I’ve only been home 2 days and I miss Bryan already. I hate being apart from him for any length of time longer than a work day.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with my husband. There I said it.

Anyway, we had a great time doing nothing super special (not to mention Alamogordo, NM isn’t exactly a hopping metropolis), just enjoying each other. Here is a glimpse at the weekend through my lens (these were taken with my Canon S90 and iPhone, I didn’t lug my big camera on the flight).

Click to see bigger versions.

I’m sure by now most of you have heard about the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and well, if you haven’t, just look it up. I’m sure you will find plenty of links to get caught up to speed. What you might not know though is that I live only 10 minutes from Destin, in northwest Florida, just over the Mid-Bay Bridge. 10 minutes from the gorgeous Emerald Coast beaches that I am truly sad to say, we have taken for granted in the last 5 years.

When I found out we were moving, I wasn’t all that traumatized by leaving here. Sure, I will miss watching the sun set over the bay while crossing the bridge, God’s creation at its finest but I “knew” we could always come back and visit. Take a vacation, splash in the waves and soak up the sun on the gorgeous white sand.

That was before the Deepwater Horizon exploded and the oil began gushing.

So far, our beaches have been spared. A few tar bars have been reported in Destin and on Okaloosa Island but nothing extreme. It is inevitable though. As much as I hate to say it, I do not think there is anyway our beaches will be spared forever. There is simply too much oil floating around out there and it has to go somewhere. Whether is be from currents or a hurricane, it won’t just magically go “poof” and be gone. It’s tragic really.

With that in mind, Jacey and I hit the beach for a “last look” when we were in Destin Saturday. There was a storm rolling in, so I didn’t get the pictures I had composed in my head but I took some anyway. Memories to always have and look back on. The beaches that I fell in love with as a young girl when I first had a vacation here for my uncle’s wedding to being blessed with living here for the last 5 years.

Never take anything for granted, because it can all be gone in an instant.

Sigh.

This time, it is an iPhone case.

Really, an iPhone case.

I want a customized one, but can’t make a decision on which image.

Anyone willing to cast a vote?

See below.

Choice 1

Choice 2

Choice 3

Choice 4

Choice 5

Choice 6

These are all pics I <3. Of course, Bryan no longer wears ABU’s but those are some of my fav pics of him. Decisions, decisions.

So, if you are willing to weigh in, please vote below :).

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

• Can I just brag on Quality Suzuki right now. Their service department is WORLDS above anything we have ever dealt with, especially Preston Hood Chevrolet, our nightmare dealership that basically finalized our decision to NEVER buy GM again. They had us in and out today in barely over an hour…amazing.

• So, Jacey’s 8th birthday is coming up in less than 3 weeks and all I have done is ordered the Hannah Montana movie and made dinner reservations. I am really slacking this year. She wanted a party but we talked her into just inviting 2 of her friends for a Destin adventure (Build a Bear, The Track, etc) and a sleepover. Have I sent the invitations out yet? No, of course not. Must do by Saturday…sigh. I think we have decided on the rest of her presents though, Wii Fit Plus and hip hop dancing lessons. Not as much as I normally get her, but what do you get the child that needs nothing and “wants” even less. The only thing even on her Christmas list is a skateboard (why, I have NO clue).

• This whole retraining stuff with Bryan is driving me CRAZY (said with my best Robert Muncsh impression). It’s not him or the thought of retraining (I am at peace with it), but AFPC, Force Health and heck, the Pentagon at this point. It seems that no one knows just exactly what flight physical he needs. By the time we get through all this, he’ll likely have a class III, class II and possibly even a class I…LOL!

• Oh, project 365…yes, I am slacking. I am SO ready for it to be over. I know I will enjoy looking through it in later years, but right now it is becoming a bit of a hassle. Less than 20 more days!

1. I am learning recently that I am not superwoman as much as I want to be. There are some things that I have to let go of to maintain my sanity and a life.

2. Since the children’s building is almost finished at work, I am getting ready for the move to my new office. I had two to choose from, so I went up and chose this week. Bryan measured it for me and then I proceeded to go furniture shopping. What an ordeal. I found this first set which I fell in love with. Priced it online and then went to go order it from our contract sales website for that company. Total price was almost $1000 more than the regular website. Huh? What gives there. I left a message with our contract sales rep in hopes that they could get me a better deal but no call back, so I went shopping some more.

