D-I-M (Do-It-Myself)

I've made the mistake of joining Pinterest as well as reading lots of DIY blogs. Let's just say, when we get settled back home, I have A LOT of things that can keep me busy during the hubby's next deployment. Two sidenotes for that last statement: Yes, I realize that I stay busy enough with an infant, but he plays well by himself. And secondly, yes, I realize it's sad that I'm already talking about the next deployment when he isn't even back from this one yet. That is just one thing you learn to accept when your husband is flight crew at Fairchild AFB. They are gone... A LOT.

Anyway, I've never really been a crafty person, but I'm wanting to learn. I figured I'll start out with some easy stuff to get myself used to trying new things, and eventually I can become a seasoned pro. I've been working on sewing a market bag for about a week. It's not that it's hard, but like I said... I have an 8 month old son. I'll post pictures of it when I'm finished which I'm hoping will be in the next couple of days, but who knows. I have decided that for my birthday (or possibly before) I'm going to ask for a sewing machine. I should just make myself wait until Black Friday, but if the hubby is deployed I won't be able to get out and fight the crowds like I normally do since I don't know how I feel about dragging Asher through that mess. And again, I go off topic.

Basically, I want to find cheap easy crafty items to help in decorating our house since it's never been actually decorated. We haven't lived in a house over a year since we've been married until now, but we have to move in a couple of months to a different house on base. Andrew finds decorating to be a waste of money, but he's finally going to be overruled after we move because I want things to finally feel homey dagnabbit! (Can you tell I've been back in Kentucky for a while? lol) Oh well. For now, I'll just keep gathering ideas.

Kid at Heart

So today I took Asher to the zoo. We went to a mini one when we visited Tacoma, but the Nashville Zoo has a lot more animals to see. I'm pretty sure I was way more excited about this trip than he was. I was oo-ing and ah-ing over all the cute little antics of the meerkats, laughing at the fact that the zebras and elephants refused to show us anything but their butts, and enjoying the majesty of the white tiger. All the while, my son sat there in his stroller, chewed on his fingers, and tried to stay awake.

I didn't really expect him to be in to the animals, but we used it more as a trip to get out of the house and do something different. One of my besties tagged along as well as my mom and aunt so it was a fun time.

Melissa and I went in halvesies on an "Artic Rush Grabber" which was a souvenir cup that you could refill all day with icees. It was AMAZING. We kept chugging them left and right just so we could keep filling it up with a different flavor. Cherry was still the best, but the orange dream was a VERY close 2nd.

I seriously just felt like a big kid all day. It's good to know that even with being a mom, I can still have my young immature moments. Over all... a very good day.

A Summer Full of Sickness

SO.... I was actually going to attempt to do better with my blog, but that's not so easy when you're on "vacation". Well, let me tell you about this so-called vacation. We came to Kentucky for the summer while the hubby was deployed so that we could spend time with family and let them get to have some quality time with their grandson. Boy, has Kentucky been VERY unwelcoming. It's definitely not the people. I have missed all of the southern hospitality, but I have come to believe that Kentucky has THE worst climate when it comes to sickness.

I've lived in Spokane for almost 3 years and can count on one hand the number of times I have been sick (minus pregnancy). We were back in Kentucky for maybe a week before we started our round of hospital visits. Asher has been to Urgent Care, 2 different ER's (one of them twice). He has been on 3 rounds of antibiotics for ear infections, has been taking a decongestant/cough syrup, lots of baby tylenol, and has even had a steroid shot for an upper respiratory infection. When not at the hospital for Asher, I have been twice for myself. I had extremely bad knee pain in both legs (from Operation: Smokin' Hot which I do realize that I never told you about but might as well drop since it's been severely compromised) where it hurt to even move. I then found out that I had osteoarthritis in both knees, which you don't normally get until you're over 50. I also had to go back because something I shrugged off as a cold got worse and finally had it checked out. It was a bad sinus infection, ear infection, and most likely bronchitis. Impressive, I know. So after spending close to 20 hours in waiting rooms, 6 trips to Walgreens for prescriptions, and many sleepless nights with a sick infant, I'm done. I'm so ready to be back in MY house, with MY bed, and at that point MY HUSBAND! I've been so tempted to change my flight and go back home early, but Asher is in a wedding in August that I've committed to and I'm not going to back out now.

I miss home. I miss my friends. In general, I just miss my life there. It's funny how when I'm there, I miss everything about back home, but there's just something about leaving a life for a couple of months that you've spent almost 3 year setting up for yourself. It's hard to going from your own schedule to living with your parents again. Being 25 and asking to borrow the car is a hard pill to swallow. Oh well, I'll be back home soon enough, but Spokane friends, know that you are missed. A lot.

This isn't meant to be a "Negative Nelly" post, but this is just an update on our life. Less than a month, and I'll be back home with my husband and my house. Is it August yet?

Dear Blog,

I apologize for not keeping up with you for well over a month. Things have just been happening. We had the Florida trip, my mom had visited for 2 weeks, I went to Seattle for an amazing surprise Mother's Day weekend getaway with my husband and baby boy, my husband deployed, my bestie came to Spokane to visit, and then we flew down to Kentucky for the summer. So trust me when I say, it's not you. It's me. This isn't goodbye. We'll still hang out some, but I am just not going to center my life around you. Who knows, we may hook up more than I even expect, but I'm not tying myself down to commitments. Trust me when I say, I will definitely keep you updated on my newest venture, Operation: Smokin' Hot. I'll tell you all about it in my next post, but for now, I'm going to let you go. I hope things are still okay between us and that we can still be friends.

