a lot of numbers, letters, and awards

Four different people within the last month have given me the Liebster Award. I don't know when I've ever felt so popular. Due to the sheer number of questions I would have to answer (44!) and the fact that I should be packing (I am a professional procrastinator!), I abbreviated the rules.  

Post 11 random facts about yourself
Choose 11 deserving bloggers with under 200 followers and tag them in the post
Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you and give 11 questions to the people you've tagged.
No tag-backs

 ”Liebster” is the German word for friend or love

1. I never throw away a butter wrapper without carefully folding it first. You never know when the trash police are going to appear to inspect the contents of the trash can so I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.

2. I keep almost all my shoes in their original boxes.

3. I'm cooking shrimp for supper.

4. My favorite drink at Dunkin Donuts is a medium French Vanilla ice coffee.

5. For years I was unable to spell doughnuts properly because of Dunkin Donuts.

6. I once set off a metal detector because my earrings were so large.

7. I'll be going through a metal detector tomorrow so I'll be choosing my earrings with care.

8. I should be packing instead of blogging. 

Jessica

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you still want to be that?

An astronaut, a cowboy, a librarian, a mother, a wife, and a cash register. I think (I hope) I meant cashier. I've only achieved one of those so far, but I'm holding onto hope that the astronaut thing will pan out for me. 

 If you could have dinner with any person from any time, fictional or non-fictional, who would it be and why?

Dick Van Dyke. He's certainly not the only person I would like to eat dinner with, but he's in the top 25. I wanted to marry him for the longest time. Actually, I wanted to marry Jimmy Stuart and Andy Griffith too. Clearly I have a thing for older men.

Jen

 If you could visit any place where would it be?

Austria. I have wanted to go there for years!

Do you have any pets?

Back home I have a rabbit named Dale. Before Dale I had his brother, Bomber. His real name was (hold onto your hats because this is a mouthful) Lance Corporal Brigadier General Bomber, commonly known as LCBG Bomber or just Bomber. It's rather obvious that I spent a significant portion of my life naming that rabbit.

Allison

What was your favorite thing to play growing up?

Katie and I loved to play a game called The Texas Comedian. It involved Andrew hanging upside down from a tree while telling us jokes. Sometimes he'd take the show on the road and perform in the kitchen or livingroom. The jokes were nothing to write home about, but we loved it anyway. 

What is one thing on your bucket list you're worried you'll never get to do?

See the world from outer space. See also: childhood wish to be an astronaut. I think God must not have wanted me to be an astronaut because He didn't make me any good at math and science. I hear that both those subjects are vital to space exploration.

Molly

How did you meet your husband/fiance? ( I just really love Sarah's answer to this question so I wanted to hear it again.) (<--- See, Christopher? I told you people in the blog world know about you!) 

We met THROUGH THE INTERNET. When I was young I thought it was evil and potentially deadly to meet an internet person yet here I am, alive and married to one. Christopher and I met through Kelly’s Korner first Show Us Your Singles. Christopher’s sister Stephanie put him on the list and the rest, they say, is history. I wrote out the whole story in GREAT detail here and here if you care to read it.

What do you think about ACU purses? Look here for examples if you don't know what I am talking about. 

I personally would not be likely to carry around an ACU purse, but I'm not totally against them. What I don't like is when a wife has her husband's rank on her ACU purse. I realize she is probably just proud of him, but she's not the one that earned the rank.

***

My questions for others-

1. Have you met any blog friends in real life?

2. What are your least favorite sounds?

3. Do you sew?

4. Where is the farthest from home you've ever been?

5. Do you speak other languages?

6. What was your favorite event in the Olympics?

7. Would you change your first name if you have the chance? What would you change it to?

8. Do you call any of your grandparents by a unique name?

9. What professional sport would you play?

10. Paper or plastic?

And the award goes to.........

Katherine- Real Food Runner Blog

Melissa- A Dozen Years Later

Lauren- Souls to Squeeze

Ashley- Sabers, Spurs, and a Pink Stetson 

next time she comes we'll probably discuss Homer and the Iliad

I just returned from dropping Joanna off at the airport. We had some minor technical difficulties in the parking lot due to signs that said <---arrivals and departures ---> when technically we were arriving AT THE SAME TIME that Joanna was departing. Sometimes we confuse ourselves.

We spent most of the visit discussing the border relations in Pakistan, the political climate in Uganda, and how people really don't discuss socioeconomics as much as they should. You know, the hard hitting topics of the day.

