I don't deal well with Tornado weather!

You are probably thinking, "c'mon, you were in the Marine Corps, you're tough stuff!" Ha! Well, when it comes to tornadoes, I don't do so well. This fear arrived with the numerous tornado drills growing up, and being stuffed into our bath tub with a mattress over our heads.

I will always remember jumping off of the school bus as funnel cloud loomed over my house. The wind was so strong, blowing random objects, and my step-mother screaming at me to run inside the house. I remember fully sprinting with all of my might to the dreaded bath tub.

If you never been through a tornado watch before, it will send prickles up your spine when you hear that one has touched down close to home. Looking outside, the air looks grey/green, and the clouds look like they could reach out and bite you. The clouds scare me the most. They rumble, dip, and are extremely active. To see a funnel cloud is even more scary, because you don't know if it is going to touch down.

There is always an eerie calm before the storm. The pressure in the air dips, and then all hell breaks loose. It could include golf ball sized hail, and extreme winds.

Luckily, I am not in Texas anymore, and while I am under this current tornado watch, I can hunker in my finished basement with my girls, and watch some t.v before we lose electricity.

Oh, and I ordered Pizza Hut. Gotta have pizza.

Have you gone through tornado weather?

 

{Winner of the Swarovski Crystal Pearl Earrings!}

Sorry, I am posting this a little later than expected. It has been a crazy past two days. Yesterday, Miss K was in preschool, I worked out, and then I had to get my cast removed. Then, I had to go to the DMV and stand around for hours to renew my driver's license. Today, I went to my MIL's 20 year service award ceremony, and went to the mall afterwards to let our little ones burn off some energy. I came home and took a nap, and then had to go to the gym to do my Friday night fitness training. So, pretty much I am zonked, and have been away from the computer. 

So, now that you've read my play-by-play, (lol) I did an old fashion drawing. I numbered all the eligible girls on little pieces of paper, and had my husband draw one. I took pictures of him doing it with my camera phone, and the images came out very bright. But, the {winner} is... number 9.. Jessica Joy Daly!! Congrats!!

I will be giving Ashton {BellaReagin} your email address, and she will get in contact with you. You will have 24 hours to respond to her email back, and please provide an address for her to send you the earrings. :)

Thank you all who participated in this giveaway. :)

Last chance to enter! :)

Last week, I mentioned about my friends new Etsy shop, and her new jewelry. If you are still interested, please go HERE for a chance to win these amazing pearl swarovski crystal earrings! Contest ends tomorrow at 9 p.m. eastern time. Winner will be notified by Friday. Thank you!

Bella Reagin just posted a new necklace that you can get personalized! I believe I will be ordering one for myself very soon! :)

WHW: I Heart Hawaii

I Heart {terribly miss} Hawaii edition.

Mr. B and I fell in love while we were stationed there, and I miss it like cr-a-zy!! I believe we are trying to make a trip there in the near future, so watch out for that! :)

I loved hiking on Diamondback Mtn

I loved wearing island jewelry

I love the gorgeous mtns

I love how we fell in love

I love hawaiian snowcones

I love cliffjumping into the beautiful water

I love the freedom I feel when I'm standing on a mountain

*All images are from www.weheartit.com

Be sure to link up with Briemarie.net on we heart wednesdays!

 

{Life Lesson} Don't underestimate your child's cruel sense of humor...

This morning, Miss K and I was watching a cartoon explain bones, and fractures.

Me: See, he has to get a cast just like mommy.

Miss K: nods.

Miss K: Who is this mommy?

Then Miss K proceeds to reenact my fall! She runs in place, falls on her tush with her hands behind her, then jumps up and down while holding her arm, "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

I am just floored and amused that a three year old could have such a cruel sense of humor! She gets her from her dad.  That I am convinced.

"I'm St-rong!!"

Yesterday morning, the hubby put Miss K on our pull-up bar, and she was able to do one barely assisted. He puts her down, and she flexes her bicep, and goes, "I'm str-ong!" Oh, I wish I had a video of her saying that! The hubby and I will be laughing for days over that. :)

Today at Starbucks, I decided to take some pics of the girls on my camera phone. You can distinctively see the difference in the two personalities. Miss K is my outgoing, gotta be the life of the party-girl, and Miss A is the sweet, run-from-the-camera reserved girl.

So, here are the sweet pics of my girls!

Miss K's pose of choice, lol!

We're in trouble!

Miss A munching on her 'nana.

Such a sweet little girl!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In and MilSpouse Weekly Roundup

Join in at Wife of a Sailor

1. What is your favorite MilSpouse blog (not including Wife of a Sailor who we all love, or your own)? submitted by Our Crazy Life.

I really like A little Pink in a World of Camo. She keeps it real, and she is such an inspiration.

2. What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)? submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife

My husband is not much of a traveler, and when he was gone, I would drive to Huntington Beach, CA, San Diego, CA, and Palm Springs, CA. (We were stationed in Twentynine Palms during that time.)



