Sleepy Sunday

It's another sleepy Sunday for us. Neeley and I are not sleeping well since we are not in our own beds. I woke up kind of early this morning and have already been for a walk but now feel like I haven't slept in two days. I can't wait for my own bed.

Oh, before I forget, could I ask a favor of you all? Due to the cost of groceries in Germany, we are able to use expired coupons. If you happen to clip coupons, could I please ask for those you don't keep for yourselves? We can use them for up to six months past the expiration date and they have talked about even extending that. I would REALLY appreciate it! :) Once I have our address memorized enough to get it out there to you, I can do that. :)

Y'all behave today. I'm outta here. Gotta get us ready and out the door for that fun Court of Awards.

Later!

Weekend Madness

Note To Self: It is never a good thing to plop yourself down at the water park where a potential riot might break out. Yep, it happened...RIGHT WHERE I WAS SITTING! I found my kiddo and we marched out of there in two seconds flat. Oh boy! There was blood, and hair pulled out and body parts exposed. Oh my! Sad to say but we will not be going back to our precious lil water park...nope, not ever if I have a say-so.

We spent the earlier part of the day visiting with my grandmother in Benton. We FINALLY got her Mother's Day gift to her. Yes, sad I know. Before that, we ate at one of our fave places...Moe's. Yum! And I got to do a lil shopping. I found the throw pillows I needed for my brand new bedding. Oh glorious day, I cannot wait to sleep on my own bed with my brand new bedding. Makes me feel like a queen! And I found some fun little flip flop toppers for Neeley. You know...those cutesy lil bows that go on flip-flops. Hate to admit but kinda wanted some for myself. Haha!

We've had our showers and now we're off to watch some trash tv. These past few days have been super stressful not being under our own roof right now. I am so ready for our own space. How many more days until we fly? 11!!!!! Oh dear!

Tomorrow is Neeley's Girl Scout Court of Awards...her last scout event here in Arkansas. **tear** We are excited about it yet still kind of emotional. Will let you know how it goes...

This And That

T.G.I.F.!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone have any good recommendations of a place that has good slip covers for sofas and loveseats, either online or in-store? I need two and pronto! :)

We have a tenant for our house. Not our most perfect situation but we are very excited to be able to help someone else out and to have our mortgage paid. I had some help in the yard yesterday but am really not too happy about it. I paid two older men I know very well AHEAD OF TIME MIND YOU to go over and help me out. I told them what all I needed done and explained that if they would let me know when they would be going, I would meet them over there to show them my requests since I paid them up front. Well, these two decided to get away with very little for a very lot of my money. Anyway, moving on......

Got lots to do today both at work and at home. And then it's a lazy evening and night thanks to Redbox and Orville Redenbacher.

The End :)

What Day Is It?

Not really having a normal schedule and our own home right now has turned our whole world upside down.

I forgot to tell y'all yesterday...or maybe I did mention it...but Neeley and I fly outta here two weeks from yesterday. Oh my!

Today is Field Day at Neeley's school. I just got back from helping with that for a lil bit. I was the Torch Run Master. LOL :) Tons of fun!

And now back to reality! Bummer...

More from us soon - - -

It's Official

I just turned in my official resignation letter aka "The Bomb". Wow! I've never really had to do that before. And with less than two weeks notice. I know...I'm a loser that way but how awkward. Everyone has already known about this for six months now so I wasn't even sure I really had to do one of these. This is really real! I get that feeling every day. Butterflies in the tummy and all...

I also discovered that I have over 200 pictures on my camera that I haven't shared with you all. Maybe I can sneak some time to get those posted. No, not all 200+ of them but the funny ones. I have some cute ones of Neeley at home when our house was turned all upside down by the movers and some others. Who has time any more!?! LOL

Btw, I will be sharing our flight info with you all. We would love to have our own little cheering squad at the airport when we get ready to take our big flight over.

More later...

Ash

Tuesday Already?

