Banana Sour Cream Bread

This yummy Banana Bread is so easy to make and tastes de-lish!
But first, this {I typed this up as soon as I got home, so I wouldn't forget.}...
I just met the strangest man at Winn-Dixie. I was almost finished shopping for my banana bread recipe and was looking at the butter when I noticed an older man sitting on the display case in front of the cream cheese. I asked him if he was ok (I thought he might be feeling sick or something.) and he said he was fine. Here's our brief and awkward conversation:

Me: Do you need anything?

Old Man:  No, I'm fine. No, I'm not ok.  I do need something. I need a girlfriend.

Me: yeah?

Old Man: Yeah. I need a girlfriend or maybe just a friend. I need someone to talk to.

Me: (trying to laugh it off like he was joking.) I'm married, I don't think my Husband would like that very much.

Old Man: I don't mean you personally.

Me: (Ignoring old man now...jeez way to embarrass yourself Whitney...) *looking at butter*

Old Man: People don't understand that I need someone to talk to.

Me: *crickets* (Wow, this butter is so expensive... and that old man is seriously disturbing.) Wow, that's expensive. (yes, I actually talked out loud to myself. The old man was doing it too!)

After ignoring him for several minutes whilst perusing the butter selections, he huffed up and I heard him mumbling, "I guess I'll move, I can see they don't want me to sit down. I just need to sit down somewhere."

Or something like that. And he wandered off with his buggy.

I moved on to the section where he was sitting and overheard one employee talking to another about the Old Man. The male employee asked me if I was offended by the Old Man. I said I was creeped out, but not offended. The lady employee said he does this all the time. While she was helping me to find some crushed walnuts, she told me, "He's a Vet (as in veteran, not a veterinarian... It's ok. I thought the same thing.) and he's off and thinks the CIA is out to get him." (I was thinking, why does a vet think the CIA is out to get him...and then I thought about it for a minute and realized she meant he was a WAR VET. Doh!)

**********************************************

Anywho...found my walnuts, so let's make this Banana Sour Cream Bread! 

I bought a bunch of bananas about a week or so ago at the aforementioned Winn-Dixie and they were quickly going bad,

so I thought to myself..."I like bananas. I like bread. I like bananas in bread. I don't not like baking. I think I'll try to bake some banana bread!" So,  I google easy banana bread recipes and I find this little beauty. Hey, I can do that! So I did!

My cute apron from the thrift store, c. 1963.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Perfect! They had NO bad spots at all, and they peeled so easily!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300° F (150° C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans. 
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. {I had to modify this and add an extra 20 minutes at 325°F since they were still "jiggly" after the hour at 300°}

 You may or may not enjoy licking the bowl at this point. I did. If you're like my mother and insist that I'll be sorry later because I'll have salmonella poisoning from the raw eggs, don't lick the bowl. Just call me! I'll come lick it... I mean, do the responsible thing and just rinse and wash your bowl... *ahem*

While it's baking, for an hour (who knew perfection took that long...) you can wash all the dishes you went through. (Maybe this is just me? I used all of my measuring cups and spoons.) Or you can dance around the kitchen with your freshly groomed pup singing along to 90's hits such as, "Whoop There it Is", 98°, No Doubt and Boys II Men... Not saying I did this, 'cuz I didn't....I'm just saying YOU could... *ahem* 

After you let your bread cool, or not... Slice off a piece for yourself and a loved one. :) It goes great with a glass of cold milk! And my Hubby who said he does NOT like bananas just ate a slice and said, "It's good." I'll take that as a compliment! He really means, "Wow, honey! You're the best cook ever! I really do love banana bread! All thanks to you!". Well, something like that.

Completed Owl Orders

I never imagined the owls I made

for Valentine's Day presents for my family

would be such a big hit with everyone 

else! I just completed { Friday, March 18}

an order for three owls for my friend 

Audrey Allison. They turned out so cute! 

  She has yet to give her oldest sister

her owl, therefore this post won't be published

until she has. {In case you were wondering why

the dates are wacky! LOL}

This is her older sister, Emma's:

 My favorite, because of the yellow! And the

eyes really POP!

