"I Love" Sundays v.63

Hello dearest Dreamers

Happy Sunday to you all!!!!

** Monday was quite successful for me. I started two new bullet journal books, one for my blog and another one for my photography business. I love the way these things help me stay organized and I like having separate ones for my blog, photography, and my personal life.

** I also applied to be part of the RUKristin Awesome Ladies Project Creative Team! I will share a post tomorrow about the results of this!

** Tuesday was the first time in my life that I have ever (be able to) call out sick from work. I had a horrible sore throat and I didn't want to be around people. The constant weather changing and my cold house.... it was only a matter of time that my allergies kicked me in the face. In the meantime, I did get a lot of photos printed out and caught up on my scrap journaling. There will be an upcoming post about there in the near future.

** Amy and I started to plan where we were going to hang pictures and art in the office spaces. We took two of my pictures to Hobby Lobby for framing. I got them from a street vendor in Nurnburg, Germany and I wanted them to be similarly framed since the pictures were similar. I can't wait to get them back and get them hanging on the wall.

** Thursday brought me my acceptance letter from Fayetteville State University. I am officially going back to college... this time in an actual college (well... I'll be taking classes on post instead of on the actual campus - it's a bit of a drive for me and not the best parts of town), no more online classes for me!

** Friday brought our Housewarming Party. Before that though, we got a LOT of stuff accomplished (you should see my list for Friday in my planner). You should read that post for the beginning looks at the McNaugle House. My friend Sarah also asked me to help her start her own blog! I am pretty stoked about that one.

** Today I got to spend the day just hanging out with Lee. We went to the mall so he could get some clothes and then we went on a long walk around the neighborhood. It was nice, because we're always either at my house or we're hanging out with Amy and Mem (not complaining, but it's nice to do something that is just us). Afterwards, we went to Red Robin with Amy and Mem and had a good evening.

.: Little Loves :.

|| Bullet Journaling | Starz channels on tv | cuddling | friends and family | salad ||

What are you loving from this past weekend?

Welcome to the McNaugle House

Hello friends

and Happy Saturday

I know that I've talked to you guys about how excited that I am to move into our new house. I've been promising to share our new house with you guys, but we've been super busy! That and I kept forgetting to get before pictures of the furniture before they were all painted. 

Last night was our little housewarming party. It was great. I intended to take a bunch of pictures, even charged my camera, but I completely forgot. I got a couple of pictures with some people that showed up early to help us get set up, but once everyone started arriving, I forgot about taking pictures. 

Before everyone came over (minus Sarah, she came over in the morning to help), Amy and I cleaned the house, hung some of my pictures and stuff, and got the office areas in order. We set up the printing station, bookshelves, and attempted to put the new drawer pulls onto the hutch (but we don't have the right sized hardware for that). Lee and I painted our office desk about a week earlier, Amy and I painted the hutch and the kitchen table, and she painted the two folding tables and end tables she bought. We went with a chalk finish paint for everything, either in White, Black, or a Dark Grey. 

Amy did the main stenciling and I went back over for the detail work. She told me she didn't have the patience for that, so I had to do it. Which is fine with me. Once we finished the table, we removed the painters tape along the edges and then covered the top in a light wax coating to protect the top.

Sarah and Molly Girl were hanging out with Amy and I outside and we cut a piece of plywood for our new printer area. Molly Girl is such a diva girl sometimes. It's adorable.

The boyfriend also came over early to help with anything else that we needed to do. Which was basically just me cooking some Garlic Parm Knots.... which were a hit once again.

It took Sarah and I two tries to take this picture since Lee and Mem decided to photobomb the first one we took.

My desk top is white and the legs are black. The kitchen table has black legs, a dark grey top, and a white pattern. The hutch is black, and everything else is grey. 

We hung several of my things on the walls from my time in the Army. Amy hung two collages of the kids, and several paintings that she (and one her mother did) did at a Wine and Paint kind of thing. This place really is starting to look like a home!

We love our new house and can't wait for the rest of the adventures that await us in this house!!!!

Coming soon I'll have some more home related posts, especially one that focuses on our craft spaces! ((We say plural craft rooms because they are two rooms that are connected by an opening without doors. We're using them both for our craft stuff)).

March Goals

Good Morning dearest Dreamers!

I hope this post finds you well on this Hump Day! Today I wanted to share a recap of my February Goals and then share March's goals!