I'm back and wow what a weekend. I spent...let's see...wait for it...let me count them...ok...now I have it... exactly 11.5 hours this weekend going in to my empty house to scrub, scrub, scrub. Y'all I am not a cleaner. And now I am forever sorry for that. I cleaned every room from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. And I used bleach because I had lots of it left. And now I have burnt the ends of my fingertips. But other than that I have a clean house that smells good thanks to the lemon oil I used on the hardwood floors. And then I came back and slept and slept and slept. :) And watched it rain and rain and rain. Bummer of a weekend, that's for sure.

Not a whole lot going on to get ready for the move. I only have six work days left after this and in those days I've got to repack us, finish finalizing everything for the big birthday/going away bash, schedule final hair cuts and nails and all that important stuff. :) We also have dentist appointments, picking up school records, and Neeley will be cramming in a couple of days of a VBS here in town and some other fun things. Call me crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way. Except today I woke up feeling very panicky and anxious. I can't wait to get on that plane just to relax. Oh wait, did I just say that because I'm not so sure that ride will be relaxing. :) And just for a reminder...we fly in exactly 15 days! What? :)

Ronnie is going to look at an apartment we have found in Stuttgart. Sounds very promising and like something we would love but he is going to check it out just to see what all it would require financially. You know the worrier in me says live on post but I like to be adventurous at times also. I just think it would be easier on so many levels for us to live on post. But we'll let you know how that goes. I think he gets to go look at it sometime on or after the 30th once they get it all cleaned up again. That excites me! :)

Next Wednesday is my last day of work and I am oh so ready for it! I really don't mean that but then again I do. And Neeley is absolutely sick of school. I kind of agree with her. I'm off now to go finish my whole wheat bagel with low fat peanut butter. Yum! And gotta get back to work.

Thank you all again for continuing to pray for us and help us and think about us as you have been. We REALLY appreciate each and every one of you!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday to all of you! :) And can I say.....T.G.I.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a week!

I scratched the plans to meet with the cleaning lady yesterday evening and seeing as how I have so much free time on my hands this weekend that I mentioned yesterday, I thought it would not be right to spend my "me" time with...well...me alone so I am spending my "me" time cleaning my house. What? Yeah, our pocketbook thanks me and I need the exercise and some time alone and back in my own comfort zone even if it is empty. I just need a little break and even though it won't be a true get away per se, it will be my own little escape. That and cleaning is a huge dose of therapy to me. So that's where I will be spending my next 3 days. Hopefully it won't take that long but that's okay.

I looked at the calendar this morning and realized I only have 7 more work days after today. Yahoo! Y'all have a great weekend! I'll be fighting once again for a computer this weekend so probably won't hear from me til next week.

Bye for now!

It's A Sad, Sad Day

Well, not really... We bid a fond farewell to Blacky, our 2009 Ford Fusion yesterday. I was already attached to that car. Is that possible? Sounds like a personal problem. :) But now she has a new home with loving parents so we are very happy.

We've been (sort of) drama free for a few days. Getting quotes to have the house cleaned this evening. That's always fun. And found out that, after we have signed a new auto policy with another company b/c our previous carrier said they would not carry us, our auto insurance carrier JUST SIGNED A NEW AGREEMENT TO ALLOW SUCH POLICIES. What!?! Urg..... So now we are starting that process all over again...that is if we can get out of our current contract. Does this stuff only happen to us? Geez...

So were you all surprised by ol' Kris? Wow! :)

Can I say I have no definite plans for the weekend. I do believe this is the first in about a million years. Well, I do have to work on Neeley's party coming up. I am not really sending out any formal invitations except to family and such but all of you with kids, please, please, please bring your kiddos for the food, fun and fellowship. We will be celebrating Neeley's Birthday/Going Away Carnival on Saturday, June 6th from 1 to 4 pm in the Fellowship Hall of Second Baptist Church. It's sure to be a blast! So y'all come on out!

Now we are just counting down our other lasts we have. Neeley had her final piano recital. We're so proud of her! And she will have her final Girl Scouts event next week. **tear** :( and has a few more things coming up. We are still busy but not under so much stress and um...the anxiety is slowly fading. :)

Gotta run and finish up a few more things. Don't I say that every day? I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.

