...And Then There was Thanksgiving

I swear it happens every year around this time... 

I do great blogging before/around Thanksgiving, and then WHAM! Between the celebrating, decorating, cleaning, traveling, cooking - whatever I happen to be doing - and life, I forget to stop and blog for a minute. Not to mention this year I'm also preparing to, you know, have a baby. That's kind of a big deal.

So, Thanksgiving!

We left Wednesday afternoon to spend the holiday weekend in North Carolina. A holiday! With family! *gasp* We've made it to see family for Christmas - usually - but this was our first Thanksgiving with family since before we moved to Hawaii. And seriously, that feels like a bazillion years ago now. Our lives were so different then... We were still newlyweds, still new to the Army, didn't have babies, and...just different. It was definitely a nice change. {Although I'm not sure if I will ever agree to traveling 9 months pregnant again. Even if it is only 4 hours in a car.}

We had a great time with family, but I have zero pictures from Thanksgiving. I'm blaming preggo brain on this one! I did attempt a few shots of Charlotte with her cousins, but none of them turned out well. Of course.

On Black Friday, we boycotted shopping {even though I was dying to get an iPad mini} and went to the mountains in search of Christmas trees. Even though we didn't come home with a tree, we enjoyed tagging along with everyone else. 

Ahhhhhhhhh.

Grammy, Gramps, (Joe's grandparents) and the kiddos.

Charlotte and Eden holding hands. They are the sweetest little girls!!

Charlotte and Auntie Sarabeth, clearly excited about Auntie Sara's tree. Haha

Charlotte and Auntie Anna

Family pic! One of us wasn't thrilled. 

My cuties. LOVE.

Saturday, my lovely SILs threw me a baby shower! It ended up just being family, but that was just fine. I didn't have any family around for Charlotte's shower, so it was a nice change. Although I did miss seeing my NC friends, I knew it would be difficult to arrange with it being a holiday. We also took some family pics, but I'm saving those for later. Spoilers. ;-)

The preggo and the hostesses with the mostest. ;-)

Family shot!

Me and the gifts. =)

We drove back to GA on Sunday, and I've basically been playing catch-up with laundry and housework ever since. We left the house in a bit of a mess (all of us got sick with a cold last week), and then Charlotte's cold got worse on Monday. And I'm 9 months pregnant and tired most of the time. So....bad combo! Plus, I've got quite a bit of things to do to get ready for Millie's arrival. 24 days, people. Twenty. Four. Days. Until my due date. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one!

I have a couple posts rolling around in my brain, so stay tuned! I promise not to go completely AWOL unless I'm giving birth or something. ;-) And even then you know I'll be back with baby pictures!! 

How are you recovering from the holiday....and preparing for the next? 

You Can't Beat Home Sweet Home

Over the ocean and through the skies.... To Grandmother's house we go!

As you're reading this, Joe and I are on a plane crossing the ocean. We are officially headed to NC for the holidays!!! =)

Friday was my doctor's appointment and - much to my mother's dismay, I'm sure - we were a GO for travel! I just have to remember to drink ungodly amounts of water, get up and walk, and stay away from salty airplane snacks. Oh, and sleep and avoid puking. Should be fun, right?!

The real fun will start once we're there. Usually we stay with Joe's grandparents, but this year we have the pleasure of staying with my SIL, Anna, her hubby and two sweet kiddos! I can't wait! =) Joe is excited to be with family this Christmas and I know I will have a great time too. Personally, I'm hoping for a repeat of last year... Snow on Christmas Day:

Joe's grandparents' house

Even if it doesn't snow on Christmas Day, I'm sure it's going to be a great Christmas. It'll definitely beat last year's by a long shot!

I'm sure you can imagine how busy we're going to be over the next few weeks. I will update when I can {probably with photos of my cute niece and nephews}, I promise! Until then, I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas!!

Or as the locals say, Mele Kalikimaka! 

