On An Adventure

So I'm up at my in-law's house and what do we do? Go shooting! Here are some of the highlights:
It was actually really fun and I was better than I thought I would be. We shot some clay thingies (yes, that's the technical term) and I got a piece of a few of them. It would've been awesome to see them explode, but no such luck. Love it! The hubby will be proud!

So I'm alone for the first time since Nick left. I went up to L.A. today to visit some friends and I'm staying at my parent's condo tonight so I can drive up to the in-law's tomorrow. As soon as I drove away from dinner, I realized that I would be completely alone. No dogs, no family. Nothing. I'm actually doing better than I thought I would. Its awfully quiet, but its peaceful at the same time.

So I spent today with two really good friends. The first is a girl I met Senior year of college. We were both new to our Service Organization and she is awesome. I don't remember exactly when or where we bonded (I think maybe during a Blood Drive?), but she turned out to be one of my really good friends. She actually lives in Dallas right now and has already visited me once this year. We're planning to get together again in February and I'm really excited. We went out to lunch and just hung out. It was so nice and easy. Don't you love those friendships where you can just pick up where you left off and everything is comfortable?

The other friend was my maid of honor and we've been friends for like 8 years now or something ridiculous like that. Again, she's someone I can just pick right back up with (our relationship definitely ebbs and flows with the level of communication) and she always can make me laugh. It was really good seeing her, especially since I haven't since my wedding 1.5 years ago. I'm going to make an effort to call her more often because she is really one of my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without her. We went to my ultimate favorite Italian restaurant for dinner and it was delicious! I think we each gained 5 pounds. YUM!

But ya, its a little weird going from being with friends to being by myself. I feel like I've had a lot of time for reflection. Its really less depressing than it sounds, I swear. I'm actually really thankful I have amazing people like that in my life. They are such a blessing from God.

Alright, off to sleep. I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow and then I get to see the in-laws!!!

Today I woke up and was bummed out that, yet again, I hadn't heard from Nick. I counted the days in my head and realized it had only been 3 days since I talked to him last. It felt like forever. Pretty much as soon as I woke up, I checked my iPhone (I know, I'm addicted already!) and nothing. I had sent him a message on Facebook last night and made sure to check if he had written me back. Then all of a sudden, a message from Nick appeared!!! As I started to write him back, an IM popped up!!!

They haven't set up the internet in his room yet, but he went and used the free internet. We talked online for a good 20 minutes. It was sooo awesome. I even pulled out my list of things I wanted to tell him (thanks iPhone!). We also talked about R&R and apparently most of the guys with kids want to come home in the summer. Boo. I definitely don't want him to take away time from them, but its frustrating because I have 3 whole months off this summer.

So Nick is shooting for September or October now. I'll have to take time off for it, which is fine because my leave starts over again for the next year of school. But, they might not be very happy with me if I take a whole month off after Nick gets home (probably around January)...hmm. Obviously nothing is certain yet, but I can't help but slightly stress about it. We'll figure it out when it gets closer. And I told him to jump on any openings in the summer if they come up.

I'm very happy to have heard from him though. I think I'd last longer without hearing from him if I was busier, but 3 days was definitely my limit while on vacation.

So I just got back from seeing Marley & Me with the fam...wow. I read the book this summer and I had the same reaction to the end of the movie as I did to the end of the book. I was literally bawling starting like halfway through it. I think part of the problem is that I desperately miss my dogs and oh wait, thats right, I have a Lab!!!

Although he (Scout) wasn't quite as destructive as Marley (he had his moments though), just seeing the mannerisms of "Marley" made me miss my baby boy. Right now my parent's Golden Retriever can console me, at least, but I don't wanna wait two more weeks to see my babies!!! Brinkley (my parent's dog) is cute and all, but he doesn't snuggle with me at night or lick me to death or lay his head on my chest. I guess the pictures of my puppies I put on my new iPhone will have to do it for now...or maybe I'll seek out the million videos I've taken of the dogs hidden somewhere on my computer.