Oh, I have to show you a few pictures first before I go.

This is what our new house will probably look like, or something like it anyway:



I say yuck but I've been poo-pooed for saying that so I'm REALLY struggling with, no wait I mean I'm trying to be optimistic.

And I love this little girl so much, with her pink sunglasses and her blue cotton candy that she eventually had smeared from forehead to chin and ear to ear. :) This was Scout night at the Travelers game:



Y'all have a fun rest of your day/week/weekend. I may or may not have access to the internet in the next couple of days. :( I now have TONS more time to myself.

Hooray!

A little later today, we will no longer be the proud owners of a 2009 Ford Fusion! Thank you, Lord, for listening to all of my begging/ pleading/ threatening/ compromising/ downright angry and sometimes cynical prayers lately. Oh happy day!

Now our current living situation...not so happy. I wake up every morning to arms and legs in my face. But it's only temporary. We fly outta here in 21 days! We now leave on the 10th. Wow!

I know, I know...I still have a ton of stuff to catch you all up on however I now share a home computer with 3 other people and I barely have any time to breathe at work so that will just have to wait. And for that I'm sorry. I know this has been such a blast to hear me rant/vent about this crazy life we have but it really is an outlet.

Now where was that part about my hubby participating in this little online adventure, too!?! Yeah right...

Y'all have a great day!

We're Alive

Yes, we are alive and no we haven't moved to Germany yet. :) We have moved in with mom and dad since our stuff is gone. Our house is empty except for my cleaning supplies for the poor soul I will hire to come clean that dump. Oh, and the trash I have to put out tomorrow morning. :) Work is just.....well......work. For now at least. Not sure what I will be doing about that one but have some ideas and will keep you posted.

We found out today Ronnie will definitely be leaving Germany for 6 months beginning in September of October. What does that mean? That Neeley and I will only have 2 or 3 months with him over there before he leaves. I will still keep her in the school there until I know what it is like and we will try to come home at Christmas to visit. Not sure yet and won't know until we get there. We will probably live on post there but are also looking at some other rentals we have found out about and will let you know about those too.

Go check out Ronnie's pics of Germany on FB. Very cool!

Welp, I'm on the phone dealing with this house again so gotta run, but will keep y'all posted.

Officially Homeless

Our house if officially empty. I have some great pics to share with you all but I have to share the computer these days and time just doesn't allow. It was sad/happy/exciting/nerve-racking to see our stuff head on down the road in that big moving van today. And let me say it took 14 hours total to move our stuff........and it didn't all fit on the truck. Oh my! Good thing I didn't really need those in my attic. Geez! And this is how the next phone call went........Hello, mom...yeah, guess what.....hope you have room in your attic. :) SO.NOT.HAPPY! But oh well...

So we are officially homeless. But good news! Are you ready for this? Brace yourselves folks because this is exciting stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......................

I think I have both the car and the house sold. :)

That is all for now. Promise TO TRY to update with pics and the whole stinkin' story soon. Btw, anyone know of any good cleaning crews here in town. My house is GROSS! I was so embarrassed to see the dog pee in the carpet under the beds and the funky bugs that had collected behind the piano and the giant hair balls that came out from under the couch. :) Yuck!

Off to take a l-o-n-g hot shower and try to rest these weary bones of mine.

Good night!

Unplugging...Literally

Just wanted to let you know I'm officially unplugging Ol' Bessy, the family computer, so she can be put on the moving van tomorrow. Will be updating from work and wherever we can. We will be living with my parents from now on so my posts will surely be more sporadic until we are able to get settled in Germany.

We have decided we will be living on post. There is talk of lots of ramen noodles or whatever the German equivalent is due to the lovely economy being so desperately sickening over there. :( Not my ideal situation but guess we'll survive. I'll have to show y'all some pictures of where we will probably be living, but first I'll probably have to have one final big ol' boo-hoo about it. Not happy at all but it's not a dump and it's not the end of the world. It's just that everything is so outrageously expensive over there.

