I take it back...

So last month, I said that I was feeling like a fake Army Wife and I TAKE IT BACK!!!  I have been flung right back into the pack of wolves in a matter of 48 hours.  UGH!  So I dropped the husband at Ranger school and realized that this will be the longest we've ever gone with out phone/email contact.  Then I missed the phone call I didn't want to get and that was a nice little kick to the gut.  Luckily I was at Vacation Bible School and surrounded by the exact people I needed at that moment.  I still haven't heard back from him, but that's nothing I can't handle right now, it was supposed to be 60+ days with no contact, what's 2 days right?!?!

Then, today, I tried to change my PCM Primary Care Manager (aka Doctor) since I'm going to be "home" longer than I had originally expected and my trip to the girlie Dr now cannot wait until we get to Japan.  I typically only have great things to say about TriCare, but today I wanted to punch the woman on the phone in the face!  I have to change regions which I've done many times before and never had a problem.  Apparently, you can only enroll online by logging on with a CAC card (which, as spouses, we do not have), or a DSL account (I have NO CLUE what that is and the woman on the phone had no interest in telling me what it is, so I don't know if I have one or not) or by using the same user name/ password for the military members MyPay account (which I used to know until they made it some 15 character password that I can never remember).  I told her I had none of those and her response was "oh, well your husband can help you with that".  NO HE CANNOT!!!!! WHAT PART OF "HE'S AT RANGER SCHOOL" AND "NO CONTACT" DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE 1ST TIME I TOLD YOU?!?!?!  I was so furious that I hung up before I could say something I regretted.  I know I can do this all by snail mail, but that's just a PITA, and just because I cannot talk to my husband right now is not reason for me to not be able to change my doctor the easy way.  It's MY doctor, I should be able to change my doctor using MY information, not my husbands!

I feel better after getting that off my chest =)  On a lighter note, I signed up for a CrossFit beginner program starting next week!!!!!!  Basically, it's 4 weeks of classes that teach the basic movements of the CrossFit workouts.  I already know most, but not all of them, and this program is a requirement to start working out at the local gym here.  I decided if the husband is going to be sucking it up and getting back in shape, then I should too.  I loved doing CrossFit with our friends back at FLW and cannot wait to get back into it.  I am excited to actually track my progress this time!  I know there are a few other CrossFit MilSpouses out there so I will probably track my progress on the blog.

sad face

After a week long road trip, I dropped the hubs off at Ranger school on Sunday.  Unfortunately I received the dreaded phone call already, telling me that he will be recycled (he left a voice mail while I was at vacation bible school so I don't know the details).  Our 63 day separation just got indefinitely longer and I am not happy about it.  I'm proud that he isn't quitting though, I know this isn't easy but I'm sad I have to wait longer to see this sexy bald man

While I sit here waiting for him to call again, I suppose I'll fill you in on the last couple of weeks!

We spent the day at the water park

Visited friends =)

and brothers

ate a ridiculously good lunch at Grindhouse Killer Burgers in Atlanta

Went to the world of Coca Cola =)

and said see ya later to my hunk

I also got to stop by my favorite 3 year old's birthday party

it's so hard to say goodbye

Today I have to say my 1st "Japan goodbye" and I DO NOT WANT TO!  It hasn't really set in that we're moving to the opposite side of the world and won't be back home for who knows how long.  That's going to change today.  My sister is moving to Ft Bliss tomorrow morning to live with her husband who just returned from Kuwait.  I probably will not see her again before we move to Japan.  It's the 1st "goodbye until...." goodbye and I do not like it!!!  The fact that I'm PMS'ing it's my sister makes it even harder!

We're going to see our father today who I haven't talked to in almost a year and she hasn't talked to in over a year (that's another blog for another day).  He has no idea that she is married or that she is moving to TX or that Jason and I are moving to Japan.  We know that seeing him is the right thing to do, it just took us until the last possible moment to suck it up and be the better people and call him.

Time to go apply some waterproof mascara and prepare for the evening of tears to come (I've already cried once today and I'm sure it won't be the only time, I'm a crier!).  If you're the praying type, I would appreciate it if you would say a quick prayer for me, I'm going to need it today!

Stephie-poo/Stephers/Spaghetti Lips/Sissy,

even when you drive me crazy, I love you more than I can tell you!
Thanks for being the best sister ever =)

better luck next week...

I thought I was going to have time to blog this week, but my friend whose wedding I'm in on Saturday kicked her Matron of Honor out of the wedding and then my sister told me she's moving to Ft Bliss on Thursday to live with her husband who just got home from Kuwait 8 months early!  No free time for me this week.  Here's hoping I have better luck next week (although we're road tripping to Ft Bragg/Ft Jackson/ATL/Ft Benning, so don't hold your breath)!

