Random Life Update

• Our life here is starting to come together quite nicely. We sign the lease to our 'new' house on Thursday, and we move in on Saturday! This will be our first house, and we are so excited we can't stop talking about it.
• Speaking of moving, Aaron picked up some empty boxes yesterday, so I have to get busy packing. Do you know how hard it is to pack with a 1 year old around? She just wants to take everything back out! I'm currently fighting the urge to hire a babysitter for a few hours.
• I'm working on a few new things for my shop & I can't wait to share them with you all....soon ;)
• Sometimes thrifting can be fun, but today it was just down right disappointing. People need to realize that their 'old crap' shouldn't cost $5 less than buying new. Also, 'old & worn' does not always equal antique.
• Last Thursday I had to make a trip to the E.R. with Adelei. She had a temperature all day, and even after Advil it didn't go down. I tried calling pediatrics all day, but was constantly put on hold & never got to talk to anyone. I hit my breaking point when she threw up & her temp. hit a high of 102.6. After 3 hours in the E.R. and 3 different meds, the temp was down, we made it home, & we had a peaceful night of sleep.
• Saturday Adelei broke out with this horrible rash! It was from head to toe on every surface. I did some research & figured out that it wasn't anything to worry too much about, but BOY was it nasty looking. Finally talked to the Dr. about it & he confirmed it was just part of the virus & it would just have to run it's course. Talk about a few stressful days!
• I think I've made the choice to let my hair grow out again. All of these cute hairstyles going around pinterest is making me miss my long hair!

What's going on with you guys this week?

My Loot, July Birchbox

Every month, I look forward to getting this little gem in the mail.

I love, love, love getting birchbox!

For those of you who don't know, birchbox is a box full of samples that you can get monthly for $10.

Why do I love birchbox?

Because I get the chance to try high end beauty products with very little cost to me. I'm not one to splurge at Sephora, so I like being able to try things I wouldn't usually buy.

This is what I got this month:

AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask

I love masks! Any kind, really. So I always love it when I get them in my box. This one is thick & creamy and made my skin feel baby soft. Definitely a winner! [full size $30]

Alterna Bamboo UV+Color Protection Fade Proof Fluide

I haven't actually used this yet! I'm planning to save it until I re-dye my hair next month. [full size $24]

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner

As luck would have it, I had JUST ran out of my favorite eyeliner. I was so happy to see this FULL SIZE 'sample' in my box. It came in black, which is my go to, and is so incredible smooth. I have to be  honest, though. As much as I like this, it is very similar to my $1 liquid eyeliner by E.L.F. I will happily use this, but I doubt I will be buying it. [full size $15]

Harvey Prince Hello 

One of my favorite things about birchbox is that I almost always get purfume samples. This month I got one that I will definitely be putting on my birthday wish list! Hello by Harvey Prince is such a crisp scent, absolutely perfect for summer! [full size $26]

Tea Forte Minteas

I was excited to try these when I saw them. They claim to help your mind focus, but all I could focus on was the gross taste of ginger pear. Yuck! I was definitely turned off by these. [3 tins, $9.95]

Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds

Are you kidding me? These things are too cute! And perfect for the times when baby girl is sleeping and I want to listen to music or watch videos on my laptop!

If you're interested in trying birchbox, I definitely recommend it! Also, if you sign up through me, I can earn points!

Moving Again

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early.

Got ourselves & baby girl dress and ready, and made it to the realtor's office by 9 am.

We got a list of rentable properties in our price range, and they even gave us the keys so we could take our time & look at them on our own.

By 11:30, we had looked at 6 houses all over town & headed back to the office to give them the keys.

When we got there, they said they had one more house they wanted to show us. Someone had just put it up for rent a few minutes before we came back. We went to look at the house & we loved it, but it was too much. But then they offered to lower the rent. They lowered it to just slightly over our price range. It was within our reach! I didn't want to make a rash decision. I think that's what they wanted us to do. I needed to think some things through.

So we left.

We headed back home & spent the rest of Saturday night & ALL day Sunday talking about it.

We crunched numbers.

We weighed the pros and the cons. 

We tried to imagine our life in each house.

It was such a hard decision!

But at some point, I just knew. I felt at peace when Aaron asked me how I felt about one house, & I felt uneasy when he asked me about the other.

Both houses were beautiful & in nice neighborhoods, but the price of one would allow me to sleep better at night.

We put in our application this morning for the house we decided on, and found out around noon that we were approved! We move in in two weeks!

