Charitable Holiday Giving

Every year my family talks about doing something different for Christmas presents. We all have more than we need, and it feels excessive every year. Don't get me wrong I'm still a child at heart and love getting gift. I also love giving gifts. I will post later about some of the incredible gifts that hubby and I got this year. 

However today, let's talk stockings. They are a tradition for many families. Both our families have been doing them for years. However this year, my Mother-in-Law decided to take the money that would have been spent on each stocking and instead give to a charity in our name. She picked four different charities (one for each of us). I was so excited to hear that she had done this. I hope that it is a tradition that will be continued. Anyone else have someone give to charity in their name or did you give for someone? Any other unique gift giving? 

He's Home

He's home! R&R has begun which means that I will be back after New Year's. I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Tag You're It - Christmas Edition

I was tagged by The Vintage Chair for a little get-to-know-you-better Christmas fun. I'm tagging Bonnie (Thriving is Elegant) and Julia (More than Perfection). Have fun with it. 

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Generally wrapping paper, I like to decorate the packages. 

2. Real tree or artificial?

My family has always had a real tree and so has hubbies. We'll be getting a real tree this year.

3. When do you put up the tree?

We will put it up this weekend. Normally it would go up earlier, but I'm waiting for a special delivery from overseas. 

4. When do you take the tree down?

I will take it down around New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog?

No not really

6. Favorite gift as a child?

A stuffed puppy that my Mommom gave me. I've slept with it since she gave it to me. It has traveled with me to France, and is currently keeping hubby company in Iraq.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Dad and Father-in-Law

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Adam (hubby) and my brother are very easy to shop for. 

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

No, I don't. My mom and Mommom have beautiful, white, simple porcelain sets. I hope to have one of theirs passed down to me one day. 

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Definitely mail, there is nothing personal about an email card

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

An ex's Mom gave me a wooden carved angel. It sounds pretty, but it wasn't. 

12. Favorite Christmas movie?

White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

After Thanksgiving and usually don't finish up until Christmas Eve

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

See #11. Hysterically enough, my Great Aunt thought it was awesome. 

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Sugarcake. It's Moravion and yummy. 

16. Lights on the tree?

Yes, the clear white ones. I think there is something so classic and beautiful about white tree lights. 

17. Favorite Christmas song?

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" - it has a lot more meaning now more than ever. 

"Morningstar" - it's a beautiful Moravion hymm. 

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

We will be traveling this year. I would love to have a place where our family could come to us. 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

probably not

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

We had a star for a long time. Not sure about this year. 

21. When do you open presents?

Hubby and I will have our own Christmas at some point. My family usually does one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas day. 

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Traffic is insane this time of year.  

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

I like maroon and gold as a color scheme. 

24. Favorite Christmas dinner?

I had beef fondue one year for Christmas. I have to say that it's to this day my favorite holiday meal. 

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

We got lucky. Adam's R&R is over Christmas. Having my husband home for our first married Christmas is the best gift I can imagine. 

26. What was the first gift of Christmas?

For me the first gift of Christmas is getting outside of myself and doing for others with no strings attached. 

My Grown Up Christmas List

Today, I share with you what I would really like for Christmas. I've always loved these lyrics and find them especially fitting this year. Stay tuned in the next day or two I will be sharing my since "I can't have world peace" Christmas list.

"My Grown Up Christmas List"
Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies
Well, I'm all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream
So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never startand wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree
Well heaven only knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth(there'd be)

What is your "grown-Up Christmas list" this year?

Lessons Learned

There are certain moments in life where you have a chance to learn a lesson. They can be big or small lessons. Simple don't-do-that-again lessons or truly profound life changing lessons. It has yet to be determined what category this current life experience will fall into. I think perhaps it will be right in the middle. Without going into detail here is what I have learned so far:
- When your boss agrees to something important like taking a specific amount of time off, get it in writing.
- Sincerity and truth are shown by actions and not words.
- You never know how truly precious a few hours are until they are taken away from you. Soak in EVERY moment. Let me repeat that Soak in EVERY moment.
- There comes a point when you have to decide what you can handle and when too much is just too much.
What is a lesson that you have learned from a life experience?

Christmas Came Early

Woohoo! I got a new phone. It's the Samsung Rant. However mine is a lovely purple, one of my favorite colors. I'm excited. My last phone was refurbished, and the keys were starting to fall off. It was time to get a new one. So Merry Early Christmas to me. lol 

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm sure there will be a ton of Happy Thanksgiving blogs in the next several hours. I would just like to take a minute and see what everyone is thankful for today. 

