The Struggle Is Real

In our almost 7 years of marriage, this home is our 5th home we've lived in.

When we first got married, we lived briefly in Nick's bachelor pad apartment with his roommate.

When we got our first little apartment, we furnished it ourselves with lots of IKEA furniture.

We bought furniture to fit our small space, and it worked well in that space with the layout of our apartment.

When we bought our first townhome, our furniture that we had from our original apartment didn't quite work out with the layout of our new home.

It was a perfect excuse for us to get rid of our IKEA furniture and upgrade to "grown up" furniture.

I bought furniture that fit the layout of the townhouse we lived in, and it was perfect.

Then we moved from our little townhouse to this giant 2600 square foot house in Massachusetts.

Our stuff that had fit so nicely in our little OC townhouse just seemed so small in such a big house.

We made it work though, and the only thing we ended up replacing was our dining room table.

We built a huge farmhouse style table for our huge dining room.

So here we are in our new house in Texas...

Our huge dining room does not fit in our dining room, so it has sadly turned into an outdoor table.

Which is actually fine, because we have this awesome backyard and HUGE deck to host BBQ's and parties in, so it works.

Nick and I are planning on building another table together.

Also, our living room layout is so different from our last house, and I'm having such a hard time finding a way to make our furniture work.

I really just want to say screw it, and buy a new couch that fits and works in the lay out of this house.

I know Nick would not agree with me on that....

I mean seriously though...

With as much as we move as military families, it really does suck trying to figure out how to make your furniture from your old house work in your new house.

I've moved the couches and chairs in our living room a dozen times already, and can't get fully satisfied.

Oh the struggle....

The struggle is real....

On a brighter note...

Our second child FINALLY has some photos of him up on our walls!!!!!!!

It only took a year.

Our home is no longer a Dannika shrine (as some have called it)....

Just a funny photo I snapped of my Mattis...

Fell asleep just like that on his rocking chair.

Guess he was tired...

"FALCONPALOOZA"

Dannika's school had their annual Fall Festival this year (appropriately named "Falconpalooza" after their school mascot).

It was our first "school event" in her new school.

Since we live half a mile away from the school, we were able to walk there, and we spent the majority of our day there.

It's the school's 10 year anniversary, so it was a HUGE deal.

There were SO MANY booths, games, prizes, silent auction items, etc. etc. etc. 

They were even auctioning off a 10 day hunting safari in Africa!!! (only in Texas, right?)

We did the cake walk a total of 3 times, and we won nothing. 

I think it's God's way of telling us we don't need cake or baked goods in our life.

He knows we're health nuts...and the excitement of winning something got to us...lol.

Nick and Dannika participated in the potato sack race, and Nick let Dannika won!!!!

Mattis patiently sat in the BOB the entire time....yes those are potato chip crumbs all over him....

The money booth was fun to watch Dannika in.

And lastly, a LOT of my friends ran the Marine Corps marathon today!

I couldn't be more proud of all of them!

CONGRATS Y'ALL!!!

Life in College Station

Sorry I've been so "out of it" with blogging and stuff.

I keep up with most of y'all on Instagram (if you have one), and if I get a quick minute, I'll head to your blog to skim through what I've missed.

But I sincerely apologize for giving no love to y'all.

I've been painstakingly going through hundreds of boxes full of our life, and to be honest, it's been quite exhausting (to say the least).

We are in the process of doing a few cool DIY projects for our new house (on top of unpacking the million boxes of "stuff" we have), so I'll do a post on that some other time.

Oh yeah, our "stuff" finally arrived....3 weeks later than our anticipated date.

But like I said, as much as it sucked the last 3 weeks, our family made the best of it, and I did very little complaining.

After all, no use complaining over a service the military provides for FREE.

If you're gonna complain, "move yo own dayum self!", and you can do everything the way YOU want it.

So here's a little update on our happy little life in this happy little town called College Station...

I've done a lot more running since moving here to try and get my body acclimatized faster to the heat and humidity. 

Two laps around my neighborhood is 5 miles, which is a perfect distance to get acclimatized...not too long...not too short.

I had Nick bring Mattis to the park down the street from our house, and met up with them after my run :)

I've ALWAYS been a die hard Aggie...I mean...I DID grow up here and was brainwashed.

I've slowly turned the rest of my family into Aggies, and now that Nick will officially be a part of the FIGHTIN' TEXAS AGGIE CLASS OF 2017, he has embraced the spirit of Aggieland.

He even threw away most of his Alabama gear (except for a baseball hat that he has worn at almost every important family milestone).

Since our furniture took so long to arrive, every weekend, we loaded up the car and drove down the Houston to my parents house (an hour and a half away).

Free food, a nice bed, and lots of cuddle time with the grandkids for my parents!! It's a win/win!!

Last weekend, we BBQ'ed at my parent's friends house.

This is my gorgeous mama and me!

Since I had no cooking utensils, or anything in my kitchen for the last 3 weeks, we ate out pretty much every single day.

It was nice at first...

Then it got old...real quick.

I don't want to see the inside of a restaurant for a very long time...

Oh, did I mention our kids are not well behaved at restaraunts? 

See below...

The day our stuff arrived....

The happiest most stressful day ever.

We live half a mile away from Dannika's school.

I LOVE walking her to and from school every day.

I love seeing all the parents walking their own kids, the kids riding their bikes/scooters...

I love how everyone waves at us and tells us hello...

