Shoe Spectacular: Spring's the Thing

I am craving spring.

Desperately.

With the overwhelming amount of snow we've had this season, the extreme cold temperatures and overall crumminess of the winter, I've had it up to here.

I started taking a Vitamin D supplement because I was feeling so sun-deprived.

(Thank you, wise friend, for the advice!)

The weather seems to indicate the spring is just around the corner.

And if you believe in the whole Groundhog thing, he said winter is over, too.

So, in honor of the Spring we so desperately need here in the upper-midwest, I am looking towards new, hot, spring shoes.

Bright colors, open toes and LOTS of wedges seem to be where we're headed and I couldn't be happier. Below are some of my favorites, but check out this article at Glamour.com for more.

Enjoy!

Tie-Up Espadrille Wedges in Navy Stripe

Found at Old Navy

Anything with a nautical theme makes my heart go pitter-pat.

Diba Flower Thong Sandal

Found at Victoria Secret

I love these beachy, fun thongs that will show off a new pedicure so nicely!

Jeffrey Campbell Suede Wedges

Found at Urban Outfitters

I love that these are a warm-weather take on a moccasin!

Olive Green Wood Platform Heel

Found at Charlotte Russe

Great military-inspired heels

Colin Stuart basket-weave thong sandal

Found at Victoria Secret

A sweet sandal perfect for the beach, the mall or the park!

Seychelles yellow & amethyst peep-toe

Found at endless.com

I could die for a cute spring yellow pair of shoes. Perfect for pairing with a Sunday dress or a cute pair of shorts for an outdoor party!

Don't forget to enter my give-away by Thursday! Do it here. Now!

A New Award

It has been awhile since I've received an award from a fellow MilSo. I am very excited to have recently received one from Dani over at My Heart is in Afghanistan, My Brain is in Grad School. As you can tell, we clearly share a common bond of dealing with the dichotomy of school-life and supporting the man we love from thousands of miles away.

I am especially honored that she recognized me with the Valuable Military Blogger Award.

I have also added the award to my awards-roll below.

I am supposed to pass the award along to some fellow MilSo bloggers.

Because I want to call out so lurking blog-friends, I went through my followers and pulled out three people that I do not also follow. I am giving this award to them.

1. Britt at These Talking Walls

2. E.M. at Moore to Love

Sarah at 'Tis the Life of an Army Wife

Ladies, you've been selected because I want to get to know YOU better.

De-lurk, comment, say Hi!

I promise, I already love you for it!

My Sunday Morning

With coffee, books and a white wonderland backdrop, I'm curled up at my parents house enjoying the scenery. Suburbia is always a little more quiet than the hustle of the city. Plus, who doesn't love chatting with mom over breakfast?!

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Nude

I consider myself a pretty self-aware person.

I have a healthy body image.

I know my good features, and I know my bad.

I try to work out and eat healthy and I dress for my body type.

And while I'm certainly not perfect, I love who I am.

And yet, it still catches me off-guard when I am un-showered, make-up-free and tired and Al tells me, "Baby, you are so beautiful."

I usually respond by laughing it off or rolling my eyes.

This got me thinking about beauty.

I spend so much time getting ready in the morning, doing my hair, putting on make-up and choosing an outfit and my husband thinks I'm beautiful without all of that.

So, I tried something different this morning.

I took a few photos of myself (neck-up photos - get those dirty thoughts out of your minds!)

I am fresh out of the shower, sans makeup.

They are un-edited (other than red-eye-removal.)

And I'm sharing them with you.

I am putting myself out there, au naturale, in an effort to better appreciate how I look.

And maybe see the same beautiful woman Al sees when he looks at me.

Community

As military spouses, we have all been through many of the same experiences. Everything from deployments to last-minute PCS orders. And most of us understand the importance of surrounding ourselves with other women in order to get through this crazy, mixed-up life together.

That's why I started blogging.

The community of women I have found through blogging has meant more to me than I ever thought it would. A group of strangers has changed my life for the better.

And for that, I want to thank you.

But not just with words.

So, I am giving away a prize.

I recently stumbled upon the "Jenny the Military Spouse" cartoon series. I guess it's featured in Stars and Stripes pretty regularly, but since I'm not near a post and new to this whole thing, I wasn't familiar with it.

When I discovered it, I found it to be funny. But mostly, it is cute and fun, even if not "hilarious." Julie Negron is an Air Force wife herself and approaches the military life with levity and humor, which we could all use a little more of. Check out her website!

