Defining My Own Perception, Birthday Edition!

In honor of MY Birthday, I will share how I define my own perception!

Isn't it great that my birthday is falling on a Wednesday??

As you all know, it was hard for me to divulge where I work.
It's not that I'm embarrassed by it, but some people think that I should be. "Why don't you get a real job?" "Do you like getting disrespected by men?" "Have you ever heard of the feminist movement?" "How old are you again?" I've heard them all.

I laugh it off, and this is why:

+ My job does not define me.

+ I make in one day, what some people make in a week.

+ I am never bored at work.

+ I only work an average of 30 hours per week.
+ I make my own schedule and can take off whenever I want.
+ I get paid to travel and it's always a "girls trip".

+ I win extra money for just wearing a bikini.
+ I have been able to transfer every time we move, which is conducive to our military lifestyle.

+ My hubby is proud of me.

Honestly, most people are surprised that Will isn't phased by me working there, but I am blessed to have a husband that is secure with himself and our relationship.
Speaking of which...Here is what does define me:

My Marriage.

Our little family <3

Supporting my soldier.

My love for travel.

And simply having as much fun in life as I possibly can.

When I talked to my dad the other day, he made sure to rub it in that I'm getting old. Not that 27 is that old in the grand scheme of things, but as my dad so politely pointed out, it's getting close to 30. I'm happy that I'm one of those that believes that 30 is the new 20, and I DEFINITELY think that I am now getting to my prime. To be honest...I'd like to think that there is no "downhill from here". If perception really is everything, then I'm priming for my prime until I'm 90. Well, why not?

All that matters to me is that I have this man by my side for the rest of my days:

I know they say you musn't be defined by a man...but I'm not.

I'm defined by the greatest love I have ever witnessed in my life.

I happen to think that is the best thing you can hope to ever be defined by.

Happy Halloween to all of you, and I can't wait to see all the recaps.

Lover, In case I don't get to talk to you today, I love you and thanks for finding all the little ways to make my birthday special. You never cease to amaze me, and I love you with all of my heart!

I'm ALIVE!

I am happy to say that we fared Sandy quite well!
We didn't even lose power, and I just hope to hear good news from all of you, as well.
In other good news, go check out the giveaway on Living In Yellow! There are 28 fabulous prizes, so you don't want to miss out. I can't put the link, because I am having limited internet capabilities, but you can find Erin's button on my sidebar. I'm assuming you probably already know her fabulousness, but if not...RUN and check her out!

I also hope you all have your costumes ready, but just in case, here's a little more inspiration from my fave fashionista! Now it's time for my vacation to really kick off, and Kelly is kind enough to take over for the day. What would I do without you GF?

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hellllllllo loves & Happy Halloween!!! so while Janna is off celebrating her birthday I'm here today to get you all in the spirit for Halloween tomorrow!!! Some of you might already know me but for those of you who don't - I'm Kelly & I write a fashion & lifestyle blog called Messy.Dirty.Hair. 

I love celebrating the holidays...any holiday. Halloween happens to be one of my favorites. However, at the age I am at now - 27 - I feel like we don't get to participate in all the fun of Halloween like we used too. I trick -or-treated alllllll the way up until I had to leave for college. I know a lot of people stop when they reach high school but I kept going. To be honest, I still would if people didn't ask me my age. I don't understand why there needs to be an age limit to trick-or-treating. But anyways I have had a lot of really fun Halloweens...so I'm just going to take you down Halloween memory lane -----> 

oh yes that's a paint on mustache 

Don't you just love my junky 80's Minnie Mouse Costume? I was only 3 years old here circa 1988

Sorry for the bad picture quality - i had to take a picture of a picture

again bad picture quality - this was 4th grade, I am in the middle - I was Pebbles Flintstone

Sooo fast forward to college & Halloween is even more fun because it's a whole weekend of Halloween which means-----> multi-costumes!! I remember we would celebrate Halloween for 3-4 days. And for each party I had a different costume. 

And we all know Halloween is the one time when we can get away with the 'sexy' costumes. Everything always ends up sexy - sexy doctor, sexy pumpkin, sexy race car driver. It always cracks me up. 

One thing though is my mom would never let me spend a lot of money on Halloween costumes when I was younger. I hated her for it. But I realized as I got older I was glad she made me be more creative because in college I never bought anything, I just made costumes with what I had or what friends had. Take a peek --->

'sexy' captain hook 

so totally 80s

'sexy' boy scout

not really sexy cowgirl...& i hated this costume btw. nothing about me is country.


