPOSSIBLE! again... Jessica, where are you? I miss hanging out with girls.
6. "Your mom goes to college" - Oh, this makes me laugh way to hard.
7. This. I can't wait.
8. Das B-Log needs a Make-Over! . . . .  Oh, what shall we do. . . .
9. So many wedding DIY ideas for my little sis, just wish I was back home to help her.
10. Damn, I'm getting old.

Gee Thanks

As if my self esteem isn't low enough.

Thick. Really. ugh.

I mean its true, but still! 

I'm searching for a new gym once the Mr deploys. Then maybe someone can search for "short,sexy as hell,dark hair,and freckled face" and get directed to me. Yea, that would be nice.

Hello, September

Wow! Where has the time gone? Is it really September 4th? The last month has flown by.
Today, the kids are in school all day and the husband has returned to work, for the first time since his surgery, a month ago. It is time to be productive. On the list of productivity is blogging, of course. I had not had the time to focus on writing almost anything while the Mr was here. Is it fair to call him 'needy' ... maybe, but he did need a lot of help the first few weeks.

SEPTEMBER

September is, hands down, my favorite month of the year. Always has been, always will be. I'm sure this is in no small part due to it being my birth month, but also the cooling in the air, the trees changing colors, and an all around freshness to the outdoors. As if those reasons weren't enough to seal the deal of my love for September, I was also blessed, six years ago, with my lovely, lively, and outspoken daughter. With our birthdays being just 10 days apart, we tend to spend the whole month celebrating our awesomeness.

[walking to school today]
Dollface & the crazy Ginger

I'm not entirely sure what we will get her for her birthday this year, buuuut looky what my hubs surprised me with!

[early birthday gift because he cannot keep a secret]

At All

I am stoked! I've been playing around with it for the last couple days and the pros seem to outweigh the cons.

I LOVE :

• That it is so lightweight weighing in at just 3 lbs.
• It doesn't get hot.
• The magnetic cord feature. (This is actually why we thought we should go MacBook in the 1st place. I have a horrible reputation when it comes to laptop cords and completely ruining them.)
• Apps are fun and there are so many of them! 
• Battery Life. Holy Ravioli! 7+ hours of battery life. Cant beat that with a stick. 

I am a little puzzled tho. I've read over and over again that quite a lot of bloggers use Macs and prefer them for their blogging needs. But I want to know WHY? What makes blogging with a Mac so special?

its funny because its true

Well, I'm a little late on posting this meme. They were all the craze last week amongst bloggers, SO here I am, as fashionably late as ever, Darlings... (spoken in an Absolutely Fabulous voice)

Oh, if you really knew me you would know:

I am an only child, a middle child, the oldest of four, and the youngest of three. It’s safe to say that I am a sister to several.

I am the keeper of many, many secrets.

I am a news junky.

I was given my first typewriter for my 5^th birthday.

Wrote my first ‘story’ by my 6^th birthday.

I have a dream of completing a novel. Right now, I have notes, an outline, the first three pages, and several random pages. It is not as easy as I remember when when I was six was.

I swear like a sailor!

I am a compulsive picture taker. I own way to many cameras and I bought the iPhone, in particular, because of the camera and photo apps available. My kids jokingly call me Paparazzi Mama.

I suffer from mild migraines, but lately they have been getting worse. I think its time to call the doc.

My husband is my best friend. Always has been, always will be.  Hands down, no questions asked. Its him.
Yet he gets on my nerves so badly that I want to throat punch him daily. 
I love that man.

I am much more disappointed in my lack of personal accomplishments than I could ever express in words. 

I have anger issues.

I am a horrible cook.

I am overly sensitive about way to many things. I try not to let this show because I know how ridiculous it is that I care about so much that has nothing to do with me.

I cry during movies, commercials, songs, books, anything. If it truly moves me, I promise you, I am probably fighting back tears.

I am happiest during a Midwest fall. I miss the crisp to the air and the colors of the trees. Desert life is not for me.

I am a roller derby wanna be.  I wish there were more hours in a day and I wish there was a Derby Fairy & she would bring me all the awesome gear required for practice & play. Shits expensive!

I over think and over analyze EVERYTHING and I usually make myself miserably sick because of this bad habit.

My dad has stage 4 Melanoma cancer. The doctors told him he would be lucky to make it another 12 months. That was two years ago. Sadly, he is the person I am least compassionate to. I'm working on this.  

I love bad jokes. Like, really love them.  
Did you hear the one about the roof?

I want to be covered in amazing tattoos, but I am scared of how some respected family members would react. My parents wouldn’t mind, but other elder family members would. I wish I didn’t care about what they thought of me.



I have severe body image issues. 

I lose everything. Everything. From keys to wallets to sunglasses to jewelry to phones to children. It is, by far, the most frustrating thing. 

