Wordless Wednesday!

     Such an awesome travel companion! We made it safely back to El Paso, but the best part was that my amazing husband came back early from the field and picked us up. :)

Happy Wednesday!!!

Heading Home

I had every intention of blogging about my nephew's 2nd birthday party today but that's not going to happen. It's been an amazing 2 weeks with family but it's time to head home.

In a few hours my niece, Kylie and I will be on a plane back to El Paso! We are so excited that she is able to spend 2 weeks with us before she goes back to school. I know we will have a blast. 

Have a great day everyone!!

Can I Move In?!

Saturday, I spent the day with my Dad. He took me up to his job so I could see the house he is currently building.  It's part of a project called the New American Home (it's eco-friendly and all state of the art, check out the website New American Home). This house is incredible, it's 6,700 sq ft, 4 bedrooms/5 bathrooms, 3 car garage, elevator, infinity pool, casita, and so many other awesome features. My Dad has been building homes in Las Vegas for 30 years and this one of definitely the most amazing. I joked with his boss and asked him when I can move in haha.

The house (it's still in framing stages and will be done by November)

The front entry (there will be a water feature that will cover the ground)

Elevator goes here

The incredible view of the city

Kitchen! I was in love, it's much bigger than what this picture shows.

This is the master bedroom, I mean really who needs that much room haha.

I really can't wait to see how it looks when it's all finished. It will be displayed for a year and then sold, for probably somewhere around $4 million. 

I love seeing my Dad in his element and doing what he does best.

Hope you all had a great weekend and I can't wait to share pictures from my nephews birthday party yesterday. :)

Have A Good One!

I can't believe it's already Friday! I feel like my time in Vegas has flown by. On Tuesday, my niece Kylie and I will be on a plane back to El Paso. It will be so great having her with us for 2 weeks. I have a lot of activities planned so hopefully she won't be too bored.

I'm looking forward to a great weekend. Tomorrow I will be spending the day with my Dad up at his work site. He is building a custom 6700 sq ft house (no it's not his) that is eco-friendly and has top of line everything. I can't wait to share pictures of this beautiful home. Sunday we will officially be celebrating our nephew, Grayson's, 2nd birthday! We are having a pool party at my in-laws house, which will be very nice because it has been well over 100 degrees everyday. 

I also want to send a huge congratulations to my awesome sister, Lisa. She got great news that she was picked for a promotion at work and I couldn't be happier for her! As with every important occasion we celebrated with cake:

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!!!

I Feel You

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day at my parents house. My sister and her family live next door so it makes things easier to go back and forth. I got up and went for an early morning run and then decided to help my Dad out by cleaning his house (he works a lot). As I was going through the house I just got this overwhelming feeling that my Mom was there with me.

She and my Dad spent 26 years living in this house together, raised their family here and made memories here. She loved this house and anyone who came into it. I have always felt that she was with me but not as much as I did today. This is the first time in 2 years that I have felt complete peace in this house. 

It makes me happy that her essence is still very much here and that I can feel her. I hope this feeling never goes away.

Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet surprise from my amazing husband.

He sure knows the way to my heart!

Happy Wednesday!

My 28th Year

28 years ago today a brown hair, brown eyed little girl was born! That little girl was me.

I was born at exactly 11:00am right after The Price is Right was over haha. My Mom was a huge fan. 

I have had many ups and downs over my 28 years but they have shaped me into the person I am. I am blessed that I can spend my birthday with family this year but I am missing Kyle and of course my Mom. I have celebrated my birthday twice already but each time has been very special to me.

I am going out to dinner with my family tonight, I chose Red Robin (no I'm not 5 haha), just because I want my free burger. I know it will be a great evening with lots of laughs. Here's hoping my 28th year is amazing!

I hope you all have a wonderful day and to anyone else celebrating a birthday today, Happy Birthday!!

A Few Tidbits

I didn't want to write a long weekend update so I will just give you a quick rundown as to what has been going on.

*I've kept up my running in Vegas and I'm only 2.47 miles from my goal. That should be taken care of today.

