I’ve Been Keeping Myself Busy

When fellow military spouses find out I don’t have a full-time job or kids, they look a little concerned. I assure them that I find plenty to do for myself and not to worry – I’m passing that along to you as well.

For one thing, I’m teaching yoga at LEAST four times a week, but usually five or six. That keeps me pretty busy as each class has a different focus and different people. I always prepare a plan for each class, whether I follow it or not – flexibility and living in the moment are acted out daily!

I’m preparing the plants to go in the greenhouse, transplanting to larger pots and rearranging the greenhouse to accommodate my seedlings until it’s safe to plant them outside (after Memorial Day! Only three months of growing season here! Yikes.)

Of course, I’m waiting a little longer before putting the plants in the greenhouse because it’s currently snowing outside. Yup. That’s right now.

I also had a friend over to help me cut plywood to make more boxes for storage. Here’s all my cuts made.

I’m making more of these boxes. I hope to be able to stack them in whatever configuration fits best in whatever house we live. I’m also making two “double wide” ones to fit bigger items. Next time, I might try a couple “double high” ones.

They’re all in four-sided box form now. When the weather gets warmer, I will attach the feet, backs, face frames, and doors. I’m also making an upholstered top for these three to make a bench. Since I adore antique hardware, I have grand plans of finding the most interesting and cool knobs and handles and latches! (rather than cutting shapes for handles like the above boxes).

I have also finished painting the wall in the living room, and am spray painting the outdated chandelier.

I’m getting excited because my B-1 painting from TM Gand (see facebook album at link) is almost finished! Once that arrives I can hang art in the living room and have a MUCH more decorated feel in the house! By the way, she sells prints of all her paintings, if you want a B-1 too…

At least once a week, I have one or two other “spouse-less” ladies over for dinner to keep me enjoying cooking. (Cooking for one is not nearly as fun after a week or more).

For those of you just here about my husband. Yes, he’s fine. Yes, I have been able to skype with him. Yes, I’ll let you know if he needs anything. And no, we don’t know when he’s coming back.

In Mississippi

Rob isn’t QUITE finished with his training in Mississippi, so we decided it would be fun to have another visit! And of course it is!

Nice scheduling, God – Rob’s flying Saturday was cancelled due to weather and then it cleared up to be a beautiful day at the air show at NAS Meridian! I love air shows with Rob! He knows all about the planes and what makes them cool and how difficult some of the maneuvers they perform are! I love having my own very sexy tour guide!

We’re discovering new restaurants in Meridian – Nick and Al’s pizza is divine! It’s New York style pizza and I must say it comes VERY close!

Dobi’s Rajun Cajun is also very good. The spices are a little mild, but the flavor is good and one can always add some Tabasco (which we did). I have plans to get Sake Sushi and the Thai place in again before I leave as well – YUM!

Today is the first day that’s he’s been in to work with the combo of weather and nonsensical scheduling. So, I’m watching HGTV and blogging, dressed for an online yoga class when I conclude. *sigh* Life is good.

I’m also praying for the slim chance that when he finishes, the rotator will be so backed up that they’ll send him back to South Dakota for a couple weeks… it COULD happen…

In Other News

The seeds are growing.

Cupcakes are baking.

And I owe the completion of my new living room curtains to wonderful Christi! Horaaay! I sewed these!!

The curtain rod isn’t painted and they ran out of white curtain rings… so the whole look isn’t complete, yet, but I’m SO pleased with what they do for the living room! As the living room gets more decorated, be looking forward to more pics and more awesome incorporation of the design that’s still forming in my head.

A little frustrated that I don’t work as fast as I’m sure Rob would have (hanging that curtain rod took way longer than it should have!), but still a little proud of my do-it-yourselfyness.

Ode to the ficus

Very sad news. McRob, the ficus has passed.

We are truly surprised because it seemed like it would never die. Every time we moved, went on vacation, and gave it to friends because we thought we were moving to Japan, it lived. It wilted and looked like it was on its last leg many many times, but it always came back to its original vigor. I think it must have only had nine lives because our trip to Atlanta killed it. I’ve been trying to nurse it back to health ever since we came back in January, but it looks the same. Very sad.