I am giving away a copy of her book, which includes her first couple years' worth of comic strips.

How to enter:

1. One entry for following me

2. One entry for adding her on Facebook

3. One entry for following her blog

4. Finally, one entry for telling me your favorite thing about the online, mil-spouse blogging community.

{Disclaimer: I was offered no incentive for offering this giveaway, nor will I receive any profits from the sale or any other payment for the advertising. I am doing this of my own volition simply because I want to share her with you!}

Slumber Party

You might remember that I have 3 younger siblings, in addition to the Ginger.

Well, being the cool older sister I am, I wanted to have a special slumber party with them.

So, Saturday night I headed over there with snacks, nail polish and Disney movies in tow and told them it was a "Super-secret Girls Only Slumber Party" and they couldn't tell Dad or BG.

It was LOADS of fun.

After loading up on Bugles, Pretzel M&M's and Swedish Fish, we threw in the movie Hook and gave each other make-overs.

Sophie - My little drama queen

She wants to be a baby doctor or an opera singer.

Em - My quiet bookworm

She's smart and artistic. She wants to own a zoo someday.

The makeover the girls gave me - What I call the Cindy-Lou-Who

I am very happy that I got to do this, since I am likely going to miss quite a few things this summer while I'm in Texas. And since my time with them is limited enough as it is, I think it's especially important to spend quality time together.

I hope we can do it again.

Confession

I started smoking again.

{Yes, mom, it's true. I'm sorry.}

It doesn't help that Al is smoking. And it's hard to quit as long as he is still smoking.

Although I can't put the blame on him. At all.

But really, I don't want to blame anyone.

Because so far, it's been pure bliss.

And even though I know I'll regret it later, it has been my total saving grace this semester and I wouldn't trade my dirty, smelly, cancer-sticks for anything in the world.

Wordless Wednesday

If shoes could kill...

Oh wait! It's Valentine's Day.

You may recall the many, many times before where I've told you that I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

And it's not in the wear-all-black-and-curse-the-male-species way (why would it, I love my husband) but rather in the I'd-prefer-not-to-waste-my-money-on-silly-cards-and-flowers-when-I-already-tell-him-I-love-him-on-a-daily-basis way

A few days ago, one of my co-workers was talking to me about her V-Day plans with her husband. She was telling me about her dinner reservation, the expensive watch she bought him and how "he better get me something more then flowers or I'm gunna be real mad."

Then she stopped and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. It must be really hard this time of year. You know, with Al so far away and all..."

"Actually, it's really hard all the time. One stupid day isn't any harder then the rest." I snipped at her. {In my head: And where the hell do you get off acting like you know anything about my relationship? You are not my friend. You are just an unhappy person who talks way too much.}

OK, so I was having a bad day. But the point was still valid.

It's just another Monday for us so I never get why people act the way they do about it.

Then, I hurt my roommate's feelings on Saturday when I saw her wrapping presents (THREE of them) in this foiled wrapping with pinks hearts all over it. She was excited and asked what I thought. I shrugged and said, "kinda cheesy, isn't it."

When I realized what I did, I apologized.

Even so, I realized something.

Just because I think the holiday is dumb doesn't mean I have to rain on everyone else's parade. If people want to walk around in a haze of love all weekend/day, that certainly doesn't hurt me.

So, when someone asked me today what my "big plans" were.

I laughed and said, "Oh, is that this today?"

{I know, I know, it wasn't great, but it was an improvement. Right?}

I have a web-cam date with Al tonight and we'll probably share a proverbial bottle of wine and play virtual card games. And OK, I guess I'll show him some boob or something.

It is, afterall, the day of love.

A Tour of My Closet

I always like seeing the tours of people's homes.

The different decorating styles and personalities are so much fun to see.

And I always get great ideas.

Unfortunately, because I rent a house, along with two other girls, my "home" results in a VERY small square bedroom, a corner of the basement for my desk and a walk-in closet.

And frankly, because of limited space, limited funds and the temporariness of my living situation, I really haven't "decorated."

But I have put a lot of work into making my closet an organized, functional and interesting space. After all, my closet houses my favorite things.

Therefore, I am gracing you with a tour of my closet. I hope you enjoy!

While it's not "officially" part of my closet, I consider it just as valuable.

The jewelry box Al made me.

(I can close it and take it with me to shows when I sell Lia Sophia, but when it's at home, it houses all of my jewelry.)

