Twentynine Palms Happenings

What's the happs in Twentynine? Well...

Is it silly to be excited about passing out Halloween candy, in our own place? We've never been able to do this before! We finally have our own "house" (Okay it's a townhouse thing...) We can pass out candy to all the little trick-or-treaters! I think I'm excited about Halloween for the first time in years! Yay!! Ps ... umm ... candy costs a fortune. Holy crap.

This weekend is Jeff's and my first Marine Corps Ball! It's at a resort, it's supposed to be beautiful! Duke, our puppy is too young to board because he hasn't had all of his shots. He isn't able to be around other dogs yet.. so our friend Amber as being sweet and staying at our place with him. (Thank God .. I didn't know if we were going to be able to stay!!) We are really excited. Jeff will wear his blues and I will wear a new black floor length gown I got (at a great price of course!).
I'll post pictures when we're all dressed to the nines ;)

Guess. What. Else.
MY MOM IS COMING TO VISIT!

Okay people ... I've been doing SO good out here. It's weird and strange to live in a town where you know almost no one, but I'm doing well. I haven't cried much (which we're all surprised about) and I'm completely happy to be here. All that being said: I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL MY MOM GETS HERE! We should be finding out in the next few weeks (possibly this week even) where we will be stationed next. I was talking to my mom and I told her how weird it would be if we had to move away from here, our first place together and have had no one see it! So, she bought a plane ticket! I can't wait. We can't wait!

[ and oldie but a goodie ]

I may even sing:

On a directly related but side note: THIS has been the push we need to do something about our guest room! And my "we" I mean "me". It's much better already but I DO need Jeff's help with a few bigger boxes. More on that later.

In other news: Jeff and I have bought our plane tickets home for Christmas! We got fairly good deals on our tickets home and can't wait to celebrate with family! Something to look forward to.

Hmmm that's all what we're GOING to be doing ... how about this:
Duke got CRAZY sick from helping himself to our raw Halloween pumpkins last weekend. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen. He was sick for about 12 hours or so .. wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and couldn't stop getting sick. He just wanted me to hold him and he would look up at me, cry and then run onto the patio before getting sick again. THANK GOD that's over. He had us scared half to death. We got him to lick an ice cube a few times and we shot water into his mouth with a syringe and then it just took time. He's back to his crazy old self though. Biting, running around like a crazy dog and getting back into things!  Here he was when he was sick:

We took him to the vet a few weeks ago and he was TWENTY TWO POUNDS. I couldn't believe it. He was only 8 pounds when we first got him! He's growing like crazy. I hope babies don't grow quite this fast. But that's a ways down the line. No one get excited haha. This puppy loves his daddy! Check it out!

Jeff and I went on a few movie dates lately! We saw "Gone Girl" .. oh wait, I already posted about that {here}. We also saw "Fury"! It really was a good movie. There were a few graphic scenes that I absolutely could have gone with out and it was SO sad, but it was a good movie. Poor Jeff kept turning to me and saying "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you to this move" I'll tell you what though, I haven't seen a movie like that before!

Last weekend we went to Twentynine's Pioneer Days festival. It was right down the street from our house so we walked. It was a little trashy, I wont lie. But being there with Jeff, checking out new things, eating a deep fried Oreo and having two glasses of wine before hand made it fun!

We also headed down the hill with friends to Buffalo Wild Wings, which was delicious .. and I regretted it about an hour later. But YUM A little more recently, we checked out a small fishing hole with friends. Two of the boys caught tiny blue gill ... but it was a good time! We came home and cooked a ton of food and had some friends hang out for a little bit.

Hmm, what else? My job is going well lately! The kids have gotten to know me more and more ... I'm more comfortable over at their house and it's working out nicely. Part time, good money and I get to help a family who needs help! Win-Win-Win win win win.

Not much more than that is going on these days though! ;)

SIX MONTHS of Marriage!

Last weekend Jeff and I celebrated our first six months of marriage! Now, we don't intend on celebrating every six months ... but I thought our FIRST six months would be fun to celebrate and give us a reason to get out of town (the desert) for a few hours!

I made reservations for us at Matchbox in Downtown Palm Springs. We see this place every time we go down the hill and say we want to go there. THIS was the perfect reason! Matchbox has private balconies you can reserve that overlook the small courtyard and the main strip of "downtown".

Here's our balcony!

Of course we hit Great Shakes afterwards for dessert ... I got a small this time ... there wasn't too much room left in my belly!! 

In other events of the weekend, Duke went for his first ride in the truck!

He waited in the truck bed while Jeff pumped gas :) 

 We made these from our Omaha Steak care package ... OH MY GOD.. This is Stuffed Sole (with crab and scallops) I was sad when I was done eating. I never wanted it to end LOL

My hubby also took me to Yucca to see "Gone Girl" .. You should totally read this book and then see the movie. It was great! I love having a long weekend and a few dates all in a row with him!!

Awesome awesome weekend. A great way to celebrate and enjoy a long weekend :)

Eight Happy Things!

I have many happy things happen to / for me in a week ... but isn't it awesome when they all seem to come at once? It's one of my favorite things. When you have good things coming and you can't even help being happy or excited!

