Hungry at the Commissary

It's so dangerous to be grocery shopping while hungry. Today, I was hungry in the commissary. Truly, the commissary is a wonderful place with a nice slice of organic products and a delightful selection of items from around the world to cater to the military personnel's tastes acquired overseas. Not initially hungry, the items in my cart stuck to the list until I got to the section at the end of the store - the bakery, cheeses, frozen foods area... This is what made its way into my cart that wasn't on the list: two Ben & Jerry's pints (Phish food and Creme Brulee), Blue Bell Moolinium Crunch, fresh baked kaiser rolls, applewood smoked gouda, and sparkling organic pear juice. I stopped myself before mint truffle filled hersey kisses jumped in my cart, but it was tough. When I got home, I had a stunning lunch of honeybaked deli ham on a fresh baked kaiser roll with dill havarti cheese (a tasty throw back to Wenonah's days), a few slices of smoked gouda, sparkling pear juice, and a taste of each Ben & Jerry's pint for dessert. It was awesome! I wish each one of you a delightful "wasn't on the list" post-grocery shopping meal too!

New Couch!

So... the new couch arrived!!!!!!! YES! Our main reason for doing the DITY move has finally come! Rob and I are so pleased! I felt a little awkward when I found I couldn't understand the southern accents of the delivery guys - "they're speaking English! What is going on?!?" He asked for my "sneaker" and I was very confused until he pointed to his clipboard that needed my signature! OH!

Now, you may be wondering, "what on earth became of your old couch, McKay?" The sits-on-bricks $20-for-the-couch-plus-loveseat at a garage sale 8 years ago, the garage couch of the Carter Creek house, the "Love Nest" of the Apartment of Fun? Well, I'm thrilled to relay that I called our new church and a high school small group had been praying for a couch for about 4 months! YAY! Thus, the old couch can begin a new life at church! (I didn't tell them we used to call it the "Love Nest")

Friday night, the couples in the F-15C class (leaving out the 1 single guy - sorry Brent!) got together at the Clark's and hung out. It was nice to just hang out as a class. Saturday, we went to the Squadron's Skull Party. The 95th is the Boneheads (thus the Skull Party) and at the party they pass the skull to the next host, who must host a party within the next 95 days. I do love fighter squadron traditions! And Sunday, some of the awesome ladies got together at Sweet Tease, which is this gem of a restaurant! It's a bakery with Sunday brunch and sweets, coffees, and (da da dada!...) eggs benedict!!... with their famous crab cakes in lieu of pork! Very tasty! I am SO happy we found this place! We're definitely going back! *sigh* Last night was the squadron wives coffee where we enjoyed some amazing food and shared our holiday traditions! I shared that our family does steak dinner on Christmas Eve and they all thought that was so "Texan." :-) Then, today, I broke out the multi-colored Fiestaware and had girls over for tea and scones! SO fun!

Really the last two weeks have just been delightful! Between the long weekend I got with Rob and the lovely girl socials, it's been great!

OH! Also, we got in the last of our DITY move purchases - the Playstation 3! I'm slowly learning to be better at Guitar Hero and Rob is just in heaven!

The weather here is getting colder- it's about 56 degrees today and I have the windows open a little - it's nice. Still love living at the beach - it's just gettin' a little chilly! I just finished my landscaping! Rob trimmed the bushes and I cleared the beds and planted snapdragons, impatients, pansies, mexican heather, and a couple others. We'll see how they work out! Regardless, I'm so much happier when I pull into a house with flowers!

I'll leave you with some pics of my favorite cool decorating things:

shelf of neat glass bottles

vintage travel posters

old hooks from Canton as dishtowel hangers

neat wire basket hung as fruit basket

washboard in laundry area

vintage fan (great flea market buy) in kitchen

wine cork board with "I love Rob" note :-)

more vintage hooks!

