Randomness

I've been random on here before.  This is no different.  I have not much to talk about right now.  My life is pretty much the same.  Work is meh, working out is meh, I just ran out of melatonins and forgot to buy more so sleeping will officially be meh, I'm less fat today so that's good (alright, some of it WAS water weight, I may be insane), brinner was delicious two days in a row.  That's all I got today really.

Here's some other random stuff.

This blog post made me happy.

I cannot get this song out of my head and it's one of those ones where I can actually sing it pretty well which makes me love it even more.  (I am fully aware how behind in the times I am posting this, but I haven't had a car to drive in 7 months and therefore listened to no music for 7 months so....)

Friday is our big concert where I have to be at work until like 3am so we plan to spend all of Saturday in our pjs watching this.  Once again, super behind on the times...

I'm drinking a Patricia Anne right now (yeah our no alcohol to lose weight didn't stick...shocker).  I'm pretty sure I've posted this recipe before, but it's really that good.

I'm wondering if anyone really really likes their job or if everyone just kind of hates it, but does what they have to do.  I've been pondering that lately.  Also, I really like to say the word pondering.

Needing to do this.  But.  Just.  Can't.  

I got to tour this beauty today.  And oh man, do I want to live in this thing.  So gorgeous.  

Currently on the 5th book and have about 20% left and I'm dreading finishing it because the next one isn't out yet and oh man am I a nerd, but the books are soooo good.

Weekend Shenanigans

I started writing my Weekend Shenanigans link up with Sami last night, but then I had a major freak out about student loans and money and life and I ended up sitting in my husband's lap while he rocked me like a baby.  It wasn't cute.  BUT it did get me out of running and earn me a giant glass of red wine.  WINNER.  So....even though it's late....here's what we did this weekend!

Saturday we went to the gym where I worked super hard AKA took pictures of my feet on machines while Mike wasn't looking

Then we ran a bunch of errands and headed off to Greenwell State Park .  I've loved exploring all the parks and beaches in our area.  They are always so effing beautiful, it makes me happier and happier to live here each time.

I had a funny moment while at Greenwell when I realized that you can definitely tell you're at an East Coast beach when you're spraying bug spray all over yourself and not sunscreen.

We bought one of these sets to play with at the beach because Mike gets bored of just laying out and reading: 

It turned out to be super fun and Mike taught me how to properly throw which was cute.  I'm awful btw.  Anyone surprised??  Also, my throwing arm is still sore.  Mike finds this hilarious.

We spent the rest of Saturday watching soccer, reading, and being lazy bums.  My favorite.

Sunday, we ran some more errands and then went to see Man of Steel which I talked about here.  I didn't buy movie theater popcorn.  I was so proud.  Except then the movie was boring and I was sad I didn't have popcorn to make me happy, but we sat in the middle of an aisle and I didn't want to crawl my fat ass over a bunch of people to then have to crawl back over them with 1,500 calories of popcorn clutched in my sweaty little hand.  So...I guess I shouldn't be that proud of myself.

After the movie, we made this tasty pizza and hung out at home.

It was a pretty lovely little weekend, especially since I got to sleep in both days.  Finally!

A Silly Little Surprisingly Pro-America Post From A Turd (Great Title Val)

I'm not normally one for the super amped pro-America stuff.  It actually kind of makes me uncomfortable and causes major eye rolls.  Which might make me a turd but come on, sometimes it deserves eye rolls.  My husband works on a Navy base and we've gone to the movies on base a couple of times. It's a small theater that charges only $4.50 per ticket and $3.00 for popcorn which is kind of amazing and small-town and adorable and I love it.  The best part about going to see movies in this theater though, is that before the previews, a message comes on the screen that says, "Please stand for your national anthem."  And everyone in this little theater stands up and puts their hands over their hearts.  And our national anthem plays while a patriotic and surprisingly non-cheesy video plays on the screen.  And as much as amped up pro-America stuff usually causes eye rolls from this little turd, standing in that movie theater with my hand over my heart, knowing that a large majority of the people standing around me with their hands on their hearts left military uniforms at home when they came to watch this movie makes me feel proud.  And I love it.  Because it's so small-town.  Because it's such a "Navy base" thing to do.  Because it's such a sweet little way to show pride in why this theater is here and why these people are here and why this base is here.  And it makes me even happier we moved here because the people on this base are so proud of what they do and because this base provides so many things for them and their families like this small theater with its low prices.  And it always makes me smile.  No eye rolls here.

Side Note:  Man of Steel is awful.  Mike owes me for making me see that one.  EYE ROLL.

Things and Stuff and Things

Oh hey!  I didn't die.  I went to California for a week and then came home and went straight back to work and I've had nothing to blog out.  I like to pretend people are sitting at home screaming, "WHY HASN'T VALERIE BLOGGED?!!!"  But they are not.  (or are they?!)  So since I last blogged, here are some things that happened in no particular order.