THE RECAP:

Home Stuff:

* Get Set Up: So like I said here, I had a surprise for you all. Amy and I moved from our apartment to our new (to us) house! We spend the second to last week of February to move everything into the new house. For the most part we're all settled in, minus one room that needs to be finished.

* Stuff from Florida/ Cancel Storage unit: FAILED- I have yet to make it home to visit my parents and to clear out my storage unit. Mostly due to a later goal in our list!

Crafting:

* Paint a canvas for Memphis: FAILED- The only thing I have done towards this was to unpack all of my paints from being shipped from Germany by some of my friends. That was quite an episode... it was funny. There was so much tape!

* Attend a Wine and Paint: FAILED- Amy and I have yet to find the time or a canvas that we like that isn't on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. We'll get there eventually I believe.

* Finish my Doctor Who Cowl: FAILED- I swear I will finish this thing eventually. I worked on it for a little while, and it's almost done... but not quite yet.

* Month 2 of One Little Word: I've been keeping track of this in each month's plan book, and it's going quite well. I am proud of myself for keeping up with something this month. Haha.

Personal:

* Go to the gym: IN-PROGRESS- We went to the gym for the first two weeks, but once we started moving, that kind of took over our gym time. We still got one heck of the workout though!!!

* Money in savings: I made it a point to start putting money back into my savings. I'm starting with a small increment each month until I get the finances situated, but anything is most definitely a start!

* Start paying Mom back: FAILED: During Christmas my parents gave me some money after my account was shut down. I want to pay my mother back for her help. Unfortunately I did't have a chance to give Mom back her money, but I most definitely will!

* JOB: Such a huge check, that it's astounding. As you guys saw in this post, I shared about my first week. Now, later this week, I am going to share about my first month working at the store!

So I got more stuff done this month then I thought I did. It wasn't all goal related... but I still feel quite successful in my February!

HOUSE STUFF:

* Set up the Craft Office Spaces

* Hang up paintings

* House warming party

CRAFT STUFF:

* Create a Blog Bujo

* Create a Photography Business Bujo

* YouTube video of my current setup

* Paint furniture

PERSONAL: 

* Continue Working Out

* Pay Mom back

* Continue building my savings

* Read an actual book

Do you guys have any monthly goals you would like to share? If so, please share a link in the comments so I can go check them out!!!

"I Love" Sunday's v.62

Hello dearest Dreamers

Happy Sunday! I hope this post finds you well!

** Amy's father drove down from Ohio on Monday and I got to meet my new Grandpa. This gentleman is awesome and I am grateful to have met him. We went to Moe's for dinner, which is always one of our favorite places to go. "Welcome to Moe's!"

** Tuesday brought the beginning of our move into the new house, and what an adventure that was! It started raining as soon as we loaded up the trucks and a trailer and stopped once we were finished. Thankfully we had a couple of great friends and coworkers who came over to help with the move, which obviously made things go by much faster. We got the majority of our stuff moved in the few hours before I went to work, despite the rain.

this is just a few of the people who came in to help.
A couple of people had to leave before we got around to taking a picture.

** Wednesday was the final push to get all of our stuff moved out of the old apartment and into the new house. I thought that I had to work but didn't, so that went well! The poor TWC guy came over in the morning and got rained on for the whole 2 hours he was there. He was even under the house and thankfully he brought a jump suit. We went to get a tv for Memphis (which he was super excited for) and then we went to get a box spring for me (which of course meant it was time for the sky to open up and POUR down on us). We were driving down the road holding onto the mattress, which meant the inside of the car was soaked and then once we got home, Grandpa was standing in the WORST spot when Amy and I went to move the mattress and he then got DUMPED on yet again. Apparently the universe thought he needed another bath.

** Friday was my day off and I got to spend some time with my boyfriend. He was out in the field all week, but they let everyone come back on Friday (after 2 days of being poured on) and he came over and hung out for quite away. Amy was excited to have an excuse to fire up our new grill and make some Italian Sausage and Hamburgers. Dinner is always fun in this house.

** Saturday was our first night out in quite a while. Amy and I joined a couple of her EMT friends for dinner last night, and I love being able to see some of those girls. The service wasn't that great, but it was still nice to see people and for Amy and I to get out of the house. Memphis later joined us after his friends birthday party. We got ice cream once we were done, which is always a great way to end the day.

