FDS: Fort Campbell KY

Well, we made it through basic training! It was a very long 4 months (minus the 2 weeks he was able to come home during Christmastime). We sure missed Daddy. It was a wonderful blessing for us to be able to live with Max's parents during that time and for Roxy to get to spend so much time with her Gangie, Pop-pop, aunts, uncles and cousins. Max graduated from OSUT on March 15. I'm so glad we were able to go visit him and see him graduate and spend that time with him. It was so wonderful!

We also found out during that weekend the gender of our baby! I had the ultrasound tech write on a piece of paper the sex of the baby then she sealed it in a envelope. We opened it together on the day of Max's Turning Blue Ceremony. BOY!!!! It was so great.

Max found out the previous day where our first duty station would be.... Fort Campbell Kentucky! Since we were withing driving distance from there, we had the opportunity to drive Max up there to report to his unit instead of him taking a bus. I was awesome to get to spend that extra time with him. We had to do a little change of plans with the extra driving involved, but it worked out great! 

Max spent about 4 weeks in-processing at Fort Campbell while Roxy and I waited back in Texas to hear news on when, where, and how we'd be getting to Kentucky. It was a tough 4 more weeks, not knowing what would happen. I like to have my ducks in a row so it was hard for me to be patient, but I am learning! Luckily Max was able to get 10 days of PTDY to come help us move and we did a PPM move, where we moved ourselves instead of the Army moving us. We're glad we ended up doing things that way, despite a few difficulties. We were able to pocket some extra money doing it that way, which always comes in handy!

So I'd consider us pretty settled here at Fort Campbell. We live on post in some crappy, old, government housing! But we don't care! We're so happy just to be together, and we're enjoying our little life together and      our daily routines. Our lives revolve around our little girl, but we wouldn't have any other way. It amazes us how big and grown up Roxy is getting. She is now 21 months. She is starting to talk a lot and loves playing at the park, watching Barney, playing with baby dolls, and singing to her favorite kids songs, even though she can't quite get the words right. 

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our son and can't wait for Roxy to be a big sister and to be able to start all over again with another tiny special little gift from God. I'm 32 weeks along, so just a few more weeks to go now, he'll be here before we know it! Can't wait!

 30 weeks

 Little monkey hanging on a tree

 Making a mess!

Learning how to find the good strawberries at the H&S Farms Strawberry Jam

Our townhome-style apartment in Fort Campbell

My DH

Max has been gone from us for 19 days now. He was in reception for quite a few days but he has been officially training to become a soldier for the past 10 days. I was able to find the Facebook group for Max's company and they uploaded photos and videos yesterday! This was the only real good one of Max. He's running his heart out! I've received a couple of great letters from him and he sounds like he's holding up really. He's had a couple of great experiences. I'm so thankful for that! We love our army Daddy. And only 18 days from now he will be home with us! 

Roxy and I are staying pretty busy, babysitting a 4 year old girl part time, and doing activities that keep Roxy's busy little mind and fingers occupied. We love our little monkey monster!

Cute dresses!

I just bought one of these dresses last month.. it's soo cute! They are doing a giveaway and the winner gets a free dress every month for a year! Awesome!!! Here is the link to sign up so you can have a chance too :

http://blog.shabbyapple.com/2012/10/why-because-we-love-you.html

This is the dress I bought ... super cute ! It's for my Halloween costume ... can you guess who I'm going to be ?

Proud Army Wife

So, I'm about to begin a life as an 'Army wife.' Max has enlisted in the Army so for at least the next six years we will be living the military lifestyle and experiencing the ups and downs that goes along with it. All in all, we are excited! I don't mind moving around, and Max has mostly lived in Texas his whole life so we are looking forward to experiencing some other parts of the country and hopefully the world. It would be a wish come true if we were able to get stationed abroad. Anywhere overseas would suit us just fine, but our top picks would be Italy, Germany and Japan!

We do realize this is not a typical thing that a family at our age would normally do. We definitely have to deal with our share of comments and bewildered facial expressions when we share with others. BUT, we continue to feel that this is the right decision for us and it's the path that Heavenly Father wants us to go down. The most wonderful thing for me is that I am now going to be able to quit my job. In fact, my last day is Oct 17th! Yay! Another wonderful thing is that I've found a family that I will be able to work part-time for, I am going to babysit a little 4 year old girl about 25 hrs a week. This way a) I will be staying busy while Max is away in Georgia and North Carolina doing all his training for 7 + months (minus 2 weeks for Christmas)  and b) we'll be able to have some extra income and be able to save our dollars! I feel so grateful and it feels like one of those times in life where everything is working out. So I better keep my guard up for the next challenge that comes our way :)

Happy Happy Birthday Roxy dear!

Our little baby has become a toddler! Happy Birthday (belated) to Roxy! She got way too many presents from Grandma and everyone, but she had tons of fun opening them and playing with them. The Dr Pepper cake was also a hit with her! We love you Roxanne! You are so smart and sweet and GROWN UP!

