getting in the groove

Day two of my exercise regime. Fifteen minutes boogie-ing my way down the treadmill. As I type this I'm munching away on toast with a light spread of butter (well, margarine) and about to try a morning tea blend of hibiscus, rosehips, spearmint, lemon grass, orange peel, cherry stems, and blackberry leaves. It's veeeerry pink. ::sips:: Hm. Not a lot of flavor, kind of a sweet touch on the tongue...not bad. Might could use a bit of honey in it.

Today was also one of the first days I started my routines. Since unpacking has taken precedence over everything else, my housewifery takes a back seat. But this morning as my tea water was heating up and my bread was toasting, I emptied our dishwasher (I know, how very un-vintage of me), rinsed last night's dishes and loaded it up again. I swept a cloth over my counters (which are happily clutter free for the first time since we moved in), and finished just in time for my tea to reach its desired strength. The front rooms are coming together nicely and I'll be very happy once they're organized and set up to my liking.

Yesterday my copy of "America's Housekeeping Book" finally arrived!



I thumbed through the pages (which definitely spent time with a smoker about twenty years ago, but it gives the book even more of a vintage feel), amazed at some of the chapters. It is literally a manual on how to be a housewife. It's all the things we should have learned as little girls, probably the text book from which our mother's would have taught us. If Hubbs and I ever have children and I happen to have a girl, it will be what I teach her from. For those of you who read Jitterbug's blog, you know some of what the book touches on, but it goes so much further than that.

The chapters include tips and guidelines on how to create and manage a budget; clean different types of floors, walls, furniture, drapes, table cloths; storage problems (which we definitely have) and how to fix them; how to care for and clean different types of metals; as I said literally a manual on how to be a wife! I wish they'd passed this out in Marine Wife Training 101! I know a few ladies who could definitely use it! And what man doesn't want his wife knowing those basics?

lots to talk about

I've been a little on the sick side this week. It seems like the dust and dirt coming off of the boxes is knocking me down a peg or two (and my eye is all bright red again--curses)! It really makes for a difficult day as that last thing I want to do is get all dusty and dirty again. But I'm now down to about 6 boxes and I want it all gone by this weekend. This morning I'm marching my little tush over to the office and ask about my storage unit key--otherwise I'll happily go to Home Depot and buy a new lock myself!

Yesterday Hubbs and I ran onto base to start the paperwork on some of the casualties we had in our move (our flat screen TV, a candle stick from our wedding, and some cracking china). Here's the adorable little outfit I had on:

Black and white "aqua dot" dress--Bloomingdale's, Black half-cardigan--Forever 21, Red brooch--personal collection, Black satin and lace shoes--Wild Diva

Of course then I stepped outside and was smacked with 40 degree F winds, and I ran for my one-button black coat. It still looked cute though. Here's a (not so great) shot of my hair. I have it in a pony tail and pinned up the ends so they kind of made a waterfall effect.

Oh! The other night, right as I was about to take my bath I received a very nice surprise!

I've been looking for milk bath for about a month or so now. I found some at the Vermont Country Store, but they wanted about $14 for 17 ounces. Not too horrible, but the price just didn't feel right (especially since that was half off). So, upon discovery of Drugstore.com, I was very happy to find Canus Goat's Milk Foaming Bath at $7 for 16 ounces. And since its regular price was only $7.50, I was much more happy to invest in it.

A squirt and a half netted me a tub full of bubbles!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but the smell was very light...almost reminded me of Ivory soap or something similar. My skin was definitely softer, not like I had put on lotion, but not like I had just stepped out of a regular bath either. So I'm quite pleased!

