he knows me...

too well. 

in between shifts today i decided to check the mail

...my poor, neglected mail box...

and there i found the key that means i have a package :)

oh yes, a package from my boy.

now many would think...a water bottle???

however

 i'm kind of a nerd when it comes to water bottles

and a little obsessed when it comes to my water.

now let me tell you...this water bottle is

pink

camelbak (love)

has a built in water filter

which means my long fourteen hour days can be filled with filtered water all day long.

can you tell i'm pretty in love with it??

my boy is the best.

seriously best gift ever.

he knows me all too well

so spoiled. so stoked!

so originally the plan was to visit the boy half way through training

but then the craziness of my new program was added to my work schedule and it looked near to impossible

not to mention it would cost a pretty penny to go visit him for such a short period

...but then we found out we got separation pay...
{you can tell we're newbies huh?}

 so we prayed
and i had a mini meltdown on skype
so we prayed some more

the next morning i re-looked into the possibility of going..

there were better flight options

professors pushed backed assignments 

and

some of my cases at work didn't have enough hours for october
aka..i am obligated to take time off

so i think it's a little obvious...but i'll go ahead and state the obvious

i'm going to see my boy!


i feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. i know a deployment is in our future...so i am going to take full advantage of him being away from me in the states and having the freedom to just hop on a plane to see him.

so spoiled to have such an amazing husband.
so spoiled to have god help path a way for this trip.
so SO stoked to see my boy!

{seriously i haven't stopped smiling since last night when i booked the flight}

:)

framing a letter

frame letter project...finished. 

{picking up from my previous letters post}

bought a frame from the dollar tree.

grabbed some leftover fabric and turned it around so it looked a little faded.

stitched 'p.s. i love you' (drew with a pencil first of course!).

found my favorite section from one of the letters from boot camp. 

folded it up and stitched the letter on the fabric.

hot glued a couple of rosettes. 

sorry there aren't any full pictures...i would have been in big trouble if the boy saw i broadcasted his letter :)

i'm so happy with how it turned out! 

now i just have to figure out where to put it...

t-shirt necklace

as i'm walking out of the door, i get a call that my morning case is canceled. 

no work for me.

now the responsible thing would be to work on the mound of homework sitting on my living room floor. but quite frankly...i'm pretty over homework. so i decided that since that three hour block was designated for work, i would work on crafts.

(i really really needed a break)

alright, here's one of my projects today. 

t-shirt necklace

i've been eyeing the beautiful turquoise necklace that's been floating around pinterest.

sold on etsy.

however i wanted to get the basic gist of it, so i decided to take it down a couple notches before i took on that many strands :)

go grab an old t-shirt and cut one inch strips. you can cut as many strips as you want (the more you cut the thicker the necklace) just make sure to do them in three's because you will be braiding. i chose to keep it simple this time and just cut three. tie an over hand knot at the top and braid about twelve inches. 

at the end of the braid i hand stitched the strands together. then looped one of the strands around so it would look a little cleaner. i stitched on the back side so it wouldn't show. 

now lay it out and find the lengths you want, i made my lengths different. once you figure out your length cut the end of the strands so its even. 

then tie those three strands around the other knot. in most of the tutorials i found they just left it as a big knot. i went ahead and stitched the ends of the back of the necklace so they didn't stick out.  

there you have it. 

pretty stinkin' easy and pretty much free jewelry. 

i love it and can't wait to make my dream turquoise one :)

alright...back to the homework :/

george's coffee

half way through my three hour lecture i looked down at my coffee...

george???

instantly a huge smile on my face.

there were no boys in the coffee house, i know this because i was eavesdropping on the only two girls in front of me :)

it was a phone dying, only got to text the boy twice kind of day. 

not sure how or why george made it to my cup.

but

i am so glad it did.

thank goodness for the small things.

letters

SOMETHING that's been in the back of my mind.

And I REALLY want to do. 

Flamingo Toes Blog

I love the idea, definitely want to make one for Valentine's Day.

However, for now I was thinking of something super basic and I'm sure already done in many homes. What if I put one of the boy's letters he wrote me in boot camp. Find my favorite lovey dovey part and put it in a frame by my bedside. An extra reminder every morning I wake up alone and night I fall asleep how much he loves me. AND how much better a-school is than boot camp...communication wise at least! :)

I grabbed my box full of memories and began to read. 

A letter every day. 

I knew our love was strong, but after you put a marriage through boot camp..you really discovery the strength of  love.  

LOVE that boy.

