The Wild and Crazy Roller Coast We've Been Riding Lately!

Hi guys! I'm still here... I dunno if you've noticed but here in the South we have been experience very peculiar weather lately... yes, a massive shit-storm has been raining over the state of Mississippi for the last two weeks! Ok, ok... maybe just over my house... but still! Sheesh! When's a girl gonna get a break! We've experienced everything from becoming nomadic vagabonds and fleeing our termite and carpenter ant infested housing to being hacked to death by a horrible virus on my brand new computer. Yes, its been a suck-tastic few weeks! I just hope the worst is behind us... because my inner "umbrella" is starting to stink of poo lol! The important thing is... I'm still here, I'm still blogging and remain (at the very least) sarcastic about it... :)

On a good note... I did take the munchkin to a magic show recently; which of course she loved! Thank you to the A & FRC on base for giving us the freebee tickets! Those guys rock! We also have been gearing up for summer and starting to put aside some things we are taking with us to Florida. The kiddo is extra excited about this... since we will be spending a whole 2 months with both sets of grandparents! YAY! I also have a few trips up my sleeve as well; to North Carolina and to Seaworld. The kiddo also participated in her first field trip! And of course, I volunteered as chaperone. We went to the Institute for Marine Mammals here in Gulfport and had a great time petting stingrays & manta rays, digging for sharks teeth and watching dolphins! We finished up this week with a trip to the movies to see the Avengers! And Oh my goodness! Did we have fun! The movie its self was phenomenal! And this is just the start to a kick ass superhero summer! (Spiderman, The Dark Knite Rises etc.) The munchkin has also informed me now that Hulk is also her favorite (along with Captain America) as far as Marvel is concerned, and when I asked her why, she said... "Because he gets angry and then he smashes mom! And that's awesome" LOL! I'm glad she has a great appreciation for the big, green and (often) misunderstood lug... :)

So that's all for now... until school winds down in a couple of weeks! Woohoo! I can't wait to sleep in! And we get to Florida... I will post from there before you can say "Summer Vacation"!

My Mini Blockbuster...

That is what I've been up to! I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before but we have over 800 movies in our collection, not counting what I bought recently and the TV season we own as well. I know how crazy that sounds, and how we must look like a mini block buster, but before you can ask... yes, we really do watch them all... at some point LOL! In my house alone we have dedicated 1 full bookshelf, 1 half bookshelf, and two cabinets above our entertainment center to dvds, tv series and blu ray dvds. That's a lot of space! And a lot of wasted space taken up by the bulk of the cases!

We've been living like this for over 5 years now and it has been slowly driving me up the wall, everything is so cluttered up and it take a while to find any particular dvd. I try my best to keep it organized and labeled but its hard, with that many dvd's if one or two get out of order chaos will soon take over; and then of course once that happens... no one wants to spend all day correcting it right?!

Until now...! I have stumbled upon my ultimate "get organized" tool for my colossal dvd collection, while shopping around at target! They now make these cool "movie sleeves". You just take out the dvd cover (if you want it, I did!) put it in the sleeve and take out your dvd and slid it in the extra sleeve insert and whala! Then take that big, black, bulky case and shooov.... ok... chuck it in the trash! ;)

It's as easy as that... you can go from this...

and this...
and this...
and *gasp* this...
(and BTW... those are stacked 3 deep)

To this...

There are 25 sleeves of dvd's there in the pile compared to the 25 big, black, bulky, empty cases.
And as you can tell from the picture, 25 sleeves take up as much space as about 4 cases. Yes folks, I think we have a miracle! I plan on putting the new dvd's in really cute bins, once I get the chance to get all the dvd's organized into the sleeves and I find some material to cuteify
(yes, I totally made that word up) the bins. I then want to store the bins in our new storage coffee table that I just bought last week. This is going to be a project and a half when considering the extent of our collection but it's something to keep me busy with from now till vacation! :)

What do you think?

