horay for Fridays!

so we're officially home owners now as of Monday.  it feels the same, i'm not at all concerned with the fact that we are now an additional $143,000 in debt.   eh, it's just a number.  :)  the big "full steam ahead!" idea of starting on the little inexpensive improvements has fallen by the wayside for now.  due to a series of massive mis-communications, we found ourselves paying three times the amount at closing that we were planning to pay.  but that's ok, it seems as though we have plenty of time. 
please pray for my womanly parts - i have started tracking my basal temps this month (a fascinating thing!!!) and conditions are perfect for the blessed event, it's just up to God now and i hope we're all on the same page!!! 
work is ok.  we had our super-lame holiday party yesterday.  as expected, it was indeed super-lame.  however everyone else in the company got the afternoon off yesterday but a couple others and i had to work so we are taking the afternoon off today.  (you see clearly that i am hard at work for the few hours today that i AM actually at work, as i update my blog.)  i am going to try to finish some christmas shopping with my friend Valerie.  i dont think i'll be able to go all out as i was planning to do because my company is retarded and promised us our bonus checks would be given out yesterday and then today told us that they would come on the 18th.  and considering that i had to go a good $200 in the red on my checking account to pay for the above mentioned closing costs, and i have nto yet paid my portion of the bills for the month, i will have to tone it down a smidge.  (or just use my visa more, which is probably the likely of the two)  grr.  i'm sure thankful for my good credit! 
so i hope everyone is doing well and staying warm.  we have used our fireplace a couple of times and have finally figured out how to do so without creating the flash back that almost catches our clothes on fire!  go us!  (fyi - open the floo and barely turn on the gas when trying to light it.) 
life is one big learning experience! :)

k

i dont really have anything exciting to say, just wanted to share some silliness.  :)

i'm super excited for Thanksgiving.  mom and dad are coming with betsy and angel - should be pretty awesome.  we're having dinner with our friend Valerie and her daughter, her husband is over making sand castles so we wanted to make sure she got some lovin at the holidays.  there's a chocolate exibit at union station in KC so we'll all go to the plaza Friday to check that out and see the lights with Joe and Claudia.  and the euro pottery store has buy one get one free happening friday and saturday... uh oh.  :)

not much to report on the house-buying front.  we're waitng for the bank to give us the green light to close, i havent heard from the sellers about if they are going to fix anything before we do that, but judging by how unwilling they have been to work with us, i dont imagine we'll get anything.  but i asked all the same.

house-buying update

so i think we're just about done with the house-buying stuff... at least i hope.  we have agreed on a contract, all parties have signed it, and the bank is now doing their thing.  we have a home inspection this Sunday afternoon, so i think that will be the deciding factor on how difficult this will be.  the seller has made it clear that if after the inspection, there is a lot of extensive work to be done, we shouldnt count on much from them.  so i'm hoping very much that everything will be acceptable.  the inspection company we went with came very highly recommended and they encourage us to be there and follow the guy around and ask lots of questions, so that will be good.  charles will like that.  so if everything is good after the inspection, then we just have to wait for the bank to finish their hula hooping and then we go in and close!  our goal is november 30th so we can get that tax credit.  even though i think it was officially extended, i still want to be done by then so we dont have to pay rent in december.  we're bleeding ourselves pretty dry here even though we dont have to come up with money down.  buying a house around the holidays was not our wisest move, but i'm sure it will work out well.  this month is just tight.  but oh well, blessings all around so i can't complain too much.
i'm looking forward to thanksgiving - mom and dad will come up and we will have some friends over to join us for dinner.  this is pretty much the only holiday time i will get with mom and dad, so i'm sure we'll make the most of it.  i dont think i'll be doing any "black friday" shopping this year... mostly because of lack of funds.  but that's ok.  there will be plenty of leftovers to eat!  horay for sweat pants!!

