Kyle's Promotion Ceremony

I know that a lot of you have seen these photos shared on social media over the last few days but I would be remiss if I did not blog about such a special event. As you all know Kyle was officially promoted to Major last week. We found out in November that it was happening this month and we immediately began working out the logistics of it. I wasn't able to be there when he was promoted to Captain so I wanted this day to be special for him. I am so incredibly proud of him and all that he has accomplished in his military career. 

We knew that there was only one person that we wanted to preside over and promote Kyle. BG LaNeve and his family have been in our lives for 10 years (Kyle has worked for him at 3 different posts). He has mentored Kyle his entire career and his wife, Kim, has done the same for me. Along with their two kids, they have become more like family. It took some working out but we were thrilled when everything fell into place and they both flew to Kansas to be here for this day. 

The best thing was that he also promoted Kyle to 1LT. While we were changing Kyle's shoulder boards this time, I leaned over and said to him, "I feel like we have done this before." It was special.

(November 2008)

I'm not going to the lie the day of the ceremony I was a bit stressed out haha. The ceremony was at 2pm but I needed to be there by 1pm (Kyle wasn't done with class until 12:20) to set up at the library and get everything taken in for the reception. I picked up the cake and the food and hightailed it back to post. Thankfully, Kyle's classmates are amazing and helped so much. 

However, once everyone started showing up the excitement kicked in. We were so thrilled that so many friends made the time to come. Quite a few from various assignments are here now and it was awesome having them. One of the highlights was Kyle's 1SG from when he was a company commander was there. She drove 2 hours to be there for the ceremony and it meant so much. 

I was able to set up a computer in the library to live stream the ceremony on FB so family and friends who are far away could watch. It was wonderful having our families "there". E did so good, she wandered around the room and interacted with everyone. Kim ended up holding her for a good portion of the ceremony because she wanted nothing to do with me haha.

E was ready for the ceremony!

I hadn't seen Kim in almost a year and it was amazing to see her. 

 BG telling stories

 This photo will always make me laugh. He is telling an infamous story about Kyle walking our little dog with a pink leash when he was a 2LT haha.

 I think at this moment he said that they keep Kyle around because of me haha (his words not mine)

 Publishing the orders.

 Putting on his new shoulder boards!

 Love this photo!

 Reciting the Oath

 E is ready to get her flowers!

Kyle and his former 1SG.

 The cake was a huge hit! I wish I had taken a photo of the inside, Kyle requested funfetti and that's exactly what he got haha.

We are beyond grateful for these two and all they have done for us.

I love this family of mine! <3

It truly was an amazing day and one that we will never forget. 

*Credit for the photos goes to the amazing Liz Perez from Liz Perez Photography*

Weekend Recap

I feel like the last week or so has flown by in a blur. I haven't posted since last Tuesday but gosh we have been busy. 

On Friday we held Kyle's promotion ceremony and while I will be sharing a post just for that soon, I did want to share a few photos. It was such a special day.

On Saturday, we were able to sleep in a bit before getting the day started. We headed to our favorite local place (The Depot) for breakfast before heading off to run errands. 

I was on the hunt for a dress for a wedding in March and Kyle needed to be fitted for new suits. We were successful on both accounts. We finished the day by getting our taxes done haha. Now that is a truly exciting way to end a Saturday night.

Sunday morning we were up at 5:30am to get ready for a race in Kansas City. We picked up two friends of mine and headed off to the Groundhog Run. It was held in a completely underground facility called the SubTropolis that stays between 65 and 70 degrees year round. It's a 55,000,000 sq foot manmade cave system/business complex and it is the largest in the world. They had both a 5k and a 10k, that started at different times. This actually worked out because they didn't allow strollers. I ran the 5k at 8am and Kyle ran the 10k at 10am (I'm running a half this weekend and let him have the longer distance haha). 

A lot of ladies from my SLAM participated and it was a lot of fun. However, I will say that running underground was completely surreal. The scenery never changed so that messed with our minds a bit haha. It got really hot in some areas and really cool in others when a breeze would come through. 

I was really happy with my time and despite the conditions I was only 10 seconds off my best time. Kyle was thrilled with his time as well. 

I've been doing my best to log more miles lately and later in the afternoon I met up with friends and knocked out another 4 miles. It felt great!

After the craziness over the last week, we enjoyed a quiet night at home. It was definitely needed.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Fit Challenge

A few weeks ago I signed up for a challenge through my workout group, Stroller Strong Moms. It's a 9 week long fit challenge that focuses on both fitness and nutrition. The goal is to improve our fitness and diet all while supporting each other and having a good time.