I am thankful for

- family despite the craziness that they bring

- my sweet brother who agreed to be home this year because I asked

- green bean casserole

- hubby's R&R which is coming oh so soon

- incredible friends

Last I would like to say that today I am especially thankful for all those serving overseas. There are thousands that will be away from their families this year including my husband and some very dear friends. I love you all. Next year, we are having the largest turkey ever. lol 

What are you thankful for? 

Positive Thinking

I have been quite negative lately. Blame it on PMS. Blame it on my husband having been gone for 7 months. Blame it on 4 consecutive days of rain last week. So in an effort to drag myself out of this slump, we are going to think positive today.
Here's my list:
- I have awesome new red shoes. (hey it's the simple things.)
- I made a killer pot of coffee this morning.
- Less than 30 days until R&R. (insert happydance here)
- Incredible friends both near and far
- New pictures to add to my portfolio (post coming soon)

I want to hear your list. What are some of the positive things in your life today?

Veteran's Day

*Saying goodbye to my soldier* 

 Today if you get the chance, thank someone who has/is serving in the Armed Forces. If you can't thank them personally, thank their loved ones. It's because of the courageous men and women who have and are serving that we enjoy all the freedoms that we have. In honor of all those past and present who have served - Thank You! 

Hope

I was reminded tonight that there is always hope. I am hoping for this year a lot of things this year. I'm hoping for a white Christmas. I'm hoping for a blizzard the day my husband is supposed to return to Iraq. Hey one can always hope. ;) I have more serious hopes. I hope with all my heart that everyone in my husbands unit comes home safely to their families. Remember there is always hope. I'll leave you now with a few of my favorite quotes on the subject.  

The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. 

~Allan K. Chalmers

I still believe in hope - mostly because there is no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas. 

~Molly Ivins

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death. 

~ Robert Fulghum

Love should end with hope. Hope guides me. It is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight it will not be the last time that I look upon you. 

~ A Knight's Tale (sorry had to throw in a movie quote). 

So what are you hoping for today?

Molly and Justin's Wedding

A couple of weekends ago, I had the privilege of being part of Molly and Justin's wedding. They were married on the beach. Despite the rain and cold, the ceremony was beautiful. The pictures didn't turn out too shabby either. 

Election Day

In case you have been living under a rock, today Americans will stand in line and cast their vote to elect a new president. Along with the Presidential election, American citizens will also vote for local and state politicians. For weeks, newscasters, analysts and bloggers have been discussing who will win and what the important issues are. In all the blogs that I have read, this is the point where I am supposed to give you my opinion of who the best candidate is and who I will be voting for.

However, I am not going to do either of those things. The problem with telling someone who to vote for is simple. It's so simple that you will laugh. You see I will not tell you who to vote for because the issues that are important to me are not automatically going to be important to you. We get this idea in our head that the candidate we agree with the most is the candidate for everyone. Obviously this is not true. If it were true, there would be no need for separate political parties and months of campaigning.

Am I going to tell you who I am voting for? No. Am I going to tell you the issues that are important to me? No. I will be honest and say that I am ready to get this election behind us. I am tired of the debates, the commercials, and the signs littering local yards and the sides of streets. So what am I going to tell you? I am going to tell you that I am not voting this year. Now before you tell me how horrible this is let me explain. First I would have to vote by absentee ballot. My vote would only count if it came down to a run off. By the way, considering there are over a 100,000 men and women in the armed forces that are having to vote absentee this year, I may just come back to this subject another day. Yes over 100,000 votes that won't count. Again will come back to that later.

But to stay on topic, let's explore another side of voting. As a woman, I value and do not take lightly the privilege to vote. I believe that the women that sacrificed to get us the vote sacrificed so that we would have options. They believed in a world where women would be have an equal voice in government. All Americans have been bombarded for months about exercising your voice by voting. There is another way to exercise your voice. Hold onto your pants because this is going to be a shocker. You can make a statement by not voting. Will it make much of one? Probably not, but if all Americans that were unhappy with the options that have been presented to them chose not to give in and vote for the lesser of two evils stood up and refused to vote. Well that might make a difference.

Am I telling you not to vote? No that's not what I am doing. I am encouraging you to stand up and raise your voice. If that means, voting for the candidate that you feel is best for you then vote. If you are ok with choosing the candidate that is enough in line with what is important to you then vote. However if you can't come to terms with either candidate because you just don't feel that either one of them represent what is truly important to you then don't vote. Many people will disagree with me, but personally I think exercising your voice by not voting in some cases is as important as voting.