3. How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? submitted by Utterly Chaotic

My husband and I were engaged only a week before we were married, and we had been together for a year and a half. He deployed three weeks later.

4. What do you think your would do if s/he wasn’t in the military? submitted by Adventures of M-Squared

I have nooo idea!! This has been my husband's life for thirteen years now. He is going for retirement, and it would definitely be scary trying to see him transition out of the Marine Corps.

5. If you could talk to the Secretary of (fill in your appropriate branch) what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families? submitted by My Life as His (Air Force) Wife

More and better housing and military hospitals. When pcsing to a new duty station, I shouldn't have to be on a lengthy wait list. Also, I shouldn't have to drive an hour to the nearest military hospital; especially when I am in labor, and I am afraid to go to a civilian hospital and get charged by Tricare.

Link up with The Whole FamDamily for this week's MilSpouse Roundup! :)

{Don't forget to enter in my first giveaway!}

Pearl swarovski crystal earrings :) Click Here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My First Giveaway!! {Bella Reagin Handcrafted Jewelry}

When I found out that my friend, Ashton, (a military spouse as well) finally set up shop on Etsy; I couldn't help but to ask her to assist me in my first giveaway. I wanted to do one as a personal thank you for all those that follow me, and for reaching over 100 followers on my blog.

I've know Ashton for a while now, and I've personally seen the gorgeous jewelry she has produced. She has a classic style, and only uses premium materials. She loves to incorporate genuine swarovski crystal into her jewelry. She is an upcoming designer, so please leave some love! :)

Bella Reagin is {giving away} this beautiful pair of genuine pearl swarovski crystal earrings!



These would definitely compliment a dress to the ball, or a special night out!

{Bella Reagin is also selling these gorgeous pieces}



This beautiful necklace is a swarovski crystal teardrop which is wire wrapped with non-tarnish silver and attached to a delicate sterling silver 18" chain.

12mm bermuda blue heart swarovski crystal earrings are attatched to sterling silver earwires.

 

 

Large white pearl on a 16" sterling silver chain. Small white pearls attatched to the C clasp are a classic touch to the closure of the necklace.



Here is how to enter for the genuine pearl swarovski crystal earrings:

Mandatory Entries:

1. Please visit {Bella Reagin Handcrafted Jewelry Etsy Shop} and tell me which one you like most.

2. Please go to her Facebook fan {page} and click, "Like".

Each of the mandatory entries is worth one entry.

Please post a message for each entries that you completed.

Optional Entries:

These entries are worth two entries per entry

1. Blog about this entry and post your url, so I can go check it out!

2. If you haven't already, follow my blog! And if you already are, you just got two free entries. :)

Please leave your email address with ALL of your entry comments, so that Bella Reagin, and I can get a hold of you! :)

Giveaway will {Close} on Thursday, February 24th.

Thank you!



{Guest post from my husband} You are as cold as "ICE"

My husband is a pretty funny guy, (okay, I'm a bit biased..) but when he told me about ICE-- I begged him to share his story with you all!

{His Story}

I've been told that I can be "cold as ice," when telling it like it is.  Well imagine my excitement when the Marine Corps instituted the ICE system and no I'm not talking about Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  It is the Interactive Customer Evaluation system and boy is it fun!  It is a web based complaint form that any customer aboard a Marine Corps base can utilize when they see or in my case experience horrible customer service.  Your complaint/recommendation goes straight to the director of the department!  Since first learning of this amazing (and enjoyable) system, I have used it on 3 different occasions. 

My first ICE complaint was on the 7 day store on base.  I am a frequent customer to their coffee mess.  They serve Seattle's Best coffee.  Well in mid December, it turned into Seattle's Worst.  They constantly ran out of sugar, creamer and even cups!  I mean, who runs out of cups?  There was also grinds in every cup...gross?  Well after about the 5th day, I decided to write to my new found friend, Mr. ICE.  I told them the problems and being that it was so close to Christmas, I ended the complaint with, "to summarize, the coffe mess in your store is ho, ho horrible."  The next morning it was fixed and haven't had a problem since. 

 My 2nd ICE was awarded to dental.  I had a scheduled cleaning that I made about 3 weeks in advance.  I showed up 20 minutes early, only to be told that my dentist "called in sick" and that "I couldn't be seen today" and that "sorry, you should have been called."  She then said she could re-schedule me... 3 weeks from then.  Um, no?  Hello Mr. ICE.  Within 2 hours of writing the complaint, I had an O-6 in the Navy email me apologizing and that "they have failed me."  Needless to say, I was seen that same day. 

My 3rd horrible customer service experience came in the chow hall (who would have guessed?)  My friend and I were just craving a cheeseburger, so we swung by the chow hall, walked up to a disgruntled 50 something lunch lady who took our order.  My buddy ordered his cheeseburger and then I said I'd like the same.  After a few minutes, she handed him his burger, with some onion rings.  Then she handed me my burger, all by it's lonesome.  I kindly asked her, "um, where are my onion rings, ma'am?"  She rudly replied, "Huh?" "You wanted sum rings?"  "You gotta ask for it!"  Then stormed off to the freezer.  My buddy leaned over and said, "I guess you ask for good service too."  After my ICE complaint, I've never seen that lady serving cheeseburgers again.  I would imagine they put her in the back somewhere, far away from customers. 