** I thought I had to open this morning, but it turns out that I had to work this evening. This is awesome because Mem and I got to sit around all morning while I got caught up on The Arrow. I love lazy days at home.

** This song was my jam on the way home from work today. It's a good lesson to learn and I love it! It's on my iPod because I like another one of her songs, but have never heard this one before. I really like it!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Music | Time with family | New Friends | The Arrow | Netflix | Having a bed | Having my own room | Family nights ||

"I Love" Sundays v.61

Hello dearest friends!

This has been kind of an exciting (but super long week)

** Monday found me cracking open the Harry Potter coloring book that I bought some time ago while Amy took a nap on the couch and I colored my first page. I didn't want to do any of the more complicated pages just yet because I was incredibly tired, so I started with the Gryffindor crest. Slytherin is next!

** Also on Monday, while I was at work, this lovely lady below came into my store and told me "This may sound weird, but I follow you on Instagram. I knew you worked at Starbucks but I didn't put two and two together that you worked at THIS Starbucks." It made my day to have met this lovely lady. You can follow her on IG here! ((I need to take a better picture next time, but I was at work and I wasn't supposed to have my phone out but I wanted a picture with this gorgeous and sweet girl))

 ** Tuesday was an incredibly long day for me. I took a coworkers shift because she didn't have someone to watch her young son, so I worked for 11.5 hours. I was exhausted, closing two days in a row and then such a long day on the second day. Thankfully, I closed with a great group of people, and the guy that I talked about last Sunday visited me during my dinner break. It was sweet.

** Speaking of my work. Some of the regulars have started to learn my name (I've been working the front counter a lot lately) and thankfully all have patience with me when I need help figuring out what a "Black Eye" or a "Dirty Chai" is ((can you tell that I really don't drink much coffee?)) The other upside is that I have started to learn some of their names! This makes me happy!!!

** Thursday had me running into an old NCO of mine from when I was stationed here back 2011-2014. He was a super awesome guy and we almost literally ran into each other in the food court at the mini mall! I am going to meet him at his work tomorrow to help him with his VA packet because he is retiring soon. 

** I found Kara of Boho Berry sometime this week and was kind of hooked on her style of bullet journaling. I LOVE the way that she does it! She is so creative and talented and she makes her bujo more then just a simple to do list! I love her handwriting and she has inspired me with some new collections to add to my scrap-journal! 

** Friday was a super busy but successful day for me and my little McNaugle family! Amy and I decided that we were going to get our hair done (I needed a new dye job because the blonde and brown was starting to show through again and I wanted to do something different) so this is what I did! I also had her curl my hair when she was done dying and highlighting it! I love how it turned out. It didn't stay curled for very long, but I just love the color - it's red with copper highlights. The bottom looks more reddish brown, but that's ok.

** On Friday we also got the keys to our new house! Like I told you guys in this post! Make sure you check that one out!!!

.: Little Loves :.

|| Tostitio Scoops | YouTube | Sweet Tea | Dr. Pepper | my hair | being a couch potato | naps | shopping for the new house | candy ||

What are you loving from this past week?

My surprise

Hey Dreamers,

Happy Friday!!!!!

So as some of you may have read (and some people already know), that I have a big surprise that I have been dying to talk about. I know that my mom reads my blog and follows my social media for the blog, so I haven't been able to say anything until today (thanks Mom! Haha.... I love you!!!!).

My roommate Amy and I decided to continue living together and we're renting a beautiful house just down the road from our current apartment. We picked up the keys to the house today and will start moving into the house over the course of this coming week! Amy's Dad is driving all the way from Ohio to help us move and we couldn't be happier or more thankful for all his help.

I'll be sharing pictures over the course of the week as we get moved, settled, and unpacked, and eventually I'll share a big post about my new room (guys.... I'm going to have my own room with my own big girl bed....) and the set up of the craft room which is going to double as my office for my photography business. 

I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I'm excited to still be living with Amy and her son Memphis. They've been super awesome to me since I have come home and you guys have heard me call them my little family over the course of the last couple of months. We get along so well, both Amy and I cook dinner (either together or before the other comes home from work), we'll have someone to craft with, and we just really like living together.