Halloween event

so yes, my work duties required that i do a massive event for the residents for Halloween.  behold: "The 3rd annual Halloweenie Roast and Costume Contest sponsored by the Fort Leavenworth Fire Department and Frontier Heritage Communities".  blech.

this is Arlene, the inspector, and to her right is Denise (my boss)... behind her is Michael, her whatever..

we gave away over 700 hot dogs in 2 hrs.

harry potter costume - YESSSS!  at one point i caught this little boy "fighting" with a ninja and his two ninja swords and he said to the ninja "You better watch out!  i know the killing curses!!"  cracked me up!

the Alice in Wonderland family - way cute.

the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of one of the costume contests. 

the Star Wars family - i see this in our future.

a tiny chahuahua puppy in a pumpkin costume eating a hot dog that was about as big as he was.. way cute

fall at Fort Leavenworth

so i've been meaning to take fall pictures of leaves for a couple of weeks now and i've finally done it, unfortunately i waited until most of the leaves had turned and/or fallen off the tree. but here are a few good ones that Claudia and i took this week:

my weekend

so other than painfully missing my husband who was in wichita for the weekend at a birthday party, i had an AWESOME weekend!  aaah how beautiful is life when surrounded by loving friends!  my resident superhero, Elizabeth, and her trusty sidekick Matt braved the 3 hr drive to come see me with 2 little ones.  i can't really imagine how much trouble it really was to make the trip, especially with Matt not feeling well and missing out on some football games, but the van was loaded down pretty well, so i'm guessing there wasnt much left at their house without them.  anyway, we had a great time!  they took me out to dinner and a show - the Melanie show.  (highlights included "MOM!  I HAVE TO GO POOOOOOP!", which is always funny... but probably not so much so to mom after the 10th or 12th time...)  then Dora and Ariel helped us brush our teeth.  i think we mostly slept through the night and then woke up to have some buscuits with our hair going in all directions.  after getting cleaned up we then got things ready for my chocolate party (the "reason for the visit").  time in the kitchen with lizabeth - gooood.  and then of course we ate chocolate.  and that's good too.  :)
really, the best part of it all was seeing Matt and Elizabeth as parents.  You all who read this and are already parents, i dont imagine you see yourselves as i do, the one without kids... well, you might, i dont know... but it's pretty amazing.  spending time with my friends this weekend was the coolest.  we are all still pretty much as we were *10 years ago* in high school.  matt is still quiet, still clearly wants nothing more out of life than to please and take care of his family.  lizabeth is still one of the most creative, brilliant, patient and loving people i know.  we can still laugh about completely rediculous things for no reason at all, she's still my best friend. but now they're all that stuff plus "mom" and "dad".  and it's just the coolest thing ever for me to see.  their kids are just like they are: extremely intelligent, polite, creative, all good things.  i really enjoyed the experience. 
unfortunately, i didnt take many pictures of their visit.  elizabeth put a few up on her blog that she took, but here are mine:

i showed melanie how to turn on and off the lamp with the little button that you hit with your foot, she was pretty excited about it.

Claire was resting up for the drive home, wanted to make sure to be on high alert for the next 3 or 4 hrs of car seat time.

financial adventures

so when we moved into the house we're in now, it was "for sale" or "for rent".  obviously we chose to rent.  in keeping with the "wild hair up our butts" theme of 2009, i.e. - buying 2 new luxury cars in a 3 month period - we have decided to try and buy our house.  yes, i realize we are in the military.  but for Charles' job field, Ft Leavenworth is the #1 duty station out of about 4 or 5 remaining possibilities that he could be stationed.  in the last 2 years, at least 2 or 3 other prisons have been closed and everyone is coming here, hence the 2nd new prison in this post that is opening soon.  so IF we ever do get transfered somewhere else, after our 2 or 3 years there, we'll be coming right back here.  simply put, it is likely that of the 15+ years he has left before retirement, we will be here at LEAST 10 years of it. 
so yes, if we can pull this off and close on it before November 30th, we will get the $8000 tax credit next year on our return.  throw that in the bin with the tax credits we'll get for buying 2 new cars this year, and that'll be niiiice. 
how will we pay for this adventure, you ask?  we wont.  behold the miracle of the VA Loan: we go to a financial institution that will give us 5.125% interest on our house, they contact the VA and get us set up for the VA loan and then the loan covers EVERYTHING allowing us to buy a home with absolutely NO money out of pocket AT ALL.  so if we can get the closing costs and all that crap rolled into the loan, which i imagine we can, then we're good.  plus, right now our rent is $1150, but a house payment would obviously be LESS because it's ours.  so by doing this, we will actually SAVE money each month but still receive $1266 from Uncle Sam each month to pay for housing.  cha-ching.
so i'm doing all the footwork and will be calling the bank today.  i've already put a call into the landlord to find out what their asking price is.  oh, and i have 1 co-worker who's a real estate agent on the weekends and is providing her services for free, and another co-worker who's a property manager and will manage the home when/if we have to move away for a bit.  TOO EASY!