Either that or she showed me the Wobble dance, we ate more pasta than we care to admit, and we had a pillow fight with Christopher. (He started it but we finished it!) 

I took her on a tour of Fort Campbell. It was the first time I had driven myself around so it was basically as much of a tour for me as it was for her. It makes me sad to report that Fort Campbell is not nearly as exciting a place to be a tour guide as Fort Drum was. At Fort Drum I was able to give detailed descriptions of the surroundings ("That's the headquarters for the 2nd Brigade 15th SQTRL where they develop top secret weapons operations." Yada yada).  Here the most I was able to say was, "Well, that looks like an office. Those are barracks over there. Oh look! There are some soldiers! And some more office buildings." Every time I used real Army lingo she thought I was making it up. I had to convince her that I certainly wouldn't have made up a phrase like motor pool. After the tour we went to the arts and crafts center. We got lost. (Raise your hand if you're not surprised!) After thirty minutes of driving up, down and all around we arrive at the A & C building only to discover that they're not open on Mondays. So that wasn't the most successful of our endeavors. On the bright side, Joanna can now hold her head high when asked if she's ever been to an operating Army post. Not many people where we come from are able to say that.

I learned something about Joanna and people of high military rank- she's not impressed. Come to think of it, she's not as impressed with uniforms in general as I am. Sunday night at church I pulled her sleeve and pointed out Ken the Commander (I know! We go to church with a very high up!) and you know what she said? "Oh." It wasn't even like, "Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" It was just, "Oh." Really? That's all you have to say? 

This morning we tried Skyping with Autumn. First Joanna forgot her password. Then Skype wouldn't connect. Then we decided to gchat instead but Autumn's computer was typing numbers when she pushed the letter keys. Clearly technology was against us. On top of all that we didn't end up talking until an hour later than planned due to confusion over the time zones. To be on the safe side we texted Autumn at 9:40 to ask what time it was there and she responded with, "hahahaha guys, there is no time difference. We're on the east coast so it's 10:40 for me too." Turns out she thought I was in Virginia still which is totally understandable seeing how I can seldom remember where I live these days. Eventually things lined up enough that Joanna and I were able to sit on the couch and talk to Autumn on speaker phone. We talked about Mary Kate and Ashley movies vs. James Bond movies so like I said, HARD HITTING TOPICS.

One of my favorite moments from the visit was when we were eating supper and we started laughing hysterically over NOTHING. And when I saw nothing I do mean NOTHING. We could barely breathe. Christopher, quite unaccustomed to such behavior, had no idea what was going on which made the whole thing better. The only thing we could do was welcome him to the world of girls.* 

* We were preparing him for when we have 5 daughters. He'll thank us in a few years.

we met at an art museum so it was only a matter of time before we created our own art

Joanna is coming to visit tomorrow! We are so excited. 

Our bathroom looked less than spectacular so we went out on the town (aka Kohls) to find some artwork. Joanna can't see our naked-walls bathroom.

We took things into our own hands and created our own art. We had some technical difficulties at first.

But then things started to take off,

 and they kept going.

 That's how we ended up with this classy masterpiece in our bathroom.

I know Joanna will be floored.

updates on various topics

My hair
I went to a new hairdresser last week. As a curly-headed person, it's always worrisome visiting a new hairdresser because you don't want to leave the place looking like this:

The hairdresser was nice, but she way over-shared her knowledge of hair follicles, split ends and top of the line shampoo. She even tried to sell me a shampoo/condition made primarily of caviar. I was very polite and (tried to) responded with the appropriate level of enthusiasm, but inside I was thinking, "I have a strict grocery budget so there's no way I'm going to pay $65 TO PUT FISH EGGS IN MY HAIR."

Church
Our first Sunday here we went to a new church. We visited that church when we came in May, but this time we went to Sunday school. The man who greeted us at the door asked if we wanted to be in the 20's class or the 30-40's class. Such questions always present us with a problem because I'm 23 but Christopher is very old will be 30 in November. We ended up in the class with the 30-40 year olds but really, everyone in the class seemed like a spring chicken compared to our last Sunday school class. The average age at that class was 65.
I absolutely do not enjoy speaking in situations where everyone sits around watching, but unfortunately for me, that's the recipe for interactive Sunday schools. Here's an example of why I sit there very quietly and let Christopher do all the talking.

