Not So Strong Today

Lane was supposed to return today, but due to the storm his flight was cancelled. Now, I completely understand that these things happen. However, they could have easily flown out earlier and avoided the storm. Whose call this would have been is a mystery. I try to always be really positive and upbeat. I want Lane to feel that he doesn't ever have to worry about me. Not so much today. Today I just want my husband home. I don't want to hand out candy by myself tomorrow night. I just want to stamp my feet and throw a fit until he is home. Clearly this will accomplish nothing, but I am just so frustrated. When he is gone and there is a point, like at NTC or deployment, I can rationalize his absence and at least try to stay positive. When there is absolutely no good reason for him not to be home, I can't have the same perspective. 

Not the happiest blog/blogger today. 

Come On Sandy

via

So unless you are living under a rock, I am sure you have heard about the giant storm that is about to land on the northeastern coast. Fort Drum is expected to get hit with some pretty serious wind and rain which could turn into snow if it gets cold enough. Now your husband being gone is never fun, but him being gone when we might lose power for an extended period of time is rough. I consider myself a pretty tough girl, but I am a little nervous about the upcoming week. All of post is shutting down at 3:00 and schools are already out.

Have a little Etta James Stormy Weather for your hurricane soundtrack 

My plans include; tomato soup, the new Percy Jackson book Mark of Athena, lesson plans, cuddling with Asha, and movies while we still have power. Luckily we have a gas stove and I can still cook even if we lose power. 

Please be safe to all my wonderful readers and family. My grandmother was already evacuated from the Jersey Shore. I know my D.C friends are prepared. By prepared I mean they have ten bottles of wine and plan to drink through the entire thing =). 

Friday And I'm In Love

Happy Friday to all of my wonderful readers. I have had my most popular week in terms of views this week, but actually lost a follower. I feel simultaneously popular and unloved. I am linking up with Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds  for Friday Letters. Here are some of my letters this week:

via

Dear Teaching

I think we are going to be friends. My first class was definitely a challenge, but last night rocked. I felt prepared, my students were engaged, and it was just awesome. If teaching can feel like this even half the time, I will be a happy camper. Class went so well I was practically on a high when I walked out of the class room. 

Dear North Country Weather

Thank you so much for the warmer days, but we can do something about the rain on the weekends? Seriously, it has rained for the past four weekends. I want to enjoy all the Halloween events this weekend. There are hayrides and haunted houses planned which don't mix well with rain. 

Dear Army

You've had my husband for quite a while now. I would like him back please.

Not Asha, but oh my goodness the cuteness
via

Dear Asha

You are such a crazy face when you don't get enough exercise. I can't always take you to the dog park for two hours every day. I am looking forward to you getting older and calming down a little bit. You really did not enjoy the 80 degree day on Thursday. We went to the dog park early, and you were smoked. Poor furry baby really doesn't like the heat. 

Dear Army wife friends

 Oh my goodness, y'all rock my world. 

This week was a happy, busy, crazy week. I am so excited to charge into next week. My sweet husband returns, I have some fun blogs planned, and it will be Halloween! 

Framed Wedding Vows

One of my NTC projects was to re-frame our original wedding vows in our bedroom. This is how it turned out. 

I love waking up every day and getting a reminder of what we pledged to one another. The frames are (clockwise from the top) a calligraphy Lane made of our names and wedding date, my vows, the love letter in which Lane proposed, anther love note, and Lane's vows. 

Eventually I may make a pretty version of our vows, but I like seeing the originals. It has the lines we crossed out, and all our changes. 

Has anyone else framed their vows? I think it is a really sweet way to stay committed and connected to your marriage. 

What A Wonderful Wednesday

Hello blogging world. I am linking-up with Jaime at This Kind of Love for What I Am Loving Wednesday. 

1. I taught my first college class last night. It was definitely a little bit scary, but I am fairly positive that I pulled it off ok. The class is 3 hours long, which is a very long time to keep the attention of 18 20-somethings. The above picture is what I wore my first day of teaching. I also added a blue blazer since it was actually a little cold last night. 

2. All of the love from my friends and family yesterday. I got so many texts with good luck wishes. People are so sweet and I appreciated every single one of them. 