- I flew to California by myself and it was much less fun without Mike.  Snarking to yourself is boring.  And there are so many snark worthy things at the airport...

- I watched one of my best friends be happier than I've possibly ever seen her.  Glowing.  It was awesome.

- I was actually quiet to the point where someone asked me if I was okay.  That is super weird for me.  (I'm loud.)

- I got fat.  Don't roll your eyes at me.  I'm not merely being obnoxious.  I felt awesome on my trip.  I walked around amongst skinny minnies in my bathing suit and felt pretty dern good.  Then I got home.  And my week with Mike's brother's visit and eating out, my week with Mike's mom's visit and eating out and my week in California eating and drinking out HIT ME.  Like, I have never experienced this before.  I looked in the mirror and though, "Oh shit."  I am obviously heavier.  That happened quick.  And it ain't going to go away quick.  This sucks.  So I've been super whiny about that (lucky Mike) and working out more and eating better, but it sucks and I look awful and feel uncomfortable and am depressed.  (funnest blog ever right?)

- I shared a bed with my sister and still slept okay and didn't kick her once.  The time difference helped.

- I drove to TWO new places and didn't freak out or get lost.  SHADAISY.  (I'm pathetic)

- I got surprised in the shower by one of my best friends V which wasn't a big deal because, well, chicks are weird like that, and then our friend TOOK PICTURES OF IT and V texted that picture to her husband.  And then I died of embarrassment.  Camera phones are the worst invention ever.  (We were just showering btw...does this make it sound like we were making out?  We weren't.)  (Or were we?!)  (We weren't.)

- I drank a cocktail at 7:30am and didn't feel bad about it.  And it was a double.  It was delicious.  (It was at the airport if that makes it less gross)

- I ate at my two favorite restaurants in my old home town and got to see a bunch of my favorite people.  

- I still was totally fine leaving and coming back here felt like coming home.  That is sad and happy at the same time.

- I went to my house back home that we're now renting out and it was less weird than I thought, but still pretty weird.  I miss that house.

- I, along with my sister, recorded a video of us dancing to Sweet Home Alabama for her boyfriend.  Dorks.

- I GOT BANGS.  This is a big deal for girls...it's kind of ridiculous, but it is.

- I felt very thankful for my relationship all week.  And even when he snapped at me earlier tonight...didn't go away.

- I learned that you should always check that you have your bag before you leave for a long trip and any husband who would drive hours to drop off your bag is a keeper.

- I found out that Palm Springs has basically become Vegas which isn't a bad thing, it's just surprising.

- I also found out that is is apparently a thing to hang out in pools that are only like waist deep and just stand around and get hit on like you're at a club?  This is not my jam.  Nope nope nope.  Lets combine clothing that makes 95% of women uncomfortable with alcohol, with a drowning hazard, with sketchy guys, with awkwardly having to climb in and out of something in front of everyone.  Not.  My.  Jam.

- I had an amazing trip whether it made me fat or not.  But I'm so happy to be home. 

And lots of other stuff and things I shouldn't mention on here and all that fun stuff.

What have you guys been up to?

The ladies.  Ohhhh aren't they hotties?!

I spent 7 hours out here and didn't get sunburnt.  WINNER.

We were too lazy to take anything other than selfies all weekend.  My sister is more photogenic than me.  Bitch.

Selfie Attack

This is my reaction to coming home and realizing I am now fat.  Mike has since banned me from alcohol.  Hmph.

A Sunday Hike

Instead of going to the gym on Sunday, we decided to go for a hike.  We've done the 7.5 mile trail at St. Mary's River State Park before and have loved the views and the great work out.  Mike brought the camera and was getting some great pics and we both were feeling pretty darn good about how much we were sweating our asses off.

And then I saw one of these:

{via}

And nearly peed my sweaty pants.

And we had 4 miles to go.

This trail is like a big giant circle.  If you have 4 miles to go, you have 4 miles to go.  There are no short cuts.  You have to walk 4 more miles through the woods that you are now convinced are filled with giant black snakes.

So that was not fun.

Even though Mike could care less, I kept screeching every time a leaf rustled.  I actually screamed and jumped when some mountain bikers road up behind us.  I'm pretty brave is the moral of that story.

But we kept on hiking.

And then at about 2.5 miles to go, we both lost steam.  We didn't see any more snakes because I'm pretty sure our growling stomachs and grunting whines scared them away.  7.5 miles is far.  Walking/biking/running/whatever.  That shiz was tiring.  But, we did it and the pictures are pretty and I didn't get swallowed by a giant black snake, so I guess it turned out okay.  And, as I asked Mike after the snake sighting, don't you think you burn more calories when you're terrified?

Some parts of the trail like this one make me feel like I'm in a fairy tale.

There were the brightest orange mushrooms out today.  They seriously looked fake, they were so bright and perfect.

This is my, "I just saw a giant snake and now I'm too scared to finished this trail, but I have to." face.

Weekend Shenanigans!

It's Monday, so that means I'm linking up with Sami for weekend shenanigans.  While this posts, I'm sitting on a plane on my way to California.  Wahoo!  This weekend I:

Celebrated my husband's first Furlough Friday which is technically not something to be happy about, but he plans on enjoying his forced days off.  He spent the day hanging with the pups and painting the apartment (weirdo) and picked me up for a tasty lunch at Monterey's.

Saturday, we went to the gym and then hung around the house like a couple of lazy turds; drinking wine and trying to figure out what to do with our day.

We decided on the beach.  It was lovely (and HOT).

Then we ran some errands and ended the day with Love It Or List It and cocktails.

Sunday, we took a hike at St. Mary's River State Park (blogging about that tomorrow).

After our exhausting hike, we picked up some beers and laid around tired, boozy, and lazy for the rest of the day.  At one point, I did pack and get ready for my trip and then did a bunch of blogs, but it was mostly pretty darn lazy.

How was your weekend?

Beach Day!

One of the things I love most about our new town is how accessible everything is.  Sometimes when I tell people that I moved here from California, they look at me flabbergasted.  How on EARTH could you leave California for this place?! I think that most people think all of California is beaches and Los Angeles and just, well, cities.  But when I tell them that we were in the middle of the desert, they tend to get why we would love it in this water and tree filled town.  This summer, we are definitely trying to take advantage of being near beaches.  They're not the California beaches we're used to, but they're also not as damn far away and inconvenient as the beaches we're used to.  Saturday, we decided to give the beach on our base a try since we'd never been there before and the weather was gorgeous.  I personally think it's pretty darn cool that our base has a free public beach among other things.

Except, you know, that it's pretty infested with jelly fish.

So yeah, don't go in the water.

Here are some (cell phone) pics of our beach day.  I'm sad I didn't capture either of us getting attacked (with licks, not bites) by some guy's dog every time we tried to lay on our backs.  Or the giant tough dude pouting after his first jelly fish sting.  Or the walk we took collecting shells for a jar in our house (that's required if you live near a beach right?  Cliche and required.)

All in all it was a lovely little beach day.  Have I mentioned how much I love this place?

Oh this guy.

This is before we saw a bunch of jelly fish and I squealed at him to get back.

Alright, I might be picking a wedgie here, but it's still a semi-flattering picture unlike the others Mike took of me.  Enjoy my GIANT caboose in your face.  And yes, this one is formatted smaller than the others.  It was scarier that size...

A Day Trip To Sotterley

The Saturday that the mo-in-law was here, we had grand plans of spending the day in Mt. Vernon.  And then we found out the dogs couldn't be kenneled for the day except in tiny grooming cages and that I would be working Friday until 3am, so we scratched that idea.  After I dragged my sorry and exhausted ass out of bed that morning, we ventured out for some breakfast and a tour of Sotterley Plantation.  It's definitely worth a trip if you're in the area and seems like an amazing event location.  We should have taken more pictures, but I was running on fumes by this point so this is all I could do.

A Day Trip To Historic St. Mary's City

The mo-in-law was here all last week and I've been working full time including the world's longest work day ever for our giant concert on Friday so I've been going through internet/blogging withdrawals.  I'm back!  (No one cares)  I luckily got the 4th off of work so my dad and his fiance came to hang out with us all and we took a day trip to Historic St. Mary's City.  Which, if you live in this area, you should definitely do.  It's BEAUTIFUL and so full of history and I thought I would hate the people dressed up in colonial garb, but I kind of loved them.  Just do it on a day that isn't so hot, okay?

Here are some pictures from our lovely (sweaty) day.  This is a super picture heavy post and Mike was a little obsessed with the butterflies.  You've been warned.

Don't you just want to picnic here right now?!

Oh this guy...he's the cutest.

My dad doesn't hate us as much as he looks like he does in this picture...

This is definitely a more accurate representation of us than the prior picture.  Weirdos.

So they shot fake cannons out of this awesome boat and they were LOUD.  The best part was I was startled all 5 times even though I knew they were fake and knew they were coming and birds with nests right in front of this didn't give a crap.  Balls of steel those birds.

I was not aware my hair looked like this all day.  Hmph.

Am I supporting him or attempting to pus him off?  We'll never know...

Instead of warning me that I was standing right next to this, Mike waited until I walked away and then took pictures of it.  Thanks hun.