punch! Interior Design Suite

For Christmas this year, one of the stocking stuffers I got from Ted was the Interior Design Suite. I've been addicted since Christmas, but it's slow going for me. This program allows you to build your own house plans from the ground up- and then decorate EVERYTHING. Landscaping, siding, roofing, and all of the interior. It's so fun!! The first house I made was super small because I have no real feel for the realistic dimensions of things. So I used one of the sample floor plans they have to decorate. I actually really like this floor plan, but it wouldn't be big enough for my dream home... ;0) I thought I'd post the sceenshots of what I've been up to- ignore some of the ugly colors- I was just messing around.

First-floor plan (click each photo to enlarge):

Second-floor plan:

Front Exterior (I didn't do flowers or trees here):

Entryway:

Living:

Kitchen:

Master Bedroom:

Bedroom 1:

Bedroom 2:

See how much fun you can have? You can design EVERYTHING, all they way down to custom-drawing the trim. It took me a full day to figure this program out, and even now I think I only have a grasp on the basics. It's very addicting though- Stay tuned for my dream house, once I get this whole shebang figured out!

Merry Christmas!

First of all, I want to say Merry Christmas to everyone, especially those we didn't get a chance to see or talk to yesterday!

Speaking of holiday spirit, I had a bit of a Christmas card fiasco this year. On the 21st (at least three weeks after I ordered them) my Christmas cards from Snapfish finally arrived. I was so excited because I really love writing Christmas cards and addressing envelopes. When I opened the package, the cards looked terrible! Not at all like it did on my computer. Ted's face was really dark- too dark to even see that he was almost smiling. And I looked a sickly shade of yellow. Doesn't that just say Merry Christmas! Come to find out, I'm a bit of a perfectionist about Christmas cards. I got a refund from Snapfish and ordered another batch with in-store pickup at Mom's local Wal-Mart. I don't know if they are any better since I haven't seen them- but it's probably best that way. I'll stick with Shutterfly from here on out. So, if you received a card with my mom's return address on it, that's because she and my sister kindly sat down and did them all for me. Love them!!

We started off the holiday weekend right with a gorgeous sunrise and I just have to share pics. The sun doesn't shine very often in the winter months, so this was kind of a Christmas gift:




Christmas morning Ted and I woke up had a delicious breakfast of steak and eggs (ribeye, no less!). Don't let anyone tell you men can't cook- Ted is always showing me up in the kitchen! On Christmas Eve he made tuna steaks and for me, shrimp sauteed in butter- with garlic breadsticks. SO delicious!
While we ate or breakfast of champions, we watched Rudolph. Then we opened our stockings from each other. Ted did a great job picking out gifts for me this year, and even though I said I was going to clean the house today, my Christmas gifts are begging to be used!

Here's me on Christmas morning by our "tree". Next year we'll have our first Christmas tree... I hope.

We spent Christmas afternoon with all our friends at the Oradat home. We had ham and a turkey roast, salad, pumpkin casserole, homemade bread (thanks Jak!), and sweet potato casserole. Oh, and I brought whiskey-glazed carrots and cinnamon rolls. Michaela made delicious mint-fudge ice cream cake for dessert! We had a good time, and we played "dirty santa" before going home. For that game everyone brings a gift (it can be a gag gift) and as each person opens a gift, the next person can "steal" that gift. I got some lovely puppy slippers. Let me show you:


No one stole them.

I drove home from the Oradats (which took about 45 minutes to an hour because I drive like a granny in the snow) and we called our families to wish them Merry Christmas. We had a great holiday weekend, and hope yours was just as wonderful. Of course we miss our families and can't wait to see them!

Merry (day after) Christmas!

Christmas Card Photo: The outtakes

Last year I did a photo card and it was quite a hit. I think it's fun to receive photo cards as well, so I had my heart set on doing another one this year.

Those of you with husbands know how hard it can be to have a "photo shoot;" the smart ones among you probably don't even attempt it. I had almost given up on doing one this year, because Ted comes home after dark, and starting this weekend I will be in class all day...so that left no daylight hours that we would be together. Somehow a photo taken in the dark with just our white eyes shining doesn't quite convey the message I intend to send: holiday cheer, good tidings, good will towards men, etc...

Then, it snowed. You all know it. I haven't stopped talking about it. I can't decide if I'm excited or elated or full of dread at having to drive my car to work in it....Maybe all three. It snowed enough to give Ted a day off work, and the first thing on his mind was getting out of his sweats and braving the cold to smile for the camera.

