Brain Dump: I Might Break Up With My iPhone

GASP! Is it so?
I have been an iPhone user for about four years, and iPod user for 10+ years, and an Apple user since back in the day when we called them 'Macs', but I have been seriously disappointed with all the software glitches, updates, and poor picture quality of the 5S that was supposed to be 'soooo much better'. I don't know if I'll pull the trigger come upgrade time in June, but I need y'alls opinion on the the 6, 6+, and any other phone that you guys use, love, and/or hate. I'm down to the upgrade deadline, so HELP! Hashtagfirstworldproblems

+ Check out the Volunteer Coin I got. Sorry to keep bringing this whole volunteer thing up, but it's been a whirlwind of a year and I'm very thankful to end on this positive note with all these perks I never thought I'd get and I most certainly won't be getting next year. HashtagMerica

+  This week has been focused on the changing table and crib bumper. I kept changing my mind which fabric I wanted to use for the interior of the bumper, but I finally pulled the trigger with the more subdued pattern on the left. I would let you guess, but I wouldn't want you all to vote for the floral pattern on the right and then second guess myself. Hopefully I can call it done come tomorrow. Eek! I'm so close to being done with all the nursery 'projects'!

+ Cajun Chicken Pasta is one of my faves of all time, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a bowl full of $0.30 pasta. The other day, I figured it was about time I tried to make some myself where it was cost efficient, I  control the seasonings, and most importantly, I could have a ton of chicken and veggies accompanied by pasta instead a pile of pasta two bites of chicken.
**I apologize to those of you that want a bloggerific recipe in the perfect format and font, but it's much easier for me to write it out how I cook it, and this is for me to remember as much as it is to share. Here's another recipe option for the ones that need more direction. ;)

Chicken Breast (2 or more)
Red and Green Bell Pepper
Red Onion
1 1/2-2 C. Cooked WHOLE GRAIN Pasta
2Tbsp Butter
1 C. Heavy Cream or Milk
1/2 C. Parmesan
1/2 C. Sour Cream
Blackened Seasoning to taste. I probably used a half C. in total...
Chopped Green Onion for garnish
Sub or add Chicken Stock for all or part of the cream to lighten it up. Just don't get rid of the cheese or sour cream, though, or you will regret it.

The great thing is that this recipe is customizable. With chicken/without, more veggies/veggies of your choice, season to your taste, and even cook it how it works for you. You can saute your chicken and veggies in EVOO and Blackened Seasoning, but I really recommend lighting up the good ol' grill. You will get a much smokier flavor, use less oil, and your husband will be proud. To grill, coat chicken and veggies {separate bowls} with Blackened Seasoning/EVOO. Cook chicken directly on grill and five minutes later you can throw the veggies on in a grill basket. You will want to flip the chicken halfway through (when the skin separates from the grill making it easy to flip) and try to stir the veggies periodically so they don't over char.

You should probably start the sauce before grilling if you are going that route, but if you are sauteing the chicken, feel free to make this a one pot dish and cook the sauce in the same pan using the heavy cream to deglaze the pan. In a large skillet, heat up some butta' and then pour in Heavy Cream, Parmesan, Sour Cream, and as much blackened seasoning as your little heart desires {just remember- you can always add more, but you can't subtract}. You can also add a tsp or two of sugar or sweetener of your choice if you want to add some depth as it cooks. It won't take long to meld the flavors, so toss in your pasta and veggies when done, mix to coat, and then serve with chicken and green onion garnish on top.

My last question for today: Has anyone tried ordering form Target this week? I've had nothing but trouble with their online site no matter which browser I try to use and it's frustrating the ish out of me. It may be because they are having a big baby sale, but either way I just want to order stuff and give them money. Why then, do they make it SOOOOO difficult.

Thanks for letting me brain dump! Anything on your mind?

From Helicopter Crash To Family Day

A while back, I mentioned our friend Joel was in a helicopter crash. It had been his second day of training and really made us all question flight school. Well six months later, he made it through physical therapy, got his head right, and finished Primary. He had his Family Day on Friday, and I am extremely happy that I got to be there to support him.