I found this second set at one of the other places we shop at and truly think it will work better. The first set still has my heart for finish and design but this set is more functional. This set was also more on our contract site versus the regular site but only by right under $100. I don’t understand why business customers get higher prices yet, we are bringing them business on a regular basis and typically in bulk. So, now I wait on our sales rep to get back with me and get these pieces ordered next week when I am back in the office.

The office is a rectangle but has a window, so my current paint color, jadesheen will be way too bright. So, I am going with this color, asparagus. I also plan to use chalkboard paint to make a rectangle over the credenza unit and then either find a vintage frame to finish it or some molding. Not sure what else yet. I get to move in the week of the 17th and can’t wait!

3. I noticed this morning, that I am no longer losing hair. YAY! About time.

4. On the other hand, my hormones are out of whack again. I thought the weight loss had helped the PCOS issues but they are back. Skin is breaking out like crazy, I feel like I am 14 again and that monthly womanly thing is nuts again after 8 months of regularity. I really need to get in to see my doc, but who has time?!

5. Speaking of the children’s building, Jacey gets to be one of the ribbon cutters at the grand opening on the 22nd. How cool is that! Our senior pastor will be holding the ribbon and Jacey and our junior pastor’s older son will be cutting it.

6. I finally updated the pics/video on the webpage if you’d like to take a peek. One of these days, I’ll get an update email sent out as well (I’d advise you not to hold your breath on that one:).

7. The word cancer is evoking some not so nice feelings from me these past few weeks. I am SO tired of being SO tired.

8. I finally found J’s school supply list on the school’s website, so we can start tackling that. Haven’t heard from the school yet about teacher/open house although I would think that should be any day now. Only 2 more weeks and a few days till school starts. Gee, I can’t believe I have a second grader now!

9. I am debating on taking a class at church with semester on Wednesday evenings while J is in H20. My friend Steph is teaching a class called “One Month to Live” which sounds really interesting but I am REALLY bad about sticking with classes. Adult onset ADD perhaps?!

10. Tomorrow is a squadron bowling event that I agreed to participate in. Wish me luck, this is the first “military” event I have done in a while. I normally stay pretty far away because there is typically a lot of drama that tends to ensue.

11. Made this for dinner tonight and it was delish…or should I say yummo, since it is a Rachael Ray recipe :).

12. Instead of doing what I should have been doing earlier, I played around again. Perhaps this is why I don’t get as much done as I should?!

Before

After
Totally Rad Actions: Oh Snap! @ 100%, Rusty Cage @ 100%, Claire-ify @ 80% and Yin/Yang as needed

13. I have only been working on this blog post, off and on since 6:30am…it is time for me to go to bed.

• Well, I finally had to spill about Bryan’s anniversary present. We were supposed to go on a flight around the local area tomorrow (29th) morning but we had to reschedule till Friday morning because of the weather. I was bummed, because I had everything planned for this morning; Bryan’s work, childcare and all but what can you do?! So, now I have to search down childcare for Friday morning. Bryan is already off on Friday, so at least that is one less thing that I need to figure out.

• Bryan already bought my anniversary present but now wants to get me something else. He knows I have been trying to find an eternity band to go below my wedding set. I want something unique. Emeralds are my favorite stone but they are pretty fragile and I need something that will stand up to everyday wear. So, he got me this (my wedding band has black accents). It won’t get here by Friday but I’ll share a real pic when it does.

• Ahh, Twitter. It has become a new addition (follow me if you tweet, I’m thatdegirl). Along with that addiction comes finding a Twitter iPhone app that actually meets all my needs. I use TweetDeck on my computer but I don’t like it on the iPhone. I love how Twitterrific looks on my iPhone but don’t like how it handles my feed. I really like TwitterFon but the free version ads bug me. I have heard raves about Twittelator and BirdFeed but they don’t have free versions to try out. I am leaning towards buying TwitterFon Pro…anyone have any recommendations?

