Sunday Morning Coffee

It’s one of those rare Sundays I don’t have to be at either job. It’s terrible outside, lots of wind and rain, in the upper 60’s. Dirty Dancing was on the TV until  my husband woke up, to which I quickly changed the channel to Joe Dirt. I’m the kind of wife that doesn’t like torturing him with old chick flicks. Or new ones. Or anything remotely girly. Kiddo has been attached to his new train table all morning, and his new trains we bought yesterday with his Christmas money from Oma. The dog is doing some sort of downward dog move every few minutes because he needs to run outside but can’t because he’s a big sissy and doesn’t like rain. This is my Sunday morning.

My military adventure is at a stand still because we’re waiting on old records and ya know, the whole set of holidays that’s rolling through. I’m okay with that though. Come Jan 2nd though I’ll be all over it again in a fury, I’m sure. I’m still feeling confident about it, trying to stay positive in the face of the mountain of paperwork we have to either track down, or fill out. Did you know I don’t have a High School diploma? Yeah, didn’t know that. I know I was handed one on my graduation day. I know that because I was horrified that in my little graduating class of under 50 kids, I was in the background of almost every photo they took of each graduate because of my placement in the front row. Do I have a last name in the beginning of the alphabet? Nope. That’s just how my life is. So currently I’m tracking down a new copy of that thing, which apparently hasn’t been important since the day I received it. Go figure.

Working two jobs is still pretty interesting. I like both jobs for different reasons, though they both have their own set of downfalls, mainly the customers I work with at times. The more I work retail, the more I hate people. Just when I started to give humanity a second chance, boom, two retail jobs. Also, I think from here on out, I should be able to use “Can understand Southern folks saying their own email addresses” under job skills on future paperwork. It’s also kind of my favorite when big mean Marines have silly personal emails. Anyway, if working these jobs tells me anything, it’s that it’s not where my life should be. I don’t look forward to the hardships of being in the military alongside my husband, but the positive far outweighs the negative, one of the positives being I don’t need to work retail the rest of my life. Hopefully.

I have to keep reminding myself I’m not in yet. I have a very long road ahead of me. I have a lot of roadblocks to push out of the way. But having a plan for my life, other than loving my husband and son oodles, is pretty rewarding in itself. I have some sort of gypsy soul, so having a plan is a new thing for me. Someday I will live in Washington State, hopefully near Seattle. Someday I’ll be a nurse, hopefully in physical therapy or sports medicine, hopefully working with the Wounded Warriors. Someday I’ll get to see my best friend whenever I want, hopefully because we live in the same place again. Someday I’ll be in the military, doing what I’ve secretly wanted to do since High School. I have lots of Somedays, which sounds a little sad, but to me they’re just goals. I know my Somedays will happen, because it’s the type of person I am. My Somedays are a promise to myself that even if they don’t go according to plan, and I have to alter them a little bit, I’m going to try my hardest to get there. I’m okay with changes, but I still end up reaching my Somedays. I said someday I’d be married, with the greatest kid in the World, living an awesome life, in a cool old house, and guess what? Here I am. With a whole new set of Somedays.

Have a wonderful week.
Make a list of Somedays.

The Dreams Initiative

I figured out a long time ago that I’m not a very good school student. If I’m not challenged and actually taught, I lose interest fairly easily. So when I entered into my Senior year of High School, at my “college prep” HS, I quickly realized things were probably going to go downhill. I had no real interest to go to college, which is problematic at the type of school I was attending. But I also had no idea what I wanted to do in place of college. I just kind of wanted to… be. And so I did. I bounced around a lot after graduating. Working odd jobs and varying between apartments and couch surfing. It wasn’t a complete waste of time, I had a lot of ups and downs, but eventually I had that faint feeling of want. I wanted to do a lot more with my life. Still not to the point I felt comfortable going to college, but I felt a calling. It landed me in the recruiters office for the United States Marine Corps. My family was on board for the most part, wary, but on board. While waiting for two waivers I needed in order to join, we found out I was pregnant.