I'll probably be counting down the seconds until I go pick them up from the kennel though.

So I'm assuming Nick is on his way to Mosul because I haven't heard from him since Christmas morning (night for him). It kind of sucks that I haven't heard from him, but I know he's busy, so I'm trying to be patient. And I'm not worried about him or anything, just anxious to hear from him.

Thankfully, I have a new iPhone to keep me busy! After like 2 hours of the Apple store & the AT&T store, I finally got an iPhone in my hands!!! It is the most interesting and fun thing I have ever had. I'm totally addicted already! I've downloaded like 30 applications for it and keep thinking of new things to play with. Its one of those gifts that I would never get for myself, so its even more awesome! I absolutely love it!

Not too much else exciting stuff is going on. I actually ventured out of the house and endured the crazy crowds at the mall in an attempt to exchange a gift. It wasn't horrible, but everything is picked over and there are just people everywhere. I also tried to find my brother-in-law's book (Follow the Roar) for Nick, but they were elusive at the Barnes and Noble I went to.

Overall, I'm just trying to entertain myself, which isn't too difficult with my iPhone. Oh, and my parents sent off a package to Nick today, which I'm sure he'll be happy to recieve. I also sent him a card, and was pleasantly surprised to hear it only cost $.42 I think I heard at some point that APOs are considered U.S. territory, but I guess I forgot. So, if you'd like to send Nick a card or letter, it only costs as much as a normal stamp, yay!

For those of you who don't know, this is what a Donut of Misery looks like:


And for those of you who did an R&R donut, when did you set the date for? We're hoping Nick will come home in the summer after the 6 month mark, so should I set it for somewhere around then?

So I looked at my Donut of Misery (excel spreadsheet with a countdown until Nick comes home) this morning and we have made it to 4%, woohoo! I feel like thats somewhat of an accomplishment since the last time I looked at it, I think it was 1%. I've obviously been resisting a peek for awhile. Somehow knowing that we're at least making progress makes the fact that was have 50 more weeks (ick) less scary. I'm trying to focus on the little numbers though, not the big ones.

Christmas yesterday was awesome. My family has such skill in making it last all day long. We opened presents (not continuously though) until about 5pm. Both sets of grandparents came over and we had lots of good food. It still wasn't quite the same without Nick, but I had a good time. And, of course, we topped off the night with the greatest Christmas movie ever...National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I swear, its not Christmas in our house without that movie...classic!

Today and the rest of vacation should be pretty chill. The big plan for the day is going to pick out my new iPhone (WOO!) with my dad. And I am going to see a few friends next week and visit the in-laws over New Years. Then we're off on a trip to St. Thomas, where the high is in the 80s and so is the water temperature! I'm not going to know what to do with myself!!!

Nick called me early this morning (but not too early!) to wish me a Merry Christmas! Although I'm not normally a morning person, I would gladly wake up to talk to him. I think we've finally reached our phone call groove and its not really awkward anymore, yay! Doesn't sound like theres much Christmasy stuff going on over there, unfortunately. He even missed the company football game, boo. I think he's just happy with the simple things at this point though, so I'm glad I got to talk to him. I think we're focusing on the fact that he should (crossing fingers!) be home for Christmas next year.

The Christmas Eve service was absolutely beautiful last night. At the end, we all sang Silent Night by candlelight...ah, I love that church. Even being away for 2 years, I still feel like its home. I'm just so glad we found a church in Texas that we love just as much.

We'll be opening presents in another hour or so. Things are obviously not as urgent when the "baby" of the family is 21. For now though, I'm just content to hear the rain falling (the best we can do for Christmas in California) and enjoy the quiet. Merry Christmas!

Its been pretty hard to get into the Christmas spirit with Nick gone. I've been with family and we've already opened some presents and had amazing food, but it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas. Not even with all the Christmas music I've been listening to. Oh well. I can't believe its already Christmas Eve though. That definitely snuck up on me!