This is Audrey's:

 Because her's didn't have the different colored

belly, she chose brown eyes to offset all the white

of the fabric. {The fabric is from a shirt she

provided me with! DISCOUNT if you're thinking of

ordering any owls from me! Just send me your fabric!}

And for her oldest sister, Jessica:

Lots and lots of purple! That's Jessica's favorite

color! The purple looks really great with all the 

little purple flowers! :)

I am currently working on my Store Envy account, so

I can sell these cuties! What do you think? I also

have some other ideas to sell there too. How much

would you be willing to pay for these? 

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Thanks!!

Random Tuesday Thoughts: I'm going to be an Aunt x4!!!

Random Tuesday Thoughts is usually brought to you by Keely at The Un Mom,

however, she is currently taking a hiatus from hosting. Still, I am keeping up with the 

randomness.

• That's right! You heard it first here. I'm going to be an Auntie x4! (times 4!) My sister, Amanda is pregnant with her third! I went with her to see the first sonogram. And I got to hear the heartbeat! It was awesome. It's a tiny little peanut. :P 
• You know you're an Auntie when you choose what to wear (accessories, how low-cut your blouse is, etc..) according to if you're going to be around your nieces and nephews. LOL. (I almost always wear a necklace and then take it off as soon as I get to my sister's. The Princess thinks necklaces are rattles. Today she pulled the bead off of my shoe.) 
•  I made dinner two nights last week! I'm really proud of myself. The first night was Asian.

 

It wasn't that great if you ask me...

• The next dinner was Mexican. I made a Quesadilla Casserole by McCormick. It was super-easy and turned out awesome! We still have some in the fridge though. Unfortunately for a family of two, the recipe packet serves 8. It's still good even microwaved!

•  J finally got paid and I put the check in the bank yesterday and then went shopping. (He said I could!) Then when we went to Wally World for a few things we needed around the house, our card wouldn't work. I had to call the bank, and apparently they don't even add your deposits until that night! (I put the check in the bank at 10:14am!) Stupid Wells-Fargo. We still got our stuff. 
• I got some paint to spiff up my knick-knack shelves. They're just plain wood, so they look a little drab and old school.
• Last night for dinner we had dessert at Ruby Tuesday's. We split a Blondie for two and a double chocolate cake with ice cream scoops on both. It was so yummy!
• Right now I'm googling how to cook chicken. Because I don't know. I'm not a cook.
• Hobby Lobby is having their metal decorations 50% off, I bought several different things. I will post pics later this week. They also have their Easter stuff 50% off! I got several cute decorations and two 12-packs of white plastic eggs for 38¢ each! I'm going to decoupage them with napkins. I got the idea from another blog I read.
• Due to the business of my day today, this is all the random I can muster. :)

Six Word Saturday

Tonight, we went

Asian for dinner.

No really, I cooked Sesame Chicken!

It wasn't that great, but whatever.

Six word Saturdays are hosted by Cate at Show My Face.
Be sure to check out her blog and join in on this 
awesome meme! :) Did I mention you only have to
post 6 words! That's it! You don't even have to explain!! 

Have a great weekend every one!
♥

Happy Birthday to my Mama!

Happy Birthday Mama!

I love you with all of my ♥!

I hope you have an awesome day,

because you totally deserve it!

Mama on the riverboat taxi in OK. 2009

You are a great Mama

and an awesome Mimi!

Boog and The Princess love you

and I'm sure one day, the little

Oaks "acorns" will love you even more!

{Because you'll love them more! wink-wink!}

Mimi holding The Princess with Boog 7/28/10

Thanks for taking care of me during

Jeremy's deployment. I wouldn't have made it

without you!

Mama and I in OK just before J deployed. 10/4/09

Here are a few poems for you Mama:

Walking Sunshine Dear Mother I love you and want you to know,
I think of you often wherever I go.
You lift me up; you're like walking sunshine;
I am lucky to have a great mother like mine.

Your endless affection makes you special and rare;
I'm always amazed by how much you care.
What you've given to me I can never repay,
Thank you, Mom, on your 29th birthday. [ wink wink ] By Joanna Fuchs

Mama in the 80's/90's.

 A Mother Like I Want to Be Each year I’m extra happy on your birthday;
Your day reminds me of God’s gift to me--
A mom who gave her all to raise me right,
A mother like the one I want to be. By Joanna Fuchs I love you Mama!

