We Like to Move It, Move It

December 22nd was D-Day, and by that I mean "Dang I have to fly 7 hours alone" day. My flight was, to say the least, terrible. The seat belt light stayed of all of 30 minutes total and about every half hour the kid behind me kicked my seat, which prevented any sleep I tried to get from happening. I did have 2 whole seats to myself though and got to watch "We're the Millers" (which actually wasn't nearly as bad as it looked) and "Tangled". I also got all of my Christmas and going away party thank you cards done, so can't complain too much. Once I landed in Germany it as customs and baggage and then try to find my husband. Thank God I am somewhat competent with airports! It is 2 Euro for baggage carts (which I DEFINITELY made use of) and while standing at the carousel waiting for my baggage to come out I saw at least 3 people completely struggle to comprehend how to get a baggage cart. One lady didn't understand you had to pay, another stood there staring at the machine that took your money for at least five minutes. Bless their adorable non-traveling hearts.  Moving on. So I found James and we made our way to Ikea which was actually still closed. We went to this Home-Depoty type store (Picture the Home Depot, but with a pet store included...) and got a tree stand and a couple various other things in an attempt to kill time so Ikea would open. We eventually decided to just ditch Ikea because we were bored of waiting. We made our way back to base to pick up a few things I needed and then back to the house. James did a great job with the house. It is so perfect! The yard is gorgeous and I love the country feel of it all. It has a covered porch which I can't wait to sit on every day once it gets warmer.

Spooker loves to run around in the backyard too. All our furniture fits n the bedroom and we have 2 wardrobes as well. Europeans for some reason don't believe in closets. I will never understand. EVER. Spook loves our bed and sometimes lays in our room by himself. Freak. Our kitchen is small, not like an America kitchen. We are planning on getting a little buffet cabinet for some extra storage/counter space in there. Both our bathrooms are decently sized and have plenty of bathroom storage (YAY!) We (I) have gotten all of my books unpacked and onto the bookshelf in a very disorganized fashion, but the boxes are broken down and out of the way so I don't care. James got a lot of kitchen things unpacked before I got here, but like I said we will need more storage in order to finish that. I have gotten 90% of our clothes out of bags and hung or folded. Have yet to find many shoes, but finally found an abundance of socks and underwear. Moving is hard and messy.

My first few days here have been crazy. It's hard to believe it hasn't even been a week since I got here. Since I landed on the morning of the 23rd, once we got home and unpacked a few things we set up our tree. James cooked me an amazing welcome home dinner while I wrapped the tree in lights. After dinner we decorated together and used our handy dandy tripod to take some Christmas pictures.

Christmas Eve we went to a candlelight service on base and then over to one of James' friends houses for food and games. We had a really great time. Christmas day we were supposed to go to a progressive dinner but ended up waking up really late and missed the first house. We opened our gifts to each other and had a nice breakfast before making it out the door. James got me a few things from Christmas markets, including this really gorgeous heart necklace I am in love with!

We then scurried out the door to make it to the second house in the progressive dinner for salad and Secret Santa, and then onto the third for dinner. After dinner we swung by our house to pick up the pup and a movie and then made our way to base to play games, have dessert and watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

The day after Christmas two of James' friends, their dog, James, Spook, and I all left in the afternoon to drive to Brugge, Belgium. We got there in about 3 hours and found a hotel and then did a little shopping and attempted to go to the Christmas market, which was all closed except for the bar. We tried a couple of drinks and made our way back to the hotel for the night.

The Christmas lights in Brugge are beautiful. Every town in Europe has a town square type feel even if its a big city.

In the morning we got breakfast (Belgian waffles!!) and stopped to get some chocolate. There are more chocolate shops in Brugge than I have ever seen in my life. We then went to the snow and ice sculpture festival! It is sponsored by Disneyland Paris so this year it was all carved after scenes from "Frozen" and they also had a few classic Disney characters. It was so beautiful and incredible. Disney is the professional when it comes to paying attention to detail and making things magical, and magical it was.

All of the classic Disney couples were dancing in a ballroom at the sisters' ball from "Frozen." It was so neat.

They of course couldn't go without Mickey and Minnie there as well!

In order to keep everything frozen it was 21 degrees in there. My toes were numb ad freezing by the time we left! Spook was not a fan of the ice either...

