Girls with Curls - Product Reviews

I'm always on the prowl for the best hair products for us girls with curls. My curls are the kind that everyone wants, but for me, they're awkward to deal with. They're not tight ringlets but they are more than waves. They're right in the middle. If I don't use the right combination of products, they are either frizzy ringlets or almost-curls lacking any volume. So here's a few products that I've come to love over the last 10 years after my hair all of a sudden became curly (Thanks, puberty).

The only product I've used for more than a year has been Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Leave-In Conditioner. I put this in my hair as soon as I get out of the shower because it's just an overall good moisturizer for my hair. It's like putting on lotion after you get out of the shower, but for your hair. It's only a few bucks, and most stores carry it. However, if I only use this Leave-In, my curls look more like waves and are lacking that wow-factor that I want. I use this one days when I'm staying low-key and not doing much of anything, because it leaves my hair healthy without the build up of products I usually use. I also put a little extra on my ends to keep them from being split quite so easily.

So then I moved onto John Frieda Original Frizz-Ease, which has been in the spotlight for years in beauty magazines for being the #1 curl product. I paid the $8.99 for the little tiny pump bottle of what is sort of like oil and gel mixed together. This product works if you put it on when your hair is soaking wet right out of the shower, but you can't use it on dry hair--it's a mess. I had pretty good results with this product, but for the length of my hair and how much I have to use to get the desires results, it's too expensive! I also hate the oily feeling on my hands after I use it. Even after you wash your hands, they still feel greasy, like you just rubbed them on a stick of butter. Gross!

The next product I use a lot is the Not Your Mother's brand Beach Babe Sea Salt Spray. I'm a beach girl. I just about live at the beach every summer, and when I'm there, I typically rock my "spent-all-day-on-the-beach" hair even if I'm going out to the bar the pier or to a nice dinner. I love how my hair looks after being tossed by the ocean and dried in pure sunshine with a little bit of salt. This sea salt spray makes my hair feel just like that, and it's only around $4 at WalMart! It smells wonderful, too. Of course, if you're looking for smooth, perfectly crafted curls, this product isn't for you. It gives you ultra-voluminousness, somewhat wild, crazy curls that have no rhyme or reason. My only complaint about the product is that that it mattes shine, so it leaves hair looking sort of dull. But when you think about real beach hair, it does the same thing, so I guess it's true to real beach hair in that sense.

Now, for shampoo and conditioner, I've just recently found a pair that I love. If you've noticed, I'm a WalMart/Target/drug store shopper when it comes to beauty products. I buy salon products VERY rarely because, quite frankly, I think it's ridiculous to pay $30 for a bottle of shampoo or mousse. So for shampoo and coniditioner, I rely on the good ole Pantene products. I used to use the Pantene for curls, but then I tried out their Beautiful Lenghts line and have switched to that. My hair feels like silk after washing. Most shampoos leave my hair feeling dry and tangled until I condition it. It's crucial for people with curly hair to have a moisturizing shampoo. If you don't have one, you are guaranteed to have frizzy hair! There are always $1 off or $2 off coupons for Pantene hair products, so I rarely pay the full price for mine, either.

Finally, my favorite product. Bedhead Foxy Curls mousse. Like I said, I'm not a fan of paying for salon products, but this one is worth it. I paid $16.99 for it at Target, but it goes a long way, so I feel that it's worth it. Not to mention, it smells like cotton candy. I typically don't use mousse because it always dries crunchy, which is one of my curl pet peeves. Foxy Curls, however, does not, as long as you don't cake on the product. I use a quarter sized amount with my hair upside down, then flip my head back over and use a quarter sized amount on top, and I'm done. I get compliments on my curls when I use this stuff. It's that good! Also, there's an entire Foxy Curls line that I may check out in the future as I use up other products I already have. There's a Curl Creme, Curl Refreshing Spray, and Shampoo and Conditioner.

My curls with just the Foxy Curls product after being slept on  all night. Still  in good shape! The first day was even better!

And those are my key products for my curls. My other best tricks are to:

• Turn the water cold right before you get out of the shower and rinse your hair one more time under it. Cold water locks up your hair follicles, which seals in moisture. Less frizz!
• I only brush my hair ever few weeks, and when I do, I brush it when it's wet after I get out of the shower, before I put product in. I also use a wide-toothed comb versus a brush. It won't brush your curls out.
• When you air-dry your hair (which I always do--NEVER blow dry curls!!), use a soft towel (many girls with curls use a cotton t-shirt) versus a rough towel. Don't rub your hair with the towel. Pat it dry or scrunch it in the towel to dry it some.
• Don't touch your hair while it's drying or after it's dry. So, just don't touch your hair! When it's wet, scrunching it too much can separate curl strands which creates frizz. When it's dry, your hands can make hair oily which can weigh curls down.

Hating the Holidays

It's officially "The Holidays" and I am finding out just how much they suck during a deployment. My husband I have both been really on edge the last week or two, which typically end up taking out on each other because no one else we know understands what it's like. We're trying our best to just get through Christmas and the New Year, and we know after that, there's only a few short months left. It's really depressing to be here during the Holidays without him. Everyone around me is so excited and joyful, and I just want it to be done and over with already. I look like the bad guy when I'm not excited to be doing Christmas cookies or when I stand outside the room that everyone else is opening presents in, but it's just hard to get into any of it. This year, Christmas feels like any other day of the year for us. It doesn't help it's currently 70 degrees in Virginia, which is just crazy. But I hate snow and the cold--especially when I'm alone--so I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not. Maybe snow would help me get  more in the spirit. I guess it also doesn't help that I'm still doing a major school assignment, three weeks after the semester is over. That 100-200 page Teacher Work Sample is due tomorrow, and I'm steadily working on it. I'm just having a lot of trouble focusing. My brother is home, and it's likely the last time we'll see him before he deploys, there's Christmas shopping and get-togethers, there's still unpacking my apartment and packing for Hawaii, and there's just the overall suckiness of a deployment during the Holidays. I'm also starting to worry about how our marriage will fair during the reintegration this coming Spring. I guess that's always a fear for any couple going through a deployment, but it's especially tough when you haven't been able to live together before the deployment. So we'll be dealing with lots of new things all at once. I just want us to be able to be the same crazy, carefree couple we were before we ever had a deployment to stress over. I'm sure everything will be fine, but it's something I can't help but worry about. I want everything to be just as amazing as it was before April 2011, and if certain things have changed--which is inevitable--I want us to be able to learn how to incorporate those new things. We're definitely not the same people we were before he left. We're both a little more cynical, a little wiser, a little more stressed, and lot more tired, and I want us to be able to get rid of the negative effects of deployment, and then embrace the positive changes and growth we've had through it. I just have to keep praying that everything will be fine. It's never easy, but it's always worth it.

Home Sweet...Disaster Area.

