Friday, Friday!

I am so beyond excited that today is Friday! Even though it has been a short week, it has been insanely busy. Kyle's work schedule this week has been insane (he's in a 2 week class) so he has been getting home at 7pm at the earliest. I've been working on FRG stuff all week, still trying to get both our company and the battalion situated. It will be nice to spend some good quality time together. 

Yesterday, I spent the entire day strapped to the house haha. We had a pest control company come and then my windshield had to get replaced on my car. I just have to say thank goodness for the mobile safelite technicians. It made the process that much easier, and in 30 minutes I had a new windshield. 

We have plans for tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday.

 Tonight: Baseball game
Saturday: Carlsbad Caverns
Sunday: Tigua Indian Cultural Center

We definitely try to make the most of our time together. I love it. :)

I hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Parasailing Anyone?!

I was going through my pictures yesterday (I'm going to create a scrapbook of some of our best trips/adventures) and found pictures of when we went parasailing in Myrtle Beach back in early 2011. I knew I had to share them.

The experience was absolutely incredible! We were 1500 feet up in the air over the Atlantic Ocean and about 5 miles from the beach. The best part was being able to see the sea turtles swimming around. They even dipped us in the water which was great.

 I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do this, I'm somewhat afraid of heights and this didn't bother me. It was an incredible experience. The guys on the boat took pictures for us and we got a disc of 20 pictures. If you ever have the chance to do it, it's a must!

Have you ever gone parasailing?! If not, would you want to?

Happy Thursday!

Summer Plans

We have so many things that we would like to do this summer but with Kyle's training schedule some things might have to wait. Hopefully we can check a few of these off our list.

1. El Paso Downtown Street Festival featuring Bush and Third Eye Blind

 2. 4th of July Under the Sun Tour with Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon and Fastball

 3. Visit Carlsbad Caverns (which looks like we will be doing this on Saturday, yay)

4. Trip to San Antonio (this is 100% happening haha)

5. Spend lots of time at the Wet N Wild water park in NM

6. Go to an El Paso Diablos baseball game

7. Go to the Billy the Kid Festival

8. Go wine tasting

9. Go white water rafting in Santa Fe

10. Take Emma on lots of walks
11. Go hiking at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site

 We always make the best of our time together and this summer will be no exception. :)

Oh and this little cutie had her kindergarten graduation yesterday:

 Our niece, Kylie. She is growing up way too fast.

:)

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! 

A Long Weekend

It's Tuesday and we are back to the grind of everyday life. We had a great long weekend and here is a recap:

Friday: The day started out with me going on a 2 walk with Emma. We met up with my friend, Erin and her pup, Stubbs. Afterwards we headed off to Kyle's office to hang some stuff up, it looks so much better now haha. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and I made this for dinner and dessert:

Homemade pizza and homemade chocolate chip cookie cake with homemade vanilla ice cream. AMAZING.

Saturday: We spent our day in Roswell, NM! The drive there was incredible, it went right through an Indian Reservation. We had always thought that this was where the reported space craft had crashed. That's not true, the crash occurred 2 hours northwest in Corona, NM on a ranch. Everything was brought to the Roswell Air Force Base. We went to the International UFO Museum and learned so much. It was awesome! We explored the area a bit and found the New Mexico Military Institute, it was a gorgeous place. We had a blast.

Sunday: We spent a good portion of the day relaxing. We went grocery shopping and then that night we headed off to the new Texas Roadhouse on post for dinner. It hadn't officially opened yet but I got an invite to the soft opening which was basically a test run for all the employees. We had a great time and you can never go wrong with free food. After we came home I had some space saver bags to use and finally our closet doesn't have blankets everywhere:

This is 6 sets of sheets, 4 pillow, 3 quilts and 3 queen size comforters. Love it!!! 

Monday: We finally went and got new running shoes! We heard about a store in El Paso that helps you pick the right shoe for you. I love mine!

We then headed off to drive the Mission Trail of El Paso. We were able to see the 3 oldest churches in Texas. Ysleta Mission, Socorro Mission and the Presidio Chapel of San Elizario. They were stunning and it was amazing to see so much history.

We finished the day with a 3.2 mile run in 93 degree heat. It was nice to break in our new shoes.

It was a wonderful long weekend, I hope you all had a great one as well!

Memorial Day

Today we honor, celebrate, and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

No matter how you are spending this day, have a moment of silence or raise a glass to them. We will never forget these brave heroes!

Oh Roswell..

A funny photo from our trip to Roswell, NM yesterday.

All of the street lights along Main Street look like this, how fitting right?! :) Gotta love Aliens. Haha.

Have a great day!

A year later....