In honor of the ficus, I offer this ode. Dear ficus, we loved you very much. You were with us at the very beginning, as a decoration at our wedding reception. You have lived through sunny days and rotten days. You gave the room oxygen and often stood as an important decorative element in our many different dwellings. You wore twinkly lights and paper cranes with style and finesse.  Thank you for your service, dear ficus. You will be missed.

Since I Last Wrote

I have painted my toenails a delightful spring color (even though no one will see them under my wool socks and ugg boots) called “Guy Meets Gal-veston.” OPI did a line of Texas-inspired names and I just HAD to have one!

I planted seeds for the garden this spring! Looking forward to that fresh produce!

I have been to church without Rob (which is quite depressing, I might add!) I will try again, but it pretty much made me sad the entire rest of the day.

Later that day, I unsuccessfully prepared the main dish for our small group (I burned the venison stew – and am sticking to side dishes and desserts for a couple more weeks!)

I swooned in Mississippi over the Blue Bell ice cream section in Wal Mart and picked up a couple pints to put in Rob’s hotel min-fridge/freezer.

I got my hair cut and love the many layers and how much lighter my head feels!

I made salted caramel cupcakes and shared the sweet saltiness with friends and neighbors.

I traveled to Mississippi to visit Rob! It was divine! And he’s SO dreamy! Even though I missed out on sunny spring southern weather, the overcast skies and periodic thunderstorms kept Rob at the hotel with me! We enjoyed day after day of staying in, honeymoon style. *insert dreamy sigh here*

Alas the week was cut short as flights started to fill up. I blame the combination of spring break and Mardi Gras. Rob drove me to the airport in Jackson for me to catch the evening flight out on Wednesday, only to be turned away by weather cancellations. That meant there was no way I could fly out of that airport tomorrow. So, after an hour-and-a-half-drive back, we got up EARLY (2:45am) to drive to a further airport to catch the earliest flight to DFW. I made it back to Rapid City Wednesday afternoon and went to bed early!

Rob did take to me to eat at some really fun places! The only (the only one we could find anyway) nice restaurant where Rob is doing training served us a nice dinner of crab cakes atop the very best fried green tomatoes I have ever had! (I rescind any earlier lukewarm comments regarding fried green tomatoes – these were perfect!) They were firm, slightly tart, and perfectly fried so the outside was done, but the inside still tasted fresh. Delicious!

The lemon pie I ordered for dessert was also the very best lemon pie I have ever had! It wasn’t too tart or too sweet. It was also topped with real whipped cream, rather than meringue, and that is a sure fire way to my heart! The seal-the-deal was the slivered almonds sprinkled over the whipped cream. The resulting texture was a perfect combination of soft and crunchy.

The very next day, we returned to the nice restaurant for brunch (and ordered the lemon pie again at the end of the meal). I had eggs benedict, which I adore, and was surprised to find it the heartiest eggs benedict I’ve ever had. Instead of canadian bacon, they used a pork chop! Combined with my side of bacon (a whopping four pieces – this place doesn’t skimp!), it was more than enough meat.

In Jackson, he took me to this nice place before my flight. We enjoyed cocktails and fancy appetizers before my meal of very very fresh fried oysters (I still remember Florida’s fresh oysters well!) on a bed of mixed greens, with amazing dressing and some other little things that made it special that I can’t remember at the moment. I remember that the result was GOOOOOOD! Wow, I just made myself very hungry. This restaurant is new and they made every effort to please – the staff was knowledgeable and friendly, the food was delicious and the portion sizes just a little too big, like they were trying really hard (I had at least 8 oysters on my salad!) We would have stayed longer and possibly enjoyed dessert if we weren’t so full and needed to get to my cancelled flight. Oh well. Maybe next time I’m in Jackson, MS….

I gotta get a snack now after all that food talk!

I’ll leave you with some pics from Mississippi. This park had ducks, geese, guineas, and roosters, oh my!

I love primer in the springtime

If you’re like me, the first sunshine-y semi-warm day puts me in a decorating/ cleaning mood. We had one of those recently here in South Dakota. That’s right, I said a warm day recently in South Dakota – it was 60s and sunny and delightful!

Of course, this week the temps hovered around zero – but the pretty snow on the ground was consolation.

Anyway, I have been saving up for Rob’s departure all my decorating projects and this one is the first tick on my list. I made the shelf off this simple design from Ana White’s website and modified it slightly to be a coat rack as well.

