Christmas Party

My office had its annual Christmas party on Friday night.  It was the first Sina-free night Malu and I have had since, like, last year.  Last year around this time, we were spending the holidays with family and they'd completely taken Sina over.  To date, we have yet to find a babysitter. 

On Friday, Child Youth Services just happened to have a Parents Night Out evening where they extended their hours from 1830 to 2330.  So Malu and I were able to have a night to ourselves.  The party was so much fun.  We didn't plan it, but our outfits ended up matching perfectly and my boss told us that we won the award for best looking couple that night.  How flattering!

The food was great, as was the program.  People walked away with some really great White Elephant gifts and we had tons of good laughs.

Just as Malu was starting to tear up the dance floor, we had to leave to get Sina and she was surprisingly still awake when we got her.

Anyway, it's back to reality tomorrow.  Another work week.

We spent tonight at the Stuttgart Christmas Market and I'll be blogging about that tomorrow.

Holy Fudge!

There should be a rule on how much fudge there should be within the workplace.  Wait, what the heck am I saying?  There can never be enough fudge...anywhere!  And another thing...have I mentioned that I really love the holidays?  People are just super duper nice during the holidays.  And already-nice people are super duper nicer--like one of our Colonels at work (of the Air Force type; let me tell you, I grow more and more fond of our comrades in blue by the day!).  He brought all of this homemade fudge to work today.  Seriously.  His lovely wife (and I'm sure his kids helped too) brought eighty of these to pass out to our entire directorate.  On a good day, we have about 75 people, so there was enough for every single person. Needless to say, I was going around looking to see if anyone didn't want their fudge :)

There were tons of flavors--milk chocolate macadamia, Twix fudge, pecan, mint M&M fudge and more.  I chose Rocky Road.  Heavenly.

I thank God for my gracious co-workers and their families.  I thank God for fudge!

The holiday excitement continues.  Tomorrow is our work Christmas party.  The Child Youth Services in town is sponsoring a Parents' Night Out, which means they've got extended hours from 1830-2330 where parents can leave their kids for the evening and go out to do, well, anything.  Since we still don't have a babysitter, we signed Sina up for the evening so that we could attend my work Christmas party.  Since I didn't want her staying the entire day at daycare, I opted to take the day off tomorrow.  Instead of going to work , Sina and I will be hanging out with some soldiers and our senior spouses and decorating for the Christmas party.  A day with my baby girl?  I'll take it over work any day!

Last day of the week you guys...enjoy!!!!  Happy Thursday!

Loved!

Man, people really know how to make a girl feel loved.  Yesterday was my birthday--the big 32.  I'm still getting over how great it was and I hope this post doesn't make me seem like I'm boasting, but geez, it was just that wonderful.  I mean, first off, over 150 (not that I counted) of people wished me a happy birthday on Facebook--friends and family from all over the world.  Loved.

When I showed up to work yesterday morning, I found this...

You can barely see it, but there's confetti all over my desk.  I didn't take a picture of it, but on the floor behind my desk was a huge "M" in confetti.  Apparently, my boss (a retired Air Force Colonel) and his "accomplice" (a soon-to-be Air Force Colonel) got there early to decorate my desk.  I'm talking 0630 on a Monday morning.

As if that wasn't enough, we had a wine party (my boss has been dying to have one), complete with cheese, fruits and hickory farms sausages and mustards.  Most of our directorate attended...and watched me blow out candles from a birthday cake that was made for me by one of our divisions chiefs--chocolate cake!!!  Yummy!  My NCO made the lady bug cupcakes.  They were fab too!

My boss roasted me a little bit by reading off a list of events from and random facts about the day I was born.  We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the wine and food.  I've had many a birthday celebration at work over the last few years, but never anything like this.  I mean, wine in the middle of a work day?  Unheard of.  Apparently, it's somewhat of a regular occurrence for our Air Force brethren.  I knew I should have crossed into the blue!

I've only been working here for a few months, but everyone went out of their way to make it such a special day for me.

Loved.

And then there's Malu & Sina.

