Hi friends. Long time no see, but let's not waste time with all of the excuses for why I haven't been around. We're used to this pattern by now, right? It's Thanksgiving week, and I'm headed home to Phoenix today for a week. I get to see some friends from high school and I get to see Carissa and Kailey, so you know it's going to be a good week. Plus, its Thanksgiving so basically I'm going to get fat. And happy. Fat and happy. Which isn't helping Operation Get Hot Before DJ Comes Home, but I think that's a lost cause at this point. Speaking of, he'll be here the week after Thanksgiving so I'm a happy camper.

Not much has been happening around here, except for the semester wrapping up. I submitted my very last paper as an undergraduate, took my GRE,

in the next few months...

Big things are happening around here, friends! I'm finally halfway through the semester, and as December approaches, I'm getting more and more excited for the things to come.

Of course I'm so incredibly excited for DJ to get home. He'll be here the beginning of December and I am counting down the days! He hasn't been home in over a year, so it'll be so nice to have him here. There are so many places I want to take him and show him, and I'm really happy that he'll get to spend a lot of time with his family and friends since he won't see them for awhile once we leave. We get to spend the holidays together with our families, and I know it'll be an amazing second Christmas together. :)

Then, of course, I'll graduate. When I came to college, I never imagined I would get my degree in only two years. It's been a lot of hard work, but I'm so ready to graduate. I know I'll miss it, but I'm so ready to start my life with my man in a new state and make new friends and start working. Speaking of which, I already have a job secured in Montana which is a HUGE relief. I'm a planner, and not knowing where or if I would find a job there was stressing me out! So now that I have one, I feel much less stressed. I'm so ready to get there and have a little extra money so we can get all of the things we still need and want for our house! I have tons of DIY's in mind, and I'm excited to finish decorating that little place of ours.

Okay, are you ready for the exciting part? WE'RE GETTING A PUPPY! You guys. We have been talking about this forever. Not only do we finally get to have a normal (aka not long distance) relationship, but we finally get to add a member to our little family. We will be getting a chocolate lab, and (he…she?) will be born in about 10 days. We've already found the lady we will be buying him (her) from, so now we're just waiting to see what her dog has and then we'll know for sure if we're getting a boy or girl. I'll keep you updated! We have names picked out, but I'm saving those for another post ;)

So basically nothing exciting is happening at the moment, but I have so much to look forward to, so you can expect lots of exciting updates soon! And just a warning, I'm already obsessed with this puppy that isn't even born yet, so when I actually have him…prepare for puppy overload!

Okay so, in about two months DJ comes home. He'll be here for a month and then we will head back to Montana together. While he's home, I will graduate college and move out of my apartment. That's a lot of stuff going on.

blogger men tell all!

Okay so if you remember, I used to link up every month with Stephanie and Mal for the Boy's Behind the Blog link up. Any excuse to talk about my man, right? Well, they don't do it anymore, and that makes me sad. So when I saw Samantha's post about her new linkup, I knew that I had to do it. It's basically the same deal- DJ will answer five questions for you guys. He gets so excited for me about the blogging stuff, and he knows that I've missed blogging a lot so of course he's excited to participate! ;)

PS I get to see him in just about nine weeks and I'm so incredibly excited! I cant wait to start my forever with this handsome guy.

If you had a blog what would you call it and what would it be about?
It would be about all of the stuff I have to deal with in the military and all of the stuff we have to do at the MAF. I would call it "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" haha

Can you tell he's really excited to be done? hehe

If you could live inside any video game, which would it be?
I would live in the game Ninja Gaiden because it would be sweet to be a ninja!




Who is your best player on your fantasy football team this season?
The best player on my team is either Jay Cutler or Jordy Nelson

If you could play for any professional sports team, which would it be?
I would love to play on any pro football team.

What do you typically do with an hour of free time?
Right now with an hour of my free time I'm trying to finish the last season of Breaking Bad!


And there you have it people, my ninja boyfriend.

