Timber!

I hate trees. I use to love them, but after the past couple weeks, I have decided the next house we purchase will not have trees anywhere near the house that are taller than our house. Seriously, Trees, You suck.

If you follow my Facebook fan page, Instagram or on Twitter,  you know I have been doing a lot of yard work this deployment. When my husband left, our yard wasn't as you would say, "Pretty".

The front yard was missing grass from the installation of our driveway after purchasing the house. I had finally got the grass to look good and planted flowers in the front. Yay for me!

The back yard was covered with leaves and was mostly just dirt. Every week I would get out there and rake leaves and work to make the yard look good. It was far from being my dream yard, but it was green and very few bald spots.

The left image is after weeks of work. Yard was green and I had filled some holes along the fence with top soil as well as bagged TONS of leaves. The right image was the project I was starting. All the grass (what was there) was going to be removed and I was going to level the area out and begin working on my husband's awesome patio surprise.

Then, when having someone come quote to finish off our privacy fence, I received bad news that the tree closest to our house was not only dead, but hollowed out. Problem? This tree was EXTREMELY close to our house and more than double the height of our house. If it were to fall, it would take out 3 bedrooms and 2 bathroom at the very minimum. Yikes.

Before believing this man, I sent photos of the tree to my father-in-law who is an expert with trees. He then told me what I expected, but didn't want to hear. The tree had to come down.

I had more than 5 companies give me quotes. The tree was so large and so close to our house it wasn't going to come cheap. Of course, I chose the guy I felt the most comfortable with, and just so happened to be the guy with the lowest price. Within 2 days, he had his team at my house to get the tree down.

The company is called Great Scott. And they were Great! They stayed until dark and had the tree down in one day. I was nice and made them Lemonade and cookies. I figured it was the least I could do with them being out in the sun all day and not taking breaks. Man, were they ever appreciative!

As you can see, my green yard was starting to turn to muck. 

They struggled with the stump with it being as large as it was. The bobcat spun it's tires when it tried to get under the chainsaw cut they put in at the base to pull it up. They ended up having to go from top to bottom with the chainsaw ans splitting the base in two. The tree ended up taking two truck loads to haul off, not including the limbs they turned into sawdust. 

My yard, a mess. But, when there is a bobcat and a tree falling in your yard.. what can you do? They even had to take out part of my fence to get the bobcat in the back yard. They did go above and beyond by re-installing the gate for me. My back yard has about a 10 foot section that is green. My front yard is also a mess, but nothing compared to the back. 

Before, my yard was very shaded. And although it is still shaded, there is a HUGE section to my yard that was not there before due to the tree and the sun is bright! I've noticed my house stays a bit warmer now too. Which, may be good for winter. Now that summer is here, my central air may be running a tad bit more. But, for the yard space, I'm OK with that. 

Now, my tree issues didn't stop there. Just a few days after having this beast of a tree cut down, I guess the Gumball tree, also in my back yard, felt neglected. A rather large limb from the top of the tree broke loose and crushed the roof of my husband's shed. The shed he finished building just 3 days before he deployed in March. 

Coming home from working to see this, my only thoughts were, "Really?!".
The limb even moved the shed over a few feet as well as ripped apart and through the metal on the roof. The limb was only inches away from hitting our lawn mower.

Thankfully for us, the tree company that took down the beast of a Red Oak for me, came by and removed the limb (which was inside the shed, over the fence and on the neighbor's garage. It was no little limb!). AND, they did it for me for free, saving me nearly $500. They even looked at the Gumball tree for me to give me a status on the condition of the tree. The tree is in GREAT health, however, they did tell me that Gumball trees are notorious for loosing limbs as the the limbs get so large and too heavy for the tree. So, now I'm debating as to cut down the Gumball tree or not. It wouldn't be any time soon, as we have had to shell out a lot of money in a very short amount of time. My pocketbook needs a break!

Now, sometime in the very near future, there will be a pretty little wood shed where this mangled metal shed still currently sits until I figure out what the heck I need to do with it. 

I wanted the wood shed to begin with, but he wanted to save a couple hundred dollars with the metal. Now, I am making the investment to get the "Prettier" lawn ornament. 

So, Here's to no more tree issues, PLEASE!

I love trees, I really do. But I do not like when they add to my deployment to-do list and when they cost as much as they do. Now, I'm back at square one for working on my yard. Grass seed has been poured, now, finger's crossed it will grow. I really want a pretty yard. 

