You won't be hearing from us.

I figured I'd make a quick note to let everyone know you probably won't hear much from us this week. Rosalie and I have an extremely hectic and busy week. I have to meet with a new potential dog sitter (ugh long story).. run errands; ie post office, groceries, pick up prescriptions, and appointments out the wazoo.

As we speak, I'm making cookies to send to my love in the desert for Valentines Day. As some of you know, we do not celebrate Valentine's Day. We truly believe it to be a hallmark holiday. lol. We haven't celebrated it since 2007 when we got engaged. How many guys would love to have a wife that doesn't demand flowers, jewelry, or candy for Valentines Day! BUTTTT.. I figured since Kevin is so far away.. that it would nice for him to receive a lil taste of home.

Well the countdown is on to our trip to PA.. 25 Days! WOOT!

new obsession.

Rosalie is almost 15 months old.. and can you believe I have never purchased a pillowcase dress for her? The awesome thing about pillowcase dresses is they can be worn as a dress now.. and when she's older and outgrows it, it can be worn as a shirt! In the past hour I purchased 2. I found a St. Pattys Day one that I REALLY like... but I'm going to contact the lady that is making one of the dresses I ordered and see if she can do anything because I'd rather have it embroidered. Anyways.. I just wanted to share this one I bought.. I thought it was so cute and as soon as I saw it I had to order it!

No time!

I apologize for not updating lately.. we've just been keeping busy to make the days pass faster! When we aren't up to much, my face is buried in a book! We are doing good. Rosalie has been on a sleep/food strike since Kevin left. Finally the other night (well technically morning.. it was like 5am) I made her cry it out because she wasn't technically crying, she was letting out some spoiled screams. After about 5-10 minutes she went back to sleep. She usually gets up at 5 on a normal day for some milk and a fresh diaper and she goes back to bed until anywhere between 7 and 8:30. Lately she's up a few times throughout the night just wanting me.. then after 4, she just wants me to hold her the rest of the night. We finally broke that spell and last night after she got up at 5, she went back to sleep until 7. It felt good to get some actual sleep! Yesterday she actually ate good too!

I've been doing good with my goals! I'm now down a total of 6lbs! YEAH ME! I've been exercising 6 days a week. I know I said my original goal was at least 4 days a week, but to be honest, I feel really guilty if I even miss 1 day!

Well that's all I got... Here's a few pics :)

don't worry :)

I know I haven't updated since Kevin left, but I swear, Rosalie and I are doing great. We've been keeping extremely busy. We're starting to get ready to go back to the US , which is still over a month away, but I need to get my paperwork done and get signed up for the plane. We've had play dates and have gone shopping.. I've been working on my continuing educations for my x-ray license. I've been exercising religiously and sticking to my diet.. which I'm shocked. I thought it would be hard to stick to it while Kevin is gone, but it is infact really easy since there's no temptations in the house and I'm sure as heck not going to get fast food by myself lol. At night, instead of laying in bed feeling sorry for myself because my husband isn't here, I do things that I wouldn't normally be able to do when Kevin is home.. like watch Will & Grace. haha! After Rosalie goes to bed and I get the house back in order and do any odds and ends that need done, Budders and I head upstairs, which is usually around 8:30, and I watch 2 or 3 episodes of Will & Grace and zonk right out. I have actually been sleeping pretty well... but Rosalie hasn't. She's been working on her last molar and last night it finally broke through... hopefully that means she sleeps good tonight.

We have a pretty busy week ahead of us... we have to go out tomorrow and start the paperwork for us to come home and Budders has a vet appt on Friday. I'm also going to call tomorrow and try to make Rosalie and appt at Peds because her eczema is bad again and the steroid cream they gave us isn't working. I'm hoping when we go to the states it clears up.

I've been doing good sticking to my goals..

I've read 9 books so far for this month.. but I'm on standstill waiting on my order to come from Barnes and Noble. The BX doesn't have crap for books.

I'm down a total of 3.8 lbs, so only 16.2 more to go to reach my goal. I'd really LOVE to have reached my goal by the time Kevin gets back from his deployment..but we'll see.

I've exercised 5 out of 7 days last week. The 2 days I didn't exercise were the day Kevin left and the day that he had the day off.

Well a Princess is now awake. So that's all for now!

