And then there was a chocolate donut

Sometimes all you need is a chocolate donut.

I think you know what I mean.

You're having one of those truly crappy mind moments and you just need to indulge yourself.
Why? Because damn it, you deserve it.

This happened to me several times this week.
This week seemed overly drawn out and jam-packed, not with fun, but with acronyms.
So many acronyms...
The military has acronyms for everything. Then you get into your specialty field and what's awaiting you at the schoolhouse. Cake? Nope. Training manuals the size of your head and more acronyms.

I digress...this week has just been exhausting.
I have tried every trick up my sleeve in terms of relaxing, remaining calm and not freakin' the hell out

But this week was our first training ride and after that, I just wanted a donut after that experience, so I got one.  It was HUGE and full of chocolatey chip goodness.

Sometimes in life, you just need a chocolate donut.

But if you're going to have a donut, you may want to visit the bookstore right down the road.  Anyone get that reference? ;)

We have this super adorable local bookstore and I just love it.  I love small businesses and I love bookstores.  I get a kick out of going into a Barnes and Noble but a small bookstore has so much charm and personality.  They feature local authors and events that actually matter to folks.  J.K. Rowling's new book, A Casual Vacancy, just came out and I had to pick it up.  Her literary characters were so much a part of my childhood and reading experience, that I could not wait to get my hands on her "adult-version" writing style.

Part of the children's books section at our local bookstore. It's so flippin' cute!

I really am enjoying my experience at my new base so far, even if the academic workload does get a little exhausting at times.  Exploring my new town has been a blast and a half and I just love finding charming little places like that bookstore.

You can get a cheaper price on a book at Walmart but you will never get the same type of service as you would at a small business bookstore.  An additional $6 on a hardcover version of a book is helping keep your local economy going.  Plus how many times have you gone into a big-box store like Walmart and they had no idea what you were talking about, whether it was a book or a product?

Support your local businesses! They're such an integral part of your community :)

Speaking of books...

Sign at a local Exchange

The book, No Easy Day, is causing quite the stir in the literary and military world.

As a member of the military, you sign documents saying that you will not release information without the approval of several chains of command and security organizations.

It's kind of a big, obvious concept that everyone knows.

This book was written by a Navy SEAL who was part of the team that killed Osama bin Laden.

The book covers that information and did not go through the proper channels of approval.

That's as much as I know.  

I've casually been following the story but now I definitely want to read the book.  

Breaking military rules or just attempting to gain wide-spread PR status?

I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that the book is really popular right now.

............

As part of my de-stressing process, I got a crafting kick this week.

I LOVE Fall

The weather is perfect, I adore pumpkins and sweaters are just too comfy to pass up.

It also gives me the opportunity to start putting up decor.

I made this our front door display:

Straw wreath complete with burlap, plastic pumpkins and reindeer moss

Paper bat cutouts from the Martha Stewart Crafting Collection

 What do y'all think?

I think it turned out really cute and it's super festive.

Always check out your local Dollar Tree or similar stores for decor items.

I got the reindeer moss and plastic pumpkins for $1/each.

The bats, wreath and burlap were from Michael's.

I continued with my crafting escapades and turned to my roommate's upcoming birthday party.

Her birthday, shared as a triplet, comes really close to Halloween.

She's never had a "big" bday bash so I thought now would be an excellent time to have one.

It would give me the excuse to decorate and throw a kick-ass party,

but also, to give everyone a reason to get sa-weet costumes.

Coffin Birthday Invitations

 These are the invites (in their early stages) that I'm designing for Brittany's birthday.

There are several roommate pairs/triples, so I essentially got one mini coffin for each apartment.

They were 99 cents at Michael's and then I chose a decorative, sparkly paper for the tops and black paint for the outer edges. Inside is a fun scrapbooking material with a black and white swirl pattern.

When you open the coffin, the guest will see all of the party details listed inside.

I'm also thinking of making a much simpler invitation for other folks.

Something fun, a little kooky, yet perfect for Halloween.

Tomorrow we're throwing a pot luck and I'm super excited about it.

Until next time,

Friday Letters: First Training Ride

Dear Week, You have been far too long for your own good.  It felt like each of your seven days added additional hours for classroom exercises yet eliminated hours of sleep.  Just so you know Father Time, Karma is a betch.

Dear Holly, You have managed to destroy a new pair of VS panties, a box store-purchased quilt that was serving as my bed's blanket, and ate my leftovers from Olive Garden.  It is a good thing you're cute. You're starting to snore and fart like a man.  It's kind of gross.

Dear Neighborhood, I would like to introduce you to a novelty website called "Pinterest." Get on that ish and start decorating your doors/homes/lawns for Halloween.  

Dear Roomie, You are the best. I cannot wait to plan your birthday party extravaganza and give you the best party ever! This Halloween-theme-mandatory-costume-witch's-cauldrons-known-as-fishbowls is going to be so much fun! 

Dear Fall, I love you.

Dear Halloween, I am so excited that you are quickly approaching. I need to figure out my costume, my husband's costume and Holly's costume. I'm thinking Holly should be Yoda. 

