Well, we have more information about what’s going to be happening early next year, but I’m not sure that Rob really wants me to post it on the blog just yet.  As soon as we get more information and Rob gives the green light to let everyone know what the deal is, I’ll let you know.

Today is Halloween and Rob wants to dress up for the kiddies that come by for Trick or Treats, but we don’t have any costumes.  I’ve never dressed up to give out candy…lol  We’re also going to watch The Shining.  Rob got a gift certificate from my brother and sister in law for his birthday and one of the things he got was that movie.  It’s about 1 of 3 scary movies I’ll sit down and watch!!!!

In addition, we’re going to Bitburg to pick up the Mini tomorrow.  Woohoo!  Very excited about this!!!  Pictures to come!!! 🙂  This I can promise, even though I’ve been promising for months now to put up more pictures of Codiak and Casey and I haven’t done it.  I know, I’m a slacker!

A few weeks ago, I fell down the stairs (big surprise, Amber falls down the stairs!!!) and I was carrying my computer when I fell.  I hurt my tailbone pretty bad, but I also broke my nice computer.  It was working (kind of) but just barely and finally yesterday, it died, so now I’m using this really small, very old computer that I got right after we moved to Germany 4 years ago.  Nothing on it has been updated in 2 years, so it took a long time to get this computer on-line and everything working properly.  The last time I used this computer was right after Rob came back from Iraq and we took it with us on our trip to Spain and Portugal.  It wasn’t so that I could get on the Internet, but as a storage unit for all the photographs that I took while we were traveling.

It seems to be working, but I really miss my other one, so I really hope that we can get it fixed fairly soon.  The keys on this computer type differently than the other one and there’s no separate number pad (which I used frequently!)  At least the mouse-pad on this computer isn’t as sensitive as the other one!!

Anyway, better be going for now.  Gotta lotta stuff to get done today and I think I’m a bit hungry!  TTFN

This was written by my FiL (Dad) and I wanted to share (hey!  that rhymed!)

This is really  hard to say
That Rob will be 40 today

It was his days playing football that was really a blast
He did a good job at blocking but he never ran fast

In the band a trumpet he blew
When he made first chair Jennifer cried boo-hoo

His grades were great and off to college he’d go
It surely cost us a lot of dough

When graduation came we knew it was worth it all
When is standing there proud and tall

After a few years to Key West he would go
He wanted to get away from the cold and the snow

When he came back home pizza was his game
It didn’t last long we think Pizza Hut was to blame

We were surprised to hear that he was choosing  the Army as his career
His Mom and Dad both shed a tear

The he met Amber and everything is great
We believe that it was truly fate

We’re proud of our son and the accomplishments he’s had
We give you our love from both Mom and Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I know that it’s been a while since I’ve written!  There’s not been a whole lot going on with me or Rob lately.

Codiak is growing like a weed.  He’s about 45 pounds and just turned 4 months old!  The scale at the vet’s office wasn’t working today when we got puppy shots, but the doctor agreed with our assessment of 45 pound (or 20 Kg)!  The vet tech who was working today said that she had a lab and that she knew ours was going to be a big boy!

Rob celebrated his “over the hill” birthday on the 15th.  We didn’t do too much, but I made him a cake and a special birthday dinner.

I started re-watched the Friend’s episodes and right now I’m on the last one.  It makes me sad.  I know that I will always have my “friends” anytime I want, but it is sad to see it end.  I promised my friend Diana that she could borrow my DVDs so she could enjoy it.  I say that I’m a bad sharer, but I’m really not, I play very well with others! 😉

Rob is working late tonight.  I had to chase the dogs from the neighbors yard.  Codiak has taught Casey the intricate art of jumping and crawling through fences.  Grrr!  Definitely going to need a privacy fence when we get back to the states.

Anyway, Rob finally got home, so now I gotta go!  Thanks for reading and have a great day!  🙂

Say hello to the newest member of our family! His name is Bumble Bee (like from Transformers) heehee! He’s been paid for today and we got to meet him today. He’s not finished yet, he’s getting hood bonnets put on it next week. Ain’t he just so cute?

It’s too much!  Stop!  Wait a minute!  Let me take it one piece at a time!

We got an email today.  Rob’s been accepted into a functional area.  It’s Information Operations.  Very exciting opportunity!  He’ll start off at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas for a few months and then go somewhere else…where that somewhere else is–is still very much up in the air!

I’m all jittery and stuff–and not from all the coffee that I’ve drank today, either–but because there was just so much information that I’m having a difficult time trying to sort it out in my mind.  Just like everything, it needs to be processed…and put into the correct compartments.