Last week was the beginning stage of the challenge and we all took a fitness assessment. It consisted of:

1 minute of thrusters (27)

1 minute of hand release push-ups (24)

1/2 mile run (3:38)

2 minutes of step-ups (1 minute on each leg) (124)

Plank (for as long as you can) (1:44)

We were also weighed and measured.

A few photos from my assessment day.

We recorded all of our scores and over these next 9 weeks we will work to improve. We were able to write down our fitness and nutrition goals as well. Each week we are given different smaller challenges (this week is to drink only water). 

The fitness aspect of the challenge I am really excited about. One of my goals is to get my 5k time down by 2 minutes. We ran a 5k over the weekend and I was able to gain a PR! I shaved 26 seconds off my time and I'm excited to continue to work on this.

 Sunday I wanted to log 10 miles and thankfully a group of us were already meeting up to do 6. I convinced another friend to meet me for 4 miles beforehand. So thankful for my SLAMsisters, Kyle joked that we would look like a gang running around post haha.

Hopefully I can continue to improve my fitness over the next 9 weeks and really focus on my goals.

Now the nutrition is the part that I struggled with. I absolutely love food, there is no question about that. We are meat eaters in our house and most of the nutrition plan is plant based. Cue the freak out. One of my goals was to make at least 2 meatless meals per week. The meals use a lot of fresh vegetables, lentils, beans, and a ton of spices. I committed to doing this and I want to make the most of it. I want to be better about the choices I make which also includes making sure I eat breakfast (I'm terrible when it comes to this). Let's be honest, I'll slip up and that's okay. I'm going to make modest changes but not get down on myself if I have ice cream or a sweet treat.

Here are two of the meals that I have made so far. For the record, they are delicious!

Brussels-Sprouts Stir Fry

Spaghetti and Trees

(If you are interested in the recipes, let me know and I can send them to you!) I've got 3 more meatless planned this week and I'm excited to try them. 

I am excited to see how things go over the next 9 weeks. It will be fun to cheer each other on during this challenge and see what we can accomplish.

Have you ever done a challenge like this before?

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

I feel like this week has flown by. With the holiday on Monday and snow day on Tuesday it's gone by fast for us. 

I always enjoy reading about people's favorite things so here is my list of my favorite things lately.

1. Fiber One Lemon Bars.

Holy cow, these things are so so good! They are sweet enough to where it curbs my desire for something really bad for me haha. 

2. Longmire (Netflix)

This show is really good! I started watching it with my Dad when I was in Florida and I became instantly hooked. It's about a small town Sheriff in Wyoming. It's based off books by author Craig Johnson. I highly recommend you start watching it. 

3. Rugged Outback Therma Weather Boots.

I wanted a pair of boots for snowy/icy days but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg. I found these at Payless and couldn't be happier with my purchase. They are warm and fit great. I definitely recommend them!

4. Puffer Vest- C9 By Champion

Speaking of cold weather, I'm not the biggest fan of running in it but let me tell you layers work wonders and these vests are perfect! I've been searching for good vests to run in and I finally scored these at Target. They are lightweight but warm. The pockets and collar are fleece lined which is perfect. The collar is high enough to where it can partially cover my face if I get cold. I have 3 of them and wear them constantly when heading out for a run.

5. Fun Water Bottle

This might seem like a pretty simple one but I absolutely love my new water bottle. A sweet friend of mine gave it to me when I wasn't feeling good last week. It's pretty much perfect for me, it says "blah, blah, blah. Go workout." haha! She knows me so well! I've been a slacker lately when it comes to drinking water and this has already helped tremendously!

Now that I've shared mine, what are some of your favorite things lately?

Have a great weekend!

To Buy Or Not To Buy

Buying or renting a home is one of the biggest decisions a military family will make. This is due to the nature of not knowing how long you will be at a particular duty station. Some are adamant about buying and some are adamant about renting/or living on the military installation. 

We have been on both sides. At 4 out of 5 of our duty stations we have opted to live on post. We chose that due to convenience. We have always enjoyed being close to Kyle's work and we are not the most picky people when it comes to where we live. The only time we have deviated was when we purchased our home in El Paso. We decided to try something new and we loved it. The wait list on Fort Bliss was extremely long and we only lived 4 hours away so we were able to travel there to look at homes. Unfortunately, we were only there for 22 months ( certainly not what we expected) and due to the unstable rental market at the time we decided to sell our home and we took a huge loss. 

We are preparing for a summer move back to NC (unless the Army decides to change that haha) and we have gone back and forth as to what to do. 

