I Got A J-O-B!

Okay, so maybe calling it a 'job' is a stretch, but I am getting paid and that's what matters. A month ago, I saw a fellow MilSpouse was looking for someone to meet their kids when they get off the bus and keep them alive until their dad gets home. I hadn't been looking for a job and haven't been a nanny in ten years, but I figured "why not?"

On top of that, I've been learning to run this investment house of ours, and that might actually start paying off today too. I'd had some interest, but no solid tenant options until this weekend. A friend suggested I share it on Postlets.com, and hot damn my phone and email has been blowing up! I had to schedule an open house to accommodate the 30+ people that have contacted me, and my dear old dad is going to run the showing for us. He's never done anything like this, so I hope it doesn't overwhelm him.

We honestly owe him a lot after all he's helped us with during this process. He built us new drawers to give us more storage in the kitchen, he's been back and forth checking every detail, and he and Will saved us hundreds of dollars by putting up all the blinds. Speaking of...blinds are holy expensive, and custom fitting them? oy vey... It really didn't take us long to get it all done with the three of us, but now I see why people pay big bucks to have them installed.

Today feels like a good day...a good day to start a fun part time gig and a great day to find a worthy tenant for our little investment home. Show me the monnnaaaayyyyy.

T-G-I- M-Effin'-FRIDAY!

And the best part is that it's the first day in three weeks that I can sleep past 5:30AM. It's been fun being a working girl for a couple of weeks, but I'm happy that it was only a short contract. It's ca-razy how much harder it is to juggle work and Will now that we are in this flight school situation. Shout out to my sweet hubby for keeping the dishes done and cooking me dinner a few times in the past couple weeks. Every little bit helps.

Driving four hours round trip in a 24 hour period by my lonesome didn't exactly help, but quality time with my family just can't be beat. Not to mention... reason #1583937 that I love being so close to home is getting to witness my niece grow up. I am definitely soaking up every milestone for her that I can, and her first birthday party can be checked off my list.

Yes, I know...owls are following me everywhere.

My Brother and SIL did an amazing job on everything, and it was awesome to catch up with extended family that I haven't seen in years. I got a lot of "You were suchandsuch age last time I saw you, and you still look suchandsuch age!" What none of us could believe is our little princess is already one! As such, we had the essential cake smashing, and it doesn't matter how many times I've witnessed this, they crack me up every time. A baby on a sugar high with terrible motor skills is one of life's greatest gifts. I mean...just look at that face!

She's one of life's greatest gifts on her own. She's just SO CUTE I could EAT HER UP. A'ight. Now it's time for me to get an actual nights sleep. Boy do I need it! I hope you all have a great weekend, and we will most likely be back to regular scheduled programming next week!
Ciao for now ;)

A Little Venting Sesh

“A happy woman is one who has no cares at all; a cheerful woman is one who has cares but doesn't let them get her down.” - Marie Dressler

Man, Fort Rucker is keeping BOTH of us busy these days. I know, I know, the whole world is busy. What's new. However, I was so busy that I ended up with 'severe dehydration'. I'm on a new stupid medicine (for hormones) that is a diuretic a.k.a. 'drink tons of water or you get kidney stones', and I guess I didn't take them as seriously as I should have. Thankfully, I do not have kidney stones {yet}, but I did start puffing up like a blow fish with pain so bad in the mornings that I couldn't use my hands. It's official. I'm getting old.

My truck broke down twice last week, and three times if you count last month. I just typed out a paragraph about what was wrong with it, but realized no one would read it or understand, so all you need to know is that I correctly diagnosed my truck twice! Toyota-0, Janna- 2

Everyone keeps giving me crap now that Will is an 'officer' saying I need a fancy car, but I am still rocking the shizz out of my truck, and I have a sexy mechanically inclined husband, so there is no way I'll buy a new car that will eventually have repairs that will cost more money than my whole truck. Ain't she a beaut'?

We've been so busy that we forgot to celebrate We-Man's birthday. Just kidding, we've never actually celebrated his birthday. However, it did just pass, and we should have celebrated it because of the heart murmur we recently found out he has. It's not life threatening, but we are now spending more for him in meds than an eighty year old man. I'm just happy that we figured out his heart problems were what was causing him to have coughing fits where he sounded like a seal. Poor thing was pitiful, and we felt helpless.