Hmm...well I ended up doing a little more reading than crafting...but it's just what I needed. The letter was picked and the frame crafting will have to wait.

perfect 'pick me up'

I was beginning to drag during a break from one of my workshops at school. My caffeine was wearing off, my tummy was grumbling and my mind was trying to wrap around the mound of homework. My dear friend noticed my glazed over stare and said "I know just what you need".
She pulled out her phone and here you have it.

OHMYGOODNESS. Can we seriously all start our mornings off like this?!

overdue package

I was overdue for sending the boy a package. I wanted to get one ready the day I got home from taking him to the airport..but decided that would be a little too soon :) So I decided to wait a week, then all of a sudden school, work and student teaching kicked into gear. Though I think about my boy every hour...I totally forgot my package plan. Last week I set the studies aside, and put a little something together for him.

-IN THIS PACKAGE-

A white board with magnet strips on the back to hang in his locker. 

Colored markers in case he felt like decorating...ha!

A couple sprays of my perfume on a pink sticky note.

Fruit gum I saw the other day while waiting in the grocery line...made me think oh him.

A handwritten love note...brought me back to the boot camp days...definitely don't miss those!

A cord he had requested...come to find out I sent the wrong one...oops! Well I guess that's an excuse to send another package! 

A new recipe I found pinned by my beautiful friend on pinterest. Peanut butter and chocolate chip pretzel cookies with sea salt...YUM! Here's the recipe. The second time I made them I added more chocolate chips and pretzels. And made sure to hand stir them in, so the pretzels could be seen like in her picture.  

I sent the white board because before boy got his fancy phone, he use to write his ToDo List on our white board under the calender. Here's how I made it...like usual..super easy. 

I bought a white board from the dollar tree and hot glued the hemp around the edges, originally it had a weird blue trim...not so cute.  

Then I used my hot glue gun again to attach three wine corks. 

The pictures were the most expensive (three dollars) because I printed them out in wallet size, but on the bright side I have three sets of each picture left to put in school binders and send to family. We took these pictures the day before I sent him off. 

Well there it is...first package send off and arrived. Boy and roommate loved the cookies and he was excited about the gum :) Success...now planning for the next package, which the correct cord of course :)

gift in an email

What a week. School is kicking my butt.

For my own sanity I'm taking a break. One hour free from textbooks, work, reorganizing my schedule and the messy kitchen. An hour to enjoy a glass of merlot, cuddle with the Lynnee and catch up on blog world. 

..................................................

The other day I got an email  from Amazon....instantly got a yucky feeling because I was waiting for a textbook to arrive and thought it was another message delaying its arrival.. Instead the subject said, " a gift from 'the boy' ". Hmmmmm.

I opened the email and it was the MP3 of the Limbs And Branches tracks by Jon Foreman and a very VERY sweet message from my boy. 

My favorite song on the CD.

Your Love is Strong has been on repeat in my car, on my phone and in my house. It has been lifting me up on a daily basis and gotten me through this past week. So simple, so perfect and I love scripture in songs. 

THANK YOU boy for my perfect gift.

He always seems to know just what I need.

september eleventh

Ninth grade had just started a few weeks prior and I was getting back into the routine of waking up extra early to take care of my horse before zero period. After showering I turned on the local radio station, but there was no music playing and the usually comical dj had a different tone to his voice. He was repeating the phrase, the twin towers have been hit. Being a west coast girl, I thought twin towers? I wasn't sure what to do with the information. I continued to listen to the broadcast and soon realized the weight of what had happened. I found my parents and relayed my findings. The news was turned on and my dad began to talk about terrorists. Terrorists? In my sheltered fourteen years of life, I had never heard that word and had it relate to me. 

We didn't make it to zero period that day. Classes did not teach the planned material because our eyes were glued to the television screens that played in each classroom. At home, we awaited the President's Address to the Nation. We had all heard predictions of what the response would be, but couldn't believe or begin to deal with it until we heard it from his mouth. 

We all knew our lives would change. My mind was overwhelmed with images and thoughts of what humans were capable of. My heart was going out to loved ones and family who lived so close to ground zero. My prayers going out to our friends and their families who were currently enlisted. 

Many of us grew up from that day forward. Some of us felt terrorism on a whole new level, experiencing it for the first time. We have lost loved ones who were fighting for OUR freedom and the freedom of OTHERS. 

Ten years later, our troops are still have still fighting for that same cause and representing what this country believes. I am so honored and proud to be a country who stands for freedom.  

boy oh boy

I miss that boy.

I'm thankful it's only fourteen weeks, I'm thankful there's only a country instead of an ocean in between us and I'm very thankful he's safe. I know that other wives and families have it worse right now. I also know that we have a deployment in our future, so right now is the easier time. 

