Happy Halloween and All the Drama

So the girls benefit from having their Mims nearby....cause she is WAY more creative than I am....I create things by throwing money at the problem and purchasing what I need....she creates.....she (shudder) scrapbooks.....something that I have nightmares about, cause that is way too create for me.

So this year she helped the girls create little gifts for their classmates.......go Mims....cutsey cups of candy, I'm scared to think of what Christmas will bring.....
So this is what I walked into after work......where I was tasked with planning our work party for the kids of my company, yeah parties rock...

Does Duchess look like she's having fun here? She was mad cause it wasn't her turn, she gets that from me........Cup anyone?

So Princess is a witch, this is impressive for us because up until now she's always been a Disney princess, I should have bought stock in that company years ago......I support their bad habits with all my spending. But I digress, so she's a fashion witch.......yeah fashion.....hee hee..... Until I get the automated call today from the school encouraging my child to "wear a MORAL costume that is GOOD in nature and doesn't exploit the dark side" Well crap, so I'm sending her with a pink boa, is that GOOD enough?

Duchess is trying for my throne.....she's a queen, I think she makes a lovely queen, don't you? She was very concerned about having queen hair.... plus she has on more jewelery than I own...I'm actually impressed with the effort she put forth this year........cause last year we was Snow White, hello.......Disney...

So while my girls are rocking their lovely outfits and hair, I'm gonna dress up as a bobby socker, with my man's white dress shirt, rolled up pants and pigtails, go me..........

What are you gonna be for Halloween?

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I guess you could call it hiking....

So about 20 minutes from the house there is this mountain.... I love this mountain.... makes me feel like one of the Walton's except I wear makeup and high heels....... which would make the slutty Walton cousin...... something to think about..... anyway... so we girls spent Sunday on the mountain, not Walton mountain, our mountain....
The views are killer, I spend alot of time taking nature shots that I swear I'll frame in my house and never do. I'm quite lazy that way. But I can't resist my girls....

So there was snow in the mountains, snow from our very first snow of the season, still up there...hiding...... along with a few bear tracks......moving along.....

We had lunch, and Princess my little science camper brought some light reading on the various stages of electricity to entertain us...... I love that little nerd

We got out and hiked some. The kids sat on every large rock there was, there were alot so I just stopped taking pictures of it....

Lunch was yummy, well thought out except we only brought Dr. Pepper so dang it those little monkeys were sucking it down faster than I could pull it out of the cooler....there were alot of burbs on the ride home..... oh and the kids' too......

I didn't dress up for the day but I did wear my glasses so I could actually SEE where I was heading this time.....

Again, lunch was very informal, and we didn't invite the bears......

I love this kid, such personality and sass.....this was the smile I got as she walked up to me, paused briefly looked up and said, " I pooted" and kept going......

Those gassy little suckers are very dear to me.........

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The Usual

Saturdays are usually really busy days for us. Except now that fall soccer is over, we have gotten a little break in the action, until Princess' Nutcracker practices geared up strong. So now we are up and moving on Saturday mornings getting her to and from practice....

So we got up and headed out this morning, but Duchess missed her breakfast....so after dropping off P we stopped for reinforcements....watermelon slushie and powered donuts (my parents skills are awesome huh?) This is what happens when you allow the kid to pick out her own breakfast, not sure what I was thinking but it wasn't of the dental bills.


So when I asked what she wanted as I filled up my Big Gulp of Dr. Pepper, she replied, "the usual"....I thought only old people had an usual..you know the ones who go to the same place to eat for years and only order the same thing, hence "the usual". Apparently I was wrong....I was informed that this is now her "usual", no more FOX news in the morning for Duchess, her vocab is really expanding too quickly, when she used the word propaganda the other day should have been my first clue that perhaps Dora is a better morning program...

So when we stopped in the store to grab some cold cuts for lunch, I met this......now why didn't I realize that powered donuts meant lots of white powder? Obviously I'm not getting enough sleep, as my powers of observation are waning...
So Mims tries to assist Duchess in clean up, cause I was giggling and doing my best to get pictures, this is important, to preserve moments like this for high school humiliation.....senior yearbook style...

