Happy Birthday To Us!

The most feared fighting organization in the world, that is!!!

Happy 239th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

My husband and I did not attend a ball this year because of all the craziness with our move, but you bet 'yer dayum self that we will be celebrating our birthday today!

One thing I love about being a Marine is how seriously we take our traditions (like our birthday).

My husband spent a Marine Corps birthday in Iraq before, and they did a whole ceremony in the middle of war.

They did a cake cutting ceremony (which the "cake" was an MRE pound cake), and did the reading of the Marine Corps birthday message...they did it all.

It may have not been at a fancy ball room, and there was no dancing and drinking (actually, they had TWO beers), but they still managed to find time in the midst of battle to take a moment and celebrate our birthday.

That's dedication, and I've had numerous people from other branches of service tell me how "crazy brainwashed" we are.

You call it brainwashed...

We call it pride.

So today...

Hug a Marine! (no...actually...don't...you might get punched if you're a random stranger hugging a random Marine)..

But if you know a Marine or see a Marine, give them a "Happy Birthday, devildog!"

Buy 'em a drink!

And in honor of the Marine Corps birthday, I went on my annual 7 mile run...while hacking up my lungs...(ain't nothing gonna stop me!)

Happy 239th Birthday, Devil Dogs!

I'm proud to be part of an organization that has been kicking butt for over 2 centuries now!!

SEMPER FI!

House Sneak Peek

I finally feel a little more "settled" in our new home.

It's still not completely organized the way I want it, and we still have a few more DIY projects to do.

But I've been getting a ton of people ask me for some pictures of the house.

I've been reluctant, because I was planning on doing one big blog post once our house was just the way I wanted it.

I realized this weekend that it'll be another few months before it's totally how I want it.

So I figured I'd give y'all a little tease.

When we started house hunting, I had a short list of "non negotiables".

Things that I ABSOLUTELY needed in a home, and if a house we looked at was missing any of these, it was automatically a "no go".

Although this is not our "forever home", this was the second home we have purchased together, and I wanted to make sure it was what I wanted to live in for the short 3 years we are here.

1. ONE STORY.

I never ever ever would buy a two story house, nor do I ever want to live in a two story house ever again (if we can help it). 

Our home that we rented in Massachusetts was a 2600 square foot, two story home, and I HATED IT.

The upstairs never got much love, and the laundry room was in the basement.

It was just inconvenient for me.

2. Open concept

I wanted a kitchen that opened up to the living room.

The last time we had a kitchen that was open to the living room was when we lived in our teeny tiny 800 square foot apartment in San Clemente (before we had kids).

After having kids, I wanted a kitchen that I could cook at while watching the family hang out in the living room.

3. Larger master bedroom/suite

We ended up with a huge master bedroom with a den (which is our office/moto room) attached to it separately.

It also has a nice little bathroom with his/her sinks, large soaking tub, a shower, and a walk in closet.

4. Indoor laundry room.

Our town house in California that we owned had the washer and dryer out in our garage...I hated it.

Our house in Massachusetts had the washer and dryer in the cold, scary basement...I hated it.

I needed a laundry room inside the house, and I finally got it!

5. Fenced backyard with lots of room for entertainment.

We scored with this.

We have a large backyard with a humongous new deck...perfect for entertaining!

So these were my 5 "non negotiables", and I'm so thankful that our realtor worked with us to find our perfect, temporary, Texas home.

Shameless plug goes to our awesome realtor Jason Handy with Andrea Peters Realtors (Keller Williams)

Here is a small sneak peek...

Remember that GORGEOUS Restoration Hardware knockoff table that Nick and I built together in Massachusetts??

Well that thing seats 8 people, and it didn't fit in our dining room, so Nick built me a new one!

The old one is currently sitting on our nice deck, and being used as a picnic table for outdoor BBQ's and entertaining!

This one seats 6.

I want two beautiful high back end chairs for it, but I haven't found the "perfect" ones yet.

The hunt continues.

Also, we are still in the process of finishing our "floating dry bar" (against the wall under the mirror in the pic).

We are planning on adding a wine rack underneath it, lifting the mirror up, and adding some shelves for "top shelf liquors".

While the kitchen is not very big, it is what "sold" me on this house.

It's so "quaint" and so "perfect" for me...for now.

It's open to the living room...

 It boasts GORGEOUS gray/white granite counter tops with subway tile back splash...

The cabinets are completely custom...

Big pantry...

Large, deep under mount kitchen sink without a divider....(seriously, if you've never owned a sink without that pesky divider, you should...it'll change your life...)

Oh, and check out that sweet gas stove with a DOUBLE OVEN!!!!

I've already gotten some use of that double oven feature.

It's seriously amazing to cook two things at the same time at different temperatures...

I'm I've already become spoiled...

 I have a little coffee bar next to the fridge.

And we purchased our new "smart" fridge...

The previous owners had a similar one, but they decided at the last minute, they wanted to take their fridge with them to their new home.

 bar area...

So there's a little tease for y'all!

As we finish up the rest of the house, I'll start posting more blogs about each room!!!

An Irrational Fear

I think it's safe to say that MOST people hate or are afraid of the dentist.

I had a friend once tell me that she got in the dentist's chair, started crying before he even started doing anything, and she straight up got up and left without saying bye.

I have an irrational fear of the dentist as well (not as bad as said friend^^^), but it's still pretty bad.