So when I got a boyfriend of course I made him and I dress as a pair.....& by the way, if he knew this photo of him was on a public site he would kill me so shhhhh

Captain Hook & Peter Pan

& then of course the next year I had to change it up a little bit. I hate repeating costumes...but the BF stayed the same except we got a legitimate Peter Pan hat from Disneyland

Tinkerbell & Peter Pan

And now because I have had to work every Halloween I just went with a simple Cat costume 

so proud of our pumpkin carving skills

'sexy' cat


However my favorite thing about Halloween is seeing all the little kiddos all dressed up. I happen to babysit the cutest kids EVER, so last Halloween we had a mini costume photo shoot

Ladybug, Cat, Mr. Incredible

Ladybug had a costume change - she's a bunny! 

So I hope you all enjoyed a little trip down Halloween memory lane!...& even if you have to work on Halloween still dress up! I don't think we are ever too old to dress up!!! 

& before I go ---- HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY JANNA!!!!! I hope you're having the best birthday!!! 

& just a little note to all of you ---- don't forget to wish Janna a HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow...or else Dolce the cop will come & get you 

The story behind this picture can be found HERE

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How freakin' cute is Dolce the cop?
Seriously, check out the story. Dolce is famous!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for taking over today, Kelly!
You flatter me, and have helped to make my Birthday month one of the best ever. As have all of you, as a matter of fact. {Insert melting heart} I don't know what I would do without this little blog and all of you. Catch ya tomorrow when I'm one year older ;)

Hurricane Time

HEY, hey!

Checking in from the East Coast, and yes, I am still on vacay in spite of Hurricane Sandy.

Crazy, I know.

If you want to see pictures and shenanigans from this weekend catch up on Twitter and @jrbogert for Instagram. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to link you to Instagram because I only recently realized that it's more than just a photo editor, but I'm sure you all know what you are doing ;)

I have a treat for you tomorrow, so see ya then!

Oh, and wish us luck for the hurricane!

I'd love it if we don't lose power.

Or flood.

PSSSST: You have until Friday to sign up for the Christmas Swap!

P.S. Excuse any mistakes this week, because I'm blogging with limited capabilities. Vacation problems ;)

Happy Zombie Hunting!

I know I threw everyone for a loop when I shared this picture:

But I just had to wait for the rest of the pictures before I could really explain.

I got to be a part of one of the coolest photo shoots that I have ever done, and it was just in time for Halloween!

My girlfriend Valerie is a very talented hair and makeup artist, so when she asked me to be a part of this zombie shoot for Colorado Mountain Man Survival, saying no was out of the question.

They were going for a Sucker Punch look, and of course I was pegged as the blonde chick with the pigtails. I guess I pulled it off, but I'll let you be the judge.

Pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am so thankful to have worked with some AMAZING people. Jason, Valerie, and Definitive Photography will always have my back when we fight zombies ;)

Now before I take off on vacay, let me reveal our TWO winners!

#1 The overall giveaway

Congrats to Kate @ Daffodil's!
I adore her, so I was so excited when her name was picked! Although, I would have been excited no matter who got picked. You absolutely deserve it girl, and thanks for entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#2 Kait from Gridiron Lipstick is the winner of the Costume Contest!

Thanks to those of you that voted for me, even though I wasn't in the running ;)



Now it's vacation time!
There will not be interrupted programming, so see you Monday :)

Weiser Has Something To Say

I have officially begun the process of welcoming Will home.

Tuesday night I attended a Redeployment Briefing, which sounds so official, and yet confusing. Everyone keeps asking if he is deploying again, since it says "redeployment", but the definitions is simply: "Assign (troops, employees, or resources) to a new place or task."
Fear not, he is still coming home!

That would be my friend Jami. Our soldiers are besties, and luckily we love each other as well. We were both excited about this meeting and took great notes, even though we might have gotten a few glances from the Captain for our giggle fests. Hey, we were excited and couldn't help it.

The things they talk about:
Financial info, as our pay and taxes will change.
Approximate dates of the returns.
Rundown of the Homecoming Ceremonies.
Reintegration training.
How to treat the soldiers upon return.

The last one was actually the most important to me. This is obviously my first deployment (and Will's), so this is a very new and intimidating situation. He is pretty safe on the FOB, but the soldiers are used to playing by their own rules over there, treating every inanimate article like it could be dangerous, living on the edge full of adrenaline, and being surrounded by their "brothers" (using that as a unisex term, Tabitha). It was nice to learn a few things to help them acclimate. Such as, they aren't supposed to drive for the first 48 hours, no going to Walmart or any place with too much action, making sure they eat healthy to fuel their body/brain, and yet we can't make it feel like they are being told what to do.