Sometimes, I feel like I am living in an episode of Leave It To Beaver/The Brady Bunch...

Well, this guy sometimes gets bored on our walks to school...

Oh, and the neighborhood conveniently paved this walkway that takes us straight to her school from our neighborhood.

The walk is gorgeous.

(note: no Fall colors here. LUSH green trees....New England can keep their orange, red, and yellow DYING leaves.)

To me, Fall means "death"...everything is dying, and the horrible winter (for New England and all places cold) is approaching.

We walked Dannika to school today, and I realized Nick was wearing his OCS sweatshirt that had "Drill or Kill" written on the back with blood splatter on it.

Not appropriate for elementary school campuses....lol.

So life in CSTX is awesome.

I love being back in the town I grew up in.

I love the look on our neighbor's faces when I tell them I grew up here.

Most people in this town are either students or affiliated with the University in some way.

There's not TOO many of us "townies" here.

I love all the big trucks, country accents, the friendly strangers, our amazing new house, our neighbors, our neighborhood......

Honestly, I can't think of ONE single negative thing about this place.

I count my blessings every day, and every prayer I've said since moving here has been filled with gratitude towards God for bringing me back.

Life. Is. Good.

So Far...

Our family's been transplanted in Texas for just about 2 weeks now.

The transition has been anything but smooth, but we are still a lot happier here than we were in Massachusetts (hallelujah for that!!!).

Of course, this is besides the fact that we still have not received our household goods (that were supposed to arrive on the 3rd, but are now being told the 20th).

So we currently still reside in an empty house with two lawn chairs, an air mattress, a playpen, internet, our portable electronics, oh, and 3 barstools that I purchased for the house.

We are making the best of it though, and since Dannika is in Kindergarten full time, we only have to deal with trying to entertain one child in an empty house.

Last weekend, we spent the weekend at my folk's house and enjoyed sleeping on a bed and a few good home cooked meals.

A few days after we arrived here in Texas, Nick got hit with a horrible stomach bug that put him on a deathbed for a day.

Of course a few days after, I got hit with the same bug which put me out for about 2 days.

So it was just a matter of time when our children would get it.

Well last night was the night when that bug attacked our family with a vengeance!

Our poor Dannika had a rough night...we're talking horrible, explosive diarrhea....everywhere.

Of course, we don't have a washer and dryer (because it's somewhere in this country on the back of a moving truck), so we were up last night hand washing what we could, and taking stuff outside and hosing it off.

This turned into our family's first ER visit in Texas.

Turns out this nasty stomach bug is going around, and the only remedy the doctors gave us was to "let it run its' course" and the "BRAT diet" (of course).

Today I dropped all of our "soiled" linens, clothes, underwear...everything...off at a a wash and fold laundromat.

It's been crazy, and after a crazy night like last night, I'm getting more than impatient for all of our stuff to arrive.

It's strange how exhausting it is living in an empty house, especially with a sick child.

Tensions are running high, and patience is wearing thin!

But to end on a high note...

We are absolutely in love with our new neighborhood, and it's so nostalgic to drive by all these places that I grew up around as a child.

The thick country accents, the friendly "hellos" everywhere we go, the warm weather, and of course this beautiful home that we can call ours is all worth it.

If y'all want to catch up with my family via photos, check out my instagram (domesticatedcombatboots)!

Until I have my computer back up and running, it's hard for me to post photos on my blog!

Texas & A Sucky PCS

Hey y'all!!

I'm back to the blog world...sorta!

I can say that our family is officially planted in Texas, and we could not be more thrilled to be here.

It's been ridiculously hot, humid, sunny, and we absolutely LOVE IT!

As far as PCS'ing, our PCS has turned into a PCS from hell...

Mostly dates...all the dates we were told for certain parts of our move have been false.

The packers were coming on the 29th to pack, but showed up on the 26th.

Our household good were supposed to be here on the 3rd, and now we are being told the 21st.

Everyone we've talked to on the phone from the moving company to our military moving coordinator has in some way, shape, or form lied to us...flat out lied...and when they were caught in their lies, they backpedaled like crazy.

So, currently, our family is living in an empty (but gorgeous) new home with two lawn chairs, an air mattress, a pack and play, and our suitcases.

We got internet today, so now we can get on our laptops and iPads.

We are making do with what we have, and I can't tell you that it's been easy.

Nick and I have (at times) been at each other's throats, and it's all because we're just a little stressed, irritated, and tired of sleeping on an air mattress.

But at the end of every crazy day, we sit on our lawn chairs, have a glass of wine, and thank God for this amazing opportunity to live in Texas...specifically my home town.

I seriously have to pinch myself every time I pull into the driveway of our house.

We walk Dannika to school every day, and the scenery in our neighborhood is just so serene.

Neighborhoods like this are non existent in Massachusetts, and the live in a neighborhood like this in California, you have to be a millionaire.

By the time I get home from the half mile walk from Dannika's school, I am drenched in sweat, and I can honestly say that it hasn't bothered me...not. one. bit.

It's totally weird to be around other children who tell me "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am", and children that call us Mr. and Mrs.

In New England and in California, people always thought it was strange (yet "so stinkin' cute and polite) that Dannika always said sir/ma'am and called everyone Mr. and Mrs.

We're finally in a place where it's the norm to be like Dannika!

It's just good old southern hospitality, and I never appreciated it so much until we have moved back.

Now that we have internet, I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs!!!