For a Future Home

I thought it would be about time to write down some things that I have learned after living in two homes with my husband and two states. Some things that I have noticed that I want in my next home or forever home and things that I do NOT want ever again! This is just based on the physical home not so much on the area or anything (maybe that will be a later post). 

I want:
- A large kitchen with space to work and lots of cabinets
- Granit/cement countertops (really anything but Laminate) 
- Linoleum in the bathrooms
- Wood/Laminate in the kitchen/dining room
- A large master bedroom
- At least 2.5 bathrooms with one being downstairs (if in a two story home)
- At least 3 total bedrooms
- An office space
- An attached garage that can be doubled as a workout room/ man cave
- A laundry room with mud sink and room to store cleaning supplies
- Storage area for my tubs for holidays
- A more open floor plan on the first floor area
- Fans in all bedrooms, living room, siting area, etc. 
- Large pantry
- Coat closet somewhat close to the front door
- Entry area where people can take off shoes
- Electric/Gas Fireplace
- Wood shop area in the garage
- A shed as long as it is built correctly & maintained
- A covered porch (heck... a porch in general!)
- A nice cement/stone pad in the back yard
- A fence on ALL sides of the backyard (One my dogs can't jump over!)
- Laundry Upstairs would be AMAZING!

I do NOT want:
- Carpeted floors (they are SOOOO nasty) 
- Carpet on stairs (SOOO hard to clean!)
- White baseboards (they are always dirty & you can ALWAYS see it!)
- Random cabinets in the kitchen that you really can't use (what is the point)
- Kitchen countertops that easily stain (sick of pulling out the AJAX every week)
- Laminate kitchen countertops (they stain & are always dirty)
- One large faux wood blinds on large windows (They are so heavy, they bow, they are not supposed to be on large windows!!)
- POPCORN Ceilings!! NEVER EVER EVER again! (they are ugly & capture dust)
- 10 million doors to go outside (I don't need them & don't like them!)
- French doors going outside that stick or are hard to close (they are a pain in the but!)
- A kitchen pantry in a separate room from the kitchen (I want easy access) 
- Wood burning fireplace (so dirty!)
- Tile floors (They chip, the grout is dirty)
- Formal sitting room (They are just silly!)
- Brick ledge/sitting area around the fireplace (sharp corners, dirty, just no)

I don't really care about:
- Formal dining rooms
- Sitting Areas

So, here is my list thus far. I hope to add and adjust this list as time goes on and homes enter & exit our lives... Any opinions? Anything you would add? 

Half way done!

Well, yesterday I officially hit the half way mark of my pregnancy (wish it was the deployment, but that will end soon after baby too!). I am 20 weeks/ 5 months. We officially find out the gender of our little nugget on Wednesday and I am planning a somewhat cute reveal to post on Facebook. The pregnancy has been going fairly well so far (I suppose)... I guess I'm not sure how things are supposed to be going, but everything seems normal. I hate not having coffee, sushi, and rare meat. Ugh... what I would give for some hackepeter and a glass of red wine. YUMMY! At this point I would really just love some German food that is one of my biggest cravings right now. Maybe this will be one of my first few meals when I go home again after having baby. 

I have been able to talk to Brian fairly often while he is in the United Kingdom which has been really nice. I am not looking forward to the time while he is traveling from the UK to Afghanistan, because I have no idea where he will be, how long, or anything. I really miss the free and open communication of having your spouse in the same country as you. (I'm not even asking for the same town, state, or time zone... just same country!)

As for the government shutdown... well we are still shutdown and it has been a week. I had no idea (as I am sure many didn't) that this would still be going on a week later. What effects have we seen? Well, we are still getting paid (supposedly...), the commissary closed (it will be reopening Tuesday according to our base Facebook), and I cannot send any mail to Brian (not so much can I not send it, but the fact is it will not be delivered to him -- as far as I have been told). All in all not too bad... I mean we are getting paid, the commissary is coming back, and Brian isn't in Afghanistan yet to get any mail anyways. Trying to be as positive as I can be still! 

I cannot wait to make a visit to Chicago in November... in the words of Violet Beauregarde in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "MAKE TIME GO FASTER!"

Government Shutdown Looming

So, this is going to be a semi political blog. I do not want to start any fights and I am not taking sides (as far as republican v. democrat). So... cool it. 

Let me say, I don't care if you have a bumper sticker that says: 

Or this: 

The people I care about have these as stickers on their car: 

The fact that the government may be shutting on Monday night is simply disgusting. Why is it that congress cannot make their decisions and agreements in time to formalize a budget at the end of the fiscal year? It isn't a short amount of time to figure it out, it is a whole year! So, now if the government shuts down the people who did not do their job all year: 

will still get paid, will continue arguing, and will continue not making decisions. Where as the people who are working and sacrificing more then most of them ever had will go without getting paid: 

Now, I am aware that the military is supposed to be getting back pay whenever congress figures out how to their jobs, but some military families live paycheck to paycheck. These people who are in the military and those who work for the military as government contractors will not be paid yet are still expected to go to work. How many people want to really go to work and not get paid? *cricket* *cricket* Yeah... that's what I thought... 

