Our Fabulous Summer Vacation!!!

That I totally forgot to post a few weeks ago LOL! Sorry it's late but hey... better late than never right?! So I'm just gonna give you all the cliff notes version because we did A LOT of fun stuff over the summer and it's wayyyy hard to remember every detail... sorry... again I probably should have blogged this as I went along but I really didn't have much time for it.

So I'll start by saying, after school let out at the end of May and right around Memorial Day weekend we headed to Florida on a 12 1/2 hour car ride down to where my parents live in Ft. Myers. I spent a few weeks catching up with family and friends, and we enjoyed watching a few good summer block busters like "Brave" and "The Amazing Spiderman" We also took a day trip to St. Augustine Florida (which I hadn't seen since I was very young) We toured the Spanish Quarter and went to the St. Augustine Pirates Museum. In July we headed up to North Carolina to see my husbands family both his father's side of the family (Grandma & Grandpa) had family reunions going on in Skyland/Weaverville & Ashville/Arden North Carolina. We had A LOT of fun with that and it felt really good to see his side of the family again and represent for him even though he couldn't be there due to him being on his deployment. We also managed to go white water rafting (which I will save for another post since it was just too fun and needs to have a post all of its own) in Hamilton TN down the Pigeon River and panning for gold in Tukaseegee North Carolina where we stayed at a friend of the family's cabin. We also had fun checking out all the little towns around the area like Cashiers, Dillsboro, Sylvia, and Franklin. In Franklin we went to Ruby City Gem Museum and the Scottish Tartan Museum. Towards the end of our vacation we headed down for the day to Helen Georgia and Cleveland Georgia to see the Cabbage Patch Babyland Hospital, where the munchkin got to adopt her very own Cabbage Patch baby and named her Iris Brianna! We headed back home about a week before school started (so I could get her registered and school supplies bought) and then a few days after that daddy came home! All in all it was a great summer!!! Here of course are some awesome pics I took! :)

My mom & the munchkin at St. Augustine Fort.

In the Old Spanish Fort.

Awesome St. Augustine Pirate Museum!

This is where we stayed... our woodland paradise!



At my hubby's family reunion from his dad's side of the family. It was such a beautiful day!


Oh yeah... my little redneck'in girl on her cousins four wheeler.

The Family Homestead that has been in hubby's dads side of the family for generations
(since 1800)

In Helen Georgia (So pretty looks just like Germany!)

At Cabbage Patch Babyland General
Where the munchkin got to adopt her very own cabbage patch baby.
She named her Iris Brianna

Babyland General in Cleveland Georgia

Off To First Grade!

So I figured it's about time I start catching you all up on what's been going on... sorry it's taken me a while, it's been a little busy and I've been a little "preoccupied" since the hubby has come home from deployment. ;) Yup, school started on Monday, hubby came home a few days later and we've been going and going non stop ever since LOL! It's awesome though, I can express how good it is to have him home! This deployment has definitely taught me that I can't ever live without that man, I mean... physically I can... but I really HATE it. I love him so much, there's not a day that goes by that I don't want to be without him.


Last Monday the kiddo started school again... woohoo!!! First grade!!! I am a little sad that summer is officially over for us, but I am glad to see her go off to first grade and start really getting into learning new things at school. She has grown so much over the summer, both physically (2 1/2 inches and about 5 lbs.) and mentally by learning dual languages, reading tons of books and taking an interest in math (thank god she's like her father in that case). Have I mentioned she wants to be Yoda this year for Halloween! Oh yeah... proud geek mom to a little geek girl! It's pretty awesome! Anyway here's a few pics of her first day, yup because I'm THAT kind of proud mom :)

He's home!!!

He's back!!! He's back!!! He's finally back!!! Oh I can't tell you how good it is to have my hubby home... these last few weeks have been killer for me and the kiddo, not knowing and not being able to share with anyone what's been going on. Not only that but the every day stresser's of her starting 1st grade and going back to school with a new teacher and everything else. But he's home now and I know we can accomplish anything now that he's home. You never really realize how important that person is till you don't have them around anymore... and trust me... my appreciation has been shown ever since he stepped off that plane! I wish I could tell you I had a pictures to share but I don't... I know... how could I forget that right?! But I did get all caught up in the moment, so I apologize... :)

Book Review: Out of Uniform By: Catherine Mann

Natural born warrior Jacob Stone never ignored a lady in distress. So when a stunning brunette clad only in a cocktail dress stumbled to his doorstep, the off duty air force sergeant went into protector mode. But could he really believe "Dee's" claims that she'd lost her memory... or was her amnesia a ruse to hide a dangerous secret?

For someone had certainly set their sights on getting rid of Dee. Yet they hadn't counted on Jacob's resolve. Dee was his responsibility. Even more... she'd become integral to his next breath. And no one messed with his lady.

