We did IT!

YAY! We did it, we did it!
Okay I will stop singing Dora... that is the song she sings at the end when they get to where ever they were going! But we did it, or should I say I did it.
I made it though October, as I speak Jeremy is on a birdie somewhere over the US on his way back to beautiful Georgia. So, yes I made it fine here alone for a month and I have to say it was not THAT bad. Of course I missed him and I miss having someone to do the little things with. So, how did I do with my goals....lol...laugh if you will I did not succeed at ALL of them but some of them I did conquer and proud that I did.
I got my house and the car clean. Everyone keeps telling me my house looks different all clean and the fact that I did the true military wife thing and rearranged the living room. My friend told me after the fact that you are not a true army wife unless when they leave for awhile you rearranged the house. I did not lose any weight or start exercising. Oh well! I have became very crafty and I will post pictures once my hubby gets back with the camera. I did paint and make the sea shell picture frame now I just got to get a picture of us at the beach. I also bought a shadow box and took all my medals from twirling from when I was 3 to 18 and make a nice display. I even got pictures of me at different ages twirling! I am proud of it!! Yesterday I made Halloween sugar cookies but I did not have Halloween color sprinkles so I just use food coloring to make some of the dough orange for pumpkins and some dough black for witches' hat and bats and cats. Then I left some dough along and made ghosts out of it. The black cookies don't look that good though but oh well Jeremy will eat them! LOL!
So anyways yay I made it though a month and I have learn that I am independent again. I just know when he leaves for Iraq I will be okay that I can handle anything...okay maybe not Anything but I will find someone who can!!!!
Oh, and I started classes this week I did my first quiz for sociology and I got 100% I was so shocked. I have never been a good student and always said I wished I would had worry more about school work then I did about guys and band in high school. I passed everything and was A and B honor roll but I think if I would had applied my self just a little harder I could had done better. Oh well, lesson learned so this time I am trying harder to applied myself a little more!
Okay, well off to study before I got to start getting dressed to go pick him up... Later!!

Yard Sales

Wow, what a deal! Once upon a time I hate to go to yard sales so bad. I thought to be "cool" you did not shop at them. I remember telling my mother.. "no, please don't stop" She never listen to me and always stopped anyways and I always refused to get out there is nothing I would EVERY need from a yard sale. Now, 15 years later....I LOVE YARD SALES! yes I said it! Anything to save a buck or two or more.
The good thing about living on a military installation is they have twice a year a post wide yard sale. Awesome it takes you hours and that is not even stopping at every house. You never know what you will find. To bad me and my friend stopped looking cause we ran out of money before we every even finished half the houses. But, I had cash of what I wanted to spend and not a penny more. Anyways I am excitied with what I got.
Here is what I got:

1. A Tall Lamp/Light - $3.00 normally $10
2. A Care for my neighbor girl that is sick - $1.00 normally $10.00
3. "Fast and the Furious 1 and 2" DVDs and DVD "The Greatest Game Every Played" (This was my gift for Jeremy) $5.00 for all 3. Normally at least $15.00
4. A wire shoe rack - $3.00 normally $10-15.
5. A Tall Black DVD shelf - $4.50 normally $15.00
6. And my steal of the Day and the one thing that I am proud to get: A Bissell Little Green with the Heat Stream. The lady said that she had only use it maybe twice still almost brand new, in the box, with all parts and instruction book. I been wanting one of these to do my couches and mattress and spots on the floor. So how much did I pay? Well lets say I went to Wal-mart after I left yard saling and they had it for $99.98. So I paid.......drum roll please.......$25.00 that was it. I feel I save alot there! Jeremy was proud of me. LOL!

So, anyways, just wanted to share my way of saving money.....yard sales! I spent a totally of $41.50 on stuff that my house needed to make it more like a home. I save at least $118.50. WOW! that is crazy. Anways, enough! Just thought I would share!

Thanks Yous

Okay I don't know why I feel like doing this but just want to say thanks to all my friends and family. I can't sleep tonight and just want to typed and have a lot on my chest. Just wanted to say I love you!

Dear Jeremy,
I love you so much. I am so proud of the sacrifices you make for this country and for me. I am so glad that you came into my life when you did. You are a wonderful husband and have enjoyed the past 7 years and look forward to many more years together. I hope we travel the world together hand and hand will fulfilled our dreams together. You are my Hero!

Dear Dad,
I just want to say, Thanks for everything you have done for us children. I love you so much. No matter how stubborn I was I really was listening. You were always there even if I did not want you around. LOL! Thanks for aways being there for me even when I did not make the best choices but you never judge just help me find my way back on the straight and narrow. Thanks Dad, you are the greatest!

