July 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Fight For It

It’s a Monday after a holiday weekend. So like most, I sit here reflecting on the amazing down time that I had and dream that it wasn’t over. My newsfeed this morning was littered with all the witty “I hate Mondays” commentary.

So to recap our 4th of July.

It was not full of BBQ, beer, red/white/blue ribbons, or personal fireworks.

It was full of rain…all weekend long.

Don’t feel sad; we managed to make the most of it. We had a great relaxing weekend being free of work and responsibilities. And seriously what is better than actually being able to sleep in and be lazy on wet and rainy days?

Fort Campbell had a 4 day long carnival event, which we did attend on the 4th in the brief parting of the clouds before they canceled the firework show. It was really cool to see all the families tredge through the mud to celebrate what our families have gone through to ensure freedom for our nation.

We did not ride any rides because after working at an amusement park for 6 years (this is where Tom and I met btw), I am pretty skeptical of any ride that can be packaged into a trailer as a traveling show. And don’t get me started on my nightmares of Ferris wheels. Plus it cost money, and we were being cheap.

I also worked games for 2 years, so I cannot wait until we have kids so we can win them useless toys. After working 8 hour shifts for 2 summers, you learn a few tricks of the trade. We just don’t have a need for the game stuff now.

We were not too cheap however for my ICEE obsession. I L.O.V.E ICEES.

We love that we are lucky to be together to celebrate our independence! I think about all those families who cannot say the same. (Special shout out to our buddy Andrew Martin and his lovely family! We can’t wait to celebrate with you when you get home! And also to the Landis family, you all are in my thoughts and prayers regularly!)

The night of the fourth we ended up watching from our backyard some of our neighbors shoot off their own fireworks.

Grace did not seem to mind her first firework display.

And yes we made an outside bed for Grace to be comfortable watching the show.

They had rescheduled the fireworks for Friday. But it rained all evening so we didn’t really want to pack up to go across the base. So we watched in the rain from a parking lot right by our house in our Jeep. Nothing more American than being barefoot in a mud covered Jeep watching fireworks I guess.

All in all it was a good holiday for us, and we cannot forget the sacrifices that are made to grant the freedoms we hold so dear.

Talking with my husband about how the fireworks sounded like war and his FB statuses for the day gave me a lot to reflect on, and I hope they do for you too.

“Today and every day, ask yourself two questions. Who sacrificed their life so that I could have mine? What am I doing to make myself worthy of that sacrifice?”

“Remember that rights aren’t something you are entitled to. Rights are something we have to fight for. Nothing in this world is free.”

Nothing like a national holiday to make you think about your priorities eh?

It’s ironic (don’t you think) that those who give up so much of their own freedoms are the ones that are making sure you and I have ours?

Now on to our home improvement project of the week.

We created these shelves so that we could have some flexibility on changing the deco in our house without the hassle of measuring and putting in new holes in the wall. Since we live in on-base housing, we are trying to leave as little damage as possible.

Shelves are pretty expensive if you want to buy more than one of these at the store, and you cannot get them in a very long size. I think the cheapest we were able to find was like $30ish bucks for one that was like a foot long. So Tom volunteered to make them for us. For 8 shelves, it was around $75 for us doing it this way. (If you are able to find ones cheaper than this, share with the world please!)

Basically you pick the size shelf you want from the wood selection. We chose a couple different sizes because of the what we had planned to put on the shelf, so we had 1X2s and 1X3s.

Then we picked out simple decorative molding to make the face of the shelf. You can make it relatively inexpensive depending on the molding you pick, or just not getting molding and just using the base wood only.

Tom did all the handiwork. It seems pretty simple from watching him. He made all 8 of them in an afternoon.

This is before he stained them all.

Then he added wall hangers/hooks on the back to make them more secure on the wall.

Then was the long process of measuring out the locations on the wall. This included a stud finder, tape measure, level, T-square, and Tom’s persistence for perfection.

Here they are empty.

And here is our new photo wall. I am working on getting some new photos, and it will be so easy to add. I can just move them around until I feel like I have the layout I like. Until the next day when I want to move them around again.

And then this is our photography wall. We are really into collecting old camera gear and wanted a way to display it!

They turned out fabulous. They really make the room complete now! Pardon my crocheting mess in the corner…

I hope you all enjoyed your Monday as much as one can after a freedom celebration weekend!