Dear J.K. Rowling, Purchasing your book on its release date made my day.  It was the least I could do, since you influenced my childhood with your wonderful characters.

Dear Training Manuals, You are clearly far too heavy for me.  Therefore I've purchased a dolly to appease this problem.  Take that!

Wanna Hold Your Hand Forever, and Never Let You Forget It

Yes, those are lyrics from Hunter Hayes' song, "Wanted."

It's melodious charm was stuck in my head all day during class.

Plus, I just love it.

I'm going on Week 2 of classes and it's going well.

Now I purposely try to avoid talking too much about work/school on here for various reasons but something that is important to know is that the standards for this type of training is perfection.

Therefore, you can't slip up.

No joke, getting one wrong on a quiz is pushing it.

However, I am thoroughly loving the challenge and the opportunity to meet new people.

This past weekend my roommate and I hung out with a bunch of our friends.

Friday night we ended up at Panera with a large group of us and I ended up eating a man size load of soup and sandwiches.  It's a good day at Panera when that happens.

Afterwards we made a trip to Trader Joe's, where I got a Lucky Bamboo plant and my roomie got a wine bottle with a sa-weet Dias de los Muertos design.

Unfortunately its luck ran short as Holly knocked it off of the kitchen counter this morning, shattering it and the wine was kind of bitter but by golly, I drank it.

Taking one for the team.

We all gathered at a friend's apartment to watch Finding Nemo and it was fantastic as always.

My husband has never seen it. <---blasphemous, I know.

I think I may need to rent another copy from the library this weekend.

I sent him an emojicon of the "Touch the Butt" scene from the movie and he had no idea what I was talking about.  I'm sure he thought I was trying to be suggestive...while using symbols of aquatic life.

Saturday we visited San Luis Obispo, the college town for Cal Poly.

I went to Madison where there is some gorgeous State Street, outdoor shopping.

SLO outdoes this completely.

It is the best outdoor, college town shopping I have ever seen.

There was an Apple Store, B&BW, AVEDA school salon (aka way cheaper salon services), Woodstock Pizzeria, stationary store, crafting store (a way over-priced Joanne Fabrics type deal), college apparel, GAP, Barnes and Noble, Victoria's Secret, Jamba Juice, and much more.

All of this was just available for window shopping and OUTDOORS.

The town is super cute and quaint, I just loved it.

I would love State Street to have a bit of an update like that.

I spent quite a bit of moola there, to which Ryan was not thrilled about.

However, I think I'm stocked up on B&BW candles products to last me until their next holiday surge.

We hit up Pismo Beach for a little bit of touristy shopping.

I thought my evening was done until Brittany decided to purchase a fire pit.

So she goes off to Home Depot to purchase said firepit for the backyard, plus s'mores and all other essentials for pyro-ness-ness.

A couple of our friends come over, made fun of our fire-making technique and then took over.

I fed them chicken curry and rice (good hostess, yes?)

  and they convinced us to check out this hole-in-the wall bar that was their favorite place to go to.

It was a fricken blast.

Empty, old folks bars have a lot of potential.

They have a lot of character to them, plus the drinks aren't $12.

 

And that my friends is a major plus.

Sunday rolls around and I came to realize that I am not a college freshman, therefore my body will not recover like that of one and I didn't help my cold out either.

It has gotten better but I'm sure that's due more to rest versus anything else.

I was able to check out the commissary and it is significantly better than Camp Pendleton's.

I have a lot of pride in my husband's branch of service, but let's be real, 

the AF knows how to treat its folks.

This commissary had competitive prices to that of the city's grocery stores.

Back in Oceanside, it was definitely the other way around.

I also have mad love for the Library and the Airman Family Readiness services, 

but I'll cover more of that in a different blog post.

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I thought I would share this sneak peek of a recent photoshoot 

that Ryan and I did before I left for my base.

I was so excited to get the picture disk in the mail today!

I'll have to share more in the near future.

Much Love!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

This just may be my over-used excuse that is getting me in trouble with my husband.

Source: Fanpop

This was definitely the face I've been making towards my husband whenever we get into a financial discussion. I think my biggest fault in life is how much I value a good time.  Well with my new job, new place, new everything, I have a ton of girlfriends who love having fun.  I feed off of that energy...I'm an enabler.  So visiting a local college town with some great shopping got me into trouble with Ryan, again.  Young, single ladies love to go out to eat, shop, see $10 movies in theaters, etc.  I've got to learn that's not the case with me.  The funky part is that a lot of us are married, we just like having a good time.  I need to have more self-control with that otherwise I'm going to get into more fights with my husband and that's just no bueno. =/

Sinus Pressure & Carpets that Smell...Off

I don't know what it is...

it could be allergies,

a wicked cold,

or life just spitting on me in the form of copious amounts of snot.

ewwwww

But, I'm sick.

Nevertheless, I thought this would be an ideal time to reminisce on the move up to my new base.

My roommate Brittany and I are renting a house.