Dear Marie
Thanks for joining our crazy family. I know I have only known you a couple of years but it has felt like alot longer. You have been a great addition to the family. I enjoy having you around. Thanks for always lending a ear when i need to talk you are a great listener. I enjoy having you around to talk to and know if every need to talk you are there, thanks for that!

Dear Adam,
While you was always the "little" brother you could always beat me up! While, our childhood I think we would fight alot I know I have always loved you so much and will always love you. I know we have never been closed but I am always here for you. I know when ever I have a question I can't answer I know who to call because you are so smart and always have good advice, you take after dad that is for sure. Thanks for being the "little" brother that I can look up to!

Dear Kim,
Well, thanks for joining our crazy family by marrying my brother. I know we hardly every talk but I want you to know you are my sister now and are always free to call and talk whenever you need to vent. I hope over the years to build our friendship and sisterhood and become good friends. You are wonderful wife and mother and I see how happy you make Adam, thanks for taking care of my "little" brother.

Dearest Parker,
While I have only meet you 2 weeks of your 9 months here with us, you are the greatest thing to our Haynes family. I love you so much! I wished I lived closer so I could hold and spoil you every day. Since I dont have that has you grow you will know that no matter how far away from you I am I will always be here for you....even when you are way older and can come visit! You are the cutest nephew every way. Thanks for being the happy cheerful, handsome boy and bringing happiness to me when I see your new pictures and videos.

Dear Andrea,
I know you probably won't read this but I want you to know that I love you and hope one day we can be best friends like we use to be years ago. We always fought, mainly cause you follow me around wanting to do everything I did, but I always loved that about you and when I moved out and went to college you were the person I messed the most. Your letters were my inspiration at college and still to this day I have them. I hope one day we can talk on the phone and hang out and be friends again. I am sorry for what every I have done to you but know I am here for you and always will be.

Dear My Friends
I have to many to list by name but many of you have known me for YEARS and I want to say thanks for aways being there. Some of you guys were the greatest friends in High school and who I share all my memories with from high school. Amanda W. Thanks for being a great friend for what like 16 years now. I feel like that was our lifetime. We been tough so much together and I know you are always there for me. Thanks everyone for your advice and help when ever I am down you give me great inspiration and encouragement. Keep it up!

Okay sorry for this post, I just can't sleep and had a lot on my mind and felt like writing and it helps. I hope not to offend anyone in this post but this is my post and I can write what is on my mind. If I did offend I apologize now!


Thanks Each and EveryOne of Yall!
I love Everyone! Mandy

Just Say No

Just Say No....Isn't that the saying that we are taught in Elementary school?! The only different is about drugs but I think they should say that we need to say No to other things in our life. Does anyone else out there have trouble saying "No"?? I have always had this problem espically when it comes to friends cause I always have this feeling that if I say no they dont want to be friends with me no more. I can't say No so I end up saying yes to everything and before I know it I am loading my plate with more then I can handle and before I know it I am dealing with stress and frustation that I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Does anyone else do this? Today for example I had a really crazy day. I had a doctor appointment that took forever between the actual appointment and waiting the hour at the pharmacy to get the medicine it took almost 3 hours. Well last night my neighbor's friend ask if I would babysit today for her. Well before I finished at the hosiptal she is calling me asking where I was so I started stressing cause even though she told me 1pm she actually wanted to drop her off at 12:15. But lucky my neighbor was home and agree to watch her until I could get there. Then I had maintance come by because my glass patio doors wont slide open. So they figured out it needed new rollers well in the simple process of getting that fixed they scattered the glass. Now, a simple job was taking twice as long. Anyway, also my other neighbor, friend, from across the way called to see if I could watch her puppy while she went to a meeting. Again I could not say no. So I had my dog, my friends dog, this 18 month old girl and 2 maintance guys hammering away with this big whole in my wall from the doors being off. Crazy! Then my neighbor wants to come over and use the computer so that is fine but she brings her daughter and her dog. So now my house was a crazy zoo: 3 dogs, 2 children, 2 adults, and 2 maintance techs. I think I started pacing around my room. I was getting so stressed, if only I would have just said NO. So yeah that is my life. I do this alot say yes and then when I am in the middle of it I regret saying yes. I got to learn to say NO! No, all of you friends don't be afraid of asking me for anything now just because I wrote this cause I love to help others. Just if I say no don't be offened, cause the timing might not be good or something else is going on! Okay so am I just werid to have this problem or does anyone else??? Please share!