I also had Hubbs set up our treadmill so I could start walking again. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I've climbed to the high point of where I think my weight should be. Just last May I was in the best shape of my life (down to a slim 118 pounds) and I'd love to get back there again. At that point, I was walking every morning for about 10-15 minutes, with the odd day of jogging. Now I'm fighting with myself to drop this bit of weight I've put on (I was actually down 6 when we first moved back out here). So this morning, I put on some Elvis and walked (and danced) my way to "Burning Love." 15 minutes a day is hardly difficult to fit in and hopefully I'll see some improvements!

new posts

So, being inspired by my blog idols like Super Kawaii Mama, I've decided that on days I'm feeling exceptionally cute (or proud of my outfits) I'm going to try and snap a quick picture to post them here. Not only will it help with my look-book goal, but I figure in a month or two, I can see how my sense of style is developing! And in the mean time, you can have a laugh at the blunders I make. ;0)

I was particularly proud of today's outfit! I half expected Hubbs to come home yelling, "Emer! You got some 'splaining to do!"



Navy polka dot dress-Forever 21, Black lace leggings-Forever21 (seeing a pattern?), Shoes-Anne Klein, Pearl necklace and earrings-Helzberg Diamonds (Christmas gift from Hubbs).

Of course, I might need a better place to start shooting my photos...hmm...

filling in the gaps

So, here's what I found for that big blank space on our wall:

The ceramic M Hubbs and I made a pottery store back in North Carolina. The Iwo Jima propaganda tin we found at one of the local thrift stores. We visited two of them yesterday, and plan to hit the remaining three on another venture out. Speaking of which, here was the outfit I chose for thrifting yesterday:

Top-Banana Republic, Jeans-Anchor Blue, Shoes-TUK, Purse-Coach, Necklace-Nautica, Earrings-Diamonds from my mom and step-dad.

I'm going to use this as the beginning of my "look" book that I plan to make of my clothes. Not much of it is actually vintage, but it has a sweet little feeling to it, and I received so many compliments on my shoes! Young women, old women, everyone loved them!

While we were out yesterday, I was amazed at how tiny the chest of drawers were from the 1940's and 50's. I've since decided that as I start to build my vintage wardrobe, I'm going to start donating my old wardrobe (no sense in having it if I'm not wearing it). I'm also going to try and find more outfits that can hang, since buying hangers is cheaper (and less space consuming) than buying more chests. I've got quite a project ahead of me this year!

week's end

Well, how did I do?

This week's goals:
-Wrap and pack up dishes to send to Stephanie
-Move donation clothes into laundry room
-Hang pictures as they are unpacked
-Prepare house for Katie and Tony's visit this weekend (<---she cancelled, so technically I didn't do this, but it's off the list either way)

I'd say for my first week on the job officially, I didn't do too badly! I have 12 more boxes to unpack before the house is done--minus a few small details:

1.) We don't have a linen closet, so right now our sheets and towels are residing in plastic bins in our clothes closet.

2.) We have a box of stuff from our garage back in North Carolina that we have to move into our storage unit (it's landscaping stuff that I want to keep, but we have no real land to scape now that we're in the desert). However, the previous tenants seemed to have moved with the key to the unit, so we're waiting for it to be re-keyed. This is also why the donation clothes didn't/couldn't be moved into the laundry room: it's currently serving double duty for my storage closet.

3.) We have a few odd ball picture frames that aren't black like all our other ones (they seem to pop better against white walls), so until I can paint them or replace them, they'll be residing in a plastic bin in a clothes closet as well.

4.) There is the small detail of actually getting the house in order once everything is officially unpacked. I also have this crazy notion that in doing this, I'd like to try and photograph some of my vintage outfits so I know what I have lying around, and how my pieces mix and match.

Next weekend my parents and grandparents are coming up because as of February 2, Jason is supposed to pick up his new rank. We're still holding our breath on this one since the new president has frozen everything that the former president had approved or was in the process of being passed. I will be furious if this promotion is put on hiatus. But Hubbs has said that since he was already projected to pick up, for all intents and purposes, he should pick up. Please cross your fingers for us.

amber bakes a cake

I did it, I did it! I baked my first cake ever! I didn't realize I'd never baked a cake until I was talking to Stephanie (I needed to know when the cake was actually considered to be "cooled") and she asked me if I'd ever baked one before now. I hadn't! Brownies, yes. A cake? No! And it turned out so beautifully! (Although she did let me know to actually get that "double layer" cake look, I'd have to cut and shape the cake so it wasn't like two rounds sitting on top of one another. Oh well, next time!)

