His boots, her flops = Perfect Pair???

Yesterday I went to the commissary on base. What I thought was going to be a nice shopping day, easily turned into a bitter afternoon. You see, yesterdays date was February 27th, you know what that means, it's the end of the pay period!!! Holla! The commissary towards the end of the pay period is like a straight up ghost town. There's no one there, I can happily tap dance down all the aisles, and get my groceries without unaccompanied minors ramming carts into the back of my legs. If you've ever been to the commissary on the 1st or 15th (payday), it's a fucking nightmare and circus event. I understand that husbands are deployed, and you have 7 children, but that gives you no right to let your kids go ape shit crazy in the commissary...

My favorite commissary story is one of a nice young marine on Camp Pendleton. See, he took his baby to the commissary on his own. WOW, right? What a nice man to help his wife out. Except for one small factor. You see, he forgot to dress his baby! Silly man! I swear to you that this baby was only wearing a diaper at the commissary.
A DIAPER. Everyone knows how cold grocery stores are, but apparently, this baby was raging hot that day because he didn't even have socks on. Poor baby.

Anyways, back to the Cherry Point commissary, I got all my stuff quickly, threw it all in my car, and was on my way back home when I turned and noticed what could quite possibly be known as the stupidest military wife sticker on this planet.

"His boots Her Flops - Perfect Pair!" Really bitch?? This has got to be the most annoying sticker in the world, and I'm on a mission from God to make everyone aware of how ridiculous this sticker is. I mean, what the fuck? Don't get me wrong, be proud that your husband is in the service, but be normal and put the circular USMC sticker on the back of your car, like everyone else! But this makes no sense to me. Way to play up the stereotype that all marine wives are stupid, because that's what this sticker equates. Stupidity. 

At first I thought I was just being a bitch. But when I posted about it on my FB, the majority of the marine wives that I know all agreed that this sticker is irritating. Ridiculous. Dumb. Hate it.

So pleasssseeee if you know of someone guilty of this sticker, either tell them to take it off their car, and if they refuse, go out there in the middle of the night and throw a molotov cocktail in the window of their mini van for me.

Thank you!

...end rant...

Washington, DC

This past weekend Dustin and I finally made a trip up to Maryland to see my brother and his family. It's about a 6 hour drive from North Carolina, and we got to see a real freeway! Thank you sweet 7lb sweet baby Jesus! Driving 50MPH on a "freeway" here is torture, absolute torture. So we finally got to see something more than 2 lanes of traffic. YES!

Add these to my list of welcome state signs

I haven't seen baby Ollie since September, and he's so much bigger now! He is the sweetest baby I've ever been around in my entire life. Seriously. I've never seen a better baby in my life. I don't think he cried once, and is just a happy cute little guy. You wouldn't be able to tell by this mean mugging picture with Dustin, but he loved Dustin so much! Dustin kept telling him "let's make your aunt jealous" because Oliver kept wanting to crawl all over Dustin. Hey Oliver, Dustin doesn't even like kids, but me, I LOVE THEM!

Oliver and Jesus

Remember the blanket I made? I was finally able to give it to him. It was perfect for our little trip into the city because it was freezing in DC this weekend.

Olliesaurus

Those cheeks!

What was great about our visit was that we got to see Dustin's little guido brother as well, Dennis! Dennis is stationed in PA as a recruiter, so he drove the 2 hours down to see us, bless that little boys heart. My brother in law, is PRECIOUS. I love that boy, he is the sweetest person, and always so much fun.

Near the Jefferson Memorial

I told their mother I would send pictures of them...

Walking to the White House

Don't mind the hurr, it was windy as hell

My favorite monument! I love how you can see the difference in marble! Also, notice how there is no one around?? When we walked back, ran a mile back to the car later that night it was 11 degrees. The best time of the year to go into the city is when it's cold! It's almost like you have the whole city to yourself.

We had a fun time in DC, and can't wait to go back and see some more museums! This was my fourth visit to DC and I still haven't seen all the museums, no wonder in California they take kids out to DC for a week, there is just so much to see.

So. Here is the saddest part of our whole trip. It snowed in New Bern, North Carolina while we were gone! :( I've never seen snow fall. I've seen it on the ground before, but I want to see snow fall. I thought it would snow in Maryland this weekend, but it didn't, there was a tiny flurry, but no snow. I swear, weather like this always happens to me! When I would go out of town for work in California, we would have like 80 degree weather at the beach. Story of my damn life!

Petey baby in the snow!

Now that my family is visiting in a little over the month, I'm about to get craft mothingeffing crazy up in my house. I have end tables to make, quilts to make, a ton of stuff!

TV Stand - Hit it and quit it!