Mama and I in the snow. January 2011

{I look like a bug in this last picture. lol} 

Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In

 Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-Ins are hosted by Wifey at Wife of a Sailor. To join in, visit her blog and link up. :)

1. What is your must-have gadget? submitted by Flying High With My Flyboy

Not sure what you're referring to when you say gadget... but I  must have my cellphone with me wherever I go. I hate going somewhere and accidentally leaving it at home, or forget to charge it. It will drive me crazy all day.

2. How does your adulthood compare to what you imagined it would be like when you were a little kid? submitted by L to the Third

It's a lot different. I thought I would go to college and have some kind of career before I got married. I never really dreamed I'd get married. LOL. And here I am, married almost 3 years at the ripe old age of 25. 

3. What is your favorite chocolate recipe?  submitted by Our First Deployment

I have to pick one? Are you crazy? I love chocolate pretty much in any form. Today I enjoyed some chocolate ice cream with Almonds mixed in. It was divine. I guess I'd have to say my favorite recipe, would be for German chocolate cake.

4. How do you deal with military life when it gets to be [too] much or [too] hard? submitted by Combat Boots And Pointe Shoes

The only time being a military wife has been hard was while Jeremy was deployed. It's frustrating when J has drill when I have other plans. And when his two-week drill comes up. {Next month} I deal by reading. It's my answer for everything. LOL. I can get lost in a book for hours, sometimes days. It helps me to cope, by taking my mind off of all my worries or frustrations.

5. What piece of advice would you give a new Military spouse facing their first deployment?  submitted by The Albrecht Squad

 Oh My-lanta, I don't know! 

• Pray! I did a lot of praying.  
• Get involved in your FRG if you have one. If there isn't an FRG, don't lose track of your non-military friends. Even if they have no idea what you're going through, they can still be supportive. 
• Find a hobby. Idle minds can be bad. You could become depressed or worry so much, you'll make yourself sick.
• It will be OK. Your spouse loves what he/she is doing, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. Don't complain to your spouse about your problems. He/She will have enough to worry about wherever they are.
• Don't assume the worst. Be as positive for your soldier as you can possibly be.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Mama! I love you Mama! :) Hope you have a beautiful and blessed birthday! 

Please Pray for Kirill

 {This post is about an amazing family fighting to bring home their son from Russia. Please read about their determination and hope. And please pray for them!}

Please feel free to share the following on your blogs. It is a summary of our adoption journey so far. Please help us spread the word. We are hoping somehow someone will be able to help us.

Two years ago Greg and I began praying for God to do whatever he wanted with our lives. We handed him a “blank check” so to speak, and told him to cash it. He opened our eyes to children with disabilities wasting away across the ocean in Eastern Europe. We joined God and started our adoption journey.

Our family is more than equipped to handle a child with special needs. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am a member of the Board of Directors of Best Buddies of Alabama. I have volunteered for RISE and Eagles’ Wings. All of these organizations serve individuals with special needs. My husband I have close friends and family who have special needs and we are a big part of each other’s lives. Our wedding party included some of these special people. Our involvement with individuals with special needs led us to adopt a child with special needs; specifically, we chose Down Syndrome.

As we prayed over the faces of thousands of orphaned children with Down Syndrome, we ultimately chose a little boy named Sergey from Russia. Eight months later, as we neared the finish line of our adoption, one of Sergey’s family members in Russia stepped forward to adopt him. We were heartbroken for our loss, but God showed us that we were following him, and his ways are perfect. We knew we still wanted to adopt, so the way we saw it, two children would find homes because of our journey…Sergey went to his family and now we would choose another child to come into our family. We took great comfort in knowing that God could see this when we first committed to Sergey! We were honored to be a part of his plan.

Shortly after losing Sergey, we received a new referral with a grainy photo of a four-year-old blond-haired boy wearing pink glasses named Kirill. We were instantly in love with him. We had to re-file a lot of our paperwork because of the change in referrals and regions of Russia, but we were fast and we thought we were looking at three more months at the most until we would have Kirill home.

That was well over a year ago.

Since then so many things have happened. A tragic story of an adoptive mother sending her child back to his country alone on a plane with a note pinned to his shirt rocked our world…he was from Russia. Adoptions in Russia came to a screeching halt. Kirill’s region stopped processing adoptions for eight long months. The judge refused to accept any American adoption cases until an official treaty was signed between the United States and Russia.

