Growing up

Hello blog readers!
Sorry for the delay in the posts, but unfortunately my life lately has not been very exciting! Yesterday Anthony got his schedule for the rest of the month and I quickly realized that I have to start making new friends. He will be gone pretty much every other day for at least 24 hours, wonderful. This also got me thinking, when was the last time that I had to start all over making friends?!?! Although I have met some wonderful ladies in Anthony's class, unfortunately they also will be working these crazy hours which means they will not have a lot of time to hang out. This means that I have to find some new friends. Where does one begin on this adventure! On base there are many get togethers and there is something called a spouses club but usually I go to these things with a wing-man, someone I can count on to go with me, hang out with me and rescue me if I get stuck! Now, it's all up to me and can I say, it is terrifying! The last time when I was completely on my own to make friends was in first grade! If only they had speed-dating/friend-finding. 

Not only do I have to start completely over with my friend finding, I am also still jobless. Four job applications, zero jobs. However, I officially have my Wisconsin teaching license so I might be able to apply for jobs without the Montana license! I have to call and ask about it on Monday but hopefully this will set things in motion!

On Wednesday I learned from Chef Matt how to make pasta from scratch and, if I may say so, it is really delicious! It took a little while and it was a little messy but it was definitely worth it! Flour, eggs, salt and olive oil mixed together and kneaded then cut and boiled. I have tried it before but it turned out terrible! This time I had instruction from an actual chef and he helped me past the goopy chewy phase. The key thing that I did not do the first time was knead it for long enough. Matt says that you should knead the pasta until you pull it and you can see light coming through but it does not tear. It made a ton so I now have a freezer stocked! 

On Sunday it is our first Easter living here in Montana and our first real holiday as husband and wife. I realized that it will be the first time in 23 years that my mom will not hide my basket. Thinking about this the other day made me sad and made me miss my family, especially my mom. I was lucky to have such a wonderful family growing up and they always made holidays special. To attempt to make Easter  more magical, I told Anthony that he has to hide my basket and I will hide his. I think he took this as a challenge because he has been plotting ever since and now I worry that I will not find my basket until next Easter! I am excited to make my first every Easter lunch/dinner on Sunday so wish me luck with the ham (I pray to God it turns out)! I'll let you know how it goes! 

Well readers, I am off to the mailbox because I have not checked the mail today and my mom says that I should have a package! As you all know, I love getting packages! 

Happy Good Friday Everyone! 

Week two

Well, here we are. Week two of Jillian Michaels has officially begun! The first week went well however I have some suggestions for anyone considering this workout (at the bottom are life updates!):

1) Have the radio or speakers ready to play over the audio. Jillians voice starts to sound like nails on a chalkboard by the 2nd day and I hated every word she said! It was bad enough that I was sweating and wanting to die, I couldn't deal with her relentless cheerfulness and motivation. So, I simply watched the DVD and listened to my backstreet boys Pandora station!

2) this is not a workout for those living in apartments or dorms! Especially when week 2 comes along, the high knees and jumping sound like construction zone. I may not be graceful or in shape but there is no quiet way to do this!

3) keep water close and wear a headband if you sweat like I do. The first week I was panting, sweating profusely and wanting to die.

4) don't go out and specially buy weights. I have used everything from water bottles to soup cans to olive oil jars and they work just fine. Anything around the house will do.

5) finally, especially if you have weak shoulders like I do, don't feel bad using the modifications or to make your own. The first day of the workout I use mostly modifications so I can understand the form and see where I'm at. Today was the first day of week two, which pretty much does everything from a push up positions, even the cardio. I have zero shoulder strength so about halfway through I started doing high knees and jumping jacks instead of the suggested horrifying movements on the DVD. I am hoping by the end I will be able to do a real push up but for now, I do my best but I can only do so much! How do women get that kind of upper body strength, that's the real mystery!

A few more updates:
-We have wireless internet now! I am excited for Skype tours of the house so just give me a call or text if you want to see our place!

-I have applied to four, yes four, jobs here on base. So far, no responses. I did get some interest on my care.com page and I am hoping that it works out. I hate sitting around the house all day leeching off Anthony's income. I have always been an independent person and the idea of someone taking care of me, even my husband, is difficult for me to wrap my head around. Also, I have run out of things to do during the day! Not having a car really limits what a person can do. We will see what happens with the babysitting gig.

Well, I think that's all for now! Nothing too exciting happening but for now it's nice to have a wonderful house, great friends and to actually live with my husband! As my cousin said, I have the rest of my life to work, for now I will just enjoy getting to sleep till 11 and getting to spend time with Anthony. Goodnight!

Week one

Here we go! This is week one of Jillian Michaels ripped in 30. After a few weeks of sitting around the house I realized that I need to get my rear into gear! My plan is to follow the 4 week DVD, 5-6 days a week, after that Jillian promised that I will look like her! So watch out world! So far I have done it twice this week and my muscles are rebelling. I am now walking like a cowboy and getting off the couch takes a lot more effort than it used to! Overall, I hate to admit it, but I do like how the DVD is set up and the workouts make me want to die, which means they are good. We will see what the next 3 weeks bring but hopefully it will be worth it!

