I did NOT sign up for this

March 18th cannot come fast enough. I am beyond ready to get out of Biloxi Mississippi and just get home. I just got word that my unit will be deploying in January 2011 for a minimum of 60 days. Most people would not worry about this a good 11 months in advance. I am not most people. This is a big deal for my because Larry will be deployed overseas from August until January 2011. There is a good chance now that I will not be home when he gets back and that I won't see him until March. In total, in 2010, Larry and I will have spent 4 and a half months WITH each other. I knew what I was getting myself into when getting involved with someone else in the military, but I did not sign up for that much time apart. The responses I keep getting from people are really starting to annoy me. "It will make you a stronger couple" or "Everything happens for a reason" or "Just think of how much money you'll have for your wedding". We already are a stronger couple and call me crazy but 7 & 1/2 months away from your partner cannot be a good thing people!! Everything happens for a reason? Please, what is the reasoning behind war and people being separated from their loved ones? What good can come from that? And the money? Well I could care less about the money. I would be fine with taking what we have in our savings now and going to a beautiful island and knocking this out. I'd rather have peace of mind knowing my fiance's safe than having more money for my wedding. But the most unnecessary comment came from one of my best friends today on facebook chat (DeDe). When I told her of the realization I had about Larry and I only spending 4 1/2 months together and how difficult this was, her response was "It is very hard I'm sure that played a major part of 'T' and i not working." Seriously?? WTF? I know she's bitter about her engagement not working out, but there were much bigger issues there than "T" who's also in the military, getting deployed. Larry and I definitely do not have the issues that those two had. I just really felt that comment was not needed and not very reassuring. Way to go friend!

In half-marathon news, today I ran my first training run in preparation for my 1/2 marathon. I completed 3 miles in 30 minutes and 13 seconds without stopping!! Had I gotten this news prior to my run, I'm sure I would have finished just under 30. I tend to run faster when I stressed out about something. To help with my training, I have decided to cut out all fried foods and soda out of my diet. I never was a big soda drinker but I do enjoy the occasional vodka & 7up or just diet coke. It looks like I will be thinking of new mixers to go along with my alcohol which is the only thing I refuse to give during this whole training hoopla.

I did it!

Last night at 11:30p.m., I signed up for the Chicago Rock'nRoll 1/2 marathon. This will be my very first 1/2 and I am very very nervous! The farthest race I have participated in was a 10k (a little more than 6 miles). I'm ready for this challenge, I've got my garmin 305 and a pair of new running shoes.

I also saw Dear John last night. The book was so much better, I didn't think they did that great of a job with the movie. The Notebook is still one of the best Nicholas Sparks book turned movie. You've been warned.

A Year ago Today

A year ago today I was jumping up and down with excitement because honeybuns was on his way home. Our relationship has been a unique one. Because we are both in the military, we run the risk of getting deployed or sent places for training. We've been dating for 3 1/2 years and have yet to spend a whole year in the same city with each other. We came so close this past year, until I got sent off to Biloxi Mississippi for two moths. We only had one month to go. Bummer.

I will have to say that this definitely has helped strengthen our relationship and when we do eventually see each other after a long period of absence, it's almost like it's new again and I love that feeling.

Looking back on the year, I honestly can't believe how much has changed in our lives and how quickly time has passed. I can't wait to begin a whole new chapter of my life with this man who makes me so proud.

Operation Wedding Dress 13.1

I stepped onto the scale this morning. No weight lost. I expected this with how my week had gone. I had very little time to workout because I was busy studying for my first big test. And how could I pass up Outback Friday night & Olive Garden (and Italian Margaritas) on Saturday when all I've been eating for dinner are lean cuisines and drinking water?

In other news I passed my first big test. It was a tough one but I did well. I continue to surprise myself while in Biloxi.

As far as wedding planning goes, it's coming along slowly, but surely. I don't want to do too much too soon. I scheduled our engagement pictures with our photographer, Olga Thomas and a make-up run with Brittany. I came across Brittany's website while looking at other wedding bios. I wanted to do airbrush makeup and she's one of the only ones in the Milwaukee area that does airbrushing make-up. We'll be taking our pictures at the end of May in Lincoln Park and I cannot wait!!!!!!!

Where'd the Weekend Go?