Well, I'm finally moved back home. It doesn't really feel all that weird. I guess because I lived in this house and in this bedroom for two years before I went off to college. My room is a maze, quite literally. I have every single Rubbermaid bin from my apartment belongings stacked all over my bedroom. Plus laundry baskets and another random items and furniture pieces. It's quite the disaster area. I've been hoping to sleep in for just one morning since I've moved back and have nothing to do for a month, but in the five days I have been home, I've woken up at 8am each time. That's not that early, but it is when you go to sleep at 2am every morning because you can't sleep, and then are up for an hour sometime in between 3am and 4am when your husband calls from Afghanistan. So needless to say, I have yet to really feel rested. If I could just go to bed earlier, it would be awesome. Which is why it's 8:36pm and I am in bed for the night. Now lets hope this works.
My students' grades are due on the 16th, so tomorrow I think I'm going to stay home and finish grading papers. Then, tomorrow evening, I'm going to pick up all of our furniture from the furniture store. We are now renting a 10'x10' storage unit here in town, so that way when the movers come for the Army, I can just take them to the unit. Plus, my little bedroom--and this little house--has zero room for a whole 'nother set of furniture.
My brother gets home on Friday late afternoon. He's stationed at Ft. Lewis, and this is his Christmas/deployment leave, because he leaves for Afghanistan the same time my husband comes home. I'm glad he's going to be able to spend Christmas with us before he goes.
Speaking of Christmas shopping, I'm about half done with our list! It seems parents are the hardest people to buy for. Well not my Dad--I got his, but the rest of the parents. Do you do a joint present? Separate? David said he ordered my present and that it should be here in a week or two. I'm forbidden from looking at the bank account until after Christmas, which I don't think I will. I never liked surprises before; I would have totally looked. But with him, I love them. I guess it's just another one of those things that you only happen with "the one."
Even though my birthday isn't for another month, I found my birthday present today. Well, I've wanted one for like a year, but I happened across the store (that I didn't know existed) today while shopping at the fashion park. I went in the store with my aunt to get my cousin charms for her bracelet (which is her Christmas present), and I thought to myself "This is what I want for my birthday from David! I'll have to tell him about it and get it later." Well, he conveniently got back from outside the wire and called me about 30 minutes later. I told him about my present, and he told me to go ahead and get it, which worked out considering this "fashion park" (an upscale word for an outdoor mall) is 40 minutes from my home and I never go there. So, I got my bracelet and it looks like this:

My bracelet!

How I created it on the website before. I didn't get all of the charms because it would have been more expensive. I did try to get the "H" charm but they were out :(

Brighton is like Pandora of course, but some of their charms are even cuter, and did I mention it's a heck of a lot cheaper? By a landslide, we're talking. I can't wait to add to it in the future, whether it be the charms above I didn't get, or with my kids' birthstone charms. Love it :D

I've got a new addiction, too. Every Christmas, Bath & Body Works has their holiday scents that they only keep out for like a month. One of those scents is called Twisted Peppermint, and since I got it, I have been furiously smelling my arms and hands all of the time. People probably think I have issues. About a year ago, I got Tigi Catwalk shampoo and condition called Headshot. A single bottle of shampoo runs about $30, so when you add conditioner, you're looking at a crazy price tag. I found it on sale, and haven't been able to find it on sale since. Well, it smells like cotton candy and peppermint all in one--amazing. And you guessed it, the Twisted Peppermint scent at Bath & Body is identical! My aunt bought me the lotion and spray for babysitting, and I got the hand sanitizer. I just can't help it!

The shampoo & conditioner

The Twisted Peppermint line

And another fun thing I did today was try tofu for the first time! My aunt and I went to PF Chang's for lunch, not really considering the fact that she's highly allergic to oysters until we got there. Of course, almost all Asian cuisine is cooking with an oyster sauce. I wanted her to try their amazing Chicken Lettuce Wraps, but when we asked the chef, the chicken was cooked in the oyster sauce. So, the chef recommended the vegetarian lettuce wraps, which simply had tofu instead of chicken, and were cooking without oyster sauce. We figured, what the heck, might as well try it. It turns out, it was amazing. Tasted just like the chicken ones. The texture wasn't funny. I totally shocked myself on that one!

So, that's all just a really long update on how life has been going the last week. There's so much more I could talk about, but then I would get boring, or maybe more boring. Happy Holidays!

Inside Out

Today was the longest day ever, but the best day ever. I had my Senior Seminary Conference today, during which all of the Senior English majors (like 30-ish of us) read their final papers. I was #3, so thankfully I got mine out of the way early. One of the hardest professors at _________, who I had one class with my Junior Year, said my paper was "really good." It's very hard to get even an "it was okay" out of him when it comes to a paper, so I'm thinking based on that, I did very well! I only had to drink one large french vanilla cappuccino and two 16 oz. Redbulls and literally not go to bed last night. Needless to say, when I went to the bathroom on a break during the conference, I noticed my underwear were on inside out. Yes, that bad. But, my amazing husband got back to the FOB today after 17 long days outside the wire with zero communication. They got attacked, so it took them an extra three days to get back. I'm really not happy with my husband's unit being the closest one to Pakistan, now that we've done pissed them off. We only have a few more months, and I was praying they'd be relatively quiet with the approaching snow. Thanks a lot to whomever has ruined that possibility.

I was planning on writing a little while, but I literally just (finally) hit the wall and can barely keep my eyes open.

To be continued....

Okay, so now that it's 7:02PM the following day, I have no idea what I was going to talk about. But this is what I'd talk about as of right now. Today, my parents brought the truck to my apartment and took home my big items from my apartment (furniture, storage bins, etc.). Then we ate at a local restaurant down the road seeing as it was 25 cent wing day. (I just noticed there's no cent button on the keyboard--weird). Now, my room looks pretty bare, but I'm excited because that means I'm so close to moving out of here, and one step away from moving to Hawaii.

Now that David is back and could approve the bedroom set I found for us, I can get our furniture for our house! I'm so excited. This is the bedroom set I picked out:

I'm obsessed! It's so warm and beach-cottagey, but with a modern, clean feel. Perfect for my "Modern + Organic" design style. I also found my living room tables. I couldn't find any sofas and chair/ottomans that I loved, so still searching for those.

Due tomorrow by midnight is the first of my two 100+ page papers. I will be starting that as soon as I'm finished this blog post! I'm very stressed about getting all of this done, but at the same time, I'm starting to feel the weight slooowwly lifting.

I talked to David about the Masters thing, and it's a go! So, I will be applying to Liberty University's On-line Masters of Education in School Counseling Program. Aaaah.

So, that's where life is for me this weekend. I doubt I'll blog again until this coming weekend because my life will be INSANE.

On the Edge of Insanity

It's been a while since I've written, for quite a good reason. I'm taking a break from my insane life so that I can explain why my life is insane. Mainly just for myself--to get it out "on paper" so I can get it out of my brain.

(1) My husband has been gone for 16 days today. No communication at all. Miserable. I finally broke down today. But I'm proud of myself for making it 16 days without doing so. He should be back tomorrow or Sunday, says some of the guys, so I'm praying on that. I miss him so much.

