245 days

Today marks 8 months since Alex and I moved to New York.

I cant believe it's been that long already...

In just a couple of weeks, we MIGHT find out where our next station is.
& man oh man, the anxiety is setting in!

The more that I got to thinking about where we could potentially end up... the more it started to sink in that we are leaving here... our first apartment.

There are so many memories burned into these walls.
It's not like "home" where you can go back & visit... once we leave here... it's for forever.

It's going to be hard packing up & saying goodbye... but I'm ready to continue this journey we've started together.

New York will always have a special place in my heart! <3

This Christmas

Okay... okay... 

So I'm a bit late with a Christmas post... but here it is (:
As you know, my front tooth fell out of my head on the 22nd... which was the Dumbaugh's Christmas party. After my tooth situation got all fixed, I made some (fairly gross) mac & cheese and headed over to Amanda's nice & hyped up on Oxycodone. I dont remember too much from the party... but I do recall playing Clue with a lovely bunch of friends (: I lost.

On Christmas Eve I was home alone. Alex was headed off to work in the afternoon so it was just me and the kittens.
My family was back in Florida having their annual Christmas party & I haven't felt so homesick in my life.
I was actually able to Skype them though. Which was pretty nice... but I think it made me even more homesick.

Christmas day was evenful (:
Alex and I woke up and opened all of our presents (packages) from our lovely families. -insert presents blahblahblah

After buying my first 3 LEGAL bottles of wine, we headed over to the Cobb's for their Christmas dinner party. Alex dropped me off & Jamie & I got to cooking. (of course we drank a whole bottle of Appletini while we got busy)
Our dinner was nothing less of 16 course meal. We made an entire ham (pineapple & brown sugar) and like 7 sides, a few appetizers and 20million deserts. Okay.. maybe not that much.. but it felt like it!

It was a pretty memorable holiday & I'm glad that I was able to spend it with all of my amazing friends here in NY -my Navy Family 

Ellie waiting for a present to open lol 

early Christmas morning with my lovebug <3

All I want for Christmas is...

a new front tooth?

Have I ever mentioned that I'm cursed with the worst luck EVER?
Well, just in case you dont believe me... I'm going to provide you with a bit of proof.

3 days before Christmas, 4 hours before Amanda's Christmas party... and 1 minute AFTER Alex got to work...


I was sitting on the couch snacking away on some peirogies & glued to Netflix... and all of sudden, my mouth felt really strange...
I scraped my teeth with my tongue & immediately dashed to the bathroom.

And there I was... staring at a toothless reflection.

Yeah... my front tooth broke in half. Now, this isn't the first time this has happened. You see, when I was seven, I smashed my face into a brick wall (remember that bad luck thing I was talking about?) and my front tooth had a huge chunk chipped out of it. My family didn't have the most money growing up... and I was stuck with my "chippy" until the summer before my freshman year of high school. So if you do the math right.. that means that I went through the rest of elementary school & middle school looking like a hillbilly troll. (not my words) But seriously, imagine the names that I was called... and the people who judged me because of it. I was embarassed and upset... I just felt  u g l y  all of the time.

The day my tooth was fixed, I looked in the mirror and smiled... and somewhere in that moment, all the negative thoughts and comments disappeared. Or at least I thought they had...
Every now and then, I dream that my tooth breaks again... and I'm going to be cursed as a "hillbilly troll" forever. I literally wake up in tears from that dream nightmare and just thank god that I have all of my teeth.

So back to present day;
I'm looking in the mirror and realizing that my WORST (maybe not THE worst) nightmare has come true...
and instead of embracing reality... I start slapping myself as tears run down my face... trying to WAKE UP.

It wasn't a dream.

It was real.

It was 2:00

I was home alone.

and

I was toothless.

After trying to call my mom a thousand times... hoping she could help me somehow (I was in a panic state... dont judge me)  I finally called the dentist office. The poor receptionist had NO idea what I was saying... mainly because I was practically speaking a different language.. but she finally put words together and understood that I needed to be seen. She told me to be there at 3 to see if they could do anything for me & that they would be closed the next day until after Christmas.

Well here's the problem... Alex was at work, Amanda was in Albany getting Christmas presents... and I DONT DRIVE.

However, I had a plan!...
I caught a glimpse of a bicycle outside the window... and I was ready and willing to peddle my toothless, crying self all the way to the dentist... no one could stop me.

Buuuut, somehow logic caught up with me and I decided I should call Amanda first. She answered... and I was just freaking out and crying. She said all she heard was,  "waaahamanda, my toothbroke wahhhhalex waah doctor's at 3. can you come? *sniffle*" 
She made it all the way to the apartment & dentist on time. (I love her)

As soon as I got there, they knew who I was and I only sat in the waiting room (with my head covered and crying) for about 3 minutes.
Amanda stayed in the room with me and made me laugh so I could show the world my snaggle tooth. The comfort of knowing it was going to be fixed made me feel a little better.
And the face that the dentist was singing, "All Sam wants for Christmas is a new front tooth..."

