YAY!

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." Pslams 150:6

He is coming home and he will be a RANGER!! YAY!

Just have to say thank you to everyone who was keeping us in their prayers! We have been on this long journey since Nov. 1st now and it is finally coming to an end!! BOY AM I GLAD!

I will keep you updated and post some pictures of graduation as soon as I can. I may have to take a few days off or even a week or two, we’ll see. Things will be moving fast from here until Spring Break but keep checking back in case I get the itch to blog it up!

And since I don’t like the “rangers lead the way” saying I made my own ;)… “Rangers do it better” hehe

Don’t give a dog licorice.

I had an uneventful day. end of story. So I’ll share my boring day with you :)

It all started yesterday evening. I am preparing for my trip back to GA. I stopped at the local farmer’s market Sprouts (love love love them), to pick up some things, like my all time favorite Australian Licorice…sold by the pound.  Some Pirate Booty and my recent food obsession Oreos…

I tucked the goods  into my Sprout’s bag and stashed them in my room not thinking another thing of it.

8pm. Apollo Ohno’s first race. suspense is building. BLLLLAAAGH. The dog. My sweet little Talley. Pukes. Red yucky stuff. I think oh no!!! She has never done that before!! I have a habit of sharing with my pups, I had a few pieces when I came home and gave each dag half a piece….yet she was  the only one sick…I go up stairs to find an empty plastic bag…and no 1.5lbs of licorice anywhere…

So the pattern continued until this afternoon. Your dog will throw up multiple times if she eats 1.5lbs of Australian licorice. Must be just as addicting for dogs.

In other news. I might be addicted to Goodwill and resale in general. Today we went to a blue hanger. Basically an overflow warehouse for Goodwill. Here they bring everything they don't have enough room for. In this case we found 10 blankets to cover my furniture for the big move, for only $12.50…that’s $1.25 each! That’s the glory of a blue hanger, they sell each clothing or blanket/sheet set/whatever for $1.25.

Just some other nifty finds I came home with:

Izod Sweater

New Pashmina

J. Crew Wool Scarf (remember that coat I was looking for? I found a Gray J.Crew on EBay for a steal!)

J.Crew White Sweater

A really cute jacket sweater

An American Eagle knit hoodie

I figure the sweaters will come in handy in CO!

I love finding treasures that are in good condition :)!

Tomorrow E calls! Pray for some good news! I hope he gets to come home this time around, he’s missed.

Show us your life Friday!

Today’s show us your life is show us what you collect.

I collect, or rather my dear hubsy and I collect crosses. We began this right after we were married last May. It seemed like every other wedding gift was a cross of some sort. It become a running joke after a while “hey I wonder if this one is a cross” every small box had to be a cross. I love them, they are a daily reminder that God is watching me, in every room of my house….well almost, I haven’t found a perfect UT Longhorn’s cross for the guest bedroom yet :)

So we started it this way: Every time we take a trip together we buy a cross as our souvenir. I look for days on our vacations, I drag E into every shop I see looking for a cross that will look perfect on our wall, it has to be the right size and have something on it that I like and will remind me of where it came from. I hope one day our children cherish them. On the back of each cross I have written where it was purchased and the year or exact date (if I can remember)

I love this one, it’s right in front of our bed and one of the things we see most often. It was hand carved by a little old man in Taylor TX

 

3 More Days, I can do this.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”- Jeremiah 29:11-13

I am Praying! I am Calling! I am seeking!

I have been praying, and calling and seeking with all my heart for the last few months. You see when something big happened to us, I was scared. I had no idea how to handle change. I didn’t welcome it, because I was scared. When I had finally gotten used to the idea God knew I wasn’t ready. And now he is pointing me in that direction again. I really feel he was preparing my heart to make this choice and to be ok with this choice. We’ll see.  You never know his plans, but he has put one in my heart to ponder and pray over.

In 3 days I get to hear my beloved’s voice. I can’t wait. Just the thought makes me giddy :)! Some days I just can’t believe he is MINE! ALL MINE! I’m praying for him that he is doing well and not down trodden. I always fear he will be discouraged and I pray he isn’t.

I found 2 neat magazines I didn’t know existed!

Life:Beautiful- amazing women’s magazine, filled with recipes, crafts, gift ideas and encouraging writings for the Christian woman. It’s very uplifting.

2…I can’t remember the name. I didn’t buy it today but I will be back. I knew I couldn’t read two magazines at a time I told myself I would be back when it was time to buy a new magazine. It is near the cooking magazines in Barnes and Nobles. It’s a catholic living magazine for mom’s. I think it was Faith & Family. I didn’t know such a thing existed.

