MIA

Hello Friends 

I am happily spending the week at home visiting family. I will catch back up with blog stuff when I am back in NY. In the mean time you can follow along with my traveling adventures on my Instagram feed. 

Follow me at MrsMollyP

See y'all soon with loads of pictures from my travels =) 

What I Have Learned

Today's prompt for Blog Every Day In May is "Things You've Learned That School Won't Teach You"

 

I learned lots of things in school yesterday. In fact, I actually used algebra yesterday in a real world situation. I felt like I should call my old math teacher and say thanks.

 

However, many of life's greatest lessons I have learned from experiences outside of the school house.

 

1. You can't always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react.

This has been a big lesson to me in the past few months. I have tried to focus on finding the positives during my husband's deployment, and choosing to be happy regardless of a crappy situation. Whether it is the car falling apart or just general life events, I have been focusing on reacting in a positive and calm manner.

 

2. Marriage is really really really awesome.

 

3. You choose what standard you want to live up to. In the end you are only accountable to yourself.

I have always heard that integrity means doing the right thing when no one is looking. In same vein, the quote "you are what you repeatedly do" has always hit home for me. We make choices which together comprise who we are as people.

 

4. Take off you eye makeup at night.

I usually forget, but just do it.

 

5. Good things come to those who work hard.

People always say how lucky I am to have a great job up here. Maybe luck is involved, but I also worked insanely hard for four months trying to find something. I came back to my (now) boss' office every week for a month before I was eventually hired. Don't wait for the perfect thing to fall into your lap. Hustle!

 

6. Cilantro will last a lot longer if you put it in a cup with water, cover it with a plastic bag and stick it in the fridge.

 

What have you learned? Go link up with Jenni and let us know.

OK

Everything seems so tiny in comparison to what is going on in Oklahoma. I am heartbroken over the pictures of parents and teachers carrying children out of the schools. I was working at a summer camp during a tornado in 2007. We had to get all the kids to the shelter and hang out till it was safe. Luckily the tornado didn't come our direction, and no one was injured. I am so sad that Moore, Oklahoma can't say the same thing.

However, you can still find moments of happiness and hope. I saw this video this morning and might have starting crying at my desk.

Hug those you love (especially your dogs) 

Deployment Week Seventeen

Hello middle of May! The next time I write one of these I will be soaking up the Virginia sun. I can't wait to hit the stupid twenty week mark. I am definitely out of my rut that consumed last week's update. I had a fantastic Skype session with Lane on Friday to celebrate our two year anniversary. It gave me the boost I needed to have a wonderful weekend. I am excited to power through this week and get on the road to Virginia. 

Happy Picture 

This was from Lane's short lived bleach blond phase. We went back to our high school in 2007 to watch some of our friend's graduate. It is hard to believe this was six years ago. 

Deployment Gratitude 

1. I am grateful for a truly incredible husband. We had our wonderful Skype session on Friday. I got a wonderfully sweet e-mail to further celebrate two years of marriage. Then he took care of some car paperwork stuff all the way from Afghanistan. I am so grateful that he took care of this onerous chore I had been dreading. I love that he can still be completely there for me from 6,700 miles away. 

2. I am grateful for muddy feet and dirty hands. I spent some time working in my yard this weekend and was reminded of the therapeutic powers of walking barefoot in the grass and digging in the dirt.

3. On that note, I am grateful that my grass is growing back. I have such a black thumb that I am surprised anything is actually growing. I have been filling in all of Asha's lovely digging and trying to coax new grass to cover the bare spots. 

Deployment Projects 

I have been planing on making a padded coffee table/ ottoman and got an old gorgeous coffee table from my neighbor. I just need to get some fabric, batting and foam. I am excited to add this coffee table to my living room. 

I am also excited because my MIL is going to help me make some throw pillows for the living room. She is a sewing wiz and I am excited to make a few to add to my couch. 

Busiest Week Ever

Yay for graduating!

This week holds several huge anniversaries. On May 15th 2011, Lane commissioned as an officer in the U.S Army. One day later he graduated from VMI. The day after that we ran off to the courthouse for our first wedding. It is so hard to believe that all of that happened two years ago. In some ways it feels so much longer. I feel like we have been married for eons, but Lane's time in the Army has passed in a blink. 