$35 a Tank, We go

Long weekends are awesome: Friday was "War Day", basically a big game that students like myself don't get to play in, Tuesday is Veteran's Day so we don't work, and Monday in between was "Wingman Sports Day", which is a day for the 325th Wing to hang out, do whatever because it isn't technically a holiday. So Friday I had to go to class in the morning and when I was done my truck was gone, missing, not where I left it. So my first thought is: "What the heck? Who in the world would sneak onto an Air Force base to steal a vehicle and decide that the '93 Chevy half ton with 221000 miles on it would be the one to take?" After a couple of angry minutes a friend located my wife's car which contained keys. So McKay had received her new couch and needed to take the old one away and needed a truck. She was going to leave a message on my phone about the location of my truck, her car, the keys to her car and how much she loves me. However as she dialed she discovered that my phone is in the truck as usual. The rest of the day I was not in communication with her so I didn't know where she went or why she stole my truck. Saturday we went to downtown Panama City for the farmers market which turned out to be two farmers and a cart. We met an elderly couple with a 195 pound Irish Wolf Hound that made Gus look small (biggest dog breed in the world). We had breakfast at a little diner and finished off the day fishing at the marina. I say finished the day because it freakin' gets dark at 5PM. We drove down to Port St. Joe for Mexican food, BINGO, we found Mexican food, Ha Ha hA. Finally we live near good Mexican food that is not in danger of closing. Sunday we went to the boat store to discover that they ordered the wrong part for us to finish our boat, so one more week waiting. Monday started with a "fun run" down the runway and the chance to share my feelings with my fellow pilots until mid-morning. I temped McKay with a road trip and she couldn't resist. For the first time in four years gas is cheap enough that we can just go for a drive. We started going north to Wewhahitchka, home of the famous honey makers L.L. Lanier. We were expecting to find a happy place with a tour led by a jolly fat guy in a "Bee Wrangler" hat, where we could meet the bees and see production in action. Not so. Instead we threaded the truck through a thin drive way in the hedge with a very "Go home!" feel. We exit the tunnel into a clearing cluttered with sheds, 50 gallon drums, random engine parts, and some skittish dogs. Very, very redneck. So this guy who looks like a Hawaiian linebacker with thinning hair trundles out of one of the sheds to call off the dog and then stares at us like we should know what to do. Hidden in the overgrowth is a 1920's farm style house and a creepy old lady, also staring, standing at the door. This is obviously the place to go, but neither man nor creepy lady seems to welcome us, or help us, or even really acknowledge our presence. My wife, hoping to see the "bee tour", expectantly and politely fished for information from the creepy old lady. As it turns out the honey is special because the bees use nectar from a plant that grows only in the Chattahoochee River swamp, this is a really busy time of year for shipping the honey (hence the big guy), and they don't keep bees at the house, give tours, smile, or like other people. So we got our honey and left. Driving south we decided to see the swamp where the bees get the goods and driving down the dirt roads of back water Florida we found a bear, yes, a BEAR! He was in a hurry so we didn't get a picture, but he was a black bear about my size. We took the long way out to St. George's Island where we walked the beach and let Gus play fetch in the surf. We returned along the causeway to Apalachicola for their famous oysters. The downtown area is cluttered with historic buildings filled with cute eateries and antiques. We stopped for a cappuccino and enjoyed the seaside town ambiance. The area is a lot like Galveston would be if Houston was somewhere else. We then strolled down to the water front where Boss Oyster bar serves oysters that they just brought off their boat. We had a couple dozen raw oysters and watched the Chattahoochee delta fade in the sunset. Monday evening we joined the guys from school at Buffalo Wild Wings where during Monday Night Football they hand out free beer as long as no one goes into the restroom. They all had stories of greatness, "One time my buddy was here and nobody went to the bathroom until the 4th quarter was half over and the whole restaurant was trashed." After hearing such tales of greatness we were expecting a spectacle, but 3 minutes into halftime an old man who didn't even know about the contest walked into the bathroom to wash his hands and cut the night extremely short, and the whole bar was mad. But to put icing on the cake we had the worst waitress I have ever had. She couldn't remember who ordered what, she gave me (and charged me for) a huge beer because they were out out of the small glasses, for some reason I got my meal 30 minutes before the rest of the table even though I ordered last, and topped it all with a mandatory 17.5% gratuity. All in all it was a great weekend of relaxing adventure.

