Happy Veterans' Day!!!

Yes, the rumors you have heard are true......

(NO I AM NOT PREGNANT! Thanks a LOT!)

I have officially vanished from the blogging world. And I do apologize! You see, the hubs returned home to me from the Army and now I enjoy sleeping in, cuddling, taking naps, snuggling......well you get the point!

But it's time to make a come-back because I have OOOOOODLES of pictures to share with you!

So much has happened since I blogged last, ok, here's the quickie version:

Halloween weekend I flew to Texas and cheered as my hubbers received a Honor Graduate Award, PT Award (292!),  and his Diploma from Combat Medic training.

Then we flew home and celebrated Halloween/my hubbers return with a HUGE party of all our friends and some family! It was a blast and we had so many people show up that we hadn't seen for months!

The day after our party, I started school.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I have been on a waiting list for the Medical Assisting program for.....ummm...oh ya-- EVER! Well they finally called me in to start! 

(really? The husband is gone for 6 whole entire excrutiating months and you finally have a start date for me....and it happens to be the DAY after he gets home. Ugh. Soooo bugged!!

The program is good....a lot like high school....but good. I'm hoping I can work fast and get through in only a couple months. We'll have to see.

Dearest Husband went back to work at Convergys. DH now wants a new job! haha 

We've been sharing one vehicle which gets a little interesting. 

(i.e. me flying down the road on my way back from an interview, picking DH up on the side of the road and driving him the rest of the way to work.)

So hopefully we'll be investing in a new set of wheels soon....oh but wait! You need money to do that...haha silly me! Maybe we'll buy a tricycle. Yes, that's more in our budget. 

Or maybe we could ride Trigger....he is big enough....quite fast when he's running from us, I'm sure he could get me to school on time....hmmm

Ok well ya'll should check out the Alluring Essence blog for updated pictures! I've been a busy girl and I have tons to show you! Also, I've got a couple tutorials coming up from the home decor I finally accomplished before hubs came home. 

Oh yes, one more thing: here are some pictures from the Veterans' Day Assembly at North Park today. My sissy-in-law teaches there and asked Kyle to come participate. It was such a wonderful tribute to all the members of the military both past and present! Those tiny little voices belting out the different services' songs were so sweet! My favorite was when all the children sang I'm Proud to Be An American. I was fighting back the tears big time. They sang the chorus with so much conviction! 

I'm so glad to be married to my amazing Soldier! And I'm thankful for all the men and women who have sacrificed much more than any of us know, in order to make and keep this land we love free. God Bless America, and God Bless the American Soldier!!!!!!!

G-E-O-R-G-I-A

G for Good Grief I'm Tired
E for Everyone is so sweet here!
O for Oh my gosh, we're gonna die on this airplane...
R for R.E.L.A.X.
G for Good Eats...i think!
I for I can't believe my HUBS is inside THAT BUILDING RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!
A for Almost in his arms!

Can you believe its been 10 weeks?! Basic Training Graduation :)

Mom and I are on our Girl's Adventure in Columbus, Georgia and we are having a blast! We drove to Las Vegas and stayed in a cheap motel = rocks for pillows, retro bedspread, and scratchy towels. First thing this morning we were up and out the door (ok actually I was up all night, every hour on the hour, staring at the clock so. excited.can't. sleep. *yaaaawwwwwn*) we were rushed through security, hustled to the gate, bought a water and we were almost the last ones on the plane :)

Our flight was 3 1/2 hours to Atlanta. We sat next to a wonderful southern woman named Sharon who was so sweet! I was editing Matt & Jacki's photos on the plane and she kept commenting how cute Trevor was and gave me tons of compliments on my photography. Turns out, her hubby is a professional photographer in Las Vegas :) I gave her my email address and I can't wait to touch base with her again! What a wonderful woman with tons of Faith!

We got off our plane in Atlanta and jumped on the subway to our connecting flight. It was CRAZY! But we got there in time for some of the locals to completely hustle us. Dang it! I thought we were fitting in. They could totally tell we were tourists and we ended up getting a free flight.....i think.

Our flight to Columbus was on a puddle jumper....compared to the airborne freight train we were on before :) It was only a 30 minute flight with LOTS of turbulents. I was very glad that I hadn't had time to eat anything or mom would've been barfed on haha! Columbus is such an awesome place! Everyone is so so so sweet. And I seriously have no idea what everyone is complaining about... I LOVE THE HUMIDITY!!! I feel like my skin is just soaking up the moisture and its wonderful! Mom's afraid I've already decided I want to move here haha but I'm not to the point quite yet :)

Tonight, after checking into our lovely hotel = soft fluffy heaven-like pillows, ironing board, free internet, and good water pressure, we set out to find a place to eat. Oh hell. Two sleep deprived, tired, dehydrated, stressed women (we're going to leave out short tempered, blind, and deaf) tend to stop for ice cream cones, drive until they scream at each other, and ultimately give up on the Good Southern Eats experience and settle for a Burger King heart attack in a bag. But dang that heart attack never tasted so good :)

After a few zzzz's we were off on another adventure. We drove to base to make sure we know where we're going tomorrow. I think this would be one of those occasions where Kyle would actually get mad if I were to be late. I expected to get turned around at the first checkpoint but just like the trend is around here, the guards were so nice and gave us turn by turn directions to our destination. They told us to go check it out so we drove right up to Kyle's Battalion--the building where he was sleeping!!!! I was so giddy I wanted to scream! I can't believe I'm within a few feet of where my love is laying his head!! It was so fun sneaking around haha!