Thankfully, there are no trees that are a major threat to our house in our yard. My biggest threat is my neighbor's kids. But that's for a whole different blog. 

He's Home! He's Gone.. Pack,Unpack.. (week in review!)

 {Pic Heavy Post!}

I've been kind of MIA lately. Been a lot going on. All good though ;)

Got everything packed up while the Hubs was underway. By the way, I am SO over seeing boxes! haha. I thought I was going to have to move everything on my own, but luckily the Hubby got to come home early. Yay! :D <- there's that big cheesey smile again. (ps.. he's at sea again already)

Got some really good pics of the ship and a friend's 2 kids when the ship pulled in, :)

Since he got to come home early, he was actually in for his 21st. I know.. I know. I'm a cradle robber. He's 2 years younger haha. Anyway, back to the point. We went out for his birthday. I was the lovely Designated Driver for the night (fine by me.. I rarely drink). We had a blast. Yes, he got sick. It was expected and planned, haha. I still keep picking on him for the fact that I held liquor better on my 21st than he did. He blames getting sick on me. I bought him a Pineapple Upside down Cake shot.. and he said it was Nasty. I think he didn't like it because he took it right after a scooby shot. I'm sure the flavors clashed.. or it might have had something to do with the Liquid Cocaine shot {gag.. 21st flashback!}... or one of the many other shots that were bought for him that night. Needless to say, 130pm the next day... he was still drunk. Hangover hit later that evening.

To the left: The Hubby and myself. I love that pic of us:)
To the right: The hubby and his princess bag from one of his friends.
In the bag was a Gnome yard ornament sporting the TN Vols.

1. Liquid Cocaine    2. Feeling pretty good (several shots in)     3. Scooby shot

4. Scooby shot = gone.  5. Pineapple Upside Down Cake shot.. aka.. the one that made him sick  
6. a couple minutes before he got sick.

I spent Memorial day Packing.. Packing.. Packing. Did I mention I was tired of boxes? I lit a candle at 2pm for all the fallen Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Soldiers.

We went and signed the final paperwork for our new place and inspected it. He had to work, So I started moving little things in.. boxes, boxes.. more boxes. Then the next day was the official move day. Couple of the guys came to help us. Bought Beer and Pizza for helping us. I think the Beer is what got them over here haha. They literally threw my couch off the balcony {FIINAALY get to get a new couch!}. The hubby broke my coffee table.. wasn't too upset about that either.. wanted a new one anyway ;). Didn't really have time after getting everything in the new place to unpack anything. We were beat. So.. we slept. The next day.. he's back to sea.
Now, I'm left with the unpacking. More dealing with boxes, and finding furniture.

Left: Goodbye ugly couch!      Right: This will eventually be our living room

I have been unpacking for a couple days now.. and looks as if I have gotten NOWHERE! It may have something to do with the fact that I have spent most of these past couple days couch shopping. I ended up getting a couch and loveseat, and then threw in a coffee table, end table, and new bedroom furniture as a treat to myself haha. Well, we did need it and honestly, I got a hell of a deal. 2 rooms of nice furniture and I spend just $1400.. Of course we financed it, but it's all in my hubs name to build his credit. I have a fun (I got extremely pissed!) story that I'll blog about after this post. Don't want to drag this on to be a HUGE post.. well, it's there already. Ok, now that I'm done being sidetracked... haha. Our new furniture will be here on Tuesday. I can't wait!
{I'll post pics or the before and after when everything's put in it's place}

Our neighbor's are really nice.. well one's really weird. That's a story for another time. The other family is an Airforce family. The son is my little buddy. He'll talk my ear off. He's about 10 years old. I've talked to him about what he thinks of his dad being in the military. I'll have to post about that later too. ;)

For now.. I have to get back to cleaning and unpacking. Which means, more boxes. Welcome to my exciting life ;) haha. I'll be getting out tomorrow though (maybe this evening to take pictures for a friend). Tomorrow, going to see Jason Aldean in VA Beach. Woot! Yes, I said woot. :P

Hope ya enjoyed the pics! :D

Deployment on the Horizon

We still have a little bit before we get to the Big D. However, every time a new schedule is posted.. seems the time gets a little closer and closer.

The ship let the boys come home yesterday, but the ride has already started back again. The hubby and I got to talking as I took him in this morning. The next few months are going to prepare us for our first deployment. And by the time deployment gets here we will have made a few decisions, atleast I hope we know what we're doing.