Ciao

Taking on the Role of A Single Parent

Just looking at the title of this entry, makes me a little sick to my stomach. For the next ? amount of months, Rosalie and I will be flying solo. Kevin has left for Qatar and we are unsure of when he'll return. I won't lie, it's so weird and quiet without him here. I know Rosalie and I will be fine.. we're tough chicks :) hahah.. but it will be extremely hard without Daddy around. I've been holding myself together pretty well because I know have a little Princess to think about. I just ask that everyone keep my husband in your prayers that he stay safe and say little prayer for Rosalie and I as we go through this deployment.

Reading List

I've really been getting back into reading lately.. and I imagine once Kevin has left for his deployment, I'll find myself reading even more. I thought I would share everything that I have read so far in 2011 and right now I'm working on my MUST read list or planning to read list.. a little input would be nice!

2011 already read list: -->and I must add, I have LOVED everything I have read so far.

~The House of Night Series 1-4.. Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed. I'm absolutely ADDICTED to this series. I have 5-8 ordered since the BX doesn't have the rest of the series.. they seriously can't get here fast enough.

~Life Laughs, by Jenny McCarthy... As with all Jenny books, she can be kind of, okay not kind of, but really.. crude. lol... If you get offended easily, then I wouldn't even bother picking this one or the next book up. lol. I am a HUGE fan of her books hahah

~Love, Lust, and Faking it, by Jenny McCarthy

~Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks.. one of my favorite authors!

~The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

MUST READ/PLANNING ON READING LIST!

~The House of Night Series 5-8.. They CANNOT get here fast enough!

~The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, by Stephenie Meyer.. it's a Twilight Novella.. I'm pretty excited to start it... it's already on my book shelf!

~The Blindside.. by Michael Lewis.. this is also on my shelf

~The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, by Stieg Larsson.. this is also on my shelf, but i didn't realize it was the LAST in the series. boo.

~The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

~The Girl who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson

~PS I love you, by Cecelia Ahern

~The Hunger Games Series, by Suzanne Collins

~The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks

~The Choice, by Nicholas Sparks

~Message in a Bottle, by Nicholas Sparks

Okay I want some input.. what are your favorite books and what do you recommend!!?! I'll be lucky if my list of books lasts me a month! lol!

Goals

So I thought I would do a little update about my goals I set for myself for 2011.

Read One Book A Month:

~I've actually read 6 so far and am halfway through number 7. I've been a book junky lately.

Lose 20 lbs in 2011:

~I'm down 2 lbs this week. 18 more to go!

Workout 4 Times A Week For Half An Hour Each Day:

~I worked out 6 times last week.. a total of 3 hours in exercising. Woot.

Keeping In Touch With Old Friends:

~Kayla and I are still e-mailing each other religiously... and Kate and I talk on the phone about every other day. I can't wait to go home and see my loves

I would have to say that my first week of working towards my goals went pretty well!

keeping busy

I know I've been really slacking lately on updating. I've just been terribly busy.

I started the New Year off right and got right back on my diet. It's now Thursday I have done great. I've even taken a few pounds of water weight off that I put back on during the holidays. I've exercised every day except Tuesday because we were gone most of the day. I've already finished my book for the month and started another. I finished Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It was most excellent. It started off kind of slow, but then I couldn't put it down. It was crazy that the main character's hometown was Altoona. What was even funnier was how amazing she described Altoona. I guess if you get past the fear of having a heroin needle thrown at your eye as you go through downtown, maybe it is amazing. haha. I am now on Marked, from the House of Night Series. I had a really hard time getting into the beginning. I was having a hard time following it.. maybe that was because I couldn't get it into and was only reading a chapter at a time and my mind was wondering as I was reading it, but now I can't put it down.

Kevin's been on 12s all week so he's up at 5am and doesn't get home til around 6:30. It def sucks because it makes for a long day and a very short night. What sucks even more is he'll be leaving soon and we haven't really been able to spend any time together. To make the week go by faster I've been throwing myself into all sorts of projects, and it's honestly worked.

Monday morning I woke up extremely refreshed. Rosalie slept all night and I awoke at 7 feeling amazing. I haven't slept like that in a LONG time. She was still sleeping so I got up and started cleaning. I did a nice deep cleaning upstairs. I got most of it done before she got up and finished the rest when she napped. I had all my laundry done and housework done and worked out by lunch time, which never happens. Oh that reminds me, we got a sweet new dryer. I know everyone has heard my constant complaining about our old dryer and how it took a day to dry a load of clothes and by the time it was dry some of it smelled so i'd have to rewash and hang dry. It got to the point where i didn't dry anything of Rosalie's for fear the dryer would do something to it. It was also getting extremely loud. Housing finally came out and gave us a sweet new one that dries really fast and is really quiet. I can now get all my laundry done in one day. AWESOME. That's the way it should be! I spent the rest of the afternoon working on getting the old laptop ready so kevin can take it because we don't want to chance something happening to our MacBook. I got it before I started college so it's over 5 years old. I worked on it for about 5-6 hours. All I have left to do is make sure the skype works okay and then he'll be set to go.

Tuesday. Rosalie had to get shots. Yikes. She got 5. Thank god she didn't spike a fever this time; then again, I didn't really give her a chance to. After she got them she was really docile and not herself. She looked like she was drugged. She slept the entire afternoon and as soon as she got up I got medicine in her. After she got her shots we went shopping and she got a new night gown and we got Kevin stuff that he would need for the deployment. That evening Rosalie and I had to go back to the base to pick Kevin up from work. It made for a really long day.

Wednesday. I did a deep clean downstairs.... cleaned cupboards and appliances.. Housing also came to fix our light in our bedroom. We've been without light in our room since before Christmas.

Today I'm working on washing everything.. rugs.. Rosalie's high chair cover.. laundry..

Well, that's about it!. How about some pictures of a Princess! :)

she's such a lil lady

wearing a dress her Grandma got her for Christmas..

and a Miss Khloe bow of course! I've ordered her 10 more this week plus all her frees one from the contest!

Rosalie and her best friend

I stinken love her

Giving Daddy kisses. So SWEET

I have to admit.. that's the Gallaher coming out there.

She looks so much like my bestfriend, my cousin Kate.. it's scary. I hope she doesn't get Kate's attitude :) haha kidding. Lovee you punky

Why Hello 2011

You know what's funny about a new year starting? I'll still be writing 2010. It'll take me until about May to say or write 2011 without thinking about it or having to turn 2010 to 2011 on a check. haha.

2010 was really good to us.

At the start of 2010, Rosalie was almost 2 months old. She basically just ate, slept, and pooped. The end of 2010, she was almost 14 months old.. talking up a storm, walking like crazy, busy and curious and has a mouth full of teeth. It's been fun watching her grow and learn. It'll be crazy to see how much she changes in 2011 as she enters the Terrible 2s, which I'm pretty we've been in since she was 9 months! lol!

We've seen so many beautiful European cities and countries and have been so blessed to be given this opportunity. The best part was being able to see some of them with my mom and being with her as she lived out her dream of seeing Italy.

We were able to visit the United States and Rosalie was able to spend 3 months with family that she never gets to see other than via skype.

I have many high hopes and goals for 2011.

First and foremost, my weight loss resolution. Last year my resolution was to lose 50 lbs. I easily achieved that. This year, I plan to lose 20 lbs. Starting today. I'm looking forward to seeing the old me again.

I've been trying to get back to the old me and I don't mean just looks wise... my old inner self. I use to love to read for pleasure and write and exercise. Somewhere between moving to Europe and having a baby, I lost myself. I stopped reading and just don't have the energy to exercise. Starting at Christmas, I started digging into books again. Since Christmas, I've polished off 3 books and am halfway through my 4th. It feels great to do something that I love again. I'm making it a goal to read at least one new book a month. I've also been emailing my bestfriend from back home a few times a week and I hope to continue that. Granted, I won't be emailing her when I'm back in the states because i'll see her all the time, but while in Italy, I don't want to lose touch with her or create any distance. I want it to be like I'm still back in Berwinsdale and her and I keeping each other updated on every single moment of each other's lives. Having her so active in my life again makes me feel like the old me. I've also been making a point to write to another friend back home that I use to work with at least once a month. As for exercising, i'm making it a goal to make sure I hit the Wii Fit at least 4 days a week for at least 30 minutes a day. It may not be much, but it's a start and is better than nothing.

2011 has many trips in store for us. Rosalie and I will be venturing back to the states for a long visit while Kevin's deployed. Say a prayer for safe and easy travels for us and for Daddy to stay safe. Once Kevin returns, we plan on visiting Salzburg, Austria.. Garmish, Germany.. Rome & Volterra, Italy.

Here's to a new year that be filled with health, love, and happiness.