Not.

He'd rather do anything else. Even clean the toilet. Which he did. But when he saw how much it meant to me, he got dressed and followed me down the road to give it a shot. And I'm still grateful (for both the photo shoot and the toilet cleaning I don't have to do now).

So we ventured out into the cold (cold, Cold, COLD!) in search of a good backdrop. I kind of had in my mind an area I wanted to go, but it was a bit of a long walk through deep snow, and I was terrified that at any second Ted might give up and walk back to the house. So I located the first evergreens with some snow on them and set up the tripod. Now I will present you with outtake number 1:

Eww. What a terrible angle. Do I look nervous? Ted turned out nicely, though.

We'll try again.

Crap. Eyes closed. The green snow fence isn't too scenic either. Honestly at this point I wasn't sure what to do. It was getting REALLY cold. Then my hubby saved the day, and pointed out the most beautiful landscape I could have hoped for. It turned out really well, and you'll have to wait to see it until you get your card in the mail! On the way back to the house, Ted noticed a little trail... and we got ANOTHER contender for the card. Two good ones, both thanks to Ted's good eye! :0)

Isn't that beautiful? Then, we even got to try once more.

I wouldn't call it fun, exactly. I'm still glad we did it, because we got a couple of great pics! Thanks again to my husband for trudging through the snow with me. Now all of you go drag your husbands outside...I wanna see some holiday pics! :0)

Swan Butts

So, the other morning it started snowing. And snowing, and snowing, and snowing. By 10 am we had quite a pile, so I decided to take a snowy little stroll to see what I could see.

Me, on a snowy little stroll

It wasn't long before I came upon a lovely little pond; just the little pond I was looking for, in fact. Last year two lovely swans inhabited this lovely little pond, and to my delight, they moved back in for the winter. They are the same two swans, of course. Don't ask me how I know.

Lovely little swans on a lovely little pond, floating around and enjoying life

As I was standing there with snow packed all the way up the legs of my jeans (boots. when it snows, wear boots.), a flock of ducks or some other large white bird (but not swans) started circling the lovely little pond. They made huge laps, and every minute or so they would circle again, looking for the lovliest of lovely ponds to land on, I'm sure. Mr. and Mrs. Swammy Swan were none too pleased at the prospect of sharing their lovely anything.

Every time the birds flew near, these ruffle butts got their feathers all in a dander. I think they are looking at each other saying, "What the heck!?! This will not do!"

I stuck around long enough to see if the lovlies would be invaded. They were not, and all was lovely again.

Don't you think the one in the back is the male, and the one in the front is female? He's saying, "Come along now, wifey. Get a move on."

That's the end of that lovely story. See the pic below for the scene outside my window right now. They have forecasted 10 inches of snow by morning, and shut down the entire post for tomrrow! Snow Day! :0)

Baking

I like to try out new recipes. Sometimes it works out....sometimes we have to throw in a frozen pizza. I usually have better luck with baking (usually...). Don't have much else going on over here, so figured I'd share some of the things I've tried lately. Let me know if you want any recipes!

Salted Golden Caramel Bars---Like rice krispy bars with a slight twist

Shoo-fly Pie- Pretty rich and sugary for some tastes but has an awesome flaky crust

Chocolate Swirl Delight- has chocolate fudge pudding in the middle

Bavarian Pretzels- soft and delicious...a hit at my house!

Happy Veteran's Day

Ted's soldiers made him this gift and presented it to him while they were out to lunch a while back. I respect him so much for being the kind of man that makes his men want to honor him in this way. The flag inside the frame is the one they flew in Iraq. It is a beautiful keepsake, and one that he should be proud of. I am!

Edelweiss

Well, my sister said, "I check your blog all the time and there's never anything there!"
So I guess I'll put something here.

This weekend we had the opportunity to go on a marriage retreat in Garmisch, Germany. It is down by the Austrian border, and there is an Army resort called Edelweiss. We left on Friday morning, got there shortly after lunch, and had the rest of the afternoon to explore the area.

Our room was very nice, with a lovely mountain view

Lake Badsee, which was very clear and beautiful

The water was like glass!