Meanwhile Princess was getting her ballet on.....they are so cute doing their full circle act. They are really working on the full play now, she is a hoot.

Duchess wasn't one for ballet, as she took one class and refused to go back "cause it's too slow" and they wouldn't play Toby Keith, just old music.....so she tumbles. But this doesn't stop her from wanting to stand at the front window and stalk her sister...

Proof...she, she stalks......

And stalks.... but isn't she getting better at the whole dressing herself thing? I find that it's quite fun to see what she'll come out wearing. I'm a firm believer in expressing your own style...hence why I have no style.....

So after we danced, shopped and stalked we all headed home for lunch.....when asked what she wanted for a sandwich, she thought for a minute and told me "the usual".....

Babies are cute but when they learn to talk back with some sass, that's parenting...

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My Ass Went Shopping

No seriously, I took my ass shopping today. See work is tossing together a lovely Halloween party for all the firm's kids....there's alot...so I am in charge or buying a shopping cart full of food, candies and goodies/toy/crap they don't need.....

So I went to the local craft store expecting some good deals.....none but while shopping there I noticed that the aisles are smaller there than my usual shopping grounds. So I scooched in (is scooched a word?) and while digging through the 60% off racks I bent over and my ass literally cleared a whole shelf of lite up pumpkins.......a whole freaking shelf. Cause see I kinda rolled with the action thus ensuring the whole shelf falling to the floor.

I was shocked, embarrassed and pissed off until I realized that the shelf on my ass was wholly responsible for the accident. Then I was upset and shocked and embarrassed and pissed off at my ass fat. So I left....the whole store, with the pumpkins on the floor....

My ass is going to boot camp tomorrow.......aka it's time to loose the ass shelf.......

Or get a bigger paycheck to cover all my ass shopping.....

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Princess Rocks!

Well today was report card day, apparently we get real grades here, unlike Cali where we got :) or :( or "untried".....

So Math:
Then Science:

Then Reading:

Then Social Studies:

And last but not least Language Arts:

HOLY CRAP, Princess made all A's.....

Excuse me while I go bang my head on the wall and do that butt dance in celebration of my superior parenting skills, okay really while I got do praises to the Lord that I haven't managed to completely mess up my kid....she is doing so great....

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Oh My Heck

Since moving to our new snowy mountain home, I've held my tongue and tried to contain my thoughts and opinions about my neighbors....why? This is a great question, specially since I'm not really known for my "keeping my mouth shut" qualities. Well it's like this....I'm surrounded by Mormons. Not just a few, everybody.

When we moved here, the hubs and I were thrilled at the thought of leaving the coastal sunshine for a "family" place to raise our girls. However, as soon as we told people what area we were moving to, it was immediately "So when will you get those extra wives?" or even better "You'll hate it, they suck!" Yeah, fun times, people are so sweet.

So we moved here. They are so family oriented. They are genuinely nice. They keep to themselves. These are all great perks, however it also means, their family are their fellow church members, not the new Southern Baptist family who moved in down the block. They are genuinely nice, really. The keep to themselves always....and their kids do too......

And now I'll share with you how you'll know you're in Mormon country.....but your not Mormon.