Here they are fresh out of the oven, aren't they pretty?

I was more than pleased to see the cakes had pulled away from the sides of the pans. Made it very easy to get them out!

All frosted and ready to go! (I used a triple chocolate chip frosting...from a can. I'll get to making my own frosting soon enough!)

Hubbs came home right as I was assembling it. I was disappointed that he'd snuck home on his lunch hour, but was happy now that I had someone to take my picture with my cake! He was very proud of me.

But the true satisfaction of a job well done was when we cut into it after dinner. It was delicious!

That wasn't the only creative thing I was up to yesterday. Now that we're firmly established in our new home, it's time to send out moving cards. Having had the song, "California Here I Come!" stuck in my head for days, I figured the theme was more than appropriate for our moving cards. Here's how they turned out:

Can't wait to get them sent out!

ac-cen-tuate the positive

"E-lim-inate the negative. Ac-cen-tuate the positive, and latch on...!" (I love Perry Como!)

Oh I'm so excited today! Yesterday when I went shopping, I was walking down the baking aisle and found my eyes wandering over the beautiful boxes of cake mixes. I almost walked by when I remembered this amazing cake my BFF made for her little girl who just turned 1:

Isn't that amazing?! She sends me pictures all the time via Snapfish photo sharing and I gushed on and on when I saw this cake. We usually talk to each other every Wednesday like clockwork (she's married to a man in the Coast Guard and stationed up in Alaska), and I had her laughing hysterically over my impression of this cake.

So, wanting to be a good little housewife myself, I realized that baking now came under my job description. So I hemmed and hawed over the boxes (Duncan Hines, Pillsbury?) and figured I couldn't go wrong with good ol' Betty Crocker. So armed with some eight inch rounds and a can of chocolate chunk frosting, I'm going to attempt to bake my very first double layer cake! Hubbs has no idea and I'm hoping I can surprise him with it this evening!

Oh, and before we part ways so I can start getting ready this morning, I have to show you the 2 gorgeous pictures we hung yesterday!

We bought them at the swap meet in San Diego (can you tell which one belongs to each of us?). Hubbs already has plans for his next purchase (as do I...) so I know we'll be headed back down there some time next month.

housewifery

Originally, this adorable little word came into my vocabulary via the blog Housewifery: For the Little Woman in You. But I've found myself using it now as a job description! Perfect example: this morning my friend Katie asks, "What are you up to today?" Me: "Errands mostly, and housewifery." It's become my new favorite word!

Today's housewifery will include a trip to the commissary (to replenish our produce and grab the few things I forgot on our initial trip), more unpacking (I know, I know, but I swear I'm almost done!), and some other little odds and ends like running to the post office, calling a tailor for Hubbs, and listing a few goodies in the classifieds section on the Fedora Lounge.

By the way, what do we think of this headboard?

I just love the arch! If it had buttons I'd be head over heels! Hubbs and I are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to buy our new bedroom furniture one piece at a time, and our bed is going to be the first thing we refurbish. There are several antique and thrift stores out in town, and should I be able to find a beautiful metal frame for a reasonable price, I'll jump on that. But since Hubbs is becoming more and more determined to have a padded headboard (poor thing has smacked his head on the wall so many times in the last couple weeks) we may end up with this instead. We have red curtains, so I figured against the white walls, the black headboard would make a nice addition.

side note

For those wondering why I haven't mentioned the presidential inauguration, it's not because I'm not a proud little American (sorry, Hubby in the military means you'd better be pretty darn proud of your country, even on your bad days), but because I want to keep my blog neutral. I don't care who my readers chose for President, and I hope they don't care who I chose either. I've no desire to start political debates as the nastiness of it all takes away from the happy little bubble I've created around my life, and the dignity we should all uphold as ladies and gentlemen. Not to mention I have a very brash and hardened little sister who shoves politics down your throat until you can't breathe; my blog is a place to relax and escape. And as I told my grandmother, "I haven't watched an inauguration since I turned 18 and started voting. This year will be no different." Politics have very little influence on my personal day-to-day life, and I don't plan to start letting them have one now.

