The First Watermelon!

One of my favorite parts of the summer is the totally yummy fruit! Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits (along with peaches) ever and it is something I look forward to each year. I couldn't hide my joy and enthusiasm (and my squeals) when I walked into Costco a few weeks ago and my eyes landed on the pallet full of beautiful watermelon greeting my gaze :)! I could just taste the juicy goodness on my tongue already. I approached the pallet with my mission in tact...finding the best watermelon in the bunch. If you have ever watched a Thomas pick out a watermelon before you know what I mean! We take our job very seriously and are willing to stand there analyzing the bunch and picking up and tapping on each watermelon till we determine which one is "the" watermelon. I have been known to climb into the bin on several occasions was well (beth you know!). My husband always gets that amused look on his face every time he sees me run to the watermelon section and start my analysis (although I am sure it annoys him too but he deals with me)! This first watermelon was no different...and it did not disappoint! OMG was in yummy and I ate the whole thing within a few days (hey it's water mostly ... right??) I have been craving it ever since...on know the beast has been released! All those watermelon patches better watch out! Maybe I should start growing them....

This is just the begining :(

One day down....how many more to go??? It has only been one day (basically) since my amazing hubby has been gone, yet it feels a lot longer :( One of the most famous sayings passed along in the military life is that as soon as your husband leaves things start to go wrong. Well that's exactly what happens!! Luckily everything has been pretty easy to handle so far once I get past my initial freak out and I even feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when I figure out how to handle it myself! It is hard not to get to talk to him all the time or text him when random thoughts pop into my head or better yet call for help when the tire light comes on, the trash needs to be taken out, or the cable and Internet go out because of a power surge...I could go on but that's not what I want to focus on. I really feel that this can be a great time for both of us individually as well as for our relationship together. I know that sounds strange but I think that God is allowing us to be separated for this time to renew/remind me of my need for reliance on God and my love and appreciation for my dear husband. I know for me it is really easy to get caught up in all that is going on and "get used" to the hubby always being here, that I lose sight of some of the precious parts of our marriage and how special he is to me :)

I miss him so much already! I really want to take this time to strengthen my relationship with my other true love and continue to work on turning to him when I am feeling discouraged or sad or whatever; as well as strengthen my relationship with my husband! My work environment is probably what I would consider the opposite of uplifting and I am the ONLY Christian there. It does make it hard and I have been noticing that I have been allowing them to influence me instead of the other way around. That is NOT acceptable to me and I am NOT okay with it!! It is time to really get down and dirty and dig into God's word so that I have my armor fully intact when I enter the office every morning and better yet that it is still intact when I leave the office every night! These are things that I probably would not have noticed or at least not acknowledged if I didn't have this somewhat lonely time by myself..Thank you Lord! Please pray for me and my strength to endure this time and to make the most of it instead of wishing it away! I am also looking forward to trying to grow the friendships that I have made here and be there for my friends that are in the same husbandless situation that I am right now :)

Now The Charles on the other hand is another story!! Him and Josh have this amazing dad/dog bond and Charles has been whining all the time since Josh left. It is really sad but I can't help but laugh sometimes! I am trying to play with him more and give him lots of attention but I know it is not the same! Hopefully he will snap out of it because I don't know if I can handle his high-pitched whine for the next month!

I will be trying to post more and hopefully they won't be as long as this one, but that way the hubby can see (or more like hear) what is going on with the fam back in good old NJ :) (We love and miss u Babe!)

Dentist Office Humor

So for those of you who don't know...I HATE going to the dentist, and for good reason too! You see I have not had the best of luck with numerous dentist that I have gone to and It seems to be a trend that they end up doing things to my teeth (like fillings or crowns) that according to the next dentist were unnecessary. I also have very weak teeth so in the last few years it seems that more and more problems have arisen in this pie hole of mine :) When I first came to new jersey two years ago I was having a lot of problems with my teeth and I found a dentist that I really like. He had to put a crown on one of the teeth and I was suppose to keep coming for cleanings and check ups, however, as you guessed it....I don't like dentist so I never went back. That is until ..... a new problem arose :( It all started last week when I started to have sever pain in my mouth and pretty much the whole right side of my face. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and some people in the office suggested it was my sinus' and I went and bought a bunch of sinus/allergy med's (they are expensive!) It worked a little bit but the next day the pain had moved more to just me teeth and gums! I didn't know whether it was my sinus' now or my teeth and I didn't have a doctor to go see (that is another story for a different time) I was able to find a doctor but they cant see me for a couple weeks. Finally I had to break down and admit that the dentist might be my best option since the pain wasn't going away and I could barley eat. However, once i decided this I realized that it had been two years since I had been there and I couldn't remember my dentist name or where he was located! I know, I know ..i'm pathetic! Well once I secured my dentist I left work early on Wednesday for an emergency dental appointment. My teeth already hurt a lot when I arrived so I begged and begged them not to do any "tests" like the cold/hot thing but they informed me that it was the only way they could find out which teeth had the problems! I gave in and it didn't hurt as bad as I anticipated! The funny part came though, when he was doing the tapping test on my teeth to see which one was hurting. As he was getting ready to perform the test he held open my mouth with one of his hands and his finger was pressing on my front tooth and he used the other had to tap. As he tapped each tooth he asked if it hurt and on the first tooth he tapped I said "well it doesn't hurt but it I feel pressure on my front teeth" he gave a really surprising look and moved to the next tooth; well he moved his other hand too and then it dawned on me and I said "Oh, never mind that was just your finger causing the pressure" We both (along with the assistant ) started laughing but maybe because i was nervous I couldn't stop and every time he tried to finish working on my mouth I would start laughing again and I couldn't open my mouth.

