Christmas, Classes, & Homecoming Prep

 There is a huge part of me that still semi believes that I am trapped in this endless loop of October, but we are officially in January! It feels incredibly strange that Christmas came and went, Fall semester ended, and I am in the home stretch of this deployment.  Time is such a funny thing to me.

Even though Phil was deployed, I still made him do Christmas card photos with me:

Our photographer is super talented and Phil definitely indulged me with doing his part of the photo (shoutout to his awesome 1st Sergeant for being his photographer).  These turned out so well and are a sweet reminder of this deployment.

The puppies and I had a great Christmas with my parents (they came to spend it with me), and they each got new collars, leashes and bones!  

Spring semester is going to start soon!! I am so excited!  I really enjoyed my first semester of my doctoral program and cannot wait to keep pursuing this dream.  The only downside is that I have to take statistics this semester and I am NOT a math person in any way, shape or form, so think good thoughts for me please :)

We are definitely on the downward spiral of this deployment and I am so excited!!!  I am so ready for Phil to be home and re-establish our "normal".  It is so strange because for a while the deployment seems like it will last for eternity, and then you look up and you have less than a month left....I am not complaining about that process in the least! 

I hope you all have a great week and have had a great start to your New Year!

I am looking for fun destinations for Phil and I to visit when he gets home, he will get a little leave time, any suggestions? 

Classes, Flowers, & More Truck Stuff

 THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL CAME!!!  I have been thinking about this day since I officially accepted the offer into the University of Tennessee's Doctoral Program in June, and it finally came!

The occasion obviously called for a First Day of School picture: 

GO VOLS!

I was full of excitement Monday morning!  However, my classes are at 5pm, so by 3:30pm, I began to pace.  The dogs were huge supporters as they too walked laps around my house.

By 4:30pm I was in full pace/panic mode when I received a very sweet surprise:

Phil is the sweetest :)

About halfway through class I realized that this is just school, and it felt really good to be back in the saddle.  The build up to my Tuesday class was a lot better. 

                                                

Max and Penny were there to cheer me on!

Also good news: in addition to four brand new tires, I am now the proud owner of new rear and front brakes!!  I can do all sorts of truck stuff now with my new tires AND stop when I want to...life is good and hopefully vehicle maintenance free for now.

This made me chuckle because as much as my dogs hate anyone who rings the doorbell or heaven forbid someone knocks, they have a canny ability to tell when its the Chewy delivery...then they look at me wondering why it's taking me so long to bring that beautiful box in....that's because its heavy and I have to wrestle it inside the door with a doggy audience.

I hope everyone has a great week!! How is school going for everyone?  Are you all doing online or in person learning?

Doggy Daycare, Audible, & Truck Stuff

Life in OK has been HOT!!!!! And by hot, I mean 105* with a real feel of 115* hot.  Days like that make playing outside with the dogs super difficult: they want to play, but we can really only do about 20 minute increments before we need to head back inside.  As a treat, I loaded up the puppies and took them to doggy daycare so they could play and socialize with all of their friends in the air conditioned playrooms.  When picking them up, I received the most interesting report on my little bud Max: he is always the last one out of the playroom when they go outside for breaks.  This time, he managed to find their food bin, unlatch it, and take a nibble on his way out....he also managed to do that on the way back in to the playroom....I swear I feed them

Do not let those soulful eyes fool you....

Phil reads/listens to a lot of leadership books and one thing we try to do together is listen to them and chat about the parts we find interesting and how we can both incorporate what we are learning into our fields.  I am currently listening to this one:

We have listened to some of Jocko Willink's other books and enjoyed them thoroughly and he is really nice to listen to (I don't know what he looks like, but I think he sounds like John Cena, so that is who I picture reading to me lol).  We also really enjoyed Dan Crenshaw's book Fortitude.  