The day my husband cried

and it went a little somethin like this... 

me: we need to get rid of the mustang 

to which he typically responses with: 

"I have a buyer lined up. A kid a work..."

(crickets chirping)

A little back story 

We bought the Mustang at the worse possible time; right before a PCS and buying a house. We didn't need the car, we wanted the car. It was a 'welcome back from deployment #839, we missed you. Heres a cool car to show we care.' kinda thing. Completely irresponsible and impulsive and exactly what the military tells you NOT TO DO. And man was it fun... for a little while. Then reality set in. The military only allows you  2 vehicles if living on post (which we were in post housing at that time) and only compensates you for 2 vehicles during a PCS move. We had to come completely out of pocket for the trailer to pull the car across country causing many delays in our travel here. It was a huge pain in the booty. Then it sat in the garage. Just sat there. Started regularly, but we put maybe 20 miles on in it the past year. It was a pointless added expense. 

Yea, it was cool. Yea, it was all manly and he loved to brag about having it, but it was POINTLESS.

Fast Forward

{Yesterday}

me: we need to get rid of the mustang 

him: sell it

(crickets chirping... keyboard clicking) 

me: a guy will be here in 2 hours to look at it.

him: wait, what? what did you do? ... 

me: you told me to sell it. I did. 

awkward silence.... 

{Just like ripping off a band aide, it was over before he knew it} 

A kid, smiling from ear to ear, showed up at our door with his parents. Once we started up the car for them, it was over. The guy was in love. His dad was in love. And his mom couldn't control her smiles as she watched her oldest son and husband beginning to bond over this classic beauty already. It melted my heart to see them all so happy.

Ironically, the kid is an 18 year old new recruit to the Army. He saved up every penny from basic training to buy a car before leaving for AIT.  I can't put into words just how perfect the whole experience felt. Here my husband is, an 'old vet' at this point, and on crutches to top it off, handing over the keys to his beloved 1969 Mustang GT to a brand new soldier. It was a sad day for the Mr.

"Treat her well, kid. Treat her well." 

I'll leave you with this catchy tune to start your weekend.
The song currently on repeat on my phone because my kids FREAKIN LOVE IT!

Eels - Flyswatter

oh is that stuck in your head now? you're welcome :)

WANTED: Life Coach or Mental Hospital

I don't think I'm cut out to be a grownup. Ever feel like this? It simply doesn't feel right. I shouldn't be a 30 year old mom of two! Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change any of it for the world, but some days it feels like I'm wearing someone else shoes.

I'm mostly just joking when I say I want a mentor or life coach, but not really. Right now I feel like I'm at an impasse with furthering my education and career choices. I do not know which path to follow. This is especially concerning now that Dollface will be going to Kindergarten all day, this is my time to finish my education. MY TIME. We've said this ever since we started having kids. I know this mess is my fault- I chose to run off and marry the love of my life and leave school way to young.(Kids- Don't be a love struck 19 yr old & get married at 20!)  

Pat and Becky

sitting in a tree:

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love,

then comes marriage,

then comes baby

in a baby carriage!

We've said all along, that after both kiddos are in school full time, all day, then-FINALLY I get to do the same! MY TIME.

The school I was enrolled in had a BS in Human Services degree & I was working on that. My plan was to finish getting my BS and then transfer to UTEP. At UTEP I wanted work on getting a masters in Occupational Therapy. PERFECT! We are stationed at Biggs Army Air Field (Ft. Bliss) and there is a university right here in town! WHAT! It sounds like it was meant to be, right?! ha Unfortunately I took an almost 2 yr hiatus due to deployment homecomings and PCSing to Texas. In that short time my original school no longer have that program available. Of Course. So now I am trying feverishly to figure out what my next step is. I'm at a loss. A different degree program? A different school? Which school/university? Will my credits transfer in a beneficial way? Oh and there is always that sweet little gem about us only being here for another year or so that plays a huge part too. All the joys of being a military family. Instability at its best. 

***Sidenote: Happy 10yr Anniversary to my Mr.

and no-one else...

Q: If you could go on a long weekend trip away, sans spouse & kids, where would you go? 

For me, I would love to go to Portland, Oregon.  I would love to get a room in Portland, alone, and just stroll the streets, people watch, window shop, read, relax, write, and enjoy all the oddities around. Yep. That would be my go to place. Someday.

Where would you go? To a tropical setting somewhere while the waves beating against the shore? A European adventure?  Or the hustle and bustle of New York City? Or a little tiny no name country cabin away from it all?

