Being Strong

    What is the meaning of being strong and having strength? According to http://dictionary.reference.com, the definition of strong is...

"1. having, showing, or able to exert great bodily or muscular power; physically vigorous or robust: a strong boy.

2.accompanied or delivered by great physical, mechanical, etc., power or force: a strong handshake; With one strong blow the machine stamped out a fender.

3.mentally powerful or vigorous: He may be old, but his mind is still strong.

4.especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field or respect: She's very strong in mathematics. He's weak at bat, but he's a strong fielder.

5.of great moral power, firmness, or courage: strong under temptation."

    People call me strong. Why? Well, I am apart from Tyler a lot. When he was my boyfriend (basic training, medic and jump school), my fiance (Germany), and as my husband (Germany, Afghanistan, and other random trainings). There was also that whole deployment to Afghanistan thing. I also flew from LA to Frankfurt by myself, then I took the train by myself to get here to see Tyler come back from deployment. Oh yeah, and when they come back from deployment there's the whole they could have PTSD, triggers, nightmares, etc. So, you have to be strong and help them with that.
    So, am I strong? Maybe. Sometimes I don't feel strong. I just do what needs to be done.What makes me strong? I think it's my faith and the love and support I get from my friends and family. When I started "this life," I didn't really know anyone else going through this (except Tyler's aunt, who had been through it in the past, and this random German girl that was married to one of Tyler's friends. That random German girl, is now one of my best friends :)). Now, I do, and it is one of the best outlets...we all understand each other and what we're going through. I just hope that I can help people even after Tyler is out of the Army. So, again, does this make me a strong person?

Source: pinterest.com via Kendra on Pinterest

    People say, well, you knew what you were getting in to, you knew you had to be this strong. What? How would I have known that? I knew people at the time IN the military or joining the military, but I didn't know many spouses to my knowledge, and I know many of my friends didn't either. Tyler's Aunt was an Army wife at one point, so she would give me some advice, but how much can you really prepare a person for something like this? You can't. Each person deals with things differently. People will also say, well, you chose this life. Ok, well, I knew Tyler before the Army, so I wasn't in it from the beginning. I did however choose "this life" in the sense that I chose to be with him and be his wife.
    So, here's what I think...if you can complain about your life/family/job...so can I. It pisses me off when people say, why are you complaining, you knew what you were getting in to, you chose this life? Well, you "knew" what you were getting in to when you chose that job you have. Now, am I telling you to stop complaining?
 
    I don't mean to be that military wife, but I needed to voice my opinion (for once). I may be strong, but I am human. To sum everything up for you...I may be strong, I may have "chosen" this life, but did I really know what I was getting myself into? How could I know? How can anyone really know what they're getting themselves in to?
   Sorry for such a downer post, but it needed to be said :). Be strong friends, you all are strong, even if you don't know it yet! As the picture says, "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

Wedding Wednesday: Pets in Weddings

    Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wedding Wednesday! :) Today, we're going to talk about involving your pet in your wedding. Fun, huh?
    So you've decided to involve your pet in your wedding, great! There are many ways to involve your pet in your wedding, but before you officially decide to involve them, there are a few things you should consider first...
1. Does your ceremony and/or reception location allow pets?
There are ways to work around venues not allowing pets; you can have them meet you at the doorway as you enter or exit, you can have them in the car, you can go somewhere else to take pictures, etc. But, if you're dead set on having your pet involved in your wedding, I would make sure that your venue allows that type of animal. :)

2. How long will they be there?
Do you want your pet to be there the whole time, or do you just want them for the ceremony and/or pictures? How long they will be there could always depend on how well behaved they are (see below).

3. Who will take care of and watch your pet during the time they are there?
If you are using your pet in the ceremony, you will most likely need someone to walk them and stand with them. It does depend how well trained your pet is, what type of animal it is, etc, but I would have a designated caretaker for your pet for the evening. Animals are unpredictable, so it's best to have someone to look after them. 

4. Is your pet suited to be at a wedding?
Will your pet beg/steal food, go to the bathroom everywhere, bite people, make a lot of noise? Are the friendly or aggressive? If your pet isn't well behaved, well, I wouldn't include them in the ceremony. You could however have them in a few pictures, but it might be best just to leave them at home.

5. What type of role do you want your pet to have in the wedding?
Now, the type of pet you want to involve could help determine their role in your wedding. Most people involve dogs, but I've heard of cats, iguanas, as well as birds being involved. So, for example, if you want your dog to be involved, you can just have them there for pictures, you can use them in the ceremony as a ring bearer, flower dog, a member of the wedding party, or just a guest of honor.