I'm back! & fall favorites

Well hello loves, long time no talk huh? It's been over a month since I've blogged, but let's skip all of the excuses here and just get to the good stuff, shall we? Everything is good around here, and there hasn't been a reason for my absence other than the fact that I was just too burnt out on blogging. But I'm still here, and I don't plan on staying away forever. Today was really the first day I've been motivated to come back and get things started on the blog again, so let's hope I keep it up ;) I wanted to give you a quick update on things happening, but since that's the only thing I've been doing around here since the beginning of the summer, I figured I would throw in some fall favorites too.

So you may already know, but this is my last semester of school. I'm graduating in December and I honestly could not be more excited. This last semester is the best so far, as far as classes go. I'm in four psychology classes, one business class, and one final gen ed, so they're all really interesting to me. I only have classes two days a week which is nice, and I've been working and interviewing for a research position as well. In less than 70 days, DJ will be coming home to spend a the month with friends and family before we head back to Montana together. This is the longest we've been apart in a long time, but I'm glad its going by fast. It still hasn't hit me that in a little over two months we will no longer be a long-distance couple. I don't think it will hit me until we head to the airport and I don't have to say goodbye. I'm honestly so excited! We've been waiting for this and dreaming about it for two years now, and it's finally here! We're both so excited and so ready for this next adventure together!

Okay so obviously nothing that exciting has happened, so let's get on with it.

We're quickly approaching what is, in my opinion, the best time of the year. Pumpkins, cooler weather, spicy drinks, and all of the best holidays that we get to celebrate in the next few months. October-December is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year, so I thought I would share some of my favorites right now.

One of the best parts about fall for me is that I can wear dark nail polish again. If you're new around here, let me just tell you, I'm obsessed with nail polish. I have 90+ colors and it's definitely a problem. But anyway, I have favorite fall colors to share with you.

The Essie shade is called Striking the Issue, and it's this beautiful deep red color. It's perfect for fall and especially around Christmastime.

I have two really deep purples from OPI that I can't stop wearing. Black Cherry Chutney has a slight shimmer to it, and Lincoln Park After Dark doesn't, but other than that they're basically the same color. I've also been seeing one at Target that I love but I haven't bought it yet. It's called In the cable car pool lane, and its a beautiful purple. I've in a love affair with deep purples right now. Obsessed.

I have three shades from Sinful Colors that I really love for fall right now too. Rain storm is a lighter shade than I usually like for this time of year, but its a pretty blue-gray. I also have black on black because I love me a simple black nail color. And then I also have last chance which is a deep forest green and it looks so good (I have it on right now).

Okay so other than nail polish, I've also developed a slight obsession with candles. I've had one burning 24/7 for about a month now. What says "fall" better than the smell of pumpkin candles, right? Bath and Body Works 2 for 22 sale? Why can't that be a year-round thing?

The first candle I got was the one on the far left, and it's from Target. It has three scents: pumpkin spice, caramel pumpkin, and cinnamon sticks. I'm right in the middle now and the caramel pumpkin smells so yummy. Then I went to a small candle shop in town that makes candles in the store. There was so much to choose from but I obviously migrated toward the fall candles. The one I got (on the far right) was a cinnamon plum candle and I also got that cute little plate to set it on. It smells amazing. Then I of course went to Bath and Body and had to limit myself to only two candles. Which was really hard because they all smell so amazing. But I ended up going with vanilla chai and sweet cinnamon pumpkin. These candles smell the best but they also burn through really quickly.

The last thing I wanted to share were my favorite fall lip colors. I never really shared anything about beauty on the blog before, but I think that might be something I start to incorporate. I am by no means trying to become a beauty blogger, but I might share some of my favorites here and there.

 

I love dark lipstick. Seriously, love. I'm also really pale right now, so it makes me look super vampy, which I love. Not all women like the dark lip look, but I could wear it every day. These are my faves right now.

The far left shade is a Rimmel Lipstick by Kate color called Rossetto. Its a deep red and its absolutely beautiful. It also goes on really well and lasts forever on me.

The second color is Maybelline Party Pink. I just got this yesterday, but I love it. It's a darker pink, but its also not so dark. I love it because its much less intense than some of the others here, so I can wear it more casually.

The third shade I've had for awhile, and it's L'Oreal Raisin Rapture. This one's super dark and its a plum color, and it's so pretty.

