Today was a good and busy day. I woke up and shoveled snow for about an hour. Got most of it shoveled before I had to leave. Chloe had her vet appointment today. I left early and still ended up being late. So much snow and people who don't know how to drive make for a hard drive for everybody else. So the vet appointment went REALLY well. The vet said she looked really good, so that is awesome! Got all the travel papers done for her to fly with me when we come home. Then I have been dealing with getting vehicle registration extended (long story) and so I had to go to one more place today for that. I'm still waiting on that! Kind of annoying but I've done my part so all I can do now is wait. Then off to Amberg for some lunch. Chloe went with me. She has been going with me everywhere lately. She is such a good girl. Came home and shoveled some more... finally got ALL of it shoveled. Now just waiting for more snow to come. I needed to cut Chloe's nails today and of course the very first one I did I got her cuticle. I have NEVER done that before. She bled so bad, it was a little scary. So I just kept pressure on it and it finally stopped. Then a friend came by and we talked for a while. Started a movie after that and now all I have left for the day is an FRG meeting tonight at 1830. So far this week is going by really fast and I'm so glad!!!

It had been 11 days since I had heard anything from Cody. Yesterday he was able to send an e-mail and I was so stinking happy. It was about 4 lines but it was the best ever! I sent him one back that looked like a book, haha. He was able to send another one today. I'm so glad that I know he has the chance to e-mail. It just gives me a huge lift from the stress, being able to hear from him. He said that he is doing okay. They are staying in mud huts right now. No heat but he said that it is staying pretty warm there right now and they are working on getting better shelter and getting heat. He has been having to eat MRE's and he said that if anybody sends more boxes to send Mt. Dew and snacks. Other than that he is doing good, missing all of us. He will be home (back to Germany) in less than 2 months so we are getting closer. Time flies! So that means in like 8 Sunday's (approximately) I'll get to see my hubby!!! YAY!!!

I'm so thankful to God for protecting Cody and keeping all of us "sane" while he's been gone!

Okay really I'm doing good but today has been one of those days! It's been over a week since I've heard from Cody and that just makes everything else really get to me. I experienced something that I know exist and I know happens all the time but it really just shocked me and kind of made me step back and see people for who they really are. As you all probably know I have a relationship with God. I try to live my life according to Him and to live as He would have me. Of course I'm NOT perfect and I mess up ALL the time. I do try to live a Christian life every day. I feel that I show His love through myself to other people and I should show that in my actions. Being different sets me apart I feel. Sadly some of my "Christian" friends seem to be "Christian" only on Sunday. It truly breaks my heart. I come home crying because of their behavior. I hate that someone can say they love God and have a relationship with Him, but act the complete opposite of what God is all about. I think this is where, when people who aren't all about "religion", it begins to be an issue. People always say churches are full of hypocrites and they are right. That is why I look at it as a relationship NOT religion. Religion doesn't really do anything... it the relationship with God that makes changes. Then on top of all this I come home to Chloe and she had peed on the rug and got into a bag of food I have packed for her for on the airplane. She couldn't have eaten the food from her dog bowl? Nooo... she has to get it out of the zip lock bag. O what a day and I'm praying tomorrow will be a better one.

It's been a good day, although it is starting to drag, haha. I worked all morning on my final paper, it took over 3 hours but it is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo! That is really the majority of what I've done today. I'm working on laundry and taking it easy. I'm so glad that I'm done with school, but now I'm like what am I going to do? haha. Mom says to get a job but I can't work with coming home and then Cody will be here in February for R&R and then home for good in June and then coming back home again when he is home... I can't to that do an employer... so I'm really going to get into my scrapbooking! I love scrapbooking and I have so many things to use (thanks to Paula). I just need to order my prints and scrap away :). I'll start that the first of the year, I'll be getting ready for the Holiday's and getting ready to come home these next few weeks to I'll stay pretty busy with that. My mind wonder's a lot and with Cody gone it wonders even more... so I have to be doing something all the time. For Thanksgiving I'm going to my friends house and a few of us are going to bring food. Then we are going to just hang out and enjoy the day. I love my military family... they make it so much easier to be here.

Jay and Joanna I got your cards :) They came a few days apart but they both made it here. Thank you so much for the graduation gift :)

Well I just got some of the best news! Cody called today (while I was gone) and left a message. He said that he got a cell phone. I guess the people who are where they are headed to have told them that it's best to have a cell phone and that it works where they are going!!! SOOOOO I guess this means that I won't have to go 2-3 months without hearing from him and you all will still get updates and know that he is doing okay!!!! :):):):):) It feels like a heavy weight was just lifted off my heart when I got that message.... then he called me again "to make sure the phone worked". He is so funny. Right now they are at a place in between moves so he is going to get to call me from the "free" Army phones tonight and then after that he will be using the cell phone. I'm wondering how much the minutes are going to cost, but I really don't care because I know he will be able to call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy! :)

Money!