Flash forward through five years of happy motherhood and homemaking, I am feeling confident. My husband and I casually talked over breakfast one day that I try joining the military again. We have a pretty good plan for the future as is, but none of my side of things is planned out. My husband has a career path set for the next… forever, and me? I’m just the retail-working Mom. Which isn’t good enough for me. Don’t misinterpret that, being a Wife and Mom absolutely take precedence over anything else in my life, and I have so much fun doing it. They are the foremost things in my heart and mind. BUT I still feel like I’m not achieving my full potential in life. And there it is again, the call. So after our brief talk, life started to get a little blurry again. The military thought was in my mind constantly, and finally my husband and I had a serious discussion about it. We talked about branches, options, the difficulty of being a dual military family, and still we felt excited and comfortable with the idea. We settled on the Navy, as I do want to end up in the medical field, and feel they work best with that, and the Marine Corps way of life we already lead.

So here I am, in the midst of another try at joining the military, this time with an amazingly supportive husband, and son to think about. Now before you get judge-y or concerned about the motherhood aspect of my life, know this: Our son has always, and WILL always be the light of our lives. He will ALWAYS come first. I understand that joining the military requires almost all of my time and focus, but in the long run, we both feel very sound with our decisions and the effects they may or may not have on him. The assumption that you can be a mother and wife OR in the military is ridiculous. I am multifaceted. I am capable of loving and caring for my son, and being an example to him that you CAN achieve your goals in life and care for the people you love at the same time. My being a wife and mother does not prevent my dreams, it fulfills them, and it encourages me to take on others. I won’t lie and say I am not a little worried about how he will handle Mommy not always being around, it would be silly not to be worried. But the relationship my husband and son have is stellar. If I had any inkling that our son did not come first in this decision, I wouldn’t be moving forward with it. I am so confident he will be loved and taken care of, that I feel amazing blessed and lucky to be able to try my hand at this path I am embarking on.

My marriage is probably the strongest it’s been to date. The excitement my husband has for my future plans, and the support he’s already shown make me love him more and more every day. We are not your average couple. Not by a long shot. We’re not even your average military couple. We are who we are, and right now, we’re damn amazing. You’ll notice I didn’t say perfect anywhere in there. We have our faults, and we know there will be challenges, but we’re ready to tackle them together as they come. I have no doubts in us, and that’s all that matters. I do not care what anyone else thinks about how a dual military relationship may work. Your misconceptions have no affect on how much we love each other, support each other, or rely on each other. We’re in this together, 110%, and will deal with the ups and downs like any other couple, just with a little more military influence. In other words, we’re super, super, moto, haha.

I have already spoken once with the recruiter here, briefly, about wanting to join the Navy as a Corpsman. The way the recruitment for the Navy goes is a lot different than the Marines, so we’re rolling with the information as we receive it. It is VERY difficult to become a female Corpsman right off the bat (lots of competition, the ladies alll want to be Navy Corpsmen). There’s still a chance I could qualify for it and there be an opening, after the ASVAB and MEPS, but we did have to discuss other options. I still have to take the test and go through the medical process, so right now, that’s where I’m at. I have a few other career plans in mind for the Navy, and will deal with that when the time comes. But for right now, I will need prayers for wisdom and guidance through this process. I am extremely excited and hopeful I make it into the Navy, but we also have a B Plan, should it not happen. My family has not taken it very well, though I am trying to come to terms with the fact that’s it’s because they love my son so much. They support me and love me, just not this decision. It’s been very hard for me to accept that, but it does not in anyway deter me from my dreams of supporting my nation, my family, and myself.

I know not all of my friends & family will understand this decision. I’m okay with that. I am doing what I feel I need to do, what I want to do, and my husband supports me. That’s all I need. Would it be nice to have some support through this process? Absolutely. But I want to make it clear that I don’t require the approval of anyone but my husband and son. We have an unconditional love, probably more than most, and we will go at this head on and hope for the best. We are making this decision together, we are informed and educated on almost all aspects of being dual military. We do not take this lightly.