The last color I'm really loving is another Maybelline shade. It's called Blissful Berry and it's pretty similar to the L'Oreal shade. It's a little more pink than the L'Oreal, but you can barely tell a difference on me.

Alrighty, so those are my favorites as of now. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather here in AZ so it can actually start to feel like fall. I'm sorry I've been so MIA but I hope to be back much more often. Let me know if there's anything that you would like me to write about or if you have any favorites of your own, please let me know in the comments! Love you guys!! XOXO

home

In less than a week, I'll be headed back to Phoenix after three amazing months here in Montana with my man. Everyone is asking me if I'm excited to come home. Sure, I'm excited to get back and see my friends and finish my last semester of school, but I don't feel like I'm coming home.

When I graduated high school, I left home to go to college. Even when I was in school a few hours away, I always considered Phoenix to be home. If I was going up for a weekend, I was going home. If I was coming to visit DJ, I was going on vacation. If I was headed back to Tucson, I was going to school. But I have to say, my idea of home has changed.

I no longer consider Phoenix home. At least not right now. Once DJ is out of the military and we move back to Phoenix, it will be our home. But for now, I'm finding that I consider Montana to be home. Maybe not Montana necessarily, but DJ is home to me. We've moved into this little house together and little by little it began to feel more like a home. We're making memories here, we're going to start our life together here. It wont be our forever home, but for now it is.

As my trip comes to an end, I keep finding myself thinking about the next four months. I'll be at school, with my friends, and back at work. But I'm leaving my heart in Montana and I can't help but feel like I'm going to miss this home. I already know that as soon as I land in Phoenix I'll start the countdown until DJ comes to Phoenix for leave and then we can go home together.

I'm finding that home has such a different meaning to me nowadays. I'm finding that, as cheesy as it sounds, home really is wherever he is. We're so excited to move back to Phoenix together, to our forever home, and start our lives there. But for now, I'm so excited to come back here in four short months and experience my new life living with the man of my dreams in Montana. I really love it here, and this home will always have a special place in my heart.

Where do you consider home?

what we've been up to (again)

I know that all of my posts lately have been about what we've been up to, so sorry. But I'm not that sorry. Right now I'm taking a break from most things blog-related, but I still want to use this space as a way to document the things we're doing because I know I'll love looking back on these posts and reliving these memories.

DJ had to work on my birthday (boo) but I'm thankful for Jordyn being there to spend time with me. If you guys haven't checked out her blog, you need to. She's such a sweet girl with a big heart and she's so much fun! And she has the cutest little family, so go say hi! Anyway, Jordyn took me downtown for my birthday and it was so fun! DJ and I have driven downtown and gone to our favorite coffee shop down there, but that's it. Jordyn showed me so many cute shops and I even got some cute stuff for our in-progress gallery wall! We also found a Before I Die wall which I love. My art class at UofA last year built one on campus, and they're all over the world, so I was very excited to find one in Great Falls!

I'm obsessed with this antique store find. It's an old oven door that is now a chalkboard and it fits perfectly on a wall in our dining area!

The other day DJ and I went to Ryan Dam. We've seen the dam in the middle of Great Falls, but we didn't know that there was another one just outside of the city. I really wish we had found it sooner because wow, it was beautiful! When you get there you cross a bridge. Its just hanging over the water and can only hold 6 people at a time. It was swaying everywhere and was so sketchy and I thought I might die, but I loved it. It was such a cool spot to just take in the beauty of the river.

Once we got on the little island, there was a little park. I can't wait to go back for a picnic someday soon! Then you walked up some stairs to the viewing area for the dam. It was breathtaking!

We're good at taking selfies.

Yesterday we decided to go to the lake. We saw that there were some thunderstorm warnings, but we're smarter than all of those weather apps so we went anyway. On the way there I even said, "Well at least it doesn't look like it's going to storm!" We packed lunches and our inner tubes and headed to the lake with the hopes of floating around in the water and getting our tan on. As soon as we got there, we knew that wasn't going to happen. It was so cold outside and the water was freezing. There was thunder and lightning all around us. But all we could do was laugh. Things didn't go the way we planned, but we made the best of it and honestly, I think we had more fun than we would've if it was the perfect sunny day we imagined. We ended up just having a picnic by the lake and heading home. It was truly a beautiful day though, and I love that when things don't go as planned we can just go with it and make the best of it. He's such a good sport and I know that he would do anything to make me happy and I just feel so blessed and so lucky. It was a perfect day with the perfect man and I can't wait until we can start our lives together in just a few months!!