He spent most of his time flying around to showcase his new skills doing things like 'Autorotational Descents' where they legit fall out of the sky {giving everyone watching a heart attack} and then come in for a landing, while we toured the airfield, played in the tower, and I got to sit in my FIRST helicopter!! Hard to believe, I know.

It was a heck of an afternoon, but I'm sooo happy the rest of the weekend was solely dedicated to hanging out with Will and enjoying some much needed relaxation. We did venture out to try a new Mexican restaurant, but my Chimichanga was meh, so I don't wanna go back. If you can't fry shredded chicken and tortillas correctly, then you can't call yourself Mexican. Such a waste of calories, and then I had to have a bowl of froyo when I got home to make myself feel better about that major letdown. I know this logic happens to be illogical, and yet I don't care.

I hope you all have a great week!

As If I Could Be Anymore Proud...

Well, I'm glad that y'all are just as excited about this new adventure as I am. Technically, I just got promoted from SAHW to SAHM, so I'm gonna get a pay raise, right Will?

But seriously...this has been the craziest two weeks of my life. Find out we are pregnant, close on a house, blindsided with the news that we were 19 weeks pregnant, AND we had Will's Selection Ceremony. Most of you know that he is in Flight School for the Army, and up until now he has been learning to fly helicopters in general. This week, they released the class rankings and the students had the honor of choosing what they were going to fly in order of said ranking. Not to brag or anything, buuuuut...he got second out of the WHOLE class after a year of cumulative training to get his first choice aircraft!!

We are now a Blackhawk family, and we couldn't be more ecstatic. Everything has fallen into place like I couldn't believe, and now the real fun begins. PS...I totally got my truck stuck in the mud to take that picture. Do what you gotta do.

Now I just need a min or a month to process all of this. Kthxbye.

The After Christmas- Christmas

Well, I would first like to say thank you for all the kind words from Monday's post. It felt good to get it off my chest and every comment meant the world to me. To us. I still haven't told family and many friends, so your words of encouragement are all we have, so again, thank you.

This will be the only Christmas we have in this house. I'm surprised I even realized that, but it made me happy that we made the most of it. I put up more decorations than I ever have, we had our first real tree, and we had our own belated Christmas morning, which was filled with just as much excitement. After all, Christmas is a feeling, not a day.

We had already exchanged gifts, but we both saved a few good ones for this occasion.  A little back story is that when the guys make it through Flight school they give their spouses their own 'set of wings' to thank them for putting up with them all the help and support. I don't particularly like chain necklaces, so he got me wings that are more my style from Nomades. It's a little early to get my wings, but I'll take it ;)

PS. This is not an ad. I just really love the company! MilSpouses definitely need to check them out. They have all kinds of military charms and are just like Pandora! I even switched some of my Pandora charms to this bracelet because I like it better.

When Will saw that I put multi-colored lights on the tree he thought I was crazy. He knows I'm not a multi-colored girl, but something came over me. For our first real tree I wanted to go super nostalgic, and although I'll probably never use multi-colored again, it was fun while it lasted. Technically it lasted until today because I'm still getting decorations down, but don't judge me. I'd leave them up all year if I could. One day...I will be that old women with a Christmas house year around. Then you have permission to judge me.

The Year That Was 2014

You just can't finish out a year without a good round up, am I right or am I right? Usually it takes me all of fifteen minutes to pick my favorite shenanigans to share and call it a day, however, this past year turned out to be a doozy. It just goes to show, you never know where life is going to take you if you are open to experience it.

January || Had us packing up all of our household goods, saying goodbye to breathtaking Colorado, and retiring my orange shorts. All in all, it was a pretty big month for us full of many changes that were exciting and scary at the same time.

February || Moved to Enterprise, Alabama! Actually more exciting than it sounded, and now we never want to leave. We want to find out what Will is going to fly and chill here.