(2) SCHOOL IS CRAZY. It's my final 7 days of the semester. After I finish these 7 days, I only have student teaching to do, which I hear is a breeze. I had to take that huge Praxis II test (0041) in order to graduate. Today, the scores became available by phone for $30. On Dec. 6th, they'll be available on-line, for free. Yes, I called and paid $30 because I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get a 172 to pass for the state of VA. Virginia has the highest passing requirement in the country. I called about an hour ago and I got a 1-8-6! YES!! Such a huge relief and a motivation booster, because I totally thought I wasn't going to pass that. What do I need that motivation for, you ask? This is what I have due in the next 7 days:

Saturday (tomorrow): 10 page research paper that I have to read in a conference (that I have to attend from 10am to 5pm). This paper is on Virginia Woolf's androgynous vision in Flush: A Biography. I'm about to go to the library until it closes--at 4AM--and finish that.

Monday: An entire unit, with reflections and essays, due by midnight. Other people in my class who have finished have written anywhere between 80 and 100 pages. Hopefully mine will be in the 70-80 range.

Tuesday: My last day of teaching.

Wednesday: A 3-4 page "Literacy Autobiography" due in my Reading in the Content Area class. I have to talk about myself as a reader. This is a waste of my time.

Thursday: My Teacher Work Sample is due. The TWS is the culmination of my reflections, data, essays, lesson plans, worksheets, assessments, and so forth for the teaching I've been doing in the last month. My friend Ashley finished hers at over 200 pages. Joy.

Friday: A 4-5 page paper due on something Shakespeare. I haven't decided on what play yet. A 3-page paper on The Tempest and a 3-page paper on Henry IV Part I. And a 3-5 page final exam for American Literature.

I am doomed. But I will survive. I have no choice, or I don't get to move to Hawaii when my husband gets home, and I refuse to let that happen after us having to spend 2 years apart because I was in school. No more of that.

(3) In this midst of all of that, I have to move out of my apartment on Friday night. Thankfully, my parents are coming this Sunday to take half of my stuff home--which I'll still have to pack tomorrow or sometime in the next 2 days. That will make it a little easier for me to move out alone on the  following weekend.

Help.

Pesto Gouda Quesadillas

About a month ago, at the VATE Conference, I ate with my two fellow English major friends Ashley and Jamie at the Baja Bean Co. restaurant in Staunton, VA. I got their Pesto Quesadilla, which was, of course: basil pesto sauce, shredded chicken, and smoked gouda. I came home from class feeling my inner-chef trying to explode, so I thought of what would be quick and relatively easy, considering how much work I have to do tonight. These came to mind, but I couldn't find a recipe anywhere, so I'm just going to wing it considering they sound pretty self-explanatory.

So I just finished eating my Pesto Gouda Quesadilla (with chips and salsa), and it was awesome, so I'll share the recipe without fear you'll hate it! All of the ingredients costed around $16 from Wal-Mart, and it's about 4 quesadillas worth. Also, I bought the pre-cooked sliced chicken breast pieces because I'm on a time crunch with all the work I have to do tonight. Those were around $4 for 2 quesadillas worth. To cut costs even more, buy boneless chicken breasts, which typically come with 4 pieces, to make 4 to 5 quesadillas for about the same price. In other words, this recipe will feed your entire family (assuming you have the average family of 2-4 people) for less than $20! Around $28 if you add chips & salsa. I'm going to give the recipe as if I bought raw chicken breasts, seeing as that's would I would normally do when it's not the last two weeks of my last semester of classes.

Kitchen Tools: grater, meat cutting board, knife, two skillets, a spoon/spatula to stir chicken, and tongs to fold, flip, and pick up the tortilla and finished quesadilla.

Total Prep & Cook Time per 1 quesadilla = approx. 15 minutes

Ingredients, per 1 quesadilla:
1/2 cup of finely shredded gouda
2 tbsp of basil pesto sauce (typically found in the tomato sauce aisle with pastas)
1 boneless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 large flour tortilla (do whole wheat to add healthy points!)
*Optional: olive oil for tortilla--but most people like them without (I tried one with olive oil and one without. I liked the without results better)

Steps:
1. Slice boneless chicken breast into thing strips, season with salt and pepper, and cook on med-hi heat until cooked all the way through. I never time when I cook meat, so I can't give you an exact time, but it will probably take 7-10 minutes per breast (thin sliced breasts take less). Stir every couple of minutes so they don't cook/burn on one side. You can also cook the breasts first then cut into strips--they'll take longer to cook this way--more towards the 10-12 minute range. While meat is cooking, do #2.
2. Shred cheese, 1/2 cup per quesadilla. This isn't set in stone. If you want less cheese, do less. If you want more, shred more. This is what I call an "average" amount. Also, gouda is a very soft cheese, so you have to handle it lightly or it will smoosh.

3. Put tortilla in skillet (with or without olive oil) on med-hi heat. It only takes a few minutes for it to brown. As soon as the "bubbles" get a golden-brown color, it's time to flip it over. Do #4 as soon as you put the toritlla on, as it will brown quickly.
4. After chicken is cooked through, add the pesto sauce and stir in until chicken strips are evenly covered. Let simmer for a minute or two to saturate the flavor.

Chicken with pesto sauce

5. After flipping the tortilla, immediately add the chicken to one half of the tortilla. Sprinkle the gouda on top of the chicken. Give the tortilla another minute to brown on this side before folding it over.
6. Fold the quesadilla over, then flip it over so that the "cheese side" is closer to the heating element to quickly melt it.
7. Remove from pan and cut into halves (better for dinner) or quarters (better for appetizers) and plate!

My final meal!

Deciding the Future

I went to write a post about my student teaching, and out of curiosity, I looked to see how many days it's been since David's been gone. His last call (the one before he left) was FIVE days ago. I swear it's only been three at the most. I guess I should be thankful I am so busy that I don't have time to dwell on his absence, but I'm kind of sad that my life is so crazy that I can't even comprehend time. I guess you get to the point where you lose any notion of reality.

Anyway, earlier this morning, I got my first student-teaching placement. It's at a middle school! I'm really excited to teach middle school just because I have yet to experience those grades, and I think I'm going to love them. The only part that sucks is that this school is 39 minutes (says Google Maps) from my house. And it's all highway driving on 295N and 288N--two hectic roads to be taking during rush hour. I'll have to give myself an extra 15-20 minutes each day in case of accidents or other delays. My request was for the rather large country this school is part of--a county that has like ten high schools, ten middle schools, and countless elementary schools. It might be the largest county in Virginia? Not sure. Two of those ten-ish high schools are closer to my house, but my university said I couldn't request schools, only the county. So, I was expecting a school further away. This first placement will probably be the deciding factor as far as my decision between English and Counseling goes. If I like middle school more, I may just stick to that, but we'll see. I'm going to talk to adviser (also my 4:00 professor today) about the Counseling thing. She has a peer who's in the same program at Liberty.