My whole family (minus Nick obviously) was in one house over the last few days and it was crazy (in a good way). It seems so quiet now without my niece and nephew screaming and running around. We've been able to see them a lot though, which is always good. They are the cutest things ever, I swear. We went over to my gramma's house last night for a delicious dinner that would make Nick really jealous, so I'm not going to mention what we had. My gramma said maybe we can have the same menu next year though, which I know he would be excited about!

The dinner was really fun, but Nick has gone to the it for the last 2 years, so it just brought it into sharper focus that he wasn't there. I swear, I'm not doing that badly, but the little things just make me remember his absence. I do much better when I'm busy and not focused on him, but its also nice to get to relax.

And, Nick has had more opportunities to call me since I'm not working, so that is good. We've had about 20 minute conversations each the last few days, which has been great. I don't think any amount of talking will ever be "enough" though. But we haven't been rushed and he hasn't been falling asleep on the phone, so I can't complain too much. Things are going well for him. He's definitely antsy to get out of Kuwait already. And he definitely appreciates all of the support he's recieved, so thank you! I think there might be a few packages waiting for him when he gets to Iraq! Yay!

Tonight we're going up to our old church (where Nick and I met actually!) for their Christmas Eve service and I'm really excited about that. I haven't been to their Christmas service in years and it is always spectacular. Maybe that will get me more into the Christmas spirit.

I got to talk to Nick for about 20 minutes today and it was wonderful. Its his birthday and I know his family and I were really bummed we didn't get to spend it with him. Today was also great because he was actually awake and alert for our conversation. He hasn't really been all there for the last few conversations, so that made today's conversation even better. I kind of had a hard time last night seeing all of my family at a Christmas party and answering questions about Nick's deployment and stuff, so this was a much-needed conversation. And Nick practically wrote me a novel on Facebook.

Anyway, I'm having a great time with my family and am getting plenty of relaxing in. I even got to babysit the little ones on Saturday (I need to upload pictures eventually)! Christmas is definitely quickly approaching! We baked a whole bunch of Christmas cookies yesterday and I wrapped all of my presents today. Things are going pretty well. I definitely miss my puppies though. I don't have anyone to snuggle with!!!

So I have been meaning to post my deployment goals, but am just now getting around to it. Here they are:

1- Get in shape- Walk the dogs every day (not a problem with my two. They pretty much harrass me until I take them out) and get a Wii Fit (still working on this one)

2- Cook 2 new meals per month- So far the only request I have from Nick is Baked Ziti, so I'm open for suggestions and/or recipes!

3- Go to church every week and get more involved- I already said I'd work in the nursery once a month and I'm definitely planning on starting to go to Heroes at Home, which is the group at my church for spouses of deployed soldiers.

4- Read a new book every month- Suggestions also appreciated!

5- Work on the house- Get more organized, landscape the backyard, take down all the gross wallpaper we have, etc.

6- Get on a budget- We need to save money for a truck for Nick when he gets back and I need to be better about tithing.

So there they are!

I have officially made it to California! The dogs got off to the kennel alright and I even had time to tidy up the house before I left. I'm sooo glad today was an Early Out Day at school! And now it is time for me to go to bed since it is 1:45am at home, ick. Night night!

So when I got off work today, I checked my phone and I had FIVE missed calls from Nick! Grrr. Its just frustrating because I'm usually pretty ok until I see that I've missed a call from him. Then I get really cranky and sad. I know he'll call back sometime soon. It just sucks because I could have talked to him (again, my phone was in my pocket on silent), but I didn't think he'd call at 2pm while I was at work. And today was Christmas party day at school and he literally called in the middle of the 2 parties I went to. Grumble grumble. Thankfully, tomorrow is an "early out" day and he knows about a huge chunk of free time I have tomorrow. He's usually so good about calling when he knows I'm not busy.

Otherwise I'm doing alright. I've done most of my packing and am waiting on a few loads of laundry to finish. All of the dog food is packaged up (almost 100 bags this time) and I have crossed almost everything off of my to-do list. I can't believe I'm going back to California tomorrow! These past 2 weeks have really flown by. I'm less stressed, although I feel exhausted today. Once I get packed, I am heading to bed and going to sleep!