Primer

Then, my freshening up of the entry wall made it look so plain. Since I already knew what color I wanted to paint it (I tested it on the upstairs walls earlier) I went ahead and started painting the living room.

*Sigh* I do love fresh paint. It’s like cleaning with color. It makes the same old room suddenly seem polished and fresh and posh.

So, I painted the wall in the living room as I finished the new coat rack. The color is called “Sand Between Your Toes” and I love it. It wraps me in warmth and sunshine while still being a subtle touch of color. Plus, it contrasts nicely with the ultra white that we’re using for trim (and the coat rack).

I felt I needed to divide the space in the entryway. As much as I think I love a great room, one needs a little transition when one walks in the door. Opening the front door to a big one-room place is too overwhelming for me. BUT, Rob didn’t want to sacrifice his line of sight with the front door… SO…

I’ve always wanted to use old windows in my decorating and I finally can! What’s more, I checked out Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and got these for $1 each!

Of course, I missed Rob severely! He’d have had them hung in an hour – but let’s just say it took me MUCH longer. Between joist direction, finding it, learning the spacing, realizing it wasn’t where I needed it to be, figuring out how to hang windows between the joists, and actually doing it… that was about all I accomplished that day.

Don’t my new walls look pretty??

My next step is living room curtains (we’ve been living with shears since we moved in). I’m working on other decorating (most are still in-progress as I learn the personality of this house and as we renovate), but here’s one other room.

Our bedroom. Still in progress, but mostly done.

Notice the rockin’ nightstands! I made those! Modeled out of the West Elm catalog and topped with our concrete sample pieces.

I haven’t figured out what I want in a headboard – I think a piece of architectural salvage would be really neat, but I haven’t found any in South Dakota. I’m thinking about making a headboard and bed frame… don’t know yet.

But I’m having a ton of fun decorating! I finally feel like I’m not living in a hotel. I can live in the happy green bedroom, the warm and shiny bathroom, the blue room (which is my yoga room – awesome!), and now I can live in the living room. Of course, we’re still planning on changing a whole lot in the great room (living/dining/ kitchen), but with Rob’s new deployment schedule, we won’t get to it for almost a year. Ergo… decorate then re-decorate. But such has been my military life anyway. This way, I get to try out TWO living rooms with the same floor plan.

Looking forward to more warm spring days! (but enjoying the snow outside my window for now).

I Kinda Like It Here

 

Who knew? But South Dakota is NICE! I haven’t minded the winter much at all! Sure, it’s cold, but people know it’s cold and it’s also a matter of having the right equipment.

Christmas gift exchanges were very heavy in the warm clothing category – I think our families must have felt sorry for us – or they at least knew we would appreciate it. I came back with, among other things, a down coat. Mmmmm. Now, I face the winter days with insulation and preparedness. MUCH better.

Plus, when it snows, it’s usually very sunny the next day! That means the snow is sparkly and white and drapes the drab winter under-colors in a fluffy frosting of bright white. I can usually wait until the warmest part of the day to shovel the sidewalk (that’s right, I shovel the sidewalk!) and often become pretty warm with the activity.

Plus, my super-nice neighbor has a snow blower that he loves to use and now that Rob’s gone, he makes sure to do the sidewalks in front of my house (and sometimes more!). Did I mention South Dakota has really nice people?

It’s been snowing this week and sitting in front of my bay window is like staring at a giant snow globe that’s just been turned right-side-up. It’s kinda nice.

Rob left earlier this week for his final training. I dove right in to more home improvement projects, mainly in the vein of decorating, but more on that later.

It’s certainly not nearly as fun without Rob around. He’s only my most favorite person in the entire world, so it’s an obvious given that life will not be quite as full. But I intend to make the best of it and first on the list is a cleaning/ organizing/ decorating campaign. Tasty.

I’m still teaching yoga, and more now that the owner of the studio is going through some medical stuff. I’m picking up a lot of slack and extra classes and not minding the additions to my schedule. I’ve got regulars and I love helping them progress! My teaching is constantly evolving and I’m loving it.

Although, I have decided I need a bit more socialization. I relish nights when Rob works late, so I’ve been getting my fill of eating light meals, watching lots of comedy, taking long baths, doing pedicures, decorating, and doing yoga. But as I filed our taxes and blogged on this Friday night, I realized I probably need to go out.

I shall begin filling my social calendar.