Y'all be thinking of us for the next two days as I deal with this move and the movers. Quite honestly ( and I may have mentioned this before...if I have, please forgive me!) I have NEVER been present when our stuff was picked up or delivered for a military move. Yep, and this is our fourth military move. Nope, I've never been here to enjoy it. (I say that with sarcasm) I always made sure I was working...er, or something. :) So not only is this my first time, but my first time and I'M BY MYSELF. No help, no clue as to what I'm supposed to do, and no idea if I have even done the prep I'm supposed to. So I'm winging it and having lots of drinks and donuts and pizza and snacks and hopefully that will help ease the moving guys' pain, right?

Will keep y'all posted...

Whew-We! :)

I'm tired, y'all! Sorry for the short posts but life is nuts. Can't share too much now either because I'm off to spend hours at the laundromat. See, someone was interested in buying our washer and dryer and we had to get rid of it so I've been without it for two weeks now. And since the movers are coming tomorrow, I have to wash every piece of dirty laundry we have plus all bedding, rugs, etc. Oh fun! Yes, I will probably be there for about 4 hours. That's after I pick up the kiddo, run home to gather said items, change clothes, run through somewhere to get a most nutritious fast food dinner, and find some quarters. Oh boy! :( Anyone wanna join us? You're welcome to bring dinner and come hang out with us as we do homework and eat dinner at the laundromat. What fun!

Movers come tomorrow and Friday so I also have to get home tonight and unplug all of our electronics-I have no idea how to do this and I have no man to help me here-separate all the millions of piles I have, finish getting things off the walls, take the dog to visit Nana and Papa so she won't be under out feet for these days, get the stuff to feed and hydrate our movers, etc., etc., etc. You should see my to-do list. I have so many things to show you by way of pictures but I don't have any time. :( So frustrating! One of these days...

Ok, so I'm off to get that stuff done. Will keep you posted! And thank you all for your kind words, emails, phone calls, and yummy treats left on our doorstep. We have gotten rid of everything food and drink wise in our house and are now staying with my parents as of tomorrow night which is frustrating so we really appreciate you all! This is certainly a trying time for us and I am taking a year-long nap when I get to Germany! :)

Update...Or Not

Hi all!

I've had a few gentle nudges to get back to you on how our lives are going but I am so completely overwhelmed right now I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. Let's just say we are alive, all is sometimes well, my house is a health hazard/disaster area/death trap, I still work full time, may have the car sold, am ready to burn down my house, and am in such need of help it's not even funny. But we're managing with the help of medication and fast food.

That's all for now......

Wouldn't You Know It!?!

Yep, you guessed it. The house is in shambles and they are showing it today...TWICE! Eek! They will just have to look at my piles and piles of clothes and things scattered around the house. At least the floors are clean and the beds are made, right?

Not too excited about this lovely weather forecast. Better not damper our weekend. I am off to Fayetteville tomorrow afternoon for Ryan and Tina's graduation (WE'RE SO PROUD OF BOTH OF YOU!!) and Neeley is staying the entire weekend with a friend due to their big end-of-the-year Girl Scout throwdown at the Travelers Stadium. So we've got to rest up tonight for sure. But I was kind of hoping for no rain this weekend. So everyone please send up an extra prayer today that this weekend will be nice and enjoyable and good outside weather for all the the kiddos across the state who are graduating.

May or not make it back here before the weekend to read all of your funny stories that I love so much so just in case y'all enjoy your weekend, no matter the weather.

It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To!

Wanna hear my Wednesday pity party? Here goes...

I realized yesterday that I left all of my good cd's in my disk changer in my car...which is now on the slow boat to Germany!

I have piles of clothes in literally every room of my house because I have to pack us for this weekend, and make three different move piles too. That's fun!

I got up early to finish translating the dog's information paper that has to go on her bag. Yep, English and German. Makes no sense to me-that is I can't understand much of it but ok. Done!

We now have no home phone. I've never not had a home phone number but now we're just down to the cell phone due to the move. Very weird!

Urrrrggggggghhhhhhhh to this overseas Girl Scout stuff. They are VERY difficult to deal with. All I want is to register for one stinkin' camp for this summer. Why does it take an act of Congress, a letter, a form, and maybe even a blood sample? Geez!