We have been together for 9.5 years, and for us marriage didn't change very much. We were still maintaining a long-distance relationship and I was still in school.  We didn't live together for the first few months after our courthouse wedding, and Lane left for Ranger School a week after our big family wedding.

 It wasn't that different from the rest of our relationship. Now, I absolutely love being married. I would marry him every day if I could. I haven't talked a lot about our first wedding, but it was private, short and unbelievably perfect. He left a few days later for IBOLC, continuing our pattern on long distance.

It has been really nice to focus on everything that has changed since this week in 2011. I have moved from Virginia to Georgia and then to New York. We got married (twice). It seems fitting that our two year mark in the Army comes at about the same time as the halfway point in this deployment. It is the perfect time to reflect on how far we have come and everything that we want to do going forward. 

Ten Little Things

My mantra for this deployment has been to choose happiness and be proactive about happiness. Now, this has been tested a little bit in the past week. I just felt out of sorts. This deployment felt like a giant weight on my shoulders. I was just an unhappy camper. I am trying to get myself sorted out, and today's prompt for Blog Every Day In May is perfect for that.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. When Asha and I sit on the floor and she rests her head on my shoulder. It's like our little version of a hug.

2. Whole Milk Lattes

3. Raspberry smoothies

4. Seeing the little green icon next to my husband's name on FB chat. 

Nothing is better than seeing that he is available to chat. 

5. When one of my students graduates. 

I get all giddy watching one of my students complete their degree program and get their diploma. 

6. Paying off one of our student loans.

 We still have a looonnnggg way to go, but it feels good to have one finished. 

7. Surprise letters from my family. My aunt sent me this gorgeous photograph of my grandmother.  

8. This may sound terrible, but I really love the occasional no-show for appointments. 

Having that little breather during the day makes everything so much easier. I can deal with administrative stuff and grab a quick second to eat lunch. 

9. It is Farmer's Market season in the North Country. I absolutely love spending a Saturday morning wandering around the markets in this area. I am especially excited for the local honey. 

10. Seeing my friends welcome their husbands home from Afghanistan. I can't imagine the level of excitement they must be feeling. 

What is making y'all happy today? Link up with Jenni and let us know =) 

Deployment Week Sixteen

I could barely catch my breath this week. Work was quite hectic which meant that chat time with Lane was severely diminished. This week had some hard moments. We are on the cusp of the half-way point, which usually makes me feel awesome. However, Friday I hit a bump on my road to perpetual motivation and optimism. I just couldn't believe that I have to do the same thing again. All of the time that has already passed, which seemed to take a lifetime at some points, I have to do again. I just can't believe I have to do this whole damn thing again. I feel a little bit better today, but I just had a hard time over the weekend. One bright shiny spot in the weekend was that Lane called on Sunday. They all got free phone access since it was Mother's Day and after he called his mom I got a phone call too. It was really nice to hear his voice. It usually makes me tear up at first, but then we just talked about books, Asha, movies and possible job changes for both of us. 

Happy Picture 

This is from VMI's Ring Figure dance during Lane's junior year in 2009. They get their class rings and it is a huge deal. I had a blast and miss heading to Lexington to visit. 

Deployment Gratitude 

(This was not a super positive week so I am digging deep for these) 

1. I am grateful that I found a job I love. I am grateful that I make a positive difference every day. Even if I am having a bad day, even if I don't feel great. I end every work day knowing that I helped soldiers get into college. That is an awesome feeling. 

2. I am grateful for calls from Afghanistan. 

3. I am grateful for how easy it is to make quinoa and red curry. It has become my go-to meal that I can still feel vaguely healthy about. 

Deployment Projects 

I went shopping for end tables for the living room but didn't find anything that I liked. I also have started hunting for a new bookshelf for the office. 

What I Miss

(This was supposed to publish yesterday)
Well this is probably the easiest question ever for the Blog Every Day in May. 

What Do You Miss? 

See You in the fall 

I miss my husband. I miss hearing him come home after PT. I miss watching our favorite TV shows together. I miss all those little moments that together paint the picture of your life together. We still have our life together, just  colored with Skype, fb chat, and sweet letters that take a month to arrive. 

There are other things I miss, but they are dwarf in comparison to how much I miss Lane. I miss my parents. I miss our cabin in the North Georgia mountains. I miss my high school days in boarding school. 