3. The two days I had with Lane. He returned from training at 3:00 AM on Friday and had to fly out at 5:00 AM on Sunday. Having only those two days made us really focus on each other. I barely turned on my phone and left my computer off almost the whole time. He was so sweet with Asha and I could tell she missed him. 

4. Starbucks flirting. 

5. My chalkboard message for fall. My handwriting isn't great, but I am making a conscious effort to focus more on everything I have to be grateful for. I wrote down grateful lists while Lane was gone for the month, and think that it helped me stay positive and focused. 

What are y'all loving this Wednesday?

Halloween Ideas

I really did mean to blog on Monday. However, the morning rolled around and I just couldn't get myself out of bed early enough to get something up. This week is already getting the best of me, and I have four days left. 

My first class is tonight! I can't believe that I will be teaching almost 20 students, some of whom will probably be older than me. I am really excited and feel as prepared as possible.I am thinking about taking another "first day of school picture". I think it would be cute to have one for my first day as a teacher.  

I will be volunteering with my FRG Saturday night at the haunted hotel sponsored by our brigade. They want us to dress up, but I really care much more about being warm. I am thinking about doing a sort of Medusa thing. I saw this picture on Martha Stewart's website. It would be super easy to get some rubber snakes and do something like this. 

via

I feel like it is halloween-ie enough without being a complete costume. I am still trying to think of ideas for Lane and I to wear while handing out candy on Wednesday. He doesn't get back till Tuesday night, so I want to try to think of something easy and quick to put together.

via

I am in love with this Wall-E and Eve costume set, but don't have nearly enough time to pull it together. Do y'all have any suggestions for cute couple themed Halloween costumes? 

Short But Sweet

Lane returned Thursday night (yay!). His flight landed around 11:30 but he had to stay in squadron until much much later getting all of the equipment from NTC sorted. I tried to sleep a little bit, but I was just too excited to see him. Once he got home we threw in a load of laundry (most disgusting aspect of being married to a soldier) and hit the hay. It was about 3:00 AM at this point and I was ready to crash. We spent Saturday mostly curled up on the couch watching Netflix, but we did venture out to Starbucks for a reading and coffee date. 

Via Amelia Lyon Photography

This has always been our preferred date. Even in high school we would bring books to the local coffee shop and read together. When we were long distance, we would sometimes do long distance reading dates. We would read the same book and chat about it over text or AIM. Oh yes, AOL Instant messenger has been one of the greatest assets to our relationship. 

Now for the not so great news. Lane found out on Thursday that he had to head almost immediately to another training. So this morning at around 5:00 AM I dropped him off yet again. This one is only a little more than a week, and we will be able to have phone contact the entire time. I was definitely a little bummed when he told me, but I have been trying to look on the bright side. 

We are able to talk.

 It is only a week(ish)

If he didn't go now he would probably have to go in November or even closer to deployment. 

He will have loads of free time and be able to work on his language training. 

I know that this is part of the deal with the Army. We are very small parts of a very big machine. I am feeling pretty good about the week ahead, and it will be crazy busy. It was almost a good thing we only had two days together. We spent virtually ever minute together, and were able to focus on the short time that we did have. I should be back to regular blogging this week and lots of exciting things are happening. I teach my first class on Tuesday and there is an FRG pumpkin carving event on Thursday. 

Wednesday Loves

I am so excited it is already Wednesday. This week can't pass by quickly enough. I am so ready for my husband to be home. I am linking up with Jaime at This Kind of Love  for What I Am Loving Wednesday.

1. I am loving talking to my husband. He got his phone back on Friday and just hearing his voice was wonderful. I didn't realize how hard it was for me not to talk to him until I could again. I feel like we got into a good groove this week, and I feel strong and prepared to face this deployment. 

2. I love my job. I work as an academic adviser helping soldiers and army spouses get an education. I get the wonderful feeling of knowing that every hour I have helped someone get closer to a college education.

VIA That's Happy

3. The incredibly supportive girls who all live in my neighborhood. I love having buddies right across the street. This is such a blessing. I love having friends no matter where they live, but being able to dash across the street is something I have never experienced. Honestly, this was one of the things I was hoping would happen when we decided to live on post. I am loving it! 

4. The weather is nicer today! I am still enjoying the cold temperatures, but this bright sun shiney day is also a nice surprise. I am ready for winter in the North Country, but still want to enjoy the sun while I can.

