Answer the following with only one word.
Where is your cell phone?.......................................counter
Your significant other?...........................................Matthew
Your hair?........................................................blonde
Your mother?.........................................................loving
Your father?..........................................................best
Your favorite thing?..................................................love
Your dream last night..........................................twilight
Your favorite drink........................................water
Your dream/goal..................................mother
The room you're in..........................................sewing
Your children?...................................................waiting
Your Fear?.............................................ticks
Where do you want to be in 6 years?......................florida
Where were you last night?................................hamman's
What you're not?............................................crazy
Muffins?............................................allergic
One of your wish list items?...................boat
Where'd you grow up?..........................Missouri
What'd you read last?.......................pattern
What are you wearing?............................skirt
Your TV?..........................................old
Your pet?........................................Shiloh
Your computer?........................................awesome
Your life?...........................................fantastic
Your mood?.................................indifferent
Missing someone?..................................family
Your car?...........................................ford
Something you're not wearing?.................socks
Favorite store?...................................joann's
Your summer?.....................................waiting
Like someone?..........................matthew
Your favorite color?.........................turquoise
Last time you laughed................................yesterday
Last time you cried?...........................................week
I tag Ashley, Michelle, Brittany, Daniel, David,
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
St. Louis Vacation!
Matthew and I went on a 2 day vacation to St. Louis with a free overnight stay at Best Western from Matthew's brother Daniel. We had so much fun! We went to Cahokia Mounds then ate at Union Station for lunch. We went and saw Coraline in 3D and enjoyed a yummy pizza at the hotel, mmmm. Then we went to the Zoo, Science Center and Planetarium. Even though I'm from St. Louis it was really fun going to all the places on vacation :) After our weekend I was able to stay in St. Peters with my family and my Nana. It was really nice to visit with them all for a whole week.
That is a real penguin above Matthew. I was nervous that it would try to jump on him!
Nana and I put this puzzle together. When we were 3/4 of the way done the dogs were playing and pulled part of it off the table :( We had to put the top back together again. We had a good time building it though, and it was very satisfying to see it done.
We walked around Forest Park quite a bit going to the different places. It was pretty even with all the leaves gone.
We went to the Science Center and saw a show at the Planetarium. It was really neat. Now we know how to find Saturn in the sky :)
We went to the St. Louis Zoo and saw the penguins, they were so cute! These little guys jumped off the ledges into the water, it was neat watching them swim around.
That is a real penguin above Matthew. I was nervous that it would try to jump on him!
We went to Cahokia Mounds, which is in Illinois where the Cahokia Indian tribe lived between 1000 and 1200 AD; they built these huge mounds, the one behind Matthew is 100 feet high and the largest prehistoric earthwork in the Americas. It's actually around the same size as the great pyramids in Egypt.
Nana and I put this puzzle together. When we were 3/4 of the way done the dogs were playing and pulled part of it off the table :( We had to put the top back together again. We had a good time building it though, and it was very satisfying to see it done.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Military Options
So, we are still trying to figure out what branch of the military Matthew is going to go into... Air force-enlisted, or Army-officer. Or if he's going to go in at all. It's obviously a huge decision, and we're trying to look at it from every angle.
If Matthew goes into the air force as enlisted: he will be able to choose a job in linguistics (after taking a test), his boot camp will be 9 1/2 weeks, then we both get to move to California where he will learn a language (preferably Chinese or Arabic) for 1 1/2 years. Then we would still have about 2 years left to live in one of 5 places in the US. Some of them are around the ocean, which is what we want. So it's a 4 year agreement. We would make well more $ than we make now, and get a housing and food allowance. And have at least some if not all of Matthew's student loans payed off.
(***Matthew got the Officer's position offered to him because the army recruiter overheard the air force recruiter reading off Matthew's ASVAB scores. His jaw dropped. He scored a 97% on almost everything.)
If Matthew goes into the Army as an Officer: he will have to go into boot camp for 9 weeks (rigorous physical training). Then he can come visit me for about a week. Then 12 weeks (without me) of Officer Candidate School (OCS). At the end of OCS, depending on his rank in his class of about 130 he can choose what job he wants. If he scores high we would obviously be in a good position, but if he scores low he may be put into a job where he could possibly be deployed. WE DON'T WANT THAT. After that he would have 7 more weeks of "specialty training" (where he gets trained to do whatever his job is) and they will move me to where he is during that time. There are also 5-6 places we could choose to live, some of them also around the ocean. It is only a 3 year agreement with the Army, which is better because if we decide we don't like it we can leave a year earlier, and if we do like it we get way more money from sign on bonuses because of the year-less difference. The job pays more than the air force, and we would still get a housing and food allowance. Plus I think 3 weeks paid vacation/year (I don't know if the air force does that) And they pay $25k more of student loans than the air force.