The parties were pretty fun at school today and I got a few gifts from the kids (so sweet!) and the special ed teacher I work under. The candy canes were a big hit too and I was able to give them to a whole bunch of kids. Yay for only spending like $3 for 80 gifts!

Here are some excerpts from some of the Christmas cards I got today. They were too cute so I had to share!

Mrs. D
I want you to have the best Christmas because you helped me on math. You helped me with spelling and reading. Love, Alexis

Dear Mrs. D,
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! You are my best teacher in the school! Sincerely, Amber

Dear Mrs. D,
I hope you have a great holiday and hope you will have a very great Christmas. Everybody hopes you will be good throughout the year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Love, Michael

Dear Mrs. D,
Thank you for helping me when I need help. I will miss you when I move. Merry Christmas and happy New Year. P.S. Hope you get lots of presents
- Stefany

Dear Mrs. D,
I hope you have a loving Christmas from your friends and family.
Your friend, Vinny


Ya, I know, they're ridiculously cute! I definitely had a huge smile on my face reading these. :)

So I didn't get a chance to update yesterday because I was too busy! Definitely an answer to prayer (I have been praying about this deployment since like June) and probably the reason I've been doing so well. Honestly, I can't take any credit for this. Its such a blessing to have a full to-do list and a great job to keep me busy.

Yesterday started out really well with a call from Nick :). He didn't end up calling me on Monday night, but that was alright because it would have been like 1am. So, he called me right after I woke up which was really nice. It was really good to get to talk to him, although I feel like we're still kind of in the awkward stage where neither of us is really used to him being gone yet. And I had just woken up, which wasn't too good either. It was still nice to hear his voice though and be able to talk to him. Haven't gotten another call from him yet, but I'm still pretty much on a high from yesterday. Anyway, he made it to Kuwait and they've been doing shooting ranges and classes and stuff. They haven't gotten their tanks yet, which is surprising because they sent them months ago. Weird. He sounded like he was doing pretty well though.

The rest of the day entailed work (good as usual), walking the dogs (thankfully it was in the 30s this time), both of my sisters calling me (thanks Hill & Whit!), a trip to the vet (Scout needed a shot), and doing my bible study. The best part was a trip to Old Navy for some Christmas shopping, where they had a 20% military discount. I got 5 things for $80, woo! Thanks for the heads-up Mallory! By the time I got home and had a chance to relax, it was almost time for bed, phew! I'm slightly stressed about getting everything done in time to go home on Friday, but its definitely keeping me busy, and I think I have a game plan. That means I have to pack up all the dogs' food tonight though, ick.

Today was good, although I came home to Rufus' second accident in 2 days. I think he's mad Nick is gone or something. Its just weird because he's been housetrained for months and I don't remember the last accident he had. It was on the tile in the kitchen though, at least. Oh well.

Work was really great today because the kids made Christmas cards and I got like 10-15. Definitely made me smile! They're too cute. Tomorrow we're having Christmas parties and I bought some candy canes to give out because I know a few kids are going to get me something. I don't think I'll ever feel lonely or neglected while I have this job!

Its official...I love my dogs. I just took them on a walk despite the fact that it was 28 degrees and the wind chill was 17! Brrr. I actually thought it was a little warmer than that (30s), oops! Honestly though, it was as much for exercise (for them & for me) as for peace of mind. They drive me absolutely nuts when they don't get their walk. Don't worry, I was all bundled up with 4 layers on top (including a down jacket with hood), thick socks, flannel-lined pants, and a beanie. So I was good to go. I even worked up a sweat!

I swear though, the things I do for those two! They are definitely keeping me sane and are really good snugglers at night. I woke up at one point last night and I was pretty much pinned in between them. I wish I had a camera. Its definitely nice to have a warm body to snuggle up to.

