Stay-Cation and May's Favorite Things

Hey Ya’ll!!!

Hope you’re all doing well. 

Last week I was supposed to be enjoying my work trip to St. Croix, before it was cancelled 18 hrs before we were supposed to leave. I decided not to dwell on it too much, mostly because I wasn’t out anything {hotel, plane, rental,ect..}

So instead, I took a hiatus from work and decided on a stay-cation.  Not as picturesque, warm or sunny as I would of liked it to be, but there was no work phone calls or emails and we SLEPT in..until like 7AM and Graham would tell me he wanted to cuddle when he crawled into bed with me. I’ll take it!!!

May marks 4 months into the deployment and so far things are going well. 

I’ve had my days that I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, scream, drink you name it. There hasn’t been anything life altering happen, so far everyone and all animals are alive and let’s hope it stays that way. 

We are also a little over half way until we get to meet baby #2.  I think we have finally gotten our name selection down to 3-4 names.  We have a front-runner but will most likely wait until he gets here to see if the name fits.

Since the weather is warming up I wanted to share some of my favorite things for May!

1.     Kiki La’ Rue…I’m a Tom boy at heart and seriously could live in shorts and t-shirt.  I came across Kiki La’ Rue probably about a year ago and fell in love. Becka and the ladies at Kiki La’ Rue do awesome work. Packages are sent and received in a very timely manner and there has always been a personal note with every order I have received.  I’ve noticed since having Graham I haven’t felt near as cute in clothes and since wearing KLR, I can no longer say that.

2.      Outdoor Swing Set…I just picked this up for Graham for his birthday next month!!! The kid loves to be outside swinging or on the slides so I’m sure he will love it which means I will too until it’s time to come inside and he doesn’t want to and has a major meltdown. Or until he falls from the monkeybars and it’s a trip to the ER. Let’s hope that’s not the case. I’ll take a meltdown over a broken arm. We got a pretty decent deal on our at Toys R Us.

3.     Quest Bars…YUM. I’m not a huge fan of protein drinks, mixes or bars but these are pretty darn good.  High in protein low in sugars and they have a ton a different flavors. Most Vitamin shops carry them but if they are out check out amazon.

4.     Batiste Dry Shampoo….I’m a wash your hair everyday sort of girl. I might be able to make it to the next day but not very often.  I’ve found a new love for dry shampoo and normally get mine from TJMAXX because it tends to be a little cheaper there. I’m by far no expert but my pick is the Batiste Dry Shampoo.

5.     Silikids…I’ve been on the hunt for a sippy cup that doesn’t leak!!! During my searches, I came across the silikids sippy cups and I’m definitely looking at ordering some. Silicone tops that will fit with almost any cup and not leak….i’m a sucker. I’m gonna totally order some.

6.     Native Shoes…I found these on the super cute Shay Shull’s website, mix and match momma.  These look like they will be the perfect little summer shoes.  They can be found on Zappos, Amazon, Nordstrom

7.     Gold Bond Ultimate Lotion…LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! I swear this winter killed my hands and I am still doing damage control on them. This stuff is great. Its not super greasy like some thicker lotions, rubs in great too.

8.     Amazon Prime…I couldn’t agree more with Emily from Beauty and the Greek. Central Illinois is lacking in accessibility to a lot of products and with Amazon Prime…bam..normally cheaper, ships to your house in 2-3 days and you can order it all in the privacy of your own home and never have to leave to deal with the crazies! Sounds like a win to me.  I signed up for Amazon Prime right before Christmas this year so I could save on the shipping on our Christmas gifts this year. And I have to say I’ve fallen in love. I’ll only buy items w/ Prime on them now J

9.     Aussie Moist 3 minute conditioner…another LOVE LOVE LOVE product!!! Even though my hair won’t last more than a day without a wash and it’s still super dry feeling. I LOVE Aussie’s 3 minute conditioner. I use it all the time. It’s a total must have for me.

10.  Coach Poppy Blossom…might be my new fave scent. It’s a nice light, vibrant, fruity/floral smell. And Ulta had it on sale for 50% off. SCORE!!!.

 

St Croix...Here I come!!!