So...obviously there's more benefits from the army, but there's also the HUGE decision of whether it's worth it because of the possibility of being deployed. We both feel like Matthew would do well in his OCS, and we've both felt good about the army since we got the offer. We would also only have 2 1/2 years where deployment would be a threat. Matthew would also have WAY more opportunity for advancement if he did the army than the air force. And, he is majoring in Spanish, but we're worried that if he takes the air force job it will become too stressful, concentrating that hard on translating another language everyday for 2 1/2 years. In the army the job I think he is hoping for would be watching over the intel department that does the translating. So he wouldn't have to learn another language (although he wants to...they will pay for schooling so he can learn another language outside of his job for free).
Oh and also for me - both places would pay me a separation allowance, plus housing and food while Matthew is gone at Boot camp. And which ever we choose, one of my friends (Ashley) whose husband is in the marines is going to live with me while Matthew is gone because her husband is getting deployed. Which ever we choose we think we can handle the separation, though it will be very difficult. We dated for a year, then Matthew moved away for school for 8 months, and our relationship still survived. We will also be able to talk to each other on the phone, and be able to visit a few times in that 6 months he would be gone if we do army.
Like I said, we both have a good feeling about the army, but we haven't decided yet what we will do for sure. What we are hoping for is that we will be able to do the army, get the job Matthew wants, NOT get deployed, and be able to stay in and have this as our career choice for the next 25 - 30 years! Any advice...and prayers :)...would be greatly appreciated. We love you all!
If Matthew goes into the air force as enlisted: he will be able to choose a job in linguistics (after taking a test), his boot camp will be 9 1/2 weeks, then we both get to move to California where he will learn a language (preferably Chinese or Arabic) for 1 1/2 years. Then we would still have about 2 years left to live in one of 5 places in the US. Some of them are around the ocean, which is what we want. So it's a 4 year agreement. We would make well more $ than we make now, and get a housing and food allowance. And have at least some if not all of Matthew's student loans payed off.
(***Matthew got the Officer's position offered to him because the army recruiter overheard the air force recruiter reading off Matthew's ASVAB scores. His jaw dropped. He scored a 97% on almost everything.)
If Matthew goes into the Army as an Officer: he will have to go into boot camp for 9 weeks (rigorous physical training). Then he can come visit me for about a week. Then 12 weeks (without me) of Officer Candidate School (OCS). At the end of OCS, depending on his rank in his class of about 130 he can choose what job he wants. If he scores high we would obviously be in a good position, but if he scores low he may be put into a job where he could possibly be deployed. WE DON'T WANT THAT. After that he would have 7 more weeks of "specialty training" (where he gets trained to do whatever his job is) and they will move me to where he is during that time. There are also 5-6 places we could choose to live, some of them also around the ocean. It is only a 3 year agreement with the Army, which is better because if we decide we don't like it we can leave a year earlier, and if we do like it we get way more money from sign on bonuses because of the year-less difference. The job pays more than the air force, and we would still get a housing and food allowance. Plus I think 3 weeks paid vacation/year (I don't know if the air force does that) And they pay $25k more of student loans than the air force.
So...obviously there's more benefits from the army, but there's also the HUGE decision of whether it's worth it because of the possibility of being deployed. We both feel like Matthew would do well in his OCS, and we've both felt good about the army since we got the offer. We would also only have 2 1/2 years where deployment would be a threat. Matthew would also have WAY more opportunity for advancement if he did the army than the air force. And, he is majoring in Spanish, but we're worried that if he takes the air force job it will become too stressful, concentrating that hard on translating another language everyday for 2 1/2 years. In the army the job I think he is hoping for would be watching over the intel department that does the translating. So he wouldn't have to learn another language (although he wants to...they will pay for schooling so he can learn another language outside of his job for free).
Oh and also for me - both places would pay me a separation allowance, plus housing and food while Matthew is gone at Boot camp. And which ever we choose, one of my friends (Ashley) whose husband is in the marines is going to live with me while Matthew is gone because her husband is getting deployed. Which ever we choose we think we can handle the separation, though it will be very difficult. We dated for a year, then Matthew moved away for school for 8 months, and our relationship still survived. We will also be able to talk to each other on the phone, and be able to visit a few times in that 6 months he would be gone if we do army.
Like I said, we both have a good feeling about the army, but we haven't decided yet what we will do for sure. What we are hoping for is that we will be able to do the army, get the job Matthew wants, NOT get deployed, and be able to stay in and have this as our career choice for the next 25 - 30 years! Any advice...and prayers :)...would be greatly appreciated. We love you all!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Winter Snow!
It snowed about 6-8 inches in the last 2 days, and we've been trying to have fun with it! The roads are terrible, and school is canceled - so we got out of the house and played in the snow. A few days before (when it wasn't quite so cold) we went to Branson and our sister in law Brittany took some pictures of us by the icy waterfalls. There is also a video of Shiloh playing in the snow. It makes us smile, so we just had to share it with you!
