Friday, August 24, 2012

Where have I been and what have I been doing...


It's been crazy to say the least. I've put a guesstimated 5000 miles on my car since May. My husband deployed to Afghanistan and shortly after he left we took a little 1200 mile road trip back home to North Carolina for the summer. We spent 8 weeks back in NC, enjoyed a week's vacation on the coast of North Carolina, had two days back home with family and then I drove all the way back (19 hours non-stop) to Kansas with my two boys. Crazy, I know! Take a look at all our summer fun.


We got to Skype...

 Soak up some sun out on the beach...
 Found the Goblin King in Emerald Isle, NC...
Went to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores...
Saw a shark up close and had a family photo made there too!
 Had birthday cake with Daddy on Skype at the beach and a round of putt-putt...
 Headed back to Kansas 
and
Saw Gary Sinse and the Lt. Dan Band in concert with my neighorbor Jessica...
 And enjoyed a day at our neighborhood pool all by ourselves...

We had lots of fun! 


So fast forward a few weeks since our arrival back to the land of OZ and school has begun. I now have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartener. 

I am learning how to be by myself during the day while the boys are off at school and have survived the first week alone. 
BUT, I've been up to a few things!!
made Barn beam ledges...
 I made a console table to hold my record player and some of my books...
and even built a kitchen island.

If it wasn't raining, I'd be outside sanding and painting it. Until next time... 


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Spring Break Getaway...


For Spring Break we decided on a little getaway from post life and rented a lake front cabin at Acorns Resort on Milford Lake. The cabin was rustic and close to the lake for great fishing. The only downside-we checked in at 3pm and rained all afternoon.


But, we made the most of our getaway and squeezed in some fishing, hotdog roasting and relaxing before it rained again.

Our cabin was really neat, complete with a bedroom, full bath, kitchenette, living area, a great porch, loft and great views of the lake. 


Here's a view of the kitchen area and the ladder leading up to the loft area with two twin beds.


 Here's Clay climbing the ladder. We had wifi and cable tv too.
 Chris and Ayden goofing off before bed one night.
 A view of our living area, complete with stuffed turkey and quails. 
 Roasting hotdogs between the rain showers.
Chris getting attacked by a S'more.




Friday, March 2, 2012

Hello, my name is Nikki and I'm a Mac!


I've jumped ship and gone Mac people. I finally broke down and decided to get a Mac. I'm having a really hard time adjusting to the lack of a "right click", but there are so many things that have been streamlined to make the most out of this tiny 2.2 lbs of technology. My children have enjoyed Photo Booth and I am actually enjoying typing while sitting on the couch. It's the small things. 

The main reason for my purchase of a laptop, which ended up being a MacBook Air was for a huge step I'm about to take in the next few months. This fall with my youngest entering Kindergarten, I've decided there's no better time to go back to school and pursue a dream of mine. *mini freak out* I'll be re-enrolling in COLLEGE!!  

So with that I'm excited, because I've finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. No hints for you people yet, but soon enough.  Now let me get back to seeing all the neat things that my Mac has to offer.

Le Cirque des Rêves...C'est une rêveuse!



"There has been little opportunity since then for anything more than too-brief stolen moments."
~The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


Ah, to have a Circus of Dreams, more importantly, your own dream with a circus of ideas. I began reading this book and immediately fell in love with the story. I have become drawn to this simple sentence and have become a "rêveuse". I wonder how simple a sentence can change our prospective, align the stars for us to look at and begin to dream. Like the circus, my dream arrived without warning. "It is simply there, when yesterday is was not."

Too-brief stolen moments, is all I've ever had with my dream, until recently. I have finally interpreted what it means. I've seen the cards laid out in front of me with clarity for the first time and I'm excited. Ecstatic and ready for my dream to become reality.





Friday, January 27, 2012

Social Media Overload....

I find it interesting the mundane and uninteresting things that people post everyday on social media sites and how many of us read it.

...just woke up. Thinking about making some coffee.
           3 people like this.

... Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. :(
             see all 14 comments...

Or my favorite...

...Well, I woke up, took a shower, got ready, ate some breakfast, called a friend to see if she wanted to go shopping with me, but she had plans. I can't believe she already had plans. Anyway, then I decided to do some stuff around the house, I changed a light bulb in the hall and dusted my porcelain egg collection that I inherited from my Great Aunt's Third Sister-in-law Twice Removed. Funny story is she really didn't like me, but wrote the wrong name in her Will...
                2 people like this. See all 4 comments.


However, I am guilty of this offense (reading or writing it) as well as millions of other people. We are a society that is too caught up with the when, where and now. But, I draw the line at posting my dusting habits. I recently came across a piece entitled "12 Types of People On Facebook". It's brilliant. The crazy thing is, people can be a combination of more than one type. I know a 2/9, otherwise known as a Lurker/Liker and Drama Kings/Queens are almost always Mr/Ms. Popular. How in the world do you have over 1,500 friends on Facebook and each one thinks the sun shines out your ass? At least one of them has to know the truth!!

Okay, back to my original rant....We are a society that is too caught up with the when, where and now. We spend countless hours browsing Facebook, playing "cool" games that will end up giving your computer the equivalent of an STD, tweeting, watching viral YouTube videos, emailing and what not.


My day starts early- checking the school day forecast text message sent to my phone, Facebook notifications, twitter mentions, emails, etc. All this while laying in bed. Craziness. I have priorities, but somehow a small electronic device made my priorities shift.  If you named the top 5 things you couldn't live without, how many of you would put your preferred choice of social media? 


It's hard to disconnect from this frenzy of information and feeling "connected" to family, friends and people you've never met. I've tried to distance myself from social media, but I have a problem. For me, it's the one way I still feel tied to my family and friends back home. It's a glimpse of what I miss the most, but it has kept me from enjoying what I have. 

I read an article that I strangely identified with, minus the job with CNN and the exotic vacation to Antigua. My flashing red light on my crackberry is like a beacon in the night calling to me too. 


This Christmas, my husband and I gave a record player to ourselves. When asked by a family member "Why?", my reply was very surprising to them. 


"I just want to escape back to a simpler time"

When I put on "The Best of Floyd Crammer Vol. 2" album or my 1976 copy of "Night Moves" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, it's an instant vacation and my phone isn't anywhere near me. 

I realize in a few months there will be things that I can no longer post on social networks, blogs, in an email or say during a phone call to my mother. Due to OPSEC and as a Army wife,  I must abide by these standards and follow the rules in place to protect the one I love. Not only for my husband's safety, but for his friends, who are also Soldiers.


With that understanding, I'm slowly trying to withdraw myself or I at least hope to, which in turn with help me from experiencing  social media overload.








Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

2012 is going to be great.
Happy New Year!