I went to sleep at 4:45AM this morning, woke up at 7AM, and drove the hour and a half back to school to be at my meeting with my Lit Crit professor at 9:30AM. With him, I solidified my paper topic for the huge Lit Crit Senior Paper Conference that's next Saturday afternoon. I feel really good about it. I'm writing on the relationship between space (relative to architecture and the home) and social power, using Virginia Woolf's Flush. Then I dropped my seven page paper on "The Yellow Wallpaper" off with Dr. Challender, and booked it back to my apartment to do my take-home final exam for Lit Crit that was due at noon. I studied this weekend by writing each author's name and listing their main points, but when I opened the exam with an hour to complete it, there was no way I was going to finish the second part on time: two texts that must be critiqued from the perspective of five critics (five per passage--so ten) in a paragraph per critic. So I submitted what I had done at 12, and just grinned and bared it. Sometimes, there's only so much you can do when you're taking 19 credits, teaching, and your husband is deployed. I did my best. I guess my professor realized that, because he gave me an extension to finish the second part of the exam by noon tomorrow, for which I am very thankful. Then I had to come back and finish reading The Tempest and some of the sonnets, and I met with my Shakespeare professor at 2:30. Then, I went to talk to my adviser about my career switch--well, possible career switch. I can't make a decision without my husband. I know he'll know what's ultimately best for us in the long run, which is my primary concern. I printed out the application, and I started filling out, and as soon as David and I make a decision on it, I'll send it or not send it. Then, I had class (the one my adviser teaches) at 4, during which we discussed the Praxis II 0041 test. I'm still terrified of what I got on that. Did you know Virginia has THE HIGHEST score requirement in the country? A 172, while most states are anywhere from 150-160. I think I'm moving to Alabama, the state with the lowest requirement (I believe 149). Just kidding. I'll just keep trying until I pass the stupid thing. Now, I'm going grocery shopping, making dinner, cleaning, making lesson plans and worksheets for tomorrow, and finishing the exam. THEN BED. I'm going to do a different blog entry for my dinner recipe.

Did I mention my life is crazy? And that my husband is outside the wire at the most hectic time in my entire life? Ugh, sometimes I just want to go kidnap him.

Teach or Counsel?

Since my Junior year of college, when everyone started asking me "Are you going to get your Masters?", I started thinking about my answer. As far as teaching goes, if you have your Masters, it's typically a $2-3K annual salary increase, so I didn't think it would be worth 3 to 4 years of night classes. Well, the more and more teaching experiences I have, the more and more I'm thinking I'd like to go in a different direction with my career. I love English and I love teaching, but I'm heavily considering school counseling. Because my BA will be in English, I'd have to get my M.Ed in School Counseling. Most programs in VA are 48 credit hours, which will take two to two and a half years depending on how many I take a semester. This is a huge decision, but I really think it's what I want to do. I'm going to keep pondering this one, and I'll talk to David about it in a few weeks when he gets back.

Liberty University (which is only two hours from my hometown) has an on-line program for the M.Ed in School Counseling. I talked to them yesterday evening, and it's sounding pretty good. It's 48 credit hours. All on-line with exception of one class that has a required one week's stay on campus. There's a 300 hour Practicum, which is the only issue because I'll already be teaching. But I'm sure they're used to dealing with already-employed teachers and they have a back-up plan for that. They also cater to military members and spouses. Typically their classes are $476/credit hour and there's a $175 technology fee. For military members, it's $250/credit hour and the tech fee is waived. It's a great way for me to start the degree while I'm in Hawaii with nothing to do, then finish when we ETS back home.

The other options are VCU and VSU, but they don't have on-line programs. So...we'll see where this goes.

I have to look into the VA DOE's counseling requirements, too. I heard from someone that if you teach for 3 years can take a counseling position without the Masters. But for job security reasons, the Masters is probably a better option. We shall see...

Pinterest Craze

So today I went on a Pinterest craze. For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is, it's a webpage where people "pin" interesting things they find on to their pages, and you can share all of these things among all members of the site. So it's more or less a site of lots of cool stuff. It changes by the minute, so you can find yourself looking at hundreds of pins at a time, and it never gets boring. There's recipes, house decorating ideas, beauty ideas, fashion layouts, funny quotes, artwork--the list goes on and on. These were some of my favorite finds lately:

This real ad from the 1930's

This storage idea for "lay flat to dry" clothes that you never have anywhere to lay!

Why didn't anyone think of this sooner!!

This bathroom. I love the colors!

No Bake Cake Batter Truffles---yep, you heard right. Click for recipe!

My husband loves Star Wars, so when I found this nursery, I had to show it to him!

The Final Weeks

So I got to talk to my wonderful husband for TWO hours (FB for an hour and phone for an hour) today. It was awesome and just what I was needing lately. We talked about all of our memories from all the different times he's been home on leave. We talked about our wedding. About how when we were dating and he came home for the first time, how things feel into place right away--in just a few hours, you would have thought we'd been together for years. Amidst all this great conversation came some bad news. He's going to be gone, without communication, for my last 2-3 weeks of the semester. I'm pretty bummed about it, because I know how stressed I'm going to be, and how much I'll need him to keep me together and motivated. But I know he has a job to do, so I'm going to work my butt off so that when he gets back, I can tell him I finished out strong. This is what my last few weeks of school look like, starting this Monday:

Monday 11/14
Shakespeare's The Tempest read with 3-page paper on it, due at 2:30

Tuesday 11/15
Teaching Lesson 3 of my unit

Thursday 11/17
Teaching Lesson 4
Lead discussion on a chapter of book on-line

Friday 11/18
American Lit term (final) paper due--like 5-7 pages with 4+ secondary sources

Saturday 11/19
Lit Crit Take-home Final Exam (3-4 page) due by 4pm

Monday 11/21
A whole American Lit novel due at 11am
Shakespeare's Sonnets read in full with 3-page paper by 2:30
Reciprocal observation write up due (5-7 pages)

Tuesday 11/22
Teaching Lesson 5

Monday 11/28
American Lit 1500-word essay due at 11am
4-5 page Shakespeare paper due at 11am
English + Culinary Arts cross-curricular lesson to teach to my class

Tuesday 11/29
Teaching Lesson 6 (being observed this day!!)
Annotated Bib (8-10 pg) and Abstract (1 pg) due for my Lit Crit final paper at 6pm

Wednesday 11/30
Learning Strategy Portfolio Due (approx. 12 pages) at 645pm

Thursday 12/1
Teaching Lesson 7 (my last one!)

Friday 12/2
Entire unit due (probably 40-50 pgs) one that I'm not teaching, but have to make) at 6pm

Saturday 12/3
Lit Crit final paper due (8-10 pg)and presenting (reading) it to the English faculty at the Lit Crit Seminar

Tuesday 12/6
MFAT exam (English exit exam all English-majors have to take) 6:30-9pm

Wednesday 12/7
Literacy in the Content Area final exam

Thursday 12/8
Teacher Work Sample Due (the 100+ page binder of the unit I've been teaching all semester)
Still teaching the English + Culinary Arts lesson during our exam period

Friday 12/9
American Lit take home (3-5 pg) exam due

THE END.

