Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Wrap-up!

Kyle and I had a wonderful Christmas together here in NC with our "kids", Emmy and Fishy. Christmas Eve we spent the day lounging around and just enjoying each others company. We woke up at around 8:30am on Christmas morning (well Kyle was up before me) and decided to open our presents. I do have to say Kyle always does so good with presents for me and this year was no exception. I was able to surprise him with a few of his gifts: Playstation Move, Zelda game, Family Guy and Simpsons Beer Glasses, gift cards to Old Navy and Kohls and a great new jacket. He had received gifts cards from his family, cologne from my Dad and new shoes from my sister and brother-in-law. 


Here is a rundown in pictures:


New Crock Pot!!!


Foodsaver!!!

14 piece Simply Calphalon pots and pans


Super cute brown boots!!!!


I love these games, they are so much fun!


At one point or another during the year I had asked for all of these and he was so amazing in remembering. I love him so much!!!


After we finished opening gifts we skyped with my family to open our gifts together and it was so fun! We love watching our niece and nephew get so excited opening presents. My sister and brother in law got me these:


AMAZING!!!!

and my Dad got me this:

One of my favorite perfumes!!


After we finished skyping with them we were able to Skype with Kyle's family and it was good to see them!!! I received 2 gift cards from my brother-in-law and his fiancé. I also got several gift cards to Old Navy and Target from my in-laws which definitely got put to good yesterday with all the after holiday sales. 


We enjoyed relaxing the rest of the day and we watched "A Christmas Carol" and then enjoyed a yummy dinner of honey baked ham, homemade cheesy au gratin potatoes, corn and homemade rolls. 


I probably won't have another blog post until after the New Year. I hope everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!!



Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas

I can't believe that today is Christmas! I am thankful to be spending it with my amazing husband but of course I miss our families. One person in particular is on my mind today, my Mom. I miss her so much everyday and today is no exception. I know she is having a beautiful celebration in Heaven. 



I hope you all have a blessed and very Merry Christmas!! 




Thursday, December 22, 2011

Proud Army Wife

Today at Kyle's battalion was the End of Tour Awards. They were finally acknowledging all of the hard work that these amazing soldiers had done while deployed to Iraq. 


I was beyond proud when I found out Kyle was being presented with this:


Bronze Star Medal


Only 20 soldiers in his battalion were given this and I am so incredibly proud that Kyle was one of them. He worked so hard to ensure the safety and security of the camp and he worked 17 hour days 7 days a week. Words cannot express how proud I am of him and all that he has done and continues to do in the military. He is my American Hero.


Kyle receiving the Bronze Star from LTC Bailey


 I love him!


After the ceremony 


I will have a few scheduled posts over the holiday weekend but I still want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Low Key Weekend

This weekend has been pretty relaxing (which we both need). On Friday Kyle was home early from work and we lounged around the house until we met up with some friends for dinner. We headed off to meet two other couples at one of our favorite mexican restaurants. It was a great night of food, fun, and great conversation. We headed home at about 10pm because Kyle was on Jumpmaster duties for a jump on Saturday so he had to be up at 2am.


Saturday was my day to get some cleaning and grocery shopping done. I headed off to the store while Kyle was still at work, I didn't realize how busy Walmart would be but then again there are only 7 shopping days until Christmas. After Kyle got home we decided to go play bingo on post. We had the BEST time, I had never really played "real" bingo and thankfully you can get all the cards on a little hand held computer device. It made things so much easier. We decided to play all the games and special games (about 19 total). We just went for the heck of it and had no expectation to win. Well, I ended up winning a game!!!! We walked out of there $300 richer lol. 

This was definitely me! LOL!



Today is our typical Sunday routine: breakfast, laundry, cleaning and lots of football. I am going to start looking at hotels for our trip to New York at the end of January, we are so excited for this trip!!!! 


I hope everyone is having a great weekend!


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sweet Christmas Kiddos

I love these two!!!