When I got home, there was a Happy Birthday sign up and confetti all over our kitchen counter. 

See that gift bag?  It was stuffed to the brim with these...yum!

Somewhere stuffed in all the chocolate mess was a pair of diamond stud earrings!

There was also a lovely bouquet of flowers...

And a gift certificate to the Mineraltherme spa in Boeblingen, not too far from here.  I'm talking mani/pedi, massage, sauna, facial...anything I want.  Awesome.

Especially loved.

Not sure that I did enough or anything at all to deserve all of this, but I am grateful beyond words and love all of you so much in return.

Well, here's to another year!  Hope everyone is having a great week so far.

Great news...my parents will be here in 19 days!!!

Wednesday Randomness

Today, I'd set out to the hospital to pick up some vitamins that had been prescribed for Baby V when she had her two-week appointment.  That was last Friday.  It wasn't until I got to the hospital access gate that I had left my ID card in the outfit that I had worn to that appointment last Friday.  So I couldn't even get into the hospital parking lot, let alone pick up her vitamins.  And darn it, I was supposed to schedule my OB follow up. 

Oh well...I'll go back tomorrow.  In any case, I went back to the old workplace to show Sina to my old shop (since they hadn't seen her yet) and to see if any of my lady friends had time to go out to lunch with me.  Luckily, they were.  And while we were visiting, I was able to catch a picture of Baby V with my friend, Laura! 

Laura is the lone survivor left in our "maternity ward" trio.  At one point, it was my other friend (and my assistant), Leah, Laura and myself in this group.  The name was so aptly given to us by our bosses (both male), whom I must say, had to be intimidated by the thought of having three pregnant ladies in the workplace--and one that is predominantly male! 

Leah, had her baby in May.  I just had mine.  And Laura hits her 8 month mark on Monday.  Her baby is due on October!  I can't believe we're almost there.  And I'm so glad that we'll still be here to see her baby born! 

Anyway, Baby V was such a great visitor today.  She was wide awake and well-behaved!

Now we're back at home, and all is at peace because she is sleeping!  I must say that every day is getting easier.  We've gotten into somewhat of a routine at night and I'm better able to get her back to sleep after every feeding as opposed to staying up all hours of the morning trying to get her comfortable and back to sleep.

Tonight...she'll be taking her first bath! 

In any case, I finally posted the recipe for the Simply Sensational Strawberry Shortcake dessert I mentioned the other day.  So head on over to my cooking blog if you want to try it out!

Enjoy the rest of your hump day guys!  I've got 16 days until Malu heads back from Fort Benning!

Update:  ten minutes after posting this, I went back to look for my ID card.  Turns out it was in my wallet the entire time, it was just hidden behind one of my pictures and I couldn't see it. Figures.  But I still got to see my friends!

Thursday Five

I know, I know...just in the nick of time!  I had come home a little early today, but because I wasn't feeling well.  I ended up taking a nap for about two and half hours and felt better afterwards.  Otherwise, I would have done this earlier!

Anyway, it's time for me to tell you guys five things about my week that has made me feel happy, great, excited...or just anything positive!  There's still time...at least if you live in the central to western parts of the country.  Head on over to Keely's at http://www.mannland5.com/ to link up...and to enter her giveaway!

1.  Late this afternoon (at 5:30) I had another 3D/4D ultrasound just to get another closer look at our baby girl.  She's doing great...and, if I must say, she looks just like me.  I have a disc full of pictures in the truck right now.  I'll post one tomorrow.

2.  I received a package from my Auntie Amy in Hawaii.  She'd sent a lovely card as well as these adorable onesies (from Baby Gap) for Vaiosina.

My Auntie Amy has always been one of my favorite relatives.  She's actually my mom's cousin, but we've always called her our auntie.  I haven't seen her in years, but I will when Malu and I visit the islands this fall.  Thanks so much Auntie Amy!  I love you!

3.  My friend, Melissa, gave me the Ann of Green Gables DVD set to watch.  Apparently, I'm the only chick that has never seen these movies and I've been told I'm going to love it.  I hope so.  Thanks Melissa--even though I know this is one of your attempts to get me to stay home, relax and stay out of this nasty hot weather.  She's one of many work friends who is always looking out for me.  Love you guys!