3 hours & $500 later...

THEY DID IT! They put a temporary cap on my tooth & my permanent one will be here within the next few weeks.
I'm so thankful that they were able to take me in last minute & fix me up. The cap is BIG... and I feel like I have a toe in my mouth. I now refer to myself as "Nanny Sammy Mcphee" or "Triceratops tooth"... but anything is better than "hillbilly troll"

Post-procedure attempt at smiling... yeah, it wasn't happening.

Oh... and I now talk with a lisp.

Cheers to 21 Years

Birthday Girl

My birthday was pretty freaking fantastic!

Alex brought me home a "happy birthday muffin" for breakfast before he left for work. 

This is by far, the biggest muffin you will ever see. & it was quite delicious too (:

GIANT MUFFFFFIN

I snacked on all day practically

PARTAAAY

My party went AMAZING (:

There were a few times that I just looked around the room... and realized how lucky I am to have all of these people in my life. 

I honestly dont know what I'd do without my friends up here.

The decorations came out pretty awesome... though sadly I have no pics of the final product.

We did cake & presents. Drank some sparkling grape juice & had a blast (:

Amanda and Ben got me balloons, a gift card, a kitty mug, and a glass picture frame.

(totally in love with my kitty mug)

Jamie got me a balloon and a bottle of pina colada mixer with 2 wine glasses.

(yuuuummmmmy :D)

My mom sent me the most beautiful pair of peach pearl earrings. 

(so me!)

 And of course there's Alex... well he is buying a brand new wardrobe! :D

I'm so excited for some new & WARM clothes lol

As I promised, here are some pics from the partaaay.

the dining room... there were like 924792 more balloons after this pic

I love my ceiling streamers! :D

cute little wine glasses!

my cake failed miserably... but my poppies are cute! lol

birthday girl! and my swollen wisdom teeth face.

Its painful to smile... lol literally. But I love my girls!

Best Present EVER

As some of you know, my best friend lives in France. She's been there for 9 months and I miss her terribly.

She been to all of my birthdays since I turned 9... so its hard to celebrate without her.

Well, she made me a video... and posted it on my FB wall... and I may or may not have balled my eyes out like a little baby.

-Thanks, Katelyn... you are the BEST!

Cheers to Another Year

Celebrating my 21st birthday in New York is something people dream of.

I would have NEVER imagined that it would be me.

BUT

I received literally 100 happy birthday comments on FB....

and it was then, that I realized how much I miss home. I'm glad that I got to spend it with my amazing NY friends... but I'd give up a NY bday to be with my BEST friends and family. Oh how I miss them.

This was my favorite birthday comment on FB left by a high school friend;

"I remember meeting this adorable bubbly blonde girl in hot pink one day in a science classroom, a girl who would end up inspiring me and teaching me how to open up to people afte being hurt so many times before...I love you Sam, and I wanted to say happy birthday and that I miss our long talks in front of the dressing room mirrors...and you made a huge impact in my life and that I'm proud of where of you are and where you are going, know you'll always have a friend in me. ♥"

It's the people like this... that help me remember who I am this big world.

I'm now 21.
I live in New York.
And to this day, I can't believe that this is MY life <3

December 6th (:

And I'm soooo excited!

It's still hard for me to eat... or even open my jaw lol so we're not going out for dinner.

& most people go out & drink on their 21st... but I'm on pain meds... and uh that would NOT end so well lol

So Alex decided to plan a small birthday party for me & our best friends up here (:

so that means, Ben & Amanda lol (I love them so much!)

& I haven't had a party or even a cake in YEARS.

Alex bought a bunch of decorations

(light pink & black of course)

and even ordered balloons for me!! :D

He picked me up a white on white birthday cake that is blank...

and bought me stuff to decorate it with while he's at work.

How sweet is that!! :D

oh & we are going to decorate gingerbread houses at my party!! yay!

I'm so exciteddd!

(can you tell!!?? lol)

My party isn't going to be until 8:30pm(ish)

Because we're all hardworking people and have jobs to attend

(and "we're".. I mean everyone but me! lol)

My mom sent me a tiny little package in the mail...

but I cant open it until my party.

& even Amanda got me a present!! :D

& Ashlyn gave me a beautiful necklace when she was here.