It's still in the same neighborhood that our apartment is on, just off the main road. It's actually closer to Memphis' school and some of his friends. It's just a gorgeous house and we adore the family that we're renting it from. They are a sweet couple. We met the husband, Chuck, last Friday when we dropped off the deposit and he is a cool dude. We talked about the military (inevitable when people learn I am a veteran) and his wife was more then proud to show us Chuck's handiwork on the house they live in. He's redone a good part of the house by himself and it looks incredible.

Our new house is in a nice little neighborhood. It's a two story house with 2.5 bathrooms, a cozy living room, a formal living room and a formal dining room (my office). It has an eat in kitchen and a den that we're turning into Memphis' game room. Amy will live on the ground floor in the master bedroom and then Memphis and I will share the second floor with our two rooms and a bathroom.

I can't wait to show you guys photos of our new house once we get settled.

So I didn't even tell my mother about us renting a house together until today because I wanted to make sure that everything was set before I told her. She really was hoping that Amy and I would continue living together and I know that this makes her super happy! It's because she worries about me and living with Amy makes her worry less. She's also adopted Amy and Memphis into our family and their family has done the same for me. I've gained another sister and a nephew! Woohoo! Anyway, I just really wanted everything to be set before I told her, in case anything went wrong.

Be on the lookout next week for another house related post and keep an eye on my Instagram for pictures of the moving shenanigans!

February Goals

Hello dearest friends!

Today is the beginning of a new month, which brings new goals. Yesterday was my first brunch with my new chapter of Geek Girl brunch, so expect a post on that in the near future. Before I start sharing some goals for February, I wanted to recap my January Goals and the progress that I made.

Craft Goals:

* Create 2016 yearly book: It may not be pretty, but I do have a book for future planning and other goal planning for 2016

* Scrap-journal: IN PROGRESS It has been started. Again, it's not pretty... but it is started.

* Decorate inserts to sell: FAILED Due to everything else that happened this month, I have yet to create any inserts to sell. I did get some stuff written out for these.

* Re-open The Quirky Craftsters on-line craft biz: The Facebook page has been created and everything set up. We've even gotten some likes and I've sent a couple of people there for inquiries. It's at least started.

* Complete month one of One Little Word: This was a little bit easier then I expected. I did some journaling in my January plan book about OLW, and even mentioned it here on the blog.I saved the handouts that Ali shared in the classroom and did the written work in my book. I've done some picture taking and documenting things on social media, but nothing is put together into an actual set mini book. It might just take it's place across my monthly plan books. We'll see.

* Finish December Daily: FAILED I was unable to work on the book this month like I wanted to. Partially due to a lack of motivation, but also because I've been focusing on my blog, home stuff, and trying to get a job. I'll get this book finished eventually! 

Blogging:

* Match YouTube and the blog: FAILED Mostly because I didn't do anything on YouTube this month. See above reasoning.

* Start sponsorship on the blog and apply to be a sponsor on other blogs: IN PROGRESS I wrote out my sponsorship page and sponsored ONE blog this month.... which is more then none. Haha. Kimi was an easy choice to get started with and is a lovely woman. We've corresponded over email this month about various topics and I think she is a great lady! I hope one day to meet her in person!

* Build readership and interaction: IN PROGRESS I think this will always be an in progress goal for me. I joined a couple of specific blogging groups that have helped out. I've started getting more comments on my blog and also some comments on my Facebook page, which makes me super stoked!

Photography:

* Build stock photo collection on my own: FAILED There was no photography work completed this month. Sadly.

* 5 sessions this month: FAILED See above. :(

Home stuff:

* Get apartment: I have an apartment in my name at the moment.

* Stuff from Florida: FAILED I haven't made the trip to Florida this month with everything else going on.

* Decorate: FAILED I have a bunch of stuff to decorate with, but there is a surprise coming later on in February  that will expound on this.

Personal Goals:

* Get a job: IN PROGRESS Waiting to hear back from Starbucks on whether or not I have a job with them

* Finish school application: IN PROGRESS My application is complete and my parents picked up my high school transcripts to mail to me. I've sent things in... now I am just waiting to hear back from the school that I was accepted.

* Start fitness goals: IN PROGRESS The goals are written out so technically this is done.... I think? lol. I didn't have my running shoes to actually do anything. My stuff has arrived though... so we can now begin!

Home Stuff:

* Get Set Up: This is a surprise that can't be shared until the end of the month.

