The End Is Near

A Super (Bowl) Blog Post

So I'm not really that interested in the Super Bowl this year. In fact, I wasn't even planning on watching it until a craving hit: I absolutely needed Parmesan Garlic Wings from Wingstop. Being a fairly intelligent person, I quickly decided that a run to Wingstop would be dumb since everybody and their brother would be there picking up their party platters. And I hate crowds.

Darn people with friends and family around during the 'Bowl.

So instead I decided to improvise! I would run to Safeway and pick up a bag of wings, making my own yummy Parmesan Garlic sauce in which to smother them. After braving the crowd only to find that Safeway did not have plain chicken wings and that the checkout line was 40 deep, I decided to throw in the towel.

Ah, but I did mention that I'm a fairly intelligent person. (Or at least my mom says so!) I had chicken in the fridge and bread crumbs in the pantry! I could make my own baked chicken tenders and smother them in that Parmesan Garlic yumminess!

And so I did.


They took about 15 minutes to make, less time than I wasted at Safeway shopping for ready-to-go battered chicken. If you could see the butter running off these things you'd be concerned that Augie might currently be having a heart attack. And I'd share the recipe for the sauce, but I don't want you to judge. They are tasty and satisfied my craving. And much to the dismay of my arteries, there's plenty left for the duration of the game!

So I'm kicking back with some "wings" and watching whoever it is that's playing with Jasmine, who is almost as excited about the game as I am!


She must be able to see the neighbors big screen from there. Or she's staring at the air. I'll leave that for you to decide!

Extension, or Reason #21,894 To Hate the Army

So we got word that Tom's unit is being extended a week due to "logistical reasons." In Army speak that means that either someone up high made a change to a perfectly good redeployment schedule for no reason or that someone somewhere screwed something up.

Or that's my interpretation, at least.

But I'm still heading back out to Colorado early, as planned. Showing up very early to the party suits me just fine as I've got plenty to do to keep myself busy before he gets home. I don't think it's a nesting instinct just yet, but I find myself wanting to clean everything for him before he gets home. Tom has started his list of grocery items that he'd like for when he returns, so I'm eagerly anticipating shopping for our usual items while sipping a chai latte at the Safeway and Starbucks across the street from our beautiful home. And I can't wait to see those mountains again every time I step out of the door.

I miss the simple life of spending my days with Jasmine, cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and doing more laundry. And while I complain sometimes, ("Can you please explain to me why you're the ONLY person coming home soaked head to toe in clay?") I miss it. I miss having Tom come home from work to me having tried a new recipe that failed and having him eat it anyway without complaint. I miss curling up on the couch and watching our favorite movies or television shows together. I miss my bread machine, our bed, and my car. I miss too many things to list in one blog post. But most of all, I miss him. He's given me a wonderful life in Colorado. And while it's been great being home with my family, I can't wait to return to the warm weather, the sunshine, and the love of my life.

Less than a month to go, hun. Thank you for working so hard for our family and for sacrificing so much for our country. I love you, and can't wait for you to be home eating my crappy cooking and making mass piles of filthy laundry again. :)

An Anti-climactic Answer

Now that I've kept you all hanging for FAR too long, the only news that I have on the baby front is that we are, in fact, having one. We were unable to get a clear view of the sex, so we're looking forward to the next ultrasound which will be done shortly after Tom redeploys to the states!

Keeping it short and sweet, here's what the donut is looking like. He'll be home next month!

IT'S A............

Well, we actually don't know yet. But we should know tomorrow after our ultrasound!

Get your guesses in now before the big reveal. :)



And a small donut update. We're finally getting there! It's sounding like our current dates will hold, but we'll see. Cross your fingers that we don't get pushed back!

I Can't Believe That I Forgot...

to add this!!!!!!!!




And so begins the downward climb!

An Apology and An Update

First off, I need to apologize to everyone for dropping off the face of the earth these past few weeks. I found myself in a funk that I had trouble getting out of. Apparently hormones + deployment + holidays = one sad Becky.

I spent Thanksgiving with almost all of my mom's family down in southern IL. It was great seeing everyone, but I definitely noticed the big void in the room with Tom missing. We'll be celebrating our missed holidays after he returns, so I'm looking forward to attempting to make a mini Turkey Day meal for the two of us. Since he's been spoiled with all-you-can-eat meals and a large variety of meal choices over there, I hope he won't be disappointed with my mediocre cooking abilities. :)

We've entered the 17th week of pregnancy, and I'm feeling great! According to babycenter.com, the little one is about 5 inches long and weighs about 5 ounces, and his/her skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone. And baby can now sweat! (Uh, can you say yuck?)

Yesterday the wee one made a new discovery: my bladder! It definitely made for an extremely uncomfortable day. Thankfully he/she is swimming elsewhere this morning, so I'm enjoying being able to relax.

Here's an updated belly picture for those who are interested. Still waiting for the baby to make its appearance known, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the little bit of chub that's collected in the area. I'm guessing that it won't be too much longer before I actually have something to show!