Grayson and Kylie

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Fun times!

Oh man what a weekend! Yesterday was the anticipated jump for Kyle and it was awesome!!! We got out to the drop zone at 3:30am and he headed off at 4:30 to get ready. A friend and I waited patiently for his Jump which was at 8:20am. Well time passed quickly and finally saw this:


(sorry for the small print but the arrow is pointing to Kyle, lol)

After the jump they had the presentation of the foreign wings:


The Cambodian Jumpmaster pinning on Kyle's wings


Here they are:


Awesome, huh?!


So excited and super tired!


He will only wear these wings on his dress blues and if he receives any others he can only wear one set at a time.  He had a pretty rough landing and is nursing a pretty sore back today.


We came home and got some much needed rest. We headed off to a friends house for a promotion party for her husband and stayed for an hour or so. It was a good time but we were both wiped out and headed home. Today has been a very lazy day, I headed to the store to pick up all my ingredients for my baking extravaganza for Kyle's work. Every year I made a bunch of goodies for the guys for Christmas and this year is my biggest year since it's our last with the battalion.


I will post pictures tomorrow once I get everything done! Hope everyone has a great week!

Friday, December 9, 2011

2011 Operation Toy Drop

Every year Fort Bragg participates in the largest Airborne Operation in the world. The 14th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drops consists of Americans being partnered with Jumpmasters of Allied Countries. There will be approximately 4,000 paratroopers jumping tomorrow to receive foreign jump wings. In order to be a part of it (if you are put on the jump by your unit) you have to provide a new unwrapped toy to donate. Today was the manifest for all the jumpers to get info for tomorrow and there was also a lottery held for those who were not given hard slots, 300 additional jumpers were selected. 



We were so excited when we found out that Kyle was going to be on this jump. He was supposed to do it last year but unfortunately it didn't work out. This year he is on Chalk 2 and will be jumping for Cambodian Jump Wings with his XO, Sergeant Major and Battalion Commander. He is the only staff officer who does not have foreign wings so this is very exciting for him. We will be getting up at 2:00am to head out to the drop zone. I love watching Kyle jump and he loves it!! So I will be seeing a lot of this tomorrow:





It is also very inspiring that this operation will donate thousands of toys to Toys for Tots.  This is the 14th year for this event and according to reports it just keeps getting bigger. I will post pictures after the jump tomorrow! 


I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Trip to the ER

For the last few months I have been experiencing some breathing issues. I was having a hard time catching my breath and then I would get this horrible pressure feeling in my chest. Of course I didn't think anything of it and thought everything was fine. Well last night it got really bad so I decided it was time to go to the ER. 


I got through triage and they decided it was best to do an EKG and a chest x-ray. Of course at this point I start to panic. I tried my best to stay calm. After they finished those two things the doctor wanted to do a blood test to make sure there were no clots anywhere (being on birth control puts you at a higher risk for bloodclots). Thankfully everything came back normal and was finally told that I have lung tissue that is inflamed and that is what is causing the breathing issues. I was put on an anti-inflammatory so we will see if it helps.


I am so thankful it was nothing too serious and also was extremely impressed with the ER staff. They were thorough and quick (definitely better than our previous experiences). Now I am spending the rest of my weekend relaxing and taking it easy. My husband has been amazing taking care of me all weekend. He is really the best!!!


I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Homecoming Pictures

I figured I would post a few pictures from the Homecoming yesterday. It was such a great day and the days leading up to it seemed to drag by. Here are some of my favorite pictures:


Me and Mary Catherine going to get our husbands!


Here it comes!!!!


We literally hung on to each other the whole time lol (oh and if you are wondering MC is a Chaplains wife and the sign she is holding says "Come and Get Me Chaplain!" haha)


Yay first man off!! This happens to be Kyle's battalion commander, LTC Bailey


Formation in the hangar.


Finally back where he belongs!


Yay!!!!


