February 18, 2014 by Stephanie

Crochet Wavey Baby Blanket

I started off with blankets when I learned how to crochet. I still remember that peach yarn that my dad taught me how to do rows on when I was 7 years old. That was surely the ugliest blanket ever because of all the big holes of uneven stitches and rounded bumps on the end that were supposed to be my turns. But you have to start somewhere.

Since I have been doing blankets for 21 years now, they are my go-to gifts. I love making blankets for people.

Recently, some friends of ours had a baby boy come into the world. I wanted to give them something from Aunt Steph and Uncle Tom.

I found this pattern to do a wave effect.

I used this yarn. I did used the same number of skeins that she suggested in the pattern.

I love this brand for baby stuff, especially if you just need solid colors.

I used a 6.5 (K) hook instead of what she suggested. This is my go-to hook size for pretty much everything.

The first couple rows were obnoxious, but they usually are while you are trying to get things started. And it certainly didn’t look like waves until about 5 color swaps in.

Wave Crochet Baby Blanket

Once I got into a groove it moved really fast. I was able to complete this in a couple weeks. It is a little big for a new baby, but I tend to go big on blankets unintentionally. However, I want to put out there that I followed her pattern! (Ok maybe not to a tee since I used a different hook, but it was the same amount of yarn…) At least a baby can grow into it!

Wave Crochet Baby Blanket

I really love this pattern. It is so fun! And the colors turned out great together!

I have so many blankets I need to finish in the upcoming months. I have two in progress right now, unfortunately they are both patterns that I get bored easily with so I have to switch back and forth. I better get cracking!

I also forgot to mention that I did my first ever guest post this last weekend! You can read here to see what I wrote about my favorite chick flicks! Thanks to Chelsea from Anchors Aweigh for letting me take over her blog for a day!

February 17, 2014 by Stephanie

Armucation: FRG

Because being in the military is a life style for the entire family, the military has instated a group to help all individuals in the family feel connected and knowledgeable about the events going on with their soldier.

That is how the FRG was born. It stands for Family Readiness Group.

This group is made at the company level, which is about 100 soldiers. It encompasses the soldiers and the families.

So once a month, Tom and I go to a classroom to meet with all the other members of his company and their families. It depends on the FRG leaders and company commander whether single soldiers are included in this or if it is just the soldiers who are married. Ours is everyone.

At these monthly meetings, the company leaders go over the next month’s schedule. I find this really helpful to know how the training is going to look and when Tom will be away or when he has a DONSA (day off).

They will also provide us with resources or any other announcements that will pertain to us. For example, at the last meeting there was someone from the job center who talked about resources their office has.

This is often where we find out the most recent information about deployments.

The FRG does have some leaders that are the soldiers spouses. There is an FRG leader, who is usually a higher officer’s wife. Then each platoon in the company will have a POC (Point of Contact). This person will help disseminate information and do call outs to all the spouses in their particular platoon. They also have an FRG treasurer, again another spouse.

Depending on the FRG, there may be other things besides these monthly meetings that they plan. Some FRGs have parties or events throughout the year. Ours did a lot during the summer, but we have not done as much this winter. We have had quite a few potlucks at the monthly meetings though. Any events are usually family oriented and kid friendly. I mean “family” is in their title.

The FRG will still meet when the company is deployed. I am interested to see how it changes when all the men are not there. I was in Iowa last time, and I would just get the PowerPoints from them. I am sure that this gives us spouses a great chance to get to know each other too.

It is a pretty simple group. Since there are so many of them, they can change drastically on how they look though. We have even seen a change in this FRG since the new leadership arrived. So what the group will do will depend on both the spouses involved as well as the company leaders.

As you can see it is quite different than what the show Army Wives depicts.

It seems like I learn things about the Army every day. I am by no means an expert at all things Army, but I love exploring new topics and sharing what I see as a military spouse.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Armucation.

Do you have any questions about military life? Do you have any topic you would like me to write about? Feel free to ask away!

February 16, 2014 by Stephanie

Saying Goodbye to the Taurus

We have been on the hunt for a new car since the beginning of last fall. We test drove a few cars, and scoured websites for months. We knew we wanted to pay as much cash as possible so we were just waiting for the right price and car to come along.

My first car was a GMC Jimmy, and I really missed the SUV factor. I knew I wanted to upgrade up to a crossover type car if not SUV. However there is a price that comes along with those.