4.  After my ultrasound, I made my usual stop (I mean, why not, it's just down the street from the clinic!) at Kinley's Coffee House and had one of their fantastic crepes.  I usually get the strawberry, banana, nutella crepe, but their bananas weren't quite ripe today.  Instead, I went with the strawberry, mango, nutella crepe.  It did NOT disappoint. Yummy!

5.  All of our brigade is in the field this week.  Since I can't be out there, being preggo and all, my personal staff is out there taking care of everything for me and they're kicking butt!  I have a warrant officer, a Master Sergeant, three NCOs, and about six Soldiers out there...and every time one of them calls, I'm being told that I need to go home and rest.  I thank them so much for working so hard and for supporting me and the unit.  They are in the middle of "jumping" right now, which means they are packing everything they've set up for the past week and a half and moving 70 miles north only to set it all back up again (and those in the military know how much work goes into this).  Hang in there guys!  Just another week and a half to go!  I'm so proud of you!

Enjoy what's left of Thursday you guys!  I'm off to start my Ann of Green Gables movies.  Tomorrow....FRIDAY!!! Need I say more?

Ten on Tuesday

Just in time for Ten on Tuesday!  I'm sorry it's so late guys.  After my long day, it took me a while to get settled in.  But anyway...here goes!

1.  Today I kinda had a "day off" from work.  Our brigade commander authorized a Women in Boots Day for all the females in his brigade.  It was hosted by one of the battalion command sergeants major (CSM)--and the only female CSM in the entire brigade.  What was cool was that we all got to attend this shindig in civilian attire, so it was much like having a day off.  And we sat through a series of lectures for the entire day; addressing issues like women's health, sexual assault awareness, women & finances, etc.  It was just a great day...to be out of the office, in comfy clothes, and amongst all the women in my unit.  I loved it!

2.  When I got home from work today, I couldn't be more happy.  All the weeds turned weed bushes were completely pulled from my front yard.  I'd hired a nice guy to come and work on them all day for me.  Can you believe he'd quoted me $30 to do it?  I insisted on paying him more...and I did.  I seriously wish that I had taken a "before" picture because it was REALLY bad.  Now, the front yard is weed free! Yippee!

3.  As we speak, I have the first batch of Vaiosina's laundry in the washer.  I know I'm just over 30 weeks, but I really don't think that's too early to start washing my little baby's clothes...just to be ready.  Not only am I washing some of her outfits (just the 0-3 month sizes for now), I'm washing her linens and blankets. 

4.  Speaking of blankets...you know those fluffy, soft baby blankets?  Well, we amassed about 15 of them--and all are so cute--at the baby shower.  That's how many we're washing.  And that's not counting the blankets that were handmade.  I mean, will we actually need that many?

5.  Two of my best friends are coming into town for the Memorial Day weekend and I absolutely cannot wait!  That's why I'm doing so much cleaning these days!  Gotta get ready!

6.  Speaking of this weekend...I'm taking my friends to the Southern New Mexico Wine Festival.  I know you guys saw my last wine festival post not too long ago.  Since I cannot drink...I'm definitely going to be eating.  A LOT!  And stocking up on my post-delivery wine collection while I'm at it.

7.  I just got the coolest pair of Crocs flip flops and oh my goodness, are they the most comfy for my swollen, aching feet! 

8.  I am exhausted and am contemplating whether or not I should put away all the laundry I have laying out on my dining room table or to put them off until tomorrow. 

9.  I really want to get one of those Shark steam floor cleaners, but am wondering if they're really worth it...or if I should just stick with my trusty ol' Swiffer. This house is mostly tile and the floors are just filthy.  I'd like to get them cleaned up before my BFFs come.  Does anyone out there have a Shark?  If so, are they worth it?

10.  I can't tell you how excited I am that this is a short week.  I'm sooooooooooooo ready for the weekend!

Anyhoo, have a happy Hump Day everyone!  Til' next time...