Even though we wouldn’t be able to finalize the adoption in court until the treaty was signed, we were allowed to go visit Kirill and sign our official petition to adopt him in August 2010. We fell more deeply in love with him. This was our son.

During that time, we found out that Kirill is the first child from his region EVER to be adopted with Down Syndrome. A birth mother keeping her child with Down Syndrome is unheard of in this area of the world. Adoptions of children with Down Syndrome just don’t happen there, these children are literally hidden away from society in orphanages and mental institutions. As our process continued, it became apparent that Kirill would be a pioneer. If our adoption was approved, it would pave the way for other children with special needs to be adopted from this region.

Then, a miracle happened around Christmas and the judge in this region suddenly changed her mind and began processing American adoptions again. We were elated.  Could this be the light at the end of a very long tunnel? I was somewhat nervous about Kirill being the first child adopted with Down Syndrome from his region, but our agency was very confident that if we got a court date, our adoption would be approved. In seventeen years, they had never had a case rejected IF the family was issued a court date. We were told not to worry, so I didn’t. After meeting the judge’s requests for several supporting court documents, we were finally granted a court date-March 17, 2011. St. Patrick’s Day…I was thrilled. This would be our new favorite holiday! Our son was coming home!

Our other son, Clayton, who had just turned three when we started this adoption process, has prayed fervently for his brother. He is now almost five. When we told him Kirill was coming home, oh my…we had an excited big brother on our hands! At one point he even went to his room, dumped out his toy cars and divided them into two stacks…one for him and one for Kirill.

Last week, as we sat in the courtroom and suffered through five agonizing hours of difficult questioning, we were not prepared for anything but an approval of our case. Two doctors, two social workers, and the Minister of Children’s Services all made very strong statements on our behalf. They fought for us. Hard.

But when the ruling was read, the judge said, “Your application to adopt is rejected.” The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family. As the judge read her ruling, she stated several times that we were a good family, that we met all the criteria to adopt a child, but that she would not approve our adoption because Kirill has Down Syndrome. She told us that we could adopt another child, because legally our application had no problems according to Russian adoption law. She said she would approve our adoption for a “typical” child, but not this child. Why? The only reason? Because he has Down Syndrome. Even though we were approved by our home study and by the USCIS to adopt a child with special needs. It makes no sense whatsoever. Denying a child a family because he has Down Syndrome is a violation of human rights at its most basic level!

It was like a terrible dream. We were so unprepared for this outcome. As we left the courthouse in a mental fog, the doctors and social workers that had testified came to us and said, “If you appeal, we will fight for you. Appeal. Fight this decision.” Of course we were going to appeal…I could no more walk away from our biological son, Clayton, at this point. Kirill is just as much my son.

So here we are, asking God to move the mountain that is standing between Kirill and us as we appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow. There are also three other families who are in various stages of adopting children with Down Syndrome from Kirill’s region; one of the families has a court hearing set for next week.

We are hoping that someone will hear our outcry and help us bring our son and these other waiting children home. His adoption will set the precedent for many other children in his region. There are 98 children in his orphanage with special needs alone. It is one of many orphanages in this region that houses children with special needs. This is about more than just one child, the lives of hundreds of children with special need are at stake.  Please help us.

{Please help pray for this family! Let's help bring home Kirill! I'm asking all of my blogging friends to please post this on their blog! And let Tesney and her family know you are sending up prayers, by posting a link to your blog post to her blog, here. Please pray for this sweet baby!}

Wordless Wednesday: Before I die...

Check this site out.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

By now you should know that Keely is the host

of Random Tuesday Thoughts. If you didn't know

that already, well now you do. So check out her blog

and link up. Join the party, everyone is doing it!