(thanks bff)

I'll post pics later (probably tomorrow)

Love you guys!!

have the best day!!

random pictures

My phone hasn't been able to send picture messages for a while... and the day of my surgery, Alex went to Verizon and had it fixed :D (all they did was take out the battery and put it back in lol)

So anyway, here are some random photos that I've been wanting to share

Hot chocolate at IHOP with Alex (:

Ellebelle sitting at the table waiting for her plate
(that never came lol)

Jinxy being his cute self lol

Ashlyn being muslim... lmao

Elle LOVES attacking the paper towels

Vampire kitty!!

Kittens on a cloud!

They love each other way too much! lol its adorable

I found Elle in the room... she covered herself up lmao

Jinx on the prowl!

Ash & I at the Canadian Lodge

Toothless

Well, 

I did it!

I got all 4 of my pesky wisdom teeth removed.

The surgery actually wasn't too bad. Call me crazy, but I sorta enjoyed being awake the whole time. Maybe thats just the laughing gas talking lol


The night before, I didn't sleep... at ALL. I was just way too anxious. I woke up about 2 hours before we had to leave and took a shower. Then I sat in the living room staring at the christmas tree & trying to play out how "I thought" the surgery was going to go.
I was given to Valium pills & I was to take one and hour before I got to the office & then the other when I got to the office. Alex left to go get me a banana nut muffin... and as planned, I took the first Valium an hour before. All I remember was feeling super dizzy after I got done blow drying my hair... and feeling drunk while putting on my makeup.  When Alex got home, he found me laying down in the closet, telling him that I couldn't walk... and then proceeded to crawl to the door half dressed. I'm assuming I ended up falling down while getting dressed lol Oh & my makeup... dark purple eye shadow?... lets just say I looked like I should have been standing on the corner or at a drag show. Clearly, I was out of my mind.
By time we got to the office I was in a whole different world. I took the second pill at the office and the rest is history.
I remember talking to Dr. King and Kristen (the assistant) about being afraid I was going to choke to death on my spit. They just laughed and assured me I wouldn't. The laughing gas made me feel silly and I giggled every now and then for no reason at all. I remember him numbing my mouth and it hurt a tiny bit... but not too bad.
The procedure itself went pretty smoothly. I had my ipod on playing one song on repeat, with only one working headphone. GHETTO. But it worked out pretty well because I could hear all of the questions perfect but still have my favorite song playing.
By time Dr. King made it to my last wisdom tooth, he had to numb me again because my right side is extremely sensitive. And all of a sudden I felt a horrible sting & pinch that I hadn't felt with any of the other teeth, and immediately grabbed my face.
A piece of my jawbone came out with my bottom tooth!


It wasn't until I got home, that the pain finally set in. The medicine I was prescribed wasn't strong enough. It would have been, if I didn't get a chunk of my jaw ripped out. While I was in the bathroom panicking from the pain and the loss of blood, Alex called the dentist and they had him go in & get me a stronger prescription. I went from having 500mg Lortab to 650mg Percoset.
The first 3 hours of being home, I endured the WORST pain of my life.
But finally the medicine set in & it's been smooth sailing from there.
The Percoset makes me extremely nauseous and I can barely eat. The first day I could only eat a spoonful of pudding here & there but that was it. Today I ate a whole pudding cup & then later tried to eat some vegetable soup at hand... but that just made me feel horrible. I've discovered that yogurt & pudding are the only things that dont make me want to vomit... so for the next few days, I'm going to basically starve to death lol

Now here are some pics of my Wisdom Teeth Adventure

According to the dentist, I have long roots lol

Part of the piece of my jawbone between the roots of the last tooth.

My Post-surgery lounge that Alex set up for me while he was at work
on day two.

Jinx & Ellie taking care of me. I swear, they knew something was wrong lol I love them!!!
& yes, I have my Burberry scarf around my head with ice packs in it... lol

Dentist

Soooo

I went to the dentist on Wednesday, and just as I expected, my teeth wore not torn out.

As planned (if that happened) we went to Olive Garden... just to find out they no longer do the never ending pasta bowls. LAME. But I got pretty full after downing 6 bread sticks in 5 minutes. I barely had room for my pasta. But it was pretty delicious (:
 

Back to the dentist...

One of my bottom wisdom teeth is actually blocked by my jawbone. So the force of it trying to erupt actually swelled my gums up and caused an infection. D: So thats what the dying pain is from.
I got prescribed an antibiotic and some pain meds and now I'm getting my poor teefies out 

TOMORROW MORNING!

ahhhhhhhh!

I'm pretty scared, I'm not gonna lie. But mostly because I'm not getting put under. I'm going to be awake the whole time! D: My dentist told me to bring an ipod so I dont hear all of the drills. I just hope the laughing gas puts me in a whole different world lol

I think I'm going to do fine though... I'm just ready for it to be over.