Thursday Five

It's time for Thursday Five..where we post..
5 things that have made us..

Joyful

Excited

Grateful

Appreciative

Elated

or

just plain Happy

this week.

Once you're done posting..go to Keely's at http://www.mannland5.com/ and link on up!

I just can't believe how fast this week flew by!

My five:

1. Getting my new Vera Bradley diaper bag in the mail. My sister had gotten me a traveling bag with this same pattern so that I can use it when I go on trips with the baby. So I got the matching diaper bag to go with it. It is spill-proof inside and has a matching changing pad. I LOVE Vera Bradley and this pattern is fairly new and I think it's gorgeous.

2. About a two weeks ago, I'd ordered a glass drink dispenser from Boscov's online department store. The first time I'd seen one of these was at a Christmas party two years ago and I've wanted one ever since. Well, I've also seen them here on Fort Bliss at receptions. A friend of mine found it online...and on sale. It was regularly priced at $80 and I got it for $29.99. It'll definitely come in handy when I have people over. I haven't hosted a party or dinner in a long time, but when I do, this thing will make its debut!

3. The communications (i.e. internet and phone) on Malu's base in Iraq have significantly improved over the last week. So much that I've been talking to him just about every day over the last week, with the exception of last night. I think I jinxed myself yesterday when I'd mentioned how happy I was about it on my Facebook page.

4. I had a bad afternoon at work today. Not going into the details, but I cried when I got home. While it was nice of Lucy to lick all my tears away, I told her I wished Malu would call to make me feel better. Thank goodness for what I mentioned in #3, because he called about a half hour ago. After crying to him about my horrible meeting at work today, he told me that everything was okay with that soothing voice of his. I loved that he was there to listen to me today. Thanks honey!

5. I love my Word of Promise audio Bible set that I purchased a week or two ago on the Sunday that Jim Caviezel visited my church. I've been tuning in to and from work and I've made more progress through the Bible in just these past two weeks than ever before. The stories are brought to life with narrations from different actors, including Jim Caviezel, and with sound effects. If you're not one for reading (and it's not that I don't like reading, I just tire very easily when I read), then this is the way to go!

And that's it, you guys! Now it's your turn. Don't forget to go to Keely's and link up afterwards. Happy Friday's Eve!

Thursday Five

I love Thursday Five! Not only because it's fun, but because it signals the end of the week. Yay! Tomorrow is Friday! Woo hoo! I'm so ready for the weekend. If you haven't done Thursday Five before, here's how it works:

Blog about five things throughout the week that has made you HAPPY, GRATEFUL, JOYFUL, ELATED, APPRECIATIVE OR ALL OF THE ABOVE. Then, head over to http://www.mannland5.com/ and get linked to all other Thursday Five participants! It's that simple!

So here are my five:

1. Today wrapped up the 24th Week of my pregnancy. Here is a picture of me taken sometime this past week (please ignore the mismatched pajamas!). Yes, little girl, we are getting pretty big! Some funny things to remember about this particular week:

a. My NCOIC, MSG (Master Sergeant) Williams, says to me at the beginning of the week--"Ma'am! You're waddling!" Yes, I do. I'm a waddling fool. I bet I'm funny to watch, especially in a unit where you're surrounded by dudes all day long.

b. Emotions are running rampant and I still cry at anything. Last Saturday, I took the Jeep to the car wash. Across the street is an IHOP and I was dying for pancakes. I mean dying. So while I'm waiting for the Jeep to be fully serviced, I walk on over and ask for a table. The hostess asks, "just you?" And my eyes start watering. Since there was a long line, I went outside to wait with all the other people, but got so sad about what she said that I left and returned to the car wash instead. At that moment, Malu calls and the full-on waterworks start, right there in the car wash waiting area. I cried about how I wanted pancakes, but had no one to go with. And Malu just proceeded to calm me down, saying "don't cry, baby" in Samoan (and I had to ask for a translation because I don't speak or understand much Samoan--how sad). We talked for almost an hour and of course, I felt so much better afterwards. But the pancake craving? Has not subsided. After the car was washed, I went to the store and bought syrup and pancake mix!

