I spoke too soon.

It's been a while since I posted last. I guess it's been a busy couple of weeks. I'm working in a new section at work and that involves me doing a lot of researching so that has been keeping me from realizing how fast this month has flown by! I don't even know where the last three weeks have gone.

The day after my last post I got a phone call from KC. He was in the hospital. He's ok, but he had a piece of shrapnel from a grenade go through his leg near his knee. It lodged really deep into his leg. Up into the bone marrow deep. I'm so thankful he is ok, but was a slightly freaked out because I had just posted an entry about how I was feeling better about the whole situation, and how I was missing him more than usual though. While I was writing about that, he was going into surgery and I had no idea. I try not to put much thought into this, but it's hard not to. It makes me feel more cautious when saying things. It's almost like I don't want to jinx him. After I went through the slew of questions making sure this was a short term injury I felt a little better, and lets face it: he won't be out with all his guys for a while so I feel he's a bit removed from chaos. For these few weeks that he's recovering I can breathe a little easier. I hope this is the only injury he has to deal with for the rest of the time he's there. We hit the 1/3 mark a few days back. It feels good to finally be getting time under our belts and making progress on getting closer to him coming home.

I went out to lunch with an Army wife yesterday, and let me just say how amazing it felt to hang out with her for a couple of hours! I'm pretty sure I had diarrhea of the mouth with all the things I haven't been able to talk to anyone for the last three months, but she was so great and let me get it all out. Her husband is coming home from his nine month deployment in less than a month (SO jealous and excited for her at the same time!).  We spent the entire time talking about our soldiers and everything Army. Seems a little overkill? Not when you're me and you have no other girlfriends who are involved in the military. I felt like a total weight had been lifted off my chest. It was so awesome to have your thoughts and feelings validated by someone who is in the same situation as you. I feel less like a crazy person now :-) I really hope I can meet more amazing milspouses/girlfriends in the future because I think that's the only way I'll keep my sanity!

They said it would get better & it has..

I don't recall exactly where I read about the timeline of a deployment, but it was probabley in one of the many (probabley hundreds!) of blogs I have read that involve military and deployment. They said it would be rough the first two months, and then after that time you would start to be back in your routine, and able to carry on with life better. They were right.

Being that this is my first experience with deployment I had no idea whether there was any truth to that. I couldn't imagine ever shaking the feeling of always worrying that KC was okay. For those first two months I was terrified and physically sick to my stomach if I didn't hear from him throughout the week. During the first two months I had one chunk of time where I didn't hear anything for over a week, and was told I would hear from him. I think that makes it even worse; being told you will get a call from your soldier on a specific day, and that day comes and goes and more pass by and you hear nothing. You start to fear the worst.

When you least expect it you get a call at 4am, and it's him. You forget all the fear that sat in the pit of your stomach, because it doesn't matter anymore. He's safe. Slowly, but surely you start to adjust to having him over there, and the terrible fear that was at the front of your mind moves slowly to the rear..just a little bit.

Although it's been almost three months since I last saw him, I still miss him as much as the day we last touched, if not more. I know for a fact I miss him more with everyday that passes, but I think I have learned how to cope with his absence. The last two days have been rough though. I really miss him. It's not the terrified feeling that I have had in the past, it's the longing type of missing someone you love. I'm starting to really miss the small things. Hanging out at home doing nothing. Going out for our usual Saturday morning breakfast. I miss being able to touch him, and laugh with him. I miss seeing the look on his face when he sees me. The look that makes me feel like the prettiest girl in the world.

Even though this is not an ideal situation for a relationship, it still works. Military relationships don't make sense to those who have never experienced them. I for one will be the first to admit that my view on military families has completely changed. I just wish that it didn't take me being in a relationship with a soldier to see this. I think that we would all look at the world a little bit different if we all saw the world through a member of a military relationships' eyes.

NAIL FILES: Ruby Ritz

HAPPY FRIDAY! I don't even know where this week went, because it FLEW by! I won't complain though..




As per my usual Nail Files post; my pictures are somewhat blurry. I had two different Shellac colors put on my nails this week. The first was a red, and the second one is a red glitter one. One of them was called Ruby Ritz, but I can't remember which one it was. That's not important though. What's important is the facts that they're the perfect Christmas nail color. I just wish you could see all the sparkle!

