And that's all my phone has to say about that:

Saturday we spent the day with my husband's public speaking class.

The kind professor is also a local pastor, and he brought the class out of their classroom and to his church to use the mic in a big space. Then he had us all to his beautiful home and fed us. Not like the usual hot dog cook out- an entire Salmon! I brought cookies.

 

Customary never-ending fascination with boxes which all cats possess.

 

Knitting a blanket.

I've crocheted many, but knitting is much slower going for a project this big. Been at it for months and only 45 squares in. By fall I WILL have a nice Queen sized stripey blanket. I love how it looks so far!

 

This mama's boy has to get himself into everything I do. He is such a good helper.

 

Been learning to drive stick on my new (used) car. Finally, we are a two vehicle family!

Husband bought it from a friend relocating to Japan.

 It's a Teal 1996 Nissan 200sx. (haven't gotten pictures, but this one here is what it looks like)

 I tried to learn driving standard at age 17 and failed but I'm happy to say with my husbands help I'm doing much better this time around and there has been minimal stalling.

Also, my previous driving experience has been my family Suburban, my Durango, and my husband's Dodge Ram. A little car is a new thing to me. 40 mpg is nice though!!

 

Tip: don't make the same mistake we did. You don't need both a cat and a paper shredder.

 Most cats are willing to help with shredding (not being serious, but he sure is a good shredder)

 

Been dehydrating fruits in my oven (post to come).

I think they are super delicious. JoJo does not.

 

Meal planning: it is a good thing. But we are pretty routine people. Tacos on Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner on Wednesday and Fishes on Fridays. Only have to get extra creative on Monday and Thursday. It works for us. (and yes, we do eat on the weekend, but I don't try and plan it.)

Somehow the Word of God always seems to make more sense and impact me more when I am outside.
Ive been talking walks in the lovely weather (praying as I go- something my friend Jeri taught me)down to a pond on base and doing my study (this one from my church!) there.
I always take notes and doodle when I read the Bible. It just works for me.

seriously wish I could sleep in a literal ball like this.

out for a spring time walk. Finally some sunshine around here! Weather in the 60's!
 (anyone know what type of tree this is? blossoms were all...fluffy and pompom-y...not a cherry tree?)

Not sure how it got there but a section of our garden area by the front door is FULL of mint (because mint will do that. it takes over everything). Brought some inside and been making tea!
 

Blinds are super ugly, but a nice sunset peaking through makes them a little bit better.

 

 

**Wanna apologize if these posts are super random, but they are more for the benefit of my folks back home than anything else. Hope they aren't annoying you too much. Just try and tolerate me and my excessive cat photos, please.

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

Weekend phone dump. This week according to my phone:

 new art project for my kitchen. detailed post coming soon.

 finally feeling springy! Been high fifties, dress wearing weather all week!

 testing out the new Sig Sauer .40 and the target we (he) built

 

look! sugar peas in the making!

 

 Cicero. He knows what's up.

"Mama? What are you doing out there!?"-window watch cat

 

I never wanted a flower garden. I swore I wouldn't have one.

And then my house came with flowers. Dang it.

 

This is what a flailing cat who doesn't like a collar and ID tag

(required for on-base pets) looks like. He bites the plastic tag. Wild thing.

 

Making husband's early morning breakfasts in advance!

 Heat up in oven for 5 minutes and good to go!

 

A spring-time kity cat hat for a 5 year old little girl who is friends

with my littlest sister. The friend was recently diagnosed with cancer

and is undergoing chemo. Please pray.

 

"Bugggg-eerrrr-aaaa!"

 

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! A happiest Easter to all!



I'm Back: Military Wife, Military Life and What Have You

Well.

I'm back. Sort of fell off the posting schedule, I suppose. My last post was in November and I figured I was due time to update you, seeing as most major aspects of my life have changed since we last talked.

Quick recap:
Married an Airman on May 26th, 2012.
That Airman Deployed June 4th-December 12th to Qatar while I stayed at home on the East Coast.
He came back and I joined him on McChord Air Force Base, in Washington state December 18th.
We've been married nearly ten months now and have been living happily ever after in the Evergreen State now for 4 months.

I haven't the slightest idea how to bring you up to speed on our lives, and I feel horribly awkward jumping back into posting, but here I go anyway...


We moved to McChord and got ourselves a nice little baby house on base.

 

 

 

We got ourselves a sweet and rascally furbaby. (He actually came 3 weeks before the move across the country and got the pleasure of sharing a 11 hour plane trip with me.) His name is Trinkilo. Not to brag, but he is the best kitten ever.