Livin' on the Edge

So, we live on the edge of the central time zone. All those friends in Texas - don't worry about any time change when you call! We can actually drive about 20 minutes and we're in the next time zone (FYI, that's where we sometimes take Gus to the beach because lots of the beaches around us are not dog friendly). But that means that now with daylight savings time, the sun sets at 5! And then it gets DARK! It's 5:15 right now and I can't see outside anymore! It's so weird. Rob and I are both fairly solar-powered so this is an adjustment for us.

Saturday, I went to do yoga on the beach with a group that meets once a month. It was SO nice! The beach was serene, the weather was PERFECT, and the yoga was fun. The instructor's wife took pictures!

Beach Pose

Me! in the blue tank top

Standing Tree Pose in the water - more difficult than it sounds and a very fun challenge!

Later that afternoon, Rob and I went to the beach on the other side of base (the one in the next time zone) and had a very relaxing time (pictures below). Then, I'm proud to say, Rob seduced me the rest of the evening with wine and a bubble bath. My husband rocks!

Lots of shells

Our beautiful dog

My hand at artsy photography

He's so awesome
The yummy oysters we can get (so good and so fresh) any day here! This is what we ate for dinner.

After the last church visiting (I was so traumatized *sigh*), we were ready to not be visitors anymore. We liked St. Andrews Baptist enough and decided on it as our new church home (the one with the mullet-clad worship leader and the Sunday school class full of peers). It was nice to just go to church and not be evaluating it trying to decide if it's the right place for us! They are going through 2 Samuel and the life of David which is awesome - Rob has always wanted to make an epic action movie about David. He's explained it to me and it's totally awesome! I can't wait!


Yesterday, I went to Wal Mart because I usually plan the house meals on Monday and the commissary is closed on Mondays (I tried to adjust my schedule, but I just can't) and I truly feel that Wal Mart has brainwashed me. When I didn't go to Wal Mart on a regular basis, I could scoff and ridicule it's long lines and unhelpful employees. But, now that it's been my regular store in Wichita Falls, I actually feel a warm fuzzy when I go there! ACK! Who AM I? So, watch out everyone! It will suck you in!


And, very awesome blogger, Tyne, has requested my all-purpose cleaning solution recipe and here it is! With proper credit that I got it from my semi-hippy friend Joy! Much love!

50/50 vinegar and water in a spray bottle (I used my old 409 bottle) Then, put as many drops of your choice of essential oils as makes you happy. I used about 50 drops of lemon (I added at different times until I liked it) and maybe 40 drops of grapefruit (gives it a nice, more interesting clean citrus smell)

Today

SCORE!! I got a new vacuum cleaner yesterday! The first of our DITY move purchases came in and we picked it up at Lowe's last night! I got a Bissell Total Floors - and I love it! Dyson, eat your heart out. Actually, Dyson did a lot for the vacuum cleaner market - they made vacuums sexy. They made it exciting to use your vacuum. BUT, we tried it in Sears (where they let you try out the vacuums) and they both sucked equally. he he. Anyway, I vacuumed like all day today and was greatly rewarded with seeing all the dirt that is no longer on my carpet. I love it.

In honor of my new vacuum, I also did some house cleaning. Joy, you would be so proud - I "green" cleaned! I used my vinegar, water, and essential oil mixture to clean my kitchen and dining floors and it was great! But I was even more impressed when I went to the bathroom to clean. There's a real mold problem here and the tub had already turned far from the original white. So, I sprinkled some baking soda in the tub and lightly sprayed my vinegar mixture. AWESOME! The tub turned whiter with each scrub! I think it's even whiter than when we first moved in! And the vinegar mixture is just the best all-purpose cleaner ever! Going green pays off.

Tonight, we were prepared for an onslaught of trick-or-treaters. Last year, at Sheppard, where we lived just down the street from the General's (where everyone started) we literally ran out of candy in 15 minutes! Seriously! So, this year, I was prepared! Alas, our number of trick-or-treaters was substantially less than estimated. Rob and I truly have our pick of the best candy (and I gave 3 to 4 pieces per kid!) But, we did dress up to give out candy and that makes me happy. I was a fairy (of course) and Rob wore his mullet and Gus wore a blue camouflage bandana to be a water commando. :-)

Trick-or-treater higlights: our neighbors' kids competing over who got to give away the candy, a really cute little bumblebee with photo-taking parents, a full-grown Batman with yellow utility belt, and a princess who, when given the candy, held it up to us and said, "I don't like this."

