New home update!

Ian and I have been busy little bees that's for sure! We dove right in and started painting rooms in the house (remind me to never paint another kitchen again!) and our movers thankfully didn't take long to arrive so we could begin the unpacking process quickly.

Then, miracle of all miracles, I got a job!! My wonderful friend Ashley put in a good word for me at her place of employment and I was interviewed my first Monday here and then hired on the spot! Thank you, Jesus! I am an office administrator/assistant for a property management company. We rent out homes of course, but also provide furnished apartments for more temporary needs. It is always busy, always changing and keeps me on my toes and I. love. it. Plus the owners are really laid back, military friendly and hilarious. Did I mention that I get to work with one of my best friends? A huge bonus!

So needless to say, getting the house all settled has been a slower process but I don't mind. So without further ado, here are some pictures of what we have done (so far).

Front

Fall wreath made by yours truly

Front entry (still not set on what to do with the stair wall)

As you enter 

Dining room (we have plans to install a chair rail)

Powder room - next up to be painted

Kitchen

Breakfast table 

Opposing view of kitchen

Living room (note: couch will be moving to bonus room in near future and shelf needs to be lowered)

The fireplace is my favorite part of the house!

Master bath - His

Hers

Master bedroom complete with new furniture...we feel like such grown ups! 

Upstairs hallway (I want to add a table and lamp to the wall on the left)

Guest bath

Guest room

Bonus room (in progress)

A t.v. and furniture are in the works!

Backyard - still a major work in progress but it's looking better!

One more place added to our list :)

Farewell, Fort Huachuca

The move is upon us! The movers come tomorrow, my brother dearest arrives on Tuesday, and we head east on Wednesday!

It's an odd feeling knowing that there's a strong possibility you may never be at a certain location again. Though we have enjoyed our time here in Arizona, both Ian and I agree that we would prefer not to be stationed here again. On our hike yesterday, I stood atop the hills trying to savor it all in... Southern Arizona sure does have some beautiful sights. We are already planning a night at our favorite pizza joint in Bisbee, Screaming Banchee Pizza, the night before we leave. Now that is one place we definitely will miss! I am definitely excited to arrive in Tennessee, but I can't help but feel a little melancholy at the close of another chapter in our lives. (And I definitely will miss the short hours Ian has had to put in while in class.)

There have definitely been some wonderful aspects to our short sting in Sierra Vista.

The Friends

The girlies - Halli, me, and Ashley

The boys - Ian, Cameron and Alex

My wine tasting buddy! 

Girls night! Royal Wedding slumber/viewing party 

The Family

Brother Jeff and I at the Tucson zoo

Wine tasting with Ian's side of the familia! They came for Easter and we had a wonderful time showing them ALL OVER southern AZ! 

With my side of our family! Ok, so this was in Idaho, not AZ, but it was for my bro's college graduation, which was a huge event while we were living here!

The Fun in the  Sun

There was a lot of great hiking...here we're overlooking the Coronado Natl. Forest, which borders THE border! 

Tombstone! Me hanging out with my newest friends 

Somehow I got Ian to do TWO of these pictures!

Father and fur-daughter strolling on post

We had to go to a Diamondbacks game! (And eat ballpark dogs of course!)

No trip to AZ is complete without a stop at the Grand Canyon! 

Personal Achievements

I ran in my first 5k! Not generally huge, but huge for me!

Ian graduated his Captains Career Course! 

Lastly, there was one event in particular Ian and I both agree will not soon be forgotten... the wildfire near us! We won't soon forget the sights of the black smoke coming from the mountains behind our home or the smell of the burnt air, or how we kept checking the evacuation statuses and had some stuff together just in case. It was an image that is forever burned in our memories (pun intended). 

Bye, Arizona! Helloooo Tennessee! 

Favorite Summer Reads

One of the perks of being a housewife is I have a lot to time to read...and read I do! Here's some books that have made an impression on me this summer.

Sarah's Key Quite possible one of the most touching, unforgettable books I have read in a long while is Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. It is a heart wrenching account of a young Jewish girl living in Paris during World War II, who makes a life-altering decision that, sixty years later, an American journalist finds she has a connection to. I highly recommend reading this - You. will. be. moved. Just make sure to have the tissues handy!

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea  On the opposite end of the spectrum of touching the heart-strings, is Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by comedian Chelsea Handler. This, I pray it's not all true autobiographical account of the comedian's life is, in a word, inappropriate. Make that wildly inappropriate. Yet I could not stop laughing! I even read this during a plane ride and had fellow passengers glance over at me because I was laughing out loud... a lot. I would not recommend this book for anyone under the age of 21 but for a fun, zany look at life, this book is great! *Warning: Do not let Grandma dearest read this! 