This is a close up of what the sleeves actually look like. I put the cover (because I just couldn't talk myself into getting rid of the covers) to face the back of the sleeve and then the dvd's toward the flap. There is an extra plastic insert inside the sleeve so that you can put your dvd's in there and the wont become scratched; and as you can see it holds more than one dvd. You could probably even get three in there if you needed to; 2 in the sleeves and one loose. :)

Around Town...

Hi there!!! Have you missed me? LOL! Sorry we've been kinda busy lately... which of course is a good thing while the hubby is away. My In-Laws came from Florida for Easter weekend, they drove in on that Thursday and stayed till the following Monday and we've been busy ever since! Hope you all had a good Easter! It was my first Easter NOT cooking and man, I'll tell you... I could get used to that! I never understood why people ended up going out to eat for the big holidays but I TOTALLY get it!!! Think about it... you don't have to cook and you didn't have to plan, you didn't have to spend extra money on food that might go to waste, there's no mess to clean up and everyone still gets to be together and have a nice meal! It was just the four of us... me, munchkin and momma-in-law and daddy-in-law and we decided (and by we, I mean I) to go to the Beau Rivage Casino Buffet. It was awesome! They had all our usual regular favorite foods (I LOVE the pasta station) and roasted Turkey, Glazed Ham, Prime Rib and Snow Crab!!! All for $29.99 you can't beat that folks!

We also went to the Easter Egg parade & egg hunt, which I have to say I was a bit disappointed in... The parade was almost non-existent (and whoo, they threw old mardi gras beads... like we don't have a ton of those already at home) The egg hunt was small and the kiddo didn't get a whole lot of eggs and all they had inside were cheap candy like tootsie rolls and smarties. I guess its better than nothing, but next time I will know better and just skip it to do my own at home.

We went a few days to the beach and lounged in the sun and flew our kites which was awesome since we've had alot of wind from the weather system that moved over Texas a week or so ago, ya know... the one that caused all those Tornados... Which by the way... the kiddo has been eating up the news on that stuff lately LOL! She is still very much on her "tornado kick" ;)

I also took my in-laws around to the local spots while they were here, and I think they really enjoyed seeing the "off the beaten path" not so touristy spots. We have a small beach community down here that is just over the bridge from Biloxi and its called "Ocean Springs" (ya might have heard me mention it before... I used to work over there). I have always loved it, and thought it was a charming little town with a beautiful historical center. They have cute boutiques and shops, amazing restaurants, cafes and bistros and its just beautiful to stroll down the cobblestone streets under the shad of the magnolia trees, when they are in bloom. It's really like page right out of Southern Hospitality magazine... they even have a old fashioned salt water taffy store and a 50's five & dime soda shoppe!

I know we've done a ton of other stuff but this is all I can think of at the moment, time seems to be flying by and there are days where I struggle to keep up with it, but I am grateful! We have offically 36 more days of school left (and until we are Florida bound) and about 90 days left till we go on our vacation to North Carolina! Woohoo! I can't wait!!!

Here's some of the pics I took while strolling around town... I just love the vintage look of everything... hope you like them. :)

This one is from inside the five & dime and soda shoppe and its probably my favorite.

It reminds me of the place that my grandparents used to work at.

They also brew and bottle their own cream soda! Its still the same family recipe from 1943!

Old fashioned hard candy... and one oogling kiddo LOL! Only .20 cents!
See! You still can get "some" things for less than a quarter ;)

My favorite donut shop ever! Hands down they have the best donuts ever... why?
Because they are made with potato flour! And the potato flour makes them light and fluffy!
Plus everyone in there is nice as peach pie... don't believe me?... come see for yourself any day of the week the counter inside is packed wall to wall ;)