Alex went to Sam's Club and bought me a whole bunch of pudding, applesauce, ice cream and soup (: I love him sooooooo much! I cant wait to nom on all my chocolate pudding! yummmm!

2 weeks after my surgery, I can go in & have my teeth cleaned & all my cavities filled. You have NO idea how excited I am about this! (:  I'm ready to smile with confidence <3

Oh, Wisdom Teeth.

I woke up this morning with a swollen face and aching jaw... to the point where I was in tears.

It was my darn wisdom teeth.

I already have 4 that have broke the surface... but I guess the 2 on the bottom are impacted. That basically means they are coming in sideways. All I can say is, its one of the worst pains EVER.

This a decent image of what my teeth are doing inside of my head right now.

Alex called a dentist office a few minutes before it was closing and told them what was wrong... and they said they should see me tomorrow morning at 8:30 as soon as they open.
WHAT!? I mean, I'm glad that I'm going to get this taken care of... but I haven't even had time to mentally prepare. YIKES.
When I go in tomorrow, they are going to take x-rays and then check the area and see if there is any infection. Since there is swelling, theres a good chance of infection which means that they can't operate until that gets better. So, I guess we will see!

The dentist preforming the "maybe" surgery said that I couldn't eat or drink anything but water at least 12 hours before the surgery...
Which would be fine... except Alex and I didn't call until 5pm and the food cut off would have to start at 8pm.
So the only thing I got to eat all day was a slice of pizza and a granola bar.
lets just say, I'M STARVING!

I tried to go to bed at a decent time... but its hard to sleep when Alex is working the midnight shift. I'm not too fond of sleeping alone. And then my mom called at like 11... so I stayed up and talked to her for about an hour.
I guess I finally ended up falling asleep... but then I woke up at 2:30 am... and CANNOT get back to sleep. I dont know if its because I'm nervous or because I'm starving! lol

I'm not sure if I want the surgery to happen tomorrow or if I want there to be an infection so I can wait a week. But if I do have to wait a week... the first thing I'm doing when we get out of that office is going to Olive Garden & getting the never ending pasta bowl!!! nom nom nom!

my poor confusing blog.

So, recently it's been brought to my attention that my blog is a bit confusing to people who dont really know me.
And I guess thats understandable... but I mainly write to keep my friends and family back home updated on my life.
Well, I've been a bit hesitant to write lately... because knowing that my blog was called "confusing" kinda upset me. So I spent the last few days, trying to fix it up a bit. (: A redid the ENTIRE thing... even though it looks the same lol I started from scratch. In my "I am Sam" tab, I added some information under each picture. I also think that I'm going to start refering to Alex as "Alex" rather than "A" because I guess thats confusing lol
I'm not sure what other changes will be taking place here in my blogland... but I want to make it easier for everyone to read <3

I love you guys!

November in a Nutshell

Quite a bit has happened in November... and I've been pretty busy. My phone is not sending pics for some reason so there will be no pictures in this post ): but anyway, here's November in a Nutshell:

BFF

On 11/11/11, my verrrry best friend, Ashlyn flew up to New York to visit me (:
The second I saw her in the airport, I busted into tears. It's been 6 months since I saw her... and thats the longest we've been apart in 5 years.
I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty tough getting used to 3 people living in a 1 bedroom apartment lol But only at first. After a couple days went by, it just became normal.
We all woke up pretty early every day & Alex would pick us up some Dunkin Doughnuts coffee before he headed off to work (: It became a morning necessity lol
We explored 3 malls! (Colonie Center, Crossgates Mall, & Clifton Park Center) And we made it through the Christmas Tree Store ALIVE! lol
Most of the week we just relaxed and watched tv & made christmas ornaments (: It felt so nice to always have someone around. And my apartment has felt empty since she left.
If I learned anything from her visit, its that we CANNOT go that long without seeing each other ever again!

Turkey Day

Alex and I planned on spending Thanksgiving in our apartment with a meatloaf instead of a turkey lol
But our amazing friends, Amanda & Ben invited us over for dinner with them.
We ended up having it the day before because they had a family emergency come up.
I spent the day with Amanda and Ben helping cook... but mostly just sitting on the floor and eating delicious homemade cookies ^____^ yum! 

Dinner was AMAZING. Something about being with them made it feel extra special. They are are "Navy family" and I wouldn't have had Thanksgiving dinner any other way <3
On the "real Thanksgiving", Alex and I had chicken nuggets and french fries accompanied by a movie (A Walk To Remember) and it was actually a lot of fun (: leave it to us to eat like kinder-gardeners lol (:

One Year

November 27th was Alex & I's one year anniversary! And wow... A YEAR! I can believe it's been a whole year. It's been an extraordinary one though (:
I woke up and went in the living room & sitting on the table was a huge bouquet of white daisies and white lilies (: And next to it was my favorite- maple donut from D&D (: Alex had written all over the bag. All the wonderful things he loves about me & a poem (: I love this man!!