While I'm not excited about the moving process, I am excited about being in our first house!

Over It

My last post was kind of a debbie downer.

Pretty much all of Wednesday I was in a funk.

I didn't do anything besides watch a whole lot of t.v. and play with baby girl.

That night, I had a break down of sorts. 

A lot of things had been weighing on my heart so I just let it all out.

Crying has never felt so good.

I woke up the next morning ready to hit the ground running.

At some point during my cry-fest I realized a couple of things:

1. My daughter, my husband, and I are all healthy. What more can I ask for?

2. Home is where the heart is. While I love my family & friends back home, my heart is with the two listed above.

3. Life is what you make of it. I plan on making ours pretty darn good.

Thank you all for the encouraging words in my time of need!

RedLeg Disappointment

If you follow me on twitter, you know that last night was a big night for us.

It was Aaron's RedLeg Social. 

In other words, all the guys in his unit [& their significant others] got together, had dinner, and found out their next duty stations.

I've been thinking about it since last week!

On our 'wishlist' we put:

Ft. Carson, CO

Ft. Bragg, NC

Ft. Campbell, KY

Ft. Stewart, GA

Hawaii

I was getting so excited thinking that we'd be closer to home, or in a more interesting place!

We got to the Patriot's Club around 6, & everyone was just waiting around to be let into the main hall.

Everyone else's nervousness/jitters seemed to calm me down, which was weirdly unexpected.

They finally started letting people in, and I got so confused. Everyone raced to the area where they had everyone's place settings displayed. We found out we were sitting at table 12. When we got to table 12, there was a plaque stating our new duty station.

Ft. Sill, OK

When Aaron told me, I just stood there, shocked.

I felt like I had been slapped in the face & I had to try really, really hard not to cry in a room of 150+ people.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Is this a joke?"

"No, this is the Army."

Don't get me wrong, I like it here for the most part. But I always looked at moving here to be a brief trip. We weren't expecting to be here longer than 6 months. I know I need to get used to this, but this is just how I feel right now. I know I'll get over this in a few days & be okay with it all. I know that no matter where we live, I will make the best of it for myself & my family. 

Tot Food::Zucchini Tots

Adelei has been eating what I like to call Big Girl food for quite a while now.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes it gets boring.

And sometimes I can tell she gets tired of the same ol' same ol'.

So I've been on a mission to expose her to more variety.

Thanks to pinterest, this hasn't been hard at all.

Today we tried our first toddler recipe.

Not only was it super easy [prep work was less than 5 minutes!], Adelei loved it, and I did, too!

I will definitely be making these more often.

Zucchini Tots

1 cup zucchini, grated
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian style
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach; if you skip this part, the middle of the zucchini tots will be really soggy while the outside gets crispy and no one wants that.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.


Note: I didn't use onion. Also, I used Panko bread crumbs, and that helped with the crispness. I substituted Mozzarella in place of the cheddar bc it's what I had on hand. It worked perfectly.

Yummy, Mommy!

 And I know this is very unlady like, but I guess because I've been taking so many pictures of her eating, she thinks she has to show me the food in her mouth now. At every meal. And when I say no, no! She laughs. Silly Girl!

Do you have any interesting tot food ideas? If so, I'd love to see them. Link up here!

The Best French Bread Pizza...Ever.

French Bread pizza is one of my absolute favs.

My love for it started a long, long time ago when I was having a sleep over at a friends' house.

Her mom made us French Bread pizza pretty much every time, but I wasn't complaining because it was good.

Fast forward to today. Hubby said he wanted pizza for dinner, only it's Monday, and I hate starting out my week not cooking [I know I'm so, so weird].

Anyway, so while I'm making my rounds at the commissary, I smell the fresh baking bread as soon as I walk in. I immediately think of French Bread pizza.

I stroll over to the racks to see tons of fresh french bread, and just a few loaves left of fresh garlic bread.

My mouth starts watering immediately. This is how I knew it was a great idea.

I finish my shopping, getting enough food for the rest of the week, and head home.

I'm literally thinking about this pizza all day long.

Even to the point where I exercised for longer than normal, just so I would feel less guilty about it.

And then I get a call from Aaron saying he was on his way home.

AKA time to start dinner.

Look at this perfection:

I swear this picture doesn't even do it justice.

 There are not enough words in the English language for me to describe how amazing this was [delicious + cheap + easy, what more can you ask for?]. In fact, we're most likely not going to be getting delivery any time soon.

