More Frames and Furniture

Aren't my friends wonderful?  ;)  This is why I need family pictures!

It's hard to tell in the picture, but this one has some glitter to it.  

After 5 years of sleeping on a mattress on the floor, we have a bedroom set.  And we love it!

Well that is embarrassingly messy.  Guess I know what I'm doing after I finish posting!

Home Decor Project #1

In an effort to bring more color into my home since I am a color fanatic stuck with beige walls, I've decided to go crazy with accents.  Frugally.  My first venture into the land of DIY home decor began with a Black Friday ad.  Wal-Mart had a set of 15 piece set of picture frames for $13.  I was lucky enough to survive the melee and score the frame set.  Well, there is a reason they were only $13:  they are cheap frames.  I knew this going in, but I had a plan.  I wanted to create insets (I think that's what it's called) using scrapbook paper and Mod Podge.  I didn't know if this would work as I have never used Mod Podge before, so I definitely wanted cheap frames.  Plus after buying a fridge, bedroom set, and a tv, I don't exactly have a ton of disposable cash on hand.

It turns out that so far my little project is a stunning success--in my humble opinion, anyway.  I've completed 3 frames so far.  One black and gray, one black and white, and one red.  Red is actually my chosen accent color for the living room, but there are quite a few frames and I wanted to break up all the red at least a little bit.  And I figured it was best to use the black paper as my initial practice rounds.  All of this is, as usual, more than you need to know.  Eventually they are going to go on a ledge that visually separates the living room from the kitchen and will help hide the kitchen sink from view when one walks in the front door.  I am going to fill them with pictures of our family.

These are the frames lined up on the ledge hiding my sink.  I most likely won't be using all of them but put them there to see what they look like.  Gotta play with the new toys!  (And the picture is yellow because this was taken before I figured out how to use my camera indoors.)  Only one frame was completed at this point.

Close-up before shot

After:  Even though it's not red, this paper is one of my favorites.  Love the pattern!

This one reminds me of a piano.  Someday I will have one of those too.  Sigh.

The only red one so far.  More to come!  And this picture is strangely yellow even though it was taken at the same time as the other close-ups.  Not sure why.

All three together.

More House (Because I Just Can't Help Myself!)

A few days ago Nathan and I snuck into our newly fenced in backyard so we could see what it actually looked like.  I personally have a hard time visualizing things--zero spatial awareness--so I was particularly excited to see how big the yard would be.  Only a portion of it is sodded, so it was hard for me to "see" it before being fenced.

And while we were there, I couldn't resist taking these pictures:

More Big Changes

Well, after much agonizing and going back and forth (on my part), Nathan and I are now almost officially homeowners.  We have an accepted contract and will close on November 21st if not sooner.  We bought a new construction home that is only about 10 minutes away from where Nathan will be working.  It is 2 stories, 1684 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms.  There is only a single car garage, which is normal for our price range but a compromise issue for me.  The yard isn't as big as some we saw, but we are having the builders put a fence in that goes beyond the sodded section as far as we could.  The property line itself goes much further back but there is a drainage ditch and a wooded area.  The woods in the back are absolutely awesome.  Even though our neighbors are pretty close to us on either side, it is completely private behind us and feels like camping to me when I look at it.  The finishes are impeccable.  One downside is that the sink is in direct line of sight from the front door, but some friends of mine gave me some decorating ideas that go a long way toward fixing that problem.  Anyway, that's probably enough talk.  It's picture time!

View from loft

Front of house

View from front door

View from the back/bar

Master closet

Laundry

Master

Master bath

Master bath

Half bath

Upstairs Jack and Jill bath

Extra bedroom

Upstairs bath

Loft

Bedroom Closet

Signing the offer

P.S. I  spent a lot of time formatting pictures, putting in captions that messed up the formatting, and then reformatting only to discover that what I saw as I was working is not what you end up seeing as a reader.  So things are a bit jumbled, but I'm pretty sure you get the idea anyway.

We're Moving When?!?!?

Nathan and I have at long last made it to Georgia, and the way it happened was absolutely insane.  To properly convey the craziness, you need a timeline of events:

Thursday, October 20th 11a.m.:  I get the following Facebook message:
You would think this would be good news, right?  I've been whining about not having orders for months now. Well, keep reading and pay careful attention to the times.

• I know you're probably traveling
• but I need to talk to you asap
• orders came in
• and I'm totally rushing out of here
• within a few days
• you here?