* Stuff from Florida/ Cancel Storage unit

Crafting:

* Paint a canvas for Memphis

* Attend a Wine and Paint

* Finish my Doctor Who Cowl

* Month 2 of One Little Word

Personal:

* Go to the gym

* Money in savings

* Start paying Mom back: During Christmas my parents gave me some money after my account was shut down. I want to pay my mother back for her help.

* JOB

I am trying to keep my goal list for the month shorter then the list from January. Hopefully by doing this, I can get more things accomplished and not have so many in progress goals.

Do you have any goals for the upcoming month?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This is a monthly link up hosted by My So-Called Chaos and A Peek At Karen's World. This is where we share our successes and failures of the past month's goals as well as our goals for the upcoming month. 

"I Love" Sunday's v.57

**  Last Sunday (after sharing my previous "IL" S post) my friend Sarah and I worked together to try out this new recipe for Cheeseburger Cups. I shared the recipe and my thoughts on it this past Tuesday!

** Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which meant Mem was at home with me. I didn't feel like leaving unless I had too, so instead, I decided to share with you my 25 Before 25!

** Thursday brought all of my stuff from Germany! It was so nice to see all of my belongings again after so long of only having what was in my suitcase. And not a moment too soon because Friday brought "Winter Storm Jonas" to North Carolina, where everything pretty much shut down. There was a lot of rain and ice and my winter clothes were much appreciated. I had to scrape a lot of people's windshields (because I was the only person with a scraper) when we had to move the cars in the apartment complex due to falling branches. On Thursday, Sarah and her kids came to visit us and hang out with Amy and I while we waited on my stuff to arrive. I got some snuggles with the littlest member of our group.

** Wednesday evening brought another job interview (although this one was more promising then the last one). Now I am just waiting to hear back (the winter storm kind of threw off the waiting timeline). Wish me luck you guys! My little family is optimistic because she said she was doing a background check immediately after the interview was over, so let's hope that is a good sign. (I have nothing to worry about in a background check)

** Today, Mem and I ventured out of the house so I could make a Target run. I am participating in a grey Valentines Day card swap and I needed to get my supplies. That was quite a little adventure for us. We spent a while searching for some good geeky related items as well as searching through the dollar bin (which is my favorite area.... but kind of dangerous cuz I can spend some serious money on the dollar bin!)

** The other night I got to have a Skype call with my best friend of over 10 years. We haven't really talked much since our Disney trip, other then a few random Facebook exchanges here and there. This is fine because we always pick right back up like nothing happened. Well, this call was mainly to work out the details for a group cosplay that we're working on, which is always fun for us. She is a great seamstress (I am still learning) and a great cosplayer!

.: Link Love :.

This week I wanted to share some additional awesome links that I really love!

** This post from Kimi Who on How To Be a Good Blog Sponsor - I've been looking into sponsoring other blogs as well as creating my own sponsorship program, and I think this is a good read and a good place to start!

** Through some blog reading I was introduce to Chelsie at Life with Rosie. She shared this post about The Negative Side of Blogging Culture that I really agreed with. It seems like some bloggers whole goal is to rag on other bloggers and leave nasty comments just because they don't agree with something that a particular blogger said. We need to stop being mean to each other and start supporting each other. This was a good read (and a nice introduction to a new-to-me blogger!

** This is an awesome Star Wars Nail Art video from Nerdy Mermaid. She is crazy talented and I really wish that I knew how to do stuff like this!

.: Little Loves :.

|| HGTV | Dr. Pepper | Travelers Notebook's | Geek Girls x Blogger FB Group | creativity | Jenny Penton's Katch channel (since I keep missing her periscopes) | having my stuff | crochet ||

What are you loving from this past week?

"I Love" Sunday's v.55

Hello dearest friends!

Happy Sunday

It's been a super busy week (as mentioned on Friday)

** I got my 2016 Travelers Notebook all set up and am loving it. I'll do a walkthrough of the set-up sometime this week for anyone who is interested, but just to let you guys know.... I have my January plan book surrounded by a Midori pocket, my December Daily 2015 (I am trying to get it all finished. Almost done!!!), The business card folder, my blog book, and my 2016 yearly planner. I am still using the custom designed Harry Potter MyDorian made by AltGuild on Etsy. The review for this product will be up later this week!