My favorite pic this weekend- at Lake Eibsee, beneath the Zugspitze

Scenic Panorama at Lake Eibsee

Friday night we had sessions with the chaplain, and then, because of a snafu with childcare, we had the rest of the weekend off (nobody was going to complain about that!). Saturday morning we got up and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel, and then we drove out to the Zugspitze, which is the tallest mountain in Germany. We definitely want to go back there to ski this winter.

View from the Zugspitze



:0) It was a long train ride down the inside of the mountain

After a wonderful lunch on an outdoor terrace, we parked at the bottom of the Olympia skistadion and walked to a scenic gorge. It was pretty, but maybe more of a walk than we had bargained for. That evening we made reservations to eat at the restaurant at the hotel, so we headed back to the room to clean up and rest for a bit before dinner. After supper we enjoyed the hot tub for a while and then called it a night.



Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast before heading out on the road. It takes about three hours to get home, and traffic was relatively light on the autobahn. It is raining now, but we could not have asked for better weather this weekend, especially since it is already November. It was nice to get out of town for the weekend and see some new things!

Welcome Home

Ted and his platoon made it back to Grafenwoehr around 0130 this morning. All the wives and the rest of the company were so glad to see them back! I'm a little tired today, considering we didn't the bags upstairs until about 3am, but he's going strong, like the energizer bunny. I'm sure it's good to be around all his things, and it's definitely good to have him back in the house! Here's a few pictures from the Homecoming Ceremony last night:


The Countdown clock: Ten seconds until they start marching in the door!

My man in front of his platoon (and there's me, front and center, ready to pounce on him).

Celeb Fridge

Every month in Every Day with Rachael Ray, the very last page of the magazine has an article called "Celeb Fridge." It's probably my favorite part of the whole magazine. I can't explain it. I stare intently at the picture trying to decipher how much of that crap they did just for the picture. Nobody really keeps decorative bowls of uncovered food in their fridge...do they? Anyway, I decided to do my own Celeb Fridge, just for you.
Note: Do not enlarge the picture. If it's dirty in there, I don't want you to know about it.

Hey, Ashley! Your fridge looks way too neat. Did you arrange it perfectly just for your readers?

Yes. It was tough. Everything is in alphabetical order by food group.
Just kidding.

What's your favorite thing in the fridge right now?

Honey roasted turkey and string cheese!

What's that in the bottom left drawer?

I have no idea. I think that's where I used to keep taco stuff. It's a safe bet that the drawer hasn't been opened since January. Thanks for asking.

Don't you ever cook?

No.

Why didn't we get to look in your freezer?

We all know what hot pockets look like.

What does anyone do with one slice of Kraft American Cheese?

Nothing. That's why it's still in there.

Are there any go-to ingredients you always keep around?

Yes- milk, eggs, butter, BBQ sauce, and cold water. Those are the only things guaranteed to be in my fridge at any given moment.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about your fridge?

Someday I will have one with an automatic ice maker. Until then...no ice for me. Or any of you that visit. I don't believe in ice cube trays. And Germans don't believe in icy drinks. All's well that ends well.

This concludes this month's edition of Celeb Fridge. Questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions may be submitted to the author.

And don't worry. I won't do this every month.

Not Me! Mondays....

Several ladies out there in the blogosphere have been doing Not Me! Mondays (started by MckMama...http://mycharmingkids.net/). The point is to share silly or embarrassing things you've done recently but add "Not Me" in the sentence. For example: "This past week I did not run smack into the automatic door because I was walking way faster than it was opening...." I find reading them quite hilarious. Some of them, anyway.

I don't have anything much to write about, so I thought I would participate. It being Monday, and all. Here goes:

Earlier today, I most certainly did not march myself straight to the Nah and Gut to buy three bags of.....

Oh forget it. Who wrote a blog today?

Not me.

My favorite part of running....

I recently read an article about a beginning runner who, after fifteen months of running, had a break-through. Suddenly he was running and it didn't even FEEL like he was running....gone was the shortness of breath, the pain in the calves, the being-chased-by-a-bear heavy breathing....he had found a rhythm....and actually, finally, enjoyed running.

Even though I've been forced to run for over five years now, I still consider myself a beginner. I very rarely find myself enjoying my runs. I try desperately to think of other things besides the sweat in my eyes, the people at the beer garden on a Friday night who are laughing at the loser running by, the shoe that's not tied quite tight enough for my liking but if I stop to fix it I will walk the whole rest of the way so I can't, the Rolaids I would've paid one hundred dollars for if someone had offered them from a street corner as I passed....you get the idea.