We kind of stumbled upon the car of choice. It was not one we had originally set out looking at. However the price kept showing up in the area we were willing to go for. After test driving a Dodge Journey, I knew that it was the car that would eventually end up in our driveway. I was just in love with it!

But then comes the part of saying goodbye to your old vehicle.

I have had my Taurus for 7 years now. I got it right before my trek to South Carolina for grad school. There was no way my Jimmy was going to make the drive, and I needed something that was able to get great gas mileage for the inevitable trips across half the country during those couple years. And the deal we made for this gal was really astonishing and too hard to pass up! It is a great feeling to walk out of a dealership and own the car outright!

The Taurus got me through 5 different moves:

Missouri to South Carolina
SC to Florida
Florida back to SC
SC to Iowa
Iowa to KY

I still had parking passes from Worlds of Fun, Clemson and University of Central Florida plastered on it’s windows.

We drove to Savannah to get engaged in this car.

I drove to our wedding in this car.

We brought Grace home in this car.

I picked up Tom after his deployment in the car.

I can’t even fathom how many road trips have happened in this car. Most of her miles are highway miles.

I have said many goodbyes from the driver side door over the last 7 years.

While it was nothing like my Jimmy, but it served me well (except for that one breakdown in Oskaloosa, IA). She had the practicality that I needed. She was a fighter down to the last drive we had. And I have had countless memories in the driver seat.

We have entered a new era though. We needed to upgrade before things continue to change for us. It was not as travel friendly with two dogs. And with the plans of a baby in the future we knew we needed something with a little more wiggle room. And I am not really a car person per say, so I really wanted something to fit our lifestyle a little more. And although, she was a fighter, the Taurus was showing her age.

So we have been saving and waiting.

This week we finally saw the car that was at a price and qualities we couldn’t pass up.

So we drove 40 minutes away from Ft. Campbell to check her out.

And we ended up driving home with a newly owned Dodge Journey!

It is a 2013 with only 5,000 miles. And we believe we got away with a steal price wise. So we feel really fortunate to have a pre-owned car that is practically new!

Here she is!

It is the first non-red car I have owned, which I found exciting!

It has SOOOO much room! The dogs are going to love traveling in it. There is a 3rd row seating option, which I feel will be really handy in the future because we are going to have this car for a long time.

They are a lot like Ford Edges and Chevy Equinoxes if you want something to compare it to.

I have a touch screen control panel which is nuts! There are a lot of new things I am going to have to adjust too. The technology in this car is just redonkulous. I didn’t even have key-less entry in the Taurus.

And what is super great, I get the same gas mileage that I did in the Taurus in this Dodge!

I could keep going on an on about the positives, but I will spare you.

I am just so pumped to have this car! It is still weird to walk out to the carport and see it and remember it is mine though.

Have you ever had a hard time saying goodbye to a car? Do you get attached to your vehicles?

February 14, 2014 by Stephanie

Bound By the Ties of Friendship

Sometimes it is hard to put into words what an experience means to you.

Ten years ago, I started an experience that changed so many things for me.

I joined an honors fraternity.

Phi Sigma Pi was more than just a resume builder, although it did plenty of that.

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I gained friends and family. My best friends came from this organization.

It was a platform for me to become a leader and learn how to be confident in who I was. It gave me opportunities I would never have dreamed of putting myself in, even long after I graduated.

I was able to travel and make connections across the country.

It was also just a lot of fun. PSP things are some of my fondest memories of college. We had meetings I will never forget, events that make my heart smile, and relationships that have gotten me through so many things good and bad.

This organization is a big reason why I want to do the job that I do. I saw how impactful being involved can be for my own success and connection to a university. The ideals of scholarship, leadership, and fellowship have shaped my Student Affairs philosophy. I can honestly say I would not be the person I am today without being a brother in Phi Sigma Pi. (Yes it is a brother. It was a co-ed organization). Obviously, I would encourage others to be in PSP too, which is a big reason I assisted with the charter and activation of the chapter at Iowa State. Although, I feel that any positive connection to a university is going to have such a drastic influence on students.

I can’t believe that it was 10 years ago I was waiting for my bid card on 3rd floor Hosey with several other people from my floor. I was uneasy about joining because it was so out of my comfort zone, but knew that I needed to branch out more. That’s what college was for. It was honestly one of the best and most transformative decisions I made while at Central.

This was my rush class in 2004.

Today is our Founder’s Day! Happy 98 years Phi Sigma Pi!