There's no one you would rather have kicking butt and taking names while protecting and loving you in annnnd out of uniform other than Jacob Stone. He's everything a girl could want and more, loving, protective, honorable and most important constant. He goes above and beyond the call of duty in this suspenseful and hair raising tale of a girl who strode right into his life one night with nothing but a memory of a few hours. Its now up to Jacob to help her figure out what kind of woman she is in both life and between the sheets!

Book Review: Red Velvet Revenge By: Jenn McKinlay

It may be summertime, but sales at Fairy Tale Cupcakes are below zero and owners Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are willing to try anything to heat things up. So when local legend Slim Hazard offers them the chance to sell cupcakes at the annual Juniper Pass Rodeo, they're determined to rope in a pretty payday!

But not everyone at Juniper Pass is as sweet for Fairy Tale Cupcakes as Slim, including bull-rider Ty Stokes. Mel and Angie try to steer clear of the cowboy's short fuse, but when his dead body is found facedown in the hay, it's a whole different rodeo.

With a vengeful murderer on the loose, the ladies are quickly realizing that while they came to save their business, they may have to save themselves and that's no bull!

Another fabulous mystery from Jenn McKinlay. As always I am left wanting more from her endings, in stitches from laughing from her awesome cast of characters and crazy troubles that always seem to find them. And just when I thought I knew who the killer was... BAM! Out of no where does she throw me for a loop! I also loved "meeting" some new characters from this book as well.Loved it! This one is sweet & sassy from start to finish!

Book Review: No Going Back By: Karen Foley

Subject: Army Special Ops Major Chase Rawlins
Current Status: On tour in Afghanistan
Obstacle: Keeping his mind on his duty... and his hands off a certain sexy civvy!

Major Chase Rawlins is one of the toughest military SOB's around. His job? Take out terrorists. So why is he escorting publicist Kate Fitzgerald around the base in order to prep for a visiting pop star? It's the last thing he wants to do. Even if Kate does make his blood run hotter than the Afghan desert...

Thanks for her starlet sister, Kate is used to "challenging" situations. But when Major Sexypants informs her that he will handle all of her needs, Kate finds herself tempted to do her own reconnaissance... under Chase's uniform!

One week. One chance. And once they start, there's no going back!

Army Special Ops Major Chase Rawlins certainly knows how to sweep a girl right off her feet! He kicks ass for a living and can rock a girls world all at the same time! This book was hot, steamy and had a great story to it... I now know why they call them "blaze"... because books like these will set you on fire! Looking forward to reading more of this miniseries and more from Karen Foley!

My hotness meter gives it...

A four out of four!!! Yeah that's HOTT people!
Watch out because this book will engulf you like a inferno!

My hotness scale...
1= Spark, 2= Sizzling, 3= Blazing, 4= inferno

We're back!!! Where do I Begin!?!?

Hello there blog world!!! I'm baaaaaaack!! Wow it's been a busy summer and a busy vacation! I have so much to tell and so many pictures to post and explain! But before all that I must take a few more days to unpack, clean (yes my house is a wreck after 3 months of no cleaning) and try to get the kiddo her school stuff in order, because she starts first grade next week!!!! OMG!!! So I thank you in advance for your patients, but stay tuned there is much to tell and much to read about! :)

Book Review: The Marine Next Door By: Julie Miller

He saw that her safety was threatened...

Maggie Wheeler never stopped looking over her shoulder. It was a habit she'd learned from being a cop... and from a devastating event in her past. So when John Murdock moved in next door, Maggie didn't know what to make of the sexy Marine. But once her son formed a bond with the mysterious stranger, Maggie knew that past might not remain hidden much longer...

She saw him for the hero he truly was...

With his unwavering sense of duty, John would never let a call for help go unanswered. Especially from a beautiful wounded warrior who refused to give up her secrets. Although she likely knew more about who was after her than she'd ever let on, John vowed to protect those in need. Only then could he find peace, maybe even a door away...

John Murdock is a retired, highly decorated and honorable Marine who's last tour in Afghanistan left him shaken and roughed up a bit. Despite the damage a road side bomb left him, his honor and duty to always serve and protect is still intact. Maggie Wheeler is a tough cop and on her way to becoming a great detective with precinct four with Kansas City Police Department. The only thing stopping her is a nagging past and its close ties it forms to the case she is currently working on. In short... loved this book! It was well written, had a great storyline, and smoldering romance! I might be slightly bias, since I have a thing for men in uniform, but if you share that same interest than Julie Miller's thrilling and suspenseful romance novel will not disappoint you. I will also be picking up the next installment of this great new miniseries to see what happens next with precinct four and the efforts to nail the rose red rapist! This series and publisher left a good first impression for my first romance novel!