We then drove about an hour to Brussels and hit up the Christmas market there, in the cold rainy mess that is Europe. James and I found this really neat nativity scene which we invested in. We then moved on to try to find the famous bar Delirium. Delirium, as it turns out, is not one bar but a network of like 5 or 6 bars all in the same building. The environment was very chill and nice. They have literally thousands of different beers you can try. We sat in there for a while with the dogs, and then headed back home.
It has been a great adventure thus far but I will be thankful once New Years is over and I can get everything more organized and settled in. My sleep schedule has not been working for me either so I will be glad once the jet-lag has passed. Moving to a different country is kind of like moving to a different planet. I had to relearn how to use a dish washer, washing machine, dryer, etc. The heating and air is different as well as light switches, and pretty much anything else. I feel much more cultured already. Once some more unpacking and organizing has been done I will post some house pics but until then you will just have to wait :)
TTFN, Ta ta for now!

Homecoming

Ive now been away from my husband 8 months. He comes home a day after our 8 monthaversary. I cant wait to see him. Im going though all these emotions and theres such a large mixture. Panic that he wont remember whT im like. Excitement that i get to see him! Nervousness that ill be super clingy. Weve gotten this far apart. All our stuff is being shipped to our house in Germany, just left is us. There are too many mixed feelings to describe how I feel but a month from today Ill be leaving the place ive lived the past 13 years...like i said, too many emotions, not enough words.

The Miracle Butterfly

So I know I haven't written for a while. I told you I was bad at this whole blog thing. I have a story though.

Tonight I saw a monarch butterfly on our front porch. I thought it odd that he was still flitting around and active at 10pm since normally you only see them around in the sunshine. I watched him and the. Saw him fly up into the front porch light. I thought maybe he had gotten stuck in a spider web or something so being the ridiculous person I am, I opened the door to make sure he was alright. I saw him at the top of the door and he seemingly fell toward me, and then flew into my house. I was shocked and quickly went to try to catch him to let him back outside. He had flown into one of the lights of the chandelier in our front hallway. My dad came and got him out. He then flew into the chandelier light in our living room. My dad followed him and caught him and put him in a jar. I took the jar and went on the back porch to let him go but he wouldn't come out of the jar. For a moment I thought he had died, since he had been acting odd and was possibly injured. I dumped him out of the jar into the wooden railing of the back deck. The wind was blowing his wings around but the little guy just clung to the wood for dear life and would not fly away. I didn't know what to do so I put my finger down by him and he crawled right on. For the next 30 minutes maybe I just sat there with him on my finger. When I tried to touch him to see if he would fly he simply just crawled onto the other hand. I felt bad for him thinking he was dying and didnt want to be alone and somehow figured I was his friend or something. I wasn't sure what to do with him because I didn't want to just leave him there. He then flew off my finger and into my hair, as if to say "I'm ready now." I walk back outside into the back porch and he just flew away, perfectly, not injured at all. I have no idea what just happened, as most butterflies may land in you but when you try to hold them they get spooked and fly away. I like to think someone up there was looking down and thought i could use a friend, so they sent me him. Whatever the case, I'm glad I got some time with one of the most beautiful creatures God created and to me, he is a little miracle. I hope he's off to show someone else a little love and encouragement, as he definitely showed me. Weird how such tiny things can make such a big impact. 

To my non-friends

I've been thinking a lot about past friends. They're really haunting me and I'm struggling. I have dreams about these people that I use to care so deeply about and who I thought once cared deeply about me. It makes me wonder, do these people ever think of me? I'm betting the answer is no, or if they do its not in any kind of way I would want them to. It makes me very sad. Sometimes I wish I could get these friendships, these people back into my life. Sometimes I feel weak without them here with me because I loved them so intensely. Sometimes I want to find them, say I'm sorry, beg for forgiveness for any mistakes, beg for friendship to be rekindled and returned and for things to go back to how they were. Sometimes my heart aches to know how they are, if they're happy without me in their life, or if they regret cutting me off. Sometimes though, I wonder why I would even want them back in my life at all. I think of them as pathetic and weak occasionally for leaving me when I was at my hardest place in life. What kind of "friend" does that? Does the whole "I'll always be here for you" have some kind of "unless..." Clause that Im unaware of? Friendship should be about loyalty and love, always. If you're going to call someone a good friend, be able to be a good friend no matter how hard things get. Friendship is about being there for people when they go through hard times, not ditching them because they are struggling with life. Ultimately, the people that left me while I was going through the very dark time in my life thus far, are weak, pathetic, and really really terrible friends. I have no idea how I still miss them because I don't even want friends like that. I don't want unloyal selfish backstabbing liars as friends, but I struggle to know if anyone exists that is any better, or if people will always just be mean and cruel to their so called "friends." I have no idea. Now that I am far into recovery and laugh and smile genuinely again, it would be nice to forget the shadows of the past and move to the future. I believe The Lord takes revenge for us, and I would like to think He has something in mind for the people that were terrible to me when I struggled the most. I hope one day they see that I am happy and living in Europe and miss me as a friend. Really for me, it matters if you're there to spend the happy days with me, but if you ditch when the going gets tough, what good are you? Maybe some day humanity will learn some morals and virtues again because it seems like most have forgotten what it means to be nice and to be a good friend or even a good person. Good luck to all who at least try. I salute you. 

