On An Adventure

So when I was hanging out with my college friends on Friday, I realized that most of my friends from college (unless they lived with me) have never met Nick, despite the fact that we've been together for 5 years.

In college, the fact that we went to school on different coasts (West Point & LMU) obviously made it a little bit difficult for him to meet my friends. Even despite the fact that towards the end of college, we saw each other about once a month. But, we weren't necessarily at LMU the majority of those times. It didn't help either that West Point was definitely not a normal college, as he couldn't necessarily leave every weekend (and come to dances and events and stuff).

But I just thought it was funny that not much has changed. I'm "home" in California (going to his cousin's wedding no less) and yet again, my husband isn't with me because he is doing training. It would obviously be nice if he were able to come too, but this is the reality of the Army and I can't say its something I really get upset about. Its definitely weird by "normal" relationship standards, but thats my life. And its not like there is anything either of us can do about it. The Army says he's going to train, so he does. So you just learn to live with it. So when people ask where he is this week, I just say that the Army has him...

Here are a few videos of Danny & Katie:


Katie "talking"



Danny dancing (sorry its sideways, don't know what I was thinking on that one)

So I've remembered my love for California in the last couple of days. Maybe I just wasn't thinking about it before, but it is an awesome, awesome place. You can't beat weather in the 70s (and maybe low 80s), lots of sunshine and just the variety of things you can do and see. Yesterday I went to an awesome coffee place I used to frequent (Urth Caffe, yum!) with a friend and it was just a nice place to hang out.

Don't get me wrong, I totally like Texas, and have nothing against it. But California is just awesome. I enjoyed the fact that I could sit outside in almost July and not sweat to death. I miss that. I am living in the A/C at home in Texas. And then there's the beach, and the city, and the mountains aren't too far away...just that variety is nice. And I think I'm a city girl at heart, or I was at least spoiled when I lived in California where you can find anything and there is something new every 15 minutes. Thus, why I hated Kentucky, with Starbucks and Target over 30 minutes away, ha ha. Basically, California is awesome. I'm sure we'll end up back here eventually some day...although maybe not at Fort Irwin.

Anyway, I've obviously been having a good trip so far. And I got to see a bunch of my college friends yesterday and kind of reminisce and enjoy California (obviously), so thats been really good. Its so funny because the first thing everybody has asked is when I'm going to pop out some kids, ha ha. Um yeah, not anytime soon. I love my niece and nephew, but I'm just not quite ready for that yet, especially since my husband will be gone for a year in not too long.

I've started to miss home and Nick and the dogs more and more, but its nothing major. I definitely appreciate my life, where we live and that we have a home. We'd have a totally different life here. And I'm totally in a different place than most of my friends (married, a grown up...kind of, ha ha), but it was good to come back and reminisce a bit and hang out with some great girls. But you know, its not really my home anymore.

I've also gotten to spend tons of time with my family, which has been great. I have tons more pictures and videos of my niece and nephew (that I'll hopefully get up when I get home on Monday) and some great memories. Disneyland was tons of fun. We went on lots of fun kiddie rides, but unfortunately the new Toy Story ride had an 80 minute wait, ew. Its definitely different going with little kids, but it was also really crowded. I'm used to getting like 15 rides in in 5 hours, so this was new. It was really fun though.

My nephew is a total kick. Today I was at my sister's house helping to set up her new TiVo (greatest invention ever!) and I was trying to get Danny to help my sister out in the garage. So I said "I'm going to be boring, so go help mommy" and Danny responded "Ok, but will you be Aunt Coco again when I get back?". That kid...

So yeah, good times. I can't say I'm quite ready to go back to Texas, but home is always good.

I can't believe its already Friday. I've been pretty busy on this trip, but still, I'm going back home on Monday! I finally got some of the pictures I've taken so far (took a million more yesterday since we went to Disneyland) onto my computer, so I'm going to try to post them.

My ankle is totally better now, yay! Here's what it looked like when it was all swollen though:

I'm having a great time at "home" (its weird calling it that because it is and isn't at the same time) in California. The weather has been absolutely beautiful- like mid-70s to low 80s, which is a huge relief from the mid-90s in Texas. I went to the beach today and we went to the pool yesterday, its been awesome.

I have a million pictures and videos, but I forgot my USB for the camera, so I'm debating whether or not to upload them when I get home, or use my parents' printer (it has a memory card slot). Well, thinking about it now, I'll probably have a million pictures by the time I get home, so it might be overload to put them all on. I'll try to upload sometime today.