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday’s Hi: 34

Today’s Hi: 50

Tomorrow’s Hi: 68

I <3 Austin!

The Old and the New

Before

After

He’s such a pretty dog :). I heard from E on Friday, well kinda. I received a few letters in the mail . Basically I know as of the  17th he was alive and well, but still no “go” or affirmation he will graduate. Ohhh patience is a virtue.

I’m working on putting together a graduation outfit. BUt I need, ok I don’t NEED but I would really like to have, a white wool coat. Something like this:

And since I’m poor I don’t know want to pay $100 for it. I have looked everywhere….Old Navy, GAP, American Eagle, Macy’s, JCPenney, Dillard’s, Sears, Burlington Coat Factory, even Goodwill and Salvation army…but no luck…shouldn’t coats be on sale?? It is February after alll…….

Any suggestions on where to look?

 

Livin’ like the old days..for a night.

and never again.

We may be young but we are not party animals. It’s like the moment we were handed our diplomas we were revoked the right to party and given a new norm. E and I are boring. We’ve been told we’re boring. We’ve also be called grandma, grandpa, dad, mom, geezer whatever….we’re too responsible maybe? We realize that we need to wake up in the morning and do stuff. We want to remember the fun we have….There is no other way to put it. Most nights we’re in bed, reading or talking by 9 and the lights are out by 10. But we’re not tired :)

In college I could hold my own, I was very proud of that. I could roll with the boys when it came to a good party. As I discovered last night, that is no longer true, or fun for that matter.

Who ever decided being crazy and having no purpose to your party was fun? When did just walking around a big house full of lots of people become the norm to a good time?

Two bottles of champagne and numerous attempts to talk with too many introverted people made me realize this was not my bag of chips.

The crazy headache and desire for the biggest bottle of water I could buy in the morning was a familiar feeling and not a fun one.The falling asleep and wishing I were in my own bed with a good book and my husband was a new feeling and one I welcomed. One day life will be back to normal and I’ll be welcoming the “old people life” with open arms!!  Bring on the 9pm bed time!! wooohooo!!

A Most Interesting Day

So I love kids. I always have and I’m sure I always will. However I am now positive I NEVER want more than 1 of any single age. No multiples, no not ever. And I am very happy with my choice to teach middle school.

Why?

Kaden and his chocolate milk face (he keeps it on 18 hours a day for the most part)

Today I substituted for my nephew’s pre school class. I had 11 (yes 11!) 3 and 4 year olds under my foot all day long. It was interesting, and tiring!

Anyone who thinks being a preschool teacher is a piece of cake is crazy! It is not mentally challenging. Anyone with a high school diploma could do the work, however the hard part is reminding yourself that you need patience, kind words, lots of encouragement and to check the sarcasm at the door! haha.

Anyone who actually knows me in person knows I tend to drip with sarcasm. My teaching style is pretty laid back (I like to and can get away with sitting on a desk while teaching an entire day.)

Unlike most teachers these ladies are super woman, I’m sure of it. They must take 100 vitamins or have red bull running through their veins. The longest break we got all day long was 30 minutes, mine was cut to 20. Not that I minded too much, but day in and day out this would get old fast.

The smiling faces made it worth the day, however the tears and poopy bottoms that still needed to be wiped made it not worth a career change in my book :) still an interesting adventure I *might* do  again!

Wordless Wednesday

This was the best in a series of faces he was making….you should have seen the others.

I miss you, please come home now? I don’t want to wait another week  and a half or two. I want you to come home and make me laugh, make me mad, let me cook something you won’t like, I’ll even let you explain to me how something (that I don’t care about) works. And I won’t complain or tell you I wasn’t listening :)promise. I miss you and I’m still counting down the days until I get to see your goofy faces.

If it weren’t for my pups to keep me company I’d be REALLY lonely and upset. Good thing they don’t mind when mama rambles!

Beautiful Award!

Thank you to  Sarah over at The Undomestic Army Wife for the Beautiful Blogger award! (It’s my first blog “award” so I’m very honored!)

The rules of the game:
1. Thank and link to the person that gave you the award.
2. Pass this award on to 15 bloggers you’ve recently discovered and whom you think are fantastic.
3. Contact said Blogs and let them know they've won
4. State 7 things about yourself

My 15 Wonderful Blogger Friends!