** I picked up the key to my new apartment on Thursday. I finally have my own place. Right now, the only thing in there is my new tv stand (which I think is made from real wood instead of the fake stuff and is heavier then I expected when I went to pick it up). This weekend I have been moving some of my stuff from my roommate's place to my new one (It's just a couple buildings over from where I've been staying). I can't really move in yet because my stuff is either on it's way from Germany or still in storage in Florida. I still have to get my utilities all set up, but at least there is a place

** My truck has arrived from Germany! I picked it up on Friday from Charleston, SC and I am beyond excited!!!! I have my car back! I asked my roommate if it would be odd if I hugged my car, she laughed at me!

I sent this picture to my friend when we were talking about how excited I was to have my car back

** I hung out with a new friend Friday night. She is a cashier at Staples and we met when I went to go pick up a new White Signo gel pen for my memory keeping stuff. We bonded over my new Harry Potter necklace (it says "Books turn mugs into wizards) and my Star Wars long sleeve shirt (It's black with Darth Vader on the front, Star Wars written on the side of the two sleeves, and The Dark Side written on the back like a jersey). We went to 2nd and Charles and looked through all of their "nerd stuff" before walking around the mall.

I sent this picture to my roommate's son Mem from 2nd and Charles.
He loves the tv show Friends and we've been binge watching the show on Netflix

** I went and applied at a bunch of place. I've been calling or walking in and asking the status of my application. The lady at Starbucks asked me some questions and gave me her card, saying if I haven't heard from her by tomorrow, to give her a call. 2nd and Charles also took my information to pass to the manager (they're owned by Books-A-Million and the cashier said that it takes forever for them to get applications), and told me that me coming in and asking was a good thing and that's how she got her job. It gives me hope that I might get a job here soon.

** I sent in an application to Kellie Winnell for her 2016 Creative Team Call. This is my first time applying, although I've been considering it for a little while. I'm hoping to get a position, but it wouldn't surprise me if I didn't. Only because there are some AMAZING and talented ladies in the scrapbooking world and I am just a beginner. Gotta start somewhere though!

** So last night I went to my favorite country bar to apply (they said they were hiring). However, the manager on the phone told me the wrong time to show up and I have to come back Wednesday night (kinda annoyed about that... but whatever). The good news is.... I made friends with 3 new couples! Two of the couples were standing outside when we were waiting for the bar to open (Cat and Mike and Michi and Chris). We started chatting (Michi loved me simply because I told her that I was originally from Texas and lived in Florida) and became friends over several rounds of pool. The last couple I befriended (Jess & Aaron) decided to play couple vs couple with one of the first couples, so we ended up talking. Jess was a BLAST! She was more then willing to teach me some of the line dances that I didn't know and we've agreed to meet up there more often so I can learn more of the dances. Overall, it turned into a great night and I am really glad I stayed despite being there by myself!

** This may be proving me as a total nerd, but I am really happy to have access to cable again. For one single reason... HGTV! I spend way too much time watching HGTV shows while multitasking. My favorite shows from HGTV are Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, and Design on A Dime. ((Bonus: all three shows are also on Netflix!))

.: Little Loves :.

|| new friends | Dr. Pepper | Butterbeer Frappaccino's | My own space | memory keeping | Wine | Funko | HGTV ||

What are you loving from this week?

Today is the Day!

Today is the day ya'll

Today is the day that the movers are coming!

This is what packing looked like last week.

I thought my room was a mess then!

I always hate this part of moving, especially in the Army. I know I have a lot of stuff, or at least it seems like I do, but all of my stuff is crammed into one room! My thought process is that if I have to live in this room for however long, I am going to enjoy it, have it decorated like I want it, and have the things that I want in it. I've showed you guys plenty of pictures of my room in the past (especially if you follow my Instagram) so you guys know I have lots of stuff.

This morning is is all packed or organized for the movers to pack the rest of it. It's a little ridiculous in here. I've separated the stuff that needs to be mailed off, the stuff that needs to be taken to the Thrift shop, and the stuff that is going to be hand carried by me onto the airplane. Thankfully I am allowed two checked bags and two carry on bags. This means I have packed a suitcase and a duffle bag to check and a backpack and my camera bag to carry on. My household goods (what the movers are taking) aren't supposed to arrive to the States until the end of January. This is all my stuff (tv, other clothes, xbox, fabric and sewing machine, craft stuff not necessary for December Daily, my big printer, ect). 