2. My new lady bug obsession=happiness! I just think they're so cute. And all my friends know about this lady bug fetish I have going on. Remember how I said in a previous post how I have the coolest friends at work? Well, my friend, Maddie Finch, gave me and the baby this gift today. So precious! Thanks Maddie!

3. The way that Lucy gets excited every time I come home from work every day NEVER gets old to me. I could be in the worst mood ever and once I get through the door, no more! And I feel like she knows when I'm in one of my crying moods, especially lately. She'll come and cuddle up right next to me on the couch. I love her so much!

4. Today my friend, Melissa, and I were able to convince our boss to go home early today. We all walked out of the office at the same time (despite some serious prodding on our parts, mostly Melissa's--our boss is a workaholic). And when I say early, I mean 6:00 p.m.! Well, any day we leave the office and it's still daylight out...that's early. I love early days!

5. Joining the "Flip Flop Swap" over at Kimberly's Blog called Kimberly's Korner. Go to her blog to find out all about it. Bottom line is--you could end up with some really cool flip flops for this spring/summer! Not only that...Kim's blog is so awesome. I love it...and she's the sweetest!

Happy Thursday everyone...well, what's left of it!

Thursday Five

Well, Keely over at http://www.mannland5.com/ has come up with yet another great blog idea called Thursday Five and today is the first edition! You can go over to her blog and get linked up with all kinds of other bloggers, but the idea is to blog about five things throughout the week that has made you HAPPY, GRATEFUL, JOYFUL, ELATED, APPRECIATIVE OR ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Coincidentally, all of my five things happened just today. I mean, I had some great things happen all week, but today is fresh in my mind, so here goes:

1. Our brigade's Family Readiness Group Assistant, and my good friend, Melissa Hermosillo, totally made our day by bringing all of the command group (which is where I work) breakfast this morning. We had a 0600 calendar scrub with the Brigade Commander this morning (at which the post commander--a 2-star general--just happened to drop in on). And 0600 is a crazy time for me to even set foot in the office. I mean, I have to crawl out of bed at 0445 just to get there on time. It sucks. Anyway, Melissa is so well-connected in the Fort Bliss/El Paso community and somehow she and these "connections" got us some coffee and tons of pastries from Starbucks and cinnamon rolls and chicken sandwiches from Chick-Fil-A. Yum! ! I always wonder if she's just saying that she has these connections and is actually forking over the dough to get all of this stuff. I mean, she does it a lot! Bottom line...she's a sweetheart and a gem. I love her!

2. Tomorrow is my LT's birthday, so all my girlie friends from work got together for our usual weekly lunch today just to celebrate her birthday (since we have a 4-day Easter holiday weekend). We went to Carlos & Mickey's Mexican Restaurant (one of the best in town!) and had a great time chit-chatting over cheesy dip, tortillas, and taco salads. Yummy!

3. Being offered a job in.....GERMANY...for next year. Apparently, it's in Stuttgart, Germany, which is smack dab in the middle of the country and according to the guy who called me today, accessible to all the main European capitals. Heck yeah...but I need to talk to Malu about it. That's not stopping me from thinking about all the travel and shopping opportunities though ;)

4. On the way home from work, amidst a severe wind/sand storm, I listened to the Delilah Show on the radio...you know the lady that plays all the love songs at night? I love to listen to her because she plays songs that I can actually sing along to, and I think the baby likes it. Anyway, I heard the song, "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" song by Rod Stewart for the first time in, like, forever and immediately thought of Malu. I wish he would call so that I can tell him I love him. It's been three days. I do love you darling.

5. Picking up the mums that Jennifer made for my baby shower! They are so darling. Pretty much everything I'm bringing home, as far as decorations go, was made by her and I am forever indebted. I had to beg her to take a picture with them so I could put a face to the talent...and she obliged. Her 4 year old son, Dominic, took the picture of me. Not bad, huh? She made these for my mom, sister and I. As you can see on mine, it says Future Mom! Thanks Jenn!