But ya, the niece and nephew are being adorable and its just been really nice to relax and hang out with family. I'm seeing some old college friends on Friday, so that will be a lot of fun too! It is kind of weird being back, especially since I have my own home now. My parent's Golden Retriever seems like a bear in comparison to my dogs. I think its all the fur.

Nick sounded pretty lonely on the phone last night. He had a pretty bad day and is exhausted, so that probably doesn't help. Its moments like that where I really start to miss him, when I can't be there for him. The week will go by fast though, and he'll be busy for most of it anyway. And then we're off to the Keys!!!

I'm feeling pretty good about being away from the dogs so far too. They are my precious little babies (especially Scout), but I know the kennel is totally overly capable, so that eases my mind a bit. But I do miss a good snuggle every now and again.

In other news, I got called by the school district and apparently a teacher's aide position has opened up at one of the elementary schools (Harker Heights-about 15 mins from my house). So I have an interview on July 1st! Pretty exciting since I pretty much wrote off getting a job with the district. I'm not entirely sure what grade level, but I'm almost certain its probably Pre-K or Kindergarten since I haven't really heard about older grade levels having aides in the classroom. So thats good news! Otherwise, I'm going to call a local church's preschool once I get back to Texas (after the Keys) and inquire about the aide positions I heard about there.

So I made it to California, woohoo! The morning was a bit dramatic as I hopped out of bed onto a completely asleep leg, which then gave out and resulted in me twisting my ankle. Ya, didn't see that one coming, and definitely didn't realize my leg was completely asleep. So now I have a swollen ankle that is currently soaking in hot water. Good times. But I made it somehow through Killeen and Dallas airports and am now safe at my parent's house!

We immediately went to In-n-Out Burger from the airport, YUM! My parents know me all too well. And the fam had a little BBQ (tri-tip, garlic mashed potatoes, apple pie, oh yeah) so I got to see the grandparents and such. So far so good! Tomorrow my sister and the adorable niece and nephew come, yay! Its going to be a good and busy week!

So considering the schedule I have says my husband is supposed to be in the field, I'm a little confused that he's pretty much been around (except for a few hours here and there) since Thursday. I'm definitely not complaining, but this was supposed to be practically a month of "field training". Hey, I'll take it! We've gotten to go to the movies (saw Get Smart yesterday, it was awesome!) and eat out and just be together. Yay! Not too shabby for time I thought we were going to spend apart.

Its especially nice having him around since tomorrow morning, I am leaving for "home"- California! I'm ready for some In-n-Out Burger and some Disneyland and some family time. Oh, and some weather that is not in the mid to high 90s for a change. Nick's cousin is getting married on Sunday, so it gave me an excuse to take a trip home, especially since Nick is supposedly in the field (although who knows if thats actually true).

I'm really excited to see my family, especially my 2 1/2 year old nephew and 8 month old niece, who I haven't seen since Christmas!!! They are seriously the cutest things ever. I know I have a bias (especially because its been said that my niece looks like me as a baby), but seriously, they are. I'll be sure to bring back photographic & video evidence.

Anyway, I'm all packed up and the dogs are at the ridiculously awesome kennel (I have high standards for my dogs). Although its a little pricey, I totally have peace of mind that they're being well taken care of. I've already gotten a call from the manager to tell me that they're doing great, and to expect another call tomorrow morning. For a crazy dog person like me, this is heaven. Its weird not having the dogs around though..its entirely too quiet. There isn't any barking or growling or whining going on...its creepy. I'm really glad Nick is here because I think I might go crazy. Other than the quiet though, I don't miss them too much yet, thank goodness.

So, off to California in the morning...then the Florida Keys next week. Life is definitely good.

So between Wednesday and Thursday we had FOUR solicitors knock on our door. 3 were on the same day and were for the same company offering us a free carpet cleaning. They were sooo annoying. On top of being bombarded by a sales pitch that I didn't want in the first place, the dogs absolutely freak out when the doorbell rings. The worst time was when I was woken up from a lovely little nap on the couch by such a lovely sound. Grr, so annoying. Nick made a makeshift "No solicitors" sign. Hopefully that'll stop them because the amount of them is just ridiculous. I swear, I've never lived in a place with so many solicitors.

Nick came home out of this stage of Gunnery (shooting tanks) on Wednesday afternoon and was completely exhausted:

So last night, Nick's company had "Family Day" down at the tank range. It was really cool seeing close-up and firsthand what Nick does. He is always talking about tanks (I have to admit, most of the time I'm zoning out...), so it was cool to see exactly what he was talking about. We got to see tanks shooting the main gun, the 50 caliber and the machine gun. The main gun is ridiculously huge and if it was close enough, you definitely felt the boom and subsequent shockwave. And we heard them on the radio on the range. It was really cool. I'm really glad they did something like this so we family members can see what our husbands are doing.