Enma and Fishy were so excited to see their daddy last night after I picked him up at work. Emma has not left his side and I am sure she won't for a while. We have been having a very lazy weekend so far consisting of catching up on our favorite shows. We had our Thanksgiving together today since he missed  it. It is amazing to have him home!! 


I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

HE IS HOME!!!

For the last few weeks I have been keeping a very big secret! Today I am able to finally reveal it. My husband is HOME!!! He returned today from Iraq and I am so excited. He is at work right now turning in items and I can't wait to enjoy time together. I have missed him so much!! I will leave you with this picture:




YAY!!!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Happy Birthday!!!

This weekend is very special! Two very important birthdays happened. On Friday our beautiful niece, Kylie, turned 5! I can't believe she is growing up so fast. I want her to stay little forever. I was able to watch her open her gifts at her party over Skype and it was amazing. She has such a sweet heart and with every gift she opened she yelled "This is exactly what I wanted!!!" she sure knows how to make people feel good! We love you sweet pea!!! 


Today is my sister, Lisa's, 30th birthday! She is in Arizona with her husband enjoying the Drag Boat Races. I am so lucky to have an amazing sister who is also my best friend. I love you and am thankful for you!!


Happy Birthday!!!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Picture Perfect

Right after Kyle deployed I was in Vegas with my family. I was helping them get a care package together for him and my niece said she wanted to put something special in the box for him. She has a HUGE love for Littlest Pet Shops. She picked 3 of her favorite ones and put them in the box with a special note for her Uncle Kyle. Over the last few months he has kept them on his desk and knew he wanted to do something special for her in return. This picture will show you what he did:






He made sure to show her that they were having an adventure with him in Iraq. He took several other pictures for her but this one is my favorite. She was so excited and it made me smile.


I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!



Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today is the day that we honor all the amazing men and women of our armed forces for the job that they do and have done. I am so grateful to them for the dedication and sacrifices they show for this wonderful nation!!!



Here are current and past members of the military in my family and here they are:


My Dad: Joe

USAF


My brother, Mike and sister-in-law Rachel:


USAF


My amazing husband: Captain Kyle Smith

Army



I am so lucky to have amazing family members who have served and continue to serve. I love all of you very much!!


Today was 2BCT's Veteran's Day Family Fun Run. It was an amazing event for our brigade and we had an awesome turn out. Here is a picture of me and a few other Black Falcon Ladies:



Shelley, Karrie, Mary Catherine, Melanie, Me and Michelle




God Bless our military and the USA!!


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Keeping Busy

For the last few weeks I have been staying consistently busy. I am so thankful that during this deployment I have been able to travel a lot to see my family, get really involved with the FRG, and spend good quality time with friends. Now that we know Kyle is coming home early I am in full countdown mode. 


On Sunday, our Battalion packed up over 400 welcome home bags for our soldiers. It made it so real that yes they are coming home!! It was great seeing everyone and celebrating what we know is happening. The kids were having a blast making signs and getting to be creative.  


With tomorrow being Veterans Day, our brigade is doing a 5k walk/run tomorrow morning to honor all the Veterans of 2BCT. It should be a great turn out and I am excited to be a part of it since we only have 7 months left with the brigade before we head off the Arizona.


I hope everyone is having a great week!!!!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!!

I successfully got rid of 35lbs of candy! Wahoo!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoy all the yummy candy. Here is a pic of me and my little squirrel and froggy.




Happy Halloween!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween Weekend

I can't believe that it is already Halloween weekend!!! I am looking forward to seeing all the kids trick or treating on post in their costumes.


I have been keeping very busy lately and yesterday it all paid off. We had our Battalion Fall Festival and it was awesome!!! We had food, games, prizes, cotton candy (which was a huge hit) and special "care packages" for the kids. Everyone involved put so much work into it and the kids had a great time. Almost everyone came in costume and we had a great time. I didn't take a lot of pictures but our Rear D Commander was walking around taking pictures so hopefully we will get them soon. 