July 1, 2013 by Stephanie

“My Job is Freedom”

Another dose of Talks with Tom.

With deployment, one misses out on a lot of TV programming. Seasons come and go. And in the past you would just miss out on them forever, or until the next year when the DVD was released. Then you had to spend a nice chunk of change on that. Oh, or Hulu may or may not have your show, but you can only watch the last 5 episodes and hope they don’t go to HuluPlus.

That is until recently.

My friend Susan introduced me to a site that allows you to watch ANY episode, from ANY season, at ANY time. As a TV junkie, this is a life changer. And when I say any, I will admit that I have not looked for every show out there, but it has yet to fail me.

I introduced Tom to “Project Free TV” so he could catch up on the Walking Dead and Gold Rush.

The trouble with the site though is that it can be finicky and not load as lickity-split as Hulu or a network site, or the unrealistic expectations we may have as millennials.

Tom was near the end of the season for Walking Dead when we had this conversation.

Tom: This shouldn’t be this difficult. (talking about uploading a video)(groaning and impatient foot-tapping commenced)

Me: Well, if it is that easy, why don’t you figure out how to post episode videos online on your own?

Tom: That’s this guy’s job. This is his only job in life, and he can’t do that? How hard is it to be awesome at your job? My job is freedom, and I am pretty awesome at that. I have that down pat. I’m just saying.

Happy Independence Day everyone! I hope that we can all celebrate our freedoms this week, and that videos will upload at your command.

And what can be more than American than a weekend was full of home improvements?

We inherited a pair of dressers from my grandparent’s over Father’s Day weekend.

This weekend we did a makeover on these bad boys.

Before…

They were this old plastic wood, so I first primed them with this stuff.

Then I painted on a light orangey brown satin finish paint. I did two coats of this. Tom had to help with some parts because I am not the “smoothest” or most patient painter. You can tell the edges that I worked on–>globs of dried paint are left in my wake. But I did paint 95% of them fairly successfully! It was just a lesson in my on-going curriculum of patience.

And after…

We ended up keeping the same knobs (just taking off the fancy plate things that were on there). It would have cost too much to replace around 25 knobs, but that is an option if you are trying to redo dressers to make a different look.

I wish I had taken a before and after of our bedroom/closet to show how dramatic of a change it was going from living into laundry basket chaos to a much more organized and structured closet. We can actually see everything now in it’s place.

They aren’t perfectly brand new. You can still see nicks and wear and tear from the years they spent in my grandparents’ home. But we gave the pieces a facelift and hopefully a new life with just an afternoon of time and a little bit of paint. And as Tom says, “They are just showing some character.” (He also said that about my globs. He’s a keeper.)

I am excited this week to see what is happening on base for the 4th of July. Red, white, and blue baby!

What are you doing for the 4th?

June 24, 2013 by Stephanie

Talks With Tom Begins

My husband and I have some of the oddest conversations that often leave me either laughing or just bewildered. Thought bubble-“Did we really just talk about that?”

And my next thought bubble was that you should experience that too. You’re welcome.

I got this idea from a fellow blogger who documents her conversations with her soldier as well. So thank you Amy for the idea! You can see her convos at ArmyAmy. It’s nice to know I am not alone.

So here is the first installation of “Talks with Tom.”

This conversation may get into more than you want to know about Tom and I, and our dog Grace.

Tom has taught our dog Grace to sit on the bathmat in front of the toilet when we are using the restroom.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I am not even kidding when I say this. Grace will be in the other room when I go to use the bathroom and as soon as she hears the toilet seat, she comes bounding in after me. She then will sit like a statue on the rug and watch me go pee or number 2. In all fairness, she faces the door and just looks at you periodically. She does grant you some decency, I guess. At first though it is very odd and weird to have a dog watch you while you do your business. It’s a good thing that I don’t have performance anxiety when it comes to bodily functions.

I mentioned this odd Grace behavior to Tom and he responded, “Oh yea, I taught her that.”

Me-“Why?”

Tom-“That’s when you are most vulnerable to an attack. She is my guard dog, so she is going to protect me while I doodee.”

Me-“Who is going to attack you in our bathroom?” (I should really know better than to ask questions.)

Tom-“My point exactly.”

Then he went on about some invader story in the end of the world and how Grace is instrumental in our security…This is my life.