So tonight I found myself in a position of absolutely, positively needing to run. I'll spare you the gory details, but it involved watermelon and gummy bears.....lots of it. My intentions with the watermelon were good- I read a recipe for a watermelon feta salad....but somehow the feta and salad part got tossed aside in the heat of the moment and were replaced by....gummy bears. 2-3 hours later, when I finally managed to get myself in a standing position with shoes on, I decided to ponder on what my favorite part of running might be.

I jogged down the street, happy to have something to think (and later blog?) about.

My iPod blared out "Open Arms" by Journey. Next. "Baby Blue" by George Strait. Next. "If You're Reading This by Tim McGraw. NEXT. Sunday Morning Coming Down, by Johnny Cash. What the.... That'll teach my to head out without a playlist. While I will not run without it, music is not my favorite part about running.

I came to a downhill slope....and for a brief second I almost smiled....DOWNHILL! This could be a favorite! Only then my knee started to hurt and I started to run bowlegged. Scratch that idea.

I've heard women talk about how cute clothes motivate them to go to the gym. So I tested that theory for a few steps in front of a storefront window. I tell you what, running can make the cutest clothes look awful. Something is always riding up, or lifting up, or rubbing wrong... Nope, clothes are not my favorite part of running. In fact, if one little thing feels remotely off I will immediately stop running and walk all the way home. Yeah, I am that dedicated.

What else is there? There's sweating.. Sunburn. Spit (or is that just me?). Sore legs. Side stitches. Shakes, rattles, and rolls. Talking myself through it. Out loud. Breathing. Not breathing and wondering if I'm doing my body more harm than good with this whole running thing.

I kept thinking about what I might like about running all the way home (trust me, I had plenty of time). When I finally got there, I found it:


My favorite part of running: Lying down in front of the fan and knowing I did it. I'm done. At least until tomorrow.

Oh, deer.

My father-in-law, Tony, has a problem. Every year, the deer ravage his sweetcorn as if he personally planted each stalk for their benefit. Well, this year, Tony decided to step up his game:

Meet the Corn Fence of 2010. Bigger, better....electric. Eat that, deer.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, I've come up with my own ingenious way to keep the deer out of the corn....





Tony, you're going to be soooo jealous that you didn't think of this first.







Yeah....that's right. And it tastes just as good, too (keep saying it...it will become truth....keepsayingit).


.........Too corny?? ahahahahahahaha.

1742

As long as I can remember, I've had an internal alarm clock that wakes me up a minute or two before my alarm goes off. Well, this morning either I had something important to do at 4:33 in the morning or the system is broken. So I closed my eyes to the glaring SUNSHINE (yes, Germany has about four and a half hours of total darkness right now) and went back to sleep. The next time my "alarm" woke me up, it was ten in the morning! That is so not like me. I guess it's because I've been staying up half the night. The same thing happened to me after my work trip to Houston in February- I turned into a night owl for a couple weeks. I'm not even sure what I do between the hours of 10pm and 2am. Mainly I sit around and scratch feverishly at my poison ivy. Last night I wrapped my legs in Ace bandages to keep from scratching myself to the point of bleeding. That lasted about five minutes. So I tried to put one of Ted's socks over it (sorry honey). I was able to fall asleep that way, but this morning the sock was on the floor next to my bed and there was dried blood on my leg. Oh well, I tried. The good news is, the poison ivy is healing. Luckily, it never got even close to being as bad as my mom's. Someone should tell her to quit growing that stuff in the flower garden. ;)

Back to my day. I woke up at ten, and I can't even remember what I did all day. I do know I went for a run, and that was a major feat today. So anyway, since I'm lacking the details and you don't want to hear them anyway, let's fast-forward a bit. I decided I needed to go to town for some groceries, and I pulled up to the gate and handed the man my ID card. I tried to say hello, but all that came out was a croak. I suddenly went into panic mode. Is this the first time I've used my voice all day?!?!
I looked at the clock in the car. 1742 (5:42pm). I spent the rest of the drive to town replaying my day through my head, trying to decide if it was really possible that I hadn't made a single sound all day long. I didn't have the radio on, so no singing out loud to the radio... Speaking of which, Alison, can you please tell The Hawk that I am deeply perturbed that they cut my ability to listen live sometime within the last month?! Anyway, I pulled into the grocery store, managed to park my car without running over ANY pedestrians, despite being out-of-sorts, and grabbed my phone. The phone! That's it!! Someone called me around 2:30, and I answered! Hallelujah. All was right in the world once again.