Source: tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

   
    When Tyler and I were planning our wedding,  we thought of including his (family) dog, Buddy. Buddy has been such a big part of both of our lives. Even though he is a family dog, he really is Tyler's. When Tyler was deployed, Buddy became "my" dog. He would follow me around, sleep with me, etc. I feel like he could sense that Tyler and I truly loved each other, therefore he had to be with me and protect me. So, when it came to planning our Celebration of Marriage, it was natural to think of including Buddy. We decided against it because even though he is a very sweet and well trained dog, he can get be anxious, nervous, and get overly excited about the amount of people. Not the best thing to have to deal with on your wedding day. Our location was outdoors, and I think would've allowed it (though, I never asked, because we decided not to fairly early on), but we both felt that it wouldn't have been the best idea. I can just see him walking down the aisle, getting too excited/anxious and peeing down the aisle...awful.

{Via}

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    Now, after answering the questions above and seeing all the cute pictures, have you officially decided whether or not you would like you pet to be in your wedding? What do you think? :)

Thoughts for Tuesday

Some thoughts and words for today... enjoy :)

Source: tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

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Source: graceserenity.tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

Winter cleaning?

    With December right around the corner, it's time to do some winter (I guess late fall) cleaning! That and we're moving soon, so I need to organize things anyway. We're supposed to find out today when we leave and when they're coming to ship our stuff! AH! It's a happy and sad feeling really. I'm excited to go back and see friends and family, but I'm also sad because I'm made some good new friends here. I also feel like there is so much more I could do here. Sigh. Also, I'm scared to start working again. I mean, ok, I am excited, because let's face it, I'm going stir crazy and need something more to do. But, I'm also scared.
    This past Thursday (Thanksgiving), Tyler and I left for Madrid Spain. We got to travel around with his cousin Jenna who lives 30 minutes or so outside of Madrid. We had such a great time! I even got to hang out with a old college friend :). We got back to our apartment late Sunday night, well, actually it was more like early Saturday morning...about 1:20am. AH! At least we made it back safely and our flight was on time haha. No worries friends, pictures and blog post all about Madrid to come!

    As you may have noticed, my blog has been going through an update. What do you guys think? I'm LOVING it! It's all thanks to my dear friend Joelle over at Something Charming. Didn't she do a great job? :D Thanks Joelle!
   

Giving Thanks a Bit Early

    Normally, I would have a Wedding Wednesday post, but since I am leaving for Spain tomorrow (woohoo), I thought I would give you all some updates and write about Thanksgiving.
    Yesterday was my birthday. Happy 24? haha. I feel old, yet very young at the same time. Some of the neighbor girls and I went out for coffee and a late lunch/snack. My wonderful hubby got me flowers and we to a nice Italian dinner. We got dressed up and everything. So much fun :). It was so yummy.
  Anyway, Happy (early) Thanksgiving everyone! I have so much to be thankful for...my wonderful husband, friends, and family. I'm also thankful for this amazing opportunity to live in a foreign country, this amazing opportunity to travel all over Europe, our new friends, our great apartment...the list could go on and on. Like I said, I have a lot to be thankful for. :D

What are you all thankful for? Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you have a great day and have lots of delicious food.

Jump!

    Today, I got to watch Tyler jump! I was so excited because I've never seen him jump before! :D
They jumped near town in Chinooks (helicopter things). It was so cool. No worries friends, he didn't get hurt or land in a tree! woohoo! Great success! But man, it got so cold! Silly Germany and the sun being totally gone by 5. Ugh.

    Afterwards, my friends, J, Casey and I went to Aldi. I got this CUTE Advent calendar, chocolate (which I tried later is kind of weird...happens), and of course, I had to get more Glühwein. Love that stuff. :) Once I got home and defrosted a little, and man did that take awhile, I prepped dinner and hung the Advent calendar hehe. Once Tyler came home, he made me a delicious birthday eve dinner. New York Strip, some sort of potato thing and broccoli, yummy! Good job Tyler :)

Happy Monday everyone!