The Military Child

Just in case some of you didn't know... April is month of the military child. All across our nation every branch of service is celebrating our little hero's and things are no different around here. I'd like to take a minute to thank my child for being a little hero as well. Her courage, understanding, patients and resilience never cease to amaze me. She is six years old, and in those six years she has had to move four times to four different house, four different states, had to be the new kid on the block four different times. She has made new friends from moving and had to learn how to say goodbye to those same friends. She has endured over 10 different TDY's with various time frames as to when her dad comes home and most recently a deployment which she will have to endure for quite some time. She has learned to use a computer, send e-mail and skype since she was four years old. She has attended 3 different schools and she had the pledge of alligence memorized before any of her other classmates. She knows what it means to salute someone and why we do it. She understands that daddy leaves because duty calls and she might not always know where he is, but that he loves her and will come home as soon as he can. Yes, my child is amazing; she never asked for this kind of life, and was never given the choice to choose it, no... she was born into it. She never got a say so, yet she endures the hard times with a smile and knows how to make the best of every situation. She is part of amazing group of children that will one day undoublty grow up to be some of the best adults, she is a military child and this time it's me who is saluting her! I love my amazing Air Force brat and she makes her daddy and I very proud! :)

Daddy Came In The Mail Yesterday

Ha! Don't I wish... If that title were true to the exact words I would be ecstatic! If only it were really that easy LOL! What I really meant was... our daddy doll came in the mail yesterday. When hubby had gone in to have his deployment breifing sometime before he left, I also had a briefing with the Airman & Family Readiness Center on base, they gave me LOTS of good tips, signed me up with their monthly newsletter of free stuff for us deployed spouses and families to do on and off base, they even gave us "Play Passes" which are a new and GREAT concept! --I'll get to that part in a little bit. Among all the great info was a pamphlet about "Daddy Dolls" and the "Operation Hug a Hero" project. These dolls are AMAZING! I went online the week that hubby left and ordered one for munchkin straight away... all I had to do was upload a full length picture of hubby and they take care of the rest! It takes a while for them to make it and then it take a bit to make it through the mail system but after that, its instant smiles! We got ours in the mail last night and she hasn't left "daddy" out of her sight since! I'd let her take it to school with her today but sadly I don't think school would let her keep it with her. She doesn't go to a DoD school which is a shame... because this public school doesn't understand what its like to be a military child, despite being in a big enough military town. Alas, I told her "daddy" will be right here waiting for her when she gets home from school and ready for lots of love and hugs. I can tell already just within the last 12 hours that having this little piece of her dad has raised her morale 100% and made deployment that much easier to get through. So, if you have a little one and your hubby is or will be deploying soon... I HIGHLY recommend getting one of these dolls. Check our your A&FRC or FRG and see if they offer a voucher coupon to get one for free first, but if they don't have no fear... they are really easy to order and not all that expensive. So far, it's been worth every penny to have a little bit of "homeland security" for her.

She started to tear up just a little when I took him out of the box.

But then started to cheer up a little when she thought of all the cool places we can take "daddy", woohoo! Can you say road trip?! lol! :)

Dino-rific Weekend!

What have we been up to? Paleontology of course! LOL! And another of our magic tree house books/craft/project. I have noticed how we've been reading them a little out of order but honestly it doesn't matter to me, I'm just glad shes been taking an interest in reading and, learning about new things like dinosaurs such. We finished reading "Dinosaurs After Dark"and she has been craving to learn more about dinosaurs... so we borrowed a few books from the base library and discussed how dinosaurs lived and what fossils are. I found a few great craft/projects about dinosaurs through google and pinterest.com and well... we went a little nuts LOL!


I decided to whip up a batch of salt dough and I found some plastic dinosaurs at Walmart... I laid out our "rocks" and then smashed down a dinosaur in the middle of each of them, hence making an imprint or what I like to think looks like a fossil. ;) Then we baked them for quite a while, after they finished baking and cooling we painted them and then let them dry.


We "burried" them in sand and dirt from the back yard and then "dug" them back up to dust them off and pretend we were excavating them! It was AWESOME! And if you have a kid who's into dinosaurs... I highly recommend partaking in your own dinosaur dig! Oh so much fun! And your kids will love it!


I then glued a make shift dino of my own on some heavy stock paper and let her paint over it so she could see the "bones" of the dinosaur... she thought it was pretty neat how the paint didn't stick to the bones...