The blogging may be a little light for the next few days as I want to enjoy time with my husband when he gets home. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week and weekend. 

Oh How Time Flies

Luckily for me, the last week has seemed to fly by. Lane getting his phone back on Friday made the weekend much more bearable. Not talking is so much harder than just not seeing him. October has really gone by in a blur, and I completely missed the one year anniversary of Lane leaving for Ranger School. One of my very first posts was about my experience with Ranger School, and it is still my most viewed post in almost nine months of blogging. I can still remember dropping Lane off at the Camp Rogers parking lot and trying not to cry as I pulled away. I was able to hold it together until I got home. 

See you in 63 Days 

Ranger School was definitely one of the more challenging Army experiences we have gone through. With the upcoming deployment this will probably change, but for now I am still glad this particular training is behind us. One year later, I am still outrageously proud of him for graduating Ranger School ( with 0 recycles).

Lane jokes all the time that if he had to go through Ranger School again to keep his tab he would just give it back. Is is such a challenging school, and absolutely tests both soldiers and their families. I know I have mentioned this in other posts, but I am still happy to answer questions or just talk about my experience. I have definitely gotten a few e-mails based on these posts, and I absolutely love trying to answer questions and provide advice. 

Molly's First 5K

Yesterday I did something new. Two weeks ago I agreed (due to massive peer pressure) to run the Tunnel to Towers 5K in Syracuse, NY. I know that 3.1 miles isn't really a far run, but running has always been unreasonably scary to me. I am really proud of myself for finishing the race ( with no walking). Considering that the farthest I'd run in the years before was maybe two miles. I vaguely trained during the last two weeks, but our longest distance was 2.5 miles. 

We got in the car at around 7:45 so we would get to Syracuse in enough time to register for the 10:00 race. I drove down with my lovely friend Laura and her two kids. (Sidenote: she is a badass. She ran the 5K in 27 minutes while pushing two toddlers in a stroller). We got there, registered, got our numbers and t-shirts and then headed for the starting line. I ran with my friend, but we were there in a big group of army wives. We ran in tutus and other patriotic gear. 

I knew going in that the first .75 miles are always miserable for me. This was absolutely true yesterday. The race started with a big hill, which didn't help my initial difficulty. After I got to mile 1, I was cruising. I felt awesome and focused on motivating my running buddy. I felt great until around mile 2.7 when my legs started to feel like tree trunks. I was so excited when we made the turn for the final .1 miles. We finished in about 31 minutes. I really wanted to be sub-30, but for my first 5K I am pretty happy. My friends took pictures of us finishing, but they haven't posted them online yet. 

This was a really fun day. I liked getting the exercise, but I also loved supporting a great cause with my friends. This race is designed to honor the legacy of Stephen Siller. He was an off duty fireman on 9/11. When he heard about the attack, he tried to reach the towers by car. When the tunnel was closed, he ran the final distance to the towers. He sacrificed his life trying to save those trapped in the towers. You can read more about his incredible efforts here. 

Les Lettres de Vendredi

This is the last Friday Letters before Lane returns from California (hopefully). Whoo hoo. I am linking up with Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds for Friday Letters.

Dear Asha- Thank you for be such a sweet puppy.

Pinterest via encore une minute

Dear Lattes- You have been my constant companion throughout graduate school and life since then. Thank you for being so delicious. I don't even want to think about the amount of money I have spent on you. 

Dear BB2/Twin/BFF- Thank you for the almost two hour long phone call a few nights ago. I miss you dearly and can't wait to see you again. 

Lauren of I Love You Much Photography

Dear Husband- I cannot wait until you come home. I know that this is important preparation for deployment, but man I am ready to hear your voice. 

I am running the 5k on Saturday, and then probably relaxing for the rest of the weekend. I am excited to power through this last week and Lane. I have a few projects to finish before he gets home. I want to thank all my readers for the serious blog love I have gotten this week. I love finding new blogs and reading your wonderful comments.

What I Am Loving 10/10

Happy Wednesday to All =) I am linking up with Jaime at This Kind of Love for What I Am Loving Wednesday.