1. Army Blogger Wife

2.The Huberts

3. Just Another Day in {our midwest} Paradise

4. The Richardsons

5. Vineyard Vogue

6. The Ever Changing Life of a Military Wife

7. My Life as a Wife

8. Honey

9. 3000 Miles in Love

10. Tales from the Front and the Ones Left Behind

I’m sorry that’s the best I can do…every time I click on a link the computer starts to freeze up, I’ve written this post 4 times and I just can’t do it again! haha! Sorry!

And 7 things about myself:

1. I love Cabernet Sauvignon, especially from Chile.

2. I am working on making my home more “adult” verses “college kid who is poor” my mother is not helping with this problem. However your blogs full of wonderful tips and projects are :)!

3. I get to substitute at my nephew’s Pre-School on Thursday! Very excited!

4.I love to buy home decor stuff, I have to remember we’re not made out of money due to this addiction.

5. My favorite thing to do is spend time with my hubby, and the fact that the day is growing closer when I get to do that I’m super excited!

6. I’m looking forward to making some new friends in Colorado Springs, if you know anyone there let me know! Or even better if you know someone who works at a school and can help me get a job that would be fabulous!

7.Currently my color of choice is Purple, and my print of choice is Giraffe…I’m not really sure what brought this on but I am addicted  to these two things.

Show us Your Life- Best Valentines Date

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Valentine’s Day is by far one of my most favorite “holidays”. I don’t know what to say I’m a sucker for the romantic crazy stuff. I’ve been sending E valentine’s cards in the mail since the beginning of February and I don’t plan on stopping until we get to celebrate. I just like the idea of having another reason to be mushy and tell him I love him.

The Hubby WAAAAAY out did himself this year. If you have been following along in my blog adventure you know he has been stuck in FL since Jan. 1 for training. We have recently been able to talk on the phone but that’s about as much interaction as we get…womp womp.

This morning I woke up, made my coffee as usual and was getting ready to eat. We have all this stuff on my mom’s dining room table, yes I’m staying with my parents. So my mom walks in and asked me if I was giving the tutus to the girls today….I just told her no and didn’t think a thing of it.

Then she asks me about the bag of beads and craft stuff I had on the table, and I looked and told her….it’s just random junk, I’ll move it. I started looking around wondering why on earth she was talking about all the stuff on the table, when I see a bunch of roses….

Well let me tell you, my parent’s wedding anniversary is on Feb. 14, dad always gets her a dozen red roses plus how many ever white roses to equal the number of years they have been been married (yes that’s a lot of roses…24 to be exact)

So I made the comment “I see your flowers they are very pretty” and mom says “those aren’t mine”….THEY WERE MINE!!! Plus half a dozen delicious looking chocolate covered strawberries (another of my favorite things :) ) YAYAYAY!!!

I’m super impressed he went through all the trouble to make our first Valentines special even though he couldn’t be here. We have already agreed would do something fun when we get to CO!

Just a little background: My husband HATES giving flowers. I have asked for them since the day we started dating 4 years ago. He always says no I’m not going to pay money for something that will die and you will never see again. … little did he know I dry every single flower I ever get. I have three huge vases of every flower my parents have given me (being a dancer you get them a bunch)

Ignore the plate…it’s just to get the flowers to settle into one another.

I have a separate vase for the flowers he has given me. Which, just to note is now two bouquets plus a few random extras.

Tuesday Shopping <3

I’m sitting here tonight waiting for my nightly phone call from the hubs and looking through pictures of my day. Most of the time I forget I have my nifty little camera, my Christmas gift from the FIL, in my purse. Which stinks because it’s a good camera and there are lots of things I should be taking pictures of, if only to share them with E when he gets home.

Today I remembered :)!

This pretty little girl, affectionately known as nanners, loved the pink car. Although we jumped ship in the middle of the ride once she kept coming back here, must have been the smile. 

 

With cousin, Andrew in the big yellow car. After many attempts at smiling for Uncle Eric we got a good one…well half a good one.

And last but certainly not least our precious little god daughter clairebear! I didn’t even have to tell her to smile or pose…she’s a natural.

Happy Girl on a Rainy Day.

Mondays are generally known as the bad day of the week so I surprised myself by having a good day.

As of today the number of weeks until I see my hubby pretty much equal the number of weeks since this recycle started. I am THANKFUL! Just the thought of having him home and seeing him again, whenever I want, is thrilling me down to the bone!

The weeks have started to become routine, and I welcome it, but I am missing the quiet alone time, in my own house. I miss cooking in my kitchen for E, I miss cleaning the house (never thought I’d say that one!), I miss our dog park and the evenings out with friends. Being with family is great but I’m ready to get back to our life, together. Knowing that’s coming it keeping me positive, for now.

