"A" list

Let me begin with a sincere thank you and apology for my last post.  I was completely caught off guard by the overwhelming response to my post about Jeremy.  So many of you sent me such nice and thoughtful texts and Facebook messages.  I truly felt all of your love and support and am so grateful to be surrounded by so many positive and uplifting friends.  I do want to apologize to those I might have offended- this is personal and simply a collection of my thoughts and feelings.  I do not intend to upset or offend anyone and I am deeply sorry if I have.


Lots of you have been asking about the infamous list of cities we have to choose from for our relocation preferences.  While I'm not going to share our list/rankings, I will share a few cities from the official list we have to choose from.  These are just a few of our choices...

Chicago

Omaha

St. Louis

Houston

New York City

Seattle

Los Angeles

Anchorage

New Orleans

Louisville

Norfolk

Pittsburgh

Tampa

San Diego

Miami

Atlanta

Dallas

Knoxville

San Juan

Kansas City

Phoenix

Salt Lake City

Birmingham

Denver

I randomly chose these from the list but I will let you know that our #1 is on this list.  As a matter of fact our #2 is on there too!  This whole process is so incredibly exciting and yet stressful and overwhelming.  Its tough to rank 56 cities!  So much thought absolutely has to go into this process- they will consider our relocation based off of our preferences so we have to make sure that we have it ranked correctly! 

I've said it once before and I'll say it again now-  I think we have really surprised ourselves with where it is we want to go!  Way back in the very beginning I wanted to list St. Louis as our #1.  I wanted to be close to my brother and my Dad and there was no way anyone was talking me out of my choice!  Well Matt moved and some other things impacted my decision and I've since moved it down on my list...  Then well fell in love with a city... Our hearts were set and we wrote down our list, in ink.  It was permanent, official, for real.  Well... not so much.  We thought Jeremy had to turn the list in his first week.  We're starting week 5 and he still hasn't had to submit it.  It has been frustrating but we decided to review our list and make some changes... Now we have a new list; it is very similar to the original one because we just can't fall out of love with this one city... :o)


We've decided to keep our preference list private because of so many negative comments about where we want to go.  We are looking at this as an adventure.  We have an opportunity to move to a new city easily with a GREAT JOB and amazing support system already lined up!  We are taking full advantage and choosing a city that is intriguing, exciting, and what we want!  While we appreciate advice, feedback, and personal preference we are sticking with our gut.  It is always easy to give advice but not so easy to follow your own...

The reveal date of our relocation has been pushed back and is now sometime in August... I am looking forward to FINALLY finding out and sharing our exciting news with all of you!


Until I blog again... farewell friends!

it ain't getting any easier...

Jeremy and I are finishing up our fourth week apart. This is by far the longest we've ever spent apart and sadly it isn't getting any easier. The first night I was home was absolutely the worst. His towel was still hanging in the bathroom, his cup from breakfast a few mornings before was still in the sink, and when I laid down in our bed I could still smell his cologne.  I'm pretty sure I cried for three or four days straight. I could hardly look at our son or walk into our bathroom where his things were noticeably absent from the counter and drawers. I think I sat in our closet for an hour one night wrapped up in one of his t-shirts just sobbing.  And sadly, I just changed our sheets last night...

I know that he is only gone for a while and I haven't lost him forever.  I know that in a few weeks I'll look back at all of this and it will seem like it was nothing but right now it feels like an eternity since I've last seen him or will see him again. He doesn't have cell service and even if he did he can't have his phone with him during the day. We can't text and the only thing we can do is Skype and FaceTime in the evenings and on the weekends.

I honestly thought this whole process would be different. I've always been strong and have never needed anyone to hold my hand but this is just different. Life here hasn't stopped- I still have the same responsibilities if not more without him here. Our son has had major separation anxiety and won't let me out of his sight. I lay in his bed with him at night until he is asleep and I sneak out to my room where I lay awake until 1 or 2 am. Shortly after I drift off I hear little feet running down the hall to my room and my little man is climbing into bed with me. He says things like "don't leave me Mommy" and "where are you going Mommy" when I try to walk into the kitchen or take a shower. It is heart breaking.

I have to be honest here- I was slightly looking forward to Jeremy being gone. We are creeping up on our 5th anniversary this September and things were slowing down and becoming even more comfortable between us. I thought that this time apart would be good and I hoped that he would appreciate me more. What I wasn't thinking about was how much I took him for granted and what little appreciation I had for him. Until he was gone I didn't realize how much he helped out with around the house and house much he did with Gage. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have a husband who would do so many things without me having to ask. A husband who put myself and Gage first. He would never ever choose to spend a day of doing something alone, for himself, or without Gage and I. I didn't think I'd miss his terrible jokes, his awful dance moves, and his smelly wash cloth hanging in the shower.  I miss the wrong way he folded our towels and how he would drive the hell out of our car.   