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Founder’s Day was always really special for our chapter, because we were the founding institution of the organization.

So as the Alpha chapter, we felt like we were celebrating more than most chapters. This was our only Founder’s Day, so we had to do it up big.

We visited the grave sites of our founders every year since they were buried in town. It sounds a little creepy, but it was actually really cool. And inevitably every year, we couldn’t find one of the headstones.

And now for the crazy amounts of photos I have of PSP.

Hey, it has been 10 years in the making so I have just a few!

This was at a regional conference.

It is so funny to look back and remember what was happening then and see where we have ended up now. Rianna (left) is a fellow Army spouse, and Jeannette (right) now has two bouncing baby boys.

Jess and I did so much together in college! She was one of the first people I met at Central.

Janelle (who is another military significant other) and I at a jello fight turned mud brawl. Come to think of it, there are A LOT of us who have become MILSOs.

Officially becoming alumni brothers.

My family had a unique way of expressing ourselves.

I was fortunate enough to win a national scholarship through the organization while in New Orleans.
So honored and touched!

Mr. and Ms. Phi Sigma Pi
(I told you PSP was a big deal to me!)

We were some of the lone survivors of our class to the bitter end. We came in together and went out together.

It gave me plenty of opportunities to dress up.

At a western themed social

And I got to craft! What a deal!

You get to learn from some pretty amazing people.

Most of the time, we were just plain silly.

We knew how to make anything fun.

And again, who doesn’t love dressing up?

This was for a 40s themed event. Whoop Theta class!

I got to show people who was boss during my presidency. (Eh not really though) It is pretty neat to see things that we started during my time still being implemented today in the chapter.

But it really is about the bonds that you make.

These are my best gal pals, Annette and Jeannette! We grew a lot together during our time in PSP.
3 for 3!

And who could forget about formal fun?

This guy is an Alpha alum from way back. He became like a grandfather figure to me when I was president. He wrote such delightfully encouraging letters and would send me birthday and graduation cards for a long time well into grad school. He is a pretty famous person across the nation for PSPers.

We got spirit! Yes we do!

So while I may have been a nerd going in to this honors fraternity, I came out a more mature and self-aware nerd. Some things you just can’t change!

So happy birthday Phi Sigma Pi and thank you for everything you have give so many of us over the years!

February 13, 2014 by Stephanie

All Those Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

In early December, we dismantled our bed, and have since been living on the floor. This bed we made last summer was just too high for the dogs. There were several times that both dogs fell or rolled off the bed. And Grace really struggled to get on it sometimes.

So in fear that we would see one of our dogs get injured, we decided to forgo the idea of having cubbies underneath the bed for storage.

It really is about the dogs.

While I do love camping, I don’t want to feel like I am doing it all the time.

No fear since that bed was made in pieces, we are now using those cubbies as shelves in our closet. So it has actually worked out pretty nicely, except for the whole sleeping on the floor for a couple months part.

We finally got around to making our new bed recently.

We saw a headboard in the PX that was the inspiration for this. We just didn’t want to spend $900 for just the headboard.

I also don’t get the idea of bed skirts.

So Tom solved both of these problems with this new design. We spent a little under $200 for this. Bargain!

Here is most of the wood. We also had wainscoting pieces as well.

This is the frame for the headboard.

The frame with the wainscoting added.

A closer look.

Then Tom made posts for the ends. It is super expensive to buy solid posts so he just made them out of thinner wood. Then he put a cap on the top and used a router to add a nice trim.

He made the base box that the box springs can fit in. We only had three sides because the top will be covered by the wall and headboard. We used one coat of stain for everything.

He rounded all the edges to make sure we wouldn’t hurt ourselves.

The staining was my only contribution to this project. Heads up, wainscoting is really difficult to stain because of all the grooves that collect globs of the stain. You have to work super fast! But I made it happen.

The pieces all together.

It looks great next to the side tables he made too. We are thinking of cutting them down just a bit to make them a little more even with the bed height, but for now they work just fine.

Sorry for the drabby bedding. With two boxers, we don’t have decorative pillows or nice bedding. We go purely for comfort. Judge away if you must.

Tom did this all in an afternoon. It is a fairly quick put together from watching him. I love that I can point at something or think of a design, and then Tom can make it come to life. He is so handy!

If you would like more directions on how to measure and whatnot don’t hesitate to ask!

Our bedroom looks like a bedroom again! I really love the headboard, and the dogs love the ease of getting up on it.