Hey y'all! Since the penis finger incident last week, I haven't had much time to write because I couldn't bend my finger. Typing without a pointer finger BLOWS, so I said fuck it, and I finally "accidentally" ripped a stitch, so guess who can now bend their finger? This girl.

So, if you remember this post from nearly a month ago, I talked about how I was forcing my crafty bitchyness on my husband to make me a TV stand? Well, we finished it!

Created and Assembled

Completed!

I finally got the TV stand of my dreams, and we made it. I do like entertainment centers that are huge and have lots of decoration space, with with the military life, you NEVER know what your next house is going to look like, hell it could be in a van down by the river for all we know! So we decided to keep it a simple for when we move again, someday.

We didn't have any real instructions, we went off of pictures of another TV stand mama liked. The guido did the cutting, sanding, nailing, and I did the staining and poly top coat. It actually didn't take very long to make, but it was super cold here about two weeks ago, and that really put a damper on us hanging out in the garage like all the other red necks do in our area. We finally bought a space heater and decided to hit it and quit it! Now that we've made one, I am considering having the husband make another one for the end of our bed. If we end up doing that, I'll take pictures and do a tutorial, because it's super easy, all you need is a miter saw, which we had from my parents! Thank you Heysoups!

This weekend we went to the farmers market in DT New Bern because we're Vegans, remember? Yeah, we're still on that kick, and we did actually find some fresh local veggies.

As we were leaving I realized I forgot to share with you all a little story from when I cut my finger. You see, I didn't know where that hospital was, and I made a wrong turn off the freeway, and ended up passing this place below. It's an antique flea market, and I seriously considered pulling over, keeping my finger elevated and having a looksee of the place. Unfortunately, this area of town is a little sketchy, so I decided to return when I had some muscle with me. And by muscle, I mean a gun.

Black Swan Flea Market

This place was amazing. I loved it. The front of the house is original, from the early 1800s, the back was an add on much later. This made it have a little bit of an awkward floorplan. There were so many little rooms I just couldn't figure out what could have been what, before it was a store. Anyways, they have neat stuff. The lady who owns it does upcycling. There were old doors, windows, fencing, and when we were leaving, I saw the PERFECT door for a headboard for my guest room. I must go back and see if it's still there!

In the original part of the house - and I'm 5'3...

I also forgot to share with you my latest sewing adventure. I haven't had time to work on it again, due to penis finger syndrome. Honestly, you never realize how much you use your pointer fingers until you can't use one! Remember my reading nook? Well, I love that area more than any room in the house, but our house is a little cold, so I thought it needed its own throw. This is how far I am, thought I would give you all a sneak peek! I can't decide what backing to do. They have this super cute polka dot backing that I thought would look SO funky, and the coloring would match perfectly. I'm still debating on it. Hopefully it will be done next week!

This weekend we are off to Maryland to see my brother, his wife, and his bambino Oliver! I can't wait to visit and hopefully explore DC if there is some good weather. Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures to share!

I present to you...PENIS FINGER

Yesterday, I did...

THIS

Oh what? How did that happen? Well let me tell you. It happened while I was slicing what can only be known as "North Carolinas' juiciest apple." I eat an apple every day, not because it keeps the doctor away, but because I slather that thing down with peanut butter and raisins, and it's delicious. So I am slicing these apples because I like to make little apple sammies out of them, and BAM. The apple slid right, along with my hand, and I literally sliced directly into my left pointer finger with what should be a knife so sharp, it's illegal. Later on, my husband asked me if it hurt when I did it, and obviously it didn't, because I grabbed my phone and was like "OH SHIT, let me put this ish on Instagram." The 7 numbing shots that I DON'T have pictures of are what made me squirm with pain.

So, I sliced it, and just let my hand run under the water for a bit, and then I tried to stop the bleeding. I wrapped my finger in paper towels, and one after another, it bled through them all. At this point I was freaking out because it was A LOT of blood, and didn't know what to do. I didn't want to go to the ER and have them be laugh at me and send me home because it was a baby cut, but I also had ZERO idea where the nearest hospital is.

