We're really gonna do this ... I think

It seems K's coming around to our little family planning ... plan. While we were in PA last weekend, I overheard him telling his brother that we'll probably have a baby in the next year or two, and the next day, I heard him telling his friend's wife (that couple is K's age and has 5 kids!) the same thing.

I've still pretty much kept it a secret. I told you guys, and I finally told ER about it several weeks after I wrote the post. It's come up in conversations with Heather, who reads my blog (actually, who I know from the blog), and with CG, since she reads occasionally also.

But that's it.

My aunt asked me about it over Christmas, and I told her we'll start thinking more seriously in a year or two, but I didn't go into details. I've told people I'm not really repulsed by the idea of having kids soon anymore, which was a big enough development for these people to understand how big of a development it was (my, am I eloquent today!). Part of me doesn't want the barrage of questions to come from my very ready family, and the other part thinks it's fun to have a little secret.

But even though I haven't been talking about it much, I've been thinking more about this whole baby thing. One of my closest friends, Danielle, gave birth to her first baby -- a girl -- last week. Seeing her pictures is exciting, and I feel more ready to be in that phase myself. Not completely ready, but I have a feeling that transition will take place soon after a positive pregnancy test.

K and I have talked more about our plan. I'll finish my last pack of birth control pills in mid-May. We'll resort to other methods at that time, but we know other methods are less effective than the pill, which could mean we get pregnant immediately. (Not that there's any guarantee that won't happen before we stop with the pill.)

Timing-wise, it's kind of go-time. We know we're here in VA for another year, probably leaving sometime after Memorial Day next year (I'll be a few months from 29 by then). After that, we'll likely spend 10 months in our next location while K is in a school (approaching 30 by then). After that? Who knows. But a deployable unit is very likely, which means me ... raising a baby ... by myself ... potentially in a strange place.

This sucks, but it's kind of what we've signed on for. The price you pay for marrying a badass superhero. While I would hate to have K miss any part of our future children's lives, it's part of military life, plain and simple. Not to say that any pregnancy or birth or growing baby is less meaningful than another, but I'd love to have K be here for all of those firsts (especially since I have no clue how my body will react to this business).

We could wait until after a likely deployment, but we'd like to have a baby before I'm 30 (which is 35 for K). And while things are wrapping up in Iraq and Afghanistan, we may find ourselves at war with another country/ies in the next coming years. Or the world could just end in 2012 ... (does anyone else like making the 2012 joke as much as I do?)

So basically -- even without deployments considered -- this is as stable as we'll be for the next 2 years. And even though driving/moving halfway across the country with an infant doesn't sound like the best-case scenario, it definitely sounds better than being pregnant and/or giving birth while moving halfway across the country.

Which brings me to the next item on my mind: space. We live in a 3-bedroom home. We have a nice, spacious guest room, and I intend to keep it that way. Which leaves us with our office. Our tiny little office.

It's dark (partly because of the paint, which I love, and partly because of the size and fact there's no overhead light). It's small. It's funny-shaped -- kind of triangular.

And we'd have nowhere else to put anything in there at this time.

Which means we'd just have to throw in a crib, probably on the half-OU, half-Army wall. At least there's a nice closet in there, which would minimize the need to find room for a dresser or something.

Would we have to repaint? Would it be OK not to? Would we want to? Would it make sense if we're only looking at being there with a baby (potentially, that is) for a couple months?

Is this bad?

So much to think about!

NYE: The Aftermath Edition

 When the party goes 'til 6 a.m., the next morning is not gonna be pretty.

The only reason this table is so uncluttered is because the night owls decided to play a game of A$$hole ... sometime after 2 a.m.

Our neighbors noticed their melting snowman looked spot-on for the first morning of the New Year, so they added this sign. (K and I were glad we didn't wake up feeling like this guy looks!)

Ugh ... men

K was in upstate New York last weekend for a bachelor party. Between having friends visiting, getting the house in order post-visit, and our own traveling, it feels like it's been a good, long while since K and I have had a nice, chill weekend to ourselves. And (in true K & MLIB style) we'll have to wait at least a couple weeks more before that happens.

There was a lot I wanted to do around the house, so I made myself my big to-do list. I did a ton of laundry, and I folded all of it. I washed our guest bedroom duvet cover. I vacuumed almost every inch of floor in the house. I cleaned out the refrigerator (there's ROOM in there now!). I cleaned all the toilets and sinks (I hate cleaning the showers, and since I just did it last week, I decided it could wait a few more days). I washed and ironed our dining room table runner. I even washed my reusable shopping bags!

I felt like such a good wife -- not that scrubbing the house is my job as a wife, but because since I think it's absolutely wonderful to come home to a spotless house, K would surely feel the same.

I had just finished my very last chore and was about to collapse on the couch and relax when K got to the front door. I waited for him to say something about the house.

