Skagit Tulip Festival + Blogger Meet Up

My friends and I went up to the Skagit tulip festival a couple months ago and I got to finally meet Jane in person! The tulip fields was a good 3 hour drive including crazy traffic just getting there. We spent some time chatting, walking around the fields, taking billion photos of the field and soaking up some of that sun!



The fields were absolutely breathtaking. Leaving the fields was not. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for over a hour. In a one lane road. Just trying to get to the freeway. We were all cranky, tired and famished. And I have learned that sitting in the third row of a SUV makes me incredibly sick and the drive home was just painful. Right Noel?

10.

10 years ago, I married this amazing guy. With tears in his eyes, he proposed to me the night before he left for basic training. We spent the next many months, writing letters, waiting for his phone calls and he'd surprise me with flowers at work. After basic, he got his first duty station in Korea which was a million miles away. Many calling cards purchased and late late night phone calls. He came home on leave just so we can get married. After being married for a mere 2 weeks, he had to return to Korea for another 6 months.



We've gone from Virginia to Washington state to Florida to New York and now back to Washington State. Including 2 deployments and one on the way. Through the happy and the oh so ugly times, 2 fur babies Frankie and Maggie, purchasing our first home later... We've made it!



We've never had a proper ceremony, let alone proper photos taken, so I was ecstatic to get some done for the big 10! Thank you so much to our photographer Shelby for taking time out of her day to capture this special moment for us.


All photos © SG Photography

He Made the List!!

Can I just say how incredibly proud I am of my husband?! He recently made the E7 (SFC) list. Re-enlisted and today (or yesterday his time), he got promoted to Sergeant First Class. All the while I'm out and about with my friend. Thank you to whomever took photos of his promotion. It literally means the world to me. Surprisingly, I don't think I have ever attended one of his promotions before. Fail. Maybe when he gets E8? *cross fingers*


I think he's kinda cute



He hit his big 10 the start of this year. HOLYMOLY. I knooooow.... I can't believe it's already been 10 years. Which means, next February, we'll be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. Like whOa. He's come a loooong way from being a Private and a couple set backs, but here we are now. SO PROUD! I texted him earlier and say "Hi SFC Hunny Bunny" and he texted me back "Hiyah Mrs SFC Hunny Bunny". Guess he can be a cutey bear once in awhile :)


yea, I think he's pretty awesome

Military Spouse Tag

I saw this tag on Youtube awhile back and thought it'd be fun to add this on the blog. It gives you a small peek of the hubby and I and our life as a military family. I rarely talk about being a military spouse... plus there's already a gazillion and one blogs out there and my story is no different or more exciting.



1) How did you and your spouse meet? We met online. Now, back in the day... there were no online dating sites. If there was it was few and far in between. Meeting people online was a huge "omfg you're crazy". I got that a lot.

2) How old were you when you two met? I think we were 18 or 19. We're only a couple months apart.

3) How long have you been together? Together together? I think it's been 11-12 years. We've been married 9 years and almost 2 months.

4) Where are you and your spouse originally from? We're both from Orange County, California. About 15-20 minute drive from each other.

5) How did you feel about him joining the military? I think it's the best choice he's ever made (other than marrying me). When he came back from basic/ait, he was a completely different person and it has changed his life for the better.

6) Where did your spouse go to Basic Training? Ft Leonard, Missouri

7) Has your spouse ever been deployed? Deployed in a war zone? Once. Deployed to another country? Twice.

8) Ever been to his promotion ceremony? Surprisingly no. Hopefully I'll get to go this one. He recently made it on to the SFC (E7) list *WOOT* Not sure if he'll get it where he's at or get it when he's home later this year.

9) How long have you been a military wife? 9 years.

10) Did you marry him before or after he joined? After he joined.

11) How did your husband propose? Techinically, this is his second time proposing, but I won't get into that story. I remember he was in LA for MEPS leaving for Basic... me and his friend drove up to see him and hang out for a bit. We were sitting in my car in front of the hotel and there were lights stringed on the trees. I already knew he was going to ask cos he kept saying that he had something important to ask me. First off, I wanted to him to do it in front of everyone at the hotel lobby, but he got too shy, so he just asked me in the car. On top of that, I have never seen a man cry and he broke down and cried when he asked me. Which of course made me cry even more.

12) Where did you get married? At a courthouse in Santa Ana, CA. He was stationed in Korea at the time and flew home to get married to me.

13) How old were you two when you got married? We were both 20.

14) Did he wear his uniform on his wedding day? No. My husband refuses to wear his Class A's and even now when I asked him if he'd wear his dress blue's when we renew our vows, nope. But he did agree to taking photos with it.

15) Where are you and your spouse currently stationed? We are currently stationed at JBLM, WA. This is actually our second time here.

16) Do you live on base? Nope and we never have and probably never will.

17) How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation? We were married for about 2 weeks and he left to go back to Korea for about 6 months.

18) What is your favorite base so far? This is a tough one... we've been to quite a bit over the years and each has a special memory. I really liked Eglin AFB. Probably because we were there for the schoolhouse and not actually stationed there. As for Army post... I would say either JBLM (since we did choose to come back here) or Fort Drum (I loved our unit and the people I met).



19) Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform? HELL YAHZ.

20) Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life? Advanced? I'm not sure about that.

21) Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent? Sure. I mean, I get good health care and things. Plus there's so many great resources for spouses out there!

22) Do you have a lot of military wife friends? I have a lot of military wife acquaintances. I only have a small handful of close military wife friends.

23) What is the hardest part of the military life? Having your spouse leave all the time. I think it's different from job to job, but as an EOD tech, mine was gone a lot and there would be random VIPS too.