I Made It!

Finally.

In the past two weeks, I have traveled roughly 11, 106 miles. That's just destination to destination -- not counting the layovers I had. I am one tired cookie! I am not planning on leaving this island again for quite a while. Traveling across the Pacific and then across the US is not something I'd do again in the next month or so. My body has no idea what day or time it is. I can barely hold a conversation because I'm so tired that my brain can't handle too much information. It's sad. But, hey, I made it! =)

Not only did I travel across the US, I survived the holidays with my psycho family! As much as my side of the family drives me insane, they're still my family. I think the thing that bothered me most was the situation with my grandparents. As most of you know, Papa was hospitalized right after Joe deployed this summer (Thanks, Murphy). They found an aneurysm and tumor in his brain, and then placed coils in his carotid artery to stop the blood flow to both of them. Long story short, he was in the hospital for a very long time and had several complications while he was there. All of this has affected his personality for the worse. My Nana is now his caretaker - making sure he takes his medicine and that sort of thing. She was never Suzy Sunshine before and now it's worse. Both of them complain about everything and continually remind us that "this year might be our last." *sigh* Add that to the hateful way they talk to my mom and it was almost unbearable to be with them. I hate that because I always enjoyed spending time with them before. =( It makes things really hard.

As usual, my dad drove me nuts with his "advice" and opinions about politics and economics. He's not stupid, but he does like to think he knows all there is to know about those sorts of things and it's really irritating. Most of the time I just keep my mouth shut because I don't want to get into a long, drawn out conversation where he'll end up telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. My family isn't all bad, but man do they know how to irritate me!

The good news is everyone seemed to enjoy their gifts. =)

Mom with the quilt I made for her. =)

Dad loved the dashboard hula girl I bought for him.

The PX truly is a wonderful place. ;-)

Christmas tree at Mom's.

This is how I survived Christmas Eve at my grandparents' - texting my brother.

He's wearing the shirt I bought him.

Again, the PX is awesome. 

Christmas Eve - sorting the gifts.

I love that Papa is wearing a Santa hat. =)

Christmas without Joe was so weird. It didn't really even feel like Christmas. We did celebrate Christmas while he was home, so that's probably why. 

I still haven't uploaded pictures from my visit to NC. Although, I didn't really take a whole lot of photos while I was there. Do you remember me talking about the conference my church held in October? Well, one of the speakers encouraged us to "live in the moment, not for the moment." I have really taken to that phrase since then. And that's exactly what I did while Joe was home on R&R and while I was visiting family these last two weeks. I haven't taken so few pictures in a long time. And you know what? I really enjoyed myself. (You know, other than when I was being annoyed by my cranky grandparents and overbearing dad.) I played with my niece, spent quality time with my SIL, shopped with both of my SILs, and just hung out with family. I'd do the same thing all over again! Plus, I know that my FIL always has his camera going if I don't. =)

Out of the whole month of December, this was my favorite moment:

He was/is by far my favorite Christmas gift this year. =)

Here Again

"Here" meaning the Vegas USO. Did I mention how nice it is here? I mean, they feed you, give you something to drink, computers to use, free wifi (if you're like me and travel with your laptop), free TV and Xbox for those darned soldiers who like to play video games. =) Translation: It's a worry-free place where you can come to relax when you have a 4 hour layover.

I'm still not sure how that happened. I honestly don't remember seeing that when I booked my tickets last month. Though, in my defense, I was a little preoccupied with the fact that my husband was about to come home on R&R. It might have had something to do with that. ;-)

I had to say "bye" to the fam again today. =( I left NC on Friday, so those "bye"s were done but I still had to say them to my side of the family. First my bestie (yeah, she counts), then my brother, then the grandparents and parents. Mom was the last one to leave the airport. She stayed with me until the security checkpoint. And we cried. *sigh* I was pretty ok with everyone else, though. I think I did pretty well. And it's possible that I'll be back there in May for my BIL's wedding. Maybe.