I decided to go to the ER because it was pretty gnarly. BUT here's the catch. I still am on West Coast military insurance, and I haven't switched over to this side of the country. I called Tricare BEFORE I moved to see if they could switch it over as soon as I arrived to Cherry Point, and they couldn't do that. And until I cut the shit out of my finger, it totally slipped my mind. So I called the Cherry Point Naval Hospital and the wrong asshole answered the phone...I explained that I had just moved to New Bern, and I knew that the base Naval Hospital didn't have an ER and I had cut my finger pretty bad, and didn't know what hospital they send dependents to. He fumbled around for 30 seconds and then finally said, "I've never had this situation before, I'm a little stumped." Are you serious asshole? I was pissed. So finally I said, "Well, where do you send dependents for ER visits?" He fumbled once again and said, "Uh, er, uh emmmmm, Morehead City?" I felt like screaming into the phone, "Are you asking me or telling me?!!" Finally I asked if there was one in New Bern because he obviously wasn't listening to me when I first called explaining how I lived in New Bern, and wouldn't you know there WAS one, MUCH closer. So he gave me the name and phone number of the hosptial, but before I hung up, he said, "Well don't hang up yet, let me give you the information you need to call Tricare and get switched over." (West Coast to East Coast insurance.)

I nearly got in my car and drove to Naval right then and there to beat the shit out of guy with my bloody finger. I just hung up. I didn't care. Who tells someone who is calling about the nearest ER to "stay on the line."

So off to the hospital I went...

Fingaahhh - did I mention I almost ran out of gas on the way to the hospital??

They sent me from the ER to "express care" and I was in and out of there in no time flat. It was an all around great experience! On Camp Pendleton you basically have to fake every illness just to get seen, so this was a happy change.

Tetanus shot, 3 stitches later and PENIS FINGER was created

After the gym today, I took penis finger off. :( Isn't she a beaut. I also cut through a nerve, and can't feel anything underneath my pointer finger. Eventually the nerve will grow back, doc said, but whatever, I burn my pointer finger ALL the time on my iron. It's cool with me if it never comes back. BTW, my stitches are green? They have to stay in for 10 days so it looks like they'll be traveling to Maryland next weekend with us!

Says they're a Vegan. Eats nothing but Oreos and soy ice cream all day...

Here we go. 30 days of Vegan.

Can I do it? Will I do it? 

Will I eventually become so enraged over not having diary or meat products for 30 days that I'll eventually just crack, run to the nearest Dairy Queen, and go into a lactose coma??!? (BTW the Dairy Queen here is strategically placed directly NEXT to base housing. Well played Dairy Queen. Well played.)

We'll see if I make it. I am pretty determined, and I am so surprised by the amount of texts, phone calls, FB messages, and IG comments I've received about becoming a Vegan. I think a lot of people have the same view of Vegans that I did. I had this vision in my mind that all Vegans ate were leaves, and thought they were all psycho hippies. I realized what I was thinking was Vegan was actually a raw diet, so it's definitely been a little adventure figuring this whole thing out.

So why the hell did we decide to go from chowing down on bacon to straight Vegans? I've been a little more than grossed out at my eating habits over the past few years. For instance, I could mow through an entire loaf of French Bread covered and smothered in butter. Seriously...To me, eating Vegan is more of a way of forcing myself to eat healthier. Look for alternatives. I am a thin person. I understand this, but I won't be for the rest of my life if I continue to eat the way I do. For my husband, it's because he watched Vegucated, it's about these people who become Vegans for 6 weeks and they document their health throughout the whole documentary. My husband has been trying to get me to watch it, but I can't, and refuse, to watch anything showing animal abuse, which that documentary does. I've been warning him that he doesn't want me to watch it, because I'll go ape shit crazy. Release my dogs into the wild, throw my Louis Vuitton out the window, and refuse to wear leather and end up wearing those recycled yoga mat sandals for the rest of my life.

So, we're excited, and we're optimistic. Did I mention it's day 1? ;)

Here is some of the Vegan products I'm consuming...

Vegan grocery shopping 

More of that yummy salsa from my last post for the Superbowl Party

Todays Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Breakfast: Apples w/ organic crunchy whole peanut butter & raisins
Lunch: Whole wheat bagel w/avocado, salt n' peppa
Din Din: Whole wheat pizza crust, pizza sauce, vegan cheese and peppers
PS. That pizza was DELICIOUS

What I also learned is that there are different levels of Vegans. We are being realistic about everything. Am I never going to eat bacon for the rest of my life? Hell no. If I go to a BBQ will I say in my annoying California accent, "Um. I'm, like a Vegan, I can't, like, eat any of this." No. I'll shut my pie hole, and have a damn hot dog. I'm giving it a go, trying to make it to 30 days, will I continue after that? Who knows.

So, like my title, just because you're a Vegan doesn't mean you can't eat unhealthy bullshit... No meat or dairy, but I can eat Oreos? Potato Chips? French fries? So yes, I'm trying to eat healthy, but I also run everyday, and need plenty of protein, and love the occasion fatty snack. Maybe I'll end up like my girlfriend Sheila, "I was a vegetarian, then vegan, back to vegetarian, and now I'm a fatty omnomnomivore. I nom everything." ;)