It's big, it's nice, it's ballin-shock-callin.

It seriously is a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood.
I Google Mapped that ish before we moved.

I mean it was key that I figure out the distance from work because I don't like long commutes and to figure out if the neighborhood was majorly sketchy.

It's not...that's a good thing.

We also have a big yard which is perfect for the Hollinator and all of her romping around adventures.

I'm debating whether or not to post pictures...I may post a few in the next couple of days but I do like my privacy so please don't be offended if I ask you to use the brilliance of your imaginations.

--------------------------------

Ok so we arrive on base and are staying at base lodging.

Brit and I are total newbs.

Wee lil babes lost in the world of becoming a part of the "real Air Force."

Everything is going well until we drive to our property manager's
office which is over a half hour away to sign our lease.

As the reader, I'm sure you'll recognize several key "red flags" in this post.

Like hey Kim, you should have had your property manager meet you at the house instead of haulin' your booties all the way to their office.

I would promptly respond, why thank you reader for saving me the time and hassle.

I really could have used you in my backseat at the time.

So we drive to their office, have a little difficulty finding it and then sit down to sign the lease.

SHE (the property manager staff member that we've been working with) basically pro-rated us for the days that we haven't been living there.

Mind you we just moved, so there is no way that the military has our stuffed moved from multiple states yet, plus we're staying at base lodging.

We even expressed this to her before we left our respective dwellings.

Since the earlier date was on the application, that's what she went with.

Of course, she didn't tell me this until the day of 

but hey there's nothing like scamming two fresh-out-of-college butter bars.

It gets better.

So we drive back to our new house and it's amazing.

Three bedrooms, two full baths, a living room, kitchen, dining room, two-car garage...the works!

The kicker is that the previous owners basically ran their house into the ground.

The carpet reeked of animal.

Like they just let their dog and/or cat just mark everything.

Oh hey every corner in the house, if I haven't peed on you yet, 

don't worry I have you booked for after lunch.

It also didn't have a working smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector.

Joyous.

Well after several phone calls and some detective work on my part,

everything was taken care of...except for the carpet.

Brittany autobahned (I don't think that's even remotely close to how it's spelled) the carpet when I went to pick up my dog (she was back in the old town) and then I rented a Rug Doctor and we went to work on the house.  

I videotaped every aspect of the house.

There are holes in the walls where nails used to be, weeds in the cracks of the back patio, lack of door stoppers, mildew underneath the sinks because of the lack of exhaust fans and just some jankiness going about.

With a little TLC- it's back in business.

We have our things moved in, fully utilized Bath and Body Works candles, and the carpets are amazing because we cleaned them ourselves.

Btw, I am obsessed with B&BW candles, scents, plug-ins, etc.

Holy geez it smells so good and I'm doubly obsessed with fall scents,

especially anything with a pumpkin scent.

I also went to Home Depot and got my DIY on.

I installed new doorstops where they didn't exist, put up new blinds, and I think something else but let's just say I was pumped to be a handy lady.

Yes, they were really simple jobs but I had never done them before so I was and still am excited.

Walking through the enormous aisles of Home Depot almost made me wish the house was ours so we could actually invest time and money into it.

It's a shame that the previous owners did such a crap job.

I'm now waiting on one more shipment of goods from Wisconsin and I will have so many awesome things to remind me of home.

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Have you ever gotten jealous of someone else because of the stuff that they had?

My roommate has a kickass bedroom set...I'm jealous.

Her room actually looks like a bedroom and mine looks like I'm a starving artist that enjoys Pinterest.

 However, I have been making the occasional trip to Marshals and Goodwill.

I'm determined to make my little space a beautiful room without breaking the bank.

The Goodwill here has the most amazing book selection that I have ever seen.

I seriously am loving it.

So I should probably write a blog post...

I've been away and by away, I just got internet access and I'm sure we have all had that collective moment where we breathe in that sigh of relief ahhhh
I've moved North from my previous location and it's been quite a bit of work.  Ryan and I are both mil-to-mil aka we're both in the military, so these past few weeks have been chaotic to say the least.
Also, is it bad that I just couldn't wait to catch up on my blogs?

I know I've been missing all of my favorite link-ups and opportunities to meet new people and I'm not sure if I'll get better with my blogging time, but I sure do hope so.  I've got a lot to catch up on with my family and friends.

I have a new house, new job, my dog has major separation anxiety issues, and I just realized I never cooked myself dinner but I did eat a glazed donut so that has to count for something.
If that doesn't say four+ blog posts just waiting to happen, I don't know what does!

I just love living in new places.  So many things to explore, a house to decorate (even though it's a rental), and new people to meet.  Gahhh it's so exciting!

I also had a little fun visit to the local Home Depot because my dog rampaged and destroyed a few of the panels on the vertical blinds...oh happy day.  However, I felt like quite the Tim-the-Tool-Man-Taylor as I moseyed up and down the aisles, having no idea where I needed to be but finding it eventually.  

I'll start working on those future blog posts, but until then have a fabulous Monday!