Happy Turkey Day!

I know we are all thinking turkey, but really, let's take time this weekend to be thankful. Not for the settlers stealing the land from the Indians, but for the fact that if you are reading this...we make up 8% of the world. Let this soak in:

via

I really am thankful for a lot of things {Mapquest, coffee, my hunky hubby, family, friends that become family, all of YOU} but mostly because I will be spending Thanksgiving in paradise with the in-loves...Hello, white sandy beaches. I need you in my life.

But in all seriousness...I hope you all REALLY enjoy that turkey! I'll have mine in sandwich form smothered with stuffing and gravy laden potatoes, all followed by pumpkin pie. YUM.

It's Christmas Card Time!

As per usual, I need help deciding which picture(s) for the Christmas card this year. I thought about taking some holiday themed too, but life has been too busy and these will have to do. What'cha think? I need at least one 'winner', maybe two.

~1~

~2~

~3~

~4~

~5~

PS. We made it through the Bazaar, and exceeded our fundraising goal {thank you sweet baby Jeesus}, but that update will have to wait. I spent aaaall day Sunday recovering from the insanity, and I'm just oh so glad it's over. Maybe...just maybe, life will get back to normal.

Happy Thanksgiving week!

My $20 Tattoo

Considering we've spent about $600 on one tattoo {Will's sidepiece}, we understand the importance of investing in something that will be on our bodies forever. You most definitely get what you pay for, so normally I would run from someone that offered me a $20 session, however, when you throw the word charity at me...my interest is piqued.

I heard Prodigal Son Tattoo was raising money for the Wiregrass Children's Home, so I immediately text Joel, my most tattoo'd friend, and said "Let's GOO!"  {You can feel bad for Will because he had to stay home and study. Such a good boy!}

We put our names on the list and before we knew it we were on the tables. I'd be lying if I didn't feel anxiety like an uptight Aubrey from Pitch Perfect, but it was totally worth the adrenaline rush. Even with a limited list of tattoo options, I knew I was going to love it if for no other reason than the badass story we were going to have.

On top of it all, Chilly our artist, added color to my anchor and put the heart on my arch fo' free! I had a tiny little heart there from many moons ago, and he just dove in and updated it. If you include the free shirts they gave us and door prizes, it's almost like they paid us to get tattoos, AND it was all for a good cause. Anywho, normally I recommend RUNNING from anyone who offers you a $20 tattoo, but I guess sometimes it's okay.

Wish me luck on the Bazaar! We're gonna need it.

Let's Play A Game

And let's call said game 'Blog Comment Love'. Although it should really be called "I've stretched myself too thin, and can't keep up with my life."

The rules are simple. You comment on this post, and I promise I will comment on your blog within a week. If you know me, you know that means I will catch up on your blog and comment at least a few times. I know this probably seems like a shameless request for comments, but I really just need an easy way to catch up on blog reading, and I'd rather read the blogs that I actually have relationships with. Those of you that read and don't comment, this could also be a chance to speak up too. Say hi, ask questions, tell me your favorite Christmas tradition, share a link to a post you want me to read- whatever your little heart desires.

Just don't forget to check if you are a 'no-reply commentor', so that I actually can reply/find you, and know that I will comment more if you don't have word verification on. Otherwise I get frustrated and click the red x. If you don't know what these things are, you are probably guilty. I will forgive you if you fix them ;) Ahem Carrie cough you are guilty of both.

You live and learn!

My Three Favorite Words

If you've ever been or ever will be around Will and I, you will probably hear us say 'I love you' ten-fifteen times...in an hour. Well maybe not that many, but we do say it quite often and in spite of people claiming that it cheapens the meaning by overusing it.

NEWSFLASH:

YOU CAN'T OVERUSE I LOVE YOU.

The trick is that each time you say it, you have to truly love the intended more than the last time you said it. For me that's easy, because every day I wake up and am surprised to find my heart harboring more love than it did they day before. I know it sounds like a fairy tale, but after four and a half years of  marriage I'm starting to believe that fairy tales are real. With love, compassion, and humility anything is possible.

We also use it as a sort of love language. Sometimes we say I love you at the end of a conversation, with a question mark at the end to ask if everything's okay, definitely before we go to bed, and most importantly...when we are in a fight. Those three little words really are the most powerful in any language and can reduce a fight to nothing in the blink of an eye. I guess you could say it is an implement for peace in a world full of sticks and stones.

"Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I love you." Tell your family, your friends, tell a stranger by simply sharing a smile. Just believe that it is impossible to overuse I love you as long as you mean it, and in case no one tells you today...I love YOU! Mean it ;)

Holiday Bucket List

+ Put up a REAL tree. We don't need it to be all Rockefeller Center up in here, but we've never had a real, honest to goodness tree. 

+ Decorate the exterior with lights, which would be another first for us. It may happen this weekend, but it's pretty frigid these days. I'll just have to ply Will with lots of spirits.

+ Make it through our Annual FRCSC Hollyday Bazaar. I mean, it's going to be Ah-Mazing, but considering I'm in charge of publicity, I'll be happy when it's over and I know I didn't fail. Hope, hope I didn't fail. I'm doing the best I can, but a month is not enough time to promote one of the biggest Bazaars in this area.

+ Visit the local Holiday Spectacular Park.

+ Christmas movies until my eyeballs fall out. My faves:
Miracle On 34th Street
Love Actually
One Magic Christmas
The family Stone
It's a Wonderful Life
...And every other sappy, lovey dovey, holiday movie there is.

Most Importantly...We want to soak in every joyous moment with friends and family. Our time here is going to be over before we know it, and we most definitely won't be here for the holidays next year, so it's time to party like it's our last holiday season ever.

Will Says The Darndest Things, Part II

I'm STILL full from all the food for Veteran's Day, but it was all worth it! I had the distinguished honor of chauffeuring these four fools Veterans around, including Carrie from Team O'Connor, and we had a BLAST. We hit Chili's, La Parilla, and Beef O'Brady's, and I'm pretty sure we made the most of the day. Did I mention I'm still full?

Although, the highlight of the day had nothing to do with the holiday. Will tried to play a prank on me, and he almost succeeded. Mind you, his goal was to have the cops at our house questioning me, but you will have to read through and I'll explain that at the end. Enjoy the second edition of 'Will Says The Darndest Things'!

Will: I can't talk to you when you're like this...
Me: When I'm right, you mean?
Will: Well, duh.

Will: I don't like her hair.
Me: It's Ombre
Will: I don't know what the eff that is, but if it doesn't come with salsa & nachos I don't want it.

Will: Go get me meatloaf, woman! Publix is still open.
Me: Really? You are going to be demanding when I spent all damn day working on your damn dinner and taking care of your damn dog?
Will: All I'm hearing is that you are being MY damn good housewife.
The next night we had meatloaf.

And for the pièce de résistance, I asked Will to deliver some Christmas decorations I sold to a fellow military spouse, and this is what transpired...

SMH...Only my husband- my wonderful, ridiculous, veteran.  I hope he always keeps me laughing like this, but I'd prefer if the pranks didn't lead to possible police investigations.

My Veteran

It's 10:15pm, and I'm just starting this blog post. I swear I really was planning on starting it this morning, but I woke up sick. Then I was going to work on it this afternoon, and the dog distracted me because he's having heart problems {super sad face}. Finally, I planned on starting when Will went to sleep, but he fell asleep on me. Not that that's unusual, it's just that he usually rolls off after fifteen- twenty minutes. An hour and a half later...

I can't even tell you how many pictures I have of him like this. Several appear throughout my Instagram already, and I'm sure there are more to come. We've spent so many nights apart in the last almost seven years, that I still appreciate every moment of snuggles, and I hope it never gets old.

I've been a little sick off and on this week, and he's made me meals in bed, doted on me, and helped around the house. We have our 'moments' just like any other couple, but I can't be anything but thankful for my Prince Charming. If I wasn't already, I'd totally marry him again.

Well, now that this has gone completely off tangent, I will go ahead and wish a Happy Veteran's Day to all the Vets out there. You are all pretty great, but he's my fave.

Hope you all have a Happy Veteran's Day, and eat lots of yummy food. We've mapped out our meals based on the specials in the area, and I'm feeling pretty confident that our guys are going to be FAT and happy afterwards. It seems like an odd way to celebrate, but hey...I'm not here to argue when it comes to free food. Speaking of, remember that your food may be free, but the service isn't. Don't forget to tip and for gosh sakes don't be a cheap @ss. Secondly, for all the military spouses- DON'T get all offended when establishments don't give you free food. YOU weren't the one living in a dessert, eating MRE's, crawling with bugs, and in danger. I'm not saying it wasn't hard, but this is NOT your day. Mmmmmkay?