Reading and Cleaning

Why is it that when I was in High school I loved to read, but since 2000 and now I never care to read again. I just never could fall into a book. Then last year I heard about Twilight. I say a bunch of my friends having count downs on their blogs and everyone on facebook was talking about it. So after I saw a preview for the movie and read my sister-in-law blog about how she hates reading but read them all really fast. So that was it I went to the library but guess what it was checked out and the list was way long. So, I went to wal-mart and broke down and just bought it. I began reading, reading everywhere. Every time I walked out of the house it was in my hand and nothing around the house got done. I read it in a week, dieing for the next one. So within a month I read them all and fell in love with them. So I thought it was cool to read. Now, for the past year I been saying I wanted to read but could never find anything to enjoy reading, I tried this and that and just could not get into anything. Well now a year later I started reading a series of book from high school by Anita Stantsfield. Then a couple of days ago and I got a army wife book so I checked it out also. So, now I am reading 2 books... I keep asking my self when did I turn for not enjoying reading to wanting to read 2 books at once. I guess that is not a bad thing.
Cleaning now... since Jeremy left I got my house clean but now any time any little thing is dirty my whole house is dirty. I guess that is a good thing...lol. I dont know I just keep finding more stuff to clean. I mean the other day I clean out the extra room or has jeremy calls it the army room because it is where we keep all his extra gear and stuff, but technially it isour extra room if anyone comes to stay. But anyways, I took a box of stuff to the the outside little shed we have and found Halloween decorations so I decorated for halloween outside. I did not have anything for inside but oh well.
But anyways, I have kinda forgot about the "list". I have clean my house over and over. Still have not gotten to the car hopeful this weekend or next week it will be pretty so I can go do that. No, I have not done any crafts project. I am getting this organized though so when he leaves for the deployment I will be able to find everything I need then and do more crafts...
So, other news Jeremy is fine doing great. We are pretty much half way though this time for now apart. It feels like forever but it only been 2 weeks. I got toget used to this feeling. I know I will do okay.
Well the dyer stopped so I got to go switch laundry later.

Looking UP

Yay.... Jeremy has been gone about no even a week yet, but I thought I would let you know how it is going and what is up.
I am still alive and making it. Jeremy is doing fine I do talk to him almost every day right now. It sinks because T-Mobile don't pick up coverage there at Fort Irwin but he got a friend that is kind enough to let him borrow his phone now and then. But yeah it is enjoying it, he says it is beautiful at times but then when they get a dust strom it is not so pretty. Tomorrow is the last day I will be able to talk to him, due to Friday morning they head out to the "box" where they train just as if they were in Iraq. He wont be able to call me after that until the come back from the box on the 25th. That is going to be my hard time but I will be okay. Espically since now I got used to him calling me everyday. Oh, well I got to get use to don't I?
Well, so how am i doing? Okay I had one day the other day...where i just wanted to lay in the bed and cry cause I heard more bad news but hey it is all good. So how are my goals going?
Well, here is the update
1) Clean my house - well I got my house mainly clean, everything is caught up like laundry, dishes but I still have not touch the extra/army room or the detail work.
2) AFAP - Tomorrow is the last day of it. I have really enjoyed it. It was fun and very informational. Can't wait for next year.
3) Walking or Gym....... This has not started at all. Part is because AFAP going on and it has been raining, but I got plans to go walking tomorrow with my neighbor and we want to do it EVERYDAY!
4) Since 3 has not starting ... nothing has happen here other then I been drinking alot more water.
5)Car--- I have not touch it.....
6, 7, 8) The crafts projects I havenot started I wanted to get 1 and 5 done first. So they will be later in the month.
9) HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS!!!
I was so upset when I found out there is no way I can get a loan before the class actually starts so I can get books. Jeremy happen to call when I was having that panic about what to do so I can afford to buy books until the loan comes in. He had a great plan and a great advice. The plan was to sell the Wii and everything we had with it. While, I hated to do that cause I like having one, he said getting the books were in the long run more importatnt then some game system that is never played. It has been 4 months since we last played it and most of the games we decide we did not like anyways. I mean for you people with the Wii Fit and can use it to lose weight....I am proud of you because sorry it did not work for me. I guess mainly because I wanted to beat Jeremy's scores so I learned ways to cheat the system... Jeremy never did figure out how I can do more push ups then him....lol! So, I finally got it sold today and now I have the money for school and will start online classes on the 26th. YAY me!
Well that is all for now.... I will keep you posted!

Forts and lighthouses

So, this actually happen before my last blog but I was just now getting around to putting pictures on the computer to blog about it.
So last weekend for the weekend we decided to spend some time together and do something things right here around Savannah that we have not been able to do. So our plans were to hit Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island Lighthouse, Old Fort Jackson and Fort McCallister. But the rain kept us from the last fort.