Now, on to vintage things...

progress

So here's what one of my goals has netted me:



"Hang pictures as they are unpacked."

(This is a spliced together picture.) Like my little Crosley radio there? It was a wedding present from my grandparents. When Hubbs and I saw it, we both almost fainted. It plays all sizes of records, which I love! Of course right now I'm listening to a CD of vintage music...

But what a difference the pictures have made! I just need a couple of vertical pictures to go in that void there. Even though my house is still littered with boxes, hanging my pictures one by one has made it feel more like a home. Yay for small steps and accomplishments!

I truly hope by the time the family comes up for Jason's promotion it will be box-free, even if all my knick-knacks aren't quite in their places yet.

And oh yes, the winner of the promotional wear is:

With its classic color and versatility to dress up or down and go with anything in my wardrobe, I had to pick this vintage inspired cardigan from Forever 21. It should be here in about 2-5 business days, (although I about choked at the $17 for express shipping--that'll teach me to wait until the last minute to buy something!) and then I can put together the whole outfit for a sneak preview!

"the golden state (1947)" & a new mission

The Golden State

So, Hubbs and I were at Wal-Mart today, and as usual, he was digging through the $5 movie bin (one of these days I'll take a picture of all the movies he's acquired over the years, and this is his most favorite thing to do when we venture to Wal-Mart). He produced a very amazing compilation of 1940 cartoons--180 of them on a 4-disc set! I was so excited! I came home and popped it into our player.

I immediately fell in love with this little gem!

How can you not love that?

-------------------

My New Mission

I decided this evening that I'm going to start setting goals for myself on a weekly basis. I have officially become a housewife (my absolute dream job) by a mere technicality: there are no jobs to be had in our new town. At least, none that Hubbs wants me working (nights and weekends? No thank you!). So, I am determined to prove to him that I can make this home into the perfect 1940's house--which means I have to kick it into gear!

I'm going to approach this just like any new job. I'll have a period of training, followed by execution. I know if I try to jump head first and take on too many things at once, I'll become overwhelmed. My main goal is to get the house unpacked and our old furniture out of here. While those will be constant background goals, I'll also have other daily goals and tasks. Will the dishes be done every day? Mmm, probably not right away. But will the house come to order and the little errands get done? You bet your sweet bottom they will!

This week's goals:

-Wrap and pack up dishes to send to Stephanie

-Move donation clothes into laundry room

-Hang pictures as they are unpacked

-Prepare house for Katie and Tony's visit this weekend

While not the most ambitious of lists (I'll have to wait to send the dishes to Stephanie until the beginning of February, since sending 2 whole dish sets--including serving bowls and platters--to Alaska will cost quite a mint) it's a start and will get me in the mode of making weekly tasks to do above and beyond the basic housewifery duties.

So I'll be watching all of your weekly lists and using them as a sort of training manual--and any advice is greatly appreciated! I'm determined to be the best little housewife I can so Hubbs will let me keep this job!!

Oh, PS: Our trip to Palm Springs was a tiny bit of a bust. We didn't realize the streets only had 2 hour parking, and the idea of moving our car every couple of hours didn't make either of us very happy. We've since decided that after his promotion we'll go and stay in a proper hotel so we can enjoy the trip!

chalk full of goodness!

Oh me; prepare yourselves fabulous readers and visitors: this will be a long post, but oh so worth it!! First, let's talk about the good stuff, eh? My newest acquisitions:

This adorable and comfortable cherry print dress from Pin-up Girl Clothing is my new favorite thing! It's polyester, so it's light and doesn't wrinkle for anything (that's our new kitchen--I cropped as best I could to keep the moving-in mess out the picture)! The shoes aren't vintage, but right now they are the only things I have that match.

Here's a shot of my hair and make-up from yesterday as well.