My hotness meter gives it...3 out of 4 enthusiastic chili peppers up!
That's Blazing in my book! :)

My hotness scale...
1= Spark, 2= Sizzling, 3= Blazing, 4= inferno

Book Review: Murder Buys a T-Shirt by Christy Fifield

Glory Martine has inherited her great uncles souvenir shop, Southern Treasures along with a super size headache. Nestled in Keyhole Bay, Florida, the shop is stuffed not only with collectibles and mementos of times gone by, but with a ghost who, like her customers, refuses to let go of the past... Glory always dismisses ghost stories-until she inherits her great uncle Louis's souvenir shop, where items seem to rearrange themselves and her pet parrot, Bluebeard, is suddenly uttering phrases he couldn't have picked up from the customers. If Glory told anyone her shop was haunted, they'd think the fresh sea air had gone to her head...

Then, at an end of the summer party, local football hero Kevin Stanley dies, and the story starts to go haywire. Glory finally shares her secret with her best friend, who takes it seriously and is convinced the ghost is trying to send a message. Kevin's death was no accident, ant it's linked to Glory's very own great uncle Louis. Now Glory must dig through the junk to find the truth, before someone leaves her with a deadly souvenir of her own...

It was a pretty good read for a first in a brand new series. I was excited to read it when I first started and it did have a good storyline, but in the end it kinda fell flat a little for me. I was happy in the end that Glory's new beau has joined her circle of friends and I'll be hopeful to read more about their prospective relationship in the next book. However I felt the actual climax of solving the mystery at the end was predicable and a little too short. I had a feeling the killer was exactly who I thought it was the whole time, it just seemed the obvious choice, given the clues about half way through the book.

I've come across first time books in a new series and then waved them off before and then I find the second and third books are much better, so I'm not going to be counting out Christy Fifield just yet! I do love the characters, the sleepy tourist town of Keyhole Bay is really quite charming and of course who could not love that crazy old parrot bluebeard!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In (For July)

Wow is it that time again?! These weeks are kinda flying by and the months are sneaking up on me! And to think... I only have a few more weeks left in the sunshine state before I have to go back to the land of the bayou's and humidity... Oh how I long to live in Florida again! Don't get me wrong, there are things that I have loved about living in Mississippi's Gulf Coast but I am truly a Floridian! :)

1.) What's one thing in the past month you would have changed? I really can't think of anything I would change. Life has been good lately, other than I wish my hubby could be home with me and life could be normal in that aspect. :)
2.) What was your favorite thing that happened in June? Well... we did a lot of fun things with my parents and the kiddo got to spend a lot of time with her grandparents and her "cousins" they are more like 5th & 6th cousins twice removed or something but hey, I still consider them family, I've known them for most of my life now lol! Oh and we did go see Brave, that was pretty awesome! Oh and heck yes! I booked mine and hubby's cruise!!! That's gotta be the highlight! I seriously can't wait for him to come home!

3.) What did you do to celebrate Independence Day? We had a BBQ with our families friends and then we went downtown to the park I used to go to when I was a kid and watch fireworks. It was fun but it made me miss the hubby more than usual... holidays just don't feel right without him being here.

4.) When you PCS, what items do you take with you and not let the movers pack (and if you do a DITY, what do you take with you and not box up) I have learned that we prefer to do a DITY move... only because we have had things break, things stolen and things stink (packed up trash can with trash in it) from when the movers have moved our stuff. So In a DITY move, I usually pack everything except; our laptops, my jewelry, our important papers like birth certificates, marriage license, shot records, military documents etc. at least a weeks worth of clothing, our arsenal of guns and ammo and... and... and... oh yeah the dog LOL! :)

5.) What are you looking forward to in July? It's just one month closer to hubby's return (at least we are over the hump and can actually start counting down days now. Oh and we are going to North Carolina for vacation in t-minus 12 days! Hubby's family are having their family reunion and well I'm going to represent for him :) Ok ok, and maaaaybe do some white water rafting and gold/gem stone mining LOL! But its all for his sake I tell ya! :)

Plans for the Fourth & The Kiddo's Hair Cut

Happy Independence Day!!! And Happy 236th Birthday America!!!Hope you all are enjoying your 4th of July with fun, families, friends, food and fireworks!!!I know we sure are! The only thing that could possibly make our day better, is if my honey was home from deployment... oh how I wish! Today we are headed over to old family friends of ours and having a BBQ complete with hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, steaks, potato salad, and baked beans... you just can't get more American than that right?! LOL! Later we will head down to the river front in my hometown (Ft. Myers) and check out the firework display at Centennial Park. I hope to post pics of the fireworks later. :)