I spent the majority of my weekend holed up in my room, studying for my first big test for this course. So nothing as exciting to report as last weekend, which is probably a good thing. Except that I did go on an Olive Garden date last night, an Italian margarita & a glass of wine cut my studying pretty short. I'm very nervous and I hope that I do well. It's all computer and networking stuff, so this should be very interesting...

I just want to thank the lovely Jill over at Life After College, for the fabulous blog awards she gave me!!! Check out her blog, it's pretty great! I'm supposed to pass this award onto other wonderful bloggers that I follow, but I'm very tired...so anyone who reads this consider yourself a gorgeous lady of blogging!

A week in Review

This past week has been so incredibly busy, not to mention stressful! Larry came into town on Friday. I was so excited and relieved to see him. Being apart does make the heart grow fonder. At least in our case anyway. I picked him up from the airport and we had lunch together. I showed him around Biloxi and the base and then we went for a stroll on the beach. We both had been up super early, so we headed back to my room to take a little cat nap then headed to The Shed for BBQ & blues music. We came back to the room and started watching the first season of True Blood. I'm trying to get him hooked and it worked! It was a great Friday night.

Saturday, we woke up early, had breakfast at The Waffle House, and started our roadtrip to New Orleans. Let me just start off by saying, New Orleans is truly one of my favorite cities. It's unlike any other city I've ever been to. The food and music were just as great as I had imagined. The history and the culture is unlike anywhere else in the United States. We took a tour of the city and saw the Garden District, the French Quarter, LaFayette Cemetery, & the lower ninth ward, which is where they are rebuilding the houses that were destroyed from hurricane Katrina. It was a great way to spend the day together. After all of our sight seeing we were exhausted and went back to our hotel to take a nap. Later that night, we went out for some authentic New Orleans cuisine. I had crawfish etouffee and Larry had jambalaya. After dinner, we ventured down to Bourbon St. So ends the rest of my night! It was nuts down there!! We had Vikings Fans & Saints Fans partying with each other, we were allowed to take our drinks "to-go" and walk around to other bars. I told Larry this would be the perfect city for my bachelorette party. Needless to say, the very strong (and sweet) drinks caught up with me and I got a little carried away. My last straw (from what I can remember), was the super strong hurricane from Pat O'Brien's. After that I lost it. Right out there on Bourbon Street. In all my years of drinking and going to bars, NEVER HAVE I EVER threw up outside the bar. It was a very embarrassing way to end the night and I refuse to ever let that happen again. Thankfully, I had a wonderful man with me to make sure I made it back to the hotel safely, but he was not to happy with the next day.

Sunday, I slept away the majority of the day and swore that I'd never drink again.

Then came Monday. I had been dreading this day for awhile. Last week, I received a phone call from my base saying they wanted to send me home because they now realized that I didn't meet the qualifications for the tech school that I'm attending (for about 4 weeks now). They were going to have me re-take the ASVAB and then send me back down to MS. I was not happy, I was crying for a few days straight thinking how could this have happened. Then my sister, who's also in the military, told me that I had the option to just come home and get out. This is my second enlistment and they were willing to pull some strings for me. I was all set on coming home. I was happy about coming home, screw this test and my military career! I had had enough. Well, they told me that I didn't have to fly back home to take the ASVAB, that I could take it here at the base. My plan was to just go in there and not even try, that way, my scores wouldn't be high enough and they'd have to send me home!! But that's clearly not my nature. I couldn't just go in there and give up or do poorly on a test that I knew I could've rocked. So I went into the testing center on Monday, still feeling slightly ill from my wild and crazy weekend, and took that test. I did amazingly on it and I very much so surprised myself. So I'm here in Biloxi until March to finish up this school then it's back home for me! I have two years left in my enlistment, so I will just finish up and get out. I've done my time and served my country and I could not feel more proud. I also lost weight on Monday!!!


Goal weight loss: -36lbs
Weight lost since Oct. '09: -12lbs
Weight lost this week: -2lbs!!

Happy Friday!!!

My honeybuns arrives in Golfport, MS today!!!! His timing could not be more perfect! Today I will be showing him around this oh so lovely base, relaxing and then going to the Shed for the best BBQ that I've ever had. Tomorrow we will be staying overnight in NOLA. I've never been there and I cannot wait to go!!! Happy Friday : -)