On a random side note, I just bought a kindle and I'm on a major book buying spree...any recommendations?!?!

husbands dream vacation

This past weekend Jason and I got to go on a mini vacation.  The Army was nice enough to drop a little lot of extra cash into our bank account just because we're PCS'ing and asked for it (if you're military and don't know about DLA, LOOK INTO IT)!  We decided to be irresponsible and not put it ALL towards our debt but instead stop in  Bardstown, KY after we left FLW.  I hate the stuff but bourbon is like candy to the hubs and since another chunk of that money went to buy me a Kindle, I put on my happy shorts and went to the bourbon capitol of the world (or so they say).  I actually had a REALLY good time and can't wait to go back!  We were in town for less than 24 hours but packed in a LOT of activity!  Here's a little recap of our trip:

Dinner at the Old Talbert Tavern where Abe Lincoln and Daniel Boone have supposedly dined

I ate a Kentucky Hot Brown for the 1st time (or at least my version of it, with no ham or bacon) and LOVED it!

Then the husband sampled some local bourbons and got a free shot glass to keep (yay for "free" souvenirs!)

We saw a bike rally for fallen soldiers

had fun with our shadows

and I got really excited that our hotel had a REAL key

The town has 6 or 8 bourbon distilleries that you can tour, but we only had a few hours, so we woke up bright and early the next morning (8:00 is early for us right now) to start our tours.

1st was Jim Beam

This was the list of supplies Beam ordered after prohibition ended

Us inside the old T. Jeremiah Beam house

We He sampled 2 of the bourbon's Jim Beam makes, one of which was the 4th highest alcohol content the factory had ever made.  It was a bit intense for 9am!  Then we went over to the Makers Mark distillery which I was excited about and was not disappointed!

They paint all their buildings black to hide the mold (at least that's what I think the tour guide said) and I love the way they look with the red shutters

Our tour guide was great and we learned lots of interesting information, like the 5 factors to qualify a whiskey as a bourbon (1. it must be produced in the US, 2. it must be made of at least 51% corn, 3. it must be less than 160 proof, 4. free of any additives and 5. it must be aged at least 2 years.) and that bourbon is called America's Native Spirit.  Also, after the barrels are used to make bourbon, they are sent to Scotland to make Scotch.  Yay for recycling!

We were allowed to taste it in the process

We signed up to be ambassadors, so we will get our name on an ambassador barrel like these

and had more samples

and the BEST PART....

I put on all this sexy protective gear

and got to dip my own bottle into their signature wax seal

I was most looking forward to this part of the trip and it was fun to learn how they do it!

I also found my almost dream kitchen ( I love the retro feel but want a slightly brighter blue)

and loved these little guys that were out on display

We only toured the 2 but we loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back and check out the others.  If you like bourbon (or even if you don't), this is a relaxing, low key vacation spot I would recommend!

Hallelujah

I finally got my computer back from Geek Squad and can blog again (my husbands computer has something blocked or is missing something that prevents me from using blogger)!

I have been a little nervous to post because recently I've been feeling like an impostor. A fake. A poser.  I check my Google Reader and see all about deployed husbands and spouses away at JRTC or TDY for weeks/months at a time, while I can count on 2 hands the number of times my husband has worn a uniform since Christmas (he's been completing his masters).  I see spouses at the PX toting around 4 or 5 children screaming that they wish daddy would just come home while I chat easily with my husband on our cell phones from 3 aisles away.  I know we've done our time and we will do our time again in the hopefully distant future, but right now, I just don't feel like I belong in this military world.  I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, I'm not trying to.  I know a lot of my readers are military spouses and I don't want to feel like I'm rubbing it in when I talk about all the traveling and fun things I've gotten to do with the hubs the last 6 months.  I know how blessed I am to have all this "civilian" time with my husband.  I also know this is all about to come to a screeching halt when I drop the hubs off at Ranger school in a couple weeks and I just hope I'm ready to go from spending 95% of my time with Jason to 0%!

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I do have some friends/family that read this,so I'm going to talk about all the fun stuff we've been doing.

We were lucky enough to spend a night in St Louis with some friends before they made the move to Germany.  

Before our friends arrived, we had AMAZING Thai food at Sen Thai Bistro.  I had the Pad Thai (boring, I know, but I'd never actually had it before)

and the hubs had the shrimp curry

BOTH were EXCELLENT!  We also had the Siam Platter as an appetizer which was delicious as well.  If you're ever in the STL area, I would definitely recommend this restaurant!

After our friends arrived, we had drinks at a local bar then went to the casino for a bit.  On our way back to the hotel we decided we were hungry again, so we pulled out the crackberry, found a 24 hour diner and hopped in a cab and ended up at the Eat Rite dinner.  

Phew...that was an experience we will NEVER forget!  1st of all, we walk up to the door and it's locked, then we heard "click" as the door is unlocked for us.  Yes, we had to be buzzed in by the lady cooking after she deemed us acceptable for entry.  I'm pretty sure we enjoyed our $4 meal next to a pimp and 2 of his hookers.  If you're ever in the STL area, I would NOT recommend this restaurant!

Then we said good bye to our friends (who we WILL visit soon in Germany!)

and headed off to tour the Anheuser Busch factory

then stopped to snack on some pretzels from Gus'

and headed off to Grant's Farm to see some of the famous A-B Clydesdale's

The farm was actually a lot of fun and they had tons of animals roaming around the park but my camera battery died after we left the Clydesdales, so you'll just have to trust me on that! 

We stopped to eat one more time while we were in STL at Pappy's where I would have enjoyed a huge plate of food had I not confused "Holly's hot sauce" with "Sweet baby Jane".  It was too spicy for my weak taste buds, but Jason enjoyed it!