24) Do you own military wife stuff? Just an Army Wife t-shirt. I never wear it out in public though. I don't own anything else. I do live in my wounded EOD warrior foundation hoodie though.

25) Do you support your spouse as a member of the military? YES! We've gone through everything from the start and I am extremely proud of everything he's accomplished.

IF YOU’RE A MILITARY SPOUSE, TAG YOU’RE IT.



I was browsing through old photos when I came across photos of Frankie when he was itty bitty. *cries* Can't believe this little guy is 4 now and stubborn at times. He whines and cries when you don't make enough space on the bed, he farts up a storm, but he's the best snuggler.

Sunday Social: All about Fall

This Sunday Social doesn't have any questions to answers, but it's all about Fall. I have been searching for these photos for hours today and I'm so excited I finally found them to share! Fall is definitely one of my favorite season of the year. From the foliage to all the pumpkins to the start of the holiday drinks and knowing that Christmas will be here soon!

You know what I really miss though? I miss Fort Drum, NY. The views were absolutely breathtaking during Fall and going to Burrville Cider Mill for their homemade apple cider doughnuts and fresh apple cider.


The photo above was taken on post and possibly one of my favorite Fall photos. On top of that, both photos were taken with my iPhone!


The waterfall behind Burrville Cider Mill

Aside from that, I'm loving all the Fall scented candles from Bath & Body Works. I only picked up one pumpkin scented candle which I personally didn't like when it burned, but I'm loving the Spiced Cider which actually makes my house smell like caramel apples! Another fave is Leaves. Both scents are new favorites to me! I usually purchase apple cinnamon scents or pumpkin spice scents.

Fall food and desserts? I love apple pie. After chatting to Caroline from Chocolate and Carrots awhile ago on Twitter, I have been craviiiiiiing! I was disappointed when a slice of warm apple pie did not magically appear on my doorstep :( I also love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins... basically pumpkin anything. I love leftover turkey sandwiches with fresh cranberry sauce and some stuffing. Mmmm... I can really go for a sandwich right now!

Almost One Down and 11 More to Go

I miss you so much! I miss your smell, your laugh, your kisses, your hugs. I miss cooking and baking for you. I miss you picking up dog poop. I miss you driving us around exploring. I miss you taking care of the yard work. I just really miss you.

I know there's a good amount of people out there who are so negative towards the military and the lives that we live. I am in no way complaining, because YES, this is the life I've chosen and I wouldn't have it any other way. We're nearing our one month mark and I have to say, I've done alright. Like I said awhile back, September has been really good to me. I turned 29, made lots of new friends through blogging, had my first sponsor from the amazing Tookies, finally finding someone to do our yard, my A1C went down to 5.8 and my friend Jenny is coming to visit in 2 weeks!!

I feel very blessed and so thankful for those who have recently come into my life... and that includes all my new followers. I'm just very grateful.



With that being said, I am so excited to give you a sneak peek of what's to come on Monday. I am going to be hosting my very first giveaway on this blog! I'm going to be giving away 2 Zoya nail polishes, $10 GC to Starbucks and a FREE 250x250 sponsor ad spot. It'll run for about a week and a half, but it's ONLY for US residents only.

Question for you: Is it better to have it open to everyone? Open to only bloggers? Should I make following me on GFC mandatory? Any help would be great!

Sunday Round Up + Sponors

I've been looking into purchasing sponsor ad space for quite awhile now, but I didn't want to commit into spending money and then not blogging. I apparently have a habit of sort of falling off the face of the blog world mainly due to laziness. But, recently, I have decided that I want to be more productive and more open on this blog about myself and my life ramblings. And of course meet amazing friends! Due to Instagram alone, I have met quite a few pretty effin' awesome ladies, which through blogging I hope to get to know more about you girls ♥ Since I think maybe yesterday or Friday, my blog stats have slightly gone up which makes me incredibly giddy and I want to personally thank Jelli at Jelli Bean Journals for the shout out on Twitter. Thank you thank you thank you!! That's a hint for YOU to go visit her blog and follow :)

So, this is our last weekend before hubby deploys and we're just hanging out at home. I got him addicted to Chef Ville on Facebook and he literally spent all day Saturday playing. He's packing up the rest of his things today. It's all a very bittersweet weekend leading up to the day he leaves. I think I'm some what prepared, but I'm pretty sure it won't fully kick in until one night when I lay down to bed and feel the loneliness next to me, though I do have 2 dogs to keep me company. Just thinking about it makes me feel a bit ill now. This will be our second deployment (not including him being stationed there before) and it will be my first one doing it all by myself. Back in the day, I lived at home and I had a good support system, but out here... not so much. Hopefully I get a job soon and that will keep me busy!

To recap my weekend, on Friday, I went ahead and transferred my license to WA since it expires on my birthday this year (Sept 2!). Which, yes, I know I can keep my CA license blahblahblah. Ended up running a few errands, painted my nails which sadly chipped the next day and I ended up removing it. We also made our last Drive Thru Boba run together. I also went to Uwajimaya since they close at 10PM and I finally found Matcha KitKat!! I have been looking for these for a really long time now and when we were on leave in Cali, Mitsuwa didn't have any :(

Saturday, we just hung out, watched movies, listened to K-Pop while I secretly fan girl over Big Bang), played Chef Ville. All very chill. It's about 2:16AM Sunday as I type this, so I need to head up to bed. Sunday will probably be spent helping him pack and get ready for the start of the week.

What did you do this weekend??

Also, if you're interested in sponsoring or swapping ad space with GHOTH, please contact me! It's absolutely FREE!