The housing for Kyle's rank on post is not really ideal. It reminds me of our first home on post there which wasn't terrible but it was tiny for the two of us. Now that we have E it would be a tight fit and I just don't want to have to deal with that. So post housing is out.

Next, we looked at renting a home. For what we are looking for, at least 4 bedrooms, fenced in yard, and a big kitchen the rent cost is extremely high and would ultimately be over our allotted BAH (basic allowance for housing).

So....as of right now we have decided to buy a home. Having worked in the mortgage business, I understand the process and know what needs to be done in order to get everything started. Once we have orders in hand we can begin the process. Thankfully, I am already in contact with a realtor in the area and she knows what we are looking for. I'm definitely hopeful that we will be able to find what we want, whether that be new construction or a resale. The market there is relatively stable and we could turn this into a rental property. As of right now I will be flying out there Memorial Weekend to look at homes and hopefully put an offer on one. If we get orders soon that trip will be bumped up. I'm ready to get this show on the road!

Have a great day!

E's First Snow

One of the things I was excited about when we moved to Kansas was E experiencing snow for the first time. She was born in Louisiana so the likelihood of her seeing snow there before we moved was pretty slim. 

We were all excited when we woke up yesterday morning to see snow on the ground! We missed the snow that happened around Christmas so we were thrilled that we would get to play in the snow. It was still slowly coming down as we were getting ready to head outside.

I purchased E a snowsuit on Amazon and a friend gave us her daughter's snow boots that no longer fit. She was ready to go! Kyle of course had to put her to work first haha.

She definitely didn't know what to think. She was intrigued by it but just couldn't quite figure it all out. She would sit down for a few minutes, rub her hands in it, and then get back up.

When I purchased her snowsuit I also bought a snow tube so she could have some fun. She really enjoyed that! She would let out a little giggle every now and then.

Later in the day we took her down the hill in our backyard which is significantly bigger. She loved that.

It was so fun playing in the snow for a little while and watching her just explore it all! It was such a memorable experience for all of us.

Kyle and I both wanted to get a run in but we were unsure how the sidewalks were with all the snow. We decided to give it a shot and went out as a family. A 4 mile snowy family run was the perfect way to end the day.

Overall, E's first experience with snow was a huge success! We will probably head out later today and play around for a bit longer if it warms up.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

A Quick Getaway

One of the things I am not a huge fan of is the cold, especially when temperatures make it unbearable to do anything outside. Last week we decided it was time to escape the cold. We loaded E up and headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. It's a plus because it's only 45 minutes away from!

If you have never been to Great Wolf Lodge before it's pretty amazing. We have been to the location in Charlotte but that was long before E. It's a hotel with an indoor waterpark! You can't beat it. They have themed rooms or standard rooms which are just as adorable. You have so many amenities to choose from to include an arcade, spa, ice cream shop, miniature golf, candy shop, restaurant, and even a fun game called MagiQuest for the kiddos (well and adults too if you so choose). They also have activities throughout the day for kids which is pretty amazing, this includes story time at night. When you book your room it includes your wristbands for the water park, for us with the military discount, you couldn't beat the price. 

We knew that since E is little that she wouldn't get to enjoy all of the slides but to be able to splash in the water and be in 84 degree temperatures was so worth it. We only stayed for one night which was just enough time to have fun and stay out of the cold. We arrived on Friday right at 4 which is when we could check in. Once we checked in we headed up to our room to get changed for the waterpark.

We spent about an hour playing in the water before heading up for a snack.

It was close to dinner so we called it a day, got dressed, and headed down to the restaurant. Dinner was really good and of course we saved room for dessert at the sweet shoppe.

We took our dessert to the room and let E play before putting her down to bed. Let me tell you that she slept like a champ haha. Something about playing in the water just takes it out of you.

We all slept great and were up bright and early the next morning for breakfast. E was so fascinated by the balcony, whenever she was in the room she just wanted to stare at it haha.

We had the cost of breakfast rolled into our stay and it was worth it (you can pay for it separately but they include tax and gratuity when you book it with your room). It was an amazing breakfast buffet with everything you could possibly imagine. E was in heaven.

We finished up breakfast and headed to the waterpark. We checked out of our room ahead of time and just kept a grab bag of clothes to change into prior to heading home. We spent several hours in the water and E was so happy. 

 

They have a really great kids area that is the perfect depth for littles. We took her into the last river a few times and had a great time.

Even though our stay was less than 24 hours it was really nice to get away and enjoy some family time. 

*If you don't have kids, I still recommend going! As I said we had gone a few times before having E and it was still just as fun.*

Have you ever been to a Great Wolf Lodge?