Oh, and on the way home our inner tubes almost flew out of the truck so I had to get out on the side of the highway in the rain and 20 mph winds to deflate them and get them back in the truck. So basically it was a fun day and I'm sad I didn't get a picture of that part.

So, that's what we've been up to! I leave a week from today and I'm sad about it. But this is our last goodbye and I keep telling myself that! Four months from now I will get to see his smiling face at the airport and know that we'll never have to spend months apart ever again! I can't wait for him to see me graduate and I can't wait to spend the holidays with our families together!

its finally here!

Hi! Look who decided to show up! Yep, me. Fun things have been going on around here as always. But this week is special! Tomorrow is my birthday! That's right, I'm officially in my twenties, guys. Which sounds weird because almost all of my friends are already at least 20 and I feel like I'm a lot older than that. But yolo. I'm not the only one with a birthday around here...my blog turns ONE YEAR on Monday! It's so crazy to me that I've been blogging for a year. I never thought that I would've stuck to it this long. Sure, it's been on the back burner lately, but I'm still here! So anyway, happy birthday to this little blog of mine! I don't have anything special planned around here for the bday, but I wanted to share what we've been up to!

DJ and I went golfing. Yes, golfing. Well we went to the driving range, and we both expected me to suck. DJ has been before a few times, but I've never hit a golf ball in my life. (Mini golf doesn't count) Well, it turns out I'm pretty good so you can look for me at the next Phoenix Open. Also, DJ got a Tiger Woods golf game for the Xbox and its so funny because he gets so mad at it. Like 1. its golf and 2. its a game. He's cute

That same break we finally headed to the lake we've been wanting to check out. The day didn't go exactly as planned, but once we got there it was so fun. We wanted to rent some inner tubes to bring out there but all of the rentals were taken. So we ended up buying our own but I love them because they hook together. So, you know, I can just kick back while he does all the work and gets us where we need to be. The weather was perfect and the water was so nice! Oh, and I got tan.

Oh, I also got to skype with my two favorite ladies Kailey and Carissa which was so fun. I miss them.

They're cute.

D and I went to a friends house for a BBQ and that was so fun too. It's crazy because one of his good friends at work is married, and his wife and I have become friends! Ok so for the crazy part..she has a blog too! You should go say hi because she's the best.

YOU GUYS. As I was just typing up this post the doorbell rang.

DJ can't be here for my birthday because he has to work. So he sent me flowers. Ugh I love him.

Anyway, we've just been relaxing and celebrating around here. We made chocolate covered strawberries, had pie for breakfast, got a fire pit for smores, and went out to dinner. It was such a good birthday week. I'm so glad I got to spend it with him. It's so crazy to me that I leave here in two weeks. This summer flew by SO fast. I cannot wait to head back in December and start our life together. And get a puppy. :)

The best part is now I can start the countdown until my 21st, right?

I'm still alive, I promise.

YOU GUYS! What has been up with me lately? It's been over two weeks since I've blogged. I can't say I feel bad about that because, well, I don't. But I wish I had a little more motivation. DJ is out at work and boredom has convinced me to head over here and update you guys a little so you know I'm still alive...

My birthday is in less than three weeks and that's crazy to me because I've been counting down since like...February. I'm excited and bummed at the same time. Excited because it's my birthday...duh. And I'll officially be in my 20's (finally). But, DJ will be gone at work and I leave exactly two weeks after my birthday. Which doesn't make sense. Like, how is it so close already? This summer seriously flew by way. too. fast.

There is one good thing about me leaving though. Besides the fact that I'll get to see Carlin, Carissa, and Kailey when I get home, that is. What could be good about another long and tough airport goodbye? Well, it's our LAST ONE! After we say goodbye at the end of August, we'll never have to again. DJ will head home around December and then we'll finally drive back together and start our life. Goodbye long distance relationship, can't say I'll miss you.