I miss every single thing about him.

I don't feel like myself at all. I don't ever want to leave the house, I don't want to talk to anyone or see anyone. I don't even feel like doing laundry, cleaning, or putting anything away. Thank goodness for my Gram- she has literally been coming over nearly every day and keeping up with my house. In the midst of all of this change we are still tying to sell our house and the fear that we might not sell it is overwhelming.

I am ever so thankful to have Gage. He brings so much joy and laughter to my life. I don't think I could get through this without him. I need him like he needs me. Being alone with him has been challenging and we've certainly pushed each other's buttons over the last few weeks but he is my strength and what gets me through the tough days. He is so much like his Daddy it is scary. From his facial expressions to his mannerisms and infectious laugh it's like I have Jeremy here with me always.

I'm trying to stay strong for Jeremy and Gage but it's tough. Questions like "Why you have tears come down Mommy?" remind me to hide my emotions from Gage and thankfully my tears can't always been seen over the webcam. I'm hoping that once our assignment is revealed I will be a bit more busy and have less time to think about how incredibly alone I feel.

Right now I'm counting down the days until Gage and I get to see Jeremy. I'm sure it will be an emotional reunion and I am elated that it is only a few weeks away. I've been debating on just packing up the car and driving 10 hours to Quantico and surprising him but I know that's not the best plan. We're trying to save every last penny for our big move. There are so many things we want and want to do the sacrifice right now will be worth it.

So I'm going to stop with my pitty party and focus on the positives- only 20 days until we get to see each other and only 4 hours until he calls again. Hug your significant others, you'll miss them if they're ever gone.

I love you with my whole heart for my whole life Jeremy.

champagne taste on a beer budget

Have I mentioned yet that my husband and I are ELATED that we get to move?  We simply cannot wait to find out where we will be relocated and have spent countless hours researching all of the different areas we could move to.  We definitely have our preference of where we would like to go-  no, I'm still not going to tell you our preferences right now but I promise I'll post our list after we are assigned! I think we've really surprised ourselves with where we would like to go.

With that being said, my mind has been full of ideas for our new house!  My addiction to Pinterest has only grown and my boards are filling up quickly.  I'm totally in love with neutral colors and have a growing appreciating of "pops" of color.  I am obsessed with turquoise, gray, mint and coral!  Here are a few of my favorite pins for the home... 

I am in love with the looks in these homes!  But with a gorgeous home and matching gorgeous decor comes a hefty price!  I've been trying to collect small things here and there that we can take with us to our new home but it has proven to be quite difficult!  How do you buy things for a house you don't have yet with money you don't have yet either?  Most everything I want is ridiculously expensive to purchase new or would cost an arm and a leg to just buy the supplies let alone the time to make it!  I guess I'll have to continue planning my dream home in my head and through my Pinterest pins, sigh...  

I'm dying to find an old dresser that I can paint and refinish but I'm not having much luck.  I don't have $200 laying around to spend on a dresser that I will try to paint and my hubs won't let me paint our current furniture.  I'm a fan of the Georgia based business Southern Priss on Facebook and I HIGHLY suggest you check out her site.  She and her husband paint and refinish some AMAZING vintage pieces of furniture.  They even build custom furniture. (As soon as we figure out our house/moving situation I'm SO ordering a custom kitchen table from them!)  She auctions off her pieces on Facebook fairly often; first person who comments SOLD wins! Only problem for me is that she is located in Brunswick, GA;  I was lucky enough to win a gorgeous old farm table a few months ago and had to literally wait months until my step-dad could drive it up here for me.   Click here to visit Southern Priss!

My most favorite item that I've purchased "early" for our new house is this set of nesting baskets! Here is the original pin from Pinterest: 

I LOVE these and I LOVE the whole idea!  I spent about a month or so searching in stores and online for a similar set and finally found a set here:  Ventana Nesting Tote.  I actually found this set on my cousin's wedding registry so I ordered a set for myself :o)  (Thanks for registering for these Justin and Becky!)

I also found this mirror on Amazon.com that I think is similar enough the one in the photo I posted of the mint green bedroom.  I've ordered it and and I'm waiting on it to come in!  I haven't decided if I want to leave it gold or try to paint it white or a metallic silver. 

I hope you're enjoying my blog- I'd love to know what you think so please feel free to leave comments and/or feedback for me!  

Farewell Friends!

thank you! thank you!

