Day 136: 5 Year Anniversary

Five years ago, Arron and I went on our first date. This was a "double" date, but it ended up being three girls (including myself) and Arron. We went to the beach at night (Surfside for all you Texas folk) and stayed for God-knows-how-many-hours.

"Do you remember we were sitting there by the water, you put your arm around me for the first time?" - Taylor Swift, Mine

This really was the first time he put his arm around me... and we are sitting on the edge of the seawall. ♥

That night, he put his arm around me, found me a glow-stick bracelet (still glowing), wrote in the sand that he loved me, and then asked to hold my hand--in that order. Yes, I know we're slightly backwards, but that's my sillyhead. :)

Five years have come and gone. I held on to that glow-stick bracelet for a good year and a half or so before Arron lost it. Anyway, I still can't believe it's been five years... it seems like it's been a lifetime! In those five years, we've gotten engaged and Arron enlisted. He went through basic training, tech school, Korea, and now we've been in Aviano for a year and a half. I finished high school and now I'm close to finishing my bachelor's. I've lost Momma forever, and gotten new best friends for life. I've moved away from everything I've ever known into a world full of possibilities and progress.

Five years... It may seem like a lifetime, but if it does, Arron, I'm waiting to spend a hundred more lifetimes with you. ♥

Day 132: Rehashing the Crazy Week

So I promised I'd write about my crazy week that has finally ended...

I promised a good friend, Gino, that I'd take him to the airport early Wednesday morning. He's on leave and went home to New Mexico to see his three sons. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, except for this week I was on the early (6 am) shift at work. So Tuesday I woke up at 5, went to work, ran errands, and came home. I had to re-write my persuasive speech for class that night since my professor tore apart my outline the previous class. Gino and I had decided we'd leave his house about 2:45 Wednesday morning since I had to be back in Aviano by 6. By the time I was finished with my speech and other homework, it was already 10. I told myself there was no point going to sleep, so I headed over to Gino's, where we proceeded to watch several hours of How I Met Your Mother after he finished his Star Wars marathon. I probably fell asleep for a whole 30 minutes that night before we went to the airport. I dropped him off and headed back to Aviano for work. I worked 6-3 that day, and then had to hang around base until 5 when my speech class started.

My persuasive speech was on euthanasia, and I had a few slides with lengthy quotations to bolster my 9-10 minute speech. *Editor's note* I have horrible luck when it comes to PowerPoint presentations. Of course, my slides didn't work, and I had to give my speech without them. My professor has a rule against reading speeches, so I asked her if it was okay if I read my quotes off my paper since my PowerPoint slides weren't working. She said yes. I gave my speech and felt awesome about it, and it made me feel even better that everyone in the class said I gave the best speech, hands down. We took our dinner break (class is from 5-7:30) and when I got back I asked to see my grade. I got a 70. The professor said I read my whole speech. I was livid. I had been so proud that I got through the speech without crying, since I talked about Momma and what she went through, and the professor took everything away from me by giving me a C. That night was horrible. I ended up giving 3 more speeches after that, all impromptu. It was ridiculous. I ended up going without sleep for 40 hours and crying myself to sleep that night...

However, the week got better, especially yesterday afternoon. I got my hair cut and it looks adorable, and I found the perfect maxi dress on sale for half off. I went to Danny's birthday BBQ and ate steak and the famous Holden potato salad with some fellow Houstonians. Here's me and Danny. :)

My hair was crazy by this point, since it was about 3 am and we'd been drinking since 7. But take my word for it--it's adorable. :D

Today I got my pedicure and eyebrow wax and successfully finished Operation Pamper Myself. Now I'm laying on the couch, eating strawberries and sugar, and watching How I Met Your Mother. Addicted!

Day 131: Pampering

I decided yesterday that I was overdue for some major pampering. I went to get a pedicure after work but they didn't have time, so I made an appointment for tomorrow. On top of that, I made an appointment for today to get my hair done, and an eyebrow wax tomorrow as well.

While waiting for my oil change, I went into the BX to pass the time. I've been looking at this dress for two months (or maybe more) now, but it was $55 and I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Well, yesterday I found it on sale for 50% off! I snatched it up, ha.

I got my oil changed for a whopping $4 yesterday (thanks to Deployed Spouses Car Care). I came home afterward and took 45 minutes and rotated my own tires (long story, but so rewarding to know that I did it alone!).

After my awesome 6-2 Friday shift today, I got my hair cut. Originally, they told me they didn't have time to wash and style it, but then the next appointment didn't show so they did it all for me. :) It's adorable and I love it.

A friend from softball (and fellow Houstonian) is having a birthday BBQ tonight, so I'm debuting my new hair and new dress. I wish I had been able to get my pedi today, but oh well. I'm super excited to have some fun and start the weekend off right, especially after the crazy week I've had so far (more to come in another post). Ciao ciao!