So, some may be wondering what is my proposed solution... well, since we had such a short time to agree on a budget (just a measly 365 days), I think we should take a cue from the Roman Catholics:

This is a photo of the cardinals in conclave. For those of you who don't know about this... When a pope passes away the cardinals go into the vatican and enter conclave. They are secluded and in fact locked in and are not allowed to leave until they come to a decision. So, my solution is to lock all of congress into a room and don't let them leave until they come to a decision. 

DO YOUR STINKING JOB CONGRESS!!  

(Since they can't seem to do their job, maybe they are the ones who shouldn't be paid rather then the military... just a final thought!) 

So Long, Farewell

Today Brian left for England, four days early mind you. This 100% sucks! It gave me less time to be able to really contact him whenever I needed/ wanted too. The last few days were tough for him and really packed with a lot to do and get done. This unfortunately left little time for us to really talk. I am trying very hard to stay positive and most importantly busy! I need to keep working on things around the house so I don't think about everything that is happening. What else is happening?

1. My husband is deployed
2. Potential government shut down
3. I feel all alone
4. I'm 4.5 months pregnant
5. I don't go home until Thanksgiving time
6. I have two pups who miss their daddy VERY VERY much! 

So with all that I have lots to take care of around the house. Today I disconnected and packed away our DirecTV, I trimmed some tree branches outside our house, trimmed bushed in our front yard, and I am now trying to convince myself to go to an FRG meeting that I REALLY REALLY don't want to go to! I am trying to give it the good ol' college try though. I just have this feeling that I'm going to show up and there isn't going to be a single person there. 

On the positive I got to talk to my hubby up  until the last moment. He also sent me some wonderful pictures that made me cry, but something I really and truly appreciate. I love that man so much!

D Day...

Today was the day... Brian deployed. I am not sure if I am lucky or not, but we are somewhat easing into this deployment. Brian will be in Texas for a week where I can talk to him, then limited contact in his next training, and then full blown deployment in country. 

I had no idea that all of this would be so hard. I thought it would be easy easing into the deployment this way, but I find myself sobbing in tears multiple times a day since last night when he was packing. The emotional roller coaster that is deployment mixed with the hormones of a pregnant woman simply SUCKS! I miss him so very much and I just want him to come home. 

I know that I have a LONG way to go (my vase of pieces of candy reminds me), but I am assuming these first few weeks are really going to be tough. I don't think that at any point during this it will be easy, but I am giving myself a week of trying to deal and then I plan to make a schedule and stick to it. 

I need to remind myself IT DOESN'T LAST FOREVER! 

This is our last picture together before he left... I wanted to take another, but after this I was a hot crying mess...

End of Vaca...

Today we leave our little get away. Hilton Head Island was amazing. We really focused on enjoying our time and not thinking about the rest of this week. Last night it started to creep into our minds and now this morning I can't shake it...

My husband leaves in three days! I only get to sleep in the same bed with him for three more nights. This, to put it simply, SUCKS! On a positive note, we get to spend every second of the next three days together (with the exception of his time today in the dentist chair). 

We had an amazing time on our trip and happy memories to last us awhile. Such a relaxing time was had. We spent a day in the pool, a day farming sand dollars in the ocean, and lovely dinners. I'm going to miss my best friend, my confidant, my true love. 

September...

So, it is September and my heart is so heavy. My husband leaves in 19 short days and I can't believe it is here. We have known about this deployment for 8 months and I struggle to figure out where did the time go? What have we done in those last 8 months? This reminds me so much of moving. We spent 3 years in Washington and in the last two weeks or so we wanted to do a million things that we "didn't have time for" in the 3 years leading up to the move. So, in this 19 days we are trying to plan out our time together to get the most time and love and enjoyment in. The downside... we have a lot to do! With a baby coming while Brian is gone we have things to do that I will not be able to do alone. 

On a positive note it is almost fall, which is (was) one of my favorite seasons. I only say was, because it is NOTHING like fall in GA until maybe December/January. What I love about fall:

- Sweaters (except in GA)
- Pumpkin Spice Lattes (must be in moderation now...)
- Pumpkin EVERYTHING 
- Bugs start to die (except in GA)
- Holidays coming up = seeing family! 
- Leaves changing colors (not in GA either...)
- Scarfs (except in GA, though wearing them in the AC works...)

So, tomorrow I will be partaking in some seasonal fun by shopping at the outlet mall for Labor Day sales. I wish I would know if we were having a boy or a girl so I can shop the sales more, but alas I will have to shop neutral which is fine with me. I hope to find some good things and continue working on my Christmas shopping. (I already have some wrapped)! :)