We also made a hand print dinosaur and her very own dinosaur necklace! The necklace she LOVES and I probably will have to pry it off of her at some point LOL! Best of all... soooo easy to make! I just took the left over plastic dinosaurs and screwed a frame clasp screw at the top and then threaded it through a ball chain. And wha-la! Instant dinosaur necklace and instant fun! For hours!

It's Care Package Season

I honestly get it now... I have figured out why spouses (and their children) go so crazy trying make the perfect care package... think about it... you sit, you wait, you listen when they call, you give words of encouragement and remain calm and strong but aside from that we are helpless to do anything for them... EXCEPT send them a little bit of home.

We are currently preparing our own little piece of home package to be send out soon. The munchkin and I are going shopping for "Daddy supplies" and she is totally psyched! She can't wait to buy him things and send it all in the mail. She has prepared her coloring pages and art work to be send as well and it just warms my heart to known she is gonna make all the difference to her dad. It's the little things ya know?

I never really fell into that whole "military wife" thing. I've always fit into that slot like a square peg in a round hole... you would think I would have been a better fit, growing up an Army Brat but to tell you the truth... I was glad when my dad was done, I just wanted a normal life; where he was home all the time. So this actually makes me feel good, this actually makes me feel a little less awkward and a little more honored to be a military wife. It also feels good to send my hubby some love, just little things to let him know we miss him and are thinking about him.

I can't wait to go out this weekend and get some stuff to fill up the box! I can't wait to decorate the box! The only trouble I'm having is deciding on how to decorate it... Easter theme or our Anniversary theme? They are very close together... or... should I just send separate boxes? LOL! I could really get into this! I have a feeling hubby is gonna need a separate foot locker to get all this crap home again LOL!

What do you send in your care packages? How do you decorate them? Remember... I'm new at this so any advice or suggestions would be awesome!!!

Book Review: Jekel Loves Hyde by: Beth Fantaskey

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parent's rules especially the one about never opening the mysterious old box in her father's office. But when her dad is murdered and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, because the contents just might be a key to winning a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To better her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based o not only ton the classic novel , hoping not only to win a prize but to save Tristen's sanity. Maybe his life. As things heat up in the lab, though, Jill's accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and will compel her to risk everything-even Tristen's love just for the thrill of being...bad.

Not quite what I expected... I was hoping for a little more of the original book to make a bigger impact in this semi-romantic thriller. I also found the lead characters lacking a bit of romance and originality. It was just not that interesting for me, the only thing I found scary about this book was the writing. :(

The big fat wait...

Well its official... I am certain that deployments suck!!!! No matter how far or for how long... no matter how you slice it... they all just suck! I'm not gonna lie... this is probably THE hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my life. It's the hardest thing to say goodbye to someone, and literally live without them for "X" amount of time. *sigh* I'm not complaining... I know "I signed up for this when I married a military man" I get it... it still doesn't make it any easier. There are so many times throughout my day that I just wanna pick up my phone and send him a text message, or I wanna meet him for lunch. As sad as it is... I actually miss cooking for him at the end of the day when he has come home from work. No matter how much I busy myself or try to ignore that giant clock... my day just drags on. And I have such a lonnnnnnng way to go. I honestly believe that anyone who tells you their hubby's deployment has "flown by" is giving you the biggest slice of bullshit ever! LOL! There is just no way... unless your busy (like running around like a chicken with its head cut off) every second of the day... then I can see how "time flys" but for most of us that just can't be true. I have heard from him a few times since he's been gone but I am gonna be honest here and say (because its MY blog, and I am entitled to feel how I want to) its not enough. I don't want the "oh honey, its gonna be ok... he'll be home in no time" from my "friends". I don't want the extra pay, I don't want the extra benefits... I want my damn husband home! I get it... everyone has a turn and this is his... it still sucks. I swear I am NOT complaining... LOL! I am just not used it it... yes, it is my first time... yes, this time is the hardest for me. The only comfort is that it will be the only time I have to get through this. Yup, after this year... we are done. My hubby was never a lifer... we've enjoyed the Air Force life while it has lasted and yes, it's been good for us, but its time for us to move on for bigger and better things. Honestly these days I just can't wait for it! In lighter news... (ha, ha lighter... wait for it... here comes the punch line...) I've lost 6 lbs so far! Skinny jeans, leggins and bikinis here I come... ok maybe not the skinny jeans and leggins, I still don't think I'd ever wear them... not even If I weighed 100 pounds... no I rocked the 80's look once, I do not care to do it again LOL! So yeah, depression diet is well underway and moving along smashingly! Ohhh and my original wedding ring fits again! YAY! I just can't wait for school to be out (8 more weeks) and then we are on VACATION!!! And getting the heck outta dodge! I've got loads of plans for summer... like hanging out on a beach in Florida, going to amusement parks in Orlando and going white water rafting in North Carolina! I hope the next few weeks fly by that's for sure! After that it will be a piece of cake... right?! LOL! Anyway thanks for listening to my gripe and complaints... and since this is my first deployment any kind words of wisdom from you veterans out there would be greatly appreciated! :)