"if i could be anywhere"

if i could be anywhere

it wouldnt be here.

perhaps i'd be eating

with loved ones more near.

my friends and my family,

you bring me such joy!

we could cook something tasty

or shop out our hearts,

maybe go to Russsel Stovers

and fill up our carts.

the sun would be shining

but a cool breeze would blow.

Carlitos and Bean Weens

could be everywhere i go.

maybe we'd travel

someplace farther away.

i'd take lots of pictures,

new things every day!

aaahhh daydreams are glorious

they keep me from work. 

welcome distractions from an office of jerks!

waiting for my turn

so i'm down with the whole "wait till the time is right", "you're just not ready yet", "it will happen soon/on it's own/etc." thing.  i get it, if God wanted me to be a mom, i'd be a mom.  but here lately i'm wanting it so badly that it almost makes me cry!  yesterday at work i googled "infant photography" and found some random professional photographer in michigan or something that takes the most beautiful pictures of babies and i seriously sat at my desk for about 10 minutes with tears in my eyes looking at these photos.  i see the joy in the lives of all my friends with kids and i want that for Charles and me.  we're extremely happy and in an awesome place right now in our lives, but i wish God thought it was our turn for that next step!  sure i'm not in very good shape physically, and sure we have 2 big car payments right now - but i'm doing better at taking care of myself and we're going to have car payments for the next 5 years, so that's just life.  we've been trying since he got home - going on 8 months now.  granted, the first 6 months were extremely stressful so i dont think they really count - but all the same, for a brief period of time in those 6 months, i WAS pregnant, so i know it's possible.  now life is beautiful and we are stronger than ever and i really think we're ready.... but God's not 100% on board i guess. 
next Friday is the feast day of Saint Gerard Majella, the patron saint of motherhood.  my good friend Deanna sent me the link to a website about him (http://www.praying4ababy.com/stgerard.html) and i have it bookmarked on my desk at work so when i'm reflecting a lot on it i will click on it and say the prayer for motherhood.  i know it will happen eventually, hopefully soon, i'm just getting impatient.  the military lifestyle isnt the greatest for continual stress-free baby making.  charles will likely be gone for a couple months after the first of the year for school, and will possibly be gone for longer for something else and then we would move, so i feel like every month that passes is one more month of failure and brings us one month close to a period of time apart, during which no baby making will happen. 
sorry to rant and rave, i'm just thinking about it a lot lately.  if it occurs to you, say some prayers.  thanks all. :)

random stuff

so i'm at work and got my most pressing projects out of the way so i'm sort of killing time and thought i'd post some pictures from my computer.

this is "my group" in a picture taken at our poorly-attended housewarming party.  but as always, my friends were there in force.  Left to right: Joe and Claudia, me and Carlitos, Shawn and Christina.  Shawn is the newest addition to the bunch.  he and christina have been together a few months now and we've never seen her happier.  he's a super nice guy and treats her very well, much to our delight.  this was the first time we all got to really visit with him and he passed the inspection.

i'm not 100% sure when this was taken, not too long ago - i think for grandma's birthday... maybe mine.. i'm not sure.  but it has grandma in it, so it's cool.  gotta love grandma.