 

With a bit of church hoping, we successfully found a new church: Puyallup Foursquare! You can check out their website and stream their services live here! We like it a lot there. We have joined a young couples small group and can't wait to get more involved.

 

My new job is finding a job. I spend a large portion of every day on job boards looking for someone to hire me. I've applied to an absurd amount of places in the area, everything from nannying, to retail, to restaurants, to libraries. I am now a pro at submitting applications and resumes. However, I am still without a job... Ultimately, I would like an office assistant/receptionist type position, but for now I would settle with just about everything. We aren't desperate for the income, but I am so very desperate to have some responsiblity outside of the walls of my home.

 

In the meantime, besides job hunting and trying to get my Associates finished through online classes (online, by the way, is agonizing) I have taken up various hobbies and wife-ish responsibilities and I am loving my life!

 

I've taken up gardening. Or I am trying. As of yet, there is nothing growing, but things have been planted! My handy husband helped me build a  raised bed in our little back yard and we've planted bush beans and sugar peas so far, with herbs, mesculine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes to come. I'm sure I'll be posting plenty about the garden's progress as time goes on! We also made our own composting bin out of a trash can, a post on that to come. And as you can see, joblessness leads to increased craftiness: I have been painting garden markers on rocks (another post in the works!).

 

I've been doing a whole lot of cooking and baking. I've always enjoyed cooking, but it was never a necessity before when I was still living at home. Now, if I don't cook, we won't eat (or we will eat one of three things with my husband specializes in: grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, or ramen). Having to come up with three healthy meals a day has become a fun challenge for me. There will be a lot of posting in the future about my cooking adventure, I assure you.

I've made it my goal to make as much from scratch as possible. For example, I've taken up making all of our bread instead of purchasing it weekly. I am also trying to avoid paying for convenience. That means I avoid purchasing mixes and whatnot. McCormick taco seasoning and I broke up after one way-too-salty taco session. The dough boy, Betty and I aren't on speaking terms, as I am not making my own brownies and cakes without their help. However, me and the instant mash potatoes are still buddies. Those I won't part with as I simply loathe making mashed potatoes. Microwave popcorn remains a favorite too.
Hopefully I can get some practical "how to" posts on making your own mixes up for you shortly!

I've been couponing. Is that a hobby? No, not like those people on that show that causes all of our jaws to drop. Not extreme. Just couponing to the extent that I am able to save about $30 off of our grocery bill every month. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but I like the idea of an extra $360 in out pockets at the end of the year. (And for the record, I am only buying healthy things which we would normally purchase anyway, not stockpiling 8,000 deodorants and 60 sugared cereals).

Besides couponing, we are trying to be as frugal as possible. Growing up in a home of 10 people with the thrifting queen as my mother I learned a lot about frugality and homemaking. I am pleased to say that, thanks to God, we have furnished our entire home completely free of debt and are well on our way to saving for our futures. Being responsible with our finances is our goal!

I'm still knitting and crocheting. That goes without saying...

In my mind, I've been painting. I love the idea of painting and my home needs some art on the walls very badly, but I've never been much of a painter. I went out and bought canvases, brushes and paints and so far no art save for the garden rocks has been produced. Let us hope that soon I will be posting some fantastically artful thing.

I've been doing laundry. Lots of it. It is not a hobby I chose: it chose me when I married an Airman. I thought I, as a female, had a lot of laundry. Apparently I had nothing on his at least 3 required (ad thoroughly dirty) outfits a day. The frugality has extended to the point of making my own laundry detergent and fabric softeners though! Thank you, Pinterest!

With the addition of talking to the cat, that is pretty much the extent of what I do as of currently. I am planning to get back into blogging and post a couple times a week so stay tuned for more!


 

Bella's Custom Animal Hats on Facebook

...because all forms of advertising now somehow end up being by way of social media...

https://www.facebook.com/BellasAnimalHats

Long story short: 

I make hats. And those hats now have a Facebook page.

PS: Hats like orders. And people you know/you like hats for Christmas.

Check out the page for options and details!

{Reading} Nooks & Crannies...

Last week I bought a horribly cute vintage chair. At Savers. For $5. Yes.

It was green vinyl. I obviously needed it. When you already have a green vinyl (cucumber)couch in your room it is hard to say no to any other pieces of green vinyl vintage furniture. Especially when they are only five bucks.

The problem was my couch was right at the top of my staircase against the wall, between a keyboard and a dresser. Meaning no room for my new chair. Which in turn meant I had to rearrange my whole room to accomodate my find, and I ended up liking this new layout better.

Welcome, one and all, to my new READING NOOK!

Much cozier than before! It makes me really happy to snuggle up, buried in pillows and blankets, and read a nice book. Now if only I had time to do that...