Shades

Misc. basket, my nail "toolbox" and my "rainy-day" savings piggy bank.

My closet door.

(Oh, and say hi to Dorothy, my roommate's cat.)

My closet is a long, skinny walk-in. I can't do a lot of turning around, but it does hold a LOT of stuff. And I've worked really hard to organize it so that it's practical and functional.

As you enter, immediately to the left are my purse hooks.

On the right wall, are my hats and headbands.

If you look closer at the headbands, you can see I used a decorate ribbon and two push-pins in order to hold the headbands on the wall.

And I love the little polka dot mirror.

My cloth bins that hold my unmentionables. Bet you want to see inside those, don't you?

The middle section of the closet is my crown jewel: containing all my accessories.

You can see the belts on the left and some scarves hanging on the right.

Top row: Clutches

Second shelf: More purses and shoes

Bottom shelf: scarves

I color-code my closet with white at the front and black all the way in the back.

The far back has dresses and my business suits.

The bottom tier of clothes: blazers, skirts and pants.

Obama asks me to stimulate the economy, so I do.

(A gift from my sister)

Boots, flats, and tennis shoes.

My shoe bins. This is about 2/3 of them. The rest are on the left hand side on the floor under all the hanging clothes. I didn't show any clear photos of the plastic drawers that hold my jeans, sweatshirts, tees and tanks.

So, it may not be big, but I think I've made it work.

It's my little slice of closet heaven.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I promised I would give you more details on what is going on with my life.

It's not really a lot of changes, but rather just one BIG change.

I quit my job.

I have been working at a law firm for about 8 months now and while it was a good experience it was doing more harm in my life than good.

The American Bar Association does not allow law students to work more than 20 hours per week (or at least get paid for them.)

Since I'm already a research representative at school, I was working the 15 hours per week I could fit in. On top of the 11 class hours, 6 teaching hours, endless homework hours and everything else, I was basically doing 10-hour days, 7 days per week.

And it was starting to wear on me.

I get less then 6 hours of sleep each night, I wake up over half of my mornings with a migraine or at least a headache. Which wouldn't have been nearly as bad if I wasn't missing classes or work here and there.

On top of all of that, I haven't been able to keep up on cleaning, laundry and other basic tasks around my place. And with the intention of moving to Texas for the summer, I really needed the spare time to plan for that.

It was actually a very hard decision.

I don't like quitting things and I've always been a "busy" person. In fact, in undergrad I worked full-time all through school and was even busier than I am now.

So walking away from something like this is not really my style.

But something needed to change.

{Side note: If I was getting a lot of legal experience or skills that would benefit my future career, I might have made a different decision. I am, however, not doing a job that will help further my law career in any way other than the fact that I now know more attorneys than I did before. Now, I don't mean that with any disrespect to the firm, because I did appreciate my time there. But I think we could both agree that it wasn't going to be a long-term fit for either me or them.}

After working through a budget with Al and realizing that I didn't need to keep my job to safely pay the bills, it was a pretty easy decision.

This week will be my last week at work.

That gives me two months to focus on school, my health and my marriage and prepare to move to Texas in May. I can't wait to have more time to focus on classes and my teaching fellowship. I can't wait to cook more, go to the gym and get more sleep.

I will be healthier and happier.

This is SO the right decision for me and I'm ready.

Bring on Friday!

Change

I wish I had some glowing, witty and interesting post for you today, but I don't.

In fact, the current state of my life, I have very little of anything on the above list.

Don't worry, it's actually going to get better very soon.

In fact, this time next week things will be different. Better.

At least I hope.

I have a couple of posts planned for the weekend, including a better (and less vague) explanation of what's going on with me. In the meantime, I'm tired and just trying to keep my priorities straight.

Thank you for hanging in there with me. I miss you and I will be back soon.

My First Massage

Saturday I got my first professional massage.

I know, annoyed, you must be disappointed in my massage-virginity.

It was a wedding present from some of my lovely gal-pals at school.

They chipped in and gave me a spa gift card to treat myself after Al left for Texas.

So, I called and scheduled a 90 minute, full body, therapeutic massage.

And I'll admit I had some hesitations.

I'd had one massage experience before, for a sports massage where they focus on an injury and I swear my injury was worse when I left. I don't think I should leave a massage in pain.

Here is my massage experience, as it happened in my head:

The front desk lady is a little loud.