He's SO lucky to have his Aunt Katie here in Enterprise to take care of him. How cute is this? They put his picture on his meds, and she writes little love notes. I just love this girl. If you love animals, you should check out her Instagram.

Somehow I've managed to have dinner on the table every night, but I'm loving when I can find an easy option. I've been craving a Cobb Salad lately, so I decided that would do. It covers most of the food groups, it's purdy to look at, and you can make it your own.

Romaine Lettuce || Ham ||Turkey || Bell Pepper || Onion || Cheddar || Bacon
 ||Avocado ||Dressing || Optional: Hard Boiled Egg, Cucumber, Tomatoes, etc.

You are welcome, and more importantly, thank YOU for allowing me to ramble today. It's just one of those days that I need to get it all out. You know? Now don't forget about the Blog Auction. It goes live at 9AM Central Time, and on that note...Good night, moon.

My Not-So-Nine-To-Five

My boss is a slave driver. He's demanding, sexist, needy, dirty, and makes me work long hours. He's so lucky that taking care of him is the best job I've ever had.

Since beginning this 'new job', I've realized that household duties are not 9-5 like I thought. I assumed that I would get the domestic duties, shopping, meal prep, laundry, etc. all done in time to put on lipstick and meet my hardworking hubby at the door, but boy was I wrong. Instead, laundry is usually done at night when Will needs something particular for work the next day, dinner always takes longer than I anticipate, making his lunch for the next day happens in the dark of night, and I clean whenever the urge strikes even nights and weekends. It's a really good thing I've always operated on a different and flexible schedule. I guess I could try to be superwoman like some of you and organize my time better, but that seems like a job in itself and I think being flexible is the only way I can get everything done and still have my sanity. Oh, and Will does the dishes. That's the other key to my sanity ;)

My boss does give me time for myself, which we have seen manifest itself into a Pinterest fest. Blogging also takes up a large part of my free time, and yet I'm still not able to do it as much as I projected. I had lofty goals of blogging five to six days a week again and commenting on every blog I love every.single.day, but I still can't figure out how some of you do it. Like Helene and Jen...how the heck do they comment on hundreds of blogs a day and have time to reply to every comment on their blog? Nope, not gonna happen over here. I'll just go finish another Pinterest project, like the following:

In closing, my not-so-9to5 is including, but not limited to, nutritionist, secretary, sexetary, maid, chef, personal shopper, and pseudo-psychiatrist. Basically, I have the best job ever, and I have zero room to complain. I'll probably get a 'real' job in the future, but for now I'm livin' large, and Will sure isn't complaining!

Not Every Day Is Perfect

Part 1: I'm getting needy.

Unfortunately, it happens every time Will is going to be gone for an extended period of time. I've already complained once about him leaving for a month, so I didn't plan on complaining on le blog {at least until he was actually gone}, but it's the truth. I get needy when he's about to leave, and this time is no different. I cried yesterday because he didn't walk to warm up with me before our run. WTF? I swear I'm not PMS'ing. Luckily, Will knows me better than I know myself. At first he was a little confused at my sullen demeanor and weepy tendencies, but soon he was cuddling with me and telling me that it's okay that I get a little extra needy in times like this. The following is a real convo from last night.

Will: I don't tell you enough how much I appreciate what you do for me.

Me: Yes you do, even though I {jokingly} tell you that you don't.

Will: I just want to make you proud.

Me: You do, everyday. That's why supporting you is my favorite job in the world.

Will: Good, 'cuz I pretty much demanded it.

Part 2: Cancer Sucks

It's funny, I started a random 'serving' job six years ago, and now I'm understing just how much a part of me it has become. As I type this post, I just can't wrap my head around the fact that my old boss friend Lags, lost his battle with Cancer yesterday. Everyone is devastated because he was so incredibly full of life, one of those people who put everyone before himself, and this world truly was a better place because of him. Hooters wouldn't even be what it is today without him, and he's definitely one of the main reasons I stayed with the company so long.

He's the dude on the right. Looks like a normal guy, right?

He was one of five that started the South Florida franchise, and established himself as a part of Hooters {and basically a generation} of history.  He and the guys took me under their wings {no pun intended} and gave me opportunities that I never would have dreamed that a job could give you. They earned my loyalty to the brand over these years, and every time I pass a Hooters I will remember him.

Part 3: My vanity is now showing.