As a side note: I love the fact that my nail lady acts like I have had an affair with another nail salon if I don't make it in to see her every two weeks. She really flipped when I went to Julep. "Why you go some place else? You know we do best job at best price!" It worked out to my benefit though when she gave me an extra stamp on my card...Free pedicure obtained early :-)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Weekend Memories

I had a wonderful last few days. On Thursday night I drove myself down to the waterfront to pick up my friend L who had hopped the ferry over to Seattle. She had originally flown in earlier in the week from out of state, but was spending a few days catching up with old friends before spending the weekend with me. Unfortunately she either caught a 24 hour bug or a case of food poisoning the day before so we decided we would lay low on Thursday night because we had a jammed packed weekend ahead of us.

Friday was spent up in Washington wine country: Woodinville!

 We made sure to hit the big players in wine making, which included Chateau St. Michelle. We were the only ones on the noon tour and because of that we had our own tour guide that truly personalized it for us. Rudy was awesome. He was very knowledgeable. L doesn't have much experience in wine, and she couldn't believe how much she learned. The more I am around good wine, the more I learn too. It's become more of a hobby these days, which seems totally crazy, but I like it. Makes me feel classier too :-) L & I each went home with a few bottles of wine, and had to take a nap when we got back into Seattle.

 After an afternoon of watching my life is a lifetime movie, and napping we peeled ourselves off the couch because we had more activities awaiting us!









Next on our agenda was a trek up to Cap Hill for a friend's birthday celebration. We swung in to the restaurant Smith for some delicious brews and food first. I always love the dark and rustic vibe of Smith. It took way too long for a table, but a seat on the bench while people watching made it a little better. After we finished up we went down the hill a few blocks and popped in to say happy birthday to a friend of mine. The weather was horrible that night. It was pouring all night. Alternating between raining hard and harder. Needless to say, we were ready to go home early, throw sweat pants on, and watch tv. Plus, we were continuing the fun on Saturday morning. It would be a touristy day on Saturday.

Have you ever heard of the gum wall in Seattle? It is quite the site! Let me tell you about it. The gum wall is located in Post Alley, which is a small cobble stone lined alley that runs on both sides of Pike Place Market. Only a small section of the alley is covered in gum (thank God!), and for some reason it attracts a good amount of attention. L had heard about it and put it on her list of places to visit. As you can see, there is a massive amount of gum that lines the wall, and of course we had to add our own to it. We then walked around Pike Place Market, and looked at a bunch of the booths and little stores that pack that market full.

 We hopped the monorail when we had enough of all the tourists at the market and since the monorail only takes you one place: we got off at the Seattle Center and made our way over to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit next to the Space Needle. Dale Chihuly is a native of the Pacific Northwest; Tacoma specifically. His work is made up a variety of pieces, but he is known for his awe inspiring glass work. He blows glass into these bright, twisted, unbelievable creations. Many of them are over ten feet tall! As you can tell from my pictures, these pieces are incredibly unique and beautiful. His work can be found all across the country in not only museums, but in public places as well. My university is lucky to have scored a huge piece that looks similiar to the one in the 2nd row of pictures of the right.

Sunday was more relaxed. I dropped L off at the airport, and then went for a run. In the afternoon the roommate and I drove out to the middle of nowhere, in the rain, to cut down our tree. You would think that if you are driving out to some tree farm in the middle of nowhere and cutting down your own tree, you would save a lot of money. We were wrong in our thinking. The trees ranged from $65-80 bones! I'm thinking I should start a tree farm as a retirement business! YEESH. We sucked it up though and cut down a beautiful tree, and got out moneys worth by drinking lots of free cider and eating a bunch of their cookies ;-)

Only in the PacNW do you need an umbrella when heading out to cut down your tree!

Sawing away!

Like the vest coordination?! Christmas colors, and we didn't even plan that!

Anyone else get their Christmas tree this weekend?

NAIL FILES: Concrete Jungle

Good morning, lovely nail files bloggers!




This week my nails are shellac-ed once again. I chose the color 'Concrete Jungle'. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite colors I've ever had. It isn't too dark or too light for the season. I have had a hard time transitioning to darker colors now that it's fall time, but this is a perfect color. I don't know what it is with taking pictures of my nail colors, but it seems to be more difficult than one would think! :-)

Although a bit blurry, this was the picture I captured that portrayed the color best. I also really like the name of the color


Happy Black Friday! I am not participating in black Friday because I elected to work today instead. I hope you find some great deals out there (POST EM and SHOW EM!) if you are taking part in the craziness! AND be safe!

This is to you, the military wife..

I saw this blog post on one of my friend's facebook pages, and thought it was really touching. The author also collected people's pictures to incorporate them into the post. Love it. My favorite quote from it:

"This is to you, the one who waits for a call, who keeps your cell phone glued to your hand. To you, the one who checks the mailbox incessantly and refreshes your inbox ten times an hour. You, the one who quells the ever present pit in your stomach and refuses to listen to the news."

http://ashleighbaker.net/2012/11/this-is-to-you-the-military-wife/

I may not be a military wife, but I can really relate to, and appreciate this post.