So here’s to joining the Navy and being the person I knew I should be, 6 years ago. The fire has not gone out I assure you. If anything, my husband and son have fueled the flame, and no matter the outcome, will be there for me through the entire process. I hope I’ve made you understand a little bit of what I am going through, and you can comprehend that my love for my husband & son come first, but the military service and support for my nation are a focus we share. We are a military family already, we have the strength and perseverance to overcome and enjoy the dual military family title as well.

I’m going back to the recruiter today, updates will follow as things move forward.

Here goes…. everything.

Let Me Influence Ya: Rimmel

One of the products Influenster recently sent me to try out was the Rimmel Retro Glam Mascara. Now if you’ve seen photos of me, you can clearly see the eyeballs I’m workin’ with. My husband says I look anime sometimes, lovely man that he is. So normally I don’t bother doing anything special with make-up on the ol’ peepers. Enter new mascara. I didn’t think my eyes could get much bigger, but SHAZAM, there they were!

And since I just started working two jobs at once, it was kind of amazing timing. So THANK YOU Influenster and Rimmel, for making this tired, working mama, look a little better every day. The mascara is a little on the thick side, so if I’m in zombie mode in the morning, occasionally it gets a little clumpy. But otherwise I’m a fan of this stuff, and I’ll probably stick with the brand. They’ve changed my cheapo mascara buying ways. You can buy the new Retro Glam Mascara this month, November 2013!

I even used this for my make-up rundown for the Marine Corps ball with my first try at false lashes and they looked even more amazing! Oh and I loved pairing the mascara with my favorite up-do (in the photo above), and got compliments at work on the look! I hadn’t actually looked in depth at Rimmel products before but now, next time I cruise the make-up aisles, it’ll be the first spot I stop.

I can’t wait to try out everything else in my Rose VoxBox!

In a Flurry

My first snowfall went as expected. I complained about the cold, went into work, came out of work, and got hit in the eye by a snowflake. Mother Nature is mocking me. I drove home in the flurries, stayed by the window until 11pm watching it in the streetlight glow. It was magical. Then I woke up the next morning to this. My first, REAL, snowfall. I’ve seen snow, I’ve played in it, I’ve gone skiing in it, but those were vacations. I’ve never gotten up from my own bed, looked out the window, and seen snow. I’m from San Diego, if I want snow, I drive a few hours, haha.

It was so much fun seeing the strange white, cold stuff all over the place. I was pretty close to waking my kiddo up out of excitement. But, ya know, that means waking him up, and yeah, no thanks. Last time I blogged, I was talking about job searching. Now here I am, with two jobs, a kid in preschool, and another HUGE decision on the horizon. Times are a-changin’! Keeping balance of life lately has been a little difficult. I made something in the crockpot for the first time, and made my first chowder. Both were meh. Timing the kiddo in school, two jobs, working around the husbands schedule, and still being a Mom & Wife at home is DIFFICULT. I give working Moms so much credit, especially now that I am one. Someday I will get this stuff down right. I thought I did a lot of To Do Lists before, but I think I need more of them now. Which is nuts. I write everything down. I can thank my Mom for that one. Funny how life comes along and make you feel like a really big asshole for complaining to your Mom about hating lists. Now I live by them.

A lot of people were saying this wasn’t “real” snow. But EXCUSE ME, it’s cold, white, frozen stuff and it’s stuck around until late morning, so those people can suck it. Plus, I’m a San Diegan, it’s real for me. I immediately cleaned my living room and threw up the Christmas tree. But in true Southern form, this weather lasted all of two days and went back to weather in the 70’s and no sign snow again. The cold weather left and took my Christmas tidings with it. My tree sits, un-lit, un-decorated, and very much a vacuuming hassle.

 

And really, any excuse for me to where my fuzzy boots.