Nothing.

He had just arrived, though, so I waited patiently. We watched TV for a bit. By then, he had been to the kitchen and all around downstairs, but he had still said nothing.

"Why don't you take your stuff upstairs?" I asked him. That way, he'd have to walk up the freshly vacuumed stairs, down the freshly vacuumed hallway, and into the freshly vacuumed bedroom. He'd notice the bed was made and the sheets were cleaned (they're a different color than when he left), and he'd see the stacks of his laundry that I'd folded.

I went upstairs a few minutes after he did. I started a conversation. He still said nothing about the house. I couldn't wait any longer. "Will you just tell me the house looks awesome?" I threw my hands in the air.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "I cleaned the entire thing this weekend. Can you just acknowledge that it looks good?" (K would want me to tell you that there was an F-word or two dropped in these lines somewhere, but I don't remember where, so I didn't add them here.)

As you can imagine, none of this went over well with K. Instead of telling me it looked great and leaving it at that, he said something along the lines of, "Fine, it looks great. What do you expect from me? I'm tired!" (For the record, there were some F-bombs dropped in those lines, too.) He continued griping about how tired he was, and he finally told me that he didn't even care that the house was clean. That it didn't look any different from how he remembered it looking when he left (he was way off).

"No," I said. "When you left, it was tidy. Now, it's SPOTLESS!"

"Those are YOUR DEFINITIONS!"

He went on and on, and I finally just started laughing at him. I could tell he was tired and cranky. All I had wanted was acknowledgment of my hard work.

I told him I was going to wear the hottest pajamas ever to bed, and he wasn't going to get anything out of it.

"Hot pajamas? Is that even possible?" (I told you he was cranky!)

I rolled my eyes, laughed and left him to finish unpacking. When he was done, he started getting ready for bed. I picked out a soft, sexy nightgown, and I made sure to start getting ready for bed while he was still in the bathroom. He was in bed and asleep before I was done. The guy was too tired to even be tortured. Damn.

Yet again, a reunion that went nothing at all like I had thought it would.

I'll just have to remember from now on that we suck at first nights back. The traveler is always tired and cranky; the non-traveler is always too excited about whatever got done around the house in that time (no matter how big or ... not).

But at least my house is freakin' spotless.

Even if I am the only one who's excited about it!

Help me decorate my living room!

I've been wanting to update the pillows on our couch to mix in some patterns and add some color. I ventured onto Etsy this week, and I found some I really like. In fact, there's one set in particular that I so want to work, but the colors in it don't match the rug ... I like the set so much that I'm worried it's clouding my opinion of whether or not it's an acceptable fit. 

All three pillow sets below are approved by K. There's one set I LOVE, one I'm not crazy about, and one that I'd probably like more if I wasn't so in love with the other set. 

So I'm asking you guys! What do you think? 

This was taken a while ago, but it's pretty much what our living room looks like.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Some reward for all that hard work!

K and I are back in VA now. We've been back almost a week, actually. In that time, I've stayed busy unpacking, cleaning around the house, and doing yard work.

It turns out our yard accumulates quite a bit of leaves if you leave (ba-dum, ching!) them to build up all season long. When I saw our neighbors had yet again raked their tiny back yard, I decided it was time to deal with our leaves.

On Wednesday, I bought us a rake and got to work. I accidentally locked myself out of the house, so I was forced to get it all done in one day. K was able to get out of work a little early, so he got home at about 4:30 to let me back in. In the 3.5 hours I'd spent stuck outside with the rake, I got some pretty nasty blisters at the base of my thumbs, but I got our yard from this:

to this. I was surprised to see that our grass is still green!

Once K got home, we spent an hour or so trying to bag up all the leaves. At that point, it was getting dark and starting to rain, so we quit for the night.

On Thursday, I set out to pick up a few more piles. It was in the 40s and drizzling, but I wanted to get as many up as I could since the forecast called for wind and rain for the next few days. After a couple hours, the yard was done, and so was I with the outdoors and the cold.

Unfortunately, the cold was just getting started with me. By Friday night, I was pretty congested. In the past 48 hours, I've made my way through an entire box of Kleenex and several doses of Dayquil & Nyquil ... and that's about all I've done.

Hopefully one more dose of Nyquil will leave me feeling better. I've got a lot of catching up to do in Blogland!

We're keeping it!

After a couple days of getting used to it, K and I both feel a lot better about our bedroom set. Your comments and suggestions definitely helped me feel better that first night we got it. I guess I have a tendency to panic if things don't look exactly how I thought they would. (See: guest bedroom) Since I'm pretty new to this whole house decorating thing, I tend to doubt myself pretty easily.

I was able to do some decorating in our bedroom yesterday, which definitely helped the look of things. We still have boxes around the room, since we haven't moved into our dresser yet. I guess we figure we've been living out of boxes and 3-drawer Tupperware "dressers" for 3 months. What's a few more days?