In a little over a month we will be moving into a townhouse we found for rent that is a lot larger and about $300 a month less than we are currently paying for our cramped apartment. We're not quite sure how this move will go with all these workups going on... But I'm trying to figure it out. All the packing is kind of left up to me.. but I'm sure if he was here, it would still be that way. I'm excited, but feeling a little stressed because all the guys that are planning to help us move, just happen to be on the same ship as my hubby. I'm trying to rack my brain and try to figure out how to make this run smoothly.

We think we are going to like our new place, but we said the same about our current apartment. We figure by deployment time, we will know if we want to stay here in Hampton, or if we want to find another place to rent in Norfolk (or that side of the water) or maybe even think about the home buying idea again. We still have some time to think about it, but I want to be as prepared as I can be.

I'm trying to lay out the pros and cons to each idea. Trying to think of our best possible option.
If we like the townhouse in Hampton- Pros: It's cheap, plenty of space, it's more "homey" like Cons: Tunnel traffic to Norfolk, is Nick going to feel safe leaving me there alone?, no back yard- just a large Patio.
If we decided to find another place across the tunnel to rent: Pros: No more tunnel traffic!, Close to base, I have lots of friends on that side of the water Cons: Having to move again, trouble finding a place that will allow Riley, more deposits
If we decide to buy a house: Pros: It's ours!, I can do all sorts of projects around the house, a yard for Riley, I can have a garden Cons: Moving again, finding a good neighborhood, it not selling when we get orders, will be paying more than what we are going to pay for rent at the townhouse.

We have decided that if we decide to move, whether it be buying or renting, we will put all our stuff in storage and I will move home for a little bit. This will give me time to find us a new place and save some money up while he is away. I want to have us moved in and the place all decorated by the time he is home though. I want to surprise him. I plan to send him pictures of the home buying/ rent search process and make sure his opinion matters. I want him to feel as involved as possible. I know he will say he doesn't  matter, if I like it he will like it.. blah blah blah, but I want this to be about him too.

Is anyone going through a similar situation as this? What do you do to keep your sanity?

"It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything."

"It is well to read everything of something,
and something of everything."
~ Lord Henry P. Brougham ~

I have started somewhat of a collection of books.. Military Wife books. I am not much of a book reader. Just one of those things I typically get "into". But every since the start of my "Journey" as a Navy Wife, I have found something I get lost in reading. I have more than 10 books at the moment.. and more on the way. My own personal library, I guess you can say.

I have been asked several times what Military Wife books I recommend. I never thought to blog about it, but would it not be easier to blog about it and refer people to my blog to read what I think about the books I have? I think so. So, today, I am going to blog about my "Military Wife Library" (and maybe some that I plan to get). -I will link the title of the book to amazon.com where you can read more reviews and purchase the book if you would like.
 

The first Military Wife book I ever picked up was SOLO-OPS by Hilary Martin. I love the way this book is written. Hilary writes about her personal experiences allowing the reader to relate more to her point of view. She covers so much in her book from becoming a Military wife to deployment, to entering the civilian world again. She also makes it clear to keep an open mind and laugh at the situations your faced with, the importance of Humor with the Military. If a "SOLO-OPS" volume 2 was to be released, I would definitely be one of the first to purchase it. Also check out the forum SOLO-OPS. I met some great ladies when I was active in the forum. I'm involved with so many groups and forums now.. it's hard to keep up with all of them now.
 

MARRIED TO THE MILITARY by Meredith Leyva is the second military wife book I read. For the most part, I really enjoyed this book, and will recommend it. However, I did feel like it was a big advertisement for her website/ Forum CinC House. I learned quite a few things when reading this. For a New military wife, I think this book is a great read. If you are someone who has been "Married to the Military" for a little time now, you might get bored or find that it was all that helpful. Overall.. The book is an A+ read, if you're curious.. check it out. Be sure to check out the forum as well. I still visit the forum regularly. I have learned a lot from these ladies. And if you read some of the reviews on this book.. the forum isn't full of "Snotty, racist women". Everyone has been super nice and helpful to everyone I have seen on there.
 