So, November came and went pretty quickly. It always seems to for me lol 

and in One week from today... 

I WILL BE 21!!! :D

half a year.

It has been a whole 6 months that I have been living in New York.

6 months that I haven't seen my family & friends in Florida.

So,most of you know that A & I were supposed to be up here in NY for 6 months. Well... lets just say in Navy time, apparently that means a year. Let me explain;

We moved here in May which means that would leave in November. BUT when we got here, A didn't start his "classes" till a month later... (+ 1 month = 7)
So now we would leave in December. Yeah, NOPE. Apparently his graduation got put back about 2 months later. (+ 2 months = 9)
And well, on top of that... the class that graduated 3 months ago... they are STILL HERE!
(+ 3 months = 1 YEAR!)
Thats right... A whole year.
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE New York. love love love love.
But there are a few reasons why I didn't want to (plan to) stay here for so long....
-We decided to rent furniture because it would be less of a hassle to move with it & a 6 month lease was reasonable. But now we have to keep getting extensions put on the lease. (bye bye money)
-We are outgrowing our apartment. When we first moved in... it seemed so big. But I swear every day the walls are closing in a tiny bit more.
-I want to be somewhere that I can properly "root" myself. I'm not too fond of this feeling of not knowing when we're leaving.
-I want to be on base... where I can have more friends and get out & do things.
-We don't want to or even know how to deal with snow. We barely knew what to do with the 3 inches we recieved last month... can you imagine adding feet to that?? 
But I think the biggest reason why I want to leave is because I want his orders to come in. I want to know WHERE we are going to be stationed. I just wannnna knoowwww!!!

A was given 7 options of where we could be stationed, and then had to make a "wish list" from what he wanted the MOST to least.

1. Hawaii

2. California

3. Washington

4. Connecticut

5. Virginia

6. Georgia

7. Guam

I pray every night for Hawaii or California. EVERY night. But honestly, as long as I end up in a nice area with a nice house... I would go anywhere.

But until then, I'm gonna keep on lovin' me some New York! (:

those autumn leaves,

Autumn

This cold weather in New York has been so refreshing. I've always been a fall/winter person, so to experience a true fall foliage and then have it snow... PURE BLISS (: 

The snow storms seem to be over for a while. And we are so blessed that we didn't get it really bad where we're at. We received less than a foot of snow each of the 2 days... enough to make a snowman but not too much to snow us in. So, now that the snowfall has subsided, its back to regular autumn days 

( but they are just a bit on the chilly side)

A and I had a picnic down by lake & I managed to take some pics of the beautiful scenery:

Have I mentioned that its absolutely breath taking here?? (:

seriously;

I ♥ NY

thanks Pinterest

Frozen Dinner Blues

About a month ago, our garbage disposal in the sink broke. A decided it would be a good idea to turn it on and dump fish rocks down it. Yeah... lets just say it didn't end well.
Sooo the sink couldn't be used at all because it couldn't drain the water. After a few days, the food that was stuck in there started to smell REALLY bad... and still no word from maintenace. So we had to cover the sink with a trash bag and seal it up. (ghetto I know lol)
I attempted to wash dishes in the bathroom sink, but it just didn't work out. So for the next couple of weeks, we had to eat frozen dinners & use plastic utensils. (anything to not dirty dishes).
IT SUCKED.

So now that my sink is FINALLY fixed (and Alex is actually home for dinner), I have been cooking up a storm (:

I've been using recipes from Pinterest and I've come across a few that I MUST share with you.

Last night, I made Mexican Stuffed Shells. It sounded a bit weird, but it is actually SO delicious. Adding cream cheese to the taco meat is pure brilliance. If you like tacos, you really need to try this recipe out.

Tonight I made, Crispy Cheddar Chicken. Its one of my favorite chicken recipes now. I am in love with it! (: A ate about half of the pan lol o I'll be making this often.


Let me know if you guys try these recipes & if you enjoyed them as much as we did! (:

let it snow!

Let it snow!
On Thursday, I experienced snow for the first time in 12 years. (:

A and I grabbed our coats, gloves, and ran out the door. It was his first time actually seeing snow fall and his face lit up so big. (:
I'm sure everyone thought we were on something because we were the ONLY ones outside and I was running in circles going crazy lol -it was quite a scene!

I scooped up some snow and pelted it at A... he caught on quickly because before I knew it... snowballs were flying everywhere. Within about 10 mintues, we were covered in snow and thats when the chill started to sink in.
But we were far too excited to let any cold stop us, so we decided to take a walk down to the lake. There, we made a little baby snowman together on a picnic table and named him, Philbert Icicle. (: By time we were done, our hands were frozen and stinging under our soggy gloves. so I scooped up Philbert and brought him home to sit on our balcony. 

