Not much of one, but it is an update

Well... we've decided.. to heck with moving into a rental house. I looked almost all day yesterday and couldn't find anything in our budget that takes a cat, house-wise. There were plenty of Townhouses, but we just decided to stay here in the apartment.
So, since we will be looking into a small auto loan and buying the husband an older Jeep Cherokee (it's what he wants, I won't argue), we will still have some money in the bank. Quite a bit actually. So, the family will be going to Disneyland! I have been doing some research and it looks like we can go for 4 days between the parks and hotel and spend, at most $1300 for hotel and tickets. Not quite sure how much gas will be, but I can figure that out later.
Once we get the second car, I can start bugging the husband about the CNA certification class again. =o) It's only 4-6 weeks of class.
Also, I took the girls to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point yesterday. I realized we haven't been since March 2009, so yesterday was the first time for our youngest. The girls loved it! Shannon was amazed as usual, and did very well whenever it was time to move on from one thing to another. Erin was almost speechless the whole time. She was just taking it all in and enjoyed every second of it. My camera battery died about halfway through the excursion, so I'll have to get back there again soon and take some more pictures.

Good almost always comes with the bad

Well, this first bank has declined us for a home loan. And you know, I'm not too upset about it either. There are very few things we actually have to fix in order to be accepted in the future. So, we've decided to finally purchase a second vehicle and we will for sure be moving out of our apartment by the first of May.
Tonight I am going to start looking at rentals again and we will see about a car as early as this weekend. I'm not disappointed at all because there are still plenty of exciting things in store for us this year.

5QF

1. Have you worn the same outfit more than one day in a row?
- Yes, unfortunately, I have actually worn one outfit later in the night, slept in most of it, then woke up and wore it that morning too.. That's bad.

2. If you had to choose any LARGE city to live in, which would it be?
- Portland or Sacramento. Yes, both are close to home. Portland is the first option.

3. Fly or drive with the kids on vacation?
- Drive!!! Never again will I fly with both kids by myself. Unless it's an emergency. My favorite mode of transportation for a vacation is definitely driving though.

4. What is your idea of "spring cleaning?"
- I'm OCD about cleaning when I actually care. So, spring cleaning for me would be going through toys and clothes and getting rid of stuff. Deep cleaning, rearranging shelves and cabinets. Bleaching anything that can be bleached.

5. What is the best book you have ever read?
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith

http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Well on our way!

Less than a half hour ago, I submitted our paperwork to the mortgage banker for a VA Loan preapproval! I have already found a house I fell in love with, but I'm trying not to get attached because A) we haven't looked at it in person yet, B) I want to wait to hear back about the loan.

I almost feel like a giddy little kid.

I just want to understand!

I'm tired of this. I could be completely fine for days to months.. Then I'll dream about him, my dad. What sucks, they are rarely ever the pleasant memory type dreams. They're definitely dreams that reenact the day he died. The dream I had this morning started off with myself and a few others up at the house I grew up in/he lived in. We were all waiting for him to get home from wherever it was he went. We were all preoccupied inside the house and heard his truck pull up, but didn't see him pull in at all. So, I walked out and didn't see him anywhere. I walked all around the truck, then walked over by the other side of the house. And that's when I found him, semi-propped up against a tree. I just went blank, cold, white.. My uncle ran over to him and checked his pulse and what not and told me he was dead. Then I woke up.. Every time, this is what it's like!
Sorry if this is strange or odd for any of you to read. I just felt like I needed to get it off my chest. Rarely ever do I talk about the dreams, and if I do it's usually just to my mom or someone else and it's rare that I even talk about them at all. They always start off with a few days or the day before he dies. And it's almost always my uncle that is the one who tells me he's dead. Not sure if it's like that because that's how it really happened on the day he died or what.. My uncle is the one who was in the room with him at the time of his death, and he was the one who called me when it happened.
All I know is that I'm TIRED of these dreams! It's been almost 5 years now since they started. I'm tired of feeling crazy...

Blue is nice, but green has always been my favorite color..

The title really is true, green is my all time favorite color. But, what the title really means is we will soon make the transition from being an Air Force family to an Army family. Husband extended his enlistment last year through April of this year. So May 1st, he will be signing with the Army guard. I'm not making any big announcement over facebook or anything. A few people already know, family and our really really close friends.
I am truly happy in this decision and know it will be good for all of us. Some of you may be wondering about deployments and such.. the unit was set to deploy in 3-4 years, and now it's looking like 4-5 years. But we aren't really worried about it until the time comes. By then at least one of the girls will be in school and that will make it much easier! I'm not very experienced in the deployment section, but the one we've been through.. it was rough having him gone with both girls at home.
In other news, it's almost been a week since I've arrived back in Utah. The first few days were bad, I was missing California something fierce, but I just kept myself distracted and I seem to do alright. Anyway! Gotta run, more updates to come later =o) And happy Valentine's Day guys!

Just thought I'd share..

I was going through my pictures to try and find a new picture for the top of my blog. The picture I chose for the blog is probably my favorite flower/nature picture. But then I found others, I guess I would call them the top 5 of some pictures I have taken.