After reminiscing through old pictures with Lags and the gang, I'm now sad that my hair was {naturally} that blonde, and miss my year 'round tan from Florida living. I wouldn't trade being with Will for the world, but it would have been nice to keep my hair color as a consolation.

I promise, I'm not looking for an ounce of pity after this venting session.

I just want to remember that not every day is perfect, we lose time with the ones we love, and have to say 'so long' or forever good byes whether we want to or not. All we can do is hold our loved ones tight while we can, and make sure they know that we love them. You can never overuse 'I'm proud of...' or  I love you'. Hopefully we will be back to regularly scheduled programming on Friday! Until then, 'I'm proud of you!'

The Move Has Begun During Winter Storm Nika

Originally, today was going to be the day we got the moving truck, but somehow we were smart enough to move it up a day. It sucked kicking off our packing in a snow storm, but there is no way in h-e-l-l we would have departed on time. Plus, the snow from yesterday was better than the single digit temperatures we have to look forward to today.
Colorado- 1, Us- 0

I could complain for hours, but I'll save you and share some of our going away shenanigans. As you know, Friday was my last day of work, and it couldn't have gone ANY better. Sam chauffeured me to work, the whole place was decorated, AND they even decked me out with a tiara and tutu. Do these people love me or what? I actually think they do ;)

Not to brag or anything, but our Regional Manager and Marketing Director drove FOUR HOURS in a blizzard to see me off, and on top of that~ they brought a brownie-ice cream cake AND a Tiffany&Co bracelet. Holy blow my mind...My first Tiffany and the first time I've been called a "Legacy". I guess I've done a good job the last five years ;) Plus I'm really good at kissing butt...Don't hate the playa', hate the game.

After work, the plan was to have a few adult beverages and call it a night, buuut a few turned into many. I knew it was the last "Happy Hour- Turned Night Out" ever, and I wanted to enjoy every minute I could with all my girls. Plus, it's not like Will and Buck were complaining.

I hadn't cried all day, but once I was home~ shedding my crown and my tutu~ I realized that it was the end of an era. I cried like I haven't cried since the Deployment, but at least this time I had Will to console me. He may not remember consoling me in the state that he was in, but he still gets credit. We are both going to miss this place, and the crazy memories we've created the last three years. We basically spent the first three years of our marriage here and that adds an emotional attachment I didn't expect. I think Colorado will always have a place in our hearts for that reason, so thanks Colorado ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, we were both slightly hungover, so we decided that Denny's would give us enough energy to make it to Denver in a snow storm. Too bad, it didn't. Instead, we let our old people-ness take over again and decided to stay home. Mind you, we had already paid for the hotel and tickets, and we STILL wanted to cancel. Luckily, I called the Priceline and Comedy Works {both of which don't do cancellations} and got all of our money refunded. Don't worry about how I promised I would never tell, just know that it was meant to be, haha.

 We did offset our old people-ness by playing toy guns with Buck all afternoon. Do you see that damn pink gun? Buck has been threatening to buy me a pink gun for years, but luckily {for him}, he ended up buying a toy. Will questioned his dedication for not buying the real thing, but Buck admitted to being scared that I would shoot him with a real one.
Yeah...you just remember that Buckaroo...

Moral of the story:
Snow is kicking our butt this week. I'll be SO thankful when we head due South on Thursday...Well, let's hope we leave on Thursday!

The Day Has Come To Retire My Orange Shorts

Welp. It's here.

My LAST day of work.

After working at Hooters for five years, six months, and some odd days, I am retiring my shorts and leaving my fun, easy job behind. Don't get me wrong, I worked my tail-feathers off, but I would be remiss in saying that it wasn't worth every penny.

I'm in three of those photos...can you spot me?

It's going to be crazy saying goodbye to all the friends I have made in the past three years, and all the memories I created in those damn orange shorts. I'm just happy I don't have to wear those shorts this weekend, because for the first time in years-
I won't have to work Superbowl! 

I must say, I feel bad about this years match up, though. My whole family is rooting for the Seahawks because my cousin is a scout for the team, but between living in Colorado and my girl Anna being married to Wes Welker, I'm going to have to go for the Broncos. Plus I'm pretty sure the Broncos are going to whoop up on the Seahawks, and we will see how that #1 Defense really stacks up under pressure.