After awhile, it has become oddly endearing that she sits there staring at the door and back at you waiting for our attacker. At least I will be all cleaned out when the robbers get me. Thanks Grace.

He is also apparently training her to be used to living in a tent. This gem happened when Tom stayed up all night with her.

Come back for the next Military Monday to hear our wacky conversations.

The craft today is all about organization!

This has been our counter since we moved in. Piles of who knows what.

And that is on a good day. This also doesn’t show the piles of stuff on the coffee table, dining room table, etc. So needless to say we were getting stressed about the clutter.

So I went to Walmart and bought 2 standing file trays, and picked out some scrapbook paper.

I cut out the paper to fit the front of the boxes. Then I sharpied our initials into each one. That way we each have a place for our mail/papers/whatnot. We can each decide our own “system” too, which sometimes in a marriage is important to have separate areas.

Then I just hung them on the wall at a height that we could reach in there.

I added the menu board I did a couple months ago to the mix. Although, it is no longer the menu board. We decided that planning out our week’s meals didn’t work for us. So we have made a deal to do 2 different recipes each week to be able to plan for the appropriate groceries, but we don’t pick which day we will cook them. We are spur of the moment type of eaters, so it didn’t work to plan 7 days at a time when we aren’t sure if we want a taco or spaghetti in 7 hours. So I changed out the food quote to “everyday” and we made it the chore/to do board. Much better!

I also printed out a picture from our wedding to even out the layout. It has made a huge difference in the kitchen! No more blank white walls!

Here it is in use!

All in all a very easy hour of crafting.

June 10, 2013 by Stephanie

Moving in with a Caveman

“What are you doing?”

This phrase has exited my mouth several 100 times in the last few weeks. When moving in with someone, there are some growing pains. Lots of growing pains. There are a lot of things you don’t know about someone until you share a roof with them. Albeit, we have lived together before, but when you do it so sporadically, there are still things to uncover or re-uncover. It’s like we are newly-weds all over again.

It is like that episode of Boy Meets World where Cory and Topanga spend the night together for the first time. Girl in face mask and guy clipping toe nails-classic.

Now add that the person you are moving in with is an infantryman.

My husband lived in the wilderness for 6 months, then lived in a practically empty house for almost 2 months.

This is what happens when you leave an infantryman unsupervised…

I do not claim his poor beer choices…

So on top of dealing with clothes/towels on the floor and dishes everywhere, I have to deal with Tom licking his plates after every meal and playing with knifes like he is a ninja.

And every reason resorts back to “I’m an infantryman.” (which inevitably leads to my eye roll)

Let’s just say, it has been interesting trying to get to know each other’s little quirks again. I would be lying if I said that the past month has been all rainbows and sunshines. We may have been together for the last 6 years, but there are still issues that we have to deal with. And honestly, I would be a little afraid if we didn’t have a disagreement here and there.

I may call Tom out with his primitive living, but I will admit that I have not been a perfect angel either. I am pretty set on my routines and everything having a place. As an introvert, I need my “me” time to get away from everything, so having someone around all the time has not been the easiest for me. I have had to redefine what that means for me and grab those moments when I can. Just this morning I got aggravated with him because he messed up my set aside “alone” time while I got ready for work. Really he was just trying to chat, and I was being rude and upset that I couldn’t be alone. This explains what transition I have had to go through as an introvert: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-love-an-introvert/ And I have had struggles with everything that this post mentioned, which in turn makes me drink the haterade towards Tom.

As every couple before us, we have had some rough patches learning how to read each other and effectively communicate. And we both have been so used to being on our own, so we have had to work on sharing a space and not feeling invaded by the other. Compromise has been the motto of our house or we just claim do-overs and start the conversation over. Although, I am not sure I will ever lovingly look over at Tom as he leaves army/survival gadgets everywhere (and I mean they are EVERYwhere). Just as he may not look at me with adoring eyes when I have filled the DVR with all of my TV shows once they start up again in the fall-the line up does get a little ridiculous.

But this is part of growing together. We will probably spend the rest of our lives trying to “tame” each other. I hope that every day we are able to learn more about each other. And who knows what habits of each other’s we may pick up on…only time will tell!