I made some pretty cute stuff for Valentine’s day!! I can’t wait to share it with the little ones. Each nephew and niece is getting their own little package. Check back tomorrow for some pictures :)!

I also started Pilates again, after 2 months of doing nothing (Dr.’s orders :P ) and I feel good!!! I like this feeling! Although during the work out it’s soooooo tiring!

And last but not least my reading recommendations:

1. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (I know I’ve said something about this before but it is very very good! make sure you have the tissues handy!!)

2. Vision in White by Nora Roberts – My favorite romance novelist!

3. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts- this is a series, there are 4 books, Vision in White, Bed of Roses, Savor the Moment (due out in May) and TBA…. I like her series’ because they build around characters you get to know, then you get to see them fall in love and the reader feels so connected! She is a great novelist but even better at spinning a good story. I appreciate the series’ more than the individual books.

4. Battlefields and Blessings  by Various Authors- any of you MilWives out there need to go get some of these books! I love them! I have been reading the B&B Revolutionary War one every night and including tidbits in my letters to the hubby. It is keeping him encouraged and provides a great daily devotional at the end. It’s a good way to pray together and discuss life matters.

Ok that was wayyyy long…and I thought I had nothing to write about!

Blizzard Bloghop!

So I thought I would join in with this little bloghop adventure. For those of you who don’t know, every year around this time there is a biiiiiig blog convention in Nashville TN, called Blissdom. HOwever since some of us can’t make it, this is an awesome alternative. To find out more go to Household 6 Diva’s Page!

So a little about me! My name is Kate Bierschenk  (Beer- shank) (duh!) I am married to the most wonderful, handsome, bravest Army officer I know! We met Five years ago and have been married for 8 months and 12 days :)

A lot of what you’ll find on my blog is musing about Army wife life, home decorating, my pups! all with strong southern Christian undertones.

My passion is to teach history. One day I will. I’m just waiting to find that perfect school for me!

Soon we will move to the COlorado Springs area! We’re very excited!

This is my first fur baby: Talley. She is a crazy little girl. Part Jack Russell part God only knows. She has a tremendous about amount of energy and tends to tear things up if she isn’t occupied in a positive way.

The newest addition to our nomadic family: Tux. A Shih Tzu- Poodle mix. He is the life of the party. Very snuggly and hypo –allergenic/ non shedding. He is still winning over daddy’s heart but he is a good pup.

Wordless Wednesday

The man in my life…for now.

The Love Dare

So today I was reading the “Faith Deployed” facebook page adn there was a link (somewhere on the page…don’'t ask me where I just found it!) and it was to the 40 days of the Deployment Dare.

I don’t know how many people have read the Love Dare or seen the movie but it is one of my favorite movies! Now don’t jump to conclusions, there is absoluuuuutly nothing wrong with my marriage. We get along like peas and carrots, most days. And we have never brought ourselves to the point of knock down drag out anger. We’re pretty good about solving problems before they get that far, really before they can get any further than a disagreement :). However I rented this movie a few months ago and watched it by myself because I heard it was good, and except for the fact it made me cry for about 30 mintues it was SUCH a powerful movie.

It does have a very strong christian influence, which in my opinion really backed up the story and made me fall in like even more!

Anyways! The 40 day deployment dare, is how to carry out the love dare while your spouse is on deployment, it’s a practical application for a time when your significant other is away and things don’t seem to look up, at all. Now obviously E isn’t on deployment yet but I still miss him and today was one of those days where it just felt terrible. Today felt like it would never end, it’s only Tuesday, there are 4+ weeks to go (thank you! hehe!) and all I wanted was E home and with me and (selfishly enough) doing things with me!

When I read the first post I felt like it was for me. It was all about patience with some verses that spoke to me. I’m not going to do the dare, just yet, because I don’t feel I’m in a place where I need to. BUT it is encouraging nonetheless….so GO take a look!

P.S…..what do you think of this font?

The Good Wife

Yes I’ve been practicing my good wife skills lately. Since Eric is stranded trying to become a Ranger I have been busy putting together one care package after another! Have to spoil the man and get him nice and plump before the starve him and push him in the freezing swamp water again!!

Needless to say, it’s February and one of my favorite holidays (be it commercial or not) is coming up so everything in my packages have a valentines flavor :).

There were a baker’s doze of these little jewels: Banana Raisin Pecan Valentine’s muffins

 

 

and 20 iced, sugar cookies with Valentine’s sprinkles :) mmmmmm

 

Hopefully he and his buddies enjoy the little bit of love I can send!