• To Whom It May Concern,
  I promise you, I do not need the benefits of acai berries, do not need my bits enlarged, do not want a colon cleanse. I promise I already have my high school diploma and do not want free airline tickets to Timbuktu. It would be more worthy of your time to send your promotions to another soul.
  Sincerely,
  Delete Is My Friend.

• The other day, I got sent a copy of “Faith Deployed” by Jocelyn Green and Sara Horn from Wives of Faith contributed as well. Via emails, the author is just so sweet and caring. I agreed to read the book and then post a review. I haven’t had a chance to start it yet (hope to Saturday) but from what I have seen flipping through, it is going to be awesome. Faith and spouses are 2 aspects not heavily mentioned in military life as I experience it, so it is nice to see this topic addressed.

My dSLR! Once upon a time, I went no where without it…then I lost my mojo. Now it is back, so the layer of dust has been cleaned off :).

As a photographer, I like taking things to the edge, slightly overprocessing them if you will. I don’t regularly do that to client photos, I try to keep those milder but with my personal photos, anything goes.

This is SOOC (straight out of the camera)…and not my pro camera either, just the P&S I keep in my purse. Not too terrible for a P&S but it can definitely be better.

This is with my standard defog that I do to every picture. Much better.

Now let’s take it over the top.

Technicolor Dream World (skin layer @ 75%)
Claire-ify @ 75%
Oh Snap! @ 50%

And again.

Yin/Yang
Grunge Rock
Vignette & Blur HQ @45%

My style of processing is not for everyone, but I love to play with my photos and sometimes take them over the top.

1. I am addicted to facebook and twitter. Really addicted…LOL!

2. This week we have cut a few random bills by anywhere from $110-125 a month!

3. I got a fill Monday, I am finally back up to what I was in October. I can definitely tell I have restriction again though, because that first sip of water in the morning is making me nauseous…LOL! The liquids suck but I get real food again tomorrow.

4. I finally have an almost completely new wardrobe. I don’t have to wash more than once a week anymore…LOL! Who knew losing weight was so expensive :).

5. Tuesday I went and got my allergy shots. By the time I got home (mind you, after sitting in the clinic for the required 30 minutes to check for reactions) I was starting to be covered in lovely red dots…everywhere. Called the clinic and they said get to the ER. So, we turn around and head back to base. 4 hours, a Benadryl IV, blood work, a dose of prednisone and a cup of OJ I finally got to come back home. Now I have to go back 1 entire vial in my allergy shots…bummer, I was SO looking forward to only 6 more weekly shots before going monthly.

6. While at the ER I found out my white blood cell count is back up to 23 and my blood sugar was low (mind you I had a full fat, full sugar milkshake a few hours prior). Wonder why?!

7. You know my $1000 camera, yeah, my dSLR, my prized possession?! That thing I had to dust a 2 inch thick layer of dust off of?! I actually picked it back up a couple of weeks ago and have been using it (you wouldn’t know it though by my slacking on my p365 posts).

8. I tried to jump back on the food tracking wagon this week, after taking a hiatus pretty much since my gallbladder surgery and it is annoying…LOL! I guess that I don’t feel it is necessary anymore, since I am maintaining with no extra effort (just the lifestyle changes I have made since the band) and I am not sure I truly want to go the other 17 pounds down to my final goal, i really like where I am at. I dunno…we’ll see how I feel and what my weight does with this latest fill.

9. This house is entirely too quiet without Jacey here.

10. I am thrilled, I booked our parasailing ride for the 11th. It is our 10th anniversary gift to each other (July 31st :).

11. I am irritated that Harper’s Island isn’t coming on until Tuesday instead of Saturday as usual. The last episode definitely left my trying to figure out “why”.

12. I have to hit the commissary in the morning, my most unfavorite place to go. Anyone want to go for me? I guess it is better than sitting in a Pensacola dealership with no wifi (where Bry will be, getting the a/c on his 1 year old car fixed).

13. I am addicted to ice cream…sigh.

I posted this tweet yesterday…

“Umm…ok. Remind me not to ride the carts around the parking lot anymore, I don’t want to get arrested :) http://foxyurl.com/56u”

And then just had to push my luck last night! Think this counts as illegal use of a shopping cart!? We weren’t arrested, but did get a few strange looks from the older, Benz drivers of Destin :).