• When you shop on Saturday at Super Walmart and inadvertently say Fuck, it will clear the aisle....
• When your neighbors throw a block party and you aren't invited.....
• When your neighbors leave weekly fliers on your vehicles and door knobs regarding Family Improvement night at the church.....
• When you go to your kids new school and attempt to see the principal and get asked to send your husband to see him.....
• When your kids teacher asks your kid how many brothers and sisters are at home (cause really they don't care anywhere else) and your kid says just one more and the teacher is shocked speechless!
• When you shop at Walmart on a Sunday and it's you and the crickets in the parking lot (they don't shop at all on Sunday....hello mall!!!!)
• When all local businesses and the MALLS are closed on Sundays.....
• When your kids asks you why we're not LSD (I swear!!!).....
• When you learn not to bother waiting in line, you just drop the f-bomb, they will make room for you at the front of the line......(I'm just evil)
• When you realize that not every Mormon has fourteen wives, 99% of them have just one
• When you realize that the two women in front of you in line are indeed part of the 1%, and yes most do dress in prairie garb.....
• When you house hunt in areas by parking the car on the side of the street in a neighborhood and smoke a cigarette, if no one comes out on their porch to stare, its a maybe......
• When a person realizes that you're not Mormon and suddenly wants to know everything about why you don't agree with doctorine....theirs......although they are really nice about once they realize that you do believe in something.....
• When during a job interview you realize that the person is actually blood kin to Marie Osmond, cause come on.... that is just cool!!! "Meet me in Montana!"
• When your kids' live in a neighborhood full of kids and yet they only have each other to play with.... that saddens me like crazy
• When a well meaning person encourages you to enroll your kids in the church primary school (I'm guessing like sunday school) so that it will solve the no friends problem....
• When the first words out of a cops mouth are "Yeah we go to church together, sorry she hit your car"......
• They don't curse which just makes me the damn sore thumb, oh but they do say "OMH" as in oh my heck.....(warning: that phrase is addictive)
• When you mention hellfire and brimstone and they don't flinch....is that just a southern baptist thing....oh and I love our church here, nondenominational but I miss the yelling...

These are the hand full of unique problems we've ran into living here, but still I love living here. I love my work, my co-workers are the most professional people I have ever worked with AND they put family first. The major pull is the snowy mountains and clean fresh air....just don't breathe near me...So any experiences that you might have had or if you're Mormon I'd love the feedback on how you find living around non-Mormons.....

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Yep, Gonna Pimp Them Out

Once again I was left feeling miserably unworthy......as I can't carry a tune in a bucket, much less on a piano, xylophone, or guitar......The Man was gearing up for a business trip out of town and instead of matching his own socks and packing his "undies" he had a fam jam session going.
Princess has her own guitar and is slowly learning the chords, while Duchess has the fake piano and just makes a lot of noise......me, I was reading J.D. Robb, get off my butt.

Then they switched up instruments to make things interesting........

I love the whole family time thing. Our concept of family time while in the military was either eating together or running the necessary errands.......but now, we're really getting in some good family time together.......

So in the interest of self-preservation, I'm now booking the Hope4AHeadache Band out on Friday nights, sorry , we have church on Sat. nights so that is out........first come first served.....

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Rocking Out

What's the cure for a long day..... the Hope4AHeadache Band..
Pass the Excedrin Migrane...quick.....

I'm gonna send them on tour...ain't they cute?

Oh and that bedspread is not part of my kids' decor, I swear, I'm washing her bedding and that's an extra blanket, I swear......Seriously, I promise....

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1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now?

The only kind my freakishly sensitive skin can hang with: Olay

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?

No, but at a recent fancy arse anniversary dinner I got served a palate cleanser shotglass of watermelon juice with pureed pineapples, yum......just needed booze......

3. What would you change about your living room?

I would add more little homey touches, more baskets and wood vases and accents. But I have a horrible fear of dusting so it's a little sparse.....

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?

Clean, I'm horribly anal about my kitchen (I can't wait to see what ads pop up for that phrase)

5. What is in your fridge?

Everything! Stuff for lasanga, homemade soup, veggies and salad dressing, lemonaide pie, left over taco salad fixings and milk/soda/juice of every kind.

6. White or wheat bread?

Kids will only eat the freakishly white wonder bread, but I prefer the grainy wheat bread

7. What is on top of your refrigerator?

A wooden picnic basket filled with medicines and first aid stuff

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain?

Glass shower doors

9. How many plants are in your home?

Two little ones on my mantle over the fireplace that I haven't managed to kill.... yet

10. Is your bed made right now?

Yes, but The Man and Princess are discussing the "Pull My Finger" game.......I'm stripping the bed asap

11. Comet or Soft Scrub?

Scrubbing Bubbles baby!

12. Is your closet organized?

Only in my wildest dreams

13. Can you describe your flashlight?

I'm pretty sure that we have alot of those around here but I can't recall.......

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?