Last week, when I was driving home from the Little Rock Marathon, in the worst winter driving conditions that I have ever been exposed to, I received a text about Space A travel from a friend from work. As much as I wanted to help her out, I was in no place to chat. I politely told her it will have to wait and I’ll stop by her office when I get back into work.

Once I safely made it to my parents, I had decided to go ahead and get back a hold of her. I’m a wiz at Space A travel (military hops). I used to fly from Germany back to the US for like $15!!!! We were able to take a week long girls trip to Hawaii and only paid $130 apiece and that was for the lodging, rental and the flight was free!!!  I love me some Space A travel!!!!

So I just assumed that she and her husband where going to be planning a trip, little did I know what was in store for me.  She asked if there were Space A flights to the Virgin Islands (St. Croix specifically). After some research, I could not find anything too promising. I checked the commercial flights and the prices were not too bad.

That’s when the most awesome questions was asked…”So did you see the email I sent out about the triathlon?” My response was no because I had been out of the office.

“it looks like they are going to fund for us  to send a team and I need a coach because I won’t be able to make it due to my daughters prom, bday and other obligations.  Do you want to be the coach?”

Are you SERIOUS!!!!

Pay for me to go to St. Croix to coach the triathlon team!!!

 HECK yea when do I go? 

I would love to participate but I’m doing the St Jude’s ½ marathon the weekend prior and I will be 20 weeks pregnant at that time so I figured it wouldn’t be fair to participate when there are others who will be much faster than I.

I’ve never been to the Virgin Islands so I’m stoked!!!! 

All I have to pay for is anything extra that I decided to buy.  Travel, food, rental car, lodging is all covered.

Now…I just have to learn the enter workings of a triathlon.  I’ve always wanted to do it but never took the plunge.

And of course start researching the sites to see while I’m there.

Any triathloneers have any pointers?

Month 1 in the books

I decided a few months ago to give blogging a whirl.  

My life is nothing too exciting these days. 

Work and Family time with a little bit of adult time here and there.

One of the reasons I was going to take up blogging was to fill up my time while John is deployed.

I figured, little man goes to bed early...I could do a little catching up on reading and maybe doing a little blogging of my own, as my adult personal outlet.

I was originally going to do a weekly recap of John's deployment but decided not too. Figured that would be too long and drawn out. I mean 40-52 post on a deployment or me about to lose my marbles. So instead I decide on a monthly recap.

This is not my 1st deployment rodeo, this will be my 3rd. 

Each deployment is different from the next.

The 1st deployment was when I was married before. We were young; no kids, I had just finished up, my bachelors, I had my own military 17 week school that I had to attend and the ex was in the "green zone" so there wasn't a lot to worry about. Even though you still here the occasional explosions every so often on the phone. So needless to say my time was consumed.

Skinny Kira is on the far left. talk about throw back pic...lol

The second deployment, was totally different. We (my ex & i) had moved to Germany and my ex was being deployed. I had only been in Germany a few months before he left, we lived off post, so our interaction with other military couples was limited at first...and we were the married couple with no kids. I had a dog and he was like my kid.  Needless to say it took people awhile to get used to that one. 

Anyway, I had transferred over the the Reserves and continued to drill and work as a Family Readiness  Assistant for an Infantry Battalion in Germany. Oh the stories I could tell!!!

I of course traveled as much as I could. I LOVE traveling!!! Living in Germany opened so many doors to traveling that I would have never gotten to experience before if I hadn't of went.  I was lucky enough to have my parents come visit and even had a good girl friend from college come visit, Myla. You should check out her blog. She is like Martha Stewart, the Pioneer Women and Pinterest all rolled up into one.  

Myla & I durning our Champagne Cruise. That was a story all in its own.

When I would come back home people could not fathom that I could get in my car and drive 4 hrs to Paris, Amsterdam, or where ever just because I wanted to.  It was amazing, I miss it. I could flood this page with pictures from my trips, but I will refrain. 

Ok ok back to the deployment countdown...

I knew that this deployment was going to be different.  This time there are kids (2), dogs(3), work and my military obligations. 

So far it hasn't been bad. Graham knows what we talk/facetime to daddy on the phone every night. The kids, dog and work keeps me busy. I've kinda taken up running again...well at least doing races again. I have a goal to read a book a month..which I'm slacking on.

Well enough for now.