1. I should get to talk to my husband this weekend. The distance is hard enough, but it is the no communication that is really a killer. I am ready for him to get home, but just being able to talk will be enough. 

2. My Harry Potter pumpkin. I saw an example on Pinterest and knew I wanted to make one. I also used one of my small white pumpkins to make a mini-Hedwig. 

3. Happy accidents. I misread an event invitation and showed up yesterday for an event that is actually Thursday. Luckily, another woman also misunderstood the invitation. We both showed up and waited a while before we realized our mistake. We ended up just chatting for over an hour and it was wonderful. I love making new friends and getting wonderful advice. She has been married to a soldier for more than ten years and offered some fantastic insight and recommendations.

4. Cuddling in bed with my puppy. She has moved her wake-up time from 6:00 to 7:30 and I am eternally grateful. 

5. I can't get enough of fall weather. I know the snow is on its way, but I am going to enjoy these beautiful, clear, crisp days for as long as I can. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful week =) 

The Fact Is

The fact is that I could not think of anything to post today. Then I saw Morgan post about this link-up and it seemed a perfect fit.

The Fact Is

My house is a disaster. I was so good the first few weeks because I had friends coming over almost every night. Now, there is a giant pile of laundry on my bed and a pile of dishes in the kitchen. I am going to do a deep clean before Lane comes back ( NEXT WEEK!). It can just stay messy till then.

Running with a buddy is much more fun than running by myself. I ventured out solo last evening, and it was much harder to keep going without my normal running buddy there cheering me on. 

I am officially registered for the race on Saturday. I am really excited, and definitely a little nervous. 

Fall rocks in upstate NY. The trees are unbelievably gorgeous. They look like something out of a movie. 

 I love this puppy. 

 Really, really really love this puppy. She is making such great improvements every week and I just adore her. 

Even when she looks like this. 

Thank you for the hosting the link-up Morgan and Nicholl =)

DIY Mirror

I have been looking for hooks for my kitchen for a while. I can't hang dish towels from the fridge or oven handle without Asha pulling them down and using them for chew toys. I found some at Lowes that I loved, and planned on going back to get them. However, earlier this week I found this gorgeous framed mirror with two hooks for $5.00 at the on post thrift store. The hooks would have been more than that for two, and I knew it would be gorgeous with a quick coat of paint.

I removed the hooks and gave them a coat of gold spray paint to brighten them up. I used paper and tape to cover the mirror while I sanded down the frame. I used cherry red Krylon spray paint in several coats. I am a terrible spray painter, and had to do a couple extra coats to fix the giant blobs. 

This was probably a ten minute DIY project. Longer if you count waiting for the spray paint to dry in between coats, but all the work was less than ten minutes total. I like how it turned out. I already have two towels up there so you can't really see that the hooks are gold, but they look better than the dull color they were before.

My kitchen is finally getting put together. I am excited to finish a couple more projects before Lane gets back. 

The Couple That Reads Together

via

Lane and I have been brainstorming ways to stay connected during deployment. One of our ideas is to read the same book at the same time. It will basically be a two-person book club. I know I will have more free time than him for reading.Even if we only make it through a couple books, I think it will be worthwhile. I know that sometimes the fact that you miss each other starts to cover everything else you have in common. I am hoping that having little rituals like this will give us something else to talk about and focus on.

I would love any suggestions of book's y'all have read. Maybe with your spouse, or just something that you really liked. I am have been spending forever on Goodreads (my profile here) trying to find good books for us to read during deployment. I have such a hard time finding books that I think will be a good fit. I would like them to relate to either things in which Lane and I are already interested, or focus on love and relationships. However, I don't really want marriage advice books. We already read a giant pile of them before we got married. (If anyone needs advice on those books just shoot my an e-mail). Here are two that are on my list so far. 

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson 

Lane really wants to hike the AT, and this book is all about that exact adventure. I know this will be a fun and uplifting read. 

The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel 

This tells the story of a relationship in the format of a dictionary. From the review I have read, it is very moving for a fairly simple book. I think it will be a good fit for the hectic lifestyle associated with deployment. 

Any recommendations? I really think this will help us stay close and connected during deployment. 