Thursday, October 20th 12:30 p.m.:  Leave for Houston Intercontinental Airport.
Thursday, October 20th 2:30 p.m.:  Fly to Mesa, AZ for Nathan's brother's wedding.  Frantically e-mailing a realtor and loan officer.
Friday, October 21st:  Sam's wedding
Saturday, October 21st-Monday, October 24th:  Visit with family in Mesa.
Monday, October 24th 8:00 p.m.:  Arrive back in Houston.  Nathan waiting for me at my parents' house.
Tuesday, October 25th:  Pack my things, take car for oil change, tire rotation, and alignment.  They find that the tire rods need to be replaced, so car stays at shop until 6 p.m.
Wednesday, October 26th:  Planned on leaving but the extended time at the shop pushes us back.
Thursday, October 27th 8:00 a.m.:  Leave for Georgia
Friday, October 28th:  Arrive in Georgia

Can you see why I was a little stressed on Thursday around 11:00 a.m.?  Looking at the info we had, Nathan and I had anticipated moving sometime soon after Thanksgiving, so my plan had been to e-mail the realtor and loan officer and make initial contacts and inquires after getting home from the wedding.  In addition to that, I had thought I'd have a week or so to gather my things together (which had spread further and further from my bedroom the longer I stayed) and get ready to move.  With our original plan, that one week turned into one day, and then because of car issues became 2 days.  Although the 2nd day was pretty much just gathering up last minute odds and ends and loading up the car and took only about 2 hours.

As stressful as it was, we made it, we're here, and we're going house hunting!  I am psyched to be buying our first home.  And pretty darn scared too.  It's a bit of a gamble with the military thing, but Nathan's in a relatively stable position.  I had hoped to work for a year just to build up our savings a bit more, but conditions are great now and rent here is high.  We'll pay the same in our mortgage payments as we would in rent.  Plus, our housing allowance should cover taxes, insurance, and hopefully some if not most of our utilities.  So hopefully it's the smart thing to do.

If you're interested, we think this one is our favorite (strictly online searching up to this point):
http://www.weichert.com/37860451/
And today we found this one that I really like as well:
http://www.trulia.com/property/3000637884-2003-Darwood-Dr-Grovetown-GA-30813

We hope the process goes quickly as I have been looking at houses now for months and have a pretty good idea of what's out there and what we can get for our money.  Exciting times!

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Birthday Fun

From Nathan's parents

From Nathan

From my parents--can't wait to make lots and lots of yummy, fancy cheesecakes!

From the sibs--thanks guys!  Hopefully I'll have a home to use it on before too much longer!

From my parents.  I am in desperate need of a mani/pedi, and I'm really looking forward to this one.  I apologize the pic is sideways.  I'm too lazy to fix it.  ;)

Are Mormons Really Standoffish?

I was political forum-ing today, as I do every day.  (My life is in desperate need of purpose and excitement at the moment.  WAY too much spare time...)  One of the discussions involved the fact that Perry's pastor called the LDS church a cult.  Quite honestly, I've looked up the definition of "cult" and I can see the point.  But then, going by the definitions I read I'm not sure why ALL religions aren't considered cults.  The problem is, it is more of a connotative word than an objective word and going by strict definition is pretty much impossible.  IMO.  Anyway, in typical Curtis fashion I went on a tangent, and that's not really the point of this post.  So, moving on to the point...

One person on this forum stated that he/she did not believe the church is a cult, this person did find the Mormons he/she lived around to be standoffish and clannish.  This is not the first time I have heard or read this.  And I two main thoughts on that statement:

1)    People tend to gravitate towards others who have a similar, if not the same, culture.  And I firmly believe there is nothing wrong with this.  We like to be around others that make us feel safe, and knowing that those around you feel the same as you do on some of the basic, fundamental principles makes for good, safe friendships.  It's why we have Chinatowns, Little Italys, and Hassidic Jewish neighborhoods.  I don't see a problem with having a circle of close friends that you connect with on the things that are the most important to you.  I would argue that any culture, be it ethnicity, faith, life circumstance, age, etc is "standoffish and clannish."

2)  That being said,, it is important to reach beyond these boundaries at times because you can learn a lot from others who are different than you.  Excluding others because they are not just like you is wrong.  And I am sorry that there are those out there who have had a negative experience with members of my faith because those members were being exclusionary.  We all have so much to share with each other that can broaden our understanding of others and of ourselves.

It's okay to have a comfort zone, but it's also necessary to get out of the comfort zone from time to time.

P.S.  I found some great thoughts at mormon.org about the whole "Is Mormonism a cult?" issue.   I gained some great insight and understanding.

Semper Gumby!

When one joins the military, one learns really fast that there are no guarantees, even when you finally think things are settled.  Once again things are changing for us.  We are no longer moving to Nebraska.  We are instead going to Fort Gordon, Georgia, which is close to Augusta.  And we are thrilled.

There are two types of AF linguists:  ground and airborne.  When Nathan joined the AF, he was given the job of airborne.  At the time we knew some, but very little, about the differences between the two.  As Nathan went through his training, he learned more and more about the jobs and realized that ground was a much better fit for him.  Aparently airborne linguists spend at least half of their time away from home and have about a 90% divorce rate.  Not many people had much good to say about that career field.  So Nathan started trying to switch from air to ground while at the DLI but seemed to run into brick walls at every turn.

