Yay!

These past two weeks have been rough blog-wise. We've been in Miami for block leave, so I've found it difficult to focus on anything blog related. I've really been pretty much disconnected from the computer other than setting up my new blog design.

There are still many updates that need to be made, but I wanted to hurry up and just switch. I still need a new button, dividers, signature, blah blah blah. I did it all myself with the help of google and tutorial blogs, so I'm pretty proud.

Yesterday we baptized the baby. Of course she was the fussy kid in the bunch. All of our good friends from Fort Stewart came down to be here for the weekend. There has been plenty of eating and drinking.

We got some lovely pictures taken at JCP as well as professionally at the baptism. I'm really excited to get the actual photos and not just the ones I've stolen off of the internet. They look great so far!

Ring of Fire: We Built A Fire Pit

A friend and I decided to get a little crazy these past two days and build the fire pit that I've been dreaming of! Now while it wasn't a breeze to build, it certainly wasn't that difficult. Thankfully we've been working out in preparation for our husbands to come home and were able to use our brand new muscles.

After a bit of searching and internet investigating, I found a local landscaper that would build the pit for $1200. What?! No. They would deliver all of the materials for a mere $900. Thanks, but no. From there I decided to see what I could get from Lowe's or Home Depot.

Going into Lowe's, I was expecting to pick up one of their $200 kits with all of the bricks and metal ring included for you. Well after seeing the kit, that wasn't going to happen. Boy were those bricks ugly. The nice man at the store said it'd just be cheaper for me to just pick my own bricks and get the ring separately any way. Ok. Seems simple enough. Jacquie and I proceeded to load 68 wall pavers onto the flat cart with the employee's help. We also needed 2 bags of paver base and 2 tubes of Liquid Nails. I already had some of the tools (shovel, rake, level) but needed to borrow the hand tamper from a friend.

Friday morning started bright and early at 8:30am with us digging up a 5ft x 5ft area of grass. This was one the hardest part. We removed the grass and then started raking the dirt level. Once we were satisfied with the level of the dirt, we dumped the paver base and leveled that. The hand tamper was used to pack that down. I made sure that everything was level while Jacquie started bring the pavers from the back of the truck.

Jacquie kept bringing the pavers while I started placing them in a circle. I thought CrossFit was tough but it's nowhere near as physically demanding as building a fire pit was. As I laid each paver, I had to make sure that they were level with one another. The first layer was really the only one that we had to worry about. For each additional level, we applied some Liquid Nails and placed the paver over the space of the two pavers below.

The three top layers didn't take much time at all to stack up. When everything was complete, we poured some egg rocks around and called it a day. The two of us were SO surprised at how well everything turned out. The total project was less than $250 including all the extra little materials that went into the construction. My pit is four layers high of pretty textured brick while the one that they sell in the kit is a kinda ugly plain three layered pit.

I haven't shown Hubster yet because I want it to be a surprise when he comes home on R&R. He is going to be shocked that his wife and her friend put this thing together. It's much too hot to use the fire pit now, but I can't wait for Hubs to be home for good in December so that we can snuggle and toast marshmallows.

Coming Home

It's been a little while since I've had a chance to post. Mostly because I've been busy with a unit within Hubster's Battalion coming home as well as going to my parents' for a little while. Each time I visit home, I'm reminded that it was a great decision for the girls and I not to move back for Hubster's year-long deployment. While there are tons of reasons why moving back in with my parents could have been a good thing, I feel like the negatives drastically outweigh the positives. The biggest negative factor being the lack of support.

Sure, my parents would be here and willing to help if I really needed them to. But, they have their own lives to live and jobs to tend to. The majority of my friends either go to school or work full time and none of them have kids. So I end up staying home all day with not much to do. Plus, at the end of a long shift, no one wants to help watch two babies. And honestly, most friends/family members don't understand what it's like to have a deployed spouse.

The best part about staying near Hubster's base is the amount of support that spouses receive. The Army has all sorts of programs, classes and activities, most of which are free. In addition to those things are the various playgroups and get togethers that you can find on Facebook. Other wives from unit are often free to hangout since the majority are stay at home moms like myself.

Each month, the FRG has a coffee-type event for the spouses to meet up. That, plus the FRG meeting, guarantees that I'll have some adult time with other military families at least twice a month. Occasionally there is a Battalion event or just something that another Company may be doing that we get invited to.

After making it alone this time, there is no amount of saved BAH that could convince me to do otherwise.