Conflicted

I need your help. And prayers.

I'm conflicted. Actually, I'm CONFLICTED. Ugh.

So, in just about a month, we'll find out what's next for us with the U.S. Navy. Although I wasn't always so enthusiastic, I am looking forward to the adventures of being a military family. But it certainly does make some things difficult. For instance jobs and school. I will definitely be in school until December 2010 (boo) but the job is not so definite. I don't love it. And it's getting harder and harder to go.

And in the spring, it will be REALLY difficult to find time in my schedule for work with school and my internship already taking up so much time.

So, without getting into the nitty gritty details, there are a few options on the plate and many decisions to make. All of these will probably include sacrifice and difficult discussions that I just don't want to have. I'm hoping that you (three?) will be thinking about us and, if you are so inclined, that you'll pray for clarity in what I am supposed to do next.

I'm thankful that this life has taken me on the amazing journey I've already experienced. I'm sure the next chapter will be just as wonderful. It's just getting there!

Thanks y'all!

Bride Wars!

Not wars so much but I did to go to...um...8 weddings this year? 9? Crap, I can't remember. A lot. And we had such a good time at all of them. :)

Here are a few pictures of some of those beautiful brides.

Mr. and Mrs. Sievers are better than professional!

Mrs. Miner was radiant! She's an accomplished physicist and now, wedding planner.

Mrs. Challen (woot!) would never let such an important day go by without a little MJ.

Mrs. Schambach is NOT with Mr. Schambach! What happened to the groom?!

Mrs. Stine here with all of the successful med school couples. It was not always an easy four years, but we made it!

Aren't my friends gorgeous?????? Yeah, thought so. ;)

It's My Life!

I'm hunting down better pictures from Halloween, but here is proof that we dressed up:

Hubster was a doctor (biiiiiiiggggg stretch there) and I was his pager. Ha! Hahahaha. No, really. It was funny. :) Oh, and we were handcuffed. And I beeped and I had three different party-themed messages. Get it? He's always attached to his pager? That makes me crazy? Get it? No? Well, I was pretty darn proud of this costume. The execution wasn't perfect, but I still giggle to myself about the idea. :)

Here are a few other pictures of recent events. The brother-in-law is involved in a charity called Canasta and this is us on our way to the yearly dinner and auction event. Hubster was post-call (I think he had been up for about 32 hours at this point!) but we still had a blast. $10 (possibly in Monopoly money) to anyone who can guess how long I've had that dress...and $10 more if you know what I originally bought it for!

Aaaaaaaand...the crazy man. Well, he and his 2-legged dad go back and forth for who the craziest boy in our house is on a daily basis. He LOVED this toy. Unfortunately, I think it is now dead. He likes to pull his toys apart.

Whew! I'm Back!

Let's pretend I've not been delinquent, shall we?

Great!

So, life's been hectic. With school, work, TAing, the pup, Hubster and everyoneunderthesun getting married, I feel like the last 2 months have flown. It's been good (with a smattering of holy cow how will I do all of this!) but I'm really looking forward to a bit of relative calm before...well, before whatever it is that comes next.



Some of you may know that the month of October was designated "No-Buy Month" in our house. I probably should have come up with a more descriptive name. Or at least a clever one.
But NBM it is. I've actually decided to make it 4 weeks so we can enjoy Halloween. And by enjoy I mean I came up with the PERFECT costume and I'll have to buy a few (but really not many) things. I'm not giving up the goods yet. Not telling you (all?) is my own personal way of forcing myself to post pictures in a week.

Anyway. Back to NBM. Obviously we need food, so we can do that within reason. Reason meaning not eating out or buying non-essentials at the grocery store. This part has been going well largely because of the time issues. I haven't had much time to cook so most of the time, Hubster is perfectly happy with the 735,322 cans of tuna in our house. Also, things like gas and metro fare are okay since I couldn't quit work or drop out of school this month. Although maybe if we do this again next year...


My transgressions are as follows:

• $2.50 buying Advil at the Smithsonian for DOUncle
• $8.25 ($3.00 after return) at Walmart - gloves, stockings, gum for Laurel's wedding (gloves were necessary, gum was not and the stockings are actually being returned)
• Chipotle dinner ~$15-20 - J.Mallory came over, we had no food in the house, I was EXHAUSTED...so Hubster bought us burrito babies.
• ~$55 was part of the hotel room (and bachelorette gift) for the lovely Mrs. Miner
• $A LOT for dinner with our neighbors. But it was 4 of us. And it was part of their wedding present/thanks for walking our dog sometimes/thanks for not hating us when our dog peed on your carpet, again, Dinner.
• $5.00 yesterday (aka: dayfromhellllllll) on muffin, banana, CLIF bar at school. This was certainly the most avoidable, but I was just at the end of my rope.

Upcoming transgressions:

• $35 x 2 for the Mackler charity 5K this coming Sunday (check it out: www.ScottMackler5k.com).
• $ for a lady's undergarmet. Doof the Dog decided that my bra was the perfect chew-toy and I need it for tomorrow's wedding. Not thrilled about this.

So, all in all, I think we have done pretty darn well. We made lunches and dinners (well, Diego didn't always, but this was more my challenge than his anyway). Brewed coffee at home. Didn't buy that random scone at the bakery. Didn't run out to get those gloves/pashminas/shoes I've been coveting.

With just under a week left to go, I think this has been an absolutely fabulous experience. It has really reminded me that I don't need to throw away money. We are fortunate to have enough to cover our needs and I know that in the future I will stop and ask myself if what I'm getting ready to buy is actually a need. Or even a strong want. Usually the answer is no.

But I am still going to get that pashmina. :) I won't deprive myself of everything.

p.s. The Blogger spell-check is kind of dumb. Just sayin'.