In other news... little miss got her hair cut professionally for the first time yesterday! She cut off almost 9 inches of hair!!! She had told me (in between great sobs) as I was trying to rip through the knots untangle the knots in the back of her hair that she finally wanted her hair cut, she just couldn't stand the coconuts anymore (what she calls knots or tangles) and to be honest, her hair is EXTREMELY fine and thin... cutting it made it alot easier to work with and alot more full as well. She chose the length, which was to her shoulders, despite the fact that she wanted it shorter than that but I had said no lol. I think if I let her have it her way, she would have had the lady nearly shave it off LOL! Anyway, I think it makes her even more adorable (just when I thought that was just about impossible) and alot more grown up too. She also very lovingly decided since she had enough, that she wanted to donate the hair that was cut off to "locks of love" I couldn't be more proud :)

Weekend Visitors and a Day at the Movies

Busy, Busy, Busy is the name of the game!!! Last weekend my in-laws arrived here at my parents house so we had a houseful. My momma & poppa in law had come down from Jacksonville the weekend because they had to be in Miami on Monday to fight the traffic and get my momma in law's passport done, her's is up for renewal and she has to see the German consulate about it since she is still a German citizen. Cool huh?! I kinda wanted to go myself just to see what it looked like LOL! I... AM... a German citizen too after all. Yup, I have duel citizenship since my mother is German and I was born in a regular German hospital and not in a military hospital or on post. While they were here though, we took the munchkin to see Brave, which btw... is spectacular! If you have little girls, I encourage you to go see it with them... it's very much the "mother-daughter" movie! It's one we will definite buy when it comes out and, the kiddo is already bugging me about telling Santa that she wants a bow & arrow set for Christmas this year, so she can be just like Merida! Ohhhhh boy! If she does get one, it will be a nerf one (for now) LOL!

In other news I also put my first down payment on our cruise for when hubby gets back!!! Woohoo!!! So awesome!!! In about 115 days we will be sailing to our lovely Bahamian getaway! Yes, that's right... we are booked for a 4 night 5 day cruise to the Bahamas and Key West! I also bought my ball gown for it as well, hubby will be wearing his tux and I wanted to make sure I look just as good standing next to him for our pictures, and while being swept around the dance floor! Its ocean blue and sparkly, and glittery, and beautiful and perfect!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In (For June)

Wow! I almost forgot about these... now that they are once a month or is it once in a while? I forget about them a little more easily. Wow... not to get off track but I just have to get this out... Did I really just see Jordan Knight (from New Kids on the Block) do a jingle for an Old Navy commercial? Wow... is that what they have really come to? *sigh* I guess that's what they have to work with since their big come back tour was such a big flop LOL!

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?

I think it might be safe to say... I'd change just about EVERYTHING! Holy crap it has been a rough time the past few months... lots of ups and downs, lots of drama and lots of WTF momnets LOL! But what's a deployment without a little drama right? LOL!

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in May?

That would be the munchkin's Kindergarten graduation! I now officially have a first grader! It's been kind of a rough year for her... she is far more advanced than the other kids in her class and therefor gets into some trouble when she gets done with her work early, her school also doesn't have a "gifted program" for kindergarten... another reason I particularly hate our school district/state for education. They also decided about 3/4th of the way through the school district that she needs to see a speech pathologist, she does have trouble saying certain words like "Whispers" or "Seashells" or "Pumpernickel", but that is a whole other blog post lol! Never the less... we made it and hopefully she will be happy in first grade with a great teacher that sees her potential not her faults like this year.

3. June includes the first day of summer… what are your plans for the summer?

Well since we are in the beautiful state of Florida... those plans will include... beach, swimming in pools, shopping at Ikea (finally) amusment parks like Seaworld, Bush Gardens and possibly Disney... we shall see... the bright side of having extra money from a deployment?... extra money to do awesome things you don't normally get the chance to. The down side... its a LOT harder to save that money LOL!

4. Do you use the services on base (gym, financial planning, family services, daycare)? And if so, what’s your favorite one? (thanks to Shanon at Modern Meets Traditional for this question!)

We do... with things like "parents night out/give parents a break" we also try to do some of the fun things our base offers like; geocasheing, fishing rodeos, the free pool etc. I look at it this way... these programs get funding and if no one uses them then the following year they get less funding or they might stop getting funding at all... and then no one gets to have fun. The one we enjoy the most is obviously "parents night out/give parents a break" its a great time for us to relax without having the kiddo around, its a chance for us to go on a real date and have someone we trust watch her. She also enjoys it very much because she gets to go to the youth center and play video games, roller skate in the gym, watch movies and eat pizza with her friends. And seeing how our nearest trusted baby-sitters (our parents) are about 400 miles away, this comes in handy! :)

5. What are you looking forward to in June?

Just having another month behind us and being one month closer to having hubby/daddy home. :)