Who Needs Kids...Install an HVAC Unit

Not Really but I found the title amusing since Matt and I are getting so much joy from our newly installed central air. For those of you have not experienced the debilitating summers that living in Virginia with a window unit can produce, you might not fully understand our joy. However, if you have been to our house when it is summer and made it out alive you will probably share in our excitement. No more wearing a sweater and hiding under a blanket when it is 110 degrees out, because our living room is 55 degrees to keep the rest of the house at a warm 78 degrees. No more hearing Matt whine and complain because it's too hot. We finally can move around the house without taking off or putting on more clothes to account for the temperature difference. No more screaming over the deafening sound of the window unit, just to hear eachother. Oh yes we are soooooo very excited. Even though the summer is pretty much over the central air will still be nice in the winter. Before we just had baseboard heat and I don't think that worked very well at all. I always felt like I would lose a finger or a toe from frost bite because it was freezing in our house. So please join us in welcoming our new HVAC unit. lol.

Our Nature Walk

A couple weekends ago Matt and I decided to go to one of the local parks and stretch our legs. The day before we had been couped up inside all day due to Tropical Storm Hannah. It just turned out to be some wind and rain but we took advantage and made it a lazy day. The next day it was a beautiful day, so we headed out to Deer Park. We hadn't been to this park since we first moved here so we decided it would be fun to revisit it. We found a nature trail tucked away towards the back of the park, here are some pictures from that day. It was so green and tranquil that it felt that we were hidden in the country that is until we heard the train roll by which brought us back to reality.

Tagged

I am: a worrier
I know: that I can't plan everything, even though it drives me nuts sometimes.
I want: a house
I have: a wonderful husband
I hate: liars
I fear: spiders, snakes, and heights
I feel: like I am getting sick
I hear: the microwave and the a/c
I smell: tuna from my tuna sandwich
I crave: cake
I search: for jobs
I wonder: where life will take me
I regret: some of the choices I have made
I care: about my family, friends and Roxie
I always: have my cell phone
I am not: a public speaker
I believe: in Love
I sing: all the time. I am the crazy person in the car belting out at the top of my lungs.
I fight: when I feel passionate about something
I write: to keep in touch and record my thoughts.
I can usually be found: in the kitchen or living room
I lose: a lot when I play with Matt
I win: occassionally at Rummy Dummy
I wish: I could see into the future
I never: thought I would be living in Virginia.
I forget: to put on Roxie's flea medicine
I am scared: that I will never know what I want to be when I grow up
I need: to clean the bathroom
I am happy about: moving back to Utah in less than four months!
I tag: whoever wants to

Baltimore

This past weekend Matt and I went up to Baltimore with our friends Lisa and Pete. Lisa will be deploying soon and sadly we will be gone when she gets back. So we decided to have one more fun trip before she leaves. Just outside of Baltimore there is a Medival Times, you eat with your hands and watch a bunch of different knights compete. We went to Dave and Busters afterwards and the next day went up to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Here are some pictures of our trip.

OUCH!!

Yesterday, at Matt's physical therapy appointment he find out a bit more on his ankle. The first xray shows that the ligament ripped off the bone, taking some bone with it. Then the second xray which was taken about a week later, showed that the ligament had re-attached itself to bone. We are hoping that the bone cartilage when make its way naturally out, otherwise he might need to get it surgically removed. We just need to be concerned if his ankle catches everytime he moves it. Also he found out that it will probably be six months before he is completely back to normal. So it looks like he will be in physical therapy for a bit longer.

Updates

Matt is still having difficulty with his ankle; he is walking without crutches but those didn't last long anyway. He went back to the doctor who wanted him get more xrays done and start going to physcial therapy or physical torture as he refers to it. The physical therapists believes that he torn three of his ligaments; one completely and two partially. Luckily after two more xrays they determined that there are no bone fragments that needed to be removed. So hopefully, the physical therapy will help him get back to being able to achieve his dream of jumping down stairs without pain. :)

As for me, I just wrapped up my last final and am looking forward to some time off. I have decided to take a break and not take any classes during the fall semester. We will be moving back to Utah in January and this will give me some much needed time to get us organized; well that is the plan at least. I will be transferring to a university back in Utah to finish up my masters once we get settled. We are both excited to be moving back closer to family and the mountains. :) It will be nice to be around family for birthdays and holidays again. Although, it will be quite the adjustment since we have been on our own for so long. We have endured both positive and negative experiences these last four years but looking back even the negative ones have made us stronger. The military life has given us the opportunity to see a lot of this country and meet so many wonderful people that we never would have otherwise. They have been our family, while we have been away and will remain life long friends.

My New Do

My highlights needed some definite help, so Friday I headed to the salon. I wanted to get my hair cut but I wasn't really sure how short to go. It has been so hot and humid, lately, that my hair usually ends up in a ponytail, anyway. Normally, I am not very brave when it comes to my hair but I ended up cutting 6 inches off! It is so much lighter now but I'm still getting used to it. Here is my new look, let me know what you think. :)

ER Visit Number 2

Last weekend, Matt was trying to set up a new wireless setup for our house. Once, he was done I asked him to put some security on it, so he was running back and forth between the downstairs and upstairs. He landed wrong on his bad ankle, it looked awful, so I was sure it was broken. We loaded into the car and were off to the hospital, again. People are going to start thinking something with as many times we have gone to the hospital, in the last month. The doctors did some xrays and discovered he had sprained his ankle, so he was laid up for a few days and just recently has been able to walk around more.