The Sookie Stackhouse Series I am a huge fan of the HBO television series True Blood, but am just now reading the novels it is inspired by! I say inspired by because there a lot of differences between the show and the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. They follow the crazy, abnormal life of northern Louisiana's Sookie Stackhouse, herself a telepath, and her encounters with the "out of the coffin" vampires, especially Bill and Eric. Along the way she meets several other creatures, including shape-shifters and werewolves. Like the show, I literally cannot put these books down! I am almost through with the third installment, Club Dead. While they differ from the show, I like the changes because it keeps me on my toes and I am not sure what to expect! These books are intriguing, witty, and I'll be honest, quite steamy. But if you have seen the show and are a fan of Eric's Alexander Skarsgard, you won't mind! 

"Eric" - 'Nuff said. 

One Day Sometimes I read a book that reminds me to not judge by the first few chapters. One Day by David Nicholls is one of those. Slow to start and get in to, all of a sudden I found myself enthralled in the relationship between Dexter and Emma, curious where their lives would take them next. This book is unique in that each chapters is a different year in the lives of the main characters, on the same day in July. We follow Dex and Em from college to budding careers and beginning their families. By the end, I felt connected to the two, as if I knew them. It's a sweet, if not realistic, love story. A movie based on this novel is coming out soon, starring Anne Hathaway...though sadly, I have not heard the best reviews. I am sure I will still watch it anyway!

With the upcoming move, I finally convinced Ian to part ways with some of his ginormous book collection. I am going to take a bag of our books today to try and sell back to Hasting's. There are some books I refuse to give away, but for the most part I don't feel the need to save everything I read. My husband on the other hand, begs to differ. See this bag here?

A whopping THREE of those books belonged to the hubs. His only response is "blame my Dad, he taught me to keep everything!" So thanks, Colin, if you read this! ;-) 

As you can see, I tend to read mostly "girly" books, where the husband's genre of choice is non-fiction war accounts. He maintains that a fun game to play would be "Guess whose book this is" since our titles range from the Shopaholic series to comparing the Taliban to Russian war tactics. Some how I don't think the game would be too hard to win...

All Is Not Quiet On The Job Front!

Isn't it funny how sometimes things happen when you least expect it? That God I tell ya, He likes to keep you on your toes!

You may know I have been struggling with the notion of being a stay-at-home-mom, sans children, and whether this is the best fit for me. (Read about My Job(less) Conundrum). Ian and I spent a lot of time discussing this and I also prayed and did some soul-searching. It just may be that God was listening and has given me an answer when I wasn't expecting it!

I hope I am not jinxing anything by sharing this with you, but I can't keep it in any longer! I may have already landed a job in Clarksville! Here's how:

While house hunting, I went in to meet with my lender, who voiced that she was impressed with my organization skills when I gave her all our information. (Told you I was a bit Type A!) She may have been joking when she asked if I was looking for a job, but my mom and I eagerly answered a resounding "Yes!" We got to talking and turns out she is looking for someone to begin work this fall, with a marketing background, to deal with incoming clients from a recent merger. She asked for my resume and I emailed it to her that afternoon!

We met again before I left to go over more lending documents, but in our conversation she made sure I wouldn't hold back any questions for fear of not impressing her, especially since, she reassured me, I would be shadowing her and learning from her directly. (Believe me, I did not hold back any questions!) This gesture impressed me however. She also told me how it is a small and close-knit office, her aunt even operates the front desk! I got a very warm feeling every moment I was there.

I got an email earlier this week from our lender letting me know that I can be expecting a call from their home office for a phone interview! She didn't say when but did call me today to tell me about some other good news (lower interest rate!) and explained that the interview is really more of a formality and also that the position would definitely be full-time.

Absolutely nothing is official yet, and we still have to hammer out some logistics (ie salary, holiday pay, duties) and I of course have to represent myself well during the phone interview. I do, however, get a really good feeling from this! So please, fingers crossed, prayers said, and good juju sent this way would be highly appreciated! 

Also, in case you were wondering about my dental assistant aspirations, I have in no way dropped this idea, but by the time we arrive in Clarksville I will have missed the start of the classes at the two nearest schools, both of which only start once a year. So it is on the back burner for now!

Wish me luck! :)

Back To School: Redux

With the strong potential of buying our first home on the horizon, I decided to get my booty in gear yesterday and get organized. I bought a new file folder to organize all our paperwork needed for our lender, real estate agent, and closing process. I also even bought a small (cute) notepad to take notes of the houses I walk through during the house hunt. I also stocked up on supplies for my recipe binder - thanks to some great advice from some of you! Can you tell I am a bit Type A?

While I was perusing the aisles of Target looking for my supplies, I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for my school days and back-to-school shopping! I never dreaded the beginning of school each fall and loved when the time came at the end of summer to stock up on new supplies! I can remember carefully selecting each supply to go into my new, also carefully selected backpack which housed my equally important lunch box. My friends and I even had "show and tell" with our new belongings - which inevitably would be lost, stained or damaged by October. Oh how I miss those days!

Wouldn't it be nice to still have your biggest stressor choosing which Lisa Frank binder to get?

I definitely stocked up on plenty of Yikes! pencils in grade school! 

Remember when colored notebook paper became all the rage? Or was that just a PNW thing?

What about you? Does the smell of an eraser or glue make you swoon? Any supplies from your childhood jump to mind? For all you parents out there, is back-to-school shopping a chore or a treat for you?