I originally purchased these vintage D'Orsay inspired pumps, only to have them get here and they were too big. My heart was broken only for a second as I realized that I didn't have anything in my closet to match these shoes. Could I buy one? Sure. But after a thread on the Fedora Lounge (we'll get to that in a bit) I realized I need to start buying things that are easier to mix and match with.

So, I bought these instead! They have little tiny cherries on them, so I can wear them with a red outfit, a green outfit, or a cute pair of Capri's and a white cardi or button down. Much more versatile! (I just adore that thick heel!)

Also, after yesterday's fiasco with my bedhead, I promptly bought myself a simple white cotton head scarf and plan to start using it the minute it gets here (but sadly, it's not actually vintage). And fueled by my curiosity what Jitterbug reads everyday on her blog, Destination 1940, I went out a purchased a 1941 copy of "America's Housekeeping Book." I love Amazon.

Now, as I mentioned above, I started a thread on the Fedora Lounge about trying to pack a (vintage) suitcase when you're traveling. I have a horrible time doing this as I take too many clothes, but never seem to have anything to wear. Plus, let's be honest--vintage suitcases leave a lot to be desired in the space department! Miss 1929 had one of the best responses on how to get the most out of your vintage packing:

Daytime casual-

-Slacks, jacket, skirt (best if the jacket, skirt and slacks are all the same fabric, say black gabardine)

-A warm coat (I would do a fur--as it would go with everything--but if not, a plain solid color coat, preferably the same background color as all these other background pieces)

-A cardigan preferably in a nice solid contrasting color

-A couple of fun blouses in prints that have the cardigan and background colors in them

-A fabulous vintage scarf (or better, two) that can be worn around the neck or on the head

-A couple of pieces of daytime jewelry (novelty pin, Bakelite bangle, that sort of thing)

-Walking shoes

-A substantial but not too wacky purse, as it does double duty with the next outfit

Daytime dressy-

-The skirt and jacket and blouses and sweater from above

-A hat (make it a plain one and bring a pin and a flower to add 2 personalities to it)

-Or wrap the scarf like a turban, or wear it as a neck scarf

-Dressier but not too crippling shoes

-That nice tailored purse

-Slightly more serious jewelry, like metal (pearls are great because they can do double duty with your night time look)

Dinner or cocktail (but not formal)-

-A dress in a solid color, or a print with the SAME colors as your cardigan, jacket and coat, so they can all work together

-The same dressier shoes from above or fancy shoes from below, and wear a bit more jewelry (jewelry takes up very little packing room)

-You will want a girlier purse here, a nice fabric one that goes with the better shoes, and with the ones below

-The hat can be worn with a fancier pin, or a flower, or no hat, then the flower can be worn in your hair

-We like the pearls, we also like a nice rhinestone set of jewels

Formal-

-A long black lace dress is a godsend, it packs into a little nothing; even better if its slip is a heavy satin, and then you have another evening gown

-A fancier pair of evening sandals that will work with both of these pieces, and also with the cocktail above

-The pearls, rhinestones, flower all get another chance here

-The smaller purse works here too

Underthings-

-Bring two sets at least as you will be washing them out nightly in the wash basin and they might not be dry in time

-Bring extra stockings

-A couple of negligees, and a robe that is decent enough if you have to bolt out in a fire, some little flat slippers

So let's count it up:

1 coat

1 jacket

1 pair pants

1 skirt

1 cardigan

2 blouses

1 dress for cocktail/dinner

1 lace evening gown

1 slip from lace gown that doubles as evening gown #2

1 pair walking shoes

1 pair heeled shoes, closed

1 pair evening sandals

1 daytime purse

1 nighttime purse (can be tiny)

2 scarves

2 pairs gloves

Day jewelry (Bakelite bangles, novelty pins, etc.)

Night time jewelry (metal, rhinestones, pearls)

2 flowers

1 hat (good idea to have a crushable one)

2 nighties

1 robe

Slippers

2 sets undies

4 or more pairs stockings

This is approximately how I packed for 10 days in China and I actually didn't even get to use it all.