We started off with plastic, cause we were poor ole military folks....then we got a little money and went to glass.....then our kids got old enough to fed themselves and we went back to plastic, which didn't stop me from purchasing The Man some special super duper sized man glasses and then breaking each one slowly.....so all plastic, cause we're classy

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?

Sweet tea is a must here.....we make three pitchers a day.......which explains why we all run around like we're on crack all day

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered?

No, our garage is perfectly organized and tasteful...I could entertain in there it's so stinking nice. The Man refuses to allow anything to be out of place there..... it's his domain

17. Curtains or blinds?

Blinds in every room, curtains over the big arse open polar bear's arse of a window in my dining room and livingroom.......cause it snows here and I lose heat.....and I'm a freak cause that drives me nuts, the meer thought of losing precious heat.....

18. How many pillows do you sleep with?

1 if I'm lucky, The Man is a pillow stealer

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night?

Nite-lights everywhere, freaking kids!

20. How often do you vacuum?

As little as possible

21. Standard toothbrush or electric?

Standard

22. What color is your toothbrush?

Pink for me, orange for The Man (he stole my extra), Barbie for Duchess and Princess lost hers and has been sneaking mine, gross.......

23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?

Yep, a lovely thick one with the fleur-de-lis design....I love that design, you'll find it often in my house.

24. What is in your oven right now?

A cast iron skillet

25. Is there anything under your bed?

A bow case, some dust bunnies and Christmas gifts

26. Chore you hate doing the most?

Dusting....thinking about it makes me ill

27. What retro items are in your home?

The pie safe in my dining room (hi mom), the crockery on it, the pottery in my livingroom, oh crap, alot.......

28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?

We did but it's now in my bedroom as we lost of office when my mom and the photo elusive step-dad moved into the apartment in my basement....however, my next house will have an office.....I swear.....

29. How many mirrors are in your home?

A ton, my dining room is decorated in antique mirrors.......they are in every room

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home?

Money, extra money? What's that? I have a kid in the Nutcracker and a hunter in the house....I don't have extra money?

31. What color are your walls?

The entire house is a pale lovely butter color......nice

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home?

None of your business, but we'll NEVER belong to PETA so I guess that answers your question.

33. What does your home smell like right now?

I have a sick kid, does that bring a smell to mind? Seriously the house smells like creme burlee, thanks to my Circle E candles.......shipped all the way from TEXAS!

34. Favorite candle scent?

Read #33

35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now?

Sweet bread and butter

36. What color is your favorite Bible?

The color of good warm whiskey........that's wrong isn't it?

37. Ever been on your roof?

Not this house....but every other house I've lived in as the military housing requires that you clean the outside of 2nd and 3rd story windows......I'm surprised I've lived this long

38. Do you own a stereo?

Yeah, we have two....the really nice one was in the garage for the longest...The Man's domain

39. How many TVs do you have?

The kids share on (hello discipline tool), we have one in our room and the living room. I really want one in the kitchen........then I'd be spoiled to the max!

40. How many house phones?

3 portables that I can never find......just leave a message, I'll call you back eventually

41. Do you have a housekeeper?

Hang on, I'm trying to catch my breath, you're funny......

42. What style do you decorate in?

Think King Ranch style meets Bonanza

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?

Solid colors.......always

44. Is there a smoke detector in your home?

Every room.......so are you staking out my place?

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip?

My babies and my purse...the rest is replaceable.......I can't help that I am in love with my sweet sweet Brighton purse, it was a gift........come to think of it, so were my babies.....thank you honey.....you give lasting gifts........

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The Hotness

Duchess... "I don't feel good"

Me.... "I know, you have a fever, cough the other way, not in my face"

Duchess.... "I got the hotness"

Me.... "It ain't easy having the hotness"

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Paper Potty Hats

Have you ever noticed how some people quote movie lines?

For instance, "How 'bout them sausages? Five minutes Turkish"

Some people also quote song lyrics, "With a pipe bomb just for fun"

Well in case we're not weird enough, The Man and I also quote our kids....alot

Princess was an only child for four years, so we spent alot of time together while daddy was deployed, meaning I took my kid everywhere with me.