Man I really didn't think this post would get so sad. I miss all of those things, but they are still present in my life. They just aren't there as often as I want them to be. I am so excited to be going home this month! I can't wait to soak up time with my parents and enjoy my hometown.

I am linking up with Jenni at Story of My life

Military Spouse Appreciation Friday

Hello weekend =)
Work was fully crazy this week with everyone getting ready to start the summer session. I can usually squeeze in some blogging at work, but that was just not a possibility this week. Hence all of the super short posts. I am linking up with Lauren to celebrate all of the awesome things that happened this week.

Today is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I can't tell you how much I love all of my other milspouse bloggers. Y'all have been some of the best supporters during this deployment. Lots love to all of you!

1. High Five that I made it to the gym every day this week.

Every muscle in my body hurts and my palms look like someone took a cheese grater to them. However, it feels great that I pushed myself this week and did some serious work on pull ups.

2. High Five for being ahead of the game

I was under the impression that Mother's Day was last weekend. So I might have sent out my cards out a week early. My mom and MIL both got theirs last week. Even though they were way early, I'm glad they got there on time.

3. High Five for fitness goals. 

I back squatted my body weight today at the gym. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I got up to 135 and knew that if I could manage that, it was just a short jump to my body weight. (Sorry y'all not quite brave enough to post my weight on the internet). This wasn't one of my initial goals, but it felt awesome to hit that milestone.  Oh, I also held an unassisted handstand for much longer than I ever have before.

4. High Five for well behaved dogs.
Life is so much easier when Asha is not acting like a crazy maniac.

5. High Five for good friends.
Shannon and I surprised our friend with a mom's day out. I am taking her out for coffee and TJ Maxx shopping while Shannon watches her kids. I can't imagine going through deployment with children. It is hard enough with just myself and Asha.

Happy Friday!

Southern Cards DIY

Sorry for the terrible picture quality 

I have been waiting for this link-up to come back! Today for Saw It, Pinned It, Did it, I am posting my most recent DIY. I have been these hanging wire frames all over Pinterest, but finally decided to take the plunge when I got these adorable Southern greeting cards from Southern Weddings Magazine. I purchased a square wooden frame from Michaels and just used a staple gun to attach wire to the back of the frame. I purchased tiny little clothes pins as well, and used them to hang the cards. 

I posted this to Instagram recently (username: mrsmollyp) and SW Magazine actually re-posted my picture. I felt a little bit famous.
 This was a really easy project. I think greeting cards can made wonderful art for your home. They tend to be way cheaper than full sized prints. How cute would one of these be for your Christmas cards or wedding invitations?

Come link-up with Stephanie and Katie and show off your projects. 

Deployment Week Fifteen

I can't even discuss how late this post is. But I want to make sure that I have a record of each week, so better late than never. Week fifteen was pretty good. I worked a lot and made it to the gym almost every day. I was pretty exhausted by the weekend and my hands were dying from pull-ups. I feel like I am definitely into the groove of this deployment thing. I feel more secure about my schedule and goals. I booked my flight home to Atlanta which was definitely the best part of the week. 

Happy Picture 

There hasn't been nearly enough high school Molly and Lane during these posts. I don't know exactly when this is, but those baby faces are pretty adorable. 

Deployment Gratitude 

1. I am grateful for the awesome sushi place that is right outside the main gate. I have been there twice in the past week. Sometimes cooking is just way too much, and having insanely delicious sushi sounds so much better. Now my grocery/food budget is totally blown for the week, but that is another story. 

2. I am grateful for possible new job opportunities. I don't want to go into too much detail yet, but I might have a super exciting new job prospect. 

3. I am grateful for two solid weeks of gorgeous weather. It has been freakishly nice here. I think some rain is coming soon, which my poor pathetic yard desperately needs. 

4. Back when deployment just started, my MIL got me a very generous gift card to a local spa. I have been able to get my nails done twice and my haircut. It was the best gift ever. It allows me to treat myself without the guilt of spending too much money. Makes me, and my toes, very happy. 

5. I am grateful for wonderful neighbors and other military spouses who are the sweetest more supportive folks I could imagine. 

Deployment Projects 

I have been trying to regrow my grass. The winter completely destroyed my yard and I have been in full rehab mode. I am on the hunt for matching end tables this weekend and a bedside table for our bedroom. I made a gorgeous spring wreath that I am hoping to share on the  blog soon. 