I am finally feeling like it is fall here in NC. It has been abnormally hot for this time of year and today it is finally hoodie weather!! Yay! I am enjoying a quiet day at home snuggled up on the couch with candles lit and watching movies on Netflix. Tomorrow, I am going to a pumpkin patch and corn maze with a friend, I went last year and loved it! After that we will be going back to Vander Haunted Trail, this time without our hubbies (we all 4 went last year) but with Kyle deployed and her husband a chicken it will be us girls lol. 


Sunday, I have a Super Coffee brunch to attend with our Brigade at the Fort Bragg Club. It will be all of the coffee groups in attendance and it should be a great time for all of us to get together.  We are all just anxiously awaiting our spouses to return so it is a nice distraction. 


I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful Halloween on Monday. I hope I can get rid of my 35lbs of candy but I shouldn't have a problem, I will easily get hundreds of trick or treaters. Here is a pic of my candy:

 Haha!! 



Have a great weekend!!





Friday, October 21, 2011

Can I Celebrate Now?!?!

I am sure most of you have heard the news regarding the war in Iraq (if not go here: CNN). All I can say is THANK GOODNESS!!!! This means I get my hubby back sooner rather than later! We obviously don't know when yet but it's coming and I couldn't be more excited! 


I can't wait to see this face again:





 So proud of him and his entire Brigade!! 
(He is the 2nd from the left behind the battalion commander)


So I am just going to have an internal party until he is finally back in my arms haha!





Purses for Sale

Hey all my wonderful blogger friends!! I have just 2 more Coach Purses that I am selling. They are both in great condition. Here are the links to the ebay listing!






Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Surprise Weekend!!

This past weekend I drove up to Virginia to see my brother. My sister, Lisa and sister-in-law Rachel were in on a surprise. We knew that my Dad was flying in Thursday night to surprise my brother. Lisa and I were on the phone when my Dad knocked on the door and what an awesome reaction we heard from our brother.


I got there Friday afternoon and we had a fun weekend of hanging out and racing. My Dad and brother got to race together for the first time and it was great!! We also got to go to the Homecoming Football game at my niece's HS, she does color guard and it was really cool. 


Probably one of the greatest moments of the weekend was when my Dad was reunited with one of his brothers after 15 years. Tears were flowing and it was just so wonderful to see them together again. It was a great weekend. Here are a few pictures:



My niece, Taylor

 Dad and my Uncle Paul reunited!


 So happy!


 My Dad and brother, Mike

My nephew, Micheal


 My brother and sister-in-law cooking dinner


I also have to share these two wonderful pictures of my sister and her family. Lisa, Kylie, and Grayson were able to go to Phoenix to see Chris while he was working at the race:


 Proud parents and their babies!!!


These next few weeks are going to be super busy for me. I have so many obligations with the FRG going on that everyday I have either a meeting, planning event or actual event. I am loving every second of it!!!



I hope you all are having an awesome week so far!!!











Sunday, October 9, 2011

Goals for Deployment

Since Kyle left almost 5 months ago we set a few goals for ourselves while he was gone. I am sooo happy that we are making our way down the list and checking things off. Here is our list and what we have accomplished:


pay off credit card    ✔

 build up savings (this is a constant work in progress)

donating or throwing out stuff we don't need ✔ 

pay more of the principal balance on my car loan ✔

invest money ✔


It has been so nice following through and getting these goals complete. The biggest goal was getting our credit card paid and a huge weight has been lifted. 


It seems like I haven't really sat down and written a real blog post in quite some time. I have been keeping very busy with FRG stuff. I am our treasurer, a key caller and part of the care team. We are in the process of planning our Fall Festival and we think it is going to be a wonderful event for all the families. We will have games, cookie decorating, decorating pumpkins (we opted against carving haha), and lots of prizes to give out. My friends Melanie, Karrie and I decided to dress up as the 3 Blind Mice, something simple but hilarious. 