Toward the end of 2 years in Monterey, he started having ear issues.  He was feeling a lot of pressure in his ears that he could not relieve.  Going up and down the rather steep hill to and from the DLI every day was torture.  After a LONG process of back and forth between doctors, he had ear tubes put in and he felt instantly better.

When he got to Goodfellow, he had to go see the flight doc.  She was cramming in all sorts of SERE-clearance examinations before she PCS'd out.  She saw the tubes in his ears and decided he didn't need them anymore and yanked them out.  Instantly, all the old problems came back along with an ear infection.  Brilliant lady.  I'm personally happy that she coincidentally got transferred after that.  Anyway, Nathan naturally started seeing doctors again about his ears, and that's when things changed drastically.  Nathan went back to the flight doctor, then a temporary replacement doctor, for a follow up to determine if he would be cleared to move on to SERE school.  This temporary doctor took the time to explain in detail the problems associated with the eustacian tube disfunction that Nathan had when it comes to flying.  Because of his ear problems, flying would be problematic.  Nathan decided to give up his flight status and was switched to ground, which would be heartbreaking to many but was actually exactly what Nathan wanted.

As a result of the job change, our duty station changed.  Offutt is for flyers.  Ground Arabic linguists pretty much always go to either Ft. Meade or Ft. Gordon.  We both really wanted to go to Ft. Meade.  Nathan would like to end up there as a civilian working for the NSA, and I was excited about all the fun and historical stuff to do in that area.  It really is close to everything of note on the east coast.  However, I was really excited about the Fort Gordon prospect as well as I have quite a few friends either there now or getting there soon.  Since most Arabic ground linguists go to Ft. Gordon, we definitely know some great people there.  Also, housing is just ridiculously cheap there, and as we will likely be there for some time, it could be a very good place to buy a first home. And I've been looking forward to that for quite some time.  So it really was win-win, and we are so excited at this change of events.

Reality Check

Today at church a young man who's been married 1 1/2 years shared his testimony.  He had been in Utah for 2 weeks recently getting some of their stuff and completing their move to south Texas.  And he mentioned how hard it was to be apart from his wife for the first time for "so long."  And of course, evil, cynical me immediately thought, "You think YOU'VE had it tough?  Try 4 1/2 months?!?"  Yeah, I'm so being demoted in the afterlife for my evil thoughts.  In my defense, it was such an immediate reaction and I knew just as soon as I thought it that was not cool and gave myself a silent lecture.  Two weeks would be hard, especially if it was the first time you've been apart.

Well, after having such evil thoughts, another woman got up and talked about how much she missed her husband who passed away a year ago from cancer but that she knows she will see him again and they will be together in the next life. Even though I had enough self-realization to know how bad my thoughts were, I felt very chastised for getting on my mental high horse about the whole 4 1/2 months Nathan and I have been apart.  We have been apart longer than 2 weeks and it has been very hard, especially since I don't have much to do and am feeling a tad worthless these days.  But really, there was no reason to get holier than thou even for a second when at least we are both still on this earth and there is an end in sight!  Sheesh, I hate the way my mind works sometimes, and I definitely got a mental smackdown for it!

Just for Fun

Sadly, I have once again missed my "once a week" goal, but this time it isn't entirely my fault.  Nathan and I are working on a joint post which I thought would be done by now but life has gotten in the way.  So in the meantime, I bring you...Random Pictures Time!

I have what I call "plumbing problems," and I'm always trying to find a way to improve that particular situation.  One way is to get more fiber in my diet.  I've been trying out Benefiber.  I'm not sure if it works or not as I also eat FiberOne Yogurt pretty much every day, and I KNOW that works.  But I figure the more, the merrier.  When I travel, getting that fiber is even harder than usual.  The first time I went to San Angelo, I brought the entire container with me and would stash it in my purse when we went out to eat so I could sprinkle it on my food.  Well, I pretty much had to empty out the whole purse to do that.  I needed a better way...(the spoon is there for scale purposes)

So I came up with what Nathan fondly calls my "heroin bag" complete with spoon for sprinkling.  Yes, it's a white powder in a Ziploc bag, like on all the cop shows.  I keep this bag in my purse at all times in case I need some extra fiber in my diet.  And yes, I do pull it out at restaurants.  And I am waiting for the day when some cop is eating there too and tries to arrest me for drug possession.  "No sir, it's actually just Benefiber."  How funny would that be?    