I don't care what those viral posts say, thank a Veteran!
PS. If you are a Blog Designer or interested in sending Care Packages to soldiers, I have TWO female Veterans that you can support. Please let me know if you are interested, and I will be happy to work with you!

I'm Feeling the Effects Of The Holidays...Already

I don't know about you, but I'm really feelin' the effects of all the candy and sweets from last week. I kept telling myself, "You'll have time to work it off before family pictures at Thanksgiving", and now I'm regretting that. Especially since I'm limited in my workouts with tendinitist in my wrist AND a new tattoo on my foot which impedes my running.

Birthday tattoo!!

A photo posted by Janna renee (@jrbogert) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:40pm PDT

In the nick of time, sweet Meghan told me about a #21 Day Challenge she is hosting with Herbalife, and she generously said that we could jump in late. So I'm wondering who wants to do it with me? It's basically for anyone wanting accountability while developing a new habit.  It's super simple-- order a container of Formula 1 (Meal Replacement Shake) in your favorite flavor, and then snap a photo of you + your shake DAILY for 21 days and share it on social media with the hashtag #alive21dayshakechallenge or just tag Meghan in it as proof. If we complete all 21 days, we will a) lose those sneaky lbs. and b) receive a coupon code for a discount off our next purchase. They are already $1.59 a shake waaaayyy less than shakeology, so a discount on top of that is pure insanity.

If you really want to go all in, Meg has a four week weight loss challenge buy-in that you can do with or without purchasing a dang thing!  It would be $35 to enter and $30 goes into a pot to be split among the winners. You get FREE nutritional info three times/week, weekly weigh ins, and you can lose the weight ANY way you want. They even have a sweet BMI/Protein Calculator that can tell you EXACTLY what you need to do to lose weight, and if you talk to Meg she has so many resources to help us. Who doesn't love free nutrition advice?

For me, it was a toss up between Pumpkin Spice and Pralines & Cream, which are the two most popular limited editions. In the end, I knew I could make a LOT of yummy recipes with the Pralines, so that's what I picked. Normally, I prefer whey protein {which they have} for after workout, but as a meal replacement, soy protein works just fine and that's what I was going for.

I can already say, I do NOT regret my decision. I haven't even gotten to all the recipes I found on Pinterest, and I'm already loving it. Exhibit A, is the Caramel Apple smoothie I whipped up. Tell me that doesn't sound like heaven. Having delicious options AND good nutrition that helps you with your goals feels like cheating.

Okay, so let me know if you are in. I need some amigos for inspiration, and helping you stay motivated is the best motivation for me. I'm willing to go above and beyond to help anyone that joins us, and Meg is AWESOME when it comes to this stuff. Email her IMMEDIATELY if you want to do the #21daychallenge, or just email her if you have any questions <megiles09@gmail.com>. I guarantee she will hook you up.

"You (c/o 2004) Are Going To Hell In A Handbasket"

I was ten minutes late after driving the two hours home, but compared to everyone else, I was half an hour early. I'm pretty sure they didn't want to be awkwardly sitting there like I did, although they didn't realize that it made it easier for people to come to me, which was waaay less awkward. I knew I would recognize those I've stayed close with or have on Facebook, but I was so thankful that we had name tags for the rest. Supposedly seeing how everyone has changed is the fun part...I think not.

The funny thing was that I felt like we fell through a time warp and we were eighteen again. We all looked the same, we are still looking to find ourselves, and there was just something magical about reuniting in our home town. We've all known each other for the better part of our lives, so it's only natural to pick up where we left off.

Before I get too mushy gushy, dinner at The Fish House was amazing, but the real fun was the 'after party'. We were a few complimentary cocktails deep, and then it was party time! I'm pretty sure all reunions should end with a pub crawl around all the old haunts.

I must say, though, there was one big downside of the night. As you might have guessed, I was missing my best asset to show off, and that would be Will. Due to many unforeseen circumstances he had to stay home, but he still managed to be there in spirit...

Ten years ago, our delightful Principal Eaton, aka Nettie, told us that we were going straight to Hell in a handbasket. I can't remember what caused her to bestow her 'wisdom' on us, but it was probably because each generation loses hope in the next at times. I just wish I could look good ol' Nettie in the eye, and say haters gon' hate.