The one thing no one will ever accomplish.

Any guesses? Time travel? No. Maybe hover boards? Nope. Bringing back the dinosaurs? Well... That actually seems kind of impossible but that's not what we're talking about here.

I've been thinking about this for a while now and I never really know how to sum up my thoughts on it. 

Love. It's the one thing that can make us or break us, they say. Why? Because its the one thing we truly EXPECT. If you love someone you expect to be loved in return, and when you aren't, you're crushed right? I'm not talking like he loves her she loves him mushy gushy stuff either. I'm talking about love. Love for a friend, love for a child, love for a parent, love for a pet, love for that person that prepaid your meal at the drive through window. I've always found I love more than I am loved. It just seems natural at this point. I love the people that leave me, even after they've left. But love can be accomplished you say, and that is very true. My theory on unconditional love, however, is that it will never be accomplished by a human being. It never can be, because humans have expectations, and therefore conditions. Everyone does, even you sitting there saying you don't. 

You may love someone even through a fight, a bad hair cut, a hurtful situation. You may say "nothing will make me stop loving you!" But that is a lie. Unconditional love is not something that can be given because of human expectations to receive love in return. 

Our need and want for love is actually the one thing standing in the way of getting the truest form of it. Isn't that twisted?

I think so.

Sister of a Nanny

My sister Kellee nannies these four kids that are both precious and a handful at the same time. Leia is 9, Aurea is 6, Aidan is 3 and little Landon is about 3 months. Like I said, they are precious but a handful. Landon fell asleep while I was holding him as vacuuming today. He likes the sound of the vacuum. We went and played at the park too. We played secret agent. Kellee had stolen all the cookies from the world and we had to get them back from her. Secret Agent Bagel(Aidan) Secret Agent Ice Cream (Leia) and Secret Agent Cupcake (myself) all worked together to get them back! I have to admit, I've never been much f a fan of kids, because I hate loud annoying noises and I don't like to wake up early, but lately I've really enjoyed hanging out with them. Maybe it's that it gives me something to do other than miss my hubby? Or maybe it's now that I'm married even though we won't be having kids for a while? But I love being able to act like a child and not be made fun of. It's nice not to be judged. So my advice for you is: if your spouse is deployed or you're missing someone of feeling down or judged, borrow your friends kids to play with for a while and they will take your mind off of things. And don't br afraid to let out your inner child. We all have one in there somewhere, right??

Random Craft

Found this shadow boxy thing on clearance. Cute project to do with children or by yourself. Very simple. Just find something cute for the bottom 3 squares and put a picture in the top and decorate with sharpie. 

For the far away loved one...

As some of you may know my husband, James, is currently deployed. I knew he probably didn't have any pictures of us except the ones on his phone and he definitely didn't have any wedding pictures of us. I wanted him to have some pictures to look at in case he missed hme or got lonely and I also wanted him to see some of our wedding pictures. I got a small album, I think it was 6x6 or something, and bought the paper size for the album as well. I just sort of played around and made random silly pages that I knew he would smile or laugh at. It turned out really cute and James loved it. It only took maybe 2 or so hours to put together too so its a great little project to send to military members overseas or even out of town love ones or friends. Hope you enjoy!

Card Crafting at It's Finest!