And what's with all this rain? I had to get out in it at 3:30 this morning and go sweep some of it away that had collected out around our brand air conditioning unit. It was coming down so fast that it was about to swallow it whole.

Ok, I'm done. Thanks for listening! I feel better already! ;)

Oh Me, Oh My!

What a week already! :) Oh how I dislike laundromats. Of course, someone would want to buy our washer and dryer already. And when you know it must go at some point then you just do it. And I especially dislike laundromats when I HAVE to spend my Monday evenings there after a long day at work. We were not too happy last night. But so goes this life.

Some other sold items were picked up last night and we began packing up clothes last night. Very weird! It seems like we're moving to the end of the Earth and never coming back. And there have been so many issues to take care of. But we can do this...well, one day...maybe...someday... :)

Y'all have a great Tuesday. And if you have some free time tomorrow evening, come hear my Children's Choir kiddos perform "We Can Praise" tomorrow evening at 6 pm. I am so proud of them! This has been the best year ever and I am really going to miss them.

Ok, done with this randomness. I'm off to get ready for work and deal with some more move drama. Always fun! NOT! :)

We're Baa-aack!!

Oh, is it Sunday already? Ok, here are the quick highlights of last week because I've got to get up and at 'em today, y'all...

Tuesday was spent moving some furniture and getting things FINALLY organized for this crazy sale I decided to have Saturday.

Wednesday morning we hopped in both cars for the not-so-fun trek to Dallas to ship car #1 off to Germany. Neeley and I had such a great time while waiting for Ronnie to get that stinkin' car shipped off. NOT! Here we are bored almost to tears! :)

This was long after Neeley had made her way through all of the grimy toys that were sitting in this nasty little plastic swimming pool in the waiting room.

After that, we all piled in to Fusion #2 (yes, we are still trying to sell it. Wanna buy it?) and had promised a trip to the Galleria for some fun at the American Girl store.

While there, we decided to take advantage of their Bistro and grab some lunch and that was the best food we have ever eaten! So yummy! It was fun to see them grab a high chair for our American Girl, Julie. Here she is reading the menu. Too funny!

Mommy and Daddy even enjoyed the place!

And just because I like pictures I took this one right outside the store.

We visited several other places that day but didn't take any more pictures. We finished the night with a meal at Taco Cabana. Not too glamorous of a place to go but we all love it and Neeley really enjoys it there so that was our last dinner together.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early to have breakfast and get the car loaded up again. We killed some time at the Grapevine Mills Mall before having to head over to the airport to send Ronnie off to Germany. We are excited to join him soon and it is crazy to think that the next time we see him we will all be in Germany together!

I was so very glad to receive this at the airport. Sometimes we military families can sweet-talk the person checking the passenger in in to giving a pass to allow the family members to actually go to the gate with the service member. I almost cried over this little piece of paper. Sometimes the bigger airports aren't so nice that way and I was terrified of DFW and all of the driving I had to do around that place but this just made my day!

I grabbed that piece of paper and practically ran all the way to the gate. After a greasy lunch of Popeye's Chicken in the airport, we watched him get on that plane and cried all the way to the car. Why do I do that every time! Geez! :)

We got back home very late Thursday night. Yuck! And I had to work Friday. Double Yuck! And then somewhere along the way last week I decided to have a garage sale this Saturday (yesterday). Triple Yuck! But I did surprisingly well considering it was all a bunch of junk. I will still probably have another one in 2 weeks just to get rid of the excess we will have once we know where we will be living.

So today I'm exhausted and have to get ready for church. Neeley was invited to a sleepover last night so I did have the house to myself almost all day yesterday. And.it.was.glorious!!!! :) I was in bed at 6 pm!

Hoping for a better day today. Although I do have to go in to the office to get caught up on some things that I didn't get done last week. I will be out of the office a few more days in the next couple of weeks so I've got to try to get everything done that I possibly can. Why do I care so much!?!

Y'all take care and we'll keep you posted!