here's my sweet bean weens.  carlitos thought it would be funny to put a handcuff key on her collar, you know, in case one of the three or four pairs of handcuffs that he has stashed around the house are used against us someday and my some miracle, beanie is left untouched - we simply have to call for her (and hope she feels like listening for once) and then we will be saved due to his forethought in putting the handcuff key on her collar now.

yes, funny... and odd... but funny first... i guess...

my dog is cute, so i dont care.

purse addiction?

so a coworker just called me to tell me about a website that her cousin told her about.  i, personally, do not have a purse addiction but i DO love to shop, and i thought this was a super cool idea and wanted to share.  check out this website: http://www.michebag.com/

new and exciting vegetables

so my recent encounters with the South Beach diet did not leave my waistline much smaller (although admittedly i wasnt hard core on the diet, which is probably why), but it did give me a new set of cooking and eating practices which i believe to be more healthy and something i can stick with to feed my family.

behold my spaghetti squash:

once you manage to find a store in town that carries it (i searched 4 or 5 stores before i found it at the one right around the corner from my house...), cut it in half and bake it for 1 hr at 350*. then let it cool and take a fork and scrape out the inside and Wa La - Spaghetti Squash! i got half of a gallon bag full and have no idea what to do with it now. but it's a start! :)

i am not as much "down with the sickness" as i was, drugs help. still a bit flemmy but mostly ok. just tired.

upcoming work event: next Thursday i'm doing a "Free Family Movie Night". should be rediculously easy and will earn me about 3 hrs "comp time" to leave early on Friday, which is handy because....

upcoming personal life event: we are going to the MP Ball!!! it's next Friday and i'm going with my friend Valerie on Saturday to buy a dress. (moo) i tried on my junior prom dress and it fits, suprisingly, but i dont think it's appropriate as there are slits up the sides that come waaaay too high on my thigh. did i seriously wear that to Mass? good lord.... so i'm hoping to find something classy on clearance... we'll see.

in the more immediate future, Charles is having his Lasik surgery done THIS Friday the 18th really early in the morning. We're driving out to Ft. Riley Thursday evening and staying in a hotel because we have to be to the hospital there at 6:45. should be good. he's been too busy with work to get nervous so far, but i'm sure thursday night will be touchy. also, his dad is NOT coming to visit this coming weekend and has postponed it until next weekend. .........

what's happening in my world

i feel like poop. i have a brick-o-snot in my nose. but hey! i'm not at work! (also not getting paid... but whatever) i'm happy that it's friday, even if my workweek only consisted of a day and a half, i'm still happy it's friday because saturday and sunday are the two days when i dont have to feel guilty for not accomplishing anything. sometimes i kill time on the internet at work and although i usually dont have anything else to do at work, i still feel guilty for doing so on company time. also, my employer makes no secret of the fact that somehow they have the capability of spying on people's computers. they can see every site i've gone to and when and for how long. it creeps me out big time.
i have not yet eaten breakfast, i think today will be oatmeal with chocolate chips. while chocolate chips are admittedly not the healthiest choice, i do think i eat well the rest of the time. i even bought real oatmeal instead of "quick oats" thinking that it will be higher in fiber. and i've been drinking skim milk for quite some time - something i swore i would never do. (big suprise... i should swear i'll never be a skinny millionare and see what happens!) i have also been buying sugar free things and they're not bad at all. lots of veggies too. yet somehow i am not losing weight at all. either i'm eating twice as much food as i should be, or exercise really is the key. probably both.... but for now i do not in any way feel inclined to do either.
i'm loving life in this new house. it's still kind of surreal to come home to it after work. it is with supreme happiness that i wake up extra early every morning to make the 15-20 minute drive to get to work as opposed to my 5 minute drive on post. we have a ton of stuff, and i dont really care about our stuff because it's just stuff. stuff stuff stuff. too much stuff. but the person (just one person) that i share that stuff with is what makes it nice. my husband and i have a home. that is the thought that makes me smile every day and makes me wake up every morning and live my day in a thankful way. i will never take that for granted again.