It continued to snow through the night and then eventually rain. The next morning (at 5am) we headed downstairs to scrape the snow off of the car before A had to leave for work. Well, it took over 30 minutes... and A LOT of patience. Thank goodness Amanda picked us up a snow brush thingy the night before... because we would have been screwed.

He's clearly not used to this
snowy weather haha (:

view from the balcony when the
snow first began to fall.

  

But, it was a pretty fun experience overall (: The snow had a day to melt away. BUT we're expecting a snow storm today from about 4pm till Sunday morning. I'm not sure how much snow is expected... but lets just hope we dont have dig our way out of the parking lot... and that we have no trouble with black ice.

We're not quite ready for the snowy season... but just wish us luck!!

I'm alive,,, I promise!

So it's been quite a while...

but I think that most important thing to fill you in on is...

I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life!!

Things have been so perfect lately. I think my life was on pause for a bit when I first moved here to New York... but I'm finding my way ;D

{I love my friends, my home, my little kitties, and most of all, my amazing husband.}

There is so much that I have to fill you guys in on... but I'll have to break it down into different posts or something lol

But for the first story in a while;
My Mary Kay lady, Jenny came today! She is so awesome!! (: We had such a fun time being girly and talking that our appointment lasted for HOURS lol we didn't even realize. Anyway, I felt really beautiful and I couldn't stop smiling (: Since I was all out of my MK makeup... I ordered about $150 worth lol (thanks, A)
So with that said, I've been thinking about becoming an MK representative and selling it. It's a practical job for me because I LOVE makeup, I'm comfortable talking to people, my previous job was all about selling to people like crazy... so I'm good at it lol & the best part....  I DONT HAVE TO DRIVE! I can just turn an extra room in my new house into an office/spa area.
With traveling, I can still keep my clients by providing free shipping to them & sending samples... PLUS when I move, I'll have a chance to gain more clients.
See, PERFECT. (:
It's a big step though, so I haven't made any final decisions. But, boy oh boy, I've been dreaming :D

hello fall

-Ello Bloggy- -Loves-

So it's been a while... but in my defense,you should know that my computer is sick with the "flu" momentarily.

A lot has happened lately. A WHOLE LOT. But too much to blog about today. So I'll just go with the simple stuff.

For starters, A and I both got new phones. His old piece of crap of a phone accidentally got left out in the rain and well didn't work at ALL. So we were thinking about just getting a lame prepaid one for him so that he at least had something.... but then we just decided to hit the Verizon store and see what they could offer us. Luckily, we were the only people in the store with this super awesome verizon guy. After about an hour of playing with phones and deciding which features I wanted, I chose a beautiful newly released Droid Incredible 2 :D I've never had a smartphone before... so this was extremely exciting for me. *in love*

A's schedule has changed again and again... and for the next week he works from 

7:30pm - 7:30am

I didn't think I'd like this schedule at first... but turns out I LOVE IT! I just stay up and watch movies or craft (or play on my sweet phone) until I'm ready to pass out & then before I know it, he's home. I clean and get ready for the day while he sleeps and then he wakes up at about 1 or 2 and that gives a few hours to go out & shop or just hang out and spend time with each other. I LOVE IT!!! However, it does get pretty lonely when I actually decide to go to bed. Thank god for my two furbabies <3

The weather has been getting colder with each day. It's actually pretty exciting! I cant wait to see all of the leaves change. In Florida they grow from green to dead in a week lol
Today the low was 37degrees.... & I consider MY first official day of fall in New York <3

partner in crime

A few posts ago I had mentioned that a Navy couple moved in down the road. Well, A & Ben have been friends since boot camp & Ben's fiance, Amanda and I get along GREAT! :D I absolutely LOVE her.

We spent the a majority of our time the for the last 5 days with them. Thursday we took them out to La Fiesta (that delicious mexican restaurant) and they thought it was pretty tasty.

-Snowy Mountain-

Saturday we decided to head up to the Adirondacks & go mountain hiking. I thought this was a fantastic idea! I love nature, I love the mountains, I love fresh air & I love spending time with them... so why wouldn't would this be an awesome trip?...
Welp, I will tell you why;
I've lived in Florida for 12 years... where there is no-not a single mountain... not even hills to hike over. So I have never really experienced climbing at an upward slope at ridiculous elevations.
ALSO.... I've spent the last 3 months in my apartment- doing NOTHING. I think my most physical activity is grocery shopping.... and even then I lean on the cart & barely do any work.

So imagine me... trying to vigorously climb a mountain, at a fast past... in the summer. (with Lupus)
Yep... didn't turn out so well.