Any Improvement is Good Improvement

I just got back from my night class, so I finally get to share about Day 2 of my unit. I assigned four pages of reading of a short story for homework between this past Tuesday and today. In first block (the New Beginnings block), no one read. In the standard class, about 40-50% of them read, and in the dual enrollment, probably 80% of them. So depending on how much reading they got done, today we had to adjust the lesson plans and read whatever they didn't. Seeing as they were able to do independent reading and answer the study guide questions on their own today, things went better. The first block kids still didn't like me, and still weren't happy that I was teaching them versus Mrs. C, but they were a little more respectful. Only a few snickers and smart comments. Even though I still am sweating the entire time I'm teaching them, I'm just pushing through and trying to do the best I can with them. Not that I am understanding of anyone being disrespectful, but I understand the negative reactions from them in general. So I'm trying my best to be patient and prove to them I'm not going anywhere and that I'm not that weak.

I ended up having to change my entire unit today. I had schedule for us to do a 1 to 2 page friendly letter assignment in 3 sessions, and then a PSA in the last 3 sessions. I was excited about the PSA, but aside from the dual enrollment kids, they just aren't quite ready for that. They don't know editing marks, revision techniques, what it means to publish writing (formally or informally), and so forth. So, I think I'm going to use this letter assignment as an extensive review of the writing process, with a majority of the focus on revision and editing. I'm going to have to change my learning goals and lesson plans, and my preassessment and postassessment data will now be invalid, but it's what they need. When it comes down to it, kids are more important than data.

I just looked up and there's a lady bug crawling up the wall right in front of me. There's hope :)

I just got a picture of our final deployment quilt today. It includes names of my university's students' loved ones that are deployed, are vets, or were KIA. Tomorrow, on Veteran's Day, it will be hung up in our Student Union ballroom. It's pretty awesome!

First Day Teaching

Today was my first day of teaching my unit. It went great, aside from one block.

They were insanely disrespectful. They told me they weren't doing the homework and they weren't doing the assignments, so I should basically just not teach them because it didn't matter. They laughed in my face. They refused to speak to me. No matter what I said, it didn't work. They thought 4 pages of reading (with 2 days to do it) was ridiculous and too much. They said I didn't understand that they have too much work to do and that they just finished their Senior Projects and they were done with homework. I explained to them that I read on average 200 pages a night for a single class--and I have 6 classes. I told them I write 25-page research papers every few months. I explained to them that I took about six hours out of my free time this weekend to prepare this unit for them. I explained to them I even printed out the PowerPoint slides so they didn't have to take notes. None of it mattered.

I went to an urban high school, so I'm familiar with this environment, but it's very different being on the other side of the desk. It's angering, it hurts your feelings, and at the same time, it's sad. What would ever drive a child to be so careless and disrespectful? Not even a child, but 17, 18, and 19 year olds. When I was in high school, I hung in there with the urban setting by either (1) fading into the background or (2) getting smart/tough right back. Neither of those options work here. If I do #1, I lose command of my classroom, and that's the worst possible situation. If I do #2, they see it as a challenge, and they come right back at me with more. My cooperating teacher said to humor them, to ignore what they say, and to get the bad ones on your side. How do I do that? How do I be fake and nice and laugh it up with them when I know they don't give two craps about me and what I have to teach them? This is going to be major struggle that I'm going to have to do a lot of praying about.

I think I have decided, not just from this bad experience (because the other blocks were wonderful), but from all of my teaching experiences in multiple levels and school systems, that I definitely want to teach middle school or junior high. I just enjoy the age group more, and I enjoy the material we learn more. I think my personality is too strong for 11th and 12th graders. We just end up butting heads because their personalities are strong with hormones, and mine are just strong because that's who I am. Two strong-willed people going against one another doesn't end well.

Now I have approximately 30 minutes to read a couple hundred pages for my 3 hour night class tonight. At least its on feminism.

So, it's now 9:50PM the same day. I just got out of the shower. I have spent every second since I got home from work today dwelling over all of this. I have played scenarios out in my head 8 bazillion times of how I might fix this problem, and well, I just can't think of anything. This is when I need some all-knowing teacher manual that tells you how to deal with any and every situation. Should I give them a "disclaimer" before the next lesson--"Let's all try to make today a better day than the last one" kind of thing? I think that's too patronizing. I don't want to sound like I'm their mom chastising them and being overly nice in hopes they'll be better. Should I just ignore today completely and keep plowing through my lesson with them, in hopes they'll see that they're not going to stop me? I don't think that'll work either. My cooperating teacher says they'll always this way, and they still are for her. I'm totally beating myself up over this. I need advice.

It's now 10:12PM the next day. I am currently making up my lesson plans and PowerPoint for tomorrow's lesson. While I'm sitting here making these, I've decided that I'm just going to do my thing and just keep teaching through all the crap they're giving me. I'm not going to give the "new day, new attitude" speech. I'm going to pretend like it never happened and just keep teaching. I think the key problem is they're high-risk students--at least as far as education is concerned. They need and like stability and they usually place the teacher as the "Mom" figure. So, me coming in the class and teaching them instead of their usual teacher totally disrupts both of those things. I'm like the babysitter assigned by the parent. What do kids do when they have a babysitter? They test the waters. They see what they can get away with. They act like loonies because they think they can get away with it. And most importantly, they get upset when their parents aren't there to cook for them like always, to tuck them in like always, and so forth. That's the same reaction I'm getting. And in the same way the babysitter just has to stand her ground and keep them going and motivated, that's what I have to do--I have to KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!

Down to the Wire

I probably won't get to post very often in the next three weeks. They are my last three weeks of my semester, and they are guaranteed to be the craziest three weeks of my college career. But you can look for an "I MADE IT!" post soon :)

So, this weekend, we finally got a new car!! We got a 2009 Ford Edge SEL, and so far, I'm in love! After our first run in with credit checks and financing, I think we're going to bite the bullet and have to get a (joint) credit card to start hiking up those credit scores. Neither one of us wanted a credit card, ever, but it seems its the only way to start out when it comes to building really good credit. It kind of sucks how the government pretty much forces you into having to have a credit card in order to drive a decent vehicle and have a roof over your head. We'll be buying a house in about two years, as well as another car, and getting close to starting a family, so there are many things that will require good credit in the next few years! This new car payment will kick start that. I'm the only one who has credit right now, and only because of my school loans. We're still youngins!

The  exact year, style, and color of ours!