Fort Pulaski
So Friday we got up and went to breakfast at Denny's and then went straight to Fort Pulaski. This was a fort that was used during the civil war. It also has a lot of neat history also about being used as an underground railroad. Also in the parade field was one of the first organize baseball being played in the America. If you want more information you can google it...sorry I don't want to sit and typed it all out...sorry! But the moral of the story is they lost the battle to the union (the north) because they surrender because the Union had cannons that was destroying their walls and if one cannon hit one wall just right it would have hit the magazine room (where they would stored the black powder and stuff) and if that would had happen it would had kills lots of people so they surrender. So the battle only lasted 30 hours.
So here are some pictures ...

The outside of it

Walking to the entrance

Jeremy and a Cannon

This is the battery

Also they had a trail that took you to look at a very old lighthouse Cockspur Lighthouse

Tybee Island Lighthouse

So the next thing on the list was the Tybee Island Lighthouse. I have seen it from the outside but have aways wanted to go up in it. That was a very long climb! It was 178 steps up it.That might not sound like that much but in this little tower with no AC so it was very stuffy cause the couple of windows there was was only cracked a little bit. But, once you get to the top it was very well worth the trip to the top. This is Georgia's tallest lighthouse. So here are some pictures!

Here is a view of the lighthouse from the bottom.

This is us at the top with the AtlanticOcean behind us.

A view of the ocean from up there.

(the water does not look that blue when you there on the beach)

This is the view looking back toward the island... you can see the marsh in the back.

Me in front of the lighthouse and on the right you can see the innkeepers house.
I am standing on the battery across the street.

Old Fort Jackson

Okay our next place of interested was Old Fort Jackson in Savannah right on the Savannah River. We did not know any history about this place but thought we might have well checked it out. There is not much history because it was built when Robert E. Lee declared to build lots of forts to help fight the union and this one was built to keep the union from being able to get into Savannah, which was a strong city at the time. But, after the union got property of Fort Pulaski, they decide to run and abandon the fort. So they dumped the amino and everything into the river and march to South Carolina. The fort was not really every completely finished. but it was still cool to go there. So here are some pictures from there.

A view from a far of the entrance.

The main entrance and the draw bridge

Looking from the top down onto the parade field.

Guards Room.

Magazine Room. (Storage Room)

Well there is an little update. I only showed a couple of pictures, but the places were so beautiful you should see the whole album. Check it out here it is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=2&aid=112676&l=5958f143c2&id=762033116

Check it out.

See you later!

Well I told Jeremy goodbye tonight, or better yet I just said "see you later". Yeah it is just give or take 30 days but still it is time away. But this is also a training period for what is to come. Lets not talk about that...lol... Anyways, yes I support my husband and what he is willing to do for our country. I will stand by his side at all time and will handle time away from one another the best I can. So, I told him over and over, I am fine and will be fine, and he must keep his mind on the mission, but still being a guy I know he will still worry some. So, anyways, while he is gone what should I do with my self. I know, how about if i keep my self from staring at the clock and calendar and counting the days down. So, I made a list of my goals (or missions) that I want to do by the time he comes home around November 1st.
So, I thought I would share on here, so that way they are in writing cause they say if you write them down you have a better chance of accomplishing them. So here I go....in 30 days can I do the following??!!

1. Clean my house - Not just clean it....I mean really clean it, behind the ice box, oven, and even the extra bedroom
2. Attending the AFAP conference here at Fort Stewart for 3 days. We will see how that goes....LOL!
3. Start going walking everyday, or maybe swimming at the gym....I don't know I like walking better...lol.... may water aerobic??!!??! I got till tomorrow to decide...
4. Along with number 3 but to lose 20 lbs. Can I do it??? Lets hope so!!
5. Clean out the car...really clean it out...I mean do my own detail job...LOL!
6. Oh, yesterday I got a picture frame from Micheal's to paint and decorate for a picture of us.
7. Going to attempt to make a candy corn cake. I want to carve it and decorate it to look like a candy corn. The only problem is I can't do it till he is coming home cause I don't like cake so I don't every eat the cake so he better get home....LOL!
8. Get back into scrapbooking! I still love it just have not had the room or the time to do it... Now I do and am excited to start it.
9. Last but not least, I have plans to start school on October 26. So hopefully everything will work out. I got 2 classes paid for but still trying to figure out how to get the money for the books. I thought I would get approved for financial aide but I guess the government says a private in the army and don't have kids make too much money. Sorry for going off there for a minute. I will figure it out!

So, there you have it! Is it too much for me to do in 30 some odd days?! I hope not and have faith I will get it all done. I will keep you posted on my updates. Okay so more later!