The book I would recommend more than any other is Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul. Full of encouraging stories, this book is Perfect for anyone who is in love with a Service member. Be sure to have a box of Tissue handy, as these stories will touch your heart! This book is a great reminder of why our Men do what they do and that we are not alone on this journey. This book is perfect to turn to when you are struggling with military life, deployments and more. I highly suggest this read, definitely a 5 star read.

If you can overlook a large abundance of grammatical and punctuation errors.. the book Military Wives 101  by Tynisa Gaines is an okay read. When I bought this book I didn't read anything about it. I judged it by the title and assumed it was a "Guide" to life as a military wife... little did I know it was a story. If you let this book determine what you think about military life, you will have an obscured view of what it really is and can be. For some reason I wanted to finish the book and did so. Something kept drawing me in, I was curious as to what would happen. If you decide to get this.. I wouldn't suggest paying more than $5 (including shipping!) for this book.
 

Medals Above My Heart is a quick read. If you are a religious person, this is a good little devotional for you. If you are not a spiritual person, this book may seem a little boring to you. The book is only 125 pages long and could easily be read in 1 day.
 

Navy Spouse's Guide (second edition) by Laura Hall Stavridis taught me quite a bit. However, it seems a bit dated. But I do believe it is a good read for all Navy wives, especially if you don't know much about the Navy.
 

A book I always keep handy is Today's Military Wife 5th Edition. From the break down of the LES to Deployments and Sponsoring a Family. This book has it all. Although it seemed a little "Text book" like for me. I just Read the chapters as I needed them or wanted them. There are newer versions available that I plan to get eventually.
 

If you are looking for something to make you smile, laugh and keep you wanting more.. I suggest Confessions of a Military Wife by Mollie Gross. I really hope Mollie writes another book. Mollie tells it how it is, and in the most hilarious way possible. She's extremely relateable too! I found myself thinking several times that I had been through similar situations. If you have deployment blues.. pick up a copy. "Laughter is the best medicine".
 

Help! I'm a Military Spouse (second edition) by Kathie Hightower & Holly Scherer did something that most military Spouse writers didn't.. they included Male military Spouse, not directly, but it's not a military "Wives" book. Kathie and Holly make a good combo, mixing seriousness and humor. The book is based on a workshop.. I wonder if they still offer it? I think I just might look that up later!
 

Another one of my personal favorites is The Homefront Club by Jacey Eckhart. She was an Airforce brat who ended up Marrying a Sailor. I found myself giggling a few times, smiling and really thinking about things with this book. I highly recommend it. I also recommend her audio CD These Boots, which you can get for free on Military One Source (title is linked).

A recent book I bought and am working my way through is Going Overboard by Sarah Smiley. So far I don't have an opinion on it, but I'm only a few pages in. She's honest, holds nothing back.. and It reads like a story. (I'll update this when I finish)

The last book that I currently own is The Long Road Home by Martha Raddatz. I have a feeling this is going to be a hard read. It's supposed to show some incite to what our men and women in uniform go through. I'm an emotional pansie.. We'll see how this goes. (Update will come when I finish the book).

This ends my list of books I currently have (not mentioning all the one's of my hubby's that I read too!).

I also plan to get:

Separated by Duty, United in Love

365 Deployment Days

Faith Deployed

Hope for the Home Front

Spouses Also Serve

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Life as a Military Spouse

Heroes at Home

I Love a Man in Uniform 

And that is the short list. I hope someone enjoyed this drawn out post. I will continue to update it as I get and read more books. I would also like to hear your feedback about books I have posted.. both the one's I have read and have yet to read.

Change of plans.. Again

I haven't posted much of an update on my Lately. I recently wrote about hunting for a new apartment ("Aggressive" Breeds vs New Apartment Hunting), a few things have happened since then.

We decided we wanted to buy again. We were having so much trouble trying to find a place that would allow Riley. We sat down and really thought about what we want and what we can afford comfortably. And what we can afford (or what we want to pay)... well, lets just say, we're not finding anything in our price range in a good neighborhood. We got to thinking.. What about a townhouse? They are affordable, offer everything we want in a single family home, some have back yards.. We had made up our mind. So, We went searching, and sat down with our Realtor and our Lender. Then bad news hit us like a brick wall. The husband had no credit. Zilch. With that being said, We cannot get approved for a mortgage, and it could take 6 months to build his credit up to where it needs to be. With that being said, we had to go back to looking for a rental. Boo!