So, Deployment Day 3 went pretty well. I wasn't too excited about getting up early for work this morning, but the day went by fast. I feel like I looked up and it was time to go to my last class! It was a pretty typical day and my kids were awesome as usual. I'm really bummed though because Nick called me THREE times at lunch and I didn't think to look at my phone on silent IN MY POCKET. Grrr. I'm definitely going to turn my phone on vibrate during lunch from now on. I was totally checking my phone throughout the day too. I could kick myself (and I actually almost cried)! He said he was going to call back sometime tonight at least though. Otherwise I'd really be mad at myself. He's made it to Kuwait and got a phone card, so yay!

After work, I sent off my Christmas cards (YAY!) and attempted to find a Wii Fit...ya no luck. I'm trying to spend Christmas money on it and I think I waited waaay too long. I'll have to figure something out, but I'm thinking I can always get one for my birthday in February. Bummer though. One of my deployment goals is working out more and that was going to help a lot. I'll figure something out though.

So ya, I did a bit better today, but the little things keep reminding me of him and bumming me out a little. I should get started on trying to fill up the rest of the night (the worst time of day for me, ick). 3 days down though and the Donut of Misery (excel spreadsheet with a countdown until Nick comes home) is officially at 1%, woo!

So things are pretty good today. I'm actually surprised at how well I'm doing. I still don't think it has fully sunk in yet. I'm definitely kind of out of it. I slept much better last night though, so that helps a bit too. It probably also helps that I got a surprise E-mail from Nick this morning! He made it to Ireland this morning and they had free wi-fi, woohoo! I pretty much burst into tears when I saw that in my Inbox. It was a really great surprise. Thank you Mom & Dad for getting him that iPod for Christmas because thats how he E-mailed me :)

So the whole story from yesterday is that Nick's flight was delayed (he was originally supposed to leave at 9am but ended up leaving at 10pm) because of bad weather on the East Coast. They were supposed to stop somewhere on the East Coast to refuel for the first leg, but they ended up just flying to Ireland. He should be on the way to Kuwait next, I think. I felt so bad for Nick though because he basically sat around since I left at 1:30am the night before. I think he slept for about an hour.

I could've gone back and hung out with him, but we both agreed that saying goodbye was too hard the first time and we didn't want to go through it again. It would've been nice to see him, and it was weird that he was still here, but it would've just been prolonging the inevitable. Definitely not fun, quality time together either.

I went to church this morning, which was a little weird without Nick. Thankfully I had someone to sit with (Rach!) and ended up going out to lunch with "Heroes at Home"- the group of spouses of deployed soldiers. I didn't go to the group this morning, but will definitely be starting up when I get back from CA in January. I met another wife from Nick's brigade, so I won't be the only one at the beginning of the deployment (everybody else that I know of in the group is nearing the end). So ya, pretty good day so far. My only real plan for the rest of the day is to do my Christmas cards and watch Die Hard (that's a Christmas movie, right?). And maybe I'll take a nap too since I have work tomorrow...

The deployment has officially begun. Nick had to report at 11:30pm last night and I left around 1:30am. I could've stayed until about 4am, I think, but it was just torture. I'm surprised I was awake that late anyway. I usually can't make it past 11:30pm.

His plane was supposed to leave around 9am this morning, but I just got a text from him, and it won't be leaving until this evening because of weather on the East Coast. Ick. Its weird knowing he's still technically here, but I can't see him. And I'm frustrated for him that he's stuck for another day. I know we both were ready to just get this overwith.

We had a really good day yesterday though. I'm sooo glad I took off from work. We slept in, took the dogs on a walk, did random errands, watched a movie, ate a delicious steak dinner (that I made! I'm getting good with the BBQ!), and just hung out. There were a bunch of last-minute things we needed to take care of, so it was a little less relaxing than I envisioned, but it was still really great. And I didn't start crying until about 30 minutes before we had to leave the house.

Overall, I did pretty well last night. Our goodbye was really hard, but I know we can do this. I know its not going to suck so much after awhile and I know God is taking care of us. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but its not like theres anything we can do about it. I'm just praying that we get to talk as much as possible and get into a routine. Thats my biggest concern.

