Thanksgiving

I was a bit worried at first as to how I would deal with being without family for Thanksgiving. As it turned out - it was completely fine. I don't eat meat anyway, so I didn't miss the turkey part. Jonathon watched football ALL day, so I was in and out of the living room with him. Jonathon made snow crab for dinner, with some pasta, corn, etc. We took Bella on her walk, and went to bed. We are so old!

We're getting super excited about going home for Christmas. We leave Maryland the 19th of December for Omaha. Jonathon graduates from ALS on the 18th, so we need to be here for that. We leave Omaha to go to Colorado on the 22nd. I'm so thankful that this year we will be with family for Christmas - especially since we can't guarantee that for next year. We'll be back in Maryland just in time to ring in 2009. I can't believe how fast this year has gone!! I'm looking forward to next year starting - hopefully we won't have quite as much going on as we did this year! It's great to just have the deployment over with, and moving over with - and finally just breathe.

My best friend, Shawna, is getting married in June. I'll be going to Texas for that by myself. Jonathon and I are planning on going to Michigan in July to visit his friends and my family. It's so great that we can see so many people in one trip. I'm looking forward to just going boating and relaxing! We're hoping to train the dog not to bark so that she can come, too.

Mission Complete!

Jonathon is FINALLY home!! YAY! He's been home for almost 2 weeks, and it's been crazy but amazing all the same.

I gave him a pretty in depth tour of the house when he first got in. I showed him where everything is/goes, etc. However, this didn't stop the flood of questions on where to locate things. When I told him a certain closet, he looked lost. I have faith that he now knows all the ins and outs of our home. Great huh?

Not only can he find his own socks, but he has mastered the dishwasher (seriously) and he has taken almost all of the responsibilities of the dog. It's great to have him home - not for the help, although it's nice - but just to be with him. It's great going out to dinner a few times a week, and double dating. It's amazing that suddenly watching a movie at night seems like such a privilege and a blessing. He cooks a lot, and although we mostly eat totally different meals, we still eat them together. We walk the dog, and do laundry. It is all normal, mundane things - but I have waited over 2 years to do them with him.

I got him to pull up the backyard planters. Ok, well he did one of them. They are big & a lot of work. We still have two to go. Maybe tomorrow. When we got the house, the backyard was SO overgrown and awful. Within a half hour, we realized that most of what we thought was a planter was actually cement that was connected to our porch! Go figure. We want the planters to be ready for Spring planting. It was really funny - Jonathon got into BDU pants and his boots to tackle the outside mission. He then switched to his Gortex rain gear to bathe the dog.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

Baby Bella

While our friends have baby fever, Jonathon and I are sticking to responsibilites of the four legged variety. (Which I'm not so sure is much easier)

Jonathon has waited for a dog ever since I met him. However, with deployments and apartment living it just didn't seem possible. Now that we have a house, I agreed to get a Bloodhound. Mind you - I completely gave in to this. I was perfectly fine with my cat. Bella came anyway.

Her first night home she didn't let me sleep. I have her crate downstairs, and I swear to you, she knew when my eyes closed because she'd start to freak out. I would then check on her, and she was totally fine. We went through that all night. When I say no sleep, I don't mean an hour or two - I mean none! I was so cranky.

My mom told me it's like having a baby - but here's the thing. I did the whole day care and nanny thing. I've never really had a dog, kids I can handle (not that I want to right now). Baby spit up and drool is NOTHING compared to Bloodhound slobber or the smell of a wet dog. I also want to say that I would rather change an explosive diaper then have my entire floor downstairs disgusting because of wet ears, drool, wet paws and food that "somehow" got way out of the bowl. I was mopping my floor at 5 am because she didn't want to wait for me to get the leash, she just relieved herself right on the dining room floor. You know how OCD I am about germs, so there I am disinfecting forever. She hasn't done it again.

Even so, I can't deny she's adorable...when she's sleeping not howling. :) I think Jon is going to love her. She has caught on quickly on how to properly take walks. She also knows that she has to have her harness on before she can get out of the kennel. I am surprised with how well she's done - it's taken so much work on my part, and hers, but I think she'll be ready for running when Jonathon is home. She seems to be pretty smart, and with her little puppy face I know she'll have Jon wrapped around her..um..paw. She freaks out around cars, but I'm thinking that's because at the breeder's house they just had a bunch of land to run around on - they weren't really taken into the street. She'll be a great addition to our little family.

She's 25 lbs already & she should be about 90-100 lbs fully grown. (I KNOW!) Here are some pictures.

I'm so lame

Let me start by saying that I hardly do stupid things - but this one was just so lame. You may find it funny, or not - but I couldn't believe I did it.

So there I was, with my bowl of macaroni driving (I know, right...) to get Mindy from the gate. We normally go to the Main Gate, but I live closer to the Virginia Gate, so I have made her meet me there instead so I can sponsor her on base. So, I pull up and as the cop takes my id, her partner asks if I'm sponsoring the car behind me. I say I am - and he tells me to pull to the side because her car got flagged for a search. I asked him again, "Oh she is getting pulled?" The guy said yes. I say - WHILE LAUGHING mind you - "Oh good, I'm so glad it's not me". COULD I LOOK MORE SUSPICIOUS.

So they pull Mindy - and open all of her doors, trunk and hood. They let the dogs go through it, and obviously found nothing. My macaroni got wet from the rain, and I swear to you they really wanted to know what I had in my car that made me say I was glad they weren't searching my car. I'm so dumb. I feel so bad for Jon that he'll be known for having the crazy wife. He has to work with those people. In any case, it was funnier if you would have been there - kinda. I should stop talking.

Pictures

Here are some pictures, wedding and otherwise.