 

My poor child, as soon as he woke up, I carried him downstairs and forced him to look at it. Much to my chagrin, he was ecstatic. He did ask where the snowmen were, so hopefully we get some decent snow this year and I can teach him that they don’t just fall from the sky. Thank God. Could you imagine a snowman falling onto your roof? Stuff of nightmares. It’s been about a week since this snowfall, and still, morning wake ups include the “Where the snow, Mommy?” He sure is half a Washingtonian.

Anyway, just a quick update on why my poor blog is so neglected and a little bit of what I’ve been up to in the meantime.

Job Hunting at 26.

Step aside ya little high school twerps, this old lady needs a JOB.

That’s right ladies and gentleman, I am BACK. After a 5 year stint as a stay-at-home Mommy, and expat in Japan, I am trying to get back into the workforce. I will admit, I did get a little bit nervous before my interview this morning at Michael’s. But as soon as I sat down, I knew it would go well. I crushed it, in fact. Now with no recent job experience and not even a smidge of college done, I could see where I might get trumped by a teenager still. BUT I am very outgoing, and since I’m a Mom and Wife, basically a workhorse, I should get a leg up with the responsibility aspect of life, too. I also received a interview summons from Old Navy, which coincidentally is right next door to Michael’s. So if all goes according to master plan in my brain right now, I will do both and somehow amass enough hours to cover the childcare needed for me to have a job, and still have money to blow on races. I mean save up.

I will say though, it makes me feel understandably under-accomplished. Yes I’m a rad Mom, and a kickass Wife, but other than running, I don’t really DO much. I am planning for baby number 2, and college, so I suppose I have goals at least. My darling husband makes jokes at me expense to the tune of “If you get hired at Michael’s, will you even have a paycheck leftover?” Which, let’s be fair, there’s a giant chance I will be overcome at both jobs by the need to buy things within the store. I can’t help it if they both rock my socks.

So I am hopeful, and crossing fingers and toes they both hire me. Yes they are both Seasonal, yes I will be working over the holidays, but meh, we weren’t going anywhere this year anyway, and it will be amazing to get the experience (and therein paycheck) for when we do decide to travel again. For now though I am wishing and hoping and praying to get these seemingly small jobs and get back to having some sort of schedule aside from:
1. Roll out of bed.

2. Drive child to school.

3. Hope someone invites you out/ Go running

4. Pick up child from school.

5. Sit here.

6. Go back to bed.

Repeat.

Thankfully this is a military town and they are understanding of the whole 5 year gap in my resume. Well maybe not so much resume, as “I thiiiiiiink that’s when my last job was.” Plus like I said, it’s Seasonal and they need bodies. IE: Me. Whatever, I’m excited. And I needed to write it down as a reminder when I’m working Black Friday and want to punch someone in the face. While smiling. Because I’m happy, but will not be trampled!  Besides I’m 26 now, respect your elders and all that. HA!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

So, lately I’ve won a few giveaways. I don’t know how. I have ZERO luck. I lose raffles consistently, unless my husband has physically touched the tickets, in which case he wins at basically all of them.  SO imagine my surprise when I didn’t win one, but THREE giveaways in the past two months.  I’ve been meaning to blog about them because I like to share the wealth of information and show that sometimes, I get reminders that life does NOT suck for me.  The most recent giveaway was one from My Three Bittles, where she held a giveaway for The Pasta Shoppe. Are you kidding me?! As a runner, this is a glorious win. Imagine the possibilities of fun pre-race meals! I can’t wait to stuff my face with these cute little pastas!  Amber from My Three Bittles is basically the cutest, and I LOVE that she is always doing so many fun things with her kiddos. She’s also completely down to Earth which I totally dig in a blogger.