I'm doing alright today, but am just kind of in a haze. I honestly feel like I'm in shock. I really just don't know how to react. I'm not quite as miserable as I was when Nick left for NTC (pre-deployment training), but I'm definitely not "ok" yet either. I'd say I'm mopey. I didn't really sleep that well last night either. The dogs were definitely good snugglers though. I'm just trying to keep busy and I definitely have a full to-do list of possibilities. I've already cleaned the house and I'm going to try to tackle our Christmas cards next.

Oh, really exciting news...apparently our package was not stolen! Last night one of our neighbors stopped by with it! It was delivered to the wrong house!!! WOOHOO! That was such a relief, especially because I was starting to get so annoyed with our neighborhood. So yay for that!

I'll leave you with some pictures from last night:

So we're entering the final countdown for Nick deploying. We're at just over 24 hours until he leaves, ick. Thankfully he doesn't have to report until late tomorrow night, and I got tomorrow of (in anticipation of him having to report at like 1am or something ridiculous, because, of course, the Army doesn't tell us anything until like 2 days beforehand), so we get to spend all day together tomorrow.

I'm still pretty much in denial (total answer to prayer) about the whole thing, so tomorrow might be interesting. Or it might not sink in for awhile. Either way, I'm doing alright so far. I've had a few cranky moments, but no breakdowns...yet. Overall, we've just been trying to make the most of the time before he leaves and I think we've been doing a pretty good job. I am pretty ready to just get it overwith though so we can start the countdown until he gets back.

I definitely earned my day of playing hooky though because today I was in charge of In School Suspension (ISS). I had FIVE kids to look after for the entire day. Not very fun. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it was basically like being a sub all over again. It involved me saying "sit down", "do your work", "too much talking", etc allllll day. I'm pretty much exhausted.

Otherwise, school has been great. I got a ridiculous welcome back from my kids and tons of hugs, as usual. It was pretty funny though...apparently there were some rumors as to where I was with the classes I don't go to regularly. The best ones were: I broke my leg, and I retired because of too many hugs. Those kids are so cute and funny. I will definitely be amused and loved while Nick is gone. And its nice that everyone is sympathetic and not pitying about the whole deployment situation. I'd say 90% of the staff and kids have a family member in the Army, so its pretty typical and there is a lot of support.

Not too much else to report. I have made a list of goals I want to accomplish while Nick is gone, but I think I'll save it for another post. My brain is tired and the puppies need snuggling.

Ah, its nice to be home again. Our flight was fine and we actually got to sit together this time (we flew on Southwest). I really loved being on vacation, but I'm very much a routine person and its nice to be slipping back into mine. Although waking up at 6:15am tomorrow for work doesn't sound very exciting. I just know the kids are gonna flip out when they see me though.

So the dogs got ridiculously excited when we picked them up & they saw us. Scout is a lot skinnier than when we dropped him off, but he was getting on the chunky side, so its not too bad. I'll be taking him to the vet for his kennel cough vaccination soon, so I'll see how much he weighs. He looks good though, not like when we first got him.

And Rufus looked like a crazed dog. His winter coat has come in & we had been brushing him a lot to smooth it down. Well, we didn't leave a brush or anything at the vet, so his hair was all over the place. Pretty cute.

The boys laid down and slept like the whole drive back, so I think they had some fun at the kennel. Glad we found a good, (relatively) cheap place. Boy, I missed those guys though. Its going to be positively torture when I have to leave them for 3 weeks over Christmas. We were literally looking at pictures and videos of them. They really are our kids.

We had some fun surprises when we got home tonight. Apparently our house was egged at some point when we were gone...awesome. And, I had ordered a bench for the backyard online and we had some friends come and check the house for packages and stuff. Well, they mentioned that they never saw it & it wasn't here when we got home. I checked the shipping and FedEx delivered it the day before Thanksgiving...ya, it looks like it was stolen. So its a great start to a week that is obviously going to be a little stressful...can't wait.

I'm off to relax and attempt to recover from the frustrations and day of traveling. Scout looks like he's up for a snuggle.