While I have spoken of my purse in the above captions, the reason include this picture has nothing to do with my heroin bag.  I just wanted to show off a rare moment of craftiness.  I had been looking for what seemed like ages for the perfect purse and just couldn't find one in the style I liked, the size I liked, and the internal organization I liked.  At the perfect price (cheap).  So I find this black crocheted bag that I loved, but it had almost no color to it other than a safety-pinned flower.  And I LOVE color.  I almost passed it by because of that.  And then I realized the crocheting left perfect sized holes for some ribbon.  Sadly, I don't have a "before" picture, but what you see above is the "after."  Best part is, I can change out the ribbon and even take off the flower if I feel like having different colors.  Pretty versatile, and I love it.

Haven't Waxed Political in Awhile...

I am truly confounded by the GOP presidential nominees.  I feel like there's things to love and hate about every single one of them.  So I have watched both debates so far and will watch others to come.  Sadly, when it comes down to it, I pretty much belong to the "anyone but Obama" camp, and the related "someone who beat Obama" camp, but I do have principles and want to feel good and informed about my vote.  We'll just see as events unfold.

That being said, I have some thoughts about last night's debate.  I thought it was interesting.  (Yeah, I'm now such a political junkie I ENJOY watching debates.  Is there a 12-step program for that?  I even broke down and gave MSNBC my viewership and a consequential bump in their ratings--the shame!)  Here are 3 parts that stuck out to me in particular, mostly for the horrible, horrible questions presented by the questioners.  No, there was no bias AT ALL...

1)  Newt Takes On the Media  
 I'll just say it flat-out:  I can not vote for Newt in a primary, but I LOVE him in the debates.  I read a suggestion that he takes over for Jay Carney (I think that's his name) in the press room in a Republican is elected, which is absolutely brilliant in my mind.  Or a cabinet position, as he is an amazing thinker.  But president?  Not so much.  Anyway, I loved, loved, LOVED him here.

2)  The Loaded Question 
Here Rick Perry was asked to defend Texas's record on the death penalty.  Okay, not sure I care about that with the economy in the tank, but I suppose it's a fair enough question.  HOWEVER, when the questioner started in with his "How do you sleep at night?" nonsense (I actually want to use stronger language than nonsense here but will take the higher road), I just about threw something at the TV.  MSNBC grumble grumble grumble...

3)  It's For the CHILDREN!!!!  (Last video on the page.)
Nathan and I always half joke/half grouse about the left's propensity to justify actions because "it's for the children!"   In this case, not only is it for the children, it's for the poor, starving children who come to school with distended bellies.  Don't get me wrong--I don't want children to starve.  I want to help them somehow, and I honestly haven't given this particular issue enough thought to suggest solutions.  But I HATE the fact that ideas are considered completely off the table because what'll happen to the children?????  Also, economy is in the tank and this is the question you're going with?  Again? Yeah, the TV almost didn't survive the night yet again.  And yeah, MSNBC grumble grumble grumble...

I don't like to post videos very often because I so rarely watch them myself when it comes to reading blogs and Facebook.  But I do hope you follow the links and watch.  The debate was a good one, I suppose.  I do believe the questioners were avoiding the economic elephant in the room because they didn't want to give any attention to Obama's weaknesses.  I think many of the questions asked were important issues but pale in comparison to what we should be focused on right now.  But it was informative to watch how these Republicans responded to leftist questioning since we do need someone who can face down the mainstream media and come out on top.  So, for that alone I suppose it was worth it to have MSNBC host.  Sigh.  I can't believe I just said that...

Insanity...

Everyone's heard the phrase that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting a different result.  Well, lock me away now because I must be insane.  I face some unique challenges and obstacles in life, and due to their uniqueness I have been left feeling rather lonely.  So a few years ago I sought out comfort online by looking for people who faced similar trials.  I instead found a bunch of people who didn't understand where I was coming from but wanted to offer advice anyway.  Not helpful.  In fact, it was quite hurtful.  Well, a couple of years later, I found a forum I thought was devoted to the types of problems I face, and after months of reading other peoples' stories I felt it was safe to share mine.  Well, once again the comments I received were the very opposite of helpful with "advice" I had made clear from the onset I wasn't going to consider.  So not only was I left feeling alone but now I feel betrayed by people who I thought I could turn to for help.  Lovely.

I have received the spiritual guidance to turn to Christ in these situations as he suffered alone on the cross and understands what that feels like...goes to show you that the Church is true and comfort is not found in man but in Christ.  Hopefully I'll learn that lesson for reals this time!

(I should also note that the forum is Christian but they view the LDS as outside of the Christian faith, so many of my perspectives and reasonings would not be accepted.  I had hoped that the commonality of Christianity would be enough in and of itself, but I guess I was wrong.)

The Pictures Have Arrived!!

Here are the pictures from Nathan's graduation.  Please scroll down a couple of posts for the story if you haven't read it yet and are interested.

It is tradition for the students to decorate a ceiling tile with inside jokes from the class for the instructor to hang up in the office.  Here is the "troll tile."

Since I posted twice in two days, I am going to consider this as next week's post.  ;)