Monday, September 26, 2016

¡Fiesta de Cumpleaños!

Lizzie and I had a joint birthday party last weekend and I have to say, it turned out pretty perfect. Some of Lizzie's friends came by and helped her eat cake and mommy and daddy's friends helped us go through delicious Mexican beers and margaritas. Hubby cooked all of the meat for the tacos himself: carnitas, lengua, and flank steak. I don't think I could have been any prouder of him. They were absolutely delicious! We could not stop eating. The decorations were my labor of love. If i retained anything from ninth grade Spanish, it is how to make a mean tissue paper flower.  
Take a look at our joint Fiesta de Cumpleaños! 



The drink station was a hit with the yummy margaritas and garland



2 and 30 balloons decorated the living room. 




Even doors need decoration, don't neglect the doors!



My dad sent us the picado flags for the backyard. I love them so much, I think I'm going to keep them up for a while :)



My mom sent us an edible arrangement that was a huge hit with the littles. And you cannot forget the limòn and chile for fruit cups. 



Piñatas are always necessary



The salsa selection. That top left corner is an avocado based salsa, so good!



I saw this sombrero and automatically thought it should hold the chips. Way more fun then bowls!


Presents!



The munchkin's first doll house



A fiesta wreath to say adiòs! ¡Gracias por haber venido!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Move Hacks, Baby!





Let's start this entry off with some little bitty life hacks for you military gals out there. Lesson one from my trial and errors: 

1. Stay on top of your medical appointments: 

Seriously. This one is super important if you know an OCONUS move is coming! Dental cleanings, ladybit appointments (a forgotten pap smear held up our med. screening a week, not good when you only have 30 days to get everything sorted), check ups for kidos, post-baby check ups for new mamas and all of the vaccinations for everyone in the family; yes even you! Booster shoots are still a thing past your teens. Trust me. I could not raise my arms for a few days after my hepatitis updates, yellow fever and Japanese Encephalitis Immunizations. Ouch. But I would rather have sore arms for a few days then have my brain swell. I'll take a hard pass on that one. Thanks. 


2. Keep receipts of big purchases, start taking pictures and cataloging of all your stuff you think you might want to keep: 

The worst thing that can happen on an overseas move is the stuff that you think is living safely in a storage facility in America while you are overseas is actually floating around god knows where and no one can find it when you move back. I have seen people lose things from family heirloom jewelry to couches. How can you lose a couch? Or a king sized bed!? But it has happened. The best thing that can happen is the moving company finds your stuff and delivers it to you after you move to your next duty station, and the worst is that your stuff is gone-girl-gone. Having receipts is the best thing for claims against the moving company, and pictures are the next priceless things you can have if you get your stuff back it is in a very different condition then when it left you. When your dining room table gets delivered with unfixable scratches or a chipped corner, it is nice to have a picture that backs you up when you say "It did not look like that when it left my possession." Check your bank and emails for records of your purchases if you no longer have paper copies. I loose my paper ones all the time, but they can be found in e-form. 


3. Start going through your crap.

You know what I am talking about. The junk drawers. That forgotten closet of winter coats and stray kids' shoes. Those bins in your attic that you see once a year when you pull down christmas decorations and say to yourself, "Is that mine or the person who lived here before me?" Start now. Open one box or drawer a week, two if you're feeling feisty and start tossing the things you absolutely will not miss. There is nothing worse then trying to organize a pack and dealing with one thousand pens, two year old papers, and 20 lightbulbs that fit light fixtures in your home from two moves ago. This just happened to me in the junk drawer in my laundry room. I found 6 light bulbs to the track lighting that was in our Norfolk home. We have been on Florida for three years now. We don't have track lighting. Its time to toss those little suckers. I'd rather deal with them now, then during the stress of the pack. 
Clothing: You know the old closet trick of 'if you haven't worn it in a year, throw it out or if it still has life, donate it,' do a soft run-through now. The obvious clean out. You know what I'm talking about, the things that you know don't fit or are so old they are starting to look a little dated. Keep up with the occasional run throughs and soon you will only have pieces you love and use. It makes the packing process so much easier when you don't have to debate keeping or tossing something when everything in your closet is stuff that fits, that you use, and know you want to take with you. 