Also, I start teaching my new unit tomorrow on Veteran's Day and Cultural Awareness through reading. Seeing as I knew my unit would take place during Veteran's Day, I figured it was a good opportunity to make students aware of the military and veteran culture in the United States and all over the world. We're going to be focusing on Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" (1990). We'll be discussing the historical fiction genre--what it is and why it's important. Then we'll be reading the first chapter of The Things They Carried, which is, of course, historical fiction. Then, students are going to write "friendly" letters to a soldier and tell their soldier about something they carry. I'm going to be sending these letters to David's unit, and I'm hoping David can snap some photos of some of the guys reading the letters--or even get them to write back and tell the kids about something they carry, and I can give them to the kids. They'll eat that up. Then the second part of my unit is a PSA for military and veteran affairs. I'm going to give students a list of current issues or debates in the U.S. military/government, and assign groups to script and record a PSA on their issue. We'll be going over the characteristics of a PSA beforehand and watch examples on the Ad Council website. As my bio reads, I have wanted to join the military (I went back and forth between Army and Navy for a while, and decided on Army), and I've always been interested in historical fiction and movies on war. My favorite movie has been Cold Mountain since I was, like, fifteen. So, I'm hoping my passion for this will transfer to the kids, so at the end of the unit they've learned (1) how to do a friendly letter and PSA, (2) why historical fiction matters, and (3) awareness of other cultures--including military culture, "enemy" cultures, and war culture in general.

David should be back in the next few hours, so I'm looking forward to talking to him and telling him that we have a shiny, new car! I'm really nervous he won't like it or he'll think I could have gotten something better, price-wise, but it was the second best deal within 50 miles of my home zip code. I test-drove the "best" deal before I went to go see and drive this one, and it was surely not the best deal. It had awesome features (leather heated seats, sunroof, navi, etc.) but there were some nice dings in the paint, the right blinker was out, and the worst was some horrible clicking sound in the right rear axle. I told them if they fixed that, I'd take it, but they said no, so I found an amazing second choice that I'm very happy about. I just hope he will be, too!

So that's where this week is headed. In about 20 minutes I have to leave to go to campus to be interviewed by NCATE--the national accreditation folks. They're more or less going to see how well my university has done at preparing me for my career. Then it's class at 4 and time to prepare for Day 1 of my unit :)

Tough Love

Tough love has been a mantra lately between our family member being arrested and David and I pushing each other through the rest of this deployment. I had one of my occasional (okay...frequent) breakdowns today due to none other than academic stress. I had 200 pages to read for my 11am class, Hamlet to read and write a paper in between 12pm and 230pm, class from 4 to 5:15pm, and a mock interview session from 7 to 9pm, and then I had to come back and make a preassessment to give to my students tomorrow, which I just finished. I have to wake up in less than six hours for work. Yeah, just a lot going on and not enough hours in the day to do it. It was an overwhelming day and so I complained about it on to the phone to David. Then, he asked me why that's all I talk about. That upset me at first because (1) I thought it was mean and (2) it made me realize I have no life outside of schoolwork, which makes me feel pretty lame. Number 2 was what really hit me. I just can't wait to have my life back after this semester. After I was all upset and mad he said it, we talked about it, and he said that it's more or less "tough love"--that sometimes I just have to hush and stop dwelling on the stress of it and just focus on pushing through. My semester is over in a MONTH! So, don't tell him I said this, but he's right. I'm almost done, and that's something to celebrate, which I did with Mexican and a $1.99 margarita special with my friend, Ashley. In the words of Dorrie, "Just keep swimming!"

Twelfth Grade Mayhem

So, I had my first day of teaching today at CHS. My cooperating teacher is pregnant and forgot to tell me she had an ultrasound appointment this morning (she called it "baby-mesia"). So, it was just a sub and me in the first four blocks until Mrs. Chavez got there. Everyone, regardless of teaching experience, knows how kids act with a sub. So until sixth block when she got back to school, the kids were off their rockers. Already on day one, I had to lay the law for a few kids. One threw a water bottle across the room at a window and bent the blinds to pieces. One attempted to lie to me to go to the bathroom when he really was going to make copies of another child's test to cheat off of. That didn't fly with me. So, needless to say, it's going to be a crazy few weeks. I'm hoping because my unit is actually fun, they'll be cooperative and enjoy it. Of course, it's not just fun--it's education and learning disguised as fun! I really like my cooperating teacher this time--much better than my crazy experience at BCHS. I also know the teacher next door--she's a _(my university)__ grad and we have almost the same exact name. We freak the kids out and they think we're like, twins or something, because we have the same first name and her last name is the same as mine with just 3 extra letters on the end...AND our middle initial is the same. It is pretttyy weird. Of course, I started teaching the day after Halloween. Kids were eating candy from 8 o'clock this morning until I left at 2:30 this afternoon. Between that and there being a sub, you can only imagine. I also picked my "target students" in each class. The ones who don't give a crap about anything and don't do any of their work. Guess who gets to be my pets these next few weeks? Yep, them. They get called on frequently, they get to be the PowerPoint clicker, and all other things that force them into doing work. I'm going to post more on my unit as far as the actual lessons are concerned, but right now, I have like 80 pages of Marxist criticism to read in the next two hours. Aaaah!

Oh, I forgot to mention. I had a young girl have a nervous breakdown in class because she thought a teacher was treating her unfair compared to the rest of the class. She punched the sink in the girls' bathroom and her finger was swelling. She was crying hysterically and discussing how she wanted to punch the teacher and choke the teacher and many other forms of violent action. That was a little insane. She came back a few blocks later and had composed herself and devised a game plan to talk to that teacher about how she feels. I'm just thinking there should be some sort of partition between them...

Looking Frazzled

Well, these last few days have been more than rough, to where it's starting to show on the outside. I walked into my 4:00 class and the first thing out of  my professor's mouth was "Colleen, you are looking quite frazzled today." (Or something like that). I just said "Oh, I am." and told her about everything going on in my life right now. She's my adviser and I've had a few classes with her, so she's had insight into my life and how it's changed in the last few years. In other words, she's aware that I'm just about to lose it every day, so I always feel comfortable telling her about all the crazy things going on. Well, I'm just not a secretive, introverted person to begin with; I'm likely to tell anyone anything.

I went to the doctor and got medication and an exercise to do, and four days later, I hardly feel any difference. Of course, I haven't been taking the Flexeril (muscle relaxer) because it knocks me out for literally, like, 16 hours. Last night, the pain was bad enough that I emailed my 11:00am professor my mid-term paper that was due today and told him I was going to have to take the pain medication and be knocked out tomorrow morning. Thankfully he was understanding. Sure enough, I took the medication around 1:30am (I was up late writing a paper) and it wore off at around 1pm today. That's only half a pill. I'd be in trouble if I took a whole one. Anyway, because I'm not feeling any improvement, and at times it hurts worse than ever, I'm skeptical about the "muscle spasm" overuse diagnosis. I'm leaning more towards herniated disk in my cervical spine.

I start teaching again on Tuesday--oh, wait--tomorrow is Tuesday! Aaah! I'm always so nervous when I get a new classroom. You never know what your kids will be like or how they'll take to you. I always try to dress really flashy and cute on my first day so the kids will relate to my youth and think I'm "cool." As fake as that might be, it works with kids who are so focused on fashion and appearance. Then, once they get to know me and I get to know them, I can be more laid back and real with them. I'm doing a unit on Veteran's Day using Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". I'm having  my students learn about historical fiction through the reading of the first chapter of that novel, and then they'll be writing their own narrative piece about something that they "carry" in a letter form. I'm going to send these letters to David's unit. I practiced this unit on my classmates, and in turned into a very emotional classroom experience. One girl in my class said that she carried the burden of her father's failed business and their economic hardships and she broke down in tears when she shared with the class. While those situations are awkward and a little uncomfortable, I embrace them. I think too often students are treated like robots who aren't real people. When you tap into the sense of community and relationships in the classroom, the entire year goes much better. All my future students better be prepared to do a lot of soul-searching amidst the English learning.