I was going through my pictures last night and I came across this one:

One year ago today our belongings were being packed up at Fort Bragg and heading off to Arizona. I was incredibly sad to leave because that was my life for 4 years. I knew every square inch of that post and we were leaving all of our very dear friends (most of my core group of friends pcs'd at the same time). We had no idea where the Army would take us after the CCC (captain's career course), I was excited but also scared. 

I never in a million years thought we would end up in Texas but I am so glad we are here. So many people gave us negative opinions but we ignored them and LOVE our life here in El Paso/Fort Bliss. There are so many people who choose to look at the negatives in life, we aren't those people. Out of everywhere we have lived so far this feels the most like home.

It is crazy how drastically things can change in a year! :) There is never a dull moment and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Friday. 

Random Thoughts

*I am so happy that today is Kyle's Friday! This 4-day weekend couldn't have come at a better time. We both have spent the week acclimating to his new schedule, it hasn't been bad but I'm adjusting back to him getting home late (at Bragg this was the norm so I'm ok with it). 

*Yesterday was my first day back to running a significant distance and I was able to get 4 miles in. It felt amazing and Friday it will be 7 miles that I go after.

*I'm going back to the gym today after a 2 week absence, I can't wait!

*This Saturday we are taking a day trip to Roswell, NM. Once I found out it was only 3 1/2 hours from here I knew we had to go. Can't wait to share pictures.

*My brain is officially fried this week from re-doing paperwork for the FRG, ready for a nice break this weekend. :) I still love it though.

*We bought tickets to see Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper...yes we have a very diverse taste in music haha. I am really excited and it's one more thing to check off my bucket list. Next will be to purchase tickets to see Bush and Third Eye Blind! 

*I have plans to spend a good portion of the weekend baking and trying new things. I hope they are a success.

Oh and I couldn't wait until Friday to make the doughnuts.

Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate Glazed! YUM!!!!!!! I will never buy store bought or from a bakery again.

Here is the recipe I used:

Recipe 

 

Have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday

Delicious doughnuts will come from this pan this weekend! :)

 

Happy Wednesday!

Oh Vacation, Please Hurry!

Boy what a busy few days it has been! All of our visitors have left and I'm getting back into a routine again. I know our schedules are going to get busier as the time goes on so I'm taking advantage of a few slow days this week. I'm ready to get back into my gym/running regimen, oh how I have missed it.

I am excited that we are less than 1 month away from our San Antonio anniversary vacation. Thanks to Old Navy and their awesome sales I picked up a few items for the trip:

I finally got a new swimsuit! I'm not a fan of bikinis so I was really excited when I found this one. Can't wait to wear all these cute things on our trip. We did add another place to go to on our trip, so on top of going to Sea World and Schlitterbahn we are going to Six Flags, yay! 

I figured I couldn't end this post without my new favorite pictures of Emma and Fishy.

So sweet. :)

 

Enjoy your day!!!

Armed Forces Day!

Happy Armed Forces Day to all the men and women who serve and have served this great country! 

I am thankful for all the family members of mine that serve/served.

To my Grandfather, Uncle Tom, Uncle Marty, Dad, Mike, Tony, Rachel and my amazing husband, Kyle: Thank you all!!! 

Thank a service member or veteran today!! 

A Perfect Day

The Change of Command yesterday was absolutely perfect. It was nice to have family and so many friends there to show support. Two wonderful blogger turned real-life friends were there as well, Britt from Aviation of Love and Jax from the harmon squad. The ceremony started right at 10:30 and lasted about 30 minutes. I was presented a gorgeous bouquet of yellow roses to welcome me to the company. It was followed by a reception that everyone seemed to enjoy! We had the commissary do all the food and it was wonderful, reasonably priced and delicious. Everything went off without a hitch and we were both very thankful for that.

1. The family: Me, Kyle, Kyle's Mom, Kyle's Dad, and my Dad

2. Cake #1

3. Cake #2

4. Saluting the flag

5. Ready for the ceremony

6. Me and Kyle

1. LTC. Niedringhaus passing the guidon to Kyle

2. Kyle and LTC. Niedringhaus

3. Kyle and the outgoing commander

4. Kyle

5. Kyle giving his speech

6. 1SGT Rhoads and Sgt. Bolander

1. Kyle and 1SGT Rhoads cutting the cake

2. Teamwork!

3. Me, COL LaNeve and CSM Whitmore

4. Family plus the battalion command team

5. My Dad, COL LaNeve and CSM Whitmore

6. Kyle and My Dad

Kyle's parents will be here visiting until Monday. My Dad is flying back to Vegas tonight after only being here roughly 18 hours. Kyle was genuinely shocked and surprised that he was able to make it.