Weekend Review

    Hey all. How was everyone's weekend? Here's a little review of what we did this weekend...
    Saturday, we started to cook the Carnitas. Tyler had prepped Carnitas the night before and once we got up, we started cooking them. Oh man, they were smelling soooo good all day. I couldn't wait to eat them. In the afternoon, I went shopping downtown with neighbor/friend Catherine. My goal, to find new jeans and possibly new shoes. I had limit of how much I should spend, and was on my way. Why new jeans and shoes you may ask, well, 2 of my 4 jeans (yes, I only have 4 pairs of jeans right now) have holes in them. Not the cute holes...the ones on the thigh close to the crotch. Naturally, we went to H&M to look for jeans. Saturday was probably not the best day to try on jeans. It's SUPER crowded since most people don't have work and everything is closed Sunday. I did figure out my size (it's not normal European sizing), so that was helpful...yet, I still had problems. I picked out 3 pairs...two in one size and one in another size. Of the two that were the same size, one wouldn't even go all the way up, and the other was about to fall down. WHAT?? The one in the other size fit well, but looked super weird. They were higher waisted then thought...all in all, it wasn't a good look for me. Ugh. I wanted to try on more, but there were just too many people. I think I need to go during the week when there's less people.
    Once I got home, it was almost time for some carnitas and movie night. Of course we were having a movie night. haha.
    Today, I went to the commissary and PX for a few things. Oh man. The commissary was INSANE. There were so many people. So many rude people at that. I could barely get around and get the like 10 items I needed. It was super frustrating. I think most of my time was spent getting around people and standing in the check-out line. Ugh. Everyone was trying to get Thansgiving shopping done I guess. Makes me glad we won't be here. That's right people, no traditional Thanksgiving for me...I'll be in Spain! Anyway, the rest of Sunday was relaxing, watched tv, folded laundry (oh joy), ya know...the usual.
   Well, I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Wedding Wednesday: Choosing Your Colors

    Hello friends and welcome to another wedding wednesday! Today, we're going to be discussing choosing your wedding colors. This can be a difficult and stressful process, but hopefully I can help you with your big decision, or at least give you some friendly advice. :)
    I suggest picking a base color and then an accent color or two. You can also do several shades of a certain color. Color wheels and paint samples can be a HUGE help when trying to pick your colors.
   

{Via}

I suggest starting with one color you like and/or goes with your theme/location and go from there. We chose our colors based off of Tyler's uniform, colors we both liked, and the scenery of our location for the ceremony and reception. Our location was outdoors and was a walnut grove, so there was A LOT of greens, some browns, and other earthy tones. Tyler was going to be wearing his new dress blues, which are navy ish color on top, with lighter blue pants that have a yellow stripe on them. With these things in mind, we decided our wedding colors would be navy and white with pops of yellow. Yellow?! Where did that come from? Well, we both love the color yellow, plus it was on his uniform. Yellow is also a symbol of happiness, friendship, and military support, plus, it's a great summer color. Why not have yellow? And yes, we picked yellow before it became SUPER popular. Oh yeah, did I mention that blue is one of my favorite colors? Hehe...that was just lucky. We also didn't want to do red, white, and blue...that would be a little too much. 
    Now, I'm a fan of paring a deeper or darker color (maybe even a neutral) with a lighter or brighter color, but it's your wedding, so you can do what you want. All pastels, all deep colors, all bright colors, etc. can look good together as well. I love me some coral (peach) and turquoise. Both are bright, but look great together.  Most recently, I'm loving the look of grays, tans, and creams with white and a pop color (something besides a neutral or white) in weddings. When my sister gets married, she's thinking about doing shades of purple with gray and white. I think the shades of purple will look awesome with the gray and white.What do you guys think? I have another friend who wants to do a black and white wedding with pops of red or maybe pink. If it's done well, that look can look really nice, but black and white weddings really have to be done well to look good in my opinion. You have to own that those are your colors.
    Another way of picking your wedding colors, is by the season you are having it in. With spring comes the pastels and the start of bright colors. With summer comes bright and cheery, warm colors. With fall comes the warm reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. With winter comes warm colors (think reds, greens, blacks, darker blues) OR cooler colors (think grays, silvers, light blues). Again, you should do what you want, but I think it's nice to keep season in mind at least a little bit. :) Not EVERY color has to be in season, but maybe choose one that can be season appropriate. Just a suggestion. You do not have to do it...I'm just trying to be helpful. I mean, is the color navy really summery? Ehhhh...it's debatable, but yellow can be a summery color. hehe.
    I really hope that this post was helpful. I know there was a lot of ME and MY wedding in here, but I write what I know. If you have more questions or need color help/suggestions, please feel free to contact me. I love this stuff. I even enjoy picking colors. Weird I know. :p

Thoughts for Tuesday

    You might not be able to tell from this blog, but I do enjoy writing and coming up with ideas/stories. Sometimes, it's hard for me to get all the thoughts and ideas in my head down on paper. It has been suggested to me that I get a tape recorder, but then I think about it, and most of what want to say is all in my head, so unless there's something that can read my mind, I think I'm shit outta luck haha. I should write more. I'll work on that. :)
    The Hunger Games. Where was I when these books came out/were popular?! I am just now hearing about them because of the movie coming out. Guess I should look in to reading them. hmmm.
    Now, this is something I'm sure most Army wives (heck, even most military wives) can relate to. I hate folding and sorting Tyler's socks. They're all green, yet, they all seem to be different shades of green...and different sizes...and different styles...UGH! I really dislike washing them and putting them away. It's awful, and there's so many of them. Argh. Oh the small things in life sometimes.