This weekend was pretty low-key for me. I spent pretty much all afternoon yesterday washing both vehicles. Let me tell you Kyle's car could have easily been an all day adventure lol. I really hadn't touched his car except to occasionally drive it, so it was a mess. It is spotless now and hopefully will stay that way even after he is home. 


Today, I hung out with a good friend of mine. We shopped, had lunch and just enjoyed a girls day. It was nice to be out and about. Now it is time to just relax and enjoy a quiet evening. 


I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!!












Saturday, October 8, 2011

For Sale!

Hey everyone! I told you I would have another Coach bag up for sale. This bag is beautiful and I think perfect for the winter. Here is the link if you are interested:




I hope you all are having a great Saturday so far!!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

I miss you everyday!

I am sitting here thinking about how fast time has been going lately. I then realized that it has been 6 months since my beautiful Mom lost her battle with cancer.  Everyday I remember things about her, how she talked, how she laughed and how she smiled. There will never be anyone like her she was truly one of a kind. On top of it being 6 months since she passed on Tuesday the 4th would have been my parents 31st wedding anniversary. These next few days will have some emotion but we will all celebrate her in our own way. I know without a doubt she is watching over all of us. 


I love you, Mom!!! I am thankful that God chose me to be your daughter. I hope I can be as amazing to my children as you were to us.




Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Sweet Gift

I just have to say I have the most wonderful husband. Not just because he spoils me but because he is the sweetest, kindest, supportive and loving man I have ever met. We were talking today and he mentioned how I deserved something special just for him to say thank you for keeping things going at home while he has been gone (apparently my sister had something to do with this lol). He told me I could pick anything I wanted and this is what I chose:
 
 
 
Limited Edition Mint Chip Seatbelt bag!!  
 
When this bag was released on Saturday, I looked at the picture and thought it was really cute. My sister and I were talking today and she mentioned how the two bags released in this collection reminded us so much of our Mom. The other bag in the collection is called Lady Luck: it's black and red plus it has horseshoes, dice, and 4 leaf clovers. Our Mom loved to play video poker and was always lucky when she played (Lisa purchased this bag). I chose this one because Mom loved Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Every time I carry this it will remind me of her and I will smile.
 
 
Thank you to my amazing husband. I love you so much and can't wait for you to come home!!!


Sunday, September 25, 2011

Getting Healthy!

These last few weeks I noticed I was getting extremely tired easily and not feeling that great. I decided that I needed a change. I knew it was time to get healthy and back into shape. Here is what I have been doing to get myself started:


1. Completely cut out soda!! This is a huge deal for me and I am surprised at how easy it has been.

2. Drink no less than 1 gallon of water a day.

3. I take Emma on two 1 mile walks per day (once in the morning and once in the evening).

 She looks at me like this every time..lol...hoping we just turn around and go home.

4. Eating 3 meals a day. This was my biggest problem, I would eat a bunch of little meals but nothing ever substantial. 


I am amazed in just the short time I have been doing this at how great I already feel. I am probably going to add 2-3 days a week going to the gym. Tomorrow I am meeting up with a friend tomorrow (she is training for a huge walk for cancer) and we will be walking 19.5 miles. I love the RunKeeper app on my phone so I can track how I am doing. 


Speaking of walking, I am so incredibly proud of my Dad, my sister Lisa and my niece and nephew for participating in the Relay for Life in Santa Fe Springs, CA in honor of my Mom, Kathy. The event raised a total of $93,000 which is absolutely incredible. I can't wait to participate in this next year.




Besides my big walk tomorrow I have a busy week ahead. I am now part of our Care Team (on top of already being a Key Caller and Treasurer), so I have plenty of meetings for that and our big FRG meeting on Thursday. We are putting together the care packages for our battery, can't wait to get them sent out.


I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!!! 



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Yay for Fall!!!

I had to post a photo of my exciting purchase from Walmart!!






 I am so excited to add these adorable Scarecrows to my decorations this year!