Bridesmaid Gift

Ah, not going to lie, it's been weighing on my mind what exactly to get some of the most important women in my life.

And then I came across these:

1) I am not a name brand person, except when it comes to Vera Bradley. Sure some people think its overpriced, but for someone who traveled almost once a month during the WP years, those bags were lifesavers.

2) Match the colors of the wedding

3) The "name" of these type of glasses is actually MY name!

4) Super cute pictures of me + bridesmaids in these.

5) They were on sale :)

And all is right in my world. I told my mom after I ordered them and she started pouting on the phone that she wanted a pair, so I got her some too.

Extra hours.

I cut back my hours from 8 to 9 to 6-7 a day. So really, I only cut back two hours. Two hours?! It doesn't sound like much, but I think it's made a world of a difference in my life and more importantly in my marriage.

Those 8-9 hours, in addition to the stresses of work and my boss, made me mean. I swear. Not to mention the heachaches and wedding planning made me crazy. I can honestly say at certain points in the day, I hated him. I thought he was doing everything wrong and not helping me with anything. When really, the problem might have been me.

I stressed and stressed and stressed some more. But really it's been my entire life. I suffered from anxiety in college and probably continued with me in the years after.

So what have I done with those extra two hours?

I've invested or "put them back" into my marriage. I make more lunches and dinners, fold more of his laundry, stress less about a dirty house, and even *gasp* sleep in an extra hour or so. If I do not work early, I am wide awake by 7am. Is it weird that I use to get all huffy and puffy about him sleeping soundly when we "should" be doing something? I usually either wake him up or get up and start working on things all upset that he is not helping.

On Friday evening while driving home from work, I get a call from work that one of our circuit coaches quit. This news a month ago would send me into a tizzy. The old me would head into work the next day, Saturday, and stress all weekend. I simply told my boss, "I will handle it on Monday".

I walked in the door, smiled and gave my husband a hug and asked him how his day went.

It's only been three weeks, but I have never been happier. We laugh all of the time. He helps out more around the house (I swear I didn't ask for him to). He touches me more, smiles more.

The old me would think, he's been really nice and I don't know why, but I do know why. I am being nice too. I guess it's true, you get what you put in...

I love my extra two hours.

Restrepo

Hubby asked me last night to attend a free showing of a documentary. It took place where he did a majority of his flying and our new roommate Brandon, one of his best friends, met and replaced the Unit in the documentary.



It is called Restrepo.

See it.

Incredibly eye-opening. Sure I hear stories and picture their life over there, but with this movie, I can actually see it with my own eyes.

We met one of the men who stared in the documentary and he actually remembered Brandon. This documentary hit so close to home. The names and places...I know these people. I know these places.

Made me incredibly proud to be an American, proud to know so many soldiers, especially my own soldier.

During the movie I remembered several months ago, I met a few ground guys from TX . They immediately hugged me and told me that, "Your husband saved my life, many times".

Again, so proud.

What a difference...

...a month makes. The difference between me now and me 30 days ago...Oh the stress might be catching up with me.

Actually I don't think it's stress as much as every single minute (yes I said minute, apron timer is out for me to blog for exactly 15 minutes) is planned between now and August 7th.

We were SPOILED rotten, absolutely spoiled rotten this past Saturday at our shower. However, my hand does feel like it is going to fall off with all of the Thank-Yous. Don't get me wrong, the Thank-Yous are a must and well deserved. I just like to get things out within a matter of days, not weeks.

Oh yeah, we found out on Monday that our Cupcake Lady went out of business last week, so we are scrambling to find something new because honestly, the cupcakes might be more important than the dress.

Tis the Season...

In a few short hours, the whole gang (hubby + puppies) will be driving north to our hometown for my bridal shower!

I love organizing and planning, but sadly I do not love organizing and planning our wedding. I do not know if "the jig is up", we are already married or what.

But to catch everyone up to speed.

I will be wearing:

My bridesmaids will be wearing a black dress of their choice and all of us will be rocking these:He will be wearing his uniform. Neither one of us are crazy about the military wedding. In the end, I made it his decision and since he is too lazy (his exact words) to rent a tux, he decided to wear what he already has in his closet.

And we will exchange our vows and dance the night away here:

Wedding in a nutshell. Now on to physical therapy, clean, pack, and head home!

Coming up for air.

19+ weeks with a headache...something has to be wrong.

I mentioned how much I make at work to my Physical Therapist and she about fell off her chair. She said, "You see me three times a week for that?".

Funny, he has been bugging me about the same thing for months. Now what I make does not make or break our household and for that I am forever blessed, but it covers a lot of the bills plus little extras for me.

They simply cannot pay me anymore and I understand, but a part of me feels more valuable in a sense. I've been struggling with this for months.

After much talk, I cut back my hours at work. I guess I am not cut out for the 50+ hour work week and everything else going on in my life. Not to mention I am on my feet for over 8 hours a day, exercise for half of it, and wake up way too early. My first 6-7 hour day was Friday and it felt heavenly! I am on Day Three now and I've accomplished so much during my day and have had less arguments/disagreements with him, my mom, and my MIL.

I've also decided to start training people on the side. I've been wanting to do it for a year now, but looks like I am finally in motion and more importantly....

....finally able to breathe.

On the Fourth, we hung out with friends and played football. Afterwards, he and I jumped (went skinny dipping, ha) in our pool and watched all of the amazing fireworks in our neighborhood. It honestly felt like I had found my way and started to enjoy life, instead of just living it.

I am surrounded by an amazing husband, family, and friends and now I am just trying to soak it all in a little more. And of course, blog a little more :)

Remember Me?

I am not even lying when I had to pause for a long moment to remember the web address for my blog and wonderful blog community. I guess being away for almost 4 months will do that to you.

Me in a nutshell:

• Going 17 weeks strong with no real cure for my headaches. Crazy, huh? However, my glass half full moment, I am only week 2 with my physical therapist and it's slowly helping minus the fact that 3-4 days a week, it adds a minimum of 1.5 hours onto my already busy day.
• Wedding planning in full swing. 36 more days.
• I am trying to decide my next big thing in life. I cannot get promoted anymore nor make any more money so the past few days, I'm really sitting down and thinking what's next?
• And TV. What TV? My television detox is complete. I barely have time to sit down and relax anymore. When I do sit down and try and watch anything, I fall asleep :)

Did I mention there is a wedding in 36 days. I've never, ever, ever bickered with him as much as I have in the past 3 months. Its exhausting and I loathe it. However, all of this just reminds me how lucky I am. We have 10 years of memories of ups and downs and when I look at him, it's hard not to smile and be thankful for all we've been through together.