The style of our bedroom set and the decorations I put up give the room a more romantic, elegant feel than the rest of the house. I like it that way. It makes it feel (to me, anyway) more like a romantic retreat.

I have one other idea in mind that will only increase the glam factor. I'm a little nervous about the execution, but it just might work. I can only hope this finished product looks even half as good as it does in my head. Either way, you can bet I'll post pictures as soon as it's done!

A tour of our guest room!

For being the room I was most excited about decorating when we first moved into our house, the guest bedroom sure has been something I couldn't make up my mind about.

When K and I chose the bedding a year ago, I envisioned a peaceful, calming room. When it came time to paint, I looked through several paint swatches before settling on a color called Putting Green. It looked like the perfect shade in the room in which I tried it on the paint company's website. Once we got it on the walls, however, it was a much more energizing shade than we'd planned. It wasn't quite neon, but it was close. Since then, we've debated on repainting. We weren't particularly excited about the thought of having to paint the whole room again, even if it would just take one coat, so we just left it.

Then, a funny thing happened. We chose our curtains to help block the all-day sunlight and to help balance out the white bedding. When I looked for a tablecloth to cover the side table, I found something even better than I'd hoped for. It tied in the green in the walls (well, the green we'd hoped for), the yellow in the accents I had all around the room, the white in the bedding, and the color of the curtains.

As I started finding items to fill out the room, I stumbled upon things that weren't my typical style, but they fit the room perfectly. Things like the funky, old-school alarm clock, and the lamp for the corner.

Someday soon, I plan on searching for some kind of patterned fabric to make a headboard for the bed. (Of course I'll post "Woohoo, I did it!" pictures once that's done.) I'm excited about the options I have to play off the colors in the tablecloth.

I found an adorable plate at Pier 1 for a whole $5, and it fits the style of the room perfectly! It's now on the wall right when you walk in the door.

This little decorative hook I found awhile back fits the room great. I also hung some mirrors on the blank wall next to the door.

I can't forget our fabulous blue sky-patterned ceiling. We can't take credit for it, as it was already like this when we moved in. We actually like it. It's a fun little detail that a lot of times people don't notice initially. There are even a few glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling (also not our doing, but totally staying)!

I like that the room has meaningful touches to it. The "Yellow" art near the side table is a card a friend gave me when I started my last job in Dallas. She knew yellow was my favorite color, and I thought the card was so cute I hung on to it. It looks great next to the side table!

The pictures in the white frames are meaningful as well. I took the photos in the small frames. The lilies are from the bouquet K sent me last May for Military Spouse Appreciation Day. The picture on the right was taken the first time K and I went to the beach when we moved here. The picture of the rose is one I bought at Michael's, which is why the sticker is still on it. I think a picture of a funkier flower might be a better fit, and I think it's fun to have history behind the photos.

I do have to say I would love to paint the dresser in the corner white (or black), and I'd love to paint the chest black and change the fabric on top to a more fun pattern (or even have it match the tablecloth), but I'm reluctant to paint them just for this room, especially since we'll just be in this house for two years. (Note: In the second photo below, the color is a bit off because I turned the flash off so I could get the shot straight-on.)

Still, I'm really happy with how this room turned out and how it's come together. I never would've thought the accessories would tone down the color so much. The friends who've visited so far have all commented on how happy the room feels and how they like that the color is so unexpected.

I think we'll keep it!

I guess it's confirmed

I'm a little bit country. Good thing K is too.

It's us in a room!

Before K and I got married (heck, before we got engaged!), we had a deal: We would have a room in our house that would be half devoted to OU, and half devoted to whatever K chose. We decided to make that room our office.

Once we started putting things up and deciding what would go where, the room became more of a half-K, half-me room. I love it!

We have our big bookshelf that contains a lot of special mementos to us. I've got an OU shelf, a shelf of things from my hometown and childhood (which includes a diecast model of a car my brother worked for when he first started in NASCAR). The top shelf has memorabilia from K's two tours to Iraq. The fourth shelf contains items from K's time in Korea and Afghanistan, and the bottom shelf is our college yearbooks, my Army wife books, and some patriotic memorabilia.

We've got a few Yuengling items up, which represents K and his home state of PA. We have my nice OU football that's just waiting for a Bob Stoops autograph. And the 2006 glasses from our first New Year's together, spent in NYC.

There are framed gifts from K's old units, and pictures from my time in the Pride (yes, I'm in that OU picture). I even have my rehearsal bouquet in a vase on the desk.

Nearly everything in that room is an important, special item that represents who each of us is today and how we got here. I love it!

View from the doorway (turned slightly to the right)

View from corner by desk (in front of the sombrero in the picture above)

From in front of the bookcase (you can see the door to the room on the left)

Closeup of my OU stuff (again, the door is on the left)

Another detail shot of some of K's Army mementos

I'm a what?

