Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful, family filled Thanksgiving! Our tradition is to go out to my aunt Sue Sue's house by the lake and enjoy a great meal and family time. It was a nice day today. My mom put me to work taking pictures of all of us.

Things I'm thankful for:

1. My blessings. God has blessed Luis and I so much over the years. Has been the center of our marriage and has gotten us through all these hard times and He continues to watch over us and bless us and for that I'm very thankful.

2. My husband and my baby girl. They both have brought so much joy into my life. My husband is my rock. He is an amazing husband, sacrifices so much for us and takes such good care of me and Ashlyn. He is a wonderful daddy. Ashlyn is the light of my life. I can't imagine my life without either of them. I love you both.

3. My family. They have loved and supported me all my life and for that I'm grateful. I love when we can all come together and spend time together. I wouldn't trade y'all for the world (ok maybe some of you..hehe jk) My parents have opened their door for me , probably one too many times, but they do it anyway and take care of me and love me unconditionally.

4. My friends. I have the best friends. From childhood, school, army....they all mean so much to me. Friends I can be myself around without flakiness, friends I can call on at any moment and will be there for me without question, friends who let me cry on their shoulder or laugh until we cry, you are all the best and I couldn't ask for better friends. Thank you for always being here for me, for lifting my spirits for being a great distraction in this crazy world. Love y'all.

5. My boys as I call them..meaning my doggies. I love my Tex and Cody. And even my parent's dog, Rusty.

I'm thankful that my husband will be home in less than 30 days and we will finally be reunited again!!!

Ok...I need to pack, I'm headed to Laredo in the morning to see Luis' family. Here are pictures from today! enjoy and comment!

(pray for my baby girl too, she has an ear infection and so far tonight isnt sleeping well! )

MY FAMILY! (minus a few)

Me and my baby girl

Isn't she beautiful

My mom and dad (about to celebrate 30 years together!)

My sister, Lisa and her husband Reggie



My brother, JT and his daughters and girlfriend.

My cousins, Davey & Nathanael

Aunt, Uncle, Cousins (their house)

My beautiful Mama

My brother, Jeff and his family

The girls at the end of the day

Family birthday

Sunday we had my family birthday gathering at my parent's house. My siblings came with their kids and families. We had good food, good dessert and good family time. Here are some pictures of all of us. Love all of you!!!

Lisa, Lacy, Me, JT

Avery, Jaclyn, Lacy, Bryce, Me, Ashlyn, Jessica, Lisa

Teaching my nephew to ride a bike :)

My sisters

My handsome nephew, Bryce
(who hated by the way me taking pictures of him)

Sisters, Sushi, Shopping, Starbucks and more....

Today I celebrated birthday # 29! This will be my last year in my 20's! Whoa, watch out 30 here I come! I had a wonderful day today!

When I woke up this morning, the first person I spoke to was my amazing husband. He called to wish my a Happy Birthday then told me to open my present that he had sent to me 2 days ago ( I hate opening gifts early) He bought me a beautiful ring that I had had my eyes on. His card was even sweeter:

"To my darling wife, a small token of my unwavering appreciation of all the things that you do for not only me, but for the love of your family. I love you, now and forever. Happy Birthday"

Then, for lunch with the girls! Both my sisters, my mom, Ashlyn and Debralea all met at Fujiyama for amazing sushi! Love that place! Lacy had decorated with balloons, confetti and a birthday hat. Very sweet. Love spending time with all my fav girls.

Then my mom offered to take Ashlyn home for a nap while me and "Sissy" (my older sister Lisa) went shopping in the domain. I asked her to dress me, so she did! Both my sisters have fashion sense, I on the other hand need help! So that she did. We found some cute skinny jeans to wear inside my boots with cute sweaters to layer with and scarfs. Very cute, very stylish. Which anything more than my tshirts and jeans is stylish in my eyes. So I feel cuter now in clothes, and tomorrow is a hair cut which I'm so looking forward too, it's in need!

After shopping, came home, regrouped then Shea took me and Ashlyn out to dinner at Olive Garden ending with a raspberry cheesecake!

Sunday we will have our traditional family dinner at the house for my birthday.

