Etsy

so recently i have gotten into making crafts and thought i would try my hand at Etsy! So, here is what I have so far:

http://southerncharmcrafts.etsy.com

ohio

so, I just got back from my trip to Ohio last night. I went to Ohio to see a good friend and fellow army wife. We had a good time and did all the girly stuff you can imagine :). We went out and ate sushi, we went shopping, went to the zoo, watched UP, and (of course) watched True Blood. Overall it was a great trip and it was really good to get out of town for awhile. However, I dont think I will ever be moving to the cleveland area because traffic there is about ten times worse than Raleigh!! But the cooler weather sure was a welcome change!

The projects for this week are to get enrolled in classes at Durham Tech, go see Harry Potter, and go to my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday. I think i might crash at my brothers if he will let me and go to church with him and sara! That would be a really good treat.

all moved in

so, after months of talking and deciding when to move, we finally did it! I am now all moved in and having a good time in Durham. I was worried about all the furniture but my dad and our friend brian had no problems getting everything set up! I was also worried about Callie but she has adjusted VERY well and only hid out under the sofa for a few hours before coming out to explore. Lela, of course, is doing very well and is currently asleep on my bed.
I will miss Raleigh and being so close to many great areas, but I am also used to Durham and now know how to get around Raleigh whenever I want to come visit and go to church.
The moving project for yesterday was to hang up clothes and organize the closet. So, today the project is to hang pictures. Tomorrow I will go back to Raleigh to clean my apartment..fun fun. But, I am glad to be here living with Jakes mom and I already feel the stress melting away and it is so nice to have company!!

been awhile

so,yes, it has been awhile since i last updated my blog. Things have been really busy lately!! My mom is doing well, she just finished her second chemo treatment and while it made her a little sick, she recovered and is feeling pretty good now. My last day at work was last Tuesday so i had the opportunity to go down and spend time with mom right after her treatment. It was so nice to be able to be there for her and just keep her company since she was confined to the house. I was able to stay through Sunday afternoon and was so glad i got to hear my dad preach on sunday morning. I always enjoy hearing his sermons and it had been too long since i last heard one.
I came home to just callie since lela is at the kennel until tuesday, and she is so happy to have me all to herself. I swear pets can be just like kids at times. She is currently playing in my moving boxes and it is the first time since i got home that she has not been sitting on my lap.
Jake is doing well in iraq. We had a tough week because there was a bombing which killed three of our soldiers. Anytime a soldier is killed, they cut off the communication lines until they can alert the next of kin and have everything figured out. So, most of us had no idea what was going on and we were not able to talk to our husbands for several days. Of course, we knew that our guys were okay but it was nevre racking not to hear jakes voice and i just wanted to hear from him that everything was okay. I was able to finally talk to him yesterday and then saw him today on the web cam which was GREAT! I am taking a lazy day today since it is memorial day, but i will be very busy the rest of this week with plans to attend school this fall and i have to get the tire and brakes on the car fixed.
Well, that is all for now! Have a great memorial day!

Off to Iraq

Jake is heading off to Iraq pretty soon. They have been stationed in Kuwait the past two weeks and the phone bills are crazzzy so i have not been talking to him very often. But I am lucky that we get to talk about twice a week and he will send little messages on facebook or a quick text now and then. One of the other wives was awesome and shared the Baghdad address with us as soon as she heard it. The address is : Jacob Smith
HHC 1/252 CAB
Scout Platoon
FOB Falcon
APO-AE 09361

I am already planning Jakes first box to go out, i am so excited to send him things I cannot wait!! I have a lot of things to do on Thursday, but the top priority is going to be shopping for goodies to send Jake!

busy busy

can you say busy? yeh that is an understatement!! Everything has just been crazy since Jake has left! It has been nice to see friends and keep busy, but work and travel on top of that and all the worry and stress as well just makes things crazy. I have only gotten a few things done this week outside of work.
Also, just a heads up for everyone, I am working three weekends in a row at work and on my days off I am going to see my mom and I have things planned most week nights (like sleep) so I will not be around too much.

I know this is a quick and disconnected blog, but my thoughts are rather disconnected lately.
My mom starts chemo on Wednesday and it will be a long haul. My brother is staying with her this weekend and I am going to stay with her the second week in may for two days. She still needs lots of prayer as she goes through this time.
I will try to write a better blog later, just tired and stressed and really busy right now. more to come later

Last Days

Well, you all know that Jake has left for Iraq and he actually had time to call me for two seconds today to let me know he landed safely in Kuwait! We were able to spend a lot of time together before he left and he was able to spend time with his friends and family before he headed out.

The first thing we did was to take a night all to ourselves. We decided we had to get out of town to avoid any disturbances so we boarded lela in her great kennel here (http://www.armadalekennel.com/) and we headed out to Greensboro. Jake and I found this really awesome bed and breakfast online and their rooms and prices are GREAT. We looked and looked for a hotel that was as nice and as affordable and could not find one at all. So, we booked our bed and breakfast room at the Troy Bumpass Inn. (http://www.troy-bumpasinn.com/) . We stayed in the Allah room and it was so nice. The bed was super comfortable and the bathroom had a european shower with 5 shower heads and a jacuzzi tub!! The owners of the bed and breakfast were so nice and they were very accomodating.
After we checked in to the bed and breakfast Jake and I did some research and found a cute little Italian restaurant in Downtown Greensboro. It was such a nice day outside that we decided to walk through down town to the little restaurant. I have to tell you, it was such a great surprise to find a nice italian restaurant with home made food instead of mass produced pasta like the Olive Garden. You could really tell that the pasta sauces were home made and all of the food was Great! (http://www.rivastrattoria.com/). If you are ever in the Greensboro area, or just want to get out of town for a bit I would highly recommend both the troy bumpass inn and riva's restaurant. It made for a really romantic but casual weekend.
After we went to the inn, we came back for a whirl wind going away party for Jake. We invited all of his friends and had about twelve people in our little apartment! It was a great time and pretty much everyone came up which was awesome. We even had out of town guests come so four people ended up staying at our place which was a blast!!!
and..without a minute to spare Jakes dad came up for Saturday and Sunday, Jake had a good time with his dad and I am SO SO glad he got to see him before he left.
To continue our whirl wind week...
We went to Journey on Easter Sunday, left to pick up Joe from jakes platoon at the airport, left for durham to have easter lunch, came back, packed, left for Ft. Bragg on Monday morning, came back to Raleigh that night, went BACK to fayetteville for the going away ceremony...found out Jake was leaving the next night....ate dinner, dropped Jake off at 8pm at Ft. Bragg..said goodbye and Left.
It was CRAZY.
I have never felt so happy and then so sad in such a short period of time. My emotions are shot and I do believe I will walk around in shock for a few days. But, Jake is safe and sound in Kuwait and I will be sure to post lots of news about him in days to come.