Yep, I totally name dropped today, and I don't even feel bad about it. It's not like I've ever met Wes himself. I just think is wife is a badass, and I love her. Fun Fact: Anna was Miss Hooters International in 2005. She's kind of a big deal...

Now, it's time for me to go make that moneymoneymoneymon-ay, and then take the Birthday boy to Denver for Jo Koy. It's not like we should be doing anything important like packing or anything. I mean hey, we've got aaaalll the way until...shit...we have less than a week left. How the eff did that happen?

So who are you rooting for?

I Can't Wrap My Head Around It...

Tell me, how has January flown by already? Not to mention, how has so much happened in such a short period? Seriously...mind-blowing. Based on how things are going so far, I'm leaving 2013 behind as the last year of what I thought was my youth, and now I seem to be headed towards a year of rebirth.

+ The impending move

+ Will's new job

+ A new balance in our relationship

+ Taking the time to find myself

+ Overall transition

Change is terrifying, and yet everything seems to be falling in to place. I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that I think this means that we are right where we are supposed to be in our life. I still don't have a career at 28, but Will says that I'm not 'allowed' to stay at Hooters, because it's my turn to take my time figuring out who and what I want to be. More importantly. he demands that I not stress about a thing.

This is why I married this man...
He's the only one that can boss me around and doesn't bow down, which fits my theory that women don't really want the bad guy. They want a take charge kind'a guy and one they can't manipulate. An equal, but one that we can look to with the problems that seem impossible. Cue cheesiness: He's not just my husband, he's my hero ;)

Three days left, and I'm out of a j-o-b. Or as Will puts it, I'll be taking care of him, and that really is a full time job. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

PS. You can get a double dose today, so head over to Sparkles and Shoes! Kelly had surgery, so go wish her well.

DIY Fringe Boots, Groovy Baby

What do you do when a friend is PCS'ing to Hawaii?

Have a Luau 60's theme party!

{PCS=military move}

I originally thought that the hippie theme wouldn't work, but everyone seriously embraced it. The best part, was that I already had everything but the fringe boots, which I made myself! More on that in a bit...

You may not know this, but Will and I were born in the wrong generation. We lust over everything vintage, think/act like we were raised in the 50's, and now we look like we lived in the 60's. He even picked that shirt himself. H-O-T-T, HOT! As were my girls...

I'm very happy to say, that it was one of my favorite nights after three years in Colorado. I love anytime I can dress up, Will and I both drank without any trouble, and some great memories were made. It's actually sad to think it may be the last big night out for us here. *Tear* Only one month to go.

But enough of that, the night was still young! 

After the party, it's the after party...

Oooh lawd, and this is where I admit that we are too old for after parties. Don't get me wrong, it was super duper fun, but drinking until 4AM just ain't supposed to happen anymore. Luckily, I have the best husband EVER, and he took care of me for the next two days. He even brought me McDonald's AND pizza in bed. My hero...like for serious.

But let's get to the real reason we are here...may I repeat, I MADE those fringe boots. I wasn't about to buy fringe boots for the party {who are we kidding, I just couldn't find ones that I liked}, so I made fringe to go with a pair of boots I already had!

#1 Pick out the boots you want to transform, and match them with fringe and coordinating ribbon. In my case I only had one fringe color option, so I just made sure that the beaded ribbon I chose brought the two colors together.**

#2 I put on nude knee length socks, scrunched them to where I wanted them on my calf, and cut the ribbon to fit. Leave a little extra to overlap, and hem the edge if it is likely to fray.

#3 Sew the fringe to the bottom of the ribbon. Use a sewing machine if you are so inclined, but a hand stitch is just fine.

#4 Now, you could sew it to the socks, but I wanted to be able to transfer the fringe to other socks, and I felt the need to be able to wash the socks after without ruining the fringe. Instead, I simply used safety pins from the inside to attach the ribbon to the socks {while I was wearing them so they were stretched out}, and continued to wrap the fringe to cover the top of the boots, pinning a few spots to keep it in place. Done son.

Can we just agree that if duct tape had a little sister, it would be safety pins? Easy Peasy, and finished in less than an hour. All in all, I spent $15 dollars on the whole outfit by using things I already had and downloading the Joann Fabric app to get access to all their coupons. ** Do it now if you haven't already, and Michaels/Hobby Lobby while you are at it. It just makes me realize that I really need to utilize my DIY skills more often, and I am totally patting myself on the back right now.

