Spooktacular

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mr. is home for a little while :)

so we will be celebrating our Halloween together.

and savoring every moment!

my favorite candy around this holiday is..

caaaandycornnnn mmmmmm...

Be safe and eat lots of candy today!

Dear Civilian Girl

You wish your husband would call you more; 

I hope and pray mine will get phone calls. 

You're scared that you won't be able to handle your pregnancy; 

I deal with thoughts that my husband might not even be there for it. 

You sometimes wear that pretty necklace your husband gave you;

I never take his dog tags off.

Your man carries around books and a backpack;

Mine carries an M-16.

He has a week long business trip you're upset about;

My husband will be gone for a year.

You go on vacation at your leisure;

The government decides that for me.

You wish he wouldn't be so perverted with his friends;

My husband chants it all in cadences.

Your husband trains at the gym 5 days a week;

Mine is trained to kill.

You watch shows like "Army Wives," read books like Dear John, and think it's cute;

It's my reality.

You hear the National Anthem and feel American Pride;

I hear the National Anthem and it brings tears to my eyes.

 I'm an Army Wife

Also, and sometimes better known as the
Silent Ranks.

I sit back and watch the Army do what they please with my spouse. 

I can't say or do anything about it. 

But, I'm SO proud of my soldier. 

If it wasn't for him and countless other men and women in uniform,

we wouldn't have the pride and freedom we have today.

Thank a military family today for all the sacrifices made.

Flashback Friday

weren't we just the yummiest little kids ever?

Sometimes I think about days when I was younger.
Nothing important mattered back then.
Except, when the next Disney Channel Movie was going to air..
or if Mom packed the right snack for lunch..
[because if she didn't, it was being traded behind the lunch room ladies' back]
I wish I could see life through the eyes of my childhood. Everything was perfect.
Remember those days?

Punkin Time

I LOVE FALL!

everything is so pretty this time of year.

the leaves change colors

my house smells like pumpkin spice

and all the fun fall time decorations get put up.

but you want to know my favorite part about this season?

besides the obvious..

constant airings of Halloweentown on Disney Channel

among that and other things...

I LOVE going to the pumpkin patch!

one of my very best friends,

Lindsay invited me to go pumpkin patching with her and her husband

Mr is currently training to fight those bad guys and was unable to participate in the festivities but he was there in heart...and through picture messaging of course 
[yay for iphones]

We were so excited for our fall time pumpkin patch trip

We started out the day getting yummy drinks from Jamba Juice

Then we listened to spooky Halloween music on the trip over

to get in the spirit of course.

 Lindsay's husband really loved the Halloween music :)

so anyway 

after we were in the spirit and ready, we pulled into the pumpkin farm

we were a little skeptical

until....

the biggest pumpkin we had ever seen was right in front of us

only the biggest and best pumpkin patch could house such a pumpkin as this...right?

we had high hopes.

 But we were a little disappointed to turn the corner and find this..

I guess all the super awesome gigantic pumpkins were taken

by the 3rd and 4th graders on their field trip earlier that day.

 

 we thought maybe the spooky haunted house or confusing corn maze might make up for the lack of pumpkin patch and gigantic pumpkin finding, false advertisement..

 

the entrance to the haunted shed...

 scary? no.

weird? yes. 

as for the corn maze..well we'll call it a corn path

it had ropes to guide you through

"not to worry, you won't get lost in this maze!" 

just in case you forgot what their scary err..weird decorations consisted of.

not to worry though..

aside from all the weirdness, lack of an authentic pumpkin patch and false advertisement

we DID have fun, so much fun

we laughed..

we took fun pictures..

i bought these.. 

these were just screaming to be photographed..

mmm so much prettiness

 

warts and bumps in all their glory, but oh so fall-ish and I love it

I think the holiday season is my favorite time to take pictures

well, the moral of the story is: if you want an authentic pumpkin patch trip..

don't go to the suburbs, venture out into the land of fields :)

BUT

wherever you go to celebrate Fall time...

make it fun and memorable like we did

Countdown-ing

A Countdown: something that is usually fun.  