There is something you should know about Princess, she has a thing about bathrooms. She loves bathrooms, she will never visit any establishment or house and not use the bathroom. She must see what kind of sink you have, what type of tub, where do you keep your towels.... oh and if she is told that she can't use the bathroom.... then she insists that we leave immediately because your not good people at all.

So as an only child, with a bathroom fetish, what is the only thing that could interrupt her very first outting with her daddy to see a professional baseball game........ a potty trip...... in the men's room at a stadium..... I feel sick just thinking about it......

But that faithful trip stuck him with a phrase that will never die, the paper potty hat.

See Princess knew better than to let her delicate skin touch the bare cold nasty toliet seat..... she needed a paper potty hat daddy.....

So when The Man realized that she meant it, he raised his voice to be heard over the roar of the other "patrons" in the restroom...... "You need what?"

A paper potty hat...... the little paper hat for the potty so I can sit down...... cause I'm a girl..... and somebody missed......

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Pre-PETA 101

"I don't eat Tuna"

Duchess announced this with a very solemn little four year old face this weekend, as I stood making tuna sandwiches for everyone, everyone except her....

"I know, you have turkey already on the table"

She nods..........and stares...........

As I go to take a bite of my sandwich, standing at the bar..........

"Cause dolphins have to live mommy"

Yep, yum yum dolphin/tuna........I'm going to hell

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Something smells good...

It's hard living up to the whole "mom" thing sometimes, especially when you're a working mom but occassionally at our house we do break out the fun stuff. There is nothing my girls like more than cooking, in fact they are going to both take classes in it very soon, I hope to never cook again. Moving on...... we decided to make banana cake......from scratch, heaven help us.
We began by having Duchess mash the bananas. This was after I ran around to every room demanding to know who had eaten three bananas in the 15 hours since I had purchased them. Eat chocolate or candy, people, not my recipe ingredients......

Then we mixed it all up good and plopped it in a pan. These pans are amazing, I have no clue where you get them or what they are called but they are angels sent straight from God in Heaven. They come immaculately (no pun intended) clean every time you use them....I love you white pan.....

We are nut lovers, and yep that reads as bad as it sounded in my head, so we added walnuts to our cake. Yum.......

Then my mom snapped and held me hostage till I started confessing to all the times I snuck out of the house during my teen years.........only once mom, only that one time and you met me at the door and let me sneak back in cause your the pooh mom, I swear....... and I would really like that golf/spa package for Christmas, let's take a lunch and talk about it some more......

Fresh out of the oven, this golden brown cake became the most germ ridden object in my house....cause we're freaks and we all walk up, smell it, then put on hand on top and announce, yep too hot to frost...... multiple times.......

However, after we finished dinner, we slapped homemade frosting on this bad boy and then we ate it fast.....oh man, it was amazing.

So here you go.....just in case your tempted!

1/2 cup of butter

1 and 1/2 cups of sugar

2 eggs

2-3 nice ripe bananas, mashed well (I always use about 3 medium)

1/2 cup of buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/4 cups of unbleached flour (freshly milled pastry flour is best)

1/2 cup of chopped nuts (if you like nuts--you can use your favorite kind)

Peel, and mash your ripe bananas.

In a large bowl combine:Butter and sugar, and beat. Add eggs, bananas, and buttermilk. Beat well with a spoon, or with a mixer for about 2 minutes. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Beat until well combined, by hand, or with a mixer for about 2 minutes. Fold in nuts, if you're using them.

Butter and flour 2 round cake pans (or whatever shape pans you prefer). Pour batter into your pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Do not over bake.

After the cake has sufficiently cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting and garnish with fruit of your choice or if your like me, you live in a house where fruit can't remain in the fruit dish for no longer than 24 hours.

Oh and keep telling yourself that it's fat free........it is, really.........I swear......

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Griswold-ing Vegas

As huge Chevy Chase fans, a common phrase in our home is "Griswold", as in we'll do it like the Griswold's, we'll not only do it, but we'll make it a complete cluster ----- well you get the idea and then we'll beat it to death before we're done. There is no simplicity in our lives, why should our anniversary trip be any different.....
We stayed in the Pulp Fiction suite, it was hip, comfy and had a great view..... of the tub, kidding a great view of Vegas. The bed was amazing and we were not pleased when we got home to our bed, we're gonna have to invest in a bigger better bed......