*I have been getting sporadic emails from Kyle (thank you work blackberry!!!!), it has been nice to know he is doing ok.

*I officially start school on September 2nd! I registered for 2 classes yesterday.

*I celebrated my birthday yesterday with my in-laws, it was nice to see them all.

*I registered for a 2nd 1/2 marathon yesterday, I must be a glutton for punishment.

*I have been enjoying spending time with my family, they really are the best!

I wanted to send a huge thank you to my friend Britt and her husband, Shane, for taking such good care of Fishy while I'm gone!

I hope you all have a great, I'm having a girls day with my sister and niece. Time for manicures and pedicures! Yay! :)

I Love Being An Aunt!

Yesterday was a great day! I'm babysitting my niece and nephew for the next 3 days and so far it's been awesome! I took them to a new splash pad at a local park and they played for over an hour. They play so well together and it's fun watching them. I'm sure we will end up back there over the next few days.

Afterwards we stopped off and got lunch then headed home. We ate and then Grayson went down for a nap so Kylie and I were able to bake together. 

I ended the night hanging out with the family and going on a nice blazing hot run haha. 

I will leave you with this picture from our adventure at Build A Bear on Wednesday:

Hope you all have a great weekend!

July Goal

Last month I met my goal of running 50 miles. I knew that this month I needed to increase that, so I opted for a 65 mile goal. I'm only 8.6 miles away from that! There is nothing better than getting a good run in. Distance doesn't matter as long as you get out there and try. I'm not a treadmill runner, I have to be outside. 

Over the next 5-6 months I have several races that I will be participating in:

August 3rd: Fort Bliss 10 Miler

September 15th: Color Run El Paso

October 26th: Flying Horse 1/2 Marathon

November 16th: Fort Bliss 1/2 Marathon

February 2014: Michelob Ultra El Paso Marathon

There are a few other races that I'm deciding on if I want to do or not. 

If you have ever had any doubts about running don't! Just go do it. You won't regret it, I sure don't.

Another Let Down

When Kyle and I were on vacation in San Antonio I noticed that I wasn't feeling quite right. For a few nights in a row I was sick to my stomach and hardly slept. When we got home I had a weird feeling that I might possibly be pregnant. I had a pregnancy test laying around so I took it. To my surprise 2 lines popped up! I was hesitant and excited. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening again. 

I went in first thing that following Monday to the OB Sick Call to have my blood drawn. I got the results later in the day and the results weren't good. Levels were extremely low for how far along I was expected to be, but I was still considered pregnant. Come to find out it was a chemical pregnancy. Another let down and our hopes were shattered. We will just keep trying and pray that it all works out. No matter where this journey takes us we will do it together and be stronger because of it.

Hugs and Prayers to all the wonderful couples that struggle with this everyday like we do.

AMU, Here I Come!

A while back I decided that I wanted to go back to school. I wasn't keen on the idea of taking out student loans. Once Kyle hit his 6 year mark in the Army he was able to sign over his Post 9/11 GI Bill to me. The only catch is that he would incur an additional 4 years in service. That isn't a big deal because he plans on staying in for at least 20 years. 

I got my certificate of eligibility from the VA yesterday, I emailed it over to the American Military University where I'm already enrolled at. Now I just wait! I spoke to my academic advisor and it should only take a few days to get the funds. I'm so excited to finally finish my psychology degree with a minor in child development and become a counselor.

Kyle is enrolled here as well and he loves it. It will be nice when we both finish our degrees (his masters and my bachelors). 

Well, it's time for me to catch my flight! Hope you all have a great day!

Weekend Recap

Oh what a weekend this was! We started out with a Hail and Farewell for Kyle's work on Friday night. He was finally being welcomed into the battalion even though he has been in command for almost 2 months. We had a great time and had lots of laughs which is always nice.

Saturday was an interesting day to say the least. It started out great with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, you can never go wrong eating there. Then we headed off to the Farmers Market in Las Cruces. We had a great time as usual. We ran a few errands and I started not feeling so good. I ended up planting myself on the couch with water and pepto bismol. We watched the movie "Dark Shadows" with Johnny Depp. It was quirky and definitely reminded me somewhat of the show it's based on.