Whoo Hoo For Friday

Whoo hoo for Friday Letters and Fill In The Blanks. This week was really good, and I feel very productive. I got loads of DIY stuff done and had great days at work. Here are my Friday letters: 

Dear Asha, I am so glad that your surgery went well. You make the fact that Lane is gone much much easier to bear. 

Dear Thursday, please for the love of all that is holy get here fast. I can't take Asha to the dog park till then. Despite the above declarations of love, the lack of exercise is leading to some really horrible behavior. I still adore here, but the craziness needs to end. She chewed up three coasters, a foam pillow and destroyed the toy I bought her last week. 

Dear NTC, I would like my husband back please. 

Dear Running, I am so glad that we have started to get to know one another again. You make me feel strong and healthy. Thanks =)

Now for questions!

 The last thing I ate was bacon. I have been eating a lot of it recently. Bacon and eggs is so easy to make when I am just cooking for one. 

2.  The last time I went to the beach was I can't even remember. I went to the river a lot this summer, but that isn't quite the same thing. I know I went to Virginia Beach a few years ago, but it has certainly been a very long time.

3.  My last vacation was Oh man these questions make me feel boring. We took a trip to Virginia to visit family over the 4th of July, so I guess that is the closest thing to a vacation. My family is going to Italy this summer, and Lane and I have been planning our post deployment vacation. We are thinking about doing a London/Copenhagen/Amsterdam loop. Neither of us are beach people, and we would much rather spend all day walking around a cool city. 

4. The last place I drove was To visit my friend for lunch yesterday followed by loads of errands. 

5. The last song I listened to was Living On A Prayer. I like to rock out in the mornings. I try to make Asha dance with me, but she usually just sits there and looks at my like I am crazy. 

6. The last thing I watched on TV was I am watching Live With Kelly and Michael right now. 

7.  The last time I said "I love you" was I told my best friend I loved her last night in a text. I also tell Asha I love her pretty much all day every day. 

Happy Friday to All!

Star Burst Mirror

I really thought with Lane gone I would have more time for blogging, that has clearly not been the case. I have been making good progress on some of my DIY projects, and I am excited to continue to work on some more. One project I really want to take on is making a star burst mirror. I have seen these everywhere, and really want to try to make my own. 

via

I love the P.S I Made This tutorial. I am going to try to pick up a circular mirror like that next time I am at Hobby Lobby. I think they look so chic. 

via

I am possibly going a little overboard on projects, but whatever I don't finish now I will just tackle during deployment. Have any of y'all made one of these mirrors? I am hoping it will look as good as some of the other DIY ones I've seen. 

Single Living

via

Lane has been gone for a little over a week and I am settling back into my single living mannerisms. Yes, he will be back in a few weeks, but I am thinking of this as practice for deployment.

 I always have a hard time cooking for one person. During deployment, me and a few of the girls on my street are going to have a rotating dinner party so that we actually have a reason to cook. Cooking for Lane is one of my main ways to show love, and that extends to cooking for other people. For myself, eh not so much. I have been existing on a few main staples; coconut flour pancakes, scrambled eggs with bacon, sweet potatoes, and almond milk smoothies. They are all easy, fast, but still nutritious and tasty. 

I have been trying to prepare myself as best as possible because the next time Lane leaves it will be for a lot longer than a month. Here are some of the things I have been trying to focus on while he's at NTC. 

1. Get our bills sorted out. 

I have made an exact calendar of when all the automatic bills are paid and the due dates for the other bills. Tonight I discovered that my name isn't on one of our accounts. Clearly this could be a problem while he is unreachable for vast amounts of time. 

2. Focus on my friendships

I have been really lucky to meet some awesome girls who will be here through deployment. I want to make sure I have people around who I trust and will be able to lean on during deployment. Some of them will also have deployed spouses, and some won't. An awesome girl moved in across the street and I have loved spending time with her this week. 

3. Do all the legal stuff 

I think this is fairly standard across all army units, but I want to make sure we are up to date with POA's and wills and such. 

4. Make sure I love my house. 

I want my house to be somewhere that I am happy to come home too. I love how it has turned out, and it makes me happy when I see all the DIY projects and framed photographs. I want to do a full house series of pictures, but I have a few projects to finish first.

I would LOVE to hear any great recipes for one person. I am all about easy, healthy and tasty. Military spouses, what do y'all do to get ready for deployment? Any advice?