Hello All,
     It has been a while since I've updated so I'll try to remember everything to catch you all up. Some happy things going on:

1. Jasmine, our second dog-baby came into our little family! We are now officially crazy dog people, and loving it haha. She is 1 year, 8 months. We kind of have NO idea what type of dog she is, other than adorable, but that's okay with us. We found her at the same shelter that we found Ellie. Ellie kind of picked her our for us, hehe. The shelter was having a special the week of Thanksgiving, and we had already met her a few times, so we made the decisions to add her to our family.She is a sweetheart and is a wonderful friend for Ellie. If it was up to her, she's cuddle up on the couch with us all day, but her sister Ellie will have none of it haha. She'll sit and bark at her until she plays. But they have a lot of fun and love each other so much. :)

2. My mom visiting for Thanksgiving! I was so happy to have my mom visit. She also showed me how to cook Thanksgiving for the first time. And it went off without a hitch! It was just Andrew, me, my mom and Andrew's buddy from work. It was a great time, and very yummy food! I named our little Turkey, Tina Turkey. :) Happy times!

3. Job hunts and finds. I have been working as a part-time nanny for a sweet family for a couple of months now. Two twin almost 2 year olds and their almost 4 year old sister. They are adorable and all very sweet. They might not need me starting in January, so I am starting to look again, so prayers would be greatly appreciated!

4. Andrew's mom, Dave and Sarah coming to visit for Christmas! They're coming Christmas Eve and staying until the 27th. We're super excited to have them!! And can't wait until they get here! Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year so it will be so great to have family around.

5. Starting to get involved with Women At Risk International, Int. I hosted a jewelry party December 2nd. I hope to do more as time goes on. They are a great organization. I found out about them through their boutique in Downtown Naperville before we moved in August.

Well that is most of it for now. Exciting things happening down here in Georgia!

Love to all of you!

Alyssa

Army Life

So, as most of you know by now, I am now an Army Wife :) So I thought I would give you a little peek into what this looks like.

So far this means:

1. Moving to Columbus, Georgia. We moved here, August 29th. We got to use movers (as a side note do NOT use Moving Central. They. Suck. Overcharge, late, scam, pretty much sums it up). This is my first time living in the South. First time living far away from family. Also, Andrew and I's first move together, and our first Duty Station/ PCS (Permanent Change of Station). All very exciting and new and scary :)

2. Andrew now wears ACUs. (Army Combat Uniforms). This means white t-shirts and white socks are almost a thing of the past, and Tan shirts, green socks, and ACUs (which have a RIDICULOUS amount of Velcro that gets caught on everything, haha) are the norm. BUT an amazing part of laundry now days is we now have our own washer and dryer!!! We have been STOKED about this. Another blessing of moving and army life :)

3. Ft. Benning! Now, I have not explored too much, other than the Commisary (grocery store), PX, (wal-mart/mall) and Andrew's office. Mostly, because Ft. Benning is HUGE and as most of you well know, I have a HORRIBLE sense of direction. And GPS satellites don't like army posts haha. My friend and I learned that the hard way. But I am excited to get to know Ft. Benning more and use all of the many services and fun things to do on post.

4. Holidays with family visiting US, rather than driving out to the suburbs to see everyone. Sad to be away from everyone, but SO looking forward to having My mom for Thanksgiving and Andrew's mom, step-dad and sister for Christmas. I am super excited!! Learning to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time and Christmas dinner too! I'll definitely miss Chicago-land, and everyone we can't see, but am super blessed and excited to have visitors :)

5. Meeting other Army Wives. I have to say, these women are AMAZING. They have gone through so much, and are so strong. There have been a few ways I've met these women.One is Facebook, sounds funny, but I have a good friend now through an Army Facebook page. Part of Andrew's job is to help run marriage retreats, and this has been a great way to get to know people as well. Also, we met a really sweet couple at church that we have gotten together with a couple of times so far. It's definitely challenging at times to relearn how to put myself out there and meet friends, but it is fun and exciting too :)

Well there is more, I'm sure, so just let me know if there is anything you all are curious about.

So right now, life is nannying (part-time) for 2 twin 21 month olds and one 3.5 year old. Getting settled. Taking care of our puppy. And just living the life of a new Army Wife. :) 

Domestic Me

     In my time at home since arriving in Georgia, I have been trying to do more domestic things like cooking more often and also implementing a cleaning schedule. Well, I have found a VERY VERY yummy recipe and a wonderful cleaning schedule that does not stress me out, and keeps me out of my all or nothing mindset. I got both the recipe and the cleaning schedule from a dear friend and am very appreciative :)

     Now when I say this recipe is yummy, I kind of mean I have made it three times in the last 3 weeks ;)  So get ready for your tastebuds to receive an explosion of awesomeness! Ready? Here it is:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/07/asian-glazed-drumsticks.html 




The recipe is a bit spicy but I am not a spicy person and still love it! And the first time I made it I only had white vinegar and red wine vinegar and it still tasted amazing. And I have also not had the chives before too, and so the recipe is definitely flexible.

This is the cleaning schedule I have been following:

 http://blog.emeals.com/2012/04/daily-housekeeping-schedule/
 

It's so much more enjoyable to clean the apartment without feeling the need to do it all at once. I have a tendency to avoid housework once it gets too overwhelming so this has been great! And it's pretty and polka-dotted...what could be better? 

Hi all!
      I have decided to start blogging again. I hope to stick to it this time, but hey a girl's only human and life sometimes has other plans. But I do want to keep everyone I love updated on the daily goings on of my Lord loving, Army Wifey, 23 year old self. It will probably be a mix of a lot of things. Pictures, Ideas, Inspirations, Experiences, Recipes I've tried, Etc. So here we go!
     Andrew and I moved to Columbus, GA a little over a month ago. Definitely does not feel like that! We are still exploring and finding our way, it's a fun adventure! We moved into a lovely new apartment with beautiful grounds surrounding it. Which I especially love for walking our new puppy!
     Our new furry family member's name is Ellie. She is 4 months today, so Happy birthday to her! We found this adorable, loveable pup at PAWS Humane in Columbus. Andrew and I have been wanting a dog for a long time and feel so blessed to have this addition to our family. We arrived at our new apartment and were searching for a pup within a few hours. We knew we wanted a big dog. "A dog with some presence" is the way Andrew put it. :) Because we were adopting, we wanted to get a puppy rather than an adult dog, just because you never fully know their history. So we looked around and Ellie (Diamond was her PAWS given name) stole our hearts! We played and walked her and were pretty ready to take her home right then!
     We refrained and decided to at least make ourselves sleep on it. After all we had just arrived, with our stuff not even on it's way yet!  But we figured, an empty apartment, what else are we going to do? Let's get the puppy! She can settle into our new home with us!
     So now we are all three settled in (almost!) to our new home and loving it.

With Love,
     Alyssa