We got all fancy and went out for an anniversary dinner at the Strip House, not a strip club, a steak house, lol.....funny I thought the same thing but the food was incredible ... although we did alot of the whisper and giggle thing especially when the server looked very ill when we ordered "Just cokes please" .... guess us non-drinkers are in the minority in Vegas.

The Man ventured out to grab breakfast each morning around oh 11 am while I dragged myself to the shower to tame the matted bush that my hair would become. I haven't used hair spray in years, now I remember why.... Anyway, he came home with Elvis glasses one morning, and wore them the rest of the trip..... people stared, especially when he started snarling too.....

In the Venetian we treated ourselves to fancy ice cream..... oh baby oh baby, be still my heart. There is so much to say about this ice cream but we just mumbled through it....

We stayed at the lovely Planet Hollywood hotel and casino..... very new very trendy. But the high of our floor had my stomach quite nervous cause we had to take the express elevator.... urgh

I believe I mentioned those glasses huh?

We enjoyed a leisurely buffet at the Luxor, where The Man took some special shots for the kids, cause he's fun like that, and no sooner than we walked away than a bunch of foreign travelers form a line to stick their hand up its nose. We're trend setters.

This picture represents 2 a.m. where we just spent $40 and won $40 (hello, broke even) on the casino floor playing penny slots, cause we roll like that, cheap all the way.

I watched a lady in this store spend 30k on shoes and then walk out carrying all the boxes herself. I was flat out amazed and actually started babbling and drooling.

We met The Blue Man group. Only seemed fair that The Man take a picture with them, I think he gits in quite nicely.

What am I missing? Oh all the shopping we did, all the nekkid time we had, the 70 mph roller coaster that we rode, right after eating (OMG, that was crazy, can't believe I paid them to do that to me).

The medieval jousting was amazing, although I had to eat with my fingers..... and they served me a cornish hen with veggies and a roll and a bowl of soup. Um, hello, Mr. Waiter guy who is singing and serving food, how do you get to the white meat? Um hello, you-hoo .... at this point, The Man realized how incompetant I am and just reached over and took the hen and ripped that sucker apart and literally handed me two hunks of white meat .... my plate looked like a small war had occurred on it, gristle and bones and flesh everywhere, the poor man on my other side glanced at my plate and scooted closer to his wife. Freak. So I just slurped my soup and then went straight afterwards to get a snack ....

The shows, the food and everything was amazing. Very pleased to say we're planning another trip already. We were very happy to get home to the munchkins who were waiting in the driveway all in their pjs ready to give us a hard time. I love being home.

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In The Blink of An Eye

Ten years married, twelve together.... and they passed in the blink of an eye. So a short trip down memory lane seemed appropriate!

See I have alot to be thankful for.... I met this guy at a gas station a long time ago, his truck was in the shop so he was driving his grandma's pink caddy, 1970's era.... and was cooler than shit in his hat and boots, his date thought so too I'm sure, till he took her home. Then there was me.

This guy was not my usual type, he was the bad boy, the one that every momma on earth preaches about and me, I was the good girl. He ran with a group of guys he'd known his entire life, they were hell raisers too, always ready for a good fight, ready for a night of partying or hunting as long as they were together. Little did I know that I would quickly become the only girl in this hunting pack. We would see the inside of many establishments, some that I would have to be carried out of, literally hanging on someones back, but I was along for the ride. The feisty five and the lightweight.

I went to a pawn shop on my first real date (cause we're country folks ya'll), duck hunting all night in the wet cold on my second date and before long I was a permanent fixture, they would even wait till I got off work before heading out. But The Man and I had quickly become inseparable. He was hot and I was loving life. Enjoy it while it lasts had become my motto .... cause cowboys ride away.