My first two flights for this round have gone really well. I was conscious during the entire first flight, which is a big deal for me. Haha. =) I didn't last long after takeoff on the second flight, though. I barely remember takeoff. Oh well! Then, the wacko annoying lady woke me up with her in-flight movie and constant movement. Grrrr. I'm kind of cranky if I get woken up before I'm ready to be up. (Unless it's a phone call from Joe, of course.) I tried to go back to sleep, but it wouldn't work. I put my earphones in to block out the noise, but that only helped some. Luckily, I only had to endure about 45 minutes next to her after I woke up. Score 2 for Dramamine! I always take Dramamine when I fly... I'd love to not take it, but I'm afraid of what would happen if I didn't. I'd rather pass out on the plane than "toss my cookies," as my dad would say.

I am a little concerned that readjusting to be alone is going to be hard. I mean, I've been around people constantly for the last 2 weeks. Some of them get on my nerves, but I haven't been completely alone. I really hope that I'll be ok. I mean, I have done this before... I think the main thing that will help me be okay is talking to Joe. I'm hoping that when I get home we'll be able to resume our normal Skype schedule. =) I did get to Skype with him early, early this morning though! I randomly woke up at 0400 (CT) and checked my phone. I saw missed messages on Skype from him, panicked and sent one back to him. Then he "called" and we chatted for about 20 minutes. It was nice to see his face and know that he was okay. =)

More good news on the deployment front:

We're over the hump!!! There is officially more green than red on the donut! Wooohooo! It's all downhill from here, and I can say that he comes home this year! That in itself is a blessing. {There has also been rumor that he'll come home early, but we all know that in the military rumors are just rumors....until they're not. =P}


Hopefully, I'll feel up to editing and uploading pictures from Christmas and R&R to show you guys. I feel like we have a lot to catch up on!


Hope y'all had a fantabulous day!

Flying...

Well, I have made the first leg of my journey home. I bet you're all wondering what on earth I'm doing posting right now. Welll... It's 11:45 PM here in Vegas and my flight doesn't leave for 2 hours. Yay. So, I'm hanging out at the USO.

Did you know Vegas had a USO? I didn't. Joe told me that they might, but I wasn't sure. When I finally got to the correct terminal, checked in and headed up the escalator I saw "USO!" Is it totally weird that I was about 9 kinds of excited? I walked in and man - it is nice in here!!! 3 flat screens, super nice bathrooms, a snack bar, computers for your use and it looks like there's a TV room in here too. I'm in the "snack area" playing online and listening to another milspouse chat it up with the snack bar lady. =) The workers here are super friendly. I appreciate that so much.

My flight from Hawaii to Vegas was not very fun... I about barfed while we were landing. Most of you probably don't know this, but it's been raining like crazy for the last few days in Hawaii. California and other parts of the west coast have experienced our little storm too. What does this mean for flying? Turbulence. *sigh* I get airsick. Luckily, Joe experienced this before I did so I was prepared with dramamine. ;-) I still felt bad for him though. 


During my flight there were no movies. =( And I sat in a row between two babies... Two screaming babies. I think I slept for about an hour and read for the rest of the 6ish hour flight. Yay me. I loved that most people kept asking me how my visit was. Ha. I live in Hawaii! =P The lady who sat next to me literally spent about 5 hours on her little netbook playing what used to be called Bejewled. Not even kidding. She turned it off to get up to go to the bathroom and then read for a while... Oh, and she was reading a book in Japanese. Weird!


I did get fed, so I can't complain too much. I just wish it hadn't been such a bumpy ride! I was ok for the first half of the flight, but the second half wasn't so great. Probably because my dramamine was wearing off. 


Well, I'm sure 90% of this post doesn't make sense because I'm tired so I'm just going to end it here. I'm going to try to post as much as I can while I'm home but I make no promises!!!