Day 127: Good & Bad News

Well, the bad news first: our softball season is officially over. It was so much fun while it lasted; I made some great friends that I look forward to hanging out with even though the season is over. We ended up finishing 4th out of all of the base teams, and I must say that we had a blast playing together and hanging out.

The good news is that Arron has been doing some amazing things downrange and is getting recognized for them. He got Assistant Dedicated Crew Chief (ADCC) of the month for June, and on top of that he successfully CLEP'd an English class. :) Add those to the coin he received a couple months back and he's doing pretty darn good for himself downrange. He says he's been learning more on guitar as well, which I'm sure he'll show me plenty of when he gets back home.

I finally looked up how many days we have left (approximately), and I can't give exact numbers, but it is under 100. Which means that we are definitely more than halfway through! I just hope that the days fly by... I'm lonely, and ready for him to come home.  ♥ Love you, babe.

Day 125: Still losing weight

I don't know the last time I mentioned my weight loss, but I'm currently down 18 pounds! My goal for this deployment was 20, and I think I just might hit it. :) I'd love to lose more than that, say, 35 or 40, but I'll just have to see.

That's all for now, it was a quick update. :)

Day 124: Concert!

It just occurred to me earlier that I never wrote about the concert I'm going to next month! Arron bought me two tickets to see Brad Paisley in London on August 17th. The best part about it is that my best friend Breanna and I are going to be sitting in the center section, fifth row! I am so stinking stoked about this, it's ridiculous. No lie, my heart starts beating faster just thinking about it, and I get butterflies in my stomach. :)

We're flying up there the 16th, seeing some sights and staying the night somewhere that's yet to be determined. The concert is part of Brad's H2O series, so it's actually an all-day waterpark adventure with several opening bands. We're still waiting to hear who the big openers are going to be though--Blake Shelton is opening for him in the states, and my fingers are crossed!! That night we'll probably bar hop our way around London and we'll leave the next morning to come back to Italy. It'll be a short stay, but I am sooooooo excited! I even broke down and made a Twitter account to see if I can get a shout out at the show from Brad himself... I know, I'm hopelessly in lust/love.

That's all for now. It's Friday night and I've spent my night so far on a midterm, cleaning the house, talking for a bit to Arron (whose internet kept going out), and now watching a Wal*Mart soundcheck with Brad Paisley. :) Happy weekend!

Day 116: Lucky Day

So I'm pretty sure today was my lucky day. :) Work flew by, I was able to close as the hallway supervisor for the first time, and then I headed to our softball game at 7. I was in a huge hurry since I didn't get out of work until 6:10 and then had to stop by the commissary quickly, so I got to the fields at 6:35.

Lately my bat has been sucking majorly. I haven't been able to hit at all! I know that I usually do a lot better when I'm able to hit up the batting cages before the games, and I wanted to do that today. However, since I was running late it just wasn't going to happen. I just figured, "Oh well." The game started off a lot better than most of our games, as everyone was laughing and joking around. My first at-bat, I was nervous, but I just figured that I'd just swing and see what happened. A triple is what happened! When I hit the ball, I just knew that it was an amazing hit. It was right over the pitcher's head and right between the left center and right center fielders. It was an amazing feeling.

Also in the first inning, I had a line drive hit right to me at first, which I caught... of course. ;) Later in the game, at my second at-bat, I had a great single to right field--I've been working on going with the outside pitches so they go to right field instead of pulling them to left. I was so proud of myself! We ended up winning 13-2, and it was just a fun game overall. We had some great plays and hits all around.

What else is going on? Work, homework, and softball are taking up most of my time these days. We're in the thick of summer right now, and it's been crazy and chaotic and fun all at once. Next week is my favorite field trip--AquaSplash! It's a waterpark about an hour from here, near the beach, and the kids love it. The nice thing about it is, since it's a waterpark, we're not sweating all day long! It's been sooo hot and humid here--I know it's not as bad as Texas, but it feels like it. I'm getting a nice little tan from taking the kids to the pool twice a week, and since I got a free pool pass (because Arron's deployed) I've been trying to go more after work or whenever I can fit it in.

That's all for tonight. Still need to take a shower and work on some more homework! Ciao ciao.

Day 115: My Car

Today I wanted to devote my blog entry to my car, one of the loves of my life. I received her on my 16th birthday as a surprise from my parents, and began paying for her at 17 when I quit softball. She has been quite the trooper for the past (almost) 6 years.

We've been through accidents...

 June 10, 2008 - Houston, Texas (The day Arron left for basic training)

 March 30, 2010 - Pordenone, Italy

... and homecomings from Korea...

August 26, 2009

... Moving overseas...

(notice the Italian license plate)

... to now, when she is paid off, free and clear. :)

I would not trade my car for anything else, except maybe a newer version of herself. ;) This car has been with me longer than my own husband has (although only by a few months). I am proud to say that I have worked long hours and cried many tears over paying the car note every month--$328.76, to be exact--and that she is now all mine. ♥