Isn’t that weird?  I compartmentalize my life.  I think a lot of military spouse’s do that.  I think we have to.  With all the information that I got today, I seriously don’t know how long it will be for me to finally be able to understand the whole thing.  Seriously, I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news.  It’s news.  We’ll leave it at that for now.  I can’t say more because I don’t know more…though I wish I did.  Do I really need more information?  I can’t process what I know NOW–would I do better with MORE?  Maybe, perhaps…probably.  At least there’d be more certainty.

This is not what I was expecting, that’s for sure…okay, it was similar to what I had expected, but it throws new, uncertain possibilities into the whole works.  I want to go back to school, but I can’t even really start thinking about that until I have some sort of idea where it is that we’re going to be stationed.  I spent hours upon hours researching schools, areas, apartments that allow dogs–animals in general (I have 3–tough to find a place that allows them is not easy), employment, second bachelor’s degree over a master’s degree.  All of this stuff that I’ve spent the last few months deciding has all just been thrown out the window because now there is this uncertainty that we’re facing and I just want to go back to where it was easy.  Where decisions had been made and it was clearer as to which path I was going to be on.

As I said in my previous post, staying flexible while being married to the military is the key to success.  I do believe it, just some sense of order in this chaos they call the military would be helpful.  So, now, I will take my outdated list of places of where we could possibly be stationed (and it’s a long list) and tell my husband 3 places that I’d like to live for the next 2-5 years.  At least it’s a start, I suppose.

That’s one thing I really commend my husband about.  He always takes into consideration my options.  And basically, he’ll go wherever!  For that I’m grateful.  I seriously doubt that I could have found someone so understanding about the military situation that he takes me into consideration when it comes to moving.  He’s so great that way.

Sorry, does this post seem disconnected?  I’m disconnected.  I’m all over the place right now.  Don’t worry…I’m alright.  Sometimes it’s good to just write out the thoughts.  It helps me sometimes–just to sort it out.  So if this post didn’t really make a whole lot of sense to you, don’t worry, it’ll become clearer as time goes on…and we’ll keep you updated.

Thanks for reading.

My brother was a Marine for a number of years.  He recently married his wife who is from Lebanon.  She was thrown into the Military life!  She knew that my brother was in the military.  She accepted this and went about trying to figure out life in America in addition to learning the ropes of being a military spouse.  It’s never an easy thing to do–even if you’re familiar with the military.

Being a military spouse is a tough life to lead, but the Marine’s had a day for the spouse’s to learn what it means to be a Marine.  They call it Jane Wayne day.  I just love the name–it’s so much better than “Soldier for a Day”.  What a boring title, if you ask me.

I want to host one, one of these days.  I’ve only been talking about it for a year now!  How utterly annoying that there is not a day on the calendar that I can’t put something like that together!  There’s no time!  I was hoping to do it this month–not possible…then the “guys” (I call them that, but there are several females) go back out to the field in November!  After that, we roll right into the Christmas holidays which is extremely busy.  No rest for the weary, as they say!

My plans for Jane Wayne day have been completely shot.  Even if I could do it in December, it’s too cold out there!  I guess I just have to wait it out.  Maybe by March, it’ll be nice enough to play on an obstacle course and take the kids on a HummVee ride.  Going to the range simulator–not a problem, but I want to play outside–teach the spouse’s how to do PT–Army-style…eat an MRE (yummm!) and have fun doing it.

Who knows what the Army has in store for us after the first of the year…stay flexible, that’s my mantra.  Each and everyday is something new!  I love being an Army wife!  🙂

Mom, we tried to call you to wish you a happy birthday, but we figured you were probably out celebrating retirement!

Casey sends his love and Codi sends birthday yaps!!  Hee!

Love ya!

But it’s good for a laugh!  Enjoy!

Hi!  I’m sorry that I’ve been AWOL for sometime now.  Not much in the way of updates, right now.  Rob’s back from the field, but it was such good training that the Soldiers were begging to go back out, so they will again, sometime in November.

For some reason, though, I haven’t really felt like blogging.  I haven’t really even wanted to read my blogs in my reader.  I have been, though, slowly making my way through the reader.  Taking my time and lurking.

There isn’t anything going on here, my car’s probably built by now, but it’s not here yet.  I can’t wait to see my little bumble bee! 🙂

Codi-puppy is growing fast and while he really doesn’t fit into the little kennel that we were using when he was smaller, he still insists on going in there–sometimes while Casey’s laying in it!  Crazy dog!  They’re outside playing right now.  It’s a bit chilly and the weatherman promised four days of rain.  I look forward to the rain.  It’s been so dry lately.