Here's eight happy things! Happy Friday!

My weekend started last night! Thursday night was my "Friday night"... I never drink on a week day but I had a glass of wine with my dinner and knew that Friday was a bonus day for me this week :) I even did my Friday work out yesterday so I could have all of today to myself to do whatever I wanted!

TGIT recorded for me last night ... Which means I get to watch "Grey's Anatomy" today while Jeff is at work ... and when he gets home we will watch "How To Get Away With Murder" at some point this weekend. Probably sooner than later, because we are both soooo hooked already! (SOME PEOPLE are mad at the whole "TGIT" thing ... listen .. ABC did the whole TGIF thing so I'm not even mad about it ;) It's not like they stole it from another station!)

More TV you ask? YES. "Hart Of Dixie" season 3 was uploaded to Netflix this week and I'm THRILLED to have those to watch ... I'm going to get caught up so I can watch the next season with the rest of the world #obsessedwithTV #seriouslyivebeenwating6months

This one is happy for US and not so happy for other people .. so I feel kind of bad being happy about it ... My paycheck will be a little extra this week because they needed me a few extra hours. WHY they needed me a few extra hours is sad ... but I'm trying to be happy about it! :/ Is that wrong? :/

I have a four day weekend. Jeff has a three day weekend. THAT is happy! Columbus Day is Monday so Jeff has a 72! YAY!!! I love having him home with us a little extra :) :)

SUNDAY we will be married six months already! Man, time flies huh? So ... Saturday night I have a fun little surprise for Jeff in Palm Springs. I've been looking forward to it for a week and a half. I hope it's everything I have in my head!! :)

My dress came!! I officially have my dress for the Marine Corps Ball in November .. pics to come once we go!

I signed up for this tour of the commissary thing called Cooking Matters yesterday during the day before work. It was all about tips on prices and healthy options to chose at the commissary (translation: grocery store). Things to avoid, things to look for .. etc. A lot of it was basic information, but I can totally appreciate. They actually were completely booked all day, which makes me so happy! People "into" learning about eating healthy. Then at the end ... they said there was a $10 challenge. Umm .. if you know me, I have a love/hate relationship with grocery store challenges :) So, they said you have 10 minutes to get all the things to make a meal with what you learned AND you had to have something for all the food groups. Dude, I nailed it. $5 and some change and I had yogurt, eggs, whole wheat toast, a banana and a potato. Well ... what they didn't tell us what that you get to KEEP what you picked. They paid for our groceries! I did TOO well and they sent me back to spend my other $5!! HAHA!! So funny! I went back for two packages of turkey bacon because I knew they were on sale for $2 each .. and we eat a lot of turkey bacon in my house! Free healthy groceries? Yes please! Check it out:

Okay that's all for now ... What are you happy about this Friday? Have a great weekend!

Where DID September Go?

September went by with a blink of an eye.

Seriously, I can't believe it's over. Here's how I did on my September goals:
(If no one cares about these goals, it's totally fine! Keep coming back! :) I just like to keep track .. it keeps me moving forward!) 

1.  Get a puppy ... eeeeeekkkk!!!!!! Okay, that's not a goal .. it's an announcement! -- We DID get a puppy! His name is Duke and we are in love.  ... he is a stinker ..just nine weeks old yesterday. He still nips and bites but it's because he's a baby .. he doesn't like to let me SLEEP .. but he's doing great in the short time we've had him! Read and see more of him {HERE} And also know, that I'm officially a loser dog person who's obsessed with their dog. 

2. Come up with a YUMMY dessert (not healthy!) to take to Jamie's when we visit for the weekend... Yes! I did this too. I've made [these] before, in Michigan .. so I brought them to the housewarming party and they were a huge hit if I say so myself ;) Oh! They were called "Monster Cookies" .. soft, PB, oatmeal, chocolate chip and mini M&M cookies! I DID forget to take a pic though. Go check out the recipe.  

3. Purchase a plane ticket home for CHRISTMAS for me? As I said before, there were a few things in the way of this one. I haven't done it yet. 

4. Get to mass (church) THREE weeks in September. Fail. I went twice .. I'm working on it. I need to find a mass I like the music at, here. I've been spoiled at home.

5. Send two pieces of "just because" mail to anyone I see fit. I love mail. I'm going to call this a win. One just because and one thank you note :) 

6. GET ON A LIFTING SCHEDULE! I'm lifting four days a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This whole week I upped almost everything ... I'm REALLY excited about it! Who knew??!?!

7. Watch the stars in Joshua Tree at least once in September. Nope. I wanted to .. we've been busy ... September FLEW by and now that we have the pup we would either have to bring him or keep him in is crate at home while we go ... so it didn't happen :( But we will go again soon. 

1. Up the rest of my weights this week and moving forward. 

2. Keep couponing! The more the better! 

3. Get to mass THREE weeks in October (A carry over from September)

4. Find a dress for the Marine Corps Ball! EEeeekkkkkk! 

5. Buy at least two Christmas presents (Planning ahead so we aren't shocked with it all + travel expenses in December!) 

6. Celebrate being married 6 months, October 12th!!! <3 

7. Get to Joshua Tree National Park to star gaze.