George (the SS teacher): "So Sarah, you're a military wife, right?"
Me: "Yes."
George: "And sometimes Christopher goes out on training or to the field and you are left at home?"
Me: "Yes." (I am so eloquent!) 
George: "What do you do when Christopher's not at home?"
Me: (what I said in my head- He really wants to know what I do? What am I supposed to say? I don't want to say that I read, eat, scrapbook, eat snacks and occasionally watch a movie. Maybe I should say I planted flowers one time. Maybe grocery shopping is the right answer. Why does he want to know what I do??) "Ummm..."
George: "You hold down the fort, don't you? You make sure everything runs smoothly."
Me: "Oh. OH. Yes. That's right. That's what I do."

Those were the only words I ever spoke in that class.

Movies
We went to see the new Bourne movie the other day.

That was a rather frustrating experience.

This is not an update so much as a few tips from someone who had A LOT of unanswered questions when she left the theater.
1. The guy in the woods at the beginning is the same guy who saves the lady from being shot in her house. Don't spend 45 minutes of your life wondering when the guy from the woods is going to appear again. He did appear; he just looked different because he shaved. Never has facial hair made me so frustrated.
2. Jason Bourne is not in the movie so don't keep wondering when he's going to make some sort of unrealistic entrance. I don't know why they called it a Bourne movie if HE WASN'T EVEN IN IT. If they had called it the Aaron Cross Legacy I would have enjoyed the movie a little bit more.
3. If 55 minutes into the movie you have asked your version of Christopher 18 questions and he's only known the answer to 3 of them, it may be time to reassess your movie choices.
4. Eat some popcorn.
5. Declare the next month a girly movies only month.

we were all shook up

We're visiting Christopher's father/my father in law (why do I always feel the need to specify that his father is my father in law? Isn't that obvious?), and Elvis' birthplace is nearby so we spent the afternoon there. As a side note, you may be thinking, "Gee, are those people over at Dandelions and Daffodils Inc. ever at home? It seems like they're always on the road." Turns out that I happen to be thinking something along THE VERY SAME LINES. Not that that's going to stop me from traveling home for a wedding in two weeks.

But I digress.

Mr. Presley grew up in a very small home. It was actually very cute, a fact that I quickly pointed out to Christopher. I've concluded that he sometimes thinks I miss the point of _________ when I announce that I think it's cute. For example, I said the house looked like a cute play house and he responded by saying that they didn't play in it. They really lived there. As a matter of fact, I was aware of that.

Way back when we were dating, Christopher told me that Elvis had a twin brother who was born a year after he was. I'm still not sure why he thought I'd believe that, but I think it was his attempt to cheer me up after visiting my brother who was just hit by a car. Nothing like a little Elvis centered pulling-of-the-leg to cheer a person up.

Right before we left I made a quick stop in the restroom. A large tv playing an Elvis concert was on the wall (slightly awkward in and of itself) and in the stall next to me was a lady singing her heart out right along with the King of Rock 'n' Roll. "I love you too much, BAAAAAAAABY."

(Is it just me or does it look like Christopher has his arm around Elvis? I didn't notice that until just now and it really brings me joy that he has one arm around his wife and the other around a statue.) 

because because because

Because it is Thursday,

because I rediscovered this picture while unpacking,

and most of all because today marks the first consecutive 6 months we've lived together since we've been married, I present a wedding picture.

This post is dedicated to the Army.

 I have appreciated the last six months...feel free to continue the trend.

I understand both infant and toddler speak

The Samster/Sam the Man/Sammy Pants came over to hang out with the cool peeps (translation: me and Christopher) the other day. Obviously I dislike little people so having him over was an act of great selflessness. 

OH I KID.

It's a pity he hated his time here. 

He told me in great detail that he likes our refrigerator because it opens AND closes, he was impressed with our dishwasher, and he will love me forever because I played with his trucks. He even said he's going to pick me up at 5 o'clock on Saturday and we'll go for a ride in his convertible Mustang (not to be confused with his non-convertible Mustang). Granted, when he talked it sounded more like "aas9dfsdlifee 7rrawrERERERERR dsoewrewko!! Orejtitn swrowiet? Qh88jatpthjewi? Soiejrw5opajre1ipjro WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"  but I understand him perfectly.

weekend report- new town edition

I spent a portion of Friday afternoon procrastinating about about unpacking boxes trying on various hats as I unpacked them. I think I hit upon a winning outfit with this one. The scarf is the perfect finishing touch.

Saturday we decided we had given enough time and attention to unpacking boxes so we went to an airshow with our friends the Dig's. I KNOW. Not even here a week and the socializing already started.

Lesson learned at airshow: some people get offended if you mistakenly call an airplane a helicopter or vice versa. (At least I didn't call it a hot air balloon or blimp.)