So the Army/Navy game just ended. Despite donning all of our Army attire and watching and cheering them on, they lost miserably to Navy. Booo! I had a little hope that Army would win this year since their season was decent, and I know it would've been a huge morale boost for Nick. But alas, not so much. Oh well. It was still fun to watch and yell at the TV. And Army's Spirit Videos were way better than Navy's, of course! I mean, who else could get Chuck Norris to jump out of an airplane, ha ha!

I still have lots of Army pride and spirit and am really proud of my husband and all of the other current and future officers. And I guess Navy is alright too, although they don't kick nearly as much butt.

Anyway, I did get to go to one Army/Navy game while Nick was at West Point in 2006 (his senior year). It was sooo much fun and apparently I picked a good one to go to, because it was only 40 degrees in Philly that year. My favorite memory was walking up the stairs with a fellow West Point girlfriend. We noticed the Corps of Cadets lining up to march on the field, and she made the awesome suggestion that we scream "Go Army, Beat Navy!". The entire Corps got riled up and started cheering. It was pretty awesome.

Like Nick said though, this can't go on forever. One day, Army will start winning again. Maybe next year...

So I just made Christmas cookies with my sisters-in-law, and thought that some of you might like my cookie recipe! I used it to make cookies with Nick a few weeks ago too. Its a family recipe (I think it comes from you Gram?) and is delicious! They're called Butter Cookies and they work either with cookie cutters or a cookie press. Keep in mind though, they're called Butter Cookies for a reason...the recipe calls for 1/2 pound butter. Here is the super easy recipe:

1/2 lb Butter
1 Egg
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter & sugar. Add egg & vanilla. Add flour slowly (I usually add about a 1/2 cup at a time). Bake for 8-10 minutes.

And thats it! I usually put sprinkles on before I bake them when I use a cookie press. Or they can be frosted if you use cookie cutters. YUM! Enjoy!

At the behest of my grandmother, I realized I'm probably overdue for an update. We're still at the in-laws and having a great time relaxing and hanging out. The fact that its already Thursday is kind of hanging over my head (we're leaving on Saturday), but so far we've been enjoying ourselves.

On Monday we reached our In-n-Out Burger record from last year and have now been 5 times on this trip! We also got to have a fun snack and movie night. On Tuesday, we went and saw Marlee (one of Nick's sisters) graduate from DARE. That night, we celebrated our 1.5 year anniversary (since Nick will be gone for our 2 year) at the hotel where we got married in Pismo Beach :) It was kind of weird being in the restaurant where we had our reception, but it was pretty cool too. I had some delicious seafood which we don't get too much of in Texas. And then we walked on the beach and just enjoyed being on a date. We ate around sunset too, so we got some pretty sweet pictures.

Yesterday we hung out in a local town called Cambria and went to a beach overlooking Hearst Castle. It was absolutely gorgeous. Then we went wine tasting (a must in Central California), which was tons of fun. I'm thinking I might have to splurge a little on wine when Nick is gone because the wine we had last night didn't even compare to the $6 wine I usually get from the grocery store. Mmmmmm. Finally, we went to Nick's sisters' 4-H meeting because they're going to be sending stuff to Nick's platoon while they're deployed.

Like I said before, the fact that we're going home soon is kind of looming over me. And then of course, its not too much longer before Nick actually leaves. I'm trying not to focus too much on it, but at the same time, its hard not to. And I'm trying to make the most of our time left together, so the fact that he's leaving has to at least be in the back of my mind. So its kind of a catch-22. I'm still kind of in denial about the whole thing, but am definitely aware of the approximate week before he leaves. Good times.

I can't say I really want to go back home and have Nick leave, but I definitely miss the dogs and I even kind of miss my crazy job. One of my friends is subbing for me, so I know "my kids" are taken care of, but its weird to not be at work. This has definitely been a nice, long overdue, relaxing vacation though. And I get another one in two weeks, wow!

Definitely excited for the Army/Navy football game on Saturday! GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!