Source: lolhome.com via Beth on Pinterest

This has been happening to me a lot lately...fail...

Source: Uploaded by user via Beth on Pinterest

Haha...that's so true.

    Anyway, those are some of my thoughts for the day. Happy Tuesday everyone :)

Weekend Review

    Last I left you it was Friday, Veteran's Day. Tyler was recovering from CQ and we had a wine and movie night. Good times.
   Saturday, we had our good friends J and B come over for dinner. We made tri-tip with broccoli ad garlic mashed potatoes (mmm), and for dessert, I made cheesecake. This cheesecake looked A LOT prettier than the last cheesecake I made. Woohoo! Getting better! :). They were joking about how they need to come over once a week for dinner...made us feel pretty darn good about our cooking :)
    Sunday is always our day of rest. Stores in Germany are closed, and we just liked to sit, relax, and watch TV. Sometimes we go for a walk or clean, but it's mostly a day for relaxing.

   Before I leave this weekend review, how can I forget about the new game Skyrim. Tyler got it for his computer and he's been playing it sooooo much. I mean, it looks cool, but I'm just not a huge gamer. I played the Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon and stuff like that. haha. He says it's amazing if anyone is interesting in playing it.

  Have a great day everybody!

Veterans Day

Happy Friday everyone! So, if you didn't know, today is Armistice Day, more commonly know as Veterans Day. According to the 2010 census, 7% of all Americans are Veterans and 0.75% are those currently serving.
I'd like to take a moment to thank all of those who have served, are serving, and have passed on. We appreciate you...we thank you. Also, I'd like to thank my personal hero, my husband, Tyler. Love you baby. Thank you for all you do.

Source: Uploaded by user via Loretta on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Thru Lisa's Lens on Pinterest

Yesterday, Tyler had CQ, so I was alone all day/night. Plus, the owners of the dog we were dog sitting came home, so I was really alone at night. Worst part was that Tyler had the day off yesterday and today. Ugh. Sigh, happens. We were supposed to travel, but Tyler's CQ shift hindered are plans.
Today, Tyler recovered from CQ and I cleaned house. Thrilling huh? Hehe. Tonight, we ordered take-out (which we NEVER do) and are having lots of wine while watching TV and movies. :) Got to enjoy this time off while we can!
We're not sure what we will do the rest of the weekend, but I'm sure we'll come up with something fun :)

What are y'alls big plans for the weekend? Anything exciting?

Wedding Wednesday

    Ah, wedding Wednesday. One of my favorite blogging days of the week. hehe. Instead about posting about a certain topic, I'm going to take this time to congratulate my dear friends, Alex and Natasha ...they're getting married tomorrow!!! I'm so excited and happy for them. I just wish I could be there (in MAUI!!!!) to celebrate with them. Congrats you guys! Happy Wedding Day tomorrow!!! :D

Some Words and Some Laughs

    Pinterest is great for lots of things. You can get great ideas from recipes, crafts/do it yourself projects, ideas for the home, weddings, parties, great quotes, pictures and much much more. Today, I've decided to share some quotes, funny and cute pictures I've found recently. Enjoy.

Source: skinnyiswhatpeoplesee.tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: imgur.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: fittobefierce.tumblr.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: imgur.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: gallery.xemanhdep.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: afewofmyfavorites.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Beth on Pinterest

Ok, I think that's enough for now. Happy Tuesday everyone.

Weekend Review

    On Friday, Tyler and I went to a medic going away party for his Captain. It was also an early Thanksgiving celebration. We had delicious Puerto Rican food, some drinks, and of course, there was some dancing. :)
    Saturday, we went with our friends to their Uncle's Vineyard and small restaurant in a very cute, small town about an hour away. The type of restaurant he owns is only open a few weekends twice a year. The food was delicious and the wine wasn't half bad. We had so much fun! Oh man...there were some CRAZY Germans. People even get bused in to this area to come to his restaurant and eat, drink and just have a great time. We had a guy come up to us because he could tell Tyler and our one friend were military. He wanted to buy us all a round of schnapps because he was in the German Army.

Random tree on a pole in the town

music in the restaurant

Tyler and I

Our dear friends :)

This was on the back of the coaster haha.

