It has been forever since I've blogged, right?! I've missed this so much and I've really missed the weird / funny / silly conversations that were sparked with some of you. I enjoy interacting with y'all so please - comment! Message me! I love to hear from you!

I wish I could say I've been up to some really interesting things, but the truth is ... well, it's a long story, but here it is in a nutshell:

Life got a little overwhelming and I needed a break. Enter my sisters wedding and a whirlwind trip stateside that almost didn't happen (we drove 2800 miles in 6 days- whew!) and then I definitely needed a break. I thought I'd take a little time for myself for the holidays (our last in Germany) and I enjoyed myself immensely. So in January I tried to log into my account - HACKED! Why anyone would want to hack a blog account is beyond me, but, please, if you see anything really weird around here, please please please let me know and I'll get it taken care of. So the funniest part is whoever hacked me reset stuff to a gmail address that I don't have access to. What the what?! Again - why? I don't do any commerce on or from this blog. I don't use this password for anything else. What is the point?

I don't get it but whatever man. It took some time and a lot of emails and talking to customer service and everything has been worked out... I think. Fingers crossed.

Top 10 Highlights From The Past 5 Months:

#10 - I finally hung some pictures around my house. 

I'm moving this year so I guess it felt like time. I mean, I've only lived here for 3 years. 

Ahhhh.... military life.....

#9 - I painted 2 walls. 

When we first moved in, Mike hated the white walls so he picked a color and I painted our living room but it was sooooo dark (he disagrees, but he's wrong). So I painted 2 walls back to white and we have accent walls in the living and dining room. It's way better my way.

#8 - I redecorated this wall 3 times. 

I hung pictures on it. Hated them, took them down, fixed the holes then hung shelves with lots of frames as a collage. Hated it, tried to live with it, didn't work. Took them down, fixed the holes, and this is what it currently looks like:

 

I'm pretty sure it's going to stay that way until we move. 

#7 - Sort of fixed a leather chair we picked up for free.

The leather was torn and needed to be glued so Mike took the whole thing apart and I glued it and he put it back together. The plan is to have it reupholstered at the next base along with our sofa. I feel so grown up upholstering furniture rather than buying new. 

Remind me I said that when I see the invoice.

You can see it there on the left by the window (and we're going to reupholster the couch, too), but mostly this is a shameless plug for my super cute dog. Isn't she so adorable?! I don't even mind that I'm posting a pic of our messy living room.


#6 - Weaseled out of stuff.

I don't think I've pumped gas at all since the 1st of the year. I hate going to the gas station.

#5 - Relaxed.

 Read a lot of books. Saw a lot of movies. Took a lot of walks. Enjoyed every minute of it.

We've had an very mild winter so we've been able to spend a lot of time outside. I don't think I've had to shovel snow once. Of course I probably would have found a way out of it, see #6 above.

#4 - I got socks for Christmas. 

Not just regular socks, but military boot socks. From Military Clothing.
That my husband bought on Christmas Eve.
They.Are.Special.

Mike now understands that socks are not an appropriate Christmas gift.

Disclaimer: They are REALLY warm and he says that's why he got them - because I was always complaining about my feet being cold. Problem solved.

#3 - Planned some really exciting trips for our last year in Europe. 

Greece, Turkey, Dubrovnik, Poland, Ireland, Spain, Paris, Provence
and maybe Morocco and Scotland.

I've got to get it all in while I can.

Less than a year and I still want to see everything!

#2 - Got some new family members! 

I got TWO new nephews in March! TWO! And, of course, I got an awesome new brother. Seriously, couldn't love Kevin more and he makes Jess so happy.

Love abounds!

#1 - Got orders to HAWAII!!! 

That's right, y'all, this blog is going tropical! I couldn't be more thrilled. I miss my beach so much. I've already got big plans: learning to surf & scuba, get serious about yoga, etc. I'm thinking about giving the blog an update so it fits more with that lifestyle, too. We'll see. I've got some time to work on it and see how it goes. Plus, Hawaii isn't a for sure done deal just yet. We both have to pass medical exams and I'm nervous about that but, God willing, we'll kick off 2015 in Hawaii!