I can't wait to see him, and tomorrow night I'll fill you in on my amazing Hubs and his accomplishments. I am so proud of him and I'll give you a teaser.....I get to sit in V.I.P. seating at graduation :) Why, you ask? Well you'll have to wait for that post tomorrow!

I LOVE MY SOLDIER!!!!!!!

Pictures will come tomorrow due to computer problems....sorry!

Bifocals....nope, even BETTER!

One of many entertaining phone conversations with DH during Basic Training

Kyle: "...and I've got my virgin makers on..."
Me: "Whoa! Wait.....what did you just say?"
Kyle: "Um, I've got my awesome Army issued coke-bottle bifocals on."
Me: "No, no, no...what did you say the first time?"
Kyle: "Virgin Makers...?"
Me: "That's a terrible name! How did you come up with that?"
Kyle: "Ha ha ha! Well, it's just what came to mind when we got them! You'll see...."

I've seen. And I understand completely :)

Those babies are SAAWEEEEEETTTT! And the name.....so fitting don't you think?
**Just kidding Hunny Bear--You're still my dreamboat, even sportin' those gems!**

So while Kyle has been rockin' his new lenses, I decided to get myself some too! But I'm having a little more fun with my lenses than GI Kyle :) I love comments....let me know what you think!!

My First Phone Call from Basic!

I'm sitting here blog-stalking, looking for some form of inspiration to peel my sorry self off the bed and do something productive when suddenly....the most beautiful, uplifting sound I've heard since last night at 8:38 pm: My Hunny's Ringtone!!! I was not expecting to hear his voice and it was the best thing that's happened all day! So now here I sit, mascara smeared, stuffy nose, tear-stained cheeks, blubbering because I realize how much I miss the man of my dreams.

Kyle is at Reception right now, which is where the soldiers go before Basic Training. They complete lots of paperwork, get all their uniforms and p.t. gear, and get their heads shaved! I asked him how he looks bald and he said, "I make bald look gooooood!"
When his Company is full, then they'll ship them over to Basic. The Drill Sergeants aren't being too hard on them just yet. According to Kyle, "They only yell at you if your being an idiot. Other than that, they aren't too bad." The Drill Sergeant told him he can keep his cell phone for now to talk to me until they ship him over to Basic. So, if all goes well, I'll be getting a call each night until Tuesday.

He's met a lot of nice guys (with a little chuckle after he said "nice"....not quite sure what to think about that...) so far. From my end of the line, I added "A lot of young, stupid guys?" and he just laughed. Today they got lots of immunizations. Kyle said instead of going down the line, they had two nurses each shooting you in one arm at the same time. The peanut-butter shot in the bummers he said wasn't too bad at first but he's definitely feeling it now! :) *smiling thinking of his cute little bummers* Tonight he'll be doing Fire Guard where he'll take a shift being awake for an hour watching the exits of his barracks to make sure nobody goes AWOL and tries to run! (Sounds pretty intense, eh?)

Here are a couple pictures he sent me:I think he does make bald look gooooood!! And I gotta say it makes me feel so much better seeing what the barracks look like. I keep picturing the dark bunks from M.A.S.H. and it makes me shudder. He sounds really upbeat so that also makes me feel better. I absolutely love the man I married and I'm so excited to see the man that he has yet to be! I know he'll be such a good soldier!

Here are a couple pictures of those of us on Canyon Road:





Also, if you wanna check out Fort Benning and see what's going on at Basic Training, or to get more info, check out this website: https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/basictraining/30thAG.asp

Off to Basic

Let the countdown begin! Kyle is on a plane to Fort Benning, Georgia as I'm posting this!

We had a really good day together yesterday walking around Temple Square reminiscing about our wedding day (in 2 weeks, it will be a whole year! Can you believe it?). We laughed and walked around taking funny pictures (Kyle was the "bride" for photo purposes haha). Scott, Peggy, Kelly, and Ash came down to eat with us at Macaroni Grill--my first time ever eating there, and I must say, it's definitely a favorite! And that cake!!!!!!!!! Kyle's parents said their goodbyes at the restaurant while Kelly and Ash rode with us over to drop Kyle off at the hotel. Not my favorite moment. It was so hard knowing this was the last time I would have my husband's arms around me until September. That is when I'll be flying to Texas to see my hunny-bunny-boo-bear for a week over Labor Day. We're going to make sure to stop by the San Antonio Temple, which we're both very excited for. And hopefully we'll get to do lots of fun things while we are together. Sorry to say but the little Trigger baby will be staying with family back home. By then he probably won't be quite so little anymore!

I'm really grateful for my family and Kyle's family. Kelly and Ashley, thank you so much for being there to drive me home and for giving me a shoulder to soak. Kyle and I are so lucky to be surrounded by loving friends, neighbors, and family and we hope you all know of our love for you!

I'll be posting bits of Kyle's letters on here for everyone to stay up-to-date. He will also be giving me his address so we can all write him letters of encouragement!! Let me know if you would like his address and I'll put you on the list :)

I love my Soldier!!!

My Gorgeous Man

I thought I'd share with you the product of my random "COME WITH ME!! I WANNA TRY SOMETHING!!" episode last week.
He's gorgeous, don't you think?!