Goodnight, bloggers.

Scenes from Portland

This weekend I headed south with my good friend Katie. We went down to Portland to visit one of our old friends who lives in the area. We went down to visit about two years ago, and decided that it was well over due for another visit. Lots of tax free shopping, and yummy food was had. A great way to spend part of the long weekend.

A picture from our visit two years ago

 Unfortunately, this trip wasn't in the summer like our last one so we were stuck indoors for the most part, but we still managed to have a good time!

 We went to this awesome hotel called The Nines. Inside there were a few different restaurants. One being Urban Farmer. Urban farmer is set in the middle of the 8th floor. It's an open air concept, and is furnished nicely. We took advantage of the bloody Mary bar, which was delicious, and that's coming from someone who doesn't normally like bloody Marys.We also went to Widmer Brother's Brewery. You just can't go to Portland with out visiting at least one brewery. Portland is one city that is FULL of micro breweries.

NAIL FILES: Featuring my first ever Julep Parlor visit!

I have been following the Nail Files from Tara @ Fabulous but Evil for close to a month or so, and because of this I was introduced to Julep. I had never even heard of this Julep before, and little did I know they have actual Julep parlors located solely in my neck of the woods. After all the wonderful nail colors and praise about Julep from Tara, I started looking into this company because I was curious when she mentioned the Julep Maven mail order program. I'm not usually one for doing my own nails because I can't sit still that long, and I usually mess them up right away. I stick to someone doing my Shellac for me because they're the pro, and they are dried before I have a chance to screw them up! Anyway, when I made the discovery of the parlors I knew I had to try them out ASAP. I scheduled an appointment at their Bellevue location for a Fab for 14 Julep Manicure. AKA their take on a shellac manicure. I was taken a little back by the price, but based on the description I figured it would be worth it:

Fab for 14 Julep Manicure-$66

Enjoy up to 14 high-gloss, chip-free days with new polish technology that dries instantly. Includes reflexology-based massage, sea salt exfoliation, and hydrating paraffin wrap.

Duration: 75 Minutes

Sounds amazing, right? Normally I pay around $28-30 for the basic shellac application and a little lotion at your regular run of the mill nail salon around the corner, but when I saw that there would be all these extras at Julep, I figured I'd fork over the extra $30 bucks.

I arrived to the salon, checked in and was told that I could get a glass of wine or champagne in place of my free bottle of polish if I wanted to. It was still early in the day, and I didn't feel like drinking so I decided to go for the free polish, which I picked out at the end of my manicure. I sat down at one of the stations, and let the lady do her work on me, I was excited for my reflexology massage and paraffin wrap! As time ticked along, none of those things occurred. She did all the usual steps in a manicure; trimmed and filed the nails, cut the cuticles, and buffed the ridges. Then came the color. My choice for color was called Grace. A nice deep brown full of good sparkle. I was surprised when she busted out the bottle of Gelish brand shellac. This happens to be the same exact brand they use at regular nail salons. It was a great color though so I didn't think too much into it. I liked that when they put my hands under the light that they didn't keep them under there for a very long time because sometimes it feels like I'm going to get burnt hands at other nail salons. I also like the fact that Julep Parlors are environmentally friendly and very clean in their practices.

After the color was all set and done the woman who did my nails asked if I wanted lotion. I said absolutely! The lotion was applied, much like at other salons, and then THAT WAS IT. The fab for 14 Julep manicure was done. No reflexology massage, no sea salt, and no paraffin wrap! I went up front, paid the $66 dollars, and got my free color. I walked out of the salon pretty confused, because then I started to think that maybe I scheduled the wrong service, or had gotten my services confused. It had only taken 45minutes to complete which didn't seem right either. I went home, looked up the services again and realized I was right, I should have gotten all those extras, but instead got exactly the same thing I would have received at my regular nail place except that I paid double the price!

Obviously, I'm not completely dogging on Julep, but I was extremely disappointed with my lack of experience had there. They did a good job overall, but I felt I didn't get my money's worth. I think I would go back there for a pedicure, but I'm sticking to my cheapy salon for manicures. I can't justify spending over $120 for a months worth of manicures when I can get the same thing done elsewhere for half the price. I also can't comment on their products since they don't have their own brand of Shellac. I think if people are into doing their own nails, Julep Maven is a good choice. For all these reasons I feel I can't make a final decision on this place, but I'm definitely skeptical about it until I go back and try a pedicure. That will be the deciding factor.

Have you visited a Julep Parlor or used their products before? What did you think?