But I still miss him. 

Life is getting busier. Days are jam packed with student teaching, attending night classes, work...so my days fly by. My days flying cause my weeks to fly by which feels like the date of seeing that amazing boy of mine comes sooner.

But with that time flying perk comes with con's.

Typical days go from very early mornings to sometimes very late evenings...add in a time difference of three hours and there is limited opportunities for phone, skype and even instant message dates. 

Life just gets lonely without the boy.

When your use to having your best friend, your love, the one who can always make you laugh, the one who knows you best, encourages you, comforts you...when you're use to having them in person to kiss and love and talk to face to face everyday, then it turns into five minutes on the phone here and there...its kind of super extremely lame...the say the least. 

Some days are easier than others, some hours are harder than others. And during the hard and easy minutes, I think about the fact that I wouldn't trade it for anything. Several days ago God reminded me of that...I was having one of those missed calls kind of days, and became a little teary-eyed so I asked for a little strength. I was filled with memories, my life since I met that boy, everything we have over come, our friendship and how much I am in cheesy sappy love with him :) It was a tad overwhelming but so humbling. I wouldn't trade any of the struggles and hardships for what we have.

So thankful for God's gentle reminders. So thankful for our fourteen weeks. So thankful for the life my boy and I share.

call me a crazy cat lady

I had mentioned to the boy about the possibility of bringing a kitty into our life, but with our apartment life style it just didn't look like it would be in the near future. THEN we learned Coast Guard was the route God's plan. 

About a few weeks after we had made decision, I had a minor meltdown. It was nearly midnight and I was just starting a paper (the joy of working full time and taking too many units). I put down my computer, dropped to the floor and said,

"I'm done, absolutely done. I'm tired, this assignment is pointless and I just want to spend time with you". 
The boy says, "Okay, I know. Take like a ten minute break and I'll work on it with you". 

He grabbed my computer and started dinking around. I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed he wasn't joining my pity party on the kitchen floor but I was exhausted and enjoyed my little break.

Ten minutes had past and the boy asked me to join him at the computer. I whined and resisted a little, thinking it was paper writing time but when I plopped myself beside my boy I saw something much much different.

The screen was full of kitten pictures. My boy explains to me that he's been thinking. Thinking about him leaving and having to leave more in the future. He wanted me to have someone to come home to, talk to and just be with when he couldn't be. NOW THERE WERE TWO CONDITIONS...I had to finish my paper and we got the kitty soon, so boy wouldn't miss the "cute stage".

Well needless to say after my hugs and happy dance, I hopped back to that paper with a huge smile on my face. The soonest available day...okay half day...we both had off we drove to the local animal shelter and fell in love with Lynnee.

This was the first day we brought her home..poor thing we followed her around the little apartment..taking pictures every five seconds.

She always laid by my side when it was time to write the boy in boot camp. 

She tries to conversations with us...on a daily basis.
She LOVES banana peels. That's right, not the actually banana...only the peel.

She will watch the occasional tv show, thinks the dvd player lights are fascinating but her favorite is laying on my lap and watching the bubble screen saver on my computer.

She loves spooning and is a great traveler.

And she is amazing at finding verses...I was doing devotionals the other day and Lynnee started flipping through the pages of my Bible.

ALRIGHT now as you can probably guess I have MANY other pictures of her...so you're lucky I'm not sharing the whole family album :)

Now I hope I've illustrated how much that little girl means to me.

When the boy's gone, the days are a little harder to get through.

BUT when I pull into my parking spot Lynnee is up at the window waiting for me.

She follows me into every room of our little apartment. Even if I get up for a glass of chocolate milk...I have a little shadow following me for my three minute kitchen field trip.

She is always doing the most random things and making little messes...she keeps me amused and very busy. 

AND I always have someone to sleep with.

Now you can call  me a crazy cat lady...but I'm so thankful (yes and a little obsessed) for our Lynnee.

midnight bathroom makeover

WELL the night started out a little like this...my FAVORITE Nicole (from the lovely Consider The Lilies) came over for a healthy salad and a little math tutoring. Which turned into homemade Trader Joe pizza and oops...someone forgot her math assignment. SO it's now 8:25pm and I was telling my friend the bathroom in our room was driving me crazy and was ready for a change...I believe she said a little something like this "Ohhhhhh, can we PLEASE do it tonight, like right now??" Of course I'm super stoked and showed her some of my ideas. Luckily the 99cent store was still open til nine and Walmart I don't think ever closes, so we were set.