Real life begins

Today Anthony officially begins his training which means he will have steady working hours for a while. This also means that today I really cracked down on my job search. It turns out that the job I applied for at the youth center here on base is not hiring right now so I have to look elsewhere. I called the Great Falls School District and found out how to apply for sub positions. I have finally given-in to the idea that I have to sub here first before I can get a full time job. Even though I was told multiple times that I would have to sub first, I was still holding out hope that something would come up. Oh well! Such is life! Now its just a matter of filling out endless paperwork for my teaching license and submitting it to the Department of Ed here in Montana. Then I can apply as a substitute to the school district. One step closer to using that degree! 

We are adjusting to life here on base pretty well. I love being so close to all our friends here! We had our first book club meeting on Friday and it was a ton of fun! We got together with the group, had some delicious food and talked about a huge range of topics. Our first book was American Sniper by Chris Kyle. Although I have not yet finished it, I love it so far. The book follows the life of the most deadly sniper in American military history. It is amazing to read about what this man went through to train for this job and how much he loved this country. I would strongly recommend reading this! I will happily loan out my copy once we finish reading it here! 

There are a few things on base that I was not expecting: 

1) Every day at 4:30pm the trumpets sound through the loud speakers followed by the National Anthem. Thank goodness I was inside when this first happened because I was told later that if you are driving during this time, you are expected to pull over until the anthem is done! Interesting. Also, twice at night we have heard Taps played over the speakers. I am not quiet sure what this means but the first time I heard it, I thought I was going crazy! It is quite haunting to be in a quiet house and hear the faint sounds of taps in the dark! My goal is to find out what this means!

2) On Saturday nights they show free movies at the auditorium. Although these are not brand new movies, you can't argue with free! A few weeks ago we saw Red Dawn (AWESOME!) and I believe the Life of Pi is coming this weekend. Last time, I almost started yelling at the kids in the theater though. Who goes to a movie just to talk through the whole thing! Next time my plan is to sit in the back and throw popcorn at teenagers. Don't worry, I am not this mean to my students!

3) The gym and all the fitness classes are free! On Monday, we go to Zumba and I am hoping to make it to Pilates this week. I am so happy that these are free to anyone because I get to try out a few and see what I like. Also, I have discovered Wallyball is way more fun than basketball! We played wallyball for a few hours last weekend and although it is an amazingly fun game, I had to take a few days off to allow my bruises to heal. 

4) I am not made for homes with rules! Living on base is wonderful but I am nervous about the list of rules they gave us when we moved in. We are not allowed to leave outdoor lights on during the day, leave the trash cans out overnight, and we are given days that we are allowed to water in the summer. I am skeptical that they will strongly enforce the book of rules they gave us because everyone puts out their trash the night before but I do not want to test them! I love the house they gave us and I love not having to worry about rent but I don't like this many rules!

5) Finally, I love the security of living on base. I was nervous to move to a new location, especially if I have to stay in this house alone, but I feel so much better knowing there are armed guards watching the gate 24/7. I love knowing that anyone who comes on base is either affiliated with the base or has a guest pass to be here. It may not be perfectly safe but it is better than just a random neighborhood here! 

While Anthony was away, I tried to hang curtains:

I ended up with 6 very large holes in the wall. However a little of this: 

And I finally figured out how to drill a proper pilot hole! The only thing Anthony saw when he came home was our beautiful new curtains!

After a lot of HGTV watching, I am a lot more handy! 

Well, that should catch you up on our life here. A special thank you to everyone who has sent us a care package in the mail. Grandma, those chocolates were some of the best that we have ever had and they went very quickly! The Chocolate Escape can do no wrong! And Mom and Dad, thank you for the spices and Twin City coffee! I am slowly building up the spice cabinets and any little bit helps! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!! Love you all! 

Decorating

Our master bathroom is done and matches the master bedroom! I feel like such a grown up!

Our first Montana snowfall!

Life lesson

Well, today I learned a valuable life lesson: never leave a military base without double checking your purse! Today a new friend and I tried to go explore the local thrift stores (so far, they're not as good as Minnesota) and as we were driving I realized I left my wallet in my gym bag! This morning Anthony and I met up with some friends to play walleyball (it was awesome!) and I put my wallet in my gym bag. Unfortunately I forgot to move it back to my purse before we left base today! The major drawback about living on a military base is they tend to frown on just anyone coming through the gates. I had tip frantically call Anthony and other friends on base to see who could meet us at the gate to I've my wallet. After about a half hour of panicking, we finally got a buddy to meet us! Thank you! Whew. Well, even though the thrift stores are not as great, we still were able to hit up target which is always a home away from home for me. All in all, a lot of adventures today.

On the plus side, as you can see we got our washer and dryer working today! Trying to set up the dryer duct almost killed us (Anthony has the cuts on his hands to prove it) but after about an hour of fighting, cursing, and praying we were successful. We have been trying to catch up with laundry since its been almost two weeks since we've done any laundry. (They sound like a video game when you power them up! ) and speaking of, the dryer just chimed in to tell me my load is done! More to come tomorrow but just remember to double check your purses before you leave the house! Goodnight all!