So when I first got there, Nick was up in the tower being the OIC (Officer In Charge) of the range. So I sat there for like 30 mins (although I did get to watch the tanks shooting) with the rest of the families and the 2 packs of Gatorade and bag of food I brought while Nick worked. He called me to ask someone to bring his sandwich to him and told me two different acronyms I quickly forgot. Thankfully, his CO (Commanding Officer) was nice enough to ask if I wanted to go up to the tower to hang out with Nick. I, of course, said yes and then got to take an unexpected humvee ride up to the tower after borrowing a helmet from one of the soldiers. Definitely not everyone's Family Day experience! So I got to eat my dinner at the top of a range tower with my husband while tanks shot targets. Pretty sweet:



I also got to check out the tanks up close:

I'm really proud of myself because I worked hard all day. I cleaned out my car, went to the commissary, and unpacked a ridiculous amount of boxes we had left over from our move 4 months ago (mostly stuff we haven't used yet, like china & stuff).

The best moment of the day though was throwing out a dead frog. Remember the cute little one that was swimming in our kiddie pool a few days ago? Well, I thought he was gone, but discovered him this morning floating in the kiddie pool. Ew.

I thought I'd leave it for Nick to take care of tomorrow when he gets home from the field, but unfortunately Rufus the Destroyer (thats his new nickname) found the little guy and tried to eat it! EWWWWW! So, I had no choice but to dispose of him so that the dogs could go outside without me worrying about them eating a dead frog. So, I figured out the least disgusting way to deal with it, grabbed the pooper scooper, and threw him in the trash. Woo. I'm awesome. Thats two ew moments in one week, ha ha!

By the way, thanks to all of you who responded to my grumpy post on Sunday. I really appreciated all of the encouraging words. It was really good to hear about other people going through the same kinds of things. It was definitely a down day and I was just focusing on the negatives and getting stuck in that mindset rather than doing something about it. It was also good to hear that me having a hard time with little separations doesn't mean that I won't be able to deal with a deployment. I think the key thing for me is keeping busy, and I wasn't doing as good of a job of it as I should have been. There are plenty of things I can do, I just need to motivate myself. So thanks again. I'm obviously feeling way better about everything.

So at about 3pm yesterday, I was looking out the window when Nick pulled into the driveway! Woohoo! He had mentioned that he might be able to come home for the night, but I try not to get my hopes up too high because there is always the chance that he'll be stuck in the field or whatever. You never know with the Army! So far he's come home like 3 nights though, which is totally crazy because I was expecting him to be out in the field the entire time. I think the surprise element of it makes it that much better.

He got to come home for the whole entire night! This is the longest so far since he's been out in the field (otherwise I think it was like 8 hours). It was pretty awesome. Its amazing how quickly my mood changed. I was downright giddy that he was home and pretty much clung to him the entire night. We got to go out to dinner and a movie (Zohan- pretty funny and ridiculous) and just hang out. I have definitely learned not to take him being home for granted. I know eventually we won't always be happy with each other and I'll get annoyed at him leaving his dishes everywhere or something, but underlying all that is the appreciation of him being around.

Although at the same time I'm trying to be independent and take care of the things I would normally depend on him for (like cleaning up puke, ha ha). For example, Scout had to go to the vet yesterday (unfortunately while Nick was home, but he got a good nap in while I was gone). I love that dog, but he freaks out when he's around other dogs. He tries to go play with them and is whining and barking like crazy at me when I won't let him go. So the vet is pretty fun, ha ha. But, while I would rather have Nick there to help me and make it easier, I know I'm capable of handling it.

Unfortunately Scout has a pretty vicious ear infection and a very upset tummy. Not the greatest thing to hear when you're planning on boarding him for up to 2 weeks. So we're kind of trying to decide if the dogs should stay here while I'm in California. Nick will kind of be around, but he's supposed to have really long days. But we can have someone come and feed them and check on them. Obviously if Scout isn't exactly healthy I don't want him to be in a kennel, but I also don't want to burden Nick or our friends (who would come feed them and stuff when Nick couldn't) and I also don't want the dogs to be alone all day. So, I don't know which option is better. Nothing is official yet with the kennel since they're opening this week, but I really don't know which option I'd prefer because there are pros and cons to both.

