So Long, Sunglasses

Our trip went even better than we thought. The wedding was gorgeous, and it was awesome to see our family and friends. (This was one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. The weather was perfect that day.)

The best part of the trip was being able to just hang out with our family. My family loves Husband, and it was neat to see them make a special point to show him around and tell him stories.

The only casualty of the trip was my pair of sunglasses that I somehow lost. I ended up squinting a lot of the time on the trip or borrowing Husband’s sporty sunglasses because I refused to drop a small fortune on a pair at the boutique near the hotel.

And whether losing my sunglasses was a good or bad thing depends on who you ask. I was quite sad to see my sunglasses (of 3 years!) disappear, but I know Husband was quietly excited. He has called them my "Stevie Wonder sunglasses" for a while now.

The trip was well worth it, even if my sunglasses were sacrificed in the process. And I think Stevie Wonder will be relieved that I’m no longer stealing his look.

Her Happy Ending

My friend, who I met in the military, inadvertently changed my life one night when she happened to invite me to dinner at a restaurant with a group of her friends. There, a cute guy sat next to me who quickly became my friend, who I now call “Husband.” My friend just loves that we met through her, and she proudly mentions it whenever we’re together. In fact, on the matted picture that everyone signed at our rehearsal dinner, she jokingly wrote: “You can thank me for the rest of your lives. :)” Tomorrow, we leave for a trip to attend her wedding, and I’m so excited. We’ll get to see a lot of friends, and we’ll even get to spend time with some family members that live nearby. My friend and her soon-to-be-husband have been dating for years (even longer than I’ve known Husband). They also met in the military, and they spent most of their relationship long distance. Now they finally live in the same area, and they’re starting a new life together after both leaving the military. I’m thrilled to be a part of her special day. I just love happy endings.

He's famous...again!

Last year we found out that Husband’s picture was in an aviation magazine. Weirdly enough, we found out from a kind stranger who read the article and wrote Husband a nice note, thanking him for his military service. And Husband apparently has done it again – he’s in another magazine! This time it was Husband’s parents who found it. Today they happened to be browsing through a military magazine in the barber shop and saw a picture of Husband. And just like the last time, we had no clue that he was going to be in a magazine. I don’t know who’s more excited about it – Husband’s parents, my parents, or me. Ironically, Husband was the last to know. I told him enthusiastically about it when he got home from work. He just shrugged and said, “Oh.” Guess it’s just another day in his now-famous life.

Science in his sleep

I always knew that my husband was smart about science. I, on the other hand, know how to spell science, but that’s about all I can say. He further proved my point the other night. There was a really strong storm that woke us up around 5AM. I was groggy because I had just been in a deep sleep. My tired mind struggled to even ask the question, “Is that…hail?” “Yes, it is,” he quickly replied. “Apparently the storm must have some strong convective activity.” It wasn't until I woke up later that I marveled that he not only knew such an obscure science fact, but he was able to recall it at 5AM. Even my most alert self couldn’t recall this fact because, well, I’m still not sure what convective activity is. I can rest easier knowing that – day or night – Husband will have an answer to my every science question.

The eBay error

Husband and I have been watching our favorite TV shows on DVD. We first started with the show Lost, and now we’ve moved on to watching The Office. It’s been fun to curl up on the couch together and just laugh for an hour (or two) at our favorite shows. But we’re quickly going through our DVD supply. So I turned to eBay (where else?) to find some good deals. A couple days ago, I bid on a DVD set that we wanted to see. Yesterday, while I was cooking, I realized that it was nearing the end of the auction. I ran to the computer and placed another bid. I usually do all the eBay bidding, but this time I asked Husband to watch the auction while I cooked. It was about 10 minutes left in the auction, and he’d shout out the current bid. “It’s up to $15, do you want to bid higher?” We crept up our bid. $16, $17, $18. At some point, Husband remarked, “This is kind of fun!” He then figured out our strategy would be to put in our maximum bid at the last 45 seconds of the auction. I ran over to the computer to watch. The seconds were ticking away, and he hurried to place our maximum bid of $21. Except that instead of typing “21.00” he misses the decimal. He types in 2100. As in $2100! I screamed, “Nooo! You missed the decimal!” Horrified, he immediately exits out of the screen. We were both silent, in shock that we might have just committed ourselves to buy a DVD set (that usually retails for $40) for over two thousand dollars! For a used DVD set! He slowly gets back to the eBay website. By this time, the auction has ended. We held our breath as we see the final selling price: $21.50. We breathed a sigh of relief. We realized that, though he placed the bid, he never confirmed it. We lost the auction. But, happily, we just saved over two thousand dollars.

Happy Tax Day!

My Dad volunteered to help people with their taxes again this year. The program is geared towards helping the elderly, but he has helped people of all ages. He really enjoys it, and he happens to be very good at it, too.

That being said, it’s still nice for him when the tax season comes to a close.

I made this card for him in celebration.

And yes, this is as crafty as I get.

Happy Tax Day, everyone!

Flown-in Dinner

Husband went on an “out-and-back” flight yesterday, where he flies somewhere just for the day. It’s nice because Husband gets to fly to a different place, but he still gets to come home at night. Yesterday Husband was not only home for dinner, but he brought dinner! And, he happened to stop in Louisiana, so dinner was fresh Shrimp Po’ Boy sandwiches. Yum! I could easily get spoiled on this new form of “take-out.”

One Year

Husband and I realized the other day that we’ve already been at this assignment for a year now. In some ways, it feels like we just got here. In other ways, it feels like we’ve been here a lot longer. Now we are just starting to think about where we might go next. Of course, with the military there are so many unknowns that we can’t predict with any certainty where we might be. Husband, clearly, is hoping for any assignment where he’s flying. I hope the same because I want him to be happy. (However, I’m also hoping that the future duty station might happen to be near a somewhat major airport, making it easier for us to visit family and friends.) Either way, we should be here for another 2 years or so, so we’re probably not moving anytime soon. But that won’t stop us from wondering and dreaming in the meantime.

April Fool's Day Revealed

The April Fool's joke from yesterday was #3. We will not be getting a dog anytime in the near future. (However, we will still continue to watch the Dog Whisperer on TV because we love Cesar Milan’s show.) We also don’t have any friends that are going overseas, but if we did, I’d plead with them to take us in their suitcase. Sadly, I wish that #1 was the April Fool’s joke. Husband’s car is still not working, but we hope to get it fixed today. In the meantime, I will still play the role of chauffeur, which has been surprisingly fun. I think Husband is only mildly embarrassed when he gives me a quick kiss in the car when I drop him off on base. Did anyone pull any good April Fool’s jokes yesterday?

Spot the April Fool's Joke

Of the list below, ONE of the things is not true. 1) Husband’s car stopped working yesterday, and I’m playing chauffeur for him until it gets fixed. 2) We recently bought a season of The Office on DVD, and we’ve become addicted to watching it each night. 3) Our friends are leaving for an overseas assignment and asked if we’d take care of their dog. We haven’t made our decision yet. 4) I’m going to yet another baby shower this weekend. I think it will be the fourth baby shower I’ve been to in the last few months. Any guesses on which one isn’t true? I’ll reveal the answer tomorrow. Happy April Fool’s Day!