The big stress lately is in the family. A close family member of ours has landed himself in jail due to a horrible decision. He was arrested on the 26th, and he's been in jail for the past few days, but my husband has decided to bail him out, so he'll be out tomorrow until his sentencing in a month or two. We think he'll be sentenced to around two years. The entire family--me, my husband, my father-in-law's siblings--we've all been so torn. We're angry, sad, confused. It has been really hard for me to understand how he could do something like this when David is fighting a war for him. I'm so angry with him over that. He knew how much of a burden his actions would be on David. But then I know he's sick and he doesn't even realize what he's doing to himself and his family. And that makes me sad. And my heart is breaking for my husband, who is so hurt by all of it. And then I get angry again when I think that David was even put in the position to have to deal with this when he's deployed and should be focused on his job. I really felt--well feel--that he should have stayed in jail, because I don't think he's well enough to be exposed to a world plagued with alcohol and drugs right now. David was set on not bailing him out, and then all of a sudden changed his mind. I think David feels some sort of responsibility--like he has to save him. I feel that if David  being deployed and risking his life for him isn't enough to keep him away from slowly killing himself--and possibly others, then him bailing him out isn't going to be either. But my husband made his decision, and I'm going to support whatever he decides to do. I just hope I won't have to say "I told you so." I really care about this family member and love him like my own blood, and I just want him to get better. My husband is amazing, and he deserves the best family that God can provide. I want him to one day be able to have this person back in his life, sober, because that's what he deserves. This has really taken an emotional toll on me the last few days, and now that he has decided to bail him out, I'm even more stressed because I'm worried what will happen when this person is back in the real world, where he can just further destruct himself and others. A month or two months is a long time for someone to stay sober when they just got arrested for it a few days ago. I've realized that all I can do is pray for the best, and pray for understanding. David is handling it okay, but I know he's stressed and upset about it, too, especially today when he had to make the decision on whether or not to bail him out, when the rest of us think he should stay. I know he's going through so much, and I'm just praying for God to give me the right words to say to try and make things better and easier on him. So yeah, that's that.

19 A man of great anger will bear the penalty, FOR IF YOU RESCUE HIM, YOU WILL ONLY HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN. (Proverbs 19)

Also this week, we get our big paycheck for backpay. Tomorrow, actually. We're very excited that it's finally going to be in our account. This also means it's car-buying time. On Thursday I'm going to our credit union to get preapproved, and then this weekend I'll be car shopping. I have a Ford Edge, Nissan Xterras, and a few Jeep Commanders to look at. So that's exciting, but as much stressful as exciting. I just hope the financing and insurance processes go smoothly. My step-dad is going to help me through all of it seeing as David can't be here.

So yeah, there's an update on my current state in life. Things are pretty hectic, and my eyes have stayed puffy and red with tears. But I always remember that just the fact that my husband alive is enough to feel like I have the greatest life ever. Through the ups and downs, I love my life, I love my family, and I love the heck out of my husband.

Bedroom Blues

As we get closer to having our home in Hawaii, I'm trying to start planning for our house decor. Right now I'm working on our bedroom because I'll be buying our bedroom set soon. I refuse to buy any furniture in Hawaii because all of the prices are jacked up because they have a lesser influx of supplies. I've sent all of these pictures to David so he can pick his favorites. I'm more of white, clean, modern kind of girl, but I like little bits of vintage, traditional pieces every now and then. Here's the styles I've picked out!

Far more traditional than my style

A mixture of modern with traditional colors

This has me written all over it! My idea of a perfect bedroom! Not to mention that's the exact comforter David and I have (just in aqua color). The only thing I'd tone down is the headboard. I'd do something more like below.

My second favorite. Again, modern, but the chair, drapes, and accent pillows are more traditional.

This is really cool. It's modern but masculine with traditional pieces. I'd use aqua as the accent color (instead of pink flowers here)

I love the monochromatic feel of this room. Hate the bed (headboard) and furniture though.

This is a nice mixture of styles, and I love the monogram above the bed!

Speaking in Tongues

After some harsh experiences on this past trip outside the wire, my husband is really feeling the need for church. I think he and I both feel it missing in our lives when we're away from each other. This got us talking about the church that he grew up in, which we have attended a few times. This church would be an option for us when we ETS, but there's just one thing that bothers me about it.

Here's the exact quote from Enon Church of God's "Core Values" section of their website:
"We Believe in speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit."

Now this is what the Bible says about speaking in tongues:

"Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or WORD OF INSTRUCTION? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in notes? So it is with you. Unless you speak INTELLIGIBLE words with your tongue, HOW WILL ANYONE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING? You will just be speaking into the air."
I Corinthians 14: 6-10

The capitalized parts are key. A common misconception is that speaking in tongues sounds like babble--like some mixture of languages that no one can understand. The Bible says tongues have to be INTELLIGIBLE, and that with tongues, there has to be translation for the people. If there isn't a translator present when someone is speaking tongues, who is actively translating for the congregation, it's wrong. The church's core value statement above says in "utterance." Utterance means it's spoken without thought and just kind of---flows out of the mouth. Intelligible speaking on the other hand is well thought-out words that are purposefully crafted and spoken.

"Tongues, then, are a sign, NOT FOR BELIEVERS but for UNBELIEVERS. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are OUT OF YOUR MIND?"
I Corinthians 14:22-23

The second verse is the most important one as far as an actual church and tongues goes. That verse says that tongues spoken by believers in church actually turn unbelievers away from the church because they think the believers are crazy. Turning unbelievers away from the church should be the exact opposite of what a church should strive to do. The fact that the apostle Paul (the author of Corinthians) actually calls church members who speak in tongues "out of their minds" makes it pretty clear what the Word says on the topic.

So there's your Sunday School lesson for the day. I love the preacher there--his sermons are awesome and follow closely the Word of God--and everyone there is so nice, but if he agreed to preach at a church that uplifts blasphemy, than he is denying the Word of God. Church is never about being comfortable, knowing people, or the preacher's sermons sounding good. It's about what we need as growing Christians, and sometimes that puts us outside of our comfort zone.

I'm looking for a church that does expository preaching. My Bible is a MacArthur Bible, published by John MacArthur, one of the greatest expository preachers in America. In simple terms, it is preaching that is much like how English classes are taught in high school and college. A sermon series is comprised of a series of verses from a book of the Bible. Each Sunday, a different verse is studied. The preacher "sheds light" on the verse in that he clarifies historical context, meanings of words (based on Greek meanings, usually), and shares related Bible verses. The preacher sheds light on a new verse each Sunday until the study of that book is finished. Preaching any other way is like asking a high school English student to go tell his peers about a Shakespeare text without ever having taught him Shakespeare. It's impossible until you teach the language of Shakespeare, the history of the period of the text, the allusions in the text, and so forth. Until a believer can fully understand the meaning of the Word of God, he cannot practice the Word of God and explain it to others.