This weekend is Oktoberfest, baby!  We’re headed to Munich on Friday evening after Rob gets off of work, head down to my all-time favorite German restaurant, have some supper and call it a night.  We’ll get up bright and early and head off to the fest.  It’ll be the last one that we will be able to attend while we’re still stationed here in Germany.  Who knows where we’ll be this time next year, but we’re certain that it’ll be somewhere in the states.  We’re kind of hoping for Virgina/Maryland/DC area.  I’ve already taken it upon myself to start looking for pet-friendly apartments and I found a couple that I really, really like.  Rent is expensive!  Ooosh!

Shaved Rob’s head today.  He’s opposite that way.  It’s been in the low 60s for nearly 3 weeks now and he decided that he wants to shave his head.  So, early this morning, Rob asked me to get the clippers and shave his head.  We did it outside (clean up is so much easier!) and Codi was trying to eat the tiny pieces of hair that fell to the ground.  Of course, he started choking on it (nothing serious…hair just doesn’t taste all the good…)and it made his mouth dry!  We couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit.

I still can’t believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  I plugged in my iphone into the M3 yesterday and started playing Christmas music.  Rob was like, “Okay, we have a new rule.  No Christmas music before Halloween.  Can you give me that?  Just to Halloween and then you can play all the Christmas music you want to.  You’ll have like 3 solid months of Christmas music if you want!”  I played it anyway.  He sang along.  HEEHEE!  Speaking of Christmas, the stores are already starting to decorate.  Christmas trees and lights are popping up everywhere.  Since Rob said after Halloween for Christmas music, that means the tree, too!  Yup!  I’m gonna put up my tree this year–on Nov 1!  I love artificial trees!  I didn’t get to put up my tree last year because we went to the states for Christmas.  I guess I’m just going to make up for lost Christmas tree time! 

The tricky thing is going to be to teach Codi he can’t EAT the tree!  I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to handle that one yet!  I will probably have to treat the lower branches with Bitter Apple, which really does work like a charm.  I bought two bottles of the stuff thinking that we were going to need it, but Codi hasn’t really messed with the electrical cords like I thought he would.  It only took about a week of spraying the cords down and every time that he got near the cords, but now, he really doesn’t mess with them.  So, now I have a bottle and a half of the Bitter Apple Spray that will probably never get used.  LOL!  Casey used to chew on cords and I didn’t know about Bitter Apple at the time.  There were a couple of close calls with Casey and the cords.  I’m not sure when he decided that cords weren’t good to chew on, but at some point he stopped.  Codi has only chewed through one cord–the cord to Rob’s earphones on his computer.  It was an expensive replacement, but that’s the only one he’s destroyed!

Anyway, I’m going to go for now.  Much to do, not enough time to do much of anything.  Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Been thinking about getting a few…for several years–like 10 years, maybe?  I don’t know…started thinking about it again today.  It’s a couple thousand dollars for a tummy tuck.  A couple more for a boob-job.  They give you a discount when you get both at the same time…that’s the only way to go, in my opinion!  Get it all done at the same time.

I’ve always been cursed with a poochy belly, something that I inherited from both sides of my family, but mainly from my mother’s side.  I’ve also been cursed with a small chest, but great legs.

That is one thing I do really like about my body!  I love my legs!  With just a little exercise, I have toned, shapely legs!  Ah, yes that’s also a curse!  I wear a 34″ inseam.  It’s impossible (well, it’s getting slightly easier now) to get pants that fit.  But, I love wearing my 4 and 5 inch heels.  My husband is 1/4″ taller than me.  Thankfully, he doesn’t mind when I wear shoes that add to my height!  I only said I wanted a husband who was taller than me; I was not specific as to how tall he should be!  😉

So, tonight, as I was sitting by the warm fire, watching “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”, I was thinking about the unnecessary surgeries that I want to get.  I am not feeling sorry for myself, so please don’t misread my intentions here.

I feel very good about myself in many ways.  I believe that the Good Lord blessed me with many things.  A great body was not one of those things that he blessed me with.  But, I’m thinking that maybe next year, I’ll sit down with a surgeon and decide if that’s a route that I really want to pursue.

Many of you reading this will probably think that I am selfish or that I have a low self-esteem and that by changing my body, I’ll feel better about myself.  This is not the case.  I feel very good about who I am as a person.  I just want the woman that is inside of me to be on the outside, as well.

Anyway, I just felt like writing that, considering that I don’t have anything else to talk about right at the moment.  Rob’s in the field and I’ve been spending most of the day getting stuff done for Christmas.   It’sright around the corner…91 days.  Which means that I have 60 days to get everything ready!  That’s simply not going to be enough time, but somehow I’ll manage.  I always do and I ALWAYS work better under pressure.  Well, it’s nearly 10 pm and for the first time this week, I think I’ll go to bed at a decent hour and read some Snoopy!

Have a great day and thanks for reading! 🙂