Army Wives

The Lifetime TV network has a show called Army Wives. It is about exactly what you think its about. Army Wives. As an Army wife, I was intrigued. I was curious which attributes and stereotypes they would play up. Although they cannot convey all that we go through, I feel that Lifetime has done a decent job of getting our story out there. From what I have experienced as an Army wife, it is a story worth telling. Some of the strongest women I know are or have been military spouses. I think the greatest thing that I have learned is not to take anyone or any moment for granted. "We live while we can, laugh while we can and love while we can." We understand to live for today because tomorrow you may be saying goodbye. Goodbye for us is not "see you soon" it is "if I don't come home, know that I love you more than anything in the world, but know that I will come home." We say goodbye with only the hope of "Welcome Home."


However sending our husbands off is only one of the goodbyes we learn to say. At some point, I will have to say goodbye to some of the most amazing women I have ever met. Home will have a new meaning and location. At some point, we will all move on. We will leave where we are, go to another duty station, or try to get used to being civilians again. You see in the army nothing is guaranteed.


We live for today. We soak up every moment and memory. We reach out to each other. We form bonds with other wives quickly because we may only have a couple of months at the same duty station. What most army wives won't let you see is the tears we cry, the pain that we feel, the aching loss of going through another anniversary, birthday, or holiday season without our husbands, but with other military wives we will let that guard down. We learn the importance of friendship because we know that our friends are the ones that are there for us. Our families are a great support system, but it is our fellow army/military spouses that understand the conflicting emotions that this life brings.


While I have been counting down the days for my husband's R&R, one of my friends has been counting the days until her husband leaves. She is as happy for me as I am sad for her. I know her pain. I remember what those last few weeks felt like. You soak up every moment. Memorize every smile, because in the next couple of months that is all that you will have. There is always a conflict of emotions in this life we lead. My friends and I support each other although we rarely are going through the same thing at the same time. However the driving force for us all is the same, we have great love.

This is the hardest part to explain, because unless you have lived it you will not understand. In all our separations over the last almost two years, my love for my husband has grown. The question I hate the most is " I just don't know how you do it?" It's not a question at all for me. I do it because I love my husband. I'm not talking high school crush here. I'm talking the kind of love that goes beyond looks and mutual interests. I'm talking about the kind of love that supports a person while they fulfill a dream. A kind of love that makes you physically ache because you miss that person so much. You see with great love comes great sacrifice. Do my husband and I have a great love? Yes, I think so. My personal opinion is that the military couples that not only survive deployments but truly grow in their relationship during these times of separation truly have a great love. They have to. My friend B's husband was deployed last year with the Navy. She has been an inspiration to me, and I stole her goal (so to speak) from her husbands deployment. She decided that surviving a deployment was not enough. She would thrive. Her incredible perspective, on what can be a trying and even relationship ending time, helped me get perspective on my hubbies current deployment. Life and love are about perspective. I could think about all the things that we are missing out on, or we can use this time to strengthen our relationship and to improve on ourselves as individuals. My greatest inspiration through this trying time has been my husband. He could be sitting over there just doing what he has to just get by and get it over with. Instead he is taking advantage of the situation to further his career and truly thrive.

With all that said, I am not saying this so that you will feel pity for me as an Army wife. It is the last thing I want, need or deserve. I say this to inspire you to appreciate what you have. To evaluate your life and see if a change of perspective is needed to make your life more fulfilled. Lastly, I write this to encourage you to tell everyone you love how you feel. Life is fragile, and tomorrow is never a guarantee.

Title/Banner

Thanks to my dear friend bonniebelle for my beautiful blog banner. I would also like to acknowledge the very talented photographer Brian Salmon who took hubby and I's engagement and wedding pictures. The ones in the banner are just a teaser of all the gorgeous pictures that he took. To see more of Brian's great talent, check out his website. The other picture credit goes to me. Yep I was brave and had a few of my own displayed. Again a big Thank You for the banner help!

Think Pink

In case you didn't know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Yes I am aware that October is almost over, but better late than not at all. Right? For the last several years during the month of October, great companies come out with "pink" products. The beauty of the pink products is well one the obvious. Everything is pink! Yes, I'm a girly girl. I love the color pink. The second thing that I think is great about the pink products is that companies give to cancer research while raising consumer awareness. Speaking of consumer awareness, this is a great year to buy some of the below products. Not only will a generous portion of your money go to cancer research, but your purchase will also boost the economy. There is another added bonus that we rarely talk. Giving back makes you feel good, so do it for yourself also.

These are just a few of the great companies that are offering pink products:

Sephora

Avon 

The Breast Cancer Site (The above scarf is from here.)