 

(via)

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Traditions

Whoa! Where did the time go?
My baby boy. He is now EIGHT. WOW. 
It feels like it was only yesterday that I went for a normal baby o.b. appointment. I had just began to start talking to the doctor about what our plan was going to be if I went past me due date. To my surprise, he called a nurse in & told me "we wont need to worry about that." What?! The nurse enters with a wheelchair to take me up to labor and delivery.
Turns out that our little 'fiery one' was going to make his debut that day!
Fast-forward to major back labor then an emergency c-section and bam. Here he is.
A blue eyed, red haired, button nose, prince charming. 

 

So there you have it. My Aidan. My heart. 
and just a little tidbit- 
In 2004 the name Aidan name was #43 on the most popular list, not #1. We had no idea his name, and several variations of it, would reach such popularity immediately after naming him. 

So that brings me to -Birthday Traditions-

In our house, if its your birthday you are greeted with singing, chocolate chip pancakes and a candle to blow out. Side Note: if your pancakes are still mostly hot, thin candles like these tend to melt and not stand up. 

 

Next weekend is the party. Gosh, I love parties. I'll be honest tho, I'm just not feelin' it this year. Oh well. We are hosting a pool party birthday party this go around. Complete with tons of pool activities and a hotdog bar.Should be a good time & I know I will have camera in hand most of the time, so be sure to come back next week to see the Pool Party post!

I'm interested to know what, if any, traditions you do for your kiddos on their birthdays?!

Revamping the old Life List

Isn't it funny how, at one point in your life, things that seem so important to experience can suddenly seem so unimportant just a few years later? I went back to look at the list that was created years and years ago and all the additions made throughout the past few years. I couldn't help but notice that the way I once saw things was no more. I see things completely differently now. Things that were once so unbelievably important for me to do in life are no longer, yet other things are even more important. Life lessons and maturing are to blame, I'm sure. Am I becoming a more responsible adult? Say it ain't so! I still want to do some of those things, but they no longer feel like a need.

A few additions made to the list were:

*Visit All 50 U.S. States ~  How can I appreciate other countries without truly experiencing and appreciating my own country & state? Unless we get orders to go over seas, odds are that I am not making it out of the U.S. any time soon. Might as well explore!

It looks like I have the lower half taken care of. Oklahoma will be marked off the list next month when the kids and I drive home to Missouri. Then California will be taken care of next summer/fall. We are planning a family vacation to the Legoland Resort & San Diego Sea World.

via

*Planting a minimum of five trees

*Vote in every presidential election throughout my entire life

* Finish my fricken BA then work towards my goal ~ my masters

*Write a children's book dedicated to my two kiddos

*Donate my hair to Locks of Love

*Go to a psychic or a medium ~ OK, Confession: I've actually attempted to visit a psychic a few times and it never worked out... hmm maybe its a sign? Maybe I'm not meant to hear what they have to say??

*Give a homeless person a wrapped gift ~ Everyone loves the excitement from unwrapping gifts! Perhaps Christmas time would be ideal for this.

*Hug a stranger ~ I'm actually sure I've done this, but sometimes people just need to be hugged. I need to start hugging. I used to be such an affectionate person. Always laughing and smiling and hugging someone. I think I grew out of it? I want to get this quality back. 

Do you have a list?

Have you felt the need to revise it lately?

Any suggestions?

 

Just getting something off my chest :)

Manners, Manners, Manners.

It is not hard to be polite. 

It absolutely amazes me when my own wild and crazy kiddos have better manners than most adults I meet these days (in person & online.) Wal-Mart hosts the vilest of people at times. A simple “excuse me” seems to escape their minds as I get cart blocked from the frozen veggies. Or an “oh, I’m sorry” as their cart rams my heel leaving me to feel as Achilles must have felt.  Instead, they turn the other way and ignore any wrongdoing. 

Don't even get me started on parking lot etiquette.

This is not ok.

Just because someone has a tiny car does not give you the 

right to bud in on their parking space.

RUDE!

However, Wal-Mart is not the only place with these types of people, oh no, not even close. I have witnessed a disturbing level of rude behavior on blogs and usually not by the blog authors, but by the followers/visitors. "Anonymous" is a bitch. Let us not forget that when we visit someone’s blog, we are visiting their home, their journal, their outlet.  Not only is it rude to attack the blogger, but it is offensive and intrusive. Would you go to her home and speak to her in that way? If the answer is no, then we should not go to her blog-home and speak with no filter. BELIEVE ME, I have felt the need, many times, to speak my mind and straight up say WTF WHERE YOU THINKING?! However, I do not. Maybe I am a dying breed.  

I typed this up a few weeks ago. I've wanted to post it, but thought it was best to wait until I was no longer upset.

bad juju [update]

Bad juju; a bad vibe or aura.

I smudged our house before we moved in, and I had to do it again today. 