A Pain the Neck.

So I went to the clinic yesterday for my neck. My doctor says that they are muscle spasms, and that they are a result of the two different sides of my upper back pulling against one another. They do this when my body is unbalanced, or in other words, the muscles on the right side of my body are being strained more than the right, or the muscles in the upper half of my body are being strained more than the lower half. She said this happens because I live at a computer, am short, have a large chest, am stressed, and because I sleep on my stomach. Well, there's no solving the computer issue. I'm a student and that's what I have to do. There's no solving the fact that I'm vertically challenged and have a chest that's too large for my small frame. And until my husband gets home and I graduate, I can guarantee the stress will be there. I tried to sleep on my side last night--I think I woke up on my stomach. She gave me Flexeril (a muscle relaxer) to take at night, and Naproxen to take once in the morning and once at night. I took half of a Flexeril pill and I was knocked out in 5 minutes. I was still out of it until about 2pm today--not a fan of that feeling. The Naproxen makes my stomach feel pretty gross all day. I've been taking both medicines for an entire day, and I'm not sure if I feel any better. She gave me this exercise to do with a pool noodle. Any idea where I'm going to find a pool noodle when it's almost winter? Yeah, me neither. She got x-rays, but I haven't heard anything on those, so I'm guessing everything looks normal spine-wise, which is good. I'm skeptical about the muscle thing. I've been an athlete for my entire life. I know what a pulled/strained muscle feels like--this is something a little more than that. I injured the muscle that she said was being strained (supraspinatus) a few years ago, but it was on the opposite side from the one that hurts now, so I know what that feels like. I'm always mistrusting of Army Clinic doctors. They rush you in and out and find a quick explanation that may not actually be an explanation, just to preserve time. So we'll see where this goes. Let's just hope these medicines will start working.

THE BEST NEWS IN THE WORLD

For everyone who has been keeping up with our pay battle, the NOV 1 LES just came out and WE GOT OUR BACKPAY for not only Family Separation, but also for BAH! I'm shaking and my heart is beating like crazy and I'm breathing like I just ran a marathon. I never thought this day would come. I think I might cry...no, really. The hugest weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I just keep staring at the LES like it's a dream.

Now if only David will hurry up and call me so I can relieve the weight on his shoulders, too.

This feels like nothing short of a miracle. God is so good. Thanks to everyone who prayed with us for this to pull through.

Here come the tears. Happy tears.

Update: I just told David and his reaction was "HHOOLY POOOP! :)" He signed on and asked what was going on. I said "Check the LES. I'll wait..." and that's what he responded with a few minutes later. He says he's going to do backflips in the MWR. And most importantly, we know it was only through both of us praying like crazy that it all worked out. I love to hear him so relieved. Now he can focus on his job and nothing else. Our stress levels will be so much lower, which is going to make the days move faster. This is all just amazing.

Personal Ad

Warning: I am raving about my husband, so if you don't like lovey-dovey, avert your eyes!

Today when I was on the phone with David, he started laughing and said, "I just posted something on your Facebook." I knew by his laugh he was up to something. I asked him what it was and he said he saw it in a newspaper he was reading. I asked him where he found a newspaper and he said, "I found it." Clearly, I know he's full of himself. I look on my wall and it says:

21 year old deployed soldier in the U.S. Army that has Star Wars bed sheets and watched the Lion King after two week long missions, interested?

This thing he "found in the newspaper" was his own personal ad that he made up, and it is him to a tee. When he got there, he asked me for some sort of cartoon sheets--Spiderman, Batman--just not Toy Story because he already had those. So when I found sheets from his favorite movies ever, I had to get them for him. My husband is also obsessed with Disney movies, particularly The Lion King. We are probably the only couple in the world to have an intellectual conversation about The Lion King. This morning we were discussing how when you watch that movie when you're older, it's totally different. These are the things I love about my husband. Actually, it is my favorite thing. He is a big kid, and that has made me a better person.

Growing up--geeze, from the time I was in second grade--I have always been a serious academic. I remember in fourth grade I cried my eyes out and beat myself up because I got my first C (in math, of course). In eleventh grade, when I was taking six AP classes, I was crying and depressed over my work load. But I chose those many classes because I wanted to excel at everything and say that I did it. From grade school, I have been overly serious about my goals and willing to sacrifice any fun for school. I've just always been a serious person. Not that it's a bad thing to be driven, but no fourth grader should think the world is ending because she got a C in one subject for a single six-weeks report card. This seriousness transferred over to my relationships when I got older. Because I was independent and strong-willed, I always found myself in relationships where "I wore the pants." My aunt always told me that the man I would marry would be the one who would balance me out and tell me when to step down from my pants-wearing throne. She was exactly right.

David, growing up, was the opposite of me. He wasn't a fan of school, wasn't in class half the time, and when he was in class, he was worried about making everyone laugh (and in the process pissing the teacher off). I was always jealous of him in the class that we shared together. Here I am trying to be a perfectionist with my artwork and stressing over every single brush stroke, and there he was, every day, making our classmates laugh at all of his crazy antics, and telling our teacher what we all wanted to say to her but didn't. He had what I was missing--the ability to laugh at life, laugh at yourself, and make others laugh.

From the time we started "talking" in the spring of 2010, my whole view of life changed. I started to not sweat the small stuff. I started to be able to laugh at myself when I did something dumb instead of beating myself up. I learned that every now and then it's good to just have a lazy day and forget the school work. I learned that sharing opinions and decisions feels so much better than doing them all your way. I started to have a sense of humor and actually make other people laugh. And when I get overworked and over-stressed now, he makes me laugh and all my worries disappear. And when he is having a bad day, I can make him laugh and feel better. I never could have done that for people before him. I've always told him that was his gift from God--the ability to make people laugh. I told him before he left that he would be a beacon of light in Afghanistan because he would be able to make his men laugh when they all were exhausted, sad, missing home. I think if it wasn't for his ability to make me laugh, and  my new-found ability to make him laugh, we wouldn't be doing half as good as we have been doing during this deployment.

We always say that no matter how old we are, we'll never grow up (there's another Disney movie for you). I always wanted to grow up. I rushed to grow up when I was younger. Now, our whimsy and laughter will keep us young forever, and I love that. That's one of the reasons I think we both can't wait (but are waiting) to have kids, is that we'll get to play with toys and watch Disney movies and be even more like kids.

Laughter is truly the best medicine.

Opening our wedding gifts and he decides to be a Price-is-Right girl. Just one example of the many ways he makes me laugh.

He made this with some Win/Fail app on his phone. Barefoot in the kitchen....ha, ha, ha.

Making me laugh...again.

Even during our wedding photos

And during the wedding rehearsal pictures.

Excited about his coloring book my little cousin sent him...and he actually colored in it.

Hanging upside down pretending to be a monkey...yep, he's crazy.