There have been a lot of good things too in this taming process:

Decorating the house
Making/fixing furniture-I couldn’t do this without Tom
Tom finally caving in and wanting to watch “The Bachelorette” with me
Grocery shopping together
Tom teaching me how to climb a rope (Yes like the rope you climb in Gym class. I have never been able to get off the ground, and these ropes are everywhere on base for me to practice on. And we’ve stopped on our way to the Commissary to practice.)
Eating dinner together every night
Deciding that we are becoming Red and Kitty from “That 70’s Show”
Playing outside with the dog
BBQ on the patio
Singing rap and pop songs in formal A Cappella voices (Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “I Like Big Butts” is my favorite.)

So for those of you who are about to move in with someone (significant other or not), understand that there WILL be an adjustment period. But there are a lot of laughs that can come with it if you can move past the unruliness.

***Anyone have any good stories to share after moving in with someone?***

Also with moving in to a new space there are a lot of new expenses. Since we had lived on campus, we did not have very much because most of it was provided. Luckily my parents are downsizing right now, so we inherited a kitchen table and set of chairs. You can see that they look like they were from the 80s or early 90s (the chairs, not my parents.)

We had to strip these chairs first. This meant taking off the couple decade old cloth and cushions that were starting to disintegrate. Then I had to pull out all the staples to make it easier for the new layer to be attached. Nasty job, but so worth it!

After we did that, Tom put on the padding and cloth that we had gotten from Hobby Lobby.

Grace was making it difficult for Tom to do anything because she wanted the padding to be her new bed.

We had planned to do this part together, but we weren’t able to get it all done in one night like we had planned. The stripping took a lot longer than we thought. But, Tom surprised me one night when I came home from work and had them all completely covered. Love him!

Basically a new chair!

Now we just need to update the table to match.

Soon we will be ready to entertain!

June 5, 2013 by Stephanie

The Vacation Doesn’t End

Time has definitely settled and slowed down a bit. I started my new job a week ago, so it is safe to say now Tom and I are living a regular life and are starting to create some routines. I tell ya, getting up at 5 is not fun, but having someone keeping you accountable to that makes it a little easier.

The house is still silly in some areas with having to go home for the Baumgardner wedding last week, starting a new job, just building some furniture and then debating what needs to be done before Tom has surgery this week. Let’s just say our spare bedroom is becoming that closet that you are afraid to open because of what may fall out.

At the end of the day though, I get to come home to my family.

But, there is still this inkling that there is a joke coming up and this honeymoon period is about to end. Haha Whiteners-fun time is over. After living in a long distance relationship for the better part of 6 years, it is proving to be a hard habit to shake.

About once a day, Tom and I share comments of fleeting thoughts we had thinking we only had a weekend.

Do you want to stay up all night since you are supposed to head back to Iowa tomorrow…ohhhh wait!
We need to get one last family walk in before you drive!
Let’s just keep eating out because there isn’t any food and I don’t want to waste our time together cooking and cleaning the kitchen.
I don’t want to see anyone else but you this weekend. There isn’t anything in this city that demands our time. What, we don’t need to live holed up in our apartment all weekend?
I still have all my make-up and face wash products in a traveling case…
Why are you in the other room? Come sit next to me, every minute, every second…
Watch your TV on your own time! We need to get through “That 70s Show!”
and the list goes on…

Having jobs to go to every day is helping us settle in a little more, so hopefully we will feel more permanent the more time that passes. And we can explore the city a little bit too. I am really looking forward to the Farmer’s Market and Jazz on the Lawn!

Either way, I am loving being able to have a face to face conversation every day and not doing that dreaded drive away from the person you love. Seriously the worst part of a long distance relationship is the travel back after a glorious weekend together.

Sayonara depressing sappy love song drive mix! (Ok maybe I will still listen to that…)

Now I just need to tame the beast…

This past weekend Tom and I made most of our bedroom furniture. I will be honest, I did not do much. I stained the bed and was the assistant who held the wood when a clamp would not suffice. Tom was the mastermind behind these. But we still spent most of the weekend in our carport with saw dust flying everywhere.

We only have pictures of the bedside tables right now. We need to do some adjustments to the bed before I will post about it.

Tom did a fantastic job designing these tables. He did them from scratch, drawers and all. Super impressed! It is nice having a partner who can do some pretty wicked woodwork and spend all weekend manufacturing these things for you!

And we even managed to save the wood that went through the downpour we got caught in on the way home.

They look great in our bedroom!