Pretty amazing, don't you think? So as I'm buying new things, I'm trying to keep this concept in mind of mixing and matching to get the most potential out of my clothes. And since I gravitate towards the red family, my little cherry print heels are a much better choice that the aqua blue D'Orsays.

Hubbs and I are off to Palm Springs this weekend! Maybe I can acquire some more goodies while we're there! I think I'm going to try and drag him to Elvis and Priscilla's honeymoon hideaway while we're there...

mortified & humbled

Oh ladies...I've commited the cardinal sin. I went out without my make-up. In my pajamas. To drop Hubbs off at work! Just erase me from the female existance right now and get it over with!!

I need our car today and since we share one between us, I dropped Hubby off not even 20 minutes ago. Now, my jammies are cute; they're purple flowered flannels with a silk hemline from Victoria's Secret (they even came with matching slippers). Normally, this isn't an issue, as we drive through the gate, I drop him off across the street from the school building, and I drive back home. But not today.

First off, the guard at the gate stops us because our sticker is faded. I glare at my husband since I've asked him to fix this! I have to roll down my window (thank God I brushed my teeth and hair and at least attempted to do something with it--what I wouldn't give for a head scarf right now!) and explain to the guard yes I know the sticker is faded, yes I promise to have it fixed this afternoon. Then, Mr. M decides he's too proud to be dropped off across the street from his school house and decides he wants me to drive into the parking lot of school and drop him off right next to where they're having formations and other Marines are walking in. Don't think they weren't looking to see what his wife looks like. I did my best to look backwards or down so they wouldn't be able to see my pale face with its red left eye (I think I rubbed dirt into it when the movers were dropping stuff off because it's really sore and itchy!) and no make-up on.

I left quite humbled and have since decided that the jammies are probably okay (but I really need to get a house dress), but I shall never again leave this house without make-up on. Ever.

so happy together...

Me and my Internet. My Internet and Me. (I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be my Internet and I...) The Time Warner man just left my house and I'm so happy to be back in the virtual world of blogging and vintage!

My mom, step-dad, and step-sister came up on Saturday to help us move in the rest of our stuff we left down at their house. The rest of stuff comes form the military movers tomorrow (which I'm not looking forward too. Hubbs usually handles the movers, but tomorrow, it's all me)! I'll just be happy to have a house that I can sneeze in and it no longer echos like a huge cave! On that note, Mom's official thought on the place: "Wow, it doesn't even look like an apartment!" Yay!

So, here are those shoes I was referring too in the last post (I'm SO sorry for being a label flaunter, but these were so cute and vintage-y, I figured I'd just go ahead and share who designed them).



They are so cute and really quite comfy; the only drawback is the darn satin laces which tend to come undone in about three or four steps unless I double knot them. But now that you can see them, what do you think of my choices below? (The yellow cardigan and flower dress are definitely out for this round--but that dress will be mine!) I'm really leaning towards that black-bow cardi, only because with my gray skirt, some seamed stockings and pearl earrings (Christmas gift from Hubbs) it will look lady-like, vintage, and not steal the spotlight from my Hubby's proud moment.

(Oh, and if you check in on my blog and it looks totally funky or has "disappeared," don't fret. I'm doing some redesigning on the layout and you might catch it during one of those cycles.)

*fixed* promotional wear, what to do?

(Thank you for letting me know the pictures weren't showing up!)

Hubbs is getting his new rank pinned on him at the beginning of February. Me being me, I'm looking for an outfit right now. Fueled by advice from the girls in The Powder Room I've been scouring Etsy, Pin-up Girl Clothing, eBay, and just about every other clothing site I can find that might have something remotely vintage-like for this ceremony. So far, I'm pretty sure I'm at least wearing a pencil skirt that I already own in a dark Heather gray. And of course, I'm going to need a super cute cardigan to go with my pencil skirt.

Are these not 3 of the cutest cardigans ever? I love the bright cherry color of the yellow (but am thinking I'd really need to go with a white skirt for this one, not that I'd mind buying one!).

Of course my natural inclination is to go with the red one (plus February is the month of love, and doesn't this deep red just scream passion?), but the description says it's only 16 inches from shoulder to hemline--kind of short isn't it?