I didn't expect to end up sick on the day we were celebrating my birthday. I was definitely bummed.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. Kyle spent the majority of his day on the phone for work, but we did have lunch at Olive Garden, went for a nice long run and had some yummy ice cream cake for my birthday.

 Thank goodness I'm feeling better, I didn't want to be sick when I'm trying to pack and get ready for my trip to Vegas. I sure am going to miss Kyle, we won't get to talk at all over these next few weeks. Bummer!

Speaking of that trip I will try to blog as much as a I can, hopefully I can get some posts scheduled. 

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Early Birthday Celebrations

Anyone else happy that it's Friday?! I know I am. We will be celebrating my 28th birthday this weekend (a week and a half early) because Kyle won't be here on the actual day. I think we figured out that we have only spent 2 of my birthdays together out of 6. Haha thanks Army. :)

Kyle asked me what I wanted to do and the first thing I said I wanted to do was have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. You can never go wrong with breakfast at this yummy place.

I'm also hoping we can take a trip to Farmers Market in Las Cruces. It's one of my favorite places, so many vendors and the weather is always amazing.

Even though we have to celebrate it early, no matter what we do it will be a great weekend. If I know Kyle he probably has something up his sleeve that I don't know about. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

A Little Throwback

I haven't done a Throwback Thursday post in a while so I figured why not. 

This was the first time I got to hold our nephew Grayson. I figured this was the perfect picture to share since he will be 2 years old on Monday.

 

Such a precious and happy boy he has turned into.

 

Happy Thursday!

15 Days...

I am 15 days soda free! I already work out 6 days a week, but cutting out soda has made me feel even better! I don't even miss it like I thought I would. It has been a really easy transition, let's hope it stays that way.

Are you a soda drinker? Have you ever tried to stop drinking it?

Happy Wednesday!!

My Sweet Husband

A few days ago my sweet husband suggested that we go on a weekend getaway in September. I was surprised because I'm normally the one that suggests and plans trips.

With all his deployment training starting next week I won't see much of him so it will be nice. There is a place called Inn of the Mountain Gods in New Mexico (it's on an Indian Reservation), it's gorgeous, secluded and sits on a lake. They also have a casino, golf, fishing and lots of hiking. We are pretty certain that this is where we are going to go.

Isn't it gorgeous?! Hopefully we can get everything set up by the end of the week. It will be nice to completely unplug for a weekend and enjoy time together. It definitely gives us something to look forward to.

I hope you all have an amazing day!

Another One Gone!

Another long weekend has come and gone...I'm always bummed when they end! The upside is I get to see my family in about a week.

We had a fun filled weekend planned after 4th of July (you can read about our 4th of July here post) and it definitely didn't disappoint. Friday we headed off to an El Paso Diablos baseball game. It was a Military Appreciation night and as with every Friday game they end it with fireworks. We had a blast with Kyle's 1SGT, her son and another friend.

Saturday we had Britt and her husband, Shane over for a cookout. It was a blast! I don't think any of us have ever laughed so hard. We played Mexican Train (which is a dominoes game), Apples to Apples and Scattegories. It doesn't get any better than good food and good friends. I know we will be doing this a lot more in the future.

Sunday was a little more laid back. I made a yummy breakfast and then we headed off to the outlets. I stocked up on stuff from Bath and Body Works thanks to a pretty good sale they were having. Then hit up the Converse store and got these beauties for my birthday (Thanks Kyle!!!), aren't they awesome?!

I finished up the day with grocery shopping and then home to watch racing.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

4th of July Festivities!

This year was a little different for us. Normally we would go find a park and watch fireworks but this year we went to a concert. It was the Under The Sun tour that featured: Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon and Fast Ball! Talk about a flashback to the 90's, the best part it was FREE. It was AMAZING!!! The concert started at 7:30pm and throughout the concert fireworks were being let off which made it even cooler. 