Have a good weekend, bloggers!

Becoming Army Strong

I'm one month, and one week into this 9(ish) month deployment, and I feel like I'm starting to finally understand why Army wives, and girlfriends say deployment separates the girls from the women. This stuff is TOUGH. These last few days have really been kicking my ass emotionally. I haven't been able to get in contact with KC since Thursday night. He emailed me that night and said he would call me the next day (Friday) and here we are on a Monday night, and still no call. No reply to my email sent yesterday morning either. I have been so beat up about it. I've scoured the internet to see if something went down in his province, but I haven't been able to pull up anything on the web. I absolutely HATE doing that too, but I can't help it, I have to look around to see, for my own sanity. That's the worst part of being just a girlfriend, you're not told if something does happen-God forbid.

My absolute total fear during this whole deployment is that something happens to him, I don't find out til way later on. Or even worse, I find out from watching the news and not expecting it. KC's mom lives across the country so I haven't met her yet, and he promised me he gave her my number in case something does come up, but I still worry.

I hate that I haven't talked to him on the phone in over a week now. We had such a good communication schedule going for a couple of weeks. We'd email back and forth a few times a week, and talk on the phone about once a week as well. Now I haven't heard anything for four or so days. I haven't slept well since Friday night. Last night I went to bed late because I couldn't sleep. I woke up at 3am wide awake. I stayed awake until 5:30, then got about 30min shut eye before I had to get up and get ready for work. And  the tears!! What the heck!? I don't EVER cry, and I'm a big sobbing baby in my bed at night. I'm just so scared that something horrible is going to happen to him. I'm so excited for our future, and all that we have planned when he gets back. I'm terrified that all that will be swiped away from me in a moments notice.

I also feel it wouldn't be right to tell him all of this. I really don't want him being distracted over there by being worried that I'm ok over here. I'm strong, I know I'll get through this, but deployment is definitely not for the weak.

What did you do to combat the deployment blues, and become Army strong?

Goodnight bloggers.

Journey: Beverly Hills 90210

I started watching Beverly Hills 90210 four years ago when I first moved to Seattle. I only started watching it because I saw that the first season was being offered on Netflix's instant streaming. It was all history after that! That one season took it's hold on me and never let go. A year or so later one of my friends (my roommate now) moved to Seattle and told me she also was watching Beverly Hills, but I was further along than her. Well long story short she finally caught up and when we moved in together we started having Beverly Hills nights.

We took a break for awhile due to various things going on in life. We had reached the last season before we stopped watching, and couldn't remember where we left off mid season. These last few weeks we've resumed our watching, and on Thursday night we hit a sad point. We were FOUR episodes away from completely finishing the series. We thought we had at least one more disc til we reached this point. We stopped watching and decided we need to have a proper Bev Hills finale.Call us crazy, but we like to make a whole night of it. Make dinner, drink good wine, and watch the last few eps. Anyway, I wanted to review some of my favorite moments in Beverly Hills to mark such an occasion.

  
 DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES!!

Who doesn't remember this episode?! Donna goes to prom, gets drunk, and isn't allowed to graduate. Everyone gets in an upheaval, runs around chanting "DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES" while holding their signs. This is one of the first events where we see that goodie two shoes Donna isn't as innocent as we think. I loved it. I loved that she broke away from her parents grip for a second. Because lord knows I hate Felice, and all the shit she ever said.
 

KELLY'S ENGAGEMENTS

  How about all of Kelly's engagements?! Ok, there was only two, but the one with Brandon went all the way to the day of before it got called off. THEY WERE IN THEIR WEDDING ATTIRE!! As much as I loved Brandon, we all know for some weird reason, Kelly and Dylan are meant to be. Kelly should have accepted this fact a long time ago instead of involving herself with Matt. Loved Matt. Until he went to the desert, got high on acid, and started screaming "MATT DURNING ATTORNEY AT LAW", then slept with some random chick. I'll give him a little break because he didn't know there was acid in that drink, but he should have told Kelly sooner, and not avoided it. Obviously I haven't seen the final few eps, but I can only hope that by the time it's over, Kelly comes to her senses about Dylan. Even though he's a big debbie downer in the later episodes, they should still be together.











Dylan's CRAZY life. He's an alcoholic, gets hooked on drugs, spends all his money. Gets it back. Watches his dad die when someone plants a bomb in his car. Seems to be on the right track when he marries Antonia, but then she gets killed by her own people when they mistake her for Dylan. Dylan than leaves for awhile, but comes back as a serious downer. THEN he finds out that Jack McKay isn't dead, but just in the Witness protection program, and he wants him to come with him. Dylan has gone through so much crazy stuff I don't know how that guy isn't completely insane.