The last time Phil was deployed (about 4 years ago) I had put new tires on the truck.  Before he left, he told me that they would probably last me through the summer, but that we needed them pretty soon.  That day came yesterday!  Somehow and somewhere on my in town travels, I picked up a nail in my rear drivers side tire.  I begrudgingly took it to Firestone after needing a pep talk from my mom, dad, Phil, and my mom's boss who is a retired Colonel from the Army....vehicle maintenance is not my thing and makes me nervous for reasons I do not understand.  The man at Firestone was really nice and as he looked at my tire he told me apologetically, " Ma'am I cannot fix your tire, it is so worn down the only thing you can do is replace the tire...please let me put new tires on this truck".   He helped me pick out some good ones (I think?) and on they went and I was good to go in an hour.  

I'm also going back next week because I need both rear and front brakes....the adventure continues...

An actual photo of me this summer:

I hope everyone has a great week!!  Does anyone else out there dislike vehicle maintenance or is it just me?  Let me know what y'all are listening to on audible!

Hello Again

Hello!!! It has been a very very long time since I have written!  Life has been crazy and really so much has happened over the past year to really recap.

We are still in Oklahoma!  We bought a house last summer and have loved every minute of being homeowners

We are working through our 3rd Deployment; due to COVID Phil's deployment date changed quite a few times, and even though I had secretly hoped he wouldn't, he did in fact deploy in May

It is tough as always, but I have these two cuties to help me through it!

Look at those faces!!! :)

I am embarking on my own new journey career-wise: I have been accepted into the Doctoral Program of Educational Leadership at Tennessee University!!! I am beyond excited as this has always been my goal! I am starting their online program this Fall and am literally counting down the days until my classes start!

If you don't wear the swag, do you even go there?? ;)

It feels good to be back!  Maybe I will make this a regular thing again???

How is everyone's summer?  What are you all doing to stay sane during the heat and during COVID?

Doggie Daycare, Weather, & End of School

It is finally that time:

SCHOOL ENDS THIS WEEK!!!!

I am not excited.....or at least not too much ;)

Penny is losing her mind over it too clearly:

Speaking of school, I am the club sponsor for our Military Child Club and we had our end of the year event!  We had a formal Dining In for the students complete with dinner and a guest speaker.

Phil was not only my date (and doesn't he look handsome!), but he also helped me configure the script, the program design, and he also MC'd the event.  I am lucky he is on my team!

We have a doggie daycare in town and so the puppies go play with their friends when we both have nighttime events.  I love that this place cares for my puppies like I do, they get to play, and they are tired when they get home:

The four of us sat on the couch in companionable silence after we all got home from the Dining In...it was lovely.

It is storm season here and to be honest, this is my least favorite part of living in Oklahoma.  I loved the movie Twister (still do) and that is the closest I ever really wanted to get to a tornado...yet here I am, sweating through storm season and coping by eating Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreos (if you haven't tried them, that needs to change immediately...or don't do it because you won't be able to stop!).  As I prep for the upcoming storms this week, I realized that I have no idea why Bill and Jo get such a kick out of chasing the twisters, or why people sit on their porch and WATCH THE TORNADO....maybe I am not cut out to be an Okie after all.

I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Anyone else have a guilty snack like my Oreos??

Teacher Appreciation, Flashbacks, & Puppies

This week for Teacher Appreciation, I became my very own superhero:

I really wish I was that epic, and cute!

One of the secretaries at school is in charge of Teacher Appreciation Week and she goes ALL OUT!!  I am always amazed at the creativity, time, work, and effort that she puts into this week; she really is the best of us :)

I love Timehop because sometimes it helps me remember things from the past that I have forgotten or just don't think about on a regular basis.  Phil and I graduated (and he commissioned) 6 years ago!

He's still as cute now as he was then, and I'm still as smitten...insert mega heart eyes and sigh

I had Friday off from school and got to spend the entire day with my puppies and my books and color me contented!  I even started to take a nap on the couch while watching cartoons with the pups!  Note the "started" part, I soon felt paws on my back reminding me that it was play time now:

Hello Penny!

Max was less inclined for play time as it was overcast, he was much more content napping on my feet:

We had already played and walked and so, he felt the cuddle time was just right.

The rest of the weekend was filled with gym time (finally! It's been more sporadic than I'd like!), volunteering with my awesome Battalion Crew,  dog walks, and book reading.  I have finished two books and am marching my way through a third; ah the joy of the written word :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I am gearing up for my LAST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! School is out next week!  It is finally winding down at a super quick pace!

How was everyone else's week? 

Reunions, Shopping, & Easter

I still to this day find Phil's training schedule a mystery: on one hand it feels completely normal and I continue to bop through life at my normal pace, missing him mostly at night.  On the other hand it feels like part of my essence is gone and I don't do certain things while he's gone; but I only realize that when he returns home.  They say hindsight is 20/20 and boy do I believe them! Whoever the "them" actually is in this case...but I digress.

Phil left for a 3.5 week training and I made him take the standard leaving picture:

I am a sucker for photos, I think because when I see cute couple photos on social media and my other half is gone, I miss him more and long to take cute photos with him.  

That being said, I forgot to take a Welcome Back photo with him when he returned on Tuesday, oops!

The puppies have finally stopped eating grass that has caused them stomach distress all week!  We are all finally sleeping through the night once more!

I moved my feet, and lost my seat: they clearly feel guilty about that

Phil and I spent Friday up in OKC doing some shopping and exploring; I was especially excited because I scored two new pairs of shoes!!  A new pair of gym sneakers (my first pair of Reeboks) and another pair of Birkenstocks...I can't help it, they are super comfortable and I absolutely love them.  Unfortunately for Phil, I still haven't gotten rid of my seriously old and broken ones...I can't though, they are good for yard work and fetch and a lot of other things still!

This is the only photo I took today for Easter; I made Phil and I Belgian waffles, and while I was eating mine, he took over the waffle iron.  He mastered that so well, he might have to put those skills to use more often :)

I hope everyone had a restful and thankful Easter!  Phil and I took a really nice walk around post today, got some quality puppy play time in and I have put a lot of pages behind me in my new book:

I love a classic "who done it" and I am seriously enjoying this one!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Anyone else reading anything good lately?

M&Ms, Rain, & A Sick Pupper

State testing is over!  Wahoo!! It has been a long two weeks, but we have conquered those tests and are now on our way to fun things - again, probably English teacher fun ;)

I had a sweet delivery to the school this week:

Phil has been away at training and must have sensed that I needed a boost...he was right! Insert sigh and heart eyes.

I had another sweet surprise this week and it came in the form of a bag of M&Ms:

A small gesture with such a huge impact that I literally cried.  A student bought these for me and told me: "Miss, these are for you because you never give up on us and sometimes we really don't deserve that, so thanks.  And your cold sore looks really painful.  And you miss Phil."-7th grader

It is those types of moments that really bring me to my knees sometimes and remind me why I do this everyday.

We had an all day rain/wind soaker on Saturday; spring was in full force here in OK!  The dogs and I enjoyed spending all day on the couch watching cartoons and Hallmark movies (the Spring movies are super cute!)

As you can see, the couch was well guarded...

Sadly, our night was super chaotic with a sick little pupper :( Poor Penny has been hit with some tummy distress, so Sunday has passed with Clorox wipes, multiple baths, laundry, and more couch cuddles.  She is extra snuggly when she is sick, so we have made sure to grab all of those that we could today.

Max embraced the cuddle day as well:

He feels fine, he just didn't want to be left behind...also I am unsure how the position could even remotely be comfortable...maybe if I did yoga I would understand better.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  We have a four day week to celebrate Easter!

Anyone have any Easter plans or traditions that they are looking forward to?

Cross Stitching, Cold Sores, & Testing

State testing is exhausting!!! Whew!  Our kiddos handled it like champs last week and I hope they got enough rest over this weekend for Week 2.  They had the ELA and Writing last week which leaves Math and Science this week.   I will be excited to have testing over with so we can get back to doing fun things like research writing and reading our novels....at least I think that's fun...English teachers ;)

However, with the stress of testing and Phil being gone on training, I have managed to give myself a beautiful cold sore :(  So I will be sporting a puffy and sore lip for most of this week...Abreva do your thing!!  I think I need new ways to cope with stress lol; the gym, chocolate and my puppies aren't doing the normal job!