And then the black one with adorable bow! So yummy! And my Christmas shoes would look so perfect with it (which I still can't show you because my camera cord is MIA, again)! And pearls!

And of course, I'm also entertaining the idea of dresses. I love the chic lines of the black and white one, but is it too business-y?

The grey one is very pretty, and the color reminds me of being all snuggley on a cold winter's day (which, we're still in).




And I love the beautiful colors in this silky frock! But is it too "housewarming meets hostess" for a military promotion?



I'd love to hear what you all think!

frozen shampoo and much ado about housing

Have you ever tried to wash your hair with frozen shampoo?! I had to this morning and let me tell you--it's quite a shock to your system! Hubby forgot to grab our toiletries from the car and ran out to grab them as soon as he woke up. As I was showering the steam must have loosened up the shampoo enough to come out of the canister; but the minute it touched my hand I let out a startled yelp! {{shudder}}

So, the big housing update: we went today and we were number 56 on the list! That meant we were staring right in the face of a 4 month wait! We were shocked. Panicked! Horrified! Stressed. To. The. Max. The housing people gave us a list of apartments to consider and we trudged back to our room dejected and quite snippy (okay, I was the only snippy one).

As Hubbs was reading off the addresses, I was using my trusty Google Maps to check them out from their street view (O Google--how I love thee!). More shock and horror, and few tears and tantrums (from me). The apartments looked like mud huts! The kind where you can just imagine the desert and mountain creepy crawlies sliding in through the cracks and nestling themselves into your shoes. Iiiick! I'm pretty sure at that point Jason realized what a priss he'd married as he narrowly dodged my flailing arms when he uttered the phrase, "We'll just have to take what we can get."

Luckily, I'd had my eye on some apartments homes long before we ever arrived here. After some drama with getting Hubbs checked into his new unit, and plunking down a whopping $2,000 for our first month's rent and security deposit (hooray for military advanced housing pay!) we are officially the new tenants of the luxury apartments right outside of base (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, nearly 1300 square feet, and all utilities included!). We move in on the ninth and it's not a moment too soon! If I have to spend much longer living next to the hyena and her grunting caveman of a husband, I'm going to start barking at the top of my lungs just to annoy them! (Yes, you read right, barking. Like a dog!)

Grr...

On a side note, look at this cute little guy I spied while waiting for Jason to check in!

baby it's cold outside!

(Picture courtesy of The Pin-up Files)

So here's what's going on:

We checked in yesterday to our new base, high in the mountains of California. Burrrr!! It's cold! It's about 45 degrees, but I'm pretty sure the wind chill factor is taking it down into the 30's. We're staying in the hotel on base for now, which isn't so bad, but it's still not home. We called the base earlier, just to confirm our base housing application. For anyone who's not familiar with base housing, it rocks because: you're close to or on the actual base, which means short drives for your errands; your utilities are included in the housing allowance you're stipend every month, which means I can blast the air conditioner all summer long (and heater all winter long) and never see a high electricity bill; when you have only one car (like us) it allows your husband to ride his bicycle to work rather than you having to wake up at the ungodly hour of four a.m. to get him to his unit formations.

Anyhoo, since Jason is due to pick up his next rank, they were planning on putting us into senior enlisted housing which puts us on a three to six month wait list. We're only for sure out here for ten months while Jason is in school. A six month wait list is basically telling us we have to get an apartment out in town. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that the only town with apartments in it is thirty minutes from base. So, if Jason has to be at work at 5:30 in the morning, that means leaving by (at the very latest) 4:45 to account for any traffic (and driving in an area called "the kill zone" at least twice a day--so called for all the fatal accidents that occur there).

So, slightly freaked out by this thought (as I'm not even factoring in what happens if and/or when I get my own job), I asked that instead we be put into housing based on his current rank, which is carrying a zero to three month wait list. (happy sigh) Much better.

However, as of right now, we still have to wait until tomorrow to find where we fall on that wait list. So as of Tuesday, I have no idea where we're living. I could so be losing it right now...