But luckily, Amanda & Ben were extremely understanding & helped me out. (: & A stayed behind me to be ready to catch me if I fell. I love that man! (:

Aside from Snowy Mountain nearly being the death of me, we had an awesome time together & celebrated our mountain climbing attempt with a delicious dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (courtesy of Ben & Amanda) & even though we all smelled like dirty butthole & looked like we spent a week in the wilderness... it was a GREAT day! (:


 Sunday we all went to Sam's Club & signed up together & then raided the entire store... just in time to catch a rain storm & have to move all of the groceries up stairs, in the rain. GEEEZE.

-But I'm so thankful to have such a great friend here. The New York life is gooooood! ;D

end of August

...Hello bloggy loves!...

As you can see, I survived the hurricane!! -Being from Florida, what'd you expect lol (:
After buying over $100 worth of supplies, we didn't lose power or flood. But its always better to be safe than sorry. & to all of the families that have been affected by the hurricane- you're in my prayers.

-flowers-

Sunday night when the storm died down, A. went to the grocery store to buy some real food for us to make (all we bought were canned foods... and uhh with power, no thank you! lol)

I'm afraid of rain storms (silly I know) so I didnt go with him. I actually decided to hide in the bathroom & scare him. When he got home, I waited patiently behind the door & the second I saw his shadow.. BAM! I popped out & yelled, "RAAAWR!"
With a drawn out, "AHHHH", he ran for his life toward the front door. Bahahaha... but in his hands were a big bouquet of pink roses for me... I felt so horrible lol (bad timing... check) Anyway, they're beautiful & smell soooo fantastic(:

-muy delcioso-

Friday night, we decided to go out somewhere fun for a late lunch/dinner & we decided on La Fiesta. We've been there once before & I remember it being super tasty. (& they gave us free dessert! mmm)
The restaurant itself is so much fun. There are colors everywhere & each booth bench is hand carved & painted, & each table has a painting on it. Spanish music plays in the background & for just a second you forget that your in NY lol They have delicious salsa thats just a tad too spicy for me but A loves it (:
Hands down, it's my FAVORITE mexican restaurant! (:

 -kitty talk-

remote love!

Okay, let me tell you what the lovely little mess Ellie got herself into this week. I was painting in the living room like I normally do & she decided to attack my paint pallet (filled with black acrylic paint) and got all 4 paws covered in paint. Surprised by the wetness of the paint, she ran through the entire house... on my WHITE carpet... and hardwood floor... leaving black (permanent) paw prints EVERYWHERE. D:
I caught her, woke up A, and told him to hold her & that she had paint on her paws. Well, like a dork, he let her go for some reason... just for her to make an even bigger mess. I was soooo upset, guys... So freakin upset.
I ended up getting all of the spots up and the carpet looks good as new... THANK GOD.
But I cant stay mad her because she's just the cutest thing ever... I mean look at her curled up with that remote! (:

longest post EVER.

 --this is probably the LONGEST blog post I've ever made... sorry--

Okay, I admit it...
I've been SUPER lazy about blogging.
However, in my defense, I've been sick off and on for a while. one word for that: LAME.

So where to begin?? I honestly dont even know... so I'm going to pack this post with tons of random things that have happened lately. But dont worry, I'll include some "pitchaaaas!" :D

-love bugs-

First off,
A & I have been doing absolutely wonderfully. (: We've been spending more time in the mornings together before he goes to work. I never knew how much an extra 15 minutes could do. BUT, his scheduled is finally changed & even though it's not a constant "you work on this day" ordeal... at least I'm going to be able to see him a lot more often.
Like always, the flowers he got me lasted only about a week or two until they started to droop over & shower my floor in petals. So when he went to pick up lunch for us, he surprised me with some beautiful fuscia carnations. :D taking pics of the flowers & posting them has sort of come tradition lol So heres a pic of them.

On a random note, we went shopping last Saturday for some things for the apartment. On our jounrey through the store, a woman walked by slurping an ice cold slushie. We both blurted out, "SLUSHIE!!" & the whole time in the store, all my mind was set on was getting out & getting a slushie.

slushie POWER

We stopped at a gas station on the way home & with our fingers crossed, we came across the slushies!
At this point, the craving took over us & we couldn't decide on lemonade or cherry... and of course sharing was out of the question. So, Alex came up with the most wonderful idea (at the moment), "LETS GET 2 EACH!" & with that said, and no parents to tell us no, we happily filled 2 cups each of  the frozen, yummy goodness.
You see... this was a bad idea... because even though my taste buds were in arctic heaven, my poor brain spent the following 10 minutes in constant brain freeze. D: I think I've learned that one slushie is more than enough.

