Been a Long Time

It has been a while since I've posted... again and a lot has happened. I'm completely failing at this blog thing. Ahh but alas, here we go again.

I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant with our little girl. Brinlee is due on October 10, 2011.



The Mr. and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary.



And he joined the Honor Guard. He also is taking summer classes for his Bachelor's Degree and I start classes in the Fall.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Every man dies – Not every man really lives.- William Ross

Dreams... I have so many dreams and wishes for this life and whether I can fulfill all of them or not, I'm going to do my best. I remember having so many dreams as a child and as I got older, some of them started to fade. Our dreams define us and make us unique. They mold us and help us grow. Following our dreams helps us lead a full, happy life.

Here are 11 of my dreams for 2011:

Not necessarily to happen in 2011

1) Raise a family

2) Go to Europe. Pretty much anywhere will do. I just want to go.

Italy

3) Own a house with true southern charm.

4) Learn to play the piano

5) Learn to speak another language

6) Take Dancing lessons with my husband

7) Start sewing

8) Plant a garden

9) Ice Skate at Rockefeller Center

10) See a Broadway Show

11) Go hiking

So here are some of my goals. What are yours?

New Years Resolutions

It has been a long time since I've posted on here and a lot has happened in our lives since my last post. Part of my New Years resolution is to keep up with a hobby so I am going to try to update my blog on a regular basis. Sometimes life just seems so ordinary and mundane so I never know what to write about.

On that note, every year I make New Years Resolutions but I rarely stick to them. They are achievable but I make it too hard where I can't stay motivated so this year I am making them more easily attainable.

My goals for 2011 are:

• Pay off our credit card
• Add to our savings
• Establish a better budget and stick to it.
• Find a hobby
• Exercise consistently
• Read through my Bible in a year

I always make goals to lose X amount of weight and it doesn't happen quickly so I get discouraged so this year I decided just to start exercising and bettering my health instead.

Last night I went to my very first yoga class at the gym here on base with a friend. I thought it would be an easy class to start with but I was shaky from the minute we started and today my body hurts. I felt accomplished at the end of the class because I finally went and survived my first class. I think I will try to do yoga on a regular basis because it has great benefits such as:

• Increases Flexibility, Strength, Posture, and Balance
• Develops Core Strength
• Tones and creates lean muscles
• Expands lung capacity
• Reduces tension, relieves stress, relaxes the mind
• Engages the mind to increase concentration and focus
• Therapeutic for previous injuries through muscle conditioning
• Improves the mood and can suppress mental issues such as OCD or depression.
• Establishes body awareness and creates self-acceptance
• Lowers blood pressure and slows heart rate which decreases your cholesterol and triglycerides, can reverse the effect of heart disease, and helps those who suffer from hypertension or strokes
• Allieviates chronic medical conditions like asthma, migraines and arthritis
• Energy level increases
• Improves blood circulation
• Promotes a healthier lifestyle

The Beautiful Life of a Military Wife

Well, I'm obviously not keeping up with my blog very well but we are finally getting ready to PCS to MacDill AFB so I will have new adventures to talk about soon. Last time I wrote, I stated that I had moved to San Antonio to be with my hubby during Tech School but since we are closer to moving, I moved back to Dallas to get everything ready. We just found out we are going to get to live on base which is awesome because most of the nicer areas are nearly an hour from base. Otherwise, nothing very exciting has happened lately. I hate being apart from my husband but I know it could be worse. He isn't deployed or anything so I'm thankful for that. The separation is just tiring and let's face it, who really wants to be apart from their husband. As stressful as it may be at times, I love this life and everything that comes with it. I have learned to appreciate what I have and the time that I have with the ones I love. The military has helped my outlook on life and has helped me become more independent (clearly, I've been functioning virtually on my own for the last 5 months!). I'm more in love with my husband than ever and cherish all the moments we have had. I've been so blessed with an amazing husband and life. I couldn't be more proud of my husband. He is my everything. Unless you are a military spouse, you will never understand the pride that we have for our spouses! The tears of pride that stream down our faces when God Bless the USA or any other patriotic song plays, when we see our spouses put on their uniform everyday, and the pride of knowing that your spouse is standing ready to protect our great nation. Wives band together and support each other even if it is for someone they have never met. There is nothing like it. It is truly a beautiful thing. I love being a part of this amazing life.

Oh The Places You'll Go!

Lucky me! I got an award from my awesome friend, Mandy, and along with the award, I am supposed to write about where I would like to be in ten years.

My husband is in the military and with that being said, it is hard to be too specific about where I would like to be in ten years because you never know where you will end up. Brian wants the military to be his career at this point which means he will serve 20+ years.

Let me begin by saying, I will be 29 years old in ten years.

- Clearly, I want my husbands and my relationship to be even more rock solid than it already is! I am always happy to see our relationship growing and developing into a stronger love for one another.

- I know that my husband and I would like to have children before then so that is definitely in the ten year plan.

- I want a happy, healthy family to call my own.

- I want to build a strong relationship with God which I am constantly working on.

- I would like to visit or live in Italy, England, and Ireland.

- We would like to own a house.

- I want to have a Bachelors Degree regardless of major.

- I would love to be a strong volunteer in my community and help support other military wives if Brian remains in the military.

- I would like to have a solid savings plan established.

OPSEC

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! As a military wife, there are things that I cannot say for the safety of our troops. If certain information ends up in the wrong hands, it can and has lead to very serious consequences. In order to prevent any misunderstandings, I have decided to share the OPSEC (Operational Security) rules with you because I feel that everyone should understand why I will not give out sensitive information.

I have copied this information from Army.com.


Generally, it means that you should not give out the following:

(1) Your soldier’s exact location overseas

(2) Any information on troop movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times.

(3) Any information on weapons systems, how they train or numbers – for this reason, many pictures from overseas can easily violate OPSEC.


INCORRECT: "My soldier is in XYZ Unit and is stationed at ABC Camp in XXX city in Iraq."

Give only general locations IF his unit allows it. The above incorrect statement is entirely too much information.

INCORRECT: "My soldier’s unit is returning from deployment and flying into XYZ Airport at 8pm next Thursday."

INCORRECT: "Please pray for my soldier. He called today and told me he is going out on a very dangerous mission tonight. They will be gone for three days and I’m very worried about him."

The internet is a wonderful tool, but in regards to our military, it is a very dangerous one as well. It takes only minutes of searching online to find enough pieces of information that could potentially endanger our soldiers.


The old saying "loose lips sink ships" still holds true today. You never know who is lurking and gathering information on message boards, myspace pages, and profiles. Better safe than sorry!

Welcome to San Antonio

Hello from San Antonio! We are now about a month in to tech school and Brian is doing very well. So far, it isn't too bad but we would much rather be in Tampa already and Brian is more than ready for it to be over. Brian gets to come off of base after duty hours (around 5:00 PM) and he gets to stay out all weekend as long as he doesn't have CQ (basically guard duty) so it's been great being in San Antonio!! It's much different here than in Dallas but it's OK. It's more like a small Nashville, TN in my opinion. It's nice experiencing big city life. We only have a couple of months left before we head out to Florida and we couldn't be more excited! Brian is ready to see the occupational part of the Air Force as opposed to the training and it feels like a new beginning for us. Although we already have gone through BMT and part of tech school, this feels like it will be the real beginning of our life in the military. Next weekend, Brian gets a three day weekend so he's really looking forward to that and so am I. We've been so lucky to be able to spend so much time together here and we couldn't be more happy.

Brian and I at the Rainforest Cafe!



Bioenvironmental Engineer Flag



Airmen during Retreat





Brian in his dorm