 1. Mark McGrath was the emcee for the night

2. Fast Ball

3. Vertical Horizon

4. Vertical Horizon

 1. Gin Blossoms

2. Gin Blossoms

3. Sugar Ray

4. Sugar Ray

1. Smash Mouth

2. Smash Mouth

3. Us

We had such an awesome time and couldn't have imagined a better way to celebrate Independence Day! Tonight will be more fireworks and fun at the El Paso Diablos baseball game.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July and have a wonderful weekend!

I'm Ready!!!

Yesterday morning I headed out for my first run of July. I really wanted to push it for 7 miles, once I hit 5 I noticed that I was feeling great. I wasn't tired, I wasn't out of breath and I knew I could keep going. When it was all said and done I successfully ran 10.1 miles in a little over 2 hours! I'm not the fastest runner but I was proud!

Now I know for a fact that I am ready for the 10 miler in August and then our 1/2 marathon in October!

I also want to take a moment and wish you all a very Happy and Safe 4th of July! As we celebrate this great nations independence day with our family and friends let's not forget those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom!

Have a wonderful day!

A Good Day.

We had the best time at the battalion organizational day yesterday! We got there bright and early so Kyle could have a quick formation with the company and then it was time to start the fun.

All of the companies were participating in football, basketball, volleyball and tug of war. It was fun competition but there were some people that took it seriously because they were all vying for the Commanders Cup. Kyle was playing volleyball and they dominated both of their games. 

I spent my time chatting with families and snapping pictures. After it was said and done our company, Bravo Company, won the Commanders Cup after taking 1st place in 3 of the 4 events! We were the crazy company walking around with matching shirts and cheering everyone on. It was great seeing all the soldiers and their families have such a great time. We ended up only having time for the dunk tank (we still made some good money) because our battalion commander didn't want to keep soldiers longer than 2:30pm. Kyle and his 1SGT got dunked, it was great!

1. Basketball

2. Volleyball

3. Kyle getting attacked with water balloons

4. The aftermath

1. 1SGT got dunked

2. Kyle got dunked too

3. Tug of War

4. Bravo Company with their Commanders Cup!

Us after a fun day in the sun.

We had a great day with everyone and it makes me even more excited for our Company Org Day in August.

Hope you all have a great day!

Family Fun Day!

Today we have our battalion organization day or as people like to call the mandatory (only for soldiers) family fun days. We will be out there all day enjoying food, sports, fundraisers and each others company. 

Our company was tasked with bringing desserts so I spent my day yesterday making 150 cookies, needless to say I was exhausted at the end of the day. Kyle is on the list for the pie in the face and dunk tank auction so hopefully the battalion can make some good money for future events. I can't wait to post pictures tomorrow.

I hope you all have a great day!

Weekend Happenings!

Oh this weekend was so fun!!! 

Friday started out really awesome because we booked my nieces airline ticket to come stay with us for 2 weeks!!! I'm bringing her back to El Paso with me after my trip to Vegas. We are so excited to get to spend this time with her before she starts school.

That night we headed off to Day 1 of the El Paso Downtown Street Fest. It was amazing! Adelitas Way went on first and rocked it. Then it was time for Bush, WOW! They were so good and once I got to hear my favorite song "Glycerine" I was a happy camper.

Saturday night was Day 2 of the Street fest, we got there around 7 just in time to see Lit take the stage. They put on a great show! About an hour later it was time for Third Eye Blind, I was blown away!!! They honestly sounded just like their records, it was awesome.

It was an awesome 2 days and we love that El Paso always puts on such great shows with great artists.

Sunday was a low key day, after our morning run I was so excited to realize that I hit my goal of running 50 miles for June! That was even after taking a week off for vacation. I have set my goal to 65 for July. After my excitement wore off, Britt came over and we made cupcakes for Kyle's work tomorrow (to celebrate the May, June, and July birthdays of soldiers). We had fun hanging out for the first time that didn't involve running haha. 

I hope you all had an awesome weekend. Happy July!