We've been doing fun things around here. We took a trip to Helena the other day. It didn't have as much to do as we thought, but it was still fun to explore another city. We walked around downtown, had lunch, visited the prettiest cathedral, and went to the state capitol building. Oh, and the drive there....holy shit. It was honestly so beautiful. I envy the people that have homes along the Missouri River. So beautiful. Oh, and we went to the "mall" in Helena. People warned us about it, but we wanted to check it out. I figured it couldn't be worse than the mall here in Great Falls, but oh was I wrong. We entered the mall through JC Penny. When we looked to the exit to the rest of the mall, it literally looked like a horror movie. The lights were dim, there was no one walking around, and there were NO other stores in sight. WHAT! Maybe I'm a mall snob because we have so many good ones in Phoenix, but still. This was pathetic!

 

Okay but really, look at that sass.

We've been working on our new place more and more. We're almost done with our picture collage in the living room, so I'm excited about that and I'll post pictures once we finish! I'm really loving our house and I'm glad it's the place we get to start our lives together!

These horses are right next door to us! Like, I was standing in our yard when I took this! It's pretty cool. I was afraid to get too close though...yolo.

I made this pallet flag last time DJ was gone. I've been gettin' my craft on! Oh, and scrabble coasters, too!


So, that's what I've been up to. I'm loving being here with him. It's honestly perfect and it makes me SO excited to move here!

Also, I'm taking a break from my Passionfruit subscription. But, if you're interested in a design or advertising, please email me!

I missed you guys, really. What have you been up to?

Happy Saturday loves! DJ had to head into work for training this morning so I figured I should probably head over here and get something new up because, you know, I've been slacking pretty hard when it comes to blogging.

It has been a good week around here! DJ and I have just been relaxing and caching up on The Walking Dead which has been stressing me out because its getting so intense right now.

some badass bald eagle pictures

Well hello! It's been a long time since I've been around here. Well, longer than usual. I kind of had my mind set on not blogging for awhile. I sort of felt like giving it up. But then Carissa told me I'm not allowed to say that. So I took it back and here we are.

Our new place is finally unpacked for the most part. We're still waiting to get a few more things and then it'll finally be done. We're looking for a dining room table and a desk still, but other than that we've gotten pretty good deals on some cool stuff. We got a dresser for pretty cheap from someone on base. It's ugly though...like, really ugly. So hopefully we'll be refurbishing that sometime in the near future.

We've been pretty crafty in the new place so far and it's been...interesting. We got some pallets for free from the commissary, and we decided that we were going to make our own coffee table. So we hit up the Home Depot and got some supplies. Except we didn't have a lot to spend, so no power tools for us. We built our cute little coffee table with just a hammer and nails, and a hand saw. Well, most of it with a hand saw. We ended up caving and buying a tiny little electric saw thingy. But it was still kind of a pain. I'm really happy with how it turned out though! We also made a cute little pallet shelf.

Alright, so there they are still outside. I don't have a good picture of them inside yet, but once we get some stuff on the shelf I promise I'll share.

We've been much busier lately. We've been spending less time lounging around watching TV and more time taking advantage of his off days and enjoying ourselves. We've been out for coffee, seen some movies, and even went for a walk around the river. That was really amazing. The river runs right through the city and there's a little path that runs alongside. We went for a walk and enjoyed the windy day, beautiful scenery, holding hands on our walk, and seeing a snake and a bald eagle! We also carved our initials into some wood, which I'm excited about since we probably wont ever get to see the spot where we did that in Germany again.

 What a hottie, huh?

 Isn't Montana beautiful? It amazes me that this is literally in the middle of the city!

 It's kind of hard to see our initials in the picture, but they're there!

 I left Arizona to get away from the snakes. Not okay.

 I was pretty excited about my bald eagle pictures but DJ says they suck. Oh well. I was excited! Happy 4th of July! Woo yay America.

We haven't had macarons since Belgium, so this was a fun treat! This awesome little cafe has great coffee, amazing cakes, and of course- the best macarons!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday!