You Look Like a Monkey...

...and you smell like one too!

Yesterday was my birthday.

Last year around this time I was sad and miserable.

Last year I turned 30.

I thought I was going to be one of those people who would take my 30th birthday by storm. I thought I would approach it with vengeance and be more fabulous that day than ever before.

Then reality hit.

I was SO not excited about turning 30. The Hubble was deployed. I felt old. I just didn't want to do it.

Yesterday...I turned 31.

Though I'm not incredibly thrilled with getting older and being 31...I really like being in my 30's.

When you are in your 20's people tend to look at you like you are a kid.

Sadly...there's a reason for that.

I feel like I know so much more now than I did when I was in my 20's.

I am actually super happy to be in my 30's now.

But talk to me in another 9 years and I'll probably be singing the same tune I was last year!

Yesterday started off kind of off. I had a headache. Little Butt woke up with a tummy ache. But I vowed to have it turn around.

 When The Hubble got home from his workout, I was finishing up my shower. When I walked out of the bathroom I found pretty Halloween-y flowers!

Then we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I am in lust with their new harvest yogurt parfait and I had to have one. It's so freaking good! If you haven't tried it...you must. It was the apple streusel French toast at first but then I started running and decided I needed a healthier option. The meal that the parfait comes with has eggs, a breakfast meat and an apple bran muffin. I think it's only around for a short amount of time so hurry and go try it! LOL!

When we got back from brunch I opened my present! For the last 10 1/2 years I've hoped and hoped that The Hubble would just know what I wanted for my birthday. That.Doesn't.Work! So this year I told him exactly what I wanted. And he delivered!!!

You may be thinking "where's the fun in that?" if I had to tell him what I wanted. I would know what I was getting right?? No! I was extremely shocked and surprised that not only did he remember what I told him...he actually followed through and went and got it! LOL!

Later that evening, we went out for sushi with some friends. I tried sashimi (raw fish) for the first time and it was SO good. I'm so happy I got it! I think it's going to be my newest obsession. I can't wait to go again.

My friend Lauren made me some cupcakes for my birthday too!

Hummingbird cupcakes with coconut pineapple frosting (the pink) or lemon frosting (the white). Lauren and her husband, John, also gave me a gift card to an amazing liquor store in town. Woohoo! I can't wait to figure out what to spend it on!

Another awesome thing that happened to me on my birthday was that Kristen from That Army Wife Life left me this award:

Kristen is pretty dang awesome and is even a top 3 finalist in the Army Wife Network HH6 2011 Contest. I told you she was awesome! If you have a minute, you should jump over to the AWN site and vote for Kristen in the poll halfway down the page!

And that's how the anniversary of my 30th birthday went down. Yeah...I'm getting older...but I'm loving it!

And many more...on channel four...

Word of the Day: Random

Do you ever get stumped on what to title your blog posts?? I just did. I knew I wanted to post but I couldn't figure out what to call it because my post is going to be a jumbled mess.

I couldn't stop thinking about Penny at I Could Be Fake posting one word last week. Hence, my title was born.

And in that comes a warning. This post is going to be kind of random and jumbled so bear with me. If it counts, it's also kind of an update.

Let me start by saying I am so glad I posted recently about my weight loss struggles because I had several friends here contact me about it and we've been going to the track on post 3 times a week. I haven't lost anything but I'm definitely not gaining anymore. Though I may have to bite the bullet and buy a larger size jean soon, I'm glad I'm not gaining anymore. And I'm okay with the size up I would have to purchase. It's still smaller than my pre-baby size jean.

Last week I got the chance to meet the lovely and sweet Emily from Scatterbrained Wife of a Soldier! She is seriously so nice and sweet and adorable! She's so new too! Her and her husband, J, have only been married 4 months! And most of that time he's been here (in a different state from her) attending school. Luckily, he graduates soon and they are going to PCS to Germany!

I was nervous about meeting her at first because I had Little Butt with me. We went to lunch at Cracker Barrel (because that's basically all we have here) and after we ate Emily sat on the floor with me and Little Butt while we explored all the bins of toys in the shop outside the restaurant.

After that fun time, and me buying the best frog toy ever (the eyes pop out when you squeeze it!!!!) we went to the only other happening place in town...Wally World! Sounds like a blast right?!?!? Actually, we had a lot of fun! Little Butt found the hula hoops and the three of us stood in the middle of Wally World (down an aisle of course) playing with the hula hoops. Those suckers are NOT easy! How the heck did I do those when I was a kid?? If you haven't tried a hula hoop in years, please go try it and tell me how you do! I was only able to get a few pictures:

I've been trying to take Emily around with me to give her something to do in the middle of nowhere and to introduce her to different military type things. She's gone to the track with us a couple times and she went to a friend's house for coffee with me. She even attended story time at the library with us! LOL! She's a great girl and if you don't follow her...you should!

And finally (for now) I would like to thank Sarah at Confessions of an Untenured Teacher who gave me an award:

With this award I am supposed to share 7 things about myself. Yikes! Let's see...

1. I have 8 tattoos.
2. I have 2 sisters (ages 34 and 25 with me in the middle at 30) and a brother (age 17).
3. I love quotes! I have a quote journal in which I write quotes that strike me. These can be lines from movies, books, conversations, songs, you name it. If I like it, I keep it.
4. I love, love, LOVE coffee. I take mine black with 2 sugars or if it's from Starbucks I take it with hazelnut syrup. Actually, all the coffee I drink is from Starbucks. I buy the pounds of whole beans and grind my coffee fresh.
5. I am passionate about literature and I love to read. But this wasn't always the case. I didn't get into reading until my late teens. When I was little I hated reading!
6. I collect shot glasses. I have shot glasses from all over the country and the world. People usually find out I like them and bring them to me. 
7. I'm fascinated by pin-up girls. Our dining room is decked out with pictures, books and calendars of pin-ups. Gil Elvgren is one of my favorites. I would like to be a pin-up girl! 

Thanks again Sarah!

Oh shoot! One more thing. I told you this was going to be random!

Jessica Lynn over at Jesstagirl and Her Officer is hosting a Bake-N-Blog and I think more people should get involved! Basically, you choose a cupcake from a site that she has listed and you bake it and post about it on September 15th! You will also be entered to win one of my favorite cupcake books: Hello, Cupcake!

 Photo and recipe from Ming Makes Cupcakes

I am going to bake cupcake #24: Coffee Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting. Sounds delicious right?!?!? Well head over there and sign up for the cupcake you want to bake and blog about! It should be fun!!!

And don't forget to get your pictures ready for the Wordless Wednesday: The Boots Edition that I'm hosting. If you don't know about it...look at this POST!

For Further Reading Check Out:

• My Weight Loss Struggle and 5 Ways to Stay Motivated
• Wordless Wednesday: The Box Edition (With a Random Hot Dog and an Assignment)

Summer Essentials Swap (Finally) and Awards!

Last month some time Nicole over at Flip Flops and Combat Boots hosted a Summer Essentials Swap. Everyone interested left a comment and Nicole paired up all the participants. I was paired with Mrs. Bear from Growing Up.

I think our being partnered was the best thing that could have happened to either of us because we were both equally matched in the slacker department. LOL!

The Summer Essentials Swap had a deadline dictating when the packages needed to be sent out. Yeah, me and my partner decided the next week would be best for us. Aaaaaannnnnddddd....that didn't happen either! We didn't end up sending our packages until about a week and a half or so after the "send no later than" date. But it was all good because we were both in line with one another and neither of us cared that things were late.

But we both did finally send our packages to one another and about 2 weeks later I'm finally posting about what I received in my package!

Mrs. Bear knows I have Little Butt and she asked if it was okay if she sent things for us to do together. Little Butt and I loved everything in this package! Looking at the fun food magazine I have so many ideas and I definitely didn't have that issue of Self magazine.

Little Butt dived right into the goodies and I hardly had time to take a picture of the package in full.

She was pretty excited about the drink mix. But her favorite thing was the nail polish!

She sat right down and made me paint her toenails.

The color even matched her dress that day!

Then she made me paint my toenails!! (sorry you have to look at my nasty toes...I had to do it for Little Butt!)

Then of course you can't have blue toes without pink fingers!!

We had a blast with this package and are grateful to Mrs. Bear for sending us all this fun summer stuff!

And...in true procrastinator fashion, I have yet to thank a couple girls for some awards so here goes.

Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots awarded me the Life is Good award:

I honestly didn't think she even read my blog so it was a pleasant surprise to see the name of my little blog on her site. I am to award this to five blogs. I am giving this award to blogs that I think either need to be reminded of this right now or just were. I bestow this award upon:

1. The Annoyed Army Wife
2. jesstagirl and her officer
3. A Day in the Life of 5...
4. Ah...My Married Life
5. Troop Petrie

The Annoyed Army Wife also awarded me the Cherry on Top award!

The rules for this award are simple. I have to thank the awesome person who gave it to you, list 3 things I love about myself, and pass it along to 5 other people.

Thanks Annoyed Army Wife!

Blogs I would like to give this award to:

1. Mommie Cooks
2. It's How She Rolls
3. Goodnight moon!
4. The Adventures of Mr. Superman & Mrs. S
5. Within a Mile of Home

Okay. Now...3 things I love about myself.

1. My drive and determination.
2. The fact that I have a Texas sized attitude with a New York timeline.
3. My openness and honesty.

I know, that's kind of like 6 things but oh well.

Okay. I feel so much better now that I've gotten those things out of the back of my mind! LOL! Have a great day!

For Further Reading Check Out:

• Summer Essential Swap
• My First Bloggy Award

My First Bloggy Award!

I received my first bloggy award!! Penny over at I could be fake thinks I deserved this award:

This is pretty exciting to me. I mean, I've seen those awards going around...you know the ones. The ones that think your blog is cute and awesome...but this one. This one says I have substance. It's amazing to me that Penny thinks I have substance because I think I just ramble! LOL! Thanks again Penny! This means a lot.

Now, winning an award does not come for free. It is now my duty to pass on the bloggy love. Here are the rules that go along with accepting this award:

The Rules:
~ Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.
~ Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five words.
~ Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.


My blogging philosophy in 5 words or less: Life as I know it...


Ten other blogs that I believe have substance:
(this is not quite 10, sorry!)

In no particular order:

Calm Crazy
In Every Good Love Letter There's a Soldier and His Girl
It's a Hooah Life
Scatterbrained Wife of a Soldier
A Modern Military Mother
Riding the Roller Coaster 
4 Nuts in a Nutshell
A Day in the Life of 5 

So there it is. I am pretty new to this wonderful world of amazing blogs so that's all I have for now. Thanks again Penny!