The Monkey

Well, obviously, the hugest thing going on in our lives over the past couple of years is giving birth to our sweetest little daughter. Roxanne Lois Weaver was born on 9/5/11. It was Labor Day. She came 6 days early. She has been the best baby !!! By now she is 11 months. She has quite the personality. She loves to dance. She loves music. She loves to talk and babble and hear her own voice. She loves watching kid videos on Youtube. She loves trying to sneak into the bathroom and play in the toilet when we're not looking. She loves to EAT! The girl has some CHUNK to her. In short she has been the become the center of our lives and we're just rejoicing every day and thanking God that we have such a wonderful, healthy baby girl to snuggle on every day. What a blessing! Here are some photos/videos in ascending age.

Hi. So, it's been awhile. hahaha Obviously a lot has happened in the past, what ... 2 years ?  For whatever reason I decided I'm going to try to start blogging again. So here goes. I won't go into anything real huge now I'll just start with something fun! I've been looking at a lot of travel blogs during the day when I have free moments. I saw this travel-themed survey 'ABC's of Travel' and though it would be neat to fill it out. It was so fun!! It made me happy to think about some of my fondest travel memories I've had. Yay.

A: AGE you went on your first international trip
I went to Rome, Italy for 4 weeks to study Italian in a language school right after high school

B: Best (foreign) BEER you’ve ever tasted
Butterbeer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter @ Universal Studios       J I don’t drink real beer

C: CUISINE (favorite)
My favorite thing to eat is freshly baked bread. So for that reason it would probably should be French, but I love so may Italian dishes so that is maybe the truer answer.

D: Most and least favorite DESTINATIONS
Most Favorite: Basque Country. San Sebastian, Biarritz, St. Jean de la Luz… all amazing.
Least Favorite: Belize. Everyone there just felt really shifty. We did not feel very safe.

E: EVENT you experienced that made you say “wow”.
Climbing to the top of St Peter’s Basilica and seeing the amazing views and Vatican City and Rome. I fell in love with travel at that moment.

F: FAVORITE mode of transportation
Renting a scooter and zooming around!

G: GREATEST feeling while traveling
Learning something new about a different culture and being able to appreciate it.  

H: HOTTEST place you’ve traveled to

Thailand was stinkin' hot.

I: INCREDIBLE service you’ve received and where
Seoul, Korea. The girl that led the tour was incredibly kind and friendly and even emailed me photos because I had forgot my camera. [This is a photo of me enjoying a traditional Korean meal :) ]

J: JOURNEY that took the longest

Coming home from SE Asia. Bangkok to Seoul… 4.5 hrs,  10 hr layover, Seoul to LAX… 11 hrs, LAX to SLCL… 2 hours.

K: KEEPSAKE from your travels
I don’t buy trinkets very often but I like to keep city maps that I used. I especially like it when they are kind of torn and battered because it means I used it a lot and got to see a lot of things J

L: LET-DOWN site; why and where
I can’t really think of a good one. Getting my purse stolen while in an H&M in Madrid was not a high point. But that’s not really a let-down. Just a crappy misfortune.

M: MOMENT that you fell in love with travel
Same as my ‘wow’ moment. But another one was relaxing on a yacht in the Bahamas while the wind was blowing through my face and seeing the most gorgeous blue water ever.

N: NICEST hotel you’ve stayed in
I tend to go the cheap route. Probably the nicest would be the Gaylord Texan right here in Grapevine, or maybe the Animal  Kingdom Hotel at Disney World.

O: OBSESSION- what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while you travel?
Anything that is weird or makes me laugh. Like huge posters all around Bangkok of the Thai King doing random stuff like playing the Saxophone.

P: PASSPORT STAMPS- How many and from where?
I love my passport. I will be so sad if they have to completely erase all the stamps when I sent it in to get my renewal/name change. I think I have probably somewhere around 30.

Q: QUIRKIEST attraction you visited and where?
It’s really not that quirky because it’s very on the beaten path for anyone travelling to SE Asia, but seeing the ‘elephant farm’ in Chaing Mai where they train the elephants to play soccer or paint pictures is really quite funny.  


R: RECOMMENDED site, event or experience
Snorkeling in the Florida Keys. So so so beautiful and amazing!

S: SPLURGE- something you have no problem spending money on while you’re traveling
Food. I love trying everything.  

T: TOURISTY thing you’ve done
Vang Vieng in Laos -- tubing down the river and stopping along the way to have a snack at the bars and play on their rope swings. Pretty dang touristy but it was so much fun.

U: UNFORGETTABLE travel memory
The best road trip ever.  Spending a week in Laguna Beach with 3 awesome friends and laughing more than I have in my whole life, maybe more than I will ever again!

V: VISAS- How many and from where?
4 – Brazil, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The Coolest looking one is the Cambodian.

W: WINE- Best glass of wine you’ve had, and where
I don’t drink wine. But a memorable ‘virgin’ beverage was freshly squeezed passion fruit juice in Hawaii.

X: EXCELLENT view and from where?
Riding on a bus through the mountains Laos and seeing the beautiful green countryside.

Y: YEARS spent traveling
8

Z: ZEALOUS sports fans and from where?
I’m not really a sports fan but in Brazil they have a ton a national pride and they seem pretty gung-ho about their soccer teams down there.