Now the work begins, I know Kyle will be an outstanding commander (of course I might be biased). All I can say is let the adventure begin! :)

Have a great weekend!

Today is the Day!

Kyle has been waiting for this day for 6 years! He will finally take company command. I am so incredibly proud of him and can't wait to share pictures tomorrow.

Even though all of our family members can't be here I'm so happy that his parents and my dad (He was the special guest, Kyle had no idea he was coming. My Dad told Kyle he couldn't get away from work) are here to share in this special day. 

Congrats my amazing husband!! You deserve this and I'm so proud of you! I love you!

Wordless Wednesday (sort of)!

This was my view yesterday morning for the Division Run. This was before all the units got formed up.

It was a gorgeous Texas morning and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Family members showed up and many people brought their kids and dogs. It was wonderful! It was amazing running alongside Kyle and his company. Let me tell you though, going to Denny's afterwards with Britt sure was delicious. :)

I'm off to finish up some last minute errands and pick my in-laws up from the airport. We do have a special guest coming that my loving husband has no idea about. Eeek can't wait!!! (Don't worry he doesn't read my blog haha)

Hope you all have a great day!

Running with Soldiers

One of the things that I love about Fort Bliss is how family oriented they are. Kyle came home yesterday and asked me if I wanted to participate in the Division Run (the entire post will be running it) today. My first response was "Umm isn't that just for soldiers?" He proceeded to tell me that the commanding general invites all the families to participate in the run. I think it's absolutely amazing, this would have never happened at Fort Bragg.

(This was taken at Bragg in 2011)

This picture gives you an idea of what a division run looks like, sooo many soldiers haha. It's a 3.4 mile run but that's ok because it will be a great time running with Kyle's company. Britt from Aviation of Love will be running it with her husband as well. We are going to meet up afterwards and hang out for a bit while running errands. :)

I hope you all have a great day!!

Quick Post

This weekend seems like it went by far too quickly! Friday night we went to a local baseball game but thanks to the rain and wind we didn't stay for very long. Thank goodness it was free haha.

Saturday, I had my CPR/First Aid class. It was awesome, I'm so glad that I forked over the money to do it. It feels good knowing that if an emergency happens I'm prepared to help any way that I can. If you ever have a chance to take it please do. After the class I met up with Kyle at a baby shower for a soldier in his company. Of course I got carried away with our gift:

 

Kyle joked at how heavy it was haha.

I may not get a chance to post the rest of the week because we are only a few days away from Kyle's Change of Command. I have so much to get done which includes preparing for a few family members arrival.

I can't wait to share pictures of it all!

Have a great week everyone.

 

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing Mom's out there.

I am sending love to my sister, my MIL and both of my SIL's. They are all amazing Mom's and I'm thankful to have them in my life!

I also cannot and will not ever forget my amazing Mom, Kathy. I miss you everyday and I love you so very much. I hope that I can be a wonderful Mom someday like you were to us. I miss you! Happy Mother's Day.

*I do want to thank Kyle for making me feel better today, between not having my Mom anymore and for our pregnancy losses it is a rough day. He told me that I am a Mom...a Mom to our fur-babies and a Mom to those 4 amazing angel babies we have in Heaven. *

Saturday Is Here! :)

I can't believe it's already Saturday! This week has been so busy that the time has flown by. I am knee deep in FRG paperwork trying to sort everything out. Today though, I am taking a break from it. I will spend all day in the Adult and Pediatric CPR/First Aid class. I am very excited to get certified, I have wanted to do it for a long time.

Have a great Saturday!!!

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Today is a special day set aside to honor those amazing military spouses (past and present) who sacrifice so much alongside their service member. Over the last 5 years as a military spouse I have had the privilege to meet and form friendships with some of the most amazing fellow spouses. Those relationships have helped guide me through this life and have helped me in so many ways. I am constantly awed by the strength, determination and resilience of military spouses. We are all unique in our own ways and we don't let this life define us we let it enhance us.

We are often told that "we knew what we were getting into", while yes that statement may be true we still struggle and it's still not a bed of roses everyday. We are the ones left behind to deal with day to day life when our service member is away. We put on a smile when we really want to cry. We make sure that everything is taken care so our service member doesn't have to worry about it even when they aren't away.

While there are a few spouses that just want the accolades from days like this but that isn't the case for the majority. We are part of this lifestyle because we love our service member and we support their decision to serve this great country. However, it is nice to be thought of and thanked for the sacrifices that we make. I am 110% proud to be a military spouse and thankful for this crazy life!

To all of my fellow military spouses, THANK YOU! I have learned something from each of you and I'm so grateful for that. Thank you for the friendships and for the amazing job you do!