Previous to THAT win, I won a giveaway through Not Just A Mommy!,  for Pear Tree Greetings. Um, perfect much!?! We have actually never had actual family photos done. Or ever sent actual photo holiday cards, so this is huge and so meaningful for me. It’s motivating me to plan our photos and send them out to our family, who have been BEGGING us for nice photos. And not only did I win the $50, but Pear Tree Greetings included the extra $7 for shipping to my house. As a family adjusting back to living in the States (financially, that is), and being so far from our family, this means the world to me. For the first time ever, we get to send, at the very least, our smiling faces to our families for the holidays. Talk about a blessing!

Last but not least, I won my very first blog giveaway with Hello Two AM,  for the etsy shop Earth Cookie Creations. Yeah. SPOILED ROTTEN, I AM. SO many adorable thingssssss! Stormy from Hello Two AM is basically amazing. We bond on all things nerdy and her kids are freakin’ adorable. We’ve known each other online for a while now, back from the ol’ myspace days. So when I won my first giveaway through her, it was meant to be I suppose. I ended up ordering some things for my craft room, but when they arrived they were all so cute that they ended up all over the place. The bat clips are in my zombie kitchen, the purple clips actually made it into the craft room. The Christmas countdown will of course, be used this Christmas, and I can’t wait to make more stuff for it. And finally, and AWESOME rag garland that I haven’t quite decided what to do with, it can basically go in three different rooms of my home and I’m having trouble choosing, haha.

Oh I suppose I did find a temporary home for the rag garland, when I wore it as a pretty ghillie suit to get a laugh out of my fellow military wives. Tee Hee.

Rain is a Good Thing

Three days. It’s been raining for THREE DAYS.

The Californian in me wants to scream, the married to a Washington guy wants to dance in it. So when the inches and inches of rain created the puddles in our street like they normally do, we took the kiddo out to jump around. Burning energy is important for Mommy’s sanity.  Now that we have cooler weather and lots of rain, I’m starting to miss WA again. I just want to fill up my day pack, get a giant coffee from a drive-up stand, and spend the day in the trees. But alas… wrong coast. We have swamps here. And the only drive-up coffee place we have is Starbucks and the line is usually long and full of dysfunctional military families and Southerners who apparently need 7 coffees each.

But I’m still thankful for rain. It makes my husband happy. Kiddo loves puddle jumping. I love eating soup. See? It all works out for everyone. Well minus that fact that I haven’t been running, but after the half last weekend, my legs are probably more thankful than anything. I’ll be taking the rain as a reminder that when the weather is wonderful, I should be outside taking advantage. Let’s hope I can knock some fall bucket list items off when it clears up. Blue Ridge Parkway anyone? Yes. Let’s.

I love that my now 4 year old, still loves to do things he’s been doing since he could walk. He also does new things like telling me he missed me while he was at school, or calling me his best friend. I love him to pieces. Any time he wants to head out in 60 degree weather to jump in puddles, I’m all over it. Rain is a good thing.

There’s No Such Thing As “Post Race”

You might have just run your first half-marathon if:

It hurts to sit down to go pee.

You basically made sweet, sweet love to some Chik-fil-A nuggets and a salad.

You loathe the decision to ever live in a two-story home.

Despite eating two donuts and lunch after the race, you could probably still eat a whole meal.

You go to hop in the shower hours later and realize you still have KT tape on.

Today I finished something I never, EVER imagined myself doing. A year or so ago I made the decision to start running, more as a social thing, and to stay in shape, never to be do anything competitively. Now here I am, having completed the Couch to Crazy program my crew puts on. We trained together for a 5k, the bridge to 10k, and now a half-marathon. A HALF-MARATHON PEOPLE. That’s 13.1 miles. THIRTEEN POINT FREAKING ONE MILES. And me, ME of all people, did it. This crazy running journey has had a lot of ups and downs for me. I was the Queen of Random Injuries in Okinawa, from heat exhaustion to a pulmonary embolism. I have had to overcome a lot about body image, and a lot of social anxiety and self doubt.  Now I find myself actually believing that I’m a runner. That may sound funny to anyone outside the running world, of course I’m a runner, I was a runner the moment I hit the pavement. I did not truly believe I was anything other than a really good jogger, until today. Despite some major IT band pain in my hips over my last few runs, I chose to run through it. I taped it up, took some Ibuprofen, and worked through it mentally. I overcame every feeling of doubt, every nagging pain, and every doubt it my mind. I finished. I finished dressed as Tinkerbell no less.