It's something to look forward to.

 maybe it's a party.

maybe it's a long awaited vaca.

maybe it's the premier of your fav tv show.

or maybe a loved one is coming home.

For all of January, February and most of March, Mr. and I had a countdown.

He was in Basic Training. 

I counted the weeks..the days..and then finally the hours 

 that we would see each other at last.

and then it arrived: graduation day 

..we did it! we survived to the long awaited day!

Well, Mr.'s Basic graduation came and went.

Our countdown had come to a close only to start back up again.

the very next day Mr. shipped out to the East Coast for his AIT schooling. 

another countdown, but this one was easier. 

Instead of heading every letter with: 48 days!!

Mr. and I could countdown together, over the phone. 

When our countdown came to a close it was even better than last time. 

This time I got to be with Mr. for the rest of his training.

I moved to the East Coast for the Summer.

The countdown makes it go by faster.

If I can just get through the end of this week, I can focus on next week and instead

of 9 long weeks there's only 8 long weeks left.

always count in weeks, never months. 

Month is a BIG word used to define a LONG period of time.

a week: 7 days.. it's small, not so bad.

The latest countdown was for 9.5.10

wedding day!

what a happy countdown this was.

Of all our countdowns this was absolutely the hardest one to wait for.

 enough with the 15 days..8 days..3 hours..

I want it now!

 I couldn't wait to be married and start our life together.

the day was perfect and the countdown was over in the blink of an eye.

the Miss became the Mrs to her Mr :)

The countdowns though, they just never seem to end. there's always something else waiting to happen, waiting to be the next countdown.

Today marks some sort of countdown.  A countdown I have been least looking forward to.
It differs in that I won't be counting down the days, hours and minutes for something I've waited so patiently for.  Instead I'll be fighting the days, ignoring the hours and
holding on to every minute.

The countdown to D-Day. 

Deployment Day, that is.

The next big thing on our list. There's no avoiding it.

It's finally arriving and there's nothing we can do about it.

it's like that annoying itch that you just can't scratch..
it hangs over our heads.
we're always thinking about it but pretending it isn't really there.

only...it IS there...here...and it won't go away.

The time we have left is precious time that will not be taken for granted.
I refuse to let any day pass where Mr. isn't told how special he is to me or let him know
how much I love him.

the sooner it all arrives..

the sooner Mr. will be back in my arms.

With Jesus by my side, I will do this. We will do this.

the Mr and Mrs will be okay

Chestnut Tree Photography

Photography is my passion.

I capture some of the beauty God placed on earth for us

And 

it allows me to express myself.

  I don't quite know what I'm doing yet, in the world of photography @ least. 

But,

behind the lens is where I feel creative and happy <3

 

by the river

so proud

beautiful belly

precious

Patriotism

<3

yummy :)

Well, it's nothing amazing, but it's a little taste of what I have done over the last few months!

I'm on a mission to learn more, maybe take a class or two. 

But for now I'll explore and teach myself!

Blogging?

Are you ready? Lets give this a try...

This is us, the Mr. and Mrs.

Happily Married as of September 5, 2010

...

unhappily separated due to Operation New Dawn, shortly there after!

It's not your typical Happily Ever After...yet at least. Our Happily Ever After has been temporarily put on hold while Mr. goes and fights the bad guys.  Yes that's right Mr. will be taking them apart one at a time, a helicopter that is. Mr. will be supporting an infantry unit overseas, but he will be safely residing on post, fixing helicopters..whew! (or so we're told)

he knows the ins and outs of this bad guy..he's so handy!

 It's not the ideal situation for a husband and wife to be separated their first year of marriage but it happens to those of us in the military family and its just going to make us stronger!

 As Mr. and I prepare for his upcoming deployment and then as it begins, I'll have thoughts..lots of thoughts.  I'm starting this blog as an outlet.  my photography will make frequent appearances here, so be on the look out for that as well! Anyway, I thought this might be a good place to give updates on Mr. while he is away from so many loved ones, and something fun for myself as well.

Thanks for stopping by :)


"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you..."
Luke 12: 27-28