I've really gotten into decorating now that K and I have a house. It's been fun trying to make a nice, comfortable home that's not too feminine or too masculine. I've enjoyed adding little touches to make our home express who we are separately and as a couple.

I've started looking at design blogs and websites from time to time for ideas and just for the fun of it. Today, I found this handy little quiz to find out what my style is called.

I shuttered when I saw the label. When I read the description, though, I have to say this site hit the nail right on the head.

You are a COUNTRY CASUAL

Your home expresses your open, easygoing approach to life. You love unique finds, and can turn a few mismatched garden chairs or floral teacups into a charming arrangement. You appreciate a pretty mix of relaxed pieces, like painted wood or weathered furniture, lovely florals and other patterns, lots of throws and pillows, mementos and bunches of fresh flowers that give your home a unique sense of breeziness and charm.

You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a dining room!

I'm so sorry to have left you with Miley Cyrus's face for so long. That wasn't what I'd intended, but it's been busy lately! We had a few friends come in for the holiday weekend, so I spent last week getting things ready for their arrival. Every time we have guests come, the house is a little more finished than it was before.

This time, we actually had a dining room table! K and I ordered our table and bedroom furniture way back on July 6. The store was having a special, complete with free delivery. Evidently our bedroom set was on backorder and was set to arrive in mid-August. Since it still wasn't in stock, we didn't get our table either. We finally called and complained, and voila! Our table was here a few days later. Finally!

It happened to arrive the day after K and I bought a new grill, so we celebrated both with a nice steak dinner.

We found a nice rug to go underneath the table. Now, all we need is to finally get rid of my bachelorette couch, since I ixnayed K's stadium seating idea. (Supposedly a buyer is coming to pick it up soon.)

I made our cute little chandelier shades when I had trouble finding any dark blue ones online. I also had this sign custom made on etsy.com. It's a piece of advice an old boss gave me that I thought was worth a daily reminder.

I'd really like to paint this room yellow. I think it would be nice if we could do some sort of paint treatment so it's not just INYOURFACEYELLOW. We'll see. I also want to find a china cabinet eventually, so I'll probably check out Craigslist every now and then. After that, this room will be complete!

We hung out with friends!! In Virginia!!

The last few days have been pretty hectic. I have been doing contract work the last couple weeks with the company I worked for in Dallas. Things slowed down there in the office, so they were able to cover things for themselves at the end of the week. That left me free to get a lot done in the house!

I got our office (that's what we call our small 3rd bedroom) taped and ready to paint, so and I did that Thursday night. The room had been a bright blue, but it was a bit scuffed, and there were a lot of holes in the wall. We chose a different blue to repaint it -- slightly darker, and with a little more of a turquoise shade than the crayon blue that the room was. I LOVE the color now! It looks great! Plus, that room is our Army/OU room, so the blue really looks good with all the shades of red in K's Army stuff and my OU memorabilia.

Friday, I was able to organize the office a little more (although there's still a long way to go). It's been our place to stash random stuff as we've been getting settled. I finally got the nerve to start putting holes in the walls, so I hung pictures in the living room and in the hallways. It looks like people live here now!

I was able to scrub the bathrooms and get things set up in our guest bedroom. Saturday morning, we had visitors arrive! Some friends of ours from Louisiana got sent to VA for training, and they live just a little over an hour away. After they arrived, we went to post and showed them around, and then we headed to watch some boat races.

We went for drinks and then for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. When I ordered my drink, I asked the waiter which had the most pineapple. He wasn't sure, so I did research myself. Since it was clear I'm a huge fan of pineapple, he made sure to show me some love.

When he saw how excited I got over Willy Wedge (evidently this cute fellow has a name), he brought me a couple other friends!

After all that, our friends told him it was my birthday weekend. At Cheeseburger in Paradise, that gets you ice cream WITH sprinkles and a cheerful song! Score! (This is my reenacting blowing out the candle, since K missed it with the camera.)

Today, we went to the beach and relaxed for a bit, then had lunch and browsed around the shops.

It was a nice, relaxing day. It was good to have some time with friends, since K (and our retired neighbors) are the only people I know here. What's funny is that after just two days of visitors, it was nice to have it be just the two of us again. Funny how quickly you can get used to that. :)

Tomorrow is my birthday. It'll be the 5th birthday I've had since I met K, but it will be the first we've spent together. The first year, he was in the field training. The second year, he got sent to Afghanistan, only to be stuck in Baltimore for TWO 24-hour layovers, which put him departing the U.S. for his deployment on my actual birthday (awesome). The third year, he was in the field training ... again. Last year, he was in Iraq.

Needless to say, it'll be awesome to finally celebrate my birthday with my favorite person on the planet.