That night we went to movies in the park to see Ratatouille. A man from the newspaper came by and asked to take our picture so we agreed. Only after he took it did we start discussing the authenticity of the man's newspaper photographer story. We could only hope that he really did work for the newspaper and that the picture wouldn't end up as our obituary photo.

Obviously it was not our obituary photo because we're still alive and kicking! 

ps. We saw a shooting star while watching the movie!

we're the new kids on the block. again.

I am once again coming to you live from a new home in a new state. For those keeping track (and really, who isn't keeping track of my life?), this is the fifth move/fourth state since we got married last year. 

Clearly I get around

After biding farewell to the ghetto, we assembled ourselves into a three car caravan for our travels. (Fun fact, not five minutes after leaving I was already following the wrong truck.) Christopher was in the front, the snacks and I were in the middle, and the FFIL (favorite father in law) was in the back. This plan worked well until we were separated and I was all by my lonesome for 63 minutes out in the middle of nowhere Kentucky. Or maybe it was Utah. I'm not good with directions.  

This was my view for the 10+ hour drive. I realize it's blurry but you have to remember that I was simultaneously driving and eating my sour cream and onion chips while taking this picture.  

Folks, it is so h.o.t. here the camera lens fogged up.

Our first full day here the lovely Jenn came to visit with Sam the Man and Molly McChubster. Our relationship has really improved since the last time Sam and I got together. He greeted me with a smile and not a yell of horror so I'd say we're on the fast-track to being BFF's. He even wanted me to hold him so I'm starting to think that I might leave off the last F in BFF and just say he's my BF. Yay for a new boyfriend! (Before you all- mostly my dad- start leaving comments about how I'm married and shouldn't have a boyfriend etc. etc. etc, you should know that Christopher is accustomed to me having little boyfriends around the country.)

This is the view from the recliners at the PX when you go to buy a washer and dryer and are so tired you sit down and don't want to get up. Not that I'd know anything about that.

I would like to discuss for a moment my method of labeling packing boxes versus how the Army movers label boxes. 

Exhibit A- my labeling 

Granted, I had no idea what I meant by "2 water things" but at least I knew where to find a water thing if I needed it.

Exhibit B- their labeling

The only items in the tote were a blanket and hammer. Would that have been so hard to write?

So that's what we've been up to. Packing, packing, packing, driving, unpacking, unpacking, buying large household items, unpacking, unpacking, visiting friends, unpacking, collecting boyfriends, kissing a baby (ohmygoodness Molly's cheeks are THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS big), unpacking, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking.

Any guesses as to what we're doing tomorrow? Hint: it starts with un, ends with ing and has pack in the middle. It's a never-ending unpacking party over here.

have a rosy birthday

Happy birthday, Mom/Mommy/Mama/Female Parental!

 Let's pretend that this cake I made is your birthday cake, ok?

Don't forget to come visit us in our new home; just let us unpack first. (Unless you'd like to help us unpack in which case OUR DOOR IS WIDE OPEN RIGHT NOW.)

I tried not to take too many pictures of the uniforms

I really don't know how Christopher managed his Army career without me there to photograph each step along the way. Today he graduated from transportation school and I was there to take yet another picture of flags. 

Are you ready to see the picture of him receiving his diploma? The picture that will be blown up and plastered on our walls and maybe be our Christmas picture? It's that spectacular.

Clearly I was having issues with the camera. That seems to happen every time there's an important event. I'm convinced that the camera would have up and walked away had I been taking pictures at my own wedding. 

Three things to note from the event:
1. I was holding out hope that the class would sing The Wheels on the Bus or I've Been Working on the Railroad, but they did not. Could there be any more perfect songs for the Transportation Corps? I think not.

2. I was sitting behind the class searching intently for Christopher when I finally spotted the back of his head. "Ahh!" I said, "I'd know the back of his head anywhere!" Soooo, I took a picture of it for our future children. (Or maybe I was bored waiting for the show to start.) Well. The head turned and it wasn't Christopher. Apparently I don't know the back of his head anywhere. So now I have a picture of a strange guy's head on my camera.

3. I meet a colonel so DAY MADE.

Between insisting that he sing The Wheels on the Bus and taking sub-par photos of events, I've really added so much to Christopher's Army career. That brings us back to the original question- how did he manage without me??

this can only mean one thing...

...we're about to hit the road again.

I went, I ran, I didn't die

source

I didn't run a marathon.

I didn't eat any cupcakes.

But I did run a mile today WITHOUT STOPPING OR DYING for the first time ever.

I think the not dying part is just as note-worthy as how far I ran.