    Sunday, we just relaxed and watched a bunch of TV and movies. We watched, Midnight in Paris, Misery and Margin Call. M movie day I guess haha. Loved Midnight in Paris...So cute. Tyler even enjoyed it. Misery is a classic, so we had to watch it. It was decent...It's creepy, but I enjoyed it. Margin Call wasn't really my cup of tea, but it had it moments and has a GREAT cast.
     This week will most likely go by quickly since Tyler has a 4 day. Unfortunately, he has CQ on one of the days he has off, so we won't be going anywhere. Boooooo.  Oh, and starting tomorrow, we get to watch our neighbors boxer puppy! Woohoo! :) Should be a good time.
How was everybody else's weekend? Do anything exciting? Any big plans for the week?

Hair (again)

I miss my hair. Sigh. Ah well. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my new haircut, but I miss being able to just throw my hair up. Look how long it was (and excuse my silly faces haha)...

And now it's this...

Ah well...it will grow back :)

Wedding Wednesay: First Glance

    Hello everyone and welcome to Wedding Wednesday! Today, we're going to talk about first glance photos.
    I love first glance/look photos! Love them. Now, we all want that perfect first glance photo, obviously, but it's hard to know when to do it (before the ceremony or wait til the ceremony), what you want to do for it, etc. This is where good photographer's (and websites :p) come in to play.
    I love everything about this photo. It's so cute that they don't want to be seen...these shots are great especially if you want to wait to be seen until the ceremony. But I can also see then stepping out from the doors and getting some GREAT first glance shots. 

Source: brandonwerth.com via Beth on Pinterest

Love this reaction....

Source: smallpigart.se via Esther on Pinterest

Too cute. Love their reactions. :)

Source: bobbiandmike.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

Source: abeautifuldayphotography.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Aren't these great? Which are your favorites?
    When Tyler and I were married (July 7, 2009), we didn't really have anything too traditional...it was a small intimate wedding at Angel's baseball stadium after all haha...so we didn't have any first glance photos. But, for the celebration of our marriage, July 10, 2011, we got them :)

waiting for me to walk over

KISS

Checking out me and the dress

What do you think? I wanted some more, but ah well...such is life.  Pretty cute though, right? :p

Our wedding photos courtesy of Stephen Pappas Photography.

Gotta Catch up!

    Sorry that it's been awhile friends. I was just enjoying the long weekend (Tyler had a four day) and my hubby finally being home after about a month! Now it's time to catch up...

    Friday, Tyler had the day off work, (woohoo!) and we he spent basically the whole day cooking. Cute right? He was making carne asada and carnitas for the Mexican Party we were going to that night. They were DELICIOUS! I wish we would've taken a picture. We were hoping to go home with leftovers, but no such luck. I guess that means they were good right? haha.

    Saturday was our building Halloween Costume party. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and devil's food cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Of course they both had cute pumpkin wrappers and fun Halloween sprinkles. :) Oh yeah, on some of the chocolate ones I made faces haha.

A little before the party, Tyler decided to go to our local grocery store to make a meat, cheese, and bread platter and a frittata. Yes, you heard me right, a frittata. It was delicious! He's becoming quite the little cook. I mean, my cupcakes were good too of course haha. :p I'm glad he decided to make that platter and frittata though, otherwise there would have been WAY too many sweets and not enough food with substance. I though my neighbors were supposed to order pizza...oh well. All in all the party was a fun time. Our apartment was for food, socializing, and eventually sing star (haha), and our neighbor's apartment was for drinking games and the "main event."

Tyler and I as Pirates hehe

Casey and I playing sing star

      Sunday and Monday were relaxing days to clean, catch up on TV, watch movies, etc. Tyler even made us biscuits and gravy one morning! Now, Monday was Halloween. I've been told that Halloween has gotten big in Germany in the past 4 or 5 years, so yes, people do "celebrate" it. We even got trick or treaters, but we forgot to get candy...fail. Luckily, some of our neighbors had candy, so I just put a sign on the front door of our apartment building to go up to them. haha.
    Tuesday,  I finally finished cleaning all the floors in the apartment from the party. Woohoo! I also helped a neighbor move her car (it had died...ugh), did oh so many dishes (how do we even have this many to do), and just did general house work. Oh yeah, I also went to Zumba. Love me some zumba. For dinner, I made lasagna. It was my first attempt at homemade lasagna, and I have to say...it wasn't half bad! It looked not so good though haha.

Yay me! We're going to have leftovers of it tonight! mmmm can't wait.

How was everyone else's weekend and Halloween?