Considering that in the 8 months that we have been here, NOTHING has gone right, there must be bad juju in the air still. {Perhaps left from the previous owners} In reality, this move has not been a smooth transition no matter how many times I try to sugarcoat it and tell myself that it’s all peaches and creme- it’s really not. Everything is jacked up and has been since day one. I do not usually blog about that stuff though. Nope, those lovely details I try keep to myself for the most part. But seeings how I have been in a major funk all week (yes, I know it’s only Wednesday, but for me, that’s far too long to feel like this) maybe I do need to get it all out and off my chest in a soul cleansing sort of way? I think its time to bust out my actual sheets of paper type journal and let it all go once and for all.

Then I can sit back, and let nature take its course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE

I woke to a cold dog nose nudging me and I am happy to say that - Today I feel AMAZING. Refreshed. Calm. 

There a peace in my soul again.

Sometime you just need to let it all out. 

Miscellany

A day in my life is far from exciting, but here it is.

6am: Coffee for me, 7am: food for the pup, 8am: walking the big kids to school, 9am: getting dolled up, 10am, ready to take on the day, 11am: Mah Jong like a boss, Noon: the beast must eat again, 1pm: Mall time alone, 2pm: at the eye doc, 3pm, driving around in the Mr's big old dirty pick up truck, 4pm: taking some time to smell the roses, 5pm: admiring my lovely earrings found at the mall earlier (2 pairs are going to SGT for a bday present, ya know, since I always remember hers), 6pm: ZENNI! gotta get those cheap glasses since I had to get a new script from the doc.

There you have it. A day in the life of...

And now for a little Monday music - -

Oh Monday...

We had such an amazing Spring Break that I did not want to see it end. Redd has already left for school & the Mr off to work, but I'm still kinda in denial. I want them back. I want to go out and explore more and have more fun making memories together. 

I feel like yesterday was robbed from us. 

It was gross. I am still coughing. I now have hours worth of cleanup to do today because of it.

Ever hear of a HABOOB? yea, me either until I moved to the Southwest.
Basically its a disgusting sandstorm type thingy. 

Top photo was taken this morning after the sand settled. 

Bottom one is from most of yesterday.

No joke. - El Paso, you are killing me.

So this manic Monday music song choice is... drum roll please.....

El Paso by Marty Robings
"Wild as the West Texas wind." <--- truth

Timeline

I was sitting here the other night, thinking about, pondering, and pretty much just trying to remember the past few years of my life.

Isn’t it funny how the things that mean so much to you, seem to escape you at times.  So here you have it. The extremely under exaggerated version of my past and how it all plays into how I ended up here.

~~~

2001: age 19 Met Patrick . . . at Wal-Mart. Little did I know...

2002: age 20 took a huge leap of faith and became his bride. Moved nearly 900 miles away from everything I knew to Savannah, Ga. 

2003: age 21 learned to live alone and in a constant state of fear. The war had started any my new husband was right in the middle of it; Kuwait & Iraq. This would be Deployment # 1 and the beginning of a reoccurring nightmare. 

2004: age 22 became a mother for the first time on May 28 

2005: age 23 Deployment #2 - Iraq; baby and I moved back to Missouri for 6 months.

2006: age 24 Deployment # 2 ended and I became a mother for the second time on September 20

2007: age 25 Deployment #3 for the husband - Iraq again.

2008: age 26 Deployment # 3 ended

2009: age 27 Landon Pigg & Among the Oak & Ash live in Atlanta, Ga. with Jessica  
Deployment #4 started - Afghanistan

Write It Out

“Write drunk; edit sober.”

― Ernest Hemingway

Indeed, sir.

The mister and I have been working on a project for the past few years. Its been a slow and maddening progress, but we have been making progress nonetheless.  
Taking Mr. Hemingway's advice helps with the creativity :)

via

For fun.

LOA Already, WHAT!

Tis true. I must take a leave of absence from Roller Derby ALREADY! Not by choice and not due to any injuries. Duty calls, and by that I mean, the husband will be gone for a while with the military. And as any good Army Wife would do, I have to cancel things in my life in order to hold down the fort and take care of things at home while he is away. I'm not complaining or anything, really I'm not. This is a way of life for us. My kids need me home at night more than they need to be at the neighbors (kids may disagree here, they love going to the neighbors.)

Since I will have nothing derby related to blog about for the next month or so, I will leave you with this:

I have heard time & time again that the most descriptively true roller derby quotes are  
"roller derby saved my soul" and "roller derby ruined my life." 
It is very time consuming. The hubs has already showed a slight bit of jealousy towards the amount of time I am either at practice, researching derby rules, or looking for awesome new gear online. But we are still new to the game and I am confident that everything will work itself out.

Here are a few phone snaps from the last week or so:

Snazzy new tights!

de agua

Gots to stay hydrated!

Hijacked the hubs army bag.

Gear fits perfectly in here, who knew?

Skates: check, helmet: check, crappy pads (need these): check,

mouth & wrist guards: check, check

*Ready to rock*