Of course, as I start typing this, the movers have arrived. They are German Nationals that made a big deal out of how much stuff I have. I'm somewhere between amused and insulted. They speak English but are only speaking in German at the moment, so I am trying not to pay them too much attention. The moving company in the States was much nicer and friendlier. Oh well.... at least I don't have to move all my stuff, right? And I at least did the hard part and packed the tuff boxes up already. Thats where the majority of the clothes I am not carrying and my office stuff went. I tried to put lose stuff in boxes to make it easier. Oh well.... you can't please everybody.

"I Love" Sunday's v.48

Hey ya'll!

I hope this post finds you guys well!

You guys! It has been one heck of a busy week for me!

** Monday saw me spending pretty much the whole day at one of the Regensburg Hospitals with my friend for her pre-op appointment. She was having a C-section the next day, and this pre-op appointment seemed to take all day (it took over 4 hours!) The language barrier was an issue as well as them needing some more paperwork. The hard part was the super long waits between her talking to the individual appointments. I was there simply to watch Dom and keep him entertained, which was a lot easier then I expected. He was really well behaved for me and even let me carry him. He doesn't let anyone but his parents carry him usually. After that we met up with her husband and K and we went to dinner at our favorite place!

He and I were in this small little waiting room in the maternity ward and he missed his nap for the day.
He randomly likes laying on the floor with his stuffed raccoon.
It was too cute!
P.S. German hospitals are a LOT cleaner then American ones (pretty much all of their establishments are cleaner and are cleaned on a daily basis by cleaning staff) so his mom had no qualms with him laying on the floor. I checked because I know people can be really uptight about that.

** On Tuesday I had to drive to Graf to see Transition. The bad part was I kept getting sent to the wrong offices because I am a special case concerning getting out, so I have to do things a little differently. However, when I finally found the right person, she took pity on me and a process that was supposed to take 3 days only took her 1.5 hours and I finally got my orders! That means I can start getting ready to leave Germany. 

I also got to try a Butter beer Frappucino finally, which wasn't too bad. I tried twice last week at two separate Starbuck's, but each time no one knew how to make it. I finally found someone who knew how to make it! It was yummy! There was a little too much caramel or toffee or something like that for me, but that is just a personal preference.

** The newest addition to my friend's family is finally here and she is cute. She was born on Tuesday and her and mom came home from the hospital on Friday. I can't wait to meet her this week during Thanksgiving.

This is Dom's first time meeting his baby sister.
He's too cute as a new older brother.

** So I spent Wed-Fri doing everything I could to clear everything necessarily on base. This is just a lot of running around to a bunch of different places, there were even some places that I never in-processed when I got here last year.... it's special. I am no longer responsible for any military equipment, which is a huge relief! I also have some super awesome S-1 (personnel actions and paperwork) people who are going out of their way to help me with my award and getting my promotion orders. I need these orders before I go back to get my DD-214 on this coming Wednesday. I think I should have them tomorrow, which is amazing because, again, this process usually takes a while but I am a special case. I also got my car scheduled for shipping this week as well as the appointment for the movers to come pack and ship my household goods. These are both huge weights off my shoulders. 

** Friday night was another round of karaoke. I was supposed to go to Czech this weekend, but due to everything that happened in Paris last weekend, people are hesitant to let us go visit other countries at the moment, this was a bummer... but I still managed to find something to do on my last free weekend. So I actually got up and sang this time. The first time it didn't sound right (my friend Brandi said it was good but you could tell I was nervous), but I decided to get back up and try singing Evanescence (Bring Me To Life) is my go-to song for pretty much anything that involves me singing on the spot. Needless to say, I really rocked that song! I was super excited about that. <--- such a music nerd sometimes.

** So I have already started to pack up everything in my room. I am working on organizing it into several piles: keep, donate, give to friends, and carry on the plane. My household goods won't arrive until the end of January, so I have to bring enough stuff I can live off of until my stuff gets there. ((hopefully I'll have my own house before my stuff shows up)). It looks like a bomb went off in my room! Thankfully K is being awesome and coming to help me pack and organize. She keeps me on track and from procrastinating. Plus I get more done if I have help :) I absolutely hate packing!!!

.: Little Loves:.

|| Dr. Pepper | friends (new and old ones) | Naan | blogging | YouTube | Clearing | Inside Out Thought Bubbles (a game on my tablet) | purging through my belongings ||