Obviously those are only three of MANY memorable moments from the series. I could go on and on. Especially about all the CRAZY situations that Kelly Taylor was involved in. A drive by shooting, amnesia, using coke, being engaged multiple times, sleeping with Jake (from Melrose place), and shooting and killing the man who raped her who also coincidentally (I think NOT) was being represented by Matt. For being kids from Beverly Hills 90210, they sure saw and experience a lot more than most kids growing up. What were your favorite moments from this show?

I don't know what it was that made this show so addictive, but it is. I think the fact that each character had something different to bring to the table made it so good. I started watching Melrose Place this last year since I knew I was going to need a replacement, and that show would never take Bev Hills place. That show lacks the good characters that Bev Hills has. Everyone in Melrose Place goes crazy at one point or another, they all hook up with one another, and all of them are terrible friends to each other. Bev Hills characters all stay somewhat the same. Donna is always the kind one, Steve is goofy, but good hearted, Dylan is caring, but doesn't let his emotions show. They don't all sleep with each other, and have these insanely dysfunctional relationships. I guess you could say in some strange way, they're relatable. I will miss spending my rainy sunday afternoons cuddled up on the couch yelling at the tv while watching this show.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far!

Life Lessons: Friendships

 There sometimes comes a point in a friendship when you have to turn, walk away and head for the door. You realize you can only extend the olive branch so many times, and give so much of yourself when you see the act is not reciprocated. Friendship is a two way street. Life is too short to waste your time on people who don't understand this. Be thankful for those friends who do understand, and appreciate this. Those are your true friends.

I have too much going on these days to put my worry into someone who doesn't appreciate me or value the friendship. I feel that most of my friendships are easy going, and operate with little to no effort. That sounds wrong, but it isn't. It's almost like an unspoken agreement I have with my friends. We all know that life is crazy, and we become busier with every year we grow older. Because of this we don't always talk. Sometimes we go months without having a phone conversation. However, when we do see each other we pick up right where we left off, as if no time had passed between the last time we saw each other. I love that I have this situation with all my closest friends. We have that mutual respect and appreciation for each others lives. I feel like at 25 years old I'm done with the stupid games, and immaturity, but life continues to be a constant weeding out process when it comes to friends. Although it has significantly slowed since my teen years, I have to remind myself that it still continues at any age. Some people are just not meant to be in your life story til the end, and that's OK. That's life.

Good Night Bloggers!

Weekend Recap: All things Halloween!

My little miss Matilda Jane

This whole weekend was covered in Halloween goodness. So much Halloween that I seriously feel like the 31st of October has already occurred. I'm ready to bring on Thanksgiving!

Awesome spartan hat made out of a pumpkin and a broom

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On Friday evening I trekked down to Georgetown with a few friends to attend the Elysian's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival. Over sixty different pumpkin type beers to try! Holyyy moley was I pumped. There were four of us that went as a group, and we decided we would get the most bang for your buck if we all got a different type of beer sample at each station and then sipped on each others. It seemed that beers were either really good or really terrible. My favorites were both Elysian beers: The Great Pumpkin Ale, and Night Owl. I don't remember the names of the really horrible ones, but the flavors ranged from tasting like a taco with BO to candy corn.

Saturday night was my first costume party of the 2012 season. I went with my mom and Stepdad to some friends Halloween party. If you couldn't tell I was Wilma Flintstone. Real simple, and cheap costume. I hate spending money on costumes so this was an easy one. The party was great! I have never seen anyone put so much effort into their decorations. It really paid off. There was amazing appetizers, and really fun games. I even manged to win one! I found the smallest pumpkin in the house and won a cute cheese and cracker basket.

Sunday was spent cleaning, drinking pumpkin eggnog lattes, watching Beverly Hills 90210 and Dexter with my roommate. Let's talk about these lattes. I had no idea PUMPKIN eggnog existed!! It is amazing! It is even more amazing when I steamed it up into a latte. The perfect fall treat. My roommate finally ordered up Showtime for us, and now I can start watching the 7th season of Dexter. I finished up Ep 2 last night and am in the middle of Ep 3 right now. I think I need to start blogging about the episodes once I'm caught up.

How was your weekend? Do anything Halloween related?

Nail files: HALLOWEEN!

This week for nail files I decided to go for a seasonal color. I did black shellac, with both ring fingers painted an orange shellac topped with a sparkly orange top coat! I've gotten some awesome comments on them thus far, and it really makes me more excited for Halloween everytime I look at them. Happy Friday!

I have a heck of a time taking good pics of my manicures :-)