ER Visit Number 1

A few weeks ago, Matt and I were eating at our favorite restaurant. Matt decided to try something new; he went with clam chowder and a sandwich. As most of you know Matt has a pretty severe peanut allergy, so we are normally very careful when trying new things. Since, there were no warnings on the menu, we felt it would be a could choice. Anyways, everything was fine until the ride home, Matt started having some problems. I was pretty sure he was having an allergic reaction but he kept saying maybe it was just bad clam chowder. After we got home, I immediately called the restaurant to see if there were any peanuts in the clam chowder. I have never heard of people putting peanuts in it but hey, I am not a fan, so what do I know. After staying on hold for what felt like forever, for the manager to look in the ingredient book, he came back to say that meal was not on the allergy friendly menu. So, I hurried and gave Matt some Benadryl we waited to see if he would start feeling better. About five minutes later, we were off to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing. Luckily, it wasn't a huge reaction, so they gave him some pills and observed him for a couple hours but all was well.

Fourth of July

This year for the Fourth of July we went up to Washington D.C. to celebrate. Everyone told us we would be stuck in traffic for hours but amazingly we got there in 2 1/2 hours! It probably helped that we stopped in Springfield, which is about 13 miles from D.C. and rode the Metro in. I am a huge fan of the Metro, it is so convienent, you just hop on and it takes you all over the city. No sitting in traffic or trying to find parking, it's great. One of Matt's friends from high school was vacationing in D.C. that weekend, so we met up with him. It was a lot of fun to see him and be in our nation's capital for the fourth. We weren't very good at our time management skills, so we didn't make it to the National Monument for the fireworks but we did watch them from the street. The picture above is a fountain that is by the Art Museum, Matt and I sat here for awhile because it was so relaxing. The picture to the right is at one of the metro station that had the steepest escaltor! Here are some random pics from our trip.

WHALE WATCHING EXPEDITION 2008

Since, we have been here I have wanted to go whale watching. During the winter months humpback whales are often spotted off the coast of Virginia Beach, so I did not want to miss out on such a rare opportunity to see whales in their natural habitat. So finally a couple weekends ago we made plans to go down there with our good friends Josh and Amber. We planned to go on the boat that would be leaving at 3 pm. Due to wind conditions we found out at 10:30 that our boat was being cancelled and if we wanted to still go we would have to go out on the boat leaving at noon. We were supposed to be there about 15 to 20 minutes early which meant we needed to leave ASAP. Well none of us were ready but Amber and I decided to at least give it a shot. Matt and I didn't even get on the highway until alittle after 11, so it was looking pretty doubtful that we would make it before the boat left. We made remarkable time and it started to look promising until we got off the freeway and hit every red light there. Luckily, we made it there about 11:50 and I ran to go stand in line for tickets while Matt parked the car. I was so impressed that we all made it down there in time to load onto the boat. The boat ride was alittle bit rough and it caused a lot of people to get sick. It lasted about two hours, sadly we didn't see any whales but we did see some dolphins.

Tagged

Well I was tagged by Krystal, so I will give this my best shot. The rules are: Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves and then chooses 6 more people to tag, you add a comment to them telling them they are tagged and then ask them to read yours for details.

1. I know it's childish but I hate the dark, especially since Matt has been gone. I always leave either the hall light or the bathroom light on when I go to bed. Some people like to watch movies in the dark at their house, not me I need to have a light on somewhere.

2. I hate, I mean HATE scary movies, I used to be able to handle at least a couple of them every once in awhile. Not anymore, I avoid them at all costs because I will be up for days and have nightmares for months if I watch only thirty minutes.

3. I love to stay busy, maybe it comes from working and going to school for my adult life until recently. Since, I have graduated, I honestly miss school, as weird as that sounds. I don't know if it's the constant knowledge or just being busy.

4. I love to laugh, which is one of the many reasons I married Matt. He can always make me laugh, even on my worst days. We can talk about anything, no matter how silly or serious and he always has an interesting twist. I would hate to live without laughter.

5. I am a big kid at heart and I enjoy being around people that aren't overly serious about life. I love being silly and I enjoy being around people that don't care what others think too. I still love to carve pumpkins and dye easter eggs as much as I did when I was eight.

6. My dog is spoiled rotten, everytime I leave her alone I make sure the radio is on and two lights are on for her. I turn the radio on so she won't get lonely and the lights are on because honestly, who likes to hang out in the dark.

I don't know six people to tag so I won't be tagging anyone but I figured I would at least do half the assignment, 50% is better than zero, right? :) Well I hope everyone is doing alright and have a safe and happy holiday season.

Happy Halloween!!

The picture above is of Amber and I after we had our faces painted at the pumpkin patch. The pictures below is of Kristin and I carving pumpkins and being ghosts for Halloween.

Matt and Ross

As most of you know, Matt's brother, Ross, has been over in Iraq for a year now (or in other words way too long) and it turns out where they are each stationed is fairly close to one another. So a couple of weekends ago Ross was able to go and visit Matt in Balad. Here are some pictures from their weekend together. It was nice because they both were able to get the weekend off and just have fun, well as much fun as you can have on a FOB. Personally, I'm surprised that they didn't decide to backpack through Iraq, since they come up with some fairly odd ideas when they get together.