Today is "Family Day" for Nick's company, which means we get to go climb on tanks and really see what they do all day. Pretty sweet! I'm planning on taking tons of pictures, so those should be up soon.

I'm starting to get realllly annoyed with Rufus. He is in a chewing phase and when I left him alone for 2 minutes to do some laundry, he chewed straight through Nick's cell phone charger (which he's totally going to need when he comes out of the field)!!! And then he tried to rip up my magazines...for like the 100th time!!! So now he's in his pen for a time out. I want to let him out of his pen more, but I'd have to watch him like a hawk because its inevitable that he's got something in his mouth that he shouldn't have. I love my dogs, but I'm so glad I'll be getting a little vacation from them because its all chewing and barking lately!!! I need a break! Its a good thing they're cute...

Oh, and I finally got a picture of my neighbor's 4 Great Danes behind their chain-link fence. Its not that big of a deal when its little dogs, but this is just ridiculous:

And...back to being bored again. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that its summer and that there is nothing I "need" to do, but I wish I had more fun stuff to do. When I'm busy and distracted, time goes by faster and I don't focus on the fact that there are 3 more days I have to get through until Nick gets home. Sorry if it seems like I'm complaining all the time. It just feels good to get it out somewhere and then I stop dwelling on it and throwing myself a pity party.

Anyway, this is starting to feel like a preview of Nick actually being gone for a year (a.k.a. deployed) and I think thats part of the reason I'm so grumpy. Unfortunately thats what I'm focusing on, despite the fact that his tentative deployment date isn't for 6 months. But when I'm alone all day long with little communication with Nick, thats where my mind goes. Its not like I'm an emotional wreck or anything. Its just that that is something that is usually in the back of my head, and being alone all day really brings it to the forefront. Plus, I'm watching girly movies and stuff since Nick isn't that big of a fan of that stuff, so I kind of can't help but think of him and how much it sucks to be separated.

So I went out to see the Sex and the City movie last night with a friend. It was pretty fun, and a nice change of scenery. And it gave me something to look forward to all day. I feel so bad though because halfway through the movie I realized I forgot to leave lights on for the pups. I really need to leave myself a post-it because this keeps happening. Darn daylight savings time and being completely light out at 7pm...

Today really wasn't that bad though, although I do have to say it was weird going to church by myself. But, I managed to find a pretty good amount of stuff (video games, book, TV) to distract myself. I just seem to eventually hit the wall when I can't find anything else to do. I can't tell you how excited I am to go home to California in a week though! Then we're going to the Keys the next week, yay! I definitely could use a change of scenery. But for now, at least I always have these cute little things to make me smile:


And this morning, I found this in my backyard:

So Nick and I have a deal....I pick up dog poop, and he picks up dog puke. He's grossed out by poop and I'm reallly grossed out by puke. Well, unfortunately Scout decided that today would be a really good time to throw up on the rug. And, of course, Nick is out in the field, so I'm the one who has to deal with it. I'm really proud of myself that I was able to pick it up, granted I was saying "Ew" the entire time, and was motivated by the fact that Scout was trying to eat it (ewwwww), but still. Go me, ha ha.

Nick came home unexpectedly last night at 2am and just about gave me a heart attack. I had set our security alarm and instead of giving him a grace period to come turn it off, it just went into siren mode. Good times. He had mentioned that he might possibly get to come home for the night, but I kind of wrote it off since it hadn't happened and I hadn't heard from him by the time I went to bed.

If there is any silver lining of him being away, its having him home again, even for a little while. He was only really around for about 8 hours, during most of which we slept, but still. As much as I hate him being gone, it makes me appreciate it that much more when he's around. And now I've got some fuel to make it through the next 4 days/nights of him being gone.

So yesterday I tried to go to a movie with a friend, but apparently it was just not meant to be. There was a major accident on the highway (a truck hit a car and pushed it onto its side), so traffic was ridiculous and I made it barely 5 minutes before the movie started (it took me 30 minutes when it should have only taken me about 15)...to find out that they had changed the movie time to 1 1/2 hours later. Awesome. So, we're trying again tonight. Hopefully there aren't any major crises this time.

I reported yet another stray dog in my neighborhood this morning. That makes 3 in 2 weeks. Thankfully I was walking Rufus, not Scout, so Rufus had the time of his life chasing this dog around (it was obviously very friendly). A lot of people have pit bulls around here though, so I'm thankfully I haven't seen one of those wandering around yet. Scout would have a hissy fit.