March || We ran the McGuire's 5K {mostly for the free booze}, and I was able to spend two glorious weeks at home with family and witness my niece's baptism.

April || Was my proudest month as Will graduated from WOCS and became a Warrant Officer, the first step on the journey to becoming an Army helicopter pilot. Mmmm mmmm....I love my man in uniform!

May || With warm weather came lots of outdoor activities, and our new favorite was by far tubing. The beach was fun, but you really can't beat hopping in a river on a whim and heading down your own Redneck Riviera.

June || I got to see my baby brother graduate from High School. Ten years my junior, I begged my mom to let me do anything and everything for that sweet baby, so it seems so surreal that he's an 'adult'. Eh...he's still a baby to me!

July || Will was safe in my arms after three weeks of zero communication while he was in Survival School, and I got turned away from a bar for my 'fake id' in Destin, Fl. Oh, and I shotgunned a beer like I was 21 again.

August || I painted a lot of owls.

September || We soaked up the last bit of summer in Panama City for Labor Day.

October || Man, oh man...if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be October. We spent the month planning our big Halloween/Haunted House party {that I still haven't blogged about}, attended the good ol' Ten Year Reunion, got new ink done, had a blast with all of our besties in Jacksonville, actually had my husband WITH me for my big day, and possibly had the best Birthday month of my life. I never wanted it to end.

November || Celebrated Veterans and raised $1,000's for Charity {$23,000 to be exact}, which still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

December || We took a leap and started the home buying process. We area learning the ups and downs and waiting to see if our house goes through {inspections on top of inspections}, and trying to remember to enjoy the process. We are learning, we are growing, and embracing this adventure...at least we are in it together!

If we didn't have all this fun stuff to look back on, I wouldn't believe 2014 even happened. It went by WAY too fast, which I say every year, but that doesn't make it any less true. I don't know what 2015 is going to bring us or if it can hold a candle to 2014, but I am most definitely looking forward to enjoying the South while we are here, Will graduating, and BOTH of us turning 30 this year. I guess that means I'll be leaving the 'Twenty-Something' blogger club soon. Oh well, I ain't scurred. Age before beauty ;)

Peace Out 2014...It's been real!

We Don't Even Have A Target In This Town!

  When we first moved here, I thought my life was over when we didn't even have a Target! No mall, no Starbucks, no Costco, middle of nowhere, and they still smoke in restaurants. I may be from right down the road, but it was a culture shock coming from progressive Colorado. I was going to post an inappropriate picture about just how progressive it is, but Will vetoed it. It's really strange when he's the responsible one, but alas...I need a reel-in every now and then too.

Alright, so if Perception Is Everything, I had to find ways to like this town real quick. Luckily, it has been easier than I even imagined, and it fits like a perfect pair of new pumps which I still haven't found. Living at a lower altitude {from 6,000' down to 358'} has all kinds of perks- our vehicles run better, baking is easier, less dehydration, friends won't get altitude sickness when they come to visit, and my eyebrows have finally started growing again! It's also nice to be in a small town. Going from a population of 439,886 to  27,775 makes life so much easier! No waiting in line to eat at a restaurant, I haven't had to use my horn a single time, there are no strangers- only neighbors, and this is the kind of place that you can leave your door unlocked. We don't leave it unlocked, but it's nice to trust your neighbors, ya know.

Why do I think you care about any of this? Well...you may or may not, but it's my blog and I want to remember how wonderful this place is. I can't believe we've only been here since February, but it feels like we have made years worth of memories. We will most likely return here throughout our military career, and I want it to always feel like a home.

Sidenote: Can you believe Will is now flying those things? He has a solo flight on Tuesday, and yours truly is freaking out. I know he's amazing and all, but two weeks of flying doesn't seem like enough to take over the whole thing! Please pray for us.

Fort Rucker is the "Home of Army Aviation", which basically means that it is our home away from home. Aaaand the Southern food doesn't hurt either. Just remind me of this when I get the itch to move again. I hate PCS'ing, but I always love a new adventure.

Have you guys lived in the same place your whole life or have you moved around?