Branson MO
Branson MO
Monday, December 29, 2008
Super cute Shiloh!
I got a couple of really cute videos of Shiloh this month and just have to share them!
Shiloh always plays with Matthew's socks. She thought my glove (under Matthew's shoe) was a sock. She is such a careful dog, I think this video displays that pretty well.
Every time Shiloh gets a bath we play a game with her towel afterwards. I throw it on top of her and she usually tries frantically to get it off by running in circles. We had already played awhile and she just wanted to chew on the towel, so it was funny to me that she was just walking around with it on her back.
Monday, December 15, 2008
7 weeks tomorrow!
Okay, on a less somber note than the previous post, I'll be 7 weeks tomorrow yay!!! I'm so lucky, I haven't really had morning sickness too bad yet. The only time I feel queezy (how do u spell that) is when I haven't eaten in awhile. Unfortunately I am having nightmares just about every night. Last night I had a dream that I had ticks all over me and couldn't get them off. (I have a phobia of ticks) I've had dreams where people were chasing me, where I'm humiliated in front of a group of people, where the baby doesn't make it. It's really bad because I never want to go to sleep. I'm trying to go to sleep thinking of everything I'm thankful for and all the wonderful things in my life, so I have positive thoughts when I dream. It hasn't worked yet. :(
That's really the only symptom I've had so far. My breasts are sore, but I don't really count that. It just feels like I went exercising without a sports bra. :) I know it could get a lot worse, but so far I've been very pleased with this pregnancy. My first doctor's appointment is December 30, I can't wait! I don't know if they'll do an ultrasound that day or not. If they do I'll post a picture. :)
That's really the only symptom I've had so far. My breasts are sore, but I don't really count that. It just feels like I went exercising without a sports bra. :) I know it could get a lot worse, but so far I've been very pleased with this pregnancy. My first doctor's appointment is December 30, I can't wait! I don't know if they'll do an ultrasound that day or not. If they do I'll post a picture. :)
Waaahhh!
I'm a nervous wreck! My computer broke this weekend and I don't know if I can recover my data! Ahhhh!!!
Last friday I was printing pages about baby stuff for my baby book. So, I unplugged my laptop and took it over to where the printer is and started printing. About an hour later I looked and saw my computer had turned off...no big deal right? Noooope! Usually when it shuts off like that it hibernates and I just plug it back in. Apparently it didn't have enough battery power in the hibernate mode, so the "pin" smashed down on the hard drive and broke it. :( :( :( Waahhhh!!! Matthew is going to try and recover my pictures and documents later this week. It couldn't have come at a worse time for us. I had just bought a 16gb jump drive to put everything on, but I was waiting to open it at Christmas. And, this week is Matthew's finals week, and he has to take the ASVAB test on wednesday. And, this is the first I have to go back to work in months. My job is the whole reason we bought the laptop in the first place. :( Can we say cruel irony?
Thankfully we still have Matthew's computer. I'm so blessed to be married to someone who knows so much about computers. First of all he built it himself...(!!!???!!!) And second, whenever something goes wrong he takes the whole thing apart and fixes it! Genius I tell you. And sweet, he spent over 3 hours last night trying to fix my computer for me.
Well the moral of the story here kids is DON'T UNPLUG YOUR LAPTOP! Even if you're running it on the battery for a little while. The battery gets bad after awhile and you have to buy a new one. But if it's always plugged in you don't have to worry about it.
But more importantly...don't unplug it because it could crash and not let you back in! :(
Last friday I was printing pages about baby stuff for my baby book. So, I unplugged my laptop and took it over to where the printer is and started printing. About an hour later I looked and saw my computer had turned off...no big deal right? Noooope! Usually when it shuts off like that it hibernates and I just plug it back in. Apparently it didn't have enough battery power in the hibernate mode, so the "pin" smashed down on the hard drive and broke it. :( :( :( Waahhhh!!! Matthew is going to try and recover my pictures and documents later this week. It couldn't have come at a worse time for us. I had just bought a 16gb jump drive to put everything on, but I was waiting to open it at Christmas. And, this week is Matthew's finals week, and he has to take the ASVAB test on wednesday. And, this is the first I have to go back to work in months. My job is the whole reason we bought the laptop in the first place. :( Can we say cruel irony?
Thankfully we still have Matthew's computer. I'm so blessed to be married to someone who knows so much about computers. First of all he built it himself...(!!!???!!!) And second, whenever something goes wrong he takes the whole thing apart and fixes it! Genius I tell you. And sweet, he spent over 3 hours last night trying to fix my computer for me.
Well the moral of the story here kids is DON'T UNPLUG YOUR LAPTOP! Even if you're running it on the battery for a little while. The battery gets bad after awhile and you have to buy a new one. But if it's always plugged in you don't have to worry about it.
But more importantly...don't unplug it because it could crash and not let you back in! :(
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)