My last dentists' appointment in Massachusetts, I tearfully told my dentist in the chair about my horrible experience with military dentistry, and how I had this fear that he was going to tell me that he'd have to pull all my teeth out....irrational, right?

I actually sweat bullets when I'm in a dentists chair....

In my 10 years as a Marine, Navy/Army dental ruined my life, and ruined the chance for any good dentist outside of the military to have a fighting chance with me.

I once had a tooth extracted in Iraq in not so favorable conditions....and it got infected....in Iraq.....

It was horrible.

Trying to keep your mouth clean when there is literally a sand storm every day is nearly impossible...unless you don't breath through your mouth, open your mouth, or talk....

And even then, some of that fine Iraqi desert sand will find it's way into your mouth.

There was also that one time, I had a root canal done by the Navy, only to find out 3 years later by a civilian dentist that I went to while on recruiting duty told me it was the worst root canal he had ever seen, and immediately scheduled to have it re done....

Yeah...I had two root canals done on the same tooth....awful...

And as much as I tried to avoid dental as much as possible in the Marine Corps, we have these things called "medical and dental" hitlists that come out weekly (sometimes daily).

It's a list of ALL Marines in your command that are due for shots, physicals, pap smears (yeah I said it), and of course dental work...everything from cleanings, check ups, and wisdom teeth removals.

Oh, and THEY WILL remove your wisdom teeth whether you need them out or not.

And heaven forbid you get "behind" a little on your shots, physicals, and dental appointments.

They will make you non deployable and embarrass/harass you until you are physically "up to code".

So I have this dull tooth ache in the back of my mouth.

I've been avoiding it, and trying to ignore it the last few days hoping it would magically go away.

But it hasn't.

I finally called today and made an appointment this week to go get it checked out.

Honestly, all morning while I was working out at the gym and on my run, all I could think about was having to make this dreaded appointment.

I seriously hate the dentist....hate them....

Just a few photos from the weekend...

The Aggies finally won this week...yay!

 

It's hard to get this kid to smile in a photo, but I promise he smiles a lot...

Some cuddle time with this princess.

We had our annual family photos taken this weekend.

I become a stress monster around family photo time.

Trying to find the perfect outfits for everyone...

Getting myself ready.

Making sure everyone is dressed the way I want them dressed.

Doing Dannika's hair while she tearfully cries that I am hurting her head while brushing tangles out....

Yeah...I needed this glass of wine before our photos....

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Red Ribbon Week

This past week was National Red Ribbon Week.

"The National Red Ribbon Campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation reaching millions of young people during Red Ribbon Week."

(source: NFP.org)

Each day last week had a dress up day for Red Ribbon week.

I think I was honestly more excited than Dannika was, but she was pretty excited about it too!

Monday was "Join the fight against drugs"...CAMO DAY!

Of course, we went for Marine Corps cammies...would you expect anything else?!

Nick even let her be a "Gunny" for a day.

Tuesday was "Team up Against Drugs"...wear your favorite team shirt/jersey.

"Who's your favorite team, Dannika?!"

"THE AGGIES, OF COURSE!!"

Wednesday was "Wear red day"....

Thursday was "Follow your dreams, don't do drugs"...PAJAMA DAY!!

This is what Dannika calls her "Elsa pose".

And lastly...

Friday was "Drugs are out of character"....dress up as your favorite storybook character.

Of course....Dannika went as....

The teacher actually had all the kids bring the book that correlated with their costumes.

I guess that was a clever way of keeping kids from coming to school in their random Halloween costumes.

To end Red Ribbon Week, we were invited to attend the Kindergarten pumpkin festival at Dannika's school.

"Will the real Elsa please stand up?"

Dannika actually has two Elsa dresses.

She has the original Disney store one, and this Etsy knock off that she is wearing.

The Disney store one, we saved for Halloween trick or treating since it's full of glitter.

The knock off was more practical for every day wear.

Making candy corn hand prints.

I'm so glad that Nick gets to be present for little things like her pumpkin festival.

I feel like the last 5 years was worth it for these next few years that we have together as a family!

It really brings to perspective when someone tells me...

"Sometimes you gotta suffer a little to have a little comfort later..."

A Frozen Halloween

I love waking up in the morning the day after Halloween, scrolling threw my newsfeed, and seeing all y'alls adorable kids in their costumes!

I seriously just spent the last 20 minutes liking everyone's Halloween photos on Facebook and Instagram.

With that said, our first official Halloween in Texas was a success!!!

Just like a million other families with children obsessed with Frozen, our children went as Elsa and Olaf.

So original...I know, but she had her heart set on Elsa for SO LONG!

I tried to talk her into something else, but she was not havin' it.

So here she is...Princess Elsa.

 The wig is actually a Rapunzel wig, but it worked!

I put some blush on her cheeks and her nose, glitter make up, and of course Elsa's famous purple eye shadow!

The cutest Elsa and Olaf on the block!

I was actually pretty surprised he kept the head piece of the costume on...

 Dannika got a TON of compliments from other trick or treaters about her costume.

He kinda got the hang of it....but not really...

He actually tried to walk into most of the houses.

And lastly...because my goofy husband insisted on dressing up as well....

I introduce to you....Hulk Hogan.

The tights didn't stay on all night...they weren't....modest....

 Perfectly normal...just Olaf and Hull Hogan walking down the street....

We spent the rest of the evening sitting out on our curb with our neighbors, drank beer/wine, and passed out candy.

All in all, it was the perfect Halloween for our first of several in Texas!!!