-navy neighbors-

As you know from earlier posts, I tend to get homesick up here & its mostly from not having any friends to spend time with.
About 2 months ago a Navy wife that I met in SC moved here about 25 minutes away. We double dated/hung out a couple times... but then I stopped hearing from her. It really upset me because I felt like things were finally falling into place... I finally had a friend here. I guess its because she works a lot.. so we never see each other.
Well, I slipped back into my normal daily routine of talking on the phone to my bff, my brother, & my mom. & I even got to catch up with my sister & cousin.. who I never get to talk to.

So in this little sad state that I was in, I just prayed to God to send me a sign that I made the right choice & to help me gain the strength to make new friends. & ironically that night, I got a text saying that in a month, a Navy couple (my age) was moving here to Hollandale!! How crazy is that??? Turns out, its actually one of Alex's friends from boot camp that slept in the bunk that was next to Alex.
Well a month went by & they finally moved up here Sunday. We all get along really great & it's so nice to finally have a neighbor that I can hang out with. She's really awesome & I think that these next 4 months are going to be AMAZING! (:

-sick panda-

As I stated at the beginning of this post, I've been super sick lately. D: I thought that it was the flu... but I ruled that one out. I'll be fine one minute & then all of a sudden a fever shoots out of nowhere. It seriously SUCKS. So I've been spending most of my days sleeping or trying to sleep so that I can get better. My fingers are crossed that within the next few days, I'll be back to my normal self.

this is what I've looked like all week D:

-hello artist-

I've started painting again. (for the first time in over a year) I decided to paint a giant peacock feather for the bathroom & about halfway through, I realized that it didn't even fit in the bathroom. So I'm most likely going to throw it away & start over or try to trim it.
It felt so good to get into my painting zen again though. It's something that I've really missed but I just really have to be in the mood to do it.

-kitty talk-

Of course I have to include my little kitties in this extra long post :D So now that Ellie (Bryndle) & Jinxy get along, they've become partners in crime. They get into so much trouble together. They run laps through the house in the middle of the night & play in the blinds (which is SUPER loud) they are definitely a handful. Ellie is the most cuddly cat I've ever had. She is glued to Alex & I... even when we're walking around, she's right under our feet. Jinxy had another vet check up (we're becoming regulars... they all know us by name & they love playing with Jinx) His upper respiratory infection is getting better & the chances of cat flu are slimming down. He's not on the antibiotics anymore but I have to make him sit in the bathroom while I shower so that the steam helps clear his nose up. He's a good boy! (:

They play video games together (:

-aloha-

Alex is the top electrician in his section right now!! :D I'm so so so so proud of him! <3 He got to pick out his home-port preferences a few days ago. His first choice is Hawaii. & though most people dont get what they want... his chances may be pretty good considering how well he's doing.
I'm not too sure if I want to LIVE in Hawaii... but hey, it will be a fun experience. I'm hoping that we get stationed in NY for 2 more years because I absolutely LOVE it here (:

-umbrellas & hardhats-

Let me just say, I've been through some pretty intense hurricanes in Florida, but I have NEVER experienced an earthquake before. Well until a few days ago D:

My earthquake encounter went a little like this...

I went & laid down in bed in the afternoon because again, I was feeling sick. The medicine kicked in and within about 20 minutes I was knocked out.
Out of nowhere, my entire bed started rocking and woke me up & I thought "wtf is that???" I looked up and my headboard was lightly hitting the wall & I looked over at the dresser & that too was shaking with the mirror bobbing around. It was the strangest feeling that I have EVER felt in my whole life... but not ever being in an earthquake before and having crappy washer & dryers growing up, I just thought that my neighbor's washer was going psychotic. & I thought to myself, "man they need to get that crap fixed... seriously." & pissed off at the rumbly feeling rocking my entire apartment I tried to go back to sleep.
Well, my bff in Fl called me & was like "ARE YOU OKAYYY??!!" and in a tired & groggy voice, I replied, "uhmmmm yeah... why?"
She said she just saw on the news that an earthquake hit the area & was checking on me... and I was like "OH IS THAT WHAT THAT WAS????!!!???/.......... I thought it was the neighbor's washer."
She was laughing so hard at my oblivious reply, that she fell to a squat on the treadmill at the gym lol
Geeeeze what a crazy day.
I ended up calling my mom freaking out because when I learned that the shaking was an earthquake... it seriously gave me goosebumps .

But now that the shock of that is over... we're supposed to get a hurricane mid Sunday. G-R-E-A-T! I seriously believe that bad weather follows me.

If you made it through this entire post... KUDOS! (: I know, I know... it was a rather LONG one... but I did warn you! (:
Thanks for reading & staying updated on my life! I love you all!!

  -xOxOx-