• I just finished spot-cleaning the carpet where J's dog, Sabrina tracked muddy feet print all over the living room. J can clean up whatever I didn't get. Ugh.
• Sabrina also spilled her water all over the kitchen. I swear she pranced in it and was tempted to walk up the walls had I not came back from the grocery store just in time.
• Speaking of the grocery store, I went to Winn-Dixie this morning to pick up some milk. While I was there I decided to go ahead and get the specials for the week. Buy 3 boxes of Kellogg's brand cereals {Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, or Apple Jacks} and get free: 64 oz. Seneca Apple Juice, 2- Del Monte fruit cups, 12 count box of Pop-Tarts, and 1 Gal. Winn-Dixie brand milk. {That's a pretty good deal right there!} I get everything and when I start looking for the apple juice, I can't find it. I finally asked a gentleman straightening the Pop-Tarts if he will help me find it. We walk back to the juice aisle and whaddya know? They're completely out of the Seneca and they're substituting Winn-Dixie brand apple juice instead. Don't I feel like a big dope for not seeing the 3-inch sign for Seneca Apple Juice with the 1-mm writing, "Substitute Winn-Dixie apple juice"? No...not really, I don't.
• After getting groceries {They also had Blue Bell 1/2 Gals on sale for $3.99. Even though I have 3 different flavors of ice cream in the freezer, I bought the Black Walnut Blue Bell anyway...} I cross the parking lot to McD's. {I hadn't planned on getting breakfast/lunch at McD's, but our milk was sour so I couldn't eat my cereal at 9:30.} I order my food: Double Cheeseburger, no onions, extra ketchup, medium fry and large Diet Coke. This is what they think I said: Double Cheeseburger, etc., Large Coke, Medium Sprite. What?? That is not what I said! Stupid-heads.
• After getting home with my super-deals from Winn-Dixie and my lukewarm cheeseburger and too-salty fries, I discover Sabrina's mess and immediately ban her to the patio. I tie her up on the stake and close the door in her face. {I'm so mean.} When I start feeling bad for her, I clean up the water and go to let her in. She isn't out there. I see the lead on the stake wiggling, so I go around the corner of the building and she has wrapped herself around the Direct TV Satellites. She was chasing some one's dog. 
• We went to bed at 9pm last night. I may or may not have kicked Jeremy on purpose to make him stop snoring. I do recall saying "I'm sorry".
• We went to Sears last night because J needed some kind of tool for work. I decided to hit up The Dollar Tree instead of walking around the stinky tool dept. When I get in the store, I scratch my left foot with my right flip-flop and it hurt! I look down and there's a sticky magnet stuck to my right flip-flop. I now look like I have been clawed on my left foot.
• Our upstairs neighbor woke up this morning around 5 am. I heard her take a shower, open and close her drawers and closet. And then she started vacuuming. All before 7 am.
• Sabrina just took off out the back door. Therefore, she is banned to the kennel. I am just not a dog person apparently. Gimme a cat. At least when a cat ignores you, you know it's justified.
• This book I'm reading, Poppy Skakespeare is taking me forever to read. It's narrated by a woman living in the Dorothy Fish, a day-program at a mental institution. It is somewhat distracting, probably because the narrator gets distracted easily, being as she is a mental patient. Maybe I should be one too, since I've been reading it for almost two weeks and it only has 341 pages.

Pomander/ Kissing Ball Tutorial

I'm sure this tutorial has been done to death

on every blog you read. But seeing it here,

on your favorite blog {wink-wink} is a lot

faster than following a bunch of links. Right?

Supplies:

 Styrofoam ball

Flower paper-punch

Straight pins with "pearl" ends

Pearlized paper {or any card stock paper. Make 

sure you have at least two sheets. Depending

on how large your Styrofoam ball is and how big

your flower punch is.}

Turn on your favorite teenage drama on Netflix.

My choice is The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

{I'm only on Season 4, so if you watch it and you're ahead,

don't spoil it!!} Then, start punching out your flowers.

If your styrofoam ball is the same size as mine, then 

you'll need the entire sheet of card stock and part of

another sheet.

After you have a lot of flowers done, separate the ones

that are badly cut from the perfect ones. Bend the 

perfect flowers' petals up and then layer on top of

a non-perfect flower. {I say non-perfect b/c

a lot of mine were cut at the edge of the paper,

so the petals weren't intact on some.} Then, pierce

both flowers through the center and stick into

your styrofoam ball. Like so..

Then stick another flower under the edge of the

bottom flower, layering the petals so no white shows 

through. Like this.

Then put another flower with the petals sticking out

on top. Repeat all over the ball. It's really 

very simple. But if you have any questions, just

e-mail me! :)

These make great spring decorations! But you can

use any colors you want or even patterned paper

to leave up all year round or change our each season!
Put them on candle holders like I did, or on top of 
a vase! A lot of people put them in a pretty 
bowl, but I didn't have one. LOL. :)
I hope y'all have fun making these!

Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In

Of course I'm late doing this. I got my email with the new questions yesterday, but lost track of time and didn't get to do it before bed. Then, I overslept this morning. I went into the living room and the front door was completely unlocked! So feel free to come kill Whitney anytime J has to work. Apparently he doesn't like our stuff or me that much. {I'm over exaggerating, but I feel really uncomfortable now after waking up to the door unlocked.}
Anywho... here's this week's questions:

1.What are some  of your ideas for staying connected with family...you know, those people we moved thousands of miles away from? submitted by Live it. Love it (or not). Write About It.

 My entire family lives in two counties that are side by side. LOL. So I don't exactly know how to answer this. We stay in touch by texting, calling and visiting our family. LOL. J's parents live in Florida and he talks on the phone to them often. 

2. What's the most romantic gift you have GIVEN? submitted by Painting My Canvas
I think the deck of playing cards I made for J for Valentine's Day was pretty romantic. 

3. Would you encourage your child, if they came to you and wanted to join the military?  submitted by Perfectly Imperfect
Of course! I would be proud of my {future} kids no matter what carreer they chose. 

4. What is your least favorite bill to pay and why? submitted by A Little of This, A Little of That
We haven't gotten any of our bills at our new place right now, but before, my least favorite bill was the cellphone bill. It's just too expensive. $110 a month for two phones. Mine has unlimited texting and media package. J's just has texting and we share 450 minutes. {Most of which he uses.}

5. What is the proudest moment you've had as a military spouse?  submitted by Our Okinawa Life
Watching J stand in formation at the Deployment ceremony and walking with him through the airport. And seeing him again at the Homecoming ceremony. 

Wordless Wednesday

Random Tuesday Thoughts: Where did this come from?

Random Tuesday Thoughts is brought to you by Keely, The Un Mom. To participate, check out her blog and leave a comment. Then link up your random Tuesday post! Start randomizing!

• Believe it or not, we're completely unpacked. Well... we're completely unpacked with what we want to have unpacked. We left all the junk we didn't know what to do with, with the organization fairies in the storage unit. 
• Sabrina snores.
• Jeremy rode his new bike to work today and now it is raining.
• Every morning this week and last, I have gotten up before 8 and this morning I slept until 9.
• We agreed to not let Sabrina on the furniture. {Mainly because the couch is white and Sabrina is black.} 
• This morning I let Sabrina get on the bed while I was sleeping. I'm going to say I didn't know she was there...
• The only thing I accomplished yesterday, was washing one load of jeans. {Perhaps later I'll tell you why.}
• I'm currently working on a craft to decorate the house, instead of making the bed.
• I've never really understood why we even make the bed, since we'll be messing it up when we go to sleep anyway.
• The lady who lives above us washes laundry every morning at 5 am.
• My Mama and I think she is OCD. How can one person have so much laundry?? Maybe her dog is dirty...a lot.
• Did I tell y'all I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism? I despise taking pills. I despise needles even more. So having to take pills everyday and get my blood drawn every month is quite annoying. 
• On the other hand, it's a great thing to know why I can put a check next to 90% of the symptoms listed for hypothyroidism.
• I'm thinking of vegging on the couch today and watching The Gilmore Girls...all day. 
• Jeremy's work week this week will be 40 hours long. Then he has drill Saturday and Sunday. It's going to be a very long week.
• Next week will be a 72-hour work week. Yep...that's 12-hours a day, 6 days a week. *Sigh* At least it's better than Afghanistan!
• While unpacking, we discovered things we didn't even know we had! We immediately started a box for donation. I'm sure there's someone out there that will buy that broken candleholder and the wedding album from the 60's. {I was totally going to keep the album until I realized we are never going to get that woman who took our wedding pictures, to send the pics to us...}
• I found a basket full of mis-matched socks. Donate those bad boys! People need socks!
• I woke up yesterday to a sore throat and stuffy nose. We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to look around and all of the scent packets made my eyes water and nose run. I sneezed at least 47 times just walking through the store. Now I have a full-blown cold. Thank you allergies.
• I'm on the phone with the AT&T guy to find out why we don't have our modem for internet yet. I am currently borrowing internet from an unsuspecting neighbor. { What? They should have it secured!}
• When J came home from Afghanistan, the Yellow Ribbon Program had a ceremony for them. J got a Defender of Freedom Ring and several other awards. They gave me a really pretty clock for the mantle {that we don't have}. It currently is an hour behind and chimes 2 hours behind. J put it together, and now we know why...
• The AT&T guy tried to sell me some more of their services. I felt bad telling him we decided to go with someone else as far as satellite goes. 
• J took a big chunk out of the corner of a wall in the spare bedroom while he was moving a small side table. I think we'll just wait til we're moving out to have it fixed. lol.
• While we were putting our entertainment center thingy together, I was trying to open the package with the screws and I stabbed myself with J's Leatherman Tool knife. I feel like it went through the muscle. 
• Our internet box thingy won't be here until tomorrow, since, as of 4am this morning, it was in Mesquite, Texas.
• That's all the random I can muster on my lazy day. Check back the other days of the week to see the rest of my randomness.