I spent hours searching online. Getting anxious, nervous. Just 2 months and we have to be out of our current apartment. If we are not out of our apartment by the time our lease expires.. they will Jack our rent up to $1340 a month.. and that's just base rent!! That does not include Water, Trash, Pet rent, washer & dryer rent! EEk! We would end up paying $1500 a month! Yeah, it was time to search hardcore! I found a place online.. a townhouse, Yay! I called and it seemed perfect. Roo's allowed!! The lady said they would have just 1 available when we needed it. Felt like we had to act fast. We went and looked at it. We liked it, but it seemed a little cramped, and didn't have a private patio.. and that kitchen sure could have used some updates! But the price was awesome, which made it so hard to turn down. The lady referred us to their sister property that offered larger homes, and a private patio. She also said she was sure they had something available. We went and checked it out. We liked it a lot. A lot bigger than the previous townhouse we checked out and much more space than our current apartment. The price was ONLY $100 more than the first townhouse we looked at.. and it meets all of our needs. So, We signed the lease. We are going to be saving more than $300 a month compared to our current rent. Yesssss! <- That's me very excited, if you didn't get that. We move in the first of June. I'm absolutely excited.

We had to sign a 12 month lease, which means we'll be stuck on this side of the water for another year (unless we break the lease when he deploys). But we have decided that if we like it there, we might as well stay there for the remainder of his orders here in Hampton Roads. This side of the water is a lot cheaper.. not to mention the roads are a lot better. The down part is.. THE TUNNEL TRAFFIC! I have pretty much adjusted to it, but I feel bad for my husband.. He will be the one suffering with it every single day! I'm sure he is thrilled about that one. I guess that means he should finally adjust to it as well. We've been here for a year already and have roughly 5 more to go.. yea, it's definitely time for him to adjust.

"Aggressive" Breeds vs New Apartment Hunting

The husband and I have decided to look for a new home. The apartment we live in now is just a little on the pricey end, and because of it.. we are not able to put any money in savings.
We considered buying a house, but in these economic times, we feel that when it comes time for our next Duty Station... we may not be able to sell the home. We have decided to go hunting for a townhouse.

The apartment we live in now isn't bad, but for the price.. I expect it to be a lot better than it is. We had a problem with our the heat in the master bedroom and were basically told there was nothing they could do about it. They seem to have hot water problems in our building quite often (no problem with hot water in our apt) and when one person's hot water is messed up.. they shut the whole building's water off. They have shut our water off twice within a month's time, tomorrow will be the third time. That can be very frustrating. Monday's are always Laundry day.. and It just feels like my whole week gets thrown off. They do allow pets here with no restrictions, which is why we jumped so fast to sign the lease here.. but we're hoping to find a townhouse with a fenced in patio so she can play outside more.

Riley- Roo, 3 year old American Pit Bull Terrier

I love my dog so very much. She is a 3 1/2 year old American Pit Bull Terrier. She is one of the sweetest, cutest most loyal dog I have ever owned or been around. But she's an "Aggressive" breed. For some reason, when people refer to her breed as "Aggressive" or even "Vicious" I just want to start on a rant.. "Dems fightin' words". (sorry for the movie reference, but it's what just popped in my head).

Today I received an email from a townhouse community and she started off by saying they were a "Pet Friendly community" and then went on to describe how they had no weight restrictions. I was thinking we found our place.. but wait.. next line said "no aggressive dogs are accepted" and the next line in small print, "The company considers aggressive to mean pit bulls, chows, Akita, etc". I wanted to scream! You're NOT a "Pet Friendly" community if you don't allow all breeds.. That's just my opinion. But it just really frustrates me. My dog is NOT aggressive nor is she Vicious! I had a chiwahwah who was more "Viscious" than Roo could even imagine of being.. and I know of two cocker spaniels that attacked my sister.. Like I said.. my dog is NOT AGGRESSIVE! I had to give myself a minute before I messaged the lady back. I really let this get to me.
I think I handled myself quite well in my response. I wrote, "Sadly, you're housing community is not for us. We have a very loving, non-aggressive American Pit Bull Terrier that you community discriminates against. Thank you for your time.".

Why does apartment hunting have to be so hard for people who love and want to save this amazing breed of dog? Especially for a military family, who doesn't have much option for housing.. We could buy a house, but with Orders that can change.. It is probably not the best idea, not for us. I'm sure we'll find another place.. I still have more than 25 townhouse communities to call and email. I'm keeping my head up, I just needed to rant some.