Honestly I never would have done this without the women I have met through Stroller Warriors. Perfect strangers greeted me upon my return to the U.S. and immediately challenged me with new goals. Goals I probably wouldn’t have made myself anytime soon. Through all of this I became closer with friends I had made in Okinawa, created new friendships with people I already hold very dear, and learned a lot about myself personally. Now when I titled this post the way I did, I meant it. As a runner, as soon as you finish a race, you’re planning the next in your head. It turns into a habit pretty quickly, and a lot of runners will warn you about it being addictive. Boy were they right. I am currently wanting to sign up for a 21 mile trail run in early January. Um, WHAT!?

I say, if you set your mind to it, you will do it. You could think you’re the worst runner of all time (something I personally had to overcome), to finishing a half-marathon and actually feeling pretty great. Sure, I’m a tad bit sore at the moment, but for a good reason. I am a more confident me, I am teaching my son to be healthy, I am doing so much more than running. I am accomplishing.

Race Rundown:
I was pretty anxious upon arrival, but joking with my husband and friends is how I calmed myself down, and reminded myself that this wasn’t something to feel pressured about, I was there to have fun. We started in the back of the pack with a little walk/jog warm up. The first 6 miles out went amazingly well, keeping at an 11 minute pace. A few water views and some gentle breezes, a little pine needle slippage and some wonky bridge planks. Kari and I are pretty stellar at intervals, and it definitely helped us keep pace for the entire race. At about mile 5 we each turned on some music, which actually happened to sync up on the same song at one point. We finally hit the half-way turn around and had a few more laughs thanks to a Marine in the barracks with a megaphone. After the turn around it was a matter of mind over pain for each of us, me with my old lady hip, and Kari with some knee/calf trouble. But it was nothing we couldn’t interval our way through at a 12 pace. So yes, our race took a little walking, but we finished before our goal time and feeling pretty great. Overall I am stoked on how my race went. I feel pretty awesome despite having run the furthest I’ve ever run in my life.

Stroller Warriors has changed my life. Running has changed my life.
I have changed my life.

Fun Runs // The Gateway Drug to Marathons

Have you seen this article? :

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324807704579085084130007974.html?mod=trending_now_2

It pissed me off.

As a young runner, who has a running family full of people from all different strokes and ages, this made me sad. Is this truly what the older crowd thinks? It’s a viewpoint I had never seen before. Certainly there is a better way of challenging us younger runners than by calling them out maliciously, and ultimately calling them slow? I think what this apparently ANCIENT man has missed is that there are such things as FUN RUNS. I started out in a small crew, to get out and meet other Moms and explore the area I lived in better. I had no intention of becoming a runner. Here I am, a year and a half down the road from that first workout, and a week or so away from my first half-marathon, which is yes, TIMED. I’ve done a few fun runs, where I wasn’t concerned with my time or what I got at the finish line. I run to have fun. The day it becomes something other than fun, is the day I stop running.

Everyone has to start somewhere. The more glow runs, colors runs, foam runs etc., there are, the more people are going to get involved in running. People who have probably never tried to run since grade school P.E. are getting out there. And SO WHAT if they do it for a medal, or just to finish. They aren’t sitting at home. They’re out, having fun, being healthy, and getting rewarded for it. They aren’t signing up for races to impress anyone. They’re building on friendships or family strength, and having fun doing it. Do I think people should spend time training for races like the Chicago Marathon? Absolutely. But I’m not going to belittle anyone’s ambitions if they choose to do otherwise. I’d be more concerned with people not taking a Marathon seriously and injuring themselves, more than training in order to get a good time and beat other people. Competition is absolutely healthy, but it’s a race, competition is a given. People are going to feed off of support and run better with cheers rather than people judging them from the other side of the finish line.