What I Do

"If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question 'what do you do?'"

This is the "Blog Every Day in May" prompt for today. Now this question hit me like a ton of bricks. I closely identify my self worth with my job. It doesn't matter what my job has been throughout the years, I always consider my job to be a large part of my identity. This probably explains why I completely fell apart last year when I arrived at Fort Drum and couldn't find a job. I think it is important to have an identity outside of your profession, so this post is almost like therapy for me. 

I take my puppy to the dog park and do everything possible to make sure she is a happy, healthy, well behaved dog.

I show my husband that I love him. This can be challenging during deployments, but I try to show him through letters, care packages, sweet e-mails, pictures and everything else I can think of. 

I try to figure out how to use my new camera. I try to capture memories and events that make my heart happy. 

I help people.  I try to live by the idea that every interaction I have should make someone's day better. Do I fail at this? All the time. However, I keep trying. 

I plan. I am a complete planner. I like to plan out the next five years, the next week or just the next few hours. I have never met a to-do list I didn't like. 

So these are a few things that I do. I would love to hear what y'all do besides your job. If you feel so inspired, go link up with Jenni. 

Something I'm Good At

So I have seen these "Blog Everyday in May" posts floating around my blog list, and decided to jump in today. The theme for today's post is "something that you are good at or know a lot about". I know a whole lot about financial aid and college admissions, but I'm not sure that's what y'all want to hear about. So I decided to go with something that has dominated the last seven years of my life. 

Long Distance Relationships 

Oh how I wish I knew absolutely nothing about these. Sadly, my husband and I have spent countless months apart, and at last calculation have spent over 2 years of our relationship in different countries.Now with deployment, that number is only increasing. I think that experience gives me some sort of knowledge.

So here are some things that I have learned. 

1. Your relationship will live or die by your communication 

Get really good at showing that you love each other without actually being in person. Whether it's letters, Skype or just texting; you need to know what works best for y'all. We both prefer chatting online, so that is what we do. Even now during deployment, 99% of our communication is FB chat. 

2. Find a way to spend time together even though you're apart. 

We used to have coffee dates 800 miles apart. We would both go to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble, and read the same book. This allowed us to have something besides how much we missed each other to talk about. Figure out what works for you. 

3. Send pictures of your day 

Sometimes it can be hard to know what your significant other's life is like without you there. I loved getting a glimpse of the daily stuff. 

4. Do normal things when you are together. 

There can be a lot of pressure to make every second you can spend together memorable and fun filled. This creates serious expectations that can be hard to meet. If you want to chill on the couch and watch ten episodes of How I Met Your Mother, than do it. Just do whatever makes you both happy. Not what will look awesome on your instagram feed. 

5. Figure out what the end goal is. 

This was the hardest part for me. I was very happy with college and grad school. Figuring out how to adjust my plans and life to finally put an end to long distance was challenging. If you eventually want to actually be in the same place, you have to be proactive. I will never suggest that you compromise what you want and your goals, but figuring out how to balance your goals and your relationship can be really hard.

Yay for awesome writing prompts. I don't think I will participate every day, but I love Jenni's ideas for different posts throughout the month. Definitely go and check it out here. 

Hello May =)

Can I take a second to throw a party for the wonderful fact that May has arrived! It was in the 70's as I was walking into work this morning and life is good. To celebrate I am linking up with Jaime at This Kind of Love for What I Am Loving Wednesday.

1. I am loving that this basically outlines my plans for the entire summer. You can't tell, but my sweet puppy is dozing under the table while I enjoy the summer weather. 

2. I'm (of course) loving my husband. I really feel like we are crushing this deployment. Financially we are making huge dents in our student loans. I'm so proud of our fledgling marriage =) 

3. I am loving that I bought my ticket home. Atlanta here I come! My family and I will be driving up the east coast to D.C, stopping to visit family along the way. Then we will do the touristy thing in D.C for a few days. I can't wait!


4. I love that Lane's unit has been really good about posting pictures. That is Lane on the right =)




5. I love this series of pictures from Buzzfeed. Lane sent me the link yesterday and they are amazing. If you need your daily dose of adorable, go check it out.

Happy Wednesday and Happy May!