Six Word Saturday

Can't believe how

much we accomplished!

We're done unpacking! Well, pretty much anyway.

And it's only been four days since we moved in!

AND, we have house-guests! Jeremy's Mom and Dad are

staying with us this weekend.

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday like we 

are! It's so beautiful here and it's finally warm

again. Last night was 34°F and today it's 72°F!
Have a great 6WS and a great weekend altogether!

Don't forget to visit Cate at Show My Face,
link up and join in on Six Word Saturday!

We're Ho-ome!

We are officially in our new apartment! 

J found out for sure he had the job Friday and 

Monday morning we drove up to Anniston to 

put in our application for an apartment.

While we were there, we asked to see another

set of apartments just in case they were

a better location for us. And they were!

The manager said she liked me so much and 

thought I was such a sweetheart that it was 

the only reason she leased the apartment to us!!

{ I'm glad I made a great first impression! }

Because J is the only one with a job right now, the

apartment application for the other place had to 

be put under his name. Therefore, his credit was run

and since his is so bad, that company told

the manager {our now landlord} here that she

shouldn't rent to us!!!

I'm so glad she did! J starts work on the 14th!!

After we filled out all the paper work, we called

to have the power and the water in our name. Then on the way home, we stopped by a U-haul rental place to reserve a truck

J reserved a 17-foot truck, but they didn't have it

when we went to pick it up, so they upgraded us for free

to a 26-foot truck!! It was ridiculously long. 

We headed to Mama's house and loaded up our 2 beds

and the washer and dryer. Then we went to the storage

unit to get everything there. Then we went back to Mama's

to get the small stuff and the bookshelves. { Of course

I kept them out of storage while J was deployed. I had to

have somewhere to put all the books I bought while he was

gone! LOL } But we were so tired when we got home, {It was 

after 1 am} we just blew up the air mattress and went

to bed. 

J let me sleep in, so I didn't get up until 10:30.

We got to work immediately and had almost everything 

packed up to leave by 1:30. When we got to the apartment

a little after 2:30, we started unloading as fast

as we could so that J's friend Joe wouldn't be so 

overwhelmed when he got her to help with the big stuff.

Thank God for Joe, because my back was killing me!!

We were done unloading the truck by 5:30, but had

to reload some stuff to take to our new storage unit.

While J was putting the stuff in the storage unit,

I unloaded the breakable stuff from the car.

As soon as I got to the storage unit to follow J

to the drop-off location for the U-haul, it started

to rain!! It was a miracle that we got done so quickly!

If it hadn't been for Joe, we would have had a lot

of wet stuff! :P

Right now, J is gone to get some Chinese food for lunch.

We got up at 8am, and I was going to make some 

cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but our stove wasn't 

plugged in! J pulled it out to see why it wasn't

plugged in, and the cord doesn't match the outlet!

So, we have to go for 2-3 days without a stove

until our brand new stove gets here!! I'm excited. :)

I've almost finished unpacking the kitchen stuff.

I'm having to wash everything since it has all been

in storage for almost 2 years. It doesn't seem like that

long, but I guess it has been! I forgot I had so many 

utensils and bowls. LOL. AND, we had over 25 plastic cups!

You can tell we were still newlyweds when we packed up all

that stuff, because nothing matches! LOL.

Oh well. We plan to replace a lot of it anyway.

Well, that's what's going on right now. Hopefully

we'll have Internet and satellite by the end of the 

week and I can blog for real!

Hope y'all are having a great week!