They ride away right into the Navy. He enlisted one day a year and a half into our relationship and came home to tell me about it. He left several months later, but not before picking me up from work one day, driving me to my favorite park and kicking me out of his truck. Literally fuming I stomped my way south, intent on heading home and breaking everything he'd ever given me into tiny pieces when he tackled me from behind laughing and proposed .... memorable to say the least. So we got engaged and he left. It was four weeks before I started getting letters, even though I mailed at least two a day to him. But the mail came pouring in and we began to plan this crazy thing we call our life.

We got married after bootcamp, at Christmas in a small country church wedding. It was great, my reception was family and friends and guitars playing all night long. His grandmother gave me the sluttiest piece of naughty wear I have ever owned ..... it was the best. We honeymooned in the middle of nowhere snowed in with food and no tv. It was great.

The Navy had it's hold on us by this point and thank you God for that. We traveled, we moved and we existed by leaning on each other. That made us so strong, as I look back I see how so many families rely heavily on their families and we never had that option, we had each other as both of our tight knit families were so far from us.

The Man and I learned to be a unit. We were still hot too!

We then became parents a year later at Christmas. (Christmas is a busy time for us, are you getting that?) Princess came into this world with blonde shiney hair, a big ole voice and endless energy, nothing has changed. We loved the "being young parents" thing. We played with her like there was no tomorrow. The Man then began sharing the things that meant so much to us, we danced with her, we sang with her, we did outdoorsy things with her, we were a family.

The Man deployed and Princess and I learned to survive on our own. I learned to kill my own spiders and bugs. I learned to deal with mechanics and bills and the spiderweb that is military healthcare. I worked and raised my girl while keeping close contact with my far away hubby. I learned my strength as a wife and a person. The Man learned the value of together time. We made it work, never perfect but who wants perfect, I want life.

Then four years later, at Christmas AGAIN, Duchess joined the royal ranks. A chunky monkey from the beginning, she was the "Wyatt Earp" of all babies. She rarely smiled at anyone not her parents, she hated strangers and hardly ever made a sound, just lots of serious little stares. We knew for sure she was plotting to take over the world, that plan is already in motion. Beware the little one ... life took off at warp speed ...

Yet through it all, I had my best friend and soulmate .... the one person on this earth that I can annoy the shit out of yet he still hugs me good night. Even when deployed I could count on a call or email to tuck me into bed .... even if he wasn't there to check the house when I heard a noise or to sit up all night with sick kids. He was, in a way.

So we kept moving and he kept serving. All through it, we worked, as a couple and a family. We overcame difference and we didn't kill each other, that counts alot.

For the one man who always complains about how many baths I take yet always is the first to suggest a soak when I'm not 100% .....

For the man who can't understand why I need new shoes, any shoes ... yet pays for them and hauls them into the house for me .....

For the man who hates anything romantic and sloppy yet never says a word about the wall full of romance novels that I read and re-read.........

For the man who never said a word when I started smoking again......

For the man who takes time to do special things with our kids, like making and painting paper maeche planets, just because..... and loves me even though I can't spell and neither can my computer.......

For the man who cleans my car to an inch of it's life and doesn't say a word when it's trashed again 24 hours later...... honey don't look in the trunk.......

For the man who gets up and grabs his gun and stalks the house in the middle of the night like a ghetto swat cop anytime he hears a noise ... the same man who can sleep through hurricane winds (literally), ringing phones, multiple alarms and a crying kiddo but can hear a creak of a door or window and is locked and loaded two seconds later......

For the same man who taught me to do the same thing with my gun when he is not home, using the whole figure eight method....

The guy that makes me laugh like no other person alive and can break me out of any foul mood....

The same guy that regular grabs me in public and isn't afraid of PDA......

Who'd be the same guy who just last week was making faces and monkey gestures through the window of my work to get my attention.........

The bad boy who has grown into the most responsible and amazing man I know......

Who came home from our anniversary trip to Vegas, where we acted like newlyweds again, then tucked me into bed so I could get rest before going to work the next morning, while he stayed up and did all the laundry from our trip and then spent the next full day cleaning our house.....

Stud, you rock and you're still the hottest thing around....

Happy 12 years of being together babe, I'm determined to get many many more, I have plans to drive you nuts for years to come.....

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