Now that I've had a week to recuperate from my hangover, I'm off to Fort Lauderdale for a long weekend. It's going to be a fun girls weekend, but I already know I will be missing Will. I just keep reminding myself it's only four days! Hopefully I'll be able to check in on Monday, but I make no promises. Helloooo warm weather and sandy beaches, oh how I have missed you! 

Peace and love, groovy babes.

Couples That Get Tattoo'd Together...

Thank you, thank you for the love the past couple days!
I don't think I'm going to come close to winning cough they are cheating cough cough ;) but at least we put up a good fight, and just having y'alls support makes me giddy. It sounds cheesy, but tis the season to be cheesy!

I guess you can say this has been a good week thus far. Pretty chill at work, I actually planned out our meals this week, and we got our decorations up. Plus...

+ I told my boss that I'm cutting down to three shifts a week in January, and it felt SO good. That means that I only have a little over 20 shifts left to work, and I am DONE until we get settled in Alabama. Heck-to-the-mother-effin'-yeah.

+ I should have all presents and cards out by Saturday. Will has offered to help, so we will be wrapping and knocking it all out together. I'm glad that he offered, because I always try to do it all by myself, and that's just silly. We are a team, and it's okay to ask for help. Don't get me wrong, he does more than his share... It's just a good thing that there is no such thing as keeping score in a marriage ;) I'm sure I'll get to make it up to him soon.

+ I'm going to my 'other' home in January! I haven't been to South Florida since my best friend passed, but I think it's time. I need to see my other baby brother and sister, and just soak it all in. We'll talk more about that later.

+ Last, but not least...I finally got the pictures from our Tattoo escapade ready.

I say it's an escapade, because we had to travel through a 'winter storm' to get to our tattoo guy. Our friend Chago works at GodSpeed in Breckenridge, and he's totally worth the two hour drive. We started Will's tattoo before we knew Chago, and we learned the hard way that paying more for the work gets you better results. See original tattoo:

The first guy we went to was a great artist, but apparently he had no experience with plain lettering. Who would have thought that plain script would be so difficult? It looked okay, but when Chago offered to improve it, we jumped at the chance.

I am proud to say that I was there with Will when he got his first tattoo, and I have seen it through to the end. Two trips to Breck, about 10 hours, and $1,000 later...
We have a finished product!

We actually expected Will's tattoo to take 4-5 hours this round, so when it only took two, I didn't have an excuse to not jump in the chair. I've mentioned {a long time ago} that I have ink, and still most people are very surprised to find that out. I already have my ribs done, but I had something very special to add in mind this time.

^^ Will enjoys this picture, but I won't tell you why. Juuuust guess.

My whole life, I have been called Janna Banana, Banana, Janna B., JB, Barbie, and even just B, so the letter 'B' has always had significance to me. Would I have thought to put it on my body? No, but now that my last name is Bogert, it means the world to me. I've never been a fan of getting someone's name tattoo'd...nevertheless, Bogert is now my identity, as well. I now have a 'B' to match the 'J' on the other side!

I guess you could say, the couple that gets tattoos together, stays together...

or something like that ;)

A'ight y'all, it's the weekend, it's Friday the 13th, and we have less than two weeks until Christmas; that means that it's par-tay time! Don't waste it ;)

Laugh With Me, Not At Me!

A'ight listen...I need your help!

I'm in a contest for some big $$$, and I have to at least try to win!

Here are your reasons to go vote for me:

1. You love me.

2. I always vote for everything y'all ask me to.

3. You really will enjoy the 10 second video.

4. You will make me feel less self conscious about making a fool of myself.

5. I only have four days to get over 300 votes!

6. Did I mention you love me?

Simply click on this link to watch my COOKIE DANCE or look up @hooterscolorado on Instagram to "like" my video. Each "like" equals one vote, and due to technical difficulties, I am about 300 behind. that means every m'effin' vote counts!

In case you'd like to watch the HILARIOUS video where we drew our inspiration, visit here. It's my boy Jesse {Prank vs. Prank} and his craziness. Just don't forget to go vote for my video.

As an added bonus, leave a comment that you voted {bonus points if you share it via other social media} and I will be giving away a Starbucks gift card AND a cash prize if I win. Who doesn't want cold hard cash?? Just remember, I will be checking!

Thanks in advance, and happy voting!