my adventures in photobucket

ok, so much to my suprise, the photobucket album posting worked but i dont know how to label pictures. so some of them are from the deconstruction of the old house and then the rest from the new house. enjoy!
also, there is a small nugget of a picture of my new car in there somewhere. i will do a more detailed photo documentation once it's clean.
:)

funny

moving is done, now we're unpacking (almost done with that) and i hope to be decorating tomorrow after a trip to Kirklands and Hobby Lobby. We had some excitement and switcharoos with the house we were originally supposed to get: the morning of signing the landlord called and let me know that the foundation was leaking and basement flooded. no thanks!!!!!!! so by 1pm that afternoon, we had found a house 10x better for just $150 more a month and began moving in Wednesday. i'll update with pictures soonish!

birthday weekend

so i went back home for my birthday weekend and for a bridal shower of a friend. much fun was had. and as i'm sitting at work not feeling especially productive and anticipating the busy week of moving (and spending time with mom!!), i downloaded some pictures from my camera and feel compelled to add them to my bloggity blog.

Since the occasions are so rare that the three of us are in the same place at the same time, we always mark the occasion by taking a group photo. as we were under the influence of the deamon chocolate cake, we opted for silliness instead of the usual "ok girls, try and look skinny!"

Claire likes toes.

I love grandma :)

moving will commence tomorrow afternoon - i'll take pictures!

moving

so the plan to move into our new rental house off post at the end of the month has just been accelerated. the people currently living in our house are signing a lease for a house on post as i type. this means that they will spend the weekend moving OUT of their current house (my future house) and in theory, we will sign for the new house sometime towards the end of this week coming. anyone with a strong sudden desire to assist in the moving process next weekend is cordially invited to the Lansing/Leavenworth area - but realistically the party will consist of us, a couple of my friends up here and my parents (because they rock).
i dont know if there will be any painting involved, but it's possible. we will need to buy curtains, shower curtains, and to pay for the duct work and carpets to be professionally cleaned/disinfected.
in addition to the obvious excitement for a change of scenery, this move presents the relief that we have been longing for: life alone with just the two of us. although i dont know with 100% certainty, i am mostly sure that our squatters will not be making the move with us. please pray that this is how it works out. regarless, they will be gone by the end of the month, but i am hoping that they will opt to move only once - away. now. this will be the topic of discussion tonight at my house, as neither of us have had a chance to break the news to them yet seeing as we just found out this afternoon.
i will post pictures of the new casa as soon as i have any (or in reality, about a month after i move in...) it'll be great!

4th of July - pt. 2

so yes, i realize that 4th of july was about 3 weeks ago... whatever. here are some more of the pictures i took in my travels around post while waiting for the previously mentioned flag ceremony. it's so pretty here!
(my camera lense was foggy because it was really humid that afternoon, but it looks kinda cool)

Ft Leavenworth 4th of July - pt 1

So by far, the highlight of my 4th of July (other than spending it with my husband) was getting to watch him lead the ceremony to lower the Garrison flag. The Garrison flag is a special flag that has never been flown at Ft. Leavenworth, for some reason they chose this year to be the start of it and they flew it during the day - raising it at the morning trumpet call and lowering it during the evening trumpet call. It was MASSIVE!!!!! Above is a picture of it flying in front of the Lewis and Clark building, this is the college for all the officers. The ceremony was supposed to be well-attended by a bunch of Post dignitaries, but it wasnt. That's ok, it was still really cool.

This is when it was being lowered. Charles led the team, gave the commands, and folded the flag:


That's him at the beginning of the line standing in the middle - see, it's a BIG flag!! It took 12 people to fold and hold it.


folding...

now carrying it back to the start all folded up - it took up his entire trunk of his car when he returned it to the MP station.

cool huh?! :) I also drove around that day and took pictures of the cemetary and such, i'll post those some other time, i'm just distracting myself at work and thought i'd post these.