Alright so it definitely doesn't always look like this...but it does make for a perfect horrendous "before" picture. Usually about a third of everything is in my drawer and the rest is pushed into that corner. 

OKAY....READY??

TaaaDaaa!

Man oh man HUGE difference huh??

.......................................................................................

SO...here's how we did it. 

Between World Market, 99cent store and Walmart about $12 on different size vases.

 Mason Jar soap dispenser...fell in love with it on pinterest and knew I had to have it, well had to make it. Already had the mason jar at home and reused a pump from lotion bottle that was pretty much empty. 

Here's the tutorial . Pretty stinkin easy. 

Inspiration found here.

We spray painted a candle stick holder and glued it to the bottom of a vase. Filled the vase with river rocks I had stored under my bed. 

The middle picture here is three .49 cent tea light holders flipped upside down and carefully hot glued together, then topped it off with a vase.

Last we had a baby vase being a base for a bigger vase. 

by Nicole    FUN PICTURES     

Now this may be the craziest one. Here we have an upside down plastic wine glass (came in a pack of six at the 99cent store) spray painted it and yes you guessed it...hot glued to the bottom of a vase. The pearls come from my Christmas box and then there's the candle. 

Now obviously, the bathroom won't always be looking picture perfect. So for organization sake I grabbed box from the shelf (it kind of matched!) and added my daily uses in there.

There you have it, SO simple, SO inexpensive and SO much fun.

And I am SO in love with it.

kitchen conquered.

ALRIGHT believe it or not, kitchen was CONQUERED and COMPLETED the day of school starting back up. Yes, made the deadline just didn't get a chance to document it. So here it goes...my newly improved kitchen on a budget. 

...WELCOME...

This may be my favorite part of the kitchen...okay I admit there's a lot of favorites...but this is my top. I spray painted dollar tree vases and random glass tea lights I found around the apartment.

Well here's the BIG picture...with the rug that started it all.

.cook.LOVE.eat.

These words are hanging above the stove. Tin lids I found for only pennies at Michaels on clearance, then added a couple coats of spray paint. And since I couldn't find any stencils I liked, I used puffy stickers from my craft box to write the letters, then just pealed them off after it was dry.

Alright, moving over to the left of the stove. Here use to be a toaster and the boy's soda machine...which both were relocated into cabinets. MORE SPACE. 

 The canvas pictures that use to above the stove are now accompanying the spice rack. Which bytheway found for a few bucks a piece at ROSS dress for less. 

I decided to put that beautiful pitcher to good use and fill it with cookingness.

Alright and since the tour is moving to the left, it's time to meet Mr. Beta. Mr. Beta was located above the sink and stayed there :) I didn't want to disturb his home...plus he's almost out of reach from Lynnee.
 Isn't that wall bowl fun?! The boy and I SPLURGED big time when we first got married...$24.99 at the pet store. Which was pretty much more than our weekly grocery budget at the time...still not sure how I talked him into it. Much of my argument was "but its OUR first pet babe" and "i promise i won't ask for anything else for a loooonnngg time"  and with a few bats of my eye lashes the wall bowl was ours.

Welcome to the left side of my new and improved kitchen.

Now the COFFEE station...my favorite place in the morning..and noon..and study nights.
So I'm a tad bummed because my coffee mugs are hanging a little too horizontal for what I had imagined. I've tried a few things but haven't been able to get them to stay propped up...so any ideas PLEASE shoot them my way.

Here's a close up of the mugs on the wall. REUSING bachelor mugs the boy brought to our marriage. He fought me on throwing them out..."they were perfectly good mugs and it would be wasteful". So...they weren't thrown out, just no longer in the cupboard. 

Super easy to do...you probably already guessed it. I used a hot glue gun to make dots, let them dry and spray paint spray paint spray paint.  

ALRIGHT...wrapping up the tour. I put the cutting board up so the corner wasn't so deep looking. And leaned some serving plates against it to add some background color. 

Spray painted two of the lids and filled the containers with pasta we had stored away. 

Here's a picture of my brain storming nights...glass of wine, butter with bread ;), and yes Army Wives.



SO THE DAMAGE TO THE KITCHEN REDO IS...


TIN CANS from Michaels a total of $2.07 (plus I only used the lids...still have the containers to play with)
RUG and WINE RACK from World Market $22.00 with my beautiful coupon.
Then went back to World Market and paid $3.98 for the HOOKS holding the coffee cups.
Last is SPRAY PAINT from Home Depot, a little over $10.00 for all three cans, and I have tons left over.

MADE IT UNDER $40 DOLLARS
Which include two things I've been wanting forever..wine rack and pretty rug.