I’ve been training off and on for this half-marathon. Let’s be honest, my goal IS JUST TO FINISH. Would I like it to be under 3hours? Sure. If it isn’t will I lament about it? Maybe a little. I do not however, look down on others for the time finish in, and receiving  a medal for it. In my thoughts, anyone who crosses the finish line behind me, is just as deserving. Now obviously, if they’re drinking sodas and eating chicken wings along the race route, they probably shouldn’t be rewarded for it. But I’ve never met a runner who did a race and wasn’t proud to finish. The fact is they’re out there. And I HIGHLY doubt anyone is signing up for races like the Chicago Marathon without any sort of training or effort. You have to qualify for certain corrals, so even though they have options for an almost 7 hour marathon time, you STILL HAVE TO TRY.

I just think this article was ridiculous. Everyone has a reason to race. Everyone wants to just finish. It’s up to the race coordinators on how to hand out medals. It’s up to runners to register for races based on what they want out of it. The bottom line is that they’re out there, running it. People compete against their own demons enough, they don’t need to worry about the people finishing before them thinking they’re weaker or didn’t make enough of an effort. Runners struggle with their own pressures. Your life must be insanely sad to have to bash other people’s motivations for races. Finish your race, take your medal, and shut up. This is the running family, we’re supportive, encouraging, and we challenge each other. We certainly don’t make people feel like shit for not being as good as we are, or beating each others times across the finish. Enjoy your Denny’s Senior Special sir, I hope your well earned medal doesn’t clink too much against the bowl.

I am for one STOKED that more younger people are starting on this road to running.

Happy Fall Y’all

Fall has finally arrived officially! Here in North Carolina we have been celebrating the on and off cooler weather. It’s a big deal when you don’t step outside and melt into a puddle of human with a frizzy ball of hair on top.  It also makes for better trips outdoors when the mosquitoes aren’t all over you and the sweat stays at bay a bit. Half-marathon training is also going a lot smoother. I am just not built for heat and humidity. With the cooler weather there’s also about a thousand more options on things to do. We have festivals, fairs, and races out the wazoo. AND JEANS! I can wear jeans again! Not sweaters quite yet, or scarves, but I will soon, and it will be glorious.

We’ve already done a little hiking (well nature walks I guess. No actual hiking here!). No crafting just yet, but I’m on it. This season also makes it a lot easier for someone who has a zombie themed kitchen to find cute decor, haha! I do wonder what the homeowners face is going to look like when he comes to visit at the end of this week. I sure made this rental home ours, haha. I’m super nervous to meet him. I’ve never really had a landlord come over to check out the digs so I’m paranoid about it, of course. “Hey, you know how your house is kind of an epic fail inside? Well I made it pretty. I can make it prettier if you take it out of our rent.” Seriously, there is a complete iron mark on the carpet in our master room. Who the hell irons on the floor? Actually, who the hell irons? We have the awful wallpaper, odd outside paint job, marks all over everything, ugly counter tops… I could go on. But it’s our funny little home and I love it.

I am again, appreciative for the awareness I have of how awesome it is to be back in the U.S. for actual seasons. I have Okinawa to thank for that. Being home for the holidays has been pretty amazing. I suppose now that I’ve been on the sidelines for them before, some of the things Americans do for holidays is pretty silly. The pumpkin spice crave is definitely one of those things.  I am just not a fan of everything I eat tasting like potpourri. Wait unless it’s actual potpourri, that’s allowed to be pumpkin spice. And pie. Mmm…. pumpkin pie.

See? Pumpkin spice smelly stuff. HAHA!

We have a lot on the ol’ bucket list this season. I plan to conquer it.
So Happy Fall Y’all as they say here in the sort of South, I hope you get out an enjoy it!