I feel extremely blessed and so thankful that we are able to have money. We never have to worry about not being able to eat or not being able to take care of our needs. I have one of the best husband's that a girl could ask for and he is such a GREAT provider! We are trying our best to get the car's very close to being paid off before Cody gets back from deployment. So we are tripling sometimes quadrupling payments on both cars each month. So that is like 6-8 car payments in one month. We have the money, because deployment money is great, so we figure just live off our normal pay check and all extra goes to the car's. So far it has worked out great but I feel like our money is so low after all the payments. We are used to having a certain amount in the account and with paying the extra money's it's lower than normal, but still a good number. I laugh at myself because I just want to get these car's paid off so bad I'm like okay what else can I cut down on to put more money on these cars. I'm such a dork, but I think it's working! Cody has been gone for 5 months and we have already paid probably close to or over 7 grand off the car's. By the time he gets back, as long as the budget goes according to plan, we will only owe about 2 grand a piece for each car. Plus Cody will be a Captain by then so we will still be making almost the same amount of money as he is now being deployed so that will be pretty easy to get paid off. I hate having to owe people money and it is such a good feeling to OWN your car's. O and plus we are putting lots into savings. I'm a penny pincher and Cody likes to impulse buy.... it's so funny when we go shopping together. I always think how can money be so important, it's simply just a piece of paper with green ink on it ;) haha

Here is how my day has gone and it's only 330!!!

Woke up, let the dogs out, that actually went good. Then today was the day to change the tires on the Mazda. On my Jeep it has all weather tires so no hassle there. On the Mazda it only had summer tires sooo we had to buy winter tires and we have to change them out ever Winter. Cody isn't here obviously so I had to do the tire change this Winter. The change went well, I've always helped Cody when he does it and I've helped my dad before to. Although it is a little different doing it yourself, it's not really that bad changing the tires. So I got them all changed and the summer tires put away in storage, tightened all the lugnuts one last time to ensure they were all tight and the tires aren't going to fall off while I'm driving. I took 2 hours to do the changes, the last tire was a bugger and I had a little issue with the jack (but I don't wanna talk about that :(... ). Anywho, so I took the car for a test and all the tires were fine, no problems. Sooooo I needed light bulbs and I had to drive a ways to get them. So I just figured I would take the car to get some driving time in on it, BAD IDEA!!! I get about maybe 10 minutes away from home (off post by the way) and all the sudden the car starts making this knocking noise, sounded awful. I knew it had to be the stupid tires. So I turn the car around and drove VERY slow to get back home. I get about 1 mile from post and I'm thinking I'm NOT going to make it back home with this car. So I pull the car over and tried to call for help. Well my phone was out of minutes and I couldn't call out!!! So I said a little prayer and just made it work. I drove about 2 mph and had to drive through the gate with the guards standing there checking Id's... remind you the car knocking noise is REALLY REALLY loud!!! So of course they are feeling sorry for me, but I made it home with the car. I was so annoyed because it's been a week now that I've been having issues with this silly car. So I jumped in the Jeep to do my errands and get lunch (at 2pm now after all this junk has happened) So I finally get back home from my errands and check the lugnuts on the front tire where the noise was coming from... they are loose!!! just on one tire though. So I tighten them like crazy, did another test run(close to home) came back and re-checked the nuts and they were still tight. So I just went around and MADE SURE they were ALL tight, and they were. I put the tool in the car just in case that happens again when I drive off post. So 5 hours of messing with this car and FINALLY (hopefully) it's fixed. I was really bugged because in the States if a car is parked on the side of the road with a woman in it, getting out looking at the tire, people are going to stop.... NOT HERE. I don't think anyone even looked twice. Another reason why I miss home! Lesson learned... carry a tool in the car (right after you change a tire) just in case this happens and never go off post without having minutes on my phone! Now I'm resting and hoping that tomorrow MAY go smoothly.

Loving life but missin the hubs as always!

Today has been wonderful, the only thing that could have made it better was if Cody was here. I woke up a little later than usual today. I'm trying to wake up early but I have such bad sleeping patterns it's really hard. So once I woke up I got ready for the day, took the dogs out (yes I'm dog sitting again, but it's a little dog and only for 2 wks NOT 2 months). Then I wen out to run a few errands, checked the mail and sent Cody's Christmas box. I also got a box from Cody today, it wasn't really anything for me but it was still GREAT to get something that he had touched lately :). He moved jobs so the guys from his old job got him a little keg made out of marble, it's really cool lookin. Some guy also gave him a scarf, and all you who know Cody know that he won't wear a scarf, so he gave it to me :):):) and I'm sure glad cuz it's really cool! Plus it's from Cody... O how I love my husband!!!!!!! Back to his new job... he started it almost a week ago and two days after he moved he has been out (cant say much else). So it has been 3 days now that I haven't heard from him and it should be at least 7 more till he can call.... So yes this job is more annoying to me but Cody was more excited about it, less stress for him (supposed to be).

Soooooo I put up almost all my Christmas decorations today! I'm a little crazy but not really. I normally wait until Thanksgiving is over and the next day we put up Christmas stuff. Since I'm coming home to visit in December I want to fully enjoy my Christmas decorations so hence the decorating in the first week of November :) I really love it though, I kind of want to have it up all year, it's so homey!!!!! :) It makes me feel all warm inside, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas music.

One more update.. the poor Mazda is dead :(. I went out to start it a couple days ago and it wouldn't start, so I fiddled with it and figured out that the battery was dead. So I jumped the battery and it started just fine but then the next day it wouldn't start again. So I'm guessing the alternator has gone out. I jumped it again and it is now parked under the carport until Cody gets home in Feb to mess with it. It just makes it extra hard to fork over all that money for the car payment when I can't even use the stinking car.... grr I feel so blessed that we have the second car.