I'm Back: Military Wife, Military Life and What Have You

Well.

I'm back. Sort of fell off the posting schedule, I suppose. My last post was in November and I figured I was due time to update you, seeing as most major aspects of my life have changed since we last talked.

Quick recap:
Married an Airman on May 26th, 2012.
That Airman Deployed June 4th-December 12th to Qatar while I stayed at home on the East Coast.
He came back and I joined him on McChord Air Force Base, in Washington state December 18th.
We've been married nearly ten months now and have been living happily ever after in the Evergreen State now for 4 months.

I haven't the slightest idea how to bring you up to speed on our lives, and I feel horribly awkward jumping back into posting, but here I go anyway...


We moved to McChord and got ourselves a nice little baby house on base.

 

 

 

We got ourselves a sweet and rascally furbaby. (He actually came 3 weeks before the move across the country and got the pleasure of sharing a 11 hour plane trip with me.) His name is Trinkilo. Not to brag, but he is the best kitten ever.

 

With a bit of church hoping, we successfully found a new church: Puyallup Foursquare! You can check out their website and stream their services live here! We like it a lot there. We have joined a young couples small group and can't wait to get more involved.

 

My new job is finding a job. I spend a large portion of every day on job boards looking for someone to hire me. I've applied to an absurd amount of places in the area, everything from nannying, to retail, to restaurants, to libraries. I am now a pro at submitting applications and resumes. However, I am still without a job... Ultimately, I would like an office assistant/receptionist type position, but for now I would settle with just about everything. We aren't desperate for the income, but I am so very desperate to have some responsiblity outside of the walls of my home.

 

In the meantime, besides job hunting and trying to get my Associates finished through online classes (online, by the way, is agonizing) I have taken up various hobbies and wife-ish responsibilities and I am loving my life!

 

I've taken up gardening. Or I am trying. As of yet, there is nothing growing, but things have been planted! My handy husband helped me build a  raised bed in our little back yard and we've planted bush beans and sugar peas so far, with herbs, mesculine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes to come. I'm sure I'll be posting plenty about the garden's progress as time goes on! We also made our own composting bin out of a trash can, a post on that to come. And as you can see, joblessness leads to increased craftiness: I have been painting garden markers on rocks (another post in the works!).

 

I've been doing a whole lot of cooking and baking. I've always enjoyed cooking, but it was never a necessity before when I was still living at home. Now, if I don't cook, we won't eat (or we will eat one of three things with my husband specializes in: grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, or ramen). Having to come up with three healthy meals a day has become a fun challenge for me. There will be a lot of posting in the future about my cooking adventure, I assure you.

I've made it my goal to make as much from scratch as possible. For example, I've taken up making all of our bread instead of purchasing it weekly. I am also trying to avoid paying for convenience. That means I avoid purchasing mixes and whatnot. McCormick taco seasoning and I broke up after one way-too-salty taco session. The dough boy, Betty and I aren't on speaking terms, as I am not making my own brownies and cakes without their help. However, me and the instant mash potatoes are still buddies. Those I won't part with as I simply loathe making mashed potatoes. Microwave popcorn remains a favorite too.
Hopefully I can get some practical "how to" posts on making your own mixes up for you shortly!

I've been couponing. Is that a hobby? No, not like those people on that show that causes all of our jaws to drop. Not extreme. Just couponing to the extent that I am able to save about $30 off of our grocery bill every month. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but I like the idea of an extra $360 in out pockets at the end of the year. (And for the record, I am only buying healthy things which we would normally purchase anyway, not stockpiling 8,000 deodorants and 60 sugared cereals).

Besides couponing, we are trying to be as frugal as possible. Growing up in a home of 10 people with the thrifting queen as my mother I learned a lot about frugality and homemaking. I am pleased to say that, thanks to God, we have furnished our entire home completely free of debt and are well on our way to saving for our futures. Being responsible with our finances is our goal!

I'm still knitting and crocheting. That goes without saying...

In my mind, I've been painting. I love the idea of painting and my home needs some art on the walls very badly, but I've never been much of a painter. I went out and bought canvases, brushes and paints and so far no art save for the garden rocks has been produced. Let us hope that soon I will be posting some fantastically artful thing.

I've been doing laundry. Lots of it. It is not a hobby I chose: it chose me when I married an Airman. I thought I, as a female, had a lot of laundry. Apparently I had nothing on his at least 3 required (ad thoroughly dirty) outfits a day. The frugality has extended to the point of making my own laundry detergent and fabric softeners though! Thank you, Pinterest!

With the addition of talking to the cat, that is pretty much the extent of what I do as of currently. I am planning to get back into blogging and post a couple times a week so stay tuned for more!