All 8 cards

I'm old fashion and would rather get a home made card via snail mail than an email, Facebook message, text message, etc. I just think it's more thoughtful and personal because it actually takes effort to write out a card or letter and put it in the mail. I've always loved creating my own cards and have come up with some really pretty (and not so pretty) cards. I saw on Pinterest (always) this great idea where you use your left over paper scraps from scrapbooking that are too small to do anything else with to make cards. I thought that idea was great because I hate wasting the little squares and rectangles of paper but never have anything to do with them. I put my own spin on the idea though because I wanted to be more original than that.

Card 1:Simple

 Basically youll want to adjust the size of your scraps to kind of fit together on the card somewhat like a puzzle piece with different shapes and colored papers and then use adhesive to secure them onto the card. For the easiest card with the scraps I simply just added a quote to one of the solid colored blocks.







 If you are like me you probably order wayyyy too many pictures and don't have use for all of them. I often order wallet sized photos for scrapbooking and only use one and have multiples left over, so I pulled some of my wallets and replaced one of the paper scrap squares with one of my pictures just to add somewhat of a personal touch. This time I used more nature oriented photos but this would be great if you wanted a themed card too. For example, I have a picture of my dog Spook. If I wanted to make a pet or dog themed card in this way I could add some paw print stickers around his photo, maybe a dog house at the bottom, etc. I also have some wallets of my wedding photos. If you know anyone that has an anniversary soon this is a great idea. Add some anniversary stickers or maybe a quote from "their song" along with a picture from their wedding to create a personalized one of a kind anniversary card. Maybe I'll do some themed cards later but for now here are the two I did:

Card 2: Fun

I love the bumble bee picture I took and decided to create more of a fun upbeat style with bright colors and bold patterns.

Card 3: Elegant

This is my sister's cat, S'more. This is probably my favorite picture of her because her eyes are so blue and she looks so content and elegant. I put mostly light colored paper scraps with blue tones and simpler patterns to bring out her coloring. I added the red scrap to add some pop to the card.

Card 4: Natural

I had cut this out of a magazine a couple weeks ago because I thought it was pretty. I again used more blue tones to make it more elegant and natural looking, then added my magazine clipping on top.

Card 5: Diagonals

I had a scrap with just the corner cut off. I fount a bright pink scrap and made a replacement corner with it and then added some fun Washi tape for color. I then put a sticker quote that reads "What a wonderful world" diagonally.

Card 6: Ribbon (Front)

One of my co-workers and I have been brainstorming some ribbon crafts but havent come up with any brilliant ideas yet. This is my attempt at a ribbon card. I cut small holes into the bottom and weaved the ribbon through. I then added the bow on top of the ribbon with some glue dots. It looked a little plain so I put the diagonal ribbon at the top and added the word "Love"

Card 6: (Back)

I always browse the dollar section at Michael's when I go. Always. It's a bad addiction. Last time I was there I found these cards:

"You're a whoot!" Punny, but how often are you going to send someone a card that says that?? What kind of occasion do you send a card that says "You're a whoot!" for? Thats right, none. It random and awkward and weird, but I love owls and birds and thought they were cute. So, I cute that card up and made 2 better ones:

Card 7: Owl-tastic!

 If you suck at cutting or arent patient with cutting, this probably isnt the card you should make. I cut the tree out and, after carefully planning the colored paper scraps so the bird and owl could easily been seen, put the tree on top of the scraps. The tree was too short to fit on the card all the way so I cut out and added some flowers to the bottom to make it look like it was growing out of a hill or field. This one is probably my favorite.

Card 8: Still punny

I didnt want to waste the back the card since, afterall, this project is meant to use your paper scraps and not waste them, so I added some simple paper to the corners and taped te back down. Then, since I was feeling somewhat bad about hating on the whole "Youre a whoot!" thing, I went with another, better owl pun, "Owl you need is love." (Get it?) Punny, I know.








I got bored with my scrap choices but since this craft was really to save paper that may be wasted and not waste large sheets of paper I didn't want to cut a large piece of paper. I went to look in my paper box and one the the top sheets had fallen off of the paper pad.

 It was perfect for me to use since otherwise I would have just thrown it away. I'm sure you can pick out which patterns I used from it. Plus its kind of shiny instead of regular paper so the different textures make the cards more fun, in my opinion.

So there you have it. Get creative, have fun, and remember, it doesn't have to be perfect!!