I don't know why, but this is absolutely one of my all-time favorite photos I have taken. I took 3 pictures of this owl. In the first one, I couldn't see the mouse at all. In the second one, you can see it under it's foot. And there's this one, which is pretty self explanatory. I didn't even realize it had a mouse in its mouth until I got home and uploaded my pictures from the day.

From her 4th birthday party. I love the look on her face. Happiest kid in the world right there.

Aside from taking pictures of people, I love taking nature pictures. Nature doesn't move around much, and it's always photogenic.

My favorite picture of him. His ears were always up and his eyes were so light in this picture.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mac, my mom's border collie.

2011 and Finding my Optimism

2010, you were interesting. Actually, you were kind of boring, sorry. Some parts were fun, but mostly dull.
2011, you definitely started off with a bang! Not the best kind either. But I'm willing to look past it and not hold a grudge against you.
In 8 days, I will be surrounded by some of the people I love the most for 3 weeks, awesome right? In 2 months, I will be going on my very first solo vacation for my birthday, totally awesome! This year, my babies will be turning 5 and 2. Shannon starts Kindergarten in the fall! Husband will be reenlisting this year and is also up for E-6 at the end of the summer. So life gets tough sometimes, I just needed to find my big girl panties and suck it up!
I attempted the whole school thing fall semester of 2010 so I could get a degree and become a Physical Therapy Assistant. I couldn't find those same panties in time, let life get the best of me, and got way behind in my classes. I'm not going to lie either, Biology was almost traumatizing for me lol. You know what though, it was an eye-opening experience. I realized becoming a PTA probably isn't the best career choice for me, or much of anything else in the medical field.
One night I got to thinking about my passions in life, and what gets me excited. In a previous post, I wrote that my DREAM job would allow me to travel anywhere around the world, take amazing photographs, and write about the places and my experiences. So, why can't I do that? Someday I will see different places I have never been, I will never give up on that. I can write now, and more, maybe someday have that published book. Lastly, photography is a hobby of mine, I love it. I have a great camera which can help me learn how to use a SLR camera someday. I also looked into degrees and certificates at the local community college again and found they offer an Associate of Arts in Photography. I still have some thinking to do and decisions to make with the husband, but I am actually excited about this. Before, I wanted to go to school for a job I knew I could do anywhere in the US, no problem. But, I didn't think I would actually be happy with that career choice. Photography on the other hand, could remain a hobby and be a career. Anyway! Husband is hungry, so I should go remedy that. Until next time...

Haven't done this for a while, 5 question Friday!

1. If you could have any talent and turn it into an occupation, what would it be?
- Professional organizer. I really wish I was an organized person. Now, if I was this type of person, I would be AWESOME at it. I'm a perfectionist, even though you may not be able to tell, I'm beyond neurotic about some things. So, if I organization was my talent, I would help others. Starting with my mother. =o)

2. Would you rather have a house at the beach or a cabin in the woods?
- Cabin in the woods. Seeing how I was raised as almost "in the woods" as one can get, I'm extremely comfortable in that environment. A house on the beach would be awesome, but I would feel most comfortable in the woods.

3. Is there any meaning or reasoning for the names you chose for your child/children?
- No meaning, but there is reasoning. Erin and Shannon, doesn't get much more Irish than that. Well, it could, but I wanted to stick with somewhat normal names. For a boy we had the name Connor picked out.

4. What is your guilty pleasure? (I know we've done this one before, but I'm guessing people's "guilty pleasures" change frequently. At least mine do!)
- iCarly. I think that's even what I answered last time. I LOVE iCarly. The husband does too. Even if our girls have left the room, we generally don't change the channel right away...

5. Do you live in a house that is deep cleaned or straightened?
- Neither? Joking! Kind of... It's certainly not deep cleaned, mostly straightened. But when I really get in the mood, definitely deep cleaned. In answer 1, when I said I'm a neurotic perfectionist, I can be that way with cleaning sometimes. The military definitely helped with that a little...

5QF can always be found at http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Halloween and the sudden onset of November

Heading out the door, all ready to trick or treat.

Meet Astrid aka Shannon.

And Erin was transformed into Snow White for the evening.

This is one of my favorites, Shannon is practically staring down this skeleton decoration on their porch.

Little Erin had to get in on the action.

It started to get cold, so I put the camera away.

We had SO much fun despite the fact it was severely cold this year. The girls didn't whine once about the cold, and lucky for us, they didn't fuss one bit when he said it was time to call it a night.

I still can't believe it's November already. No word yet, but I'm hoping they don't send the husband out to Maryland until after Christmas. 2 years in a row now I've had to finish the Christmas shopping and decorating by myself. Who knows what they will do since the unit didn't renew his clearance, even though he filled the paperwork out before he left for his deployment last April. Sometimes I wonder who deems these people as competent to carry out specific tasks. Oh well, not my job to worry about it.

On another note, tomorrow has been marked as the day... the day the husband and I start our P90X journey. I told the husband I wouldn't post his, but I will be taking my day 1 pictures and measurements today, and I will probably post them by Friday.