For example:
Will was talking about going out of town as soon as he gets back, and somehow I just knew that was not a good idea. I want to bring him home, feed him some yummy food, reconsumate our relationship, and relax. Definitely think this is the appropriate plan of action.

I'm just ecstatic that we are able to start planning for their return!
*kjs;ldfj;adjfg;sdfg;sdfg;ljdlgjsdlgjldgj*
With the meetings, getting the house extra clean and organized, and my upcoming trips, I'm hoping I can make the time we have left fly by. Speaking of extra trips, Weiser has something to say about all of this, so I'll turn it over to him.

Hi guys,

I heard that mom told on me.

What she didn't tell you is that those shoes were in the outgoing pile.
I didn't know that she was going to sell them. I thought they were fair game.

I think I've pushed mom over the edge recently, though.

She took the shoe thing pretty well, but when I peed in the house...let's just say I saw fire in her eyes. (Don't worry, she didn't punish me. She just gave me the look. You know the "look".)

I'm glad she figured out that all of this was stress related. I was just as stressed as she was about the roofers the other day, and I had to deal with it for three days. She was only home for one.

The other reason for all of this is dad. We both miss him.

Not that mom doesn't take good care of me, but I push her buttons because I know I can get away with it. I get away with murder because she hasn't figured out how to be "alpha".
Teehee. Ruffruff.

The good news is that mom is putting me on drugs.
My foster mom told mom about doggie valium, and now I'm flyin' high.
Hopefully, she keeps me on this stuff.

Dear mom,
I promise to be a good boy at Aunt Manda's.
My little cousins always keep me entertained, so I won't have time to get in trouble.
Just make sure you send the drugs. Just in case.
I'll miss you while you are visiting Aunt Dani.
Love you!
-We Man (What Aunt Manda calls me)

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Has anyone else tried Valerian Root for themselves or for their pets?
Weiser's foster mom is training to be a vet and she gives it to her dog.  When I told her about Weiser's freak out, she said that I should pick some up. I've only given it to him a few times, and haven't seen any crazy reaction, but he's not freaking out either. I just want him to be calm and stress free while I'm gone, so at this point...I'll try anything.

Read more about Valerian Root a.k.a. Herbal Valium if you are interested.

Define your own Perception, Living In Yellow!

This is going to be cheesy and so 6th grade...
but today I have been married for two and one half years.
Yep, I'm that person that gets excited about the half-iversarys, we celebrate our first date anniversary, our official BF/GF anniversary, and of course our wedding anniversary. Basically, we just like to celebrate our love.

A few fun statistics:
We got engaged on our two year anniversary.
We eloped two months later.
We announced our elopement one month after that.
Our families still haven't met.
We have been separated 20+months out of 57 total.
I have spent four out of five of his Birthdays with him.
He has spent two out of five with me.
In spite of, (or perhaps because of?) we are stronger than 90% of the relationships I come across. Yes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, but only if you are in love and strong enough  to endure.

You know who else makes a cute couple?
Erin and her hubby from Living In Yellow!


I am SO happy that she is visiting us today, because she happens to be on my list of top five bloggers EVER. I love her just that much, and I can promise you will too.

I used to think...that to be succesful I had to wear pencil skirts, be my own boss, and have unlimited income potential.

Now I know...that pencil skirts can be very uncomfortable, being my own boss really just means I would be spending way too much money at Target on the reg, and a steady paycheck is a pretty comfortable way to live.

People see me as...somebody who is outgoing, laid back, and doesn't know how to get mad.

But I hope that they know...that I am raging with anger on the inside. That is a joke people. I hope that they know that while on the outside I may be cool, calm, and collect, sometimes on the inside I feel anything but.

I blog because...I find it highly entertaining. It's a great creative outlet, a nice way to make some cash money motto, and an ever greater way to get to know some amazeballs people.

Speaking of...I'd love to meet you.

Stop over and say hello.

Please?

...And I've officially started begging.

 
Let me tell you, homegirl hates doing guest posts, so I'm VERY happy that she went all out for this one. It makes me feel very special, as have all the Perception Is Everything girls. I can't even explain what you have all meant to me. Tear. I feel like a proud momma ;)

Erin, thanks so much for visiting, and Hubby...Happy 2.5 years, lover.
Best 2.5 years of my life. Hands down. Deployment and all.