I am so blessed to have such a loving and caring family and amazing friends. Thank you to everyone who sent me texts, emails, cards and wishes today! I love you all!

Here's to my last year in my 20's...BRING IT ON # 3-0!!

Countdown....

A busy month is ahead! I can't believe we are already in mid November! Thanksgiving is next week for crying out loud! I think I'm beginning to stress as I write this. A month from today I'll be back in TN awaiting my husband's arrival home!!! AHHHH!!!! I can't flippin wait!! But the process getting there is a stressful one!
Ok so first Wednesday is my birthday, my last year in my 20's! whoa that's weird. Next week we plan on putting up the Christmas tree. My parent's are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year so they will be away on vacation for the first week of Dec and when they get back I'll be getting ready to head out so we are putting up the tree a week early so it will be done before they leave. And to think Christmas is only 37 days away! AHHHH My present couldn't be more joyful! There is a chance Luis will be arriving ON Christmas Day! He better have a bow around him! lol
So...I need to get a few gifts for Ashlyn to wrap and take with us. I plan on getting a tiny tree when I get there for our 1 bedroom temp. apartment, make it feel like Christmas. But it won't be the same it not being in our own home with family but I'll give that up for the chance to see my husband again! Wow, this year has flown by. It didn't feel that way the first half of the deployment but after he came home on leave the second half went by fairly quick, which I'm thankful for.
Santa is getting Ashlyn a kitchen which she will get when we get back to TX so she'll have a big gift when she gets back and so Daddy can put it together this time.
Luis is still high on the list for APD so it's almost a guarantee that he will be hired on and start the academy in March! So we'll be switching from soldier to officer. That will be weird.

The transition out of the Army will be a bittersweet one. It's all I've ever known with him (besides when we first met) The uniforms, the deployments, the trainings, the PX, the Commisary, Army Wives, the list could go on, it will be weird not seeing him in his uniform. We know it's the right time to get out, the politics of this whole war since 9/11 has gotten the best of us and it's time to step away. The time apart is not worth it anymore. I guess I will always have a fear no matter what job he has, soldier to cop does not ease my fears, just changes them a little.
But I am very proud of him, he is such a wonderful husband and father. He takes such good care of us, always concerned about us when he's away. I told him the other day that I was dreading the car ride back to TN (15 hours or more) and how I bet he was dreading his long flight back. He said "no, this is going to be the most exciting plane ride I've ever had" It was so sweet. He can not wait to get back to the states, to see his baby girl again and have home cooked meals, to be with us everyday, to sleep next to his wife at night and to get far away from the Army and all the crap it has brought his way lately. What a way to end the year! I can hardly wait!
I didnt intend for this to be so long, I was just going to mention how fast it's going by and thinking what all I need to get done before I leave and then my thoughts carried me to my best friend, the love of my life..he's coming home in 1 month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does it really work?

Ok so there are many things I see on tv that I'm like "Does that really work?" So I thought I'd see if any of you have used these things or know if they really work or not.

1. Has anyone heard of Acai Berry 500 and the Total Cleanse. Advertising works I swear. Every ad on myspace is about losing weight and I'm trying to ignore the fact I have not lost the last 15-20lbs from pregnacy over 2 years ago!!! Shoot I'd be happy with 10lbs. So I clicked on one of those ads and it's about this Acai Berry and Total cleanse pills that was featured on Oprah by Dr Oz and all the major news stations. You can request free bottles just paying shipping. Anyway, I'm so not one to take diet pills, I get annoyed when my husband buys into all that stuff but I'm curious about this one. Has anyone tried it or know someone who has? Just curios that's all.

2. The Ped Egg, anyone have it, tried it? No explanation needed ha.

3. Smooth Away

These pads that you are supposed to just wipe the unwanted hair away with no pain! Yeah right. I'd think it's like sand paper which does not seem painless, but then again I haven't tried it, have you?

4. Pedipaws... I hate cutting my dog's nails so I don't. One of them doesn't need it, but my other needs a trim bad! I put off taking them to get groomed, I usually do it myself but just hate cutting nails as they do too. I have seen this device that trims their nails without pain. Wanted to see....does it really work?