From one Insomniac to Another

It’s 5am and I’ve been awake for the last two hours, which means since I fell asleep around midnight, I’ve had about three hrs of sleep. I’ve been lying in bed for the past two hours thinking of the normal things I think about when I can’t sleep. Wondering if astronauts are in space right at this very moment, wondering why the fire alarm above me keeps turning from green to red back to green again, wondering if my legs might really fall off if they stay in one place for too long, wondering if the house caught on fire which window I would jump out of and which one I would throw Tiger (our cat) out of, wondering if lack of sleep really equates to less years of life. If this is true, then I calculate that I’ve already lost about 10 years of my life, and at the rate I’m going I might be dead by the age of 50. These are the thoughts of an insomniac. Sleeplessness has become a hobby for me. In fact, I could probably win a gold medal for sleepless nights. Not that I don’t love to sleep, in fact it is one of my most treasured things in the world. If I had to choose sleeping over anything, food, water, shelter, friends, family, heck, even sex, sleeping would always come in first place. But that’s the irony of an insomniac, they love to sleep, they just can’t actually make themselves do it. Normally, after all these thoughts have gone through my head I begin to rehash the conversations of the day, the things I should of said or would have said had I been quick enough on my toes. The interviews I bombed, the words of encouragement I didn’t share, the grace I could have given more of… this can go on for hours. Eventually, I realize my tossing and turning is keeping Tim awake and so I attempt to gracefully exit the bed without him noticing. Sometimes he catches me and forces me to “try harder”, luckily tonight he didn’t =). I don’t think I could have handle another minute starring up at the ceiling wondering if it might snow today. Hopefully, one day I will learn the art of sleeping, or maybe just find the magic key that will turn my brain off, OR just find a really good doctor that will prescribe me blissful sleeping pills!
Well, I hear Tim’s alarm, which means he’ll be looking for me very soon. I better rap up this session before he finds me “not trying” again. From one insomniac to another, peaceful dreams, or thoughts of dreams.

Cooking, Cleaning, and Leasing!

Yay! Our house is finally on the market! Now all we need is for someone to lease it!! Unfortunately, the day it goes on the market is the day Texas decides to unleash a monster cold front! Seriously, where did this come from? I was wearing shorts yesterday, and today i'm afraid to go outside for fear of frostbite or pneumonia. So i'm guessing there won't be many brave souls wanting to view our house today, but maybe tomorrow.


I do have to say, it took us FOREVER to find the right property manager. We searched high and low, and all we found were terrible rates and crappy management systems, BUT low and behold good 'ole Royce was found! Amy and Dave, our good friends here, gave us this guys name... he's prior military (36yrs), caters to military families, and has unbeatable prices, great recommendations, and it's a family business. Seriously, what more could you ask for?? Quick shout-out for Royce, but no kidding, if you are a military family and you're looking to buy, lease, sell, or rent this is the place for you! So if you're looking, look no further, check out the Royce Simmonds group!


On another happy note, I think in a previous life I might have been a chef. Ok, maybe not a great chef, and I probably stole other peoples recipes, BUT a chef none the less. Last week I cooked FIVE new amazing meals!! I only took pictures of a few, which is probably fortunate for you, and none of them were actually MY recipes, but they still tasted pretty doggone good! I wish you could have been here to enjoy these meals, especially since we had a TON of left-overs, which we always SAY we'll eat and a few weeks later they walk themselves to the trashcan. So here are a few pics that made the book...and yes, i have a photo book filled with pictures of meals i've cooked (i'm that pathetic!)
This might not look very appetizing, but it was fabulous! Everything made from scratch...roasted garlic pork, spanish rice, and fried whole okra, with homemade dipping sauce! YUMMY. The second pic was some italian dish that Tim loves, I can't pronounce the name, so you can be certain I have no idea how to spell it! But i made it with homemade italian meatballs that were baked in the oven, which really baffled my mind!


Finally, we went out with some of our good friends this weekend to my FAVORITE mexican restaurant CHUY'S, oh how I will miss good mexican food in Hawaii! After the wonderful meal, we headed to Amy's for some games and DESSERT. So this is my final pic, promise, but it's a picture of the chocolate cheesecake (Barefoot Contessa Recipe). First time to make it, and amazingly it was incredible, to die for, if i can say so myself =).


Last but not least, thought i might leave you with a pic of my WONDERFUL (can't say that enough, seriously he's amazing!) husband's attempt at cleaning this week. Here's a pic of him and Tiger cleaning, or supposedly cleaning (they are putting away clean clothes together...yes, those clothes might look dirty, but in fact they are actually clean!) In all seriousness though, he has put a lot of time and energy getting our house ready to be put on the market, thanks babe!

Well, that's it for today, i'm off to bake some cookies in hopes that they'll warm me up and maybe i'll put in the Sound of Music, cold days deserve a good background movie. Hope wherever you are, you're bundled up and happy!

.....................Something Heavenly

I feel like my house is a perpetual mess. The more we clean, the worse it gets, and unfortunately, we really don’t have time for it to get worse. As of today, we have three weeks left, let me say that a little louder, THREE WEEKS LEFT!! Three weeks to clean, well really, more like scrub, scrub every baseboard, wall, counter top, floor, scrub inside and out of every cabinet, door, garage… everything. Three weeks to finish painting, to pull the dead things growing in the backyard and attempt to make the grass look alive again…three weeks to put the house on the market, to pray that someone comes along and rents it before we leave, and three weeks to say good-bye. Good-bye to a place that we’ve actually fallen in love with. I love San Antonio and I love New Braunfels and I love San Marcos! Everything about this place is perfect: the food, our church, our dear church friends, the weather, the time Tim spends at work and the time he spends at home (which is a GREAT ratio!), my work (or at least the place I use to work!), our friends from the PT program, our family close by, everything about this place is perfect. Good-byes are never easy, but it’s always nice when they are accompanied with something good…you know, like moving to a tropical paradise =), or a place where you already have good friends, or a place that you know will make you a little more stronger and adventurous. That’s kind of what the military life is all about, you never know exactly where you are going, but you always have the potential of making it into something good, a place where you can walk away and say, we’ve fallen in love and it will be hard to say good-bye! But I guess that’s kind of life in general, we always have the potential for making it into something good. So here's to a clean house, happy good-byes, and the potential for good!

Jenny's Baby Shower

Ok, I realize this blog is more for writing than posting pictures, but as of this point my brain is so tired from trying to get everything ready to move, process off base, find tenants for our houses, and a good leasing company, etc.... that I really don't have much to say!! But I did want to attempt to catch everyone up with our life here in San Antonio, at least for another month, and show off some fun pics for our family and friends to enjoy. So, I hope you enjoy!

Graduation Pics

Graduation

Ok, thought I would attempt to catch up with the last few months.... SO here are a few pics from my graduation. I am very fortunate to have such a loving and supportive extended family! My grandparents have made it to every important event in my life, and my aunts and uncles have always made such a huge effort to be at every graduation, wedding, and basically any life accomplishment. I feel very fortunate and I hope I can be just as great of an Aunt to my new niece Anniston. Thanks to everyone who made the trip out, and a special thanks to my Dad who assembled a beautiful celebration dinner and helped make all the hotel reservations!

My Wonderful Aunts!
My Mom and I walking to our seats... my Mom graduated with her Doctorate and I graduated with my Masters, and yes, we were able to walk down together!
Waiting to walk the stage, hoods in hand

Yay, we graduated!!