This was fun. Can't wait to do it again. Right now, I'm at Auntie Daisy's. She is driving part of the way to Colorado tomorrow and I figured I might as well spend the night here at her place so I don't have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn to pick her up and leave tomorrow. Wish us a safe trip! I can't wait for the baby shower and to tell you guys all about it afterwards!

Chester

Not Chester the Cheetos Cheetah, but Chester the Bulldog! A few months back, I'd blogged about starting a new job with the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, otherwise known as the Bulldog Brigade. Well, not too long after I starting working with the unit, the Command Sergeant Major, after searching for months, had finally located the brigade's beloved mascot, Chester. Chester is actually Department of Defense property and has long been a mascot for this brigade. This particular Chester is Chester IV. I don't know exactly how far back all the Chesters go, but you should see him. He's so cute.

Turns out that he got stuck at another unit at Fort Riley in Kansas. A few years ago, my brigade was located at Fort Riley, but was inactivated and re-flagged (stood up again) under a new unit name. That unit kept Chester, while a few years later, my brigade reactivated here at Fort Bliss, Texas (I know...it's confusing Army stuff). Once we located him, we sent two soldiers to Kansas to retrieve him. I heard that the Fort Riley folks were practically in tears when Chester left, but he really needed to be taken to the home of his rightful unit. And he came...with all of his Army uniforms and his military documents (to include promotion and award certificates).

Although Chester is so adorable and loving, he is extremely overweight. No kidding...on his first dayat the unit, he was taken to the vet because he had gotten stuck in some concertina wire (barbed wire) on our compound and got a huge gash. He had to be taken to the vet to get stapled and stitched. I felt so bad for him. But it was that vet that ordered he be put on a strict diet. And the Command Sergeant Major has been sticking him to it. He's such a nice addition to our headquarters and the Brigade Commander is a complete sucker for him. Now we know how to appease him when he gets upset! Ha ha.

Anyway, my lieutenant (LT) got promoted on Friday (congrats Leah!) and Chester made himself a part of the ceremony.



As I said, he hangs out in our headquarters the entire day until staff duty assumes control of him in the evenings. Except this week, he's out in the field with everyone else.

Well, that's it for now. I'll be posting about my family's visit soon!

Back to Work

Today was my first official day at work. After a week and a half of inprocessing--four days of which were dedicated to moving and unpacking my household goods--I was eager to get started. Okay, maybe not that eager. I was actually kind of nervous considering I hadn't worked in my Army job for two whole years. I really didn't know what to expect. I woke up at 0430 for PT (physical training), which was a feat in itself. I haven't woken up that early in ages! PT was actually okay. I've been running practically every day since I arrived here, so it's getting incrementally better every day. I actually missed running and I'm looking forward to getting back into shape. Anyway, the work day itself was pretty quiet; not too much going on, but that's only because I haven't been fully integrated into my job. I have a great NCO (non-commissioned officer) who has been running my section for almost a year now, so all the systems are in place. I just need to come in and tweak them a little bit so that they run more efficiently. What's crazy is that I have a section full of females--not a single male. I believe I have fifteen. Too much estrogen in one section. I'm anxious to see how this will pan out as I've had a few bad experiences with female soldiers. My co-workers are all very welcoming and my boss is very approachable and seems to be wonderful to work for. Let's hope I'll be saying the same things a few months from now. Aside from all of this, I was trying to figure out whether I'm in Iraq instead of Texas. That is why I posted this particular picture. All of El Paso is beige and lacks color. The post itself with all its desert-hued buildings and vehicles, not to mention today's windy dust storm really gave the place a true Iraq feel. It was so windy and dusty, you can't barely make out the mountains in the background. I'll have to show Malu sometime. Well, I'm glad to be back on the blog again. It's been forever and I missed it. With everything going on, I haven't been inspired to take any pictures or write about anything. Now I'm back in the game! I'll be updating my cooking blog soon too. I finally got all of my cookbooks and my Kitchenaid mixer unpacked--so game on!