Wow!  What a warm welcome and overwhelming response to my return to my blog!  Y'all sure do know how to make a girl feel good!  I am truly humbled by all of your kind words and encouragement and even by the few I've "inspired" to blog!  Although I am relatively new to this I must say that writing is something that comes naturally to me.  When I first decided to start blogging I wondered what I would write about and somehow I come up with the words to say... or, er umm... write :o)

So first things first.  I'd like to share some of the projects that I've been working on over the past two weeks.  I am addicted to Pinterest but come on, who isn't these days?  A few weeks ago while I was pinning along I realized that I had over 600 pins on my boards and I hadn't made or attempted to make any of things I had pinned!  So I decided that I was going to try my hand at some of the seemingly easy and amazing pins!

My first try was a wreath.  Let me first say that I was SO HAPPY with the results!  And proud- you betcha!  BUT this wreath was nowhere near cheap or as inexpensive as others had bragged about on Pinterest!  I spent close to $50 bucks on this thing!  Needless to say, it will be "hanging around" for a long, long time!

my little helper :)

LOVE my wreath!

The next thing I wanted to try was as DIY Mercury Glass Lamp.  The tutorial was simple enough; old lamp, Krylon Looking-Glass spray paint, spray bottle of water, a little tape and presto: a mercury glass looking lamp.  I was thrilled to find an amazing deal on a great lamp on Craigslist.  I scored my lamp for $10!  I spent about $15 on spray paint- I bought primer, metallic paint, and after checking Lowe's and two different Wal-Mart stores I finally found the looking-glass spray paint. I taped up the important parts, primed my lamp, sprayed it with water, and applied the looking-glass paint.  Although the can of paint clearly states that it is for use on glass objects, the tutorial said nothing about the item you paint having to be glass.  The looking-glass spray paint was a waste of time and money.  I wouldn't stick to the lamp, actually pulled away the primer and the sprayed water that was supposed to give it that "distressed" look just looked like, well, beads of water.  I ended up wiping down the whole lamp and re-spraying the entire thing with silver metallic paint.  I blotted it with a paper towel for a nice somewhat distressed look.  The pictures don't' really do it justice but it turned out to be a gorgeous lamp.  I found a great new shade at Wal-Mart for $15 that I think really sets it off!

before

I had also seen a lot of pictures of rope-wrapped jars and cans.  It looked simple enough and I just happened to have an extra empty pickle jar laying around.  I picked up some rope at Lowe's, fired up my glue gun, and ended up with a pretty cute little jar.  My husband says it has a beachy feel and I tend to agree.  I'm not sure what I'll use it for but for now its sitting out on my kitchen counter collecting miscellaneous change- feel free to stop by and drop some spare change in ;o)

 

So these are the only projects I've been able to get around to but my next plan is a trip to Ikea to pick up an awesome shoe cabinet for our future new home!  I hope that my small attempts at some Pinterest projects inspire you to try some of your favorite pins!

Until I blog again... farewell friends!

UPDATE!

I almost forgot to share my very first Pinterest project that ever I attempted!  I painted this silhouette of my son, Gage.  I am so so proud of myself for painting this of my baby!  It was so incredibly difficult to get a good profile shot of my ever active little guy but boy was it worth the effort!  I will treasure this always :o)

Gage Alexander, 2 years, 9 months

cake decorator in training

As many of you know, I've been trying my hand at this cake baking/decorating thing lately and I have to say I am pretty pleased with how it is going!  I took a basic cake decorating class in September of 2009 and learned a few things about how to stack and ice a cake.  I learned nothing about fondant in the class so I have taught myself everything I know.  Some of the cakes I have made have been for my family at their request but most of them have been freebies that I have made on my own and brought over to birthday parties or given to friends.  I'd like to share some of my work with you and appreciate any feedback- positive or negative!  I'm trying to come up with a name for my little cake business and hope to expand and create more cakes for family, friends, and strangers!

first ever cake!

cake with coordinating cupcakes

my first ever buttercream cake

mini shark cake

autobot

graduation farm cake

pirate ship cake

frosty cake!

blue jeans with buckle

Can anyone tell my how to rotate my pictures lol?? :o)

If you are interested in a cake please let me know!  I would be delighted to create a cake for you or your loved one for their special occasion!  

temporary single mom back to bloggin'

So its been a LONG time since I've posted to my blog!  Blogging has always been something that interested me and I find that I am reading a lot of other peoples blogs so I've decided to get back to mine and share it with all of you!  I want to share what is going on in our lives- where we are, what we're up to, and of course some of the projects that I've been working on from Pinterest!

As most of you know my family and I are going through some MAJOR changes!  Due to the specific nature of the changes, I am not able to fully disclose the details but our closest family and friends know what is happening!  

Jeremy left on June 17 for 20 weeks of training!!  I'm starting my 4th week as a "temporary single Mom" and let me tell ya- IT IS HARD!  First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due- I didn't realize just how much my husband helped me out not only with our son but with things in the house as well!  I am the only one here to do EVERYTHING!  I am the resident chef, handy-mom, bug killer, boo-boo kisser, dog walker, house keeper, bill payer, lawn mower, clothes washer/folder, scary dream calmer, bather, dresser of the kiddo- you name it and I'm doing it!  I never imagined I would be so exhausted or have such little patience after such a short amount of time.   