It was a little bright spot to my not so fun situation, however we still don't know what is wrong and the pain is still present....but at least I can laugh about it :)

What to do with my LIFE????

Okay everyone...I know I have not been very faithful with posting things lately. I keep writing different posts in my head but they never actually make it on to the computer screen! My sis and I decided that we should just be able to think things and have them magically appear on the screen..new invention??...come on all you smart people this would be magic :) Anyways, thank you all who stick it out and still check my blog to see if I actually allowed some thoughts to make it onto the screen!

So for those of you who aren't aware I feel like I have been on a quest to find some type of job I can do and like well enough to stick with it and not hate/dread going to work each day. So far no luck! I wouldn't be so bad just dealing with the feeling so dread, except for I think that all of this anxiety that I feel towards work is starting to make me physically ill...hence the emergency dentist and doctor's appointments I have to make this week. I have been wanting to go back to school for a while to get my masters but the thought of working in Business or anything truly related to my degree does not sound very appealing to me. I love school and I have always loved the learning process. So this love for learning and a talk with my dear mommy got me thinking.....Maybe I should teach?!

Now I know this is not an easy job at all, but it would be a rewarding job that gives me a better schedule, allow me to be active and interact with people/kids, move around easier than some jobs (since we are never in the same place for too long), and pay pretty decent. My plan would be to go back and get my teaching credential and Masters through an online university and then hopefully be able to teach wherever we go next. I would eventually love to teach college but that would be down the road.

I am also trying to decide whether it would be better to go the elementary ed route or single subject and teach middle/high school (most likely social science). I really enjoy the older ages and would love to be involved with the high school activities so I have bee leaning towards the single subject route...however, I am concerned that there won't be as many jobs that route as opposed to elementary ed. For you teachers out there...any suggestions???

I would love to hear any and all thoughts on this matter!!! Thanks for listening (or I guess reading) my attempts to figure out my life! For now I will continue answering the phones for lawyers and trying not to get yelled at by people who never get calls back!

The Last few weeks....need I say more :)

Okay so I have to first apologize for the lack of blogging that has been coming from my new computer lately...yeah that's right a new computer! The time finally came when I had to buckle down and buy a new computer after my computer started it's slow but steady death (I have to admit it has been a trooper and survived numerous drops on the ground and cross country trips over the last few years)! But alas when it started to shut off randomly and everyday it was a guessing game as to if it was going to work or not, i had to give in to the shinny new computers in Best Buy. Although my dream computer is a Mac book pro, I am really pleased with my more affordable choice, a Toshiba.
Anyways, I apologize again for my absence, all aspects of our daily life have seemed to change dramatically these last few weeks and things became really crazy!
I find it rather amusing at God's timing on things sometimes! For those of you who haven't realized, I am a crazy stresser and worrier and tend to obsess over all aspects of my life all the time. It has been one of the things that I have been continually trying to give fully over to God but I often find myself taking it back without realizing it and then all the sudden it hits me and I have to give it to him again! I have found though, that if I keep returning to Him and giving over my worries, slowly it is getting easier to leave them with Him! I love God and his constant patience with me!
I had to laugh though, when a few weeks ago I was worrying all the time about finding a job, moving, and figuring out the next steps in our lives. I was trying to turn to God a lot but I still found myself constantly worried or tense. Well, I got a full time job two days before we moved followed by the fact that my mom was coming to visit and now I would be working the whole time! I knew that it would all work out but I had to wonder (and stress) as to the timing of it all since the last few weeks I had sat on my butt with all this free time and no job or impending move. Finally I just had to let go and I really feel that God used this time show me that he is in control and even if I don't see why He is allowing things to happen in a certain order, He knows and that's all that matters.
I worked for a day and then we moved three weekends ago into our new house on base. It is very nice and I promise I will post pic's soon! That was followed by trying to get everything unpacked before my mom came and going back to work that Monday. My mom was totally cool with having an packed up house but I wanted it to look nice for our first guest, and it is really crazy how quickly moving goes after the fourth time in two months. The next weekend the hubby and I headed out to Ohio for a wedding while my mom puppy sat the Charles and recouped from the flight.
I then returned to work the following week and got used to the spoiled life of coming home to a home-cooked meals and a clean house via my mommy :) Thanks mom!! I was such a blast to have her here and get to share some badly needed time together! My new place of employment is rather far from home (about 45 minutes to an hour drive) so it has been an adjustment figuring out when to get things done around the house.
Now on to my newest addiction...sewing!!! You heard right...Ashley is sewing. I used to be craftaphobic, but it my older years all of the sudden I have been obsessed with learning how to express my newly found creative desires. I have been wanting to learn how to sew for the past few months (or years) but I couldn't justify spending the money needed to get started. My wonderful mommy not only hooked me up with the goods but guided me along as we completed my first sewing project; a new blouse in less than two days :) I was so much fun to go to Joann's and get to pick out the patterns and fabric and my wonderful Gram helped me get started as well (she is the true sewing champ of the family...go Gram!!) If I have half the genes that the two generations above me possess and I think I will be okay :)
I am in the process of starting my second project, a dress, and I am documenting it so be prepared that there might be many sewing posts coming in the near future!! Project Runway here i come! haha I can truly say I am addicted though as I continue to have sewing dreams and sit at working dreaming of working on my creation when I get home. Oh and I have to mention that I am addicted to the fabric store, there is one by work and I stop like everyday (but I mostly just dream and look...one project at a time)! Pics will be comming soon as well as the next update!