Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day that everyone should take to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to put their lives on the line for our daily freedom. What would we do, had they not done what they did? Honestly, I think people need to think about these service men and woman more than just one day a year. When is the last time you said "thank you" and/or shook a hand of a man or woman you saw in uniform? Memorial Day is not all about the sales the stores may have, the drinks one may enjoy or a hamburger one may grill, but about thanking and remembering those men and women.   Retired.Active.Reserves.Young.Old.Dead.Alive.

My family doesn't have a huge history of military, but they are definitely present. Both of my grandfathers were military(USAF and Navy), as well as one of my grandmothers(Army and USAF..she was actually featured on a "Women in Military" stamp, which can be seen in the museum in VA). My uncle is a retired Navy SEAL. My husband is Active USAF. I could not be more proud to call them my family. And I get such a sense of pride seeing them(and any other service member) in uniform. They truly make me smile and remind me we have the freedoms we have, because of people like them.

So, on this Memorial Day...I say to you: Support our Troops. Tell them "Thank You!". If you can't stand behind them...You are more than welcome to stand IN FRONT of them!!

And to all Veterans who read this blog: THANK.YOU!!!! America would not be what She is today, if it weren't for YOU!

Week Two..

After spending 5 days in FL frying ourselves, we made our way back to Ohio. (This is when I vowed to not get on an airplane again for a long time! 5 different flights in a week...bleh!) That Saturday night, Tim McGraw was in town. If ya'll know me...you know he's my favorite country artist! We've been to a few of his shows and unfortunately, this was not his best show...but we still had a great time! Minus having to walk to/from the car in the rain...no bueno!

 Have I mentioned how much it has rained here!? When will it EVER go away!!!! Just last week, it started to clear up and we had temps in the 90s with sunshine...this week...its been raining all week and in the 50s. BUT I did see a glimpse of sunshine when leaving Target tonight!! woo hooo!!

Anyhow...I took it pretty easy throughout the week.  Caught up with some friends and family (Chipotle!! yumm!!), shopped a little, and then on Thursday made my way to Louisville.  I only stayed for the weekend, but next time I will def. be staying longer!! I have missed my other family (they know who they are) WAY too much!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really don't realise what you miss until you don't have it.  We went to a movie, went bowling, played some pool and just enjoyed each other. It was wonderful!

OH! How could I forget to mention that I got a haircut and my hair colored!!!!! I've been waiting for this for a very long time...I'd say about 9 months (ya know, since I left the States!).  It is slowly but surely going back to blonde...I'm over the dark hair...for now. LOL. Nothing like having the girls you are used to, fixing you up...and being able to speak to someone who understands what you want. What I love about these girls is I don't even need to say what I want, they already know! :) MAJOR thanks to Bree and Amy!


Before I went blonde..



The transformation :)

 While I am having a great time being back in the States, I sure am missing the heck out of my better half! Hurry up and get here, J-Twice!  The poor guy kept asking me where I was going for dinner and I always felt bad telling him where I was because I know he wants to be there too...soon enough, my love, soon enough! America can't wait to have you home for a while.

Stay tuned, and I'll attempt to do a better job at keeping this blog updated! :)

The Good 'Ol US of A....

Wow..it has really been a month since my last post! Now, I know TONS of stuff has happened in that last month...apparently so much that I've neglected this blog! Where do I even begin!?

Okay, so we got back from our cruise and I had 2 weeks until I packed up to come home to the States for a little while. In that 2 weeks, I was very busy!! Who would think one could be so busy when they don't work,but it happened. L, one of my (very) pregnant friends, is due in the very near future and I wanted to be sure that she got a baby shower before I left.  So, that took up a lot of our time...planning, making favors, and putting it all together. It turned out beautiful and she got lots of goodies! Unfortunately, I was making sure the shower was running smoothly, so I didn't get a chance to get any pics. So no showing that off!
The next day was Easter. Back home every year, mom always cooks. Well..this year...momma wasn't there to cook for me! :) So, I took it upon myself to cook our own meal. Had about 9 friends over and had a wonderful time together. I had never made a ham before (I know, it's not complicated..but still..) and it turned out delicious! We also had hash brown casserole, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, green bean casserole and a cake for dessert. Yummy!!! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Needless to say, we were all ready for a nap afterwards.
That Thursday is when I was scheduled to come home to the States.  My roll call was at 1150am and I "patiently" waited for them to call my name, so I could get on the flight. Soon enough, I was on my way. That trip was SO much better than the trip out to Turkey. It wasn't a full flight so I had an entire row to myself all the way to Germany. After a few hour layover in Germany, we got back on the plane to another fairly empty flight. ( I was SO thankful!) I only had one other person in my row, so the middle seat remained open and I was able to stretch out the entire flight. Mind you, the flight TO Turkey...we were packed in like sardines...it was miserable!!! We arrived in Baltimore, made it through Customs, retrieved my bags and made my way to the USO Lounge.  It was only 2230....my next flight wasn't until 920 the next morning. So, I sat. I think I slept 4 hours out of the entire trip (which was about 12 hrs of flying) and never went to sleep while I sat in the airport. I'm pretty sure I can thank my mind for thinking it was 530 instead of 2230. I watched a movie on my laptop, read my book, caught up on FB and Twitter, watched the Royal Wedding, walked around the airport and it was finally time to catch my flight to Columbus. I couldn't have been happier!!
Mom picked me up from the airport and we made our way to Abuelo's for lunch! It was delicious!!!! Not only was I eating in America, but I was having Mexican food..what more could I ask for!? :) I came home to shower, made a trip to Target (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and just spent some time with mom and sis! I never went to sleep..I basically exhausted myself so that I could sleep that night...needless to say..2100 came around and I was ready.for.bed!!
I did good with jet lag on Saturday but Sunday, I was a zombie!! I couldn't think straight and just needed to go to bed! But wait..I hadn't had enough of flying in the past two days I thought I would get on another plane and make my way to the beaches of Florida! And then I collapsed.  I spent the next 5 days frying my skin in the sun, wiggling my toes in the sand, and having a good 'ol time. 

Sunset at Treasure Island, FL

That was just the first week of being back in the good 'ol U.S. of A. And I'm loving every minute of it!