Book Review: Mockingjay By: Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans- except Katniss.

the success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future for Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' mockingjay-no matter what the personal cost.

Wow! I am completely blown away! What a great book this turned out to be; in fact... what a great trilogy! I still can't believe I'm reading a "meant for teen's" book, because it's so much more than just that. The fight for freedom and a world with peace is indescribable within this book. Katniss is one of my amazing characters I think I've ever read about, what a great heroine! I honestly couldn't put it down, then again I was like that with the whole lot of them. Personally I believe these are great tales and will be cherished for years to come by many, I put them right on the same shelf of hype as Harry Potter and Twilight. :)

I'm also a little sad, that I've come to the end... then again, I could just start at the beginning again right?

-- My favorite line of this book?.. "You love me, Real or Not real?"

The boy with the bread will always have my heart :)

What's been going on.

I bet you all thought I forgot about you huh? LOL! Well things have been more crazier around here than ever! I have officially started my "donut of misery". Yes, the dreaded D-Day has come. :(

I have been MIA for a while; so that we could prepare of it and of course, spend as much time together as a family as possible. So pardon my lack of posts... but I guarantee... I will have alot more to write about since, I'll have alot more time on my hands. :)

Before hubby left, we decided to have professional portraits done. We went to portrait innovations here in town and they turned out fabulous!!! In fact, there were sooooo many good shots that I had a hard time choosing between poses. We ended up getting a whole big package, that of course cost a small fortune, but it was well worth the money since they turned out so great.

I've also been redecorating the house a bit, finally adding to my bedroom and actually developing a theme! I've also redecorated the master bathroom as well, were going with a "travel the world" type theme. I've got to admit, its coming along great! I can't wait to get it all done and show pictures!

I'm also in the process of creating the munchkin a "reading nook" of her own. We've been getting in some serious reading time! Not to brag or anything but... she IS in the top few kids of her school's kindergarten AR program! -- Insert super happy mommy here! So I had to ask myself... why not encourage that great work with even more reasons to read... by adding a "reading nook"! I seriously can't wait to get down to Florida this summer so I can head over to Miami and go to Ikea, to raid it and get more fun things to add to her nook! It's gonna be amazing when I'm done ;)

Hope you all have been doing good. I'll post some more soon! :) So for now, enjoy a few of the pics we had done. :)

Isn't she beautiful!!

My two peas in a pod... she looks soooooo much like her daddy :)

Like breakfast at Tiffanys!

Sooo adorable :)

Book Review: Cake on a Hot Tin Roof by: Jacklyn Brady

It's carnival season in New Orleans, and pastry chef Rita Lucero has a lot on her place. Filling orders for king cakes is becoming a royal pain. Her second-in-command at Zydeco Cakes- the bakery she inherited from her ex-husband- is hounding her to write a blog for the bakery's new website. And now Rita is expected to host a Mardi Gras party for hundreds of her ex-husband's closest friends. A surprise visit from her aunt Yolanda and uncle Nestor is almost more than she can handle.