Crap! I just gave my maiden name instead of my married one.

She's going to think I'm nuts.

Well, she smiled so I guess she's not so bad.

Why did they give me a book from the owner about how to make someone's day?

That looks stupid.

It will probably just sit on my shelf for a few years until I donate it to someone.

I have to pee. I should do that before I go in there.

That would really suck to have to pause the massage to pee.

OK...I'm ready now.

This is taking a long...Hi Josh.

Damn! I knew it was a guy masseuse, but I didn't expect him to be cute.

I guess I've had male doctors before. It is his job, I'm sure it will be fine.

Did I shave my legs and wear good underwear?

OK. He's super-professional and really nice.

This seems like it will be just fine.

Why am I picking an aroma therapy scent? Does this stuff actually work?

Ew! No cinnamon. Sure. Sandalwood. That works. Whatever.

I'm supposed to take off all my clothes.

Including my bra and underwear?

Maybe my bra. If he massages my back that makes sense.

I don't thing he'll massage my butt and he better not massage my "front" so I'll leave my panties on.

Am I sure about the bra? Yes. It will be weird if he has to work around it.

I'm feeling very naked. Oh well, no turning back.

What was the gong for? Is that supposed to relax me? Odd...

The music is nice and has a soothing voice.

A face massage is awesome. I feel the tension leaving my head.
Hot towels on my face? Delightful.

Oh, I smell sandalwood. Mmmm.

Ooh, that spot in my neck hurts. Here we go with the pain again.

I guess it's going to hurt sometimes when I have tight or stressed muscles.

He said I should tell him.

Stick it out and see if it gets better. I don't want to be a sissy.

That's not so bad. I guess.

Why is the hand massage the most relaxing part?

Do I have tense hands? Is that from typing alot?

Maybe there are nerve endings in my hands that relax other parts of my body.

Sort of like that foot-reflex-ology stuff. Or something.

Anyway, that feels amazing...

ZZZZZZ...

ZZZZZ...

ZZZ...

Did I fall asleep or am I just THAT relaxed? Oh, he's on my legs.

Did I shave? Crap, I didn't. Gross.

Maybe he doesn't even notice.

Hot stones. Ah-mazing.

That was nice of him to help me stay covered while I flipped and he worked on my thighs. Very professional. Very comfortable.

Apparently my back was really tense. Ouch.

I blame the backpack I lug around all the time. Stupid books.

STOP THINKING ABOUT SCHOOL!

Ooh, more hot stones.

Is that sandalwood?

ZZZZZ...

ZZZ...

Wow. Was that 90 minutes? Perfect timing.

I feel so good in my skin. Sensual, but not too much. I feel calm and relaxed.

I don't think I can move.

He's waiting to consult but I can't figure out how to put my pants on.

One leg at a time.

I'm complete goo. It feels awesome.

Did I learn any new ways I can give Al massages?

I wonder if I can afford to do this every week.

I'm hungry. I think I put my bra on inside-out.

Not that I care about anything right now. Or ever again.

Don't you just hate convenience?!

As I previously mentioned, I have been on idle this week in what my friend referred to as a "wedding hangover." I'd really just love to eat comfort food and watch trashy TV and hope tomorrow is a little bit better.

As we all know, doing so only makes things worse.

So I forced myself to join the world.

Yesterday, we got another few inches of snow (bringing the winter total depth to over 3 feet) and temps went below zero = my car didn't start and jumping it didn't work so I went car-less for the morning. It started with no problem around 3PM when the temp was only 2 degrees.

Then my class went over time so my teaching partner and I were 5 minutes late to our first day at the high-school. My whole day was thrown off as a result and I was basically late to everything.

When I got home, I pulled my back shoveling out the back alley way (so I could park in the garage and not risk any future problems with my car's aversion to cold weather) and went to bed early with a heating pad.

Then after another long day today, my boss at work asked me to send out a memo informing the staff of my name change (yay!)

In my haste I wrote it and sent it, without proofreading.

The last line read:

I apologize for any convenience and appreciate your flexibility.

'Cause I'm pretty sure attorneys hate convenience. Don't we all?

We {heart} It Wednesday

With sub-zero temps and more snow on the ground then I can remember (I've lived in Minnesota my whole life and seriously, this is getting ridiculous) I am CRAVING summer.

So, today, on a cold, blustery Wednesday, I {heart} summer.

(participate here if you'd like)

All images courtesy of Weheartit.com!