Throwback Thursday

Every now and then I like to post old pictures. Why?! Because they are so fun to look at. :)

Allow me to introduce you to:

Little Jen

I was a few days old in this picture

hanging out with my grandparents dog on vacation in Michigan

standing next to my grandpa's church

Isn't the outfit awesome?! I use to take clothes from my sisters and mix it with mine. (Also don't mind my Dad's weird face..he still does that haha)

It's so fun for me to look back at these pictures, so glad my Mom gave them to me.

Hope you all enjoy your day, we are that much closer to Friday! :)

It's Official

We had our FRG (family readiness group, for those that don't know) meeting last and it went really well! Kyle and I were introduced to the soldiers and families. Some soldiers we already knew but it was nice to meet more spouses. It was a great turn out and after the meeting I was officially handed over the reigns of the FRG. YAY!!! I am ridiculously excited about this, I am optimistic that this FRG will be successful. 

I have Day 2 of my training today and it has been really helpful and amazing. I am impressed with the way these classes are put together. It makes the 5 1/2 hours of class enjoyable.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Another Good Time

Last night we headed off to a local venue in town to see The Killers! I have been wanting to see them since they got together years ago (for those that don't know I went to the same HS as the lead singer Brandon Flowers, he was friends with my sister). They did not disappoint, they played for about 2 hours and I have to say it was the best concert I have ever been to. I was able to facetime with my sister so she could hear her favorite song. Our seats were great and I got some awesome video and pictures:

I'm so glad that I was able to get tickets, they sold out in 15 minutes so we got lucky.

Today is going to be a busy day, I'm in a FRG Leader training class from 9-2:30 today and tomorrow. Plus tonight we have an FRG meeting that Kyle and I are being introduced at. I'm excited to finally meet the wives of Bravo Company. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Weekend Fun!!!

There is only one word that could describe this past weekend: FANTASTIC!!! 

We went to the Jason Aldean and Jake Owen concert on Friday in Las Cruces. Let me just say that Kyle and I had no idea where our seats were because I bought them through the fan club (yes I know lol I'm crazy). We got to the arena to pick up the tickets and they said "general admission". When we got in the arena this is what we saw from where we were:

Yes that is the stage! :)

Thomas Rhett went on first and he was awesome. Then it was time for Jake Owen:

He was amazing!! He even shook my hand which I was thought was pretty awesome. He played for about an hour and then it was time for Jason Aldean:

This was the 2nd time we have seen him and he was even better this time. We got hand shakes from Jason and I also got a guitar pick from him! It made my night. 

We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating Kyle's birthday and it was amazing.

Now we are looking forward to The Killers concert tonight! Will post pictures from that later.

I hope you all had an amazing weekend!

Happy Birthday Love!

Today the love of my life, Kyle, turns 28! He is an amazing husband, man, and soldier. I'm so proud to be his wife. 

We went out to dinner last night and then afterwards hit up the casino in town haha. We walked away $10 up on the place so we were happy. It was an amazing night. Today we will spend the day relaxing and I will make his favorite dinner followed by homemade funfetti cake and homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

I love you, babe! Happy Happy Birthday!!!

(sorry it's a little blurry) 

This picture is more like us haha...a little blue steel. :) 

 

Happy Sunday!

Hello New Look!

Yesterday, I finally went and got my hair done. I went to the Paul Mitchell salon on post. I always get nervous trying a new place but let me just tell you that my experience was AMAZING!!!!! Ana was my stylist and I basically gave her free reign to do what she wanted. She didn't let me see it until she was completely done. I am SO incredibly happy with the outcome, it's not something that I would normally do but I'm glad I let her take creative license. 

What do you think?!?!

 

As she was cutting the back, she said "Yay, it's short enough in the back so you can see your tattoos!" This made me happy. :)

I feel like a new woman and I couldn't be happier.

Happy Friday!

Do I Have To?!

Today is my busiest day of the week...I really just want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head haha. 

Haha, I wish! :) 

I have a Care Team training class at 9am, if you aren't familiar with Care Team it basically means that if there is a death of a soldier/or family member within a unit there is a designated group of spouses that can help the families with whatever they may need. I think this training is amazing and necessary. I always encourage people to take it so they know how to deal with these type of situations.

After my class I am FINALLY getting my hair done. I have been putting this off for so long, it was suppose to happen in March but I didn't have the time while in Vegas. I can't wait to post a picture of how it turns out. 

Tonight, I will be attending an FRG leader seminar on post, it will be a chance to meet other FRG leaders and trade tips/tricks to have a successful FRG. I'm pretty excited about it.

It's supposed to be a lot cooler today than it has been so maybe I can sneak a run in at some point. :)

I hope you all have an amazing day!