So I started training Scout in the "Quiet" command, and he's actually picking it up pretty well. Yes, I know, half of my posts seem to be about dogs, mostly mine. Honestly, I think its the fact that I'm home all day long and the dogs are the only ones to keep me company, so thats where my mind goes. Without them, I think I would have gone crazy by now. They bring me hours & hours of entertainment & someone to talk to. Here are some of their most recent entertaining moments:


And here is a video of them swimming in/drinking out of the kiddie pool in our backyard:

So last night I went to the new women's bible study at our church and I totally loved it. There were only like 5 of us total, but I kind of liked that because it helped me really get to know people. The leader (the pastor's wife) is awesome and a lot of the other women are around my age and without kids (rare to find around here!). I also really like the book we're going through- "From Fear to Freedom" by Rose Marie Miller

The bible study started last week, and almost everyone else had already read chapter one, so we went through that and talked a lot about it. So I'm really anxious to start reading it myself. So far its about putting your faith in God instead of human ability and the "wake-up calls" (trials) God sends into our lives to help us realize we're not putting faith in Him. The sermon at church last week was along the same lines, and its been really eye-opening so far.

Anyway, so far the bible study totally met my expectations and really filled a void I had been feeling for awhile, especially since I had a really great bible study all throughout college. Its just nice to get out and have fellowship with other women (I'm surrounded by testosterone! Even the dogs are boys!). So, I'm really thankful that God met my need on that one and am excited to see the group and subsequent relationships grow.

I think I've mentioned before, Scout has a barking problem. He barks at people walking around outside, he barks at other dogs, and mostly he barks at Rufus when he wants him to do something. Anyway, I'm trying to train him out of it (because its really loud & obnoxious) and I just wanted to recommend this website. We found out about it from the woman who runs the Lab rescue we got Scout from and we've used it a lot in training our dogs (Scout had really bad Separation Anxiety, Housetraining for Rufus, etc). So, here's the link if anyone is in need: http://www.ddfl.org/tips_dogs.htm
I also highly recommend the Dog Whisperer. Re-watching Season 1 is on my to-do list since we still have a jumping problem and a leash problem. Yes, apparently this is a post where I have endless plugs.

And I'm dog-obsessed, obviously. Yesterday I almost peed my pants because I saw the cutest St. Bernard at the pet store. And then today at the vet there was an adorable Bernese Mountain Dog!!! Its a really good thing I have restraint, because otherwise I would have a million dogs, most of them bigger than me!

I'm off to see a movie with a friend...life is good, even with my husband shooting tanks for a week.

Ok, so this is going to be a little bit of a rant today. So literally almost everyone in our neighborhood has a dog. Which is totally all fine and good, but most people have chain-link fences. I don't know, maybe its because I'm from California where everyone has a fence around their yard (usually wooden), but I just don't get it.

Why have a fence where your dog can see everyone and everything that goes by and can bark at it? And believe me, they do. I've started walking both dogs separately every morning and every two seconds there is another dog barking its head off at my dogs. And of course, Scout being Scout, he looooves barking back and getting all riled up. Awesome. I tried to go take a picture of my neighbor's chain-link fence that holds their FOUR Great Danes to give you an example, but unfortunately the dogs were inside.

Another fun thing about my neighborhood is the ridiculous amount of stray dogs, or people who let their dogs wander aimlessly around their FRONT yard without a leash. Today I got to meet a brave little chihuahua who decided it would be a really good idea to cross the street and approach Scout & I. Needless to say, he suffered the wrath of Scout (incessant barking) and it took me a good 5 minutes to drag Scout away while he was jumping and barking his head off. Good times.

Anyway, otherwise things are pretty boring around here. I think the hardest part of Nick being in the field is that I'm pretty much sitting around the house all day trying to keep myself busy. I feel like normally waiting for him to come home at night is like a goal I have to get to, and I really only have to keep myself busy until that point. But, while he's in the field I have to entertain myself all day with no one but the dogs for company (although they're pretty decent company). It just gets a bit monotonous, and I feel like I'm just filling up time. Thank goodness for the few good TV shows on right now (the Mole especially!!!) and Netflix, otherwise I think I'd really go crazy.

So things are pretty boring and normal around here, so not too much to update. But, I got my hair cut yesterday, so I thought I'd post some pictures! I reallllly like it and am so glad I finally got it cut because I would just put it up in a ponytail every single day. Its too hot in Texas to do anything else!!! So here are the pictures:
Also, here is a video of Rufus being his feisty little self underneath our bed. I think he's getting too big to fit under there anymore, but he used to make all sorts of horrible, crazy noises under there and attack Scout, so we called him our demon dog. So heres a little taste of that (although he didn't really make the crazy noises unfortunately):