Giveaway & Friday Fill-in

Ainslee at First Comes Love has reached her initial goal of 50 followers!

To reward her wonderful readers, she is hosting a giveaway! 

We are talking about a $50 Sephora Gift Card, good for anything on their website!

Head on over to her blog to view the details of the giveaway and enter for your chance to win!

Hurry, the giveaway will be closed on July 29th, winner will be announced on the 30th!

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It's that time again! Time for the Friday fill-in!

This week’s questions are:

1. Do you eat raw cookie dough?

NO! Call me crazy but I just don't like it.

2. When you get online for the first time of the day… what site do you immediately head to?

I simultaneously open my Gmail and my Facebook first thing.

3. What was your favorite pet as a child and why?

My first dog ever- Crystal. She was half Rat-terrier, half brittany spaniel. She was the best dog ever.We had to put her down on valentines day of 2006. :(

4. If you had a snail that could magically grant wishes, what would you name it?

Sparky! I dont' know why.

5.  How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

Has anyone ever really counted? I think I tried as a kid, if my memory serves it was between 42-50 licks. LOL.

New Blogger Award!

I am super excited to have been awarded with another blogger award.

A special THANK YOU to Camille over at From Texas, with Love

As usual there are rules that follow blogger awards, and they are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

2. Tell us seven things about yourself.

3. Award at least 10 other bloggers.

Here we go: 

Seven things you may/may not know about me!

1. I have recently become addicted to Pinterest. Not surprising to most of you probably. Ha.

2. I can actually sing, and quite well. I have no fear of singing in public, so chances are some of you who read this might have heard me sing before...lol

3. I am EXTREMELY spontaneous. No, really! I'm known for my crazy last minute adventures!

4. I have to be COLD in order to sleep. If I'm even slightly warm I become uncomfortable and toss and turn all night. Generally I have to have air flowing, so a fan is ideal. 

5. I have fertility problems...they may be reversible, may not. I'm working on it.

6. I went to prom 3 times, and they were all with Mr. Dogtags. :) (yeah, we've been together since I was 16) And our senior year we rode to prom in a Rolls Royce Phantom Limosine. Yeah, people stared. :)

7. I am often called an "old soul" because I am 22 yrs old and instead of partying I enjoy gardening, I'm addicted to HGTV, I even like crochet and embroidery every now and again. :) 

And now, to accept this award I must pass it on to other wonderful bloggers!

This list is in no particular order:


1. Everyday Life as an Army Wife

2. Wife of a Sailor

3. The Annoyed Army Wife

4. It's a Dog Tag Wife Life

5. Write it in Lipstick
6. Catfish Kisses

7. New Girl On Post
8. Adventures in Life
9. Riding the Roller Coaster
10. Eights on the Move
11. Life of an Army Wife

I enjoy reading all of your blogs on a daily basis! Looking forward to my continued journey with you all!

Wordless Wednesday!

(My 250 free stickers from Uprint! I love them!)

Surprise!

Things have been a little bit crazy lately. Some of my devoted readers may have noticed that I have been avoiding blogging about my personal life for a good while now, and there is a reason for this. 

I have been trying to fill the blog void with posts about my trip, giveaways, generic filler posts that I really hate posting but it has been necessary as of late. 

There have been exciting things developing in my life lately, but I have been afraid to share them with you because I have been waiting to make sure that things are more solid. 

I've been waiting to make sure that things will not fall through.

So here is the amazing news:

Since his AIT has been doubled in length, and there has been chatter about his possible unit assignment, and a possible deployment right out of AIT, Mr. Dogtags and I have decided that it would be worth it for me to move to his AIT location!!!!

YAY!

At first, I was against the idea because the Army will not pay to move me, and why spend so much money to move for a mere 3-4 months, renting a U-Haul, let alone trusting myself to make such a far trip driving said U-Haul with one of our cars riding piggy back on a trailer pulled behind me. I've never driven anything bigger or longer than Mr. Dogtags' Dodge Ram 1500, so the thought more than terrified me.

Then we made a decision that I could live with. We decided that I would put everything in our storage unit, pack the car with the necessities, and drive there. What's better, is that my new best friend Melissa will be moving with me. Her husband Justin is roommates with Mr. Dogtags, and they are good friends. Melissa is pregnant and due in 10 weeks so it will be great for her to be near her husband when the baby comes, and neither of us will have to travel to see our husbands on labor day or to see them graduate...and those are just a FEW of the advantages.

We have secured a very nice apartment and (not easy to do when you live 1500 miles away) and we can NOT wait to get there.

So that's my exciting news!

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All that being said, I have had more than one other wife tell me I am absolutely CRAZY for making this move. I've been told it's not worth it, I've been told that its a waste of time and money. I've even been called "stupid".

Honestly, I don't care what anyone has to say. Thankfully there are those people in my life who understand exactly why I am making this move. 

IF Mr. Dogtags DOES get deployed soon after AIT (which is not unheard of)

when you add a year long deployment to the 2 months of basic training and the 6 months of his AIT that is almost 2 solid years we would spend apart. 

Am I really that crazy for wanting to spend as much time with him as I can right now?

And as far as the costs go, I'm just packing up the car and driving there. Other than the gasoline that I will be using to get there, and the security/pet deposit on the apartment, my costs are minimal. When I think of how much money I would have spent flying to see him for labor day weekend, and then again to see him graduate, I would have spent more to travel just to visit than I will be spending to actually move there.

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I have SO much to do. I am moving in less than 20 days! AHH! :)

Milspouse Self Employment

So as many of you know my husband Mr. Dogtags is currently in AIT. He still has a ways to go on this journey, let me say he still has more than 4 months to go...

Even though he still has quite a while to go, I have been trying to think of ways to supplement our income. I have been unemployed for quite some time since my company closed. I had my dream job and loved going to work everyday. It has been a blessing lately to stay home and handle things that Mr. Dogtags needs handled, and  I have gone on 2 out of state trips within this past month and it has been an absolute blessing to have the flexibility to go visit him without worrying about asking for time off.

That being said, while I have enjoyed being home during this time, staying home is not my preference. I often get bored and it really makes the time go slower. My goal is to find a job once we PCS, but with the way the economy is I know that finding a job may not happen right away. If it doesn't, I would still like to supplement our income in some way, which leads me to this question for you all.

What at home or self-employment jobs have you seen other milspouses  do?

I've seen wives sell jewelry, candles, scentsy, soaps & lotions, etc.

 Also jobs like at home answering services or technical support?

Know of any that I haven't mentioned?

Do they seem to have much success with this?