But when local car salesman and minor celebrity Big Daddy Boudreaux turns up dead at Rita's Mardi Gras party after a public fight with her uncle, Rita has no choice but to find room in her busy schedule to prove the killer isn't her Uncle Nestor. And there's a whole parade of suspects- but not much time to find out which one really wanted Big Daddy in a big coffin...

Great follow up to a first in a series! I loved the story and glad to see all my favorite characters are back! I was also pleased to learn a bit more about Rita, where she comes from and who raised her (Uncle Nestor and Aunt Yolanda). I'm also happy to see Rita making a name for herself and picking up the pieces to Zydeco. Miss Frankie is charming as ever of course and I was trilled to see that this one not only takes place down in the Big Easy, but also takes place during Mardi Gras! This book is exciting, fun and keeps you guessing "who did it" the whole time! Bravo Jacklyn Brady!

How about something new to blog about?

So I got to thinking last night... I take a LOT of pictures... on my phone, on my laptop, on my camera(s)... and I was just wondering... how many of you do the same? How would you like something fun to do with them? How about playing a once a week posting meme with them? Like say... "Photo Scrabble". For example... say on Monday I give everyone a word and then you all have the week to find and take a photo example of the word. You can take a picture of anything you want, on any device you want and as many pics as you want to describe the word. You can even add words or tell a story about it if you wanna. Then I will post a "Mr. Linky" for everyone to link up on say Sunday? What do you think? Sound fun? Let me know by commenting what you think... if I get at least a handful of people to join in I'll do it :)

Look... I even made a cute little button :)

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

1. What is your favorite/most unique anniversary/birthday gift from your spouse? suggested by Bel at Being a Better Me

Hmmm.... there's been quite a few... It's probably silly but he actually made me a HUGE banner for my birthday one year, like with construction paper and glue and glitter and all kinds of craftiness! And if you know my husband, he is a techie not a crafty LOL! It really meant alot to me and I kept it up in the living room for the whole month! Let's see what he comes up with this year... he's got 8 more days to finalize his plans LOL!

2. What’s your first thought when you see it’s snowing (or what would you say if you don’t live somewhere with snow? suggested by Poekitten from Many Waters

My first thought is YAY! Grab the kiddo, grab our coats, gloves and boots and head outside!!! But since we now live in Mississippi and it never snows here (except that first year we moved here, and it was flurries) I don't get to say that... I wish it would in winter, it would be lovely.

3. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed? suggested by Erika from Chambanachik

Hearing about my dad having a heart attack. My mom called me in the middle of the day on a Tuesday and I just knew something had to be up... she never calls like that, usually because shes working. I just knew even before she called something was wrong, I felt like crap all morning and just really uneasy. My dad drove to the store and was on his way home, when he got really sick and clammy, then the pain in his chest started. He stopped by my moms work and made it through the door and hit the floor and passed out. They all called 911 and he was whisked away by ambulance to the hospital. They found out after he had a heart cath done and some ultrasounds that he had 80% blockage in his left artery and 75% blockage in his right artery, he also had a clot in his leg. They removed the blockages and the clot, and he's find now... it was just really scary and very touch and go. He nearly didn't make it. I have a feeling that if he had gone straight home and not stopped at my moms work he would have died at home, since there would have been no one but him there. :( He had someone looking out for him that day, I just know it. He has taken the doctor's advice pretty seriously and has stopped smoking completely (after 40 years of smoking) and is even eating right and exercising, and for that I am greatful!

4. What was your favorite thing that happened in February?

Hmm... Mardi Gras I supposed was probably a highlight, all the parades and festivities were great. And celebrating another birthday for my mom, I count my lucky stars each year that she has one.

5. What are you looking forward to in March?

Well... there is my birthday to celebrate on the 11th, and the kiddo has her soccer award ceremony on the 17th, but other than that nothing much is going on. :)