I have to give a BIG THANK YOU to my awesome Gram and Gramps and in-laws for helping me out with Gage and some things around the house.  I also have to give a shout out to my best friend Amber for lending an ear and getting me out of the house!  

Amber and I (I can't believe this is the most recent pic of us that I have!)

Gage and Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw

Gage and "Granford" (he made that up himself)

Gage and his great-grandma and Granna

So with about 16 weeks to go until Jeremy completes his training we do have some exciting things happening in the interim!  On July 25 we will find out where we will be moving!  We are ELATED at the idea of moving somewhere new and exciting!  We are so grateful for the opportunity that has been presented to us and have been doing major research on the 56 regional field offices that we could possibly be sent to.  We have ranked them from our 1st choice to our 56th choice and boy was that hard!  We have received a lot of negative comments from our family when we voice our opinion on where we would like to go...  I was even told that if we chose the region we were thinking of as our #1 choice that we would never make it and that we would fail if assigned to that area.  That was really hard to hear and really hurt my feelings.  We are making this decision together, just Jeremy and I.  We are researching all of our options and making a decision that fits our needs, wants, and desires.  It might be hard and we might struggle but we welcome the challenge.  Jeremy turns in our preference list this week!  The suspense is killing us!  After we find out our assignment I will post our top 5 choices but until then, its a secret!  

priorities...?

So its been a while since my last blog... Blogging is something I had planned to do everyday but I have found out that I am way to busy! The past two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye and I have found myself questioning my top priorities. What is MOST important to me? Do I really have time to do ALL of the things that I want to do??

Over the last 8 months my life has changed dramatically! First and most important, I became a MOMMY! A few months later, I decided to take a cake decorating class. A few weeks later I enrolled full time at Asbury College to finish my degree in Elementary Education to become a teacher. A few weeks after that I decided I wanted to create personalized bracelets so I started a little "business". We took our first mini family vacation to Pigeon Forge Then there was Christmas... We traveled to my Dad's in Southern Illinois. We visited Jeremy's family in Louisville. We spent Christmas at home with my Mom and Grandparents. We rang in the New Year and watched Gage go from a sitting baby, to a rolling baby, to an almost crawling baby. He clapped his hands for the first time, said "Mama" for the first time, and his first tooth came through! Somewhere in between we celebrated some milestone birthdays (my Gramps turned 75 and my brother (see Matt, I didn't call you my "little brother" oh... wait... hehe) turned 21!)

WHOA!

Life is happening way too fast! The past week I spent every night doing something. I came home right after work, spent maybe a few hours with Gage, worked on laundry and some things around my house, made a few bracelets, blogged, and worked on a mountain of homework. I was exhausted when last weekend finally came but couldn't relax because I still had A LOT left to do! I need to grocery shop, pay a few bills, clean up the garage, change bedsheets, clean bathrooms... I decided that I needed to re-evaluate what my priorities were and focus on my top 3.

So what are my TOP priorities??

#1 is GAGE and JEREMY. Hands down these two are my most important.
#2 is sort of a tie. I have no choice but to work, so it is obviously very important to me. I want to work in a school so finishing my degree is even more important so that I can achieve my goals and live my dream.
#3 is my house. I can't live in a messy house. Period. I don't do mess. I don't do dirt. I don't do piles of laundry or dishes. I HAVE TO HAVE A CLEAN AND ORGANIZED HOUSE!

Numbers 4, 5, 6 and so on vary from day to day. Sometimes I want to blog (today!) Sometimes I want to catch up on my "business" and make a few bracelets and sometimes I want to make a cake for my family or a friends birthday. Some days I want to lounge all day and catch up on Teen Mom or The Real Housewives of Orange County ( I am currently about 3 weeks behind on both!) I want to go to a movie or shopping and I really want to take another little family trip. I can't let these last few things come in front of my top 3 so I've had to make some though sacrifices!

I already feel sooo much better this week focusing on only 3 important tasks. I feel more comfortable while I'm in class- I have had time to focus on homework and have been able to read the next chapter for Thursday's class. I have been able to dedicate a lot more time to Jeremy and Gage. We have had so much fun rolling from one side of the room to the other and splashing in the bath tub. Work is work. No change there. :o) I've been able to sit down and plan our first family vacation to the beach and I've even been brainstorming ideas for Gage's first birthday party!

I'm planning on moving blogging closer to #4... I really enjoy writing and putting my feelings down. I love sharing what is going on in my life with my "readers" and hope that you too have enjoyed hearing about my life. So, until my next free moment, enjoy my last blog and maybe think about your priorities and make a positive change in your life!