In summary, the ICE system is there for you, the customer and it WORKS.  So the next time you have grinds in your coffee, have an appointment butchered or have a lunch lady yell "You gotta ask for it!"  Go online, click on Mr. ICE and tell him what happened!

Mr. B

Stuck on you! The story how we fell in love...



{Our Story}

I will be the first to admit that my heart had gone to heaven, (in a good way!) when I met my husband on August 23, 2005 in Hawaii. I was a damsel in distress with an injured leg on crutches, and he found me adorable. I didn't know we could quickly fall in love, and be stuck on each other. We had to see each other almost every day. I was on one Marine Corps base, and he was on another. It was a good 25-30 minutes. I didn't have my license, and I would bum rides from friends to go see him at his barracks. We would do recon missions from his barracks in the morning, and he'd drive me to my barracks- just so I could be at work in my desk at 0600. (Which meant that I was getting this poor guy up at 0400, and he didn't have to be at work until 0730.) We couldn't get enough of each other!! I would always get bummed when he had duty, and I couldn't see him, lol.



Him on Friday night duty



When we would walk the streets of Waikiki, people would ask if we were on our honeymoon. (Now, I suppose we were. We never had the chance once we got married.) The love we had would make people gag. And if you had the pleasure of knowing us in those early days, then you remember.



Driving in the wee hours to bring me to work--he's tired!





Pic taken of me in his barracks room



I remember sitting down in a restaurant one day, and I told him, 'we're going to get married one day. I just know it, and I've never felt like this before with anyone before'. He was a little more hesitant, because he was married before. But, I was crazy enough to believe he was the one. Then, my injuries were put up on a med board. The love of my life received orders to Twentynine Palms, CA to an infantry unit, and was set to deploy a year later. Our relationship was about to go into the unknown. I didn't know if I was getting medically discharged or I would be separated from my love an ocean away. By May, he departed to California. I had never seen him so unhappy to leave. Our last night together, I wiped tears from his eyes.  The day he left for the airport, my Company First Sergeant excused me from Field Day to ride with him to the airport. For an entire month, my heart ached for him. It wouldn't be but a month later that the Marine Corps decided my fate, and I was on a bird to go be with him.



When I followed him to the Mojave desert, he knew that I was the one for him. By December 2006, we got married in Vegas by an Hawaiian priest. He deployed three weeks later. He left with advon; it was cold, and my heart ached like it had ever before-- I felt lost. Once he got into formation, I couldn't bare to watch my love drive away on the bus. I drove back to our new home on base, and  I cried (pregnant, ha!) every night for two weeks straight. I grew tough over the weeks, and got into a routine. I would look at the stars every night, and would wonder if he looked at them too.



I took this photo with my disposable camera



Fast forward to this past weekend-- The years since has been crazy, we aren't mushy as we once were. We raise each others' voices a little too much, but the passion still exists. I daydream about Hawaii frequently. I was gone Friday night at the gym, and most of Saturday with the MIL to Miss K's cousin's birthday get together. By that night, Mr. B was gone to a movie with his sister. I was a bit sad, lol. I missed him, and it made me realized that our time is precious, and I am stuck like glue.  :)

Get on the MilSpouse Blog Hop-- if you haven't already!



MilSpouse Weekly Round-up! {TGIF}

Are you a military spouse? Wanna follow new blogs? Head on over to this week's MilSpouse host Lowe Family News and link up! :)

And thank goodness it is Friday!! Which means a lovely workout is in order tonight at the gym. Check out my fitness journey here! If you haven't already. :)

Life Lesson: When cuddling next to your husband in the wee hours..

Life Lesson: Don't cuddle on his side around 5 a.m. When he gets up to turn off his alarm a gazillion times; he might not realize your there, and slam his head back on the pillow on your nose--- which will feel like
you may have broken it, and demand to turn on the light to make sure blood isn't oozing all over your Egyptian cotton sheets. True Story.

Wordless Wednesday: Giddy up Daddy!

Life Lesson: When you break a bone..

Life lesson: When you break your wrist into two places; try not to pick up anything with your fingers. I know it is a force of habit, but it will only lead to taking a pill and some foul language to resolve the pain.

Comment section is now working! :)

For those that that saw the post about my new design, and couldn't comment before; you can here! :)

New, Refreshing Blog Makeover!! From Utterly Chaotic Designs

I love, LOVE my new look!! Brea has done such an amazing job. If you haven't heard about her already; go and check her out. I looked at a lot of hot designers, and Brea seriously gives you more bang for your buck! (And I know that i-stock photo wasn't cheap, either.) Honestly, she came up with this design, and I couldn't come up with hardly any changes. I am seriously a happy camper right now. :)

So, please leave a comment and let me know how you like the new do! :)