Duty Day = Being Super Productive!

At first, I really hated duty days. It meant Hubs was gone for over 24 hours and I was left all alone (well as alone as you can be with a toddler) to entertain myself. Hah! Little did I realize duty days were a blessing in disguise because when Hubs is home, we put off most household responsibilities. Granted, if something is smelly we take care of it but not much beyond that gets accomplished. So instead of worrying about keeping the house in tip-top shape and fretting about my limited time with Hubs, I just put off housework until Duty Day. Little Miss has become very good at entertaining herself and taking naps at just the right time so I had 2 hours of uninterrupted time to clean house, fold laundry, clip coupons, make my grocery list, and shop online!  Gotta love Duty Days :)


See what I did there? I turned a negative into a positive. Yes, being apart from Hubs isn't ideal but what is complaining about it going to get me? Its just going to put me in a sour mood. Now don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to complain about deployments, work-ups, duty days. I am not trying to take that away from anyone. However, for myself I would much rather make the best of an undesirable situation therefore allowing me to have a much better day!


Did anyone else do most of their shopping online like me? I am starting to get all the gifts in the mail and I get excited all over again about giving the gifts to my friends & family. I do not have the best track record with our local post office, they have lost 2 packages of mine and misplaced a bill from the IRS. While I am excited, I am just as nervous that my purchases will be lost in the black hole at the post office. So far so good, I've gotten 3 out of 4 gifts shipped through USPS! The last one won't be here until the beginning of December.


I cannot believe it is almost December. Wow, where did the last 5 months go? Time to put my big girl panties on and prepare for the road ahead. My plan: Keep as busy as possible! It worked before and I am sure it will work again. 


One way I am keeping busy, I am throwing my first Pampered Chef party in December! I've never hosted "one of those" sorts of parties. By no means am I a salesperson and I don't want to endorse any products that I can't stand behind. However, I own several (okay pretty much half the catalog) of their tools and I love them all. First of all, I haven't destroyed them and that says alot. I am not the kindest on my kitchenware. I've melted countless spatulas and spoon. I've morphed cookie sheets and stained sheet pans. When I replaced all of the destroyed utensils with PC stuff, they have all held up very well. On top of their durability, they have the coolest tools that make cooking super easy and quick to clean up. So I have decided in honor of hosting my first PC party, I am going to outline my favorite must-have items in an upcoming blog! 


My house is clean, I burned 1000 calories in spin class, the shopping list is ready for tomorrow, Hubs will be home super early, I think my day is done and it is time to get some much needed beauty rest!

Snowed In!

I've been spending quite a bit of quality time with my family in the past few days. It was much needed! I am so glad my parents are here to help out too. Even though they are only staying a week, having an extra set of hands is spoiling me! Kailyn is getting pretty spoiled too with all the non-stop attention, she is eating it up. I wish I could give her the same constant attention when it is just her and I. They need to invent some sort of energy pill that doesn't have all the crazy side effects so I can be supermom!

We had a pretty memorable Christmas. This was Little Miss's first time opening gifts. Last Christmas she was barely 2 months old so she slept through Christmas morning gifts. It was so much fun to watch her face as she was opening her presents. I am so thankful the Hubs was able to come home for a few hours so we could open gifts as a family. I love being able to share memorable moments like that with him. My mom prepared an amazing Christmas dinner that night: turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato crunch, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and fruit salad. My Bestie and her husband came over and she cooked pies for us. It was a great holiday! 

I woke up the day after Christmas to a snowstorm going on outside and was sad that another Christmas managed to creep up on me then pass too quickly. Its just that this is the last major holiday before deployment (I don't count New Years Eve as a holiday). The next big holiday will be Valentine's Day which has never gone well for me in the past so this year it looks like it will be following that trend. I am starting to make a list of things I want to do with my new year and first deployment in no particular order:

1. Organize my closets! I am going to invest in some plastic bins to replace all the cardboard that is falling apart. I am starting out with the Christmas decorations and then moving onto my closet. I have all of my clothes from right after Little Miss was born still hanging up. While I can no longer fit them, I don't want to get rid of them just in case. So I want to put those in containers for my "fat days". I also need to do something with all my shoes! I have a walk-in closet I can't walk in because all my shoes are on the floor. Again, I am going to get the plastic shoe box size containers for them so they can be stacked. I have a nice big shelf that is full of crap too that needs to be boxed up. 
2. Train to run a half marathon! I was hoping to run in the Shamrock Marathon but then I found out it was $200 per person and its already sold out so maybe I'll find another one to run in. I was a distance runner in jr. high and high school so I'd love to get back into it. Running also is one of my favorite ways to work out, especially running outside or on an indoor track. It really helps to clear my head which doesn't happen very often!
3. Get back into Yoga! I have a gym membership and they offer lots of yoga classes yet my lazy butt is sitting here at home. Before the Navy life I took yoga classes at least once a week. I love how it mellows me out and how it calms me down. I can just let my mind go and it gets quiet. I've let myself get sloth-like and I've been using Little Miss as my excuse for not going lately: I hate leaving her crying in childcare at the gym. The staff is great with her, but hearing her cry as I'm walking away breaks my heart. I need to toughen up though because I am going to need some ME time and the gym will probably be my only refuge since they offer childcare. 
4. Paint the guest bedroom! Right now it is the white color they have on the walls when you buy a house. All of the other rooms are painted. I just have to get approval from the property management. Its not going to be anything crazy or exciting, probably just some sort of off white or cream color. Just something other than the current flat white!
5. Maybe get a tattoo?! I've been sketching and contemplating one for over 3 years now. I have a sketch I really like now that has all of the elements I want in it. My thoughts on body art: if you are going to have something permanent on your body it better be something meaningful. It should also be something personal you do for yourself since you'll be wearing it forever. I haven't decided if I want color yet or not. I also need to figure out who I want to do the tattoo. I will probably end up getting it done back home where I know I can get lots of references from friends. I haven't decided where to get it on my body yet. I have it narrowed down to my hip, either the front or back. I should also probably run this by the Hubs too...

So far that is it for my personal "to do list". I can't even begin to make a list of all my emotional goals or what I hope to accomplish with Little Miss in the upcoming year. 

What I am excited about this week: Shopping after Christmas sales with my mom! I finally got out to WalMart today and got a sweet deal on a new Christmas tree. Ours is pretty sad and looks like Charlie Brown's tree. I also went to Pier One and found some new home decor at amazing prices. I love shopping there but hate how pricey it can be, last year I discovered the crazy cheap prices after Christmas so I went back this year again. I also got quite a few gift cards this year so I'm hoping to hit up the mall this week too, whoever said gift cards are crappy gifts is crazy!