Big Heaping Helping of Southern Hospitality

With our designated church visiting period coming to a close we decided our last mission was to try Grace Baptist Church, I mean we've had pretty good luck with "Grace" named churches. When we showed up I quickly realized that their web-site is much more metropolitan than the actual church and I was expecting a slightly larger setting. They did have a young married's Sunday School class which runs on Grace Standard time, so our timeliness just placed us in the awkward only ones here position for about 10 minutes. The class is made up of mostly couples with several children and some newly married but not young. So the lesson was taught about how we should spend time in the Bible, however the lesson is from a book, to include "which passage from the Book did you like and how did it effect you...?"; we found the paradox funny. It was a nice lesson: it had application, if not substance. We were not the only visitors to the class there were two other couples from out of town, which made the class 50% visitors. I mention this because they asked us to introduce ourselves with personal information including a short testimony. McKay felt this was very unfriendly because they just assumed that all visitors were believers, lucky we were. In the main service we bumped into a friend from F-15 school and he sat with us which was nice because we could talk amongst ourselves, oh wait not true. We were interrupted at every instant by another person welcoming us to the church and pulling a short autobiography from each of us. Now I don't want anyone to think that I am unappreciative of friendly folks but just a short breather from time to time would have been nice. The worship is very very conservative back to the choir and the piano, but with an organ and a small string section. All the songs were either from the hymnal or a song book that might as well have been a hymnal written by really boring dudes in the last 10 to 15 years (like modern praise songs rejects). The sermon was very nice and straight shooting at the level we like. However, the trend of increasingly invasive newcomer presentations also continued. At first it was very low key, "new folk just stay seated and the rest of you stand and greet one another." We were thinking that there is no way that the preacher can pick us out from the pulpit. But when the dust cleared one of the ushers who had pooled all our information in an earlier conversation was standing near us and then the preacher gets up and asks someone to introduce the visitors. Our usher proceeded to tell all he knew of our friend, McKay, and me with all eyes focused on us; ending our intro with "...and he is lucky enough to be married to her. Ha ha ha." The preacher then asked about our friend, "Who're you with?...oh you're single....would all the single ladies in the congregation stand up?" It was a good joke, but holy put us on the spot Batman. Our Sunday School teacher did elude to Barack Obama being the anti-christ: +7 points

Landscaping?

So, I would love some help to landscape my yard. I know, you're saying, "But McKay, you're only going to be there until June"... well, we were only going to be at Sheppard for 1 year and we were there for 2. So... I've decided to live in each place like I actually live there. But of course, keeping the landscaping costs to a minimum is desirable.

I would love something pretty - we know I love pretty things. I would love flowers. I would love different textures. I like azaleas, gardenias, ferns, bulbs, lilies, hibiscus, pansies, bogonias... I started researching gardening and landscaping, but there is simply TOO much information for me to sift through - I need some expert opinions (the input of friends and family). Below are some pictures I really liked and would hope to get something similar (within means).

Great texture in this one

Love the many colors, textures, heights

I would love to use herbs for nice-smelling landscaping - mint, rosemary...

Again, love the texture

bulbs give great color!

AND... here is what I'm working with...

The first impression

In order of priority (1) the front walkway. The front half of the bed gets full sun most of the day, the back half is full shade. I'm not a huge fan of the sculptured bushes on the side, but don't want to spend the energy or money - maybe prune them. Ideas for this area?

(2) the wall to the left of the driveway. There's a trellis there for a climbing plant and two bushes. Only gets mostly shade and indirect sun.

(3) The bed on the back patio (where the outdoor table is) - indirect sunlight, but would love a hibiscus here.

(4) backyard (will move the woodpile and doghouse) FULL SUN!! This window is the living room window, so maybe something colorful to see out the window?

Problem-solving parameters: given photos above, want color, texture, herbs, want something to enjoy now, want something to enjoy through the winter, spring, summer (not have to be all same thing! Maybe a plan for the seasons - plant this that will flower in the spring next to this that is pretty in the winter... you know).

Thanks in advance for your advice! I need it! Hope you're all doing well.