The best pepperoni, ever.

We paired it with a salad, and I know I've used this phrase do describe pretty much everything in this post, but this is seriously the best dressing....ever.

Are you drooling yet?

Here's how you can make you're own. You're welcome.

1 loaf of fresh French Garlic Bread

1 can [or jar] of Pizza Sauce

1 8 oz bag of Mozzarella Provolone Blend Cheese

1 bag Pepperoni [I chose the kind made for sandwiches, bc I like it better]

Other toppings optional [I prefer my pizza 'plain' i.e. sauce, pepperoni, cheese. The Hubs likes his loaded..
olives, mushrooms, jalapenos. You name it, he will eat in on his pizza.]

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. It's very important that you do this first so it will be very hot when you put the pizza in [unless you like soggy bread]. The bread should already be cut in half length wise, so just cut it in half width wise. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray & place the bread crust side down. Spread as much [or as little!] of the pizza sauce on the bread. Cover with as much cheese as you like. Add as many pepperoni slices as you want [I used 3 per piece, using a total of 12]. Add any other toppings & then sprinkle just a tad more cheese on top to hold everything in place. Stick it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

This easily feeds 4 people. Possibly more if you also fill them up with salad!

If you try this, and I know you will, let me know how it works out for you!

Enjoy!

My Summer Swap Package

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of days now, but life got in the way.

[That is not a complaint, btw]

Tuesday when I checked the mail, I was surprised to see my summer swap package had already arrived!

I was so anxious to open it, but when I did, this is what I saw

Liz @ The Optimistic Army Wife sent me a package that made me miss home! It had a beach theme, and included a tumbler, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a super cute beach towel!

Thank you, Liz!

Head over to her blog to see what I got her.

p.s. have you entered the giveaway?

I fell in love today.

Today, as I was doing my bi-weekly round at Hobby Lobby, I came across this.

I was very, very interested, so I took it off the shelf & flipped through it.

I fell in love, right then and there.

Every page is beautifully different and inspiring.

I could think of so many things to do with it, but most of all, I thought of my mother & my daughter.

A snippet from my Mother's memory book [pre marriage/kids]

I love that there are different themes to choose from [I chose pretty]. They can be used for so many things! [a life planner, wedding planner, modern sketchbook, YOU name it!]

This, for me, will be an idea book and a memory book. I love that I'll be able to write down memories or ideas for projects, add pictures or mementos from adventures, and it will stay in a lovely little book that I can pass down to my daughter one day.

I don't know why I never thought of having one before, but I'm so glad I stumbled upon it.
If you need more convincing about how awesome this thing is, take a look at this:



So here's your chance.
I want to give one of my lovely readers a SMASHfolio of their very own.
I even want to customize it for you!


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Giveaway begins today & lasts through July 10th.






I was in no way compensated for this post. This review is completely my own, and the giveaway is sponsored by my pocketbook.

Getting the Run-Around

About a week after we moved here, there was a meeting for all the wives of the soldiers in my husband's unit. They filled us in on a lot of things, but what I was most interested in was childcare.

That night when I got home, I followed the instructions I had written down on how to pre-register Adelei for daycare on post. At the end, I got a message saying that I would be contacted soon to set up an appointment to come in to finish the registration. Awesome. Two weeks went by, and I still had not heard anything. Aaron told me just to wait another week because of all the families in processing, so I did. Towards the end of week 3 I still had not heard anything so I searched for a phone number....except I couldn't find one! All I found was an email address. Still, I put it to good use. I emailed them and told them what was going on, and asked that they please call me at their earliest convenience. Promptly the next morning [last Friday] I received a call from the CYS [child/youth services]. They set me up with an appointment for Monday. I asked the lady on the phone what I needed to bring with me, and she said baby's shot records & my military ID. Good to go.

Fast forward to today.

I get to the CYS office & after waiting a little while, get called back.

Literally in the middle of filling out the paperwork I have to stop because Adelei hasn't had a Hep A. vaccination. They wouldn't even let me finish registering her because of this. I can understand that she won't be able to be cared for by them until she gets it, but to have to completely halt...that was ridiculous. Not only that, but there were other items that I was supposed to bring that [thanks to the woman on the phone] I knew nothing about!
So I got my things & left. 

What frustrates me the most? Is that I've waited 3 weeks for this appointment, and now I have to wait again to get another one. Wish me luck!

And that, hopefully, is my only blog worthy rant of the week.