Speaking of the puppies, how cute do they look:

They went to doggy daycare today and then got groomed.  Max was happy because he received his Blueberry Facial and Penny got the de-shedding treatment (hello blowing winter coat).  They earned their bandanas and also posed for this photo under the pretense of getting a cookie...they may have gotten two because I'm a sucker.

I have started a new project: cross stitching!

I have absolutely NO experience in this craft, but lucky for me, my amazing friend Julie is awesome at it and is willing to take me under her wing.

This is the pattern that I am working on:

I was honored to be inducted into the Order of Molly Pitcher this winter and would love to do this pattern justice.

I am currently 6 stitches in....


I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Anyone else have any hobbies they are just starting out?  Or any cross stitch advice?

Renewed, Refreshed, & Ready

It has been an impossibly long time since I have written and I have no idea where to start!  It feels as though I am beginning again.  Life in Oklahoma has been very good; most people do not like getting stationed here, but honestly, it has been nothing but great to Phil and I!  The people we have met here have been such a blessing!

I had mentioned last time that I was training for a marathon, and I conquered the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon last April!

First Full is in the books!  No immediate plans for another one at this time....

However, Penny and I enjoy getting some miles in together:

Penny is always pretty smiley when we get our runs in!

Max, while he enjoys walks and wrestling with his sister, is currently very content in his favorite place:

It is so satisfying to tucker out my puppies...not sure why, but it always makes me feel so accomplished!

I had the privilege of watching my husband take battery command in February:

That man never ceases to make my heart explode with love and pride!

Those are some of the major highlights, due to my extra long hiatus, there are too many to really fit into one post.  I enjoyed taking a break from blogging, it became something "extra" I was trying to fit into my schedule and I needed to let it go for a bit.  The distance did make the heart grow fonder as I have found that I miss writing and do enjoy the creative outlet it provides.   

Anybody else feel as though they need to take breaks from things to gain fresh perspective again?

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)

Hello Again

Hello again!  It has been unbearably long since I have blogged, and I apologize for my absence.  These past few months have been busy, crazy, fun and just ordinary...we had the whole gambit happen.  I wanted to take a break from blogging about my life, and concentrate more on simply living and enjoying it.  And it has been wonderful!

Phil and I signed up for the Half Marathon and Full Marathon up in Tulsa.  I had been training pretty consistently and was super happy with a PR time that was 7 minutes faster than the Super Bowl Half Marathon I ran last year in the Springs.

Phil completed his first full marathon and did it in a little over 5 hours...I was super impressed!

It was a wonderful day and a long ride home...three hours made for some very stiff muscles on our already sore bodies.  But, it was so worth it!

I was running on that half marathon euphoria and signed up for a full marathon in OKC in April, so I am continuing my training and getting (or attempting to get) into marathon shape!  Prayers are appreciated :)

Phil and I also expanded our family by four more paws:

Penny is Max's new sister!  She is almost 16 weeks old and is as adorable and sweet as can be!  Phil and I love her so much already!   She is my little shadow, where I go, Penny goes and that just makes my heart happy.  She and Max wrestle, chase each other, play tug and are figuring out how to be siblings...pretty soon they will be inseparable I believe and that also makes my heart super happy!

It actually snowed here in OK so Phil and I made good use of it and did a brisk 4 miles in the elements.  Call me crazy ( I will not be offended) but I love running in the snow: the peace, the quiet, the feeling of serenity.  After everything warms up, it feels really great!

Layers, runny nose, and frozen cheeks, but a smile that was real!

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!  While the barrage of weight loss and dieting commercials/products/offers floods in, I am going to make a different type of resolution this year.  I will be working on having more patience with life.  My Type A personality can bring out the best and worst in me, and patience is something I want to have more of.

What kind of resolutions are you guys working on?