Except with my washing machine. Something is definitely not right with that. Somebody please tell me how to get rid of that awful smell in the drum or I'm never doing laundry again. In which case, the washer won't be the only thing with an awful smell.

Time is now 2054 (8:54 PM). I need to start my new bedtime ritual. Hot bath (actually cold bath, or lukewarm at best- does that negate the sleepy side-effects?), lavender lotion, warm milk (I hope that's not the key to success, because I really won't be having anything to do with warm milk), clean sheets, prescription poison ivy cream, boring DVD(s?)....if I start now, maybe I'll be asleep by 1 AM tonight. Sweet dreams!

Mirror, Mirror on the...coffee table?

We don't have a bedroom set. We don't have a fancy dining room set or even end tables. I'll tell you one thing, though. Upon our return to the states, the very first piece of furniture I'm going to shop for is going to be a vanity set. I simply cannot put on my makeup or even do my hair while standing. Or without a fan blowing directly on me. Or without snacks within arm's reach, apparently. Or without a TV. Preferably one that has TLC and News Channel 8.

I'm not high maintenance. Really.

Oh, and if you've ever wondered what albino eyelashes look like (it's a rare and delicate thing, I know)...just click on this picture.

Maybe she's born with it....maybe it's Maybelline. 100% of the time. People like me keep the mascara manufacturers in big business.

I've come to the conclusion that I will have blonde hair forever- at least until it turns white to match my eyelashes. Surely God must already know that BROWN eyelashes go with brown hair. Surely.

Anywaaaayy.... the microwave just dinged. My gourmet hot pockets are ready.

God Bless America

I hope you all had a memorable holiday weekend! The Fourth of July is always one of my favorite holidays. There's just something about it: summer, tan lines, tank tops, hot dogs, and BBQ Lays (I can do those year-round...just sayin'), friends, family, fireworks......memories.

Last year we watched the fireworks from the parade field in Grafenwoehr. Tony and Jenny were with us, and we had just made the drive back from Austria....

The year before that, Ted was living at Ft. Sill, and we spent the fourth watching Lynard Skynard in the Oklahoma heat....

A few years before that I was watching the fireworks on a parade field in South Carolina, somewhere towards the end of Basic Training....my battle buddies and I unable to keep our eyes open, even for the show....a testament to our exhaustion....

And it seems like just yesterday I was watching the fireworks on Lake Red Rock, waving sparklers over the side of the boat.


Another July 4th has gone by, and next year I can look back on it and all the lovely fireworks....oh wait. I didn't see any. They weren't until 10:45 pm (supposedly) so I went home. I thought for sure I would see or at least hear them from my house, since I can hear artillery all the time. I thought wrong. I think they ended up canceling them (that way I don't have to feel bad about missing anything). However, Gary Sinise was in town for the festivities! My friend Jennifer called to invite me to a BBQ to watch one of the World Cup soccer games, and she mentioned that Gary Sinise was doing a tour of our company, and as a LT's wife, I was welcome to come. I was like, oh, that's nice.......so what should I bring to the BBQ?
I had no idea who Gary Sinise even was. I honestly thought he was in the chain of command somewhere. That probably doesn't surprise anyone who is reading this. Least of all, my husband. Pop culture is not so much my thing. So yeah, I missed out on my chance to get my picture with Gary. He was there with his band, The LT Dan Band (you know, LT Dan from Forest Gump?!). It was a great show- great music, great weather....and I'm not going to say anything about the hamburgers. The band did covers for songs like Sweet Home Alabama, Don't Stop Believin...we've all heard it a million times before. But for all of us there, it was just right. Several members of the band can sing, and they all took turns being the lead (or whatever the heck you call it...Music isn't my thing either. What is my thing?!). Oh, and we learned that CSI New York is filmed in LA. In case you're wondering. And I learned that Gary Sinise is on CSI. Haha. Ohhhh, Ashley (shaking my head).

Gary Sinise

The LT Dan Band

Tracy, Me, Michaela, & Jennifer

Bad video quality...but good song.
Nothing like hearing it amongst soldiers and their families.

(even though the video says 0:00 if you push play it will go)

~God Bless the USA~