Love,
Niki

Another Cooking FAIL (that ended up a possible WIN)

This entry is actually from a few days ago, but for some reason it was never published. Since I put in the effort to write it, I'll go ahead and post it now.


So I decided that I was going to be Susie Homemaker this morning since Andrew has developed a cold. I put a roast and veggies in the slow cooker, fed Asher breakfast, cleaned house, and then decided I should bake something. My aunt makes amazing zucchini bread so I had my mom send me the recipe and I got to work.

I gathered all my ingredients, and I set up my iPad with the recipe on the counter.

I measured everything out and began reading the directions. I thought everything was going smoothly, until I got ahead of myself. I mixed 2 tiny ingredients in too early, which you wouldn't think would be a big deal since it all goes in anyways, but apparently it was enough to completely ruin an entire batch of the bread batter.

When I finished mixing everything it looked like cookie dough. Not batter, straight up dough. I ran out of oil so I couldn't make another loaf, so instead of throwing it away, I thought, "Well, if it looks like cookie dough, I wonder if it'll bake like cookie dough?"

So... the adventure began.

I got out the cookie sheet, plopped some batter on it, and stuck it in the oven.

Since I obviously didn't have a recipe any more, I just kept a watch, hoping that it would somewhat turnout and not make a HUGE mess.

To my surprise, this is what I found after 18 minutes in the oven:

They actually LOOKED like cookies. I got excited because I was extremely mad at myself for messing them up in the first place. I let them cool for a bit and later strolled back into the kitchen to try one. They were pretty good. I mean, they weren't the absolute best cookies I've ever tasted, but they were by no means the worse. I was pleased. Andrew actually liked them too so what was an epic mess turned into a pleasant surprise. Zucchini Nut Bread Cookies = Win.

Oh, Vacation, How I Already Miss Thee

So, I haven't blogged in FOREVER. Things have been so hectic with visits, goodbyes, and then finally VACATION! I was so nervous about how it would be with 12 people and a baby, but I could not have asked Asher to be any better on that trip. We had a ton of fun being around Andrew's family, and I want to write about every little detail, but A) it would take a while, and B) I'm lazy.

The main focus of our Florida vacation was just relaxing by the pool and enjoying time with family. Asher loved the water after the one little fallout of him realizing it wasn't as warm as bath water. He looked adorable in his swimsuits.

(He had on Grandma's hat because we forgot his back at the condo)

We did go to Busch Gardens one day since they have the military promotion "Here's to the Heroes" where we were able to get in free. Andrew's family babysat Asher and spent time at the pool while we went with Andrew's cousin and his friend. It was the perfect day to go. There were no lines, and the weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees. The only reason we had to wait in line at all was because the boys insisted we ride every roller coaster in the front row. We could not have had better conditions for our day at the park. We even saw a mini Cirque du Soleil kind of show. Those people are crazy talented.

Like I said, perfect day!

When I wasn't at the pool we were either eating, playing mini golf, letting Andrew's uncles talk me into singing Karaoke for $10, or playing my new sport of choice: Shuffleboard. I understand that I am neither old nor retired, but it was a lot of fun, and I was actually descent at it. This old couple in the court next to us taught us the rules and we played 3 nights in a row. SO much fun. Andrew and I dominated every single game that we were teamed up on.

I no longer dread being old if it means I get to play and enjoy shuffleboard without being picked on.

We had an amazing time in Orlando. Andrew got to celebrate his birthday in the United States for the first time in 5 years, and the resort was amazing. I can't wait until we get to go back again (especially since, as I type this, it is snowing outside). A huge thanks to Andrew's parents for getting us an extra condo so we could all enjoy our visit. We owe you BIG time!

(River Island where we spent most of our time)

A Week of Goodbyes

So... yeah. This week has been filled with laughter, tears, some tears from laughter, and some laughter to hide tears. Pretty much this week has just been an emotional roller coaster. It started off with my mom going back home on Tuesday, which is sad, but I'll be seeing her in less than two months so it was a fairly okay goodbye.

That night we had our final group dinner with the Goldberg's over at Outback. Our waiter had to hate us. They usually do when we're all together, but it makes it all the more fun. It was a lovely dinner, but it was very bittersweet.

Here was our final group photo (minus Albino Lars who was sitting alert at Moses Lake)

P.S. I love how our group is so short that it makes my 6'3" look like a giant

Anyway, the hardest part about this week came this morning. My biffie has officially left Spokane. I knew it would be hard, but let's just say it was worse than I expected. We were able to say our final goodbye ( "See you later" but it didn't really hit until they pulled out of my driveway. Avoiding going further into this topic since I really don't want to cry... again... let's just say, Spokane will no longer be the same. It was more than the "Oh she's one of my best friends at Fairchild," nope, she has become one of the best friends in my life and I know that there will be many Facebook messages, iChat dates, as well as plane tickets purchased, to keep that friendship strong.

I'm just super glad that Florida is right around the corner because I am totally ready for a break. On a good note, hubby's leave started this afternoon so I have him to myself for the next 3 weeks. Thank you, Air Force for approving this much needed time off. Hope everyone else has a wonderful weekend!