4. Take the good stuff to Mom and Dad's house: 

Anything that would absolutely devastate you if it got lost and you know you will not use overseas: Grandma's antique teacup collection, your wedding dress, things like that. Im not saying leave all of the mementoes behind, take a few teacups, just not all 30. I am making my first goody run back to Texas in the next couple of weeks so that the family can love on the babe and I can drop off things to stay in safe keeping for the next few years. My wedding dress will stay, the bulk of my record collection (the weight adds up quickly), my great-grandmother's antique crystal and silver that I will not use overseas but would kill a mover for for if they broke or lost it. See if your parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, grandparents, etc. would be the custodians of your most prized possessions that you will not be taking with you. Better with them then in a storage container. 

Phew, that was more then I thought it would be. Let know if you have some other tips to include in the next update. What are the moving hacks that you swear by? What has saved you the most time and sanity during a move? Happy Wednesday Everyone! 

-Samantha 

Monday, April 25, 2016

I should be studying for my finals but...

I'm here instead! Hey y'all, I'm back! 

It has been over a year since I wrote a post, and A LOT has changed since that last Disney World trip. First of all, the finals reference in the title. I am finally finishing up my Bachelors degree in History (UWF, go Argos!) and I cannot be more excited to finally have that piece of paper hanging on my wall. When I decided to go back to school, I decided to change my major to History from my original choice. I figured, if I am doing this, I am doing it in something that I actually like for a change. My original major was decided for me by my very first advisor when I was 18. Since I had no clue what I wanted to study, he chose something that I would be able to get a job with later. It had nothing to do with my interests, so this time I am doing what I want! I only have two semesters left: 20 hours in the summer & 18 in the fall. Needless to say, I am going to be super stressed and incredibly busy for the rest of the year. I know I am nuts, but there is a method to my madness.

This is my nightlife now: Books, Turabian, writing papers, and lots-o-wine!

Lizzie Girl has changed so much this past year. She is a toddler now, so big, and she has the personality to match. She loves broccoli, daycare, avocado sushi, mommy and daddy (of course), Luna Puppy, and books. She is a babbling fool and loves talking into anything that can used as a play phone. Lately it has been my checkbook cover and she will go off on talking tangents with it. Her favorite book is tie between Hippos Go Berserk and Hello America and watching her play with her little kitchen can melt your heart. 

My Easter Babe

Told you she likes sushi
Hubby is doing awesome. He's teaching students how to fly everyday and is super, crazy busy. Anyone that says they have tons of "home time" during a teaching shore tour is a big, fat liar! 12 to 14 hour days nearly every day! I honestly saw him more when he was in the fleet then now, on the flip side, no deployments here mean he doesn't take off for months at a time. I still miss the 9-5 days in Virginia. But we will be back in that pace of life coming up here at the end of the year because we got his verbal orders a few weeks back and we are going to....

   

I am so excited! It is still so surreal that we got orders to anywhere other than San Diego or Norfolk. I am not yet in the freaking out "holy shit we're moving overseas" stage of it all, but I know its coming. Already, we are deciding what is staying in the states and what is going with us. And it is very little.

I'll be updating as the move progresses and I'll share little tips and factoids along the way too. First Tip: Moves to some overseas locations are super weight restricted. Like 25% of your usual moving-weight allowance. Yeah, 25 percent. Let that sink in for a minute. So essentially, 75% of our house is staying here. A massive garage sale is in order and lots of Goodwill runs are in our near future.

The big move is a big reason why I decided to come back to blogland. I want a place that my family can go to and see what we have been up to. The adventures and the daily life both will be totally different from anything we have experienced before. Ahh, I am so excited, and Lizzie ready for all the sushi she can eat!