Have a happy and restful New Year! :)

Dogs, Running, & Food Trucks

I had an earth-shattering epiphany this week: maybe if I ran steadily, I wouldn't be in soooo much pain after I decide to run a race.  I was thinking this as EVERY muscle in my body from my ribs down were boycotting life on Monday and Tuesday.  So, in order to remedy some of that, I have ran every night this week!  I have ranged from 1-2 miles and they have been just slow and steady...definitely not breaking any speed records or coming close to my race times, but just an easy pace to get back in the swing of things.    It has actually felt really amazing (except on Monday and Tuesday, that completely sucked, not going to lie) and it makes me happy getting back into running.  I have been more focused on lifting and exploring exercises with weights that I have let running slip on by (that and it was 100+ degrees everyday in the summer).  I still lift after my runs, but it just makes my heart happy to be running steadily once more.

On Saturday, Phil and I, along with some friends, went to Wichita Falls, TX to just poke around.  And to participate in the Food Truck Fest! I have never really eaten from a food truck and I see them on cooking shows all the time, but haven't ever eaten at one.  But you bet I got a street taco from a legit food truck on Saturday!  It was so fun to mix and mingle and people watch! The hardest part was choosing which truck I wanted to eat from!

Once the school year starts, I have a hard time fitting in any reading time.  I read a lot and it is one of the ways I unwind and relax, and I (as well as Phil) can always tell when I haven't been reading enough.  This week I destroyed this book:

It was really good and the first of a series!  I have the next one arriving on Monday...happy day!

Max is also obviously, very excited...

Speaking of Max, we also have had the pleasure of having a guest dog in the house!  His name is Bear and he is amazing...literally! He and Max had their first playdate last week and Max has been a whole new dog having Bear here in the house.  He has been back to his happy self and this dog mama couldn't be happier!

It has been so fun having them both here, definitely contemplating that second dog now! Maybe over Thanksgiving or Christmas Break...

Max is now snoring on the couch as he has played more in the last few days then he has in months!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)

Anyone have any cute fall decoration ideas for outside?  Phil and I are thinking of decorating the outside of our house and any ideas are appreciated!

Linking up with Bianca!

Early Mornings, Visits, & Running

So back in the winter I was trying that whole "workout before work" thing in order to fit extra training in for our half marathon on Super Bowl Sunday.  Once that was over, I dropped that like a hot potato and gained an extra hour or so of sleep in the morning.  That being said, for the past three weeks, I have been getting up at 4:30am to hit the gym before work.  It has just seemed a lot easier because after school I have cheer practice (I am the assistant cheer coach at my middle school) and by the time I get home from that, all I really want to do is eat and sit on the couch until I can go to bed.  Surprisingly, I really LOVE getting up and hitting the gym early!  It is not the struggle it was in the winter at all! I start the day feeling super productive and awake! And having my metabolism revved all day is a nice side benefit.

Max typically isn't a fan of that alarm, but he doesn't like any alarm, so there's that.

Speaking of Max, he got to have a great play date with his new doggy pal Bear!  This was so awesome because I think Max is going through withdrawal from seeing all of his friends (and girlfriends) at doggy daycare, so this was much needed!  Phil and I got to have a people date with our friends, and our dogs got to run around like crazy, sniffing and licking everything...it was pretty great for these dog parents!

Look at that doggy grin!

Phil had signed us up for a 10k race up in the city this morning about three weeks ago.  Now in the time he told me about it, signed us up,  to this morning when the race actually occurred, I ran a total of ZERO times.  I had every intention of running a bit to keep in shape and all that jazz, but it really just didn't happen.  But, this morning I actually had a great race!  I hit a PR and placed third!  I am super happy about that, because somewhere around mile 4, I was really thinking of how I wanted a drink and to stop.  I shut down that negativity in my head, and just kept plugging away and it actually worked...who knew?

I think the best part of the race is Phil's outfit...

Phil and I are doing the dance where we think about getting a second dog again.  Normally, we dance, I overthink, and we move on.  However,  lately, it does feel like Max is just sad or lonely and it is really starting to get to me!  Does anyone have any advice on getting a second dog?  Max will be 4 years old in December and it probably won't occur until after school is out for the summer, but did anyone overthink as much as I do?  Did your dogs get along?  Is it better to get a girl since we already have a boy?  So many questions!

Any advice is appreciated!! :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)

Linking up with Bianca!