United States Post Office 

KitchenAid

Also love the catch phrases that people come up with. This years favorites are:

"Save the Tatas"

"Save Second Base"

"I'm wearing this t-shirt for my future granddaughters. "

The last truly is my favorite. Remember it's not just about you, but future generations as well.

What are your favorite Pink products?

Fall Bouquet

I have a thing for flowers. Really "thing" is not the right word. I think flowers are fabulous. Flowers make me happy. Flowers brighten a room. Flowers make a statement. Flowers are an easy way to decorate with minimal change, time or cost. Because of the my strong feelings towards flowers, I have no issue buying them for myself. Actually I buy them whenever I'm in the mood for them. Sorry hubby, but I can't always wait for you. 

On Sunday, I grabbed my favorite vase and some beautiful autumn flowers. It's square, black, and was a gift from my husband. It also fits in perfectly with our black and white kitchen. Another plus, square vases are super easy to arrange flowers in.  So without further ado, I give you my fall kitchen bouquet. What do you think? 

Love

"All you need is love." ~ The Beatles

"Love remains the same." ~ Gavin Rossdale

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." ~ Aristotle 

"There is only one happiness in life - to love and be loved." ~ George Sand

We spend a lot of time thinking about love. Looking for love. Yearning for love. There are thousands of quotes out there about love. Love lost. Love found. Sad love. Teen love. 

We all want love, but rarely do we think about giving love back. I was at a wedding yesterday, and the chaplain said "I have people come to my office wondering what they are doing wrong. They are giving 70% and just want 30% back. I tell them that you have to give 100% with no expectation of getting anything in return." He makes a great point. When we make love about what we will get in return, it's not love at all. Love is about giving of yourself for someone else. In the words of Shakespeare, " The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite."

We concentrate so much on romantic love that we forget that there are other forms of love out there.  Love is so many different emotions for so many different people. I love my parents in a very different way than I love my best friend. My love for my best friend is very different than the love I have for my husband. 

I cannot say what love is for others, but I will leave you with my two new favorite quotes about love. 

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." 

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile." 

~ Elizabeth Browning 

We're Married!

Yep we did it. Bit the bullet. Tied the knot. Ok you get the point. It was a whirlwind affair. In hindsight, it was everything I ever imagined that the day would be. However leading up to the Day, I was a stressed lady. See the Army decided that an April wedding didn't work for them. At the beginning of January, we got news that future hubby would be deploying this spring. We decided within a week of getting the news that we wanted to get married as soon as possible.

The original plan was the courthouse. My parents were not thrilled about this idea - at all. So after some thought, I decided to "throw together" a wedding in two weeks. Yep a real wedding in two weeks. The first call was to a very dear friend and my wedding coordinator/director. She was all for it. Next on the list were the minister and the photographer. Both were available.I was starting to think that it might work out after all. Now we just needed a venue for the ceremony and reception. Long story short, everything just started falling into place. The church, reception site, family coming into town, I was even able to the wedding dress that I had already bought altered.  

The days leading up to the wedding were insanely busy. Tons of phone calls and e-mails were exchanged, plus a few faxes regarding vows.

My family and friends were amazing. Helping out with everything from programs, favors and flowers to make-up. The night before the wedding my brother, dad and mom, and aunt actually set-up an assembly line putting together the programs and favors.  I could not have pulled it together without them. In the end, it was the wedding of my dreams. Yes in two weeks we pulled together the wedding of my dreams. Luckily Bonnie (fabulous best friend/director) and I had been planning for months so we had a lot of the ideas already laid out, we just had to execute them. 

The interesting thing about planning a quickie wedding is that you realize what aspects of a wedding are important to you and which ones are not.  I got my way on a few things that I would not have otherwise. I ended up with a better reception location that was gorgeous. It had the exact feel that I wanted. Everyone was relaxed and after we left everyone staid around and did not want to leave. What more could you want out of your wedding/reception than for people to be enjoying themselves so much that no one wants to leave! 

In the end, I learned several valuable lesson. First realize that if something is meant to be,in this case a marriage, it will fall into place. Second what may seem like a bad situation can be turned to good. I was crushed when I found out my husband would be deploying. For many reasons, one being that we would not get the wedding that we had wanted.  But with a little imagination and quick planning, we pulled a wedding that was more than we had been able to imagine (with two weeks of planning). The third thing that I learned is timing is everything. I have heard that phrase so many times. However it was not until all the pieces of the wedding started falling into place that I realized how true that statement is. 

So there it is, another military bride gets married on the fly. In my case, getting married on the fly didn't mean that I had to throw all those little girl dreams out the window. For once, I was able to have my cake and eat it too!